OLD MAN'S TALE-2

EPISODE 2

     “Mary, don’t ever wish to be someone else. No matter how hard you try, you can’t be successful when you try to be someone else. Figure out what you want to be in life and try to live your life.” Peter took a deep breath before he continued. “I wasted ten years of my life trying to be someone else. I wanted to be like Joseph Jones, my late brother. He was a fantastic actor. He was popular and he won many awards including Grammy and Oscar.” Peter took a deep breath again before he continued. “His fame, money and women made me wish I was him. I abandoned my painting and I followed his luxurious lifestyle.” Peter suddenly shut his eyes. After he refused to let them opened, Mary grabbed his hand and he opened them.

            “Are you alright?” Mary asked with concern.

            “I am good,” Peter replied quickly. “Mary, I think I want to lie on my back,” he said, Mary rushed to his aid. Peter stared into space for a while before he continued, “I started following Joseph popularly called ‘Cowbell’ to work and I begged for roles. I was opportune to feature in some movies through the influence of my brother because I wasn’t really a good actor. I didn’t know how bad I was in acting till my brother died in a ghastly accident and I stopped getting roles in movies. It took me several years to get my life back together. I went back to painting when I saw my old painting hung beautiful on the wall of Marilyn’s room.”

            “Okay,” Mary said gently after a long lived silence.

            “Marilyn,” Peter broke a brief silence and Mary became enthusiastic. She wanted to know a lot about the woman Peter adored that he devoted all his days talking about her and her books. Marilyn was Peter’s goddess. He mentioned her name countless number of times and he only read her books. “I met Marilyn when I was very young and agile. Just a quick glance at her pretty face stole my heart away. That day was my first painting exhibition. She was staring at one of my art piece with so much enthusiasm when I took note of her face. Such a confident woman whom couldn’t hide her admiration for a young and charming man she just met.” Peter laughed at the sweet memories of so many years that drifted his mind.

            “That means she didn’t play ‘hard to get’?” Mary was amused when Peter nodded. What kind of a woman will quickly show approval to a man’s affection? She must be so sincere and real.

            “We had dinner together that same day and we talked incessantly like we had known each other for so long that when she left, I felt like an important part of me was missing. I was not that a loving guy, I fell in and out of love easily but it was a different case with Marilyn. Her charms were irresistible. Despite how I foolishly attempted to resist her charms, I couldn’t recover from it. Then I said to myself that I have found ‘the bones of my bones’” Peter laughed quietly, after he coughed gently.

            “You are doing great old man,” Mary said her usual words and Peter smiled at her sarcasm. She said the same thing to him when the doctor had confirmed his blurred vision to be permanent and anytime he groaned.

            “We got married that same year and we welcomed a very cute boy, Andrew, the subsequent year.  Two years after Andrew was born; we had a very tiny little girl, Elizabeth. Marilyn called her Liz, but I choose to call her Tinker because she was very tiny at birth. Just a year after Tinker’s birth, we had another minute baby boy, John.” Peter laughed. “You already know what my wife and I loved to do most,” he added and Mary laughed.

            “You love children,” Mary commented.

            “No, Marilyn loved many children. We would have had more if only I didn’t walk away.”

            “Walk away?”

            “Yeah,” Peter sighed deeply in despair at the thought of all troubles he caused Marilyn. “I left Marilyn few months after we had little John. Luxurious and flamboyant life style with Joseph in New York City made me forget my home. I got attracted to a Scottish-American lady that made me considered Marilyn to be old fashioned. I wouldn’t tell you her name, but let’s call her Oak.  Oak was really an attractive actress and a very popular one. Her sultry looks kept many men like me in her mighty incarceration. Paparazzi followed us anywhere we went to, so it was not uncommon to see different pictures of us on the front page of newspapers and magazines. It wouldn’t have happened without her because she was such a person that needed to be read about. Who would have loved to read about me?” Peter paused like he was waiting for an answer.

            “But you are well known for your artistic talents,” Mary said even though she knew that wasn’t an answer to a question that sounded too rhetorical.

            Peter laughed before he continued. “Then, I wasn’t yet a renowned artist.”

            “It must have been a tough time for Marilyn?”

            Peter sighed again. “Here is another lesson, Mary, never hurt the heart that loves you. I hurt Marilyn several times. I remember vividly how sad she looked as she stretched out a magazine towards me. There was a picture of Oak and I cuddling on the front page of the magazine. She could have yelled like an angry woman that she looked, instead she implored I stop going to New York. She said I made a very bad actor and she reminded me of how good my paintings were. I flared up that night that she called me a bad actor, I pulled one of my paintings from the wall and I destroyed it after I had called it a trash. Marilyn yelled in despair and the children’s tiny voices resonated as they joined her to cry.” Peter paused to cough gently. Mary needed not ask if he regretted his action, she had discovered a note of regret in his voice.

            “Really tough time,” Mary broke the brief silence. “Tough moment,” she said again when the old man refused to say a word.
           “Those times you called tough turned to be a great advantage to her all the same. She wrote lots of beautiful and great books while she was alone. She was such an emotional writer who really struggled to hide her reality from the content of her books. Like the one you are holding.” Peter struggled to turn his neck towards Mary. She understood his body language, so quickly she dropped the book in his hands. “I think this is her best.” His gaze directed towards his hands like he could see the book clearly. “You should read this book one day and it would teach you forgiveness,” Peter added and Mary nodded like she would do just as he had said. She was a lazy reader.

            “She was a great woman indeed.”           

            “Yes, she was. Despite negligence of six years, she was quick to forgive me.”

            “Six years!” Mary exclaimed. Quickly, she rushed towards Peter after the book fell from his wobbly hands. Once she had placed the book on the shelf, she returned to his bed. She adjusted his pillows and ran her hands over his trembling hands to soothe his nervous look.

            “Day by day, they have become weaker.” He stretched forth his hands towards her.

            “You are doing well,” she rocked his hands more. “So you went away from her for six years?” she broke a brief silence. “That must have been so challenging,” she added and then looked pointedly at Peter wondering what was holding back his words.

            “Oak betrayed my trust just like she did to other men she had been with,” Peter said unexpectedly and Mary smiled. “I got involved in so many ladies after she left, but they left just like she did. Women that I partied with took to their heels once they became aware that I was involved in an accident.”

            “Accident?”