Every time I’ll push her out that door.

Long beat.

DANIELSON: (awkward) I think you’re kind of like me with this thing.

Me, I can’t see ever forgiving myself.

I just can’t.

And you’re probably like me. You’re probably not gonna forgive yourself. Ever. Ever.

So, I’m just saying . . .

I’m just saying I do.

I do.

So somebody has, okay? Forgiven you.

Khadim looks at him. This has an unexpected effect on him. He is able to gather himself, and stand. Danielson sees the effect it has on him.

DANIELSON: If you . . .

If you did the same thing, you know, if you could . . . for me . . .

(beat) I’m asking if you’d forgive me.

Because nobody else ever will.

(beat) Would you do that?

Beat.

KHADIM: Yeah.

Danielson and Khadim look at each other.

DANIELSON: Thanks.

Khadim exits.

Danielson watches him go, and sits at his desk.

Danielson stares into space.

Distant, echoing, barely heard by anyone, a melody on a flute plays briefly, a short phrase of Bach. Cantata N^o 208, “Sheep May Safely Graze.”

As it ends, the lights fade.

END OF PLAY

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS:

The Lark Play Development Center, CENTERSTAGE, Northlight Theatre, The Vineyard Theatre, TheatreWorks Palo Alto, Barrington Stage Company.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

RAJIV JOSEPH’s play, Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo, a 2010 finalist for the Pulitzer Prize, played on Broadway in 2011, starring Robin Williams. His other plays include Gruesome Playground Injuries, Animals Out of Paper, The Monster at the Door, The Leopard and the Fox (adaptation), All This Intimacy, and Huck & Holden. Rajiv has been awarded a United States Artists Grant and the Whiting Award. He has written for the Showtime award-winning series, Nurse Jackie. He received his B.A. in Creative Writing from Miami University and his M.F.A. in Playwriting from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts. He served for three years in the Peace Corps in Senegal, West Africa.