Mourning Becomes Electra

I drove cross country with Jim

Right after he left his job

At the Orpheus

I’d sort of been in and out of acting

Because I’d been in the company

A few years earlier

When Jim first got there

But then I moved to Chicago and—

I don’t know

Got confused, I guess

The only show Jim and I ever actually worked on

Was Mourning Becomes Electra

Jim always loved big shows

Big projects

Events

He really knew how to make theater

Feel important

He used to call me ‘Kid’

Even though I was in my twenties

When he first took over the theater

When he called me and said ‘Kid, I’m leaving’

I got on a plane

Flew to the theater

And helped him pack up

Then we drove

We drove all the way to L.A.

That was back when I was twenty-nine

By the way, do you like my twenty-nine year-old body?

I haven’t seen it in awhile

Nowadays my ass can touch my shins

Back then, I could still turn a few heads

Not Jim’s, of course

But maybe that’s why we got along so well

We just…cliqued, you know?

We sat in that car for days and days

Talking about theater

And art

And the Orpheus

And what was going to happen

Without him

He told me…

He said he’d made some mistakes

Look, I don’t know anything

About the financial stuff, okay?

I just know that he really loved that place

I mean, how could he not?

It was where he met Chris

Maybe that’s why he couldn’t stay

Maybe it was just too much, you know?

All of it

We got to L.A.

And he said ‘Keep going’

And I’m thinking ‘Where?  The ocean?’

‘Yeah, the ocean’

We parked near the pier

And he took the urn out of the back

I left him alone

But I could see him from the car

Holding that urn with Chris in it to his chest

Then tipping it over

So everything in it

Fell into the ocean

Then he walked back to the car

Looked in the driver’s side window

And said—

‘I’m all set, kid.  Thanks for the ride’

And that was that

I never talked to him again

He was one of the best friends I ever had

But…you could tell it was hard for him

To…attach himself, I guess

I drove by myself

Back to Chicago

But, eventually, I ended up going back home

Back to the Orpheus

Back to my roots

I’ll probably be working there

Until I die

But you know what?

That’s okay

It’s home, you know?

It’ll never be a million dollar job

Or get me on television

Or win me any Tony’s

But that place

That company

They’re family

And I don’t want to have to call a near stranger one day

When I have to do the most important thing of my life

I loved Jim Powers

But I don’t want to wind up like him

And wherever he is

I hope he’s all right

I hope he found something

He could finally hang onto