Buried Child Page 6

  Act Three

  Scene: same set. Morning. Bright sun. No sound of rain. Everything has been cleared up again. No sign of carrots. No pail. No stool. VINCE saxophone case and overcoat are still at the foot of the staircase, BRADLEY is asleep on the sofa under DODGE's blanket, his head toward stage left, BRADLEY‘s wooden leg is leaning against the sofa right by his head. The shoe is left on. The harness hangs down. DODGE is sitting on the floor, propped up against the TV set facing stage left, wearing his baseball cap. SHELLY‘s rabbit fur coat covers his chest and shoulders. He stares toward stage left. He seems weaker and more disoriented. The lights rise slowly to the sound of birds. The two men remain for a while in silence, BRADLEY sleeps very soundly. DODGE hardly moves, SHELLY appears from stage left with a big smile, slowly crossing toward DODGE balancing a steaming cup of broth in a saucer, DODGE just stares at her as she gets close to him.

  SHELLY: (As she crosses.) This is going to make all the difference in the world, Grandpa. You don't mind me calling you Grandpa, do you? I mean I know you minded when Vince called you that but you don't even know him.

  DODGE: I'm nobody's Grandpa. He skipped town with my money you know. I'm gonna hold you as collateral.

  SHELLY: He'll be back. Don't you worry. He always comes back.

  DODGE: The faithful type.

  SHELLY: NO. Determined. (She kneels down next to DODGE and puts the cup and saucer in his lap.)

  DODGE: It's morning already! When did it get to be morning? Not only didn't I get my bottle but he's got my two bucks! I'm surrounded by thieves.

  SHELLY: Try to drink this, okay? Don't spill it.

  DODGE: What is it?

  SHELLY: Beef bouillon. It'll warm you up.

  DODGE: Bouillon! I don't want any goddamn bouillon! Get that stuff away from me!

  SHELLY: I just got through making it.

  DODGE: I don't care if you just spent all week making it! I ain't drinking it!

  SHELLY: Well, what am I supposed to do with it? I'm trying to help you out. Besides, it's good for you.

  DODGE: Get it away from me! (SHELLY stands up with the cup and saucer.) What do you know what's good for me anyway? (She looks at DODGE, then turns away from him, crosses to the staircase, sits on the bottom step, and drinks the bouillon, DODGE stares at her.) You know what'd be good for me?

  SHELLY: What?

  DODGE: A little back rub. A little contact.

  SHELLY: Oh no. I've had enough contact for a while. Thanks anyway. (She keeps sipping the bouillon, stays sitting. Pause as DODGE stares at her.)

  DODGE: Why not? You got nothing better to do. That fella's not gonna be back here. You're not expecting him to show up again, are you?

  SHELLY: Sure. He'll show up. He left his horn here.

  DODGE: His horn? (Laughs.) You're his horn?

  SHELLY: Very funny.

  DODGE: He's run off with my money! That's what he did. He's not coming back here.

  SHELLY: He'll be back. This is where he's from. He knows that. He's convinced. And so am I.

  DODGE: You're a funny chicken, you know that?

  SHELLY: Funny?

  DODGE: Full of hope. Faith. Faith and hope. You're all alike, you hopers. If it's not God then it's a man. If it's not a man then it's a woman. If it's not a woman then it's politics or bee pollen or the future of some kind. Some kind of future.

  SHELLY: Bee pollen?

  DODGE: Yeah, bee pollen. (Pause.)

  SHELLY: (Looking toward the porch.) I'm glad it stopped raining. (DODGE looks toward the porch then back to SHELLY.)

  DODGE: That's what I mean. See, you're glad it stopped raining. Now you think everything's gonna be different. Just ‘cause the sun comes out.

  SHELLY: It's already different. Last night I was scared.

  DODGE: Scared a what?

  SHELLY: Just scared.

  DODGE: Yeah, well we've all got an instinct for disaster. We can smell it coming.

  SHELLY: It was your son. Bradley. He scared me.

  DODGE: Bradley? (Looks at BRADLEY.) He's a pushover. ‘Specially now. All ya gotta do is take his leg and throw it out the back door. Helpless. Totally helpless, (SHELLY turns and stares at BRADLEY’s wooden leg, then looks at DODGE. She sips bouillon.)

  SHELLY: You'd do that?

  DODGE: Me? I've hardly got the strength to breathe.

  SHELLY: But you'd actually do it if you could?

  DODGE: Don't be so easily shocked, girlie. There's nothing a man can't do. You dream it up and he can do it. Anything. It boggles the imagination.

  SHELLY: You've tried, I guess.

  DODGE: Don't sit there sippin’ your bouillon and judging me! This is my house!

  SHELLY: I forgot.

  DODGE: You forgot? Whose house did you think it was?

  SHELLY: Mine, (DODGE just stares at her. Long pause. She sips from the cup.) I know it's not mine but I had that feeling.

  DODGE: What feeling?

  SHELLY: The feeling that nobody lives here but me. I mean everybody's gone. You're here, but it doesn't seem like you're supposed to be. (Pointing to BRADLEY.) Doesn't seem like he's supposed to be here either. I don't know what it is. It's the house or something. Something familiar. Like I know my way around here. Did you ever get that feeling? (DODGE stares at her in silence. Pause.)

  DODGE: No. NO, I never did. I get lost in the hallway sometimes, (SHELLY gets up. Moves around the space holding the cup.)

  SHELLY: Last night I went to sleep up there in that room.

  DODGE: What room?

  SHELLY: That room up there with all the pictures. All the crosses on the wall.

  DODGE: Halie's room?

  SHELLY: Yeah. Whoever “Halie” is.

  DODGE: She's my wife.

  SHELLY: So you remember her?

  DODGE: Whadya mean? ‘Course I remember her. She's only been gone a day—half a day. However long it's been.

  SHELLY: Do you remember her when her hair was bright red? Standing in front of an apple tree?

  DODGE: What is this, the third degree or something?! Who're you to be askin’ me personal questions about my wife!

  SHELLY: You never look at those pictures up there?

  DODGE: What pictures?

  SHELLY: Your whole life's up there hanging on the wall. Somebody who looks just like you. Somebody who looks just like you used to look.

  DODGE: That isn't me! That never was me! This is me. Right here. This is it. The whole shootin’ match, sittin’ right here in front of you. That other stuff was a sham.

  SHELLY: So the past never happened as far as you're concerned?

  DODGE: The past? Jesus Christ. The past is passed. What do you know about the past?

  SHELLY: Not much. I know there was a farm. (Pause.)

  DODGE: A farm?

  SHELLY: There's a picture of a farm. A big farm. A bull. Wheat. Corn.

  DODGE: Corn?

  SHELLY: All the kids are standing out in the corn. They're all waving these big straw hats. One of them doesn't have a hat.

  DODGE: Which one was that?

  SHELLY: There's a baby. A baby in a woman's arms. The same woman with the red hair. She looks lost standing out there. Like she doesn't know how she got there.

  DODGE: She knows! I told her a hundred times it wasn't gonna be the city! I gave her plenty a warning.

  SHELLY: She's looking down at the baby like it was somebody else's. Like it didn't even belong to her.

  DODGE: That's about enough outta you! You got some funny ideas, sister. Some damn funny ideas. You think just because people propagate they have to love their offspring? You never seen a bitch eat her puppies? Where are you from anyway?

  SHELLY: LA. We already went through that.

  DODGE: That's right, LA. I remember.

  SHELLY: Stupid country.

  DODGE: That's right! No wonder. Dumber than dirt. (Pause.)

  SHELLY: What's happened to this family anyway?

  DODGE: You're in no position to ask! What do you care?
You some kinda social worker?

  SHELLY: I'm Vince's friend.

  DODGE: Vince's friend! That's rich. That's real rich. “Vince”! “Mr. Vince”! “Mr. Thief” is more like it! His name doesn't mean a hoot in hell to me. Not a tinkle in the well. You know how many kids I've spawned? Not to mention grandkids and great-grandkids and great-great-grandkids after them?

  SHELLY: And you don't remember any of them?

  DODGE: What's to remember? Halie's the one with the family album. She's the one you should talk to. She'll set you straight on the heritage if that's what you're interested in. She's traced it all the way back to the grave.

  SHELLY: What do you mean?

  DODGE: What do you think I mean? How far back can you go? A long line of corpses! There's not a living soul behind me. Not a one. Who gives a damn about bones in the ground?

  SHELLY: What was Tilden trying to tell me last night? (DODGE stops short. Stares at SHELLY. Shakes his head. He looks off left. DODGE‘s tone changes drastically.)

  DODGE: Tilden? (Turns to SHELLY, calmly.) Where is Tilden?

  SHELLY: What was he trying to say about the baby? (Pause. DODGE turns toward left.)

  DODGE: What's happened to Tilden? Why isn't Tilden here?

  SHELLY: Bradley chased him out.

  DODGE: (Looking at BRADLEY asleep.) Bradley? Why is he on my sofa? (Turns back to SHELLY.) Have I been here all night? On the floor?

  SHELLY: He wouldn't leave. I hid outside until he fell asleep.

  DODGE: Outside? Is Tilden outside? He shouldn't be out there in the rain. He'll get himself into trouble. He doesn't know his way around here anymore. Not like he used to. He went out West and got himself into trouble. Deep trouble. We don't want any of that around here.

  SHELLY: What did he do? (Pause.)

  DODGE: (Quietly stares at SHELLY.) Tilden? He got mixed up. That's what he did. We can't afford to leave him alone. Not now. (Sound ojHALIE laughing comes from off left, SHELLY stands, looking in the direction of the voice, holding the cup and saucer, doesn't know whether to stay or run. Motioning to SHELLY.) Sit down! Sit back down! (SHELLY sits. Sound of HALIE‘s laughter again. To SHELLY in a heavy whisper, pulling the coat up around him.) Don't leave me alone now! Promise me? Don't go off and leave me alone. I need somebody here with me. Tilden's gone now and I need someone. Don't leave me! Promise!

  SHELLY: (Sitting.) I won't, (HALIE appears outside the screen porch door, up left, with FATHER DEWIS. She is wearing a bright yellow dress, no hat, and white gloves, and her arms are full of yellow roses. FATHER DEWIS is dressed in a traditional black suit, white clerical collar, and shirt. He is a very distinguished gray-haired man in his sixties. They are both slightly drunk and feeling giddy. As they enter the porch through the screen door, DODGE pulls the rabbit fur coat over his head and hides, SHELLY stands again, DODGE drops the coat and whispers intently to SHELLY. Neither HALIE nor FATHER DEWIS is aware of the people inside the house)

  DODGE: (To SHELLY in a strong whisper.) You promised! (SHELLY sits on the stairs again, DODGE pulls the coat back over his head. HALIE and FATHER DEWIS talk on the porch as they cross toward the right interior door.)

  HALIE: Oh, Father! That's terrible! That's absolutely terrible! Aren't you afraid of being punished? (She giggles.)

  DEWIS: Not by the Italians. They're too busy punishing each other. (They both break out in giggles.)

  HALIE: What about God?

  DEWIS: Well, prayerfully, God only hears what he wants to. That's just between you and me of course. In our heart of hearts we know we're every bit as wicked as the Catholics. (They giggle again and reach the right door.)

  HALIE: Father, I never heard you talk like this in Sunday sermon.

  DEWIS: Well, I save all my best jokes for private company. Pearls before swine, you know. (They enter the room laughing and stop when they see SHELLY, SHELLY stands, HALIE closes the door behind FATHER DEWIS. DODGE's voice is heard under the coat talking to SHELLY.)

  DODGE: (Under the coat, to SHELLY.) Sit down, sit down! Don't let ‘em buffalo you. (SHELLY sits on the stair again, HALIE looks at DODGE on the floor, then looks at BRADLEY asleep on the sofa and sees his wooden leg. She lets out a shriek of embarrassment

  for FATHER DEWIS.)

  HALIE: Oh my gracious! What in the name of Judas Priest is going on in this house?! (She hands over the roses to FATHER DEWIS.) Excuse me, Father, (HALIE crosses to DODGE, whips the coat off him, and covers the wooden leg with it. BRADLEY stays asleep) You can't leave this house for a second without the devil blowing in the front door!

  DODGE: Gimme back that coat! Gimme back that goddamn coat before I freeze to death!

  HALIE: You're not going to freeze! The sun's out in case you hadn't noticed!

  DODGE: Gimme back that coat! That coat's for live flesh not dead wood, (HALIE whips the blanket of BRADLEY and throws it on DODGE, DODGE covers his head again with the blanket. BRADLEY ‘s amputated leg can be faked by having it under a cushion on the sofa, B’&ADíWí‘s fully clothed. He sits up with a jerk when the blanket comes off him.)

  HALIE: (As SHE TOSSES THE BLANKET.) Here! Use this! It's yours anyway! Can't you take care of yourself for once?!

  BRADLEY: (Yelling at HALIE.) Gimme that blanket! Gimme back that blanket! That's my blanket! (HALIE crosses back toward FATHER DEWIS, who just stands there with the roses. BRADLEY thrashes helplessly on the sofa trying to reach the blanket, DODGE hides himself deeper in the blanket, SHELLY looks on from the staircase, still holding the cup and saucer.)

  HALIE: Believe me, Father, this is not what I had in mind when I invited you in. I keep forgetting how easily things fall to pieces when I'm not here to hold them together.

  DEWIS: Oh, no apologies please. I wouldn't be in the ministry if I couldn't face real life, (FATHER DEWIS laughs self-consciously. HALIE notices SHELLY again and crosses over to her. SHELLY stays sitting, HALIE stops and stares at her.)

  BRADLEY: I want my blanket back! Gimme my blanket! (HALIE turns toward BRADLEY and silences him.)

  HALIE: Shut up, Bradley! Right this minute. I've had enough! It's shameful the way you carry on. (BRADLEY slowly recoils, lies back down on the sofa, turns his back toward HALIE, and whimpers softly, HALIE directs her attention to SHELLY again. Pause.)

  BRADLEY: You gave me that blanket.

  HALIE: Enough. (To SHELLY.) What are you doing with my cup and saucer?

  SHELLY: (Looking at the cup, back to HALIE.) I made some bouillon for Dodge.

  HALIE: For Dodge?

  SHELLY: Yeah.

  HALIE: My husband, Dodge.

  SHELLY: Yes.

  HALIE: You're here in my house making bouillon for my husband.

  SHELLY: Yes.

  HALIE: Well, did he drink it?

  SHELLY: NO.

  HALIE: Did you drink it?

  SHELLY: Yes. (HALIE stares at her. Long pause. She turns abruptly away from SHELLY and crosses back to FATHER DEWIS.)

  HALIE: Father, there's a stranger in my house. What would you advise? What would be the Christian thing?

  DEWIS: (Squirming.) Oh, well … I … I really—is she a trespasser?

  HALIE: We still have some whiskey, don't we? A drop or two? (DODGE slowly pulls the blanket down and looks toward FATHER DEWIS. SHELLY stands.)

  SHELLY: Listen, I don't drink or anything. I just— (HALIE turns toward SHELLY viciously.)

  HALIE: You sit back down! (SHELLY sits again on the stair, HALIE turns again to DEWIS.) I think we still have plenty of whiskey left! Don't we, Father?

  DEWIS: Well, yes. I think so. You'll have to get it. My hands are full, (HALIE giggles. Reaches into DEWIS's pockets, searching for the bottle. She smells the roses as she searches, DEWIS stands stiffly, DODGE watches HALIE closely as she looks for the bottle.)

  HALIE: Roses. The most incredible things, roses! Aren't they incredible, Father?

  DEWIS: Yes. Yes they are.

  HALIE: They almost cover the stench of sin in this house. Hanky-panky. Just magnificent!
The smell. We'll have to put some at the foot of Ansel's statue. On the day of the unveiling, (HALIE finds a silver flask of whiskey in DEWIS‘s vest pocket. She pulls it out. DODGE looks on eagerly, HALIE crosses to DODGE, opens the flask, and takes a sip. To DODGE.) Ansel's getting a statue, Dodge. Did you know that? Not a plaque but a real live statue. A full bronze. Tip to toe. A basketball in one hand and a rifle in the other.

  BRADLEY: (His back to HALIE.) He never played basketball!

  HALIE: You better shut up, Bradley! You shut up about Ansel! Ansel played basketball better than anyone! And you know it! He was an Ail-American! There's no reason to take the glory away from others. Especially when one's own shortcomings are so apparent, (HALIE turns away from BRADLEY, crosses back toward DEWIS, sipping on the flask and smiling. To DEWIS.) Ansel was a great basketball player. Make no mistake. One of the greatest.