" Some ride, huh?" " Don't you love it?" " It's like being at Disneyland." " Yeah, except this is Morganland." "I mean, he owns the elevator, the building, probably half the world by now." "Could be." "Your friend sure has been successful, hasn't he?" "Well, you got that right." "Read somewhere where he's one of the ten richest men in the country." "Which is why I can't understand what he'd want me for." "Your sister didn't give you any clue when she called?" "No, just that Luke had a problem." "you know, needed my help." "You guys were best friends when you were kids, right?" "Blood brothers." "Inseparable all the way through school." "You know, I'm the godfather of his son, Gary." "I just can't figure out what Luke would need with an ex-cop." "Sounds to me like he just needs an old friend." " Yeah?" " Mr. Gordon is here, sir." "Send him right in, Miss Ames." "Hold any calls, please." " Mark." " Luke." " It's so good to see you." " Oh, man, it's been too long." "Oh, this is my partner, Jonathan Smith." "Pleasure." "You're the one who's kept him so busy these last few years, eh?" "Guilty as charged." "Please, guys, sit down." "You want some sort of refreshments?" "No, I'm fine, thank you." " Boy, it's quite a place you got here." " Oh, yeah." "Mark." "It seems forever since we got together to sing some old songs and tell a few lies." "As I recall, the lies were always better than the singing." "No argument there." "I miss those days." "We had fun, didn't we?" "Yeah, sweet youth and innocence." "How do you replace them?" "No way, my old friend." "Hey, speaking of sweet youth and innocence, how's Gary doing?" "He's the reason I contacted you, Mark." "Gary's your problem?" "I don't believe it." "He's not into drugs or something stupid like that, is he?" "No, far from it." "No, he's a fanatic about his body, works out and swims every day, he's in great shape." "Top student in school, A-achiever." "Into business programmes, computers, a wiz at everything." "Sounds like a heck of a kid." "How old is he?" "Nineteen going on 30, fast." "He's in such a damn hurry to become a man, to do everything his way, to get into the fast lane." "I want him to slow down and be a boy a while longer." "He'll be a man a long time." "Have you talked to him about it?" "That's the heart of the problem." "We just can't communicate." "I take total blame." "I mean, hell, I was on a flight to Hong Kong the day he was born, and hard as it is to admit, that's about as close as we've ever been." "Really something, isn't it?" "I've made motivational speeches all over the world and I can't even talk to my own son." "I'm sorry." "Listen, I hate talking about this here in the office." "Can you come out to the house?" "We can talk better out there and have some dinner." " Hey, that sounds good to me." " Great." "Let's go." "Ellen, there will be two more for dinner." "A house, he says." "More like a house of parliament." "I've always had simple tastes, Mark, you know that." "Oh, yeah." "Hey, that's not a bad-looking second home on wheels either." " Hey, you ride a bike?" " Oh, a little." "Gary's a champion dirt-bike racer." "Won the junior division the last two years." " Boy, this is some beautiful rig." " I just bought that last week." "What it hasn't got hasn't been invented yet." " It's ready to go." " Go where?" "Oh, a trip." "Camping, fishing, just Gary and me." "A small odyssey, if you will." "Father and son trying to get to know one another." "Hey, that sounds like fun." "What's holding it up?" "Gary turned me down flat." ""No way," he said." ""Waste of time," his and mine." "There was nothing I could say that would change his mind." "So you want Mark to try to talk him into going with you?" "Exactly, Jonathan." "He and Gary have always had a great rapport." "He might reconsider if you came along." "I'd be more comfortable too." "I know it sounds foolish, but I'm afraid of being alone, just the two of us." " What do you say, pal?" " All I can do is try." "Well, it may take some time." "Can you stay as my guests?" "Well, that's gotta beat a motel room." "Good." "Listen, it's a little after 5 and Gary will be in the gym." "Come on." "Gary, look who blew into town." " Mark." " How you doing, Gary?" " Great." "How are you?" " Oh, man, look at you." "Hard to believe you were that little guy I took fishing." " Well, come on, how are you?" " Great." " How about you?" " Can't complain." " This is my friend, Jonathan Smith." " Mr. Smith." "Jonathan." "So where have you been?" "What have you been up to?" "I'm not sure you'd believe me if I told you." "Why not?" "I always believed everything you ever told me." "Even some really tall tales." "Some things never change, Gary." "He's still pretty good at those." "Your dad says you're into all kind of things now." "You're some kind of computer wiz these days." "Well, it's a high-tech world, Mark." "Gotta keep up." " You wanna see some of my toys?" " I'd love to." "I'll shower and meet you in my room." " You got it." " Okay." " Nice meeting you, Jonathan." " Same here." "Got the picture?" "Like I'm not here, like I'm invisible." "You got your work cut out for you, Mark." "Hey, nothing worth doing is easy, old buddy." "Nothing." "Yeah, this little baby will do everything but put you in bed and tuck you in at night." "It's got software you wouldn't believe." "I have never seen so much equipment in one room in my life." "I mean, you could start World War Ill from in this place." "Well, I need and use every piece of it." "I got a lot of projects going, 20 hours a day, you know what I mean?" "Why?" "You're out of school for the summer, aren't you?" "Well, per se, sure, but I'm taking special computer classes." "And I've got this marketing plan going with some other guys." "Got a neat little item we're gonna manufacture." "After our survey results come in," "I bet you we sell five, six million of them." "Keep it on schedule, we'll have them on shelves by late fall." "Déjà vu." "You sound like your father did" "Oh, is that good or bad?" "Well, all I know is, while he was chasing money," "I was chasing girls." "Can I ask you a question, Mark, and get a serious answer?" "Try me." "You ever beat him at anything?" "I mean anything?" "No, can't say I have." "Neither have I." "Well, he's a competitive guy, you know." "He doesn't like losing." "Who does?" "Losing is nothing." "And winning's not everything." "Not if you're the winner." "Well, I guess every boy wants to be as good or better than his father." "Thing is, why are you in such a hurry?" "You sound just like my old man." "Hey, he said he planned a little trip, but you won't go along." "He told you right." "Why?" "I mean, it sounded like a fun time." "Fun?" "With him?" "You gotta be kidding." "I don't think he knows the meaning of the word." "Wait a minute." "Are we talking about the same guy?" "I mean, I've had a lot of fun with your dad." "A lot of laughs over the years." "Yeah, maybe that's because you know him." "I don't." "Well, it's never too late." "You know, you ought to think more about that trip." "Give you a chance to lay back, relax a little bit." "Yeah, I just don't have the time." "Hey, you two, dinner's ready." "Hey, boy, I'm ready for that." "You do take time out to eat, don't you?" "Only under duress." "Consider yourself duressed." "Come on." " Was that a great meal or what?" " That was terrific." " You guys eat like that all the time?" " Not hardly." "Actually, Gary and I both eat on the run most of the time." "Right, son?" "I said, we don't get a chance to eat together very often these days." "Oh, yeah, right." "Say, you know what I was thinking?" "The only thing that could taste any better would be a big trout right out of the water and plop, right into the frying pan." "Hey, Mark, lighten up, okay?" "We've been through that." "No trip." "I wish you'd reconsider, son." "I don't get it, Dad." "Why now?" "That's one of the things that really used to bug Mom when she was alive." "You never knew how to take a vacation." "Remember the time we went to Hawaii?" "Right after you got your phones hooked up so you could do business." "Did you ever go near the water?" "Did you ever even get wet?" "No, I guess I didn't." "No, what you did do was get a building project going." "Two hundred condos." "And we never took a vacation in one of them either." " That was a long time ago." " Well, nothing's changed." "There were so many things we were gonna do together and never did." "Well, you'll all have to excuse me." "I've gotta get back to work." "I'll see you later, okay?" "This kid's amazing, I'll say that for him." "I mean, everything he went out for he was the best." "Baseball, gymnastics, motocross." "I mean, you talk about your all-around athlete." "He's a competitive kid all right." "I just hope it's for the right reasons." "What do you mean?" "Well, is he competing for the fun of competition or to prove something to his father?" " Prove what?" " That he's a winner too." "Nothing wrong with being a winner." "No, but I think it's important to learn that losing is not such a big deal." "If you can handle your wins and losses in this life with the same importance, you're on your way to being a man." "Yeah." "I don't think this kid could handle losing." "I mean, he's never had to." "Wait a minute.That's it." "What's it?" "I think I've found a way to get that kid on the trip." "But you're gonna have to help." " How?" " Gonna have to give me the stuff." "Oh, no." "No, Mark." "I'm sorry." "Oh, come on, Jonathan, now, please, it's for my best friend." "What do you say?" "All right, but within reason." "Within reason." "You really think you're gonna con him into this?" "If he's anything like his father, and I think he is, it's a cinch." "Luke never passed up a challenge in his life." "We'll soon find out." "All you gotta do now is give me the stuff." "You've already got it." " Morning, Tarzan." " Morning." " You do that all the time?" " Yep, every day." "Boy, looks like a lot of work to me." "It's good for you." "You ought to try it sometime." "I don't have to." "Some of us are just naturally strong." "Oh, yeah, sure." "Hey, don't let this tyre fool you." "I'm a rock." "I've never met anybody who could lift more weight than me." "Mark, you're into one of your tall tales again." "Put your money where your mouth is." "Are you kidding?" "I'm just warming up with this weight." "I mean, no offence, but you wouldn't stand a chance." "Like I said, put your money where your mouth is." "Mark, I couldn't take money from you." "It wouldn't be fair." "Oh, well, let's make it a gentleman's bet." "You win, I'll stop bugging you about the trip." "I win, you go on the trip." "Look, I told you to forget about the trip, okay?" "Fine, you win, I'll stop bugging you about the trip." "I mean, unless you're too chicken to try." " You've gotta be kidding." " No, I'm not kidding." "Okay." "Okay, you're on." "That's what I like to hear." "Put what you want on the bar." "Jonathan, you wanna put another 25 on?" "You got it, Gary." "There you go." "There you go." "Let's put some weight on this thing." "How about a couple of 45s?" " Sounds good to me." " You've gotta be kidding." "Just put them on there, my lad." "There you go." "Your turn." "Why don't we put a couple of 35s on here?" "That's 430 pounds." "I don't count them, I just lift them." "Your turn, my lad." "Forget it." "You win." " I knew it would work." " You were right." "Boy, I feel great when I got the stuff." "That's cute, Jonathan, cute." "How's that marketing plan going, Gary?" "Well, I was pretty much on schedule." "This trip's not gonna help." " That's gin, my friend." " Oh, no." "You blitzed me again." "When are you gonna let me win one?" "Never, I hope." "Look at you." "Look at the look in your eye." "You love that." "You've always loved that." "You gloat." "Hey, why don't you take him on?" "What for?" "He'll win." "He always wins." "It's just a game." "Who cares who wins?" " I do." "So does he." " What are you laughing about?" "Believe me, so does he." "Amazing what people think is important in this life." "What does it matter?" "Better pull into a gas station before we hit the mountains." " Fill this rig up, gents?" " Yeah, and check the oil, please." "You got it." " Hey, Jonathan." " Yeah?" "Want me to drive the rest of the way up to the meadows?" "You'll do anything to get out of losing another gin rummy game." "Right." "You don't think you could give me the stuff again for about an hour?" "Mark." "Well, I guess not, huh?" "I could hide the sevens." "I've got all the luck of a run-over snake." "Want a soda?" "No, thanks." "That's something else we were gonna do together." "We never did." "Oh, I tell you, Luke, I could get used to this." " Yeah, I know what you mean." " Are those steaks about ready?" "I'm so hungry my belly thinks my throat's cut." "Yeah, they're about ready." "Go tell Gary, will you?" "Oh, you got it." " Hey, steaks are ready." " I'm not hungry." "Come on, they smell great." "Mark, I told you, I'm not hungry." "Why don't you put this stuff away and come outside for a while?" "I've got too much work to do." "This is supposed to be a vacation, remember?" "Mark, I thought a vacation was when you did whatever you felt like." "Well, I feel like working on my marketing report, okay?" "Okay." "Where's Gary?" " Still got his nose in that plan book." " Yep." "How does it happen, Jonathan?" "How does a father and a son grow so far apart?" "My son, my son." "Well, Luke, nothing worth doing is easy." "You're just gonna have to give him more time, that's all." "I don't have the time, Mark." "Oh, come on." "You know, that's been your problem your whole life." "You're in a hurry for everything." "Things like this do not happen in a hurry." " This particular thing has to, Mark." " Why?" "Because I'm dying." "You're what?" "I'm dying." "Haemolytic anaemia they call it." "It's a disease with a very short survival time tag on it." "That time's almost up." "You're sure there's no--?" "I've had the best medical advice in the whole world, old friend." "Does Gary know?" "No." "And I don't want him to." "I don't have his love." "I certainly don't want his pity." "He's dying, Jonathan." "Luke's dying." "I know, buddy." "Did he tell you?" "He didn't have to." "Luke's our assignment." "Engine trouble, son?" "No, just fine-tuning." "I'm gonna do some fishing." "Care to come along?" "No, thanks." "I'm gonna catch us some dinner." "Gary's not giving Luke a chance." "What are you doing now, bailing out?" " That's right." "I've had it." " Why?" "Hey, I won a bet, remember?" "Well, I'm welching on it, so forget it." "I'm giving up." "I don't have time for this." "Well, you had better make time." "Look, Mark, you're his friend." "You don't have to be a success." "I do." "I'm his son." "You can talk to him, I can't." "I don't have anything to say to him." "He doesn't have anything to say to me." "You haven't given him a chance." "Look, Mark, I don't need a lecture." "He's your buddy." " He wants to spend the time with you." " That's not true." "It's true enough for me." "Gary, don't do this to your father, please." "Tell him I had to get back for my computer classes." " Can't you at least tell him that?" " We don't communicate, remember?" "So long, Mark." " How'd you get here?" " Same way you did." "On a bike." "Why'd you come after me?" "To talk you into going back and getting it together with your father." "Forget it, Jonathan." "You've gotta give it a chance." "Look, I've got my work." "That's what's important to me." "That's what your father thought." "You were complaining about him and now you're doing the same thing." "You two are a lot alike, you know that?" "Spare me, okay?" "It's not gonna do any good." "You're leaking oil." "Must have cracked your case." "Damn it!" "You're not gonna be able to walk out of here, not before dark." "Look, I'll take you down to the bus tomorrow." "Come on, what's one more day?" "I guess I don't have a choice, do I?" "No, son, I guess you don't." " They've been gone a long time." " Oh, well, you know how bikers are." "They get going, they lose all track of time." "Yeah, time." "I'm sorry, old friend." "It's a manifestation of the disease." "They tell me it gets more acute toward the end." " How much time do you have, Luke?" " A month, maybe a bit more." "I thought I'd be afraid, but I'm not." "Are you afraid of death, Mark?" "Not a bit, old friend." "Not a bit." " What's funny?" " Just something I remember reading." "Some famous last remarks." "One of my favourites is William Saroyan's." ""Everybody has to die." "But I always believed an exception would be made in my case."" "How about the one that Woody Allen came up with when his time comes?" ""It's not that I'm afraid to die." "I just don't wanna be there when it happens."" "It's like they say, Mark." "It seems that death shown out the front door will just come back in by the window." "So we'd just as well be civil, offer him a drink and be glad he's not from the IRS." "Well, the prodigals return." "Son, I thought you fine-tuned that machine." "I'm sorry, Luke." "All that kid's thinking about is himself." "I mean, who does he think he is?" "Don't judge the boy, Mark." "I was a good friend to you." "Bad father to him." "It's so beautiful this time of day." "Sun will be going down." "I think I'll take a walk." "You're gonna have to tell him." "You're gonna have to tell him his father's dying." "He doesn't want him to know." "Mark, he has to know." "Relax, I'm not your father." "Where is he?" "He's sitting by the river." "Gary," "I've gotta talk to you." "Oh, lecture time again?" "No." "We're way past the time for lectures." "Good." "Not so good." "I've got something to tell you, it's not easy." "You're in such a rush to be a man." "Well, you're gonna have to take this like a man." "Luke has got some rare disease, some kind of anaemia, affects the blood cells." "He didn't want you to know." "Come on." "Did he put you up to this or are you doing this on your own?" "Gary." "I mean, first your friend gives me a spiel that doesn't work." "Now you go for the your-father-is-sick routine." "Well, forget it, Mark." "He's a bull." "He'll end up tapping on all our graves." " He's terminal." " Mark, please." "Now, you listen to me." "Damn it, you listen to me." "Your father is dying." "You hear what I'm saying?" "Luke is dying." "No, that can't be, Mark." "I'm sorry." "It can be and it is." "Well, you've got a chance now to do something not many people have." "A chance to what?" "A chance to tell your father how you really feel about him." "I mean, so many times in my life," "I've heard people say," ""God, if I had said this or if I had said that"" "to somebody they loved." "But they waited, Gary." "They waited until it was too late." "And then all the things that needed saying just never got said." "I don't know if I can." "Sure you can, Gary." "Sure you can." "Listen." "Don't" " Don't tell him you know he's dying, okay?" "He just needs your love." "And he needs your love freely given." "You understand that?" "Hey, you guys caught breakfast yet?" "Are you kidding me?" "Wait just a minute, here." "Look at these beauties here." "Luke is gonna be doing KP all morning." "He has got zip." "And we have got a bet on the biggest fish." "Hey, hey, I got a bite." "I got one." "I got" " He's a big one." "He's" "I got a big one here." "Yep, here he comes, I got him." "He's a beauty." "Hey, way to go, Dad." "Oh, I don't believe it." "I'm gonna have dishpan hands." "Dad, what do you say we take a walk after breakfast, huh?" "Yeah, sure, son." "That would be great." "All right." "I'll get the grill going." "Did you hear that?" "What's going on?" "Am I doing something right?" "Probably impressed him with that whale you just caught." "Look, son." "It's so small you'd pass it by without a glance." "But look, it's so perfect and so delicate." "It's amazing that I spend my whole life without seeing." "But it's never too late, is it, son?" "No, sir." "Hey, I've got a terrific idea." "Remember that amusement park we saw advertised at the gas station?" " Wonderland, wasn't it?" " Yeah." "How about we drive over there tonight?" "For something different?" "Sounds good to me." "You know, I've never had cotton candy." "I think I'll try it." "Wonderland, here we come." "Great." "We've been bumping heads a long time, haven't we?" "We missed someplace along the line." "Yeah, we did." "It's my fault, you know?" "I haven't exactly been the perfect son." "This trip's really turning out to be something." "I'm gonna hate going back." "Let's not go back." "What about your computer classes and your business programmes?" "They can wait." "I'll get to them." "You mean it?" "You bet I do." "Great." "Let's see your stuff." "Stand back, son, I'm gonna send this thing into next year." "All right, I'm ready." "Falling a little short of the mark there, Dad, I'm afraid." "Not bad." "Oh yeah?" "I'm gonna have to show you how it's done." "Come on, wimpy, try it." "All right, you ready for this?" "Hey, all right." "I don't believe it." "I finally beat you at something." "You sure did, son." "And you're gonna beat me at a lot more before you're through." "Mark told you, didn't he?" "Told me what?" "It's all right, son." "It's all right." "It's not fair." "It's not fair." "I know, son." "I know." "But nobody promised us a tomorrow." "You play life as it comes." "But everything I worked for, everything I do is to make you and Mom proud of me." "Now who's gonna be there?" "Who's gonna know?" "I'll be there." "I'll know." "Dad, I love you." "You know that, don't you?" "I love you, son." "Dad" "We've waited 19 years for this." "Now, let's not stand around and waste it." "Let's enjoy every minute of it." "Every minute of it." "Hey, Mark." "We're going on the roller coaster." "You guys game?" "No, you go on ahead." "Okay, coward." "Come on, son." "Time to go." "So long, old buddy." "So long."