Going the Distance

Chapter 2

Brian woke up at noon the next day to the sound of his father pounding on his door. He could hear the slight slur to his voice and once again was thankful that he would be going away to college in the fall. Things had gotten a little better last year when Brian finally stood up to the old man, but he still lived in hell and couldn’t wait to get out. Covering his head with his pillow, he tried to block out the sound to no avail.

“Let’s go, Sonny Boy. Get your lazy ass out of bed. I told you to clean the garage today.”

“Alright! I’ll be down in a little while!” Brian yelled back, pulling the covers over his head.

“Listen you little shit, you have five minutes to get your ass downstairs before I come back up here and throw you down!” Jack exclaimed before stomping off.

Brian laid in bed for a minute and once again calculated the number of days left until he could move away before climbing out of bed and throwing on his clothes. He made it down with 30 seconds to spare, but apparently that wasn’t good enough for Jack. Brian never saw the hand coming towards his head until it was too late.

“Next time get up when I tell you to, instead of making me wait for your sorry ass,” Jack yelled.

Brian held his head and mumbled “yes, Pop,” before following his father out to the garage.

The day seemed to drag while Brian worked along side his father, the whole time his mind kept replaying the IM session he had with Justin the night before. He had seemed so inexperienced, more so than the average 17 year old, that it made Brian wonder if he was hiding something. Like maybe he wasn’t really 17. Maybe he was just some stupid kid hiding behind the computer. The more he thought about it, the more he realized that he really didn’t know that much about him at all, yet he spent half the night awake and thinking about him. That thought made him feel a little uncomfortable, so he pushed Justin out of his mind and finished cleaning up before heading upstairs to take a shower, deciding to go out instead of spending the night sitting in front of the computer. He wanted to get as far away from his father as he could in case he felt the need for a punching bag again. After a quick call to Mikey, he was on his way to meet his friends, thoughts of the kid in Pittsburgh pushed to the back of his mind.

Justin sat in front of the computer all night waiting to hear from Brian. By the time midnight rolled around he had to face the fact that something he said must of freaked him out and scared him away. He knew the sadness that overcame him was ridicules, considering that he didn’t really know him, yet he couldn't help what he was feeling. He shut down his computer and laid on his bed, his mind replaying the conversation from the night before. He couldn't think of anything he might have said to scare Brian off. Maybe he just was out for the night. Midnight in Pittsburgh was only 9:00 in California. He planned on waiting for a while longer and signing on again, but soon he was sound asleep.

Brian snuck into the house well after midnight, trying desperately not to wake his parents. It felt good to go out with the gang and forget his troubles, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't get Justin out of his head. He regretted taking off without at least sending an email to let Justin know he wasn't going to be around since he had said he was going to be on, and went upstairs to log on, knowing that with the time difference no one would be there.

As he suspected, Justin was not signed on. Even though he figured as much, he was still disappointed when he didn't see his screen name appear on his buddy list. Shaking away those thought he began to surf around, looking for something to keep him busy. He was surprised when he heard the sound of a door opening, signaling that Justin signed on. He immediately sent an IM to his new friend.

{BKinney: Hey Justin, what are you doing up? It's after three am by you.}

{JT1982: I fell asleep earlier, but woke up a little while ago and couldn't go back to sleep. I have too much on my mind, I guess.}

{BKinney: Is everything okay? Do you want to talk about it?}

Justin thought about that for a moment. One of the reasons he couldn't sleep is because he was upset by being blown off by Brian. He didn't want to share that with Brian, though. The other reason was just one of his normal pity parties where he sat around feeling sorry for himself and wishing he could be just like everyone else, and he obviously couldn't share that with him.

{JT1986: No, it's just the normal shit. My parents treat me like I'm a kid and I'm just getting tired of it.}

{BKinney: I know what you mean. My parents are always on my case, too. In fact, that's why I wasn't here earlier. My father was giving me a hard time and I needed to get away. I'm sorry about that.}

{JT1986: That's okay. There's no need to explain anything to me. I understand you would rather go out than sit and chat online. Who wouldn't?}

{BKinney: Actually, I would have rather been here talking to you, but I've learned that when my father gets into one of his moods, the best thing to do was get as far away from him as I can.}

{JT1986: Is there anything you want to talk about? It sounds like things were pretty bad if you felt you had to leave the house to get away from your father.}

{BKinney: Just the usual. Nothing that you would want to hear, anyway.}

Justin didn't like the way things were going. Even though he couldn't hear Brian's voice, he seemed to be pretty down about whatever had happened between him and his father and he couldn’t help but think back to their first IM session. He had said that his parents were his parents, but not by their choice. Justin was beginning to get worried about his new friend.

{JT1986: Brian, if you want to talk about it, I'll listen. That's what friends are for.}

{BKinney: There's not much to talk about. My father's an asshole who thinks it's alright to push me around until he gets what he wants.}

{JT1986: You mean he hits you?}

Justin was startled by what he was hearing. His parents may piss him off occasionally, but they never laid a hand on him, and he knew they never would.

{BKinney: Yeah, but it's no big deal. I'll be out of here in less than a year anyway, and once I'm gone, I'm never coming back.}

{JT1986: I'm so sorry, Brian. Parents shouldn't hit their kids.}

{BKinney: Yeah, well someone should explain that to Jack Kinney. It doesn't matter. Like I said, it's almost over. So, what's your favorite movie?}

Justin noticed the change in subject and knew that Brian was done talking about his home life. He really wanted to ask more questions, but decided to let the matter drop. They continued talking for another hour until exhaustion took over and Justin had to go to bed. They agreed to meet back online later that night before saying good bye.

For the next month, Brian and Justin met online every night, talking and getting to know each other. Justin began to start having feelings for his new friend and thought about telling Brian about his blindness, but he had already lied by omission and thought it was best to keep that information to himself.

About five weeks after they had met, Brian was sitting in his room waiting for Justin to sign on when his father barged into his room in one of his drunken rages.

"What the fuck are you doing, Sonny Boy? I thought I told you to take the garbage out!"

"Sorry, Pop, I guess I forgot. I'll go take it out now," Brian replied, rising to go do what was asked of him.

"You forgot?" Jack yelled, backhanding Brian across the face. "How many fucking times do I have to tell you something before you remember? I bet if I took away that fancy computer that your grandmother bought you, you would start to remember!"

"No! I said I was sorry. I'll go take it out now," Brian exclaimed, trying to push past his old man. "I need my computer for school. It's where I do all my research."

"Well, ain't that just too fucking bad! I don't see what's the point, anyway. You don't need all those A's of yours to work with me at the plant. Now give me that keyboard of yours and get downstairs,"

"But Pop…" Brian whined, only to be backhanded once again, knocking him into the wall. He could feel blood trickling down from a split in his lip, but wouldn't give his father the satisfaction of showing his pain.

"Now move it!"

Brian had no choice but to do what he was told. He unplugged his keyboard and handed it to Jack, then headed downstairs to take out the garbage. He waited outside for awhile until he was sure his father had gone to bed, then went back to his room and locked the door. He stared at his computer, knowing it was useless to him now that he didn't have his keyboard. All he could think about was how he wouldn't be able to talk to Justin anymore. His nightly conversations with him was the only bright spot in his day and Jack had taken that away from him, too. He lay back on his bed, ignoring the throbbing that came from the bruise he was getting on his face and thought about his future and the day he would be able to walk away from his parents and never look back.

Justin sat at the computer all night waiting for Brian to sign on. Unlike the last time when Brian wasn't around and Justin thought he was being blown off, now Justin couldn't help but worry about his friend. He knew Brian was in an abusive home and couldn't help but wonder if something had happened to keep him away from the computer. By the time Justin had given up for the night, it was four in the morning, which meant it was after one in California. Something had to have happened, but all Justin could do was wait and see if Brian appeared the next day.

After the third day, Justin was in a panic. He woke up on Saturday morning and called Daphne, telling her he needed a favor. She was at his house within an hour.

"Justin, what's wrong? You look like you haven't slept in days," Daphne said with concern.

"I haven't. I'm really worried about Brian. I haven't talked to him in days and I think something might have happened to him. I need you to help me find his number so I can call him," Justin explained, trying to keep some of his fear out of his voice. He would feel foolish if it turned out that Brian just got tired of talking to him, but he couldn't stand not knowing anymore.

"Brian? You mean that guy you've been talking to online?"

"Yeah, we talk everyday. We have since the night we met, but I haven't heard from him in days. I think something might have happened," Justin replied quietly.

"What do you mean? What could have happened?" Daphne asked, getting a weird feeling from Justin's words.

"Daph, his father hits him. What if he's hurt? What if he needs me but I don't know it because I have no way to get a hold of him?" Justin could feel his panic building, and tried to calm himself down.

Daphne noticed Justin's near hysterics and knew that he was starting to really care about this guy. Without commenting on his reaction, she reached for the phone.

"What are you doing?" Justin asked when he heard Daphne moving away from him.

"Calling information…what's Brian's last name and where does he live?"

"Thanks Daph," Justin replied. He gave her all the information he had, including the town Brian lived in and his fathers name. Then he waited patiently until she was off the phone. "Well?"

"Okay, there were three J Kinney's listed in Oakland. We'll just call each one and see if he's at one of them," Daphne said, reaching for the phone.

The first two numbers they tried never heard of a Brian Kinney. They had one more chance and Justin's hand was shaking as Daphne handed him the phone.

"Hello, is Brian there?" Justin asked.

"He's still asleep, hang on for a minute," the voice replied.

Justin covered up the phone in excitement. "This is it! Thanks Daph, this is his number!"

"I'll give you a few minutes alone," Daphne offered walking out and closing the door behind her.

Justin was trying to control his nerves while he waited for Brian to get on the phone. What if he really was blowing me off? What if he gets mad that I called him? His mind was racing with all the reasons why he should just hang up. He knew that Brian was obviously okay, since they were bringing him the phone, and he would never know who called him since Justin didn't give his name. Before he had a chance to make his decision, a sleepy voice came on the line, making the decision for him.

"Hello?"

"Brian?"

"Yeah, who's this?" Brian asked, not recognizing the voice on the other end. He was still half asleep and wanted to get back to the dream he was having.

"It's Justin…I'm sorry to call you…I guess I probably shouldn't have and I hope you're not mad. I was just worried about you since I didn't hear from you in a few days…but obviously you're okay so I'll just let you go. Forget that I called," Justin rambled nervously.

"Hey…wait…slow down. Justin?" Brian asked, suddenly wide awake. "How did you get my number?"

"My friend Daphne called information. There are three J. Kinney's listed in Oakland," Justin replied shyly.

"Oh…I didn't think about that," Brian replied.

"Yeah, but like I said…it's obvious that you're okay so just forget I called…"

"Justin, wait! Don't hang up. I'm not upset that you called. I'm actually glad that you did."

"You are?"

"Yeah, my asshole father took my computer away because I forgot to take the garbage out the other day. I didn't know how to get a hold of you and I didn't want you thinking that I was blowing you off," Brian explained.

"Oh…shit, that sucks. How long is he going to keep you from the computer?" Justin asked, wondering how someone could be so cruel as to take away a computer just for forgetting to take out the garbage.

"I don't know. He said I could have it back when I learn to do what I'm told. God, I can't wait to get out of here," Brian sighed.

"Did he…I mean…"

"Did he hit me? Yeah, he did, but it's okay. The black eye's already fading," Brian assured him, wondering why he was so willing to offer information to Justin when he never told anyone else what happened in his house. The only one who had some idea of what Jack was like was his friend Mikey and that's because Brian had to seek shelter in his house on more than one occasion.

Justin shuddered at Brian's words. How could anyone hurt their child like that? "I'm sorry, Brian. You shouldn't have to live like that. Have you told anyone about what he does? Maybe social services could…"

"No! I only have a little while longer and then I'm gone. Jack may be a bastard, but the last thing I want is to be put into foster care. At least I know what to expect here."

Before Justin could reply, he heard the sound of someone pounding on Brian's door and held his breath while he listened to the exchange between father and son.

"I thought I told you to cut the grass today! How many times do I have to kick your pathetic ass before you do what you're told?" Jack screamed.

"I was just getting up now, Pop. I'll be down in a few minuets," Brian replied, trying his best to cover up the phone before Justin heard anything.

"You've got five minutes to get your ass in that yard before I come back in here and drag you out there myself," Jack threatened sternly before walking out and slamming the door.

Brian took a deep breath and jumped up out of bed before getting back on the phone. "Listen Justin, I better go. Thanks for calling."

"Brian! Wait! Are you going to be okay?" Justin asked, his worry evident in his voice.

"Yeah, I'll be fine. Why don't you give me your number and I'll call you tonight," Brian assured him.

Justin gave Brian his bedroom number and assured him that he could call anytime, no matter how late it was, then said good bye. Daphne found him a few minutes later, lost in thought.

"Did you talk to him? Is everything alright?"

"I talked to him, but I don't think everything's alright," Justin replied softly. He had hoped that calling Brian would ease his mind, but it had only made him worry more. And there was nothing Justin could do except to wait until he heard from Brian and pray that his father would leave him alone. It was going to be a long day.


End of part 2
5/18/04

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