The Gus Diaries

Part 59

Unexpected Trouble
 

I really like working with Uncle Michael at Red Cape Comics. Even though most of my responsibilities revolve around lifting boxes and putting comics on shelves, it’s really relaxing. It’s Uncle Michael that makes it feel that way.

He’s always been really special to me. Whenever he would visit Jenny, while we were in Canada, he’d always include me -- most of the time. After I moved in with Dad and Pop, even before Jenny came back, too, he always considered me more than just his best friend’s son. It’s fucking hard to explain in words, but he and I just seem to have this special relationship.

Now that I’m working for him, we’ve grown closer, in a more adult way. I like that. He talks to me about all sorts of shit. For example, I never knew Uncle Michael was so into politics. He’s always campaigning for LGBT-friendly candidates and issues and he lets news reporters interview him on the rights he’s fighting to protect.

I never knew just how smart he was until I started working for him.

A few days ago, after we’d finished basketball practice, Jeff and I walked to work. It was a cold, autumn day, but it felt good after a tough practice. We were winning all of our games and Coach didn’t want us to get lazy and think we were unbeatable.

When we got to the store, Jeff came in, since he didn’t have to be at the diner until the dinner shift.

I saw that Uncle Michael was on the phone so I went straight to the employees room in the back and dropped off all my stuff. I noticed a couple of boxes that we hadn’t finished emptying from the day before and was surprised. Uncle Michael usually finishes anything we started shelving the following morning. I just shrugged it off. Jeff and I brought the remaining boxes out to the front, opened them and I started placing the comics on their appropriate racks.

Uncle Michael was still talking softly on the phone and he hadn’t even acknowledged that we’d walked in. That was really strange. He always picks up his head and nods in the direction of anyone who walks in, whether he knows them or not.

By the time he finished his call, I’d already put away most of the comics and was breaking up the boxes for the recycling bin.

“Hey, Mr. N, how are you?”

“Oh, hi Jeff, I didn’t see you come in.”

Jeff and I looked at each other. Uncle Michael was more than distracted. He had some Spiderman action figure in his hand and started turning it over and over through his fingers.

“Uncle Michael.”

“Oh, Gus, you’re here, too.” Then he paused and scratched his head. “That’s right, you’re on today. Good. There are boxes in the back that need to be...”

“Uncle Michael, I just finished those.” He blinked a few times, finally noticing what I was doing with the box cutters. “Are you okay? You look kind of distracted.” I was trying to be polite, but he was fucking out of it. If I didn’t know him any better, I’d wonder if he was on some kind of drugs.

“Sorry kids, I’m fine.” Well that explained a lot -- NOT!

I tried a new tactic. “Who was on the phone? Some big wheeler-dealer in the comic world?”

That got a small smile. “Hardly. That was Ben.”

Uncle Ben -- why the fuck was Uncle Michael so distracted from speaking with Uncle Ben? That made no sense. Then I thought about Jenny. Uncle Ben is usually with her in the afternoon. “Is Jenny okay? Did something happen to her?”

It was almost like something snapped and Uncle Michael realized that I was concerned about his bizarre and evasive behavior.

“Oh, shit! No, Jenny’s fine. She’s with my mom this afternoon. She’s been hanging out at the diner until either Mel or me can pick her up.”

“That’s right, Newbie. Your sister has become the best, nonpaying customer we have. She eats like a fucking bird and does her homework at the back booth in the diner.” I looked at Jeff, my surprise written across my face. “I would have said something, but I figured she would have mentioned it during one of your phone conversations. You two talk like every other day.”

Now, I was even more confused. “No -- I mean we do talk every other day, but she didn’t say a word.”

Then it was like a fucking light bulb, not only went off, but exploded over my head. “Oh shit,” I whispered, almost to myself. “Uncle Michael,” I went over to him and touched his shoulder. “How’s Uncle Ben?”

He looked at me and I could tell I’d hit a nerve -- the nerve. This was the one thing that could get Uncle Michael so distracted he wouldn’t know if an armed gunman came in the store and stole everything around him.

“Uhmm, that was Ben on the phone.” He looked back down at the phone that was still in his hand -- the hand that wasn’t twirling Spiderman.

“I know, you told us. What did he say?” Obviously everything was NOT alright, so I decided not to ask that ridiculous question.

“He has a cold.” Michael kept looking at the phone.

Jeff and I looked at each other and we were both clearly confused. “Uncle Michael, is that a big deal? Am I missing something?”

“I was just remembering something Ben told me a long time ago about his colds, shortly after we moved in together.” He had a faraway look in his eyes and it was clearly not a fond memory.

I approached Uncle Michael slowly and took the Spiderman toy and the phone out of his hands. Then, with Jeff’s help, we placed a chair behind him and guided him to sit down.

I gently touched Uncle Michael’s hand. “What’s wrong? Please tell me. You’re getting me worried.”

That was when he lifted his head and I saw worry lines littering his brow. “I’m worried, too. Uncle Ben doesn’t usually get colds, but when he does he needs to see his doctor right away so they don’t get any worse.”

“Well, did he do that?”

“Yeah, he did -- a few days ago.”

“So is he getting better? Did the doc give him some kind of medicine to kick it out of his system?”

“He did, but it seems that it’s not working this time. Ben will be going back to the doctor tomorrow morning. He has a fever.”

Shit! Now I understood why Uncle Michael was so distracted. While it would probably turn out to be some little infection that an antibiotic would get rid of, in Uncle Ben’s case that was always a tough call.

Dad and Pop told me that Uncle Ben has had a couple of hospitalizations since he’s been with Uncle Michael. One was so bad that they thought he might die. Nothing was ever that bad again, but I could see the fear of a repeat trip to the hospital haunting Uncle Michael’s eyes.

“Don’t worry, I’ll take care of the store tonight. You can go home and be with Uncle Ben.”

“No, that’s ridiculous. I can’t leave you alone in the store; don’t worry about it. We’ll close in a couple of hours and I’ll take off then.”

“Hey, Newbie,” Jeff called quietly, “I’ve got to head out to work.”

I went over to Jeff and kissed him softly and then leaned against him and held him for a moment.

“Don’t worry until there’s really something to worry about.”

“If Jenny can’t be home with Uncle Ben in the afternoons, don’t you think that there’s already something to worry about?”

“Shit!”

“Listen, don’t mention this to her unless she brings it up. She’s obviously not aware of how serious this could get... or else she just doesn’t want to face it.”

“No problem. I’ll be rude to her, as always.” Jeff’s smile always makes me feel better.

 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
 

That night, after I finished my homework, I came downstairs to talk to Dad and Pop. They were in the media room listening to some jazz while Dad was doing something on his computer and Pop was sketching.

“Ahem.”

“Are you trying to get our attention, Sonny Boy?”

“You might say that.”

“Might I also assume that there’s something you’d like to discuss with us?”

I smiled, seeing the knowing smirk on Dad’s face. “You could say that, too.”

“Well, then, come on in and have a seat.”

“I’d rather stand for a bit.”

That got Dad and Pop’s attention. Dad closed his computer and moved to join Pop on the sofa, as he was placing his sketch pad on the coffee table.

“What’s on your mind, Gus? This sounds serious.”

“That’s the thing, I don’t know if it is.”

I filled Dad and Pop in on the afternoon’s discoveries, while pacing back and forth the whole time. I felt like I had too much energy and it needed to be let out. I even told them the small details about Uncle Michael playing with the toy and holding the phone without even realizing it.

Dad and Pop just nodded and listened quietly.

“Sonny Boy, thank you for telling us. Michael has a problem about letting others in to help him when he might really need it, until things get desperate.”

“But I’m also worried about Jenny.”

“We’re worried about her, too, Gus,” Pop added. “Brian, why don’t you call Michael and Ben and see what the fuck is going on.”

“I’m three steps ahead of you.” Dad had the phone in his hand and had already pressed the speed dial for the Novotny-Bruckner household.

“Hi, kiddo, how’re you doing?” Dad smiled as Jenny babbled a bit on the other end of the phone.

“Can I... can I... Jenny, pipe down. A simple, ‘I’m fine, thank you’ would have sufficed. Put Michael on the phone, before I learn far more than I want to know about preteen female shenanigans.”

“Mikey, your little lady is quite the little chatter,” Dad started out lightly.

There was some talking from the other end and Dad laughed. Then he listened some more and his brow furrowed.

“Okay, Michael, stop the bullshit and tell me what’s happening. I’m not some fucking stranger.”

Dad started pacing and nodding. Then he started brushing his hand through his hair and Pop stood up and moved behind him, placing his hands on his shoulders and leaning against his back.

“Yes, Michael, I understand. I won’t alarm anyone, but you have to be clear with Jenny so that she can talk about this with Mel. She’s avoiding talking about it.”

More talking.

“We’ll be there in the morning. Don’t worry about the fucking store. That’s what your employees were hired for. Justin will check on the store when we get into town and then again when it’s time for opening. You focus on the Professor and nothing else.”

More talking from the other end of the phone.

“Hey Professor.” Pause. “Yeah, we’ll make sure Mikey eats and sleeps like a good boy. You do your job and listen to your fucking medical team.”

More talking, more pacing from Dad and Pop.

“Don’t worry about anything. We’ll take care of it. That’s the benefit of having a family full of fucking busybodies.” Pause. “Bye Ben, bye Michael.” Dad placed the phone back on the cradle.

“So what is it, Brian?” I couldn’t say anything, so I was glad that Pop asked the question that wouldn’t transfer from my brain to my mouth.

“Ben’s got to check into Allegheny General in the morning. It seems he has an infection that won’t clear up, despite taking all the meds his doctor has already given him. They think he may have hit a resistant strain.”

“That’s totally fucked! Ben takes such good care of himself.”

“It’s not about that, Justin, and you know it.”

“But he’s doing everything possible to stay healthy.”

“Unfortunately, the one thing he did was trust his previous partner too much.”

That got my attention. “What?”

“Now you know why Justin and I insist you always use protection. It takes years to develop the kind of trust that you need to even think about having sex without a condom.”

“You see, Gus, it’s more than commitment, and much more than love -- it’s trust and respect for each other.”

I nodded and leaned my head back to rest on the back of the sofa. I closed my eyes and said a silent prayer (even though I’m not really all that sure about God), hoping that this would be a quick recovery for Uncle Ben and just a little unexpected trouble in the life that Jenny was enjoying, living with her dads.
 

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