People Live Here

by George F. Walker

  MARCIE: Just for another couple of weeks.

  JO: It’s a suspension.

  MARCIE: An unjust suspension.

  AMIE: So was mine.

  JO: Not really. Tell her how often you showed up for work high.

  AMIE: Yeah, I could do that, or I could continue to give her my input on buying a house. (to MARCIE) It’s a lost cause. Totally out of the question. I’m sorry, but that’s definitely the truth as far as I see it. (to JO) I mean, unless you can convince Ruben to chip in.

  MARCIE: Who’s Ruben?

  AMIE: The new man in her life.

  MARCIE: You told me his name is Craig.

  JO: Right. (to AMIE) It’s Ruben?

  AMIE: Yeah. Unless there’s some other guy named Craig you’ve been seeing.

  JO: I, ah … No. Just him. Why would he tell me his name’s Craig?

  MARCIE: Or Greg.

  JO: Right. Or Greg.

  AMIE: I don’t know. But I know him as Ruben. Ruben Joseph. And he’s loaded. (to JO) He’s in real estate. I mean, that’s what he told me.

  MARCIE: Maybe that’s just what he tells people.

  JO: Instead of what?

  MARCIE: Instead of what he really does, who he really is. Do people in real estate take payments in cheques made out to cash?

  JO: What are you talking about?

  MARCIE: (taking out a cheque) I found this in his wallet. Your friend has a cheque like that from someone named Dean Olsen for $300,000.

  JO: (taking the cheque) This was in his wallet?

  MARCIE: Uh-huh.

  JO: And you took it. I mean, it didn’t just fall out. You didn’t find it on the floor. You actually took it from his wallet.

  MARCIE: Yeah.

  JO: Why, Mum?

  MARCIE: Might be because you were having sex with him on my couch. Maybe it made me feel like I kind of knew him or something.

  AMIE: That makes sense.

  MARCIE: Thanks, dear. (to JO) So?

  JO: What?

  MARCIE: Three hundred thousand dollars? Is that someone owing him a real estate commission?

  JO: I don’t know. Maybe.

  MARCIE: And giving him that kind of cheque for it? That’s normal?

  JO: No. Probably not. But –

  MARCIE: He’s a criminal.

  JO: Mum.

  AMIE: Actually he might be. I mean, if it’s a commission or some kind of fee, why isn’t it made out to him?

  MARCIE: He sounds … risky. He’s a risky individual for sure. (to JO) You can’t be going around with someone like that just before your sentencing hearing. (to AMIE) Tell her.

  AMIE: (to JO) She’s probably right. I mean, I’ve only known him for a few weeks so –

  MARCIE: I thought you went to school with him.

  AMIE: No. No, that was Rick, his friend. (off MARCIE’s look) What? We were all drunk. What’s it matter? This guy. The other guy.

  JO: Well, when you put it that way … Jesus. (to MARCIE) Give me that. (off her look) The wallet … and that cheque.

  MARCIE: You’re gonna give it back to him?

  JO: Yeah. Hand it over.

  MARCIE: Normally I’d have no problem doing that but –

  JO: Mum?

  MARCIE: Are you at least going to ask him for a reward?

  JO: For finding it in our couch?

  MARCIE: My couch. I found it in my couch. It could have belonged to anyone.

  JO: Anyone?

  MARCIE: Anyone you’ve had over in the two months you’ve been staying here. And most of them are long gone, right? So me knowing that, there would’ve been no reason to even mention it. (to AMIE) Right?

  AMIE: She’s got a point.

  JO: No, she doesn’t. It’s too much, Mum. It won’t fly. So hand them over.

  MARCIE just looks at her.

  JO: Mum?

  MARCIE: I’m a little desperate, honey. Couldn’t you just ask for me?

  JO: Ask what?

  MARCIE: If I can get a reward.

  AMIE: That might be kinda awkward.

  MARCIE: Why? She could just say, “My mum found this and she’d like a little something.” All he can say is no.

  AMIE: No, he could say some other things too.

  JO: He could say, “Is your mum fucking nuts?”

  MARCIE: And you could say, “Yeah. But she’d still like a reward.”

  JO: We gotta go.

  AMIE: No. We don’t. I tried to call you but –

  MARCIE: I’ve been on the phone, so –

  AMIE: There was a fire at work.

  JO: When?

  AMIE: Last night. Or maybe early this morning. Anyway the club’s closed.

  JO: Really? For how long?

  AMIE: Forever. The place burned down.

  JO: Jesus …

  AMIE: Yeah, it sucks.

  JO: Right. It does.

  MARCIE: Or maybe it doesn’t. Maybe it’s good. You could take it as an opportunity to try something else.

  AMIE: I don’t know if any of the other clubs are hiring. Out near the airport maybe.

  MARCIE: I didn’t say somewhere else. I said something else. You don’t have to twirl around that stupid pole naked forever.

  AMIE: Who said we did? I’m going to cooking school.

  JO: And I’m going to jail.

  AMIE: (to MARCIE) Yeah. So there you go.

  MARCIE: She’s not necessarily going to jail.

  AMIE: Well, where else do they put convicted kidnappers?

  MARCIE: When it’s their own child they’ve taken, they have to make concessions.

  JO: Yeah. So maybe two years instead of five.

  AMIE: Really? Just two? You can do that, no sweat.

  JO: Ya think?

  AMIE: Sure. I’ve done almost two when you add all my drug convictions together.

  MARCIE: Not really the same thing. My eighteen months were hard on me. I still don’t think I’ve fully recovered.

  JO: Really?

  MARCIE: You think it’s girl party or something? Like that stupid show?

  AMIE: Sometimes it is. But with a lot less sex.

  MARCIE: Yeah … Anyway she could get a lot more time if they find out.

  AMIE: Find out what?

  MARCIE: That she’s been stripping.

  AMIE: That’s an issue? How was she supposed to support herself?

  MARCIE: By doing something else.

  AMIE: Yeah but that would mean changing professions.

  MARCIE: It’s not a profession.

  AMIE: Then what is it?

  JO: If I’m gonna have to do more time, I think I’ll just grab Suzy again and take off.

  MARCIE: There’s that bad part of your brain talking to you again.

  JO: I’m just saying …

  AMIE: Yeah, she’s just talkin’ about something she’d like to do but probably wouldn’t.

  JO: Unless I would.

  MARCIE: Well, I wouldn’t let you.

  JO: You couldn’t stop me. Look, you’ve got enough going on, so don’t worry about what I do, okay.

  MARCIE: You think I can stop worrying about what you do? Just like that? Don’t be stupid. Even with all the other things I’ve got on my mind, I still –

  AMIE: Money problems again?

  MARCIE: Yeah. What else? That’s all I’ve ever had. Money problems.

  AMIE: (sitting) I can lend you a few hundred.

  MARCIE: Every day?

  AMIE: What?

  MARCIE: Three hundred dollars every day for three years. That’s what it’s gonna take to get me in a good-enough situation.

  AMIE: Good enough for what?

  JO: To buy a house.

  MARCIE: Like you were already told.

  AMIE: I thought you dropped that idea.

  MARCIE: When?

  AMIE: When I told you it couldn’t happen.

  MARCIE: So you’re like my financial advisor now?

  JO: She’s right, Mum. Anyone would tell you the same.

  MARCIE: Well, if it�
�s all right with you, I’ll wait until I’m in a position to have the bank tell me. In the meantime both of you should stop stepping on my dreams.

  AMIE’s cellphone rings. She answers it.

  AMIE: (on the phone) Hey, Rick. What’s up? … Yeah I heard. It sucks big time … What? … Wow, that’s …

  JO: What is it?

  AMIE: Three people died in that fire …

  JO: Who were they?

  AMIE: (on the phone) You know who they were? … Jesus.

  JO: Who?

  AMIE: The Riley brothers.

  MARCIE: The owners?

  JO: Yeah … (to AMIE) Who else?

  AMIE: (on the phone) Who’s the third? … Oh. Okay. You all right? … Okay. Well … Yeah. Later.

  She disconnects.

  AMIE: The other one was Ruben.

  JO: What?

  JO seems a little shaken.

  AMIE: He hung around to play pool with the Riley brothers. And they got trapped in the basement.

  MARCIE: I don’t get it. How could he be there when he was here?

  JO: Not all night. He left around two I think.

  JO sits. Stands. Sits again.

  AMIE: You okay?

  JO: Not really. (looking at the couch) It’s kinda –

  MARCIE’s cellphone goes off. She answers it.

  MARCIE: (on the phone) Speaking … Okay. But wasn’t I talking to you yesterday? You think my situation’s changed since then? … How much more? … Okay, but it doesn’t really matter that there’s additional interest because I can’t pay it, right? … Okay, well, I appreciate you letting me know, I guess … Thank you. And you have a good day as well.

  She disconnects.

  MARCIE: Can I see that wallet?

  JO: Why?

  MARCIE: Just hand it over, okay.

  JO obeys. MARCIE digs out the cheque.

  MARCIE: Is there any way this could still be of value?

  JO: He’s dead, Mum.

  MARCIE: I meant to us. I think cheques made out to cash are just like money. I mean, anyone can use them, right?

  JO: Mum.

  MARCIE puts the cheque on the coffee table in front of the couch.

  MARCIE: Let’s just think about that for a while.

  They are all looking at the cheque. MARCIE’s cellphone goes off.

  MARCIE: (answering) Can’t talk now. Call back next week.

  She disconnects.

  JO: I’m scared, Mum. (off the cheque) You’re going to try to cash it, aren’t you?

  MARCIE: Well, someone should cash it.

  AMIE: It belongs to Ruben Joseph.

  MARCIE: He’s dead.

  AMIE: He mighta told the guy who gave it to him.

  MARCIE: Told him what?

  AMIE: That he lost it. You know, so the guy who gave it to him could put a stop payment on it.

  JO: Or he might have told the Rileys. Maybe that’s why he went there so early this morning. To look for it.

  MARCIE: Not to play pool, you mean.

  JO: No …

  MARCIE: Have you checked your cell this morning? He might have texted you.

  JO’s leather jacket is on a chair. She pulls her cellphone out of a pocket.

  AMIE: Can you put a hold on a cheque made out to cash?

  MARCIE: I don’t think so …

  JO: (off her cellphone) Yeah there’s a text. He wanted to know if he left his wallet here.

  MARCIE: You should answer it.

  JO: He’s dead.

  MARCIE: Answer it anyway. We should have it on record that he didn’t leave it here. (to AMIE) Google it.

  AMIE: What?

  MARCIE: “Can you put a stop payment on a cheque made out to cash?”

  JO: I don’t like what’s happening, Mum. You’re trying to put something in motion here.

  MARCIE: It’s a simple investigation of the facts and possibilities.

  AMIE is googling.

  JO: Which makes me feel like you’re about to do something stupid.

  MARCIE: Just relax. We’re not anywhere near that yet. I’m just –

  JO: Investigating. Right. Look, what we really should be doing with it is giving it to his wife.

  MARCIE: Why? You think she needs it?

  JO: I don’t know. And that’s beside the friggin’ point, Mum.

  MARCIE: Says who? (to AMIE) So?

  AMIE: Can’t find anything about that. Maybe we should just try to cash it and see what happens.

  JO: Jesus!

  AMIE: Or we could give it to his wife.

  JO: Do you know her?

  AMIE: Why would I know her?

  MARCIE: (to JO) Yeah. She just took off her clothes for him.

  AMIE: Right.

  MARCIE: And maybe a couple of other things?

  AMIE: No. He was really into Jo.

  MARCIE: Okay … (to JO) So you got to know each other when you were sticking your ass in his face. I guess the subject of his wife never came up then.

  JO: Is this about Dad?

  MARCIE: I’m sorry?

  JO: Because of how he was. (to JO) He cheated a lot.

  MARCIE: Yeah he did. But as far as I know he never did it with strippers.

  JO: As far as you know.

  AMIE: What’s wrong with strippers? I mean, as something on the side. We’re no different than other women who do that.

  MARCIE: Except for the way you get introduced, like I just said. Anyway since we don’t have a way to get the cheque to his wife we should just move on from that.

  AMIE: I could give it to Rick. He probably knows her.

  MARCIE: He also probably knows that a cheque made out to cash is the same as money. What do you think the chances are of him just cashing it himself?

  AMIE: I’d have to say pretty good.

  MARCIE’s cellphone goes off.

  MARCIE: (answering) Not today. Call me next week.

  She disconnects.

  AMIE: You owe a lot of people money, eh?

  MARCIE: Not people. Companies. And they can wait. Maybe for just a little while now.

  JO: Nothing you say can convince me we should do this.

  MARCIE: I haven’t even started trying, so don’t be so sure.

  JO: Jesus …

  MARCIE: I haven’t brought up your daughter yet, have I?

  AMIE: Yeah …

  JO: Whaddya mean, “yeah”?

  AMIE: Well, that money could mean a fresh start for when you get out of prison.

  MARCIE: Or it could mean you never have to go to prison.

  JO: What?

  MARCIE: You could just take off.

  JO: Right. Here we go.

  MARCIE: I don’t like the way you said that. Have I ever advised you to break the law before?

  JO: Only by having me watch you do it.

  MARCIE: What they called fraud was just me being a little late paying people back. Like now.

  JO: What’s that mean, “like now”? You passing bad cheques again?

  MARCIE: Not really.

  JO: Not really, meaning?

  MARCIE: I don’t consider it a bad cheque if you have an honest intention to pay later on.

  AMIE: Sounds like the two of you might be doing some time together.

  JO: You hear that, Mum?

  MARCIE: She was just kidding.

  AMIE: Not really.

  JO: (to MARCIE) If you wind up in prison, Suzy won’t have either of us. It’ll just be Jimmy and his idiot sister in her life.

  MARCIE: All the more reason to get this cheque cashed as fast as possible. Things are kinda closing in on me.

  JO: Things? You mean collection agencies?

  MARCIE: I wish. No, it’s Rocco.

  JO: Who the fuck’s Rocco?

  MARCIE: He was the guy on that flyer I got a few months back. “Need money? Call Rocco” … So I did. Anyway it turns out that Rocco has a very strict payback schedule with very high interest rates.

  AMIE: You mean he’s a loan shark.

  MARCIE: I gue
ss you could call him that.

  AMIE: There’s been a guy called Rocco hanging around the club. (to JO) Big guy. Crazy eyes. He’s a friend of Ruben’s, I think.

  JO: Yeah, I’ve seen him. (to MARCIE) And you owe him how much?

  MARCIE: Well, the interest compounds daily, so that depends.

  JO: But it’s a lot.

  MARCIE: A lot more than I borrowed, yeah.

  JO: Jesus …

  She grabs the cheque.

  MARCIE: What are you doing?

  JO: You’re afraid and you’re desperate. And that’s when you make your biggest mistakes.

  MARCIE: That’s when everyone makes their biggest mistakes, honey.

  JO: Yours are worse. I’m gonna rip this friggin’ thing up.

  MARCIE: No. No, no, no. You can’t do that. It’s money!

  JO: No, it’s trouble.

  AMIE: It could be trouble. But it’s definitely money. And I think we should – (to MARCIE) Am I in for a share?

  MARCIE: Sure. It’s a three-way split.

  AMIE: Great. And that’s … eighty thousand. Okay. Yeah. (to JO) I’m with your mum, sweetie. Let’s go for it.

  MARCIE: Yeah, put it down, Jo. Let’s at least talk about it some more.

  JO: I don’t think so.

  MARCIE: Please.

  AMIE: Yeah. Please.

  MARCIE: Come on. Put it down. We’ll just talk. Okay?

  AMIE: Maybe. Maybe … but there are conditions. You can’t say I could just take off if I had money. You gotta come up with something better. You know, I couldn’t leave Suzy.

  MARCIE: I meant take off with Suzy. You got such a bad deal about her. You lost custody because you didn’t have good representation.

  AMIE: And a drug problem.

  MARCIE: Which she was fighting.

  AMIE: And losing. (to JO) Not all the time. But –

  MARCIE: Even so, they could have given you more time. They didn’t have to be so up their asses about it. They put you in a situation you might never get to fix. But if you use some of this money to get the hell away from here, you and your little girl would have a chance to make it better.

  JO: For how long?

  AMIE: As long as you don’t get caught.

  JO: Jesus …

  AMIE: I’m not saying I’m for the idea. I’m just not totally against it.

  MARCIE: (to JO) Jo? Joanna?

  JO: I’m thinking …

  MARCIE sneaks a look to AMIE.

  MARCIE: Okay, but be brave in your thinking.