SEAN. Oh?
No.
Of course not.
MIRJANA. It might be best for us to arrange another time?
When your mother is here.
SEAN. Certainly… if… if you think that’s best.
MIRJANA. I do.
Suddenly his mobile phone rings.
SEAN. Ah!… that might be her… that might be Mother!
I’ll just… I’ll answer…
He hops up with the phone to his ear
Mother!
Oh thank God, where are you?… I have the lady… the lovely lady from the help-people here and you won’t believe it, she’s from Badgersbridge! (Nods enthusiastically at MIRJANA.) Her name? Bekto but… no, not originally… she lives… what? What do you mean you’re at the airport?… You’re joking. Where? You’re going Where? But… but you agreed to this… to meet her! No, it’s not okay… it’s absolutely not okay… who’s meeting you over there? Frankie? I can’t believe it. I can’t believe you’re doing this. No I will not mind the cats. No. No. I’m due back to class next week, you know that. I have PhD students… This is unbelievable… I’m not… I’m absolutely not shouting! Don’t… don’t do, Mother… don’t hang up this phone.
He looks at MIRJANA.
She hung up.
She’s gone to Barcelona.
MIRJANA. Barcelona?
SEAN. For the opera.
MIRJANA. I see.
SEAN. Bloody hell. Do you see? Do you see what I have to put up with?!
‘Mind the cats.’
I bet that’s what this whole thing is about.
Get me home to mind the cats.
He puts his head in his hands.
I’m sorry. I am so terribly sorry, Miss Bekto, to waste your time like this.
MIRJANA. It’s fine.
SEAN. It’s not fine. It is absolutely not fine. And I don’t know what I’m going to do about it?
He reaches for the vodka and pours it into his coffee cup.
MIRJANA. I’m not sure that that will help.
SEAN. No. I know.
But I’m at the end of my tether with her… I’m telling you.
MIRJANA. How about I call, I call again, Mr Doherty, on your mother’s return?
SEAN. Okay.
MIRJANA. And we can arrange a suitable package?
SEAN. Okay.
MIRJANA. It will put your mind at rest.
SEAN. Will it?
I’m not sure I remember how that feels… to be at rest.
He takes a slug of the vodka.
MIRJANA hesitates.
She stands.
I mean, there’s a part of me thinks it is marvellous that she travels… still travels… not that she ever comes to Luxembourg, mind you… ‘Too bureaucratic’ – ‘dull’. But at eighty-two she can be quite forgetful, quite confused and that would make her vulnerable, don’t you think?
MIRJANA. I think that depends on the person, Mr Doherty…
SEAN. And then I think that ‘the day she stops is the day she drops’.
MIRJANA. Yes –
SEAN. And that I’m just a bloody nuisance, bloody fussing… but then, there’s a call or a fall and I hear the quake in her voice and I know, I know that she’s not as ‘ sure’ as she’d like to pretend, that she’s not as ‘strong’… and then I worry, I worry, Miss Bekto, because I love her…
Slight pause.
She’s my mother.
MIRJANA. Yes.
SEAN. And despite… well, despite everything… I don’t want anything to happen to her… I feel responsible.
MIRJANA. Of course.
SEAN. Particularly as there are just the two of us.
MIRJANA. I see.
SEAN. So I think it is vital, vital, that I put something in place this time… whether she can agree with me or not… do you think… do you think that that’s possible? Do you think that I am right?
MIRJANA. I think, certainly, from what you say, that there is a need for services.
SEAN. Excellent.
MIRJANA. But we must be respectful.
SEAN. Of course.
MIRJANA. Your mother must be allowed to play her part…
SEAN. So do you?… could you?… do you think you might have some advice?
She hesitates.
MIRJANA. Well.
Do we need to worry about Mother in Barcelona, is she travelling alone?
SEAN. She says she’ll stay with Frankie.
MIRJANA. Is Frankie a relative?
SEAN. No.
Frankie is an old friend. One of the last still on his feet.
He used to sing at the Liceu.
MIRJANA. I see.
SEAN. You say that a lot: ‘I see.’
MIRJANA. Do I?
SEAN. Yes.
MIRJANA. I see.
She smiles for the first time.
SEAN smiles (wracked but encouraged).
She sits.
SEAN. Thank you, I really appreciate this…
MIRJANA. I will just… ask a few questions.
SEAN. Please do…
MIRJANA. To build a picture.
SEAN. Excellent…
MIRJANA takes a blue folder and pen from her bag.
So how did you get into all this?
MIRJANA. Pardon?
SEAN. Home-care? How did you get into it?
MIRJANA. I studied.
SEAN. I see…!
He laughs awkwardly. She doesn’t.
MIRJANA. I worked as a carer for ten years.
Then I became a supervisor.
SEAN. Congratulations.
MIRJANA. Pardon?
SEAN. On the promotion.
It was a promotion, I presume?
MIRJANA. Yes, it was a promotion.
SEAN. Very good.
Well done.
MIRJANA. Thank you.
Now, I will ask you some more questions, for the form.
SEAN. Do. Please do.
MIRJANA. Are there any other siblings?
SEAN. No.
She ticks the box.
That’s the problem, a problem you see… there’s really no one else.
MIRJANA. No husband or partner?
SEAN. No.
She ticks the box.
Mother is a bit of a solo-run. I never met my father. She didn’t seem to think that that was important, despite my ardent pleas.
MIRJANA. I see –
SEAN. We lived with Gran and Gracie, here, until they died. Then it was just the two of us, and that’s when the chaos started.
MIRJANA. Okay –
SEAN. Mother used to drag me with her you see, wherever the work took her, Tokyo, LA, New York. I rarely attended shool. I was to be her little protégé. But unfortunately I had no interest… in the business, in theatre, and also I had no talent so that was a disappointment. I was a disappointment because I look quite like Gracie apparently but could never quite live up to her.
MIRJANA. Gracie?
SEAN. My grandfather.
MIRJANA.…I see!
SEAN. You’ll hardly get all of that into that little box?
MIRJANA. No.
SEAN. Cindy is right, isn’t she?
I do go on!
MIRJANA. It is not a problem.
SEAN. Thankfully one of Mother’s friends finally convinced her to let me go to boarding school.
MIRJANA. Ah…
SEAN. And I loved it.
The peace of it.
Bedtimes.
Dinners.
Rules!
MIRJANA. Good.
SEAN. I have always thrived on routine.
MIRJANA. Excellent…
She is about to ask her next question.
SEAN. So where did you grow up yourself?
MIRJANA. Me?
SEAN. Yes.
MIRJANA. I am not sure that that is important.
SEAN. I think it is… if… if you don’t mind?
MIRJANA. No… I don’t mind. It is just…
SEAN. Poland?
MIRJANA. No.
SEAN. Croatia?
MIRJANA. No. Sarajevo.
I grew up in Sarajevo.
SEAN. Bosnia!
MIRJANA. Yes.
SEAN. That’s amazing!
MIRJANA. Is it?
SEAN. I was just at a concert, Dino Merlin, before I came over.
MIRJANA. Dino Merlin?
SEAN. He’s a singer.
MIRJANA. Yes I know that he is a singer.
SEAN. And I’m a big fan.
MIRJANA. Okay –
SEAN. Don’t you like music?
MIRJANA. Of course I like music…
It is just that it is not so important, Mr Doherty.
SEAN. There’s no box for that then?
MIRJANA. No.
SEAN. No box for music?
MIRJANA. No.
SEAN. Maybe we ask all the wrong questions?
Slight pause.
MIRJANA. Maybe.
Maybe we do.
Slight pause.
SEAN. So did you meet your husband in Sarajevo?
MIRJANA. No!
SEAN. You met him here?
MIRJANA. Yes I met him here…!
SEAN. Were you on holiday?
MIRJANA. No!
…I am living here. I was living here.
We lived here since 1996.
SEAN. Really?
MIRJANA. Yes.
SEAN. Yet you still have your accent.
MIRJANA. I am still the same person.
SEAN. And who is that?
MIRJANA. Pardon?
SEAN. I’d just… I’d like to know your name, your first name, if you didn’t… if…
MIRJANA. Mirjana.
SEAN. Mirjana?
MIRJANA. Yes.
SEAN. And does it mean anything?
I find that your Balkan names often mean something?
MIRJANA. Do you?
SEAN. Yes. We have a lot of Eastern European students.
MIRJANA. Oh…
SEAN. They’re terrific.
Highly motivated.
MIRJANA. I see.
SEAN. So does it mean anything?
MIRJANA. It means… Star of the Sea.
SEAN. That’s lovely.
MIRJANA. Thank you.
Slight pause.
SEAN. And I’m Sean.
It doesn’t mean anything. It’s Irish.
MIRJANA. I see.
Sean.
SEAN. Yes.
I like the way you say it.
MIRJANA. Why?
SEAN. I don’t know. It sound strong.
Sounds Balkan, when you say it.
MIRJANA. And what is Balkan?
SEAN. Carved out of the rock.
MIRJANA. Really?
SEAN. Yes.
MIRJANA. And have you ever been to Bosnia?
SEAN. No.
But I think I can see it in your eyes.
Pause.
She looks back to her form.
MIRJANA. Can Mother wash herself?
Can she dress?
SEAN. Yes and Yes.
MIRJANA. How is her appetite?
SEAN. I don’t know, if I’m honest.
It used to be voracious.
Now there’s not that much in the fridge.
MIRJANA. I see.
SEAN. Is that bad?
MIRJANA. I don’t know.
I will have to weigh her when we have our first appointment.
SEAN. Excellent.
He watches her write.
So tell me all about Badgersbridge, Mirjana?
MIRJANA. Badgersbridge?
There is not so much to tell.
SEAN. I still can’t believe you live there.
Do you know my grandparents actually met in the village hall? That’s the story anyway, at the end of the war.
Is it still there? The hall?
MIRJANA. Yes it is still there.
SEAN. Imagine!
MIRJANA. I teach dance there on a Saturday morning.
SEAN. Do you?
MIRJANA. Yes.
SEAN. Dance!
MIRJANA. Yes.
SEAN. That’s amazing!
MIRJANA. Again?
SEAN. I dance!
I love to dance!
Ballroom.
MIRJANA. I see.
SEAN. Myself and Cindy.
That’s how we met!
MIRJANA. Okay –
SEAN. And that’s the bitch of it, you know.
We’re still dancing partners.
Because we’re good. Very good.
Not champions now or anything… but BDSF members and we’ve won a few competitions.
MIRJANA. Very good…
SEAN. But… it’s becoming really difficult with the divorce…
MIRJANA. I’m sure.
SEAN. Because she’s vital, Cindy, really vital and passionate and fast… on the floor that is. Not in life, no, in life she’s not passionate, not any more…
MIRJANA. Right.
SEAN. Is that too much information?
MIRJANA. Perhaps…
SEAN. Because in life she has become unreachable… kind of somewhere behind the door.
I’m speaking metaphorically, of course.
MIRJANA. Of course.
SEAN. And are you – ? Is your – ? Are you happy?
MIRJANA. Am I happy?
SEAN. Yes.
MIRJANA. Happy how?
SEAN. With your husband, with Tom?
MIRJANA shifts.
MIRJANA. Ah, with Tom.
SEAN. Yes.
MIRJANA. Tom lives in London.
SEAN. Not in Badgersbridge?
MIRJANA. No. Not in Badgersbridge.
We have two daughters.
SEAN. Oh you do?
MIRJANA. Yes.
SEAN. Don’t they miss Tom?
MIRJANA. He comes home on weekends.
He stays with his mother.
SEAN. Ah…
MIRJANA. Yes.
Slight pause. MIRJANA looks back to her folder.
Only one or two more questions, Mr Doherty.
SEAN. Sean.
She looks up.
MIRJANA. Sean.
He smiles.
SEAN. What kind of dance do you teach?
MIRJANA. Pardon?
SEAN. In the village hall?
MIRJANA. I teach… ballet.
SEAN. Fantastic.
Did you study ballet?
MIRJANA. Yes I did. At the Academy of Belgrade.
SEAN. Wow.
MIRJANA. And then with a Mrs Parker in Digbeth.
SEAN. Oh dear… I hope Mrs Parker wasn’t a come-down.
MIRJANA. I’m afraid she was.
But I still loved, love to dance.
SEAN. Of course.
MIRJANA. I teach children at the hall.
The committee give it to me for very little, because it is usually empty.
SEAN. Is it?
MIRJANA. Yes. It is in need of some repair.
SEAN. What a shame.
MIRJANA. Yes.
I have…
I am helping the village to fundraise.
SEAN. Really?
MIRJANA. They are all quite… elderly, on the committee, quite… traditional.
SEAN. I can imagine.
MIRJANA. And what they don’t realise is that there are grants. Council grants. Heritage grants. For which we can apply.
SEAN. Marvellous.
MIRJANA. To fix the roof and to…
Restore…
SEAN. Of course.
MIRJANA. You just need to be good with forms.
She lifts up her pen.
I am very good with forms.
SEAN. Well, I hope they know how lucky they are to have you.
Out there in Badgersbridge.
MIRJANA. We will see.
SEAN. Do you know…
I think that’s where Gran and Gracie had their first dance!
MIRJANA. Gran and Gracie?
SEAN. My grandparents. In the village hall. Yes, I’m sure of it.
Good God! There ought to be a plaque!
They danced ‘The Castle Walk’.
MIRJANA. ‘The Castle Walk’?
SEAN. It’s a ragtime number.
MIRJANA. I know what it is.
SEAN. Hang on…
SEAN sits down to the piano, hurling whatever is left on top to the floor and starts to play the tune… it takes a while until he finds it… he talks over his attempts at the right notes.
Gran is the reason I love dancing. She was my partner in crime. We used to dance here, right here in this living room. Ragtime. It helped with her sciatica. Nothing like a good stretch, she said. Poor Gran, she had absolutely no flair… left that all to Gracie… but she was a stickler for the steps… what was it?… yes…
He leaves the piano stool once he gets going and the music continues without him, just like in Act One.
He starts to dance something like ‘The Castle Walk’ steps.
MIRJANA. I’m afraid that is not ‘The Castle Walk’.
SEAN. Yes it is.
MIRJANA. No. No. It is forward – back.
SEAN. Forward what?
MIRJANA. Here, I’ll show you.
She takes his hand and starts the dance… she is leading… they get it… they get faster and faster… they finish, they have really enjoyed it.
Did you really dance like that with your grandmother?
SEAN. Yes. And I only came up to her chest!
Had to dodge each bosom on the swing!
MIRJANA smiles.
Gosh, I haven’t thought about that for years.
Good old Gran. Everything made sense when she was around.
But I could only hold on to her till I was nine, you see.
Because Gracie died and Gran ached.
I have never seen such grief.
I think she wanted to die herself so that she could join them, William and Grace.
It took less than a year…
He smiles.
MIRJANA. You still think about her?
SEAN. All the time.
She was more of a mother than Mother…
He does a few steps again, smiling as he remembers MARGARET.
MIRJANA. You should come visit.
SEAN. Visit?
MIRJANA. The hall… where your grandmother… where they met.
SEAN. Do you know I’d love that.
MIRJANA. Good.
MIRJANA smooths her skirt.
She picks up her folder and pen.
SEAN. I’d love it.
She smiles.
MIRJANA. Good.
SEAN. Have you family here yourself?
Other family? Other than Tom?
MIRJANA. Why?
SEAN. Just curious.
MIRJANA. No.
I don’t have other family.
SEAN. You came here alone then?
From Sarajevo?
MIRJANA. No.
I came with my mother.
But she never… she never settled here.
Crossings Page 4