A New Beginning

Chapter 37: The Will of Bill

Chapter 37: The Will of Bill

Rights go to Will Rogers for the quotation.

Jack sighs, cleaning up the tarps from the day's work, wiping sweat from his brow. It's been a long day. The church will be done in the next two days or so and Jack is reluctant to leave. He feels relatively comfortable now since he's had a steady job with good payment for awhile now. The workers have become almost like his friends and Father Bill is giving him guidance and advice, almost like a father figure. He's also been doing what he loves the most, being able to express his talents.

He lays back in one of the pews, hands behind his head and stares up at the ceiling. The scenes from the Bible look like they are coming to life. Jack, of course, doesn't really know the stories, but he likes the way each of the panels came out. All that was left to do what re-paint the gold borders and touch up some of the saints' statues. Then everything would be done and they would be paid their last bit of money.

Jack begins to wonder if Fabrizio and Tommy might be up in heaven and what they might be doing. He smiles, visualizing Tommy with a halo under his bowler hat and a cigarette dangling from his lips. He wonders if his Irish friend would be sharing a drink with Saint Peter or something. He pictures Fabrizio, playing a tune, most likely to his love Helga, the girl whom he met on the ship. He'd sing with all the choirs of angels to profess his love for her. Jack tries to picture his best friend in a white flowing robe, but can't. He chuckles to himself at the idea. He thinks of Emma, she would be a beautiful angel, her bright blue eyes the colour of the sky and her smile would bring the sunshine anywhere she went. He imagines her painting the sunsets as they set over the horizon and simply loving spending the time with her parents. He sees his own parents, smiling down on him, keeping him safe. His mother baking treats for all the saints and his father cracking a few jokes to make the angels smile.

"I miss you guys," Jack whispers and goes to his room.

He sits on the cot he has and contemplates what to do next. He's scared, of course, he doesn't know what to do next. He could try to find Rose again, but that worked out so well the first time! He knew he had to find another job, he wishes to have standards for what kind of profession he wants, but he knows his options are limited. He knew Father Bill would allow him to stay here, but it wouldn't feel right. He no longer worked for the church, and Jack had only been lucky that Father Bill had been so generous. He had enough from the church job to support himself, may get an apartment, but it would only last so long.

Suddenly, he remembers he will hopefully have a lot more in a few days. He looks at the pieces he's going to donate, leaning against the wall by the door. He got them registered with Molly's committee. He considered himself lucky that he got his pieces in at all, he heard another person was donating pieces from Picasso and Monet. I guess they needed a few more art pieces. He had shown some of the ladies his paintings and they were absolutely blown away by the detail and passion. They seemed so realistic to them. They accepted the paintings right on the spot. He would have to deliver them on the day of the dinner.

Jack was proud of himself. He had painted three pieces, all of them came from his own imagination and talent. He drew a little girl holding a small bouquet of flowers near a pond. There were small animals and plant life and he worked extra hard to get the reflection right. The picture was based on Cora, his best girl on Titanic, whom he also missed. The girl had a lot of spunk and who's smile could light up the room. The second piece was a small farmstead, loosely based on a small farm near his home in Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin. A small red barn in the distance with a big green field and big wooden fence that he used to climb over to visit the neighbour. There was a cow in the far left corner and a sharp blue sky with white clouds above the scenic painting.

However, his absolute favourite is the last one he painted, one of Rose. He used emerald green paint to capture her eyes and a bright red to paint her lips and curls. He made the curls almost like they were blowing in the breeze, spreading out across the canvas. It was slightly more abstract, leaving out skin colour and simply using the blank white canvas as her skin, creating a flawless texture. This was how he saw Rose, every single day and how she would always be, frozen in time...in his heart.

There is a knock at the door.

"Come in," Jack calls.

Father Bill comes into the room.

"What can I do for you, sir?" Jack asks politely.

"I was wondering if you are prepared for the dinner next week?"

"Not really Father, I mean the paintings are done, but I don't exactly have good clothes."

"You can borrow my suit if you'd like," the pastor offers.

Jack's jaw drops in shock. He never expected the pastor to have anything besides his robes and the black shirt and white collared shirts. He learned that priests take a vow of poverty and never have fancy things of any kind to show their compassion and devotion to the Lord.

"You have a suit?"

Father Bill smiles. "You think I do not?"

"I-I just expected..."

"I am not walking around in a loincloth all the time." He jokes. "I have two suits for parish dinners or other special occasions, you are welcome to borrow one of them."

"Really?" Jack says.

"Yes, of course, I will be attending too, but will not be bidding on anything and am simply there for sponsor support."

"Right," Jack nods.

The pastor takes Jack back in his own room and opens the closet. Father Bill slides through the multitude of coloured robes and brings out a simple black suit. There is also a gray one. The priest hands the black one to Jack.

"All you need son is a nice tie and you're ready to go,"

Jack looks at Father Bill and takes the suit.

"I don't know what to say..." Jack says. "You've shown me nothing but kindness, even though I was a total stranger, lost and homeless. Most people would've ignored me or called the police. You are definitely not like 'most people'"

"A stranger is just a friend you haven't met yet," the pastor smiles. "I am just like anyone else son. I believe that the will of God brought you to this church, it happened for a very good reason. This place allowed you to heal and to express yourself in a way that you were unable to do before. You were given the respect and support you needed to grow and start yourself on a new path."

Jack smiles back, the will of God thing might be a bit far-fetched, but Father Bill was right. He had found the comfort and respect he needed to move past the disaster and start again. He still felt that his stay at the church had only given him false hope in finding the one he loved, but he had re-discovered his talents and was about to sell his very own paintings. Jack guessed that the Lord had helped him, to a point.

Jack takes the suit to his room and tries it on. It's a little loose around the collar, but otherwise the perfect fit. He then goes to find a mirror. When he looks at himself, he looks okay, but he still felt like the penniless artist he's always been. He has a flashback to when Molly lent him her son's suit for the first-class dinner. He was nervous then and he was nervous now, at least, this time, he wouldn't have to worry about Cal or Rose's snobbish mother interrogating him. He knew people of all classes would be there and he could be another face in the crowd.

Jack hangs the suit up and gets ready for bed. He takes one last look at his painting of Rose before he goes to sleep.

I'll find you...I hope...