Tomorrow and Tomorrow (excerpt) by Matthew Libby

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39 In a car. He’s driving. EVELYN And math — there’s a great math curriculum — she thought you’d like that. It’s an all-girl’s school but there’s a boy’s school nearby so she’ll get the, y’know, feminine bonding she’s looking for but also high school traditions like prom and whatnot. I read the pamphlet she brought home and the tuition is only a little more than what we’re currently paying and she also said there’s a possibility of a scholarship which she’ll find out about if she gets accepted. She’s a bit behind and the application is due next week but we went through it and I think she’ll be able to pull it together. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen her this excited, Ray. There’s a real glint in her eye. RAYMOND Hm. EVELYN Anyway, she wanted me to raise it with you before she showed you the pamphlet tomorrow. I know this night is for something else, you’ve got other things on your mind tonight, but as I said she’s under a bit of time pressure with the application. So I told her I would bring it up first. RAYMOND … Why? EVELYN Why what? RAYMOND Why do you have to bring it up first? EVELYN I don’t have to. I offered to. RAYMOND Why though? EVELYN No reason! I thought it would be easier coming from me. RAYMOND Why? Why would it be easier coming from you? Why wouldn’t Annie just tell me in the same way she told you?


40 EVELYN … RAYMOND … EVELYN Okay, you want to get into this? RAYMOND Get into what. EVELYN Annie’s a little afraid of you, Raymond. RAYMOND … EVELYN … RAYMOND Oh bullshit. EVELYN She is! RAYMOND You’re making that up. EVELYN I’m making that — Why would I make that up? RAYMOND There’s no reason for her to be afraid of me. EVELYN She told me that sometimes she feels like you dismiss her. RAYMOND And that’s synonymous with fear, how? EVELYN Well, she’s not going to bring something like this to you if she feels like you’ll just dismiss it out of hand, will she? RAYMOND I don’t do anything out of hand.


41 EVELYN (faux-shock) Oh, you don’t? RAYMOND Of course not. I’m thoughtful. EVELYN (smiles wryly) So thoughtful. RAYMOND That’s right. EVELYN (looks out the window) RAYMOND … And no. EVELYN No? RAYMOND No, Annie’s not going to this boarding school. EVELYN Ah. … Just like that, huh? RAYMOND Sending our only child halfway across the country to some random boarding school that I’ve never heard of, spending more money to do that, because it isn’t just tuition, is it? It’s flights for her and flights for us to go visit her and winter coats and winter socks and it all adds up. For what gain for us exactly? EVELYN Your daughter’s happiness.


42 RAYMOND She’s perfectly happy at Day School. EVELYN She’s bullied, Raymond! She’s not happy. RAYMOND So some other kids say mean things. She’s getting a good education. What do those words matter? EVELYN They matter a great deal to her! The boys at that school are nasty, Ray. All she wants is an all-girls school, this all-girls school. I’m telling you, Raymond, sit down with her sit down with Annie. Hear her talk about this school and then tell me she wouldn’t be happy there. RAYMOND She doesn’t know what makes her happy! She’s thirteen years old! EVELYN … RAYMOND … This is a lark. It will pass. We’re not fundamentally changing our lives because of a lark. EVELYN Well, it wouldn’t hurt to send in an application… RAYMOND Actually, it would, Evelyn! Because I’m sure there’s an application fee, and that application fee comes out of our bank account, and our bank account is full of my money because I’m the only one contributing to that account. So there is quite literally a financial loss that directly affects me. So I say no application. EVELYN …


43 RAYMOND … EVELYN … I’m going to finish writing that novel, Raymond. RAYMOND Great. Let me know when it’s done. EVELYN I’ve been distracted. With y’know raising our daughter. RAYMOND I do that too. And I still get plenty of work done. EVELYN Yeah. Sure. You do too. *** RAYMOND Ten minutes ten minutes should be all that it takes. At some point in the night. EVELYN And you have your speech prepared? RAYMOND Memorized. EVELYN Want to practice? RAYMOND Practice? We’re about to head in. EVELYN Joke.

A front lawn. He smokes. She doesn’t.


44 RAYMOND Ah. EVELYN You know, I’m remembering something you said to me on the night we met. RAYMOND What’s that? EVELYN “I don’t schmooze.” RAYMOND Well. EVELYN Look at you now. About to schmooze for research funding. RAYMOND I’ve matured with age. I now see the necessity of the occasional schmooze. EVELYN I know you don’t like these types of nights. RAYMOND I don’t. EVELYN It’s gonna be great. You’re gonna do great. RAYMOND (deep breath) EVELYN (rubs his back) *** MARGOT And how old are / yours — ? DENNIS (holding a wine bottle) More, / Raymond?

Pre-dinner drinks, with MARGOT and DENNIS.


45 EVELYN Just the one, just / Annabella — RAYMOND No, thank you. EVELYN Annie — she’s — / um — DENNIS More, honey? EVELYN Annabella — Annie — / she — MARGOT Den, stop offering people wine while Evie / is talking — ! DENNIS Sorry, / Evelyn — EVELYN It’s quite alright. Annie just turned thirteen. MARGOT Thirteen! DENNIS Evelyn, want more wine? EVELYN Yes, please. MARGOT And I’ll take some more too, honey. DENNIS (fills their glasses) MARGOT Only one child, huh? That because you realized you couldn’t top little Annie? Or because you realized the whole “kids” thing was a mistake and wanted to cut your losses? DENNIS (laughs) Honey…


46 MARGOT (laughs) Sorry, just kidding. It was just a little joke. EVELYN Oh. Hah. RAYMOND Dennis, I will have more wine… DENNIS (serving him) Don’t listen to my wife, she doesn’t really bother filtering herself. MARGOT Don’t say that, Dennis, it was a joke! I hate it when he says that. EVELYN To tell you the truth, it was, uh — (looks to Raymond, who raises his eyebrows) It wasn’t easy. The whole Annie situation. It wasn’t… … It was complicated, is what I’m saying. I don’t know what I’m saying. Too much wine, hah! DENNIS More? EVELYN Still working on this, thanks Dennis. No, I just mean, the story of how we got pregnant is actually really interesting — RAYMOND Evelyn. No need to speak on that. EVELYN No, Raymond, I’m not going to — all I’m saying is — RAYMOND We didn’t have any more kids because that was our decision. That’s really all there is to it.


47 EVELYN … DENNIS … RAYMOND … MARGOT … Dennis and I — our children — we have three of them, all out of the house thank god — just kidding — they were all three years apart. I think that’s a good amount of — distance, between one’s children. EVELYN … Oh, sure. RAYMOND (looks into his wine glass) DENNIS (shifts awkwardly) EVELYN (smiles, half-hearted) MARGOT … And you’re from New York, you said?! EVELYN Originally, yes. We both had lived there our entire lives before Raymond got the job at the university — MARGOT I adore New York. We visit every year. DENNIS San Diego’s quite the change of scenery, isn’t it? EVELYN Oh sure. Took a while to get used to. But we’ve been here twelve years and now? It’s home. Right, Ray?


48 RAYMOND Yup. Home. Fine place to live. MARGOT … DENNIS … RAYMOND … DENNIS … More wine, anyone? ***

Alone with Dennis.

RAYMOND (memorized speech) People think they want to have agency over their own lives. But they don’t, really. When men like us went to war — DENNIS I didn’t go to war. Too young for the first one, too old for the second one. RAYMOND … Oh. Um. Well — I did. And in war, you learn to trust a logic that’s bigger than yourself. You realize that things can be orderly in a chaotic world. You learn how to make order from chaos. By living within lines. Commands. Algorithms. But then you return home from the carnage and there’s no more order and you go to the supermarket and there are fifty different types of soup and the lines to live within are hazy at best. … I think people value feeling like the captains of their own fate. But I also think if you gave people a computer — a thinking computer — that could — make decisions for them — that could dictate everything they do, for the rest of their lives… Making perfect decisions, every time… I think most people would be interested in such a thing. Knowing that every decision they make is rational.


49 Is right. At least I know I would. … That’s the direction I want to take my research, Dennis. Creating specialized decision-making computers out of silicon and metal. … But I’ve submitted a proposal to your committee the last three semesters and was denied funding every time. So I guess my question is why do you not see the value in this type of research? DENNIS … RAYMOND … DENNIS … Are you not happy with the research you’ve been approved for? RAYMOND No, of course that’s limits in multivariable calculus It’s interesting material. But it’s theoretical. I want to move out of the theoretical. I want… (thinks, then) I’ve made some decisions in my life, Dennis, big decisions the kind that make me think back try to piece together the cause and effect how one thing led to another. I think we all have made those kind of decisions. The kind that divide your life into before and after. The kind that your brain can’t wrap itself around, really. The kind that make you wish you were a machine yourself… … You’ve had moments like that, haven’t you? DENNIS … Not really, no. RAYMOND (sinks) … Oh. I, uh…


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