Truth Behind the Lies

Review Responses

Bookworm51485: I can see the ideas just flying off your head! ‘Jimmy’ denies his involvement with Jack, so he didn’t sign away any parental rights, he just disappeared. I am feeling much better, thank you. Yeah, I had just found out about that and decided to allow anonymous reviews. You know, I am so dumb, all this time I thought Anon was actually somebody’s pen name….*shrugs*
Sasurto: “Holy crap, it’s true!!!” Haha. Oh yes, Inoku, I remember you.
cfweber1b: Thank you. Things will get better between them but creative juices are flowing and I’m just enjoying messing with them.
sinheart: Why thank you kindly.
bobii: You’ll see how Randy deals with it in this chapter.
k-girl: Well here’s another chapter.
madlodger: Does he realize what it would be like taking Bryant in? He won’t at the beginning, but he will.
bambi4real: Haha, yeah it was, wasn’t it? It gets juicer.
Stereo: Thanks for reviewing.
Lina: Thanks much.
civako: Yes, I know. But things will get better….eventually. Thanks for your review.
rmx: YES you were right! GO RMX!
Kyo-nezumi: I understand that. I did check your profile and saw that Rain has been updated. YAY! I’m gonna go read that after I post this.
Blushing: Haha, kick James around too, huh? Sure. Has James changed? You’ll see in this chapter. P.S.: Thanks.
Anna: Are you addicted? Oh goodie! Here’s another chapter for you then.

AUTHOR'S NOTE
Thank you all so much for your reviews!

Chapter Fifteen


Monday—early afternoon


It had been a while since he picked up a pack of cigarettes. Previously driven to the nicotine by problems at work or his parents pending divorce, he eventually outgrew the need once meeting Shay. His mind was more at ease, problems at work didn’t seem to be as drastic anymore, and his parent’s divorce was their problem not his. But on Monday, while sitting behind the check-out counter of Roy’s Corner, Randy lit up his third cigarette for the day.

A plethora of different emotions flooded his mind after yesterday; shock, surprise, unbelief, and finally anger. James, my cousin, my closest friend, is the father of my lover’s child? He’s the ‘bastard’ I was told so much about? He’s the one who promised Shay the world then dumped him by the waste-side? It’s still not registering to me. I mean, I know it’s true cause Shay wouldn’t lie, but……it’s just so damn hard to believe! But yet at the same time, this would be the second time James had shafted me. I was the one who saw Richie first. I was the one he hit it off with instantly. But James ended up with him. Now I’ve found Shay and fallen in love with him and find out that he had a relationship with him too! This is crazy! It’s….

“Excuse me, sir?” Randy blinked his eyes and looked in front of him. A young girl of about 15 or 16 was standing there with gum, chips, and two small sodas on the counter. “I’d like to check-out please.”

“Oh. Sorry.” Randy quickly put out his cigarette and rung up the young girl. When she left, Corrine came out from the back room after Doug helped her with inventory and stood next to her nephew.

“Randy, hon, are you alright?”

The man was running a hand through his honey blonde hair distractedly before he finally noticed his aunt was speaking to him. “Huh? Oh yeah, sure. I’m fine.”

“Are you sure? Cause you look awfully absentminded, like somethin’s botherin’ you.”

More than you can imagine. “Na. I just didn’t sleep well last night is all.”

“Well, okay. Just as long as you are alright.”

“I am, auntie.”


***


Later that afternoon


Randy tried to paste a smile on his face and act like everything was fine, but it was so hard to do. It especially didn’t help that James had called his cell over five times. He never answered his calls, fearing he wouldn’t know what to say to his cousin yet at the same time fearing he would know.

He loved it every time he’d hear Jack call him ‘daddy’. It gave Randy the best feeling in world. It made him want to protect the toddler and care for him even more than he did before. Hearing that word come out of that small baby voice was unimaginable. It had even gotten to the point that Randy actually believed he was his daddy. He knew he didn’t sire the boy but he knew without a doubt that Jack was his son. But ever since he found out the truth, when he’d hear Jack call out to him, a strange chill would go through him. A flash of James’ face would show up in his mind and almost smirk at him, like this was his family not Randy’s.

He felt that same way when he’d be around Shay. Shay had deep feelings for his cousin, James. The brunet told him so. Shay told him that he thought they were going to have a happy life when they were together. He loved Shay and Jack and he knew that they loved him too, but he felt like he was ‘sloppy-seconds’.

Randy couldn’t take the phony act anymore. He had to leave. Giving Corrine instructions to take over, the blonde left Roy’s Corner. But as he drove down the road, he yielded to his turn that would take him home….but he didn’t turn. Preferring to drown his sorrows, Randy kept driving until he left the outskirts and hit the small town of Plumsfield. He headed for the nearest bar.


***


Late that night


At eleven o’clock, Shay finally got up from Jack’s bed and went to go sleep in his own. Shay and Jack had spent their entire day together. Before he had left, Randy had said he’d be home by eight and Shay had made plans to fix dinner and have it done by the time the blonde got home. His lover never showed up. So instead, he and his son ate dinner alone in the large lake house. He knew his not showing up had something to do with what happened over the weekend and figured he just needed some time to himself.

So after feeding Jack and bathing him, Shay took him to his room to put him to bed. But the tike was still not used to sleeping alone and pleaded for his mother to sleep with him. And Shay did. He decided to lie with him until the boy dozed off then sneak out the room. But soon after Jack, he dozed off as well.

Now back in the room he shared with Randy, Shay had just gotten comfortable under the sheets when he heard the sound of a door opening and shutting downstairs. Getting out of bed in a t-shirt and briefs, he walked down the hall and watched from the top of the stairs as his blonde lover staggered in the house.

Randy made to place his keys on the key holder, but he dropped them under the small table that was set right under it. “Damn it.” He bent down and grabbed the keys but bumped into the table in the process. “Oh, my fault.” He slurred. He unzipped his light jacket and swayed as he tried to slowly remove it, letting it fall to the floor in a heap.

“Randy?”

The blonde looked up and watched Shay come down the stairs. He smiled. “Hey baby….I’m home.”

“So I see. Where did you go? You said you’d be home by 8.”

Randy frowned. “I did? Oh! I did, didn’t I?” he laughed. “Whoopsie.” He shrugged. “Doesn’t matter. I’m here now.” He staggered over to Shay and wrapped his arms around him tightly.

“Randy, stop…”

The blonde wasn’t listening. He leaned his face against Shay’s neck and breathed him in. “You smell so good.” Shay could smell the alcohol in his breath.

“How much did you have to drink?”

“Just one, two….maybe five beers.” Randy laughed. He palmed Shay’s ass with both hands and squeezed. The brunette gasped. “I could fuck you right now, you know that?” He kissed his neck.

Shay tried to push at his shoulders. “Randy—”

“Come on, baby, don’t leave me hanging here.”

“Stop.” Randy slipped a hand down Shay’s briefs and the brunette grew enough strength to push him completely away. “I said stop it!”

“What, Shay?! What?! You don’t want me or something?!”

“No! Not when you’re drunk!”

“I’m not drunk, damn it! I’m fine!” He slurred back angrily. “You just don’t want me anymore, is that it?!”

“What the hell are you talkin’ about?”

“Perhaps you want James back, huh?! You go through me—the second-rate lover—to find out where he’s living so you can have him back!”

“Randy, you’re not makin’ any sense!”

“I AM making sense! Perfect sense! I’m not to your tastes anymore so you’d rather fuck him than me! Well you go ahead then—be my guest!”

Shay just stood there silent for a moment. He could’ve easily just mouthed off a whole truck load of words to get back at him, but he didn’t. He decided to choose just two simple yet powerful words instead. “Fuck you.” He walked back upstairs to the bedroom and shut the door behind him.

Randy sighed. I really made an ass of myself this time. I need to lay off the drinking. “Shay?!” he called up the stairs. “Shay, I’m sorry! I—“ Well, there’s no guessing about where I’m sleeping tonight. Randy walked into the laundry room and grabbed a blanket and pillow, and crashed on the couch.


***


Tuesday Morning


Jack was busy making noises with his mouth in his high chair, while Shay cooked them both breakfast. Randy woke with a crick in his neck from sleeping on the couch. He also had a pounding headache and fowl breath from drinking last night. Kicking back the sheets, he went upstairs to brush and wash his face before he returned back downstairs, following the sounds of cooking and baby gibberish to the kitchen.

“Daddy!”

Randy felt that shiver again but he smiled at the boy anyway and patted his golden head. “Hey kiddo.” Unsure if he should or not, Randy walked to where Shay was standing in front of the stove cooking bacon. The brunette knew he was there but refused to utter a word to him.

Randy vaguely remembered what occurred Monday night, but he did recall bringing up James in their conversation and suggesting that Shay should be with him. And that’s why he’s so pissed at me.

Shay grabbed a small plate and placed the cooked strips of bacon on it. Randy walked up behind him and placed a hand on his shoulder. The younger man smacked his hand away and went to the refrigerator to grab the eggs. “Shay.”

“Don’t talk to me.”

“We need to talk about last night.”

Shay grabbed a bowl and put it on the counter, then turned to look at the blonde. “You’ve said enough already.” He turned away again to angrily crack eggs into the bowl.

“……I’m sorry.”

“Save it.”

“Shay, I—“

“Just go to work!”

Randy grabbed Shay’s arm and turned him around. “No! I’m not leaving until we get this straight. Our relationship means more to me than some store.”

“There is nothin’ left to say, Randy. When people are drunk, the truth comes out. And you said your truth last night.”

“That’s not…That was not the truth, Shay. You KNOW how I feel about you.”

“That was before you found out the truth about your cousin and me. Face it, you’re feelin’s for me aren’t the same. I can see it in your eyes.”

“That is not true.”

“Sure it isn’t.”

“It’s not!” Frustration carried Randy’s voice higher than he expected and it shook Jack who was still sitting behind them.

“Waaaa!” He cried.

Shay stared at Randy. “Go to work, Randy.” He moved away from the blonde and picked up his son. “Shhhh. It’s okay, baby. It’s alright.”

Randy closed his eyes and sighed. Why me? he left the kitchen to walk upstairs and change clothes.


***


Monday afternoon


Corrine stood in Roy’s Corner staring out the front window. There, she saw her only nephew sitting on the bench lighting another cigarette. It seems he’s even worse today than he was yesterday. What the hell is goin’ on with him?! This isn’t the silly and playful Randy I once knew!.......There’s no need in guessin’ who’s the cause of his pain. She made it her business to talk to him at the lake house after work.

A tune played in Randy’s pocket and he pulled out his phone. It was James. Feeling he couldn’t go any longer without talking to his cousin, he answered. “Hello?”

“Finally! I’ve been tryin’ to reach you for days now! What’s goin’ on, cuz? How’s your friend?”

Randy skipped all that. “We need to talk. Can I come over after I leave the store?”

“Sure. I’ll be here.”

“Alright. I’ll see you then.”

He hung up the phone and continued to smoke his cigarette, thinking to himself about what he was going to say.


***


Late that afternoon


Randy sat down in one of the patio chairs his cousin and Richie had on their back deck. James sat in another chair opposite him. “You want a beer?” James asked cordially.

“No.” Randy answered quickly.

James shrugged. “Ooookay. So what’s up?”

Randy reached into his back pocket to grab his wallet. “I want to show you something.” He pulled out a small picture and set it on the white wicker table. James picked it up and looked at it.

“Cute kid. He looks a lot like you. Especially the blonde hair.” James chuckled.

“Does he? Take a good look at him, James. Check out his smile, the shape of his mouth….looks a lot like you, don’t you think?”

Suddenly, the smile dropped from James’ face and he looked back at his cousin. “What are you gettin’ at?”

“You wanna know the name of the person I’ve been seeing?......Shay Gibson.”

James mouth slightly gaped open and he sat back in his chair. ….“What’s goin’ on, Shay?”

Shay’s brown eyes looked to the floor. He rubbed his hands together nervously. “…………I’m pregnant.”

“Pregnant. You’re pregnant?” Shay nodded. “You…..You’ve got to be fuckin’ kiddin’ me. You’re jokin’, right?”

“No.” Shay watched as Jimmy got up from the bed and paced the floor, running a hand through his hair.

“Are you sure it’s mine?”

Shay suddenly looked up, shocked. “Yes it’s yours. How could you—”

Jimmy turned to face the teen. “How could I what, Shay? Lets face it ok, you’re a whore. You’re so gullible, you spread your legs for anyone who even twinkles an eye at you. You don’t know who the father is.”

Shay grew angry. “I’ve been fucking you for the past month, Jimmy! I’m only a week along! I know who the father is! It’s you!”

“The fuck it is! That baby is not mine, Shay!”

“Jimmy….”

“No. You’re not going to put this shit off on me. I don’t need the pressure of a baby. I…I just started a new job, my husband is pregnant with another child….”

“What?! You never mentioned you were married!” Shay became frustrated.

“It doesn’t matter! I don’t have to tell you anything! You were just ass on the side! I have a good life ahead of me, Shay. A future.”

“What about MY future?!”

Jimmy walked up to Shay and stood directly in his face. “‘What about your future’? This IS your future, Shay. You’re Plumsfield’s new risin’ slut. I suggest you get used to it. You don’t know who the father is, okay? Just admit it. Just because you came from a low income family, you see my bright prospects and well-to-do life, you think you can get a piece of the action. Well you’ve got another thing comin’. You’re not gonna hem me up in nothin’……”

James tossed the picture back on the table. “That’s not my kid.”

“Shay says different.”

“He’s lying!”

“He said you slept with him for months. You promised him the world. Then you left him when he told you he was pregnant.”

“I left him because he was tryin’ to trap me, Randy. You’ve been here for a while now, so you know what his reputation is around Plumsfield. He’s a liar, a deceiver, and a whore.”

Randy pointed at James. “You watch your mouth!”

“Why?! The whole town of Plumsfield’s men have fucked him! You’re nothin’ special to him, Randy! And the sooner you realize that, the better!”

Randy stood up. “Shay is a good person. He deserved better. When he told me about Jack’s father, I thought he was the biggest bastard known to man. And then I find out it was you, my cousin, my blood, my…best friend. I find out that the guy I knew as a good guy who loved everybody, was the back-stabbing, pompous prick, adulterer that Shay told me about.”

James stood up as well. “Shay Gibson is a liar and easy ass.”

Anger took over before reason and Randy punched James in the jaw, knocking him back into his chair. Richie, having stood by the back door and hearing the tail end of their conversation, finally came outside when Randy hit James. “What the hell is goin’ on here?” He looked down at the table and saw the picture of Jack. He picked it up and stared at the little blonde child. “Who is this boy?” The two cousins were silent, so he looked to his husband, who was lightly touching his bloody mouth. “¿Quién es el niño?!”

Randy walked away.



More to come soon...