Swiroset.com

Characters and indexes:

Main characters

The Doctor: –Dr. try

The Nurse: –Rosario

Roommate: –Oliver Reams

The Promised: –Eve Fremont

Patient/Husband: –Lee Walters

Secondary characters

*Mother [Eva’s parent]:–Holly

*The father [Eva’s parent]:-Bruce

*elsie [Lee Walters Mother]

various characters

glen and harry [Friends of the family at the trailer park]

The gate keeper at the trailer park

The waiter

The gay in the bar

Music: Composition and lyrics by DL Siluk [see annex at end of book]

Music: “It Was Always You” With Feeling

“The Dancer” Brite 4

“Death [departure] easy waltz

Talk “The end of the day”

“How love passes”

Chapters/or Minutes:

Act I In the hospital

Act II At the trailer park

Act III Back at the hospital

Act IV In the apartment [three poetic-musical lyrics read]

Act V Before the bar/Outside the apartment

Act VI The Jam Bar/The Tragedy

The Annex: The Poetics-Music/Lyrics [composition in Annex]

Additional Poetry: “2nd Ave”

Exhibit:

Songs in lyrics:

Five sheet music songs [available]

Notes: Fragments of life

[About the story]

A note about construction: The first Law was written on 3/2003, the second and third Laws were written on 4/2003; Fifth act written in 5/2003. The work has been written to be read, similar to a play, one could say. The first week of July 2003, the work was reissued and slightly modified, in preparation for publication. Revised for online publication 2/2006.

the fruit cake

Act I

At the hospital

[l993]

This is Lee Walters’ “hospital” room. Fourth [and, by observation the ward] is big, and let me add noisy -. I can’t say much about the hospital apparatus. Some of the equipment looks like pipes hanging everywhere, not sure where they go and could get neglected. A copy of the book, “Never-where,” is on the desk next to her bed. Lee is waiting to go home after surviving a stroke and heart attack; he had some complications with his surgery, but everything seems fine now; the doctor has explained to him that in fact he had a second heart attack, the first two weeks before the second, and he did not know it, he assured him less, compared to this most recent one, the greater it is, in which he arrived at the hospital on time .

He has been in the hospital for three weeks, having bypass surgery, and had a stroke on the operating table, but again I emphasize that he passed all these tests. You got it: –she’s getting bored, –now, for recovery, she has her own little miracles planted throughout the week. We’ll get to that in a moment. He wants the doctors to release him this morning. But just a minute, against the doctor’s better judgment, that is.

Now you see as the curtain goes up, Lee Walters trying to get comfortable on his bed, tripping over the pillows behind his back and a bit on his head. and miss fremont [let’s just refer to her as “Eva” make life easy] -standing in the doorway, shaking his head [thinking, what a dumb clucks, Lee is; we’ll get to Lee also in a moment] “Some kind of bug in your bed, Lee?” She says. He leans back hard against the headboard of the bed, boredom on his face, a sound comes out of his mouth, more like a whistle, I don’t think he liked the comment, but then he’s acclimating to them, or should be. now. This situation does not seem to amuse anyone, that is, her comments and her positioning; she sinks deeper into her bed –

No response

Eve. Leeward!

still no answer

Lee, relax please, it’s not good that you try so hard [remarks Eva again]

However, Lee’s silence still remains.

OK –(annoyed)–it’s your show, I don’t give a damn [says Eva].

Lee is a thirty-five year old man. He is a Postman who earns $35,000 dollars a year. He doesn’t have a mustache but he keeps rubbing his face like he’s having a nervous impulsive reaction. He is a hyperactive person by nature. His mouth is a little open, ready to say something, or he can’t seem to breathe properly through his nose. [one or the other]. In any case, it doesn’t help his already annoying state of being in the hospital for so long, twenty-one days. He has finally gotten comfortable and raises his head to eye level with his fiancée. [a light pause], focusing his attention on her face now. She looks a bit dumbfounded now that she has her attention: –lost for words one could say.

Leeward. Eve! Do you have something worth saying?

Unanswered

Eve!

still no answer

Eve!

Eve [with a tired attitude]. Monkey see, monkey do, isn’t that how it is in our world?

Leeward [shaking his head, indignant]. so you say [he sucks in a breath of air] Did you come here to point out my faults, or what?

Eve. You can find out for yourself, smart boy, for yourself.

Leeward. Of course I can [smugly]!

Eve. I was trying to find out how you felt and got your old snotty comments as usual; you brat, brat, shit.

Leeward. Geez, I thought you were worried if I had a bug in my ass, I mean in the bed. Really worried about my well-being, how about you admit that you are part of my boredom? I’m so used to your smart comments.

Eve. For once you’re half right, I forgot about the ‘error’ comment. Okay, you win, now let’s start– let’s start, again, you know, from scratch, okay?

Leeward. Oh boy, what does that mean? What awaits me, another round of trying to fix my pillow so I don’t get mad at you again?

The patient in the other bed is filling an ear.

Eve [somberly]. I can’t help but annoy each other. We are so used to making fun of everything that we have forgotten how to be serious. But I was crying when I heard you had a stroke on the operating table, along with your heart surgery, I really was, ask your brother. You know you were away for three days; –his left side of him was paralyzed–out [a slight pause]; It was like having… I don’t want to talk about it. You also had seizures for twelve hours; man or man, how lucky you are…!

Leeward. Yes, I know you were crying, I remember some of that. Dr. Bash, Bush or Bean Head, I don’t know his name [a pause, he tries to get his breath]ok, Dr. Bash came by last night and said I was fine, since I made it out of this alive. But he added, and I hate to repeat it, but I will, for a while there, I was a “Fruitcake,” I mean, for a while, I mean, a few days. Can you imagine someone calling you ‘…fruitcake?’ after you had a stroke?

Eve [looking straight ahead, thinking]. Good [pause]Now that you mention it, you were kind of, I mean, you really were kind of a ‘fruitcake’ [Lee looking annoyed at Eva]. I can’t do much about it, can I? But I suppose it would bother me a bit, I think. On the one hand you were a fruitcake, or outside of that, you were having these seizures, you know, or what do you call those things, you know, it makes the body jump. It wasn’t good. We all thought you wouldn’t recover, they [the doctors] they were going to put you in a coma because you had 12 hours of these tantrums; her brother was here, and—and he had a hard time as well as her mother, she was here every day, I mean every day, I think she would have died if you had; “I’ve seen some tears in your brothers’ eyes, but you fooled everyone and recovered in three days. Everyone says that you are the miracle of the room. And maybe you were a fruitcake, for a while, but on the other hand, you’re not anymore.

Leeward [his crabbiness showing]. Look, you never take my side, even when I’m sick. Good [pause; a moment to think], …and if I have another stroke, and I’m still a fruitcake forever, are you going to take care of this fruitcake or are you going to throw it away? maybe even let the fruitcake dry to nothing!

Eve. It really hurts me that you ask that question, or is it a statement [?]

Leeward. Good?

Eve. Can you hear me!

Lee isn’t sure what to say and, taking his time, looks down. He is beginning to realize that he had asked the wrong question and possibly the right one. And he assumed that the answer would be: ‘Yes, I’m leaving you.’ Both Eva and Lee are silent; she shakes her head ‘yes’. Rosario the nurse enters. She looks around her, then closes the curtain around her and leaves Eva standing alone in the doorway.

Eve. Can I be of help, Mrs. Nurse? [Lee shakes his head no to indicated to the nurse he does not want her there.]

Rosario Nurse. No thanks, Miss Fremont, I just have a few things to do. [She is taking his pulse and listening to his heart. He eyes her shape up. She has a nice well-formed figure, and her skin looks a bright-olive, she is all of twenty-nine years old. She is about five feet two inches tall, and she speaks slow, but confident.]