Strawberry

 

[Chris and Pete are alone on stage. Pete (mal)lingers.]

PETE:

[Glances to be sure Meg's gone. Sotto voce.] Chris, honey.

[Chris looks up, but doesn't answer. She's still in some shock over her parent's actions and Will's return.]

Chris, honey, you won't tell, will you?

CHRIS:

Tell what?

PETE:

[Pleased.] Thatta girl.

[Uncertain.] Last night.

CHRIS:

Is it day?

PETE:

Maybe last week. At night.

CHRIS:

What?

PETE:

You're not going to... [Meaningful pause.]

CHRIS:

What?

PETE:

Maybe it was last month.

CHRIS:

What was last month?

PETE:

At night.

CHRIS:

[Getting worried.] What happened at night?

PETE:

[A bit confused.] You won't tell will you?

[A tense pause.] It'll be our secret.

CHRIS:

What was it that happened? What did you do?

PETE:

That's right. That's okay.

CHRIS:

[Truly frightened. She can't remember anything.] No, it's not okay. What was it that happened? What did I...

PETE:

Nothing. Our secret.

CHRIS:

What did you do? ...with me? What did we do?

PETE:

I don't remember.

CHRIS:

It's not okay! What happened?

[A hairdryer turns on. In the men's room. Pete and Chris turn in unison to stare at the (closed) door.]

CHRIS:

What's going on in there? Who's...

What happened last night?

PETE:

Maybe last week.

[Magil (in the men's room) turns off the hair-dryer, stomps. Pete isn't getting her hint.]

MAGIL:

Pete!

CHRIS:

Who...

PETE:

Shhh!

MEG:

[From inside the women's room.] Pete?

MAGIL:

[Sticking her head out the door.] Pete!

[Pete tries (in vain) to stand between the restroom door and Chris, to keep her from seeing. He gestures silently and frantically at Magil to go back inside.]

MAGIL:

Not unless you come with me, Petey.

PETE:

[Tense whisper.] Will you get inside!

MEG:

Pete!

MAGIL:

[Crossing to Pete. Flirting.] I'm scared, sweetheart. I don't want to be in there by myself.

MEG:

Who's out there, Pete?

CHRIS:

[With immediate comprehension.] Dad!

MAGIL:

[Caressing Pete, who's still trying to stop her, trying to play the good father to Chris.] And where's that stranger guy you were yelling at before? [Cutesy-pie and insincere.] I'm frightened, Pete.

PETE:

Will you get back in that room?

MAGIL:

[Enjoying the thought.] You never know what that stranger might do to a poor, defenseless girl.

CHRIS:

No apology? No excuse?

PETE:

[To Chris.] This is Nancy. A... childhood friend. [Trying to shake her off him.]

MAGIL:

[Cold. Perhaps Chris is a rival?] The name's Lil.

PETE:

She's my daughter, for Elvis' sake!

MAGIL:

[Warm.] Oh. [Beams.]

MEG:

[Coming out of her restroom. Buttoning her blouse.] That most certainly is not your daughter, Peter Gilbert.

PETE:

[Shaking Magil off, again.] She's not. She's Nancy. She's my childhood friend. That's what I said. That's what I was just telling Chris.

MEG:

You can't fool me, Peter Smith. I know her when I see her. That's the Magil woman.

PETE:

She just got here. On the train. Didn't you hear a train, Chris?

CHRIS:

No.

MAGIL:

I'm Lil. Not Magil. Lil.

MEG:

Don't you try that with me. Magil. I've heard your name at the egg-farm plenty enough.

CHRIS:

Who is she, Mom?

PETE:

She's... just... Nancy. [At a loss for an excuse.]

MEG:

I knew it. I knew it from the beginning. That's what I said, that's what I'll keep saying. Peter Smith, you are a worthless human being, a disgrace as a father.

PETE:

Tell her it's not so, Chris. You were here. Didn't you hear the train come in?

CHRIS:

You lied to me, Dad. You lied.

MAGIL:

Come on, honey. Let's go in. I don't like it here.

MEG:

I was asking the ladies of the Church about just this, I said, Jane, what would you do if your husband were messing around? What would you do?

PETE:

[To Magil.] Cool it a second, Nancy. Wait a second.

MAGIL:

My name's Lil.

CHRIS:

I can't believe you, Dad!

MEG:

[Grabbing hold of Pete's arm, pulling him towards the ladies' room.] She said, this is what she said. Meg, dear, I'd take that man and lock him in my room, keep an eagle eye on him and never let him stray again. That's what she said. Take him back and keep him there. Watch him every second.

MAGIL:

No. You can't have him. [Taking his other arm, pulling him towards the men's room.]

MEG:

It's what you gotta do, she says. Example for the family and all that. Think of the kids. [Catches herself.] Kid.

[Magil is no match for Meg, nor is she persistent. Pete is pulled out of her hands; she gives up.]

MEG:

[Man-handling a struggling Pete towards the ladies' room.] Come on, Pete. Petey. You can't say you're shooting blanks any more.

[Just at the threshold to the ladies' room, Pete breaks free (or Meg lets go) and Pete dashes into the men's room. The door slams.]

[Meg and Magil turn from the slammed door and glare at each other. A beat.]

MAGIL:

Nice meeting you, Chris.

[Magil, ever-so-coolly and deliberately, walks into the men's room.]

[Meg turns, looks at Chris. Silence.]

CHRIS:

Mom?

[Meg starts to cry, softly.]

What happened last night, Mom?

[Meg continues to cry. Perhaps her emotion is real.]

[Chris moves towards her mother to comfort her, but Meg retreats inside the ladies' room.]

[A beat. Meg blows her nose loudly from inside her room.]

[Chris is alone. She sinks down on her bench.]