Episode Two: “All Grown Up”

Frank Gripes, a sixty-five-year-old ex-alcoholic and former sailor who served in the U.S. Navy, now spends his days in the Feeble Friends Nursing Facility in Hoboken, New Jersey. Mr. Gripes discovers two things – one is that the nursing home will uncover a part of Frank’s life that he thought was gone for good, and two, that he is one of … the followed.

Glazed eyes stared at the television set that was propped up on an old dresser. The stench of urine and feces overpowered the tiny room so much at times that it seemed to be seeping through the walls as if the room was porous and perspiring those vile aromas. The one window in the room offered a reprieve from the claustrophobia that often set in for the room’s occupants. Frank Gripes, an older man with gelled back thinning grey hair and one eye, shifted his attention from the black and white reruns to a red, Northern Cardinal perched on the windowsill. The bird peaked in, and the elderly man waved his hand slowly. It was clear that his strength had deteriorated, and he was not the vibrant sailor that he was forty years ago. However, he would never admit it. In his mind, he was still capable of anything, despite his failing body desperately trying to prove otherwise.

“Have you ever experienced the feeling of being close to something good, only to have it ripped away from your fingertips at the eleventh hour?” Frank squinted his one good eye at the television trying to ignore the raspy voice on the other side of the curtain. A different voice responded, “Yes, I have.”

The raspy voice continued. “When that becomes a consistent pattern in your life, you tend to lose all hope for anything. I got so used to disappointment that whenever a feeling of something good being right around the corner comes up, I quickly lose that feeling of hope. Why? Because I know better.”

There was silence from the other side of the curtain as Frank continued to stare at the bird. The raspy- voiced man began to speak again. “Well, preacher. I guess I don’t know no better this time because I feel something good is about to happen, and the feeling is only getting stronger. I can’t escape it.”

 Frank shifted his attention away from the bird and looked at the curtain anticipating a response from the other voice. Finally, the other man spoke. “Usually, when a saved man or woman reaches the end, the hope for Heaven is stronger than ever.” The man interrupted. “Oh, it’s not hope preacher. Hope is for the unseen. This I can see.”

Frank abruptly slid the curtains to the side and stood in front of Jack Hartwrong, a man with shades of grey sprinkled throughout his black hair. Jack wore a dress shirt, tie, and slacks, and held a Bible. He was kneeling on one knee at a bedside, holding the hand of an elderly man lying in bed. The raspy-voiced man was known in this nursing facility as Dapper because of the way his remaining grey hair, was so neatly combed over to the side. Dapper’s eyesight in both of his eyes were impaired, so he just listened to the sound of Frank’s voice without turning toward him. This, however, was Jack’s first time being acquainted with Frank. Frank could tell that Jack was trying to be polite by the way he turned his eyes downward rather than stare at the gaping hole that was Frank’s eye socket. It was cancer that slowly ate away at the eye, and the exenteration surgery was the reason for its’ removal. Nonetheless, Frank refused to bandage his missing eye, and instead settled for exposing the void in his skull at the cost of making others feel uncomfortable. Frank thought that wearing a bandage would be a sign of weakness. For this reason, he also refused to get a prosthetic eye. “I had enough of this Heaven business, “ Frank said. Frank grabbed his walker and slowly shuffled over to Jack and looked him in his eyes. “What have you ever done for this country, son?”

Jack stood up out of respect for the man after glancing at the dog tags swinging from his neck. Afterwards, he slowly bowed his head downward, avoiding any eye contact. “With all due respect, our calling was different. You served to fight for your country, and I was called to fight for lost souls.”

 Frank laughed. “You know what the slogan was when I was in the Navy? Be someone special. You can’t be someone special fighting for something that isn’t real.”

Before Jack could even respond, Frank began shuffling away on his walker. “Dapper, you old prune, if Heaven was real, you would be the last person God would let in.”

Dapper lay there with a smile on his face and his head upward toward the ceiling. “I see it, preacher. I see it.” Jack squeezed Dapper’s hand tighter. “I’m with you, brother.”

Frank sat in an empty recreational room. Usually, after lunch, visits die down and residents take the liberty to lurk the hallways and play Bingo in the rec room. However, it was oddly quiet and peaceful. Finally, I can actually get some time to think without everyone’s constant bickering. Frank saw a gentleman dressed in all black, nestled in the corner of the room, playing solitaire. Frank found an isolated spot of his own and pulled out a picture of a young girl with bangs, bright brown eyes, and a big smile. A tear trickled down from his one good eye as the man sang Happy Birthday quietly. Suddenly, the man in black spoke, catching Frank off guard. “Do you know how old she will be?”

 Frank clutched the picture tighter and looked across the room. “What was that?”

“She will be twenty-four today,” said the man.

 Frank tucked the picture away and grabbed his walker. He spoke as he began shuffling slowly toward the man in black. “You don’t know my daughter.”

The man chuckled. “Lily? Everybody knows your daughter. The sad thing is, everyone knows your daughter but ... you.”

 Frank now stood directly in front of the man in black. He gripped his walker tighter and began to shake with anger while the man in black remained poised and collective while continuing to play with the cards. The man looked up at Frank while flashing his white, pearly teeth at him. “I’ve never been good at this game. I’m more into two player games. Care to join?”

Frank sat down at the table. “I’m not in the mood for games.”

“Fair enough.” The man placed the cards back into the box. “Sir, I am not here to disrupt your peace. I am simply a messenger.”

Frank scoffed. “What’s the message?”

 The man in black went to touch Frank’s hand, but he violently tugged away. “Very well. It has been twelve years since you’ve seen your daughter and I’m here to tell you that she misses you.”

 Frank pulled her picture out slowly and looked down at it while trying to hide it from the man. “I probably wouldn’t even recognize her if I saw her.”

“Oh, Frank, she is still that bright-eyed little girl who loved to play piggyback with you. That smile is still the same. Except now … she is just all grown up.”

Frank cleared his throat. “I don’t have no way of even contacting her.”

The man in black smiled again and looked up at the doorway. “She’s even closer than you think she is,” he said.

Frank turned around the see a woman pushing a laundry cart with soiled bed sheets. He only caught a glimpse of the lady’s side profile which resembled the features of his daughter. “Lily?” Frank turned back around to find the man in black gone.

Frank slowly but frantically shuffled around the nursing home in search of Lily. The lights were flickering and the hallways were strangely dim. Most of the staff appeared to be on break.  Frank spotted an older lady who was sitting in her wheelchair in the doorway of her room. “Have you seen my daughter?” The toothless lady smiled and began to cackle. “Oh, Frank, have you seen your daughter?” The cackle grew louder and more intense. Frank ignored her and continued to shuffle along. After failing to find his daughter, he returned to his room.

Now, outside Frank’s window was much darker and the room was more quiet. The preacher was now gone but so was Dapper. Dapper’s bed was completely made as if it hadn’t been occupied in hours. Frank made it back to his bed and noticed a white sheet covering a body. “Dapper. I told you before about stealing my bed.”

There wasn’t any response or movement coming from underneath the sheets. Frank pulled the sheet back and saw Lily, laying there with her eyes closed garbed in a black dress.

“Lily?”

 She slowly opened her eyes. “I’m just like you daddy. I went on to be somebody special.”

Frank grabbed the picture and raised it up next to her face. “Is this really you, Lily?”

The woman began crying. “You left me daddy. Why?” Frank went to grab her hand, but she pulled away. “You are the only man that can never touch me!”

Suddenly Frank felt as if the room around him was spinning. The man in black’s voice echoed throughout the room, “Have a seat, Frank. Take a drink, just like old times, sailor!” Frank began to clutch his chest and sweat frantically. “Lily, where did you go?”

 The woman put her hand over his eyes from behind. “Find me, daddy.”

Frank spun around trying to follow Lily’s voice. “I was your little girl and you left me.”

“I’m sorry honey. I messed up bad. Would you forgive me?”

Lily appeared in front of Frank. He looked at her while crying. “I have one question for you. Do you feel special now, Frank?” Lily slowly licked Frank’s empty eye socket and then disappeared.

Jack Hartwrong left Dapper’s bedside and quickly rushed over to Frank Gripes when he saw the man convulsing. Frank looked at Jack with a look of grimace on his face.

“Sir, I called the nurse for you.” However, Frank couldn’t speak or move any of the muscles in his face. Eventually Frank’s eyes closed and never opened again. Disappointment and sadness painted Jack’s face as he stood there holding Frank’s hand. He turned back over to see Dapper with his eyes closed and a smile on his face. A nurse rushed into the room and checked Frank’s pulse. There wasn’t any. She looked over at Dapper, then to the preacher. “Him too?”

“Yeah,” Jack said.

The nurse nodded. “It’s a shame, these two always made me smile. The complete opposite of each other. They cheered me up when I needed it. They were both something special.” Jack forced a smile, grabbed his Bible and exited the room with his head down.