Christoph Keller
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Give Me My Sin Again
A One-Act Play


                           normal what’s normal
                            what’s normal what
                           what what norm what
                           what what what what


Pinter
Kaylie
 
Stage as bare as possible


      Scene 1
(Lights on.)
(Pinter in a bar. It’s 8.58 pm)
 
Pinter   Listen! … Listen! … Listen! I agree, Roberto. I do agree. Totally. That’s not it. Kaylie … Kaylie always tells me. That’s why she does it. To tell me. That’s – the understanding. – I love to listen. Oh boy do I. And then … oh, Roberto, you’d understand. She’s the born storyteller. – It’s –
(Drinks.)
 
It’s just – this one … This one time it’s not quite good for me, you know. I think I’d prefer not to know about this one. (Suddenly.) Look at me!
(Poses, grins.)
 
Come on, look at me! I know you do. Roberto. Look at me! Look how I’m built. How everything’s in place. And functioning according to God’s great plan.  Just look!
         (Another pose, less convincing.)
 
Gotta go. Always good to see you, baby.
(Empties his glass. Gets up, leaves money.)
 
She’s expecting me. I’m rather late already. (Smiles, for himself.)  “Raaa-ther, raaa-ther.”
 (Sits down again.)
 
One day, I swear, one day I’ll come home with my story. And then she’ll listen. You’ll see. She’ll listen.
(Beat.)
(Lights out.)
 
 
         Scene 2
(Lights on.)
(Pinter and Kaylie in their living room. It’s 10.12 pm)
 
Kaylie   (sexy)  So he comes rolling into the gallery on this lovely spring day, and me expecting nothing out of the ordinary – you know I never do –, but wearing the raaa-ther short skirt you like so much –
(Stops because Pinter stares at her.)
 
What’s wrong, Pinter?
Pinter   Nothing.
Kaylie   Something’s wrong, Pinter.
Pinter   The travel agency woman called.
Kaylie   Yes?
Pinter   Left a message.
Kaylie   Pinter, please.
Pinter   The rooms are still available.
Kaylie   That’s great.
Pinter   She says she needs to know.
Kaylie   Let her know.
         (Beat.)
 
Pinter   Let her know – what?
Kaylie   That we’ll – go.
Pinter  (surprised)  We are?
(Beat.)
 
Kaylie   Are we – not?
Pinter   Yes, yes, but –
Kaylie   But what? She did an excellent job last time, did she not?
Pinter   Rosaria.
Kaylie   Right, Rosaria. The islands of the Western hemisphere.
Pinter   (warming up)  Be your own best friend.
Kaylie   We were.
Pinter   Indulge in luxury.
Kaylie   And everything else.
Pinter   It was quite a cruise. Half the planet. It meant the world to me.
Kaylie   Let’s do the other half. The Eastern hemisphere. Indulge in luxury … Come on, Pinter! And Rosaria. She waited to be your story. How she looked at you.  – You got lazy, baby. You let me do all the work.
         (Gets up.)
 
But now, baby, now look at me. Look at me in the raaa-ther short skirt. Oh, how I love the way you say “raaa-ther”, the a all long and longing! Say it, baby, please.
         (Beat.)
 
Raaa-ther. Raaa-ther. (Girlish, pleading) You say it, baby …
         (Beat.)
 
Pinter   Will you marry me, Kaylie?
Kaylie   What?
Pinter   On the ship …
         (Beat.)
 
Kaylie   What is it, Pinter?
Pinter   It’s just –
Kaylie   What?
         (Beat.)
 
Pinter   It’s over.
Kaylie   Is it?
Pinter   I’m asking you.
Kaylie   Us?
Pinter   No.
Kaylie   Oh, us. (Laughs.) You mean since you walked out on me in … I don’t know what to call it. In indignation. – Since you had a drink at Roberto’s? – Was it in indignation?
         (Beat.)
 
Pinter   Drinks.
Kaylie   (stares at him.)
Pinter   Drinks. The plural of drink. I had more than one. Time enough to place a phone call, Kaylie. I had an extra beer. That gave you extra time.
Kaylie   That’s raaa-ther considerate of you.
         (Beat.)
 
Pinter   (trying) You do look good in that skirt.
Kaylie   Gimme me that, baby, com’on, gimme that! – Gimme more!
Pinter   There’s no more.
Kaylie   Oh there is! I know there is!
         (Beat.)
 
Kaylie   You care for another beer?
Pinter   Now?
Kaylie   Yes.
Pinter   No. – Yes.
 
(He gets up slowly, exits.
Kaylie sits, motionless.
Pinter returns with an open beer bottle.)
 
Kaylie   I’ll see him later tonight.
Pinter   Oh. – To tell him?
Kaylie   That it’s over?
Pinter   Yes.
(Drinks.)
 
Kaylie   No. Because it isn’t. I’m not done with him yet.
Pinter   But why see him again today? Don’t tell me –
Kaylie   Don’t tell you – what? I want to tell you. It tell you everything, darling.
Pinter   I don’t want to hear it.
Kaylie   That’s a first.
Pinter   Why again tonight? Why so late? Are you staying the night? Are you – coming back?
         (Beat.)
 
Kaylie   So many questions. – We’re just meeting for a drink. Maybe drinks. Plural. So you know. But I wont be long. Actually –
         (Beat.)
 
Pinter   What?
Kaylie   Actually – This is funny. He wants to know how it went. Another first.
Pinter   It’s against our understanding.
Kaylie   Yes. Maybe. – He wants to see me again tonight so I can tell him how it went. 
Pinter   What’s funny about that?
Kaylie   I seem to be attracted to the same kind of man over and over again.
Pinter   Stick with me. Why change if it’s not a change? – Anyway, you’re wrong. We have nothing in common. You hear me, Kaylie. Nothing. – That’s not funny.
         (Beat.)
 
Kaylie   He wants to know how you take it.
Pinter   Oh. – How do I take it?
Kaylie   So far so bad.
Pinter   Is that what you’re going to tell him?
Kaylie   If that’s all you’re going to say.
Pinter   Donald will be disappointed.
Kaylie   I am.
Pinter   Alright then.
Kaylie   Alright then.
(Gets up.)
 
Pinter   Already going to see him?
Kaylie   I’ll walk.
(As Pinter doesn’t answer.)
 
I’ll put the story in the refrigerator. I don’t want this one to go bad. You still owe me Rosaria.
 
(Kaylie hesitates.
Pinter hands her his bottle.
She drinks.)
 
Thanks.
         (Beat.)
 
Pinter   Is that his name? Donald?
Kaylie   Yes. Donald.
Pinter   I always hated that name.
Kaylie   You’ll get used to it.
Pinter   Donald Duck. Donald Trump. Donald Donald Donald Donald Donald. – No, you don’t.
Kaylie   Donald Hill.
Pinter   Hill. That’s appropriate. (Sings clumsily.) Ain’t no hill high enough.
Kaylie   Mountain.
Pinter   (doesn’t understand.)
Kaylie   The song. It’s “mountain.” (Sings.) Ain’t no mountain high enough.
         (Beat.)
 
Pinter   So he …
Kaylie   So?
Pinter   So – I’ll book the cruise?
Kaylie   Of course.
Pinter   So – he makes you come?
Kaylie   What? – I thought you’re not in the mood.
Pinter   I’m not.
         (Beat.)
 
Kaylie   Not like you do.
Pinter   That’s not what I asked.
Kaylie   He makes me scream.
Pinter   You’re not a screamer.
Kaylie   With Don I am. When you’re ready I’ll tell you. When you’re ready I’ll scream for you.
Pinter   (disgusted)  I’d rather throw up. (Giggles despite himself.) “Raaa-ther.”
Kaylie   There you go.
Pinter   (mockingly)  There I go.
         (Beat.)
 
Don. Don Johnson. Don Rumsfeld. Don Imus. Don Duck. DonDonDonDonDon … No, you don’t get used to it. – You scream. Wow. – What is it you scream?
Kaylie   “Don, Don, you’re so handsome, Don! Don, Don! Oh, Don … oooh, oh Don, Don …”
Pinter   (furious)  KNOCK IT OFF! STOP IT, WILL YOU? STOP IT!!
         (Beat.)
 
(can’t help it)  I guess he does it with his fingers.
Kaylie   They’re long and strong and inventive instruments.
Pinter   His tongue?
Kaylie   A lean mean furry little animal. All wild and tender.
Pinter   It better be.
         (Beat.)
 
Kaylie   And then he fucks me.
Pinter   What?
Kaylie   Then he fucks me.
Pinter   He fucks you.
Kaylie   Till I scream.
Pinter   But –
Kaylie   But what?
Pinter   But he’s in a wheelchair.
Kaylie   So?
Pinter   He’s paralyzed.
Kaylie   He’s not.
Pinter   He’s not?
Kaylie   No.
Pinter   Then why is he in a wheelchair?
Kaylie   I don’t know. I guess his disability put him there. I didn’t ask. (Checking her watch.) I gotta go.
(Gets up.)
 
Pinter   You didn’t ask?
Kaylie   It’s got something to do with his muscles.
Pinter   I bet. – Isn’t it …
Kaylie   What?
Pinter   Isn’t it awkward that you don’t know what he has.
Kaylie   What more do I need to know about him? (Smiles.) And I was right. I instantly knew. I had a – (Interrupts herself.)
Pinter   I don’t want you to go.
Kaylie   I wont be late.
Pinter   I don’t want you to see him again. Ever.
Kaylie   Ever.
         (Beat.)
 
You’re really worried, aren’t you? Baby, baby, there’s nothing to worry about. Go to bed. Go to sleep. Don’t let the bedbugs bite you. I’ll wake you up the way you like it. We’ll take the story out of the refrigerator. You like that, don’t you?
Pinter   (despite himself)  I do. You know I do.
Kaylie   You’ll have to show me that you do, darling.
(She prepares to leave, stops.)
 
Is that what you’re afraid of? That you might lose me? That’s sweet, love. You won’t, I swear. I love you, baby, not Donald. He’s no different than the others. 
(She prepares to leave again, stops again.)
 
And tomorrow, tomorrow you’ll call Rosaria. Let’s indulge in the other half of the planet. The Eastern hemisphere. It’ll make our world complete.
         (Lights out.)
 
 
          Scene 3
(Lights on.)  
(Kaylie is sitting in the bar. It’s 11.38 am)
 
Kaylie   A hunch. I had a – hunch. It’s true that you can’t tell. But why jump to conclusions? Don looks so strong. He’s radiating energy. Sexual energy. He looks like he could just walk out of that chair. Maybe he can. Maybe he’s fooling me. I wrap my arms around him as if to hug him – which is what I do –, then pull him to his feet. With assistance he can walk a bit. Enough to get to the bed. So I help him into be. Afterwards I asked him, “Are you faking?” – “Sure,” he said, “That’s how I pick up girls. It’s my dating shtick.”
(Laughs, drinks.)
 
You’ll see for yourself, Roberto. He’ll be here any second. After a few moments you forget that he’s in a wheelchair. But don’t try anything stupid. For the time being he’s mine. – Don says it’s a gift some people have. The gift to know.
(Checks her watch.)  
 
He’s actually quite late. The subway elevator out of service or something. No cell reception down there. Only he doesn’t need to ride the subway to get her.
         (Drinks, then nervous, fast.)
 
I met him in my gallery. He’s into drawings. Sculpture, too, but they’re expensive. He has the drawings kind of money. Well, he summoned up all his financial strength to buy an Eva Hesse print. Rolls in my gallery, gracefully, in a motorized chair, but not one of those gigantic scooters. Something quite elegant. Rolls in and knows. That’s what he said later. He had a hunch too. He knew that I knew. Because I gave him “the look.” The one that wants to know. He buys the Hesse with a smile, and leaves me with a funny feeling. Or was it a grin? A few weeks later he comes back, for a Bourgeois print. We chitty-chat. Did I give him the look again? He says I did. I don’t remember. He buys the print, and off he rolls. The next morning I call him up to tell him I had another Hesse print. “You don’t,” he says. I said I didn’t. – I’ll have another Cabernet, Roberto, please.
(Before the glass arrives.)
 
I should go. He’s forty minutes late. Is he going to stand me up? Am I being dumped by a guy in a wheelchair?
         (Lights out.)
 
 
 
         Scene 4
(Lights on.)
(Pinter and Kaylie in bed. 1.15 am.)
 
Kaylie   (sleepy, sexy)  … and me expecting nothing out of the ordinary, but wearing the raaa-ther short shirt you like so much –
         (Beat.)
 
Raaa-ther, raaa-ther.
Pinter    (doesn’t react.)
Kaylie   Still not in the mood, Pinter?
Pinter   So he stood you up?
Kaylie   He called. He called to say he’s sorry he couldn’t make it.
Pinter   How long would you have waited for him? Forever?
Kaylie   His wife got suspicious.
Pinter   What?
Kaylie   That’s why he couldn’t make it.
Pinter   Because his wife –? … He’s married and –?
Kaylie   You’re surprised.
Pinter   … and has an affair? Maybe I should meet this guy. Take lessons.
Kaylie   You know him.
Pinter   I’m not even married.
Kaylie   Once you’ve accepted me for who I am I’ll marry you.
Pinter   What does he have that I don’t have?
Kaylie   Humor.
Pinter   I have humor!
Kaylie   Sexual humor. I’ve never felt a man so comfortable in his body. He makes me laugh with his cock. And sob and scream. (As Pinter doesn’t answer.)  He’s actually married for the second time. He has a daughter from his first marriage, and a son from his second. Now it seems that his second marriage is on the rocks too.
Pinter   That’s not funny.
Kaylie  It’s normal.
         (Beat.)
 
Pinter   How come I know him?
Kaylie   He’s a client of mine. Comes to all the openings.
Pinter   One more thing we have in common.
Kaylie   I think I’ve seen you chat. Quite vividly. – Don’t pat somebody’s shoulder just because he’s in a wheelchair.
Pinter   I did?
Kaylie   Don’t say things like, “Do you have a driver’s licence, chief?”
Pinter   I did?
Kaylie   Did you? – Don says he doesn’t put his hand on a girl’s knee just because she’s cute.
Pinter  Oh … oh, right. I do remember him. Is he the guy who’s … who’s into Hesse, Bourgeois, Smith?
Kaylie   Not Smith.
Pinter   I think we did talk. I think he said he didn’t like Kiki Smith.
Kaylie   That’s the guy. The guy who doesn’t like Kiki Smith.
Pinter   But I didn’t put my hand on his shoulder.
Kaylie   Don says that’s okay. Just don’t pat.
Pinter   I’m sure I didn’t.
Kaylie   No. You’re not the type.
         (Beat.)
 
He said he had expected me to call. He said I was the type.
Pinter   You didn’t like to hear that.
Kaylie   I was furious. Can you believe it? He said, “I expected your call!” And before I could say why, he said, “You’re the type.”
Pinter   And what did you say?
Kaylie   I said – I should have said I’m no type – I should have said, and what type are you? But instead I said, “I have another Hesse for you.”
Pinter   And he said?
Kaylie   Nothing. Then, “That’s not why you called, Kaylie.”
Pinter   And you said?
Kaylie   “How do you know?” And when he said, “Shall I pick you up at the gallery?,” I said, “Certainly not.”
Pinter   Why not?
Kaylie   That’s what he said. He said, “I’m interested in the Hesse drawing. I’d like to give it a look. It’s considered normal to look at art in a gallery. I’m a client, remember?”
Pinter   Remember?
Kaylie   That’s what he said.
Pinter   Remember.
Kaylie   He acted like he didn’t give a shit. He did, believe me. He does. I know he does.
 
(Pinter gets uncomfortable, but remains silent.)
 
So I said, “How could I forget that?” And added, stupidly, “Since you still owe me the last installment for the Bourgeois drawing.” He said, “I’ll be there tomorrow.” And hung up. And he was. Right after lunch. With a check, and a big grin. “So show me the drawing.” I said, “You know I don’t have one.” His grin got even bigger, and he said, “Then why don’t we have a drink?” He said that in front of Eddie, who wouldn’t move an inch, and I said, “You keep the shop going, Eddie, while I’ll go fuck Don.” He blushed and disappeared.
         (Beat.)
 
Pinter   Nice story, Kaylie.
Kaylie   I couldn’t believe I said that, you know, but I said it, it bursted out of me, “Eddie, I’ll go fuck Don,” but it broke the ice between me and Don, it cut right through his playing with me, so I did go fuck Don.
Pinter   Here?
Kaylie   In the bathroom for the disabled at MOMA. We have stairs, Pinter. Don says, they’re even better since the renovation.
Pinter   But why?
Kaylie   I told you, baby. Don’s married.
         (Beat.)
 
Are you in the mood now, lover?
Pinter   (stares at her in disbelief.)
(Lights out.)
 
 
 
         Scene 5
(Lights on.)
(Pinter is sitting in the bar. It’s 3.35 am)
 
Pinter   Look! … Look! … Look at me! What’s wrong with me, Roberto? Nothing! I’m goodlooking. I go to the gym! I’m a great dresser! I’m successful. I got money. I am funny. I’m moving up on the social ladder, no stopping me. I got great genes! All my muscles work! I’m perfect, baby! God made me perfect. I’m Evolution’s darling. Nature is proud of me. Any girl would chose my genes over anybody else’s! We’d had tons of little Pinters. But not Kaylie. She won’t even consider to marry me! So the question is, What’s wrong with her? – Another beer, Roberto.
(Gets his beer.)
 
Thanks, my friend. You are my friend, Roberto. I need a friend now. I don’t know what to do. She left. The building, not me. We didn’t really have a fight. On the contrary, actually. She wanted to seduce me. I resisted. She jumps out of bed, throws on some clothes and announces, “Gotta go.” Gotta go where? To meet him again? Does he ever get tired? Don’t his muscles slow him down? She says, “I need fresh air.” I say, “No one needs fresh air at 2.15 am.” But she leaves anyway. So I throw on some clothes too and storm after her, but when I arrive on the street, she’s already gone. Got a cab right away, at 2.15 am! No one gets a cab in the city at 2.15 am!
(Drinks.)
 
I know I don’t make sense. I know. I’m sorry. I panic. I feel I lost her. She’ll come back. But she’ll come back someone else. She’ll be different. I’ll be the same, waiting for her. She’ll be too good for me. But then she always was.
         (Drinks.)
 
What’s wrong with me, Roberto?
         (Beat.)
         (Lights out.) 
 
 
 
         Scene 6
(Lights on.)
(Kaylie in the bar. It’s 4.45 am)
 
Kaylie   I think, I just did the stupidest thing.
(Laughs uncomfortably, drinks.)
 
Or is it the most stupid thing?
         (Drinks.)
 
I’m sitting in our backyard – it’s after 2, but I couldn’t sleep – so I’m sitting in our backyard to figure things out. Pinter acted so strangely, so not like him. I sit there for maybe half an hour, unable to think straight, and I get a little cold, so I go back to the apartment, but he’s gone. Gone where? I panic. There’s only one place in my mind where he can be. I race over to Donald’s place. Oh my God, I think, what is he doing to Don? Of course, the doorman wouldn’t let me in. That’s why he’s a doorman. To keep away crazies like me. I’m surprised he doesn’t call the police. These days school principals call the police when a six-year old is misbehaving. But what they find unusual is that the state doesn’t provide handcuffs that size. I say I’m a very special friend in a very special situation. The doorman nods as though he’s seen it all before. I convince him to call Donald, “my Donald,” I think I said. “He’ll come down,” the doorman says stone-faced. I barely thanked him when the elevator door opens, and a woman, wearing a bathrobe, appears. Too big for her. Don’s bathrobe I think. She seizes me up and down and finally says, “Oh, you. The gallery owner. You’re his type alright.” – “And who are you?”, I ask, although of course I knew. – “I’m his wife,” she says, “And I came down to tell you to fuck off before he does. He always does. You lasted long, I give you that. It just takes him longer to put on his bathrobe. That is I have to help him. So I can as well do it for him, right? I always do, sweetheart. In return he tells me everything.” She gives me a big grin, I recognize it’s Don’s, and, stepping back into the elevator, she says, “And now fuck off or I’ll call the police.”
         (Beat.)
 
The doorman opens the door for me, and I tip him, Roberto. I thought a ten was appropriate given the cicumstance. But now I think I should have given him a twenty. Tipping’s a bitch in the city. – Then, on the street, I realize why I had come. To make sure Pinter didn’t beat up Donald or cut his throat or whatever it is you do when a cripple fucks your wife. I wanted to protect Donald. But I feel like Donald’s just slit my throat. And I know if he’ll call me tomorrow or in a month I will simply say yes and where and go and scream.
         (Beat.)
 
What shall I do, Roberto? What will I do? All I can think of is those handcuffs that are too big for children. 
         (Lights out.)
 
 
 
          Scene 7
(Lights on.)
(Pinter and Kaylie in their living room. Pinter has blood all over him. Kaylie is exhausted. It’s 6.15 am.)
 
Kaylie   Is there any reason why you did what you did?
Pinter   Is there any reason in anything we do?
         (Beat.)
 
Kaylie   Do you believe, Pinter?
Pinter   In God?
Kaylie   In evolution. In a parking lot. In a planet named after you. In something.
Pinter  (looks at his blood-stained hands) I believe in sacrifice. That is now I do. This one’s for you, Kaylie.
Kaylie (nods)   Can I trust you, Pinter? Can I?
         (Beat.)
 
What did you do?
Pinter   I smell.
Kaylie   You need a shower.
Pinter   Do you believe in me?
Kaylie   I believe in showers.
Pinter   I knew you were going to say that.
Kaylie   Can I?
         (Beat.)
 
Pinter   I lack sleep.
Kaylie   I believe in sleep. I’m exhausted too. – Are we too much for each other?
Pinter   We’re perfect for each other.
Kaylie   Or not enough?
Pinter   I don’t know.
         (Beat.)
 
Are you going to call the police?
         (Beat.)
 
I believe in you.
Kaylie   You’re not a six-year old. They have the handcuffs your size. When they arrest six-year olds the murderers go free.
Pinter   I don’t understand.
Kaylie   What do you have to offer?
Pinter   A twenty-four hour advance.
Kaylie   Why would you suggest that?
Pinter   To ease you’re mind. I’m your lover. I’m a murderer. A word and I’m a fugitive. Although –
Kaylie   What?
Pinter   You don’t believe me.
Kaylie   (hesitates) Are you also a rapist?
Pinter   She agreed.
Kaylie   To be raped?
Pinter   She seduced me.
Kaylie   How convenient.
Pinter   She’s your age.
Kaylie   You’re still a murderer.
Pinter   Then she seduced me to kill her.
Kaylie   The world is a strange place.
         (Beat.)
 
It’s still murder.
Pinter   She’d disagree.
Kaylie   Hard to proof now.
Pinter   I got it on tape.
Kaylie   That will be dismissed in court.
Pinter   Am I on trial? She taped it for you.
Kaylie   She did? Do I know her?
Pinter   You know the type. You want to listen to the tape?
         (Beat.)
 
Kaylie   No. It’ll work against you. Everything will now. Unless …
Pinter   Unless?
Kaylie   Unless I start to believe in you again.
         (Beat.)
 
Pinter   But you don’t. Give me twenty-four hours. Then call the cops. They have handcuffs my size.
Kaylie   They haven’t a chance to find you.
Pinter   Only if you tell them. You will do the right thing.
Kaylie   Destroy the tape.
Pinter   You don’t want to hear it?
Kaylie   I want to hear the story, not the evidence. Did you leave fingerprints?
Pinter   No.
Kaylie   Not even on her?
Pinter   She asked me to wear rubber gloves.
Kaylie   And a rubber?
Pinter   And a rubber.
Kaylie   She really thought of everything.
Pinter   She reminded me of you.
Kaylie   Did she scream?
Pinter   When I killed her. When she came she sobbed. She apologized. She said, “I sob when I come. That’s why I rarely come. It’s embarrassing.” Then she screamed, “Kill me! Kill me now!” Then she sobbed again. Then I sliced her throat and drank her blood until she was dead.
Kaylie   You’re a devoted man.
Pinter   I’m devoted to you.
Kaylie   Be honest with me if you want my trust back, Pinter.
Pinter   I am honest.
Kaylie   What did she scream?
Pinter   “Kill me! Kill me now!”
Kaylie   What else?
Pinter   “Don! Don! Please kill me now!”
Kaylie   Don?
Pinter  I told her my name was Don.
         (Beat.)
 
Kaylie   (laughs, then)  You’re …
         (Beat.)
 
Pinter   What?
Kaylie (smiles)  You’re an innocent now, Pinter. Now you’re pure.
 
(Pinter looks at his blood-stained hands.
Kaylie nods)
 
Pinter   You should have seen her.  She said that when I entered the bar she immediately knew it was me.
Kaylie   Did she have a hunch?
Pinter   She didn’t say ‘hunch.’ She said, “I had no doubt it was you.” She said, “Let’s have a mojito together.” Then she said, “Let’s go to my place and sacrifice me.”
Kaylie  That’s asking a lot.
Pinter   That’s what I said. But I never felt so needed in my life.
Kaylie   Oh. Did you? – Did you say that?
Pinter   No.
         (Beat.)
 
Kaylie   And she said?
Pinter   She said, “That’s what our ancestors used to do. Sacrifice someone to appease the Gods. To solace your soul.”
Kaylie   And you said?
Pinter   I said, “But we don’t do that anymore. We’re civilized now.”
Kaylie   And she said?
Pinter   “Are we? Let’s see whether we can reconnect.”
Kaylie   Reconnect.
Pinter   And I said, “It’s illegal.” – And she went to the kitchen and came back with a knife and said, “Not if I consent. Let’s give it a try. Let’s be pioneers. Pioneers of love.”
Kaylie   And then?
Pinter   And then we fucked. And the she sobbed and apologized for sobbing. And then she screamed. And then I sacrificed her. She’s yours now.
         (Beat.)
 
Kaylie   Mine? – Oh.
Pinter   I dedicated her to you.
Kaylie   To me? – Oh. Did you ask her?
Pinter   Yes.
Kaylie   And she said?
Pinter   Yes. And she screamed your name, too. “Kaylie! Kaylie!”
Kaylie   You told her my name.
         (Beat.)
 
(desperate)  How do I know you didn’t actually murder her? in a frenzy? How do I know you’re dishing out a story that is not true? How can I believe you?
Pinter   Call the police.
         (Beat.)
 
Kaylie   (gets up and picks up the phone.) Oh. Oh. – Does she have a name?
Pinter   Beth.
Kaylie   I always hated that name.
Pinter   Beth-Beth-Beth –
         (Beat.)
 
(Kaylie puts the phone back and sits again.
They laugh together.)
 
Kaylie    Why you?
         (Beat.)
 
It was the way Donald touched the Eva Hesse drawing. It was behind glass, so I let him touch it. I watched him. He tried to understand the piece. It grew three-dimensional under his touch. I believe in that. Remember how we met? Our hands met under water. We sat at the edge of a fountain. It was the way you let your hand sink into the water. The way water surround it. I closed my eyes and reached for your hand.
         (Beat.)
 
Pinter   I’m not a drawing.
Kaylie   You became three-dimensional. Under water. Ever since I believe in you. I never regretted it.
Pinter   Not even today?
Kaylie   Certainly not today. I feel that urge again.
Pinter   I’ll wash.
Kaylie   No. It’s her blood on your skin I want to taste.
Pinter   It dried.
Kaylie   Still. (Touches Pinter’s hand, tastes it.) It is dry.
         (Beat.)
 
(She slowly get up.)
 
Pinter   You’re calling the police?
Kaylie   (kisses him) I’m burning those clothes.
         (Lights out.)
 
 
 
         Scene 8
(Lights on.)
(Pinter sits on the sofa in the living room. His hair is wet. He’s neatly dressed.
Kaylie sits on the floor, her arms around his legs, her head in his lap.
It’s 6.27 am.)
 
Kaylie   Sins from thy lips. O trespass sweetly urged! Give me my sin again.
         (Beat.)
 
Pinter   So I entered this bar, so unlike Roberto’s bar, and there she sat, alone at a table, wearing a raaa-ther short skirt –
         (Beat.)
 
What is it?
         (Beat.)
 
Kaylie   (giggling) She was not!
Pinter   (giggling) She sure was …
Kaylie    She was not …
Pinter   The way we like them …
         (Beat.)
 
What?
         (Beat.)
 
What is it now, Kaylie?
 
Kaylie   Will you marry me, Pinter?
         (Long silence.)
         (Lights up very bright.)
         (Lights out.)

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