Photo by Leroy Skalstad from Pexels
Two weeks later (in an autumn of the 2020’s). Upstage center is a window. At the rise a body is seen jumping out of it, away from the audience.
JOE (offstage)
Rattler?
RATTLER (offstage)
Joe? Is that you?
JOE (offstage)
I found her.
RATTLER (offstage)
O my God.
You found her?
JOE (offstage)
I followed the followers.
RATTLER (offstage)
The FBI?
JOE (offstage)
And he jumped.
RATTLER (offstage)
Who jumped? Griff?
JOE (offstage)
Base jumping off a hotel they’re demolishing.
Without wings or a parachute.
For looking at some pictures of pre-teen girls, swimming naked on a beach
RATTLER (offstage)
What?
He jumped? And killed himself?
For that?
JOE (offstage)
It’s the way he wanted to go out. Flying.
He loved flying, he told her. Where you’re all alone. In the clear.
Nothing around you to disturb the peace and quiet of your last thoughts.
RATTLER (offstage)
Until you hit rock bottom.
JOE (offstage)
Right.
RATTLER (offstage)
How’s Dee?
JOE (offstage)
They’re releasing her this morning. And we’ll be home.
Down another homeless street in another homeless city. Lying on a sidewalk at the far side of the street, and into the gutter, are two discarded couches, which someone has made into a home/hiding place. JOE enters, looks around, and respectfully goes over to the couches.
JOE
Molly? Molly?
Are you in there?
Lengthy pause.
MOLLY DEE
[from inside the couches] Go away.
JOE
Dee! It’s me. Joe!
Joe Ya-Know!
MOLLY DEE
[from inside the couches] Joe?
JOE
Yes. Yes.
Joe Ya-Know, to bring you back home!
MOLLY DEE crawls out and stands. She is frightfully thin. JOE embraces her.
MOLLY DEE
[exhausted and on the verge of tears] Joe … how in the world?
JOE
I followed the followers.
MOLLY DEE
And you know what happened? To Griff?
JOE
I know. And you look ….
I’m getting you to a hospital.