MAISIE’S DEAD: Act Two, SCENE 1
Maisie’s Dead: A Comedic Tale of Love and Marriage
Copyright © 2007 by William D. Coffey, All rights reserved
Act Two, SCENE 1: Friday afternoon again, the senior apartment
FRIDAY AFTERNOON AGAIN, continuation of first scene in Act One. Jessie’s apartment. The Scrabble game continues.
JESSIE
…that … floozie… and her…her wretched pile of husbands. I wish I could just fly back to last Sunday night and erase that damned phone call!
GERMAINE
Well, you can’t. But the game’s not over yet, let’s see how it turns out.
MAUD [placing letters]
…B …L …A …B… Your turn Jessie. Think you can top Germaine’s triple word score?
JESSIE
NO! Nor do I want to try! Here, I’ll play off your B: …I …G… “BIG.”
GERMAINE
And I’ll just add …A …M …Y… Bigamy! Double word score!
JESSIE
Germaine! What if Frieda sees that? Not to mention your other bell ringer!
[phone rings]
Talk about timing! [she stretches to lift receiver] Hello?…
FRIEDA [voice over speakerphone]
Mama, buzz the door and let me in.
JESSIE [hangs up and turns back to table]
Oh!… OK… She’s by herself. I hope that’s not a bad sign.
MAUD
Did you do the buzzer? [phone rings again]
JESSIE [stretches to receiver again]
Hello?…
FRIEDA [voice over speakerphone]
Mama, press the confounded buzzer! You forgot to unlock the door again!
JESSIE
Oh!… haha … I did it again! [audible buzz as she presses phone button]
GERMAINE
I think I heard the tizzy in her voice.
MAUD
Jessie, do you think Frieda might look at our board?
JESSIE
OH! Game’s over! You both win! [she lifts the board and pours letters into the box]
MAUD
Germaine won! She even had the highest score. [Frieda enters] Hello Frieda dear.
FRIEDA
Hello Mama, Maud, Germaine. Mama, can we go for a walk?
JESSIE
Honey, it’s all right, Maud and Germaine already know there’s some awful problem with the Mississippi man. We’re all friends here, and we turn to each other when we have things we need to talk about. What was it you didn’t want to say over the phone?
FRIEDA
Those husbands are driving me crazy! I never know when they’re going to straggle in from the barn, barge into my kitchen looking for coffee… especially that Clyde. He even gets in the refrigerator when my back is turned! Privacy is dead at my house!
MAUD
As bad as all that?
FRIEDA
It’s worse! I don’t know how these poor old boys paid the bus driver to get here. They’re all living from hand to mouth. One of them “borried” five dollars from John this morning. How far can you go on five dollars? If I didn’t feed them they’d starve!
JESSIE
What about this man from Mississippi? Do the other men know what he told you?
FRIEDA
They do not! I told him to get the details for me and not to tell the others!
JESSIE
Well… why not?
FRIEDA [she paces]
Mama, it’s about you! Do you think I want those galoots talking about my mother out there in that barn?
JESSIE
About me? For heaven’s sake! What are you talking about?
FRIEDA
Mama… I have to tell you something.
JESSIE
All right, go ahead and tell me.
FRIEDA
It might be awful.
JESSIE
Might be awful? What do you mean it might be?…
…to be continued…
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