The Butcher's Wife Page #4

I reckon it's 'cause I know things

before he does...

and that just

gives him the shivers.

Yes.

Well, come on.

Women have been burned for less.

So you know things.

Like telling a total stranger

that she should...

get up in front

of a crowd and sing...

when she might not be ready

for such a bold move...

and is liable to get

terribly discouraged.

You know Stella?

Or telling a lonely woman that she

should wait for love to find her...

when she'd be better off

getting out there and finding...

But that's all true.

Or telling my girlfriend

that she should marry me.

Now, here we go again.

No. People...

I can't help

what I see, can I?

But you can help what you say.

Do you have visions?

Do you hear voices?

Premonitions?

Do you roller-skate?

How exactly does roller-skating

figure into your gift?

Oh, it doesn't.

I just wanted to have a little fun.

Yeah, well, it is highly unorthodox

to leave the office with a patient.

I'm not your patient, Doctor.

I'm doing it for Leo.

If you want to hear how crazy I am,

you better just lace up.

What am I doing here?

Some crazy woman in the clothing

store put me up to this.

No wonder I'm in therapy.

I'm too impressionable.

Don't you think?

You'll be great.

If only I were black,

I'd feel so much better.

Luis, rye and soda.

Hold the soda.

Make it a double.

I don't want to talk about women...

and I don't want to

talk about my wife.

Oh, you're married?

Leo, this is Stella Kefauver,

our new lounge act.

She's gonna class up the joint.

You got your work cut out for you.

Hit me again, Luis.

Bessie Smith?

You sing Bessie Smith?

A skinny little thing like you?

- Okay, I'll sing the Debby Boone.

- No, no, no.

I love Bessie.

Stella, you're on.

You're welcome.

You been holding out

on me, Luis?

What do you think?

Good evening.

For my first selection...

I would like to sing

"In the Dark."

In the dark

It's just...

Sorry.

It's all right.

It's okay.

Oh, boy.

In the dark

It's just you and I

Not a sound

There's not one sigh

Just the beat of my poor heart

In the dark

But soon

This dance will be ending

And we're gonna be missed

Gee

But I'm not pretending

'Cause I swear it's fun

Fun to be kissed

Oh, in the dark

Now we will find

What the rest

Have left behind

Just let them dance

We're gonna find romance

In the dark

Boy, I miss the wind.

You know, no wind

will make you stale.

You were going to explain to me...

about the mechanics

of your clairvoyance.

You know,

it's so good to cut loose.

Yeah. It sure is.

Mrs. Lemke, come on.

I promised your husband.

Please.

Okay.

- You all right?

- Yeah. Good.

It's like you're standing

in the middle of a doughnut.

And depending on which way you turn,

you can tell...

what's going on in folks' lives.

If you lean one way,

it's like "whoosh."

You just catch

a piece of the past.

And if you turn yourself a bit...

you'll bump right into the future.

But it's like somebody's running me

my own private picture show...

in stops and starts.

I'm curious.

What do you mean, "picture show"?

Here. Give me your hands.

Well, there's the sea...

and your little naked body...

and you're curling

your toes up in the sand.

White flowers at a funeral.

Your mama.

She's real glad that she gave you

that red drum set.

And there you are, barely six.

You've got

these red bumps all over...

and they're just making you itch.

You just want to scratch.

Seven.

I was...

I was seven.

Move me again

because I don't care

Move me 'cause I don't care

Luis, champagne

for Mrs. Kefauver.

Miss. And call me Stella.

Champagne? What do you

think this is, the Copa?

We got Bud Light on draft.

Stella, you are music to my ears.

Gorgeous.

You sing like an angel.

A choir of angels.

Thank you so much.

You are some sort of singer, lady.

- Yeah?

- Yeah.

You know, I hear your songs...

and I get pictures in my head.

All soft and dreamy.

Like the movies.

Leo, do you really think so?

There aren't many of us that like

blues. We got to stick together.

I'd like that.

This ain't the kind of place

I imagined you working at.

You imagined me?

Yeah. Sure.

But I always thought

you blues singers...

slept all day

and stayed out all night.

- And lived in Paris.

- Yeah.

I know.

And now I'm here teaching holy music

to pimply-faced kids.

So, Leo...

what's on your mind?

I got to tell you something.

Sure. Anything.

It's about my wife.

The thing is...

I don't think we got married

for the right reasons.

It seemed to make sense when

she proposed, but... I don't know.

Maybe I just don't know

how to be her husband.

Since I brought her back here,

nothing's been working out.

Maybe it's just not meant to be.

No. She keeps telling me

I'm the man she was meant to marry.

The thing is...

Stella, I know

it's not right, but...

I got this feeling for you.

I got the same feeling too.

But my wife...

she's so fragile.

It would send her

right off the deep end.

A short trip for her.

You're right.

We'll have a higher love.

We won't wallow in the degradation

of earthly desires.

Jesus, you even talk like an angel.

A toad.

I don't know what to say.

How...

How thoughtful.

It's hard to get your bearings

when you can't even see the stars.

Yes. Yes.

The other night,

you were looking for the stars...

in your nightgown.

You were watching me?

Last week I saw something

I still don't believe...

and I've studied the stars

since I was a kid.

I saw a twin-tailed comet

just... right in.

Really? Me too.

That was my definite sign

that love was on its way.

How exactly did you

come to marry Leo?

I was supposed to marry Leo.

I knew it when I saw his

smile in my dreams.

He's my split-apart.

What's a split-apart?

Long ago before man and woman...

when time was young,

there were these beings.

- Beans?

- Beings.

Oh. Beings.

Yeah.

Right.

So we were kind of odd-looking...

but just as happy

as pigs in a puddle...

and we didn't need

no one for nothing, and...

And we could reproduce

by ourselves and... Yeah.

You don't know this story.

- You can't.

- I do. I do.

Go ahead. Try me.

Okay.

The spirits

that ruled the world then...

Envied our joy and independence.

And so they split us apart.

Like clams on a half shell

and then scattered us to the wind.

You can still see the scar...

which, of course, is the...

navel.

Right.

The bellybutton.

You were saying.

So we're the kinfolk

of these old split-aparts...

and mostly we're miserable

on account of we spend our lives...

Iooking for our

long-lost other half.

And sometimes...

getting so caught up in that search

for that special person that...

they don't even notice.

Boom, there they are.

Right before their very eyes.

- How'd you know this?

- Magic.

I never would've thought

you had it in ya.

Actually, everybody knows it.

It's Plato.

It's a corruption, of course,

but Plato nonetheless.

Well, my grammy told it to me.

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