MARSHA: Before.
VINCENT: Oh that’s horrible.
MARSHA: Why? It’s only eleven. You better get home.
VINCENT: Who me? I know it. Have you learned a lot about me this weekend?
MARSHA: Yeah. When did the weekend begin?
VINCENT: Last night.
MARSHA: Can I come over and hug you, Vincie?
VINCENT: No.
21. ANOTHER GAME
EMILY: If this person were a color, what color would he be?
MARSHA: Sort of yellow on the outside and some darker one inside that you can’t see. Not too obvious, am I?
EMILY: A person who on the outside seems bright, but is really serious. Okay, what time of day is he?
MARSHA: Ten-thirty at night.
EMILY: What kind of food?
MARSHA: Canned chop suey. Are you getting anything?
EMILY: I’m getting a sort of phony person.
MARSHA: That’s not what you should be getting.
EMILY: What kind of plant?
MARSHA: Rubber plant.
EMILY: Sturdy and healthy. It’s a healthy kind of person, more serious than he appears, who likes good food but won’t go out of his way for it.
MARSHA: What’s good food about canned chow mein?
EMILY: What kind of drink would this person be?
MARSHA: Colka-colka.
EMILY: Jesus Christ, one of those young health ones. What character in literature?
MARSHA: I can never think of anything when that question’s asked, I go completely blank.
EMILY: Any character, it can be in movies.
MARSHA: In a very crazy way which you’ll say I’m wrong about, the guy in l’Avventura.
EMILY: What was his name?
MARSHA: I don’t know. What’s the difference?
EMILY: I think I’m giving up. I don’t know this guy. What kind of music?
MARSHA: Rock-n’-roll.
EMILY: What kind of a party?
MARSHA: A loft party that doesn’t quite make it.
EMILY: Zeke Sutherland.
MARSHA: No.
EMILY: Don’t tell me it’s Timothy Cullen.
MARSHA: Why not?
EMILY: Okay, I have one. Ask.
MARSHA: If this person were a country in Europe.
EMILY: Germany.
MARSHA: It’s someone I hate immediately.
EMILY: Here’s a good question for you to ask — would this person take tranquilizers or pep-ups?
MARSHA: No, that’s not allowed — you have to ask what kind of tranquilizer he would be. What kind?
EMILY: Bufferin.
MARSHA: If he were a dessert?
EMILY: Doesn’t that man over there in the green trunks look like a desexualized Picasso?
MARSHA: A cross between Stravinsky and Picasso. You didn’t answer my dessert question.
EMILY: A sliced apple.
MARSHA: Just one slice of apple without any trimmings?
EMILY: A peeled, sliced apple.
MARSHA: I have a feeling it might not even be a man. If this person were an object like to make love on, what would it be?
EMILY: Very good question — okay, gynecologist’s table.
MARSHA: I hate this person.
EMILY: That may be the best answer I’ve ever given.
MARSHA: If this person were a shoe.
EMILY: If this person were a shoe, a fur boot with a heel.
MARSHA: I hope it’s a lady. I hate this person. If he were an animal, what animal would he be?
EMILY: Oh, very good — a groundhog.
MARSHA: I think I know who it is.
EMILY: Then guess; otherwise it’s no fun.
MARSHA: Clem Nye.
EMILY: Are you kidding? Clem’s not any groundhog.
MARSHA: Is it Nathan Fass?
EMILY: Nathan Fass it is.
22. MARSHA INTERRUPTS A DISCUSSION OF HERSELF
VINCENT: You know you’re unbelievable? You’re a pathetic thing, Emily, and I’ll tell you why.
EMILY: I’m a pathetic thing and you’re drunk on vodka.
VINCENT: I’m not drunk. Let me tell you something.
EMILY: Enough of the preludes.
VINCENT: Preludes nothing — preludin, that’s what you need, because you’re very ill. Preludin is a very strong tranquilizer which my daddy took when he was in such pain.
EMILY: Preludin is a diet pill. Go ahead, tell me why I’m a pathetic person, it’s one of the greatest compliments I’ve ever been paid.
VINCENT: You’re a pathetic person because you cannot accept criticism and what’s even more pathetic is that you think it is criticism.
EMILY: Darling, I am the person of all time who accepts criticism. Do you think Marsha does, or you?
VINCENT: No, seriously, we were talking about Fitzgerald.
EMILY: Right — Fitzgerald says to Laurette Taylor: “My God, you beautiful egg, you beautiful egg, you beautiful, beautiful egg.” And Laurette Taylor turns to her husband and says, “Oh Hartley, I’ve just seen the doom of youth. Do you understand? The doom of youth itself, a walking doom.”
VINCENT: Now that’s gorgeous. And do you know what made that gorgeous which the other thing you read didn’t have? A beginning and an end.
EMILY: Oh you and your art, you and your related images, you and your no one thing stands by itself; you, you, you.
VINCENT: Marsha’s coming back. Let’s close the door and show them we’re alone.
EMILY: Can we analyze a little about her and Tim Cullen?
VINCENT: No, can we be honest about ourselves?
EMILY: I want to tell you a story about my sister.
VINCENT: All right, but make it short?
EMILY: My sister’s a lot like me on certain levels.
VINCENT: Aw, let’s talk about ourselves.
EMILY: This is very interesting. My sister said I’m having trouble with my older little boy, and I went to the school psychologist — my sister was telling me this story on the street.
VINCENT: Is it going to be long or short?
EMILY: Very short. She said you know we very often don’t listen to our children; we hear them and we give them answers, but we don’t really listen.
VINCENT: Um.
EMILY: And as my sister was telling me this story, I said what? Because I wasn’t listening to what she was saying.
VINCENT: Beautiful.
EMILY: I have a great deal of difficulty really listening to people.
VINCENT: Not with me.
EMILY: No, because I feel very secure with you and I also respect you, I know what your mind is.
VINCENT: You mean you don’t listen to other people because you feel insecure?
EMILY: No, I cut off. I’m very fantasy-ridden, you know, I have a fantastically active fantasy life. But my dreams are getting very realistic. The healthier I get, the more realistic my dreams become.
VINCENT: The more your life becomes a fantasy.
EMILY: Did you ever hear my Ingmar Bergman dream of my father?
VINCENT: Your Gertrude Berg dream? Yes, you just told it the other night. Besides, I don’t want another story; I want repartee.
EMILY: Should I read you one of my poems?
VINCENT: You know you’re crazy? I just said we want repartee, a thing going back and forth between two human beings, and you say do you want me to read a poem? What has that got to do with communication?
EMILY: Communication is that you’re a human being with crazy beautiful brown eyes and I’m looking at them.
VINCENT: Hazel in the sunlight, you told me last week on the beach.
EMILY: In the sunlight, in the light in the window, the key is in the sunlight.
VINCENT: You can only function when you’ve had a drink.
EMILY: Do you know what my father left me when he died? I’ve never told this to anyone but my analyst, what he left me in his will. He left me his undying love. That’s very scary, isn’t it?