PITTSBURG STEAL

by Ed Ballou

Copyright Ed Ballou, 2017

 A PLAY IN ONE ACT
TIME: The Fifties and the Seventies

PLACE: Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and East Palo Alto, California

SET: one set

Centerstage: a room with door at rear, that functions at times as a living room with a
small sofa and a slide projector on small table, a hospital ward with two chairs and a
large window with heavy wire mesh, a bedroom with just a bed, and a cocktail lounge
with a small table and three stools

Stage right: a small hallway and bathroom separated by a door

Stage left: a small back porch by a freeway

Upstage right: a low overpass over a country road

Upstage left: a laundry room with phonograph and pile of vinyl albums on ironing board

Downstage: a porch glider

MUSIC: Blues singers from the Fifties: Sara Vaughn, Ella Fitzgerald, Nancy Wilson -
slow and mournful, or even romantic, music.

CHARACTERS:

TEDDY - appears first as a 12-year-old, then as a 25-year-old - questioning, concerned,

loves his mother

DEE - Teddys schizophrenic mother - not recognizing an illness is visiting her

VAUGHN - Dees husband, Teddys father - works in the space sciences, frustrated by
his wifes illness and the effect its having on their lives

DR. HIPPAPORT - a psychiatrist and head doctor at the state hospital

NURSE - stereotypical nurse

CAP - Dees father, Teddys grandfather - a retired captain, and a product of the old
sailing ships

ELAN - a voice that only Dee hears - eerie and ethereal - whose dialogue is always
preceded by, and followed by, the Voice SOUND
 (LIGHTS RISE on Dee sitting alone in the
laundry room, listening to Sarah Vaughn
sing I hold a torch for you (sic), or Benny
Goodmans Begin the Beguine - she drinks
wine from a pink Melmac cup, while she talks
to the audience)

DEE
My husbands coming home soon from work.. he puts a roof over us and food on the
table.. but exactly what does he do?.. I dont know, something to do with science - we
cant talk about it.. I know that frustrates him, but I can talk about other things.. our son,
my family - not his family - he was an only child, his father died when he was in college,
and he doesnt talk about his mother.. we cant talk about my work, because I dont
work.. only a little, after secretarial school.. we met at an employment agency - Vaughn
was filling out an application across from me, and he looked over and said, Do you
know how to fill out this part? And I said, Why, yes, like this.. and slid my paper over
to him.. to my surprise, he called that night - I guess he got the number from my
application - hes such a smart man.. and our marriage started out so well - he thought I
was so mysterious.. then slowly he realized the mystery behind my eyes was a mystery
to everyone - except to me..
(A pause - the Voice SOUND)

ELAN
Dee..

DEE
(Pauses)
Yes, Elan..

ELAN
Vaughn is the devil - Vaughn is Satan - he tried to destroy your son with fire..

DEE
But Vaughn didnt know Teddy was in the field..

ELAN
Teddy is the son of Lucifer - hes full of electricity - hell destroy the world someday..
(ENTER TEDDY)

TEDDY
Mom..

DEE
(To Elan)
Teddy? - but hes only a boy..
 TEDDY
Mom! - can you make dinner? - Dad will be home soon..

DEE
(Pauses, to Teddy)
Your father will make dinner..
(To Elan)
How could my little boy be a devil?

TEDDY
Mom.. who are you talking to? - theres no one there..

DEE
Never say that again! - Teddy, your fathers coming home soon - hell want to talk to me
about work - do you know what hes doing?

TEDDY
(Pauses)
Something about running a current through a wall to let water in and keep bad stuff out -
some kind of experiment that uses electricity..

DEE
Did you say electricity?

ELAN
Dee, your son needs slapping, to get out that electricity out of him..

DEE
Teddy, come here..

TEDDY
Want a hug?
(Teddy goes to her)

ELAN
Grab him..
(Dee takes hold of Teddy)
Shake him..
(Dee shakes Teddy)
Slap him, now!
(Dee pauses - slaps Teddy across the face)
Again!
(Dee slaps the other side of Teddys face,
screams at Teddy)
There! - any more electricity in you? - any more, little devil? - you son of Satan!
(TEDDY EXITS, confused)
 ELAN
You see? - he said electricity! - what are the odds, Dee? - but this is no coincidence -
such connections between words are rips in the fabric of time - we must pay attention to
the rips, Dee - they foretell the future..
(The Voice SOUND)

DEE
(Calling offstage)
Teddy? - son, come back! - Mommy didnt mean it!
(No response - the blues record plays on - she
talks to the audience)
I dont think he understands theres something special about me..
(Drinks, leans forward, whispers)
I hear a voice, from somewhere deep inside..
(LIGHTS DIM - LIGHTS RISE on Dee lying on
a bed full of laundry - she turns over and looks
at the audience, talks to the audience.

DEE
I havent put away the laundry, and its almost time for Vaughn to come home - hell get
upset that Im lying here - last night I heard him on the phone, talking to a doctor..
(She puts her head back down in the laundry -
ENTER TEDDY)

TEDDY
Mom?
(Pauses, no response)
Mom?

DEE
(Turning over in the laundry)
Yes, son?

TEDDY
Mom.. have you eaten today?

DEE
Yes, I have..

TEDDY
What?

DEE
Ice cubes..
 TEDDY
Mom, thats not food! - why wont you eat?

DEE
I dont want to take food from the starving children in China..

TEDDY
Forget about them, Mom! - theyll get their own food - our food is downstairs - you want
me to bring some up?

DEE
No.
(Rolls back into laundry)

TEDDY
(Sitting on edge of the bed)
Mom.. you cant go on like this - it isnt healthy - you cant lie in this room with the lights
off and the blinds drawn..
(No response)
Your family needs you - Dad and I - cant we have dinner together?
(No response)
Mom.. youre getting weak - how about I help you up? - get you into the bathroom so
you can wash up - then you can change your clothes and come downstairs - when Dad
comes home, well eat dinner like a real family..
(The SOUND of the front door slamming - the
SOUND of footsteps on the stairs)

DEE
(Pauses, rolls over, looks at him)
Leave me alone, you little devil..
(She rolls back into the laundry - ENTER
VAUGHN - he pauses in doorway)

VAUGHN
Dee..
(No response)
Dee!
(No response)
Whats the matter with you? - get up!

TEDDY
Get up, Mom!

DEE
Stop ganging up on me!
 VAUGHN
(Going to bed, pulling Dee to a sitting position)
This has got to stop! - every time I come home from work these past weeks, here you
are - lying in a pile of laundry, eating nothing but ice cubes - and Im the one who has to
feed Teddy - what kind of wife are you?

TEDDY
Yeah, Mom!

DEE
Youre both against me!

VAUGHN
I just want a wife - and Teddy wants a mother!

DEE
What about what I want?

VAUGHN
(Pauses)
Im sick of it - and Im going to commit to doing something about it..
(LIGHTS DIM as VAUGHN and TEDDY EXIT -
the Voice SOUND)

ELAN
You hear? - he said commit, Dee..

DEE
So?

ELAN
Listen for the word commit - its the rip in the fabric of time that will foretell your future..
(The Voice SOUND - LIGHTS DIM on Dee -
LIGHTS RISE on Teddy siting on sofa,
- ENTER VAUGHN, puts down a suitcase)

TEDDY
(Rising)
Dad!
(Runs to him)

VAUGHN
(Hugging Teddy)
Hello, son!
 TEDDY
How was the job interview - how was California?

VAUGHN
California? - beautiful and warm!
(Gestures outside)
..and no snow in December - it was paradise!

TEDDY
What about that job?

VAUGHN
The interview went well - and they made me an offer, fifty percent more money - so, I
took the job! - theyve stolen your father from Pittsburgh, son - and soon theyll steal you
and your mother! - its a Pittsburgh Steal! - were going to California! - I rented us a
house there, starting the first of March - well pack up and stay our goodbyes, then drive
out to the coast! - let me tell your mother - where is she?

TEDDY
Upstairs..

VAUGHN
In the laundry?

TEDDY
Yes, doing laundry..

VAUGHN
(Pauses)
I need a drink - it was a long flight, and now Im back to.. all this
(Vaughn converses with Teddy while he going
to a sidebar, taking a glass, pouring gin and
vermouth, stirring it, dropping in two olives)
Wheres that woman I hired? - she was supposed to take care of you!

TEDDY
She left as soon as you called from the airport..

VAUGHN
Was she all right?

TEDDY
She was okay..

VAUGHN
She fed you?
 TEDDY
I got food..

VAUGHN
Went to school?

TEDDY
Yes.

VAUGHN
(Pauses)
Did the lady talk to Dee?

TEDDY
Mom wouldnt speak to her, then started acting weird..

VAUGHN
Whats the matter with your mother? - Ill go upstairs and talk to her myself..
(Picks up suitcase, puts it back down, picks up
his martini)
Teddy, go upstairs and check on your mother
(TEDDY EXITS up the steps - Vaughn starts
sipping his martini and talking to the audience)
California, here we come! - Ill be working in the space industry for NASA - were
designing something fantastic, a space ship that can take people to the stars - so big,
itll have gravity! - huge rotating decks with a herd of cows on one deck, gardens on
another - even a small forest for oxygen conversion! - but I cant talk about any of that
with Dee - instead, I talk about work with my colleagues during three-martini lunches..
Dee doesnt understand what I do, or why I love doing it.. on weekends, I take Teddy
with me to the lab - he pokes around while I work, or roams the halls - I dont worry, hes
a good kid - he just needs to get away from it all, like I do this weekend, Ill have some
of my colleagues over - well watch a slide show about our familys vacation to Atlantic
City, while we drink martinis and eat snacks - as usual, Dee will say little - but Teddy will
be great, talk with all the guys, and want to know what theyre working on - a future
scientist, that Teddy!
(LIGHTS UP on a slide projector and screen -
Vaughn goes to the projector, starts clicking
through slides, showing them on the screen)
Atlantic City last summer - we drove all night - stayed in the Bluebird Motel..
(Slide of the motel)
Sheets were short and coffee was cold..
(Clicks to next slide)
.. and this is the famous boardwalk - wide as a boulevard! - those are wooden planks
there, that slant up to a peak - hard to explain - see those yellow lines down the middle?
- just like a street - doesnt work, though, everyone walks everywhere..
(Clicks)
 VAUGHN (Cont.)
..the famous Tropicana Casino - wanted to go to a show there that night, but we couldnt
figure out where to park Teddy - Dee didnt want to go, anyway - she never wants to do
anything! - so we just walked along and looked at the ocean - couldnt go in, because
we dont swim - although Teddy ran in the surf - then Dee got nervous, so I waded in
and pulled him out - soaked my pants good!
(Clicks)
.. this heres a big pier we went on - goes way out in the ocean - we walked to the end
and looked down at the water - and then I swear.. Dee.. Dee seemed to want to jump in
the water - until I grabbed her! - Dee, you weret really going to jump, were you? - what
if youd been swept away? - what would I have done with Teddy? - say something! -
goddam..
(Clicks)
.. last slide! - Dee and I in front of a big old lifeboat someone pulled out of the water -
dont know why, maybe something to do with the war, the big one - Dee got stubborn,
right after Teddy took the picture - didnt you, Dee? - didnt want to get back in the car
and come home - created quite a scene - poor Teddy didnt know what was going on -
but I knew - oh, dont get me started! - it was the voice, that voice she hears in her head
- oh, I know, sounds crazy - but Dee listens to it, or listens to something - I dont know
what! - thats part of Dees problem - the voice - Elan! - I told you, dont get me started -
goddam it, Dee! - why wouldnt you get in the car? - took a half hour to get you in, kept
walking away - why didnt you want to come home? - what was the problem? - huh,
Dee? - what the hell was the problem? - say something - anything! - youre the problem,
thats what - and Im tired of it!
(Turns off projector)
Lights, lights! - the evenings over, ladies and gentlemen - thank you very much -
goodnight! - say good night, Dee! - Teddy, shut up! - stop standing up for your mother -
dont talk back to me - go to your room! - sorry, gang, Im so sorry - see you at the lab
Monday - goodnight, folks - oh, goddam it, goodnight!
(Drains martini, puts down glass)
Got to tell Dee about California - hope shell do better out there
(LIGHTS DIM as VAUGHN EXITS up the
stairs - LIGHTS RISE on Dee sleeping on the
porch glider through a winters night, wearing a
thin white coat - she has dried blood on her
face - its morning, and the mailman has come
to deliver the mail)

MAILMAN
Hello.. Mrs. Baker?
(Pulls mail out of his pouch)
Your mail..
(Holds it out to her)
Want I should give it to you?
 DEE
(Pauses, sits up in the glider, shivering)
No, put it in the mailbox, please - Ill read it later..
(The mailman puts it in the mailbox)

MAILMAN
(Pauses)
You all right?

DEE
Im fine.

MAILMAN
(Pauses)
You got blood on your face, Mrs. Baker..
DEE
(Wiping her hand on her face - looking at the
dried blood)
Im all right..

MAILMAN
(Pauses)
You fall down or something?

DEE
(Pauses)
My husband and I had an argument last night, thats all..

MAILMAN
You want I should.. call the police?

DEE
No, no police - everythings all right..
MAILMAN
(Pauses)
Okay, Mrs. Baker - you have a real nice day..
(The mailman goes to exit, stops at edge of
stage, puts mailbag down, talks to audience)
That ladys not doing so good - one time I come by, and shes sleeping in the car in the
driveway, sitting straight up - I dont know why she dont want to sleep with her husband - I
wonder what their son thinks - he must know somethings going on - just what, I dont know -
but its not normal..

(Picks up his bag)

.. Im a mailman - people think Im friendly cause I deliver their mail - and I am friendly! - they
trust me - maybe feel sorry for me, wandering about the neighborhood carrying a heavy bag,
always looking out for dogs - but, its not so bad - once I sort my mail, people leave me alone -
I got a job, Im outdoors, I got exercise - I get to see whats going on..

 MAILAN (Cont.)

(Looks around)

.. in my neighborhood - I mean, I dont live here, but its my route - hills, brick roads, kids
playing after school - in summer, its hot and muggy, thunderstorms, boys making forts, going
for hikes with their dogs - its safe here - later playing basketball on their neighbors court -
neighbors peeking out, watching them play, because their kids are grown and gone - girls in
twos and threes, doing what little girls do - in fall, leaves turning color and dropping - kids
bundling up - in winter, if Im late and its dark, snow on the ground and kids whizzing down the
sidewalks on their sleds - in spring, snow melting into little rivers running down the road, green
buds popping, days getting warmer and longer, kids walking on top fences from school - good
old neighborhood - wish this family here werent so troubled..

(Mailman picks up his bag - MAILMAN EXITS)

- Dee pauses, wraps her coat tighter around

herself, lies back down on the glider - ENTER
VAUGHN through the front door with scratches
on his face - he stands looking down at her)

VAUGHN
Dee..

DEE
Yes?

VAUGHN
About last night..

DEE
Maybe it couldnt be helped..

VAUGHN
Its just that.. sometimes I have trouble understanding you - youve changed..

DEE
(Pauses)
So have you, Vaughn..

VAUGHN
Youve stopped taking care of Teddy, stopped feeding him - I mean, I dont mind cooking
for us, but yesterday, Teddy said you.. slapped him..

DEE
To get the electricity out - Elan told me to slap him..

VAUGHN
The voice? - Dee, we talked about this before! - there is no Elan, no electricity, no
people who arent there..
 DEE
She tells me what to do..

VAUGHN
Goddam it, Dee - Ive had it! - what the hell happened to our marriage? - and look what
this is doing to Teddy! - I didnt know you had this.. this affliction - it just crept up on you
- right after the morning of the fire, you started acting strange - why, Dee? - what
happened with that fire that bought Elan? - it was just a brush fire - nobody got hurt! -
we lost our place - but the fire got put out! - and somehow, it affected you - why would
that fire bring on Elan?

DEE
(Pauses)
You didnt see what I saw..

VAUGHN
Saw what?

DEE
The person who set the fire..

VAUGHN
(Pauses)
What person? - we looked down the hill and saw fire - we dont know how it started..

DEE
I know..

VAUGHN
(Pauses)
What do you know?

DEE
(Pauses)
Nothing..

VAUGHN
(Pauses)
Dee.. Ive been talking with a doctor - a psychiatrist - he says you must have some form
of schizophrenia - that it can be controlled with medication..

DEE
I dont want any pills..
 VAUGHN
(Pauses)
You want me take you to see him?

DEE
I dont want to see a doctor..

VAUGHN
(Pauses)
Dee, Im worried - youre getting worse, and now youre physically abusive with Teddy..

DEE
I love him..

VAUGHN
I know, Dee, but I worry about Teddy, because after school he comes home - and
theres no here, but you..

DEE
I love Teddy deeply..

VAUGHN
Im at wits end, Dee! - youre no longer a wife to me - youve a problem, a growing
problem - thats why I lost it last night - hell, I don't want to hit youI

DEE
Hell, Vaughn - have you ever been there?

VAUGHN
Stop it, Dee! - I just dont want you to sleep on the porch all night - its winter, for Gods
sake! - what will the neighbors think?

DEE
Dont worry about the neighbors..

VAUGHN
Well, if you wont go see him, the psychiatrist offered me a last option..

DEE
(Pauses)
What option, Vaughn?

VAUGHN
To commit you..
 DEE
Commit? - did you say commit?

VAUGHN
I took off work today, went to court and got an order that will commit you to spending
two weeks in the county hospital for observation..

DEE
The hospital?
(Pauses)
Who will take care of Teddy?

VAUGHN
Ive hired that same woman to take care of him, until I get home from work - and just so
there wont be any problem, Ive arranged for the police to take you to the hospital..
(The SOUNDS of a police car pulling up,
radio squawking)
Better get your things together..

DEE
(Pauses, then shouts out)
Vaughn - no!

VAUGHN
Theyve come for you..
(Dee pauses, then slowly rises from the glider,
starts to go into the house)
.. and Dee.. wash that blood off your face..
(LIGHTS DIM on DEE EXITING into the house
- LIGHTS RISE on Dee rhythmically rocking in
a chair next to a door, staring out a window
with bars on it, a pause - Caps voice offstage)

CAP (Offstage)
Im Captain Hollum, come ta see me daughter, Dee Baker..

NURSE (Offstage)
Shes in the ward, Captain - Ill unlock the door..
(The SOUND of the door unlocking - the door
swings open)
Sorry, youll have only ten minutes - almost time for her meds..
(ENTER CAP)

CAP
Dee..
 DEE
Daddy! - what are you doing here?

CAP
Heard you were in some trouble, so I come up from the island..

DEE
Im so glad to see you! - can you get me out of here?

CAP
Caint - yer under some kind o court order - can we talk?

DEE
Sure - Im all alone..

CAP
Where are.. tothers?

DEE
Eating lunch in the cafeteria..

CAP
(Pauses)
Why aint you eating wit em?

DEE
I cant eat as long as there are children starving in China..

CAP
(Pauses)
Yer ma used ta say that, so youd eat yer vegetables - but ya gotta eat something!
(Dee says nothing - Cap sits down in a chair
next to her)
Why you in here, me girl?

DEE
I started fighting with Vaughn - he said I wasnt acting like his wife, and that I had
become an unfit mother.. I cant get out of here - everythings locked - the nurses watch
us all the time - even at night..

CAP
Unfit mother? - that dont sound like ya, Dee..

DEE
He said I hit Teddy..
 CAP
Hit Teddy?

DEE
Slapped him..

CAP
(Pauses)
Did ya?

DEE
She told me to slap him - to get the electricity out..

CAP
Who told ya?

DEE
Elan.. she follows me everywhere and talks to me - even here, where I cant get away..

CAP
Dee, yer talkin crazy - heard bout this voice from Vaughn - hes in shock over it..
(The Voice SOUND)

ELAN
Hear him? - he said, shock, Dee - the word is shock.

DEE
Shock?

ELAN
Shock is in your future, Dee..

CAP
Who ya talking to? - that voice? - its all in yer head, me girl..
(Pauses)
.. ya know yer special - me oldest - n I dont want nothin bad ta happen ta ya..
(Pauses, looks around)
.. but here you be, n there go yer liberty, if ya keep talkin ta Elan..
(Pauses)
.. yer liberty.. member when I first saw my liberty..
(Gets up, moves downstage,
addresses the audience)
Im a sixteen-year-old deckhand, standin on the bow o a big fourmaster sailin up from
th islands - now we goin inta New York Harbor - glidin through th quiet of a thick fog
bank - up ahead, I kin see what looks like a big - but it caint be! - a big arm.. stickin
outta th fog!.. n its holdin on ta some kinda.. golden light..
 (Looks ahead)
.. there be a womans head attached ta th arm - wit a crown - what th hell? - were goin
ta sail inta her - better call it out!
(Calls out)
Collision dead ahead! - put her hard-a-lee! - looks like some kinda..
(Peers ahead)
..big statue on some little island!

VOICE (Offstage)
Thats the Statue of Liberty, boy! - welcome to America, land of freedom! - well tack to
starboard and sail into safe harbor..

CAP
.. that were th first time I saw th Statue o Liberty.. turned out she really were bout liberty
n freedom - th liberty ta be yerself, n th freedom from bein poor - thas what I want fer
Dee - th liberty ta be herself, n th freedom from hearin that voice - she needs ta be able
ta find her own Statue o Liberty, stickin outta th fog..
(Walks upstage, sits back down next to Dee)

DEE
Daddy, take me with you - sign me out - oh please, Daddy!

CAP
(Pauses)
Caint do that, me girl - only yer husband can sign you out..

DEE
Then stay with me, Daddy - until they let me out - theyll find a cot for you!
(The door swings open)

NURSE
Its time..

CAP
Gotta go, Dee..
(Cap rises)

DEE
Daddy, dont go!

CAP
See ya tomorrow, Dee..
(Hugs Dee)
Take care, me girl - n no more voice, hear?
 DEE
Ill try not to listen, Daddy..
(Cap starts to go through the door)
.. tell Vaughn I love him!
(Cap goes through the door - the door shuts -
Cap pauses on the other, talks to audience )

CAP

Worried bout me daughter - thas why I come up from me little island -Dees been hearin this
voice, name o Elan - but I caint hear it, no one can - reminds me of an uncle, Uncle Ned - he
were workin a ship he owned wit his brother - small ship, wooden tradin schooner, sailin
tween the islands - dont know what got inta his head - a woman, maybe - they had just sailed
inta harbor, him n his brother Ben - n Ned were on th aft deck, settin anchor - instead, he
wraps th anchor rope round his neck n drops hisself overboard, anchor in his arms - time Ben
run aft and looked inna water, they was nothin but bubbles - then nothin - maybe Ned had a
voice in his ear, telling him ta do somethin he shouldnt..

Afore Elan come along, things was goin good fer Dee - she married Vaughn, wit his degree n
his job - big scientist! - then they had Teddy - great kid - n Vaughn got this house on a hill left
him by his Pop - they had it made - til th fire started on th hill - ran down ta th hill n almost
burned up Teddy - Dee snatched him from th flames - don know where Vaughn was - then th
fire burned up their house - thas when Dee started hearin Elan.. dont know bout that fire -
somethin not right about it

(Dee sits down in the ward, suddenly turns her

head toward the wall - the Voice SOUND)

ELAN
Vaughns not taking your daddy to the airport, Dee - hes taking him straight to Hell! -
youll never see your father alive, again..

DEE
Never see Daddy, again?

ELAN
Thats why you must kill Vaughn..

DEE
Kill my husband?

ELAN
Kill Beezlebub!

DEE
(Pauses)
Stop shouting at me - telling me what to do!

ELAN
Dee.. Im the one on your side..
 DEE
What do mean, my side?

ELAN
Im you, Dee..

DEE
How could you be me?

ELAN
Im the part of you people dont understand..

DEE
But stop telling me to do evil things - slap my son, kill my husband!

ELAN
These things must be done..

DEE
(Pauses)
Youre crazy!

ELAN
Were both crazy, Dee..
(The Voice SOUND as LIGHTS DIM - LIGHTS
RISE on Doctor Hippaport at his desk, looking
through a report - ENTER NURSE)

NURSE
Doctor Hippaport - Mrs. Baker..

DR. HIPPAPORT
Send her in..
(ENTER DEE)
Please sit down..
(Dee sits across from him)
Im Doctor Hippaport, a psychiatrist at this hospital..

DEE
Hello.

DR. HIPPAPORT
Youve been a patient here two weeks, and weve had a chance to evaluate you..
(Looks at report)
.. our doctors have been taking notes - our nurses have added their own comments..
 DEE
Can I go home?

DR. HIPPAPORT
Home is where you should be, Mrs. Baker

DEE
I want to see my son..

DR. HIPPAPORT
I understand..
(Glances down at the report)
.. it says here youve been a model patient - polite and cooperative with the staff, and
sociable - if quiet - in your interactions with other patients..

DEE
So, I can go home, now?

DR. HIPPAPORT
(Pauses, reading report)
.. however, theres something I would like you to explain..

DEE
(Pauses)
Yes?

DR. HIPPAPORT
.. it says here youve been having conversations, both day and night, with a person, or
persons, who are not actually present - that is to say, dont exist..
(Looks up at Dee)
Is this true?
(The Voice SOUND)

ELAN
Tell him no, Dee..

DEE
(Pauses)
Yes, its true..

ELAN
Its not true!

DR. HIPPAPORT
(Putting down report)
Tell me about this..
 DEE
(Pauses)
I hear a voice..

ELAN
You hear no voice..

DR. HIPPAPORT
How long have you been hearing it?

ELAN
Youve never heard a voice - say it, Dee!

DEE
I dont know - for years..

DR. HIPPAPORT
How did it start, this voice?

ELAN
It never started - nothing ever started!

DEE
First, it started whispering to me - getting louder and louder, but I couldnt make out the
words - so one day, I said, Whos there?

DR. HIPPAPORT
And who was there, Dee?

DEE
(Pauses)
Elan..

DR. HIPPAPORT
(Pauses)
Elan.. a womans voice?

DEE
She tells me things I should know.

DR. HIPPAPORT
Like what?

DEE
(Pauses)
Things about my family..
 DR. HIPPAPORT
What about your family?

DEE
That my husband is.. Satan.. that he wants to destroy me.. and that our son Teddy is
also a devil, and will soon start World War Three..

DR. HIPPAPORT
(Pauses)
Your son.. is in the military? - perhaps in charge of weapons?

DEE
Hes only twelve..

DR. HIPPAPORT
And did this.. Elan.. tell you just how a twelve-year-old was going to start a war?

ELAN
Dont tell him!

DEE
Teddys been accumulating massive amounts of electricity in his body - hes going to let
it all out in an electro-nuclear explosion..

DR. HIPPAPORT
(Pauses)
You said electro-nuclear..
(Looking at report)
.. nothing I would expect from a woman with no college - but, isnt your husband a
scientist?

ELAN
Hes the devil!

DEE
Yes, a scientist..

DR. HIPPAPORT
(Looking at report)
Perhaps you heard that term from him - says the reason he had you committed for
observation was.. youve been hearing this voice.. and that you slapped your son..

DEE
(Pauses)
Sometimes a mother slaps her son - Im not proud of it..
 DR.HIPPAPORT
(Reading report)
But what mother slaps her son to get electricity out of him?

DEE
(Pauses)
Is my husband in the car? - I want go go home, now..

DR. HIPPAPORT
Your husband was in here earlier - I went over this report with him - and he agreed to
commit to this hospital for therapy..

DEE
(Pauses)
Im not going home?

DR. HIPPAPORT
Youre staying with us awhile - but we do want to get you home as quickly as possible,
and that is why, besides prescribing medication - Im recommending you for a new type
of treatment..

DEE
(Pauses)
What kind of treatment?

DR. HIPPAPORT
Its called electro-convulsive therapy..

ELAN
Tell him no, Dee!

DEE
What therapy?

DR. HIPPAPORT
In laymans terms - shock treatment..

DEE
(Pauses)
Did you say the word shock? - why would you want to shock me?

ELAN
Shock us, Dee!
 DR. HIPPAPORT
Its not as bad as it sounds - for one thing, youll be under a sedative -and it could help
you regain a better sense of reality..

ELAN
No sedative!

DR. HIPPAPORT
..there will be series of treatments..

ELAN
No treatments!

DEE
(Rising)
Id like to speak with a lawyer..

DR. HIPPAPORT
(Calling offstage)
Nurse!
(To Dee)
Unfortunately, you cannot see a lawyer..
(ENTER NURSE)
.. prepare the gurney..
(EXIT NURSE)

ELAN
Run, Dee!

DR. HIPPAPORT
.. once you are committed to a hospital, Mrs. Baker, you lose most of the rights you
have as a citizen - wont you sit down?

DEE
(Remains standing)
I want to talk to my husband..

DR.HIPPAPORT
The more you cooperate, the sooner we release you..
(Calls offstage)
Nurse!
(ENTER NURSE with a needle)
Well need to draw some blood from you..

ELAN
Behind you, Dee!
 (Dee turns, sees the needle)

DEE
(Pauses)
All right..
(She puts out her arm - the Nurse puts the
needle in her arm, a pause)
I cant see any blood - arent I supposed to see blood?

DR. HIPPAPORT
Thats actually the sedative..

DEE
Cant anyone tell me the truth?

DR. HIPPAPORT
We like things to go smoothly here..

ELAN
Theyve drugged you, Dee - run while you can!
(Dee attempts to rise, but the sedative
quickly takes effect, and she slumps back into
her chair)

DR. HIPPAPORT
(To Nurse)
Bring in the gurney..
(The NURSE EXITS - he checks Dees eyes -
they are unresponsive)

ELAN
Dee, wake up! - were got to get out of here!
(ENTER NURSE wheeling gurney - she and
the doctor pull Dee out of the chair and strap
her to the gurney)

DR. HIPPAPORT
Power up the machine - Ill be in shortly..
(The Nurse wheels Dee out on the gurney -
the NURSE and DEE - Dr. Hippaport pauses,
talks to the audience)

DR. HIIPAPPORT

Ive seen Dees like before - behavior normal, but one day an Elan starts whispering in their
mind and the patient begins to act strange - not much we can do - after admittance, we treat
them with counseling, analysis and meds - if the behavior doesnt improve, we go to shock
treatments - they dont like it and I dont blame them - electricity through their brain, strapped
down with a rubber bit in their mouth - but its not so bad - and sometimes it works.. Ive never
had a shock treatment - everything I know is from studies - but seems harmless enough, and
the nurses dont complain about turning on the juice.. I like my nurse, very ecient, knows her
job - she could have been a doctor, but stopped her schooling - gave up, and here she is, just
a nurse - of course, we need nurses as well as doctors - I certainly couldnt do my job without
her administering sedatives, strapping down patients, putting bits in their mouths, electrodes
on their temples - I dont want to do that - instead, I choose the treatment, prescribe the meds,
schedule the shock treatments - and give the order to turn the knob

LIGHTS RISE on Teddy in the living room -

ENTER VAUGHN)

TEDDY
Dad - you got her?

VAUGHN
Shes in the car, getting her things together..

TEDDY
Shes all right, isnt she?

VAUGHN
Shes.. better..

TEDDY
No more voice?

VAUGHN
Well see.. shell be on medication, that should help..
(Goes to door)
.. Ive got to carry her bag..

TEDDY
Cant wait to see her, Dad!
(VAUGHN EXITS out the front door - Teddy
walks in a circle - ENTER DEE)
Mom!
(Goes to Dee, hugs her)

DEE
Hello, son.

TEDDY
Gee, Im glad to see you!
(Pauses - no response)
Arent you glad to see me?
 DEE
Very much - you know how much I love you..

TEDDY
I love you too, Mom! - want to sit down and talk?

DEE
I want to lie down, son - your mother is very tired from.. all that..

TEDDY
All what?

DEE
Never mind..

TEDDY
Mom.. youre twitching - whats the matter?

DEE
(Going to stairs)
Im going to lie down for awhile..

TEDDY
Then youll eat dinner with us?
(Dee doesnt respond - DEE EXITS up the
stairs - ENTER VAUGHN with Dees bag -
he puts it down)

VAUGHN
Wheres your mother?

TEDDY
Upstairs - she wanted to lie down..

VAUGHN
I dont blame her, after what shes been through..

TEDDY
Dad.. Mom had marks on her head one on each side - kind of like burns..

VAUGHN
(Pauses)
Well, Teddy, your mother had a special kind of treatment while in the hospital..
 TEDDY
(Pauses)
What kind of treatment?

VAUGHN
Its called electro-convulsive therapy - also known as shock treatment - they thought it
would be best to.. shock her out of all the, you know, all the..

TEDDY
I know, Dad.. but what is shock treatment?

VAUGHN
Well, first they strap the patient to a gurney, then put a piece of rubber in their mouth..

TEDDY
What for?

VAUGHN
So, they wont bite their tongue..

TEDDY
(Pauses)
Why would Mom bite her tongue?

VAUGHN
(Pauses)
Because they put electrodes on her temples and run electricity through her brain..

TEDDY
(Pauses)
Electricity? - what for?

VAUGHN
To make her better, son..

TEDDY
(Pauses)
Doesnt that hurt, the electricity?

VAUGHN
(Pauses)
I dont know, son..
(LIGHTS DIM - LIGHTS RISE on Dee strapped
to the gurney - an electrode strapped to each
temple, a rubber plug in her mouth - wires lead
 from the electrodes to a machine manned by
the nurse - ENTER DR. HIPPAPORT)

DR. HIPPAPORT
The sedatives taken full effect?

NURSE
Shes completely out..

ELAN
Dee, wake up!

DR. HIPPAPORT
Set the machine to.. three hundred watts..
(The nurse dials it in)
.. turn on the current for.. three seconds..

ELAN
Save us, Dee!
(The nurse turns on the current - a loud
humming noise fills the room, and Dees body
slowly arches up)

ELAN
Nooo..!
(The nurse turns the power down and the hum
subsides - Dees body settles back down on
the gurney)

DR. HIPPAPORT
(Checking Dees pulse)
Sixty beats per minute - a little low, but not bad.. set the machine for four hundred watts,
and make it four seconds..

ELAN
Another shock, Dee!
(The nurse sets the machine)

DR. HIPPAPORT
.. turn on the current..
(The nurse turns a dIal, the hum intensifies,
and Dees body again arches off the gurney -
higher and longer)

ELAN
Aughhh..!
 (The nurse turns down the power, the
hum subsides, and Dees body drops onto the
gurney - the doctor checks her pulse)

DR. HIPPAPORT
Same rate as before - good.. lets try a higher dose - six hundred watts for six seconds..

NURSE
Six hundred for six seconds, Doctor? - thats more than weve ever done before..

DR. HIPPAPORT
Six hundred for six, nurse? - this is a seriously ill patient! - but well see what Mrs. Baker
is made of - how about six hundred for sixteen? - maybe that will jolt her back to reality!
(The nurse pauses, dials it in)

DR. HIPPAPORT
Turn on that current!
(The nurse turns on the current - Dees body
arches way up, stays arched)

ELAN
No more shocks!

DR. HIPAPORT
Its all about dose titration, nurse..
(Dees body starts wracking convulsively)

ELAN
Turn off the electricity - please - please!

DR. HIPPAPORT
.. just another term for simple trial and error - you see, nurse..

NURSE
(Interrupting him, noticing Dee convulsing)
Doctor - Mrs.Baker!

DR. HIPPAPORT
Quick - shut it off!
(The nurse shuts the machine off - the doctor
rushes to Dee, checks her pulse)

ELAN
Are we alive, Dee?
 DR. HIPPAPORT
Hmm, jumped up to 90 beats per minute - better lower that dose nitration - three days
of six hundred at six, for four weeks..

NURSE
Yes, Doctor - six hundred at six, three days for four..
(DR. HIPPAPORT EXITS, as LIGHTS DIM
on the nurse taking the electrodes off Dees
temples and the plug out of her mouth, all the
while talking to audience)

NURSE

I dont mind the doctors attitude - after all, hes my boss - and I know he doesnt respect my
position - I mean, Im only a nurse - but I like being a nurse and Im good at it - and Im
compassionate - can he say that? - Six hundred for sixteen! - and then its me who turns the
knob - but you think I like turning the knob for Mrs. Baker? - no, I do not - but there she is,
strapped down with electrodes on her temples - and theres the job, get it done - so I twist that
knob and try not to watch her lift o the gurney - after its done and shes awake, I give her
juice to replace her lost electrolytes - sometimes shes crying and I comfort her - because Im
her nurse - even though she doesnt know my name..

(LIGHTS RISE on Teddy and Vaughn)

VAUGHN
(Picks up Dees suitcase)
Better get your mother her stuff..
(He starts to go up the stairs)

TEDDY
Dad! - why was Mom twitching?

VAUGHN
(Pauses)
A side effect of the medication - dont worry about it, son - its all to make her better..
(LIGHTS DIM as VAUGHN EXITS up the stairs
with the bag - LIGHTS RISE on TEDDY talking
to the audience)

TEDDY
We drove out to California, and moved into the house Dad rented - Mom started off
better for awhile, but began listening to Elan again, and went back into a hospital - but
this time a California State Hospital with heavy locked metal doors and wire mesh on
the windows - once again the shock treatments began, and the doses of meds with
strong side effects - happy pills, as Mom called them - I started walking to school, and
when it was dark in winter, Id take a shortcut home through the neighborhood park -
looked safe enough - sometimes, Id see a dark figure in a white coat sitting at a picnic
bench, drinking wine from a bottle, and talking to someone I couldnt see..
(He sits down on a bench next to Dee)
Mom.. are you all right?

DEE
Im just sitting here..

TEDDY
But its dark, Mom - and its winter - arent you cold?

DEE
No
(Drinks)

TEDDY
Mom, Mom.. youre embarrassing me - what if my friends come by and see you drinking
and talking to someone whos not there..

DEE
No one comes by at night..

TEDDY
Its almost time for dinner - Dad will make it - dont you want to come eat dinner?

DEE
(Drinks)
You go eat, Teddy - dont worry about me - Ill be fine..

TEDDY
(Pauses)
You know Ill have to tell Dad about this..

DEE
He wont care..
(The Voice SOUND)
Will he, Elan?

TEDDY
Mom, Elans not here..

ELAN
Vaughn never cared for you, Dee..

DEE
Elans always here..

ELAN
Time for Teddy to go..
 DEE
Elan says leave, Teddy..

TEDDY
I dont care about Elan! - shes the reason everythings so messed up! - Dads unhappy,
drinking too much, Im doing poorly in school, I cant invite my friends over, we make
excuses for you when the relatives visit - and youre in the hospital every six months!

DEE
So, Elan is real..

TEDDY
You think so! - I just want my mom back - Elans making a monster of you! - if you ever
want me back as your son, you better dump Elan - get rid of her!
(Pauses)
If youre not home in ten minutes, Im coming back..

ELAN
(To Dee)
Everythings okay, Teddy..
(The Voice SOUND)

DEE
Everythings okay, Teddy..
(Teddy pauses, gets up, TEDDY EXITS -
LIGHTS DIM on Dee drinking on the bench in
the dark - LIGHTS RISE on Dee, seemingly
suspended in air, only her face is lit)

DEE
The shock treatments at the state hospital didnt seem to be working, so Vaughn tried a
new approach and put me in a low security hospital with no locked doors or mesh on
the windows - and so, while no one was looking, I just walked away - and walked and
walked - I was in street clothes, no one took notice - soon I was out in the country, with
no food or water and the woods were my bathroom - when night came, I lay down below
this overpass, where one country road crosses over another - sometimes a car would
come by and light me up, but it never slowed, and so I slept deeply, with only Elan
whispering in my ear, telling me over and over again to climb onto this overpass and
jump off - and thats what Im going to do, jump in front of a car, as soon as one comes..
(LIGHTS DIM on her face as she ducks behind
the concrete edge of the overpass - LIGHTS
RISE on TEDDY standing to the side of the
underpass on the road, talking to the audience)
 TEDDY
Im a grown now, in my twenties - I got the call while working this crummy Manpower
job, $1.85 an hour - worked three weeks in this little factory by a freeway, where we
made salad bowls out of fiberglass, drifts of fiberglass climbing the walls - I sanded
down the bowl edges on a belt that ran too fast - sometimes it grabbed a bowl and -
bam! - flung it against the wall - there were no breaks, only lunch, when I would walk out
the back door, as far as I could from that factory toward the noisy freeway, and eat my
lunch alone in a field, where I would read Steinbecks Tortilla Flat - one lunch, the
foreman hiked out and said they got a call from a hospital, that I should call back -
turned out my mother had walked away from that hospital, and they didnt know where
she was - so after work, I drove my old 53 Plymouth down to the hospital, and worked
my way around its neighborhoods, slowly and carefully, looking for my mother - next
day, the same routine - I had to keep working! - third day, the police got a call about a
lady sleeping under an overpass - so I drove the old Plymouth down, and am about to
see if Moms here..
(Teddy walks toward the overpass - a figure
suddenly arises from the roadbed atop the
overpass - its Dee - she stares down at Teddy)

TEDDY
Mom!

DEE
Teddy! - what are you doing down there?

TEDDY
What are you doing up there?

DEE
Elan told me to climb up here..

TEDDY
Mom, there is no Elan - shes something you heard in Pittsburgh..

DEE
Shes followed me to California..

TEDDY
(Pauses)
Can you get down?

DEE
Oh, yes - very quickly!

TEDDY
No, Mom, no - take it slow! - you want I should climb up?
 (The Voice SOUND)

ELAN
Jump, Dee, jump..

DEE
(To Teddy)
No, Ill get down..

TEDDY
Can you come down the side?

ELAN
Youve got to jump, Dee..

DEE
(To Teddy)
What if I jump?

TEDDY
You could hurt yourself!

ELAN
Youve never been a fit mother, Dee - you must die!

DEE
I might kill myself?

ELAN
Kill us, Dee!

DEE
Im going to jump, Teddy!

TEDDY
Stay there, Mom! - Im coming up!
(Starts to climb up the side of the overpass)

ELAN
Youve been a bad mommy, Dee!

DEE
(To Teddy)
Ive been a bad mother..

TEDDY
 TEDDY
(Climbing)
Youve been a good mother..

ELAN
Youve been bad, Dee, bad - jump now - jump!
(The Voice SOUND - Dee jumps off the low
overpass - she hits the pavement and rolls
over - Teddy runs down to her, rolls her over,
holds her up in his arms)

TEDDY
Mom.. you all right?
DEE
(Pauses)
My leg hurts..

TEDDY
Lets get you out of here - to the hospital - you can check in, and theyll check you out..

DEE
Not the hospital - no more hospitals , please, Teddy!

TEDDY
(Helping her to her feet)
Itll be all right - Ill stay with you, Mom - dont worry, okay?
(LIGHTS DIM on TEDDY and DEE EXITING to
the car offstage - LIGHTS RISE on Teddy
standing alone in a pool of light - he addresses
the audience)

TEDDY
I always wondered what caused my mothers mental illness - politely called
schizophrenia - I think back to stories from my grandfather, Cap - about Mom being born
at home with the umbilical cord wrapped around her neck - technically she was dead,
but they worked on her, and she started to breath - but all that time, her brain had no
oxygen.. or maybe it was hereditary - Cap told me about one of my sea-faring uncles,
who wrapped an anchor rope around his neck and dropped himself overboard.. or
perhaps it was inbreeding - my mothers people were from a small island in the
Caribbean - for three hundred years there weren't more than a thousand people at a
time - and the islands remoteness and steep cliffs discouraged visitors, resulting in
limited marriage options - my grandfather and grandmother were second cousins.. was
that the source of my mothers illness? - and why did that voice slowly creep up on her?
- what was Elan about?
 (LIGHTS DIM on Teddy - LIGHTS RISE on
Dee in the ward, looking at the wall - the
metal door swings open - ENTER NURSE)

NURSE
Dee, honey - your lucky day! - a visitor - your son!
(ENTER TEDDY)

TEDDY
Mom?
(EXIT NURSE)

DEE
Son!
(Rising, goes to him)
Take me out of here - oh please!
TEDDY
(Hugging her)
I dont know if I can..

DEE
I cant stay here any more - Ive got to get back to you!

TEDDY
Im all right, Mom - Im grown, now..

DEE
You cant you take me out?

TEDDY
Mom, lets sit down..
(They sit facing each other on either side of the
large window with heavy wire mesh over it)
Youve been here only a couple hours - and there will be no more shock treatments -
never again! - I stopped all that..

DEE
Oh, thank you, son!

TEDDY
Theyre trying you out on a new generation of meds - fewer side effects - the nurse said
she gave you some an hour ago - it should kick in any time..

DEE
Meds? - not so loud..
(Gestures, whispering)
 DEE (Cont.)
.. Elan doesnt like meds - shes always listening..

TEDDY
Mom, in order to get out of here, you have to talk sense - Elans only in your head - a
figment of your imagination! - she isnt really there - your mind makes her up! - theres
no one talking, except us and the people around you - flesh and blood! - trust me, Mom
- have I ever lied to you?

DEE
(Pauses)
No, son..

TEDDY
And youve got to start eating when youre home - whenever you stop eating, Dad
sends you to the hospital - thats why youre here, now..

DEE
Have to start eating..

TEDDY
And Mom, there are no starving children in China - I mean there are, but theres not
much we can do about it - weve just got to feed ourselves..

DEE
Elan tells me the children are starving in China..

TEDDY
Trust me - when you hear Elan, just ignore her - shell go away, I promise! - you have to
be strong whenever you think you hear her..

DEE
Be strong, be strong..

TEDDY
Mom, are you listening to me?

DEE
Oh yes, I am listening, son..

TEDDY
Good.. you know, youre sounding better, already!

DEE
Im feeling better..
 TEDDY
That new medication seems to be kicking in - maybe well give it a try..

DEE
Can I go home with you, if I talk sense to the nurse?

TEDDY
Perhaps..

DEE
Your father will sign me out - is he in the car?

TEDDY
Hes not in the car, Mom..
(Pauses)
.. hes not even at home..
(Pauses)
.. after he signed you in, Dad went home and moved out - thats why he didnt stay..

DEE
(Pauses)
Vaughn moved out.. why would he do that?

TEDDY
(Pauses)
To get nearer to somebody else..

DEE
Somebody else?

TEDDY
(Pauses)
Hes met somebody he wants to be closer to..

DEE
(Pauses)
But hes married to me..

TEDDY
(Pauses)
Mom.. Dad filed for divorce..

DEE
Divorce?
 TEDDY
I know, its the devil of a thing for him to do, what with you in here..

DEE
The devil, Teddy? - did he have something to do with this?
(Dee gets up and walks out of the scene and
back into the Pittsburgh laundry room with the
record player playing Dinah Washington
singing Blue Gardenia - she pours some wine
into the pink Melmac cup, sits down)
I thought marriage was forever.. at least, thats what Mother told me - of course, shes
separated from Daddy and they live apart - but they never divorced..
(Pauses, listens to song)
.. unsure of what to do after high school, a girl goes to secretarial school while still living
at home in her twenties, suffering her mothers comments - then a wonderful man
comes along, they fall in love, and get married - even have a child to seal the bargain! -
such a wonderful marriage, until Elan arrives and starts whispering to the young mother,
telling her strange things about her husband and son - the whispering gets louder - so
loud the mother finds it difficult to fulfill her wifely functions, let alone her responsibilities
to her son - and Elan keeps whispering, until the mother is forced into a hospital for
observation - she gets out, but soon goes back in - over and over, again - until the
shock treatments begin, and now the mother is gone from her family for weeks.. while
shes in the hospital, her husband starts to wander - at first innocently enough, going out
at night with his buddy to an ice rink, skating round and round - at least, its not a bar -
but one day his buddy forgets his skates, and says, See that pretty woman skating
around?- youre a married man, but youve got skates - why dont you go to the ice, and
get her number for me?
(LIGHTS DIM - LIGHTS RISE on a thick rubber
mat in front of two doors, one with a frosted
window - the SOUNDS of skating music and
skaters on ice - a pause, ENTER DORIS, with
skates on, through door with frosted window -
she sits on a bench - ENTER VAUGHN, with
skates on, through other door)

VAUGHN
Hows the ice?

DORIS
Ice is good..
(Starts to unlace her skates)

VAUGHN
(Pauses, watching her)
You done for the evening?
 DORIS
Every time those pro skaters jump, Im afraid theyre going to land on me - they just take
over the ice..

VAUGHN
Yeah, they are pretty athletic - me, I can hardly skate one lap, without I fall down - you
skate well, though..

DORIS
Thanks - I took lessons..

VAUGHN
You learned them well - I saw a jump you did - quite spectacular..

DORIS
I didnt know anyone was watching..

VAUGHN
I watch everyone - especially if theyre pretty..

DORIS
Thanks.. but isnt that a ring on your finger?

VAUGHN
Not for long - my wifes a basket case - I cant put up with her much longer..

DORIS
You mean..

VAUGHN
I mean, divorce..

DORIS
(Pauses)
Kids?

VAUGHN
Just one - my son, Teddy - but hes grown, now..

DORIS
Whats he think of a divorce?

VAUGHN
Oh, hell bounce back and forth between the two of us - when shes not in a hospital..
 DORIS
Shes sick?

VAUGHN
.. a mental hospital - shes mentally ill..

DORIS
Thats too bad..

VAUGHN
What about you - with someone?

DORIS
I thought you were married..

VAUGHN
Schizophrenia may become grounds for divorce..
(Pulls wedding ring off his finger)
I should throw this thing on the ice..

DORIS
Please dont - think of your wife..

VAUGHN
I do - but shes always talking to someone not there - and soon I wont be there, either..

DORIS
Poor woman - shell be all alone..

VAUGHN
Shell still have Elan..

DORIS
(Pauses)
A girlfriend?

VAUGHN
A voice she hears in her head.. say, Im Vaughn - why dont we skate around a bit?

DORIS
It wouldnt feel right, with your wife in that condition..

VAUGHN
Forget about her! - shes getting treatment - fact, shes in the hospital, right now! - but I
dont want to talk about her - she and I have nothing in common - I need someone real
to talk to.. whats your name?
 DORIS
(Pauses)
Doris.

VAUGHN
And what do you do?

DORIS
(Pauses)
You mean, for a living? - Im a biochemist at a university..

VAUGHN
No! - Im a chemist, too!

DORIS
Really?

VAUGHN
In the space sciences, NASA - Im working on Mars!

DORIS
Oh? - but how do you breath?
(They both laugh)

VAUGHN
No, I mean..
(Pauses)
.. come out on the ice, and Ill tell you all about it..

DORIS
(Pauses, starts lacing her skates back up)
Lets skate, then..
(Finishes lacing, rises - LIGHTS DIM on
VAUGHN and DORIS EXITING through the
door with the frosted window - LIGHTS RISE
on DEE)

DEE
.. something sparks and he gets her phone number - but when he comes back to his
buddy, he says, I couldnt get the number.. - and thats how the affair starts, as an
attraction, just someone to talk to - as the young mother sits alone in the hospital, one
thing leads to another at the skating rink, and before she knows it, the mother hears the
word divorce for the first time - not from her husband, but from her son - because her
husband is already gone..
(Pauses, listens to the music)
.. and divorce is such a hard word for a young mother to hear..
 (Dee gets up and walks back into the scene in
the hospital with Teddy, sits back down)

TEDDY
I went to court yesterday and got Power of Attorney over you..

DEE
(Pauses)
What does that mean?

TEDDY
It means, instead of Dad, Ill control your finances - Ill be looking out for your best
interests, Mom - not Dad..

DEE
Not Vaughn?

TEDDY
Hes out of the picture - but I love you, Mom! - and one more thing.. you're a lot calmer
since I came in, youre making more sense..
(Calls offstage, through metal door)
Nurse!
(The door swings open - ENTER NURSE)

NURSE
Yes?

TEDDY
I want to sign my mother out - I think shes going to be all right - that new medication is
working wonders..

NURSE
(Pauses)
Her husband signed her in - do you have legal authority to sign her out?

TEDDY
Power of Attorney - I have the papers with me..

DEE
Im better now, nurse - talking to Teddy has been good for me..

NURSE
(Pauses)
Come into the office - well get her effects together..
 TEDDY
(Rising)
Come on, Mom - everythings going to be all right, trust me..

DEE
(Rising)
I do trust you, son..
(LIGHTS DIM on TEDDY and DEE EXITING
through the metal door - LIGHTS RISE on
Teddy sitting in a pool of light at a picnic bench
with an old typewriter, talking to the audience)

TEDDY
Im at Dads house - the one he bought after the divorce, where he stays with Doris, his
new wife - theyve gone for the weekend, and Im house-sitting, sitting on their patio and
writing my first play, The Flophouse - the phone just rang a minute ago, and it was the
tenant calling from the little duplex on the freeway that Dad bought Mom as a settlement
- Mom rents out one side, and we stay in the other - the tenant went over to pay the rent
and called out, got no response, heard strange noises, found the screen unlocked, and
went in to find Mom locked in the bathroom - shes worried, so Im going right over..
(LIGHTS DIM on Teddy - LIGHTS RISE on a
set split in half by the bathroom door -
STAGERIGHT, the small bathroom - Dees
back is to us, partially obscured by a sink -
STAGELEFT, the small hallway outside the
bathroom - ENTER TEDDY into the hallway -
he stops in front of the bathroom door, tries the
knob, then talks through the door)

TEDDY
Mom, Mom.. can you hear me?
(The Voice SOUND)

ELAN
Its the Devil - dont talk to him, Dee!

TEDDY
Mom, are you all right?

DEE
Its my son, Teddy..

TEDDY
What?
 ELAN
Its Vaughn talking through Teddy - dont open that door!

TEDDY
Mom, open the door - I want to talk to you..
-
DEE
(Pauses, then her voice through the door)
I cant talk to you..

TEDDY
Mom, are you listening to Elan? - we talked about that - you been taking your meds?

DEE
I dont need medication..

TEDDY
All right, just open this door and well talk about it..

ELAN
Dont open it, Dee!

DEE
Elan says no!

TEDDY
Mom, open this door!

ELAN
Thats not Teddy, thats Vaughn! - Teddy exploded his electricity an hour ago and
destroyed himself, starting World War Three - theres nothings left outside but rubble
and death! - youre the last person left on Earth, Dee! - Vaughn wants you to open the
door, so he can kill you - only then will he have fulfilled his Satanic mission to eradicate
mankind from the face of the earth - your Teddy destroyed this world, and now youre
going to have to pay for it - you must hurt yourself, Dee!
(A pause, a motion from Dee - a cry of pain)

TEDDY
Mom, whats the matter?

ELAN
Nothing, Vaughn..

DEE
Nothing, Vaughn!
 (Another motion from Dee, another cry of pain)

TEDDY
(Twisting the doorknob)
Mom, its Teddy - stop it!

ELAN
Again, Dee!
(Another motion, another cry of pain)

TEDDY
Mother!

DEE
Dont stop me, Vaughn! - I want you to succeed - and now Im going to die for you!
(Teddy smashes the door with his shoulder - it
swings open - past him, we see Dee turn
around and lean against the wall of the
bathroom, blood streaming down her hands
onto the floor)

TEDDY
Oh, Mom..
(Teddy grabs two towels, wraps them around
Dees wrists, as the LIGHTS DIM - LIGHTS
RISE on Teddy standing in the pool of light)

TEDDY
She slashed her wrists, bands of flesh on the floor - the tenant and I took her to a doctor
in my Plymouth - the nurse turned pale and said Mom was too serious - told us go to the
hospital, that she would call ahead - she gave us a tank of oxygen, and said, Hurry! -
the tenant sat behind my mother and held an oxygen mask on her face, as I turned the
key on my old Plymouth - I cranked and cranked, as my mother gasped and gasped,
but the car wouldnt start - finally, the engine sputtered to life! - I drove like a madman,
weaving through city traffic at sixty until we got to the hospital, where they were ready
for us, put Mom on a gurney, and wheeled her into the emergency room - I didnt know if
I would ever see her alive, again.. but the doctors were fantastic, sewed up her wrists -
and she lived! - she had to stay there awhile, so I went back to the duplex to clean up
the mess in the bathroom, half-filling a Luckys paper bag with the bands of my mothers
flesh, and then I.. just threw it in the garbage - what else was I to do? - bury it? - but
Mom was alive! - later that night, I drove to a friends house, past all the metal garbage
cans out on the sidewalk for pick-up - they were overflowing with blood, like a horror film
- but I knew it wasnt real.. then it was over, and mother came back to live with me in
that little duplex by the freeway, with fresh stitches in her wrists - and Elan moved back
in with us.
 (LIGHTS DIM on Teddy - LIGHTS RISE on
Teddy and Dee sitting at a table in a cocktail
lounge - Dee wearing a shiny orange dress
and a blonde wig - two empty tables to the side
- ENTER VAUGHN)

VAUGHN
Dee - you do look good!

DEE
Vaughn..

TEDDY
Hi, Dad..
(VAUGHN sits down - ENTER WAITER)

VAUGHN
Well! - lets have a drink! - Dee, still drinking wine?

DEE
Chardonnay..

VAUGHN
Teddy?

TEDDY
Pinot Grigio..

VAUGHN
Another winer - must be hereditary! - and Ill have my usual martini with two olives..
(WAITER EXITS)
So, Dee.. long time.. Teddy says youre doing much better!

DEE
I am better..

TEDDY
Shes in a nice retirement home - actually has a room with an ocean view - she helps
out with other patients, takes the bus downtown to her Versatel, then goes shopping..

VAUGHN
Very good!

DEE
You, Vaughn? - still married?
 VAUGHN
Married? - no, no, Doris and I, well we.. parted ways.. Im single, again! - you?

DEE
You were the only one for me..

VAUGHN
Well.. sorry about that.. I was going through a stressful time - as were you! - and then
one lonely night, I met someone I could talk to..

DEE
Yes, someone to talk to..
(LIGHTS DIM on the bar - LIGHTS RISE on
Doris alone downstage, talking to audience)

DORIS
We hit it off on the ice that night - he told me later, when he went home he wrote under
the date on his calendar, Met Doris tonight - after his divorce was final, we got married
and were happy for five good years - then we began to have problems and started
throwing pots at each other - science couldnt save us! - our divorce was nasty - we
fought about property through our lawyers, and paid them a ton of money - when it was
over, we ended up with exactly what we had when we met - thats called entropy
(LIGHTS DIM on Doris - LIGHTS RISE on the bar)

VAUGHN
Staying out of the hospital?

TEDDY
Moms been doing very well - because of this new generation of meds, shes only been
in the hospital once - I visited her - there was a guy in her ward wearing an orange
jumpsuit - turned out he was a murderer! - I was glad to get her out of there..

VAUGHN
A murderer, huh?

DEE
He was actually very nice..

VAUGHN
Oh?
(Joking)
Then, why didnt you date him?
(His joke falls flat)
Sorry..
 DEE
Im used to you, Vaughn..
(A pause)

TEDDY
You live alone now, Dad?

VAUGHN
All alone in my very nice condo with my own great view..
(Looks at Dee)
.. over wonderful Silicon Valley!

TEDDY
Still working?

VAUGHN
At NASA - love it! - now interpreting signs of life from the Viking Lander - but my job is to
prove there is no life on Mars! - that its all just chemical reactions..

DEE
No life, Vaughn?

VAUGHN
No life, Dee.. and you - no voice?

DEE
Thats over..

TEDDY
(His cell phone rings - he glances at it, then
gets up)
Excuse me - wont take a minute..
(TEDDY EXITS - a pause)

VAUGHN
Youre looking good, Dee..

DEE
You already said that..

VAUGHN
I remember long ago, falling into the pools of your eyes at that employment agency..
(The Voice SOUND)

ELAN
Dont go for it, Dee..
 DEE
Did you get a job that time?

VAUGHN
Yup! - graveyard shift at Johnson and Johnson, coming up with new adhesives - then at
dawn, me and the guys would go play a round of golf - could do that in those days..

ELAN
Dont listen to him, Dee..

DEE
.. and I got a job as a secretary..

VAUGHN
.. only for three months - after I married you, you didnt have to work..

ELAN
We married the devil!

DEE
.. and then along came little Teddy..

ELAN
.. spawn of the devil!

VAUGHN
.. you were such a good mother - remember when we were living up the hill in my dads
house, and I was going to school on a fellowship?

DEE
.. to grad school..

ELAN
.. the School of Satanic Worship!

VAUGHN
.. while you were busy raising our son..

DEE
.. and you were busy getting your doctorate in, in..

ELAN
.. Satanic ways!

VAUGHN
.. inorganic chemistry..
 DEE
.. yes

ELAN
.. he must be destroyed!

VAUGHN
.. and I remember the military band playing on the football field..

DEE
.. the soldiers marching around the track..

ELAN
.. the soldiers of Satan!

VAUGHN
.. before they went off to Korea..

DEE
.. that was a long time ago..

ELAN
.. no longer than the flames of eternity!

VAUGHN
.. remember when Teddy got older, we hiked up the hill to explore that old Indian ruin?

DEE
.. hiked up as a family..

VAUGHN
.. up to that rock amphitheater, from where the Indians looked down on the river..

DEE
(Pauses)
That was the day of the fire..

VAUGHN
Good thing I called the fire department in the nick of time - it could have been worse..

DEE
We almost lost Teddy..
(Pauses)
After that fire, was when I went into the hospital the first time..
 ELAN
.. he wanted you to stay in there forever - so, you couldnt tell what you saw!

VAUGHN
Im sorry for it, Dee - sorry for it all..

DEE
So am I, Vaughn..
(Pauses)
.. sorry youve denied setting that fire all these years - I know we were broke, but was
the money that good you would risk the life of your son?

VAUGHN
You dont know what youre talking about!

DEE
Dont I, Vaughn?

VAUGHN
(Pauses)
Goddam it, Dee - I didnt know the wind was going to change direction!

DEE
You did set it! - and its bothered me all these years - I should tell somebody..

VAUGHN
Who you going to tell, the Doctor? - hell just think its Elan - no one will believe you!

DEE
Because Im crazy, Vaughn?

VAUGHN
I didnt say that..
(Pauses)
Well, you still look good - youve kept yourself up..

ELAN
Believe nothing he says!

VAUGHN
Want to see my condo?

DEE
And look at your etchings?
 ELAN
Only go there to kill him!

VAUGHN
Tell the truth, Dee, Ive been doing some thinking - we had something very special -
I can still see it when I look in your eyes.. I want to get back with you - I want to marry
you, all over again..
(No response from Dee)
What do you think? - we could start anew - do things right this time..

ELAN
Say yes, Dee - go home with him - and then stab him!
(The Voice SOUND)

DEE
(Pauses)
I dont think so, Vaughn - too much has happened since the fire..

VAUGHN
(Pauses)
Think it over - Ill always be here for you - and Im lonely, Dee - arent you lonely?
(LIGHTS DIM on the two of them looking at
each other - LIGHTS RISE as WAITER
ENTERS, pauses at side of stage with drinks
on tray - mournful jazz plays)

WAITER
Ive seen those three before - but separately - Im surprised they havent run into each
other - most people come to a bar to be around people, but not these three - they come
in late at night, order a drink, and just sit at a table, look out the window - they just want
to be alone - Ive seen it all before
(LIGHTS DIM on the waiter - LIGHTS RISE -
ENTER TEDDY - pauses, goes to one of the
empty tables, sits down, the waiter puts glass
of wine before him, retreats into shadows -
Teddy looks out window, drinks, turns, talks to
audience)

TEDDY

During the move caused by the divorce, I came across an old box with some silverware - old
silver given my parents for the wedding, by Dads Irish mother - there was the knife that cut the
wedding cake - the forks with which they it - and this..

(Holds up a small silver tea ball with a little chain)

.. silver tea ball with which they steeped their tea in a ceremony at the end of the wedding - yet,
what happened to their marriage?

(LIGHTS DIM on Teddy - LIGHTS RISE on Vaughn

sitting at the other empty table, waiter comes out
 of shadows, puts martini before him, waiter
retreats into shadows, Vaughn drinks, looking out
window turns, talks to audience)

VAUGHN

This was supposed to be a perfect marriage.. I went to school and got my Masters and
everything looked good - my father was town doctor and had some money and I was an only
child and going to inherit it - I lucked out with a deferment from the War, and got a graveyard
job at Johnson and Johnson, doing chemistry on adhesives - I was a single man running
around with my colleagues, playing golf in the morning after our shifts - and then you came
along, with that mystery in your eyes - and I fell for it - thought it was cool you were daughter
of a sea captain - we got married as soon as the War was over, and I started working on my
Doctorate, getting fellowships and grants at big Ivy League labs - and you became pregnant
and had our son - you seemed so happy.. Teddy was quick in school and quite the athlete -
they called him Slugger, because he could hit the ball so far - I was proud! - I got my
Doctorate, and when my Dad passed, we lived in a that house I inherited at the top of the hill
looking over the river, below fields that climbed to Indian ruins on top - and we started planning
our family - you liked being a mother and I liked being a chemist - and then the fire came along
- we lost the house and almost lost Teddy - but we got that insurance money from the fire! - it
made everything easy, the money - but the fire.. the fire was when it all started - the fire upset
you - thats when Elan came into our life - or I should say, your life, as I could never hear her -
Elan changed the equation and our marriage became a disaster, aecting Teddy - not at first,
but slowly, as he became aware things werent right - he started doing poorly in school, staying
away from sports and sticking his nose in books - he and I started conflicting, whenever you
were in the hospital - and even when you were out, because you kept talking to Elan.. damn
that Elan! - goddam her to Hell

(LIGHTS DIM on Vaughn - LIGHTS RISE on Dee

sitting at the other empty table - waiter comes out
of shadows, puts glass of wine before her -
WAITER EXITS - Dee drinks, looking out window,
turns, talks to audience)

DEE

Vaughn came into my life, and I became like other women in our family, the big Dutch women -
did what I was supposed to do - got married! - after a life of near poverty during the
Depression, with Daddy working the ships and when things were slow, painting horses and.
re-finishing floors by hand, my mother lifting his hands onto the dinner table, so he could eat -
and Daddy working with a WPA crew, digging a hole and filling it back in, just so he could get
his check - then the War started, and the Lend Lease Program, and America needed skippers
for Liberty ships, and Daddy became Captain and sailed o for weeks at a time to England in
convoys, destroyers circling, keeping German subs at bay - my brother shipped as deckhand,
and the men from our little island, forty of them - sailed away - and we women never knew if
theyd ever sail home, again - then the War was over and I wasnt going to college, and went to
secretary school, got trained and looked for a job - thats when I met Vaughn, at an
employment agency - we fell in love and got married - and mother was proud of me, because I
had married a smart man with college degrees and a job, whose family had money - and it all
looked good, Vaughn - the perfect marriage! - and I had Teddy and I was happy - I was a
mother! - and then came the fire, the fire - and things went terribly wrong - thats when Elan
started whispering - and I listened and felt better

(LIGHTS DIM on Dee - LIGHTS RISE on first table,

Dee and vaughn sitting in silence, drinking -
LIGHTS RISE as TEDDY ENTERS, waving his cell
phone at them)

 TEDDY
That was the principal - my first interview - and I got the job!
(Goes up to the table, sits down)
I start school on Monday!

DEE
My son, the teacher - thats wonderful!

VAUGHN
So, my son, a high school teacher..
(A pause, WAITER ENTERS with their drinks,
sets them down)

TEDDY
I know it doesnt compare to having a doctorate and being a scientist..

VAUGHN
I never expected you to follow in my footsteps..

TEDDY
I did.. tried that Chem major in college - just didnt work for me..

VAUGHN
What did work for you?

DEE
Vaughn..

VAUGHN
You got accepted into one of the finest colleges in the land - instead, you go to some
podunk little junior college..

DEE
Im going to the rest room..
(DEE EXITS)

TEDDY
I would have flunked out of that big name college - I didnt know what I was doing! - and
the thing between you and Mom started to affect me the last two years of high school - I
went from being an A student to a D student..

VAUGHN
How well I know.. what thing between your mother and me? - I had nothing to do with it -
its was all her fault!
 TEDDY
(Pauses)
Dad, wheres your understanding? - wheres your compassion?

VAUGHN
I ran out of all that - and hope! - I gave up! - it was too much! - so, I started putting her in
the hospital..

TEDDY
.. and ordering shock treatments!

VAUGHN
They were recommended!

TEDDY
(Pauses)
You and Mom should have never gotten married - you werent right for each other - and
you exacerbated her condition with your frustration!
(ENTER DEE from the rest room, pauses and
listens to them)

VAUGHN
It wasnt intentional! - but I loved your mother long before you came along - and if we
hadnt gotten together, you wouldnt be here!

TEDDY
Maybe that would have been all right!

DEE
Boys, boys!
(Sits down, picks up her wine glass)
Shall we toast?

VAUGHN
(Pauses, picks up his martini glass)
All right.. to Teddys new job, whatever..

DEE
Teddys job!
(They clink glasses with Teddy, drink)

VAUGHN
Well, son, I hope youve made a place for yourself in the world - and Teddy.. just so you
know.. Ive asked your mother to marry me, again..
 TEDDY
(Pauses)
I dont think that would be such a good idea, Dad..

DEE
I already said no, Vaughn..

VAUGHN
(Pauses, then drains his martini)
Well! - thats settled, then..
(Calls offstage)
Waiter - check!
(Rises, throws some bills on the table)
That should cover it.. goodbye, son.. and Dee - goodbye to what might have been..
(LIGHTS DIM as VAUGHN EXITS, leaving the
two of them at the table - LIGHTS RISE on
Dr. Hippaport at his desk - ENTER DEE)

DR. HIPPAPORT
Take a seat, Mrs. Baker..

DEE
Why have you called me here? - are you going to shock me?

DR. HIPPAPORT
No more shocks - thats over - I just had your son on the phone - he convinced me -
most forcefully! - that now he has Power of Attorney, he wants no more shock
treatments for you - he was quite rude, actually..

DEE
Then, why am I here?

DR. HIPPAPORT
Your husband, Vaughn, wants to take you to court for libel - he says youre fixated on
some fire, and trying to implicate him as the cause of it..

DEE
(Pauses)
Yes, the fire..

DR. HIPPAPORT
Tell me about this fire..

DEE
(Pauses)
I dont want to..
 DR. HIPPAPORT
It could be a step forward in your treatment, Mrs. Baker..

DEE
(Pauses)
If it will help make me better..

DR. HIPPAPORT
Tell me about the fire..

DEE
The fire, yes..
(Dee gets up, goes to the side of the stage,
looks off)
Weve just hiked up here to the ancient Indian lookout on the hill.. just the two of us -
Vaughn doesnt know Teddy has lagged on the trail to look at a little snake - but hes
within my sight..
(Looks down)
.. look, Vaughn, Teddys down there looking at a little snake! - think he might get bitten?
(No response)
Vaughn?
(She turns around)
Vaughn - where are you?
(She looks off and down)
Whats Vaughn doing?
(Looks off and down)
.. hes got a lighter.. but he doesnt smoke..
(Looks off and down)
.. why is he lighting the brush? - it could catch fire..
(Looks off and down)
.. it is catching fire! - Vaughn, Vaughn! - what are you doing? - Teddys down there!
(Looks off and down)
Vaughn - the flames are spreading! - Teddys below - Vaughn!
(Shouts off and down)
Teddy - Teddy! - run, Teddy, run - fast as you can - a fire!
(She pauses, realizes where she is, stops
shouting, comes back and sits down)

DR. HIPPAPORT
Mrs. Baker.. do you really believe Vaughn set that fire?

DEE
(Pauses)
I saw him..
 DR. HIPPAPORT
Why would your husband set a fire?

DEE
(Pauses)
For the money, the insurance money.. we were broke the whole time he was in grad
school - but he inherited this house from his father, so at least we had a place - then we
had a kid, and we needed more money to live on..

DR. HIPPAPORT
(Pauses)
Mrs. Baker, you know Vaughn did not set that fire - you were delusional - it was Elan
told you a story that was a complete lie..

DEE
The fire started before Elan.. she started whispering after the fire almost burned Teddy..

DR.HIPPAPORT
But Teddy didnt burn..

DEE
Vaughn almost killed Teddy for the money!

DR. HIPPAPORT
But Vaughn did not set the fire..

DEE
Elan says Vaughn did!

DR. HIPPAPORT
He denies that - who am I to believe? - your husband or Elan?

DEE
(Pauses)
Elan kept me from losing myself!

DR.HIPPAPORT
I see..
(Pauses)
.. then, Mrs.Baker, as your psychiatrist, I recommend you keep Elan in your life - she
seems to stabilize you..

DEE
(Pauses, rises again, looks off)
No.. I dont want Elan! - she tells me to kill Vaughn - to kill my Teddy! - but I love them!
 DR. HIPPAPORT
To think of killing someone is a very dangerous thought..

DEE
I would never kill anyone - but Elan would! - she hates others! - Elan wants me for
herself - she wants me to love her only!

DR. HIPPAPORT
(Pauses)
And do you love Elan, Mrs. Baker?

DEE
I dont know..
(Pauses)
..but I do know one thing..

DR. HIPPAPORT
What is that?

DEE
Elan and I must come to an end..
(Rises)
.. this meeting is over, Doctor..
(LIGHTS DIM on DEE EXITING - LIGHTS
RISE on Dee sitting late at night on the small
covered back porch of the duplex, drinking
wine from the pink Melmac cup - next to her
sits Elan, an ethereal figure dimly lit as if sitting
behind a thin white gauze curtain - the SOUND
of an occasional car on the nearby freeway)

ELAN
Dee.. tomorrow we will kill Vaughn - he conspired with Teddy to start World War Three
and many people died!

DEE
You said Teddy was dead - but hes not dead - how can I trust you?
ELAN
You must kill Vaughn!

DEE
(Pauses)
Stop telling me what to do! - I wish I was free - I wish I had the liberty Daddy talks about!
(CAP ENTERS, stands in the shadows at the
edge of the porch)
 CAP
Dee.. ya caint listen ta what this girl says..

DEE
Daddy?

ELAN
Who are you talking to, Dee?

DEE
(Pauses)
Nobody..

ELAN
I know someone is there - believe no voice but mine!

CAP
This Elan - shes a voice ya caint believe - we all got a voice inside, tellin us we caint
do this or should do that - but ya cant listen ta it, Dee, no matter what be its name -
heard a voice once meself, when I was out ta sea in a storm - tellin me we was
doomed, we wasnt gonna make it - but I didnt listen, Dee - figgered it were just
somethin my mind made up - n we survived that storm, every man jack o us! -
I learned then, ya gotta ignore th voice inside - it means ya no good..

ELAN
Dee, Dee, dont pay attention to him - listen to me! - Im a part of you - hes an outsider,
Dee - Im inside, baby - listen to me only!

DEE
(Pauses)
Daddy, I dont know what to do!

ELAN
Dee, listen - its not your daddy - your daddy is dead - Vaughn killed him!

CAP
Dee, drive th voice out! - you must survive - trust yer ol Pappy - n send away Elan!
(CAP EXITS into the shadows)

ELAN
You can never be free of me, Dee - I am you!

DEE
Youre not me - youre that disease they keep treating me for - schizophrenia! - you are
my sickness!
 ELAN
We are not sick, Dee!

DEE
Were not sick - I am! - and Im tired of it - look at the trouble its brought - my marriage
in shambles, those shock treatments - and then you tell me Teddy is dead! - go back
where you came from - leave me alone!

ELAN
You can never be alone, Dee - Ill always be with you!

DEE
I dont want you!

DEE
(Pauses, looks into the shadows in which Cap
disappeared)
Yes.. I think I can finally see it now.. my own Statue of Liberty, lifting up from the fog..
and its standing for freedom from you, Elan!

ELAN
You dont know what youre saying!

DEE
Im getting rid of you!

ELAN
You are my life, Dee - I cant exist without you!

DEE
Die, Elan, die! - I dont need you to live! - I want to sail into safe harbor under the
watchful eyes of Liberty - and sail into freedom from you!

ELAN
Dee, dont say that!

DEE
Get out of me!

ELAN
(Rising)
Dee, dont!

DEE
Go back to the hell you came from!
 ELAN
(Going to the edge of the stage, the
SOUNDS of the freeway)
Tell me you still love me!

DEE
I will be free!

ELAN
No, Dee, no!

DEE
Go away!

ELAN

(Going to edge of stage, SOUNDS of freeway,

pauses, talks to audience)
I only have Dee - no one else - if Dee doesnt want me, wont listen to me, I dont know what I
will do, where I will go - without Dee, there is nothing once I didnt exist - then the fire started
and roared down the hill and came upon a Teddy crouching down, looking at his snake - and
the snake fled and Teddy saw the fire racing down and Dee screaming and running, snatching
him up, burning her arms, taking him away from the flames - and Vaughn nowhere to be seen,
until Dee finds him watching the house burn - and the three of them watched it burn to the
ground.. husband and wife argue, Vaughn denying her charge - and they stay separately with
friends that night, Dee fled with Teddy to stay with friends - it was that night that I started
talking to Dee - the seed of me was buried deep in Dees mind, to be awakened by fire - weve
been close ever since, share secrets no one else can know, listen to each other when no one
else will - no one can come between Dee and I - not Vaughn, not Teddy - and not Doctor
Hippaport and his shock treatments - shes mine and well be together forever - where else can
I go?

(Voice SOUND - ELAN EXITS into darkness toward

freeway - a pause, SOUND of screeching tires -
Dee drinks from her pink Melmac cup)

FIRST VOICE (OFFSTAGE)

Oh, my God - I just hit a woman - she came out of nowhere, right onto the freeway - seemed to
walk right through the fence!

SECOND VOICE (OFFSTAGE)

I saw her - but theres no one here!

FIRST VOICE (OFFSTAGE)

.. and the fence has no break..

SECOND VOICE (OFFSTAGE)

If theres no body, theres no accident - lets get out of here!

(SOUND of a car starting up and driving away

- Teddy shows his face in the back door screen)

 TEDDY
(Through the screen)
Mom.. you all right? - I heard shouting..

DEE
That was just me..

TEDDY
Talking to Elan, again? - perhaps we should up your medication..

DEE
No, no need for any medication - Elan isnt here - shes gone away, now..

TEDDY
Elans gone?

DEE
For good..
(Rises)
.. lets eat
(DEE EXITS in through the screen door -
the shadows of Dee embracing Teddy, then the
LIGHTS DIM - LIGHTS RISE on Dee, twenty
years older, sunk in a wheelchair - offstage,
someone is playing a piano and singing
Oklahoma! - Dee is nodding her head to the
music and smiling - she mouths words which
come out garbled - a pause, and the Nurse,
also twenty years older, appears behind and
puts her hands on Dees shoulders)

NURSE

You like the music, Dee?

(Dee nods and speaks more garbled words - the

Nurse pats her and speaks to the audience)

She cant talk, anymore - its the Alzheimers, kicked in about the time Dee got clear of her
schizophrenia - doesnt seem fair - after her marriage broke apart, she went into a nursing
facility, but remained independent, though I didnt see much of her - then the place got sold
and the new owners kept the patients medicated and comatose because they were less
trouble - when they wanted more money, they booted out the older people and replaced them
with younger ones - Dee wound up here, in this big place - but its well run and theres lots of
sta - Im one of them - and theres lots of activities - today, songs from Oklahoma! - the
patients seem to like it..

(Dee looks up at her and touches her hand, saying

something garbled)

Dee, your son, Teddy, is coming to visit today!

(To audience)

 NURSE (Cont.)

He used to visit once a month, but increased it to once a week, when Dee started eating less
and losing weight - who knows how long she has? - the door closed after Teddys last visit and
I saw a tear trickle down Dees cheek..

(ENTER TEDDY)

TEDDY

Hello, Mom - Nurse, hows Mother?

NURSE

Shes good..

TEDDY

Eating?

NURSE

We got her to eat a little bit..

TEDDY

(To Dee)

Ya gotta eat, Mom!

(To Nurse)

Still losing weight?

NURSE

Two more pounds - hospice is getting worried..

TEDDY

(Pauses, looks at Dee)

All right, nurse - Im going to wheel her closer to the music - I got her..

NURSE

Ill leave you two..

(She walks to edge of stage, talks to audience)

He doesnt think I have a name..

(NURSE EXITS - Teddy wheels Dee to the side of

the stage - they listen to another song from

Oklahoma, Oh, what a beautiful mornin)

TEDDY

You like it, Mom?

(Dee nods and says something garbled)

That song is from Oklahoma - your day..

(Dee nods - the music makes makes her happy -

Teddy talks to audience)

Well, here she is - near the end of the road - what a journey, started out so hopeful !- growing
up in a loving family durning the Depression - then the War and her Daddy and brother sail o
- then the War is over, and father and brother do come back - now, young and attractive at
twenty-five, Dee meets Vaughn, falls in love, and has a kid - thats me, and then, and then..
whatever, it was what was.. Vaughn met his third wife, the true love of his life, twenty-five years
younger - but they were in love and he tries to hang on with her to eternity - but, Vaughn ends
up dying from cancer, though he works up to the end - loved that science!

(Teddy walks a little downstage, leaving Dee to

listen to the music)

 TEDDY (Cont.)

.. sometimes I take Mom outside in her wheelchair, wheel her along the front of the place, then
down the side driveway past the sta cars - stop at the big green dumpster in the back, look
around, the sun shining down on the two of us..

(SOUND of song plays)

.. and then we just turn around, and I wheel her back - we stop under a little gazebo across
from the room with the piano, and listen to more songs from old musicals..

(Dee smiles and nods head in time to the music)

..a month later, they call me at work - Mom has stopped eating and taken a turn for the worse -
can I come right down? - and I do..

(LIGHTS DIM on Dee - LIGHTS RISE on Teddy

looking down at Dee lying in a bed)

.. and shes in a coma, eyes closed, but hears my voice and speaks her last word..

DEE

Teddy?

TEDDY

Yes, Mom, Im here with you..

(Pauses)

I watch her breath deeply for hours, as nurses come and go, wanting a last look at this woman
who once so alive - until finally, one last breath and shes gone, just gone away.. I wish I could
have done more for this sweet woman - just as I wish Elan hadnt been there to whisper in her
ear.. but now, its over, all over, and Ill have to keep going, memories of Mom ever in my
mind

(LIGHTS DIM on TEDDY looking down at Dee)

CURTAIN