ZZZZZZZZZ …

The guys were settling down onto the loft floor to gaze at their fake fireplace. Brian had a trace of a smile on his face as he quickly opened the evening’s conversation. It was hard to read Justin’s expression – but apparently not for Brian.

“I don’t think I did what you’re about to accuse me of, Sweetheart – whatever it might be,” Brian told the kid. “I plead complete innocence.”

“And that is exactly what all the ax murderers say, Kinney,” Justin replied. “Not that what you did was as simple as an ordinary everyday ax murder …”

“Oh well, then,” Brian sounded relieved, “if it’s not that important ….”

“Well I think keeping secrets from me is important,” Justin protested. “We’re not supposed to keep secrets from each other, Brian – and you know I wouldn’t …”

“So is this secret that I kept from you so secret that you can’t tell me what it is, Baby?’ Brian wanted to know. “It must be a very important secret indeed …”

“Any secret that you keep from me is important, Kinney,” Justin told him. “It was just lucky that me and Jason were over at the comic book store this afternoon or I might never have known…”

“OK,” Brian saw some light. “You’re referring to a certain comic book, I bet …”

“Not just any comic book, Mr. Kinney,” Justin pointed out. “Mikey was like - dancing all over the store. You found him a first edition of a Green Hornet comic book. It was something that he had been looking for – for like - years – and you sent it over to him and you never even told me a word about it either …”

”Geez, Baby,” Brian acted surprised. “I didn’t know you were a Green Hornet fan.”

“Quit trying to change the subject,” Justin demanded. “I had no idea who the Green Hornet was – and you know it – and that’s not an excuse anyway …”

“But you know all about the Green Hornet now, I’ll wager,” Brian laughed. “Bet you read that comic book from cover to cover, Honey.”

“Did not either, Mr. Know-It-All,” Justin protested. “Mikey had it in some archival plastic bag and said I wasn’t getting my grubby hands on the damn thing – the dumb old comic book.”

“And he wouldn’t tell you about the Green Hornet, Baby?” Brian wondered. “Your good pal Mikey? I’m surprised.”

“No he would not,” Justin admitted. “Mikey is a lot more like you than I thought he was. He told me that you were the one who like - took me home and … and so it was your job to tell me about the Green Hornet, not his. That’s what he told me … He laughed and said if you wanted me to know about the Green Hornet, you’d have told me …”

“Good point, Sweetheart,” Brian grinned at him, “so maybe you’ll never know anything about the Green Hornet at all – if I won’t tell you either, that is.”

“Like I don’t know what you’re like, Brian Kinney?” Justin grinned a little bit himself. “Like I’m stupid or something and don’t know how you are? The Green Hornet - also referred to at times as simply Green Hornet - is a masked fictional crime fighter. Originally created by Fran Striker, an American old-time radio program in the 1930s, the character has appeared in other media as well, including film serials in the 1940s, a network television program in the 1960s, and multiple comic book series from the 1940s to the 1990s. Though various incarnations sometimes change details, in most incarnations the Green Hornet is Britt Reid, a newspaper publisher by day who by night goes out in his masked ‘Green Hornet’ identity to fight crime as a vigilante, accompanied by his similarly masked Asian manservant Kato and driving a car, equipped with advanced technology, called ‘Black Beauty’ …".

“Wikipedia?” Brian ventured. “My mad little master of the internet …”

“I guess my sources can be my secret, BK,” Justin replied smugly, “since we’re into secrets now … But you don’t deny that I have the right Green Hornet, do you?”

“Nope,” Brian said, “I think you’ve got the right Green Hornet – and we – us two – me and you - gave Mikey Volume 1, Number 1, of the first GH comic book series. He’s like – a big big Hornet fan and he’s wanted that for a long long time …”

“And we found it for him?” Justin summarized. “And I didn’t even know we were looking…”

“Well I didn’t know we were looking either, Baby,” Brian told him. “But it just kinda showed up … And you know what else, Sweetheart – we find a lot of stuff - and we do a lot of stuff – mostly good stuff - that I didn’t know we were looking for - or doing …”

“Trying to change the subject will not work, Kinney,” Justin warned him. “Like I said before …”

“Nope, it won’t,” Brian admitted, “but somehow I get the feeling that the worst is yet to come and it could delay that for a while - maybe. I’d feel better if Jason hadn’t been with you at the store. Jason is as crazy as you – and maybe even more … and two empty heads are worse than one …”

“So what do you think us crazy characters did, Bri?” Justin asked with a twinkle in his eye.

“Well I wouldn’t tell you what I think you did if I didn’t know you guys so well,” Brian told him. “But I’m sure I won’t be giving you any new ideas you didn’t already have. You ordered all the Green Hornet DVDs from Netfix, didn’t you?”

“Wrong,” Justin pronounced. “We just ordered the first old serial from the 1940s – and we couldn’t get it from Netfix but we found it – me being a master of the internet. It’s only available on tape but we should have it in a few days … Then if we like that one, all the rest of the Green Hornet stuff is on DVD and Netflix has all of them …”

“So we’re gonna have to watch that whole long old serial?” Brian wondered. “Like ten hours or whatever …”

“It’s only like four hours long, Bri – or maybe five,” Justin told him. “And like – Jason wants to see it too – so Brandon will surely want to see it – and you might want to invite Mikey and Ben – since Mikey’s such a fan – and that will be OK with me – even if Mikey was a little bit mean this afternoon. And maybe Hunter and Malcolm. It can be like – a party – lots of fun …”

“So this is the end of the old-movie nights for just the two of us?” Brian surmised.

“You must be crazy, Kinney,” Justin said. “This is more like scary movie night at Halloween. Old-movie nights are for just the two of us – and that’s the way they’ll stay – you can depend on that …And I bet you like the Green Hornet too, Brian, so …”

“Baby,” Brian told him. “Mikey was not being mean to you when he wanted you to ask me about the GH. He was being sarcastic. I never liked the Green Hornbet at all – not on the radio – or the TV – or the comic books. They were all pretty old stuff by the time we first got to see them. Booorrring!!! But I know how you are too - and that’s why I didn’t mention the Green Hornet to you. I figured you’d do pretty much just what you did. Mikey was being mean all right - but he was being mean to me – not you … And after I found him that comic book too …”

“When you’ve done as many good deeds as I have, Bri,” Justin laughed, “you’ll find out that true gratitude is a rare commodity. But you know what, Honey, you’ve never done any Green Hornet stuff with me before. Maybe you’ll like it better with me sitting on your lap and you with both arms around me …”

“But I don’t think that Green Hornet serial will scare you all that much, Baby,” Brian said. “Not like those scary Halloween movies do – so ….”

‘Well I guess I should be the one to decide if I’m scared or not, Kinney,” Justin decided, “and I’m pretty sure I’m gonna be scared.”

“OK, Baby,” Brian smiled at him. “So I guess we’ll just have to try it and see how it goes …”

Justin thought that was a good idea – and he already had a good idea exactly how it would go.
 

Return to Fireside Chats