Silence
TEDDY stands.
I was born quite near here.
Pause.
Then … six years ago, I went to America.
Pause.
It’s all rock. And sand. It stretches … so far … everywhere you look. And there’s lots of insects there.
Pause.
And there’s lots of insects there.
Silence.
She is still.
MAX stands.
MAX. Well, it’s time to go to the gym. Time for your workout, Joey.
LENNY (standing). I’ll come with you.
JOEY sits looking at RUTH.
MAX. Joe.
JOEY stands. The three go out.
TEDDY sits by RUTH, holds her hand.
She smiles at him.
Pause.
TEDDY. I think we’ll go back. Mmnn?
Pause.
Shall we go home?
RUTH. Why?
TEDDY. Well, we were only here for a few days, weren’t we? We might as well … cut it short, I think.
RUTH. Why? Don’t you like it here?
TEDDY. Of course I do. But I’d like to go back and see the boys now.
Pause.
RUTH. Don’t you like your family?
TEDDY. Which family?
RUTH. Your family here.
TEDDY. Of course I like them. What are you talking about?
Pause.
RUTH. You don’t like them as much as you thought you did?
TEDDY. Of course I do. Of course I … like them. I don’t know what you’re talking about.
Pause.
Listen. You know what time of the day it is there now, do you?
RUTH. What?
TEDDY. It’s morning. It’s about eleven o’clock.
RUTH. Is it?
TEDDY. Yes, they’re about six hours behind us … I mean … behind the time here. The boys’ll be at the pool … now … swimming. Think of it. Morning over there. Sun. We’ll go anyway, mmnn? It’s so clean there.
RUTH. Clean.
TEDDY. Yes.
RUTH. Is it dirty here?
TEDDY. No, of course not. But it’s cleaner there.
Pause.
Look, I just brought you back to meet the family, didn’t I? You’ve met them, we can go. The fall semester will be starting soon.
RUTH. You find it dirty here?
TEDDY. I didn’t say I found it dirty here.
Pause.
I didn’t say that.
Pause.
Look. I’ll go and pack. You rest for a while. Will you? They won’t be back for at least an hour. You can sleep. Rest. Please.
She looks at him.
You can help me with my lectures when we get back. I’d love that. I’d be so grateful for it, really. We can bathe till October. You know that. Here, there’s nowhere to bathe, except the swimming bath down the road. You know what it’s like? It’s like a urinal. A filthy urinal!
Pause.
You liked Venice, didn’t you? It was lovely, wasn’t it? You had a good week. I mean … I took you there. I can speak Italian.
RUTH. But if I’d been a nurse in the Italian campaign I would have been there before.
Pause.
TEDDY. You just rest. I’ll go and pack.
TEDDY goes out and up the stairs.
She closes her eyes.
LENNY appears from U.L.
He walks into the room and sits near her.
She opens her eyes.
Silence.
LENNY. Well, the evenings are drawing in.
RUTH. Yes, it’s getting dark.
Pause.
LENNY. Winter’ll soon be upon us. Time to renew one’s wardrobe.
Pause.
RUTH. That’s a good thing to do.
LENNY. What?
Pause.
RUTH. I always …
Pause.
Do you like clothes?
LENNY. Oh, yes. Very fond of clothes.
Pause.
RUTH. I’m fond …
Pause.
What do you think of my shoes?
LENNY. They’re very nice.
RUTH. No, I can’t get the ones I want over there.
LENNY. Can’t get them over there, eh?
RUTH. No … you don’t get them there.
Pause.
I was a model before I went away.
LENNY. Hats?
Pause.
I bought a girl a hat once. We saw it in a glass case, in a shop. I tell you what it had. It had a bunch of daffodils on it, tied with a black satin bow, and then it was covered with a cloche of black veiling. A cloche. I’m telling you. She was made for it.
RUTH. No … I was a model for the body. A photographic model for the body.
LENNY. Indoor work?
RUTH. That was before I had … all my children.
Pause.
No, not always indoors.
Pause.
Once or twice we went to a place in the country, by train. Oh, six or seven times. We used to pass a … a large white water tower. This place … this house … was very big … the trees … there was a lake, you see … we used to change and walk down towards the lake … we went down a path … on stones … there were … on this path. Oh, just … wait … yes … when we changed in the house we had a drink. There was a cold buffet.
Pause.
Sometimes we stayed in the house but … most often … we walked down to the lake … and did our modelling there.
Pause.
Just before we went to America I went down there. I walked from the station to the gate and then I walked up the drive. There were lights on … I stood in the drive … the house was very light.
TEDDY comes down the stairs with the cases. He puts them down, looks at LENNY.
TEDDY. What have you been saying to her?
He goes to RUTH.
Here’s your coat.
LENNY goes to the radiogram and puts on a record of slow jazz.
Ruth. Come on. Put it on.
LENNY (to RUTH). What about one dance before you go?
TEDDY. We’re going.
LENNY. Just one.
TEDDY. No. We’re going.
LENNY. Just one dance, with her brother-in-law, before she goes.
LENNY bends to her.
Madam?
RUTH stands. They dance, slowly.
TEDDY stands, with RUTH’S coat.
MAX and JOEY come in the front door and into the room.
They stand.
LENNY kisses RUTH. They stand, kissing.
JOEY. Christ, she’s wide open.
Pause.
She’s a tart.
Pause.
Old Lenny’s got a tart in here.
JOEY goes to them. He takes RUTH’S arm. He smiles at LENNY. He sits with RUTH on the sofa, embraces and kisses her.
He looks up at LENNY.
Just up my street.
He leans her back until she lies beneath him. He kisses her.
He looks up at TEDDY and MAX.
It’s better than a rubdown, this.
LENNY sits on the arm of the sofa. He caresses RUTH’S hair as JOEY embraces her.
MAX comes forward, looks at the cases.
MAX. You going. Teddy? Already?
Pause.
Well, when you coming over again, eh? Look, next time you come over, don’t forget to let us know beforehand whether you’re married or not I’ll always be glad to meet the wife. Honest I’m telling you.
JOEY lies heavily on RUTH.
They are almost still.
LENNY caresses her hair.
Listen, you think I don’t know why you didn’t tell me you were married? I know why. You were ashamed. You thought I’d be annoyed because you married a woman beneath you. You should have known me better. I’m broadminded. I’m a broadminded man.
He peers to see RUTH’S face under JOEY, turns back to TEDDY.
Mind you, she’s
a lovely girl. A beautiful woman. And a mother too. A mother of three. You’ve made a happy woman out of her. It’s something to be proud of. I mean, we’re talking about a woman of quality. We’re talking about a woman of feeling.
JOEY and RUTH roll off the sofa on to the floor.
JOEY clasps her. LENNY moves to stand above them. He looks down on them. He touches RUTH gently with his foot. RUTH suddenly pushes JOEY away.
She stands up.
JOEY gets to his feet, stares at her.
RUTH. I’d like something to eat. (To LENNY.) I’d like a drink. Did you get any drink?
LENNY. We’ve got drink.
RUTH. I’d like one, please.
LENNY. What drink?
RUTH. Whisky.
LENNY. I’ve got it.
Pause.
RUTH. Well, get it.
LENNY goes to the sideboard, takes out bottle and glasses.
JOEY moves towards her.
Put the record off.
He looks at her, turns, puts the record off.
I want something to eat.
Pause.
JOEY. I can’t cook. (Pointing to MAX.) He’s the cook.
LENNY brings her a glass of whisky.
LENNY. Soda on the side?
RUTH. What’s this glass? I can’t drink out of this. Haven’t you got a tumbler?
LENNY. Yes.
RUTH. Well, put it in a tumbler.
He takes the glass back, pours whisky into a tumbler, brings it to her.
LENNY. On the rocks? Or as it comes?
RUTH. Rocks? What do you know about rocks?
LENNY. We’ve got rocks. But they’re frozen stiff in the fridge.
RUTH drinks.
LENNY looks round at the others.
Drinks all round?
He goes to the sideboard and pours drinks.
JOEY moves closer to RUTH.
OEY. What food do you want?
RUTH walks round the room.
RUTH (to TEDDY). Has your family read your critical works?
MAX. That’s one thing I’ve never done. I’ve never read one of his critical works.
TEDDY. You wouldn’t understand them.
LENNY hands drinks all round.
JOEY. What sort of food do you want? I’m not the cook, anyway.
LENNY. Soda, Ted? Or as it comes?
TEDDY. You wouldn’t understand my works. You wouldn’t have the faintest idea of what they were about. You wouldn’t appreciate the points of reference. You’re way behind. All of you. There’s no point in my sending you my works. You’d be lost. It’s nothing to do with the question of intelligence. It’s a way of being able to look at the world. It’s a question of how far you can operate on things and not in things. I mean it’s a question of your capacity to ally the two, to relate the two, to balance the two. To see, to be able to see! I’m the one who can see. That’s why I can write my critical works. Might do you good … have a look at them … see how certain people can view … things … how certain people can maintain … intellectual equilibrium. Intellectual equilibrium. You’re just objects. You just … move about. I can observe it. I can see what you do. It’s the same as I do. But you’re lost in it. You won’t get me being … I won’t be lost in it.
BLACKOUT.
LIGHTS UP.
Evening.
TEDDY sitting, in his coat, the cases by him. SAM.
Pause.
SAM. Do you remember MacGregor, Teddy?
TEDDY. Mac?
SAM. Yes.
TEDDY. Of course I do.
SAM. What did you think of him? Did you take to him?
TEDDY. Yes. I liked him. Why?
Pause.
SAM. You know, you were always my favourite, of the lads. Always.
Pause.
When you wrote to me from America I was very touched, you know. I mean you’d written to your father a few times but you’d never written to me. But then, when I got that letter from you … well, I was very touched. I never told him. I never told him I’d heard from you.
Pause.
(Whispering.) Teddy, shall I tell you something? You were always your mother’s favourite. She told me. It’s true. You were always the … you were always the main object of her love.
Pause.
Why don’t you stay for a couple more weeks, eh? We could have a few laughs.
LENNY comes in the front door and into the room.
LENNY. Still here, Ted? You’ll be late for your first seminar.
He goes to the sideboard, opens it, peers in it, to the right and the left, stands.
Where’s my cheese-roll?
Pause.
Someone’s taken my cheese-roll. I left it there. (To SAM.) You been thieving?
TEDDY. I took your cheese-roll, Lenny.
Silence.
SAM looks at them, picks up his hat and goes out of the front door.
Silence.
LENNY. You took my cheese roll?
TEDDY. Yes.
LENNY. I made that roll myself. I cut it and put the butter on. I sliced a piece of cheese and put it in between. I put it on a plate and I put it in the sideboard. I did all that before I went out. Now I come back and you’ve eaten it.
TEDDY. Well, what are you going to do about it?
LENNY. I’m waiting for you to apologize.
TEDDY. But I took it deliberately, Lenny.
LENNY. You mean you didn’t stumble on it by mistake?
TEDDY. No, I saw you put it there. I was hungry, so I ate it.
Pause.
LENNY. Barefaced audacity.
Pause.
What led you to be so … vindictive against your own brother? I’m bowled over.
Pause.
Well, Ted, I would say this is something approaching the naked truth, isn’t it? It’s a real cards on the table stunt. I mean, we’re in the land of no holds barred now. Well, how else can you interpret it? To pinch your younger brother’s specially made cheese roll when he’s out doing a spot of work, that’s not equivocal, it’s unequivocal.
Pause.
Mind you, I will say you do seem to have grown a bit sulky during the last six years. A bit sulky. A bit inner. A bit less forthcoming. It’s funny, because I’d have thought that in the United States of America, I mean with the sun and all that, the open spaces, on the old campus, in your position, lecturing, in the centre of all the intellectual life out there, on the old campus, all the social whirl, all the stimulation of it all, all your kids and all that, to have fun with, down by the pool, the Greyhound buses and all that, tons of iced water, all the comfort of those Bermuda shorts and all that, on the old campus, no time of the day or night you can’t get a cup of coffee or a Dutch gin, I’d have thought you’d have grown more forthcoming, not less. Because I want you to know that you set a standard for us, Teddy. Your family looks up to you, boy, and you know what it does? It does its best to follow the example you set. Because you’re a great source of pride to us. That’s why we were so glad to see you come back, to welcome you back to your birthplace. That’s why.
Pause.
No, listen, Ted, there’s no question that we live a less rich life here than you do over there. We live a closer life. We’re busy, of course. Joey’s busy with his boxing, I’m busy with my occupation, Dad still plays a good game of poker, and he does the cooking as well, well up to his old standard, and Uncle Sam’s the best chauffeur in the firm. But nevertheless we do make up a unit, Teddy, and you’re an integral part of it. When we all sit round the backyard having a quiet gander at the night sky, there’s always an empty chair standing in the circle, which is in fact yours. And so when you at length return to us, we do expect a bit of grace, a bit of je ne sais quoi, a bit of generosity of mind, a bit of liberality of spirit, to reassure us. We do expect that. But do we get it? Have we got it? Is that what you’ve given us?
Pause.
TEDDY. yes.
JOEY comes down the stairs and into the roam, with a newsp
aper.
LENNY (to JOEY). How’d you get on?
JOEY. Er … not bad.
LENNY. What do you mean?
Pause.
What do you mean?
JOEY. Not bad.
LENNY. I want to know what you mean – by not bad.
JOEY. What’s it got to do with you?
LENNY. Joey, you tell your brother everything.
Pause.
JOEY. I didn’t get all the way.
LENNY. You didn’t get all the way?
Pause.
(With emphasis.) You didn’t get all the way?
But you’ve had her up there for two hours.
JOEY. Well?
LENNY. You didn’t get all the way and you’ve had her up there for two hours!
JOEY. What about it?
LENNY moves closer to him.
LENNY. What are you telling me?
JOEY. What do you mean?
LENNY. Are you telling me she’s a tease?
Pause.
She’s a tease!
Pause.
What do you think of that, Ted? Your wife turns out to be a tease. He’s had her up there for two hours and he didn’t go the whole hog.
JOEY. I didn’t say she was a tease.
LENNY. Are you joking? It sounds like a tease to me, don’t it to you, Ted?
TEDDY. Perhaps he hasn’t got the right touch.
LENNY. Joey? Not the right touch? Don’t be ridiculous. He’s had more dolly than you’ve had cream cakes. He’s irresistible. He’s one of the few and far between. Tell him about the last bird you had, Joey.
Pause.
JOEY. What bird?
LENNY. The last bird! When we stopped the car …
JOEY. Oh, that … yes … well, we were in Lenny’s car one night last week …
LENNY. The Alfa.
JOEY. And er … bowling down the road …
LENNY. Up near the Scrubs.
JOEY. Yes, up over by the Scrubs …
LENNY. We were doing a little survey of North Paddington.
JOEY. And er … it was pretty late, wasn’t it?
LENNY. Yes, it was late. Well?
Pause.
JOEY. And then we … well, by the kerb, we saw this parked car … with a couple of girls in it.
LENNY. And their escorts.
JOEY. Yes, there were two geezers in it. Anyway … we got out … and we told the … two escorts … to go away … which they did … and then we … got the girls out of the car …
LENNY. We didn’t take them over the Scrubs.
Harold Pinter Plays 3 Page 5