By Atty. Antonio P. Pekas
After six days of almost sleepless nights in the hospital I woke up to a familiar and humble but comfortable environment. It was and is still called home.
I felt I was suffering a bad college hangover from all the pills, injections, dextrose, etc. that got into me. I badly needed something to perk me up. Scanning the recesses of my mind, a joyful morning in an old movie resurfaced.
A man was gunned down that evening in the CR of a US bus station. The possible witnesses were a small innocent four-year old kid and his equally innocent and beautiful vulnerable young mother. They were Amish living in an ultra-traditional Christian community reminiscent of the Protestant Reformation times. The mother was all dressed up in a long skirt that went all the way to the soles of her shoes. She was all covered in long sleeves with a cloth over her hair like a bandana.
Their communities strewn around some parts of the US shunned modern amenities. They did not use electricity or vehicles. Their lighting was from gas lamps and their mode of transport was the kalesa or chariot.
The lead investigator of the murder case was Harrison Ford. While talking to the mother and child at the police station, the kid saw a picture of another policeman there and he fearfully and innocently pointed his finger at him. Quickly, shocked Harrison Ford got hold of the kid’s hand and pointing finger before anybody else saw it, or so he thought.
Harrison Ford in then surreptitiously got the mother and son into his car to run away. For he was not so sure if anybody else noticed how the kid pointed at the killer. As it turned out, somebody suspected the boy was the only possible witness. So the bad guys had to get him and his mother.
By then, Harrison Ford had both of them in his old Volkswagen running away. They ended up in the Amish community of the mother and child.
Having been running away all night, tense with the possibility of being gunned down any moment, they hid in the barn of the woman’s family with the Volkswagen. When the sun went up early the next morning, there was warmth and sunshine in the barn. It was a joyful morning. Looking at the beauty and innocence of the woman, Harrison Ford suddenly remembered the Volkswagen had a stereo. He put it on and it came out with a joyful and upbeat music:
“Don’t know much about history, don’t know much about biology. Don’t know much about a science book. Don’t know much about the French I took. But I do know that I love you. ”
Harrison Ford then motioned to the young woman for them to dance. Hesitatingly, with all the weight of the Amish traditional cultural taboos like dancing with a man, she agreed. So, they joyfully danced and laughed with the upbeat music. The innocent four-year old kid was the only audience.
It was the joyful vibes of that morning I was yearning for. So I searched for the music and played it. “Don’t know much about history. Don’t know much biology. Don’t know much about a science book. Don’t know much about the French I took.” .
It alleviated my hangover. Then, reality set in. I have to go through 3X dialysis for the next month or two. Will it be a permanent thing for me to undertake? I expect the worst, but am hoping for the best. There is the hope of the possibility of my kidneys recovering to function well enough. Whatever happens, life will go on.
By the way, how did that movie, entitled WITNESS, end? As usual, the bad guys ended up answering for the crime.
The movie is worth digging up. Intensely suspenseful, it won several Oscars and Golden Globe awards. Its nominations included Best Picture and Best Actor. And there was that big cultural bonus of learning how Amish people live. **
