A One Act Play

CAST OF CHARACTERS

HENRY DAVIS ……………………. A man in his mid 30s

JOANIE DAVIS …………………… His wife; in her mid 30s

VOICE …………………………. Male

Time: Sunday morning; pre-dawn; the end of October.

Place: A small town outside Buffalo, New York.

Setting: A dusty, dismal one-car garage in a pre-dawn glow. A feeling of emptiness permeates the room and its furnishings. A few light bulbs with pull-strings hang from the ceiling. At right are a chair and a desk with a computer, drafting paper, pencils, a swivel light and a telephone. Various machines covered in white sheets and cabinets are around the grim room. One open cabinet reveals various spare parts [washers, screws, nails, pipes, etc.]. A large, mobile trash bin stands in the rear of the room in front of a series of shelves on a wall filled with tools, boxes, and awards. A banner falling off the back wall reads “DAVIATION Takes You Away!”. In a far corner sits a piano covered by a white sheet. At left is a wooden table with vices around the corners. A large container that continues offstage rests in front of the table.

The curtain rises to reveal HENRY DAVIS, a man of iron in his mid 30s, solemnly gazing down at a closed container. He is wearing jeans, a sweatshirt and a bandage on his index finger. He opens the container and takes out a portion of a hot air balloon- an envelope- and waves it about dreamily. He finds an area of the envelope that has been freshly repaired and begins, as if sewing it himself, to mend the tear. After a few threads, he begins to sing the Jewish funeral prayer, ‘El Male Rachamim’.

  HENRY

(Singing)

El maley rakhamim shokhen ba-m’romim ha-m’tzei m’nukhah n’khonah.

MAN

(V.O.)

We’ve tried everything.

Pause.

HENRY

(As before)

Takhat kanfei ha-sh’khinah.

MAN

(V.O.)

There was just too much damage.

Henry trembles.

HENRY

(Struggling)

B’ma’alot…

MAN

(O.S.)

I’m sorry, Henry.

His legs fail him, and he collapses to the ground, dropping the envelope. The lights change, revealing a wheelchair nearby.

HENRY

(Yelling)

Awwwww-aaaaAAAAAHHHHH!

JOANIE

(Far O.S.)

DANNY! DA—HENRY?! Henry where are you? Henry? Answer me!

Unseen, she runs through the house.

JOANIE (CONT’D)

(O.S.)

Jesus! WHERE ARE YOU HENRY?! Answer me! Answer—

JOANIE DAVIS, an exhausted woman in her mid 30s, appears at the door dressed in sweatpants and a shirt.

JOANIE (CONT’D) —me! Henry…? Are you—

HENRY

What?

JOANIE

What are you doing in here?

HENRY

Are you just going to stand there or—

JOANIE

Sweety…

She goes to him.

HENRY

You called out his name again.

Pause.

JOANIE

Let me help you.

She tries helping him into his chair.

HENRY

I’ve got it.

JOANIE

Will you—

HENRY

I said I’ve got it!

She lets go. He falls.

HENRY (CONT’D) What are you doing?!

JOANIE

If you’d let me help you once in awhile then—

HENRY

Stop teaching me!

JOANIE

I’m not teaching you, I’m—

HENRY

Just…! Give me a hand.

He lets her help. She notices the envelope.

JOANIE

What balloon is that?

HENRY

How many years and you don’t know it’s called an envelope?

JOANIE

Don’t snap at me Mr. Expert.

She puts him in the chair, then looks closer at the envelope.

JOANIE (CONT’D)

Is this— What is this doing in my house?

HENRY

Calm down and let me—

JOANIE

CHRIST ALMIGHTY! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING WITH THIS THING?

HENRY

Don’t blaspheme!

JOANIE

Why is this…?

She goes to the trash bin and pushes it in front of him.

JOANIE (CONT’D)

Get rid of this now Goddammit!

HENRY

What did I just say?

JOANIE

You don’t even believe in Christ!

HENRY

God is God. Respect Hashem.

JOANIE

I’m so sick of your quotes.

HENRY

He divided my light from my darkness. He—

JOANIE

Stop!

HENRY

He’s the only one who’s been getting me through it all.

JOANIE

Does God drive you to PT every week and stock up on suppositories?

HENRY

Don’t be crude.

JOANIE

Don’t tell me some invisible man is helping you when I’m taking double and triple shifts to pay for this, this…

HENRY

This what?

JOANIE

I don’t know what to call this. How can you have faith in anything that gives in one breath and takes away in the next?

HENRY

If you took the time to see that The Abundant One has—

JOANIE

The Abundant—

HENRY —blessed this house with our—

JOANIE

Blessed?! Are you out of your mind?

HENRY

Yes, we are blessed to be alive and we should be grateful to God because He is kind, and if you’d pray for forgiveness you’d see that—

JOANIE

Shut up… just shut your stupid mouth and stop making me feel guilty you—

The phone rings.

JOANIE (CONT’D)

Ughh!

She goes to the phone and picks it up. During the conversation, Henry tries to get her attention.

JOANIE (CONT’D)

Hello?! Oh, Mrs. Cooper, hi. Yes, yes, everything’s fine.

We’re just… cleaning. This early. Oh, that was a… hammer. Henry dropped a hammer on his— It’s funny, I didn’t

realize the walls were so— You know, it’s a mess in here and things are just— (To Henry, in a loud whisper) WHAT?!

He grabs the phone.

HENRY

Mrs. Cooper! Sorry to wake you, but we were just going through some things and— Yes, everything is A-okay! Huh? Me? Never been better. Yeah. I’m anxious for the unveiling. Sorry, the headstone unveiling. It’s a Jewish tradition when we dedicate the headstone a year after— Yeah. Well, that’s very kind of you. Thanks for calling. Sorry again. Bye.

He hands the phone to Joanie, who hangs it up. She looks at the envelope and back at Henry.

JOANIE

You’re anxious?

HENRY

Of course I’m anxious. It’s the first time I’ll get to see him. Next to Papa and Dad. You know, I need to thank you. For what? For following the law, even when it’s not yours. That’s special, Joanie. The headstone is such an important—

JOANIE

Let’s just stop talking about it.

HENRY

What’s the matter?

JOANIE

And why are you— Having this thing here—

HENRY

If you get upset again she’ll call back.

JOANIE

You think I’m upset now?

HENRY

Calm down.

JOANIE

Tell me how this got in here!

HENRY

Someone from the shop brought it over.

JOANIE

Someone?

HENRY

Yeah.

JOANIE

When did someone bring this over?

HENRY

Recently.

JOANIE

When recently?

HENRY

Just recently.

JOANIE

Why would someone bring this here recently?

HENRY

I needed to fix it.

JOANIE

For what?

HENRY

I’ll tell you later.

JOANIE

You’ll tell me now!

She moves the wheelchair so Henry faces her.

Silence.

JOANIE (CONT’D)

(Tenderly)

Henry. This isn’t healthy for you or me or this house, do you understand?

HENRY

It’s helping me.

JOANIE

Falling out of your chair in an empty, dusty garage when the sun is still down is not helpful. All of your accidents happen when I’m farthest away from you.

HENRY

No they don’t.

JOANIE

I came home the other day and your finger was gushing.

HENRY

I was trying to peel an apple.

JOANIE

With a steak knife.

HENRY

Accidents happen.

JOANIE

Stupidity happens, and you’re not doing yourself any favors keeping me as far away from you as possible.

HENRY

What’s that mean?

She starts to leave.

HENRY (CONT’D)

Hey!

JOANIE

I’m going to lie down and stare at the ceiling, and when I wake up this thing had better not be here.

She goes to leave.

HENRY

Well set an alarm because Steve is coming to get us at nine.

She stops.

JOANIE

Steve?

HENRY

Yeah.

JOANIE

Why?

HENRY

How else are we getting to the cemetery?

JOANIE

Henry—

HENRY

What?

JOANIE

I…

HENRY

What?

JOANIE

Already rented a car, so there’s no reason for Steve to—

HENRY

You did?

JOANIE

Yeah.

HENRY

How much did it cost?

JOANIE

Nothing too expensive.

HENRY

What kind of car?

JOANIE

It has a… big trunk for your chair. Plenty of—

HENRY

Big— What are you talking about? What kind of car is it?

JOANIE

What does it matter what kind of—

HENRY

If I can get a ride from my brother then I’ll do that instead of throwing money away on a big trunk.

JOANIE

Well, it’s already done.

HENRY

There’s a car outside?

Henry wheels himself downstage a bit to look out a window. He tries to lift himself up to see it, but fails.

HENRY (CONT’D)

We’ll deal with it later. Steve’s coming to get us.

JOANIE

Excuse me?

HENRY

That’s the way it is.

JOANIE

That’s not the way it is; you told me to take care of everything.

HENRY

I told you to take care of everything when I couldn’t, but I’m home now.

JOANIE

Yeah, and you’re calling The Great Steve when you should be asking to me about arranging things.

HENRY

You’ve got something against Steve now?

JOANIE

Yeah, him and his half-stories.

HENRY

What?

JOANIE

Nothing.

HENRY

What half-stories?

Silence.

HENRY (CONT’D)

Did- Did you talk to Steve?

JOANIE

…Yes.

HENRY

When?

JOANIE

Recently.

HENRY

Don’t pull that with me.

JOANIE

Don’t like your own game?

Pause.

HENRY

Was it yesterday? Was it yesterday?

JOANIE

When I was at work.

HENRY

What part of yesterday?

JOANIE

What does it matter what—

HENRY

Just tell me.

JOANIE

In the afternoon.

HENRY

Why’d you call him?

JOANIE

He called me.

HENRY

He— And what did he say to you?

JOANIE

That’s between me and him.

HENRY

Oh well, so now you’ve got secrets with my brother?

JOANIE

Come on…

HENRY

Well if you can’t tell me then it must be a secret then, right?

JOANIE

What’s—

HENRY

You can’t tell me?! Well then I guess you’re sleeping around with him?

JOANIE

WHAT?!

HENRY

What else am I supposed to think?

JOANIE

Oh come on!

She goes to leave.

HENRY

How long has this been going on?

JOANIE

Nothing’s going on.

HENRY

After the first surgery? The second?

JOANIE

I’m your wife you idiot!

HENRY

Yeah, and he’s not stuck in a chair with nothing working down here, you don’t want to tell me what you talked about so what the hell else am I supposed to think?

JOANIE

You’re— Ugh!

HENRY

He’s not even that good looking.

JOANIE

You want to talk about sneaking around, like you waiting for me to fall asleep so you could sneak in here?

HENRY

Don’t change the subject.

JOANIE

Then don’t accuse me of messing around with your brother.

HENRY

He had no reason to call you.

JOANIE

Yesterday he did.

Silence.

HENRY

Well…?

JOANIE

That’s between me and him.

HENRY

Oh yeah! Nothing’s going on! Right! Not a thing!

JOANIE

Do you have a clue what he’s been going through?

HENRY

What he’s been— What HE’S been going through!

JOANIE

He was shaking and pale as a ghost.

HENRY

You saw him?!

JOANIE

Yes, I saw him, and he was a complete wreck, but he—

She looks at the envelope.

JOANIE (CONT’D)

It was yesterday, wasn’t it?

HENRY

What?

JOANIE

You made him bring this over yesterday. That’s why he was—

HENRY

Why are you pretending you didn’t know?

JOANIE

Because he didn’t say anything! Why are you putting us all through so much shit? You think you’re the only one in that chair?

HENRY

I am the only one in this chair!

JOANIE

No, you’re not. Christ!

HENRY

Respect Hashem.

JOANIE

Do you know how much it hurts to hear you say something like that?

HENRY

I’m Jewish.

JOANIE

Not that you— You haven’t been out of the house since you came home last month, and I’m out so much of the

day, but how you can think that after everything? And what you’re doing with this garbage bag is—

HENRY

Papa made this garbage bag by hand and built Daviation from the ground up, and when Dad took it over—

JOANIE

Don’t give me the sales pitch.

HENRY

It’s about family, and you never understood that.

She goes to the sign and looks at it.

JOANIE

You’ve got a hell of a sense of family.

HENRY

It’s all I have.

JOANIE

It’s time get back to what you know. Your tools are all waiting for you.

He holds up his weak hands.

HENRY

My tools are broken.

JOANIE

Your fine motor skills just need to redevelop and then—

HENRY

Oh, they just need to— Do you listen to yourself?

JOANIE

If you don’t make some kind of effort then you have no chance of getting back to where you were.

HENRY

Yeah, I’ll be back on my feet in no time if I start telling my toes to wiggle.

JOANIE

You need to do something constructive.

HENRY

What about my eyes? Of course I’m bumping into things and knocking stuff over.

JOANIE

Wear your glasses.

HENRY

They’re annoying.

JOANIE

Then—

HENRY

What?

JOANIE

Tell your company to pair you with someone who will draw your ideas and that you’ll go on-site to manage things. It’ll be good for you.

HENRY

I hadn’t thought of that.

JOANIE

You see?

HENRY

I’ll describe building plans to someone else who will render them… and let my crew shit on me every day. You’re a genius.

JOANIE

They won’t shit on you. How many times were they over here in our yard for barbecues and… and birthdays…?

HENRY

How come none of them came to visit me at the hospital?

JOANIE

Everyone came. You didn’t want visitors. There are so many people who care about you, do you realize that?

HENRY

He cares about me.

JOANIE

Who?

HENRY

The God of Abraham.

JOANIE

Come work with me at the store and then I won’t have to be the only one supporting us.

With great effort, he wheels over to the shelf where the awards stand. Struggling, he reaches up, takes a medal, and shows it to her.

HENRY

You see this?

Silence.

HENRY (CONT’D)

Do you see it?

JOANIE

Yes, I see it.

HENRY

“The Thomas Jefferson Medal in Architecture, 2003.” I am the youngest recipient since they started giving it out almost half a century ago. And these others…? No one’s got my credentials. I changed the skylines of Shanghai, Bangkok, Hanoi, Manilla—

JOANIE

God, your ego!

HENRY

You didn’t say a word when you were front row at any of those symphonies in Singapore or drinking twenty-five year-old Chivas on the roof of a club in the center of Shanghai.

JOANIE

That’s not import—

HENRY

So don’t tell me I can greet customers or stuff eggs—

JOANIE

Please…

HENRY

—and milk into shopping bags, and wheel my ass around the aisles with a price gun labeling cookies and diapers—

JOANIE

It’s work!

HENRY

—when you could’ve given me some steel and bolts and a cement mixer the size of a bowling ball bag and I could’ve built you an oasis in the middle of the Gobi Desert! DON’T TELL ME ABOUT MY PRIDE!

He lamely throws the medal, which does not get very far across the room.

JOANIE

Nice. Throw things around like a—

HENRY

Like a what?

JOANIE

An ass.

HENRY

That’s what you were going to say?

JOANIE

Yes.

HENRY

Are you sure?

JOANIE

I hate when you get like this.

HENRY

Like what?

JOANIE

Can it, will ya?

HENRY

Like at Shop ‘N’ Save?

JOANIE

Don’t step on what’s keeping food and treatment coming in!

HENRY

I can’t step on anything Joanie.

JOANIE

Don’t roll over it.

He laughs.

JOANIE (CONT’D)

Are you okay?

HENRY

Peachy keen jelly bean.

JOANIE

Oh my dear.

He wheels away from her.

HENRY

(Singing)

Oh my dear Joanie/ Mind me no more./I’m just your fool/Don’t you know it?

JOANIE

Hankie…

HENRY

(Singing)

Oh My dear Joanie/Mind me, won’t you?/ Don’t you see/ That I’m a fool for—

JOANIE

No songs.

He turns to face her.

HENRY

When are you going to start playing again? I bet all those kids in the cancer ward miss you. And your students at school. You should be back in the music room all day with your baton and your sheet—

JOANIE

No.

HENRY

They told you to take your time. Call your principal and they’ll have the janitor in there tonight cleaning all the music stands for first period Monday.

JOANIE

I can’t.

He wheels himself over to the piano. He partially removes the sheet. She turns away.

HENRY

Then do one-on-ones.

JOANIE

Cover that back up.

HENRY

You can earn so much more if you don’t want so many—

JOANIE

Cover it!

He plays a few notes.

HENRY

I always thought you were better than your mom, and she was something, huh? Roll this back in the living room and stick it where it was that first winter when we had music before we had heating. It would be so easy.

JOANIE

Uh-huh.

HENRY

You’re more able than I am to get back to what you know.

JOANIE

How can you expect me to play for another child when I can’t play for my own?

Beat.

HENRY

I’ve got one for you. There once was a lady who was tired of living alone. So she put an ad in the paper which outlined her requirements. She wanted a man who 1) would treat her nicely, 2) wouldn’t run away from her, and 3) would be good in bed. Then, one day, she heard the doorbell ring. She answered it, and there on the front porch was a man in a wheel chair who didn’t have any arms or legs. “I’m here about the ad you put in the paper. As you can see, I have no arms so I can’t beat you, and I have no legs so I can’t run away from you.” “Yes, but are you good in bed?” “How do you think I rang the doorbell?”

JOANIE

Is that supposed to be funny?

HENRY

From where I’m sitting, yeah.

JOANIE

What’s funny about your condition?

HENRY

My— Joanie, look at me. Can’t you look at me?

She makes a face.

HENRY (CONT’D)

What was that?

JOANIE

What was what?

HENRY

That face you made.

JOANIE

I didn’t make any face.

HENRY

I’m not completely blind.

JOANIE

I need to go lie down.

HENRY

I’m here! I’m in this chair! You see?

Beat.

HENRY (CONT’D)

How can you get off on humiliating me?

JOANIE

I don’t get off on—

HENRY

So you are humiliating me!

JOANIE

Stop twisting my words around!

HENRY

Then look at me!

She moves away.

JOANIE

I can’t because your face is his face and your chair is his chair, and I’m always going to be taking care of someone who can’t take care of themselves.

HENRY

I didn’t ask for this!

JOANIE

Did I?

Beat.

HENRY

We were happy overseas. Everything was there. Hop a flight and end up somewhere—

JOANIE

We had Danny here.

HENRY

I’m talking about before.

JOANIE

You were happy before, but not after we had—

HENRY

Don’t put words in my mouth.

JOANIE

I don’t understand.

HENRY

I’m talking about how we could have done things differently. We could’ve had him earlier or—

JOANIE

There’s no reason to do that when everything is set in its way.

HENRY

I can still dream it’s not.

Beat.

HENRY (CONT’D)

I dream of the whale sharks.

JOANIE

Whale sharks.

Lights and sound change.

HENRY

It’s a bright sunny day. Not a cloud over that island with the fireflies everywhere.

JOANIE

Henry…

HENRY

Just the two of us and the owner with the French accent. You’re sleeping on a bed of roses. I’m in a… sun salutation and then a mountain pose on that little piece of land that juts out above the lagoon. I walk…

He stands and walks away from the chair and moves with his story. At one point, JOANIE joins him. Lights and sound continue to change.

HENRY (CONT’D)

I walk down that staircase of sea shells built into the rock and go swimming while chocolate crepes and mango lassies are cooking. I swim out a hundred meters. Everything is so calm, so removed from the things that get in the way of enjoying life. Paradise. Then, something hard brushes up against my foot. I look down and the biggest fish I’ve ever seen—blue, with white spots and a mouth this big, surrounded by these small white fish with whiskers—is dancing beneath me, gliding through the water as if weightless in this bottomless ocean. I come up for air… and see the endless horizon… and when I look down there are three of them now, the unit. And as they swim they change—

JOANIE

Henry…?

HENRY

—into us. And we are dancing weightless. Maybe if you’d come up there with us we’d have this story.

JOANIE

Maybe I’d e in that chair? Or in the dirt? Or—

HENRY

That’s not what I meant.

JOANIE

Do you know what I’ve dreamed about every night for the last year while you’ve been dancing with whales?

Sounds and lights change.

JOANIE (CONT’D)

I close my eyes and see you push Danny into the basket and I smell the cotton candy and feel the sun on my face—

HENRY

I—

JOANIE

—and you’re there, in the basket, already lifting off and pulling the cord and the flame is shooting out and you’re going higher and drifting away and then the next thing I know is something sparks and there’s, there’s BURNING above you and Danny and, and I’m in the basket and—

HENRY

Joanie!

JOANIE

—the wind howls like a pack of banshees and I’ve lost control of everything and Danny is bawling because there’s a fire spreading and now we’re—

HENRY

I don’t want to hear it!

Sound and lights of sirens.

JOANIE

—dropping like a rock and the ground is flying at us and we CRASH the ground and the sirens are blaring from the distance and getting closer I’m lying over him and he’s not moving and you’re—

HENRY

I said enough!

JOANIE

I SEE IT! AND I LIVE WITH IT!

He sits.

Silence.

JOANIE (CONT’D)

How can you tell me if you could do it over again you would still go up there?

HENRY

There’s a plan for everyone.

JOANIE

Don’t tell me that there was a plan that included my husband being broken and my son dying because of his father’s stupidity.

HENRY

We were meant to go up and you—

JOANIE

No, YOU took our son with cerebral palsy up in this garbage bag, and—

HENRY

You let him go.

JOANIE

Don’t you dare, after so many years of listening to you go on and on and on about ballooning and Daviation and how beautiful and safe it all is! Do you know what expert even means?

HENRY

Joanie—

JOANIE

It means, IT MEANS that when something goes wrong you can handle the situation and nothing bad happens!

HENRY

You can’t blame me for—

JOANIE

Yes, I can blame you because you are the expert and I trusted you!

She pushes the bin into him.

JOANIE (CONT’D)

This is my house, and I say what goes. This goes.

HENRY

(To himself.)

Up, up and away.

JOANIE

Out. Now.

HENRY

(Quickly)

After Danny’s unveiling Steve’s taking us to the fair grounds and we’re going up.

JOANIE

What did you just say?

HENRY

(Deliberately)

I’m going to finish fixing this, and Steve will load up the truck in the morning, come on over to get us, drop us off, and while we’re at Danny’s grave he’ll be setting up the basket and filling this up so by the time he comes for us and brings us over—

JOANIE

Oh…

HENRY

—everything will be ready. By noon we’ll be up in that heavenly sky and we’ll eat Danny’s favorite strawberry frozen yogurt together and—

JOANIE

God…

HENRY

—we’ll look down on the whole town and keep rising til we see clear to Niagara Falls and we’ll finally be—

JOANIE

Stop! Listen to me: I’m going to wheel you out of this room, and I’m going to help you onto the bed, and you’re going to rest.

HENRY

Can’t you see the beauty in it?

She approaches him.

JOANIE

I see that you’re very upset, and you need to—

He grabs her hands.

HENRY

Stop talking to me like I’m a child! We have to go up there! It all makes sense. You were afraid, and God punished us for not keeping the family unit together at that critical, defining moment of a tradition. We should have all been weightless, dancing in the air, and we will be, but first we have a sacred duty to perform. I’ve been practicing the El Maleh Rahamim prayer, and—

JOANIE

There is no unveiling.

Pause.

HENRY

What?

JOANIE

(Tears in her eyes)

I’m sorry, Hankie.

HENRY

What are you talking about?

JOANIE

You told me to take care of everything, and I did. He’s on my family’s plot at St. Paul’s.

He starts to laugh.

HENRY

Oh! Oh! Holy— Oh, Joanie Melissa Thompkins Davis. You got me! I’d bow down if I could and kiss those wonderful feet of yours. Whoo! Bless me, Oh Lord, King of the Universe, I thought I was the funny one. Did I or did I not marry the right girl? Come here and give old Hankie a kiss.

She sobs.

JOANIE

We didn’t know how to tell you. I tried… but you, you were broken. Steve asked me what I wanted, and so that’s what we did, and it’s… been killing me.

HENRY

A good joke knows when its course is run.

JOANIE

Danny’s buried with my family in Eden.

Pause.

HENRY

He’s buried in Eden?

She nods.

HENRY (CONT’D)

He’s in… Eden?

JOANIE

I was just going to bring you there today. Just me and you.

HENRY

Steve told me everything is ready to— Danny’s next to Dad. The whole family’s coming tomorrow.

Joanie shakes her head.

HENRY (CONT’D)

No. My brother wouldn’t stand here and lie to my face.

JOANIE

People lie. Family does it the best.

HENRY

You promised me to keep it Jewish.

JOANIE

I’m sorry.

HENRY

He’s—Danny’s Jewish, and he cannot be buried in a—

JOANIE

Just stop pretending! You didn’t even know one prayer til you were three months into traction, and we only ever celebrated my holidays.

HENRY

You kept this from me for a year! He— That’s not the Eden that God promises to—

JOANIE

God isn’t there for people to latch onto when they’re desperate for something and you’re despicable for even thinking that I would—

HENRY

He’s not there to be thrown away, either, when things turn rotten!

JOANIE

Stop pretending you believe in anything beyond you. I’d be damned if I was going to let my son rest with your family!

HENRY

How could you do this to ME?

JOANIE

You bastard!

She lunges for Henry. After hitting him she picks up the envelope and begins tearing at it. He tries to stop her.

JOANIE (CONT’D)

You son-of-a— You damned him! You’ve damned him! You’ve damned him! You killed him!

HENRY

Stop it! Let go! Dammit stop!

JOANIE

You killed him! You killed him! You killed my baby! You killed my—

HENRY

Let go!

As the tug-of-war reaches its peak, the envelope tears and Henry is pulled out of his chair.

HENRY (CONT’D)

Ah!

JOANIE

I hate you!

They both wail. Then, Henry looks at her, the envelope, and around.

HENRY

Why? Why this?! It was just a second that I turned away to— Why did you let him pull the—… He pulled the…

because I turned and— Oh… God. I didn’t think anything could—

Joanie rocks in place.

HENRY (CONT’D)

Joanie…? Joanie…? I know it was my— Joanie? I held onto him and told him everything would be okay and not to look, but… he laughed. He had no idea what was happening, and just laughed and kept laughing til— I swear to you, he was laughing like it was the greatest thrill in the world. He was laughing.

She stands apart from him. Henry begins to cry.

HENRY (CONT’D)

He was laughing. He was…

Henry wraps himself in the envelope, brings his hands together and prays.

HENRY (CONT’D)

Baruch dayan haemet. Baruch dayan haemet. Baruch dayan…

Henry continues repeating “Blessed is the true judge…” Joanie is frozen. The cover over the piano slips off. After a moment, Joanie floats toward the piano, touches it and sits. She plays a song. Henry’s prayers quiet. As she plays, the lights change. Henry rises and floats over to Joanie. He watches her play. He sits beside her without her acknowledging his presence. At the end of the song, Henry rests his head on his shoulder.

Blackout.

The End.