Class of 29 | Page 6

KEN. [Entering from bedroom.] What in ...?
TIPPY. Tea.
KATE. Thank God it wasn't eggs.
LAURA. [To KEN.] Hello, darling.
[TIPPY retrieves groceries.]
KEN. [Severely.] What's the idea, Laura?
LAURA. What idea, honey?

KEN. You promised to quit it. There's plenty of grub here.
LAURA. But darling, I can't eat canned baked beans. My ulcer, you
know.
KEN. You haven't any ulcer.
LAURA. Nor any baby. But doctors say nervous girls must be careful,
or they'll have both.
KEN. Don't be a fool.
[TIPPY starts with bag to kitchen, KATE following. At door he warns
her back.]
TIPPY. The preparing of this tea must be a strictly masculine affair,
[KATE gestures toward KEN and LAURA.] I'm sorry, but I want tea.
If a woman enters that kitchen, there won't be tea. There'll be
house-cleaning. [He goes in and bolts door behind him. She tries it and
finds it locked. She pretends to be interested in drawings, KEN has
turned away from LAURA and there is a pause.]
LAURA. [Casually.] Anything new, dear?
KEN. [Savagely.] No. You always ask me that.
LAURA. It doesn't mean anything. Just a little light conversation to kill
that first awkward moment.
KEN. It means, have I got a job.
LAURA. Have you?
KEN. No.
LAURA. Well, you will have one. And more than a job. Some day
somebody will accept your plans for fabricated houses. And you'll be
rich and famous.

KEN. If I kid myself, you needn't.
LAURA. But all this work, Ken ...
KEN. Won't come to anything. I do it from habit. I do it to keep from
going crazy.
LAURA. You do it because you know that fabricated houses are the
coming thing.
KEN. Hell of a chance I'll get at them.
LAURA. There are going to be dozens of firms in the field, and they'll
all want yearly models.
TIPPY. [Sticking his head in door.] Attention! Sergeant Holden, go at
once to the nearest Commissary and requisition 454 grams of sucrose.
[KEN salutes and goes. The girls stare after him.]
KATE. Now what in the world!
TIPPY. Sugar, Katie. Sugar.
KATE. But how much?
TIPPY. One pound. He understood. A year in Paris, you know.
LAURA. Oh, I'm so sorry! I forgot sugar.
TIPPY. Sorry? It gives him a chance to buy something.--Your failure to
understand the masculine nature is appalling.
KATE. I'll bet you had sugar.
TIPPY. Yes, we had no sugar.--Forget it. [Exits.]
LAURA. Oh these men!

KATE. You said it!
LAURA. [Turns on her suddenly.] Kate, what's the matter?
KATE. Matter? Why?
LAURA. You are grouched. Ken is touchy, he wants to quarrel. Tippy
is too nonsensical, even for Tippy. Is something wrong?
KATE. Everything's wrong.
LAURA. Tell me.
KATE. Martin started it. He bawled Ted out for living off me.
LAURA. Oh, well--Martin!
KATE. It seems I gave Ted money for his share of the rent last month,
and he bought a coat with it instead.
LAURA. Oh.
KATE. So Tippy had to pay again.
LAURA, Tippy didn't tell on him?
KATE. You know he wouldn't. Martin found out some way and told for
him.
LAURA. Martin's a beast.
KATE. Maybe he was right. They all but told me to take Ted back and
keep him with me.
LAURA. And you will, I suppose? [KATE is silent.] I'm sorry.
KATE. I don't mind your question.
LAURA. There's nothing else you can do, really.

KATE. Yes. There's one thing. There's another man.
LAURA. Are you serious?
KATE. He is. Serious, and rich, and--sixty.
LAURA. That beastly old man!
KATE. Every time he said "I'm an old man" I'd say, "Oh, no, Mr.
Selden" till I convinced him.
LAURA. So what, Kate?
KATE. So he thinks he wants me for myself alone. He isn't the least bit
vicarious.
LAURA. Kate, do be serious.
KATE. He wants to reduce his income tax by gifts to eleemosynary
institutions. Don't I look eleemosynary?
LAURA. No. Nor mercenary, either.
KATE. Ah, but I am. And I've been buying love long enough to have
learned the trade. So now I'm going to sell some.
LAURA. And Ted?
KATE. [Bitterly.] What about him?
LAURA. You love him.
KATE. No, I don't, I used to love him.... But I don't any more. You
can't stay crazy about a man when you give him half your salary every
week. You get to hate him.... Oh, it's worse than hate. It's contempt.
LAURA. You've stuck it out so long.
KATE. Too long.

LAURA. It'll be different as soon as he strikes something.
KATE. Strikes what? Gold or oil?
LAURA. He'll find something. It takes time.
KATE. Time is the only thing I haven't got to spare. Look, I'm
twenty-seven.
LAURA. But you don't look it.
KATE. I do--I have wrinkles.
LAURA. Don't be silly.
KATE. Around the eyes.
LAURA. You're imagining.
KATE.