What If?
“You know what we were talking about at the Institute today, Bri?” Justin asked as they finished up their dessert after dinner at the diner.
“Do I have to find out?” Brian grinned at him. “It might be better….”
“Cassie – you know Cassie, Brian,” Justin continued undeterred. “She asked a bunch of us what we would like to be if we weren’t artists – like we all are….”
“And you told dear Cassie that you always wanted to be a cowboy, Kiddo,” Brian mis-guessed. “Right?”
“I never wanted to be a cowboy, Kinney,” Justin objected. “And I never told you I did either. You’re just trying to be funny. But maybe I did really want to be a fireman when I was a kid – and I never told you that either, so….”
“So after all these years of keeping it a big secret, Baby,” Brian wanted to know, “why are you telling me now? What’s in it for you?”
“I’m gonna ask you the same question, BK,” Justin smiled at him. “And I want you to answer it. You can have a couple of days to think about it if you need them. If you weren’t in advertising, what would you want to do with your life – besides spending it with me, of course?”
“I think I’m gonna surprise you, JT,” Brian smiled back. “I don’t need a few days – or even a few minutes - to think about what I’d really like to be – or maybe have been – since it’s too late now. I would have liked to be a pirate captain – not like those crazies in the Indian Ocean these days – but like – a real pirate captain – from the 16th century – like Captain Kidd or Blackbeard – or Sinbad the Sailor….”
“Get serious, Kinney,” Justin demanded. “Sinbad the Sailor was not even a pirate at all – but on the other hand – you do always seem to love those old technicolor pirate movies that come on TCM….”
“Yep, I do,” Brian admitted, “and I always identify with Errol Flynn or Douglas Fairbanks Jr. or Paul Henreid – or whoever the pirate captain is. Neat guys. They always seemed to know what they wanted – and then they got it too. Sounds a lot like me…..”
“Yeah,” Justin laughed. “But what they usually ended up
wanting was the governor’s niece – or the ambassador’s wife – or somebody like
that – who they always like – kidnapped…..”
“They didn’t kidnap them at all, JT,” Brian disagreed. “Not usually anyhow.
They just high-jacked the ships those lovelies were on – and when those gals saw
the handsome pirate captain – sparks flew and…..”
“And you’d like those sparks to fly, Brian?” Justin asked with a grin. “In your imagined life you’d be looking for senoritas – and there would be no room for me? What about me?”
“Well.” Brian considered carefully while leering amusedly, “Maybe you could be a kid from a penniless family - and you went to sea as a cabin boy rather than starve at home. I bet all those pirate captains had cabin boys…..”
“Or maybe I could be a young but experienced sailor, Kinney,” Justin offered an alternate possibility more suitable to him, “who signed on as an officer of the deck – or better yet – maybe I could be the governor’s rich nephew or the ambassador’s rich cousin who you kidnapped – because you couldn’t resist him – and who meant more to you than all the treasure you could find on the high seas….?”
“Geez, Baby,” Brian laughed. “Who’s dream is this
anyway? You’d probably be on that ship nagging at me all the time to return the
gold and precious stones to their ‘rightful’ owners – the folks who stole them
right before I did. The crew wouldn’t like you at all. Bet you’d end up
walking the plank…..”
“No worse than the way I get treated in these later more civilized days - by
Brian Kinney – the successful advertising man – who wishes he could have been a
pirate,” Justin reasoned in reply – smiling all the time.
“Well maybe it’s just as well that I never got to be a pirate chief, Taylor,” Brian concluded. “You’d definitely have ruined it for me somehow or other. I can still dream though – when TCM shows those old technicolor pirate movies. They wisely never show the cabin boy nagging Errol Flynn or Dougie Fairbanks or Paul Henreid….”
“Or the young able and ambitious officer of the deck – or the governor’s nephew,” Justin added. “They don’t get shown either. But you can be sure they’re there.”
“OK, Baby,” Brian told him. “So I’ll never get to be a
pirate captain – any more than you’ll ever get to be a fireman. That’s just how
it is. OK?”
“I guess it will have to be, Brian,” Justin smiled coyly. “Too bad – but we can
still make the best of what we have though. Let’s go home.”
And that’s what they did. To the loft – not the firehouse – and not the pirate ship. And it seemed like they were quite satisfied with that choice after all. At least there were no complaints. Sometimes Oz is actually in Kansas.
Feedback for Dale
or email to xxzz5552000@yahoo.com