he was playing or how far he would take it. As usual, my desire to protect him overtook my good senses. Quietly enough for him alone to hear, I said, “Seems a little pointed to me.”
Hamlet roughly ran his fingers through his hair and took in the actors onstage, who made to carry on with the scene after the unintended interruption. “Stop, stop. Do the next one,” Hamlet called out, full of excited rage.
The troupe froze and looked at one another, then bowed and regrouped. After a moment, Mike announced, his voice faltering, “W-we call this game the mousetrap.”
The game went like this: All of the men were supposedly at a cocktail party. One guy was selected to go beyond earshot while the audience suggested maladies the other comedians would have. The actor who had left would come back in knowing only that he was supposed to play a doctor and that he would have to figure out the sicknesses of the players, then suggest cures.
Two actors stepped forward wearing crowns, the “king” seeming to be stuck to the “queen.” To remove the unwanted “king” from her back, the “doctor” suggested poison, at which point all the actors sang a lullaby and the “doctor” pantomimed pouring poison in the ear of the sleeping “king.” Once the poisoned “king” had fallen to the ground, the “doctor” took the crown and put it on his own head. Then he asked the “queen” to marry him, at which she squealed in delight, knocked the “doctor” to the ground, and kissed him passionately.
“Enough!” roared Claudius, rising.
The actors froze.
“Turn on the lights! Let’s go. And take them away!” he bellowed, pointing at the comedians who looked ready to piss themselves.
“Lights, lights, lights!” shouted my father, and the house lights popped on.
I slipped out the side door in time to hear Claudius shouting at Gertrude, “I told you Hamlet was trouble. I told you to get him out of here, but you insisted on keeping him close. Enough is enough. He goes to England tomorrow!”
Gertrude might have argued against it, but I don’t know. The elevator doors opened and they were whisked away.
I stuck my head back in the side door of the theater to see what was happening. There was an intense commotion as the rest of the audience rushed down the aisles, some chatting excitedly, some nervously, about the bizarre situation they’d witnessed. Tara’s mother had her daughter by the arm despite Tara’s protest that she’d left her pink canvas bag.
Hamlet leaped onto his velvet seat and called out to Horatio, “Did you see that?” He crossed the theater by walking on the armrests. “Did you see Claudius’s reaction?”
“I did. He totally freaked out at the poison part,” I heard Horatio say.
“No doubt about it. He killed my father. I knew it!” Hamlet shouted as he leaped onto the stage. He checked his back pocket, and he and Horatio disappeared behind the curtains.
As I exited, I was nearly knocked over by a crowd of royal guardsmen running in. I ran for the elevators, but all were full and moving to other floors. I put my fingers in my ears to drown out the sound of the college comedians being dragged roughly down the back stairs.
After all was quiet, I decided to look for Hamlet. I know. I should have just gone home. But I wasn’t making the wisest choices at the time, so this idiot move should come as no surprise. The way I figured it, if Hamlet really was leaving town, I ought to say good-bye. I didn’t think he wanted to see me, and I wasn’t sure I really wanted to see him, but it seemed like the right thing to do. I couldn’t leave things the way they were. Maybe I should have, but how could I turn my back on someone with whom I literally had a lifetime of history? Claudius hadn’t said how long Hamlet would be in England. It might be long enough for us to forgive each other. Maybe not. Either way, I spent the better part of an hour searching.
I had been looking everywhere I could think of for Hamlet and finally stopped at a conference room door, convinced I heard his voice. He sounded angry, so I was afraid to go in. Then I heard what sounded like a chair being thrown, and I found myself propelled inside to make sure Hamlet wasn’t in danger. When I entered, I saw he was standing alone by