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CHAPTER 5 - DEBS CONNECTS THE DOTS


DEBS


I smile as they leave with Brian still munching on the toast. I made sure to double foil the ones for Daph separately, not only does she like it hot, she also doesn’t like it too sweaty. He is not wrong about that oh-so-considerable temper she has on her.  I think back to two years ago when I first met them. Hunter and his Dad were trying to avoid driving down Liberty Avenue and Bakers, but fate was not feeling kind. Man, it was pissing down as I was walking back to the house, but then something caught my eye. A car whose blinkers were flashing, but parked in an odd way, so I headed over...


Start of flashback 

CORNER OF LIBERTY AVENUE AND BAKERS - LATE NIGHT, DECEMBER 2014


DEBS


I can’t see much inside, but there are two people. One is very young, but holding the older man. I keep hammering on the window, finally he winds it down. “Are you guys...no you are not! Come on, get out there!”


“No! Have to get him home!” The older man retorts, but I snatch the keys out of the ignition.


“Not this way, you won’t - both ends being shut down. Some fucker decided to commit merry hell one end, and there’s a gas leak at the top! You, young-one, get in the back. You, handsome, into his seat. Have a place we can go!” 


DINER - FIFTEEN MINUTES LATER


“So, I am Debs, Debs Novotny, and you two are?”


“Am Hunter, he’s my Dad. His name is Brian.”


“Well, pleased to meet you. Let’s start with tea and some food before we get to what ails you.”


“Where are we?” Brian asks, shivering a bit. It took longer to open up than I thought, so they both got a bit wet. I hand them the towels. “Thanks.” He smiles before sorting out Hunter, then himself. “And this is?”


“Liberty Avenue Diner, of whom I am a proud employee. Gonna go with the quickest and easiest: bacon and sunnyside egg sandwich. You get a choice of bread but nothing else.” I call over my shoulder as I click the kettle on then head to the kitchen. “So, the bread?!”


“Brown for me. You want a bagel, Hunter?” Brian asks as he strolls around the counter to make the tea. “What tea do you want, Debs?”


“Assam, splash of milk.” I call back in surprise. I am even more surprised when he brings it in. 


“Anniversary of her death. She loved the rain.” He sets it down. “He was three days old when she died. Don’t know why it hit me so hard, just did.”


“Grief does that.” I sip my tea. “How?”


“Cancer.” His eyes fill, now it is time to do what I do best, sometimes whether folks like it or not! I turn off the burner and pull him into my arms, we sink to the floor.


“She should’ve saved herself. We could’ve tried again!” He weeps.


“Honey. I don’t know her, or the stages she was at, but may I ask a question before I give my opinion?” He nods. “Ovarian.” His yes is muffled, so I hold him tighter. “Then that was likely her one chance. Had it myself, just after my son was born. Shocked the hell out of us. Ruined the marriage, he could not cope with a baby and a sick wife, so bailed.”


“Wow, what an ass…” 


“Who the hell is that?!” I scramble up at the hammering on the shutters.


“Sorry, Debs, it’s our team.” Hunter explains. “They have been calling. Dad’s phone is in the car I think.”


“Team?” I frown when I go to let them in. I spot a young man running up the street with a box, who I know all too well. 


“Debs! Please! Please take them, Debs. If I leave them alone with him, he will kill them!” Winston pleads. He has a black eye and a cut lip. Seems Andy has been getting handsy!


“Who are you, and who is going to kill what?” A dark haired man demands before taking the box off of him. When he lifts the lid, I hear hearts melting as three kittens' heads pop up. “Why would he need you to take them? I am Ted. Left to right is Daph, Blake, Ben, Ems and Drew. So why?”


“I run a kinda ramshackled animal rescue service, taking in the furball waifs and strays that drop through the cracks of society.”


“So many animals would be in a kill shelter if...oh shit!” Winston gasps as Andy strides up.


“Darling, what are you doing here this late at night? You know how I worry.”


“One of the kittens had a cough, so I brought them to Debs to see if she could take them to the vets.”


“That’s not necessary. Let’s all go home.” Andy reaches for the box, but I block him. “Excuse me, Debs.” 


“No.” I tell him. “Leave them and Winston with me.” 


“Keep the pussies.” Andy’s demeanour changes to the thuggy bully I know him to be. “But you are coming home. Now!” He jabs his finger at Winston.


“No he isn’t.” I assert. “He stays here, you’ve already had some fun. Get off on that!” 


“You are making it worse for him.” Andy snarls. But before I can say anything, Daph is shoulder to shoulder with me. “And you can do what?” He sneers before yeping in pain as Daph puts him on the ground.


“And if he is stupid enough to stay with you, I will teach him to do that and much worse! It is your screams they will hear, your painfully bloodied face they will see! Now, Winston, you and I are going to your house. We will be taking everything you own and taking it to mine. I have lots of spare room. Ben is a doctor, okay of animals, but a doctor nevertheless. He can patch you up. He is a very caring guy.”


“If you do that, Winston…” Andy wheezes as he sits up. “...I will…”


“What? What will you do that you haven't done already?! You’ve beaten and bullied me...I am sick of it! I have done nothing but tried to love you in the way that made you happy, but nothing, nothing makes you happy!”


“You are supposed to focus on me and me alone, no-one else!” He spits as he stands. “How hard is that to understand? How many times did I have to beat it into you that it is to be you and me...not these fucking fleabags?!”


“Lipsey, Hipsey and Dipsey are not fleabags!” Winston shouts balling his fists. “And they were here first!”


Then all hell breaks loose! Winston leaps on Andy, pummelling for all he’s worth, I am trying to get him off of him and stop Daph from joining in. Ted is retreating with the spitting and hissing kittens who want to defend their Daddy when briefly Andy gets the better of him, but then Ben and Drew get involved! Drew is whaling in on Andy, whilst Ben is running back into the diner with Daph and Winston in his arms. 


“EVERYONE STOP!” Someone yells out, and everyone does. “Off! Get off! Get off now, he’s got the message! Helps if he’s alive to heed it! You, you asswipe, don’t move or I will let them have you!” I push my wig back, which had gotten knocked into my eyes in the melee, and am staring at Emmett. “Yeah, don’t look like much…” He grins at me before levelling a hateful look at Andy. “ ...but you would rather me than him!” He nods to the door where Hunter is in front of Brian, I can’t hear what he is saying, but whatever it is, is keeping him there. Slowly, we all give Andy room to get up and back off.


“Find a rock to sleep under tonight!” Brian orders. “If either of them come back looking anything other than they do now or not at all. I will end you.”


Two hours later, we are having coffees, teas, or hot chocolate, plus bacon and sunnyside egg bagels. The kittens are at my shelter, and word on the street is that Andy has stayed away from the apartment. “So, want to tell me about that reaction, Brian? I am all for knights in shining armour, but...”


“My parents were fuckers.” Brian grimaces. “Spent most of their time snockered or sober beating me up. We had a puppy, a cute little thing. They said that I could euthanise it or watch them kill him as brutally as they could, either way, it was gonna die. So she gave me a syringe. She was, ironically, a nurse, and they watched. I didn’t cry or anything, just put him in a box and asked if I could bury him at least. They said yes, so I waited until they were dead ass drunk, packed my bag, then walked out. Never went back.” He closes my mouth. “I just wanted to find somewhere nice where he could be forever. Was sitting on the bus, went to sleep when someone woke me up and cussed me out for treating an animal like that. I had no idea what he was talking about, then I heard it scritching and yipping. He wasn’t dead, she’d given me an anaesthesia. Like I said, fuckers.” He hands me napkins. “I explained to him what I thought had happened.”


“And that’s when he met us.” Ben explains, as he gently tends to Winston’s wounds.


“Can you let me out, please? Need the bathroom.” They let him out. “Daphne, can you come with?”


“What do you mean, ‘met us’, and what was that about?” I demand as a giggling Winston and Daphne head to the bathroom. “Oh, got it.” 


“Meet the lost boys and girls...Cyn’s still with us. We were all fosters or abandoned by our kinfolk.” Emmett states. “The man he met on the bus was the head of the foster home. Brought him and Whistler back that night, we’ve never been apart since. He may be old, but Whistler is still going strong, but the centre is too much for him. Spends most of his days with Elliott.”


“Still bitter.” Brian grumbles, but he’s smiling.


“Elliott?” I question. “Oh got it.”


“In answer to your unasked question, Brian’s fuckers of parents took a week to realise he wasn’t home, then placed a missing persons report.” Blake seethes. 


“And he became a ward of the state within three months, remember?” Drew chuckles before he wraps his arms around a shivering Emmett. “Need my jacket, babe?”


“Please.” He sighs before putting it on. “Much better.”


“So who is with who?” I ask as I pour more coffee.


“Me and Blake, Emmett and Drew. Daph and Brian are best friends...he’s gay, as is Ben. Both are single, though I am not sure how long that is going to be for!” Ted joshes as Ben blushes. “I don’t believe it. After all of this time, you like?!”


“Guys, keep it down!” Brian orders, before covering a sleeping Hunter with his coat. “Volunteered at a veterinary service, we all did, but Elliott saw something in us. And thus, with his backing, Kinnetik Animal Rehabilitation Centre was born. Paid him back in a year. So this ramshackled rescue service of yours, tell me about it…”


And that’s how I found myself looking at an agreement between myself and them, and the start of beautiful friendships, which I want to keep to myself as long as I can; but Ted was right, by the end of the following week, Winston, Lipsey, Dipsey and Hipsey, were purrfectly, yes I went there, ensconced with thieir new man..Ben.

End of flashback


BRITIN - SUNDAY AFTERNOON


LOUNGE


MICHAEL


I flick the page of the comic noisily, Ma doesn’t even look up from her magazine. Whilst she picked me up for dinner, I haven’t seen her since our diner visit, I still  have a massive bruise on my leg where she kicked me. But something feels off...Mel and Gus are too happy. Lindz said she noticed the same, but neither would say what’s got them so ‘giddy’.  


Also Ma seems a little nervous, but I have to admit whilst it’s not often we listen to her where Wheelie Boy is concerned, but when she mentioned the keys, we knew that Ronald or Nancy had been talking to her, so we stayed away not we were even invited!


“So, Ma, Mel stayed here again last night, I take it?”


“Yes, I did.” Mel replies. “As you know, Lindsay had to look after Nancy, as she wasn’t well, but has recovered, thankfully. They will be here soon.”


“I was speaking to Ma…” I return sweetly.


“I know that, but she’s not speaking to you, remember? But you really should, Debs, it is no longer a valid comment.”


“No, Mel, I’m not speaking to him until he apologises for saying it in the first place.”


“Fair enough.” Mel chuckles. “Want red or white?”


“Grandma!” Gus shouts as he comes in.


“Lounge!” She laughs, then gasps as he lands in her lap. “Hello, sweetheart!”


“You’ve not told her have you, Mom?”


“Mom? Don’t you mean Momma?” I point out.


“No I don’t, the reasons why are not a discussion which concerns you. It is for my Mom, my Momma and me to have, but I’ve not seen her as she was looking after Grandmammy.” Blue-green eyes spit anger at me. “Now, Grandma, what have you gotten Maya to cook?! Please tell me one of the dishes is the chicken thigh and pork belly layered filo pie? Oh, and who won the cookie fight?”


“Two, one for the freezer, and we tied because Grandmammy is doing the original...” Ma laughs, which really annoys me, as I could smell cookies on the way up, but she kept the tub on her lap. ”...and I am doing the twist.”


“Twist?” Both he and Mel question.


“I added...strawberries. Nan...sorry Grandmammy, is bringing the dough for the freezer. Mine is already in there, but Maya will do originals when...and here they are!”


MEL


He is out like a streak of lightning! I hope he at least says hi to Lindsay, as he didn't say goodbye to her when she had to go to look after Nancy. He was too mad, again, when she got caught trying to hide her shopping. I don’t have a problem with her shopping, I do have a problem with her pretending she hasn’t!


“Debs, are you alright?” I have noticed that she keeps looking out the window, specifically the gate.


“Yes, I am just hoping that my other friends aren’t much longer.”


“Other friends? What other friends?” Michael puts his comic down. 


“So, Mel, as you know, I teamed up with a nice group of people to run my shelter better, but the more I think about Sunshine’s offer to have some animals here, the more it makes sense. They are really good people, and at least I get to see some of them.”


“Really? You promise, Grandma?!” Gus exclaims, I suppress my laughter at the roll of cookie dough that he is squeezing out of shape. When I point at it, he giggles. “Wait, not another word! Let me get this to Maya!” 


He doesn’t take long, and after pulling Ronald to the sofa with Nancy and Debs, stretches across all three of their laps.


“Hi, Lindz.” Michael rises as she comes in. They hug and kiss. “Want wine?”


“Oh, please, how have you been? It seems like ages since I saw you.” She joins him on the chaise, like always.


“Alright, it is so good to be back at our second home.” He replies, thankfully Gus doesn’t react. Why Michael enjoys needling him so much is beyond my ken, as Ronald says, 


“They’re here!” Debs declares, as a coach pulls down the drive. “Gus, go get your dad!” 


“No need.” Justin declares, and the room goes quiet.


“Wa...walk...walking...you’re walking!” Ronald gasps. Debs and Nancy are mute with shock, as are those two. Oh, how I enjoyed that with the latter...no more Wheelie Boy jibes from them! Justin is up and about, so will be putting an end to people’s shenanigans!


“Now you know why that name no longer applies to him, Debs.” I smirk. 


“When?” Nancy slowly gets up and approaches him. “Are you in pain? Anything?”


“Nope. Someone ordered me to free my mind, so I did. As for when, the same day I decided that I needed my boy home.”


“Oh, that’s won...wonderful!” Debs weeps, then the doorbell goes.


“I’ll get it.” Justin kisses Debs’s sodden cheek. “You get yourself together.”


JUSTIN


I leave Mel and Gus to help with the grandparents. As usual, once they are in each other’s orbits, the sole mission of Lindsay and Michael is to piss off their parents, father of ‘her’ child, and her son/his honorary nephew-when-it-suits. But I need to focus, to focus on her business partners and see how we can work together.


“Hel...oh!” There are at least seven people on my doorstep, but it’s the one with the hazel eyes that I am focused on. 


“We meet again.” Brian smiles. “Debs! Daph also cooked, where do we put it?!”


“Okay, first let them in, Justin, then I will do introductions. As for food...Gus, can you take whatever smells so good in there to Maya, please? Gus, this is Hunter. Hunter, this is Gus.”


“Hi.” They say shyly. 


“Come on, you two!” Maya calls out. “Need tasters for the cookies!” Them and Daphne’s hamper disappear in a flash.


“You have an extraordinary reach, Debs.” Brian drawls. “We know each other, only a recent connection though.”


“You do? How?” Debs frowns.


“Zeus. He’s his horse.” Brian is close behind me, not touching, but oh I can feel his warmth!


“What?!” Debs gasps, then sniffs. “He always calls him ‘my boy’, Zeus I mean. Right, everyone in the lounge. More people to meet, and much to discuss!”


I am about to follow them, when Brian ahems. I make myself remain where I turned. If I step back, it shows weakness, as my dear old twat of a dad would say. “So what do you prefer? Justin or Sunshine?”


I decide on mirroring, so put my hands in my pockets too...seems we are of the same accord, which is that we fancy each other! “Depends on what we are doing. If it’s business, then it’s Justin; if it’s pleasure, then it’s Sunshine.” He smiles. “And this is what it looks like…” I call over my shoulder as I walk away from him. 


“Damn!” He mutters before following me into the lounge. 


“What would you like to drink, Brian?” I ask when I see everyone else has wine and are chattering happily.


“Nine and half cut, two inches wide.” He whispers as he passes. “I would love a nice, thick, full bodied glass of throbbing red, please. Such an unusual name for a bottle of wine. Fill her to the top. The name is Brian, who don’t I know?”


“I am Michael, this is my best friend, Lindz.” His voice is like an ice dagger to my dick. “I can’t believe you’ve been hiding these wonderful people from us, Ma. So many new friends, now who to start to get to know…”


“Nobody, not in the way you mean. All except Daph and Brian are coupled up.” Nancy snaps. “Before either of you take that train to downtown Delusionville, Daph is not bi, and I have plans for Brian.”


“Does Brian get a say in this?” I laugh.

 

“Nope.” Nancy smiles. “And neither do you!”

Chapter End Notes:

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