Overheard in the Park
Scene: Washington Square Park on an unusually hot day for February. The sun streams through between the buildings, and a group of musicians sit in a circle. A banjo, three guitars, a flute, and a harmonica unite to play “House of the Rising Sun.” MAN 1 is young, he wears a ratty sweatshirt and a scraggly beard. MAN 2 is beyond his sixties. He holds a can of Natural Ice and seems to fade in and out of the conversation.
Man 1: I’ve been drinking too much. I can feel it in my bones.
Man 2: You gotta have perseverance.
Man 1: I know. I got a little job for tomorrow. I get free food.
Man 2: Yeah, exactly.
Man 1: You see Tom lately?
Man 2: He’s a cool guy.
Man 1: Pass me that beer, would you?
Man 1 takes a sip of the beer. He turns to his left to face the NARRATOR. The narrator, a young man, sits slumped over a notebook.
Man 1: Working on a big paper?
Narrator: No, just writing for fun.
There is a pause. The narrator looks down at his page. He has been frantically copying the previous conversation between Man 1 and 2. The narrator can still feel Man 1 looking at him.
Man 1: I love it here. This park. It’s everything.
MAN 3 approaches. Later he will describe himself as a fat Jim Morrison. It’s accurate. The circle greets him, and he sits in the open space between Man 1 and the narrator.
Man 3: Anyone have any whisky?
Man 1: No. We could get ripped, though.
Man 3: I’m not smoking today. I’ve gotta work on my book. Every time I smoke I can’t write. The adjectives blur together.
Man 1 gestures at the narrator.
Man 1: This guy’s a writer, too.
Man 3 extends his hand.
Man 3: Andre.
Narrator: Jacob.
Man 3: You know I almost got fucking published. I had an advance from Mariner, but I was on so much dope at the time that I never finished. [Beat. To no one in particular.] God that was a crazy time. Heroin, coke, you name it. It was like seeing the face of god and having her go down on you.
Beat. He turns back to the narrator.
Man 3: You ever get a blowjob from god?
He laughs and looks down between his feet. A lifetime behind his eyes.
