Ugly Lies the Bone Read online

  JESSI am SO happy for you.

  KELVINAnd we’re family, right?

  JESSNot legally, thank God.

  KELVIN(To KACIE, hurt.) …ouch.

  KACIEShe’s – she’s just kidding!

  KELVINAhhhh, hillllarious. I got it. I’m with you. You’re a little jokester.

  Spitfires ’em right at me. Keep ’em comin’. (Little shooting gestures.)

  Pew-pew!

  KACIEWe’re tryin’ t’tell you good news!

  JESS…

  KELVINFamily helps each other out…

  KACIETell her!!

  KELVINI told Big Frank about your – situation. He was Vietnam all the way. Half his friends were blown to smithereens, so he knows, ya know? Said t’give ya one big HOO-RAH!

  JESSI am not in the Marines.

  KACIEJess.

  JESSThat is a Marines thing. And Marines say OO-RAH, not –

  KACIE glares at JESS.

  Sure, yeah, tell him I say hello.

  KELVINMaybe… you could tell him… yourself…

  JESS…

  KACIEHe’s offering you a job!

  KELVIN…!

  KACIE…!

  JESSSorry – ?

  KACIEThere’s a position. Opening up.

  JESS…Making – making pizza?

  KELVINNah, they only hire trained chefs for that. It’s answering phones in the back, you know, delivery orders, super easy.

  KACIEIsn’t that great?!

  JESSYou are not serious.

  KACIEHe said you can work as many shifts as you want. If some weeks you’re tired, work less, he’s flexible. And he already knows about your therapy schedule.

  JESS sits up, furious.

  JESSYou do remember I went to college, right?

  KACIEJess.

  JESSWe have the same degree!

  KACIEYou were just saying you wanted a job –

  JESSA REAL one.

  KELVINActually a pretty exciting opportunity –

  JESSIs it? Is it really?

  KACIEI don’t know why you’re getting so mad.

  JESSYes you fucking very well do!

  KELVINHe’s expanding, there’s management opportunities.

  JESSDid you go to college, Kelllvin?

  KELVINCome on. You already asked me –

  JESSYou didn’t. You’re unemployed. And I don’t see you lining up to work at the fucking Pizza Palace.

  KELVINTeeeeechnically, it’s a Pizza Hut.

  JESS…You are not helping yourself here Kellllvin.

  KACIEStop saying his name like that.

  KELVIN(To KACIE.) Well I think it’s pretty damn great she even wants a job. She could be on disability the rest of her life, like me. We’re entitled.

  JESSDo not talk about me like I’m not here!!

  KACIEI think maybe you just don’t get how hard jobs are t’find – Nowhere’s still open, let alone hiring any more, half the houses on our block are empty, it’s like a ghost town.

  JESS…

  KELVINNormally the phone-order people stand, but my dad’s cousin, he’s the best, he’s gonna let you… have a stool.

  Beat. Silence.

  JESS(Straight to KELVIN.) …Get out of my house.

  KELVINWhat?

  JESS(A serious warning.) Get. Out.

  KELVIN(To KACIE.) Is she kidding?

  JESSI would suggest you take me seriously.

  KACIEJess –

  JESSStand up.

  Get your keys.

  And walk your disgusting fucking facial hair out of my house.

  KACIEThis is really embarrassing, Jess –

  KELVIN(To KACIE.) Don’t worry about it.

  JESSWorry about it. You should absolutely worry about what I’ll do to you if you don’t leave.

  Beat. No one moves.

  GET OUT!

  JESS slams her walker.

  GET OUT!

  JESS smashes her walker into the table.

  Get out, get out, get out, get out, GET OUT! KELVIN exits. KACIE goes after him. JESS hums ‘Good King Wenceslas’ like a schoolyard chant/army cadence.

  VOICEPain?

  JESSTen.

  JESS wanders downstage, still humming.

  VOICEHow to build you a new world…

  JESS…

  VOICEI chose the best of everything! Douglas fir from the Colorado Rockies, Cottonwood, the state tree of Wyoming, cedar and Montana’s ponderosa pine. I put a row of cherry blossoms, turning pink, in the distance. And threw in weeping willow from the Deep South. They don’t belong here but were too perfect to leave out.

  Are you ready?

  JESS…

  VOICE…Open your eyes.

  JESS stops humming.

  JESSOh my God…

  JESS steps forward, reaching for invisible trees.

  VOICETurn your head to the right.

  JESS does, more freely than before.

  Pain?

  JESSWhat is that, a pond up there?

  VOICEPond?! It’s a lake.

  I built what’s called a glass lake –

  When there’s no wind, the ice freezes like glass and you can see straight to the bottom. It gets pretty deep near the center so you’ll just see blue, but near the shore, there’s sand and stones, even a few fish as you walk.

  Can you see – beyond the lake’s – a mountain. The ice is slippery, but you’ll need to cross to the other side and climb up.

  The game’s very simple –

  JESSCross the lake. Then climb.

  VOICEExactly.

  JESS reaches her hand out and up.

  JESSWhat was that –

  VOICEOh oops –

  JESSSorry, did you just say –

  VOICEI – I didn’t mean to make it snow yet, my elbow may – have hit the wrong button.

  JESS laughs.

  JESSOops is the last thing you want to hear from someone giving you medical attention.

  The voice laughs.

  But what was that?

  VOICEWell… I – I was concerned falling snow might draw – more attention to your skin. So your snow –

  Your snow will be made of feathers.

  In wonder, JESS looks up for more of them.

  JESSWhat?

  VOICEAnd this is my favorite feature, I’ve designed just for you. If you need a break, or to rest, lift your right arm –

  JESS does, ever so slightly. A slight gasp of pain.

  – and you’re lying in a snow drift, making angels…

  JESS breathes into the pain and looks for the snow angel. She stretches arms up for an invisible sky and wriggles fingers in invisible snow.

  JESSI’m not gonna need to rest…

  VOICEWelcome to the world you created.

  The convenience store slides in.

  Welcome to paradise.

  Lights shift. STEVIE decorates a small Christmas tree on the counter. JESS enters the convenience store.

  STEVIEHey there, soldier. What –

  (An exaggerated Southern drawl.) – brings ya round these parts so soon?

  (Normal voice.) I’m – sorry, that was weird… Hello Jess…

  Jessicaaaa.

  He smiles because that’s what he does best.

  – You stalkin’ me?

  JESSWhat? No.

  STEVIEToo bad. I’d like a stalker, be flattering.

  JESSI’m only here to cash in on this.

  She holds up her scratch-off ticket.

  STEVIEJackpot?

  JESSTwo bucks.

  STEVIENice!

  Now if you won more than five, I’d have to take your picture.

  JESSThen I’d have to get my gun.

  STEVIE…Heh – uhhhh… big winner over here, woo!!!!

  STEVIE rings the bell repeatedly. JESS inspects the Christmas tree.

  That’s a lil Christmas in July Summer Sale Spectacular.

  – stupid.

  They’re letting me –

  (Gestures the tree.)

  Andy Papazinsk
i wanted t’do it, but I showed off my tinsel skills.

  JESSOne at a time.

  STEVIEYou remember!?

  …One at a time.

  He demonstrates delicate tinsel skills, handing her a piece… one at a time.

  Get the top.

  JESS puts it on his nose. He inhales. It goes up his nose. He chokes, blows it off. She laughs.

  I like hearing –

  (Gestures around his mouth.) Your laugh is – good to hear it.

  JESS…

  STEVIEYou thinkin’ you’re, are ya busy Friday?

  JESS…

  STEVIEMy wife works nights, could just be us…

  JESSExcuse Me?

  STEVIEWell, I always see you here, so I thought –

  JESSYou don’t always see me here, this is my second time, my second time, Jesus.

  STEVIERight. ’Cause you’re not stalkin’ me… You’re totally not here on purpose, ever.

  JESS…I hate you.

  STEVIENo you don’t… You wish you could hate me, and you probably should. But you don’t.

  Beat.

  Yikes. Too much?

  JESSWho says yikes, what’re you a hundred years old?

  He laughs.

  STEVIEYou know Friday’s the last shuttle launch. The very last one. Forever. Thought maybe we’d watch from our old spot…

  JESS(Furious.) You have a wife.

  STEVIEI know –

  JESSAt work. Your wife is at work.

  STEVIEYou can’t go to the beach at night because my wife’s at work?

  JESSI can’t go with you.

  STEVIEI swear, we wouldn’t do what we used to do there, I’m definitely not interested in that anymore… I mean – You know what I – I didn’t mean – ’cause I’m barely doing that, not that I wouldn’t want to with you – I mean I don’t – but that’s not – Not ’cause – I mean you probably can’t even – what the fuck is my mouth doing, HELLO!

  JESSCalm down.

  I can’t be around sand anyway. It’s a trigger.

  Beat. He plugs the tree in. Its pathetic twinkly lights are almost beautiful.

  STEVIEDo you wanna – wanna do the angel?

  She puts it on the tree’s top. They look at it.

  (Serious, close.) After you were gone and I was still – workin’ for NASA –

  JESS…God –

  STEVIE– they started giving me bleacher seats when I’d been there five years, you know, like press passes. I got to sit so close, I could feel the heat from the rocket boosters… I always wished I coulda taken you.

  Long beat.

  JESSYou could… come – over…?

  STEVIE…

  Yeah?

  JESSWe can see from my roof.

  STEVIE… Old school.

  Knox sisters’ roof par-tays!

  JESSYeah, okay…

  STEVIEOkay…! Okay then, it’s a date!

  – nope, it’s not a date, it’s um – it’s a hang-out sesh.

  JESSDo not call it that.

  STEVIEFriday then… FRIDAY it is.

  (Meekly.) Holler!

  JESSYou still have my ticket.

  STEVIEOh right.

  Uh, how ’bout, uh – double ’er nothin’ – ?

  He hands her two tickets. She walks downstage.

  VOICEThis is your new beginning…

  Step by step, set your own pace, take your time.

  Here, slight movements of your own will trigger FULL RANGE of motion.

  We’ll start small.

  If you stand in place and lift your feet, go on –

  JESS lifts her feet.

  You see? – your avatar walks.

  When you’re ready to walk on your own, she… will run.

  Here, you should feel free.

  To move as you once did.

  JESS slightly lifts the leg which continually cramps. JESS’s avatar moves freely.

  How does that feel –

  JESS laughs, does it again.

  Keep lifting your feet until it becomes routine again.

  …on a scale of one to ten –

  JESSI’m ready.

  VOICECould you answer on the –

  JESSSix.

  VOICEGood. Very good.

  – When the music begins – so will you.

  JESS readies herself.

  Modern casualties require modern panacea. Get ready to fight a whole new kind of war!

  But before she can take off, KELVIN interrupts her and lights shift. JESS has to enter the living room. She tries to ignore him, but he corners her, talking anyway.

  KELVINI feel like maybe we hit the wrong foot starting off.

  JESS…Oh dear God.

  KELVINI’m actually a great guy. Lotta friends, more than the average man.

  JESSGood for you. Where’s Kacie –

  He gestures to the other room.

  KELVINI’m a positive person. I was so passionate about plumbing, but when God fucked my knee, I took it as an opportunity. When my wife left me, all I saw was a second chance. I smile ’cause I got a mouth to breathe. And so do you.

  JESSAre those capris you’re wearing?

  KELVIN– What?

  JESSDo you have on capris? Just wondering.

  I didn’t know they made them for men.

  KELVIN…They’re – long shorts.

  JESSKacie!

  KACIE(Off.) – almost ready!!

  KELVINYou gotta be a positive person on this shithole planet. You gotta be! We could be covered in flies in Africa, hell we could all have goddamn harelips for all I know, I don’t have a job, a house, or healthcare, but all you gotta be in this country is positive. As they say – positivity wins the race.

  JESSI don’t think anyone says that, I don’t think anyone’s said that ever actually.

  KELVINI’m so positive, I walk down the street happy, smiling all the time, people throw shit at my head, shout ‘ – the fuck you smilin’ about?’… I say – life is short. And I intend to live.

  JESSYeah, I’m going in my room now –

  KELVIN…All those friends of mine say, ‘What’re you wastin’ time with Kacie for?’

  JESS stops, turns to him.

  JESS– Sorry?

  KELVINShe’s a little overweight, I don’t care.

  JESSAm I hearing you wrong? I must be hearing you wrong –

  KELVINWorks with kids all day, talks to me like I’m one, I really don’t mind that either.

  I visit your mom all the time.

  And you.

  JESSWhat about me?!

  KELVINYour sister cried almost every date we went on for the first few months.

  JESSMaybe it was the company.

  KELVINNah – she still cries herself to sleep almost every night.

  JESS is stopped by this.

  JESS– What?

  KELVINAll I’m asking for is – can you please, please not do that ‘sister-talk’ in her ear.

  I drive, I cook, I’m not on Viagra, I’m a catch, okay?…

  So I don’t know why you have a problem with me.

  JESS comes closer to him.

  JESSI was a gunner in my unit…

  I had to separate dead bodies from debris.

  And I got pretty good at identifying trash.

  KELVIN…

  JESSI don’t know what’s wrong with you, but I’ll figure it out.

  KELVINNothing – nothing wrong here.

  JESSNo. I can smell people when they’re rotting.

  KELVIN looks scared, stands. KACIE enters the kitchen in a little sundress.

  KACIEEverything’s –

  JESS…

  KELVIN…

  KACIEDo – Do you like it? – was on clearance. Got one for you too, Jess, it’s a spinner –

  (To KELVIN.) When Jess and I were little, we called our dresses spinners when they went out like this –

  KELVINLet’s – come on.

  KACIEYou sure you don’t wanna come?

  (To JESS.) We’re seeing Mom befor
e the launch, you could join us?

  JESS shakes her head.

  It would be really good if you came. Or maybe I should stay –

  JESS…Kacie.

  KACIEThere’s broccoli and chicken if –

  JESSI’m fine.

  KACIEShe keeps forgetting, but I tell Mom every time we got you back. That you finally made it home. And you’re sure –

  JESSKacie. Go.

  KACIE and KELVIN exit.

  JESS hums ‘Good King Wenceslas’. She props the mirror up, stands in front of it.

  She undresses. Each movement is a greater pain than we’ve seen before. Bending at the waist almost causes a scream. Still humming.

  Her body is covered in protective bandaging. Legs and upper arms are wrapped tightly in a pressurized skin suit. She changes into the dress that KACIE gave her.

  Looks in the mirror. Throws it down. Crosses to the window. Stares up at the night sky. Time transitions to later in the night, as a radio news announcer plays.

  NEWS ANNOUNCER

  This is a CBS news special report. I’m Scott Pelley reporting from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. We’re glad you’re with us because if all goes well, we’re about to see something that none of us will ever see again: the launch of a space shuttle. Atlantis is on the launch pad, set to lift off on the 135th and final space shuttle mission. The space shuttle program coming to an end after thirty years of flight…

  STEVIE steps out on to the roof with a radio, spreading out a blanket.

  STEVIE(Shouting inside.) My wife would never watch this with me. This is awesome of you!

  JESS has trouble getting outside.

  You need a hand gettin’ out here?!

  JESSNo, no, I’m –

  STEVIEI could pick you up…?

  JESS– gimme a second.

  STEVIEIt’s for me. – would make me feel like a man.

  She tries again.

  Would it hurt – I don’t wanna hurt you more.

  JESSNo.

  STEVIEUp you go!

  He carries her on to the roof and she appears little in his arms. She looks at him. They laugh. He puts her down, sits, shifts a little further apart.

  I got beer. Are you – allowed to have beer?

  JESS(To a moron.) Yes. Yes I am allowed to have

  A beer.

  STEVIEI was gonna get weed for us, but I didn’t know anybody who sold it.

  JESS…You work at a gas station!

  He opens and clinks beers.

  STEVIEAH! This is so weird, am I being weird?

  JESSYou’re always weird.

  STEVIE– it doesn’t seem different. We’d sit up here when you were in college and, I dunno, there’s NO WAY it’s been this long. NO WAY. That’s –

  I thought, get married! That’s it!! My life’ll start. That’ll change some shit in my life… So I got married… And. Then it was like, okay, we’ll get a CAT… That’s gonna – make it all change. Now we’re on to – how ’bout a HOUSE?… Maybe having kids’ll make me an adult, I dunno.