Off-track on Day 41

Well this is a conversation that just took off on its own. Really off target for the play but perhaps an idea/character for another work someday. Anyway it's what came out today. It's context is a continuation of the previous scene.


Conversations

Anne: Surely, you can see the difference between trying to help some girls who are being forced to have sex and blowing up people up.

Jeanette: Did you ever have a job Anne?

Anne: Sure. I used to do public relations.

Jeanette: Were you forced to take that job?

Anne: No.

Jeanette: Why don't you still have it.

Anne: Well, after the kids were born . . .

Jeanette: Didn't you have to feed and house them?

Anne: Well of course.

Matt: I earned enough . . .

Jeanette: So work for her was voluntary, yes?

Anne: Well, then yes.

Jeanette: And you Matt? You could work or not as you please?

Matt: I wish. I do alright. Well enough to be here, but it doesn't last forever, if I don't get back to work things would come unstuck pretty fast.

Jeanette: And so if someone were to try to free you from your job?

Anne: Oh now you're being silly.

Jeanette: Anybody here working for the love of it?

Matt: I like my work.

Jeanette: If you won the lottery tomorrow you'd keep working?

Anne: It's not the same. You can't claim these women want to be prostitutes.

Jeanette: They want to eat and have a roof over their head. It pays quite well—more than Marie here makes, or Steve. Do they want to be prostitutes? Did Steve want to be a waiter? Apparently not. When Monsieur told him to make a choice in his life he did not choose to come to work, he chose to “free” someone else from their job. I wonder if he will pay them for their lost time?

Steve: It was midday, I don't think there were any customers, well I guess one, which is why I got arrested.

Celeste: It's never good to interfere in police business.

Jeanette: Steve, you didn't? Oh my, and I wasn't attacking you when you walked in I was defending

Anne: Defending? Defending what? The right to prostitution?

Jeanette: The prostitution—it is the selling of oneself right? That's called a job bitch. It's what you've got, understand? You give Matt here what he wants and you don't have to sell yourself to anyone else. So don't play the virtuous saint for me.

Anne: What? I never said I was virtuous. Jeanette, I just don't want to see any woman

Jeanette: Bullshit. You don't care what they do or what happens to them. But you like to believe that is would be virtuous to care. So every now and then you rescue someone. It's no different than arresting them. You rescue them, tell them what they do is evil and they can't do it anymore and then when they tire of earning a tenth of what they did scrubbing your toilet and go back to the street you wring your hands and shake your head.

Day 40: 3.2 continues

A commotion of many voices and Matt, Anne, and Jeanette enter from US through the bar.s t

Anne: Oh my god, this has just been unbelievable.

Matt: At least we're all fine. Who would have thought?

Jeanette: It is so, so dispiriting. Ah, Marie! Monsieur! Have you heard? It is too much.

Marie: What?

Monsieur: Of the explosion we have heard, but we have had our own excitement too. Is the launch cancelled? Do they know the cause?

Matt: The launch has been delayed a few hours but it will go up tonight, but because

Anne: because of the bomb, yes bomb,

Marie: A bomb? Who? Why?

Jeanette: That is the thing most incroyable. It was Monsieur Mdala, he got up on his car and made a speech about the the

Matt: You know, his whole song and dance about the environment.

Anne: He wasn't really near us, so we couldn't hear very clearly but he wasn't getting positive feedback.

Jeanette: And then BOOM! The car is in flames---and so . . . oh too horrible.

Marie: Oh my god. He seemed so . . . (everyone nods)

Matt: Oh nice enough I suppose but you have to watch those zealots.

Anne: So then they made everyone leave, so we will have to watch it from here.

Jeanette: Yes, it is too bad.

Anne (sitting): Well all-in-all it's ok by me. Has Steve shown up can we get a drink.

Matt: I could use a drink too (glancing around to be sure no one else is in) In fact I'll buy a round for the house.

Anne: That's my man.

Marie: I'm covering the bar, what would you like?

Anne: Chardonnay please.

Jeanette: Amstel Light

Matt: Margarita (We can see Marie pause to realize she has to make this)

Marie: Ok, I'll be back

Jeanette: But wait, what of Steve? And where is Celeste?

Monsieur: Go on Marie, I will explain—there should be a jug with the lime juice, triple sec is in the well.

Marie: Merci

Monsieur: Celeste has gone to bail out Don Quixote.

Jeanette: Don Qui. . .?

Anne: What has Steve done?

Matt: Hope he's not giving us Yanks a bad name.

Jeanette (laughing): It is much too late for that mon cherie.

Matt: Wait, why. . .

Anne: Not now Matt. We're trying to find out about Steve.

Marie: Here's the wine and beer. The Margarita will be just another minute. (she goes and whispers to Monsieur who gives her some further information)

Anne and Jeanette (drinking): Ah, that's good.

Anne: Sorry dear, yours is coming. So, Monsieur, back to Steve.

Monsieur: Oui. He attempted a noble act in an ignoble place and was arrested for it.

Matt: Oh come on speak Eng . . . plainly.

Monsieur: Pardon. I was making a bit of a joke. He ssems to have been struck with an urge to do good in the world and so attempted to “free” some prostitutes from Madame Auraria's.

Matt: You have houses of prostitution? With names?

Anne: Down big fella.

Matt: Oh please. Seriously, aren't you surprised? Doesn't seem like something out of the old West or something?

Anne: But why was he arrested for freeing girls from prostitution?

Jeanette: Probably because they were not interested in being freed and because he was making a disturbance.

Anne: Well I think that's a disturbance that should be made.

Marie (bringing a respectable looking Margarita) Like the disturbance at the space centre?

Anne: No. It's completely different.

Matt: I should say so. (he sips his Margarita skeptically then smiles) Hey this is good.

Marie: Merci monsieur. But I do not think it is so different. You agree with Steve, or you like Steve, or Steve is an Americain, so yo think what he does is good. There are those who liked Mdala, who agreed with what he said, they will say he was doing good. Maybe you are right monsieur that you have to watch out for the zealots, but I think you have to watch out for people who think they know what “good” is.

Jeanette: Or evil.

39th step

He exits. Monsieur watches, then lays his head on his arms. He seems very small.

Marie: Monsieur? Monsieur?

Monsieur (lifting head): I am very tired Marie.

Marie: Can I get you anything?

Monsieur: N . . . a glass of wine I think.

Marie (trying to be playful): I do not think that will wake you up Monsieur.

Monsieur: I do need to wake up Marie. A little pleasure at the end of the day is plenty.

Marie (hesitates): Ok, anything special?

Monsieur: Non, the red s'il vous plait. (Marie goes behind the bar and pours and brings the glass) Merci Marie. Do you know I almost married a Marie once?

Marie: Non. I'm sure you loved her very much.

Monsieur: I told her I didn't think I did, but we could marry if she wished.

Marie: You are always honest monsieur, so I will be. I do not think that was very nice.

Monsieur (chuckles): And you are always very polite Marie. Non, it was not nice. I did think it was true, but then I thought it was true because I did not think love was. Only a day later, I was starting to think differently, or at least I knew it was possible to be happy. It was as though a cloud were lifting . . . but then the sun stabbed my eyes and . . . (he shakes his head)

Marie: Monsieur?

Monsieur: I thought because it did not matter that it did not matter what or if I chose. That if it did not matter then it did not matter whether one did A or B.

Marie: That what did not matter?

Monsieur: Anything, everything. Ah, there's the mistake see. “Anything” and “Everything” they are not the same, yes? (he looks at her for a moment) I think that you think differently, but I do not think that there is some big purpose or reason to life. We just are. We live and we die. In this sense, nothing matters. But that does not mean it does not matter what you do. My life it does not matter to the universe, but it matters to me to the people I know. It will not matter when I am gone

Marie: Oh, monsieur . . .

Monsieur: Non, Marie, it will not. It most certainly will not for me. And for you? You may remember me kindly or not, but your life will go right on regardless of my cessation. But. While I am here I affect you, you affect me. So our choices matter. They matter to us individually, and they matter to those around us.

Marie: This does not seem so profound Monsieur.

Monsieur (smiles): You are gaining in honesty Marie.

Marie: I did not mean . . .

Monsieur: Stop. Do not apologize. I do not mean because I affect you I should be nice for the sake of being nice—not if it stops me being something else more important.

Marie: Like being honest?

Monsieur: Précisément. If you offend me with honesty I should not be offended. I think that is why my Marie did not walk out. . . though she cried. I also think that perhaps she understood that I felt more than I knew. I told her I did not think I loved her. I think perhaps she thought otherwise (shrugs) pêut etre. (he takes a sip of the wine) Won't you have some too?

Marie: I am working monsieur.

Monsieur (looking around): This day of too much excitement seems to mean there is no business. You will take a taxi to get monsieur Gil?

Marie: Yes.

Monsieur: Then as your boss, I say you may join me.

Marie: Oh, god, that reminds me, what happened to Steve?

Monsieur: Get your wine (she does and returns). Eh bien, our Steve, he made a choice.

Marie: Celeste told me earlier you said he was wasting his time here.

Monsieur: Non, non, non. I said he was wasting away. We were discussing life in prison, yes? And like now, I had grown philosophical. I said surviving prison, really surviving life—it is the same thing, yes? (Marie nods, shakes her head)--so, surviving life, it is all about deciding to live. It is the choice we make every day. Maybe many times, though we do not know it. If you are not choosing, you are wasting away. Monsieur Steve, he said he was not making choices, so I said he, like many prisoners, was wasting away.

Marie: I see . . . maybe. But this choice, surely it wasn't to be arrested.

Monsieur: Non. And I think he confused the idea of choice with action and with doing something noble. He could do exactly what he has been doing and not waste away, as long as he chose to do it. Consciously.

Marie: I don't think I understand.

Monsieur: Every moment you are conscious you are alive. When you are not, you might as well be dead. You have stood at the edge of a cliff, yes? Felt the pull? That wondering what if I just stepped off?

Marie: Yes, I guess, yes, sure.

Monsieur: It is not the urge to suicide. Or maybe the suicide it is the same urge. It is that suddenly you know life is a choice. You can step off the edge or not. Standing still, it is still a choice, yes?—the choice most important. It is what keeps you alive, yes?

Marie: Yes.

Monsieur: Every day, every moment, you are always on the cliff, only most people they do not see it or they deny it. Live every moment on the cliff.

Long silence while Marie ponders

Marie: So Gil. He was choosing to die?

Monsieur: I do not thinks so. I think the suicide, it is the decision to make a choice, but because most people do not realize that life is a choice, they think the only choice is death. And for Gil, he feels like this disease will rob him of his choice, that it will choose for him, so he takes a stand and chooses first.

Marie: I can understand that.

Monsieur: But non! All our lives end. Period. Full stop. It does not matter what you do. So the disease is not making a choice for you. Death is not a choice. It is inevitable. If you want to live, you must do so now. Always now.

Day 38 in deep

Well, to quote Oliver Hardy, "Now look at the fine mess you've gotten us into Stanley!"

3.2

Lights out sirens, are heard. Different sirens are heard over them. Then a distant explosion. Lights come up on Celeste and Monsieur at the table a portable radio between them.

Monsieur: Everything at once. Gil and Steve, then the evangelist, and now this.

Celeste: We should get a TV. And Marie pregnant.

Monsieur: Ah, yes, she will need our help. They yell too much on TV. You would think with pictures they wouldn't need to yell but they do.

Celeste: Listen,

Radio announcer: The explosion at the space centre appears to have occurred in the parking lot for the viewing area. It is not yet clear if this was intentional or some sort of accident. There are injuries, some are reporting deaths, but we have no confirmation. There is no word yet if the launch will be affected. It is scheduled for 6:27, about an hour from now.

Monsieur: Do you think . . .

Celeste: It must be. Cars don't just blow up.

Monsieur: Did they say it was a car?

Celeste: What else is in a parking lot?

Monsieur: I do not understand. Who would? Would you have? For the revolution?

Celeste: I don't know. Maybe. When I was young . . . probably.

Monsieur: But like this? Just anyone?

Celeste: No, it would have to have been against someone, something. To blow up something to do with the state, yes. But not the people.

Monsieur: But always they are people. And somehow one can always connect things. These people what were they?

Celeste: At the launch? Just people . . . tourists, people who wanted to see the launch.

Monsieur: People like our Americain friends.

Celeste: Alors, I didn't even think.

Monsieur: But more, they are not just people. Monsieur Matt, he is a . . . aficionado n'est ce pas? A supporter of space programs?

Celeste: Oui, d'accord . . . merde. Mdala? (Monsieur shrugs)

Police detective (entering): Monsieur Meursault?

Monsieur: Oui, ici.

Police detective: Et Celeste Rimbaud?

Celeste: Oui.

Police detective: Do you know Stephen Diehl?

Celeste (glances to Monsieur who nods): Oui . . . he worked as a waiter here. Is there a problem?

Police detective: With employing Americains without work permits?

Monsieur: That is not why you are here.

Police detective (pauses momentarily): Non. We arrested him earlier today. He was (looks at notes) attempting “to free the girls” at Madame Auraria's?

Monsieur: Vraiment? Trés bon!

Police detective: Do you know Madame Auraria's monsieur?

Monsieur (shrugging and smiling): At my age, I know of such things, like I know that once I could run and jump and I felt no pain—it would be more accurate to say I believe in such things rather than that I know them.

Police detective: I was not implying . . . but why did you cheer when I told you of monsieur Diehl's action?

Monsieur: Because it is an action.

Police detective: Comment?

Celeste: N'importe detective. What are the charges? Why have you come to us?

Police detective: Because he gave you as references. He said a murderer and a revolutionary could vouch for his character. Does he drink a lot, this waiter?

Monsieur: Hardly at all.

Celeste: What is required? (Marie enters)

Marie: Celeste, Monsieur, oh pardon. J'interromps.

Monsieur: Marie, il est bon de te voir. Assis. (he gestures to his table)

Marie: Merci monsieur. (she sits) Have you heard from Steve yet?

Police detective: Ah, do you know the Americain as well? Perhaps he has saved you?

Celeste: Bastard!

Police detective: Watch your tongue. I apologize mademoiselle, it was a joke.

Marie (truly baffled): I don't understand.

Monsieur: And we will not offend you by explaining the bad joke. But yes we have heard of our Steve. He is under arrest, but otherwise well (looking at detective) yes?

Police detective: Yes. He may have some bruises from the scuffle, but nothing serious.

Celeste: He'd better not. Again, what is required of us. You didn't come around just to let us know.

Police detective: Well, do you vouch for him? You can bail him out, too. But without your vouchsafe he's headed for deportation instantly. He may be anyway if he can't prove he's here legitimately.

Monsieur: Of course we vouch for him. I can't go down, Celeste go, please.

Celeste: Who will run the place? With respect, you cannot.

Marie: I can cover for you Celeste. (Monsieur nods)

Celeste: Alright, I suppose we'll need cash.

Monsieur: Thank you Marie. What is the news of Gil?

Marie: He's coming home tonight. I'll go down to the hospital after Celeste gets back.

Celeste: All right monsieur. I will return with our waiter.

Monsieur: Gracias Celeste.

Celeste: Hmmph.

Celeste and detective exit

3.2 day 37

3.2 begins

Jacob enters

Jacob (to Celeste): Good morning or is it afternoon? Well, I was wondering if you'd had any news of Gil? I've got Marie's phone number, but I hesitate to call her . . . I

Celeste: I know nothing. (Jacob sags, Celeste relents somewhat) Jeanette was here with the Americans. She called Marie . . . it seemed like good news.

Jacob: Praise God. (he seems to drop into silent prayer, perhaps even holding his hands as such)

Celeste turns back to his work. Jacob finishes his prayer and sits at an outdoor table; Celeste keeps working; after some time Jacob looks around to see if he will be waited on

Jacob (calling in to Celeste): Is it possible to order?

Celeste (calling back): Oui, but there is no waiter on duty. If you would order at the bar, I will bring it when ready.

Jacob debates leaving, acquiesces and walks back into the bar and places his order and on his return to his table crosses near Monsieur

Jacob: Bon jour monsieur, comment allez vous?

Monsieur: Eh bien. Et vous?

Jacob: Well thank you. And grateful to God there is good news about Gil.

Monsieur: And would you be angry with him if there were not?

Jacob: I would submit to his will (and he goes to his table. Monsieur simply watches him).

Marie starts to enter, sees Jacob retreats, then appears inside talking to Celeste—a conversation which becomes increasingly animated

Marie: No one's gone to look? You just assume! (she exits out front past Jacob)

Celeste: Marie! I'm sure he's (she is gone) Sacré

Jacob: What's the problem? (Celeste shrugs and returns to bar goes into kitchen and returns with food for Jacob which he brings out delivers without comment) Thank you.

Celeste: Salud.

Monsieur: Celeste, qu'est que c'est?

Celeste: Marie asked about Steve. I said he didn't come in. She asked why, I said I didn't know . . .

Monsieur: And?

Celeste: And I told her what we were talking about last night, and that you had said he was wasting away. . .

Monsieur: Yes?

Celeste: She became upset. Said what if he committed suicide, obviously it is on her mind . . . and that she couldn't understand why we had not tried to contact him. I told her I had telephoned.

Jacob: Am I to understand that you told your waiter he was a waste and then ignored the situation when he did not show up?

Celeste: Monsieur it is none of your business.

Jacob: Human beings are my business. You . . . atheists . . . may not care what happens to anyone

Monsieur: Assez! Monsieur Jacob, this is indeed not your affair. In addition you have no basis on which to assert that I or Celeste or anyone else you have met in the last two days does or does not care about other human beings.

Jacob: Oh, you can try and talk your way out of it, but now you're the one who's just refusing to accept responsibility for what you have done.

Monsieur: I have never not accepted my responsibility.

Jacob: Celeste just said you told this young man his life was a waste

Monsieur: That is not what I said nor is what Celeste just said. You insist on making things up so that you can be dramatic.

Jacob: It's exactly what he said!

Monsieur: Calm yourself. It is not. He said, as I did, that Monsieur Steve, he was wasting away. The context . . .

Jacob: Oh now with the contextual ethics . . .

Monsieur: Monsieur, you are quite overwrought. (Jacob collapses)