Early the next morning, Frank invited a professional tailor to custom-make a suit for him. It was clear he was in a very bright mood. In contrast, Charlie was in a terrible mood because when he called George, he found that George was enjoying life and hadn't thought at all about any solution he only insisted Charlie honor their agreement.
Frank keenly speculated that George Willis's father must also be named George Willis, that is, George Willis I. He believed George would definitely tell his father.
Charlie, however, argued that they had agreed not to tell their parents. Faced with such a naive Charlie, Frank sneered, "If you don't speak up now, you'll be stuck watching over a convenience store in Oregon for the rest of your life." But Charlie simply didn't believe him. "There are two kinds of people in this world: those who take responsibility and those who look for a backer. The backer has it better."
Using Thanksgiving dinner as an excuse, Frank persuaded Charlie to stay a little longer, then took him to his eldest brother's house. Frank had not told his brother Willie in advance about the visit, which startled the whole family. Clearly, this uninvited guest was not welcome.
Sure enough, during dinner, Frank went on and on about his romantic adventures, while everyone else remained silent. The atmosphere was so awkward that Charlie could barely stand it. Eventually, Willie's son, Randy, exploded. Randy lashed out at Frank with harsh words, exposing everyone's scars and completely ruining Thanksgiving dinner. When Charlie tried to stop Randy, he got caught up in it too, and Randy revealed Frank's past.
Frank had been selected several times to be promoted to general, but every time he missed the opportunity because of his blunt mouth. In the end, Frank lost his sight due to a drunken mistake during a live combat class, he accidentally pulled the pin on a grenade, leading to his blindness.
Looking at the disappointed and lonely Frank, Charlie realized that Frank was really just searching for family warmth. But unfortunately, he had failed. No one in that house welcomed him, neither his brother Willie nor his nephews, including the Ross family who had taken him in. After creating chaos, Frank took Charlie back to the hotel.
After a quiet night, Charlie woke the next day to find Frank assembling his handgun, which made him realize that Frank might have been serious about committing suicide. Charlie took out the phone number Mrs. Ross had left him and planned to call her, but Frank snatched the paper from his hand and swallowed it whole.
This enraged Charlie. He wanted to walk away from everything and go home, but Frank softened. "All I need is one more day. I know New York well, but sometimes I need someone to point the way. What do you say, Charlie? Give a friend one more day?"
Charlie relented, but he insisted that Frank hand over the gun. Since Frank refused, Charlie settled for taking the bullets instead. Frank sneered at Charlie's persistence. "You have a conscience? I've forgotten, Charlie—conscience! Say it, or don't say it? Obey the rich brats or not? Let this blind bastard die or not? Conscience? What era were you born in, the time of the Knights of the Round Table? Haven't you heard? Conscience is dead! Grow up!"
Faced with Frank's roar, Charlie was speechless.
Frank took Charlie to a hotel for afternoon tea. There, they met a young girl named Donna. Frank took the initiative and brought Charlie along to strike up a conversation. Frank invited Donna to dance a tango. Donna agreed.
Though Frank was blind, he led Donna gracefully across the dance floor, as if nothing stood in his way. His steps were light, passionate, wonderful like flowing clouds and running water, indescribably beautiful. The joy, gentleness, and restraint on Frank's face overflowed from every move he made, and Donna responded with the brightest smile.
Watching this scene, Charlie's eyes grew misty as he beamed with joy. Many spectators even burst into applause. This brief tango was destined to become a classic those breathtaking steps left a deep imprint in everyone's mind.
After the dance, Donna was quickly led away by the man she was waiting for. The brilliance on Frank's face dimmed instantly.
That night, Frank enthusiastically scheduled an appointment with a high-class prostitute and walked toward pleasure with elegance and caution. Meanwhile, Charlie, waiting in the car, called George again. He found that Frank's words had come true George had really told his father and gave a bunch of high-sounding reasons. George was now going home to discuss a solution with his father. Charlie was deeply disappointed.
But Frank, returning from pleasure, also seemed very disappointed. The next day, the once energetic Frank did not get up early and instead lay around listlessly until the afternoon. This worried Charlie greatly. Even after Charlie told Frank about George, Frank couldn't muster any spirit. Frank even suggested Charlie leave and offered to cover his flight. Frank knew that in the end, he would be alone no one would stay by his side.
Realizing that Frank was severely depressed and might end his life at any moment, Charlie cleverly suggested they go out for a drive together, which helped lift Frank's spirits.
At the dealership, Frank used every trick in the book to persuade the salesman to let them take a red Ferrari for a test drive. So, without a license, Charlie drove the Ferrari out of the shop. But Charlie's cautious driving clearly couldn't satisfy Frank's adrenaline cravings. Helpless, Charlie drove to a deserted area near the Brooklyn Bridge there were few cars or pedestrians and then Frank took the wheel.
Once he was in the driver's seat, Frank perked up. He began to accelerate, then pushed the Ferrari to its limit. Not satisfied with straight-line speed, he even attempted a drifting turn. Although Charlie was scared out of his wits, the thrill of the ride finally brought a smile back to Frank's face.
Watching this, the audience in the theater was nearly scared to death. One could only imagine how Charlie felt sitting in the passenger seat. But the speeding caught the attention of the police, and they were pulled over. The situation was critical: the passenger had no license, and the driver not only lacked a license he was blind. It was a nerve-wracking moment. But Frank, calm and collected, managed to fool the police. Not only did they not discover his blindness, but he even managed to get the officer to turn around and walk away. This level of skill was truly impressive.
However, once he left the driver's seat, Frank completely fell apart. He crossed the street, knocked over trash cans, and even tried to urinate by the roadside. In the end, he stumbled into the greenery in a pitiful state. After returning to the hotel, Frank sent Charlie away, changed into his military uniform, and prepared to end his life with the gun.
But just as Charlie reached the hotel lobby, he sensed the colonel's intentions and came back. Charlie tried to persuade the colonel to give him the gun, but the stubborn colonel refused, even threatening to kill Charlie before killing himself. Helpless, Charlie had to take the risk of using force to snatch the gun away, which led to a physical struggle between the two.
At that moment, all the bottled-up emotions burst forth.
Frank shouted at Charlie in fury, but this time Charlie didn't back down. He responded with equal firmness, "You screwed up so what? Everyone makes mistakes. You're supposed to charge forward, aren't you?"
"Charge forward what!" The colonel's hoarse and angry voice cut Charlie off. He roared furiously, "I have no life anymore! I live in darkness! Do you understand?" The colonel's roar, like that of a wounded beast, echoed, "I live in darkness!"
Charlie's eyes welled up with a layer of mist, but he still refused to give up. "Then just give up! Go ahead and wallow in despair… because I'm giving up too." On Charlie's young face was a glow of fearlessness, and his eyes were more resolute than ever before. "You're right. I'm done. We're all done. There's no hope. So be it, let's do it! Just go ahead… and pull the damn trigger! You pathetic blind man!"
Charlie's words drained the color from the colonel's face bit by bit, leaving him speechless. Then Charlie delivered the fatal blow, "Pull the trigger!"
"Ready, Charlie!" The colonel raised the handgun in his right hand.
Charlie gasped for breath, but his words remained firm, completely at odds with his trembling expression. "I'm ready!" Yet the fear of death still cast a thin veil of mist over his eyes.
The colonel noticed Charlie's hesitation. "You don't want to die!"
"Neither do you." Charlie saw through the colonel's heart. This was the first time he had ever truly spoken to the colonel as an equal in all their time together.
"Give me one reason." The colonel was still unwilling to let go.
"I'll give you two." Charlie thought for a moment, then licked his dry lips. "You can tango, and you drive a Ferrari better than anyone I've ever seen."
That line unexpectedly made the colonel let out a breath, but he still said, "You've never seen anyone else do either of those things, right?"
"Give me the gun." Charlie remained steadfast, refusing to back down.
Charlie's determination finally shook the colonel. He wavered, holding the gun unsteadily, and said in a low voice, "Oh, what should I do, Charlie."
"If you get tripped up, just keep on tangoing." The mist in Charlie's eyes gradually gathered into tears, swirling in his sockets as his eyes began to redden.
"Are you inviting me to dance, Charlie?" The colonel gently uttered the words, then softly began to hum, "'You never thought of gliding away, yet deep down you wished to stay...'" His left hand slowly loosened its grip on Charlie's collar.
Freed at last, the tears in Charlie's eyes finally gave in to gravity and began to fall. It was the relief of surviving a close call and the comfort of knowing the colonel had come to his senses and truly let go of the idea of suicide. Charlie hadn't wanted to cry, but the tears wouldn't stop, and they made his eyes look clearer than ever.
Frank had been persuaded by Charlie to give up on suicide maybe only temporarily but it was a step forward. Looking at the utterly exhausted Frank, with his previously neat hairstyle now in disarray, the colonel no longer looked strong or forceful just like a lonely, desolate old man longing for companionship.
.....
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