An elderly woman shuffled past the park bench just as the old church clock was ringing eleven bells. She pushed an old supermarket trolley with a dog perched on the front end. She ignored the two men on the park bench. She muttered to herself and shook her head.
“God bless that poor woman,” Marty said.
“Do you know her?” Joe asked.
“Know her very, very well. She’s one of the kindest, sweetest people it’s ever been my pleasure to know. I came from the street where she lives.”
“Why didn’t she look at us? She was only a couple of feet away when she passed us.”
Marty watched her as she eased her trolley down the steep hill to the left of the small park. “She lost her husband a few years ago. Actually this day four years back, if I remember rightly. She never got over it. They were the closest couple I knew, always together. You couldn’t get a breath of air between the two of them, they were so close,” Marty said softly as she drifted out of view. “All the neighbours were very good. They tried and tried to help her get back to some sort of normal life. But she just turned inwards … kept to herself. Eventually she didn’t bother going to church. She goes to the little shop at the bottom of the hill bright and early every morning before the town gets busy. Then she goes home again with her little dog. And that’s it for another day.” Marty looked back at Joe. “Medicine can cure all sorts of ailments these days, Joe – cancer, TB, smallpox, even brain tumours. But the most eminent men in the medical world can’t find a cure for a broken heart.” Marty sighed and deeply inhaled the bracing sea air. “And do you know why that is?”
Joe listened carefully. “Why?”
“Because buried deep in your heart is your soul. Your soul is the life-force of your body. It’s what we get when we’re conceived into this world, Joe. And it’s what we hand back when God decides that it’s time for us to go. But something strange happens to our souls when we meet the person we’re destined to spend the rest of our lives with. Our feelings for that person are so intense that our souls unite. They can only survive after that with each other. They can’t thrive alone. So when that someone you love with your heart and soul dies on you, Joe, often your soul dies with them. That’s what’s known as dying of a broken heart.”
“But she’s not dead.”
“Look at her. She’s barely hanging on. I wouldn’t say it’d be too long before they’re reunited. Would you?”
“I don’t know.”
“How do you think Liz would feel this morning if she were to get a phone call to say you’d been killed?”
“Jesus, Marty, I don’t know! I don’t normally spend my time thinking about morbid things like dying.”
“We all die, Joe. It’s no great shakes. It’s just moving on to the next stage. Do you think she’d be upset?”
Joe thought uncomfortably. “Suppose she would be. She’s planning on marrying me today. I guess she would.”
“Now turn the tables. Would you cry if something terrible happened to Liz?”
“Of course I would. What sort of a question is that?”
“You told me just half an hour ago that you’d love to hear that she’d been killed.”
Joe shivered and shook. “I didn’t really mean what I said.”
“It’s getting a bit chilly up here. The wind is changing. I hope that ferry makes it into port before the wind shifts to an easterly direction,” Marty said.
“Why’s that?” asked Joe.
“Because if it starts blowing hard from the east, the ferry won’t be able to sail.”
“For how long?”
“For as long as it takes to change again.” Marty looked at Joe with that wry, knowing smile. “You’re not getting nervous, are you?”
“No I’m not!” Joe said adamantly.
“Nothing wrong with getting nervous on the day of your wedding, Joe. I’m sure Liz is feeling a few pangs of the old nerves right now. What do you think she’s doing now?”
“Getting her hair done.”
“How do you know that?”
“She told me she had an appointment at eleven in the hairdressers.”
“Well done, you remembered that.”
“It’d be difficult not to. She’s been talking non-stop about today for the past three months.”
“And what did the doctor and the dentist have to say when you told them you were marrying Liz?”
“My father freaked. He told me I needed to have my head examined. Then he poured a large brandy for himself and one for my mother …”
“And your mother knocked your teeth out!” Marty almost fell off the bench he laughed so hard.
Joe started to laugh. “It’s not funny.”
“Of course it’s funny, Joe. You’re laughing, for God’s sake. Enjoy it. It’s meant to be the biggest day of your life.” Marty became serious. “You told me earlier you didn’t think you loved her. Why did you say that?”
Joe watched the ferry as it gave a long blow on its horn. “What does that mean?”
“It means he’s ten minutes from docking. You didn’t answer my question. Why did you say you didn’t love her?”
“Because I’m afraid to give.”
“Give what?”
“Commitment.”
“Because I know once I give it I can’t take it back without hurting her.”
“You mean without breaking her heart?”
Joe nodded. “Yes.”
“I think you’ve already given her a commitment. I also think you were happy to give her that commitment. Am I right?”
“Yes, I suppose I was. Do you know my parents threatened not to come to the wedding today?”
“You should have told them not to bother. They don’t own you, Joe. They never owned you. From the moment you were born your life was mapped out. They have no say over what you think or do. Do you understand? You’re probably thinking now that maybe they were right. Maybe Liz is not suitable for you, isn’t that what you’re thinking?”
“But you’re only thinking that because you’ve been listening to what they’ve been telling you over and over for the last six months. You have to start listening to your heart, Joe. Because at some stage in life, that’s the part of us we give away to someone else. We have to listen to what our heart is telling us. Not our parents, or our parents’ views on life, but our heart!” Marty thumped his chest hard. “Right in there. Let that do the thinking for a little while and you’ll be OK. What’s the point in living in Marbella when you’re thirty-five? All alone on the yacht that’s going nowhere. Surrounded by people who your parents would love you to know, people you can’t relate to. This is where you belong, Joe, sitting here having a heart-to-heart on a little park bench. Look around you, man. This is all here for you. And it’s all free! It doesn’t cost either of us a single penny. And all you have to do is sit back and enjoy it. I wouldn’t ever swap this beautiful little pissed-on rusty park bench for a Marbella yacht. I don’t know about you but this is home to me. This is where I lay my hat.”
Joe smiled.