The Five People You Meet in Heaven Page #5

a place where children could

always be children...

and adults never

had to grow up.

He brought in animals,

and clowns...

a carousel from France, and a

Ferris Wheel from Germany...

and his piece-de-resistance...

the entrance.

Oh, it was grand!

'Sweetheart' he said...

'everyone who comes

through these gates...

will have to pass

under your gaze.'

I don't understand.

The name!

Weren't you ever curious

about the name?

The place where you worked?

Where your father worked?

All those years?

Ruby Pier?

Up here.

I am Ruby.

Man, this feels weird...

Maybe this is something...

Lemon Fizz...

Damn! A Bronze Star!

This ain't right.

Forget these insurance people.

Bad enough what happened.

Yeah let him rest in peace.

Lay off the kid, already!

That's enough!

Don't you tell me what's enough.

He's gotta learn a lesson.

Dad, please, don't,

no please don't do it...

- Stop it!

- Quiet!

No, Dad, I promise, I won't

do it again, please, stop...

- Oh my lord.

- What's that smoke?

No, don't do this...

don't do this!

What is it?

I remember this fire.

Burned down half the park.

In those days, everything

was made of lathe and tar.

Our pier was like

a matchbook...

I begged Emil not to go.

But of course he went.

He wanted to save

his gift to me.

They say he was...

trying to save

the grand entrance...

with my painting on it...

when it collapsed.

There was no insurance.

That was my Emil.

The risk taker.

That one night,

we lost everything.

But they rebuilt the park.

I remember...

Someone else, not us.

Emil was in the hospital

for months.

It took most of our savings.

Even so, he didn't want to

sell it. Can you imagine that?

But I sold it.

To a rich railroad man.

He kept the name.

I didn't care.

We moved away...

and I tended to my

beloved husband...

and I nurtured

one impossible wish.

What wish was that?

That he'd never

built that place.

I had that thought

a few times myself.

I had dreams when I was a kid.

Thought I'd be an engineer.

But my father used to tell me...

'the world is divided into

somebodys and nobodys, Eddie...

and there's

a lot more nobodys'.

He made sure

I was one of them.

Eddie, your father

is not the reason...

that you never left Ruby Pier.

Oh no? What is?

You still have two more

people to meet, dear.

No, lady. I can meet

a thousand people...

that ain't gonna change.

That pier...

that dumb job, was the last

trick he pulled on me.

How?

By dying.

Eddie?

Eddie!

It's your father!

He collapsed. They took him

to the hospital.

Oh, god. It's my fault!

It's my fault!

Her fault? He came

home one night...

four in the morning,

soaking wet...

probably drunk as a skunk.

And he gets pneumonia.

And it was her fault?

But that's how he was,

my old man.

You were always the one

doing something wrong.

Never him.

I took over his shifts while

he was in the hospital.

I worked nights, weekends,

so he wouldn't lose his job.

And then he died on me.

My mother never did accept it.

She kept talking to him

like he was still alive.

One night, I went

over to see her...

I said, 'Ma, you want I should

put these dishes away? '

No, Eddie.

Your father will do it.

Ma...

Dad's gone.

Gone where?

I moved back in here

the next week.

And I took that job

to be around...

to take care of my mother.

I became my old man...

And I never left.

What's happening?

You don't really know

how your father died.

What are you talking about?

What's he doing here?

He's been fired. Drinking.

He came looking for your father.

But your father wasn't here.

Your mother is going

to get dressed...

to help him

find your father.

No... don't you move,

you bastard!

- This happened long ago.

- No!

What are you doing? No!

You don't want to do this!

What the hell is going on?

Come here!

- I'm all right...

- What did he do?

- I'm alright... I'm alright...

- What did he do?

I'm alright.

Don't do it! Don't!

Why didn't he let him drown?

- Why didn't he kill him?

- He wanted to.

But years ago, they fought

in the war together.

Mickey helped him

get his first job.

Your father held loyalty

in very high regard.

In the end, it mattered

more than his rage.

So he saved a life...

instead of taking one.

Pneumonia...

He fought the ocean

for a long time.

Sometimes, he would cry out.

For your mother.

For your brother.

Or for you.

How do you know that?

There were two

patients to a room.

Your father died in the middle

of the night.

When I found out

where he had worked...

I felt like someone of

my own family had died.

Again, I cursed Ruby Pier.

I wished I could undo any harm

it had ever caused.

That wish formed my heaven.

I don't understand.

This old diner?

This old diner

is more than a place.

It's a time.

When things were simpler.

But those people inside?

They were all hurt.

Well...

Accidents. Fights.

Fires.

I would have none of it.

My heaven would

be a place where...

anyone who ever suffered

from Ruby Pier...

even for a moment

would be safe forever.

Your father, too.

- I hated him, you know.

- I know.

He was hell on me as a kid.

And even worse

when I got older.

Once he couldn't

hit me no more...

he stopped talking

to me altogether.

Eddie.

Anger is a poison.

It eat us inside.

We think by hating someone

we hurt them...

but hatred is a curved blade.

And the harm

we do to others...

we also do to ourselves.

Why is everything so different

than I thought?

Well, when you first

arrived here...

do you remember

how you felt?

I had... no pain.

No worry.

No hate.

That's because no one

is born with anger.

We build it over the years,

with the things we don't say...

with the things we bury.

When we die,

the soul is freed of it...

Free to see the truth.

So, what do I gotta do?

You need to forgive

your father.

Dad?

I'm here now...

I saw what happened.

I didn't understand you.

I still don't. You beat me.

You humiliated me.

I was your son!

Look at me, Pop...

I'm older than you...

I'm didn't know your life.

I didn't know you.

But I understand now.

I'm letting it go. All right?

Do we let it go?

I forgive you, OK?

You hear me?

I forgive you dad...

I forgive you.

It's fixed.

It's fixed.

It's fixed.

How old was the deceased?

I dunno.

It was his birthday.

What can you tell me about...

that I can share with

the other mournings.

You mean about Eddie?

About what was he like?

He was great.

You know, he'd do little things

for you sometimes...

give you some money,

help you out.

Don't get me wrong, he was

a tough old goat.

Everything had to be safe.

'Make it safe, Dom.'

'Grease them tracks, Dom.

Tighten them bolts, Dom.'

How about... personally?

Personally?

I know Eddie loved

his wife very much.

She gave him

this watch once.

One of those with

a ferri wheel o it.

He had never took it off.

Of course,

I never met her.

To the beautiful bride,

Marguerite...

and to the lucky groom,

Eddie, my kid brother...

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