|
|
DAVID
|
|
|
Get in here.
I didn't know you were coming. Why didn't you e-mail me?
|
|
|
STEW
|
|
|
I hitched to Newburgh and got the Greyhound. Then I got out at Port Authority and asked the token lady which subway to take. So, I got to the other side of Manhattan and then I was in Grand Central. There, I talked to the guy at the information booth who told me how to get the Metro-North. I got out at White Plains and I asked the deli guy and then I asked a lady with her kid and I walked and I found it. I recognized the street.
|
|
|
DAVID
|
|
|
Oh, God. You talked to the deli guy?
|
|
They kiss.
|
|
|
STEW
|
|
|
I love you.
|
|
|
DAVID
|
|
|
I love you.
|
|
|
STEW
|
|
|
I had to see you.
|
|
|
DAVID
|
|
|
I'm glad. I could have picked you up in the city.
Want a Coke?
(Pulls one off the six pack)
|
|
|
STEW
|
|
|
Got any new videos?
|
|
Stew plops on the couch and grins coquettishly.
|
|
|
DAVID
|
|
|
Flirt.
Here's a new one. Manrod In Space. It's about those Russian Cosmonauts stuck up in the fucking Mir. Then NASA sends some American astronaut to the rescue and he's...
|
|
|
STEW
|
|
|
...Jeff Stryker ?
|
|
|
DAVID
|
|
|
Jeff Stryker? You've been watching vintage porn.
|
|
|
STEW
|
|
|
He's my favorite video star. School sucks. Everyone hates me and I hate them. I want to get out of my house.
|
|
|
DAVID
|
|
|
If you leave home now you'll be poor forever. You'll pedal your ass and be totally fucked up. You've got to finish. You'll graduate soon. High school is their party. Then get out and never look back.
|
|
|
STEW
|
|
|
Not soon. Three more years. Put on the video.
|
|
|
DAVID
|
|
|
Okay, okay Mister Frisky. I remember when I was like you. Blueballs morning, noon and night.
(Puts in video.)
I hated school. Everyone called me a fag. Everyone hated me. No one would stand up for me. No one. Let me tell you one thing, Stewie. Fags have to stick together. Never squeal on another fag. Never. I hated those kids and I still hate every one of them. There is nothing bad enough that could happen to them that would be too bad as far as I am concerned.
|
|
|
STEW
|
|
|
I want to kill them.
|
|
|
DAVID
|
|
|
No one is killing anyone, open your Coke.
|
|
|
|
They watch Manrod In Space.
|
|
|
|
DAVID
|
|
|
Hey stallion.
(Rustles Stew's hair.)
Look at the gonzo on that one.
|
|
|
STEW
|
|
|
Yeah. In Grand Central Station they have this thing called "The Great Hall," this high ceiling with gold stars and planets painted on its slope. It is huge, old and elegant. Then, on the train, I passed all those houses in Westchester that are just like the ones upstate.
|
|
|
DAVID
|
|
|
In what way?
|
|
|
STEW
|
|
|
They are new and shabby. But you know why Grand Central Station is better?
|
|
|
DAVID
|
|
|
Why?
|
|
|
STEW
|
|
|
Because it's old and solid.
|
|
|
DAVID
|
|
|
Hey, you have your own taste. Its an important day.
|
|
|
STEW
|
|
|
This is the happiest day of my life.
|
|
Stew puts his hand on David's thigh and then on his crotch. Dave puts his hand up Stew's shirt and twists his nipples. David and Stew kiss. Stew unzips his own pants, and puts David's hand on his dick. The dialogue from the video is inane. The doorbell rings.
|
|
|
DAVID
|
|
|
Shit.
|
|
Doorbell rings more urgently. Loud banging on the door.
|
|
|
STEW
|
|
|
Don't stop.
|
|
Doorbell ringing incessantly. Endless banging on door. Fierce.
|
|
|
OFFSTAGE
It's the police.
(Bangs again)
The police.
|
|
Scene Three
(In an examining room. Eva is sitting on an examination table that is pushed against the wall. Her shirt is off and she is wearing a paper covering, about as functional as a napkin. Enter Alicia, a lab technician.)
|
|
|
ALICIA
|
|
|
Good morning, my name is Alicia and I am...
|
|
|
EVA
|
|
|
Alicia, you look great.
|
|
|
ALICIA
|
|
|
Oh, hi. How weird.
|
|
|
EVA
|
|
|
It's okay. I helped you fight your landlord and now you're helping me. It's great. How's your family?
|
|
|
ALICIA
|
|
|
My boyfriend's okay and my son is doing very well. He's in third grade. Do you have a lump?
|
|
|
EVA
|
|
|
I think I have a little thickening, some kind of mass in my breast. My lover found it. I never would have found it. Did your landlord sell the building?
|
|
|
ALICIA
|
|
|
Yeah, now we got a management company. It's okay. I just started here a week ago. Medical technician. I like it.
|
|
|
EVA
|
|
|
Do you like it?
|
|
|
ALICIA
|
|
|
Yeah. That data entry was getting tired.
|
|
|
EVA
|
|
|
You get benefits?
|
|
|
ALICIA
|
|
|
A lot. Too bad that law clinic closed. It was a good place.
|
|
|
EVA
|
|
|
You know we didn't fight hard enough. Now I realize I could have done more to keep it open.
|
|
|
ALICIA
|
|
|
That's a shame.
|
|
|
EVA
|
|
|
Yeah, I'm ashamed.
|
|
(Enter Dr. Krasner)
|
|
|
KRASNER
|
|
|
Hello. I'm Dr. Krasner. This is Alicia.
(Holds film up to the light.)
Okay, lie down.
Let's see what we've got here.
|
|
Because the table is against the wall, the Dr sits on it and leans over Eva's body to examine her. We see him feel her breasts.
|
|
|
KRASNER
|
|
|
Your breasts are very fibrous, I can't see anything on those mammograms. Let's try a sonogram. Alicia, write down
large breasts with significant markings.
|
|
|
EVA
|
|
|
What exactly is a sonogram?
|
|
|
KRASNER
|
|
|
I put this electricity conducting gel on this tiny machine that fits into the palm of my hand. See? I run the machine over the breast like this and then...on this video we can see a picture of the inside of your breast.
|
|
Because the table is against the wall, the Dr sits on it and leans over Eva's body to examine her. We see him feel her breasts.
As he moves his hand around her breasts they can both see little cysts coming in and out of focus on the monitor.
|
|
|
KRASNER
|
|
|
Look, you're full of cysts.
(Phone.)
Hello.
|
|
He is leaning against her body with a hand on her breast, watching the monitor and talking on the phone. Her breast is a mousepad.
|
|
|
KRASNER
|
|
|
Mrs. Westin. I'm glad you called. Yes, I'm afraid I have bad news. The tumor was malignant. You need to make an appointment for a double mastectomy. No, we won't know until we see the nodes. I'm telling you the truth Mrs. Westin, there's no need to count on the worst. Nowadays, with radiation, chemo and meds, you may have a good chance. Call your surgeon and make an appointment. Who is your surgeon? He's good. If I knew for certain that you were dying I would tell you.
(Hangs up.)
Eva, we need to aspirate two cysts and do a biopsy.
|
|
|
EVA
|
|
|
Right now?
I'm not ready. I have to talk it over and I need to call my insurance company.
|
|
|
KRASNER
|
|
|
What's the matter, you have bad insurance?
|
|
|
EVA
|
|
|
Terrible. I have to pay first and then they decide if and what they will reimburse.
|
|
|
KRASNER
|
|
|
What are you, an actress?
|
|
|
EVA
|
|
|
No, a lawyer. I mean, I was a lawyer. I helped people get Welfare when there used to be Welfare. Now I teach a few courses.
|
|
|
KRASNER
|
|
|
And they don't give you health insurance?
|
|
|
EVA
|
|
|
I have to buy my own.
|
|
|
KRASNER
|
|
|
That's terrible. Between the two mammograms and the sonogram you've had this morning, the cost is already around fifteen hundred dollars.
|
|
|
EVA
|
|
|
I'll have to put it on a credit card. I'm turning forty this year. My mother had cancer at forty-nine.
|
|
|
KRASNER
|
|
|
I'm sorry to hear that.
|
|
|
EVA
|
|
|
She survived.
|
|
|
KRASNER
|
|
|
I'll tell you what. I won't charge you for the cysts. That'll save you about five hundred bucks. You still need the biopsy, but the cysts are on me.
|
|
|
EVA
|
|
|
Thank you, Doctor. Five hundred dollars will make a big difference.
|
|
|
KRASNER
|
|
|
Okay, let's aspirate those cysts before the big boss comes in and charges you. Iodine.
|
|
Alicia hands him an iodine dipped q-tip.
|
|
|
KRASNER
|
|
|
Okay, here we go. Kootchie-Koo. Look on the screen. You can see everything. Needle. These sonograms are amazing. Mammograms show nothing with large, cystic breasts like yours. Okay, here comes a little prick. Look, you can see it on the screen. Open your eyes. Eva? Eva? Look. There's the cyst and there's the needle. There it goes. Watch, watch. I'm right inside you. Perfect entry. Look at all that fluid. The cyst is getting smaller. Amazing. Okay, out comes the needle. There you go, Eva. Open your eyes. One more time. Here comes a little prick.
|
|
|
EVA
|
|
|
Oh boy.
|
|
|
KRASNER
|
|
|
Now, out comes the needle. There you go, Eva, open your eyes. See the fluid? It's yellow. That means everything's fine. If it was bloody then we'd have to worry. What classes do you teach? Law?
|
|
|
EVA
|
|
|
Freshman Composition.
|
|
|
KRASNER
|
|
|
You know, Eva, now that I can see more clearly I think you don't really need that biopsy after all.
|
|
|
EVA
|
|
|
Really?
|
|
|
KRASNER
|
|
|
Why? You want one?
|
|
|
EVA
|
|
|
No.
|
|
|
KRASNER
|
|
|
Good. See, I saved you money and you don't need a biopsy. I must be a good doctor.
|
|
|
EVA
|
|
|
I'm a little confused.
|
|
|
KRASNER
|
|
|
If anything comes up we'll call you. Bye now, Eva.
|
|
(Exits)
|
|
|
Alicia, I'll be with Mrs. Guzman.
EVA
|
|
|
That was weird. Was it?
|
|
|
ALICIA
|
|
|
You're probably not used to men touching you.
|
|
|
EVA
|
|
|
Maybe that's it.
|
|
|
ALICIA
|
|
|
He's a doctor. He does it all day long.
|
|
Scene Four
(The Mulcahey family home in Van Buren Township, New York. Everyone is staring at Stew. Brigid is still in her coat. She walked in on this scene.)
|
|
|
BRIGID Mulcahey
|
|
|
I don't get it.
|
|
|
MARTIN MULCAHEY
|
|
|
(To Stew) Just write it.
(To Brigid) I don't know what to do.
|
|
|
BRIGID
|
|
|
Officer Bart, of course we're very upset by this. You burst in on my husband with this incredible story.
|
|
|
MARTY
|
|
|
I'm so glad you're home.
|
|
|
BRIGID
|
|
|
I'm sorry you had to deal with this by yourself.
|
|
|
MARTY
|
|
|
Where were you?
|
|
|
BRIGID
|
|
|
At Carol's. My husband and I need some time alone to talk this over so we can calm down. Can you come back later?
|
|
|
MARTY
|
|
|
No, he can't come back later. Where is Carole, she should be here.
|
|
|
BRIGID
|
|
|
That's our daughter. We're a very close family. What should we do officer?
|
|
|
MARTY
|
|
|
He can't tell us what to do. We have to figure that out.
|
|
|
BRIGID
|
|
|
But he can make a suggestion, can't you? Is it too windy in here?
|
|
|
KEVIN BART
|
|
|
Mrs. Mulcahey. Stew is only fifteen. He's a minor. In fact, he's a boy. According to the law, he's not responsible for his actions here. The blame, Mrs. Mulcahey, rests entirely on that pedophile.
|
|
|
BRIGID
|
|
|
Of course he's not responsible.
(To Marty)And neither are you.
|
|
|
KEVIN BART
|
|
|
What I'm trying to say...Mr and Mrs Mulcahey, your son is a victim. He was molested, repeatedly.
|
|
|
MARTY
|
|
|
Jesus Christ.
KEVIN BART
|
|
|
In fact, he has confessed to having been molested on at least...three occasions. All of these involved interstate transport of a minor for illegal sexual purposes. He was molested. This is a clear-cut case of child abuse here by a twisted predator who, I assure you, will be put away for a long time, but only with your son's cooperation. He needs to write down everything he knows.
|
|
|
BRIGID
|
|
|
Why would someone act that way?
|
|
|
MARTY
|
|
|
This is unbelievable. These things only happen to me.
|
|
|
BRIGID
|
|
|
I'm sorry.
|
|
|
MARTY
|
|
|
Carole, our daughter, got pregnant, but she wanted it and that was bad enough. You never think some guy's going to get into your son's pants.
|
|
|
BRIGID
|
|
|
What is the right thing to do?
|
|
|
KEVIN BART
|
|
|
I know it's hard to understand. But there is another world of people, like this pedophile. They have nothing to do with us. All they do is ruin our lives. Otherwise, we're strangers. You spend your life taking care of your son. Then in one day, they ruin it. Everything you've done. Encourage your son to cooperate. Then you will be helping him.
|
|
|
BRIGID
|
|
|
Okay.
|
|
|
MARTY
|
|
|
Okay. Stew, I want you to cooperate.
How did you get to Westchester?
|
|
|
STEW
|
|
|
Bus.
|
|
|
BRIGID
|
|
|
I'm sorry this happened to you.
|
|
|
MARTY
|
|
|
I'd like to hurt this guy. He tricked you. Officer, whatever it takes to get this guy. How did you meet him?
|
|
|
STEW
|
|
|
On line.
|
|
|
KEVIN BART
|
|
|
Good, now Stew, you tell me exactly how this man entrapped you. How he coerced you into meeting him. How he initiated the molestation. Tell me everything that he said and did and it will be a lot easier for you. Here's a piece of paper. Write down what happened.
|
|
|
STEW
|
|
|
Uhh.
(Shakes head no)
|
|
|
MARTY
|
|
|
Well, that computer is going in the garbage right now.
(Picks up the computer and starts taking it to the trash. Stew runs after him and grabs it.)
|
|
|
STEW
|
|
|
No, I need it. Give me that you fucker.
|
|
|
MARTY
|
|
|
What did you say, you fucking asshole?
|
|
|
STEW
|
|
|
No, no, don't take it. Daddy.
(Stew is using his full strength, trying to get it out of Marty's's hands. But Marty gets control.)
|
|
|
MARTY
|
|
|
I'm taking this to work on Monday. Jesus, you're out of control.
|
|
|
BRIGID
|
|
|
Well, that's settled then. Marty, its going to be okay.
We'll get over this, Stew. Life goes on.
|
|
|
KEVIN
|
|
|
Go ahead, Stew. Write it down. Everything.
|
|
|
STEW
|
|
|
You'll never get me.
|
|
|
KEVIN
|
|
|
Technically, we already have you.
|
|
|
BRIGID
|
|
|
Do what the officer says. We all want to help you Stew.
You have no choice. He'll arrest you.
|
|
|
MARTY
|
|
|
(To Brigid)No he won't. What are you, insane?
(To Stew) What is this? This is not the time to be a wise ass. Look, we're on your side. Be on our side. Write down what happened.
|
|
|
STEW
|
|
|
I can't explain it.
|
|
|
MARTY
|
|
|
What do you mean, you can't explain it? What did the guy do, he touched you? Just write it down. No one's ever gonna bring it up again.
|
|
|
STEW
|
|
|
No. I don't know what to say.
|
|
|
MARTY
|
|
|
I don't understand.
|
|
|
KEVIN BART
|
|
|
I made the arrest, Mr. Mulcahey. I know what was going on in there, I saw it. You want me to tell your parents or do you want to write it down?
|
|
|
MARTY
|
|
|
I want to know everything about my son.
|
|
|
BRIGID
|
|
|
I don't feel that way. And neither does Marty.
|
|
|
KEVIN
|
|
|
When I walked into the house, your son was sitting on...
|
|
|
STEW
|
|
|
OK.
(Stew starts to write.)
|
|
|
KEVIN
|
|
|
Good boy. It's the only way out.
|
|
Scene Five
(Eva and Mary's apartment, waiting for Hockey. These are three people who are very used to each other. )
|
|
|
EVA
|
|
|
What are you going to wear tomorrow?
|
|
|
MARY
|
|
|
I don't know. This guy is a really big producer. If he's a nice fag, I can be myself and flirt a little and be smart. If he's an asshole fag, I have to be really competent and smart, no flirting, but I can't be smarter than him. If he's straight, I have to flirt as long as there are no straight women in the room, because they will be able to do it better and I'll look dumb. If there is a straight woman in the room, I have to remember not to flirt with her and not to be smarter than her in front of him. Sisterhood, you know.
|
|
|
EVA
|
|
|
What if there's a lesbian in the room?
|
|
|
MARY
|
|
|
There won't be. What time is Hockey coming over?
|
|
|
EVA
|
|
|
We said seven thirty so he should be here at seven. Should we get a movie?
|
|
|
MARY
|
|
|
Well, Steve gave me five episodes of that new series, OB/GYN. I thought that we could watch them, so I can figure out the formula.
|
|
|
EVA
|
|
|
Have I ever seen that one?
|
|
|
MARY
|
|
|
Remember, the Black guy got shot, the white girl got breast cancer and died, the nurse used to be a dominatirx and the radiologist needed a green card.
(Buzzer)
|
|
|
EVA
|
|
|
They're all like that.
|
|
|
MARY
|
|
|
No, in this one the blind girl was kidnapped, someone stole a 6 train, the orderly fell in love with the elEVAtor and the opera singer got breast cancer and died.
|
|
|
EVA
|
|
|
Oh, ok.
(Enter Hockey with a bag of take out food. He is energized from just having infused at home for four hours and has been looking forward to this all day.)
|
|
|
HOCKEY
|
|
|
Hi girls.
|
|
|
MARY
|
|
|
What's for dinner?
|
|
|
HOCKEY
|
|
|
Everybody's favorite. Eva gets a salad, no dressing and herbal tea.
|
|
|
EVA
|
|
|
Yuch.
|
|
|
MARY
|
|
|
You have cystic breasts.
|
|
|
HOCKEY
|
|
|
Mary gets her usual, chicken burrito mole. And I got something with a lot of lard.
|
|
|
EVA
|
|
|
Onion rings?
|
|
|
HOCKEY
|
|
|
Yeah. And wheat grass juice. I'm trying to balance this new medication I'm on.
|
|
|
EVA
|
|
|
We are not eating out of containers. This is a home.
|
|
|
MARY
|
|
|
Give me the bag, I'll do it.
(Starts putting everything on plates.)
What is it this week?
|
|
|
HOCKEY
|
|
|
I take the big blue ones, three of them, every five hours. I take the big white ones after having eaten fat. The little white ones and the middle-sized red ones are for one hour before eating fat. The middle sized white ones are for an hour after eating sugar. The orange capsules, I take four times a day, but I have to take the orange pills, four of them, once a day. Swallowing is a big part of my day. Thanks to modern medicine and AIDS activism. Cheers.
|
|
|
EVA
|
|
|
No scary symptoms?
|
|
|
HOCKEY
|
|
|
Yes, I feel surprisingly guilty.
|
|
|
MARY
|
|
|
Because Jose didn't...
|
|
|
EVA
|
|
|
... have the chance to...
|
|
|
HOCKEY
|
|
|
... take these drugs. No, I don't feel guilty but I feel strange.
|
|
|
EVA
|
|
|
About feeling good?
|
|
|
HOCKEY
|
|
|
I guess. Now that I'm better, there are all these... consequences. Responsibilities. I fear the living. They have... claws and fangs. They kiss and tell. The dying can't help you... get ahead but they can't stop you anymore either. They have... no currency.
|
|
|
MARY
|
|
|
Sorry. That's life. Here's yours, Hockey.
|
|
|
HOCKEY
|
|
|
How was work?
|
|
|
MARY
|
|
|
I hate it. But I'd better upgrade my photoshop or its back to catering. I know, you want to get to work.
|
|
|
HOCKEY
|
|
|
I do want to.
|
|
|
MARY
|
|
|
Is that irresponsible of me? Sometimes I feel like you two are the parents and I'm the daughter around here.
|
|
|
HOCKEY
|
|
|
Really? I usually feel like you guys are the parents.
|
|
|
EVA
|
|
|
I never feel like the child.
|
|
|
HOCKEY
|
|
|
Your choice. Speaking of...actually, this case has come my way.
|
|
|
EVA
|
|
|
Are you feeling well enough?
|
|
|
HOCKEY
|
|
|
Yeah. They want me to get my Hickman catheter out of my chest.
|
|
|
EVA
|
|
|
That's great.
|
|
|
HOCKEY
|
|
|
Yeah, I'll start going to the doctor's office once every week and get one big infusion there, for six hours, instead of doing it alone at home every night for four hours.
|
|
|
MARY
|
|
|
How great. What's it for?
|
|
|
HOCKEY
|
|
|
So that I don't go blind. Yeah, it'll be great. Then, after a month I won't need them anymore. I'll take pills or implants or something. Whatever is on the pipeline.
|
|
|
MARY
|
|
|
Will the hole close up? Here's yours.
|
|
|
HOCKEY
|
|
|
Yeah. There will be a scar. How are you guys?
|
|
|
EVA
|
|
|
Do you think it's right that my sister did not invite me and Mary to the baby shower of my one and only niece/nephew?
|
|
|
HOCKEY
|
|
|
No.
|
|
|
MARY
|
|
|
She's been obsessing about this every night.
|
|
|
EVA
|
|
|
I can't understand it.
|
|
|
HOCKEY
|
|
|
They think you're going to stick your finger in the child's genitals.
|
|
|
MARY
|
|
|
Metaphorically. They think she'll influence the kid.
|
|
|
EVA
|
|
|
I know.
|
|
|
MARY
|
|
|
You need something else to think about.
|
|
|
HOCKEY
|
|
|
Well, why don't, I mean, I want you to work on this case with me. I need you.
|
|
|
MARY
|
|
|
Take the case. Hockey to the rescue. Thank you.
|
|
|
HOCKEY
|
|
|
It's a good case. Internet sting, age of consent, consensual sex, lots of juicy stuff. The kid is fifteen. The guy's been convicted before.
|
|
|
EVA
|
|
|
It's a gay kid, right? I mean, a gay young adult.
|
|
|
HOCKEY
|
|
|
Right. But the kid is not our client. Our client is David, the grown-up.
|
|
|
EVA
|
|
|
Is your client a weirdo? Does he look like a pervert?
|
|
|
HOCKEY
|
|
|
We'll go out to the prison and see him next week. David broke the law but he doesn't need to get twenty-five years. He can pay a fine.
|
|
|
EVA
|
|
|
Second offender? No way. Would I have to pay for my own xeroxing?
|
|
|
HOCKEY
|
|
|
No. I'll pay.
|
|
|
EVA
|
|
|
Sounds OK.
|
|
|
HOCKEY
|
|
|
Great.
|
|
|
EVA
|
|
|
Hockey, let me ask you something. When you go to the doctor and he sticks you with a needle, what does he say?
|
|
|
HOCKEY
|
|
|
He says this might hurt a little.
|
|
|
EVA
|
|
|
Anything else?
|
|
|
HOCKEY
|
|
|
This might sting.
|
|
|
EVA
|
|
|
Does he ever say here comes a little prick? No. Here comes my little prick? Does he ever say here comes my or a little prick?
|
|
|
HOCKEY
|
|
|
I wish he would. God, I'm so glad we're doing this. I've been so afraid of getting back into the fray....that... I'll lose... this...protective... coat of ...weakness I've had with my friends. That I'll be... normal again and to be normal is to ...be judged. Before I wasn't... as accountable because I had no future, which means no... consequences and everyone dealing with you knows it. Now, I wonder how long it will take before...the... resentment comes back.
|
|
|
MARY
|
|
|
You're probably right. I resent you already. Just kidding.
|
|
|
EVA
|
|
|
Can we get the child to testify that it was true love?
|
|
|
HOCKEY
|
|
|
No, the kid is out of the picture. He was coerced into writing a statement. He turned in his boyfriend. I've got a photo of him. Stew Mulcahey.
|
|
|
MARY
|
|
|
Let me see.
|
|
|
HOCKEY
|
|
|
He signed some testimony claiming he was molested.
|
|
|
MARY
|
|
|
There is nothing worse than being a gay kid.
|
|
|
EVA
|
|
|
I know. Let me see.
|
|
|
HOCKEY
|
|
|
But there is no molestation charge. It's just statutory rape. It feels great to talk this way.
|
|
|
EVA
|
|
|
Good. That poor kid.
|
|
|
HOCKEY
|
|
|
And interstate transport.
|
|
|
EVA
|
|
|
Bad. I feel sorry for that kid.
|
|
|
MARY
|
|
|
Your niece slash nephew or Stew?
|
|
|
EVA
|
|
|
You.
|
|
|
HOCKEY
|
|
|
What about you?
|
|
|
EVA
|
|
|
I didn't come out until law school. Remember? Don't you think it's child abuse to keep your kids away from their lesbian aunts?
|
|
|
HOCKEY
|
|
|
Stew is a minor, the parents are ruining his life. We can keep him out of it. Soon he'll be eighteen and can move to Brooklyn. When your niece/nephew grows up, they'll find you and you can tell them what happened.
|
|
|
EVA
|
|
|
All I know for sure is that I have Mary. I don't know that my niece will come back to me someday. I mean my nephew.
OK, I'm in. Pricks. I hate them.
|
|
Scene Six
(Office of Daniel Wisotscky, County Family Counselor for Van Buren Township.)
|
|
|
DAN
|
|
|
Please come in.
|
|
(Marty, Brigid, Stew and Carole enter uncomfortably.)
|
|
|
DAN
|
|
|
Mister Mulcahey. Stew and...(Looks at chart) Carole. You're the married sister. Mrs. Mulcahey. Brigid.
|
|
|
MARTY
|
|
|
What else do you know about us?
|
|
|
DAN
|
|
|
Have a seat. I am Daniel Wisotscky, County Family Counselor for Van Buren Township. I see that you were referred by Officer Bart, that you're trying to make some tough decisions about your family.
|
|
|
MARTY
|
|
|
I don't understand why we have to talk to you about our decisions. It's our family, we'll do what we want.
|
|
|
CAROLE
|
|
|
Daddy, there are some problems.
|
|
|
MARTY
|
|
|
I don't even know this guy.
|
|
|
CAROLE
|
|
|
I know, but the officer said you can't do anything without the approval of a social worker.
|
|
|
MARTY
|
|
|
Why should he have all the power?
|
|
|
DAN
|
|
|
Do you feel the same way? Brigid?
|
|
|
BRIGID
|
|
|
I have no power over anything, especially my son.
|
|
|
DAN
|
|
|
Have you told him how you feel?
|
|
|
BRIGID
|
|
|
It doesn't matter what I say. I ground him, he sneaks out. Do you know what its like to make dinner for someone who doesn't look at you?
|
|
|
MARTY
|
|
|
Then my wife and I get in fights.
|
|
|
CAROLE
|
|
|
Stew is taking no responsibility.
|
|
|
BRIGID
|
|
|
Every day is very tense. It is too upsetting.
|
|
|
MARTY
|
|
|
Why can't you just cut the crap and give your mother a kiss? Tell some jokes for Christ's sake?
|
|
|
CAROLE
|
|
|
He's rocking the boat.
|
|
|
STEW
|
|
|
Stay out of it. I just have my own ideas.
|
|
|
BRIGID
|
|
|
What are they? I want to know.
|
|
|
STEW
|
|
|
Mom, like, like Mom like old is better than new. Did you know that?
|
|
|
BRIGID
|
|
|
Not when you're my age.
|
|
|
STEW
|
|
|
Shut up.
|
|
|
BRIGID
|
|
|
I'm afraid of him. I'm afraid he's going to hit me.
|
|
|
DAN
|
|
|
Your husband or your son?
|
|
Stew laughs.
|
|
|
BRIGID
|
|
|
See what I mean. Why is he laughing? That's not normal.
|
|
|
CAROLE
|
|
|
Go ahead, daddy.
|
|
|
MARTY
|
|
|
Well, we've been talking it over and we think he'd be better off in a juvenile home, some kind of reform school or military camp, some place where he'd learn some discipline. After a few weeks of that he'll appreciate us more and learn how to behave. Nothing permanent, Stewie.
|
|
|
BRIGID
|
|
|
We both agree.
|
|
|
CAROLE
|
|
|
We all agree.
|
|
|
BRIGID
|
|
|
Stewie, do you understand? It's just temporary. I'm afraid, doctor. That he won't understand. That'll he'll grow to resent us.
|
|
|
CAROLE
|
|
|
I resent you already. For not doing anything.
|
|
|
BRIGID
|
|
|
You're right.
|
|
|
STEW
|
|
|
Shut up.
|
|
|
DAN
|
|
|
Why do you let him talk to you that way?
|
|
|
BRIGID
|
|
|
I can't stop him.
|
|
|
DAN
|
|
|
Tell me a little about yourself, Mrs. Mulcahey. Where were you born? What do you do?
|
|
|
BRIGID
|
|
|
My father had a laundry in Newark. I was born over the store. But you can't raise a white child in that neighborhood anymore. When Carole was born Marty got me out of there.
When my father died, Marty took in my mother and he supported her until she died. I work at Soto's insurance.
|
|
|
DAN
|
|
|
Like it?
|
|
|
BRIGID
|
|
|
No.
|
|
|
DAN
|
|
|
Why don't you get a new job?
|
|
|
BRIGID
|
|
|
If I ever lost my job I'd never find another. Who wants an old hag who doesn't know computers? I hate computers. They've ruined everybody's life.
|
|
|
STEW
|
|
|
I don't feel sorry for you.
|
|
|
BRIGID
|
|
|
Well you should.
|
|
|
DAN
|
|
|
Why should he feel sorry for you?
|
|
|
MARTY
|
|
|
My wife and I had some problems but now they're straightened out.
|
|
|
BRIGID
|
|
|
I love Stew and I love Marty. But Stew is ready for his own life. Treating Stew like a little boy wouldn't be best for him. Marty is my life.
|
|
|
STEW
|
|
|
My father had a girlfriend.
|
|
|
MARTY
|
|
|
Don't be like that, Stew. You're embarrassing me. You make everybody's life miserable. You are ruining everything. You are not pleasant. You are making faces? You think I like sitting here? You think I like taking time off from work? You're like a crazy, sick person. You are the problem. You are wrong, kid. You're a wrong kid. You hear what I'm telling
you? I don't know what else to do.
|
|
|
DAN
|
|
|
Stew, do you want to have a short-term residency in a juvenile detention center?
|
|
|
STEW
|
|
|
You've got to stop it, Dad.
|
|
|
DAN
|
|
|
Stop what, Stew?
|
|
|
STEW
|
|
|
He's got to stop all those sentences beginning with the word you. I can't take them anymore. Listen to me, Dad. I can't take it. I'm not just saying that. I'm telling you the truth. Please, please stop.
|
|
|
BRIGID
|
|
|
I'm talking too.
|
|
|
CAROLE
|
|
|
You're not the only one with feelings.
|
|
|
MARTY
|
|
|
Stop what? What are you talking about? Are you hearing voices?
|
|
|
STEW
|
|
|
Stop everything that starts with the word, you. I can't take it, I'm not kidding.
|
|
|
MARTY
|
|
|
See, Doc, the kid doesn't make any sense. I don't know how to act. It's so upsetting. I don't want to do everything wrong. I can't stand it. Something's got to change or I'm gonna crack, I'm gonna get out of here.
|
|
|
BRIGID
|
|
|
Stew, look what you're doing to us.
|
|
|
DAN
|
|
|
What do you want to be when you grow up?
|
|
|
STEW
|
|
|
I want to work in computers.
|
|
|
DAN
|
|
|
You like computers?
|
|
|
STEW
|
|
|
Yeah.
|
|
|
DAN
|
|
|
How are you doing in school?
|
|
|
STEW
|
|
|
Uhh.
|
|
|
DAN
|
|
|
You got to stay in school to get a good job, get your own place.
|
|
|
STEW
|
|
|
I don't want my own place. I'm too young. If I leave now I'll be poor forever.
|
|
|
DAN
|
|
|
That's right. Good boy. Calm down. Take it easy on your parents and then they'll calm down too. I'm sure your father cares about you. I've seen a lot of fathers and yours really loves you. Do you love your son?
|
|
|
MARTY
|
|
|
Of course. He's my kid. Every father loves his son.
|
|
|
DAN
|
|
|
Your son is agitated. He needs a little calm and understanding.
|
|
|
MARTY
|
|
|
Okay. I understand.
|
|
|
DAN
|
|
|
Why don't you do something fatherly with him, like have lunch together every Wednesday? Something regular and consistent?
|
|
|
MARTY
|
|
|
Sure. I can do that.
|
|
|
DAN
|
|
|
Alright. Mrs. Mulcahey, here's my card. Call me anytime.
|
|
|
BRIGID
|
|
|
Why? What will you do?
|
|
|
DAN
|
|
|
I'll talk it over with you.
|
|
|
BRIGID
|
|
|
How will that help?
|
|
|
MARTY
|
|
|
Let's go.
|
|
Brigid and Marty stand up to leave. All adults are standing. Stew is sitting.
|
|
|
DAN
|
|
|
Stew, you can go home now.
|
|
|
STEW
|
|
|
You, you, you, you, you.
|
|
(The adults look at each other, perplexed.)
Scene Seven
Mary and Eva at home. Dim light from candles on table. Remnants of meal. Wine glasses. Music- Dusty in Memphis. The two women are making love on the couch as the lights slowly creep up.
|
|
|
MARY
|
|
|
Come on, girlie.
|
|
|
EVA
|
|
|
Whoa.
|
|
|
MARY
|
|
|
Yum.
|
|
|
EVA
|
|
|
Kiss me.
(Kisses her.)
You scare me.
|
|
|
MARY
|
|
|
You like that.
|
|
(Mary gets up and pours some more wine into a glass. Stands over Eva, brushed back her hair, looks at her. Has a drink.)
|
|
|
EVA
|
|
|
What were we talking about?
|
|
|
MARY
|
|
|
My stupid day.
(Walks around with glass in hand.)
|
|
|
EVA
|
|
|
Yeah, I don't get it. I thought she said she wanted to do your play.
|
|
|
MARY
|
|
|
She did, I've explained this before. They just lie.
|
|
|
EVA
|
|
|
Maybe you misinterpreted.
(Mary walks over to her computer)
|
|
|
MARY
|
|
|
How can you misinterpret the word "yes"?
|
|
|
EVA
|
|
|
You're beautiful.
|
|
|
MARY
|
|
|
Hey, this email.
|
|
|
EVA
|
|
|
What is it?
|
|
|
MARY
|
|
|
Someone wants my play.
|
|
|
EVA
|
|
|
Which play?
|
|
|
MARY
|
|
|
Freud Was My Co-Pilot.
|
|
|
EVA
|
|
|
I love that play. Who wants it?
|
|
|
MARY
|
|
|
Ilene Leopold.
|
|
|
EVA
|
|
|
Who?
|
|
|
MARY
|
|
|
You know, Ilene Leopold. Ilene Leopold. Leopold. She's very well known. Someone told me that she used to have a girlfriend, so I sent her my play. She produced that show, what's it called? And that other thing, you know, the cowboy thing. You saw it. With the surfers. Remember? Isn't that great?
|
|
|
EVA
|
|
|
Yeah. Honey, be careful. Remember what happened all the other times. Wait and see.
|
|
|
MARY
|
|
|
No, this is finally going to happen. Sixty-one rejections. Can you believe it? I survived sixty-one rejections.
|
|
|
EVA
|
|
|
You mean I survived sixty-one rejections. But the almosts are even worse.
|
|
|
MARY
|
|
|
We both did. But see, I was right not to give up. What if I had quit at sixty? Right? Then I never would have found Ilene. Ilene Leopold. Ilene Leopold. Finally, someone is going to help me who knows how things work.
|
|
|
EVA
|
|
|
Honey...
|
|
|
MARY
|
|
|
Ilene's email says "I want to do your play." That means she wants to do my play. Everything is great now.
|
|
|
EVA
|
|
|
Mary...
|
|
|
MARY
|
|
|
Don't be afraid of success, Eva, or you're going to stop me. You've got a great case, now. You'll get back in the game. You'll do a brilliant job, Eva. And Ilene Leopold will too. And maybe this time around you'll earn a living. And maybe I will too. I need to stop being a temp. I feel like I don't exist. No one in my family takes me seriously. If I could get a production, they would understand me. We could fly them to New York and they could sit in the theater. Finally get it.
|
|
|
EVA
|
|
|
They may never get it.
|
|
|
MARY
|
|
|
Just because you don't have a family doesn't mean I can't have one.
|
|
|
EVA
|
|
|
I'm your family.
|
|
|
MARY
|
|
|
If I got enough money that I could buy my mom a house, get her a nice car, she and Tom wouldn't care that we're together. Its just all these years of no results plus being gay. That's what puts it over the top. I can't wait to be the first person in my family with cash.
|
|
|
EVA
|
|
|
Try credit. Sorry, that was stupid.
|
|
|
MARY
|
|
|
Don't be a big shot, you have a law degree, its easier for you.
|
|
|
EVA
|
|
|
I know.
|
|
|
MARY
|
|
|
(Phone.)
Hello? Ilene?
Eva. Some guy.
|
|
|
EVA
|
|
|
Hello?
|
|
|
DR.KRASNER
|
|
|
This is Dr. Krasner at the clinic. I know it's nothing. I was just reading over my films from last month and noticed a minuscule mass in your left breast. For your own peace of mind, I think you should go see your breast doctor and have her take a look. Even if it is a malignancy, you would be in such an early stage, but I'd say you've got a 99% chance it's nothing. Do you understand?
|
|
|
EVA
|
|
|
Yes, I understand. It's probably nothing. I don't have a breast doctor, can you recommend someone?
|
|
|
DR.KRASNER
|
|
|
Sure. Why don't you call Dr. Gita Kumar? K-U-M-A-R She's at Park Avenue and 72nd St. She's a great doctor.
|
|
|
EVA
|
|
|
Thank you Dr. Krasner. I'll call her right away.
|
|
|
DR.KRASNER
|
|
|
Get some good insurance, Eva. Good-bye.
|
|
|
MARY
|
|
|
What's going on?
|
|
|
EVA
|
|
|
Its just a TV moment. It is a minuscule mass, which means early detection. Doctor Krasner did such a good job that he found a tiny little thing. That means we have nothing to worry about. Because we have such a good doctor.
|
|
|
MARY
|
|
|
You mean that creep who molested you? He is not a good doctor.
|
|
|
EVA
|
|
|
You can be a molester and still be a good doctor...scientifically, right?
|
|
|
MARY
|
|
|
I don't know.
|
|
|
EVA
|
|
|
On TV when the doctor calls, suddenly the whole plot is about does she or doesn't she have it? And we're all supposed to panic. But, you know what Mary?
|
|
|
MARY
|
|
|
What?
|
|
|
EVA
|
|
|
Let's not get manipulated into panicking, Okay?
|
|
|
MARY
|
|
|
OK.
|
|
|
EVA
|
|
|
Because, in real life, this moment is so normal. Most of the women we know over forty have been through this, right?
|
|
|
MARY
|
|
|
Yes.
|
|
|
EVA
|
|
|
And most of them are fine. And most of the ones who are not fine, deal with it. I don't want to let the TV version overwhelm the real life one. I don't want TV to tell me what I feel. You'll come with me to the doctor and we'll see what we need to do. In the meantime, relax.
|
|
|
MARY
|
|
|
Okay.
|
|
|
EVA
|
|
|
Because something great is happening. Ilene Leopold. And we should enjoy it. If something bad happens later, we'll deal with it later. I want to tell you something.
|
|
|
MARY
|
|
|
What?
|
|
|
EVA
|
|
|
I love you. And I'm proud of you.
|
|
|
MARY
|
|
|
Good, because I want to enjoy it. If we need to worry later, we'll worry later.
|
|
|
EVA
|
|
|
Let's have fun now. Can we read your play?
|
|
|
MARY
|
|
|
You sure?
|
|
|
EVA
|
|
|
Yeah.
|
|
|
MARY
|
|
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Okay. I have it right here.
(Hands Eva the script.)
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EVA
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I know you do.
(Opens the script.)
Act One, Scene One. The clinic of Dr. Wolfgang Newman, psychiatrist. New York City, 1962.
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MARY
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I tell you, Dr. Newman it was the most extreme case of transference I have ever seen.
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Scene Eight
(The Mulcahey home. Stew is making lunch in the kitchen. He is cracking open hard boiled eggs and making egg salad. His mother and sister are sitting at a table in the living room. His nephew Victor, aged seven, is sitting by Stew. Victor is always in baseball regalia with a mitt and bat.)
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CAROLE
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Ma, you remember when Christina divorced Bobby, that lawyer she used?
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BRIGID
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The Black guy? You don't need a divorce. You and Sam can work it out. Don't blame him and everything will be alright.
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CAROLE
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Everything okay in there? I'm going back to work half time. I hope it helps.
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STEW
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Yeah. Lunch is almost ready.
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BRIGID
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In the mornings?
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CAROLE
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Victor, help Uncle Stew. Afternoons. I think Sam would be more interested in me if I got home after he does.
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BRIGID
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If there's no one to come home to, he'll never come home. He'll stop off for one drink and that's it.
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CAROLE
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Sometimes Sam acts like he's my father. And daddy is a little boy.
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BRIGID
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I never feel like the child.
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STEW
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Carole just wants to show off how mommy knows every fucking detail of her stupid life. I have friends who have great lives, filled with things those two corpses could never imagine. If I tried to tell them they would be too stupid to get it.
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VICTOR
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Like what?
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CAROLE
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How is Daddy?
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BRIGID
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Always criticizing himself. He's never satisfied.
This thing with Stew is making us both crazy. If Stew doesn't get out of the house something terrible is going to happen. You remember what it was like the last time your father left me.
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CAROLE
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He's not going to do that again. He was being a baby. I told him so.
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BRIGID
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I couldn't sleep for a year. I sat up all night smoking. I couldn't get under the sheets. I couldn't stand being in bed. I had to weigh down one side with old coats. Every time I dreamed I dreamed of loving your father, waking up was a nightmare, it made me afraid to go to sleep. I cried every day for a year, my face changed from so much grief. Every night I stared at the hook in the bedroom wall and at my belt. The skin on my neck stretched. I stayed up smoking with that belt around my neck. I can't go through that again.
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CAROLE
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How can you trust daddy after that?
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BRIGID
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I can't. But I can't trust anyone else either. At least I know that I love him. Trust is a luxury for the young. I'd rather love him and not trust him than trust and love no one. Stew isn't the only person in this story. He's a kid, everything can still happen for him. Not for me.
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CAROLE
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That's life.
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STEW
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If you ask those bitches what goes on in the men's room they would say wee wee and ca ca. Have you ever been alone in a men's room, Victor? Some of the guys I meet there are from Puerto Rico, some are from Scotch Plains. If mom knew she would throw them in jail. Dad's trying to get rid of me, but I don't want to go. I need a home. I'm only fifteen. If he gets rid of me, I'll get AIDS.
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VICTOR
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I'm hungry.
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CAROLE
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Victor! Everything okay in there?
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VICTOR
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Yeah.
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CAROLE
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Mom, I love you.
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BRIGID
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Thank God you were born.
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STEW
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The egg salad is almost ready. Listen Victor, don't eat this egg salad. It has spit in it. It is only for stupid ladies. They hate me and they are going to hate you because you'regoing to have a great life and so they'll hate it. If Mommy throws me out I'll come live with you and Carole and Sam.
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VICTOR
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I'm hungry.
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STEW
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How will I get food? Don't eat the egg salad, Victor. Have an apple.
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VICTOR
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I want a Big Mac.
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STEW
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This is a Big Mac. Just pretend. That's what I have to do. I'm stuck in this fucking house but I pretend I'm at the train station or the mall or the rest stop or the park. Then, sometimes, I can escape for just a few hours and all my friends are waiting for me. Those guys, I was telling you about. What about you, Victor? You like guys, don't you?
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VICTOR
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I want a Big Mac.
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STEW
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This is the Big Mac that lives in your mind. No matter how many people tell you you can't have a Big Mac, you can have it. You can smell the Big Mac . You can remember it. You can taste Mac. Do you jack off, Victor? I liked guys when I was seven.
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VICTOR
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That's not a Big Mac.
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STEW
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It is. It is. It is a make believe Big Mac, in our secret make believe world. Get it ? Don't tell Carole I said jack off. She'll tell daddy and he'll kill me. Did you ever see a big dick, Victor? Hey Mac, don't tell Carole I said that.
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VICTOR
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Hey Mac.
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STEW
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That's our secret code, Mac. I say Mac and you say Mac and we're having a secret boner.
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VICTOR
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Mac.
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STEW
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That's our code, Victor. The secret word only for guys. You and me Victor. It's make believe Mac. That means we know what's out there. Guys. Don't tell Carole I said boner. Daddy will kick me out, I'll have to peddle my ass and I'll get it.
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VICTOR
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Mac.
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STEW
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And it's just our secret, right?
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VICTOR
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Mac.
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STEW
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Right. Don't tell anybody. Okay, bring the bad people their spit sandwiches.
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CAROLE
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I have to do something. Sam is withdrawing. Maybe
he's depressed.
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BRIGID
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Your father is always depressed. Just don't blame Sam, its not his fault.
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CAROLE
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It's not my fault either. And what daddy did isn't yours.
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BRIGID
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No, but you can make it worse. If men blame themselves we have to pay. They can't live with it. I don't care if everything's my fault as long as my life doesn't fall apart. Blame it on me, big deal. What do I care?
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CAROLE
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Mom, you can't take all that on. You have to admit that a lot of this is Stew's fault. He's rude. He's strange. He doesn't communicate. Everybody has to guess when he's in the room. But he's making you and daddy look like the bad guys. If Stewie would take a little responsibility here everything would be a lot better.
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(Enter Victor with the food)
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BRIGID
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I know, but how can you make a man notice how much he's hurting his family? Did you make these sandwiches, Victor?
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VICTOR
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No, it was Uncle Stewie. It's a secret.
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CAROLE
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What's a secret?
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VICTOR
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Mommy, Stew and I have a secret world.
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CAROLE
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What kind of world?
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VICTOR
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I can't tell.
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STEW
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Oh.
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VICTOR
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Stewie!
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CAROLE
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What's going on?
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VICTOR
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I can't tell you.
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CAROLE
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What do you mean, you can't tell me?
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VICTOR
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Uncle Stewie said not to.
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CAROLE
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Well I say that you need to tell me.
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BRIGID
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Victor, what's the matter?
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VICTOR
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Stew!
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CAROLE
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Stew, what is going on here?
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STEW
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Nothing.
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CAROLE
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(Slaps Stew)
What the hell is wrong with you? What did you do to Victor? What did you do to him?
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STEW
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Nothing.
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CAROLE
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Don't tell me nothing. Don't tell my child to keep secrets from me. What did you do to him? There is nothing my child can't tell me. What did you do, Stew? Did you molest him? Oh my God. What did Uncle Stewie do to you, honey? Tell mommy. Did he pull down your pants? Did he touch your penis?
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STEW
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Forget it.
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CAROLE
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You better talk, Stewie or I'm gonna get you locked up. Mommy! Mom!
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BRIGID
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What did you do to that child, Stew?
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STEW
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I didn't do anything. Please help me.
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BRIGID
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I'm going to ask you one more time, Stew. If daddy was a fly on the wall in that kitchen would he be upset at what he saw and heard? Yes or no.
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STEW
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Yes.
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CAROLE
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Oh, my God.
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STEW
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Help me Mommy. There's something wrong with me. I'm wrong.
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BRIGID
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Stew, I want to do what's best for all of us. You did something with Victor that your father would not be happy about. Is that true? Yes or no?
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STEW
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(Screams)
Yes.
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BRIGID
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Alright, then. You made your decision. You had all the power to make this family work. Now the rest of us have to react. Its over for you, Stew. Nobody wants you here.
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INTERMISSION
ACT TWO
Scene One
(The Waiting Room of Dr. Kumar. Phones are ringing.)
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MARY
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You are the youngest person here. I'm glad I came with you.
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EVA
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Average age, fifty-five. I haven't been the youngest in years. I feel strange.
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MARY
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About having breast cancer?
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EVA
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I don't have breast cancer. No, about going through this and no one in my family having any idea. It makes me feel so alone.
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MARY
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I know.
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EVA
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But, what's more important to me is that we talked about this and we decided, together, that there is no point in getting them involved.
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MARY
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They wouldn't even invite you to the baby shower. How are they going to help you when you're dying of breast cancer?
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EVA
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I don't have breast cancer. I have a microscopic mass.
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MARY
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But what if you do have it?
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EVA
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I don't know. You mean what would I do tomorrow morning? Have breakfast. Be freaked out. Go to work, help you.
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MARY
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Help me what?
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EVA
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Tomorrow's your meeting with Ilene. I want it to go well.
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MARY
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It's the beginning of our new life.
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EVA
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I'm so glad. I hope this is not the beginning of my new life. I don't want to be afraid.
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MARY
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Of what?
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EVA
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The fear, the pain, the details.
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MARY
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What kind of details? What if I'm not good enough?
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EVA
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I know you love me, that's what counts.
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MARY
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I'm just not that experienced with doctors. I don't know how to make those decisions. When my father died it was horrible.
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EVA
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I know. But you're right, I need to keep my family out of it.
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MARY
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Let me tell you something. I am your family. I will take care of you the best I can. Don't ever speak to them again.
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EVA
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Thank God I have you. If I didn't, I'd be no better off than Stew.
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MARY
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Getting pushed out of our families, getting cut off like that?
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EVA
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Maybe its irreversible. You know what I'm talking about.
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MARY
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My mother can get over it. When this thing with Ilene comes through everything will be alright.
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EVA
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You don't think it's hurt your capacity to love?
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MARY
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What has?
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EVA
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Being punished when you didn't do anything wrong?
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MARY
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Oh, don't be so old fashioned. It used to be like that, but now it's going to change. You watch TV. I don't have to give up the key to the kingdom for the sake of my twat anymore. Not with Ilene. And if you didn't have me you'd just get another girlfriend. You'd be fine.
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EVA
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No, I would not be fine. I would be totally lost.
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MARY
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No you would be fine. You just like believing that people can't live without each other.
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EVA
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I do feel that way.
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MARY
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People aren't as weak as you think.
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RECEPTIONIST
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Eva Pollack.
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MARY
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Good luck. Whatever happens, it will be okay.
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(In Kumar's office)
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EVA
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Excuse me, there's something I want to tell you about the doctor at the clinic.
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KUMAR
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There does seem to be a tiny presence here on the film. It looks like some microscopic mass inside a milk duct.
Look how tiny it is. Dr Krasner did a really good job.
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EVA
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You see, he gave another patient a bad result on the phone in the middle of my breast exam. I mean, right in the middle. He had his hand on my breast, I felt like a mousepad.
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KUMAR
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I'm sure it was nothing.
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EVA
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I think it was something.
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KUMAR
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That's crass but he's a nice guy. Stop looking for justice and take care of your health. We can do a surgical biopsy or we can just watch it. Your mother had breast cancer at forty-nine. You're forty. It could be at the microscopic mass in a milk duct stage. Come in every few months and we'll see.
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EVA
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Wait and watch? That feels right. I'm not a good fighter.
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KUMAR
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Well, better learn. You don't want your first real fight to be for your life. Think it over.
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EVA
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Do you think I should have the biopsy?
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KUMAR
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It's very early. If we do a biopsy and find cancer, it could be easily treatable. It most likely is nothing. You can save yourself the surgery and just wait and see if it grows. I can't make that decision for you.
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EVA
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Grows?
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(Waiting room. Mary is sleeping.)
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EVA
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How much do I owe you?
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RECEPTIONIST
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(Phones wildly ringing)
Three hundred and fifty dollars.
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EVA
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Do you take HIP Choice Plus?
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RECEPTIONIST
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No HMO's.
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EVA
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Here's my credit card. How much would a surgical biopsy cost?
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RECEPTIONIST
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Dr. Kumar's fee would be three thousand dollars. Hold on. Dr. Kumar's office. Hold on, please. Dr. Kumar's office, hold on please.
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EVA
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That's a lot.
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RECEPTIONIST
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The facility charges $4,000 plus you have to have a wire placed in the breast on the day of surgery at another facility. That will cost about $1,500 plus lab fees.
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EVA
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How much is the lab?
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RECEPTIONIST
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I don't know. Hold on. Dr. Kumar's office.
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EVA
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Alright, I'll make the appointment. What insurance would I need?
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RECEPTIONIST
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We don't recommend insurance. Hold on. Hello?
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EVA
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Wait, do you take...I don't know...Oxford?
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RECEPTIONIST
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What? We bill to Oxford. Sign this please. There's an opening on May 11th.
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EVA
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Alright.
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RECEPTIONIST
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Here's the information packet. Dr Kumar's office, please hold.
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EVA
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Honey? Good news. Everything is going to be fine.
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MARY
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I knew it. I hate this place. Let's get out of here.
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EVA
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I just need to watch and wait and then it will be over.
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Scene Two
(Hockey, Eva, David. Ossining Correctional Facility. Ossining, New York.)
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HOCKEY
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David, I'm sorry we had to come a day late. It was the experimental drugs that they infused me with in the doctor's office. The dosage was too high and they poisoned my eyes. I have to dilate my pupils every few minutes during our visit so that, if by some chance they freeze, they will freeze open. Sorry about that. How are you doing?
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DAVID
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Can you get me out?
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HOCKEY
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I know its awful.
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DAVID
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I'm getting so fat. I'm growing breasts. How do I get out?
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EVA
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I want to argue that it is a case of selective prosecution. That means that if you were involved in an intergenerational heterosexual relationship, the courts would not be asking for twenty-five years.
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DAVID
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If a young guys fucks an older woman, he gets a lot of winks and pat on the back. Everybody knows that.
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HOCKEY
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Everybody knows a lot of things. But, judges' prejudices alter their sense of fairness.
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EVA
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Judges think they're being fair if they rule half the time for landlords and half the time for tenants. But the landlords are wrong ninety percent of the time. It's the nuances that elude most people. That's why we have to explain everything very clearly in court, so that they can understand the injustice here. It's a new area of law and we need to open up a new conversation. Do you understand?
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DAVID
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Yes.
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EVA
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How are you holding up?
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DAVID
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One of the weirdest things about being in jail is that you can't have a conversation with anybody. No one knows how to discuss. They just take a position and repeat it over and over. And if you don't give up, they'll stab you. No one knows how to take in information or how to negotiate.
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HOCKEY
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That's why they're in jail.
(Dilates pupils)
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DAVID
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Then why am I here?
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EVA
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What do you think?
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DAVID
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People are fucked up about sex.
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HOCKEY
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A lot of people don't agree with fucking little boys. Take some responsibility. You shouldn't be in jail, but come on, David. Stew needs a boyfriend his own age to ruin his life.
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DAVID
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Just get me out of here. Can you?
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EVA
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I really think we can.
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DAVID
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How?
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EVA
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I think that if we work with the truth and we're smart, we can win.
Our argument is fair. It is clear and true. If we explain it well, we should win.
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HOCKEY
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What's the truth?
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EVA
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Selective prosecution. That there is a double standard in the culture for May/December romances. And David should not have to go to jail for twenty-five years, or at all, just because he's a man and not a woman.
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DAVID
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That sounds okay.
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EVA
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Alright then. The guard will take you back. We'll see you at the pre-trial hearing with the DA. We'll try to get the charges dismissed.
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DAVID
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Alright. Thank you.
(Exits)
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HOCKEY
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Thank you.
(Dilates pupils.)
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EVA
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Is that really why you think people are in jail? Because they don't know how to negotiate? Its because they don't have rights.
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HOCKEY
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You're funny.
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EVA
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How?
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HOCKEY
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You think everything is logical. You just figure out what's going on and then you explain it clearly and everything will be okay. Nothing works like that. You can't win that way.
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EVA
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It would be very good for me to learn how to fight and to win. Between my law clinic, my sister's kid and my tits, I just don't know how to really stand up for something that has to do with me. I'm great with sex offenders.
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HOCKEY
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Winning is good. I remember now.
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EVA
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It would be a new feeling for me. Those welfare cases I fought for so many years? Even if the client won, in the big picture, they lost.
|
|
|
HOCKEY
|
|
|
It's all coming back to me.
When it comes to the law there is something stronger than truth, smarts or love of justice.
|
|
|
EVA
|
|
|
What's that?
|
|
|
HOCKEY
|
|
|
Strategy.
|
|
|
EVA
|
|
|
If Jose had lived, would he never have betrayed you?
|
|
|
HOCKEY
|
|
|
Never. Let's get out of here. I guess I'm feeling better.
(Dilates pupils.)
|
|
Scene Three
(Marty is watching television. Brigid enters and hangs up her coat.)
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BRIGID
|
|
|
Have you seen him? Have you talked to him?
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|
MARTY
|
|
|
I just got home. He's not here.
|
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|
BRIGID
|
|
|
He should have been back by now.
(Kisses him. Holds him.)
How was your day?
|
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|
MARTY
|
|
|
Same old. They hired a new manager and it wasn't George.
|
|
|
BRIGID
|
|
|
Why not?
|
|
|
MARTY
|
|
|
Because of his drinking. I told you. So, guess who got it?
|
|
|
BRIGID
|
|
|
Who?
|
|
|
MARTY
|
|
|
Guess!
|
|
|
BRIGID
|
|
|
Who?
|
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|
MARTY
|
|
|
(Sadly)
Why can't you guess?
|
|
|
BRIGID
|
|
|
How am I supposed to know? You. You got the job.
|
|
|
MARTY
|
|
|
No, Louise from purchasing. She wants to cut lunch from one hour to forty-five minutes. I told her, that's why its called a lunch hour, not a lunch forty-five minutes.
|
|
|
BRIGID
|
|
|
What are you watching?
|
|
|
MARTY
|
|
|
Red River
Look at that man ride a horse.
|
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|
BRIGID
|
|
|
Tell me more about your day.
|
|
|
MARTY
|
|
|
It was boring. Tell me about yours.
|
|
|
BRIGID
|
|
|
Well...
|
|
|
MARTY
|
|
|
Sounds pretty boring.
|
|
|
BRIGID
|
|
|
I didn't start yet. Kathleen at work is pregnant. Don't tell anybody.
|
|
|
MARTY
|
|
|
Who am I going to tell? Louise? Louise files her nails.
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|
BRIGID
|
|
|
I painted my nails. Amethyst Smoke.
|
|
(Enter Carole)
|
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MARTY
|
|
|
Now he's gonna get it.
|
|
|
CAROLE
|
|
|
Good.
|
|
|
BRIGID
|
|
|
Not Stew, John Wayne. Your brother hasn't shown up yet.
|
|
|
CAROLE
|
|
|
Daddy?
|
|
|
MARTY
|
|
|
I've been worrying all fucking day.
|
|
|
CAROLE
|
|
|
What are you going to do, Daddy? Sam wants to kill him.
|
|
|
BRIGID
|
|
|
Your father will take care of it. Maybe Stew ran away.
|
|
|
MARTY
|
|
|
Please give me a break Brigid. I can't go five minutes without you telling me what the hell is wrong with me. I can't live with that, do you understand? I'm doing the best I can. I don't' want to hear what's wrong with me. This is it, this is me. I'm not getting better. I don't want no cops and no shrinks and wives saying what's wrong with me. I can't do anything about it.
|
|
|
BRIGID
|
|
|
You've only got one wife as far as I know.
|
|
|
CAROLE
|
|
|
I'm gonna go home and tell Sam you're taking care of it. Who else is in that movie?
|
|
|
BRIGID
|
|
|
Monty Clift. He must be guilty.
|
|
|
MARTY
|
|
|
I know he's guilty. Our kid is sick.
(Marty stares at the TV.)
Now he's gonna get it.
|
|
(They all watch TV.)
Scene Four
(Eva and Mary's apartment. Eva has just arrived home before the scene started. Same as Scene One.)
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|
|
EVA
|
|
|
Hockey has growths all over his face that have to be frozen and burned off. He's depressed.
|
|
|
MARY
|
|
|
He's always depressed but who can blame him? I'm speaking in code about myself.
|
|
|
EVA
|
|
|
Still no word from Ilene Leopold?
|
|
|
MARY
|
|
|
She said she would meet me uptown at three but at five of three she left a message saying she would meet me downtown at four. She said "I love, love, love you and I really, really mean it." She never showed up. When I called, she said she'd call me right back. She said "You're always on my mind and I want us to work together always." I waited at the pay phone for two hours. When I came home there was a fax waiting here that said "You're pressuring me."I called her again and she said I should call her back in ten minutes, when I did, her phone was unplugged. Then she sent me another fax saying she was feeling dizzy. I saw it come out of the machine, so I knew she had to be home. I called her back immediately and she didn't pick up the phone. Then, five minutes later she sent me another fax that said "You are harassing me."
|
|
|
EVA
|
|
|
Honey...
|
|
|
MARY
|
|
|
(Phone rings only once. They both look at it.)
Ilene?
|
|
|
EVA
|
|
|
Wrong number.
|
|
|
MARY
|
|
|
I was sitting here, waiting for you, thinking about when I wrote my first play. The San Diego State College Theater Department. I had no idea. I thought it would be easier.
|
|
|
EVA
|
|
|
Why did you think that?
|
|
|
MARY
|
|
|
No one in my family knew how anything worked. There's people on TV, my family sat and stared at them. Maybe I could be on there too and then they would look at me. With something other than disapproval.
|
|
|
EVA
|
|
|
That's normal, you had a romantic view of your own life. And our life has turned out to be very rich.
|
|
|
MARY
|
|
|
I thought I came here to make it and fall in love. But now I think I was just pushed out of there, really.
|
|
|
EVA
|
|
|
No, that's not the truth. You had choices and you had awareness and you were active, you made your life happen. Don't take that away.
|
|
|
MARY
|
|
|
(Unsure) No.
|
|
|
EVA
|
|
|
Every morning you choose our life. You reach for it and engage it and deepen it.
|
|
|
MARY
|
|
|
How do you know? How do you know it's not just happening to me?
|
|
|
EVA
|
|
|
Well, I was thinking, the other day, how when we first got together, you told me that story about all the girls you had sex with when you were in high school. How you used to get them to kiss you in the movies. I loved it, it was a great story. I didn't realize until years later that it had never happened that way. You wished it had. So then you came here and you made it real. I admire that girl so much.
|
|
|
MARY
|
|
|
That solitary, horny, odd ball?
|
|
|
EVA
|
|
|
I admire you.
|
|
|
MARY
|
|
|
I keep reaching for that normal life and it never happens.
|
|
|
EVA
|
|
|
What's a normal life?
|
|
|
MARY
|
|
|
Something I don't have and don't know how to get. Something you can sum up. It's like there is no queer narrative arc. It's not Romance, Marriage, and Motherhood. Its not neat. It's a messy life. Hard to represent. To try to make it look like Dinner With Friends would be a big lie. It's impossible.
|
|
|
EVA
|
|
|
Tell me how I can help you.
|
|
|
MARY
|
|
|
Is everything really okay with your health?
|
|
|
EVA
|
|
|
Yes, really.
|
|
|
MARY
|
|
|
You would trust me enough to tell me if it wasn't.
|
|
|
EVA
|
|
|
Yes. We have so much. You give me so much. You say the most beautiful things to me.
|
|
|
MARY
|
|
|
Like what?
|
|
|
EVA
|
|
|
You say I'm so glad you're home and dinner's ready, I'll serve you. You say our niece/nephew and I'm glad I came with you. You say I am your family. I will take care of you and I was sitting here waiting for you.
|
|
|
MARY
|
|
|
I can't write a play about that.
|
|
|
EVA
|
|
|
Yes you can. Keep trying. You've got to keep trying. You can do it.
|
|
|
MARY
|
|
|
How do you know?
|
|
|
EVA
|
|
|
Because I believe in you.
|
|
|
MARY
|
|
|
I can write it. But what if they'll never, ever let me show it?
|
|
|
EVA
|
|
|
I'll still love you. I love you when you're happy, and I'll love you when you're unhappy.
|
|
|
MARY
|
|
|
Being unhappy is not acceptable, even if you love me. Why do you keep telling me to do something that isn't going to work? So that you can love me when I'm helpless?
|
|
|
EVA
|
|
|
That's not...what are you talking about?
|
|
|
MARY
|
|
|
Why else would you keep pushing me to fail over and over again? It makes you feel bigger.
|
|
|
EVA
|
|
|
That's not true. Please don't do this to me. Help me.
|
|
|
MARY
|
|
|
Help you what?
|
|
|
EVA
|
|
|
Help me be good for you.
|
|
|
MARY
|
|
|
That doesn't help me. You think you're a hero if I keep failing and you don't mind.
|
|
(Phone rings. They both look at it.)
|
|
|
EVA
|
|
|
Maybe its Ilene.
|
|
|
MARY
|
|
|
It's not Ilene.
(Picks up phone.)
Hello. Mother? What?
Her boyfriend died.
I'll be right there. Yes, I'll take care of you.
No, mother, you're not alone.
I'll pack right now and go straight to the airport.
(Hangs up.)
I have to go to Del Sol. Right now
|
|
|
EVA
|
|
|
I'll get out your suitcase.
|
|
|
MARY
|
|
|
Oh God.
|
|
|
EVA
|
|
|
Call me as soon as you get in.
|
|
|
MARY
|
|
|
Okay.
|
|
|
EVA
|
|
|
I'll put you in a cab. Mary, I love you. We'll talk about this when you come home. I'll call you tonight.
|
|
|
MARY
|
|
|
I'm not your client and I'm not your child.
|
|
Scene Five
(The Mulcahey's house)
|
|
|
STEW
|
|
|
Please Daddy, please.
|
|
|
MARTY
|
|
|
Stew, what you did is serious. It's criminal.
|
|
|
STEW
|
|
|
Daddy, please just stop saying that. Just stop, for five minutes. Five minutes, five minutes.
|
|
|
MARTY
|
|
|
Don't tell me what to do. I'm ashamed to even think of what you did to Victor. What should I do, should I call the police? I was so happy when you were born. Ask anybody.
|
|
|
STEW
|
|
|
Daddy, please stop saying those things. Just stop.
|
|
|
MARTY
|
|
|
You can't have it both ways Stew. Either you've got nothing to be upset about or you've got to pay the piper.
|
|
|
STEW
|
|
|
I can't decide until you stop.
|
|
|
MARTY
|
|
|
Life doesn't work that way. You've got to get control of yourself. It doesn't depend on me.
|
|
|
STEW
|
|
|
Stop saying that. I'm going to kill you.
|
|
|
MARTY
|
|
|
You're going to kill me? I'm going to kill you
|
|
|
STEW
|
|
|
Daddy.
|
|
|
MARTY
|
|
|
I know you and I know that you are the kind of person who would hurt a little child.
|
|
|
STEW
|
|
|
How do you know?
|
|
|
MARTY
|
|
|
Because, Stewie, you have secrets.
|
|
|
STEW
|
|
|
So do you.
|
|
|
MARTY
|
|
|
That's how I know.
|
|
|
BRIGID
|
|
|
What kind of secrets?
|
|
|
MARTY
|
|
|
(Picks Stew up against his will.)
I've had it with you.
|
|
|
STEW
|
|
|
No.
|
|
Stew digs his heels into the carpeting. The carpet holds him back but then his legs buckle and Marty pulls him, sliding him on his knees against the carpet, up to the threshold of the house. Stew grabs onto a table leg, but it has no anchor and the table turns over. On it was a lamp, some magazines and a can of Coke. They crash and slap to the floor.
|
|
|
MARTY
|
|
|
You bastard.
|
|
Now they're at the threshold again. Stew grabs on, trying to keep his father from throwing him out. Marty pries open his son's fingers. Then Marty reaches down and grabs Stew's foot and pushes it out of the house. He pushes Stew out and slams the door.
Suddenly it is very quiet.
|
|
|
BRIGID
|
|
|
This isn't what either of us wanted. Stew made this happen.
|
|
|
MARTY
|
|
|
He calls me "Daddy." What is he, a man or a boy?
|
|
|
BRIGID
|
|
|
He's a man. Stew can take care of himself.
|
|
Stew slams the lamp into the door, stands on the ground, outside the house, looking at the closed door.
Scene Six
(Waiting room. Hockey and Eva. She is in a robe.)
|
|
|
EVA
|
|
|
I can't believe I've got this wire sticking out of my tit.
|
|
|
HOCKEY
|
|
|
I can't believe we had to go to another clinic to get it and then take a cab, with you in your robe, to this clinic for the actual biopsy. Who thought of this?
|
|
|
EVA
|
|
|
Welcome to the wacky world of women's health care.
|
|
|
HOCKEY
|
|
|
It is its own monster.
|
|
|
EVA
|
|
|
Thanks for coming with me.
|
|
|
HOCKEY
|
|
|
Knowing is best.
|
|
|
EVA
|
|
|
Any other advice?
|
|
|
HOCKEY
|
|
|
Well, if you do get sick, just keep working. I stopped and it was a big mistake.
|
|
|
EVA
|
|
|
I lied to Mary. I didn't tell her about this biopsy.
|
|
|
HOCKEY
|
|
|
Didn't you think she would notice when you came home with a three inch scar on your breast?
|
|
|
EVA
|
|
|
You know, she was so uncomfortable in the waiting room that it didn't help me.
|
|
|
HOCKEY
|
|
|
Yeah, but shouldn't she be making that decision?
|
|
|
EVA
|
|
|
What's the answer? Uhh..probably. Why did I do that?
If something horrible happens she will come through. You would help her right?
|
|
|
HOCKEY
|
|
|
I would help you. Oh, a lot of things will happen if you're dying, even temporarily. You'll probably get to meet your niece/nephew. Pat little Zippo on the head. But if you're fine, there are no resolutions.
|
|
|
EVA
|
|
|
Do you ever feel like dying would be easier?
|
|
|
HOCKEY
|
|
|
I know it would be, but death may not be my fate. How's she doing in California?
|
|
|
EVA
|
|
|
I called Del Sol last night but there was no answer.
|
|
|
HOCKEY
|
|
|
Maybe her family went to church.
|
|
|
EVA
|
|
|
Yeah, or to the bar.
|
|
|
HOCKEY
|
|
|
Real drinkers?
|
|
|
EVA
|
|
|
Her father drank until his organs turned to water. His body was like an ocean covered with skin. Then it burst open and he died.
|
|
|
HOCKEY
|
|
|
What a nightmare.
|
|
|
EVA
|
|
|
I know, but Mary says she got over it. That's not possible, is it?
|
|
|
HOCKEY
|
|
|
What are you, in denial about everything?
|
|
|
EVA
|
|
|
No.
|
|
(They laugh.)
Scene Seven
(Del Sol, California. Three am.)
|
|
|
WENDY
|
|
|
So, you grew up in this room, huh?
|
|
|
MARY
|
|
|
Yes. I used to bring girls home when I was in high school.
|
|
|
WENDY
|
|
|
How did you seduce them?
|
|
|
MARY
|
|
|
I would to say. Take me to the movie and you pay. When we're there, you can touch me anyway you want to. I liked how it was in front of everybody. Those poor girls used to sweat. You know the fastest way to get a woman into bed, don't you?
|
|
|
WENDY
|
|
|
I think so. Tell her she's intelligent.
|
|
|
MARY
|
|
|
Yeah, and listen. Listening works too.
|
|
|
WENDY
|
|
|
Some girls spend years trying to find someone they can talk to. I'm not that way. I want to have sex. If it's good there's always something to say. You're sexy. It's fun talking to you. How do you like being home?
|
|
|
MARY
|
|
|
I like it. I'm never going back to New York. I've already torn up my airplane ticket. I know I have to tell my ex- girlfriend, but I don't want to.
|
|
|
WENDY
|
|
|
That's cold.
|
|
|
MARY
|
|
|
Whatever, I don't want to help her. What do you do?
|
|
|
WENDY
|
|
|
I'm a cop.
|
|
|
MARY
|
|
|
In this town? There must not be much business.
|
|
|
WENDY
|
|
|
I'm from Freemont. Three of us got sent here for a seminar.
|
|
|
MARY
|
|
|
How do you like Southern California?
|
|
|
WENDY
|
|
|
It's so conservative. Even the criminals are Republicans. You really need to deal with your girlfriend. Just try.
|
|
|
MARY
|
|
|
Trying is humiliating. It points out that I have something to try. I'd rather just stay here. I mean, no one but Eva even cares. My mother is thrilled. She thinks I finally got away from that dyke.
|
|
|
WENDY
|
|
|
Yeah, that's pretty funny.
|
|
|
MARY
|
|
|
All Eva ever did was make me feel inadequate. If Eva failed, I had to sympathize. I didn't want to. There was nothing in it for me. Neither her success nor her failure would erase my failure. So, what good was it? It was a time waster. Do you have a cigarette?
|
|
|
WENDY
|
|
|
Yeah. Menthol though. Is that okay?
Your girlfriend must be a real asshole.
|
|
|
MARY
|
|
|
Yeah, come on, girlie. Shut up. Here, kiss me.
(Kiss)
See, that feels better.
|
|
|
WENDY
|
|
|
It must be weird to spend so much time with your mother.
|
|
|
MARY
|
|
|
Have some water.
(Holds the glass to her lips. Wendy takes glass.)
It's shocking. My failure has failed my mother and Eva's done nothing to stop it. In fact, she encouraged me. Why did she do that? It was a guaranteed fail.
(Lights cigarette)
|
|
|
WENDY
|
|
|
Don't give up on your dreams. Maybe you can make it. I've achieved my dreams, I mean about work.
|
|
|
MARY
|
|
|
How old are you?
|
|
|
WENDY
|
|
|
Twenty-three.
|
|
|
MARY
|
|
|
It's a little bit more complicated than that. You're young, You're very pretty. You'll be okay. I sit here each day in my grieving mother's garden and she looks at me like a broken blender or a stained shirt. Being with Eva has not made me my mother's hero. So, what do I get out of it besides another person's problems? The next time something goes wrong, Eva will be upset and want help. I would have to think about her night and day. I don't want to. Have you ever seen a play?
|
|
|
WENDY
|
|
|
Yes. It was good.
|
|
|
MARY
|
|
|
Yeah, well, then you know that in a play, the hero's fate has to be made clear before the curtain comes down. Will he be liberated or condemned? The lovers have to have a confrontation or reunite. But there's a big difference between the way people really act and the way they act in plays. This is real life so I don't ever have to pick up that phone. You know what I like about Del Sol?
|
|
|
WENDY
|
|
|
The weather?
|
|
|
MARY
|
|
|
Yeah, I like the weather. I like to sit in gardens with people who work as clerks, in banks or malls or in software, to get in bed with a cop. No one needing to be recognized by an authority larger than their mother. The women at the check-out counter look just like me. They don't try to pass.
|
|
|
WENDY
|
|
|
Pass for what?
|
|
|
MARY
|
|
|
Middle-class.
|
|
|
WENDY
|
|
|
Oh. So what are you going to do then, get a job cashiering?
|
|
|
MARY
|
|
|
I'm gonna wait for the lemons to ripen on the tree. Shop at the pastel mall, peach, pale blue and beige. Drive to the mall, drive to the gay bar. Here when you have a few drinks, you shut up. In New York they get even more lively. More ideas, more plans. It never stops. Ideas. Plans. Ideas. Plans. They don't care if it never comes true, but they try to make it come true. Why try if it's not going to happen? They just like planning and so I mimicked them, gestured pathetically toward strategy. I became a cheaper version of them, one that could never succeed at their tricks. They loved planning and I hated it.
|
|
|
WENDY
|
|
|
You're just mad, now. You'll get bored and then you'll call your girlfriend.
|
|
|
MARY
|
|
|
She's not my girlfriend. Every day at four I walk with my mother along the Pacific coast, a vacuum of beauty, no way to participate. Not like going to see someone else's play where all evening I'd yearn to be a part of it. You can't envy the ocean. There's the sea, you can't do anything about it.
|
|
|
WENDY
|
|
|
You don't sound like you're from here.
|
|
|
MARY
|
|
|
I am from here. Car culture is my culture.
|
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Scene Eight
(Hockey's Office. Eva is alone on the phone, pressing redail, listening, then hanging up. Hockey enters and watches. )
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HOCKEY
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Who are you calling morning noon and night?
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EVA
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Mary. It has been ten days.
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HOCKEY
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Are you kidding?
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EVA
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For ten days I have been calling Mary at her mother's house and she has never picked up the phone.
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HOCKEY
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Is she dead? Is there an answering machine?
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EVA
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She has never returned my call. I sent her telegrams, she has not responded.
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HOCKEY
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Call the police.
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EVA
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I called the police and they said...
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HOCKEY
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What?
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EVA
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They said she doesn't want to talk to me.
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HOCKEY
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Why not?
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EVA
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They don't know why.
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HOCKEY
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God.
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EVA
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Well, there's got to be a reason.
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HOCKEY
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What kind of reason could there be?
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EVA
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Like if I stole her money to buy drugs.
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HOCKEY
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Did you?
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EVA
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No.
If we could just talk to each other, and she could tell me what is bothering her, we can deal with it.
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HOCKEY
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That's why she's not calling you.
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EVA
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Can that really be true?
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HOCKEY
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At least you don't have cancer.
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EVA
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All $8,000 of my insurance claims have been rejected.
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HOCKEY
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We're stuck with our painful, tedious futures, our grief and pointless loss.
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EVA
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If only I had bought Oxford Plus instead of Oxford, I would have been partially reimbursed. Dr. Kumar is not in the Oxford Plan, she's only in Oxford Plus.
(Presses redial.)
Mary? Mary? Pick up please. Honey, please pick up the phone. Mary? Come on Mary this isn't fair. Pick up the phone. This is so crazy, pick it up. I can't believe you're doing this. Why?
(She hangs up.)
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HOCKEY
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Do you think I'm going to live?
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EVA
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Yes. I don't know what's going on, but Mary and I have to discuss it. Whatever the problem is, we can face it. She's all that I have and I belong to her.
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(Phone rings.)
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EVA
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Hello?
Oh, hello Joe.
Now what? Oh my God, turn on the TV.
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HOCKEY
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What's the matter?
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EVA
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Oh my God.
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(The turn on the TV. On the monitor we see a televised press conference, broadcast from the front lawn of Van Buren High School. Light bulbs flashing.)
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BETHANY BLISS
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I, Bethany Bliss, am the lawyer for the family of Victor Holder, the deceased seven year old, brutally beaten to death last night by his uncle Stewart Mulcahey. Under adult jurisdiction, the District Attorney, Bernard South has announced this morning that he will seek the death penalty. We, the family, place the blame firmly on the shoulders of the police, courts and social work agencies of Van Buren Township who have committed extreme malpractice in this case. We place the blame on Lieutenant Kevin Bart who recruited Stewart into giving evidence under severe emotional duress and Daniel Wisotscky, CSW for refusing the state intervention Stewart's parents fervently requested.
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HOCKEY
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This is unbelievable.
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EVA
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That poor child.
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HOCKEY
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Oh my God.
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EVA
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Look what they did to him.
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HOCKEY
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Bethany is a genius. What great TV. Look at that backdrop. Small town New Jersey red brick school, white steeple, pseudo-Protestant aesthetic for working-class Catholics.
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EVA
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What are you talking about?
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HOCKEY
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Look at that big hair on Bethany.
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EVA
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Hockey, Stew just murdered a little boy.
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HOCKEY
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It's very smart. Big hair on TV conveys small town parochialism. This helps the rest of the country's sense of this as a monstrous crime. Homosexual crimes, when committed in sophisticated places are entirely different than when imposed on a bunch of hicks.
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EVA
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Are you for real?
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HOCKEY
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What's the matter?
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EVA
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You sound like a brief. Oh God, if they had just left him alone.
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HOCKEY
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Well, you're right about one thing, we're in deep doo-doo, but we can get out of it. Stew got screwed, that much is clear. But the state isn't going to take the blame, our client is. After all, Stew was molested, right?
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EVA
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It's such a set-up. Why couldn't they just leave him alone?
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HOCKEY
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We have to depose Stew. We have to get him to say on record that he's a big fag and Dave is his boyfriend.
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EVA
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It could help us, but is it going to help him?
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HOCKEY
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Helping him is not our job.
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Scene Nine
(Ossining Correctional Facility. Eva and Hockey are deposing Stew.)
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HOCKEY
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Hello Stew.
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EVA
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This is terrible.
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HOCKEY
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I know this is a terrible time for you. But we all have responsibilities.
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EVA
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We know you don't want to hurt David, and I don't want to hurt you.
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HOCKEY
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The court is going to try to blame David for what happened to Victor, and we want to stop them. Do you understand?
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(Stew nods.)
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HOCKEY
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Good. You've already confessed. You have nothing to lose-
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EVA
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-legally.
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HOCKEY
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... here, but David has everything to lose. Just tell us what happened, so that we can explain to the court that David had nothing to do with it.
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EVA
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This is just terrible...
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HOCKEY
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...for all of us. Go ahead Stew. Tell us what happened.
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STEW
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I went to Carole's place.
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HOCKEY
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After your father threw you out? But that was at night.
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STEW
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I walked around all night. I was tired. I needed food. I waited until I knew that Sam had left for work. Then I walked up to the door.
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EVA
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Did you hesitate?
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STEW
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I wanted to hesitate, but I didn't. I wanted to think things over, but I couldn't. In a way I just forgot.
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HOCKEY
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Good boy. Did you ring the bell?
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STEW
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I knocked. Then I rang. Then I went around to the back yard.
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HOCKEY
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Was Carole there?
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STEW
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Yeah. Drinking a Diet Coke and smoking. She was watching TV.
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HOCKEY
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In the back yard?
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STEW
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Yeah, it was in the kitchen window, plugged in over the sink. I knew that Carole knew what the truth was. She knew I hadn't done anything to Victor, that I just said stuff. But she had to pretend to get Mommy's approval. But now it was just the two of us, so no more lying. She would have to fess up so I could go home.
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EVA
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Did she fess up?
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STEW
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No, she started screaming. "What are you doing? What's wrong with you? Look at you. You're in trouble. Don't come around here looking like an insane person."
I pretended to leave, but I did not leave. I went into the house through the garage. She thought I'd go home but her place had to be my home because she lived there. She is my sister. I locked the doors, I didn't want her yapping to interrupt this talk I had to have with Victor.
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HOCKEY
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Was Victor in the house?
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STEW
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He was playing with his computer.
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HOCKEY
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So, what'd you do?
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STEW
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I said "Come on," and I picked him up, by the arm.
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EVA
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Were you rough?
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STEW
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That's why it bothered me that Victor was already complaining. My father had done much worse, but I didn't complain about it. Not the pain, just the insults. But, there was Victor, not having anyone yelling insults at him, so why was he screaming? Didn't he know that nothing was happening? I knew Victor was just doing this to get Carole to come into the house. He was a squealer and a tattle-tale. "Shut up Victor," I said. "Shut the fuck up." Then I slapped him. "Shut up you fucker." I put my hand over his mouth and squeezed it. "Shut up or I won't have a home."
Victor yelled, and now Carole was screaming from the other side of the house. Why did he have to do that? The little shit. I hit him in the head. "Shut up Victor." I pulled his arms and swung him around. I felt one slip out of the socket. "Shut up you tattle tale." Then I felt worried. "Please shut up. If you would just shut up everything would be alright."
Carole was banging on the door of the house, but I had locked it. Why can't people just stop? If everyone would just shut up and listen I would have a chance. They all need to stop saying these cruel things that I can't take. "Shut up Victor." I tightened my hold on his mouth. It was gurgling.
Here comes Carole, screaming again. All she ever does is scream. She was banging the plate glass with a baseball bat and climbing into the living room through the broken window. That used to be my bat. We shared it. So, I pulled up Victor between us, he was like a chair or a garbage can. I just lifted his arms but he flew around the room until his head hit the wall. Carole ran to him and I watched him fall. Then I grabbed her bat. I was mad because no one cared about me. I got it and swung it around. Carole fell down, then I hit Victor. I smashed him. Then I ran out through the window.
Okay, so there's something wrong with me. I'm wrong. Even if I am totally wrong and should never have been born, I still was born. Doesn't that count for something? Everyone else is doing what their parents want- getting blow jobs from girls and getting drunk. I have a secret life. But why is mine a secret? Why am I sneaking around hiding and why don't I mind? Because I'm slime, that's why. Only the scum of the scum of the earth likes acting like scum. My parents are right, I don't deserve to live, but I do live. And now my life will be unbearable. It will be disgusting. Every second of my life will be repulsive. Others will say so.
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EVA
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I don't feel that way about you, Stew. I think I understand what happened. This all could have been avoided with a minimum of decency.
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HOCKEY
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Yeah, like how decent David is to you. How kind he has always been.
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STEW
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Yeah.
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HOCKEY
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In a way, David is like a real parent should be, isn't he?
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STEW
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Yeah.
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HOCKEY
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I mean, you went on-line to find him, didn't you?
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STEW
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Yeah.
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HOCKEY
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You flirted.
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STEW
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(Nods.)
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HOCKEY
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And you said, very openly, that you wanted to come to his house and suck his cock.
(Stew is silent)
You typed it on your keyboard. You typed "I want to come to your house and suck your cock." He didn't suggest it, you did.
(Stew is silent.)
That confession you wrote for the cop was a big lie. David didn't molest you. You begged him to jerk you off. Come on Stew. I'm gay too. I know what its like.
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STEW
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My father hates me.
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HOCKEY
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Your father is an asshole. Dave is the real father. You know that he's the real family. We're the only ones who are on your side.
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EVA
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Stop it.
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HOCKEY
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OK, Stew. Just tell me the truth. Dave is your boyfriend.
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STEW
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Dave is my boyfriend.
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HOCKEY
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He's the one who loves you.
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STEW
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He's the one who loves me.
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HOCKEY
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You initiated the sexual relationship.
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STEW
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I cruised him.
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HOCKEY
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So your boyfriend had nothing to do with you killing Victor. You were stressed out by your parents, not Dave.
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STEW
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What is going to happen to me?
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EVA
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I don't know.
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HOCKEY
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Say it.
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STEW
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Dave is my real father. He's my boyfriend. Carole made me crazy, not Dave.
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HOCKEY
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Good boy. The only thing that can help you is mercy.
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Scene Ten
(DA's office. Hockey and Eva are waiting.)
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BRENARDINE SOUTH
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I'm Bernardine South, the District Attorney in this case. Just have a seat and the others will be here shortly.
(Exits.)
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EVA
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How can we save him?
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HOCKEY
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Stew is not our client.
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EVA
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He is fifteen.
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HOCKEY
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It's horrible, but that's life. I knew better than to murder a little boy when I was fifteen. He is responsible. You have to come to terms with that.
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EVA
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They're charging him as an adult.
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HOCKEY
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He is an adult.
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EVA
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Then how can they charge his lover with child molestation? Either he's a man, who should not be brought under police supervision for having a boyfriend. Or, he is a child and should be charged in juvenile court.
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HOCKEY
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Stew got screwed but he is a murderer. Nothing worse happened to him than what happened to us. In fact, it is easier to be a gay kid now than it was when we were little.
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EVA
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Are you jealous?
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HOCKEY
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No. But now they have clubs and things. I wouldn't represent Stew. He's a murderer.
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EVA
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Well we'll just tell them the truth. We need to go in there and argue that Stew was pathologized for being a gay kid. His parents drove him crazy. Other gay people are his family.
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HOCKEY
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Now you're crazy. You want to get Dave a life sentence? This is not a gay rights issue. Gay rights is not about child abuse nor is it about murdering little boys. It's not about fucking little boys and it's not about killing little boys. Stew is a murderer and we're going to go in there and argue that he is a responsible adult and must take the consequences for his actions.
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EVA
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Stew is our child. That's what you told him.
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HOCKEY
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He is not my child.
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EVA
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I can't go along with that.
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HOCKEY
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Your responsibility is to win for your client. I thought you wanted to win.
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EVA
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I do.
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HOCKEY
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Then you have to decide. Is Stew a man, responsible for his actions whether that means having sex with our client or killing his nephew. Or, is he a child, not responsible for the act of murder, but therefore clearly exploited by our client?
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EVA
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It doesn't matter. You're trapped in a false question.
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HOCKEY
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You know what I think?
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EVA
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What?
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HOCKEY
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That you just like the underdog. You can't care about systems. You should have run an animal shelter instead of practiced law.
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EVA
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Mary says I only love people when they're helpless.
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HOCKEY
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I don't understand what Mary's doing. Its tragic. Some people think that someone having sympathy for them is condescending. They can't give themselves a break and they're ashamed if you give it to them. Maybe Mary's one of those.
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EVA
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Well, if that's the case, it is certainly something that she and I have to talk about. It's human.
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HOCKEY
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What is?
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EVA
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To belong to someone. To believe that they can do the right thing. To give them another chance. I'm one of those people who has to try. The cost of being adrift is too high. I believe that if Mary and I could talk, everything would be okay. And I believe that if we tell the DA the truth, we can win. I have the strength for it. Do you? I believe that you do. How are you feeling? You look a lot better.
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HOCKEY
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The protease inhibitors have kicked in again and I'm back at the gym on a regular basis.
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EVA
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Does that feel good?
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HOCKEY
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Good? What does that mean? For six years I kept everything placed in the apartment where Jose had placed it. I haven't bought anything new. I thought I was going to die and that this would have been the entirety of my life. Now I need to get rid of his stuff, because I'm better, but I don't want to. It represents my real life, my life with Jose, the only time I was not alone. How could I put that in a box?
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EVA
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I understand.
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HOCKEY
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Do you? At least my HIV is the same genetic material as Jose's. It's our child.
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EVA
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Hockey, if you look inside yourself, do you see any choices?
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HOCKEY
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No. My suffering is in front of me. It will always be in front of me. It lines the path of my future. My future is strewn with the consequences of my past. My lover's endless death is my destiny.
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EVA
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But, what do you love?
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HOCKEY
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I love taking my pills. I love leaving the office, going to the gym, having sex in the steamroom, going home, taking my pills, and sitting in our chair in our house, the house where I spent the best days of my life. The most horrifying. The days that lay before me. I'm not optimistic like you are. You can't help Stew and you can't help me. My experience is not fixable.
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EVA
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Okay. I'm out.
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HOCKEY
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Out of what?
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EVA
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The case. I believe you. I can't help Stew because of you. And I can't help you, because.
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HOCKEY
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Some people can only feel good next to the most wounded. They don't want their patient to get better because if they're not Nurse, who are they?
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EVA
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You're right, I don't love you anymore. But its not because you're better. Its because you're vicious.
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HOCKEY
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What's the difference?
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EVA
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If I don't do what I really think is right, then I'm lost. What is the most important thing in my life? Mary. What is the one thing I can really fight for no matter what? I can fight for her.
(Eva Exits)
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(Enter Bernardine South, Bethany Bliss, Stew and David at different ends of the table in prison clothes and manacles.)
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HOCKEY
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(Taking pills)
District Attorney South, I expect you to drop all charges against my client, David Ziemska.
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BETHANY
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I expect you to remove criminal charges against my client Stewart Mulcahey and remand him to the state Institution for the Criminally Insane. The boy was molested by a vicious predator which caused him untold duress.
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SOUTH
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Don't be absurd. Both of you. I can't drop these charges. They're both going to have to go to trial.
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HOCKEY
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Let's face it, the biggest hole in the state's argument is that you coerced a minor into participating in the prosecution's case against David. A coerced confession is not admissible in the courtroom. No point in pretending that it is.
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SOUTH
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It was Lieutenant Bart's professional judgement.
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BETHANY
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That Stew could handle the emotional stress? The lieutenant is required by law to have the approval of a therapist in such matters and he did not. Therefore, Stew's statement, implicating his abuser, was illegally obtained. I have an expert witness ready to testify that a child, like Stewart, is often not emotionally ready to confront a predator. And that it is this coercion, by the State, that pushed this poor molested boy past the breaking point.
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SOUTH
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According to the social worker's report everything seemed normal. There's no indication that Stew had any psychological problems. He passed the examination with flying colors.
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HOCKEY
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Well, I have an expert witness ready to testify that some teenagers engaged in relationships with older men may not share the same values as detectives or share the vindictiveness that intergenerational relationships create in parents and other adults.
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SOUTH
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Counselor, you argue in court that it is ok for boys to have sex with pedophiles and you will lose this case.
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HOCKEY
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The fact that he had a relationship with a forty year old man shows that he was struggling with his sexual identity.
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BETHANY
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That's ridiculous. Stewart cannot legally consent to pedophilia.
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HOCKEY
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By imposing adult sensibilities on him the state was inadvertently adding to his difficulties.
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SOUTH
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Adults are the state. No compromise.
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HOCKEY
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Let's face it, the state coerced a minor into giving evidence.
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BETHANY
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He's right there. Stew's parents begged the social worker to remove him to a juvenile facility, but the state refused.
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SOUTH
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It was the social worker's professional judgement.
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HOCKEY
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That Stew could handle the stress? I don't think so.
Stew's relationship with Dave was the happiest thing in his life. His family didn't want him.
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BETHANY
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Blaming the family is not going to get you anywhere. This family has suffered enough because of your client. They have suffered the violation of their son and the death of their grandson. Because of him.
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SOUTH
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Happiness is not my job. The law is.
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HOCKEY
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You know it's malpractice.
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SOUTH
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Alright, nine years for your client. You're lucky there's a technicality. None of those arguments would have gone anywhere in court. Possibility of parole. Minus time served. He'll be out in five years.
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HOCKEY
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Five years too long.
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SOUTH
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Alright, you got your way counselor. Now, return the prisoner and get out of here.
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DAVID
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Save yourself, Stew.
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STEW
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I...(he looks at the others.) I don't know how.
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HOCKEY
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Thank you. I feel good.
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(Hockey takes David offstage)
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SOUTH
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Counselor, this is going to trial. You can bring in the parents.
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(Bethany goes to get them.)
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SOUTH
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