Which one was the magician?

At the end Frank has another collision with a car--the father of the drug addict who sold the guitar in Frank's pawn shop. Which raises a question. First, who was the boy shown at the beginning in the speakeasy? If it was the deaf old man, then why is it that the one who tells the story is Frank? Bruce then gets the tattoo and the old man recognizes it. Somehow the relationship between father and daughter has been healed. At the end, is Frank creating another healing situation? Who, then, is the real magician? I suspect the plot was simply too subtle for most.