TRINKETS 1

TRINKETS

a one act play

by

John McKinley

John McKinley 340 Dartmouth Rd Santa Paula, CA 93060 (805) 708-6469 johnmmckinley@yahoo.com

TRINKETS 2

THE STORY: A middle-aged couple, scraping to get by, have their lives turned inside out by a mysterious lamp that seems to grant wishes, but not in the way they hoped it might. THE SETTING: Les and Amelia’s simple apartment during what may be the Great Depression. There are no modern conveniences but an old percolator coffee pot. Clothing style is consistent with the era. Men in shirts and ties, coats and hat when outdoors, women in dresses and shawls. CHARACTERS: LES (M, 40’s to 50’s): A kindly and devoted married man. AMELIA (F, 40’s to 50’s): A weary woman with a shadow of mourning that hangs over her. MR. BARKER (M, 30’s to 40’s): A gruff landlord. BRIDGETTE (F, early 20’s): The dead daughter of Les and Amelia. Scene 1 Lights Up on a simple, impoverished apartment. Les shines one of many shoes. Amelia, enters through the front door with a basket of knick knacks. A framed black and white photo of a girl about twenty years old, Bridgette, is on the wall with a black ribbon over it. LES You were up early this morning. AMELIA As I am every trash day. LES Not like today. AMELIA I was up earlier than usual. Couldn’t sleep. Tossed and turned all night. LES I know. Me, too. So, how did it go? AMELIA I found some good items. Should bring in a few dollars at the flea market.

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LES Mrs. Blore dropped off some sewing, alterations and what not. I told her you would have them ready for her by Monday. I hope that’s all right. AMELIA Is it much work? LES Not so bad. AMELIA Fine. I’ll do it tonight. LES I made coffee. Want some? AMELIA Coffee? I thought we’d used the last of it. LES I was keeping a bit back… for emergencies. AMELIA Are we at that point? Emergencies? LES Let me get you a cup. AMELIA As time goes on, I feel myself getting tireder and tireder. Don’t you feel it, Les? Don’t you feel tireder? LES Don’t worry your pretty little head. We persevere as we must. No time for being tired. AMELIA Surely, you must feel it. Like a weight upon your chest? Your shoulders? It buckles the knees. I feel it all the time. LES Okay, I get tired. Now, enough with that talk. Drink your coffee. AMELIA How did we come to this, Les?

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LES Amelia— AMELIA Me, a scavenger and a seller of trinkets, a seamstress, a laundry woman. You, a shoe shiner, a handyman, a jack of all trades. LES We do what we must to get by. AMELIA I feel like I’m sixty-five. How old do I look, Les? LES Twenty-three. AMELIA You’re full of blarney, you know that? LES I feel like I’m twenty three. AMELIA What’s happened to us, Les? LES This is just the way things are. Relax and enjoy your coffee. You’ll feel better. AMELIA I’ll relax, but I doubt I’ll feel better. LES Show me what you found. Anything need fixing? AMELIA A clock that doesn’t tick and a locket that doesn’t latch. LES I’ll take a look at them as soon as I’ve finished these shoes. AMELIA Can you believe that it’s been seven years? LES We talked about that last night, my dear. Now, please…

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AMELIA She would be twenty-eight years old today. LES Amelia… AMELIA Our sweet little girl. LES I’ve packed our lunches. We’ll go to the cemetery soon. AMELIA Les, do you think we— LES Shush, we did everything we could. AMELIA Tough love doesn’t make me happy, or warm…. LES She made her own choices. AMELIA Maybe we didn’t read the signs soon enough. Maybe she was reaching out to us. LES We gave her our love and kept the door open. She didn’t come back. AMELIA I wish she had come back. LES If she had, it would’ve been on our terms, not hers. She wasn’t willing to do that. AMELIA Don’t you wish you could change the past? Correct mistakes, avoid danger— LES Some things can’t be changed. Don’t blame us for being bad parents, because we weren’t. AMELIA If I could just hold my little Bridgette in my arms once more, and she a little child, I would keep her from harm forever. I would never let her go.

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LES Amelia-- AMELIA I miss her so much. LES As do I. AMELIA We didn’t lose her when she died seven years ago. We lost her four years before that. I’ve mourned her for eleven years. LES Those first four years were hoping, not mourning. AMELIA They were filled with loss. It felt like mourning to me. LES We couldn’t help her unless she wanted it. She wasn’t ready. AMELIA I wish she would’ve wanted it… as much as I wanted to help her. As much as I wanted to give her back her self again. I don’t think, in the end, she even knew who she was. If she did, she… do you think she killed herself on purpose, Les? LES Shush, dear. It was an accident. She didn’t mean to do it. She could’ve always turned to us. We never gave up on her. She knew that. AMELIA I suppose you’re right. But why do things have to be this way? LES It’s just the way they are. No sense in trying to make rhyme or reason from it. AMELIA I love you, Les. You know that. LES And I love you. AMELIA The coffee’s good. Thank you.

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LES Now, will you show me what you’ve found? AMELIA Here’s that old clock I told you about, and the locket. Some tsachkies of one kind or another, and an old brass oil lamp. I’ll polish it up. Good for scrap if not for decoration. It looks nice doesn’t it? LES Lovely. A knock at the door. Les and Amelia exchange glances. AMELIA He knows I’m here. He saw me when I came up. Les opens the door and Mr. Barker, the landlord, enters the doorway. MR. BARKER Well, looky here. It’s tomorrow already. LES Good Morning, Mr. Barker. MR. BARKER Don’t ‘good morning’ me, Shoeshine Boy. It’s your day of reckoning. Time to pay up. AMELIA Mr. Barker— MR. BARKER Don’t tell me. You don’t have it… again. LES These are tough times, Mr. Barker. MR. BARKER Look, I got a job to do. And when I don’t collect the rent, it makes my job harder. I don’t want to work that hard, see? You’re lucky I’m a little lazy, because you’re this close to being put out on the street. Don’t think I won’t do it, either. I’ll be back tomorrow. And you’re lucky you caught me on a good day. Don’t forget that. Mr. Barker leaves and Les shuts the door.

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LES Another reprieve. AMELIA I’m worried. Remember when Mr. Fascenda died? Mrs. Fascenda and her kids were out on the street the next month. LES There weren’t any vacant apartments back then. There are at least four empty ones right now. AMELIA The money from the sewing, and your shoes, and the flea market… I hope that’ll be enough to cover the rent. LES We’ll cover it. I’ve got a bit of money set aside in the lock box. AMELIA You’ll fix the clock? LES I’ll do my best, and the locket, too. AMELIA I’ll polish the lamp. LES I’m nearly done with these shoes. Amelia polishes the lamp. AMELIA Mr. Barker is an ogre of a man, don’t you think? LES He’s just doing his job. AMELIA He could at least have a little compassion. We’re honest, upstanding folk. We’re not trying to cheat him. Doesn’t he know that? LES Deep down, I think he does. It’s just his way.

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AMELIA Well, I wish things were different. I wish he was in our place for a change. Maybe he should struggle a bit more… like us, like many of us. Only if he could walk in our shoes for a while, that might humble him a bit. Lights Fade to Black. Scene 2 Lights Up on same setting as before in continuous action, however, the shoes are no longer on stage. Instead of Les, Mr. Barker sits, reading the racing form, which covers his face. A framed black and white photo of a girl about seventeen years old, Anna, is on the wall. AMELIA If only he had to struggle a bit more, I think he would understand. Times are hard everywhere. People out of work, just scraping to get by, and him with a guaranteed roof over his head. And really, can you really call what he does work? I mean, you fix half the things around this building, not him. Sure, he’s the landlord, but would it hurt him to use a kind word now and then? Treat us tenants with a bit of dignity? You know what they say, you catch more flies with honey than— MR. BARKER (lowering the racing form) What the hell are you goin on about? Amelia screams. MR. BARKER (cont) Jesus Christ! Can you keep it down? I’m tryin to concentrate here. AMELIA What’re you doing here? MR. BARKER What does it look like I’m doin? I’m tryin to pick some winners in today’s races.

AMELIA Where’s Les? MR. BARKER Are you feelin all right?

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AMELIA Just tell me where Les is. MR. BARKER How the hell should I know? But if I were a betting man, and I am, I’d say he’ll be showin up on our doorstep any minute. AMELIA Our doorstep? MR. BARKER Doorway, whatever. AMELIA Are you… ? Are we… ? MR. BARKER Am I, are we, what? AMELIA Married? MR. BARKER I swear, Amelia, you’re a damn basket case. Here I am, tryin to raise some scratch to cover the rent and you can’t even leave me in peace. You can’t even fix me a decent meal. You sit there like a princess surrounded by your junk, blatherin on about God knows what. You’re certifiable, you know that? Amelia gathers her strength, a sense of herself, and rises. AMELIA What about you! Maybe if we had some groceries, I could make you something decent to eat! I scrape and scavenge to make ends meet and what do you do? Why don’t you get a job instead of gambling away our money on the dog races! Amelia surprises herself with her outburst. Mr. Barker backhands her across the face.. MR. BARKER Don’t give me no lip. Show some respect, why don’t you. Jobs are hard to come by. And it’s not like I ain’t been tryin. I gotta do what I gotta do. You understand me? AMELIA I’m sorry, Joe. Forgive me. I’m just frustrated, that’s all.

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MR. BARKER You and me both. AMELIA Joe? MR. BARKER Yeah? AMELIA Your name’s Joe. MR. BARKER I swear to God, Amelia… Amelia sees the photo on the wall of Anna. AMELIA Joe… do we… do we have any children? MR. BARKER You serious? She goes to him and grabs him by the shirt and shakes him. AMELIA Please tell me! Mr. Barker pushes her away and she falls to the floor. MR. BARKER You’re headin straight for the sanitarium. You hear me? Ever since Anna died, seven years, and you’re still—. Pull it together. Get over it. You’re embarrassin yourself. Amelia sobs. MR. BARKER (cont) I’m going to the track. Did you iron my shirt? Mr. Barker exits into the bedroom. MR. BARKER (O.S.) Amelia! My shirt? AMELIA On the back of the door!

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Amelia picks up the polishing cloth and wipes her nose and face with it. AMELIA (cont) What’s happening to me? She spies the lamp and reaches for it slowly. There’s a knock at the front door. Mr. Barker enters from the bedroom wearing a clean white shirt and tying a tie. MR. BARKER What did I tell you? Damn, why can’t I have that kind of luck at the track? Mr. Barker opens the door, revealing Les. MR. BARKER Yeah? LES Good morning, Mr. Barker. I think we both know this isn’t purely a social call. AMELIA Les! LES Hello, Mrs. Barker. Good day to you. MR. BARKER We don’t have it. LES Now, you’ll remember that yesterday, you told me you would pay your rent today. MR. BARKER Well, we don’t have it. Come back tomorrow. I’m goin to the track today. LES You have money to wager, but not to pay your rent? MR. BARKER I only have half of it. LES You know what day of the week this is, right Mr. Barker?

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MR. BARKER Yeah. It’s race day. (He grabs his coat and hat.) I can still make it to the track in time for the second post. Mr. Barker exits. An awkward pause follows. LES Thank you, Mrs. Barker, for that China doll you gave me yesterday, for Bridgette. She just adores it. AMELIA Bridgette? LES She named the doll Sally. And the clothes you made were simply delightful. AMELIA You said… Bridgette. LES My daughter. Are you feeling all right, Mrs.—? AMELIA No, I don’t think I am. LES Here, sit down. Les takes Amelia by the hand and guides her to a chair. LES Do you want some water or a cup of tea? AMELIA We don’t have any more tea… or coffee for that matter. LES We have both back at our place. I’ll bring some over for you. Amelia picks up a small doll’s bonnet from the table. AMELIA Here’s a bonnet I made for Bridgette last night, for her doll, for Sally. LES Thank you. You’re so good to her. I’m sure she’ll love it.

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Les puts the bonnet in his shirt pocket. AMELIA Les, don’t you know me? LES Of course, Mrs. Barker. You’ve lived here for six years. AMELIA No. Don’t you really know me? LES What do you mean? AMELIA Who am I? LES Shall I call a doctor? AMELIA What sort of woman am I, Les? Tell me. LES Well, you’re a kind woman… patient, charitable. You’d share your last loaf of bread with a hungry stranger. AMELIA There’s more, isn’t there? What else? LES Well, for a long time I’ve known… and no disrespect… because I find you a dear person. But… you’re a sad woman. You try to put on your best face, but sometimes the sadness shows through. (pause) I’m sorry for you, really I am. AMELIA Sorry? LES For the loss of your daughter. And I know living with him Mr. Barker can’t be easy. AMELIA But I’m married to you, Les.

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LES Pardon, Mrs. Barker? AMELIA Don’t call me that! My name’s Amelia Newman. I’m your wife! I’m Mrs. Leslie Newman! LES Is there any medication—? AMELIA Don’t you know me, Les? We love each other. This is our home. You shine shoes. You fix things. You’re a handyman. I take in laundry and sewing, I scavenge for trinkets to sell at the flea market. Mr. Barker is our apartment manager! LES I’m the manager, Mrs. Barker. And I have a job to do. I’d better go, but I’ll check in on you later. Promise, I will. AMELIA Our daughter, Bridgette, is dead! A pause. LES About the coffee and tea, I’ll drop it off when I come ‘round again. Les exits and closes the door. AMELIA Les, don’t leave me! I need you! You’re my strength. You’re my husband! (sobbing) My God, what have I done? She spies the lamp, wipes her face and nose, and picks it up. AMELIA (cont) I must put things right again. If I did it once, I could do it again. She begins polishing the lamp. AMELIA (cont) I wish… I wish everything was back the way it was before. Lights Fade to Black.

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Scene 3 Lights Up. Les sits, fixing the clock. AMELIA Les! You’re back! She gives him a hug. LES Woah, Amelia! I have little clock parts everywhere! AMELIA I love you, Les. LES Yes, I can see that. AMELIA Do you remember anything that happened before? LES Before what? AMELIA Just now! You were the apartment manager. Don’t you remember? You offered me tea and coffee. LES I made you coffee this morning, but what’s this about me being the— AMELIA I made some doll clothes and gave them to you for… for Bridgette. LES Honey, are you feeling all right? AMELIA No! I’m not! Why does everyone keep asking me that?

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LES I’m sorry, my sweet. Can I make you a bromide? AMELIA No, I’m fine now. I’m perfectly fine now because I have you back again. LES But I never left. AMELIA Yes, you did. It was horrible. Mr. Barker was my husband and he was mean. An ogre. LES That’s kind of the way he is. AMELIA But he was my husband! I was married to that beast. LES You must’ve flashed on a bad dream. AMELIA It was no dream! It was real. As real as me standing here right now. LES Sit down, my love. AMELIA It was the lamp! LES What’s the lamp got to do with it? AMELIA It granted my wish. Remember when I told you I wished Mr. Barker could be in our place, so maybe he would understand and have some compassion for us? LES I remember. AMELIA Well… it happened. LES What happened?

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AMELIA Mr. Barker was in our place… well, in your place, actually. And you were in his. LES Let me guess. He learned compassion for our plight and was a changed man. Sounds like a Charles Dickens story. AMELIA No, he didn’t, and he wasn’t. Mr. Barker was the same as before, if not meaner. But you were still a wonderful man!

LES Thank you, my dear, but it’s just not possible. It must’ve either been a very vivid dream or some kind of delusion. AMELIA It was no delusion! Don’t you believe me? LES What I do believe, sweetheart, is that you believe it happened, and that concerns me. This day is stressful, I know. You should get some rest. Later, we’ll go to the cemetery. AMELIA Listen to me, Les. When you came to collect the rent, when you were the apartment manager, I gave you a doll’s bonnet, for Bridgette, for her China doll. You put it in your shirt pocket, right there. LES A doll’s bonnet? Less reaches into his pocket and pulls out a doll’s bonnet. AMELIA Now do you believe? LES I… I don’t understand. AMELIA You don’t need to. But it’s all the proof you need. It happened. It was real. LES Don’t touch that lamp, Amelia. It’s cursed. It’s evil. AMELIA How can it be evil?

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LES It must be. You asked it for something good, something unselfish, but instead it gave you something twisted and mean. She reaches for the lamp. LES (cont) No! Don’t touch it! AMELIA Don’t you see? If I changed things once, I can do it again. LES You don’t know that! AMELIA Of course I do. I’ve already done it. LES A lamp has three wishes, right? You’ve already used two. AMELIA Who says there’s only three wishes? Don’t you see? We can have our Bridgette back again. LES Amelia. Take a deep breath. Let me fix you a cup of tea. AMELIA We don’t have any tea. LES Listen a minute to what you’re saying. AMELIA I know exactly what I’m saying. LES Bridgette’s gone. We still hold her near and dear in our hearts and minds. AMELIA I want to hold her in my arms.

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LES I share your pain, my dear. It’s a wound that never heals, a raw patch of flesh that gets irritated over and over again. If it were any different, we wouldn’t be human. AMELIA I’m tired of hurting, Les. Something inside me is dead. I only want to put back what was there before, something alive. LES You saw what happened before. It turned out all wrong. You shouldn’t mess with this kind of magic. It’s not right. AMELIA Don’t tell me what’s right! What’s right is putting things back the way they should be. A mistake happened and our Bridgette is dead. I want to fix it! LES Amelia, please. Let’s think about this first, okay? You know I want what you want, right? We’re together on that. AMELIA Then put your hand on the lamp. Do it now. LES What? AMELIA It’s happening. Les puts his hand on the lamp while Amelia rubs it with the cloth. AMELIA (cont) I wish we had our Bridgette back. Lights Fade to Black. Scene 4 Lights Up on same setting as before in continuous action. Nothing has apparently happened.

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LES What now? AMELIA Bridgette? LES Bridgette, dear! Only silence. LES It didn’t work. Maybe you can’t bring back the dead. Maybe it’s a rule. AMELIA What rule? LES There are always rules to magic. What you can do, what you can’t— AMELIA I’m sorry, but I didn’t find the user’s manual lying beside the lamp! LES Please, let’s not fight. Let’s put that lamp away. It’s unsettling. AMELIA I won’t give up. Not that easy. LES I feel a sense of doom, Amelia. Don’t you feel it? Surrounding you? Pressing in? You don’t know what you’re messing with. It’s some kind of black magic. I told you it was cursed, didn’t I? AMELIA You don’t know that. LES Did it give you what you wanted the first time? AMELIA All I know is that it changes the way things are. If I just wish hard enough the right way… Les grabs the polishing cloth and wraps the lamp up inside.

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AMELIA What’re you doing? LES I’m hiding it away. I don’t trust it. AMELIA I don’t trust you! Give me back my lamp. I found it! LES I’ll keep it safe. I just want to put it away. AMELIA If you loved me, Les, you wouldn’t do this to me! LES When I get back, we’ll go to the cemetery. AMELIA My Bridgette’s not dead, do you hear me! She’s not dead! Les exits. Lights Fade to Black. Scene 5 Lights Up on same setting as before. Les works on the clock as Amelia enters through the front door with her basket of treasures. LES You’d better hurry if you want to get to get a good place at the flea market. I think I’ve finally got this clock fixed. Amelia sits heavily in her chair, looking worn out, expressionless. LES (cont) Mrs. Blore picked up the sewing and left you a little something extra. (pause) I counted the money in the lockbox. We almost have the entire rent without the flea market money. That’s good news, don’t you think? (pause) Amelia? Amelia removes a gun from her basket and lets it clunk heavily onto the table.

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LES Where did you get that? AMELIA It’s loaded. LES Amelia, where did it come from? AMELIA I was picking out pieces of stained glass from the bottom of a dumpster, and there it was. It was warm when I picked it up. LES Don’t touch it. We need to turn it in to the police. AMELIA Don’t you love me anymore Les? LES Of course, I love you, Amelia. What kind of talk is that? AMELIA Yesterday, you had coffee waiting for me. Today, there’s nothing. LES I was waiting for you, my dear. Besides, I’ve been busy with this clock and lost track of time. I’ll make some for the both of us, hot and fresh.

(pause) Feeling any better, today? (pause) I was thinking that, since we didn’t go to the cemetery yesterday, we could go today, after the flea market. Mr. Evers owes me for the shoeshine. We can stop by his flower stall— AMELIA I already went. LES To the flower stall? AMELIA To the cemetery.

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LES Without me? AMELIA She’s not there anymore. LES What? AMELIA Bridgette’s grave isn’t there anymore. It’s somebody else now. LES You must be mistaken. AMELIA I know where my daughter is buried! LES Yes, my pet. I thought maybe with all the stress— AMELIA I’m not crazy, Les. You act as if I’m crazy. LES No, of course not. I don’t think that. A knock at the door. LES There’s Mr. Barker. I’ll get the lockbox. Les goes to the bedroom while Amelia goes to the door and opens it. LES (partially off) After the flea market we’ll straighten out this business at the cemetery. Amelia has opened the door while Les re-enters with the lockbox. BRIDGETTE Cemetery? Who died? AMELIA Bridgette!

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BRIDGETTE You look like you’ve seen a ghost.

LES I don’t believe it. AMELIA Bridgette? Is it really you? LES How—? BRIDGETTE --unexpected? Surprise, Mom and Dad. Amelia hugs Bridgette. LES You came back. BRIDGETTE Yeah, I know I haven’t come ‘round in a while. You made it pretty clear last time that I wasn’t welcome around here anymore. LES That’s not true! AMELIA We love you. BRIDGETTE I don’t remember it like that. You hated my friends and didn’t want me around. LES You know what it was we didn’t want around, but you were always welcome here. AMELIA Sit down, Bridgette. Sit down. I’ll make you a sandwich. BRIDGETTE Forget the sandwich. I don’t really have time to stay. I just wanted to let you know, before long, you’ll be paying your rent to me. LES What?

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BRIDGETTE I’m going to be the new Mrs. Barker. We’re getting married. AMELIA What’s this? BRIDGETTE You know Joe and I’ve been seeing each other for a while. He’s going to ask me to marry him. AMELIA No! Bridgette, you can’t! Don’t do it! BRIDGETTE I know he’s not perfect, but who is? Anyway, look at it this way, I’ll always have a roof over my head, won’t I? LES You’ll always have a roof over your head right here, with us. BRIDGETTE Anyway, Joe sent me to collect the rent, whatever you got. LES Tell Mr. Barker if he wants to collect the rent, he can come see me himself. When I have the full amount later today, I’ll go see him. BRIDGETTE He told me to— LES Regardless, I’ll only pay Mr. Barker. BRIDGETTE I was hoping, Daddy, that maybe you could give us an engagement present. Amelia picks up the clock and holds it out. AMELIA Here you are. BRIDGETTE I don’t need a stupid old clock. I was hoping you could give us some cash.

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AMELIA You know we have no money. BRIDGETTE Daddy’s got the lockbox. AMELIA That’s the rent money. BRIDGETTE Then give me the rent money. I’ll give it to Joe. LES I already told you no. BRIDGETTE You hate me. AMELIA No, no baby, we don’t. LES Show us your arms. BRIDGETTE Stay away from me! Don’t touch me! LES You would show us your arms if you had nothing to hide. BRIDGETTE If you loved me, you’d give me what I need. AMELIA All the love you could need or want is yours to have. BRIDGETTE I don’t need your love, I need money! Bridgette picks up the gun and points it at Les. BRIDGETTE Give me the lockbox.

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LES Don’t be ridiculous, Bridgette. Look what you’re doing. I’m your father. I love you. Put down that gun. Mr. Barker enters the doorway. MR. BARKER What the hell’s going--? Woah! Never mind. I’ll come back later. BRIDGETTE Wait! Joe, I need you. Les lunges at Bridgette and takes the gun away. BRIDGETTE You don’t understand! You’re messing up everything! LES Get a hold of yourself, Bridgette. Calm down! Mr. Barker, I want a word with you. MR. BARKER Like I said, I’ll come back later. Looks like a family squabble. AMELIA Bridgette said you were going to marry her. MR. BARKER What? She said that? LES Is it true? MR. BARKER No. ‘Course not. What the hell? BRIDGETTE What about those things you told me? MR. BARKER What things? BRIDGETTE That you wish I could be yours all the time, twenty-four seven. MR. BARKER That’s just pillow talk.

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BRIDGETTE You said you loved me. MR. BARKER Yeah, well, maybe I did for a minute, but do you think I’m gonna marry a heroin whore? BRIDGETTE You’re the one who gives it to me! MR. BARKER We have a little business arrangement, is all. BRIDGETTE All those nice things you whisper when we’re alone… MR. BARKER Wake up, little girl. If you wanna keep comin around now and then, that’s okay, but we’re not gettin married. BRIDGETTE After everything I did for you? Everything you said? You bastard! Bridgette runs to Mr. Barker and pounds on his chest with her fists. Mr. Barker slaps her and knocks her to the ground. MR. BARKER Don’t give me no lip. Show me some respect, why don’t you. I swear, Bridgette, you’re a damn basket case. Pull it together. You’re embarrassin’ yourself. Amelia picks the gun up from the table. AMELIA I can’t let this go on. MR. BARKER What’re you gonna do? Shoot me? Amelia fires the gun and Mr. Barker grabs his midsection and staggers backward through the door. Bridgette screams. LES Amelia! BRIDGETTE Look what you’ve done!

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AMELIA He never would have been good to you. BRIDGETTE He was going to marry me! LES No, Bridgette. He was never going to marry you. Amelia drops the gun on the table. Bridgette grabs it and points it at Les. BRIDGETTE Give me the money. LES Bridgette, dear, put down the gun. BRIDGETTE Give me the goddamn money! LES What’re you going to do with it? BRIDGETTE Just give it to me. AMELIA Sweetheart, we love you. Bridgette puts the gun to her own head. BRIDGETTE I’ll shoot myself if you don’t! AMELIA No! BRIDGETTE (in tears) Give me the lockbox and I’ll go. LES You want it? Take it.

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Les holds out the lockbox. As Bridgette comes near, Les grabs for the gun. There’s a struggle and the gun goes off. Les grabs his belly and sinks to the ground. Amelia screams and goes to Les. AMELIA Bridgette, what have you done? BRIDGETTE It was an accident, momma. I didn’t mean to. I never wanted— Bridgette drops the gun, grabs the lockbox and exits through the front door. AMELIA Les, talk to me! Say something! LES It’s like a dream, isn’t it? AMELIA. I’ll get you to a doctor. Can you walk? LES I love you, Amelia. I love Bridgette. Together, we’re a family. Apart, we’re… AMELIA Les, tell me, where did you hide the lamp? LES The lamp? AMELIA I can fix everything. Just tell me where you hid the lamp. Les laughs with difficulty. AMELIA What’s so funny? LES The lamp… AMELIA Yes… LES The lamp… was in the lockbox.

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Amelia looks toward the open doorway, leaves Les where he is, goes to the doorway and looks out. She screams in despair. Lights Fade to Black. Scene 6 Lights Up on same setting as Scene 1. Les polishes shoes. Amelia enters through the front door carrying her basket of treasures. LES Good morning, my dear. AMELIA And what a morning it’s been. LES Sit down. Let me get you a cup of coffee. AMELIA I thought I smelled coffee. Wondered if it wasn’t wishful thinking. LES Wish no more. AMELIA I thought we had used up the last of it. LES We did. But this morning—and this is strange—this morning I found a tin of coffee in the cupboard with a note attached that read, ‘Mrs. Barker, hope you’re feeling better.’ AMELIA Mrs. Barker? Your right, that is strange. Mr. Barker isn’t married. And what would it be doing in our cupboard? LES You know what’s even more strange? The note looked a lot like my handwriting. AMELIA Let’s not look a gift horse in the mouth. How about that cup?

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LES Of course, my love. Good advice. Any good finds today? AMELIA A brass picture frame, a bit scratched, with a crack in one corner of the glass, a stopwatch with a broken stem, and a porcelain angel with broken wings, but I found the pieces, with only the smallest amount of chips missing. LES I’ll glue the wings on as soon as I’m done with these shoes. And I can fill in the chips later. I’ll see what I can do with that stopwatch, too. AMELIA No hurry. LES Mrs. Blore dropped off some sewing. I told her not to expect it until the middle of next week. Hope that’s all right. AMELIA I’ll have it done by Monday. You know she always pays extra if she gets it sooner. LES I packed a lunch for us. Thought we could picnic in the cemetery. It’s been a while. That is, if you’d like. AMELIA What would I do without you, Les? LES If you’re lucky, you’ll never need to know. They hug and enjoy their coffee. AMELIA Don’t you feel there’s a hole in our lives? LES Absolutely. Torn right down the middle. And nothing could ever fill it up the way it used to be. Only the love we have for each other—that’s what we need to keep putting inside. AMELIA I should warn you. Mr. Barker saw me coming up. He’ll probably be here any minute.

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LES I can handle Mr. Barker. AMELIA I love you, Les. LES How’s the coffee? AMELIA Good. Very good. Lights Fade to Black. CURTAIN