by Paula Vogel
PETER: So…what are you going to do today?
RUTH (Quietly and miserably): Have a shitty day.
PETER: Sounds like fun. Can I join you?
RUTH: Listen, Peter—what are you doing this afternoon?
PETER: Nothing, I guess.
RUTH: There’s something I want you to do for me.
PETER: Sure. What?
RUTH: Would you take Cecil and Henri to the zoo?
PETER: Me?
RUTH: It would cheer Ann—it would cheer them up. They’re really upset. Would you?
PETER: Oh, Ruthie—do you really think we should be doing this outside the home?
RUTH: They won’t be with us much longer. Please.
PETER: Well, they do need a strong male role model right now.
Scene Nine
Day Four. The same. Peter, Henri and Cecil at the zoo. All three are wearing black armbands. Peter holds Henri and Cecil by the hand.
PETER: Look boys. The orangutans—they’re always good for a laugh.
(Cecil and Henri watch, glumly. Then, Henri, excited, begins to laugh.)
HENRI: Uncle Peter! Look!! The monkey’s pulling his pudding! In front of everybody!
(Henri laughs again.)
PETER: Oh, Henri, you always think the worst—(He looks. Then, hurriedly)—Ah, maybe we ought to go see the chimpanzees. Come on, Henri.
HENRI: But I want to watch the monkey pull—!
PETER: I said come on.
(Peter drags Henri over to the next cage, a few feet away.)
PETER: Look Cecil! The chimps!! They’re your favorites, aren’t they?
CECIL: Yes.
PETER: They’re awfully cute.
CECIL: Yes.
PETER: God. They look just like humans.
CECIL (Pensively begins to recite): “Never forget that every single organic being around us strives to increase in numbers; that each lives by a struggle at some period in its life; that heavy destruction inevitably falls either on the young or the old.”
PETER: That’s Darwin, isn’t it? Come on, Ceepie, lighten up.
CECIL: “Thus, from war of nature, from famine and death, all organic beings advance by one general law—namely, Multiply, Vary, Let the Strongest Live, and the Weakest Die…”
(Cecil suddenly grips Peter and buries his head into Peter’s side, weeping softly.)
HENRI: Uncle Peter?
PETER: Yes, Henri?
HENRI: What’s angst?
PETER: It’s a kind of…sadness. A German sadness.
HENRI: Is Cecil having angst?
PETER: Yes.
HENRI: Why?
PETER: Evolution. Come on, boys, let’s go home.
Scene Ten
Late at night. Anna and Henri.
HENRI: Is Uncle Peter in bed?
ANNA: Hello, baby. It’s mighty late for you to be up, isn’t it?
HENRI: I’m no longer a baby, Anniah. I have to talk to you—alone.
ANNA: Uh-huh. Is this about your allowance again?
HENRI: You would never, ever lie to me, would you?
(Anna immediately becomes guilty.)
ANNA: Of course not. Why?
HENRI: Cecil has some strange ideas. I told him he was wrong, but still—
ANNA: What strange ideas?
HENRI: Cecil thinks that…something terrible happened to Orphan. And that something terrible is going to happen to us.
(Anna averts her eyes.)
ANNA (Trying to laugh): Where does Cecil get these ideas? I’ll talk to him.
HENRI: No! Cecil must not know I have come to you. You would never let anything happen to me? Or to Cecil? Would you?
ANNA: Of course not! It’s time for you to be in bed—
(Anna does not look Henri in the eyes.)
HENRI: Why do you not look at me?
ANNA (Looks directly at Henri): I would never hurt you. You know that.
HENRI: I knew you would not. I knew Cecil was wrong. So we do not have to run away.
ANNA: Run away! You were going to run away?!—
HENRI: But now we do not have to. And I don’t have to tell Uncle Peter.
ANNA: Tell what to Uncle Peter?
HENRI: Oh, nothing. Nothing you would want Uncle Peter to know. And as long as Cecil and I are safe, then I know nothing.
ANNA: What’s that supposed to mean?
HENRI: Peter still thinks he is the father to your child. You have led him to think so.
ANNA: He most certainly is! I should know. Why are you—
HENRI: I have reason to think otherwise. We both have reason to think otherwise.
ANNA: I don’t know what you are talking about—
HENRI: You will hear me out. I have learned a lot in your country. I know how to count up to nine. In English.
ANNA: What are you implying?
HENRI: That I am the father to your child.
ANNA: Whoa. Time out, Ruthie. We agreed never to—
HENRI: It was late in November. All the leaves had fallen. Ruse was out of town. We had seen that film which had made you so sad.
ANNA (Starting to understand): Are we feeling a little bit jealous?
HENRI: I will always treasure that night. My “education sentimentale.” And no one has to know.
ANNA (Playing along now): Please, Henri, I thought we had agreed to forget all about it. It was late, you were crying, I was weak for a moment and—
HENRI: And little Emma was made?
ANNA: No!! That’s impossible.
HENRI: But who will Peter believe if I tell him I am the father?
ANNA: Are you threatening me? Are you daring to—listen, I can send you home to Paris so fast it will make that little froggy head of yours swim—
HENRI: Fine. I go home to Paree, the culture capital of the world. I leave New York and its dirt behind. Au revoir. No regrets. Je ne regret rien. And you? Do you think Peter will leave the baby alone with you?
ANNA: Henri listen, honey—do you remember that night? When you cried against my shoulder and I brushed your hair? You were lonely, you missed Paris, you missed your friends the balloons—do you remember? And you begged me, and against my better judgment, I gave in. Do you remember what I said as I unbuttoned my blouse? “Years from now, when you speak of this—and you will—be kind.”
(Pause)
Now I ask you. Is this kind?
HENRI (Quiet, miserable): No.
ANNA: Come here, baby. I’d ask you to sit on my lap, but it’s a little difficult right now.
HENRI: I’m a big boy.
ANNA: That’s right, you are.
(With difficulty) Listen—I can’t undo what happened to Orphan. But I have never broken a promise to you, have I? Have I? And I promise you that nothing will…hurt you. Or…Cecil. You’re my…treasure. And nothing ever will, nothing ever could, replace you. Okay?
(Pause)
What can I do to make it up to you? Is there anything I can do to make you feel better? To cheer you up? To make you stop this, this silly talk of accidents and patrimony? Hmm?
HENRI: Well…there is a tiny, little something…
ANNA: What can I do? Tell me…
HENRI: Do you remember last year, when you got some money? And at the time, you asked me what I wanted, and I told you—
ANNA: But Henri, baby—
HENRI: And with all that money, what did we get? A movie. Sneakers. Chicken McNuggets…
ANNA: But you like Chicken Mc—
HENRI: I told you what I wanted, and you laughed at me. You laughed at me!
ANNA: Henri! Where are we going to keep a pony in New York! Do you have any idea how much a pony costs? It’s out of the question—
HENRI: I really, really want a pony.
ANNA: I’ll think about it. I have to…talk to Ruth about this.
HENRI: And I’ll never, ever ask for anything again in my whole life. You could buy it for me with the money for college—
ANNA: You’re pushing your luck. I
said I’ll think about it. Now, I want your hands washed, your teeth brushed and the lights out.
HENRI (Suddenly cheerful and obedient): All right. I love you, Anna. Good night.
ANNA: Good night.
(Henri goes to the bedroom door and stops, suddenly overcome with doubt and fear.)
HENRI: Anna?
ANNA: What is it now?
HENRI: Do you think maybe I could sleep with you and Ruth just for tonight?
(Anna stares ahead in worry.)
Scene Eleven
The next morning. Anna and Ruth sit at the kitchen table.
ANNA: Okay. Here’s how I want it to be. Henri’s having a relapse, because of Orphan’s death. He’s seeing balloons again—every time he looks out the window, there they are, a flock of balloons. He’s convinced that the balloons have come to take him home to Paris. Before we can stop him, Henri climbs onto the fire escape, and he…just disappears.
RUTH: Wait a moment—I thought—
ANNA: What did you think?
RUTH: I thought you…had a change of heart. Last night.
ANNA: I will not be blackmailed. Not by Henri, and not by—(Stops herself)
We’ve made a deal with Peter.
RUTH: I don’t see why we can’t change the…the narrative at this point.
ANNA: We can’t stop now. Not in the middle of the story. Don’t make this harder on me, Ruthie.
(Ruth is almost to the point of tears.)
RUTH (Angry and sullen): Fine. Fine. Just don’t make me be here when Cecil has to go.
ANNA: Okay, sweetie. I’m sorry. Let’s get this over with.
(Beat)
Okay?
RUTH: Okay. How are we…what do you want Henri to do?
ANNA: He goes out on the fire escape, and before we can stop him—
RUTH: You mean he jumps?
ANNA: No! I don’t want him hurt. The balloons come and take him away. He just…disappears. All right?
RUTH: All right.
(Anna struggles for a quiet second with herself. Sighs.)
ANNA: Henri? Henri, honey, would you come in here?
(Ruth changes into Henri without a moment of hesitation. Henri is falsely cheerful.)
HENRI: Hi, Anniah.
ANNA: What d’ya been up to, honey?
HENRI: Nothing. Just…thinking.
ANNA: Thinking about Orphan?
(Henri says nothing)
Henri, honey, you’ve had a major upset. We’ve all had a major upset. There’s no rhyme or reason for these things. Death occurs by…chance. But it doesn’t mean that anything will happen to you…necessarily.
HENRI: “Do not ask for whom the bell tolls.”
(Henri looks out the window.)
ANNA: Listen, little man, it’s late. Isn’t it time you got dressed? I mean, how can we do things together with you still in your cowboy pajamas? Wouldn’t you feel better if I got you a clean T-shirt? Hmm? And we’ll all go out and do something together? We could go to the park—would you like that?
(Henri furtively glances out the window.)
HENRI: I…I do not want to go out.
ANNA: Why? Nothing will hurt you. You’re with us.
(Henri looks out the window.)
HENRI: Grown-ups do not know everything.
ANNA: No, we don’t.
HENRI: You could not help Orphanne, could you? Could you??!
ANNA: No.
(Pause)
Henri, why do you keep looking out the window?
HENRI: What?
ANNA: What do you see outside the window?
HENRI (Eyes downcast): I…I don’t see nothing.
ANNA: The balloons are back, aren’t they? You’re seeing the balloons again.
HENRI: I…I don’t see nothing.
(Pause; then) My balloons!!
ANNA: Where?
HENRI: They’re waiting for me—outside the window—don’t you see them?
ANNA: Henri, there’s nothing there. Now I want you to listen to me. You’re having a relapse. We’re going to see Dr. Weinstein. You’re going to get dressed, and then we’re all going uptown to see her. Okay?
HENRI: You must believe me!
ANNA: Honey, I do believe that you see balloons. But I also know there’s nothing there. Once, when you were a tiny little boy, you must have seen a movie—
HENRI: La Balloon Rouge—
ANNA: Yes, baby, that’s the one. And it was a movie about a little boy in Paris who had a red balloon for a friend—
HENRI: It wasn’t a movie!—
ANNA: Then one day, bullies came and popped the Red Balloon. And as it died, the little boy wept, and balloons from all over Paris came to him, lifted him up and carried him into the sky. And then the movie ended. It was a beautiful movie.
HENRI: It wasn’t a movie!! It was my life!!
ANNA: Henri, you think it was your life. But with the help of Dr. Weinstein, the balloons went away. Isn’t that right?
HENRI: My balloons left me…
ANNA: You got well.
HENRI (Excited): But now they’ve come back!
ANNA: Henri—
HENRI: They’ve come back for me!!
ANNA: You’re going to get dressed. Ruth will help you. Then we’re going uptown to see Dr. Wein—
HENRI: I have nothing to say to Dr. Weinstein! Nada! Rien!
ANNA: And then after we see her, we have a great deal to do. Don’t we have a pony to pick out?
HENRI (Laughs sadly): A pony…
ANNA: Yes, that’s right. A pony! It’s got to be just the right pony for my Henri.
HENRI: I don’t want a fucking pony.
ANNA: You’ll feel differently when you see it, shy and pawing the ground in its own little stall. Yes?
HENRI: Anniah, look, forget what I said about the pony. I don’t want it anymore. Let’s forget about the whole thing, all right?
ANNA: But Henri, I thought you wanted—
HENRI (Frightened): I don’t want a pony. I don’t want nothing. I don’t remember nothing. I just want to stay here with you. All right? Just to be your little boy…I know I’ve been a bad boy, but don’t let anything happen to me, don’t let them take me— (Henri is clutching Anna’s neck)
ANNA: Henri, what are you talking about? Who’s going to take you? You’re shaking. Sshhh, calm down. Nothing’s going to harm you.
HENRI: I’ve changed my mind. I don’t want to go. I love you, Anna. Please, please let me stay—
ANNA: Wait a minute, Ruth—
HENRI: You could hide me. In the closet. I’ll be good. Hide me from Ruth and Peter, they’re trying to k—
ANNA: This is not what we agreed—!
HENRI: Ruth is going to kill me. You don’t understand. She’ll throw me off the fire escape—
ANNA: Ruth, that’s not fair—
HENRI: Please, Anna, please, I don’t want to die—
ANNA (Crying out): Ruth! STOP IT! You’re hurting him!!
(There is silence.)
ANNA: For God’s sake, don’t hurt him.
RUTH (Quiet): I’m sorry.
ANNA (Upset): Just take him out.
(Ruth turns to go.)
ANNA: —No, wait a minute.
(Anna seizes Ruth’s face, kisses it. Nods to Ruth. Ruth goes to the window, raises it and climbs out on the fire escape. There is silence. Anna sits, tense and upset. Ruth comes back in; closes the window. Ruth turns and goes to Anna.
Ruth holds out a deflated red balloon.)
Scene Twelve
Peter stands in front of the window in the kitchen, searching the sky. Ruth sits, subdued, in a chair behind Peter. Anna holds her hand.
PETER: What if he falls? What if he drops him?
ANNA: That won’t happen. They’ll hold onto him.
(Ruth looks at Anna; Anna nods. Ruth quietly leaves the room.)
PETER: All the way to Paris?
ANNA: He’ll make it.
(Pause.)
PETER: Oh, my G
od, you guys—what are you going to tell Cecil?
CECIL: I hope you’ll tell him the truth.
(Peter turns and sees he is alone with Cecil.)
PETER: No! I don’t want to be here when—
CECIL: When what?
PETER: Cecil! You’re home early!
CECIL: Yeah. Where’s Henri?
PETER: Um, Cecil—
CECIL: Henri!! Henri, I’m home—
(Looks into the other room)
Henri? Hey, where is he? He’s not in his room—is he in the bathroom?
PETER: Ahh, I think perhaps Ruth should be here—
CECIL: Ruth left. She said you wanted to speak to me. Alone.
(Peter begins to sweat.)
PETER: Cecil, I’m counting on you to take this like…a man.
CECIL: WHERE’S HENRI? What have you done to him?
PETER: Me? I’ve—the truth is, while he was with Anna and Ruth, he…disappeared.
CECIL: Disappeared?
PETER: He’s gone. We don’t know where. He…he was acting strange, talking about balloons, and then the next minute, he was gone.
CECIL: Gone?
(Laughs wildly)
Disappeared? Oh, that’s rich—that’s really good.
PETER: Umm—maybe I should leave you alone now and come back at a—
CECIL: Nobody leaves this room!
PETER: Cecil, I know what you must be feeling…
CECIL: I suppose he just “floated” into thin air.
PETER: Well, actually, there has been a sighting over the Atlantic by the Coast Guard—
CECIL: I should never have left him alone with the three of you.
PETER: Now wait a minute, Cecil, I have nothing to do with—
CECIL: Oh, yes. “For Brutus is an honourable man.”
(Peter is silent)
It’s good. It’s really good. I have to hand it to the three of you. No bodies, no trace—
PETER: Look, I didn’t want it to happen this way. I never meant to hurt anybody. I thought…that…that the kids should just go away, not be hurt.