Book Report

Brian settled himself on the floor next to Justin and facing the fake fireplace, which was blazing away. Brian had something to ask – so he asked.

“I guess we’re having a literary revival around here these days?” he said.

“What do you mean, Brian?” Justin asked back. “I’m always reading something and even you have been known to pick up a book once in a while.”

“Yeah,” Brian concede, “But Mutiny on the Bounty is an odd choice for you, I think.”

“Somebody at school recommended it and I thought maybe it was time I read a real old book,” Justin explained, “So I thought I’d try it. It’s pretty good too.”

“I guess I’m being compared unfavorably with Captain Bligh?” Brian laughed.

“I never noticed the similarity,” Justin laughed too, “But now that you mention it….”

“Well if you get tired of reading it, there’s a couple of good movie versions,” Brian told him. “Marlon Brando was in one but I like the real old one better. Clark Gable was in that one. We can watch it sometime if you want to.”

“Clark Gable?” Justin recalled. “Wasn’t he in that Gone With the Wind movie that lasted forever and you made me sit through the whole thing?”

“Yeah,” Brian affirmed, “And I’ll never understand why you didn’t like that movie all that much. Most people think it was one of the greatest movies ever made.”

“Maybe it was a good movie, Bri. I think it was. There were some good scenes, all right. But I think it was that Scarlett O’Hara that bothered me,” Justin said. “The way she got guys to do what she wanted them to do. It was kind of irritating.”

“Professional jealousy?” Brian laughed.

“Brian, sometimes I don’t understand what you trying to say,” Justin replied.

“Professional deafness,” Brian concluded. “But you don’t ever have to watch Gone With the Wind again if you don’t want to. I like it but I can always watch it with Mikey. We used to watch it a couple of times a year in the old days. It was kind of like ‘our movie.’”

Brian knew a mistake when he made one – but it was too late. The damage was done.

“You and Mikey have ‘a movie,’” Justin exclaimed. “Brian Kinney and Michael Novotny have ‘a movie’ and Brian Kinney and Justin Taylor, who really loves Brian Kinney a lot, do not?”

“An omission that is soon to be rectified, I expect,” Brian had to grin.

“Well you just can’t decide to have ‘a movie’, Brian,” Justin said. “It has to just, like, happen. Do you have any suggestions for what our ‘movie’ could be?”

“Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” Brian suggested.

“Now what does that mean?” Justin wanted to know. “Do I know Virginia Woolf, and what does she have to do with us having ‘our movie?’”

“It’s the name of a movie, Baby,” Brian informed him. “I was just mentioning it as a possibility if we need to have a ‘movie’ of our own.”

“It sounds like a comedy to me,” Justin opined, “And I think we need something more serious and romantic – something like the real us. You know what I mean?”

“Oh yeah,” Brian agreed. “I know just what you mean. Maybe we do need to think about it for a while though. It would be a disaster if we picked the wrong movie.”

“Brian, Honey,” Justin purred. “I don’t always understand everything you say to me, but I always know when you’re being sarcastic – like you are now. Even if you are right this one time. We don’t want to pick ‘our movie’ on the spur of the moment. Y’know what though, Mr. Kinney, maybe now I can see some similarities between you and Captain Bligh.”

“Geez, Baby,” Brian shivered. “Do you think I better get ready for a mutiny right here in the loft?”

“I don’t think so,” Justin told him archly. “I think there are better ways to get what I want than Fletcher Christian figured out. I doubt that any mutiny will be necessary.”

“Yeah,” Brian cajoled. “Scarlett O’Hara over Fletcher Christian every time.”

“I’m really having a hard time understanding what you’re getting at tonight,” Justin pointed out.

“I don’t think so,” Brian responded. “I don’t think so at all.”

Justin didn’t reply, but they were both smiling as the conversation went into ”pause” mode for a considerable period of time.

Brian eventually broke the silence. “We’re just wasting time here, Baby,” he suggested. “Maybe you want to get back to Mutiny on the Bounty. I don’t want to stand in the way of you literary interests – and your improving you mind.”

“I don’t think we’re wasting time at all, Kinney,” Justin disagreed. “And I don’t think you do either. And by the way, do you think my mind needs improving?”

“I guess not the way Mutiny on the Bounty would improve it, maybe not,” Brian thought.

“If I ever have to give up this kind of time with you to read Mutiny on the Bounty,” Justin thought out loud in return, “Maybe we should just rent the movie – the Clark Gable one, I think.”

“That one’s in black and white,” Brian warned him. “The Brando one’s in color.”

“I think I’d like to stick with the Gable one, Bri,” Justin chose. “I can see in black and white. You know.”

“Yes, you can,” Brian agreed. “And think in black and white too. I’ll wait till you finish the book and then I’ll rent the DVD.”

“You don’t have to wait, Bri,” Justin announced. “The more I think about it, the more I think reading the whole book would take up some of the time I could be sitting here with you. Let’s just do the movie.”

“So Brian Kinney wins handily over Mutiny on the Bounty,” Brian joked – but only partly.

“Maybe,” Justin replied coyly. “But there are a lot of other books out there. Brian Kinney may find it hard to stay on top. It may be a constant battle with the forces of great literature.”

“I’ll try real hard,” Brian assured him, ushering in still another quiet period for the guys.

Brian did return briefly to the subject a little while later. “Was I ever in real danger of being put in a flimsy life raft and abandoned at sea, thousands of miles from the nearest land, like Captain Bligh was?” Brian whispered into Justin’s ear.

“Never, Brian,” Justin whispered back. “Never. I know a lot worse things to do than that.”

“And I have no reason to doubt you on that,” Brian smiled at him contentedly.

 

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