The Man In The Seventh Row (29 page)

'Yes,' says Roy, as if he had not considered it before. 'I am Roy Batty.'

He flicks the channel control.
Chinatown
is playing.
Chinatown
, with Faye Dunaway and Jack Nicholson.

'I've been away,' he says. 'I had to go away.'

He changes channels again. Dustin Hoffman is trying to order a hotel room for his liaison with Anne Bancroft, but seems unsure of his name when it comes to registering.

'I had to say goodbye,' says Roy.

Anna nods.

'I know,' she says. 'I know all about the old man.'

Blade Runner
is moving towards its climax on the television. Harrison Ford's grip is giving way. He is about to plunge to the street below. Rutger Hauer reaches out an arm and saves him.

'I'm back now,' says Roy, talking to Anna, but keeping one eye on the television. 'I think I'm better now.'

'Have you come to stay?' asks Anna.

'With you?' he asks. She nods.

'That would be presumptuous of me,' he says. 'I didn't know if you wanted me to come back and stay. But ... but the way back ... It brought me here. And then I saw the baby. I could see his picture on your wall from there.'

He points a finger at the television, which is once again playing
The Magnificent Seven
: Eli Wallach confronts Yul Brynner and Steve McQueen and James Coburn.

'We don't really know each other,' he says.

'Oh, I think we are beginning to,' she says.

Roy flicks the channel on the television again, to
Blade Runner
. Harrison Ford, battered, bruised, still alive, is musing on why Roy Batty – Rutger Hauer – saved his life, that maybe in the end he loved life more than he ever had before, that all he wanted was to know where he came from and where he was going. And then Ford returns to his apartment and finds Sean Young waiting for him.

Maybe in the end the other Roy Batty, the one with Anna, realised that he too loved life too much to let it go. Or at least thought it worthy of another chance. Maybe he found some answers in the movies, about where we come from and where we are going.

Anna knows where he is now, and will not let him slip through her fingers again.

'I don't know how long we'll have together,' she says. 'But then again who does?'

And on the television Harrison Ford's voice-over echoes Anna's words.

'We don't need to know all the answers all at once,' says Roy. 'Let's just take it a step at a time.'

They embrace and they kiss, and as they do so Roy aims the remote control at the television. His head is turned away from it and his eyes are closed. He intends to turn it off, but somehow it switches once more to another channel.

As their bodies mould together and their tongues touch, Roy is hardly aware of the solemn beat of a side drum on the television and the words 'Franko
VR
, death by hanging'. He can feel the beat of Anna's heart against his body as someone, far away, announces solemnly, 'Jefferson
RT
, death by hanging'. He does not look up, but he begins to wonder.

'Posey S, death by hanging.'

Roy's eyes blink open and he squints towards the television.

'Wladislaw, T.'

He recognises the face beneath the green army cap immediately. It is that of an old friend. He had been with him until an hour or two ago. It is that of Charles Bronson, none the worse for dying in
The Magnificent Seven
, though facing an uncertain future yet again.

'... death by hanging.'

The camera switches to a close-up of a man dressed in a shirt and tie and overcoat in various shades of green and brown. An officer. Lee Marvin. An aerial shot shows that he is inspecting a row of men in an exercise yard. A row of men. One, two, three, four, five, six.

'Anna,' says Roy. Seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven, twelve. A row of twelve men. 'It's
The Dirty Dozen
. I never did see it.'

Gently she takes the control from his hand and switches the television off. With a smile she looks into his blue eyes.

'I'll buy it for you on video,' she says, 'and you can watch it with your son when he's old enough. Come on. Let's go get him.'

For a moment the room is silent, before a voice hesitantly toys with a few notes.

'Doodle-doo-doo,' it sings. Little drops of piano music begin to fall around the singer's vocal doodling.

'Doodle-doo-doody-doody.'

Then Gene Kelly bursts into a rendition of 'Singin' in the Rain' that is full of life, joy, hope and a determination to be happy even when it pours. The singing doesn't come from the television, or anywhere in particular. It is just there – the soundtrack of life. Roy pulls Anna to him and they kiss again. Roy thinks of his daughter playing with her grandfather somewhere a long way away, somewhere over the rainbow, and he thinks of the son he is yet to meet. Gene Kelly declares that the sun is in his heart and he is ready for love. Roy and Anna's bodies entwine. They are as close as they can be without falling over. No, they are even closer than that. They do fall over, onto the floor. Forced apart by the tumble, they start to laugh. Suddenly big, bright red letters appear superimposed across them. They spell out 'The End'.

But, we know, it is just the beginning.

***

Acknowledgements

With thanks to Stan and my parents, John and Irene Pendreigh, and of course Chris, Vin, Lee, Britt, Harry, Bernardo and Chico.

About the author

For news, reviews, interviews and lots more about
Brian Pendreigh
and our other great authors, visit
Blasted Heath
. Sign up to the
newsletter
and we'll even send you a free book by way of thanks!