Poor Man's Son - 8. Chapter 7

Will

“Yeah,” I said as I answered the phone. I was bored and grumpy. John was gone, the waves were flat, and there wasn’t shit to do around the house. I didn’t want to leave my room anyway, since if I did I’d probably just run into my mom and argue with her some more. In fact, I was so apathetic I’d neglected to even look at the caller-ID.

“Will,” I heard my dad say. “I need you here in Dallas.”

I was alert immediately. “Dallas? Why?”

“Someone tried to shoot me, but they got Gathan instead,” he said crisply. “He’s alright; it’s only a flesh wound.”

“You’re OK?” I asked. Someone tried to kill my dad? I was off the bed and standing upright, ready to go after whoever it was.

“I’m fine,” he said. “Robbie is flying out; he’ll be leaving from the office. You’ll need to pack some nice clothes for the press. Get your guard to take you to the airport.”

“Done,” I said, just as crisply as he did.

“You’ve got about 20 minutes to leave the house so you can meet up with Robbie.”

“Got it,” I replied. I’m a pretty organized guy, so packing was easy. I was in the middle of throwing together some clothes for a few days when JJ walked in.

“I thought you weren’t allowed to leave,” he said. “We’re both on lock down.” That was strange. I didn’t know he was being forced to stick around too. He was Mom’s favorite, and she usually didn’t vent her bitchiness on him.

“Someone tried to shoot Dad, but Gathan stopped him. He got shot instead,” I said, as I picked out a tie.

“Take this one,” he said, handing me my nicer Hermes tie. “Gathan’s OK isn’t he?”

“What do you care? You don’t like him anyway,” I said.

“Just because I don’t like him doesn’t mean I want to see him get hurt,” he said.

“He’s fine,” I relented. It bugged me that JJ didn’t like Gathan, and it bugged me even more when I thought about the reason: that JJ was jealous of the attention Gathan got from the rest of us. “Take care of yourself.” I gave him a quick hug, then walked next door to the other house and phoned Robbie. He sounded freaked out when he answered.

“Dad says I’m meeting you at the airport. You leave without me and you won’t want to come home,” I joked, just to calm him down a bit.

“Two assassination attempts in a month are bad for a family,” he joked back. He was so easy to deal with. “Just hurry.”

“I’m in your room. You want me to pack some stuff for you?”

“Yeah, that would be great,” he said. I could tell he was so freaked out he hadn’t even thought of that. “Go in the…” I stopped him.

“Dude, I’m picking what you wear. I’ll do a better job anyway,” I joked, even though it was true. He chuckled. “See you on the plane.”

I told my guard, a cute guy named Pat, that he had to take me, and then threw some shit together for Robbie. We were out the door in 25 minutes. We had a limo that our guards could use to drive us around, so I sprawled in back, only remembering at that point that I’d forgotten to tell Mom that I was leaving. Good.

Robbie was just getting out of his car when we drove up. Pat took care of handing our bags off to the pilots while Robbie and I climbed up the steps and collapsed into the big captain’s chairs in the front of the plane.

This was a newer plane my dad had picked up last month. When the internet companies started spiraling into the ground just like Stef had predicted, a lot of CEOs had to give up their cool toys. This Gulfstream V had belonged to one of them, and my dad had gotten a sweet deal on it. It was one tight ride.

“What happened?” I demanded, as soon as the plane was moving.

“Brad and Stef were talking to a bunch of employees at the Dallas plant and it didn’t go well. When they were walking out, some guy pulled a gun on them.”

“Holy shit!”

“Gathan evidently spotted the guy and jumped on him, but not before the guy could pump a bullet in him. It hit him in the arm,” Robbie said, gesturing to his own left bicep.

“He’s alright, isn’t he?” I asked, letting on how much I cared about Gathan.

“He’ll be fine,” Robbie said as he smiled at me in an almost patronizing way. Almost. “It’s just a flesh wound.”

“Dad and Stef are alright?”

“They’re both fine. Maybe a little freaked out, but fine. That’s why we’re going to see them.”

I thought about what had happened, and what Gathan had done. He’d been amazingly brave, and he’d saved my dad’s life. I felt my feelings for him surge. “So Gathan saved Dad’s life,” I observed to Robbie, being much more casual about it than I really felt.

“He did,” Robbie said.

“We owe him big time.”

“I know that,” Robbie snapped, irritated that I thought he wouldn’t take care of the guy.

“Well, you’ll have to argue with Clara if you give him extra cash or a present, and based on your track record with women, I’m a little nervous about that,” I said, slamming him.

“Very funny.”

“Why do women scare you?” I asked, pouring it on.

“Women don’t scare me,” he said, giving me a dirty look.

“You’re kind of a big pussy, you know that?” I asked. He was about to get mad when he caught the smile I couldn’t hide, and he knew I was just messing around with him.

“You’re a pain in the ass. You remind me of your dad when he was a teenager.”

“Yeah, and you fell for him like a rock.”

“Yeah, I did,” he agreed, shooting me that grin of his.

“So did Dad call me on his own, or did you prompt him?” I asked.

His grin vanished as I trapped him. “You were next on his list of people to call after he talked to me,” he said, making me feel pretty good. “It was my idea to drag you along, although I’m wondering why I did.” That was actually pretty typical of them. My dad always let me know how important I was to him. Our problems came when he got a little too into showing me that, and hovered over me. Robbie would be the one to make sure I was included.

“Because I’m charming,” I joked.

“There must be another reason,” he said.

“You think this made the news?” I asked.

He picked up the remote control and flipped through the channels until he found CNN. We had to listen to endless discussion about the upcoming meeting with the Prime Minister of Israel and Yasser Arafat at Camp David. Everyone was hoping it would be as important, as big of a breakthrough as the Camp David Accords between Egypt and Israel. Finally, we got beyond that and there on the screen was a picture of my dad.

“The Chairman of Triton Systems and Vice Chairman of the Carruthers & Schluter, Brad Schluter was the target of an attack by disgruntled employees at a Dallas plant today. Triton recently acquired the plant from Omega Electronics and employees there were reportedly worried about losing their jobs. The attack was thwarted by Gathan Hayes,” the reporter said, and a really bad photo of Gathan popped on the screen, “who escaped serious injury. The shooter has been identified as Homer Stapleton. Jordan Pfinster, CEO of Triton, says the future of the plant in Dallas is uncertain.”

“They sure didn’t give Gathan much credit,” I bitched.

“That’s just the initial story,” Robbie said. “It’s only been a couple of hours.”

I picked up the phone and asked the pilots our ETA: 90 more minutes. Robbie pulled out some work to do while I continued to scan the news networks to see if there was anything else about the shooting.

     

July 11, 2000

Dallas, TX

Gathan

“How long will I have to be here?” I whined. I hated hospitals, and it seemed like I was going to be stuck in this one forever, even though it had only been couple of hours since they’d brought me here.

“Do you know where you are?” Stef asked me. I shook my head. “You are at Parkland Hospital.”

“Why does that sound familiar?”

“It is the hospital they took President Kennedy to after he was shot. He died in this hospital.”

“That was what, almost 35 years ago?”

“Some historian you are,” he sniffed. “It was almost 37 years ago.”

“You were my age when that happened?”

“I was,” he agreed. “I remember when I heard the news. I was living in Chicago, and I had heard it on the street. I went straight upstairs to JP’s condo, and watched them replay it over and over again on the television. It was like I was stunned and could not move. Fortunately, he had comfortable, if not all that fashionable, couches.”

“Only you would remember the décor from 37 years ago,” I teased.

“Do not tell JP I said that. He is touchy about things like that,” he joked. JP wouldn’t care at all.

Brad came walking into the room purposefully, followed by my attorney. Brad had gotten here almost right after I had, and he’d been a bundle of energy, going in and out of my room. He was agitated and stressed, and he showed that by his frenetic activity. The attorney asked me a few more questions, similar to the ones he’d asked before, and then he thankfully vanished.

“Sit down. You make me nervous,” I told Brad.

“Robbie and Will will be here soon,” he said, ignoring me.

“See, he’s flying Will out so I can collect,” I teased Stef, who chuckled.

“Collect what?” he demanded.

“I figured that since I saved your life, you were going to let me have your son,” I teased. He gave me a dirty look. “Dude, I was the one who was shot. You have no right to be bitchier than me.”

“Will can make his own decisions,” Brad said firmly. “He’s explained that to me quite clearly.”

“Maybe Robbie will fuck him and get him to relax,” I said to Stef as I gestured toward Brad.

“That is probably our only hope at this point,” Stef agreed.

“Doesn’t it bother you that a guy pulled a gun on us and tried to kill us while we were here?” Brad demanded.

“I have been shot before, and I may be shot again,” Stef said fatalistically. “As it was, we both escaped harm, thanks to a very brave young man.”

I watched Brad mull that over in his mind, and almost laughed at how his thoughts were so obvious when he did, and I actually did laugh when I realized that Will did the same thing. “I’m sorry,” he told me. “You really were brave, and I appreciate you saving my life and all.” Now he was making it sound like it was no big deal to tease me.

“So which one of you is going to be my sacrifice? You or Will?” I joked.

“You get Stefan. He’s the best,” Brad said diplomatically, making Stef grin.

“I suspect you’re right,” I said, “but I really can’t say for sure until I test all three of you out.”

“Very funny,” Brad said. “Let’s see if you’re this cocky when my boyfriend gets here.”

“He’s a big pussy,” I joked, since Robbie wasn’t a pussy at all.

“I’ll tell him you said that.” He turned to Stef. “Jordan is so pissed off he wants to close the plant down now.”

“I think that would be unwise,” Stef said. “You told them they had two weeks.”

“Not everyone is an asshole,” I chimed in. “A bunch of guys tackled that dude that shot me, and one of the ladies did better work patching up my arm than the EMT. I have to say, though, that the EMTs had better drugs.” I was flying from the pain meds.

“I’ll talk to Jordan. It won’t hurt us to wait a bit to see how this plays out in the press,” Brad said. “Wally and Clara want to come see you.”

“Crap.” They’d be all freaked out, and give me a bunch of shit about the dangers of gallivanting around with Stef and Brad. “I should call them.”

“I think that’s a good idea,” Brad said. He handed me the phone and dialed the number for me, then he and Stef left me alone to talk to them.

“Gathan!” I heard Ma say when she answered the phone and realized it was me. “Are you alright? We’re coming down there to see you!”

“Ma, don’t do that. I’m just fine. I’ll be home in a few days. It’s just a flesh wound,” I said calmly, hoping she’d mirror my mood.

“How did this happen?” she asked. I told her the whole story, and then I had to talk to Wally and repeat the same thing all over again. I was pretty focused on the conversation since I wanted to make sure I calmed them down; so focused I didn’t notice that someone else had come into the room. I looked up and found myself staring into those green eyes, the ones that were windows into the mind of a very bright young guy.

“I gotta run,” I told Wally. He seemed to understand, and let me hang up pretty quickly. “You came to see me,” I said, flirting with Will.

He leaned in and gave me one spectacular kiss. As awesome as sex with Stef had been, the connection between Stef and me was nothing compared to the connection between Will and me. Damn this boy was sexy. “I came to see my dad. You just happened to be here too,” he teased.

I reached up and grabbed his head, pulling him in for another kiss, this one even more passionate. I pushed him away and saw that crazed, breathless look he gets when he’s really into it. “Yeah, I can tell you’re not glad to see me,” I said, as I playfully grabbed his erect dick through his pants, making him yelp. We heard footsteps and that served to separate us. Will sat down to hide his hard-on. I looked at the door just as Robbie came in, looking all distraught. He was such a drama queen when shit like this happened.

“Are you alright?” he demanded, almost in a panic.

“I will be if they ever let me get out of this fucking hospital,” I told him.

“We’re working on that,” he said as he came over and gave me a hug. Even though I could only use one arm, it didn’t matter, because he just absorbed me with both of his.

“You know, hugs from you are damn near the coolest things around,” I said, making him grin.

“Thanks,” he said.

“I wouldn’t know,” Will said, pretending to be all snippy. “He’s always too pissed off at me to hug me.”

Robbie looked at him sideways and all but lifted him out of his chair and pulled him in for a tight embrace. “I’m never too pissed off at you to hug you,” he said lovingly. “What the…” He pulled away from Will and stared down at Will’s still-erect dick. “Be careful with that thing.”

Will turned like three shades of red and I was laughing so hard I almost threw up.

“What’s so funny?” Brad demanded as he walked into the room.

“We were just laughing about how much alike you and Will are,” Robbie said, making me start laughing all over again.

“I have good news and bad news,” Brad announced.

“Go on,” I said cautiously.

“The good news is that you get out of here. The bad news is that the press is waiting.”

“Fuck.” The hospital staff came in and gave me some bandages and shit, along with a bunch of instructions on how to care for my wound. Will took those, appointing himself as my personal secretary, which I thought was pretty cute.

They put me in a wheelchair and rolled me down the hallways until we got to the door. “Brace yourself,” Brad warned. We walked through the door and the cameras started flashing. I suddenly got what it felt like to be a celebrity, and to have all these people chasing you around and trying to take pictures of you. I stood up and walked to the waiting limo and we all piled in, then we were whisked away to the hotel.

“We don’t get to go home?” I asked.

“We need to spend the night tonight,” Brad said reluctantly. “You get to spend some more time with lawyers and cops in the morning, and then you get to go home. My plane will take you home, while Stef’s will take the rest of us back to Cali. That works out, since it can bring Darius back.”

“Good luck getting him to leave,” Will said. “You should just let him stay there.”

“Your mother wants him home,” Brad said.

“Yeah, she wants us all there so she can torture us at close range,” Will snapped. “She screws up her life, and tries to take the rest of us down with her.”

“Will, this is a tough time for her. Try and be a little understanding,” Brad said.

“That’s bullshit,” Will said, but they both dropped it.

We got to the hotel, a different one from last night, and they set us up in a big suite. There were three bedrooms that were connected to a main room and one bedroom across the hall. “You get the bedroom over there,” Brad said to Will.

“No way,” he said firmly. “I’m in here.” He put his stuff down authoritatively in one of the connected bedrooms. “You two can go across the hall. No one wants to hear you have sex anyway.”

“I do,” I teased.

“Fine,” Robbie said, dragging Brad off with him.

“We’re leaving Stef as a chaperone?” Brad asked. I saw Will start to get super pissed at his dad, as if he needed a chaperone, until he realized Brad was joking. “Talk about hiring the fox to watch the hen house.”

“No one has called me a fox since the seventies,” Stef said evenly. “You are so out of fashion.”

We ordered room service for dinner and hung out until the day’s events finally caught up with us. I was exhausted. I went into my room and Will was there to help me out. “You need anything?”

“You,” I said, pulling him to me. He molded his body to mine, wrapping himself around me to make me feel so loved. It was awesome. He helped me take off my clothes since I could only use one arm, and then took off his own. He climbed in bed with me and we made out for a while, then he turned around and got us in a 69 position. I smiled when I thought about how it was almost exactly like it had been with Tony. This must be my ‘69 trip’. I ran my hands up and down Will’s crack while I blew him, and that set him off before me, but that didn’t stop him from finishing me off. I had a feeling that he did a better job of it than I’d done with Tony.

“So did you work things out with John?” I asked.

“Who told you?” he demanded.

“I hear things,” I joked.

“Yeah. He said he was sorry, and I forgave him.”

“So that means your pledge is back on, and I can’t fuck you?” I teased. There was no way I’d go there with him anyway, even though it would be tempting.

“I can’t,” he said, and looked at me, an apology in his eyes.

“I know. I’m just teasing you. Your cherry is safe with me.”

“He gets me first. I’ll try you on later,” he joked. We fell asleep together, but sometime during the night he must have gone back to his own room, because I woke up alone, and I missed him.

July 12, 2000

Dallas, TX

Will

“You think he’ll be alright all by himself?” Robbie asked. The four of us sat in Stef’s Falcon as it taxied down the runway in preparation for takeoff.

“Not much we can do about it now,” I said. I hated it when people second-guessed decisions they’d already made. “He’ll be fine. Flying back to Claremont in a G-V isn’t tough duty.”

“He certainly seemed to be in a good mood this morning,” Stef said, teasing me.

“He’s a happy person,” I said. “We going to Paly or LA first?”

“Well, since LAX is on the way, and it is my plane, we will stop there first,” Stef said.

“I’m going with you,” I announced to Stef.

“You need to come home,” my dad said.

“Not happening,” I told him, being openly defiant. “It was bullshit that I couldn’t go to John’s before. There’s no reason for me to not be there now. It’s summer.”

“Will, your mother wants you to come home,” Dad said forcefully.

“I’m not going,” I said. I cinched the seat belt tighter and glared at all of them.

“You are getting off this plane in LA,” he commanded.

“I am not,” I said.

“Yes, you are.”

“No, I’m not.” We just glared at each other, and to be honest, it was a little scary. He was really mad, and he didn’t usually get that mad, but I wasn’t backing down. “You and Mom keep issuing these edicts about what I’m going to do, and I’m fine with that if you have a good reason, but you don’t. I’m not going to let you two mess with my life just so you can power-trip over it.”

“That’s not what’s happening,” he said firmly.

“Fine. Go ahead. The two of you can probably drag me off this plane. That’s fine. Next chance I get, I’m gone, and then I’m not coming back.” I was full of shit, I knew it and they knew it, but I also knew that the slightest threat that I’d run away would freak them out. I knew I was being bitchy and obnoxious, but I was right.

“You don’t get your way, so you’re going to threaten to run away. That’s real mature,” Dad said snidely.

“Didn’t you do that?” I demanded. I saw Stef trying really hard not to laugh, and even Robbie had to hide his grin.

“That was different,” he snapped.

“How come when Grand says that, you always say it’s because he’s losing an argument?” I asked. That was enough to make Stef and Robbie lose it, but that didn’t make my dad any happier.

“I have an idea,” Stef said. I looked at him nervously, wondering if he was going to sell me down the river. I should have known better. “I think you and Will should both come back to Palo Alto with me,” he said to Dad. “We need to figure out what to do about this thing in Dallas.”

We all knew they were more than capable of handling this on the phone. “You know, I blocked out my schedule for a few days, so I could go too,” Robbie added. “It will give me a chance to see my father.”

“Matt and Wade should be around,” Stef offered helpfully. “They were going to go to DC and to Cleveland, but I do not think they leave until later this month.”

“Fine,” Dad said, even as he gave me a dirty look. Stef called the pilots and changed our flight plans to take us straight to Palo Alto, while Dad called Mom and got an earful for not bringing me straight home.