Millennium - 55. Chapter 55

January 26, 2000

 

“So who’s your father?” Robbie asked Gathan as soon as we’d settled into the limo.

“Fred Hayes,” he said disgustedly. “He conceived me on one of the rare occasions when he wasn’t in jail.”

“How old are you?” I asked.

“Past the age of consent,” he said, flirting with me. I laughed.

“Sorry, I’m taken. You’ll have to hit on the older guys,” I joked back.

“I am not aware of any older guys in this limousine,” Stef said, irritated at my reference. He hated the thought of getting old.

“You look pretty spry to me,” Gathan said.

“Gathan is one of our more unique citizens,” Nick said, giving him a strange look. It almost seemed to convey disapproval and affection at the same time.

“He means I’m a rabble rouser,” Gathan said.

“Sometimes,” Nick said. “You speak your mind, which is good, but you often do so in a confrontational manner that defeats your purposes.”

“A volcano,” I joked, thinking of Matt. “Must be a genetic thing with you Hayes boys.”

“I’ve never ridden in a limo before,” Gathan said as he looked around.

He was sitting across from me, and I was in back, with Stefan to my right and Robbie to my left. “Switch places with Gathan so I can show him all the buttons,” I told Robbie.

“What if I want to show him the buttons?” he teased.

“Then you should have thought of it first,” I replied. “Now move.”

Robbie moved and I slid over so Gathan could sit in between Stef and me. “Does he always do what you say?” Gathan asked.

That made me nervous. I’d just been joking around, but all that shit about me being a domineering asshole made me pretty sensitive to that kind of thing. I looked at Robbie and he winked at me, telling me that it was OK, and that I hadn’t done anything wrong. “No, but when he does, there are rewards,” I said, leering at Robbie. “This button puts up the privacy screen,” I said, pointing to a button. He pushed it and the screen went up. “This is the intercom to the driver,” I said, pointing out another one.

“What’s this one do?” he asked.

“Don’t push that one!” I said. He did anyway and the sunroof started to open, blasting cold air in the limo. I reached up and pushed the button to close it. “Don’t you ever listen?”

“Is there some incentive for me to listen?” he asked, being cheeky.

“There is. You get to stay in the car,” I joked.

“It would be nice if you did not do that again, though,” Stef added.

“For you, I’ll make sure I don’t,” Gathan said to Stef. He put his arm around him. “In the meantime, I’ll keep you warm.” Nick got an irritated look on his face, JP shook his head as he smiled, Robbie rolled his eyes, and I started laughing. Typical reactions from all of us.

We drove up to the country club and we braved the cold for the brief walk from the limo to the door, all of ten steps. They were expecting us, and had a table ready. Gathan was wearing jeans, worn out boots, an old sweat shirt, and a tattered jacket. They’d have tossed him out in a heartbeat if he’d not been with us. We sat down at the table and he looked really nervous now.

“I’m going to the bathroom. You want me to show you where it is?” I asked Gathan.

“Is this where I get an incentive?” he teased. I noticed he did that, put on this flirtatious and humorous façade, acting like a wolf, to hide how uncomfortable he felt.

“Yeah, you get to pee.” I got up to leave and he followed me. When we got to the bathroom, I went up to wash my hands and he did the same thing. “You ever been to a place like this, where they have fancy meals?”

“I’ve been to nice places,” he lied.

“Look, I don’t care if you have or you haven’t, but I thought I’d give you a few pointers, just in case you forgot,” I told him. He looked at me, getting where I was coming from, and just nodded. “First, keep your napkin in your lap unless you get up, or unless you need to wipe off your mouth. There’s a bunch of forks there. Start from the outside and work your way in with each course. The waiters will take away stuff you don’t need or don’t use. Don’t chew with your mouth open, and don’t wolf down your food like you’re eating a McDonald’s cheeseburger.”

“Got it,” he said.

“You don’t know what to do, look at me, and I’ll try to give you a hint. Or just watch what JP does. He never makes a mistake when it comes to manners.” He nodded. “You like steak?”

“Yeah.”

“Fish?”

“No,” he said dismissively.

“Robbie doesn’t either. Just order what he does,” I told him.

I watched his guard drop briefly and saw his sincerity shine through. “Thanks.”

“No problem. Now let’s get back before they think I’m blowing you,” I joked.

“You want to?” he asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Your charms won’t work on me, stud,” I said as I pushed him ahead of me. “Save them for Stef.”

We got back to the table and they were all talking about the meeting. I just listened to the same old arguments and conclusions. “I think people will vote for it,” Gathan finally said, interrupting the flow of conversation.

“And why is that?” Nick asked him in a patronizing way, as if this kid knew more about politics than he did.

“Because you asked them to,” he said, gesturing to JP. “A lot of people have left. You’re coming back to help, so they know they’re not in this alone.” That statement slammed into JP like a truck, because it hit right on the demons that he was fighting, at the core reason for him trying to help Claremont.

“No, they’re not,” Robbie said firmly. I looked at him, surprised. He’d done nothing but bitch about this place since the day I’d met him, and had pointedly avoided it or anything to do with it. “I’ll do what I can to help.”

“You will?” I asked.

“I will,” he said. He gave me a look that asked me not to dig into this issue now. I didn’t; he’d tell me later.

“So how old are you?” I asked Gathan again.

“I’m seventeen,” he said. “I’m a senior.”

“And on the honor roll,” Nick added. I was impressed that he would know that. I wondered how many mayors knew who was on the honor roll at the local high school. We were interrupted as the waiters took our orders, and Gathan did as I advised, mimicking Robbie’s order perfectly.

“Do you live with your parents?” I asked. It seemed odd that such a bright guy could spring from Fred Hayes’ loins and develop that way growing up in his household.

“Do you see any black eyes or bruises?” Gathan asked, his tone so full of venom it seemed to surprise even him. “Hell no, I don’t live with them. I live with my Uncle Wally and Aunt Clara.”

I wracked my brain trying to remember who Wally was. Robbie came to my rescue. “Is Wally still a sanitation engineer?”

“You can say garbage man,” Gathan said with a sneer, making us all feel like snobs. “Yes, that’s what he does.”

“He’s been doing it for a long time now,” Nick said matter-of-factly, “and he’s the best sanitation engineer we have.” I thought it was funny how Nick insisted on using the politically correct term. “He’s been on the same route in West Claremont for years now, and knows most of the residents there by name.” I continued to be amazed at how well Nick knew this city.

“He’s a good man,” Gathan said. “My aunt is just as awesome. She spends most of her time in the kitchen, what with all the kids in the house.”

“How many kids do they have?” Robbie asked.

“Two of their own, plus four of us,” Gathan said. “They’re the refuge for my sister and me, along with my two cousins, Brent and Trent. Their dad and my dad did time together. Like a big family reunion at the state pen.”

“So they took the four of you in and raised you?” Robbie asked. I could feel the guilt emanating from his voice.

“Yeah. I’ve lived with them since I was eight years old. My mom took my sister and me over there and left us, and I never wanted to go back home. I went from a house where you never knew when a fist was gonna fly at you, to one that’s warm and loving.”

“That’s wonderful,” JP said smoothly. “I’m sure Wally and Clara got just as much joy from you.” Gathan looked at him dubiously, as if he couldn’t possibly repay them for taking him in.

“So you have a sister?” Robbie asked.

“Yeah, her name is Luella, but she goes by Ella. She’s 16 now. My mom is from Oklahoma, so that’s how we got these weird names. My dad was in jail when we were born, so he didn’t have any say. Just as well. I sure as hell wouldn’t want to be named something like ‘Fred’.”

It seemed like we were grilling him, so I directed the conversation to easier topics. It was funny to see Gathan aping my moves at dinner perfectly. I was impressed with how smooth he was and how quickly he picked up on things. I really wanted to ask him about his sexuality; because he’d given signs that he might be gay with the way he flirted with Stefan. Then again, that’s exactly how Darius’s friends acted around Stef, and they were ostensibly straight. Plus, I reasoned, guys these days seemed less willing to pigeonhole themselves into a category. I thought of Wade and Matt, who seemed gay, since they were a couple, but obviously enjoyed sex with women as well. I enjoyed sex with women too, but it seemed like they enjoyed it more than I did. Maybe I was getting old and I just wasn’t as horny as I used to be. I turned to look at Robbie and decided that wasn’t it at all.

“What?” he asked me, since I was staring at him.

I leaned in and whispered in his ear, making sure my lips touched his lobe as I talked. “I was just thinking about how sexy you are, and how you make me hornier than I was when I was 17.” He blushed and grinned at me. He was so cute.

“Gross,” Gathan said, referring to us.

“It is gross because they are both men?” Stefan asked.

“No, it’s gross because they’re being all lovey-dovey,” he responded. “I have no problem with two men having sex. I’ll show you any time you want.” It was funny to watch Stef get slightly embarrassed at that, at being out-flirted by this kid.

“You are tempting,” he joked. We finished eating and headed back out to the limousine. It drove straight to Tonto’s old house, which kind of surprised me, since we needed to drop Gathan off either back at the school or at home.

“I figured that if we all took Gathan home, that might be a bit overwhelming,” JP said. “I figured Robbie could go with him.”

That pissed me off bad enough that I actually let him see me glare at him. It wasn’t his place to decide whether I should go or not, and it wasn’t his place to pointedly exclude me. This had nothing to do with him at all. And as always, when I get mad at JP, little things become extreme, and I get really pissed, really fast. Before I could say anything, Robbie jumped in. “Brad and I will take him home.”

“Excellent,” JP said. “Then we will see you both later.” I stared at him, trying to figure him out, then when I did, I wasn’t sure whether to be pissed at him or not. He’d set it up so Robbie could chose to include me or not. Was he testing Robbie, to see if he was willing to include me in stuff like this? Or was he trying to sideline me on purpose? I shook it off; irritated with myself for overanalyzing any small conflict I had with JP.

“You guys don’t have to take me home,” Gathan said.

“I want to see Wally. I haven’t seen him since, well, for a long time,” Robbie said.

“Why are you nervous?” I asked Gathan. He was about to argue with me that he wasn’t, but I drilled into him with my eyes. “I’ve got three teenage sons, so don’t think you can bullshit me.”

“Do you make out in front of them too?” he asked in a joking way, trying to deflect the question. I stared at him until he realized it wasn’t going to work. He sighed. “They’ll be mad at me for making a big scene at the meeting.”

“Why did you do it? You could have cornered me in private,” Robbie said.

“It’s not easy getting to you. I tried a couple of times.”

“Oh, who did you talk to?” Robbie asked, pissed off about that.

“Some guy named Carson,” he said. “He was pretty rude.”

I needed to change the topic fast before Robbie let that really freak him out. “So why did you do it?” I repeated.

“Uncle Wally and Aunt Clara basically spend everything they make to raise us,” he said. “Their kids are both pretty smart. The older, Zeke, is a math whiz. He’s 16, a year behind me. The other one, Zach, is 14. He’s a really good athlete. He plays football. He’s not a pussy though; he’s not a kicker.” I laughed at that, because I used to tease Robbie about that all the time.

“Kickers aren’t pussies,” he said in the same tone he used when he said he wasn’t fat. “What position does he play?”

“He’s a running back. He’s fast as fuck,” Gathan said, then realized he’d just dropped an F-bomb. “Sorry.”

“It’s OK,” I said. “So you wanted to see if Robbie would help make sure they could afford college?” He nodded. “What about you?”

“I got into Ohio State on a scholarship, so I’m fine,” he said. I looked at this kid in a whole new way after that. Up until now, I thought he’d been fighting for himself. Not that there was anything wrong with standing up and trying to grab a chance, but it had made him seem like an opportunist. Now it dawned on me that he was just doing this for his cousins, and for his aunt and uncle.

“You play sports?” I asked.

“I play hockey, and I’m good,” he said with a cocky attitude.

“My son Matt plays hockey,” Robbie observed. Before we could expand on that, the limo pulled up to a small house in a nicer part of East Claremont. The houses here were all pretty well taken care of, and it seemed like a normal urban residential area. People would probably describe it as blue collar. There weren’t any bars on the windows anyway. We got out and walked up to the door and Gathan led us inside.

The door opened right up into the front room, which must be the family room. The first thing to hit me was the smell, the smell of cookies. Clara must be baking. The second thing was the sound of the television. We’d walked into the front room, and there was a guy watching it who could only be Wally. He didn’t really look all that much like Robbie; it was hard to see them as cousins. “You’re late,” he growled at Gathan, but not in a mean way, more in a faux-grumpy way. He looked up and saw us, saw Robbie, and froze.

“Uncle Wally, I ran into Robbie. This is his partner, Brad Schluter,” Gathan said. He wasn’t nervous now, he was comfortable. It was really neat to see that, because it showed how this was truly his home. Wally nodded at Gathan, and he took off up the stairs, leaving the three of us alone. He’d no doubt corner his cousins and sister and fill them in on the gossip about the meeting.

Wally Hayes stood up and walked over to us. He was as tall as Robbie, with that same beefy frame, only his carried a big pot belly. He was probably a good 40 pounds overweight. They looked quite different except for those lavender eyes that most Hayes men seemed to inherit. “Welcome to my home,” he said cordially, shaking both of our hands. There was a tense moment then, while he and Robbie just eyed each other. Wally finally broke the silence. “I feel real bad about what happened all those years ago. I’m sorry. I’m glad to see you landed on your feet.”

Robbie swallowed hard. For some, this would be a moment where I’d wonder whether the person would refuse to forgive someone who had raped him, but I didn’t have to even question that when it came to Robbie. He wouldn’t do that, not to someone who hurt only him. Now if someone hurt me, or the kids, he’d be relentless, but he’d put his own pain aside. “I’ve dealt with it over the years. We’re both different people now.”

“Yes we are,” Wally said.

“What’s all this commotion out here?” came a friendly female voice. A portly woman came into the room wearing an apron.

“Clara, this is my cousin Robbie, and his partner Brad,” Wally said.

Clara walked right up to Robbie and put her hand on his arm. “I am so glad to meet you. How wonderful that you came to see us. Won’t you sit down,” she said, gesturing to a worn sofa. She and Wally took the two chairs.

“Gathan brought them over,” Wally said.

“He would,” Clara said, smiling. “He’s such a sociable boy.”

“He tells us you’re raising quite a brood here,” I said.

“We’ve got our two boys, along with four other kids that got shuffled off on us by my worthless brothers,” Wally said bitterly. “Worthless white trash.”

“Now Wally, be charitable. They are who they are, and they’ve given us quite the blessing by bringing the children here. They’re good kids, and they’ve brought a lot of joy to this house,” Clara admonished.

“They have,” he said. “You’re right. I love them all like they were my own kids. But they have their moments.”

“I believe Gathan had one tonight,” I said. Robbie snaughed and Clara looked at him strangely.

“What did he do?” Wally asked with nervous curiosity.

“We were at the town meeting, and I was talking, and he called me on the carpet for deserting my relatives here in this town, for turning my back on them after I left and became successful,” Robbie said.

“I am so sorry,” Clara said. “He had no right to do that.”

“I ought to take the strap to his hide,” Wally said angrily, although I doubted he’d ever do it.

Robbie was about to jump in when Clara cut him off. “I’ve heard Wally’s nightmares for years now, reliving what happened to you, what he and his cousins did to you. You must be tortured even worse. You don’t owe anyone here a thing.”

Wally looked away, embarrassed, but Robbie stared at him, forcing eye contact, forcing Wally to interact with him. “I really wish you’d let this go. I don’t want to go back and relive those times, and I know you don’t want to. Let it go.” He and Wally just looked at each other, while silence pervaded the room.

“We’d really like to do something to help you out,” I said, trying to break the uncomfortable silence.

“We don’t need no charity,” Wally said gruffly. Robbie gave me a dirty look, and I reminded myself yet again to stay out of other people’s relationships, even if this one affected me. Clara must have seen me beat a hasty retreat into my shell.

“I don’t think Brad,” she said, then paused to turn to me. “It is alright if I call you Brad, isn’t it?”

“Yes, if I can call you Clara,” I said, smiling at her.

“It’s a deal,” she said, then turned back to Wally. “He didn’t mean to offend us.”

“I didn’t. We’ve got three teenage boys and I know what it costs to feed and clothe them,” I told him.

“Wally, Gathan called me on deserting everyone, and he was right. You’ve turned into a real upstanding man, a good father and to all appearances a good husband,” Robbie said soothingly. “It’s not fair that you should bear the burden of raising these kids alone.”

“It upsets me that the whole town’s gonna think I’m begging for help,” Wally said.

“The whole town has other things to worry about,” I told him.

Robbie picked up as soon as I finished that sentence. “Here’s what I’d like to do. I’d like to send you a check every month to help with the expenses. Pay for food, clothes, athletic gear… I know how expensive that is.” Wally snaughed at that, and that told me why Clara had looked at Robbie so funny. They made that same gesture the exact same way.

“I guess a little help would make things easier,” he said, then looked to Clara.

“It would. Thank you so much,” she said.

“If you need anything else, anything at all, just ask me,” Robbie said.

“We’ll be just fine,” she said.

“There’s two more things,” Robbie added.

“What?” Wally asked nervously.

“One thing Brad’s family has taught me is how important education is. I want to make sure these kids have a good start to their careers. So when they go off to college, whichever school they go to, I’m paying for it.”

“That’s so generous,” Clara said. “Those four kids don’t have a prayer of getting any help from their parents.”

“I’m not talking about just those kids, I’m talking about your sons as well,” Robbie said. “Gathan tells me they’re talented young men. I’m covering their costs too.”

A tear rolled down Clara’s cheek. Wondering how she was going to pay for her sons’ educations must have weighed on her pretty heavily. “I don’t know what to say. I don’t know how to thank you.”

“You’ve done enough already, by stepping in and sacrificing to support kids who aren’t your own. It’s time for me to help out,” Robbie said.

“You said two more things. Is there something we can do for you?” Wally asked.

“I’m hoping you’ll bring the kids out and stay with us for a couple of weeks in the summer,” Robbie told them. “We live right on the beach, and if they like movies, we can arrange to take them to see live sets.”

“Live sets?” he asked.

“Where they’re filming movies, or television shows,” Robbie explained.

“To think I might actually get to see Kelsey Grammar. I just love Frasier,” Clara said wistfully.

“No movie stars?” I asked her.

“We don’t get to see movies too often,” she said.

“Make sure you spend some money on yourselves and go do that. You can do me a favor and tell me what you think of them,” Robbie said. “We need to get going, but before we do, can we meet the kids?”

“Absolutely,” Clara said. She went over to a big bell by the stairs and started ringing it. It was loud, real loud. I heard the rumble of footsteps on the second floor and then on the stairs as they came stampeding down, each one trying to be first. There were five boys, but at the back of the group, standing aloof from the pack was the lone girl: Ella. She was beautiful, truly beautiful, although it was hidden behind unfashionable clothes and a horrible hairdo. She reminded me of what Claire looked like when she was in high school, only Claire’s beauty was based more on cuteness, Ella’s beauty was much more elegant. This girl could model, no question about it.

“I want to introduce you to your Uncle Robbie and his partner, Brad,” Wally said. Robbie wasn’t really their uncle, but it seemed appropriate enough.

“Partner?” one of the boys asked. Gathan whispered into his ear and his eyes got really wide.

“And which one are you?” I asked.

“Zach,” he said. A glare from his father prompted him to add “sir” afterward.

“Your uncle has a surprise for you,” Wally said. “He’s going to take us all out to California this summer to see the beach and movie studios.” They cheered at that. “And he’s going to cover the cost of college for each of you as well, so you need to work extra hard on your grades.”

“Any college?” Zach asked.

“Any college,” Robbie answered.

“Even if I get into Stanford like Gathan?” Robbie and I both looked at Gathan, who didn’t say anything.

“Which schools accepted you?” I asked him.

“Lots,” he said, being a smartass, until he caught Wally’s eye. “Stanford’s the best one.”

“We need to talk about this,” Robbie said. He diplomatically looked to Wally for approval and got a slight nod. “How about after school tomorrow?”

“We’re staying over?” I asked.

“Is that OK?” Robbie asked, worried that he was messing up my schedule.

“Yeah, that’s just fine.” From the way things were going, I’d probably be here a lot more in the future. It was a damn shame they didn’t have an ocean in Claremont.