by Debra Oswald
Good on ya.
She lathers up more soap. When she looks up, LEO is staring at her. She cups his face in her hands.
You’re a gorgeous thing, you know.
LEO: Am I?
THERESE: Yeah. You are. Gorgeous.
LEO: I always used to think I looked like a troll.
THERESE: I don’t even know what trolls look like.
LEO: The paintings made beautiful women sleep with me. It was the paintings.
THERESE: Come on, don’t get yourself upset.
LEO grabs her hand to stop the shaving.
LEO: Do you understand?
THERESE: I understand about feeling ugly, yeah. You should consider yourself a lucky bastard. If I could do some fabulous thing that’d make people love me, I’d be out there doing my fabulous thing and not standing here shaving you. Whoops—sudsy bit dripping.
She dries a soapy bit. LEO’s face crumples into tears.
Leo… I was only joking around.
LEO shakes his head, his face contorted with tears.
You got pain somewhere? Is it your knees?
LEO can’t answer.
Tell me and I’ll fix it.
LEO: You can’t fix it. It’s everything.
THERESE: Everything what?
LEO: I’ve started remembering things. You can’t fix what I’ve done.
THERESE: Oh. You’re remembering things you feel bad about?
LEO: Shame. I’m talking about shame. You don’t understand. How could you know about shame?
THERESE: That’s where you’re dead wrong. I know about shame.
LEO: No, no, no… you’re young. Too young. You can’t understand.
THERESE: You reckon? You’d be amazed the amount of shameful shit you can fit in by my age if you get started early enough.
LEO: Tell me.
THERESE: Shoplifting when I was eleven. Smashing up bus shelters at twelve. Helping my boyfriend do break-and-enters by the time I was thirteen. Fourteen, got caught behind the service station doing blow jobs for cash.
LEO: Did your parents disown you?
THERESE: ‘It’s not Therese. It’s those no-hopers she hooks up with.’ That’s no excuse but. One time, this friend of Mum’s gave me a job at her hairdresser’s. Unbelievably nice of this lady—she didn’t have to help out little rough-head Therese. Talked about getting me into tech to do the apprenticeship. Giving me a chance. So what did Therese do? Ripped the nice lady off—cleaned out the till and then helped my friends trash the shop for fun.
LEO: Why?
THERESE: Out to impress my mates. Plus I was pissed off—like the world owed me something and I was gonna take what I deserved. You get an urge to smash things—like it’s evidence you exist. Evidence you did something.
LEO: Did you get caught?
THERESE: No. Next day, I go back there and the lady’s cleaning up the broken glass and crying and she’s apologising to me about the job being off. I felt like scum—I even cried. She goes, ‘Oh, you’re so sweet, Therese’. I never had the guts to say anything. That was years ago but I can feel my face burning just thinking about it. Hunh… You’re the first person I ever told about that. How about that, Leo? [She fusses with the towels to avoid his gaze.] The first time I was up for something in adult court, I saw my—
LEO: In court for what?
THERESE: Forging and uttering—that’s dud cheques. But stealing mostly—break-and-enter, warehouses and that.
LEO: Stealing money for drugs?
THERESE: No. Not for me anyway. Usually to keep some useless dickhead boyfriend happy. I got perfect radar for the nastiest creeps on the face of the earth. In court, I spotted Mum and Dad sitting in the audience part. They looked at me like—not angry or anything—but so sad and worried and disappointed… I never looked at them. I could still feel their eyes on me but. When I got out of jail the first time, I disappeared myself from Mum and Dad. Made it so they couldn’t find me. I don’t like the way I am. Haven’t seen them for nearly six years.
She washes LEO’s face gently with a cloth.
Some memory oozes up and eats away at your guts, eh. You know what I think about sometimes? When I’m in the shower, I tip my head back and I let the water run down my face and my neck and I imagine if the water could wash it all away…
LEO: The shame.
THERESE: Yeah. Wash away every bad thing I ever did. Start again, clean.
LEO stares at her, wretched. THERESE bundles him up in towels.
So, Mr Troll: how about those hot towels, yeah?
SCENE FOUR
Daytime. The house is apparently empty.
There’s a knock at the door, then the sound of MARGO’s voice.
MARGO: [offstage] Hello? Ms Laurence?
MARGO enters and takes the chance to have a stickybeak, maybe finding a folder of papers somewhere.
THERESE: [offstage, yelling from the bathroom] Bugger off! I saw you spying!
MARGO jumps, feeling caught out. Then LEO runs in from the bathroom. He’s too focused on watching THERESE in the bathroom to notice MARGO. He giggles, hopping around, more spritely than MARGO has seen him. THERESE comes stomping in from the bathroom in a bathrobe.
You’re an old pervert, Leo—spying on me in the shower. It’s not on. Oh.
MARGO: I’m sorry. I did knock.
THERESE: Sorry. I didn’t hear it.
MARGO: I thought no-one was home. I’m sorry.
THERESE: No worries. Let me just…
She secures the bathrobe. LEO is shuffling backwards to escape up the stairs. THERESE grabs him and makes him stay.
Did you say hello to Margo?
LEO stays in the room but keeps well away from MARGO.
Hey—d’you want a cup of tea? We just put the kettle on, didn’t we Leo?
MARGO: No, thanks. [She gets a bundle of large papers out of her briefcase.] I can’t stay. I just wanted to drop off these pages.
LEO: I won’t sign anything.
THERESE: [to calm him down] Leo.
MARGO: There’s nothing to be signed. It’s the introduction to the new book about Leo.
THERESE: Oh, we’re so excited about the new book, aren’t we Leo? I reckon it’d be nice if you got Margo a cup of tea.
MARGO: Oh, I don’t think so.
THERESE: He can do it. [To LEO] Go on.
With an enthusiastic shove from THERESE, LEO exits to get tea. MARGO lays the pages on the table.
MARGO: I told the publisher I’d personally deliver the page proofs to Leo. Not that he’ll read them.
THERESE: He might. It’s a while since you’ve seen him and in the last two months, he’s got a lot better. You and Leo can have a cup of tea and a yack about the new book.
MARGO sits down.
That’s a lovely jacket.
MARGO: Oh. Thank you.
THERESE: You always look so stylish, so classy.
MARGO: It’s just money.
THERESE: You could spray thousands of bucks at me with a high-pressure hose and I’d never look classy.
THERESE barks a laugh and MARGO smiles.
MARGO: I just have to dress this way for my job.
THERESE: Listen, um, I know you do a lot for Leo.
MARGO: Me? The Viper?
THERESE: I don’t think you’re a viper. You’re the only one out of his whole family who even bothers to come round.
MARGO: You wouldn’t call me the ‘nice one’, would you?
THERESE: A lot of people would’ve just gone, ‘Oh, I’ve had it with the old dickhead,’ and cut him off. It’s amazing you’ve stuck around.
MARGO: You’ve stuck at this job much longer than anyone else. Apart from the Leo problem, people don’t like the living-in.
THERESE: Like living in a minimum security prison.
MARGO: Well, yes, it must feel very restrictive.
THERESE: Listen—I want to be straight with you. Before I came here, I was in some trouble.
MARGO: Oh… unless it’s r
elevant to Leo’s care, you don’t have to tell me anything.
THERESE: I was in jail.
THERESE waits for a response.
MARGO: A horrible experience, I imagine.
THERESE: Yeah. Well, it was, yeah. One day, month before I got out, I looked around the dining hall at the women a bit older than me. In my head, I go, ‘Do you want to end up looking like them, Therese?’ And out loud, I go, ‘No, I don’t’. I made a vow to myself. To keep out of trouble from now on. To be good.
MARGO: Good.
LEO appears with a tray of tea things.
THERESE: Try my best anyway. So in a weird way it turns out this job is right for me. Because of it being restricted, I mean. It helps hold me in the place I’m trying to be.
LEO: Shall I be mother?
LEO chuckles at this idea and pours the tea. takes her tea from him.
MARGO: Thanks.
LEO: Sorry about the flaky bits floating on top.
MARGO: That’s fine.
LEO shrinks away. THERESE urges him to sit with them.
LEO: I won’t sign any of her papers.
THERESE: Leo. You don’t realise how much stuff Margo does for you, organising things.
MARGO: [to THERESE] Really—don’t waste your breath.
THERESE: No, well, he should think about it. Margo doesn’t have to do the stuff she does for you and she’s not ripping you off and—
LEO: [proudly to MARGO] I’m off the booze. Off the booze for—[To THERESE] How long?
THERESE: Eleven weeks.
MARGO: Well, that’s very good.
LEO: My liver—Therese, tell about my liver.
THERESE: His liver function test improved heaps.
LEO: Doctor reckons my heart’s sturdy and I could last another ten years!
THERESE: If you stay off alcohol and give your ulcers a chance to heal up and you—
LEO: [to MARGO] Ten years. [To THERESE] She thought I was gonna cark it any day. She’s worried now. Look at her face.
THERESE: That’s a horrible thing to say, Leo. I bet Margo’s stoked you’re better.
There’s a knock on the door. LEO rushes to answer it.
MARGO: Are you expecting someone?
THERESE: Uh—no. We never get visitors.
LEO opens the door to see KARL, holding timber pieces and a pile of glass louvres.
He also brings in a small window wrapped in a dropsheet and leaves that bundle by the door.
LEO: Karl! I thought I’d never lay eyes on you again before I die.
KARL: Yeah, well… You’re looking good, mate.
LEO: Welcome to my home. Welcome.
KARL: Therese is still looking after you then?
LEO: Yes, yes. She said we’d never see you again. But I knew you’d come back. Come in. Entrez la porte. [In a sudden panic] Oh, you’re not here to hack out another piece of my house, are you?
KARL: No, mate. Relax. Dropped in because I brought something. [To THERESE] G’day. These are for you.
He hands THERESE the timber pieces and glass louvres like he’s handing her a bunch of flowers.
Leftovers on a demolition site. Thought you could fix the louvre window in the bathroom.
THERESE: Oh. Yeah. Thanks.
KARL and THERESE are both stuck there awkwardly. LEO drags KARL by the arm.
[To MARGO] Karl’s the builder who did that wall.
MARGO: Oh, right. Hello.
KARL: G’day.
MARGO: You finished the work on the wall some weeks ago, didn’t you?
KARL: Yeah. I just stopped by to drop off—Got something else here too—
KARL indicates the bundled-up window.
MARGO: There isn’t money available to do more building work on this house.
KARL: Sorry? Oh no, I’m not after work. I came across some leftover materials to help out Leo and—
LEO: Karl’s a good bloke.
KARL: Look… uh, you’re in the middle of something… I should get going.
LEO: Karl—the door in my bedroom—keeps jamming on the floor.
KARL: Probably swelled up in that rain. I could plane a bit off it for you.
LEO: Marvellous! Right now!
LEO grabs KARL’s arm to drag him upstairs.
THERESE: Stay here. Margo’s visiting.
MARGO: Go on, Leo. You can go.
LEO scuttles upstairs with KARL.
That’s a record.
THERESE: Beg yours?
MARGO: That’s longest he’s stayed in a room with me without outright abuse. Plus the health improvements. Wow.
THERESE: Oh, well, we’re not there yet. But I’m hoping if he stays off the grog, I can get him connecting with people a bit more.
MARGO: Ms Laurence—
THERESE: Therese.
MARGO: Therese, be careful you don’t get your hopes up too high. He’s been off the booze before. I must admit, never for this long—
THERESE: This time he’s really broken through, I reckon. He’s starting to face up to things. And now he’ll have time, maybe years and years, to work on it.
MARGO: If it is years and years, I’m not sure what that’s going to mean.
THERESE: I guess, but that’s exciting in a way.
MARGO: For one thing, his money won’t last that long. I have to think about how I’m going to—
THERESE: Yes, I know you handle all that and it’s fantastic that you’ve hung in there. It shows that you must care about him. More than his other children anyway.
MARGO: Well, the younger children could walk away because he had less to do with them growing up.
THERESE: You could walk away now but you don’t.
MARGO: I have tried to. Maintaining the excommunication of Leo cost me too much emotional energy. Now, I do what’s needed and what’s fair.
THERESE: I can see that.
MARGO: But, Therese, it takes a certain stamina. My stamina is not unlimited.
THERESE: Sure, I can get why you’d be sick of him but things can be different now. That’s what I’m saying—
MARGO: I only survive around him with some distance and self-protection.
THERESE: But he’s changing. I wish you could see.
MARGO: I have seen. I’ve seen how he can hurt people. I’ve seen it happen over and over. People would get drawn into Leo’s orbit—it could be exhilarating, a wild ride. But in the end, they’d get obliterated by it. That’s why I want to warn you not to—
THERESE: But you’re talking about years ago. He’s getting clearer in his head every week. Now there’ll be time for you two to maybe reconnect. I’d so love it if that could happen.
MARGO shrugs.
MARGO: I’m just saying you should be careful.
THERESE: Me? I’ll be okay.
MARGO: This house—it’s already disintegrating. Do you really think this place will hold together for much longer?
THERESE: We’ll manage.
MARGO: Anyway, I might head off.
THERESE: Oh no, stay. Leo’ll come down in a sec.
MARGO: No, I think I’ll go.
MARGO heads for the door. THERESE rushes after her.
THERESE: Hey—you should come with us on one of our outings.
MARGO: No.
THERESE: No, fair enough. Too much to start off. Better if you just drop by some time.
MARGO: We’ll see. Bye, Therese.
THERESE: Bye. See you soon.
MARGO leaves.
[Calling upstairs] Leo! She’s gone! Come down! She left the book stuff here for you!
LEO comes downstairs, followed by KARL.
LEO: She wants to steal my house.
THERESE: No, she doesn’t.
LEO moans to himself.
Don’t go all miserable on me. What a top day! You and Margo had a chat. She was really impressed with how you’re going. Plus Karl’s come back to visit you. Big lovely surprise. You should tell Karl the news about the book.
LEO groans and makes a dismissive
gesture.
A fancy new book with lots of Leo’s pictures in it.
KARL: Yeah? It’ll be great for you to see all those paintings.
LEO makes a farting noise.
THERESE: Hey, don’t be rude to Karl, sulky-bum. What about ‘The Laughing Girl’ one?
LEO sulks.
You’d like to see ‘The Laughing Girl’ in the new book, wouldn’t you?
More silent sulking from LEO.
Well, I’d like to see it.
LEO sighs and wanders outside.
He comes over dark every now and then. Now he’s sober, he’s got forty years worth of stuff to sort through. His brain’s processing it for the first time. We started making a list.
KARL: A list?
THERESE grabs a folder to show KARL—the folder MARGO had a stickybeak at earlier.
THERESE: When Leo remembers someone he dumped on, we add their name to the list. We’re working through it, writing letters.
KARL: Sorry, I’m not with you.
THERESE: Apology letters. Leo tells me what he did to each person and I tell him how lousy he should feel. We give them a rating out of ten.
KARL: And what are these people supposed to do when they get the letters?
THERESE: Well, that doesn’t matter. We’re doing this so it isn’t all one big, solid pile of Leo-was-a-bastard. ’Cos that paralyses a person. Then he just slumps in the chair muttering ‘shame, shame’. But with the letters, it feels like he’s chipping away at the pile.
KARL: What about his ex-wives and his kids—have they got letters?
THERESE: We’re working up to that.
KARL: I guess the letter writing wasn’t in your job description.
THERESE: Nuh. The job was supposed to be ‘water the houseplant’. But you know what? I’m good at this job. Being a big-mouth scrag is good for something. [She bellows outside.] Leo! You gonna drink this tea before it’s stone cold?
LEO: [coming in] Stop screeching at me, you harpie.