Buried Child (10 page)

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.

DEWIS:
I remember Ansel. Handsome lad. Tall and strapping.

HALIE:
Of course! You remember. You remember how he could play.
(She turns toward
SHELLY.)
Of course, nowadays they play a different brand of basketball. More vicious. Isn't that right, dear?

SHELLY:
I don't know,
(HALIE
crosses to
SHELLY,
sipping on the flask. She stops in front of
SHELLY.)

HALIE:
Much, much more vicious. They smash into each other. They knock each other's teeth out. There's blood all over the court. Savages. Barbaric, don't you think?
(HALIE
takes the cup from
SHELLY
and pours whiskey into it.)
They don't train like they used to. Not at all. They allow themselves to run amok. Drugs and women. Women mostly,
(HALIE
hands the cup of whiskey back to
SHELLY
slowly.
SHELLY
takes it.)
Mostly women. Girls. Sad, pathetic little skinny girls.
(She crosses back to
FATHER DEWIS.)
It's just a reflection of the times, don't you think, Father? An indication of where we stand?

DEWIS:
I suppose so, yes. I've been so busy with the choir—

HALIE:
Yes. A sort of bad omen. Our youth becoming monsters.

DEWIS:
Well, I uh—wouldn't go quite that far.

HALIE:
Oh, you can disagree with me if you want to, Father. I'm open to debate.
(She moves toward
DODGE.)
I suppose, in the long run, it doesn't matter. When you see the way things deteriorate before your very eyes. Everything running downhill. It's kind of silly to even think about youth.

DEWIS
: No, I don't think so. I think it's important to believe in certain things. Certain basic truths. I mean—

HALIE:
Yes. Yes, I know what you mean. I think that's right. I think that's true.
(She looks at
DODGE.)
Certain basic things. We can't shake the fundamentals. We might end up crazy. Like my husband. You can see it in his eyes. You can see the madness almost oozing out.
(DODGE
covers his head with the blanket again,
HALIE
takes a single rose from
DEWIS
and moves slowly over to
DODGE.)
We can't not believe in something. We can't stop believing. We just end up dying if we stop. Just end up dead,
(HALIE
throws the rose gently onto
DODGE
‘s blanket. It lands between his knees and stays there. Long pause as
HALIE
stares at the rose.)

BRADLEY:
Ansel never played basketball.

HALIE:
Bradley, I'm warning you.
(SHELLY
stands suddenly.
HALIE
doesn't turn to her but keeps staring at the rose.)

SHELLY: (
To
HALIE.)
Don't you wanna know who I am? Don't you wanna know what I'm doing here?! Standing in the middle of your house. I'm not dead!
(SHELLY
crosses toward
HALIE. HALIE
turns slowly to her.)

HALIE:
Did you drink your whiskey?

SHELLY
: No! And I'm not going to either!

HALIE:
Well, that's a firm stand. It's good to have a firm stand.

SHELLY:
I don't have any stand at all. I'm just trying to put all this together,
(HALIE
laughs and crosses back to
DEWIS.)

HALIE:
(
To
DEWIS.)
Surprises, surprises! Did you have any idea we'd be returning to this?

DEWIS:
Well, actually—

SHELLY:
I came here with your grandson for a little visit! A little, innocent, friendly visit.

HALIE:
My grandson?

SHELLY:
Yes! That's right. The one no one seems to remember.

HALIE:
(
To
DEWIS.)
This is getting a little far-fetched.

SHELLY:
I told him it was stupid to come back here. To try to pick up from where he left off.

HALIE:
Where was that?

SHELLY:
Wherever he was when he left here! Six years ago! Ten years ago! Whenever it was! I told him nobody cares. I told him nobody cares anymore. Nobody's going to care.

HALIE:
Didn't he listen?

SHELLY
: No! NO, he didn't. We had to stop off at every tiny little meatball town that he remembered from his boyhood!

HALIE:
My grandson?

SHELLY:
Every dumb little donut shop he ever kissed a girl in. Every drive-in. Every drag strip. Every football field he ever broke a bone on.

HALIE:
(Suddenly alarmed, to
DODGE.)
Where's Tilden?

SHELLY:
Don't ignore me! I'm telling you something!

HALIE:
Dodge! Where's Tilden gone?
(SHELLY
moves violently toward
HALIE.)

SHELLY:
(
To
HALIE.)
I'm talking to you! I'm standing here talking to you.
(BRADLEY
sits up fast on the sofa,
SHELLY
backs away.)

BRADLEY:
(
To
SHELLY.)
Don't you yell at my mother!

HALIE:
Dodge!
(She kicks
DODGE.)
I told you not to let Tilden out of your sight! Where's he gone to?