HOPE FOR CHANGE... But Settle for a Bailout
Page 26
Larry opened a refrigerator and pulled out a root beer.
“Hey, coach,” Lori said. “What? You are kidding, right? I gotta take one, too? That won’t be a problem, but, when? Like now? Okay. Will do.” Lori looked at her phone after hanging up.
“Everything okay?” asked Larry, opening the root beer and taking a sip.
“Can we go to Santa Monica? I gotta take a drug test,” said Lori.
Larry coughed, spraying root beer across the cabin. “You? A drug test!”
“Jeeze, Larry.”
“Aww, man… I got it on the seat.”
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“You’re Lori Lewis, aren’t you?” asked a teenager, as Larry and Lori sat in the waiting room of a lab in Santa Monica.
“Yes,” said Lori.
“I met you in San Diego,” said the teen. “My dad’s army… Bahrain?” The girl smiled.
“Right. My cheering squad,” said Lori, warmly. “Your dad doing okay?”
“He’s good,” said the teen. “Are you here to test, too?”
“Following orders,” said Lori.
“My brother, too. They’re doing all the men’s finalists and the top non-qualifiers.”
“My coach said the finalists have been tested and they wanted me to test,” said Lori.
“Good luck,” said the teen, waving and returning to sit with her brother.
“Lewis,” said an orderly,” holding a clipboard.
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The Lincoln glided smoothly in the car pool lane, as cars in the lanes next to them moved at a snail’s pace, in bumper-to-bumper traffic on the southbound 405 freeway.
“You are aware that you promised to finance that Danish director’s movie,” said Lori.
“It’s not like I put it in writing,” said Larry, drinking a Cactus Cooler.
“C’mon, Larry, you heard his voice. The only thing he didn’t do was cry. You need to call him and tell him that you’re not gonna do it.”
“Okay,” said Larry, putting his soda down. Larry scrolled through “received” calls, found von Sommerberg’s number and pressed the green button and put the call on speakerphone.
“Hal-lowww, Larry!” said the accented voice. “I am so glad to hear again from you. I told Lena the fantastic news and she immediately told the Artistic Director at the Royal Ballet. Now, it is all the way up to the Queen! To the Queen! I cannot wait to tell Ingeborg’s family the amazing news.”
“Oh,” said Larry.
“And I promise you that we will be gentle with Emma Mathilde,” said Tres. “Will Miss Lewis also be available? If we must, I will write a part for her friend. Whatever is needed to make this happen. Absolutely anything… even if you insist on props. I can just sign the manifesto papers and say they were part of your home. For you, I would do that.”
“You would?” said Larry. “I wouldn’t want you to get in trouble.”
“You are not making problems for me,” said the director. “You have solved all my problems.”
“Oh,” said Larry.
“Lena and I can be there in three days. Is that too soon?”
“W’ull, uh….”
“Say what you must,” said Tres. “I am ready to hear anything.”
“Anything?” asked Larry.
“You have made a dream come true for many people, and, so from you, anything yes.”
“Right,” said Larry. “Um, yeh….”
“This will be really great, Larry,” said von Sommerberg. “Everyone told me I could not finish this film. I am the luckiest man in Denmark!”
“Um….”
“Lena and I will see you in a few days,” said von Sommerberg. “Tousand tak, Larry!”
The phone went blank and Larry dropped the phone into a cup holder.
“Good thing you told him, Larry,” said Lori. “Jeeze, now they’re gonna expect us to be in this movie. And maybe Dee.”
“They told the Queen.”
“Great job, Larry.”
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The Lincoln pulled in to the roundabout just outside the main lobby of Long Beach Memorial. Ralphie held the door for Lori and Larry, who, after saying thanks, continued into the lobby, past lingering families, to the front desk.
“Van der Bix,” said Larry. “We know the room.”
“Van der Bix, Calvin… is not allowed visitors,” said the info clerk, reading from a screen.
“I’m not here to see my dad,” said Larry. “Here for my grandmother, Emma.”
“Oh, yes,” said the clerk. “She is allowed visitors.”
Larry and Lori rounded the corner, to the main elevators, where a man waited, holding the hand of a girl, perhaps 10, who was hugging a stuffed giraffe, with a bow tied around its neck.
“So are you gonna actually finance this idiot’s film?” asked Lori, pushing up. “What is it? Millions of dollars?”
“Tens of millions.”
The doors opened and the child entered the elevator. As the man passed Larry and Lori, he looked at them and said, “Everyone in Hollywood is an idiot,” and stepped in.
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“Jesus, Ed, you don’t waste any opportunity, do ya?” said Lori, as she and Larry entered the room. Ed sat, holding Emma’s hand, who was sitting upright with in the bed angled up. She smiled at Larry and Lori but did not turn her head. Sitting next to Ed was a bombshell brunette, in a low-cut top and a great deal of make-up.
“Turns out Gina speaks Swedish, too,” said Ed. “Who knew?”
Larry stood next to Emma and put his face close to hers, kissing her cheek.
“Your friends have been with me since I woke up,” Emma told Larry.
“I’m so glad you are up, Farmor!” said Larry, hugging his grandmother.
“Careful,” Emma told Larry. “Don’t break the merchandise.”
Gina laughed. “She’s funny.”
Larry dragged his chair next to Ed, who scooted closer to Gina.
“What is she saying?” asked Lori.
“She thinks you’re going to do well at the Olympics,” said Gina.
“Yeh,” said Larry.
“Where is my son?” asked Emma. “It surprised me that you and he would visited together.”
“No,” said Larry. “It wasn’t exactly like that.”
“It’s okay,” said Emma. “You’re not his keeper.”
“The movie people are eager to finish their film,” said Larry.
Emma placed her hand on Lori’s. “Maybe I should pretend to still be sick.”
Gina giggled.
“What?” said Lori.
“She’s funny.”
.
Larry stood alone at the railing of Calvin’s gurney, holding his hand. “Excuse me, but you’re not supposed to be in here,” said a nurse in surgical scrubs and wearing a mask.
“This is my father,” said Larry.
“This is critical care,” said the nurse. “You’ll have to leave.”
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“Bix!” yelled Lori, as Larry walked slowly up the hallway, towards the main lobby. “Bix! I’m in! I’ve got another shot at London!”
Larry smiled.
“Oh…. Oh, jeeze… your dad? Is he…?”
“Yeh,” said Larry, glumly. “He’s still alive.”
Lori gave a double take and stepped up to Larry, silently hugging him. Larry hugged her back.
“What do the doctors say?”
“They told me to get out,” said Larry. “Let’s go in there,” he said, pointing to a door labeled, “Chapel.” Inside, was a small, empty room with stained glass, wood paneling, several rows of pews, and no clear sense of which faith or denomination the setting was meant to suggest. They sat.
“So you are going to London?”
“No, I get to compete at the nationals, in Nebraska, at the end of June,” said Lori, excitedly. “The two finalists in the 800 tested positive and were knocked out of the rankings, so I moved from fourth to second in the regionals.”
Larry studied a pane of s
tained glass.
“The coach thinks I should go to the Olympic Training Center.”
Larry looked away from the stained glass, to Lori. “Will you?”
“I can’t,” she said. “How on earth can I stay away for a month and….”
“If it’s money, I’ll pick it up,” said Larry.
“I know you would, Bix, and I love you for that,” said Lori, “but, you know, there are things that are just about what I can do all on my own.”
“That’s not how you do it, in the army,” said Larry. “That’s not how you compete on a team. You have to count on people all the time. People who aren’t on the front line. People who will never compete for a medal. We’re just part of your team,” said Larry. “Team Lori.”
Lori looked up to the stained glass. “Team Lori,” she repeated, quietly.
“December’s on your team,” said Larry.
“Yeh,” said Lori.
“Your parents. Your coach. That old lady, Pat.”
“Pat McCormick is my god,” said Lori. “She’s the first one who told me I could be a champion.
“She’s on your team. And me, I can help, now. And I want to.”
Lori placed her hand on Larry’s, as they sat in silence, in solitude.
.
“Dude, are you back on hand-holding duty?” asked Ed.
Larry nodded.
“Great. Me and Gina are meeting Anekee, so we’re out’ta here.”
“Anekee?”
“She wants to shoot some photos and then take her kid to Disneyland,” said Ed.
“You’re going with her to Disneyland? With Ane?”
“It’s mostly for the kid, but Gina’s never been there, either,” said Ed. “I’ll save the receipts.”
“Very nice meeting you,” Gina smoothed her skirt and picked up her YSL bag. Gina turned and looked directly to Emma, finding her window of vision, and giving a small wave with a smile.
A moment later, Lori and Larry were alone with Emma.
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Larry stood over his father’s gurney. Calvin lay still.
As Larry stood immobile, all around him was a swirl of critical care nurses moving in ritualistic motion. Ten minutes after he entered the room, Larry left having not uttered a word.
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“Her movements will be little shaky, so you may consider having someone at home with her,” Dr. Bosch told Larry, as Emma slept. “I don’t know what your insurance covers. Otherwise, she should be fine. She seems to have passed through the worst of the virus.”
Larry looked to his Grandmother, asleep, and smiled. He then turned to the doctor. I know you’re not his doctor, but can I request a change of doctors for my dad?”
“Since you’re a cash pay,” said Dr. Bosch, “you can ask for whatever you like. Do you have a specific doctor you’d wish to substitute?”
“Yes,” said Larry. “You.”
Dr. Bosch smiled. “That is very kind, but it wouldn’t be ethical for me to be weighing in on such a decision, as your father is in for a stroke, and I am in a very different practice, but I appreciate your confidence.”
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“Hallo, I’m Dr. Olson,” said a tall blonde in scrubs, shaking Larry’s hand. “I understand your grandmother is Danish.”
“She was born here, but only speaks Danish, because of her mom,” said Larry, not getting up from the chair beside Emma’s bed.
“Interesting,” said Dr. Olson.
“Hey, Bix,” said Lori, entering the room. “She’s out again?”
“Just sleeping,” said Larry.
“Dr. Olson,” said the doctor, reaching out a hand. “Nice to meet you.”
“Lori. Family friend.”
“Pardon, I mistook you to be a relative… the resemblance.” The doctor promised to check in on Emma during the shift.
“I did what you said, Larry,” said Lori. “Booked myself in to the training site in Colorado up through the nationals. I leave tomorrow. Here’s your card.” She handed him his VISA.
“Team Lori,” said Larry, smiling.
“Team Larry,” said Lori, scooting her chair closer to his. He rested his head on Lori’s shoulder, and she leaned her own head against his.
Chapter Twenty-One
Reach Out
Gina Milani smiled demurely at Larry, as he opened the double doors to the upstairs suite. “The Thorvaldsen is beautiful,” she said simply. “Thank you for inviting me.”
“You know it is by Thorvaldsen?”
“He wasn’t Italian, but that’s where he spent his life,” said Gina. “Any Roman knows that.”
“Oh, uh, right, Roman, sure,” said Larry, gesturing at the threshold for Gina to step in. “Thank you for coming. I need to, uh, ask you something.”
Gina gingerly stepped past Larry. “Oh! What a magnificent studio!” Gina walked to the Victrola and looked at the disc. “It’s like traveling back in time.”
“My grandmother likes you.”
“She’s funny,” said Gina, slowly walking through the studio, gazing at framed photographs. “This looks like your friend.”
“It’s my great-grandmother. This was her home… at least, here in California.”
“Emma’s mother?”
“Right,” said Larry, sitting on the sofa nearest the Victrola.
“She enjoys making fun of people, your grandmother,” said Gina. “Did he win?”
“Who?”
“This blonde man… Herbert Hoover,” read Gina. “From this picture in the Danish paper.”
“That year he did,” said Larry, settling into the couch. “Mr. Roosevelt beat him four years later. The whole Great Depression thing.”
“Oh,” said Gina, in passing. “That’s too bad.”
“I asked you here, because I’d like you to be Emma’s caretaker.”
Gina turned casually to Larry. “Really? And why is that?”
“W’ull, um, first, uh, cuz you seem to like her and she likes you,” Larry said. “She can be pretty sharp with people, even if they don’t understand her.”
“Oh, that’s why she’s so funny,” said Gina, sitting on the couch across from Larry. “She smiled at Ed, as she said the most wicked things about him. Ed couldn’t understand why I was laughing.”
Larry smiled. “Are you hungry?”
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Gina ate and talked as Larry listened and served. Together, they finished the platter that Larry had prepared and a second that the two made alongside one another just before sunset.
“I need someone to help me watch my grandmother,” said Larry. “Can I hire you?”
“I don’t have any formal experience doing that,” said Gina. “I cook well and I am responsible, but I can’t lift someone or....”
“I can hire an in-home support person to help with the physical care, but she likes you, and your Swedish means she would have someone to communicate with.” Larry motioned to Gina for the two to step onto the balcony, where they sat under the moonlight, near the granite railing, overlooking Larry’s tiny rowboat tied up in the otherwise empty massive dock slip.
Gina put her hand on Larry’s, causing him to stiffen. “I’m going to do it because of you,” said Gina. “You’re dedicated to your grandmother. I can see you will never abandon her.”
“No,” said Larry. “Of course not. I never will. I love her.”
“That’s right,” Gina said, closing her eyes. “Good people don’t abandon a loved one.”
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Ed groaned, as Anekee tightened the rope around his wrist. “There, I think for you, it is now pleasant, yes?” she asked. Ed lay stretched on his back on Larry’s single bed – naked, save for his boxers – with his arms and legs bound to the bed frame and his toned body straining, as he tested the ropes holding him.
“Pleasant?” said Ed, lifting his head to follow Anekee, as she walked through the room. “Couldn’t be enjoying myself more.”
“That’s good, because you need to learn to wait.”
/>
Anekee sat in the wooden chair next to Larry’s desktop computer. “So many times have I seen this room and dreamed of escaping.”
“… nothing to lose.”
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“Oh Baby, I’m just about to go on,” came the voice over the phone, as Lori lay in bed, a tall duffel bag leaning against the mattress.
“I know, Pumpkin,” said Lori, cradling the phone. “I just wanted to tell you something.... Something about tomorrow....”
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Gina stepped into the Lincoln, followed by Larry. Ralphie smiled to Larry as he closed the door. Larry looked to Gina, seated across from him. She smiled sweetly and clasped her hands on her lap. The two rode in silence to Long Beach Memorial, with Larry saying simply, “After you,” when Ralphie held the door open in the roundabout, outside the main lobby.
Inside Emma’s room, Dr. Olson was laughing, as was Emma, when Larry and Gina entered. Emma kept her head perfectly straight.
“The old horse can only look straight ahead,” said Emma.
Gina made her way to Emma’s bedside and leaned forward so she could smile and wave in Emma’s field of view. Emma smiled and waved back.
“I am off to my other patients,” said Dr. Olson, reaching for Emma’s hand. “I leave you in good company for the night.”
“Don’t be so sure,” said Emma. “They’ll talk so much, I will get no sleep.”
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December Carrera typed “SPECIAL MESSAGE” during her Miss Milkshakes live wet chat. While
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“Where is Mr. Tall, Dark and Handsome?” Emma asked Gina, who sat alone next to the bed.
“Ed?” asked Gina.
“The one with the big hands,” said Emma, “who never lets go.”
Gina smiled. “He does when he thinks you’re not paying attention.”
“Oh, the sort who slips out while you’re peeing?”
“That’s Ed,” said Gina. “He’s with Larry’s woman friend, from Italy, with the big chest.”