BRIAN

Ted and I were headed to Jen’s condo, because I think face to face is the only way to do this.

“What are you going to tell Jen?” He asks me.

“As close to the truth as I can get without having to tell her how I know.” I tell him.

“You know that you're going to be trying to talk to a kid who doesn’t know you? How do you explain that to Jen?” He ask me.

“Ted, you work with me, right?” I ask him.

“Yes, but what does that have to do with this?” He asks me.

“I’m selling something to Jen, it’s all in the spin.” I tell him.

While Ted parks I head to the door. Justin must have called her because she didn’t seem surprised to see me.

“Come in and explain what you want me to do.” Jen tells me.

“I need you to help me get a kid off the streets. He is in a really bad home situation.” I tell her.

“Then get him and bring him here, we can work out the details later. It’s too cold outside for a child to be out there.” She tells me.

“I think he would be wary of a man approaching him. His mother is trying to use him to make money.” I tell her.

“What kind of things could a kid do to make money? Justin told me he’s really young.” She doesn’t understand what a young boy could do to make money on the streets.

“The kind where they would no longer be an innocent child.” I tell her.

“Please tell me you're kidding?” She asks me.

“No, I’m not kidding, not every mother loves their kid, Jen. Think of Joan and Lindsay, they might not prostitute their kid but what they would do isn’t loving either.” I tell her.

“What do you want me to do?” She asks me.

“I want you to help me convince the kid that you would take care of him. Then the hard part is going to be convincing a judge to take him away from a crack whore of a mother. He needs a mother like you to show him that all women aren’t evil.” I tell her.

“Okay, but Molly is here. I can’t take her out to wherever this kid is.” She tells me.

“Don’t worry, I’ve got Molly.” Ted tells her coming in the door.

“Let me get a coat and let Molly know Ted is here. She has some math homework again Ted. Brian go to Justin’s room and grab some warm clothes out of the closet.” she orders us.

“Why is she mentioning Molly’s homework to you?” I ask Ted.

“Because I spend time here teaching Jen how to invest. I wasn’t going to ignore Molly.” He tells me.

“To bad you're gay, you would have made a great stepdad.” I tell him.

“Like someone who looks like Jen would want me.” He tells me.

“Yeah, her next man is total stud, and about my age. It made for some awkward times with Justin, but if he had been around I think he would have walked Jen down the aisle, instead of me doing it.” I tell Ted as we go through ‘Twinks R Us’ or Justin’s closet.

“You still had contact with Jen, after?” He asks me.

“She’s my family, and really became a mom to me. I was there the day she passed away. She almost outlived me.” I tell him.

“Wonder why some people came back but others didn’t?” Ted asks me.

“What do you mean?” I ask him.

“Just I remember something about how people who died after you couldn’t come back to this but the people before you could. Just wondering why only certain ones could?” He asks me.

“Are you ready?” Jen asks me.

“Shit, you scared me, I didn’t hear you come in.” Ted tells her.

“Yeah, you two seemed to be talking to yourselves. Let’s go Brian, Hunter is going to get cold.” She tells us.

I walked out with Jen but something was bothering me. I’ll figure it out later. We drove to Babylon and start looking at the grates around the building. Maybe Marilyn was wrong, because we didn’t find him anywhere. 

“Maybe he moved to a less populated area.” I tell her.

“Or we didn’t look at the grates hidden behind things.” She points to the dumpster with steam coming out of the back.

I follow her to find Hunter sleeping on a cardboard box next to the grate. Jen leans down and starts trying to shake him awake. When he is just continued to sleep she felt his head and started checking his hands.

“Brian we need to take him to the hospital, he’s too cold.” She tells me.

I was about to pick him up when he starts moaning and looks to see us leaning over him. He sits up and starts backing away from us.

“I was just sitting here, I’ll go.” He tells us.

“No sweetheart, we just wanted to see if you wanted to come home with me and sleep in a warm bed.” She tells him.

“I’m not going to let him do things to me. Leave me alone.” A wary Hunter tells her, glaring at me.

“You aren’t expected to do anything. If you want we can get a police officer to come to my house and make sure you're safe.” She tells him.

“The cops would take me to juvie.” He tells her.

“I think I could call a cop who wouldn’t do that.” She tells him. I never knew she knew a cop.

“You promise not to let them take me?” He starts sniffling.

“I promise, if they try, I’ll help you get away. It’s kind of cold, how about you put this jacket on, it’s really warm.” She held it out so he could take it without her being able to grab him.

“Brian and I will stand down the alley, if you decide to come with me, come to where we are, Hunter.” She tells him.

She turns and walks until she is far enough away that if he wants to leave with the coat he could. I wanted to say something to get him to come but I followed her example. We stood together for a little over ten minutes before he finally came out and walked to us.

“I’m going to trust you because you gave me a choice and I could have left.” Hunter tells Jen.

“Then I’m going to trust you to stay until we can get you away from your mother.” She tells me.

“Why are you helping me?” Hunter asks her.

“Because someone helped my son when I couldn’t.” She tells him.

“I’m just some low rent kid? You look like you have class.” He tells her.

“It’s all in how you dress.” She tells him.

When we get to the car, she lets Hunter decide if he wants to get in. Hunter was just as big a slave to her as all of us are, and hopped in the seat next to her.

“How old are you Hunter?” I ask him.

“Twelve, I’m still growing.” He tells her, not me. I can tell he is still very wary of me.

“I have a nine year old daughter, you’ll meet her when we get to my house.” She tells him.

When we got to the house, Jen took Hunter straight up the stairs and hands him towels and more clothes.

“Take off the clothes and throw them out the door. I’ll collect them and clean them. When you’re finished taking a warm shower not hot, you're still to cold to withstand the heat, you can put on the sweats I just gave you. You must be hungry, so come to the kitchen and I’ll make you something to eat.” She tells him.

I wait for Jen at the foot of the stairs, because it finally occurred to me what was bothering me.

“Did you need something Brian?” Jen asks me.

“How did you know Hunter’s name?” I ask her.

“Justin told me.” And it sounds reasonable, but I’ve been around the Taylor’s enough to know when they are hiding something.

“Who helped your son?” I ask her.

“Daphne, you know, when she stopped Craig.” She tells me.

Maybe I was wrong, it just seemed strange the way she was able to talk Hunter into coming with us.

“Well at least in this life it was Daphne.” She smirks and serenely walks into the kitchen.

“Um, Jen.” I don’t know what to say to her.

“Brian, you used to call me Mom, maybe you could start doing that again.” She tells me.

“How?” I ask her.

“I got tired of seeing the others fuck with you, so I’m here to protect you. Take the gift, because I wasn’t given a lot of time, just long enough to do what you need me to do.” She tells me.

“What do I need you to do?” I ask her.

“Get Hunter under my roof, and make sure he has a better life. Allow you and Justin to make decisions for your lives that mean you won’t have to worry about the consequences of each thing you do. If I had been stronger I would have stayed and watched from where I was, but the me that’s here isn’t strong enough for the fight this is going to become, but Hunter’s mom is going to deal with a woman who had to fight for her son, someone who learned that being polite and not causing waves almost killed him.” She tells me.

“You were always strong Jen… Mom.” I tell her.

“Let me fight this dragon for you then, concentrate on you and my son. I can handle this. I don’t want you to get involved in the whole custody fight. It’s my way to help Hunter, not you. He deserved to live a life without that disease.” She tells me.

“How long before you leave?” I ask her.

“I stay until the ink on the custody forms makes me Hunter’s mom.” She tells me.

“I have to tell Justin. I won’t keep things from him, especially something like this.” I tell her.

“I didn’t expect you too. I’m ready to see him alive, even if I only have a few months before I have to return.” She tells me.

“I love you, Mom.” I tell her.