On The Cusp Of A Revelation
Derrick Magnolia And His Books of Dreams
Sitting at a table on the opposite side of the large meeting room was Derrick’s father, Edward, surrounded by strangers. Lillian’s family was being served. Lillian’s father, Thomas, seemed overwhelmed.
“Do you realize how much a party like this would cost?” Thomas Lancaster acknowledged. “It’s staggering.”
“How much, Tommy?” Lillian’s mother Sandra responded.
“Ten thousand, twenty-thousand dollars,” he proposed.
“For one party. It’s a lot,” she responded.
“Why don’t you ask Mommy out on the dance floor?” Allison proposed. “She seems to be overwhelmed!”
“I’m getting a little old for dancing,” her mother, hearing the remarks, responded.
“You’re never too old to dance,” Lillian countered. “Dance, Mommy.”
“I’ll make a fool of myself,” her mother responded.
“You’re beautiful, Mommy. Everyone’s eyes will be on you,” Bridget also encouraged her.
“So you see, all three of us are in agreement,” Lillian asserted. “Please say yes. I’m sure Daddy will dance with you.”
“I will dance with your mother,” Mr. Bouvier startled them. “The most beautiful woman in the room from my point of view. You must know what that means.”
“You’ve been with some of the most beautiful women in the world,” Allison interjected.
“And four of them are sitting right here in front of me.” He paused. “This is such a great party.”
“Is it true, the rumours I’ve heard that you’ll be singing, Mr. Bouvier?” Lillian asked him.
“Yes, I’ve been asked to sing by postcard.” He reached into his pocket and removed a postcard. He showed the card to the girls.
“Please sing two songs of your choice that mean something to you. The Sweetness in Your Voice Will Move Mountains.’ I picked out two songs I sang to two of my wives before you ask. It will be a surprise.” He paused. “I have to go and prepare for my performance. I hope I don’t disappoint you.”
Mr. Bouvier left the table. Derrick was still greeting guests. It was a skill he never knew he had and he was coming to realize that he had this skill, the ability to bring strangers together and make a family out of them. It was a rare talent that was sorely needed in an often indifferent world.
Michael approached the small stage to join them. He pulled out from his pocket a folded piece of music paper, which he unfolded. He stood in front of the microphone, took a breath, and then took the microphone.
“I had the privilege and the blessing to have known and loved three extraordinary women who unfortunately all died too soon. I miss them all tremendously. I love this song so here it goes.”
He began to sing, “He Ain’t Heavy, He’s My Brother.” He began to sing this song as the band played. His voice grew stronger with every new note. There was genuine emotion in every word and the room was completely silent as he sang. When he finished, the first applause came from the audience and Michael was visibly crying.
The band began to play Chicago’s “Color My World” and Derrick returned to Naomi who was sitting at his father’s table.
“Are you ready for that dance?” He asked her and extended his hand.
“Of course, I love this song.”
“Then let’s go.”
She grabbed his hand and pulled herself up to a standing position. They walked to the dance floor and he hugged her and they danced a slow dance. Edward was happy, because he believed Derrick had finally found a companion after so many years.
“They all expect the marriage tomorrow,” she told him. “They all seem to want this.”
“It’s more important what we want than what they want,” he responded.
“I can see us happy in this house, with Jonathan and the horses. I don’t want to put pressure on you for anything. But I’ve missed you. I’ve missed you so much. It’s like that feeling you get waiting for Christmas as a child.”
“So you had a happy childhood?” Derrick asked her.
“Great childhood. Great parents. Wonderful memories.” She paused a moment. “I know what love is.”
“It’s all a rush for me. New feelings for new circumstances,” he responded.
The song ended, yet they were still embracing. The band began to play another slow song, “I Will Always Love You” and Amelia sang these words with a poignancy of piquant and gentle simultaneously.
“Not to put any pressure on you. I just love this house. I love your father and I have many others whom been brought into my life. How many people do you think could make a difference in this troubled world?”
“Not to put any pressure on you. But I’ve been dreaming about you and this house about every night since I saw you last. We could be happy here.” She paused. “Everyone is watching us. What do we do now?”
“We dance,” he responded. He held her and reached toward her. When the song ended, he released her.
“I have an errand to run to my room. Something I have to find, it should take about five minutes. I have one more thing to say. I’ve been living on my own in New York for twenty years now. I’ve been alone. I had given up on the idea of a family, it just wasn’t in the cards for me,” he explained.
“You shouldn’t have sold yourself short, Derrick. You’re entitled to a life, wife, friends, and family. Not to put pressure on you. God knows you’ve had enough of that in your life, but I think you’d be perfect for me. I can see it in your eyes. I’m a brilliant woman, an excellent cook, and I’m patient, ten years of school postgraduate, constant continuing education, it’s like running, I don’t finish the race.”
“I have to go back to my friend,” he responded. “I promised her a dance. She’s coming through a very difficult transition.” He stopped himself. Clenching his hand, he continued. “I’ve got rounds I have to finish to make my father happy.” He hesitated a moment. “I’ve missed you, Naomi. Who else can I have a conversation like this when this party is just getting started? I promise I’ll be back for another dance.”
“I’ll be waiting,” she answered.
He left her to return to Amanda who was still sitting quietly. She had eaten only half her food.
“Is everything all right?” he asked her, sitting down beside her.
The band was playing. “Tears in Heaven.”
Amanda was still sitting patiently.
“You have to be the most patient person I’ve ever known. It’s hard for me to wait for anything,” she told him.
“I don’t think that’s true about you,” Derrick countered. “How many people do you know who could lose their whole family and then become a paediatrician; with years of waiting to finally get the payback?” He took a breath. “Sorry to take so long. This might be a difficult situation for you, surrounded by strangers, wondering when I’m coming back.”
She could see that he had barely touched his food.
“Is there something wrong with your food?” She asked him. “I thought you liked it.”
“When I was eleven. I have a different palate with different tastes and preferences.” He halted. “I don’t know how my staying could work out, even though I know that’s what they all want. How can I break my father’s heart a second time? What does this consideration say about me as a person? Am I a cold-hearted man?”
He was struggling with competing and conflicting impulses, like expectant children begging for attention. He had spent his entire adult life asserting his own desires and expectations. He didn’t have to think about how his decisions affected other people. He had no one to consider. He had accepted the reality that he was alone and there was nothing he could do about it. But this sudden change in his circumstances transformed everything!
Two women of exceptional character and beauty wanted him in their lives. He didn’t want to disappoint either of them. He knew Amanda needed and wanted him and Naomi seemed to be handmade for him. He wanted to find a way not to disappoint either of them. He sat down next to Amanda and he grabbed her left hand with his right hand.
“Who would have thought,” he told her, “that you and I accustomed to being alone would end up together all because of a train?” He paused. “I never thought the choices we made mattered. Now I know everything matters.”
He got up from the table and went upstairs to his room. He began to search the bottom of his closet, looking in a box of notebooks he kept when he was in high school. He searched for fifteen minutes until he found a journal he wanted. In it, he had written about his dreams. He scanned the book for another fifteen minutes. He marked the pages he wanted to show both Naomi and Amanda. They had both been in his dreams. He had never shown this journal to anyone, especially not his father who would have destroyed it. Now his father would tell him “It’s the boy.” He was becoming even more annoyed about the boy who seemed to have transformed his father and brought these women into his life. He was disturbed at himself that he was even considering the possibility that what his father said about the boy was true.
He turned to Amanda first and opened the notebook on the table.
“I used to have dreams when I was a boy, strange dreams about other people and places. I began keeping logs of my dreams. I got a box upstairs of books like this one in my closet, twenty-seven books with the dreams. This one on these pages mentions you. Three dreams on April 6, 16, and 26, 1967.” He began to read, “Today I woke up from a dream about a young girl whose family was killed in a house fire. Her name was Amanda. She cried and I couldn’t help her. On April 16, had another dream about Amanda. Saw them take her into a foster home. Wish I could help Amanda. She’s crying. April 26, saw Amanda today again in a dream, thank God she was smiling.” He set the book down. “There is more but not now.”
Amanda was crying.
“We’ve been connected our whole lives,” she told him. “How is that possible?”
“My Dad says it’s because of the boy. There is more, there is always more.”
“As reluctant as I am to share these with anyone, I think I should show the book to Naomi. I never thought I’d have a reason to show these books to anyone, but then this has been a week of surprises. I’m sure we’re just at the beginning. So I see the band is playing soft music again. Would you like to stir things up a bit and dance with me?”
“Will it upset your family?”
“Maybe, but you’re my friend and I want them to know I want you to be part of my life. They will all share me with you. Wow! What a breakthrough that sentence is for me to say exactly what I feel and exactly the way I want to express it. You’re good for me.”
He took her out to the dance floor. The band was singing the Billy Joel song, “Just the Way You Are.”
There was shock on some of the faces. But Derrick didn’t care. His father turned to Michael Bouvier who was sitting beside him.
“The boy showed me two timelines, two outcomes, two families. I don’t know that it is even possible. I don’t know how this is going to work itself out. I just want to see my boy happy.”
“Are they all looking at us?” Derrick asked Amanda as they danced. “Do you think we’ll make it out of here alive?”
“We’ll be fine. We’ll do great,” she responded.
“I’ve got to do rounds. I’ll be back shortly.”
Derrick was walking back to his table where Naomi was sitting when his sister Virginia confronted him. Kevin was with her. Eric was with Kevin at their table.
“I can’t believe you embarrassed Dad with that woman. Are you sleeping with her?” Virginia asked.
‘I don’t see how that’s any of your business. I can sleep with whomever I chose. But for the record, no, I’m not sleeping with her. She’s my friend.”
Kevin asked his mother, “Does Uncle Derrick have two girlfriends?”
“No, honey. You shouldn’t ask such personal questions. It’s not respectful,” she paused. “Go to Dad, Derrick. “He’s throwing this party for you.” Kevin left Virginia to go to his father.
“You should do something about that boy. He’s going to give you trouble,” Derrick told her.
“Kevin is a good boy, he’s just precocious,” Virginia responded.
“Be nice to Amanda, please. She’s having a difficult time.” Derrick insisted.
Derrick was on his way back to Naomi when Emily, Olivia’s daughter confronted him.
“Mom’s been crying every day since you left. She misses my father,” Emily told him.
“I know she does.”
“You were her boyfriend once, weren’t you?” Emily asked.
“Yes I was, that was many years ago.”
“You’re not married to anyone?” she continued.
“No, I’m not.”
“Why can’t you marry my mother? She needs someone in her life.”
“I don’t know what to say, but this is not how this is done. You can’t confront me at this party and ask me to be with your mom.”
“Why not? You loved each other once, you could love each other again. I want my mom to be happy.”
“I want your mother to be happy.”
“Then marry her. Make her happy!”
“You can’t do this, Emily, come and confront me like this to marry your mother. She has to want to marry me. She has to ask.”
“She’s not going to. She’s crying every day. I think you would be a good replacement.”
“I can’t be having this conversation with you,” he asserted.
“Why not? How do you adults say it, I think you are a good fit. Promise me you’ll think about it.”
“Alright, I’ll think about it.”
Emily stood there a moment as though frozen in time.
“Anything else?” Derrick asked her.
“Talk to my mom, please.”
“OK, I’ll talk to your mom.”
Derrick shook his head and continued back to Naomi. When he arrived, she stood up and hugged him.
“You look flustered. I think you need a hug. What did that young girl want with you?”
“She wants me to be with her mother. I never had so much attention in one day of my life. Three women.”
“There’s a lot more than three in play in this room right now. I’d say ten, maybe eleven are interested,” Naomi proposed.
“You’re joking with me, right?” he asked.
“No, unfortunately not. There are a dozen women in this room that could see themselves with you, a dozen that will do anything to have you.”
“A dozen?”
“Yes. Do you want me to point them out to you?” Naomi asked.
“How could you know this?”
“Because I’m one of them. You’re Derrick Magnolia, son of Edward Magnolia and heir to the Magnolia Estate.”
“I’m not interested in my Dad’s horse breeding/horse racing empire.”
“That’s what makes you extremely attractive to me. You know what you want and what you don’t want and you stand your ground, but you’re also gentle and compassionate and connected to your emotional life. It’s very attractive to me,” Naomi explained.
“I’m overwhelmed, thank you,” Derrick responded.
“Have you finished your rounds yet?” she asked.
“Not yet, one more round on the carousel.” He paused. “But before I go, I wanted to show you something. I used to have vivid dreams when I was a boy. I began to keep a journal and I wanted to show you my notes for April 4, 14, and 24th of 1967. April 4th he read, ‘I had a dream today about a girl who paints pictures.’
“I never told you about that. How I painted pictures when I was eleven and twelve. I won a couple of contests,” Naomi responded.
“Let me continue. I watched her in my dream painting a picture of a horse.”
“Its name was Whirlwind,” she remembered. “I used to sneak rides from him early in the mornings,” she acknowledged.
“April the 14th,” he read, “had a dream today about Naomi again. This time we rode Whirlwind together. Can’t be a real dream, I hate riding horses.” He stopped a moment. “April 24th, he read. Third dream about Naomi. She kissed me as we made it up the hill into the forest near her house.”
Naomi then leaned over to Derrick and kissed him.
“I’m touched,” she told him. “I know you don’t like riding horses. I’d take you out right now on a horse and kiss you.”
“So you don’t have any problem with my book of dreams?” he asked.
“You’d made me very happy. Thank you for reading me from your book of dreams.”