Fantasy Season 5

Ice To Eskimos Pt. 1

Brian double parked the jeep in front of Gus's school just as the first bell began to ring. With Mel at her regular doctor's appointment, and Lindsey meeting with a new artist at the gallery, Brian had volunteered to pick up his son, and take him to his office for the rest of the day. Almost immediately a pair of schoolyard gladiators went to war when the doors of Washington Public flew open. Brian looked toward the kindergarten exit where he saw Gus, along with the rest of his young classmates being dismissed onto the battleground. "Gus!" Brian stepped out of the jeep, and beckoned for his son. Gus was relieved to see his father, and hurried over to his ride.

"Hey sonny-boy." Brian smiled.

Gus quickly hopped inside, and closed the jeep door. "Hi Pop." he said.

Both father, and son pretended not to see the lone teacher failing in her attempt to break up the schoolyard brawl. "How was your day?" Brian asked.

"Ok," Gus said.

"Is that picture for me?"

"Yeah." Gus handed his father his latest creation.

"This is nice. Can I hang it in my office?" Brian's smile widened.

"If you want to," Gus said.

The light changed, and Brian pulled out into traffic. "You get to spend the whole afternoon with your pop at his new office. I'd say this calls for a celebration. Would you like to stop for ice cream?" he suggested.

"No thank you," Gus said.

"No ice cream?"

"I just want to go home." Gus turned toward the window.

Brian glanced over at his son while he continued to drive. It wasn't like Gus to turn down ice cream, ever. Something was definitely wrong. Brian knew that Gus hated his new school. Washington Public was a far cry from the exclusive pre-school he once attended. Thanks to a black-ball recommendation by mayor Stockwell, Lindsey and Mel were unable to enroll Brian Kinney's son in any of the better private academies. Gus had been forced to attend kindergarten at his neighborhood grade school. Even as young as 5yrs old there were distinct differences between the two kinds of children who attended Washington Public. The more liberal attitude of the children who lived nearest Liberty Avenue was overshadowed by their less tolerant, blue collar classmates who resided in the outlining areas. "Gus, did something happen at school today?" Brian asked.

"I'm not going back to that school anymore. I'm going back to my old school. I don't like this one," Gus decided.

"You're a big boy now, Gus. You can't go to the baby school anymore," Brian

reminded him.

Gus folded his arms across his chest, and looked at his father. "Then I won't go to school at all!" he snapped.

The remainder of the ride continued in awkward silence with Brian's eyes fixed on the road, and Gus staring out of the passenger window. That somber mood changed however when Gus stepped out of the jeep, and through the glass doors of "Kinnetics". In true Brian Kinney style, the pint size ham soaked up the attention from Brian's staff.

"He's the spitting image of you Brian," Cynthia gushed. "How old are you now Gus?"

"Five," Gus said, and held up five fingers.

"Only five?" She pretended to be surprised. "You're such a big boy for five."

"And so handsome. You're going to be a heartbreaker like your father one day," Cynthia's assistant Grace added.

Gus smiled, and batted his hazel eyes.

"That's enough of that." Brian interrupted the stroke-fest to give his son a quick tour of Kinnetics before his next client arrived.

Brian's 2pm meeting with his newest client, "Playtime Toys" had a very special guest that afternoon. Gus was introduced to the company representatives, then given a seat next to Cynthia to watch his father in action. Brian proceeded with his presentation. However, Gus was more interested in the samples that were lined up along the center of the long conference room table. The premiere collection that promised to put Playtime Toys in direct competition with other established toy makers like "Mattel", and "Playskool" was set to be released in time for the Christmas season. At the end of the meeting Gus was allowed to briefly play with them. Much to Playtime's delight all three toys had met with Gus's approval.

Brian's sales pitch lasted a little over an hour. "I'm hungry," Gus announced as he helped his father gather up the scattered papers following the meeting.

"Me too," Brian concurred. "Hey, I'll bet you might find some snacks on my office desk."

Gus raced ahead of his father to Brian's office. Upon opening the door he spotted a bowl of fresh fruit sitting on Brian's desk. The hungry youngster immediately attacked a bunch of grapes, stuffing his mouth full, as he scanned the shelves that displayed Brian's advertising trophies. Among the many adulations showcased was Pittsburgh's "Ad Man Of The Year" award. Gus climbed into the executive seat behind Brian's desk. Sitting on the desk was the picture of him, and his father, the one that Michael had taken of them on the night that Gus was born. Gus twirled around in the big leather chair, and looked over to the other side of the room at the wall of framed newspaper articles praising Brian's work. Most recently added were the two latest issues of "Money", and "Fortune" magazines that featured Brian on both covers. "Do you see all of your old man's awards?" Brian spouted proudly.

"Take that down!" Gus pointed to the framed magazine covers.

"Why?" Brian asked.

"They're faggot pictures," Gus said.

"Faggot pictures?"

"Tyler says that you're a faggot. That's why you're in those magazines. You're not a faggot, are you daddy?"

----------------------------------------------

A furious Brian paced the floor back and forth in front of Lindsey. "My kid is being harassed at school, and, YOU weren't going to tell me anything. I'M HIS FATHER!" he bellowed.

"Please lower your voice, Brian. Gus is upstairs. He'll hear yo," Lindsey

pleaded.

Brian lowered his voice. "How the hell did this come up anyway? Since when do 5yr old boys read "Fortune" and "Money" magazines?" he asked.

"Several of the parents of Gus's classmates subscribe to those magazines, and saw you on the cover. Let's face it Brian, most fathers aren't on the covers of magazines advertising the fact that they're gay," Lindsey said.

At that moment Melanie came through the door carrying her bag of groceries. "Well, I see you told him. I could hear him yelling all the way outside," she said.

"And you weren't going to say anything either," Brian growled at her.

"We figured we didn't have to tell you anything, especially after Lindsey decided she would represent Gus for career day." Mel proceeded to the kitchen.

"What career day?" Brian turned back to Lindsey.

Lindsey sneered at Mel who had just unintentionally let the cat out of the bag. "Each child was given a day to bring a parent in to talk about their job, and Gus asked me to go for him," she said.

"Why didn't Gus ask me?" Brian wanted to know.

"Well...you see… it doesn't necessarily have to be a father, and..and. we know how busy you've been lately with your new agency, and all," Lindsey stumbled over her words.

Brian studied Lindsey's face. "That's not the reason," he said. "Gus didn't ask me to come because he's ashamed of me. Isn't he?"

"No.no.he's not ashamed of you Brian. He was just afraid that some of his classmates might tease him if you came. You have to understand Brian, Gus is only five years old. He just wants to fit in with the other boys." Lindsey tried to soften the blow, but it was too late. Her confession had sliced through Brian's heart like a dagger. Before she could dress his wounds Brian had turned, and walked out of the front door.

Justin snuggled close to his lover's side, and ran a comforting hand across Brian's chest. "My son hates me," Brian sighed.

"Gus does not hate you." Justin kissed his shoulder.

"He's ashamed of me, that's the same thing," Brian said.

"Not necessarily. Maybe it's just like Lindsey said, maybe Gus just wants to fit in with his friends who don't have gay parents. He's only 5yrs old, he'll outgrow it." Justin tried to sound optimistic.

Brian released himself from Justin's grip, and sat on the side of the bed. "What if he doesn't outgrow it? What if he resents me for the rest of his life?" Brian fielded the possibility.

"He won't hate you." Justin reached over, and rubbed Brian's back.

Brian lit a cigarette from the nightstand, and took a long drag. "I must have been stoned out of my fucking mind. What the hell was I thinking? I know damn well that gay men aren't supposed to have kids."

"And who said that?" Justin begged to differ.

"Biology said that." Brian looked back at Justin. "It's very simple. If you don't fuck women, then you don't have kids. How could I have let Lindsey talk me into that turkey baster, Frankenstein insemination bullshit? It's not natural. It wasn't meant to be, and now like Dr. Frankenstein I'm paying the price for going against nature."

Justin sat on the side of the bed, and leaned his head on his troubled lover's shoulder. "It's not against nature to want to leave your mark on the world," he said.

"The only mark I'm going to leave on this world are my cum stains on the backroom walls of Babylon. Gus will probably grow up, and change his name." Brian took another drag.

"Aren't you forgetting something? Gus's mommies are lesbians." Justin reminded him.

"It's ok to have lesbian mothers, that's cool, especially if they're fairly hot. You know how breeder boys love munchers. No doubt every straight father in the school will try to be Gus's friend hoping to get lucky, and be invited to a threesome with Lindsey and Mel." Brian took another drag from his cigarette. "Nope, no one wants to have a fag for a father. That's NOT cool."

"Then you make it cool," Justin said.

"What?" Brian looked at Justin.

"Gay, or straight you're still the best ad man in the business Brian." Justin said. "I've seen you make rubber steak sandwiches at a take-out seem like a gourmet meal at a five star restaurant. You've sold winkle creams to old ladies, and made them think they looked 20yrs younger. Somewhere in Pittsburgh there's a teenage boy wearing yellow gym shoes because Brian Kinney made him believe it was cool to do so. You could sell ice to an Eskimo, Brian. I know you can sell yourself to your son."

Much to Lindsey and Mel's dismay, Brian insisted on representing his son on Gus's career day. Keeping Justin's suggestion to sell himself in mind, Brian attacked the situation with the same fervor that he would give to any new client. On the day of the presentation he dressed in his designer best. The merlot suit that he wore to impress "Brown Athletics" had always brought him luck. "How do I look?" Brian asked.

Justin paused from getting dressed himself. "Hott, you look very, very hott," he approved.

Brian readjusted his shirtsleeve cuffs, and turned around yet again to check his rearview in the mirror. "Are you sure?" he asked.

Justin walked over and placed his arms around Brian's neck, and hugged him close. "Nervous?" he whispered.

"Nah," Brian lied.

"You're going to be fine Brian. You're going to have the kiddies eating out of your hand." Justin said to convince himself as much as he tried to convince Brian. As quiet as it was kept, this time the ever optimistic young man really didn't aspire to the confidence he was trying to instill in his pessimistic lover. While it may be true that Brian could sell ice to Eskimos, that didn't necessarily mean that he could win over the hetero demon seeds of hate. Children were naturally cruel, and children reared in bigotry were horrid. Both Brian, and Justin knew there was a real chance that Brian's attempt to regain his son's respect could backfire miserably, causing Gus to be ridiculed even more by his classmates, and ostracizing Brian even further away from his son's heart. "You're going to be fine, Brian," Justin said again.

NEXT WEEK: Ice To Eskimos, pt 2

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