Cost of Living

The play goes back in time to early September. Jess, who is the child of an immigrant and poor, waits awkwardly in an upscale, accessible apartment near Princeton. John enters. He is extremely attractive and uses a wheelchair due to cerebral palsy. They are both in their twenties. Jess is interviewing to work as John’s caretaker, who will bathe and groom him. John’s questioning is confrontational. He balks when she refers to him as “differently-abled,” calling the term “fucking retarded” (18).

John asks Jess why she wants the job. He pushes her until she admits that she wants it for the money. Jess avoids giving personal details about herself. She says that she does have experience bathing another person. Looking at her resume, John notes that she is currently working a lot of different jobs, mostly in bars that are open late, but Jess reassures him that she would have no trouble waking up early. He also sees that Jess went to Princeton, and Jess confirms that she graduated with honors. John questions why she is still around and working so many low-wage jobs. Proudly, John says that he moved to Princeton from Cambridge to get his PhD in political science. He waits for Jess to acknowledge that he means Harvard, which she does.

Studying her resume again, John asks: “How much life have you lived?” (21) Jess avoids answering, and John goes on to say that he doesn’t hire from agencies because he has the money to pay out-of-pocket, and agency workers are limited in what they’ll do for him. Alert, Jess asks what tasks go “beyond the basics” (22). John clarifies that it’s whatever he wants, but “within reason” (23), noting that Jess is different from the people who usually apply for this job. Jess questions what that means, but John demurs.

As a belated response to how much life she has lived, Jess says: “A lot” (23). She becomes more assertive, explaining that she has to question when a man won’t be specific about a job that requires her to do whatever he wants. John questions again why she is there if she went to Princeton, and Jess replies, “If you don’t understand why where I went to school, that I went to school, doesn’t mean shit for some people—then I dunno what yer payin for in there” (23). Finally, he offers her the job and tells her to be there at six in the morning.

Ani is in her early forties and uses a wheelchair. She enters her apartment, which is accessible but much emptier than John’s. Ani is has quadriplegia due to a severe incomplete spinal cord injury. She has partial function in some of her fingers. She is married to Eddie, but they are separated and haven’t seen each other since she was injured in a car accident six months earlier. It’s raining, and Eddie enters, remembering suddenly to close his umbrella to avoid bad luck. Eddie prattles about painting the walls for her mental health, and Ani responds with dry quips. Eddie bustles, trying to be helpful. Then he asks if she has lost weight, knowing immediately that this was the wrong thing to say. Eddie jokingly takes her arm and punches himself in the face with it.

The moment is extremely awkward. Eddie realizes that his gesture was weird and unfunny, and Ani is not amused. Eddie goes back to bustling, offering to move her bed, and Ani finally stops him with a firm no. She asks what Eddie was doing, standing outside in the rain, and Eddie babbles more, suggesting that her insurance might cover a UV light. Ani comments that she is still on Eddie’s insurance. She mentions their divorce papers, but Eddie dismisses them as “just papers” (28), offering to hold off for the sake of insurance.

Eddie prattles more about emails he had sent with more holistic therapies, and Ani asks wryly if Eddie is trying to get her off his plan. Eddie insists that he isn’t, adding, “I’ve been thinking of you” (29). Bitterly, Ani wonders if Eddie was thinking about her during her surgeries and a bout of sepsis, or any other times over the last six months. Eddie replies that he thought Ani might not want to see him, and Ani asks, “What in the world would give you that idea” (29). Eddie talks about more holistic treatments, and Ani stops him, calling it all fake. She thanks him for helping her set up the apartment and dismisses him, as her nurse will be there soon.

Eddie confesses that some of his belongings had ended up in her boxes, but he forgot to bring suitcases, and some suitcases will be showing up soon. He avoids mentioning who will be bringing them. Immediately, Ani says: “She can’t come in here" (30), referring to Eddie’s girlfriend. Eddie agrees to wait outside, then remembers that it’s raining. Ani insists that she doesn’t care where he waits. He offers to turn on some music, which is supposed to help with her physical therapy. Eddie wants to help, but Ani isn’t interested. She says that she is angry and sad, and she is allowed to be angry and sad. Additionally, her spinal cord is shattered and isn’t going to get better, and she can mail Eddie’s things.

On his phone, Eddie plays cheerful music, trying to boost her mood. He starts dancing, trying to draw her in, but finally realizes that he’s just rubbing it in her face that she can’t dance. Ani tells him to turn the music off, and he does. She tells him that he never could dance, and Eddie replies: “Look who’s talkin” (33). They stare at each other and after a beat, they suddenly start laughing, revealing the warmth that was once in their relationship. Ani lets down her defenses. She tells Eddie how her therapist described the way music can help to heal, because it’s ordered and makes the body start trying to find order.

A car horn beeps outside, and Ani pleads with Eddie to just let her mail his things. He says that it’s expensive, that he can just get the suitcases. Ani threatens to push her emergency button, and Eddie relents. Ani asks if Eddie’s girlfriend is living with him in their apartment. Eddie admits that she is, as he couldn’t afford to pay rent himself while helping Ani. Eddie tells Ani that he doesn’t really need any of his things and says goodbye. She won’t look at him. He leaves. Alone, Ani closes her eyes and moves her few functional fingers as if she is playing the piano. The car outside drives away, and Ani opens her eyes, taking in that she is alone.

It’s early in the morning, and Jess is shaving John for the first time, nervous about making a mistake. John tries to engage her, complaining that he hired an English major who won’t have a conversation. Jess replies that she wasn’t an English major. John guesses a few arts-related majors, assuming that if she had majored in something more practical, she would have listed it on her resume. Finally, John points out that when Jess bathes him, she will see parts of him that are very private. He has no choice about that, and he wants Jess to share something about herself too.

Jess says that her life consists of nothing but work and sleep. She finishes shaving and wipes his face. Warmly this time, John asks where she is from. Jess starts to push his chair, suggesting that they move on to showering. Pulling away, John accuses Jess of being uncomfortable with his body. She denies it, and John says that he is uncomfortable with it. He suggests that she try to mimic his physicality to understand what it’s like, but Jess feels like she would be mocking him. They argue briefly, and John says that maybe Jess isn’t right for the job if she won’t even attempt a real conversation.

Giving in, Jess tells John that people think that her name is short for Jessica. But really, her mother didn’t speak much English, and would just say “yes” or “no” when someone asked a question. When Jess was born, the nurse had asked for her name, and her mom had said “yes,” which the nurse had heard as “Jess.” John asks if that’s the story that Jess tells everyone, and Jess announces that she’s just going to shower him.

Jess moves to take his shirt off, and the abrupt movement causes John to spasm. Jess backs off, and John explains, “My body over-protects itself. Any time I reach beyond myself, it's violence” (41). He asks if Jess has ever been hit. She has. John says that he feels like he is being hit, but from under his skin, and that’s the body that Jess will be bathing and shaving every day. Jess asks: “That the story you tell everyone?” (42) John replies that no one asks him about it. He admits that Jess is the first person he has hired since moving into his own apartment. Jess asks John what else he hasn’t done before, and a connection begins to grow between them.

In Ani’s apartment, Eddie is trying to convince Ani to let him become her caretaker after her nurse didn’t show up. Ani is vehemently against the idea, but Eddie argues that he knows her body, and he’ll be cheaper than a stranger. She asks if the woman he’s seeing knows about this, and he insists that she does. Eddie tells her to press her emergency button if she wants him to go away. She refuses, exclaiming that she has been having violent thoughts about him since he visited last month. Eddie muses that she has been thinking about him, and she tells him to leave. Eddie points out that after twelve years of sobriety and twenty years of marriage he has proven himself, and he had only started seeing someone after they were separated. He has also cared for her before when she was blackout drunk, a reminder that she doesn’t appreciate.

Ani accuses him of only offering to clear his conscience. Eddie replies that this situation isn’t his fault. Ani tells Eddie that she loves her nurse because they don’t really know each other; they just talk about the weather in different places, and it feels nice to only think about weather and forget about her own situation. Ani and Eddie know each other too well and how to hurt each other. Eddie tells her that he’s there because he’s her emergency contact. He had promised to take care of her, and Ani doesn’t have anyone else. Eddie calls her “Ania” (49), which makes her give in. Ani remembers that her forty-second birthday is in three weeks. Eddie presents himself as her gift, announcing, “Happy Birthday, Baby” (49).