Marty Page #19

Marty leans with his elbow on the open front window of the

car, his head bowed, waiting for Ralph to speak his piece.

He studiously avoids looking at the girls in the car.

RALPH:

(lowering his voice)

Hey, Marty, we got an odd squirrel

here, you interested?

Marty allows his eyes to flicker quickly over the girl in

the seat next to Ralph.

MARTY:

Waddaya mean, Ralph?

RALPH:

(turning his head

toward the rear of

the car and raising

his voice)

Hey, Louise, I want you to meet Marty

Pilletti. Marty, that's Louise Kelly,

inna back seat there.

MARTY:

Hiya.

Louise, not an unattractive girl by any means, is a little

surly at the moment. She merely nods at the introduction.

LOUISE:

What are we going to do, just sit

around here all night?

RALPH:

(addressing Marty's

bowed head in a quick

mutter)

Listen, Marty, these three squirrels

are nurses. We're all going over

Leo's house later because there's

nobody there. These are the squirrels

I told you about. Money inna bank,

man. Wanna get inna car? She's a

pretty nice-looking doll.

MARTY:

I'm with a girl, Ralph.

RALPH:

Get ridda her. This is money inna

bank.

MARTY:

I can't do that, Ralph, because

somebody already brushed her off

once tonight.

RALPH:

This is a good deal here, Marty.

Marty straightens, looks surreptitiously back to the corner

where Clara is standing.

Clara stands alone on the corner. She is an angular, awkward,

plain girl. Marty brings his attention back around to Ralph

who is leaning out of the car window.

MARTY:

(bending down to Ralph)

I can't do it, Ralph. Thanks anyway.

(looks toward back

seat)

Very nice to have met you all.

LOUISE:

Come on, let's get outta here.

LEO:

Hey, Ralph, we might as well get

going.

Ralph bends forward and starts the car.

MARTY:

I'll see you, Leo.

LEO:

I'll see you, Marty.

Marty takes a step or two back from the car, and Ralph begins

the business of wheeling the car from out of its parking

place. The car backs and fills once or twice and eventually

clears and whisks into the street.

Marty stands looking after the departing car, then slowly

turns and goes back up the sidewalk. He joins Clara and we...

DISSOLVE TO:

PILLETTI HOME, KITCHEN. NIGHT

Marty and Clara come into the dark house. Nobody is home.

Marty and Clara's silhouettes block the doorway momentarily.

MARTY:

Wait a minute. Lemme find the light.

He finds the lights. The kitchen is suddenly brightly lit.

The two of them stand squinting to adjust to the sudden glare.

MARTY:

I guess my mother ain't home yet. I

figure my cousin Thomas and Virginia

musta gone to the movies, so they

won't get back till one o'clock at

least.

Clara advances into the kitchen, a little ill at ease, and

looks around. Marty closes the porch door.

MARTY:

This is the kitchen.

CLARA:

Yes, I know.

MARTY:

Come on inna dining room.

He turns the light on as he enters. Clara follows him into

the...

DINING ROOM.

MARTY:

Siddown, take off your coat. You

want something to eat? We gotta whole

half-chicken in the icebox.

CLARA:

(alighting tentatively

on the edge of a

chair)

No, thank you. I don't think I should

stay very long.

MARTY:

Sure. Just take off your coat a

minute.

He helps her off with her coat. He remains behind her, looking

down at her. Conscious of his scrutiny, she sits

uncomfortably, breathing unevenly. Marty takes her coat into

the dark living room. Clara is patient but nervous. Marty

comes back, sits on another chair, and there is an awkward

silence.

MARTY:

So I was telling you, my kid brother

Nickie got married last Sunday. That

was a very nice affair. And they had

this statue of some woman, and they

had whiskey spouting outta her mouth.

I never saw anything so grand in my

life.

(the silence again

falls between them.)

And watta meal. I'm a butcher, so I

know a good hunka steak when I see

one. That was choice filet, right

off the toppa the chuck. A buck eighty

a pound. Of course, if you wanna

cheaper cut, get rib steak. That

gotta lotta waste on it, but it comes

to about a buck and a quarter a pound,

if it's trimmed. Listen, Clara, make

yourself comfortable. You're all

tense.

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