When his eyes opened he saw his wife, my wife and me sitting by his hospital bed. He smiled a weak smile. My wife, Beth, was dressed in a Hawaiian print sundress. Frank's wife, Donna, was in a pastel peach print sundress. Frank was in the traditional hospital garb of an open-in-the-back gown, an oxygen mask on his face and an IV tube attached to his arm. I was wearing a Hawaiian shirt with a wild surfing print and khakis. Beth, Donna and I had conferred before we left home and decided that cheerful, bright clothes would help us keep from having our good-bye talk with Frank be too solemn.
As his eyes focused on me I said, "Frank, the time has come. You already know that you're dying. Two or more packs a day for twenty-some years finally has killed you."
I motioned to Beth and Donna and said, "We talked it over and decided that you shouldn't die in ignorance. To that end, we want to tell you a story."
He looked at me and asked, "What story?" His voice was a whisper. It sounded like I imagined it would sound if he were speaking through sand or crumpled paper.
I began the story. "Once upon a time there was a family with three daughters. Have you heard this story? Feel free to stop me any time your sure you know the ending."
He fixed his eyes on me, but didn't move or speak.
I continued, "The oldest of the daughters wanted to get married. She spent her college years not only getting a good education, but also looking for a good man to marry. She found him, or at least she thought she found him, the year she was a senior. For the purposes of the story, let's call him Frank. She saw a man driven towards success and he promised her she would never want for the good things of life.
They graduated and a month later got married and moved to Los Angeles. Six months later she made a wonderful dinner for Frank and over that dinner she asked..."
Donna, Frank's wife, took the story for long enough to say, "Frank, I miss my sisters. Can we get a bigger apartment and have them move in with us while they finish school? It would make living here sooo much better for me and I believe the three of us can make you a very well taken care of man."
I resumed the story. "Even though she made it clear that if they brought the two other sisters to live with them he would have been able to share them as sexual partners, just like he was married to them, as you no doubt have guessed, he said "No way! Then he gave her reasons."
Frank whispered, "I remember the reasons. Why are you telling me this story?"
"I'm getting to that. That September Donna's mother died and Donna went home for the funeral. Carol and Beth were seniors in high school when their Mom died."
My wife, Beth, nodded. As if on cue the room door opened and Carol came into the room. She was dressed in a bright sundress, bare legs and lots of skin showing. The chair for her was already beside the bed.
Frank asked, "What's she doing here?"
Carol answered, "I'm here to say good-bye and to tell my part of the story." She sat down and I resumed the story.
"You had given permission for Donna to stay home for a week. The day after the funeral for their Mom, their Dad, Joe, had a heart attack and died. It took two months for Donna to clear things up at home, sell the house and move her sisters to L.A. During the two months Frank helped by staying in L.A., working and by not doing much else. In that two-month period Frank never called Donna. He never made the two-hour flight and spent a weekend with them. He answered the calls Donna made to him but didn't help her get things settled other than to rent a small one bedroom apartment for the sisters in the same complex where he and Donna lived.
When the three sisters arrived in L.A. Frank met them at the airport and drove them to his home. Donna was left with the job of getting them settled and back into school. Frank had taken half-a-day off to pick them up from the airport.
Two years passed and both sisters were going to college. Donna enjoyed having them nearby and saw them as often as she could while still taking care of Frank. He liked having dinner with Donna but not with "the whole tribe" as he called it when the three sisters were together. On weekends he seldom was willing to do things with all three sisters.
It was at that time when Nick came into the story. You remember Nick don't you?" I didn't want or need a response.
"Nick was a graduate from UCLA who worked on the campus of Cal State L.A. and met Beth and Carol there. He dated both of them and at the end of the summer after they graduated he married Beth." I leaned over and kissed Beth.
