Page 56 of Blue Umbrella Sky
CORKY SATon the tombstone in front of Milt, his legs stretched out in front of him. Although dressed in a pair of gray wool slacks, a pressed button-down white cotton shirt, and a black-and-white checkered sweater vest, he didn’t appear cold. No, he looked relaxed, arms folded across his chest. His bare head was covered with a black fedora, rakishly angled. Corky always was a bit of a dandy when it came to clothes. His dark eyes twinkled, even though the sun, when it deigned to come out, was behind him.
Milt knew, of course, that Corky wasn’t really there, sitting atop his own tombstone at the Hilltop Cemetery in Summitville, Ohio.
And yet he was, because Milt was certain of one thing—Corky still existed; a piece of his loving energy would always be intertwined in Milt’s heart and soul. So Corky couldn’t really be dead. No, not ever.
Mystical musings aside, Milt had come all this way, spending far more than he could afford, because he had a few things to say to Corky. Milt felt the only way to convey them was in person.
He’d begun casually. “How are things? You know, in the afterlife. Is it what you expected?”
“Pancakes every night for supper,” Corky said and winked. “It never gets cold. And the beds here? They’rerealheavenly beds, honey.” Corky shrugged. “It’s as okay as it can be, without you.”
Milt nodded. “Do you watch me?”
“Like on TV? Or what was that movie we saw once? With that Jim Carrey?”
“The Truman Show.”
Corky nodded. “That’s it.” His gaze took on a faraway cast. “Maybe at first, I was involved with you. I needed to see what you were doing. But honestly, my sweetheart, the time I spent on you became less and less as I realized your earthly concerns weren’t mine. Not anymore. It’s not that you stop caring, man, it’s that you realize the important stuff—the love—never goes away, no matter the minutia going on down there or up there or wherever.” Corky laughed. “I’m not in a place, you know.”
“I think I do. It’s good to see you clear-headed, smart, like you used to be.”
“Thank you. Thank you for taking care of me when that ‘smart’ man you refer to was buried inside. I was always there, my sweet man. I knew everything you did. The hell of it was I could never let you know I knew.”
Milt’s breath caught. He squeezed his eyes shut to ebb the flow of sudden tears.
“Don’t cry.”
Milt shook his head. “I knew. I knew.” He laughed. “That’s why I put up with all of your shit. And we arenottalking metaphorically here.”
They both had a good laugh over that. They were perhaps the only two people who could.
“But seriously, I had this sense, deep inside, that you were always there, even when you seemed most lost.”
“You were right.”
They said nothing for a while. The wind picked up, and it seemed that Corky’s image wavered a little with it, the edges fragmenting and then coming back together.
When the wind died down, Corky said, “I know.”
“You know what?” Milt asked, heat rising to his cheeks despite the arctic chill in the air. He knew.
“Let’s not play games. I left all that behind.”
“He’s a nice guy.”
“I know that too.” Corky smiled, and suddenly he felt much closer, although he stayed where he was. “You love him.”
“I think I do.”
“No, you do.”
“Is that okay?”
“Don’t be stupid, Milt.” And Milt felt a little slap to the back of his head. He rubbed it, smiling at Corky. “What do you think? There’s only so much love in the world? That you have to be careful how you portion it so you don’t run out?”
Milt wanted to say something, but the words stuck in his throat.
“Love is what the whole world is made of. It’s all there is. And there’s no end to it. You’ll get to this on your own, very soon, but I’ll just tell you now—your love for him doesn’t diminish in the least your love for me. You have enough. Youalwayshave enough.”
