Girl from the North Country
Page 8
MR BURKE. Reverend. The very fellow. Happy Thanksgiving. Have a sandwich. I was just saying. A sick child.
MARLOWE (instant sympathy). Oh, but of course.
MR BURKE. I mean, one moment there you are, in your life, kind of a child yourself.
NICK comes back in, apron on, pouring some coffee for the guests.
MRS BURKE. Oh where is he?
MRS BURKE goes to find ELIAS.
MR BURKE. You have responsibilities, you have worries, sure, but it’s mostly about yourself, your intended, your wife, the few dollars in your pocket, the normal things. And you think when that baby comes along how complete things will be. What no one tells you is – Jesus Christ – a child is hard work, brother!
They laugh. MR BURKE takes a cup offered to him, by SCOTT. He continues, jovially, warmly.
For sure. Listen, I’m not saying I was there when it was hardest. I could escape to my office, find peace in my dreams and the hurly-burly and the fights and arguments which all men truly enjoy.
MRS BURKE comes back through, looking for ELIAS.
MRS BURKE. Where’d you say he was?
MR BURKE (indicates vaguely). He’s…
MRS BURKE. You need to lie down. (To MARLOWE and NICK.) I apologize.
MRS BURKE looks out the window and goes out through the kitchen. GENE and SCOTT are getting something to eat.
MR BURKE. She’ll tell you. I tried – to put in the hours. It’s… it’s… I mean, it’ll drive you crazy because a child is only learning. They wanna do the most mundane little thing over and over again – it’s torture! If you’re not in the mood, ha, ha, ha – (A qualifying little laugh.) Thinking to yourself, it’ll get easier when he’s older. But he never got any older! (Laughs.)
NICK (putting wood in the stove). He’s a good boy.
MR BURKE. Right! He just got bigger and bigger! The nights I stood on the landing outside his door, listening to the strange noises he made. Laura sitting inside in there with him. I was… afraid to go in. I could face down eighty men threatening to strike. Righteous anger, lifting me up in a chariot of hatred, but a child’s cries. A big grown child crying in the night, why, it rips the floor from underneath you. And then. In the crash. The money’s gone. The business is gone. They say they’re coming for your house! And there you are. You’re naked. You have to just be a… a father. That’s all you are. That’s all that’s left. But you’re a father to this helpless… This creature. Full of strength and longings and drives he doesn’t understand. You turn your back on him for one second and he gets out…
MRS BURKE comes back.
MRS BURKE. Francis…
MR BURKE. He gets out and you’re frantically searching for him all up and down in the neighbors’ yards…
MRS BURKE. Francis…
MR BURKE. If the unthinkable happens… if he’s done something, to someone, it’s… it’s…
MRS BURKE. Francis…
MR BURKE. It’s beyond a nightmare. ’Cause a nightmare ends.
MRS BURKE (turning off the wireless). Francis. Where’s Elias?
MR BURKE. He’s sleeping. I told you. We went for a walk is all. Went for one of our long ones. Down for a look at the water.
MRS BURKE. Where is he, Francis?
MR BURKE. I told you.
MRS BURKE. He’s not here!
She goes out again. We hear her calling for ELIAS.
NICK. Where is he, Frank?
MR BURKE. The water was like iron.
NICK. Where is he?
MR BURKE. It was an accident. That’s…
MRS BURKE comes back
MRS BURKE. Where is he?! Where is he?
MR BURKE. It was an accident. I couldn’t stop it.
Silence.
NICK. Where is he, Frank?
MR BURKE. He’s on the shore, Nick. He’s asleep.
Silence.
MRS BURKE.…What?!
MARLOWE. Oh, Mrs Burke.
MR BURKE. Where’s your God now, Reverend, huh?
MARLOWE. He’s everywhere.
MR BURKE. That’s right.
MRS BURKE. Are you all crazy? Are you all fucking crazy? He’s a baby! Oh Mrs Neilsen! Mrs Neilsen!
NICK. Frank. What happened?
MR BURKE. The water was like iron.
MRS BURKE. You fuckin’… You fuckin’… You didn’t even… (Goes to MR BURKE, starts thumping him with her fists.) You didn’t even say nothin’. You never said a goddamn thing! You dirty bastard!
NICK and MRS NEILSEN pull MRS BURKE off MR BURKE. The band come through with ELIAS’s ghost, free of pain, worry or limitations, singing.
Duquesne Whistle
Listen to that Duquesne whistle blowin’
Blowin’ like it’s gonna sweep my world away
I’m gonna stop in Carbondale and keep on going
That Duquesne train gonna ride me night and day
You say I’m a gambler, you say I’m a pimp
But I ain’t neither one
Listen to that Duquesne whistle blowin’
Sound like it’s on a final run
Listen to that Duquesne whistle blowin’
Blowin’ like she never blowed before
Blue light blinkin’, red light glowin’
Blowin’ like she’s at my chamber door
You smiling through the fence at me
Just like you always smiled before
Listen to that Duquesne whistle blowin’
Blowin’ like she ain’t gonna blow no more
Can’t you hear that Duquesne whistle blowin’
Blowin’ like the sky’s gonna blow apart
You’re the only thing alive that keeps me goin’
You’re like a time bomb in my heart
I can hear a sweet voice gently calling
Must be the Mother of our Lord
Listen to that Duquesne whistle blowin’
Blowin’ like my woman’s on board
And a sudden move into ‘Señor (Tales Of Yankee Power)’. ELIAS, KATE and MARLOWE take the lead, singing.
Señor (Tales Of Yankee Power)
Señor, señor, do you know where we’re headin’?
Lincoln County Road or Armageddon?
Seems like I been down this way before
Is there any truth in that, señor?
Señor, señor, do you know where she is hidin’?
How long are we gonna be ridin’?
How long must I keep my eyes glued to the door?
Will there be any comfort there, señor?
There’s a wicked wind still blowin’ on that upper deck
There’s an iron cross still hangin’ down from around her neck
There’s a marchin’ band still playin’ in that vacant lot
Where she held me in her arms one time and said, ‘Forget me not’
…
Well, the last thing I remember before I stripped and kneeled
Was that trainload of fools bogged down in a magnetic field
A gypsy with a broken flag and a flashing ring
Said, ‘Son, this ain’t a dream no more, it’s the real thing’
…
Señor, señor, let’s disconnect these cables
Overturn these tables
This place don’t make sense to me no more
Can you tell me what we’re waiting for, señor?
Becoming: ‘Is Your Love In Vain’. MR and MRS BURKE sing.
Is Your Love In Vain?
Do you love me, or are you just extending goodwill?
Do you need me half as bad as you say, or are you just feeling guilt?
I’ve been burned before and I know the score
So you won’t hear me complain
Will I be able to count on you
Or is your love in vain?
Are you so fast that you cannot see that I must have solitude?
When I am in the darkness, why do you intrude?
Do you know my world, do you know my kind
&n
bsp; Or must I explain?
Will you let me be myself
Or is your love in vain?
Well I’ve been to the mountain and I’ve been in the wind
I’ve been in and out of happiness
I have dined with kings, I’ve been offered wings
And I’ve never been too impressed
All right, I’ll take a chance, I will fall in love with you
If I’m a fool you can have the night, you can have the morning too
Can you cook and sew, make flowers grow
Do you understand my pain?
Are you willing to risk it all
Or is your love in vain?
Evening. MARIANNE is alone with SCOTT. Outside the storm is blowing hard. She glances at him, but continues with her work, going in and out of the kitchen. He hangs around the kitchen. Underscore for ‘The Times They Are A-Changin’’ and ‘Hurricane’ play beneath their scene…
SCOTT. You given any more thought to what I said?
She doesn’t answer.
You hear that storm? I gotta be on that boat leaves at ten o’clock. Else nobody’ll be going anywhere. (Pause.) You gonna dignify me with an answer?
MARIANNE. What do you care where I go?
SCOTT. I don’t know! Just feels like I gotta take you.
MARIANNE. And I just gotta go along?
SCOTT. I know you don’t know me. I know it’s crazy. But there’s crazier things happened in this house far as I can see.
MARIANNE. This is a bad time, Mr Scott.
SCOTT. It’s always bad times!
MARIANNE. You know, they say some coloreds tried to rob a store in town last night.
SCOTT. I don’t know a damn thing about that.
MARIANNE. No, huh?
SCOTT. I just told you. What am I? The only colored you ever seen?
MARIANNE. You’re the only one I ever saw says he’s no money, next day he’s all for jumping on a boat – take along a woman he only just met.
SCOTT. I’m tryna do you a good turn, you wanna whip round, put this crap in my face?
MARIANNE turns away. SCOTT follows her into the dining room.
Don’t you walk away from me. Don’t you walk away from me like that. If we’re gonna go that road together, even for a short while, you best be able to look me in the eyes and know what I am. At least gimme that. I ain’t got nothing else in it taking you on.
MARIANNE. No, huh? I ain’t stupid.
SCOTT. I never said you was.
MARIANNE. I can read a paper.
SCOTT. So what?
MARIANNE. I see two convicts escaped outta Peytonville a week ago. Who’s the other one? That preacher?
SCOTT. Maybe I ain’t never been no savior, but I ain’t never killed no one either! And if I’m walking the streets right now when some judge says I gotta rot my life away in some rat hole, well maybe he’s wrong! You think I’m the only nigger was in the joint serving somebody else’s stretch? You look in my eyes and if you don’t believe me, that’s alright. I’ll go. But if you can see me… I’m saying, if you can see me…
ELIZABETH comes in. The underscore ends…
You want to come down to Chicago, you meet me at the coffee house on the corner at eight thirty. You’re not there I’ll… Yeah.
SCOTT goes out.
ELIZABETH. Fix me, will you? Fix me. (Indicates her clothes and hair.) I’m such a goddamn mess! What happened?
MARIANNE starts to fix ELIZABETH up.
MARIANNE. Mama. I’m going away.
ELIZABETH. You’re not going away. You’re not going away. You just got here.
MARIANNE. Mama… (Comes to ELIZABETH, burying her head in her shoulder.)
ELIZABETH. Shhh. That’s alright. That’s alright. Just don’t play with knives. You know the Devil’s only tryna be your friend ’cause you give him your blood.
MARIANNE nods silently. ELIZABETH sings a few lines of a lullaby, but it feels strange rather than comforting.
MARLOWE comes in looking for food.
MARLOWE. Evening…
ELIZABETH. Here he is, the word of the Lord. The walkin’ word of Jesus Christ.
ELIZABETH goes to him, looking for trouble.
Hey! You ready for the parade, Padre?
MARLOWE. The parade?
ELIZABETH. The parade – the parade. All the holy saints. Parading up and down. The nuns showed us at Jesus camp last summer – up at Camp Jesus. They had all the children doin’ it. (Starts to demonstrate.) Head up and shoulders back, parading up and down – all night long. You go up, up, up, up. Wave and turn round and you go down, up, up, up, up, wave and turn.
MARIANNE puts a letter on the mantel and goes.
Then parade over this way and acknowledge the saints. And this way and acknowledge the damned, look at them all there, God help them, and you parade over this way and acknowledge all the babies who died unbaptized. And this way, parading, parading, parading.
As she demonstrates, MARLOWE goes to her box of dollars under the chair. He takes her money, putting it in his trouser pocket.
Wait a minute. Now you just wait one goddamn minute.
She goes to him and tries to get her money back.
You give me that.
MARLOWE. Get your hands off me.
They struggle.
Take your hands off me!
ELIZABETH. You give me that!
She has her hand in his trouser pocket, but he fights her off just as MRS NEILSEN comes in.
MRS NEILSEN. What are you doing?
MARLOWE. This woman is trying to rob me
ELIZABETH. He took my dollars! You give ’em back.
They go at it again, struggling.
MARLOWE. I will call the police!
MRS NEILSEN gets between them, she pulls ELIZABETH back.
I’m not gonna stay in this madhouse a moment longer.
ELIZABETH runs to her box.
ELIZABETH. Look! Look! He put my dollars in his pocket!
MRS NEILSEN. Where’s her dollars?
MARLOWE. I have no idea.
ELIZABETH. They’re in his pocket, Aggie.
MARLOWE. Oh, come on!
ELIZABETH (going to his pocket and pointing). You can see ’em through the material, look at ’em bulging in his pants.
MARLOWE. I’ve never been so insulted. Only this woman is so clearly unwell I’d fetch a lawman and have a case. But I am a gentleman and I believe in God’s grace. Therefore I’ll allow the matter lie and be about my way.
MRS NEILSEN. Did you take her dollars?
MARLOWE. Madam, I am warning you. Do not join this accusation. Good day.
MRS NEILSEN. Did you take her dollars, you panhandling son of a bitch?
MARLOWE (menacing). Madam…
MRS NEILSEN. You best give her something from the church.
MARLOWE. I have no church.
MRS NEILSEN. What a shocker. Give her some alms then. Ain’t that what the Bible says?
MARLOWE. I am a poor man myself.
MRS NEILSEN. Show me your pockets.
MARLOWE. I beg your pardon?
MRS NEILSEN. Show me your pockets.
MARLOWE. What would that prove?
MRS NEILSEN. Humor me.
Pause. MARLOWE tries to go. MRS NEILSEN stands in his way.
ELIZABETH. It’s on the knicky knacky noo now!
MARLOWE. Why don’t you give her some alms? Ha? What you got in those pockets? I know you’re coming into money, huh?
He crowds MRS NEILSEN, walking against her.
MRS NEILSEN. You stay off a me.
MARLOWE (quietly). You wanna get into this? You wanna get into ‘What’s in your pockets?’ What’s in your pockets, huh?
MARLOWE pushes MRS NEILSEN against the furniture, his hands on her.
What’s in your pockets? What’s in your pockets?
This is all happening quietly but MARLOWE is determined and forceful.
What are you anyway? Whatcha doing? Skulking round the wo
rld like a loose chipping. What are you, huh?