Wild Child

Chapter 2

Brian tossed his clothes into his small suitcase. He didn't figure he'd need a suit but he folded one and added it to the pile. He had changed from the suit he wore at Kinnetik into jeans, t-shirt and a soft, lightweight shirt. That would be more comfortable on the plane. He opened his briefcase which he had tossed on the bed. He pulled out his jeans that he had worn to Babylon the night before. They were his favorites and he would have liked to wear them, but they were dirty. He was about to place them in the bag of laundry he was going to drop off down the street before he left, when he remembered something. He fished in the pockets until he found the card he had placed back in there.

"Gregory Fernley," Brian said thoughtfully. He flipped the card around in his fingers. "Why not?" he said to the empty loft.

Quickly he punched in the numbers before he lost his nerve. A male voice answered.

"Greg?" Brian asked.

"That would be me."

"It's Brian Kinney."

"Well, fuck me!"

"I already have," Brian chuckled.

"I never thought I'd hear from you … and certainly not so soon."

"Miracles do sometimes occur," Brian smirked.

"So what can I do for you? Please tell me that you want to get together again."

"I … I'd like that," Brian admitted.

"Tonight?" Greg said hopefully.

"Actually I'm on my way to the airport. I'm going to be out of town for a few days."

"I see."

"I just wanted to touch base."

"So give me a call when you get back."

"I will," Brian said and he meant it. "I wanted you to know that I'm still interested."

"So am I," Greg laughed. "Thanks for the heads up and I'll look for your call when you get back."

"Later," Brian said without thinking about the significance of that word.

"Later," Greg replied before he cut the connection.

"That wasn't so hard," Brian said with a smile. Once he got this Lindsay problem fixed, he would definitely hook up again with Mr. Greg Fernley.

+++++

Brian dozed on the short flight to Toronto. It was only a little over an hour and he was thankful for any rest he might get, having had no sleep the night before. He couldn't help but wonder what was going on with Gus. He had not liked the way Lindsay sounded on the phone. Something must be terribly wrong.

Shifting in his seat, Brian thought about the last time he had seen Gus. After the Munchers had moved to Toronto, Brian had made several trips up there to see his son, especially that first year. He had been determined that his son would know his father, that he would not be forgotten. Things had gone all right at the beginning. Melanie had found a job as a paralegal and was trying to follow the process to get papers to practise in Canada. Lindsay had found a job in an art gallery in downtown Toronto. It was basically a clerking job, nothing like the position she had held at Sidney Bloom. They had rented a house which took most of their paychecks to afford. Gus had started in a public school and had been fine in kindergarten.

The year he started first grade problems really came to the fore. He was being teased by the kids who found out that he had two mothers. Nothing seemed to be able to stop the teasing, and Gus was very sensitive to it. He spent a lot of time alone and seemed to have no friends. Brian had offered to pay for a private school, but Melanie would not hear of it. She wanted her son to toughen up and face the real world.

The last time Brian had seen Gus he was not quite seven years old. He was just finishing first grade and he made it very clear that he hated school. In fact when Brian arrived for a visit, he had asked to go home with his father. He said he was never going back to that school. Brian had tried to reason with him, but he was adamant.

Melanie had been furious. She accused Brian of planting ideas in Gus' head so that he could get the boy to go live with him. She said Brian was undermining everything they were trying to teach their son. No matter how much Brian protested, Melanie refused to believe that he was blameless in what was happening with Gus. That was when she had said it would be better for all of them if Brian didn't visit his son anymore. Melanie had no idea how much that hurt Brian. He had managed to conceal the hurt from her, but he had felt it with every fiber of his being.

Lindsay had backed Melanie in this. She had asked Brian to stay away, at least for a few months. She hoped when Gus started second grade he would be with a different group of kids and things would settle down. Reluctantly Brian had agreed. He heard a few times from Lindsay saying things were better. They never let him talk to Gus. Finally as Christmas approached that year, Brian had demanded to talk to his son. He had received monosyllabic answers from Gus during the brief conversation. Gus seemed distant and angry. Brian wondered what he had been told about Brian's lack of visits. That had been the last time he had heard from Gus.

Now here he was five years later on a plane to Toronto to see his son. If Gus had been angry and resentful before, Brian could only imagine how the boy of twelve would be when they met, that is, if Gus remembered him at all. Brian wondered what the hell Lindsay thought he was going to be able to do to help the son he barely knew.

"We'll be landing in Toronto shortly…" the flight attendant announced as they began preparations for landing.

Brian rubbed his tired eyes. He was not looking forward to what awaited him at number 673 Elm St. However, he had said he would come to Toronto and he would do his best to sort out whatever mess they had created.

The taxi pulled up to the old house that the Munchers had rented. It hadn't changed much since the last time he was there. It was still in need of a coat of paint for the trim. Brian paid the cab driver and pulled his suitcase out of the trunk. The taxi took off leaving him standing on the sidewalk. It was still light out on the warm summer night. He slowly walked up to the front door.

Brian rang the bell and waited. He could feel his heart pounding as he waited for someone to answer the door. Suddenly it opened.

"Brian," Lindsay gasped and almost fell into his arms. "I'm so glad you're here." She held on so tight Brian was having trouble breathing.

"What's going on?" Brian asked trying to extricate himself from her viselike hug.

"Come in and I'll make some tea."

"I didn't come all the way from Pittsburgh for fucking tea."

"Please, please, Brian, come in and give me a chance to explain."

Brian could see the tears in her eyes and his heart softened. "All right," he said stepping across the threshold. He wondered where Melanie and Gus were but he didn't want to ask until Lindsay told him what this was all about.

"You look great," Lindsay said. "You've hardly changed at all.

Brian made a face knowing that wasn't true, although he still had the slim figure and sexy presence that had always surrounded him. He couldn't say the same about Lindsay. She looked older and worn out. So he didn't say anything.

Lindsay led the way to the kitchen. Brian dropped his bag by the front door and followed. He noted the rather threadbare looking sweater Lindsay was wearing even though it was a warm evening. She looked thin and not her usual self. He wondered if she was ill.

"Are you all right, Lindsay?" Brian asked as she indicated that he should sit down at the kitchen table.

"I've been better."

"Are you sick?"

Lindsay looked at Brian as she set the kettle on the stove. Brian actually seemed to care. How could she have been so stupid all that time ago? "I'm not sick. I just have a lot on my mind."

"Are you going to tell me why you asked me to come here?"

She nodded her head but turned away to begin fixing the tea. Brian could feel the sadness that radiated from her. When she turned back her face seemed set, more resolute about what she wanted to say. "How is everything in Pittsburgh?" she asked out of the blue.

"Lindz, I didn't come here to make small talk."

"Indulge me, please. I want to know about the old gang."

Brian heaved a sigh. "Ted is Chief Financial Officer of Kinnetik," Brian began.

"You promoted him! That's wonderful. Has he found the right guy yet?"

Brian shook his head. "He's more hopeless at love than I am," Brian said before he could stop himself.

"Do you hear from Justin?" Lindsay asked looking sadly at Brian.

"Don't … I don't want to discuss that."

"So how's Emmett?" Lindsay asked effectively changing the touchy subject to a more neutral one.

"His business is doing really well."

"With a little help from you?" Lindsay asked with the first smile he had seen since he arrived. She poured them each a cup of tea.

Brian didn't answer that question. He added sugar to his tea and took a sip. "Not bad," he said although he wasn't very fond of tea.

"I've learned the proper way to make it … since we moved here."

Lindsay reached for the milk and Brian saw a large black bruise around her wrist. It looked like someone had grabbed her and squeezed very hard. Lindsay realized what Brian was looking at and quickly withdrew her arm pulling the sleeve of her sweater over the telltale mark.

"How did that happen?" Brian asked not prepared to let her cover it up.

"I fell the other day and hit it on a chair."

"When did you get so clumsy?" Brian asked not buying that story at all.

"I don't want to talk about it … yet, just like there are some topics you don't want to discuss."

Brian nodded, understanding what she meant, but he had to ask, "Did Melanie do that to you?" Brian continued to stare at her wrist.

"God, no!"

Lindsay's reaction told him that that was the truth. "Okay, then I'll leave it for now. Where is the old battleaxe anyway?"

Lindsay snickered in spite of herself. "You shouldn't call her that. I asked her to give us some time alone. She took JR for a walk. I think they were going to stop at the library."

"How very educated of her."

"We … we don't have a lot of money for movies or shopping."

"Are things really that bad?"

"If it wasn't for the money you send every month for Gus, we'd never make it."

"I had no idea…"

"We didn't want you to know."

"Why are you telling me now?"

"It's part of the reason I called you here."

"What are you talking about?"

"I want to show you something. Come with me."

They stood up and Brian followed Lindsay up the stairs. She pointed out her and Mel's bedroom, JR's room and then she came to the last door. "You've seen how we live. This is Gus' room." She opened the door.

Brian stepped inside half expecting to see Gus there. Instead he found a room full of toys and electronic gadgets. There was a new looking TV with an X-Box hooked up to it. The stack of games beside it had to be worth close to a thousand dollars. Brian moved some of the cases noting that they were the newest and best. There was a stereo system with another large pile of CD's beside it. On another shelf were DVDs of many familiar and recent movies.

"Where the fuck did all this crap come from?" Brian asked. If they were so hard up, how could Gus have all this?

Lindsay shrugged. "I have my suspicions, but I can't prove anything."

"What the fuck is going on? Where's Gus?"

"At this moment I truly don't know. He's out with his friends."

Brian took a moment to absorb what Lindsay had said. "So he's made some friends?"

Lindsay's face screwed up and she shook her head. "Yeah, I guess you could say he has."

"What is going on?" Brian asked in exasperation.

"He … Gus is totally out of control," Lindsay said her voice breaking.

"Out of control, but he's twelve years old!"

"I know how old he is! He's my son too, but he's got in with a bad crowd and we can't handle him anymore."

"Have you tried?" Brian asked half in anger and half in disbelief at her statement.

"Of course, we've fucking tried! But no matter what we do or threaten him with or … whatever, he does what he wants. He won't listen to us anymore. He ended the school year under suspension."

"Suspension? What for?"

"He was found carrying a switchblade at school. They have zero tolerance for weapons. He can't go back there next year. I … I don't know what we're going to do with him."

"Fuck, Lindsay! How long has this been going on? You led me to believe everything was all right, so I stayed away."

"You haven't exactly had the phone ringing off the hook with enquiries about how Gus was doing!" Lindsay accused him. Tears were running down her face.

"You're right, but I thought I was doing what you wanted." The pain in Brian's voice was very evident.

"I thought it was the right thing for a long time, but it's just got so much worse over the last couple of years. The kids Gus hangs around with … they're a bad lot."

"Can't you make him stop? Christ, you're the parent!"

"I know I'm the fucking parent, but you haven't seen Gus in a long time. To you he's still a little boy."

"He's only twelve."

"Going on twenty-one."

"I don't know how you could have let things get to this stage. Why didn't you call me before?"

"I thought we could handle it, but it all fell apart when Gus got suspended. He says he's not going back to school, and we can't make him."

"Of course you can make him," Brian stated.

"I'm not so sure."

"Lindsay, this is fucking unbelievable! If you need to get him some counseling or something, I'll pay for it."

"Your answer to everything is money, just like always." Her eyes told him that money wouldn't cut it this time.

Brian winced at the criticism because some part of him knew it was true. Money could solve a lot of things, but not usually the most important ones. "What the fuck do you want me to do?"

"I want you to take him."

"Take him? What's that supposed to mean?" Brian had a flash of Jennifer Taylor telling him the same thing many years ago.

"I want you to take him back to Pittsburgh with you. Maybe he can get a new start at a school there. He's failing all his subjects here. If you want to get him counseling, that might be a good idea."

"You want me to take him? What the fuck do I know about kids?"

"You were a teenage boy once."

"I was fucking poor at it back then. I can't look after a kid."

"Even when he's your own?"

"Goddamit, Lindsay, I can't believe you're asking me to do this."

"I wouldn't ask if I wasn't desperate," Lindsay said flatly. "Mel and I don't know what else to do."

"Mel is in favor of this?" Brian could hardly believe his ears. The situation must be dire for Melanie to trust her son in the care of Brian Kinney. "If you can't make Gus do anything, how are you going to get him to come with me, that is, if I say I'll take him?"

"The knife incident at school," Lindsay began. "Gus should have been charged, but I begged the principal to give us one more chance. I promised that I would find a different school for Gus, but I can't afford any of the schools that might help him."

"If things are so bad, why didn't you just come back to the Pitts? Melanie could have started practicing law again and Sidney would have taken you back."

Lindsay's sides shook with sobs that she was trying to control. "Times change, Brian. Life moves on," she managed to get out. "But Melanie's a proud woman."

"Fuck pride! This is nuts."

"Please, Brian, you have to take Gus. I don't want him to end up involved with drugs or gangs or … dead."

Brian ran his hands through his hair. Things were beginning to fall together in his head. "All these electronics? Is Gus selling drugs?"

"I don't know, but I think there's a good possibility that he is."

"I can't believe my fucking ears! This is … impossible."

"Not so impossible. Melanie and I have been living this nightmare for the last couple of years."

Brian shook his head. "I don't have a clue about kids. What makes you think it would do Gus any good to come to Pittsburgh with me? Maybe a military school would work," Brian suggested grasping at straws.

"He doesn't need a military school, he needs his father. You remember when he wanted to go live with you back in the first grade?" Brian nodded. "He's never forgiven us or you for not letting that happen. He has so much anger and resentment inside him. He needs to know his father, to know that you didn't disown him or abandon him."

"But I did," Brian said in a whisper.

"But only because we asked you to."

"That isn't going to matter to Gus."

"You can talk to him. You can show him that you love him. If something doesn't happen soon, Brian, we're going to lose him altogether."

"I just don't see how it could ever work…"

"You asked about the bruise on my wrist," Lindsay said holding out her arm so that Brian could see the full extent of the damage. "Gus did that when I tried to stop him from going out with his friends last night."

"Fuck!" Brian said shocked at this revelation.

"Mom, what the fuck are you doing in my room?" Gus yelled as he came down the hall. "And what the fuck is he doing here?"