Chapter 8 - Marilyn’s Last Day
Marilyn paced and fidgeted for the next half hour. She would occasionally whisper something to herself. Claire caught things like, “He has some nerve,” and, “I’ll show him.” Still visibly angry, she would cross her arms, pet her dog and pace continuously. At one point, Eunice entered the room asking Marilyn if she would like help getting ready for the dinner party.
“There won’t be any dinner party this evening, Eunice. Mr. Lawford has UN-invited me. Tell Pat she has to go alone.” She began saying things under her breath again. Eunice must have sensed that her presence was no longer required and began to head back to the kitchen. Marilyn stopped ranting and said, “Dr. Greenson is coming for a session; please see to it that we’re not disturbed.” Eunice nodded in agreement and went back into the dining room, which led to the kitchen.
Finally, another vehicle pulled up. Bobby and Peter must have left the gate open because the car came to a stop right outside the door. Marilyn went to greet her guest. It was almost five thirty and Claire was worried that time was running out. Still distraught, Marilyn and Dr. Greenson sat on the couch side by side. Marilyn proceeded to tell him the whole story of Bobby’s visit. Marilyn was angry with Bobby and Peter both. She didn’t go into any detail about why the men had been there, but it appeared Dr. Greenson already knew.
The session went on for almost an hour and a half. In the middle of the session, the phone rang and Dr. Greenson picked it up before Marilyn had a chance to tell him Eunice would take care of it. It was a man named Ralph Roberts. The doctor told him Marilyn was busy and took a message. Then, Dr. Greenson gave her a shot. He said it would help her relax and then he ordered her to get some sleep. “Later, if you’re feeling better, Eunice can take you for a nice drive to the beach, you’d like that, wouldn’t you?” he asked, rather condescendingly as he put the syringe back in his bag.
“That sounds nice,” Marilyn replied in a sleepy voice.
“Alright, let’s get you off to bed then.” The doctor had to help her off the couch and into the bedroom. Claire rushed around the back and over to the side so she could look into Marilyn’s bedroom window. The doctor laid Marilyn on the bed; she was very groggy and didn’t speak. He went back out into the living room. Claire could hear him talking to Eunice, but she could not understand what they were saying. She figured Eunice must have been listening at the door in order to have known that the session was over.
At 7:30, the phone rang. It was Joe DiMaggio Jr. He and Marilyn became close when she was married to his father and they spoke often. Marilyn seemed in good spirits. At one point she got wide eyed and said, “You mean you’re not going to marry Pam?” There were long pauses and things like, “Really?” and, “Oh, that’s wonderful,” were said. From what Claire could make out, Marilyn was happy Joe Jr. broke off his engagement with a girl she was obviously not fond of. More phone calls were made that night. The first was to Dr. Greenson telling him how she felt better, but could not find her Nembutal pills. Another was made to Mrs. Lawford telling her she would not be able to attend the dinner party. She also phoned her friend Jeanne Carmen. Marilyn was asking Jeanne if she had any sleeping pills because she said she was all out. Jeane apparently did not have any to give her.
Around 8 p.m., Marilyn yelled for Eunice and told her she decided not to take that drive to the beach after all, she just wanted to go to bed. Pat then walked in to tell Marilyn good-night. “Are you sure you don’t want to go?” Pat asked. Marilyn nodded and Pat was on her way to the Lawford’s.
An hour later, Marilyn phoned Henry Rosenfeld. They were apparently planning a theater party in September and they discussed some of the details. This made Claire happy, after all someone who is considering suicide isn’t going to get on the phone and discuss future plans.
At 9:30 the phone was buzzing again. Claire thought Marilyn must have been the busiest person on the party line. This time someone named Jose was on the other end. Marilyn was talking in a hushed voice and Claire couldn’t make out much that was said.
When their conversation had ended, Marilyn clicked the receiver button with her finger, and dialed Ralph Roberts, returning his call from earlier that day. She must have been told he was out because she left a message. That was the last call of the night. Marilyn laid on her bed and read a book for about another hour, then drifted off to sleep. Claire studied the scene.
Marilyn was clothed; there was no glass of water by her bed and only a few pill bottles. Claire took this as a good sign. Nothing was like it was in Claire’s timeline when Marilyn died. Coroner’s photos showed many bottles of pills next to a glass of water. And, of course, Marilyn was found in the nude.
It was approaching midnight and Claire’s timer was running down. She felt good about what she’d done. She was smiling to herself thinking how she single handedly saved one of the greatest legends of our time. Then her thoughts turned to Auggie. “Boy he’s going to be mad,” she thought. “But wait a minute, if the timeline was changed then Auggie would be none the wiser, right? She began to think she wouldn’t have to tell Auggie at all. Her thoughts were suddenly preempted by a rustling sound in the bushes a few feet away. Claire kept very still. She felt victorious and she didn’t want to screw it up.
When she heard another noise, Claire started to panic and stood up to face whatever was out there. She started walking toward, but when it got louder, she began to run toward it. She suddenly ran right into a man. Claire shrieked quietly as did the man. He was staring wildly at her. She noticed he was wearing all black and carrying some sort of black bag. Then her eyes focused on his black gloves. The two fumbled a little, but when Claire saw the look of surprise on the man’s face she knew she had stumbled into trouble. Before she could say a word, the guy got spooked and ran off toward the road. Realizing he must be a hitman, Claire ran in the opposite direction to check on Marilyn.
The man turned to look for Claire, not noticing the car headed right toward him. The car slammed into him, throwing him to the pavement. Claire peered through Marilyn’s window; she was still sleeping on the bed. What she didn’t notice was that her timer had run out. Suddenly she was back in the den.
Auggie was standing there with a huge smile on his face. His smile quickly turned into a frown when he saw the look on Claire’s face. “What’s wrong, Claire?” he said, almost with a shout. Claire was thrust back into her old world with a start. She tried to calm down. Back in the past, Marilyn and Eunice were out on their front porch talking to police about the car accident. Finally noticing Auggie’s concern, Claire put his mind at ease.
“I’m sorry, nothing’s wrong. The trip back just startled me, that’s all. I didn’t realize my time was up. I didn’t mean to frighten you.” Auggie let out a sign of relief at Claire’s lie.
“So what was it like?” Auggie asked, excitedly. “I want to hear all about it!” The excitement had returned to his face as he cracked open a bottle of champagne. Claire proceeded to spin a yarn as big as Texas. She skimmed past her near miss with her grandparents like it was no big deal. Everything past that point was complete bunk. Auggie listened in fascination and Claire felt guilty every time she looked into his wide eyes. She wanted badly to ask him about Marilyn Monroe, but she knew it would make him suspicious. Eventually both grew tired and headed up to bed.
Saving Marlilyn Page 8