A Serious Man Page #4

. . . very troubling. . .

He goes to the door, shaking his head, and Larry watches his unexcused exit in surprise.

Larry stares at the open door. The secretary outside, her back to us, types on.

Larry looks stupidly around his own office, then shakes his head.

He picks up the phone message from Sy Ableman—“Let’s talk”—and dials. As he dials,

his other hand wanders over the papers on his desktop.

There is a plain white envelope on the desk. Larry picks it up as the phone rings through.

A ring is clipped short and a warm basso-baritone rumbles through the line:

Phone Voice

Sy Ableman.

Larry

Hello, Sy, Larry Gopnik.

Sy

(mournful)

Larry. How are you, my friend.

Larry picks idly at the envelope.

Larry

Good, how’ve you been, Sy?

Inside the envelope: a thick sheaf of one-hundred-dollar bills.

Sy

Oh fine. Shall we talk, Larry.

Larry reacts to the money.

Larry

(into phone)

What?! Oh! Sorry! I, uh—call back!

He slams down the phone.

. . . Clive!

He rushes out the door, through the secretarial area and into the hallway.

Empty.

He looks at the stuffed envelope he still holds.

He goes back to the departmental office. The secretary sits typing. She glances at him

and, as she goes back to her typing:

Secretary

Sy Ableman just called. Said he got disconnected.

BATHROOM DOOR:

A hand enters to knock.

Man’s Voice

Out in a minute!

Sarah, the sixteen-year-old girl who has just knocked, rolls her eyes.

Sarah

I gotta wash my hair! I’m going out tonight!

Voice

Out in a minute!

Sarah

Jesus Christ!

She stomps down the hall.

Man’s Voice

Out in a minute!

Sarah, the sixteen-year-old girl who has just knocked, rolls her eyes.

Sarah

I gotta wash my hair! I’m going out tonight!

Voice

Out in a minute!

Sarah

Jesus Christ!

She stomps down the hall.

KITCHEN:

Judith, a woman of early middle age, is at the stove. Sarah enters.

Sarah

Why is Uncle Arthur always in the bathroom?

Judith

He has to drain his sebacious cyst. You know that. Will

you set the table?

Sarah

Why can’t he do it in the basement? Or go out in the

garage!

BUS:

We are raking the exterior of an orange school bus as it rattles along. Hebrew characters

on the side identify it—to some, anyway.

INSIDE:

We are locked down on Danny as the bus rattles like an old crate, squeaking, grinding

gears, belching exhaust. Danny and the children around him vibrate and pitch about

without reaction, accustomed to it.

gears, belching exhaust. Danny and the children around him vibrate and pitch about

without reaction, accustomed to it.

They raise their voices over the engine and the various stress noises in the chassis as well

as a transistor radio somewhere that plays Jefferson Airplane.

Danny

I had twenty bucks in it too. Inside the case.

Ronnie Nudell

Twenty bucks! How come.

Danny

I bought a lid from Mike Fagle. Couple weeks ago. I still

owed him twenty.

Ronnie Nudell

He already gave you the pot?

Danny

Yeah but a couple weeks ago my funding got cut off. Fagle

said he’d pound the crap out of me if I didn’t pay up.

Howard Altar

What funding got cut off? Where do you get your money?

Mark Sallerson

What happened?

Ronnie Nudell

Rabbi Turchik took his radio. Had money in it.

Mark Sallerson

That f***er!

Danny

Yeah. I think he said he was confiscating it.

Mark Sallerson

He’s a f***er! Where do you get your money?

Ronnie Nudell

Mike Fagle’s gonna kick his ass. Last week he pounded

the crap out of Seth Seddlemeyer.

Mike Fagle’s gonna kick his ass. Last week he pounded

the crap out of Seth Seddlemeyer.

Mark Sallerson

He’s a f***er!

Ronnie Nudell

Fagle? Or Seth Seddlemeyer?

Mark Sallerson

They’re both f***ers!

BATHROOM DOOR:

A hand enters to knock.

Uncle Arthur’s Voice

Out in a minute!

Sarah

Are you still in there?!

Uncle Arthur

I, uh. . . Just a minute!

Sarah

I’ve gotta wash my hair! I’m going out tonight, to The

Hole!

Uncle Arthur

Okay! Out in a minute!

OUTSIDE:

Larry pulls into the driveway and gets out of his car. The purr of a lawn mower. He

looks.

His point-of-view: Mr. Brandt, the next-door neighbor, is mowing his lawn. He has a

buzz cut and wears a white T-shirt.

Another noise competes with the lawn mower: rattling, squeaking, gear-grinding. The

orange school bus with Hebrew lettering pulls up across the street. Danny emerges.

-grinding. The

orange school bus with Hebrew lettering pulls up across the street. Danny emerges.

DINNER TABLE:

Larry sits in. His wife and two children are already seated. There is one empty place.

Larry projects:

Larry

Arthur!

A muffled voice:

Arthur

Yeah!

Larry

Dinner!

Arthur

Okay! Out in a minute!

Larry

We should wait.

Sarah

Are you kidding!

They start eating.

Larry

Mr. Brandt keeps mowing part of our lawn.

Judith

Does that matter?

Larry

What?

Judith

Is it important?

Larry shrugs.

Larry

It’s just odd.

Judith

Any news on your tenure?

Larry

I think they’ll give me tenure.

Judith

You think.

Larry

(equably)

Well, I don’t know. These things aren’t, you know. . .

Judith

No, I don’t know. Which is why I ask.

Larry

Well—

Sarah

Mom, how long is Uncle Arthur staying with us?

Judith

Ask your father.

BACK YARD:

Twilight.

Larry is stepping onto a hose as he unwheels it from the drum of a traveling sprinkler,

laying out an arc to cover the back yard. Intermittent thwacks from next door:

Mr. Brandt and his son, who also has a buzz cut and wears a white T-shirt, throw a

baseball back and forth. Mr. Brandt throws hard. The ball pops in the boy’s mitt.

Mitch

Ow.

Larry walks over to the boundary defined by the fresh mowing. He sights down it.

Mr. Brandt looks over his shoulder at Larry, looking. Mr. Brandt is expressionless. He

goes back to throwing.

Mitch

Ow.

INSIDE:

Evening. Lights on. Larry sits at the kitchen table, a briefcase open on the chair next to

him. Blue books—examination booklets—are spread on the table in front of him. He

reads, occasionally making marginal scribbles, grading.

From off, faint and dulled by intervening walls, rock music: somewhere in the house

Danny is listening to the Jefferson Airplane.

The clink of teaspoon against china as Larry stirs his tea.

Judith enters.

Judith

Honey.

Larry

(absent)

Honey.

Judith

Did you talk to Sy?

Larry

(still absent)

Sy?—Sy Ableman!—That’s right, he called, but I—

Judith

You didn’t talk to him.

Larry

No, I—

Judith

You know the problems you and I have been having. You know the problems you and I have been having.

Sympathetic, but still absent:

Larry

Mm.

Judith

Well, Sy and I have become very close.

This brings Larry’s head up. He focuses on Judith, puzzled. She elaborates:

. . . In short:
I think it’s time to start talking about a divorce.

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