Resurrection Blues (11 page)

 

FELIX,
looking about combatively:
Well where is he, goddamit!

 

EMILY,
pointing up:
The light, dear, the light!

 

FELIX,
realizing now, looking up with dawning fear:
Holy shi . . .

 

STANLEY,
upward
: I've got an idea, baby, if you'd like to consider it.

 

JEANINE: Whatever you decide you are my life and my hope, darling.

 

STANLEY: You've like turned the country inside out, you know? There's lots of changes since you showed up . . . compared, you know? So maybe, just as—you know, a suggestion—we're thinking maybe the best thing right now, would be for you to . . . just let it hang the way it is. Stand pat. Don't make your move, you know? Bleiben sie ruhig, baby; vaya con calme; ne t'en fais pas; spokoine-e gospodin; nin bu yao jaoji—dig?

 

SKIP: We've got thirty-five minutes of sun . . . where is he?

 

FELIX,
finger raised:
Ssh—that's him!

 

SKIP,
looking up: What's him?

 

JEANINE,
to the air:
Adore you, darling.

 

FELIX,
to Stanley:
Are you talking to him or not?

 

STANLEY: I'm not sure, I think so.

 

FELIX: Tell him I'll call off the search and we can forget the whole thing if he goes away and never comes back!

 

SKIP: Goes away!—we have a contract, sir!

 

JEANINE,
furious:
And empty the jails, of course. And the torturers are to be prosecuted!

 

FELIX: What torturers?

 

JEANINE,
to Heaven:
Come down, Charley!

 

FELIX,
to Heaven:
Wait!! Hold it!—Okay, you stay up there indefinitely, and I'll . . . fire the torturers.

 

SKIP: This is a contractual breach!—he's got to come down!

 

FELIX,
to Skip, retrieving authority:
. . . Will you shut up? I've still got him under arrest, don't I?!

STANLEY: . . . That's about it, Charley, okay? I mean we're going to miss you, baby, especially those fantastic conversations on the beach, but . . . you know, maybe it's all for the best, right? I mean, could you give us a sign?

 

Maybe you tell him, Jeanie, could you?

 

JEANINE: Oh my dear, my darling, it cuts my heart to say this but I think maybe you better not come back! I'm going to miss you terribly, nothing will be the same . . . but I guess you really have to go!

 

STANLEY: I'm not trying to rush you, baby, but can we have some kind of an answer?

 

SKIP: Just a minute, I'd like a word with him.
Comes down, center—sotto:
What's his latest name again?

 

STANLEY: Charley.

 

SKIP,
looking up:
Charles? You simply have to return, there's no question about it. I will only remind you that my agency has a signed contract with this government to televise your crucifixion and we have paid a substantial sum of money for the rights. I will forebear mentioning our stockholders, many of them widows and aged persons, who have in good faith bought shares in our company. I plead with you as a responsible, feeling person—show yourself and serve your legal sentence. I want to assure you that everyone from the top of my company to the bottom will be everlastingly grateful and will mourn your passing all the days of our lives.—A practical note: the sun is rapidly going down so may I have the favor of a quick reply? Thank you very much.

 

FELIX,
stepping up to the center:
Now listen, Charley, I'm having some second thoughts about this deal I mentioned—you just have to come down and get crucified.

 

JEANINE: You just promised not to . . . !

 

FELIX: The country's desperate! If he stays up there I will have to return some of the money!

 

SKIP: All of it, General.

 

FELIX: Well, we'll discuss that.

 

JEANINE: So much for your word!

 

FELIX,
to Jeanine:
That money will mean hundreds of jobs . . . !
Upward:
I'm planning on school upgrading, health clinics, lots of improvements for the folks. Whereas if I have to return some of the money . . .

 

SKIP: All of it!

 

FELIX: I am not returning that goddam money!

 

 

EMILY: May I, Skip?

 

I'm afraid I have to differ with my friend Skip, and my dear friend General Barriaux.—Wherever you are, Charley, I beg you stay there.

 

FELIX: This is terrible stuff you're telling the man! You are condemning this country to ruin!

 

EMILY,
persisting to the light:
Don't make me photograph you hanging from two sticks, I beg you, Charley! Stay where you are and you will live in all our imaginations where the great images never die. Wish you all the best, my dear . . . be well!

 

FELIX,
to the light:
All right now, just listen to me . . .

 

HENRI,
to the light:
Whoever you are!—I thank you for my daughter's return to life. And before your loving heart I apologize for ignoring her for so many years, and for having led her in my blind pride to the brink of destruction.

 

PHIL: Speaking for the crew—
Sees Skip react
. . . . this is not a strike!
To the light:
But we'd appreciate it a lot if you, you know, just didn't show. . . .
Sees Skip react.
We're ready to go as the contract calls for! But . . .
Upward:
well, that's the message.

 

SKIP,
upward :
Now look here, Charles—we have fifteen minutes of sun . . . !

 

STANLEY: Sshh!
He looks around for the source of the sound—the others too. Then upward again:
Am I hearing the ocean in the background, Charley? I visualize you on the beach, right? Staring out at the sea, making up your mind?—Let me say one more final thing, okay?—the country's like nice and quiet at least for the moment, right?—give or take a minor ambush here and there? After thirty-eight years of killing, so they tell me, it's almost normal now, right?—So the thing is, Charley—do you want to light the match that'll explode the whole place again?

 

FELIX: Don't worry about the country, Charley, I'll take care of it. You come down, you hear me? I'm talking syndication, this is one big pot of money! I'm talking new hotels, I'm talking new construction, I'm talking investment. You care about people? Come down and get crucified!

 

JEANINE,
starting to weep:
For all our sakes, my darling, don't come down . . . !

 

SKIP AND FELIX,
upward :
You can't do this to us!

 

 

SKIP,
to Felix:
You will return that check, or I'm calling the Embassy!

 

FELIX: Fuck the Embassy, I'm keeping the money . . . !

 

SKIP: This is larceny! I'll call Washington! You are destroying my career!

 

FELIX: I did my good-faith best!

 

STANLEY: Go away, Charley, before they all kill each other! You gotta give us a sign, baby, what's it gonna be!

 

 

STANLEY,
in the silence, tentatively:
Charley?

 

 

We're not seeing the light, okay?

 

 

Don't hear the ocean, okay?

 

 

 

HENRI: Good-bye, Charley.

 

EMILY: Good-bye, Charley.

 

FELIX: Good-bye, Charley.

 

SARAH: Good-bye, Charley.

PHIL: Good-bye, Charley.

 

 

JEANINE: Good-bye, my darling! . . . But could you think about . . . maybe trying it . . . another time?

 

STANLEY,
lifts a hand in farewell, looking forward and up:
Always love you, baby. And look, if you ever feel like, you know . . . a cup of tea, or a glass of dry white, don't hesitate, okay? . . . I'm always home.
Salutes.
Thanks.