Danielson appears at the office window, and looks in at Khadim, and then enters and sees Khadim’s head resting on the door. He doesn’t have a coffee.

DANIELSON: Hear anything?

Khadim startled. The arpeggios stop. Khadim is embarrassed, but can hide it almost immediately.

KHADIM: No.

He goes back to his seat.

KHADIM: (without having to look) I thought you were getting coffee.

Beat. Danielson didn’t even check.

DANIELSON: We’re out.

Spring break.

Everything’s been emptied, washed and laid out to dry. No more coffee for the weary.

KHADIM: That’s too bad.

DANIELSON: I’ll manage.

I’m glad to see you were checking it out.

It’s a curiosity.

You don’t see something like this everyday.

KHADIM: Yeah.

DANIELSON: I think it’s cool. Do you think it’s cool?

KHADIM: Sure, I do, yeah.

DANIELSON: (gestures to the North Pool door) I used to have my office like this, with this thing having pride of place. I love it. Knowing there’s all this mystery in these walls. Shouldn’t be covered up.

KHADIM: Why do you have the map, then?

DANIELSON: Good question. Good question. The answer: Dr. Hodges.

KHADIM: Oh.

DANIELSON: Dr. Hodges came in here and had a whole new set of rules.

KHADIM: Dr. Hodges is pretty tough.

DANIELSON: She’s the principal. I’m the vice-principal. Even though I’ve been here for fourteen years. When our former head, Dr. Peacock, retired last year, the job went to Dr. Hodges, not to me.

How do you think that made me feel?

KHADIM: I don’t know . . . Bad.

DANIELSON: Yeah. Bad.

I worked here for fourteen years, I even went here, and do you know why I wasn’t given the job?

KHADIM: Why?

DANIELSON: Because Dr. Hodges is a young, black woman with a Ph.D. I’m an older white man with a Ph.D. She wins, I lose.

Perception.

She perceives these doors as negative, as some punitive symbol.

She’s way off base.

(beat) Put a map over it.

Cover it up.

(beat) Dr. Hodges has a map of Africa over the door in her office. You know why?

KHADIM: Why?

DANIELSON: She says: Everyone is African.

That’s where human life began, she says.

Everyone is African. I’m not African. Are you?

KHADIM: I don’t know.

DANIELSON: But then maybe I am. Maybe you are.

We don’t know.

Everything goes back so far, so deep.

Everything we think we know, we’re probably wrong. Right?

KHADIM: Sure. I don’t know, whatever.

DANIELSON: That’s what I have to deal with with Dr. Hodges.

KHADIM: Yeah.

DANIELSON: And that’s the way things go sometimes. The world is unfair. Life is unfair. And we always say these things, they’re like clichés, but they’re true. And when life deals you a particularly bad hand . . . well, we do our best not to despair.

KHADIM: Yeah.

DANIELSON: Yeah?

KHADIM: Yes sir.

DANIELSON: No. No, I mean . . .

You don’t have to call me sir.

Danielson looks at Khadim strangely.

DANIELSON: Look, is there anything you want to tell me?