Negotiations

Gary shows off his Murphey bed that he and Carol had been sleeping on for the past few decades. On the other side of the bomb shelter(a few feet away) Carol and Olivia sit at a small, wooden table. I take a seat on the Murphey bed. Not exactly the most comfortable piece of furniture. I have no idea how they slept on this thing night after night. "Isn't that something?" Gary asks me with wonder in his eyes. I try and keep a straight face. "So, how things different now?" "What to you mean?" I ask him. "What is the world like now?" "Well, Pepsi at one point tried to make a clear drink." "Pepsi - Cola?" "Yep." Gary smiles in admiration. "Wow, a clear beverage." "It didn't do well." I admit. "That's a shame." Gary rests his hand on my shoulder. "Tell me son, what else has changed?" I take a deep breath. "You know your wife's favorite movie?" "Of course, I'm the one who told you about it." "I know, but anymore it is difficult to find that movie." Gary squints his eyes. "It's always been difficult. It comes on but once a year, and it is not as if everyone has a television." "And now it is even more difficult to view the movie. The pope banned it." Gary laughs. "It's a good thing I'm not Catholic." He muses. "But we did have a Catholic president briefly." I add. "You don't say?" "Yes. He was strongly influenced by the pope, because of this, it is now a nation wide law that no theatre or T.V. station can play that movie." Gary's eyes light up. "What?" I ask, perplexed. "I think the price value on Carol's ring dramatically increased." He says gleefully. I place my face in my hands. "Why so blue?" He asks. "You don't understand, congress also decided it had anti - American undertones." Gary smiles big and bright. "I know you are talking, but I just see money coming out of your mouth. I have to tell Carol." Gary starts to walk away. I reach out to stop him. Carol's voice cries out. "What did you just say?" Gary looks back at me. "Looks like the girls are clucking." he remarks. We make our way to Olivia and Carol. Carol rushes to Gary and points viciously at Olivia. "She said my ring is ugly." Gary comforts Carol. "Now, I'm sure she's just jealous." Gary says sympathetically. Olivia breaks in. "I have to be honest. We need that ring." She says. "Not as much as we need it." Gary responds. He looks Carol directly in the eyes. "Baby, we're going to be rich." Olivia turns her head toward me. "What did you tell them?" I pretend to look away. Olivia address Gary and Carol. "Gary, Carol, we need that ring more than you could possibly imagine." "Why is that?" Gary snaps. "I'm afraid you wouldn't understand." Gary appears insulted. "I am very intelligent." "We need to bury it on top of a mountain." Olivia says as a matter of fact. There is a brief silence. "I knew you wouldn't understand." Olivia adds. "What would you give us if I gave you the ring?" Gary asks. "Nothing." Olivia says coldly. Gary furrows his brow. "I beg your pardon?" "We released you from your own hell. As far as I'm concerned, we don't owe you anything." Carol sneers. "You think we're in hell?" Carol exclaims. "I wouldn't call it living." Olivia responds. "Why should we give up the ring just because you say so?" Gary cries. Olivia inches closer. "Because we're not leaving without it." Gary shakes his head and pulls off Carol's ring. "What are you doing?" Carol asks shakily. "We'll get another one." Gary hands the ring over to Olivia. Olivia does a curtsey. "Thank you, you have been very kind." She says with a dramatic change of voice. She looks over at me "Ready to go?" I nod and we clamber up the ladder. We get to the top and Olivia takes a deep breath of fresh air. "What the fuck was that?" I wail. "That's how you get shit done."