Three Plays
Page 12
BIG MAMA: Oh! Here's Brick! My precious baby!
BRICK: Take it, Gooper!
MAE [rising]: What?
BRICK: Gooper knows what. Take it, Gooper!
[Mae turns to Gooper. Margaret, who has followed Brick, now enters room, to behind wicker seat.]
BIG MAMA [to Brick]: You just break my heart.
BRICK [at bar]: Sorry—anyone else?
MARGARET: Brick, sit with Big Mama an' hold her hand while we talk.
BRICK: You do that, Maggie. I'm a restless cripple. I got to stay on my crutch.
BIG MAMA: Why're you all surroundin' me?—like this? Why're you all starin' at me like this an' makin' signs at each other?
[Brick hobbles out hall door.]
I don't need nobody to hold my hand. Are you all crazy? Since when did Big Daddy or me need anybody—?
[Reverend Tooker moves behind wicker seat.]
MAE: Calm yourself, Big Mama.
BIG MAMA: Calm you'self you'self, Sister Woman! How could I calm myself with everyone starin' at me as if big drops of blood had broken out on m'face? What's this all about Annh! What?
GOOPER: Doc Baugh—
[Mae rises.]
Sit down, Mae—
[Mae sits.]
—Big Mama wants to know the complete truth about th' report we got today from the Ochsner Clinic!
[Dr Baugh buttons his coat, faces group.]
BIG MAMA: Is there somethin'—somethin' that I don't know?
DOCTOR BAUGH: Yes—well...
BIG MAMA [rises]: I—want to—knowwwww!
—Somebody must be lyin'! I want to know!
[Mae, Gooper, Reverend Tooker surround Big Mama.]
MAE: Sit down, Big Mama, sit down on this sofa!
MARGARET: Brick! Brick!
BIG MAMA: What is it, what is it?
DOCTOR BAUGH: I never have seen a more thorough examination than Big Daddy Pollitt was given in all my experience at the Ochsner Clinic.
GOOPER: It's one of th' best in th' country.
MAE: It's THE best in th' country—bar none!
DOCTOR BAUGH: Of course they were ninety-nine and nine-tenths per cent certain before they even started.
BIG MAMA: Sure of what, sure of what, sure of what—what!?
MAE: Now, Mommy, be a brave girl!
BRICK [on gallery, covers his ears, sings]: 'By the light, by the light, of the silvery moon!'
GOOPER [calls out to Brick]: Shut up, Brick!
[Returns to group]
BRICK: Sorry...
[Continues singing.]
DOCTOR BAUGH: But now, you see, Big Mama, they cut a piece off this growth, a specimen of the tissue, an'—
BIG MAMA: Growth? You told Big Daddy—
DOCTOR BAUGH: Now, wait—
BIG MAMA: You told me an' Big Daddy there wasn't a thing wrong with him but—
MAE: Big Mama, they always—
GOOPER: Let Doc Baugh talk, will yuh?
BIG MAMA: —little spastic condition of—
REVEREND TOOKER [throughout all this]: Shh! Shh! Shh!
[Big Mama breaks, they all follow.]
DOCTOR BAUGH: Yes, that's what we told Big Daddy. But we had this bit of tissue run through the laboratory, an' I'm sorry t'say the test was positive on it. It's malignant.
[Pause.]
BIG MAMA: Cancer! Cancer!
MAE: Now now, Mommy—
GOOPER [at the same time]: You had to know, Big Mama.
BIG MAMA: Why didn't they cut it out of him? Hanh? Hannh?
DOCTOR BAUGH: Involved too much, Big Mama, too many organs affected.
MAE: Big Mama, the liver's affected, an' so's the kidneys, both. It's gone way past what they call a—
GOOPER: —a surgical risk.
[Big Mama gasps.]
REVEREND TOOKER: Tch, tch, tch.
DOCTOR BAUGH: Yes, it's gone past the knife.
MAE: That's why he's turned yellow!
[Brick stops singing, turns away on gallery.]
BIG MAMA [pushes Mae]: Git away from me, git away from me, Mae! I want Brick! Where's Brick! Where's my only son?
MAE [a step after Big Mama]: Mama! Did she say 'only' son?
GOOPER [following Big Mama]: What does that make me?
MAE [above Gooper]: A sober responsible man with five precious children—six!
BIG MAMA: I want Brick! Brick! Brick!
MARGARET [a step to Big Mama above couch]: Mama, let me tell you.
BIG MAMA [pushing her aside]: No, no, leave me alone, you're not my blood!
[She rushes on to the gallery.]
GOOPER [to Big Mama on gallery]: Mama! I'm your son! Listen to me!
MAE: Gooper's your son, Mama, he's your first-born!
BIG MAMA: Gooper never liked Daddy!
MAE: That's not true!
REVEREND TOOKER: I think I'd better slip away at this point. Good night, good night everybody, and God bless you all—on this place. [Goes out through hall.]
DOCTOR BAUGH: Well, Big Mama—
BIG MAMA [leaning against Gooper]: It's all a mistake, I know it's just a bad dream.
DOCTOR BAUGH: We're gonna keep Big Daddy as comfortable as we can.
BIG MAMA: Yes, it's just a bad dream, that's all it is, it's just an awful dream.
GOOPER: In my opinion Big Daddy is havin' some pain but won't admit that he has it.
BIG MAMA: Just a dream, a bad dream.
DOCTOR BAUGH: That's what lots of 'em do, they think if they don't admit they're havin' the pain they can sort of escape th' fact of it.
[Margaret watches Brick.]
GOOPER: Yes, they get sly about it, get real sly about it.
MAE: Gooper an' I think—
GOOPER: Shut up, Mae!—Big Mama, I really do think Big Daddy should be started on morphine.
BIG MAMA [pulling away from Gooper]: Nobody's goin' to give Big Daddy morphine!
DOCTOR BAUGH: Now, Big Mama, when that pain strikes it's goin' to strike mighty hard an' Big Daddy's goin' t'need the needle to bear it.
BIG MAMA [to Dr Baugh]: I tell you, nobody's goin' to give him morphine!
MAE: Big Mama, you don't want to see Big Daddy suffer, y' know y'—
DOCTOR BAUGH [crosses to bar]: Well, I'm leavin' this stuff here.
[Puts packet of morphine, etc., on bar.]
So if there's a sudden attack you won't have to send out for it.
[Big Mama hurries to side of bar.]
MAE: I know how to give a hypo.
BIG MAMA: Nobody's goin' to give Big Daddy morphine!
GOOPER: Mae took a course in nursin' durin' th' war.
MARGARET: Somehow I don't think Big Daddy would want Mae t'give him a hypo.
MAE [to Margaret]: You think he'd want you to do it?
DOCTOR BAUGH: Well—
GOOPER: Well, Doc Baugh is goin'—
DOCTOR BAUGH: Yes, I got to be goin'. Well, keep your chin up, Big Mama.
GOOPER [as he and Mae follow Dr Baugh into the hall]: She's goin' to keep her ole chin up, aren't you, Big Mama?
[They go out.]
Well, Doc, we sure do appreciate all you've done. I'm telling you, we're obligated—
BIG MAMA: Margaret!
MARGARET [meeting Big Mama in front of wicker seat]: I'm right here, Big Mama.
BIG MAMA: Margaret, you've got to cooperate with me an' Big Daddy to straighten Brick out now—
GOOPER [returning with Mae]: I guess that Doctor has got a lot on his mind, but it wouldn't hurt him to act a little more human—
BIG MAMA: —because it'll break Big Daddy's heart if Brick don't pull himself together an' take hold of things here.
MAE [overhearing]: Take hold of what things, Big Mama?
BIG MAMA [sits in wicker chair, Margaret standing behind chair]: The place.
GOOPER: Big Mama, you've had a shock.
MAE: Yais, we've all had a shock, but—
GOOPER: Let's be realistic—
MAE: Big Daddy would not, would never
, be foolish enough to—
GOOPER: —put this place in irresponsible hands!
BIG MAMA: Big Daddy ain't goin' t'put th' place in anybody's hands, Big Daddy is not goin' t'die! I want you to git that into your haids, all of you!
[Mae sits above Big Mama, Margaret turns to door.]
MAE: Mommy, Mommy, Big Mama, we're just as hopeful an' optimistic as you are about Big Daddy's prospects, we have faith in prayer—but nevertheless there are certain matters that have to be discussed an' dealt with, because otherwise—
GOOPER: Mae, will y'please get my briefcase out of our room?
MAE: Yes, honey.
[Rises, goes out through hall.]
MARGARET [to Brick on gallery]: Hear them in there?
GOOPER [stands above Big Mama. Leaning over her]: Big Mama, what you said just now was not at all true, an' you know it. I've always loved Big Daddy in my own quiet way. I never made a show of it. I know that Big Daddy has always been fond of me in a quiet way, too.
[Mae returns, with briefcase.]
MAE: Here's your briefcase, Gooper, honey.
[Hands it to him.]
GOOPER [hands briefcase back to Mae]: Thank you. Of co'use, my relationship with Big Daddy is different from Brick's.
MAE: You're eight years older'n Brick an' always had t' carry a bigger load of th' responsibilities than Brick ever had t'carry; he never carried a thing in his life but a football or a highball.
GOOPER: Mae, will y'let me talk, please?
MAE: Yes, honey.
GOOPER: Now, a twenty-eight thousand acre plantation's a mighty big thing t'run.
MAE: Almost single-handed!
BIG MAMA: You never had t'run this place, Brother Man, what're you talkin' about, as if Big Daddy was dead an' in his grave, you had to run it? Why, you just had t'help him out with a few business details an' had your law practice at the same time in Memphis.
MAE: Oh, Mommy, Mommy, Mommy! Let's be fair! Why, Gooper has given himself body an' soul t'keepin' this place up fo' the past five years since Big Daddy's health started fallin'. Gooper won't say it, Gooper never thought of it as a duty, he just did it. An' what did Brick do? Brick kep' livin' in his past glory at college!
[Gooper places a restraining hand on Mae's leg]
GOOPER: Still a football player at twenty-seven!
MARGARET [bursts in]: Who are you talkin' about now? Brick? A football player? He isn't a football player an' you know it! Brick is a sports announcer on TV an' one of the best-known ones in the country!
MAE: I'm talkin' about what he was!
MARGARET: Well, I wish you would just stop talkin' about my husband!
GOOPER: Listen, Margaret, I've got a right to discuss my own brother with other members of my own fam'ly, which don't include you!
[Pokes finger at her; she slaps his finger away.]
Now, why don't you go on out there an' drink with Brick?
MARGARET: I've never seen such malice toward a brother.
GOOPER: How about his for me? Why he can't stand to be in the same room with me!
BRICK [on lower gallery]: That's the truth!
MARGARET: This is a deliberate campaign of vilification for the most disgusting and sordid reason on earth, and I know what it is! It's avarice, avarice, greed, greed!
BIG MAMA: Oh, I'll scream, I will scream in a moment unless this stops! Margaret, child, come here, sit next to Big Mama.
MARGARET: Precious Mommy.
MAE: How beautiful, how touchin' this display of devotion! Do you know why she's childless? She's childless because that big, beautiful athlete husband of hers won't go to bed with her, that's why!
GOOPER: You jest won't let me do this the nice way, will yuh? Aw right—
I don't give a goddam if Big Daddy likes me or don't like me or did or never did or will or will never! I'm just ap-pealin' to a sense of common decency an' fair play! I'm tellin' you th' truth—
[crosses door to Brick on DR gallery.]
I've resented Big Daddy's partiality to Brick ever since th' goddam day you were born, son, an' th' way I've been treated, like I was just barely good enough to spit on, an' sometimes not even good enough for that.
[Crosses back through room to above wicker seat.]
Big Daddy is dyin' of cancer an' it's spread all through him an' it's attacked all his vital organs includin' the kidneys an' right now he is sinkin' into uremia, an' you all know what uremia is, it's poisonin' of the whole system due to th' failure of th' body to eliminate its poisons.
MARGARET: Poisons, poisons, venomous thoughts and words! In hearts and minds! That's poisons!
GOOPER: I'm askin' for a square deal an' by God I expect to get one. But if I don't get one, if there's any peculiar shenanigans goin' on around here behind my back, well I'm not a corporation lawyer for nothin'! I know how to protect my own interests.
[Rumble of distant thunder.]
BRICK [entering the room]: Storm comin' up.
GOOPER: Oh, a late arrival!
MAE: Behold, the conquerin' hero comes!
GOOPER [following Brick, imitating his limp]: The fabulous Brick Pollitt! Remember him? Who could forget him?
MAE: He looks like he's been injured in a game!
GOOPER: Yep, I'm afraid you'll have to warm th' bench at the Sugar Bowl this year, Brick! Or was it the Rose Bowl that he made his famous run in.
[Another rumble of thunder, sound of wind rising.]
MAE: The punch bowl, honey, it was the punch bowl, the cut-glass punch bowl!
GOOPER: That's right! I'm always gettin' the boy's bowls mixed up!
[Pats Brick on the butt.]
MARGARET [rushes at Gooper, striking him]: Stop that! You stop that!
[Thunder. | Mae flails at Margaret; Gooper keeps the women apart. Lacey runs through the lawn in a raincoat.]
DAISY and SOOKEY: Storm! Storm comin'! Storm! Storm!
LACEY [running out]: Brightie, close them shutters!
GOOPER [calls after Lacey]: Lacey, put the top up on my Cadillac, will yuh?
LACEY: Yes, sur, Mistah Pollitt!
GOOPER: Big Mama, you know it's goin' to be necessary for me t'go back to Memphis in th' mornin' t'represent the Parker estate in a lawsuit.
[Mae sits on side of bed, arranges papers she removes from briefcase.]
BIG MAMA: Is it, Gooper?
MAE: Yaiss.
GOOPER: That's why I'm forced to—to bring up a problem that—
MAE: Somethin' that's too important t' be put off!
GOOPER: If Brick was sober, he ought to be in on this. I think he ought to be present when I present this plan.
MARGARET: Brick is present, we're present!
GOOPER: Well, good. I will now give you this outline my partner, Tom Bullitt, an' me have drawn up—a sort of dummy—trusteeship!
MARGARET: Oh, that's it! You'll be in charge an' dole out remittances, will you?
GOOPER: This we did as soon as we got the report on Big Daddy from th' Ochsner Laboratories. We did this thing, I mean we drew up this dummy outline with the advice and assistance of the Chairman of the Boa'd of Directors of th' Southern Plantuhs Bank and Trust Company in Memphis, C. C. Bellowes, a man who handles estates for all th' prominent fam'lies in West Tennessee and th' Delta!
BIG MAMA: Gooper?
GOOPER: Now this is not—not final, or anything like it, this is just a preliminary outline. But it does provide a—basis—a design—a—possible, feasible—plan!
[He waves papers Mae has thrust into his hand.]
MARGARET: Yes, I'll bet it's a plan!
[Thunder rolls. Interior lighting dims.]
MAE: It's a plan to protect the biggest estate in the Delta from irresponsibility an'—
BIG MAMA: Now you listen to me, all of you, you listen here! They's not goin' to be no more catty talk in my house! And Gooper, you put that away before I grab it out of your hand and tear it right up! I don't know what the hell's in it, and I don't want to know what the hell's in it.
I'm talkin' in Big Daddy's language now, I'm his wife, not his widow, I'm still his wife! And I'm talkin' to you in his language an'—