The Booth at the End

[repeated line]

Various Clients:
[password phrase used when approaching The Man in the booth for the first time] I hear the pastrami sandwich is very good here.

[first lines]

Dillon:
[seated at the booth] So, we make a deal, right? You give me a task - I go do it - then I get to live forever.

The Man:
Well, there *are* other conditions.

The Man:
[seated at the booth with Henry] You want to remove reality and replace it with something else.

Henry:
[seated at the booth] God is a fool's crutch. I stand on my own two feet.

The Man:
Then what are you doing here?

Melody:
[angrily approaches The Man seated at the booth] What happened to me?

The Man:
Hello, Melody.

Melody:
[sits down at the booth] What happened to me?

The Man:
When?

Melody:
When I was dead.

The Man:
I don't think that's possible. Is it?

Jenny:
[seated at the booth]... so my question is, 'Can I have a partner?' - and he's really cute.

The Man:
So, you want the cute guy, who lives in his car, to help you rob the banks.

Jenny:
Yeah. You think that's a bad idea?

The Man:
Jenny, I think people do what they do. You know how much money you need to rob, how you do it is up to you.

Sister Carmel:
[seated at the booth] Wait a minute. I might hear God again, even if I don't do the deal?

The Man:
Of course. There's always many different resolutions of any given problem. I offer only one.

Richard:
[seated at the booth] Alright, um, what do I have to do to make a deal with you?

The Man:
I give you a task - you do it - and you get what you want - just like the flowers. So, what do you want?

Richard:
I want my father to leave me alone.

The Man:
That can happen.

Jenny:
I want to help him. I want to help him get the thing he wants.

[last lines]

The Man:
[Doris, the waitress, refills The Man at the booth's teacup and starts to turn away] Hey. Tell me something you want to tell me.

Doris:
I've been waiting for love a long time.

The Man:
That's something you don't usually tell people.

Doris:
I've got no one else to tell.

The Man:
Why are you so alone?

Doris:
Why are you?

The Man:
I have my reasons.

Doris:
Unlike the rest of us?

Maria:
[seated at the booth] Don't judge me too hard...

The Man:
I'm not judging you! I'm just telling you the rules of the agreement that we made.

Maria:
Well, I don't like the rules.

The Man:
Then don't play the game.

The Man:
God. Love. People use words all the time. It doesn't mean they agree on their meaning. It doesn't mean they've thought through what 'they mean' when they use them.

The Man:
[seated at the booth] Well, our deal was that you would hear God again. Did you? Are you?

Sister Carmel:
Yes.

The Man:
What are you hearing?

Sister Carmel:
That I'm gonna have a child, and I'm hearing it now. And now...

The Man:
Then our deal here is done.

James:
[seated at the booth] You're a monster!

The Man:
You might say I - I *feed* monsters.

[first lines]

The Man:
[James enters the diner, walks to the window-booth at the end, and takes a seat across the table from The Man] You're late.

James:
I, umm...

The Man:
[gruffly] The appointment was eleven.

James:
I didn't know if I was coming.

The Man:
Picked a girl?

James:
Yes.

The Man:
Tell me about her. James - the details!

James:
I don't really want to.

The Man:
How old? How *old* is the girl?

James:
Young. She's four - fourish.

The Man:
What was she wearing - when you first saw her - when you chose her?

Jenny:
[seated at the booth] I heard you can do things.

The Man:
I create opportunities for people to do things.

Jenny:
You make things happen - like magic.

The Man:
What do you want, Jenny?

Jenny:
I want to be prettier.

Willem:
[seated at the booth] I don't know that I believe you.

The Man:
That's understandable - but not my problem.

Willem:
Give me something - a token of proof or something.

The Man:
Start. See what happens.

Mrs. Tyler:
[seated at the booth] Do you make everyone who comes to you hurt someone?

The Man:
No - only some.

The Man:
[seated at the booth] Well, perhaps I can help.

Melody:
What do I have to do?

The Man:
I offer you a task - you do the task - you get what you want.

Allen:
[seated at the booth] I did it. I did 'the thing'. So now what? How do we wrap this up?

The Man:
You give me the details.

Allen:
No.

The Man:
[crossly] We had a deal, Detective.

Sister Carmel:
[seated at the booth] I need to know one thing.

The Man:
Alright.

Sister Carmel:
How can I know you're not The Devil?

The Man:
You can't.

[first lines]

Bobby:
[enters the diner and walks to the booth at the end where The Man is reading a newspaper] Are you the man that can make things happen?

The Man:
[scowls] I don't know what you're talking about.

Bobby:
I'm pretty sure you're the guy.

The Man:
What makes you think so?

The Man:
[seated at the booth] Cheryl, you will either find a woman without family and friends and torture her, or you won't. And if you do, your daughter will be healed. And if not, she won't - at least, not by any means found in this booth.

Dillon:
[seated at the booth] Uh, is this for real?

The Man:
It's real, but if you wanna get what you want, you gotta be honest with me.

Dillon:
I told you the truth.

The Man:
The words are true. Honesty's a little more complicated.

The Man:
[seated at the booth] You understand no matter what you choose to get, you will be breaking the world. That's what we do. We take the world, and we crack it.

Maria:
Alright, then. Yes. My mother. I want my mother to spend her last days filled with love for what is in front of her. I just don't want her to lose sight of joy. Can I ask for that?

The Man:
You can.

Maria:
What do I have to do?

The Man:
[briefly consults his journal] You will have to make five people cry.

Conner:
[seated at the booth] How come grownups get to get what they want but not me?

The Man:
Because you don't know what you're getting yourself into.

Conner:
I just want my dad home - the way it was.

The Man:
There are things I do not know about this world - about people - about how things will turn out. But I do know this: There are consequences.

Doris:
[seated at the booth next to The Man's booth] Hey - long time, no see.

The Man:
[shakes his head] Not that long.

Doris:
Doris.

The Man:
[nods] Doris.

Doris:
Still mysterious. You surprised to see me?

The Man:
I did leave without saying goodbye. I like to move on.

Doris:
I bet you do.

James:
[seated at the booth] I'm supposed to kill a little girl to save my son's life! I have spent so much time explaining to myself why it's better off she die. And now, I think there's someone watching over her. Can I choose another child?

The Man:
No.

James:
Yes, I can.

The Man:
No, you can't.

James:
Another child.

The Man:
What one begins, one must finish. Those are the rules.

James:
Someone is watching her!

The Man:
And just because a client finds a task difficult, doesn't mean he gets to change the task.

The Man:
[seated at the booth] Where are you going to meet people?

Sister Carmel:
I tried bars. It's like Mass with too much wine and everyone praying to get laid.