- Does it really work? – wondered Crimson. – I thought is a fraud.
- It can’t answer the question directly but may give a hint. Oppositions of planets between two horoscopes show a conflict. If someone has strong Mars, he may be a sportsman or a military man, because it is the god of war, but if he has none known variants of realizing it, I have a question how this force discharges in his life. If it doesn’t work even as sex, he may become aggressive and turn to violence, though certainly it’s not a proof. Deaths and secret affairs are connected with Pluto, Scorpio and the eighth house. If a man work is security services or some secret project it’s OK, but if he does not I must explain to myself his character too. Maybe, his just hides from his wife a lover and maybe he hides a crime.
- Oh, I see. This way it sounds more realistic. And can astrology predict personal life, success in love or career?
- More sure than crimes. Because it is more natural, and crimes are not determined by planets, they are results of wrong choice. People in ethical questions have free will; no one is born a criminal, he may become him after failure to follow his true fate, given by God.
Five years after
His work in police was risky but interesting. Death again accompanied him everyday and often smiled into his eyes, but he smiled in return and went on. Some criminals were caught; same were killed for armed resistance. They were not different from other policemen either in methods, or in results, though were closer to the best thanks to intuition and psychological analysis. Astrology helped too on the initial stage, but their main stake was on facts and experimental check up.
When Becky became pregnant, life looked clear and plain again. So he wrote a verse:
A fish in the sea didn’t see
How the sun at the dawn was born.
After the sleep it went to the deep
To dream of a beam.
But birds find the words
To sing to the spring.
A flower gives me power
To fly to the sky
With the smell of its spell
And to hear with my ear
The voice of rejoice,
The universe sends in my verse.
It had strange inside rimes but he was strange himself too and the verse reflected his state. So why not let it be? On the anniversary of their marriage Becky bore a daughter and they called her Sonya, the name both Russian and English in use.
Happy years fly quickly, problematic crawl slowly and require more energy and attention to pass them through. So Tim’s memory fixed stronger the next period when clouds appeared again. Financial crisis undermined economic life, many projects became bankrupt and Becky’s art studio was closed for debts. Paintings didn’t sell and the boss decided to give up the idea and transfer his money to something else.
The crisis was not only in bank account but in minds too. People became nervous and made fatal mistakes; where earlier they were reasonable and reserved. Dale Crimson was irritated by life more than usual and shot an unarmed criminal, though he was really dangerous and could be armed as his friends who fired at them and fled away. Timothy Somo didn’t witness against Crimson and lost the trust of their chief’, which was nervous too, because had only one year before pension, and he fired both of them just to be on the safe side. So bullets can not only solve problems but create then too, even if they hit the right man.
After five years Tim found himself in the same situation as when he only came, but now he was responsible for his family too and had to search for a job quicker. He did not think much and phoned to the models, who wanted him as a bodyguard. Some of them left the business because of economic difficulties, some got married and some didn’t now have enough money. But one of them was OK as usual and took him at once. It was the porn star he saved concretely. She did not forget the attempt and was still afraid to go alone at nights, though she worked as a strip teaser at night clubs. Filming was stopped for indefinite time and it became the only source of money. So she had to take him and he had no choice too, though he didn’t like such places and the people, who led there a fast life. The porn star’s name was Melina, out of stage Melissa. She had a son, the result of unhappy love, and lived alone in an half-empty flat. Her money for porn films was lost in the crisis after the bankruptcy of three banks at a time, but in other respects she was OK.
- You don’t know how I’m tired of clubs. Films take less force and pay enough for good living. Here I loose myself and waste my time. I hope lucky days will return and I’ll play back all I’ve lost. And how did you earn money in Russia?
- I was a night guard and sold flowers.
- Why don’t you sell them here?
- It requires a beautiful salesgirl. There it was my wife, but we parted and the business couldn’t go on.
- Oh, I could sell them too, - she laughed. – If I fail to return to cinema, I’ll open a flower shop with you. I have no experience, but will save some money for the start.
- I have some too from my first lucky case, when I saved one woman’s life. In Russia we sold them in the street without a shop so the main problem is a beautiful sociable girl.
- OK, it’s me, if I’m in good humor or need it badly.
And she laughed again, because so far she hoped for luck.
Gradually Melissa got accustomed to him and they became friends. She had lovers from time to time, but changed them quickly, because they didn’t take her seriously as human being and annoyed her by endless sex talks. One day she asked him smiling:
- Would you like to try cinema for yourself? We would look fine as partners. For the return I need someone to play sex with, who doesn’t make me puke. Good impression on spectators depends on inspiration.
- I wouldn’t play sex before a camera. It’s not for me.
- There are many stages to choose where to stop. The cadre can show us to the waist, when we embrace and kiss. The rest is imagination and computer tricks. They can undress any actress in virtual space, if she only agrees. For actors it is not necessary, porn stars are usually girls. Men are more sexy than women, but they prefer to watch the opposite sex and pay. A rival on the screen can irritate. Certainly, there is pure porno, but it’s vulgar and I prefer erotic teasing like in clubs.
- I don’t think my wife would like it.
- Oh, it’s like a nude in art. She doesn’t paint men, but girls for her are OK. I’ll talk to her myself and show my films. Men there are not naked, it’s only me. You may be just background; all attention would be focused on my body. And you can beautifully fight and play with your gun.
After Becky looked through her films, she said it was porno, but could be made art, if she added psychological, ethical content and reduced sex to minimum. Melissa promised to think it over and consult script writers, who wrote for her earlier, when she was one of the best.
In two days she brought a script, she chose especially for Becky, without frank sex scenes, but with a detective plot. Becky approved it and Melissa invited Tim for casting. Becky didn’t go with him because he had to kiss there with Melissa and she would prefer to see it only on the screen.
Fighting episodes for Tim were easier but kisses were not so difficult too. So Melissa was satisfied and promised the director to warm her partner up at the next casting and make erotic scenes fuller as needed. Finally, the film was made and sold to a night TV channel. She earned enough to give up night clubs striptease and to save for a rainy day.
Tim wasn’t sure his cinema career would continue and bought a flower shop with three ready beautiful salesgirls. Now he was again not afraid of the future and knew what to do next. His life in America was now not worse than in Russia but he had a devoted beautiful wife with a daughter and soon – a son. So bullets were forgotten and the basis of his new life philosophy became a chrysanthemum.