"I'm going to play it again." "You play that thing one more time, and I'm going to melt it down into hair spray." " Well, let me play the other side then." " No, Rayette." "It's not a question of sides." "It's a question of musical integrity." "Well, then let me sing one for ya." "Hold it." "Hold it." " Oh-ho, Bobby!" " What?" "What?" " You quit that now." " What?" "What?" " You said you're going to help me pick a song." " I did?" "I'm going to cut off your damn water, Bobby, I swear." "Selfish." "You can play on the piano, and your whole damn family... can play on some type of musical instrument." "And all I'm asking is for you to help me improve my musical talent." "And you'd think you would." "Dipesto, why don't you take that sign off your tit... and why don't you and me go out and have us a real good time?" "Where are we going?" "I don't know." "But I'll holler up to Elton and Stoney." "Bobby, now, listen a minute." "You know, I'll go out with you... or..." "I'll stay in with you... or I'll do anything that you like for me to do... if you will tell me that you love me." "You can sing the song." "You are never satisfied." "That's right." "Oh, honey, I'm sorry." "All right." "Here it is." "They were all set up right for ya." "Get right in there, Dipesto." " That's all you got to do." "Just relax, honey." " Come on, Rayette!" " Keep that left foot" " The right, left foot forward." " Bear down." "Bear down." "Not too much of a match, is it, Elton?" "You better leap out with your right foot." " In the gutter." "Isn't that wonderful?" " The ball's too heavy for me, honey." "The pins, you know." "I can't see them." "I can't make 'em out." "Just squint." "I squint." "Well, there they are right down there." "They're at the end of all these little boards." "You notice 'em leading down." "Just spot and follow through." " But there are so many of 'em." " What's that for?" " That's for luck." " Oh, you're crazy." " Go on out there and show Ray how to do it." " You slobbered on me." "It isn't the first time." "Watch this." "There she is." "She's doing a little variation on the Apache shift." "I taught her that." " Are you mad at me?" " No, I'm not mad at you, honey." "It'll be all right." " We're not excited." " Look at me and tell me you're not mad at me." "I'm not mad at you." "Whoo!" " Listen." "I'm going to show you how it gets done." " Go on." "Beat it." " Don't talk about it, do it." " Isn't he pretty?" "Good one!" "Very good." "Show me a little something now." "Give me spirit." "Give me something." "That stupid thing just goes all cocky-wobbly, honey." " If you'd just do what the hell I tell ya." " I did!" "Didn't I, El?" "You got another ball coming." " Come on, Rayette." " Just relax, Ray." "That's all." "Attaboy, Ray!" "That was real good, wasn't it?" "I finally did it." "Great." "You throw the big Z's for 19 frames... and then you throw a strike on the last ball of a losing game." "Wonderful." "Just wonderful." "Wasn't that wonderful, ladies?" " Are you talking to us?" " Wonderful." "I guess I'll go wait in the car." "Why don't you go wait in the car, Rayette?" "I will." "I'll wait there right now." "One minute, honey, and I'll go with ya." "Me and Stoney got to get on home, relieve the sitter." "Why don't you and Ray just come on by the place?" "All right." "Uh, why don't you go on?" "Here." "I'll, uh." "I'll take care of the beers." " And would you walk Rayette along with ya?" " Sure." "Thanks, El." " Oh." "Uh, what do we owe you?" " Four dollars, sir." "Okay." "Excuse me." " Here's a five." "Thanks very much." " Thank you." "We've been wanting to ask you." "You're on the TV, aren't ya?" "Am I?" "On the TV?" "She says you're the guy that sells all the cars on..." "TV." "Well, I might have sold a few cars." "I told ya!" "My name's Shirley, but they call me Betty." "And her name's Twinky." " Twinky?" " Yeah, 'cause she's so twinky!" "Boy, oh, boy." "Well, Betty and Twinky, it, uh, sure is nice talking to you girls." "I wish that I had some more time." " That's a wig you wear, isn't it?" " Me?" "Yeah." "I told her it was you, but that you're wearing a wig... 'cause on TV you're mostly all, uh, bald up there." "Yeah, your little friend's real, real sharp." "Well, I don't, uh" "I don't wear the wig on TV... because if you're going to be out there in front of two and a half million people... you've got to be sincere." "I mean, I like to wear it when I'm in bowling alleys and slipping around." "Stuff like that." "I think it gives me a little class." "What do you think?" " Oh, definitely." " Yeah, but I can see a little bitty of the net up there." "That's what give it away." "A little net." "Yeah, well, I..." "I wish I had more time to talk to you girls... but, uh, I have to..." "I'll, uh." "Come on, Ray." "We're going to go over to Elton's." "I'm not." "You're just going to sit here?" "Yes." "Okay." "I hope no one hits on you." "I hope they do." "Okay." "See you later." "No one would want to hit on you." "You look too pathetic." "Come on, Dipesto." "We can still have a good time." "You're the pathetic one, not me." "I'm going over to Elton's." "I am not a piece of crap." "I'm sorry." "You treat me like I was." "Go slip around... right before my face." "And in front of Elton and Stoney that way." "What do you imagine they think of somebody you treat like that?" "Now, now, Ray." "Now, sweetheart, Elton and Stoney know that I love ya." "They're just going to think that I'm not too nice a guy, which I'm not... and that you're a real hell of a good person for putting up with me, that's all." "You'll just find me dead one time." "Just kill me." "Shh." "Come on, be a good girl." "You ever really get up and leave me... you'll read about it in the newsprint." "I'm not going to get up and leave you." "Now, come on." "Let's go over to Elton's and have a good time." "You love me, Bobby?" "What do you think?" "Fuck." "You got banana on your face." "I do?" "I still haven't figured out how you got me working back out here." "I got you to come and work out here?" "I haven't figured out how you let me get you to come out here and work on these rigs." "I've never worked on these damn things before." "You've worked on 'em before." "I can't figure out how you let me get us out here." "Somebody had to look out for you." "You're a mess." "You're crazy." " All right." "I'm going to bet two dollars right off." " I'm in." " I think you're bullshitting me now." " Well, I have to see it." " What you got, Bill?" " A pair of nines." " Can you beat two pair?" " There's three aces right there, natural " " Oh, you pull me." " I pull" " I got me a hand!" "I think it's time for me to go home." "See you in the morning, boys." " See you in the morning, Glenn." " I don't know if I'm going out there tomorrow at all, man." "I've" " I got a" " I got a lot of money tied up in everything I got." "I don't want no chains going around and all this." "It's all right, but I prefer card playing." "Where is it?" "What the hell is going on in the middle of this game?" "People talking and all this." "We got money here or what?" "Okay." "When I was four, just four years old..." "I went to my mother and I said, "What's this hole in my chin?"" "I saw this dimple in my chin in the mirror and didn't know what it was." "And my mother said - Guess what my mother says." "She says, "When you're born, you go on an assembly line past God." ""And if he likes you, he says, 'You cute little thing,' and you get dimples there." "And if he doesn't like you, he goes, 'Go away."'" "So, about six months later, my mother found me saying my prayers... and I was going, "Now I lay me down to sleep."" "My mother says, "What are you covering up your chin for?"" "And I said, "Because if I cover up the hole, maybe he'll listen to me."" ""Unfit." I look unfit to you, Elton?" "I'm fit!" "I'm fit." "Don't you know no songs about women or nothing?" "Yeah, but I'm just too loaded to think of 'em now." " Hey, watch out for all this traffic." " Oh, God!" "I am not in no hurry." "Believe starting off your day like this, going to work?" "Unbelievable." "Let me have a drink, will ya?" "Thanks, Elton." "Ooh, boy, that's tough in the morning." "What the hell are these people doing here?" "Isn't this some goddamn thing, Elton?" "Jesus Christ!" "What does he want?" "Boy, I can't stand this goddamn freeway." "Oh, yeah, I heard ya!" "Why don't you flash your lights so as we can see what else you got for Christmas?" "Yeah, yeah, yeah!" "Where you going?" "Ants!" "Why don't we all line up like a goddamn bunch of ants... in the most beautiful part of the day and gas ourselves!" "Hey, get off my car." "Hey, Bobby!" "Oh, shit!" "What's he doing?" "Play it!" "You better quit fooling around!" "Come on!" "Bobby, he's turning!" "Will you hold your horses?" "I was with Elton last night, Rayette." "It's the truth." "Rayette." "You son of a bitch!" "Now reach for it." "Come on, reach for it." "Come on." "It's good for you." "Come on." "Let's go see Bob." "I can't see!" " Isn't he sweet?" " I can't see the set." " You take him for a while." "Go ahead now." " How you doing?" "You ought to get yourself one of them little things, Bobby." "Ah!" "That's it." "Just crush that one too, then I won't get any." "Bless my soul." "It's a new harmonica." " That's for your birthday." " My birthday?" "How do you know when my birthday is?" "I don't even know myself." "Bye, Stoney." "The kitchen's on fire, Stoney." "Your mother just died, Stoney." " Bye-bye." " Bye." " See you, Elton." " All right, Bob." "See you later." "Thanks a lot." "Incidentally, what's his name?" "You just love that little baby, don't you?" "Well, what if she was, Bob?" "I can't see nothing so bad in that." "Well, what if I were to let you in on a little secret that she is?" "That's right." "She told me." "She's all torn up about it too, which I hate to see." "Oh, hell." "Isn't it something you just have to face up to?" "I'll tell ya, somewhere along the line you even get to liking the whole idea." "When Stoney first give me the news, I could've shit." "Well, isn't that nice?" "It's ridiculous!" "I'm sitting here listening to some cracker asshole... lives in a trailer park compare his life to mine." "Keep on telling me about the good life, Elton, because it makes me puke." "Well, if you're saying you think you're something better than what I am... now, that's something else." "But I can't say much of someone who could run off... and leave a woman in a situation like this and feel easy about it." "And that's all I have to say." "Well, I'm glad that's all you got to say, Elton... because I'm about as goddamned tired of your mouth... as I am working on this goddamned job!" "Shit-ass!" "Hey, Longcipher!" "Hey, Longcipher!" "Longcipher, I'm quitting." "Do you hear me, Longcipher?" "I said I'm quitting." "I don't give a damn what you do." "I'm glad to get rid of both you dumb guys." "Hey!" "What's going on?" "Hey!" "Hey, what's going on?" "Don't do that, Bob." "It don't make sense!" "They've got the right, Bob!" "It's the law." "The law." "Hey, don't you think you could just leave him?" "I mean, sure as hell, If he'd have known who you were, he wouldn't have done that." " Would you, Bob?" " What the hell's going on, Elton?" "All right." "Let him go." "What's going on, Elton?" "I got accused of robbing a filling station down in the Indian nation." "Didn't I tell ya?" "I just got wild and jumped my bail." "They come running at me a whole year later." "Isn't that something?" "Hey, tell Stoney for me, hear?" "Hi." "Miss Dupea?" "Upstairs." "Up those stairs." "There she goes again." "My one-year-old can carry a tune better than that." "Miss Dupea?" "Miss Dupea." " Yes?" " I'd like to remind you again... that this is not an opera or a musical comedy." "Oh." "I'm sorry." "Was I singing again?" "If you want to call it that." "Well, you have simply to tell me." "That's all." "That's exactly what I am doing again." "Must you let me get two-thirds of the way through the movement?" "This is tiring me." "I have another suggestion." "Why don't we take a break, Miss Dupea?" "For pity sake." " Is she going to cry again?" " I don't want to take a break." "Some coffee." "Uh, what would you like in your coffee, Miss Dupea?" " Tea." " One tea." " Tell her Bobby's here." " Bobby's here." "Oh, my goodness!" "Robert Eroica." "I can't look at you." "Well, don't then." "You always do this to me." "Well, I don't mean to." "Here's your tea, Tita." "Thank you." "Don't put it there." "Why?" "What's wrong?" "This is a very special CB 275." "No kidding." "It has absolutely no objectionable idiosyncrasies." "Robert, I have to talk seriously to you." " Everybody still living up on the island?" " Well" "At the moment, there's really just..." "Daddy, Carl and myself... and Van Oost." " Who's Van Oost?" " Catherine." "She's a pianist." "She's working with Carl." "Carl's a fiddler." "What's he doing coaching piano?" "Well, 11 months ago... he was on his bicycle on his way to the post office in the village... and he ran straight into a jeep and sprained his neck." "Strained his neck?" "That's not funny." "He permanently sprained his neck." "And since then, it's been extremely painful for him to tuck the violin." "Crashes into a jeep and totals his neck." "Robert." "I have" " I have to tell you." "Daddy's very ill." "Oh?" " What?" " He's had two strokes." "He's not" " They feel he - maybe he might not recover." " Don't tell me about this." "But don't you think it's right... that you should see him at least once?" " Miss Dupea." " Just a minute, please." "Robert, don't you think it's right you should see him?" "Yeah." "I guess so." "I'm going back up tonight." "Will you come with me?" "No." "I-I'd rather drive up." "Maybe I'll go into Canada after." "I'm not going to stay long, Tita." "You know, one week at the most." "I know." "Well." "Come on." "I'll walk you out." "I'll be back in two minutes." "We've had our break, Miss Dupea." " They hate me, I feel." " Maybe you'd better stay." "I want to talk to you about so many things." "I'll be seeing you in a couple of days." "I'm so glad." "Me too." "Bye." "Hello?" "You got the day off?" "Are you sick?" "Guess you heard about Elton." "Okay, I got your point." "I hope you didn't strain yourself getting in here before I hit the back door." "I have to go home." "My father's sick." "I'll be gone for two or three weeks." "You'll be gone, period." "I'll try and call you from up there." "Come on, Dipesto." "I never told you it'd work out to anything." "Did I?" "I'll send you some money." "That's all I can do." "I'll try and call you from up there." " Bye, Ray." "You want to go with me?" " Like it?" " I love it." " What the hell are they doing?" " Is that" " Is that an accident?" " Who was" " Who was driving?" " "Who was driving?" You were driving." "Hey, what the hell's going on?" "Rotate, mack!" "Look at my car." "Look at my car." "I just bought it brand-new from a used car lot, and the steering goes to pot on me." " You're lucky nobody was hurt." " Can you give us a lift?" "Come on, Terry." "We got a ride." "You're going to give those people a lift?" " Well, I can't just leave 'em here." " I'd like to go back... and punch the son of a bitch in the used car lot out." "Jesus!" "What a rude person." " What's your name?" " Palm Apodaca." " What's your name?" " Terry Grouse." "What?" "How far are you going to?" "Washington." "We'll get off in Washington." "We'll hook a ride." "Where are you going?" "Alaska." "Alaska?" "What, are you on vacation?" "She wants to live there because it's cleaner." "Cleaner?" "Cleaner than what?" "You don't have to tell everybody about it." "Pretty soon they'll all go, and it won't be so clean." "What makes you think it's cleaner?" "I saw a picture of it." "Alaska's very clean." "It appeared to look very white to me." "Don't you think?" "Yep." "But that was before the big thaw." "Before the what?" "I had to leave this place because I got depressed seeing all the crap." "And the thing is, they're making more crap, you know." "They got so many stores and stuff and junk full of crap." " I can't believe it." " Who?" "Who?" "Man, that's who." "Pretty soon there won't be any room for man." "They're selling more crap that people go and buy than you can imagine." "Crap." "I believe everybody should have a big hole where they throw the stuff in and burn it." "They'd never find a hole big enough." "Never." "Now, take me now." "Look at me." "When I was just one person before I was with Bobby" "I was collecting onto me more garbage every day... till I was getting to thinking that I should get a disposal." "Disposal?" "What's that but more crap?" "I've never seen such crap." " Mass production is what does it." " What do you mean, mass?" "I have to come out and tell you the truth." "You're not that clean either." "Wait a minute." "I'm not that neat maybe, but I am clean." "Well, you're not that bad." "But some people." "People's homes - just filth." "I've been in people's homes" "In my personal observation, I think that more people are neat than are clean." "My personal thing, I don't see that." "I'm seeing more filth." "A lot of filth." "What they need to do every day No, once in a while is do a cockroach thing, you know, where they spray the homes." "Can you imagine if their doors were painted a pretty color, and they had a pot outside?" " Yeah, could be adorable." " And they picked up." "Then it wouldn't be filthy with Coke bottles and whiskey and, uh" "Those signs everywhere they should be erased!" "All those signs selling you crap and more crap and more crap." "I" " I don't know." "I don't know." "I don't even want to talk about it." " Well" " It's just filthy!" "People are filthy." "I think that's the biggest thing that's wrong with people." "I think they wouldn't be as violent if they were clean... because then they wouldn't have anybody to pick on." "Dirt." "Not dirt." "See, dirt isn't bad." "It's filth." "Filth is bad." "That's what starts maggots and riots." "Hey, follow that truck." "They know the best places to stop." "That's an old maid's tale." "Bullshit!" "Truck drivers are the only ones that know the best places to stop on the road." "Salesmen and cops are the ones." "If you'd ever waitressed, honey, you'd know that." " Don't call me honey, mack." " Don't call me mack, honey." "I wouldn't be a waitress." "They're nasty and full of crap." "You just hold on to your tongue!" "Hold on to this." "If you think that you can talk to me like that." "Shut up!" "All of ya." "I'd like a, uh, plain omelet, no potatoes, tomatoes instead... a cup of coffee and wheat toast." "No substitutions." "What do you mean?" "You don't have any tomatoes?" "Only what's on the menu." "You can have a number two, a plain omelet." "It comes with cottage fries and rolls." "I know what it comes with, but it's not what I want." " Well, I'll come back when you make up your mind." " Wait a minute." "I have made up my mind." "I'd like a plain omelet." "No potatoes on the plate." "A cup of coffee and a side order of wheat toast." "I'm sorry, we don't have any side orders of toast." "I'll give you an English muffin or a coffee roll." "What do you mean you don't make side orders of toast?" "You make sandwiches, don't you?" " Would you like to talk to the manager?" " Hey, mack!" "Shut up." "You've got bread and a toaster of some kind?" "I don't make the rules." "Okay, I'll make it as easy for you as I can." "I'd like an omelet, plain... and a chicken salad sandwich on wheat toast." "No mayonnaise, no butter, no lettuce, and a cup of coffee." "A number two, chicken salad san... hold the butter, the lettuce and the mayonnaise." "And a cup of coffee." "Anything else?" "Yeah." "Now all you have to do is hold the chicken, bring me the toast... give me a check for the chicken salad sandwich, and you haven't broken any rules." "You want me to hold the chicken, huh?" "I want you to hold it between your knees." "You see that sign, sir?" "Yes, you all have to leave." "I'm not taking any more of your smartness and sarcasm!" "You see this sign?" "Fantastic that you could figure that all out and lie that down on her... so you could come up with a way to get your toast." " Fantastic!" " Yeah?" "Well, I didn't get it, did I?" "No." "But it was very clever." "I would have just punched her out." "People." "Animals are not like that." "Mm-mmm." "They're always cleaning themselves." "Did you ever see, um... pigeons?" "Well, he's always picking on himself and his friends." "They're always picking bugs out of their hair all the time." "Monkeys too." "Except they do something out in the open that I don't go for." "You know, I read where they invented this car that runs on, um that runs on, um" "When you boil water?" " Steam." " Right, steam." "A car that you could ride around in and not cause a stink." "But do you know they will not even let us have it?" "Can you believe it?" "Why?" "Man!" "He likes to create a stink." "I mean, I've seen filth that you wouldn't believe." "What a stink." "I don't even want to talk about it." "You depressed about your daddy, hon?" "No." "I imagine it's me then, isn't it?" "Is what you?" "Are you depressed I come along?" "Who says I'm depressed?" "Is that a happy face I see?" "'Cause if it is, I'll just catch a Greyhound back." "Oh, you're not going to kill yourself this time." "I wish I'd known." "Well..." "I don't know if I'm going to be able to get to sleep." "Hint, hint." "Guess I'll have to count the sheep." "One, two... three, four... five, six... seven" "Look at this old cold shoulder." "What am I going to do about it?" "You know, if you wouldn't open your mouth, everything would be just fine." "Tick-a-lock!" "Why can't I come out with you to your family's house?" "Now you give me one good reason." "I have to see what's going on first." "My father's sick." "You understand?" "They wouldn't be prepared for my bringing anyone." "So how long do I have to sit and twiddle my thumbs in that place?" "Look, Ray, if you can't do what I'm asking you... why don't you just take the money and go on back south with it?" "Oh, now, hon, don't talk like that." "Look, will you try and understand?" "This is not something that I want to do." "Jesus Christ!" "You ought to know me well enough for that." "All right, hon." "It'll be all right." "I mean, there's stuff for me to do." "They got magazines in there and TV, right?" "Yeah." "I'll try and call you in a couple of days." "All right." "Bye." "He doesn't even know who the hell I am." " How long has it been since" " Remember Mother used to say, "Bobby"" " Excuse me." " Excuse me." " Go ahead." " Excuse me." "I was just going to ask Robert how long it had been since he's been away from here." "Three years." "No, no, no." "It's more like two years, isn't it?" "Hmm?" "Oh, it's been more than that, Carl." "Tita, you have no sense of timing away from the piano, dear." "I don't think that's true." "It's true." "What have you been doing since then?" "Odd jobs of work here and there." "Nothing too interesting." "You no longer play at all?" "You know, Robert, before my misfortune" "I'm not sure you're aware of my accident, Robert." "Mm-hmm?" "Yeah." "Tita was telling me about it." "Well, you know, it's very difficult for me to turn my neck." "This way especially." "If I For instance, if I want to look at Catherine..." "I have to shift the whole base of my body around this way." " Hmm?" " I was real sorry to hear about it, Carl." " Hmm?" " I said I was real sorry to hear about it." "Anyway, as I was saying" "Catherine, what was I saying?" "Hmm?" "You were saying something... about something that happened around the time of the accident." "Oh!" "Yes." "Just before the accident... just after I'd come off tour with the Betanthaller Quartet..." "Father and Herbert and I had a summit conference concerning you, mm-hmm." "Oh, my." "A summit conference." "Where was I, I wonder?" "Polishing silver behind the coal bin?" "Well, I don't know where you were, penis envy." "I hope I didn't hear that." "Nevertheless, they wanted to hire a detective to ferret you out... and I talked them out of it, because I felt that whatever you were doing... you had a perfect right to do, no matter how nonsensical your adventures might be." " It was as simple as that, Robert." " Well, I really appreciate it, Carl." "I don't think you ought to imply that Daddy was wrong in front of Daddy." "Don't force him that way, Spicer." "How long have you been here?" "Um, only two months." "Well, satiety is my father and mother." "Hmm?" " Carl?" " Mmm?" "If you're finished, I think I'd like to go do some work." "Oh, certainly, dear." "Excuse me." "See you later." "I hope you feel right at home, Robert." "I feel fine." "He has ways of communicating, Robert." "I can tell when he's expressing approval or disapproval... just from his eyes." "Yeah." "Some range." "I can't take much more of seeing him sitting there like a stone." " It's not that bad." " Yes, it is." "Will you stay a while?" "I don't know." "Mmm." "Now, breathe!" "All right!" "Now, once more." "Once more." " Hello." " Hi." "Been looking all over for you." "You have?" "I went riding." " Riding?" " Mm-hmm." "That's dangerous, you know." " Riding?" " Mm-hmm." "You play the piano all day and then jump on a horse, you could get cramps." "Well, I like to ride." "Rain or shine, I do it any chance I can get." " It's very invigorating." " Is it?" "Yes." "Well, I don't like to get too invigorated myself." " You don't?" " Mm-mmm." "What else do you do?" "Well, there's fishing, boating." "There's concerts on the mainland." "I feel silly telling you this." "This is really your home." "You probably know better than I what there is to do." "Nothing." "Nothing?" "Nothing." "Well, it must be very boring for you here." "That's right." "I find that hard to comprehend." "I don't think I've ever been bored." "Excuse me." "What are you doing right now?" "Right now I plan to take a hot tub and soak myself." "And then after that?" "After that, mmm, I plan to read some music and rest for a while." "Tomorrow then?" "Tomorrow?" "Tomorrow's a full practice day." "But the day after tomorrow I will be free." "Carl has hydrotherapy on Tuesdays." " The day after tomorrow?" " Will you be free?" "Yeah, I'll probably be free." "One thing I find very difficult to imagine... is how one could have this incredible background in music... and then just walk away from it without giving it a second thought at all." "I gave it a second thought." "I mean, how could you no longer play at all?" "I think that's very strange." "I've played a little bit here and there." "As a matter of fact, once I was a... rehearsal pianist." "For a ballet?" "An opera?" "Las Vegas musical revue." " You don't call that music." " Oh, yes, I do." "It's music, you know?" "If you're not feeling good" "More gingerbread?" "No, thank you." "Applesauce?" "You know what I suggest, Ray." "Yeah." "Well, that's-that's what I suggest... because I don't know how long it's going to be." "I have to go now." "I have to get off now, Ray." "Yeah." "Well" "Uh, I'll try and call you in a couple of days." "If you're gone, you're gone." "Bye." "Robert, shh!" "My playing put Father to sleep." "Would you help me with this, please?" "That's it." "Ooh!" "You sure you should be playing, Carl?" "What do you mean?" "I'm in superb shape except for my neck." "Hmm?" "Well, there's something funny about the way you move." "I'm not aware of" " What do you mean?" "2-18." "I'd hate to see you walk across a concert stage like that." " Oh!" " 2-19." "I'd get somebody to coach you on how to walk if I was you, Carl." "I think it's a substantial problem." "Damn it." "Look at that." " Why are you being so mean?" " Mean?" "I'm not being mean." "He does walk funny." "Don't you see that?" "He's walking around" "I don't think I'd notice." "I'm so used to Carl." "Yeah, well" "Bobby, do you think Spicer is attractive?" "I think he's got a terrific personality." "Spicer was formerly a sailor." "Look." "Don't you see that?" "Look at that." "The guy's" "Sailors are sadistic, I feel." "You see?" "There's nothing particularly wrong with my walk, hmm?" " Now, where were we?" " At game, Carl." "Well, that's three games to "Z," Carl." "Well, what do you say about a rematch, Robert?" "Hmm?" "I thought you were going to the mainland today." "You'll miss the ferry." "Just when I was hitting my stride." "Say good-bye to Catherine for me, will you?" "Can I play now?" "Tell her I'll be back sometime tomorrow probably, will you?" "Where is she, anyway?" "Who?" "Oh." "Shopping in the village." "My turn." "Yeah, why don't you and Spicer play." "Spicer." "Hi." "Hello." "What's the matter?" "Nothing." "Robert?" "Would you do something for me?" "Would you play for me?" "Catherine, your game!" "Catherine?" "Will you?" "That was beautiful, Robert." "I'm surprised." "Thank you." "I was really very moved by" "What's wrong?" "Nothing." "It's just, um" "I picked the easiest piece that I could think of... and I first played it when I was eight years old, and I played it better then." "Can't you understand it was the feeling I was affected by?" "I didn't have any." " You had no inner feeling?" " None." "Well, then, I must have been supplying it." "Maybe if you'd supply a little more, it might rub off on me." "Who knows?" "I doubt it." "Oh, I could get interested." "Well, I couldn't." "What does it have to be with you?" "Grim and serious?" "Look, you played..." "I honestly responded... and you made me feel embarrassed for having responded to you." " It wasn't necessary." " Yeah, it was." "I faked a little Chopin, you faked a big response." "I don't think that's accurate." "Up till now, all I've been getting from you is meaningful looks at the dinner table... and a lot of vague suggestions about the day after tomorrow." "I am not conscious of having given you any particular looks." "And as for the day after tomorrow, this is the day after tomorrow." "And I am, unfortunately, seeing you." "Now, if you'll excuse me, I'd like to take a bath." " What the hell do you want anyway?" " I'm getting some bath oil." " Some bath oil?" " Mm-hmm." "How about some avocado or some of this?" "Or some of this jasmine?" "How about this?" " How about any" " What are you doing?" "What are you doing screwing around with all this crap?" "I do not find your language very charming." "It isn't." "It's direct." "I'd like you to leave so that I can take a bath." "Is that direct?" "Serious?" "Is that what's important to you?" "Serious?" "Yes, that's what's important to me." " Okay, let's be serious." "Sit down." " No, don't do that." "Shut up!" "No inner feeling." "I told him the truth finally." "He was my husband, and I loved him very much." "But my God." "It wasn't working any better the second time than it did the first." "He was a cellist." "And there was I... no longer 17, looking up at him." "And I said to him..." ""Joseph, you're full of beans," and I left him." "Is that what you said to him?" "Something like that." "As a matter of fact, Joseph introduced me to Carl right around then." "How are you?" "I'm incredible." "Carl restored me." "He really did." "He's much more substantial than you give him credit for being." "Do you think you could discreetly move across the hall now?" "Yes, I think I could discreetly move across the hall now." "Robert?" "I have free time tomorrow morning before Carl gets back, if you'd like." "Of course I'd like it." "Bananas, bananas!" "You certainly do have a beautiful piece of real estate out here, Mr. Dupea." "Can he hear me?" "He's not hard of hearing." "Oh." "Well, that's a blessing at least." "This certainly is an improvement on the motel and the coffee shop." "How could you ever have left such a beautiful place, Bobby?" "I don't know." "You mean you've been staying in a motel all this time?" "For two whole weeks, and there wasn't hardly nobody there to talk to but me." "But I don't understand." "Why did you stay at the motel?" " There's plenty of room here." " Well, I was going to... but Bobby had to kind of come up here, he said, and feel it up here first." "But then it took so long, I run flat out of money." "You know, you didn't leave me any number or anything, honey." "And I had to, you know, get in a taxi and come on out here... in the hopes that I would not be intruding myself." "Oh, no, not at all, dear." "You're perfectly welcome to stay here." "Well, thank you." "That's a very nice thing for you to say." "Not at all." "You certainly do have a beautiful head of hair." "Thank you." " Is it natural?" " Rayette." "What?" "Just finish eating." "Oh, am I holding up dessert?" "No, no, not at all." "Take all the time you want." "I do eat slow as a bird." "Whereas Bobby can pack it away like a speed swing." " Is there any ketchup around?" " Oh, for God's sake!" "Robert, please, let's not be rude, hmm?" "It's okay." "He didn't mean anything by that." "I don't, huh?" "Bobby's just about the moodiest man I've ever been with." "Oh, yeah." " Are you all right?" " Where are you going?" "I'm going to pick up some friends of Carl's and mine." " I want to talk to you." " I'll be back later." "No, I want to talk to you right now." "I want to explain" "No, it isn't necessary." " Yes, it is." "Yes, it is." " You don't have to do that." "Come on, get moving!" " Will you shut up?" " Come on!" "Robert, I have to go." "Catherine, will you just wait one minute?" "I haven't been being fair to Carl." "I have to tell you that." "Why do you have to tell me that?" "What?" "I can't hear you." "I'm sorry everything has been so confusing." "I'll see you later this evening." "But, you see, man is born into the world with his existent adversary from the first." "But, you see, man is born into the world with his existent adversary from the first." "It is his historic, mythic inheritance." "So, is this startling?" "Aggression is prehistoric." "An organism behaves according to its nature." "And its nature derives from the circumstances of its inheritance." "The fact remains that primitive man took absolute delight... in tearing his adversary apart." "And there is where I think the core of the problem resides." "Doesn't that seem unnecessarily apocalyptic?" "I do not make poetry." "Is there a TV in the house?" "I remarked to John that rationality is not a device to alter facts." "But moreover, I think of it as an extraneous tool, a gadget." "Somewhat like, uh, the television." "To look at it any other way is ridiculous." "There's some good things on it though." " I beg your pardon?" " The TV." "There's some good things on it sometimes." "I have strong doubts." "Nevertheless, I am not discussing media." " Oh, but there is always hope for the few." " What about love?" "What about it?" "Wouldn't you say that more ill... has been done in the name of love than in the name of abomination?" "No." "No, I wouldn't." "Well, you are a romantic, Catherine." "And once more about to be married." "So you can be excused from objective discussions." "But ask Carl." "Ask him if even the institution of marriage is completely free from it." "Ask him." "I think these cold, objective discussions are aggressive." " Excuse me." " That's reactive." "But if I may say... without dampening the spirit of your adventure" "You haven't dampened my spirit, Samia." " Excuse me." " Well, I should hope not." "But I want to say, though, it's still open to some discussion" " I'm sorry." " that there seems to be less aggression..." " or violence, if you like" " I'm sorry." "I don't speak French." "the higher classes and loftier natures" "What kind of doggy is this?" "This is a, uh, border collie." "I had a baby kitty-cat once." "It was a little fluffy thing." "Bobby gave it to me." "Remember, Bobby?" "Little pussycat you gave me?" "Yeah." "It had two little white front paws." "And, oh, I was crazy after her." "We left her at some friends' house... and she got squashed flatter than a tortilla right outside their mobile home." "There." "Do you see what I mean?" "The choice of words juxtaposed with the image of a fluffy kitten." "The enchantment of words "squashed," "flat," etcetera, etcetera." "Well, she was." "Well, perhaps, but it was just what I was trying to point out." "Don't sit there pointing at her." "I beg your pardon?" " I said, don't point at her, you creep." " But I was just telling about" "Where the hell do you get the ass to tell anybody anything about class... or who the hell's got it or what she typifies?" "You shouldn't even be in the same room with her, you pompous celibate." " Carl, this is really too much." " Just calm down" "You're totally full of shit!" "You're all full of shit!" "Catherine!" "Catherine." " Bobby" " I can't talk to you." "Leave me alone." "Catherine?" " What the hell is going on in here?" " What are you doing?" " Hey, where is Catherine?" " Hey, get out of." "This is my room." "I don't know where Catherine is." "I'm talking to you." "I'm talking to you, Tita!" " Be polite, will you?" " I told you to take your hands off my sister, nurse!" " Move out!" " Stop it!" "Stop it!" "Stop it!" "Whoa." "Will you." "Hold it!" "Take it easy." "Take " "Take it easy, will you?" " You stop it!" " Will you give up?" "Stop!" " Will you give up, please?" "Give up, will you?" " Stop it!" "Stop it!" "Stop it!" " Give up!" " No!" "Give up!" "Give up!" "Give up!" "Give up!" "Give up!" "Give up!" "Bobby!" "I just wanted to talk to you." "It's useless." "Look, give me a chance." "I'm trying to be delicate with you... but you just won't understand." "I couldn't go with you - not just because of Carl and my music, but because of you." "You're a strange person, Robert." "I mean, what will you come to?" "If a person has no love for himself, no respect for himself... no love of his friends, family, work, something... how can he ask for love in return?" "I mean, why should he ask for it?" "Living here in this rest home, asylum - that's what you want?" "Yes." "That will make you happy?" "I hope it will." "Yes." "I'm sorry." "Okay." "Are you cold?" "I don't know if you'd be... particularly interested in hearing anything about me." "My life" " I mean... most of it doesn't add up to much that I could relay it... as a way of life that you'd approve of." "I move around a lot." "Not because I'm looking for anything really, but " "'Cause I'm getting away from things that get bad... if I stay." "Auspicious beginnings - you know what I mean?" "I'm trying to imagine your - your half of this conversation." "My feeling is" " I don't know - that, uh, if you could talk, we wouldn't be talking." "That's pretty much the way that it got to be before I left." "Are you all right?" "I don't know what to say." "Tita suggested that we try to - I don't know." "I think that she feels " "I think that she feels that we've got some understanding to reach." "She totally denies the fact that we were never that comfortable... with one another to begin with." "The best that I can do is apologize, and " "We both know that I was never really that good at it anyway." "I'm sorry it didn't work out." "Bobby!" " You're leaving." " Yeah." "I said a week." "I think I overstayed myself." "You were going without saying good-bye to me." "I didn't want to say good-bye to anyone." "What about me?" "I'll say good-bye to you, Tita." "Oh, Robert." "Watch the birdie." " Bye." " Bye." " Come on." " Wait a sec." " I want to go." " I want Tita to take a picture..." "Of you and me in front of the place." "Listen, I never got to thank y'all for your hospitality." "You tell Carl for me if any of you want to come down to our place anytime... you'd be more than welcome." "Bye now." "Cut it out!" "Son of a bitch, Bobby!" "You quit pushing me away like that!" "I've had enough of that to last me an entire lifetime." "Why don't you just be good to me for a change?" "There isn't anybody going to look after you and love you as good as I do." "Did you hear me?" "Baby?" "I'm-I'm going in that cafe for some coffee." "You want anything?" "No." "You got any change?" "You don't have any change?" "Sure you don't want anything?" "Fill it up, will you?" "Hey, wait a minute." "Haven't you got a jacket or anything with you?" "Oh, no." "Uh " "Jesus." "Uh" " It got burned up." "Everything in the car got the shit burned out of it." "Uh, everything." "All I've got is what I've got on." "I got one behind the seat." "If you want it, put it on." "No, it's okay." "Suit yourself." "I'll tell you one thing." "Where we're going, it's going to get colder than hell." "No, that's okay." "I'm fine." "I'm fine." "I'm fine."