8 or 9 years old, he has a band aid on his forehead.
MICHAEL: 25–30 years old. He has a beard about five days old.
Family room in upscale home. PETER, sobbing, sits at a table drawing. MICHAEL enters, briskly.
MICHAEL: Peter, have you seen my electric razor?
PETER: No…
MICHAEL: Why are you crying?
PETER (angrily): I already told you! Zack pushed me down the stairs at school!
MICHAEL: Right. We started to talk about it in the car, and then we ran into that gridlock at 5 corners. Do you know why Zack pushed you?
PETER: Mr. Allen said to draw a picture of our mothers for Mother’s Day. Zack said I didn’t have a mother. So I pushed him.
MICHAEL: Your mama…
PETER: Papa said he’d talk to me about my mama sometime soon. I don’t know who my Mama was…
MICHAEL: Why she “was”? She’s alive…
PETER (surprised): You have seen my Mama?
(MICHAEL pulls up a chair and sits confidentially near Peter)
MICHAEL: Your Dad told me about her…
PETER: What did he tell you?
MICHAEL Well… She goes to collage. She lives in a big city far away. Your Dad is paying for her college.
PETER: Why?
MICHAEL: Because she’s your Mama.
PETER (shaken, holding back tears) Is he paying money for me?
MICHAEL: Well, sort of…
PETER: How come Mama doesn’t come see me?
MICHAEL: They agreed that you would not see or meet each other.
PETER: He paid money so that she will never see me?
MICHAEL: He loves you very much… He loves you so much he wants to have you all to himself.
PETER: If Papa loves me, why he isn’t home more?
MICHAEL: He’s an engineer. He has to travel around to different cities. He visits many different businesses that need his knowledge. Some times he gets to ride in a helicopter. When you are older he’ll probably take you with him.
PETER (Stars crying): I want him home. Not just you…
MICHAEL: Peter, you know… You know. I had never seen my real parents…
PETER (stops crying): Why?
MICHAEL: Tom’s mother and father took care of me like a son. It’s called “adoption.”
PETER: Who’s Tom?
MICHAEL: Tom, you know him, we go to Mac Donald’s every Wednesday with him. Tom is just like a brother to me. (Pause) Tom’s parents both worked very hard. My adoptive father usually came home late after I had gone to bed.…
PETER: You had a brother, but I’m all alone…
MICHAEL: Tom was mean to me for a long time. He used to hide my sneakers. He snuck bites from my desert. (Pause) Adoption made me different. It was a dirty word back then. Tom told all the kids on the block and at school. They tackled me hardest when we played pick up football. I had to be tough. (
