A Good Life: The Joe Grushecky Story Page #4

And because I look the way I do,

people may never care

about me at all.

Hello?

Somebody stole my television.

What do you mean?

My television's gone.

Okay, I'll come right down

and find out what happened.

You just stay there.

Okay, I'll be outside.

No, stay inside

and get ready for church.

I'll find your television.

Okay, I'll meet you there.

No, Gus, stay inside

and get ready for church.

Okay, bye.

Every week was the same.

Gus would take his television

to the pawn shop,

convince them to put it up for sale,

and by Sunday morning, he'd forget.

What's that?

Your television.

I don't watch television.

Well, I'm gonna put it here

just in case you want to.

Yeah, but I won't want to.

Well, just in case you do.

You been in a fight?

No.

Now, why aren't you dressed?

Dressed for what?

Church.

Gus, it's Sunday.

Okay.

Hey, you know who

Amelia Earhart is?

The first woman to fly

over the ocean?

Yeah.

They say she wore men's underwear.

Oh, yeah?

Who's they?

I don't know.

You know what I saw

on television the other day?

I thought you didn't watch television.

I didn't tell you that.

Yes, you did.

I did not.

Yeah, you did.

Who's that?

Hi.

Hi.

No movie today?

We don't show movies on Sundays.

Why?

We go to church.

Oh, you do, do you?

I'm Gus.

I own the theater.

Gus.

I started working here as an usher

when I was 14 years old.

14, huh?

14, yeah.

And then I went to World War II,

and I was a film projectionist

on army transport ships.

Uh-huh.

And when I got back,

a fire had left just

a skeleton of this building.

And the owner didn't want

to resurrect it,

so I figured out a way

to buy it and did it myself

with my own hands.

Wow, that's Impressive.

All right, okay.

Excuse me,

you're interrupting me.

I'm sorry.

It's just that you got to get inside,

because I got to go.

Oh, are you sweet.

Thank you.

How come he doesn't show

new movies there?

It's too expensive.

And he feels of all things

that people should forget,

old movies aren't one of them.

Oh.

How long have you worked there?

Since high school.

It was supposed to be temporary,

only a few weeks,

just until his wife,

Catharine, got better.

But she never did.

Then he started losing his memory,

so I kept working.

His memory seems fine.

Sometimes it is.

Sometimes it isn't.

Why are you here?

Um, because I wanted to say

I'm sorry for lying to you.

I do the same palm reading on everyone.

It's a lie.

And I can't get over

how mean it was to lie to you,

because you're probably

the nicest person I've ever met,

and you're dying, and I-

Wait a minute;

wait a minute.

Wait.

I'm not dying.

Then, um, how come

you don't have any hair?

Rate this script:0.0 / 0 votes