SOMEBODY HAS TO DO IT
Brian and Justin – both of them looking thoughtful - were driving home from a visit with Mel and Lindsay.
“Did you notice anything different about Gus, Baby?” Brian addressed the kid next to him.
“Like what, Brian?” Justin wondered. “Did you notice something different about Gus?”
“Cut it out, Twink,” Brian told him. “You don’t ever miss anything and you know exactly what I’m talking about too. Somebody has to say it. Gus is getting fat.”
“Well he might just be a little bit heavier than he was, Bri,” Justin said, “But not like - fat….”
“C’mon, Taylor,” Brian insisted. “You know what’s going
on. He told us. He has this new friend, Clarissa. He told us that. Not a
girlfriend - but just a friend. And he stops at her place on the way home from
school like – every day – and her dad has this little corner store….”
“My mom and dad told me all about little corner stores, Bri,” Justin
reminisced. “But I never saw one. My grandmother told me there was like – one
on just about every corner. They must have been fun. But we never had any
around my place when I was growing up. Maybe they’re coming back….”
“OK, JT,” Brian laughed. “The Justin Taylor I know faces facts fearlessly and solves problems diligently - so who the hell are you?”
“What are you talking about, Kinney?” Justin didn’t seem to understand.
“I’m talking about your son getting fat, Baby,” Brian grinned. “I’m talking about him stopping every day after school at Clarissa’s dad’s store and eating a hot fudge sundae – which is making him fat. And I’m asking you: ‘What are you going to do about it?’ That’s what I’m talking about.”
“Wait a minute, Mr. Kinney,” Justin demurred. “Like – it’s my son who’s getting fat. Like – he isn’t your son too?”
“He’s my son when he isn’t getting fat, Kiddo,” Brian acknowledged. “But he’s your son when he’s getting fat from eating hot fudge sundaes. I don’t eat hot fudge sundaes. You eat hot fudge sundaes. He got that bad habit from you so it’s like - your responsibility to….”
“I don’t think that’s fair at all, Brian…” Justin began to protest.
“Well look at it this way, Sweetheart,” Brian reasoned. “Which one of us would do a better job talking to Gus about this problem? We don’t want him to be fat. It’s not healthy. Somebody has to do it. Who would be more understanding and convincing? Who could handle this better like - without upsetting Gus?”
“Well I have to admit that would be me, Kinney,” Justin modestly decided - but his voice tailed off and silence descended as they pulled into their parking space next to their building.
And nothing was said either as they took the elevator to their floor and entered the loft itself. Finally:
“Hey, Brian,” the kid broke the spell. “You know what I was just thinking. I don’t actually eat hot fudge sundaes at all. I always add heated butterscotch syrup to mine so they’re not technically hot fudge sundaes at all….”
“But Melanie and Lindsay both eat hot fudge sundaes every once in a while – and they don’t add hot butterscotch sauce to theirs either,” Brian got the drift quickly enough. “So maybe it should be one of them – or maybe both of them - who talks to Gus….”
“Exactly, Bri,” Justin enthused. “I think you’ve solved the problem all right. But somebody’s gotta tell them to do it….”
“I guess that should be me, Baby,” Brian volunteered. “They already think I’m the mean one around here. No point in getting them mad at you. You know what, Sweetheart, I’ll call them now and you can go out to the kitchen and make yourself a hot fudge sundae – and maybe make me one too – about a third the size you usually make for yourself.”
“Great idea, Brian,” Justin agreed as he moved quickly toward the kitchen. “You always think up good stuff but you are really outdoing yourself tonight.”
“Hey, Taylor,” Brian called into the kitchen as he picked up the phone to call the girls. “For Heaven’s sake, do not forget the hot butterscotch sauce.”
“Not a chance,” the kid responded.
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