Seeing Clearly

Chapter 4

A few days went by with Brian and Justin enjoying their time alone.  Brian was able to keep his friends at bay by refusing to take calls from his friends at work, and letting all calls at the loft go to the answering machine, or to voicemail on his cell phone.  He wanted this time alone with Justin to establish some sort of understanding between them, before he unleashed his “friends” on his new boyfriend.  Every time Brian thought about the impending moment when they would all meet, he felt a huge chasm open up in the pit of his stomach.  He just knew they were going to tell Justin things that would make his relationship with Justin strained if not impossible.  In spite of all Justin’s promises, Brian knew that once Justin found out about his past history with men, his reputation, his well known attitudes about life and love, Justin would run for the hills.  What other choice could a young, sensible man make?  And that’s what Justin was - a young, smart, sensible man.

Brian knew these few days were a bit of utopian froth.  Reality would come crashing in on them soon enough.  He thought that would probably start on Saturday when he had arranged a visit with his son.  Gus was too young to care who was holding him, but Melanie Marcus would be a different story.  Brian had asked Lindsay if he and a friend could come over to Muncherville when Melanie wasn’t there.  However, since it was the weekend, Lindsay couldn’t guarantee that Mel wouldn’t be there.  So, the first test of introducing Justin to the people in Brian’s life was about to start.

“How old is Gus?” Justin asked as they drove towards Lindsay’s house.

“He’s a few months.”

“Don’t you know his actual age?” Justin asked puzzled by Brian’s answer.  Parents always knew the baby’s age – to the very day.

“Of course I do.  He was born the end of September, so he’s … five months old.”

“You had to calculate that in your head,” Justin said smugly.

“Well, my head got used for batting practice not so long ago, so maybe I’m not as quick on the draw as I used to be.”

“Geez, Brian, I’m sorry.  Sometimes I forget that you were in a coma.”

“Don’t sweat it, I’m bad as new,” Brian replied.

“Why did you say it that way?” Justin asked frowning.

“When you meet Melanie you’ll know.”

Justin frowned even more.  Brian had told him that Melanie was Lindsay’s partner, and that she didn’t like him, but this sounded even worse than Justin had been expecting.  He couldn’t help but wonder what Melanie would have to say.

“We’re here,” Brian said pulling the Jeep to a stop in front of an older home on a quiet residential street.  It looked pretty ordinary, not like a place where two lesbians would live, at least in Justin’s estimation.  Justin got out and stood on the sidewalk.  Brian seemed frozen in his seat in the car.

“Are you coming?” Justin finally asked.

“I’m contemplating fleeing,” Brian replied tersely.

“Fleeing?” Justin chuckled before he realized that Brian’s face was serious.

“Yes, fleeing,” Brian repeated.

Justin laughed.  “You’re kidding, right?  You’re going to see your son, not an evil ogre.”

“You haven’t met Melanie Marcus,” Brian retorted, but he got out of the Jeep.

When the door to the house finally opened for them, Justin was surprised to see a pretty blonde lady with a lovely smile.  “Come in,” she said.  “You must be Justin.”  She held out her hand for Justin to shake.  “I’m Lindsay.”

“Yes, I’m Justin.”  Justin looked at Brian expecting him to complete the introductions.

“Where’s my son?” was all that Brian said.

“Melanie’s changing him.”  Brian made a face, obviously not pleased that Melanie was at home.  “Would you like some tea, Justin,” Lindsay asked.  “I made some chocolate chip cookies.”

“Sounds great,” Justin said following Lindsay to the living room.

“I’ll get the tea.  Have a seat,” she said before heading to the kitchen.

Brian and Justin sat down on the sofa.  Neither said anything for a minute.

“Lindsay seems nice,” Justin eventually said.

Brian snorted.  “Yeah, wait till you meet her worse half.”

“Brian…”

“Lindz, we need to get some more diapers,” Melanie called as she came down the stairs carrying baby Gus.  “Oh, you’re here,” she reacted when she saw the two men seated on the sofa.  “I didn’t hear you come in.”

“Selective hearing, I’m sure,” Brian retorted.

“I wish I had selective seeing where you’re concerned,” Melanie snapped.

“Stop it, you two,” Lindsay said as she carried a tray with tea and cookies into the living room.  She set it on the coffee table.

“Give me my son,” Brian said.

Melanie looked like she wanted to rip Brian’s tongue out and stuff it down his throat, but a glance from Lindsay, and Justin could see Melanie bite her lip.  She handed Gus to Brian, albeit grudgingly.

“Hey, Sonny Boy,” Brian cooed settling Gus on his lap.  “I missed you.”

“Not enough to come and see him,” Melanie felt compelled to remind Brian.

Brian ignored her, holding baby Gus on his lap and tickling his little chin.  Gus giggled and looked up at his father.

“He’s so cute,” Justin said.

“He’s the most adorable baby in the whole world,” Lindsay gushed.  “Have a cookie, Justin,” she suggested as she poured tea.

“Thanks, it’s really nice to meet both of you and this adorable baby,” Justin said with a smile before taking a bite of cookie.

“How did you and Brian meet, Justin?” Lindsay asked.

Justin looked at Brian wondering how he should answer that.  He knew Brian had kept his blindness a secret.

“Justin’s my Seeing Eye dog,” Brian supplied.

Justin almost choked on his cookie.  Lindsay and Melanie looked aghast.

“That’s a horrible thing to say,” Melanie began.  “Justin may be young, but calling him a dog…”

“Actually he’s right,” Justin agreed.

“How does he get everyone to defend his fucking deplorable behavior?” Melanie demanded to know.

“I’m just as adorable as my son,” Brian said with a smirk.  Gus giggled in response.

Melanie glared at Brian.  “Justin, would you care to explain the ridiculous statement that this asshole just made?”

“Um…”  Justin wasn’t sure what to say.

“Fuck it!  You’ll find out sooner or later,” Brian interrupted.  “A few weeks ago I was hit on the head and put in a coma for a few days.  When I came to, I was … blind … for a while.”  Brian still found it hard to admit to his blindness.  Somehow that seemed worse than being in a coma.  At least in the coma he was oblivious to how helpless he was.  Blindness made him unable to do almost anything for himself.  Brian noted the women’s mouths dropped open at his admission.  He wasn’t sure if it was in sympathy or disbelief.  At least their surprise kept them from saying anything.  “Justin came to my rescue,” Brian continued.  “He was doing some public service at the hospital and they assigned him to help me while I was blind.”

“Are you shitting me?” Melanie demanded.  Disbelief was clear in her voice.

“You asked how we met, and I told you,” Brian countered.

“That is the fucking biggest piece of crap I’ve ever heard,” Melanie disagreed.

“Justin, is any of that true?” Lindsay asked looking to Justin to verify Brian’s statements.

“Yes, it’s true,” Justin said.  He noted that Brian had conveniently avoided mention of the fact that he had been assigned to Brian as punishment for being caught with pot.

“You cannot agree with this asshole,” Melanie retorted.  “It’s a load of shit.”

“It’s true,” Justin repeated.

“Jeez-us!  I can’t believe you would help Kinney in this elaborate fabrication.”  Melanie shook her head like she could make the whole story go away.

“Mel…” Lindsay said.

“You know it’s a pack of lies, Lindz.  Don’t you defend him too.”

“I’m not defending him.  I think he’s telling the truth.”

“Why would someone clobber you over the head?” Melanie sneered.

“Mugging,” Brian replied.

Melanie frowned.  “You didn’t call it a mugging.”

“Poor choice of words,” Brian said.

“I don’t believe any of it.”

“Then fucking don’t!  Like I give a shit!” Brian said. He kissed Gus on the forehead and handed the baby to Lindsay.  With a lingering glance at his son Brian stood up.  “Let’s go, Justin.  Apparently we don’t have sufficient veracity to be welcome in this ultra truthful abode.  Maybe you can bring Gus to the loft so I can see him some time, Lindsay,” Brian added as he reached the front door.  “And come alone!”

“Brian wait,” Lindsay called.

“We’re leaving.  Right, Justin?”

Justin nodded.  “Nice to meet you,” he added lamely as he followed Brian out the door.  As the door slammed behind them, Justin heard Melanie yell, “Asshole!”

Brian was already in the Jeep by the time Justin got to his side of the car.  Justin half expected him to drive away without him.  He knew Brian was furious.

“Brian, I…”

“Don’t even start,” Brian cut him off.  “It was nice to meet them?” Brian asked sarcastically.  “Care to enlighten me as to what was nice about that whole fucking encounter?”  Brian started the Jeep and roared away from the curb.

“I’m sorry if I said the wrong thing,” Justin apologized.

“Yeah, sorry,” Brian griped as he screeched to a halt at a stop sign.

“I see what you mean about Melanie.  She sure doesn’t cut you any slack.”

Brian snorted.  “That’s an understatement.”  Brian drew in a deep breath.  “I’m sorry I got … testy with you.  That wasn’t your fault.”

“I … I just didn’t know what to say to them.  I didn’t know how much you wanted me to reveal.”

“Justin, you can always tell the truth.  Remember that.  I’ll never be truly angry if you tell the truth.”

Justin stared into Brian’s hazel eyes.  He could see that Brian really meant what he had just said.  “Okay, I’ll stick to the truth,” Justin said.  “But you should too.”

“Me?  What are you talking about?”

“You made me out to be some kind of saint doing public service at the hospital, not a criminal paying for getting caught.”

“You’re not a criminal.”

“In the eyes of the law I am.”

“Well, the law is fucked.”

Justin chuckled.  “Yeah, the law is fucked, but I’m still a criminal.  So, you need to tell the truth about me, and I’ll tell the truth about us.”

Brian couldn’t help but smile.  “You’re…”

“What?  Indescribable?”

“Yeah, something like that,” Brian said leaning over to kiss Justin’s warm, full lips.

A honking horn reminded them that they were still sitting at the stop sign. 

“I think it’s time we went home,” Brian said.

“Or we could go back.”

“Back?” Brian asked as he proceeded through the intersection.

“I saw the way you kissed Gus before you handed him to Lindsay.  You weren’t really ready to leave.”

“Is that right?”

“And you were really angry at Melanie, but you still handled Gus with such tenderness.  I could see how much you love that baby.”

“I … I do love Gus … a lot.”

“I know, and you have every right to spend time with your son.”

“And then there’s Melanie,” Brian said shaking his head.

“Yes, there’s Melanie.  She’s a bully.”  Brian gave him a look.  “But Melanie Marcus doesn’t scare me,” Justin bragged.

“Are you nuts?  She’d scare Godzilla.”

Justin laughed.  “If we’re together, and we are, she can’t hurt either one of us,” Justin informed Brian.

“And how do you figure that?”

“She thinks words can destroy you.  They can’t … as long as we are truthful and together.  She’s got nothing on us.”

Brian laughed out loud.  “I love the way you think.”

“I love the way you think too,” Justin replied.  “And I think I have a very special reward for you when we get back to the loft.”

“A reward?”

“Oh yeah, a very special reward.”

“I like the way your mind works.”

“I know you like the way my mind works,” Justin said with a happy smile.

Brian stepped a little harder on the gas.  Thoughts of Melanie Marcus were shunted aside, as Brian pictured a naked Justin lying in their bed.  The trip to the loft seemed to take forever.

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