Father of the Man (33 page)
Authors: Stephen Benatar
She goes out.
HESTER | Now. Where were we? |
Knock at the door. MARY again, but now she merely puts her head in.
MARY | Oh, I gave Mr Davis your message. He told me to present his compliments to the ladies and to ask them how they did. And he said he would look forward to seeing Mr Tony if it was convenient. |
HESTER | Yes. Thank you, Mary. |
MARY | But he won’t remember it, of course. Bless him. |
She gives a benevolent smile—in which she invites them all to share—then finally departs.
HESTER | (Cont.) I hardly know which is more wearisome: when she’s being difficult or when she’s setting out to please. Or when she’s dropping all the china. Continue, Tony, if you would. The floor is yours. |
TONY | Well, it’s nothing very revolutionary. It’s just that… |
Pause, while he summons up his courage.
TONY | (Cont.; blurting this out, rather) It’s just that we’ve decided to live together. And tonight I’m moving my things across. |
FLORA | What! (Pause) But we’ve never heard you even mention this girl. How long have you known her? |
TONY | Not that long. |
FLORA | How long? |
TONY | Ten days. |
FLORA | My God! |
TONY | I’ve seen a lot of her in those ten days. |
FLORA | And nights, no doubt. |
HESTER | Flora! |
FLORA | Well, that’s right, Tony, isn’t it? |
HESTER | (To TONY) But haven’t you given rather short notice to the friends you’re living with at present? Not much time for them to find anybody new. |
TONY | No, I’ve already fixed for someone to take my place. |
ELLEN | And Sandra’s too, I should imagine. |
TONY | (Wan smile) Yes, I hope so. |
FLORA | Hope so? |
ELLEN | (Amiably) He’s only being modest, you silly girl. |
But the audience should get the feeling there was also an element of failing courage.
FLORA | (To TONY) So where will you be living now? |
TONY | Sandra has a flat. |
FLORA | Her own flat? (Marginally less cold) Or do you mean she shares it with other students? |
TONY | No, she’s not a student. It’s her own. |
HESTER | What, have her parents bought it for her? |
TONY | No, she rents it. |
FLORA | Where? |
TONY | Just off the Mile End Road. |
FLORA | (To HESTER) Of course, you know where that is? |
ELLEN | I hear the East End is coming up these days. Doesn’t David Owen have a house there? (TONY nods) Not bad! Having the Owens for your neighbours could carry nearly the same cachet as having the Klingmans. |
TONY | Well, this is one of the tattier parts…Not that I can see it’s relevant. |
HESTER | Anyway. This girl has a flat in the East End. She isn’t a student. What else can you tell us about her? |
FLORA | What’s her job? |
TONY | She doesn’t have one. |
HESTER | But her training? What kind of thing is she after? |
TONY | She isn’t. She’s got two young boys to bring up. One who’s just four, one who’s only nine months. |
FLORA | (Pause) My God. |
HESTER | You mean—she’s divorced? |
TONY | Widowed. |
HESTER | Widowed? At that age? (Totally sincere) Dear Lord. How dreadful. |
FLORA | What age is she? |
TONY | Twenty-four. |
HESTER | What age was her husband? |
TONY | About the same. (Again, getting it over with) He committed suicide. Last year. Hanged himself. He was into drugs. |
Stunned silence.
FLORA | (Without expression) If the father was a drug addict…that means the children will have it in their blood. |
The door slowly opens and in comes WALTER DAVIS. He is bearded, impressive; looks like Edward VII. Sometimes it can be seen how badly his hands shake.
WALTER | My word. A party. Can anybody come? (Chuckles) And do they need to be in their Sunday best and to have had their faces washed? |
TONY | (Standing, going forward) Hello, Mr Davis-sir. I think your face looks washed enough. |
WALTER | Hello, Mr Tony-sir. And so does yours—so does yours!—I trust you’ve been inspected behind the ears. Good afternoon, ladies. By Jove, what a bevy of beauties. Why wasn’t I told? |
ELLEN | That’s a very pretty speech. I think you must have rehearsed it. |
WALTER | (Chuckles) Yes, isn’t it? I probably did. Well, this is all extremely pleasant. |
HESTER | Walter, darling, I wonder if we could ask you to come back in just a little while? We’re in the midst of a very boring conversation. It wouldn’t interest you at all. |
But WALTER has now caught sight of the sponge and cinnamon balls, etc.
WALTER | My word. Is this a party? (Chuckles) They must have forgotten to send me my invitation. Is someone getting married? |
HESTER | Yes, me, darling. (Gets up) Let me put a few of these things on a plate (she does so) although I shouldn’t really—you’ve already had your tea— |
WALTER | (Honest bewilderment) No, I haven’t. |
HESTER | Yes, darling, you have. |
WALTER | (With serene good nature) Look here, my child, I’m the one who ought to know whether I’ve had my tea or not. (With shaking hand, he takes his fob watch from his waistcoat pocket; studies it intently) Yet it certainly does look as though I should have had it; there are grounds for your mistake. (To TONY, chuckling) It never does to contradict a lady. Especially not one who’s getting married. Is it my imagination or are brides growing younger and lovelier each year? I wonder who the fortunate gentleman is. |
HESTER | You are, darling. |
WALTER | (To the rest of the company, as he puts away his watch; marked air of naughtiness) Well, I |
HESTER has by this time taken his arm and is vainly trying to lead him to the door.
WALTER | (Cont) “But I knaw’d a Quaaker feller as often ’as towd ma this: ‘Doant thou marry for munny, but goa wheer munny is!’ An’ I went wheer munny war: an’ thy mother coom to ’and, Wi’ lots o’ munny laid by, an’ a nicetish bit o’ land. Maaybe she warn’t a beauty:—I niver giv it a thowt—But warn’t she as good to cuddle an’ kiss as a lass as ’ant nowt?” |
TONY and ELLEN clap. WALTER beams.
WALTER | (Cont) Yes, ’pon my word, old Tennyson certainly knew a thing or two. (To HESTER) Now then, my child, you mustn’t push, you know; it really isn’t done—not in the very best of circles. Well, tra-la, ladies and gentleman. It’s been an honour and a privilege to meet you all. |
TONY | I’ll come and see you, Mr Davis, in a little while. |
WALTER | That will be very nice, Mr Tony-sir. |
He goes out, holding his plate of goodies. HESTER, at the door, calls, “Mary! Come and take Mr Davis back to his room. And bring his walking stick.” Then she closes the door and returns to her chair.
HESTER | Sit down again, Tony. |
TONY | I’d rather not for the moment. Thank you. |
ELLEN | Really, isn’t he the most marvellous man—Walter? It’s hard to believe he used to be so wayward in his youth. I find it immensely reassuring: there may yet be hope for the rest of us. |
HESTER | He’s still extremely obstinate. But yes. One could never wish for a less demanding lodger. However…talking of wayward and obstinate youth…(She looks at TONY, with severe yet tolerant smile.) |
TONY | I’m not wayward. Nor obstinate. |
HESTER | Well, that remains to be seen. |
FLORA | What does ‘wayward’ mean? |
ELLEN | Young people who don’t listen to their grandmothers. |
TONY | But I do listen. (Smiles) And listen. And listen. |
HESTER | No, you don’t. Otherwise you’d sit down. |
TONY | (Sits) There. You see. |
FLORA | (To TONY) This woman. How does she manage? Do her parents support her? |
TONY | Mum, she isn’t ‘this woman’. She’s Sandra. But no. She gets the dole. Obviously she has it pretty tough. |
We sense more commitment now, less uncertainty.
TONY | (Cont) And, my God, she’s had it tough for at least the past five years! |
FLORA | What does her father do? |
TONY | I don’t know. (Pause) He certainly isn’t one of the professional classes, if that’s what you’re hoping. |
FLORA | (Coldly) So where did you meet her? |
TONY | At a disco. |
HESTER | At a disco! Oh, this is ridiculous. Ten days ago. At a disco. |
TONY | What’s wrong with discos? Lots of very respectable people go to discos. |
HESTER But do they go alone? Women in their twenties?
TONY | Who said she went alone? And what if she did? Her nextdoor neighbour suddenly offered to babysit and…and it was the first time since…And she decided to get dressed up and have a good time. What’s so wrong with that? She likes music. She likes dancing. She— |
FLORA | Who asked who to dance? |
TONY | All right, Mum, so she asked me—ever heard of a movement called Women’s Lib? But the thing is, that once we began to talk I realized how nice she was. She had this quality. It’s difficult to explain. I felt drawn to her. |
HESTER | You felt sorry for her. |
TONY | Not at all. What do you think?—that she instantly said, “I’m a widow, my husband was a junkie, killed himself, I have two kids.” She only started telling me that when I was walking her home. |
HESTER | And, anyway, I’m not saying you weren’t right to feel sorry for her. What kind of monster wouldn’t? All I’m saying is, it’s a mistake to let yourself become involved. Worse than a mistake. It’s thoughtless; stupid.You’d be encouraging her to grow dependent on you—oh I mean emotionally, not financially, she knows you’re only a student. And then what would happen? When you’d made a big difference to her life, perhaps been like a father to her children? You’d turn your back on her, let her down again, just like she was let down by her husband. You can’t expect us to approve of any situation that could lead to that? |
TONY | I don’t intend to turn my back on her. |
HESTER | Not at the moment. Of course you don’t. But you’ll forgive my mentioning this: I don’t think you’re someone who ever looks too far into the future. |
FLORA | (To TONY) Don’t say you mean to marry her? (TONY gives a shrug.) |
HESTER | So what do you intend? |
TONY | Perhaps only to help her over a bad patch? You can’t always be looking years and years ahead. You have to do what seems right at the moment. If she has stability now, then in five or six years’ time the children will both be at school, she’ll have a job, she’ll be out and about meeting people. And she’ll have got through that initial period of real isolation and hopelessness and— |
HESTER | But all this sounds so muddled. I don’t understand it. Are you telling us you love this girl or that you’re just going in for social work? |
TONY | I…(Hesitates) |
HESTER | (To the others) You see? |
TONY | I think I do love her. She’s nice. She’s…You’ll like her. Right now I’m sure you have the wrong impression. And the children, too…they’re great. They don’t deserve any of this shit that’s—I mean they don’t deserve any of what’s happened to them. None of them do. |
HESTER | Or of what’s going to happen to them? |
TONY | How can you talk like that? Nobody has a crystal ball. |
