Another well-deserved honor for Brokeback Mountain!
Jake Gyllenhaal took home two well-deserved MTV Movie awards Saturday, June 3rd, 2006 – one for “Best movie kiss,” which he shared with Heath Ledger, and the other for “Best Performance.”…
"A sinister cabal of superior writers."
Article comments
— go to most recent comments176 - Jet in Columbus
I think the response is TYVM, but I'm not sure.
Thanks for contributing...
177 - just because
The Thanksgiving scene - tremnedous. So great to be able to read it played out, so many emotions, so harrowing. And the ending, what a ride! I don't want it to end though :(
178 - Silas Kain
Oh Jet, I hate you. No I love you. What a story. Gimme more!
179 - Jet in Columbus
Thanks Silas and "Just" So how many instantly figured out the Jack and Lorene weren't "the" Jack and Lorene? and how long did it take?
180 - melissa
i loved it .
thank you
181 - Jet in Columbus
Writing out what I imagine happened after the sad end of the movie is no easy task and has taken a lot of thought and sore fingers, I still want to proofread it first and that means walking away for a while. I promise I'll post it early this evening without fail
Stay tuned...
182 - Jet in Columbus
The Final Chapter, dedicated to Annie Proulx in two parts both here.
"If you don't got nothing, you don't need nothing"
Back outside another bank of clouds seemed to be trying to organize without much success. It'd gotten cold again as he stuck the metal lot numbers for the trailer on the mailbox he'd brought from his old place.
Deep in thought he wasn't actually smoking the burning cigarette he had in his mouth.
Unsure if the numbers were now big enough, because they'd suddenly become very important, he walked away around 10 feet and looked at them again, ignoring an unfamiliar car on the dusty road that ran through the trailer park.
As he squinted at the silver stick-on numbers and decided to get bigger ones tomorrow, he heard the car pulling up behind him.
Turning he spied a new brown Camero Z28. He ducked down and squinted into the open front window as he recognized the driver.
"Well hey there Junior!" he said, giving his daughter a surprised if not distracted smile.
She got out of the car giving her beloved dad a big hug. Though she was a young woman now, she had her mother's height and the top of her head barely reached his chin.
Releasing him she gestured at the chariot she'd arrived in and asked, "Like the car?"
He gave her a half-hearted "Yeah," indicating it was okay for her, but he'd never own one; preferring trucks. "Is it yours?"
This was a good enough time as any to introduce the name, so she replied instantly, "Kurt's"
Playing the typical father who never knows what's going on, he protested in an unsure puzzled voice, "Well I thought you were seeing uh, uh Troy?"
"Troy?" she replied in a miffed tone and then protested, "Daddy that was two years ago!"
Having fun with her was a familiar pastime between them, so he made a point of half-heartedly ignoring her face. Pretending to be fascinated with the car. Pointedly not paying attention to her, he nodded absently.
As he fought to keep from cracking up, he began seriously sizing up the suped up little Chevy, and wondered if it might have too much power for his little girl to handle.
Absentmindedly he asked, "Troy still playin' baseball?" as he continued to enjoy the sarcastic ignoring game he was playing with his first-born
A little annoyed that he seemed to still be paying more attention to the car than her, she replied tersely, "I, don't know what he's doing, I'm seeing Kurt now."
He gave a hint of a sly smile and asked, "Well what does Kurt do?"
"He works out in the oil fields."
That got his attention. Putting a gentle hand on her shoulders, he remarked skeptically, "He's a 'roughneck huh?"
Seeing straight through his attitude, she chuckled, "Yeah," and began heading to the trailer's door with him accompanying her.
Voicing a respect for her he asked "Well I guess you're nineteen, you can do whatever you like; is that right?"
Taken back a second at the fatherly deference, she replied, "Sure!"
Inside he hung up his hat as she sat on his bed next to an unused box fan on a portable stand and pulled off her sweater, placing it on the bed next to her, revealing Kurt's hated blouse.
For this she needed to be as prim and proper as possible.
While Ennis busied himself pouring a couple of cups of coffee for them, she nervously scanned the room.
In an attempt to distract herself from the nervous announcement she'd come to make, she remarked, "Daddy; you need more furniture."
Carrying a pair of mismatched mugs, he handed one to her.
A scant hour ago Mrs. Twist sat in that same place and as much as changed his world as he knew it.
Handing her one, he sat opposite her.
To distract himself he replied, "Yeah well... if you don't got nothing, you don't need nothing," in a resigned tone opposite her.
Alma Junior always brought out the young man in him and for a brief glimpse the worries and heartaches of the past few months left his face and he looked the part.
Junior briefly got distracted by a full rack of big butcher knives in a stand behind him, and nervously played with her cup.
Her father could read her like a book, instantly knew she had something important and maybe difficult on her mind, so he inquired, "So what's the occasion?" with a half-hearted stern look.
No turning back now.
She looked into her mug then at her father. fearful of dropping it out of anxiousness, she clutched the cup with both hands and tried to be casual, "Me and Kurt... we're getting married."
She felt lost as her father's face turned to stone.
For him, all the years flashed by in the blink of an eye. Her birth and his dreading this moment from that day forward, and as if written in his eyes, the objections painted his face.
He remembered using her mother to cover his affair with Jack, of John and Martha Twist's loveless marriage, and of Jack using Lorene for her money in an unfeeling partnership.
This was his little girl, the one he cherished above all else in his life, and now another man threatened to tear her away from him. Before he'd let that happen, he had to know she was safe from the fate he now lived.
Struggling for the words, he leaned forward, still looking like he was no younger than Kirk and probably knew all of her fiancé's secrets too. "Well, how long have you known this guy for?"
"About a year," she answered. In his pain-filled eyes as she spoke, she watched him suffer and knew why, having witnessed her parent's turbulent marriage. She bravely continued, "The wedding will be June 5th at the Methodist Church. Jenny'll be singin' and Monroe will be catering the reception."
She'd hurt him and knew it in his hesitation. She'd unintentionally just let it slip that he was the last to know, not the first as it should be.
He showed her how much he loved her by voicing his only true concern, "This Kurt fella, he loves you?' he asked meeting her eyes.
Her face lit with hope and she knew she still had her father's love as she replied with a half smile, "Yeah daddy," she assured nodding, "He loves me."
As a man, he knew he'd never make it through that wedding. He studied out the window as if seeing all of his pain on a billboard outside. His whole life he'd never let anyone see inside him, not even Jack.
His silence was cutting into her heart like the knives she kept staring at behind him.
Bowing, and then deciding to face him head on, she looked at him again. He was still staring out the window. "I was hoping you'd be there," she speculated nervously.
A lame excuse came to him off the top of his head and he mumbled and stammered out softly, "Uh, I uh, think I'm supposed to be in a roundup down near the Tetons."
They looked everywhere but at each other. He'd given his blessing... sort of, but wouldn't participate.
Suddenly their eyes met. She looked away and then bowed her head in disappointment.
Ennis wouldn't let her suffer with her love as he had his.
Painful as it was, he came to a decision and silently put his cup down.
The fact was his daughter was a woman now, a full-grown woman.
Silently and without explanation, he stood up and turned his back to her.
Her eyes silently began to flood at his apparent rejection.
Midway to the kitchen Ennis looked back at her and as casually as he could, he gestured with his hand and asked, "You know what?" Then reaching the ancient refrigerator he pulled out a bottle of whiskey and gestured it at her with a neutral expression. "I reckon they can find themselves a new cowboy."
He'd so carefully phrased what he'd just said, she found herself not knowing how to react.
Then it hit her.
He was pouring a toast, and it meant he not only approved, but he'd attend despite how difficult it'd be.
Suddenly her heart filled with relief as she reaffirmed the treasured love of her father.
He continued, "My little girl getting married... Huh?" as he poured out the liquor into a couple of mismatched glasses.
Carrying them over he handed her the bigger more fuller of the two and sat down, still trying to hide his approval, unable to defy her loving smile.
He raised his glass to her and toasted, "To Alma... and Kurt."
They clinked glasses and her eyes widened comically after she swallowed hard and gasped.
For the next half hour she told him everything he knew about her boyfriend, even spilling that she'd been living with him.
Ennis took it in stride, admitting he'd lived with her mother months before they wed too.
Watching her drive away in a throaty roar of the powerful engine and a cloud of dust, he turned to walk past the mailbox, making a point not to notice it.
Everything that had happened this morning weighed heavily on his mind as he headed back to the trailer, closing the door securely behind himself.
Images of his unexpressed love for Jack filled his mind as he shuffled through his home and hung up his hat on a nail.
On the couch was Junior's forgotten sweater, and he needlessly rushed to the door to call after her, but she was gone.
Gone just like Jack was, he thought as he pulled the door closed again.
He neatly folded it under his chin, inhaling at the smell of her face powder and perfume, and walked over to the wardrobe, opening it to push his daughter's sweater onto the top shelf.
He came face to face with his love's shrine and he remembered his promise to Martha Twist.
As if to make sure his lost love's spirit remained locked in that denim, he clicked the snaps on its chest closed.
Reaching to straighten the postcard his eyes filled with tears.
Just as he had earlier promised his mother, he would now repeat it to Jack. With an aching heart he declared out loud, but just barely above a whisper, "Jack... I swear," as his sinuses completely clogged.
Closing the door revealed a vista of flat expressionless land, completely opposing the mountains he saw in his mind's eye.
He spent the rest of the day thinking of Jack and listening to the record player, selecting guitar instrumentals, later switching to a Willie Nelson album.
...feeling old
...and remembering.
...Two weeks passed by, filled with wedding plans and Jenny fussing with him over getting off his ass and buying a suit for the wedding. Monroe and Alma finalized it by threatening to bar him from the church if he showed up wearing jeans.
Jack's ashes never arrived, though Ennis rushed home twice a day in case UPS or FED EX had left a note while he was away, but nothing came.
At work he even made it a point to call the post office with no luck.
Lorene Olsen accepted an invitation to be Ennis' partner at the wedding a month in the future, and pledged to give their limo a police escort siren and all from the church to the reception hall.
Life went on.
Both Ennis and Monroe walked Junior down the aisle.
Ashes to ashes...
Late on a hot afternoon, Ennis stood trying to reach an itch in the small of his back and wasn't succeeding. Standing at the corral fence on the Scrope ranch, a hand suddenly eased his agony and he groaned in pleasure.
He turned to find a young short-haired brunette smiling at him. The 20-year-old was a shirtless stunner in painted-on jeans, his thin tanned skin vacuum sealed to deeply creased muscles.
Billy was completely straight, but loved cock-teasing Ennis, and it was something everyone on the spread grinned about, even Ennis.
"Thanks," declared del Mar gratefully as he flexed his shoulders.
"Karl wants you up at the house, Mr. Del Mar," the kid said flashing a sexy grin.
Reluctantly tearing his eyes away from the lithe young man, Ennis muttered, "Thanks."
Indicating a couple of mares being exercised in the middle of the fenced off area, he added with a nod toward them, "Keep an eye on them for me."
Billy nodded and climbed to sit on the top rail.
Ennis headed away from the barn and toward the house shaking his head.
Since turning forty a few years ago, it still irked him to be called "Mister" del Mar, and made him feel old.
Rounding the corner on foot, he spotted Jack Twist's truck parked in front of the main house and a shiny new black Cadillac sedan.
Entering the house, Carl looked up from his newspaper and silently indicated the den with the nod of his head.
Inside the wood paneled room, he found Martha Twist's nephew behind the desk. He stood and offered his fist as del Mar entered.
"Mr. Del Mar," he said politely shaking Ennis' hand. "I don't believe I introduced myself the last time we met. I'm Silas Caine, Mrs. Twist's nephew."
He indicated the chair and Ennis sat down facing the desk.
"I'm also Martha Twist's lawyer and executor."
He nodded and suddenly frowned. "Executor?"
Silas glanced up in surprise; del Mar didn't know.
A cat unexpectedly rubbed up against Ennis' left ankle and he absently reached down and petted the purring animal.
Recovering from the distraction, Ennis met the man's eyes expectantly.
He swallowed hard. "My Aunt Martha put a gun in her mouth last week Mr. Del Mar, and pulled the trigger.'
Ennis' jaw dropped in astonishment.
"She left two envelopes on her kitchen table," he continued, "One addressed to me and one to you."
He reached into the breast pocket of his brown suit and pulled a white envelope out; Ennis' name hand scrawled across the front in a woman's scrip.
He fondled it absently and set it down on the desk unopened.
"She had no living relatives except for me, and so the week before she took her life she set out reassigning ownership of all the properties she inherited from my Uncle John."
He paused as a sad expression crossed his face. Swallowing dry, he met Ennis' eyes, "I had no idea she was going to do that, none at all... May I call you Ennis?"
Ennis nodded absently.
Caine continued, while opening an envelope containing a sheaf of paper stapled together with a shiny red seal affixed to the top page.
Indicating it, he said, "She didn't want to leave a will that'd take forever to clear the legal system, so she transferred ownership and power of attorney over to me and a few friends in advance of her death.
Del Mar's head was swimming trying to understand.
Caine continued, "Also in my envelope was a confession that she'd poisoned her husband over a long period of time since Jack's death with tiny amounts of cyanide, letting it build up in his system gradually until he died of it. The reason she gave was that my Uncle John had participated in cousin Jack's death with the help of L.D. Newsome."
Indicating himself, he said, "I've been assigned the task of gutting her house of all or her possessions and distributing them to her close friends from church and a couple of neighbors.
Afterward, I'm to oversee the burning down of that house, being sure it's completely destroyed."
Ennis' eyes widened in shock, barely digesting the news, and still lost, he framed the nagging question in his mind, "Well, why are you telling me all this?"
Silas smiled understanding and as he handed him the documents he explained, "It was her wish, Ennis."
To del Mar's questioning look, he nodded and then as if reciting from memory, "She has assigned you a task, of which she indicated to me that you swore to complete."
Ennis interrupted, "Uh I can't Mr. Caine; I never got the... a package she was supposed to send."
Her nephew bowed his head and a frown crossed his face. Daylight dawned on him and he understood, "If you're referring to a burial urn, it's out in his truck, Ennis," he shrugged and then added, "Uh excuse me, your truck."
She'd left Ennis a thoughtful and practical gift-Jack's truck!
"I, uh I don't know what to say Mr. Caine," he replied in a stammer. "I'll cherish it forever, I promise you that."
Silas stood up, "You didn't let me finish, Ennis."
Del Mar looked up in puzzlement.
Caine reached across the desk, and laid his index finger on del Mar's envelope.
Ennis opened it and tried to read it, but it was all in legal-speak and he could neither make heads nor tails of it.
Understanding, and being the one that had drawn it up for her, Silas told him, "On the completion of the task that you swore to do for her, and on the condition that it forever remains under the same name..."
Ennis squinted at him, "The same name?"
From just outside the office door, Carl yelled out in frustration, "Will you shut up and let the man finish a sentence! DAMN!, Ennis!"
Appropriately chastised, Ennis looked expectantly back at Silas.
Caine declared flatly, "From here you're directed to drive Jack's truck to Brokeback Mountain to scatter my cousin's ashes. The moment they touch ground up there... you Ennis, become the sole owner outright of the Twist Ranch...
...it was good truck, and since Jack's death someone had carefully maintained it in top condition.
Ennis was impressed.
He looked over and over at the carefully packed container with Jack in it, made of blue porcelain. Someone had taken some gold paint and in fancy script had lettered Jack Edward Twist 1944-1983 across it. Ennis spent the whole trip feeling its presence in the cab of the truck.
It'd become such a distraction that he had to get out and place it carefully in the foot well of the back seats, encased in foam peanuts in a little cardboard box.
He hadn't been up this road in a year, and at reaching the end of it, he was surprised to find a Park Service fire watchtower on tall log stilts with a lookout nest on the very top of it towering over the pines. It was located in the very place where he and Jack pitched their tent every year at the edge of the water.
The dirt road leading to it had been paved in asphalt and the stretch to the water's edge overlooking their beloved mountain was now a public parking lot, with a few coin-activated binoculars on elevated stands for people to look out over the vista.
Standing at the base of the tall wooden structure, there was a patch of ground about 40-foot square of grass where the support logs had been driven securely into the ground.
Ennis considered climbing the narrow zigzagged stairs to the top and scattering the ashes to the wind, but was too weary to attempt it.
He settled down on a bench facing away from the plot of grass and decided that was indeed exactly where their tent used to be.
It had to be here.
Maybe he'd save some and scatter it up where they used to pasture the sheep. The forest service no longer allowed grazing in the state park, so it'd probably stay relatively undisturbed.
Up near the timberline where the snow began to touch the pines, a bare patch was evident even from this distance. Though the previous spring had brought new growth, it was obvious, even at this distance that it must've been where Newsome's plane hit and burned before snowmelt snuffed out the flames.
Grudgingly he had to admit that this was an ideal place to put the lookout tower if they wanted a good vantage point to spot fires on the mountain.
Surveying the surroundings, he knew he had to hurry up before someone came along. He didn't know the legalities of spreading human ashes on public land, but he didn't want to risk it.
Walking slowly and thoughtfully to Jack's beloved truck, he opened the back door, carefully pulled the urn out of the box and paced back to the spot in the exact middle of the grass directly beneath the lofty platform.
He closed his eyes and said the Lord's Prayer.
It took him a second to figure out how to open it, but once he did, he stared fascinated at the sight of Jack's remains.
Something was stealing his breath away, as if Jack had come back from the dead and was sitting on his chest.
Nodding after deciding to save half for the spot where they made love the first time in the high pasture, he hesitated and pushed his hand into the gritty ashes.
A roar filled his ears as his fingers touched something solid inside, and he jerked his hand out quickly, fascinated by the tan dusty grit that came out with it.
A tooth, a piece of bone, or his wedding ring?
Again he pushed his hand in and pulled out a piece of lead with a number stamped on it; A crematory serial number to keep track of the remains insuring against a mix up.
Carefully he began scattering, crying burning tears and sniffing to clear his sinuses. In his mind's eye Jack appeared as he last saw him at the water's edge.
He kept scattering until he got halfway down and then he carefully screwed the top back on, cautiously putting it down on the first step of the stairs leading upward to the lookout.
He thought of tasting the residue on his hand, to have Jack within him, but didn't know if it'd be poisonous, and he had something to live for now, his own ranch.
It was coming...
He could feel it, like vomit rising from his heart instead of his stomach.
He couldn't stop it.
He couldn't stop it!
Running in panic he got to the water's edge and thrust his hand in to rinse it away but that didn't help.
Weakly he collapsed to his knees and bowed his head as incredibly intense sorrow washed over him.
It's coming
It's coming!
Suddenly and uncontrolled, an impossibly loud, horrendous and primal scream escaped his throat as he yelled out in pain for "Jaaaaaaaaaaaaack" barely pronouncing the J and the K. Without warning another came as he bellowed out another uncontrolled cry for his lost love, as if he'd finally found a release of all the pent up grief and sorrow flowing from him like acid verbal vomit.
As he collapsed back against one of the binocular platforms, feet pounded down the stairs from above and across the parking lot toward him.
Ennis kept his eyes tightly closed not caring who it was, and even as strong arms pulled him to his feet, he didn't open them.
Blindly he was carefully helped to the foot of the tower's stairs by a gentle male voice who guided him, made him sit down and then rocked him in his arms carefully, as more gushed from Ennis' eyes as if the hot acid flow would never stop.
Bowing his head, he looked and saw a neatly pressed forest ranger's uniform.
As he focused with his liquid encased eyes, a man maybe only a year or two younger than he appeared.
With incredible comforting arms, the stranger rocked him back and forth, till del Mar quieted down.
Somewhere in the distance a horse sputtered. Ennis thought that he was alone because no other vehicles were in the parking lot, he forgot about horses.
He tried to speak, to thank the comforting stranger, but his throat was too sore and he was hoarse.
The ranger was his height, maybe ten pounds lighter and solidly built.
The brief glimpse of his badge said Jack something, but he still couldn't focus enough to read it.
The ranger wore a comforting expression and pulled the side of Ennis' head to his solid chest.
They sat there quietly for a minute or two, and Ennis began feeling uncomfortable in a stranger's arms.
Suddenly the man stood up with a shocked gasp.
Ennis looked up to find him clutching the fallen urn, gawking in near fascinated horror at the name printed on it.
He must've knocked it over rushing down the steps and now held it as if terrified of dropping it.
Getting his first good look at him, Ennis suddenly realized what the ranger was holding and grabbed it viscously away, backing up a few steps.
Incredibly the ranger was now the one hyperventilating.
As he gasped for breath, he asked in awe, "You can't be... You just can't be Ennis del Mar?"
Surprised out of reaction, Ennis only managed a nod.
The ranger reached in his back pocket and pulled a tiny piece of carefully folded newsprint from his pocket.
Ennis frowned as he read the ranger's name badge
Jack Aguirre
Ennis scanned the obituary and all doubt left his mind.
Jack Aguirre was the first guy that Twist had spent the summer with up here tending sheep in 1961!
They sat down on the bench and for the next hour the story came out of Aguirre as a 16 year old, and fastened his first crush on Jack Twist, but the rodeo rider wouldn't respond.
On night the teen snuck into Twist's tent and tried to suck him off in his sleep, but Jack woke with a start and nearly beat the hell out of Aguirre.
From then on they slept separately, one in camp below and one with the sheep.
His father Joe found out about the arrangement but if he knew why, he never let on, and through the years kept it up to cut down on predator loss.
The young Jack almost committed suicide that September by jumping off a cliff, but only hurt himself badly instead, and for the rest of the summer was too weak to do much work.
Ennis told him about their long-term love affair and its aftermath, and as the afternoon wore on, without warning the two men's souls gradually molded together.
Mutual love; was there a better way to start a relationship?
That night they traveled up the mountain together and spread the rest of Jack's ashes.
They made love their first time on Brokeback Mountain.
From that moment forward Ennis stopped living by that phrase his mama taught him. Instead when he faced a problem with Jack, they worked on solving it together with love instead of tolerating it.
Through the years afterward they built up the Twist Ranch together, Jack giving up his career as a ranger in 1984 after a joining ceremony in San Francisco.
They built a house together where Twist's boyhood home had stood.
Ennis sold 700 acres of nearly useless land on one corner of the ranch to a real estate developer and houses sprang up in an allotment called Mountain Twist Estates.
Ennis and Jack used the proceeds to build up a horse breading business that became famous around the world when several of their mares produced blue ribbon show, and top-flight race winners.
In 1984 Lorene Olsen moved in with them and the two men mixed their semen, and then had her artificially impregnated. She became an official live-in part of their family when Jack Edward Twist II was born in January of 1985.
As he grew they used his initials spelled as one word to nickname him to alleviate confusion when one or the other were together on the farm.
Sadly, on his twenty-first birthday in January 2006, his fathers Jack and Ennis were killed while camping up on Brokeback Mountain when a massive avalanche hit without warning.
They died as they'd lived for over 22 years, happy, in love, and together.
They were buried in a plot out by the horse barn.
Jack Twist's old shirt tucked in Ennis' coffin Ennis' old shirt tucked in Jack Aguirre's coffin.
Above their name in curved scrip on a single granite headstone read their family's proud motto.
"If you can't stand it-You gotta fix it."
I hope you enjoyed this as much as I enjoyed setting it down for you
Jet
183 - Jet in Columbus
Now that this is done, I'm working on an index so it can be read in order... stay tuned
184 - Jet in Columbus
To read my novelization in order I’ve provided this index for you.
Chapter # 1 PROLOGUE FOR TWO DUECES is in Comment #35-Two young men meet looking for work
Chapter # 2 THIRTY-FOUR MILES OF DEAD HORSE ROAD is in Comment #69-Ennis & Jack get acquainted in a bar
Chapter # 3 NO MORE BEANS! is in Comment #38-Jack and Ennis drive 1000 sheep up Brokeback Mountain
Chapter # 4 THE BEAR is in Comment #72-Ennis comes up on a bear while getting supplies
Chapter # 5 MY DAD WAS RIGHT! is in Comment #115-Jack and Ennis realize separately that they’re falling in love
Chapter # 6 TENT DON’T LOOK RIGHT is in Comment #133-After an evening of drinking Ennis and Jack have their first sexual encounter
Chapter # 7 I AIN’T QUEER is in Comment #18-Ennis becomes convinced he raped Jack, Jack thinks he seduced Ennis
Chapter # 8 THE JOINING OF SOULS is in Comment #6-The night that love took the place of sex
Chapter # 9 INVISIBLE is in Comment #138-Joe Aguirre visits and catches Jack and Ennis making love
Chapter # 10 WHERE’S BO PEEP WHEN YOU NEED HER?-is in Comment #146 The boys lose the flock to a hail storm
Chapter # 11 TIME TO GO COWBOY is in Comment #25-Aguirre banishes the boys from their own private Eden.
Chapter # 12 CLOWING AROUND is in Comment #57-Jack resumes his career as a bull rider and falls for a rodeo clown
Chapter # 13 YOU BET! is in Comment #119-Ennis gets a postcard from Jack after 4 long years
Chapter # 14 JACK FUCKING TWIST! is in The main body of the article-After four years Jack and Ennis reunite.
Chapter # 15 FOUR FUCKIN’ YEARS! is in Comment #61-Alma realizes her marriage is doomed
Chapter # 16 THE HORSE WITH NO REINS is in Comment #96-Ennis tells Jack he can’t leave Alma
Chapter # 17 OH I DREAMED LAST NIGHT is in Comment #103-Ennis divorces Alma giving Jack false hope
Chapter # 18 THANKSGIVING is in Comment #151-Two separate holiday dinners with serious consequences
Chapter # 19 I WISH I KNEW HOW TO QUIT YOU is in Comment #84-Jack gives up on Ennis after 20 years
Chapter # 20 FATHER, SON AND UNHOLY GHOST is in Comment #32-L.D. Newsome exacts his revenge on Jack
Chapter # 21 REVELATIONS is in Comment #43-Ennis visits Jack’s parents and finds the mountain shirts
Chapter # 22 MURDERER! is in Comment #152-Randall Tanny tries to kill Ennis for ruining his plan to blackmail Jack
Chapter # 23 IF YOU CAN’T FIX IT, YOU’VE GOT TO STAND IT is in Comment #175-Martha Twist visits Ennis
Chapter # 24 IF YOU DON’T GOT NOTHIN’ YOU DON’T NEED NOTHING is in Comment #182-Junior announces her engagement and Ennis contemplates life alone
Chapter # 25 ASHES TO ASHES is in Comment #182-Ennis goes on with his life and begins again
185 - Jet in Columbus
I did all that typing and no one wanted to know how I ended the story???
186 - Jet in Columbus
There's one last "Chapterette" to end this tale, and you're wondering how I could possibly add to this, but I can, it's very short, but I'll only post it with a little encouraging...
187 - Jet in Columbus
SteveS I was hoping I'd at least hear from you on your take of how I ended this story in Comment 182
188 - SteveS
Jet, I've fallen behind in reading it, my apologies. Days can go by between times I can get on the net now and I have a hard time keeping up with everything once I do get on.
Give me time to read it all, I have enjoyed what I've read so far, and I've read enough to know that I'd buy a novel from you, I like your descriptive writing style.
Of course you have to post the last chapter, you can't leave people hanging like that!
189 - Jet in Columbus
SteveS-If I were you I'd use the index at comment 184.
There are scenes not in the movie of my own invention to explain some things, like why Ennis is so concerned with his mailbox, who Randall and his ditsy wife Lashawn are really, the attempt on Ennis' life, and of course what happens after Ennis closes that door on the shirts,
190 - Jet in Columbus
C'mon Silas, I even named a character after you in the final chapters. by the way there is still one little story left to tell believe it or not and I'm entitling it "One last song." and Chantal's in it...
191 - Silas Kain
You bitch. I loved it. Thank you for completing Ennis' life in such a beautiful way. And, most of all, thank you for allowing me to be part of it. How did you know that law and the practice thereof is my passion? Jet, you never cease to amaze me. Perhaps some day we will meet along the Yellow Brick Road.
192 - Jet in Columbus
Silas...Did you like
A. What I did with Jack's mother
B. That I crashed LD Newsome and Lorene in to Brokeback Mountain?
C. How I created Jack Aguirre.
D. How I confused everyone with "Jack" at the foreman's trailer trying to figure out what was going on, and then added another Lorene to confuse matters?
E. How I turned Randall into a con man and his wife into his sister?
I'm glad you enjoyed it.
Jet
193 - Silas Kain
Honey, where do I begin? How do I love thee? Let me count the gay ways!
A. What I did with Jack's mother
B. That I crashed LD Newsome and Lorene in to Brokeback Mountain?
C. How I created Jack Aguirre.
D. How I confused everyone with "Jack" at the foreman's trailer trying to figure out what was going on, and then added another Lorene to confuse matters?
E. How I turned Randall into a con man and his wife into his sister?
And thank you, my pet, for creating Silas Caine. I could kiss you on the lips for that.
194 - Jet in Columbus
Thanks Silas, Don't forget we still have the post script Chapterette to go, because there's still more of this story to be told...
195 - Jet in Columbus
I've decided to consolidate all the parts I've put down here in order into a 3 part article, with about 8 chapters each, which is when I'll include the final closing chapterette finishing up this story.
That is if anyone is still interested.
There's a cruel way to end this
A happy way to end this
and a fun way to end this. I'd appreciate your thoughts as to which one to use, or maybe I'll just compine all three...
Jet
196 - chantal stone
Hey Jet! I'm back from my vacation, and it looks like I have plenty of reading to catch up on. Hope you're feeling ok.
Once I'm all caught up, I'll let you know what I think ;)
197 - just because
I had to go away on a course at work so I've not caught up fully yet either. For your ending, well, a combination sounds most challenging but could get messy? We've had cruelty in droves so I'd go for fun and/or happy this time.
198 - Jet in Columbus
Yay! I'm glad your both back, don't start before the chapter "Murderer" in any case use the index in comment 184
199 - Jet in Columbus
Chantal 196, I'm looking forward to that photo blog of your trip...
200 - chantal stone
whew! I just finished reading everything...
Jet...absolutely brilliant, I loved every word! I'm so glad that Ennis finally was able to find love again, and be happy at the end of his life. The way the movie ended was so .. incomplete, so I thank you for finishing it this way.
I don't know what it is exactly, about this story that has so many people so completely enthralled. I guess in some way, we all can find a bit of ourselves--whether we are male or female, gay or straight-- somewhere in the lives of Jack and Ennis.
Anyway, thank you so much for filling in the gaps and eloquently and poetically finishing this beautiful story.
I can't wait for the rest!
201 - Jet in Columbus
Chantal #200 Thanks, that means a lot coming from you. See comment 192. I'm working on re-editing it and putting the whole thing together as a single body in order in a set of three or four articles.
Anne Proulx told the whole story in 17 pages, I guess my version is longer because I "run off at the mouth" more.
The final Chapterette is in the works.
Hope you had a fun trip.
If you go back through the comments it still looks like I've only entertained four or so people, though I assume there were more. I hope a few of you will drop me a line here.
Jet
202 - Jet in Columbus
Chantal, SteveS, Just Because, I hope you don’t mind…
ONE LAST SONG
E-mail June 1, 2006,
----Friend, I know it’s an imposition but I could really use a big favor from you. Jack’ll be home from UCLA next month during summer break and he’s going to be really torn up on the six-month anniversary of both his father’s deaths. I see you’re on tour through the northwest and I was hoping you could stop by and help us cheer him up"I’d owe you big time buddy. By the way your horses are ready to be picked up... Steve----
Steve Essex had moved into the main house of the Twist Ranch to assume full time control over the operations after the owners had died. In 2002 Jack and Ennis had recruited the highly qualified veterinarian after he’d fled his job up in Montana because the local county child welfare threatened to take his young daughter because he lived with another man who was rumored to be gay. Aguirre and del Mar moved Essex’s family to Lightning Flat to take over the day-to-day operation of their horse-breeding program a month later.
It was the best decision they’d ever made, because within months Steve had brought in all kinds of celebrities as customers, and Ennis and Jack specified in their updated will, that until the younger Jack graduated college, Essex would assume control of the ranch in the event of their deaths.
June 23, 2006
As the sun rose across the pasture, Lorene’s long shadow traced her steps to the main office. Jack had been home for two days and she figured she’d take him out to see a movie or something to take his mind off his fathers’ deaths six months ago today.
As she entered the book-lined room through the back door, Steve looked up from his desk computer and smiled, a phone cradled on his shoulder. She used to tell him he reminded her of a 40-year-old Steve McQueen, especially the blue eyes. He was busy ordering something from a supply house, so she plopped herself down in Ennis’s old office chair and snapped on the computer.
While she waited, her eyes wandered to a photo of Dad, Jack, Pop and herself. Young Jack had Ennis’ hair, eyes and mouth, and he had the Aguirre nose and chin. She’d often thought of having DNA testing done on her son to see who the real father turned out to be, but the three of them wouldn’t hear of it and by coincidence Ennis and Jack were both the same blood type.
Steve got off the phone, and looked over at Lorene.
She looked up towards the ceiling and asked him, “Is he?”
Essex nodded.
Lorene moved to get up and Steve stopped her with a look. “Let him grieve,” he said gently. “He’s got to work it out for himself.”
Since coming home day-before-yesterday, young Jack had spent both nights sleeping upstairs in his fathers’ room, barely making a sound, only coming out for a snack or two, but keeping mostly to himself.
Lorene tried to coax him once, but he wouldn’t’ go out to their grave…
***************************
Bobby Twist had turned 42 a week ago. He’d inherited his grandfather’s “Newsome Farm Equipment Company”, but others ran it for him. He turned out to be a damned good salesman and represented his company well, but he didn’t have it inside for hard business deals like his mother did.
He’d inherited his late father’s good looks and was a spitting image of him minus the mustache.
He had one quirk though that no one could figure out, the result of a cruel joke that no one knew about that’d follow him the rest of his life. On his eighteenth birthday, his late grandfather L.D.’s lawyers presented him with a trust fund of almost two million dollars, and a package containing a single item that’d been kept in a bank safety deposit box for him and away from any snooping detectives.
When it wasn’t mounted up on his office wall, he carried it with him whenever he traveled as a good-luck charm; a souvenir of his barely remembered father. It’d give people pause when they’d find it going though airport baggage checks or some hotel maid would see it sitting on a dresser and call security on him.
L.D. told him it was the last thing his father Jack was holding when he was killed by that exploding tire, and Bobby treasured that tire iron.
Little did he know, but it was one of the murder weapons that’d killed his father.
Deke Newsome looked up from Hell every day and laughed…
********************
The clock radio said 9:14 AM when young Jack woke up.
He’d fallen asleep in his clothes again in his fathers’ giant bed that barely fit in the 18x20 room. By the morning light streaming through the windows, he found himself surrounded by his own images on every wall. It was a testament to the strong love of both his doting dads that their room would be decorated like this. Everywhere were baby pictures, school photos, images of him in uniform on his high school football team, photos of he and his girlfriend just before they left for the senior prom. Between the two tall dresser mirrors were the framed letter from UCLA accepting his application and a Joining Certificate from the Metropolitan Community Church of San Francisco from Jack and Ennis’ marraige.
He bowed his head sadly, stripped, took a shower and shaved.
Returning to their bedroom, he put on fresh jeans from his still unpacked suitcase and a gray sweatshirt.
On the twin side-by-side dressers were photos of his fathers kissing, holding hands, posing in front of this or that prize-winning horse with all kinds of celebrities and politicians. There was also a faded black and white snapshot of the elder Jack Twist from when he was a bull rider.
He sat down on the edge of the mattress and remembered crawling often into this bed between them during a scary lightning storm, or because he was lonely.
On the left dresser was a cream colored hat, old and battered. Dad had worn it since he could remember.
Jack had never been comfortable being called Jet; which is what his initials spelled, so Ennis became Dad; Jack became Pop, and Jack the 2nd was just plain Jack when they were at home on this huge ranch.
He smiled at the portable CD player next to the window. He’d fought long and hard to drag his fathers into the 21st century, and when they finally bought the thing Dad would only play Patsy Cline, or Willie Nelson, and Pop favored Bob Dylan and the Doors.
He bent forward double and wept.
Outside the sound of a loud diesel truck pulled up under the window. Jack got up and peered down to find an oversized horse trailer pulled by a big crew cab truck. A grizzled old man in a cowboy hat got out along with three other men. Steve came out to greet them and shook hands.
Jack leafed through the CDs and popped in one at random and Patsy Cline began singing “Crazy”.
A minute later there was a knock at the door and Jack opened it to discover Willie Nelson standing there, his hat in his hand.
Jack’s jaw dropped as Willie said, “I come up to pick up some horses we bought from your daddies, and I figured I’d pay my respects. May I come in?”
Young Twist just stood there surprised. In his childhood he’d met a lot of celebrities who bought and sold to his fathers, so he wasn’t all that awed.
Jack went over to switch the CD player off and Nelson protested, “No leave it on, just turn it down a little bit.”
As we walked over to it, Willie added, “I wrote that song for her.”
Jack looked backed puzzled as Patsy sang the final “And I’m crazy for lovvvvvvvvin’… Youuuuuuuuuuuuu.”
As the final chords sounded, Willie smiled and said; “Now you can turn it off.”
They both chuckled together.
In the silence the singer looked around the room and spied an old beaten and battered folk guitar on the wall. He walked over to the right side of the bed next to the window and asked, “May I?”
Jack nodded and Willie pulled it down from its nail hanging by the shoulder strap.
It was one of Nelson’s favorites. “My god the memories this thing brings back.”
Ennis had bid $10,000 for it at a charity auction to benefit Farm Aid in 1995. Willie had scrawled across the honey colored wood, “Ennis let your babies grow up to be a cowboys!” and scrawled his signature.
He sat on the bed and strummed it a couple of times and his eyebrows jumped. “It’s still in tune!”
Jack sat next to him and smiled, “Pop Jack taught me how to tune a guitar before I knew more than a couple of sentences.”
Burning tears welled up in his eyes as he bent forward again.
Willie’s comforting arm went around his shoulders as Jack choked out his grief. When it subsided the singer stood up and frowned at something up on a little shelf next to where the guitar hung.
Pulling it down, he asked, “What happened to this poor thing”
Jack looked up and grinned. “That was my father Jack Twist’s harmonica,” he replied. “According to Dad it got stepped on by a horse a long time ago. Dad gave it to me for my 10th birthday.”
Nelson looked at him skeptically and remarked, “You know I think I need a score card to keep track of how many daddies you got!”
A truck horn blew outside and Willie slung the guitar over his shoulder and onto his back and nodded his head out the door, “Come on; I wanna show you somethin’”. As Jack tossed the harmonica back on the bed, he corrected, “No, bring that with you son?”
Outside next to the trailer two completely different horses stood waiting to be loaded.
Willie led Jack up to a sleek black mare, her healthy coat shining in the sun like a polished jewel. Willie pulled an apple out of his jacket pocket and fed it to her. To Jack he said, “This here’s Chantal.”
The mare nodded her head up and down recognizing her name and Willie have her an affectionate pat on the neck. “I was on business in Columbus Ohio one day and this stunningly beautiful woman walked up to a bank teller, so I sent my assistant over to find out her name. She’ll never know I saw her, and I’m damned sure not gonna forget her. The moment I saw this horse, I had a name for her.”
Dwarfing her to the left was a massive and tall Clydesdale right out of a Budweiser commercial. Pointing up to him, Willie smiled, “This ol’ boy is named “Stoned”, because every time I look at him, I think I’ve been smokin’ too much.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out a photo of a powerful horse running in a blur past the camera. “I bought him from your daddies last year and we’re hopin’ he takes the Triple Crown next year.”
Jack studied it and asked, “What’s his name?”
Willie grinned and replied, “Well, I bought in on a whim, so we named him ‘Just Because'.”
From behind a curtain in the living room Steve and Lorene watched her son wearing his father’s cowboy hat and laughing, and knew things would be better now.
An hour of leisurely walking and casual conversation down the lane brought Nelson and young Twist up to the big granite head stone of Jack’s fathers’ graves. It stood three feet tall was a foot front to back and was five feet wide. It was sort of midway between the lane and the wall of the horse barn about 20 feet from the asphalt ribbon.
Pulling the guitar off his back, Willie set it gently down on the monument and asked, “Kinda an odd place to put a grave ain’t it?”
When he didn’t get an answer, Nelson turned to find Jack’s face in pain.
Twist sniffed a few times and led him to the back of it. In the middle read “JACK TWIST 1944-1983.
Resting his hand on the warm stone he explained, “According to dad, this was the place my “father” was murdered.”
Willie swallowed hard, “Wow.”
Jack sat down with his back to the left side of the head stone facing the lane, crossed his legs and began pulling out little strands of grass, playing with them, occasionally smelling one, and then pulling out others. With a groan Willie sat down opposite him and waited.
Jack explained, “Jack Twist was Dad’s first lover, and Pop’s first crush. It was their last wish to buried on this very spot.”
Nelson Frowned, “Where’s papa Twist buried; here?”
Jack wiped a tear and replied, “He was cremated before I was born and they scattered his ashes together on Brokeback Mountain south of here.”
Willie frowned and then understood.
Jack explained, “My fathers and me used to go camping up on the mountain a lot and we’d sit around singing songs and laughing. Dad liked your stuff, and Pop favored Bob Dylan.”
The singer smiled as Jack pulled out his “father’s” harmonica and began playing a tune.
Willie reached up for his guitar and silently started strumming the tune along with Jack.
When the chorus ended, they began singing the first verse together.
“Heeeeeeee was a friend of mine,
Heeeee was a friend of mine,
Ever’ time I think of him,
I just can’t keep from crying……
The end
203 - SteveS
Jet, I still need to catch up with this, but when these threads get lengthy, havoc ensures here.
As it is now, I'm typing blindly as my text box is covered in the story.
Is there any way you can put these in order maybe on your own blog and I can read it there?
204 - Jet in Columbus
SteveS, Yes, I've been working on that very thing. So many people have e-mailed me on this subject that I'm planning to put it together as a 4 part article.
I still have to determine if Blogcritics will let me post the x-rated stuff, as the article policy may be different from the comments policy. so I'll have to see.
Stay tuned.
By the way I named a character after you, his name is Steve Essex
205 - Jet in Columbus
SteveS,Chantal,Silas,JustBecause, I've begun the publishing process of putting it all in order under a new 4-part article. the final chapterette is in comment 202.
I'm going back and editing the whole thing in order to tighten up the storyline and correct errors and I home you'll be pleased that I named certain characters after you because of your encouragement.
As I've said Part 1 is pending as I'm writing this and Part 2 may be along in a few days if all goes well.
Jet
206 - chantal stone
Aww Jet, I'm speechless. This chapter was incredible. So sad and full of emotion. You're such a talented writer.
And thanks for using my name--I'm flattered and honored.
This is really an amazing story.
207 - Jet in Columbus
Thanks Chantal, Sadly I've got to report that in order to post all this in order I'll have to do it on my own personal blog, as I can't do it here. No bitterness involved, as I was told, it's more fan fiction and that's not what blogcritics is about, Completely understandable.
So watch my URL and I'll be slowly building it up in the next week or so.
Jet
208 - Jet in Columbus
I've edited, proofread, corrected and published the story scattered in this article into one continous story on my own personal blog. Here's the link. So far I've got up to the point where they had to come down from the mountain with probably more by the time you read this. I've gone ahead and enhanced the story a little to make it more readable too, with connections to the chapters after the story ended in the movie that I created.
Annnnnnnd with much bigger pictures than can be posted here!
209 - Jet in Columbus
Okay, as of 3;32AM I've edited, rewritten and posted up to when Ennis returns Jack's post card, just follow the link in Comment 208 and it'll take you right to it...
Jet
210 - Jet in Columbus
Okay, it's done up to the scene where Ennis tells Jack only every 4 years including the unsensored scene at the motel after the famous kiss. Just follow the link in comment 208
More to follow...
Jet
211 - just because
OMG - I sneaked a peak and it looks amazing, with the pics scattered & the white on black, not to mention the previously edited parts inserted. I'm not sure if I'll be able to stand it :) I'm trying to hold out til it's all there so I can just read & read but my willpower is fading fast...
212 - Jet in Columbus
Thanks "Just" There are even more pictures now and I've been "back filling" the story to accomodate the new characters I created for the last chapters after Ennis closes that door so be patient, by the way, something's named after you near the end...
Jet
213 - Jet in Columbus
I've posted about 2 dozen pictures to go with the expanded story and I'm still deciding if Lorene has anything to do with Jack's death or not, so give me time.
Let me know what you think-did she have a hand in it or not. I've added a private detective about thanksgiving because she thinks he's having an affair with another woman instead of camping with Ennis, but the P.I. confirms that where he goes. Now the question is does he figure it out or not and if Lorene takes action on it or not.
The photos are all being custom made and it takes a while to enhance and sharpen them, then place them in just the right place.
I've edited and posted up to the point where they break up and Jack's about to be killed.
You'll love the photos, just follow the link in #208
More when I can...
Jet
214 - just because
Hey, I was just about to post & say I loved the photos - they fit so well, even though I haven't done a full read, just checked out the parts around them & saw they really complemented the text. I am saving up for the full read! So you named something after me huh? Guess I could have had an easier cyber name!! Do you know where jb comes from? You might it if you are into music but I don't think your tastes extend into this area from what I can gather (been snooping around hehe).
Now I personally don't think Lorene would have been involved with Jack's death as I think she did have some genuine affection for him, love to start with so I don't think she would go that far no matter how wronged she may feel. On the other hand, bearing in mind the era she might just flip as it would be such a stigma. Just see what feels right for you after mulling it over for a bit.
cheers, jb :)
215 - Jet in Columbus
JB if you click on the pictures, they expand to even bigger ones showing more detail. Took a while to rig it, but it's worth it. That's what's taking so long!
I'm working on it I'm working on it.
216 - chantal stone
Jet, I just saw your blog and it LOOKS FABULOUS.....the Brokeback story along with the pics are great.....good job!
217 - Jet in Columbus
Chantal #216 Thanks, I really wish I could've posted this on BlogCritics, but two factors were against me.
1. Apparently the editors consider it fan fiction-and I agree it is, so it really doesn't belong here-and I agree.
2. The huge pictures I have posted on my blog would never make it onto here-which is a shame.
I'm up to the chapter just after where the movie ends and I take over, so It'll all be posted soon.
I'm appalled at all my spelling errors I'm finding.
Anyone else that's interested, click on the link in comment 208
More when I can
Jet
218 - Jet in Columbus
Okay all of this has been reassembled into one continuous novel, complete with big photos, just finished this morning.
Anyone interested can read it by following my link in comment 208...
Jet
219 - just because
Way to go Jet! Thanks for naming the ***** after me - I was psyched when I checked out the ending & found that out. Perfect timing too, ready for the weekend and my mega-read of the whole thing. Btw I have rec'd this to a BBM site I visit and then saw someone who picked it up there rec it on another site so there will no doubt be a few other readers whether they make themselves known or not.
Hope you have a great w/e now you have finished your epic!
220 - Jet in Columbus
Thanks Just Because #219. With a handle like yours that's about the only thing I could name after you. I hope you enjoy it, Thanks... Jet
PS, as you know Mrs. Twist never appeared in Ennis' trailer, for the sake of the story I had to manufacture that photo from scratch-took all day!
221 - Jet in Columbus
PS J.B. Can you list some of those sites you mentioned on my personal blog for me?
222 - Jet in Columbus
Update: Chapt 28 was revised this morning, making a happier ending. Dave Nalle has joined the cast as Prof. David Nails-a Political Science Professor in Austin who marries Lorene, then retires and opens a Dodge truck dealership.
Follow the link in Comment 208
223 - Jet in Columbus
Because of some technical problems, I've had to move the novel, the new link for it is:
Brokeback Mountain: After the Shirts-After the tears
Thanks for all your comments so far
Jet
224 - Jet in Columbus
Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal have been invited to join the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences! Go Brokeback Mountain!
225 - Jet in Columbus
Who will Jake Gyllenhaal be publicly photographed kissing first? Cyclist Lance Armstrong is 3/1, Mathew McConaugheyis 2/1 and Natalie Portman is 1/3. Gyllenhaal did play an alternative lifestyle cowboy in the movie Brokeback Mountain.
Armstrong, of course recently broke up with singer Sheryl Crowe. Gyllenhaal has been seen in the company of Armstrong quite often, so naturally the gossip begins.
After all, they were being buddy bud at the Tour De France. Less gossipy word is that Gyllenhaal would love to play the cancer survivor Armstrong in a movie and that fact led to the friendship.
Reports say a Sony biopic on the life of Armstrong is already a done deal.
Obviously Armstrong’s endorsement would carry significant weight. Portman, who we think is going to win, is the former and now reports say, on-again sweetheart of Gyllenhaal.
McConaughey was host of the cookout in which Portman and Gyllenhaal were seen back together.
Do not totally discount Armstrong receiving the kiss. Afterall, they have joked about the rumors including on the ESPY Awards, so a little toungue in cheek"so to speak of course"kiss for the papparazzi would surprise nobody.
Perhaps your next winning online wager will be sealed with a kiss.
This article was written by Joe Duffy, sports writer for TheOnlineWire.com
Originally published on July 26 2006 - TheOnlineWire.com