All the Rage

Chapter 8

Lacy and Hunter slid into a booth in the Liberty Diner. Debbie arrived immediately to see what her favorite grandson wanted.

"Hey, kiddo," she said giving Hunter a peck on the cheek.

"Deb, I'd like you to meet someone. This is Lacy."

"Hello there, Lacy. Haven't seen you around here before."

"I don't really frequent places like this," Lacy said.

"Oh?" Debbie reacted thinking that Lacy felt herself too good for the diner. "What sort of places do you frequent?"

"The streets," Lacy said glaring at Debbie for making her reveal that.

Debbie's eyes revealed that she now understood Lacy's comment. "I see, so what can I get you two?"

"Couple of burgers and fries," Hunter said looking at Lacy for agreement.

"Coming right up," Debbie said as she went to put in the order.

"I don't think she likes me," Lacy said.

"She thought you were dissing the diner."

"Huh?"

"When you said you don't frequent places like this."

"But …I meant I never had money or felt clean enough to come into a nice place like this."

Debbie grinned as she set down a couple of sodas in front of the two. "I figured that out from your next comment," she said giving Hunter a butt with her hip so that he would make room for her to sit down next to him.

"So, who is this young man?" she asked Hunter.

"Um…" Hunter began, not sure how much to reveal.

"I'm a girl," Lacy declared.

"Well, fuck! You could have fooled me," Debbie said.

"I've fooled lots of men," she said boldly.

Debbie frowned. She wasn't sure what that statement meant. Hustlers either male or female were very common along Liberty Avenue but this one seemed different, if that truly was what she was implying.

"Lacy's trying to straighten her life out," Hunter said trying to ease the tension between the two women. "She's been staying at the clinic for a few days."

"That's not much of a home," Debbie observed.

"Better than what I've had for months," Lacy said with a scowl.

"Lacy is very good at drawing," Hunter said hoping to strike some chord between these two.

"Like someone else we both know?" Debbie asked giving Hunter a pat on the cheek.

"Yeah, someone who once had need of a room at your house," Hunter grinned back.

"Are you talking about yourself?" Lacy asked looking at Hunter.

"No, I'm talking about Blondie."

"Blondie?"

"AKA Justin Taylor," Debbie supplied.

"He was on the streets?" Lacy asked in amazement.

"Not exactly," Debbie replied, but his father kicked him out and he needed a place to stay."

"Wow, I had no idea," Lacy said.

"Lacy just met Justin today. She loves his Rage artwork," Hunter explained.

"And you think she should spend some time in the room where it all began?" Debbie laughed.

Hunter shrugged. "You're quick on the uptake, Grandma."

"Grandma?" Lacy blurted out. "She's your fucking grandma?"

"I'm his fucking grandma," Debbie averred.

"Holy shit!"

"That's for sure," Debbie laughed as she got up to answer the bell indicating their orders were up. She returned in a minute with the burgers. "I'll let you two digest that little tidbit … and your burgers. The room is available if you want it, Lacy," she said as she moved away to wait on some other customers.

"Is she for real?" Lacy demanded as she dug into her burger.

"That's Debbie."

"But … she doesn't know me from Adam … or Eve," she chuckled. "And she's willing to give me a room in her house … just like that?" she asked snapping her fingers for emphasis.

"Just like that," Hunter said. "But there will be rules."

"Rules? Fuck!" Lacy groaned.

"Hey, Deb, you got a minute to tell Lacy about the rules at your place?"

"Sure," Debbie said as she passed by. "No tricks in the house and be home by three."

"Three?"

"In the morning," Hunter laughed.

"Jesus, I wish my parents had had rules like that."

"No parents have rules like that," Hunter laughed. "Just Deb … and she's not your parent."

"No, she's your grandmother." She shook her head still unable to connect all the dots and make this weird experience come into focus. "How am I supposed to pay her for living there, especially if I can't trick?"

"I thought you wanted to give up tricking," Hunter said with a frown.

"But what do I have as an alternative?"

"You could work here," Debbie said as she passed by arms loaded with plates.

"Here?" Lacy asked finishing her burger.

"Justin used to work here," Debbie supplied as she passed by going the other way.

"Justin worked here … and lived at her house?"

"Yep," Hunter nodded.

"If it's good enough for Justin Taylor then it should be good enough for me." Hunter and Lacy both smiled.

*****

Brian pulled up in front of Kinnetik. It seemed like ages since he had been in there. He wanted to check how everything was going and see how the Rage PR program was progressing. He scooped Bree out of her seat and carried her and her bags into the building. Justin had gone with John to the theater, and they would meet for lunch later. Bree was going to be spending her morning at the daycare at Kinnetik. Brian had a moment of anxiety as he set her down and took off her sweater. He hoped she would be in a better mood and behave more acceptably than she had with Patrick. He shuddered as he thought about another timeout.

"Dada," she said holding up her little arms. "Kiss."

Brian smiled and picked her up kissing her cheek and then blowing a raspberry against her neck. She giggled happily.

"Mr. Kinney, are we going to have the pleasure of Briana's company today?" asked one of the helpers in the daycare.

"I hope it will be a pleasure," Brian replied. The girl looked quizzically at him. "Bree seems to be starting the terrible twos a little ahead of schedule."

"I see."

"You may have to give her a timeout if she misbehaves."

"No, dada," Bree said patting Brian's lips. "Good."

"You're going to be a good girl and play nice with the other children today?"

"Yes, dada."

"That's my baby," Brian smiled giving his daughter a large smacking good kiss on the cheek. She giggled with pleasure.

"I'll take her, Mr. Kinney," the woman said as he handed Briana to her. "I'm sure we'll have a good day."

"Bye, dada," Bree called over the woman's shoulder as Brian walked away. It still tore at his heart to leave Briana alone without him, even if she was only down the hall from his office.

"Bri!" Ted said as he spotted Brian coming out of the daycare. "We didn't expect you today."

"Have to keep the peons on their toes," Brian smirked.

"Well, this peon is happy to report that we've pretty well covered the costs of the renovations. The city is kicking in with funding for the theater and it's in the works to have it declared a historical building."

"Great," Brian said. "Do you happen to know how the Rage promos are progressing?"

"Um, no, not my department, but I'm sure Cynthia has it all in hand."

"I hope so."

"How's Briana and Justin?"

"Peachy."

"Is anything wrong?"

"No," was all Brian said before disappearing into Cynthia's office.

*****

The morning had gone really well. Justin had talked to the restoration team from PIFA and they had worked out the preliminary process for the frescoes. Justin had agreed to take full control over the artwork and would have a team of students who would help him when the time came.

He was sitting on a board suspended across two cement blocks sketching another of the frescoes that had been revealed. He looked up to see Lacy standing off to the side watching him.

"Hey," he said.

"Hey. I'm not bothering you, am I?"

"No," Justin smiled. "What can I do for you?"

"I brought my sketches over. You said you would have a look at them."

"Sure. Let's see," Justin said holding out his hand.

Lacy brought her sketches around from behind her. Se held them out tentatively. "I can take it if they're really awful. Be honest and don't worry about hurting my feelings," she said as she handed them over to Justin.

Justin knew exactly how she was feeling. He had felt that way once upon a time, the first time he had shown his work to Lindsay. He had held his breath waiting for her evaluation. If she liked them he would be so happy and relieved. If she said he had no talent, he would be devastated but he wouldn't show it. Thank God she had liked his work.

He smiled up at Lacy as he took the sketches. He could see the apprehension in her eyes. This meant a lot to her. That was always a good sign. He glanced down at the first sketch. The pain in the drawing was evident. It showed a young man, not Lacy, who had obviously just injected himself with some illegal drug in an ugly alley. The needle lay beside his hand on the filthy pavement. He was completely oblivious to a rat that crawled across his foot. Justin shuddered.

"You hate it, don't you?" Lacy asked having seen his reaction.

"No, no I don't. It's very powerful and very real. Not all art is pretty." Justin heard Lacy let out a long breath. He looked at the next sketch. It was of a similar subject but showed a drug deal going down. He flipped through the rest of the sketches some showing anal intercourse and fellatio and young men huddled together against the cold. They all had a certain Rageian quality to them. Not exactly comics but minimal shading and detail.

"So what do you think?"

"I think you have talent, but you could use some training."

Lacy snorted. "Yeah, like I could afford some training," she said with disdain.

"How would you like to assist me with my work here, and I could give you some of that training in return?"

"How much do you pay?"

"Nothing."

"Nothing?"

"The lessons will be your payment." Justin waited to see her reaction. If she refused then she wasn't really committed to doing anything worthwhile in art.

"What would you want me to do?" she asked after a minute of digesting what he had just said.

"You'd be a gofer. Sharpen pencils, get me coffee, help me move this damn bench around to where I want to sketch," Justin replied.

"I could do that," she said.

"Then do we have a deal?"

"Sure." She held out her hand to shake.

"Great. Help me gather up all my pencils and shit and I'll take you to lunch. You can meet Rage if you'd like to."

"I can?" she grinned. "I'd love to. Here, let me take that," she said as she lifted Justin's sketchbook out of the way and watched him stand up and lean on his cane. "Are you hurt?"

"I'm getting better. My ankle stiffens up when I sit too long. Store all that stuff under the bench and let's go."

"Yes, sir!" she said with a big smile.

'When did I become a sir?' Justin wondered.

*****

"Cynthia, what is this shit? We've got some of the best artists and ad men in the whole fucking country and they can't handle a little PR for a fucking cartoon! Do I have to do everything myself?!"

"So I take it you don't like what they've come up with." A statement rather than a question. It was obvious to Cynthia that Brian was not pleased with the preliminary mock ups for the Rage movie.

"In a word, no," Brian answered with a glare. "It looks like the same old shit that every other movie ad looks like. I want something better, new, different."

Brian spent all morning pouring over the boards and each one of them left him disappointed. Somehow the artists were fixated on Rage the romantic, the human side of Rage. It was okay but it didn't have enough...rage. It was too sweet, too placid, too fluffy. Brian wanted that angry, raw quality that Justin had made popular. Justin.

"Hey."

"Hey, where are you?"

"Where you left me, in the theater. My assistant and I were about to walk over to Kinnetik and see if you were free for lunch."

"Assistant?"

"Long story. So are you free for lunch?"

"Depends."

"On what?"

"On whether JT can save Rage."

"Did IceTina freeze him again?"

"No, the fucking bad mocks ups for the PR campaign did."

"Uh oh. That bad?"

"Worse. Justin, it looks like Disney. It sucks and not in a positive life affirming way. These guys don't get it but you do."

"Me?!"

"Yeah, you. Look, get your bubbly butt over here ASAP and help me with this. I'll pay you as a consultant."

"I don't need your money."

"But I need you."

"Okay. My assistant and I will be there in about 15 minutes. And Bri, I want you to be nice."

"Nice? I'm always nice."

"Yeah, like a basket of angry cobras. Later."

"Later." Brian cut the connection and began to set out the pitiful boards on easels.

"Was that really Rage you were talking to?" Lacy asked all excited and a little apprehensive.

"Yeah, the asshole himself," Justin groused. He really couldn't believe that the ads were that bad and that his very own husband offered to pay him for working on them. Brian never had to pay Justin for anything he did for Kinnetik, not that he did a whole lot but in some weird way Brian's honor demanded that he pay. Justin shook his head as they finished safely stowing Justin's sketches of the frescoes and prepared to go over to Kinnetik.

"Fucking piece of shit!" Justin and Lacy entered Brian's inner sanctum and watched Brian mutter and curse as he paced back and forth in front of the boards.

"Gus, no Bree, can draw better than this! What was he thinking? That's supposed to be a superhero. He looks like he can't save himself out of a paper bag!"

Brian kept on cursing and pacing and didn't see Justin who sidled up to look at the boards. Lacy was in awe seeing the real Rage; he was even more beautiful and sexy in real life. Rage and JT together in the same room; it was almost too much to bear. And Brian was in full Rage mode.

"Brian," Justin said softly so as not to startle the man. Brian turned to see his husband standing next to him.

"Well, it's about fucking time!" Brian's anger immediately vanished as he saw Justin and drew the younger man into a hug. "I missed you."

"It's been only a few hours," Justin said as he returned the hug and chuckled.

"I know, but very long hours," Brian whispered into his blond's ear. Justin smiled then pulled himself out of Brian's arms.

"We have a guest." Justin indicated Lacy with a nod of his head.

"Your assistant?"

Justin nodded. "One of Hunter's lost kids." Brian arched a brow. "It's okay, she wandered into Hunter's clinic not too long ago and she likes to draw," Justin whispered.

"She?"

"I know, so be nice. Lacy's been hustling."

"You mean hooking."

"No, she pretends to be a he and..."

"I get it. Well, show Lacy in." Justin waved Lacy over.

She slowly walked toward Brian and Justin but kept closer to Justin. Cautiously, Lacy extended her hand out to Brian.

"It's nice to meet you, sir," Lacy said meekly with her eyes cast down. Brian gallantly took the small hand in his, brought it to his lips and gave it a chaste kiss. Then he twirled her around so that he stood in between the two, put his arms across both their shoulders and faced the dreadful boards.

"Well troops, how the fuck are we going to fix this shit?!"