TOM: No, I love this part of town. And you’re the Reverend Kimmich?
CHESTER: Yes, sir.
TOM: Nice to make your acquaintance.
CHESTER: Nice to meet you. Where’d you learn to wear clothes like that? You’re a handsome man.
TOM: God bless you, Reverend. Thank you.
CHESTER: You’re like an actor playing the part of an ordinary person.
TOM: I don’t know what to say to that. Thank you I guess.
CHESTER: I’d better put my jacket on. I don’t look good enough to be in the same room with you.
(Chester exits as Tom says:)
TOM: You look fine. I wish I looked so good. (To Ethan) Nice guy.
ETHAN: Yeah, he’s nuts.
(Reed enters. He has a small bunch of cheap flowers and an envelope.)
Look at this one. Hey, you I know. What are you doing here?
REED: Uh . . .
ETHAN: You’re the guy from the bank.
TOM: Hello, Reed.
ETHAN: You know each other?
TOM: We’re colleagues.
ETHAN: TWO bankers. An accumulation of bankers.
JESSIE: The reverend invited them.
REED: Good morning, Mr. Raidenberg.
TOM: Good morning.
ETHAN: Loan officer, remember me? The cubicle? I was the one on the floor.
REED: I remember you.
ETHAN: Are you surprised to see me alive?
REED: Aaa. I don’t know.
ETHAN: I’m not sorry I yelled at you.
JESSIE: You did what?
ETHAN: He was being a hard-ass. How was the cake?
REED: I threw it away.
ETHAN: The whole cake? You didn’t taste it?! You’re a crazy bastid.
JESSIE: You threw my cake away?
REED: I can’t accept gifts.
TOM: Reed. You can accept a cake.
JESSIE: I forgive you. (Picks up a shopping bag) And you’re in luck. I have another one right here.
REED: Oh no.
JESSIE: There’s five eggs in that cake.
ETHAN: And two sticks of butter.
REED: I can’t.
TOM: Reed. Take the cake.
(Reed takes it.)
REED: Thank you.
JESSIE: Welcome. There’s paper plates and all in there. Nice way to make friends.
ETHAN: You could offer me a piece.
JESSIE: Do not give this man cake!
REED: Duly noted.
(Chester enters in a jacket.)
CHESTER: Welcome. I’m Chester Kimmich. The pastor here.
REED: Reed Van Druyten.
ETHAN: Van Druyten. That German?
REED: Dutch.
ETHAN: Just checking. The Dutch. You bought Manhattan. What, now you’re back for the Bronx?
JESSIE: Ethan, where’s your manners?
ETHAN: Why are bankers here?
REED: I was invited.
JESSIE: They were invited.
CHESTER: That’s right. I invited them. (He indicates flowers) Those for the church?
REED: I didn’t know what was appropriate. Yes.
CHESTER: Thank you. I’ll put them in some water. Flowers in the winter. Always lifts the heart. (He takes the flowers, exits)
ETHAN: Flowers in the winter, and money changers in the temple. I can’t believe you have the chutzpah to show up here.
(Donaldo enters.)
Hey, Donaldo.
DONALDO: Hey, Ethan, you look better. Your color’s better.
ETHAN: Shut up, I’m half dead. Hey, look at this. Bankers in church.
DONALDO: Well, we all have to be some place, why not church? Good morning, Reed! Looking good! Glad you got here. It’s all coming together, that Christmas energy. (Sings) Feliz Navidad, Feliz Navidad. All my favorite people. Good morning, Tom!
TOM: Good morning, Donaldo.
DONALDO: Happy Sunday, Jessie!
JESSIE: Happy Sunday!
DONALDO: Sorry I was late. The kids were crazy.
TOM: No problem. I found it.
DONALDO: I feel terrible I wasn’t here to do introductions. (To Ethan and Jessie) Tom’s the CEO of First Circle Bank.
JESSIE: Oh-h-h.
ETHAN (Overlapping): Oh-h-h. The CEO, no less.
TOM: I heard there was a service. I wanted to be a part of it.
ETHAN: Really? Why?
TOM: I don’t know. It’s the holidays. Goodwill.
ETHAN: You’re looking for goodwill here?
JESSIE: Maybe he’s looking to be saved.
ETHAN: Good luck with that.
DONALDO: And you met Jessie Cortez?
JESSIE: We just met.
TOM: I can understand your animosity, Mr. Goldklang, given what you know. But I assure you I’m not insensitive. I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t have ameliorating news.
ETHAN: What kind of news?
DONALDO: News of what nature?
TOM: I should say WE have some news to share with you, Miss Cortez.
JESSIE (To Ethan): Oh God, this is it.
DONALDO: We? Should I know what you’re about to say?
TOM: No. This works. I was going to bring you up to speed before we came in, but now will do.
JESSIE: Would you tell us?
TOM: Donaldo, your intercession on Ms. Cortez’ behalf was successful.
DONALDO: Are we in the same conversation?
TOM: We are. It’s not going to be necessary to foreclose on your house.
JESSIE: What?
ETHAN: We’re getting the extension?
TOM: No. No extension.
JESSIE: No extension? Then what are you talking about?
TOM: We’re not going to foreclose at all.
ETHAN: Why not?
DONALDO: Tom, what’s going on?
JESSIE: Don’t mess with me!
TOM: I’m not messing with you. Reed, am I accurate?
REED: Yes.
JESSIE: Is this one of those reality shows? ’Cause I’ll kill you both!
REED: Uh . . .
DONALDO (To Tom): Talk to me.
JESSIE: Is this real?
TOM: It’s real.
JESSIE: But we haven’t even had the service yet. Reverend! Donaldo, you did it!
DONALDO: Did what?
JESSIE: You stopped the bank.
DONALDO: No, I didn’t. (To Tom) She owes you money. What are you, Santa Claus?
TOM: Not really.
JESSIE: Are you hearing this, Ethan?
ETHAN: Don’t get excited. There has to be something wrong with it.
TOM: Reed, give ’em the news.
REED: There’s going to be a refund.
JESSIE: To who?
ETHAN: What do you mean, a refund?
REED: I have some paperwork for you. You should have it looked over. The note’s going to be reissued and written off.
JESSIE: I feel lightheaded.
(Ethan and Tom catch Jessie as she collapses into a chair.)
ETHAN AND TOM: Whoa!
ETHAN: What do you mean, a refund?
REED: You get back the balloon payment. The debt’s forgiven.
(Chester reenters with the flowers in a little vase.)
CHESTER: You called, Sister?
JESSIE: Reverend, this man says he’s forgiving me.
CHESTER: Did you do him wrong?
JESSIE: No, it’s not like that.
CHESTER: Then what’s he forgiving you for?
JESSIE: It’s some kind of a good thing.
ETHAN: What happens to the second mortgage?
REED: There won’t be a second mortgage. It will be forgiven.
CHESTER: There he goes. He’s forgiving you again. What for?
REED: It’s a term.
CHESTER: There must be something to it.
DONALDO: He’s forgiving her for taking his money and not giving it back.
JESSIE: You don’t have to put it like that.
ETHAN: It’s the truth.
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CHESTER: Is that right?
REED: It’s not my money.
CHESTER: Well then, whose money is it?
REED: The bank’s.
ETHAN: Oh, we’re back to that again?
JESSIE: Leave off him! This is the answer to my prayers! Reed, you are coming to my house for dinner tonight!
(She embraces him. He freaks, scurrying away.)
REED: PLEASE! Don’t touch me! (Calming) I have dinner plans.
JESSIE: Okay. Another time then. (To Ethan, referring to Reed) He’s a little whacky.
ETHAN: Give him room. He’s been drinking.
JESSIE: I feel like I’ve been drinking. I have to sit down again.
REED: Those documents explain everything.
(Ethan has been looking them over.)
ETHAN: They look all right to me. (He hands the documents to Jessie)
REED: I’ve never been in a church before. Are we in the service now?
CHESTER: Not yet.
DONALDO: No, this is just people socializing.
JESSIE: Donaldo, you delivered. I don’t know how to thank you.
DONALDO: Don’t thank me.
JESSIE: Why didn’t you tell me?
DONALDO: I didn’t know.
TOM: Come on. You had an inkling.
DONALDO: Look, I can’t take credit for this. You want to thank somebody, thank the bank.
JESSIE: Okay, who’s the bank?
ETHAN: Good luck getting an answer to that.
DONALDO: Tom here’s the bank, I guess.
JESSIE: You’re the bank?
TOM: Me? I’m just a working stiff. Don’t be modest, Donaldo. This is because of your efforts.
DONALDO: All I did, all I set out to do was to talk to your loan officer, and then Tom got interested.
TOM: Obviously, without Mr. Calderon’s efforts to make us aware of the particulars of this loan . . . Well, let’s just say, he helped us to get it right.
DONALDO: You’re being too generous. Not to be snappish, Tom, but you did the talking and that’s all that happened. Talking. Nothing was resolved. This is your good deed.
TOM: Somebody’s being modest. I didn’t do a thing. Reed?
REED: I don’t really understand.
TOM: Let’s just focus on the good news then.
JESSIE (Church lady): The good news!
TOM: You’re not losing your house.
JESSIE: Praise God!
TOM: Once those papers are signed.
JESSIE: Give me a pen, Ethan.
ETHAN: I don’t have a pen.
DONALDO: Don’t sign that yet.
JESSIE: Why not?
DONALDO: They should be looked over.
TOM: You’ll need a notary anyway.
REED: I’m a notary.
ETHAN: I’ve got to be missing something.
DONALDO: Can I see those? (He brusquely takes the papers from Jessie and sits a few chairs away)
ETHAN: I don’t get it. There’s got to be a catch.
TOM: When well-intentioned people come together, anything is possible. We can get a lot done, this and more. Progress. Motion.
JESSIE: Motion! Hallelujah!
(Donaldo’s uneasy. He doesn’t look at the papers.)
TOM: I like this little church.
ETHAN: Maybe you should put in a cash machine.
TOM: Funny guy! Maybe I should.
JESSIE: Donaldo, what are you doing with those papers?
DONALDO: I’m looking them over.
JESSIE: No you’re not. You’re just holding them.
DONALDO: I’ll get to it.
TOM: This is good for everybody, Donaldo.
ETHAN: It gets your mother off the hook.
DONALDO: My mother? Yeah. She’ll be relieved.
JESSIE: Your mother thinks you’re a great man.
DONALDO: My mother’s a damn fool.
TOM: I’d like to meet your mother at some point.
DONALDO: She has an impractical streak.
TOM: You all right?
DONALDO: Yeah. Things are just moving a little ahead of me.
TOM: I meant to tell you privately, but you were late.
DONALDO: It’s fine. I’m just . . . You know what? I’m off track. I came here for a service.
JESSIE: I’m ready for that!
ETHAN: There’s got to be a catch.
JESSIE: Don’t look a miracle in the mouth.
DONALDO: Enough. I came here to hear a preacher preach. Enough about worldly stuff. Mortgages and whatnot. I’m gonna shake it off. You do the same.
JESSIE: You’re right, Donaldo.
DONALDO: Reverend? I guess we could use a little spiritual leadership. Where do you want us?
CHESTER: Well, all right. Should we take a seat? Go ahead and sit down. Anywhere’s good. Everybody comfortable?
JESSIE: I’ve been waiting for this day.
CHESTER: Me too, and here it is. (To Reed) Do I understand that you’re a stranger to any form of worship, sir?
REED: Is this the service?
CHESTER: Yes, it is.
REED: I don’t want to participate. I’m just here.
CHESTER: This is how it’s done. Little give and take. Sometimes I’m looking for a bit of a person’s experience. Are you carrying a burden, friend?
REED: Please. Ask somebody else.
CHESTER: Because I am. I’ve lost my way. Makes me feel sick. The good Lord took away my feeling of direction. Anybody here ever feel like that?
(Jessie softly answers yes.)
Anybody here ever feel the old ways don’t work no more, the habit of optimism is just gone?
DONALDO: Optimism isn’t always good.
CHESTER: Does that mean you don’t have any?
DONALDO: You can’t always rely on uplift to get you through.
CHESTER: My positivity came from praying and I can’t pray.
DONALDO: Maybe you were talking to yourself.
CHESTER: No. I have faith.
DONALDO: Then what’s the problem?
CHESTER: I am here to testify: You can have faith, recognize the hand of God, believe in salvation, and still hate life. What if God plucks you like a chess piece from the board and puts you in that dead border around the game? You see everything, but at the direction of the Almighty Force, you are relegated to be no more than a witness to the work and the truth of others. Does anybody here besides me feel dead?
JESSIE: Dead?
DONALDO: What kind of question is that?
CHESTER: When the hurricane took New Orleans and negated my world, in a way I was lucky, because I could point to the hurricane. That’s the storm that stopped my life. How bad is it when you can’t point ’cause there’s nothing? There’s nothing there. The house looks fine but you can’t live in it. Does anybody besides me feel dead?
(Reed raises his hand.)
ETHAN: You do?
TOM: Reed?
REED: Yes?
TOM: You don’t have to speak.
(Reed addresses Chester with bitterness.)
REED: What is this?
CHESTER: A voice in my soul asked for you to come here today, sir. I’m a pastor, a preacher, but I can’t pray. Why do you feel dead?
REED: Because I am dead.
CHESTER: Man says he’s dead.
JESSIE: No, he’s not. What are you talking about? Goodness gracious, you’re not dead.
REED: Yes I am.
TOM (To Donaldo): I think I should get him out of here.
DONALDO: Why don’t you wait on that, Tom. He’s got a right to take up some space.
TOM: Okay.
DONALDO: Go on, Reed.
REED: There was a girl. She was pretty. It didn’t work out. It didn’t work out. That’s all. She . . . LEFT!
DONALDO: I’m sorry.
(Silence.)
CHESTER: Your pain and your silence are filling up this whole place, friend.
(Silence. Reed is resisting speaking.)
TOM
: Look, may I suggest I take him home.
DONALDO: Tom, everybody has a right to some time.
TOM: Of course.
REED: Mmm. I . . .
DONALDO: I’m here.
REED: You are?
DONALDO: Yeah, you got something?
REED: Yes.
DONALDO: Then say it.
REED: You don’t want it.
DONALDO: Yes I do.
REED: Okay. I have to work for this prick. I can’t feel half my face. My wife . . . is worse than dead. She’s in prison. She hates. I hate myself.
JESSIE: No hate. There’s love in this room.
DONALDO: Let him speak.
JESSIE: It’s not right.
REED: It’s right. I’m broken. I have nothing. Look at me. Don’t you get it? “Why was I not made of stone?”
ETHAN (Gently): Quasimodo.
REED: “Why was I not made of stone?” (Indicating Tom) Like thee?
TOM: Me? That’s enough! I’m sorry for his, this crazy outburst.
ETHAN: He’s fine.
JESSIE: He’s a little crazy.
TOM: Reed . . .
CHESTER: A man has to be able to talk.
DONALDO (To Tom): I know it’s at your expense, Tom, but let it go.
JESSIE (To Reed): You’re gonna be all right.
DONALDO (To Tom): Give him a pass. Look at him. People have problems.
ETHAN (To Tom): You’re in the Bronx now.
TOM: You’re drunk, aren’t you?
REED (To Tom): Look at me. I was you.
TOM: I don’t drink. What are you talking about?
REED (To Chester, referring to himself and Tom): We’re the witch doctors. What are we selling? What the hell is it? Smoke! And then we go. We’re gone. Don’t look to see us next week. No.
TOM: I didn’t realize he drinks.
DONALDO: He’s all right.
REED: You call this drunk, Mr. Raidenberg? Do you ever look behind you? Take a tip from me. Don’t. There’s nothing there.
JESSIE: You need to take my hand.
REED: What?
JESSIE: Take it.
(Reed takes her hand, starts to silently break down. He sits beside her.)
You stay by me now.
REED: Yes, ma’am.
TOM (To Jessie): Thank you.
JESSIE: I don’t mind. Reverend Kimmich, this man’s in pain.
CHESTER: I’m affected now. Is anybody else affected?
ETHAN: Sure.
(Jessie murmurs yes.)
DONALDO: Yeah.
TOM: I’m sorry I brought him . . .
DONALDO: I’m not. He’s all right.
CHESTER (To Tom): What about you, sir? Are you affected?
TOM: Of course.
CHESTER: How?
TOM: The man works for me.
CHESTER: Does he do a good job?
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