End Vision, page 26
Patrick followed at his side. Of course, to him, this landscape must be one of complete newness. The antiquated homestead surely brought forth memories, but these memories were not his; they would be borrowed and particular in the same way one might feel when driving a friend’s car, or a rented yellow Kia. Patrick might understand the basic functionality of the property, the purpose of a barbed wire fence, a barn, the basic idea of the corral, yet, as far as Andrew knew, Patrick had never actually seen and experienced these things in person.
Perhaps it was similar to the time Andrew first saw a supermodel in person. She had been waiting in the lobby at VerMas when Andrew saw her. He didn’t know that the woman was a supermodel because she wore no make-up and her clothes were just your run-of-the-mill clothes that everyday people wear. Yet something about her seemed familiar. He had seen her before. It wasn’t until the receptionist called her name and told her that everyone was ready for the appointment, that everything finally clicked into place. Her name combined with the image to make the thing so, and she was Supermodel again.
A noise near the front door caused Andrew to pause for a moment, listening. The wind blew hard now, gusting, rattling the gates and old equipment strewn across the property. The front door swung open first, followed by the old squeaky screen and his granddad. William stepped onto the wooden porch, cupped his hand to his brow, and squinted. “Andrew,” he asked, “is that you?”
“Yes, granddad, it’s me.”
William lowered his hand and smiled broadly. Even at a distance, his dark amber-hued teeth, teeth stained by years of drinking highly-chlorinated water and smoking cigarettes, looked like ground monoliths, fossils from another era. William began slowly down the porch stairs and trotted out to greet Andrew. The two of them hugged. Andrew felt the sharp skeleton of bones that hid beneath the old man’s bulky clothing.
“Hey, old man. It’s good to see you.”
“You’re home? What are you doing here?” William held Andrew at arm’s length. “Let me get a look at you.” His eyes scanned over Andrew. “Goddamnit, it is good to see you. Come in. Let’s get out of this wind.”
Patrick shuffled in his loafers beside Andrew. William shifted his gaze over to Patrick, and looked between him and his grandson with a suspicious expression. Recognizing this, Andrew made introductions.
“Granddad, this is Patrick, a colleague of mine from work… Patrick, this is my granddad, William Munden.”
The two men shook hands.
“Pleasure,” said Patrick.
“How’ya doin’ son? So you work with my grandson, do you? I’m sorry.”
Patrick laughed. “Oh, it’s not all that bad. He keeps the work environment interesting.”
“He does, does he? Andrew keeps L.A. interesting? That’s something, then.”
“You have a gorgeous home here, sir. I bet the inside looks just like a page from Country Living.”
“Hardly.”
“You don’t have cute little handmade trinkets all over?”
“No.”
“That’s strange. I imagined you would.”
“Nobody has got time to dust all that shit, son. This is a working ranch.”
“Oh…”
“Alright,” Andrew said, breaking up their banter. “Patrick was just dropping me off here, if that is O.K. I was hoping to catch up.”
“Fine. Fine. Yes, that is alright,” replied William.
“I was going to go explore around town,” Patrick said. “See what this place is all about. Maybe do some shopping.”
William looked back at Andrew and scrunched his face.
Andrew said, “Okay, then. Well, I’ve got my phone on me if you need anything.”
“It’s charged?”
“Yes. I charged it. You know how to get back to town?”
“I can figure it out,” said Patrick. “EarthMap does work here, doesn’t it?”
“Yes.”
“Mr. Munden,” said Patrick, extending his hand again to shake, “I hope we have a chance to talk sometime.”
William shook his hand. “Alright, son. Be careful out there.”
“Andrew,” said Patrick, “I’ll see you in a few hours?”
Andrew nodded.
Patrick turned and walked back to the Kia as William and Andrew moved up across the porch and entered the house. The entryway was more or less how Andrew remembered it; however, the space seemed naked, bare without the piles of clothes and boots that had filled the space when he was a boy. Something was missing. They walked through the kitchen to the living room, and Andrew sat in the chair that was once his grandmother’s. William sat in his chair, to Andrew’s left and in front of the television, which still played loudly in the background. They sat for a second, quiet, smiling and looking at each other as if seeing one another was something they had never expected to happen again.
Andrew spoke first. “How have you been, Granddad?”
William seemed to have to think about the question before responding, “Oh, I’ve been alright. I’m old.” A small hash-mark smirk appeared on his face.
“You don’t look old,” Andrew lied. “The place looks good, too.” The house did, actually. It was cleaner than the apartment Andrew shared with Shelly in L.A. Granted, he had only seen the entryway, kitchen, and living room; all the doors to the other rooms of the house were shut.
“Oh, I’m old boy… I feel it everyday. When did you get into town?”
“Last night.”
“I could have came and got you from the airport if you would have just called beforehand and let me know you were coming.”
“It was kind of a last minute trip, Granddad. And we got in late. My work got us a rental car. You don’t need to be out driving around all over town at night anyway.”
“Boy, I’m pushing ninety years old. Anything bad that could have happened to me is long in the past.”
“Bad things can still happen to you, Granddad. They don’t let you off the hook just because you are old.”
“That guy you came here with, Patrick. Is he...?” William held out his hand and twisted it back and forth in a so-so motion.
Andrew laughed. “Yes, Granddad. Very much so.” He mimicked his grandfather’s hand motion.
“Is that so?” William thought it over. “You do know, I was asking if he is a homosexual?” William said homosexual like: hoe-ma-secks-yull.
“I know what you meant, and, yes, he is gay.”
“I’ll be. I don’t know if I have ever seen one in real life up close like that before.”
“Yes, you have, Granddad. Maybe you just didn’t know it.”
“I’ll be.”
“Did you hear what I said, though?”
“About what? Hoemasecksyulls?”
“No, about being old. That bad things can still happen to you.”
“You think I don’t know that? I know that. I just mean nothing that would matter to me could happen to me anymore...You want anything to drink? Coffee? I have Coke in the fridge. Might be a beer or two in there, too.”
“It’s not even noon, Granddad.”
“Eh, what does it matter what time it is?”
“That’s okay. I’m okay. I’m not really that thirsty.”
“You drinking too much?”
“No, I’m not. I’m just not in the habit of drinking before noon on a Sunday.” Andrew wanted to change the subject. “How is John? How is Harrison? He has a little girl now, I saw.”
“Oh, they are fine. At least everyone tells me they’re fine. Harrison has a young family and a new business. So that keeps his hands pretty full. I don’t see him like I used to.”
“Is he still a farrier?”
“No. He is an electrician now. Started his own electrical business. You know how he had that certification.”
“Did I ever tell you the story about that wedding Harrison and I went to in Denver? About the girls there?”
“Don’t think so.”
“We were talking to these two girls at the bar. Denver girls. Pretty girls. They asked us what we did. I said writer. I wanted to impress them in some artsy way. Harrison said he was a farrier. They asked what a farrier was. I guess we just thought, Denver. Colorado. Thought they’d know the lingo.”
“They didn’t?”
“No… Harrison said his job was to shoe horses.” Andrew smiled. “One of the girls said, ‘They pay people to do that?’ And Harrison goes, ‘Well, yah. What did yah think they’d do?’ These girls… one of them says, ‘I thought they’d just go out and yell Heeyaa! Heeyaa! Get out of here horse!’”
Andrew and William laughed.
“Shooing horses… She thought he was out there just running around waving and yelling like a maniac.”
“Yah, well, shoeing horses is tough on the body, and having a family now, he needed something that he knew he could provide for his family. Farriers just don’t get the business they used to…You know, sometimes I worry about you, about your kids, your grandkids.”
“Why do you worry about that, Granddad? What is there to gain from worrying about something that you can’t change?”
“This,” said William, sweeping his hands across the room, then pointing to the land outside the window. “What is all this? What does all this mean — what was it all for if nobody in the family carries it on?”
“What do you mean? You leave it to John… or David. Harrison. They’d take it. I’m sure they’d be happy to have it.”
“They’d be happy to sell it.”
“And?”
“And, it’s not the same thing.”
The sound of the television passively played through the conversation.
“How about you?” asked William. “You still in television?”
“Yes. That is actually why Patrick and I are down here.”
“For the television?”
“Well, one of my bosses seems to think that this would be a good place to shoot a show we are putting together about rodeos.”
William’s eyes lit up. “Rodeos, huh? Is it a documentary?”
“No Granddad, it’s a reality t.v. show. Like the ones you see with the celebrities.”
“So who will the riders be?”
“The celebrities. It is a celebrity rodeo.”
“Have mercy. They can’t do that. Someone is going to get hurt.”
“I don’t think anything could hurt them as much as not being on television hurts them, honestly.”
“They aren’t riding bulls, I hope.”
“Well, Granddad, that is why we are here... to figure out what we can and cannot do. We are just scouting it out. In fact, I wanted to ask you if you knew anyone that might be able to help us set this all up. Someone who could get together some horses and whatnot.”
“I can help you by telling you it is a shit idea. What are y’all thinking? If you aren’t gonna use real cowboys, why not just film it there in Hollywood?”
“Texas gives it authenticity, I guess.”
“Putting someone in the saddle who has no business in a saddle isn’t authentic, it’s down right dumb. You can’t dress a monkey in a doctor suit and say you got you a doctor.”
“I understand that, I guess, but if I still want to talk to somebody… Do you think Harrison would know some people? Is he still roping?”
“Harrison would. Victor would be someone as well. Other than those two, I don’t know many folks anymore.”
“Victor...yah. I forgot about asking him.”
“How is Ramon? He alright? I know his dad sure would like to hear from him more.”
“Ramon is fine. He is actually helping with this project, too.”
“Is he now… that’s good he is able to work. What about that young lady from Seattle you were with? What was her name?”
“Shelly.”
“Shelly! That’s it. Are you two still together?”
“Yes. We are.”
“That’s good. You two need to go ahead and get married. Get on with it. You know, I married your grandma after knowing her for two days. Of course, we wrote each other for awhile before. But when you know, you know.”
“And what if you don’t know? What then?
“About your old lady? What do you mean?”
“Nevermind. You probably wouldn’t understand.”
“Try me.”
“Oh, we are having problems. Shelly seems to think that I don’t think about her when I do some of the stupid stuff that I do.”
“And, do you think about her?”
“Honestly, no. I don’t.”
“And that is it? That’s all?” William chuckled and shook his head. “So think about her then, boy! Lord have mercy, I don’t understand where your generation’s heads are at… When I was your age, we had all the kids we were ever gonna have. When my parents were your age, my mom had five!”
“That’s the big thing. I feel like I’m giving away my freedom. Like I can’t do what I want to do anymore if I give in to her.”
William shook his head. “Listen, son. You’ve got to do the selfish things you want to do now. So if you aren’t finished being selfish at your age, then fine, keep doing what you do, but do it alone. If you love this woman, you best listen to her. The problem with young men is, when you are young and should be sitting in thought, you are not. You have all the energy and strength in the world, but you don’t have the common sense to listen. You give up a lot to please the people you love. You give up a lot for family. Because you have to, Andrew. But their happiness is what makes it worthwhile. It is what makes life worthwhile. You see, you look over at me, and all you can see is an old man. Nothing else.”
Andrew broke in, “That is not true.”
“Ah, horseshit. I’m not dumb. I may be old, but I’m not dumb. I am a man waiting around for my chance to die. And that is part of the big joke of life, see. The joke isn’t that one grows older...the joke is that as you do, some of those who you love the most don’t get the chance to grow older. The joke is that your mind does not. It stays young. It fills with all the things that you have done and seen. It’s when you know yourself the most that you can’t do the things you would like to anymore, and you are made to sit and replay the past for years and years in your head, alone. The things that you know in your soul are able to make you happy. The people that make you happy are either gone or living their own lives without you. And all you are left with are the memories and whatever time remains left to replay them. We’ve all suffered, Andrew. Just be sure to grow wise in your suffering.”
Andrew stuttered,“I-um-I want to. I think I’m trying to.”
“Family is all you got. If Shelly isn’t the person… if what you are doing isn’t something you truly love, it will make you miserable. Hell, family will probably make you miserable, even if you love it, if you end up living long enough to see it all break apart. Because it will. Everything does, in the end.”
VerMas: Department of Vision
INT. VerMas MEDIA GROUP CONFERENCE ROOM - Santa Monica, CA - 12/11 (MORNING)
A large rectangular table.
There is: ROBERT MORRIS sitting at its head. CARA to his right. SHELLY. MARION. R.D. JENNI JARMUSCH.
ROBERT
My God, what a morning! Do you ever just wake up and think Goddamn, what a day!
SHELLY looks confused.
MARION stacks papers.
JENNI chews gum.
CARA stares forward.
R.D. looks happy(ish).
ROBERT (CONT’D)
I had a great phone call this morning with PATRICK and ANDREW in Amarillo. They tell me things are moving along just beautifully.
ROBERT has SHELLY’S attention.
ROBERT (CONT’D)
Let me tell you...I need all hands on deck here, team. R.D., what can you tell me about where we are with the legalities of pulling off this thing?
R.D. (clears throat)
Yes. Hello, everyone. I hope everyone’s weekend was a pleasant one. I have put in a petition to file Form —
ROBERT
Form XYZ yah yah yah. We get it. Forms are being filed. Goddamnit, that shit bores me. Does it bore you, JENNI?
JENNI looks forward blankly, chewing gum.
ROBERT (CONT’D)
Of course it does. It bores us all. Always and forever boring. How do you live with yourself, R.D.? How do you wake up every morning and think, ‘This is the life I live?’ and be happy with that? Huh? Huh?
R.D.
Actually, in fact, what I do for this company is important and quite interesting if you’d just hear —
ROBERT
Sure it is… Sure it is… HAHA! R.D.! Smile! Cheer up! I am just busting your balls here! My God! Where has everyone’s sense of humor gone?
SHELLY fidgets with a pen.
MARION has his papers perfectly stacked.
JENNI blows a mean-looking bubble.
CARA faces forward, unchanged.
R.D. is (un)happy.
ROBERT (CONT’D)
Ahhh. O.K. O.K… CARA, how is casting coming along? Where are we at with casting?
CARA
Top 6: CHRIS, CHEREE, ADRIAN, MARK, KEELEY, EMILY. We feel 6 is a good number. 6 in the cast keeps the expenses down. It allows us to create 3 teams of 2 or 2 teams of 3. However, SHELLY actually made a good point this weekend about possibly casting 7. It would create a scenario where there was always an odd man out. Something to think about, at least.
SHELLY
