LIAM

I promise.

MELODY

Thank you.

Now it’s been a really long day, I think everyone’s probably really over-tired, so let’s just maybe go to bed.

LIAM

Ok.

LIAM kisses MELODY on the cheek. She flinches. He goes to open his suitcase. MELODY sees DAPHNA.

Beat.

MELODY

But first. Before you screamed at her, in a way I never want to hear again, I think Deevna was trying to talk to you about something important to her, and human beings have the right to speak no matter what you think of them, even if they don’t … She’s a human being. So Deevna, what did you want to say?

Beat.

DAPHNA

Oh. I— well it was about Poppy’s chai—

JONAH

Hey you know what? Really and truly, everyone’s tired, we’ve calmed down, so what I think we should do is go to bed and talk in the—

MELODY

No.

LIAM

Mel—

MELODY

No. She wasn’t saying anything wrong and it sounded very important to her, so we’re going to respect her and listen to her because we are good people and that’s what good people do.

LIAM

Honey, I understand you’re trying to be helpful but you really don’t understand the—

MELODY

Liam.

LIAM

But you don’t understand—

MELODY

Liam—

LIAM

Jonah you said—

MELODY

Liam—

JONAH

I really think—

MELODY

No—

LIAM

Daphna please can we not do this now I am—

MELODY

Liam. Let her speak.

Beat.

Go on. No one is going to interrupt you.

DAPHNA

Thank you. Um, all I wanted to talk about was, and it’s really not a big deal, it’s just, like, Poppy’s chai is …

Breath.

This is the last time we’ll be together as a family for a while since I’m moving to Israel this summer, and your Mom said you’re not coming to my graduation cause you have finals then or, which is fine, really, it’s just a ceremony I don’t even care about it but since I’m, because of how I feel about, and like, how involved I am in, I mean, I think it makes the most sense that Poppy’s chai should go to—

MELODY

What’s a …?

DAPHNA

Chai? It’s the Hebrew word for life. It’s two letters, a chet and a yud, and it has a numeric equivalent of 18 which is an important number in Judaism. It’s made of gold, it’s not very big, and Poppy wore it on a chain around his neck his whole life. A lot of people, a lot of men, I should say, have one, more so now, it was a lot less common then actually but Poppy’s was particularly—

JONAH

Daphna—

LIAM

Please—

MELODY

No! She’s not saying anything wrong. Let her talk.

DAPHNA

The reason Poppy’s chai was special was because he held onto it during the Holocaust, in this amazing way, because obviously Jews couldn’t have gold jewelry, but it was his father’s and when it was clear that he and his father were going to be split up, his father gave Poppy the chai, cause he thought maybe he could use it later to trade for food or, who knows what—