Chapter 42: Bitter Brotherly Bonds

110 E. Park Ave, The Park Cafe Outskirts, Baltiney, New York...

 Blue eyes had been heavily concentrating on the ticking hands of a silver watch as a lone Malcolm Reeves had given it a good deal of his attention as he awaited the arrival of a man he had not seen in quite some time. The fallout between Malcolm and the new version of his former best friend Ryker had been dramatic, to say the least, and more than a little sorrowful. Malcolm had been repulsed by the idea of Ken taking Ryker's place and making a mockery of who the man used to be with his brazen antics, alcoholism, underhanded business dealings, horrid and continuous drug use, and unchecked sexual exploits. The most detrimental being his pursuit of the young lass, Valencia Ramos.

A girl that Ryker himself had managed to rescue during the most horrific time in his life. 

Malcolm had been firmly against the likes of Ken bedding her and he had ignored his warnings about no good coming of it. He had been right in the end, as his warnings to Ken and Valencia had gone ignored until the inevitable occurred, now they had been dealing with the fallout, Valencia had been pregnant and the consequences couldn't have been more dire. 

The sight of a rather pitiful-looking Ken Ryker had been nothing at all what Malcolm Reeves expected when the sloppily dressed businessman with wild hair and seemingly wild eyes came slinking up to him. The man Malcolm had known as Ryker Kennison had changed drastically since the last time he'd seen him and not at all for the better if the bags under his dark eyes and untamed makings of facial hair had been any indication. 

"Well look what the cat dragged in," said Malcolm trying his best not to let his concern and annoyance get the better of him in the moment. 

Ken stopped in front of his best friend, towering over him by a good three inches as far as his impressive height had been concerned. 

"Can I help it if you've caught me at a bad time?" asked Ken with an arched brow. 

"So Valencia is pregnant," said Malcolm getting to the point of their meeting. 

"Her idea, not mine," replied Ken as he stood, his baggy suit slacks wrinkled and his hands tucked firmly into his front pockets. 

"You're the one that insisted on sticking your dick where it didn't belong in the first place or need I remind you the reason we parted company?" asked Malcolm. 

"What do you want from me, Malc?" asked Ken with an exhausted expression filed across his face. "You want me to admit that I fucked up, well I fucked up, ya happy now, I know you got a soft spot for Val and you still see her as some kid we supposedly pulled out of a broken up plane but she's all woman and I couldn't help myself, she wasn't exactly innocent in wanting me to fuck her either, in fact, she regularly saw to it."

Malcolm rolled his eyes trying his hardest not to picture what went on between Ken and Valencia. He had a hard enough time dealing with the fact that she was pregnant with his best friend being the father of her unborn child as it was. 

"I couldn't help it okay, she was begging for me to fuck her and saw no reason not to so I did, you didn't approve, but it's not like I can go back and change it now, no matter how much we'd both like to." continued Ken in his own defense. 

Malcolm sighed knowing all too well how their not being able to change the past had been true for them all. 

"Since you got her into this mess, you have little to no choice about making an honest woman of her," said Malcolm coming to his senses. "You're going to have to marry her and legitimize the baby."

"Marry her?" said Ken with an expression filed across his face as if he'd heard a really bad joke. "She's the one that purposely got pregnant, we had a deal and she broke it, why the hell should I have to pay for her shortcomings?"

"This isn't negotiable, the scandal alone would be detrimental to the company and you know your father isn't going to let this slide, not this time Ryker, not with a baby being involved," said Malcolm with his blue eyes narrowed at his former best friend. "The only proper thing to do here is to man up and accept responsibility for what you've done, even if you hadn't planned on getting her pregnant you still chose to have sex with the girl."

"Not like I'm one for turning down good pussy, she came on to me first, I simply gave her what she'd been asking for and she took it too far," remarked Ken annoyed at the implication in Malcolm's tone. 

"I told you no good would come of you pursuing that young lady and you didn't listen, now you have to face the consequences for your dastardly actions." continued Malcolm as he continued to glare at his former best friend, or rather what remained of him. "The fact remains, Ryker, you got her pregnant and you are going to do right by her, it is the very least you can do after all you've done."

Ken rolled his eyes, he might have known his best friend would side with Valencia on the matter of his having to deal with her and her pregnancy no matter how unwanted she'd been. 

"Should have known you'd side with her," muttered Ken bitterly. 

"This isn't about taking sides Ryker, this is about what's right and what's wrong, you were wrong to go to bed with the girl in the first place and now she's pregnant so you are gonna do what's right and take care of both Valencia and the baby she's carrying," growled Malcolm in annoyance as he let his unstated anger get the better of him. "The only thing I take comfort in knowing when it comes to this whole debacle you've gotten yourself in is that neither Sera nor the boys are alive to see the mess you've turned out to be."

Ken glared at him for a few moments in relative silence before narrowing his eyes at his old friend. 

"I was wondering when you'd throw them up in my face," he said with just as much contempt in his tone as Malcolm had for him. "Didn't take long for Malcolm the righteous to come down off his mountain and tell me what I bad boy I've been, didn't take long at all for you to refer to the sainted Sera and her virtuous boys whose lives were cut far too short by the plane crash from hell, perhaps you'd been happier if it had been me in that wreck you keep going on about and not them, not the virtuous three, well I've got news for you Malc, it doesn't mean a damn thing to me that you throw them in my face, it doesn't mean a damn thing at all because what you and everyone else fails to realize is that I am not your precious Ryker and they mean nothing to me."

Malcolm couldn't believe what he was hearing as the anger and shock filed across his face. 

"Maybe you were better off dying in that car accident," he said before he could catch himself as his fury got the better of him in the wake of Ken's harsh words about the people he loved. 

Ken smirked as he met his former friend's gaze. 

"Maybe," he replied before turning and walking away. "Who knows maybe you'll finally get your wish and I'll be long dead by the time we have to look at one another again."

Malcolm watched Ken climb into his sports car and take off from the park without another word as he'd been much too afraid of what his fury might make him say next. He had been against the likes of Ken Ryker ever since his best friend awoke in the hospital without any recollection of who he had been or where he'd come from, the beginning of the end had been his outright rejection of his own identity and anything anyone else had to say about his strange behavior and indulgences, the last straw had been his attempts to bed Valencia Ramos, the last pure thing in Ryker Kennison's life, the girl he had managed to save all those years ago when his life had fallen apart in the wake of his loss following the plane crash. 

The guilt had having been in a similar argument with Ryker himself over his insistence that Sera and the boys fly out ahead of him to Oregon while he stayed behind to finish off his business deal despite Sera's misgivings about travel due to her feeling sick that morning courtesy of her pregnancy. 

It had been the last conversation Malcolm had with Ryker Kennison and one that had taken place shortly before the car accident that would nearly end his life. Malcolm had long suspected that Ryker had been driving drunk behind the wheel on purpose and had chosen a road less traveled to avoid other casualties, which had been why it took so long for anyone to find out that he'd crashed, to begin with. 

The first thing that came to mind when he heard about the now infamous crash had been guilt, Malcolm had the same feeling as he watched Ken pull away and disappear down the highway driving at a reckless speed. His father contended that he'd done it on purpose but Malcolm had known better, Ryker had in fact meant to hurt himself that day and as a result, the unsavory Ken had been born of the lasting injuries to his battered brain when everything had been said and done.