Wonder Wheel Page #2

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Do you know

how much I missed you?

Ha?

Jesus! Suddenly, I'm starvin'.

Clean the fish, Ginny.

Yeah, yeah, I...I'll make

everybody stew.

Yeah, no...cooking relaxes my nerves.

Clean the fish?

I got a headache.

Clean the fish, Ginny,

two or three at least and

put paper down this time,

last time you got

guts all over the floor.

Hey,

you remember Carolina?

Remember I used to bake?

I used to make you those

chocolate chip cookies?

Hm.

And I'd put a little salt on it.

Mm-hmm.

You're late!

And you're in real trouble!

You know you could

kill somebody starting fires!

What kind of craziness is that?

Hey, listen to me.

You could hurt someone.

W-Where'd you get this

idea to make fires?

Jesus, Humpty, you sound

so happy tonight.

What happened, your

number come in?

Better than my number came in.

My ship came home.

All right, well, have a good

night at the merry-go-round.

All right, you too, man.

That's it.

Leave it right there.

How long is she

gonna stay here?

I don't know.

Hey, maybe you can

get her a job

at that clam joint

you're workin' at.

You think that's a good idea?

You said they were looking

for a certain waitress.

But they're after her.

Shouldn't she move on?

Where?

I don't know, maybe

out of the country--Mexico?

What are you, nuts?

The hell's she

gonna do in Mexico?

Ah, they're not comin'

back here, she's right.

He knows how we feel

about each other.

Well, we did.

Different now.

Clouds been lifted.

I don't want guys comin'

around causin' trouble.

There's a kid here.

Ah, it's okay as long as

he doesn't burn himself

or kill somebody with those

goddamn fires of his.

He's a moody kid.

He's got a moody mother.

What's that supposed to mean?

Jesus Christ, I can't believe

Carolina's gonna

wind up a waitress.

Thank God Shirley's in her grave.

What about me

winding up a waitress?

It's not what I had in mind, either.

Hey,

you wanna go fishin' Friday night?

The boys are bringin' the wives.

I don't go fishin', Humpty.

How many times

we have to go over this?

Y-Y-You don't like fishin',

you don't like boating,

you don't like bowlin',

what the hell do you like?

Oh, you like the radio and

the movie stars, right?

Readin' those goddamn movie

magazines all the time.

I'm worried about Richie.

Yeah. Oh, let me tell you

something about your son.

He's gonna burn down somethin'.

There you are.

I knew I'd find you here.

Why aren't you in school?

Wanna see this picture?

It's the last day.

You can't not go to school.

Jesus, Richie.

That's why you're

in summer school

'cause you missed so many days.

They called again and

they asked, "Is he sick?"

I don't like school.

Doesn't matter

if you don't like it.

You know, I don't like

waiting on tables, but...

we need to eat

and pay the rent.

Some things in life you have to

do whether you like it or not.

Let me watch the picture!

Where do you get the money

for the movies anyhow?

I took 50 cents out of Humpty's

pants when he was asleep.

What? You steal

from your father?

He's not my father

and I hate him.

Don't you dare say that.

You know, he saved my life.

He's gr--he always--

He's a good person.

-Why does he hit you?

-He doesn't hit me.

Yeah, when he gets drunk,

he hits everybody

but h-he hardly...

he hardly drinks anymore.

I can't sit here arguing with you

I have to go to work.

Go to school, okay?

If I catch you playing

with matches...

Yes, it's a problem.

The kid makes fires.

And not such little ones.

He played hooky

from summer school

and even made fires on the

beach where it's forbidden.

What the hell

does the kid see

when he just stares

into the flames?

Is it the eternal power

of the universe?

The conversion of mass

into energy?

The Furies at work?

Whatever his motive,

it is not appreciated.

Hey!

Soapsuds all around

Little bubbles on the ground

Rub a dub a dub

in her little tub

W-What's the condition?

Jesus, Richie, I c--

I can't remember.

I went to school years ago.

God if you-if you pay

attention in class...

You hated school.

What? No, I didn't, I liked it.

I liked school

but-but I had to quit,

we were poor

you know, I had to work.

I was lucky.

I was lucky. I-

I had some talent.

You know, I-I was a-

I was a--

I was a very promising

young actress.

Oh, God. Oh, God, if you could've

seen me in some of those shows...

Let me show you a couple of

pieces but this is-this--

-Again?

-this is from Dulcey, okay?

You know, I know I

showed you these pieces

but I never know if you're

paying any attention.

I wore this in Dulcey, look at

that, it's not real, but, you know.

-I've seen it.

-Isn't it beautiful?

God, look at that, it's--

let me show you this uh...

Wait, did I show you the, uh,

the piece from the musical?

-Yes.

-from--okay?

I don't know if I did,

I had an incredible voice,

you know, I almost

got the lead in that show

and the-the girl who

got the part...

she was fat.

I had a much better

voice than her.

Is that where you met Dad?

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah, your-your real

father was a drummer.

He played jazz music.

God, he had perfect rhythm.

Oh! It was quite amazing.

And he also had black hair and...

he had...he had green eyes...

-Oh.

-Where is my father?

My real father?

I told you many times.

Gone.

A rainy day at the beach.

Time off for me.

Nobody swims during

a lightning storm.

I guess this is as good

a time as any to tell you.

I'm having an affair with Ginny.

Humpty's wife.

Let me fill you in on that.

It started at the

beginning of the summer.

At that point, I didn't know

either Humpty or Ginny.

I saw the harbor lights

They only told me

we were parting

The same old harbor lights

That once brought you to me

I watched the harbor lights

How could I help

if tears were starting

Goodbye to tender nights

And then, at the end of a

cloudy day, it started to rain.

And the last few stragglers were

packing up and leaving the beach.

And suddenly, this

kind of interesting woman

comes walking along

the water's edge.

And the dramatist in me

sensed she was in

some kind of trouble

because her body language

read "vulnerable"

and "desperate."

Miss...

you can't be out here right now.

Everybody has to go in.

We're expecting lightning storms.

What?

Yeah, we gotta-we gotta go in.

We gotta clear the beach.

Really?

Yeah, we gotta go in.

Yeah, I've...I've been

all over the world.

I went to NYU and

right when I started, boom.

The japs hit Pearl Harbor.

So, after I got out,

went back to school and

now I'm workin' to

get my Master's.

But I-I don't resent

my years in the Navy.

I mean, I really saw the world.

You ever travel?

Not really.

No place magical.

You wanna know the

best place I ever saw?

Where's that?

Bora Bora.

I heard of it.

It's over by Tahiti where

Gauguin ran away to paint.

The water there...

so clear and unspoiled.

You can look down and see

all the bright-colored fish.

Bright red and yellow fish.

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