Saints Go Marching

__________________________

A full-length play

By Matt Barbot

Draft: October, 2020

Contact:
Matt Barbot
Matt.Barbot@gmail.com
SCENE 1

Upstage, a statue of Saint Ignatius Loyola -

Ignacio - in full 15th century military regalia.

Jo, by a hospital bedside, notices the statue. We

hear an EKG machine.

Distraught and a little nervous, Jo blows off

steam by doing push-ups. Once she gets into a
rhythm, she begins to pray.

Ignacio relaxes, drops his pose. He’s no longer

just a statue.

JO
Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee.
Blessed art thou amongst women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.
Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death, amen.

Calmer, she stands by the bedside.

JO
You’re dying, grandpa. Without the machines keeping you there you’d be... I wish they’d
just... I hate it.
But you can’t die yet. You hear me? There’s a lot left for you to take care of.

The statue joins Jo at Ernesto’s bedside.

IGNACIO
Don’t worry. You’ll talk to him soon.

JO
What if I don’t want to? What if I’d rather he just pulled through?

IGNACIO
All the same.

JO
What, he’s going to haunt me?
 2.

IGNACIO
He’ll visit.

JO
But I don’t want that.

IGNACIO
Sucks.

Jo clasps her rosary.

JO
I had a dream I saw a bright yellow sunflower in a garden and when I went to stroke it, it
dried up and died. What’s it mean? That it died. What’s it mean that it died when I touched
it?
It seems like it means something, right? Like if that were in a book you’d be like,
Hmmmmm what is that a symbol for? Or if you were talking to like a shrink? It would be...
significant.
It just shriveled up.
And I saw grampa there. He was standing on the other side of the flower, in his uniform.
Not old like this, but young like in the pictures mom has of him.

IGNACIO
I don’t know what it means.

JO
Forget it.

IGNACIO
I’m sorry.

JO
I don’t wanna talk to you, either.
I’m going to enlist.

IGNACIO
Is that what you want?

JO
It’s what my dad and my grampa did.

IGNACIO
I was a soldier.
 3.

JO
I can tell.

Jo crosses herself.

JO
Our father, who art in heaven...

She thinks better of it.

JO
(To God.)
Hey, so if this is really how it’s gonna be with your boys showing up to talk to me and I’ve
got, like... if I’m witchy... Hey, I need a miracle, okay? If anybody’s listening? I’ll go to
church again, I’ll do whatever, I won’t eat meat on Fridays, I’ll go to confession I’ll stop
having sex for a while at least I’ll pray I’ll thank you I’ll wear boring old clothes or
whatever just please what do I have to do? What do I have to do to...?
I have an aunt young enough to be my little sister.
What do I do? What now? What next?

She turns to speak to the hospital bed.

JO
(To the hospital bed.)
Don’t die yet. If you die I’ll hate you forever. I won’t forgive you. Neither will Mom. You
can’t just walk out on all this bullshit. You were a shitty guy sometimes, but you cared
about honor. You hear me? Don’t die.
Please.
Please.
Please.

The EKG flatlines.

JO
Fuck you forever.

Jo cries. After a few moments, she takes her cell

phone out of her pocket. She texts.

JO
(Texting.)
We need to talk soon.
 4.

Elsewhere, Miriam appears. She checks the text,

and responds.

MIRIAM
(Texting.)
New phone. Who dis?
Hello?
Hello?
WTF?

JO
(Texting.)
It’s your father’s granddaughter.

A long pause.

MIRIAM
(Texting.)
Oh, shit.
He’s dead, isn’t he.
Oh God.

Miriam disappears. Ernesto is thrown on. He’s a

young man in an old-fashioned military uniform.
He looks between Jo and Ignacio. He doesn’t
seem to know what to say.

ERNESTO
Hey princess.
My warrior princess.
It’s me. Your grampa.

Jo storms out. Ernesto is stuck for a moment. He

looks out the window. He’s upset.

ERNESTO
Why isn’t it raining?

IGNACIO
Ernestito...

ERNESTO
Why. Isn’t. It. Raining?
 5.

IGNACIO
There are Seven Deadly Sins, Ernesto...

ERNESTO
Why are my hands young?

IGNACIO
- and you’re good for, like, six.

ERNESTO
Is everything young again?

Ernesto takes a peek down the front of his pants.

ERNESTO
It’s all young! Hey, take a look at that thing!

IGNACIO
No thank you.

ERNESTO
So why isn’t it raining?

IGNACIO
What’s the problem?

ERNESTO
They say it rains when great men die.

IGNACIO
Well then.

ERNESTO
No. No way. I was great. You hear me?

Ignacio rolls his eyes and exits. Ernesto, alone on

stage, watching where they’ve gone, listening to
the flatline. He’s lost.

Thunder. Rain.

ERNESTO
(Triumphant.)
HA!
 6.

Ernesto dashes off.

SCENE 2

Nate enters with two cups of coffee. Jo is sitting

alone on the curb. She looks up at him. He hands
one cup to Jo, who startles.

NATE
You okay?

JO
Yeah. Is this... did I fall asleep?

NATE
I don’t know. Why?

JO
No reason. Hey, I gotta...

She takes out her phone and stares at it,

expectantly.

JO
Thanks for coming to get me. I don’t want to run into...
It means a lot.

NATE
Yeah, no problem.
Yeah, I mean of course. I mean yeah. I mean you’re my friend. You mean a lot to me. I
mean like we’re. I mean.
Yeah. You okay?
I can go, if...

JO
No, don’t be stupid. It’s just a lot.

NATE
Were you close?

JO
Huh?
 7.

NATE
You and your abuelo.

JO
Grampa.

NATE
Oh.

JO
I never called him that. Just grampa.

NATE
Oh. Right! Of course. I didn’t mean.

JO
That’s not the point, anyway. We’re family. It doesn’t matter if we were close.

NATE
Okay.

JO
I appreciate you going out of your way but if you’re doing it to like prove something -

NATE
No.

JO
- or to like try and win me or something -

NATE
That’s not what I’m trying to do.

JO
Good.

NATE
Yeah.
But. I do love you. Since high school.

JO
That’s creepy.
 8.

NATE
So be it. Consider me pledged to you, like a knight to his lady. I’m TA-ing a course on
medieval literature. It’s not romantic, really, just chivalry. Just duty. A personal comittment.
Like Lancelot to Guinevere. Actually no, that’s no good. I’m Don Quixote and you’re
Dulcinea. Hm. That’s not quite it.
Hello? Jo? Are you waiting for a text from someone?

Jo snaps out of it for a moment.

JO
What?

NATE
Nothing.

JO
It’s just...
You should go, I think. I think you should go. I can call a car. Or walk! I thought I could
call you and thank you, you’ve been a real help through all this, but like I just I think you
should go, now, please.

NATE
I’m not just going to leave you alone, here. This place is terrible.

JO
I’ll be fine. I’ll be fine. I’ve always been fine, okay?
Just.
Between him dying there and my grandma and the War there’s this whole War down south
and out West and I know that’s been forever but things are getting worse and they may
need people again. I’ve been thinking of joining up. I’ve been thinking of enlisting and
going to serve, you know? Like dad and grandpa and... I’ve had a lot of family serve, you
know? There’s war everywhere, now. I can take my pick, maybe.

NATE
What we’re doing around the world is terrible.

JO
It’s better than staying here.

NATE
North Jersey’s not that bad!

JO
You’re right! It isn’t! But I hate it now! I don’t want to hate it. I haven’t done anything. I
can’t do anything, here.
 9.

And then on top of that there’s mom and dad and what the fuck am I doing and you you
mean well man but I just can’t I can’t I can’t be responsible so I need you to leave.
Go.
I have responsibilities, I have obligations. I can’t have this. I don’t want this.
You’re wasting your time, Nate, is what I’m saying.
I don’t want you.
You should go.
Go.

NATE
That’s what I’m saying. I don’t need you to want me. I’m not wasting my time.
You don’t gotta be a martyr.

Nate doesn’t move. Jo slumps in her chair.

NATE
Hospitals are hideous. Everyone in them is at their lowest. Even the visitors. Even the
doctors.

Nate sits beside Jo. Jo rests her head on Nate’s

shoulder.

JO
I’m mad.

NATE
I know. I came as soon as I saw your text.

JO
I’m so, so fucking angry. I didn’t get to -
He just gets to die? To leave? To walk away?
It’s not fair.

NATE
Of course it isn’t.

JO
And my mom. Jesus my mom, how is she going to - ?
And holy shit! She’s not the only one! There are... I don’t know how many! I don’t know
how many I only know one. Holy shit. Holy shit it’s so unfair it’s so unfair fuck shit fuck.
Fuck. Fuck.
 10.

Nate goes to embrace Jo, but she shies away.

She stares at her phone for a while, before giving
up.

JO
What are you reading?

NATE
Don Quixote.

JO
Is that for your class?

NATE
Sort of, but not really. I’m up to the famous part where he’s trying to slay giants but it turns
out they’re windmills.

JO
Oh yeah. Oh yeah, I think my mom has a painting of that.

NATE
Yeah, hanging up in the hallway.

Jo hugs Nate, and squeezes him tight. Ernesto

enters, unsure of himself.

JO
I feel quiet, when you’re around.
Thank you for coming.
Thank you for telling me about your boring book.

NATE
Always.

JO
Can I tell you something crazy?

NATE
Is everything all right?

JO
I don’t know.

NATE
Okay.
 11.

JO
Remember how I said my grandma was like a witch? She did spells and killed chickens
and shit?

NATE
... yeah.

JO
I think I’m like her.

NATE
You kill chickens?

JO
No but I see things.

NATE
What kind of things?

JO
I see my grandpa’s ghost.

NATE
Like in your dreams?

JO
No, like he’s standing right there.

She points. Nate looks. He doesn’t see.

NATE
Do you see other people?

JO
Not really, no.
Well actually.
No.

There’s a long silence. Ernesto and Jo stare at

each other.

NATE
That’s serious. Like, I think that’s a serious thing. That’s not something to mess around
with. Hey, Jo? You hear me? You understand?
 12.

JO
Yeah.

NATE
We should get going.

JO
Yeah.

Nobody moves. Jo and Ernesto keep staring.

End scene.

SCENE 3

Dolores at home with a an enormous Box of

Things.

Ceremoniously, she lowers the box to the

ground. She sits with it for a few moments.

Dramatically, she drapes her body across it.

More moments. She composes herself, sits up,
and begins to open the box.

Slowly, deliberately, she begins to unpack

things. A shaving kit. Army medals. A pistol. A
baseball. A pair of boots. A hammer. A half
empty bottle of rum. Statues of Saint Ignatius,
Saint Joan, and Saint Michael. She places the
objects in a wide circle around the box and, after
surveying her arrangement to make sure it’s just
right, she clears the air above it - sweeping
gestures and hissing breaths - and then sits in the
middle.

More time passes.

Oscar enters, eating chips straight from the bag.

He tries to enter the circle with Dolores, to sit
with her, but she gestures that he should stay
away. He does. He stands, eating chips. They
just share the space for a little while.
 13.

Oscar begins to speak, but Dolores gets there

first.

DOLORES
Don’t.

OSCAR
What?

DOLORES
Don’t say anything. The quiet is good. It’s good for me, right now, Oscar. If you can be
quiet with me you can stay but if you can’t be quiet with me then I need you to go eat your
chips somewhere else.

Moments pass.

OSCAR
(Singing.)
Song sung blue
Everybody knows one
Song sung blue
Every garden grows one

DOLORES
No.

OSCAR
You’ve got a lot of stuff.

DOLORES
Shh.

OSCAR
Dolores, I’m just -

DOLORES
Shhhh.

Moments pass.

OSCAR
Can you hear him?

DOLORES
Oscar, please.
 14.

OSCAR
You used to say your mother could talk to -

DOLORES
I’m listening. I’m being quiet, and I’m listening. Can you be quiet with me, too? I need you
to be quiet with me, too, or I need you to go to the kitchen.

They sit in quiet for a while. Dolores begins to

get frustrated. Maybe she curses to herself.

OSCAR
Maybe you’re tuned wrong. Like a radio. Maybe you’re tuned to the wrong station. Maybe
he’s coming in at a different frequency. Maybe he’s rock and roll and you’re on easy
listening. Or maybe he’s easy listening and you’re tuned to the disco station.

DOLORES
What?

OSCAR
I’m just saying keep trying.

DOLORES
What do you think I’m doing?

OSCAR
I don’t know.

DOLORES
I’m trying.

OSCAR
Okay.

DOLORES
I am.

OSCAR
Okay.

Pause.

OSCAR
I don’t know how to help you.

DOLORES
Shhhhhh.
 15.

Beat.

OSCAR
Did you know Jo wants to enlist.
Hello?
Earth to Dolores.
Your daughter wants to join the army.

DOLORES
Please leave.

OSCAR
What?

DOLORES
I need my quiet time. I need to concentrate. I need you to go.

OSCAR
I think we should talk.

DOLORES
That’s exactly what I don’t want to do.

OSCAR
You sit in the living room, I sit in the basement ... We go to bed and stay on our opposite
sides... and all the time this obsession with silence! What do you hope you’ll hear?

DOLORES
Please.

Oscar begins to leave, singing.

OSCAR
(Singing.)
Me and you are subject to the blues now and then

The door, from off. Keys jangling. Jo enters.

DOLORES
Jo?

JO
Yeah, ma. Hi dad.
 16.

DOLORES
Hi, Jo.

JO
Hi, ma.
How ya doin’?

DOLORES
Not great, Jo.
Been better, Jo.

JO
Yeah.

OSCAR
She can talk? I can’t talk but she can talk? What about quiet time?

DOLORES
If it bothers you so much, go!

OSCAR
I’m just asking why -

JO
Dad.

A standoff. Oscar, grumbling, exits the way he

came.

DOLORES
Come closer, baby.

JO
Nah.

DOLORES
Come closer.

JO
I can’t. Makes me feel funny.

DOLORES
You always been witchy.
 17.

JO
Stop.

DOLORES
It’s true. Nothing to be ashamed of.

JO
Stop.

DOLORES
Your grandmother was witchy.

JO
Ma.

DOLORES
They say it skips a generation.

JO
They say. They say.
You eat?

DOLORES
I’m not hungry. There’s leftovers in the fridge.

JO
I’m not hungry.

DOLORES
They say grief ruins your appetite.

JO
They say.

DOLORES
Is it ruined? Your appetite?

JO
Maybe.

DOLORES
Are you grieving?
 18.

JO
I don’t know.

DOLORES
I don’t know either. Isn’t that funny? Everyone else seems sad. His old buddies are sad,
his old coworkers. But us? Are any of us sad?
I think I’m relieved.

JO
Don’t say that.

DOLORES
But it’s true.

JO
It’s not true.
It’s not.
It’s fucked up of you to say that.
You’re sad.
You’re fucking sad.
I’m sad, too.
It’s settled: We’re sad.

Ernesto enters, and stares for a while.

DOLORES
Are you talking to him?

JO
No, ma.

DOLORES
This is what your grandma would do to talk to spirits. I remembered the way she’d shake
when they’d take her.

JO
I’m sorry.

DOLORES
It’s not working for me.
You know your grandmother left so much behind. You could try, if you wanted, to pick up
some of what she... I remember the first time you shook like her, the way you had with
animals... you were so little!
 19.

JO
It’s time for bed, ma.

DOLORES
I’m not tired.

JO
You should rest.

DOLORES
I have so much to do! I have to plan the funeral! You know they wanted to let that woman
he married deal with the funeral and I thought: No Way. It’s bad enough she’s getting his
burial flag. All that business with the soldiers and the trumpets should have been for my
mom or for me. Next of kin! Ha!

JO
What, you don’t have enough of his stuff, ma?

DOLORES
But for her to have it! That beautiful flag, draped on his coffin, so carefully folded with the
stars sticking out. What about them? Didn’t they have enough of him? He left when I was
half your age, Jo, nearly slipped out of my life. And then when you were born he’d come
creeping back, hide his ring, think everything could be just fine, but I knew... I knew there
was something! And then you grew up and he started to slip away again. And now I’ve got
to negotiate with this woman? This woman who’s practically my age, who was content to
stay a secret? I’ve got to get permission from her? Why did he choose that new family? He
already had one!

Beat. She reconsiders.

DOLORES
He could have had both.

JO
You should rest, mom.

Beat.

DOLORES
Fine.
Will you tell me if you hear from him? There are things I want to say to him. Promise
you’ll tell me.
 20.

JO
Okay, Mom. It’s time for bed.

DOLORES
Yeah.

JO
Yeah.

Slowly, Dolores rises from the ground. She

takes in her circle of objects, and trudges away.

Jo and Ernesto are left together, staring at each

other.

SCENE 4

Father Tim crosses upstage to a bunch of

scattered dirt, reading from notes. When he gets
there, he bends low to inspect it. He kneels, and
begins to gather the dirt into a pile again. As he
inspects, he reads.

TIM
(Reading/rehearsing.)
“Listen! Imagine a sower going out to sow. Now it happened that, as he sowed, some of
the seed fell on the edge of the path, and the birds came and ate it up. Some seed fell on
rocky ground where it found little soil and at once sprang up, because there was no depth
of earth; and when the sun came up it was scorched and, not having any roots, it withered
away.”

He rises and exits.

He reenters with his watering can, and begins to

water the dirt.

TIM
“Some seed fell into thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it produced no crop.
And some seeds fell into rich soil, grew tall and strong, and produced a good crop; the
yield was thirty, sixty, even a hundredfold.’”

He stops. He kneels. He crosses himself, and

folds his hands in prayer. He gropes for words.
 21.

TIM
God.
Lord.
I just.
Look, I don’t know how to do any of this.

He pages through his notes, finds something.

TIM
“The sunflower should be exposed to at least six hours of sunlight per...”

He checks his watch. He pages through his

notebook again.

TIM
“He spoke also of this parable; A certain man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard; and he
came and sought fruit thereon, and found none. Then he said unto...”

He closes his notebook, looking skyward again.

TIM
Nothing grows here.
Amen.

He regards the pile of dirt. With a sudden

frustration, he dashes the pile, scattering the dirt
again.

SCENE 5

Oscar is carefully painting a model airplane.

There’s a different bag of chips beside him on
one side, and Jo sitting on the other side.

Oscar sings to himself.

OSCAR
Where it began,
I can't begin to knowin'
But then I know it's growing strong

JO
Dad.
 22.

OSCAR
Was in the spring
And spring became the summer
Who'd have believed you'd come along.

JO

No.

OSCAR
Hands, touchin' hands
Reachin' out, touchin' me, touchin' you

JO
I hate Neil Diamond.

OSCAR
No you don’t.

JO
What did you want me here for?

OSCAR
I can’t ask to spend time with my daughter?

Beat.

OSCAR
Real airplanes? They use big sprayers to paint them. I’m sure the men who use the sprayers
are very good at what they do, but I prefer this brush. I don’t think I’d paint a real airplane
with a brush, of course - it’s a question of having the right tool for the job. I couldn’t really
use one of those huge spray guns to paint this model, for that matter. The right tool for the
right situation. Some jobs call for subtlety and others for grandeur.

JO
Are you sure you’re okay with these fumes, dad? Are you sure there’s enough,
whaddayacallit, ventilation? Is this room ventilated?

OSCAR
You stink, right now, so I guess not.

JO
Shut up! I was running!
 23.

OSCAR
You under twenty minutes yet?

JO
It’s under twenty to graduate basic training, but to get in you just have to -

OSCAR
You have to set a goal. If you’re gonna do this, you can’t half ass it, you need to
understand the gravity of what you’re -

JO
Okay dad. You’re right.

OSCAR
Have you thought about who’s going to handle your bank account? Your mail? It’s not just
exercise, you have to -

JO
I know! I’ve been... busy. With mom.

Pause.

OSCAR
I tried to get you into model planes. When you were a kid.

JO
I didn’t like the smell of the glue and the paint. And my hands were clumsy. Not steady like
yours.

OSCAR
My hands ain’t steady, it’s just practice. It’s just careful, you know? And that’s right for
these kinds of jobs but not for others. Sometimes you need a lockpick. Sometimes you
need a battering ram.

JO
Fuck are you talking about, Dad?

OSCAR
I’m talking about airplane models.

JO
Okay.
 24.

OSCAR
I love you.

JO
Okay?

Oscar waits.

JO
I love you too.

OSCAR
How do I fix your mother?

JO
Okay.

OSCAR
What do you mean okay?

JO
I mean I don’t know. I mean I’m not sure there’s something there to fix.

OSCAR
You sound like her.

JO
Well then maybe she’s right.

OSCAR
I’m missing something. I know it. I just need to find the key.

JO
It’s hard, is all.

OSCAR
I know! And when something is hard you ask for help. When you have a partner and
something is hard you come to them for what you need, for support, for the solutions and
to commiserate. That’s the whole reason you get married. She doesn’t understand: it
wouldn’t be so hard if she would just let me help. That’s what I’m here for. That’s the
whole point. But how do I show her that? How do I prove it?

JO
Don’t.
 25.

OSCAR
She’s had that box of his things for years but never bothered to open it until now. Every
day the circle of things, every day the... what is she doing? Meditating? Praying? Holding a
seance? Things! He walked out years ago! And - I mean your mother told you about his
other children? His other wife? His other family? The one he kept from us?

JO
Yeah...

OSCAR
Unconscionable.

JO
I guess.

OSCAR
You guess. You guess.
I can’t stand his Things. He didn’t have to be that way.
And she won’t let me in.
What do I do?
You’re not going to tell me, are you?

JO
I’m trying, too.

Pause.

OSCAR
So you’re still thinking of leaving? Joining up?

JO
Yes.

OSCAR
Why?

JO
You did. Grampa did. It’s stable.

OSCAR
Is it what you want to do?

JO
I don’t know.
 26.

OSCAR
Don’t you think you should figure it out? It’s not a hobby. It’s not summer camp. There are
easier ways to not know what you want to do with your life.

JO
I’ve made up my mind.

OSCAR
Have you told your mom yet?

JO
No.

OSCAR
I told her.

JO
Jesus, Dad!

OSCAR
I knew you wouldn’t.

Pause.

OSCAR
What will I do without you? Imagine me, alone here with your mom? I’ll be lost.

Beat.

OSCAR
Do you want to paint an airplane?

Jo picks up a model plane and a brush.

SCENE 6

Nate in a confessional with Father Tim.

NATE
Forgive me father for I have sinned. It has been like a month or something since my last
confession.
 27.

TIM
Tell me your sins.

NATE
I have impure thoughts. My thoughts are mad impure.

TIM
That’s what you said last time.

NATE
And the time before that.

TIM
So what do you have to say for yourself this time??

NATE
Mankind exists in a fallen state.

TIM
I need more to work with. Tell me what’s going on.

NATE
You sure?

TIM
Yes.

NATE
I’m having impure thoughts about having sex with Joanna Delgado.

TIM
Right now.

NATE
Well, just before.

TIM
You were having sexual fantasies about Joanna Delgado.

NATE
Nah. Memories.

TIM
Oh.
 28.

NATE
Beautiful memories. It was beautiful. Just one night.

TIM
So you’re confessing two sins.

NATE
No.

TIM
Impure thoughts and fornication?

NATE
Fornication is an ugly word. It’s ugly on purpose, too. They try to give an ugly name to
something wonderful so that you’ll think it’s disgusting. Fornication sounds like a crime. It
sounds like a skin rash. I didn’t fornicate with Joanna, Father. It was a difficult time, and
our bodies joined together in a moment of weakness and vulnerability and our souls
touched briefly and we formed a perfect circuit. I know about conscience. I know it’s not a
sin if your conscience doesn’t weigh you down, doesn’t tell you it’s -

TIM
Well a properly formed conscience should -

NATE
My conscience is a dented can of beans. It’s a well done burger when you ordered it
medium. My dad was a boxer and his nose is shaped like a lightning bolt - that’s my
conscience, Father. I don’t feel guilty for that night.

TIM
When was this?

NATE
A few years ago.

TIM
And you’re still -

NATE
I know, Father! The thoughts are weird and sometimes they burn me up inside. It’s not all
the time, but... things would be easier if it would stop forever.

TIM
Have you tried not talking to Joanna?
 29.

NATE
Never.

TIM
Well that seems like a good place to start.

NATE
I’ve sworn myself to her. She’s my lady.

TIM
That’s weird.

NATE
It is now. But it wasn’t, once. I read. It’s called chivalry. Most people think chivalry is just
holding open doors and pulling out chairs but it’s actually a complex system of honor and
conduct for knights of the realm. It’s not romantic, I just want to... I have a duty, as a
friend, to...

TIM
You’re not a knight.

NATE
So what? I think she likes having me around. I hope she does.

TIM
If you’re not sorry and you don’t plan to change, I don’t know how to absolve you.

NATE
So my soul exists in an imperiled state.

TIM
Maybe.

NATE
I’m worried that I’m, like, mad imperiled right now.

TIM
They say God helps those who help themselves.

NATE
That’s dumb.

Nate stands and leaves.

 30.

Tim crosses upstage to his scattered dirt, and

bends low to inspect it. He kneels, and begins to
gather the dirt into a pile again.

He rises and exits. He reenters with his watering

can, and begins to water the dirt.

SCENE 7

Jo is pacing, looking at her phone. Dolores’

Circle of Things is still out. She carefully threads
her way through it as she paces.

Ignacio enters. He has a limp.

IGNACIO
Is it safe for you to talk to me, now?

JO
Go away.

IGNACIO
“Contribute to the needs of the Lord’s people; be hospitable to strangers.”

JO
Is that from the Bible?

IGNACIO
Obviously.

JO
Is this a dream? Did I space out again?

Ignacio doesn’t respond. Jo continues her work

of tidying up the place.

IGNACIO
Your grandfather and I have become acquainted.

JO
So?
 31.

IGNACIO
I think you’ll have to talk to him.

JO
Have to?

IGNACIO
I don’t think you or I or anyone can stop him. You’re like an antennae: you pick up all sorts
of static.

JO
Oh, so you had lots of antennae in the renaissance or whatever?

IGNACIO
So you do know who I am.

JO
Saint Ignatius Loyola, right? He had a statue of you.

IGNACIO
What you’re doing now - what you’re about to do - what you’re planning on? I wish you’d
take more time to reflect. I’m big on reflection. It’s kind of my thing. Reflect on your
actions - reflect on your failings.

JO
She’s on her way now so what do you want from me?

IGNACIO
Compassion. Forgiveness. An open heart.

JO
Nah.

IGNACIO
Honesty with yourself? About what you want? You can’t lie to me. Is it worth it? A flag?
Think of all the other things you can gain.

Jo’s phone buzzes with a text. Jo checks her

watch, checks the text.

JO
She’s here.
 32.

Jo leaves the room. Ignacio lingers. Off, there’s a

door opening. Ignacio surveys the circle of
things, and thinks better of staying. He leaves.

Jo re-enters with Miriam in tow, a younger

woman, quiet. Jo directs Miriam to the couch,
and the latter girl crosses to sit. Jo, on the other
hand, remains pacing.

JO
Hi.

MIRIAM
You already said that.

JO
So?

MIRIAM
At the door, you already -

JO
So?

MIRIAM
Hi, I guess.

JO
So what I already said it?

MIRIAM
Nothing I don’t mean anything by it it’s just funny you know it’s just usually not
something you -
It doesn’t matter, though.
Hi.

JO
Hi.
Uh.
Sorry about the front door. I mean sorry we gotta keep this all a secret or whatever, sorry
about that. I just can’t have my mom knowing, right? I can’t have that it would be all
complicated.
 33.

MIRIAM
Right. Your mom.
How old are you, again?

JO
Why?

MIRIAM
I’m just curious, is all. Because then how old is -

JO
Thirty. I’m thirty. Why, how old are you?

MIRIAM
Twenty-three.

JO
Fuck.

MIRIAM
Did your mom have you young, or...?

JO
Not especially young, no. Why?

MIRIAM
It’s just -

JO
Why?

MIRIAM
It’s just it’s weird, is all. To have a sister as old as -

JO
Stop.

MIRIAM
And you’re my -

JO
Don’t. Don’t say it. Don’t talk about it.

MIRIAM
Oh, okay.
 34.

JO
I mean yeah. It’s weird.

MIRIAM
Right.
You have a lovely home.

JO
Yeah thanks.

MIRIAM
Have you always lived here or - ?

JO
Look I don’t know how long my mom’s going to be out of it so I can’t just sit around
talking like this, okay? We’ve got stuff to talk about. There’s stuff to cover. We need to,
like, focus. We need to talk about the burial. We need to talk about his funeral.

MIRIAM
No I mean I thought your mom and my mom were, like -

JO
I need you to tell your mom that I get the burial flag.

MIRIAM
What?

JO
I need it.

MIRIAM
Flag?

JO
See? Don’t worry about it. You’ve never heard of it, it doesn’t matter.

MIRIAM
No.

JO
It’ll be fine. I’m not asking for anything else. Nothing except what’s in the will, or
whatever. I don’t know what’s in the will. I’m just saying. Not much, probably. I need the
burial flag.

MIRIAM
I just think maybe you should have your mom talk to my mom -
 35.

JO
No.

MIRIAM
- or maybe you should talk to my mom -

JO
No.

MIRIAM
Look, stop, okay, just stop. Stop. No. I don’t understand. I never even met you and you’re
asking me a lot so just -

JO
No.

MIRIAM
STOP just stop just stop, okay? Stop. I didn’t know you existed before two weeks ago.
Not specifically, just that my dad had another daughter somewhere about my mom’s age
and and and now you’re making like demands? How is that okay? Huh? How? I’m your
tía! Okay? Your mom is my sister! I thought I would get to meet my sister today!

JO
Half-sister.

MIRIAM
I’m your tía! I outrank you!

JO
Say “aunt.”

MIRIAM
Why?

JO
Look, I was here first. Me and mom were here first. We had him first.

MIRIAM
You barely had him at all.

There’s a long pause.

MIRIAM
Can we start over?
 36.

JO
Get out.

MIRIAM
Goddammit, this isn’t how I wanted it to go.

JO
Go.

MIRIAM
You didn’t have to make it -
This could have been nice.
Let’s start over.
Hi. I’m Miriam. Look, now we both started twice.

JO
Get out.

MIRIAM
I want to meet my sister.

JO
Get out.

MIRIAM
You want this flag thing you gotta -

Jo grabs Miriam by the collar, fist raised.

There’s a long pause. Jo releases her.

Miriam storms out again, leaving Jo alone.

SCENE 8

Dolores in her Circle of Things. Ignacio and

Ernesto watch. They speak.

ERNESTO
Dolores, mi’ja...

Ernesto begins to examine his things.

 37.

ERNESTO
I was good at some stuff. You see? There were times when -

He stops, looks to Ignacio.

ERNESTO
She can’t hear me? This like some Scrooge shit?

IGNACIO
Scrooge wasn’t dead.

ERNESTO
But her mom was -
My wife was -

IGNACIO
They say it skips a generation.

ERNESTO
They say. They say.

Dolores, frustrated, stands. She grabs an object

and makes to smash it, before thinking better of
it.

ERNESTO
Dolores... baby girl...

Dolores storms out of the house.

ERNESTO
Saint Ignatius, you think she remembers me this way?
You think she remembers when I was young, like this, and alive, and she was a little girl, a
toddler, running around the house on feet so fast it looked like she had wheels, like in
cartoons, like Speedy Gonzales, like a gunshot. We had to proof everything. My brother’s
kids are dumb and slow, they never did anything, just sat - he made fun of us for
babyproofing everything. When we were kids we didn’t have no babyproofing anything -
we learned it all the hard way. But with Dolores, we couldn’t risk it. She was in every
corner, trying everything just to see. And her mom, my wife, always having bad feelings,
premonitions, always burning incense, always saying little prayers and hiding little trinkets.
Protecting. We both protected little Lola - I had my tools and her mom had her incense and
her prayers.
I’m tired.
 38.

When can I go?

When can I meet him?

Jo enters. She sees Ignacio and Ernesto. There’s

a standoff.

IGNACIO
Hello.

She puts her things down, picks up the one out

of place object Dolores dropped, and begins to
put it away.

IGNACIO
I told you you couldn’t avoid this.

Jo quickly gathers the other things, and shoves

them in a box. She then goes about tidying up the
rest of the place.

ERNESTO
Hey. Joanna.
Hey!
Hey. Hey! Joanna! You can’t do this forever. The other people, I don’t know, but you can
hear me. Right? Right? Please tell me you can hear me. I need you to hear me. Joanna,
querida, Jo, I need you to hear me. Someone needs to hear me. Someone needs to
understand. My funeral is soon and I can’t have everyone hating me now, okay? I need to
be able to rest, okay? Even if I couldn’t before?
HEY! JO! I NEED YOU RIGHT NOW!

Jo pauses in her cleaning.

JO
You can’t be here.

ERNESTO
You can hear me.

JO
I need you to go.

ERNESTO
This is good. This is good. You can hear me.
 39.

JO
Leave. Get out of here.

ERNESTO
Please let me explain.

JO
Explain what?

ERNESTO
I shouldn’t have left it like this. But you can make it right. You’re all family.

JO
GET OUT YOU ALREADY FUCKED EVERYTHING UP GET OUT OUT GET OUT.

Ignacio goes one way, Jo the other. Ernesto

doesn’t.

SCENE 9

Father Tim praying in his garden.

TIM
I had a dream, last night.
Neil Diamond is on the porch of a house I’m in and he’s holding a bouquet of sunflowers
and he hands them to me as I open the door for him and I smell them - I don’t even know if
sunflowers smell like anything but these smell beautiful. And I say to Neil, “Let me put
these in some water” and I go back in but instead of a vase, I see, in the living room,
hundreds of people, staring at me, smiling. Hundreds. I don’t remember their faces, but it
was as if the room stretched for miles, until I could barely make anyone out. I wasn’t
scared of them in the dream. I felt expectant. I hand the flowers to the people in the living
room and they start passing them out so that everyone has one. There couldn’t have been
more than a dozen in the bouquet but somehow everyone in that crowd of thousands gets a
flower, more and more dots of yellow disappearing into the horizon. Then I go back to the
front door and Neil Diamond is still waiting for me and he says, “You ready?” And I say
“Yeah,” and he takes my hand and walks me to the sidewalk - I think I was going on a date
with Neil Diamond? - but instead of a car out there it’s a biplane. I climb into the gunner
seat, Neil Diamond climbs into the pilot seat. He starts the propeller, and I wake up.
And when I woke up I felt so happy.
What the fuck, man?
Amen.
 40.

End scene.

SCENE 10

Jo dozing on the couch. Miriam enters stealthily.

MIRIAM
Psst.

JO
You don’t gotta be quiet.
You’re late. She’s out.

MIRIAM
No.

JO
You are late.

MIRIAM
Yeah I know that’s not what I said No to. I know I’m late. I got caught in -
I mean No you can’t have the flag.

JO
What?

MIRIAM
You can’t have the flag. I asked what it is and it’s important. It’s an honor and anyway it’s
rightfully my mom’s.

JO
It’s not rightfully your mom’s. Nothing is rightfully your mom’s.

MIRIAM
It is rightfully my mom’s she was married to my dad so it’s the law.

JO
I don’t care what the law is. What’s the law isn’t always the right thing, the moral thing.
The moral thing is that my mom gets the flag and your mom gets whatever and like
memories and shit.
 41.

MIRIAM
We want the flag because my dad - your grandpa - he was a hero and I want to remember
him by it.

JO
You’ve got memories to remember him by.

MIRIAM
That doesn’t make any sense and anyway I’m your aunt so you can’t tell me what to do.

JO
Real memories. Nice, important ones. You see this stuff? My mom has grandpa’s - your
dad’s - my mom’s got Ernie’s stuff in a box, see? I only saw him, like twice, three times
since graduating college. He used to send me gifts for my birthday. Want to see my
collection, too? I never know about you, just like you never knew about me. Even less,
‘cause I never even knew he had another family. Your mom? I never want to know about
her or meet her or what. We’ve got stuff. My mom’s got stuff. Mostly war stuff. You got
his flesh and bones, his blood and his time. You got his years and the smell of his
aftershave, you understand? You bounced on his fucking knee. So we get the flag. My
mom deserves the flag. She needs the flag.

MIRIAM
I want to meet her.

JO
No.

MIRIAM
You have to let me meet my sister.

JO
You convince your mom to give us the flag and I’ll consider it.

MIRIAM
You let me meet my sister and I’ll consider letting you have the flag.

JO
No dice.

MIRIAM
You think you can bully me because I’m younger. That’s why you’re talking to me and not
my mom. That’s not going to work.
 42.

JO
She’ll hate you. One look at you and she’ll tear you limb from limb. She says she’s not
sad, she says she doesn’t care, but she’s lying. She cares so much.

MIRIAM
You’re lying.

JO
I’m not. She’ll run you through with a kitchen knife and lick off the blood. You don’t
understand.

MIRIAM
She’s my sister. I’ve always wanted a sister.

JO
And she always wanted a dad.

MIRIAM
Is that all this is? Your mom is jealous of mine so you’re taking all this out on me? I don’t
know why he could be a father to me and not to your mom, or even a better grandpa to
you. But he could. He was mine. He was my father. My father is dead. But he left me a
sister.
Figure something out. No deal no flag.

Miriam turns to go.

JO
Wait.

MIRIAM
Where is she now?

JO
Out.

MIRIAM
Where?

JO
OUT!
She’s not here. See? We can be loud.

Jo yells incomprehensibly at the top of her lungs.

Miriam joins her. They scream together.
 43.

When they’re finished, they quiet down to catch

their breath. They laugh.

JO
I’ll think about it.

Miriam begins to leave, then stops.

MIRIAM
What’s her name?

JO
Your mom never told you?

MIRIAM
She doesn’t like to talk about it.

JO
Dolores.

MIRIAM
(Singing out to no one in particular.)
DOLORES! DOLORES!

She keeps it up until she has to catch her breath

again, and goes. Jo alone.

JO
Why didn’t you tell us about each other?

Ernesto enters begins to go through his things,

examining them, reminiscing. Finally, he
approaches Jo and, hesitantly, throws an arm
over her shoulder.

SCENE 11

A confessional. Dolores and Father Tim.

TIM
Welcome.

DOLORES
Hello.
 44.

TIM
Um. Hello.

DOLORES
Oh, you’re that new priest. Father... Tom? Tim? Tim!

TIM
I mean technically we’re not supposed to -

DOLORES
The cute one.

TIM
Anonymity is -

DOLORES
I know, I know. But, like, you know who I am, probably, too.

TIM
Okay. Well. Do you want to -

DOLORES
- confess? Yes. I think so. I’m sorry, it’s been -

TIM
Of course, I understand. We can -

DOLORES
Forgive me, Father, for I have sinned, it has been...

TIM
It doesn’t have to be exact.

DOLORES
It’s been a long time.

TIM
Well that’s all right.

DOLORES
A long damn time.

TIM
But you come to mass every Sunday.
 45.

DOLORES
Yes.

TIM
So why confess now?

DOLORES
There’s a War on. It seemed important somehow.

TIM
You’re not supposed to lie in confession.

DOLORES
My father died.

TIM
I know.

DOLORES
How do you know unless you know who I am?

TIM
You’re stalling.

DOLORES
My father died and I’m not sad.
I’m not.
I’ve tried to be sad but it’s impossible. That makes me nervous, you understand? Nervous
I’m a bad person. It’s a commandment, right? To honor your father and mother. That’s
what it says on the thing when Moses brings it down from the mountain. The tablet.

TIM
Dolores, I -

DOLORES
We’re supposed to be anonymous.

TIM
You’re right.

DOLORES
But it’s about conscience, right? Ultimately? Sin is? But my conscience doesn’t accuse me
of anything. I don’t feel bad about that. But I know it’s wrong. And I feel bad about not
feeling bad. So maybe that’s my conscience?
 46.

TIM
I don’t know.

DOLORES
You don’t know?

TIM
No.

DOLORES
Then what good are you?

TIM
I can’t tell you whether or not something is a sin. But you came here, so you must feel
something is wrong.

DOLORES
So can you give me absolution?

TIM
When you have something to confess.

DOLORES
Okay. I’m leaving, then.

TIM
It’s not just about rules for rules’ sake. Rules for rules sake don’t do anybody any good.
God’s not a meter maid, Dolores.

DOLORES
We’re supposed to be anonymous.

She begins to go.

TIM
Did you have rules in the kitchen, when Joanna was a baby?

DOLORES
She wasn’t supposed to touch the stove.

TIM
Did she try to touch the stove a lot?
 47.

DOLORES
She would reach for things on it. She would fixate on the burners.

TIM
Why not let her touch it, then?

DOLORES
Because she would hurt herself. She did hurt herself. Once, she put her finger right in the
flame. I don’t know why. Silly kid. Bad burn. She hid it from me. It got infected. She hid it
from me for a few days until it was swollen and started to smell. Finally told me what
happened, crying, and even though she was embarrassed and she got in a little trouble we
were finally able to fix her finger. She was good as new.
Oh. Oh, I get it.
I see what you did there.
You made, like, a parable out of it. About confession and stuff.

TIM
I was just making conversation.

DOLORES
Bullshit, Father.
So you’re not gonna give me penance.

TIM
No.

DOLORES
You’re a good priest.

TIM
I’m happy you think so.

Silence.

TIM
I think you’re just sad your dad died.

Dolores considers this.

DOLORES
No.

Dolores stands and exits, leaving Tim alone in

the confessional.
 48.

Tim crosses upstage to his scattered dirt, and

bends low to inspect it. He kneels, and begins to
gather the dirt into a pile again.

He rises and exits. He reenters with his watering

can, and begins to water the dirt.

SCENE 12

Ernesto and Ignacio. Ernesto, pacing; Ignacio

watching him.. Joan of Arc appears as a statue.
Suddenly, Ernesto snaps his fingers.

ERNESTO
I got it.

IGNACIO
Share, please.

ERNESTO
Three boys from my class joined the service.

IGNACIO
Three boys from San Ignacio Loyola.

ERNESTO
Three boys from San Ignacio Loyola, the best Jesuit school on the island.

IGNACIO
The only Jesuit school on the island.
One of very few good schools on the island.

ERNESTO
Three boys from my class joined the service and one of those boys even became a priest,
afterwards. You used to be a soldier, You used to be a playboy, swaggering around
showing off your codpiece, fighting anybody who looked at you wrong. Yeah, we read
about you. That was us, man. I didn’t have a codpiece like you but if I did, oooh boy. Let
the ladies see what you’re working with. But all that, one day, the three of us, we let it all
go because we saw some soldiers come through town on their way back from Away and
we knew right then we had nothing on those guys. We couldn’t compete with those
haircuts and those uniforms and those medals and those stories and... You know the way
they walked? The way the men walked when they came back from far away. They knew so
much all of a sudden, even if they were just a few years older than us three boys from San
Ignacio Loyola.
 49.

IGNACIO
One of the only good schools on the island.

ERNESTO
So we joined up. The army. We walked down to the recruiting office and talked to the man
in the shiny shoes and we were soldiers all of a sudden. Like you were.

IGNACIO
I got shot in the leg with a cannonball, Ernie. Nearly blew my right leg clean off, shattered
my left. They spent years putting me back together. They made one of my legs shorter.

ERNESTO
A limp means you’ve been places. Just makes it harder to buy pants.

IGNACIO
You learned all the wrong lessons.

ERNESTO
We had that thing the soldiers who strolled through town had. We took what we deserved.
We were righteous. But you know the thing about those soldiers that we didn’t notice
before? The thing we didn’t know before we signed up? Their shoes are shiny and their
suits are fly and their haircuts are right but if you just see them once you never know how
old war makes you. They seem so wise but they’re shriveling up. And if you saw them
twice, like maybe a year apart or maybe even a couple of months apart, that’s what you see,
before all the polish. You see the lines, the sagging. You see how they look at things.
Something you like, maybe, like a steak dinner or something, something that make you
excited or happy. Something that pleases you? Before the War you look at it like

He demonstrates.

ERNESTO
Like a certain way, you know? But afterwards you look at it like

He demonstrates. Blankness.

ERNESTO
Like there’s nothing left. That’s how I started to look at things after Tony died. Larry and I
didn’t talk much after that. Didn’t stand together. I see why Larry joined the priesthood,
because nothing else on Earth made sense, like you couldn’t taste food down here no more.
And I think that’s why I’m here with you now. Because Tony died far away so he’s dealt
with everything already and Larry fixed up his life but I died a piece of shit so they sent my
favorite Saint to fix me or It’s a Wonderful Life me or something. That’s why you’re here.
 50.

Ignacio takes this all in for a while.

IGNACIO
Maybe.

Ernesto shouts in anger and frustration, then

goes back to pacing. Joan begins declaiming.

ST. JOAN
“You promised me life, but you lied. You think that life is nothing but not being stone dead.
It is not the bread and water I fear: I can live on bread: when have I asked for more? It is no
hardship to drink water if the water be clean. Bread has no sorrow for me, and water no
affliction.”

ERNESTO
What is this from?

ST. JOAN
“But to shut me from the light of the sky and the sight of the fields and flowers; to chain
my feet so that I can never again ride with the soldiers nor climb the hills; to make me
breathe foul damp darkness and keep from me everything that brings me back to the love of
god when your wickedness and foolishness tempt me to hate Him: all this is worse than the
furnace in the bible that was heated seven times.”

ERNESTO
I know this...

ST. JOAN
“I could do without my warhorse; I could drag about in a skirt; I could let the banners and
the trumpets and the knights and soldiers pass me ...”

ERNESTO
This is, like, an English thing, right?

ST. JOAN
Shaw.

She’s chewing bubble gum.

ERNESTO
Right, right. It’s a play.

IGNACIO
A very good school on the island, indeed.
 51.

ST. JOAN
George Bernard Shaw.

IGNACIO
We get it, Joan.

ERNESTO
So that’s St. Ignatius and St. Joan... When do I get to meet him? The Patron of Soldiers?

ST. JOAN
Michael is busy. All the angels are busy.

IGNACIO
He’s very busy. He’s very busy here at home, and in the Middle East - don’t get patriotic,
he looks over both sides - and in Africa and Asia and at the US/Mexico border. You think
you’re the only soldier who died this week? Tío, you weren’t even K.I.A.

ERNESTO
If he looks over everyone he can look over me.

Saint Joan cracks her gum.

ST. JOAN
You think you’re a VIP all of a sudden?

ERNESTO
I got you two here, right? Prayed my ass off in my head while I was dying. This is your
job, ain’t it? This is what saints are for. You answer prayers.
I want to meet him. I fought. I served. I lived with the nightmares. I want to meet him.

IGNACIO
Soon, maybe.

ERNESTO
Why don’t you ever have answers? You always talking in Fortune Cookies.

ST. JOAN
Why do you want certainty so badly?

ERNESTO
Because I’m fucking scared.
I thought being scared would be over when I died, but I’m scared.

Silence.
 52.

IGNACIO
Soon.

Ernesto sits in a huff.

SCENE 13

Jo is doing sit-ups by Oscar’s work table. Nate

sits nearby, anxious, holding a stopwatch. Nate
stops the timer, which beeps, and Jo stops,
relieved. Finally she stares at Nate, who says
nothing. A moment.

JO
What?

NATE
Okay, so first of all, you’re old.

JO
Fuck off.

NATE
It’s true.

JO
I’m not even the oldest you can be to enlist.

NATE
Still, most people in the army are younger. New recruits anyway. You think you can keep
up?

JO
How old do you think I even am?

NATE
The sit ups easy? The pushups?

JO
I’m not old, I’m just not in fighting shape. Yet.

NATE
There’s a reason they draft young.
 53.

JO
They need people, Nate. I’ll be fine.

NATE
They need bodies. They need meat for the grinder.

JO
You’re so dramatic.

NATE
It’s a bad war. The conflict is dumb. The bombs are dumb. The oil is dumb. Borders are
dumb. It’s an unjust cause.

JO
So?

NATE
Where’s the honor in that?

JO
Fuck are you talking about?

NATE
Where do you want to fight?

JO
It doesn’t matter.

NATE
Why would you want to fight?

JO
That’s not why I’m enlisting.

NATE
Then why?

JO
My dad was in the airforce. My grandpa was in the army. My mom worked on the base for
a long time. Every one of them got stuck. They joined up to get unstuck. They traveled.
They figured themselves out. They learned. They made money, they got insurance. The
army is hiring, Nate. Who the fuck else is hiring? I haven’t had a job in a year, man. I can’t
keep living with my parents.
 54.

NATE
I’m teaching. They need teachers.

JO
I bet your class is boring.

NATE
Maybe.

JO
I’d have to go back to school to teach. I’d have to go back to school to be a nurse. I need to
go. I can’t take anymore New Jersey.

NATE
Jersey’s not bad.

JO
I know!

NATE
I’ll miss you.

JO
I’ll be back.

NATE
Maybe.

JO
Dramatic.

NATE
Not dramatic. Accurate. This is a bad idea. There are other ways to make a change, Jo.
Move across the river to Brooklyn. Get a job at Whole Foods or Barnes and Noble.
I don’t want anything to happen to you.

JO
That’s selfish. This isn’t about what you want. It’s about what I need.

NATE
You need this?
 55.

JO
I need something! You’ve always had your nose in books, Nate, since I met you your
freshman year. Everyone always used to say you’d be a teacher, or a writer, or both one
day. And what are you now?

NATE
A teacher.

JO
And...?

NATE
A writer.

JO
Okay.

NATE
I just write in my journal.

JO
So what? You have something. What do I have? I was already thinking about college when
we met. What did people say I would do?

NATE
I don’t know.

JO
Me neither. I’m not growing, here. I’m like a flower with no water, or the vase is too small,
or... I don’t anything about growing flowers, but you get me, right? If anything I’m
shrinking. So once I get through the funeral, I’m done. I have to help my mom get through
the funeral.

NATE
What does your grandfather say?

JO
About what?

NATE
Have you talked to him about enlisting?

JO
Have I talked to the ghost of the grandfather I barely knew about my decision to enlist?
 56.

NATE
He’s why you’re joining up, isn’t it?

JO
Are you my therapist, now? Are you analyzing me?

NATE
Maybe you have to talk to him first.

JO
No.

NATE
Maybe you need to talk to a priest.

JO
About enlisting?

NATE
About your grandpa.

JO
That’s stupid.

NATE
Maybe.

JO
You really think it could help?

NATE
Yes.

JO
Nah.

NATE
Here’s what I think: I think you have a weird superpower, talking to ghosts, and you’re
better off looking under the hood there for your purpose than getting stationed somewhere
halfway across the planet.

JO
You just don’t want me to go.
 57.

NATE
Don’t use that.
Sometimes I think things would be easier if you were far away.

JO
Ouch.

NATE
Which is it? Which do you want?
Would you miss me? If you went to war? Would I get cool letters in the mail like in those
documentaries? Like from the Civil War? “My most esteemed and darling Nathaniel, I
bequeath upon you these words beneath the foreign sun.”

JO
“It’s as if the sun has declared herself our enemy. Its oppressive heat reminds me of the
ardor of our time together.”

They laugh, but it doesn’t last. She continues to

fill out the paperwork.

She goes back to her paperwork.

NATE
Right after the funeral?

JO
I need to get this flag for my mom, and then I’m out.

NATE
You should leave the flag alone, too.

JO
Is everything I’m doing wrong?

NATE
Yes! They loved him, too. They deserve a piece of him, too. It’s just a symbol. A corny
one, at that.

JO
This isn’t about love. It’s about debts. I don’t care about those people - I don’t know them!
But I know my mom needs to keep feeding this grief with trinkets or she’s going to
swallow herself whole.
 58.

NATE
An ouroboros.

JO
What?

NATE
It’s from the stories. A snake that’s eating its own tail. It’s swallowing itself whole. It’s
often used as a metaphor for, like, a problem that’s making itself worse.

Jo laughs - it’s affectionate.

JO
You’re so boring.

NATE
I don’t think the flag is for your mom.

She takes his hand, kisses it.

JO
I will miss you.

They don’t let go.

SCENE 14

Oscar and Dolores on the couch. Dolores has a

laptop. The Circle of Things is still out.

OSCAR
Why is this our responsibility?

DOLORES
Because I said I’d take care of it.

OSCAR
Are you getting input?

DOLORES
I’m taking care of it. I’m his daughter.

OSCAR
She’s his wife. She’s his next of kin.
 59.

Dolores ignores this.

DOLORES
I have to see these in person. I can’t do this on the computer, it feels... lazy. I don’t know
the difference between different kinds of wood. I don’t know what the cushions feel like,
what the rails will feel like in the pallbearers’ hands... Why would they want us to do this
online? We’ll have to go. Maybe we pick a few here and then go see them in person? Make
a list?

OSCAR
Sure.

DOLORES
Do you think you can do better than “sure?”

OSCAR
I think it sounds like a good idea.

DOLORES
I want your input. Not that woman’s. Yours. I want your help on this.

OSCAR
Okay! Good! I’ll help you!

DOLORES
You’re holding back.

Beat.

OSCAR
You’re right.
You want my input?
You don’t like doing this. You’re not doing this because you care, you’re doing this out of
spite.
Are you happy?

DOLORES
Is anybody?

OSCAR
I don’t think you’re happy. And that’s okay! I’m grumpy too. All the time. But there was a
time when you and me could be grumpy together... at other people. About other things.
About what was outside of us. You and me against the world.
What happened that you’re grumpy at me all the time now, too?
Tell me what I’m doing wrong, what’s missing? What’s the key?
 60.

Dolores types into the computer, not responding.

Oscar crosses to the Circle of Things and begins
chucking objects into the box.

DOLORES
What are you doing?

OSCAR
Getting rid of it.
In the garbage. All of it.

DOLORES
Stop!

OSCAR
I hate this box and I hate seeing his things. They change you. They’ve taken you over. I
can’t stand it. I can’t deal with the quiet.

Dolores and Oscar wrestle over an object.

Dolores plays dirty - maybe she kicks, maybe
she bites - but she wins the struggle. She cradles
the object as Oscar recovers.

OSCAR
Let me... Let me... I don’t know how to ...

Dolores takes the box and begins to recreate her

Circle. When she’s finished, she places the box
aside and resumes her position on the couch,
looking at coffins.

DOLORES
Mahogany sounds nice. It’s what people always say when they talk about nice wood.
“Mahogany.”

OSCAR
Yes. It looks nice. Put it on the list.

They don’t look at each other.

SCENE 15

Tim crosses to his mound of dirt, watering can in

hand. He bends low to inspect the .
 61.

Unsatisfied, he waters the mound. He kneels,

hands folded in his lap.

Suddenly, Jo enters. She’s taken aback by seeing

Tim. There’s a moment.

TIM
Hi.

JO
Hi.

Silence.

TIM
I never really liked gardening. I don’t dislike gardening I just never wanted to take it up.
Never had an interest. But this space is just dirt back here, and weeds. I thought maybe if I
could grow one thing I could figure out how to grow a bunch of things. It’s not going very
well.

JO
Oh.
I didn’t see anyone inside and I saw this door open, so...
Nate told me I should come. To talk to you. That you could maybe help me. I can come
back, or...

TIM
Please. Stay.

JO
Okay. Um what are you uh what are you growing?

TIM
Pot.

JO
What?

TIM
Marijuana.

JO
Seriously?
 62.

TIM
No.

JO
Oh. Oh shit.

TIM
Yeah it’s a sunflower. I haven’t smoked pot since seminary.
Are you here for confession?

JO
Oh, I don’t smoke pot, Father.

TIM
Not about pot, about anything.

JO
Oh.
I lied, Father, I do smoke pot but I’ll stop. I’m sorry for smoking pot and I’m sorry for
lying.

TIM
It’s okay. It’s. Don’t worry about it.

JO
Okay. Cool. Okay. Good. Sorry.

TIM
So what can I help you with?

JO
I have something to ask you, Father, but I’m not sure how to ask it.

TIM
Just ask it.

JO
It’s weird. I’m sort of embarrassed to ask.

TIM
If you’re here to seduce the young priest, I’m sorry, but I’m gay. And also a priest.

JO
What?
 63.

TIM
It was a joke. I was joking. About the seduction thing? Not the gay thing. Or the priest
thing, for that matter. I’m celibate obviously so it doesn’t.
I was trying to cut the tension but I made it worse.

JO
I need an exorcism.

Long silence.

TIM
Are you... possessed?

JO
No. Maybe. I dunno. Not by like the devil or anything. My grandpa.

TIM
You’re possessed by your grandpa.

JO
No.

TIM
Ah.

JO
I’m haunted by my grandpa.

TIM
Like by his memory?

JO
No, like I see him and he talks to me and he’s a jerk and I want him to go away.

Silence.

TIM
You’re Dolores’ daughter.

JO
Yeah.

TIM
You don’t come to church much.
 64.

JO
Nah. Boring.

TIM
Yeah. It is.

JO
But I guess it’s real because my grandfather’s spirit visits me from beyond.
My mom likes you.
Are you going to be doing my grandpa’s funeral?

TIM
Yes, I think so.

JO
He liked this Church. Mom said he used to come to this Church when he moved here, after
he fought. He went to a Jesuit school.

TIM
Saint Ignatius.

JO
Yeah, on the island. Cool.

TIM
He founded the Jesuits. Saint Ignatius did, not your grandfather. Soldiers for Christ

JO
They were soldiers.

TIM
Not really. Saint Ignatius was, before he was a priest.

JO
All the cool saints were guys, huh? Soldiers and martyrs.

TIM
Saint Joan was a soldier, too. Joan of Arc. She was a soldier and a prophet and she spoke
to saints. She was burned for being a witch. Pretty cool.

JO
She was a witch.
 65.

TIM
Depends how you look at it.

JO
How do you look at it?

TIM
She’s a saint.

JO
You can’t be a witch and a saint at the same time?

TIM
Good question. Santería is a syncretic religion combining elements of Catholicism with -

JO
Will you do the exorcism?
You think I’m crazy.

TIM
No.

JO
Yeah you do.

TIM
I don’t. I just.

JO
I heard they don’t really do that anymore. Exorcisms. Like it’s just in movies and stuff. But
I swear this is for real. My mom likes to keep his stuff out just to look at it but that brings
him and she can’t see him so he’s stuck with me, you know? But I don’t want him. I don’t
want to hear him anymore, I don’t want to see his face. I don’t care. I didn’t know him, I
don’t want to.

Tim rises and picks up his watering can,

searching for something to say.

TIM
Losing family is hard. I’m sorry.

Tim exits. Jo begins to cry. She walks over to

Tim’s mound of dirt, and bends over to inspect it.
Unimpressed, she kneels beside it, and begins to
neaten up the pile.
 66.

She wipes her eyes and begins to sing Neil

Diamond’s “You Don’t Bring Me Flowers.”

JO
You don't bring me flowers
You don't sing me love songs
You hardly talk to me anymore
When I come through the door at the end of the day...
I remember when you couldn't wait to love me
Used to hate to leave me
Now after loving me late at night
When it's good for you, babe
And you're feeling all right
When you just roll over and turn out the light...
And you don't bring me flowers anymore

A bright green sprout unfurls happily from the

mound. Jo smiles.

Tim reenters without the watering can. He sees

Jo, and sees the sprout.

JO
It’s a... Neil Diamond song. There’s a version with Barbra Streisand... I...

Tim kneels beside her and inspects the sprout.

He looks at Jo.

TIM
Show me.

They stare at the sprout.

SCENE 16

Oscar in the basement, painting planes. Nate

enters, confused.

NATE
Oh, sorry. Hi. I was looking for Jo.
I can go.
 67.

Please?
Okay, I’ll go.

Beat. Nate doesn’t go.

OSCAR
In order to paint real planes -

NATE
Yeah, they use a big spray gun!

OSCAR
That’s right.

NATE
I read a lot.

OSCAR
Always did. Always reading. You got a book on you right now, I bet.

NATE
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight.

OSCAR
Never heard of it.

Beat. Nate sits, picks up a plane, and starts

painting.

NATE
I feel like my brain is full of totally useless shit. I’ve just been reading so much for so long
that it’s pushed out all the common sense, all the stuff a person is supposed to know. It’s
too crowded in there. I know that there’s a relative of the raccoon in South America called
the coatimundi. The Antikythera Device was an ancient Greek computer discovered in the
ocean; it’s believed to have helped Greek sailors navigate. F Scott Fitzgerald once showed
Ernest Hemingway his penis because his wife, Zelda, had told him it was too small to
please a woman. There are currently only thirteen letters in the Hawaiian alphabet, which is
why the words are so long; one of the letters is an apostrophe. During the draft riots, the
editor of the New York Times defended the offices with a Gatling gun he set up on the
roof. Sometimes cows eat meat - it’s called opportunistic carnivory.

OSCAR
This is about Joanna.
 68.

NATE
Everything is.

OSCAR
When do you think you’ll give up?

NATE
I don’t know.

OSCAR
You know she’s thinking of enlisting.

NATE
Yeah.

OSCAR
Do you think she’s really going to do it?

NATE
I don’t know.

OSCAR
Is she really a witch, or...?

NATE
... I don’t know.

OSCAR
She’s wonderful and I love her with all my heart. So I don’t say it as anything against her.
But my man, you’ve got to move on.

NATE
The knights in the stories don’t do stuff because the women they love will marry them or
have sex with them or even give them a lot of attention, really. I keep telling everybody it’s
not romantic. They do it purely, sacrificially, emptying themselves entirely. They stop
existing.

OSCAR
Don’t you want to exist?

They paint for a while.

OSCAR
Do you know anything about coffins?
 69.

NATE
Not enough.

OSCAR
Dolores and I are going to pick out coffins. She says she needs to be the one to pick the
coffin.

NATE
Doesn’t sound fun.

OSCAR
I don’t want a coffin. Make sure they cremate me, instead.
Jo went to the Church.

Nate stands and begins to leave.

NATE
I told her to go talk to a priest, you know.

He begins to leave.

OSCAR
How do I fix things with Dolores?

Nate stops and thinks.

NATE
Don't be selfish. It’s not about what you want. It's about what she needs.

Nate leaves Oscar alone.

SCENE 17

Miriam is standing in the church courtyard,

examining the sunflower.

Nate enters, book in hand. He startles Miriam.

NATE
Oh! Sorry. I didn’t know if anyone was -

MIRIAM
Just me. I just...
 70.

NATE
Right. Sorry.

MIRIAM
Are you the priest? Or maybe an altarboy? Altarman? Altardude.

NATE
I came for Confession. And to meet someone. They’re not here. So, confession.

MIRIAM
Confession, huh? Are you, like, a bad guy?

NATE
No. You’re just supposed to confess.

MIRIAM
What were you gonna confess?

NATE
What?

MIRIAM
You go into the box and you tell the priest the things you did. What were you going to
confess?

NATE
You’re not supposed to -

MIRIAM
I’m kidding!

NATE
I was just going to confess... the same old things.

MIRIAM
So you confess and then you just do the same thing over again?

NATE
Yes.

MIRIAM
That’s dumb.

NATE
The point is at least I’m trying, right?
 71.

MIRIAM
This is all kind of dumb.

NATE
I take a lot of comfort in -
You shouldn’t say things like that without knowing how people -
Just - I like it, okay? The beauty is in the trying. “Striving.” That’s the word I meant.
“Striving.” It’s a quest - it’s the journey that’s important, not the destination. You know?
That’s corny but it’s true. “Yearning.” That’s another good word. I like it because it sounds
like “burning,” and that’s what yearning feels like. I yearn a lot. I’m a yearner.

MIRIAM
Got it. Sorry, I’ll -

She begins to leave.

NATE
Why are you here? You’re not here for confession and I don’t think I’ve ever seen you here
before.

MIRIAM
I’m from a few towns over. Just stopping in.
My dad liked this church. When he lived here. While I was here I thought I’d come see it.

NATE
Now he goes to church a few towns over?

MIRIAM
Now he’s dead.

NATE
Oh.
You’re not related to Joanna Delgado, are you?

MIRIAM
Yes. You know her?

NATE
Intimately.

MIRIAM
Oh.
 72.

NATE
No, it’s not...
Sorry, I get it. I was confused, at first, because I thought you said “Father” but clearly -

MIRIAM
He was my father.

NATE
But you said “niece” which -

MIRIAM
I’m Joanna’s aunt. Jo’s grandpa was my dad so she’s my niece and Jo’s mom is my sister
and Jo’s dad is my brother in law. Technically.

NATE
Wow.

Beat.

MIRIAM
What are you reading?

NATE
Sir Degravant. Old. Chivalric romance.

MIRIAM
Knights and stuff.

NATE
And love.

MIRIAM
You ever read Don Quixote?

NATE
Of course.

MIRIAM
I had a class in college where we read that. I liked it, ‘cause it made fun of the other stories.
Those stories, the knights in them... they say they’re in love but they’re kind of just
stalkers, right? They kind of just have an obsession - they do everything for this woman,
everything they do is dedicated to her, and she doesn’t really care one way or another. Or
sometimes she cares but she can’t be with them anyway, which is like the same thing.
 73.

NATE
Yeah.

MIRIAM
And I hate the way the women are in those stories, too. They’re not people - they’re
statues, they’re goddesses, they don’t do anything or have feelings and they usually don’t
say much, either. I know the stories are old but that’s why we moved on, right? So I don’t
have to like it. But like no wonder these knights are so obsessed with them, right? If
they’re on their pedestals? If they’re so good, so pure, so transcendent. But that’s not how
people are. People can be shitty and ugly or just boring.

Beat.

NATE
That’s why the stories are better.

MIRIAM
Maybe.

NATE
No, not better.

MIRIAM
Not at all.

They sit together by the dirt.

MIRIAM
Do you wanna get coffee or something? This Church is creepy.

They stand together.

SCENE 18

Jo is setting up the Circle of Things in her living

room. Tim sits idly by, watching. Jo is focused.

TIM
You know, when doing an exorcism, if the possessed is a woman, there’s supposed to be a
woman present. For propriety. But I don’t know if that’s necessary. Not in this case.
Because I’m... Anyway we’re just doing an assessment, right? So it doesn’t matter.
I’m not an exorcist, by the way.
Every diocese has an exorcist and there’s, like, a protocol? You’re supposed to follow it. In
the case of - but you’re not possessed anyway.
 74.

This is weird. Like, this is a strange situation.

There’s two kinds of exorcism. There’s major exorcisms like what you see in movies, like
in The Exorcist. But there’s also minor exorcisms, which are, like, prayers? Like minor...
like little rites? For things? To keep evil away?
It’s a thing.
Anyway, I think that’s what’s applicable here. Since you’re not possessed.
It’s for baptisms and stuff.
Exorcism is really misunderstood, actually.
We’d have to go through a lot to get you a major exorcism, but this... I think I can do this. I
think I’m allowed. I mean. Whatever. I guess we’ll find out.
But anyway, just so no one... is your mom coming home, or...

Jo finishes creating the circle. She clears the air

above it like Dolores did.

JO
This is what mom does. This is what she said grandma did. My witchy grandma. She
conjures him with his things.

TIM
Or tries to.

JO
Well she does. She just doesn’t know it. He shows up. I’ve seen him. I’ve spoken to him.
But mom doesn’t have the -

TIM
Gift?

JO
That’s good. I’ve never called it that.

TIM
What do you call it?

JO
I don’t. I try not to think about it.
Do you really think it’s maybe a gift?

TIM
I do.
 75.

JO
Okay.
Okay.
Okay, so this is what my mom does. She sits in the middle of the circle. And she closes her
eyes and she waits. And she waits. And he comes.

She sits. She closes her eyes. She waits. Tim

waits. Moments pass.

TIM
Is he here?

JO
Shh.

TIM
How long do you think - ?

JO
Shhhhhh.

They sit in silence. Tim closes his eyes, hands on

his knees. He mutters a prayer. A moment
passes.

JO
Where are you?

Ernesto enters.

ERNESTO
I’m here! I’m here! Oh, I’m so glad you called me. I was starting to think you’d never -
Who’s he? You brought a priest here?

JO
I brought a priest.

TIM
(He doesn’t see Ernesto.)
Is he here?

JO
(To Tim.)
He’s here
 76.

TIM
And he can see that I’m here?

ERNESTO
Do you think I’m evil? Malignant? What did I do to you?

JO
(To Ernesto.)
Are you serious?

TIM
What did he say?

JO
I have an aunt! Who else do I have out there? I never spent a weekend with you! Ma won’t
talk to me about when she was a kid because of you! I loved these things, my whole life.
The medals, the shaving kit...
I spent my whole life coming up with explanations so good, so heroic that I’d be able to
forgive you for being away. For me, you were always the man in the pictures in Mom’s
box, the young handsome man in the military cap looking like a hero.
Now I don’t want to know your reasons, I don’t want to know what you’ve done or what
you said or the little details that make you human because none of it is better than what I
made up. I promise.
I just want to stick to these Things.

ERNESTO
Jo, please.

JO
Father Tim, please say the prayer.

ERNESTO
How could you?

TIM
I’m not sure I can.

ERNESTO
I’m trying now. I’m trying now.

JO
(To Ernesto.)
You’re dead. It’s too late.
 77.

TIM
Most glorious Prince of the Heavenly Armies,
Saint Michael the Archangel -

Dolores and Oscar enter through the front door.

DOLORES
Father Tim!

She stops when she sees the set up, sees Jo

staring into nothingness.

JO
Father Tim, please.

ERNESTO
I’m trying now, dammit! I’m trying now, Jo!

DOLORES
You promised me, Jo! You promised me if you spoke to him you’d tell me!

JO
Father.

TIM
Most glorious Prince of the Heavenly Armies,
Saint Michael the Archangel -

DOLORES
No, don’t.

Dolores lunges, but Oscar tries to hold her back.

TIM
Defend us in our battle against principalities and powers,
against the rulers of this world of darkness,
against the spirits of wickedness in the high places.

Dolores breaks free and shoves Father Tim.

There’s a long silence.

TIM
Amen.
 78.

He crosses himself. Everyone looks to Jo. A

moment as Ernesto realizes he hasn’t gone poof.

ERNESTO
You see? I’m not evil! I’m not the devil or anything and this priest can get the hell outta
here. What did you think was gonna happen? I was gonna go POOF and disappear? I was
gonna melt like the Wicked Witch? My head was gonna spin all the way around? I’m not
evil. Jo. Listen. I’m not bad. I want to make things right. I’m trying now, okay? I’m trying.

JO
It didn’t work. He’s still here.

Dolores is relieved.

DOLORES
Can I talk to him?

OSCAR
Dolores, are you sure you want this?
I mean how do we even know any of this is really...?

DOLORES
No. Forget it. I -

OSCAR
Jo, please. Your mother needs you. There’s no other way.

JO
This is useless. Mom, why do you care?

OSCAR
Don’t talk to your mother like that. Not now. Not about this.

Stunned beat.

OSCAR
Baby, this isn’t for us to understand. I tried to help, I tried, but she needs you, now, she
needs what you can do. I was a paint sprayer when she needed a brush. There’s no way
around it. It’s not fair that you have the gift and don’t want it, it’s not fair that your mother
wants the gift and can’t have it, but that’s why you’re together, okay? That’s why you’re
family.

DOLORES
Please.
 79.

ERNESTO
Please.

Pause.

JO
Fine.

There is a long pause as Dolores gathers herself.

Eventually, she settles on a question.

DOLORES
Can you ask him about the shaving kit?

TIM
That’s very specific.

OSCAR
Shh...

DOLORES
He didn’t come to my 16th birthday party. I had a big party. I waited. Did he just not care?
Or did he forget? But then a few days later he gave me a gift: this shaving kit. An army
shaving kit. No explanation. I wondered if it meant he’d wished I were a son. I wondered
if it was all he had to give. But I never asked when he was alive. It felt too fragile, to ask
him. Like if I didn’t just accept it, he would disappear. Mom hated it, and hated that he
missed the party. But I kept the kit.

There’s a long silence. Jo stares at Ernesto,

expectantly. Finally:

ERNESTO
I...
I don’t remember whether I forgot.

DOLORES
Is he saying anything?

ERNESTO
I cared. I always cared. But maybe...
Maybe...
Did something come up...?
I saw the pictures of her afterward with the blue ribbon in her hair and the corsage was...
 80.

something white.
I honestly don’t know. I don’t remember giving her the shaving kit.

JO
No. He hasn’t said anything yet.

ERNESTO
It’s a good shaving kit! I carried it with me all the time. I know she doesn’t have a beard,
but it’s the thought! That shaving kit has sentimental value. The gift meant something, that
I’m sure of, but I don’t remember why?
I must have remembered my baby’s sixteenth birthday.
But if I remembered that means -
Maybe something came up? Something must have come up.
I don’t know. I don’t know I don’t know.
I don’t know.
You were right, Jo.
Holy shit. You were right.
I’ll go.

There is a long, expectant pause.

JO
He says he had been away.
He says he had been called away on military duty - training back at the old base. His old
CO needed some help whipping recruits into shape, called him back.

ERNESTO
What are you doing?

JO
Super secret operation. Classified, you know? He didn’t even get a medal for it. He tried to
argue the order, but they needed him. Him, specifically. They needed his help. And being a
good soldier and a patriot, he went. It took longer than anyone expected. He was forbidden
from reaching out to anyone for the duration. But everywhere he went he carried that
shaving kit, and so when he finally shipped back, he decided to entrust it to you. It had
sentimental value. It symbolized a part of his life, and it reminded him of the time he had to
be away from you, with the blue ribbon in your hair and the white flowers. Giving you the
shaving kit was like giving you that time back. It was like saying - this was with me when
you weren’t. So now you should have it. You should be together with it.

Ernesto is speechless. He approaches Jo,

tentatively at first, and hugs her tightly.
 81.

He grabs her and spins her, eliciting terrified

cries from everyone who can’t see Ernesto.

DOLORES
Can you ask him why he left? Not why he and mom split but... why he left so completely?

Ernesto is overhwhelmed. He doesn’t have an

answer. Jo, looking right at Ernesto:

JO
He’s gone. Gone.
We can ask him another time.

Ernesto nods and exits.

Dolores goes to Jo and hugs her, too. Oscar

joins them. Dolores breaks down.

DOLORES
I lied. I’m so, so sad.

End scene.

SCENE 19

Joan of Arc is declaiming.

ST. JOAN
“First, let me tell you whom you have condemn'd:
Not me begotten of a shepherd swain,
But issued from the progeny of kings;
Virtuous and holy; chosen from above,
By inspiration of celestial grace,
To work exceeding miracles on earth.
I never had to do with wicked spirits:”

JO
Where do I know this from?

IGNACIO
School, I imagine.
 82.

ST. JOAN
“But you, that are polluted with your lusts,
Stain'd with the guiltless blood of innocents,
Corrupt and tainted with a thousand vices,
Because you want the grace that others have,
You judge it straight a thing impossible
To compass wonders but by help of devils.”

IGNACIO
Excuse me, Joan, there’s someone I’d like you to meet.

ST. JOAN
“No, misconceived! Joan of Arc hath been
A virgin from her tender infancy,
Chaste and immaculate in very thought;
Whose maiden blood, thus rigorously effused,
Will cry for vengeance at the gates of heaven.”

JO
Is that Shakespeare?

IGNACIO
I think so.

ST. JOAN
It is.

JO
Am I remembering this shit somehow or is she just saying lines for real?

IGNACIO
Who knows?

ST. JOAN
You’re just jealous there’s no plays about St. Ignatius of Loyola.

IGNACIO
There’s a bunch of Jesuit movies, though.

ST. JOAN
There’s a movies about me, too.

IGNACIO
Scorsese made at least two Jesuit movies.
 83.

ST. JOAN
(Conceding the point.)
Scorsese’s pretty great.

IGNACIO
And Liam Neeson was in both of them.

ST. JOAN
Wow.

Pause.

JO
What the fuck is going on?

ST. JOAN
Who is she?

JO
I’m Jo.

ST. JOAN
So am I.

IGNACIO
We know her grandpa.

ST. JOAN
Got it

JO
Why am I here?

ST. JOAN
You think every vision has to be profound? There’s always got to be a reason?

JO
Why else would you bother?

Beat.

IGNACIO
Well...?
 84.

ST. JOAN
What?

IGNACIO
It’s not every day we find someone who can talk to us this way, so...

ST. JOAN
Oh. Oh! You’re new to this.

JO
Not really. I’ve always seen things... and been able to do things... I just haven’t... done
anything.

ST. JOAN
I’m not following.

JO
I thought I was just...

IGNACIO
Witchy.

JO
Yeah.

ST. JOAN
They thought I was witchy, too. So they burned me at the stake. Maybe it’s better to keep it
to yourself. But you can’t, right? Everything in you wants you to scream it out loud.

JO
Yeah.

ST. JOAN
You want to do...

JO
Something! Something.

IGNACIO
We’re trying to find her “something.” I thought maybe you could -

JO
I was going to join up. Like you. Like him.
 85.

ST. JOAN
Why?

JO
To get out.

ST. JOAN
Of New Jersey?

JO
Yes.

ST. JOAN
Are you driven to fight?

JO
No

ST. JOAN
Have either Ignacio or I told you to join up? Has your grandpa?

JO
No.

ST. JOAN
Do you believe in the cause? Do you want to fight this war? Is it just?

JO
You sound like Nate.

ST. JOAN
Is it?

JO
No.

ST. JOAN
Then...?

JO
I’m stuck.
 86.

ST. JOAN
Unstick yourself.
Ignatius and I were soldiers, but...
Three separate saints told me to kick the English out of my country and free my people.
Iggy here became a saint after he quit being a soldier.
So there’s nothing about going to war, on it’s own, that’s gonna -

JO
How, then? How do I unstick myself?

ST. JOAN
You help.

Jo takes a moment to process this.

Finally, exasperated, she takes out her phone and
sends a very long text. Joan and Ignacio read
over her shoulder. The Saints seem satisfied.

SCENE 20

Everyone is assembled for mass. Tim enters, and

for the first time, we see him fully dressed in his
vestments. He carries a heavy gilded Bible,
which he carefully opens and finds his place.

Jo and Miriam enter with a flag. They’re each

holding two of the corners. As Tim sings, they
fold it into a regulation three-corner
configuration.

TIM
(Singing.)
Oh, when the saints
Go marching in
Oh, when the saints go marching in
Oh how I want to be in that number
When the saints go marching in
Oh, when the drums begin to bang
Oh, when the drums begin to bang
I want to be in that number
When the saints go marching in.
 87.

Tim and the others process out, leaving Jo and

Miriam alone.

MIRIAM
Take it.

JO
Are you sure?

MIRIAM
You wanted it.

JO
For my mom.

MIRIAM
Right.
It’s okay.
You can have it.
I wish you’d just been -
Can we be friends? We don’t have to be family if you want, but... it seems like a waste,
otherwise.

Jo takes the flag and cradles it. She holds it close.

Maybe she cries.

MIRIAM
Come get coffee with us?
Please?

Jo doesn’t respond. Miriam begins to leave.

JO
I need...
Will you tell me about him? I need to know about him. I need to know what he was like.
For my mom. I’m trying to help her and I need -
Will you help? Please? You don’t have to, but... please?

Miriam nods, and leaves. Nate lingers.

JO
Are you guys...?
 88.

NATE
We’re just getting coffee. We’ve gotten coffee once or twice. I like her. She’s smart. I think
you’d like her, too.

JO
Yeah.

NATE
Are you still looking to enlist?

JO
No.

NATE
Good. I’m glad. That would be quixotic.

Beat. Jo looks at him quizzically.

NATE
I heard that word the other day: “quixotic.” I was like, “that looks familiar!” so I looked it
up. It said, “exceedingly idealistic; unrealistic and impractical.” It comes from Don Quixote,
from the adventures he had in his head when no one else could see. I’m sorry for following
you the way I have. I mean it. But I see now. You’re not my Dulcinea. You’re my windmill.

He exits, leaving Jo embracing the flag.

SCENE 21

St. Joan and Ernesto kneeling together in prayer.

A few moments pass.

ERNESTO
It’s not working.

ST. JOAN
Shhhh -

ERNESTO
What if he doesn’t -

ST. JOAN
Shhhh.
 89.

Beat.

ERNESTO
Do you think I’m ready?

ST. JOAN
Have faith.

ERNESTO
Okay.
I don’t know if I’m ready.

ST. JOAN
What else do you have there? With your family?

Ernesto resumes praying.

ERNESTO
Okay.
Okay.
Please.
Please.
Please.

A few more moments pass.

A bugle.
Michael appears, with resplendent wings. St.
Joan notices him first. She snaps up, pulling
Ernesto up with her. They salute. After a
moment, Michael salutes back.

MICHAEL
I see you’ve bought me a new recruit, Saint Joan.

ST. JOAN
Sir, yes sir.

MICHAEL
You’re dismissed.

St. Joan exits, leaving Michael and Ernesto

standing at attention.
 90.

MICHAEL
At ease.
Relax.
You’re not active duty.
Not yet.
Does that surprise you? Do you think you’d be at peace? Did you think that’s what the
afterlife was about? Maybe for some. But I don’t think you prayed to meet the Patron Saint
of Soldiers because that’s what you wanted. Ignatius tells me you thought maybe the point
was to It’s a Wonderful Life you, to Christmas Carol you, show you people mourning you
in order to force a change, to force you to repent. Do you still think that’s the case, Ernesto?
Do you feel cleansed?
This is where you answer, soldier.

ERNESTO
Sir. No, sir.

MICHAEL
“No, sir,” what?

ERNESTO
No, sir, I don’t feel cleansed, sir, and I don’t still think that’s why I stuck around, sir.

MICHAEL
So what do you think now?

ERNESTO
Sir, I think I stuck around to see that they’ll be okay without me.

MICHAEL
And how does that make you feel?

ERNESTO
Honestly, sir?

MICHAEL
Honestly.

ERNESTO
It makes me feel lousy. Even Miriam, it’s just...

MICHAEL
And what else do you see? In all your worries about family, what else have you witnessed?

ERNESTO
I don’t understand the question, sir.
 91.

MICHAEL
What has your death accomplished?

A long beat.

ERNESTO
It brought everyone together. Against me.

Another long beat.

MICHAEL
Good.
There’s no peace. Not for the likes of us.
Heaven is at constant war against evil and darkness.
Did you call me for recognition or did you call me to enlist?
Did you want to find a peaceful afterlife? Somewhere with marshmallow clouds and babies
playing harps?

ERNESTO
Permission to speak freely, sir?

MICHAEL
Permission granted.

ERNESTO
The last place I felt at home was fighting. Never had a home since.

Michael nods, thinking to himself. Finally, he

embraces Ernesto, wrapping the soldier in his
wings.

MICHAEL
Welcome to the service.

End scene.

SCENE 22

The stage around the pile of dirt is full of

sunflowers - tall and imposing. Tim enters
singing, with his watering can. He crosses to the
flowers, and begins working with them.
 92.

TIM
You don't bring me flowers
You don't sing me love songs
You hardly talk to me anymore
When I come through the door at the end of the day...

He crosses himself. Oscar enters sheepishly. Tim

looks up.
Beat.

TIM
The thing about being a gardener - the thing you don’t think about when you’re trying to
make things grow, when you’re struggling - the thing is... now I’m responsible for these
flowers. I have to take care, to tend to them, or...
You just don’t usually take that into account, is all.

OSCAR
I make model airplanes.

TIM
Oh.

OSCAR
Yeah.

TIM
That’s nice.

OSCAR
No, I mean...
I don’t garden, I make model airplanes. That’s my hobby. But once the plane is built it’s
done. I put it somewhere and that’s it. Gardening is harder. Gardening is constant.

TIM
But don’t you just keep buying new planes?

OSCAR
But I’m just filling the basement with junk. It’s more noble to keep coming back to help the
same flower grow.

TIM
Isn’t that what it’s like to be dad?

A moment.
 93.

OSCAR
You’re good.

TIM
Thank you. Are you here for confession?

OSCAR
I don’t believe in that stuff.

TIM
Even after...?

OSCAR
There’s already enough going on down here.

TIM
Fair.

Oscar sits.

TIM
Um.

OSCAR
So do people ask you all the time for marital advice?

TIM
Yes. They do. Is that why you’ve come?

Oscar considers this.

OSCAR
No God stuff?

TIM
No God stuff. Look.

He removes his collar.

TIM
See? Now I don’t have my powers.

OSCAR
Okay. Well.
Wait is that true? About your priest powers?
 94.

TIM
Uh.
No, just...

OSCAR
Right. Well...
I don’t know how to....
I’m the wrong tool.
I don’t know how to be useless.
Ever since I’ve known Dolores I’ve been able to... and she’s been...
I fixed her car when I met her, you know? She was working on the base and I was a
mechanic and one of the guys said one of the girls’ cars had broken down and she wanted
to get it looked at and he thought I’d like to “check out the situation, if you know what I
mean” and he introduced us and... yeah, it was a good situation. Not with the car, of
course, that was a total engine failure, she needed a new oil pump, I meant with... her.

TIM
Yeah, I get it.

OSCAR
I replaced the oil pump and thought that was it, but afterwards it always seemed stuff she
had was breaking down. And I was there for it.
I couldn’t fix this, though.
But Jo did! Jo helped. And that makes me proud.
It also makes me feel old.
This began as a marital question but turned into a parenting question.
I suppose I’m not useless if I helped raise a kid who can take care of herself and who’s
prepared to take care of others when she needs to.
So that’s that, I guess.
Is this how confession works? You talk yourself to a solution, and then the priest gives you
penance?

TIM
With your family, yes.

OSCAR
Thanks, padre.
Your garden’s beautiful.

Oscar reaches into his pocket and takes out a

small model plane. He gives it to Tim, who takes
it tenderly, and leaves. Tim is left regarding the
plane, the garden, the world.
 95.

SCENE 23

Jo approaches the circle of things. She places the

flag among the circle - elevated off the ground,
somehow, maybe balanced on other objects - and
sits in the center. Dolores comes into the circle,
and rests her head in Jo’s lap.

JO
He says he’ll always remember the way you used to run, as a child. The way you used to
get into trouble. He says once, before he left, you two were in the park together and he lost
track of you - didn’t know where you went. He ran all over looking for you, asking
strangers if they saw the little sun-kissed girl with the pigtails and the bright green dress
and the socks with pom-poms on them. He ran through the park shouting your name. Out
of breath, he leaned against a tree, and he heard you giggling, and he looked up, and there
you were, smiling big, looking down. You shouted “Boo!” And he was too happy to see
you and too impressed you’d climbed the tree to be mad you’d run away. He couldn’t tell
how you’d gotten up there, and it was hell to get you down. He says he’d never been so
happy and so scared.

Beat.

DOLORES
That’s nice. I don’t remember that, but it’s nice.

They sit together for a while. Oscar comes in and

sits on the couch, outside the circle, with a bag of
chips. The doorbell rings. Jo goes to get it. She
returns with Miriam.

MIRIAM
(To Dolores.)
Hi.

DOLORES
(To Miriam.)
Hi.

MIRIAM
Jo texted me.

A beat.

JO
Dad, let’s go, they have some catching up to do.
 96.

DOLORES
No.
Let’s just sit together.
Quiet.

JO
All right.

They exist together in the quiet. Eventually,

Oscar begins to hum “Sweet Caroline.” Dolores,
Jo, and Miriam “shush” him. He quiets. They
continue to be quiet as the lights fade.

End of play.