Thicker Than Water - 45. Chapter 45

“Are you fucking serious!” Bryan nearly shouted. He no longer cared if he pissed his dads off or not.

Diego gave his son a look that clearly said that was the boy's freebie and any other profane remark wasn't going to be tolerated. “Unfortunately. The judge already ruled on it after Calvin cried to his lawyer. Apparently, Calvin claimed that Charlie threatened him with the gun. The police and DA saw Steve's video and said there was no threat, but the judge didn't care. Now, you'll be with Calvin once a week for an hour on your own.”

“What if I don't want to go?” Bryan asked, despite his defiance, his anxiety and fear came through.

“I don't want to see him again,” Caleb said. His sullen demeanor was far more upsetting than Bryan's hormone filled rage.

“Billy said that nobody can force you into the car, but Steve and I can't actually stop Calvin from having his visit, nor are we allowed to be there.”

Bryan stopped pacing and stared blankly at carpet at his feet. He stood up straight, plastered a smile on his face and said, “Actually, fathers, I would love nothing more than to go on this visit with my formerly departed sperm donor.”

Steve and Diego weren't amused by Bryan's obvious obfuscation. Steve said, “Whatever you're planning, you'll likely make things worse, so I'm asking you to think of your brother and father, and reconsider your actions.”

Bryan, however, was undeterred. “I'm being serious. I want to go on this visit.”

“Why?” Diego asked suspiciously.

“Trust me. It'll be fun.”

Unfortunately, there was really nothing Diego nor Steve could do to stop whatever Bryan was planning.

*     *     *

Saturday came too quickly. Bryan still didn't tell anyone what he was planning, which set his fathers on edge. Steve considered giving Calvin a heads up, but changed his mind when Calvin arrived and had a smug look on his face.

Caleb hugged Steve and looked like he was about to cry. Bryan also hugged Steve and seemed all too giddy. Bryan held Caleb's hand and helped his brother into Calvin's beat up vehicle, before getting into the front with their estranged birth father.

“Where are we going?” Bryan asked, trying to keep his tone light and friendly.

“The mall,” Calvin said, reasserting his resting bitch face now that Steve was no longer in sight.

“Cool. What are we doing there?”

“Stuff.”

“What kind of stuff?”

“Just stuff.”

“Never heard of 'Just Stuff.' Is it a new store or something?”

Calvin stopped talking, so Bryan decided to fill the silence. He turned on Calvin's radio and began singing. Caleb covered his ears, as Bryan was extremely tone deaf and often reserved his “singing” as a form of torture for those who annoyed him. However, Calvin just ignored it and kept driving.

Once they got to the mall, Bryan took Caleb's hand and walked towards the entrance. Calvin looked at Bryan and said, “Let go of him. He's not a baby.”

“Caleb, do you want me to stop holding your hand?”

Caleb thought about it, squeezed his brother's hand and said, “I don't mind.”

“See! He doesn't care.” Bryan said with a huge grin.

Calvin grumbled and walked toward the doors.

Bryan was very pleased that the place was packed. Calvin seemed to be at a loss for places to go, as they roamed the first floor aimlessly. With the next day being Valentine's Day, Bryan used his money to buy Kenny a small bear holding a heart with the words, “Will You Be My Valentine?” stitched into it. Calvin glanced at him and the bear before focusing on a display of greeting cards.

At one point, while in Hot Topic, Calvin was distracted checking out a girl half his age, so Bryan took out his phone and sent a quick text.

“What are you doing?” Caleb asked.

“Don't worry about it,” Bryan replied before putting his phone away. “Just making plans with Kenny for tomorrow.”

Caleb didn't believe his big brother. He shook his head before looking at some Naruto shirts.

“Is there an arcade or something around here?” Calvin asked.

“Yeah, it's by the food court,” Bryan said cheerfully.

“Lets go there.”

“Cool. You can buy us lunch on the way.”

Again, Calvin grumbled but walked on. They looked at the various food vendors. Calvin moved from food place to food place until he found the cheapest option available and ordered for the three of them. It took them less than two minutes to eat their small hamburgers. Bryan was surprised that he didn't get them each a small glass of water.

Bryan was pleased to see the arcade looking so full and busy. Kids and parents filled the floor. Bryan looked at his phone and smiled. He saw that they only had 20 minutes left before Calvin had to take them home, which was plenty of time.

Bryan got himself and Caleb some game tokens, making sure to leave Calvin out.

“Come on, lets find a game to play together,” Bryan said to his little brother.

“Okay,” Caleb said, sounding happy for the first time since they left home.

Bryan led the way to a first person shooter, making sure to keep Calvin within sight. Bryan plugged in his tokens and started the game. At first, Bryan let Caleb win a few rounds, which was rather typical and part of his plan. Caleb was very competitive when it came to video games and hated losing.

“HA!” The 11-year-old cried out. “I got you again!”

“No you didn't,” Bryan said dismissively.

“Yes, I did!”

“No, you didn't.”

“Yes, I did!” Caleb said, his voice growing bitter. “I shot you off the roof.”

“No, you didn't.”

“Yes...I...did!”

“Whatever,” Bryan said and started a new round. He had noticed that Calvin was only barely paying attention to them, so Bryan decided to turn things up. Every time Caleb came close to kill shot, Bryan poked his baby brother in the ear, not only causing Caleb to miss his shot but to get extremely angry.

“Knock it off!” Caleb snarled after the fifth time.

“What? I didn't do anything,” Bryan said, acting innocently.

“Yes you did! You keep poking me!”

“You're imaging things. Maybe it was a spider?”

“Stop it!” Caleb demanded, stomping his foot. Bryan knew Caleb was terrified of spiders, even mentioning them made Caleb uncomfortable.

“Oh my God! Don't move!” Bryan said deadly serious.

“What?!” Caleb cried out, frozen in place.

“There's...there's...a spider!” Bryan said, launching his out stretched fingers at Caleb, who ran away, crying. Bryan quickly looked around. Nobody had been paying attention to him tormenting Caleb...well, nobody but Calvin, who looked pissed and was marching towards him.

“What the fuck are you doing?” Calvin snarled, almost shouting. A few adults turned their heads their way. Bryan hastily noted that adults had a way of ignoring kids fighting with each other, but they instantly paid attention when an adult snapped at a kid.

Bryan recoiled, throwing his arms up defensively, his lower lip quivered, and tears fell instantly from his eyes. “Please don't hit me again, Daddy,” Bryan sobbed and stammered above the din of the arcade, “I didn't mean to cough.”

Calvin stood frozen, as dozens of angry eyes fell upon him. One older woman in particular looked like she was about to put Calvin over her knee. “Where's your brother?” He asked, more like demanded, which only made everyone looking at them even more bitter.

Once again, Bryan recoiled as if he was about to be hit. “I don't know. Please don't beat me.”

“Fucking knock your shit off. I know you're faking it.”

“I coughed on accident, I swear.”

Calvin grit his teeth and said at a slightly lower volume, “If you don't stop it right now, I'll give you something to cry about.”

Those were the both the right and wrong words to say. Bryan dropped to the floor and curled up in a ball, still quivering. “I promise I won't cough again, Daddy! Please don't hurt me like you hurt Mommy!”

“How dare you?!” The older woman said, as she shoved Calvin to the side. “You beat your own child for coughing! You're sick!” She knelt down and put her arm around Bryan, who was genuinely shaking but from suppressed laughter.

“I don't beat my children, and this isn't any of your fucking business,” Calvin spat.

“Hey, motherfucker, you don't talk to my mom like that,” a large man, with a beard and leather jacket, said, as he walked up to the scene. Unfortunately, Bryan's angle wasn't great and couldn't tell if Calvin had soiled himself again.

Calvin must have been emboldened by the crowd, because he replied, “Then tell your mother to get off of my kid and mind her own business.”

“What's going on here?” Another man said. He was wearing an employee uniform, and Bryan guessed it was the manager.

“This man is threatening this child,” the older woman said. “All the boy did was cough, and he's threatening to beat him.”

The manager, who had seen all kinds of inappropriate parenting over the years, looked at Calvin and asked, “Is this true, Sir?”

“Fuck no,” Calvin said, indignantly. “He was messing with his brother and started faking this bullshit.”

The manager rolled his eyes and asked Bryan, “Son, did your dad threaten to hit you for coughing?”

“Yes, Sir,” Bryan continued to stammer, “And he's not even my real dad.”

“You fucking little liar,” Calvin snarled. He made a move towards Bryan and the older woman, but the larger man got between them and put his hand on Calvin's chest.

“Give me a fucking reason,” the larger man growled.

The manager looked even more annoyed, especially since Caleb was nowhere to be seen. “Sir, I'm going to have to ask you to leave.”

“What for? I didn't fucking do anything.”

“You and your kid have caused a scene, people are clearly upset, and I don't like your attitude. So, get your kids and leave before I call security.”

The older woman and Bryan stood. She kept her arm around Bryan's shoulders and glared at Calvin. “Are you going to be okay, Sweetie? Do you want us to call the police our your mom?”

“No,” Bryan said, still keeping up his facade. “It'll only make things worse...for all of us.”

Caleb came around a nearby corner, having witnessed the entire incident. He scowled at his brother and sperm donor, but joined them as they were forced out of the arcade. Calvin was seething but didn't dare say a word, since the large man and older woman were trailing them. Bryan regained his composure, but kept his eyes down. He did attempt to take hold of Caleb's hand, but his baby brother jerked his arm away and moved a few feet ahead.

Bryan knew he fucked up with Caleb, especially mentioning spiders, but he needed Calvin pissed off to make his plan succeed. He would explain everything once they got home, and hopefully, Caleb would forgive him...in time.

They didn't make anymore stops, and walked hurriedly out to the car. “What the actual fuck?!” Calvin shouted. Bryan had to fight himself to keep from bursting out in laughter. Calvin's car was tagged with hot pink penises, with the words “I love cock” painted on the hood. To make things all that much more sweeter, all four tires were deflated. Calvin stormed around his car, swearing and kicking at random things. In the distance, Bryan could hear people laughing, including the large man and older woman.

*     *     *

“You did what?!” Diego shouted.

Bryan knew his dads probably wouldn't find his antics funny, but he didn't expect them both to so full of rage.

“I can't fucking believe you,” Steve said, betraying his usual calm and collected demeanor. “Do you have any idea what you've done?”

“Yeah,” Bryan said defensively. “I did what I had to do. I didn't want to go. Caleb didn't want to go. We have rights, and shouldn't have that bastard forced upon us.”

“Calvin called the cops, Bryan! He's claiming that you had his car tagged,” Diego barked.

“How could I? I was with you before I was with him.”

“Did you ask the Twins to help you?” Steve demanded.

“I didn't do anything to the car,” Bryan said. It was very true that he didn't do anything to the car.

“Answer my question, damn it.”

“I don't know who tagged the car. I was with Caleb and Calvin the entire time. Maybe it was some kids who saw Calvin's car and thought it would look better with a new paint job.”

“Is this a fucking joke to you?” Diego asked, still enraged.

“No, Dad,” Bryan said, his own anger finally flaring. “None of this is a fucking joke, but I seem to be the only person trying to get Calvin to go away. You two have either sat back and done nothing or tried to play by 'the rules, which hasn't helped at all, since the judge is clearly against us.

“I thought that if I showed Calvin what's up and how every single Saturday will go from now on, he'd leave us all alone. The judge can't make me like Calvin or behave myself when I'm around him. I might be forced to go to these stupid visits, but that doesn't mean I have to make things easy or pleasant.

“You all seem to forget that Caleb and I were the ones who were neglected and abandoned, but we have no say in what happens to us. That's fucking bullshit, and instead of trying to see things from our side, you're yelling at me for actually doing something about it.”

“Chico, we're yelling at you for not thinking of the consequences of your actions--”

“--and for bullying your brother,” Steve interjected.

“Right! The judge hates us, so why give him an excuse to make things worse? He clearly believes anything Calvin said, even when the police didn't. What's to stop the judge from making things worse?”

“I don't see how things could possibly get worse!”

“How about the judge taking you from us and giving you and your brother to Calvin? The judge could decide that being with us has only turned you into a spoiled brat or criminal, and that what you really need is Calvin to sort you out. Did that ever cross your mind?”

It actually hadn't. The idea of Calvin getting custody was always looming like a shadow, but actually getting custody still seemed too fantastical to ever happen. “No, but it won't happen.”

“You don't know that, Chico.”

“And you don't know it will. In the meantime, I can't just sit back and pretend to be a good little boy while my daddies battle it out. Caleb and I aren't toys to be fought over.”

Steve took a deep, settling breath and, as calmly as he could muster, said, “We know that, Bryan, and we're sorry you feel that way; however, it doesn't change that what you did was reckless, mean and cruel. It might have been one thing for you to mess with Calvin, but you dragged your brother into. He was completely innocent and you took advantage.”

“I said I was sorry, and I plan to make it up to him.”

“Sometimes sorry isn't good enough, Bryan. Caleb did nothing to you, and you treated him like he means nothing to you. Hell, you were so self-involved that you didn't try looking for him when he took off. You didn't even care.”

“Of course I cared!”

“Really? Because you didn't go looking for him! You didn't call out for him to come back! So don't tell me you cared, because your own actions showed you didn't. The next time you see James or Quinton, ask Charlie what it's like to be kidnapped. I bet you'll change your tune.”

Bryan didn't say a word. He had no idea that Charlie had ever been kidnapped. Of course, there had been no reason to ask. However, his mind went back to the day they were all packing up Kenny's apartment, and he remembered how scared and angry Ry seemed at the Twins for leaving school without permission.

“I'm sorry,” Bryan said, defeated. They were only going to argue in circles, and it was clear that nobody cared about his feelings. “Here,” Bryan said, and handed over his phone. “I know I'm grounded, so I'll pack up the rest of my electronics. When you're ready for me to start cleaning, let me know where to start.” He didn't even wait to be excused before heading to his room, leaving his fathers frustrated yet concerned.