Every single day we would be either shooting in the backstage or the rehearsals so I had never really had the opportunity to talk to Ethan, cos I had to be working with Mr. Boring director instead. But there was this one day when Ethan was there watching the actors and I suddenly got so nervous when I realized he was there that I figured I’d better get myself a tea or something to chill out a bit.
So I decided to go to this diner during the five minute break. And you’re not gon-na believe this, but I swear the minute I shut the studio’s door I heard someone asking me “Hey, are you going to get some coffee? Wait for me!” I was in such a hurry that I didn’t even turn to see who that was so I just yelled “Yeap” and continued to walk. Turns out Ethan was the one who had said that, no kidding. So we went to this little coffee shop just across the street and in the meantime I was just trying so hard to act normal.
I even thought about talking about the weather like normal people do. Fortunately, he was the one to talk first, asking my name and all that sort of formalities stuff. It was kind of weird cos his voice didn’t really match his body, it was like The Hulk with a little kid’s voice. I even started to think that I could act indeed, cos I managed quite well not to burst out laughing and going like “Dude, that’s a strange voice!”
Well, the thing is that I only had the chance to say my name then, cos right be-fore we got to the coffee shop, all of a sudden this beggar sprung up. I’m not gonna lie to you, I was a bit scared, I mean you could tell he wouldn’t hurt a fly, but I guess I was just blind with my prejudice. He asked Ethan if he had some change, I think he must have realized I was a bit scared.
“Do you want me to buy you a sandwich?” – said Ethan.
“Ok, then.” - replied the beggar.
“So, hmmm... join us, we’re just going to that coffee shop over there.”
“Hmm... I think I better not, I mean the owner already knows me and he wouldn’t like me to come in.”
“Ok, so just wait right here, ok? We’ll be right back.”
As soon as we entered the coffee shop, all I wanted to do was give Ethan a hug.
He ordered two coffees and a ham sandwich. When we got out of the shop, the beggar was waiting on the sidewalk.
“Here you go, buddy.”
“God bless you.” – said the beggar like he had never seen a sandwich before.
“Listen, what’s your name?”
“My name is Jim, sir.”
“Oh, please don’t call me sir, I’m too young for that... What can you do, Jim?”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, have you ever had a job? Or were you just born a beggar?”
“No” – said the beggar in a quite angry tone. “I’ve had jobs before, I used to work in this farm in Texas but my boss was no good to me, he was kind of bossy... I mean I know that a boss must be bossy but I think he took that too seriously, man!”
“I see...”- said Ethan while he was looking around, thinking whether he should say what he was about to say.
“So listen up Jim, do you see that building over there?”
“Yeap.”
“So, there is where me and my friend here work (Yeap, that’s right, he called me his F-R-I-E-N-D) so... why don’t you drop by there, let’s say 10 o’clock tomorrow and we see what we can do for you. How does that sound?”
“That sounds great!” - said the beggar while he went to hug Ethan. I think that was one of the most beautiful scenes I’ve ever seen in my entire life. Wish I could have written something as beautiful as that.
After that, Ethan and I went back to the studio and it was funny cos Ethan smelled so bad that nobody wanted to be near him anymore. I took advantage of the situation and started to tell everyone that he had crapped his pants because he was so nervous when he met the assistant director. Everybody laughed at that, but I really wish they had believed it. Anyway, once my job was done I walked back to my hotel room which was just a couple of blocks from the studio.
On my way back, I tried to see if that beggar was still around but I assumed he might have gone to bed earlier that day. After I got to my room, I had a really hard time trying to sleep, cos I couldn’t get Ethan out of my mind. I woke up in the couch the next day with a guy selling carpets on TV. I ran to the bathroom, took a shower and walked back to the studio.
It was still 9 o’clock so I wasn’t expecting to run into the beggar then, but when I got there, there he was with a bicycle and Ethan right next to him.
“Hey! Morning, guys.”
“Hey, look what I’ve just got from Mr. Ethan right there.”
“Wow, that’s pretty nice!”
“Yeah, do you wanna take a ride with me? C’mon, don’t worry, I have a license!”
“Ok.”
So I jumped on the bike and the beggar started to run in circles like a drunk man.
“Do you want me to turn the air-conditioning on? Or perhaps the radio?” – said the beggar while he started to whisper a song.
As soon as we stopped, I looked into Jim’s eyes and they were just brighter than the sun. A smile suddenly sprung up in my face and that was the very moment when I decided I didn’t want to be a writer anymore. I wanted to do what Ethan had done for Jim. I wanted to really change people’s stories. I wondered how long that would take if I decided to write a book instead of teaching people like Jim how to read. Y