Waitresses

(ANNA and ERIN are sitting at a table at the diner they work at.  They’re not drunk, but they’re definitely a little delirious.  We’re catching them in the middle of laughing at something we’re never going to hear.)

ANNA:  (Nearly out of breath.)  God, that was ten years ago.

ERIN:  I miss Carl.  He was a terrible chef, but at least he bought you drinks after a shift.

ANNA:  Every man I’ve ever liked dies of a heart attack.  As soon as I fall for them, they start clutching their chest.

ERIN:  Did you date Carl or did I?

ANNA:  We both did—briefly.  Maybe at the same time.  Who can remember?

ERIN:  That was when Carol first moved to L.A.  We used to get those letters…

ANNA:  Imagine if she were here right now?  She’d be half in the bag already.

ERIN:  I miss Carol.

ANNA:  I miss everybody.  Let the world end.  See if I care.  You get old enough and everybody dies off and it’s…

ERIN:  What happened when you went out to L.A. to get her?  You never told me.

ANNA:  Showed up at her apartment and she couldn’t even get out of bed.  I brought her to some clinic, and then she told me to leave and so I left.  What else was I supposed to do?  I wasn’t her mother.  We weren’t blood.  I just wanted her to be all right.  Only so much you can do for people when they won’t do anything for themselves.

ERIN:  Sounds like my kid.

ANNA:  Jason’s a good boy.

ERIN:  I asked him if he wanted to come home and stay on the couch until all this blew over.  He said he’d be fine.  That’s him.  Always fine.

ANNA:  Might be awhile before this blows over.  If it blows over.

ERIN:  So you don’t think the morning shift’s coming in either, huh?

ANNA:  I doubt it.

ERIN:  It’s all right.  I could use the hours.

ANNA:  Want to put on the tv?

ERIN:  Max’ll raise hell.  He doesn’t like it on if there’s nobody in here to watch it but us.

ANNA:  Max is home pissing himself waiting for that comet.

ERIN:  There’s nothing good on anyway.  Just gloom and doom on the news.

ANNA:  And Wheel of Fortune.

ERIN:  One day there’ll be nothing left but cockroaches, Cher, and Wheel of Fortune reruns.

            (They laugh.  A beat.)

ERIN:  I kinda miss my kid.

ANNA:  Get in your car.  Go see him.

ERIN:  Eh, he doesn’t want me to.

ANNA:  That’s not true, Erin.

ERIN:  Yeah, it is and you know it.

ANNA:  Well go somewhere else then.  Get out of here.  I can handle the crowds.  (She scoffs.)  Probably seen our last customer anyway.

ERIN:  Want to hear a confession?  I hate this place.  I really do.  But I’m sad to see it…I don’t know.  I’m sad that it isn’t going to be here anymore.  If everything really goes to hell, you know?  How’s that possible?  How can you hate a place and want it to keep on being there all at the same time?

ANNA:  Because you want the satisfaction of leaving it behind.

ERIN:  Yeah, that’s probably it.

            (A beat.  A decision.)

ANNA:  I lied about Carol in L.A.

ERIN:  What do you mean?

            (Pause.)

ANNA:  She was already gone when I got there.

ERIN:  What do you mean?

ANNA:  I mean…she was gone.

ERIN:  What…oh.

ANNA:  Left a note.  It had been a couple of days.

ERIN:  Was she--?

ANNA:  Yeah, I found her.  Just lying in bed.  Nothing too bad.  I mean, it was bad, but—remember how we found that girl in the backroom?

ERIN:  The little brunette with the low voice?  Hanging from the—

ANNA:  Yeah, it wasn’t that bad.  But, uh—yeah.

ERIN:  Why didn’t you tell me?

ANNA:  Because you liked Carol and I…I said I’d bring her back.  You made me say that, remember?  You said ‘Promise you’ll bring her back.’  You were so worried.

ERIN:  Then you came back and said she didn’t want to…You said she was going to get clean and stay there.  That she didn’t want to come back.  Then a month later you said you got word and that she died in a car accident.  Why didn’t you just tell me—

ANNA:  A car accident didn’t seem that bad.

ERIN:  I should have gone out there.

ANNA:  You would have found the same thing I found.

ERIN:  She used to sleep on my couch.  She used to buy me Mother’s Day cards.

ANNA:  Yeah, and Carl slept in my bed but that didn’t make him a husband the same way it didn’t make Carol your daughter.

ERIN:  What would you know about having a daughter?  Or kids?  Or a husband?

ANNA:  Nothing, Erin.  I don’t know nothing about that.

            (A beat.)

ANNA:  Nothing at all.

ERIN:  I’m sorry.

ANNA:  It’s all right.

ERIN:  I’m—Jesus, Carol.

ANNA:  You can’t fix it now, Erin.

ERIN:  Yeah, I know.

ANNA:  You can get in your car and go see Jason though.

ERIN:  Too late to fix him too.

ANNA:  He’s still alive, isn’t he?

            (A beat.)

ANNA:  So there’s that.

ERIN:  You just want me to go because you’d feel bad if I died here with you.

ANNA:  Yeah, that’s true too.

ERIN:  Why would you feel bad?

ANNA:  Because we’re co-workers, not family.  Everybody wants the people they see everyday to be their family, and that’s not true.  It’s just not.  Me and you tried our whole lives to make chefs and waitresses and people like Carl and Carol and even Max our families while our real families gave up on us because we were always here.  Look, I love you, Erin, I do.  I don’t regret spending a life with you.  But if it comes down to me or your kid, you gotta pick your kid.  I mean, that’s just what’s right.

ERIN:  And who does that leave you with?

ANNA:  Me.  That’s what I got.  More than some people have.  Can’t do nothing about it now, right?

ERIN:  I…

ANNA:  You don’t owe me, Erin.  I promise you don’t.

ERIN:  Jason’s six hours away.

ANNA:  Then you better get driving.

            (ERIN takes off her apron and hands it to ANNA.)

ERIN:  Promise you won’t stay here.  Get the satisfaction of walking away, even if you only make it a few blocks.  Just go, okay?

ANNA:  Okay.

ERIN:  I’m sorry you had to be the one…the one with Carol.  I’m sorry I didn’t go with you.

ANNA:  I wouldn’t have let you.

ERIN:  Carl always said you were his girl.  Even when he was with me, he used to say ‘That Anna, she’s the best.’

ANNA:  You’re lying.

ERIN:  Maybe I am, but you’ll never really know, will you?

ANNA:  No, I guess not.

ERIN:  Bye Anna.

ANNA:  Bye Erin.

            (ERIN leaves.  ANNA looks at ERIN’s apron.)