Chapter 24 – In the News Part 1

Justin stood at the top of the steps to the back room of the gallery with Jared. Noelle and Lisa stood off to the side, watching. The gallery owners had been concerned about the press conference, but Jared had talked them into it with an offer to showcase one of his other artists. About twenty reporters had shown up and Justin had been answering questions for fifteen minutes.

Jared stepped in front of Justin for a moment to announce, "We have time for one last question." At the sight of a short, balding man waving his hand frantically near the front of the group, Jared gave the man the nod.

"What do you say to the millions of people who, like me, agree with Chris Hobbs that what you do is an abomination? Those who say he was right to do what he did?"

Jared stepped in front of Justin, "That question is… " he started as Justin interrupted calmly, "I'll answer him."

Jared looked back at Justin, "You don't have to."

"I know," Justin smiled slightly as Jared moved back. He looked down at the fervent man. "Thank you for asking, I do have a couple of things I would like to say to the people condemning me to death." The room quieted at the bald statement.

"First, the bible verse you cited is from Leviticus. Why don't you read Leviticus – all of it? If you do, you'll agree it shouldn't be taken literally. If we were to do so, every child who ever cursed their parents would be put to death." Justin chuckled, inviting the listeners in, "and we'd all have beards down to the floor."

"Personally, I like the ten commandments better. Thou shall not kill is my personal favorite," Justin paused, flashing a rueful smile, "probably because people keep trying to kill me."

As the chuckles died down, Justin became serious. "What do I say to those who want to kill me for the sin of being gay?" Justin paused, taking a deep breath, "There's really not a lot to say. You've chosen to hate. It's irrational, so reasoning with you won't work. I, like Martin Luther King, have decided to stick with love. Hate is too great a burden for me to bear."

"For everyone else watching, I'll cite my favorite civil rights leader one more time." Justin paused for a moment looking directly into the cameras. "The ultimate tragedy is not the oppression and cruelty by the bad people but the silence over that by the good people."

Michael entered the loft, seeing Brian sitting on the couch in front of the television. "Why didn't you answer the door?"

"Maybe I didn't want company." Brian turned off the TV set and said quietly, "Have you seen the news?"

"Yeah, everybody's talking about it." Michael walked over to Brian, dropped down on the couch beside him, noticing Brian's frown. "Justin was amazing. The news stations keep playing the ending of his interview over and over again. The folks at the GLC called and they want Justin to host their next event."

Brian grimly poured himself another Jim Beam, shooting it back. "I told him that would happen."

"What?" Michael asked. "How could you know that?"

"Mikey, I know what sells. Justin does it without even fucking trying." Brian smirked, "Too bad he lives in New York."

"Not really. The Gay and Lesbian Services Center in New York got hold of our GLC people and asked how to reach him. They contacted Ben to ask for his number. I can't imagine why they didn't just call you," Michael needled gently.

Brian snorted in response to the question. "They hate my guts, Mikey, don't you remember?"

"More like they're terrified of you."

"They should be – I've worked hard at it." Brian's smirk turned serious, "Did the professor give them Justin's number?"

Michael shook his head. "He wouldn't do that without talking to Justin first. He's going to call him this evening. I thought you might like to talk to him before that happens."

"I already have," Brian stood abruptly, lighting a cigarette and walking over to look out of the window. "Justin will become the figurehead of the entire movement if they ask him to. He has to stand up and be counted. Bravest man I know – the stupid twat."

"It is one of Boy Wonder's most annoying traits," Michael agreed. "Why don't you help him?"

"Me? Help the gay rights movement?" Brian shook his head, his mood abruptly lightening, "What drugs are you on?"

"None," Michael said with a gentle smile, watching his best friend closely.

"Why on earth do you think I'd want to do something so incredibly fucking lame?"

"I can think of a few reasons. You can help set up Justin's image, maybe make him less of a target. They'd pay you, maybe not your normal fees, but still. Last but not least – you'd piss off an incredible number of heterosexuals."

"At least you didn't suggest I'd want to do it because of the nobility of the cause."

"I know you too well to even think it," Michael agreed with a laugh. "Pretend you're running the marketing campaign, how'd Justin do?"

Brian took a drag on his cigarette as he thought it through. "Not bad. The last King quote was a bit too much. The largest swayable demographic will be females in the eighteen to forty-five age range. You need to gain them through humor, romance and sympathy. Guilt won't work as well on them, but it will work for the men watching. He's managed to get an incredible amount of free air time, which is impressive."

"There is something compelling about a blond, perfectly mannered WASP following in Martin Luther King's footsteps."

"I'm just scared he's going to follow Mr. King straight into his early grave," Brian responded quietly.

At the Pennsylvania State Penitentiary, Petri Hotari stood guard with a co-worker over a dozen inmates in the recreation center. Most were watching television and two were playing a game of chess. Petri, a large man in his fifties, had high hopes for a quiet shift. This group of inmates wasn't usually a problem.

As the news came on, one of the occupants was quickly becoming agitated, shifting in his chair and muttering under his breath. Petri looked around to find the problem, but nothing unusual existed that gave a hint to the source. To his shock, the inmate, Chris Hobbs, suddenly stood and screamed like a madman.

"Why don't you stay dead? I keep killing you, but you just won't stay dead!"

Stunned, Petri stared as the bomber broke into violent tears, almost begging the television, "Why won't you stay dead?" Breaking down completely, Hobbs sat back down in his chair, crying and muttering, endlessly, "How often do I have to kill you for you to stay dead?"

Don Rennick looked at his assistant district attorney in surprise. "The sight of Justin Taylor on television caused Hobbs to have a complete breakdown?"

Larry nodded emphatically, "He started screaming at the television and asking how often he had to kill Taylor in order for him to stay dead. You realize he's totally insane, right?"

"I'm starting to figure that out. What did the staff psychologist say?"

"Unfortunately, Hobbs got himself back together before the shrink could get much out of him. The one thing he did learn is that Hobbs is suffering from a recurrent nightmare where he kills Taylor, but then sees Taylor come back from the dead." Larry's disgust evident, he continued, "He kills Taylor over and over again in his dreams."

"That won't be admissible. Do we have any footage of his prison breakdown?"

"They're shipping it over this afternoon."

"Excellent. If that's what happens when Hobbs sees an image of Taylor, I wonder what would happen if we brought the two of them face-to-face?" Rennick speculated.

Larry, intrigued at the possibility, thought through how to set it up. "One of the detectives mentioned that Taylor is coming into Pittsburgh this weekend. It might be a good time to interview both him and Hobbs downtown. I could talk to the detective about it."

Rennick smiled in response, "Why don't you do that? And make sure the cameras are turned on."