Wish Upon A Christmas Star Part 10

The kids in the auditorium stand in shocked silence as Danny Amatullo has just announced that their efforts are in vain and there isn't going to be a show.

Danny storms out of the auditorium glaring at Morloch who stands in the doorway as he passes. Morloch is confused as to why he’s been given a dirty look.

In the lobby Danny almost bumps into Mrs Berg, who calls out after him: “Danny when can I audition to be in your show?”

Danny keeps walking towards the exit, turning his head to shout: “Don’t worry about it Mrs Berg there isn’t going to be a show!”

Mrs Berg is confused: “No show, oh my...”

Danny runs down the steps of the school and into the street, almost colliding with a passing car. The car driver blasts the horn at Danny to try and get him out of the way.

Back in the auditorium the room is a buzz of muttering as the kids express their shock.

Nicole is the first to speak out loud: "So does this mean just as things were coming together, it's all over?"

All eyes turn to Nicole and then to Doris, who had become the groups unofficial leader. Doris is silent for a moment and then replies: "No, we don't give up at that easily the School of the Arts."

Chris buts in "Come on Schwartz, you heard Amatullo, there's no point in going on, his Father isn't interested anymore, thanks to Morloch."

Doris fixes Chris with a harsh glare: "Of course there's a point Chris. Just becomes Danny's Father has some kind of bee in his bonnet doesn't mean we have to give up on a show. We will carry on and prove them all wrong!"

Leroy chimes in, partly because he agrees with Doris but partly because he wants to disagree with Chris: "Doris is right. You may want to give up Chris but we can still help raise some money for charity which is what this thing is all about."

Cleo nods in agreement: "Yes, the people in Ethiopia still need our help and our money. We have to carry on for them!"

Chris pulls a face at Leroy: "I wasn't saying I wanted to give up, I was just repeating what Danny said."

Doris claps her hands together to get peoples attention: "Okay everyone, we've got a lot of work to do and not much time."

As Doris starts to relay orders to the other Kids, Morloch stands in the stalls shaking his head.

After a moment Morloch calls out: “Schwartz? What are you doing? Didn’t you hear Amatullo this show is finished?”

Doris glares at the vice principal: “Morloch! Didn't you hear what I said. We are going to put this show on regardless. Now you helped create this mess and you’re going to help fix it!”

Morloch is surprised by the outburst: “Don’t you mean Mr Morloch?”

Doris pauses for a moment to consider his question and then snaps: “No I mean Morloch! School is over for the day and as this is your fault I don’t see why I should be cordial with you. You know when you talk to Holly or Nicole it’s Miss Laird or Miss Chapman. The same with all the other pretty girls but with me it’s “Schwartz” as though I’m one of the guys! So until you can show me some respect then outside of school time I’ll address you as Morloch! Is that clear?”

Morloch is taken a little off guard by Doris’ statement, he didn’t even realise he did that. He can see Miss Sherwood standing behind Doris on the stage nodding. The look on her face tells Morloch she supports Doris, so reluctantly he agrees: “I guess it’ll have to be.”

Doris continues: "Good I'll be along to your office shortly to give you your orders."

Morloch pulls a stern face, thinking Doris has over stepped the mark. He is about to challenge Doris' statement, when he again sees Sherwood's expression of support for Doris and decides it's better to leave things as they are.

Instead he turns and leaves the auditorium, while Doris returns to organising people.

Miss Sherwood softly calls Doris’ name but Doris is so preoccupied she doesn't hear, so Sherwood calls again. When Doris still doesn’t reply Miss Sherwood raises her voice: “Doris!”

A frustrated Doris responds without even looking over to who is calling her: “What? Can’t you see I’m a little busy here?”

As Doris turns round and sees Miss Sherwood she quickly softens the tone of her voice: “Oh I’m sorry Miss Sherwood I didn’t realise it was you.”

Sherwood waves her hand to indicate she wants Doris to approach her. A puzzled Doris moves closer: “What’s the matter?”

Sherwood looks around cautiously to see if anyone is listening and then whispers: “I have my costume!”

Doris struggles to hear: “What did you say?”

Frustratedly Sherwood takes Doris’ hand and pulls her towards the Make Up room. Doris is confused: “Miss Sherwood, what are you doing? I’ve got a show to organise!”

A couple of dancers are in the make up room and Sherwood snaps at them: “Out!”

As the dancers leave she turns to Doris: “Now lock the door!”

Doris is even more confused and starts to protest: “Miss Sherwood, I’ve....”

However Sherwood interrupts: “Doris, please just lock the door, I want to show you my costume.”

Doris quickly does as she’s told.

Sherwood is wearing a long rain coat. When she realises the door is locked and no one can see them she slowly unties the belt on her coat and opens it for Doris to see what she is wearing underneath: “Do you think it’s too much?”

As Doris sees what her English teacher is wearing a huge smile crosses her face: “No...no it’s perfect!”

Sherwood smiles, until there is a knock on the door and she hastily pulls her rain coat closed and ties the belt to cover up what she is wearing.

In the auditorium Chris is standing on a ladder painting some of the scenery. Suddenly he loses his balance knocking the tin of paint to the ground. At that moment Leroy had been walking by and narrowly missed being covered in paint.

Leroy is annoyed and yells at Chris: “You did that on purpose!”

Chris is shocked by the outburst: “Don’t be stupid man it was a simple accident!”

Leroy shakes his head and glares at Chris: “An Accident! You mean just like if my fist collides with your face? That kind of accident?”

Chris is now becoming annoyed: “What is your problem man? I said I was sorry about the money. You didn’t have to gamble it away. No one was forcing you. Yes I thought it was a sure thing but surely you know with any kind of gamble there’s always going to be an element doubt. After all none of us can predict the future.”

Leroy snaps: “Well I sure know never to trust anything you say again! Just keep out of my way will you!”

Chris yells back: “Or what are you gonna make me?”

Leroy moves closer to Chris invading his personal space: “Yeah I’m gonna make you!”

Chris’ blood starts to boil: “Come on then!”

With that he pushes Leroy, who pushes him harder in retaliation. Soon they are trading blows.

Nicole calls out: “Guys stop it! This is no way to settle your differences!”

Cleo joins in: “Yes it’s Christmas, we shouldn’t be fighting.”

As Leroy blocks a punch from Donlon he sees an opportunity and swings his right fist hard and hits Chris squarely on the jaw.”

Chris yelps in pain but it only serves to make him more determined and he charges at Leroy, knocking him down on the floor.

Nicole calls out for help: “Jesse!”

Jesse comes running from behind the stage area, sees his two friends fighting and steps in trying to separate. Dwight too tries to help in a desperate bid to change Holly’s perception of him. However, he only ends up being in the wrong place at the wrong time and as both Chris and Leroy simultaneously throw punches, Dwight ends up being the target for both punches. The whole scene looks kind of comical and Holly and Cleo can’t help but laugh. Which was not the reaction that Dwight was hoping for.

Jesse manages to get hold of both of Chris’s arms and hold them behind his back to stop him lashing out again.

Leroy sees his opportunity: “That’s it Jess, you hold him and I’ll hit him.”

As Leroy moves closer Nicole steps in the way: “To hit him you’ll have to get through me. Would you hit a girl?”

Leroy stops in his tracks realising that things have gone too far. Glaring at Chris, he turns and jumps down the stage steps and runs out of the auditorium.

Jesse releases his grip on Chris who brushes himself down. Cleo helps Dwight up from the floor.

Nicole comments: “Well, if we’ve stopped behaving like Children, we’d better get this mess cleared up before Doris get’s back!”

In the office Mrs Berg takes a sip of a yellow liquid and then starts humming Feliz Navidad too herself.

Lydia enters and smiles: “Evening Mrs Berg, you’re certainly in a good mood.”

Mrs Berg looks round to see if anyone is listening: “Well it’s the Mailman.”

Lydia is confused and asks questioningly: “The Mailman?”

Mrs Berg nods: “Why yes he’s given me a present! I think he has a little crush on me.”

Mrs Berg motions to a bottle of egg nog, which someone has obviously taken a drink from and asks: “Would you like to join me?”

Lydia declines the offer and asks: “Isn’t it a little early to be drinking?”

Mrs Berg shakes her head: “Why Miss Grant Christmas is virtually upon us. So I don’t think that’s too early do you? Besides I’m drowning my sorrows.”

Lydia is concerned: “Can I ask What sorrows you’re drowning?”

Mrs Berg tuts: “Well it’s Danny Amatullo. I so wanted to be in the show but he tells me there is no show. So my dreams of Fame and fortune are over before they’ve even begun.”

Lydia is puzzled: “The show is cancelled? Why?”

Mrs Berg Shrugs: “Beats me!”

At that moment Morloch enters the office and Mrs Berg quickly covers the egg nog with her scarf. She then turns to Morloch and says: “Maybe we should ask him.”

Morloch glares at her: “Don’t start with me Mrs Berg, I’m not in the mood!”

With that he disappears into his office and slams the door. Lydia and Mrs Berg exchange puzzled glances.

A few moments later Doris enters the office, looking for Morloch.

Mrs Berg warns: “He’s in his office but he’s like a bear with a sore head. I wouldn’t disturb him if I were you."

Doris smirks: “Good and what I have to say will probably put him in an even worse mood.”

As Doris enters the vice principals office without knocking, Lydia shakes her head: “I don’t know what is happening around here anymore but think I’ll call it a night. Goodnight Mrs Berg.”

Mrs Berg takes another drink of her eggnog: “Oh Goodnight dear.”

In Morloch’s office Doris snaps at the vice principal: “Ok Morloch, you got us into this mess and now you can get us out!”

Morloch sits silently for a moment with a stern look on his face. Doris starts to feel a little nervous, wondering if she’s overplayed her hand.

After a few moments Morloch finally speaks: “Don’t you think this games gone on long enough? You’ve had your fun now I think it should stop.”

Doris hesitates before replying unsure of what to do next. Eventually she takes a deep breath and continues her assault: “Morloch you’ll get your respect back when you’ve done something to deserve it. For the last year and a half you’re disrespected me and treated me like one of the guys. Do you know what that does to someone’s self esteem and perception of themselves?.....”

Morloch interrupts: “Well judging by your current behaviour it’s toughened you up and turned you into a fighter. In your chosen career that will come in pretty handy, don’t you think?”

Doris thinks Morloch has actually made a good point and feels like she’s losing the argument. She think for a moment before answering: “Yes but there’s a fine line, one person’s toughening up becomes another person’s breaking point.”

Not wishing to continue with this argument for fear of losing it Doris changes the subject: “Anyway I don’t have time for this. I’ve come here to tell you that as you’re the one who upset Danny’s father, that you are the one that is going to fix this situation and get him here at 700pm on the 22^nd for the show!”

Morloch is puzzled: “And just how do you expect me to do that?”

Doris shrugs: “I don’t know! That’s your problem. Just make sure you do it!”

Morloch raises an eyebrow and asks: “And if I don’t, what wrath are you going to unleash on me?”

Doris smiles: “Oh I don’t have any Wrath...”

Morloch laughs and interrupts: “Then you don’t have a deal. You see Schwartz, in any game, you should never give away your advantage and you should always leave something in reserve.”

Doris pauses savouring the moment: “I said I don’t have any Wrath but you didn’t let me finish, Morloch! You see I was hoping that in the spirit of Christmas you would want to do this good deed to help other people. After all that’s what our show is all about but Miss Sherwood knew you wouldn’t help me from the goodness of your heart. So she gave me a little insurance, an advantage if you like. She says to tell you that Christmas lunch is cancelled unless Danny’s parents are here in the auditorium at 700pm sharp on December 22^nd! Got it? Good, no excuses then!”

With that she leaves the office before Morloch says something else to throw her. Morloch sits alone with his face like thunder!

Later that evening Danny lies on his bed at home wondering what to do. The atmosphere at home was very tense during the evening meal, his father didn't even look at him. His mother had tried to break the ice and get father and son talking but Danny’s father had just stormed out of the apartment. Now Danny wasn’t sure how much more of this he could take.

At Caruso’s Bruno is surprised to see Holly coming through the main door and down the steps. She greets him with a warm smile.

Bruno asks: “What are you doing here? I didn’t expect to see you so soon.”

Holly hands him a bag: “Here, I got this for you.”

At first Bruno is hesitant, worrying that Holly is trying to get back together with him, by buying presents: “Look holly I don’t think this is a good .....”

Holly interrupts: “Will you just look inside before you say anything!”

Bruno takes a deep breath and looks in the bag. Pulling out the contents

Bruno smiles and Holly laughs.

In the bag was an elf costume. Bruno clears his throat: “Well what can I say? Thank you. I guess there’s no getting out of wearing this now?”

Holly laughs again: “No and I didn’t want you to let Mr Shorofsky down.”

Bruno smirks: “Well I guess will he at least will be pleased.”

For a long moment there is silence between them. With Holly hoping that Bruno will ask her to stick around.

The silence is only broken when Caruso calls over to them: “Hey Bruno, there’s a phone call for you. It’s Doris.”

Awkwardly Bruno makes his apologies: “I better get that and then I better get back to work.”

Holly nods: “Yep, I shouldn’t keep you from your work. I’ll see you around, maybe?”

Bruno smiles: “Sure thing and thanks again for the costume.”

Holly turns to leave: “No problem.”

As she turns to leave she sighs, disappointed that things hadn’t turned out as she’d planned.

Bruno answers the phone: “Hello.”

An excited Doris is on the line: “Listen Bruno I need a favour. Can you write me a song for the show?”

Bruno shrugs: “Sure, no problem.”

Doris: “That’s great I’ll be by first thing tomorrow morning before school”

Bruno is shocked: “Wait, you want me to do it tonight? It’s already 10.00pm and I’ve got another hour of work to do.”

Doris sighs: “Is that a problem? It’s just I need it for the show and we need to learn it and practice it and time is running out!”

Bruno gives in: “Okay, Okay I’ll do it!”

Doris is excited once again: “Oh Bruno thanks so much, you’re a star.”

Holly stands outside of Caruso’s watching Bruno.

At the Amatullo apartment Danny comes to a decision and starts putting some clothes into a holdall.

Later back when Caruso’s has closed Bruno sits alone at the piano, trying to come up with ideas for the song Doris wants for the show. However, he feels tired and doesn’t have very much inspiration for coming up with song ideas’ He looks up at the clock on the wall and realises that he’s going to be up all night working on the song.

Bruno closes the lid of the piano. Resting his elbows on the lid and puts his head in his hands: “Dammit why is it always so hard to say no to Doris.”

Holly is still outside of Caruso’s watching Bruno and is concerned that Bruno seems down and upset. She misinterprets the situation thinking he’s upset that he has split up with her.

Bruno spies some sheet music on the piano top, opens it and plans a lovely melancholy piece of Christmas music. His hope is that it will give him some inspiration.

As he plays he thinks about Heather and how much he misses her. Wishing he could feel her arms around him once again.

Outside Holly hears the music and again misinterprets Bruno’s feelings thinking that he’s thinking about her. She wants to run inside to comfort him and tell him that she loves him but holds back not sure how she could explain that she’s been standing outside for a couple of hours. Instead she decides to wait. If Bruno is feeling this upset now, then in a couple of days she hopes he’ll come running after her.

As she turns she looks up and sees a bright star shining in the sky. Smiling to herself she closes her eyes tightly and makes a wish that she and Bruno will soon be back together.

At the Amatullo apartment, Danny grabs the bag that he’s packed and quietly creeps down the darkened hallway, not wishing to wake up his Mother, who is fast asleep.

As he reaches the front door he hears a noise from other side. Not sure what it is at first, he soon realises it’s his father putting the key into the lock. Danny quickly hides in the closet in the hallway.

As Carmine enters he drops his keys and curses himself. Danny can tell that his father has been drinking. Carmine picks up the keys, closes the door and heads to the kitchen to get some milk.

When the coast is clear Danny, slowly and quietly opens the closet door and moves to the front door. Looking back down the hallway he slowly opens the door.

Just at that moment Carmine comes back into the hall on his way to bed. He sees Danny and calls out: “Where on earth do you think you’re going at this time of night?”

Danny stands in silence and Carmine sees the bag his son is holding: “Running away are we? Can’t stand the heat so you’re getting out. Is that it?”

Danny hangs his head down as he stands in silence, feeling ashamed by his father’s words.

Carmine continues: “What’s the matter? Cat got your tongue?”

Danny sighs: “What the hell is there to say? You’ve made your thoughts of me perfectly clear. If I thought there was some way we could sort this out. If there was some kind of magic word that would make everything better then I’d say it. Pop, Is there anything we can say to stop me leaving?”

Carmine looks at his son, fuelled up by alcohol he is in no mood to back down: “You’re weak Danny you always have been. Your brother Vinnie, he was the strong one. He never let me down. Why did he have to die. You could never live up to him”

Danny swallows hard and desperately tries to hold back the tears. He’d always believed that his father had wished that he had died instead of his brother and having heard his father’s words, he’s now even more convinced than ever.

Danny lashes out: “I guess you wish Vinnie was here right now instead of me. Don’t you?”

Carmine nods slowly: “He was a great kid....”

Carmine’s voice trails off as he begins to sob.

Danny had rarely seen his father this emotional and a tear rolls down his own check. Part of him feels sorry for his father and part of him hates the ways his father always makes him feel so inadequate.

Danny’s voice starts shaking: “Pop, just tell me you want me to stay and I’ll stay.”

Gina Amatullo had been woken by the commotion and had made her way to the hallway. She stood, with tears rolling down her face listening to the exchange between her husband and her son but now couldn’t help but speak: “Tell him Carmine. We’ve lost one son, don’t make us lose another. Tell him damn you.”

Carmine turns his angry gaze upon his wife: “Why don’t you stay out of it. The kid is finally standing up for himself. If he needs to leave then he should go...”

Gina screams: “How can you say that about your own flesh and blood. How can you be so heartless and cruel. All the kid wants is his father’s approval. It’s not his fault that his brother died. When are you going to stop blaming him? When are you going to let him get close to you?”

Carmine yells back: “How can I get close to him. That’s what I did with Vinnie and he died. Then Danny nearly died. I can’t get close to him again, I can’t run the risk. It hurt too much to lose a son I can’t run the risk of losing another one. I can’t.”

Carmine sits on the floor sobbing. Gina rushes over to him to comfort him: “Don’t you see, you are the one missing out. You can’t protect yourself from getting hurt by not getting close to your son. You are only hurting yourself more but not getting close to him.”

Carmine wipes the tears away: “You’re right, I’m just being stupid. I realise now that I’m the one hurting the boy and it’s not his fault. I’ll try, I really will. Danny can you ever forgive me? Danny?.....”

Gina and Carmine look towards the open doorway where Danny had been standing but now there is no one there. Having heard his father say “If he needs to leave, then he should go.” Danny had made up his mind there was nothing left for him at home. He’d picked up his bag and left quietly. His parents had carried on shouting at each other without even realising that Danny had gone. Danny hadn’t heard anything else his father had said.

Gina runs to the open door and screams: “DANNY!”

However, there is no one there to hear as Danny is already out into the cold dark night not knowing where to go or what to do. He pulls up the collar on his coat hoping to keep out as much of the cold as possible and makes his way down the street.

To be continued.....