THE GLIMMER

by Ed Ballou

Copyright 2014, Ed Ballou

edballou@icloud.com

2020glimmer.com
CHARACTERS:

A second-generation Irish couple in their 60’s:

MIKE: a stolid, older ex-boxer

LIL: a fiery, domineering older woman

GEORGE: a young man

MARITZA: a young woman

FRED: a recently retired worker

SCENE: The interior of one side of a small duplex. A window and a door to a bedroom
on one side - on the other side, the front door. Through a front picture flanked by smaller
windows, we can see the foggy outlines of a bridge as it arches down over the duplex
after its water crossing, lights outlining its girders. Below the picture window is an
electronic machine the size of a small refrigerator - all wires, tubes and lights - currently
dormant. The SOUNDS of car and river traffic are ever-present, and become louder
whenever the front door is opened. A foghorn moans every few minutes.

TIME: The present.

 ACT 1 1-1

AT RISE: LIL is pacing in large strides, drink in hand, an empty bottle of liquor on the
table. She goes to a window, pulls back a curtain, looks out impatiently, goes to the
bottle, attempts to pour a drink - then raises the bottle and drains the last drops - goes
back to window, looks out, turns from window, stares at front door, feet apart. ENTER
MIKE, staggering a bit, paper bag in hand.

LIL
(Demanding)
Well.. did you get what you wanted?

MIKE
(Avoiding her gaze, going to table, gesturing
with bag)
No, but this is all right...
(Pulls a bottle of liquor out of bag, holds it close
to his eyes, checks label as if to reassure
himself)
It’s better than what I didn’t want...
(Opens bottle, gets a glass, face right up to it,
measuring a drink, pours. LIL stands looking at
him.)

LIL
Well?
(MIKE drinks, pretending not to hear. She
strides over to him, stands in front of him,
holding out her hand, waves it in front of his
face. He fumbles in his pocket, puts change in her
hand. She counts it, goes over and puts change in
her purse, goes back to him, grabs bottle from
him, pours herself a drink.)
What took you so long?

MIKE
I was walking...

LIL
You didn’t lose your way?
(Laughs)

MIKE
I was just.. walking.
 1-2
LIL
Oh, walking - we know that!
(Pauses, drinks)
But you didn’t lose your way?

MIKE
(Squinting at floor, drinks)
No.. no, I didn’t...

LIL
(Pauses, drinks)
I saw you walking the other day...
(No response)
I was driving home, and I saw an old man walking along, and I..

MIKE
I thought it was you...

LIL
How could you know?

MIKE
I said, I thought it was you...
(Drinks)

LIL
(Staring at him)
Why do you walk with your head down?
(MIKE just shakes his head while squinting at
the floor, drinks)
I said, why..

MIKE
When things start falling out of the sky, I’ll look up! - I found sixty-eight cents today...

LIL
Sixty-eight cents! - you must have stumbled over them!
(She laughs, they both drink)

MIKE
Would you tell me the time?

LIL
(Looking at clock)
Just past eight...
 1-3
MIKE
Well, so much for that stinking lousy day...

LIL
(Stares at him)
You always say that! - why do you say that?
(MIKE says nothing, screws up his eyes,
drinks)
You have no self-confidence - none at all!
(Stares at him)

MIKE
(Low voice)
I do have self-confidence...

LIL
(Stepping toward him, loudly)
What? - what did you say?

MIKE
(Pauses, a little louder)
I do have some self-confidence...

LIL
Look at me and say that you do! - look me in the eye! - in the eye! - and say it! - say that
you do!
(Chin forward)

MIKE
(Squinting, looks around room, draws a breath,
opens his eyes wide, we see cataracts - he
squints in her direction)
I do.. have some confidence.. in myself...

LIL
You liar!
(He wilts)
You lost your confidence when you lost that fight! - then you lost your job! - you should
have quit that job as soon as you found out!
(No answer)
You’d have your sight today!

MIKE
(Small voice)
I can see.
 1-4
LIL
Oh, you can see! - shapes, shadows, blurs - me, I’m a blur, a great big blur to you! - you
can see all right!

MIKE
It’s enough.

LIL
For what? - to stumble your way to the liquor store?
(No answer - she pauses, staring at him)
You must have memorized the way!
(Laughs)
Didn’t want to end up at the cleaners, again?
(Mocking him, squinting nearsightedly, talking
to an imaginary clerk)
Could I have a pint of Bushmill’s? What? What?
(Spinning drunkenly, squinting)
Excuse me, the cleaners?
(Laughs, opens her eyes wide)
That must have been something.. something to see!
(She pauses, stares at him - he drinks)
You should have told somebody - you should have complained!
(She pauses, stares at him)
Four hundred roentgens a week! A week! Eight times the safety level! Eight times! Why
did you stay there?
(Pauses, staring at him)

MIKE
It was the same at Los Alamos...
(Drinks)

LIL
You should have left the Accelerator long before they laid you off, long before you
became useless to them!
(Pauses - he doesn’t answer)
They took your sight! - doesn’t that matter? - wasn’t that important to you? - your eyes?
(Pauses, staring at him)
Your eyes!

MIKE
What did you want me to do?

LIL
Something!
 1-5
MIKE
I tried to fight back, I..

LIL
Oh, you fought! - you fought! - a great fight! - you are the champ!

MIKE
I filed a complaint..

LIL
A complaint! - your life’s a complaint! - and who’s listening?

MIKE
I tried talking to my boss, talking to my doctor..

LIL
It wasn’t enough, wasn’t enough! - nothing you do is ever enough! - nothing! - that’s why
we have no children! - because nothing you do is ever enough!

MIKE
(Pauses - then shouting)
Well what.. did you want me to do?

LIL
(Gesturing at wall)
Quiet! - want to wake her?
(No answer - they both drink)
I paid the rent yesterday...

MIKE
(Squinting at the floor)
Good...

LIL
She’s quite pleasant, you know...
(Pauses, drinks)
Not like her son...

MIKE
He just keeps to himself. that’s all...

LIL
(Drinks)
He avoids me...
 1-6
LIL (Con’t.)
(MIKE says nothing, drinks, squints at the floor
- a smile flickers across his face. LIL looks out
a window to one side.)
His car’s still there...
(Pauses, looks out)
That old junk heap - it hasn’t moved for a week...
(Pauses)
Neither has he...
(Gestures at wall)
He’s stayed inside all week...
(Pauses)
Last week he was gone...
(A pause, they both drink)

MIKE
Went North..

LIL
Who said?

MIKE
His pleasant mother...
(Smiles to himself)

LIL
When did you talk to her?

MIKE
This morning - at the liquor store - she’s very pleasant...
(Smiles to himself)

LIL
(Looks at him, pauses, looks at wall)
I wonder what he’s doing in there...
(Glances at husband)

MIKE
(Squinting at the floor)
Sitting...
(Pauses)
She said sometimes he lies down...

LIL
Lazy bastard.
 1-7
(A pause)

MIKE
Maybe he wants to lie down...

LIL
What did you say?

MIKE
(Low voice)
I said..

LIL
What? - louder...

MIKE
(A little louder)
I said, maybe..

LIL
(Shouting)
Louder!

MIKE
(Rising to a crouch, shouting in her direction)
Maybe he just wants to lie down!
(Slowly sits back down, squinting at her. A
pause, she stares back at him - then strides
over, slaps him hard on the side of the head.
MIKE covers his eyes, rocks back and forth)
Ahhh!

LIL
Quiet! - you’ll wake them! - quiet!
(Slaps him again)

MIKE
(Covering his eyes, rocking)
Ahhh! Ahhhh!

LIL
Quiet, you rabbit! - quiet, quiet!
(Hits him again, nearly knocking him out of his
chair)
 1-8
MIKE
(Covering his head with his arms)
Oh, my God! - my God! - my eyes, my eyes!
(Shrieking)
Help me! - help me! - help! - someone help!

LIL
Shut up! - shut up!
(She clouts him again, knocking him onto the
floor. A sudden heavy POUNDING at the door -
they both freeze. Again, the POUNDING. LIL
stares at the door, while MIKE slowly pulls
himself up into his chair, sits hunched over,
rocking and moaning, holding his head in his
hands. LIL glares at him as she slowly walks over
to the door, slowly pulls it open. A young man,
GEORGE, stands in the doorway, suitcase in
hand.)

GEORGE
(Staring at them, pauses)
I could hear you...
(Staring)
Could hear you!
(Stares)
I don’t want to hear you! - don’t want to hear you! - understand?

LIL
(Pauses, looking at him)
We’re all right...

MIKE
Come in! - come in! - we were hoping you would come! - was hoping someone would
come! - was hoping!
(Raises his glass)
Drink?

GEORGE
(Ignoring him)
Now I’ll have to talk to her! Mother! You woke her..!

LIL
We’ll stop - we’re all right - she’s very pleasant, your mother..
 1-9
MIKE
We paid the rent yesterday - and I saw your mother this morning - at the cleaners...
(Raising glass)
Drink?

LIL
You can go, now - we’re fine - he’s fine - we’re all fine...

GEORGE
(Pauses, looking at them)
I don’t know.. I don’t know what! - I’m going...
(Stares at them)
You be quiet, now!
(Pauses, staring)
I’m going...
(Goes to door)

MIKE
You don’t know what’s been happening, do you...

LIL
Nothing’s been happening, nothing - nothing!

GEORGE
(Pauses, facing door)
Don’t tell me, I don’t know...
(Turns around)
I know what’s been happening! - I know! - I can hear you through the wall! - can hear
you!

LIL
We’re just living out our lives...

GEORGE
(Drops suitcase, puts hands to ears)
Shut up! - just shut up! - I can hear your lives! - can hear you!
(Puts hands down, pauses, turns away)
It’s the heat...
(Looks out the door)

MIKE
Heat on the Bay is raising fog this summer...

GEORGE
These summers are killers...
 1-10
GEORGE (Con’t.)
(Looks out the door - the SOUNDS of vehicle
and river traffic - the foghorn SOUNDS)
Just killers...
(Looks up at the bridge)
This is another one of those days, when you’re waiting for the world to turn...
(Pauses)
.. just waiting for its slow turn.. and while you’re waiting.. while you’re waiting!.. the
despair builds up..
(Looks up at the bridge)
.. the loneliness builds up - builds up! - and it all just.. builds up...
(Pauses, the SOUNDS of car and river traffic)

MIKE
North - you went north - your mother, this morning, the cleaners.. why north?

GEORGE
(Looking up at the bridge)
North...
(Pauses, looking up)
Went north to.. find mountains! Not hills, ridges, coast ranges - went north to find
mountains, mountains, real mountains - big enough to feel! I just wanted to.. feel! To
really feel.. something!
(Pauses, looks up)
Because I couldn’t feel.. anything... and I would say to myself, say to myself, “I wonder
why, wonder why.. I feel so empty inside?” And then I would say, would say to myself,
“Don’t you feel there’s something wrong? Don’t you feel living this way is somehow
wrong?”
(Pauses, looking up)
Answer?
(Slamming door frame)
Answer! Answer! Answer!
(Looks up at the bridge, again)
Did I go north just to find mountains?
(Pauses)
No.. I went north because.. I’d become lost.. lost.. in the secret war of desperation...
(Looks up at bridge)

MIKE
So.. you went north...
(Drinks)
And did you find any mountains, mountains big enough.. to feel?
 1-11
GEORGE
(Pauses, looks over at him)
No, nothing, nothing...
(Pauses)
But it was on my way back down from the north, that I finally found something,
something big - really big! - big enough.. to feel! I had crossed right over it on my way
north, without thinking.. but it was not until coming back down - that long, long trip back
down, coming back down.. defeated to, to.. this crummy little duplex.. as I crossed back
over it, over that.. it was only then that I felt it.. felt it!
(Looks up at bridge)
Finally really felt.. a feeling! Finally felt...
(Pauses, looking up at bridge)

MIKE
Felt.. what, George?

GEORGE
(Looking up at it)
The bridge, the bridge - this great big bridge!
(Pauses, looks up)
At first I could barely make out a shape, looming ahead in the fog.. something huge,
threatening! I slowed to a stop.. got out of the car, looked up at the foggy metal monster
ahead.. it beckoned to me, daring me to cross! I got back in the car and slowly drove up
to it, slowly started to cross it in the fog.. and it swallowed me like a great snake, took
me inside its metal guts! - I could feel the bridge around me, great masses of twisted
metal lifting me up, defying the water, surrounding me in my metal egg - could crush
me, but chose not to, like a living entity, a great force! - I could feel the bridge surround
me - this bridge, this huge bridge, broke right through with the feeling, the feeling -
finally, that special feeling!
(Looks way up the bridge)
A big feeling, a strong feeling - big and strong like the bridge - its steel, its shining
cables, its big stretch over the water - like a great mountain, like a father holding you up
as a child, up on his big shoulders - way up! - holding you tight - tight! - so you won’t
ever, ever..!
(Looks up at bridge - the foghorn
SOUNDS)
Won’t ever fall...
(Looks away)

LIL
What’s with the bag?

GEORGE
(Coming back to reality)
The.. bag? - my suitcase...
 1-12
MIKE
Going north, again?

GEORGE
(Lifting up suitcase, hefting it)
Stuff - it’s just my stuff - clothes, letters, my books..

MIKE
What kind of books.. any stuff on electronics?

GEORGE
No, nothing on electricity - just poetry ‘n stuff - personal stuff...

MIKE
(Drinking)
I used to read, used to like to read, books...

LIL
When he could read!

MIKE
I can read! - I’ll show you, I’ll show you - give me a book!

LIL
You can’t see to read!

MIKE
Kid, give me a book - any book!

GEORGE
(Pausing)
A book.. you want a book?
(Reluctantly puts down suitcase, lies it on the
floor - snaps it open, pulls out a book - hands it
to MIKE)

MIKE
(Squinting at book)
What’s this..?

GEORGE
Hart Crane..

MIKE
Maybe I heard of him!
 1-13
MIKE (Con’t.)
(Opens book, squints nearsightedly all over the
page)
Crane, Crane.. what kind of stuff is this?

GEORGE
Poetry...

MIKE
(Squinting)
Oh.. poerty..

GEORGE
Poetry!

MIKE
(Squinting, turning pages)
Poerty...
(Reads some lines from “The Bridge”)
“Out of some.. subway.. scuttle.. cell or loft.. a bedlamite.. speeds to thy.. parapets..
tilting there.. momently.. shrill shirt.. ballooning.. a jest falls.. from the speechless..
caravan.”
(Looks up at GEORGE)
What the hell does all that mean? Poerty!
(A picture falls out of the book onto the floor -
he squints at it)
What was that..?
(Gropes on floor)

LIL
(Quickly reaching down)
It’s a picture..
(Grabs it off floor - looks at it)
Of a girl.. a beautiful-lookin’ young girl..

GEORGE
(Springing forward)
Give me that!
(Snatches picture from LIL, holds it close)

MIKE
What? - what picture?
 1-14
LIL
(To GEORGE)
Who’s that?

GEORGE
Nobody.. nothing!
(Takes a quick look at the picture, secretes it in
his suitcase, slams lid - forgets to snap it shut)

MIKE
(To LIL)
What did you see?

LIL
Looked like a picture of a .. beautiful young gypsy girl...

MIKE
A gypsy, eh?

GEORGE
I’m going now.. and no more noise from the two of you - no more!
(He picks up his suitcase - it suddenly bursts
open - books, clothes, letters - and large rocks
- all tumble out on the floor)

LIL
What’s this?
(Reaches down, picks up a rock)

MIKE
(Squinting)
What’s what?

LIL
(Holding up the rock)
A rock, a great big rock - and more rocks - he had ‘em in his suitcase, on top of his
stuff...

MIKE
Rocks.. what for, rocks?
 1-15
GEORGE
(Grabbing the rock from LIL - throwing it into
his suitcase, throwing in more rocks from the
floor)
Nothing.. weight, just weight - nothing!
(Cleans up the mess, throwing it all in his
suitcase - snaps lid shut, picks up his suitcase)
I’m going now!

LIL
Why do you need more weight in a suitcase?

MIKE
Weight, huh? Like all your cares, your burdens, your failures? - weighing you down, boy
- down, down? You’re finally getting some direction, boy - but it’s only down, straight
down!
(Drinks)
Well, just don’t forget to write...
(Drinks)

GEORGE
Write? I did.. write! - couldn’t say it, so wrote.. this!
(Takes a letter out of his pocket, thrusts it into
MIKE’s hands)
Read it.
(MIKE holds the letter awkwardly, turning it
over and over - holds it up to his eyes - squints
up and down at it - finally)
I can’t..

GEORGE
(Shouting into his face)
Read it!

MIKE
(Squinting)
I can’t, I can’t - I’m trying, but I can’t read.. your writing!

LIL
(Taking the letter from her husband’s hands)
He can’t see, can’t see! - radiation! - got his eyes! - I’m the eyes for both of us - I’m the
eyes!
(She starts to lipread the letter silently)
 1-16
GEORGE
I was going to leave it for her - tonight! - on my way out.. then you woke her, the two of
you - with your loud life through the wall - you woke her! Now I’ll have to talk to her - and
explain! I didn’t want to explain.. now I’ll have to! Why’d you have to wake her? Tonight’s
the night - tonight, the big feeling is tonight - the big feeling is now!
(Snatches letter from LIL, stabs a finger at it)
Read this.. right here! - this part - out loud! - just this, no more - just this!

LIL
(Slowly reading aloud)
“Dear Mother.. I am writing this to let you know.. that I am leaving this life... tonight, I am
hauling my suitcase up the bridge - up, up..”

GEORGE
(Shouting up at the bridge)
Up, way up! - and holding my suitcase, I’ll balance there, against the screaming wind,
against this screaming world, like a tightrope walker, like a circus acrobat - and finally
tell the world.. how frightened - how really, really frightened and alone I am!

LIL
(Slowly continues reading letter aloud)
“I hope to be washed.. far out to sea...”
(Pauses, continues)
“Mother, you must promise me this one thing.. that, that..”

GEORGE
(Snatching letter from her)
That’s personal stuff, just between her and me! - all the stuff I couldn’t say, didn’t want to
say.. to her face! And now, you woke her - woke her up!
(Pauses, staring at her)
And now I’ll have to say it.. say it!
(Turns away, looks up at the bridge, carefully
folding the letter, putting it back into his pocket)
I want to drop off this bridge.. yeah, I want to drop off this bridge so badly...

MIKE
(Pauses, squints at him)
Do it then...
(Drinks)

LIL
Don’t tell the boy what to do.. the boy has problems - don’t tell him what to do!

MIKE
I’d do it - I’d jump!
 1-17
LIL
You? - you’d jump? - you need self-confidence to climb up that bridge - you, you have
no self-confidence - and you couldn’t see that bridge to climb it, big as it is and blind as
you are - you’d probably climb up a traffic light and jump off - break your crown, and I’d
have to fix you up again, as always - put you back together again - you blind Humpty
Dumpty!

MIKE
(Pauses)
You’re right.. he’s just a boy...
(Drinks, squinting off)
When I was a boy.. when I was a boy, we was a poor family, raggedy Goodwill clothes
and all, other kids lookin’ down at us - got to be good with my dukes! - never had
nothin’! - but once, I got a little radio for Christmas - in a kit, a Heathkit - you know, a
crystal, copper wire, metal slide for a tuner.. I didn’t need no instructions, just put it
together myself - and it worked! I pulled in a station all the way from Baja, Mexico! -
thought that was great! - got me likin’ electronics! Started fixin’ things in the house,
the toaster, the vacuum cleaner - used to watch the fights on TV, but the picture wasn’t
so bright, so took the tubes outta’ our seven-inch black and white - took ‘em down to the
Rexall drugs, you could test ‘em there - bought some new tubes, made the picture
brighter! - started fixin’ our neighbors TV’s - three dollars a set and I’d fix it! Made a little
spendin’ money, got older and got an old ‘53 Plymouth - could see to drive in those
days! But where to? - so started drivin’ to the rings, like I seen on TV - see the fights for
real! Weren’t many jobs, so finally got up my nerve and climbed into the ring - a nobody
from Richmond, California! Did pretty good as an amateur, thought I’d turn pro, make a
dollar.. got a manager, got on the fight cards, did okay, won some, lost some - could eat,
anyway - so I kept fightin’! Went south on the Greyhound for a big fight, rented a room
in some west coast beach town in Florida. A real simple time. I’d run on the beach, train
for the fight, just me ‘n the gulls ‘n the waves.. after I’d run a coupla’ miles’, skippin’ ‘n
bobbin’ ‘n weavin’ - I’d sit down on an old sea wall ‘n take a breather.. look at the sun
settlin’ down in the water, ‘n think about what was to come - the big fight, other fights I
might have in life.. thought about what my life might become, if it ever became
anything.. started feelin’ down about it all, watchin’ that sun hiss down in the Gulf... and
sometimes I could see something, far out in the Gulf, where the sun had just set.. a
golden light, winking at me, some sort of glimmer, trying to tell me something,
something.. but what it was saying, I could just never get... day of the fight, I took
another Greyhound over to Tampa, for my big shot at the title! Oh.. all right, not at the
title, at a title contender - thought I could lick him, then fight the champ! What a fight! -
had him down a coupla’ times, but each time he got back up.. then he knocked me
down with a left hook - right on the mat! But something began talkin’ to me, tellin’ me
something, something.. so I climbed up on my knees, shook my head like a dog, got up
on my feet and up with my dukes - and knocked the sucker out with my big punch! At
least, that’s what I dreamed I did.. until I woke up on the mat, lookin’ up at the ceiling fan
spinnin’ ‘round.. and seein’ the contender dancin’ ‘round over me, hands in the air - I
couldn’t believe it! - he had knocked me out - it was he who had won!
 1-18
LIL
That’s when you lost your self-confidence.. when you lost your big fight!

MIKE
I just couldn’t get up, up off the mat - just didn’t listen to the.. whatever...
(Pauses, squinting)
I was hurt pretty bad, cuts around my eyes, sore ribs - my head feelin’ like a dropped
melon! - feelin’ like I was stuck in a strange dream and couldn’t wake up.. that’s when
she climbs into the ring - an angel of mercy with a hanky! - starts dabbin’ at my cuts,
tellin’ me it’s all right, everything’s all right, none of it mattered - turned out to be my
manager’s sister from Oakland, come down to Tampa to see another one of his fighters
on the same card - she hadn’t come to see me! - but there she was, dabbin’ away,
comfortin’ me - and I’m noddin’, sayin’, “Yeah, yeah, I’m all right, thanks, thanks - but
now, just leave me alone, alone..” - and then I shuffled out to the street, caught the bus
back to my room, lonely and beat - walked on the beach one last time.. it was all over,
my big dream, and I was soon gonna take that long trip back on a Greyhound.. a
loser... I walked along, sat on that old sea wall again, watched the sun go down..
watched it all go down.. and then I saw the glimmer, again.. the glimmer, that golden
glimmer.. tryin’ to tell me.. what?
(Drinks)

LIL
I found him, back in Richmond, and put him back together, again - took weeks! - I
patched him up all right.. but the time, I’m thinking of the other fighter I had gone to see
win - a real heavyweight! - he lost, too, that day, but this poor loser needed me more, so
I married Mike here, instead - big mistake! - we had no money - I had to take a job as a
clerk, told Mike he had to find something, something to do! - since he didn’t have the will
to fight no more, got knocked down one last time and couldn’t get up off the mat,
couldn’t get up - told him I couldn’t carry us both on my clerk’s pay - get something
going - get anything!

MIKE
(Drinks)
I was down and without a job in Richmond.. took a walk by the Bay, watched the sun go
down, again.. and saw the glimmer, again - that golden glimmer.. and somethin’ in me -
inside my head - began talkin’ to me, tellin’ me somethin’, somethin’.. I shook my head
and then started thinkin’ again! - about electronics, electronics.. started talkin’ ‘round
and ‘round - finally talked someone into hirin’ me at a big lab.. they trained me to make
things - things they wanted, these scientists - electronic gizmos that could hustle their
radiation along.. I knew what they wanted, with their big ideas about their big radiation! -
just explain it to me once and I could make it! - they liked that, paid me for it - because
they couldn’t make anything with their weak hands, could only think about things with
their big heads - that was why our thing worked so well - we needed each other, I knew
that! What I didn’t know was that I was gettin’ hit, again - not with fists, but with radiation
- lots of radiation! - new blows hittin’ my body - I didn’t even know I was gettin’ hit! -
 1-19
MIKE (Con’t.)
invisible punches, round after round - the fight went on for years! - I took the silent rays,
everything radiation threw at me - and stayed on my feet! - radiation couldn’t knock me
down - I was the champ! The champ!
(Pauses, drinks, squints off)
But one hot night I’m dreamin’ I’m fightin’, fightin’ someone - or something - fightin‘ hard!
- and get knocked down! - on the mat, again.. suddenly the bell rings and the round is
over! - and I wake up.. lookin‘ up at the ceiling fan - not from the mat, but from my own
bed, again - blurry, all blurry - the fan’s spinnin‘ blurry! - and the fan stays blurry day and
night, night and day - same old story, I got beat - got hit in the eyes by the radiation
champ - and after that I couldn’t see so good no more...

LIL
Couldn’t patch him up, again - couldn’t see the fight and couldn’t see the cuts - couldn’t
see where to put the hanky! - it was a secret fight he was waging all those years, and
neither of us knew he had lost, again - until we both heard the final bell, and wound up
in a corner, again, defeated...
(Drinks)

MIKE
Radiation. Knocked me out. Knocked out my eyes and knocked out my job.. and now
here we are, on my small pension, crouchin’ under a bridge - might as well be a couple
of hobos, eatin’ beans from a can, waitin’ to hop a freight, any freight - maybe the last
big freight train!
(Drinks)
I may be ready.. jump, boy, jump!
(Drinks)
No more stinkin’ lousy days!

LIL
Yours are the ones which stink..
(Drinks)

MIKE
Yours stink, too, all your days - stink! Do it, boy - I’d do it, I want to..

LIL
You liar!

MIKE
(Drinks)
And after you’ve done it, shot past our window, and splash and it’s done, and you cross
over to the other side, to the wonderful spirit world, full of poerty and light and Hart
Crane.. write and tell me what it’s like, boy - do the days stink there, too? - write and tell
me, boy - don’t forget to write...
 1-20
MIKE (Con’t.)
(Drinks, squinting at GEORGE)
It’s that girl, isn’t it? - all over that girl - she dumped you..

GEORGE
Shut up - shut up!

MIKE
It’s that girl..

LIL
He said shut up, so shut up!

MIKE
She’s not worth the jump, boy - no girl is - why don’t you just stay off the bridge, son -
stay on dry ground, not underwater - take care of your mom - get a job! If I had a son,
I’d tell him, “Get a job, you’re not staying here!”
(Pauses, drinks)
Where’s your dad?

GEORGE
He left..

MIKE
Sends you money to live on..

GEORGE
No money..

LIL
His mother gives him money, still suckling..

GEORGE
He doesn’t work, my dad..

MIKE
Oh, doesn’t work, doesn’t work! - I know him! - I know your daddy! - one of the new
men! Work’s boring - I’m not cut out for the old nine-to-five, the old rat race - I’ll just stay
home with mommy, or the wife will work - anyway, I can’t work, I’m a new kind of man -
we don’t work, we can’t work, we won’t work - that’s what you’re becoming, boy - a new
man, just like your daddy, a small leech on the big leg of society - you think the rest of
us will carry you on our legs, on our taxes and hard work - well, I became the
breadwinner in this family, but one day couldn’t see so good no more - got forced to
retire, tossed out - right in the old dumpster! Now I can’t carry you on my leg anymore,
you and all the new men - there’s no more room on my leg for you and your daddy and
 1-21
MIKE (Con’t.)
all the new men, no room at all - I haven’t got eyes anymore, got tossed out with the
trash - and now, you and your daddy and all the new men - you leeches! - you’ll have to
jump - jump off my leg, and jump off that bridge while you’re at it - jump! - you can all
jump!
(Drinks)

LIL
Don’t listen to him! - he can’t see straight and can’t think straight, ever since they
burned his eyes out with their radiation - burned his brain out, too!

MIKE
Electronics! - that’s how it started - loved those wires and tubes, fixin’ things - and then
people began to pay me! - just a short hop into big rooms filled with big machines and
big radiation - lots and lots of radiation! - Los Alamos, the Accelerator, all that big
radiation...
(Squints over at GEORGE)
I can teach you electronics, boy, like I would have taught my own son, the son that -
thanks to Mr. Radiation - I could never have...
(Drinks, gestures at machine)
See that gadget over there? I invented it! That’s why they let me take it home - it’s mine!
They got the patent and the money, but I got the gadget! Doesn’t matter what it does.. it
works! And I made it - was the only one who could make it - not those guys with the big
heads - they could dream it, but they couldn’t build it - that’s why they turned to me -
Mike! I made their ideas work! That’s why they needed me! Mike!
(Squints at GEORGE)
And I can teach you to make gadgets, too, boy - electronics! Learn it! Or jump. Learn or
jump - there’s a motto - learn or jump!
(Squints at GEORGE, drinks)

GEORGE
(Pauses, reaches down, snaps suitcase shut,
picks it up as he stands up)
It’s time...
(He heads for the front door)

MIKE
(Squinting at him)
And don’t forget, boy.. after you’ve done it - jumped! - and that great big splash, and
maybe you’re still alive, and you’re sinking down to the far deep, the far dark, cold and
wet and sinking - and the cute little fish are just starting to nibble at your nose, lick your
lips and tug at your hair, and your young girl’s picture has melted into a soggy mess that
sinks to the bottom ahead of you and drapes over a creepy-crawly, like a wedding dress
that will never be worn by none but a crab - don’t forget, you could have been like me,
 1-22
MIKE (Con’t.)
boy, with a wife that stinks and a life that stinks.. but it’s better than what I didn’t want,
son.. a life of loneliness and defeat, bitterness and rags...

GEORGE
(Pauses, looks at machine, looks at MIKE)
I’m gone...
(EXITS with his suitcase. MIKE drinks, looks
down at the book he’s still holding)

MIKE
He forgot his poerty...

LIL
(Going to window, looking up at the bridge)
How long will it take him?

MIKE
(Squinting up at bridge)
Not long.. he’s young and he’s strong - he’ll find a catwalk and climb up, high up this big
‘ol bridge, straight up and quick as he can...

LIL
(Pauses)
He coulda’ been like a.. like a son...
(Drinks)

MIKE
I’m sorry...

LIL
For what?

MIKE
You know...

LIL
I just want to hear you say it...

MIKE
(Pauses)
I’m sorry our son.. couldn’t be...
(Drinks)
I wanted a son.. you know that, Lil...
(Drinks)
 1-23
MIKE (Con’t.)
Or a daughter.. you wanted a daughter...

LIL
(Pauses)
A son would have been fine...

MIKE
Radiation..
(Drinks)

LIL
It’s okay, Mike...

MIKE
This boy here, climbing up this bridge.. he’s got no real dad...

LIL
He’s got a mother...

MIKE
But no dad, no direction...
(Drinks)
I coulda’.. given this boy some direction, a new direction...
(Drinks, squints up at bridge)
I never shoulda’ told him to climb up this bridge.. it’s just that I knew, thought I knew,
he’d made his mind up a long time ago... now what’s he doing?

LIL
(Looking up at bridge)
He’s found a catwalk, pretty far up it...

MIKE
He’ll jump, that boy, if he’s a mind to..
(Drinks)

LIL
(Looking up)
Now he’s stopped.. just standing there, leanin‘ into the wind, lookin‘ down, shirt flappin‘
in the wind... Mike, I just don’t know what to say..!

MIKE
(Squinting up at bridge)
Don’t forget to write, stupid...
(Drinks)
 1-24
LIL
Fog’s lifted for the minute...
(Her face is lit up by the sunlight)
I can see the sun on his face.. it’s like a little boy’s face...
(Looking up)
.. a little boy clutching a big lunchpail and peering out, way out.. at something only he
can see near the setting sun...

MIKE
(Squinting off)
At the glimmer...

LIL
What?

MIKE
(Squinting off)
The glimmer.. that golden glimmer.. I think I just now got it, Lil.. what the glimmer was
tellin’ me, all these years.. the glimmer’s been sayin’, “Up off the mat, boy - up off the
mat!”
(Squints up at bridge)

LIL
(Looking up at bridge)
Maybe we should call somebody...

MIKE
He’ll just jump, again, if he’s a mind to...

LIL
(Looking up)
He’s holding onto something small - it’s fluttering in the wind...

MIKE
Maybe his young girl’s picture.. maybe his life...

LIL
(Looking up)
He let it go.. it’s spinnin‘ away.. now he’s totterin’, totterin‘ - totterin’! - clutchin‘ his bag -
holding the bridge with a hand!
(Her face darkens, straining to see)

MIKE
What do you see? - where’s the boy? - can’t you see, Lil?
 1-25
LIL
Fog is dropped back thick - can’t see him no more! - Mike, maybe we should call the
police, or tell his ma! But I just don’t know what to say..!

MIKE
(Squinting up at bridge, shouts up)
Up off the mat, boy - up off the mat!
(Pauses, puts down his glass, squints at book
of poetry. LIL turns away, wipes her eye. MIKE
stumbles his way to one of the side windows,
throws it open - the SOUNDS of the river and
the traffic grow louder and more distinct - the
bridge is seen through the thick swirling fog,
bridge lights dimmed and twinkling. MIKE
squints up, a pause. A sudden plummeting
shape pierces the fog, a pause, a faint
SPLASH. The foghorn SOUNDS. MIKE turns from
the window, squints at LIL.)
I’m sorry, Lil, sorry for it all...

LIL
(Pauses, looking back at him)
Too late for the boy, Mike..?

MIKE
(Pauses, squints at book)
Too late, Lil...

LIL
(Pauses)
And for us, Mike?

MIKE
(Pauses)
I don’t know, Lil...
(Squinting off)
If I could just see that glimmer, again, that glimmer.. but I can’t, I just can’t...

LIL
(Pauses, goes to him, takes his hand in hers)
I can see, Mike.. I’m your eyes...

MIKE
(Pauses)
My eyes.. you are my eyes, Lil...
 1-26
MIKE (Con’t.)
(Squints up at the bridge, squints at her)
Tomorrow.. maybe.. we should take a walk by the Bay, like we used to.. watch that ‘ol
sun go down, again... might even see the glimmer, that golden glimmer... might even
listen to it, Lil.. the two of us...

LIL
(Pauses, holding his hand)
That boy was a good boy...

MIKE
(Squints at the book of poetry he’s
holding)
He had.. promise...

LIL
(Pauses)
Mike.. what are we going to tell his ma?

MIKE
(Pauses)
The truth.. that your only son, your little man, has drowned himself.. and we didn’t stop
him.. and now he’s lying quietly and cold, at the bottom of this Bay, swaying back and
forth with the seaweed.. and you’re the one who’s alone, his mother, all alone without a
son.. and the wife and I, we’re sorry, really very sorry, for what we did to you.. and we
should pay for it - we’ll pay, Lil...
(He lets go of LIL’S hand, turns away, a pause -
a soft KNOCK at the front door)

LIL
That’s her.. wants to know, her boy, her only child, her precious.. have we seen him
anywhere?
(Another soft KNOCK)

MIKE
Answer it, Lil...
(LIL pauses, wipes her eyes, goes to the door,
slowly opens it - ENTER GEORGE - he walks
in, pauses in front of MIKE and LIL as if to
speak, then continues past them to the machine,
stands and stares at it, reaches out and touches
it, finds a switch on the side, flips it - the machine
clicks to life, glowing with a pulsing machine
life, humming to itself)
 1-27
LIL
Where’s his bag?

MIKE
He chucked it.. into the drink.. and everything in it, the girl, the past - cut loose from it
all..
(Squints at book he’s still holding)
Except for the poerty...

GEORGE
(Stares at the machine, pauses, listening to its
electronic humming - turns and faces MIKE)

Teach.. me...
(A slow FADE to black)

END OF ACT 1
 ACT 2 2-1

AT RISE: Mike sitting at the table alone, a glass and a bottle in front of him. A pause,
and a KNOCK on the door.

MIKE
What?

(ENTER GEORGE - he leaves the door open -

we hear the SOUNDS of the traffic)

Well, did you get what you wanted?

(GEORGE says nothing)

Well?
(Squints in George’s direction))

The interview at The Accelerator - I set you up!

GEORGE
Yes, I went.. they took me underground to a big shop, to talk to a guy named
Blackwell...

MIKE
Blackwell, Blackwell, the shop foreman! - he was the one who.. got me retired...

GEORGE
He showed me around.. the supply room, the tool room, the electronic stuff on all the
shop benches, introduced me to all the guys working..

MIKE
(Interrupting)
Yes, working!

GEORGE
One guy said he still remembered you.. an old guy at a bench by a big door with a
security grate and all kind of locks..

MIKE
Fred - that’s Fred! - my old buddy, Fred.. I’d help him at his work, he’d help me, and
every day on our way home from work, we’d stop by a bar, slam back a couple of Irish
coffees - and talk our heads off about.. work!

GEORGE
Yes, Fred.. well, Blackwell told me privately, it was Fred’s last day.. he’d developed a
problem in his, his..
 2-2
MIKE
(Interrupting)
I don’t want to know, I don’t want to know!

GEORGE
(Pauses)
It seemed Blackwell was looking for a replacement for Fred...

MIKE
Replace Fred? - you can’t replace Fred - nobody can replace Fred! - he knows
everything about electronics - and not afraid to show it! - he was the only one would
stand up to Blackwell!

GEORGE
But, you know a lot about electronics, and they replaced you...

MIKE
Me? - that was different! - I was.. having trouble seeing those little screws and wires..
why, they had to replace me - it was best for the project!

GEORGE
(Pauses)
Where does that big door go, the one by Fred’s bench?

MIKE
The door? - why the door goes to the tunnel - out that door you step into the tunnel -
that long, long tunnel.. turn right and you walk down to the target - turn left and you walk
up to the source!

GEORGE
The source of what?

MIKE
Why, the beam! - the whole project is in support of the beam - power up the beam and it
flashes through a tube down the tunnel and hits the target and knocks off tiny little
pieces of, of..! - oh, forget it - it’s all past...
(Pauses, looks off)
That’s why that door is always locked - with a code for the security grate - so you can’t
go in the tunnel when the beam is on - radiation! - they’re supposed to call you, those
scientists, on a red telephone - let you know they’re turning the beam on! - but one
time.. the red phone rang, and it was Blackwell.. and he just said, “Send Fred to the
source, have him adjust so and so..” - and so I put in the code for the security grate,
unlocked that big door - and Fred went left, into the dark, on the long walk to the source
- I could see his flashlight winking away - and then.. far off, ahead of Fred, I could hear
the beam powering up - “Fred!”, I shouted, “Fred!” - but he was already running back! -
 2-3
MIKE (Con’t.)
I got Blackwell on that red phone and got them to power down the beam - just as Fred
staggered through the door - leaving it wide open! - I ran over, slammed it shut, went
back to the phone and gave Blackwell hell! - told him - I told him! - don’t you ever power
up that beam again, until all the i’s are dotted and the t’s are crossed! - everything
seemed okay, but our badge readings went way up - I’m sure it was a mistake - just a
procedural error!... so, you got the job! - great! - when do you start?

GEORGE
(Pauses)
I told Blackwell.. I wanted to think about it..

MIKE
Think about it! - you want to think about it! - a man offers you a job, and you want to
think about it! - you know what it’s like to not have a job?

GEORGE
I don’t have a job now...

MIKE
That’s different! - you’re young, just starting out - you’re at the beginning of the journey -
I’m at the end!.. listen, I’ll tell you what it’s like to not have a job - one time, after I..
retired.. they asked me to come back, would pay me a day’s wage to cover for Fred - he
had to see a doctor for, for.. something.. and I knew the work - so, I clocked in and went
to Fred’s bench, and did what I knew how to do - and the guys were nice, even
Blackwell! - we shot the shit, worked on parts of the project - just like the old days!
(Turns away)
But it wasn’t the old days.. it was two years later, and I was no longer.. in the club - no
longer a member! - I wasn’t one of them anymore - a worker! - I was just a.. substitute..
and I no longer had a.. ticket... oh, they called me again, the next morning to, to..
substitute - but.. I just couldn’t do it... felt I had no.. position any more.. and later that
morning, I looked in the mirror and saw an old guy staring back at me - old age had
snuck up behind.. and grabbed me! - my prime years were over.. but I didn’t know, until
it was too late.. I was too busy working, trying to hold onto, onto.. something!
(Turns back to George)
Prime isn’t very long - you’re in your prime, and then it’s decline - you’re at the
beginning of your prime, boy - don’t waste it!
(He goes to the open door, listens to the
SOUNDS of the traffic)
Hear that traffic?
(They listen)
That’s them - coming home from work! - the people who.. belong! - they’re in their
prime!
 2-4
GEORGE
(Pauses, pulls a letter out of his pocket)
I got a letter, yesterday...

MIKE
It’s not from that girl, is it? - throw it away, George - throw it away!

GEORGE
It’s from my Grandpa, an old retired sea captain in Florida - his son still works on the
ships down there - chief mate of a sulfur tanker - that’s my uncle! - he says..

MIKE
(Interrupting)
You talking ships, you talking sailing? - is that what you’re talking, George?

GEORGE
(Pauses)
My uncle says they need an ordinary seaman on an ocean-going tugboat - two weeks
on, one week off - he helped me get my papers, when I was last down there - the tug
will be docking back in Florida in five days...

MIKE
Ships? - ships! - bleh! - you want a real job, George - a high tech job - one with a big
future - electronics! - not a job on some leaky old rust-bucket!

GEORGE
(Pauses)
My Granpot told me stories about life on the sea - the hot sun on your face, the salt
spray in your hair, the freedom of the wide open sea! - and exotic ports - we’ll be sailing
across the Gulf, then up the Mississippi, right past New Orleans!
(Mike turns away from him - he pauses)
Mike.. I don’t know if I can work underground in some small shop, by a dark tunnel filled
with radiation...

MIKE
(Pauses)
You were like a son to me - know that, George? - here, I’ve been trying to help you -
teach you things! - get your life on the right track, after all that.. business you got
yourself into!
(Pauses)
Still looking for mountains, George - mountains big enough to feel?

GEORGE
(Pauses)
I’m going to sea...
 2-5
MIKE
Same thing...

GEORGE
(Pauses)
I’m catching a Greyhound in an hour - Mother lent me the money - I have to get my bag
now, and say goodbye to her...
(GEORGE EXITS out door - Mike slowly sits
back down at the table, slowly raises the glass,
stares at the liquor in it, drinks slowly - ENTER
GEORGE again, with a battered suitcase)

GEORGE
I’ll see you.. you’ve done a lot for me, Mike - taught me a lot - and I guess I owe you my
life...

MIKE
(Pauses, gestures futilely)
You got your.. bag?

GEORGE
(Setting bag on table)
I’ve got it, Mike...

MIKE
(Pauses, squinting at bag)
Any rocks?

GEORGE
(Opening his bag as proof)
No.. no rocks this time...

MIKE
(Squinting at bag)
Poerty? - by that guy?

GEORGE
(Pulling a volume of poetry from the bag)
Hart Crane...

MIKE
I have a thing or two to say to him!

GEORGE
He’s passed on, now...
 2-6
MIKE
What happened to him?

GEORGE
(Pauses)
He jumped off a ship...

MIKE
Oh? - why would he do that?

GEORGE
Some woman..

MIKE
And he went to live in that wonderful spirit world!
(Pauses)
George.. could you read me from his poem, before you go?

GEORGE
The poem was called “The Bridge”...
(Opens book, leafs briefly, stops,
reads)
“O Sleepless as the river under thee,
Vaulting the sea, the prairies’ dreaming sod,
Unto us lowliest sometime sweep, descend,
And of the curveship lend a myth to God.”

MIKE
(Exploding)
Lend a myth to God! - what the hell does he know?
(Pauses)
Still.. poerty’s better than rocks in your bag, boy...

GEORGE
Gotta catch my bus...

MIKE
If you ever come back this way.. stop and say hello - if we’re still here...
(GEORGE nods and EXITS - Mike pauses,
staring off - ENTER LIL with a paper bag)

LIL
I saw the boy leaving with a bag.. I thought you set him up an interview!
(Puts the bag on the table)
 2-7
MIKE
I did.. set him up..

LIL
Well? - what did they say?
MIKE
(Pauses)
They.. haven’t got anything, right now.. put him on a waiting list - top of the list! - said
check back in.. six months...

LIL
That’s too bad.. where was he going? - not up the bridge, again?

MIKE
No, no bridge, Lil.. he’s going down to Florida, see his grandpa..

LIL
Yeah? - he got any work in Florida?

MIKE
Thinks he’s going to work on ships - a tanker, a tugboat - some fool thing - he’s young,
Lil - that’s what they do - want to see the world, all that! - he’ll be back...

LIL
So, George is gone...

MIKE
Let’s have a drink..
(Reaches for the bag, takes out a bottle,
unscrews cap)
It’s time for a drink...
(Squints, grabs a glass from the end of the
table, pours a drink - slides it over to her -
grabs his own glass, pours himself a drink)
A toast!
(They both lift their glass)
To the wild sea! - and a yo, ho, ho, and a bottle of rum!
(They drink)

LIL
While I was down at the liquor store, the owner asked me if I wanted some.. part time
work..
 2-8
MIKE
You’re not working in a liquor store! - it’s too dangerous - they got unsavory characters
going in there!

LIL
You go in there..

MIKE
(Pours himself another drink)
Then.. maybe I’ll see you sometime...
(Drinks)

LIL
Daily...

MIKE
Okay.. I guess that’s true..

LIL
He needs someone to keep his books - he knows I did that, when I was a clerk..

MIKE
(Pauses)
We could sure use the money!

LIL
(Drinks, pauses)
One of the first things I want to buy, is a new bed..

MIKE
(Pauses)
What for, a new bed - what’s wrong with the beds we got?

LIL
They’re singles.. that was your idea, two years ago - bought the day you retired - I want
rid of them, want to buy one big queen-size bed...

MIKE
(Pauses)
Well.. you’re the one who’s working, Lil, it’s your money.. I never did sleep well in my
own bed, anyway - I just never told you...

LIL
(Pauses)
What’s the matter?
 2-9
MIKE
(Pauses)
I keep waking up, in the middle of the night - feeling.. anxiousI - over.. things - and then
I have trouble getting back to sleep...

LIL
(Pauses)
Why didn’t you ever tell me?

MIKE
I didn’t want to wake you, worry you - it’s something a man’s got to work through...

LIL
(Pauses)
I could have held you...
(Mike says nothing, pours himself another
drink - drinks it - she watches him)
You need something to do..

MIKE
(Squinting at her)
Like watch TV?

LIL
Well, no..

MIKE
Sit here and drink and listen to the radio?

LIL
(Pauses)
What about a dog?

MIKE
Guide dogs for the blind?

LIL
(Pauses)
Maybe a hobby.. something like.. gardening...

MIKE
Oh! Oh! - old Mike crawling along the side of the house with a trowel, peering away at
his little gardenias, digging - while he listens to the sounds of cars driving by on this big
goddam freeway - people going somewhere!
 2-10
LIL
I’m just trying to help!
(A pause, he drinks)
Do you still have feelings for me, Mike?

MIKE
Of course, I have feelings for you, Lil!

LIL
(Pouring herself a drink)
Like what?
(Drinks)

MIKE
Like.. I don’t want you to die...

LIL
(Pauses)
How tender... once it was love...

MIKE
(Pours himself a drink)
Yeah, it’s still some of that, too!
(He drinks)

LIL
(Pauses)
Well, I don’t want you to die either, Mike..

MIKE
(Pauses, squinting at her)
We won’t die, Lil! - we’ll never die - we’re immortal!
(Pauses)
Aren’t we still immortal, Lil, like when we were young?
(Drinks)
When we were young, when we.. did things and went places!.. and now, we.. do nothing
and go nowhere...

LIL
(Pauses)
Where do you want to go?

MIKE
Away!
 2-11
LIL
(Pauses)
Since I’ll be working, we could dip into our savings, go somewhere..

MIKE
(Interrupting)
We could go to Florida.. to Florida! - I wonder if that old beach town is still there?

LIL
Of course, it’s still there - maybe changed some, but still there..

MIKE
We could walk along that beach at sunset - like I used to! - maybe the two of us sit on
that sea wall!.. if the sand hasn’t covered it up.. you know, Lil, it’s kind of a marker, that
old sea wall - marks the passing of time - like that old Plymouth I used to drive - the big
fight! - seeing the smile on your face, when I slipped the ring on your finger - turning on
the light over my workbench, my first day at the Accelerator - having that drink with my
dad, after he was clear of cancer - the phone call saying my mom had passed, and I
wasn’t there - turning off the light over my workbench, one last time - markers of time
past.. now gone, all gone.. one day, I’ll be gone, too - or you - one of us will be left all
alone.. and then one day, we’ll both be gone - leaving nothing to nobody, no kids, we
two - a dying ripple on the gene pool! - like we were.. never even here, never existed at
all.. it’s all so fragile, Lil.. that’s why I wake up at night!

LIL
(Pauses)
Well.. we’d better eat dinner, before the sands of time cover us up - I’ll fix that casserole
- what do you want in it?

MIKE
Oh, the usual, I guess..

(LIL starts to exit into the kitchen - he shouts

out to himself)
Old man!

LIL
(Over her shoulder)
Stop feeling sorry for yourself!
(LIL EXITS into the kitchen - MIKE pours
himself another drink, stares out over the rim of
the glass - the CLATTER of a pot and its lid in
the kitchen - ENTER LIL back from the
kitchen - potholder in hand)
 2-12
LIL
Guess who came into the liquor store, while I was there? - Fred.. remember Fred? -
how we used to all hang out at dinner? - when you had a job...

MIKE
How could I forget Fred! - I worked right next to him.. seventeen years!

LIL
He was on his way home from work - stopped in to get cigarettes, said he was feeling
stressed - they retired him today! - he seemed to be limping...

MIKE
His last day of work.. so, what’s he going to do?

LIL
He didn’t say..

MIKE
I haven’t seen old Fred in two years, since he stopped coming to dinner - never
understood why he stopped coming over..
(A KNOCK on the door - Mike goes to it, opens
the door - ENTER FRED)

FRED
Mike!

MIKE
Fred!

FRED
And Lil!
(He goes to hug her - she sticks out her hand)

LIL
Hello.. Fred..

FRED
You know, seeing you, Lil, brought back old memories.. I just felt I had to see you,
again - both of you! - good seeing you!
(He shakes her hand)
 2-13

LIL
You.. too..

FRED
It’s been a couple of years!

LIL
Seems like.. more.. I’m sure you two have a lot to talk about.. I’ve got to fix a casserole..
(LIL EXITS into the kitchen - an awkward
pause)

MIKE
(Breaking the pause)
Fred, you’re.. retired!

FRED
Well.. I wasn’t planning on it, quite this soon..

MIKE
Oh, neither was I, neither was I - but now, you’re done!

FRED
Guess so..

MIKE
Done with your job at The Accelerator! - all those days - those days! - we’d go to work
every stinking day in that old dungeon! - and after work, on the way home, stop by that
bar, slam back Irish coffees, and talk about.. work! - remember, Fred?

FRED
I.. remember...

MIKE
Now.. now! - what are you going to do, Fred? - want a drink?

FRED
No, no drink, Mike..

MIKE
What do mean, no drink? - why, we were slamming them back, just yesterday - and
today, you’re retired!

FRED
I had to.. give up drinking, Mike.. I got.. medical issues..
 2-14
MIKE
What do mean, issues? - why, look at me! - I’ve got issues - and look at me!
(Toasts Fred with his glass)

FRED
Look at you, Mike..

MIKE
I mean, I can’t see so good - but that doesn’t stop me from doing!

FRED
Then.. why did they retire you?

MIKE
Why.. I retired myself! - I was just.. no longer as.. effective, as I used to be.. thought it
time to leave - it’s a man’s pride!

FRED
And now, I’m retired, Mike - just today - who would have thought it would be today?

MIKE
Today, tomorrow - what does it matter! - you’re retired! - how do you feel?

FRED
It’s only been an hour..

MIKE
Well, I can tell you how it feels - it’s great, just great! - and I’ve been retired two years! -
you’ll get used to it.. what are you going to do?

FRED
(Pauses, pulls out some loose papers)
I got some.. ideas..

MIKE
Oh, me too, me too - I had big ideas, for when I retired! - you going to join the Eagles,
Fred? - maybe play bingo, or go bowling? - oh, I used to be a great bowler - once, a two
hundred game, and I was just a kid - a kid! - bowling.. or something?

FRED
I don’t think so...

MIKE
You need a drink! - it’ll help you think about retirement.. let’s have a drink, Fred!
 2-15
FRED
I don’t drink anymore, Mike..

MIKE
(He slowly becomes bathed in a green light)
Don’t drink, don’t drink? - what kind of talk is that? - don’t drink! - where’s the fun in
that? - why, you might as well have your head removed! - how can you have any fun if
you don’t drink? - Fred, how can we talk?

FRED
(Uncomfortable)
I don’t know...

MIKE
How about a Shirley Temple? - isn’t that what you people drink? - or water! - but you
know what they say about water - rusts pipes!

FRED
(Going to the door)
I think I gotta go.. it’s been good seeing you, Mike...

MIKE
(The green light on Mike fades)
Where you going, Fred? - where have you got to go? - you have no one - a little
apartment, you and the walls - what are you going to do? - fix dinner for yourself, and
put the TV on for company? - you’re retired! - you have nowhere to go tomorrow - no
reason to get up! - why not stay and have dinner with us - shoot the shit! - like the old
days! - you don’t have to drink, that’s okay - just watch us! - we’ll have fun!
(A pause, they look at each other)
Fred.. I’m not doing well...

FRED
What’s the matter?

MIKE
The matter, what’s the matter? - Fred, I.. don’t know.. I get up in the morning, brush my
teeth, shave, shower, get my clothes on, eat breakfast with Lil - and it’s all in slow
motion, just a ritual, because after that.. I just don’t know what to do, anymore... come
on over here, sit down - let’s talk..
(Fred limps over to the table, puts the papers
down, sits down)
What’s the matter with your leg?

FRED
Doc says it’s a clot, deep in my calf...
 2-16
MIKE
(Pauses)
Well, what caused that?

FRED
I don’t know.. I’m taking medication - try and dissolve it...

MIKE
How long’s that gonna take?

FRED
Maybe six months...
MIKE
(Pauses)
Well.. we don’t want it to travel...

FRED
Hope not.. not to my heart, not to my brain... the curtain would drop suddenly, on the
last scene of my life...

MIKE
Wouldn’t that be something? - one day retired, next day dead!
(Fred looks away)
Sorry...
(Pauses)
But isn’t getting old a bitch? - one thing after another.. you start losing pieces of
yourself, of your abilities.. even the bravado of youth deserts you!.. and one day you’re
standing there - looking ahead, you think - trying to see your end... maybe I’m lucky the
end is all blurry for me - my end... I don’t know what to expect.. blackness, nothingness?
- sounds boring! - if there’s anything left of me to get bored, lying there still, in a box -
they’re not burning me up! - or that glorious afterlife? - the green pastures, the frolicking
lambs! - everyone walking around starry-eyed, sipping ambrosia...
(Pauses)
I wonder if you can get drunk on ambrosia?

FRED
You probably wouldn’t want to be drunk in heaven..
(Gestures to above)
He might not like it...

MIKE
I suppose not... I’m just lucky I’ve got Lil.. Lil will always be with me, wherever we go!..
or don’t go...
 2-17
FRED
You are lucky to have Lil, Mike.. you don’t know how lucky...

MIKE
(Looking over at him)
What about you?

FRED
(Pauses)
Nothing.. ever worked out for me.. I think I’ll be alone to the end...

MIKE
(Pauses)
Well, we’ll be here for you, Fred - Lil and I! - we’ll always be together! - you’ll always
have someone to turn to - you’re not alone, Fred - you’ll have the two of us!

FRED
Good to know that..
(Pauses)
Mike.. these past few months.. while the.. clot was, was.. forming, and I started limping..
I was thinking... I got a little money saved up, I got a few tools.. so I called one of the
sub-contractors for The Accelerator - remember LBL? - remember Dave?.. he said they
needed some bids on a side job..
(He picks up the papers, waves them in Mike’s
direction)

MIKE
(Pauses)
A bid? - on a job? - what kind of job?

FRED
Radar... for a new type of radar system.. a job making a small component, just a piece
of it...

MIKE
Radar? - I know a little about radar..

FRED
(Interrupting)
I know a lot about radar!
(Waving the papers)
My bid’s only nine thousand dollars, but it’s a start - I’m thinking of starting a business,
Mike - part time - but that’s enough!
 2-18
MIKE
(Warming to the idea)
A business? - electronics? - you talking electronics, Fred? - then what you’re gonna
need is a shop! - a cheap place to lease - there’s an old garage behind this place -
belongs to the landlady - Lil and I got some stuff stored in there, but that’s all - there’s
no cars in there - I could talk to the landlady!

FRED
(Not hearing him)
Maybe I’ll hire some young guy, teach him how to do some work.. now, I’ve got a
nephew..

MIKE
(Interrupting him)
No, no! - I’ve got just the guy! - the landlady’s son - George! - he knows something
about electronics - I taught him myself! - as if he were my son! - he’s just right for the job
- and I’ll come back and help you both work - it’ll be great! - like the old days! - we’ll all
work right alongside each other! - now, if we can just catch George before he leaves..!
(Going to the door)
Fred, Fred! - can you drive me down to the Greyhound, Fred?

FRED
What, now? - the bus station?

MIKE
(Shouting to the kitchen)
Lil! Lil! Set the table for four! - you, me, Fred, and.. we’re going to the Greyhound! - be
right back with a big surprise! - let’s go, Fred - hurry, now - before it’s too late!
(Stumbles to the door, pauses at it, squints
back at Fred)
Partners? - we’re partners, right? - partners, Fred?

FRED
(Pauses)
Mike.. I don’t know about partners.. how could you see those screws again, those
color-coded wires, those..?

MIKE
(Interrupting him)
I can see! - and I’ve got tools! - I have some of my own, and I .. well, I took some from
work, the day I got.. retired - Blackwell owed me, Fred! - The Accelerator owed me! -
listen, you and I always got along, worked well together - I’d just walk back to the
garage, and work with you and George - we got tools and we know how to work! - and
after work, we could go by the bar again, and slam ‘em back! - like we used to - talk
about work - hell yes, work! - we’d be.. working, again - we’d be.. needed, again!
 2-19
MIKE (Con’t.)
(Gestures to the SOUND of the traffic)
We’d be.. one of them, again!
(Pauses, squinting at Fred)
Fred.. won’t you drive me down to the Greyhound, Fred?
(Pauses)
Fred?
FRED
(Pauses)
Mike.. you can’t see.. and your.. drinking.. I’m sorry, but.. you even drank at work! -
secretly, you thought - but I knew, I knew - I just never told anybody!

MIKE
(Pauses)
What the hell’s that got to do with anything?

FRED
(Pauses)
I can’t promise anything now, with this clot.. at first, I’ll just make my shop in my
apartment.. then, if I have to sit down, or, or.. if something happens to me...
(Getting up, leaving the bid on the table)
Sorry, Mike.. but it’s better I work alone, now.. I’m going..
(Limps to the door)
I got a lot of.. things to think about, now I’m retired.. bye, Mike - good seeing you,
again.. say goodbye to.. Lil...
(FRED EXITS, the screen door bangs - Mike
slowly closes the door, comes back, pauses at
window, squints toward bridge - ENTER LIL)

LIL
I thought you were going to the Greyhound with Fred...

MIKE
I was going, Lil.. we were going! - but now it’s just Fred going home - he’s starting a new
business, and he has a lot to do! - and he.. he just doesn’t need me...
(Mike turns away)
Nobody needs me...
(Squints over at her)
Aren’t you going to yell at me, Lil? - tell me, it’s my fault! - that I just can’t get up off the
mat, anymore? - huh? - don’t you want to shout at me, Lil?
(Lil says nothing - he turns and squints out
the window)
Lil.. I just feel.. I don’t matter, anymore...
(Lil goes to him, puts her arms around him)
 2-20
LIL
You matter to me, Mike...
(They pause in a tableau)

MIKE
Without you.. I’d be so alone..
(Squinting out the window)
Is there a sunset, Lil?

LIL
(Holding him, looking out the window)
Yes.. just starting.. it’s a beautiful one, Mike...

MIKE
(Squinting)
Can you see the.. glimmer, Lil?

LIL
(Looking out)
No, no glimmer, Mike - it hasn’t started shining, yet..

MIKE
(Pauses, squinting out)
The golden glimmer has been.. whispering to me, Lil - whispering...
(Pauses, squints at Lil)
Lil .. tonight.. want me to push our beds together?

LIL
(Pauses)
You really needn’t do that, Mike.. here, let me clear the table, and we’ll eat..
(She picks up the glasses, and the bid papers)
What’s this?

MIKE
(Squinting)
What’s what?

LIL
(Waving the papers at him)
Looks like somebody’s designs for something..

MIKE
Oh, that... they’re Fred’s.. he must have left them.. it’s a bid for part of a new radar
system.. a job that he.. got for himself...
 2-21
LIL
Well, I’ll give it to him later..
(She starts to exit into the kitchen with the
glasses and the papers for the bid)

MIKE
(Pauses)
Later?
(Lil pauses)
What do you mean.. later? - why, the only time we ever see Fred, is when he stays for
dinner - and that hasn’t been for two years!

LIL
(Going back to him)
Then you give it to him.. whenever you see him..
(Gives him the papers - starts to exit to the
kitchen, again)

MIKE
(Pauses)
Lil...
(She pauses, again)
You said you ran into Fred at the liquor store..

LIL
(Pauses)
So?

MIKE
That he stopped in to buy cigarettes..

LIL
(Pauses)
Yeah?

MIKE
(Pauses)
Fred doesn’t smoke..

LIL
(Pauses)
Well, he does now.. said he was all stressed out, about his retirement..
(She starts to exit, again)
 2-22
MIKE
(Pauses)
The liquor store is only four blocks away.. you were gone an hour...

LIL
(Pauses)
So, I stopped in at the bar next to it..

MIKE
(Pauses)
Why would you do that?

LIL
(Pauses)
Maybe for some company..

MIKE
Some company, some company.. I’m not company?

LIL
Mike.. sometimes I just need other people..

MIKE
(Pauses)
I can understand that, I can understand..
(Pauses)
.. and maybe sometimes, you just need another person.. maybe someone to meet...

LIL
(Pauses)
All right, all right.. I ran into Fred at the bar..

MIKE
Fred doesn’t drink anymore.. that’s what he said...

LIL
(Pauses)
He just.. doesn’t want to drink here..

MIKE
Why not?

LIL
(Pauses)
Why don’t you ask him?.. look, Mike, Fred and I just had a drink, a little drink..
 2-23
MIKE
(Pauses)
You and Fred had a little drink.. and how many times have you and old Fred had a little
drink? - and how many times have you been late from the liquor store? - and sometimes
even at night, you come home late!

LIL
(Pauses)
Only a few times, I’ve been late.. he’s an old friend of ours!

MIKE
Who we haven’t seen in two years! - or, or.. maybe you know better...
Lil pauses, turns, looks up out the window at
the bridge, turns back to Mike)

LIL
You think I’m having an affair?

MIKE
(Pauses, squints in her direction)
I don’t know what to think!
(Pauses, squints at her)
Sex?

LIL
(Pauses)
Well, we - Fred and I - we talked about..

MIKE
(Interrupting her, turning away from her)
I don’t want to know!
(She stares at his back - Mike raises the
bid papers up to his eyes, squints at them)
I want to you to read his bid to me.. I want to know all about it!
(Shoves the papers in her direction)
Read it...

LIL
(Backing away)
I can’t..

MIKE
(Shouting at her)
Read his bid!
 2-24
LIL
I’ve already read it! - I’m the one who pushed him to write it! - at least he’s willing to do
something, Mike! - willing to try something! - something besides complain all day!

MIKE
(Pauses, throws the bid to the floor - the
papers scatter)
Get your stuff.. you’re not staying here, anymore...

LIL
(Pauses)
Where can I stay, Mike? - where can I go?

MIKE
To a cheap motel.. or maybe to Fred’s!
(He squints over at her - Lil hesitates)
Get out!
(Mike turns and squints up at the bridge - she
talks to his back)

LIL
Mike.. can we talk about this?

MIKE
Talk, talk? - sure, sure we can talk, Lil..
(Turns and faces her)
Get your stuff packed! - there, we just talked!
(LIL pauses, looking at him - turns and EXITS
into the bedroom - Mike pauses, then gets
down on his knees, crawls around on the floor,
squinting, collecting the bid papers - A KNOCK
on the door)

MIKE
(Pauses, calls out)
What? - who is it?

FRED (OFFSTAGE)
It’s me, Fred...

(Mike pauses, gets up, squinting at the door -

slowly walks over to the door, slowly opens it -
FRED ENTERS)
 2-25
FRED
I forgot my bid..
(Holds out his hand - Mike squints down at the
papers - slowly squints back up at Fred)

MIKE
Fred.. how long has it been?

FRED
Since I had dinner with you and Lil? - I guess a couple of years - I’m sorry, Mike - I just
felt, after you retired, that maybe we didn’t have anything in..

MIKE
(Interrupting, shouting at him)
How long have you been seeing my wife?
(Fred pauses)
You’ve been meeting with her.. secretly, Fred!

FRED
Mike.. there is no secret..

MIKE
She told me! - secretly meeting in a bar! - maybe candlelights and wine.. when she
should have been home with me! - how do you explain that?

FRED
(Pauses)
It’s just that, just that.. I’m.. lonely, Mike.. and Lil’s lonely..

MIKE
Lonely? - how could Lil be lonely? - she has me - she has Mike, her husband!

FRED
It.. she says.. it just isn’t enough for her.. to be stuck all the time in this little house by
this big freeway, drinking and arguing with you - listening to you complain!

MIKE
What business is that of yours?
(Pauses)
What about the sanctity of marriage? - and what about me? - Lil’s all I’ve got left, Fred! -
I’ve got no job, no eyes, no respect anymore - now, you want to take my Lil from me?

FRED
(Pauses)
Mike.. Lil and I.. we both just wanted.. a little conversation, that’s all..
 2-26
MIKE
(Shouting)
Conversation? And what else? What else, Fred?
(Fred pauses, looking at him - Mike thrusts the
bid papers at him)
Get out of here...
(Fred slowly takes the bid papers, turns and
EXITS out the front door - the SOUND of a car
starting up and driving away - a pause, Mike
turns back to the window, squints up at the
bridge, again, listens to the traffic - ENTER LIL with
her purse in one hand, a bag in the other - she
pauses and stares at Mike’s back)

LIL
I’m going now.. I’ll get the rest of my things, tomorrow.. is this what you want?

MIKE
(Squinting up at the bridge)
What I want.. is for things to be the way they were...

LIL
(Pauses)
I heard what you said to Fred...

MIKE
(Spinning around, squinting at her)
Did you have to sneak around on me? - you and Fred? - and lie, lie, lie - the two of you!
- deceive me!

LIL
(Pauses)
Mike.. it’s not what you think..

MIKE
(Shouting at her)
Well, what is it, then?

LIL
(Pauses)
It’s just two people having a.. friendship...

MIKE
Oh? - and why should I believe you? - or him?
 2-27
MIKE (CON’T.)
(Squints over her head, squints at the ceiling -
then puts his fists up)
He’s lucky I didn’t punch him out - damn lucky! - I can still punch, Lil!
(Punches the air - she puts her hands over his
fists - slowly lowers them)
I’m sorry, Lil, I’m sorry - I’m getting beaten down, Lil - beaten down by it all...

LIL
(Pauses)
Mike sometimes.. you have difficulty understanding things..

MIKE
Oh! - well, maybe it’s the radiation!

LIL
It’s not the radiation.. it’s you getting set in your ways - stuck! - your world has been
shrinking, since you retired - I’m the only thing in it, now - me! - and the bottle - how
could a man love a bottle?

MIKE
(Shouting)
Well, you drink, too, let me tell you - you’ve been right there with me, you drunken bitch!

LIL
Oh, you had to go there!

MIKE
Bitch, bitch, bitch! Bitch!

LIL
Macho words from the man with no balls!

MIKE
Why do I need any? - you have a pair! - the queen bee! - sending your little worker bee
out from the hive every day to the radiation flower - to brink back the honey-money! -
well, after a while, the bee couldn’t see his way to the sweet little radiation flower -
couldn’t bring back the honey-money to the queen bee - and now, she needs a new
worker bee - Fred!

LIL
Worker bees are female, Mike! - the males stay in the hive, to impregnate the queen...
 2-28
MIKE
Oh, you know everything - everything! - wouldn’t work for me, though - I could never
impregnate the queen bee, no matter how hard I tried - radiation! - that’s why I can
hardly stand to touch you! - maybe Fred can give you the son! - I know I had a problem,
sleeping with a Frigidaire!

LIL
Oh, is that the problem? - is that all of it?

MIKE
That’s the heart of it!

LIL
Well, at least the problem has a heart!

MIKE
I have a heart - it just no longer belongs to you! - and neither does your heart - you’ve
given it to Fred - and who knows what else!

LIL
At least I got some affection from him - I get damn little from you!

MIKE
Oh, you admit it, now - having sex with my old friend!

LIL
Will you stop shouting?
(Pauses)
I slept with Fred.. as much as I could! - behind your back! - made love in the backs of
cars, motels, his apartment - anywhere! - and then we’d talk about it - laugh! - and share
a cigarette, that delicious cigarette! - is that what you want to hear? - is that what you
want to believe?

MIKE
I believe I have no need for you!

LIL
I’m going!

MIKE
Then go! - don’t tell me about it - and don’t look back - because I won’t!

LIL
I’m gone!
(Starts to EXIT)
 2-29
MIKE
Yes, out, out, out!

LIL
(Pausing at the door)
Mike.. why do you always screw everything up?
(LIL turns and EXITS - Mike stands, listening to
the freeway - then turns and squints at the last
of the sunset, the glimmer lighting up his face)

MIKE
Oh Lil, my Lil... now, you’re gone and I’m alone.. finally all alone.. what days we had, Lil!
- looking up into your face from down on the mat, you dabbing away at my cuts, always
dabbing away at me.. you finding me walking along the shore, and coming home with
me.. you celebrating with me when I got my job at the Accelerator - we must have drank
three bottles that night, planning our lives and laughing! - you bringing me food, when I
lay in bed three days, all down in the mouth, after they.. retired me.. you and I always
arguing over nothing.. and yet we kept on! - we always kept on.. until, until.. Fred came
along... guess you needed him.. maybe I didn’t give you enough.. never thought of
myself as selfish, but always I was thinking of.. my eyes, my problems, my retirement! -
guess it’s all right, you needing Fred.. I’ll get along.. and I won’t feel sorry for myself, not
me!.. I’ll just.. get along - might even get myself off the mat again, get myself going, get
myself doing! - but, now.. it’s too late.. too late for the two of us...
(Looks up, squints at the clock)
Who will read the clock for me?
(Pauses, turns away)
Maybe it’s better I don’t know, Lil.. don’t know how much time is passing...
(He goes to the window, squints up at the
bridge)
I’m a failure.. I’m at the end of my life, and I’m a complete failure.. I’ve lost my youth, my
sight, my job.. and now you, Lil - I’ve lost you...
(Throws open the window - the SOUNDS of
the river - gulls, a ship’s horn, traffic on the
bridge)
Maybe it’s time.. for me to find that catwalk.. climb up this bridge.. .
(Mike mimes climbing up the catwalk)
High as that catwalk will go...
(Mimes climbing)
Up to a girder..
(Stands, leans down, unties his shoes, tosses
them aside - the ghostly SOUND of two faint
splashes far below - he stands in his socks)
Balance there against the wind..
(He sways, as if balancing)
Walk out on that girder..
 2-30
MIKE (Con’t.)
(He slowly walks toward the front door,
balancing with his arms)
Feel for the end with my toes...
(He stops a few feet from the door, balances)
And then that last step.. into what?
(He hesitates, as the door slowly opens and
LIL stands there, bag in hand - she ENTERS,
drops the bag)

LIL
I don’t want Fred - It’s you I want - Mike.. be with me?
(She goes to him)

MIKE
(Pauses, squinting down at her)
Lil, oh my Lil.. yes, yes - be with you - it’s you I want, you only...
(He pulls her into his arms - they hold each
other - a pause, and another KNOCK - the
door opens, GEORGE ENTERS, puts his
suitcase down)

GEORGE
(Pauses)
I’m not going to sea - you helped me out, Mike - more than once! - I owe it to you to see
if there’s still a job available down there ...

LIL
George - I thought you were on a list, that you had to wait for..

MIKE
(Interrupting her)
No, no, you won’t take the job! - that dark Accelerator is no place for a bright young man
like you - why, you’ve got ambition! - I’ll talk to a guy I know - Dave at LBL! - he needs
bids on a new radar system..
(Mike turns and goes to the window, squints up
at the bridge)
George.. tomorrow morning you and I are going to clean out the garage - there’s an old
typewriter in there, a Simplex - you can type, can’t you?

GEORGE
(Pauses)
What do you want me to type?
 2-31
MIKE
George, come over here, be with us..
(George goes over by them at the window -
they pull him in between them)
Look out there.. can you see the sunset? - what does it look like, George, the sunset? -
can you tell me?

GEORGE
(Pauses, looks out)
It’s just a sunset...

MIKE
(Pauses)
But.. can you see a light, George.. some kind of golden light?

GEORGE
(Looking)
I think, maybe I see.. something golden...

MIKE
(Pauses, squinting out)
It’s the glimmer, George..
(Cocks his ear)
Can you hear what it’s saying, George - the glimmer? - can you?
(Pauses, ear cocked)
I hear it! - it’s saying... tomorrow.. we’re going to type up a bid! - a bid for a job, George,
a job! - tomorrow, you and I are going clean out the garage, lay out the tools, and start a
whole new shop - electronics!
(The glimmer’s rays light up their faces)
I feel the need for some poerty.. George, you got your poem?

GEORGE
Always have my “Bridge” with me...
(Rummages in his bag, pulls out the
book, leafs through some pages, stops, reads)
“O harp and altar, of the fury fused,
(How could mere toil align thy choiring strings!)
Terrific threshhold of the prophet’s pledge,
Prayer of pariah, and the lover’s cry,-”

MIKE
“.. and the lover’s cry..” - nice, nice line.. like it, Lil?

LIL
Love it...
 2-32
GEORGE
(Puts away the book))
I’ll square things with Mother - in the morning, we’ll start up that shop, Mike!
(GEORGE goes toward the door with his bag
with his bag)

MIKE
(Shouting after him)
I still don’t know what the hell the rest of it meant!
(GEORGE EXITS - Mike turns to Lil)
I’ll teach George the best of what I know - electronics! - he can be my eyes, in the shop
- like you are my eyes here, Lil - maybe you can do the books for us!

LIL
Yes, if it means being with you, Mike...

MIKE
(Getting excited)
We’ll all strive together! - get more bids, maybe more workers - strive to grow our shop -
grow our lives! - we’ll give George our best - the best of you and the best of me! - and
by the time we pass on - we’ll be able to leave him something! - help him make a place
in the world! - and one day, who knows? - maybe he’ll pass on what we gave him to a
son, and that son to another son - or maybe even to a daughter!
(Squints down at her)
“..and the lover’s cry..”
(Gathers her in his arms)
And when it’s all over, this life.. I’ll wait for you, Lil - or you wait for me - and we’ll be
together again, in that spirit world - wherever, forever! - sipping ambrosia, watching
those sunsets, looking for the glimmer! - and when we find it, we’ll listen to it, Lil, listen...
might even find Hart Crane over there! - talk to him about poerty, about what this life
was like, and about how.. we all still need love...
(They hold each other, as the LIGHTS DIM)

END OF ACT 2
 3-1
ACT 3

AT RISE: Mike sitting at the table, drinking. A KNOCK at the door.

MIKE
Come in...
(ENTER MARITZA - she stops, looks around)

MARITZA
I’m looking for George.. do you know George?

MIKE
George? George? - I know a George - he lives around here...

MARITZA
Do you know where?

MIKE
Why, right next door - but he practically lives here - we’re good buddies - come in,
sweetness - George will be here soon - he just went up for some parts..
(Puts glass down, gets up)
What’s your name?

MARITZA
(Pauses, looks around - then comes in further)
Maritza - I used to be George’s friend..

MIKE
Michael, Maritza - Maritza, Mike - has a ring to it! Sit down, sit down - we’ll wait for old
George.. drink?

MARITZA
No, thank you..
(They both sit down at the table)

MIKE
(Picks up his glass)
Don’t mind if I do!
(Drinks - an awkward pause)
You look familiar - I’ve seen you before..

MARITZA
I used to be George’s girlfriend..
 3-2

MIKE
Oh, yes - I’ve seen your picture - the gypsy girl!

MARITZA
But I’m not Romanian - my mother’s from Honduras, my father from El Salvador - I’m
Honduran and Salvadoran..

MIKE
Oh.. South American, huh?

MARITZA
Central American - I’m not legal, but I made my way up here, put myself through
college, and now I have a degree..

MIKE
Not legal, not legal.. well, when you’re young and beautiful, who needs to be legal,
that’s what I say!

MARITZA
Well.. I’d rather be legal...
(Another awkward pause)

MARITZA
What do you do, Michael?

MIKE
Mike! - do? - what do I do?.. why.. I’m a writer..

MARITZA
Oh? - what do you write?

MIKE
Novels...

MARITZA
Any published?

MIKE
Several..

MARITZA
I read a lot of novels - maybe I’ve heard of one of yours - tell me a title!
 3-3
MIKE
(Pauses, drinks)
I can’t.. actually I’m a ghost writer.. I get paid tons of money to write other people’s
stories, but I can’t tell you what they’re called - it’s part of the deal.. let’s just say my
client used to work for MI6 and I have to travel back and forth to London a lot - he was
known as a spymaster - Cold War, that time - I actually fly a triangle and stop in old East
Berlin, where I have contacts with former Stasi agents - East German intelligence
service - brutal men, but they’re willing to talk...

MARITZA
Oh, spy novels! - but if you make a lot of money, why are you living here, in this, this..

MIKE
Hovel? - a dive is what it is.. the reason.. yes, the reason I live here.. is to get the feel of
the.. squalid circumstances of my protagonist, to live his character, search for his voice..
that’s why I squint, pretending I’m half-blind - I want to experience the.. je ne seis quoi
of his life...

MARITZA
Isn’t that French?

MIKE
Most certainly..

MARITZA
But you must live somewhere else, if you have money..

MIKE
Well, I do maintain a three-story townhouse, up behind us on Hawk Hill - living the
solitary life of a writer - but with a sweeping view of the Bay! - and of course, the pool,
the Olympic pool - though, it’s often quite lonely - no one to swim with...

MARITZA
Well, I’m very glad to meet you, Mike, Mike..

MIKE
I write under a pen name - a nom de plume..

MARITZA
Maybe I’ve heard of you..

MIKE
I doubt it - I keep a very low profile..
 3-4

MARITZA
Try me..

MIKE
(Pauses)
Hart.. Hart Crane...

MARITZA
You’re right, never heard of you..

MIKE
See..

MARITZA
If you can’t tell me the title of your latest book, at least tell me the name of the hero..

MIKE
The protagonist is called.. Polidari..

MARITZA
But that sounds neither British or German..

MIKE
Polidari is his code name - he’s very deep - a mole - a mole’s mole! - in the Foreign
Service of, of.. but I better say no more.. except that during the week he’s Hermann, a
common worker living in a Berlin flat much like this - but on the weekends, he operates
from a secret cave in the Bavarian Alps - as Polidari, master spy! - a cave previously
occupied only by.. Neanderthals...

MARITZA
Sounds deep..
(Looks around)
Is George coming soon?

MIKE
Any minute.. and what about you? - what do you do?

MARITZA
Although I graduated from college - I can’t seem to find a job..

MIKE
So sorry.. then you must be around.. twenty-two..
 3-5

MARITZA
Just turned twenty-three.. and you? - do you mind my asking?

MIKE
Of course not! - let’s just say - I won’t see the near side of thirty, again..

MARITZA
Don’t you mean, the far side?

MIKE
Well, it’s some distance...
(Looks at her)
Let me guess.. a degree in English.. or Art History?

MARITZA
Actually, it’s in Industrial Design..

MIKE
Hmm.. sounds like an actual skill.. maybe I can do something for you! - I used to work at
The Accelerator - and I’ve still got contacts, important contacts! - ever heard of The
Accelerator?

MARITZA
Don’t they do some kind of research there?

MIKE
Yes, pretty important stuff - and a great place to work! - if you don’t mind a little
radiation..

MARITZA
Radiation?

MIKE
Very low doses.. actually good for the skin! - keeps it fresh and smooth - lot of people
don’t know that - and, it acts as a powerful aphrodisiac!

MARITZA
It does?

MIKE
We used to have a saying at work: “Keep it in your pants, man!” - ha-ha! - an inside
joke.. but perhaps I’m getting a little too coarse, a little too familiar...
 3-6
MARITZA
No, I think I get it...
(Another awkward pause - ENTER LIL from the
kitchen)

LIL
(To Maritza)
Hello..
(To Mike)
Hello, Hart..

MIKE
Mum’s the word, Lil - mum’s the word!

LIL
I couldn’t help but overhear..

MARITZA
Hello, I’m Maritza - who are you?

MIKE
This is my life partner! - my soul mate! - my fellow wanderer, with whom I travel - wild
and free! - through this, this..

LIL
(Interrupting him)
Wife - I’m his wife - the old-fashioned kind..

MARITZA
Oh, so you’re married!

MIKE
Apparently...

LIL
(To Mike)
I’ll fix dinner - red beans and rice - will you be taking dinner here, or will you be dining in
solitary repast at Hawk Hill - on quail and wild salmon?

MIKE
Oh, why don’t I just stay down here - and we’ll do as Polidari does - dine on noodles! -
perhaps Maritza will join us - and George, when he gets here...
 3-7
LIL
Fettuccine, or angel hair?

MIKE
Kraft dinner with catsup! - and iceberg lettuce and great goblets of wine! - Chianti!
(To Maritza)
.. Classico...

LIL
Is my liege referring to the bottle of Gallo in the cupboard?

MIKE
(To Maritza)
An earthy wine - bitter, yet sweet - with a touch of.. the Alps!

LIL
I’ll get the help to start preparing the great feast...
(LIL EXITS into the kitchen - another awkward
pause)

MIKE
So, what else do you do, Maritza - besides search for a job?

MARITZA
I’m something of an activist, fighting for a more equal distribution of wealth - if young
people like me have no career, no future - how can any of us build a future as a
country?

MIKE
Distribution of wealth? - you talking communism, Maritza? - the proletariat, bourgeoise,
all that crap?

MARITZA
I’m talking about regular people leading regular lives - like you and me, George and Lil..

MIKE
Not Lil - she’s of the ruling class, believe me...
(LIL ENTERS, pot in hand - a quick KNOCK on
the door - ENTER George, paper bag in hand -
he stands and stares at Maritza)

MARITZA
Hello, George..
 3-8
GEORGE
Hello.. Maritza...

MARITZA
How have you been? - why haven’t you called, or written?

GEORGE
Because I’m done with you, bitch!

LIL
Well! - time to boil some water.. Mike, go down to the servant’s quarters and tell the
head butler we’ll need our best china, crystal - and a large bottle of catsup..

MIKE
The butler? - sure, Lil..
(Rising, squinting)
If I can just find the stairs!

LIL
Past the drawing room, at the end of the second hallway..
(LIL and MIKE EXIT into the kitchen - Maritza
and George stare off)

MARITZA
Did you have to call me that? - in front of them...

GEORGE
Sorry, it’s a guy thing...

MARITZA
Well, I didn’t appreciate it!

GEORGE
What happened to dudeface from the Leadership Camp?

MARITZA
He was just a friend...

GEORGE
Led you down the wrong path, huh?

MARITZA
Don’t be so juvenile...
 3-9
GEORGE
At least I’m not a stalker!

MARITZA
Who’s a stalker?

GEORGE
Who followed me here? - what do you want from me?

MARITZA
I don’t know...

GEORGE
Well, go home!

MARITZA
I don’t have a home...

GEORGE
I thought you were living with your parents..

MARITZA
Well, I couldn’t take it anymore! - and I don’t have a job!

GEORGE
Is that my problem? - I have a job - and a future!
(Raising the bag, shaking the parts)
In the shop!

MARITZA
What shop?

GEORGE
What shop, what shop!
(George goes to the kitchen entrance, calls
inside)
Mike.. Mike! - I’m going out to the shop now, see if these parts work - can you meet me
out there?

MARITZA
George?
(GEORGE EXITS with the bag of parts, out the
front door - ENTER MIKE from the kitchen)
 3-10
MIKE
What’s got into him? - we’re going to eat dinner!
(EXITS out the front door. A pause, ENTER LIL
from the kitchen - she sits down at the table)

LIL
These men - it’s all about work..

MARITZA
Do they have a shop out there?

LIL
Yes, they make electronic things - it’s Mike’s shop, actually, but he wants to pass it on to
George..
(An awkward pause)

MARITZA
Do you also live up on Hawk Hill? - I mean when you’re not down here, researching the
novel..

LIL
Researching the novel? - oh.. oh, yes, we live down here only on weekdays, pretending
to be poor and drunk all the time - it’s really not that hard...

MARITZA
The je ne seis quoi!

LIL
What’s that - a wine?

MARITZA
Oh, I don’t know what it is.. my, your Mike is a work of art!

LIL
Yes, after God made Mike, he broke the mold and threw the pieces in the heavenly
dumpster..

MARITZA
And I guess, after all that radiation exposure, your husband must be quite a sexual
dynamo!

LIL
Well, yes, Mike could power a city of ten-thousand, with his energy...
 3-11
MARITZA
How exciting!

LIL
Quite.

MARITZA
(Pauses)
I have nowhere to live, now.. I sleep on the couch at my sister’s, but her significant other
doesn’t like it...

LIL
Well, men can be territorial...

MARITZA
It’s her girlfriend, Billie...

LIL
How modern...
(ENTER MIKE and GEORGE through the front
door - George has some electronic parts in his
hands, Mike has a roll of plans in hand)

GEORGE
I don’t know why these don’t fit together...

MIKE
Here, let me lay the plans out on the table...
(He pushes a bottle to the side, unrolls the
plans, lays them out on the table - he and
George bend over the plans)

MARITZA
(Looking over their shoulders at the plans)
Who drew these?

MIKE
I did...

MARITZA
They’re pretty good...

MIKE
(Squinting closely at the plans)
Can you see what’s wrong, George?
 3-12
LIL
Mike had a drafting class in high school...

GEORGE
(Peering at the plans)
According to what I see, these parts should go together...
(Tries to fit the parts together - they don’t fit)
They won’t go!

MIKE
(Squinting at the parts)
Well, why not!

GEORGE
I don’t know!

MARITZA
What kind of part is that, in your left hand?

GEORGE
(Holding up part)
This? - oh, it’s technical name is a retroverted 435 high-voltage capacitor - but we just
call it the Schnooker...

MARITZA
And what’s the other part?

GEORGE
(Holding up the other part)
The technical name for this, is, is..

MIKE
(Interrupting)
.. we call it the veevlewootzer...

GEORGE
It’s another guy thing.. but if they can’t go together, the component won’t work, the radar
system won’t work, and we..

MIKE
(Interrupting again)
.. we’ll lose this bid and be screwed...
 3-13
MARITZA
Well, let me see those parts.. I had a college class in making technical drawings...
(George reluctantly gives her the parts - she
takes them over to the table, looks at the plans,
matches up the parts with the plans)
It looks like.. the reason the.. Schnooker won’t connect with the.. Veevlewootzer is
because.. someone drew both parts upside down and backwards...
(She straightens back up, holds up the parts)
Now, if you just put them this way..
(She twists the parts around and locks them in
place)
.. they’ll lock...
(She hands the locked parts back to George)

LIL
Upside down and backwards, huh?

MIKE
I need a drink...
(Pours himself a drink from the bottle on the
table)
Who needs a drink?
(Chugs it. Maritza bends over the blueprints)

MARITZA
Overall, these drawings are pretty good.. but, I see a few more questionable areas.. you
know, I could clean these plans up for you, if you want.. maybe suggest a few shortcuts,
get you some savings.. I mean, I don’t know how to build things, but I do know how to
make good technical drawings...

MIKE
Hmmmph...

LIL
Why don’t you make some kind of deal with her, Mike...

GEORGE
Oh, I don’t know if I could work with her..

MIKE
Work? - who said work?

LIL
You said you wanted to grow the business...
 3-14
MIKE
Well, that’s true, I guess.. how much would you want?

MARITZA
As an employee of your business?

MIKE
I’m thinking minimum wage..

MARITZA
I’m thinking living wage..

MIKE
What’s a living wage?

MARITZA
Enough money to live like a person should live.. twenty-five an hour..

MIKE
Twenty-five! - do I look like I’m made out of money?

LIL
If he was, he’d be made out of nickels...

MIKE
My bid for the job is only six-thousand!

LIL
Fred’s bid is bigger than your bid!

MIKE
Lil.. let’s not go there...

MARITZA
Why don’t I go out to the shop with you two, so I can get a look at the project..

MIKE
Oh, I don’t know if we want you out there..

GEORGE
It’s a guy thing - it’s kind of our man cave...

LIL
Inhabited by two Neanderthals - Schnooker and Veevlewootzer - they’ve come down
from the Alps to forage for bids..
 3-15
GEORGE
(Pauses - to Maritza)
Okay.. I’m sorry I said the b-word..

LIL
Oh, we women are used to the b-word! - aren’t we, Mike?

MIKE
(Pauses)
All right, all right! - I’m sorry, I’m sorry, Lil..

LIL
Oh, the s-word - we like the s-word!

MIKE
We’ll go out to the shop after dinner.. why don’t we sit down and talk...

LIL
I’ll see how the help are coming along..
(LIL EXITS into the kitchen - the others sit
down at the table- an awkward pause)

GEORGE
What should we talk about?

MARITZA
How about the re-distribution of wealth?

MIKE
Oh, more Communist crap! - who’s got wealth? - do I have wealth? - I’m renting this little
place from George’s mother!

MARITZA
But, what about Hawk Hill, and your ghost-writing, and the servants downstairs, and,
and..

MIKE
(Pauses)
It’s all.. a lie.. a great big lie! - I’m just a retired old geezer who was trying to get at a
pretty young thing!.. there, I said it! - so, what do you want me to do? - sublet the attic to
the homeless? - I’ll bet I can fit thirteen up there..

MARITZA
It’s not about the homeless - they have their own problems!
 3-16
MIKE
Then who is it about?

MARITZA
It’s about.. young people like me - and George - they call us Millennials! - we’re your
future! - but we can’t find work! - you Boomers need to get out of the way!

MIKE
But George turned down a job - my old job! - didn’t you, George!

GEORGE
(Pauses)
No.. there was no job, Mike, no job offer... The Accelerator automated your job, I just
didn’t have the heart to tell you.. on your work-bench sat a pint-size robot on tracks, with
electronic eyes and a carbide saw in its head - who they didn’t have to pay! - and
Blackwell told me, next to him they were going to put another robot on Fred’s old
work-table, as soon as he retired - and more robots! - as soon as all you Boomers
retire..

MIKE
(Pauses)
As soon as we Boomers retire.. so, now we’re the old folk.. well, it’s still our world! - and
we’re not going anywhere! - we’re the only ones who know what to do, with our vast
experience! - and we got our own problems! - being replaced by thinking vacuum
cleaners.. figures... well, if you want to re-distribute the wealth, you’d better start with
George - he’s the one going to inherit this duplex..

MARITZA
(To George)
You are?

GEORGE
(Pauses)
Well, I’m an only child..

MIKE
Why not go after him? - he’ll be worth a couple hundred thousand, after his mother
passes...

GEORGE
(Pauses)
Actually..
 3-17
MIKE
Well, aren’t you? - this place is paid for, isn’t it?

GEORGE
Yes, but, but.. it isn’t her only place...

MIKE
What do you mean?

GEORGE
(Pauses)
Mother.. also owns a six-plex, and three other rentals, across town..

MIKE
Well, you’re going to be worth a million, then! - you don’t need the shop!

GEORGE
I do need the shop! - right now, I have no money! - and I want to help you out, Mike..

MIKE
Help? - I don’t need any help!

MARITZA
This is true, George? - you’re going to have money?

GEORGE
Yes, but it will be mine, all mine - I want it all for me!

MARITZA
(Pauses, then looks down at the blueprint)
But, you know, this could be the blueprint for our nation...

GEORGE
What do you mean?

MIKE
(Squinting at the blueprint)
Yeah?

MARITZA
Mike - you get Social Security, do you?

MIKE
So? - I earned it, I paid into it!
 3-18
MARITZA
But, it’s under-funded - and we Millennials are going to have to struggle to keep it afloat,
so you keep your benefits, let alone we get any - there are a lot of you retirees, Mike -
almost as many as us Millennials - and we can’t find any jobs! - a lot of you Boomers
are still working into retirement, and the generation below you is taking our entry-level
jobs - that’s a problem!

MIKE
As long as I keep getting my Social Security, I don’t see a problem...

GEORGE
She may be right, Mike - it’s a new world, now - your old world is dying..

MIKE
My world is not dying!!

MARITZA
Mike, do you drive?

MIKE
(Pauses)
I can’t..

MARITZA
So, you walk everywhere..

MIKE
Unless Lil takes me somewhere..

MARITZA
Where do you walk to?

MIKE
Well, it’s four blocks to the liquor store one way, and three blocks to the Safeway the
other..

MARITZA
So, your world is seven blocks long and one block wide..

MIKE
You could say that..

MARITZA
And this duplex is the center of your universe..
(Pulls out a smart phone, hold it up)
 3-19
MARITZA (Con’t.)
.. but with this smart phone, I am the center of the universe - I have access to
everybody, access to all knowledge - I am Copernicus!

MIKE
Who?

MARITZA
We Millennials were raised on technology - while you Boomers had to be dragged
kicking and screaming into the tech age - but for us, it’s in our genes! - we can help
each other, your generation and my generation - but in order for this to work, for you
Boomers to have your golden pond years, and us Millennials to have a job and start our
careers, start our lives - in order that our generation is not wasted, and our nation
remains viable and competitive - we need a new compact between your generation and
my generation - we need generational equity!

MIKE
(Derisively)
Generational equity! Modern Communism! Share the wealth? Who’s got wealth? Talk to
George - he’ll save you!
(Derisively)
Share the wealth!

MARITZA
Share the burden!

MIKE
(Pauses)
Are you in on this, too, George?

GEORGE
It’s only fair, Mike..

MIKE
But, I’m just trying to start a little business - and I’ve already hired the two of you! - what
more do you want from me?

MARITZA
If we’re going to start a business, we’re probably going to need more space than an old
garage..

MIKE
We?
 3-20
GEORGE
I could ask Mother about expanding the garage, maybe move a wall or two out..

MIKE
Who said we?

MARITZA
And we’re going to need a computer - maybe a MacBook laptop..

MIKE
A computer? - what’s wrong with the Simplex?

GEORGE
That old typewriter? - you told me your dad bought it in 1938..

MARITZA
That’s more medieval than the Islamic Caliphate!

MIKE
The who?

GEORGE
Look, Maritza’s right - we’ve got to operate in the twenty-first century, if we’re going to
be competitive..

MIKE
The what century? - oh, right..

MARITZA
Maybe CAD!

MIKE
(Feeling maligned)
Who’s a cad?

MARITZA
Computer Assisted Design!

GEORGE
And a 3-D printer - that way we can layer models of our designs first, and then see if the
pieces work together!

MARITZA
See if the Schnooker locks into the Veevlewootzer!
 3-21
GEORGE
Clever design that, Mike - reverse engineering so our competitors can’t copy it!

MIKE
Well, yeah..

MARITZA
And we’ll have to advertise, if we want to continue getting bids!

MIKE
Bids? - I’ll just call ‘ol Dave at LBL..

GEORGE
But what if Dave awards the bid to someone else? - like Fred!

MIKE
Well, Fred doesn’t really know that much about electronics..

MARITZA
And what if Dave leaves LBL? - or dies?

MIKE
Oh, Dave wouldn’t do that - he wouldn’t die on me..

GEORGE
We all die, man..

MIKE
Oh.. well, I guess that’s true - then we’ll put up a big ad, on that billboard on the way into
town!

MARITZA
Nobody uses billboards anymore - we’ll advertise on Google!

MIKE
Who-gle?

GEORGE
The Internet - and we’ll all network!

MARITZA
Start a Facebook page for the business, join Linked-In - start a Tumbler blog, and a
Twitter account - we’ll follow all the trends!
 3-22
GEORGE
We’ll lead the trends!

MARITZA
We’ll be the trend!

MIKE
Wait a minute.. wait-a-minute! Trends, Tumblers, and Twitters - CADS, Linked-book,
Face-in - and MAC computers? - we don’t need no stinkin’ computer!
(Gesturing)
See that machine over there? - I built it with my own hands, using just my tools and my
gut feelings - and it still works!

GEORGE
Yeah, but you told me it’s thirty years old, has wires and tubes - and a plug!

MARITZA
Not exactly cutting edge!

MIKE
But, but..
(Picking up the parts)
.. what about little Schnooker and Veevlewootzer? - them I understand!

MARITZA
We just want to make them better..

GEORGE
Make them competitive!

MARITZA
Make us competitive - globally!
(ENTER LIL from the kitchen)

LIL
Mike, could you toss the salad?

MIKE
Toss.. the salad?

LIL
I know I’m challenging your culinary skills..
 3-23
MIKE
Lil.. come here, sit down - let’s all sit down - we gotta talk..
(They all sit down at the table)
Now.. this is serious stuff.. we’re starting a business here! - you, George are our main
worker - and you, Maritza, I guess, are our chief designer - and me.. why I guess I’m the
brains behind it all.. we’re all in this together!

LIL
You’re the brains, huh? - then what am I?

MIKE
Why, Lil, you’re going to be our bookkeeper!

LIL
Just a bookkeeper?

MARITZA
Our chief financial officer!

MIKE
And we’re going to need a backer! - six-thousand will only get us through a couple of
months.. now, where are we going to get some real money?
(They all look at each other)

GEORGE
(Pausing)
Well, Mother’s been throwing all her rents into an account.. I suppose I could ask her for
some money - I’m her only child, and she kind of owes me..

MIKE
Oh, she owes you, all right!
(Sweeping his arm at the bridge)
She owes you for not jumping off that bridge - now, she still has a son!

MARITZA
(Looking up at the bridge - then at George)
You were going to jump off that bridge?

GEORGE
Merely a.. psychological experiment - I was challenging myself to focus on what is really
important in this life..

MARITZA
Why would you want to jump off a bridge?
 3-24
GEORGE
Why? Why?

LIL
Seems it was about some girl..

MARITZA
What girl?

MIKE
Yeah, what girl, George?

GEORGE
Oh, forget it! - it’s all past.. now, look - we’re going to need a name for our company!

MIKE
How about.. Mike’s Electronics? - that’s name recognition..

LIL
Then what about Mike’s Folly?

GEORGE
No, we need something big, but not too technical..

MARITZA
Something catchy!

LIL
How about..

MIKE
(Interrupting her)
The Glimmer.. yes, The Glimmer - we’ll call it The Glimmer Company!

MARITZA
Hmmm.. maybe just The Glimmer..

GEORGE
Sounds more hip!

MIKE
What is hip?
 3-25
LIL
The Glimmer.. I like the sound of it..

MIKE
The Glimmer, it is then!
(Grabbing the bottle)
A toast! - this calls for a toast! - and a poem! - you got that Hart Crane poem with you,
George?

MARITZA
Hart Crane.. sounds familiar...

GEORGE
(Reaching into his back pocket, pulling out a
small, folded pamphlet)
I always have Hart Crane with me..
(Leafs through pamphlet, stops, reads from
“The Bridge”)
“Again the traffic lights that skim thy swift
Unfractioned idiom, immaculate sigh of stars,
Beading thy path--condense eternity:
And we have seen night lifted in thine arms.”

MIKE
“.. night lifted in thine arms..” - guess he means it’s time for the sunset...

LIL
Oh, I’m sure he means more than that..

MIKE
Go figure..

GEORGE
Well, it looks like we’re starting a company!

MARITZA
But, I still need a place to live..

MIKE
Well, why don’t you stay with George!

LIL
Open mouth, insert foot..
 3-26
GEORGE
Oh, Mother would never let anyone stay overnight - and she doesn’t even know you,
Maritza! - besides, I don’t know if I ever want to be that close, again..

MARITZA
Well, let’s not consider my feelings, since I’m just a commodity!

LIL
Look, Maritza, why don’t you just stay with Mike and I, until you make some money and
figure out what you want to do..

MIKE
Well, I guess you could stay in our extra bedroom - what I call Lil’s sewing room..

LIL
What I call my get-away-from-Mike room..

MARITZA
Well.. if you don’t mind.. just for awhile! - would that give you enough space, George?

GEORGE
Jeez, I don’t know..

MIKE
Way to take a stand, George!

GEORGE
Take a stand? - well, well, all right.. let’s go meet Mother, Maritza! - there!

MARITZA
I’d like to meet Mother..

GEORGE
(Taking her by the arm)
Let’s do it!
(Leading Maritza to the door)
See you two tomorrow! - after I bring Maritza back, of course..

LIL
Oh, of course..
(GEORGE and MARITZA EXIT)

MIKE
Well, now it’s just the two of us.. Lil, why don‘t we toast the sunset - and our new
company, our new future!
 3-27
MIKE (Con’t.)
(Pours two drinks)
Might even see our company’s namesake - The Glimmer!
(Mike sweeps open the curtains - we see the
bridge silhouetted by the sunset)
There it is - I think I see it, again - the glimmer!
(Mike lifts his glass, toasts)
To the glimmer!
(Starts to drink - Lil grabs his arm)
LIL
Mike.. do we always have to toast, do we always have to drink?

MIKE
Why, sure.. of course we do!

LIL
No, we don’t.. why don’t we just put our glasses down, and you put the bottle up, way
up in the cupboard, high on a shelf...

MIKE
(Pauses)
Well, okay, I guess - if that’s what you want, Lil..
(Puts the bottle up high as he can reach)
Now what?

LIL
Mike, let’s just be together.. let’s watch the glimmer..
(Mike pauses, slowly draws her close - the
golden glimmer slowly lights up their faces)

MIKE
This isn’t that bad..

LIL
Quite good, actually..
(They watch the glimmer)

MIKE
You know, Lil, for a while there, I thought we were in real trouble.. stuck in this house,
stuck by the freeway, stuck in old age - stuck in a bottle! - and I really had no clue what
to do.. then those two came along, the young ones.. and they didn’t seem to know what
to do, either! - but somehow.. we saw that we all needed each other, if we were going to
have better lives, have a brighter future - and somehow, Lil, somehow I think it’s all
going to work out!
3-28
 LIL
So do I...
(Pauses)
Mike, tonight.. push our beds together?

MIKE
Okay.. if you’ll buy that big brass bed tomorrow..

LIL
I can do that..
(They watch the sunset, as the golden glimmer
slowly fades on their faces)

MIKE
I still don’t know what the hell that poem means..
(They hold each other, as the sunset and the
glimmer fade to black)

CURTAIN