Justin Redmond: A Sweet Gay Romance (James Brothers Book 4) Read online

  “I’ll have to make files on all of them, so I know what their problems are. It will take me interviewing them all one at a time. I guess we can start after dinner with the ones that don’t go to work.”

  “Just go to your office, and in the file cabinet, there are folders on each one. The old shrink made them, so if you need more information than is in the file, let me know, and we will schedule the interviews.”

  “That will save plenty of time if they are complete. Is there anything I need to know about them that wouldn’t be in the files?”

  “I’ve never looked at the files, so I don’t have any idea. If you need to know something after reading the files, then just ask me. If I don’t know, then we can set up a time for you to talk to them.”

  “Which one has the most problems?”

  “That would be Steve. He’s twelve, but he has the weight of the world on his shoulders. I don’t know what all happened to him in his past, but I have to get up a lot of the time at night and comfort him. He has nightmares but more like night terrors. Sometimes I have to sleep in his room with him. I sleep on top of the covers, and he sleeps under them, so don’t get any ideas about that.”

  Justin put his hands up in a surrendering motion. “Hey, if the judge trusts you, I do too.”

  “That is very nice of you. By the way, I don’t care if you trust me or not. I have been here with the boys since the day I turned eighteen. These are my boys, and you’re lucky I’m letting you talk to them.”

  “Like I said, I’m not taking your place. I’m just here to do what the judge hired me to do, and that is to work with the boys and calm them down when they get upset.”

  “I know it, but that doesn’t mean I like it. I don’t think we can co-manage the boys. They are used to my methods, and they have worked so long now. I don’t want anything to change.”

  “Anyone ever tell you that you sound like a broken record? I have addressed the subject several times and not about to do it again. Look, I’m going to leave the rest of my clothes for later, and I’m going to my office in the basement. Here is my cell number if you give me a call, I can come to eat dinner and meet the boys. Alright?”

  “Yes, I have had several people tell me I sound like a broken record. I can deal, can you?”

  “Yes, I can deal with you, Hunter. Call me.” Justin picked up his tablet and left the room.

  Hunter went about putting the rest of Justin’s clothes away. He liked things to be in order, and when they weren’t where they were supposed to be, they weren’t in order. After he put Justin’s things away, he went downstairs to supervise the cooking of dinner. It was Leon and James’ turn to cook, and they were pretty good but liked to play instead of being serious with their cooking. For some reason, Hunter wanted to impress Justin with the boys cooking skills.

  Hunter called Justin’s number. “Dinner is ready, and the boys are excited to meet you, so don’t keep them waiting.” Hunter hung up before Justin could say anything. Justin walked upstairs and into the dining room. He looked to Hunter to let him know where he should sit. Hunter pointed to the other side of the long table on the end. Hunter sat down at the head of the table, and Justin sat opposite him.

  Hunter stood up and said, “This is Justin. He’s our new shrink. I want all of you to go around the table and tell him your names, so he can get to know you. He might need to do interviews if the folders on you boys are incomplete. He’ll let you know who he needs to talk to. He was sent here by the judge, so you know you have to be good for him.”

  The boys went around the table, giving their names and ages. Justin guessed that was how the other shrink wanted things, but he already had them in the folders, so he just had to put faces to folders, and he would be good to go.

  Chapter 3

  Justin was surprised at how good the food was. He said, “I’m not sure yet of your faces and names, but whoever Leon and James are, you did a fantastic job of cooking. This food is delicious. I wish I knew how to cook like this. Maybe one day you can teach me.”

  The boys beamed with pride that the new shrink liked their cooking. Hunter watched the boys and then glanced at Justin. He was grinning at the boys, and Hunter had to smile. He just made those boy’s day. They were thrilled with Justin’s praise. It meant a lot to them.

  Justin met with Hunter after the meal. “I think tomorrow I would like to speak with Steve and update his file. There isn’t much in there besides his name and age. I don’t know what that other psychologist did, but he sure didn’t keep his files up to date.”

  “He mostly sat in his office and drank. He was nothing but a drunk, and none of the boys would talk to him after a while. Steve is a hard case. He keeps everything close to his heart and doesn’t talk about his past. He’s only twelve, but I would venture to say that he has seen more in his twelve years than we will in a lifetime.”

  “Would you say he’s the worst of the boys?”

  “Yes, he is by far the worst one. I want to think that you can help him, but I don’t know that for a fact. He has so much bundled inside of him, and I hate to see it happen to him. He’s a good kid, and I want him to be happy. I don’t know if that can happen, though.”

  “Does he go to school?”

  “No, I home school him. He doesn’t do well in crowds. He’s afraid of everything. Do you want to start with him in the morning?”

  “Yes, whenever you’re not busy homeschooling him, I want to spend some time with him to get him to trust me. I know it’s going to take a lot of time to get him there. He’s closest to you, and if he hasn’t opened up to you, then it will take a long while to get him to that point with me.”

  “A word of advice about Steve. Don’t ask him about his past. He’ll shut right down. He doesn’t want to talk about it. He has had some serious pain, and he’s holding it all inside of him.”

  “Thank you. I’ll make sure to follow that advice. I don’t want him to shut down before I even get to know him.”

  Hunter smiled at Justin. “It seems you have it covered then. I’ll send him to your office as soon as we finish his schoolwork. He’s very bright, so it doesn’t take long for him to get through a day at school.”

  “That’s good news. The smarter he is, the faster he’ll figure out I’m trying to help him; not hurt him. Does he have any scars on the outside? Like, say from being beaten or anything like that?”

  “Yes, his back has too many scars to even count. He was beaten, but I don’t know by who. He just shrugs his little shoulders when I ask how it happened. I don’t want to push it.”

  “No, don’t push him. We have to wait until he’s ready to talk. I’m hoping that will be soon, but you never know. I’m going back down to the office and see what else the shrink put in the boy’s folders. Most of its mumbo jumbo.”

  “Ok, just be back up here at nine tonight so I can go get the other three without taking all of them in the van.”

  “Yes, of course, I will. If you’re ready to leave and I get sidetracked, just call me, and I’ll be right up.”

  Justin went downstairs to his office and started reading the boy's folders. He was so into them he found he didn’t know which face went with what name. He thought about how he could fix that and decided the best way was to get pictures of each boy and attach them to the folder. Then he would be able to know what name went with what face. It was 8:30, so he went on upstairs, and found Hunter watching a movie with the boys. He motioned for him to come with him to the kitchen.

  Hunter got up and followed him to the kitchen. “What’s going on?”

  “Do we have a camera or a way of getting photos of all the boys?”

  “I have a good camera. I can take pictures of the boys. You have a photo printer in your office, and you can print them up from the SD card. Why do you need pictures of all the boys?”

  “I want to put a picture of them in their folder so I can get the name and face to match. It will make it easier on me when I talk with them.”

  “
Yeah, that makes sense, I suppose. I’ll start taking pictures of them tomorrow.”

  “Just headshots will be great. Thank you, Hunter.”

  “I’m here for the same reason you are Justin. I’m here to help the boys get back on the right track. I want the best for all of them.”

  “I know you do. I want the same for them. They can be good boys if we just chip away at their problems. If just one of them turns out good, it will be worth it. I know what you’re going to say, but you can’t help all of them. We’ll give it one hell of a try, though.”

  “Can you talk to me after you work with them? I mean, I know you can’t tell me everything but just let me know what I can do to help them. I want to give it all I can. If I find a man I want to marry, I want to try to adopt a couple of these boys with Steve being the first.”

  Justin nodded, then sat with the other boys and waited for Hunter to return with the boys that worked. When Hunter returned, Justin went back to his office to read some more.

  The next morning Justin sat with Steve and Carson while Hunter took the rest of the boys to school. Justin smiled at the boys and asked, “So what subjects are you taking in school this year?”

  Steve shrugged his shoulders, and Carson shook his head. “You know the regular stuff. Math, English, Science, and Reading.”

  “So, what’s your best subject?”

  Steve stared at Justin. “What is this the Spanish Inquisition?”

  Justin chuckled. “Not quite. I just want to get to know you, boys. I want to help all of you with your problems.”

  Steve glared at him. “You’re probably a drunk like the last one. You’ll just ignore us while you’re trying to pry information out of us that you didn’t even read our history from the Child Protection Services.”

  Justin frowned. “There are reports from Child Protection Services. I didn’t see anything from them in your folders. Do you have any idea where the last guy kept them? For future reference, I don’t drink. So, no drunk to ignore. Sorry.”

  Carson said, “The last time I was here, he had them in the bottom drawer of his desk. He would bring them out and laugh at us for the stuff we had done. He wasn’t a good guy. I hope you treat us better.”

  “Why don’t you go to regular school, Carson?”

  “I got in trouble last week and got suspended, so Hunter decided to keep me at home and home school me with Steve.”

  “What did you do at school to get suspended?”

  “I punched the teacher and broke his jaw. They weren’t happy about that.”

  “Why did you hit him like that?”

  “He said I was one of Hunter’s little homos. I don’t even know what he meant, but it sounded bad. This is the first home I have been in where I haven’t been beaten, so nobody is going to say bad things about Hunter.”

  “Do you think maybe you could have handled it a little better and told Hunter what he said and let Hunter deal with it? The teacher was in the wrong for saying something like that, but you were more wrong for hitting him. Next time something like that happens, just wait until you get home and discuss it with Hunter or me, and we’ll take care of it.”

  Carson shook his head. “Yeah, that’s not going to happen. Is it Steve?”

  Steve shook his head and grinned. “We take care of our own. Nobody is going to disrespect Hunter like that. If it wasn’t for him, we would probably be dead. I know I would.”

  “Why do you think that, Steve?”

  He stood up and glared at Justin. He turned to Carson. “Tell Hunter I went to the home school office. I’ll see him there.”

  He turned and walked out of the living room. Justin watched him walk out of the room and decided it wouldn’t do any good to follow and keep at him. He wasn’t going to try to get anything out of him until he started to get Steve to trust him. That was going to take a really long time. He wanted to search for those reports from the CPS.

  Hunter came in about fifteen minutes later. He asked where Steve was, and Carson said, “He said to tell you he would be in the home school office. He had to get away from the questions. You know how he is, Hunter. He doesn’t want to talk about anything.”

  Hunter nodded. “Go into the room. I’ll be there in a few minutes.” Hunter watched Carson leave the room, and he turned on Justin. “What did you say to him, Justin?”

  “He said he would be dead if not for you. I just asked why he felt that way, and he got upset and left the room.”

  “He’s just not ready to talk about it, so don’t try and push him. He’ll have nightmares for a month if you do. You don’t have to get up with him at night. I do.”

  “I can sometimes if you need me to. I’m here to counsel the boys and to help you out. If you need me to do something, just tell me. I’ll do whatever you need me to do. Have you heard about CPS reports the old shrink was supposed to have?”

  “Yeah, they should be in his desk. I think I heard the bottom drawer.”

  “If you don’t need me right now, I’ll go look and see if I can find them. They will help me with the boys.”

  “I don’t need you right now. I just have to do the boys' schooling. Do you still want Steve when he’s done with his work?”

  “Not today. Let’s let him cool down a bit and try again tomorrow.”

  Hunter nodded, and Justin watched him walk out of the room. He was a handsome guy and sexy as could be, but it didn’t seem to Justin that Hunter was attracted to him the same way he was to Hunter. He was not about to rock the boat. This was the job he had wanted all through college, and he was going to keep it.

  Justin headed downstairs to his office. He unlocked the door and went inside. He sat down at the desk and tried to pull the bottom drawer out, but it was locked. He looked through all the other drawers, but there was no key for that drawer. He would have to take the lock out of it.

  Justin looked through all the drawers in the file cabinets and found a small tool kit. He took out the flat head screwdriver and got behind the lock, and it quickly popped out. He pulled the drawer open and sat there, staring at the contents.

  Chapter 4

  Justin sat and stared into the drawer. Folders were standing in the back of the drawer, but in the front of the drawer were bottles of Vodka and Bourbon. He looked deeper and found some marijuana, as well. He wasn’t touching the contents without a witness.

  He got up and walked over to the stairs. “Hunter, could you please come down here for a few minutes?”

  “Yeah, I’ll be right there.”

  Justin walked back into his office and stood there, staring at the drawer like he wished it would just go away. He wasn’t a drinker or used drugs. He was mortified that a councilor would do that and leave it here for the next person to find. Hunter came bounding down the steps. “What do you need, Justin?”

  “I want you to see what I found in that bottom drawer. Go take a look.”

  Hunter walked over and peered into the drawer. His mouth fell open as he stared at the contents. “This was in here when you got the drawer open?”

  “Yes, I don’t do drugs, and I don’t drink, so it isn’t mine. I had to pop the lock on the drawer because I wanted those files, and there is no key anywhere.”

  “You would have thought that he would have taken that mess with him. What do you want to do with it?”

  “I’ll pour the booze down the sink, but I don’t know what to do with the cannabis. I sure don’t want the boys to see it and think it is mine. What do you suggest?”

  “How about flushing it down the toilet? I don’t think it’ll hurt anything. I don’t want the boys to see it either. You dump the booze, and I’ll flush the pot.”

  “Works for me. I wonder if there are any more hiding places he had for his stash?”

  “I guess your afternoon is going to be spent searching your office. I would search the bathroom too. There are plenty of hiding places in there. Let’s get this done before the boys see what we’re doing. I don’t want them reminded of that idiot.
”

  Justin got in his supply closet and got out a trash bag and then grabbed the four bottles of alcohol, and went to the bathroom sink. He took lids off and poured them down the drain. Hunter had gotten the pot and emptied the baggy into the toilet and then put the baggy in the trash bag and flushed several times to get it all out of the bowl. Hunter grabbed the trash bag and headed up the stairs.

  Justin said, “Thanks, Hunter.”

  “You’re welcome. If you find anything else let me know.”

  “First thing. I don’t want to touch anything until you see it, so you can verify it was here.”

  Hunter answered him, but he was already up the stairs, and Justin didn’t understand what he said. Justin smiled. Hunter was starting to grow on him. He wasn’t as standoffish as he was when Justin first got there.

  Justin spent the rest of the day searching every corner and hiding place in the entire office and bathroom and didn’t find anything more. He sat at his desk and opened Steve’s file. Justin started to read the CPS report and had tears come to his eyes, he could not believe what that child had been through. No wonder he didn’t want to talk about it.

  Steve had been physically and sexually abused by his mother’s boyfriend. When Steve told her, what was happening to him, she threw him out of the house because she said he was lying. CPS picked him up and tried to get her to take him back, but she refused and signed away her parental rights. He was moved from foster home to foster home until he finally ended up in the halfway house with Hunter. It would also explain why he felt such a protective streak for Hunter. He had never been treated so well.

  Justin debated on showing the file to Hunter so he would know what happened to him. It wasn’t breaking his oath if it was a report from CPS. He just was not able to tell Hunter what Steve said in their sessions. He felt he needed to let Hunter read the file. It would help Steve in the long run. Decision made he went to the bottom of the stairs and called for Hunter. Steve came to the head of the stairs. “Hunter went to pick up the other boys from school. What do you need?”