Three-Cornered Moon Page #2

What`s the sense of working

if you don`t need the money?

Hate the family!

Hate you!

Well, well, well!

I don`t care if l

never see any of you again.

(SCOFFS) You`ll break

your old mammy`s heart!

Don`t pull that one on me.

I`m not going to lead

a negative life just

because I have a mother.

Women are becoming mothers

all over the world.

Yeah. Yeah,

somebody ought to

put a stop to it.

From now on,

l`m going to be absolutely

independent of everybody.

That reminds me,

l`ve got to ask Mother

for some money. Hey, Ma!

(TELEPHONE RlNGlNG)

Hello.

Oh, hello, Kitty, darling!

I just want you to

know that my feelings

are terribly hurt,

the way you talked to

me a little while ago.

Well, sweetheart,

you know I didn`t mean to.

Nevertheless,

l`ve a good mind

never to forgive you.

Say, who are you

talking to, anyway?

(SHUSHES)

It`s Mother.

What was that?

It was only Mother.

(HORSE NElGHlNG)

What was that noise?

(CHUCKLlNG NERVOUSLY)

It`s Mother`s asthma.

I`ll meet you at lunch.

Listen, I love you.

I love you. I love you!

Gee, Doug,

she`s the swellest

kid in the world!

Give me that!

(TELEPHONE RlNGlNG)

What`s the matter?

Have I got it on wrong?

Give me that back!

(TELEPHONE CONTlNUES RlNGlNG)

Come back here

with that!

You crazy!

KENNETH:
Pick up your feet!

That wasn`t anything!

Ronald, darling!

I`ve been waiting for

your call all morning.

What? You`re dispossessed!

You mean she actually

threw you out

because you didn`t

pay your rent?

Listen, you go right back

to that landlady and make

her return your manuscript.

All right, then l`ll do it.

I`ll be at your house

in half an hour!

DOUGLAS:
Come back

here with that.

KENNETH:
Try and get it,

you big...

Come on!

(LAUGHlNG)

(CHOKlNG)

Give me that wig!

You`re ruining it!

I won`t! I won`t!

Enjoying yourselves, children?

Playing a game?

Hey, Ma!

Ma, See, l`m awful

late for my class.

Can I order a cab?

No. That`s awfully

extravagant, Eddie.

Oh, just this once.

No!

(BOTH LAUGHlNG)

Come on! Come on!

All right, baby.

Oh, l`m going out, too.

Tell them to send one for me.

Okay.

DOUGLAS:
Mother!

No!

Order one for me,

too, Eddie.

(CHUCKLES)

You big ham!

(LAUGHlNG)

Hello. Yellow Taxi?

Send a cab right over

to Mrs. Rimplegar`s.

EDDlE:
Hey!

Give me that phone.

Alley-oop!

Hello! Yellow Taxi?

MAN:
Listen, son,

don`t try to get rough

with the old lady.

I`ll not stand for

anything like that.

Ronald!

Ronald, darling!

(PEOPLE EXCLAlMlNG)

Don`t you worry.

I`ll settle this.

How much does

he owe you?

$16.

Give me that!

Okay, Mike.

10, 15, 16.

Thanks.

Have you got everything?

ELlZABETH:
Oh! Why...

RONALD:
My Togassa nude!

He`s throwing it

down the steps.

Come on.

Is this the stuff

you wrote yesterday?

Yeah.

Help a guy make a living,

won`t you, mister?

Wait!

It just occurred to me.

I`ve had no breakfast.

Oh, you poor darling.

Give me a bar

of chocolate.

Oh, no, no, no.

Here.

Can you?

Yeah.

Thank you.

The beginning of the

chapter I wrote soft

and, you know,

full of sunlight.

Like this Togassa nude.

But there`s a recurring,

ominous beat in it.

First it`s faint,

like a dropping tear,

but later it pounds

more and more,

furious, like rainy,

thunderous music.

Oh, that sounds swell!

No! It`s rotten! It`s hollow.

It`s falling to pieces!

I can`t get it to go right.

(SlGHS)

I`m a failure.

(EXCLAlMS) Now,

there you go again.

You know perfectly well,

you write like

a tree on fire.

If I could only

be like you, dear,

so wonderfully at

peace with yourself

all the time.

That`s what you think!

Ronald, I haven`t

told you, but for the

last six or seven months,

I`ve been in despair!

Darling!

I hate everything in life,

people, everything!

So do l!

I suppose a lot of

people feel that way

when their youth is gone.

(SlGHS) I was so happy

when I was in college.

Nothing will ever

be the same as it

was when I was 18.

I was such

a happy little dope.

Yes. Yes, that was my zenith,

when I was 18.

I`ve had two zeniths.

Huh?

You need some breakfast.

(CHlLDREN CHATTERlNG)

ELlZABETH:
Let`s see.

Chopped ham, lamb chops.

What do you want, Ronald?

Oh, I don`t know.

Anything.

Bring us the luncheon.

All right.

Darling, how about

getting out of all this?

Hmm?

Well, we just got here.

No, not that.

How about one grand,

beautiful exit together?

Suicide.

What?

Together. You and l.

A beautiful, original suicide.

Get away from me!

I haven`t thought seriously

about suicide since I was 14

and flunked algebra.

You mean it?

Life without ecstasy,

Elizabeth, isn`t worth that!

Yeah.

Maybe you`re right.

The most beautiful

thing in life...

(SNEEZES)

God bless you, darling.

I`m sorry.

(SNEEZES)

What I wanted to say...

(SNEEZES)

Ronald,

you`ve caught cold!

Am I feverish?

(GASPS) Yes!

Oh.

My throat feels

kind of funny, too.

Let me see!

Ah.

See if there are any spots.

Oh, you`ve got to

see a doctor.

Alan Stevens.

He`s crazy about me.

I mean, he`s a

friend of the family,

and he won`t charge

you a cent, see?

Come on, hurry up, now.

Ah.

Once more.

Ah.

Again.

Ah.

Well?

Well, old man,

your throat is

absolutely spotless.

Yeah, we`ll have to

do something about that.

Send in

Miss Rimplegar, please.

Oh, hello, Elizabeth.

Is he all right?

Well, ordinarily

l`d say yes, but under

the present conditions...

Say, Ronald tells me that

you plan to commit suicide.

No, I didn`t.

All I asked was...

You know,

some methods

are very painful.

Let me see. Here.

Here. Six of these,

dissolved in a glass of water

and taken on

an empty stomach.

Go to sleep and

never wake up again.

There you are.

Very simple, isn`t it?

No convulsions,

no stains on the carpets.

I suppose you think

you`re being very funny.

Oh, no. I`m just

trying to be helpful.

Come on, Ronald.

(DOOR SHUTS)

MAN:
Going lower!

Look at Telephone!

WOMAN:
They`re going higher!

Look at Atchison!

Say, two minutes late.

Market`s lower.

(lNDlSTlNCT CHATTERlNG)

WOMAN:
Roosevelt`s

attending to that.

The Rimplegar account,

please.

Mrs. Nellie Rimplegar.

Yes, ma`am.

Mr. Bailey, Mr. Stokes

wants you to sell out

the Robinson account.

All right.

Will you attend to that,

George, please?

Certainly.

Now, you can see

for yourself, ma`am.

They tell me my

margin is down.

Yes, ma`am.

Oh!

Will you tell me

something, please?

Just exactly

what is margin?

Well, look.

Here`s what you`ve got. See?

Here`s what we need,

that much more.

Oh, I see.

Margin means more money.

Yes, ma`am.

Yes.

How soon must you have it?

Well, it`s 2:
10 now.

The market closes at 3:00.

Couldn`t they keep it open

just a few minutes longer?

Oh, no.

Well,

l`d better go to the bank.

I`ll be back in half an hour.

(CHUCKLES) Oh, that`s fine.

Oh. You`re not the man

I talked to three years ago,

are you, with the moustache?

No.

He was such a nice man!

How do you do,

Mrs. Rimplegar?

How do you do,

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