Leading Men

by Christopher Castellani

  (A disco song begins to play. She gestures toward the jukebox.)

  Take those two. Regulars. One of them’s a dark beer, the other’s a scotch neat. Don’t ask me which is which. Either my eyesight’s slipping or they’re identical twins.

  TENN

  Perhaps they’ve got the same daddy.

  GISELE

  (laughs)

  We’ll see by the end of the night.

  TENN

  (a beat. He stirs his drink with his fingers)

  What do they say Teddy’s got, the gay cancer?

  GISELE

  They don’t know for sure. Or they won’t say. Or he won’t tell me the truth. But it looks—(she interrupts herself). We hope it’s spared him. He might tell you. Will you write him again?

  TENN

  I will write him a long letter. Better yet, I will put said long letter into the mail. I will pay young Teddy’s passage home and find him the best care available.

  GISELE

  That’s not necessary.

  TENN

  This place can’t provide you with much.

  GISELE

  I’m getting by. Thank the Goddess for thirsty homosexuals.

  (She refills his drink)

  These are on the house.

  TENN

  (He raises his glass to toast her)

  Who needs the Goddess when I have Her archangel!

  (He stands, leans over the bar and kisses her on the lips. Rather than sit back down, he remains standing, swaying to the disco beat.)

  GISELE

  Speed kicking in already?

  TENN

  (He addresses the following monologue to Gisele, even after she leaves the room through the saloon-style doors and returns, half listening to his drunken speed-fueled rambling, which she does throughout. Every so often, she refreshes his drink or nods at him.

  In the meantime, the YOUNG PATRON enters and exits the bar through the same door, visiting the jukebox, dancing, conversing with Gisele in mime. Each time he comes in, he carries a drink in a different glass. He fits Gisele’s exact description of mustache, open-collared white shirt, skintight pants. He doesn’t glance at Tenn until he becomes MARK later in the scene. It is essential that the same actor plays each version of this man.)

  Key West is the only place that’s been a home to me. The only place that provides me with the peace and quiet I need. With the right help, I can work and swim and sleep with no disturbance. I can’t bear the winter or the holidays anywhere but on this queer little island. Did I tell you I’ll be moving to Bangkok next month? You think that sounds strange, but let me tell you: they revere men of letters in the East, men who are taught in American universities. If I die out there, I want my ashes flown back and scattered in the Gulf of Mexico, as close as possible to where Hart Crane threw himself into the sea.

  I called every boy I knew down here when Julie cleaned me out. I begged them to help me. I came to this very barstool seeking your counsel. I knew you were gone. I was hoping you’d come back early, hoping you’d bring Teddy, hoping for some good news. Rafe must have told you I got to crying. I’m not ashamed of it. I’ve never been ashamed to show emotion. Mark was here—you know Mark, the blond who sings torch songs at the Orchard—

  (Gisele nods)

  I caught his big blue eyes drowning in pity for me. So I went to him

  (He gets up out of his chair and walks toward the YOUNG PATRON, who is standing by the jukebox)

  and I took the umbrella out of his daiquiri and I tucked it behind his ear. “You feel sorry for me, do you?” I asked him. He had fear in his eyes.

  YOUNG PATRON/MARK

  (fearfully)

  Of course not, Mister Williams.

  TENN

  Then he saw I was teasing him and he took my hand and kissed it.

  YOUNG PATRON/MARK

  (kisses his hand)

  TENN

  (to Mark)

  All you boys suck up to me. I can make you a star with the snap of my fingers. Would you like to be a star, baby?

  YOUNG PATRON/MARK

  I sure would.

  TENN

  Then sing something special for me later.

  YOUNG PATRON/MARK

  Anything for you, Mister Williams.

  TENN

  (to Gisele)

  He’s a slut, of course, but very sweet about it. At the end of the night, he did as I asked, he serenaded me right here. We were the last ones in the bar—

  YOUNG PATRON/MARK

  (sings the entirety of Irving Berlin’s “What’ll I Do,” with backing)

  TENN

  (emotional, claps for him as he slowly exits)

  Mark was kind enough to drive me home

  YOUNG PATRON

  (walks back in carrying a different drink, so as to indicate that he is no longer Mark)

  TENN

  and the next night he was gone, too, off to sing his torch songs at some no-name piano bar on Islamorada. He wrote down the name of the place and the directions for me before he walked out.

  (to the Young Patron)

  Don’t you know I can get you gigs in New Orleans or New York?

  (the Young Patron shakes his head, exits)

  GISELE

  You’re too good to these boys, Tenn. They take advantage.

  TENN

  (not quite listening to her)

  The critics say my plays are melancholy. They say I keep covering the same territory. But I tell you, I’ve never written a play as melancholy as this one you’ve got a front row seat for, this melodrama of the old man in the disco bar. There is no territory so bleak as this.

  (stands)

  You think I put on this suit and chapeau, covered myself from head to toe, to appear distinguished? It’s to hide the burst capillaries, the liver spots, the knots of blue-black veins on my legs. Look at my hands—they’re as gnarled as mangrove roots. Do you have gloves I can borrow? A ski mask? No, it’s essential they know my identity. That they recognize my face, my trademark honey-soaked drawl.

  (laughs bitterly)

  If I’m too good to these boys, Gisele, it’s not for their sake. It’s not charity. Their touch, brief and phony as it is, is the only thing capable of expelling the demons. Such relief, for just a moment, it’s as sweet as love. That’s who comes into this bar night after night—boys eager to play the role of exorcist. The kinder ones wait until the sex is through to take my money.

  GISELE

  Rafe said he couldn’t get you to stop talking this way. He tried, though, didn’t he? You were telling him stories about Frank.

  TENN

  I unloaded that on him, too, did I? I don’t remember. Oh, the blue devils have really come home to roost. I can’t shake them alone. It’s Frankie I go back to, more and more. The same goddamned territory. If I could find my way out of it, don’t you think I would? Wouldn’t anybody?

  FRANK

  (enters, stands at the jukebox, not far from the Young Patron, beside the rose bush. He wears tight blue jeans and a white T-shirt, his hair slicked back fifties-style. He keeps his head down, but looks up from time to time, knowingly, at Tenn, who has yet to notice him)

  TENN

  I do recall Rafe saying he had something to lift my spirits. How kind he was to come through. How kind you both are. I wish I deserved such kindness.

  (notices Frank, stares at him for a long moment, transfixed)

  Who is that man?

  GISELE

  (after a quick glimpse)

  Hmm, that’s one I haven’t seen before.

  TENN

  You don’t see what I see?

  GISELE

  What do you see?

  TENN

  He’s the spitting imag
e!

  GISELE

  Spitting image of who, Tenn?

  TENN

  Of Frankie!

  GISELE

  (looks more closely at him)

  Well, now that you say it.

  FRANK

  (holds Tenn’s gaze, runs his fingers through his hair, smiles coyly, flirtatiously, seductively)

  TENN

  (takes a step toward the man, trancelike, looks him up and down, still transfixed)

  GISELE

  You all right, Tenn? Let me get you some water. Better yet, let me find somebody to drive you home. I won’t hold you hostage any longer. I’m feeling a little better. Teddy wouldn’t want me moping over him.

  (exits)

  FRANK

  (walks toward Tenn, hands in his pockets, stands before him at arm’s length)

  Hello, Tenn.

  TENN

  (looks behind and around him, guiltily)

  Frankie?

  (tenderly, in amazement)

  What are you doing here?

  FRANK

  I wanted to see you again. I’ve missed you.

  TENN

  (holds the man’s shoulders, as much to keep himself standing as to touch him to make sure he’s not a hallucination. He rubs his arms, squeezes his muscles. He lays his palms, priestlike, on his cheeks)

  But how can it be?

  FRANK

  I’ve been here all night, waiting, hoping you’d recognize me. I didn’t know if you would, it’s been so many years. You’ve been doing a lot of talking over there, Tenn. A lot of feeling sorry for yourself.

  TENN

  I don’t understand.

  (rubs his eyes)

  What was in those pills? Where’s Rafe?

  FRANK

  I look pretty good, don’t you think?

  (turns around, shows off his body)

  TENN

  You look—you’re all better.

  FRANK

  (winks)

  Strong as a horse.

  TENN

  (Impulsively, emotionally, Tenn embraces him. Tenn holds him tightly, both of them swaying. He kisses the top of his head and down to his ears and lips. The two men fall passionately against the jukebox. Gisele enters, sees them, shakes her head bemusedly, goes about her work.)

  FRANK

  Can you please take me home now? To our old place? I’ve missed it oh so much.

  TENN

  I’ll take you anywhere you want, Frankie.

  FRANK

  Then take me home.

  (Frank grabs him by the front of his belt and pulls him, still kissing passionately, into the bedroom. As they cross into it stage right, the lights come on, including the bedside lamp. Tenn throws off his suit jacket, and they fall upon the bed. Frank lies back on it, his T-shirt riding up to reveal taut muscular abdominals. Meanwhile, and throughout the rest of Scene One, Gisele continues her work at the bar, the YOUNG PATRON walks in and out with different drinks, conversing with her in mime, playing the jukebox, etc.)

  TENN

  You stayed young.

  FRANK

  Because I never left you. I was with you every day. You just couldn’t see me until now.

  (He kicks off his shoes and slowly undoes the button of his jeans)

  TENN

  Sit up, Frankie. I want to see your face.

  FRANK

  But my face is not my best feature.

  (laughs, turns over on his stomach, and, in the style of a striptease, starts to pull his jeans down over his buttocks with his thumbs. Tenn stops him before any skin is exposed. Playfully he turns him back over, and they lie beside each other, Tenn propping his head up with his elbow)

  TENN

  Come on, Frankie. Talk to me.

  FRANK

  I’d rather hear you talk.

  TENN

  But I’ve been talking too much, you said.

  FRANK

  (bites the nail on his right thumb, flicks it onto the floor)

  What’s the use of talking, anyway? I don’t have too long. I wish I did. I wish I could stay with you forever.

  TENN

  (looking down the length of Frank’s body. He traces a scar that runs from his hip across his abdomen)

  When did they open you up?

  FRANK

  (a pause)

  You don’t remember?

  TENN

  (covers the scar with his palm)

  I wasn’t there when you needed me. I didn’t trust you. I treated you like a whore and a thief. But I’ve been punished for it, Frankie, punished with a lifetime of suffering, with one flop of a play after another. Without you I’ve been wandering, cursed as a—

  FRANK

  Don’t say that, Tenn.

  TENN

  Do you forgive me?

  FRANK

  (without hesitation)

  Of course I forgive you.

  (He takes Tenn’s hand, tenderly, and squeezes it)

  TENN

  The Rose Tattoo was the only goddamn thing I wrote that had anything to say about love.

  FRANK

  (laughs)

  Now you’re really talking crazy.

  TENN

  (beseechingly)

  Did you hate me, Frankie? By the end? I don’t blame you if you did.

  FRANK

  I never hated you.

  TENN

  How can I believe you?

  FRANK

  Believe me. It’s all right. It’s in the past.

  (He pulls his T-shirt over his head and switches off the lamp. The room and the bar are now equally dim.)

  See? The past. You don’t have to worry about it anymore.

  TENN

  How long do you have?

  FRANK

  Until morning. A few more hours. Enough time for all of it.

  (He unbuttons Tenn’s shirt but leaves it on him)

  TENN

  You can’t even look at me. I’m so old and ugly now.

  FRANK

  (runs his hand up and down Tenn’s bare chest)

  You’re as handsome as the day we met.

  (He leans in to kiss him on the lips)

  The best day of my life, you know. Do you remember what I was wearing?

  TENN

  Will you say you love me?

  FRANK

  (without hesitation)

  I love you. I bet you don’t even remember where I first saw you.

  TENN

  Will you say, “I love you, Tenn”?

  FRANK

  (laughs)

  Is there someone else here you think I’m talking to?

  TENN

  Just say it, please, Frankie. Just like that.

  FRANK

  (takes Tenn’s face in his hands)

  I love you, Tenn.

  (releases him, tenderly)

  That better?

  (The curtain begins to lower. Gisele stops wiping down the bar so that she can watch and listen.)

  TENN

  Just keep saying it. Will you do that for me? Keep saying those words, like you just did? I won’t ask any more favors. You’ve done so much already.

  GISELE

  (flicks a light switch behind the bar. BLACKOUT)

  SCENE TWO

  (The next day. The bar clock is set to two p.m. Light fills the entire stage. The curtain opens on Gisele sitting behind the bar, her hair pulled up and secured with pins, wearing a more modest blouse. She drinks a cup of coffee and turns the pages of a newspaper unfolded on the bar while the Young Patron mops the floor. Tenn is alone in bed, asleep, in a white undershirt. A sheet covers hi
s torso. The offstage sound of a flushed toilet and running water wakes him. He sits up on his palms and looks around, bewildered. The door beside the bed opens and Frank enters, his hair tousled and no longer slick, wearing only a pair of boxer shorts, clearly in a hurry. In his left ear is a tiny diamond stud he was not wearing in Scene One.)

  FRANK

  (smiling down at Tenn as he crosses the room)

  You’re awake.

  TENN

  (regards him quizzically)

  FRANK

  (Scanning the room, he finds his jeans thrown across the rocker, and pulls them up over his boxers. He picks up his shirt from the floor and puts that on as well.)

  Shoes!

  (He puts his hands on his hips, somewhat mincingly)

  If I were my new leather sandals, where would I be hiding?

  (He squats down and locates them under the bed. He sits beside Tenn to put them on. He pats Tenn’s leg kindly but patronizingly.)

  I’m all set to go. But I can be back in a few days if you want.

  TENN

  Who the fuck are you?

  FRANK

  You don’t remember? I’m Frankie!

  TENN

  Get that thing out of your ear.

  FRANK

  Oh shit.

  (He removes it)

  Sorry, man. Frank would’ve never worn an earring, would he? Too butch for that. I hear no one could tell he was a fairy—not to mention a butch bottom!

  TENN

  (leaps up and grabs him by the throat. Tries to push him against the wall, but the young man is too solid. He elbows Tenn in the stomach to stop him from choking him. Tenn gasps, falls back on the bed, breathing heavily)

  FRANK

  Relax, man! What’s your jazz?

  (He steps back, holding his arms out defensively)

  TENN

  Get the FUCK out of my house! Don’t call yourself Frankie.

  FRANK

  But I am! I was! Don’t tell me you didn’t feel it. I know you did. You gotta admit it. Even I felt it.

  (laughs)

  Some kind of magic, wouldn’t you say?

  (Tenn regards him with stunned horror. Frank gathers his breath and speaks more gently, puts his arms down.)

  I swear, man, I didn’t mean any harm by it. I give you my word. And listen, I gotta drive to my sister’s in Lauderdale. I can come back next week if you want. I don’t mind the drive. We can do this all over again. No earring, I promise. I’ll butch it up again for you.

  TENN

  What do you want from me? Money?

  FRANK

  No, sir! No need for it.