Crest of the Waves - One Bell

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! ! ! ! ! CREST OF THE WAVES

! ! ! ! ! by ED BALLOU

Copyright Ed Ballou, 2014!! ! ! ! ! Ed Ballou! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! [email protected]! ! ! !

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Copyright Ed Ballou, 2014

mailto:[email protected]

mailto:[email protected]

! ! ! ! ! ! CHARACTERS

CAP - A retired sea captain - around 80, mobile, Italian t-shirt - he pantomimes watering his lawn and plants, turning on the water, coiling and uncoiling his hose, etc.

MR. TILSON - 60‘s, former manager of a shipyard

MRS. TILSON - 60’s, his wife

TEDDY - Cap’s grandson, early 20’s

JIMMY - Cap’s son, about 50, tan face from seafaring, a cap that says “Do Not Disturb”

MADGE - Cap’s daughter, about 50, funny, mobile, but elegant

BILLY - an old retired tugboat captain, 70’s, wears a captain’s cap

RALPH - Cap’s brother, about 80, untucked, unbuttoned, plaid short sleeve shirt

The following three characters can be played by one actor in three different costumes -

all three are Cap’s uncles, wearing Captain’s caps and dressed in turn of the eighteenth

century sailor’s outfits

UNCLE NED

UNCLE TOMMY

UNCLE BEN

MAN - dressed in turn of the last century island farmer garb

BOY - dressed in turn of the last century island garb

OFFICER - Merchant Marine officer

MATE - ship’s mate, OFFSTAGE

TIME: 1970.


! ! ! ! ! ! SET

UPSTAGE is The Porch, with an old concrete walk dividing a tropical front yard in half - crabgrass, small fruit trees, and a palm tree on each side - under one palm tree a small pile of rocks, under the other a sign swinging from a frame saying “Crest of the Waves” - the walk culminates in steps going up to a covered porch with two screen doors right and left - two short lawn chairs next to each other, in the area between the doors. At times The Porch darkens, and behind it The Plot appears, with sea sounds below and cliffs rising above, that disappear into the shadow of a volcanic peak.

STAGE RIGHT is The Railing where scenes at sea take place. It’s several feet long, and stands at different heights, depending on which ship it is the railing. It can be low and wooden, with rope rigging going up to the masts above, as on a sailing ship, or high and steel as on the wheelhouse of a Liberty ship, or low and steel with scuppers, as on a tugboat.

DOWNSTAGE LEFT is The Pulpit, with a coffin in front and a ship’s bell behind - the pews are the theatre audience - there is a suggestion of windows flung open to a blue sky floating over the sounds of the sea.! ! !! ! ! ! !! !! ! ! ! !


! ! ! ! ! ! ONE BELL! ! ! ! ! 1-1-1

AT RISE: Lights rise on TEDDY standing behind The Pulpit, a simple wooden coffin before it. Sunlight streaming in from one side, the SOUNDS of the sea crashing far below on the cliffs. JIMMY, MADGE, MIM, and BILLY are sitting in a pew in front of the coffin - more pews behind are suggested by the audience.

! ! ! ! ! ! TEDDYWe are gathered here on The Rock to honor the life of Cap, a man from the past - born on The Rock at the end of the nineteenth century - his mother born here five years after President Lincoln was shot and six years before Custer’s Last Stand. Cap had to go to sea as a cabin boy on a three-masted schooner. He eventually sailed up to New York as deckhand, where the shipping was better - going through the First World War as a sailor in the Merchant Marine, then marrying and raising three kids, as he rose to Captain on the water. When shipping slowed in the Great Depression, he painted houses and refinished floors by hand. Cap went through the Second World War as a captain of Liberty ships in the convoys - moving to Florida after the war, and continuing to serve as a skipper of freighters until he was forced to retire. By the time of his passing, the big moon under which he stood watch on those old wooden schooners had seen the footprints of man. My grandfather was a simple man - he lived how people here on The Rock lived for the last three centuries - never learned to drive, no phone, taught himself to read and write on the ships. He smoked cigars and pipes, watched only Friday night boxing on his small black and white TV, and listened only to Paul Harvey on his radio. He ate as if he were still on those sailing ships of long ago - slumgullion, johnnybread, and bread pudding for dessert. He drank lemonade with ice cubes from plastic cups, and took slugs of rum from a bottle he kept hidden in a cupboard. Cap had a saying: “If a thing’s worth doing, it’s worth doing right...” - I reckon that’s how he tried to live his life, and this is my eulogy for Cap...! ! ! ! ! ! (The LIGHTS DIM on The Pulpit, LIGHTS RISE ! ! ! ! ! ! on The Porch. A store-bought placard sign ! ! ! ! ! ! saying “For Rent” hangs below the sign that ! ! ! ! ! ! declares “Crest of The Waves”. Cap stands ! ! ! ! ! ! watering his front lawn. The SOUND of a car ! ! ! ! ! ! pulling up, the engine stays running, car doors ! ! ! ! ! ! slam, a trunk opens and closes, the murmur of ! ! ! ! ! ! a cabbie being paid - ENTER MR. TILSON and ! ! ! ! ! ! MRS. TILSON, with suitcases in hand.)

! ! ! ! ! ! MR. TILSON!! ! ! !Hello!

! ! ! ! ! ! CAPHo...


! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! 1-1-2! ! ! ! ! ! MR. TILSON! ! ! ! ! ! (Waving a newspaper)Saint Pete Beach, right? - we just flew in from New York - picked up a paper at the airport, and saw your place was for rent - took a cab out here, hoped we’d find something - that was our plan, soon as I retired last week, we closed the apartment and headed down south here for the beaches - we had enough of those cold winters in New York - we want heat! - this your duplex?

! ! ! ! ! ! CAPLeft side’s for rent... ! ! ! ! ! ! MR. TILSONWho lives in the right side?

! ! ! ! ! ! CAPI lives there.. out back I got a three-room my daughter, Madge, lives in, and a one-room I got rented to a man named Roy...

! ! ! ! ! ! MR. TILSONI’m Irv - my wife, Ruth.. what’s your name?

! ! ! ! ! ! CAPThey calls me Cap...

! ! ! ! ! ! MRS. TILSONWe’re looking to retire down here, to some little beach town - this might be the place...

! ! ! ! ! ! CAPShore, maybe.. New York? - lived up there twenty years - Richmond Hill..! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !! ! ! ! ! ! MR. TILSONWell, I’m from Brooklyn - I was manager of the Brooklyn Shipyard thirty years!

! ! ! ! ! ! CAPNever put in there...

! ! ! ! ! ! MR. TILSONWell, why would you? - it’s just a big yard that repairs ships and such..

! ! ! ! ! ! CAP! ! ! ! ! !Wal, I was on the water meself fifty years, in and outta shipyards..

! ! ! ! ! ! MR. TILSONOh? - a sailor, or mate, on tankers and freighters?


! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! 1-1-3! ! ! ! ! ! CAPStarted off as cabin boy, then sailor, then mate - captain, the last years - Liberty ships, sailed in the convoys...

! ! ! ! ! ! MR. TILSONThat was some war - brought us a lot of business, unfortunately, what with those U-boats torpedoing our ships - some right off New York Harbor!

! ! ! ! ! ! CAPI knows ‘bout that..

! ! ! ! ! ! MR. TILSONWell, Cap, could we take a look at the place?

! ! ! ! ! ! CAPShore.. hundred a month, utilities on you...! ! ! ! ! ! (He leads them up the stairs)

! ! ! ! ! ! MR. TILSONCome on, Ruth.. I’m liking the feel of this.. ! ! ! ! ! !! ! ! ! ! ! MRS. TILSONI’m liking the heat, Irv..

! ! ! ! ! ! MR. TILSONThat’s good, that’s good! ! ! ! ! ! ! (Pulls out a cigar) Mind if I smoke in there, Cap?

! ! ! ! ! ! CAPI smoke, meself - all ahead full on yer cigar, Irv...! ! ! ! ! ! (Mr. Tilson puts his cigar in his mouth, they all ! ! ! ! ! ! go into the left side of the duplex - LIGHTS ! ! ! ! ! ! RISE again on The Porch - CAP is sitting in ! ! ! ! ! ! one of the lawn chairs on the porch, reading a ! ! ! ! ! ! newspaper with his glasses on. The right ! ! ! ! ! ! screen door opens - ENTER MADGE onto the ! ! ! ! ! ! porch, carrying a small placard, and a ! ! ! ! ! ! styrofoam ice chest which she puts down. She ! ! ! ! ! ! goes back to the wall of the duplex behind ! ! ! ! ! ! Cap’s chair, thumbtacks the placard up.)!

! ! ! ! ! ! MADGE! ! ! ! ! ! (Reading the placard)“The Captain’s Word Is Law”!


! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! 1-1-5! ! ! ! ! ! CAP! ! ! ! ! ! (Reading his newspaper)Goin’ fishin’ this mornin’, Madge?

! ! ! ! ! ! MADGE! ! ! ! ! ! (Striking a pose)The fish are asking me for an audience!

! ! ! ! ! ! CAP! ! ! ! ! ! (Reading)Go back ta th garage - take th bamboo pole - just inside th door...

! ! ! ! ! ! MADGEThey’re all bamboo poles, Daddy..

! ! ! ! ! ! CAPTh one with th big reel..

! ! ! ! ! ! MADGEI’m not catching a whale!

! ! ! ! ! ! CAPIt’s good for trollin’.. got heavy sinkers, goes down deep fer th fish..

! ! ! ! ! ! MADGE! ! ! ! ! ! (Picking up the styrofoam ice chest)Fresh fish for dinner!

! ! ! ! ! ! CAP! ! ! ! !I’ll go up ta Winn Dixie, just in case..

! ! ! ! ! ! MADGENo need to shop, Daddy.. I’m bringing back.. red snapper - they’re running!

! ! ! ! ! ! CAPRunnin’ where?

! ! ! ! ! ! MADGE Only The Shadow knows!

! ! ! ! ! ! CAPI’ll get a ham.. what charter boat you goin’ out on?

! ! ! ! ! ! MADGECaptain Randy’s!


! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! 1-1-6! ! ! ! ! ! CAPCaptain Randy on th Buenavista? - you’ll have ta pilot him outta th harbor..! ! ! ! ! ! (Mimicking - he’s been there before)“Which way do I go, Cap?”! ! ! ! ! ! (Normal voice)“Christ, just foller’ th channel, me boy!”

! ! ! ! ! ! MADGEIf I’m not back by dinner, send the dogs out..

! ! ! ! ! ! CAP! ! ! ! ! ! (Putting up his newspaper, going down the ! ! ! ! ! ! steps to water his lawn)I’ll send yer brother out in his Buick..

! ! ! ! ! ! MADGE! ! ! ! !I’ll be back with an ice chest full of fresh snapper!

! ! ! ! ! ! CAP! ! ! ! ! ! (Uncoiling the hose, turning it on)Yer th only thing that’s fresh - now get yer pole...! ! ! ! ! ! (He waters)

! ! ! ! ! ! MADGE! ! ! ! ! ! (Pretending annoyance, tossing her head)Well! - but the Captain’s word is law!! ! ! ! ! ! (MADGE EXITS - the LIGHTS DIM on The ! ! ! ! ! ! Porch, LIGHTS RISE on Teddy at The Podium)

! ! ! ! ! ! TEDDYMy Aunt Madge was a smart woman who would have gone to college in a later decade - instead, she went through stenography school and became a legal secretary - first in Costa Rica, then in Paris working for the OSS, she found herself in San Francisco in the 50’s, living in a Victorian apartment overlooking the Bay, working her way up through the secretarial pool to become personal secretary to a partner in a Sansome Street law firm - finally running his office for him when he became ill - Madge sitting in his big leather chair in his office with the window overlooking the financial district - and upon his death, a gift of cash and his Thunderbird allowing Madge to retire to Florida and rent out the three-room in the back of the duplex, to be near her beloved Daddy during the last years of his life...! ! ! ! ! ! (The LIGHTS RISE on the front yard, CAP ! ! ! ! ! ! watering the plants. The steady SOUND of low ! ! ! ! ! ! surf gently washing up on a nearby beach. ! ! ! ! ! ! ENTER BILLY up the walk, carrying a bunch of ! ! ! ! ! ! bananas on his head.)


! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! 1-1-7! ! ! ! ! ! CAP! ! ! ! ! !! ! ! ! ! ! (Looking over, watering)Lookin’ good, Billy..! ! ! ! ! !

! ! ! ! ! ! BILLYA present, Cap...! ! ! ! ! ! (Climbs the steps, puts the bananas on a chair)

! ! ! ! ! ! CAPBringin’ coal ta’ Newcastle..

! ! ! ! ! ! BILLYThese are bananas..

! ! ! ! ! ! CAP! ! ! ! ! ! (Watering a small tree with big fronds)What’s this?

! ! ! ! ! ! BILLY! ! ! ! ! ! (Looking carefully)A banana tree..! ! ! ! ! !

! ! ! ! ! ! CAPNo, it’s Newcastle n’ it’s fulla coal..

! ! ! ! ! ! BILLYBut no bananas..! ! ! ! ! !

! ! ! ! ! ! CAPGot a bunch o’ them on me table..! ! ! ! ! ! (Goes back to watering. A pause.)

! ! ! ! ! ! BILLY !! ! ! !Would it kill ya ta recognize me for who I am?

! ! ! ! ! ! CAPYou’re a retired old tugboat captain, walkin’ ‘round with bananas on your head..

! ! ! ! ! ! BILLYThey could build a statue of me in New York Harbor, for what I done!

! ! ! ! ! ! CAPChrist, even the pigeons wouldn’t sit on it.. what you need a statue for?

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! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! 1-1-8! ! ! ! ! ! BILLYSo people will look up at it, and say, “I remember old Billy, that son of a sea cook! Damn him for dyin’ - wonder what he’s doin’ now?”! ! ! ! ! ! (Laughs)And dead, I’ll be dead! - and who’ll care? - you care, you gonna care, Cap?! ! ! ! ! ! (Looks at CAP watering)You ain’t gonna care - you don’t care about me, now! You don’t! Who am I to you, huh? Nobody - a landlubber cause I never left New York Harbor, never sailed deepwater - you think I’m not a real sailor! You never did, huh, Cap - never!!! !! ! ! ! ! ! CAP! ! ! ! ! ! (Watering)Billy, you’re three sheets ta th wind..! ! ! ! ! ! (Sprinkles some water his way)

! ! ! ! ! ! BILLY! ! ! ! ! ! (Moving out of the way)You ever been on a steam tug, haulin’ rope in a freezin’ storm, hands slippin’ on a thick hawser tyin’ our little tug to a big ship like you was master of, a sailor on its deck shoutin’ down, “Pull, tug swabbie, pull, tighten this line, get yer tug pullin’ - pull! - pull us offen this dock afore we ram her - pull, you son of a sea cook!” And we pulled! - waves sloshin’ on deck, old wood hull a-bangin’ against that big iron hull, boiler roarin’, steam engine clankin’, fire belchin’ from the stack - and we pulled that ship off that dock, a big ship like you was captain of - saved their deepwater hides, then pushed ‘em back snug inna berth! And no thanks from those deepwater men up there, not a word! - don’t forget, Cap, I worked my way up from deck just like you! - we both climbed into the wheelhouse and become captain - I was captain of my own damn steam tug in New York Harbor - I was captain!!! ! ! ! ! !! ! ! ! ! ! CAP! ! ! ! ! ! (Sprinkling water at him)Look out, tug captain - wave’s comin’ aboard!

! ! ! ! ! ! BILLY! ! ! ! ! ! (Drying himself off, going down the steps)You wasn’t the only one was captain..

! ! ! ! ! ! (BILLY EXITS. CAP continues watering. ! ! ! ! ! ! ENTER TEDDY with a suitcase - puts it down)

! ! ! ! ! ! CAPTeddy.. what you doin’ here? - thought you was in California...

! ! ! ! ! ! TEDDYThings didn’t work out with this girl...!


! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! 1-1-9! ! ! ! ! ! CAPWell, boy, you’re welcome here anytime - your Uncle Jimmy will be glad ta see ya - he just got off his tanker - he’s stoppin’ by this mornin’ - how was th flight?

! ! ! ! ! ! TEDDYCouldn’t afford a plane - took a Greyhound, three long days ride..

! ! ! ! ! ! CAP! ! ! ! !Your Uncle Jimmy will wanna take ya down to see your Grandma..

! ! ! ! ! ! TEDDYYou still got that ol’ double-ender boat?

! ! ! ! ! ! CAPThe Little Nick - she’s anchored out in th Pass..

! ! ! ! ! ! TEDDYI’d like to go out in her sometime..

! ! ! ! ! ! CAPShore, boy - now stow yer stuff in th front bedroom..

! ! ! ! ! ! TEDDYOkay, Granpot - sure glad I’m here!!

! ! ! ! ! ! CAPMe too, boy - me too... ! ! ! ! ! ! (TEDDY EXITS - CAP continues watering - ! ! ! ! ! ! ENTER MIM, with peroxide red hair)

! ! ! ! ! ! MIMHi, Cap..

! ! ! ! ! ! CAP! ! ! ! ! ! (Watering)Ho, Mim..! ! ! ! ! !

! ! ! ! ! ! MIMWas that your grandson I saw come up the driveway?!!

! ! ! ! ! ! CAP! ! ! ! ! !He’s stayin’ awhile..

! ! ! ! ! ! MIMVacation?


! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! 1-1-10! ! ! ! ! ! CAPChrist, he can’t afford no vacation, makes no money paintin’ houses in California! - came down on th Greyhound, prob’ly broke - gonna have ta look for work - maybe Jimmy can get him on th sea, I dunno..

! ! ! ! ! ! MIMIf he’s looking for work, I could use the fence painted over at my apartment house - if he wants a job he can walk to, tell him to stop by - you too, Cap - I’ll pour you a stiff rum..

! ! ! ! ! ! CAPI’ll send him, Mim..! ! ! ! ! ! (Continues watering)! !

! ! ! ! ! ! MIMDon’t forget that rum..! ! ! ! ! ! (CAP continues watering the front yard - the ! ! ! ! ! ! SOUND of cicadas and the low murmur of surf ! ! ! ! ! ! as the LIGHTS DIM - LIGHTS RISE again on ! ! ! ! ! ! The Porch - no one in the lawn chairs - Roy ! ! ! ! ! ! comes up the steps and knocks on Cap’s ! ! ! ! ! ! screen door - TEDDY opens it)

! ! ! ! ! ! ROYOh, hi.. Cap in?

! ! ! ! ! ! TEDDYMy Granpa’s up at Winn Dixie...!

! ! ! ! ! ! ROY! ! ! !So, you’re his grandson..

! ! ! ! ! ! TEDDYYeah, I’m Teddy - Roy, right? - renting the one-room?

! ! ! ! ! ! ROYThese last three months - work over in Bermuda, putting in cabinets - I’m gone half the time...

! ! ! ! ! ! TEDDYYeah, you from Bermuda?

! ! ! ! ! ! ROYNo, I’m from a little town south of here, Fort Everglades, down in the swamp..


! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! 1-1-11! ! ! ! ! ! TEDDYI’m from California!

! ! ! ! ! ! ROYWhat brought you here, son?

! ! ! ! ! ! TEDDYWoman problems.. what brought you here?

! ! ! ! ! ! ROYWell, I wasn’t plannin’ on ever leavin’ my little hometown, was pretty happy there, had me a little job... this was before the war, the second one - then war broke out and a recruiter came down to our town and said his piece, and I believed him and signed up - got trained in Intelligence, sent to the South Pacific - we was plannin’ an attack - I mean, the generals was - of a little island called Guadalcanal, and they needed to know where the enemy had his defenses set up, and so they sent us to reconnoiter the island, us Intelligence men, a few days before the invasion.. they brought us out there at night by submarine, and the sub surfaced and we made our way to the island in boats, real quiet like - boats had electric motors, so the Japanese wouldn’t hear us coming.. we landed quietly on that beach in the dark, and snuck ‘round for hours in the jungle, scoutin’ out the Jap defenses, quiet as church mice.. ‘til a Jap sentry heard us and alerted the others - big fire fight broke out, tracers lightin‘ up the dark, everbody firin’ every which way - there went our element of surprise! - we were lucky to make it back to the boats and get the hell out of there! - at least, most of us - we made it back to the sub and it submerged.. but we got the intelligence they wanted for that assault on Guadalcanal!

! ! ! ! ! ! TEDDYAnd the rest is history..

! ! ! ! ! ! ROYI made it through the war, and after it was over, I went back to my little home town - but I just couldn’t be there no more, after seein’ what I saw.. I got out of there, came up to Tampa Bay, got a job, got married, got unmarried, changed jobs a few times, moved around - and now here I am, still workin‘ for a livin‘, stayin’ here in your Granpot’s little one-room, for who knows how long...! ! ! ! ! ! (Pauses)Say, I came here to borrow Cap’s little space heater - nights been getting a little chilly, and Cap told me I could take it..

! ! ! ! ! ! TEDDYWell, let me see..! ! ! ! ! ! (Looks inside)Here it is.. ! ! ! ! ! ! (Gives Roy a small space heater)


! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! 1-1-12! ! ! ! ! ! ROYThanks!! ! ! ! ! ! (Starts to EXIT, pauses, turns back)You know what, boy? - that one night on Guadalcanal was about all the excitement I ever had in this life...! ! ! ! ! ! (ROY EXITS, Teddy closes the screen door - ! ! ! ! ! ! the LIGHTS DIM, then the LIGHTS RISE on ! ! ! ! ! ! CAP sitting in his lawn chair on the porch, ! ! ! ! ! ! reading his paper - ENTER MADGE up the ! ! ! ! ! ! walk, carrying the styrofoam ice chest - drops it ! ! ! ! ! ! in front of him)

! ! ! ! ! ! MADGEEnter the queen, with a mess o’fish - and boy are they heavy!

! ! ! ! ! ! CAPWhat you got?! ! ! ! ! !

! ! ! ! ! ! MADGE! ! ! !Two rockfish, three mullet, four sunfish - and a giant grouper!

! ! ! ! ! ! CAPA giant grouper swallow you whole..

! ! ! ! ! ! MADGEWell, maybe it’s a tuna..

! ! ! ! ! ! CAPWhat about snapper? - hear they’re runnin’..

! ! ! ! ! ! MADGEI hooked a snapper, but it snapped the line - that’s what they do! - I thought we were having ham for dinner...! ! ! ! ! ! CAPWe are now, less’n you caught somethin’..

! ! ! ! ! ! MADGE! ! ! ! ! ! (Pauses)Daddy.. I just caught a little angelfish and threw it back - then I fished and fished some more, until.. until.. I broke your big bamboo pole..

! ! ! ! ! ! CAPWal, Madge, musta’ hooked a awful big fish that time..

! ! !


! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! 1-1-13! ! ! ! ! ! MADGE! ! ! ! ! ! (Taking the top off the cooler)It was awful big..! ! ! ! ! ! (She lifts a ship’s bell out of the cooler) An awful big bell..

! ! ! ! ! ! CAP! ! ! ! ! ! (Pauses, looks at it)At th bottom o’ th ocean?

! ! ! ! ! ! MADGE! ! ! ! ! ! (Holding up the bell)A ship’s bell.. it’s old! - thought you might like it - Captain Randy on the charter boat had a sailor clean off the barnacles - wasn’t that nice?

! ! ! ! ! ! CAPAny name on it? - th ship - year she was launched?

! ! ! ! ! ! MADGE! ! ! ! ! ! (Picking up the bell, reading)“Rebecca Palmer - 1877”...

! ! ! ! ! ! CAPWhat?! ! ! ! ! ! (Pauses)Let me see..! ! ! ! ! ! (Pulls out his glasses from his pants pocket, ! ! ! ! ! ! puts them on, takes bell, holds it up, looks at ! ! ! ! ! ! the inscription)You was fishin’ where?

! ! ! ! ! ! MADGEJust off Egmont Key - Captain Randy made sure we didn’t drift in too close to the rocks..

! ! ! ! ! ! CAP! ! ! !! ! ! ! ! ! (Pauses, looking at the bell)The Rebecca Palmer was a square-rigger went down off Egmont Key in a nor’easter - no, a sou’wester - in nineteen-ought-seven..

! ! ! ! ! ! MADGEWhat’s the difference between a nor’easter and a sou’wester?! !

! ! ! ! ! ! CAPA nor’easter won’t take no cheek from a sou’wester..


! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! 1-1-14! ! ! ! ! ! MADGE! ! ! ! ! ! (Handing him the bell) Well, that’s all that remains of the Rebecca Palmer, Daddy..

! ! ! ! ! ! CAP! ! ! ! ! ! (Pauses, holding up bell)Tater owned that ship, was master of her..

! ! ! ! ! ! MADGEYour Uncle Tater?

! ! ! ! ! ! CAPAll hands lost in that sou’wester.. you get cleaned up, n’ I’ll put th ham in th oven.. oh, Madge - I rented the apartment this morning to a couple from New York - the Tilsons...! ! ! ! ! ! (CAP picks up the bell, looks at it - grabs the ! ! ! ! ! ! rope clapper, RINGS the bell once, carries it up ! ! ! ! ! ! the steps, puts it down on a lawn chair, EXITS ! ! ! ! ! ! into his side of the duplex - the SOUND of ! ! ! ! ! ! Jimmy’s Buick pulling up on the shell road - a ! ! ! ! ! ! car door slams - ENTER JIMMY, striding up the ! ! ! ! ! ! walk and quickly climbing the steps)

! ! ! ! ! ! JIMMYWhere’s Pop?

! ! ! ! ! ! MADGEInside, fixing a ham.. - Teddy’s out here from California - all of a sudden showed up - Daddy wants to know if you can get him on ships - you staying for dinner?

! ! ! ! ! ! JIMMYGotta night mate in Tampa.. I’ll scout ships for Teddy, but union won’t take any more sailors - all he could ship are non-union tugs..!! ! ! ! !! ! ! ! ! ! MADGECan you get him on one?

! ! ! ! ! ! UNCLE JIMMYI’d rather he sail the big ships..

! ! ! ! ! ! MADGE Well, he can start on a small tug - I’ve gotta clean up - I’ve been fishing!

! ! ! ! ! ! UNCLE JIMMY! ! ! !What’d you catch?


! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! 1-1-15! ! ! ! ! ! MADGE! ! ! ! ! ! (Grandly)A bell!! ! ! ! ! ! (MADGE EXITS around the back - JIMMY ! ! ! ! ! ! goes inside Cap’s side of the duplex - the ! ! ! ! ! ! LIGHTS DIM on THe Porch)! ! ! ! ! !

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Documents

Crest of the Waves - One Bell