Imaginary Crimes Page #3

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Don't you talk about my dishes that way.

Valery remembered her other dishes...

...the ones my father had hocked years ago

to finance some imaginary gold mine.

Hell, honey...

...you don't need that crap.

When the checks clear

on the Anaconda deal...

...I'll get you the finest china

money can buy.

She told herself it doesn't matter.

Someday Ray is sure to strike it rich.

She swallows her disappointment.

She knows times were hard for everyone.

It's not exactly Fitzgerald.

Not yet, anyway.

Do you have any more stories?

No.

Well, yes.

Just a couple.

Miss Weiler.

I think...

...you may have the makings of a writer.

No, they're just little stories that I...

I'll expect you to keep up with the reading.

That is essential.

But you can turn in your stories

instead of some of the assignments.

Thank you.

No, don't thank me

until you've read my notes.

For instance...

..."gilded golden globes. "

I think you can do better than that.

You have to be careful with alliteration.

Keep it personal.

Use your own voice.

Sonya's a lovely child.

- I've noticed.

- Very responsible. Very grown-up.

- Very good qualities.

- Very willing to help out.

- She takes good care of her sister.

- Does she really?

Grace and balance, Sonya,

grace and balance.

Care for a mint?

I think it's commendable, your taking care

of those two girls on your own.

I can't imagine Margaret's father

doing that.

I can't imagine Margaret's mother

doing that either.

He's missing out on life's greatest joy.

My business may suffer...

...but all I need to do is look over...

...here...

...at my little girl to know

it's worth every sacrifice.

Mrs. Rucklehaus?

Please, call me Ginny, Mr. Weiler.

It's Ray, Ginny.

Ladies?

No, thank you.

What business did you say you're in?

Mining, mostly.

But I keep my hands in many enterprises.

Isn't that enterprising of you?

Do you have your hands

in anything interesting now?

You must keep this

under your hats, ladies...

...but, yes...

...my partner and I are on to one of the...

...biggest...

...veins this side of the Rockies.

My lips are zipped.

But maybe...

...you should talk to my husband.

He's vice-president of First Federal.

He's always, always, always...

...looking for a good investment.

I'll remember that.

In fact, Sonya...

...why don't you come over this weekend?

Gigi's having a get-together

for her girlfriends.

I'd love to...

...thank you, but I must take my sister

to dance class.

Don't worry about that, Sonya.

I'll drop you off at the party myself

and I'll take care of Greta.

I don't know why they do it.

Take Tony Curtis.

You know what his real name is?

Bernard Schwartz.

I just heard a story about a girl.

She teases her hair and one night,

when she's sleeping...

...a rat crawls inside of her hair and dies.

What's worse is one time,

when she's out with her boyfriend...

...the rat tail is going down her face

when he goes to kiss her.

Isn't that yucky?

Ray, good to see you!

Come on in, meet Bud.

Sonya's in with the other girls.

Bud, this is Ray Weiler, Sonya's father.

Remember I told you about him?

From the tea.

- How are you?

- Hello.

Pleasure.

Can I get you a drink?

No, thank you. It's kind of you to offer,

but it's too early for me.

Please, Ray, don't run off. Please.

Bud's really quite the bartender.

Mix Ray a drink.

Well, if you insist.

Scotch on the rocks.

- But only a short one.

- You got it.

Dad?

Having fun, honey?

Go on and sit down.

I'll get us something to nibble on.

Here you go.

Thank you.

It's quite a home you have here.

Wonderful grain in the wood.

Cedar and hemlock, if I'm not mistaken.

- I like to think I know my woods.

- You obviously do.

Did you see the corner over here?

It's glass to glass. Mitered.

The seam virtually disappears.

Cheers.

Cin cin.

My wife loved this song.

We used to dance to this music.

So Ginny tells me you're

in the mining business.

Mining, yes.

Mostly mining.

She mentioned a deal in the Cascades.

I'm so sorry.

I don't have to tell you how iffy

these things are, but frankly...

...a deal this good...

...comes along once in a blue moon.

As I was telling your wife...

...my partner and I have staked

four claims in the mountains.

Named them after Sonya and her sister.

Every summer, my mother,

Greta, and I took the boat to Canada...

...to stay with my grandmother, Nonna.

Can I tell Mom your joke?

Why did the moron throw the clock

out the window?

Wrong!

Because he wanted to see time fly.

You understand your daddy, don't you?

Each year, our father saw us off

at the dock.

But he never came along.

The journey lasted a night and day.

There, in that world of open sky

and saltwater tides...

...my mother was another person.

Gone were the paperbacks

and decks of cards.

Gone were my father's latest schemes

and inventions.

She had escaped...

...to that familiar landscape where she

was born and where she felt most alive.

Our last summer there, when I was nine,

I learned to ride a bicycle.

Greta learned to toddle

and say, "Mommy"...

...and "up. "

Every night, I stayed out playing

long after dark.

And I wished on Nonna's favorite star

that the summer would never end.

That summer, my mother spent

a lot of time with Everett McGregor...

...her old sweetheart.

She seemed happier with him

than she ever was with Ray.

Then it suddenly occurred to me.

If he had been my father,

it would have changed everything.

Towards the end of that summer,

my mother learned that she had cancer...

...after an examination

by the doctor in town.

Strange days followed.

My confusion was greater than anyone's

because the others knew.

Maybe if they had told me...

...maybe I could've done something

to help her.

You know it.

I heard it from a specialist in town.

I thought you'd think...

They found something

on the right side as well.

I don't know.

Can you pick the girls up?

Ray, I'm scared.

You just got here!

I haven't shown you the cave by the lake!

I know. Maybe next year. Right now,

your mother and I must go to Portland.

- I want to show you the cave!

- Not now, Sonya!

See you soon.

Bye, honey.

I love you.

Why aren't they taking me with them?

It's okay.

It was three months before I left Canada

for the new dream house.

Is this it?

It's so pretty!

I didn't know my mother

when I finally saw her.

I thought that there was some mistake.

Who was that other woman

in the green chenille robe?

No matter how hard I looked...

...I couldn't find the woman

who left me that summer in Canada.

Over in the double bed...

...frozen in a mute tableau...

...my father is holding his wife.

In the crib against the wall,

Greta sleeps through her mother's death...

...whom she will not remember.

I kept staring at my mother's face.

It was pale and white

and it didn't look like her.

I was too young to understand

that her eyes were closed forever.

I would never hear her voice again.

Are you sure this is it?

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