Chapter 1
XX
A/N: This story is my fourth in the line started with "The Second Face". The movie it is based on, "The Good Son", was never especially famous or successful, and I believe it is a shame that it didn't have the additional details and plot elements of the novel adaptation that Todd Strasser wrote for it. The film got a pretty severe response from Roger Ebert, but I believe he might have liked it better had the film featured those crucial aspects of the novel. I could be wrong, but that's what I've figured for a while now.
This story started out, as several of my stories have, as a discussion between myself and AM83220. I created a Word document for it on April 11, 2013. It took 6 years for me to actually write the first chapter. The amount of detail I invest in my stories, plus the length of many of them and the fact that my free time is often quite limited, are responsible for this. But better late than never, as they say.
I want to specifically thank AM83220 for his steadfast encouragement and support, phorosz for the same, as well as some of the best and most richly-detailed reviews I have ever seen on this site, fear2breathe, and anyone else who reviews this story or has reviewed any of my work in the universe of "The Good Son".
After over half a decade, a third sequel to "The Second Face" now begins.
XX
May 18, 2001
The sun shone, bright and warm, down on the highway as Henry Evans drove his brother's SUV, a red Jeep Grand Cherokee, back to his home in Portland, Maine. He had lived there his entire life, right up until it came time to attend the United States Naval Academy starting in the fall of 1999, and was still back for holidays plus the summer. Henry went back when he could; the cold New England winters suited him especially well.
Henry had always loved cold weather. It helped weed out the weak, reflected how cold and pitiless life really was. But since becoming a star athlete and ladies' man in middle school, Henry had loved the summer. It was a time for him to show off his astounding good looks by dressing with about as little as he could get away with, a time to hang out at pools and lakes and beaches and see who he could fuck today. Henry had so many notches on his belt that there wasn't much of a belt left these days.
"So, Designer Sunglasses," a voice said from Henry's right, "coming back home for your second summer and you're acting like I'm not here. You wanna fucking talk to me?"
"Go fuck yourself, Mark," Henry said.
"Fuck you," Mark replied, looking at Henry from behind his own pair of $200 sunglasses. "I dunno how I wound up stuck with you."
"By deciding you wanted to be friends," Henry said. "That and you didn't want to be a scared little mouse all your life."
"Best decision I ever made," Mark said, fiddling with the cigarette he had been holding for the past twenty miles. "I still needed some help, though. You had to drag me into that house to save me from myself."
"I was glad to do it," Henry said. "Besides, Connie was getting on my fucking nerves."
"She always does. Hey, how many chicks you think we've fucked?" Mark asked. "By this point, how many between the two of us?"
"Oh, I lost count after forty."
"We honestly should've caught something by now, all those sluts we've buried our goddamn faces in."
"Yeah, STD's would probably improve that mug of yours, Mark."
Mark laughed. "Fleetwood Hall makes us so damn perfect, I bet you we're immune to anything we could catch anyway. Hey, your phone's going off."
"Fuck it."
"It says it's Lisa."
"Fuck her."
"You do, a lot."
"She's not useful anymore," Henry said calmly. "She's starting to whine that I'm not showing her enough attention. It'll only get worse if I keep ignoring her. And if I dump her, she'll fucking kill herself."
"She can breed. Her stock is good enough for you, isn't it? So get her pregnant again and she'll shut up for a while."
"It'd be fun," Henry agreed. "Putting Richard in her was the best night of my life."
Mark laughed. "I'd say the same about Julie, except- nah, it's true for me, too. I just made a mistake with the timing."
"You, Mark, you made a mistake?"
The auburn-haired twenty-year-old laughed again. "Nah, I was just right and didn't know it yet. She'd be fucking great for Lebensborn. I just wish the fuckin' Nazis had won the war."
"Maybe one day we'll set that straight, get the right ideas back out there," Henry said speculatively. He shrugged his massive shoulders. "In the meantime, I gotta go deal with Lisa. She's become more trouble than she's worth. I won't put up with her fucking whining. It's about to get a lot worse; I can tell.
"Well, let's go see the boys first."
"Sure. I'd rather spend time on my son anyway."
"When you go out, Julie and I are going upstairs. Then I'm finally gonna pay Julie back for almost killing my son."
"You know that wasn't her fault, Mark. Like, it genuinely, objectively was something she had no control over."
"Would you say that if Lisa had done that to Richard?"
"Yes. Premature births can happen, Mark."
"Julie's job was to carry him until it was time," Mark explained with exaggerated patience. "Women are there to breed. It's what they're for. So, if she can't do that, she needs to be taught a lesson. This payback is fucking overdue. Long overdue."
"Mark, you rape her, and she'll never see you the same way again."
"So what?"
"This entire thing of her babysitting the boys for us is based on her thinking you're her perfect Prince Charming, Mark. Think about when you raped Amy. You did that knowing you two would be breaking up the same day. Amy was terrified of you after that, and I'm amazed she didn't kill herself. Plenty of rape victims do. You wanna have that happen with Julie?"
"No- well- no, I mean- she needs to pay! That's the point here, she needs to pay!"
"Let it go, Mark. She didn't actually do anything to you, or Alex. And we rescued him and he's fine, so where's the problem?"
Mark made an unhappy noise.
"I love being right," Henry said to himself.
"Ah, fuck you."
"Mark, I got plenty of women to do that for me. Just go fuck Julie's brains out and I'll get rid of Lisa. Everybody gets to have fun."
"All right, Henry, all right. You win- this time."
"Oh, good. I was worried there for a second."
XX
Just like he had all through senior year in high school, Mark had a remote control for the door to Julie's garage mounted inside his Jeep. Once they were sitting outside her house, Henry pressed the button and the door rattled up, obeying instantly like everybody else in Henry and Mark's life. Henry drove the SUV inside, parked it, and pressed the button again. Only after the door had fully closed did Henry and Mark get out. They each had a child growing up here, but not officially.
Julie had been expecting them, and she greeted Mark at the door. Henry almost laughed as they started to make out like a couple of teenagers. Julie had fallen for Mark's bullshit harder than anybody else. Mark was incapable of actually loving her, of course; he thought of her as a favorite toy. But the young woman who had given birth to Mark's child didn't need to know that.
"Um, hey, Henry," Julie said breathlessly, once she and Mark separated. "How's it going?"
"Real good, Julie," Henry answered, flashing her one of his charming smiles. "Thanks again for looking after my son. Lisa's a good girl, but, she just isn't parent material. Maybe someday, but not now. It's too early for her."
"I'm just glad we could arrange it," Julie said, nodding. "The adoption. I mean, the both of you- it couldn't have been easy to both have to deal with that. Having your first child while you're still in high school." She paused. "Well, nobody could deal with it better than you guys. You're really something."
Mark reached out and brushed Julie's left cheek lovingly. She leaned into his touch instinctively, closing her eyes for a moment. "You're really something," Mark told her quietly.
"I'll be back later," Henry said. "I just remembered I gotta go do some stuff. You guys stay outta trouble. I'll see the boys when I get back."
As Henry left, Mark turned back to Julie and shrugged. "He's my brother, what'm I gonna do?"
"I'm so glad he trusts me with his baby," Julie said. "Richard's doing great."
"He comes from strong stock. So does Alex." Mark took Julie in his arms, kissed her. "Come on. Let's go upstairs and fuck."
"But- but what about the boys?"
"They're sleeping, aren't they? They usually are around now."
"Yes, they are, but-"
"Shh. You want this as much as I do. Don't lie, Julie."
"Are you kidding?" Julie laughed. "I bet I do want this more than you, Mark."
He turned her chin towards his and kissed her. "It's a tie, then. I love you."
"I love you, Mark."
Slipping an arm around her waist, Mark led his former teacher upstairs. On the way down the hall, he made sure to look at the two small beds, where Mark's legacy and his brother's lay comfortably, napping away. Mark smiled, feeling a rush of affection for the little boy he'd fathered by accident. It had been a mistake, technically, but one he didn't regret.
Besides, it needed to happen. I would have staged it a couple months later anyway, thanks to what Henry talked about. We each need a son, and I just had mine a little earlier than Henry did.
Mark turned his attentions to Julie, who was undressing in the bedroom. He went in behind her, closed the door, and stripped.
"Hey, Miss Michaels," Mark said, winking at her.
"Mark," Julie answered with a smile. "I hope you've been getting all of your assignments done."
The auburn-haired young man slowly raised his well-muscled arms over his head, stretched, then lowered them again, letting Julie take in the view, knowing she enjoyed it. He stepped closer and put his arms around her neck, drew her close so their faces were just inches apart.
"I love you so much," Mark said softly. "I'm glad my first kid was with you."
"Thanks," Julie said. "For not giving up on us. I didn't know… I didn't get it. Not at first."
"We were meant to be together," Mark murmured. "Always." He flashed one of his radiant, dazzling smiles. "Remember when we made Alex?"
"Halloween. Best night of my life."
"Of both our lives."
"Ask me one question," Julie said tantalizingly, "and we could do it again."
Julie looked at Mark, hoping against hope that he'd propose, but knowing the time wasn't right. Not just yet. Their steamy affair during Mark's senior year was still so recent, and if Mark married her, the secret might be found out… especially when Alex began to grow up, bearing a clear resemblance to his famous father.
Mark knew all this, of course, which was why he didn't address it. He just brushed Julie's right cheek with his hand. She leaned into his touch, instinctively seeking the feeling of comfort and safety it brought.
"I've waited so long to be back here with you," Mark told her.
Julie's heart was thudding in her chest, racing as she anticipated what she and Mark were about to do. She managed to say, "Me, too."
Neither one of them mentioned that Mark had been dating and sleeping with other women while he was away at the Naval Academy. They both knew he had, and why. Mark had to keep up social appearances there just like he had in high school. It had been discussed once before he left for college, just like during his senior year, and it didn't need to be mentioned again.
Mark swept her into his powerful arms, spun her around, kissed her as they fell onto the bed. As Mark entered her, only the head went in, just enough to turn Julie on but also drive her mad as she waited, pleaded for more. Her body cried out against the injustice, and then suddenly Julie looked up and saw Mark was laughing. That handsome, loving face was lit up with boyish glee and he was laughing, having a wonderful time.
"Okay, Mark," Julie gasped. "That's really funny."
"Yeah, it is," Mark said, almost giggling now. He pulled out, then inserted just the head again. Julie hissed in frustration. "Please," she said. "Mark. Please."
The heavily-muscled, suntanned young man looked solemnly at her, nodded. "Okay. I just wanted to have a little fun."
"Okay, you had your fun."
"Oh, no," Mark said, pushing himself all the way in. "The fun's just getting started."
XX
Julie held her breath as Mark grunted and groaned, thrusting a few more times as he finished. She was fantasizing again, imagining Mark was still the high school superstar, that he was stopping by for another visit after school, the smell of his cologne mixed just slightly with that of the locker rooms. Nobody had excelled at anything manly as well as Mark. Julie clung to Mark's back, hugging him to her, picturing herself in high school, hot and sweaty beneath her boyfriend Mark.
The heavily-muscled young man sighed, kissed Julie on the neck, chest, and lips. She loved this moment best of all, the quiet immediately after, when they were so close, so intimate it was like they were almost one person. Mark pulled out, sat back on his thighs, and sighed again. Then he lay down beside Julie, stretched, and drew her into his arms.
"God, that was amazing," Mark said. His deep, manly voice resonated low in his chest. Julie imagined Alex would be like this one day soon, a supremely confident athlete and ladies' man like his father. She knew Alex would start sleeping around early, because Mark openly wanted him to and intended to teach him to do that. It wasn't entirely what Julie might have decided on herself, but she understood how Mark felt. Boys needed to satisfy certain needs as they got older.
"As always," Julie replied. Mark had been especially demanding this afternoon, and extremely satisfying. Julie was so confident and comfortable around him. She was willing to try things with, and do things for Mark that she'd never done for any other guy, and in return he met all her sexual needs and then some. Mark was incredible. Julie thought of her colleagues, of the women teachers who'd talked about him so much. They had no idea how right they'd been about Mark.
"I think we got sweatier on Halloween," Mark said, gently cupping one of Julie's breasts with one of his hands.
"This was close," Julie breathed, patting one of his damp, thick pectoral muscles. "Pretty close."
"I do my best," Mark said with a smile.
"I'm glad we had Alex," Julie said. "I don't regret anything."
"We're gonna be such good parents."
"I can't wait for his siblings to get here."
"Alex will be a leader. I know it."
"Just like his dad is."
"Of course."
Julie simply couldn't wait for her next pregnancy, for the next time Mark fathered a child with her. They would never have any trouble conceiving, not with Mark being the man he was. Next time they would plan it, pick out a special night, and Julie would give birth a full nine months later. She imagined the next would be their wedding night, but if she walked across the aisle with Mark's second baby inside her belly, it would only make the day even happier.
Nothing excited Julie more than the idea of having children these days. She loved kids, always had. It was why she became a teacher, it was why she'd kept the baby when the accidental pregnancy happened. She wanted another baby with Mark so badly, and the fact that they could have another starting today if they just held off with the pills bothered her even more. They were deeply in love, they both wanted more children, and they couldn't have any for years yet, not until they could get married without people knowing about their affair.
The product of that affair was Alex Michaels, and Julie had framed pictures of him on her desk in her classroom, but no pictures of Mark. It was still far too recent. Some of the same students and staff who remarked on what a lovely infant Alex was would have instantly recognized the father. Julie contented herself with that magnificent calendar that had been released, plus pictures of himself Mark had given her as gifts. She looked at them all often, especially the ones where Mark was less than fully clothed. Of course, the genuine article was next to her right now, and nothing was better than that.
XX
Lisa Doyle was lonely. She was lonely, frustrated, and increasingly unhappy. It had been going on two years since she had graduated high school, a year and a half since she had given birth to her first child, her son. Henry's son. He had made a mistake on Prom night, and Lisa had gotten pregnant. After nine months of watching her belly swell up like a balloon, Lisa had an agonizing, torturous birth. She had struggled through it and Henry, the love of her life, had promptly swept the baby into his arms and ignored her.
That had pretty much set the tone for the rest of the past year.
Lisa had once been surrounded by crowds of friends, but most of them had either left for college or moved on, resumed their glamorous high school social careers without her. No doubt the scrambling for her throne had started the second graduation for the Class of 1999 was over, and no doubt Brian D'Aramitz and Andrew Cadiz had chosen their own successors as Chamberlain's kings by now. Few, if any, of Lisa's 'friends' had really been there for her. Some had, yes, but Lisa could count them on one hand. Too often Lisa had gotten fake sympathy or a kind of excitement that Lisa had gotten pregnant by Henry Evans. That was, like, totally living the dream! If Henry got you pregnant, he wanted to have kids with you, right? And if he wanted to start having kids, he was thinking ahead to marriage.
Except Henry hadn't said a word to Lisa about getting married. Not one. And more and more it seemed like he had just fucked her, taken the kid and given him up for adoption somewhere, and moved on with his life. He was an athletic superstar, a magnificent icon of manliness and strength. He would probably father several children accidentally before he got married and did so on purpose. And whatever lucky girl finally got him would have the best sex of her life, every night, for basically forever. It had to be Lisa. She hadn't sacrificed so much and waited so long just winning Henry to lose him now.
It wasn't that Henry had broken up with Lisa. He still showed up now and then, called once in a while. Whenever he was in town, he would call or send a text message, and the couple would get together at his house or hers and fuck. Neither of their parents much tried to oppose it. They were adults now, and the worst possible thing had already happened. Henry did not much bother with dates anymore, though. He just wanted sex. Once he was done, Henry would often forget she was there, as if she were a whore he had rented and not the love of his life at all.
They never talked about the baby. Henry had been raised Catholic, and he said he felt terribly guilty about fathering a child before he was married. Premarital sex was bad enough, he said, but creating a child outside of marriage was worse. Lisa had never dared ask why Henry suddenly cared so much about what the Catholic Church taught him, since it had been an open secret that Henry simply lied to his parents about attending Mass all through high school. You never asked Henry those kinds of questions. He'd hit Lisa for less, even if it was only when she'd provoked him.
Richard, as the baby had been named, had been given up for adoption, but Henry never said who the boy had gone to. Maybe he didn't know. Maybe he didn't care. Lisa was secretly glad she wasn't having to raise the kid. She was, in a messed up way, really proud that she was the mother of the first new life Henry Evans had ever brought into the world. She had given birth to a strong, exceptionally healthy boy, and Henry had been so happy and proud. But now he stayed off the topic and he and Lisa each went on acting like the whole thing had never happened. They undressed and screwed in his bedroom, or hers, like they'd never had a baby together by mistake.
Lisa had fought to recover her figure, and she had succeeded almost perfectly. She was a stunning beauty again, just barely entering her twenties, and none of the dozens of teenage boys and college guys who tried to flirt with her (and, they doubtless hoped, do more than that) would have ever guessed that Lisa had already had a kid. Some of them, Lisa thought wistfully, would be pretty fun to sleep with, and since everyone knew Henry slept around if he wanted, Lisa had sometimes wondered if she shouldn't go rent a cabin at Sebago Lake and do the same.
But Henry would find out. He always found out about such things. Nobody knew how, but he did. Henry could cheat on Lisa all he wanted, not least because both of them knew she was powerless to stop him. Cheating on Henry would mean getting dumped, though, and Lisa couldn't bear the thought of that, no matter how much Henry ignored her. He'd return to treat her like a princess again, she knew it. He always did.
Lisa's cell phone went off, and she snatched it up, praying it was Henry, her hunky, amazing Henry.
OHMYGOD! It IS Henry!
Snapping the phone open, Lisa put it up to her ear. "Yes?"
"Hey, babe," Henry said smoothly. "I was thinking we should hang out. Go on a date."
"Don't you wanna do some other things with me?" Lisa asked invitingly.
Henry laughed. "You know that I do."
"So we can both have our fun."
"Don't say you don't like it when I fuck you, Liz."
"I don't."
"What?" Henry asked, sounding stunned.
"I love it."
Henry laughed again, and she could see him grinning, see the smile lighting up his handsome, stunning face.
"Okay, babe, you got me there. Listen, I wanna go on a date with you, but I can't just pick you up. I need you to go somewhere, get a little exercise in."
"Huh?"
"I want you sweaty even before I fuck you."
Ooh, I wonder what he's getting into now. Maybe some girl down at Annapolis taught him something? I bet I can do it better. Oh, please let this be us getting back together. He's been drifting away lately and PLEASE let this be my chance to remind him we're meant to be. Please.
"Okay," Lisa said, breathless with excitement. "What's the plan?"
"Listen, babe, and I'll tell you."
XX
The run out to the trail Henry had told Lisa to get to wasn't so bad. Lisa was happy to say she made it in good time, and in those athletic short shorts and that exercise shirt with a bare midriff, she looked damn good. Henry sure seemed to think so when he showed up. Even in the dark, he was visibly undressing her with his eyes. Lisa didn't much mind, though, since she was doing the same thing.
"I missed you," Lisa said. "Every day."
"You whine a lot when you miss me, Liz." Henry didn't sound pleased.
Lisa hesitated. "I'm sorry. I just- I thought I'd hear from you more."
"My brother and I are busy," Henry said pompously. "We have a lot of women to fuck down there. Couple of female cadets, a few whores at this place near the school, some local girls. That kinda shit."
"I know," Lisa said, but her voice trembled. It hurt her that he slept with so many other women and girls. Not just that he did it, but that he acted like he had a right to do it, like he just didn't care what she thought of it either way.
"Lisa, I'm a man," Henry said with exaggerated patience. "I have needs. You think I'm gonna go fucking celibate down there just for you?"
"Henry-"
"C'mon," Henry said, reaching for his belt buckle. "Get over here and blow me."
"What?"
"Blow me. Now."
Henry pulled his pants down and stood waiting, and Lisa went to him, knelt, and got started. It took a few minutes, and Lisa expertly brought Henry close to finishing several times before actually bringing him to it. He looked happy with her as she stood up, and that was good after all the months of wondering where he was, what he was doing, if he even gave a damn.
That was very good indeed.
XX
They went on a long walk through the woods, and Henry didn't complain any more about her. All was forgiven. They held hands and he'd turn and kiss her now and then, just like they used to do. Henry had just been biding his time, Lisa knew it. The shock of accidentally getting Lisa pregnant on their best night together must have driven him to retreat for a while, draw back from the girl he loved most. He'd probably just needed time to think things over.
As if to confirm that, Henry asked her, "Liz, what if I wanted a lot of kids once we get married? Like, a dozen?"
Jesus! You wanna go through twelve more births like that first one? Henry's got the strongest genes in the world. You're gonna hate it.
But making them- oh… just imagine.
"I'd love that," Lisa said fervently. "I'd love it."
"Sorry we couldn't keep our first."
"It's okay. He'll have a good life. I know he's in a good home by now."
Henry smiled. "Yes, he is. So, you really wanna have twelve kids with me?"
"Making the first was a lot of fucking fun, Henry."
"Oh, yeah," Henry agreed.
As Henry stopped, Lisa realized she could see a brick wall surrounding a house. It was overgrown with vines and trees and bushes, none of which had been trimmed or maintained at all in some time. And the house was enormous. The biggest Lisa had ever seen.
"This is that- the Whitmore place," Lisa breathed.
"Yeah. I'm related to them," Henry replied. "So, wanna go have sex in the creepy haunted house? I bet it'll be fun as hell."
Lisa, who really, really hated the idea of even going near this house, smiled, nodded, and said "Yeah, that sounds great!"
XX
It was strange. Henry led Lisa downhill through the dark as if he knew the way perfectly. His eyes were better than 20/20, of course, but even that didn't, couldn't explain how Henry had clearly been to this place many times. He knew this house, and as he brought her around to the front gate, Lisa watched as it swung open on its own.
"Sensors," Henry explained. "They know we're here."
But Lisa only heard it that way after she'd thought about it twice. What she'd heard the first time was, "It senses us. It knows we're here." Lisa's mind rejected that fast and swapped some things around. You didn't dare start believing in ghost stories. Not when you were walking toward a house like this.
Continuing to hold hands, Henry and Lisa walked across the flagstone-covered courtyard. There was an old building ahead, just past the towering, imposing front of the gigantic mansion. Lisa saw it and recognized it as a horse stable of some kind, or possibly a garage converted from that. Henry swung open one of the massive doors, revealing a dust-covered Chevrolet Camaro. It bore Maine license plates, she saw, but the tags and inspection were expired and the car had clearly not moved in years. The performance tires had all lost air, and it was practically sitting on the wheels.
The driver's window was also destroyed. Smashed in. And why did the driver's seat look a different color than the other? Wait!
"This is Chris Marshall's car," Lisa exclaimed suddenly. "He went missing back in senior year. What's it doing here? Henry, you should tell people you found this!"
"No need," Henry said, shaking his head calmly. "The car's here, Chris is not. I don't know how it got here. Maybe he knew people don't come here much and he hid it here."
"The driver's window got smashed, Henry. It's gone."
"Maybe someone broke it and dragged Chris out. Maybe they killed him and he put blood all over the car. You won't believe how much people can bleed, Liz. If someone cut Chris' throat, he would've sprayed blood all over the inside of the fucking car."
Lisa suddenly felt very cold.
"I wonder what happened to him," Lisa said in a shaky voice.
"He's gone, Liz," Henry said. "He doesn't matter."
"Is he dead?"
Henry paused. "Yes. Someone murdered him. But he deserved it. Had it coming. Understand?"
"Yes," Lisa said instantly, although she didn't remotely understand. She was terrified, quite frankly, because Henry had never talked like this before. She didn't know what it meant.
"C'mon, babe, let's go inside." Henry took Lisa back out of the former horse stable and closed the door, hiding Chris Marshall's Camaro.
"Why didn't you tell anyone his car's in there?"
Henry laughed. "He's dead, Liz. He doesn't need it anymore."
XX
The front door of the mansion was unlocked, or it was after Henry put his hand on it and waited a moment, anyway. Lisa followed him into the cavernous entrance hall, wondering why it was so cold in here in the middle of summer. It was dead silent and no way did a house this old, left unused for so long, have air conditioning anyway.
Henry led her up a huge, expansive staircase and down a hallway that seemed to go on forever. He took some turns seemingly at random onto other hallways, went through a room where everything was upside down but somehow held onto the ceiling. Just when Lisa's steadily-growing urge to get the hell out of here was becoming so strong she actually thought of bolting for the front door, Henry opened a door to a luxurious bedroom and ushered her in like a gentleman.
The second the door was closed, Henry shoved Lisa down onto the bed. Lisa cried out in surprise, started to protest, but Henry quickly slapped her without even a moment's pause.
"Get a hold of yourself," Henry said, pulling his shirt over his head. He tore at Lisa's clothes, carelessly damaging them in the process, then yanked his pants down and forced himself into her.
"Henry-"
He slapped her again.
"You said you wanted to talk about our relationship," Henry breathed, pistoning his hips. His bulk pinned her to the bed. "You wanna talk? I wanna fuck. This is our relationship."
Lisa didn't dare speak. She was afraid. Henry only slapped her when he was angry, and she provoked him by talking back or denying him something he wanted. Lisa instead spread her legs wider, gripped his back, let him have her. And he did, again and again and again. He didn't speak, wouldn't let her seek any comfort with him after, and got rougher each time, as if he was testing how much Lisa would endure without complaint. Determined to keep her Henry more than ever, Lisa let him, and accepted his embrace gratefully when he finally did allow her to lay her head on his chest.
After a few minutes, Lisa asked him a question.
"Henry, do you love me?"
"Huh?"
"I said-"
Henry shifted, looking at her with those crisp blue eyes. "I told you I did."
"Do you still?"
"Liz, I've treated you like a queen. I stayed with you after you got pregnant and made sure the kid got put up for adoption. I gave you everything all through senior year and after and you still find ways to complain. You get like this sometimes, you start bitching and asking stuff that isn't your place. It's fucking boring."
Lisa shrunk back, frightened of even the hint of Henry's anger.
"I just- I don't see you much since- well…"
Henry sighed. "Lisa, I'm sorry we accidentally had a kid. But he's gonna grow up fine with some other family. He'll be fine. And I don't just sleep around when I'm at the Academy because I have needs. I do it because I can. You better just live with that."
Lisa looked at the boy she had idolized since she was in middle school, the boy who'd gotten her pregnant and then helped her through every day of it. She still loved him, still wanted and needed him.
"Okay, but- I love you. I loved you since I saw you at that basketball game in PE class."
"Oh, that," Henry laughed. "Yeah, I was pretty stunning. I always look better with no shirt."
"You look best with nothing."
Henry grinned at her, and Lisa knew he was pleased.
"Hey, babe," he said, "spread your legs a little. I wanna do something for you."
For the next twenty minutes, Henry ate Lisa out like never before, displaying such skill that Lisa wondered how he'd learned so much in a few months. She could see his blond hair tossing left and right as he turned his head here and there, flicking his tongue around. Lisa was in heaven and the fact that Henry shamelessly cheated on her, and had probably done so all through senior year, was forgiven and then forgotten. Looking at Henry, it was impossible not to.
Lisa obediently returned the favor when Henry told her to, swallowed when he finished and told her to. When she raised her head, Henry looked at her almost lovingly, but not quite. "You've done great, Liz," he said to her, stroking her cheek. "You've been a lot of fun. But I don't need you anymore."
Before Lisa could question the meaning of that statement, Henry closed both hands around her throat. Lisa's eyes instantly bulged and her legs kicked and flailed uncontrollably. She pulled at Henry's hands, but they were like bands of steel. He stared pitilessly at her as she tried to cry out, silently pleaded with him to show mercy. As she began to fall unconscious, Lisa's bladder let go and she urinated on the bed. It took her back to the agony and humiliation of giving birth to her first child, the one she'd made with Henry, her boyfriend and hero, on Prom night.
I love you, I always loved you, please, I want to marry you and have ten more kids, please… I… I can't- can't- can't breathe, Henry, help! Help me!
As her lungs screamed for air and her legs kicked and flailed, Lisa saw Henry, staring calmly at her as his hands held her throat shut. She tried to pull his hands away, tried to beg him to stop it, but nothing worked. Her sight faded to black, and the last thing Lisa saw was Henry, her Henry, stroking her cheek as he strangled her, stroking her cheek gently, the way she'd always imagined it in her many years of fantasies about him.
Lisa fell unconscious, and Henry casually snapped her neck with one hand. The blond young man checked her wrist, her neck, and nodded when he confirmed she was dead. He then got up, gathered his clothes and dressed, and then left the room without a single look back.
XX
Mark was sitting in the boys' bedroom, holding Alex in his powerful arms, when he heard the garage door open and then close again. Henry walked up the stairs just in time to see Julie coming out of the master bedroom, more focused on brushing her hair than on closing her bathrobe. The way his face lit up told Mark he'd gotten a good look.
"Hey, Henry," Mark called out, and Julie jumped, pulling her bathrobe closed.
"I-I didn't hear you come in," Julie said.
"How's my son?" Henry asked.
"He'd like to see his dad," Mark replied.
"Of course," Henry said. He went to the cradle, gently lifted Richard out of it, tenderly held him while the 1-year-old babbled something, then burped. Henry laughed, then hugged his son carefully. "I love you, Richard."
"He's growing fast," Julie assured him. "I can't believe he was born that heavy."
"He's strong," Henry said. "He comes from strong genes. That's why Alex caught up with him, because they're both from good stock."
"Just make sure he doesn't accidentally have any kids," Mark cracked, and he and Henry both laughed.
"Look at him," Henry said, gently rocking Richard in his arms. "He's little right now, but he'll be ready to breed before you know it. He'll carry on the best genes in the world."
"Mine are as strong as yours," Mark reminded him.
"Nah, blondes are superior."
Alex squirmed in Mark's arms, and Julie settled down next to him on the love seat Mark had carried into the room by himself six months ago. "He has his dad's hair, and his eyes," Julie said.
"Sure does," Mark said, and for a moment he was lost in thought. Who would have imagined that the scared little boy he'd been eight years ago would be holding a child of his own today, let alone a child fathered with his science teacher?
"Julie, can you get us something from the kitchen?" Mark asked.
"What would you like?"
"A couple beers," Henry said.
"Can you stay for dinner?" Julie asked hopefully. "It'd be good to catch up, Henry."
"Well, I'd like to… Mark and I have to go have dinner at our parents'." He paused. "But Mark can come back to see you after that. He'll want to see more of you, I'm sure." Henry winked at Mark, and Julie blushed crimson as she left the room, visibly flustered.
"I've been fucking her for almost two years and she still doesn't get it sometimes," Mark said, shaking his head.
"Did you give it to her?" Henry asked, his eyes gleaming.
"You know I did."
"Did she like it?"
"She loved it."
"I can't wait to see the boys grow up. They'll be raised the right way."
"The only way," Mark replied. "The future belongs to them."
"Them," Henry agreed, "and nobody else."
XX
A/N: 10-4-2019. Edited and revised on and off through to posting on 10-14-2019.
This prologue chapter is based off of some miscellaneous speculative discussions on a fourth story in my series based on The Good Son that AM83220 and I have had since 2013, when he first contacted me. The story will largely be set around 2009 or 2010, around there, since it will enable Henry and Mark's sons to be old enough to play a major role in the story as they start to grow towards adulthood and toward the day when they will succeed their fathers. Henry and Mark want their boys to take over and continue doing what they have done, living the way they do, continuing to change the world to suit their desires.
John LaFleur, Jackson Lee, Jason Morgan, and some of the others from "The Good Sons" may make appearances in this story. Their role may not be central, but they may well show up at least once. Jackson is attending the United States Naval Academy alongside Henry and Mark, much to their mutual annoyance, while John is attending the Virginia Military Institute with Cindy Howell, whom he is still dating.