- When Burl Jr. the New Groundskeeper and his fiancee Tera
announced their plans for a life together, they came on strong. Two kids
in love who had it all worked out.
-
- Their schedule called for Tera to finish school last
May and for the two of them to go on the road together Burl Jr. playing
blues guitar wherever he could find a place that would let him play, and
Tera giving her support through both her love and her ability to take on
part-time jobs to help them through the tough times.
-
- Burl Jr.'s goal was to be "discovered" as the
guitar blues genius he is, after which Tera could relax in a life of luxury
made possible by his high-paying gigs and the sale of millions of CDs.
-
- May, however, has come and gone, and Burl Jr. has remained
employed at Paradise Music and ensconced in the trailer we call the Cloud
Creek Annex, with Tera there with him most of the time.
-
- I haven't pressed them about what's going on because,
frankly, not only do I love hearing Burl's music floating over to the main
house from the deck of the Annex every evening, I also don't want to lose
his strong back and green thumb until I absolutely have to.
-
- So, it was with some trepidation that I watched Burl
Jr. walk across the clearing yesterday and heard him knock on our front
door. He had that look of manly determination that goes with being in your
early 20s and knowing it's now or never if you're going to make your move.
-
- "What's up?" I said as I opened the door.
-
- "What makes you think something's up?" he said.
-
- "Oh, could be that this is the first time in two
years you've knocked instead of walking right in. You want to talk, am
I right?"
-
- Burl Jr. nodded. "Can we sit down on the porch?"
-
- "It's that serious, huh?"
-
- "Can we sit down?"
-
- We sat on the swing, and Decker the Giant Hearted immediately
leapt up to fill the space between us and overflow onto both our laps.
Burl Jr. started to pet him. Stopped. Started again.
-
- "Tera's pregnant," he said tightly.
-
- I wasn't sure if congratulations or sympathies were in
order. "What're you going to do?" I said.
-
- "We're going to get married right away," he
said. "And she's going to get a teaching job. The school needs a computer
expert, so I'll be going to work there, too."
-
- "What about your music?"
-
- "My child deserves more than a father who's drifting
around trying to hook onto a dream," Burl Jr. said. "My child
deserves a solid family. A secure and loving home. I'm going to see that
he or she gets it."
-
- "You're sure? You're not worried about regretting
this later?"
-
- Burl Jr. hesitated. Then: "I'm sure."
-
- "Well, I'm not!"
-
- That was Tera, coming to join us with a look every bit
as determined as Burl's Jr. Maybe a bit more.
-
- "This boy thinks he's so smart. That he can mouth
off and make everything right for both of us. But I've got a say here,
and the last thing I want to be is married to some sad-eyed man who spends
all his time staring into space and thinking about what might've been.
A man who throws away his guitar because instead of it being his rocket
to the moon it's a symbol of what's never going to be."
-
- Tera leaned forward so her face was right in Burl Jr.'s.
"We're packing up, honey boy, and going on the road." She patted
her stomach. "The three of us. We'll be a loving family wherever we
are. Because I could never, ever live knowing you hate me because the baby
and I made you give up your dream!"
-
- Tera kissed Burl Jr. so hard that I thought her lip marks
were going to be branded on his mouth forever. Decker yowled and jumped
from the swing in fear.
-
- Burl Jr. and I watched in wonder as Tera straightened,
turned and marched back to the Annex like a soldier.
-
- Burl Jr. stared. "Whoa!"
-
- "What're you going to do?" I asked him again.
-
- Before he could answer, Gwen the Beautiful came to the
door. "What's going on?" she said.
-
- "It's that time," Burl Jr. said. "The
three of us are hittin' the road."
-
- "Three?" said Gwen.
-
- "My whole family," Burl Jr. said with a grin.
"Ain't it great?"
-
-
- Copyright C 2007 by Larry Brody. All rights reserved.
-
- Author Larry Brody's weekly column, LIVE! FROM PARADISE!
appears on his website, www.larrybrody.com. He has written thousands
of hours of network television, and is the author of "Television Writing
from the Inside Out" and "Turning Points in Television."
Brody is Creative Director of The Cloud Creek Institute for the Arts, the
world's first in-residence media colony. More about his activities can
be seen on www.tvwriter.com and www.cloudcreek.org. He welcomes
your comments and feedback at LarryBrody@cloudcreek.org. Brody, his wife
and their dogs, cats, horses and chickens live in Marion County, Arkansas.
The other residents of the mythical town of Paradise reside in his imagination.
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