Early Warning

Janet turned the page. Almost the end of the first act. Lucas leaned against her while they kept reading, correcting, translating. By the time they were finished, Janet thought he was asleep, but Marla wasn’t going to allow that. She tossed down her book and jumped out of her blanket. She went over to the bookcase, stared for a moment, then chose a volume. She dropped it in Lucas’s lap, and he sat up a little bit. She said, “Let’s try it.”

“Let’s try what?”

“Let’s try you taking a little advice.”

Janet did not think that Lucas was looking for someone to tell him what to do. She could see it when he was watching Reverend Jones — when Reverend Jones was saying something he agreed with, his face looked receptive, and when Reverend Jones was saying something he disagreed with, his face looked blank. He was like a radio that could receive only what it wanted to receive. His face went blank now. Janet took a little breath and held it in.

Marla leaned toward him, took the book, and opened it to a page. It was the first page of Miss Julie, from a book of one-act plays Janet had studied in college. She said to Janet, “You be Miss Julie, I’ll be Kristin, and Lucas can be Jean.” Then she read the stage directions in a clear voice and handed the book to Lucas. Lucas stared at it and handed it back. Since she had her hand on his arm, Janet could feel it go tense. “Oh, come on,” said Marla. “It’s my favorite game. Just a page. Or two.”

There was a feeling Janet hated — the feeling of looking back and forth between two people who did not agree. She glanced at Marla, who was smiling, and then down at the blanket, which she smoothed over her knee. The room no longer seemed cold.

Lucas cleared his throat. As far as Janet knew, Lucas didn’t have a temper, but she was beginning to get nervous, as if he did have a temper. Marla, however, was never intimidated. She said, “Just say the first line, ‘Miss Julie’s crazy again tonight; absolutely crazy.’ ”

He said the line in a natural way.

Marla took the book and said, “ ‘Oh, so you’re back, are you?’ ” She made it sound a little teasing, as if she was glad to see him and would be more glad in a minute or two. She again handed Lucas the book.

Lucas stared at the far wall for a space, then said, “I’m not into this. I hate plays.”

“Why is that?” said Marla.

“People keep talking and talking, and if they don’t start yelling eventually, the audience falls asleep. I can only take so much talking.”

Janet realized that this was true.

Marla was not to be deterred by mere theory. She said, “Just read the speech.” The two of them stared at one another for a long moment, Marla looking more and more like a teacher — a French teacher, stylish and haughty, but a teacher nonetheless. And then she shifted, actress that she was — a smile burst out that was both saucy and cheerful, and she said, “You could do me a favor, Mr. Jordan, just this once.”

Lucas’s gaze went back to the page. After a minute of silence, he looked back at Marla and said the speech, shaping it, giving it warmth. Then he put down the book, took Janet’s hand, and set Janet’s hand on top of the book. He held it there. Marla said, “My Lord, you are stubborn. But I thought you’d be good, and you are. Just because I’m telling you what to do doesn’t mean you can’t do it.”

Yes, it does, thought Janet.

Lucas smiled his brilliant and charismatic smile. No wonder Marla wanted him to act — if he was in your play, audiences would come back for more and more and more.

There was a long silence, during which Marla sat down again and picked up the French play. She said another line, Janet corrected her, and she said it again. Lucas leaned back against the wall and closed his eyes. With her hand still on the book underneath his, Janet and Marla finished The Madwoman of Chaillot. As soon as they had read the last line, Marla stood up, leaned toward Lucas, and said, “I’m going to write a play just for you. A one-act.”

Lucas opened his eyes and smiled, then said, “No dialogue, though.”

“You think I can’t do that?”

“We’ll see,” said Lucas.

Marla zipped out the door and down the hall as if she was going to get started that very night.