Buried Child (3 page)

DODGE:
I never planted it.
(Pause.)
Tilden, look, you can't stay here forever. You know that, don't you?
(TILDEN
spits in the spittoon.)

TILDEN:
I'm not.

DODGE:
I know you're not. I'm not worried about that. That's not the reason I brought it up.

TILDEN:
What's the reason?

DODGE:
The reason is I'm wondering what you're gonna do with yourself.

TILDEN:
You're not worried about me, are you?

DODGE:
I'm not worried about you. No. I'm just wondering.

TILDEN
: You weren't worried about me when I wasn't here. When I was in New Mexico.

DODGE
: No, I wasn't worried about you then either.

TILDEN
: You shoulda worried about me then.

DODGE:
Why's that? You didn't do anything down there, did you? Nothin’ serious.

TILDEN:
I didn't do anything. No.

DODGE:
Then why should I have worried about you?

TILDEN:
Because I was by myself.

DODGE:
By yourself?

TILDEN:
Yeah. I was by myself more than I've ever been before.

DODGE:
Why was that?
(Pause.)

TILDEN:
Could I have some of that whiskey you've got?

DODGE:
What whiskey? I haven't got any whiskey.

TILDEN:
You've got some under the sofa.

DODGE:
I haven't got anything under the sofa! Now mind your own damn business! Judas Priest, you come into the house outta the middle of nowhere, haven't heard or seen you in twenty-some years and suddenly you're making accusations.

TILDEN:
I'm not making accusations.

DODGE:
You're accusing me of hoarding whiskey under the sofa!

TILDEN:
I'm not accusing you.

DODGE
: You just got through telling me that I had whiskey under the sofa!

HALIE'S VOICE:
Dodge?

DODGE:
(To
TILDEN.)
Now she knows about it!

TILDEN:
She doesn't know about it.

DODGE:
She knows!

HALIE'S VOICE:
Dodge, are you talking to yourself down there?

DODGE:
I'm talking to Tilden!

HALIE'S VOICE:
Tilden's down there?

DODGE:
He's right here!

HALIE'S VOICE:
What?

DODGE:
(Louder.)
He's right here!

HALIE'S VOICE:
What's he doing?!

DODGE:
(To
tilden.)
Don't answer her.

TILDEN: (
To
DODGE.)
I'm not doing anything wrong.

DODGE:
(
To
TILDEN.)
I know you're not.

HALIE'S VOICE:
What's he doing down there?

DODGE:
(
To
TILDEN.)
Don't answer. Whatever you do, don't answer her.

TILDEN:
I'm not.

HALIE'S VOICE:
Dodge!
(The men sit in silence,
DODGE
lights a cigarette,
TILDEN
keeps husking corn, spits tobacco now and then in the spittoon.)
Dodge! He's not drinking anything, is he? You see to it that he doesn't drink anything! You've gotta watch out for him. It's our responsibility. He can't look
after himself anymore, so we have to do it. Nobody else will do it. We can't just send him away somewhere. If we had lots of money we could send him away. But we don't. We never will. That's why we have to stay healthy. You and me. Nobody's going to look after us. Bradley can't look after us. Bradley can hardly look after himself. I was always hoping that Tilden would look out for Bradley when they got older. After Bradley lost his leg. Tilden's the oldest. I always thought he'd be the one to take responsibility. I had no idea in the world that Tilden would be so much trouble. Who would've dreamed? Tilden was an All-American, don't forget. Don't forget that. Fullback. Or quarterback. I forget which.

TILDEN:
(To
HIMSELF.)
Halfback.

DODGE:
Don't make a peep. Just let her babble,
(TILDEN
goes on husking.)

HALIE'S VOICE:
Then when Tilden turned out to be so much trouble, I put all my hopes on Ansel. Of course Ansel wasn't as handsome, but he was smart. He was the smartest probably. I think he probably was. Smarter than Bradley, that's for sure. Didn't go and chop his leg off with a chain saw. Smart enough not to go and do that. I think he was smarter than Tilden, too. Especially after Tilden got in all that trouble. Doesn't take brains to go to jail. Anybody knows that. ‘Course then when Ansel passed, that left us all alone. Same as being alone. No different. Same as if they'd all died. He was the smartest. He could've earned lots of money. Lots and lots of money.

DODGE:
Bookoos. (
HALIE
enters slowly from the top of the staircase as she continues talking. Just her feet are seen at first as she makes her way down the stairs a step at a time. She appears dressed completely in black, as though in mourning. Black handbag, hat with a veil, and pulling on elbow-length black gloves. She is about sixty-five with pure white hair. She remains absorbed in what she's saying as she descends the stairs and doesn't really notice the two men who continue sitting there as they were before she came down, smoking and husking.)

HALIE:
He would've took care of us, too. He would've seen to it that we were repaid. He was like that. He was a hero. Don't forget that. A genuine hero. Brave. Strong. And very intelligent.

TILDEN:
Ansel was a hero?

HALIE:
Ansel could've been a great man. One of the greatest. I only regret that he didn't die in action. It's not fitting for a man like that to die in a motel room. A soldier. He could've won a medal. He could've been decorated for valor. I've talked to Father Dewis about putting up a plaque for Ansel. He thinks it's a good idea. He agrees. He knew Ansel when he used to play basketball. Went to every game. Ansel was his favorite player. He even recommended to the City Council that they put up a statue of Ansel. A big, tall statue with a basketball in one hand and a rifle in the other. That's how much he thinks of Ansel.

TILDEN:
Ansel was a hero?
(DODGE
kicks him.
HALIE
reaches the stage and begins to wander around, still absorbed in pulling on
her gloves, brushing lint off her dress and continuously talking to herself as the men just sit)

HALIE:
Of course, he'd still be alive today if he hadn't married into the Catholics. The Mob. How in the world he never opened his eyes to that is beyond me. Just beyond me. Everyone around him could see the truth. Even Tilden. Tilden told him time and again. Catholic women are the devil incarnate. He wouldn't listen.

TILDEN:
I don't remember that. I must've been gone somewhere.

HALIE:
He was blind with love. Blind. I knew. Everyone knew. The wedding was more like a funeral. You remember? All those Italians. All that horrible black, greasy hair. The rancid smell of cheap cologne. I think even the priest was wearing a pistol. When he gave her the ring I knew he was a dead man. I knew it. As soon as he gave her the ring. But then it was the honeymoon that killed him. The honeymoon. I knew he'd never come back from the honeymoon.
(She stops abruptly and stares at the corn husks. She looks around the space as though just waking up. She turns hard and looks hard at
TILDEN
and
DODGE,
who continue sitting calmly. She looks again at the corn husks. Pointing to the husks)
What's this in my house?
(Kicks husks)
What's all this mess?
(TILDEN
stops husking and stares at her. To
DODGE.)
And you encourage him!
(DODGE
pulls the blanket over himself again.)

DODGE:
You're going out in the rain for a little soiree.

HALIE:
It's not raining now, is it?
(TILDEN
starts husking again.)

DODGE:
Not in Florida it's not.

HALIE:
We're not in Florida!

DODGE:
It's not raining at the racetrack.

HALIE:
Have you been taking those pills? Those pills always make you talk crazy. Tilden, has he been taking those pills? Those teeny little blue pills.

TILDEN:
He hasn't took anything.

HALIE:
(To
DODGE.)
What've you been taking?

DODGE:
It's not raining in California or Florida or at the racetrack. Only in Illinois. This is the only place it's raining. All over the rest of the world it's bright golden sunshine.
(HALIE
goes to the night table next to the sofa and checks the bottle of pills.)

HALIE:
Which ones did you take? Tilden, you must've seen him take something.

TILDEN:
He never took a thing.

HALIE:
Then why's he talking crazy?

DODGE:
Crazy. Crazy, crazy, crazy.

TILDEN:
I've been here the whole time.

HALIE:
Then you've both been taking something!

TILDEN:
I've just been husking the corn.

HALIE:
Where'd you get that corn anyway? Why is the house suddenly full of corn?

DODGE:
Bumper crop! Unexplainable.

HALIE:
(Moving center.)
We haven't had corn here for over thirty years.

TILDEN:
The whole back lot's full of corn. Far as the eye can see. Like an ocean.

DODGE:
(
To
HALIE.)
Things keep happening while you're upstairs, ya know. The world doesn't stop just because you're upstairs. Corn keeps growing. Rain keeps raining.

HALIE:
I'm not unaware of the world around me! Thank you very much. It so happens that I have an overall view from the upstairs. A panorama. The backyard's in plain view of my window. And there's no corn to speak of. Absolutely none!

DODGE:
Tilden wouldn't lie. If he says there's corn, there's corn.

HALIE:
What's the meaning of this corn, Tilden?!

TILDEN:
It's a mystery to me. I was out in back there. And the rain was coming down. And I didn't feel like coming back inside. I didn't feel the cold so much. I didn't mind the wet. So I was just walking. I was muddy but I didn't mind the mud so much. And I looked up. And I saw this stand of corn. In fact I was standing in it. Surrounded. It was over my head.

HALIE:
There isn't any corn outside, Tilden! There's no corn! It's not the season for corn. Now, you must've either stolen this corn or you bought it.

DODGE:
He doesn't have a red cent to his name. He's totally dependent.

HALIE:
(To
TILDEN.)
So you stole it!

TILDEN:
I didn't steal it. I don't want to get kicked out of Illinois. I was kicked out of New Mexico and I don't want to get kicked out of Illinois.

HALIE:
You're going to get kicked out of this house, Tilden, if you don't tell me where you got that corn!
(TILDEN
starts crying softly to himself but keeps husking corn. Pause.)

DODGE:
(
To
HALIE.)
Why'd you have to tell him that? Who cares where he got the corn? Why'd you have to go and threaten him with expulsion?

HALIE:
(
To
DODGE.)
It's your fault, you know! You're the one that's behind all of this! I suppose you thought it'd be
funny! Some joke! Cover the house with corn husks. You better get this cleaned up before Bradley sees it.

DODGE:
Bradley‘s not getting in the front door!

HALIE:
(Kicking husks, striding back and forth)
Bradley's going to be very upset when he sees this. He doesn't like to see the house in disarray. He can't stand it when one thing is out of place. The slightest thing. You know how he gets.

DODGE:
Bradley doesn't even live here!

HALIE:
It's his home as much as ours. He was born in this house!

DODGE:
He was born in a hog wallow.

HALIE:
Don't you say that! Don't you ever say that!

DODGE:
He was born in a goddamn hog wallow! That's where he was born and that's where he belongs! He doesn't belong in this house!
(HALIE
stops.)

HALIE:
I don't know what's come over you, Dodge. I don't know what in the world's come over you. You've become an evil, spiteful, vengeful man. You used to be a good man.

DODGE:
Six of one, a half dozen of another.

HALIE
: You sit here day and night, festering away! Decomposing! Smelling up the house with your putrid body!

Hacking your head off ‘til all hours of the morning! Thinking up mean, evil, stupid things to say about your own flesh and blood!

DODGE:
He's not my flesh and blood! My flesh and blood's out there in the backyard!
(They freeze. Long pause. The men stare at her.)

HALIE:
(Quietly)
That's enough, Dodge. That's quite enough. You've become confused. I'm going out now. I'm going to have lunch with Father Dewis. I'm going to ask him about a monument for Ansel. A statue. At least a plaque.