"In Search of Red River Dog"
by Sandra Perlman
ACT ONE
SCENE ONE
In the blackness you should see a line of rocks glowing on the black set.
At rise: The moon casts a cool light on the yard of the trailer. There is a chair and an old couch, some trash cans and an empty clothesline. A light from a television set is seen through the window of the trailer as Johnny Carson is heard. The sound soon fades out and a flashlight comes on as PAULETTE is seen shining the light on some of the glow-in-the-dark painted rocks that line the steps up to the trailer. She is wearing a large oversized man's shirt. She playfully bounces her flashlight around as she inspects the painted glow-in-the dark rocks by the front door. She sings absentmindedly as she flashes the light.
Mary, Mary, quite contrary
How does your garden grow?
With silver bells and cockle shells. . .
| | (PAULETTE crosses from the porch with several of the rocks and goes down to a small anemic looking garden. She places the rocks around the garden, then flashes the light into the dirt and discovers a discarded beer bottle) |
And one BEER bottle right in the middle!
| | (She picks up the beer bottle and takes it back to the trash can by the front of the trailer. PAULETTE brightens as she pounds on the side of the trailer.) |
Denny!
Hey, Paulette, you're gonna wake up the whole neighborhood.
I'm sorry. I just want you to come out and see our beautiful garden.
It's the middle of the night, honey.
Pretty please with a cherry on top!
Okay, okay let me put some pants on --
| | (lights turns on inside the trailer) |
I hope you're wearing something decent.
Of course, silly. Now hurry before you miss the moon.
Miss the moon! Jesus, I married one crazy woman. Miss the moon.
Peter, Peter, pumpkin-eater
Had a wife and couldn't keep her:
Put her in a pumpkin shell,
And there he kept her very well.
| | (PAULETTE starts spinning and crashes into the trash cans.) |
Paulette! Are you all right?
| | (DENNY runs out tripping on the rocks and hopping wildly on one foot. Sound of dog barking. ) |
I'm fine honey, I was just dancing.
| | (PAULETTE gets herself up and fixes the trash can. The dog starts to bark again. ) |
Quiet Red! (laughs) Dancing. Can you beat that. Damn it. Who put these rocks right under my feet.
I am so sorry, honey, I just put them there today. Here hold onto me.
I'm fine. Just a couple broken toes that's all.
I sprayed 'em to glow in the dark. You'll see how nice it'll look. When I'm done they're going to look just like a ring of fire. Aren't they beautiful.
| | (DENNY hobbles over to where PAULETTE is placing more rocks into the garden) |
And you want to put more of these beautiful rocks out here?
Oh yes Denny I'm gonna put them all the way 'round the trailer and out past the garden and right up to the road.
Paint'em all different colors that glow in the dark. . . and put them along this. . . wonderful. . . garden and out to the road.
Exactly!
Now would you tell me honey, just why would you want to do that?
So they would be pretty. So we could see them from the road when we walked home -- or looked out our bedroom window. It would be our own special ring of fire. So what'd you think?
I think they look just like rocks honey.
Well they'll always be rocks on the inside. But we can make them into something special and I would do it all myself I promise you wouldn't have to do a thing.
I know you would Paulette, I just don't know why.
If you love me, love me true.
Send me a ribbon, and let it be blue.
If you hate me, let it be seen,
Send me a ribbon, a ribbon of green.
God knows I love you honey but between you singing and dancing and -- Paulette, you got nothing on under there!
There's no one around.
You promised.
No one for miles.
It wasn't two weeks ago Carter Brown's sister was taken right from her front yard --
. . . to see us, or hear us. . .
And you know what they did to her!
Everyone knows I belong to you Denny. You told me that the very first time you kissed me. You took my breath away when you kissed me. You're mine forever, you said.
Jesus, Paulette, don't you forget anything.
I'm Denny's girl. That means something.
Not as much as it used to.
No one would dare hurt me.
Some thing's a man can't stop. Hey, baby, you're going cut yourself on that old rusted thing. Get yourself some lockjaw and next thing I'll be all alone. You know I couldn't stand that.
| | (DENNY takes the flashlight away from her and shines it on the pathetic plants) |
So tell me honey, just what are you growing in this beautiful garden.
Spices. Like mint for tea.
Which I don't drink, thank you.
And this is parsley for cooking.
Macaroni cheese and beans don't need spice.
I thought it would be nice.
I'm sorry honey. You know how I hate buying food with those damn stamps. Makes me sick.
I know.
Soon as they see they're not getting real money they just look at you like shit under their shoes.
It's just temporary, honey.
You having a job is temporary. When we move I'll get you a big yard, biggest in Ohio and you can plant whatever you want.
I thought it might be nice to grow something right from the beginning. Put some seeds into the dirt with your hands and watch 'em grow. Something nobody can take away. I thought it would be a nice thing. I thought you would like it.
Nice is having a job, or a wife waiting with dinner like on TV. It's not having some dried up plants in front of an old sardine can.
| | (breaking and dancing away from him) |
Specks on the fingers, Fortune lingers; Specks on the thumbs, Fortune comes.
There's still a fortune to be made working those mills, Paulette! I can outwork five of those Japs or Germans Paulette. I got three generations of steel men in my blood.
The plant's closed, Denny.
It's just temporary, baby.
That's not what they're saying in the newspaper.
Aw hell, Paulette I told you not to read those lies. Those newspaper people don't give a damn about me or John Senior or you or Bertie. Just talk us down -- make us out to be stupid and lazy fools or worse. We need those jobs and they know it. And it's not like we don't want to work. We're dying to work cause we're nothing without those jobs and they know it. That's why they want to break us right back down to our hands and knees, but that's not the way we're going. No, honey, we're going to stand up and we're going to win. But you're not going to hear that from those newspapers cause they're not on our side. Never were and never will be."
I hate when you talk like that Denny. It scares me.
I talk the way it is.
You make it sound like war.
It is war. The one who wins -- wins everything. (overlap)
But it can't --
And the one who loses might just as well be dead. I'm not losing Paulette.
Maybe we could just pick up and move away from here.
Why would we do that?
Maybe we could start all over again some place new.
Where?
Maybe I could go to college.
Oh. That again.
Just for two years. . I promise I'd work real fast and I know I could get a good job when I done.
I'm still the steel man around here, aren't I? You do believe in your steel man, don't you?.
Of course I do, yes, always, but I really don't mind working.
No, "buts" about it cause either you trust me or you don't. I either no what's happening or I don't. And I know, believe me, I go to the meetings. They're gonna take care of us.
Cock-a-doodle dooo! My dame has lost her shoe.
My master's lost his fiddle stick and knows not what to do.
Why won't you believe in me.
I always believe in you.
Then you gotta believe in all of what goes with me honey. This country invented steel and rubber, radio, TV and every other fucking thing the world has that's any good. We are the center of the universe because of people like me. We have to be. Where are you going now?
I'm cold.
Course you're cold. Not wearing enough to keep a fly warm and don't start telling me about how flies don't need to keep warm, thank you.
| | (DENNY holds her very close) |
Now that's a whole lot better than any fly will ever know.
I gotta go in now and finish reading my books. They're overdue tomorrow.
I thought you might stay up and watch a little TV with me.
We can't afford any more fines, Denny.
Don't you think I know what we can't afford!
| | (DENNY sits down on the couch dejectedly) |
| | (PAULETTE runs and collapses at his knees) |
Oh, Denny, I'm sorry. Forgive me.
No, honey, there's nothing to forgive when it's just Denny Griffith shooting my big mouth off. Making a fool of myself.
---Shhhhhh----
I can't help it baby. I just love you so much. You know that don't you. Always making a fool of myself over you.
I know. ( Kissing)
I voted twenty-seven times for you to be the Apple Butter Queen.
You voted twenty-seven times for me?.
Which just always proved to me that Kelly Smiles cheated.
It didn't matter.
It mattered cause they cheated. Picked that girl 'cause her Daddy owns a hardware store.
You cheated and voted twenty-seven times.
That's different honey. I cheated for you.
It was just a silly contest Denny. I don't want to think about it.
What else don't you want to think about?
It was a long time ago.
You and me being close was a long time ago too.
I'm just feeling scared right now.
I'm scared too.
I didn't think you were scared of anything.
Scared you and me are never gonna be close again like we need to be. Like I want to be. Like you use to want to be.
I just need a little more time, Denny. (pulling away)
Don't you see me growing' old right before your eyes? Am I so bad to look at now you can't even stand being close to me?
Please, you promised you'd wait.
I remember it was different Paulette and if you wanted you could remember too.
I need more time! You know what the doctor said.
And what do I need? What did that doctor say about me?
Just a little more time. I promise.
Just so long as I know you really love me.
Don't be silly.
Just so long as you don't start thinking about someone else. I couldn't stand that.
There's no one else. (kisses him) No one but you. No one. (pulls away) You know all those stars are always moving.
Uh-huh.
Even though we can't see them moving apart it's true and in 50,000 years from now it won't even look like the Big Dipper.
Fifty Thousand years from now I won't give a damn.
It's so beautiful sometimes it makes me want to cry.
Television makes you cry.
You used to love learning all about the stars.
When did I love learning about anything.
When you had that science class in the twelfth grade.
I didn't love learning about the stars in the twelfth grade.
You did. I remember. You wrote a whole paper on it. I read every word of it and it was all about the stars. Denny? (Pause) You got a "C" Plus and Mr. Leebow said he thought it showed real promise. You gotta remember.
I bought it.
What?
I paid Chrissy Abbott to write the paper for me.
Don't be funny.
I'm not being funny Paulette. I paid Chrissy to write that paper for me and that's why I don't know one of those damn stars up there from the other and I never will.
You paid her money?
She was the smartest girl in my class and she said yes.
But you only got a C-plus!
I paid her to write a C-plus. Hell, if she wrote an "A " paper he would have known it wasn't me. What's wrong baby? Didn't mean anything.
I thought you liked the stars just like I did.
You liked the stars and I liked you. Mr. Leebow liked the stars and he liked you, but I didn't like him and I couldn't give a damn if the stars were moving or standing still. Anyway, why'd I need to read about the stars when I got you here to tell me all about 'em.
They are moving, but we can't see it. Why did you say Chrissy Abbott was the smartest.
She was only the smartest girl in my class. You were the smartest girl in the whole school and Eric Vincent was the dumbest boy -- but I was sure runner-up.
You weren't dumb.
The only difference between me and Eric was he played the tuba and I could get my head beat in on the football field.
Don't talk like that.
Made me a lot more exciting. I mean, you weren't too interested in the tuba were you?
You could be anything you want to be.
No, you could be anything you wanted to be. I could be your boyfriend.
I knew all the constellations by heart.
You were so smart Paulette.
I can name 'em. Draw 'em. Tell you stories.
Smart and hot. (getting close)
I could teach you all the stories Denny. Wonderful stories. Like that one about the ones shining right up there.
The Big Dipper.
See! You do know them.
Everyone knows the Big Dipper. It's no big deal hon.
I like Ursa Major better. Don't you? It's sounds so much more mysterious to say "Ursa Major. " And anything that's been sitting up there for maybe a million million years should be very mysterious, don't you think?
Ursa Major's just fine.
See, you are interested. In the winter the Little Dipper is to the left of the Big Dipper and has its handle pointed up while the Big Dipper's handle points down.
It's pointed the other way.
Well in the summer they change positions.
Nothing stays the same.
But the amazing thing is to think how really far away those stars are. Can you guess?
Further than Big Run West Virgin-ny.
Don't be funny.
So, Miss World Book of 1978 -- just how far away are they?
They say the nearest one of those stars in Ursa Major is 25 millions of miles away from us. Imagine that. Twenty-five million miles.
You're right. That's a helluva lot further than Big Run.
And we can still see it. Isn't it amazing? So far away and we can still see that light shining so bright.
Not as bright as you?
| | (DENNY and PAULETTE are now on the ground, DENNY has his head in her lap as they watch the stars) |
And the brightest one of all, the one I've always loved the most, that's it right there at the end of my finger. See it? The one that's blinking? It's called Sirius, the Dog Star and it's the brightest one in the whole Northern Sky. Sirius (barks jokingly) the hunting dog. So strong and so bright that is that star died tonight we'd still be seeing it for the next eight years.
Maybe it's already dead.
What?
You just said it could be dead and we'd still be seeing it so I just said maybe it's already dead and we don't know it.
I don't know.
So it could be dead is what you're saying.
I'm not sure.
Hell, all this astrology business isn't so tough after all.
| | (moving away from DENNY ) |
It's not astrology, it's science. That's what makes it so special. A world full of laws that keep us moving and apart -- moving and alone - moving and safe. All of those planets in their own little paths, and all of those millions of stars all part of this wonderful plan that keeps us planted on the earth and all of them up there dancing in the sky. It's a wonderful plan, a mysterious plan you could spend your whole life trying to figure out. And we're right there in the middle of it. I tell you it just takes your breath away.
But if the law says it could be dead -- it could be dead and I could be right. Right?
Yes, I guess you could be right.
No guessing about it. Now let's just go in and see some TV and find out what else old Denny can be right about.
I'm not tired.
You just said you were cold.
I am cold. But I'm not tired.
You never sleep anymore. People can die from not sleeping you know. I read that in the Reader's Digest.
You go in if you want. I'll come soon, I promise.
Paulette can't you just forget all this junk about what's up there and help me work on what's down here.
I'll be right in. I promise.
It doesn't change anything, you know. Knowing every fucking name -- it doesn't change anything unless. Unless -- unless you could hook one of those bastards up to our electric line! Now that would change something. Hook that sucker up so we could quit paying a dime and you got something you can live with all right.
It doesn't work that way yet.
It doesn't work that way yet!
No.
That was a little joke, Paulette, maybe something Mr. Sweetass Leebow might like. I'm sure he liked your jokes a lot more than he liked mine. Fact is that he probably liked everything about you a helluva lot more than he liked me.
| | (DENNY goes inside the trailer and stands in the doorway) |
He was just my science teacher, Denny, nothing more. He was--
--a man! At least, I think he was a man. (slams the door)
He tried to help you. I don't know why you want to make fun of him. He never knew you didn't do that paper. Neither one of us knew that. I think he would be really sad if he found out now because he believed in you.
He believed in you. He tolerated me.
He believed we could be better. Smarter. He thought I could be a teacher.
I'll bet he did.
Why are you acting like this?
I'm no different than I always was honey. You were the one with your head up there in the clouds, not me. I got my hands full figuring out what's happening down here! Trying to make a living for the rest of my life so I don't end up drunk like half the old men I work with. My head's so full I don't even care anymore how those damn astronauts take a piss and Lord knows that was the only burning science question in my mind. (Pretending he is talking on the phone) Hello, Houston? This is Denny Griffith up here in Ohio and I've always wanted to ask how those astronauts took a piss? Sure, I can wait. How long? Doesn't matter you see, cause I don't have anywhere to go, or anything to do, so why don't you just put me on fucking hold like the rest of the world.
| | (continuing to mime he is on the phone while PAULETTE crosses to get her tools and goes to the garden where she starts working) |
Paulette! What are you doing now? I need you, Paulette. I can't wait 'til some doctor says you can need me because he doesn't know what I need. He doesn't love you like I do.
I married a wife on Sunday.
Please be my wife again.
She began to scold on Monday.
No.
Middling she was on Wednesday.
Damn those rhymes.
| | (DENNY exits to trailer standing watching her in the doorway) |
Worse she was on Thursday.
Dead she was on Friday.
Glad I was on Saturday.
To bury my wife on Sunday.
| | (DENNY slams the door and PAULETTE stops working. She looks up at the empty doorway and freezes.) |
BLACKOUT
END OF SCENE
SCENE 2
At rise: It is the next afternoon. It is extremely hot. DENNY is sitting on the outdoor couch listening to the baseball game on the radio and drinking a beer. BERTIE enters slowly. She is wearing a big shirt and pants and wipes her face with her bandana. She carries a brown paper bag.
We winnin'?
Not yet.
Then we're losin'!
Beer's warm.
It's hotter 'n Hades out here Bert. Now you just give me that bag, sit yourself down and take a load off those feet.
| | (DENNY takes the bag inside and exits to the trailer) |
Don't mind if I do. Hot enough to cook this corn right in the bag. And where'd you learn "Hotter 'n Hades. " Hadn't heard that one in years.
I learned it from you. Be right back with your beer.
Take yer time, I got no where to go.
Learned it from me, now that's a good one. (shouting to Denny) Where's my daughter?
Went over to the library.
In this heat? I swear that girl'd rather read than eat.
| | (comes out with two bottles of beer) |
Nothing's changed. Just look in our refrigerator.
So what're you picking today?
Corn today, beans last week, who knows what tomorrow. Only thing sure about pickin' is unless the Lord floods you out or burns you up there'll be somethin' to bend over for. How long's Paulette stay'n at that library?
Since the funeral she gets a new stack of books almost every other day. You can hardly move for all the books.
What's she reading now?
Everything from weather to water pollution but don't ask me cause I don't read 'em.
God broke the mold when he made that girl.
What's in the bag?
Brought some corn. Paulette's always been partial to white so I'm always asking and lately all I get is -" It's too hard to grow""too expensive " or " Too temperamental. "
Looks good to me.
Sugar 'n spice's what they call it but that don't mean a thing. Man said it was special, but bettern' that, it was free.
What's so special?
Made in a laberatory. Can you believe it? We're growing corn in a test tube.
Just like that new baby born over in England.
They grew a baby in a test tube?
Started it out there I guess. I saw it on the news.
Hope they do better than they did with the corn.
Looked like a regular baby to me. Think you and John'd want a baby started in a test tube?
Maybe, but John'd still want to do the startin' himself if you know what I mean.
You're too much Bert. Shame Paulette didn't get all your sense of humor.
Oh, John swears Paulette was born serious.
Like that damn star she likes so much. Ser-i-ous the dog star.
Some star looks like a dog?
Don't look like a dog to me but don't tell Paulette. You want one of these?
| | (DENNY goes inside to get another beer) |
Lord yes, but no, got to watch my sugar.
We got water too. Bottles of it. I thought water was supposed to be free like the TV but Paulette says this is better than what we got in the tap.
Lordy, what's wrong with your water?
Paulette's thinks it's making Red sick.
Where's that dog anyway? Usually barks my head off.
She took Red to the library.
Now don't tell me she's teachin' that dog to read.
| | (comes back out with drinks) |
Might as well. Takes him everywhere.
She walked clear over to the library in this heat?
You can't argue with your daughter.
You can - but you won't win. I had a cousin said Paulette was just born at the wrong time. Something about the way the stars were crossing this way and that. Don't ask me. I didn't believe it then, but now I wonder. Child gets her teeth into something and chews it clear down to the bone.
You think it really was something in the stars?
Paulette's smarter than half the people on God's earth, but smart don't always make happy. Losing that baby was hard on her. And you, too, I know that. But having no reason she can point to makes it worse. I can see her just playin' it over and over trying to make it right again.
We did everything right. We're not criminals. We did everything right. She just died in that crib sleeping and no one knows why.
It's still had for a woman to accept, specially when it was that little one brought you together in the first place. You were a good father and Paulette was a fine mother but losing her baby can make any woman go all flat inside.
Funny. She can look up into that sky and accept one of those stars dying a million miles off just because some teacher told her. Believes him with no problem, but won't take the word of the law, God or her husband - especially her husband. Just because I didn't carry that baby around for nine months doesn't mean I didn't love her as much as Paulette.
Give her time.
I try Bert, but it's not easy when all you got is time. Maybe it wasn't the best way for me and Paulette to start off, but she's my wife now and I just want something to be the way I thought it would be.
I lost my first two babies early. They called it miscarriage, but I thought it was the coal dust. John Jr. grew up just fine 'til they sent him over to Viet Nam and all we got back was a box we couldn't open. Paulette was our baby and then she was your wife. You think you'll die from all the pain but you don't. You go on because that's just what you have to do. (Pause) Beer's already gone warm.
| | (DENNY takes the beer from her and exits into the trailer) |
Want some lemonade?
I shouldn't. But I'll take a small one.
Paulette makes the best Bert -- just like you taught her.
Hell, she had to learn something from me.
| | (comes back out with a glass of lemonade) |
Here's a cool one for you. Just like you like it.
How long she's been down at that li-bery?
She left right after lunch only she doesn't eat lunch. Personally, I don't think she eats enough to keep a bird alive, but her doctor says she's just fine so you know what that makes me.
Doctor knows if she's healing up or not.
I guess. Hell, didn't see John Senior down at the Union Hall yesterday.
He wasn't feeling so good and I made him stay in and sleep.
Anything I can do?
| | (BERTIE goes down to look at the garden) |
Oh no, he's just a little tired. He'll be good as new.
John Senior's a good man. You knew you were safe with John working over you, just he was born to it.
Well, he sure weren't born to it son. Nothin' but four generations of coal men working in the most beautiful graveyard Lord ever made. (pause) What the hell's this stuff?
Paulette says it's some kind of spices.
Don't look like it could spice up much of anythin'.
I keep saying we need some chickens or a cow but she says she's gonna cook with it. Did you think it was marijuana?
Now how the hell would I know what that looks like.
Helluva fast buck to be made selling it.
Devil's money!
That's just what I've heard.
I don't expect to find any of it growing here either.
They say those college kid's pay plenty for it.
There's still a helluva lotta honest work to do out there if you got a strong back.
They'll get it from somebody.
Somebody is not you and Paulette thank you.
And get off lighter than the drunks.
We don't need anymore ways to forget our troubles, Denny. Lord knows I've seen 'em all.
I know you weren't real happy about me and Paulette getting married the way we did.
You never heard me speak against you.
I swear we loved each other.
I know that, son and believe me, that made it easier.
But now, Bert, I'm afraid I'm losing her.
She's your wife, Denny. I know my Paulette and there's no one else but you.
I want another baby. I want to be a good husband. I want her to come back from that damn library!
Paulette's your wife now and she'll be a mother again. When a man and a woman take those vows they got to keep 'em. Too many promises broken out there. I taught Paulette and she knows what's right.
It's not like I want her to stay if she doesn't want me--
It's too damn hot out there for her to be walkin'. You shouldn't've let her go like that.
You ever try to stop her when she's made up her mind?
She's strong-headed like her father.
She says you're the strong one.
John Senior's run this family for thirty-five years.
That's what I told her too.
He's just a little wore out. And hot. Hell, it must be ninety in the shade.
You sit down here and put your feet up.
Not like me to tire but I won't fight'cha.
| | (BERTIE lays down on the couch) |
Paulette calls 'em the Dog Days. Something to do with her stars and the sun. She swears by it.
I better not hear her swearin'. Where'd you say that dog was?
Down at the library. Not that he's any good for protection. He'd sooner lick the devil outta you than bite. But he looks fierce enough.
Hell, a cat looks meaner than Red. Paulette would always have some dog followin' after her when she was a girl . Then it'd git hit by a car or found dead at hunting time and she'd cry like a baby 'til we promised to get her another.
That worked?
Oh, sure. Just bring that child a new pup and she'd be all smiles again. (gets up and looks out toward the road.) You sure she took that dog with cause less my eyes are a lot worse'en I think, Paulette walking right down the middle of that road and there's no dog with her.
Paulette, don't you move!
| | (DENNY takes off after her and sweeps her up bringing her back in his arms. PAULETTE is carrying some books.) |
Sweet and tart. Just like her lemonade. Denny! Put her right down here. Jesus, she's pale as water.
I'm all right, Mom.
I didn't give her any chance to argue about with me about this, Bert, I just picked her up.
You did right, Denny, she could'a stroked herself dead in that sun. Now you just take some of this lemonade girl.
I'm fine, Mama. It's just a little heat is all.
You're smart, Paulette, but you're no doctor.
| | (BERTIE hands PAULETTE the glass of lemonade.) |
Anyway, it's damn fine lemonade.
| | (PAULETTE drinks some as BERTIE hovers. When she doesn't finish it all, BERTIE glares until she drinks more and then a third stare until she empties the glass. BERTIE takes the glass back triumphantly.) |
Now don't that feel better?
Lemonade's fine but I know how I feel and there's nothing wrong with me.
But I bet you do feel better.
Yes, Mama, I feel better now stop fussin' like I was an invalid.
Your Mom's just tryin' to do right for you Paulette.
Oh, Paulette knows Bertie's always lookin' out for her, don't you hon ?
Bert brought us a whole basket of that corn you like.
Good food always cures what ails yea.
You didn't have to pick today in this heat did you Mama?
Hell, it's a lot better than the cold we'll be having next winter. Heat's no problem for Bertie, just a way of reminding me to keep on the side of right of the Lord. Paulette never did take the heat as good as the others.
I didn't forget how to cook Mama.
Just seems silly for two kitchens to get all heated.
Bertie's been here for quite a while. She was worried about you.
I'm sorry, Mama. That corn will be good and the chicken was just fine too.
It's okay. Bertie's too old to be sensitive.
| | (Goes to sit down in the chair and moves the books DENNY had put there from PAULETTE) |
Where's that dog of yours. Denny said you taught him to read.
Red didn't come back here?
That damn dog break his chain again?
| | (Goes looking for the dog behind the trailer) |
He's only done it twice before.
| | (stands up and starts to call for him) |
Red!
And that's twice in the last two weeks.
He's not right, Denny. He's sick. Anyone can see that. (looks under the porch)
Sick of being tied up, that's all. Red!
It's more than that. He's sick. Red!
Red?
One of these days somebody'll shoot that dog and ask questions later.
Denny! Don't talk like that.
I'm sorry honey, but you know it's the truth.
That doesn't make it right.
He's right, honey. People got no use for a dog runnin' free.
I'll bet he went down the creek. I'll just go and look for him.
No, Paulette, you can't go back out there again, can she Bertie?
Denny can go out and look for him later? Can't ya son.
He doesn't come back by supper I'll take a ride out in the truck. I gotta get some gas anyway since I'm driving' to Youngstown in the morning.
They called you back to work?
No, nothin' like that. It's just me and a couple the guys thought we'd get together and. . . you know, just look around.
It's all locked up, Denny. They won't let you in.
I know that. But we can still get ourselves together, you know, discuss some possibilities. Right Bert?
Sounds like a good thing. Man's gotta have his possibilities.
Maybe you could take John Senior with you. Daddy would like that wouldn't he Mama?
I don' know. Yer Daddy's been awful busy, Paulette.
Did he get that job at the Quicky Mart?
Hell, no, gave it to some boy without a lick of experience. But he's real happy to get some time off. Man's been carrying a lunchbox since he was 14. Even the good Lord knew enough to put in a day of rest. Look's like John's finally got his Sabbath too.
Well you know he's welcome to come with me and the boys anytime he wants. You tell him that. Wasn't a man on his shift didn't like John.
That dog's not in heat, is she?
He certainly is not!
I just asked.
Paulette took our entertainment money for the whole month to get him fixed.
Would'a made some cute pups.
All pups are cute but most end up dead.
| | (PAULETTE picks up the empty glass) |
I'm going in to get some lemonade.
I'll get it for you.
I feel better. I'm just fine. You want somethin' Mama?
Nothin' for me or I'll float clear down that crick.
Sorry for bringing up all that about the dog.
You just were asking.
I can't hear you!
Nothing for me either.
She's right I guess. No reason to have animals when we can barely feed ourselves.
Sometimes I think she wouldn't mind having me fixed too.
Denny!
Well at least you can talk to a good dog.
You can talk to a good wife.
Maybe you can.
Lemonade's at the end but I can make some more tonight.
I was just telling Denny it's a good idea gettin' that dog fixed. In these hard times it's all a body can do to feed themself much less some pups.
Oh Red never minded being fixed.
That doctor of yours tell you that too?
Denny!
Denny's jus making a little joke, right son?
He's been very funny this afternoon. Funny and very thoughtful getting me lemonade and helping me with the corn. I like that in a man, don't you Paulette? Certainly was one of the first things your father and I noticed about him too.
| | (PAULETTE crosses down to her garden and starts fixing the rocks) |
Being polite's not gotten me very far in this life, Bert.
Don't you quit son, cause the Lord hates a quitter. I can tell you that. You two never guess who I saw out there pickin' corn with me today.
Elvis?
See what I mean about him being funny.
So who'd you see out there Mama?
George Thomas.
Most Valuable Player in the Thanksgiving game?
Only 'cause you had a broken foot as I remember.
You saw that game?
I learned to share John Senior with a pigskin right from the start.
Best damn game of the year. You remember Paulette?
It was our first date Denny. . I couldn't ever forget that night.
Best damn game I ever missed.
Should'ave been you winnin' that trophy not George and I didn't need John Senior to figure that out.
You sure it was George Thomas picking corn out there today?
Bent over just like me. His sister was out there too.
Can you beat that. And they said he was really going somewhere.
Father died in some hunting accident last year and left his wife without enough life insurance to buryin' him proper.
Can you believe that Paulette. George was out there picking corn and all along I thought he went to college.
He couldn't read, Denny. Don't see why they'd want him in college.
He could play football. That's what they wanted all right.
And he wasn't much better at math.
Nothing mattered on that field when you were good and that night he was the best.
Well I guess you could say he's changed fields is all.
He sure was one big son-of-a-bitch in high school -- sorry Bert, but I got to ask if he was still in good shape?
From where I was standing we all looked the same size. What's wrong honey?
| | (PAULETTE grabs onto the chair swaying weakly) |
I'll be okay. It's just this heat is all.
Sit down here baby, you're weak as a pup.
Mama, please. (sits)
Now don't you argue with Bertie. Stubborn as her father.
She worked double shift at that store again yesterday.
Working double then walkin' in this sun'll make anyone sick.
You tell her Bert.
But this boy's gonna get things right, now you go in there and get her something sweet. Paulette's always got some Jello in that frige and some pillows for her head and feet too. Then Bertie'll leave you two alone to yourselves.
I love you Paulette. (kisses her)
Love you too.
You work yourself too hard girl.
They just pay the minimum Mama and now Denny's laid off.
What you need is maximum here with your husband. You're all bones child. You need time together so you can get some appetite back. Don't eat right since that baby's gone.
Jenny died, Mama. You can say those words.
Words don't change nothin'. (pause) Everybody needs time Paulette. No shame in that. Time to eat, time to heal, time to sleep. You are gettin' some sleep baby?
| | (DENNY holds a bowl of Jello in his hands as he starts to come out, then listens to PAULETTE talking a moment and disappears.) |
I dream about her every night, Mama. When I close my eyes she's all I can see.
Not a day goes by I don't think of your brother and the those babies I lost fore they could take a breath. But we have to go on, honey. Leave 'em sleepin' in the arms of the Lord and get ready for our future. That means buildin' up your strength if you're gonna be a Mama again.
What are you talking about Mama? What did Denny say to you.
Didn't say nothin'. Didn't have to. I see how you're feelin'. Near faint on that road. Lookin' pale as a ghost and cold as ice. Makes sense you be havin' a baby.
No Mama. . . (laughing) I'm not having a baby.
I said it serious Paulette.
It's just the heat.
Don't know why you'd be laughing Paulette, I said it serious.
I know you did, but I wouldn't say anything to Denny, okay?
There's nothing wrong between the two of you.
Everything's fine Mama. He just might not understand.
I can't imagine why a man would laugh at his wife being pregnant.
Well, I'm not having a baby and that's the end of it.
And that's the end of it.
| | (BERTIE motions that she is locking up her lips and sits back down on the couch) |
But I do have something to tell you. Something only Denny and me know now but something everybody's got to find out soon.
What would that be?
I've been reading at the library and I've been putting it all together ---
Puttin' what together?
Why everything's getting sick around here.
What's gittin' sick?
I'm going know why my plants won't grow, Mama, and why that dog's been getting sicker by the day. I've almost got it all figured out now but as soon as I get the rest then I have to let everyone know.
Know what? You're talking a little crazy, honey.
No, I'm talking sane, Mama. Because I can see the truth.
What truth?
I think we're being poisoned.
Oh my Lord, Paulette, what're you sayin'?
I think that's why Red's sick and the water smells so funny -- and it may be the reason little Jenny died.
Who would do a thing like that?
Remember when we first came here and we'd see those big trucks going off Golf Road dumpin' those barrels.
Oh no, Paulette, if it's those trucks you're talking about you're wrong. They were jus bringin' in trash, that's all.
We thought that's what they were bringing in those barrels but it wasn't trash, Mama, no it was chemicals. Poison and now I think that poison is leaking right into the ground and makin' everything sick.
Why are you doing this.
It's in the papers. You can read it for yourself.
| | (PAULETTE picks up a mason jar and starts filling it with dirt from the garden) |
Bein' in the papers don't make it true. But thinkin 'bout all those things on top of grieving will make you sick and that is true.
I'm sick all right.
I know it.
Sick of believing lies. Standing on lies, Mama. Eating and drinking lies that may be killing us while we just look the other way
| | (BERTIE takes the jar and dumps the dirt back into the garden) |
Even if it's true, which I'm not saying it is, but even if it is -- what could we do? You got your life here Paulette. You got a husband needs you and someday, today or tomorrow, you will be a mother again. (pause) You think I ever knew why my babies died 'cause I didn't. But I let it go just like I let your Daddy go every morning to work in those mines. I let him go because otherwise I was no good to him or me. I put it away and went on. I had to. That's what we gotta do in this life or we got no life here at all.
We don't have much Mama but we can take back what we have and say it's ours. We can stop looking the other way. We can stop being afraid.
Now listen here just a minute. Chuck Michael's was the Mayor when we came here.
What's that got to do with it.
You went to school with his daughter Carrie. I took care of his wife Sue Ellen when she lost her breast to the cancer. He's a good man.
I'm not saying anything bad about Mr. Michaels.
He wouldn't do nothin' to hurt us Paulette and I'm sure as hell not going to do nothin' to hurt him.
I'm just sayin' if Red gets sick and dies then I'm taking that dog's body to a lab to find out what killed him.
You take that dog to the laberatory and the next thing you know we'll be having all those Washington people down here and you know what that means.
Something will change.
Somebody will be out of work. Somebody like us.
But Mama --
No, Paulette, I've seen it happen. They find somethin' wrong and next thing you know they're bringing in doctors and lawyers who live somewhere else. Everybody talks. Nothing changes 'cept the time on their watch. Nobody cares about the people at the bottom honey, and we are the bottom. Nobody cares about what's in the ground we sleep on, or the water we drink. And if it don't matter, it don't change. That's the way it works. I don't like it, but it's the truth. This is the last move for your Daddy and me. There is no place else after this, Paulette, 'cept heaven or hell. We just gotta live on this flat little place 'til we pass on to the arms of the Lord. Then we got no more pain. Just angels singing for the poor same's the rich. That's the Promised Land child. That's the true democracy. 'Til we get there we just gotta make due. If that means living quiet, then I'm living quiet.
You always told me I had a special gift for learning.
You do honey.
You always told me not to lie.
God hates a liar.
Well I believe those people lied to us when they put those barrels in the ground. And if I see something, know something and don't do something then it would be like lying twice. No matter what you think you taught me Mama, you never taught me to lie.
You told anybody but me and Denny 'bout this?
Not yet.
Then we got a little more time.
I guess.
Ten or fifteen years in the ground means we gotta have a little more time. Right?
But you do believe me, Mama?
You're a smart girl Paulette. A whole lot smarter than your Mama. So you got to give me a little more time.
And what about Red?
When Red comes back we'll give him a good look.
Promise? (Dropping back tired)
Promise. Now you come over here and lie down. Just close your eyes and rest.
Okay Mama.
'Cause you know your Mama loves you.
I know.
Just a little more time.
Just a little more time.
Next year you'll have your own little one to take care of again and Denny will be back at work and this will all seem like a bad dream. You hear me.
| | (voice getting weaker and her eyes closed) |
I hear you.
And one more thing, Paulette. It's hard for the men, too. They have a different pain than we can't always see. But we can help them forget their pain. We need to help them forget their pain even if it's not always what we think we want to do ourselves. What I'm saying Paulette is that sometimes we have to be wives to our husbands even if we're not really wantin' to be that close. Even if it hurts just a little. We can still do what needs to be done to keep our marriage strong. You do understand?
Yes, Mama, do what we need to keep our marriage strong.
That's right baby. Now close your eyes, and when you wake up Bertie's gonna make everything right again. I promise.
| | (PAULETTE closes her eyes and falls asleep) |
Everything will be just fine.
| | (DENNY holds a bowl of JELLO as he starts out the door of the trailer. BERTIE sees him.) |
Shhhhh.
She's okay?
Just sleeping
| | (BERTIE and DENNY whisper away from PAULETTE) |
Cause if you think she's sick I'll call a doctor right now.
No, honey, I just think we need to leave her sleep.
She's been talking about the baby again, hasn't she?
Yes, she talked about the baby.
And the dog. She talk about Red and the water.
She did.
You believe her about them poisoning us?
I believe I understand her Denny.
'cause if I believed all that I'd have to move Bert and you know I can't do that.
I know honey. You gotta look at what Paulette believes. That's where you start. You gotta understand what she thinks and then you can help her. Help yourself.
I try to understand, honest. I hate this damn cracker box but it's all I have and if I believed her I don't have nothing. (Pause) I just want it to be right again Bert.
Now, honey you know I'm not an asking person, am I Denny?
No Bert. You never ask for nothin'.
That's right. So if I'm asking for somethin' now it's only 'cause I want to help, right?
Right.
So what I'm asking is that you hear me all the way to the end, then you follow what I ask. Okay?
Okay.
I want you to go out tonight and find that dog.
Red?
Yes. Red. I want you to find that dog and I want you to take him back there in the cemetery where that little house is -- and then I want you to put him to sleep. Permanent.
Jesus, Bert, I can't do that. Why'd I have to do that?
Paulette's got it into her head that dog's sick.
He just hates being tied up is all.
If Red dies for any reason that girl may be lost to us forever.
It was a present from me.
You heard her son.
She loves that dog.
It's not about the dog honey. It's about getting that child back the way it was before. You do want that.
More than anything.
Then you gotta trust me. Are you listenin'?
I'm listenin'.
You got Red from the pound didn't ya?
Yes.
It was an old dog right from the start.
But she loves that dog Bert.
Listen honey. Sometimes you just got to just cut away everything old and start new again, even if it hurts.
I don't know.
You can do this. You have to.
You sure?
Lots of dogs die. Some get run over. Some get shot. She wouldn't ever have to know.
I'd have to shoot him?
You don't want him to suffer, son.
No, I wouldn't want that.
You don't want her to suffer anymore do you?
No, I don't want that either.
Well she is sufferin'. Thinking 'bout things over and over in her head. Playin' with it til she can't think about anything else. About you. Believe me, you're just helping get her back. After a few days she'll know he's gone and then you can bring her home a present -- a new puppy. Then everything will be fine Just like before. You'll see.
I don't know. How can you be so sure?
I'm her mother. I know what she needs Denny. Always have.
| | (Takes the bowl of Jello from DENNY while he goes to get a shovel) |
Now let's dig up some of these old plants and put in something pretty. And for God's sake, son, put a smile on your face for that girl she wakes up. You'll see. After tonight everything will be just like you want it. Believe me, after tonight it will be just like it was before.
| | (DENNY starts digging as the music fades up and the lights fade out) |
BLACKOUT
END OF ACT ONE
ACT TWO
SCENE ONE
At Rise: Later that same night. PAULETTE is hanging sheets in the moonlight. She is singing a nursery rhyme as she skips in and out among the sheets on the clothesline.
Little Sally Ann
Sittin' in the sand.
Weepin' and a waitin' for a nice young man.
Rise Sally Rise.
Wipe your sleepy eyes.
There's a long, long road a windin'....Oh, there's a long, long road a windin'....
Is that you Daddy?
| | (PAULETTE runs to meet her father, JOHN SENIOR who is singing an old song, walking unsteadily and waving a liquor bottle.) |
Ohhhh. . . there's a long, long road a windin' to that little brown church in the vale. . . . Sweeet Jesus!
What're you doing out here this time of night?
What's it look like.
| | (struggling to stay upright) |
Nothing I ever saw before.
Hell, I'm dancing of course!
Where's the truck? Did you have an accident?
Then I must be. . . . singing! Little brown "snatch" in the vale. . . . . . 'scuse me little girl.
Are you drunk?
Hell no!
Well maybe just a little bit.
Come on over here and sit down.
I can walk by myself, thank you! But since you're such a pretty little helper---
| | (PAULETTE helps him down to the couch) |
Lean on me, Daddy, I won't break.
Did I tell you that I love you?
You better tell me sitting down over here before you fall and hurt yourself, John Senior.
Whooooa. . .
Now what's that for?
I must be a bad boy '. . . . cause you sound just like Bertie does.
Nothing wrong with sounding like Bertie does sometimes.
You sound like Bertie does all the time now.
You are drunk.
See what I mean! You don't know Bertie like I do. She can be a mean woman.
| | (PAULETTE goes back to hanging the sheets) |
Bertie's just looking out for you and you know it. Besides taking care of you, what else is wrong with her?
Not a damn thing.
See.
That's the problem! Not a damn thing.
You've had enough of that, thank you.
Just like Bertie.
You never could drink if I can remember.
See! Just like her.
Daddy.
What's it about all you women.
You're not making any sense.
So damn smart -- and so damn purrrr-fect!
And so damn sober, too!
Now you watch your language, little girl!
We're not perfect, Daddy, except you. You were about the most perfect steel man that ever lived.
Who said that ?
Denny.
Now there's a lie if I ever heard one.
And his friends, too.
A whole damn county of liars.
Denny says there's no one better than you, not even his own brothers or father.
He said that?
Yes.
And you believed him?
Yes.
Then you're as big a fool as he is.
He wouldn't lie.
Hell, then, it must be true! Now let's celebrate with that nice bottle and sit down here and talk! We never do talk anymore since you ran away and became a wife and --
You can say it.
Say what?
Say it Daddy.
Say get me up before I can say Jack Robinson!
| | (PAULETTE helps pull JOHN up as he goes to bury his face inside the sheets hanging on the line) |
Nothin' in the whole world as good as the smell of clean white sheets. And dryin' them in the moonlight is a damn fine idea! Don't know why nobody ever thought of it before. Let me help you get these up before your mother gets home. . .
| | (JOHN tries to hang up a sheet but gets tangled fighting with it) |
Hell, why don't you come on out here and fight like a man! Where the hell are you anyway.
There's no one there Daddy.
Damn thing won't give me a chance!
I'll take them down later. You just sit down and rest.
I don't want to just sit down and rest. I'm not ready to die.
Of course you're not ready to die.
I'm sorry I'm not much help.
You helped a lot. I remember.
What do you remember?
I remember you were always there .
Where?
For me, when I needed to talk.
Bertie's the talker. I'm the listener, 'cept now when Bertie says I don't listen at all. She's right, you know. But what she doesn't know is that even when I'm not listening, I'm still thinking! Thinking and planning. Yes, I am. Thinking and --
| | (JOHN goes to take a drink but PAULETTE takes it) |
Talk to me now, Daddy. Please.
Now that wasn't very nice. But I have another out in my truck.
Talk to me.
Talk about what, baby?
You never said how you felt about me marrying Denny.
I didn't say 'cause it didn't matter.
Because I was pregnant.
I don't hold with women and babies running around the world alone. It's a scary place out there. Scary enough for two but a lot worse when you're alone.
But you liked Denny didn't you?
You liked Denny, Didn't mean much to me. You liked him and I like you. Loved you. Hell, to me, Denny Griffith was just a . . . . just a. . . . where's my bottle honey?
Just what Daddy? What did he mean to you?
You were my little girl. Then you were gone. What the hell did it matter whether I liked Denny or not if you were gone for good.
But I wasn't gone for goo. I'll always be your daughter. Things change, you taught me that.
Things change but I don't have to like it. You didn't hear me if you didn't hear the whole thing.
Nothing can change between us. Nothing could ever change.
Everything's changing between us. Everything's different between me and the whole damn world and all I can do is stand here and salute as it goes by me. You didn't hear me if you didn't hear the whole thing little girl. Things change but I don't have to like it. It's always been that way for me. Everything moving too fast for John. Maybe I'm just God's little joke and I don't know it. Maybe I'm just too stupid to lay down and die.
You don't want to die. I know you.
What do you know about me?
I know you were the best father and the best steel man in the Valley.
That's two I lost then. 'Cause you don't need no Daddy and this Valley don't make no more steel.
Denny says it's just temporary.
--- Denny's a fool! They're all damn fools. That plant's gone and it's never openin' up again for me or him or any of 'em. Gone and blowed away.
| | (Blows into his palms and slaps his hands together) |
Good-bye! Just like the damn mines and wanting it to be different don't make it so. Living is temporary. Dead is permanent and that damn mill is dead
You gotta believe, Daddy.
Believing is for people with hope, honey. Jesus Christ hisself couldn't make steel in this Valley.
But Bertie says--
--- Bertie lies. To me, to herself, to the whole damn world. She knows it, too. She's smart as whip. She's where you got your brains. Not from me, God knows. Hell, she could've been anything if she'd been a man. President of the United States maybe cause she's a helluva lot smarter than those assholes. A better fighter too. Been fighting all our lives together to keep me from giving up. She's no quitter. No, she's the fighter in this family, I'm just the man.
She's been happy with you. She loves you. You know that.
Well, that's real nice, but it ain't worth a damn if it's a lie and it has to be a lie 'cause I ain't no damn good for anyone. Not them, or me --- or her.
She loves you, Daddy. I love you.
Love? Love's cheap right now. And it better be, 'cause you don't see this man bringing home nothin'. 'Cause this man don't work. . . . and a man who don't work, don't----
| | (drinks from the bottle again) |
Why are you doing this?
I been doing this for months honey. Maybe longer. Maybe I never really did anything right 'cept make you. God knows I did that right. Made the most beautiful little baby in the world. Maybe that's all I was here for in the first place. Just to pass through and pass on to you. And if it's true, hell, if it's true, it would be enough for me.
You can't give up. You gotta believe.
I believed in those mines and that son-of-a-black-bitch coal just like my daddy and his daddy but it killed 'em. Would a killed me too if I stayed. And I would'a. Stayed forever if I had my way. But Bertie said no. She said we had to leave. She was right. I was a family man. I had children to raise up. I had responsibilities. She was right. Part of me died in those mountains. Maybe the best part.
| | (Taking PAULETTE's face into his hands) |
Listen, honey, I know people say bad things about those mountains. That don't mean you got to ashamed of where you come from. Don't mean you got to be quiet 'bout who you are. Good people came from there Paulette, Good people stayed. Died So don't you ever hang your head, girl. Hear me?
I won't Daddy, I swear.
You shouldn't swear, you know. Your Mama doesn't like to hear her children swear though she's can't get by a day without swearin' herself. Children are supposed to be better than us. By God you were going to be more'n we could ever dream. I believed it then. I still believe it now. You're the only thing I really do believe in anymore. (Pause) Paulette. Maybe it was never so good as I remember. Maybe you shouldn't take any of it with you. But it's all I got left in my heart. It's all I got left to give you.
I'll remember it Daddy. I promise.
Remember you and me walking over a sea of green grass. No more black soot in my hair. No more black tar in my beard. No more dust in my blood. I can't sing, but that last day we spent on the mountain I swear I did. You sittin' so high on my shoulders and me pointin' out everything and everyone we knew in that valley. Forgive me Jesus, but I felt proud that day. I felt good that day. I felt like a man should. (Pause) Then Bertie came down with the truck and we drove off, just like old Lot and his wife except Bertie never looked back.
Daddy? Are you okay?
Coal dust in my eyes, honey. Just some old coal dust in my eyes.
I'm here for you. We're all here together.
Forgive me Jesus but it's not enough this time.
Don't say that, please.
Honey, I'm too old this time. I'm just too tired to start again.
We can all help.
I'm sorry I'm such a bad man.
You're not a bad man.
I can't be what they say they want us to be -- running some machine I don't even understand. Damn computers gonna take over the whole world and no place for John.
You're tired Daddy, you just need a little rest, now. Then you'll see how much better it will all look in the morning.
I can't be anything new anymore.
Even God took a day of rest.
I'm so ashamed I got so little to pass on.
All I ever wanted was to have you love me.
A man should leave something better to his kin.
Loving me is enough.
|