Beloved: A Henry Dawncraft Novel |boyxboy| Sequel to Lover for Pay

XVIII - Together

Darrah lived in an apartment complex closer to the inner city. It was a place mainly occupied by older people in retirement and those under disability, an overall nice place to live in both appearance, cost, and safety. All the one-story buildings were pale white with light brown trimming, sidewalk pathways running through them that led from the parking lots, and there were single garages behind each building for the occupants. Parking in front of building E, London and Dorian got out of the Suburban together and headed for apartment E10.

London grew more nervous the closer they got to the door. He hadn't seen Travis since visiting him one time back in 2015. Back then, the Old Man had been 42 years old, and since it'd only been five years since then, he was expecting Travis to look similar to what he had then. He remembered feeling a bit of intimidation from Travis. He'd had a lot of muscle mass, carried a new strength with him, and London couldn't say he wasn't expecting to come face to face with another version of his father. He just wasn't used to looking at TJ and seeing anything other than an abuser...even if he had already forgiven the man back then.

"You still doing okay?" London asked his half-brother beside him.

Dorian nodded, "I'm not as nervous as I was during the drive over."

London thought that was a good sign. He and Dorian finally stepped up to the door of their grandmother's apartment and he knocked. A couple seconds passed before a latch was heard coming unhinged, and then the knob turned, and the door opened to Darrah Caplan. She was 67 years old, her hair was once long and a light brunette color, but now it was completely grey with the same length that stopped at the middle of her back. Dressed in black short pants that stopped at her calves, she wore a white and blue sleeveless shirt. "London, Dorian," she said, "I didn't think you'd come so soon. Where's Henry and Joyce?"

Entering the apartment when Darrah let them in, London kept his eyes vigilant for his Old Man. "They weren't up for a reunion so soon, but they'll come around sooner or later."

"I see," Darrah closed the front door. "Your father is taking a shower right now. We stopped to buy him some clothes since he doesn't have anything, so give him a couple minutes to get cleaned up." She moved to the kitchen just passed a dining area. "He'll be very happy to see you two. Want something to drink?"

"Sure," London said, taking a seat in the living room with Dorian.

Even though Darrah's apartment was just a one bedroom, and Travis hadn't anywhere else to go, London expected the man would stay here until he got back on his feet. Their old house was still under his name, but since he hadn't a job to afford anything, and probably wouldn't be able to find one for a while, he'd have to rely on living with his mother until he could pick himself back up. That made London feel a little sorry for him. Unless he had close ties with someone who could look over his previous prison sentence, it would likely take some time before Travis became a working member of society again.

Offered a glass of sweet tea, London held the glass cup in his hands and leaned back. He could hear the shower running from the hall, and when it shut off, a few minutes later, he heard the bathroom door come open. A shadow drifted onto the wall, and he could hardly see the broadness of Travis' shoulders before he disappeared further down the hall with a towel wrapped around his waist.

"I'll go tell him you're here," Darrah said, and then she went down the hall as well.

When she returned, she took a seat in a recliner beside the sofa and turned on the television. Since several minutes passed them by, London began to get the feeling TJ was afraid to come out of the back room to face them. He'd never met Dorian before, outside of rejecting him as an infant, and it'd been five years since seeing London, so the nervousness was kind of anticipated. After a couple more minutes, though, Travis finally found his courage to see his children and entered the living room area.