“And for you?”
“I’ll have the BLT with fries,” I said.
“Okay, I’ll get that going for you.”
When she walked away, Chase spoke up.
“I always ask about the fries. I hate seasoned fries. There are so many good restaurants out there, and a lot of them feel like they’re making fries more appealing by seasoning them. So disappointing.”
Chase was making this easy. Easier than it could have been. He was genuinely a lighthearted, energetic guy. He seemed very opposite to Morgan’s calm demeanor.
“Anyhow, yeah, I found out Haley kept him in the entertainment section of the newspaper.”
“I’m sure that was a shock.”
“Yeah. It’s how I learned about his name. I tried again to reach out to Haley, but her mom hated me and had such a hold on everything. She’d kept me off the birth certificate and didn’t want me to be around because I was a reminder of everything bad that had happened. Then, one year, Haley and I met for lunch, and that’s when she told me she kept him because he looked like me. She said she wanted to hold on to the only thing between us. A few days later it was Christmas Eve, and she invited me over to see him.”
Chase laughed and shook his head as he recalled the memory.
“I totally ran out of the house. It was Christmas Eve, and our whole family was over. I went to Target to find a little something to take to him.” His eyes were glassy as he spoke. “There really weren’t any toys. As I was on my way out of the store, I found these goofy little fuzzy socks. They had monster faces on them, and they were smiling and stuff. Haley had told me that Brandon was hyper and didn’t sleep at night and cried about monsters getting him. So when I took him the socks, I told him they would keep the monsters away.”
Socks. I pictured the drawers full of colorful socks Brandon had now. It was on the tip of my tongue to tell Chase, but I refrained.
The monsters ended up getting him at eighteen.
“I bet he loved the socks,” I said. I looked in the direction of our server when I saw her coming with our food.
“I hope so. I never really heard. But I remember seeing him, and I just felt that I could have been a great dad. I was young, but I was ready to be a dad for him. I played with him that evening until Haley kicked me out. He was like, three.” Chase paused while our food was set on the table. “Her mom got a restraining order against me.”
“That’s terrible.” It was so difficult to get both parents involved.
“Yeah. She partially blamed me for everything that happened with our young modeling careers.” Chase took a bite of his burger. “Mmm, this is fantastic!” He shoved some fries into his mouth.
Chase wasn’t directly telling me what exactly had happened, and that was fine. I didn’t blame him. I was a stranger to him too. But I felt bad for him. He had terrible things done to him, and his childhood was stolen out from under him. But it sounded like he had a great support system with his family.
“Then when it was in the papers that Haley died of an overdose, I asked her mom to let me help with Brandon. She’d said she hadn’t heard from him in years.” Chase looked down as he ate in silence for a few moments. “Morgan called me after we had the arrangements for lunch. He told me that I needed to be prepared to hear some unpleasant things about Brandon. Morg said it was stuff before you and him were together.”
I swallowed and took a sip of my tea.
“Brandon…” I paused to take another sip from my glass while my head formulated this bit of information. “He started seeing a psychiatrist when he was in high school. He earned Brandon’s trust quickly. He took advantage of Brandon, got inside his head and made him believe that he cared for him and had his best interests at heart. The summer after he graduated, Brandon moved in with him. Together, they went to a party, and Brandon was left there. He was kept there against his will for a few years. He resurfaced during an FBI raid and ended up in my hospital.”
Chase’s face had gone pale. I felt somewhat bad that we hadn’t even exchanged many common questions such as what the other one did for a living. He’d jumped right into things, and I allowed him to guide the conversation at his pace.
“What do you mean that he was held there against his will? Like, a slave?” His eyebrows narrowed together. “Is that what you’re saying? Are you telling me my kid was a slave in some… some shitty place?”
I nodded.
“Chase, I know that’s not easy to hear and think about or digest. But, I tell you this so you understand that Brandon has literally been through hell. He doesn’t trust easily. He’s had to overcome a lot of fears and issues since he’s been away from that place, one being abandonment. So I’ll say this as gently as I can… I’m not going to let you near him unless you’re committed to try to have a lifelong relationship with him.”
“I am! I swear it!”
“He doesn’t need any more anguish.”
“I won’t hurt him. I just want to know him and be in his life.”
“Please understand that when he hears that you exist, it could unearth a multitude of feelings for him. Anger. Sadness. Frustration. Happiness. He’s going to have it all. Too much has been taken from him and forced upon him. Which is why it’s going to be one hundred percent up to himif,and when, he decides to meet you. I’m not going to push him into doing anything.”
Chase nodded and looked down.
