Page 166 of Score
I didn’t wanna tell you
I want some love that’s true
Yes, I do, ’deed I do
You know I do
Cal stands at the bedroom door, leaning against the doorjamb, watching her.
CAL
Love hearing you sing that song.
DESSI (STARTLED AND HASTILY WIPING AWAY TEARS, FORCING A LAUGH)
Boy, you gon’ give me a heart attack one day, sneaking ’round.
Cal walks fully into the room. He angles his head to study some of the memorabilia spread on the floor. He squats and gingerly sits beside her, picking up the photos of Tilda and Dessi.
CAL
She was something else.
DESSI (CHUCKLING AND GATHERING ITEMS TO PUT THEM BACK IN THE BOX)
She was indeed.
CAL
Was she… (LOOKS DOWN AT THE PHOTO AND CLEARS HIS THROAT) was Tilda the love of your life?
Dessi goes completely still and looks at her husband. She reaches over to cup Cal’s face and forces him to look into her eyes, presses their foreheads together.
DESSI
Weren’t you the one telling me tonight how I lived this big ol’ extraordinary life?
Cal smiles faintly and nods.
DESSI
Well, if my life was that big and important, surely there’s room for two.
He smiles and she leans in to kiss him. Camera closes on the ballerina.
CODA
“Love is like the fire; its glow is devotion, its flame is wisdom.”
—Hazrat Inayat Khan (fromThe Bowl of Saki)
EPILOGUE 1
Monk
Two Years Later
“Girl, if you don’t get down!”
