Buried Child Read online

  DODGE: (Watching TV) You're no son of mine. I've had sons in my time—plenty of sons—but you're not one of ‘em. I know them by their scent. (Long pause, VINCE stares at

  DODGE.)

  VINCE: All right. All right, look—I'll get you a bottle. I'll get you a goddamn bottle.

  DODGE: You will?

  VINCE: Yeah, sure, you bet. If that's what it takes, I'll get you a bottle. Then maybe you can tell me what's going on here.

  SHELLY: You're not going to leave me here alone, are you?

  VINCE: (Moving to her.) You suggested it! You said, “Why don't I go get him a bottle.” So I'll go get him a bottle! That's what I'll do. Maybe it'll help jar things loose.

  SHELLY: But I can't stay here by myself.

  DODGE: Don't let her talk you out of it! She's a bad influence. I could see it the minute she stepped in here.

  VINCE: Shelly I gotta go out for a while. I just gotta get outta here. Think things through by myself. I'll get a bottle and I'll come right back.

  SHELLY: I don't know if I can handle this, Vince.

  VINCE: You'll be okay. Nothing's going to happen. They're not dangerous or anything.

  SHELLY: Can't we just go?

  VINCE: NO! I gotta find out what's going on here. Something has fallen apart. This isn't how it used to be. Believe me. This is nothing like how it used to be …

  SHELLY: Look, you think you're bad off, what about me? Not only don't they recognize me but I've never seen them before in my life. I don't know who these guys are. They could be anybody!

  VINCE: They're not anybody!

  SHELLY: That's what you say.

  VINCE: They're my family for Christ's sake! I should know who my own family is! Now give me a break. It won't take that long. I'll just go out and I'll come right back. Nothing'll happen. I promise, (SHELLY stares at him. Pause.)

  SHELLY: Unbelievable.

  VINCE: Nothing'll happen. (He crosses up to DODGE.) I'm gonna go out now, Grandpa, and I'll pick you up a bottle. Okay?

  DODGE: Persistence, see? That's what it takes. Persistence. Persistence, fortitude, and determination. Those are the three virtues. That's how the country was founded. You stick with those three and you can't go wrong. (Pointing off left.) Money's on the table. In the kitchen, (VINCE moves toward

  SHELLY.)

  VINCE: (To SHELLY.) You'll be all right, Shelly. I won't be too long.

  SHELLY: (Cutting carrots.) I'll just keep real busy while you're gone. I love vegetables, (VINCE exits, TILDEN keeps staring down at SHELLY‘s HANDS.)

  VINCE: (Reentering, to TILDEN.) YOU want anything, Dad?

  TILDEN: (Looks up at VINCE.) Me?

  VINCE: Yeah, you. “Dad.” That's you. From the store? I'm gonna get Grandpa a bottle. Do you want anything from the store?

  TILDEN: He's not supposed to drink. Halie wouldn't like it. She'd be disappointed.

  VINCE: He wants a bottle.

  TILDEN: He's not supposed to drink.

  DODGE: (To vince.) Don't negotiate with him! He's the one who stole my bottle! Don't make any transactions until you've spoken to me first! He'll steal you blind!

  VINCE: (To DODGE.) Tilden says you're not supposed to drink.

  DODGE: Tilden's lost his marbles! Look at him! He's around the twist. Take a look at him. He's come unwound, (VINCE stares at TILDEN, TILDEN watches SHELLY's hands as she keeps cutting carrots.) Now look at me. Look here at me! (VINCE looks back to DODGE.) Now, between the two of us, who do you think is more trustworthy? Him or me? Can you trust a man who keeps bringing in vegetables from out of nowhere? Take a look at him. (VINCE looks back at TILDEN.)

  SHELLY: Go get the bottle, Vince. Just go get the bottle.

  VINCE: I'll be right back, (VINCE crosses left.)

  DODGE: Where are you going?

  VINCE: I'm going to get the money.

  DODGE: Then where are you goin’?

  VINCE: Liquor store.

  DODGE: Don't go off anyplace else. Don't go off someplace and drink by yourself. Come right back here.

  VINCE: I will, (VINCE exits left.)

  DODGE: (Calling after VINCE.) You've got responsibility now! And don't go out the back way either! Come out through this way! I wanna see you when you leave! Don't go out the back.

  VINCE: (Off left.) I won't! (DODGE turns and looks at TILDEN and

  SHELLY.)

  DODGE: Untrustworthy. Probably drown himself if he went out the back. Fall right in a hole. I'd never get my bottle.

  SHELLY: I wouldn't worry about Vince. He can take care of himself.

  DODGE: Oh he can, huh? Independent, (VINCE comes on again from left with two dollars in his hand. He crosses right past DODGE. To VINCE.) You got the money?

  VINCE: Yeah. Two bucks.

  DODGE: Two bucks. Two bucks is two bucks. Don't sneer.

  VINCE: What kind do you want for two bucks?

  DODGE: Whiskey! Gold Star Sour Mash. Use your own discretion.

  VINCE: Okay.

  DODGE: Nothin’ fancy! (VINCE crosses to right door. Opens it. Stops when he hears TILDEN.)

  TILDEN: (To VINCE.) You drove all the way from New Mexico?

  VINCE: (From the porch.) No, I—look—while I'm gone, try to remember who I am. Try real hard to remember. Use your imagination. It might suddenly come back to you. In a flash, (VINCE turns and looks at TILDEN. They stare at each other, VINCE shakes his head, goes out the door, crosses the porch, and exits out the screen door, TILDEN watches him go. Pause.)

  TILDEN: That's a long, lonely stretch of road. I've driven that stretch before and there's no end to it. You feel like you're going to fall right off into blackness.

  SHELLY: You really don't recognize him? Either one of you? (TILDEN turns again and stares at SHELLY ‘s HANDS AS SHE CUTS CARROTS.)

  DODGE: (Watching TV) Recognize who?

  SHELLY: Vince.

  DODGE: What's to recognize? (DODGE lights a cigarette, coughs slightly, and stares at the TV)

  SHELLY: It'd be cruel if you recognized him and didn't tell him. Wouldn't be fair.

  DODGE: Cruel.

  SHELLY: Well, it would be. I mean it's not really possible, is it, that he's not related to you at all? Just a stranger? He seems so sure about it. (DODGE just stares at the TV, smoking.)

  TILDEN: I thought I recognized him. I thought I recognized something about him.

  SHELLY: You did?

  TILDEN: I thought I saw a face inside his face.

  SHELLY: Well, it was probably that you saw what he used to look like. You haven't seen him for six years.

  TILDEN: I haven't?

  SHELLY: That's what he says, (TILDEN moves around in front of her as she continues with the carrots.)

  TILDEN: Where was it I saw him last?

  SHELLY: I have no idea. I've only known him for a few months, myself. He doesn't tell me everything.

  TILDEN: He doesn't?

  SHELLY: Not stuff like that.

  TILDEN: What does he tell you?

  SHELLY: You mean in general?

  TILDEN: Yeah, (TILDEN moves around behind her.)

  SHELLY: Well, he tells me all kinds of things.

  TILDEN: Like what?

  SHELLY: I don't know! I mean I can't just come out and tell you how he feels.

  TILDEN: How come? (TILDEN keeps moving around her slowly in a circle.)

  SHELLY: Because it's stuff he told me privately!

  TILDEN: And you can't tell me?

  SHELLY: I don't even know you! I'm not even sure he knows you.

  DODGE: Tilden, go out in the kitchen and make me some coffee! Leave the girl alone. She's nervous. She's ready to jump ship any second.

  SHELLY: (To DODGE.) He's all right, (TILDEN ignores DODGE, keeps moving around SHELLY. He stares at her hair and coat. DODGE stares at the TV.)

  TILDEN: You mean you can't tell me anything?

  SHELLY: I can tell you some things. I mean we can have a conversation.

  TILDEN: We can?

  SHELLY: Sur
e. We're having a conversation right now.

  TILDEN: We are?

  SHELLY: Yes. That's what we're doing. It's easy.

  TILDEN: But there's certain things you can't tell me, right?

  SHELLY: Right.

  TILDEN: There's certain things I can't tell you either.

  SHELLY: How come?

  TILDEN: I don't know. Nobody's supposed to hear it.

  SHELLY: Well, you can tell me anything you want to.

  TILDEN: I can?

  SHELLY: Sure.

  TILDEN: It might not be very nice.

  SHELLY: That's all right. I've been around.

  TILDEN: It might be awful.

  SHELLY: Well, can't you tell me anything nice? (TILDEN stops in front of her and stares at her coat, SHELLY looks back at him. Long pause.)

  TILDEN: (Afterpause.) Can I touch your coat?

  SHELLY: My coat? (She looks at her coat then back to TILDEN.) Sure.

  TILDEN: You don't mind?

  SHELLY: No. GO ahead, (SHELLY holds her arm out for TILDEN to touch, DODGE stays fixed on the TV TILDEN moves in slowly toward SHELLY, staring at her arm. He reaches out very slowly and touches her arm, feels the fur gently, then draws his hand back, SHELLY keeps her arm out.) It's rabbit.

  TILDEN: Rabbit. (He reaches out again very slowly and touches the fur on her arm, then pulls back his hand again, SHELLY drops her arm.)

  SHELLY: My arm was getting tired.

  TILDEN: Can I hold it? (Pause.)

  SHELLY: The coat? Sure. I guess, (SHELLY takes off her coat and hands it to TILDEN, TILDEN takes it slowly, feels the fur, then puts it on. SHELLY watches as TILDEN strokes the fur slowly. He smiles at her. She goes back to cutting carrots.) You can have it if you want.

  TILDEN: I can?

  SHELLY: Yeah. I've got a raincoat in the car. That's all I need.

  TILDEN: You've got a car?

  SHELLY: Vince does, (TILDEN walks around stroking the fur and smiling at the coat, SHELLY watches him when he's not looking. DODGE sticks with the TV, stretches out on the sofa wrapped in the blanket.)

  TILDEN: (As HE WALKS AROUND.) I had a car once! I had a white car! I drove. I went everywhere. I went to the mountains. I drove in the snow.

  SHELLY: That must've been fun.

  TILDEN: (Still moving, feeling the coat.) I drove all day long sometimes. Across the desert. Way out across the desert. I drove past tiny towns. Anywhere. Past palm trees. Lightning. Anything. I would drive through it. I would drive through it and I would stop and I would look around and I would see things sometimes. I would see things I wasn't supposed to see. Like deer. Hawks. Owls. I would look them in the eye and they would look back and I could tell I wasn't supposed to be there by the way they looked at me. So I'd drive on. I would get back in and drive! I loved to drive. There was nothing I loved more. Nothing I dreamed of was better than driving. I was independent.

  DODGE: (Eyes on the TV) Pipe down, would ya! Stop running off at the mouth, (TILDEN stops. Stares at SHELLY.)

  SHELLY: Do you do much driving now?

  TILDEN: NOW? NOW? I don't drive now.

  SHELLY: How come?

  TILDEN: I'm older.

  SHELLY: You're not that old.

  TILDEN: I'm not a kid.

  SHELLY: You don't have to be a kid to drive.

  TILDEN: It wasn't driving then.

  SHELLY: What was it?

  TILDEN: Adventure. I went everywhere. I had a sensation of myself.

  SHELLY: Well, you can still do that.

  TILDEN: Not now.

  SHELLY: Why not?

  TILDEN: I just told you. You don't understand. If I told you something you wouldn't understand it.

  SHELLY: Told me what?

  TILDEN: Told you something that's true.

  SHELLY: Like what?

  TILDEN: Like a baby. Like a little tiny baby.

  SHELLY: Like when you were little?

  TILDEN: If I told you you'd make me give your coat back.

  SHELLY: I won't. I promise. Tell me. Please.

  TILDEN: I can't. Dodge won't let me.

  SHELLY: He won't hear you. It's okay. He's watching TV (Pause, TILDEN stares at her. Moves slightly toward her)

  TILDEN: We had a baby. Little baby. Could pick it up with one hand. Put it in the other, (TILDEN moves closer to her. DODGE takes more interest.) So small that nobody could find it. Just disappeared. We had no service. No hymn. Nobody came.

  DODGE: Tilden!

  TILDEN: Cops looked for it. Neighbors. Nobody could find it. (DODGE struggles to get up from the sofa.)

  DODGE: Tilden? You leave that girl alone! She's completely innocent, (DODGE keeps struggling until he's standing.)

  TILDEN: Finally everybody just gave up. Just stopped looking. Everybody had a different answer, (DODGE struggles to walk toward TILDEN and falls, TILDEN ignores him.)

  DODGE: Tilden! What are you telling her? (DODGE starts coughing on the floor, SHELLY watches him from the stool.)

  TILDEN: Little tiny baby just disappeared. It's not hard. It's so small. Almost invisible. Hold it in one hand, (SHELLY makes a move to help DODGE, TILDEN firmly pushes her back down on the stool, DODGE keeps coughing.)

  DODGE: Tilden! Don't tell her anything! She's an outsider!

  TILDEN: He's the only one who knows where it is. The only one. Like a secret buried treasure. Won't tell any of us. (DODGE ‘s COUGHING SUBSIDES, SHELLY stays on the stool staring at DODGE, TILDEN slowly takes SHELLY’s coat off and holds it out to her. Long pause, SHELLY sits there trembling) You probably want your coat back now. I would if I was you. (SHELLY stares at the coat but doesn't move to take it. The sound of BRADLEY‘s leg squeaking is heard off left. The others onstage remain still, BRADLEY appears up left outside the screen door wearing a yellow rain slicker. He enters through the screen door, crosses the porch to the right door, and enters the stage. Closes the door.

  Takes off the rain slicker and shakes it out. He sees all the others and stops, TILDEN turns to him. BRADLEY stares at SHELLY, DODGE remains on the floor.)

  BRADLEY: What's going on here? (Motioning to SHELLY.) Who's that? (SHELLY stands, moves back away from BRADLEY as he crosses toward her. He stops next to TILDEN. He sees the coat in TILDEN’ hand and grabs it away from him.) Who's she supposed to be?

  TILDEN: She's driving to New Mexico. She has a car. (BRADLEY stares at her. SHELLY is frozen, BRADLEY limps over to her with the coat in his fist. He stops in front of her)

  BRADLEY: (To SHELLY, after pause.) Vacation? (SHELLY shakes her head “no,” trembling. To SHELLY, motioning to TILDEN.) YOU taking him with you? (SHELLY shakes her head “no.” BRADLEY crosses back to TILDEN.) You oughta. No use leaving him here. Doesn't do a lick a work. Doesn't raise a finger. (Stopping, to TILDEN.) Do ya? (To SHELLY.) ‘Course he used to be a Ail-American. Quarterback or fullback or some thin’.

  TILDEN: Halfback.

  BRADLEY: He tell you about that? Brag on himself? (SHELLY shakes her head “no.”) Yeah, he used to be a big deal. Wore letterman's sweaters. Had medals hanging all around his neck. Real purty. Big damn deal. (He laughs to himself, notices DODGE on the floor, crosses to him, stops.) This one too. (To SHELLY.) You'd never think it to look at him, would ya? All paunchy and bloated, (SHELLY shakes her head again. BRADLEY stares at her, crosses back to her, clenching the coat in his fist. He stops in front of SHELLY.) Women like that kinda thing, don't they?

  SHELLY: What?

  BRADLEY: Importance. Importance in a man.

  SHELLY: I don't know.

  BRADLEY: Yeah. Ya know, ya know. Don't give me that. (Moves closer to SHELLY.) You're with Tilden?

  SHELLY: No.

  BRADLEY: (Turning to TILDEN.) Tilden! She with you? (TILDEN doesn't answer. Stares at the floor.) Tilden! You're gonna run now. Run like a scalded dog! (TILDEN suddenly bolts and runs off up left, BRADLEY laughs. Talks to SHELLY, DODGE starts moving his lips silently as though talking to someone invisible on the floor. Laughing.) Scared to death! He was always scare
d. Scared of his own shadow, (BRADLEY stops laughing. Stares at SHELLY.) Some things are like that. They just tremble for no reason. Ever noticed that? They just shake? (SHELLY looks at DODGE on the floor.)

  SHELLY: Can't we do something for him?

  BRADLEY: (Looking at DODGE.) We could shoot him. (Laughs.) Put him out of his misery.

  SHELLY: Shut up! (BRADLEY stops laughing. Moves in closer to SHELLY. She freezes, BRADLEY speaks slowly and deliberately.)

  BRADLEY: Hey! Missus. Don't talk to me like that. Don't talk to me in that tone a voice. There was a time when I had to take that tone a voice from pretty near everyone. (Motioning to DODGE.) Him, for one! When he was a whole man. Full of himself. Him and that half-brain that just ran outta here. They don't talk to me like that now. Not anymore. Everything's turned around now. Full circle. Isn't that funny?

  SHELLY: I’m sorry.

  BRADLEY: Open your mouth.

  SHELLY: What?

  BRADLEY: (Motioning for her to open her mouth.) Open up. (She opens her mouth slightly.) Wider. (She opens her mouth wider.) Keep it like that. (She does. Stares at BRADLEY. With his free hand he puts his fingers into her mouth. She tries to pull away.) Just stay put! (She freezes. He keeps his fingers in her mouth. Stares at her. Pause. He pulls his hand out. She closes her mouth, keeps her eyes on him. BRADLEY smiles. He looks at DODGE on the floor and crosses over to him. SHELLY watches him closely. BRADLEY stands over DODGE and smiles at SHELLY. He holds her coat up in both hands over DODGE, keeps smiling at SHELLY. He looks down at DODGE, then drops the coat so that it lands on DODGE and covers his head, BRADLEY keeps his hands up in the position of holding the coat, looks over at SHELLY, and smiles. The lights black out.)