Little Men Page #6

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I'm sorry. I'm sorry.

I'll never do that again.

- I promise, Dad, I promise.

- Calm down. Jake, calm down.

- But I have a great idea...

- Listen to me. Your Grandpa Max,

he didn't just leave this house

for the three of us here.

No, I know, he loved Leonor, too.

Tony told me!

Of course he liked Leonor,

but he left it for us

and for your Aunt Audrey.

But I have a great idea.

We go back to our old apartment,

and we rent this place and give

the money to Aunt Audrey.

Tony and I are both going to be going

to the LaGuardia High School for

Performing Arts in Manhattan,

so I don't need to take the

subway or anything to school.

I could just walk.

And you'll be closer to the theater.

I loved the show, Dad,

I loved it. I really did.

Tony did, too. We both talked

about it a lot afterwards.

And I thought

you were really good,

and I thought it was

really complex and everything.

I'm sorry I didn't

tell you then, I'm sorry,

but I really liked it, I did.

Okay, okay.

Okay.

Mr. Jardine?

- Where were you, son?

- I'm sorry, Dad.

You still have a lot to do

to finish your portfolio?

I just need to finish one more

painting, and then I'm done.

That's what you said last week.

You just had to finish

one more painting.

I want them to be good.

Do you remember, by any chance,

a story about my friend Tina?

The one that sold her hair

in India for a train ticket?

No, that was Martine.

Tina was a girl I went to

high school with, she was a...

Oh. She was a dancer.

And her mother was a dancer. She was

literally born to be a dancer.

And during high school, she got

into a really good conservatory,

and I saw her a couple of times

after that, and

she was always getting ready

to get this or gonna get that.

Each time,

her arm would be in a sling,

or she would be on crutches.

And the last time I saw her,

I ran into her on the subway.

It was clear

she hadn't danced in years.

She was completely out of shape.

You would have never imagined

that this was the same girl.

Gee, thanks, Dad.

That's a very encouraging story.

Why didn't Tina go very far?

- I don't know.

- She trained too hard.

Huh?

She practiced too much.

She didn't just trust

her natural abilities.

Jake, you're gonna meet a lot of

really talented people in your life,

and they're not all

gonna be suited to be artists.

They're not all gonna

have the brains to know

when to insist and when to...

to stop.

When to push themselves

and when to just relax.

Most of them

won't all have that balance.

And how do I know

if I have the balance?

That's why I'm telling you this,

because

you're turning in

your portfolio soon.

And they're gonna love it.

I know they are.

And they're gonna love you.

And you're gonna go to LaGuardia.

And you're gonna have fun...

and some challenges, too.

But soon enough,

you're gonna find out

if you have that balance.

Do you know if Tony's still applying?

I don't know,

I don't know what he's doing.

Well, I wish I had

handled that differently, son.

- What do you mean?

- Just Tony and his mom.

I wish I had told you earlier

what was going on.

Would it have changed anything?

No.

Probably not.

But Still.

Dad, would you mind

if I played one of my video games?

Would that be okay?

Of course.

Will Mom be okay with it?

I think so.

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