Dinner With Henry 113: Big Like Us

By Bruce Memblatt

After gently closing the door and tiptoeing through the room, Henry removed his robe, kicked off his slippers, and got back in bed. He had to be quiet because he didn't want to wake up Diego. He stared at her face, at the edge of her nostrils gently dipping in and out with each sleepy breath, and he wondered what kind of dream she was having.

"Henry, will you stop staring at me. I told you it makes me wake up!"

"Aw shoot, Honey, I'm sorry."

Diego swished back and forth in the mattress, fluffed her pillow, yawned and hushed, "Well what's done is done. So what did your mother want, Henry?"

"She wants to see Godzilla, but of course she is too big to sit in a theater."

"Jesus! Can't she wait till it comes out on DVD?" Diego said, searching the night table for a stick of gum.

"She is adamant; she wants to see the biggest creature that ever lived. She wants to see something bigger than her."

"Tell her to stare into the sun."

"Diego!"

"I'm sorry, Henry, it's just I'm tired, and Winifred will be up soon, and I've got things on my mind. You know I sense things, Henry -- strange things." Diego stared at the wall.

"I know, Honey," Henry said, pushing his head back further in his pillow, "but mother is practically obsessed with seeing Godzilla. She will not let up. I think seeing a creature bigger than her will make her feel normal, if you know what I mean." Henry lifted his head from his pillow and sat up against the headboard.

"I know what you mean, Henry, it's exactly how I feel whenever I see someone with a head injury, but Godzilla is fiction," Diego breathed.

Henry scratched his head. "Well, you know that and I know that, but mother insists that's what they tell the masses so they don't panic. It's all a plot."

Diego stared at the ceiling and sighed.

Later that afternoon, in the kitchen Andre was saying, as he stirred yet another cream sauce, "You know, Henry far be it for me to intrude, but is it possible that your mother is right? After all, there are things going on all the time we don't know about. We are lied to by the corporate media, cheated by the government, and used by our preachers, and that is all before breakfast, never mind the rest of the day."

"You tell it, baby!" Shakespeare said while he slapped Andre's leg.

Andre glanced down and said, "Are you okay, Shakespeare?"

"Yes," Shakespeare said touting his new sunglasses. "I've never been better. I just want to listen to you spread the word! Sing it! Sing it! Sing it!"

Then Andre, who never could refuse a song request, put the lid on the sauce pot, cleared his throat and he began to wail and shake.

"People People let me tell ya.
Let me tell ya.
Don't be fooled.
Don't be fooled.
They will mess with your head.
Mess with your head.
And scramble your brain till you think you're going insane.
Till you think you're going insane.
But Godzilla is really real and he is,
He is
He he he
Is
BIG!"

Andre scooped to the floor and shook his fists in the air.

That's when Henry turned toward Andre and Shakespeare and said, "So tell me then, why make a movie about Godzilla? If he is a big bad secret, then why should this conspiracy between the movie industry the government and who knows who else exist? Why would they even say a word? And also where is he? If he's real, then why haven't we seen something that humongous EVER?"

Embarrassed, Andre's face suddenly turned beet read, he bowed his head, sneered at Shakespeare and said, "Sorry, Henry."

Then Shakespeare bowed his head, took off his glasses and softly said, "Sorry, Henry."

Later that same evening, back in bed with Diego, Henry said, "I don't know, Honey."

But Diego kept tapping him on the shoulder saying, "It's true, Henry, it's true. In that kitchen they would be lost without you. You showed them good, Henry, and with one question. What kind of dummies are they anyway? Did they really think Godzilla was real just like your crazy mother?"

A puzzled look sprang to Henry's face and he stared at Diego.

Meanwhile, in her loft, Clarissa's huge head veered towards the skylight, because something that was even bigger than her waited in the black night on the other side of the glass.

Now she could see Godzilla's right eye pressing against the skylight, peering into her black eyes and she buzzed to him, "Till we meet again, Goz, thanks for everything, for revealing the true big you to me, you big lug."

Then Godzilla began to rumble down Delancey Street, making his way to the Hudson River quietly as a ten ton monster could manage.

She heard a strange rumble; then Diego elbowed Henry, now fast asleep in the bed next to her, and she said, "Hey, did you hear that, Henry?"

Henry yawned, half-opened his eyes and said, "Hear what, Honey?"

"Never mind, Henry," Diego said and she sighed.