JOYBOY (Now on Webnovel and Meganovel)

Chapter 117: Brother Business

Chapter 117: Brother Business

Downtown District, Freeway Underpass, Baltiney, New York...

       The dust had barely settled from the afternoon goings-on by the time Jeff Kennison found himself standing out in the cool air alone with a lit cigarette to his lips as he glared out into the distance. He had been pondering how to go about finding a way to get his family to commit his elder brother and get him the apparent mental treatment he needed but knew he'd been on the outs with them as far as the little incident at the family dinner had gone. As a starting point he chose to tackle what he knew best, and whom he knew best which had been Spyder himself. Jeff had taken note of Ken's frequent trips to Spyder's Kandy Shop more often than he'd cared to admit, which is why it gave him cause to worry about his brother. He'd known all too well the damaging effects of cocaine use and the addiction that subsequently came about due to it.

Ryker himself had pulled him out of the lower depths when he'd been afflicted and despite a tendency to have a drink or two now and again, he'd never looked back, feeling that he owed that much to his elder brother and his final act of love for him.

Jeff had been surprised to see how much things had changed since his time under the effects of former dealer Brazen's product and what Spyder had done with the place since taking over. He wasn't the small-time peddler he used to be now that his former boss and mentor had retired to greener pastures with the quite lucrative amount of funds Ryker had paid him off within a bid to keep him away from his younger brother.

The second of the Kennison boys finished puffing on his cigarette and stamped it out when he saw Spyder stepping out of the Kandy shop and making his way toward his apartment on Parkplace. He followed the younger dealer and eventually cornered him into a nearby alley where he rushed him head-on before he could get the drop on him via the gun he carried in his waistband.

Up close, Spyder had still been the pasty pale, wannabe hip hop representative drug slinger he'd always been if a bit older and more aloof due to his usage of his own supply and dosage tweaks. He had been caught off guard by Jeff who not only towered above him due to his impressive height but overpowered him altogether when catching him off guard.

"WHAT THE FUCK MAN!!?" shouted Spyder once he'd gotten a look at whom had attacked him. "What the hell is your problem Jeffery?"

"What the fuck is your problem giving my brother drugs when you know he's unwell?" growled Jeff in a question of his own.

"Hey fuck off, I'm just trying to make a living as much as the next man, ain't my doing if someone comes and asks for Kandy, and Kenny boy just so happens to be a frequent customer," replied Spyder in defense of his business dealings with Ken Ryker.

"Fuck you little parasite," growled Jeff now attempting to strangle Spyder. "It's twisted lazy fucks like you that make it harder for the rest of us."

Spyder narrowed his eyes at Jeff indignant in his own right.

"Don't give me that bullshit, I remember you coming to a parasite like me begging and pleading for your next fix, nobody put the coke in your veins but you, and you knew all too well to come looking for a bottom feeder like me to get your kicks same as your fancy big brother so don't go playing high and mighty with me, junkie." Spyder countered. "Your rich big brother paid off Brazen, and I kept my distance just like we agreed, ain't my fault he went and got his brains scrambled and ended up on my doorstep, although I can tell you it wasn't coke that brought him to my Kandy shop, he ain't a junkie fiend like you...he's been all about that grade A pussy since the old days, waking up after a long nap only seemed to renew his interest so I supplied him."

Jeff glared rather murderously at Spyder.

"Then why was he doing coke the last time I saw him come from your place?" he growled still attempting to strangle Spyder.

"Probably needed a little pick-me-up with relatives like you pissing in his coffee just because you can," remarked Spyder. "Kenny boy's addicted to pussy, not coke and if you'd actually been listening you'd know that...he's been after my stable for quite some time, must have stuck his abnormally long dick in my girls five times over, they all love Kenny and Kenny loves fucking, it's gotten to be such a thing that he'd even taken to one of my more exotic aspects of pleasure-seeking...hot blond fresh off the bus...Kenny was all about bending the blond even with a glory hole between them."

Jeff rolled his eyes not at all liking that his brother was into any of Spyder's girls let alone someone of exotic significance when it came to sex. He had hoped that there had been another reason for his brother frequenting Spyder's place and he'd found it but he was well aware that Ken dabbled in coke use, even if he had not been a full-blown addict as Jeff himself was.

"Kenny's a good and loyal customer, and most of the time he's having the time of his life with my girls so let off me," growled Spyder before pushing Jeff back and forcing him to let him go.

Jeff took a moment to process what he'd been told as he watched Spyder make a show of fixing his attire and continue to make his way toward his apartment. The second-born Kennison sighed as he headed back toward his car determined to get to the bottom of what had been wrong with his brother. From what Spyder had told him, their arrangement had begun when Ryker paid off Jeff's debt to Brazen, and then he started frequenting Spyder's stable of girls shortly thereafter but no one had a clue about that before the accident.

He had considered that Spyder had been lying about the arrangement from jump but the slimy dealer had no reason to lie to him, even if he had been fond of Ken and his patronage when it came to his stable of girls and subsequent drug use.

This new information had put a lot of things into perspective and made Jeff question everything he had known about Ryker in the past, and why no one saw what was coming when before the accident, he'd been hiding everything from everyone including his pain at having lost Sera and the boys.

Jeff took a deep breath and tried his best to suppress the tears that threatened to cascade down his cheeks. His brother had been in agony for quite some time and all he had managed to do back them was either throw it in his face or did a piss poor job of looking out for him. He had known what kind of man Spyder was and chose to get involved with him of his own accord, how Spyder had come across him a second time since the accident had still been a mystery but it was clear that Ryker was and still is in a good deal of pain over the loss of his wife and boys even if he acts as if it's not the case.

"Why the hell didn't you come to one of us?" asked Jeff more so to himself than anyone after hindsight had gotten the better of him.

He recalled Ryker's solemn expression and virtually quiet manner not only at the funeral but afterward when he'd won the court case against the airline and directly donated all the money awarded to him to the other families affected in the crash. He pulled away from his former circle of friends and the family that cared for him only to find himself seeking out the likes of Spyder.

Jeff hopped into his car and left the scene unable to fathom the news of his brother actively choosing to be in Spyder's company even before the accident.