Page 96 of Julien (Confessions 2)

“Priest?” Robbie said, as all humor and color drained from Priest’s face. “Priest? Are you—”

Priest held up a finger, and Julien swiveled on his seat to see what had caught Priest’s attention. As soon as he spotted the news story up on one of the televisions, he knew.

Julien turned back around in time to see Priest sliding out from his side of the booth to stand, and Robbie was looking up at him with confusion all over his face.

“Priest?” Robbie said, and reached for his hand. When he got his fingers around it, Priest finally looked down at them, and Julien could see that same fear from a few weeks ago creeping back into his eyes.

“What’s wrong?” Robbie asked, and looked over his shoulder at the television, and that was when he saw what they both had. The top news story of the day: Jimmy Donovan, one of New Orleans’ most notorious crime bosses, was up for parole after agreeing to co-operate with the feds.

Julien cursed under his breath and then looked at his husband, and all he could think was: Not now, not when we were finally having a moment of normalcy. When we were finding our way back to happiness. Don’t do this to him. Then he said, “Joel?”

Priest’s eyes shifted over to him, and Julien could see his brain was already elsewhere. He was already thinking about what this all meant for him, for them, for one of the most well-known criminals in America, who was currently being talked about on the television.

“Do you need to go home? To the office? Talk to me Joel,” Julien said, knowing Priest would likely need to call Henri, and when Priest didn’t answer, Robbie spoke up.

“What’s going on?” When he turned to Julien for answers he wasn’t getting from Priest, Julien looked to his husband for some kind of direction.

This was it, their final piece of baggage—and it was heavy. It seemed fitting that it came on the heels of his own. But there was no more hiding it from Robbie. Not when this had the potential to blow Priest’s world—and theirs—the fuck apart. This was about to become one of the biggest news stories in the nation, and it would leave an indelible impact on all three of them.

“Priest?” Robbie asked again, and then looked back at the screen. “Jimmy Donovan. I’ve seen documentaries on him, I think. That’s crazy they’re going to let him out. He killed a bunch of people, right?”

Priest’s jaw ticked, but finally he nodded. “Nineteen.”

Robbie frowned, but then, as if he’d worked it all out, he said, “Oh, shit. Is is he a client of yours?”

“No,” Priest replied, but didn’t elaborate.

Julien reached across the back of the booth and put a hand on Robbie’s shoulder. He squeezed it, trying to offer some sort of comfort to Robbie as well as himself, because seeing Priest like this, so paralyzed, so affected, was jarring.

When the news story ended, Priest finally tore his eyes off the screen and looked at the two staring at him. “Julien? Can you please take Robert home? When you get there, call me.”

Julien nodded. “Of course. Joel—”

“I need to go to the office, but I won’t be long. Promise me you’ll go straight home.”

“We will,” Julien said, his heart beating overtime.

Priest was scared. Not only for himself but for Julien and Robbie, and that made Julien want to comfort the little boy he could see in Priest’s eyes. The little boy Jimmy had terrorized and left behind. But Priest’s no-nonsense voice relayed just how serious this was, and the direct stare he had fixated on Julien, as if to make sure he understood and did not deviate from what he was telling him, was terrifying.

Robbie shook Priest’s hand. “Would you please tell me what the hell is going on?”

Priest turned his impenetrable stare on Robbie and said, “Jimmy Donovan isn’t a client of mine, Robert. He’s my father.”

Just as the words left Priest’s mouth, the waitress arrived with their meals on a tray and an over-the-top smile on her face.

“Okay, folks. I have a portabella mushroom and Swiss burger, a—”

“We won’t be needing those,” Julien said as he watched all color drain from Robbie’s face.

“Uh…okay. Would you like me to box them for—”

“No,” Julien said. “You can give it to someone else. I’ll pay for it at the front. We need to leave.”

As the waitress went to say something else, Priest glanced over his shoulder, and one look at his face had her shutting her mouth and hurrying away.

Robbie still hadn’t said anything in response to Priest’s reveal. It was as though he were frozen to his seat, unable to move a single muscle, so Julien glanced up at his husband and said softly, “Go. I’ll look after him.”

Priest aimed his eyes at Robbie and gave a clipped nod. “Remember. Straight home, Julien.”

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