106 Well here’s one
I don’t know Used to Now
I think I never really did
LUIS I’m sorry MARGARET For what LUIS I just thought
MARGARET Margaret is playing the
Thought you were her father piano.
And if you were Then what
Then what would you do And what
Would that Do to you
And how would you do to her Such complications
As complex as this section Variation Part Two Single mother Raise a daughter Give up a career My choice
Goodbye Mozart hello fourth grade Variation Part three
Love comes in unlabeled packages
What the hell do you think he was thinking here Beethoven
When he wrote this Discord no fulfillment And then this run here Besides
If you think about it
What difference would it make now You’ve got your life
She has hers You go away She stays here What would change Not the last 20 years
So don’t bring your high morality and tell me Not you
107 Of all people
Pass judgment on me
She didn’t lose anything not having a father Sam
At least Sam was willing to stay Here’s the quiet part
At least you think it is
But there’s always the left hand moving Never stops
Like you I mean
When you left me And you did
Whether you know that You left me
Which I guess you could say is the prelude to the variations The build up
The passion
The part where you You told me I love you So I thought That must mean
He loves me and no one else He can’t possibly love two women And there
In a nutshell Is the problem Because you see
I believed that it is impossible to really That’s the key word
To really love two people at the same time But you
This is my favorite part No one told you that You didn’t give a shit
But I didn’t know that you see I always thought
I’m the one It will all work out
That one day you would come to me and say It’s just you and no one else
Please take me Just like the movies But you didn’t You never did that
And now I know that you knew you wouldn’t That you would never come to me
But you see
108 Instead you held me
And told me
Everything will be all right Oh yeah
All right for you But not for me You never told me I can’t leave my family You never told me I love my wife You said I love you I love you
You never told me You never told me
You didn’t want to share your life with me
So why would I want to share your daughter with you Pause
You like surprises There
How’s that for one
Black out END OF ACT TWO
ACT THREE
It is night. Margaret is standing outside. Sam steps outside.
MARGARET I was looking for you
SAM Were you
MARGARET Yes
Elizabeth knows Knows about you and I That we’re
SAM Yes
109 MARGARET I think she will be fine
SAM Yes
Pause
MARGARET She says you’re seeing someone
SAM Sometimes MARGARET Is she nice SAM She listens MARGARET Did you hear me play
SAM Hard not to
MARGARET I think I got it right
SAM Okay
MARGARET Some parts
They still feel a little hard Which is
Which is very strange I mean
After all those years of playing it That I should still
Still find some places hard
Pause
MARGARET Am I hard Sam
SAM Margaret
110 MARGARET I can never quite get it right
SAM Stop MARGARET What SAM Maybe if
Maybe if you didn’t hide so much
MARGARET I never hid anything from you
SAM I heard what you told him
MARGARET It was a long time ago
Before you Before me I didn’t know It wasn’t important SAM It wasn’t important MARGARET It was just a job
SAM What are you talking about
MARGARET What are you talking about
SAM I heard what you told Luis
MARGARET Oh Good SAM That’s all Good
111 MARGARET Yes
SAM And you ask me if you are hard
MARGARET I guess that answers that question
SAM And that is why I can’t do this anymore
MARGARET I know
SAM So I you know
Then why do you
MARGARET I don’t know
Pause You don’t see me with someone else You’re the one that’s
SAM I’m the one that’s what
MARGARET Seeing some woman
SAM At least I told you
MARGARET Elizabeth told me
SAM How awful
How terrible for you My terrible secret is out
MARGARET Yes
SAM Thank God you’re here to show me the way Show me the way to redemption
112 MARGARET That’s not fair
SAM Because you’re the one who hurts
MARGARET Yes
SAM We have not heard from you in 7 months Don’t tell me what’s fair
MARGARET That’s different SAM Different Well actually You and I This thing It’s nothing
Nothing compared to what you did
MARGARET What I did SAM Yes MARGARET What I did
What I did was take care of my family This is not my fault
SAM And it’s not mine
MARGARET It never is SAM That’s right Not yours Not mine Then whose
113 MARGARET You figure it out
SAM I have
That’s why I’m leaving
MARGARET You’re just angry
I never asked him to come here
SAM I’m not talking about him
MARGARET Then what are you are talking about
SAM That’s the problem with you
You just take
Even when we try to give it to you
MARGARET You don’t know what I went through
SAM The hell I don’t know
You think you’re the only one that’s ever had a hard time MARGARET I told him what he wanted to hear
SAM And Elizabeth
What about her
MARGARET This is none of her business
SAM None of her
Don’t you see This whole thing It’s a lie
And we’ve lived it And now
Now look at what it’s done You should have told her
114 You should have told me
Elizabeth enters ELIZABETH Told me what Told me what Pause MARGARET About the horses
I’m thinking about selling the horses
ELIZABETH Oh
MARGARET I don’t have the time anymore to
To take care of them its Its very time consuming
ELIZABETH Right
Sam exits ELIZABETH
And she doesn’t want you to sell them And Luis is here to buy them
And that’s what’s going on
MARGARET Yes No That’s ELIZABETH Fine Elizabeth exits LIGHTSHIFT
THE NEXT MORNING
LIGHTS UP ON THE FRONT PORCH OF A HOUSE IN SIERRA MADRE MOUNTAINS NORTHERN MEXICO
IT IS DAWN
LUIS STEPS DOWN FROM THE PORCH HE STRETCHES
115
HE WALKS OVER TO OUTSIDE FAUCET SPLASHES FACE
WALKS OVER AND STARES AT AUDIENCE SUN BEGINS TO RISE
WE SEE THE LIGHT REFLECTED ON HIS FACE HE TRIES TO DO A BRIEF DANCE TO THE SUN
SAM STEPS OUTSIDE
SHE WATCHES HIM TRY TO DANCE HE HAS TROUBLE FINDING THE RYTHEM
HE HAS TROUBLE FINDING THE STEP HE HAS TROUBLE BREATHING
SAM You’re out of shape
LUIS Among other things
SAM You should take better care of yourself
LUIS I wish you’d told me that 10 years ago
SAM You okay
LUIS You and my doc should get together
I hear she’s a dyke on the side
PAUSE I’m sorry I don’t why I said that
I was I was just
SAM Can’t live with them
Can’t live without them
LUIS Right
116 SAM Won’t help
LUIS Can’t stop sweating
SAM You get used to it
LUIS I’m not sure this is what I
SAM Yes
LUIS I guess you get used to the heat
PAUSE SAM She told me
LUIS I hope I don’t regret this
Who told you And
What did they tell you
SAM Margaret
She told me about Abby
LUIS You didn’t know
SAM No LUIS Okay SAM You alright LUIS Oh yeah
117 SAM You just surprised her
LUIS Good one SAM Yes LUIS I don’t understand SAM Neither do I LUIS I’ve
I’ve been sitting out there all night And
I keep thinking
What the hell just happened
PAUSE I’m not sure what I’m suppose to feel
Was I supposed to know Was I supposed
Supposed to know that she It was
It was a long time ago I don’t know what I’m I see Elizabeth
And I don’t who she is What she
I don’t know anything about her And
I don’t understand why Why Margaret
PAUSE SAM You don’t
LUIS I think back about
All the things The things I did The things we all do And
118 I ask myself how could you have been so dumb And then I realize
Well Yeah
That’s why she She
Pause We were kids
We didn’t know what the hell we were
She was this vibrant sarcastic intoxicating pain in the ass And I just fell right down and
SAM Why are you here Luis
LUIS Some stories you have to finish
Pause Don’t buy that either
Sounds good though
Pause I’m here
That’s all I can And now Now that
That I have been kindly informed I’m a father
Shit Shit
How am I supposed to even I thought I was coming here Here to see Margaret To tell her
Pause Shit
Pause I don’t know who she is
Do you understand me I don’t know who she is I look at her
119 I see her
Does she have my eyes My lips
Does she like the things I do Think
Does she like the Same books Do we walk the Samee way I don’t
I don’t
PAUSE SAM When she was
When Margaret was six Three
She a ate a millipede
LUIS A millipede
SAM Yes
So if you ever
If you ever want to get back at her Just say
Millipede
I can’t vouch for her actually eating one But I can vouch for millipede
Then when she was 10
She had the chicken pox And
Margaret and I We
We spent all night holding her She would look at
And we just And then
She had her first date when She was 16
He was a little squirt With a pimple at tip of nose
And she’s always had problem with Math In science A’s in
And in english She plays the flute She has a boyfriend I don’t like him But she won’t
120 She’s stubborn
Like her mother
LUIS Yes
SAM She graduates from college in next year
Also
She used to have a cat A male cat
She named it Lisa She was six I think
We tried to explain what the difference was but But Elizabeth
She said
Lisa didn’t mind So
LUIS Lisa
SAM Yes
Now Lisa died when Elizabeth was about 11 And
She cried
She cried all night And
I tried to tell her That
That it was okay
That Lisa was happy now
And that it was okay for her to be sad Because
I would die Her mother All of us
One day we would all And that’s the way things are And she’s said
Then why are we born if we’re just going to And I just
I just held her And I told her
I would hold her till she let go And until then
I would be here Right here So
121 I need to know
I need to know I’m not trying to be But this is my family And you’re not a part of it And
I need to know From you What it is
You are you going to do
LUIS Do SAM Yes LUIS I don’t know SAM You don’t know
LUIS No
SAM Well
When you do If you could let Tell me
Because
Whatever you do
I’m the one that has to deal with it
LUIS I think Margaret might have
SAM See
That’s where you don’t know And I do
Don’t misunderstand me Margaret loves Elizabeth But Elizabeth
She’s lived with me for And
I don’t
122 LUIS Neither do I SAM Do you LUIS Yes SAM Then what is the problem
LUIS I don’t understand
SAM You see
Speaking for myself What I’m trying to say is
LUIS I know what you’re saying
SAM No you don’t
Cause if you did
You’d know what I’m asking
LUIS And what is that
SAM Just let things
Just let things be
LUIS Let things be
Seems to me
That is what the problem is around here Just let things be
It will all fade away Just fix itself
What the hell is the matter with you people
SAM There is nothing the matter with us
LUIS You’re asking me to
123 Look
I’m her father and
SAM No sir
You are not
You lost your chance
LUIS I never had the chance
SAM That is not my fault
LUIS And it is not mine
SAM You made your choice
LUIS I never SAM You left LUIS That’s different SAM Different What What is different
You would stayed if you had known
LUIS Yes I Yes I would have And I don’t know I never knew SAM See
That’s what I’m saying You don’t know But I do
124 Because I did it
And it wasn’t because I banged some women and then 19 years
We are her family
LUIS Not much of a family now
SAM I love Margaret
LUIS You have a funny way of showing it
SAM
Just cause you can’t be with someone doesn’t mean you don’t love them LUIS
Well that’s a new one
SAM Oh Luis
I feel sorry for you Maybe
Maybe if you had understood what that meant 20 years ago We wouldn’t be having this conversation
LUIS If someone had told me
We wouldn’t be having this conversation
SAM Are you sure
Are you positive That if she had told you We wouldn’t be here talking I’m sorry what happened to you To the both of you
You seem like a nice man And
And I’m sorry this happened to you What she did was wrong
But
What you did was wrong too I don’t know what happened Or why
That’s between Margaret and you I just think about
I think about Elizabeth And I think
125 Why you are here
What is he doing here And something Something doesn’t I just want to say to you Don’t make another mistake That’s all I want to say to you There’s just
PAUSE Elizabeth and I are leaving this morning
If you feel you need to say something to her That you do that
But unless you plan to come back in Come back in
The lost father
Be there when she needs you Come when she calls
Help her when she doesn’t Then
If that’s what your You lost the first 20 But if you do this
You better be there for the next Do you understand me
LUIS I understand you
SAM I hope you do
I sincerely hope you do Because if you hurt her Hurt her in any way
SHE EXITS INTO THE BRUSH PAUSE
MARGARET ENTERS FROM HOUSE LUIS
Doesn’t anybody ever spend time inside this house
MARGARET Not too much
LUIS How you doing
