Just Starting Out
1.14 - I'm Not...
Much to John’s chagrin, Malcolm had no intention of leaving the Brooks household anytime soon. It took an entire 15 minutes for him to wrap him his elaborately fake story about the escapades in Oasis Springs
“Sounds like you and John had quite the adventure, Malcolm,” Jameson chuckled incredulously. “John sure has grown up a lot. I can barely even picture my boy doing most of that.”
“We had a great time,” Malcolm agreed. “Definitely an unforgettable trip for the both of us.”
“Now, if you don’t mind, Malcolm, my wife and I have some questions for you.”
“Alright. Hit me.”
“First and foremost, and forgive me if this is an awkward question, is my boy safe? Working for your family and all? I’ve heard a lot of things about what you all get up to, and I want to be sure that he’s going to be protected from any legal ramifications.”
Adrienne nodded. “John’s always talked a big game- he always wants to act like he can do anything! But we both know that sometimes? He can’t. He’ll get in over his head and spiral.”
“Not to be rude, but your family has a history of resorting to underhanded tactics, such as various forms of blackmail, people in position of power suddenly being usurped the minute they start asking too many questions… even your dad, Geoffrey. Everyone thinks Nancy married him just because he’s the chief of the police in Oasis Springs, and frankly… that wouldn’t surprise me.”
Malcolm frowned. It was clear that Adrienne and Jameson didn’t trust him. And seeing that he’d apparently hurt John badly, he couldn’t really say that John was necessarily safe. But above all, Malcolm had no way of predicting what Nancy would do next. He has some insight, and a little influence as her son, but if Nancy ever made a decision about John he disagreed with, there would be nothing he could do to sway her.
“Don’t even worry about it,” Malcolm smiled. “My family isn’t nearly as bad as the media makes us out to be, John is completely safe. And plus, he has me as a friend to look out for him. If my parents ever did something stupid and actually validated those rumors, I’d keep him out of it.”
“…alright. I’ll take your word for it. Don’t let us down, Malcolm,” Jameson said.
“Well. Seeing that John is unwell, I think I’m going to head out,” Malcolm said, feeling ready to test his luck. “Would it be alright if I popped into his room really quick to let him know I was here?”
“John is resting-“ Jameson said, shaking his head.
“No. No, Jameson. Let Malcolm at least visit him for a little bit. He did come all the way here, after all,” Adrienne said, talking over him.
“Thank you guys so much,” Malcolm said, smiling gratefully as he pushed back his chair and headed over to the door to John’s room.
He carefully pushed it open and shut it behind him.
“Hey…” Malcolm said quietly.
“Get out Malcolm,” John sighed. “I don’t want to talk to you and you know exactly the reason why. The elaborate story you crafted out there won’t keep any of them fooled for long because it won’t take anyone in this house long to notice how miserable I am. Bad food doesn’t plunge someone into a mindset where they feel like an outsider in their own body.”
Malcolm sat down next to him anyway and took a deep breath. “You’re right. We do need to talk about that night. What I did-“
“Yeah, what you did was wrong, no shit, Malcolm,” John snapped, cutting him off. “Don’t even start with that, it’s too late for your apologies.”
“…I, uh…”
John put his head in his hands. “Listen, Malcolm. I don’t like you, but as your…. Former friend, I want to give you some advice. Come out. Find a boyfriend that you don’t have to get heavily intoxicated for him to give into your desires. I’m sure that given enough time, your parents will come around.”
“Uh, John, I’m not gay,” Malcolm chuckled.
“Look Malcolm. I don’t know exactly what happened that night, but I know you did something to me, and I’m a guy. News flash! That’s gay.”
“No, no, no, no. I was drunk, and all I did was lay you down in the bed that's closest to the front door, alright? It being my bed didn’t mean anything, I was drunk and wasn’t thinking straight, I don’t know, but it just doesn’t count as being gay, okay? I’m sure plenty of people make stupid decisions like that when they’re drunk.”
John gave Malcolm an incredulous look. “No, Malcolm. Most people don’t strip down and lay down in bed with their friends when they’re drunk, that’s not normal, that’s fucked up. And that's assuming you're even telling the whole truth here to start. For someone who supposedly isn’t gay, you sure seemed pretty panicked the day after, you went on and on about being afraid of your parents finding something out and the repercussions, or something. That doesn’t seem like the behavior of a straight dude with clearly very homophobic parents.”
“Okay, well, first off, John, I didn’t take advantage of you. All I did was get you undressed so you’d be able to sleep, then I tucked you into bed. Being dumb because I was drunk and maybe thought about kissing you because you were right in front of me means nothing! That’s why my parents can’t find out, they’d take this whole thing way of proportion.”
“Thought about kissing me? Well, that's new information! Who knows what else you're hiding from me, Malcolm. Regardless of what you claim happened that night, there’s one basic fact that you seem completely unable to recognize. I couldn’t consent, even if your worst crime was just changing my clothes. That’s unacceptable.”
Meanwhile, back in the living room, a knock on the front door interrupted the conversation going on at the dining table.
“Wow. You guys sure are popular,” Adrienne muttered.
Kayla stood up, frowning. “We’re definitely usually not this popular. I have no idea what’s going on.”
“I get it John! I was an asshole! Even I can understand that, you see, the guilt I feel-“
“I don’t give a damn about the guilt you feel, Malcolm! You need to get out of this room- no. You need to get the fuck out of this house and stay away from me, like I asked you to do in the first place! I’m not about to tell you that any of this is okay so we can make up and be friends again.”
Kayla opened the door to a portly blond haired man who squinted at her through his square glasses.
“Is Malcolm here? I’m his father, Geoffrey,” he said.
Kayla nodded slowly. “Uh, yeah, he is. Don’t know why you’d look for him here, cause he didn’t get here that long ago, but please, come on in.”
Geoffrey entered the modest Brooks house, and Kayla shut the door behind him before hurrying ahead to introduce him to her parents.
“Mom, dad, this is, um, Geoffrey Landgraab. Geoffrey, these are my parents, Adrienne and Jameson.”
The look that crossed Adrienne and Jameson’s faces made it clear that they weren’t fond of the man, but they stood up to shake his hand anyway. As the three exchanged pleasantries, Kayla walked over to John’s room and knocked three times on the door.
“Malcolm, your dad is here? He’s looking for you.”
Malcolm gave John one last desperate look, but John refused to meet his eyes. Choking back a sob, Malcolm threw open the door. Shutting it behind him, he slipped on a veil of emotional ambiguity, masking everything he was feeling from everyone in that room.
“Hey dad,” Malcolm said, shutting John’s door behind him. “What are you doing in Newcrest?”
“Looking for you, Malcolm, what do you think? Your mother’s worried sick, you never came home from the lounge last night. She thought you’d passed out drunk in some ally somewhere, or gotten in a car crash and died. She's very concerned about just how badly that would affect our family’s image, or something along those lines.”
"Of course," Malcolm sighed. “Alright. I’ll come back home with you. Adrienne, Jameson, it was lovely to meet you. Kayla, hopefully I’ll be able to drop by again someday soon. I hope John feels better.”
Geoffrey walked back out the front door without even looking back. Malcolm hurried after him, only stopping briefly to turn back and give a smug little wave to the family before shutting the door behind them.
“That family sure is pretentious,” Adrienne said, shaking her head
“I don’t trust them one bit,” Jameson agreed. “I’m glad John’s made what seems to be a good friend but… Geoffrey and his wife Nancy aren’t to be trusted. I sure hope he doesn’t get burned working for them.”
Kayla stared at the door the Landgraabs had just left through. There was definitely something deeper going on, she just couldn’t put her finger on it. Malcolm had fled to Newcrest before and no one tracked him down then. But outside of that, she was still nearly convinced that Malcolm wanted something more from John. But she got no hint of that from the stories Malcolm had told the family earlier. Yet, at the same time, she was well aware that someone like Malcolm Landgraab would easily be able to mask his emotions and lie- there was just no way someone could grow up in an environment like he did and not learn those skills. Malcolm definitely intrigued her.