Lovers and Other Strangers Page #7

Why did you make me hit you?

I didn't want to hit you.

I never hit a woman in my life

till I met you.

Johnny, I'm sorry. I feel awful.

Just awful. I'm sorry. Do you forgive me?

You started it. You called me a shithead.

I didn't mean it. Please.

Please forgive me.

I'll never be able to forgive myself.

It's my sister's wedding.

We were going to be so happy.

I ruined everything.

Please forgive me.

- Who's the man?

- You are.

- And who's the woman?

- Me.

And who's the boss?

I really think you should give that up.

It's a very baby thing.

If you want me to have a happy marriage

and you want to be my friend...

then you've got to acknowledge

that the man is the stronger one.

You have to surrender to me.

Then I'll be king of the jungle.

But as king I will rule tenderly.

But I can't rule tenderly

until you surrender to me first.

Okay, I surrender. Now make up with me.

Isn't he adorable?

You're my great, big, strong...

teddy bear king...

what I loves...

and I'm the little surrendering baby bear...

what you loves.

What?

Okay.

Give a woof. Come on.

Does you woof me?

Honey, I woof, woof you.

"Sometimes I look at a man

and he's a chair, a rock, a tree. "

- What? - It's what Monica Vitti

said in L'Avventura.

Let's rest.

What for? We haven't done anything.

Please. I'd like a moment

to reflect about things.

What things?

Would you stroke my hair?

Not like that.

Like this.

Feels nice.

- Jerry?

- Yes?

- Shall I tell you how I feel?

- Yes, Brenda.

I feel that I'm queen of the universe.

The waves part, and they engulf me...

and the sea foam is warm.

Kiss me.

- How do you feel?

- Warm. Warm like the sea foam.

- Then tell me.

- What?

- That I am yours.

- You are mine.

Thank you. Say it again.

Look, can we stop all this talking?

What is all this talking? Let's just do it.

- Do it?

- Come on.

- Do what? I don't follow.

- What do you mean, you don't follow?

- You know what I mean.

- No, I don't. What?

- Sex.

- Sex?

That's all it is to you? Sex?

I love you. I opened myself to you...

and you led me to believe

we had something good, something real.

What do you mean, I led you to believe?

I just thought

we were going to have a little fun.

What about

the little red farmhouse and the sheepdog?

- What about Trinidad?

- Look, let's forget the whole thing.

Okay, let's forget the whole thing.

Thank you.

Thank you for the sobering

and degrading experience.

Why don't I ever have any luck? Either

I get a girl, she gives me the brush...

or she gives me a tease,

or I wind up with some nut.

What's the matter with me?

- Can I speak frankly?

- Yes.

It's obvious that you're just a slave

to your erections.

And what about you?

You don't love me. You never loved me.

What you're in love with is this wedding,

and any usher would do.

I've been a bridesmaid many times.

I was once even the maid of honor.

Let me tell you something.

This is the closest I've ever gotten

to any usher.

- You mean that?

- Sure I mean that.

You're not just any usher.

You're special.

- I am?

- Sure.

What about me?

What about you?

- Aren't I special?

- Yes.

Yes, you're special. You're very special.

So what happened?

You got something on the side...

- and she found out about it?

- No, Pop.

Come on. You can tell me.

I never told you this before,

but I strayed, too, when I was young.

Don't get me wrong, I never looked for it...

but sometimes you're walking along

and it falls in your lap.

- Look, Pop, that's not the reason.

- It happens to everybody.

I love your mother,

but sometimes you need a little stimulation.

Thank God she never felt that way.

But there was this one time

that your mother found out about it.

Her stupid sister Pauline

opened up her big mouth and told her.

She walked out on me for four days,

but she came back.

Where was she going to go?

So what happened, Joan?

Some girl vamped him?

- No.

- Joan, you can tell me...

because all men stray, even Frank.

It's a mortal sin, but it happens.

I left him for a few days, but I came back.

- Where was I going to go?

- Mother, Ritchie would never cheat on me.

So what, Joan? Tell me, please.

Ever since I was 15,

I loved Ritchie from afar.

And the whole time we went together,

I was just floating on air...

and we had so much fun together...

because we both loved the beach

and things.

We were always kissing and hugging.

Everyone said how great we looked

on the dance floor.

So I really thought we'd get married

and live happily ever after...

but I guess we just weren't that lucky.

I knew it was the real thing,

because I loved everything about him.

I loved the way he moved.

Sometimes I'd just spend hours and hours

and watch him move around.

And his hair...

You're going to think I'm crazy...

but I loved the way

his hair smelled like raisins.

When he kissed me, I never told him this...

but the best part about being in his arms...

was that I could get a

good whiff of his hair.

I don't know if it's me

or Ritchie that's changed...

but it's just no big deal anymore...

to feel him or smell him.

I don't know, Pop.

I was too young when I got married.

I didn't know who I was or what I wanted.

When we first got married, we cared.

We're strangers.

We're all strangers...

but after a while you get used to it.

You become deeper strangers.

- That's a sort of love.

- No, that's habit. I want more than that.

- More, more, everybody wants more.

- Why don't they go out and get it?

- Because there is no more.

- There's got to be more.

More.

You think I don't understand

what you're talking about, don't you?

I understand.

There were times with your mother

when I thought...

maybe I didn't do justice to myself.

You know what I mean, Ritchie?

I love your mother, but I never thought

she was as intelligent as I am.

That used to bother me a lot.

Everybody wants to be married

to somebody on his own level.

A couple of years

before I married your mother...

I met this schoolteacher.

Her name was Mary Rose.

A real society girl.

We had everything in common,

the same interests...

the same mentality.

And I used to think that

if I had married Mary Rose...

maybe I wouldn't have yelled

and screamed so much around the house.

I figured that...

I would have been a different person

if I had married her.

But she wouldn't go out with me...

so I married your mother.

When I married Frank,

he was very handsome.

And clean. He was so clean.

That's why it came as a big shock to me

on my wedding night to find out...

what a physical person he was.

You know what I'm talking about, Joan?

- Sex.

- You said it, not me.

It's very hard for me

to talk about these things.

I was so nauseous on my wedding night

with you-know-who...

but I didn't say a word.

I just ran into the bathroom

and locked the door...

because I don't like to make a scene.

- You mean, you never enjoyed sex?

- What's to enjoy?

Love isn't physical. Love is spiritual.

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