Cliff is standing on the porch of Jane’s small house clinging to a steep wooded hill in Sausalito. He is looking down on the activity of the harbor located across the bay from San Francisco.
“I would never tire of this breath-taking view,” he says to Jane as she places her
arm around his waist.
“I’m glad you like it, Cliff. It’s yours if you want it.”
“Thanks, Jane. How are you feeling?”
“Still a little dizzy, but I feel so much better, thanks to you.”
“The doctor said it was your will to live that pulled you through.”
“And my will to live is you--and Sally. Without you, Cliff, life is nothing.”
“That doesn’t make sense. You did very well without me for thirteen years.”
“But I always believed we’d get together…as soon as we knew that you were well again. That’s why I sent Sally to live with you. I asked her to keep me informed about the state of your health.”
Cliff was silent for a moment as he watched a gathering of houseboats in the harbor. “Now I know why Sal talked so much about you and me getting back together. You can be proud of her.”
“Cliff, don’t misjudge Sally. She was sincere in her desire to see us reunited. She
wants her family back as much as I do.”
“I know she does. I guess I have no quarrel with Sal.”
“Good,” says Jane. “I thought the likelihood of our getting back together was
good until about a year ago, until the bitch decided to take over your life--”
“Jane, please stop. Marie is no bitch.”
“So you’re going through with the marriage?”
“Why don’t we talk about it later?”
“No, Cliff. I want an answer now. Are you ready to forget Marie and come back
to me--to your family?”
Cliff says nothing.
“Well?”
“Jane, I prefer to discuss this when I’m sure you’re well again. I’m concerned
about you.”
“Does that mean you still love me?”
“Of course, I’ll always love you.”
“Then, give up Marie.”
“I can’t.”
“Think of what you’re doing to me and Sally.”
Cliff takes Jane in his arms and holds her tight until Sally walks onto the porch.
“Oh,” she says. “Am I interrupting anything serious?”
“Yes,” says Jane.
“No,” say Cliff as he releases Jane from his embrace. “I was just about to say good
night to your mother. I’ll be leaving in the morning for Cincinnati.”
“So soon?” says Sally.
“Yes, I have to check on the house to see if Jack did any damage when he tried to
break in. I also have a business to run.”
“Will you be coming back?”
“Oh, let him go,” says Jane. “He’s eager to get back to--that woman.”
“I’ll return when I can--and we can talk.”
“Please make it soon, Dad.”
“I will. In the meantime, you two take good care of each other.” He kisses his wife
and daughter and leaves the porch.”
Sally runs after Cliff and says, “I forgot to tell you about my trip to Lexington.”
“I’ll call you in a few days and we can discuss it on the phone. In the meantime,
please keep an eye on your mother and let me know how she’s doing.”
“I will, Dad, and when you get home, will you ship me my clothes and stuff?” There are tears as she embraces him. “I love you, Dad.”
“I love you, Sal--and please don’t forget that.”
Back in Cincinnati, Cliff is glad to see that Jack had caused only slight damage to
the front door when he tried to enter the house. Fortunately, the car is ok because
Cliff had left it in the airport parking lot. Once inside the house, he drops his bags
in the hall, walks to the kitchen and fixes himself a scotch and water. Then he
calls Marie.
“Hey, welcome home, Tiger.”
“Thanks, Sweetheart. I missed you.”
“Likewise. Are you coming over?”
“Yes, as soon as I have a shower and get into some warm clothes. I miss that
California climate.”
“Is that all you miss?”
“We’ll talk about it when I get to your place…after we’ve gotten reacquainted.”
“That should take most of the night.”
“Good.” Cliff hangs up the phone, pours another scotch, and decides he had better
call his brother Lew. He dials the New York number. “Hello, Lew, I wanted you
to know that I’m back home.”
“How’s Jane? I hope Sally is with her.”
“Jane is still a bit shaky, and, yes, Sal is going to stay there.”
“No Princeton?”
“Right. She’s going to find a college out there so she can be close to Jane. I‘ll miss
her.”
“So you and Jane are not getting back together?”
“If you mean, are we planning to live together, the answer is no. That’s what
she wants, but I can’t handle it. I still love her--at a distance.”
“I guess that means you’ll be getting a divorce so that you can marry Marie.”
“That’s the plan.”
“Will Jane agree to the divorce?”
“I hope so. But I’ll have to be damn careful of how I go about it.”
“Yes, you don’t want her doing something crazy again.”
“Right, yet I can’t put my life on hold indefinitely.”
“I hope you can convince Jane of that. When do you plan to see her?”
“As soon as I spend a few days with Marie, check on my business, and deal with
this Jack business. Is he in jail?
“Yes. In Cincinnati, but they may ship him to New Jersey because of the robbery.
Art says there’s nothing more he can do, and of course Matt is still in that Watertown
rest home or whatever you call it.”
“That’s as good a name as any. Since Art and the father are useless, I guess it’ll
be up to us to do what we can for Jack. Right?”
“I think the best thing we can do is to get him a damn good attorney.”
“I agree, and that’s going to be expensive.”
“I know--but the cost is Matt’s problem.”
“Don’t count on it, Little Brother.”
“Cliff, will we never be free of that side of the family?”
“No. It’s Captain Jack’s curse on us.”
“Should we get a Cincinnati lawyer?"
“Lew, I think we should wait to see if he’s going to Jersey. If he is, I’ll insist that Matt or Art take over. In the meantime, I’ll pay Jack a visit at the Cincinnati jail.”
“Do you think that’s a good idea?”
“No.”
“Good luck, Cliff.”
When Cliff visits his twenty-three-year-old nephew, Jack says, “Hey, why did it take you so long to get here? I hope you’re going to get me out of this damn jail.”
“Jack, I can’t get you out of jail. The best I can do is to get you a good lawyer.”
“It’s about time.”
“Look, I was in California when you were arrested. Why didn’t your father or your Uncle Art get you a lawyer?”
“Are you kidding? Pop’s sick and Uncle Art doesn’t know what's up.”
“I’ll talk to Art and together we’ll see what we can do. In the meantime, Jack, it would help your case if you showed some remorse.”
“I don’t need you to preach to me, Uncle Cliff.”
“Right. Other than getting out of here, what do you need?”
“Booze and chicks.”
“Ok, wise guy, I’ll see you after my talk with Art.”
“Make it soon.”
Cliff shook his head, shrugged, and walked away from the cell.
It is just after sunset when Cliff unlocks the door to Marie’s condo. Inside she waits
for him. “You’re late, Tiger.” She kisses him, removes his jacket, removes his tie, and pulls him toward the bedroom.
“Don’t you want to know why I’m late?”
“Yes, but it’ll wait.”
Cliff removes her robe, kisses her bare shoulder, picks her up and carries her to the bed. For a moment, he just stares at her.
“Marie, you’re still the most beautiful woman who ever lived.” He removes the rest of his clothes and lies next to her. Instantly she is on top of him.
“Please be gentle,” he says.
“Shut up,” she says, “while I devour you.”
“Ok, Sweetheart. Don’t spoil your appetite for dinner.”
“Tiger, this is dinner.”
An hour later, after they have donned their robes and are seated on the living room couch sipping brandy, Cliff tells Marie about seeing Jack in jail.
“That kid is no good,” says Marie. “Tell me about California.”
Cliff describes the all-night vigil in the hospital, waiting for Jane to wake up. “By the time she did come around, Sally was there. So I took a break to get some air and to call you. When I returned to the room, Sal was promising Jane that we’d be a family again.”
“I’m not surprised.”
“Well, I told Sal not to get her mother’s hopes up.”
“What did she say?”
“She said she wanted us to be a family again, which is what her mother was saying
before and after the drug overdose. It was like a script they had rehearsed.”
“A script or a plot?”
“Both,” says Cliff. “I became more aware of it later when Jane told me that she had
sent Sally to live with me so that she could keep and eye on me and my health. Sally
was to report back to her mother, which she did faithfully over the past six years. The
plan was that as soon as Jane was convinced that I was healthy again, both physically and mentally, she would move back to Cincinnati. In fact, that’s what she was planning to do when Sally told her about you.”
“So I’m the reason she overdosed.”
“No, Marie. I’m the one who, in her words, is breaking up the family.”
“Nonsense. She broke up the family in 1959 when she deserted you, when she took Sally and moved to California.”
“You’re right, but still I always felt guilty about it. She deserted me because she felt
that I was a danger to her and Sal.”
“But now, after thirteen years…now that she can see you’re healthy enough to rebuild a highly successful business and also fall in love with another woman…now she decides she’s lonely and wants you back.”
“Yes, Marie, that’s about it.”
“So what are you going to do?”
“I’m going to marry you, if you’ll still have me.”
“Does Jane know that?”
“Yes.”
“Does she accept it?”
“No.”
“So what are you going to do?”
“I’m going to have another brandy.”
“Suppose Jane decides to swallow another handful of Valium?”
“Sal is out there to see that she doesn’t do that.“
“That’s an awful responsibility to put on your daughter.”
“I know.”
“Tiger, I think you’re trapped.”
“Where’s that brandy?”
