Posted on May 22, 2012 at 2:24 am

Leo at Work/What Am I Waiting For?

TOWNSPEOPLE
Ever more lives the dream of Atlanta
Ever more Her eternal Pride!
Strong and sure is the dream of Atlanta
When Her Brothers are unified!

LEO
Twenty eight boxes of caps
At four dollars the gross
This is wrong, this is wrong,
I can fix this, Wait.
Nine more boxes in back,
Twenty eight minus nine,
And then thirtyone girls on the line…

LIGHTS UP on Lucille, at home. 

LUCILLE
Suit and a tie…
Terribly quiet…
Quite a wellpaid position.
“Go on, Lucille…”
“Bring him his coffee…”
Straight from New York, Lucille!
Isn’t he smart, Lucille?
LEO
Times six, one eight six…
Divide… seven sixty…
God all the noise, and on Yontiff yet…
Four cents a girl for the week…
At ten cents an hour…

 

 

Mama, he’s comin’ around today
Mama, he’s at the door!
Mama, I don’t know what I should say…
“Well, what are you waitin’ for, Lucille?”
What am I waiting for?

LEO
This is wrong, this is wrong, it’s an eight, not a six…

LUCILLE
House and a maid;
Two sets of china
Everything I was wishin’
New winter coat;
Real ermine collar
Who would have known, Lucille?
Married so well, Lucille?

How can he want me, so plain, so prim?
How can he be so sure?
Don’t I wish I could be sure like him?
Like Leo?

LEO
Yes, Lucille, I am building a life for us…

LUCILLE
For Leo?

LEO
No, Lucille, we cannot have a picnic…

LUCILLE
Didn’t my wishes come true for me
The day he walked through the door?
Isn’t he all that I knew he’d be?
Brilliant and filled with humility?
Loyal and stable as any tree?
So why do I wait for more?
What am I waiting for?

LEO
Twenty-three cartons of leads
At two sixty a gross
This is wrong, this is wrong,
I can fix this…

MARY
Hey.

LEO
Yes?

MARY
I came for my pay.

LEO
Name?

MARY
Mary Phagan.