A Radio Play by Alice Nutter
Characters
Eileen, 68
Maurice, 71
Fred, 69
Doctor Wilson, mid 40's
James Fryer, 73
Constable Marks, late 30's
Throughout this play Maurice and James Fryer have difficulty breathing, even when not specified in the directions.
Kitchen – 30's semi – early evening
SFX of kettle being filled and Eileen grilling bacon.
Eileen (V.O.)
Any minute now… it's coming.
Maurice
(Shouting from upstairs)
Eileen! Eileen, where's me shirt? S'alright… I've got it.
Eileen (V.O.)
That's me, royal keeper of the shirt, vest and underpants –
Maurice
There's no socks out!
Eileen
(Shouting)
In the sock drawer! Get a shift on Maurice, I'm doing a bit of bacon to put us on. The cab's picking us up just after half past.
Maurice
(Shouting from upstairs)
I told you I'd drive.
Eileen (V.O.)
Timekeeper, cook and the woman who cuts his toenails. Job for life…
Bedroom – Early evening
SFX of Maurice heavy breathing as he struggles to dress.
Maurice
(Shouting)
Do I have to wear a tie? I can't fasten it!
Eileen
(Shouting from downstairs)
Come down, I'll do it.
SFX of cat screeching and Maurice struggling to regain his foothold on the stairs.
Maurice
Damnation! That bloody cat's underfoot again! It's trying to kill me!
Kitchen – early evening – continuous
Eileen
Never trips me up.
Maurice
It likes you.
Eileen
Only cause I feed it.
Maurice
It's a lot of fuss, you know I don't like a lot of fuss… get this tie for me will you? I'm all out of puff.
Eileen
Is that meant to be funny?
Maurice
Does it not match?
Eileen
Match? You're wearing me blouse!
Maurice
I thought you'd put it out special for the –
Eileen
It's got bust darts! Couldn't you tell it didn't fit?
Maurice
Yours should have been on the chair. You put mine on the bed and yours on the chair!
Eileen
Thought you could dress yourself today; it's me anniversary present to meself.
Maurice
Don't talk daft, I got you flowers.
Eileen
Didn't want flowers, I wanted a surprise.
Maurice
What sort of surprise?
Eileen
I don't know, anything… you coming downstairs in a hush puppies and a bare bum. –
Maurice
Thought you wanted me to wear a suit.
Int. Working Men's club – evening.
The buzz of drinks, Is This The Way To Amarillo and chat. Music fades, a mic feeds back.
Maurice
(Banging on mic)
Is it working? Can you hear me?
(General assent)
It's not often that we see all our friends and family gathered in one room – and Eileen and I would like to thank those you of that have travelled to be with us on our Golden wedding Anniversary, if you've come over the M62 you deserve a medal… it's always a weather trap is the M… anyroad, she's looking at me which must mean the finger buffet is now officially open. So if you could raise your glasses…
Sound fades to be replaced by Bobby Darin's Beyond The Sea.
Maurice
Thought the speech went well…
Eileen
Hmmm.
Maurice
Our Anne said it should have been a bit more… you know… I said, there's people here, you can't get all… in front of folk.
Eileen
Nobody's touched the egg sandwiches, they're curling up.
Maurice
What you pulling that face for?
Eileen
I'm not pulling me face. I'm just saying we shouldn't have had salad cream, it's too conservative, nobody likes it anymore.
Maurice
I like it… And its a condiment, it doesn't have a political affiliation.
Eileen
You know what I mean!
Maurice
No I don't… folk are looking, we'd better dance.
Eileen
'Folk are looking, we'd better dance,' that sums my wedding anniversary up that does!
Maurice
Give up, let's show 'em how its done.
Eileen
I haven't got me dancing shoes on.
Maurice
Come on… I want to dance with me wife.
Eileen gets up and begins to dance.
Eileen
You were always a good dancer.
Maurice
(Gasping for breath)
It's easy to be in time with you.
Front door, semi – 11.45 PM
SFX of the key in the lock and Eileen and Maurice letting themselves in.
Eileen
(Kicks shoes off, tipsy)
Thank God for insoles!
Maurice
Put kettle on, mouth's like the bottom of a budgie cage.
SFX of Eileen's footsteps going up stairs.
Eileen
Let's have a liqueur, that stuff our Anne brought back's in the bureau.
Maurice
Where you going? I'm parched.
Living room – 5 minutes later
SFX of Maurice watching snooker on TV.
Eileen
(Singing, coming downstairs)
I'm in the mood for love, simply because you're near me.
Eileen comes into the room.
Eileen
Aren't we having a nightcap?
Maurice
Give over, it's nearly twelve… kettle's boiled if you want to brew up.
Eileen turns the telly off.
Maurice
What've you done that for? He were on the black!
Eileen
You can watch telly any night… it's our anniversary.
Maurice
What you wearing?
Eileen
It's a negligee…
Maurice
How much were that?
Eileen
Don't you like it?
Maurice
Be alright if it had a window in it.
Eileen
Which bit would Sir like a private view of?
Maurice
The bloody telly! Gas fire catches that and whoosh, you'll be up in seconds.
Eileen
Well the snooker would have to finish before you'd notice! One night, one night where you'd take more notice of me than the telly… That's all I were after.
(PAUSE)
I'm going to bed!
SFX of Eileen switching the TV back on. Snooker theme tune (Drag Racer) plays.
Maurice
I've missed it now! I've bloody –
(Starts to really gasp)
There's no need for all this fuss… I can't… can't… can't… Eileen… Eileen… I can't…
Eileen
Maurice? Maurice? Maurice!
Hospital – night
Maurice
(Breathless)
I'm sorry Doctor, I'm wasting your time here, you've got sick people to…
Doctor Wilson
I think we've prodded and poked you enough for one evening Malcolm, you can put your shirt back on now if you like.
Maurice
Is it the cat, Doctor? –
Doctor Wilson
The x ray's inconclusive… But I don't think it's an allergy or a virus… there is worrying shadow on the lung.
Maurice
I don't smoke.
Eileen
Shadow?
Doctor Wilson
I'd like to keep you in for a biopsy, Malcolm.
Ext. Hospital entrance – night
SFX of the city at night, sirens and drunks in the distance.
Eileen (V.O.)
Look at 'em all, two inches away from the front entrance smoking… Puffing away in the middle of the night in their jamas, that one's even brought his drip, bet he lasts till he's 90… me and Maurice chomping our way through All Bran every morning… if we got five extra years we won't do ought wi' 'em.
(PAUSE)
He's lighting another!
A cab pips its horn.
Eileen
Are you for Mrs Price? Kirkstall?
Int. The hospital. early afternoon
SFX of busy ward.
Maurice
(Groaning, coming round)
Me throat's hurts…
Eileen
(Rooting in bedside cabinet)
Where've they put your glasses then eh? Like a little boy without your glasses… Here they are in the drawer…
Maurice
Eileen… Eileen?
Eileen
I'm here.
(Pause)
They've taped over your wedding ring.
Maurice
I didn't want to take it off.
Eileen
I've got your wallet.
Maurice
Did me slippers come back up?
Eileen
They're under the bed.
SFX of footsteps and curtains being drawn around bed.
Doctor Wilson
Let's have a bit of privacy shall we Malcolm? Nice and awake?
Eileen
He's just coming round.
Doctor Wilson
I'll come back in a little while when you've had a chance to gather your thoughts.
Maurice
See I told you it'd be alright Eileen, Doctor wun't be round this quick if…
Doctor Wilson
I'll get someone to fetch you a cup of tea and pop back later.
Eileen
Our daughter's coming in later…
Doctor Wilson
Let's leave it till you're awake.
Maurice
I'm awake Doctor… it's good news in't it?
Doctor Wilson
Well… I'm sorry Malcolm, I'm afraid we're not happy with what we found in theatre…
Eileen
What did you find?
Doctor Wilson
A nasty, we found a nasty.
Eileen
A nasty what?
Doctor Wilson
Mesothelioma.
Eileen
Messy what?
Doctor Wilson
In laymen's terms… –
Eileen
Just tell us what he's got!
Doctor Wilson
Lung cancer, grade III.
Eileen
Grade III?
Doctor Wilson
We've found blue asbestos in Malcolm's lungs and –
Eileen
What does Grade III mean?
Doctor Wilson
Well it's not good… it's terminal.
Eileen
But –
Maurice
But I passed me eleven plus.
Doctor Wilson
I'm sorry.
Eileen
How are you going to treat it?
Doctor Wilson
We can make Malcolm more comfortable when… but I'm afraid there's no treatment for mesothelioma… it's inoperable.
Maurice
I've never even worn an overall!
Doctor Wilson
It only takes the inhalation of a single fibre…
Eileen
But there's things you can do… there's always things you can do. Terminal doesn't mean terminal these days, it means you're going to cycle round the world or run a –
Doctor Wilson
Malcolm won't be running a marathon.
Eileen
But there's drugs –
Doctor Wilson
Patients usually have about twelve months from diagnosis.
Maurice
I've just put in some biennials… –
Eileen
Biennials… he's just told you you've got cancer!
Maurice
You won't think on that far. I'll have to write a –
Eileen
I don't want a bloody list!
Doctor Wilson
(Coughs)
I'll ask the ward counsellor to have a word with you, shall I? She's very good.
Eileen
Has she got a cure for cancer?
Maurice
Eileen, don't make a show of us, he's only doing his job.
Eileen
He's not doing his job, he's not doing anything!
(To Doctor)
And his name's Maurice!
Doctor Wilson
I'm sorry… Maurice… I have a cousin called Malcolm, lodged in the —
Maurice
I could have the wrong results though couldn't I?
Doctor Wilson
They're your results.
Eileen
You can't even get his name right.-
Maurice
He knows me name now. Thank you, Doctor.
(Gasping)
Just need a minute.
Doctor Wilson
I'll get someone to bring you a cup of tea shall I? You must want some time on your own.
Eileen
We want proper care that's what we want.
The Doctor's beeper goes off.
Doctor Wilson
Excuse me…
Eileen
Turn that bloody beeper off! Turn it off!
Maurice
Eileen, don't… thank you Doctor… we'll be alright in a minute.
Eileen
Stop saying that! We'll never be alright again.
Doctor Wilson
I'm sorry…
Int. Reference Library. morning
SFX of slow one finger typing and hushed whispers in the background. We hear a loud computer ping.
Eileen
Bloody hell! Where's it gone?
Someone shushes Eileen.
Eileen
I would bloody shush if I knew what I was doing.
Fred
Do you need some help?
Eileen
Do you know how to work this thing? I just touched… I don't know what I touched but its all disappeared.
Fred
(Whispering)
You won't have lost it… just takes a bit of getting used to… press this and… see, there it is again.
Eileen
I came into the library to goggle but I don't know how.
Fred
You mean google?
Eileen
Whatever it's called, I can't do it.
Fred
It's just practice… what are you looking up?
Eileen
Mesothelioma.
Fred
If I put it in here…
(SFX of Fred typing fast)
There you go… it's on screen now.
Eileen (V.O.)
Blue asbestos can lie dormant in the lungs for up to sixty years, with cancer's developing long after the point of contact.
Fred
Are you alright?
Eileen
Yeah, I'm fine…
(PAUSE)
My husband's got mesothelioma.
Fred
I'm sorry.
Eileen
Didn't know what it was till yesterday,
Fred
Leeds is bad for it.
Eileen
Is it?
(PAUSE)
Do you know a lot about cancer then?
Fred
No, I just know a lot about Leeds… I volunteer on the local history section.
Eileen
How would I find out about… you know…
Fred
Your best bet will be the Yorkshire Post, we've got it on microfilm, I'll dig it out for you shall I?
Eileen
Microfilm?
Fred
Don't look so worried, it's not rocket science. Give me a shout when you're finished here and I'll take you over to the microfilm.
Reference Library – mid morning
SFX of Eileen winding a spool of microfilm.
Eileen
(Reading)
287 deaths linked to one factory… Armley…
(PAUSE)
It can't be right… there'd be an outcry…
(Breaking down)
He can't have…
SFX of Eileen winding up the spool furiously and microfilm whirring off.
Fred
(Running over)
Whoa! It's delicate equipment… you have to treat it with –
Eileen
It keeps coming off the thing! And I can't make it wind… it won't stay on the spool! I've got dust in my eye… I'm not… it's just the thing won't… I'm not bloody crying!
Wine Bar. Late morning
SFX of the buzz of chat, Richard Hawley plays.
Fred
Here.
Eileen
Thanks.
Fred
I've seen anybody drinking a snowball for elevenses. What's it like?
Eileen
Disgusting. It was the first thing that came into my head.
(Pause)
If he's picked it up in Armley…
Fred
How long is it since he lived there?
Eileen
Fifty odd years.
Fred
Could be a coincidence.
Eileen
Could be… but if nearly three hundred have…
Fred
How close did he live to the factory?
Eileen
Right behind.
(PAUSE)
I feel sick.
Fred
I'm not surprised… let me get you something else, a grown-up drink.
Eileen
Is this not grown-up?
Fred
Alcopops for pensioners. Do you want a gin and tonic?
Eileen
Is it nicer?
Fred
Than shaving foam, yeah.
Int, Hospital – lunchtime
The food trolley clanks towards Maurice.
Maurice
Lunchtime already? I were just dozing off. I'm alright thank you, the wife's bringing me in sandwiches, she'll be here in a minute… what've you got for dessert?
(SFX of lifting lid)
You're alright… I'm not big a rice pudding man.
Int Bar – lunchtime
SFX of music and chat. Amy Winehouse plays.
Eileen
Thanks for looking after me.
Fred
I didn't, you looked after yourself, just kept you company.
Eileen
They said Maurice's tests would take a couple of hours… be finished now.
Fred
You're not going to drive? If you don't usually drink…
Eileen
Can't drive. Maurice thought it was a waste of money, runs me everywhere…
Fred
Best thing I ever did passing my test.
Eileen
I got a provisional license years ago but nothing ever came of it, too late now.
Fred
You'd never been on a computer until two hours ago but you managed that.
Eileen
With your help.
Fred
Give yourself some credit. Drink up and I'll give you a lift back up to the hospital.
Eileen
I'll walk. I shouldn't be here… I should be ringing our Anne or –
Fred
You've had a shock, there isn't a set way to act.
Eileen
Maurice thinks there is, if in doubt ring the AA.
Fred
Alcoholics anonymous?
Eileen
Automobile association.
Fred
Can't see them plotting a route through this one. What are you going to do?
Eileen
I'm going to see how my husband is.
Hospital Ward – afternoon
SFX of busy ward, bustle and hushed chat.
Maurice
Missed me dinner; they had sausage and mash. –
Eileen
I brought you a pasty.
Maurice
Ginsters, shop bought…
Eileen
I'll find all the edge bits for the jigsaw, shall I?
(SILENCE)
There's a lot of sky, you'll be at it forever.
(SILENCE)
I'm sorry I wasn't here when you got back to the ward.
(SILENCE)
I know you're upset… course you're upset.
(Pause)
Stop fiddling with that bloody jigsaw and talk to me! Right…
Eileen picks a handful of jigsaw pieces up.
Maurice
Now you're playing silly beggars. Put them pieces down… I've sorted them bits out… you've jumbled 'em up!
Eileen
All I did was go to library. They made asbestos mattresses behind your house, don't you want to know if that's why you're lying here?
Maurice
I want some cranberry juice, that's what I want.
Eileen
Sod the cranberry juice!
Maurice
Shush… folk are looking!
(PAUSE)
You smell of… you've been bloody drinking… I'm parched- bloody-juiceless because you've been out boozing!
Eileen
I were upset, I went for one.
Maurice
You don't normally drink.
Eileen
Things have stopped being normal.
Maurice
Who did you go out boozing wi'?
Eileen
I were… I were on me own.
Maurice
How does that look? A woman, in a pub, on her own in broad daylight.
Eileen
Maurice, nobody thought I was on the game.
Maurice
What sort of language is that?
Maurice starts gasping.
Eileen
Let's sit you up, try and breathe slower –
Maurice
Poking around in the library and going bloody binge drinking –
Eileen
I'm ringing for the nurse. –
Maurice
(Gasping)
You've done this!
Maurice breaks down coughing. Eileen presses buzzer.
Eileen's kitchen – mid morning
Radio two plays, Eileen feeds the cat, it meows incessantly.
Eileen
Don't gobble it all up at once… got to last all day that. Not worth me getting the bus back in between visiting hours, and don't claw the settee, you've not been abandoned.
The doorbell goes, Eileen goes to the door, opens it.
Fred
Mrs Price.
Eileen
How did –
Fred
Kirkstall Rd, Price… I let my fingers do the walking… And they say phone books are obsolete. I was going to ring but –
Eileen
But…
Fred
Don't look so shocked, I'm not stalking you. I went further back on the Yorkshire Posts, you need to see some of the things I've found… that's why I came, to give you these.
Eileen
But that's too much trouble… you shouldn't have –
Fred
You involved me… couldn't stop wondering after you'd gone.
Eileen
I thought you weren't allowed to bring files out?
Fred
My new year's resolution is to abuse a position of trust for a good cause.
(Pause)
I see you have neighbourhood watch.
Eileen
Don't wave at her!
Fred
She's been twitching the curtains ever since I knocked at your door, least I can do is acknowledge her vigilance.
Eileen
You'd better come in.
SFX of them moving into kitchen, radio plays.
Fred
How've you been feeling?
Eileen
Like I've been hit by a brick, I'm still waiting for it to hurt.
(Eileen turns the radio off)
I've not been idle though… been doing a bit of Hetty Wainthropp meself.
Fred
I see you as more Jane Tennison.
Eileen
I've not cleared up from –
(SFX of cup smashing)
I've always hated that cup… I'm all over the shop today.
Scene fades, comes up again with tea being poured.
Fred
You make a good cup of tea.
(PAUSE)
I've highlighted all the relevant dates.
Eileen
1958… can't be right… if they knew asbestos was causing deaths in Armley they wouldn't just…
Fred
Shut up shop and move the whole operation over to India. Course they would, two birds with one stone.
Eileen
What do you mean?
Fred
Cheaper wages bill and no compensation to pay.
Eileen
That must be illegal.
Fred
No, it's just sneaky.
(Pause)
These things are never personal. The bosses at Turner Newell now will be nice blokes, they'll fret about their kids and do fun runs for charity… as long as the deserving case has nothing against the company. Your husband's not a pensioner anymore, he's a threat to the share price.
Eileen
He's not a threat, he's not even cross. Apologises to the nurses for being out of breath.
(Pause)
I'm going to see a solicitor.
Fred
For a divorce?
Eileen
You're not funny.
(Pause)
There was a name in the reports… a solicitor that's handled claims against Turner Newell.
Fred
If we go in my car you can drive, you said you had a provisional licence.
Eileen
Have you got a death wish?
Fred
I enjoy a bit of adrenalin.
(PAUSE)
Come on, it's all about confidence.
Eileen
You're pushy.
Fred
The word is encouraging. I'm a good teacher, taught my wife to drive. Better driver than me in the end, wouldn't let me behind the wheel when we were in Argentina.
Eileen
What did you want to go there for?
Fred
Cause it's there and it's green.
Eileen
We've been threatening to go to the Lake District but…
(PAUSE)
And where is she now?
Fred
She's been gone eleven years.
Eileen
I'm sorry.
Fred
She is too, she moved to Warrington.
(Pause)
I'm old, footsore and fancy free.
Eileen
And I'm married.
Fred
You never said happily.
Eileen
I'm married.
Fred
And presumptuous… you're not my type.
Eileen
What's your type?
Fred
Blind or paralytic.
Fred's car – late morning
SFX of gears grinding and other cars honking their horns.
Eileen
I can't get it into…
Fred
Ignore them, you're doing fine… when we get the L plates people will be nicer.
SFX of car swerving and mounting the pavement.
Fred
But we're not allowed on the pavement!
Eileen
You drive!
Fred
You're doing fine.
Eileen
That pedestrian that just leapt over that wall doesn't think so.
Fred
You just lost concentration for a moment. Put it into reverse, mirror, signal, manoeuvre.
SFX of gears grinding.
Eileen
What's that smell?
Fred
My clutch.
Eileen
I can't make it go backwards.
Fred
Here…
Eileen
What are you doing?
Fred
I'm putting my hand over yours on the gear stick.
Eileen
It was my Golden wedding anniversary last Tuesday.
Fred
You asked me to put it into reverse, I'm teaching you to drive.
Eileen
My husband is seriously ill.
Fred
You think I'm the sort of bloke who'd take advantage of that?
Eileen
No… sorry.
Fred
Let's get back on the road… mirror, signal, manoeuvre.
Hospital – afternoon visiting
Polite hushed chat.
Maurice
That's your best coat!
Eileen
Second best… it's cold.
Maurice
Not in here it's not.
(Pause)
Our Anne came in this morning, said she'd rung you and you weren't in.
Eileen
I've been to see a solicitor. Says he'll come in himself and talk to you.
Maurice
Be talking to himself then.
Eileen
You're a selfish old sod.
Maurice
Selfish! I'm not swanning around in me best suit.
Eileen
You can't get your leg in your trousers without gasping… don't you think somebody should pay for that?
Maurice
Oh we're getting to it now aren't we? The savings not enough for you?
Eileen
This isn't just about money.
Maurice
Well, what else is it about?
Eileen
All them years I've spent wi' you and when have I ever asked for anything? Every bugger else goes abroad.
Maurice
You wun't like it abroad. I've told you, Spain's common, Italy's full of Italians and Germany's –
Eileen
We could go to Argentina.
Maurice
What do you want to go there for?
Eileen
Cause it's there and it's green.
Maurice
Don't talk daft, it's not two minutes since we were at war wi' em.
Eileen
I'm just saying there's other places besides Skegness.
Maurice
It's a nice caravan site, we know everybody. You like it!
Eileen
I don't know what I like. We never go out for meals… –
Maurice
I can't eat curry.
Eileen
All these years of fitting in with you, making do and mend, watching every penny. –
Maurice
We had to put by for retirement. –
Eileen
It's not saving with you, it's avoiding living.
Maurice
Do you know how much solicitors charge an hour?
Eileen
I don't care.
Maurice
I worked hard for that money.
Eileen
And I spent fifty years fetching and carrying for you, if your life's not worth spending owt on then where does that put mine?
Maurice
All this fuss, it'll make me ill.
Eileen
You're already ill! Turner Newell have done this to you. Do you think you're the first?
Maurice
I don't give a monkeys about anybody else.
Eileen
What do you care about Maurice? Cause I don't think it's yourself.
Maurice
I just want things to go back to being how they were before all this… before you started boozing and wearing your best coat on weekdays!
Eileen
What about what I want?
Maurice
You don't need owt!
Maurice dissolves into a coughing fit.
Fred's car – afternoon
SFX of car speeding along, engine revving.
Fred
When I arranged to meet you, I didn't realise that you would be possessed by the spirit of Evil Knieval.
Eileen
Having one sugar instead of two, measuring out my life in smidegons of Flora, being Mrs Eileen Caution, just where has it got me?
Fred
You've got to look before you enter a junction! –
SFX of screeching of brakes and a long blast on a car horn.
Fred
I just saw my life flash before my eyes.
Eileen
I didn't… and you know why? I haven't bloody had one.
Car horns blare.
Fred
Mrs Price we are stopping traffic on a busy junction and unless I am hallucinating you have just put your hand on my member.
Eileen
I want to feel something.
Fred
As you can deduce, parts of my anatomy are definitely feeling something… unfortunately there's a woman in a mini staring at us. Much as I'd like to be ravished here, I think we might be arrested. Can I suggest that I drive us to mine?
Eileen
How fast can you drive?
Fred's house, bedroom – late afternoon
Fred and Eileen are lying in bed.
Fred
Well that beat afternoon bingo.
Eileen
I don't know where that came from. I thought I couldn't… where did you learn to…
Fred
You know what they say about librarians.
Eileen
You didn't get that out of a book.
Fred
You're beautiful.
Eileen
I'm not.
Fred
At this moment you are.
Eileen
I'm like jelly… don't look at me… I'm taking the bloody foot spa back… it's rubbish!
(Pause)
That thing that happened to me… I thought I couldn't… it's never happened before…
Fred
What never?
Eileen
I think I would have noticed.
Hospital Ward – day
SFX of busy ward.
Maurice
Your hair looks different.
Eileen
It's windy outside.
Maurice
It's more like it were when I first met you.
Eileen
It were dyed then.
Maurice
I mean not all sprayed down.
Eileen
Do you know what I've been doing?
Maurice
Something bloody crackpot I'm sure.
Eileen
I've had a few driving lesson.
(Silence)
Aren't you going to ask how they went?
Maurice
Barbara still in one piece?
Eileen
Wasn't in your car… I was with… an instructor.
Maurice
Money to burn, thought it had all gone on solicitors.
Eileen
Be well spent if it had… and you know what else?
Maurice
You're taking up bungee jumping?
Eileen
Dun't matter how much you sulk, I'm not going to give up on this.
Maurice
You've always been same.
Eileen
Well you haven't… when we were first courting, I'd get to the bus station early so I could watch you come towards me, you didn't walk, you ambled. How do you think I feel now watching you struggle down the ward?
(PAUSE)
Not that you've ever cared what I think.
Maurice
Remember when you first came round to our house in Armley?
Eileen
You made me wait on the front street because your Mother was in front of the fire in the tin bath.
Maurice
She wasn't in the bath. I just didn't want you to see our front room, you with your nice clean parlour and carpet… all we had down in that living room was a bit of oil cloth and a couple of chairs.
Eileen
I never minded.
Maurice
I did. I wanted to give you at least as much as your Dad had. Worked hard to get out of Armley, to make something of meself… now you're trying to drag me back there, telling me that I never got away, that I've been carrying it around inside me all these years.
(Pause)
We've got a conservatory and a downstairs loo for God's sake!
Eileen
And what does that make us, royalty?
Maurice
Makes us a cut above Armley… you wun't get a garden in Armley.
Eileen
Maurice, if we were that posh we wun't be here now. If it had been big detached houses instead of terraces that factory would have been chased out of town… you should be furious… and what are you instead? Ashamed that someone might find out you were born in a back to back.
Maurice
I'm fed up, that's what I am, fed up.
Eileen
Good. That's the first thing you've said to me that makes any sense.
Maurice
I'm not spineless! Pick these things up and you can't just put 'em down… is that how you want to spend our last year, in the middle of a bloody war?
Eileen
Yes!
Maurice
You'd be left on your own in it.
Eileen
I'm on me own now.
Maurice
No you're not.
Eileen's semi – morning
SFX of Eileen drying her hair with the hair dryer, doorbell goes.
Eileen
Hang on a minute!
SFX of Eileen coming downstairs and opening the front door.
Eileen
I'm just getting ready to go out.
Fred
I won't stop if you're in a rush. I'll leave you these to look at later, they go back a century.
Eileen
Come in, I've got five minutes.
Fred comes in and Eileen closes the door. They go into the kitchen.
Fred
I've called a few times.
Eileen
Too far to come home between afternoon and evening visiting.
Fred
Your mobile's not working.
Eileen
I only turn it on when I want to use it.
Fred
I like a woman in her dressing gown, like the burka it makes what likes beneath a mystery.
Eileen
What sort of man likes a dressing gown?
Fred
A man of a certain age.
(Sniffing)
That smell…
Eileen
Cat spray? He doesn't like being left alone all –
Fred
Freshly washed hair, there's alchemy at work there.
(PAUSE)
Look, JW Robert's factory opened in 1895 and the first reports on the dangers were 1906.
Eileen
But did the company see them?
Fred
According to this they did. Right there, look, they just chose not to broadcast it.
Eileen
It dun't make sense.
Fred
Look at the next page, there's an Armley GP quoted in there, Greaves.
Eileen
It can't be right… it says he first noticed he were seeing more lung cancers in 1923.
(PAUSE)
He linked it to the factory! Look, he thought it was the result of 'proximity to asbestos manufacture.'
(PAUSE)
Eighty odd years ago, they'd medical evidence eighty odd years ago…
Fred
And they just carried on.
(PAUSE)
Have a proper look when you get back, none of it's cheerful.
Eileen
I'll take them with me, Maurice needs to see these.
Fred
He'll read them then?
Eileen
I give him the potted version. You know we're both grateful for what you've –
Fred
It's not for him, I'm not doing it for him.
(PAUSE)
I've got something else for you too. Guess which hand it's in.
Eileen
What is it?
Fred
A present.
Eileen
You shouldn't be buying me presents… I've got an appointment.
Fred
Which hand?
Eileen
That one.
Fred
The Lady is always right.
Eileen
What is it… drugs? I'm not taking drugs.
Fred
Viagra. I thought we could both partake.
Eileen
Fred… that can never happen again, I told you it was a mistake.
Fred
Let's save it for a rainy day. I'll put it on the side, don't let the cat eat it.
Eileen
Fred, I enjoyed what we did… a lot…
Fred
I could tell.
Eileen
But I can't keep… Maurice is coming home soon… he dun't deserve… and I've hated myself since…
Fred
I understand.
Eileen
I hoped you would… thought you might take it –
Fred
Shall I give you a lift.
Eileen
I've ordered a cab.
Fred
Do you like Thai food?
Eileen
I'm sorry Fred, I'm in a rush –
Fred
There's a restaurant in town… does Mai Tai cocktails… a more sophisticated version of the snowball.
Eileen
I'm at the hospital every night.
Fred
It's open late.
Eileen
I can't do this… there's too much going on. I've told you, it can't happen again.
Fred
I understand.
Int. Living room. Terraced house. Asbestos triangle – Armley- late morning
SFX of James Fryer using a nebulizer. Eileen waits as he attempts to get his breath back.
Eileen
I've tired you out, I'm sorry.
SFX of the nebulizer again.
James Fryer
(Severely short of breath)
I'll make you a cup of tea in a…
Eileen
Shall I make one?
James Fryer
Please.
SFX of Eileen filling kettle.
Eileen
That's a nice ivy you've got on your window sill.
SFX of James Fryer using nebulizer again.
Eileen
Would you rather we didn't do this now? I can come back another time…
James Fryer
Don't know if I've got another time.
(Pause)
See that sill, me Mother used to wipe the dust off it every morning… if the machines were blowing, half an hour later she'd have to wipe it again.
Eileen
You didn't know it was dangerous?
James Fryer
No, we'd write our names in the dust… me Mother played pot one time cause I wrote a rude word… she didn't know I knew any.
Eileen
Did your Mother work at the factory?
James Fryer
No, me Dad did. It were good money… we didn't know what they were paying for… me Mother died of lung cancer at 51… picked it up washing his overalls… me Dad lasted till he was 59.
Eileen
And you knew it was the factory?
James Fryer
Everybody round here knew by then… couldn't go to the pub without somebody with that cough…
James Fryer dissolves in a coughing fit.
James Fryer
This bloody cough.
Eileen
I recognise it from my husband.
James Fryer
It's not a club any bugger would choose to belong to.
(Coughs)
We applied for compensation when me Dad died but we couldn't get Legal Aid, so we never got anywhere.
Eileen
And what about you?
James Fryer
I've got to last till the case comes to court but Turner Newell's lawyers keep dragging it out so we die before we get there. They didn't manage it with June Hancock… Doctor said she had a year but she lasted three… won her case… should have opened the door for all of us but they found a loophole.
Eileen
What sort of loophole?
James Fryer
Big enough for us all to fall through. Company that owned Turner Newell declared themselves bankrupt…. It's still trading… Still making God knows how much in profits but its saying its bankrupt so they don't have to pay us. It'll take years to sort out…
Eileen
And you don't have years.
James Fryer
Multinational company… they can do what the bloody hell they like… I don't really want compensation, I want a new body… I'll never get one but I'm going to make those bastards pay me some'at.
SFX of James Fryer using nebulizer again.
Eileen
If I can get my husband to come and talk to you can I bother you again?
James Fryer
You'll have to be quick…
Eileen
He won't talk about it.
James Fryer
Get's everybody different… I were never a jealous man, never understood it… but I'm jealous now… of anybody that can draw breathe without a struggle.
(Pause)
I'm glad my wife's not here to see this…
Ext. Hospital – night
SFX of the city in the distance. Eileen stands at the entrance to the hospital. Fred approaches.
Eileen
What you doing at the hospital?
Fred
Catching second hand smoke. You said you always waited by the entrance with the smokers.
(PAUSE)
Thought I'd give you a lift home after visiting. It's dark, there's a lot of strange men out there.
Eileen
You can't do this.
Fred
What?
Eileen
You know what. I've ordered a cab.
Fred
Cancel it.
Eileen
No.
Fred
I just wanted to see you… I'm glad to wake up again in a morning, I can't turn the radio on without hearing something that reminds me of –
Eileen
It's just a daft crush. –
Fred
It's more than that, Eileen. I almost got thrown out of the library for singing, I feel like a teenager. –
Eileen
You're acting like a teenager. When have I ever said I wanted to replace my husband?
Fred
When you were panting your head off with me all afternoon.
Eileen
You've got the wrong idea.
Fred
What, when you picked me up in the library or when put your hands on me in the car?
Eileen
I didn't pick you up… I'd just found out my husband had cancer and –
Fred
And it made you want to shag a stranger?
Eileen
To be brutally honest, yes.
Fred
You used me.
Eileen
I'm sorry you feel like that –
Fred
You can't just shrug me off…
SFX of a cab pipping its horn.
Eileen
That's my cab.
Fred
Don't just… Eileen, come for a drink… just one drink, this can't just be it…
SFX car door slamming and taxi driving away.
Fred
(To smoker)
And what you gawping at? Nowt wrong with your ears then? Get back to your fag, you shouldn't be allowed treatment on the NHS! –
Eileen's bedroom – night
We hear banging on the front door.
Eileen
O God!
Fred
(Through the letter box)
Eileen, Eileen! I only want to talk to you…
The cat meows.
Eileen
(Whispering)
Shhh…there's nobody in… he'll go away in a –
SFX of glass smashing. We hear Eileen running downstairs and out on to the avenue.
Eileen
That's Maurice's car! What you hitting it with?
Fred
Me steering lock.
Eileen
Put it down.
Fred
Well it got your attention…
(UPSET)
All I wanted was a conversation…
Eileen
This is ridiculous!
(PAUSE)
Fred go home, I'm not doing this… I'm going back to bed. –
Fred
Don't just go back in… I'll, I'll…
Fred panics and shatters the headlights with the steering lock.
Fred
You've turned me into a vandal!
Eileen
Go home!
Fred
Your neighbour is having a good look.
Eileen
(Shouting)
It's alright… don't call the police… I'm dealing with it!
Fred
(Shouting)
Want to know how she deals with things? Shuts it all out, that's what she does… shuts love out!
Eileen
That weren't love… listen to someone snoring for fifty years and still want to wake up next to them, that's love.
What happened wi' you were just…
(Stands on glass in her bare feet)
Ow! Damn… me foot… I've got glass in…
Fred
(Dropping steering lock)
You're bleeding… O god, let's get some'at round that… there's blood everywhere.
Eileen
Go home, Fred, just bloody go home.
Fred
But you've cut yourself.
Eileen
It looks worse than it is… just go home.
Fred
I want to look after you…
Eileen's kitchen – morning
The cat meows as Eileen mops the floor.
Eileen
Don't lick that! It's dried blood, you've got cat food… and I've got to mop this lot up… and when Maurice comes back today you be a good cat and not get under his feet.
SFX of the doorbell going.
Eileen
It'd better not be…
SFX of Eileen going down the hall and opening the door.
Constable Marks
Is that your car outside love?
Eileen
It's me husbands.
Constable Marks
Your neighbour called us, reported a disturbance…
Eileen
I was going to ring you today.
Constable Marks
I've got a form here…
Eileen
For me to fill in about what happened?
Constable Marks
About our response time… we've got some European money for car crime.
(Pause)
Don't suppose you know who did it?
Eileen
No.
Constable Marks
Neighbour said you were out in the street… bit silly that love, sure way to get your head staved in.
Eileen
Teenager in a hoodie… came out without thinking.
Constable Marks
They usually nick 'em and then smash 'em up. Some of 'em carry their own cushions round wi' em… can't see through the windscreens otherwise… little sods.
(Pause)
Have you rung the insurance?
Eileen
I was just doing it when you turned up.
Constable Marks
Thought you might have been having a mid morning cuppa…
Eileen
Do you want a cup of tea?
Constable Marks
Go on then, I'll have a cup of tea while I get a description.
(Pause)
Usually have my elevenses about now.
Eileen
Would you like a biscuit
Constable Marks
Go on then… don't suppose you have any wheat free… it's me sinuses.
Eileen
Is a kit kat wheat free?
Constable Marks
No… but I'll have one if it's going to waste.
Hospital ward – mid morning
SFX of the tea trolley, the clatter of cups.
Maurice
No sugar please.
Fred
Maurice… Maurice Price?
Maurice
Yes?
Fred
I'm a friend of your wife's, Eileen. Eileen's asked me to come in and see you.
Maurice
Well she'd no right to.
(Pause)
They're my lungs, I've got to do this in me own time.
Fred
It's not about the asbestos.
Eileen's Avenue- DAY
SFX of traffic.
Maurice
(Short of breath)
Bloody hell! All the headlights! And that won't bash back out wi' a hammer!
Eileen
She's insured…
Police siren approaches, car speeds towards them, screeches to halt. Constable Marks gets out.
Maurice
Where's the fire?
Constable Marks
Just checking the siren works. The Nissan Primera… doesn't hold a candle to the Land Rover Freelander.
Eileen
We got them speed bumps after there were a kiddie killed.
Constable Marks
Bloody hell!
Eileen
What?
Constable Marks
I've been sat on me sandwiches.
(Pause)
Not all bad news though, we've caught the little sod. Don't look so shocked… the Mountie sometimes gets his man… cept in this case he's a juvenile. Tasmanian Devil we call him, leaves a right trail behind him. If you come down to station with me you can ID him.
Eileen
But we've just got back from –
Constable Marks
Won't take long.
Maurice
It wasn't him.
Constable Marks
What?
Maurice
I did it.
Constable Marks
She said –
Maurice
Doesn't matter what she said.
Constable Marks
It will when I charge her for wasting police time. There's no excuse for –
Maurice
(Gasping)
I've got cancer. Terminal. Mesothelioma to give it its proper name. I'd nowhere to put it… it was either the car or the house.
Constable Marks
You can't claim on the insurance.
Maurice
We're not going to.
Constable Marks
But your neighbour said –
Maurice
I took it out on the car.
Constable Marks
I'm going to look a right wally when I walk back in there and say it wasn't the Tasmanian Devil. I could do you for –
Maurice
I'll be dead before it comes to court… and how would it look if I wasn't, dragging a dying man into the dock?
Constable Marks
Couldn't you just have got drunk and punched a pillow?
Int. Eileen's kitchen. Five minutes later.
The cat is meowing around Maurice's feet.
Maurice
He's pleased to see me, I thought that cat didn't like me.
Eileen
Why did you tell the bobby it was you?
Maurice
Put the kettle on.
Eileen
Is that all you've got to say, 'put the kettle on'?
Maurice
And get the biscuits out.
Eileen
That copper ate all the Kit Kat's. Why did you tell him it was you?
Maurice
Let's not talk about it now… you've sprayed your hair down again, I'd got to like it loose.
Eileen
But Barbara –
Maurice
It's just a car. We'll get you something nippier to learn to drive in.
Eileen
I've enough on wi'out that… silly to think I could learn something new at my age.
Maurice
Don't give up.
Eileen
But you wanted me to…
Maurice
Well I don't now.
Eileen
You always said it was a waste of time.
Maurice
Well now I don't think it is.
Eileen
Maurice, I did something when you were in hospital.
Maurice
I don't want to know.
Eileen
But I want to tell you.
Maurice
(Struggling for breath)
He came up to the ward.
Eileen
Fred?
Maurice
Please God, let there only be one.
Eileen
I'm sorry, it was a big mistake. I panicked and –
Maurice
Let me keep some dignity in this.
(PAUSE)
Are you staying?
Eileen
Course I'm staying. Things will go back to normal, they will –
Maurice
I don't want things to go back to bloody normal, he said you weren't happy.
Eileen
Who's happy?
Maurice
I thought we were… but you weren't were you?
Eileen
No… but it dun't matter.
Maurice
Matters to me. I thought if I didn't let anything change we'd stay the same.
Eileen
What drugs are you on?
Maurice
A right cocktail… but it's not the drugs, it's you… you woke me up.
Eileen
I thought you'd given up bothering.
(PAUSE)
You know I'll do whatever you want me to do.
Maurice
I want you to go upstairs, top of the wardrobe, get the tin with the roses on.
Int. Car – afternoon
SFX of the bumper falling off the car as Eileen drives.
Eileen
Opps!
Maurice
Mind the kerb!
Eileen
You're a terrible backseat driver.
Maurice
I learnt from the maestro.
(PAUSE)
Traffics terrible, we should go another time, when I'm not as tired, if we go now we'll be late for our tea, you know it dun't agree wi' me eating –
(late)
I'm doing it again aren't I? Spent 50 years perfecting the art of being an old fart…
Eileen
You're good at it.
Maurice
I want to be good at some'at else, like appreciating me wife.
Eileen
I get my husband back after all these years and I don't get to keep him.
Maurice
Mind that bollard!
Eileen
Look in my handbag.
Maurice
Do you want a tissue?
Eileen
In the zip bit at the side.
Maurice
Pills? I've taken me pain killers.
Eileen
It's viagra.
Maurice
Jesus, are you trying to bloody kill me?
Eileen
I thought you'd like to go out smiling. We don't need to… I just thought…
Maurice
This new you is going to take a bit of getting used to. I don't have to take ecstasy as well do I?
(PAUSE)
That's the factory… there.
SFX of car pulling over. Stopping,
Eileen
It looks like a shed.
Maurice
We used to play football in the loading bay at the back. Cause I went to grammar school I thought I'd done better than the lads that worked there. I had boots, proper studded boots, they were in steel toe caps, kicking dust everywhere… stuff made the place look better, took the rough edges off.
(Pause)
Pass us that tin off the back seat.
SFX of Maurice opening tin.
Maurice
Across there, loft living or whatever it is now… that were my school, the clock school.
(Gets photo out)
Year four, that were took in the yard.
Eileen
Ah look at you, you're all knees.
Maurice
That's Miss Crowther on the end.
Eileen
She looks strict.
Maurice
Suppose she was, if she caught you smoking you'd get a ruler across the knuckles, I never got it.
(PAUSE)
She got lung cancer in the sixties.
(Points at another boy)
Roy Peters.
Eileen
He came to our wedding reception didn't he? I remember the ears.
Maurice
Lost touch, would have gone to his funeral but I only saw it in the remembrances. He can't have been fifty. And her, Elizabeth Gould, fancied her for years –
Eileen
You think they all got mesothelioma?
Maurice
They all got lung cancer.
Eileen
Poor Roy Peters, them ears and no blazer in the snow.
Maurice
That were took in July.
Eileen
Snow in July?
Maurice
It's not snow, it's dust, used to blow across. If you spat on it, you could make little balls, snow that never melted… not even when you swallowed it. You think you can wipe out where you're from but you can't.
(PAUSE)
Where does he live?
Eileen
Just behind. You know, we don't need to do this, he can't breathe… it might scare you.
Maurice
Let's leave the car and walk.
Eileen
It's uphill.
Maurice
We'll go slowly, it's been a longtime since I've been here.
SFX of car doors slamming.
Maurice
Come here, you.
Eileen
What you up to now?
Maurice
I'm holding me wife's hand.
THE END