CATHY. What could you do with more time anyway, Momma?

CORRINE [excited again]. I have a new plan.

CHRISTOPHER. What new plan?

CORRINE. I’ve decided to enroll in a nearby school for computer classes. My father will be impressed. Because of my father’s influence, I’ll then be able to get a halfway decent job. We’ll rent our own apartment, and I’ll get you out of here. In time, my father will see that I’m not lazy, and he’ll give in and forgive me.

CATHY. Meanwhile, we stay up here?

CORRINE. Just give me some time. Make the best of it. My mother won’t let you starve. I’ll bring you things. It’s like a big loft apartment. People pay a fortune to stay in places like this.

CATHY. Crazy people.

CORRINE [pleading]. Christopher?

Christopher looks at Cathy.

CHRISTOPHER. I guess we could manage for a while.

CORRINE. Good.

She lowers the twins, kisses them, and smiles.

CATHY. How long will this take, Momma?

CORRINE. Maybe a month. Every time I return from school, I’ll bring you wonderful things.

She starts toward the door. They all follow slowly, Christopher holding Carrie’s hand and Cathy holding Cory’s. Corrine turns at the door.

CORRINE. We’ve suffered so, all of us, but there is a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. I’m depending on you. Be grown-up, and take care of the twins until I can take care of you all.

She walks out. They stand staring at the closed door. Cathy turns to Christopher.

CATHY. A month?

He shakes his head.

Scene 5

The spotlight comes up on stage left, and Older Cathy steps into it.

OLDER CATHY. The days dragged by monotonously. What do you do with time when you have it in superabundance? Where do you put your eyes when you have already seen everything there is to see?

The attic starts to lighten but dimly behind the scrim. The twins are playing with some toys on the floor at Christopher’s feet. He sits in an old rocker, reading.

Downstage right, Cathy does some dance exercises. Christopher watches her, goes back to his reading.

Cathy, hot from exercise, takes off her blouse. She lowers her skirt and stands in her bra and panties. She starts to exercise again and then pauses and looks at Christopher, who is now staring at her.

OLDER CATHY. What direction should your thoughts take when daydreams could lead you into so much trouble? I could imagine how it would be to run outside, wild and free in the woods, with dry leaves crackling under my feet. I could picture swimming in the nearby lake or wading in a cool mountain stream. But daydreams were merely cobwebs, easily torn in shreds, and I’d be dropped back into reality.

In the dumb show, Cathy notices Christopher staring at her. She pauses and puts her blouse and skirt back on. Then she walks upstage and stands looking at the audience—she’s looking out the window. Christopher gets up and joins her.