Michael, Emmett, and Ted sat in their booth, bantering in their usual manner for a Sunday morning. The diner was full of colorful patrons, none of which were dressed in church going finery. It was not because a number of the patrons held no religious beliefs. Many of them did, but most preferred living their beliefs over attending organized religious establishments, where some were not even welcome. Sunday morning was normally reserved for a gathering at welcoming places like the Liberty Diner, where they could enjoy an easy camaraderie with like-minded friends. Mikey, Em, and Ted, along with Brian, had been doing it for years now. As they continued with their gabfest, they wondered why Brian hadn’t joined them yet. He had fallen back into the habit of joining them at the diner on Sunday morning not long after leaving the hospital.
Debbie stopped at the table to check on their needs, bringing a water pitcher with her. She almost always took the Sunday daytime shift at the diner. She hadn’t attended church since the day the family pastor openly chastised her brother, Vic, in front of the entire congregation for his evil lifestyle, warning him that he was on the pathway to Hell. She preferred being at the diner on a Sunday morning, among her favorite kind of folks. And the regular patrons of the diner were more than happy to see her there, especially after a hard night of weekend partying. No matter how hung over or sore they were, she always made them feel good about themselves.
“So boys, where is your fearless leader this morning?” she asked to no one in particular.
“Haven’t seen him since the middle of the week,” Michael piped up.
“Yeah,” chimed in Emmett. “Nobody has in the last few days, but I heard through the grapevine that he was up to something involving Melanie. Dying to get the lowdown on that bit of gossip,” he grinned.
“Well no matter what he’s been up to, I certainly expected to see him at either Woody’s or Babylon yesterday, but no show,” remarked Ted. “I wonder what kept him away?”
“Well, don’t look at me. I tried calling him yesterday, but he never picked up. I even left a few messages.” Michael sounded a little put out.
“Whatever has Brian distracted right now, I’m sure he’ll tell us all about it when he’s ready. Maybe he just got tired of having all of us constantly looking out for him as if he was still an invalid. Maybe he just needed a break from it all,” Debbie surmised.
“C’mon, Ma! Losing his memory doesn’t make him an invalid, and none of us have been treating him like one.” Emmett and Ted nodded their heads in agreement.
“Really? I’ve watched all of you constantly checking up on him, asking him how he’s feeling. And maybe, I have to admit that I’ve been a little too over-concerned about how he’s doing too. I know he’s grateful that we are taking time to tell him about the stuff he’s forgotten, but just maybe it’s become an overload of information. I think it’s time we pulled back a little and let the man have a break,” Debbie pronounced, staring straight at her son.
Michael was about to respond when the bell above the diner door tinkled. All eyes automatically were drawn to see who had just stepped in. Surprised looks and open mouths greeted the new arrivals. Brian stood at the entrance, Justin close at his side. Both men looked at ease, as if nothing traumatic had ever separated them. Debbie was the first to shift from being surprised to being delighted. She let out her trademark squeal and rushed forward, nearly dropping her water pitcher as she did. In one swift movement, she set the pitcher on the counter next to the door and gathered both men against her ample bosom. They did their best to wriggle loose.
Once free, they headed towards the booth holding their friends, with Debbie right on their heels. As if on cue, Michael scooted as far over to the wall as he could get, leaving plenty of room for both Brian and Justin to take a seat. Debbie leaned over and placed a kiss on the top of Justin’s fair hair. She patted Brian on his shoulder. There were tears glistening in her eyes.
“I’m so happy to see my Sunshine back here again,” Debbie laughed, placing another kiss on Justin’s head.
“Sunshine?” Brian looked puzzled.
“Damn! I forgot that you don’t remember anything about our Justin here,” said Debbie. “Let me explain. The very first night I met Justin, I called him Sunshine. Who could blame me? I mean the kid has a smile brighter than sunlight.”
Justin blushed, remembering how he mocked Debbie to Michael at that first meeting, not realizing at the time that she was Mikey’s mom.
Debbie continued. “After a while, Brian, you even started calling him Sunshine.”
Brian looked over at Justin and smiled. “Yeah, I can kind of see what you mean, Deb,” Brian agreed. “Anyway, the two of us had the chance to get to know each other better yesterday at the loft, and I thought it would be a good idea if we came here for breakfast. My thought is that familiar surroundings would be more conducive to jogging my memory than meeting somewhere that means nothing to either of us,” he explained.
“You spent the night at the loft together?” Michael asked. His face revealed more than he would have wanted to.
“We thought that reliving some of our time together would help resurrect the past,” Brian responded, with a hint of teasing in his voice.
“Did it work?” asked Emmett.
Justin answered. “No, not yet. But it wasn’t for a lack of trying.”
“Details… I want details,” smirked Ted.
Debbie reached over and gently swatted Ted on the head.
Brian and Justin just grinned like two young boys sneaking a smoke behind the barn.
“Enough talk,” declared Brian. “We’re starving, Deb.”
Debbie straightened up and pulled out her pad. “Shoot,” she told them.
Michael winced, remembering the off-color remark she made in front of Justin before taking their orders the first time he was in the diner. Brian ordered his usual healthy egg-white omelet with dry toast, while Justin ordered his typical breakfast special with a little of everything on the plate. Brian, being unaware of Justin’s eating habits, was amused. He wondered how Justin was able to maintain such a delightfully fit body if this was his customary way of eating. Ah, the young, Brian thought to himself!
While waiting for Brian and Justin’s food, Michael, Emmett, and Ted polished off the last of their own meals. They sat back in the booth and sipped from their coffee cups, chattering on about nothing in particular. They were trying to be polite and let the couple finish their own meals before bombarding them about the events from the night before. Brian and Justin seemed to be deliberately, maddeningly slow as they took their time with breakfast. Finally, Justin swallowed his last bite of eggs. He and Brian also settled back into the booth, sipping at their coffee cups too.
“Okay, Brian, I think we’ve been patient enough. Spill! What did you two talk about and did any of it give you even a glimmer of recognition?” Michael asked.
“We talked about a lot of things, Mikey. You even came up in conversation a time or two. But don’t worry, it wasn’t all bad.”
A pained look crossed Michael’s face. He was tempted to ask what was said about him but changed his mind. Some things were better left unsaid. If Brian and Justin were starting to reconnect again, Michael had no desire for Brian to learn how he had blamed Justin for the bashing in the beginning. He thought better of it now, especially after his mom had a long talk with him, but there was no need for Brian to hear about it. He only hoped that Justin didn’t tell Brian about any of the other times he expressed his disapproval of their relationship. It was true that he had finally accepted Justin as being important to Brian, especially after landing a man of his own in Dr. Dave, but he had no desire to explain his actions to Brian before that acceptance.
“I guess it’s nice to know that I’m important enough to come up in your conversations,” Mikey said, sounding a tiny bit peeved.
Brian responded with a look that Michael recognized. He decided not to say anymore. He’d leave it to the others to try and ferret out any information about the success or failure of the meeting between Brian and Justin. But before either Ted or Emmett could start probing, the bell above the diner door tinkled again, announcing more customers. Instinctively, eyes turned to the doorway again. This time they saw Mel and Lindsey standing there. The girls spotted the men in their usual booth and made their way towards it. Lindsey pushed a stroller in front of her. When she reached the table, she reached down and brought baby Gus out of his seat.
Gus wasn’t even a year and a half old yet, but he was a big boy for his age. He already looked so much like his father that Brian would have had trouble denying his parentage. When he first woke from his coma and learned that he had a son, Brian tried imagining what it felt like. He didn’t feel much of anything… that is, until the girls started bringing Gus around to spend time with him. Before he knew it, Brian felt an attachment to little Gus that truly surprised him. It didn’t mean that he liked the thought of raising a child himself. He was more than happy to leave that job for the mothers of his son. But Brian felt more and more proud of his boy, never realizing that he had already fallen in love with Gus long before now. Brian reached for Gus. Lindsey handed him over into Brian’s arms. Justin reached over and stroked the baby’s silken hair.
“It’s so good to see you with Gus again,” Lindsey told Justin.
Justin smiled. “I’ve missed seeing Gus too,” Justin admitted. “I’ve missed all of you, more than I can say.”
This was the first time that Brian saw for himself just how at ease Justin was with his friends, and they were with him. He was impressed. Debbie came back to their table so she could coo over baby Gus. She had felt like the baby’s grandmother from the very first day she saw him.
Mel finally spoke up. “So, Brian, have you told the others about your plans to take down Chris Hobbs once and for all?”
“What plans?” Nearly everyone asked in unison.
Mel answered. “I’ll let Brian tell you. He came to me with the idea and I back him on it one hundred percent.”
All eyes turned to Brian.
“It’s simple,” Brian began. “The fucking law gave the little turd a pass for what he did to me, but I’ll be damned if I will. I’m going to sue the fucking bastard within an inch of his life. He’ll be in my debt from now till Doomsday when I’m through with him. Mel says I have every chance of winning in civil court, simply because he’s already been found guilty in criminal court. All I have to do is prove damages. That won’t be too difficult. The bastard cost me a fortune in lost income from the agency.”
“Not to mention stealing almost a year of your life from you, at least for now,” added Justin.
“And don’t forget the pain and suffering he’s caused you,” added Michael. He turned to the others. “Brian told me that he still gets nasty headaches sometimes out of nowhere. That’s definitely been caused by his head injuries.”
“Well, bravo for you!” Debbie responded. “I’m proud of you, Brian. Too bad you can’t sue that ignorant judge who barely gave him any kind of punishment. I had half a mind to pull some kind of dirty trick on him after he gave his judgement, like letting the air out of all his tires or painting the word ‘homophobe’ on his car, but decided he wasn’t worth going to jail for.”
“Smart thinking, Deb,” declared Mel. “But don’t worry. We may not be able to do anything about the judge, but Chris Hobbs is another story altogether.”
Everyone laughed. Every single one of them liked the idea of Chris Hobbs facing an entirely different courtroom this time and coming out of it a broken man. They eagerly looked forward to having a front row seat on that day.
To be continued…………