You Can't Get a Man With a Gun

The guys were a little later than usual in settling onto the floor of the loft in front of their fake fireplace because they had been out. Better late than never though as they both seemed to want to sit for a while gazing at the flickering fire - and maybe exchange some opinions too.

“That is a really good musical,” Brian started the conversation. “One of my favorites. They don’t write songs like that any more.”

“Well they sure wrote a lot of them back when they were writing them, Bri,” Justin comforted Brian. “There are millions of those old songs around – and you seem to know them all.”

“I hope you’re not mad that I know a lot more of them than you do,” Brian teased. “I know how you like to be better at everything. I bet that bothers you some.”

“You had a head start, Honey,” Justin teased back. “A big head start. Bet when I’m your age, I’ll know them all too.”

“Could be,” Brian admitted with a grin. “But you wouldn’t know hardly any of them if I didn’t teach them to you. But the kids all did a nice job tonight. They really did.”

“That Performing Arts High School does good stuff, Bri,” Justin agreed. “Hunter’s learning a lot over there. But he has Malcolm to coach him too. I don’t know if he’ll go into acting professionally though. Mikey wants him to have a sensible career.”

“A sensible career, eh? Like running a comic book store?” Brian laughed.

“OK, Kinney,” Justin came back. “You’re forgetting Rage. Mikey and I are still doing Rage and it’s selling well too. Maybe they’ll want to make a movie out of Rage some day and then we’ll really cash in. Anyhow we like doing it. And we don’t bother you about it either.”

“Actually you don’t,” Brian realized. “But if you think writing a comic strip is a sensible career….. You know, you guys used to get into my hair with that Rage stuff but I’ll admit it’s no problem now.”

“Well, if you remember…” Justin started to remind him archly.

“I don’t remember,” Brian interrupted him with a grin that seemed to indicate that maybe he did remember. “And I don’t really want to remember either.”

“OK, Brian,” Justin complied with a grin of his own. “You know we always do exactly what you want to do…. So what did you think of Hunter’s performance tonight?”

“Well he was a pretty young looking Buffalo Bill,” Brian opined. “But I thought he did well. The girl who played Annie Oakley was the best though. A real star. She could be on Broadway right now, singing all those Irving Berlin tunes. I really like Annie Get Your Gun.”

“I thought you were enjoying it,” Justin smiled. “And I was enjoying it too – but it was like – like you were re-living your youth.”

“You think my youth was spent with Buffalo Bill in the Wild West show?” Brian laughed. “Or do you mean the musical was written in my youth – way back in the 1940s?”

“Well I could see you were enjoying it anyhow, Sweetheart,” Justin laughed back at him. “But that Annie Oakley was not too smart, you know. Didn’t play her cards right at all. She could have lost Frank Butler the way she pursued him.”

“You don’t approve of pursuing the guy you’re after, Baby?” Brian seemed quizzical. “Seems to me that….”

“I don’t think I’m saying that exactly, BK,” Justin took his turn at interrupting. “And I know what you’re leading up to too. I did not pursue you….”

“OK,” Brian showed some doubt, “but it just seems to me that everywhere I went, there you were. Must have seemed like pursuit to me. I guess I was wrong though.”

“Yep, wrong as can be, Brian,” Justin told him. “See, the minute I saw you, I knew we were made for each other and that we would have to be together forever – and I didn’t think you did. But I knew you’d figure it out eventually – but I had to make myself available – so you could figure it out – and eventually you did figure it out – like I knew you would – and here we are. I wasn’t pursuing you at all – just making myself available.”

“Geez, that sounds simple, Kiddo,” Brian wondered. “I’m amazed. It seemed a lot more complicated than that when it was all happening.”

“Well I guess maybe I simplified it just a little bit, Bri,” Justin cozied himself up to Brian. “But that’s the essence of what happened all right. I just had to wait for you to ‘get it’ and you finally got it – like I knew you would.”

“Oh I got it, all right, “Brian grinned, squeezing the kid and instigating a prolonged delay in the discussion. After a while though, the conversation did resume.

“So what did Annie Oakley do wrong while she was waiting for Frank Butler to ‘get it’, Baby?” Brian asked the expert.

“Well, for one thing, she was way too competitive, Bri. Maybe she was a better shot than Frank but she shouldn't have shown it. Bad idea,” Justin informed him. “It took her a long time before she figured out You Can’t Get a Man with a Gun. By the way, I think that was my favorite song in the whole show, Bri.”

“Now I’m surprised about a couple of things, Baby,” Brian reacted. “I thought your favorite song would have been They Say That Falling in Love is Wonderful.”

“There were lots of great songs, Brian,” Justin pointed out. “I liked them all. And I know that falling in love is wonderful too. I didn’t need Irving Berlin to tell me. Us younger people kind of like our music a little bit faster. That’s all. But that Irving can write. I hope he writes some more stuff.”

”Actually, he did already write some other stuff, Kiddo,” Brian laughed, “But he was about 100 years old when he died - and he died like twenty years ago – so I don’t guess he’ll be writing any more…. But you also said you thought Annie shouldn’t have been so competitive. It seems to me that you yourself are just a little bit….”

“Cut it out, Brian,” Justin laughed. “I didn’t say it wouldn’t be all right to be just a little competitive after she got Frank. Just that she might have scared him away early on – when she didn’t want to. Anyway, it worked out all right for her in the end – and for Frank too, of course.”

“I’m glad Frank got to be happy too, Baby,” Brian allowed, “After he finally ‘got it’.”

“Yeah, I think Frank was as happy about the ending as Annie was, Bri.” Justin agreed, burrowing his head into Brian’s neck and stopping the conversation again – but again not ending it.

“So you do agree though that you can’t get a man with a gun?” Brian eventually asked the twink. “Right?”

“Well I don’t think it ought to be necessary,” Justin replied cautiously. “But maybe as a last resort….”

“Then I guess I maybe was pretty lucky that I ‘got it’ when I did,” Brian teased him. “And safer too.”

“Maybe so, Mr. Kinney,” Justin laughed in return. “But you know what they say….”

“Yeah,” Brian laughed too, as he pulled the kid up onto his lap. “They say that falling in love is wonderful. At least that’s what Irving Berlin said – and that’s my favorite song from the show.”

“Mine too,” Justin seemed to have changed his mind. But Brian did not act like he noticed the change of mind at all. At this point, the discussion was over.
 

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