Wonder Wheel Page #3

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And-And the flowers are amazing.

And at night,

you never saw stars like

that on this planet.

You can actually read

by starlight.

And what are you gonna write?

Plays about human life.

Great tragic plays where

the protagonist gets crushed

because of some fatal weakness.

Like what?

My tragic flaw is

I'm too romantic a character.

You ever hear that song, uh,

"I Fall in Love Too Easily"?

You always...

think a person's tragedy

is their own fault.

No.

Fate plays a big role.

But more stuff in life is out of our

control than we'd like to admit.

Except...

I brought my troubles on myself.

Yeah.

I guessed that when I saw you.

I thought, "She's very pretty, but

somewhere there's a tragic flaw."

Yeah...

I made a mistake.

But that was years ago.

I'll never make that mistake again.

Yes...?

I have to go.

Hey...

You think you'll make it down

to the beach again soon?

Yeah, I might.

I might.

Where'd you go today?

Came home late.

I took a walk on the beach.

That's unlike you.

I was in a funny mood.

Meh.

Hey...

You wanna go to Yankee

Stadium Sunday?

It's the Red Sox.

It's not me, Humpty.

For the millionth time,

I don't care about baseball.

You used to go!

I tried to get interested

for your sake. I couldn't do it.

You wanna go,

I got an extra ticket?

I wanna go to the movies.

You know what?

You're gonna hurt your

eyes in so many movies.

You're just like your mother,

she lives on that

crap on the radio.

She thinks it's real.

I wanna be honest

with you, Mickey.

I'm married.

I'm a married woman.

I wanna be honest

with you, Mickey.

I'm a married woman.

I'm married, Mickey.

I feel strange mentioning it.

Now that you asked.

I got myself into

a bad situation.

I got myself--I got myself

into a bad situation.

You're right, I had...

I had notions about

ending everything.

I thought about drowning.

Of course, with a kid,

that's not an option.

Besides...

you would've dived in

and ruin my dramatic finale.

I feel trapped.

I feel trapped.

I saw the harbor lights

Ginny did come back

to the beach.

And she looked sexy.

And I knew a spot

on the far end of the boardwalk.

The same old harbor lights

That once brought you to me

I watched the harbor lights

I have something to tell you.

Two things...to tell.

Nothing you could

tell me could put

the slightest shadow

on this evening.

I'm not 35.

I'm 38.

I'm 39.

Well.

That's a very hot age

for a woman.

I'm a very lucky guy.

I-I'm old-older than you.

What's the second thing?

I'm married.

You are?

I have a husband.

And a child from

my first marriage.

You thought uh, you thought

it would spoil everything, right?

Has it?

It's not the first time I found

a married woman beautiful.

I ruined my life by--

by being unfaithful once and

now I'm doing it again.

You brought about your own

downfall by being unfaithful?

It was someone I loved.

A drummer

whose rhythm pulsated with life.

And we married and

had a child and...

he adored me.

And yet...

yet I cou--

couldn't resist the

beautiful young man

in the cast who

played Marchbanks.

God, he wasn't even the

leading man but he--

but he kissed me

onstage every night

and I started looking forward

to those kisses and

and uh...

I wound up in his bed and

and then my-

my husband found out and

and it crushed him.

Oh, he deserved so

much better than me.

I b-I broke his heart.

Humiliated, he ran away.

I didn't blame him for going

as far from me as he could.

And when he left,

I learned for the first

time what love was.

But I was too late.

Because he was gone.

And I started coming apart.

Oh, I-I couldn't act anymore,

I couldn't keep my

mind on my role. I...

I-I-I forget my lines,

miss my cues,

and I drank,

and-and I lost work.

And Harold--

Humpty who was

also a lost soul

met me at a diner and thought

I was the prettiest thing.

The belle of the ball.

And we helped one another

scramble back onto our feet

and it's been five years and-

and I owe him a lot.

But just as I learned from my

first husband what love was...

I...

I learned from Humpty

what it was not.

It's not gratitude,

it's not company.

And it's not going through the

motions of love-making when

you have so much to give

and no one you really

want to give it to.

Coney Island washboard

she would play

And so, it was a

pretty intense summer

and not just the humidity.

I was involved in a relationship

with an older ex-actress--

unhappily married,

and love-starved.

She made up one lie after another

to filch time to see me.

The little thimbles on her

fingers made the noise

She played Charleston

on the laundry for the boys

She could rag a tune

Right through the knees

of a brand new suit

Of Easy Breezers

I've never been to

Greenwich Village.

It's got a lot of meaning

for me, all the

artists and writers

I love hung out here

and it's close to school.

Remember, it's nothing

but a rented hole.

Wow.

Well, it's cozy.

That was very tactful.

These beautiful gardens.

How do you find these places?

My fantasy is that

is you write a play

with a character in it

I could play.

"Making her triumphant

return to the stage...

-"Miss Virginia--"

-Virginia DeLorean

Virginia DeLorean--

Not Ginny Javelin.

-Wow.

-"In tonight's performance...

"the part of Juliet

will be played by

Virginia DeLorean."

I love it. That was

your maiden name?

No, my real name

was Westlake but-

but I took DeLorean as a-

as a stage name.

Hm.

God, all that summer stock

and hard work so

so I could afford acting

lessons just so I could

just so I could wind up

playing the part of a waitress

in a clam house.

I am playing a part.

You know, its not me.

It's not me-you think-

what-you think it's me?

-No, I...

-Oh, God.

I-I mean, I act it everyday

but I'm acting.

I'm not a waitress in a-

in a clam house.

There's more to me than that.

I-I-I mean, I-I'm just playing the

thankless role of-of the waitress.

Hey, hey.

Ginny, wha--

I'm sorry, I'm unraveling.

Promise me

we'll come back here.

She had less trouble

slipping away

after Humpty's

daughter showed up

because he was so happy

to see Carolina back.

Guess which number

came in today.

Ooh, which?

Mine's.

300 bucks.

This is for your night school.

Good, because

I have one picked out.

Good, 'cause I don't want you

waitressing all your goddamn life.

Soapsuds all around

Little bubbles on the ground

Rub a dub a dub

in her little tub

All those tunes she found

The little thimbles on her

fingers made the noise

She played Charleston

on the laundry for the boys

She could rag a tune

Right through the knees

of a brand new suit

Of Easy Breezers

Coney Island Washboard

roundelay

Hey, you Humpty?

Yeah.

Frank Adatto says hello.

He's very upset because

his wife's gone missin'

and we're tryin' to find her.

Ah.

Since uh, she's you daughter,

we thought we'd check with you.

Well... I haven't seen

Carolina in years.

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