Son for Hire Ch. 95-106

Author's Note: Be sure to check out Son for Hire: Thunderbird Interlude if you are curious about what Kitty got up to after Donny stormed away. This is the penultimate set of chapters for this serial. I hope you've enjoyed the ride thus far.

***

Chapter 95

A thousand emotions swirling in my turbulent soul I am literally shaking with pent up feeling. Wrench still in hand I stomp down the street like an impudent child right after throwing a tantrum...which is EXACTLY what I am. As the heat of the moment eventually fades and my raw anger subsides my steps begin to slow and my tense shoulders and fists relax. Oh boy. Do I feel stupid. Really, really stupid.

What had I done? And why!? What was I actually so angry about? Because Alan was a decent human being and wanted to offer a hand up to a couple poor young newlyweds with a child on the way? Because he called me son in the most innocuous way possible? Because he clearly still loved his wife? Because he was trying to make me feel guilty by pretending to be a good guy? Right there was the crux of the problem. Alan wasn't pretending.

I wanted so badly for him to be the mustache twirling cartoon villain that I hadn't even considered that he might actually be a stand up guy. He was a gruff man, a hard man, a man who did not suffer fools lightly, but what had he actually done to deserve my hatred? Be brusk on the phone with Evelyn? That was just how he talked. Change her birthday dinner from just the two of them going out to inviting company over? It seemed hard-hearted but what did I really know about it? I never followed that up and Evelyn didn't seem particularly upset about it after the fact. Maybe they had a great time with friends. Maybe it was a crucial business gathering. I just didn't know. I knew they'd grown apart over the years, like so many couples their age, but never did Evelyn give me the impression that she held true animosity toward him. If anything she seemed regretful that things couldn't have been different. Though it gnawed at me the fact was is that she still loved the man. Yeah he'd been stern with me but putting myself in his shoes I could understand it. Here was this young idiot who'd knocked up his new wife without any preparation or solid plan for the future. He and I hitting it off was never in the cards.

As much as I'd wanted to I just could not hate him. He was kind to Kitty, protective of her even, and in the end he had allowed us under his roof. And he'd just tried to give me a car for goodness sake! With no ulterior motive, just a pure act of charity to somebody he felt could use it. Not only that he also offered his own valuable time to help teach me to fix it. Not do it for me or offer to have it fixed by professionals, like Evelyn might have done, but show me how to do it for myself. It was a different kind of generosity and probably the single kindness thing a man had ever done for me. The way he put his hand on my shoulder, the way he encouraged and offered me guidance, the way he called me son...for a second there...it almost felt nice.

As I walk and reflect I realize that it wasn't Alan that had made me feel guilty. That was all Evelyn and I's doing. Our deceptions, our lies, our infidelity...we were the bad guys in this story. To be with her I could live with that but I had to stop projecting my sins onto others. It wasn't fair. Of all of us that lived in that house Alan was the least to blame for my troubles. Mixed in with the poisonous guilt was that old caustic irrational jealousy. Evelyn had talked to me about that after my little hissy fit in Eugene's room and assured me that her feelings for her son and her husband had no bearing on her love for me, yet here I was again.

I ought to go back, go back and apologize to both Alan and Kitty for my behavior, but I just couldn't. Not yet. I hadn't the courage face them right now and I didn't trust myself not to make an ass of myself all over again. I'd rudely thrown Alan's generosity back in his face. I'd embarrassed my sister by acting like I had and tried to deny her the car she so keenly wanted. And I had only increased the chances of Alan putting two and two together by responding with such intense emotion. And the rotten little cherry on top, here I was outside of the house without my cage and I was too much of a coward to go back and get it. I thought being her good boy was the one thing in the world that I could actually be decent at...but I failed at even that. I let my sister down. I let myself down. I let my Mommy down.

My shuffling feet slow, then stop moving altogether. I look down at the wrench in my hand and just stare at it. I could see myself teary eyed in the polished side of the head. If only a person could be fixed as easily as a car. But some people, some foolish little boys, were way too broken to repair.

All goes quiet. The traffic noises, the evening breeze, everything fades away except for the sound of my own breathing. Maybe...this walk shouldn't end. Maybe I should just keep walking and not look back. Maybe I should run away, like my mother did. They'd all be better off without me. Maybe I should just disappear...forever.

"No." I whisper as my hand grips hard around wrench. "No!" I glare down angrily at the weakling man staring back up at me in the reflection. "Haven't you learned anything yet? Huh?" I bring the face closer. "Has she just been wasting her time with you? Haven't you learned a thing?" I look forward and pocket the wrench. "I am better than this." My eyes drift the direction of downtown and my old hood. Talking to my old self, the weak man I'd seen in the reflection, I say. "Run if you want Donny. Run away and don't come back. But I'm staying."

Really looking around me for the first time since I'd stormed off I realize that I was already halfway to where I needed to be. My wandering may have been mindless but it had not been aimless. My stride picks up again, twice as fast as before, as I make for my destination. Pulling the pendant of my chain from out of my shirt I grip the compass tightly as my pace picks up even more.

With driven steps I walk through the quiet streets with my eyes focused straight ahead though my mind lingered behind. I hoped Kitty got the car. She liked those old cars and she deserved to have one. I hoped Alan didn't hold her temperamental husband's actions against her. And I prayed Kitty would be able to contain her impishness and not make this situation even worse. If she did I would not hold it against her. Whatever she did couldn't be worse than what I had done. I would find out how it went when I got home. Right now I had somewhere I desperately needed to be.

I am a good boy, not perfect but getting better by the day, and when times got tough or feelings got low...good boys needed their Mommy!

***

Chapter 96

Before long I am turning the final corner and up ahead I see the local Episcopal Church and attached community hall. On the street pole on the corner is a sign advertising tonight's charity drive happening in the hall tonight. The doors were propped open and folks from the neighborhood, seniors mostly, milled about and chatted with each other. Out front a man and his kids were pulling out bags of stuff from an SUV to drop off. They are all smiles as they carry their donations into the building to the greetings of those gathered. Old folks being old folks the arrival of children causes quite a stir, as if a celebrity had unexpectedly made an appearance. Even from a distance I could feel the good vibes of people united in trying to good in the world. This was much more than a simple charity drop off. This was community.

As I get closer I could see set up on the inside of the entry area were tables with food and drink and more people talking and laughing together. I nod my hellos to a few of the gray hairs out front and step through into the building. Behind one of the tables selling baked treats a familiar jade haired woman calls out to me.

"Hey cutie." She says with a smile. It was Harper, the cafe owner. She introduces me to those gathered around her table. "This shy boy with a big appetite is Donny. Alan and Evelyn's new tenant." They welcome me warmly. "What brings you out tonight cutie? That sweet tooth get the better of you?" Harper teases, calling back to the over-sized, over-sweet order when I was in her cafe. She waves her hand across the table of plastic wrapped goodies. "We've got a lot to choose from. All profits go to a good cause." She nods over toward the corner. "Coffee's free if you want one."

Reaching to my back pocket I find only Alan's wrench.

"Thank you." I say softly. "But...I forgot money or...my wallet." Pulling the tool from my pocket I say. "I...uh...came to donate."

"Just a wrench?" Says a man to my right.

I nod. "I just moved. Got rid of my old stuff. It's all I had to give really." It wasn't mine to donate of course but on the spot like this I couldn't think of another reason for being here. I'd buy Alan a replacement as soon as I could.

Harper chuckles. "Well, it's the thought that counts. Through that door for donations."

"Thank you." I say. "It was a pleasure to meet you all."

With that I walk for the door she'd pointed at. Behind me I hear somebody say, "What a lovely young man."

I walk through to the next room to find the main hall area. Directly ahead of me were two long folding tables set end to end for people to drop off their donations. Currently the man I'd seen out front and his children were speaking with a elderly man on the other side of the table. Beyond were other tables set out where locals, women mostly, were sorting the donations into different categories. There were lots of clothes but there were other things as well. Vacuum cleaners, DVDs, pictures, lamps, a desk, even a full sofa; anything and everything that the well-to-do of this neighborhood wanted to get rid of. And there, among the piles of clothes, I see my scarlet haired angel speaking and laughing with the woman beside her as they sorted.

For an instant a shot of panic runs through me. Would she be upset at my unannounced appearance? Would she be angry that I risked us being seen together in public again? Would she be disappointed that I wasn't strong enough to wait for her at home? I am almost considering bolting when, in the middle of a jolly laugh, her eyes pan across the room and quickly lock right on me. From across the long hall our eyes meet and the world melts away around me.

On her beautiful face blooms...joy. Pure radiant joy.

Feeling humbled and so undeservedly special I am frozen to the spot.

"Sir?"

"Huh?"

The old fella manning the table had evidently been talking to me. "Are you here to donate?"

"Uh..." I look down at the wrench and back up to him. "...yeah. Yeah, this." I pass him the tool. "Is that okay?"

He looks at it curiously, and me even more curiously, then shrugs his shoulders. "Every bit helps. Thank you."

"Donald Garcia." I hear Evelyn's upbeat voice. "This is a surprise." She comes around the table and hugs me. With all the prying eyes around it was just a quick hug, the type of hug you'd give a friend, but it still felt nice. Holding me out at arm's length she is all smiles. "What are you doing here?"

I bow my head, my feet shuffling nervously, and say in a voice only she could hear. "I did something stupid."

"Oh?"

"I didn't know where else to go."

"So you came to me?"

I nod. "I'm sorry."

She initially says nothing, she simply beams in that way she had.

"I'm...not bothering you, am I?"

"No baby, you are not bothering me. Come on." She turns and leads me back to the table where she'd been sorting. "Donald, this is Pamela. Pam, this is my new neighbor Donald."

"So this is the handsome artist Evelyn's told me about." She reaches over and shakes my hand. "You've made quite an impression on your landlord young man."

"Oh stop." Evelyn laughs.

"He's come to help?"

Evelyn turns to look at me looking as proud as she could be as she awaits my answer with Pam. "Yes Ma'am." I say.

"Excellent!" Pamela says. "You are a godsend. This has been one of our busiest drives yet and we could really use the help." She turns to Evelyn. "I'll leave him with you, alright?"

Holding back her smile Evelyn says calmly. "Okay Pam. I've got things here."

"Awesome." She says then looks back to me. "Welcome aboard Donald." And with that she hurries off to help at one of the other tables.

"It is pretty simple." Evelyn says as she turns toward the table in front of us. "We weed out anything not fit to be used then organize by sex and size, and then we move them to the appropriate table at the back of the room. You'll pick it up as we go." She glances toward me with a happy glimmer in her eye. "Just ask if you have any questions."

"Yes Ma'am." I move beside her.

Looking at all of the myriad of different clothes I just reach my hand out and grab one, a pair of men's swimming trunks. She shows me what differentiated good donations from trash. Items had to be clean, unstained, and in good condition to make the cut, which most of these were. Anything that needed just minor mending or a button sewed on were put in its own category for volunteers like Evelyn to take home with them and patch up. As a guy who'd worn far more pre-owned clothing in his life than new I was used to being on the other end of this process. It was interesting being on this side and I couldn't help but imagine these things hanging on the overstuffed racks of a charity store or identifying with whatever lower income person ended up purchasing and wearing these. It was only luck that found me here and it wouldn't take much for me right back on the other end of this again.

Another bag is brought to us and dumped out for inspection. With the crash course given we set to getting through the ever growing pile in front of us. As we work shoulder to shoulder, sorting good from bad and organizing what remained, we talk in low voices.

"Interesting outfit." She says to break the ice.

"Yeah." I look down at my sweats, t shirt, and runners combo. "I wasn't expecting to be going out tonight."

"Mmm."

I let out a sigh. "I was really stupid Mom. And I said some hurtful things. I feel awful about it."

"Okay."

"And I might have...I don't know. I might have got Alan wondering about us."

"Oh?"

Careful to keep my voice just between the two of us as I try to appear calm for any onlookers I describe to Evelyn everything that had happened between Alan, Kitty, and I. I tell her about the offer, the kindness, the jealousy, and the resulting petulant explosion.

"I'm such a...fuck up."

"No, you are not. You made a mistake. That's all." She says firmly. "I do not want you talking that way about yourself."

"Yes Ma'am. I also had some really dumb thoughts on the way here. Bad thoughts."

"You feel your emotions unfiltered. It's what makes you so empathetic. It's what makes you my Donald."

"Aw Mum." I sigh. "I messed up."

"Yeah. You did." She says without an ounce of judgment. "Don't we all?"

"I didn't mean to say those things to him, or to Kitty."

"I know baby." She says. "Your sister knows too. You'll apologize?"

"Yeah. I will." I say. "Alan's gonna hate me even more than he already did."

"Oh, I wouldn't be so sure about that." She looks over at me. "He's a Dad. The Dad of another strong-willed man. You don't think he's dealt with something like that before? He and Eugene used to butt heads all the time." With a wistful smile she whispers more to herself than to me. "He actually offered you the old T-bird? He offered to teach you? That sweet old..." Her voice fades away as her mind casts back to better times between them. "He's always been a good Dad."

"Yeah. I can tell."

Turning back she returns to sorting the clothes though her mind was definitely elsewhere now. "Kitty stayed?"

"Yeah. I think spoiled the whole mood though." Being reminded of my sister I take out my phone and shoot her text to let her know that I was alright. When I pocket my phone again I say. "I hope she gets the car. I think she really liked it."

"She will." Evelyn nods. "Alan quite likes her. He never got a daughter. Between you and me...when I was pregnant, I think he hoped Eugene would be a girl."

"You guys never tried for a second?"

"We tried baby." Evelyn whispers. "We tried." She swallows and lets out a long breath. "We were blessed with one healthy, perfect, beautiful baby boy. That was enough."

There was a story here, a painful one. This was not the place to have it. Gently bringing the conversation back to tonight I say. "We need to tell him. Alan. At some point...we have to."

"I know." She says. Keeping her hand below the level of the clothes in front of us Evelyn reaches over and takes my hand. "But not yet. Things are just...perfect right now. Let me have a little more time my Prince. Just a little more."

I squeeze her hand back. "I love you."

"I love you too baby."

***

Chapter 97

After a too brief moment our hands part and we return to our work. Side by side we sift through the clothes. Holding up a pair of women's lacy panties between my two hands I quip.

"What about these?"

"We don't take underwear. Straight to the reject pile."

"No, I mean what about them." I say with a smirk. "Think they're my size?"

"Your size!?" She laughs loudly, turning a few heads, then elbows my arm. "Behave yourself. My goodness! Boys these days, so cheeky!"

I laugh and deposit the dainties in the trash pile. "Since I'm coming clean about everything else, you should know I forgot to wear my cage."

"I know." She says with a sidelong glance. "I could tell."

"Mom's really do know everything."

"Don't you forget it. You'll get a spanking of course."

I smile, recalling how her 'spankings' were actually wonderful love taps. "Yes Ma'am."

"Anything else?"

"Oh, I also gave one of Alan's tools away."

"You what?"

"I donated his wrench. I had it with me when I stormed out of the garage and...well, I didn't know what else to say when I got here." I nod toward the table where such things were being put. "I'll get him a new one."

"Oh...oh no." Evelyn begins to laugh. "Oh no!"

"Is that bad?"

"It's part of a set." She chuckles. "You know how particular he is about his stuff."

"Oh."

"It's probably numbered and engraved knowing him."

"Oh no."

"You better find out the exact size and brand. He won't want just any old wrench. He might forgive being called names, but mess with his stuff? There will be hell to pay."

"Um...maybe I should just go get it back?"

"Maybe you should."

Making a fool of myself, something I am exceeding good at, I walk to the other table and explain to Pam that I just remembered something I needed to fix that needed that size of wrench. There are a few laughs but they are good-natured and soon I am back, wrench in my back pocket. As I settle into the sorting and folding I cannot help but think about Evelyn's warning. Hell to pay for messing with his stuff? What about messing with his wife? The wrench I could return, but what was I going to do about that? There really was only one thing to do. I begin mentally preparing myself for the ass-kicking that was surely coming to me. One glance toward my angel reminded me that it would more than worth it.

After a quiet few minutes it is evident that Evelyn was thinking about similar things as she asks softly. "You really are going to tell him, aren't you?"

"Yeah. I have to." I say. "Before tonight I dreamed of telling him just to hurt him and to see the look on his smug old face when I told him I was his wife's lover."

"Donald!"

"But I don't want to hurt him anymore. He doesn't deserve this Evelyn. What we're doing to him. Our happiness shouldn't come at his expense."