The Prospect
[Characters:
JAY
NATHAN]
JAY is seated alone in a stark room at a table with one chair. On the center of the table is a telephone. From the room it is apparent that JAY lives alone; there is chaos but not clutter. As the scene opens, Jay is tugging at the telephone chord. Though he addresses the audience, it should be clear that he is speaking to himself-- the way men accustomed to solitude tend to do when they believe no one is watching.
JAY
You know what I did today? No? You’ll never guess. I talked to her. Yeah, that’s right; to mother.
Mother on the phone and I could tell that she was drinking; don’t ask how but I just know, okay? Scotch and water. Little sips between sentences. Oh it was silent as a ghost but I could hear it. The ice must have melted cause it made no sound-- but I could feel those cubes click anyway. Little men with little hammers in my skull.
Do you know what she said to me? I can’t believe she had the nerve. She said, “Jay, Nathan is town, and you’re going to have him over.”
Seems a little presumptuous, huh? But she insisted. “Nathan’s your brother, Jay.” She said ‘brother’ the way religious people say ‘Jesus’. Said it like meant something special.
Brothers? What’s so special about brothers? I had four of them, always running around with their ding-dongs out, demanding things. And sisters, three of them. They had to get fierce since they were outnumbered. They were all teeth, the sisters. Teeth and claws and sass, like a little posse of cats.
There comes a knock on the door.
I gave in in the end though. Said he could come over. And that’ll be him now.
At a shout:
Come in!
The door opens. Enter NATHAN.
NATHAN
It’s been a while, brother.
JAY
Yes. It has.
NATHAN
You’re not going to give me a hug? Shake my hand? Stand to greet me?
It is clear that JAY will not. NATHAN smiles forgivingly and goes to the table, unbuttoning his coat in preparation of slinging it over the back of his chair. Only then does he realize that there is, in fact, no second chair at the table. JAY sees NATHAN notice this.
JAY
Sold it after I split with Mindy.
NATHAN
What?
JAY
The chair. Didn’t seem much point in keeping it around after she was gone.
NATHAN
What happened with Mindy?
JAY
She bored me.
Oh at first she was great, of course. So hot and so sweet. Body to die for. And she wore this perfume that smelled like cinnamon rolls...
But imagine having cinnamon rolls for breakfast, lunch, and dinner every day for six months. Starts to seem disgusting. Starts to be the very worst taste in the world. And she had all these things that she wanted from me. Take me to the movies this, and tell me where you’re going that, and who’s that girl I saw you with? Shouldn’t it have been enough that she slept between my sheets and sat on my chair and didn’t pay a damn dime?
NATHAN
Well, I always thought she seemed like a lovely girl.
JAY
You can have her.
NATHAN
Nathan holds up his hand and waggles his ring finger.
I’m hitched, remember? Don’t need a girl, lovely or otherwise. Only thing I need right now’s a chair.
JAY
Like I said. Don’t have use for another chair anymore.
NATHAN
What about guests? You do have guests, don’t you?
JAY
Ain’t never had a guest felt I needed to have a chair for.
NATHAN
A wry laugh.
You haven’t changed a bit.
JAY
In some cultures, no one is allowed to sit in the presence of the King, did you know that?
NATHAN
And in others they aren’t allowed to stand.
JAY
That a fact?
NATHAN
Yeah.
Beat.
You remember how mom always used to sit on the couch, and have us stand in front of her, all eight of us, in a row?
JAY
Shortest to tallest. Used to love that.
NATHAN
Till Shane outgrew you.
JAY
Whatever, at least I didn’t have Shane’s problems. Shane had more constellations on his face than the milky fucking way. Never seen another boy got pimples that bad.
NATHAN
That seems a little bit beside the point.
JAY
Don’t go getting all protective now. Shane ain’t even here to need protecting. I’ll say whatever I want about him. Say whatever I want about you, too; but that’s different.
NATHAN
Shane’s your brother, Jay.
JAY
Why do people always got say that like it means something special?
NATHAN
It does.
JAY
Maybe to you.
NATHAN
To Shane, too. And the twins. Especially the twins.
JAY
And to mother, dearest, when she wants something from me.
NATHAN
I don’t see know you mean.
JAY
Bullshit. I call bullshit. You know exactly what I mean. Everyone does. You’re just saying that cause you know that the thing she wants from me this time has something to do with you.
NATHAN
You talked to her?
JAY
She called today.
NATHAN
What did she say?
JAY
Nothing much. That I had to play good boy and let you in when you came. She was drinking.
NATHAN
Taken aback.
She’s quit.
Beat.
What, don’t tell me she was slurring?
JAY
I could smell it on her breath.
NATHAN
What are you even talking about? You were on the phone, for fuck’s sake. You couldn’t smell anything.
JAY
I know, okay? Trust me. I know.
NATHAN
I trust mom, and if mom says she’s quit, she’s quit. No two ways about it.
JAY
A laugh. Manic-laugh. Hyena-laugh.
Nathan, that’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard. And I’ve heard some pretty stupid things in my life, growing up with the lot of you. So don’t take that lightly.
NATHAN
You don’t need to be so bitter.
JAY
You don’t need to be so smug.
NATHAN
Offended.
Smug?
JAY
Or so sly.
NATHAN
Sly!?
JAY
What, you don’t know what I’m talking about?
NATHAN
Took the words right out of my mouth.
JAY
I’ll tell you what I’m talking about. I’m talking about you dropping by, chatting me up about Mindy and standing in a line and stuff like that like this is something we do, cause we’re brother’s or something, when in fact we both know perfectly well that we don’t do this, that we’re brothers by blood but not by practice, and that the only reason you’d be showing up at my house out of the blue--
Well, not exactly out of the blue. That’s not quite right, is it? Mama called ahead for you. But you know what I mean. As I was saying. Only reason you’d show up like this is cause you want something from me. We both know that. Only thing any of us don’t know is that I don’t know what it is you’re wanting. Might as well just tell me now, don’t you think?
NATHAN
Is that really what you think of me?
JAY
Remember when you used to want to be a prospector?
NATHAN
Don’t see what that has to do with anything.
JAY
You had that stupid little dowsing rod you would take all up and down the beach. You thought it worked like a metal detector or some shit. Like you could find buried treasure. You didn’t even know that dowsing rods are for water, not gold.
NATHAN
I was a kid.
JAY
Yeah, well, you ain’t a kid now.
NATHAN
What the hell’s that supposed to mean?
JAY
It’s the same damn thing, that’s all. You sniffing around the beach with that stick. You sniffing around my place for a chair. Prospecting is in your blood, brother. Only thing that brings you round is the thought of gold in the ground.
NATHAN
You’re wrong.
I don’t care about gold--
JAY
If it isn’t gold, it’s something else. Women, maybe? Mindy? That why you come by here? Looking for the--what did you say?-- the lovely lady?
NATHAN
I wasn’t done.
I don’t care about gold, money, women who aren’t my own, whatever you think. You’re wrong. I’d rather have water than gold. I’d rather have a stick than a metal detector. I’d rather have a brother than a lender.
JAY
Last time you came by--
NATHAN
Last time was different. My wife’s operation-- we couldn’t afford it on our own.
JAY
And the time before that--
NATHAN
Jay, please.
JAY
There you go again. Asking for a favor. Jay, please.
NATHAN
I’m not here to ask you for a favor.
JAY
Then what are you here for?
NATHAN
It’s--
I’m not sure I still have the heart to tell you anymore.
JAY
Oh come on, you can’t do that.
NATHAN
Why not?
JAY
It’s anticlimactic, for one thing.
NATHAN
That’s funny, coming from someone who didn’t seem to want anything to do with whatever I had to say.
JAY
Well. You’ve piqued my curiosity now.
NATHAN
You aren’t going to be happy to hear it.
JAY
Then it is a favor.
NATHAN
No, it’s-- it’s about mom.
JAY
Mom?
NATHAN
Yes.
JAY
You her errand boy? She send you to ask me a favor? That’s still asking for a favor, Nathan, even if it isn’t for you.
NATHAN
No. It’s not anything like that.
Beat.
She’s dying. It’s her liver.
A silence falls. JAY’s face freezes in shock. NATHAN goes to him, puts his hand on his shoulder. JAY roughly shrugs him off.
JAY
Don’t touch me.
NATHAN
I’m sorry.
JAY
What the hell you got to be sorry for?
JAY is visibly shaking.
Why didn’t mom tell me? I told you, I talked to her. I told you, she said you were coming. I told you, she was drinking. I told--
NATHAN
She wasn’t drinking. You don’t know that.
JAY
Why didn’t she tell me?
NATHAN
She said you’re too difficult for her to talk to.
JAY
She said that?
NATHAN
I said I think you’re okay.
JAY
She said that?
NATHAN
But after today, I don’t know what I’d say.
JAY
Why’d she go and make you tell me?
NATHAN
We’re brothers, she said.
JAY
Shit.
NATHAN
Yeah.
JAY
Still don’t see what’s supposed to be so damn great about brothers. Or mothers, for that matter.
NATHAN
You don’t have to be so cold. It’s okay to be sad. Hell, it’s even okay to cry, Jay.
Beat.
I know I have.
JAY
Every damn time you come here, you want something from me. I could give you money. I have. I’ve helped you. Not saying I didn’t resent it, but I did it anyway.
But not this. I can’t give you what you need now. I can’t give you what you’re asking for.
NATHAN
Nathan’s voice is breaking. His eyes are watering. It is clear that he is close to tears.
I’m not asking for anything. What do you think I’m asking for?
JAY
A brother.
Beat.
You want me to care. You want me to cry. I can’t. She was a sorry excuse for a mother. And I don’t need you or any the rest of our sisters or brothers. I’ve got my house, here. I’ve got my table. I’ve got my one chair. And that’s all I need. Don’t need guests coming by begging me to sit down.
NATHAN
Jay, please.
JAY
Nathan, please. Just stop. It’s time for you to go home.
A long, lonely beat. NATHAN begins to cry. JAY turns away, disgusted. At length, NATHAN swallows loudly, rubs his hands over his face, closes his coat, nods. He opens his mouth as if to speak, thinks better of it, and, eyes down, takes his leave.
Black out.
