Episode 213
At Woody�s, Brian is trying to play pool but Justin is tormenting him,
suggestively pushing his crotch against the pool table. Brian can�t
concentrate and asks him to �move his dick� from Brian�s line of
vision. Justin does . . . instead he turns around and props his cute,
perfectly shaped ass against the pool table, right above the pocket
that Brian is trying to sink the ball in. Ted appreciates it, too. It�s
a very cute scene. Brian makes the shot.
Ted, Emmett, Michael, and Ben are also at the bar and Ted is handing
out flyers for a charity benefit--The Angel Ball--that is raising money
for Angels Over Pittsburgh, a group that delivers meals to AIDS
patients. Michael is familiar with them because they brought food
to his uncle Vic several times when Vic was so ill. They really
helped Debbie out. But most of the occupants in the bar are ignoring
Ted�s good deeds. They don�t seem interested and Brian says that
Ted needs a big attraction to get people�s attention. Justin suggests
Madonna or the Backstreet Boys. Ted calls Justin �Sunshine� (heh,
heh, heh, how cute) and reminds that they�re living in Pittsburgh,
not in Justin�s dreams. Emmett suggest they get the great dame of
all Drag Queens, Divina Devore, to perform. Brian scoffs over the
idea. But Em is insistent. She�s famous. She�d be perfect for the
ball. Michael agrees that it�s worth a shot.
Lindsay and Mel are at an open house for a preschool that they
want Gus enrolled in. They�re happy when the school assures them
that they are interested in diversity and will accept children from
same sex parents into their school.
At the diner, Debbie has framed several of Justin�s pictures and
put them on the walls of the diner in place of the previous artwork.
She tries to sell one to a customer who isn�t interested. Debbie
declares that he knows nothing about art anyhow. Justin is touched
by her efforts and interest in his art and says it doesn�t matter what
the other customers think, Debbie likes his work and that�s all that
matters. It�s such a sweet scene with Debbie and her �Sunshine�.
Jennifer comes into the diner then and talks with Justin at the counter.
He offers her something to eat and she declines, saying she has just
came back from having lunch with his father. Justin doesn�t want
to talk about Craig, but Jennifer says they have to. Craig is refusing
to pay Justin�s college tuition now. Justin asks why and Jen says he
gave her some excuse about how he can�t afford it, but he�s really
just a lame ass shit. Jen promises to help Justin out by dipping into
her savings but Justin says no. She and Molly need that money. He
assures her that he will find a way to pay for college himself.
Michael, Emmett, and Ted go to see a performance of Divina Devore.
They�ve made it backstage and await Divina as she comes back after
the show. Divina is on a rampage because something went wrong
during her performance. They try to approach her about performing
for the Angel Ball, but she�s not interested.
Brian and Justin in the Jeep. Justin has apparently told Brian about
Craig�s latest stunt because Brian is offering to pay for Justin�s college
tuition. Justin declines, saying that he will get a better job or a second
job or apply for financial aid or a loan. Brian asks what Justin intends
to use for collateral for his loan, his ass? Brian tells him not to be a
twat. He�s only trying to help. Justin says that he doesn�t want Brian
to have to help him this time. He practically owes Brian his life as it
is. �What do you mean practically�, Brian shots back with a smile.
Justin turns serious and says he doesn�t want Brian to feel like Brian
always has to take care of him. And, what�s more, *he* doesn�t want
to feel like he always needs Brian to take care of him. He wants to do
this on his own. Brian tells him fine, go do it, but don�t come crying
to Brian when Justin succeeds. Justin smiles, delighted that Brian has
faith in him that he can and will make his own way. They�ve stopped
at a red light and Justin unbuckles his seat belt, scooting closer to Brian
and saying how much he loves the fact that Brian would do anything for
him. Justin is unzipping Brian�s pants as he says this. Brian replies that
he made an investment and he wants to see it pay off. �Here�s a divi-
dend,� Justin proclaims as he starts to blow Brian. (Aww, I love the
look of tenderness of Brian�s face when he looks down at Justin and
starts to rub Justin�s back.) Brian is loving it and happens to glance out
his window to see a shocked man in the next car watching them, know-
ing exactly what Justin is doing. Brian just arches an eyebrow at the
guy and reeves the engine. The man starts to smile in amusement.
In the kitchens of �Angels Over Pittsburgh�, Ted, Michael, Vic, and
Emmett are helping out. Ted grumbles about the way Divina treated
them. Vic recognizes Divina�s name and reveals that he went to high
school with her, back when she was a he. Vic says her real name was
Danny Devore. Ted suggests that maybe Michael could use his �family
influence� to persuade Divina to perform, but Vic doubts that Divina
would remember him.
Lindz gets a letter from the Gus� prospective pre-school and is all
excited until she reads it and learns that Gus has been rejected for this
school. Mel and Lindz think it�s because Gus is being raised by lesbian
mothers. They�re son is being discriminated against because of them.
Michael goes back to see Divina Devore. He mentions Vic and Divina
does remember him. But Divina also remembers Vic�s sister, Debbie.
Divina asks if Debbie is Michael�s mother and Mikey says she. Mikey
asks how Divina knows Deb and Divina reveals that she (or I maybe I
should say Danny Devore) used to date Debbie, back when he was a
�male impersonator�! Divina asks if Deb ever became a nurse like she
dreamed of being in high school. Mikey is surprised to learn that Deb
wanted to be a nurse. Divina recalls that Debbie was beautiful in school.
Divina agrees to do the Angel Ball.
At the diner, Michael is sitting with Brian when an thrilled Ted comes in
and thanks Michael for getting Divina to perform. Brian can�t believe
that Debbie use to date a drag queen. This officially makes her the
biggest Fag Hag of all time, Brian declares. Debbie comes over and
is not happy to learn that her ex is back in town or that he has had
contact with Michael. She leaves in a huff.
At Babylon, Justin tips one of the go-go boys, but Brian grabs the dollar
back and returns it to Justin, suggesting he needs to keep it to pay for
college. Justin says it doesn�t matter if he gives away his last dollar.
His job hunting was no good. He couldn�t find any place that was hiring.
Plus the financial aid department turned him down, saying his father made
too much money for him to qualify for help. Brian says his offer to pay
Justin�s tuition still stands, but so does Justin�s refusal. He wants to do
this on his own. The go-go dancer asks for a hand getting off stage and
Brian and Justin give him a hand as he�s climbing down. Brian smirks
that at least here is one man who knew when to accept help. Justin is
surprised by how much money the dancer has made just in tips and asks
if there is any openings for dancers. Cute Guy replies that his boss Gary
is �always looking�. Brian walks off, not liking the idea that is forming
in Justin�s mind.
Michael in Ben in Michael�s old room at Debbie�s house. Ben is checking
out the old pics of Brian and Michael from when they were teenagers.
Michael thinks he was a dork back then. Ben says no way. But Ben was
a dork in school. A *big* one. Michael replies with �fat chance� and Ben
laughs, saying that Mikey has no idea just �how fat� he once was. Ben
doesn�t think Michael was a dork, more of a dweeb and Brian was a spaz,
which apparently is worse than a dweeb, according to sweet Ben. But that�s
ok, because Ben likes dweebs. Michael is going through some old boxes of
Debbie�s because he wants to know more about what his mother was like
when she was young. Deb has never talked about herself and her history
that much. Ben finds some pom-poms that belonged to Debbie, she was a
cheerleader. Michael jokes that they might have been Vic�s. (Ha, ha.)
Mikey finds an old yearbook and looks up Debbie�s picture. She was
beautiful. Out of curiosity, he looks up Danny Devore and is floored to
find that Danny looked just like him!! (It�s actually a picture of Hal Sparks
that is being used for Danny�s yearbook photo.) Ben comments that Danny
was cute. If you like dweebs, Mikey replies. He�s still stunned by the
resemblance.
Justin goes to talk to Gary about becoming a go-go dancer.
Gary is a total sleezeball, by the way. He�s not too interested in
Justin as a dancer and not impressed that Justin once won the
King Of Babylon Contest. He�s not hiring and he wants Justin
to leave. Justin is persistent, though, and comes walking back
across the war in his undies. He tells Gary to give him one
dance. If Gary still says no, then he will leave and not bug Gary
anymore. Gary points out that Justin doesn�t have a very muscular
body to work as a dancer. Justin replies that he�s blonde, though,
and has a great ass. He just wants one dance to prove himself to
Gary. Gary agrees and Justin dances for the slimeball.
The scene of Justin dancing on the bar is entercut with him dancing
on the coffee table at the loft, still in his undies, giving Brian a
�private show�. Brian�s eating his Chinese take-out and requests
that Justin not step on his food, please. Justin settles on the couch
next to Brian and is all excited because he got the job. Gary told
him how much money he will be pulling in each night. Brian replies
that money better be the only thing that Justin is �pulling�. Brian
also reminds that Justin shouldn�t forget to do his homework because
he�s working too hard. If he does, then he will have to be spanked.
Justin all but dares Brian to try. A challenge Brian accepts, grabbing
Justin and hauling Justin over his lap. Brian tugs down the undies and
starts to spank Justin�s bare butt. They�re both laughing and Justin is
all, �Please, don�t hurt me too much, Daddy�.
Mel and Lindsay walk in then. Damn! These two have the worst
time, not to mention tact! Who just barges into someone�s loft
without knocking?!?! An embarrassed Justin scampers off to put
on some clothes while Brian grumbles to himself that he needs to
start locking his doors.
Lindz doesn�t care that she has interrupted one of the few Brian
and Justin lovely scenes we�ve had in awhile. She tells Brian that
Gus has been turned down for this school and thinks it�s because
his parents are gay. She wants him to have the same opportunities
that other kids will have. So she�s found another school and she
wants Brian to come with her to the interview and pretend to be
her husband. Brian hates the idea. He has no desire to lie about
himself or Gus� family just to please straight people. Mel declares
that he�s a total �heterophobe�. Justin agrees, Brian is. Even
Brian agrees, he is. But Lindsay plays the guilt card and gets him
to agree to the pretense. It�s for Gus benefit, after all.
At Debbie�s house, Michael is grilling Vic about Debbie and
Divina and poor Vic is trying to get out of the conversation. Deb
comes home then and Michael starts in on her, showing her Danny
Devore�s yearbook photo and asking why he looks so much like
the guy. Deb tries to say he doesn�t, but Mikey�s not buying that
and asks point blank if Divina is his father. Debbie is upset by
the questions. She goes over to a photo on the mantle and says
that this is Michael�s father--Lieutenant John Michael Novotny.
He was killed in the Vietnam War. A land mine killed him while
he was carving his way through the jungle. Uh-oh. Michael
doesn�t recognize that story and calls her on it, saying that Deb
previous told him that his father was killed in a Jeep accident
during the war. �He was carving his way in a Jeep,� Debbie
tries to correct. Mikey doesn�t buy it and Debbie says that she
is his mother and she expects him to believe her!
Lindz and Brian are walking to the interview together and Lindz
is telling Brian to please behave today. Brian promises not to say
�dick� if she promises not to mention �pussy� then. They arrive
at the perspective school and Lindsay is all nervous. Brian is
being Brian, putting on a toy Firemen�s Helmet and pretending
like he�s holding his huge, uh, hose. Lindsay pleads with him
to behave. Lindz asks him to be serious for a minute and he
promises to be. Lindz asks if Brian ever once imaged that �this�
would have been their real future. In other words, did Brian
ever think once that she and him would get married and have a
family together. Brian says no. (Hey, she wanted him to be
serious so he is!) He never pictured himself having a life with
her as the happy married couple, but that doesn�t mean that he
doesn�t love her and Gus. (He just doesn�t love her in a romantic
way.) He gives her a kiss and they�re interrupted by the woman
who is there to interview them. Interviewer thinks it�s great
that they are such a �loving couple�. They go with her to discuss
Gus� future.
Debbie goes to see Divina. Divina says that he has met Michael.
He knows that Michael is his son. Why didn�t Debbie tell him?
Deb says that he had already left town by the time she realized
she was pregnant. What was she suppose to do? Track him down
and say come home and marry me? So she made up a lie about
Michael�s father, including claiming a dead soldier she had read
about in the newspaper was his father. She even changed her
last name so he wouldn�t question the lie. She wanted Michael
to have a �hero� for a father. Something Divina couldn�t be.
Deb assures Divina that it had nothing to do with the fact that
Divina was gay. A part of her always knew that about him.
Maybe it was one of the reasons she liked him so much. It was
because Divina had lied to her about it. Divina replies that he
wasn�t just lying to Debbie about being straight in high school,
he was lying to himself also. Trying to be someone that he
really wasn�t. Deb says he succeeded in that department
because he fathered her child, but Mikey didn�t need to know
that his father was a drag queen. But now he suspects it
because he saw the photos and is probably on his way to talk
to Divina. Deb�s afraid that Michael won�t trust her again
once he realizes that she has lied to him all these years.
At home, Lindsay tells Mel that the interview went perfectly.
Brian was on surprisingly good behavior and he charmed
everyone at the school. It was just perfect. So why does
Lindz look so glum, Melanie asks. Lindz says because it
was a lie. It was all one big, huge, fake lie. It should have
been her and Mel. The phone rings and the ladies get the
news that . . . Gus wasn�t accepted to this school, either!
The school was looking for more diversity so they were
saving the last spot for a child with same sex parents. The
ladies start to say it�s discrimination--against straight couples!
They laugh over it and Lindz declares that, tomorrow, Gus�
parents, Lindsay and Melanie, will look for a good pre-school
for him together. They kiss.
The Angel Ball at Babylon! Justin is dancing on a podium,
wearing tight and very short white shorts with white angel
wings on his back. He looks soooo cute! Brian doesn�t
appreciate it, though. He�s mortified, shaking his head in
disbelief as he keeps taking peeks at his boyfriend, the new
Babylon go-go dancer. Brian�s at the bar with Emmett and
a depressed Michael. Em makes reference to Justin�s new
job, saying that he used to walk dogs for extra money when
he was a teen. Who knew you could make more money
wagging your tail instead?! Brian�s not amused and walks
off.
Ted comes over to thank Michael again for getting Divina to
perform. Michael wants to leave and avoid the performance.
Brian stops him and says he thought Mikey was one of Divina�s
fans. Michael asks how his mother could have done this to him,
lying all these years about his father. Brian rationalizes that
Michael doesn�t know for sure that Deb made up a lie about
Mikey�s father. But Michael is insistent that his mother lied.
His father wasn�t some hero, he�s Judy Garland! Brian asks
if he would have preferred Betty Davis. (Ha, ha.) Mikey
just wants to forget the whole thing.
Divina is introduced and gives a great performance, singing
�Heaven, I�m In Heaven�. Justin likes the performance and
starts tapping his foot to the music, to which we see that the
adorable little �Angel� is wearing old, dirty sneakers to
perform in! LOL!! Michael also likes the performance
despite himself.
After the show, Michael goes by to talk to Divina. Mikey shows Divina
the yearbook photo of Danny Devore, commenting on the resemblance
between them. Divina pretends not to see it. Michael asked pointedly
if Divina is his father. Divina tries to avoid the question, but Michael
goes on, saying that the timing is right. Danny Devore once dated and
slept with Debbie. Michael goes on and on, finally saying that he isn�t
asking anything from Divina. They don�t have to have a relationship or
be friends or even keep in touch, he just needs to know the truth. Divina
says that, the truth is, Debbie gave Michael a hero-father figure to look
up to when he was growing up. It�s up to Mikey now to decide if he wants
to believe that or not.
After the ball, workers are cleaning up Babylon and Justin goes
upstairs to talk to his sleazy boss Gary. Justin expresses concern
that he isn�t making much tips. He really needs the money to pay
for school. Sleazy Gary says that the only way to make any real
money in tips is to dance on the bar, but Justin is new so it could
take up to six months before Justin can work his way up to that.
Justin is disheartened. He needs money now for school. Sleazy
Gary suggests there is a way around that rule, though. He�ll give
Justin �time� if Justin will give him some time. Or, in other words,
he will promote Justin if Justin will let Sleazy Gary blow him. Justin
says no and starts to walk away, but Sleazy Gary plays on his des-
peration, reminding that Justin could make the money he needs if he
dances on the bar. Justin is torn and finally goes back to Sleazy Gary
and lets the guy blow him. But the look on his face is so tragic. He�s
not proud of his choice.
Brian is waiting up for Justin to get home, working at his computer.
Justin comes in. Brian comments that he�s getting home late and
Justin says he stayed to talk to his boss. Gary said he could start
dancing on the bar. Uh-oh. Brian knows how that came about!
But Brian oh-so-casually asks, �After only one night?� Justin
answers, saying that he told Brian he would take care of himself
and he�s doing that. He kisses Brian and then goes to take a
shower. Brian watches him walk off, muttering that he guesses
Justin can take care of himself. A tough storyline to take.
Justin wants so badly to prove he can make it on his own and
that he doesn�t need Brian to always help him. Unfortunately,
he�s going about it the wrong way.
At Debbie�s, she�s taking down the photo of Michael�s �father�
when Mikey comes in and asks her why she�s doing it. Deb
says there is no need to keep it anymore. Michael disagrees,
letting her know in his own way that he has chosen to stick
with her version of the past. His father was a hero who died
in the war. End of discussion. End of episode.