Walking the Dog

Brian had a silly grin on his face as the boys positioned themselves in front of the flashing flames of their fake fireplace. Justin responded with a silly grin of his own as they huddled together on the floor of the loft.

"OK, Baby," Brian began, "Do I have your complete attention?"

"That's a dumb question, Bri," Justin responded with some surprise. "When did you ever not have my complete attention? You know I have problems doing anything else when you're around."

"Maybe not such a dumb question at all, Kiddo," Brian reasserted. "But I guess you're listening now. Exactly how mad would you be if I stole that damn yoyo you've been messing around with for the past couple of days and threw it the hell away?"

"Gee whiz, Bri," Justin seemed surprised. "I hope you're not jealous of a little yoyo. It couldn't ever take your place. You can do a lot of things a yoyo can't. What's the problem?"

"Well," Brian explained, "It's just that I said a couple of things to you earlier while you were messing with that gizmo and I don't think you even heard me."

"Sure I heard you," Justin replied, "And anyhow, if you didn't think I heard you, you could have just told me to put down the yoyo and listen. You know I would have done that. I always do what you tell me to do."

"Baby…. Justin," Brian responded slowly. "One of the things I said to you was 'Please put down that yoyo for a minute so I can talk to you.'"

"You called me Justin, Brian," Justin complained. "You're mad at me."

"No I'm not," Brian laughed, "But I am mad at that stupid yoyo. And maybe I'm mad at Mikey for giving it to you. But I'm not mad at you."

"Wait a minute, Honey," Justin stopped him. "I'm sorry if I didn't hear you. I guess I just got carried away with the yoyo thing. You know how enthusiastic I get about stuff. I got to quit that…."

"No, you don't," Brian interrupted. "I kind of like how enthusiastic you can get about some things - I really do - only just maybe not about yoyos."

"You didn't let me finish," Justin complained again. "Why in the world do you think Mikey gave me this yoyo? How did Mikey get involved at all?"

"Mikey didn't give you the yoyo?" Brian was surprised this time. "Are you sure? I figured it was him and that's why I didn't say anything about it for a while. I didn't want to give him the satisfaction."

"OK, Brian," Justin countered. "Just what the hell are you talking about? I'm listening to you now and you're sounding crazy. So what's going on?"

"Well maybe I am mixed up if Mikey didn't give you the yoyo," Brian admitted. "It's just that all our lives I've been a little better than Mikey at everything - except maybe yoyos. Mikey was really good with a yoyo so he was better than me at that one thing. That was all a long time ago though. Anyhow, I was razzing Mikey a few days ago about some stuff and he told me he'd get me back. He joked that he wanted revenge. And the next day you show up with a yoyo. So I just put two and two together and figured…."

"You weren't good with a yoyo?" Justin grasped the salient point of that discourse. "The great Brian Kinney was not good with a yoyo? I can't believe it. There is just so much I don't know about you. You never told me you weren't good with a yoyo."

"Just goes to show you that you might think you know everything there is to know about me," Brian jibed. "But I still have a lot of secrets. I'm a pretty complex fellow, you gotta understand."

"Yeah, you are," Justin told him, "But I promise I'll be relentless in learning everything you're trying to conceal from me. I'll bet this yoyo business is just the tip of the iceberg,….but, you know, Bri, I was really good with a yoyo back in grade school. I bet I can teach you enough that you can show that old Mikey…."

"Is there anything at all that Justin Taylor was not good at?" Brian was laughing. "I bet not. But I'm going to decline the yoyo lessons, Baby. I don't want to destroy any of Mikey's illusions. Let him be better than me at something - not that I'm not sure I could outdo him after a few sessions with the resident yoyo expert here in the loft. I think there are better ways for us to spend our time though."

That brought about a contented period of silence in the loft - during which Brian successfully tried to demonstrate some of those better things. The pause lasted a good while, but did not actually terminate the discussion.

"Hey, Kiddo," Brian wondered. "If Mikey didn't give you the damn yoyo, where did it come from? You don't see many yoyos around these days."

"No you don't," Justin agreed. "Yoyos are kind of a fad. They're really popular for a while and then they disappear for a while. I guess they must be coming back. I was over to see Gus the same day you were with Mikey. Johnny was there too. Apparently, yoyos are big at his school. Your nephew was trying some tricks and he wasn't real good. He was trying to 'walk the dog' and he wasn't doing a very good job of it either. 'Walking the dog' is a trick with a yoyo where…."

"I know what it is," Brian interrupted. "It's just that I wasn't very good at it myself. Must not run in the family."

"Well, Johnny can do it really well now," Justin told him. "There are a few little tricks I showed him and now he can 'walk the dog' about as good as anybody - so it must not be a family failing. Anyhow, Johnny wanted me to teach him some other stuff and I told him I would - so I stopped at the mall on the way home and picked up a good yoyo at Games and All so I could practice up just a little bit. I guess I should have got a yoyo for you too."

"Nope, you can't teach an old dog new tricks," Brian laughed. "This old dog doesn't ever plan to learn to 'walk the dog' - not at all. This old dog will just have to walk the best way he can."

"Cut it out, Brian. You're not old at all," Justin demanded, "And I don't want to hear you calling yourself old either."

"Not that you mind bringing up my age every once in a while," Brian grinned at him.

"Well, I know I'm joking, Bri," Justin replied. "And I can't always be sure about you."

"You can always be sure about me - about some things, Baby," Brian squeezed the kid closer, running his fingers through the kid's hair. "I hope you know that."

"Yeah, I do, Bri" Justin answered. "But I'm glad to have you remind me. I love you too, Brian. And, you know what else, I'm going to put away the yoyo - at least whenever you're around - but I'm still gonna show Johnny how to do the tricks - unless you'd rather I didn't."

"No, Baby," Brian smiled at him. "I want you to do that. You've done a lot for Johnny already and I want you to do this too. You can even practice when I'm here if you want to. When I need to get your attention, I'll just get a hammer and hit you on the head."

"That's a great solution, Sweetheart," Justin concluded sardonically. "I'm sure you can get my attention that way. You are a great problem solver…. But, Brian, after Johnny learns all the tricls, I promise to get rid of the yoyo. I don't want it around here to remind you that Mikey is better than you at anything."

"Good idea, Twink," Brian agreed, in the spirit of the occasion. "How shall we get rid of it? Maybe by ritual burning?"

"Well," Justin considered. "It is a really good yoyo, Honey. Why don't we just give it to Mikey?"

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