The Inheritance Page 11

  It wasn’t at all what he expected. In fact, he was momentarily disappointed. It was old and little – and yet altogether delightful. A simple colonial – clapboard, painted white. Two red-brick chimneys on either end. Eleven windows as you look up from the front garden. To anyone else, it was simply a house. But Eric knew it was Walter’s house. And because of that, he found it beautiful.

  Eric thought of Walter, and the story of his friend Peter who came here to die, of all the young men who came here to find peace in their final days. He thought of all the men who died in those years and what they might have become, what the world would look like today had they been allowed to end their story on their own terms. Eric wondered what his life would be like if he had not been robbed of a generation of mentors, of poets, of friends and, perhaps even lovers. Here, finally, he felt the past that he could not summon inside his family’s home. Eric felt the presence of the men who died here. He could feel Walter, too – his loving, guiding presence. Eric breathed and filled his lungs with the past. It stretched before him now, limitless – the past and the present, mingling together inside this house, inside him.

  Young Man 1 Eric approached the house.

  Young Man 3 He laid his hand upon the door.

  Young Man 6 It opened.

  Young Man 2 The house was not locked up after all.

  Young Man 4 Eric walked inside.

  A voice in the darkness.

  Voice Walter, is that you?

  Eric No, I …

  A Young Man appears, bathed in a spectral light.

  Young Man I’m sorry. I thought you were Walter for a moment. You have his way of walking around the house.

  Eric I’m Eric.

  Young Man Eric Glass?

  Eric Yes, that’s right. How did you –

  Suddenly, the various rooms of the house start to fill with young men, each bathed in their own spectral light. The house is filled with ghosts.

  Young Man It’s so nice to finally meet you. We’ve heard so much about you.

  Eric Me? Who are you?

  Young Man I’m Peter.

  Eric Peter?

  Young Man Peter West. I’m a friend of Walter’s.

  Eric stares at him, at the ghosts that now surround him.

  Young Man Welcome home, Eric.

  End of Part One.

  Part Two

  Prologue

  The house before us. A beautiful summer day. Breezes and birdsong. The sound of a car pulling up.

  Young Man 3 and Young Man 4 enter.

  Young Man 3 I can’t see the house.

  Young Man 4 Here, just behind these trees.

  Oh wow! This isn’t at all what I expected.

  Young Man 3 It’s smaller than I thought it’d be.

  Young Man 4 Look at that tree! Look at that meadow! Let’s go explore the property.

  Young Man 3 We should probably wait here.

  Young Man 4 I’ll be right back.

  Young Man 3 Don’t go too far.

  Young Man 4 runs off. Young Man 3 stays there, looking at the property. The breeze picks up, rustling the leaves. Young Man 3 smiles.

  How beautiful.

  Young Man 3 climbs the steps of the porch, looking around. He tries the door. It is unlocked. He peeks inside.

  The door’s unlocked! Do you want to go inside?

  A moment, then Young Man 3 calls out again, waving.

  Walter!

  Young Man 4 comes running on, carrying a bundle of wildflowers in his hands.

  Young Man 4 Look at these flowers. And there’s an old barn. We could turn it into a dining pavilion. Won’t that be something?

  Young Man 3 approaches him, wrapping him in his arms. They hold each other tightly.

  Are you sure this is what you want?

  Young Man 3 I want to live.

  Young Man 4 shows Young Man 3 his bouquet. Young Man 3 sneezes.

  Young Man 4 You’ll get used to it.

  Henry Wilcox enters, a set of keys in his hands.

  Henry Wilcox did not believe in ghosts.

  Young Man 3 He believed in facts, real and tangible.

  Young Man 4 Things that could be added and subtracted –

  Young Man 3 Bought and sold –

  Young Man 4 Built and destroyed.

  Young Man 3 But he did believe in memories.

  Young Man 4 He examined the cherry tree and the nasty gash across its trunk that the tenants had made. He recalled all the summer hours he spent reading in its shade while Charlie and Paul chased each other around the yard.

  Young Man 3 Their old dog, what was her name?

  Henry Rosie.

  Young Man 3 Dear old Rosie. Dead ever so long now.

  Young Man 4 And of course there was always Walter by his side –

  Young Man 3 – in the kitchen –

  Young Man 4 – wandering the meadow –

  Young Man 3 – collecting wildflowers.

  Henry Walter …

  Young Man 4 I’m here, Henry. We’re all here.

  Young Man 3 Henry Wilcox did not believe in ghosts. He believed in the future.

  End of Prologue.

  Act One

  Spring 2017–Autumn 2017

  SCENE ONE

  1. Walter’s House

  Spring, 2017.

  Henry Eric!

  Eric enters.

  Eric I’m here, Henry. The door was unlocked. / Henry, I –

  Henry Is it what you thought it would be?

  Eric I can’t remember anymore.

  Henry It’s just a house. The stairs need to be rebuilt. The furnace replaced. Probably a new roof soon enough.

  Eric Henry, do you think it’s possible this house is haunted?

  Henry No.

  Eric I mean, given all that’s / happened here.

  Henry This house is not haunted.

  Eric It’s just … I think I may have just seen a ghost.

  Henry There are no ghosts in this house. Just cold walls and low ceilings and barely any light in the winter.

  Listen, Eric …

  Eric Do you look for the flaws in people the way you look for them in houses?

  Henry Houses hide their flaws better than people.

  Eric What are my flaws, Henry?

  Henry You can’t take a compliment.

  Eric I don’t think that’s true.

  Henry You undervalue yourself.

  Eric Isn’t that the same thing?

  Henry It’s the reason for the thing.

  Eric What else?

  Henry You refuse to believe that you’re beautiful.

  This catches Eric.

  Listen, Eric … I know how hard these last few months have been for you.

  Eric You have no idea how much you’ve helped me.

  Henry I think, in fact, I do. Because you’ve helped me just as much. And I’ve been thinking: what role can we play in each other’s lives going forward?

  Eric You’ve been thinking that?

  Henry I think about you more than you know.

  And … I wondered … if you would want to marry me.

  A stunned silence.

  My God, I’ve rendered Eric Glass speechless.

  Eric You want to marry … me?

  Henry Yes.

  Eric But … why?

  Henry You make me smile. Contrary to what most people think, I do like to smile.

  Eric I think you have a very nice smile.

  Henry I’m glad you think so because you’ve been the author of all my recent ones.

  A moment, then:

  Henry I want you in my life, Eric.

  Eric I am in your life.

  Henry I want you fully in it. I can provide you with the freedom to find meaning in your life. To become the man you’re meant to be. All I ask is that you share your spirit with me.

  Gentle, rolling thunder in the distance.

  Eric Can I think about it?

  If Henry’s disappointed, he covers it up.

 
Henry Of course.

  Eric It’s just that it’s a big decision and you caught me by surprise / and I –

  Henry You don’t have to explain yourself, Eric.

  Eric No, but I want to. No one’s ever proposed to me before. I never knew … how nice that felt.

  More thunder.

  Henry We should probably head back.

  Eric But we just got here.

  Henry I saw what I needed to see. The tree took a bad scrape. I’ll need to call in an arborist. That tenant is definitely not getting his deposit back.

  Eric I was hoping we / could –

  Henry I’d like to beat the storm.

  More thunder, this time louder. Henry exits.

  Eric Eric stood there for a moment, reeling from Henry’s unexpected proposal. He looked around at the house longingly, wanting to explore more, wanting to search for more ghosts, hoping to point them out to Henry and say to him: ‘See, here they are. I told you they were here.’ But they had vanished.

  Henry (off) Eric, let’s go. Eric?

  Eric I’m coming, Henry.

  End of Scene One.

  SCENE TWO

  Spring, 2017.

  Young Man 6 Eric Glass had a decision to make.

  Young Man 2 It was clear Henry’s offer was sincere and Eric knew his answer had to be as well.

  Young Man 5 He attempted to understand their relationship in a way he could explain to himself.

  Young Man 8 So Eric decided to introduce Henry to his friends.

  Young Man 6 He planned one of his famous Sunday brunches in Henry’s sumptuous new West Village town house –

  Young Man 8 Privately fretting that Henry might not do well under the glare of their careful inspection.

  Young Man 7 And so when Jasper asked if he could bring his new boyfriend –

  Young Man 3 Tucker!

  Young Man 7 – Eric happily agreed.

  Young Man 2 They arrived an hour late.

  1. Henry’s Town House

  Eric, Henry, Tristan, Jasper, Jason 1, Jason 2 and Tucker.

  Jasper We met at Coachella. Tucker’s an artist. He makes the most incredible – tell them what you call it.

  Tucker Faux-art.

  Tristan What is ‘faux-art’?

  Jason 2 Like out of Vietnamese noodles?

  Tucker False art.

  Tristan Meaning what?

  Tucker Meaning that it isn’t real.

  Eric Like an illusion?

  Tucker You could say that.

  Jason 2 Like David Copperfield?

  Jasper It’s real in the sense you can see it, touch it.

  Tristan Are we talking sculpture? Paintings?

  Tucker Paintings.

  Eric (attempting to understand) False paintings.

  Tucker Yes.

  Tristan But what makes them false?

  Jasper Ah! Here’s the genius part. Tell them.

  Tucker You can tell them. They’re your friends.

  Jasper Yes, but it’s your art. You should tell them.

  Tucker I want to hear you describe it. It turns me on.

  Tristan Oh for fuck’s sake, just tell us!

  Jasper It’s false because he doesn’t mean it.

  A beat, then:

  Eric What do you mean, ‘He doesn’t mean it’?

  Jasper They’re false.

  Tristan You’ve lost me.

  Jasper Okay here: take a look at Tucker’s Instagram.

  He hands the Jasons his phone.

  Jason 1 But these are beautiful.

  Jason 2 Look at that one.

  Henry Let’s have a look.

  They hand the phone to Henry. Eric moves over to him, looking over his shoulder. The Lads take note of this intimacy.

  You painted this?

  Tucker Which one are you looking at?

  Henry This landscape.

  Tucker Yeah, I did that last week.

  Henry And this portrait …?

  Tucker My grandmother.

  Henry You’re a Rembrandt, kid.

  Eric Henry’s not one for false praise.

  Henry Most praise is false praise. But these are …

  Henry keeps flipping.

  You’re a classicist. The shading, the depth of color.

  They get to one that’s …

  Eric Whoa!

  Henry Is that you, Jasper?

  Tristan Jasper?

  Jason 2 There’s a portrait of Jasper?

  Eric Not a portrait.

  Henry A nude.

  Tristan What?

  Jason 1 You’re kidding.

  Jason 2 Let me see.

  They all gather around Henry.

  Jason 1 That’s –

  Jason 2 Oh my.

  Tristan Jasper, your dick isn’t that big.

  Jasper and Jason 2 Yes it is.

  Eric Who’s your gallerist?

  Jasper Tucker doesn’t sell them.

  Jason 1 Why not?

  Tucker Because they’re false.

  Tristan BUT WHAT DOES THAT MEAN?!

  Tucker It means that they mean nothing to me. I can dash them off in an afternoon.

  Tristan Bullshit.

  Eric Those are … You’re a …

  Henry I think I know what word is coming.

  Eric I’ll say it anyway: a genius.

  Jasper He is.

  Tucker I’m not a genius. I’m brilliant.

  Henry So what do you do with the canvases?

  Tucker I burn them.

  Eric You burn these?

  Jason 2 Why?

  Tucker They don’t reflect how I see the world. I just … make them.

  Eric But they’re beautiful.

  Tucker Beautiful but meaningless.

  Eric Now wait … you cannot tell me there is no meaning in this portrait of your grandmother. Her eyes are so soulful, her face so kind. How is that untrue?

  Tucker Because my grandmother’s a fucking cunt, dude.

  Jasper False art!

  Tristan So all of your paintings are –

  Tucker The world as you would like me to show it to you.

  Tristan I knew Jasper’s dick wasn’t that big.

  Eric A lot of people would buy these paintings.

  Jasper Which is exactly why he destroys them.

  Henry So you paint these paintings, these … well, hell, I’ll say it: these masterpieces.

  Eric Wow, Henry.

  Henry But you don’t mean them. You can just dash them off, like Mozart scratching out the symphony he hears in his head. And then you destroy them.

  Tucker Exactly.

  Henry Because they’re false.

  Tucker Because they’re false.

  Henry So here’s my question …

  Tucker Lay it on me, Daddy-O.

  Henry Why take a picture? If what you paint is false, if you don’t stand behind its meaning, and the only reason for its creation is its destruction … why take a picture?

  Tucker To show the world what is false and what is true.

  Henry Why not just paint what is true?

  Tucker Because no one wants the truth anymore.

  Eric People are desperate for the truth.

  Tucker People want the illusion of truth. They want a story that validates their beliefs: about themselves, their nation, the world.

  Henry ‘When the legend becomes fact, print the legend.’

  Eric Man Who Shot Liberty Valance!

  Henry Gold star!

  Eric Henry’s been showing me old John Ford movies.

  Henry I want to go back to this picture idea because you haven’t really convinced me. Why do you take a picture before you destroy it? I think it’s because you want the credit for having made it without taking responsibility for what it means.

  Tucker It means nothing. It’s just beautiful.

  Eric But beauty has tremendous meaning.

  Tucker Only if it’s true.

  Henry How is a Schubert string quartet ‘true?’ Or a Frank Lloyd Wrig
ht design? That portrait of your grandmother may not be ‘true’ but it certainly is beautiful and / in painting it –

  Tucker That’s not who / she is, though.

  Henry Let me finish, Tucker. And in painting it, you’ve taken something that is ugly to you and you’ve made it beautiful. If that doesn’t demonstrate the genuine power of art, I don’t know what does. I don’t think you mistrust beauty, Tucker. I think you mistrust the truth. I think you mistrust yourself.

  Tucker Hot!

  Eric The conversation continued as Eric went to the kitchen to make coffee. He lingered by the door and watched as Henry engaged his friends about their lives, their work, their passions. Henry seemed invigorated to be among them. In that moment, Eric glimpsed the future that was opening to him. But as he returned with the cookies –

  Jason 1 Wait, wait, wait! You’re a Republican?

  Jasper Eric, did you know about this?

  Eric Well, I mean … I knew that Henry was relatively conservative, / but –

  Jasper And that he gave money to the party last year, including to the nominee?

  Eric You donated to his campaign?

  Henry I did.

  Eric Why?

  Henry He asked.

  Tristan You know him?

  Henry Of course I do.

  Eric And you gave him money?

  Henry I’m a Republican. This can’t be such a surprise.

  Eric Well, I figured you were –

  Henry A ‘good’ Republican?

  Eric Well … yes.

  Henry I am a good Republican. I gave money to the nominee. As I do every four years.

  Jason 1 Why are you a Republican, Henry?

  Henry Lots of reasons. My parents were Republicans. I’m a businessman. I believe in low taxes, free markets. Why shouldn’t I be a Republican?