Chapter Four
Adryan
Adryan found himself smiling as he visited his parents the following day, remembering his conversation with Madden before Madden had talked his way out of the hospital.
He would have loved to have witnessed that.
The doctor in charge of Madden was hard-ass and took no bullshit from anyone.
Oh, to have been a fly on the wall when that conversation took place.
Adryan had also wanted to see the look on Madden’s face when he realized Adryan had put his number in Madden’s phone without him being aware. Oh yeah. Madden wouldn’t have liked that and that thought had Adryan chuckling.
Adryan let himself in and called out, ‘Mom! Dad!’
Mark, Adryan’s father, shouted back. ‘Dining room, son!’
Adryan shut the front door, kicked his sneakers off, then walked to the dining room, smiling when he saw Mark sitting at the table, a pile of papers scattered around him.
The cream curtains were open, allowing the sunlight inside the room, and it brought back memories from Adryan’s childhood.
All of them sat around the table laughing and joking or getting into fights.
‘What’s that?’ he asked as he pointed at the paperwork.
Mark glanced up at him, his glasses perched on the tip of his nose. Running a hand over his short silvery blond hair, he grunted. ‘Stuff about the factory. Figures and investors, or lack of. Took me some time to get hold of this lot.’
‘Oh.’ Pulling out a chair, Adryan sat next to Mark and glanced at some of the documents, seeing columns of figures. ‘How’s it looking?’
‘Not good. Not good at all.’ Mark took his glasses off and rubbed the bridge of his nose.
His blue eyes, a darker shade than Adryan’s, hardened.
‘The factory is going to close and I don’t think there’s much we can do to stop it.
It isn’t making a profit, and it doesn’t look like it has in a number of years but lack of investment and no upgrades will do that. ’
Adryan licked his lips, nodding. ‘We thought that might happen. We’ve seen how the place has been treated.’
‘Yeah, well, it doesn’t need to be this way. I’ve tried contacting the owners to arrange a meeting, but so far there’s been nothing.’ Mark arched an eyebrow at Adryan. ‘More like representatives than owners. I’ve been given the impression that the owners don’t deal with people like us.’
That somehow didn’t surprise Adryan. He couldn’t remember the last time someone outside of town had come to visit the place. ‘They’ve refused to come?’
‘Not outright refused, but you know when you talk to someone and you can tell they’re reluctant?
’ Adryan nodded. He dealt with people like that regularly in his job.
Patients who didn’t want certain treatments or medications and always had an excuse ready to refuse.
‘That’s the impression I get when I call them.
’ Sitting back in his chair, Mark furrowed his brow.
‘If only they could come here and tell us why they’re shutting the place down.
A meeting with all the staff. Some of them have worked at this factory for years!
And now this!’ Mark shook his head and glared at the papers. ‘Bastards.’
Adryan didn’t respond right away. He glanced around the dining room, seeing the photographs on the walls, the glass cabinet at one end of the room where his mother, Julianne, kept her best china.
Adryan could count on one hand the number of times he’d eaten off the stuff.
‘Madden’s back and it looks like he’ll be here for a while,’ Adryan murmured.
Mark looked up at him, his eyes narrowing. ‘Madden Price?’
‘The one and only.’
‘Hmm. Didn’t he leave and say something about never coming back?’ Mark’s eyes widened slightly, then he nodded. ‘Of course. John’s funeral. I heard that went well.’ The sarcasm was easy to detect.
Adryan snorted. ‘About as well as we could have expected.’
‘Michael has some issues,’ Mark muttered under his breath, but Adryan still heard him.
‘Drinking.’ Adryan sighed heavily. ‘I’ve tried talking to him, but you know what he’s like.’
‘Stubborn? Hard-headed? Like John?’ Mark shook his head. ‘No wonder Madden left as soon as he could. I’m surprised he even came back for the funeral.’
‘Me too. When I saw him at the crash site…’ Adryan pursed his lips. ‘I didn’t even know he was back in town.’
‘Probably wanted to come, do what he had to do, then leave. Who can blame him?’ Mark reached forward and gathered some of the loose paperwork together.
‘I never understood how John and Michael could treat Madden the way they did. Not until I overheard Michael screaming how he had a fag for a brother.’ Glancing at Adryan, Mark added, ‘Now I know why you kept quiet for as long as you did.’
Adryan glanced away, staring out of the window. ‘I sometimes wonder if I should have said something sooner, or at least spoken to Madden.’
‘Maybe you could have, but would it have made a difference?’
‘I was a chickenshit. I kept my mouth shut so Michael wouldn’t target me, and stood by when he attacked Madden. What does that say about me?’
‘That you were a scared kid figuring yourself out and afraid of how you would be treated? You saw daily what Madden went through. Self-preservation exists for a reason.’ Twisting on his chair, Mark said, ‘About Madden.’
‘Yes.’ Adryan stretched the word out, knowing Mark was up to something.
‘Would he be able to help us?’
‘Probably, but that isn’t the real question.
Would he want to help us is what you should be asking.
’ Adryan knew there was no way in hell Madden would want to help anyone in this town, not after leaving as soon as he could.
He’d left and never looked back. Adryan knew Madden hadn’t kept in touch with anyone, even those Adryan had thought Madden considered friends. He’d severed all ties to Troham.
Julianne came into the room and tutted at Mark. ‘Clear the table please and why didn’t you come in and say hello to me?’ She kissed Adryan’s cheek then smiled down at him. ‘You look tired, son. Are you sleeping enough?’
‘I finished a long shift yesterday.’ Adryan stood and hugged Julianne. ‘I got some sleep when I went home.’
Julianne patted his back, then pulled back and gazed at him. ‘Well, you’re here now and I’m going to feed you.’
‘Thanks, Mom.’
‘Madden’s back in town.’ Mark informed her.
Julianne blinked. ‘Michael’s brother Madden?’
‘Yeah, and we all know how well he’s done for himself. Adryan’s going to talk to him about helping us with the factory.’
‘I am?’
‘Madden actually stayed?’ Julianne asked at the same time.
‘He kinda has to.’ Adryan told Julianne about the car accident. ‘So he’s here for a few days, at least until he’s recovered enough to leave.’
‘Oh, that poor boy.’ Adryan snorted, which earned him a cuff around the back of the head. ‘Stop that. I’ll cook him some food and you can take it over when you go to speak to him about the factory.’
‘I never agreed to talk to him.’ Adryan glanced between his parents and knew he was going to end up doing what they wanted. Exhaling heavily, he muttered, ‘Fine.’
‘Great.’ Mark beamed at him. ‘Now tell me all about work. Any strange rescues recently?’
‘How about the one where a couple decided to have sex in the bath and she somehow got her big toe stuck in the tap?’
Mark roared with laughter and Julieanne closed her eyes, chuckling softly. ‘That’s the one. Tell me all about it.’
Opening the front door, Adryan carefully balanced the dishes Julieanne had given him as he stepped inside and kicked the door shut behind him.
Placing the dishes in the fridge, Adryan sat on his sofa and leaned back, closing his eyes.
Madden. How was he going to approach the factory issue with him?
He knew for a fact Madden didn’t give a shit about the factory or anyone in Troham.
Their limited interactions had been frosty at best and spoke plainly about how Madden viewed their town. He wanted away from the place.
At least he had a reason to go around and see Madden now, thanks to Julianne. And how long could Madden last on hotel food? He would be grateful for some home-cooked food, and he’d always liked Julianne’s cooking whenever he’d been to Adryan’s parents’ house.
Those times were probably the only ones where he wasn’t belittled or picked on during a meal.
Adryan had been at Michael’s house many times over the years and had witnessed firsthand the shit Madden had dealt with.
The sneers, and the nasty glaring looks.
The snide comments. The butt or dick jokes.
The hard jabs Michael gave him. Imagine living in a place like that?
Imagine calling it home? Or not, in Madden’s case.
He probably saw it as a place to escape from and he had escaped, hadn’t he?
Thinking about them caused Adryan to remember what life had been like shortly after Madden had come out. Fuck, the atmosphere had been horrendous, and Adryan hated to admit he’d avoided going to Michael’s house. He was scared Michael would see the truth about him, and figure out Adryan was gay too.
Like that one time Adryan had been at Michael’s and had stepped in to stop Michael pushing Madden down the stairs.
‘Let me at the piece of shit!’ Michael screamed, spittle spraying onto Adryan’s face.
Michael had been drinking that day and as soon as he’d seen Madden had launched himself at him.
Grabbing his T-shirt, Michael had hit Madden, then shoved him toward the stairs.
Adryan and Shane had jumped at Michael, attempting to pull him away from Madden, but Michael was built and heavy with muscle.
Madden had looked terrified, pushing at Michael, trying to get away.
Back then, Madden had been smaller, skinnier than he was now, and he had no chance against the bigger and broader Michael.
Adryan and Shane pulled Michael back, giving Madden a chance to escape.
Seeing Madden run off, Michael had turned on Adryan and Shane.
‘You fuckers! Why did you let the bastard get away? Which one of you is he sucking off?’
Adryan blanched, but Shane pushed Michael away. ‘Fuck you. You’re wasted. Go and sleep it off before you fucking hurt yourself.’
‘You don’t get to tell me what to do. Want me to tell Jenny you let Shannon suck your dick?’ Michael leered. ‘Yeah. You don’t want her to find out about you and Shannon, do you?’
‘You could have killed your own brother!’ Shane shouted. ‘Want to end up in prison?’
‘Why the fuck would I care about him? Bet he bends over and lets any man have his ass. Fucking cocksucker. Can’t believe I have a gay bastard for a brother.’
‘He can’t help it,’ Adryan muttered. ‘You like who you like.’
Michael slammed his fist into Adryan’s chest. ‘What? You been with him? Has he bent over and spread his ass for you?’
‘Fuck off.’ Shane pushed Michael back, standing between Adryan and Michael. ‘Sleep it off then come and talk. There’s no point trying with you when you’re like this.’
‘At least you don’t have an assfucker for a brother.’
‘I’m leaving. Sleep it off and we’ll talk tomorrow.’ Adryan had left, Shane following, and neither of them talked about Michael’s drinking.
Adryan opened his eyes, letting the memories slip away.
That had been one of many incidents Adryan had witnessed, but how many had occurred that he knew nothing about?
Wincing, Adryan stood and stretched. Julianne had been right about him being tired.
He’d worked a couple of extra shifts and dealt with Madden’s accident, and felt the tiredness now.
A shower, a beer, and then bed. And a plan to get Madden to agree to help Mark save the factory.
Easier said than done when Madden had every reason to hate the place and everyone in it.