Lacey gets tired of being misunderstood by Lem. After throwing plates against a wall downstairs to shatter them she walks back upstairs and tries to calmly go about her day with Lem.
Scott Fitzgerald gets excited. Maybe he is the only man ever alive to understand her after all… …He watches. So does Harold Loeb.
So does Hemingway for that matter.
“Acting stupid. It’s contagious.” Lem’s father sings to Lacey. He points to the Kennedy’s. Lacey is concerned by that.
“‘Oh well.’ as an old-money saying belongs to me.” admonishes Lacey.
“No!! We are old money. Not you.” Joe Jr. says…facetiously. “Sorry, he says.” he says.
“Lem you’ve never been clear about how much you love me. I’ve never clearly heard it.” says Lacey. “Not in a way that demands respect.”
“Lem…have you enjoyed sex with Lacey more than any man you’ve ever been with?” Mike R. asks Lem.
“Yes.” he says in tears.
Kurt smiles at those honest tears. Finally!
“You’re weak!!!” Joe Jr. yells at Lem.
“Crazy. She’s crazy.” a hater reading Lacey’s blog mumbles and laughs condescendingly as if she’s a delusional narcissistic schizophrenic.
A Satanist in the Illuminati laughs with Lacey at that person’s stupidity.
“Sorry for laughing at you.” Lacey says to that person’s spirit who just called her crazy.
“No, seeing you cry even a little over me in an honest way makes me feel like I’m finally getting somewhere with you.” Lacey says to Lem.
Scott smiles. He relates.
“No, she’s Floris Violets. You don’t understand! Trust me!” says Michael.
A WWI vet not Lacey’s father likes Smells Like Teen Spirit. …A lot. Actually the English Aristocracy of the late 1800’s loves it in general.
“No! I don’t relate to it.” Joe Jr. says to Michael and Lacey self-righteously. “They just sound so angry.” he says disdainfully, and yet also genuinely innocently confused.
“Well, whether it’s reincarnation or not…I relate to her.” says Louis Hill Jr..
“It’s Christianity. And Christianity is…everything.” says Lacey. “And yet it’s only Mere Christianity as explained by C. S. Lewis. Nothing not in the Anglican Church of 1935.”
“So…the idea is that due to restorative justice God allowed the Chinese to literally send you and Michael into reincarnated lives.” says Louis. “Pimples from gluten and all.” He laughs. “And…yet you were and are both still so beautiful.” He thinks. “But it’s merely Christianity. And neither of you lost your faith.” He smiles. “Nor your sense of anything. …Unfortunately for us, including each other.” He smiles. “But…this…may have been too far.”
Joe Jr. and Jack look stupid and contagious at humanity. …Joe tries to sing with Kurt.
“Lem, she didn’t think you loved her so she tried to politely find someone else. That’s all that happened. Really.” says Kurt Cobain to Lem.
“So you thought-“ Lem starts.
“You’re crying purely because you enjoyed the sex with me. Not at all because of some sort of bisexuality?” asks Lacey to clarify. “Right?”
“Yes.” says Lem.
“More than with any man?” asks Lacey to further clarify.
“Yes.” he says.
“That’s concerning.” says Lacey.
“Why?” he asks.
“Aww!” says Joe. “The lovers are so cute!” he says trying to relate from his position of self-perceived superiority like Millennials do. Like Gen Z does.
“You have no idea what’s going on.” Lacey says to him.
He wonders if that’s true.
“Yeah, whatever. You guys are trite!” says Pat Wilson.
“Why is it concerning?” Lem asks Lacey.
“Why didn’t you stop me?” she asks him.
He rubs his eyes and laughs. “From sleeping with other men?” he asks.
“Yes! It was a possible admission of lack of confidence in your feelings on your part that you didn’t stop me?” she suggests. “I’ve been saying that for a while.”
“Lem, it’s what I said.” says Kurt Cobain. J. S. Bach nods in agreement.
A moment later.
“No, unfortunately for those thinking they can use Hell as a resort, pedophilia is not magically innocent or so-called explainable due to the idea of reincarnation being in Christianity as explained by Lacey. She could be theologically in error, but even if she’s not…it doesn’t alter Christianity.” Queen Elizabeth II says.
“It might not exist! Truly.” says an Australian who’s mostly Catholic. “Reincarnation, that is.”
“You saw that image of me and Jack and my ass, and me on top of him smiling and thought that was worse than untouchable.” says Lem to Lacey.
“Yes! Essentially.” she says.
“And Lem…she decided to be very polite about it. …Lem what’s a polite response?! Lem…think kind and polite.” says Kurt Cobain.
Hey Kids (feat. Late Verlane) by Molina plays.
Louis offers Lacey a lift in his car after a Historical Society meeting and she accepts. What a perfect opportunity to move on from Lem. Great!! Lem and Jack will soon be rid of her! Fantastic!!!
Joe Jr. says she belongs to him. She does her best to entertain the idea.
Elliott decides their mutual passion must mean something profound. She entertains the idea kindly.
“Truly kindly.” says Kurt.
“It was patronizing, but I love her.” says Elliott Roosevelt.
“Was it really patronizing?!” asks Lacey.
“Yes.” Elliott says apologetically.
“I wouldn’t think someone could sense that.” says Lacey.
Lem’s mouth drops open. In horror.
“I’m amazed you could sense that. Is that just you or is that common?” Lacey asks Elliott.
“Me.” he says smiling humbly.
“You really are unusual.” she says to Elliott as a compliment.
“He is.” Lem agrees.
“We sense it too!!” yell haters.
“No. You’re clueless. Trust me.” Lem says to the haters. “At least, most of the time.”
Lighthouse by Patrick Watson plays.
“That fall damaged her throat?!” Joe Jr. asks Heaven.
Louis rolls his eyes. “You’re-“ he can’t finish the sentence. Jerome smiles at Joe Jr. politely.
“Are you calling me a faggot?!” Joe Jr. asks Louis.
“What if he is?” asks Lacey, speaking intellectually.
Benjamin Franklin laughs.
Wobbly shrugs.
“What?!?” asks a living gay man. Then he stops to think. “Joe…if she was a man she’d have creamed you. You do know that?! Right?” He smiles. “We’re wondering if you are a bisexual bully.”
“And that’s where I come in.” says Michael.
“And I feel protective.” says Harold Loeb.
“Lem…she feels safe with Louis. To a point. And with me she feels incredibly happy.” says Michael.
“She feels happy with me too.” says Harold.
Bette Davis throws a lemon pie in Joe’s face.
“No, I’m fine.” Joe Jr. says to Lacey.
Lighthouse plays on.
“Go on please.” says Lem.
And then Michael seduces Lacey. Joe Jr. seems effeminate and likely meaningless in relation to Lacey, in her estimation. Joe Sr. a man to empathize with, from a safe distance. Jack…terrifying. Terrifying because he seems so lost. …Harold cold or sadly confusing. Louis mysterious. Lem…unspeakable. …Profoundly troubling. Elliott still trying to figure out love.
National Anthem by Lana Del Rey plays.
“This is more Louis than Michael.” says an Englishman. “This song.”
“Which is funny. Michael being a Rockefeller.” says a woman.
“We don’t think like that.” Michael explains about Lacey and him.
A moment later.
“I had a few female friends of Lem and mine who hate Lacey because they look like shit compared to Lacey…watch Lacey and Lem make love. And they assumed in sexual jealousy…as well…that she was a hideous liar, using Lem. Or that it never happened. Or that I’m like a god?” explains JFK. He glares at the WWI veteran who made him admit that.
“And that’s why I lost it! Lem you’re so juvenile!!” Joe Sr. yells from his depths at Lem…and his son. “Yes, Jack. You REPULSED ME!!” He collects himself. “I’ve never felt so much temptation to HATE my own son.”
Jack looks shocked and self-righteous. Then it hits him that that’s Joe Sr. for real saying that.
Joe Jr. panics. Pat start’s hyperventilating.
Scott sighs. “Yeah…”
“Why she was distant was because she didn’t feel safe.” says Lem to those women who have had herds of adults who knew the Kennedy’s and Lem criticizing Lacey. Judging her.
Jack smiles thinking about it. Then her realizes again that he’s doing her a favor, unintentionally. He grows grim. Internal conflict threatening to suffocate him he relents that his vanity exists.
“Jack…why were you listening to your father’s sex sounds with your girlfriends? That’s weird.” asks a living gay man who agrees wholeheartedly that pedophilia is vile and never excusable or acceptable. “I have a feeling Lem didn’t understand his role. You saw him as a daddy? Or did Lem??”
Jack thinks. “I’m sorry, I was really sexually messed-up.” is all Jack can say.
“I did not.” says Lem. “I didn’t understand that role I had. I felt uneasy…but made many incorrect assumptions.”
“Let’s be honest. Lem doesn’t sound innocent. He sounds baffled.” says Mr. Blue to the Illuminati. He does this often when they “listen” to Lacey to try to control her.
“He makes frequent horribly incorrect, malicious commentaries that are both rude and embarrassing to him.” says Elliott Roosevelt about Mr. Blue.
“Mr. Blue we can hear you!!” says Louis.
“Can you offer advice to Mr. Blue?” an Illuminati witch asks Lutin.
“Well… Don’t do that. It’s not safe!” says Lutin seriously but with humor.
“She’s an idiot!!!” a demon yells about Lacey.
“Yeah! That’s right. Exactly!” Mr. Blue says, sweetly agreeing with the demon.
“You don’t need to be polite.” Lem says to Lacey.
“I-“ she says. She can’t answer.
“Oh. And this is when I lose you again.” he says to Lacey.
She’s already gone.
“Where is she?” he asks Louis.
“With Michael.” says Louis.
“There’s no where else to go.” says a Congdon.
“That’s rubbish. She’s shit. Say, I was helping you out. We’re still pals. Remember? Hey, Lemmers…you appreciated my efforts? Right?? The way I got our mutual friends and acquaintances involved. Right? I’m right. Right?!” asks JFK with seemingly real sincerity.
“No, no Jack.“ says Lem.
“Hey, that’s not true.” says Jack.
“It’s not Michael Rockefeller. It’s not. It’d never be possible. He’s too far above her.” says Joe Jr..
Pat Wilson looks at the Kennedy’s as if she’s getting scared. She slowly backs away.
“Huh! My gosh.” says Pat Wilson.
Joe Jr. looks at her like she’s crazy. But he trusts she’ll snap out of it soon.
“They can’t intellectually process that we died.” a Saoirse says.
Bobby Sr. nods his head sadly. “Joe Jr. has lucid moments. But yes, they’re confused.”
“Does Joe Sr.?” someone asks Bobby Sr..
“He isn’t as confused. No, he’s a lot better off.” he explains crying. “He actually really did believe in Christ’s salvation. Fervently.”
“I think you need to focus on working things out with Lem.” says Summertime Sadness. “If they’re not demons or your mind.”
“No, she’s right. She’s thinking that that’s ideal but she worries it isn’t safe yet. Lem really misunderstood her.” says Michael.
“Did you-Did you betray me with those women?” Lacey asks Lem.
He takes a deep breath. “Yes! I listened to their ideas. I didn’t find them remotely attractive or emotionally appealing.” …he says in horror. “I didn’t mean to cheat!” he says.
“But u by Hu Hu Hu Hu Hu i you did. Almost.” says Lacey. “And you expect me to trust you?!?” She seethes. “I warned you not to try me.”
“But no! That’s not right!!” yells a female narcissist 4 in 1963 who was and is treated like an 8. She adores Jack.
“Well. Now what?!” Lem’s father asks him.
“I could fuck you so much better than she did. Why don’t you love me?!” says a group of 4 and 5 women from the 1960’s who were friends with JFK.
Jack laughs. Scoffs at Lacey. “See! She doesn’t get it. Look at them! They’re sexy. Soo hot! Right?!? …I liked pretty women. Everyone says so!!! Lem! Examine like I do. Objectively. Examine their parts. Piece by piece. They’re sexy!!! I guarantee it. And…they already love you. So much!” he says. “It’s stupid, but men lie about it! They do. All the time!!”
“What do they lie about?” Lem asks.
“And I want to know if those women really are better in bed. Honestly!” wonders Elliott Roosevelt.
“Yes, are they? Sounds…unlikely.” says Queen Elizabeth II.
“No. They’re filth. And not any in pleasurable way. I can’t stand my wife.” says one their husbands.
“Do you love her?” Lacey asks him.
“Yes!” he says crying.
Lacey nods, trying to empathetically understand.
“No, we aren’t! What’s it to you?!” one of the women asks Elliott.
Without Me plays.
Michael sings, partially jokingly.
“Can you sing comically to Eminem or can your husbands?” Elliott asks them.
“No. We can’t. We want his approval.” they all say honestly.
“He’s not really mocking him. He’s being…brilliant.” says Scott Fitzgerald about Michael.
Jack hopes to kill Lacey. But it doesn’t work. “They lie about the fuck.” says Jack. “The women…are hot when they’re ugly.”
Lacey jumps on Jacks throat repeatedly crushing it. It separates his head from his body.
“Wait!” she reconnects his head to his body. “They’re pretty ugly?” she asks Jack, who’s in restraints.
“Why is she supposed to have to sort this out for them?!?“ asks a Trump for the record. “It’s offensive!”
“They look better that way.” Jack says. “Secretly.”
“They look like men?” asks Lacey.
“Naked. More. Yeah! But they don’t have a dick. That’s all.” he says. “If you shaved their heads most of them would look kinda like a guy.”
“How did you tolerate Jackie’s beauty?!” Lacey asks him.
“We had a bad marriage.” Jack says.
“Huh. That’s sad. I’m sorry.” Lacey says to him.
“Jack, you liked men?” Bobby asks him.
Jack thinks. Eminem plays.
“Yeah.” he possibly admits. “I wasn’t normal.”
Bobby looks at him. Eminem ends.
Jump Around by House Of Pain plays.
“I’ll let God sort the rest out.” Lacey says to Jack and Bobby
Lacey and Michael jump. Literally jump and down. For fun. It amuses them.
Michael puts the song on repeat.
“You used me!” Lem says with biting sarcasm to Lacey, mocking himself.
Lacey looks at him. “You knew Jack liked ugly women because they looked more like men. Right?”
“No. Not entirely.” he admits.
“Why!? Because you find those women attractive?” asks Michael.
Lem collapses weeping. Hyperventilates.
“Hi! Did I threaten you too?! Ever wonder why?” asks a Pete who died in 9/11 of Lem.
Jump Around plays.
“What the fuck did I do with my life?” Lem asks Pete pleadingly.
Pete takes a deep breath. A group other men who died in 9/11 arrive.
One them juxtaposes Jump Around with the images of Jack and Lem in his head. It’s hilarious.
“You did the gay dance, dude. And you rocked it out!” says one of them to Lem.
Lem laughs slightly.
“Hey, being gay is okay.” says one of them jokingly.
“I want to puke!” says Lem.
“I’m still struggling with hating gay men. And not because I’m queer actually.” one of them adults. “I don’t think some of them realize how genuinely annoying they can be.”
“It’s okay, dude. We’ll work it out!” another one says.
Lem shakes his head no, crying. He tries not to.
“We’ll get her back!!” says one of them.
“Pete’s a good guy. He’s not trying to take her if she’s yours.” says another one.
“I didn’t know I was just destroying her.” he says crying.
“Now or before?” they ask.
“Now! She needs help, and I just attacked her.” he says struggling to breath.
“Hey! Chill!” says Pete.
He calms himself.
“Who’s idea was it?” asks one of them.
Bette Davis slams another pie in Joe Sr.’s face.
Pat Wilson takes up knitting to ignore it all. To cope.
Beautiful by Snoop Dogg plays. Michael sings it to Lacey.
“She’s laughing.” one of the guys tells Lem. “Of course she is moved by it. He loves her. But…she’s also laughing.”
The song plays.
“She’s not rejecting him. But she’s also not…sold.” he explains further.
“You like art?” Harold Loeb asks bitingly.
“Look…if you had loved Jack passionately but loved her more she would have loved you in that area of your heart. This is the same. Lem…how much do you love her?! And ask yourself why I’m asking that.” explains Scott.
Murder Was The Case plays.
“Lem…she doesn’t know your character. Are you a user? Looking for a new keeper?” asks Hal Loeb. “She think like that.” He smiles. “She ain’t anyone’s bitch. Butch. Or butcher.”
“Or femme.” says Scott.
Bow Down by Westside Connection plays.
“Lem, think.” says one of the men who died in 9/11.
They listen.
“Fool!” says a dead black gangster to Lem, empathetically.
DFM agrees.
Lem’s mouth, embarrassingly falls open.
Jerome glares at Lem.
Bow Down plays again.
Michael decides they agree too, of course.
Carmen by Lana Del Rey plays.
Joe Sr. lip synchs to Carmen. He’s making it about him. Very seriously.
Lem watches with his new buddies. Then in terror realizing he doesn’t know the Kennedy’s all that well, he gets up and runs home. His buddies disappear and understand.
There’s no way to be right with Lacey. He can explain. He can correct her. But he can’t be right when he was wrong.
“I assumed she knew how much I loved her.” he says. Then he says, “Who am I fighting with?”
“She might have acted fine. To be kind and appropriate.” says his father.
“You gloried bullshit when you made Kem a thing in popular culture.” explains a man who died in 9/11. “I don’t care what gay men mistakenly thought happened between those two. …Don’t bluff! …You’re…embarrassing yourselves on the other side.” He sighs. “You don’t understand what happened. You made stuff up to fill in the logical gaps. And those gaps are there because it’s not a pretty, secret gay love story.” He scoffs. “And no, not Lacey misunderstanding. Popular culture misunderstanding and mythologizing something VILE.”
“You’re at war with Jack and all the entities he supports and who support him. Dead and alive.” says Lem’s father to Lem.
“JFK! Woohoo!!!“ yells Iran. “Shake your asses cool-kids!”
“Do they know you’re right?” asks a CIA woman of Lacey.
“She’s not going to answer that, sweetie.” says a dead man from 9/11. “I was in the North Tower!!!” he says after someone accuses him of being a terrorist.
“My gosh…am I a stupid tween?” The Loudest Perfume Hater asks.
“You have a penis in your mind!!! She doesn’t!” JFK yells at The Loudest Perfume Hater.
“No, I don’t.” she says.
“You think like an adolescent male jackass from the 1960’s.” Jack says to The Loudest Perfume Hater.
“Lacey looks young. But not like that.” says Iran. “Grow-up!” They seethe. “I’m tired of talking to American Boomers who never matured past 14. All of you.”
“Thing is…would she look as young in 1957? Like…they didn’t have what we have. Imagine taking a person from that generation and giving them our products when they would have already aged well.”
“And our youth obsessed clothes.” says a woman. “And the way we style everything.”
“She looks good. But she was aging very slowly.” says Scott. “In her appearance.”
“And you all got mad and decided to take that away from her too!” says the man from 9/11.
Hey Kids plays.
“Freaky company!” sings Michael Rockefeller to Lacey.
“You’re also proving you’re not just constantly full of hate and violence against people you interact with. Insidiously.” says Lem’s father to Lem.
“Lacey…we are supposed to be run by the people.” a Saoirse says to Lacey.
“Yes, true.” says Lacey. “Or are we? …I don’t think America was ever truly that free.” She thinks. “It’s always been a partial scam, in my estimation. It’s a country run to be free…by a small group of people who secretly run everything. Like the wizard of Oz. They hide and pull strings…and dither and loathe and cry and die…and fear. Tremendous amounts of fear. Should they exist.”
Gilded Lily plays.
“Are we free at all then?” she asks.
“As much as any country can be? Maybe. Maybe not. It’s very difficult to create freedom in this world.” says Lacey.
“It’s very difficult. But they try. And it’s why individualism is so important.” says Michael.
Suddenly erupting:
After reading that and it making her narcissistically enraged, “You talk to everyone like they’re in kindergarten.” The Loudest Perfume Hater says to Lacey as if she’s the Holy Spirit.
“No, you often sound like a conceited moron. An she’s too genuinely feminine and mature and angry to know how to appropriately…tell you off? What kind of tone are you looking to receive? Sex? Adoration? What?” asks F. Scott Fitzgerald to The Loudest Perfume Hater.
“It’s just so…aggravating. Why doesn’t she admit she’s in love with me?!” scoffs The Loudest Perfume Hater.
“We did that! We decided she was in love with The Loudest Perfume Hater.” says Mr. Blue. “And yes! Why is she talking to a Saoirse like that? She doesn’t know her! She’s a freak!” says Mr. Blue. “She’s a liar. Tommy Banks was never in the mafia. Or organized crime. And Watergste had nothing to do with him. He was 11 when they sent him to prison. He wasn’t born in 1894. He…grew-up in 1950’s West Bloomington. And ran a poor person’s business and are shit for breakfast. Made of additives.”
“Wow! Go on.” says The Loudest Perfume Hater.
“He’s a Vietnam Veteran. And…he’s…on Mars.” says Mr. Blue seriously.
“Did I talk to her and Michael like they were equals or parents?” asks a Saoirse.
“So what!!!” says The Loudest Perfume Hater.
“That’s too stupid. Sorry.” Mr. Blue says to The Loudest Perfume Hater. “Why do you always defy truth?”
“You think Saoirse actually thinks Lacey’s genuinely that mature?” asks The Loudest Perfume Hater.
“Yes!” says a Saoirse.
The Loudest Perfume Hater looks sad.
“She’s in love with me!!!” The Loudest Perfume Hater says.
“No, she’s not.” says Michael about Lacey.
“Why am on your blog?!” she asks.
“Because you’re a fascinating, compelling character to write about.” says Louis. “It’s like opera, sweetie.”
“What’s the secret between us then?” she asks Louis.
“What? It’s not that they’re in love?” asks Jack, confused.
“No! I can’t believe anyone would assume that!” says Lacey.
“What is it?” asks Harold Loeb of Lacey.
“Honestly…it’s vile. But it isn’t that.” says Lacey. “Let me hasten to say, it’s probably political.”
Prince Philip nods his head in agreement.
Michael nods and smiles. “She’s preparing for the next American Revolutionary War. Subconsciously she started reading people in…2008.”
“Why?” asks an Englishwoman.
“I’m looking for my natural allies.” says Lacey.
“No, you aren’t that way all the time?” asks Lord Snotgrass. “No…”
“That’s nothing.” says Michael.
“You aren’t uptight. You…just are that person.” a hater realizes. “It’s not an act at all?!”
“Really?! Was my actual personality an act?!” asks Bette Davis.
“Okay.” says The Loudest Perfume Hater.
“God help me, you are abrasive!” Bette Davis says to The Loudest Perfume Hater.
“No!! Bette Davis isn’t attracted to you either!” Mr. Blue yells at The Loudest Perfume Hater.
A Boomer laughs. “Why do you think all these old women are attracted to you?!” she asks The Loudest Perfume Hater.
“I can’t stand their distance. Emotionally. It’s more hurtful that they actually care but don’t. I want…attention and an emotional response.” The Loudest Perfume Hater explains.
“I have a problem. I can’t stop being a malignant narcissist. And we’re both delusional when we attacked Lacey we immediately started using you.” Mr. Blue says to The Loudest Perfume Hater. “Remember? That’s why you get incredibly noticed. We made you. We…made you noticed. Do you understand?” says Mr. Blue to The Loudest Perfume Hater.
“Can I sue someone?” asks The Loudest Perfume Hater.
“No. Don’t try it either. It’s a waste of money. Who are you anyway? What’s your actual name?” asks Lem of The Loudest Perfume Hater.
“She knows my name! So do you!” says The Loudest Perfume Hater.
“No! She’s not aroused by women.” Joe Jr. says to Jack.
GOODBYE (feat. Lyse) by Feder plays.
“She doesn’t find anything appealing about women. At all. In that way.” says Lem. “Romantically or sexually.”
“So there’d be nothing correct about my premise.” says Wobbly.
“No, and she has no idea why they care so much, Mr. Blue.” says Michael.
“Soo…you think we’re fake.” says Jack.
“Suits me.” says Lem. He smiles.
Rumour Has It plays.
“Suits me too.” says Michael.
“I worry it’s too deceptive. But…it’s nice to have privacy.” says Louis.
“Her father did the lighting for the Watergate scandal.” says a Meghan.
Under A Blanket Of Blue plays.
Jimmy Hoffa laughs.
“I’m 1/4 done!” announces Pat Wilson, cheerfully.
After some internal deliberation.
“Okay so…you have an interest in my family for your own reasons?” asks Wobbly.
“What do you mean?” asks Lacey.
“You’re obsessed with us?” Wobbly asks.
“Define obsessed in this context, obviously.” says Lacey.
“Okay, I admit Lem doesn’t count. Fully admit. …But…we have been featured a lot.”
“Well, I’m not sure what to say.” says Lacey.
“Is she obsessed with me?” asks Bette Davis.
“No.” says a perfume hater.
“Lem, Jack relied on you. Heavily. You saved his life and made him who he was. Do hear me?!” asks the 9/11 victim.
A moment later.
“He RELIED ON YOU!!!” the man yells at Lem.
Later.
“Lem, YOU SUPPORTED HIS WHOLE LIFE!” the man says again.
A moment later.
“Lem, her life has been supported by what? Who has she relied on?” asks the man.
“No, no one.” says Pete. “She’s worked with people. And had money. Like Jack. But she’s relied on nothing and no one.”
“And not nearly as much as Jack.” says another man who died on 9/11.
“Except for Christ.” says a prostitute from the 1930’s about Lacey.
“That’s true.” says Lacey. “I have relied on Christ.”
“What about church or Christian charity?” asks a Gen X woman.
“No. Not relied.” says Lacey.
“No, you pray and God helps you. Get a grip!” says the prostitute.
“I agree, sorry.” says Lacey.
“We think alike and she’s proud of it!” says the prostitute.
“I am!” says Lacey.
Smokehouse Blues plays.
“I died of prostitution in the 1940’s.” says the prostitute.
Lacey laughs.
“No, I’m not the prostitute Jack fucked! I lived in Manhattan but I never met them.” she says.
“I seem bourgeois and snobby and prudish.” says Lem to the prostitute.
“Aren’t you?!” she asks.
Lem looks embarrassed.
“Stop over-empathizing with them. And me.” Lem says to Lacey.
“That’s not the problem.” says Michael. “Come on, Lem. What are you looking for?”
“It’s too late.” he says. “I love you.” he says to her but she genuinely can only hear condescension. Patronizing, homophobic, misogynistic, vile bullshit.
“Lem, answer Michael.” says a man named Rod.
“I’m looking for the reason you did it.” he says to Lacey.
“Lem, I’ve tried to tell you.” she says.
“Yeah. So have I.” says Kurt Cobain.
“So I couldn’t psychologically handle that you didn’t realize how ugly my wife and Batgirl III are compared to you. So I made you a gold-digger and mean girl. And inculcated you to attack you using the Illuminati. And now that you’re talking about the point of this blog, which is me and we’ve come clean…how about you stop. Stop existing.” says Mr. Blue.
“You don’t have fine features. You have exquisite features. People, including your supposed mom, lied to you. Always. They all hate you for being better than them like soulless ghouls. You’re not heartless, I am. I’m a total asshole most of the time. Truth is, I’m basically a lesbian but it’s too embarrassing. And I like men enough to get by, so to speak. And love them… But, I didn’t enjoy hating you as much as usual because you’re so hated and neglected by people it’s just sick. And I feel like a psychopath. …And you always win anyway. Maybe it’s both. …Yeah, I don’t think anyone alive has ever loved you really. Not really other than maybe as a friend. That being said, everyone fears and respects you. …Fun life!” says The Loudest Perfume Hater to Lacey.
And at that moment Lem seems an unlikely match to Lacey for herself. It’s only logical.
Bette Davis helps Lacey use her phone with her Audi. Forcing her to slow down and be more careful and intentional.
“Don’t you need someone loved? By everyone. Who is different and needs extra understanding and love? And you provide it. Because that’s your speciality? …It’s beautiful. And I respect it. But stop teasing me. You find me repulsive in reality, I bet. Somehow. …I’m sorry if I’ve bothered you. Wobbly insists I am. He insists that’s all he hears you saying. And I don’t want to be a jerk.” says Lacey to Lem. “Please try harder to leave me alone if that’s true. I seem to mishear you.”
“Satisfied!??!?” Louis asks Lem.
“I’LL KILL YOU!!! You smug piece of shit!!!” Lem yells at Wobbly. “I’LL KILL ALL OF YOU!!!” he yells at the Kennedy’s of age.
“No, that’s not him. He’s sucking your dick right now in his heart in his heart. Right hon?” Lacey asks Wobbly.
“I’d be asking myself if this the actual origin of the curse.” suggests Pat Wilson.
“No. Wobbly is god. He’d never let that happen on his watch!” says Lacey sarcastically.
“Hey what if Lem was straight? And you all literally destroyed him? And now he’s being tortured?!” asks Pete. “He can’t understand Lacey because he doesn’t want to admit he’s so wrong about everything he held on to to be able to love you at all.” he says to them.
“No, Lem’s threats are not the origin of the curse.” explains Michael.
“Hey, let’s talk about this openly.” Louis says to Lem.
More later.
Turns out Wobbly may be conjuring Jack Bouvier not Lem. And Gore Vidal. That’s Jack Bouvier. Not Jack Kennedy.
“Umm…so Jack is angry at Lem?” a person asks.
“Yes. I hate that little nigger.” says Jack Bouvier.
Lacey and Bette laugh at a safe distance.
More later.
“I hate her!” says Jackie O. about Lacey.
More later.
“I want to strangle her at the thought of her being with anyone but me. But I restrain myself well. I love her. And wish no harm on her. …She understands.” sighs Michael. “They use that to harm her.”
More later.
“I also really do understand her situation.” says Michael.
“Okay! Time to talk!” says Louis.
“Yes!” says Lem. He smiles confidently.
“Who do you love the most?” Lem asks Lacey.
“I think it’s you. But I worry it’s not.” says Lacey. “I’m sorry.”
And at that Lem cries. Then controls himself.
“We think so too.” says Louis.
Michael explains to Lacey how tender he is. And says she’d not be able to resist him. And JFK faints.
Upon hearing that news Pat Wilson laughs while on a date with Joe. Joe also finds it funny.
“Shit!!!” Lem yells.
“Are you ready to talk now?!” Louis asks him.
Tommy Banks works with a physician to help Lacey. She just pleaded with God to help her.
Jack is unconscious. Related but unrelated.
“I have a feeling if you died, your dad would be there. Okay.” says a woman about Tom Banks.
That’s a shocking but comforting thought to Lacey.
Porz Goret by Yann Tiersen plays.
Tommy Banks seemingly is Lacey’s father. Whether by birth or adoption it’s certain.
Louis smiles.
Jack wakes up in the backseat of Judith Exner’s car. The of Ethel dying makes Lacey feel like weeping. And Lem finally listens to his new friends…
The Seasons, For Piano, Op. 37 by Tchaikovsky plays.
Joe Jr. cries
“I warned you!” J. P. says to Joe Jr..
Moments later, Lem sits next to Lacey.
“It must be awful loving Ethel so much. Not that that’s awful. But you could have been her sister and now it’s this.” Lem shrugs.
“It’s a cautionary tale.” says Bernie Madoff. “Doesn’t this Tchaikovsky sound like a lot like the soundtrack for a movie made about tragedy? Families. Money. It’s perfect.”
Chopin: Nocturne No. 2 In E Flat Op. 9, No. 2 plays.
“Why Ethel?” asks someone of Lacey.
“Because underneath everything there’s a dear, fragile heart.” says Lacey. “And she tries so hard not to be trouble.”
Bobby agrees.
“Or someone better agrees more.” says Lacey.
More later.
Lem, Lacey, Michael and Louis sit in group.
“Okay, so…Lem why don’t you apologize to Lacey?” asks Louis.
“Lacey, I ruined our lives. But they’re our lives because you’re my wife!” says Lem. “Everyone watching has a different opinion on who you should be with.” He clears his throat. “Wife being the best word I can think of to describe our love.”
“Judith likes me.” says Louis.
“Lem likes me for you. But he loves you.” says Michael. “And that’s our main problem.”
“Lem’s father thinks Lem needs to be more honest.” says Lem’s father.
“Fine! Then I’ll demand she stop talking to them. But I lose my temper and screw-up.” he says to his dad.
“Then you do that!!!” says his father.
Lem cries silently. “I don’t actually think Michael would be better for you. I just hate that I don’t have a good apology for you. Sure I’m sorry I got involved at all with Jack. …But what can I say? It’s a waste of time. You love me more than that and I don’t have a way to apologize sufficiently to honor the feelings I have, would have had and wish I had had for you. Yes, wish I had had. Because I wish you had been there. It would have changed my life. Not as a best friend, but as the love of my life and my soul. My very soul, Karrie. You’re not Jack, and that’s not a problem. It’s what I feel I was created for. …But then I worry when I see you and Michael. Because he has been been there for you and so has Louis. I understand why you would love them. …But it’s not more than me! Is it?!? …And if it’s not…be honest. Not for them but for me! …I love you! I love you. …I love you!” he says, growing amorous.
“You feel you were created to watch Jack watch Michael before Judith comes to pick him up?” asks Lacey.
Lem stares at her.
Louis laughs.
“No. Watch Michael make love to you.” he says.
“Truly?” she asks sincerely,
“NO!!” he yells.
“The thing is, she needs someone safe.” says Judith. “Just saying! Judith doesn’t think she could sound like a convincing Millennial either.
“No! She’s not you. …Nor is she actually me. So I need to have her. That’s not an option!” says Lem.
“We do love her though Lem.” says Michael.
“No. I’m sorry. No.” says Lem.
“Okay. It’s not over until God says so. But we’ll wait and see what she thinks. If she does love you more…fine.” says Louis.
“Who loves me the most?” asks Lacey.
Chaos.
Lose Yourself by Eminem plays.
The song plays.
Moments later Lem straightens out his glasses.
The others are gone.
“Look, if you’re betrayed by me or love me less than I think they’ll return. Until then it’s just us.” he says to Lacey. “Lacey, I was created with you as my rib.”
Lacey thinks. Feels uneasy. Does she love Lem enough?
Stardust performed by Artie Shaw.
“You know, I don’t care.” says Lem. “Forget it. I don’t care if it’s painful to kiss me. I don’t care! It’s like you’re sick when you have feelings for other guys and I have no choice but to be the sane one between us.”
Michael concedes for as long as it’s just.
“I don’t care. You love them. Maybe more. I don’t care! That was dumb. Let’s go to bed.” says Lem. “Do you love me at all?”
“Yes!”
“That’s perfect.”
Keen to Cross the Pond 