Act two; death of a salesman
[The curtains open and Biff, Happy and Linda are sitting at the kitchen table drinking a beer]
Biff: Mom, how did you and father meet?
Linda: Why do you want to know my dear?
Biff: You always tell us about that father is a great man, but why?
Happy: Yeah, I want to know too!
Linda: [She sighs] Alright boys, if you really want to know. I must say that it is a really long story. Do you want to listen for so long.
Biff & Happy: Yes! We would be delighted.
[The lights dim and the remaining lights shine at Linda. The flute starts playing to cover this transition]
Linda: A long, long time ago, Billy Loman, your grandfather, discovered Africa, to be specific Morocco.
Biff: Did he? That’s amazing!
Happy: I didn’t know we had a discoverer in the family. [To Biff] Hey Biff, you also want to be a discoverer right?
Biff: Indeed I want to! It’s my dream!
Linda: Can I continue now? In Morocco , Billy saw a lot of women working as slaves on the land. I don’t know how to tell you guys. It is to difficult [Linda almost starts to cry]
Biff: Pal, are you alright? If you don’t want to continue, we will understand.
Happy: But we are very curious.
Linda: But promise me you won’t judge me!
Biff & Happy: Of course we won’t! You are our lovely mom
Linda: Okay then. As I said… there were women working on the land and… I… I was one of them. At that time I was only a little girl and I didn’t know what was going on.
Happy: So, mom, you are telling us you were a slave?
[One more tear rolls down Linda’s cheek]
Biff: It doesn’t matter mom. We will always love you. No matter what.
Linda: Of course you will, son. We woman had two choices. Either work on the land or being forced to have sex with the leaders.
Happy: [Surprised] Do I understand this correctly? You had the choice of working on the land or having sex with my grandfather?
Linda: Yes, those were the choice I had. But I chose to work on the lands. However, your grandfather thought that I was special. I still don’t know why, but I believe it worked in my favour. One day your grandfather took some women on his ship, including me. Before I knew it, I was somewhere else. I didn’t know where I was. It turned out to be America.
Biff: How long were you on that ship?
Linda: I don’t know son, I can’t remember. Your grandfather let us work on the lands in America and this is even worse than working in Africa. After a long day of working they, he would… he would lock us up in the basement of his own house so we couldn’t escape.
[Linda starts to cry out loud. Billy and Happy see this and start to comfort her by given her some hugs. But they don’t say a thing for the next 30 seconds.]
Happy: This is terrible mom!
Biff: Did you have to stay there overnight?
Linda: [Before answering she takes a deep breath] Yes, I will describe one of my regular days. We woke up very early and we had to work till late in the afternoon. After we finished a long day of hard work, your grandfather locked us up again in the dark for the rest of the night.
Biff: I can’t believe he did that to you. I thought he was my hero, because he is a great explorer. But I am not sure anymore.
Linda: Your grandfather isn’t a horrible person. He just had some weird thoughts.
Happy: [Starting to get upset]: How can you say that he isn’t a horrible man?!
Linda: My dear, you should understand one thing really clear. Even though your grandfather wasn’t the nicest man on the planet. If I wasn’t on that ship I would have never met your father?
Biff: [Amazed] How do you mean? What does that old man has to do with this?
Linda: [Angerly at Biff] How dare you to talk about your father like that. Without him you would have never been born. Mind your words!
Biff: [Gazing at the ground] I am so sorry mom.
Linda: [Sighs] Okay… but let’s continue with the story. One day, we had a day off. Not that we were allowed to go outside. It was a hot summer day. [Looking at Biff and Happy] Oh my boys, I remember it like it was yesterday. When the sun was shining through the only small window we had. And all of a sudden we started to hear strange sounds.
Biff & Happy: What mom… what kind of sounds?
Linda: It was you father together with you uncle Ben.
Biff: [Surprised] Wait, what! You ain’t going to tell me that OUR father is going to be the hero of the story, are you?
Linda: [Laughing at Biff] Yay right, you bet he is. He and your uncle Ben are the persons who made me believe that normal life could be possible again.
Happy: You hear that Biff. Our father does have his heart on the right place.
Biff: I hear that Happy. Isn’t this a big surprise?!
Happy: Hell ya!
Linda: Please boys, let me continue with the story. I like your enthusiasm, but if I can’t continue my story, it will take ages. Your father and your uncle Ben were playing outside and seeking for an adventure. Believing what your father told me I was the first thing he saw when he arrived in the basement. [Willy arrives on stage and he joins the conversation. He sits next to Linda and puts his arm around her]
Willy: What is happening here?
Biff: Mom is telling us about how you two met. It is a very intense story.
Willy: So now I assume you know why I hate my father so much, right?
Happy: Why didn’t you tell us sooner?
[Willy and Linda look at each other, wondering what to say.]
Linda: I didn’t want to upset your father, dear. It is not the usual way to meet your soulmate.
Willy: I am glad I found you. Who knows what happened when I didn’t come into the basement.
Biff: [anxious] … What would have happened?
Linda: It is hard to predict what would have happened? It could be many bad things. Let us just be glad that it didn’t happen.
Happy: Let me get this straight. You were locked up in the basement and father and uncle Ben saw you, what happened next?
Willy: From the first moment I saw your mother, I thought she was very special and I asked her why she was there. After your mother told me the whole story, your uncle Ben and I were very upset and we wanted to set her free. We came up with a plan, but it was impossible to free them all.
Linda: It was horrible to leave the other women in the basement, but we agreed that the two youngest would be the first to be saved. [A tear rolls down her cheek]. It was such a hard decision.
Happy: What happened to the other women?
Linda: I never heard from them ever again… So I assume that they were still working as slaves. [Linda bursts out in tears]
Happy: Are you alright, mom?
Linda: I think it is still too emotional to talk about.
Biff: But father, what was your plan to save mother?
Willy: [Looking at Linda] I think it is enough for today. Let’s finish the story another time.
[The lights dim completely and the curtains close.]
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