Test Pilots

Brian had a big grin on his face as the guys sat down on the floor of the loft facing the flaming fireplace. “Well,” he asked the kid, “Are you satisfied? You got what you wanted and we’re all still alive – as far as I know.”

“It was a great day, Brian,” Justin admitted. “I need to tell you something - but first I must say that I didn’t think you could plan anything like that and carry it off so well – without me that is…”

“Guess you think Cynthia did most of the work too, don’t you, Doubting Taylor?” Brian continued.

“Nope,” Justin replied. “Not if you say Cynthia didn’t have anything to do with it. I’ll believe whatever you tell me.”

“So I didn’t exactly say Cynthia didn’t have anything to do with it, did I?” Brian clarified the situation – or maybe he didn’t. “I just like – said it was all my idea.”

“Well the idea is the big thing after all, Brian,” Justin pointed out. “Any hack can fill in the details after the master-mind has created the great plan – not that Cynthia is a hack – or me either – when we carry out your great ideas …”

“So you admit the whole thing was a masterpiece of planning, Sweetheart?” Brian gloated. “Bet you’d have wanted to change some of it if I had told you about it in advance – not to say that you’re a control freak or anything like that.”

“Well, the whole thing was absolutely perfect, Bri,” Justin opined. “But maybe I would have had the picnic lunch after we went up in Abelard’s plane and not before.”

“So you’re blaming me for Mikey and Hunter both throwing up after their ride, Baby?” Brian presumed.

“Not at all, Kinney,” Justin laughed at him. “It was a masterpiece of planning that you got Mikey to go along so that Hunter could get up in the air like he wanted to so badly. But it was a good thing that we couldn’t all fit in the plane at the same time – or we might have been up there with them…”

“That was a piece of cake, Baby,” Brian assured him. “I remember that Mikey always thought he wanted to be a pilot when he was younger. He used to pretend his old jalopy was a fighter plane – so when Abelard said Mikey could have the controls for a while after they got up into the wild blue yonder…”

“But you never told Abelard that Mikey always wanted to be a dive-bomber pilot, Mr. Kinney,” Justin remembered. “So when the plane went into that nosedive – like – I was scared…”

“Yep, you were, Baby,” Brian recalled. “I thought maybe you’d be throwing up too …”

“Hey, Brian Kinney,” Justin told him. “That nosedive was not on purpose. I think Mikey just got what Abelard told him to do mixed up – a little …”

“Hey, Taylor,” Brian grinned at him. “What did Mikey say when he heard Abelard was flying in?”

“He said he didn’t want Hunter to go up, Brian” Justin said. “That’s why it was such a coup for you to get Mikey to let him go.”

“And what did Hunter say when he got out of the plane today, Sweetheart?” Brian pursued his point.

“He said he’d never go up in a plane again – not ever,” Justin admitted. “Brian Kinney – you are not saying that...?”

“Just collecting the facts, Honey,” Brian laughed. “Just collecting the facts … I guess we should leave the facts speak for themselves.”

“Well Malcolm and Ben didn’t throw up after the nosedive,” Justin pointed out. “But Malcolm was pretty pale and he didn’t say much after they got back onto terra firma either. I think maybe he was contemplating the early end of his bright future as a director …”

“That’d save us a lot of time turning down the roles he’s always offering us, Baby,” Brian looked for the silver lining. “And I’m not even going to that Waiting for Godot thing he’s putting on. Crazy play. Bet nobody comes at all …”

“But they would come if there were a famous star in the cast – like maybe you, Brian,” Justin teased. “Not that I’m trying to get you to star in it – if you don’t want to… But…”

“OK, Twink. Maybe I should have taken the controls myself when we were up there with Brandon and Jason,” Brian came back at him. “I bet I could do a better nosedive than Mikey’s …”

“I’m sure you could, Kinney,” Justin laughingly agreed. “But that was just plain mean of you – trying to scare Jason before we went up – all that talking about crashing and stuff …”

“And you heard what he told me, didn’t you, JT?” Brian laughed.

“Yeah I did, BK,” Justin told him. “And I heard what you told him back too. He said they weren’t gonna crash unless we did – and you told him they weren’t gonna do anything at all unless we did – and I think that confused him some too…”

“Shouldn’t have,” Brian opined, “But you know what, Baby, maybe they’d like to … - so maybe we ought to…”

Justin could see both the wisdom and the timeliness in that suggestion so the discussion paused while the guys pointed the direction for Jason and Brandon – though Jason and Brandon didn’t know – and Brian and Justin didn’t seem to care if Brandon and Jason knew either. Like maybe – a little bit existential.

“You know what, Baby,” Brian eventually returned to the subject of the discussion though. “I arranged the whole thing today - and maybe I was a little bit mean off and on – not that I meant to be mean or anything – so how about you calling Jason and making sure they had a good time – and then calling Mikey. Or I’ll call Mikey if you want to divide the work equitably …”

“I don’t think that’s necessary, Bri,” Justin demurred. “They all had a good time. I’m sure of it.”

“Well it won’t hurt to check on it, Baby,” Brian persisted. “Call Jason and then I’ll call Mikey – or are you afraid to find out what a huge success my plan was?”

“Gee whiz, Kinney,” Justin responded. “Your plan was a big success. I admit it and I’m real glad about it too …”

“Then call Jason and I’ll call Mikey, Sweetheart,” Brian insisted.

“Darn it, Brian,” Justin surrendered – in part anyhow. “I’ll call Jason – but I think we should wait for Mikey to call us…”

“And you think Mikey will be calling us?” Brian wondered. “And you know something I don’t know – and you have no intention of telling me either …?”

“Well I did too intend to tell you, Honey,” Justin told him. “As soon as I could. It’s nothing that I could keep a secret even if I wanted to – which I don’t want to – and I intended to tell you as soon as we got to that part …”

“That part of what, Baby?” Brian came back. “What the hell have you done?”

“Nothing at all, Kinney,” Justin defended himself. “I have done nothing at all. But maybe Hunter and Malcolm like – maybe stowed away on Abelard’s plane when he headed back to Columbus… So maybe…”

“So maybe those guys are crazy,” Brian completed the sentence – and then moved to multiple-choice. “So maybe Mikey will be furious…”

“So maybe you could fix things for them with Mikey, Brian,” Justin suggested another possibility. “You’re real good at fixing stuff with Mikey. I tried to talk them out of it, Bri. I did. I don’t know why they did it. But those guys can be crazy sometimes…”

Justin’s plea was interrupted by two things simultaneously – Brian was laughing pretty loudly - and the telephone began ringing insistently too.
 

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