Buried Child (4 page)

DODGE:
That oughta heal things up. A statue.
(She crosses to the door up right. She stops.)

HALIE:
If you need anything, ask Tilden. He's the oldest. I've left some money on the kitchen table.

DODGE:
I don't need a thing.

HALIE
: No, I suppose not.
(She opens the door and looks out through the porch.)
Still raining. I love the smell just after it stops. The ground. It's like the ground is breathing. I won't be too late.
(Shegoes out the door and closes it. She's still visible on the porch as she crosses toward left screen door. She stops in the middle of the porch, speaks to
DODGE
but doesn't turn to him.)
Dodge, tell Tilden not to go out in the back lot anymore. I don't want him back there in the rain. He's got no business out there.

DODGE
: You tell him yourself. He's sitting right here.

HALIE:
He never listens to me, Dodge. He's never listened to me in the past.

DODGE:
I'll tell him.

HALIE:
We have to watch him just like we used to now. Just like we always have. He's still a child.

DODGE:
I'll watch him.

HALIE:
Good. We don't want to lose him. I couldn't take another loss. Not at this late date.
(She crosses to screen door left, takes an umbrella off a hook, and goes out the door. The door slams behind her. Long pause,
TILDEN
husks corn, stares at the pail,
DODGE
lights a cigarette, stares at the TV)

TILDEN:
(Still husking.)
You shouldn'ta told her that.

DODGE:
(Staring at the TV.)
What?

TILDEN:
What you told her. You know.

DODGE:
What do you know about it?

TILDEN:
I know. I know all about it. We all know.

DODGE
: So what difference does it make? Everybody knows, everybody's forgot.

TILDEN:
She hasn't forgot.

DODGE:
She should've forgot.

TILDEN:
It's different for her. She couldn't forget that. How could she forget a thing like that?

DODGE:
I don't want to talk about it!

TILDEN:
Why'd you tell her it was
your
flesh and blood?

DODGE:
I don't want to talk about it.

TILDEN:
What do you want to talk about?

DODGE:
I don't want to talk about anything! I don't want to talk about troubles or what happened fifty years ago or thirty years ago or the racetrack or Florida or the last time I seeded the corn! I don't want to talk period. Talking just wears me thin.

TILDEN
: You don't wanna die, do you?

DODGE
: No, I don't particularly wanna die either.

TILDEN:
Well, you gotta talk or you'll die.

DODGE:
Who told you that crap?

TILDEN:
That's what I know. I found that out in New Mexico. I thought I was dying but I just lost my voice.

DODGE:
Were you with somebody? A woman? A woman'll make you think you're dying, sure as shooting.

TILDEN:
I was alone. I thought I was dead.

DODGE:
Might as well have been. What'd you come back here for?

TILDEN:
I didn't know where else to go.

DODGE:
You're a grown man. You shouldn't be needing your parents at your age. It's unnatural. There's nothing we can do for you now anyway. Couldn't you make a living down there? Couldn't you find some way to make a living? Support yourself? What'dya come back here for? You expect us to feed you forever?

TILDEN:
I didn't know where else to go.

DODGE:
I never went back to my parents. Never. Never even had the urge. I was independent. Always independent. Always found a way. Self-sufficient.

TILDEN:
I didn't know what to do. I couldn't figure anything out.

DODGE:
There's nothing to figure out. You just forge ahead. What's there to figure out?
(TILDEN
stands.)

TILDEN:
I was standing. It was night. I was full of the smell of New Mexico. It's different than Illinois. Totally different.

Foreign, almost. My lungs were full of it. Like pine smoke and mesquite. That was it. It was foreign. So I left there and I came back here.
(He starts to leave.)

DODGE:
Where are you going?

TILDEN:
Out back.

DODGE:
You're not supposed to go out there. You heard what she said. Don't play deaf with me!

TILDEN:
I like it out there.

DODGE:
In the rain?

TILDEN:
Especially in the rain. I like the feeling of it. Feels like it always did.

DODGE:
You're supposed to watch out for me. Get me things when I need them.

TILDEN:
What do you need?

DODGE:
I don't need anything yet! But I might. I might need something any second. Any second now. I can't be left alone for a minute!
(DODGE
starts to cough.)

TILDEN:
I'll be right outside. You can just yell.

DODGE:
(Between coughs.)
No! It's too far! You can't go out there! It's too far! You might not even hear me! I could die here and you'd never hear me!

TILDEN:
(Moving to the pills.)
Why don't you take a pill? You want a pill?
(DODGE
coughs more violently, throws himself back against the sofa, clutches his throat,
TILDEN
stands by helplessly.)

DODGE:
Water! Get me some water!
(TILDEN
rushes off left.
DODGE
reaches out for the pills, knocking some bottles to the floor, coughing in spasms. He grabs a small bottle, takes out pills, and swallows them,
TILDEN
rushes back on with a glass of water.
DODGE
takes it and drinks. His coughing subsides.)

TILDEN
: You all right now?
(DODGE
nods. Drinks more water.
TILDEN
moves in closer to him.
DODGE
sets the glass of water on the night table. His coughing is almost gone.)
Why don't you lay down for a while? Just rest a little,
(TILDEN
helps
DODGE
lie down on the sofa. Covers him with the blanket.)

DODGE:
You're not going outside, are you?

TILDEN
: No.

DODGE:
I don't want to wake up and find you not here.

TILDEN:
I'll be here,
(TILDEN
tucks the blanket around
DODGE.)

DODGE:
You'll stay right here?

TILDEN:
I'll stay in my chair.

DODGE:
That's not a chair. That's my old milking stool.

TILDEN:
I know.

DODGE:
Don't call it a chair.

TILDEN:
I won't,
(TILDEN
tries to take
DODGE
's
baseball cap off.)

DODGE:
What're you doing?! Leave that on me! Don't take that offa me! That's my cap!
(TILDEN
leaves the cap on
DODGE.)

TILDEN:
I know.

DODGE:
Bradley’11 shave my head if I don't have that on. That's my cap.

TILDEN:
I know it is.

DODGE:
Don't take my cap off.

TILDEN:
I won't.

DODGE
: You stay right here now.

TILDEN:
(Sits on stool.)
I will.

DODGE:
Don't go outside. There's nothing out there. Never has been. It's empty.

TILDEN:
I won't.

DODGE:
Everything's in here. Everything you need. Money's on the table. TV. Is the TV on?

TILDEN:
Yeah.

DODGE:
Turn it off! Turn the damn thing off! What's it doing on?

TILDEN:
(Turns off the TV, the light goes out.)
You left it on.

DODGE:
Well, turn it off.

TILDEN:
(Sits on stool again.)
It's off.

DODGE:
Leave it off.

TILDEN:
I will.

DODGE:
When I fall asleep you can turn it back on.

TILDEN:
Okay.

DODGE
: You can watch the ball game. White Sox. You like the White Sox, don't you?

TILDEN:
Yeah.

DODGE
: You can watch the White Sox. Pee Wee Reese. Pee Wee Reese. You remember Pee Wee Reese?

TILDEN
: No.

DODGE:
Was he with the White Sox?

TILDEN:
I don't know.

DODGE:
Pee Wee Reese.
(Falling into sleep.)
Bases loaded. Top a the sixth. Bases loaded. Runner on first and third. Big fat knuckle ball. Floater. Big as a blimp. Cracko! Ball just took off like a rocket. Just pulverized. I marked it. Marked it with my eyes. Straight between the clock and the Burma Shave ad. I was the first kid out there. First kid. I had to fight hard for that ball. I wouldn't give it up. They almost tore the ears right off of me. But I wouldn't give it up.
(DODGE
falls into deep sleep,
TILDEN
just sits staring at him for a while. Slowly he leans toward the sofa, checking to see if
DODGE
is well asleep. He reaches slowly under the cushion and pulls out the bottle of booze,
DODGE
sleeps soundly,
TILDEN
stands quietly, staring at
DODGE
as he uncaps the bottle and takes a long drink. He caps the bottle and sticks it in his hip pocket. He looks around at the husks on the floor and then back to
DODGE.
He moves center and gathers an armload of corn husks, then crosses back to the sofa. He stands holding the husks over
DODGE
and looks down at him as he gently spreads the corn husks over the whole length of
DODGE
's body. He stands back and looks at
DODGE.
Pulls out the bottle, takes another drink, returns the bottle to his hip pocket. He gathers more husks and repeats the procedure until the floor is clean of corn husks and
DODGE
is completely covered in them except for his head,
TILDEN
takes another long drink, stares at
DODGE
sleeping, then quietly exits left. Long pause as the sound of rain continues,
DODGE
sleeps on. The figure of
BRADLEY
appears up left, outside the screen porch door. He holds a wet newspaper over his head as a protection from the rain. He seems to be struggling with the door, then slips and almost falls to the ground,
DODGE
sleeps on, undisturbed.)

BRADLEY:
Sonuvabitcli! Sonuvagoddamnbitch! Always some obstacle,
(BRADLEY
recovers his footing and makes it through the screen door onto the porch. He throws the newspaper down, shakes the water out of his hair, and brushes the rain off his shoulders. He is a big man dressed in a gray sweatshirt, black suspenders, baggy dark blue pants, and black janitor's shoes. His left leg is wooden, having been amputated above the knee. He moves with an exaggerated, almost mechanical limp. The squeaking sounds of leather accompany his walk, coming from the harness and hinges of the false leg. His arms and shoulders are extremely poweful and muscular due to a lifetime of dependency on the upper torso doing all the work for the legs. He is about five years younger than
TILDEN.
He moves laboriously to the right door and enters, closing the door behind him. He doesn't notice
DODGE
at first. He moves toward the staircase. Calling upstairs)
Mom!
(He stops and listens. Turns upstage and sees
DODGE
sleeping. Notices corn husks. He moves slowly toward the sofa. Stops next to the pail and looks into it. Looks at husks,
DODGE
stays asleep.
BRADLEY
talks to himself)
Corn.
(Pause.)
Harvest's over, Pops.
(He looks at
DODGE
’s sleeping face and shakes his head in disgust. He pulls out a pair of black electric hair clippers from his pocket. Unwinds the cord and crosses to the lamp. He jabs his wooden leg behind the knee, causing it to bend at the joint, and awkwardly kneels to plug the cord into a floor outlet. He pulls himself to his feet again by using the sofa as leverage. He moves to
DODGE
's
head and again jabs his false leg. Goes down on one knee. He violently knocks away some of the corn husks, then jerks off
DODGE
's
baseball cap and throws it down center,
DODGE
stays asleep,
BRADLEY
switches on the clippers. Lights start dimming.
BRADLEY
cuts
DODGE
‘s hair while he sleeps. Lights dim slowly to black with the sound of clippers and rain.)

Scene: same set as Act One. Night. Sound of rain,
DODGE
is still asleep on the sofa. His hair is cut extremely short and in places the scalp is cut and bleeding. His cap is still center stage. All the corn and husks, pail and milking stool have been cleared away. The lights come up to the sound of a young girl laughing offstage left,
DODGE
remains asleep,
SHELLY
and
VINCE
appear up left outside the screen porch door sharing the shelter of
VINCE
‘s overcoat above their heads,
SHELLY
is about nineteen, black hair, very beautiful. She wears tight jeans, high heels, a purple T-shirt, and a short rabbit fur coat. Her makeup is exaggerated and her hair has been curled,
VINCE
is
TILDEN
‘s son, about twenty-two. He wears a plaid shirt, jeans, dark glasses, and cowboy boots, and carries a black saxophone case. They shake the rain off themselves as they enter the porch through the screen door.