“And at the end of the day, I’m a big enough dude to be brave enough for two.”
Richard wasn’t capable of judging Iris’ notion of ‘try’. Effort wasn’t something that others could measure, it was between you and you. It wasn’t important that Iris actually was brave or not, what was important was that she listened to Dick. That she trusted him to lead and to be a shoulder to lean on. Dick needed that validation. It fueled his own persistence and hope. If Iris was capable of believing Dicky’s lie, it became that much easier for him to convince himself of its truth. Richard felt a familiar feeling and flashbacked to his speech for Vice President.
Pressure.
For the good, pressure made them fold. For the great, pressure made them focus. Dicky was determined to be great and in his mind it relied on a promise made, one person to another. The same promise that he had made half-time down 32-14, the same promise he made when he asked to be Homecoming King and Vice President: 'I will get my job done.' They elected Dick to be a leader, that meant Richard had to lead.
“They’ll be back any moment,” words said to another but intended for self, “I know it.”
~~~
The night was passed awkwardly and anxiously. Minutes turned to hours and hope persisted and remained in it’s defiance, while getting smaller and smaller every second. Richard placated Iris with easy conversation. He asked questions about bugs and photography and told her the history of the rivalry of The Boston Celtics and Los Angeles Lakers with a long focus on the moral and technical superiority of The Hick from French Lick, Larry Bird. Small talk to distract from big things. They both tried to sleep at different moments and with varying levels of success. But it was hard to sleep soundly when plagued by such uncertainty.
Still those words and that hopeful feeling persisted and resisted against the increasingly certain reality.
'They’ll be back any moment, I know it.'
Then the announcement came.
And in so many words, those words were proven wrong.
