The Wine Closet (a Two Act Play)
The Wine Closet
(A story of a boy who gets a closer view of realism, sincerity, honesty, and selfishness, and finds himself wanting)
By Three Time Poet Laureate,
Dennis L. Siluk, Ed.D.
Awarded the National Prize of Peru, “Antena Regional”: The best writer for 2006 for promoting culture (in Poetry & Prose)
Act One
Of two Acts
Wine Closet Door (Name for the area of the Basement in the House)
The curtain is down, the lights go on:
(Narrator, talks to the audience, and everyone can see the basement, and at present Dennis standing on top of stairs, about to walk down them:) in the basement, to the right of a flight of wooden steps (stairs, leading down into the basement) to its back, is an old greenish fading painted door, it is the wine closet (private, Dennis’ grandfather’s secret, or so undeclared anyhow, room where he keeps his wine, and vodka (140-proof). It is locked, with an old lock. A big gas furnace is to its left, newer air ducks, are stretched along the large beams of the ceiling. After moving here in the summer of 1957, shortly after, his grandfather (whom he and his brother and mother live with), he brought the old house, built in the ‘30s, up-to-date; yet the basement has an air of another time, not of the ‘60s, which is the present time, and you can sense and feel that. There are windows in back of the closet, small windows and high, a wooden table and several wooden chairs around the table, are near the far east corner of the basement, it is where his grandfather brings his family guests on the weekend to drink his wine, and beer and vodka.
No one is in the basement at present, but if they were, you could hear the sound of feet above you, especially in the kitchen which is right over the wine closet. You hear the click of the light switch; it is at the top of the staircase. Dennis is coming down stairs. You can hear the old thin wooden steps produce a crackling noise, the boards are not real firm.
Dennis is now by the wine closet door, he listens for foot steps above him, he hears none. This is the first time he has ever planned to do such a thing, his brother has brought his friends down many times to drink a few of his grandfather’s beers, and he has never got caught, so he feels, what the heck, he can do it, and who will be the wiser.
The air in the basement is cool, Dennis rubs his forearms, and there are some goose bumps, on them. You can see, he is concentrating on the lock, he has planned for it.
Dennis did not ask for permission, rather he simply picked the lock with a nail, that was flat on both ends of the top of the nail, the top being the part the hammer drives the nail into its destination. In his mind he is most concerned with the old newspapers he knows are on the shelves in the wine closet, he saw them several times throughout the years, he feels they must had been there when grandpa bought the house from Old Man Beck’s family back in ‘57, when he passed on, and he wants to take and examine the papers closer, perhaps take one or two, and replace them with newer papers, he is unsure how it all will work out, but he has half of the plan set in his mind, and it all is going to happen today, in a moment time. And when he does this, and he is now about to pick the lock, something unusual will happen in which he will have no warning, and thereafter he will have to cope with the rest of the day, and he will discover: realism may need to be looked at closer, as well as sincerity and honesty, and selfishness, within in of course. This will all play a part in today’s performance on earth’s little stage. Furthermore, let me say, this will be the first time in his life he will have to confront his emotions with what surprise is going to happen, with actions and thinking. In essence, will he react to his emotions or his thinking; perhaps he doesn’t know the difference, and things at thirteen-years old, they are the same. The lesson may be, and of course it is always up to the reader to pin point this dilemma, it is wise to react to our emotions vs. our thinking? Realizing of course, we have these emotions all day long, like a rollercoaster sometimes, and to react to them, may only mean, backtracking someplace along the line to straighten things out. Well I must say much more, least I tell you the whole plot, theme and insight, and that would not do. So I shall stop here and let the actors tell you the rest.
Scene One
The Basement, Dennis; the summer of 1962, 11:00 AM
Dennis
(He is now playing with the lock of the door, as if it was stuck, his devise, nail that is, is inside the keyhole, and he has twisted it this way and that way, and lo and behold, the door opens, he is humming, something like this ‘hum…hum…mmm…’ he sees the papers from the doorway, talks out loud to himself)
Look, yes, I thought so, a 1951, the ‘Saints’ (baseball players). Now they got the ‘Twins,’ big deal!
(He switches on his flashlight, holds it on the dates of the papers)
I’ll take this one, grandpa will never know, it’s got these folds to it.
(He pull the paper upward, then back, looks closer at it, the paper is brownish, from age, then he spots something green…he looks closer, it is a bill… he looks closer, a five-hundred dollar bill. He shuts his eyes, as if to clean them, and reopens them; to look again, to insure what he sees is real, really real. And it is, it is surely a $500-dollar bill. His face shows the expression of ‘unreliability’ that it can’t be real; in essence, in this matter, as if his sense and eyes are playing tricks on him.)
Dennis
(anxiously)
Now what!
(He pulls the bill out from under the paper, folding it back somewhat, and puts it on the upper shelve for the moment, he is working on the middle shelf, of three shelves. And as he pulls the paper out, under that he finds another five-hundred dollar bill. Again he holds the flashlight onto the bill to make sure it is real, that it reads what it reads, clearly, and it does. He shakes his head as if to say ‘unbelievable’, opens up his eyes wider, as if say, ‘now what’, takes in a deep breath, but he again is more inclined to check the papers out, and puts the $500-dollar bill with the first one on the upper shelf, and checks the new paper out he finds from the ’40. He takes the papers, the one that reads the ‘Saints’ and this new one. Grabs the two bills on the third shelf, hesitates a moment, listens to hear any footsteps above him, all is clear.)
Dennis
(he asks himself)
Heck, now what?
Sure, take it, grandpa doesn’t even know it is there, was there. I bet old man Beck put it there, yaw sure he did, it’s not grandpa’s, everyone around the neighborhood says old man Beck left a treasure.
(He sighs, a long sigh, takes the money and puts it into his top shirt pocket.)
Dennis
I better get out of here before someone comes, lock it lock the door!
(He is really nervous now, and is having a hard time with the nail relocking the door, but he gets it done by telling himself ‘calm down’ and completes his mission.)
Scene Two
Lorimar’s house, two houses over from his, 11:30 AM
You see the house, and a kitchen window, people sitting and talking in the kitchen, it is Lorimar’s family eating brunch, so it seems. There is a green Oldsmobile parked by the garage, in back of the house, in the driveway, a 1953 model, two doors, it shines. Dennis is standing at this moment in front of the back screened in doorway sees his friend Lorimar talking to the other folks. Among them is the mother and father of Lorimar, and his older brother Tom (Tom will soon become involved with all this, and he notices his brother gone, and looks out the window, sees Dennis standing by the cement steps). It is a warm day, and he wipes his brow, his two five-hundred dollar bills are in his top pocket, you can see the tips of them. He is mumbling to himself, talking out loud says (and the audience can hear this: “Am I a thief, or what?”; Lorimar looks out the window, sees Dennis, nods his head as if to say, ‘Wait a minute.’ Now you don’t see him, he has left the folks in the kitchen to meet with Dennis.
Lorimar
(on the back cement steps of Lorimar’s house)
What’s up, you look nervous, or something?
Dennis
(still in disbelief, he lets out a sigh)
Look at what I found in my Grandpa’s wine closet!
(Lorimar steps down from the top third stair, almost falls off it, he starts to put forth his hands as if to grab them, and look closer at them, but stops himself, and just peers into them as if they were some archeological find, in an ancient grave.)
Lorimar
(his eyes and face rise with his forehead)
Are they real? I mean I’ve never seen one before. Found them you say, aren’t they your grandfather’s? I mean, maybe you better put them back before he notices they are gone.
Dennis
I don’t know if they’re real, I never saw one myself, they look real, don’t they, I mean…I think they do. And I didn’t steal them, I simple found them…I was looking for old newspapers and, and—you know the rest…
Lorimar
(he stares, thinking a moment)
I’ll get my brother Tom to look at them bills, he’ll know for sure if they are real or not, he has a car business in his front yard, sells cars, him and Joe, wait here I’ll go ask him to come out and take a look (he hesitates, adds)…I’ll be careful about it, so no one suspects a thing, I’ll just tell him, Dennis wants to have you look at something, and my ma and father will not be the wiser.
(Dennis sees in the window Lorimar talking to Tom now, his father is the closest to the window, coffee on the table, curtains somewhat in the way. His father leans over a tinge, trying to find out what the mystery is all about, but trying not to be too suspicious, and Lorimar doesn’t tell him anyhow what exactly Dennis has to show him. Now you see Lorimar and Tom in the Pantry, next to the kitchen, and screened in door, he is explaining now what has happened, but you don’t hear him saying anything but by their expressions, you know this by heart.)
Tom
(Tom is looking at the two $500-bills in Dennis’ hands. Tom is about 23-years old, Lorimar is a year older than Dennis.)
Put it this way Dennis, I’m no expert in such matters, but those bills look as real as any one-hundred dollar bill I’ve ever seen, and I’ve never seen a five-hundred dollar bill before, and I heard they do have bills at the bank with higher denominations than one-hundred,…but I wonder if they are registered, I mean, no one carries around two five-hundred dollar bills, they are kind of like those Cashier Checks I think, people have them for safety reasons, so no one can simply go cash them. Lorimar said you found them in your grandfather’s wine cellar and you think they might belong to old man Beck.
(Everyone is quiet for the moment; a loud stillness fills the air.)
Listen Dennis, if you don’t know what to do with the bills, I’ll sell you my 1953, Oldsmobile, its cherry—you’ve seen it, right over there.
(Tom points to the car, and Dennis is looking, his eyes are as wide as the light bulbs in the car. It would seem at this juncture, Dennis has put out of his mind the possibility that it is even his Grandfather’s money, and has planted a seed somewhere in his brain that it is his money now, you can see it in his face, he is now holding the two bills as if they are his, and his alone, but nod his head as if to say ‘Ok,’ and hands the bills over to Tom.)
Dennis
Ok, Tom, here are the bills, and the car is mine, when do I get it? I mean, I’m fifteen-years old, not sure if I can have it in my name. I really do like that car of yours, it shines like the dickens.
Tom
(there is a silence between the three of them)
You will not find a better car for the price, Dennis.
Dennis
I suppose.
Tom
Well, do you have any second thoughts, I mean, are you sure you want to make this deal, I don’t want you coming back tomorrow and saying I did you wrong, or telling everyone I cheated you? Matter-of-fact, I will be checking out the legal procedure tomorrow on how to put a title card into the name of a minor, I doubt there will be any big problems. Here’s a set of keys, keep them; since the car is yours, I got another I’ll give them to you tomorrow.
Dennis
I suppose so, I mean yes, yes I want the car, I gave you the bills, I am just concerned about putting the title card into my name, I don’t have a license to drive, only a permit, next year I’ll get my license, but I can drive with a license driver I suppose, maybe my brother Mike will ride with me.
(Dennis is playing with the keys in his hand, as if he was a big shot, and a smile is on his face now, he never owned such an item like this before.)
The two five-hundred dollar bills have already been handed over, and Tom seems elated. Lorimar and Dennis go over to the car and check it out. Lorimar puts his hands on Dennis’ shoulder, he is about two inches taller, and says something to the effect “How’s it feel to be an owner of such a beautiful car,” you can faintly hear that. Tom has just walked back into the house, you can see him now through the kitchen window, he is showing the money the two bills to his father, and his father is looking stern with a little mystery to his look as if to say, ‘this can be trouble’. Tom has agreed to check out the process tomorrow in transferring the title card over into Dennis’ name, and that very well might be part of the conversation, the father, Joe is having with Tom, and his mother is walking into the living room, as if to say, this is men’s business, and she calls for her daughter, and they both go sit on a square wooden piano stool, as she gives her daughter lessons (the father’s name is the same as his son Joe Jr. who is twenty-one) he shakes his head a second time.
Scene Three
Inside the Dennis’ Grandfather’s house, 7:00 PM
(The phone rings, Dennis is in the living room, near the phone, his grandfather is outside cutting his lilac bushes, his mother, Elsie, picks up the phone, listens to the other person on the phone, her face seems to go through several confusing emotions, as if she is trying to understand something, and she glances at Dennis a few times. Her boyfriend Earnest is in the kitchen, her and he were having coffee, until the phone rang. She has a cigarette in her hands, takes a few puffs off it, blows the smoke out, then hangs up the phone, looks at the clock, and goes out into the kitchen, she now is talking to Earnest, as if getting advise, she squints her eyes, looks through the two rooms to Dennis by the television in the living room. Then she calls him over to the kitchen.)
Mother (Elsie)
Dennis, come in here for a moment, I want to ask you something!
(to Dennis)
Dennis
(Dennis is nervous; he senses it has to do with the car)
What is it?
Mother (Elsie)
(Earnest is sitting down, Elsie is standing up)
I just got a phone call from Lorimar’s father; he said something about two five-hundred dollar bills you found in grandpa’s wine cellar, what about it?
Dennis is acting somewhat as if he doesn’t know anything of what she is saying, a tinge smug, he plays with the keys in pocket a bit, but quietly. Standing in the middle of the kitchen, almost dumbfounded, his mother waiting for an explanation, and Earnest, drinking his coffee, staying out of the predicament. Dennis wants to say something but is unsure of what to say, he doesn’t want to lose the car.
Mother (Elsie)
Well, I’m still waiting for an explanation!
Dennis
(with a deep sigh)
I found them, two five-hundred dollar bills under the old papers in grandpa’s wine cellar. I wasn’t robbing him, I doubt they even belong to him, I was looking for old papers, and I found them, and I asked Lorimar to look at them and see if they were real, and Tom came out and said they were, so I bought his car, I mean I gave him the two bills for the car.
The boy was of course not lying, nor was he sorry for taking the money, you could see it in his face, a tinge bad in the sincerity area, and his mother was sure he was telling the truth, he was not know for lying, but now it seemed, she was unsure of the whole matter. She didn’t see any ‘I’m sorry,’ in his face for taking what did not belong to him; only perhaps sorry he got caught.
Mother (Elsie)
First of all, the money may very well be Grandpa’s he hides it all over the house, and if it was Mr. Beck’s, as you told Lorimar’s brother, it is still grandpa’s because you were snooping in his private closet, where you were not suppose to be; Tom is coming over with the two bills now, and he wants his car keys back, I guess you even went a bought a car, without me knowing.
(There is a knock on the door, Elsie puts out her hand for the car keys, Dennis gives them to her, and she goes to the door to meet Tom who is doing the knocking.)
Act Two
Of two Acts
The Reprieve (In the house, the next day, morning, the Grandfather was told the story by Elsie)
There has never been much of a liking between Dennis and his Grandfather, he took to Mike, his older brother, and seems throughout the years to simply endure Dennis, whereas, he appreciates Mike. Nonetheless, it really hasn’t bothered Dennis all that much, and in return that in itself may have bothered the old Russian Bear, who came to America in 1916; Dennis, he just keeps his distance, throughout the seasons, one by one. If anything, he is a little closer to his mother than perhaps his brother, whom is his senior by two years.
He would like to shut the lid on this situation of the two bills and car but he knows it will have to be settled between him and grandpa, even if his mother makes peace with him over this. Old grandpa, fought in WWI, tougher than hard ice, and just as cold. He realizes it will perhaps be a turbulent day, with a little nastiness coming from his grandfather, he likes to swear for no reasons, and this is a good reason to do just what he likes to do, so he his prepared to endure a mouth full of broken English, but he has lived through worse, in this quiet infested forest of his.
It is morning, and Dennis has come down the stairs from the Attic bedroom where he and his brother sleep, he sees his grandfather, he is pacing the house, walking from the front porch to the back pantry door. He stops suddenly, noticing Dennis, who has done nothing apparently: just standing there buttoning up his shirt. Dennis, he notices his grandfather seems to know something, and he is annoyed, but not as annoyed as Dennis would have expected him to be, after almost losing two five-hundred dollar bills, he is still convinced they belonged to Mr. Beck, and feels he got the short end of the stick in this situation, having lost the bills and the car all in one day.
Scene One
The next day, 9:00 AM, in the main area of the house
Dennis’ grandfather stops by him, Dennis says “Hello,” but it is so faint, I doubt his grandfather even heard him; in any case, if he did, he pretends not to have heard him.
Tony (Grandfather)
So, I guess you like to snoop in my things, never mind my things stay out of them, or I’ll throw you out of the house. Looking for papers, hogwash, you just snoop like always. Now you lie, and steal. Don’t let me ever catch you in there again!
(he walks away, but not heatedly as usual; surprising)
Dennis tries to say he is sorry, but it doesn’t come out right, more of an ‘I…mmm sor… (then he quickly says it) sorry,’ almost is a hush, and no sincerity to it, and then he turns towards the kitchen and enters it…
Both Dennis and Tony, are to the backs of one another, perhaps they are much like one another; Dennis fades into the pantry and you hear the back door slam, and Tony walks out onto his front porch, and again, you hear the door slam behind him.
Curtain
Act one written on the 22, and Act two written the 23 of May, 2008.
(A story of a boy who gets a closer view of realism, sincerity, honesty, and selfishness, and finds himself wanting)
By Three Time Poet Laureate,
Dennis L. Siluk, Ed.D.
Awarded the National Prize of Peru, “Antena Regional”: The best writer for 2006 for promoting culture (in Poetry & Prose)
Act One
Of two Acts
Wine Closet Door (Name for the area of the Basement in the House)
The curtain is down, the lights go on:
(Narrator, talks to the audience, and everyone can see the basement, and at present Dennis standing on top of stairs, about to walk down them:) in the basement, to the right of a flight of wooden steps (stairs, leading down into the basement) to its back, is an old greenish fading painted door, it is the wine closet (private, Dennis’ grandfather’s secret, or so undeclared anyhow, room where he keeps his wine, and vodka (140-proof). It is locked, with an old lock. A big gas furnace is to its left, newer air ducks, are stretched along the large beams of the ceiling. After moving here in the summer of 1957, shortly after, his grandfather (whom he and his brother and mother live with), he brought the old house, built in the ‘30s, up-to-date; yet the basement has an air of another time, not of the ‘60s, which is the present time, and you can sense and feel that. There are windows in back of the closet, small windows and high, a wooden table and several wooden chairs around the table, are near the far east corner of the basement, it is where his grandfather brings his family guests on the weekend to drink his wine, and beer and vodka.
No one is in the basement at present, but if they were, you could hear the sound of feet above you, especially in the kitchen which is right over the wine closet. You hear the click of the light switch; it is at the top of the staircase. Dennis is coming down stairs. You can hear the old thin wooden steps produce a crackling noise, the boards are not real firm.
Dennis is now by the wine closet door, he listens for foot steps above him, he hears none. This is the first time he has ever planned to do such a thing, his brother has brought his friends down many times to drink a few of his grandfather’s beers, and he has never got caught, so he feels, what the heck, he can do it, and who will be the wiser.
The air in the basement is cool, Dennis rubs his forearms, and there are some goose bumps, on them. You can see, he is concentrating on the lock, he has planned for it.
Dennis did not ask for permission, rather he simply picked the lock with a nail, that was flat on both ends of the top of the nail, the top being the part the hammer drives the nail into its destination. In his mind he is most concerned with the old newspapers he knows are on the shelves in the wine closet, he saw them several times throughout the years, he feels they must had been there when grandpa bought the house from Old Man Beck’s family back in ‘57, when he passed on, and he wants to take and examine the papers closer, perhaps take one or two, and replace them with newer papers, he is unsure how it all will work out, but he has half of the plan set in his mind, and it all is going to happen today, in a moment time. And when he does this, and he is now about to pick the lock, something unusual will happen in which he will have no warning, and thereafter he will have to cope with the rest of the day, and he will discover: realism may need to be looked at closer, as well as sincerity and honesty, and selfishness, within in of course. This will all play a part in today’s performance on earth’s little stage. Furthermore, let me say, this will be the first time in his life he will have to confront his emotions with what surprise is going to happen, with actions and thinking. In essence, will he react to his emotions or his thinking; perhaps he doesn’t know the difference, and things at thirteen-years old, they are the same. The lesson may be, and of course it is always up to the reader to pin point this dilemma, it is wise to react to our emotions vs. our thinking? Realizing of course, we have these emotions all day long, like a rollercoaster sometimes, and to react to them, may only mean, backtracking someplace along the line to straighten things out. Well I must say much more, least I tell you the whole plot, theme and insight, and that would not do. So I shall stop here and let the actors tell you the rest.
Scene One
The Basement, Dennis; the summer of 1962, 11:00 AM
Dennis
(He is now playing with the lock of the door, as if it was stuck, his devise, nail that is, is inside the keyhole, and he has twisted it this way and that way, and lo and behold, the door opens, he is humming, something like this ‘hum…hum…mmm…’ he sees the papers from the doorway, talks out loud to himself)
Look, yes, I thought so, a 1951, the ‘Saints’ (baseball players). Now they got the ‘Twins,’ big deal!
(He switches on his flashlight, holds it on the dates of the papers)
I’ll take this one, grandpa will never know, it’s got these folds to it.
(He pull the paper upward, then back, looks closer at it, the paper is brownish, from age, then he spots something green…he looks closer, it is a bill… he looks closer, a five-hundred dollar bill. He shuts his eyes, as if to clean them, and reopens them; to look again, to insure what he sees is real, really real. And it is, it is surely a $500-dollar bill. His face shows the expression of ‘unreliability’ that it can’t be real; in essence, in this matter, as if his sense and eyes are playing tricks on him.)
Dennis
(anxiously)
Now what!
(He pulls the bill out from under the paper, folding it back somewhat, and puts it on the upper shelve for the moment, he is working on the middle shelf, of three shelves. And as he pulls the paper out, under that he finds another five-hundred dollar bill. Again he holds the flashlight onto the bill to make sure it is real, that it reads what it reads, clearly, and it does. He shakes his head as if to say ‘unbelievable’, opens up his eyes wider, as if say, ‘now what’, takes in a deep breath, but he again is more inclined to check the papers out, and puts the $500-dollar bill with the first one on the upper shelf, and checks the new paper out he finds from the ’40. He takes the papers, the one that reads the ‘Saints’ and this new one. Grabs the two bills on the third shelf, hesitates a moment, listens to hear any footsteps above him, all is clear.)
Dennis
(he asks himself)
Heck, now what?
Sure, take it, grandpa doesn’t even know it is there, was there. I bet old man Beck put it there, yaw sure he did, it’s not grandpa’s, everyone around the neighborhood says old man Beck left a treasure.
(He sighs, a long sigh, takes the money and puts it into his top shirt pocket.)
Dennis
I better get out of here before someone comes, lock it lock the door!
(He is really nervous now, and is having a hard time with the nail relocking the door, but he gets it done by telling himself ‘calm down’ and completes his mission.)
Scene Two
Lorimar’s house, two houses over from his, 11:30 AM
You see the house, and a kitchen window, people sitting and talking in the kitchen, it is Lorimar’s family eating brunch, so it seems. There is a green Oldsmobile parked by the garage, in back of the house, in the driveway, a 1953 model, two doors, it shines. Dennis is standing at this moment in front of the back screened in doorway sees his friend Lorimar talking to the other folks. Among them is the mother and father of Lorimar, and his older brother Tom (Tom will soon become involved with all this, and he notices his brother gone, and looks out the window, sees Dennis standing by the cement steps). It is a warm day, and he wipes his brow, his two five-hundred dollar bills are in his top pocket, you can see the tips of them. He is mumbling to himself, talking out loud says (and the audience can hear this: “Am I a thief, or what?”; Lorimar looks out the window, sees Dennis, nods his head as if to say, ‘Wait a minute.’ Now you don’t see him, he has left the folks in the kitchen to meet with Dennis.
Lorimar
(on the back cement steps of Lorimar’s house)
What’s up, you look nervous, or something?
Dennis
(still in disbelief, he lets out a sigh)
Look at what I found in my Grandpa’s wine closet!
(Lorimar steps down from the top third stair, almost falls off it, he starts to put forth his hands as if to grab them, and look closer at them, but stops himself, and just peers into them as if they were some archeological find, in an ancient grave.)
Lorimar
(his eyes and face rise with his forehead)
Are they real? I mean I’ve never seen one before. Found them you say, aren’t they your grandfather’s? I mean, maybe you better put them back before he notices they are gone.
Dennis
I don’t know if they’re real, I never saw one myself, they look real, don’t they, I mean…I think they do. And I didn’t steal them, I simple found them…I was looking for old newspapers and, and—you know the rest…
Lorimar
(he stares, thinking a moment)
I’ll get my brother Tom to look at them bills, he’ll know for sure if they are real or not, he has a car business in his front yard, sells cars, him and Joe, wait here I’ll go ask him to come out and take a look (he hesitates, adds)…I’ll be careful about it, so no one suspects a thing, I’ll just tell him, Dennis wants to have you look at something, and my ma and father will not be the wiser.
(Dennis sees in the window Lorimar talking to Tom now, his father is the closest to the window, coffee on the table, curtains somewhat in the way. His father leans over a tinge, trying to find out what the mystery is all about, but trying not to be too suspicious, and Lorimar doesn’t tell him anyhow what exactly Dennis has to show him. Now you see Lorimar and Tom in the Pantry, next to the kitchen, and screened in door, he is explaining now what has happened, but you don’t hear him saying anything but by their expressions, you know this by heart.)
Tom
(Tom is looking at the two $500-bills in Dennis’ hands. Tom is about 23-years old, Lorimar is a year older than Dennis.)
Put it this way Dennis, I’m no expert in such matters, but those bills look as real as any one-hundred dollar bill I’ve ever seen, and I’ve never seen a five-hundred dollar bill before, and I heard they do have bills at the bank with higher denominations than one-hundred,…but I wonder if they are registered, I mean, no one carries around two five-hundred dollar bills, they are kind of like those Cashier Checks I think, people have them for safety reasons, so no one can simply go cash them. Lorimar said you found them in your grandfather’s wine cellar and you think they might belong to old man Beck.
(Everyone is quiet for the moment; a loud stillness fills the air.)
Listen Dennis, if you don’t know what to do with the bills, I’ll sell you my 1953, Oldsmobile, its cherry—you’ve seen it, right over there.
(Tom points to the car, and Dennis is looking, his eyes are as wide as the light bulbs in the car. It would seem at this juncture, Dennis has put out of his mind the possibility that it is even his Grandfather’s money, and has planted a seed somewhere in his brain that it is his money now, you can see it in his face, he is now holding the two bills as if they are his, and his alone, but nod his head as if to say ‘Ok,’ and hands the bills over to Tom.)
Dennis
Ok, Tom, here are the bills, and the car is mine, when do I get it? I mean, I’m fifteen-years old, not sure if I can have it in my name. I really do like that car of yours, it shines like the dickens.
Tom
(there is a silence between the three of them)
You will not find a better car for the price, Dennis.
Dennis
I suppose.
Tom
Well, do you have any second thoughts, I mean, are you sure you want to make this deal, I don’t want you coming back tomorrow and saying I did you wrong, or telling everyone I cheated you? Matter-of-fact, I will be checking out the legal procedure tomorrow on how to put a title card into the name of a minor, I doubt there will be any big problems. Here’s a set of keys, keep them; since the car is yours, I got another I’ll give them to you tomorrow.
Dennis
I suppose so, I mean yes, yes I want the car, I gave you the bills, I am just concerned about putting the title card into my name, I don’t have a license to drive, only a permit, next year I’ll get my license, but I can drive with a license driver I suppose, maybe my brother Mike will ride with me.
(Dennis is playing with the keys in his hand, as if he was a big shot, and a smile is on his face now, he never owned such an item like this before.)
The two five-hundred dollar bills have already been handed over, and Tom seems elated. Lorimar and Dennis go over to the car and check it out. Lorimar puts his hands on Dennis’ shoulder, he is about two inches taller, and says something to the effect “How’s it feel to be an owner of such a beautiful car,” you can faintly hear that. Tom has just walked back into the house, you can see him now through the kitchen window, he is showing the money the two bills to his father, and his father is looking stern with a little mystery to his look as if to say, ‘this can be trouble’. Tom has agreed to check out the process tomorrow in transferring the title card over into Dennis’ name, and that very well might be part of the conversation, the father, Joe is having with Tom, and his mother is walking into the living room, as if to say, this is men’s business, and she calls for her daughter, and they both go sit on a square wooden piano stool, as she gives her daughter lessons (the father’s name is the same as his son Joe Jr. who is twenty-one) he shakes his head a second time.
Scene Three
Inside the Dennis’ Grandfather’s house, 7:00 PM
(The phone rings, Dennis is in the living room, near the phone, his grandfather is outside cutting his lilac bushes, his mother, Elsie, picks up the phone, listens to the other person on the phone, her face seems to go through several confusing emotions, as if she is trying to understand something, and she glances at Dennis a few times. Her boyfriend Earnest is in the kitchen, her and he were having coffee, until the phone rang. She has a cigarette in her hands, takes a few puffs off it, blows the smoke out, then hangs up the phone, looks at the clock, and goes out into the kitchen, she now is talking to Earnest, as if getting advise, she squints her eyes, looks through the two rooms to Dennis by the television in the living room. Then she calls him over to the kitchen.)
Mother (Elsie)
Dennis, come in here for a moment, I want to ask you something!
(to Dennis)
Dennis
(Dennis is nervous; he senses it has to do with the car)
What is it?
Mother (Elsie)
(Earnest is sitting down, Elsie is standing up)
I just got a phone call from Lorimar’s father; he said something about two five-hundred dollar bills you found in grandpa’s wine cellar, what about it?
Dennis is acting somewhat as if he doesn’t know anything of what she is saying, a tinge smug, he plays with the keys in pocket a bit, but quietly. Standing in the middle of the kitchen, almost dumbfounded, his mother waiting for an explanation, and Earnest, drinking his coffee, staying out of the predicament. Dennis wants to say something but is unsure of what to say, he doesn’t want to lose the car.
Mother (Elsie)
Well, I’m still waiting for an explanation!
Dennis
(with a deep sigh)
I found them, two five-hundred dollar bills under the old papers in grandpa’s wine cellar. I wasn’t robbing him, I doubt they even belong to him, I was looking for old papers, and I found them, and I asked Lorimar to look at them and see if they were real, and Tom came out and said they were, so I bought his car, I mean I gave him the two bills for the car.
The boy was of course not lying, nor was he sorry for taking the money, you could see it in his face, a tinge bad in the sincerity area, and his mother was sure he was telling the truth, he was not know for lying, but now it seemed, she was unsure of the whole matter. She didn’t see any ‘I’m sorry,’ in his face for taking what did not belong to him; only perhaps sorry he got caught.
Mother (Elsie)
First of all, the money may very well be Grandpa’s he hides it all over the house, and if it was Mr. Beck’s, as you told Lorimar’s brother, it is still grandpa’s because you were snooping in his private closet, where you were not suppose to be; Tom is coming over with the two bills now, and he wants his car keys back, I guess you even went a bought a car, without me knowing.
(There is a knock on the door, Elsie puts out her hand for the car keys, Dennis gives them to her, and she goes to the door to meet Tom who is doing the knocking.)
Act Two
Of two Acts
The Reprieve (In the house, the next day, morning, the Grandfather was told the story by Elsie)
There has never been much of a liking between Dennis and his Grandfather, he took to Mike, his older brother, and seems throughout the years to simply endure Dennis, whereas, he appreciates Mike. Nonetheless, it really hasn’t bothered Dennis all that much, and in return that in itself may have bothered the old Russian Bear, who came to America in 1916; Dennis, he just keeps his distance, throughout the seasons, one by one. If anything, he is a little closer to his mother than perhaps his brother, whom is his senior by two years.
He would like to shut the lid on this situation of the two bills and car but he knows it will have to be settled between him and grandpa, even if his mother makes peace with him over this. Old grandpa, fought in WWI, tougher than hard ice, and just as cold. He realizes it will perhaps be a turbulent day, with a little nastiness coming from his grandfather, he likes to swear for no reasons, and this is a good reason to do just what he likes to do, so he his prepared to endure a mouth full of broken English, but he has lived through worse, in this quiet infested forest of his.
It is morning, and Dennis has come down the stairs from the Attic bedroom where he and his brother sleep, he sees his grandfather, he is pacing the house, walking from the front porch to the back pantry door. He stops suddenly, noticing Dennis, who has done nothing apparently: just standing there buttoning up his shirt. Dennis, he notices his grandfather seems to know something, and he is annoyed, but not as annoyed as Dennis would have expected him to be, after almost losing two five-hundred dollar bills, he is still convinced they belonged to Mr. Beck, and feels he got the short end of the stick in this situation, having lost the bills and the car all in one day.
Scene One
The next day, 9:00 AM, in the main area of the house
Dennis’ grandfather stops by him, Dennis says “Hello,” but it is so faint, I doubt his grandfather even heard him; in any case, if he did, he pretends not to have heard him.
Tony (Grandfather)
So, I guess you like to snoop in my things, never mind my things stay out of them, or I’ll throw you out of the house. Looking for papers, hogwash, you just snoop like always. Now you lie, and steal. Don’t let me ever catch you in there again!
(he walks away, but not heatedly as usual; surprising)
Dennis tries to say he is sorry, but it doesn’t come out right, more of an ‘I…mmm sor… (then he quickly says it) sorry,’ almost is a hush, and no sincerity to it, and then he turns towards the kitchen and enters it…
Both Dennis and Tony, are to the backs of one another, perhaps they are much like one another; Dennis fades into the pantry and you hear the back door slam, and Tony walks out onto his front porch, and again, you hear the door slam behind him.
Curtain
Act one written on the 22, and Act two written the 23 of May, 2008.
posted by Dennis and Rosa Siluk at 3:50 PM
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