“Sis, what happened?” He asked worriedly, quickly joining her on the couch. He took in the half empty glass and looked back at his lover, his eyes showing his concern. Debbie appeared to be in a daze and Vic wondered what had caused her to be in that condition. “What’s wrong? Sis?”
“What?” Debbie said shakily, coming out her stupor. She shook her head, clearing the cobwebs that had gathered during her drinking binge, looking around her living room. Her eyes fell on her brother. “Vic?”
“Yeah, sis, it’s me. Care to tell me what has you breaking out the hard stuff?” Vic couldn’t hide the worry he was feeling. It had been a long time since he had seen Debbie drinking vodka. The last time was when he had told her that he was positive.
“Brian.” Vic rolled his eyes as Rodney took a seat nearby. Both men realized that their quick trip to pick up some clothes for Vic wasn’t going to be as fast as they had hoped.
“So what evil thing has Brian supposedly done now that has you so upset?” Vic moved Debbie’s glass further away when she went to reach for it. “I think you’ve had already had enough.”
“I’ll tell you what that asshole has done,” Debbie shouted. “He’s decided to make Melanie and Lindsay’s lives miserable.”
“And why would he be doing that?”
“Because he’s nothing but an asshole who likes to cause as much trouble as he can, because heaven forbid anyone actually try and have a life that isn’t centered around Brian “I’m the fucking center of the world” Kinney.” She spat, her anger at what at had happened at the diner coming through once more. She missed the shared look between Vic and Rodney.
“So what else is new, Sis,” Vic asked, sighing as he thought of how, once more, his sister was blaming other’s problems on her surrogate son. It amazed the man how much Debbie swore she loved Brian like a son, and yet everything that went wrong in everyone else’s life, whether it be Michael quitting his job at the Big Q to Melanie cheating on Lindsay, was somehow Brian’s fault. Like he had some kind of mystical power to make others do exactly what he wanted them to do, whether it was what they wanted to do it or not. He and Rodney had discussed it at length one night when Rodney had inquired about the dynamics of the psuedo-family that was a big part of his lover’s life.
“Well, this time he’s going for an all time low, even for him.”
“What did he do?”
“He’s fucking suing the girls for custody of Gus,” she stood up and began to pace, her voice getting louder and her rant continued. “He’s saying that they’re unfit parents. That they’re neglecting Gus and paying too much attention to Annie. Like there’s something wrong with paying so much attention to that adorable little girl. Melanie went through hell during her pregnancy. Fuck, it was a miracle that she could even get pregnant and now Brian Kinney is trying to fucking punish those two wonderful girls because they had the nerve to have a child without him being responsible for any of it. That’s so fucking selfish of him.
“And what makes him think he’s any better fit to be a parent to Gus? Shit, the asshole is too busy always fucking and sucking every man in Pittsburgh and a few from outside the fucking city to even pay any attention to his son. He’s probably thinking that Justin will watch Gus for him so he can go out and get his dick sucked in the backroom.”
“You know that’s not true, Sis,” Vic interrupted; trying to figure out what it was that his sister was talking about. “Brian loves his son, and Gus loves Brian. I can’t think of a better father for that little boy, and that’s saying a lot considering the lousy example of parenting Brian grew up with.
“Please, Justin is more of a father to that little boy that Brian has ever been,” Debbie spat.
“Brian is a great father to Gus,” Vic argued.
“Fine, you’re right, he’s a great father. Are you happy?” Vic didn’t even bother answering, knowing that his sister didn’t really want one. “But that still doesn’t give him the fucking right to try and take Gus away from his parents. Mel and Lindsay love that little boy and there is no way they would do anything to hurt him.”
“I know that, and I didn’t think Brian had any doubts as to the girls’ ability to raise their son, so why is he now saying that they’re unfit?”
“He’s saying that they’re ignoring Gus in favor of paying more attention to Annie. And that they argue about Brian in front of Gus making him think that its somehow his fault,” Debbie explained, her voice lowering as she told Vic what Lindsay and Melanie had told everyone at the diner. “And he’s using Gus’s birthday party on Saturday as the big example of how neglectful everyone has become, like’s it their fault Brian decided to take Gus away from his own party.” Vic took a deep breath, looking over at his lover quickly as if to gather strength. He knew what he was about to say would most definitely start his sister off once more, but he couldn’t help it. He just didn’t think it was fair that Brian be blamed for putting his son’s needs first for once, and that’s exactly what it sounded like Brian was doing.
”Debbie, you were ignoring Gus in favor of Annie at his party,” Vic gently reminded his sister, even though he knew she didn’t want to hear it. In fact, he was already preparing himself to listen to her blow up at him for having the nerve to contradict her version of events. ‘Ah hell, at least I was already planning on staying with Rodney for awhile anyway.’
“We were doing no such thing,” Debbie denied. “Gus was having a wonderful time at his party.”
“Sis, do I have to remind you that I was the first person who realized that Gus was no longer at the house, and I had only just arrived five minutes before I said something about that,” Vic said. “Lindsay was inside dealing with the food; Melanie was holding Annie and the rest of you all were fawning over that little girl, while Gus was nowhere to be found. There’s no telling how long it would have been before anyone had noticed he had disappeared.”
“So you’re saying that it is okay that Brian is trying to ruin Mel and Lindsay’s lives?”
“I don’t think he’s trying to do any such thing,” Vic countered. “I think he’s just trying to look out for his son. We’re talking about someone who knows what its like to have parents treat him like shit and I’m sure Brian wants to make sure the same thing doesn’t happen to his son.”
“Those two girls do not treat Gus like shit,” Debbie shouted. “They love that little boy and I can’t believe you’re sitting there saying what you are. You’re beginning to sound like Ben and Emmett.”
“What are you talking about?”
“What I’m talking about is how Lindsay and Melanie’s supposed friends seem to be sticking up for that asshole,” Debbie replied. “Justin I can understand. He thinks Brian does no wrong. But the rest of you, I can’t believe you’re sticking up for Brian.”
“What did Ben and Emmett say?” Vic questioned, curious as to what the other two men had done to make Debbie so upset with them.
“Basically they said the same thing you just did. That Brian was just looking out for Gus’s “best interests” and that we have all been ignoring Gus,” Debbie answered. “That we have been favoring Annie, always bringing her things when we go to visit and completely forgetting to bring anything for Gus.”
“I hate to break it to you, sis, but they’re right.”
“What the fuck do you mean they’re right?” Debbie shouted.
“Sis, you always have something for Annie, whenever you go over to the girls’. When was the last time you brought something over for Gus too, and I don’t want you to count his birthday,” Vic warned, knowing that would have been her answer. He didn’t even bother mentioning the fact that he knew she had also brought a gift for her granddaughter that Saturday. He could tell Debbie couldn’t think of the last time. “That’s what I thought. There used to be a time that you would have always had something for Gus.”
“Annie is my granddaughter, why shouldn’t I treat her to something if I want to,” Debbie finally said, using the same argument that Michael had used.
“I’m not,” Vic countered. “All I’m saying is that, if the reason you want the best for Annie is because she is your granddaughter, you can’t fault Brian for doing the same for Gus since he is his son.”
“That doesn’t mean he should take the girls to court. Gus belongs with his mothers.”
“I’m not saying that what Brian is doing is right or wrong, all I’m trying to show you is that there are two sides of this story and you can’t just go blindly deciding which course is right without listening to both sides.” Vic stood up, leaning over and kissing the top of Debbie’s wig. “I’m going to be staying over at Rodney’s for awhile. Call me over there or at Emmett’s if you want to talk.” Vic and Rodney went upstairs to Vic’s room to pack some of his clothes, knowing that Debbie had quite a bit of thinking to do. He was also planning on visiting a certain advertising executive in the morning and finding out exactly what was going on.