The manor lives on the edge of a line oftall moss covered mangroves and a singular
pussy willow to the left of the entrance that arcs up high enough for a man
with even smaller arms to reach out and pluck a handful of furry ends. Three
stories, thirty rooms, six bedrooms, six bathrooms, two kitchens, a maids
quarters, a mud room, sun room, library, antechamber, and a basement with a
world war two howister sitting in its center. All under the name LaFountain.
There is a young
woman with a traveling case in her right hand and a smoke between her ring and
middle finger in the left, and she holds the cherry side up and away from her
eyes as she fixes the brim of her hat and stares at the way the clay shingles
all seem to sag downwards to the eastern side of the house. She wonders why
there are more vines on the side of the house that gets less sun, and if its
obvious that there isn’t anything inside of the suitcase besides a voice
recorder, a carton of cigarettes, and two changes of clothes, and no changes of
socks. She walked from the middle of town, turned down to offers for a ride
because she didn’t want the rest of the town to know her name before he did.
She wasn’t sure how to greet him. So she walks up the six steps to the porch
and sets her bag at her feet. She twists at the waist and flicks the butt of
the cigarette out of sight, letting the wispy contrail fade before she turns
back, stares at her hands, smells the smoke on them, decides she doesn’t care
to do anything about it and finally raises her hands to the large red door and
flies her fingers, looking for a buzzer or a heavy brass knocker, something a
bit more cliché for everything that she has stared at for a half hour walking
up the drive, and finds a greyed rope. It leads to a bell the shape of a
upturned brass planter the size of a kitchen sink. With a feeble tug the hammer
warbles out a note like how Diana imagines whale’s sound to other whales, low
and hard and heavy, and there for a very, very long time. Diana watches the
bell, she can see its edges warble with noise, and as the moment passes and
everything becomes silent again, she turns back to the door, which is now open.
There is a man standing there without a spec of hair on his head. He looks at
her, tired, but smiling, perhaps thankful, she thinks, that something has
happened.
She waits for him to
speak, to at least drop the smile and ask something, but he doesn’t, he takes a
step back from the door and gestures to her to follow with both arms, beckoning
towards his chest with hands Diana realize have white gloves that clash so hard
against his dark brown, so brown its orange and purple, like a gem stone, and
she watches him go deeper inside and the light hit him from the window to his
right and rolls over him as he spins on his heels and heads for a center
staircase. Diana watches him get to the foot of the stairs before she walks
inside.
Sometimes I
think about what it would be like to wake up alone, not in Chicago and really
be somewhere. Somewhere that isn’t just the place that I live, with all of
these things that I don’t need. Sometimes I wonder what it would be like to end
up in a place that’s a lot colder, because that’s all there is to it, coldness
and its not about whether or not I’ll make rent, its whether or not I’ll
survive the cold. I think I want to be swallowed up in something. I want to not
be the one to push my life around, to find our through everything else, to not
set a path, because I’m too afraid to choose my own path ahead. I don’t know
what I want to do. I kind of just want to go to L.A., leave everybody, leave
everything. Maybe there is something to write about out there. Maybe I will be
pushed really hard and something inside of me will shift and I’ll know what it
is to be pushed to be able to push back. I wonder about all of my little cousins
and if they even care about me, or think about me. I think about every person
on my father’s side of the family a lot and wonder what it is to be them, what
their lives are, how they get on. But I’m not sure if I could ever be a part of
their lives again, once everything is at a distance, everything seems to stay
at a distance on my father’s side of the family. I don’t hear much from
anybody. Sometimes I receive a birthday card, sometimes I don’t. Who knows
anymore.
Maybe
here’s an idea for a novel:
The dreamer
dreams a dream because his is sick of the love that he’s in. The dream woman he
wants so desperately actually teaches him, takes him in, they have a
relationship instead of mindless dreaming sex. It becomes more important to
him, and through it he learns how to control the dream world.
Morpheus,
the God of Dreams is summoned in the world by two people who are at the end of
their wits. One is an addict and the other is morbidly obese. They want him to
help, to help shape the world and peraps make them better people. Mo agrees,
really wanting to just hang around the mortal plane and dick around for a
while. He finds a great deal of fun in creating a worshiping of himself, it
gives him a little power and an underground church forms in his honor.
In Lousiana
a young man shows up at the doorfront of an estate claiming to be the
grandchild of the estate owner. This is a scam in order to get a place to live
and slowly emblezzle and launder money through a friend’s “aquarium” business.
The owner of the estate is a very old man, the last man to slay a god, Mo
specifically, and send him back into the veil. The old man knows that the boy
is not his grandson, but lets him in, and lets him do as he wishes for a while,
but snaps and shows his power and his old life. The boy is shocked and actually
intrigued by it. Being a con man, he believes it could be a con at first,
everything the old man says, but begins to believe and actually form a bond
between them as Mo begins to shift the world and they learn more and more. The
old man perhaps trains the young man to become his successor.
Mo slays
the old man as he gains more and more sway in the mortal realm, seeing the old
man as the only real threat left in the plain. The boy stays at the estate for
a while and then goes to follow the dream god.
All the while the dreamer has been
improving his skills in dreams and following Mo’s footprints and the goings on
across the veil. The gods have notived him as well and have taken him from his
life in wakefulness. They are plotting to kill Mo and make him the new God of
Dreams to fill the void. He is given a chance to find the god and take him
back.
Mo gains
power in New Orleans, and both the hunter’s young man and the dreamer seek him,
not sure if together or if in opposing. Perhaps, in opposing, as the hunter
wants to completely destroy him, while the dreamer seeks to pull him back into
the veil.
Mo does
fall, out ofwindow actually, but I’m
not sure who would win, or if Mo would simply off himself. I have a feeling that
the dreamer would win, that the hunter would not get what he needed, but I also
feel like that is me being afraid and writing a safe ending to something.
I’m not sure, its just an idea right now. I
actually like the idea more if the hunter’s “grandchild” was a women. Seems to
be a bit better in my mind. No idea though. I just really see Mo falling from a
second story window, onto the street, confetti and glitter in a trail behind
him. It could be suicide. Maybe that’s the answer. Nobody wins. Not sure
though, have to keep thinking about it, maybe try writing some new scenes, or
just some random moments tomorrow at work.
Hello Z (and anybody else who happens to read this),
I recently had a conversation with you and made me realize how little I write now and figured I would actively try to remedy this. Here's what I have today: An apology to my landlord for my actions over his actions. There was a lot of shouting on my end, which I think was necessary to drive my point. We'll see how he goes along with this.
Dear Sam,
I want to
apologize about cursing in our last conversation. No one deserves to be cursed
at like that and I want you to know that I’m sorry for it. However, I am not
apologizing for the sentiment of the conversation, as I think that your action
was belittling to me as well as to Brendan. I will also not apologize for my
tone, as I believe the action stepped over a lot of personal boundaries and
produced a great deal of justified exasperated emotions from me. I understand
if you think that I am wrong in this, but I do not, and won’t be persuaded
otherwise.
If you have
any comments regarding this note or any other information, please, contact
Brendan or myself.
And today I did a book review! Chicago Stories is awesome.
Jon Natzke
Book Review
Chicago Stories
Finally, a story collection you can snuggle up to with a plate of polish sausage and a can of Old Style. Chicago Stories is a bounty of all things Chicago, and weaves the tales of those who were close, those who passed through, and everyone who left a mark on the people of Chicago. But its not all nostalgia and remembrance, Michael Czyzniejewski has the uncanny ability to shape and remold the voices of his pieces to feel close to the reality of the narrators but also have the gift of wrapping them around his fiction, which is witty, fast, and personable to say the least. Each of the forty stories in a monologue or a long stretch of conversation that the speaker uses to drive a point home, each no longer fifteen hundred words, with many being crisp vignettes closer to seven hundred and fifty. None have the feeling of rushed scene, but instead have the beat of a fleeting moment, giving to us only what we need to well up with a certain emotion or thought, locking a solid image in our minds, before we float on to the next page to see who will be speaking to us next.
This is Czyzniejewski second book, his first Elephants in the Bedroom out in 2010 by Dzanc books, dealt with the same styles and tones, but dealt with more intimate natures, and now Chicago Stories is a abstract and experimental romp through the wide-eyes of famous, exclusively Chicago, icons. In “ Jane Byrne Discusses Edward Hopper’s Nighthawks With Her New Neighbors, Cabini-Green, 1981” we see the once renowned female mayor in a different light, speaking to us intimately about a father who lied and a family who believed him because that’s what you do. This story may be the only one not completely an anachronism, but it does not hurt any of the stories in any way. The characters are cut and pasted into contemporary or recent time lines in order to play with style, form, tone, and the most prevalent in all of the stories a head-down, buried sense of humor that at moments has you giggling to yourself on the L, trying not incite eye contact with woman next to you, and at other moments there is only a tickle that runs through you as you finish on the last sentence and reflect on the work. A particular favorite of this reviewer, which I would like to show a sample of was “The Water Tower Suffers Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder”. I don’t believe much accompaniment is needed to describe the piece with a title like that, but that is true of all of Czyzniejewski’s works, each setting a stage quickly and snappily to let you dive inside. But, I do not want to stray from my first point, there is a direction and emotion in “Water Tower” that sits differently than the rest of the titles, here’s chunk to see what I’m speaking of:
“Imagine everyone you’ve ever known, all your family and friends, dying in one fell swoop. Imagine their deaths coming quickly, one after another like dominos, but being horrible and excruciating, burning them alive in a wave of hysteria….Surely, you are thinking of the relief of being saved, the water finally winning out, your place in history secure: the lone survivor. I’ll bet you think I’m lucky. But then imagine the guilt. Imagine being the last one, carrying the burden of being spared.”
These sentiments are sharper than most of the washy literary fiction today and it is from the personal log of a building speaking of its past, which is revelation to this reviewer. As I spoke of before it was refreshing to have these bite-sized pieces of personal fiction that shined a light on all things famous to Chicago.
Now, I will say that Chicago Stories is something that may need acclimatization. Those without a tie to Chicago can still appreciate the fantastic use of styles and wit, but may need an easing, taking a few stories at a time, and mulling them over, as those from Chicago may gorge themselves on character after character like a Vienna beef ketchup-less hotdog. While the stories and styles may not be for the masses, the quirk has a charm that is undeniable and worth a solid look at. Chicago Stories is a title that I will remember fondly for quite some time.
Technically this draft of the play was finished today, but I think that most of it was done yesterday so I'll post it to this day.
Scene One
Stanley: Does you father know you’re here?
Flo: I don’t think so.
Stanley: He came in yesterday, looking for you.
Flo: I was out.
Stanley: He said you were sick.
Flo: There’s an opinion that I am.
Stanley: Is he right?
Flo: They took a lot a blood to see if he was.
Stanley: Did it hurt?
Flo: A bit, they took a lot, so much I had to lie down.
Stanley: What do they think you have?
Flo: They don’t know, its why they needed so much blood.
Stanley: Do you feel warm?
Flo: Cold, actually.
Stanley: Its always cold in the shade of the clocktower.
Flo: I could use something warm then.
Stanley: Tea, with some honey. Good for the throat.
Flo: That sounds fine.
(he goes to make the drink)
Stanley: I haven’t seen any of you.
Flo: None of us have left the house.
Stanley: That so?
Flo: He lost his job.
Stanley: Your father?
Flo: He keeps to himself, even though I’m always home.
Stanley: Because you’re sick.
Flo: There is an opinion that I am.
Stanley: Do you agree with that?
Flo: I feel bad, but I don’t think I’m sick. That’s not the right word.
Stanley: What then?
Flo: I’m not well.
Stanley: That so?
Flo: Its why I leave so much. I feel better outside.
Stanley: Do you feel better here?
Flo: It’s nice here, good company, clean.
Stanley: I try to keep the place up.
Flo: I can tell.
(He turns and brings her the drink)
Flo: you should sit down.
Stanley: I’m working.
Flo: There’s no one else here.
Stanley: There never is.
Flo: It doesn’t get busy?
Stanley: It doesn’t. I mostly served your father.
Flo: He doesn’t go out much, not anymore.
Stanley: Because he’s worried?
Flo: Because he lost his job
(beat)
Flo: I have an appointment today.
Stanley: Where?
Flo: A town over, a friend of my father.
Stanley: Is he nice?
Flo: He’s old, and the office is so warm. It makes me sweat.
Stanley: That so?
Flo: Its nicer here.
Stanley: I’ve tried to keep the place up.
Flo: I can tell.
(beat)
Stanley: Its good to see you.
Flo: Is it?
Stanley: Nobody comes in this early.
Flo: Luca would, he’s an early riser.
Stanley: That so?
Flo: he gets up so early, and all I want to do is sleep.
Stanley: Luca?
Flo: I tell him I’m still not well and he leaves me alone.
Stanley: Where is he?
Flo: Following my father. He always follows him.
Stanley: And not you?
Flo: Not when I don’t want him to.
(beat)
Stanley: Do you get chills?
Flo: At night.
Stanley: Do they give you anything?
Flo: Are you a doctor?
Stanley: My brother is a doctor.
Flo: I never knew.
Stanley: I never told you.
(beat)
Flo: What time is it?
Stanley: Check the clocktower.
(she checks the clocktower)
Flo: I’ll have to leave.
Stanley: When will be out?
Flo: Could be a while. They take a lot of blood.
Stanley: They shouldn’t.
Flo: I wish they wouldn’t.
Stanley: But you are sick.
Flo: I’m ill.
(beat, and Flo stands and begins to go through a purse)
Stanley: No charge.
Flo: That’s kind of you.
Stanley: I’m kind to all my customers.
(She heads for the door, before she can leave Luca walks through, almost into her. )
Luca: You ran away.
Flo: I walked away.
Stanley: Can I help you?
Luca: I was supposed to walk with you.
Flo: I can walk myself.
Stanley: Do you need something?
Luca: Husbands take care of their wives.
Flo: We aren’t married.
Luca: We will be.
Stanley: Can I get you something to drink?
Luca (to Stanley): What time is it?
Stanley: check the clocktower.
Flo: Its eleven.
Luca: We have time for a drink.
Flo: We might be late.
Luca: We have an hour.
Flo: Its less than that now. We have forty minutes.
Luca: I’ll be fine, it will still take them a while to check you in. Last time took twenty minutes. You remember last time?
Stanley: What do you want?
Luca: Do you have Gin?
Flo: I’ve already had something.
Stanley: We don’t have gin.
Luca: Brandy? Do you have Brandy?
Flo: You don’t have to drink.
Luca: Or maybe just a tea.
Stanley: We have Brandy.
Flo: You don’t have to.
Luca: I’ll have some of that then. A lot of ice.
(Pause)
Flo: What time is it?
Luca: Not time yet, look at the clocktower.
Flo: I don’t think its right.
Stanley: I’ll put a clock in soon.
Flo: When?
Stanley: The next time you come in, one will be hanging.
Luca: We have time.
(Beat, Stanley makes the drink and gives it to Luca)
Stanley: I don’t see you two come in much anymore.
Luca: Its because you don’t have any gin.
Stanley: That so?
Luca: You don’t have any.
Stanley: We have Brandy.
Luca: I know
Stanley: She’s been sick.
Flo: I’ve been ill.
Luca: Her father lost the business.
Stanley: That so?
Luca: He’s awfully stressed.
(Beat)
Stanley: Another?
Luca: I think that’s enough.
Flo: I’d like another tea.
Luca: I think its time to go.
Flo: We have time.
Stanley: We still have Brandy.
Luca: It would be better if you had gin.
Flo: You don’t have to drink.
Luca: Then we have to go.
Stanley: I could stay open, later, when you’re done you could come back.
Flo: That would be nice.
Luca: We wouldn’t have time.
Stanley: It wouldn’t be trouble. It doesn’t get busy much
(beat)
Luca: We’ll see. If we have time.
(Flo gets up and goes to Luca, he pushes away his glass to Stanley)
Stanley: We’ll be open.
(Luca and Flo leave Stanley cleans Luca’s glass, then goes to the table and gets the cup Flo had left cleans it. Pause. Stanley checks the clocktower through the window.)
Stanley: Eleven.
Scene Something
Scene: Stanley is behind the counter, late night, staring at open door as an older Dolan walks in, balding, blotting sweat off his head, looking as if to cover it up. The Dolan walks to the bar and sits on a stool, Stanley stares at the door for a moment more than rolls his head to look at the Dolan, the Dolan stares down at the bar, putting his handkerchief away, neither of them speaking.
Stanley: Can you see the time (gesturing to the clocktower)? Dolan: (leans back) no, I'm afraid. Stanley: Have you got a watch? Dolan (looks to wrist): No (beat) Dolan: you should get a clock (beat) Stanley: I'd need the money Dolan: I need a drink. Stanley: Do you have money? Dolan: Yes Stanley: Are you going to run out on me? Dolan: No Stanley: Are you going to run away? Dolan: No, I don't think so. (beat) Dolan: I'd like a Gin and Tonic Stanley: I just bought this bottle Dolan: then a double, and make one for yourself. Stanley: I don't drink at work Dolan: You should, its relaxing. Always loosens me up. I don't work anymore though, so now its just drinking (beat, Stanley makes the two drinks and Dolan watches his hands) Dolan: Have you seen my daughter? (beat, Stanley drinks his quickly) Stanley: She came in. Dolan: She's very sick. Stanley: I know. Dolan: She came in alone?
Stanley: All by herself.
(beat)
Dolan: She isn’t supposed to be alone.
Stanley: that so?
Dolan: She’s sick. Stanley: We've talked about that. Dolan: She's sick, and I don't have a job. Stanley: That man she’s with spoke about that. Dolan: Luca, oh, he's so simple. Stanley: He simply drinks all my Brandy. Dolan: You have some now, though. Stanley: It'll be gone tomorrow. Dolan: But you spoke with Flo? Stanley: I know that you think she's sick. Dolan: She is, though, people say so. Stanley: Which people? Dolan: Doctors mostly. Stanley: My father was a doctor. Dolan: Really? Stanley: Brother too Dolan: But not you. (beat) Dolan: It's so cold. (beat) Dolan: Another.
(beat)
Stanley: I could help your daughter.
(beat)
Dolan: Do you have money?
Stanley: I have this place. I bought it with my own money.
Dolan: This whole place?
Stanley: With my own hard work, no one else’s.
Dolan: This place is nice. Nicer then where I usually drink. I like to be alone mostly.
Stanley: But that’s not good for your daughter. She needs someone.
Dolan: Are you a doctor?
Stanley: I’m a doctor’s son.
Dolan: Then you are close to what I need. You see she’s sick.
Stanley: I know.
Dolan: What she needs is someone to take care of her
Stanley: and he can?
Dolan: Luca? No, he’s simple.
Stanley: I’m not simple.
Dolan: I like simple. I know simple.
Stanley: That so?
Dolan: It’s a fact. I know how simple works
Stanley: And you don’t know me.
Dolan: We’ve just met.
Stanley: What do you think of me?
Dolan: I think you’re a very clean man.
Stanley: That so?
Dolan: It’s like you’re overcompensating
(long pause)
Dolan: This drink is strong.
Stanley: I have a lot of gin.
Dolan: But not by tomorrow. (beat) Another.
(pause)
Stanley: She likes it here.
Dolan: I like it here too. Its cool, nice company.
(pause)
Stanley(gesturing to the clocktower): Do you have the time?
Dolan: No, I’m afraid.
(beat)
Stanley: I’m waiting on someone.
Dolan: Really? Its so late.
Stanley: I’m waiting on your daughter.
Dolan: Oh, she won’t be coming, you should stop waiting.
(beat)
Stanley: Last Call.
Scene Three
(Luca sits in the café, where Flo had sat before, far from the counter. He is alone)
(Pause)
Luca: It’s too damn hot.
(Stanley emerges from a backroom, notices Luca, stands behind the counter.)
Luca: Where have you been? Outside?
Stanley: It’s been busy here.
Luca: It doesn’t look like it.
(Beat)
It’s hot. I walked over here in the heat.
Stanley: That so?
Luca: I couldn’t stay in the waiting room. There’s no cool air, they don’t open any windows.
Stanley: Are you alone?
Luca: She had to go in early. I couldn’t stay, it was too hot.
Stanley: You left her alone.
Luca: There were plenty of people waiting with her. She will have company.
Stanley: I thought husbands took care of their wives.
Luca: It was very hot.
(Beat)
Luca: I want something to drink.
Stanley: That so?
Luca: It is. Do you have gin?
Stanley: Gin makes you sweat.
Luca: I don’t mind sweating if I’m not hot.
Stanley: We don’t have gin.
Luca:(mocking) that so?
Stanley: We still have brandy.
Luca: Give me something cold.
(Stanley pours water into a glass, crushes a lime wedge and throws the lime rind in. He sets it on the counter, not going to Luca)
Stanley: She goes in earlier now?
Luca: They have to do more things now. I don’t interfere.
Stanley: You leave her alone.
Luca: It isn’t bad, she’s a big girl.
Stanley: That so?
(Beat. Luca stands and goes to the counter. He picks up the glass and finishes it quickly.)
Luca: Something stronger, please.
Stanley: It will make you sweat.
Luca: I don’t care. Brandy, to here. As much as you can fill it with.
(Stanley makes the drink.)
Stanley: What are they doing?
Luca: Taking more blood, I suppose.
Stanley: They take quite a bit.
Luca: I don’t interfere.
Stanley: You don’t worry?
Luca: I follow orders.
(beat)
Stanley: When does she get out?
Luca: Later, (He leans to look at the clocktower) a few drinks more.
Stanley: How’s her father?
Luca: He walks around their house, doesn’t sit still…talks on the phone to the doctors. He worries even more than she does. I don’t know. I don’t interfere.
Stanley: That so?
(Luca eyes him, then down at his drink. He takes a long drink.)
Luca: Don’t you have a family?
Stanley: I do.
Luca: Don’t you have a father?
Stanley: I don’t.
(beat)
Stanley: I have brothers, and two sisters. I’m not the oldest. I bought this place myself. I sleep right up there.
Luca: Do you see them often?
Stanley: They’re busy people.
Luca: I’ve never had family
Stanley: That so?
Luca: Dolan took me in. I work for him. I take care of his daughter.
(Pause, Stanley looks Luca in the eyes)
Stanley: Do you?
Luca: You think I don’t?
Stanley: She is lucky to have family.
(Luca eyes him again, then finishes his drink, taking a mouthful of ice and crushing it in his teeth. He bends down to look at the clocktower, then points to the drink)
Luca: Another, more this time. You can fit more ice in there.
Stanley: The ice will hurt your stomach.
Luca: I’m beginning to think you don’t like me.
Stanley: I hate to see a man in pain.
Luca: Is that it? Really?
Stanley: I’m running out of ice.
Luca: You have enough for another?
Stanley: Yes
Luca: And enough Brandy?
Stanley: More than enough.
Luca: Than I want you to make me one.
(Stanley makes the drink, beat, Luca takes a large drink.)
Stanley: You didn’t pay yesterday.
Luca: hmm?
Stanley: You walked out on the bill.
Luca: Oh.
Stanley: I was going to buy a clock to put up, for her. But I didn’t have enough. Didn’t have enough for another bottle of Gin either.
Luca: I see.
Stanley: I’d like to put the clock in, so people don’t have to bend down to look at the clocktower.
(beat, Luca finishes the drink, fishes the lime rind out of the drink and chews on it. He fishes in his pockets and pulls out some bills, lays them on the counter. Stanley picks them up and counts)
Stanley: That’s enough for today and yesterday.
Luca: Enough for the Gin?
Stanley: Not enough for the clock.
Luca: I don’t mind bending down.
(Luca spits the lime rind into a napkin and takes a mouthful of ice to replace it. He smiles and doesn’t notice as Dolan wanders in, looking sweaty again. Dolan stands in the doorway and watches the two of them.)
Dolan: Is Florence alone?
(Luca gets up quickly, looking at Dolan, then quickly back to Stanley, panicked, looking for an answer.)
Stanley: She’s a big girl.
Dolan (Still looking at Luca): Is she alone?
(Luca can’t speak through his mouth of ice and instead points to the clocktower as he heads for the door. Dolan lets him pass and watches Stanley.)
Stanley: Gin and tonic?
(Dolan smiles briefly then begins to turn away.)
Stanley: If she feels up to it, she can come over here. Its cool at night, not hot, like in the waiting room.
(Dolan lingers, then shakes his head. Stanley watches him go and then bends low to look up at the clock face. )
Stanley: ten thirty.
(Stanley cleans the glass, and collects the bills into a neat pile and slips them into his pockets.)
Scene Four.
(It’s earlier in the day then any of the other scenes. Stanley walks in through the front, taking off a jacket and hat and lays them on the counter. He sets down an ornate wooden clock on the counter and looks at it for a moment. He walks through the side door and can be heard climbing stairs. A beat and he comes back down with a hammer and a single nail in his teeth. He walks to the table Flo had sat in days before and stands on a chair. He drives the nail into the wall and goes back to the clock. He picks it up from the counter then goes back to the table and sets it on the driven nail. It will not stay straight. After a moments attempt to fix it he lets it be off, then stands back and goes to the counter and sets all of his belongings behind it. While he sets his things down, Flo walks in from behind and takes a seat quickly. She looks as tired as her father.)
Stanley: You thirsty?
Flo: Not today. I don’t know when I have to leave. He has it all, it’s a new place, a new doctor.
Stanley: What about the old doctors?
Flo: My father said, “They were acclimatizing you,”. He said that they were getting me used to coming each week, so that he would keep paying. He said these new people would be better.
Stanley: Is the place far from here?
Flo: I don’t know, he has the appointment written down. I wanted to go somewhere before we had to leave, to go out for a bit.
Stanley: Its nice you chose here.
Flo: I like it here.
(Beat)
Stanley: Do you feel better?
Flo: I’m not sure. I feel less tired, but I think that might be because of the dust in the house. Its very clean here.
Stanley: I try to keep up
(beat)
Stanley: My father was a doctor. Did you know that?
Flo: I thought you got this place from him.
Stanley: No, I bought it with the money he left me. He died when I was twenty, and he did well so he gave us all a bit of money.
Flo: Didn’t you want to be a doctor?
Stanley: Why would I?
Flo: Because of your father.
Stanley: I was never good with people, touching them, telling them bad things. Decided to serve drinks instead.
Flo: What about your brothers and sisters?
Stanley: Doctors, all of them.
(Luca enters, he stands at the door.)
Flo: Time already?
Luca: We have to go all the way across town.
Stanley: (To Luca) No drink today?
Luca: Do you have gin?
Stanley: No, I bought the clock instead.
(He looks to the clock)
Luca: Then we have to go.
Stanley: She just got here, just sat down.
Luca: She’ll be late.
Stanley: She’s sick, she shouldn’t be moving so much.
Flo: I can get up.
Luca: We can’t keep the car waiting
Stanley: Come back later, when you’re done.
Luca: I’m not sure, we might not have time.
Stanley: I’ll have gin.
(Beat)
Luca: We’ll see how she’s feeling.
Scene Six
(Lights are off. There is a candle burning low by Stanley’s head as he lays, head on the bar, staring out towards the windows. There is a bottle of gin on the opposite side of the candle. Pause. Stanley stands up, looks out the window, tries to read the clock tower, then goes back to the counter and opens the bottle of gin. He pours himself a glass and drinks it. Beat. He pours himself another. Dolan walks in, balding, blotting sweat off his head, looking as if to cover it up. The Dolan walks to the bar and sits on a stool, Stanley stares at the door for a moment more than rolls his head to look at the Dolan, the Dolan stares at Stanley, putting his handkerchief away, neither of them speaking.
Stanley: Do you have the time?
Dolan: No, I’m afraid.
Stanley: Still no watch.
Dolan: Still, no.
(beat)
Dolan: Gin and Tonic
(beat where Stanley makes the drink)
Dolan: Another new bottle.
Stanley: huh?
Dolan: That’s another new bottle.
Stanley: I drank the last one.
Dolan: I told you it was relaxing. Isn’t it relaxing. I’ve found it has the same release as most hobbies.
Stanley: It made me sick.
Dolan: Are you a Doctor?
Stanley: The brother of a Doctor.
Dolan: Then you aren’t making enough money to drink on the job.
Stanley: That so?
Dolan: How much do you make?
Stanley: I pay myself.
Dolan: how much?
Stanley: Not enough.
Dolan: And you think you can help my daughter.
(beat)
Dolan: Do you know how much I’ve paid?
(beat)
Dolan: Every time she goes down there, I pay. I pay quite a bit. I pay more than you make. Every time.
(beat)
Stanley: That so?
Dolan: It’s a fact.
(pause)
Dolan: I’m moving my daughter.
Stanley: Does she want to go?
Dolan: She isn’t better.
Stanley: Did she say that?
Dolan: Are you a doctor?
Stanley: I’m the-
Dolan: Then you don’t get to say.
Stanley: And you do?
Dolan: I’m her father. I pay her bills. I make sure she is taken care of.
Stanley: That so?
Dolan: It’s a fact.
(Pause)
Dolan: Another. Make one for yourself.
Stanley: Should you spend your money like this?
Dolan: Its mine.
Stanley: I know
Dolan: Its not yours.
Stanley: Not yet.
Dolan: What?
Stanley: You have to pay me, then it will be my money.
(beat, they watch each other)
Dolan: You can’t take it.
Stanley: I know.
Dolan: I have to give it to you.
Stanley: I won’t take it.
Dolan: I wouldn’t let you.
Stanley: I’m not a man who steals.
(beat)
Dolan: I’m not so sure.
(Pause)
Stanley: Who’s the new doctor?
Dolan: Internalist in Hunter’s Hills.
(Pause, Stanley watches Dolan)
Stanley: You shouldn’t send her there.
Dolan: Why not?
Stanley: My brother isn’t a good man.
Dolan: Your brother is a doctor?
Stanley: Whole family is.
Dolan: I’ve heard good things about him.
Stanley: You don’t know him.
Dolan: I won’t change it.
Stanley: I can recommend you someone better.
Dolan: I won’t change it, its already been paid for.
(beat)
Stanley: Another?
Dolan: I don’t think so.
Stanley: You sure? On the house.
Dolan: I couldn’t stomach it.
(beat, Dolan looks at the bottle, takes it in his hands)
Dolan: Maybe I could take it…For later.
Stanley: It’s a big bottle.
Dolan: There isn’t much left.
Stanley: There’s quite a bit.
Dolan: But you said its on the house.
Stanley: That’s true.
Dolan: And you can’t take it from me.
Stanley: I wouldn’t.
Dolan: You wouldn’t?
(beat)
Dolan: I’ll keep it then. For the walk. To keep me warm. It’s cold in here.
(Dolan gets up and heads to the door).
Stanley: You haven’t paid.
(Dolan pauses)
Stanley: I said you haven’t paid.
Dolan: I know what you said.
Stanley: Will you pay?
Dolan: You can’t make me do anything.
Stanley: We’ve been over this.
Dolan: I’m still taking the bottle.
Stanley: I’ll stop serving you.
Dolan: I’ll still have the bottle.
Stanley: It’ll be the last thing you have.
(pause, Dolan looks at the bottle, then up at Stanley)
Dolan: Luca will pay. Tomorrow. I’ll give him something after he takes in my daughter. I just don’t have the cash. Nothing in my pockets.
Stanley: That so?
Dolan: My daughter will be here tomorrow
(Pause, they take each other in for another moment and then Dolan leaves. Long moment where Stanley watches the door. He looks at the time at the clock hangning, then a great bang is heard and the bottle sails through a window, shattering everything. A moment where Stanley watches then gets up and begins to clean up the mess. After sweeping everything up he pours himself a drink, slamming it in one go, then sits and pours himself another. )
Scene Seven.
(Stanley is asleep with the empty bottle of gin in his hand. Luca goes through the open door, walks over to Stanley’s body.)
Luca: Wake up.
(Luca tries to rouse him)
Luca: Wake up.
(Luca takes the bottle from him, then puts it back, seeing as it’s empty. He leans over the counter and searches for a glass and puts it on the counter. He puts in a couple handfuls of ice. He lifts bottles, checking labels, but deciding on nothing. He stands playing with the glass and then takes in a mouthful of ice, slamming the glass back down.)
Luca: Wake up…
(Stanley rouses)
Stanley: What?
(Beat)
Luca: Do you have any gin?
Stanley: We have rum.
Luca: I would like gin.
Stanley: We don’t have that. We are all out.
Luca: None left?
Stanley: Someone drank it all.
(Beat)
Luca: I’ll have rum. No ice.
(He dumps the rest of ice out of his glass. Stanley makes the drink.)
Luca: More than that, to there.
Stanley: Its too early to drink this much.
Luca: I don’t care.
Stanley: You’ll get sick later.
Luca: I don’t take advice from drunk men.
(Beat)
Stanley: How is she doing?
Luca: She had an operation.
Stanley: When?
Luca: Last night. Doctor said they had to do it, it was later than they like to do it. Said it was real bad, the worse they’d ever seen in a woman.
Stanley: Last night?
Luca: She asked them what would happen if they didn’t operate. They told her it would get in her blood if they didn’t take it all out.
Stanley: Is she all right? What did he do?
Luca: It isn’t in her blood. They took a lot out of her. I got to watch them do it.
Stanley: My brother is a butcher.
Luca: He’s your brother? He was gentle.
Stanley: You don’t know him.
(Beat, Luca finishes the glass)
Luca: Another.
(Beat.)
Luca: I told her to do it.
Stanley: That so?
Luca: She wasn’t sure, but I told her to do it. Her father said that we should, that she should get it all out. It would be better for her. But she’s a very frail girl.
(Beat)
Luca: Husbands take care of their wives
(Beat)
Stanley: Another?
Luca: I think so.
Stanley: You have time?
Luca: I think so.
(pause, finishes the third drink)
Luca: I should go. She’s probably awake.
Stanley: I’ll stay open. Come by later.
(beat)
Luca: All right.
Scene Nine
(Stanley, day, looking up at the clocktower through his good window, the other boarded up. He goes from the window to the clock hanging and dials the time correctly. Then goes back to the window to check the clocktower again. He goes to the bottle of gin sitting on the counter and picks it up, holds it for a moment, then sets it down and goes to the window one more time to check the clocktower.)
(Luca enters and sits in the light of the window. Luca is distraught and doesn’t look at Stanley. Stanley is still intent on looking at the clocktower.)
Luca: I’m sorry
(beat, Stanley, turns and notices him.)
Luca: Last night I got too drunk after everything.
(beat)
Luca: They had to operate again. She must be quite upset with me. They took more out of her. I watched again. They took a lot out of her.
Stanley: That so?
Luca: I feel responsible. I’m the one who told her to do it.
(beat)
Luca: She’s gone now. Do you think I’m responsible?
Stanley: She’s gone?
Luca: After the operation her bed was clean. Not even a drop of blood. Nobody can find her. Everybody’s out of the house and I don’t know what to do. I haven’t seen her father all day. I’ve been alone.
(pause)
Luca: This place is nice. Do you like it here?
Stanley: Its all I have.
Luca: Are you happy?
Stanley: When people are around.
(beat)
Stanley: She’s gone?
Luca: Nothing left. No one can seem to find her.
Stanley: Why aren’t you still looking?
Luca: She’s a big girl.
(Pause)
Luca: Do you need any help?
Stanley: What?
Luca: I don’t want to leave. Is there something you want me to do?
(beat)
Stanley: You can sweep.
(beat, Luca gets up, and grabs the broom by the counter, he begins to sweep, pushing everything into the center of the room. Pause where this plays out, Stanley watches the whole time and after a moment Luca notices and stops, looking back at him.)
Stanley: You should stop.
Luca: I should?
Stanley: You should keep looking.
Luca: I’ve been looking all night.
Stanley: You need to leave.
(beat)
Luca: You don’t need to tell me
(Luca sets the broom back and walks out.)
Scene Ten
(Stanley standing at the bar, Dolan enters the same as before, but they watch each other as he sits at the counter. They stare at each other for a moment)
Dolan: I’d like something to drink.
(beat)
Dolan: I said I’d like something to drink.
Stanley: Gin and tonic?
Dolan: That would be fine.
Stanley: We don’t have any gin.
Dolan: That’s a shame.
Stanley: We don’t have rum either.
Dolan: No kidding?
Stanley: Vodka?
Dolan: Yes?
Stanley: None of it. Not a drop.
Dolan: I see.
(pause)
Stanley: I could get you a water. Would you want one?
Dolan: I would.
Stanley: Water then?
Dolan: Yes, please.
(Stanley pours the water)
Dolan: Have you heard about my daughter?
Stanley: I have.
Dolan: They’ve lost my daughter.
Stanley: I said I’ve heard.
Dolan: It’s a shame. It’s a nerve racking thing, isn’t it?
Stanley: I can’t say.
(beat)
Dolan: This water is warm.
Stanley: Its all we have.
Dolan: Nothing else you’re hiding?
Stanley: I’m not selfish.
Dolan: Of course.
(pause)
Stanley: I might have something.
Dolan: Really?
(Stanley bends down low and comes up with a bottle of clear liquor)
Dolan: What is it?
Stanley: Something strong. My brother gave it to me, for good health.
Dolan: I could use some. I feel cold, do you feel cold? I could use some.
(Stanley pours a very small amount into a glass and slides it to him.)
Dolan: This smells strong, like it could burn through you.
Stanley: That’s why I don’t drink it.
Dolan: I think I need it.
(He takes a swallow, and visibly winces, closing his eyes. It takes a beat for him to open them again.)
Stanley: How is it?
Dolan: Good, like I’m burning on the inside, like I’m on fire. I feel like a saint.
(beat)
Dolan: I’d like that whole bottle.
Stanley: I couldn’t.
Dolan: I have the money.
Stanley: What about your daughter?
Dolan: What about her?
Stanley: You aren’t worried?
(beat)
Dolan: One problem at a time.
(Dolan takes out a wad of money and lays it on the counter. Stanley looks at the money and then sweeps the money off the counter and into his lap. Stanley places the bottle on the counter)
Stanley: Take it.
Dolan: You sure?
Stanley: I mean it.
(beat, Dolan looks at the bottle)
Stanley: Take it.
Dolan: I’m not sure now, its so much.
Stanley: Its not so big. I’ll even help you out.
(Stanley takes out another glass and pours them each a drink. He raises his glass as if to toast. Dolan picks up his glass and they hold them together, looking at one another.)
Stanley: To your health.
Dolan: Yes.
Stanley: And to your daughter.
Dolan: Of course.
(Dolan drinks, but Stanley doesn’t. Dolan winces hard again, and then looks at the bottle.)
Stanley: Take it.
(Dolan wraps his arms around it, and sits for a moment)
Dolan: To my daughter.
(Stanley watches him go. After a moment he stops and holds still, staring at something, then quickly jumps back as another bottle comes through the window he was just staring through.The bottle doesn’t break and lands into the middle of the stage. Stanley is in shock for a few moments then begins to pace back and forth, switching glances back and forth from the bottle to the broken window. Flo descends from the stairwell next to the counter, her eyes are covered in thick white bandages. He picks up the bottle and stands as if he would throw it through the last remaining window, then notices Flo as she walks slowly towards him, taking slow steps. Stanley sets the bottle down and takes her hand and walks her back towards the counter, laying her hands on it. He walks around the counter and fetches a glass and fills it with ice.)
Stanley: It’s been a little while since I’ve seen you.
Flo: I’ve been ill
Stanley: That so?
Flo: Not anymore.
(beat)
Stanley: Can I get you a drink?
Flo: Nothing strong.
(Stanley makes her a drink and one for himself. He guides her hands to glass and they each take a drink.)
