(Skelly sits on the edge of the dumpster, while the three boys are walking toward

him.)
(Two of the boys stop and start whispering.)
Boy 1:Hey! Dont jump, pops! Youve got everything to live for!
Boy 2: Yeah! Plus I heard the food is much better at the dumpster up the street.
(They both burst into laughter.)
(Skelly turns toward them, thinks for seconds.)
(The two boys stop laughing. They look at each other.)
Skelly: (waving) Hullo fellas!
(The two boys chuckle a little bit.)
(Jake leaves, ashamed.)
(The others, astonished.)
Boy 1: Wait, Jake!
Boy 2: Where are you going?
(Jake keeps on going, with his head held low.)
(Stage: empty)
My name is Jake Moon.
No middle name.
And its not Jacob.
I like it pretty well.
(Skelly walks through the stage, holding baby Jake.)
Though the name is given by grandfather, okay, I know it is the parents who name the
kid.
Because my mothers thinking was so muddled she never even told my father she
would have a baby.
(Ma appears, talking on the phone)
On the anniversary of their first date, he asked her out to dinner and gave her an
engagement ring.
(Ma hung up, smiling)
When my father came to pick her up, however, he was wearing cut-off jeans and a Tshirt.
(Dad appears, Ma looks a little astonished.)
Instead of taking her to a big, fancy restaurant, he drove her to a cheap one.
(Both of them sits down.)
Ma was still holding out hope, and she almost fainted when they finally finished

eating and he reached for her hand.

(Dad holds moms hand.)
Then he held it in his, how romantic it was.
Dad: So, tell me.
Ma: (shy) tell you what?
Dad: Tell me if I can date your roommate.
(Ma disappointed)
(stage empty again)
Three weeks later, (Ma appears)
she found I was on the way.(Ma vomits)
(At first, the stage is empty.)
The following several months, she made up all kinds of excuses for not going home.
She worked at Dennys until the week I was born, and went back to work two weeks
later.
(Mom appears, holding a baby. )
If I had been a normal baby, it might have turned out okay, too. But Im the kind of
baby who sleeps through the day and cries at night. After two solid weeks of listening
to me scream, Mom was completely stressed out.
(the baby cries Mom tries to comfort him)
Mom: (sighs) How troublesome it is to take care of a child!
Unfortunately on the afternoon she went back to working at Dennys some old women
started gossiping about her.
Old woman1: Heavens, theres a hair in the pie! I wonder what the waitress is doing.
Old woman2: Yeah. I wonder what the waitress is doing.
(Mom took the pie and turned it over on old woman2s head.)
Mom: (laughs with anger) What a coincidence! Now theres a pie in your hair.
Boss: Im sorry to have you troubled by my waitress. Please accept my apology.
( gives red envelopes to both of them) ( turns to mom, fiercely) As for you, youre
fired! Get out and never come back again!
That night ,she put me in the car ,went to my grandpas house in Pennsylvania.
His nickname is Skelly .
Ma: I havent come up with my sons name. (Skelly looks at Jake Moon)
Skelly: Jake ,Jake.(3 times), both of you can stay here . We can take care of
each other.
At that time, I was satisfied to have a name I like. When I am at school, I dont

want to stand up and say I have a strange name such as Yehudi or Prunella.
Skelly volunteered to be our room mother. Which I thought might be weird. However,
he could bake the best cupcake youve ever had.
Skelly: Jake,help me pass out the cakes.
Jake: Sure!!
Because of the cakes, I became the most popular person in the class.
There was a kid in my class named Thorbert Piddler. He had brown hair and
wore a pair of huge galsses
(Skelly get close toThorbert )
Skelly: From now on, Ill call you Thor, God of Thunder. Here, get on my shoulder.
(Skelly hoist him onto his shoulders.)
On the day when Thorbert was leaving.
(Ma pulled Thor into the house.)
(Jake starts repeating Thors name over and over.)
Ma: This is Thor, Dad. You remember Thor, dont you?
Skelly: (shouting) You dont need to keep saying his name!! I REMENBER Thor!!
() How could I not remember Thor?
I chuckled embarrassedly.
Thor put the photo into Skellys hands and headed to the door.
Thor: Well , I just came to bring you this. Thats all.
(Skelly looks at the picture, his expression softened.)
Skelly: (puts his hand on Thors shoulder)We had fun back then, didnt we, son?
In the morning, when its still dark outside. I heard some noise coming from the living
room.
(Skelly rocks on the chair the other side of the room, using flashlight trying to read
something on his lap. He clicks it on and then turn it off, repeating it three times.)
(Jake walks into the living room. Skelly pushes all the stuff onto the floor. )
Skelly: What are you doing up?
(Jake doesnt respond. He heads for the couch and got a coat. He climbs onto
Skellys laps and puts it on both of them.)
Jake: Its cold in here. (buries his head in his chest)
(Skelly holds Jake tightly and starts to rock again.)
One evening, at dinner, I couldnt help crying when I thought of failing to do pull-ups
at school today.
Ma: Jake, whats bothering you? You look awful.

Jake: II cant do even one pull-up at school today. (cries)

(Jake bursts out crying. Ma reaches out to hug him. Skelly stands up, takes his hand
and heads out of the door.)
Skelly: Grab a hold.
Jake: No, Skelly, I cant. I cant do this.
()
The second I grabbed the branch, Skelly slipped his hands underneath my shoes. And
with something solid to push against, I automatically began to pull.
Skelly: Atta boy, Jake! Atta boy!
(After a period of time, Jake gets down.)
Skelly: You rock!
(Jake smiles)
Working pull-ups after dinner soon became a routine with skelly and me.
(Skelly and Jake turns around and walk in the other direction.)
And it wasnt long before I made it- in April, I finally went up for my third pull-up.
Skelly: Youre really something, Jake.
After Skelly was diagnosed with Alzheimers, however, his calm personality turned
inside-out.
Skelly: Did anyone see my car keys? (looks all over the house)
If he still couldnt find it, hed blame it on me.
Skelly:Whatd you do with them, Jake? Whered you put them? From now on leave
my stuff alone!
Jake: I didnt take them, Skelly! I didnt touch your stupid keys.
But nothing I said ever undid his anger. (Skelly hits a table with his fist, and then
points at Jake. Jake spread his palms on both sides.)
One day, my family were having dinner.
Skelly: We used to have an old dog, Queenie. Remember?
Jack: Yeah! But I have to talk with mom, OK?
Skelly : Remember Heidi , a dog ? It just has three legs. Hiram ran over Heidi, so he
amputated his dog, Heidi. Remember?
I was stunned.
Ma :( She leans in Jack)Toes. He ran over his toes and amputated his toes.
After Ma does the dishes.
Jack: he is getting worse, Ma. He even forgot what he did tonight.

If I watch him close enough , he wouldnt have a chance to get worse, I thought.
A few days later, I brought my friend , Lucas Carney , home from school.
Lucas: Who put two wet sheets in the oven ?
Jack: (stammer) Oh! Our dryer broke this moring ,so we dry our clothes in the oven .
Jack : Go pick out a video game ,OK? Ill be there in a minute.
Skelly hunches over in the middle of the grass in the yard. He is pulling out weeds.
So I closed the back door.
Ma came back. By that time, Lucas had gone home.
Jack: Grandfather embarrassed me so badly today .
between dinner
Skelly : (talk to Jack )Look what I found when I am digging out in the garden today.
He gave me an old Matchbox race car.
Skelly : this was one of your favorites , wasnt it?
Skelly has polishing it . So the car looks new.
Jack : thank you , grandfather . (give him a hug)
Then
Jack : Mom , Dont tell him about the sheets in the oven .
Ma :I had already told him. And he wants us to put more notes around home to help
him remember things better.
( 2 )
(h)Jack:He always let me help him just like I ask he help me.
He never made up reasons for me.
He wasnt afraid me to do something wrong.
(h)Skelly:Sometimes ,messin up is the best teather
(Skelly teaches Jack how to paint)
Skelly: (demonstrating) This is exactly how far to dip the brush in the can.
Tap it lightly on the edge to shake off the extra.
() And it didnt drip and run.
(Skelly and Jake comes out. James moves a table toward them.)
Jack():My goodness.
What stink pollution it is!
It was contamination the entire neighborhood.
It will kill everybody.
I could believe that Aunt you told James to pick it up to here.

There are people who have to live in that house.

(James moves the table to the porch steps. Jake dashed to him.)
Jake: Put it down. Now!
James: Knock it off, Joke.
Jake: No, you knock it off, Lames.
(Jake pushes and shoves Jamess backward)
(they fought)
Skelly: (hurried to them angrily) Lord save us, you too!(loudly)
Give it here! Ill do it myselt. (moves it alone)
Aunt stared at the two and went to help Skelly.
(Skelly moves it angrily. He fell when he almost finished it. Aunt screamed.
Everybody in a slow motion.)