Just Like a Movie by Ken Smith

Just like a movie

Honey Yang

Words Checked: 4081 Words in Oxford 3000: 97%

Just like a movie Honey Yang

About the author Honey Yang (1988~) was born in Kaohsiung, Taiwan. She has never thought about writing a novel since she was a child. That is because she doesn’t think she is good enough in writing. For her using her native language to write a composition is almost impossible, writing a novel in English still less. However, in 2007 her first English novel “Just like a movie” is going to be published. In the novel, she used abandon of conversations to lead readers enter the scenes of story. It makes the novel more vivid and more interesting.

Just like a movie Honey Yang

Brandon Black likes movies. He goes every weekend with his girlfriend, Emily. They are happy together, but they donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t have money. Then Brandon has an idea and thinks that real life can be just like a movie. And thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s when things start to go wrong.

Contents Chapter 1

Emily

Chapter 2

Melrose

Chapter 3

Two lives

Chapter 4

Lake Ontario

Chapter 5

Just like a movie

Chapter 1

Emily

I love the movies. New movies and old movies are both my favorite. I went to the movies a lot in Toronto. That was she who leaded me into the world of movies. The story all started when I met Emily at the movies.

Emily! We met in October. Four years ago. We met outside a cinema. There was no snow but it was cold. It is usually very cold in Toronto in fall. I was there to buy a ticket for a movie. I still remember it was Just like heaven. She was there too, so I decided to talk to her. Just like that.

“Hi,” I said, “do you live around here?” “Yes, I do. I live very near here,” she said. “Do you?” “Me too,” I said.

She was nice. I liked her smile. She gave me her telephone number. Before she went, she said, “Oh, you didn’t tell me your name yet.” I laughed. “My name is Brandon, Brandon Black.” I phoned her the next day and asked her to come out with me. I 7

planned that we could go to a Japanese restaurant and eat sushi. Furthermore, it was cheap but nice. She agreed and told me that her mother is Japanese, so she loves so much Japanese food. I was surprised and thought I was really a lucky person who could ask a beautiful girl out.

I went to her house at 7:30, to the address she gave me. We lived in the same area of the city. It is a poor area. She lived with her mother who was old and sometimes sick. I went in the house to wait for Emily. “Look after my daughter,” her mother said to me. “Sure,” I said and gave her my good boy smile for assuring her worries. Her mother looked at me. Was I good for her daughter? I was wearing my new shirt and jeans. Surely I looked good and handsome.

Emily and I went to Sato’s, the Japanese restaurant in downtown. From that night it was our restaurant, our secret place. I started seeing her a lot. We fell in love soon and we were happy together. I mean, really happy. Like in a movie, in a love story. Three months later we went to Sato’s restaurant again. I said, “Emily, I love you. I want to marry you even though I was not rich enough to give you a comfortable life.” 8

I was a handyman and I didn’t make much money and she was a teacher in a kindergarten. She didn’t have much money either. Emily wanted to get married with me. “Brandon,” said Emily, “money is not the most important. The most important is we love each other and we feel happy together. It is enough for me.” “But, Emily,” I said. “If we want to get married and have children, we need a lot of money. We also need car, clothes and a beautiful house.” I always dreamed that one day I can move to Paris. I saw Paris in the movies and I crazily wanted to live there.

When Emily and I talked a lot about money, she always smiled at me. She believed that our love can conquer everything. But that was not what I really hope, I need everything become true. Just like in the movies.

I love old movies. Emily and I went to the cinema every week, every Saturday night. One Saturday we went to watch a movie called Dead money. It was about a pair of poor couples, just like Emily and me. This man and woman had an idea to make money. She knew a rich man even though he was old and sick. This old man liked her because he was so

lonely that he needed somebody to be with him. Then this woman decided to marry him. Six months later, he died suddenly and she inherited all his money. It was millions of dollars. She got the money and married her young boyfriend and they were happy every after.

After watching this movie, I had some good ideas came out from my brain. Emily and I went for a drink. “That’s it!” I said to Emily. “That’s it, Emily! We can get money like that.” Emily looked at me and smiled. “Please, Brandon,” she said, “don’t say those things. Money is not everything! We do not need to do like that for making money. I feel very happy with my life now and we don’t have to take a risk to do that.” “But, Emily,” I said, “how can you say that? We must have money!”

Emily looked at me again and this time she didn’t smile. “Listen to me, Brandon,” she said. “It is just a movie. It’s just a stupid movie.” Stupid eh? Well, maybe it was not so stupid. I thought we should thank for this movie because it inspired me to do the thing which benefits us.

Chapter 2

Melrose

I was a handyman and worked on houses and office buildings in Toronto. It was really a hard work but we earned little money. One day I did some work in Rosedale, the rich area of Toronto. I was at a house and it was a big house. I heard that the owner’s name is Melrose. People said that she was very rich and quite young.

“Hello,” I said to her when I first time saw her. Beside that, I gave her my best smile for impressing her. “Hi,” the girl said and smiled at me. She was pretty and blonde. I always like girls with black hair like Emily, but this blonde girl made me change my mind. She was so attractive and I can say that in town, there must be lots of men who wanted to be with her.

“I am the one who was sent here to fix your roof.” I said. “Oh, yes,” she said. “Come in.” After that I can easily say she seemed very lonely. There is only one girl living in a huge house. She could only face those expensive furnishings everyday, but she could not do anything. After I finished my work, she asked, “Would you like some coffee?” “Sure,” I answered happily. We sat and talked in her kitchen. We talked nearly for 11

an hour. “You have a lovely house,” I said. She looked happy, but under her smile, I thought there must be something hidden. “Do you have any family?” I asked Melrose. “No,” she said. “My parents died ten years ago because of an accident. Furthermore, I don’t have any sisters or brothers. That was why you could only see me living in this big house.” Her face was sad when she explained this to me. I thought in secret it was really a good chance to make some money from this poor little girl. I was happy when I thought about that, but I still needed to pretend I felt so sorry for her. Before I left her house, I asked her if she would like to go out to dinner with me. She agreed without thinking too much.

I didn’t tell Emily anything about Melrose. I knew I still love Emily, but we needed Melrose’s money. Two days later, Melrose and I went to a restaurant. It was not the Japanese one that Emily and I go to. It was just a little Greek restaurant near Melrose’s house.

“Where do you work?” I asked her genteelly. “Oh, I don’t really need to work,” she said. “My parents died and they left me a lot of money.” I looked at her like I didn’t know. “Oh, you know, sometimes I help in the school with those children. It is because I like to play with children.”

The waiter came with the bill. I looked at it and I was surprised that it was so expensive even though we didn’t order too much. “I want to pay,” said Melrose. “No,” I said, “I asked you to come….” “Listen,” said Melrose, “I know you are poor, but it is ok. I just want to tell you I like you. So, let me pay this time.” “Well…OK.” I smiled. At the end of the evening, I asked her to come out with me again and confessed to her that I really like her too. “Sure,” she said and smiled. Melrose and I went out together for three months. It was difficult because of Emily. I loved Emily and I would like to share everything with her, but I could not tell her about my plan about making money. One night I went out with Melrose, the next night I went out with Emily. I only loved Emily, but I still treat Melrose very good. I sent her flowers and gave her chocolates. After three months I gave her a ring. Of course I could not afford very expensive ring, but she still liked it. “Oh, it’s so beautiful,” she said. “You are so good to me!” “Melrose,” I said, “I want to marry you and I would like to be with you forever living in a big house.” She was so happy to hear that.

“Oh, yes….yes!!!” she said. She did not want expensive things or money. The only thing she needed is love. And I was that one who could give her plenty of love. I didn’t want to marry Melrose, but I wanted her money. “Where are you going?” Emily asked one day. “Oh, to see my friend Todd,” I said. Emily often stayed at home with her sick mother. She could rarely come with me. So I give most of my time to Melrose and at the same time I didn’t want her have any doubts about getting married with me. I knew clearly I had to marry her and then kill her. For the money, I needed to stay calm. I thought I need more time. “Emily,” I said, “I have got to go to Vancouver for three months. I’ve got a new job there.” “Oh, Brandon,” said Emily, “I could go with you.” “No, Emily,” I said impatiently. “You need to stay here and look after your mother. It is not a long time. I will telephone you every day.” Then I kissed her. “I can make some money in Vancouver and then we can get married.” Emily finally listened to me and decided to stay here and wait for me in Toronto. Then Melrose and I got married.

Chapter 3

Two lives

How can I kill Melrose? In the movie, it was easy. In Dead Money the husband was old and sick. However, Melrose was young and healthy. “Wait and see,” I said to myself. “Wait for an answer,” My life became more and more difficult. I thought that I was like an actor who had two lives. In front of two women, I used different face to get along with them. When I was in Vancouver, I phoned Emily every day. “How’s Vancouver?” she asked me. “Oh, everything is fine. But I want to see you again and I was worried about you,” I said. I kept questioning, “How can I kill Melrose?” A month passed. One day I had a good idea when I walked on the street. The weather in Vancouver was really bad lately. It was very windy and I needed to fix the roof of the house again. “Please come and help me on the roof, Melrose,” I said. “No, Brandon,” she said. “I can’t. I’m afraid.” “Oh please, Melrose. It is easy. I will help you,” I said. She smiled and said OK.

I saw this in a movie too. In High Drama, a man wanted to kill his girlfriend to get her money. The guy took the girl on the roof and then killed her. The police thought she fell by herself. In fact, it was him who murdered her. “Come with me, Melrose,” I said. I took the ladder and we climbed up on the roof. Melrose was behind me. She gave me the tools and then suddenly I fell back a little so that my hand touched the ladder. “Oh, it is very windy here,” I said to Melrose. I pushed the ladder again. “Brandon,” she shouted, “Stop pushing the ladder. I will fall!” But I pushed down more. “I am sorry, Melrose. It’s so windy!” But then she moved a little and I fell back. I almost fell of the roof, but I didn’t. Then we climbed down the ladder. “I’m sorry,” I said to Melrose when we were in the house. “It’s just so windy that I could not hold very well the ladder.” I worked in the movie, but it didn’t work for me. I didn’t know what to do. I had to kill her quickly. Two days later, Melrose went out and I didn’t have anything to do at home. I looked everywhere and thought

maybe she was in the city and went shopping. I waited but she didn’t come back. That night I phoned the police. They came to the house and asked me a lot of questions. “When did you last see your wife?” “Where does she usually go?” “Does she have family?’ “Did you have a fight with her yesterday?” “Were you and your wife happy?” So many questions made me annoyed. It looked like in a movie and the police investigated somebody who was guilty. I didn’t know where Melrose was. I just briefly answered their questions and told them we were happy.

When they left, I didn’t phone Emily. The police were watching me. I knew that from the movies. It was better to wait and keep quiet. A week later the police came back to the house. “There’s a killer in Rosedale, Mr. Black,” they said. “There are three women dead.” They thought that he was Melrose’s killer too. My face was sad. “But where is she?” Her body…” I said. “What about her body?” “We don’t know, Mr. Black,” said the police officer. “We just don’t know… but maybe the lake… maybe we will never find your wife’s body.” “I cried like they do in the movies and I felt so proud that I looked like an actor. It was easy because I was a big fan of movies. I put my head in my hands and cried.

I knew I just had to wait. Wait for the money. But I could not wait anymore. There was a lot of money in the bank. Melrose didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t have any family, only me. The money should belong to me, but I could not wait. I wanted eagerly to marry Emily and shared with her all I got from Melrose. That night I went to bed and thought about the money. How could I get Melroseâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s money? Then, before I went to sleep, I saw the answer. On the little table next to the bed I saw her pen. It was her beautiful silver pen, and there was her name on the pen: Melrose Black.

Chapter 4

Lake Ontario

The next day I put Melrose’s pen in my pocket and I went to the late. The weather was good and there were a lot of people near the lake. I sat down and looked at the water. Then I put the pen near the water, but not too near. Nobody saw me. I went home and I had to wait. I didn’t wait a long time. The next day at five o’clock in the afternoon, I had a telephone call and it was police. “Mr. Black, I’m afraid we have some bad news,” said the policeman. “Someone found your wife’s pen near the lake. They saw her name in the newspaper, so they knew it was hers.” “Oh,” I said. “So… she’s dead?” “Well, Mr. Black,” said the policeman, “it looks really bad even though we could not be totally sure if she’s dead or not.” I put the phone down and smiled. The police thought Melrose was dead. The money was mine, but I still had a problem. How could I tell Emily that I had so much money now? I watched a movie about a poor American guy. It was called Fat Cats. This guy didn’t know that he had an aunt who lived in England. She was very rich but she died, so that American guy could inherit all of her 21

money because this woman didn’t have any children. I telephoned Emily and told her, “We are rich and we don’t have to worry about the money anymore. I am coming back from Vancouver. My rich aunt has died and I have millions of dollars now.” Emily laughed. “That’s wonderful, Brandon! We can get married when you come back.” “Yes,” I said, “we can do whatever we want now. We can buy a house in Paris and live there happily forever.” I went to the bank in the city and sent the money to a bank in Paris. I bought two plane tickets, Toronto to Paris. I was so happy to have so much money. A few days later I met Emily and we took a taxi to the airport. The sun was shining. We were rich. We are going to Paris.

Chapter 5

Just like a movie

“It sounds good,” said Big Joe. Joe was my best friend and also my only friend in prison.

“It is a great love story, bro. I really like it…but why are you here?” he asked. “Why are you in prison? What happened to the happy ending?”

I smiled sadly at him. Happy endings were nice in the movies. However, for me the ending wasn’t so nice. I had to stay in prison for five years. I started to tell him the story.

“Well, everything was like I told you in the story. But there is more. Emily and I arrived at the airport and then we checked in waiting for the plane. Then two policemen walked towards us.”

“Are you Brandon Black?” asked one of them. “Yes,” I said. “We want to talk to you,” said the policeman. “Please come into the room.”

We went into a small room. “It’s about Melrose Black and her

money.” said the policeman.

“What…?” I didn’t know what to say. “What happened?” I asked. “Where did you get the money for these tickets?” asked the policeman.

“I…I…” I tried to speak but I couldn’t. “Maybe we have someone who can help you,” he said. He looked at the door and said, “Come in, please!” The door opened and a girl with blonde hair walked in. I looked at her face. It was Melrose! She was alive.

“What…what, what are you doing here?” I asked. The older policeman smiled at me. “So, Mr. Black,” he said, “you know this young woman.” Melrose smiled and I could feel it wasn’t a nice smile. “Oh, Brandon,” she said, “how stupid you are!” Then Emily started talking. “We watched a movie together. It was called Dead Money. In the movie the woman killed her old husband,” she said. “You said it was a good idea to get money. I told you it was stupid.”

I looked at Emily. She talked again. “Then I was at school one day, when you were in “Vancouver”.” Emily smiled. “Melrose came to help with the children at the school. We started to talk and later we went for lunch.” She smiled at Melrose.

“We met a few times,” Melrose said, “I liked to talk to Emily and soon we were good friends.” I told her about you and she told me about her boyfriend. My husband and her boyfriend both had black hair and blue eyes. They both liked movies and were both called Brandon.

“Yes, then I started to think they were the same person,” Emily said, “then Melrose showed me a photo of her husband and it was you.” “I told Emily about what happened on the roof,” said Melrose. “You see, I was afraid. I knew you wanted to kill me because I saw your horrible face on the roof.”

“When I heard Melrose’s story,” said Emily, “I knew that you wanted to kill her, just like in the movie. When I thought about this, I could not love you anymore.”

I looked at Emily and she was crying. “Emily thought it was a good idea to leave you,” said Melrose. “Just go. There were the Rosedale killings, so it was easy. We knew the police would think it was another killing. There were three women dead. The body of one of them could not be found. I was really afraid. I talked to Emily and then I decided to leave. You wanted to kill me!”

“So I found a small hotel in Toronto for Melrose,” said Emily, “and Melrose stayed there. She seldom went out until you said your rich aunt left you millions of dollars.”

Emily looked at me and the two policemen. “Well, you know the end of the story,” she said. “We just waited until you sent the money to Paris…my money,” said Melrose. “I hate you! You never loved me! You only wanted my money!”

“But what did I do?” I asked. I looked at the policemen. “I didn’t kill anyone.” “No, Mr. Black,” said the policeman, “but you tried to kill this young woman, you put the pen near the lake because you wanted the

police to think that Melrose was head, and then you stole her money. You are a stupid and dangerous man. You will go to prison for a long time.”

“So that was it. It was finished,” I said to Joe. “Emily didn’t love me though I still thought I was intelligent. In fact, I was the most stupid man in this world. I always thought I was good enough to be like the hero in the movies, but actually it was not like what I thought. And now I got the punishment I deserve.” I put my head in my hands and cried, just like the day the police came and told me that Melrose was dead. But this time it was real. I wasn’t acting. It wasn’t a movie.

“But Brandon,” said Joe, “this story could make you a lot of money in Hollywood. You will be a millionaire and you don’t need to kill anyone,” said Joe. I looked at him and told him, “it is too late, Joe. Someone thought in the same way as you before us.” “Look at the newspaper!” I said. Joe looked at the newspaper on the table. He read the headline: “Just like a movie gets Oscar”. He looked at the photo of Emily and Melrose

and then he turned to me. “Yeah,” I said. “It is my story…They wrote my story and sent it to some movie producers. They made my dream come true, but the one who had money is them. And I could only stay in prison for five years. (Sigh) That is life. It’s just like a movie.”

Just like a movie Honey Yang