The Question Collection

He walks to the stereo to turn the music down a couple notches and goes to answer the phone. As soon as he picks it up, he can hear Brian hurriedly speaking about what he can only assume is the reason for the call. But he can only pick out the words “Gus” and “school.”

"Slow the fuck down, Brian. What’s wrong?"

"Gus is in some kind of trouble at school. The principal is requesting one of his parents go down to pick him up. I have a meeting and Lindsay’s busy at the gallery. Can you pick him up?”

After a few seconds, Justin recovers from the shock of being referred to as a parent and answers the question, “Um, yeah, sure.”

"Thanks, Sunshine."

He changes out of his paint-spattered clothing and picks out something slightly more presentable.

XXXXXXXXXX

He pulls up to the elementary school and just parks in front. After entering the school, he follows the signs to the Principal’s Office. The secretary, a scary old lady with horn-rimmed glasses and smeared lipstick, tells him he can walk right in. Gus is sitting in a chair opposite of the Principal’s desk. His head is down and he has small frown on his face. Justin has never seen Gus look so dejected. He decides to get the boy to the loft as soon as possible, and turns to the Principal to ask what happened. He’s an older man, probably 40, and rather attractive. And, Justin swears the guy is cruising him.

"He had a physical altercation with another fifth grader."

"Really?" He’s surprised. As far as he knows, Gus has never been violent, although at times he can have a sharp tongue, something he inherited from his father.

"We have a strict policy about this kind of thing at our school. Both Gus and the other boy involved will be suspended for the duration of today and all of tomorrow,” he says regretfully. Gus is a superb student and well-liked by most of his classmates and the faculty.

"That’s not a problem, Mr. Keith. We’ll have him back in class on Monday.”

"Call me Ray. Thank you for being so understanding..."

"Justin," he holds out his hand to shake.

"It’s a pleasure to meet you, Justin." He holds on a little longer than necessary.

"Well, we better go. I’m sure Gus hasn’t even had lunch yet."

"I won’t detain you Justin. If you have any questions, feel free to call anytime. My secretary will put you right through. And have a nice day Gus.” The pair walks out of the school towards the car. Gus lives with Lindsay, but with her being at work, the only option is to have him stay at the loft until she’s finished.

When Brian called him about Gus, he was in the middle of a painting. He’s hoping that after Brian gets home he’ll be able to go back to it. He puts his thoughts about the painting aside and glances at Gus. The child seems to be deep in thought and looks despondent as if his biggest dream was crushed.

Justin knows he’ll have to talk to Gus about what happened. He considers broaching the subject in the car, but his thoughts quickly turns to the time when his mother told him she knew he was gay and that claustrophobic, trapped feeling that engulfed him. Cars really aren’t the best place for serious conversations.

XXXXXXXXXX

As soon as they enter the loft, Gus makes a beeline for the couch.

"Do you want a sandwich, Gus?"

"Uh, sure." Justin fixes a couple of tuna sandwiches, grabs a bag of chips, and sits everything on the island.

"You’re sandwich is ready Gus." Gus slowly gets off the couch and sits on a bar stool. Justin finishes his sandwich quickly and waits for him to finish.

"So, do you want to talk about what happened?"

"Uh...no." Justin silently counts down from five. Gus always says “no” and usually spills within the next five seconds, a sometimes annoying habit he picked up from his Uncle Mikey.

"Well, we were in art class. And, we were all painting. I was talking to Reid about how my dad is the best artist ever. And, he said he thought my dad did business stuff. And, I told him that yeah my dad does business stuff, but my other dad is an artist. He said he only had one dad. And, I said I have two.” Gus pauses. Justin is surprised by what he’s told him. It’s the first time he’s ever heard Gus refer to him as his other dad.

"Go on, Gus."

"Well, I was telling him that I have two dads that love eachother. And, this boy Derek came up to us. And told me I was a freak and his mom said that if two men loved eachother they were evil and would go to hell.”

Justin waits for Gus to continue.

"I was so angry, I hit him. I know I shouldn’t have. But what he said was so mean. You and Dad aren’t going to hell are you, Justin?”

"Some people think so." He pauses, knowing what he’ll have to say and feeling Gus is too young to have to deal with this peace of reality. “And, unfortunately, this won’t be the last time you hear hateful comments like that Gus. Do you think me and your Dad are evil?”

"No!" he almost shouts.

"Well, that’s all that matters, Gus. There’s always going to be people that don’t like you or don’t like your friends and family. It only matters what you think. If you’re happy with yourself, your friends, and your family then whatever someone else says won’t matter.”

Gus’s brow furrows as he thinks about what Justin said. "So, I should just ignore them?”

"Well, most people’s anger comes from not understanding. So, using words in order to get someone to understand isn’t wrong. But, hitting someone isn’t going to solve the problem, that’s something I know from experience.”

"Really? What happened?"

"I’ll tell you when you’re a bit older." Gus considers his answer. Justin usually answers every question Gus asks whereas he has to weasel answers out of his father. He decides to let the subject drop, knowing that it must be important if Justin is unwilling to talk about it.

"Okay. Uh, thanks for talking with me, Jus."

"Of course, what are dads for?" Gus smiles at that.

"Uh, Jus? Can I call you dad too?"

"Well, we wouldn’t want to confuse anyone by calling us both me and your father dad.”

"Oh, okay." He looks absolutely crestfallen.

"You could call me Pops though." Gus’s smile returns.

"Sure, Pops."

XXXXXXXXXX

When Brian comes home a couple of hours later, Gus and Justin are on the couch and the end credits of Yellow Submarine are rolling.

Justin meets Brian in the bedroom as the brunet changes out of his suit.

"So, what happened?"

"Some kid made a comment about fags and burning in hell and Gus hit him.”

"Hmph." His frown looks similar to the one Gus was wearing earlier.

"I was just about to order something to eat. Do you want something?”

"Thai would be good."

"I was thinking pizza." Justin motions towards Gus.

"Yeah, sure, get me a salad."

While Justin is on the phone, Brian walks over to the couch and sits down next to his son.

"Do you want to talk about what happened?"

"No, it’s alright. Justin talked to me about it. He said some people just don’t understand and I shouldn’t care what they think.”

"Sounds like good advice."

XXXXXXXXXX

Soon after the pizza is finished, Lindsay arrives. While Gus gets his backpack together, Brian tells Lindsay what happened at the school and it seems that Justin has taken care of it.

Gus gave his dad a hug goodbye and walked over to Justin, giving him a hug as well.

"Bye Pops."

"Bye Gus."

Lindsay and Brian glance at eachother before she and Gus walk out of the door. As the door closes, Brian slides his arms around Justin’s waist.

"Pops?" Brian turns the blonde around to face him.

"I guess I’m a father now."

"You’ve been one for awhile."

"I suppose so. Apparently I’m a DILF too."

"DILF?"

"Dad I’d Like to Fuck. The school principal was cruising me hard. Long looks, lingering touches, talk about pleasuring each other. He said I could call him anytime.”

"You’re nothing special Sunshine," Brian says with a smirk.

"What? I thought Ray and I had a connection!" he shouts in mock outrage.

"I guess we’re both DILFs. I know I’d like to fuck you Pops."

"Well, get to it."

"Aye, aye, sir." With those words both men walk towards the bedroom.