Fahey's Flaw

by Jenna Byrnes

  * * * *

  Wynn ran home to shower and change early Sunday morning. He hadn’t gotten enough rest, but being woken by Reilly’s mouth on his dick was better than sleep any time. Enjoying the first climax of the day before he was fully awake, he’d then returned the favor and sucked Reilly’s cock to completion. My new favorite way to wake up.

  Reilly was fast becoming his newest favorite, too. Wynn was hooked, addicted, maybe even a little obsessed with the fiery redhead, and he wasn’t looking for a cure. The hot ginger hunk had Wynn wrapped around his little finger and he knew it.

  He hoped he wasn’t making a mistake, because they hadn’t had time to discuss where their relationship was headed. The one thing he’d always known was that he didn’t want something he’d have to keep in the closet. When he found the guy, he wanted to shout about it to the world.

  Events had transpired around them so quickly, Wynn hadn’t taken the time to find out what Reilly wanted as far as transparency went. But he knew, already, that he’d cave to his new lover’s wishes rather than give him up at this point.

  Reilly had been right. Life was crazy for both of them. Once it settled down they’d figure things out together. He wasn’t a worrier. Everything would work out the way it was supposed to.

  He met Mel at the hospital at nine a.m. and they went to interview the boys together. The doctor was in the room with Jesse so they spoke with Sam first. His father was sitting next to the bed when Wynn knocked and stuck his head in.

  “Mr. Robinson? I’m Detective Fahey with the KCPD. Can we speak with your son for a few minutes?”

  “Of course.” He touched his son’s arm. “Sam, some police officers are here to see you.”

  Sam opened his eyes. The boy looked small and pale against the stark white sheets of the hospital bed.

  “Sam, I’m Detective Fahey, and this is my partner Detective Riggs. We’d like to talk to you about what happened last night.”

  The boy nodded. “You’re Connor’s dad.”

  “I am.” Wynn smiled.

  “Ben was unhappy he didn’t come to the party.”

  “Yeah, well Con wasn’t thrilled about missing it, either.”

  Mr. Robinson frowned. “I wish I hadn’t let my kid go.”

  “I hear you.” Wynn understood how he must feel. “At least your son is going to recover.”

  The father nodded. “I told him about Ben. It’s a damn shame.”

  Tears welled in Sam’s eyes. “I can’t believe it. He was so happy last night. Except about Con, of course. And Jesse was giving him a hard time. But he tried to ignore him because he didn’t want to ruin the party.”

  “What was Jesse giving him a hard time about?” Wynn asked.

  Sam’s face reddened. “I’d rather not say.”

  His father snapped, “Answer the detective’s questions, son.”

  Wynn glanced at him then turned back to the son. “It’s okay. I understand that this is difficult for you. But we really need to know what happened last night, even if it is embarrassing.”

  Sam caught Wynn’s eye. “It’s not embarrassing for me, exactly, but… I guess I can tell you. Jesse was giving Ben crap about being gay. He didn’t use those words, his were much worse.”

  The father’s face clouded. “Ben was gay? How does a kid know at that age?”

  “Dad.” Sam rolled his eyes.

  Wynn wanted to do the same thing, but resisted. He looked at Sam. “So Jesse was bullying Ben, is that what I understand?”

  “Sort of. Calling him names and stuff.”

  “Negative gay names?” Wynn asked.

  Sam nodded.

  “How did the drugs come about?”

  The boy glanced at his father nervously then replied, “Jesse dared Ben. He said if he wanted to prove he wasn’t a fag he’d try them.”

  “Ah, Jesus!” Mr. Robinson exclaimed.

  Wynn scrubbed a hand over his face. “Nice. So Ben was supposed to prove how manly he was by doing a drug that had the potential to kill him. Which did, in fact, kill him.”

  “Why did you take it, Sam?” His father looked stricken.

  “I’m not gay, Dad. I was just going along with the guys. Jesse said it would get us high for a couple of hours. He never bothered to mention what could happen.”

  “So what did happen?” Wynn prompted. “How did you ingest it?”

  “Jesse sprinkled it on our pizza. I didn’t have much on mine. I think he gave Ben the most.”

  “Judging by the results,” Mel murmured softly.

  Wynn had a harder time controlling his anger. “Because that’s what the gay kid deserved, right?” He tried to calm himself down by remembering that Connor had not been there. Connor is okay. Yet the bullies and the drugs were still out there. What might happen the next time?

  “I’m sorry, Mr. Fahey,” Sam said. “I never felt that way. Ben and Connor are my friends. Were my friends.”

  Wynn took a deep breath and blew it out. “Con still is, as long as you’ve learned your lesson from this and won’t be experimenting with drugs anymore.”

  “Oh, no, sir! This was awful. I never even got high. I felt jumpy and my heart started racing. Then I felt like I needed to get outside and get some air. That’s when Ben’s parents found out. They were not happy.”

  “Do you blame them?” his father asked.

  “No.” Sam looked down.

  “One more question,” Wynn said. “Do you know where Jesse got the drugs? Did he mention a name, anybody at all? Someone at school or on the outside?”

  Sam shook his head. “No names, but one time he mentioned his brother buying weed. So maybe he got the stuff from him.”

  “Do you know his brother’s name, and how old he is?”

  “His name is Jake. He’s in high school. I think he’s about seventeen.”

  “Does he go to St. Sebastian’s?”

  “Yes.”

  “Okay, Sam. You take it easy and get some rest. Thank you.” Wynn nodded to him and his father.

  He led Mel out and closed the door, then they glanced at each other.

  She frowned. “He never even got high! Sounded kinda disappointed about it, if you ask me. I hope he’s not really going to remain one of Con’s friends.”

  “No fucking way,” Wynn muttered. “The more I know about these people, the more I want to home-school my kid.”

  “Ha!” She smiled. “I’d pay to see that.”

  “Well, not me exactly. Someone who knows how to teach. They could come to my house and keep him safe and protected from all the bigotry and bullshit out there.”

  “Good luck with that,” Mel said softly.

  “I know, right?” Wynn smiled.

  They approached Jesse Morgan’s room and Wynn knocked on the door.

  “Come in,” a woman called.

  He opened it and stepped inside. “Mr. and Mrs. Morgan? I’m Detective Fahey with the KCPD, and this is my partner Detective Riggs.”

  “Our son isn’t up to many questions, Detective,” the mother replied.

  “We’ll keep it brief,” he assured her. “It’d be much simpler to speak to him here, than to ask you to bring him down to the station later.” He looked at Jesse, a boy much bigger and more mature-looking than either Sam or Connor. He was also in worse shape, judging by the number of cuts and bandages on his face. “How are you feeling, Jesse?”

  The boy looked him in the eye and shrugged. His demeanor spoke volumes. Not an ounce of fear or nervousness, which was uncommon for a teenager when confronted by a police officer.

  “We’re sorry this happened to you,” Wynn said affably. “We do need to talk to you, though, and find out where you got the drugs.”

  “What are you talking about?” Mr. Morgan jumped up. “Jesse didn’t buy them. He wasn’t aware of them until someone laced the pizza with it, and by that time it was too late.”

  Mel spoke up. “How did you know it was on the pizza?”

  The father appeared confused
for a moment before he compensated and covered his surprise. “That’s what we were told. Jesse doesn’t know who laced the food. He’s a victim here, so please try to remember that.”

  Wynn gazed at him levelly. “We need to hear that from Jesse, please.”

  “I got no ideas,” the boy spouted. “I shouldn’t have gone to the lame party to begin with.”

  “Why did you go?” Mel asked. “If those kids weren’t your usual crowd of friends.”

  “I thought I’d check it out. Free food and video games.”

  Wynn rubbed his chin. “We heard you have an older brother at St. Sebastian’s, name of Jake?”

  Jesse looked at his parents.

  Mr. Morgan answered Wynn. “He does. What difference does that make?”

  Wynn shrugged. “No difference. Sometimes older brothers know where to get their hands on certain things that younger guys don’t. So, is Jake at home should we need to speak with him?”

  “No, he’s actually not,” the father replied. “He spent the night with a friend. I’m not sure I want you talking to him anyway.” He pulled a card from his pocket and handed it over. “My lawyer is Ronald Afton. If you’d like to speak with either of my sons from here on out, please go through him.”

  Wynn accepted the card. “I doubt that will be necessary. Thanks so much for your cooperation.” He glanced at Jesse. “Hope you feel better, real soon.” Motioning to Mel, he walked out, his partner on his heels.

  She pulled the door closed and looked at Wynn. “Well, that was interesting.”

  “Yeah. Nothing says ‘innocent’ like lawyering up.”

  “No shit. Jesse was a piece of work. He didn’t seem nervous speaking with the police. But did you notice, he appeared almost fearful when his brother’s name was mentioned?”

  “Oh yes he did. The folks didn’t look much happier.”

  “Methinks there’s more to this family’s story than meets the eye.”

  Wynn grinned. “It’s a damn good thing that we’re detectives then, isn’t it?”

  Chapter Five

  Wynn checked in with his chief then touched base with Jeff and Beck. The other detective team was interviewing students who’d been at Ben’s party. Wynn and Mel took a few names and went to some houses themselves. By early afternoon they’d spoken to everyone, and the chief instructed them all to call it a day. They’d pick it up again Monday morning, and see where they were at.

  He sat in his Explorer and sighed out of exhaustion and frustration. They hadn’t made much headway. It’d be better once they tacked everything up on an evidence board and could brainstorm developments.

  Thoughts of Reilly wafted through his mind but he needed to talk to Connor first. He dialed the boy’s cell and waited.

  “Hey, Dad.”

  “Hey, Con. How are you doing today? Did you get any sleep?”

  “A little. What about you? Did you sleep or did you exercise?”

  Wynn smiled. “Both. I slept some. We’ve interviewed everyone and done about all we can for today. Do you want to go get a burger or a cold drink? I could pick you up.”

  “Mom made a big lunch, so I’m good. Thanks, though. I do need a couple of things for school tomorrow. My backpack, and my blue jacket. They’re both in my room.”

  “Okay. I can bring them to you.”

  “No need to drive all the way over here. Can you just meet me at school at a quarter to eight tomorrow? I’ll be out front so you don’t even have to get out.”

  “I can do that, but if you need your bag I don’t mind running it over.” Syd’s house was a solid thirty minute drive away. They didn’t seem to mind, but he’d go nuts if he had to make that commute daily. “Do you have homework?”

  “No. There’s nothing I need tonight. I can’t imagine we’ll be doing any real work tomorrow. I bet we’ll be talking about Ben.”

  “Hmm. Yeah, maybe. I’m sorry, Connor.”

  “Someone posted on Facebook that the funeral will be Wednesday.”

  “I’ll go with you, son. I know it’ll be a tough day for you.”

  He hesitated. “I might want to sit with my friends, Dad.”

  “Oh. Okay. Whatever’s easiest for you. Just remember Mom and I are both here for you, buddy.”

  “I will. Thanks.”

  “So, is your mom right there?”

  “No. I’m in my room. Why, did you want to talk to her?”

  “No,” he said quickly. Hell no. “I actually wanted to talk to you, and thought it might be easier over the phone.”

  “What about?”

  “About you and Ben, son. When you found out what happened, you started to say something about you and him. It made me wonder just how far things had gone between the two of you.”

  “Dad!” Connor sounded mortified.

  Wynn felt a little mortified himself, but this was Con, and his son was more important to him than some minor discomfort. “Con!” he repeated back in the same tone. “Look, I know you think I’m ancient and that I could never understand what you’re going through but believe me, I do. I was a kid once, with the same thoughts, feelings and emotions running through my system that you’re having. I’ll admit, I didn’t deal with mine in the same way. To be brutally honest, I thought it was easier to pretend I was straight than to admit how I really felt. I couldn’t admit it until I was an adult. I know times have changed, and people are more accepting now.”

  “Not all people,” Con added.

  “No, definitely not. I heard some of the things Jesse had been saying to Ben. It made Mel and I question why he’d been invited to Ben’s party at all.”

  “Jesse invited himself. Ben didn’t want him, but he was afraid to say no once Jesse found out about it.”

  “Wow. That kid is a piece of work.”

  “Yeah. So, Dad, you really pretended to be straight instead of admitting you were gay?”

  “I did. I’m not proud of it, but I can’t change it now.”

  “I’ll bet Mom was pissed when she found out.”

  “Oh, Mom was definitely pissed, but confused, too. She didn’t understand why I hadn’t said anything. I did love her, in my own way, and I know she loved me too. But we weren’t compatible, even if I’d have been straight. We tried, kiddo. We both tried hard to make it work.”

  “You and Mom had to get married.”

  Wynn swallowed. “What makes you say that?”

  “I heard her and Derrick talking about it one time. I wasn’t sure what it meant then, but I am now.”

  “We really didn’t have to. We wanted to. Like I said, we both tried hard to make things work.”

  “So you and Mom were having sex in high school.”

  “Not when we were thirteen. But later in high school, when we were older, yeah.”

  “I haven’t had sex yet.”

  “I would hope not. Thirteen is too young, Con.”

  “Ben and I, we, uh, fooled around a little bit.”

  “I figured.”

  “Nothing much, just touching with our hands. He wanted to put his mouth down there but I told him that sounded gross.”

  Wynn smiled. “I understand. If it sounds gross, that means you’re just not ready. So tell me, when you were fooling around, did you exchange bodily fluids?”

  “Maybe. Is that dangerous?”

  “Maybe,” he retorted. “Seriously, Con, it can be if a person has a disease. There are lots of sexually transmitted diseases. Some of them can be treated and some can only be managed, like HIV and AIDS. Those can kill you. It’s smartest not to fool around until you have all the facts about staying safe, and you really know and trust the person you’re with.”

  “It was just once.” Con sounded scared.

  “Once is all it takes, buddy, to get a girl pregnant or to spread a disease. I think we should get you in to see Dr. Chambers to be tested. Then we’ll know for sure everything is fine.”

  “Mom will freak!”

  “Oh, yes she will. You’d best let me take ca
re of telling her, once we’ve had you tested and we know you’re good and healthy.”

  “I’m sorry, Dad.”

  “You don’t have to be sorry, but you do need to be smart, and stay safe. Don’t experiment sexually with other people at your age. It’s not worth the risks you’re taking.”

  “But if I’m by myself, and I decide to…” He hesitated. “Is it true that can make me go blind?”

  “What?” Wynn nearly choked. “Who told you that?”

  “Derrick.”

  He could have throttled Syd’s husband. “No, son. Masturbating will not cause you to go blind. Hell, if that were true, I’d have burned through two seeing eye dogs by the time I was your age.”

  Connor laughed. “Really?”

  “No, not really. You can’t go overboard with anything, it’s not healthy. Just keep yourself clean and keep it simple. And for God’s sake, don’t try anything kinky.”

  “Like what?”

  “I’m not giving you any ideas, smart man. You’re way too young to be getting adventurous. Your time will come. You’ve got lots of years ahead of you, son.”

  “Thanks, Dad. I’m glad you forced me into this talk.”

  Wynn chuckled. “Me too. Now, I need to go home and have a few stiff drinks. I’ll see you in the morning at school.”

  “Okay. Love you, Dad.”

  Wynn’s heart melted. “Love you too, kid.”

  He ended the call and drove home to pack an overnight bag. He grabbed Connor’s things and tossed them all in the Explorer. He paused for a moment to text Reilly.

  Done working for the day. Want some company?

  Pack a bag.

  Already did. See you in ten.

  Wynn smiled. He felt warm and fuzzy inside, like he was truly going home. The trip went quickly and soon he was carrying his bag in through the garage.

  “Hi there.” Reilly took the case from his hand and set it aside. “I’m glad you can spend at least part of your Sunday relaxing.”