Tin Man

When he was 14, Ellis noticed that his mother seemed ill. He compared her current appearance to drawings that he had made years ago and noticed a discernable difference. Finally, Mabel told Dora that Ellis knew about her illness. When Leonard took night shifts to avoid Dora, Ellis began taking care of his mother. Michael also spent time with her, and Dora made Ellis promise to stay in school and pursue his art. Two months later, Dora was admitted to the hospital, and Ellis never saw her again.

When Dora was in the hospital, Ellis went to stay with Mabel and Michael, hoping to dispel his loneliness. Working in Mabel’s shop helped, but when Mabel returned one day with the news that Dora had died, Ellis’s world crumbled. He prepared for the funeral, but he and his father barely interacted. As he sat in the chapel, a woman leaned forward from the pew behind him and told him to be strong for his father. Her perfume was the same as the scent that he could occasionally detect in the house, and Ellis suddenly realized that this woman was his father’s mistress, Carol. Ellis left the service, then went to the river, where Michael eventually found him. Michael comforted Ellis, and they shared their first kiss. Afterwards, Michael noticed his father watching them, and although he was certain that Leonard had not seen their kiss, he knew that their body language betrayed them.

When Ellis returned home, Leonard forced him to stay the night instead of going to Mabel’s again. Leonard called Ellis into the living room and labeled him, then threw one of Ellis’s sketchbooks across the room and demanded that Ellis quit school and begin an apprenticeship at the Cowley Car Plant. Leonard ignored Ellis’s protests and forced his son to practice punching, using his own hands as targets. Afterwards, Ellis called Mabel, who came and picked him up, giving Leonard no choice in the matter. That night, Ellis and Michael shares a bed. Michael comforted Ellis, and the two kissed again. Three months later, Ellis returned home to find that Carol moved in and that Dora’s Van Gogh painting was gone.

The narrative returns to the present. Ellis now has six weeks off from work because of his arm injury, so he decides to take advantage of this. He buys food and visits Annie’s grave at Holy Trinity, feeling guilty for not visiting more often. As he sits in front of the grave, he remembers that the churchyard was Annie’s favorite place and the reason they were married at Holy Trinity. He remembers how Annie and Michael planned the wedding, making it perfect. In the months after Annie’s death, worried that he would forget about her, so he would call people in a panic, asking them to share their memories. Carol would always talk with him and remind him of the fun that he, Annie, and Michael had had together.

Now, Ellis begins clearing the garden, though his injured arm slows him down. When he cannot work, he walks around town, taking in the sights and reminiscing about the places that he and Michael used to visit. He remembers them swimming, and at one point, he even feels Michael’s presence beside him. He wishes that he could talk to Michael about the opportunities they missed. He tried talking to Annie about it once when she was alive, but he could never bring himself to fully open up. Annie loved both him and Michael and would often let them have time to themselves. He remembers Michael telling him that he was moving to London but would return every weekend to see Mabel. When Mabel died, Michael stopped visiting, and Annie and Ellis lost touch with him. Annie encouraged Ellis to bring Michael home, but Ellis refused, and six years went by in which the two men did not see each other.

Ellis recalls that during this period, his life was bland without Michael, as though Michael’s love made the world better. Ellis’s marriage with Annie suffered until they took a spontaneous trip to Venice. As he and Annie wander the city, they rekindle their love. Annie comments that it was Michael who showed them how to be carefree. Both she and Ellis admit that they miss him. Three weeks later, Michael returns with no explanation, excited to be reunited with them.

In the present, an acquaintance named Jamie invites Ellis to his house for a party, and Ellis agrees, wondering why he is bothering. He brings a bottle of champagne, but his anxiety over being at the party does not ease until he begins joking around. Eventually, Ellis retreats to the front room of the house to smoke some marijuana. It is dark and empty, and he sits and stares at the ceiling. A girl joins him, and they introduce themselves. Though the girl tries to initiate sex, Ellis stops her, and they fall asleep together. The next morning, Ellis wakes up on the floor to find that the girl is gone. He returns home and discovers her number written on his cast.

Three days later, Ellis goes to his father’s house for Leonard’s birthday. While there, he tells Leonard and Carol that he is quitting his job at the Cowley Car Plant. Although Leonard questions him, Carol is excited for him. Ellis and Carol speak outside, and Carol tells him that she used to be friends with his mother. She also assures him that she tried to change Leonard’s mind about letting Ellis finish school. Ellis hugs her, saying that he appreciates what she does for him. She tells Ellis that Leonard really is loving, even if he does not always show it; when she asks how he feels about his future, Ellis tells her that he is hopeful. Before he leaves, Ellis asks for Dora’s painting; Leonard tells him that it is in the attic. As he retrieves the painting, Ellis also finds a box labeled “Michael.” Carol drives Ellis home, and when Ellis asks why they had the box, Carol explains that they kept it from him after the deaths of Annie and Michael to avoid overwhelming him.

The garden blooms in April, and Ellis feels comfortable being in it for the first time in years. One day, after eating lunch in the garden, he takes a walk across South Park and sees two men kissing. He is shocked to recognize one of them as Billy. When Billy sees him, he freezes, but Ellis, not wanting Billy to feel shame, rushes in and acts normally, introducing himself to Billy’s partner. Billy admonishes Ellis for quitting without telling him. He also encourages Ellis to get away for a while and enjoy his time. Before they part, Billy gives Ellis his phone number and encourages him to reach out.

The narrative shifts into the past, detailing a moment in June of 1978, when Michael brought Annie and Ellis to Mabel’s for a surprise party. He brings them to Mabel’s. They relaxed the entire weekend, spending time together. They drank champagne and shared coffee in the morning. As they enjoyed their time together, they pretended that they were in Greece.

The narrative returns to the present. On May Day, Ellis goes to the river and swims naked, remembering the last summer with his mother, when she brought him and Michael swimming. She asked Michael what he was reading in school, and Michael excitedly explained that he was reading Walt Whitman’s Leaves of Grass. He told her that the book had been banned for its sexual content, and he even recited part of “O Captain! My Captain!” for her. As Ellis watched, he realized how special his friendship with Michael was, and he realized that what he felt was love. Afterwards, when they went in the water, Michael pretended to drown while onlookers laughed, and he called for Dora to save him. She did, and helped him to float on the water.

Now, as Ellis jogs himself free of his memories and climbs out of the water, he wonders why he didn’t go to the book talk with Michael and Annie years ago—on that fateful day when they died in the car accident. He remembers his brief bliss, sitting alone while they were out, feeling lucky to have Michael back and basking in the love from both Michael and Annie. However, this happiness evaporated when the police arrived and delivered the news that both Annie and Michael had died in a car accident. They drove him to the hospital, where he saw Annie’s body and was shocked that the only sign of the accident was a bruise on her temple. The police then brought him to see Michael, whose body was in the morgue because they had discovered that he had AIDS. Ellis was shocked and insisted that this could not be true because Michael would have told him. 

Leonard and Carol waited to pick Ellis up, and although Carol pleaded with Ellis to talk with them, he would not. He later spread Michael’s ashes over his favorite part of the river.

Now, Ellis sits in the garden and opens the box labeled “Michael.” The box contains all that was left after Ellis cleaned out Michael’s apartment, and he is surprised to see what Michael chose to keep. He finds a copy of Leaves of Grass, along with some photographs, including one of him and Michael on their trip to France when they were 19 and one of a man whom Ellis does not recognize, with “G” written on the back. He also discovers that Michael kept many of Ellis’s old sketchbooks. Finally, Ellis finds a book with Michael’s writing in it. It is a journal from the six-year span when they were apart, beginning in November 1989.