Hot Kid on a Hot Tin Roof
“What's that smell in this room?
Didn't you notice the powerful and
obnoxious odor of mendacity?”
—Big Daddy, “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof”
Kip was truly Skipper’s son—every inch of him. When he was 18, it sent shivers up and down Maggie’s pussy. Just looking at the kid—how much he’d grown. How much he looked like Skipper.
Kip turned Maggie upside-down and inside out. She became a cat on a hot tin roof all over again. She was proud of herself—Big Daddy would’ve been proud too. Skipper saved her marriage—and Big Daddy’s dynasty.
Brick Pollitt felt the same way—it sent chills up and down his nelly spine just looking at Kip. Talk about stunning déjà vu—Brick got those old hot flashes even worse than Maggie. Maggie got Skipper just once back then—but Brick got him off a lot more times than just once.
Maybe too many times, Brick thought to himself. Because there was Kip now—standing there in Big Daddy’s bedroom. Looking at himself in the big mirror. By then everybody knew—even Gooper and his dumb wife and kids knew. But it was too late—Big Daddy gave everything to Brick and Maggie.
Yes, Maggie had a kid alright—but it wasn’t with the help of Brick. Skipper that night kept things going with the Pollitt Dynasty—his love kept Big Daddy’s family together. Both Brick and Maggie knew it.
Kip knew it too—he’d known it for a long time. Nobody had to tell him—he didn’t look like Brick at all. He’d seen Skipper in the high school yearbook pictures—big, tall, athletic. A real stud—a true Big Daddy if there ever was one.
Brick didn’t want to admit it—he didn’t want to see what he could see. He didn’t want to know—what he already knew. He didn’t want to admit—Kip was Skipper’s son. Eighteen years old now.
But now even more shocking—Kip stood there in Big Daddy’s bedroom in the nude. Playing with himself like young men do—in front of Big Daddy’s bedroom mirror. He was right in the middle of having an orgasm—after masturbating like he always did.
Brick stood there—shocked beyond belief. He closed the bedroom door behind him—and locked it with a click. The thing that had haunted him ever since Brick’s suicide that night—it was back again. Maggie was off to a bridge party—Brick felt weak in the knees..
There was a new Big Daddy in the mansion. The Pollitt Dynasty had a new heir—young handsome Kip Pollitt. Buck-naked in front of the mirror—doing what Big Daddy’s did so well.
Brick crawled on his hands and knees—kissing the kid’s feet. The game was up. The kid probably found out on his own—probably had doubts all these years. Growing up the way he did—wild and athletic like Skipper. Maggie saw the same thing—but she played the demure cat on a hot tin roof as usual.
Kip sat down on the edge of the bed—the same bed that Brick and Maggie slept in. The same bed Big Daddy had slept in—the same bed the two old fag plantation masters had slept in.
That big old Louis XIV expensive antique bed—if only it could talk. How many Big Daddy passionate loads—how many prodigious Big Daddy ejaculations?
Of course, over time—the old mattress wore out and had to be changed. Some new bouncy springs and a touchup here and there—had to be added.
But basically it was still—Big Daddy who slept in that bed every night. Doing what Big Daddies do so well—continuing the Pollitt Dynasty.
And so it was only fitting—Brick fulfilled his most intimate heartbroken fantasy all over again. The moody, sullen, surly Skipper—was back again. The ghost of Skipper—always hanging around in the background. Reminding Brick over and over again—about what could have been and wasn’t. And now his fondest dream—so cumly consummated.
It was like some futile façade—had at last fallen once and for all. Skipper had come back to him—young, eighteen years old, in the prime of his youth. Neither death—nor supposedly fake ersatz incest between father and son. It couldn’t be held back any longer.
“Skipper,” Brick whispered in the kid’s ear. “Oh, Skipper, man I’ve missed you so bad…”
Afterward, Kip smoked a cigarette in bed—looking up at the ceiling. He was the new Big Daddy now—he had big plans for this old Big Daddy Pollitt joint.
Big Daddy’s Casino—up there in lights. Just like Las Vegas or Reno—only bigger and better. It was a new Deep South dynasty now—and things were gonna get down and dirty fast!!!
__________________________________
Postscript
(A close friend emailed me recently about Tennessee Williams’ play, “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.” He raised some questions about the ending of the excellent play, later becoming the famous Elizabeth Taylor-Paul Newman film classic. MM’s remarks were very tantalizing—I’d never thought about Maggie and Brick’s conversations at the end of the play in such a way. Resulting in my view of the whole play changing completely—please find his remarks included below. My reply was to dash off the above short story—picking up where MM’s thoughts left off. The piece is entitled “Hot Kid on a Hot Tin Roof.”)
________________________
“I actually read the play yesterday, and it is remarkably different from the movie. The copy of the play actually had two 3rd acts: the original as Tennessee wrote it and then one he modified for the Broadway play since Kazan didn't like how Big Daddy didn't appear in the 3rd act. But in the second act of the play you get a much different view of Brick and Big Daddy.
First, you learn the back story of the house and Brick/Maggie's room. A gay couple, Jack Straw & Peter Ochello, had owned this house and farm, and Brick/Maggie's bedroom and very bed belonged to this gay couple. Big Daddy recounts how he left school at 10 and started working. Then he talks about how he "bummed" across the country. Hobos were known to engage in same-sex sex and often had long-term relationships. Straw & Ochello "took me in" when Big Daddy was a young man and had reached bottom with his hoboing, and they eventually make him manager of their plantation. And that's how he's become as rich as he has, thorough their help. At one point he says: "One thing you can grow on a big place more important than cotton! -- is tolerance! -- I grown it."
Second, Big Daddy basically comes out to Brick. "I seen all things and understood a lot of them, til 1910....I'm just saying I understand such --" Of course, Brick can't hear what Big Daddy is trying to say. Brick only hears that Big Daddy believes the rumors about Skipper and his relationship. Big Daddy clearly understands that Brick romantically loved Skipper even though Brick keeps wanting to claim it was "pure". He keeps wanting Brick to admit that and realize there's no shame in it as there was no shame in Straw & Ochello's relationship.
Also, I had another insight about the very ending of Cat. Maggie announces she's going to have a baby. Everyone, of course, is gaga. Gooper and Mae claiming it's a lie, etc. Then after everyone leaves, Maggie turns to Brick as says basically "Thank you for going along with my lie". But is Maggie's lie? Everyone assumes it's that she's pregnant, leading in the movie to Brick mysteriously rediscovering his sexual interest in Maggie. The play is more ambiguous. Maggie famously ends the play with her famous speech about "you people" needing protection. But what has brought about this rather tepid reconciliation in the play?
So here's a what if: What if Maggie's seduction of Skipper wasn't unsuccessful? What if they did fuck, and then Skipper, feeling remorse and shame at having committed this double or even triple (if he revealed to Maggie the extent of his and Brick's relationship) betrayal, called Brick and confessed? What if, when Maggie announces she's pregnant, Brick realizes she's carrying Skipper's baby? In other words, the "lie" Maggie is grateful Brick goes along with is not that she's not pregnant but that she's pregnant with Skipper's and not his child. Now that would give a basis for a kind of reconciliation between Maggie and Brick at the end. Maggie is carrying Skipper's baby. Hmmm....
I kept puzzling over the ending because I couldn't figure out what had changed that would make Brick now accept Maggie's touch. Brick had already said he didn't care about the inheritance, and he certain found Maggie loathsome, such that he wipes his face when she kisses him. And Brick couldn't have been too concerned about what the rest of the family thought since he could have been far more "in the closet" than he was, e.g. not openly fighting with Maggie every night about where he'd sleep. So what changed in that last scene? That she was offering Brick a cover by announcing her pregnancy just doesn't make sense. He could have done that far earlier if he'd wanted it. No, the only explanation that makes any sense is that if Maggie really is pregnant and at her announcement Brick realizes that the father is his lover Skipper.”—MM
Footnote
I’d been reading about Miss Williams. Gawd, he had some real heartbreaking love relationships. They're all mentioned on Miss Wikipedia. Only some of that pain comes out with his Autobiography. But there's this photo of a young dancer he was in love with up there on Fire Island. He's the "Kip" I used for my "Kip" satire in “Hot Kid on a Hot Tin Roof.” In real life though Kip left Tennessee, of course, got married and then died at only 26. Many ups and downs with other lovers. A Mexican guy he met in NM. A bunch of young lovers. In Rome, for example, this Italian kid he lived with...gave him the idea for "The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone" that I thought should've had a more chicken male prostitute. Warren Beatty so-so. I can think of more modern cute guyz in Hollywood I'd like to see as Mrs. Stone's loverboy. I guess what intrigues me is how Tennessee Williams integrates his actual life with his fictional-poetic-play script existence. Of course, Kazan plus some luck. "Streetcar" a real eye-opener for me at LSU, reading between the lines like MM does so well. I bumble along. A genius like Tennessee Williams is a rare item, a kind of gift to us outta the depths of that Sixties darkness.
“What's that smell in this room?
Didn't you notice the powerful and
obnoxious odor of mendacity?”
—Big Daddy, “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof”
Kip was truly Skipper’s son—every inch of him. When he was 18, it sent shivers up and down Maggie’s pussy. Just looking at the kid—how much he’d grown. How much he looked like Skipper.
Kip turned Maggie upside-down and inside out. She became a cat on a hot tin roof all over again. She was proud of herself—Big Daddy would’ve been proud too. Skipper saved her marriage—and Big Daddy’s dynasty.
Brick Pollitt felt the same way—it sent chills up and down his nelly spine just looking at Kip. Talk about stunning déjà vu—Brick got those old hot flashes even worse than Maggie. Maggie got Skipper just once back then—but Brick got him off a lot more times than just once.
Maybe too many times, Brick thought to himself. Because there was Kip now—standing there in Big Daddy’s bedroom. Looking at himself in the big mirror. By then everybody knew—even Gooper and his dumb wife and kids knew. But it was too late—Big Daddy gave everything to Brick and Maggie.
Yes, Maggie had a kid alright—but it wasn’t with the help of Brick. Skipper that night kept things going with the Pollitt Dynasty—his love kept Big Daddy’s family together. Both Brick and Maggie knew it.
Kip knew it too—he’d known it for a long time. Nobody had to tell him—he didn’t look like Brick at all. He’d seen Skipper in the high school yearbook pictures—big, tall, athletic. A real stud—a true Big Daddy if there ever was one.
Brick didn’t want to admit it—he didn’t want to see what he could see. He didn’t want to know—what he already knew. He didn’t want to admit—Kip was Skipper’s son. Eighteen years old now.
But now even more shocking—Kip stood there in Big Daddy’s bedroom in the nude. Playing with himself like young men do—in front of Big Daddy’s bedroom mirror. He was right in the middle of having an orgasm—after masturbating like he always did.
Brick stood there—shocked beyond belief. He closed the bedroom door behind him—and locked it with a click. The thing that had haunted him ever since Brick’s suicide that night—it was back again. Maggie was off to a bridge party—Brick felt weak in the knees..
There was a new Big Daddy in the mansion. The Pollitt Dynasty had a new heir—young handsome Kip Pollitt. Buck-naked in front of the mirror—doing what Big Daddy’s did so well.
Brick crawled on his hands and knees—kissing the kid’s feet. The game was up. The kid probably found out on his own—probably had doubts all these years. Growing up the way he did—wild and athletic like Skipper. Maggie saw the same thing—but she played the demure cat on a hot tin roof as usual.
Kip sat down on the edge of the bed—the same bed that Brick and Maggie slept in. The same bed Big Daddy had slept in—the same bed the two old fag plantation masters had slept in.
That big old Louis XIV expensive antique bed—if only it could talk. How many Big Daddy passionate loads—how many prodigious Big Daddy ejaculations?
Of course, over time—the old mattress wore out and had to be changed. Some new bouncy springs and a touchup here and there—had to be added.
But basically it was still—Big Daddy who slept in that bed every night. Doing what Big Daddies do so well—continuing the Pollitt Dynasty.
And so it was only fitting—Brick fulfilled his most intimate heartbroken fantasy all over again. The moody, sullen, surly Skipper—was back again. The ghost of Skipper—always hanging around in the background. Reminding Brick over and over again—about what could have been and wasn’t. And now his fondest dream—so cumly consummated.
It was like some futile façade—had at last fallen once and for all. Skipper had come back to him—young, eighteen years old, in the prime of his youth. Neither death—nor supposedly fake ersatz incest between father and son. It couldn’t be held back any longer.
“Skipper,” Brick whispered in the kid’s ear. “Oh, Skipper, man I’ve missed you so bad…”
Afterward, Kip smoked a cigarette in bed—looking up at the ceiling. He was the new Big Daddy now—he had big plans for this old Big Daddy Pollitt joint.
Big Daddy’s Casino—up there in lights. Just like Las Vegas or Reno—only bigger and better. It was a new Deep South dynasty now—and things were gonna get down and dirty fast!!!
__________________________________
Postscript
(A close friend emailed me recently about Tennessee Williams’ play, “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.” He raised some questions about the ending of the excellent play, later becoming the famous Elizabeth Taylor-Paul Newman film classic. MM’s remarks were very tantalizing—I’d never thought about Maggie and Brick’s conversations at the end of the play in such a way. Resulting in my view of the whole play changing completely—please find his remarks included below. My reply was to dash off the above short story—picking up where MM’s thoughts left off. The piece is entitled “Hot Kid on a Hot Tin Roof.”)
________________________
“I actually read the play yesterday, and it is remarkably different from the movie. The copy of the play actually had two 3rd acts: the original as Tennessee wrote it and then one he modified for the Broadway play since Kazan didn't like how Big Daddy didn't appear in the 3rd act. But in the second act of the play you get a much different view of Brick and Big Daddy.
First, you learn the back story of the house and Brick/Maggie's room. A gay couple, Jack Straw & Peter Ochello, had owned this house and farm, and Brick/Maggie's bedroom and very bed belonged to this gay couple. Big Daddy recounts how he left school at 10 and started working. Then he talks about how he "bummed" across the country. Hobos were known to engage in same-sex sex and often had long-term relationships. Straw & Ochello "took me in" when Big Daddy was a young man and had reached bottom with his hoboing, and they eventually make him manager of their plantation. And that's how he's become as rich as he has, thorough their help. At one point he says: "One thing you can grow on a big place more important than cotton! -- is tolerance! -- I grown it."
Second, Big Daddy basically comes out to Brick. "I seen all things and understood a lot of them, til 1910....I'm just saying I understand such --" Of course, Brick can't hear what Big Daddy is trying to say. Brick only hears that Big Daddy believes the rumors about Skipper and his relationship. Big Daddy clearly understands that Brick romantically loved Skipper even though Brick keeps wanting to claim it was "pure". He keeps wanting Brick to admit that and realize there's no shame in it as there was no shame in Straw & Ochello's relationship.
Also, I had another insight about the very ending of Cat. Maggie announces she's going to have a baby. Everyone, of course, is gaga. Gooper and Mae claiming it's a lie, etc. Then after everyone leaves, Maggie turns to Brick as says basically "Thank you for going along with my lie". But is Maggie's lie? Everyone assumes it's that she's pregnant, leading in the movie to Brick mysteriously rediscovering his sexual interest in Maggie. The play is more ambiguous. Maggie famously ends the play with her famous speech about "you people" needing protection. But what has brought about this rather tepid reconciliation in the play?
So here's a what if: What if Maggie's seduction of Skipper wasn't unsuccessful? What if they did fuck, and then Skipper, feeling remorse and shame at having committed this double or even triple (if he revealed to Maggie the extent of his and Brick's relationship) betrayal, called Brick and confessed? What if, when Maggie announces she's pregnant, Brick realizes she's carrying Skipper's baby? In other words, the "lie" Maggie is grateful Brick goes along with is not that she's not pregnant but that she's pregnant with Skipper's and not his child. Now that would give a basis for a kind of reconciliation between Maggie and Brick at the end. Maggie is carrying Skipper's baby. Hmmm....
I kept puzzling over the ending because I couldn't figure out what had changed that would make Brick now accept Maggie's touch. Brick had already said he didn't care about the inheritance, and he certain found Maggie loathsome, such that he wipes his face when she kisses him. And Brick couldn't have been too concerned about what the rest of the family thought since he could have been far more "in the closet" than he was, e.g. not openly fighting with Maggie every night about where he'd sleep. So what changed in that last scene? That she was offering Brick a cover by announcing her pregnancy just doesn't make sense. He could have done that far earlier if he'd wanted it. No, the only explanation that makes any sense is that if Maggie really is pregnant and at her announcement Brick realizes that the father is his lover Skipper.”—MM
Footnote
I’d been reading about Miss Williams. Gawd, he had some real heartbreaking love relationships. They're all mentioned on Miss Wikipedia. Only some of that pain comes out with his Autobiography. But there's this photo of a young dancer he was in love with up there on Fire Island. He's the "Kip" I used for my "Kip" satire in “Hot Kid on a Hot Tin Roof.” In real life though Kip left Tennessee, of course, got married and then died at only 26. Many ups and downs with other lovers. A Mexican guy he met in NM. A bunch of young lovers. In Rome, for example, this Italian kid he lived with...gave him the idea for "The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone" that I thought should've had a more chicken male prostitute. Warren Beatty so-so. I can think of more modern cute guyz in Hollywood I'd like to see as Mrs. Stone's loverboy. I guess what intrigues me is how Tennessee Williams integrates his actual life with his fictional-poetic-play script existence. Of course, Kazan plus some luck. "Streetcar" a real eye-opener for me at LSU, reading between the lines like MM does so well. I bumble along. A genius like Tennessee Williams is a rare item, a kind of gift to us outta the depths of that Sixties darkness.
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