The Fortune Teller and the Bloodline Case E-Book

Alan El-Deir

• Herausgeber: Books on Demand
• Kategorie: Gesellschafts- und Liebesromane
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 83

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2018

Beschreibung

"When we arrived at her place, she invited me for a cup of coffee, but her coffee machine was broken. There was only water or whisky to drink; we chose whisky. We drank more than we should. The rest you can guess... we kissed each other and made love. I couldn't put the blame on Johnnie Walker, could I? Our state of consciousness was practically non-existent, that's why I do not recall much of that evening." Some spontaneous adventures can turn into nightmares. ­Apparently, no one is immune to fate. Luck, bad luck, destiny, they all belong to the mysteries of life beyond science. ­However, some people believe destinies can be changed. Some believe we can even provoke luck. And many believe Fortune Tellers can predict the future. Matthew is a middle-class scholar who falls in love with a poor girl. Soon his plans are undermined by a succession of bad news and in the blink of an eye his life turns completely upside down. Camilla, a Hungarian Fortune Teller, helps him to unveil some well-kept secrets. An apparently conventional love story turns out to be a puzzle full of mysteries, surprises and amazing revelations. The story is told through dialogues, at times funny and ironic, ­where different characters touch relevant topics, leading to reflections on man-made rules, morality, inappropriate behaviour, and the tendency to blame the destiny for whatever misfortune. Sometimes in life, certain rules have to be broken to enable individuals to be themselves, thinking and being without restraints or limitations. The authors believe this principle applies not only to the play itself but to its literary style as well.

Leseprobe

To love another person is to see the face of God

Victor Hugo

The Fortune Teller and the Bloodline Case

Script

Characters:

Camilla – Hungarian Fortune Teller

Marcel – Camilla’s husband. Frenchman

Matthew – James and Carole’s son

Grace – Matthew’s girlfriend

James – Carole’s husband

Carole – James’ wife

Margarita (Lesley) – Deaf maid

Professor Lambrick – A well-known professor

Mrs Berry – Professor Lambrick’s assistant

Pizza boy – A young pizza courier

Table of Contents

The Gipsy Bohemian Touch

Act 1

The Doubt

Act 2

The Shock

Act 3

The Secret

Act 4

The Truth

Act 5

The Gipsy Bohemian Touch

Act 1

Scene 1: At Camilla’s flat. She is in the living room with a towel on her head, wearing a pink bathrobe and peeling an apple. She speaks to her husband who is shaving in the lavatory.

Characters: Camilla and Marcel.

Camilla:

Darling, would you like an apple?

Marcel:

(He answers politely but ironically with a light snobbish touch.) My dear, I have two reasons to refuse your kind offer. First, haven’t I seen this scene before? Apparently, all troubles began with an apple. The snake, the woman, the apple and the man! Adam has fallen but not me. Secondly, although I am hungry, I cannot eat while I am shaving.

Camilla:

Shaving again, what a pity! I prefer you with a three-day beard. You look sexier.

Marcel:

I see that temptation is not restricted to the apple, it goes on through words. Darling, unshaved men symbolise bad guys, unconventional types, revolutionaries, politically incorrect and socially inconvenient people. I am by no means one of them. Besides, the daily activities and social behaviour related to my profession require me to be among the neat people: well shaved, white collar, polished black shoes.

Camilla:

Sometimes I think we are just some sort of crooks, in a light version of course, if that definition exists…

Marcel:

Crooks? Did you say crooks? For God’s sake, we are not. We are serious Bohemians. We are rebels fighting for the good cause. You don’t see it right. Look at yourself. You are a Fortune Teller, someone who helps people to find themselves. You show them the light. Through you, my dear, they learn about their fates. They understand themselves. They come closer to their predefined destinies.

Camilla:

Interesting way of seeing it. What about you, my dear? What are you?

Marcel:

I am a promoter of good habits. I am a one-man health institution. I am an independent private social worker. I help people to stop smoking and drinking.

Camilla:

But you smoke yourself.

Marcel:

This is an insignificant detail. Let’s say a drop of water in a huge ocean.

Camilla:

What about drinking? Worse, getting drunk...

Marcel:

Ah, come on. Last week I had a good reason for it. The Red Devils couldn’t have lost that match.

We lost the championship. A very cruel fate even for a wise man like me!

Camilla:

I guess it is better to change topic.

Marcel:

Indeed. That match almost killed me. I need a year to recover. Anyway, I am hungry. What’s the menu today?

Camilla:

Take away fast food. In other words, home delivery pizza. The phone is over there.

Marcel:

My grandmother would have had a heart attack hearing you talking like that. I was brought up with fine homemade French food: Escargots, Foie gras, Chateaubriand, Café de Paris.

Camilla:

And of course, you used to play in the gardens of Versailles...

Marcel:

Not quite my dear. I consider my life better than Louis XVI’s. At least I do not think my end will be through a guillotine.

Camilla:

This is my job, to predict the future. I am the Fortune Teller, not you. By the way, my job is getting harder day by day. I mean many people are turning to new technologies. The ones who prefer a human contact, I have the impression they are becoming skeptical in all senses. Is this generation cleverer than the former?

Marcel:

Cleverer? Did you say cleverer? Not at all, every day hundreds of idiots are born. The challenge is to find them. Maybe you should read Molière,

Le Tartuffe

. It would help you to develop new ideas, marketing techniques. We often learn from the past. Besides, you should never forget that the Homo imbecillis outnumbers the Homo sapiens by far. Therefore, my dear, maybe you are just fishing in wrong waters. Am I being nasty?

Camilla:

Possibly yes, but I am used to it. The French are excessively patriotic, aren’t they? Isn’t the word

chauvinist

an original French word? There is a hint of superiority in the way they express themselves. But this is a language issue, not really your case. I would simply say, using your own sophisticated style, that you are possibly proposing me to be a wolf dressed in sheep’s clothing.

Marcel:

My sweet little darling, we live in a world where the packaging is more important than the product. But I hope this is not the case of our pizzas. What’s the number? I’ll call them. I am starving. Una Quattro Stagioni per te e una Siciliana per me?

Camilla:

Indeed. The Siciliana matches with you, Don Corleone. (She gives him the phone number.)

Marcel:

(He phones the pizzeria.) Buongiorno, vorrei ordinare due pizze per favore: una Quattro Stagioni e una Siciliana. (Apparently, the person on the other end of the line does not understand Italian. Marcel repeats the sentence but this time in English, speaking extremely slowly and ironically.) I would like to order two pizzas, please: one Quattro Stagioni and one Siciliana. Delivery to Marcel Dupont, 109 Anson road, 1st floor, London, England, UK, Europe, planet Earth. (Short pause.) What? 55 minutes for two pizzas! Are you still going to plant the tomatoes? Why don’t you round it up to an hour? (Another short pause.) Yes, I know it is handmade. Anyway, I am glad I did not order ravioli... Yes, we will wait. Thank you. (He hangs up and exclaims.) Lame Ducks! Lazy Britons! That’s what they are.

Camilla:

Didn’t the ducks understand Italian?

Marcel:

Not a word. A shame for a pizzeria! Dante Alighieri would have committed suicide. Anyway, we know English people are not very talented for languages.

Camilla:

What are they talented for?

Marcel:

Many things, among them smoking and drinking. Thanks God! This ensures my professional activities for the years to come.

Camilla:

No sign of conscience. I wonder if you know what that is.

Marcel:

One cannot have all, my dear. Besides, the world is a jungle. Just a jungle!

Camilla:

And what should we do until the pizzas come?

Marcel:

Me Tarzan, you Jane. (He carries her romantically and kisses her.)

The curtains close.

************

Scene 2: There are clothes on the floor. Camilla and Marcel are together on the sofa embracing each other. Their bodies are covered with a blanket. The doorbell rings.

Characters: Camilla, Marcel and the Pizza boy.

Camilla:

Oh darling, would you answer the door? It must be the Pizza delivery man.

Marcel:

(He stands up. He has only a slip on. He picks up her pink bathrobe, puts it on and opens the door.) Hello.

Pizza boy:

(With huge open eyes, he stares in surprise at the man in the pink bathrobe. Then he looks slowly from up to down and finally speaks with a gay intonation.) Oh my God! I have two pizzas... I mean, hot pizzas for hot happy people.

Marcel:

Very Funny. I hope the pizzas are better than your sense of humour, young man.

Pizza boy:

It is 16 pounds.

Marcel:

Do you accept checks?

Pizza boy:

(With an ironical gay intonation.) I accept anything you propose...

Camilla:

Darling, I have change in my purse.

Pizza boy:

Oh my God! (He hands the pizza over to Marcel.)

Marcel:

(He places the pizzas on the table, picks up Camilla’s purse, pays the pizzas and gives a tip to the boy.) Here you are. And that’s a pound for you. Don’t spend it all at once.

Pizza boy:

Thank you. Goodbye. Hare Krishna. Peace and Love.

Marcel:

(He puts his hands together, bows his head and speaks ironically.) Piss on you.

The curtains

close.

End of Act 1

The Doubt

Act 2

Scene 1: Fortune Teller at her working place, an exotic, mystical room. She is dressed in Hungarian gipsy clothes and is turning the pages of a book in Magyar language. There are some dice, tarot cards, a crystal ball and some candles on her desk. Someone knocks on the door. She walks to the door and opens it.

Characters: Camilla and Matthew.

Camilla:

Hello, you must be Mr Williams.

Matthew:

Yes, how do you do? (They shake hands.)

Camilla:

Nice to meet you, Mr Williams. Please come in.

Matthew:

Thank you.

Camilla:

Please sit down. I was not expecting such a young man. I charge 30 pounds a session. What brings you here, Mr Williams?

Matthew:

(He hands the money over to her.) Please call me Matthew. I am here to know about my future, more precisely my parents’ reaction...

Camilla:

(She puts the money in a drawer and looks deep inside the crystal ball.) You can call me Camilla. Matthew, apparently your heart is burning.

Matthew:

Yes, I love her.

Camilla:

What makes you think your parents will not accept her?

Matthew:

She is poor, has no degree, only a simple job in a supermarket. I have seen how my father looked at her, like if she had come from another planet, only because we smiled at each other.

Camilla: