{"id":4172,"date":"2020-12-01T10:11:34","date_gmt":"2020-12-01T17:11:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/underthetablebooks.com\/blog\/?p=4172"},"modified":"2020-12-05T23:27:59","modified_gmt":"2020-12-06T06:27:59","slug":"the-songster","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/underthetablebooks.com\/blog\/archives\/4172","title":{"rendered":"2. The Songster"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Joseph Ross and Carmen Fernandez are making a movie together with the working title Funny Love Story<\/em>. Joseph is seventy-five, a movie director emerging from several years of creative dormancy. Carmen is thirty-four, a wedding photographer and aspiring filmmaker who lives in Santa Rosa, California, a two-hour drive from Melody, the small coastal town where Joseph lives and where they are planning to shoot their movie. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

They met a year ago on\nthe town beach and discovered they were soul mates. They are not sexually or\nromantically involved, but they enjoy each other immensely and have had a great\ntime getting to know each other while figuring out how to make a feature-length\nfilm for fifty thousand dollars.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Their current task is finding\ntwo actors\u2014a woman in her sixties and a man in his thirties\u2014to round out the\nfive-actor cast of the movie. Joseph and Carmen will write and direct and act\nin the movie, and Murray Steinberg who is sixty-three and owns Murray\u2019s Seafood<\/em> will be in the movie,\ntoo. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Carmen has made a dozen\nshort films and is a big fan of movie directors who write scripts resulting\nfrom ensembles of actors improvising together and discovering characters and\nrelationships that make for compelling drama. The current plan is for Carmen\nand Joseph to write the script after<\/em>\nthey have assembled the cast and improvised scenes for a few days to find out\nwho their characters might be and what the movie might be about. Joseph thinks\nthis is a crazy way to write a script, but he defers to Carmen because he cares\nmore about her being happy than he cares about how they make their movie.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And so in early June,\nCarmen comes to stay with Joseph for a few days while they meet with the four actors\nCarmen culled from several dozen applicants she interviewed online, these\nin-person meetings to be held at a table in Murray\u2019s\nSeafood<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

*<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Carmen and Joseph enter\nMurray\u2019s fish shop at ten o\u2019clock on a sunny Saturday morning and seat\nthemselves at a table in the far corner of the dining area. The shop is not large and most of Murray\u2019s\ncustomers come to buy fresh fish or get fish & chips to go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Carmen is wearing a white short-sleeved blouse\nand black corduroy trousers, her dark brown hair in a ponytail, turquoise\nearrings dangling from her ears. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Joseph is looking dapper in a turquoise dress\nshirt and brown slacks, his white hair neither long nor plentiful. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Murray, a burly fellow with rambunctious gray\nhair, is wearing his usual outfit of faded blue jeans, a red Murray\u2019s Seafood<\/em> T-shirt, and a large\nwhite apron.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cToday\u2019s the big day, we hope,\u201d says Murray, bringing\ntwo mugs of coffee to the table. \u201cThe field narrowed to four. Yes?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe are hopeful,\u201d says Joseph, nodding his\nthanks for the coffee. \u201cHow\u2019s business?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBooming,\u201d says Murray, smiling at Carmen. \u201cI\u2019ve got Jessica coming in for the lunch rush and Pepe in the kitchen. The blessed hordes have arrived for the summer and apparently they all want my fish & chips.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAnd well they should,\u201d says Carmen, checking\nher phone. \u201cThat\u2019s what we\u2019re<\/em> having\nfor lunch.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now the bell on the door jingles and here is Daphne,\none of the two female finalists. A petite woman in her early sixties with short\nreddish brown hair, Daphne recognizes Carmen from their online meeting and hams\nit up a little by sashaying across the room.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Joseph rises and offers Daphne his hand.\n\u201cWelcome Daphne. I\u2019m Joe.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHi Daphne,\u201d says Carmen, giving Daphne a wave.\n\u201cWe knew you were beautiful, but in-person you\u2019re stunning.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou should look in the mirror if you want to\nsee stunning,\u201d says Daphne, sitting across from Carmen. \u201cI\u2019d love some coffee.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cComing right up,\u201d says Murray, grinning at\nDaphne.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis is Murray,\u201d says Joseph, sitting in the\nchair next to Daphne. \u201cWe\u2019ll be shooting some scenes here in his shop.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMy ex-husband\u2019s father was a lobsterman,\u201d says\nDaphne, looking at Murray. \u201cIn Maine.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI love Maine,\u201d says Murray, going to get her\ncoffee. \u201cI grew up in New Jersey. We went to Maine every summer.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSo\u2026\u201d says Daphne, looking from Carmen to\nJoseph and back to Carmen, \u201care you two father daughter? Grandfather\ngranddaughter?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNo,\u201d says Carmen, glancing at Joseph. \u201cSoul\nmates.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Daphne stiffens. \u201cYou\u2019re a couple<\/em>?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNo,\u201d says Joseph, shaking his head. \u201cFriends.\nFellow movie makers.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBecause I can\u2019t do this if you\u2019re a couple,\u201d\nsays Daphne, shifting uneasily in her chair. \u201cThat kind of thing makes me\nsick.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Murray serves Daphne a mug of coffee. \u201cCream?\nSugar? Milk?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNothing,\u201d says Daphne, bowing her head. \u201cI screwed\nthis up, didn\u2019t I?\u201d She glances forlornly at Joseph. \u201cMaybe I should just go. Not\nwaste any more of your time.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And before Joseph can say No, don\u2019t go,<\/em> Carmen says, \u201cYeah, that\u2019s probably a good idea.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOkay,\u201d says Daphne, rising to go. \u201cGood luck\nwith your movie.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Joseph wants to ask her, \u201cHow would you characterize that kind of thing<\/em>? An elderly person sexually involved with a much younger person? An elderly man<\/em> sexually involved with a much younger female? How about an elderly gay man with a much younger man? Or an elderly woman with a much younger partner?\u201d But instead he says, \u201cGood luck to you, too.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

When Daphne is gone, Murray clears away her mug\nand says, \u201cToo bad. I liked her.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI did, too,\u201d says Joseph, frowning at Carmen.\n\u201cWhat if\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cPatricia,\u201d says Carmen, naming the next actor\nthey\u2019ll be interviewing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhat if Patricia is also sickened by the\nthought of us being a couple?\u201d says Joseph, feeling awful about their swift\ndismissal of Daphne. \u201cEven though we\u2019re not?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt wasn\u2019t that,\u201d says Carmen, checking her\nphone again. \u201cIt was that the first<\/em>\nthing she asked about was that.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Joseph shrugs. \u201cAnd so might Patricia. It\u2019s a\nquestion many people might ask.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThen we\u2019ll keep looking,\u201d says Carmen, putting\ndown her phone. \u201cWe\u2019ve got an hour to kill. Stroll around town?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019ll reserve your table,\u201d says Murray, bowing\nto them, \u201cand await your return.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

*<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Forty-five minutes later, Carmen and Joseph\nreturn to Murray\u2019s Seafood<\/em> and find\nMurray at the audition table talking to Patricia, a tall woman with big brown\neyes and graying brown hair in a bun. She\u2019s wearing black trousers and a purple\nsweater over a white dress shirt with a purple bow tie, no makeup.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAh here they are,\u201d says Murray, giving Carmen\nand Joseph a look to say I think you\u2019re\ngonna like her.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Patricia turns in her chair to watch Joseph and\nCarmen approach, but she doesn\u2019t get up, which is disappointing to Joseph and a\nrelief to Carmen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When Joseph and Carmen are seated, Patricia looks at Joseph and says with a slight Danish accent, \u201cI did a double-take when I googled you and saw The Songster<\/em> in your filmography because I\u2019ve never known anyone besides me who ever saw it, and here you are the person who directed it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cRan for three days at the Belvedere in West\nHollywood and a week at the Crest in Brooklyn,\u201d says Joseph, who hasn\u2019t thought\nabout The Songster<\/em> in forty years.\n\u201cAs far as I know, no copies of the opus still exist, which is a good thing.\nWhere did you see it?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAt the Belvedere in West Hollywood,\u201d says\nPatricia, her eyes sparkling. \u201cAnd do you know why<\/em> I saw it?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhy?\u201d asks Carmen, enchanted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBecause I read<\/em> for the part of the girl the hero of the movie writes the song for. And I was sure<\/em> I was going to get the part, so of course I had<\/em> to see who got the part instead of me.\u201d    <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAnne Frederick,\u201d says Joseph, remembering the long\nhot days of shooting that lousy movie in Bakersfield. \u201cShe was dreadful.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBut so<\/em>\nbeautiful,\u201d says Patricia, looking at Carmen. \u201cShe was seventeen and reminded\neveryone of Marilyn Monroe.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cExcept she sounded like a duck,\u201d says Joseph, laughing.\n\u201cAnd every character in the movie was a stereotype and every line a tired clich\u00e9.\nBut they paid me seventy-five thousand to direct and it was my first film with\na budget over a million dollars, so\u2026\u201d He frowns at Patricia. \u201cYou didn\u2019t sit\nthrough the whole movie, did you?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cProbably,\u201d she says, nodding. \u201cI rarely walked\nout of movies in those days.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A silence falls.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAnd now we\u2019re here,\u201d says Carmen, smiling at Patricia.\n\u201cYou don\u2019t look sixty-seven. I would have guessed fifty-four.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhen I\u2019m happy I feel fifty-four,\u201d says\nPatricia, laughing. \u201cWhen I\u2019m sad I\u2019m definitely sixty-seven.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSo you\u2019re happy today,\u201d says Joseph, liking\nher very much.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cA beautiful drive from Petaluma,\u201d says Patricia, relaxing, \u201cand thinking I might be in a movie made by the person who wrote and directed The Unerring Heart<\/em>? What\u2019s not to be happy about?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

*<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When Patricia leaves, Carmen says excitedly, \u201cI\nlove her. I love her voice and the way she talks and everything about her. Yes?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYes, she\u2019s wonderful,\u201d says Joseph, yawning. \u201cAnd\nI\u2019m running out of gas. Shall we have some of Murray\u2019s finest?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cGrilled or breaded?\u201d asks Murray, who is\nhovering nearby. \u201cAnd by the way, I love her, too.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cGrilled,\u201d says Joseph, who rarely goes more\nthan a few days without getting an order of Murray\u2019s fish & chips.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cGrilled,\u201d says Carmen, beaming at Murray. \u201cAnd\na lemonade, please.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Murray calls into the kitchen, \u201cTwo extra-large\nfish and chips! On the grill!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAnd now for the men,\u201d says Joseph, yawning\nagain. \u201cWho will it be? Leonard or Justin?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWell it won\u2019t be Justin,\u201d says Carmen, looking\nat her phone. \u201cShall I read you his eloquent text?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cPlease,\u201d says Joseph, wishing he could take a\nnap.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cCarmen. After two hour drive realize have two more, can\u2019t do this for what offering. If 8000 and motel Yes. 4 and sofa crash No.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cA man of few words,\u201d says Joseph, glad not to\nbe meeting Justin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNo,\u201d says Carmen, texting Justin that solitary\nword. \u201cSaid the woman of even fewer words.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cLet\u2019s hope we like Leonard,\u201d says Joseph, smiling\nas Murray\u2019s lunch waitress sets their table for the impending fish & chips.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

*<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They don\u2019t like Leonard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

*<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When Leonard departs, Murray joins Joseph and\nCarmen at the table and says, \u201cHey what about Stephen Ornofsky?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhat about him?\u201d says Joseph, glaring at\nMurray.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFor the movie,\u201d says Murray, holding out his\nhands as if offering a gift. \u201cHe\u2019s handsome, he\u2019s charming, he\u2019s a great performer,\nhe\u2019s thirty-four, he\u2019s funny, he\u2019s local.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou mean loco<\/em>,\u201d\nsays Joseph, angrily. \u201cHe lives in a van with who-knows-how-many dogs and cats.\nHe sings stupid songs in front of the post office and people throw pennies at\nhim. He\u2019s the last person in the world I\u2019d want in our movie.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhat are you talking about?\u201d says Murray,\nshocked by Joseph\u2019s response. \u201cStephen\u2019s been Maya Johansen\u2019s live-in caretaker\nfor eight or nine years now and before that he rented a house with Jerry Atkins\nand Tommy Cosca. And he hasn\u2019t played at the post office since he was a teenager.\nHe\u2019s the star attraction at McCarthy\u2019s<\/em>\non Thursday nights and does standup between songs. And he\u2019s really<\/em> funny. Where have you<\/em> been for the last fifteen years?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cToday is<\/em>\nThursday,\u201d says Carmen, smiling hopefully at Joseph. \u201cShall we go see him?\u201d  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNo!\u201d says Joseph, furious. \u201cHe\u2019s a disaster.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cJoe, that\u2019s not true,\u201d says Murray, pained to\nsee Joseph acting this way. \u201cHe\u2019s a wonderful person.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNo,\u201d says Joseph, looking at the ground and\nshaking his head. \u201cI\u2019ve known him since he was a kid. He was Lisa\u2019s friend. Irene\u2019s\ndaughter. Irene was my third wife. When Stephen dropped out of high school and\nhis parents kicked him out, we let him park his van in our driveway. I paid him\nto do chores and I even paid for him to get some therapy, not that it did any\ngood.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOh Joe, don\u2019t say that,\u201d says Murray, grimacing.\n\u201cYou saved his life.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSome life,\u201d says Joseph, slapping a\nfifty-dollar-bill on the table and getting up to go. \u201cWe\u2019ll see you.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

*<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To celebrate Patricia agreeing to be in their\nmovie, Joseph takes Carmen out for Mexican food at Dos Hermanas<\/em>, the place packed, the mood festive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At meal\u2019s end, Carmen says, \u201cI would love to\ntake a peek at this Stephen Ornofsky character. You game?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019d rather not,\u201d says Joseph, making a sour\nface, \u201cbut if you want to\u2026 okay.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou\u2019re not curious to see how he\u2019s changed?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNot even a little bit. Crazy people don\u2019t\ninterest me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhy do you keep saying he\u2019s crazy? He was homeless\nand now he\u2019s not. Murray says he\u2019s doing really well. This so unlike you.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When he hears her say This is so unlike you, <\/em>Joseph is struck dumb.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cJoe? You okay?\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYeah,\u201d he says quietly. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhat\u2019s going on?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI just admitted to myself why I don\u2019t want him\nin our movie.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhy?\u201d           <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBecause he\u2019s sweet and kind and gifted,\u201d says\nJoe, remembering Stephen\u2019s battered old Volkswagen van parked by the woodshed. \u201cAnd\nI always felt like a selfish talentless fool compared to him.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBut you helped him.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe had an empty guest room and a big sofa in the living room,\u201d says Joseph, recalling the countless times he wanted to go out to Stephen and say Come in and get warm <\/em>but never did. \u201cHe was barely surviving and I made him sleep in his freezing van. And when Lisa left for college and Irene moved out, I told Stephen to go away. And he thanked me for my help and moved his van into town, and though he had almost nothing he took in stray dogs and cats and fed them and cared for them. And no one threw pennies at him. People gave him money because he was a beautiful singer. And then he got a house and gave guitar lessons and worked as a gardener, and every month\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Joseph stops talking and closes his eyes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cEvery month, he\u2019d send me a check for fifty\ndollars. For three years. And I never thanked him and never apologized for\nbeing so horrible to him. And I\u2019ve avoided him like the plague ever since I\nkicked him out. And that\u2019s why I don\u2019t want him in our movie, because I\u2019m\nashamed of myself and because I think you would love him more than you could\never love me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThen we won\u2019t have him in our movie,\u201d says\nCarmen, offering Joseph her hand. \u201cWe won\u2019t give him another thought.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYes, we will,\u201d says Joseph, taking her hand. \u201cWe\nwill go see him now. And who knows? Maybe he\u2019ll turn out to be the one we\u2019ve\nbeen looking for.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat\u2019s the Joe I know,\u201d says Carmen, smiling\nsublimely. \u201cThat\u2019s my soul mate.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Complicated Feelings<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Joseph Ross and Carmen Fernandez are making a movie together with the working title Funny Love Story. Joseph is seventy-five, a movie director emerging from several years of creative dormancy. Carmen is thirty-four, a wedding photographer and aspiring filmmaker who lives in Santa Rosa, California, a two-hour drive from Melody, the small coastal town where […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[923,6279,6280,6259,6261,6277,5808,6276,6278,6008,6275,6274,9,33],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/underthetablebooks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4172"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/underthetablebooks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/underthetablebooks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/underthetablebooks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/underthetablebooks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4172"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/underthetablebooks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4172\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4190,"href":"https:\/\/underthetablebooks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4172\/revisions\/4190"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/underthetablebooks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4172"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/underthetablebooks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4172"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/underthetablebooks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4172"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}