?And if I lived
a thousand years
you know I never
could explain,
the way I lost
my heart to you that day?
Chapter
5 ? Justin in Wonderland
??Jesus fucking Christ!?
With
a heavy dish box in his hands, Michael took a big step back in front of the
entrance so he could view the house in full size. ?Shit, Brian, who did you buy
this place from?? Count Dracula??
?No,?
Brian, loaded with an extraordinary Italian designer lamp, stomped past his
friend into the house. ?Hugh Hefner.? And that wasn?t a joke. Presumably he was
forced to spray everything with antiseptic spray for the next couple of weeks
to eliminate all residuals of female body fluids.
?What??
Michael hurried to follow Brian through the door. ?Hugh Hefner? Playboy Hugh
Hefner? You mean this ?? He wrinkled his nose as he looked around in the
entrance hall and quickly took his hand off of a small adornment commode.? ?This is the famous Playboy Mansion?!?
Sighing
Brian sat his lamp down. ?No, this is the famous Brighton mansion, Mister Hefner?s holiday home.? He put on a fake
smile and then tapped Michael on the shoulder. ?Named after Miss September
1982. Connie Brighton.?
?Wow.?
Mikey looked impressed. ?Who would have thought that you of all people would
live in a house that is named after a centerfold girl? And all the wild parties
that must have taken place here. I mean hey ? I?m sure this old house has seen
more bare women than the backroom at Babylon on Dyke Night.?
?Yeah.?
Brian?s face changed color from pale-rose to an obvious unhealthy shade of green.
?Fascinating. Now, if you?ll excuse me,? He gestured in the direction of the
mirror glass doors. ?I need to change the pool water.?
???????????????????
Blake
wasn?t surprised at all to find the young patient from room 410 in front of the
window for the fifth day in row.
?Hey
frog, sleep well?? He put the breakfast tray and medicine cup down before he
began to collect some cloths from the floor.
?Don?t
you want to change? You?re still wearing your pajamas.?
Justin
had definitely heard Plake, but ignored him completely.? He was in a bad mood and really angry.
Everyday he sat at the window and watched how the beautiful prince went in and
out of the castle with boxes and bags in his hand or only with a key for his
fast car-vehicle.
Justin
had smiled and called for him behind the window pane and combed his blond hair
extra nice, but the prince had never looked up or said ?Neighbor? like the
servant-man.? Justin also knew that it?s
wasn?t Christmas yet and that his hair still didn?t reach the ground, but he
was sure that it was polite to get to know each other. Professor Pruckner had
told him so.? Miss Eterson and Plake had
also told him. You had to say hello and the name.? Then you knew each other. So why wouldn?t the
prince say hello to him?
?Never,
never. Of course never.?
He
grumbled and wrote a fat ?was not looking? note under Friday, September 2nd in
his notebook after the prince simply ran into the castle without looking up to
Justin?s tower again. Justin had smeared extra color on his mouth just like
Miss Eterson did to look pretty.
?Justin.
Come here and wash your hands, okay?? You
have fruit yogurt for breakfast. You like fruits, right??
?Peaaar.?
Justin said and pressed his green marked lips against the pane. He wondered if
the prince ate yogurt on Friday mornings too. ?Of course.? After all he also
lived in Pittsburgh.
?Justin.?
Blake stepped to his patient and touched his arm gently. ?Hey you, won?t you
have your yogurt? Otherwise I?ll eat it.?
The
boy turned his face from the window and looked at Blake with large eyes.
The
male nurse was shocked and blinked for a moment speechless, trying really hard
to hold back his laughter. ?Justin? Oh my god, what did you do to your mouth?!
You are totally green.?
Justin
tipped his head to the side, smiled and batted his long eyelashes like Miss
Eterson did all the time. Maybe he should color his eyes too? Maybe then the
prince would finally look up to him.
?Why
did you do that?? Blake guided the boy to the sink and began to wash his face
with warm water and mild soap.? ?You
really must like green.?
Justin
again batted his eyelashes two times, then pressed his lips tight together so
that he wouldn?t eat soap. Yes, he liked green. Grass was green and the frog
and?
??broccoli.?
?Yes,
broccoli and Justin.? Now you two have
the same coloring.?
??????????????????????
On
Friday?s it was yams, chicken, peas, and caramel pudding for lunch.? Justin ate it all while humming Jingle Bells
and promising the frog on the wall that it definitely wasn?t Christmas.
After
that male nurse Schmidt came and guided him two floors down to the St. James
fun afternoon.
?Today
we play Hang-Man.? Male nurse Schmidt explained with encouragement and smiled
at the young patient. ?And all the patients are there. You will have a lot of
fun.?
Justin
carried his fairy tale book casually with both hands behind his back and roamed
leisurely just like the man with the black hat on TV did. ?Not Pla-ake?? He
sing-songed and pretended not to understand one thing. He really didn?t like
the fun afternoon.
The
patients sat at seven long tables in the community room while Dr. Cameron
suggested that they had to find the missing letters to guess the words from his
spot in front of the chalkboard.
Justin
sat next to a small man with a lot of dark hair. DAPHNE was written on his
sticker, but he said his name was Alice.
??in
Wonderland.?? Justin had assured him and
then ringed the bell, because it was clearly obvious that P_ _ _ i _ _ _ _ _ _
c meant nothing else than Physiognomic.
?Wow.?
Alice looked with jealousy at Justin?s card. ?You really know all words.?
?With
P.? The boy explained as he counted the little lines that Dr. Cameron had drawn
on the chalkboard at the same time. ?All with P.?
?Yes?
Why only P??
?Perspiration,
perspiration.? Mumbled Justin as he concentrated and pushed the bell before the
man at the chalkboard could do much more then write the first and last letter
down. ?Pudding begins with P. And the prince.?
Alice
watched the incredulous expression on the doctor?s face and turned again to her
neighbor. ?I don?t like pudding. It has disgusting skin.? She chewed for a
moment on her pen. ?Who?s the prince??
?L?i?pppgloss.?
Justin recognized the next word without any problems. ?My prince in the
castle.?
?Cool.?
Alice lazily put her head on the table. ?Does he visit you??
Justin
hit the bell with his hand and Dr. Cameron sighed deeply.
?Not
before Christmas. He never looks up to the window.?
?Yeah,
men are always the same. You have to go to him, otherwise nothing will ever
happen.?
?Nothing
ever?? Justin looked surprised at Alice and wondered where the rabbit was.
Alice
shook the head. ?Never.?
????????????????????????
?Ahhh
yeah.? That was?great.? Brian smiled
satisfied and tugged his trousers up.? He
patted the pool boy?s head. Well, the guy really proved great talent and the
pool was certainly free from any harmful female substances now. Wonderful. That
way one could really experience a completely new sense of being in his homey
garden.
Brian
looked around and located a few very unnecessary plants that surely he would
have removed in the next few days by Santos the gardener. Yeah, he was
definitely gifted with the handling of wood and other? solid things.
Hmm.
So, the first thing removed would definitely be the disgusting lesbian rose
bushes and the smelling violets. Oh? and that scrawny tree over there.
Brian
stepped close to the trunk and looked up to the branches, searching for clues
of which species this scrub could belong to. Well, there were yellow-brown
leaves and a single pear.
?Pfft?
pathetic.?? The garden owner snorted in
disgust before marching back into the house to call Santos. The sooner this
weed would disappear, the sooner there would be room to widen out the lawn.
??????????????????????
Male
nurse Schmidt had said that they had to get back to their rooms, but Justin
wanted to go to the way with the small stones.
?Never
happen, never happen.?
With
quick steps and his book tight in his arms he went straight, then crooked,
another crooked and listened if he could hear music. But it was silent and a
little bit cold.
Hmm.
A
little more forward and then the way would end.?
Black road, white stripes and many rods and sticks.
Justin
pushed against the fence, checking with his legs as he twisted a hair strand
around his finger and looked at the other side of the road.
?Hello
there, neighbor.? He echoed in an exact copy of Emmett?s voice and looked for a
couple of minutes with an emotionless face at the big castle and the blue water
well behind it.
?My
ball?? He then said in a soft voice and lifted one leg a little awkward over
the fence.
??
golden ball? has fallen into the well.?
With
clumsy steps he went to the curb and was totally self-engrossed by a passing
car, before he went along over the black asphalt and the thick white
stripes.? He went until he reached the
other side.
?Don?t
you cry, dearest princess.? he spoke in a deeper voice and scrambled without
any problems over the 2 foot high border wall on the Kinney property. ?I will
bring you back your?,? He looked around on the big lawn briefly, before he went
on, ??your beloved toy.?
The
boy walked carelessly over a bed of violets, pressed his book tighter to his
chest and looked up, stunned by the branches of a tree.
?Yogurt
with fruits. Of course a pear.? He really liked pears.
Behind
the mirrored terrace door of his homestead, Brian Kinney meanwhile looked up
casually from his computer screen, rolled his uptight shoulders a little and
blinked then two times.? His gaze
accidentally discovered somebody in his garden who definitely did not look like
his Latin gardener Santos.
?Well,
well?looks like I got mail.?
???????????????????????
Justin
was totally mesmerized. The well water was so blue and didn?t smell like
bottled water at all. That was definitely the frog?s fault.
He
held his nose a little bit closer over the water surface and breathed in
deeply.
?Frog
smell.?
Brian
was standing behind the door and watched through the glass as the young man
bent forward over the swimming pool.? It
almost seemed as if he would sniff at the water.
Then
he went to the edge of the pool and spoke? apparently with himself. He pointed
with his finger, laughed about nothing noticeable and shook his head.
Brian
frowned. The boy was cute, in his own na?ve way, but it seemed as if he had
laid too long in the sun during the last summer, or?he was one of the
?occupants? from the other side of the street. It wouldn?t be the first time
since he moved here that he made an involuntary acquaintance with one of them.
Though, so far none of them had gone astray on his property.
Justin
smiled. It was so beautiful here. The grass was so soft, like a pillow.? He bounced a little on the balls of his feet
and laughed. Certainly the prince could make great jumps here and wanted for
hours to ?
??
roll on the ground.?
Justin
bent down in a squatted position. He wanted to roll over the lawn too, like the
hedgehogs at the crocket-game of the Queen of Hearts.
?Cut
their heads off!? he said in a deep voice as he held his book with one arm,
while with his other hand and his forehead tried to support himself to perform
a somersault.
?Thh.?
Brian couldn?t believe it and shook his head with a snort as the blonde visitor
began to make acrobatic stunts in front of his fey hydrangeas.
Maybe
the boy wasn?t an absconder institution resident, but was released from a
passing traveling circus. Hh. Well, that wouldn?t be surprising. Blondie here
surely seemed very untalented in floor exercises.
Whatever. On his desk waited the Lindman account and the Novotny-Bruckners had
invited him to ?Dinner?. Therefore he had, as sad as it was, absolutely no time
to enjoy this show further.
With
a rough jerk he pulled the terrace door open.
?Hey!?
He stomped straight to his small private artist. ?Hey you!? Boy!?
Justin
lifted his head from the lawn because he heard a loud voice.? He looked up in shock. He grew stiff and
knelt on the ground. There came the prince! With black trousers and bare feet,
without crown and sword, but with chestnut hair and a white flutter shirt.
?Like
wings?? Justin made big eyes. The prince was so huge!
Brian
took large steps closer and saw a pale face with slightly pink cheeks that
looked totally paralyzed up at him. ?You know that this is private property,
don?t you??
Justin
pressed his book close to his chest, without blinking once. The prince was very
loud too.
Brian
arched a brow, waiting. ?What? Do you have a reason for making a picnic on my
deluxe lawn, or have you been lost in the big dark forest?!?
The
boy rapidly shook his head. Getting lost only happens to?
??
little red riding hood.?
And
he hadn?t even a basket with him.? He
briefly looked for a wine bottle. No, he also had?
??no
cake.?
Mister
Kinney frowned and tilted his head as the boy began to search for his lunchbox.
?Lost your contact lenses??
??course
way too big eyes?? Remembered Justin and he shook his head. He really didn?t
like the big bad wolf.
Brian
sighed.
?Okay,
end of the show Pepino.? He clapped his hands. ?It was really nice chatting
with you, but it?s late and a stack of work is laying on my desk.?
?Late,
of course, very late.? Justin stood up from the ground, hugged his book and
looked up in the sky while rocking back and forth. ?Of course very very late.?
?Yeah??
Brian looked suspicious at the blonde, grabbed him gently by his shoulders and
tried to guide him in the direction of his garden door. ?Almost 6 o?clock and
I?m sure you‑?
?Oh
oh!? Justin stood still abruptly and turned around. ?Of course there is supper
at 6 o?clock in Pittsburgh.?
?Yeah,
whatever.? Brian stroked his hair out of stress. He really wasn?t in the mood
for this shit. ?Then it?s better you quickly scamper back in your basket to all
the other well-behaving puppies.? Again he tried to guide the boy to the exit,
but this time with some more emphasis. But Justin escaped his grip and rocked
nervously.
?6
o?clock. Of course always 6 o?clock. Red beet and liverwurst.?
?Hey,
hey this way.? Brian gripped the younger one at the hem of his shirt. ?Come
on.?
Justin
immediately pulled at his hair and started to scream. ?Aaaahau au au
au!?
?What? What is it?!
Shit.?
Brian, out of shock, took his fingers back and looked around hastily. He could
already see the headline ?Brian Kinney abuses a twelve year old in Hugh
Hefner?s vacation home?. ?Fuck, alright, alright!? He tried to calm the boy by
stroking his back. ?Hey, could you stop screaming? Everything?s okay, see?? He
held his hands up and tried to present a half hearted smile.
?Aah
of course! Of course supper at six.? Justin squeezed his eyes together because
his head really hurt. It pricked and pricked.
?Hss.?
A blonde hair tuft fell on the grass and Brian gently reached for Justin?s
cramped fingers to try and release them from the long strands. ?Come on ? don?t
do that, okay??
?6
o?clock. Supper at six.? The boy whined and retracted his neck. It still
pricked.
?At
six?? Carefully Brian released his fingers and swore mentally. This wasn?t
exactly his idea for evening entertainment. ?You want to eat?
?At
six.? Whined Justin. ?Red beet.?
?Red
beet? You eat red beet??
?No
potato salad.?
?No??
Brian released both hands and took some of the blonde strands of hair away that
the boy had yanked out. ?If you ask me potato salad is way better then red
beet.?
?Of
course supper at six.? Justin rocked und looked for his?
??
book??
Brian
bent down. ?Fairy tales, huh?? he turned the first few pages and Justin began
to hum while his emotionless gaze fell past Brian.
?Six,
certainly six o?clock.?
The
older one closed the book and held it out for the boy. ?You want to eat? At six
o?clock??
Justin
nodded and held the book tightly at his chest. ?Six o?clock. Certainly red
beet.?
Brian
sighed loud, rubbed a hand through his hair again and couldn?t believe that he was
doing this. ?I haven?t any fucking red beet.?
?Certainly
liverwurst.?
?Pff,
yeah sure.? Mister Kinney snorted with contempt and turned to go back into the
house. ?Do you have any notion of how much fat is in three grams of
liverwurst??
Justin
rocked a little and followed with clumsy steps. ?Pittsburgh. Of course red beet
and liverwurst.?
Brian
shook his head and tugged the terrace door a little more open before he
disappeared in the direction of his kitchen to search for the low-calories
parfait which he had seen earlier in the back of the cupboard.????
???
??
???????????????????????
?
?