your end will be your beginning
GREGORY I thought you were going for a drink.
NICHOLAS Well, so I was. But then, pulling up to the curb in my expensive silver car,
Gearing up for another saucy night with the girls at the bar,
I thought of you: bursting in here so full of passion, so resilient.
At first I thought you were pathetic. But now I think you're brilliant.
(Music starts Your End Will Be Your Beginning, pg. )
GREGORY What do you mean, brilliant?
NICHOLAS Just what I said!
GENIUSES LIKE YOU
SELDOM EVER DO
GARNER FAME AND FORTUNE WHILE ALIVE.
YOUR PEERS THINK YOU A PAIN
'CAUSE YOU GO AGAINST THE GRAIN.
IT'S A WONDER THAT YOU EVEN CAN SURVIVE.
YES, A GIFTED TYPE LIKE YOU
WILL NEVER BE WELL TO DO
YOU'LL STAY OBSCURE UNTIL YOUR FINAL BREATH.
BUT WHEN YOU BITE THE DUST, GIVE THANKS!
FOR YOU'LL JOIN THE SWOLLEN RANKS
OF THE PAINTERS WHO GET FAMOUS AFTER DEATH.
GREGORY What are you talking about?
NICHOLAS I know it sounds cliché,
But behold: exhibit A:
OLD VAN GOGH,
SHOT HIMSELF, YOU KNOW
CUTTING SHORT A PITIFUL CAREER.
HE SOLD ONE WORK,
BRIBED A POSTAL CLERK
AND SENT SOME LUCKY TART PART OF HIS EAR.
RAVING MAD
THE MASOCHIST WAS GLAD
TO GIVE UP ART AND GO OFF LOONY BINNING.
NOW THE MOMA IS HIS HOME AWAY FROM HEAVEN
YES, HIS END WAS HIS BEGINNING.
GREGORY Oh, come on. That's a tired stereotype.
NICHOLAS Stereotypes are grounded in reality.
To wit, exhibit B:
PAUL GAUGUIN
WHAT A SELFISH MAN.
HE LEFT HIS WIFE AND KID FOR PARADISE.
DOWN AND OUT,
HE SOON FOUND OUT
THE SOUTH PACIFIC WASN'T VERY NICE.
HAD HE TAKEN A CLASS
INSTEAD OF CHASING NATIVE ASS
HE MIGHT HAVE STOPPED HIS MEAGER FAN BASE THINNING.
NOW HIS YELLOW CHRIST IS TWICE THE PRICE, THANK HEAVEN.
FOR, HIS END WAS HIS BEGINNING.
(Music continues through the following, shifting to the minor key.)
NICHOLAS It all reminds me of that exhibit we saw in Poland,
When we were backpacking through Europe. Do you remember?
GREGORY Yes. A bunch of paintings by an orphaned Jewish girl. So?
NICHOLAS So? Such an incredible story. That little girl went through Hell.
After the Nazis killed her family, she was smuggled
To safety by a pastor, one Fritz Friedrich, who struggled
To keep her alive. Well,
FRITZ AND HIS WIFE,
FRIGHTENED FOR HER LIFE,
HID HER WHERE THE NAZIS WOULDN'T LOOK.
BY WEAK CANDLE LIGHT
SHE LABORED DAY AND NIGHT
MAKING LITTLE PAINTINGS IN A BOOK.
THEY CAUGHT FRITZ,
SHIPPED THEM ALL TO AUSCHWITZ,
BUT THE BOOK WAS HIDDEN IN AN UNDERPINNING .
NOW THE PAINTINGS SELL FOR MORE THAN THE COST OF THE WAR.
YES, HER END WAS HER BEGINNING.
(Music continues through the following, shifting back to major.)
GREGORY Good for her. I still don't see what this has to do with me.
NICHOLAS Both artists, both martyrs, both orphans.
GREGORY Well, Nazis didn't exactly kill my family.
NICHOLAS No, little adoptive brother, but you had it rough.
GREGORY I survived.
NICHOLAS (darkly) True. Now let me tell you how you're going to die—
(Music stops abruptly on a tense chord.)
GREGORY Wait. What?—
NICHOLAS You want to die, don't you? You came here tonight to kill yourself.
GREGORY I changed my mind.
NICHOLAS Good! Now listen to me. Don't make another sound.
I'm about to tell you how to get your career off the ground.
GREGORY How?
NICHOLAS You're going to commit suicide, Gregory—
GREGORY But I just told you—
NICHOLAS (hissing) I'm not finished!
(Music resumes.)
GREGORY Go on.
NICHOLAS YOU'RE GOING TO TAKE THESE PICTURES DOWN,
AND PILE THEM ON THE GROUND
MAKE A LITTLE PIRE HERE ON THE FLOOR.
TURN THE OVEN ON ANDWAIT
AS THE GAS FUMES PERMEATE,
THEN THROW AWAY YOUR KEY AND BAR THE DOOR.
ONCE YOU'VE SET THE SCENE
DOUSE YOURSELF WITH GASOLINE
AND, LITTLE BROTHER, HERE'S THE CRUX OF IT:
JUST LIE DOWN ON THE PILE, CATCH
YOUR BREATH, LIGHT A MATCH,
AND BLOW YOURSELF AND EVERYTHING ELSE IN HERE TO BITS!
(Music resumes through the following.)
(laughing merrily) Of course, none of this will be real.
You won't really be dead. You'll be laying low at my place for a while.
Oh, I can see it now. We'll have such a lovely funeral.
GREGORY You want to stage a funeral?
NICHOLAS Stage a funeral, yes. How clever you are.
Soon after, you'll purchase a beat up old used car.
GREGORY What for?
NICHOLAS So you can relocate. To the Big City.
GREGORY You want me to fake my own suicide and drive to the Big City?
NICHOLAS That's right.
GREGORY Why?
NICHOLAS To get you noticed!
ONCE THEY LEARN
HOW THE GALLERY BURNED,
AND OF YOUR MALAPROPOS DEMISE;
HOW YOU LIVED ADRIFT,
DESPITE ENORMOUS GIFTS,
DOLLAR SIGNS WILL FLASH IN THEIR EYES.
ONCE THEY FIND
THE WORKS YOU LEFT BEHIND,
WATCH THEIR WILD WEEPING TURN TO GRINNING
WHILE YOUR HEAD'S IN THE SAND, YOU'LL BE IN DEMAND
AND YOUR END WILL BE YOUR BEGINNING.
GREGORY But how will I live if I'm dead?
NICHOLAS LIKE A KING!
DON'T WORRY ABOUT A THING
LEAVE YOUR PAST BEHIND YOU AND FORGET IT
I'LL ADMINISTRATE
THE SALE OF YOUR ESTATE
AND SEND YOUR CUT THE MINUTE THAT I GET IT
GREGORY But Amanda, I was thinking—
NICHOLAS FORGET THAT TART
THE HARPY BROKE YOUR HEART!
SHE'LL FEEL THE LOSS THE MOMENT THAT YOU'RE WINNING
AS SHE READS ABOUT YOUR WEALTH IN EVERY JOURNAL ON THE SHELF.
YOUR END WILL BE YOUR BEGINNING!
Come on!
YOU WANT FAME?
LIGHTS AROUND YOUR NAME?
DROP THE CURTAIN, BOY AND TAKE A BOW!
YOU'LL RISE WHEN YOU FALL.
TAKE YOUR CURTAIN CALL.
BRING OUT THE FAT LADY NOW.
SING A SWAN SONG.
YOU'VE RUN THE BASES FOR TOO LONG.
THE GAME IS OVER; IT'S THE FINAL INNING.
LEAVE THIS CRUEL, CRUEL WORLD, LIKE THAT LITTLE JEWISH GIRL.
LIKE, HOGARTH, TURNER, THOMSON,
Cut your losses and move on, son!
LIKE EAKINS AND EL GRECO LET YOUR VOICE FOR EONS ECHO.
TAKE THE "F" AND "A"- FROM FAMOUS AND PUT "P-O-S-T-U"— Whew!
STOP LIVING LIKE A SHLEP
TAKE THAT EXTRA STEP
YOUR END WILL BE
HAPPY AND FREE.
YOUR END WILL BE
BETWEEN YOU AND ME.
YOUR END WILL BE YOUR BEGINNING!
© 2009 Zubsongs., Ltd.