CHAPTER 29 - IN THE MIDDLE OF A CHAIN REACTION
JUSTIN’S APARTMENT, CALIFORNIA - EARLY MORNING
BEDROOM
BRIAN
“HOLY CRAP!” I bellow as Justin’s ice cold fizzy filled mouth envelopes me. He winks and swallows; I almost hit the ceiling when I feel an ice cube slide down my shaft! “Just...oh God! How are you doing that?!” I am dazed when he finishes the rest of the water, then slides up my quaking body. We share the ice cube until it melts away. “So how?!”
“Like you, I watched a lot of porn!” He grins, then drops his head onto my chest.
“What?”
“We need to get ready. His arraignment is in a couple of hours, so we need to get dressed. Traffic at this time of day is a bitch!”
“Okay, let’s hit the shower!” I order.
BATHROOM - TEN MINUTES LATER
JUSTIN
“Bri...Brian, what are you doing?” I groan as he kisses my throat and palms my cheeks.
“Do you have a smart tee as well as a shirt?” He mutters between kisses. I nod and moan. “Good, wear it.”
BEDROOM - FIFTEEN MINUTES LATER
BRIAN
He is pink of face, but smiling, something I suspect neither of us will be doing later, but pray that we will.
CALIFORNIA STATE PRISON, SOLANO - NEXT DAY LATE AFTERNOON
VISITORS ROOM
ETHAN
I scan the crowds of visitors. I can't believe it has come to this! I am so scared. I look across the room and see Philip nibbling his nails. I take comfort in the fact that he is in more trouble than me. Okay, yes, I am being charged with battery and all that crap, which I can explain away as it being Justin testing my patience and finding I have none, but Philip, whilst he didn’t do the crimes, hid them, and his ex-maid and assistant have been very cooperative with the authorities. Not only that, since his arrest those with whiter-than-white histories have dropped him faster than a red hot poker. He tried to style it out like it was a mistake, but then that interfering crone, Jewel, got involved. It had to be her, because all of a sudden there were pictures of our arrests, and recordings of what he had done to portray Justin to the police.
I smile as Michael comes to my table. “Hey, you came!”
I am so pleased to see anybody. My parents, were, of course, accepting of my sexuality and understanding of my bouts of ‘frustration'. I never put that their way of course, I know what side my bread is buttered, always explained it away, saying that I had been reasonable until I was pushed to the point of no return, which they believed because nobody ever had me arrested for anything. They just wisely understood how far I was willing to go to get them to behave. Oh, how I loved the fact that Justin stayed like the whipping boy I wanted! That night was utter bliss, but then it all went to hell when Jewel saved him. As I told him, people just need to do as they are told when I tell them, which is what Michael did. I have to admit after my arrest I was surprised to get a call from him a week ago.
“Yes. You doing alright?” I try to kiss him on his lips, but he is looking around so much that I get the side of his chin instead. “I still don't believe that you are in this place!”
“Me neither, this is all because of the lies of Justin!”
“I know, but you never told me how manipulative he is.” He seethes as he sits down.
“What do you mean?”
“He’s got his hooks into my brother now…”
“Your brother? What are you talking about?” I demand. By the time he finishes, I am struggling to keep a lid on my rage. “Is he perhaps tall, good looking, and has auburn hair?”
“Yes, why?”
“They were in court together!” I whisper, clutching on to the table legs so that I don’t lash out at my one chance of freedom!
“And he plays the victim. Pathetic, just pathetic!” Michael spits. I smile as a plan begins to form.
“He was cheating on me! Me, of all people?! He should’ve been grateful that I paid him any attention at all! And then there are my parents abandoning me, after falling for his crapshit!” I look at him like I used to when he let me blow him.
Which was something Justin refused to let me do even before we had sex, citing he wanted to wait for the full experience. It wasn’t until I heard him talking to Jewel, saying that he hated my discoloured teeth and rancid breath, that I realized the truth! Whilst I stepped up my oral hygiene, I got a few punches in for that as I am one for harbouring a grudge!
“Ethan, you need to get out of here to defend your honour and clear your name! To show the world what kind of man, or should that be whore, he really is!”
I nod and smile. “Thank you, Michael, I knew you believed me. I know that you and…” I reach for his hand, but he pulls back to check his phone. I don’t like that smile, it is the same smile that I had when he would call me and Justin would be in the room. I would say it was Philip.
“Okay, I will see you in a few.”
“Who was that?” I ask tightly.
“My dad. He’s waiting for me in the car. I came to pick him up. This is on our way back.” He replies. “Look, I wanted to ask you something.”
This is on our way back?!
“What thing?” I frown.
“That you’re not calling me as a witness or something, because I would really rather you didn’t.”
“What do you…” I begin.
“You see, I’ve reconnected with this guy I really like, called George. We had just broken up when I met you...”
“Just broken up? How just is just? Were you cheating on me too?!”
“No, of course not! Okay, there may have been a slight overlap, but when I was with you, I was with only you.”
“Michael…” I am stunned as he gets up. “...where are you going?!”
“Back to Pittsburgh. Have a family reunion and Dad gets to meet George. Besides, I have always wanted to visit a prison, never had the opportunity before. Not as great as I thought it would be. So anyway, speak to your attorney and keep me out of this, okay? Take care in here, see you!”
“Oh you will, Michael, I will make sure of that!” I mutter as I make my way back to my cell.
BRITIN - EARLY EVENING, SAME DAY
LOUNGE
BRIAN
I open my eyes and smile. We're back, we're back to going forward. I chuckle at the stroking of my hair. “Justin, you haven’t been doing that since I fell asleep have you?!”
“On and off.” He laughs. “Want to roll over?”
“Hmmm.” I mutter and when he leans down to kiss me, I thank the lord!
“Debs and Carl left us dinner, want me to heat it up?”
“What is it?”
“Stuffed southern fried chicken thi…”
“Kitchen now!”
KITCHEN
JUSTIN
I have never seen Brian react like this to food before! He is whirling around, putting on the oven, setting the table, grabbing the wine, what the hell is going on?!
“Br...Storm! Stop!” I manage to grab his arm. “Explain.”
“Blue, this is the dish she always cooked for me.” His eyes shine, he shakes his head when I go to speak. “Kiki. She called it my happy-sad-meal, she could always tell when I needed it…” When he sits down, I slide into his lap. “...be-before she died, she gave the recipe to Mom.” I brush the tears away. “And made her promise never to share it with anyone else until it was time, said she would know when that was.”
I get up to peel back the foil. When the smell hits me, I start to drool. “It does smell good! Can I help with anything?”
“Hmm, tell me how you felt in court when you saw him again?” I rest in his embrace, tilting my neck the other way so he can kiss one of the love bites that he left this morning.
“Okay, I couldn’t look at him all the time, just occasionally. Like when he came in, he had his ‘so sorry won’t do it again’ look. When I shook my head, he looked furious, then at one point looked like his head was on fire. Like that movie, you know the one? I could feel his eyes burning into me, so I kept mine front, but then the oddest thing happened. He went pale and blinked; then he never looked my way again.” He chuckles softly, still kissing my neck. “So why didn’t we hold hands like we discussed before we went?
“Well first, he needed to see that you were strong alone. As for the movie, you mean Ghost Rider, the one with Nicolas Cage? Just nod…’ I comply. “...and secondly, I needed my hands for something else.” I face him, he is looking very pleased with himself!
“What did you do?!” I gasp, he starts to laugh louder. “Storm, what?!”
“I may have gestured to your neck and blew him a kiss…”
“You did what?!” I laugh.
“But I most definitely did the cutthroat gesture whilst smiling.” I stop laughing, step away and head for the door. “Justin…”
I turn at the worry in his voice with a sensuous smile. “I’m going to straighten the lounge, you need to put that in the fridge, grab the Marsanne, one glass and lots of ice.”
“Uh why?’ He doesn't move.
“Because…” I blow him a kiss over my shoulder. “...in the movie, unlike this morning, that was not where the ice ended up. Would you like me to show you where that was?”
He swallows hard. “And how to do it! Meet you by the stairs in two minutes!” He bellows, going back to rushing around whilst I run to the lounge feeling happy and very horny!