Brian and Justin were leisurely sharing a bench along the North Shore Walkway – variously looking at each other and at the river traffic on the Allegheny River. Their conversation was apropos of nothing in particular until Brian decided to ask a question of sorts.
“You know what, JT?” he asked. “I notice that you’re like – doing more stuff for me lately that I could like – do myself ….”
“Just little stuff though, BK,” Justin admitted in reply. “Just stuff you shouldn’t need to be bothering about ….”
“At my age I guess you mean, Sweetheart,” Brian had to grin, “now that I’m bordering on senility ….”
“Oh, cut it out, Kinney,” Justin grinned back at him. “I don’t mind doing all that little stuff for you - but there’s absolutely no way I can sympathize with you better than you do yourself. I know my limitations – few as they may be ….”
“I don’t know how I got over the hill without getting to the top,” Brian wondered out loud plaintively, seemingly pondering his failing condition.
“I hope you know that I’ll recognize that you’re quoting Will Rogers, Mr. Kinney,” Justin laughed, “and that you are not expecting to take credit for that profundity – not that it applies in the least to you – as you well know ….”
“So how come you know so much about Will Rogers, Mr. Know-It-All,” Brian laughed too. “Will Rogers is even older than me ….”
“Well maybe,” Justin enumerated, “I heard it in The Will Rogers Follies that you and Mikey dragged me to when it played the Civic Light Opera a couple of years ago ….”
“I don’t remember that, Baby,” Brian told him.
“That’s funny, Bri,” Justin pointed out, “since every time we see Keith Carradine on some TV re-run, you mention that you and Mikey saw him play Will Rogers on Broadway and that you liked him better than the guy we saw here – who I thought was great ….”
“Well anyhow, Taylor,” Brian maintained, “that quote was
not from Will Rogers Follies at all – so there ….”
“Well at least you’re admitting it is a Will Rogers quotation and that’s
something, Brian,” Justin took some comfort. “Maybe it was in that ancient 1952
movie where Will Rogers Jr. played his dad. I think it was called The Story
of Will Rogers. We watched the DVD at the loft and you blabbed to Mikey
about it and so we had to invite him and Ben to see it with us ….”
“I thought it was you who blabbed, Kiddo,” Brian remembered – or at least claimed that was what he remembered. “Not me ….”
“Well maybe your memory is failing, Honey,” Justin allowed. “Not that I really think so ….”
“Well my mind is not failing so bad that I can’t definitively state that the Will Rogers quotation under discussion did not come from the movie either,” Brian maintained. “It was not in the movie ….”
“Well then it has to be in that Will Rogers book you have, Kinney,” Justin made a last-ditch attempt. “And that you’re always looking at ….”
“Bingo, Sunshine,” Brian grinned at him. “But I have to wonder about your memory – for somebody so young ….”
“OK, Kinney,” Justin laughed his surrender. “You win. You can do all those little things for yourself that I’ve been trying to spare you the bother of ….”
“Wait a minute, Taylor,” Brian told him, “if you’re willing to admit that I’m not like – over the hill ….”
“Brian Kinney,” Justin pointed out. “You are not over
the hill. I never said you were over the hill. You’re already the top but
you’re still getting better ….”
“You’re the Top,” Brian replied. “That’s Cole Porter – not Will Rogers –
but I guess it will be OK for you to still like – do the little things for me
that you want to do – if you - like – insist on doing them ….”
“You know what, Kinney,” Justin smiled as he lay his head on Brian’s ancient shoulder. “I’m sorry I even brought up the subject ….”
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