loved the part about riding along on the back of a million dollar boat taking in amazing scenery and sipping tea out of Waterford glasses. I liked that part a whole lot.
At one point Luke went up to the bridge. He was gone for quite a while. A short time after he rejoined me we pulled into a small harbor. Luke took me by the hand and led me down the gangplank. We went into a shop near the harbor where they were expecting us.
Madame La Proprietress met us at the door. She ushered me into a dressing room and clucked over the inappropriateness and ugliness of my dress. She took my measurements and was back in a flash with a couple of dresses. One was a lime green halter sun dress that was totally hideous in color but I loved the cut and style of the dress. Recall the fashion of the 1970's seemed to specialize in horrible colors. The other was a pale peach evening outfit, sort of one of those lounging pajama kind of pant-suits that sort of looked like a dress, decorated with pink seed pearls. I had never seen anything so beautiful. She showed me shoes to match each: gaudy jeweled sandals to go with the sun dress and peach colored kid leather sandals to go with the evening attire. I selected the sun dress and sandals. I told her the other outfit was fabulous but I had no place to wear it.
I asked about a bathing suit. She showed me some suits with lovely cover-ups. I selected the most conservative maillot she had with a matching tunic for a cover-up. I knew Luke was paying for this stuff and that it was outrageously expensive. He could afford it. I couldn't. He was the one who wanted me to wear it. I would rather have worn my own dress, but it seemed important to him to dress me up. I chose to humor him rather than to argue about my principals. Maybe that makes me a person like my mother. Oh, well. So be it.
We went back to the ship with more parcels than I would have expected for a sun dress and a bathing suit. I went into one of the bedrooms and changed into the bathing suit and cover up. I put on the gaudy sandals. I noticed Luke had bought the evening outfit as well. I chose not to ask any questions about that.
It was early afternoon. Drinks were set out with an assortment of fruits and cheeses. Luke asked me if I wanted an actual lunch. I told him I was still full from breakfast. He was in the pool, resting his chin on his hands on the edge. I stretched out in a lounge chair where I could see him but also look out through the railing to watch the scenery. He grinned at me and said, "The water's great. Why don't you join me."
I shook my head, "First of all, I told you I can't swim and I don't like water. Second, I don't think I could see the scenery from there."
He made a face but said he guessed I had a point. He pulled himself out of the water in one smooth motion, and stood on the rim of the pool where he hesitated for a second, with water streaming down his body, before reaching for a towel. I could tell that move was very well rehearsed and I would be willing to bet he used it often. If he didn't he'd be an idiot because it was very effective. For a minute I couldn't move or say anything, but then I blurted out, "Did you use that in a movie somewhere?"
He laughed out loud and wrapped himself in a robe that lay on a nearby chaise. He ran his fingers through his hair and shook his head like a dog, spraying me with water. Then he plopped down in the chair next to mine, laughing. He looked at me with a crooked grin and said, "Actually, I have never had the opportunity to use that particular move in a movie. They do it all the time, although usually women get to do it. You know all that long, dripping hair and wet bikinis. I do it whenever the opportunity presents itself, just for the hell of it. It usually gets a reaction of some sort ... other than sarcastic remarks, that is."
I looked away and said, "Oh, it got a reaction, alright. Perhaps I'm just better at hiding it than a lot of women you know."
"Damn straight. Honey, you should play poker."
"I am actually an excellent poker player. I should be a riverboat gambler if there is such a thing any more."
"You ever been to Vegas?"
"Luke, before this week, I've never been out of South Carolina, which is not exactly a gamblers' paradise."
"Then where the hell did you learn to play poker?"
"From my husband, who learned from his dad and uncles. The Delios men were whizzes at making money in all kinds of ways. They ran restaurants and bars in Greece and in America. They tended to raise capital by playing poker. For all I know they were probably running some kind of illegal, back-room gambling operation right under my nose and I didn't see it. After his dad went back to Greece and his uncle moved to Miami, Kris didn't have anybody to play cards with but his employees and customers, who for the most part sucked at poker and wouldn't play with him because he always won.
"He taught me to play well in order to have someone who would really challenge him. After a while, we were a good match. It wasn't all that much fun because we played for money we already jointly owned. He said it kept him in practice, anyway. We talked about going to Las Vegas someday when Christa was older. Kris bailed out on me before that could happen. I taught Christa to play poker and a bunch of other card games when she was little. She and I play a lot. I hope she will supplement her spending-money allowance at college with poker winnings. I didn't teach her to be a card shark for nothing!"
I turned my palms up, "I guess right behind cooking, card-playing is one of my best skills."
Luke leaned back in the chair and put his hands over his face, laughing, 'Thank you for telling me that and not snookering me into a game where I might lose my shirt."
I laughed, "Oh, I would not be interested in your shirt. When I play cards, I play for money."
"Then we won't be playing cards on this trip. I suck at cards."
"That's curious. I'd think an actor would have a good poker face."
"Some actually do. The problem with actors and cards is that cards require an intense focus and concentration a lot of actors have trouble with."
"Why? Again, knowing nothing about it, I would think that you would have to be able to concentrate to memorize all those lines."
"Here's my theory. First of all memorizing lines does not necessarily require focus and concentration. It requires rote repetition and regurgitation of words. The focus and concentration is more of a physical thing that happens later when you get around to actually trying to create the character. Besides, in the movies we often improvise, so as long as you know the story, you can make up lines. A lot of actors I know, present company included, have certain learning disabilities. Actors have traditionally been considered to be stupid. Directors propagate that myth, for reasons of self-aggrandizement and control, I think.
"The truth is, some actors really are stupid. Some actresses really are the beautiful airheads they are often portrayed to be. But, I hasten to add before you clobber me, some of the smartest, savviest people in Hollywood are gorgeous actresses. The trick is to be able to tell which is which before you get into too much trouble.
"Anyway, I think a lot of people become actors because of either learning disabilities or debilitating shyness. Shy people like to hide behind the roles. People with learning disabilities like the opportunity to have a job where they do physical things - other than construction work - rather than sitting at a desk trying to read or type or do other things that are very difficult for them.
"That may be painting with too broad a brush, but I have to tell you that my circle of actor-acquaintances is an elementary schoolteacher's nightmare."
"What was your learning disability?"
"Actually, looking back on it, I think my main problem was that I didn't know any English when I started school in LA. When we moved to America, my parents simply sent me to school. It never occurred to them that all the classes would be in English. Papa spoke a little bit of broken English. Maman spoke no English at all; I ended up teaching her English as I learned it, which is, of course, the best way to learn something. By the time I got to high school, my grades had improved and they eventually put me in regular classes; I guess they figured out I really didn't have a learning disability after all. But, up until then, I
was in special classes for the educable mentally retarded."
"What was that like for you?"
"It was awful. I'm not retarded; in fact, I've subsequently learned that I'm actually pretty smart. I was bored stiff most of the time in school. It was not a total waste, however, because I learned some really valuable things about patience and kindness. There were some kids in the class who were really retarded (some were probably on the low end of the 'educable' spectrum to be honest, but their parents were too poor to put them in special schools so the school administration allowed them to stay in our class) and some kids who weren't retarded, they just had severe behavioral problems. We didn't learn much in the way of academic subjects, but we learned a lot about interpersonal relations, self-control and helping your buddy."
I commented, "Those would be really good skills for anybody, but I would think they would be especially helpful for someone in your business, what with all the egos."
He nodded and smiled, "Bingo! In a way, I think being in that EMR class was much more valuable than any other class I ever took."
"You promised to tell me your story. Tell me how you got from being a little immigrant kid in a slow learners' class to a major movie star and God's Gift to the Women of the World."
He looked at me with an odd