monopolis attended three weeks of college before her mother’s death two years ago, after which she...
TRANSCRIPT
Characters The Mulligan Family: Hank, 45 but looks older, patriarch of the Mulligan family. Hank hasn’t left the house since his wife Marie’s death. Marie was Hank’s first kiss and they were married for twenty-three years. He’s cantankerous and controlling and desperately afraid of losing his family. Alice, 20, his daughter. Alice attended three weeks of college before her mother’s death two years ago, after which she moved home. Since Marie’s death and her father’s withdrawal from society, Alice has supported the family. She runs the after-school mentoring program her mother founded in addition to a second job as a waitress at her Uncle Dean’s restaurant, but longs to escape to graphic design school. Charlie, 14, her brother. Charlie is meek, intelligent and remarkably talented. He goes virtually unnoticed by his family, who are preoccupied with Alice’s antics and Margaret’s needs. A freshman in high school, Charlie spends a lot of time on his iPod in preparation for his first musical performance this week. His family doesn’t know about it. Nan, 61, Hank’s mother-in-law, Alice and Charlie’s grandmother. Nan has always been a strong single mother who keeps herself very busy. She sees all and knows all, but refuses to take a stance in family conflicts, much to her granddaughter’s chagrin. Recognizing their need, she moved in with the family following Marie’s death. Uncle Roy, 33, Nan’s son, Hank’s wily younger brother-in-law, uncle to Alice and Charlie, and dutiful caretaker to his younger sister Margaret. Uncle Roy and Aunt Margaret recently moved in, at Nan’s suggestion, after Roy lost his contractor job and Margaret’s condition worsened. Aunt Margaret, 28, Nan’s youngest, Margaret suffers from dementia due to brain injury. She was severely injured in a car accident at twelve years old and has not mentally progressed beyond that age. She doesn’t remember the accident. Her doctor suggested a familial environment might stabilize her functionality. Aunt Margaret still has moments of clarity and is embarrassed and frustrated by her condition. Carmen, 23, Alice and Charlie’s cousin, Carmen is the only child of Hank’s younger, more successful brother Dean, who owns a restaurant. Brash, sassy, and liberated, Carmen blows through the Mulligan household like a tornado. Carmen recently started her own catering company to wild success. Others: Peter, 21, Alice’s longtime friend. Peter has been unable to escape the shadow of his high school “puny nerd” reputation in this small town, though he knows he has more to offer. He’s been quietly in love with Alice for years and is now panicking about her impending departure. Algebra, 20, Peter’s cousin, Algebra is spectacularly weird, yet wise. She’s a student at the University of Virginia in town for her sister’s wedding.
Setting The Mulligan house in Moorstown, Virginia. Population 1,500. Early Spring. Notes A / denotes when the subsequent line occurs during the current one. Lines written side-by-side are to be spoken simultaneously. “mothersong” © 2012 used with permission by Jefferson Hudson.
1
SCENE 1
AT RISE: Morning in the Mulligan family’s house in coastal Moorstown, Virginia. A cozy living room/kitchen area. A hallway leads off stage right to the rest of the house. Stage left, the front door. Three doors to the right of the kitchen lead to Alice, Charlie, and Hank’s bedrooms- Hank’s farthest stage right. One door to the left of the kitchen leads to the guest room, where Nan and Margaret sleep. A bookshelf, repurposed as a shrine to dearly departed wife and mother Marie, stands wedged in the living room corner closest to the front door. On it rests a painted figurine, among other memorabilia. In the kitchen, a small square table with four chairs; a plate of pancakes at Hank’s setting, which is furthest from the front door. In the living room, a cracked leather La-Z-Boy and a sofa edge the coffee table. On that sofa, UNCLE ROY sprawls, asleep in a tangle of spare sheets. HANK and ALICE will keep their voices down to avoid waking him. HANK, in his college sweatshirt and pajama pants, stands inside the front door, which is open, peering through it. HE looks down as his daughter approaches. ALICE, sweater wrapped tightly around her work clothes, shuffles in slippers from outside, shuts the door, and hands him the newspaper. HANK swipes it from her hands.
HANK That’s a terrible idea.
ALICE Dad, - HANK (returning to his seat at the table) Quit your mother’s tutoring program, abandon those kids for some technical school- ALICE Art school. And it’s very prestigious!
ALICE resumes towel drying a pan and mixing bowl by the sink. HANK Art school is not a practical choice right now. With Nan and your aunt and uncle in the house, ALICE the spending / the spending- the But if you went back to work- spending would be irresponsible.
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HANK (cont’d) Your family needs you to contribute here.
HE whips open the paper and flips through it for his section. ALICE pauses, spatula in hand.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ALICE picks up Hank’s plate of soggy, half-eaten pancakes and walks toward the trashcan. Before she can dump them, CARMEN unceremoniously explodes, Kramer style, through the door, car keys in hand. She’s in a sweatsuit, but for Carmen, even that matches and glitters with brand names.
CARMEN Hey!
ALICE hushes Carmen, points to ROY, still sleeping soundly. CARMEN (cont’d) Woops. Hey. (Hugs Hank). HANK How’s your dad? CARMEN Good- Car’s finally out of the shop, so we’re getting along way better now that I don’t have to play chauffeur. Speaking of which, are you getting out of this stuffy house or am I going to have to drag you by the ears? HANK I go out. ALICE shakes her head at Carmen. THEY share a look. CARMEN (To Hank) Oh, really? Where’s Charlie? ALICE I think he’s- CARMEN Oo! Are those pancakes? Don’t throw those away! ALICE There’s more in the oven.
CARMEN grabs the plate from Alice’s hand. She leans against the counter and eats with her hands.
3
CARMEN Did I tell you Star Brewer’s mother called me to do her wedding cake? HANK Liza Brewer’s getting remarried? CARMEN No, the cake is for Star! ALICE Shh… CARMEN Sorry. But how cool is that! This Saturday in Mayday Park. It’s going to be beautiful. And I’m baking her cake! ALICE Is she pregnant? CARMEN Alice, God! No. Twenty is not that young to get married. ALICE Yes it is. HANK Marie was twenty when we got married.
Alice meets his eyes. Shrugs at him. Silence. HANK glares at ALICE. CARMEN looks from Hank to Alice, sensing for the first time that she interrupted something.
CARMEN Well, I have to pee, so Alice will you walk me to the bathroom? Great.
CARMEN yanks ALICE into Alice’s room. HANK approaches his nearly empty plate left on the counter, picks up the fork, takes a bite. These are his favorite. NAN, fully dressed for her day, scarf included, enters from the guest room, quietly shuts the door behind her. SHE pads over to Roy, checks her watch, pauses, and adjusts his covers where they’ve slipped.
NAN (Looking down on Roy) Guess that contractor job fell through. Do I smell pancakes?
4
HANK shrugs. NAN walks to the kitchen, pours herself coffee, takes a seat at the table, pulls a section from the newspaper, and reads during the following.
NAN (cont’d) Maggie’s still asleep. Wore herself out pretty good last night. HANK Don’t remind me. They’re in the oven. NAN What? HANK Pancakes. NAN Oh. Has he talked to you about how long he plans to stay? HANK Until he finds a place. (Huffs) Still set on living within blocks of Mayday Park, and it looks like he has no qualms with sticking with that for as long as it takes. Which, given the mortgage rate of the homes in that area, looks like indefinitely. NAN Well, he’s trying. HANK (Offended) Good for him. NAN I didn’t mean it like that.
CHARLIE, running late, strides out of his room now dressed for school with backpack slung over one shoulder and headphones around his neck. HE scans the room, extracts a spiral notebook from underneath the open self-help book splayed on the coffee table by Roy. Looks up at Nan and Hank.
CHARLIE Where’s Carmen? I thought I heard her. NAN I think she’s with your sis- HANK CARMEN!
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ROY jerks awake, upright immediately. Flops out of bed, legs tangled, and stumbles to the kitchen.
NAN (To Charlie) Did you eat breakfast? CHARLIE I’m fine. HANK CARMEN! NAN (To Charlie) Take a pancake for the road. You need to eat breakfast, Ch- ROY (To Nan, urgent) Is she up? NAN Silent as the dead. ROY Okay. (Takes a deep breath) …Cool.
ROY slows down as he limps to the coffee pot and pours the rest (less than half a cup) into a mug. Looks at the pot, then the sink, and replaces the pot without washing or refilling it. HE takes a seat at the table. Notices Hank and Nan have been watching all this.
ROY (cont’d) ….What’s up?
HANK shakes his head and turns to walk toward his room. HANK Caaaarme-!
HANK collides with CARMEN as she jogs out of the hallway. SHE grabs his shoulders and kisses him on the cheek.
CARMEN Dad wants you to call him- he really needs your help at the restaurant. Our accountant’s on maternity leave and Dad cannot handle the stress.
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HANK I don’t know. CARMEN You know that beautiful car out there is gonna to stop running if you leave it sitting in the garage much longer. CHARLIE We’re really going to be late. CARMEN Okaaay!
SHE slides past Hank to grab his last pancake from the plate on the counter.
CHARLIE I love you dad, I’ll see you later.
HANK, looking at his watch, shrugs Charlie off.
HANK (Terse) Yep.
HANK exits into his room. CHARLIE ushers CARMEN toward and through the door as she yells goodbyes, waving with the pancake in her hand.
CARMEN Bye Nana Gill, bye Uncle Roy!
The door shuts behind them. Silence. HANK returns carrying a cardboard box, and grabs today’s newspaper from the table, including the section Nan is reading. NAN looks up at him but he’s already sweeping past her to the kitchen, where he opens the cabinet containing coffee cups and rifles around. NAN takes some knitting out of her purse.
ROY What was that about? HANK What? ROY Looked like your niece was layin’ down some words of wisdom.
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HANK snorts. Finds the cup he was looking for.
HANK Yeah, she’s full of those. If there’s one thing that girl is known for it’s her tempered tongue. NAN Oh Hank, ease up. She’s just looking out for her cousin.
HANK shoots his mother-in-law a suspicious glance as he wraps the mug and puts it in the cardboard box.
NAN (cont’d) …I would assume. Is that Marie’s mug? HANK shrugs. NAN (cont’d) (To Roy) It’s getting late, you should wake her. ROY (Cradling his mug) I mean it’s not that late… NAN Dr. Cleary specified that establishing a routine- ROY Mom, I know. NAN Okay, well…
ROY snaps to, stands abruptly. Prepares himself. ROY Alright.
ROY marches into Nan and Margaret’s shared room. NAN (To Hank) I take it Alice told you. HANK How long have you known about this? NAN She’s going, Hank, whether you like it or not.
8
HANK You don’t think it’s a good idea. …Do you?
NAN hesitates. HANK (cont’d) She wakes me up early with my favorite breakfast, and I’m thinking, wow, finally my daughter wants to spend time with me. But then she launches into this “rediscovering herself” spiel about flying off to goddamn Vermont and never coming home. All for some illustration program she’ll spend all her money on and then spend the rest of her life trying to make back. But, of course she can’t see that. It’s like she’s trying to get as far away from me as possible… You know when she was little it was always me she woke up when she had a nightmare. I don’t know what happened. (Beat.) But the best part is that the final round of this competition is tonight. And she wants to go! And miss Monopoly Night. Monopoly Night! And you know the excuse she gives me? Because Marie would have wanted it. Because Marie “never got to do it herself.” …What does that sound like to you? NAN A waste of blueberries. HANK I can’t believe… The Alice I raised would never have… I don’t even know what to- What do you think about that?
NAN pauses. NAN Art isn’t to Alice what it was to Marie. Marie liked art because it… well, because it distracted her. Alice… she thinks in pictures. It isn’t a life raft for her, it’s her passion. And she’s not a little girl anymore. HANK Passion. She doesn’t know what it’s like out there. Three weeks of U.V.A. doesn’t count. No matter how good she is, they call them starving artists for a reason. She’s going to be crushed when she doesn’t make it. She won’t be able to handle it, and I won’t be there and I… NAN Look…I’m not saying that I agree with her- I know what Monopoly Night means to you, to the family. But, regardless… (Takes Hank’s hand. Looks around and lowers her voice) Alice is not Marie. She’s stronger. She can handle the big bad world. HANK What if you’re wrong? Is it worth the risk?
NAN holds his hand a moment.
9
NAN If you told her the truth about her mother, you could find out. HANK No. She’s too young. NAN sighs. NAN That’s your call, Hank. I’m going to check on my kids.
NAN quietly exits, leaving HANK alone onstage. He picks up the cardboard box, crosses to the bookshelf, consults the photos on it, chooses one and tucks it into the box. He picks up the statuette and absentmindedly rubs his thumb across its belly as he stares toward Alice’s room. The doorbell rings, startling him, and he nearly drops the statuette. HANK considers for a moment before placing the statuette back on the shelf. He checks his watch, heads back toward his room, waiting for someone else to come out to answer the door. A knock. No one does. A second knock. Hank suspiciously opens the door. PETER stands in the doorway.
HANK Peter. PETER (Surprised) Oh… Hey! Mr. Mulligan! How are you up to? (Cringes.) HANK How’s the shop? PETER Good. Dad’s there now. We just got this gorgeous 1970 Mustang from a collector. That standing invitation still stands by the way: Dad’ll work over the Camaro for free if you want to bring her by. HANK Yeah, I’m really busy right now, I’m still organizing a lot around here, trying to Margaret-proof the house. PETER Yeah, well, whenever. You know where to find him.
ALICE speeds through the living room, grabs Peter.
HANK ALICE Yep! Thanks. Sorry, I didn’t hear you knock.
10
PETER It’s no problem. HANK retreats toward his room with the box. PETER (cont’d) (To Alice, tilts his head toward Hank) Any change? ALICE shakes her head. PETER (cont’d) Hey! So you about ready to go? ALICE Yeah, I actually wanted to talk to you about something-
NAN and ROY come out of Nan’s room, supporting an energetic but uncoordinated MARGARET, in jeans and a Cookie Monster shirt, between them. ROY has a large bag slung over his shoulder and a pair of women’s tennis shoes in his hand. MARGARET sees Alice and jumps toward her for a hug, yanking Roy’s and Nan’s necks. NAN waves to Hank for assistance. HANK sets the box by his bedroom door and reluctantly crosses the room to their aid.
MARGARET Alice! Heeeeeey!
MARGARET grabs her tennis shoes from Roy’s hand and plops down on the floor, shoving her feet into the shoes and trying unsuccessfully to tie them. She becomes increasingly distressed.
ALICE MARGARET (cont’d) Hey, Aunt Margaret- I learned a new braid I want to try on you
because- Do you want to come to the park with us, Alice??
ROY hands HANK the shoulder bag, bends down and gently pries Margaret’s fingers from the laces. SHE resists.
ALICE (cont’d) MARGARET (cont’d) Sorry, I can’t, I have to… We can read Wrinkle in Time and you
can watch me climb- (to Roy) No! I can do it!!
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ROY Come on, Margaret, we can do shoes later; it’s time for breakfast.
MARGARET yanks viciously at her laces. MARGARET No, thank you! ROY tries again, MARGARET slaps his hands away. MARGARET (cont’d) STOP! I can do it! I don’t need your help! Get away!!
MARGARET focuses intently on her laces, aware everyone’s watching her now. NAN leans toward her but ROY gestures to her to stop. MARGARET nervously knots her shoes. Satisfied, she begins to stand and realizes her fingers are tangled in the laces. SHE yanks at them, unsuccessfully. This is the last straw, and SHE begins to cry. NAN leans in to gently untangle Margaret’s hands.
NAN (Cooing) Alice made pancakes. Didn’t you Alice? ALICE Yes. Just for you specially, I did. But I have to finish getting ready for work-
MARGARET drops her shoelaces. MARGARET Can I come? NAN ROY Margaret, it’s time for breakfast now. Come on Maggie, you love pancakes… Uppsy-daisy.
ROY and NAN steady Margaret as she trips over her forgotten shoes and usher her toward the kitchen, where they sit HER down. HANK follows with the shoulder bag. ALICE rushes off to her room with PETER and shuts the door behind them. ROY sits next to his sister as NAN plates pancakes and sets them in front of Margaret. NAN turns off the oven, hands a fork to Roy and checks her watch. HE cuts MARGARET’s pancakes into pieces and feeds them to HER throughout the following.
ROY (To Hank) So brotherman, whacha got goin’ on today?
12
HANK (Mocking) Whachoo got “goin’ on” today? Job hunting, I hope. ROY …Yeah. Have been every day. Hand me the days of the week box? HANK Mm. Tough market for “general contractors”? HANK digs around in the shoulder bag. ROY Yeah, not a lot of companies are building right now given the economy, so yes. You gonna leave the house today?
HANK produces a days of the week pillbox from the bag, thumps it on the table, drops the shoulder bag next to Roy’s chair.
HANK I have a lot to do here. I’m going to go get started on some filing…
HANK disappears into his room. NAN Filing. He’s watching Days of Our Lives. ROY You’re kidding.
NAN shrugs. ROY (cont’d) (Gestures to Alice’s door.) He’s okay with her having a boy in her room? NAN Oh, Peter? He doesn’t count. ROY He looks pretty strapping to me. There’s gotta be something going on there. NAN (Dismissive) No. MARGARET Hey Roy, can I have some… some… some…
13
ROY (Immediately on alert) Water?
ROY whips a squeeze water bottle from the over-shoulder bag. MARGARET shakes her head.
ROY (cont’d) Is it something to drink? Milk, or juice, or…?
MARGARET shakes her head. MARGARET No! It’s… that… It’s that… stuff…
SHE bangs her hand on the table, frustrated nearly to the point of tears.
ROY Syrup! Syrup?
HE pulls some from a cupboard. MARGARET nods, laughs weakly.
ROY (cont’d) Syrup! See? Everything’s fine. We are fine.
HE takes a deep breath. Switches gears. ROY (cont’d) Wait… Puny Peter? NAN …Probably. ROY The kid that got the crap beat out of him at that spring picnic thing Marie did? NAN Peter Harper got the crap beat out of him a lot as a kid. I can’t believe you remember that. ROY He got egged in the eye and had to go to the hospital, not exactly what you expect going into an Easter egg hunt. NAN Moorstown’s never been a hotbed for future leaders.
14
SHE checks her watch and crosses toward Alice’s door, knocks on it.
ROY I never would have guessed. NAN Alice, I want to stop by Hobby Haven on the way. ALICE (O.S.) Uhh… Okay!
ALICE and PETER are laughing as they come out of her room. ALICE is now carrying a messenger bag. NAN gathers her purse and folds her knitting, pulls out her car keys as ALICE and PETER walk toward the front door:
ALICE (cont’d) That’s fantastic. Lunch later? PETER Uh, yeah! Yeah, that sounds- fine. ALICE Okay, good because I still need to talk to you about some something. Not- It’s not a big deal… PETER Okaaay… I’ll see you for lunch then. NAN (To Roy) You good here? ROY (Suppressing exasperation) Yeah Mom, we’re fine. NAN Okay then, see you later. Alice and Peter? ALICE (To Nan) Right behind you. (To Peter) Yeah, pick me up from Marie’s Angels at noon? PETER Sure.
ALICE waves to ROY and MARGARET.
15
ALICE Bye.
PETER holds the door open for NAN to pass through. ALICE lingers a moment, watching ROY feed MARGARET, before closing the door behind her. ROY methodically slices the last of the pancakes into small squares and feeds them to his sister.
ROY So what do you want to do today? MARGARET Guess.
HE pulls a squeeze water bottle and large plastic bag full of several pill bottles from the shoulder bag. He picks up the days of the week box, lifts the lid on Thursday and empties its considerable contents into Margaret’s hand, watching HER swallow each one.
ROY Hmm… Well I would say Mayday Park but we’ve done that every other day we’ve been here so surely…
MARGARET smiles. MARGARET How did you know?
ROY begins refilling the days of the week pillbox from the individual bottles.
ROY Intuition I guess. BLACKOUT.
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SCENE 2
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NAN and ROY rush out the door. CHARIE falls onto the couch, watches the phone for a beat and then gets out his sailboat project: balsa wood and glue, and begins to construct the model over the coffee table. After a beat, HANK emerges from his bedroom, freshly showered and tucking a button down into fresh slacks. Pep in his step.
HANK What are you working on? CHARLIE It’s just this model thing. It’s my friend’s birthday tomorrow. HANK Huh. (Checks his watch.) Where is everybody? CHARLIE They’re looking for Margaret. HANK (Not really listening.) Hmm. Well we’ve got a little while. You need a hand with that? CHARLIE Yeah, that would be great. I’m trying to glue these pieces together but I have to hold them (reading instructions) “in place securely for thirty to forty-five seconds.” HANK Alright well, you hold, I’ll glue. CHARLIE Great. Thanks, Dad. HANK You’re my boy. What kind of old man would I be? …How’s school? CHARLIE It’s good. Chemistry is cool, our teacher used to work for NASA. HANK About time they hired someone qualified. CHARLIE And uh, I got asked to play a set at The Java Hut.
17
HANK Get outta town… You did? CHARLIE Yeah… it felt really good. HANK Well… That’s- good.
ALICE creeps in from her room, dressed up and a little nervous. HANK (cont’d) Your brother got asked to play at the Hut! ALICE I know! …You seem… excited…? HANK Absolutely! ALICE What are you building? CHARLIE Just this model thing- HANK It’s for a class. CHARLIE It’s for a …girl, actually…
HANK What?
CHARLIE (Sheepish) Yeah…I mean it’s not a big deal, it’s just her birthday’s coming up and I saw this when I was picking up Nan’s yarn, and she likes to sail, so…
ALICE Charlie! That’s amazing!
CHARLIE It’s really not that big a deal. HANK Impressing a girl, playing a gig at the Hut…
18
ALICE And you’re okay with that? Him playing at the Hut?
CHARLIE looks up from his project. HANK CHARLIE Okay with it? I’m thrilled. Alice… ALICE Wow, Dad that’s… awesome!
SHE gives him a hug. This is a most pleasant surprise for HANK. CHARLIE tries to signal his sister, but ALICE doesn’t see him.
ALICE (cont’d) I’m glad Nan talked to you.
SHE releases him and heads for the door. HANK processes. HANK …What? ALICE …What? HANK Talked to me about what? ALICE Uhh… HANK Why are you all dressed up? ALICE The… the art show-
ALICE backs toward the door. CHARLIE HANK Dad- Alice. I thought we settled this. ALICE Wait. We- No. I can’t just not show up-
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HANK No. No. It’s Monopoly Night. You can’t- No one skips Monopoly Night. You’re not any busier than any other member of this family and everyone else has set aside time for this, so you can too. ALICE I’ll only be gone for a little while, you won’t even miss me. HANK If you don’t come then someone else is going to think, “Well, if Alice isn’t coming then they’ll understand if I don’t,” and then all of a sudden no one comes and Monopoly Night dies! ALICE That’s not going to happen. HANK How do you know? How could you do this to your mother? CHARLIE (Holds up his hands glued to the model.) Dad, can you-? ALICE You’re way overreacting, Dad. This is not a big deal- HANK CHARLIE Not a big deal?! Alice! The glue is drying- ALICE I’ll be back before the game is even over. You should be proud of me! You should be canceling this stupid game so that you can come to my art show! HANK CHARLIE “Stupid game”?? Guys, stop- ALICE Oh my GOD, I’m a finalist for the most competitive scholarship in the STATE doing all this on my own and trying to get out of here to better myself and you’re mad at me because I’m missing a board game to change my life!? HANK CHARLIE It’s art Alice. You’re not changing She’s just trying to- the world- ALICE What do I have to do to make you proud of me?
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HANK Do you have any idea what you’re putting your family through? This is our tradition. Our way to remember her. Doesn’t that mean anything to you? CHARLIE Dad, Mom wouldn’t want us to- ALICE Of course it does, but this is my only chance! There are hundreds of people involved in this; they can’t reschedule because my family has game night. HANK It’s not “game night,” it’s all we have- How could you do this to us? ALICE I’m not / doing anything to you! Why are you taking this as-?? CHARLIE HANK Guys, just calm down- And it’s worth it to you! Betraying your family! ALICE It’s just Monopoly! It’s not your HANK birthday or something, it’s just a stupid GAME- It’s not the game! It’s for your and this is the rest of my life! mother! CHARLIE (reaching for Hank) It’s not for Mom, Dad, it’s for you! Mom Come on, Dad, let’s- doesn’t care, she’s dead!
Silence.
ALICE I’m sorry, I didn’t- I’m just- I can’t stay here forever because she’s gone. I miss her too but… I’ve got to go.
ALICE opens the door. HANK loses it. HE grabs HER and clamps his arms around her, pinning hers to her sides.
HANK (Shutting down) No. You can’t leave. ALICE (Trying to jerk away) Let go! CHARLIE Stop it! Dad, what are you doing?? Dad! What is wrong with you?!
21
ALICE and HANK slam into the bookcase; Marie’s last figurine topples from it and shatters on the floor.
ALL three freeze, stunned. HANK visibly shakes with rage as he glares at his daughter. ALICE flees. HANK slowly deflates under the gaze of his son. He storms to his room without meeting Charlie’s eyes. As HANK leaves:
CHARLIE Dad?
HANK doesn’t respond, closes the door behind him. After a beat: CHARLIE (cont’d) Dad?
CHARLIE looks around him. HE’s alone. CHARLIE starts to cry, then slowly walks over to the shards of his mother’s figurine on the floor, kneels next to them. He picks one up and the glue on his fingers sticks to the shard, pulling off the paint. Charlie drops it and looks at his hand, horrified. He reaches for a nearby trashcan, picks up the chipped shard of glass, and hurls it in. He looks into the trashcan for a beat, then fishes the shard back out, takes off his sweatshirt and tenderly gathers all the fragments in it, bundles them up, and carries them to his room.
A beat. The front door opens. NAN and ROY escort a dirty and barefoot MARGARET inside. ROY sees the shards of glass on the floor and stops the others, eager to compensate.
ROY Just a second ladies. Looks like a broken dish.
ROY grabs a broom and dustpan, sweeps up the remaining shards of glass from Marie’s sculpture, and throws them away. HANK marches out of his room carrying Monopoly, which he slams onto the coffee table and begins to loudly set up during the following. ROY reaches his hand out to Margaret and guides her into the guest room.
ROY (cont’d) Not a problem, all taken care of. Here you go Maggie, let’s get you all cleaned up.
ROY and MARGARET exit. HANK checks his watch. NAN assesses Hank.
22
NAN What happened? HANK It’s almost six. …We can’t start late!
HANK methodically sets up the game. Doling out stacks of money for nine players.
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