by
Enrique R. Carrasco
©2025 Enrique R. Carrasco
CAST OF CHARACTERS
MICHAEL, in his thirties
RUTH, a homeless woman in her fifties
Place
Chicago
Time
Present Day
Setting: A bench or two chairs without arm rests are center stage. The lighting should create a space within which the interactions take place. Ideally, the rest of the stage should be as dark as possible. MICHAEL is dressed in business casual with a nice winter coat. He carries a business bag with court papers. If possible, to create a visual contrast between the two characters, MICHAEL should be clean shaven. RUTH is dressed in dirty pants, shirt, coat, and hat. She wears worn, dirty footwear. She carries two rather large bags with her belongings. Her hands and face are dirty.
Lights up.
(MICHAEL enters. While on the phone, he looks around, finds the seat, and sits.)
MICHAEL
Look, what’s most…
CONDUCTOR (V.O.)
Grand Avenue.
MICHAEL
that might be the case but…listen, we win if the court…let me finish, if the court buys our argument that Billington is dispositive…stop worrying about it so much…look, I’ll call you when I get home in about an hour.
(MICHAEL lets out a long sigh and runs his hands through his hair. He starts scrolling suggesting he’s looking at social media. RUTH enters, shuffling with her bags, crosses MICHAEL and sits down, looking down. She doesn’t look at MICHAEL until indicated below. MICHAEL glances at her and tries to distance himself as much as possible from her on his seat. He resumes scrolling, but one can see he is bothered that RUTH has sat down next to him.)
RUTH
Cold out.
(long pause)
Windy, too.
(pause)
The worst day yet. The cold. The wind.
(pause)
(MICHAEL stops looking at the cellphone.)
RUTH
Nice here.
(pause)
Warm.
(MICHAEL glances at her, puts away his cellphone, preparing to get up. RUTH looks at him for the first time.)
RUTH
Where are you going?
(Without making eye contact, MICHAEL continues to get up.)
MICHAEL
I…uh…I have…I have to…uh…stretch my legs.
RUTH
Are you scared of me?
MICHAEL
(looking at her)
What?
RUTH
Do I scare you?
(pause)
MICHAEL
Why…why are you asking me this?
(RUTH looks forward.)
RUTH
You really don’t have to stretch your legs.
(pause)
Do you?
(MICHAEL sits back down but looks unsettled. He looks forward; long pause.)
RUTH
It was a beautiful lake.
(MICHAEL looks at her, surprised at the sudden change in topic.)
RUTH
Clear. Calm.
(pause)
It shimmered in the morning. So peaceful.
(MICHAEL resumes looking at his cellphone.)
RUTH
You don’t need that.
MICHAEL
Sorry?
RUTH
It won’t help you.
(She reaches for the phone. MICHAEL pulls away.)
MICHAEL
Don’t do that! Don’t touch me. Leave me alone.
RUTH
You’re afraid of me, aren’t you.
MICHAEL
Look, ma’am. I don’t…I really don’t—
RUTH
(looking forward)
(pause)
Took us weeks to plant them. All over town.
(pause)
Weeks.
(pause)
But they liked them. Everybody liked them. We liked them. Flowers. They make you happy. The colors. Shapes. The scents.
(pause)
What makes you happy?
MICHAEL
Getting off this train.
RUTH
She was the pretty one. The favorite. They would never say so. But I knew. I tried so hard. To be like her. To be pretty. But I knew that would never happen.
(pause)
Were you the favorite?
MICHAEL
You’re…what you’re saying…what you’re asking me…you shouldn’t be.
RUTH
Why?
MICHAEL
Why?
RUTH
Yes, why?
MICHAEL
Because I don’t know you. Because you don’t know me.
RUTH
Are you sure?
MICHAEL
What kind of question is that?
RUTH
Are you sure that you don’t know me? That we don’t know each other?
MICHAEL
Of course, I’m sure.
RUTH
But you pass me just about every day. And sometimes I pass you. We pass each other. You and me. And now we’re here. Together. Finally.
(MICHAEL looks away.)
MICHAEL
This shouldn’t be like this.
RUTH
Like what?
MICHAEL
We shouldn’t be talking.
RUTH
What’s your name?
(MICHAEL looks at her.)
RUTH
Your name.
(pause)
MICHAEL
You don’t need to know my name.
RUTH
I do.
MICHAEL
Why?
RUTH
Do you want to know my name?
MICHAEL
You don’t belong here.
RUTH
Ruth. My name is Ruth.
(pause)
I need to know your name.
MICHAEL
Why?
RUTH
(She looks forward.)
In the winters the lake would freeze over. Ice nearly a foot deep. We used snowmobiles to get about here and there. Dad would put up the ice shanty near the house. We caught rainbow trout. Lots of them. She was pretty. But she couldn’t fish, not like me. What’s your name?
MICHAEL
I’m not going to tell you.
RUTH
But that’s not how it works.
(MICHAEL looks at her incredulously.)
MICHAEL
What the hell are you talking about?
RUTH
(She looks at him.)
Please. Your name.
MICHAEL
Michael. Satisfied?
RUTH
(She looks forward.)
Dad told me to watch her while he went back to the house. He needed more bait. Said he would be right back.
MICHAEL
Let’s end this…little…chat. Whatever you want to call it.
RUTH
(Looking at him.)
Why?
MICHAEL
Look around. Do you see what they all have in common? They’re looking at their phones. They all want to be left alone! I want to be left alone!
(MICHAEL holds up his phone, turns away from her, and purposefully handles it to indicate he wants to be left alone but it’s clear he’s just staring at it.)
RUTH
(looking forward)
She might have been prettier, but she wasn’t smart. I was the smart one. Are you happy, Michael?
MICHAEL
Please leave me alone.
RUTH
Where’s dad, I asked. I’m bored, she said. Where is he? I want to see Sara, she said. They gave her an awesome kitchen set for Christmas. Are you happy, Michael?
MICHAEL
I don’t want to talk to you. I have nothing to say.
RUTH
(Looking at him).
You have a lot to say, Michael. All of us here have a lot to say. About so many things. Are you happy, Michael?
MICHAEL
(Turning to her.)
Okay. Ruth. You really want to know?
RUTH
Yes.
MICHAEL
Okay. Here’s the condensed version. I’m about to make partner at the biggest law firm in Chicago. My wife is a doctor. We’re closing on a five-bedroom house next month, in which
MICHAEL (Cont.)
we’ll raise lovely, smart children. We have plans. We have futures. We don’t look back. We look forward. But you can’t understand that. That’s obvious. You can’t understand me. You never will. And that, Ruth, is why I don’t want to talk to you!
RUTH
But you haven’t answered my question.
MICHAEL
Yes, I have!
RUTH
Are you happy, Michael?
MICHAEL (angrily)
Yes! I’m the happiest man in the universe! Okay? The happiest!
(Long pause; MICHAEL’s body language shows that he regrets being harsh.)
RUTH
(looking forward)
I got one! It feels big! I said. I don’t care, she said. I’m going to see Sara. Wait for dad, I said. She wouldn’t listen. I said wait. Wait for dad! She didn’t. She ran. I ran after her.
(MICHAEL’s face softens.)
RUTH
There was a soft spot in the ice. I ran as hard as I could. As fast as I could. I couldn’t save her.
(long pause)
MICHAEL
I’m…I’m sorry….
What…if I may ask…what…what was her name?
RUTH
Julia.
MICHAEL
That’s a nice name.
(MICHAEL attempts to look at his phone to lose himself into scrolling social media. But he’s obviously distracted, repeatedly raising the phone to look at it and then lowering it. Ultimately, he sighs and lowers the phone to his lap and continues to look down.)
MICHAEL
Where was it?
RUTH
What?
MICHAEL
The lake?
RUTH
Charlevoix.
MICHAEL
Charlevoix?
RUTH
Michigan. Up north.
MICHAEL
Hmm.
(He looks at her.)
RUTH
You know, Michael, we’re invisible. To most of the world. But we see. We see so many things. And I’ve seen you. When we’ve passed each other. But you’ve never looked me in the eyes. Even though you’ve passed inches away from me. No one does. It’s not because you want to avoid giving me a dollar. It’s not because I’m hard to look at.
MICHAEL
Then what is it?
RUTH
You’re afraid. Afraid that if you look at me your eyes won’t be able to hide the hurt you’ve buried inside you. The hurt that threatens to bring you pain, anger, sadness, regret.
MICHAEL
She was pretty. And smart, too. Smarter than me.
(pause)
RUTH
Who?
MICHAEL
My sister.
RUTH
What was her name?
MICHAEL
Rebecca. We were both athletes. Tennis. Started when we were kids. I might’ve been older, but I couldn’t hold a candle to her on the court.
(pause)
Look. I…uh…I have to make a call. I’m sorry but I really have to / I got into University of Chicago Law. She wanted to follow.
(pause)
But one night, she went out to celebrate high school graduation. Of course they had to drink.
(pause)
She got drunk. Her best friend drove the car straight into a tree. She was the only survivor. But she broke her spine. One day a tennis star bound for U of C on an athletic scholarship. The next, a paraplegic.
(MICHAEL starts to open his bag.)
I…uh…have to check some notes before… I was angry. So angry. How could you be so stupid?! You idiot! Your life is over! All because you and your friends were stupid drunk!
RUTH
Why would her life be over?
MICHAEL (angrily)
Because she became a damn cripple!
(pause)
Sorry. I shouldn’t have said that.
(pause)
Her life was far from over. Didn’t take long before she became a star and was recruited to play wheelchair tennis at Alabama. Pre-med.
RUTH
What was it like? To see your sister play?
MICHAEL
I didn’t. She asked me to, but I always came up with an excuse. I was too busy becoming a kick-ass lawyer.
(pause)
Then one afternoon my parents called. She was in intensive care. A sepsis infection. She was in organ failure.
(pause)
You’re right, it’s really cold outside. And the wind—
RUTH
Michael.
MICHAEL
I had someone cover for me at work and rushed to see her. When I walked into her room I was devastated. My sis. My dear sis. Emaciated. Her skin so pale… She was helpless.
(pause)
I held her hand. Read to her. She loved poetry. I told her to hang in there. You’re so strong. You’ll be out of here soon. We’ll take a trip. Just the two of us. You pick the place. Rome? Berlin? How about Buenos Aires?
(pause)
Just a few more stops before I get off. I have to rush home to make this call.
RUTH
(Becoming progressively assertive.)
You’re not done.
MICHAEL
If we don’t win this case.
RUTH
You have to finish.
MICHAEL
I can’t.
RUTH
Yes, you can. You can’t keep running away.
MICHAEL
It hurts.
RUTH
Hurt is real, isn’t it. We don’t see it, we don’t feel it until we do, when there’s no way to escape it. Nowhere to hide from it.
MICHAEL
The day she died, she had a lucid moment. She said I was always better than you on the court. She reached out for my hand. Gave me a faint smile. And then she left me. Before I could tell her how sorry I was for failing her as a brother.
RUTH
Rebecca forgave you, Mr. Livingston.
MICHAEL
What?? How—
RUTH
I had to be certain it was you.
MICHAEL
Who…who are you??
RUTH
I worked the midnight shift. When she couldn’t sleep, I sat with her.
MICHAEL
Wait. You’re Ruth? The nurse? Ruth?
RUTH
I was younger. Cleaner.
MICHAEL
This…this…is…insane!
RUTH
She asked me to find you. She knew you would never forgive yourself.
MICHAEL
How did you find me?
RUTH
Your emails from work. Telling her you were too busy to watch her play. Always working on a case. Couldn’t find the time.
MICHAEL
And now it’s too late.
(He looks at her, taking in her appearance.)
MICHAEL
Why are you…I mean…why do you…look…
RUTH
Homeless?
MICHAEL
Yes.
RUTH
Michael, I fell into the hole in the ice.
MICHAEL
What?
RUTH
She jumped in to save me. I made it back to the surface. I tried to find her. But all I saw was darkness. I hung on. I lived. She didn’t.
MICHAEL
My god.
RUTH
The hurt stalked me. It never stopped. I tried to run from it, but it kept following me, always one step behind me. But when I was with your sister, I found refuge when we talked. I found peace, if only for those moments.
MICHAEL
What did you talk about?
RUTH
She couldn’t talk much. But when she did, she had funny things to say about you. I told her about Charlevoix. I promised I would take her there. Michael, I could feel the love she had for you.
MICHAEL
Thank you for being there for her.
RUTH
After she died, the hurt came back. I knew I could no longer outrun it. I was exhausted. So I hid. With oxycodone. I stole just a little when I started. Then I stole a lot.
MICHAEL
I’m so sorry, Ruth.
RUTH
I lost everything. Including my faith.
MICHAEL
But it wasn’t your fault. You tried your best.
CONDUCTOR (V.O)
Fullerton. This is Fullerton.
(RUTH gets up and shuffles in front of MICHAEL to exit the train.)
MICHAEL
(Not wanting her to leave; concerned about her.)
Where are you going?
(RUTH stops and looks at MICHAEL.)
RUTH
Back to Charlevoix.
MICHAEL
That’s wonderful.
RUTH
Are you Catholic, Michael?
MICHAEL
I was. But I lost my faith after Rebecca left me. Like you.
RUTH
Say a Hail Mary, for the two of us.
MICHAEL
I will.
RUTH
I’ll plant petunias for them. Our sisters can help me.
MICHAEL
They would like that. The colors, the scents.
RUTH
Come visit me.
MICHAEL
How will I find you?
RUTH
Come in the winter. I’ll be in an ice shanty.
(Exit RUTH.)
CONDUCTOR (V.O.)
Next stop, Belmont.
Lights down.
THE END
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