by Nick Joaquin
LOLENG [astonished; keeping firm hold of Candida]: Then, nothing has happened to her?
CANDIDA [lightly]: Why, what have you been hearing?
LOLENG: That she had eloped with somebody—or that she had been kidnapped!
[Susan & Violet, who are listening alertly, glance at each other.]
CANDIDA [with a careless laugh]: Oh, but what nonsense!
LOLENG [incredulous]: Nothing has happened?
CANDIDA: Paula has not eloped—and she certainly has not been kidnapped.
LOLENG: Oh, thank God, thank God! I have been so worried, my dear.
CANDIDA: We are grateful for your very kind interest, Doña Loleng.
LOLENG [avidly studying Candida’s face]: And everything is all right with you and Paula? You are quite sure, my dear?
CANDIDA: One hears nothing but wild rumors nowadays.
LOLENG [disappointed; releasing Candida’s hands]: Well . . .
CANDIDA: Are you going?
LOLENG: Yes, we must be running off again.
CANDIDA: Do stay a moment and have a drink.
LOLENG: How we wish we could—but duty, Candida, duty! Oh, these are serious days for all of us! And so much good work to be done. I hardly have time to sit down anymore. Tonight we are giving a dance for the American servicemen. Those poor boys, Candida—so far away from home and so lonely. We are doing all we can to console them. Elsa here is doing a jungle conga.
[Sound of knocking downstairs.]
CANDIDA: Bitoy, will you please see who that is?
LOLENG: Well, goodbye, Candida—and remember: the senator is your godfather and your mother was one of my dearest friends; so, if you and Paula have any troubles, I want you to come and tell me all about them. I shall only be too happy to listen.
CANDIDA: Thank you, Doña Loleng.
BITOY [at stair-landing]: Candida, it’s the people from the newspapers. Do you want to see them?
CANDIDA [with a gay laugh]: Now what on earth can they want with me! Yes, Bitoy—tell them to come up.
LOLENG: On second thought . . . I believe we could stay a moment, Candida.
CANDIDA [hollowly]: Oh, how nice.
LOLENG [moving to sofa]: And we are all so exhausted from running around that we would all be grateful for a drink, my dear—if you still care to offer us any.
CANDIDA: Of course, Doña Loleng. Excuse me just a moment. Bitoy, will you tell those people to wait?
[Exit Candida. Enter Pete, Eddie, & Cora. Pete is in white shorts and polo shirt, and carries a tennis racket. Eddie is in a dinner jacket. Cora is wearing a smart evening gown, and carries her camera.]
BITOY [as the newcomers come up]: Well, what do you people want now!
PETE [excitedly]: Bitoy, is it true?
BITOY: What’s true?
PETE [pushing past him into the room]: Oh Christ—it’s true! The painting has disappeared!
LOLENG [rising]: Why, so it has!
[They are all staring toward site of PORTRAIT.]
EDDIE: What do they say, Bitoy? Have they sold it?
BITOY: No.
PETE: Well, where is it then?
BITOY: They have only hidden it—for safekeeping, I suppose.
CORA: Ho-hum. Another wild goose—that laid an egg.
PETE: Are they here, the sisters?
BITOY: Candida is here.
EDDIE: Then the other one is still missing?
ELSA [rising]: You see! What did I tell you, Loleng!
BITOY: Paula is not missing. I saw her at the Dominican church just a while ago.
EDDIE: She was reported missing the day before yesterday.
ELSA: And that was when we saw her with this fellow. They were in his car.
SUSAN: Excuse me—but which fellow was she with?
CORA: Your boyfriend, girls—but, oh, don’t worry. He was only teaching her how to drive.
ELSA: A fine time to teach her! It was almost midnight. Charlie, what time exactly did we see them?
CHARLIE: Quarter past eleven.
ELSA: P.M.
CHARLIE [coming forward]: Hello, Violet. Hi, Susan.
SUSAN: Charlie, did you really see her with Tony?
CHARLIE: Is Tony the guy who plays the piano at your show?
VIOLET: That’s him.
CHARLIE: Then, that was Tony with her all right. They were having a nice long ride in the moonlight.
SUSAN: Tony hasn’t come back since then.
PETE: You know what I think? They eloped—and took the picture with them!
BITOY: I tell you—I saw Paula with my own eyes this afternoon!
EDDIE: Then he doublecrossed her! He pretended he was eloping with her—but he just ran off with the picture and left her flat!
CORA: I wish I had your imagination!
PETE: What we have is a nose for news.
LOLENG: And my nose was not wrong either when it led me all the way here.
VIOLET: We smelled something rotten ourselves!
CORA [aside to Bitoy]: What’s this—a gathering of the vultures?
ELSA: There’s nothing so dangerous as an old maid! Oh, I studied all about it in New York. Sex-frustration, you know.
LOLENG: And I’m so glad I found out all this! Oh, this house, this house! Well, it has begun to smell after all!
ELSA: Come on, Loleng—let’s go!
CHARLIE: She can hardly wait to spread the good news!
LOLENG: No—I must talk to Candida.
CHARLIE: And learn all the details!
[Unnoticed, the Watchman & the Detective have crept stealthily up the stairs. The detective whips out his gun, his hand wobbling.]
LOLENG: I simply must know what really has happened to the painting. Charlie, will you—MADRE MIA!
[She has seen the two newcomers and the gun. The others look around & freeze.]
THE DICK: Hands up, everybody! Nobody moves!
[They all put up their hands. The Dick & the Watchman advance into the room. The Watchman is a small nervous old man; the Dick is a tall nervous young man.]
WATCHMAN: Where is she? Where is she?
BITOY: Who?
WATCHMAN: That old woman!
LOLENG [indignant]: There is no old woman here!
WATCHMAN: Oh yes, there is! I saw her come in here a while ago!
THE DICK: You should have followed her inside!
WATCHMAN: Are you crazy! I was unarmed, I had to call you up first! She may be carrying a time-bomb!
ELSA: A time-bomb!
THE DICK: She is a spy—a fifth-columnist!
PETE: And you saw her come in here?
LOLENG: Why, she may be hiding somewhere below!
[Susan & Violet begin to screech.]
ELSA: We may all be just about to be blown up!
VIOLET [whimpering]: Oh Susan, why did we ever come!
SUSAN: Why don’t you go and search the house!
LOLENG: Call the police, you boobs! Call the police!
ELSA: Oh Loleng, let’s get out of here at once!
THE DICK: Silence! Nobody moves!
EDDIE: Suppose you tell us just who you are.
THE DICK [flashing his badge]: I’m a detective!
WATCHMAN: And I’m the watchman at the Bureau of Health & Science!
CORA: Then look—you can put that gun away. We’re not spies or fifth-columnists.
VIOLET [crying]: We’re innocent!
SUSAN: We’re peaceful law-abiding taxpayers!
LOLENG [fuming]: Will somebody tell them just who I am!
CHARLIE [to watchman]: Hey, you—come over here!
[Watchman approaches; Charlie whispers in his ear. The watchman glances toward Doña Loleng and his eyes pop out. He hurries to the Dic
k, and whispers in his ear. The Dick’s eyes pop out; he immediately puts away his gun.]
LOLENG [sinking down to the sofa]: Idiots! [The others limply put down their hands.]
THE DICK: We are very sorry, señora!
WATCHMAN: We are very, very sorry, señora; please forgive us!
THE DICK: We were only doing our duty, señora!
WATCHMAN: We were trying to catch this old woman—
PETE: What does she look like?
WATCHMAN: She looks suspicious!
THE DICK: We’ve been on her track for the last two days. She is a member of the RATS!
CHARLIE: What rats?
THE DICK: The RATS! The R.A.T.S. The Rope And Trigger Society!
EDDIE: Oh God, Pete—that’s the band of terrorists!
THE DICK: Exactly! They go around the government offices trying to start a Reign of Terror! This old woman was last seen at the Bureau of Health & Science—and she was openly declaring her connection with the rats!
[Enter Candida with a tray containing glasses & bottles. On seeing her, the watchman staggers backward so suddenly he bumps against the other people, almost falling down.]
WATCHMAN [pointing & screaming; terrified]: AND THERE SHE IS! THAT’S HER! THAT’S THE WOMAN!
THE DICK [whipping out his gun and pointing it at Candida]: You’re . . . you’re under arrest!
CANDIDA [pausing; startled]: What!
CHARLIE: Oh, rats!
LOLENG: Will you idiots get out of here before I break your necks!
EDDIE: Miss Candida, you had better offer these two fellows a drink. They need it.
THE DICK [looking about uncertainly; lowering his gun]: Do . . . do you all know this woman?
CHARLIE: Yes! Now go away!
THE DICK: She is not a gangster?
CORA: If she’s a gangster, so’s your grandmother!
WATCHMAN: But she’s the woman I saw! She’s dangerous! She came to the—
LOLENG: Shut up!
WATCHMAN: I am sorry, señora.
LOLENG: I answer for this woman, do you hear!
WATCHMAN & DICK: Yes, señora.
CANDIDA [placing tray on table]: What has happened?
LOLENG: Let them tell you. Go on, idiots! What did you say she was?
ELSA: They suspect you of being a spy!
CANDIDA [laughing]: I—a spy! But how exciting! Yes, do tell me all about it! Oh, I feel like a character in a romantic novel! Doña Loleng, do you think I might be just the right—
[She stops short as two policemen appear on the stairway. A silence, while the policemen fetch out their notebooks and glance around the room. Then, as nobody says anything, they move forward. One of them has a black-eye.]
1ST COP: We want to speak to Miss Marasigan.
CANDIDA [faintly]: I am Miss Marasigan.
2ND COP [glancing at his notebook]: Miss Candida Marasigan?
CANDIDA: What can I do for you?
2ND COP: Miss Marasigan, the day before yesterday, at around noontime, you telephoned us and reported that your sister had been abducted—
1ST COP: We have been unable to locate your sister but we have found the man who—
CANDIDA [quickly interrupting]: Please forgive me—but it was all, all a mistake!
1ST COP: What was a mistake?
CANDIDA: My telephoning you. Nothing had happened really.
2ND COP: Your sister was not abducted?
CANDIDA: No.
1ST COP: And she is not missing?
CANDIDA: I only thought she was.
[The cops glance wearily at each other and shrug.]
1ST COP: Then, why did you not call again to tell us?
CANDIDA: I am sorry. I forgot.
2ND COP: You are withdrawing your charges?
CANDIDA: It was all a mistake.
2ND COP [pocketing his notebook]: Miss Marasigan, you see this black-eye? I got this because of your mistake. Be more careful next time, will you?
1ST COP: Could we use your telephone?
CANDIDA: We have no telephone.
1ST COP [to his companion]: You go down and call up the station. Tell them to release this fellow.
PETE [as 2nd Cop exits]: Which fellow, officer?
1ST COP: The fellow she said had run away with her sister. We picked him up this morning.
SUSAN [approaching]: Is his name Tony Javier?
THE COP: That’s right.
VIOLET: Where did you find him?
THE COP: In a bar—trying to break all the furniture.
PETE: Drunk?
THE COP: And violent. He gave my companion the black-eye.
SUSAN: But they’re going to release him now?
THE COP: Oh, sure—after he pays a fine.
SUSAN [turning on Candida]: You see! Now I hope you and that sister of yours are satisfied!
THE COP: Just what actually happened, Miss Marasigan?
CANDIDA: Nothing at all really. My sister simply went off for a drive—and forgot to tell me she was going.
THE COP: And this was at around twelve o’clock noon, the day before yesterday?
CANDIDA [desperately]: But she came back right away!
SUSAN: Oh no—she didn’t!
BITOY: Will you shut up!
SUSAN: She did not come back right away, Miss Marasigan! You think nobody knows? Oh, we all know, Miss Marasigan! Everybody knows! That sister of yours was still out driving with him at midnight, the day before yesterday!
THE COP: What time did she come back, Miss Marasigan?
BITOY: Officer, since no charges are being made, I see no point in all these questions.
SUSAN: Well, I do! I want this dirty business dragged out into the open!
VIOLET: Why should they get off free? They started this trouble, they ought to pay for it!
LOLENG: Oh, my poor Candida!
SUSAN: Poor Candida—hell! They get poor Tony in jail, they make him lose his job—and then they laugh and say: “Oh, excuse us please! It was all a mistake!” And then they try to get everybody to hush up! Oh, they got what they wanted from Tony—they’ve been wanting that a long time—and now they think they can get away with it, just like that! Oh, they think they can keep it all safe and quiet, do they? Well, you don’t, Miss Marasigan! I’ll take care of that!
VIOLET: We’ll shout your name all over town!
SUSAN: We’ll see everybody knows about this fine ride your sister had in the moonlight!
VIOLET: So, she came back right away, did she?
CANDIDA [going to pieces]: NO! No, she did not come back right away! I lied, I was lying, I speak nothing now but lies and lies! No, she did not come back right away; she came back at three o’clock in the morning. I was standing right here. I was waiting for her. No, she did not come back right away . . . I was lying . . .
LOLENG: Candida!
CANDIDA: I was lying, I tell you! I was lying! No, she did not come back right away; she came back at three o’clock in the morning. I know. I was waiting. I was standing right here, waiting for her to come back. And I was going to throw her out. Oh, I felt righteous! I was horrified with what she had done. And I knew just what I was going to say to her—all the bitter, bitter words I was going to fling in her face! I felt justified, I was the virtuous one. And then she came . . . It was three o’clock in the morning. I was standing right here. And she came slowly up those stairs . . . And then she stood there, not saying anything . . . And her face, her face! How can I ever forget her face!
LOLENG: Candida, stop it!
CANDIDA: How can I ever, ever forget her face! And I knew then who was the guilty one! I knew then who was the evil one! Oh, pray for me! pray for me! I have destroyed my sister!
[She bows down, rocking her head from side to side.]
CORA: Bitoy, make her go in!
ELSA: Who are those two creatures anyway?
VIOLET [bristling]: Listen, do you mean us?
PETE: Yes, now shut up!
EDDIE: Oh, why? They have been a great help. We all came to find out, didn’t we?
CANDIDA [looking up, with a faint smile]: Yes, didn’t you?
BITOY: Candida, why not go in and lie down?
CANDIDA [smiling]: You all wanted to know, didn’t you? You all came to find out, didn’t you? Well, now you know! Now you have found out!
CORA: Oh Bitoy, take her away!
CHARLIE: Why don’t we all just go away!
CANDIDA [wildly]: Wait, wait! You know where she was, you know what she did, you know what happened to her—but, listen: I am the guilty one, I have committed a greater sin, I have committed a terrible crime against my sister! It was I who let her go—who made her go! I knew it was going to happen—and I let it happen—I wanted it to happen! And do you know why? Because of ten thousand dollars! Oh, I was thinking of my own future safety, my own future security! And no more poverty, no more bickering over money, no more haggling at the market, and no more hiding here in the darkness, the light cut off, the water stopped, the bill-collectors pounding and pounding at the door!
BITOY [grasping her by the arms]: Candida!
CANDIDA: Oh, I was thinking of ten thousand dollars in the bank! And so I let her go! And so I let her perish! I have destroyed my father—and now I have destroyed my sister! I am evil, evil, evil—
BITOY [shaking her]: Candida! Candida!
CANDIDA [subsiding]: And now you all know . . . Now you have found out . . .
[She turns away from Bitoy’s grasp and passes a hand over her brow.]
And now you must excuse me . . . I . . . I do not feel well . . .
[Charlie instantly claps on his hat and exits. Doña Loleng, after a glance at the motionless Candida, goes off too, followed by Elsa. The Cop shrugs, pockets his notebook, and, looking embarrassed, departs, followed by the Dick & the Watchman. Pete takes Susan & Violet by the arm and walks them off, followed by Cora & Eddie. Only Bitoy is left. He approaches Candida.]
BITOY: Candida—
CANDIDA [dully]: Go to her, Bitoy. Please go to her.
BITOY: To Paula?
CANDIDA: She is in the church. Go and look for her. Tell her to hurry home. I must speak to her. Oh Bitoy, we have not spoken to each other since she came back! There has been only silence, silence between us. But now I can break that silence. Now, I can look in her face and speak. I know my sin, I recognize it.