Fore By Two

It seemed like an ordinary night in the loft as the guys settled themselves in front of their fake fireplace. Brian was wearing a mysterious grin however and that fact was not lost on the kid. Actually Brian was preparing to say something when Justin beat him to it.

"I don't know why you have that look on your face," Justin announced, "But I did not do it. I deny whatever you're planning to accuse me of, and that's that."

"I was just going to tell you that I signed all the papers today and I am now officially a member of Greentrees Country Club," Brian told him. "Which you should be familiar with since your dad belonged there, didn't he?"

"Yeah, he was a member," Justin replied. "We had lots of good times there."

"Doing what?" Brian wanted to know.

Oh, just eating, swimming, parties," Justin responded. "That kind of stuff. I guess I'm glad you finally joined, Bri. Chuck and Ted have been trying to get you to join for a long time. They think it will be good for business and I guess it will."

"It might," Brian agreed. "But I didn't join sooner because I wasn't sure that you wanted me to. I thought maybe it would bring back memories for you that you didn't need. The only reason I joined now is because you finally said I ought to. So it really was your fault that I joined, Baby."

"And so you don't like the place, and you wish you hadn't joined, and you're going to blame me," Justin surmised. "You don't do everything I want you to do, so it's not fair for you to blame me for this."

"I am not blaming anybody," Brian informed him. "At least not yet, I'm not. But about me not doing everything you want me to do, would you care to list a few times I didn't?"

"Well I could, Brian Kinney," Justin came back, "But I'm not going to because you know I never complain. You are the only complainer around here."

"Maybe because I'm the only one with anything to complain about," Brian retorted. "But I'm not blaming you for anything or accusing you of anything. You don't have a guilty conscience about anything, do you?"

"Certainly not," Justin assured him.

"It's just that if I'm a member of Greentrees," Brian observed, "I guess we will be spending some time out there too, so I thought maybe golf lessons would be a good idea. So I stopped over to see the pro."

"What did he say?" Justin asked, just a little nervously.

"Jimmy says he knows you well," Brian said. "He said you were the under-12 champion out there when you played in the kids' tournament. He said you were a really good golfer for that age and that you could have gotten a lot better but you just quit playing when you were fourteen."

"I didn't like golf," Justin semi-mumbled. "And I had too much other stuff I'd rather do, so I quit. I told Jimmy that. And I didn't think he was at Greentrees any more."

"He did leave but he's back. And Jimmy is an old golf pro, Baby," Brian answered. "He told me that's what you told him but he suspected another reason why you quit."

"What other reason, Bri?" Justin challenged him.

"He thought that you were getting so good that you couldn't keep letting your father beat you," Brian informed him. "He was pretty certain you were making sure your dad did beat you most of the time for a year or so before you quit."

"It seems like everybody in the whole world is a spy for Brian Kinney," Justin moaned. "Go ahead and yell at me. I guess I should have told you I was a pretty good golfer. But the subject never came up, so I didn't actually lie to you, Bri. I had to let my dad win, Brian. I loved him. I guess I could have beaten him just about all the time but you can't do that with someone you love."

"I don't have any intention of yelling at you," Brian squeezed the kid closer to himself, "And I'm not mad at you and I'm not complaining."

"But you're still Brian Kinney?" Justin wondered. "You must be getting a lot nicer, Brian."

"Probably am," Brian responded, "Not that I haven't always been nice."

"That's true, Brian," Justin smiled. "That's why I love you. Have I told you lately that I love you?"

"Yeah, you have," Brian answered, "But I always like to hear it, and I especially am glad to hear you say it tonight."

"What's so special about tonight?" Justin wondered, "Except that you had a chance to yell at me and you didn't. That is special."

"Because if you love me," Brian laughed, "You'll be letting me win when we play golf. Didn't you say that's what you do when you play with somebody you love?"

"That's going to be pretty hard," Justin laughed back at him. "Jimmy is a good teacher but it will take even him a while to get you golfing at my level, I'm afraid."

"Maybe not," Brian responded. "Actually, I wasn't looking for lessons for me when I stopped over to see Jimmy. I was thinking about you."

"I'm beginning to suspect something, Mr. Kinney," Justin told him. "Is there something that you haven't told me? Is that why you're being so nice about me not telling you I played golf?"

"Well as you said, "Brian reasoned, "The subject never came up, did it? I did play a little golf when I was younger. Me and Mikey caddied some when we were in high school and I did play in college. I wasn't really too bad when I quit. But the Kinneys weren't the country-club type like the Taylors. My dad was always razzing me about playing. That may have been why I quit."

"So we both played golf," Justin mused, "And we both quit because of our dads. This might turn out to be real interesting, Bri. I'll try not to beat you too bad though."

"Wait a minute, Twink," Brian interjected. "I expect to win most of the time. I'm pretty sure I'll turn out to be the better golfer, but even if I'm not, you wouldn't want to beat somebody you love. Isn't that what you said?"

"Forget it Kinney," Justin countered. "I love you more than anybody or anything in the world, but it's not the same as it was with my father. I won't mind beating you at all, as much as I love you and I always will."

"Well I love you as much as you love me," Brian retorted, "But it'll be every man for himself on the links. I intend to win."

"And that's just the way it should be," Justin agreed as they both dissolved into hysterical laughter.

It was a few minutes before the discussion resumed. "Brian," Justin said. "Enough about athletics. I think there's something that we both like to do better than golf or even arguing. Could we do that?"

"I don't see why not," Brian agreed. "But maybe we should talk about tennis first."

"Not tonight," Justin told him, "But promise me you won't go near the tennis pro until we do. OK?"

That brought a smile to Brian's face. Everything was OK with Brian.

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