Perri O’Shaughnessy - Breach Of Promise

Most agree to first names.

Bob Binkley: I’m a history teacher over at the college. Thirty-two years old and feel every minute of it. Not married and nobody in the picture at the moment. Don’t get too worked up if you notice I have trouble breathing sometimes. That’s just a touch of asthma.

Anyway, I’ve had about all I can take of this case. These two, they’re greedheads, and the money they are fighting over is obscene. A life spent accumulating wealth for its own sake is wasted.

Man: I never got the idea money was their goal. It just came with their success.

Bob: Nobody on earth should have that kind of money and not spread it around.

Woman: Lindy Markov was involved in charity work. I’ve seen her name in the papers pushing various causes.

Bob: Good for her. But, considering there’s still two hundred odd million being put back into manufacturing yet another device that pays homage to our cultural obsession with staying thin, I’m not impressed. These two fat cats could have settled this out of court so easily without wasting all our time.

Cliff: Can you tell us how you voted and why?

Bob: Oh, I don’t think the woman should get anything. They weren’t married. I picked Mike because the law’s on his side, but I’ve got an even better idea. I think we ought to take their money and divide it between ourselves. Now that would be fair. Bet we’d make better use of it, too.

Several others get off on his idea and fantasize on the topic until Cliff Wright intervenes.

Cliff: Ignacio?

Ignacio Ybarra: I’m twenty-three and I work for the telephone company as a lineman. My wife died two years ago. I have a son who is three, and for my recreation, I do community theater.

When we talked at lunch the other day, I already said what I think. I think she should get something.

Cliff: So you think she’s got a legitimate claim? Remember this is a legal case.

Ignacio: That’s not so simple to say. I agree the law should guide us to do the right thing but if it doesn’t give you a clear direction, you must look into your heart for what is right. I voted for Lindy.

Cliff: Care to say why?

Ignacio: I’m ready to hear the other people first.

Cliff: Okay. How about you, Maribel?

Maribel Grzegorek: I’ve lived up here twenty-two years. Came here to ski, and never left. I’m over forty and under seventy, not that that’s anybody’s beeswax. Used to work as a dealer in the casino. Now I cashier at the Mikasa outlet store.

My biggest problem with this case is that I just can’t stomach Riesner.

He reminds me of this old cat I had, the meanest animal you ever met. You know Mike Markov loses points in my book just for picking a lawyer like that. And that day Reilly tripped? I’d swear that lawyer put his foot in her way on purpose!

Man: Well, if he did she was asking for it.

Others interested in this line of discussion chime in. Speculations continue for a long time, then…

Cliff: You know, Maribel, I didn’t like that lawyer either. And it’s so easy to be influenced by those feelings, isn’t it? But I know when it comes time to decide, I’ve got to put that feeling aside, and really use my head. Now, I can tell you’re a smart woman who can tell the difference between what you feel and real evidence…

Woman: You know what struck me about Reilly? She looked funny wearing all those pale colors, kind of unprofessional…

Man: Don’t you remember all the noise when Marcia Clark wore a light-colored suit during the Simpson criminal trial? They do it so we’ll like them better.

Woman: (laughing) What baloney!

They discuss the lawyers’ clothes.

Cliff: Let’s go back to Maribel, okay? What about Lindy’s claim?

Maribel: You know, I’m thinking about the real evidence, don’t you worry. But I have to say, where do you think Mike Markov would be today without Lindy? Coaching kids at the YMCA, if he was lucky. She had all the imagination and drive. He’s an old fighter, a loser by the time she met him. He was rollin’ downhill. Now, here she came along with all this perked-up energy to pull him up with her. She was his ticket to a better life. But, let’s face it. The law’s not always fair. I remember once this gal I knew-

Cliff: So you think the law doesn’t really support her claim; but you feel she should get something.

Maribel: Well, I do feel that, on the other hand, we do have to think about the law.

Cliff: Sonny?

Sonny Ball: Pass.

Cliff: (pause) Okay, Sonny. We’ll move on for now. But at some point, I hope you’ll want to share your thoughts with us. Courtney?

Courtney Poole: Wait, I want to say some more about that lawyer, Ms. Reilly. Can I do that?

Cliff: Let’s try to stay on the point…

Mrs. Lim: I think Courtney should say what she wants to say…

Courtney: Because I thought she really made sense when she said, why should Mrs. Markov come away with nothing, not even a toothbrush? I mean, probably she took her toothbrush, but it sounded to me like she’s the one who picked everything in that house. He had no interest. And then, he turned around and kicked her out.

Bob: Well, but remember, they were not legally married. Legally, the house was in his name.

Cliff: Could we hold off on discussion until we finish going around the room? We’re almost done here. What are your thoughts, Kevin?

Courtney: Excuse me, but I’m not finished.

Cliff: Sorry. Please go on.

Courtney: It’s not like she’s going to go out and get a job easy. She’s really old. Also, did you notice how she always defended him? She still loves him, even after all he’s done to her. I guess he owes her something probably.

On the other hand, does she have any legal rights? How can we judge what they agreed on? We don’t get to go in the bedroom, or the church with them. We saw them in court, where they both fibbed and forgot things. You can never really know what goes on between two people. So I have a lot of doubts.

By the way, I’m twenty-two and I’m living with my mom at the Keys while I go to the University in Reno. I’m a psychology major and boy, I am learning a lot here already.

Bob: Yeah, here you are in a locked room with a buncha loonies!

Maribel: Hey, people! Remember that! Bob Binkley openly admits to being loony.

Laughter. They adjourn for a fifteen minute break. Takes them several minutes to get back to their chairs.

Cliff: Kevin, I believe you’re next.

Kevin Dowd: I have to say something about what Bob said first because I think we have a basic difference. In my opinion, Lindy and Mike Markov owe the world nothing. It’s every man for himself out there, and you have to work to survive. If you fall and you can’t get up, tough. They earned what they have. They should decide how to spend it without being under constant attack by spineless punks.

Now, I know something about this situation. Not to put too fine a point on it, I’m a wealthy man. And I’ll never say a thing against the ladies, God bless ’em. Where would we be without them? She helped him in a lot of ways, no doubt about that.

But the fact is, and here’s where I do agree with Bob, she was an employee of the corporation. She received a salary. And the fact is, she was Mike Markov’s lover. But that doesn’t make her his wife. And it doesn’t entitle her to any of his hard-earned money.

Cliff: What about you, Kris? What do you say?

Kris Schmidt: I’m a housewife with two kids, and I should be at home right now. My kids need me, especially in the afternoon to help them with their homework. These people’s problems are pretty darn far-removed from Joe’s and mine. He repairs boats, and does dry-dock work at the marina. We scrape by. What’s amazing to us is that there are people like the Markovs-I mean, their biggest worry has to be which yacht to take out today.