oldEpisode Three-hundred-twenty-five: Jack
Tries to Get Jennifer to Forget about
Howard; but She is Obsessed. They
Attend His Funeral; While Jennifer
Is at His Grave, Hawk Appears.
[Air date early August, 1991]
SCENE ONE: IT IS THE NEXT DAY AND JACK HAS TAKEN JENNIFER DOWN TO HIS OFFICE TO SHOW HER SOMETHING. HE IS TRYING TO GET HER TO FORGET SEEING HOWARD'S LAWYER.
JACK: Right this way, right this way.
JENNIFER: I really have to go Jack. I don't have a lot of time.
JACK: No really, I'm telling you this is so important. Ready?
JENNIFER: Alright, alright.
JACK: Right here. One, two, three. TA DA!
JACK PULLS OFF A SHEET THAT IS COVERING A COMPUTER.
JACK: It's my own, my own, my own, my own very personal home printing machine.
JENNIFER: You dragged me to your office to show me a computer, Jack?
JACK: A computer? You think this is a computer? No, no, this is state of the art. This is.... this is desktop publishing at it's finest. One could work wonders with this thing.
JENNIFER: Assuming one had any idea at all how to use it.
JACK: What, are you doubting my capabilities?
JENNIFER: No, you have a lot of capabilities Jack. But when it comes to anything remotely technological....
JACK: Alright, alright, how about my.... how about my.... ah.... my non technological capabilities?
HE MOVES CLOSE TO HER.
JENNIFER: No.
JACK: Like....
JENNIFER: It's not going to work Jack.
JACK: But I thought you liked romance?
JENNIFER: I do, I love romance. This isn't romance.
JACK: Well call it what you like.
JENNIFER: No, you're trying to stall me, that's what you're trying to do.
JACK: I am not trying to stall you.
JENNIFER: Yes you are. And it's not going to work. I am going to Howard's lawyer's office today and there's nothing that you can do to stop me.
JACK: Wait, you hold it right there, alright. You stay right there, okay. I'm going to tell you something. I'm going to tell you something right now. You did not know Howard. You know even less about is lawyer. I will not.... I repeat.... I will not allow you to step one foot out of this place. Do you understand that?
THERE IS A KNOCK AT THE DOOR.
JACK: Come in.
JENNIFER: Jack!
JACK: I will not allow you to step one foot out of this place.
JENNIFER: Jack, if you'll just understand.
A MAN WALKS IN THE DOOR; HE IS CHAUNCEY POWELL, HOWARD'S ATTORNEY.
CHAUNCEY: Jack Deveraux?
JACK: Yes, that's me. I'm in the middle of something, hold it. I will not allow you to meet Howard Austin Hawkin's lawyer, do you understand that? Now who the hell are you and what do you want?
CHAUNCEY: I'm Chauncey Powell. Attorney for the estate of....
CHAUNCEY, JACK AND JENNIFER: Howard Elston Hawkins.
CHAUNCEY: That's right.
JENNIFER: So nice to meet you Mr. Powell. Here just have a seat. Welcome. We've been waiting to meet with you and talk to you.
SHE GLANCES BACK AT JACK WITH A SMUG EXPRESSION ON HER FACE. HE CANNOT BELIEVE THAT SHE HAS WON THIS ONE. JACK HANDS CHAUNCEY A CUP OF COFFEE.
CHAUNCEY: Thank you. From the earliest times of the Mohawk Valley Candy Co. when the jelly bean wasn't even a glimmer in his eyes, I was Mr. Howard Hawkins personal attorney.
JENNIFER: Well you know it's hard to imagine a time before the jelly bean.
JACK CANNOT BELIEVE JENNIFER ACTUALLY SAID THAT.
CHAUNCEY: Yeah. I assure you there was such a time, my dear. A kinder gentler time when people like Howard could spend their days creating little goodies to bring out the child within them. And thereby bring out the child in all of us I guess.
JACK: Goodnight John-boy!
THIS IS A TAKE-OFF FROM THE WALTONS A VERY SWEET FAMILY SHOW. JENNIFER WAGS HER FINGER AT JACK AND HE PRETENDS NOT TO KNOW WHAT SHE MEANS.
CHAUNCEY: We were terribly close in those days. I handled all the adult concerns. Advisor, confidant, and as the world changed so did Howard. Eccentricities multiplied with his bank balance as did the load of responsibilities I had to shoulder on his behalf. He spent less and less time with the company, vanishing for longer periods. We grew apart with the years.
JENNIFER: Well you know that happens sometimes but the door is always open if the friendship is strong.
CHAUNCEY: That's very true Mrs. Deveraux. You have a very wise wife.
JACK: Yes, well she married me didn't she?
CHAUNCEY: I hadn't heard from him in quite some time until last week. I can't tell you how surprised I was to get that call. Planning a sudden trip to New York, wanted some business to discuss with me.
JENNIFER: Well then you must have been the last person that saw Howard alive.
CHAUNCEY: He passed away in my office, quite peacefully.
JACK: Can we just get to the meat of the matter? Like how did Howie blow the bankroll? I mean was it bad investments, gambling, what?
CHAUNCEY: I'm sorry.
JACK: How did he lose him umpteen billion Jellybucks?
CHAUNCEY: What makes you think that Howard lost his money?
JACK: Ah.... he.... he didn't lose.... he didn't....
CHAUNCEY: Look as a lawyer in this case I feel I'm not at liberty to discuss the fine points of his financial status.
JENNIFER: Well you see Jack was just asking because when we met Howard he was living on the street. And I was trying to get him a job and he was going to help me with my story on the homeless.
CHAUNCEY: The homeless! Oh my, oh my, with all the property he owned. It sounds just like Howard, doesn't it?
JACK: A real kidder, huh.
CHAUNCEY: Yeah well, for the past sixteen years or so he tried to pretend at different times that he was someone else. From time to time he'd put on a different identity. Oh once, once, he took the Grand Hotel in Berlin and put it into an absolute snit. He convinced the servants there and the complete staff that he was royalty from some postage stamp principality that he'd concocted. Took us the better part of a year to straighten that one out, I can tell you.
JACK: See what did I tell you? I told you the man was off his rocker. He was a loony. I had every right to be worried about him.
CHAUNCEY: No, not worried about Howard. No, no. He wouldn't harm a living creature. No poor Howard, he was lonely and bored and he wanted to have some fun and he had it.
JENNIFER: Yeah, I just feel so terrible for him.
CHAUNCEY: No, no, please you don't have to. As a matter of fact that's why I'm here.
JACK AND JENNIFER LOOK AT EACH OTHER MYSTIFIED.
SCENE TWO: CHAUNCEY POWELL, HOWARD'S LAWYER, HAS COME TO TALK TO JACK AND JENNIFER. THEY ARE PREPLEXED, AS TO WHY HE WANTS TO TALK TO THEM.
JACK: Yes, why are you here?
JENNIFER: Is it because you got my message at the Salem Inn?
CHAUNCEY: I did get your message but I would have come anyway. When Howard arrived in my office he was happier than I'd seen him for ages and it's all because of the two of you. He told me he'd met this very very special couple. As a matter of fact I think that his last regret may have been that your paths didn't cross with him earlier in his life.
JENNIFER: He was such a sweet man, Howard.
JACK: Ah, yes and since Howard was so close to myself and the little woman here perhaps you'd like to share with us what that meeting was supposed to be about. I mean did it have anything to do with perhaps.... changing a will?
JENNIFER ELBOWS HIM.
JENNIFER: Um, has there been any arrangements for a service for Howard?
CHAUNCEY: Yes, I arranged a small and simple service this afternoon at 3 o'clock at Serenity Grove.
JENNIFER: Ah, Serenity Grove? That's right here in Salem.
CHAUNCEY: Yes that was his wish, to be buried in that place that gave him at least a modicum of peace and acceptance. Naturally I'm going to be there. You know, I think Howard would want you two to attend also.
JACK GIVES A BIG SIGH AS IF HE CAN THINK OF NOTHING WORSE.
CHAUNCEY: I hope to see you there, Mr. Deveraux, Mrs. Deveraux.
CHAUNCEY LEAVES. JENNIFER LOOKS EXPECTANTLY AT JACK. HE DOES NOT WANT TO GO AND THEY START TO ARGUE.
JACK: I can't believe this. How many excuses do I have to come up with? How many was that?
JENNIFER: Twelve. But Jack, that's just the point. They're all excuses.
JACK: But they're good excuses. Excellent excuses if I may say so myself.
JENNIFER: Jack, Howard is dead.
JACK: So he won't know the difference if I'm there or not.
JENNIFER: You should go, Jack. It's only right. I mean it's the least you can possibly do.
JACK: AH, HUH! I knew it. I knew it was going to show up in a matter of time. There it is.
JENNIFER: Wait a minute, what are you talking about?
JACK: It's the least I could do! Come on you're blaming me for this, aren't you? You think I'm.... you think it's my fault that he died. Admit it.
JENNIFER: Where's this coming from Jack?
JACK: You think I'm the bad guy don't you? Well I am not the bad guy. I am not the bad guy here. Some days I am but today I'm not. I'll tell you something. Howard died all by himself.
JENNIFER: Alright, do you have any idea why you're acting like this Jack?
JACK: You bet. Because of you.
JENNIFER: No because you're guilty. You're guilty of the way you treated Howard.
JACK: I treated Howard like.... like.... like a saint. I gave him a job. I hired him.
JENNIFER: No, you fired him.
JACK: And I gave him a recommendation.
JENNIFER: I gave him a recommendation.
JACK: On my.... on my letterhead with my signature.
JENNIFER: Jack you are my husband. (Beat) Alright you are my husband and I am going to the funeral and I would like you to be there with me. (Beat) But that's your decision to make.
SHE WALKS OUT.
SCENE THREE: OUTSIDE WE SEE CHAUNCEY ON THE PHONE TO SOMEONE. HE TELLS THE PERSON THAT THE FUNERAL WILL BE SMALL AND THAT THEY WILL DEFINITELY ATTEND. HE IS OBVIOUSLY UP TO SOMETHING CROOKED.
SCENE FOUR: LATER JACK IS STILL AT THE OFFICE WITH VERN.
JACK: I do not believe this. I absolutely cannot believe this.
VERN: Well there it is in black and white and from the way I see it that Howard must have been quite a guy not to mention all that money.
JACK: Howard the bum was actually Howard the rich bum.
VERN: And here's one for the book, the lawyer's legit too. It seems that this Chauncey Powell is the sole legal representative of Howard Hawkins and his company since the firm was founded.
JACK: That bum actually invented the jelly bean.
VERN: There's greatness in all of us Jack.
JACK: Well hang on while I go grab my hymnal.
VERN: Heheheh. Alright now look, answer me. Since you know what you now know, are you going to that funeral or not?
JACK: I don't know. Do I look like I know Vern?
VERN: Well, are you going?
JACK: No, I'm not going! I never liked the guy. Jennifer liked the guy so she's going to the memorial service.
VERN: Well then it doesn't matter one way or the other whether you liked him or not.
JACK: Oh, so you're saying I should go to the memorial service of a man that I really couldn't care less about.
VERN: Oh listen, this isn't about Howard anymore Jack. The question is how much you care about Jennifer. She's going to that funeral and she'd like you to be with her.
JACK: Even if it makes me feel like a hypocrite?
VERN: Well sometimes we have to make sacrifices for the people we love.
JACK: Even if we're totally against doing what it is they want us to do?
VERN: Well I think that's why they call them sacrifices Jack.
VERN WALKS OUT OF THE OFFICE.
JACK: Oh.
SCENE FIVE: JENNIFER IS DRESSED FOR THE FUNERAL AND SHE STOPS BY WINGS TO TALK TO ALICE. SHE TELLS HER THAT SHE IS UPSET THAT JACK WILL NOT COME TO THE FUNERAL WITH HER. ALICE EXPLAINS THAT JACK IS JACK AND THAT IS THE MAN SHE MARRIED. ALICE SAYS THAT HOPEFULLY HE WILL BE ABLE TO EXPRESS HIS FEELINGS EVENTUALLY. JENNIFER SAYS THAT THE FUNERAL MEANS SO MUCH TO HER. ALICE IS A BIT MYSTIFIED WHY IT IS SO IMPORTANT TO HER. JENNIFER SHOWS ALICE THE KEYCHAIN THAT HOWARD GAVE HER AND SAYS IT MAKES HER FEEL PART OF HIS FAMILY.
SCENE SIX: IN ANOTHER PART OF SALEM, WE SEE HAWK GETTING DRESSED FOR THE FUNERAL TOO. HE ALSO HAS A KEYCHAIN EXACTLY LIKE JENNIFER'S.
SCENE SEVEN: THE FUNERAL BEGINS LATER THAT AFTERNOON. CHAUNCEY IS THERE AND SO IS JENNIFER WITH THE MINISTER.
MINISTER: Are we waiting for someone else?
CHAUNCEY: Mrs. Deveraux?
JENNIFER: No, I guess we're not. I guess he's....
JACK RUNS UP TO THE GRAVESIDE.
JACK: Yes, he's.... ah, Reverend you can start anytime now. I'm.... everybody's here.
JENNIFER IS VERY HAPPY.
JACK: Everybody who's anybody.
JENNIFER: Thank you.
JACK: Thank you for what?
JENNIFER: For being here. For Howard and for me.
SHE TAKES HIS HAND AND LOOKS AT HIM WITH GREAT LOVE. THE MINISTER READS THE SERVICE.
SCENE EIGHT: THE SERVICE IS OVER, JACK AND JENNIFER ARE ABOUT TO LEAVE.
JACK: So what are you thinking?
JENNIFER: Ah, I'd just maybe like another minute. I'd just like to say goodbye. Maybe.... maybe you could bring the car around?
JACK: Sure. Ah, take your time.
JENNIFER: Jack, thank you.
JACK: I didn't do anything.
JENNIFER: I just want to apologize because....
JACK: Oh no, no, no. You don't have to apologize to me. I was the one who was wrong. I'm...I'm the one who is sorry.
JENNIFER: But you came and that's all that matters.
JACK: Well I'll just.... I'll just go get the car. I'll be waiting for you.
JACK LEAVES. JENNIFER KNEELS BY THE COFFIN HOLDING A PALE PINK ROSE. SHE BEGINS TO TALK TO HOWARD AND SAY GOODBYE. AS SHE IS ABOUT TO PUT THE ROSE ON THE COFFIN, A HAND REACHES DOWN AND TAKES IT FROM HER. SHE IS STARTLED AND LOOKS UP TO SEE HAWK STANDING THERE. HE TUCKS THE ROSE BEHIND HER LEFT EAR.
HAWK: Forgive me. I know he will. But I just knew it would look so right there. Against your hair, your cheek than on a cold barren grave.
A HORN STARTS TO SOUND.
JACK: HEY JENNIFER COME ON. SHAKE A LEG.
JENNIFER: Um, I have to go. Excuse me. Thank you.
HER EYES ARE FULL OF TEARS AS SHE WALKS TO THE CAR. SHE PAUSES AND LOOKS BACK AT HAWK.
