The Demon King of Lust

Chapter 30

Finn is frozen in place, his mouth agape as Grams looks him over. She squints and adjusts her glasses as she eyes Finn. No one says anything for a moment, unsure of how to proceed.

Grams shakes her head and rubs her forehead.

"I'm sorry, ah..." She blinks hard several times. "Clearly that Acapulco Haze was a lot stronger than I thought. I must be higher than a giraffe's ass, 'cause I'm seeing things. Your friend here is the spitting image of a young man I used to know. Well, I suppose he's an old man now, but he was a young man then. Anyway, come in, darlings."

She takes another quick glance at Finn then heads inside, leading us into the living room. Kieran gives Finn a questioning look, but he looks just as confused as the rest of us.

"So," she says, taking a seat in her favorite blue velvet armchair. "Who have you brought with you?"

Kieran and I sit on the couch and Finn sits in another chair.

"Oh, yeah um... well you've met Kieran." I gesture to Kieran and he gives her a small wave.

"Yes, that's right. The fuckboy."

He flinches just slightly at her words and I cringe. Grams gets very loose-lipped when she's high, not that she holds back much when she's sober. Finn's eyes soften and he sends Kieran a sympathetic smile.

"And this is..." I pause, realizing that she recognized Finn somehow. I don't feel like I can introduce him by his name now, but it feels really weird to lie.

"John," Finn chimes in, giving me a knowing look and reaching out to shake her hand. "Nice to meet you."

She takes his hand and narrows her eyes as they shake.

"It's uncanny. You look so much like him..." she mumbles. "Are you related to a man named Finn? I don't remember his last name, but he lived here in Port Charlotte many years ago. I think he had an accent like you, too."

"Yes, he's my granda. My family has been here for a long time."

"Oh, that makes sense. I thought I had taken one too many puffs." She laughs and leans back in her chair, seemingly satisfied with his answer. She turns to me and tilts her head to the side. "So Sam, I'm not sure I understood you on the phone. You're trying to track down your grandfather now?"

"Uh, yeah," I say, trying to remember the details of the excuse I concocted. "F-... John said he would help since he's into local history."

"Well, I don't remember much," she says furrowing her brow. "It was a wild time in my life—a lot of beautiful men, a lot of acid."

"Been there," Kieran says with a chuckle.

Grams leans forward and rests an elbow on the armrest.

"Haven't we all, honey." She smirks and turns back toward me.  "I've certainly told your father this before. I know he was from Europe... very pretty man. Light red-blond hair—that's where you get those ginger genes. Had a fantastic caboose."

"Grams, that's not really the kind of information that would help us."

Finn stands from his seat and wanders across the room; a framed photo seems to have caught his eye.

"Is this you?" he asks, pointing to a picture of Grams holding my dad as a baby.

"That's me and Sam's father, Todd. You can't tell with the black and white, but he was quite the little carrot top. I thought for sure he was going to be a wild child—my mother would tell me that redheads had fiery tempers—but not Todd. He was the exact opposite."