john knowles

a separate peace

(Natalie Merchant’s song “Jealousy” is playing faintly in the background, but Zac jumps up to turn off the CD player.)

Zac: Hey guys, let’s go find a balcony. (Grinning) We’re on the 20th floor again, and, this time, we have our Super Soakers.

Isaac: Zac, we’re studying. (He sets his graphing calculator down and rests his elbows on the hotel room desk with his head in his hands. He begins to grab bunches of his hair and squeeze it.)

Taylor: (Twisting sections of hair at the back of his head while chewing on the end of his pencil thoughtfully. He stops both to look at Zac.) Zac, tell me the y-intercept of a line that passes through points (5,2) and (4,1).

Zac: (Stares at him blankly.) Eh, a number? No, maybe it’s a letter? How about “y” - why do you have to do this now? (Begins jumping on the bed.)

Taylor: Zac, stop that. Just wait until Algebra comes to take you as its prisoner.

Isaac: Yeah (Gives up on his work), and he knows what you did last summer . . .

Zac: So I threw a couple of water balloons. (Conspiratorially) But wasn’t Taylor the one who virtually killed a man when he threw that dime over the side of the Empire State Building? I mean, I hear a guy is missing from the docks . . .

Isaac: Wasn’t he wearing a huge raincoat? And, I thought, eh, Zac, don’t be scared, I thought I saw the shadow of a hook the other night when we were coming back from the concert.

Taylor: You guys are so lame. (He smiles and rolls his eyes.)

(Mr. Hanson knocks and comes into the hotel room carrying Zoe.)

Mr. Hanson: Hi. Can I persuade you guys to take a break from math for awhile? Just wondering if you had time to discuss A Separate Peace yet?

Isaac: That’s an awesome book, but it’s freaky too. I mean, could I be that cold and harsh to someone I was best friends with and then pretend everything was okay again?

Zac: (With a knowing look, he draws out his brother’s name.) I-ike.

Isaac: Wha-at?

(Zac points to Taylor and then nods at his father as if to remind Isaac of something. Isaac tries to hold back a smile when he realizes what Zac is thinking of. Zac starts to laugh, but then looks around innocently when his dad notices his expression.)

Mr. H: So are you going to give us the punchline, Zachary O’Brian? Or is it David Zackerman? Jay Zacko? What do you think of your brother, the comedian, Zoe? (Smiles at his own little joke.)

Zac: Huh? I didn’t say anything. Nope, not me. Not Zac Hanson.

Isaac: Dad, he’s going to be the next Spielberg, remember? Although, Zac Hanson may be just what late night television is waiting for? Hmmmm . . . (Trying to divert his father’s attention away from Zac’s look earlier.) Stupid human tricks -- that’s been done, but you could give it a whole new meaning, Zac-o.

Taylor: He’s already perfecting his impression of a mute. Hey, why don’t you work a little harder on that one? (Smiling)

Zac: (Starts to make that sign that Taylor referred to as “flicking someone off” in sign language.)

Taylor: Haha. You can’t fool the master of language translation, oh Drummer Boy. (Zoe giggles and reaches out to grab her brother's tail and won't let go. Taylor grins and holds Zoe's tiny hand until she lets go on her own.)

Mr. H: Guys, your mom wanted me to make sure that you guys started discussing that novel before we leave New York, okay? I’m on J/A/M/Z duty while your mom does a little shopping for souvenirs. She wanted to get something for your grandparents’ anniversary next month. I don’t know if she’ll be able to get by that fan club of yours down there . . . What are they called again? Red jellybeans? Orange soda? Blue M&Ms?

Taylor: Green Jell-O, Dad? They're cool, by the way.

Mr. H: Okay, whatever. (In an Arnold Schwarzzenagger voice). I’ll be back. (He leaves.).

Zac: (With a smile) Dad is a weirdo.

Isaac: I guess, the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree in your case, brother.

Zac: Hope you don’t find mouth wash in your shampoo bottle tomorrow. Those little hotel samples can look so much alike.

Taylor: Mmm. Minty fresh hair, Isaac.

Isaac: Well, as you know, nobody cares about my hair, right, Tay?

Taylor: I’m sure no one remembers that I needed to wipe my nose on national television either.

Isaac: Well, alrighty, what about A Separate Peace?

Taylor: (In an army sergeant’s voice.) Zac, synopsis.

Zac: Give me 50 push-ups instead, Sergeant Hanson, sir!

Taylor: Okay, I’ll start us off. It’s told in flashback . . .

Isaac: Yeah, this guy remembers back to the time he almost killed his so-called best friend while they lived at a prep-school during WWII. He didn’t end up killing him.

Taylor: . . . Not at first . . .

Isaac: Right, not on his first try . . . The guy just messed up his leg really bad. This was even worse for him because he was easily the best, or among the best, athletes Devon (their school) had ever known . . .

Taylor: Yeah, but what made Gene want to injure Phineas? Just before he jounced . . .

Zac: That is a really weird word, don’t ya’ think? It stuck with me . . . jounced . . .

Taylor: (continuing) Just before he jounced the limb of the tree, causing Phineas to lose his balance and fall, crushing his leg.

Isaac: (In dramatic voice) The fatal jounce that ultimately killed him. Yowch! (Back to normal voice) Come on, Tay. You could see it coming. It happened blow by blow. Phineas just had things too easy. People listened when he said something. He didn’t even have to think about it, people just did what he told them to do -- no matter how crazy it was. The last straw was when Gene realized that even though it seemed like both he and Phineas were equals, that they were both good at something, Phineas didn’t have to work for it. It came naturally to him. All that time, Gene was working, competing, and hating his, eh, best friend. He couldn’t accept the fact that his friend didn’t hate him back . . .

Taylor: So Phineas was good at something. Gene wanted to kill him for that? I don’t buy it.

Zac: Tay. I wasn’t going to say anything . . .

Isaac: Don’t. Zac, I mean it . . . He didn’t mean to kill him. What he did was something he never thought he could ever do to someone else. He never realized the intensity of the consequences . . . until it was too late. Then, the evil had grown into his heart. His heart turned cold.

Taylor: His friends had their suspicions all along, but only Lepper, that kid who goes crazy after he joins the Army, seriously accuses him.

Zac: He basically says, (Creepy voice) "I know what you did last summer!"

Taylor: (chuckling) Yeah. At the same time, Jennifer Love Hewitt or Gene? There's no contest, right Ike?

Isaac: (He gives his brother an amused look. His brow wrinkles as his eyebrows go up.) Jennifer Love Hewitt, according to a recent YM magazine article, doesn't return the, eh, love for us. Sorry, buddy!

Zac: You read YM?

Isaac: So I might have seen Jessica's copy or something?

Zac: But, Mom won't let her subscribe. She says it's silly.

Isaac: (Trying to dodge the issue.) Seriously though, Lepper is the only character with any guts, I must admit. When the truth comes out, when all of their friends put Gene on trial for the tree incident, he ultimately does kill Phineas.

Taylor: He kills him with something worse than causing him to fall out of a tree. He disrespects him to his face.

Zac: Tay, we have to tell you.

Isaac: What? Now?

Taylor: Zac, you were the one to mention the balcony. You guys aren't planning a freak accident, are you? Should I be afraid?

Zac: You know, we’re brothers. And brothers fight sometimes. But, you know, we’re basically best friends.

Isaac: (Muttering) Seen enough of our long-form video, Zac?

Taylor: Like Gene and Phineas — "best friends"? (smirking)

Isaac: (Changing the topic) Did you know that Phineas is the name of a Tracian king in Greek mythology?

Taylor: Doesn’t he save the Argonauts by telling them how to pass through the rocks that guarded the entrance to the sea by clashing against each other when anything went between them? He taught them to release a dove that would fly between the rocks and allow them to sail through safely.

Isaac: Isn’t that what Phineas did for his friends at Devon when he returned to school with his broken leg?

Taylor: A dove is a symbol of peace -- which appears in the title of this book. Phineas creates a separate peace for Gene and the others. It’s a peace apart from the War that was clashing guys their age in its rocky passage.

Isaac: Gene might have been doing Phineas a favor by injuring him to the point of never having to be drafted by the Army.

Taylor: That’s what Gene said, and it's what finally killed Phineas in the end.

Zac: Didn’t he die because he broke his leg again and the marrow from the broken bone seeped into his blood and caused his heart to stop?

Taylor: That’s the scientific reason why he died. He died because he had to face the truth -- that his best friend’s jealousy ruined his chances of ever doing the one thing he dreamed of, which was to serve his country in the war.

Isaac: But Gene tried to tell him that in the beginning.

Taylor: Who wants to believe that your best friend hates you, when you’ve just had to face that fact that you may never walk again?

Zac: Taylor, we, we . . .

Isaac: We have something to tell you.

Taylor: This isn’t about my broken arm, is it?

Isaac: (Zac looks at Isaac and nods.) Your broken what? Oh yeah, that was a bike accident, wasn’t it? Weren’t you just goofing around on your bike and you were trying to do that flip off the pipe?

Zac: Tay, let me just say that it was all . . . it was all . . . it was all Ike’s idea. Okay, I thought of it, but he said we should do it. You’re the oldest, Ike. I’m just the older baby brother.

(Taylor gives Isaac a puzzled look.)

Isaac: Let’s not be all dramatic about it. Taylor, here’s the thing. So you’re more photogenic, so someone said my voice is charmless, so your name is tattoed across girls’ foreheads, so you love interacting with the crowds and they love to do what you tell them to do . . .

Zac: . . . so you interrupt me all the time and treat me like a baby, (imitating Taylor's voice), "Quiet, Zac!" — it’s not a big deal, so you think some day I’ll be out of the band and Mackie will take my place at the drums or else, I know you would love to be the drummer, wouldn't you? so . . .

Taylor: Alright, alright! So you guys hate me? Is that what you’re saying? I thought we were a band, I thought we were brothers. We’re never going to break up, remember? Oh God, this isn’t happening!

Isaac: Taylor, we didn’t want to tell you. This wasn’t how this was supposed to turn out.

Zac: (Moaning) Why did we have to talk about this stupid book anyway?! I hated it.

Isaac: Look, Taylor. We’re so over it. This is just stuff we all have to deal with. What Zac was trying not to laugh about before was one way that we’ve tried to equal things out a little bit. But I guess we have to let you in on our so-called secret. You don’t have to look all weird, we definitely would not think of, what’s that word again, Zac?

Zac: Jounce?

Isaac: Yeah, jouncing you out of a tree. What are we psycho?

Taylor: Well, as a matter of fact, I’m beginning to wonder.

Zac: I still know . . . (Then lunges at his brother. Taylor gets up to karate kick him.)

Isaac: Do you want to know what it is, Tay?

Taylor: (Stops in mid-kick and then sits down. Zac jumps into his lap.) Hey, Carson! I think Zac misses you. (Zac gets up and goes to sit back on the bed.)

Isaac: (Takes a deep sigh.) Well, Zac and I decided that if you’re going to get all the attention, we decided we would have our hand in the kind of attention you would get. (He glances over at Zac. Zac starts to stifle a grin.)

Zac: Yeah, we would give you a little fashion advice.

Isaac: Exactly. I mean, if the world was so interested in our brother, why not give them something to really talk about. Why not make sure that whenever they saw you, it would truly be an unforgettable experience?

Zac: That’s why we had a little talk with Keki (Keki Mingus is the band's stylist.)and told her all about how you were too shy to ask for really tight clothes, but that, that’s what you privately loved to wear.

Isaac: I mean, she was extremely interested in showing us the latest in new fabrics and old fabrics that used to be available only for lounge chairs that were being made into, eh, “super sensational fashion statements.” I’m pretty sure she said, “super sensational.”

Zac: Oh yeah, that’s what she said.

Isaac: She couldn’t believe that you would actually wear these “ensembles.” I mean, it was like a dream come true for her. There are very few people she could convince to even be caught dead on a fashion runway with some of those, eh, “statements,” but to have them be seen at the Grammies, on talk shows, in sold-out concerts -- it was almost too much! She told us that she's planning some really incredible clothes for the Albertane tour this summer.

Zac: It was such a cinch to convince you that you looked, Ike? “Supa’ just supa’”

Isaac: Well, that’s it, Tay. You’re going to want to send us to the top of Mount Everestt to freeze our noses off now that you know how cold our hearts can be.

Taylor: (Looking stunned.) That’s it? That’s the big confession?! Humiliation by fashion?! Are you serious? You don't think I'd actually wear anything I didn't want to, do you? Besides, haven’t you surfed onto those web sites and read your own fashion reviews? Please! (He looks at his two brothers looking normal in their warm-up pants and t-shirts, and then at the jeans and maroon shirt he’s wearing.)

Zac: At least, we can be ourselves in our own hotel rooms.

Isaac: (Ignoring Zac. Suspiciously) What are you saying, Tay? You’ve been onto us for awhile and have already taken your revenge?

Taylor: (Innocently) If you can’t trust your own brother, who can you trust?

Isaac: Yeah, who can you trust? At least, we know that our family, our brother and sisters will always be there for us no matter what? Right?

Zac: I’m going to cry. That was so touching. (He walks over and throws his arms around his two brothers. And starts screaming and pulling their heads together.)

Taylor and Isaac: Zac! Zac!

Taylor: You're not going to do something like this when we tape that "All-Time Greatest Sibling Videos of All-time" thing! Are you?

(Jessica comes into the room.)

Jessica: Hey, it’s Isaac, Taylor and Zac. And they’re Hanson.

Zac: You’re hilarious, Jessie! (They stop hugging.)

Jessica: Guys, Dad sent me in to tell you it’s time for dinner. And Mom told me to let you three know that she wants to hear all about A Separate Peace. She said that it's very important to not dress up. You’re fine in your casual clothes.

Isaac: What? She's back already?

Jessica: Yeah, some of your fans came with too many cameras and she kind of just wanted to stay in. Anyway, Zac, let me try on your yellow Docs. Ple-e-ease.

Zac: Jessie, when you join the band, we’ll get you the orangiest ones we can find, okay? They would look just so terrific on you! (He sneaks a peak at his brothers. Taylor gives a “thumbs up.” Isaac winks his approval.)

Jessie: You guys get weirder by the minute. You better get going. I’m starving.