Scene 7

Interior of the Country Club a year later. A band is on a raised platform and a dance is in progress with TEEN-AGERS ranging from 16-19. THEY are just finishing a rock-and-roll number. ETIENNE, in an evening gown, sits all by herself downstage left, a drink in her hands. SHE pays no attention to anything around her. Then the BAND begins a bop melody. YOUNG BOY approaches her.
YOUNG BOY
Hey, Etienne! They're playin' Wallpaper. That's the coolest. Come on, let's dance. (ETIENNE doesn't look at him, shakes her head distractedly. YOUNG BOY's whole demeanor collapses in a sigh of rejection. HE retreats to another corner of the room as the BANDLEADER sings in a simulated black bop falsetto, briefly popular in this era and particularly ironic in view of the fact that everything else on stage is totally White Bread American.)
 
BANDLEADER
Waitin' for my chick to call,
Knowin' she won't call at all,
Lookin' at that beat-up wall,
The wallpaper will drive me wild.

Since the day I took my lumps,
I been low down in the dumps,
Dig that pattern how it jumps,
The wallpaper will drive me wild.

Red lines,
Blue lines,
Always new lines---
White lines,
Green lines,
Man, I ain't seen lines
Move so much!

Once my chick done left me flat,
Can't go nowhere after that,
Zigzag lines just blind this cat,
The wallpaper will drive me wild.
 

(TEENAGERS now dance to a speedier version of the song. ETIENNE pays no attention, but continues to drink. Towards the end of the dance, SHE attempts to rise and is about to fall flat on her face when a SECOND BOY grabs her elbow to steady her. SHE glares at him, unlocks his hand and starts to exit. The stage begins to revolve.)