Chapter 8

"What do you think?"

"I think I fucking want to see the inside is what I think, and that's not fucking possible," Brian said between clenched teeth. He had just about had all he could stand of looking at houses that he was fucking unable to enter.

"I'm sorry, Brian," Jennifer said carefully. "There just aren't many houses that are wheelchair accessible."

"I fucking told you both that before we started this!" Brian slumped down in the backseat of Jennifer's car. His wheelchair sat next to him in the back of the car, but he had been unable to use it for any of the three houses they had already looked at. None of them, including this one, would allow him to enter. They each had steps leading up to the front door, or the side door or the fucking back door. All effectively excluded Brian from going inside, unless someone carried him in, and he wasn't about to allow that to happen.

"Maybe this is enough for today, Mom," Justin said coming back to the car. He had ventured up to the front door and had looked in through a window. The spacious bungalow didn't look half bad, but Brian was in no mood for this.

"Go inside, Justin," Brian said dejectedly. "You can tell me what it's like when you come out."

"Are you sure?" Justin asked. He did want to have a look inside. This seemed like the most promising house they had seen so far. But he didn't like the idea of leaving Brian alone in the car.

"I'll be fine."

"Okay," Justin said slowly, "let's go in, Mom. We'll just have a quick look and see if it has any potential." Justin figured they were there, so he might as well take a look at the place. That would give Brian a chance to calm down.

Brian watched mother and son go up the walkway and enter the house. He felt his hand ball into a fist. He used it to pummel the back of the seat in front of him. Situations like this were exactly why he had stayed in the loft alone for so long. The outside world was a fucking impossible place for someone like him. At least when he was alone in his home, he didn't have to deal with this fucking shit, and the humiliation that went along with it.

Brian dropped his head into his hands. He was so fucking useless. He brought his fist down hard on the useless top part of his leg, allowing himself to wallow in self pity. His chin dropped onto his chest. He sat there feeling sorry for himself. After a minute or two he felt like someone was watching him. He raised his head and looked out the window of the car.

"Are you all right, mister?" a little freckle faced boy said. He was standing in the driveway looking up into the car at Brian.

"I'm fine. Go away!" Brian ordered in his best annoyed voice that would usually drive anyone away. It made people who dared invade his space back off.

"You don't have to be so mean, mister. I just asked how you were," the boy countered.

"Beat it, kid!" Brian replied.

"Sure, sorry I bothered you, mister." The boy stood looking at Brian for a couple of minutes. He seemed to have no intention of going away despite his words to the contrary. "Are you going to buy this house?"

"I doubt it."

"Oh, I was hoping you might. Do you have any kids?"

"I have a son," Brian answered before he even realized he was having a conversation with the boy.

"Wow! We could play with each other," the kid said hopefully.

Brian smiled. In his world playing with someone had a whole different meaning than what this youngster had in mind. "I don't think so. My son is only a couple of months old."

"Oh. That's no good. Maybe I could babysit him."

"How old are you?" Brian asked.

"Seven," the red-headed boy said proudly.

"You're a little young for babysitting, aren't you?"

"I could do it," the boy said confidently. "I watch my little sister sometimes."

"Do you now?" Brian said with a smile.

The boy nodded. "My name's Dougie. What's yours?"

"Brian."

"Nice to meet ya, Mister Brian," he said.

Brian was about to tell the little pest that it wasn't so great to meet him, but he couldn't say that to the hopeful freckled face looking in at him. "Do you live around here?" Brian asked instead.

"Right there," Dougie said pointing to the house next door.

"Great," Brian said sarcastically. If there had been any hope of them buying this house, which there clearly wasn't, having a pesky kid next door would put the kibosh on that idea in a big hurry.

"How come you didn't go inside the house with the others?" the boy asked.

"How long have you been watching us?" Brian asked.

"Since you got here."

Brian snorted. The kid was nothing if not forthright.

"Is the lady your wife?"

Brian almost choked. "No," he said in a sharp tone. "The lady's the real estate agent. I don't have a wife."

"But you said you have a son?" Dougie stated with a frown. He was clearly trying to figure out the dynamics of this new group of people who had invaded his neighborhood.

"My son lives with his mother, not with me," Brian informed the inquisitive lad.

"So, who's the other guy?" Dougie asked.

Brian sighed. The kid just wouldn't quit. "Don't you need to run along home? I'm sure your mother is looking for you."

"Nah, she tells me to go out and play to get me out of her hair."

"I can totally understand that," Brian said derisively. He'd be sending little Dougie out to play at every possible chance.

"Want to come out of the car and play with me?" Dougie asked.

Brian chuckled. "I can't. My … my legs don't work."

"Oh!" The boy frowned and looked worried.

"So, you better run along home."

"But, I like to talk to you."

"I just told you that I'm in a wheelchair."

"Does that mean you can't talk to me?"

"Yes."

"I don't see a wheelchair." Dougie stood on tiptoes to look into the car.

"Do I have to show you?" Brian asked. There seemed to be no getting rid of this kid.

"Yeah."

Brian opened the door of the car. With some difficulty he hauled the wheelchair across his legs and opened it beside his seat. He hoisted his weight onto his arms, swung around and landed in the seat of the chair. "There! Are you happy now?"

"That was neat," Dougie said with a smile. He was missing his two front teeth.

"Thanks a bunch," Brian said sarcastically.

"Wanna play catch with me?"

For the first time, Brian realized that Dougie had a baseball mitt on one hand and his other hand held a beat up old tennis ball. "You like baseball?"

"I love baseball. I'm going to play little league this year."

"You are, huh?"

"Yep! Here, catch," Dougie yelled as he threw the old tennis ball at Brian.

Thanks to quick reactions in his upper body, Brian caught the ball as it headed right for his face.

"Nice catch, Mister Brian," Dougie giggled.

"You did that on purpose, didn't you?" Brian demanded.

"It's only a tennis ball," Dougie said looking sheepish.

"That could have taken my nose off or given me a black eye."

"Hey, who's giving you a black eye?" Justin asked as he came out the front door of the house and heard the end of what Brian was saying. Brian looked up at him and smiled. Justin leaned down when he got to the wheelchair and gave Brian a kiss.

"Justin, this is Dougie."

"You made a new friend," Justin chuckled.

Brian stuck his tongue out at his boyfriend. "I guess you could say that," Brian replied after a long pause.

"Are you guys…?" Dougie began, but didn't seem to know how to finish that statement.

"Gay? Homos? Fags?" Brian listed. "Yes, we are."

"Cool," Dougie replied.

"Cool?" Brian asked. "Aren't you afraid you'll catch the same thing if you hang around us?"

"Nope. I never met a gay guy before, and now I've met two," Dougie said with a wide smile covering his face and showing off the gap where his front teeth used to be.

Justin laughed at the hopeful little face. "You've found a live one, Brian."

"Apparently I have."

"What are you going to do with him?" Justin whispered.

"If the house is a write off, as I suspect it is, I won't have to do anything with him."

"I like the house."

"You do?"

"There's a lot more room inside than you might think. The layout is pretty open, so it will make getting around in the chair pretty easy for you. The biggest drawback is the bathrooms. They would need some renovation."

"What about the doorways. Are they wide enough?"

"Mom?" Justin asked his mother who had just locked up and was walking towards the car.

"I measured, Brian. They're not overly wide, but they give you a little more than the minimum you require."

"Hm," Brian said as he looked at Dougie. Having this kid next door was definitely not an incentive to buy the place.

"It could really work," Justin said. "Everything's on one level inside. We'd need to put in a ramp at the front and side doors. And redo the bathroom that I mentioned. Otherwise it seems passable. We could make other changes as time went on."

Brian frowned. "I wish I could have a look. I know what to look for better than you do."

"I know," Justin said sympathetically. "Maybe we could come back another day with some plywood to make a ramp."

Brian nodded, resigned to the fact that he wasn't going to see inside this house, or any other house, that day. He turned his chair prepared to get back into Jennifer's car.

"Hey, Mister Brian," Dougie called. "Can you use this?" The little boy was dragging a hunk of plywood down his driveway and across the grass that separated his driveway from the one they were in.

"Where did you get that?" Brian asked.

"It's mine. My dad got it for me. I ride my bike down it sometimes."

"I just bet you do," Brian said.

"This is long enough to get you in the side door," Justin said evaluating the usefulness of the piece of wood.

"You think so?" Brian asked.

"Yep," Justin said. "Come on, Brian. I think this place is worth another look." He took the plywood from Dougie and started for the side door.

"Come on, Mister Brian. It's a nice house," Dougie said taking Brian's hand and pulling him towards the side of the house.

"I'll owe you part of my fee, Dougie, if they decide to buy this place," Jennifer laughed. "I'll go unlock the front door and let you in at the side." She headed for the front door.

"Okay, okay," Brian reacted trying to get his hand out of Dougie's. "Let go of me so I can steer this thing."

Dougie dropped Brian's hand but followed him up the driveway. "Why do you care if I see this house?" Brian asked.

"Cause I like you. I want you to buy it."

"You do?" Brian couldn't believe he was effectively being propositioned by a seven year old. Granted, it wasn't in the way he used to get propositioned, but he still felt like he was being manipulated into something he didn't want to do.

"This'll work," Justin called from behind the garage where the side door was located. "Come see."

Brian wheeled himself along the sidewalk that went along the side of the garage and led to the back of the house. Justin had laid the plywood over the step and against the threshold of the side door. Jennifer was just unlocking the door after coming through from the front. Brian wheeled up the makeshift ramp and entered the house. Justin followed him.

They entered a mud room with a washer and dryer and laundry sink. There was still room for Brian to wheel himself through. He couldn't envision himself doing laundry there. He never did his own laundry, but at least he could get through. A door with large glass inserts led to a short hall with a family room leading off to one side and a powder room on the other. Then the hall continued to the front foyer. That was the route Brian took looking around at the spacious entry hall. He turned and went back to the kitchen which led back into another arched entry into the family room. There was room in the kitchen for a table and chairs. A patio door led out to a large yard. Unfortunately there was one step down to the patio. He could see that the part of the house they hadn't been too yet extended out to the back along the side of the patio. That would give them quite a bit of privacy.

"Do you like it?" Justin asked.

"Not bad … so far."

Brian went through the kitchen and into the dining room. It had a large table and chairs but he could still get through in his wheelchair. The dining room was divided from the living room by a couch. They could easily remedy that by arranging the furniture differently. The living room was large and roomy. A bow window looked out to the street. A hall led off the area where the dining and living rooms came together. Brian followed it.

Two bedrooms of decent size faced the street. On the other side of the hall was a small bedroom and the master which extended out along the patio. The master bedroom was large and could easily accommodate whatever they wanted to put in there. Patio doors opened to the patio, but of course there was a step down.

Brian checked the bathroom. He could get in. It was quite large but unsuitable for his needs. It would have to be totally redone.

"There's another bathroom between the two front bedrooms," Justin said gently, "and a powder room near the mud room."

Brian nodded. He turned his wheelchair to face Justin. "It has possibilities," he said slowly.

"That's what I thought," Justin replied with a smile. "More than anything else I've seen today."

"You going to take it?" a voice asked from the doorway.

"We've barely looked at it," Brian told Dougie who had obviously followed them. "Does your mother know you go into houses with strangers?"

Dougie shrugged. "She doesn't care."

Brian snorted. "We'll have to discuss this," Brian replied to Justin, "when we have more privacy.” He looked meaningfully at Dougie. "Let's go."

Without further discussion Brian took himself back through the house, down the makeshift ramp and back to the car. He quickly put himself in the backseat and pulled in his chair.

"I hope you take the house, Mister Brian," Dougie said. "I like you."

Brian snorted but he couldn't help but smile. Justin came around from behind the garage carrying Dougie's plywood.

"Where would you like me to put this, Dougie," Justin asked.

"I'll take it."

"It's kind of heavy."

"I can drag it," Dougie said taking hold of the piece of wood. "I hope you buy the house," he told Justin.

"We'll see."

"Ready to go?" Jennifer asked as she came back to the car from having secured the house.

"Yeah," Brian said. And then they were driving away, leaving Dougie waving at them from the driveway. The piece of plywood leaned against his small body.

 

*****
 

Later that evening Brian and Justin were in bed at the loft. They had just made love as Justin chose to call it. He wouldn't let Brian relegate it to fucking, because it had been much more. Justin was snuggled up against Brian, his head on Brian's chest. Brian's fingers were combing slowly through Justin's hair. Justin felt like purring. He was so content.

"I love it when we're all quiet and together like this," Justin whispered.

"Mm."

"What does 'mm' mean?"

"It means I'm thinking."

"I could tell. The wheels were grinding," Justin giggled.

"Asshole!"

Justin giggled again. "You're thinking about the house, aren't you?"

"Maybe."

"I knew it. You like it."

"Did you?" Brian asked, pulling Justin's chin up so he can look in his eyes.

"Yeah. It was kinda big, but it would serve our purposes really well."

"How so?"

"Well," Justin said rolling onto his back and stretching out beside Brian. He put his hand in Brian's interweaving their fingers. "Bathroom problems aside, I could totally see us in the master bedroom."

"You could, could you? Interesting that you choose to mention the bedroom before any other room."

"It is the most important room in the house," Justin averred with a laugh. "And, if you took the farthest bedroom for your weights, I wouldn't hear you when you do your exercises." Justin looked over at Brian and grinned.

"So, the house we choose is dependent on you being able to sleep in in the morning."

"Yep," Justin said decisively. Brian laughed. "And the small bedroom could be converted into a studio for me. We'd need to take the carpet out, but it has great afternoon light."

"That's about what time you'll be getting up."

"Now who's an asshole?" Justin demanded.

"I thought you'd be relegated to the basement to paint," Brian said with his tongue in his cheek.

"Did you now? Well, you thought wrong."

"So I see."

"What do you think … really?"

Brian sighed. "I think it's the best we've seen, but maybe we should keep looking."

"Oh," Justin said obviously disappointed.

"We don't want to rush into anything."

"By the time we get any renovations done, it will be the new year," Justin sighed.

"You really want that house, don't you?"

"Yes, I really do."

Brian sucked in his lips thinking about Justin's declaration. He really did like the house too. It would need some work, but it had great potential for what they needed.

"There's just one major drawback," Brian said.

"What's that?"

"Dougie."

"Dougie?"

Brian nodded. "You realize he'll be over at our place all the time."

"Surely he has to go to school."

"At the same time that I go to work," Brian reminded Justin.

"Oh. But he really likes you. Don't you want a new friend?" Justin giggled.

"Come here, you little twat," Brian laughed. He grabbed Justin and held him close to his heart.

"So, I'll call my mother in the morning?"

All Brian did was nod before he plundered Justin's mouth once again.

Return to Close to Home III