LONNIE:
So will you tell me, Mr. Wolff? What to say, what to do? Other guys my age, gettin’ laid left and right, and me, I’m gettin’ nowhere. What’s your secret?
WOLFF:
…Lon, I like you. I do like you.
And you’re a nice looking boy, and I’m sure you’d do very well on the prowl.
But some things a man has to learn himself. Trial and error? And, anyway…if I shared my “secret”…it wouldn’t be one, would it?
NARRATOR:
Part of Jack’s “secret” is the kindness of fate. His parents were wealthy, his late father a criminal attorney whose yearly retainer from a Midwestern crime family had meant a comfortable life for the Wolffs. Jack was an only child, adopted, and had enjoyed an idyllic, Norman Rockwell- esque childhood in the small town where’d he been raised. But when his parents died in that plane crash, he became wealthy…and never returned to that little town…not with a big, wide world waiting out there, filled with females who could satisfy his appetites.
SOUND:
Busy dining room at the lodge – clink of glasses and silverware, murmur of table conversations. Plays under this scene.
HOSTESS:
Mr. Wolff. Nice to see you again. We’ve reserved your regular booth. Would you like the lunch buffet?
WOLFF:
No – would you just have my waitress bring me the tomato and beef soup, a little bread, and some iced tea?
HOSTESS:
Certainly.
NARRATOR:
Jack is fond of this particular booth, giving him as it does a view of the entire dining room, which is rustically appointed, as is the entire lodge, with its several restaurants and gift shops, and cobblestone paths extending from the main lodge to the private cabins. The grounds themselves are thick with trees and hedges – Jack can stalk his prey with impunity here.
ANNA’S DAD:
(off-mic) Can’t you behave yourself?
Can’t you act like a little lady? We’ve done everything we could to raise you right.
ANNA:
(off-mic; embarrassed) Daddy, keep your voice down, please.
ANNA’S MOM:
(off-mic) After that terrible killing, we really should be checking out. It’s just not safe in this place, Anna!
ANNA:
Must you keep treating me like a child?
NARRATOR:
She isn’t a child, young Anna – not exactly. Jack has been watching her for four days now, looking for the right moment to make his move. The waitress brings his soup, but the girl he’s so surreptitiously watching is the meal he’s really after….
LONNIE:
Mr. Wolff, you mind if I join you for lunch?
WOLFF:
(vaguely irritated) Certainly, Lon. Is it, uh, permissible to fraternize with the guests?
SOUND:
Lonnie sits in booth.
LONNIE:
Actually, it’s encouraged. How I wish I could fraternize with that little piece of tail!
WOLFF:
(tightly impatient; whispered)
Lonnie, if you do want a lesson, here’s one – don’t stare. And don’t be so damned crude.
NARRATOR:
Anna is blonde – white blonde, with white wispy hair on her arms that says her hair color is probably natural – what a wonderful rarity! A platinum blonde all over. Eyes, big and china blue; nose turned up, almost pug; lips pouty, with a hint of an overbite; wholesome apple cheeks and a healthy glow. Slender graceful fingers, nails painted pink. No rock group t-shirt or grungy shorts for Amy – a feminine floral halter top caressing pert young breasts, and denim jeans with lace trim hugging pale, smooth, white-down-kissed thighs….Who could blame Lonnie for staring?
LONNIE:
That poor kid. Those awful parents of hers. They been ragging her all week! They’re so old! I think they’re even older than you, Mr. Wolff.
WOLFF:
How tactful of you, Lonnie.
LONNIE:
Oh, I didn’t mean it that way…it’s just…she’s so beautiful and they’re so…horrible.
WOLFF:
That is often the way of the world.
That mother of hers? A little heavy, but she was a beauty once, I’ll wager. She still fills those denim shorts out admirably – still has nice legs. I can see the daughter’s face in the mother’s.
LONNIE:
Yuck. You find Mom attractive?
WOLFF:
Here’s another free lesson, son – any port in a storm. That’s a handsome woman – I bet she was a showgirl.
LONNIE:
Well, Daddy wasn’t a movie star, not unless he was in horror movies.
WOLFF:
Lonnie, you must learn to read people better. Check out father – that’s the haggard look of self-made success.
You look at his summer apparel – bright colors, awful designs, man-made fabrics – and see a foolish old man.
I see a successful businessman who is probably meeting other captains of industry on the golf course this afternoon – all of them hideously attired…and enormously wealthy.
LONNIE:
Okay, that’s impressive, but…we don’t know for sure it’s true.
WOLFF:
Really. One moment….(louder) Ah, Helen!
HOSTESS:
(off-mic at first) Yes, Mr. Wolff? (normal now) Is there something I can do for you?
WOLFF:
(almost whispering) This family over here – the older parents, the young daughter? The father looks familiar to me. I’m almost certain I know him from business, and I’d hate to snub him.
HOSTESS:
(also quiet) That’s Robert Mullins. He owns shopping outlets all over the Midwest. Frankly, he and his family could vacation in Europe, if they chose. We feel lucky to have them.
WOLFF:
Thank you, my dear.
HOSTESS:
(off-mic) No problem.
LONNIE:
Wow, the guy who catches little Anna is doing all right for himself. She’s a fox. And all that money besides.
WOLFF:
Money isn’t everything, Lonnie.
ANNA’S DAD:
(off-mic) You’ll stay in your room tonight, and there’ll be no more discussion!
ANNA:
(off-mic but loud)
You…are…terrible!
NARRATOR:
Anna is flushed, and the sight of the blood coming to her cheeks makes Jack tingle.
SOUND:
Anna pushing away from table, dishes clatter, stomping away.
ANNA’S DAD:
(off-mic) Come back here, young lady!
ANNA’S MOM:
(off-mic; softer) Bob…let her go.
Please. Let her be by herself.
WOLFF:
Lon, if you’d like some lunch, just charge it to my room. But do not follow me.
LONNIE:
You’re going after that girl?
WOLFF:
No more lessons. Settle for lunch.
LONNIE:
But Mr. Wolff – she’s so young – there’s laws you know….
WOLFF:
All right – one more lesson. One that goes way back….Old enough to bleed, old enough to breed….
MUSIC:
Fangoria theme comes up.
ANNOUNCER:
We’ll return to Fangoria’s Dreadtime Stories – after these few words.
ANNOUNCER:
Now back to Fangoria’s Dreadtime Stories and “Wolf.”
NARRATOR:
Anna’s plight strikes Jack Wolff as ridiculously typical – a sweet young thing being treated by her parents as if she were a juvenile delinquent. If she is truly a disobedient child
