Justin Fixes the VCR part Deux: The goo old days by Patti c. 2001. *lots of profanities, and some mild onomonapias*
When we left our fearless heroes... Lance was cross stitching something for Diane. JC was reading a really bad Fan Fic. Joey was reading Teeny Mags 'for research' Chris was playing Doctor Obvious. And Justin....
Shit, he thought. At this point Justin felt that he had to fix the damn thing. He imagined briefly the smug look of self-satisfaction he’d shoot his friends. ‘Justin’ they’d say. ‘You are smarter than we ever gave you credit for. I can’t believe you fixed the VCR.’ ‘I can’t believe you doubted me,’ he’d say, admiring his handiwork and the VCR played his Full House tape.
“Justin,” Joey interrupted his thoughts. “You might want to plug the VCR back in.”
“I was getting to that. JC, plug the VCR back in.” Groaning, JC leaned over—again-- and plugged up the outlet.
“Goddamnit!” Justin yelled as he watched the gears move and get stuck.
“You have a surplus of goo here. That’s your problem.”
“JC, unplug it.”
And so Justin sat, ten minutes later, surrounded by 117 aqua colored swabs and a tiny flat head screwdriver wrapped in toilet paper because, “can’t they make these freaking Q-Tips any smaller?”
The throbbing in Justin’s head grew.
But finally he had gotten the goo out. All of it. He’d better have or so help him god…
“JC plug it in.”
“Justin, I’m in the middle of something, do it yourself,” JC growled.
“Damnit JC just do it! Your story will still be there,” Justin argued.
JC sighed. “But you don’t understand. Kevin just found out he has HIV.”
“Now you’re reading Backstreet Boys stories?” Chris screamed, throwing his hands up in the air.
“Shut the hell up Chris, it’s a beautifully poignant tale of love and friendship,” JC said as he leaned over and plugged in the VCR.
“Un-fucking-believable,” Chris muttered.
Justin watched as everything he ‘fixed’ ran the way it was supposed to. He moved the tape thingy so the black cassette tape could wind completely around the round thing. He smiled as the newly goo-free gears circled.
Rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrhhhhhhhhhhhhh-----Hissssssssssssssss…clik.
The gears stopped. The VCR shut off.
“Fuck.”
“Maybe the goo was supposed to be there,” Lance suggested.
“Maybe you should keep your shampoo out of the VCR and shut your mouth Betsy Ross!”
Chris chuckled. “Betsy Ross. Good one.” A death glare from Justin stopped his giggles.
“Not funny Chris,” Justin said, peering into the VCR. “I bet if I had a flashlight I could fix this,” he thought out loud.
“If you had an IQ of 354 you couldn’t fix it,” Joey said nonchalantly from behind the pages of Marie Claire.
“Hey! I think I’ve figured it out. Shit, yes. I’ve got it,” Justin exclaimed.
“Well, don’t give it to me,” Chris deadpanned. Justin ignored him and talked frantically to no one in particular.
“See, this spring here isn’t springing the way it’s supposed to. It’s supposed to stretch and spring but this deely here isn’t letting it spring because this wire,” Justin traced a slim, gray wire along the back of the VCR and followed it as it split into a tiny fuse.
“The fuse is busted. All I gotta do is unplug it and plug it back in. JC?”
JC looked at Justin, tears filling his eyes. “No Justin. I am reading my story. I am not going to be your plug bitch anymore.”
Chris and Joey laughed. Hard.
Justin motioned to the VCR in his lap and shot a pleading look at the older man.
“No dice Justin. I’m reading.”
“Fine,” Justin pouted. “If I get electrocuted then it’ll be on your head.” “That’s something I’m prepared to deal with.”
So Justin, with needle-nosed pliers in hand, attacked the fuse, in an attempt to free the fuse from where it appeared to be welded in. A small zap sound was heard and he jerked his hand free.
“Shit. Fuck…Ouch!” Silence.
“You guys don’t fucking care! I could’ve really been electrocuted and y’all just would’ve sat there, not caring,” Justin yelled.
“Justin, had you really been electrocuted, we would’ve smelled your brain frying.”
Good point, Justin thought, not wanting to tempt fate by playing ‘Electrocuted’ again.
Later there’d be time for payback. But right now he had a fuse to fix.
Re-grabbing the pliers, he picked up where he had left off; clumsily prying the fuse out. Justin silently wished for a flashlight and thought about asking JC if he could borrow his silver, sequined shirt—not the one from the concert, but the one he wore out to clubs—so he could reflect the bus light into the VCR. He was about to open his mouth to ask when he heard a small clik.
He had gotten the fuse free. Now all he had to do was plug it back in and voila! Lowering his head to the small fuse, he blew air into the small holes.
“Justin, why the hell are you doing that?” Chris had been watching Justin because since MacGuyver Jr. unplugged the TV and VCR without bothering to set up the TV, Chris had nothing to do. He also reasoned that no matter how many channels they had, no TV show Chris found would be as amusing as this.
“I’m blowing into it. You know, like you do to a Nintendo game.”
Nope. Nothing quite like this.
