GRIFFIN (hissing). Wattmore. WATTMORE!
WATTMORE sits up.
WATTMORE. What?
GRIFFIN. Get up.
WATTMORE. Griffin –
GRIFFIN. Get up.
WATTMORE. What’s wrong? I’m on the cushions.
GRIFFIN. Get up.
WATTMORE stands up, laboriously.
WATTMORE. What time is it? Where have you been?
They both look at the BOY, sleeping there.
Who’s that?
Silence.
GRIFFIN. Who’s that? What?
WATTMORE. What?
GRIFFIN. What? I don’t know. Who is it? Why did you let him in?
WATTMORE. I didn’t let him in.
GRIFFIN. Well what’s he doing here.
WATTMORE. How should I know?
Beat.
Is it a boy?
GRIFFIN. Okay.
Pause.
Wake him up.
WATTMORE. You wake him up. I’m not waking him up.
GRIFFIN. Wake him up Wattmore.
WATTMORE. Fuck off. I’m not waking him up.
GRIFFIN. What’s he doing here? Wake him up.
WATTMORE. No.
GRIFFIN. Wake him up.
WATTMORE. No.
GRIFFIN. Wattmore.
WATTMORE. What?
Pause.
GRIFFIN. Stand back.
WATTMORE does.
WATTMORE. Griffin...
GRIFFIN. What?
WATTMORE. Put the rabbit down.
GRIFFIN passes it to WATTMORE. He shakes the stranger once. He shakes him again.
GRIFFIN. You.
Pause.
Boy.
WATTMORE. It might be a girl.
GRIFFIN. Shut up will you?
Beat.
You. Boy.
Beat.
Miss.
He shakes him again. He shakes him again. Harder. Very hard.
WATTMORE. Oh no.
GRIFFIN. What?
WATTMORE. Oh no. Is he... don’t say... Oh Jesus. Is he cold?
GRIFFIN. Course he’s cold. He’s fucking starkers.
WATTMORE. Is he breathing?
GRIFFIN listens.
GRIFFIN. He’s breathing.
Beat.
Okay Jess. What’s going on?
WATTMORE. Nothing.
GRIFFIN. How did he get here.
WATTMORE. I don’t know. What are you saying?
GRIFFIN. I come home there’s a boy asleep on our couch.
WATTMORE. What are you saying? Where have you been Griffin. What happened to your face?
GRIFFIN. I went out. I fell over.
WATTMORE. What have you done Griffin?
GRIFFIN. I fell over.
WATTMORE. What’s going on Griffin? Who is he?
GRIFFIN. Where’s Bolla?
WATTMORE. She’s in there. She’s been in there all night.
GRIFFIN. Wake her up.
WATTMORE. No chance.
GRIFFIN. Wattmore...
WATTMORE. I’m not going in there.
GRIFFIN. I woke him up.
WATTMORE. No you didn’t.
GRIFFIN. This is your fault.
WATTMORE. What. Why?
GRIFFIN. You were here. You were minding the fort.
WATTMORE. I was asleep.
They glare at one another in the moonlight.
GRIFFIN. Stand back.
He walks to the back door. He knocks on it.
Bolla.
He knocks harder. He goes in. Silence.
WATTMORE. The keys have gone. Griffin. And the tape recorder’s gone. She’s taken Dougal’s recorder.
Re-enter GRIFFIN.
GRIFFIN. Is the car out there?
WATTMORE. She’s gone out the window.
GRIFFIN. Wait here.
GRIFFIN leaves through the strip plastic. WATTMORE approaches the youth. He reaches out a hand, but stops. He gasps.
WATTMORE. Our father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name.
Re-enter GRIFFIN.
GRIFFIN. You can stop whispering now Jess. We’re the only fuckers here. Who caught that rabbit? Jess. I didn’t catch it. I’ve never went... I never went in the reeds. Who caught the rabbit? Jess? What are you doing. What’s the matter? Jess?
Silence.
WATTMORE. It’s an angel.
GRIFFIN (simultaneous). Angel.
Pause.
They both study him for a moment.
It’s not.
Pause.
WATTMORE. How do you know? It could be.
GRIFFIN. It’s not.
WATTMORE. It could be. Do you believe in angels?
WATTMORE laughs quietly in wonder.
Oh dear. Oh dear.
Pause.
I’m shivering. My hair’s gone up my neck. (He laughs.) I prayed Griffin. Tonight. In here. I prayed for an angel. Look at his face. Do you... do you renounce Satan and his riddles and crimes?
GRIFFIN. Yes.
WATTMORE. Do you... do you... do you... I can’t remember it. Do you renounce the fatted jackal? Do you renounce –
GRIFFIN. Yes.
WATTMORE. Do you spit his name?
GRIFFIN. I spit his name.
WATTMORE. I’m shivering. Will you kneel with me?
GRIFFIN. Yes.
WATTMORE. Will you begin.
GRIFFIN. Yes.
WATTMORE. Thank you Griffin. Grace to you. Grace to you.
They kneel in front of the iconostasis.
Do something easy.
Beat.
GRIFFIN. Behold... behold, I send an Angel before thee, to bring thee into the place which I have prepared... Beware –
WATTMORE. Beware of him, and obey his voice, provoke him not; for my name is in him. If thou shalt obey his voice, and do all that I speak; We’re saved Griffin.
GRIFFIN. ... then I will be an enemy unto thine enemies.
BOTH. For mine Angel shall go before thee... and I will cut them off.
WATTMORE. And ye shall serve the LORD your God, and he shall bless thy bread, and thy water; and I will take sickness away from the midst of thee.
Enter BOLLA. She’s soaked. She’s holding the stereo in one hand and a dead rabbit by the feet in the other.
GRIFFIN. Bolla.
WATTMORE. Bolla.
BOLLA. It’s lashing it down.
GRIFFIN. Where have you been.
BOLLA. Catching rabbits.
GRIFFIN. What?
BOLLA. They’re all over the road. Hundreds of ’em.
GRIFFIN. Wha –
BOLLA. My heart’s pounding. Feel.
GRIFFIN. Bolla –
BOLLA. I got another in the car. There’s hundreds out there.
GRIFFIN. Bolla. What’s going on. Who is this?
BOLLA. Is he still asleep.
GRIFFIN. Do you know him?
BOLLA. I don’t know him from Adam.
GRIFFIN. How did he get here?
BOLLA. I brung him.
GRIFFIN. Where from?
BOLLA. Cambridge.
GRIFFIN. Cambridge?
BOLLA. Yeah. He’s a student.
GRIFFIN. A student of what?
BOLLA. I don’t know. But I was hoping, of poetry.
GRIFFIN. What?
BOLLA. Yeah. But it’s a bit fingers-crossed. I know he knows about it.
GRIFFIN. How?
BOLLA. Because he was at a poetry night. In Corpus Christi.
GRIFFIN. You went to Cambridge tonight?
BOLLA. It’s horrible. I spent an hour in the one-way system, it’s like the fucking minotaur’s maze. Bet it’s easier getting in to study Greek than it is to drive your car in.
GRIFFIN. How did you find him?
BOLLA. On a noticeboard. They’ve got the lot, plays, black-tie piss-ups, karate, late-night this, all-night that. These cunts’ll do anything not to go to bed. So I went along, and sat at the back and I’m listening to them get up one after the other. A
nd this one read out the first one I understood. And also, he looked quite small, so I followed him in the gents. And we chatted a bit. Then I asked him about what Corpus Christi meant, and before he could answer I gave him a left-hander then I stuffed him in the Golf.
WATTMORE. Oh no. Oh no.
BOLLA. I borrowed your recorder Jess. I hope you don’t mind.
GRIFFIN. Why won’t he wake up.
BOLLA. Right. He’s had a lot of pills.
GRIFFIN. What?
BOLLA. He’s had a lot of temazepam. Don’t worry. He ain’t going nowhere.
GRIFFIN. How many did you give him?
BOLLA. Not many.
GRIFFIN. How many?
BOLLA. Don’t know really. Couple of handfuls.
GRIFFIN. Bolla. You could have killed him.
BOLLA. Come off it Griffin. He’s a student. Have you seen what they get up to? You need the heart of a fucking bull. Look at him. He’s having the time of his life.
GRIFFIN. Where’s his clothes?
BOLLA. Right. Shortly after I got the pills down him, he had accident.
GRIFFIN. An accident.
BOLLA. Yes. He shat himself. At some point in the journey back, he shat himself in the boot of the car. Yeah. But don’t worry. I burned ’em by the side of the road.
GRIFFIN. You burned his clothes.
BOLLA. I had to Griffin. They were festooned in shit. I thought you’d be pleased. I thought you were serious about this. I thought you wanted a poem.
GRIFFIN. I did.
BOLLA. Well there then. I thought it best to bring in an expert.
He stirs.
Here we go. Okay. First. We need some strong coffee. Get a pint or two of that down him. Then we ask him about poetry. Get him to do some, maybe get him to read yours.
GRIFFIN. But we’ll go to prison.
BOLLA. Who’s going to prison? Who’s going to prison Griffin. You think I’m a mug?
GRIFFIN. No.
BOLLA. You think I haven’t planned this. One: he doesn’t know us. Two: he’s got no idea where he is. Three: we’re in the middle of a fucking bog. And if he’s not too much trouble to us we’ll have him back in a day or two. He’ll wake up naked on some lawn think it’s all a hoot. Are you in or out? Are you in or out Griffin?
The BOY stirs.
GRIFFIN. What do we do?
BOLLA. Switch off the light. Don’t let him see us.
GRIFFIN puts on his balaclava.
What are you doing?
GRIFFIN. He’ll see us.
BOLLA. You’ll scare the shit out of him. Take it off.
GRIFFIN. He’ll see me.
BOLLA. Griffin. You can’t quiz him dressed like that. He won’t understand.
GRIFFIN. He’s going to have a job understanding as it is. Okay. We blindfold him.
BOLLA. How’s he going to read if you blindfold him?
GRIFFIN. We read it to him. I’ll read it aloud.
BOLLA. Griffin.
GRIFFIN. What?
BOLLA. Take the fucking balaclava off. Take it off.
GRIFFIN. Okay. Turn the light down.
GRIFFIN turns all of the lights off. Pitch dark. Silence.
I can’t see a fucking thing. Wait.
He lights one lantern. The BOY sits up. The BOY stands up, naked in the half-light. He looks around him. From the shadows, the three of them advance. They stand ten feet away. GRIFFIN speaks very clearly.
GRIFFIN. Who’s your favorite poet?
BOLLA. Who in the field of poetry do you admire and why?
WATTMORE. Forgive me Jesus.
GRIFFIN. You. Who’s... Who’s your favorite poet? Say some poetry. Say some poetry.
BOLLA. Show him your poem.
GRIFFIN. Wait there.
He hands the poem to the BOY.
Read this. It’s not finished. It’s a first draft.
The BOY reads it.
Jess, get the boy a drink.
WATTMORE doesn’t move. He stays seated, staring ahead.
He’s thirsty Wattmore. Get the boy a drink. Get the boy a drink.
WATTMORE. I won’t be part of this.
GRIFFIN. Wattmore.
WATTMORE does.
The BOY looks at the page in his hand.
Well? What do you think?
WATTMORE. Here.
He hands him the water.
GRIFFIN. Out the way Wattmore.
Silence. The BOY stands there.
What do you think? Say something you little bastard. Would it win? Would it win a prize. In your opinion. Could it win?
BOY. Cor...
BOLLA. Yes?
BOY. Cor...
GRIFFIN. Yes?
BOY. Corpus Christi. Corpus Christi means the body of Christ.
He passes out.
GRIFFIN. What the fuck? What the fuck was that?
BOLLA. I’ll get him another miniature from the car. Hang about.
GRIFFIN. Bolla –
BOLLA. Wait there. He needs a pick-me-up.
She runs out. GRIFFIN runs into the back room to fetch a blanket. Wattmore searches the cupboard for brandy. He stops, and rises with a pair of brand-new binoculars.
GRIFFIN runs back in with the blanket. He sees WATTMORE standing there holding the binoculars.
GRIFFIN. Okay. Here’s what we do. We –
He stops. They stand there in the silent room.
I found them. I found them in the reed beds.
Silence.
They’re worth fifteen hundred pound Wattmore. I looked them up on the internet. In the library. You can see in the dark with them. And I found a buyer on the internet. In Cambridge. They’re going to pay six hundred pound for them. He’s got the money today. I’m cycling in, and he’s going to pay me.
Silence.
We’ve got nothing Wattmore. Rabbits. We’ve got rabbits. And if the town finds out. And the town comes here.
WATTMORE. Jack O’Lanterns. Jack O’Lanterns.
He drops the binoculars on the floor.
GRIFFIN. What are you doing? You clot.
Griffin picks them up.
Brilliant. You’ve shattered the lenses. I can’t see anything now. It’s pitch dark.
Re-enter BOLLA.
BOLLA. Don’t panic but someone’s coming up the road. They got torches. There’s lots of them.
GRIFFIN. Oh Jesus.
BOLLA. Who are they?
GRIFFIN. It’s no one.
BOLLA. We’ve got to get him out of here. Quick. Give me a hand with this one.
GRIFFIN. Put him in the back. Can we use your room.
BOLLA. Just give me a hand.
They carry the BOY into the back room.
WATTMORE. Are you there Prince? Are you there? Please. Are you there?
BOLLA and GRIFFIN reappear.
BOLLA. Who is it?
GRIFFIN. It’s gypsies. Wattmore has had a disagreement with the gypsies.
BOLLA. Well we’ll see them off.
WATTMORE. It’s not gypsies.
BOLLA. What?
WATTMORE. They’re coming to gather me. They want me in the ground.
Silence.
Bolla, you should go now.
BOLLA. I want to help Jess. Griffin? If there’s any trouble I’m staying here. I’ll look after you.
WATTMORE (shouts). You don’t belong here. This isn’t your home. You’ve done enough. Now leave.
Silence. BOLLA seems stunned. She looks at WATTMORE for a long time.
BOLLA. I’m going to my room now. I’m going to look after the boy.
Exit BOLLA, into her room.
GRIFFIN. I just wanted to help. It’s not too late Jess.
Noise outside. Breaking glass.
Get down. Switch off the light.
WATTMORE. I won’t hide.
GRIFFIN switches off the light. Enter a MAN with a torch. GRIFFIN switches on the light. It is...
GRIFFIN. Royce.
ROYCE. Griffin. Jess. I’m not to speak to you. Wher
e is she?
GRIFFIN. What do you want? It’s the middle... it’s five thirty in the morning.
ROYCE. I’ve brought one with me. We’ll get to the bottom here.
Enter DOUGAL, with TWO WOMEN and a MAN. They all have torches. DOUGAL wears a black cloak.
DOUGAL. Where is she?
WATTMORE. Dougal.
DOUGAL. Jess Wattmore. Where is this witch?
ROYCE. She’s in there.
DOUGAL. What has happened in this house. You keep a woman here?
WATTMORE. She’s a guest. She’s paying rent.
DOUGAL. And she threatens my flock. She threatens a good soul here. She would kill his babies. What is happening here Jess Wattmore. And Floyd Fowler came and he spoke to me. He spoke to me yesterday. He was after money. He’s telling lies Jess Wattmore. Tell me he is telling lies.
WATTMORE. He’s telling lies.
DOUGAL. It’s a black thing he’s saying. It’s a black, black thing. An abomination. And I know from where it comes. This woman. These tales. Griffin Montgomery. This is all down to you now, is it not.
Silence.
GRIFFIN. Hello Dougal.
DOUGAL. Admit that it’s down to you. Admit that you have brought evil into this house. It’s you who’s to blame.
GRIFFIN. Yes. Yes. it is.
ROYCE. Hallelujah.
DOUGAL. And you’re leading my man to the beast here.
GRIFFIN. Yes I am. I am leading him to the beast.
ROYCE. Hallelujah Jesus be praised...
DOUGAL. And you brazen out and say it. It’s Hell you worship. Satan has you on a leash.
GRIFFIN. He does. It’s Hell I worship.
DOUGAL. There then. And they’ll be a leaflet. And I’ll highlight your name in bold. Griffin Montgomery runs with jackals. There it is.
Silence.
GRIFFIN. Dougal. Do you remember when we were at school. Do you remember that day you shat in your own desk. Do you remember when you failed your Watermanship swimming, and you cried, and we laughed at you for crying, and do you remember you smeared shit all over the swimming pool changing rooms. And your mother, when she came in the middle of country dancing and mutilated her womanly parts with a fishknife. I’m just wondering if you remember any of what I’m remembering.
DOUGAL. It’s a black mind you have. And you always did have.
GRIFFIN. There are so many things to say to you, but I’m going to just say this. You fucking leafblower. Leave this man be. He’s not special. He’s a gardener. He belongs in a garden.
ROYCE. I think you’ve said enough Griffin. It’s Jess we should hear from now. He has a charge to answer.
WATTMORE. I’ll answer it.
GRIFFIN. You don’t have to say anything Jess Wattmore.
WATTMORE. Griffin.
Jez Butterworth Plays Page 14