Acrylic Bonds

​Acrylic Bonds

 

Dinner was ready and all parties present. Master Fordham came in from his study barely noticing the additional faces around the table, but was instantly captivated by the paintings. He didn’t say a word, but walked around the dining room surveying each one. After an extensive examination, he returned to his seat in a few quick strides, his wife tapping him under the table. 

“Dear, both boys are here.” She whispered. For a moment, he appeared to realize there were people in the room besides himself and his wife. 

“It’s been a long time since I’ve seen you boys together.” He tucked his napkin into his shirt. The twins grinning across the table toward their parents, Vincent offering to provide an explanation, “Paw, you know V and I ain’t babies no more. We don’t fight like we use to, ‘cause I jest ain’t around as much.” His father’s face flinched a little in irritation. His mother passed the bread rolls around the table. 

“Father.” Victor spoke softly, “VC and I are here tonight because we want you to meet a friend of ours.” 

“Oh?” 

“Yes, these paintings were created by young master Stephan, who is represented by his companion Brian.” 

Master Fordham put his utensils down and peered across the table as if just noticing there were two faces he didn’t recognize. 

“Companions? Are you guys a pair of those French queens I’ve heard so much about?” 

“Honey, don’t be rude.” His wife hissed, pulling his elbow. 

Brian and Stephan looked confused, so Victor continued. 

“No father, they are companions in that… they travel together.” 

“Oh, that makes sense I guess. So you’re the artist and I suppose you’ve come to my house hoping to make a sale right?” 

“Actually father, they want to stay and work until there are enough paintings for a gallery showing, at which time, they would earn part of the proceeds. Afterwards, they would produce artwork for you as often as you like.” Vincent rattled on as if there were some unspoken agreement he was spouting from memory. 

“So you boys get along okay? Most people can’t tolerate Vincent and Victor at the same time.” The mom smiled in a blatant attempt to change the subject. Undaunted, Vincent continued. 

“We all get along just fine, mother. One reason Vincent is home right now is because I asked him to come celebrate our birthday together this year… you didn’t forget did you?” 



The silence was thick. Brian was starting to lose his appetite and Stephan had scoot his chair closer to his wondering what they had gotten themselves into. 

“How could I forget, the most miserable day of my life having you two rip me apart and ruin my figure forever. The scars from the Cesarean, the damage to my beautiful body… and all you two do is fight! Almost as if you two grew up in a barn, sporting bad manners, bad behavior and on top of it all, you never learned to share a day in your lives!” She swallowed a swig of wine in one gulp. 



Master Fordham didn’t seem to notice the conversation at all, his attention had returned to the paintings. 

“Fine then, you boys seem to have an eye and talent for art. I’ll market these and provide room and board for a few months while you produce more work. After we work out the details, I’ll determine if we can go with a complete showing or if I have to offer these with something else that may be more popular.” It was apparent to Brian this family was full of self centered people who barely knew each other. He watched his vision of “family” go down in flames. 



A servant entered the room and spoke in hushed tones to the master of the house. He made a gesture and she scurried away again. 

“So, you boys actually made it through dinner without a fight.. that’s some sort of miracle your new friends seem to have a charm or two that has worked to tame you two boys.” Victor and Vincent threw each other a knowing look, each face breaking into an identical smile. Their father smiled too, apparently something that didn’t happen around here very often. 

“I’m glad you boys think everything is funny.” Mrs. Fordham pouted, pouring herself another drink. 



Heavy footsteps entered the room, followed by a loud familiar voice. 

“Well, well… you boys realize you have committed a crime when you cross state lines without the permission from your guardians.” 

Stephan’s face paled, he dashed under the table grabbing at Brian’s legs stifling a fearful cry. Brian swore under his breath, hoping if he didn’t turn around it would all be a nightmare and any minute he would wake up and the headmaster wouldn’t be there. 



No such luck. The fury in his eyes made it clear that the boys were in for a world of hurt when they returned to the orphanage. Brian placed his face in his hands, eyeing the silver knife that lay next to his plate. A plan formulating in his head, he wouldn’t go back there, he would die before he allowed this man to torture him again for another year! 



Master Fordham appeared much more observant than Brian thought. He cut his steak into small bite sized pieces before leisurely looking up at Headmaster George. 

“You seem to know a lot about jurisdiction. Which means you must realize you are way out of yours.” He returned an ice blue gaze in the face of the headmaster who seemed miffed by the implied threat.

“These boys escaped from the “boys home” orphanage and I fully intend to return them….sir.” 

“Orphanage? That would imply there’s room for adoption then.” Master Fordham wiped his mouth on the cloth napkin. “I will see to it, that you receive the appropriate paperwork. It will be forwarded to your offices first thing in the morning.” 

“You don’t understand. Those boys are my property. They disobeyed the rules, broke the law and are runaways! They don’t have the luxury of adoption, they will return at once and receive their punishment!” Headmaster George’s face was turning red with anger. While Master Fordham continued eating apparently nonplussed. 

“You will not make this small incident into a situation Mr. George… Henry is it?” Fordham placed the utensils on the table before rising from his chair and walking toward the other end of the table where Brian sat only inches away from the headmaster’s balled fist. Master Fordham placed his hand on Brian’s head. 

“I’ve only had the pleasure of meeting these young men moments ago, but already I see the effect they are having on my own children and my family overall. I can also foresee the enormous financial gain to be had in displaying work of this caliber. I assure you, your orphanage will be reimbursed for your excessive expenses incurred on an apparent long journey to find these boys. Both are almost of age to enter the world as men, therefore you won’t have to bother covering their expenses as they enter the world of professionals. I’m sure we understand each other.” 



George stood his ground, glaring at the pompous aristocrat in front of him. He hated people like this one and he wasn’t leaving without the boys. He knew if he took one, the other would follow. 

“I believe you might be misunderstanding my position. This is what they call harboring a fugitive or in some places, kidnapping.” He narrowed his eyes. “Surely being from the South and all, you are aware of laws governing theft of property?” His hand reached under the table and grabbed Stephan by the collar as if making a point. Stephan squealed in surprise as George pried him loose from Brian’s legs and hoisted him over his shoulder. 

“You have a reputation to protect. You wouldn’t want a little incident like this one to ruin your next art exhibition now would you? How else will you be able to explain your acquiring this talented little colored boy? Don’t you think rumors will create suspicion? Suspicion can grow and before long you’ll be pegged as a pedophile and a thief.” 

Before Master Fordham could respond, Vincent had risen from his chair and delivered a solid punch to George’s abdomen. He grunted losing his grip on Stephan who fell from his shoulder and landed in Victor’s waiting arms. 



Brian was frozen in his nightmares of memory, held over from his days of captivity in the orphanage. He hated that he couldn’t move. He couldn’t make himself speak up. Victor carefully set Stephan back in the chair. Joining forces Vincent and Victor dragged the yelling George from the dining room. Master Fordham followed the troupe out the door, deep voices resonating back through the room as George finally gave up and sauntered off throwing threats over his shoulder, demanding that Stephan and Brian be returned to him. 



While Victor, George and Master Fordham continued throwing threats and accusations at each other from the front porch, Vincent had returned to Brian’s side, gently stroking his hair. 

“Brian.. Brian, snap out of it man, it’s okay now. He’s gone.” 

Brian hadn’t realized he had been shaking. His hands had gripped the table with such force a hole had formed in the thin lacy cloth. Vincent kissed him lightly on the top of his head. Brian stiffened, looking up sheepishly, worried that Mrs. Fordham would have caught this unusual display of affection. He quickly discovered he had no reason for hesitation, she had apparently polished off the bottle of wine and was laying her head on the table, mumbling in a slightly drunken stupor. 



Stephan grabbed Brian’s hand possessively, his eyes flashing Vincent an evil stare. Vincent smiled before tugging Stephan close to him and planting a kiss on the top of his head also. 

“I kinda thought, you were itching for one too.” He smiled at the frowning Stephan who was making quite a show of pretending to wipe the kiss off of his head. 



“Haven’t had that much fun in years!” Master Fordham’s voice interrupted the pending battle between Stephan and Vincent as he and Victor returned to the dining room laughing at their success. “You guys are definitely welcome to stay as long as you like!” Master Fordham reassured the boys as he worked his way through the dining room. 

He glanced over at his wife, “Guess dinner’s over.” He grinned, before having a servant carry her to her room. 



He sat in his chair thinking about his recent run in with the headmaster and suspiciously eyeing the boys sitting at the other end of the table. 

“I’m not gonna ask you boys why you ran away, and I don’t want you two to think I am standing up for you for any reason other than the fact that the little one there seems able to paint well.” 

He lit a pipe and began blowing little curls of smoke in the air. Victor and Vincent had taken positions at the table, Vincent sitting next to Brian and Victor sitting by Stephan. 

“Other than the apparent aptitude for art and the potential for profit, I have no other reason to keep you around.” 

Brian nodded, “Yes sir.” 

“You keep him happy.” He nodded toward Stephan, “his paintings keep me happy and you will have a place to live, disappoint me and you two will be on your own.” 

After a brief silence, Vincent couldn’t help himself. “Your future depends on his brush strokes!” he giggled behind his hand, Victor rolled his eyes. 

“Shut up Vincent, your stupidity is leaking.” 

“You ought to know, it’s your second language.” He snorted back

“Butt licker.” 

“Candy ass.” 

“That’s enough boys.” Master Fordham had already walked toward the door avoiding the temporary job of referee. He left the room, leaving the boys sitting at the dining room table. 

Stephan had returned to his customary position of clinging to Brian’s arm. 

Victor wrapped his arms around Stephan, squeezing his arms between the two boys. 

“Sooo.” He crooned, “When’s the last time you two made out?”

“Maybe they need help knowing when it’s time to celebrate. Ya’ll do know you got a good deal right? Free home, free food, free art supplies..” Vincent laughed, stroking Brian’s head. 

“Free sex and lessons on improving your bedroom performance.” Victor chimed in. 

The brothers laugh at the same time, as if they were connected by an invisible chord. Brian was still attempting to pull himself back together while Victor planted a kiss on Stephan’s cheek. Stephan tried to move away from the attention, moving closer to Brian, Victor grinned and planted a kiss across Brian’s mouth. 

“Hey! That’s not fair!” Vincent reached across the table and snatched a kiss from both Stephan and Brian, resulting in Stephan drawing back from the touch and hiding his face in Brian’s shirt. All the playful kissing pulled Brian back into his present surroundings, as his vision cleared, he was completely at a loss for words, when Victor and Vincent were sharing a kiss with each other.