a fanfiction based on George Cukor’s The
Philadelphia Story (1940) and the musical High Society (1956), both
of which were based on the Broadway play, The Philadelphia Story (1939) by
Philip Barry. I don’t own the story, but
I own the characters in this adaptation.
∞∞∞∞
Chapter Eight
What really was important
Coming up close
Everything sounds like welcome home
Come home, and oh, by the way
·
“Coming Up Close”, as
sung by Til Tuesday
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| http://www.ynyogaposes.com/yogalessons.html |
Four and a half years
ago…
Deetz rose at dawn, did a Tai Chi workout, and ate some oatmeal.
Two days ago, Angus had ordered a truck and food from a broker in town. It was delivered to the cottage - a
four-passenger Ford F-250 loaded with nonperishable foodstuff from a prepper
supply company called My Patriot Supply, and a box of miscellaneous
tools. A note was taped to the
passenger side: I have to run into town for a couple of hours.
Business. I should be back before 1 pm – Angus. Initially, Deetz wondered
if Angus had changed his mind, chickened out. Even so, I can drive to Cousin
Scarlett’s myself, he said as a self-distraction. Meanwhile, he
concentrated on loading Sugar, focusing primarily on organizing the
kitchen stuff and checking the satellite service.
Ciara and family found him shortly afterwards on the caravan’s
roof. “Wow, big brother! It’s brilliant! I didn’t know you were this
handy.”
Tom and she walked around the motorhome. Tom asked, “And you say
we all could sleep comfortably? I believe it! This thing is huge.”
“According to the foreclosure letters I found on the floor,”
Deetz said, “the bank was supposed to repossess it three years ago. The former owner must have hidden it to stick
it to the bank.” Deetz got down from the
roof then continued, “When I discovered it, the inside was a mess but the
inspector found no signs of delamination, the structural foundation was quite
sound, and the fibreglass siding only needed cleaning and some laminate replacement.” He pulled from his jeans back pocket some
paperwork and gave it to Ciara as if she did architectural design as a side
hustle. He continued, “It is a 2010
Jayco North Point, a good production year with recalls and consumer complaints
down by 37%.” Deetz pressed a panel on
the lower center of the caravan and pulled out the external kitchen grill, mini
icebox, and pointed to the storage portion packed with picnic necessities. “I added these treats. Who wants to stay inside all the time,
right?”
Deetz was beaming and opened the side door like B.T. Barnum
welcomed new suckers onto the through-fare.
The first thing you saw attached
to the treated wood panelled entrance wall was a print of the lobby card poster
for the 1925 silent version of Ben-Hur. Next to it was the Reese family crest and a
little plaque thanking the others that helped, Tom, Ciara’s medical assistant,
and, of course, Brandi who help Cook make lemonade on several hot days.
At that moment, the little scamp ran around her mum to get
inside the motor home. She looked to the left then the right and decided to go
left, into the indoor kitchen area. She ran around the island then Brandi
dropped on the grey leather love seat across from the internal entertainment
centre. “Can I stay with you in the motorhome, Uncle Deetz?” To her, about
three-years-old at the time, this was a trip to fantasy island.
Deetz came up and lifted her in the air. “As long as you promise
not to put your feet on the couch. How about that?!!!” He put her down and
waited for her to sit up properly. Only then did he hand her the remote. She
wildly pushed buttons gleefully.
Tom was gawking at the appliances. “Full-size residential
refrigerator?”
“Yeah,” Deetz answered, opening the top door of the four-door
icebox, “Boyfriend insisted that his appetite warranted the size.”
Ciara checked the burners on the stove and peeked in some of the
cabinetry. “Oh, so you two have plans on travelling rather regularly, eh.” She
winked at Tom.
“Okay you two!” Deetz said. He distracted them with, “There’s a
queen-size, pull out bed just behind the full couch to the right of the
entertainment system.” He pointed then walked toward the space to the left of
the kitchen. “This is the separate room I added for Brandi and whoever wants to
tag along.” He patted the bunk beds and pointed to the 32” TV above the
built-in desk. “Angus picked the color scheme. I would have gone for something
lighter, like a pine, but he thought a red mahogany worked better with the
mirrored walls.” Deetz shrugged and escorted them out the room. Past the kitchen, past the entrance and up
two small steps to the left was the bathroom.
“Ah that’s a decent size. I’ve seen somewhere one could barely
turn around. And the seat on the right side of the shower is quite nice but I
don’t think ya’ll will be shaving your legs anytime soon!” Ciara laughed.
Deetz took them to the master bedroom in the back of the van. He
grabbed a 2nd remote from the entry wall and used it to pull up the blinds on
all four rectangular windows. “I really like the amount of natural light you
can get in here. And the room has a sound buffer.”
“Yeah,” teased Tom, “like you two will do much window gazing!”
“Oi! Maybe there will be people looking in!” Ciara laughed.
Deetz frowned. “Seriously you two! We haven’t done anything
and who knows if it ever will happen.”
“Interesting way to phrase it!” replied Tom. He sat on the queen-size bed and bounced a
few times then ran his hand across the comforter. “I don’t know about you dude,
but I’d be taking advantage of the buoyancy of this particular piece of
furniture!” He and Ciara let out another big laugh at that.
She sat next to her husband and bounced a bit herself. “Seriously,
you did a brilliant job, Deetz; you and Angus.
But even you have to admit it is rather . . . cozy.” She happened
to glance across the space and saw hanging plant above the window across from
the bed. “Are you kidding? Are you trying to get arrested?”
Deetz dashed up and feigned distress at any hint of harm coming
to this precious plant. “I’ll have you know that Angus brought this straight
from his dispensary in California!”
Tom whispered, “He owns a dispensary?”
“He has a franchise in all of the States where sale is legal –
Miki-D’s. To hear him, it is the fastest-growing crop product the Americans
have,” he smiled at the plant, kissed it and looped it back on its hook.
Ciara rolled her eyes but still asked, “When do you leave?”
“Angus said he’d be here around 1,” Deetz replied. “Will take
off shortly thereafter, hopefully.”
“How long will you be gone?” Tom inquired.
Deetz hadn’t thought about it until that moment but felt it was
best to say, “Only a couple of days.”
Everyone but Brandi came outside while Deetz continued to
describe the workings of an recreational vehicle as if describing a pregnant
woman. Just then, Angus came through the
gardens carrying a large duffle bag. “Hey you!” He said walking up to them. “Right,
got done early. Are you two here to see
us off?” He went up to Deetz, put his arm around the other man’s waist and
kissed his cheek – just in time for Brandi to come out of the cabin.
“Oh, Uncle Deetz? Are you going to marry Uncle Angus? My friend Jilly
has two daddies so when I see her, I can say I have two uncles!”
Everyone froze except Angus, who bent down to the child and
replied, “Well, your Uncle Deetz and I are just getting to know each other, so
I’d say a wedding is possible but we won’t know for sure until we get back.”
Brandi nodded as if it was all perfectly logical and straight
forward, “Right, oh okay! Let me know the date because I want to be the girl
that throws flowers at people.”
Ciara decided to corral her daughter before Deetz’s face became
any more tomato red. “Okay luv, let’s let them get on their way now.” She
kissed her brother. “Have a good trip!”
“You did a nice job, man,” Tom said to Angus while hugging him
then Deetz.
They watched the cute family walk back to the estate until they
had no choice but to finally look at one another. Deetz spoke first. “Are we
going to do this?”
“Fuck yeah!” replied Angus as he entered the motorhome, “I
didn’t do all this work to watch you take off in it alone!”
“Cheeky mare!”
Within an hour, they had loaded all the equipment they imaged
they would need and took off to Anglesey Castle in north-west Wales on a hill
overlooking the Menai Straits. It was a grand place, bigger than Morganwg and
built in the 16th century. It was the youngest of the castles in the area, most
of which dated to the early middle ages.
The house, garden, and adjoining buildings were given to the First
Marquess of Anglesey, Henry William Paget, for heroism during the Battle of
Waterloo. Paget was a distant cousin of Tison Reese, the 3rd Earl of
Glamorgan. In the ‘70s, the property was
taken over by the National Trust and turned into a tourist destination but the
family was allowed rooms in the estate in perpetuity. When the 8th Marquess
died, his widow, the woman Angus and Deetz’s had always known as Cousin
Scarlett, became the caretaker. “We’ll park at GeoMôn Caravan Park across from
the castle’s main entrance. It’s only 15 minutes away from her on Cildwin Road.
At this speed, we should around in time for tea.” Deetz, who was driving at the
time, cleared his throat then said, “By the way, this happens to be ‘Bears,
Boys, and Beach’ Week at the park.”
“What’s that?” asked Angus who was looking at Google maps.
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| prideinlondon.org |
“An annual festival where men hang out and . . . well, … do things
. . . outside,” Deetz said trying to pick up Angus’s feelings on the
matter. To hedge his bets, Deetz added, “They always have great music acts too
and lots of dancing.”
“And frolicking, eh? Gosh, I wouldn’t have taken you for a
prude. If I didn’t know better, I would
think you were trying to turn me out, Deetz Mac Innes!”
Good sign, Deetz thought. “It should be fun. I used to go before I quit
drinking. Maybe some of the old crowd is still there.”
Angus became distracted by an email and only mumbled, “Sure.
Sounds like fun.”
The motorhome park was quite crowded but Deetz was able to snag
the last pull-through spot. Getting out of the truck he noted several burly men
clearly in the BDSM life already on the hookup hunt even though the festival
didn’t officially open until tomorrow. Across from them were a handful of
“look-at-me” twinks who waved at Deetz while he attached Sugar into the
camp’s electrical and water system. Deetz politely but firmly waved “no” and
the boys pouted loudly until Angus came out. “We’re here 5 minutes and you
already have admirers!” He grabbed Deetz into his arms and gave him a long
sloppy kiss then threw out, “Sorry boys but this one is mine!” This got loud
applause and Angus bowed as he and Deetz got back into the cabin. Before
closing and locking the RV’s door, Angus put the “Do Not Disturb” sign on the
handle. “We’ll do group sex tomorrow.”
“Excuse me?” Deetz asked. “Do you plan on selling me after
you’ve had your way with me tonight?” Deetz activated the kitchen slide out
then took a fold-way table and some other items with Hebrew lettering on them
from a black portable file box. He put his blue and white yarmulke on
and set two candles on this small, tall table.
Angus looked at him strangely. “What are you doing?”
“Ah, it is Friday at sundown. I need to do Shabbat prayers.”
“I thought your sister did that.”
“When I am home, she does. In Jewish families, the oldest female
leads the family in prayer. But, right now, it’s just me. Unless you join in.”
He offered a black yarmulke.
“Right, sorry but religion gives me hives. All that pleading for
his grace and shit. No, I stopped going to church as soon as my parents let
me.”
“You go for Dynion Mwyn rituals at the Druidic temple circles with
Lady Nora,” Deetz said.
“Only because she makes me. She acts all infirmed and guilts me
into walking with her in case she falls,” Angus said shaking his head. “That
woman is probably going to outlive all of us!”
“Ah, well, give me a few minutes,” replied Deetz as he returned to organizing his oblations. He opened a bottle of grape juice and poured it into a blue ceramic cup then put two short LED candles into silver holders. “Oh, I almost forgot,” he said aloud to himself and reached past Angus for the challah bread on the kitchen island. He put it under an embroidered cover. Deetz twisted the faux flame so it would light, moved his hands over the “candles” and waved imaginary flames toward him three times, then put his hands over his eyes. He recited the blessing, “Barukh ata Adonai Eloheinu, Melekh ha'olam, asher kid'shanu b'mitzvotav v'tzivanu l'hadlik ner shel Shabbat (Blessed are You, LORD our God, Ruler of the universe, Who has sanctified us with commandments and commanded us to light the Shabbat candles).
Angus stepped out of the room and sat on the bed, listening to
Deetz’s chanting. He had few occasions in the past on which he saw Deetz act Jewish.
As children, every Friday and Saturday night Deetz’s father took his son to some
synagogue in Cardiff. Angus remembered waiting as a child, much like he was
doing now, for Deetz to get home so the two of them could scampered off somewhere
in the house to find trouble. Angus missed Deetz’s bar mitzvah because he was
already away at school. Although Deetz had talked about becoming a rabbi since
they were kids, Angus didn’t think it was real, just kid talk. Now that it was
real, Angus didn’t know how he felt about it.
Deetz was used to people looking at him with odd stares. From
a distance and without explanation, Jewish prayer services look rather cultish,
he had to admit. But he had learned to ignore those looks and move forward
until the awkwardness past. When he was done and had replaced his things, Deetz
simply started his mise en place for their tea.
“Hey, I wasn’t trying to chase you out,” Deetz yelled as he
started to cut onions. “Are you hungry?”
“I’m alright,” Angus said as he came up to Deetz and took the
knife out of his hand.
“Well, no, not really but I know you will be very soon.”
Angus put the knife on the cutting board. “I’m hungry now,” he
said in a husky voice. He took the man’s hand and pulled him to him. “I want to
finish that kiss we had outside.”
Deetz, offering feign resistance, said, “And here I thought you
were protecting my honour!”
“Only so I can ruin it,” he said as Deetz let him kiss him. His
lips felt soft while they brushed over Deetz’s neck. “I feel like I’ve been
waiting my whole life for this moment.”
He’s been waiting? Deetz thought before Angus found that
spot just behind his ear.
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| https://awesomemanasart.tumblr.com |
Then Angus’s mobile rang with that loud insistent buzz
that means either family member has died or a business deal is about to sink.
He pulled away abruptly as he grabbed off the island. “It’s Cousin Scarlett, he
said, “Should I lie?” He looked up and winked at Deetz.
“No, she’ll just call your grandmother then Lady Nora’ll
be calling,” Deetz groaned unhappily.
Angus shrugged and answered. “Cousin Scarlet!” Pause.
“Yes, well we only just got here.” Another pause. “Tea, yes we’ll be there very
soon for tea. I have just a few things . . .” Yet another pause. “Right, yes,
we’ll be there right away. Yes, bye!”
Deetz laughed at him. “You really are such a pussy when
it comes to older women!”
Angus frowned and rolled his eyes. “I find it is just
easier this way. Deny them, and you get months of moan-fulled recriminations
via Facebook, yuk!” He walked to the bathroom, begin the shower water, and got
in to proceed to masturbate.
***********************
The trail up to Anglesey Castle was as it always been, a steep,
winding dirt road. Only now there were
tourist signs posted in four different languages with pithy encouragements like
Anglesey Castle this way; London 440km that way. The hanging foliage was
stunning yet so dense in places that it nearly blocked the sun. “I feel like
I’m in an Elder Scrolls game,” joked Deetz. “Something could jump
out and attack us. Will you protect me, oh grand prince?”
“Damn, and me having left my ebony broadsword and my
healing potions back at the hut!” They both laughed. It was similar jokes that let the time pass
as they walked and deftly avoided what they really wanted to say and know.
The entrance to the family section was nondescript so
tourists wouldn’t wander outside the family garden and come upon a 73-year-old
woman sunbathing. The boys entered through the former servants’ door. The
entryway led to a nook to store shoes assuredly full of mud after walking up
the hill (when you returned, they would be cleaned) and hang your jacket. To
the right were stairs down to the kitchen (recently remodelled) and to the left
was a hallway to the “junior” main hall. It was once a second entryway for
senior help staff at one point but was shuttered as the grand hall was given
over to the tourists.
Standing in this rotunda, you had many choices – up the
stairs to the bedrooms and baths, and on the ground floor, a dining room that
comfortably seats eighteen and a family library that requires a part-time
curator. But what Scarlett Lancing-Paget, originally the Duchess of Cranburk,
did like about the estate was the garden with a combination of an indoor and
outdoor patio. It was lush like Lady Nora’s but with radically different flora
that creeped out and around like the flowers were going to attack you soon. As
children, the boys hated it (too creepy!) and wouldn’t go inside unless forced
by their parents.
“Tsk! Cook is furious with you!” Scarlett sat in a white
rattan chair similar to Lady Nora’s. They leaned over to kiss her cheek. “She
claims the only food suitable now is sandwiches! I swear that woman’s going to
be the death of me.” She put her tablet where she was reading the London
Times on the matching side table. “Sit, sit,” she said pressing a button on
that same table, “I’m supposed to use this thing to call the servants but I
keep screwing up the app.” The boys sat in the wicker love seat across from her.
“Excuse me, your Grace,” said a butler that had to be
Simm’s twin brother, as he entered the room, “Cook wanted me to give you these
choices in your tea now that the Masters have arrived. She said you could take
sandwiches now or wait thirty minutes and she will serve the lasagna his Grace
enjoys.”
“Ah, well that would explain why she grumbled when I
asked for brisket!” commented Scarlett. “Tell her we’d welcome lasagna then
serve us drinks.” She handed her snifter to him. “You two?”
“Scotch, make it a double,” replied Angus.
“Just water with a bit of lemon for me, thank you,”
answered Deetz, giving the man a nod. The butler had known his father but
didn’t like him for his own reasons. He offered Deetz a knowing smile then
turned heel toward his tasks.
“So, you two came here now why?” asked Cousin Scarlett
bluntly. “Are you choosing the Rhwymo Eneidiau (the binding of souls). I
had insisted your parents talk with you both about it sooner. Learning about the
curse after your fathers’ death, terribly poor timing. I reckoned you were
coming to learn about it from me until I realized this was gay flock season. I
guess you have already made up your minds.”
She waved her drink accusatorily at valet’s child, “Deetz, you should be
ashamed of yourself. He can’t be really ready for all that?”
“How many times have you been to this Deetz?” asked an
irritated Angus. “And for the record, I’ve been to my fair share of gay
events!”
“Oi! It hasn’t been called ‘gay’ in decades – queer or
LGBTQ. Really!” Deetz leaned over and
semi-whispered in Angus’s ear, “Cousin Scarlett has been hosting this event for
25 years.”
“Yes, I have,” she said boldly. She pointed her thin,
pointy finger toward Deetz like a queen with a declaration. “That’s how I got
this one turned out. He was so scared, scared his father would find out – never
did, not from me that is.”
“How old were you?”
Deetz blushed, “Every summer from the time I was fifteen,
I think.” He remembered it fondly as moments of unfettered self-exploration and
a sense of freedom that likely spared him the full force of sexual conformity
and homophobia. “It took me a while before I did more than watch.”
“And come back here to masturbate!” The butler came in with
a tray full of drinks which he placed on the wicker coffee table between them.
Scarlett nodded to him and he disappeared. “I had to get sheets just for him.
And I never quite understood the spots on the bathroom ceiling . . .”
“Cousin Scarlett!” interrupted Angus. “TMI, okay?”
She brushed him off with, “You should know the kind of
man you’re marrying!” She rose slowly but steadier with a staff of solid oak that
she was never without, particularly after her hip replacement.
Angus stuttered, “I . . . we never said anything about that.”
She walked off toward the hall and then the library. “You
wouldn’t be here if you didn’t want to know the curse,” she shouted back to
them. They sat there not looking at one another and hoping she’d be back soon
or that lasagna baked in 2 minutes. Scarlett returned and as she passed Deetz
he realized why the adults around him when he was a kid said she was “Audrey
Hepburn’s twin sister”.
She was carrying two rather large, dusty books. She sat
in her regal chair and began flipping pages in one then another, looking for
something. “You should have those digitized,” mentioned Angus which earned him
a raised eyebrow.
“Ah! Here it is,” she removed a piece of paper from one
of the books. “It’s actually written in Welsh and English – she didn’t want any
confusion.” Scarlett reached over and handed it to Angus then continued, “The
first portion binds the oldest from both families who fill the roles of earl
and head footman or valet to the Crown.
Both must be ready to serve at its whim.”
“What if the firstborn were female?” asked Deetz.
“It was the late 1800s, luv. Victoria was lucky she held
onto the crown,” Scarlett explained. “Many at court were encouraging Albert to
keep his wife on a tight leash so that the men could do the job of governing.”
Angus, with an irritated look on his face, handed Deetz the document. “But she
was shrewd, always a step ahead of them, bless her heart!”
Deetz, reading for himself, said, “It’s saying something
about we are to be condemned to ‘blasphemy and eternal damnation’ by the Reese’s
‘obsession with sodomy’” He thought for a moment then asked, “My father and his
father never . . . did they?”
Scarlett
shook her head, “No, after the Great War and the tragedy between Peter Reese
and Solomon Mac Innes, a cure was sought to curtail the attraction. When what
was called “the fever” arose at puberty, a special Kabbalistic tome was added by
the mother to the Mac Innes boy’s bar mitzvah ritual while the Reese boy was
given an Eglurder, or clarity, potion each day for three moon cycles.”
“I remember that stuff,” replied Angus with an upturned
nose. “It was horrid and folks refused
to tell me why, plying me with crap about health benefits!”
Deetz asked, “But it didn’t work, now did it?” He gave Angus a side glance. “I mean, he is rather . . . keen. And I, . . . well, . . . and I am open
to such things.”
Scarlett took a medicinal sip of her rich oak, single cask
Penderyn. “Both were done but intentionality has great force in Druidic
spells. The spell cast by Queen Victoria
against the families had dubious motives and the Divine Spirits don’t take
kindly to that. The latter may have
added certain caveats to allow for genuine love where such existed naturally. This explains your great-grandfathers, Ianto
Reese and Joshua Mac Innes, who’s devotion to one another during the Second
World War is legendary.”
“I reckon that explains me but what about Angus?”
“Nothing happened because I didn’t take it as I was
supposed,” Angus realized. “I would cheek it and spit it out later or
conveniently divert my parent’s attention whenever I could. Shortly thereafter, I went away to school.”
Deetz asked, “So why now? Why now after all these years.”
Angus shrugged, “When I returned from school, you were
gone and visa versa – it is likely dependent on proximity.”
Scarlett looked at both before saying. “So, I surmise you
two haven’t had sex yet.”
Both of them quietly admitted, “No.”
She wagged her finger again at Deetz. “Not due to this
one’s self-control!”
Deetz, slightly offended, “I’ll have you know, my lady,
that I’ve been the sensible one in this situation!” He looked at Angus and
continued, “He’s been clawing at me since he picked me up in Thailand.”
“Right! I didn’t see you pulling out of that last kiss,
Mate!” responded Angus who took offence to Deetz’s implication. “If I knew you
felt that way about it, I would have stayed at Morganwg!”
Deetz felt bad. He grasped Angus’s pinky finger with his.
“I’m sorry, that was cruel.” A slightly uncomfortable Angus grinned but pulled
his hand away. “Ma’am,” asked Deetz, “what do we do about this?”
She sighed. “If you don’t want to be bond to one another
forever, then I suggest you separate immediately and that you, Deetz, never
return to Morganwg.”
“Are you kidding? My sister . . . my family is there. My
childhood was there and there were some nice parts too, I’ll have you know.”
Angus said nothing, just stared at his fingers like a guilty six-year-old. “Can
I come to Redrow at least?”
“I would suspect the closer you are, the more difficult
it will be to keep away from one another.”
Angus, trying to wrap his head around it, exclaimed,
“But, these . . . these feelings started when I left Belgium going to Thailand.
I was nowhere near him and I swear . . . I swear I could . . . I could smell
the sweat on his neck as soon as the plane took off!”
“When you called, I was practising new Muay Thai
strikes.” Then Deetz realized something. “That’s why you hugged me so long? Why
you like to kiss my neck? You were getting off!”
“No,” Angus admitted, “I did that before I got there.
Flying back was a mess.”
“Right, well now I’m calling TMI,” grinned Scarlett. She
put the books on the side table and took her drink in her hand, leaning forward
to emphasize her words. “You two have a decision to make – walk away now and
things go back to normal; stay together, fuck and you’re bonded to each other
for life. The first couple tried to part after the curse.”
Deetz asked, “What happened?”
“Jacob Mac Innes tried to kill himself. His wife saved
him. It is in these books and others.” The butler arrived announcing that tea
would be served in 2 minutes. Scarlett got up with her cane. She walked toward
the boys and took both their hands. “I can only pray you two know the right
choice!” She turned and walked out of the room. The boys realized they were
alone again then hurried behind her.
Later, immediately after the boys left, Scarlett called
Nora. “Hello, luv!” Scarlett started. “It is done, they know what they need to.
And no, they didn’t ask about the work for the crown but that can wait.”
“How did they take it?” asked Nora.
“As well as could be expected. Things have already
progressed, so to speak.”
“They have to fuck to activate the spell fully. I know
young people call damn near everything sex now, but I mean then . . . well, if
they don’t, Deetz will remain distant. That assault as a child has to be
overcome!”
“I know,” sighed Nora. After a moment of silence, she
asked, “Do you think it will happen?”
“I’m afraid it’s up to Deetz,” Scarlett admitted. “Maybe
we should pray to that Hashem of his!”
Nora, turning to a set of candles burning next to some slices
of challah and a bright merlot, said, “I already have.”
**********************
The excuse for taking the tourist coach back to the campgrounds
was that it was too dark to walk the path. The truth was both men had a
decision to make. Angus was bothered that so much of this was out of his
control due to a monarch who had been dead over a hundred years – talk
about sins of the father being visited on the son! he
thought as they alighted the bus. They were blessed by not having to sit next
to one another during the six-minute drive amongst noisy tourists contorting
themselves to get the best selfie.
As for Deetz, his mind kept asking why was the
queen so angry with their ancestors? Doing this allowed him to postpone
the decision he had to make – somehow it seemed the ball was in his
court. This shouldn’t bother me this much! he nearly said aloud
as they got off the bus at the bottom of the hill. Ciara and family
will visit me no matter where I am; she would understand. Plus, he was certain his niece would be a good
traveller. But when Deetz turned around to see Angus get off the bus, he
couldn’t deny the fluttering of his heart nor could he stop the sheepish smile
he offered as Angus walked up to him.
Angus took Deetz’s hand. “Let’s go home. We’ve got a lot
to talk about.” Deetz nodded. And the two of them walked hand-in-hand back
to Sugar clear on what they wanted but
not on how to get there.
*********************
Present
Time…
Don't you know that I could make
A dream that's barely half-awake come true
I wanted to say
But anything I could have said
I felt somehow that you already knew
- “Coming Up Close”, as sung by Til Tuesday
Jack hung on every word like a ten-year-old at the
opening of the Wizard of Oz. But enough had been said. “Your
turn,” Deetz stated, “And what about that cute filly with you, Toni? Does she
know? She seems quite keen.”
“Yes, ah, she knows. You can’t travel and work together
10 hours a day for 300 days a year and stuff not get out.”
“What are you waiting for then Mate?”
“You took a chance and look what happened?”
Deetz thought a moment, then replied, “Honestly, it was
worth it. Tennyson taught us that ‘'tis better to have loved and lost than
never to have loved at all’. I mean, how many people get a chance to enjoy a
night with their childhood crush?”
“It was a little bit more than a night!” Jack said. He
looked for his phone. “I want to thank you for your time, honesty and your
sister’s good booze, Mr. Mac Innes.”
“Please, Deetz.”
“Deetz then.” He looked at his watch. “Oh, shit! I
promised I meet Toni before the wedding dinner and I still have to change.”
Jack gathered his things. “And who has a party before the party? What exactly
is tonight?” He drained his glass. “I wish you the best in Israel.” They shook
hands and Jack left.
Deetz double-locked the door then sat on the couch. Jack
is a decent bloke, he thought. Hopefully, he gives Toni a chance.
He wanted to believe his story was helpful in some way, as if he’d performed
a kavanah, the Jewish version of paying something forward. It was
at that moment that Deetz accepted that his marriage was over. He didn’t cry or
throw things. He didn’t relapse (though he was very tempted!) or consider
suicide.
Instead, he got up and finished packing.
TO BE CONTINUED
TO BE CONTINUED
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