<hr>
The Drifter - Chapter Two

Brian starts out his day in much the same way as he ended the last:  at the diner, but this time for breakfast.  It's noon when he sets out on his journey to Justin's house.  It's perfect walking weather.  The trees have just sprouted their first signs of green leaves because of the rain from last night, and Brian is enjoying that cool, crisp and earthy smell that only happens in early spring.  He grins whenever he walks past one of Justin's drawn landmarks.  After about forty minutes of walking and increasingly more expensive houses, he comes to Longbridge Lane, which is Justin's street according to his map.  Only a few more houses to go, and Brian will be there.  

As Brian walks up to the gate, he is starting to hope that the grounds aren't too much for him to handle.  The house is enormous.  From the gate, he can see the front of the house, a large flowering tree and a huge garage to the left.  There is a dark blue Mercedes and a black BMW parked in the gravel driveway.  Brian presses the button for the gate, and a few moments later, he hears Justin's voice say, "Come in."  The gate begins to open slowly.  Brian takes a deep breath and walks toward the tree and the front of the house.  Brian stops at the tree and leaves his bag there.  He doesn't want to walk in carrying everything he owns.  He barely knocks on the door, before it quickly swings open.  

Justin is standing in the doorway with his best toothpaste smile.  Directly behind him are, Brian assumes, Justin's parents.  They are both blond and depressingly middle-aged.  They have the exact same toothpaste grin plastered on their faces.  It's all a bit too <i>Leave It to Beaver</i> for Brian's tastes, but they don't seem maliciously happy.  

"Hey," Justin says.  "Did you find it all right?"

"Yep, your map was perfect."

"Good."  Justin moves to allow Brian inside.  "These are my parents."

The blond woman extends her hand.  "I'm Jennifer Taylor, and this is my husband, Craig."

"Brian Kinney.  Nice to meet you both," Brian says as he shakes their hands.

Jennifer leads Craig and Brian into a nicely decorated formal living room.  Following a relaxed, twenty minute conversation with the Taylors, Brian feels slightly ashamed that he thought of them as 'depressingly middle-aged'.  They explain all of Brian's expected duties carefully.  He will be expected to keep up the yard, not including the various gardens that Mrs. Taylor will tend to personally, fix small problems around the house, keep up the outdoor and indoor swimming pools, and some possible light carpentry.  They decide to leave the terms a bit undefined, because this was their first foray into having a handyman in their employ.

"I don't know if you're interested, but," she glances at her husband, "we have a guesthouse over the garage that we could let you stay in as part of your pay.  I'm not sure where you're staying now, but do you think you'd be interested?"

Brian thinks of his current living situation and answers, "Yeah, that sounds great."

The Taylors assure Brian that he will have all the privacy he needs, but can choose to share meals and the laundry room with the Taylors whenever he needs to.  The Taylors provide him with his own keys to the guesthouse, keys for the main house and the gate code.  They talk at length about the finer details of sharing some amenities with him.  He feels more and more fortunate about meeting Justin in the diner last night.  This is a dream job for him, and the people are completely generous and gracious.  

"Justin can show you the guesthouse now if you'd like to see it.  And when you're settled, he can show you around the house too."

"That would be great.  Thank you so much."

Jennifer's heart warms as she sees the blatantly grateful look on Brian's face.  Last night Justin had finally realized that Brian was probably without a roof over his head, so he had shared his fears about it with his parents the following morning.  They had that Brian could stay in the guesthouse if the Taylors approved of his looks.  

Justin must have been within earshot, since he comes bounding into the room as soon as his name is mentioned.  Brian only has enough time to give the Taylors a quick handshake, before Justin pulls him out of the room.  

"You ready for the grand tour?" Justin asks over his shoulder, watching Brian trail behind him.

"Of course."  

Justin leads him through the rooms on the first floor:  the den, laundry room, the indoor poolroom, dining room, two bathrooms, and the kitchen.  In the kitchen, he introduces Brian to the maid, Linda, who is preparing dinner.  

"Hey, Linda," Justin says, picking a piece of sliced mushroom from Linda's cutting board.  Linda playfully swats his hand away.  "This is Brian.  He's our new handyman."

"Nice to meet you, Brian."  

"Good to meet you," Brian responds.  

Justin grabs another mushroom and says to Brian, "C'mon.  I'll show you to your room."

"Dinner's at 6 o'clock, sharp!" Linda shouts after them.

Brian follows Justin out the side door and into the driveway.  Running around the front of the house, Brian grabs his duffel bag.  Justin waits for him to catch up before climbing the wooden staircase to the guesthouse above the garage.  Justin walks ahead of Brian on the stairs, and he is slightly mesmerized by the gentle sway of Justin's hips as he climbs.  As they near the landing, Brian remembers the keys that the Taylors gave to him, so he tears his eyes away from the firm ass and pulls them out of his pocket.  He finds the key labeled "guesthouse" and pushes past Justin to unlock the door.  It's a small landing, and Brian barely squeezes his way past Justin, but neither one seems to mind.

Justin, feeling his face warm a bit after being so close to Brian, follows him into the spacious room.  Brian is overwhelmed by the size of the room.  He can't believe that the Taylors are only taking twenty-five dollars a week out of his pay for this room.

"Mostly my uncle is the one that stays here when he comes to visit.  My mom cleaned it out this morning, so if you find any of my uncle's stuff, just let me know.  I think she got everything."

Brian walks over to the bed and sits down.  He sinks into a mattress that can only be made of clouds.  This is probably the nicest place he's stayed in since…since ever.  He flops over and lies down with his feet still on the floor.  Brian forgets that he is there until Justin says, "Comfy, huh?"

"Oh, my god, you have no idea."

Justin walks over and flops down next to Brian.  "Actually, I think I do.  Did you know that there are no boardinghouses, hotels, motels, youth hostels, nowhere to stay anywhere near that diner we were in last night?"

"No kidding?" Brian says, less as a question than it is a statement of fact.  He turns away from Justin's very blue eyes.

"No kidding," Justin says.  "So…where did you stay last night?"

Brian continues to stare at the ceiling for a long time.  Justin can clearly see that Brian is a bit embarrassed, and maybe a little angry, about his own situation.  He decides to back off, before things got more uncomfortable.  

"I slept in the woods, on the soggy ground," Brian says quietly.

"I'm sorry.  If I had known, I would have brought you home or something…"

Brian can see the pity in Justin's eyes and he can't stand it.  "Or something?  What would you have done?" he asks.  Without letting Justin answer, he continues, feeling more and more bitter.  "Brought me home to mommy and daddy?  Asked if you could keep me?"  Brian jumps up off the bed and begins pacing in front of a bewildered Justin.  "I don't need your pity, rich boy!  I just need this job and this roof over my head.  Nothing else from you!"  Brian turns his back on Justin.

"I…I'm sorry, Brian…I," Justin stammers.

"Sorry's bullshit," Brian says venomously, his back still turned.

Justin rushes out of the room and flies down the stairs.  Brian watches from the window as Justin opens a gate and runs into the backyard.

"FUCK!" Brian exclaims.  He rakes his fingers through his hair and wonders what to do next.

Not meaning to hurt Justin, and not thinking too hard about why he does, he quickly follows after him into the backyard.  Justin is sitting on a stone bench next to the enormous pool that is still covered for the winter.  He is facing away from Brian with his arms hugging his legs, pulling them up.  Brian notices the gentle shaking of Justin's shoulders and knows that he is crying.  He watches for a few moments, a bit unsure of what his next move should be.  

Still unsure, he begins to approach Justin.  He sees Justin wiping his eyes as he draws near.  "Justin…?"

"What?" Justin says miserably.

Brian sits down on the bench behind Justin's hunched back.  "I shouldn't have said any of that.  I was angry, but you didn't deserve that."

"I thought we were friends, Brian.  Becoming really good friends."

"I think so too.  I was taking out my frustrations on you.  And it was wrong."

Justin finally turns toward Brian, his eyes ringed red and his long lashes damp from his tears.  "Well, if you get that frustrated again, talk to me.  I'm here for you."

Brian smiles and feels his heart warmed by Justin's honesty and genuine compassion.  Somehow he knows that Justin is truly offering his help and understanding.  Looking back, Brian realizes that this young man may be the friend and confidant he's always needed and perhaps the family he's never had.  Overwhelmed by his feelings, Brian wraps his arms around Justin.  He feels tears well up in his eyes, as he understands what it feels like to accept someone into his heart.  He kisses Justin's damp forehead as they part.  He leaves his arm loosely draped over Justin's shoulders, and they sit quietly in the weaning sun of late afternoon.

Brian thinks about his gruesome childhood in Pittsburgh.  All of the beatings that his father gave him, the times that he held back his tears, so his father wouldn't know how much he hurt inside.  He marvels that it is the smallest gesture of kindness from a stranger that makes the tears come, because he is always prepared for the cruel looks and the belligerent comments, but he never expects the benevolent side of humanity to show itself to him.  

"So…this is the backyard, then?" Brian laughs.

"Yep."

"I think you're supposed to be showing me around."

"Yeah.  Let's go," Justin says, rising from the bench.  "We have about an hour until dinner," he says glancing at his watch.

"OK, let's hurry.  I want to take a shower before dinner."

Justin and Brian return to the guesthouse in time for Brian to get into the shower.  Justin lingers as Brian takes off his shoes and shirt.  Brian's chest is lightly muscled and tanned.  Justin unconsciously licks his lips at the sight of Brian stripping off his clothes.

"Uh, OK.  I'll go, and I'll see you for dinner."

"Meet me here at five of.  We'll walk in together.  I still feel a little weird just walking into your house."

"Sure."  Justin scurries out the door as Brian begins to unzip his jeans.

Justin rushes through his preparations for dinner.  He brushes his teeth while examining his reflection in the bathroom mirror.  His teeth brushed, he takes one last look and brushes back his longish hair.  Satisfied with the final product, he looks at his watch and heads for the guesthouse.  

He knocks on Brian's door a few minutes early.  

"Come in," he hears from inside.

He enters the guesthouse to find Brian putting on a black, short-sleeve, pinstripe button-up shirt.  He is already wearing dark blue jeans but is still barefoot.  

"How do I look?" Brian asks nervously.

"You look great."  Justin grins like an idiot, he is sure, as he takes in every inch of Brian.

Brian hurries around the room collecting socks, shoes and towels.  He drops the socks and shoes next to the bed and then takes the towel to his still damp hair and tousles it dry.  He dashes into the bathroom to finger brush his hair into some sort of neatness.  

"OK," Brian proclaims, "I'm ready."

Justin's parents keep a light conversation flowing as they all eat.  Not wanting to sound like they are interrogating Brian, they ask few personal questions, even though they are very curious about his story.  

Jennifer notices Brian's tanned arms and asks, "Where did you get a tan this time of year?"

"I was in Georgia doing construction before I made my way up here.  The sun there is brutal even in the winter."

"Georgia is so beautiful.  I have some family down there that I used to visit every winter when I was younger."

"Yeah, it's a beautiful state.  I loved it there, but summers are too hot.  I had to come back north."

"Well, lucky for us that you did," Craig adds.  

Brian, Craig and Jennifer continue talking mostly about some of the projects around the house that they hope to finish by the end of the summer.  By the sound of it, Brian will be very busy this summer.

"So, are you going out tonight, Justin?" his mother asks.

"Yeah.  Daphne is having a few people at her house tonight.  Her parents are out of town, as usual, and you know how she hates to be in that big house by herself."

"Just be careful."

"I'm always careful, Mom."

Brian watches the casual family banter with a touch of envy.  He has never had someone caring where he was every night.  As long as he wasn't in his father's way, no one cared.

Justin notices the sad look on Brian's face, and decides to ask Brian if he would like to go out tonight.

"Uh, as long as your friends won't mind."

"Daphne's cool.  You'll like her."

They stop at the guesthouse before leaving for Daphne's house.  Brian heads into the bathroom.  Justin sits on the bed and looks around the room.  He sees the contents of Brian's duffel bag, which are now scattered, about the room.  Saddened, he can't imagine having his only worldly possessions fit into a duffle bag.