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Author's Chapter Notes:

Chris Hobbs has received notice that Brian Kinney is suing him.  The boy is not too happy.  Meanwhile, after a busy week that has kept Brian and Justin from seeing each other, it's time to agree on another get-together.

 

 

Chris Hobbs was still fuming.  His damned father had no problem supporting him when it came to keeping him out of jail for the sake of the family name.  But, the bastard made it clear he wasn’t going to come to his son’s aid when it came to stopping him from ending up with an enormous debt.  Of course, it might not come to that.  After he was notified that a suit had been filed against him by Kinney, Hobbs worked hard to convince himself that the butt-fucker could never beat him in a civil suit.  This is what he was telling himself.  The self-delusion then faded after he saw a civil lawyer who his criminal lawyer recommended.  Scott Jackson, his new lawyer, pulled no punches.  He bluntly told him that he would very likely lose the suit.  Of course, for a hefty fee, Jackson was more than willing to take on his case and work to win it for his client.  That’s where Hobbs had expected his father to come in to help by paying the hefty fee. 

 

Hobbs made a decent enough living from his construction job.  It was enough to rent a place of his own, which he did right after his criminal trial ended, but it wasn’t enough by any means to pay huge legal fees.  Hell, he was still paying back his father for covering his legal fees during the criminal trial.  Now he had come to ‘good old dad’ with his hand out again, asking for help with the new lawyer.  Despite his mother begging on his behalf, his father made it clear that the family bank was closed.  When his father reminded Chris that it was his own fault he found himself in this position, it made his father’s refusal to help sting even more. It also increased his hatred of Kinney and Taylor a thousand times over. 

 

Just when Hobbs was at his wit’s end as to how he would be able to pay the lawyer, his mother came to the rescue.  It was something she had done for her only child countless times over the years.  Chris had a tendency to get into trouble far too many times while growing up, although nothing serious enough to put him in jail before the bashing incident.  Most of the time when he lost his temper and did something regrettable, or drank too much and made a fool of himself, the problem could be solved with a little cash.  Even his father had covered up a lot of his son’s mistakes in the past.  That is, until Chris finally crossed the line and did something that came close to sending him to prison.  Dad had finally had enough and swore to never rescue his son again if he got in trouble in the future.  Mom was another story.  As far as she was concerned, her baby boy was the victim.  She explained away most of his actions as being caused by someone deliberately provoking her child.  She firmly believed that her darling boy would not have ever attacked that man, Brian Kinney, if the fags hadn’t egged him on.  And now she was incensed that they were trying to ruin Chris’ future financial stability.

 

Hobbs was at home drinking his fifth beer, and still bristling at his father’s rejection to help him financially, when he heard a knock on his door.  The one thing he wasn’t in the mood for was company of any kind.  He decided to ignore it as he gulped a few more swallows from his bottle.  The knocking persisted.  Finally, he heard a familiar voice through the door.

 

“Christopher, darling, it’s your Mom.  I know you’re home.  I can see your car in the garage.  Please, honey, I need to talk to you.”

 

Although he was in no mood for talking, Chris couldn’t ignore his mother.  She was the only person who had always had his back.  He reluctantly made his way to the front door and let her in.  He stood stiffly as she tried to give him a hug.  He finally relented and allowed a brief one before pulling away.

 

“Darling boy, please don’t be like that.  I know how upset you are that Dad has refused to help you with your little problem.”

 

“Little problem?” Chris blurted out.  “For fuck’s sake, Mom, I wouldn’t call a chance of being shackled with millions of dollars in debt a ‘little problem’!”

 

“Please, Chris, watch your language.  I don’t mean to minimize what you’re facing.  I didn’t come here to upset you any more than you already are.”

 

“Then what the fuck are you here for?” he asked, ignoring her request to avoid cursing.

 

Mrs. Hobbs flinched, but went on.  “I tried to get through to your father and change his mind, but you know how stubborn he is when he makes a decision.  I couldn’t budge him.  Then I remembered something important.”

 

“And that is?”

 

“Do you remember me telling you about my parents passing within months of each other when you were just a baby?”

 

Chris nodded his head. “Yeah, vaguely.  But what has that got to do with me?”

 

“Well, what I never told you about was my inheritance.  Your grandfather had his own business and did quite well with it.  When he passed, he left everything to your grandmother.  Then when she passed shortly after, everything came to me as their only child.”

 

“Hell, Mom, that was nearly twenty years ago!  Whatever you inherited has to be long gone by now.”

 

“That’s just it, son.  Your father and I did use a chunk of it to buy our house, but there was still a fair amount left.  We invested the balance in some stocks in case of emergencies in the future.  I’d call this an emergency for my boy, wouldn’t you?”

 

“Well damn, Mom, there is no way that Dad will allow you to give me any of the proceeds from your stock,” Chris angrily stated.

 

“That’s not a problem, Chris.  Your father has no control over it.  The stocks are all in my name.  The executor of my mother’s will insisted upon it before turning over the money.  He was very close to my family, and the truth is that Mom and Dad never really liked your father.  They didn’t trust him, so the executor was just carrying out their wishes.  Besides that, I’m not sure your father even remembers I have the stocks any longer.  He never mentions them, and it has been a very long time since they were bought.”

 

“Then I have to ask, how do you know the stocks are worth anything now?”

 

“I didn’t know for certain, although they were reliable investments at the time.  That’s why I checked before bringing this up to you.”

 

“And?”

 

“And, most of them have increased nearly ten-fold since I bought them.  They are worth nearly a hundred thousand dollars in today’s market.  It’s more than enough to cover your lawyer’s fees with some to spare.”

 

“So, you’re telling me that Dad can’t stop you from selling the stocks and letting me have the money?” 

 

Mrs. Hobbs nodded her head.  “Then screw the old man!  Thanks, Mom.”

 

“And you can pay me back whenever you can, Chris.  Don’t worry about it.”

 

Chris hesitated, but then finally responded, “Yeah sure, Mom.”

 

Mother and son continued to chat for a few more minutes before Chris hurried his mother away with a quickly thought out excuse.  He wanted to be alone to think about what had just happened.  He knew the chances that he would ever repay his mother back were slim to none, but that’s what mothers were there for… to take care of their children when they needed them.  It was the least they owed their kids.  Now he wouldn’t have to stress over the cost of defending the goddamned lawsuit.  But this still didn’t cover the catastrophe that would confront him if he lost the suit.  Nor did it diminish his hatred for the man who had put him in this precarious position.  His mother couldn’t solve that little problem for him.  If he wanted to end his problem with Brian Kinney for good, and maybe even take care of Justin Taylor at the same time, he’d have to do it himself. 

 

********************************************

 

Nearly a week passed since Brian and Justin made their first visit to the Liberty Diner together since the bashing, and both men were too busy to meet up again during the week.  Brian was sent out of town on Monday to meet with a client he remembered quite well.  They had been clients of his for almost four years, and now wanted to discuss a new campaign for the coming Spring with their favorite ad man.  He had to be in Chicago until Friday morning.  Justin, in the meantime, occupied his time with his classes at PIFA.  Classmate, Ethan Gold, continued to try and attract his attention up until the moment Justin set him straight on Friday morning.  Justin knew Brian would be back in town and his hope was that he would want to spend another weekend with him.  He had no intention of letting Ethan get in the way of his goal.  Ethan put on a good show of feeling tremendous disappointment at being rebuffed by Justin, but was then spotted at the end of the school day flirting with another attractive young student named Mark.  Justin just shrugged and muttered something about ‘knowing the guy was a player’ under his breath.

 

Justin returned home to his mother’s place after school.  He had made no plans for the weekend.  He wanted only one thing, and that was to hear from Brian.  He was just finishing his dinner of pork chops and asparagus when his phone rang.  One look at the caller’s name and he knew his prayers were answered.  Justin excused himself from the table and hurried off to his bedroom.  Jennifer smiled and winked at her daughter.  She knew that only one person could make Justin look that excited to receive a call.  She had no problem with it at all, unlike her feelings when she first learned of her son’s relationship with the older man.  Like a truly good mother, she only wanted her son to be happy, and she now knew that it was Brian who brought Justin the most happiness he’d ever had in his life.  If it was Brian that Justin wanted to be with, then Brian was okay with her.  If he ever broke Justin’s heart, that might be another story, but she prayed that would never happen.  The moment Justin reached his room, he closed the door and answered his phone.  He felt a sudden shiver of delight at hearing the voice on the other end.

 

“Hi,” was all he could think to say, but his voice conveyed his excitement.

 

“Hi back at you,” Brian responded.  “I told you last weekend that I’d get in touch with you when I could, and now I’m free this weekend.  Would you like to get together again and go over a few more things I’ve managed to forget?”

 

“Name the place and time and I’ll be there,” Justin boldly answered.

 

“Well then, how about Woody’s for a starter, tonight?  Everyone tells me we spent some interesting times there last year.  You do remember where it is, right?”

 

“Of course, I do,” Justin replied, sounding slightly offended.  “I really like the place, even if I am too young to indulge in the spirits.  Of course, that never stopped you from letting me have a sip or two of your drinks.  I guess you figured that if I was old enough to fuck, I was old enough to drink.” 

 

For a moment, Brian was surprised by Justin’s boldness, but then he realized that he had already seen hints of the young man’s directness.  Maybe, he thought, that trait in him was one of the things that drew him to Justin in the first place.  In a way, Justin reminded him of his own fearlessness when he was a teenager.  Certainly, there were not many high school boys who would boldly walk into a shower while their naked coach was bathing, hoping to entice the man.  Somehow, Brian could picture Justin doing something very much like that himself, if the opportunity ever arose.

 

“Then it’s a date.”

 

Justin caught the single word immediately.  “I thought you said you don’t do dates.”

 

“It’s not a romantic date, for fuck’s sake.  You know, Justin, I’m beginning to see that you can be a little cocky sometimes.”

 

“I thought you liked cock… y,” Justin shot back.

 

“Keep it up, kid, and I’ll have to take you over my knee.”

 

“Promise?”

 

Brian smiled, despite himself.  “Okay, that’s enough.”  He tried to sound irritated.  “Do you want me to pick you up, in say an hour?”

 

“Works for me.  I’ll see you then, Brian.”

 

Justin heard the phone click off.  He couldn’t help but laugh.  He knew Brian a hell of a lot better than Brian knew him since Hobbs’ attack, and he knew he had gotten to the man. 

 

“Brian,” Justin declared to the empty room, “you don’t know it yet, but you are falling for me all over again.  I know it, and one of these days, you’re going to know it too.” 

 

With that said, Justin rushed to his closet.  He had to look his best for Brian.  Who knew where this night would lead them?  And wherever it was, Justin was happy to go there.

 

 

To be continued…………….  

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