A Double Life - 3

Scene 6

(UE Mall. A is at the side of the stage, at some higher level, looking down at the main area.)

A: Joe's going to give me a total hiding if he knows I'm here again, but I don't care. I need to see him again. I just wonder if he comes down here often enough. I just want to see his face. I just want to know what kind of life he's having. yet at the same time I don't want him to know about me. That must be it, I suppose. Oh, wait, here he comes!

(Enter B and Jennifer, and they go on to sit at a table. They're miming in this scene, because I don't have the stomach to think up of whatever cute and mushy stuff they're going to say to each other, and anyway the audience doesn't have to know anything except that they're rather intimate.)

A: My God they remind me of myself and Jackie when we were starting out. She always had me around her little finger. I'm just wondering what would have happened if I hadn't agreed to take those shots of Eddie. (Lights off except for single spotlight on A. B and Jennifer leave) Eddie, Eddie. He was the guy that I always turned to when I needed help with anything concerning the running of a business. He was an enormously successful businessman himself, and was always busy, but he never hesitated to give me any of his time. Problem was, he was too successful, and there were a number of people who wanted him out of the way. One of them was Jackie's father, Joe. What they did was simply brutal. They set him up with Jackie, knowing that he wasn't the kind of man who would easily turn down a proposition like that. Then they had me stationed under the bridge where nobody could see me. I was a photographer in those days, running my own business. Not entirely successful, but many people knew and liked my work. And there I was, clicking away, and I couldn't tell that it was Eddie that I was shooting at until the film came up.

(Lights back on, enter Eddie. Both of them walk up to the table that B and Jennifer occupied and sit down)

Eddie: Hey, A, what's up? I heard you had some trouble with the business.

A: Well.. I do, but that's not what I really came up to see you about.

Eddie: Well, I gotta tell you that it's really brave for a person like you to be striking out on your own. It's always going to be a real bitch

for you to be competing against all the major studios all on your own, and not everybody's going to appreciate your way of doing things, but .

A: There's something I gotta tell you.

Eddie: Oh, what is it?

A: Uh. it's like . uh .

Eddie: See, that's the problem with you. You just got to be more decisive. It's a jungle out there. People are out there killing each other all the time in the business. You hesitate one time and you're lost. You see an excellent business opportunity, you got to grab it with both hands. You can't really afford to think about how others are going to react to you. Once you've lost the opportunity, it's not going to come knocking again.

A: Actually, that just reminds me ..

Eddie: You've got to see that there's this edge you have over other people. All those prizes you've won in photography. You've got to learn how to use all that for publicity. You may think that it's prostituting your art, and that it's vulgar and it's crude and all that, and I could see your point of view on that, but at the end of the day what matters is that you get the message across that you must have something in you that deserves all those prizes you've won.

A: Yeh, I guess so.

Eddie: Oh, by the way, I just heard that you've just been nominated for another international freelance photography award. Congratulations!

A: Well, thanks.

Eddie: I've been talking a lot, but that's because I'm in such a happy mood. I want to tell you about this hot chick I met at Clarke Quay yesterday afternoon.

A: See, that's exactly the kind of thing that would.

Eddie: Make my day, see, she was like. well, I don't know if I've seen her before, but that's probably got to do with the fact that she's a model. A real hot babe. real intelligent too. (suddenly apprehensive) you're not going to tell my wife, are you?

A: Er . erm . no .

Eddie: Well, heck, no. It was nothing serious, we were just having a little fun. I'd have asked my wife to join in. They'd have got on fine .

A: Oh really?

Eddie: Well, somebody's just paged me . I gotta go. See you some other time. (exits)

A: (to audience) That was the last I ever saw of him. What I did to him was really dishonourable. That was the first time in my life that I ever had to hide under a bridge to take photographs, and although I didn't feel sick at the time, I really do now. All Jackie ever told me was that I was going to take a photograph of a man having a liaison with a woman. She neglected 2 important facts: That she was going to be the woman, and that Eddie was going to be the man. They just wanted to set up some incriminating evidence to get Eddie into trouble with his wife. (Pauses)

After I realised what the pictures actually contained, I wanted to confess to him, but I couldn't. It would sound ridiculous, because I had already done the deed. After they had the photographs publicised, it was the straw that broke the camel's back. His wife had long known about the womanising, but it was still alright that everything was done in private. What followed was a long divorce case and a big alimony payout.

Say what you want but ultimately she was still his first love, and he definitely didn't want it to end that way. It destroyed him. After that he wasn't the same Eddie anymore and his business empire started to crumble. And who did I do it for? What was it all for?

(Enter Jackie. She sits down at the table with him)

Jackie: (rubbing his forearm) Hey, don't take it so bad. I didn't know that he was that close to you. (A is silent) Hey, you want to hear the good news? Father has agreed to pump 100 hundred thousand into your shop. Aren't you happy?

A: (sullen) I can't complain.

Jackie: And in the meantime, he's got us a nice villa in Southern France for our honeymoon.

A: That's nice to . Look. First of all, Eddie was the guy who was helping me through all the rough times, and secondly, I don't at all like what you did with Eddie in those photos.

Jackie: Come now, it was all an act. It was all put on, you know. I didn't like him one single bit.

A: Really? You must have been a really good actor.

Jackie: Well, not really. he did have something there, though . look, why don't you stop thinking about such unpleasant things . I .

A: I can't go on with the business. I can't keep asking for help from your father everytime I run into monetary difficulties.

Jackie: Well, so much the better, then. Why don't you come join in the family business? I'm sure father's dying to have someone by his side that he can trust?

A: Well . I . I'm not very sure if I can .

Jackie: It's alright, everything's going to be fine, I can assure you .

A: I hope so, it'll be good for the 2 of us . (Jackie gets up and leaves. A addresses audience) So, I suppose, that's how it all began for

me. Hold on, someone's coming . (hides in the same place where he witnessed B and Jennifer. This time, B and Jennifer's father, John come in.)

John: I understand that you want my daughter's hand.

B: Yes, we are very much in love.

John: Very much in love . That's just so like my Jennifer. She can convince anybody that she's very much in love with him.

A: I can't make out a word they're saying . but this so reminds me of the time when Joe was telling me I had to set-up someone in order to gain his approval.

B: At least . Jennifer's . agreeable to it.

John: Yes, yes, that is true . but . I'm not as easy as Jennifer is to convince. I need to know . more about you . you have to do something that convinces me that you're worthy.

B: What could it be?

John: This is a public place . well, come, I'll give you a ride, and I'll tell you along the way. (both exit)

A: I can see it so clearly now, he's walking in to the same trap that Joe set for me. He'll get tricked into betraying a friend, he'll leave the life he loves, and he'll find that he doesn't really care that much for his wife and her life anyway. I've got to tell him something . but what will I tell him? What can I say? I can't tell him anything about Joe and Jackie. It's insanity. It's courting death. What the hell, he'll have to learn it the hard way, just as I had to learn it the hard way. It's none of my business, anyway. None of my business .

Scene 7
Dim lighting, warehouse. The smuggling operation is being carried out. A is there, overseeing the procedures. Workers are carrying boxes in and out of a warehouse.

A: (to worker 1) You keep a lookout on that sector (points to stage right) I'll keep a lookout with mine. (Stands watch over stage left) Jennifer walks in from stage left, and at a certain distance away from the warehouse, she pretends to trip and fall.

A: Hey, I'll go see what's going on.

Worker 1: You be careful, boss. I suspect it might be a trap.

A: I think she's fallen badly and she needs help. (goes over and looks at her. Murmurs .) God, she's beautiful.

Worker 1: Guys, we'd better hurry up. I don't feel good about all this.

A: Yes, you guys go hurry up .

(Enter B, at the side of the stage left).

B: I'm not sure what this guy really wants from me, but I've got to do this for Jennifer's sake. (Starts clicking away. ) This is the first time I've had to take a picture from hiding. It's not very comfortable here under the bridge. (Click a few times) Now I've got to get up close and take a few faces.

Jennifer: Oh, it hurts very badly . I was just going home, and it's so dark in here .

A: What can I do to help, miss?

Jennifer: I've sprained my ankle, I'm afraid. It'd really help if you'd massage my ankle like this

A: Like this?

Jennifer: No, a little higher up . Oh, that really feels so good . Oh .

oh, I've got a cut somewhere there. Would you mind finding me a plaster?

A: A . plaster? Sure. (Fumbles through his pockets) I haven't got one with me right now . Hold on, I think there's a first-aid kit somewhere .

(goes over to warehouse. Jennifer gives B the signal and he sneaks up behind A as his back is turned. Worker turns around and sees somebody behind A)

Worker 1: Hey, who's that behind you?

A: Wha . (turns around, and B flashes the camera in A's face) I can't see! What the hell's going on? (B starts clicking away a few more times, and then runs away)

Worker 1: (points to 2 other workers) You two, go after them (they comply, as both Jennifer and B leave.)

A: Abandon operation! Abandon operation! (Some police sirens in the background. Workers scramble around trying to dispose of the evidence.) This is a set-up!

Scene 8
Same setup as scene 1, except that both A and B are sitting behind tables. Only a red spotlight on B. B is developing negatives.

B: (Holding up a developing print to the light) It's him, oh my God it's him. Who would have thought . My God, what have I done? (Off spotlight on B. Stage lights on A. Prisoner's visiting day. Jackie enters.)

A: (Brightening) Oh, it's you.

Jackie: (slaps A) All because of another woman? You made me a prison widow all because of a woman?

A: How was I to know?

Jackie: Of course I know what it was like. You got waylaid by her. The fact that you were susceptible to these kinds of tricks is practically the first thing I learnt about you.

A: I mean . I . it wasn't entirely my fault.

Jackie: No matter. I just wanted to hear it from you that you let yourself get waylaid by a pretty vixen.

A: Well, I did . it was just a moment of weakness, could you just .

Jackie: Right. Now that we've got that out of the way, I've got no business being in this wretched place, WIMP.

A: No. No, don't leave me now. Not when I need you more than ever .

Jackie: Don't worry about me, darling. I'll be just fine . probably seeking out better specimens of male company than what you'll be getting

in here. Bye. Don't expect me to drop by anytime in the near future. (leaves) (Stage left darkens. Stage right lights on)

B: (Linda walks in) Take a look at this . it's actually him.

Linda: Can't you stop them from .

B: Too late. They've already sent the copy of the prints to the police. There's nothing I can do now . to think that he's actually involved in all this .

Linda: You've done a terrible thing .

B: Yes. but I did it for the woman of my dreams . the woman of my dreams

. (Lights off. End of play.)