To Hear a Distant Tune
A Play in One Act
by
Michael Thomas Tower
Approximately 30 minutes performance time
© 1988–2005 Michael Thomas Tower
All Rights Reserved
TH0512a
Any query regarding presentation of this play
in any manner whatsoever
should be directed to the author.
MTTower@aol.com
The Characters
Wallace Cavanaugh — 65 years old.
Leeanna Cavanaugh — 63 years old. Wallace’s sister.
Victoria Anderson — 55 years old.
The Time
The present, summer — late afternoon.
The Setting
The front porch of the Cavanaughs’ home. Two rocking chairs, one larger than the other, are on the porch with a small table between them. The upstage wall is the front of the house and includes the front door and a kitchen window. Downstage from the porch is a yard area and a walkway from the street.
This play is dedicated to the life and memory of
Wendell Keith Phillips
a man who knew the stage and the people
obsessed with its purposes and possibilities.
In extraordinary ways, he was
Mentor, Supporter and Friend.
To Hear a Distant Tune
(wallace is sitting in his chair on the porch, looking through a TV guide.)
(offstage until noted) leeanna (offstage until noted)
Wallace?
wallace
What?
leeanna
Do you want some lemonade?
wallace
You asked me that an hour ago.
leeanna
What did you say?
wallace
If it’s not too much trouble. That’s what I said.
leeanna
I been busy.
(A beat)
You still want some?
wallace
If it’s not too much trouble.
leeanna
Only take a minute.
(A beat)
I’m using real lemons.
wallace
Thought you always did.
leeanna
Natural ... no preservatives.
wallace
I’m getting to where I kind of rely on preservatives.
leeanna
(A pause.)
Wallace?
wallace
What, Leeanna?
leeanna
Do you know where the TV guide’s at?
wallace
It’s right before the “at.”
leeanna
I knew you were going to say that.
wallace
I know you did.
leeanna
See if anything’s on tonight.
wallace
We ought to go to the coast. You realize summer’s nearly over and we haven’t been to the coast yet?
(leeanna enters, carrying two glasses of lemonade.)
leeanna
The closest ocean is nowhere near here.
wallace
Lie around ... get a suntan ... expose our fancies to the world ...
leeanna
Don’t be crude. Besides, sun’s bad for the skin.
wallace
Get a new bikini to match your new gardening bonnet. That’d be cute ...
(leeanna sets the glasses of lemonade on the table.)
(continuing) wallace (continuing)
It’s all repeats. Even the news is left over from February.
leeanna
I was hoping there’d be something decent on to see.
wallace
Wouldn’t want to see something indecent?
leeanna
Don’t tell me you rented another one of those movies.
wallace
Lord, Leeanna, you can’t forget that, can you?
leeanna
I thought you’d taped “Touched by an Angel.” Never been so embarrassed in my life.
wallace
You can’t be embarrassed unless someone’s there to see you. It’s like a tree falling in the forest when there’s nobody around.
leeanna
And I still think it makes a noise.
wallace
Of course it does.
leeanna
Not the first one of those movies you brought home — where they write the words at the bottom of the screen. I just don’t want to see anymore of them.
wallace
It was art.
leeanna
It’s not art when their legs are in those positions.
wallace
Looks like art to me.
leeanna
Well, you can look at that kind of “art” up in your room with the door closed. I got no use for it.
wallace
But you watched about an hour of it before turning it off.
leeanna
What makes you think that?
wallace
You didn’t rewind the tape.
leeanna
Well, I thought I’d give it a chance ...
wallace
By golly, Sis, I’ll bet your old-maid heart was beating like a P. Diddy hook when you saw them kissing down by the river ...
leeanna
That wasn’t kissing. I swan to Pete, they were wrestling with their tongues.
wallace
. . . and he put his hand on her voluptuous spot, very gently, his fingers lightly tracing the alabaster skin from here to ... somewhere else —
leeanna
If I want that kind of talk, I’ll read Lolita.
wallace
Again?
leeanna
And just what do you mean, “old maid”? Case you hadn’t noticed, bachelor boy, I’m not the only one of the Cavanaugh children that never got married.
wallace
But I don’t go around kissing frogs.
leeanna
Tell me than when you don’t have warts on your lips.
(Tastes the lemonade)
This needs more sugar in it.
(The phone rings inside the house.)
wallace
Mine’s fine.
leeanna
You haven’t even tasted it.
wallace
You always get it too sweet.
leeanna
You like it sweet.
wallace
Sort of sweet; not that sweet.
leeanna
Later on you’ll complain that your lips are ruffled, warts and all. Don’t blame me.
(leeanna exits with her glass. The phone ringing stops. There’s a beat, then ...)
(offstage) leeanna (offstage)
Wallace, it’s for you!
(leeanna enters; wallace exits. she sits and stirs her lemonade. A moment later wallace enters.)
wallace
Know who that was, Leeanna?
leeanna
Who?
wallace
I don’t know. Wondered if you did.
leeanna
She asked for you, I yelled for you. I didn’t ask for ID.
wallace
I wish you’d find out who’s calling.
leeanna
And I wish you’d remember that you don’t have a secretary anymore. She asked if you were here and I said yes hold on a minute and I said Wallace it’s for you. And that’s the whole story.
wallace
All I heard was a dial tone.
leeanna
Probably the Sleuder kids play pranks again. Don’t worry about it.
wallace
I’m not. Just curious.
leeanna
What’s the weather for tomorrow?
wallace
Wouldn’t you be curious?
leeanna
Of course, Wallace. The whole world wonders about your phone calls.
wallace
Supposed to be warmer, I think. Hot again, I think they said.
leeanna
They quit using numbers and degrees as tools of measurement?
wallace
When the temperature outside equals the temperature of my body inside, I stop paying attention. If it’s hot, it’s hot.
leeanna
Well, it’s not too hot today.
wallace
Yeah, I’ve hardly sweated.
leeanna
You haven’t done anything.
wallace
If I’m careful, may not even have to take a shower before my date tonight.
leeanna
Men your age don’t “date.”
wallace
Really? What do we do?
leeanna
Well, the lucky ones might get to see someone.
wallace
Well, with any luck at all, I’ll see a whole lot of her.
leeanna
I swear, Wallace, six months of retirement and you’re coarse as new gravel.
wallace
Not having to wear a tie! That’s what makes the cream come to a boil.
leeanna
That sounds like one of those missed semaphores you talk about.
wallace
By Jove, I think she’s got it! Tomorrow we’ll deal with dangling dopplers.
leeanna
You always looked so nice in a suit and tie ...
wallace
I liked teaching, I loved the kids. But I hated the goddamned ties.
leeanna
With a tie, you were proper and scholarly. At least you looked smart.
wallace
A tie was like a noose around my neck. But now — no noose is good noose.
leeanna
I don’t think you’ve got enough to keep your mind occupied nowadays.
wallace
Oh, my mind’s plenty busy.
leeanna
More with fantasy than achievement, seems to me.
wallace
For a man my age, fantasizing is an achievement.
leeanna
You’re going plain old bonkers. You know that, don’t you?
wallace
If I knew it, that would be a sign I wasn’t.
leeanna
(A beat)
Why are the saw and grubbing hoe on the back steps?
wallace
I’m planning an attack on that darn honeysuckle vine when it gets cooler.
leeanna
You just leave that honeysuckle alone!
wallace
It’s ugly. Spread all over like a spastic ogre. I’ll take that old thing out and plant another one, farther away from the house.
leeanna
It just needs a little pruning, is all. Which you know I always do. Leave it alone, now — you hear me? You’ve killed half the plants in the backyard this summer with your heavy-handed version of tender, loving care. You just stay away from that honeysuckle!
wallace
Oh, Leeanna, the yard looks real nice except for that thing. Just cut back —
leeanna
(Interrupting)
I mean it, Wallace! You leave that honeysuckle alone! You hear me?
wallace
Oh, all right ...
leeanna
(A beat)
Has the mail come?
wallace
Yeah — cable bill, phone bill ...
leeanna
Put them in the bill drawer and quit sulking.
wallace
I did and I’m not.
(A beat)
There’s a card from Sam and Wilma Hilliard — on the hall table.
leeanna
What kind of card?
wallace
Picture of water, sand, umbrellas. They’re at the beach, wish we were there.
leeanna
They got back Thursday night.
wallace
You mean I read their stupid card for nothing?
leeanna
Cockroaches. That’s what comes to mind when I think of the coast. Twelve-legged cockroaches dancing the macarena and having barbecues.
wallace
Maybe we should have Sam and Wilma over for dominoes.
leeanna
Before he gets his slides developed.
(Tastes the lemonade)
Umm, that’s better. But all that stirring melted the ice.
(leeanna exits with glass, speaking as she goes off.)
leeanna
You weren’t expecting a call from a woman, I take it.
wallace
I never expect anything from a woman.
(offstage until noted) leeanna (offstage until noted)
I’ll take offense at that ... later ... when it’s cooler.
(A beat)
Delbert Canfield’s widow?
wallace
What?
leeanna
Who you’re “seeing” tonight.
wallace
Her name is Christine.
leeanna
Never could remember.
wallace
You remember. You just don’t like her.
(leeanna enters, ice in her glass.)
leeanna
Even in grade school she was a stuck-up little brat.
wallace
You’re thinking about that American Legion essay contest, seventh grade, when you lost to Christine’s much older sister — the one that’s your age.
leeanna
She has two older brothers, no sister. Her mother was in some kind of institute for a “private matter” they only whispered about, and her father quit singing in the church choir when his upper plate flew out on the high “divine” in “O Holy Night” and landed in the nether regions of the second Miz Findlay’s bosom. Christmas, nineteen sixty-eight. I remember the Widow Canfield — before she was a widow and before she was a Canfield.
wallace
And what are the results of her DNA test?
leeanna
I’m just telling you, I know about the widow Canfield.
wallace
Everything but her name.
leeanna
(A beat)
Where are you taking her?
wallace
To the Dig-Inn Motel, Leeanna — mirrors on the ceiling, heart-shaped beds, pushers of powdered rhino horn out by the Coke machine. With any luck at all, she’ll nibble my Snickers while we watch an Ingmar Bergman movie.
leeanna
Cruder and coarser by the day.
wallace
I don’t know what we’re going to do. Why do you ask?
leeanna
You’re my big brother. I’m interested in what happens to you.
wallace
Things happen to me at odd moments and in minuscule doses. If one of those little flecks of eternity turns out to have the translucent dust of human excitement buried within the structure of its subatomic particles, I will be sure to let you know.
leeanna
Wallace, nobody understands what you’re saying half the time.
wallace
Understanding is very much a matter of choice. That’s one thing I learned in my years of teaching. When a student says he or she doesn’t understand —
leeanna
(Interrupting)
I put a brisket of corned beef on. Got that rye bread you like. I’ll leave it on the stove so if you’re hungry when you get back —
wallace
I’ll be eating out.
leeanna
Now, see — that’s all I wanted to know.
wallace
(A beat)
That woman — the phone call — did the voice sound familiar?
leeanna
Thirty-five years ago, I noticed that everybody sounded the same and looked the same. If it’s important, she’ll call back.
(A beat)
It did sound kind of familiar, come to think of it. But then ... no, not really.
wallace
Ever think maybe you’re the one going bonkers?
leeanna
Oh, I’d know if it was me.
wallace
(A beat)
Might have been Christine.
leeanna
Who?
wallace
Maybe I better give her a call.
leeanna
That voice I’d recognize. It wasn’t her.
(wallace rises and moves toward exit.)
wallace
I’ll give her a call anyway. See if there’s a movie she wants to see tonight.
(wallace exits.)
(continuing;0 offstage till noted) wallace (continuing; offstage till noted)
The corned beef sure smells good.
leeanna
Don’t you be messing with that now.
wallace
I’m nowhere near it.
leeanna
Good. Your idea of food preparation appeals to nobody but Sweeny Todd.
(leeanna’s attention is drawn toward the “street.” victoria appears downstage and starts toward the porch. leeanna stands as she recognizes her, registering quiet disbelief with no sign of welcome. victoria approaches, smiling — but when she sees Leeanna’s reaction, victoria stops, her smile fades, and they look at each other in awkward silence.)
wallace
No answer.
(Enters)
I guess she’s ...
(Sees Victoria)
Oh, I didn’t know we had company.
(wallace stares for a moment, then recognition occurs. he is friendly, but puzzled.)
(continuing) wallace (continuing)
Good Lord! Victoria Anderson?
victoria
Hello, Wallace ... Leeanna.
wallace
I’ll swear — this is a surprise. Look who’s here, Leeanna.
leeanna
(Coolly)
I see.
wallace
Really a surprise. Oh, here, come on up and sit down.
(victoria goes up on the porch and sits in Leeanna’s chair. Her discomfort is apparent.)
(continuing) wallace (continuing)
My goodness. Victoria. Last person I’d ever expect just to show up ... out of the blue like this ... been so long. ... We were just having some lemonade. Leeanna, fix a glass for Victoria.
leeanna
(A beat)
I’ll do that.
victoria
Could I have a glass of water instead, please? I’ve been cooped up on that bus with over-dressed strangers and a stale collection of awful odors. I think some water would help. If it’s no trouble, Leeanna?
leeanna
Of course. Water ...
(leeanna exits.)
wallace
This really is a surprise, Victoria.
victoria
Almost as big a surprise for me.
(A beat)
I apologize for the phone call a few minutes ago.
wallace
Oh, that was you?
victoria
Wanted to know if you were here. Was afraid if you knew it was me, you wouldn’t let me come.
wallace
Don’t be silly, Victoria. Why wouldn’t we want to see you?
(A beat)
What brings you back to town?
(leeanna enters, hands glass of water to victoria.)
victoria
Thank you.
(Takes a sip of water; then, to Wallace ...)
Well, this was my home for a while ...
wallace
Nearly two years.
victoria
A long time ago.
wallace
It doesn’t seem such a long time.
victoria
It’s been nineteen years since I left here.
leeanna
And two months.
wallace
Yes. Good Lord. I guess it has.
victoria
Everything looks the same. The street ... the house ... this porch. Nothing’s changed.
wallace
What really matters seems to take root and stay in place in this little town.
victoria
Hard to realize that there are still are places like this ... where life is quieter, moves slower.
wallace
If at all. But I guess it’s what we’re stuck with.
leeanna
Because we like it this way.
victoria
The park was crowded — women piling food on the tables, men grilling steaks and pitching horseshoes, kids like whirlwinds all over the place ...
wallace
Yes ...
victoria
The band was setting up on the bandstand ...
wallace
Yeah, we still have our Saturday afternoon concerts in the summer.
victoria
I’d forgotten how I used to love to sit out here and listen to that. Of course the music was a bit worn, after drifting all this way.
wallace
That band sounds better at a distance, I’m afraid.
victoria
Do you have many boarders now?
wallace
Oh, no. I retired a few months ago, and I decided Leeanna should take it easy, too — so now it’s just the two of us in this big old house. We can laze around or travel or whatever we want.
victoria
How nice for you.
leeanna
We don’t really travel all that much.
victoria
Oh, Leeanna, I’m sorry to bother you, but could I have a little ice in this?
(leeanna takes the glass and exits into the kitchen.)
(continuing) victoria (continuing)
Retired. Hm. I still think of you as a young man.
wallace
I wasn’t a young man nineteen years ago, Victoria.
victoria
Seemed like it, then. Of course, I’m only twelve years younger than you.
wallace
Ten years, I thought.
victoria
So we’ve aged at different rates.
wallace
You’re looking good.
victoria
Thank you. So are you.
wallace
So ... what has brought you back to town.
(leeanna enters and hands the glass, with ice, to victoria.)
victoria
Thank you.
leeanna
You used to prefer water from the tap. Cold water hurt your teeth, you said.
victoria
That’s right — I’d forgotten. Well, I used to have a problem tooth that’s no longer a problem. I prefer cold water now.
leeanna
I see.
wallace
Will you stay for supper?
leeanna
You have a date with your lady-friend this evening, Wallace.
wallace
I can change my plans.
victoria
I have to take the next bus back.
wallace
You’re not here for a while?
victoria
No no. This is a very rushed trip — just to see you ... two.
wallace
(To Leeanna)
We can have supper before Victoria leaves. But you may need to make a trip to the grocery store.
leeanna
We have the corned beef.
wallace
We’ll need some vegetables.
leeanna
We have fresh cauliflower — squash from the garden.
wallace
I’d like a salad ...
leeanna
Green one?
wallace
And strawberry shortcake. Thompson’s had nice strawberries yesterday.
victoria
Oh, please — really — I can’t stay that long ...
leeanna
(Exiting)
Shall I phone Miz Canfield and tell her something important’s come up?
wallace
No, Leeanna, I’ll take care of it. Do you need money for groceries?
(offstage) leeanna (offstage)
’Course not. I’ll use the bank card, way I always do.
wallace
Take your cell phone.
(leeanna enters, carrying her handbag.)
leeanna
Oh, it’s so embarrassing when my purse buzzes in public.
wallace
Put it on vibrate.
leeanna
That’s even worse.
(leeanna walks downstage and exits.)
victoria
She still doesn’t drive?
wallace
She says she likes to walk, though I know she’d rather be chauffeured.
victoria
She acts like she hates me. We used to be good friends.
wallace
I don’t think she dislikes you, but ... well, I guess she did feel betrayed. And even though a lot of years have passed, maybe she’s still a little frightened of you ... and of us ... being around each other ...
victoria
Again.
wallace
It was all so long ago.
victoria
Not really ... not when the past is so much a part of the present.
wallace
But it hasn’t been — till now.
victoria
Surely she doesn’t feel that I’m a threat to her after all this time.
wallace
Leeanna doesn’t find her security as easily as some people do.
victoria
You shouldn’t have insisted I stay for supper.
wallace
She knows I was getting her out of here so we could talk. She’ll stop along the way and visit with a friend who just lost a gall bladder or some other shriveled organ.
victoria
I remember that night ... the last time the three of us sat out here and talked.
wallace
Not likely any of us will ever forget that.
victoria
I’ve wondered what was said about it after I left. I created such an awful mess for you.
wallace
Neither of us has ever mentioned that night since then. You had no business saying anything to Leeanna about you and me. But the three of us — well, mostly I guess it was you and I, wasn’t it? — we talked it out, ever so thoroughly, that night. She and I have had no need to talk about it since.
victoria
I wasn’t young nineteen years ago, either, Wallace. But I felt young — because I was in love with you ... and I thought you loved me.
wallace
But I told you from the beginning that marriage wasn’t in the cards for us. We were friends — that’s all.
victoria
No, Wallace, we were lovers. That’s all.
wallace
I never said I wanted to marry you, I never said I was in love with you, I never once told you anything like that —
victoria
(Interrupting; not with anger)
I remember what you did not tell me, Wallace! Believe me — I do!
wallace
I told you I cared about you, and that was the truth. More than any woman I’d ever known ...
victoria
Except for your sister.
wallace
I am loyal to Leeanna, and she to me! We’re all the other has, and that’s not a matter to be pitied by anyone.
victoria
As much as I cared for you both, I never understood the attachment you two have for each other.
wallace
It’s a secret, but I’ll tell you: she’s a witch who cooks up magical potions that she slips into my lemonade, bonding me to her forever.
victoria
Wallace, don’t be silly.
wallace
Why is it that a woman rejected has to believe there’s some bleak force mystically keeping her from the man she loves? Why can’t you believe the plain, simple truth? I wasn’t in love with you ... I simply didn’t have what it would take to give you a part of the rest of my life. I’m not saying that because I’m proud of it — that’s just the way it was and I couldn’t help it.
For God’s sake, Victoria, I swear I never meant to mislead you and I certainly never meant to hurt you — but I didn’t know what your expectations had become. My life with Leeanna is comfortable and orderly, it’s secure and it’s peaceful — a satisfying companionship and kind of caring that most people never find even in their marriages or love affairs. She and I are not everything to each other, but we are all that really matters. And you’ve got to understand that I won’t permit anything or anyone to become a problem for Leeanna or a threat to our home and our life together.
victoria
Almost word-for-word what you told me nineteen years ago.
wallace
And I can’t think of a single reason for having said it to you again. Not that way. I’m sorry. I don’t know why I did that.
victoria
Maybe Leeanna’s not the only one who feels threatened.
wallace
Please don’t make that assumption —
victoria
Well, surely it must have occurred to you that I wouldn’t have come back after all this time if I didn’t need something.
(A beat)
I was always determined not to make the first contact. I figured if you ever wanted to know anything about me, or him, you’d find some way to get in touch.
wallace
(A beat, weighing the words just spoken)
What?
victoria
After our talk that night, after I left, I never expected you to want me; but I thought eventually you’d want to know about our child.
wallace
(A pause)
Victoria ... I don’t know what the hell you’re talking about.
victoria
(A beat; with painful realization)
Oh dear God ...
wallace
What?
victoria
Two weeks before that last night, I told Leeanna I was pregnant. We were good friends then — good enough friends to talk about almost anything. I didn’t tell her about you and me — at that point I just let her think it was by my former husband. But after she knew about us ... well, I knew she’d figure it out and I was sure she’d tell you.
I can’t believe it ... all these years ... and you never knew.
wallace
Oh, Christ!
(A beat)
Goddammit, Victoria, I wish you’d told me.
victoria
After that last discussion, Wallace, here on this porch, I couldn’t find the words to say anything to you. And I didn’t see that it could make any difference. I wouldn’t have wanted a marriage based on that, even if you’d have done it. I was numb, Wallace — I couldn’t think. When I left here nineteen years ago, with nothing but those two big suitcases, I could think of no reason for living except for the life of someone else — someone I didn’t even know — a life taking place inside of me. And I hadn’t asked for that — I hadn’t wanted it! But it was there. And it was the only reason I could think of to leave here and get on that bus and see if it might be possible to breathe and move and exist some place else.
wallace
I’m sorry, Victoria. I had no idea you went through anything like that. I would never have ... just let that happen to you.
victoria
Oh, Wallace, I’m not blaming you for anything. You were truthful with me. I was in love and I misunderstood what was taking place between us. And I certainly have no regrets about the child.
wallace
And you misunderstood — or perhaps forgot — something else, too. I did tell you, years ago, that I cared for you ... and that was very real. We were all hurting; under the circumstances, I guess that was inevitable. But I’m really very sorry you suffered like that, alone. I would have helped you — if only I’d known. I feel so awful about that ...
victoria
Don’t. A lot of time has passed, and we’ve all survived. And maybe things happened exactly the way they were supposed to.
wallace
Careful — your Presbyterian upbringing is raising its head.
victoria
I rely on it.
wallace
So ... did you marry?
victoria
Just never seemed to have time for that.
wallace
You’d have made someone a fine wife.
victoria
I think so.
wallace
Well ... tell me about the boy.
(victoria gets her handbag and takes from it eight photographs. she hands the top one to wallace.)
victoria
That one’s a little worn. Was taken when he was twenty minutes old.
wallace
Not very pretty — so red and wrinkled.
victoria
Stop that. He was beautiful.
wallace
What’s his name?
victoria
James Wallace Anderson.
wallace
Oh, man ...
(victoria hands the next picture to wallace.)
victoria
Third birthday.
wallace
He rode his tricycle through the cake?
victoria
He still claims it was an accident, but the way he laughs, I don’t think so.
(wallace examines the picture a moment, then victoria hands him the next one.)
(continuing) victoria (continuing)
First day of kindergarten.
wallace
He is a good-looking kid. Sure dressed up for school.
victoria
That outfit cost me a week’s wages and he ripped the knee out during first recess and lost the tie by noon.
(Hands over next photo)
First Little League game.
wallace
Good stance. How old was he here?
victoria
Ten, I think. I didn’t date that one.
(Next photo)
He made the baseball team his second year in junior high.
(Next photo)
Basketball the first year in high school. That turned out to be his sport.
(Next photo)
That’s him in the middle — Our Town — his junior year. He was George. The girl beside him is his girlfriend. Ginny’s her name. She was Emily.
wallace
Cute couple.
leeanna
They’re good together.
(Next, and last, photo)
That’s his senior picture — taken a few months ago. He was captain of the basketball team, class treasurer, fourth runner-up for most popular man on campus — he loses his temper occasionally. Accepted by a couple of good colleges with the possibility of a scholarship or two ... not major ones ...
wallace
I could help with that. Really. I want to help with his schooling costs.
victoria
No, Wallace —
wallace
I will!
(Focusing on the photo)
He’s a great kid. ... You’ve been a good mother. I can tell.
victoria
He’s a wonderful son — very good boy ... young man.
wallace
So the numbness you felt when you left here ... ?
victoria
It went away, after a while. A long while. Everything ... worked out.
wallace
I’m glad. ... I really am.
(wallace puts the photos down and walks away from Victoria, exercising some deeply inner thought process. Several moments pass before he speaks.)
(continuing) wallace (continuing)
Victoria ... ?
victoria
Yes?
wallace
Has he ever asked about his father?
victoria
Of course. Many times — first time, age three, I think. But somewhere along the line, he stopped asking questions and started making wishes. The last time was three days ago.
I’ve told him that we cared for each other but there wasn’t enough love to make a marriage. I’ve told him what a fine man you were. I even told him you didn’t know I was pregnant, and thought I was lying to him. He hadn’t said anything about wishing he could meet his father for a long time — until the other day. He has this crazy way of smiling and winking at the same time — has a meaning I can’t even explain — something between him and me that he’s done for years. He knows I can’t resist him when he does that. Anyway, he did it to me and — right out of the blue — he said, “Mom, I still wish I could meet my dad.” Like he thought I could work some kind of miracle for him. I guess I’m hoping I can.
wallace
(A pause, piecing things together)
Victoria, why have you waited until now to come back?
victoria
Because I haven’t been desperate until now.
wallace
(A beat)
I’m remembering how well I knew you. You were honest and open — warm and caring — and there was a certain kind of stubbornness, a drive, that I admired — or hated, depending on the circumstances.
victoria
And that was a problem for you then?
wallace
It’s a problem for me now.
You’ve come here and told me about a son I never knew I had. And you’ve had no reason to come back here ... until now.
(A beat)
And he hasn’t come with you.
victoria
(A beat)
I’m sorry, Wallace. I know this isn’t fair. But I need your help. I’m hoping —
wallace
(Interrupting)
Wait a minute.
(wallace senses something is coming that he’ll not want to hear. he needs a few moments to prepare. victoria’s reaction is not unsympathetic, but she is on a mission, operating on her schedule now, not his.
(At this point, leeanna enters, downstage, with a bag of groceries. she stops and stays out of their sight as she listens to them.)
victoria
Wallace ... James has cancer.
(A beat)
The doctors don’t think he’ll make it another week. If you could just —
wallace
(Interrupting; erupting)
Don’t, Victoria! Don’t do this! Goddamn it all to hell! — Please! Please don’t do this to me!
victoria
I’m sorry, Wallace, but I have to.
I’ve given him everything I can. We made it on our own — and it was never easy. I’ve sacrificed for him, and he’s given up things for me. We’ve worked at life together and we’ve had some real good times along the way. All things considered, it’s been a good life for us. And now, Wallace, there’s just one thing left that he wants ... and I can’t give it to him. He wants to meet his father. He just wants to see you, just say hello.
wallace
And goodbye.
victoria
In nineteen years I haven’t asked you for a thing — and I never will again. I promise. But please ... this one time ... for your son: I beg you.
(