“Slip/Shot” by Jacqueline Goldfinger | Blackbird v14n2

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back JACQUELINE GOLDFINGER

Slip/Shot

CHARACTERS:	MIZ. ATHEY	(pronounced AYE-thee) / mid-40s to early-50s / black / woman / self-made and loving and hard

	KITTY	early 20s / white / woman / unmindful but learning to try

	MONROE	17 / black / man / gentle geek / thinks he’s more grown than he is

	CLEM	early 20s / white / man / tries to act grown

	EUPHRASIE CHOPIN	(pronounced U-phrase-ee SHOW-pan) / 18 / black & Creole / woman / learning to be strong

	LUKIE	early 20s / white / man / unsure but lovely

	SHERIFF	early 40s / white / man / keeping the peace in the only way he knows how

TIME & PLACE:	Fall 1962–Summer 1963 Tallahassee, Florida: a rural southern capital

SET:	1 large kitchen table / 3 chairs or 2 kitchen tables / 4 chairs

ACTION:	The play should flow like an extended dream—sharp and visceral but always alive and flowing toward an inevitable destiny. Allow the scenes to play and overlap. Allow for silent action. Allow the characters and their actions to breathe. It’s fine if physical debris from the play builds up (for example, the picnic basket Monroe drops when he’s shot can stay onstage). Allow the poetic modern myth nature of the narrative to seep into the staging and feel of the play.

ACCENT:	The North Florida accent has a southern cadence and softness but no heavy twang. Also, folks from North Florida tend to speak a little more quickly than folks from other areas of the Deep South. Space should only be left between words and phrases when it will mean something

1962: Kitty’s Kitchen

(KITTY runs into kitchen / CLEM chases / playful

CLEM / guard uniform

KITTY / housedress)

KITTY
Where’s Lukie?

CLEM
Parkin’ the truck.

(they make out)

KITTY
I loves you.

CLEM
Farther than the farthest star.

KITTY
Deeper than the deepest ocean.

CLEM
I’m gonna map every
Lowland,
Hill,
Skin softer than wet sand,
An explorer.

(they make out harder

knock on screen door)

Rachel Camp and Kevin Meehan. Photo by Johanna Austin.

CLEM
Shit!

KITTY (to Clem)
Shhh!

(to Lukie)

Come in!

(KITTY sets lunch

LUKIE enters / wears same uniform as CLEM)

LUKIE
Hey, lovebirds.

KITTY (to Clem)
Sorry
’Bout the sandwich.
Forgettin’
An’ all.

LUKIE
Gave us reason to visit.
How’s the biscuits?

KITTY
Burnt.

CLEM
Kitty . . .

KITTY
Sandwiches.

(KITTY presents sandwiches)

CLEM (teases)
They were easy bake biscuits.

LUKIE
Sandwiches looks perfect.

CLEM
They were ready-made biscuits.

LUKIE
Just perfect.
Clem, just perfect.

CLEM
Yeah,
Just.

(they eat

KITTY sips Coke)

LUKIE
Girls at Red Hen miss ya.
They’re forever sayin’
Nobody shoots pool like Kitty.

(to Kitty)

Best girl pool player in all No’ Florida,
In all the South.

KITTY (seeks validation)
Naw . . .
They don’t ever think on me.

LUKIE
’Course they do!
I mean, they un’nerstand.

CLEM
Coke for me, girl?

(KITTY passes hers off to CLEM)

LUKIE
Red Hen’s no place for
Married ladies,
But y’all should come down
Sometimes, anyways.

CLEM
No, thank you.

KITTY
Maybe, just for a bit.

LUKIE
We’ll get Avery all riled up,
Then sick the dog on ’im.

(KITTY lights up)

KITTY
Change Liddy’s hair grease for Crisco.

LUKIE
I’ll pound the front door,
Yellin’ “PO-lice,”
An’ you be outside the back,
Holdin’ a fire hose.

CLEM
We ain’t comin’.
’Nother Coke, baby.

KITTY
None left.

(CLEM hands her two bills)

KITTY (pouts playfully)
Guess I’ll get more.
Store’s only place I’m ’llowed to go these days.
Least Momma let me out to the Hen.
I’ll pick up a
Long Black Dress
On the way back.
Get my wardrobe in order
For the rest of my life.

CLEM (teases)
Long as it ain’t more than
Two dollars.
And don’t forget the Cokes.

(KITTY exits

they eat)

LUKIE
Quite a girl.

CLEM
Sure.

LUKIE
Real nice girl.

CLEM
Uh-huh.

LUKIE
Lucky you have—

CLEM
Sure, I said.

LUKIE
She loves you.

CLEM
Some days.

LUKIE (regretful)
No girl loved me ’nough
To marry me.
That’s a ol’ big bucket a’
True love right there.

CLEM
She loves being
Outta her Momma’s house.

LUKIE
Still.

CLEM
Yeah, still.

(they eat more / slightly awkward silence)

LUKIE
You seen your people?

CLEM
Not since six or seven Sundays.

LUKIE
Too bad.

(silence)

CLEM
They don’ like Kitty.

LUKIE
Aw, Kitty’s a good girl.
Good Kitty Kat.

That’s what the boys called her,
’member?

A wild Kitty Kat.
But a good girl.

Your Daddy got all kinds a’
High and mighty notions,
But he’ll warm to it.

He still nigger huntin’
With those boys ’round Lake Jackson?
Sheriff’s gonna have to pull ’em in soon,
City like it is now.

CLEM
My family itn’t your business.

LUKIE
I just heard, is all.
Stuff he’s up to.
I’m not sayin’ it’s my business,
But . . .
If he’s not careful as a bobcat ’bout it,
You know. Thought you might
Wanna say somethin’ to him,
You know, just as a, a,
Family thing.

CLEM
I got my own family now.
I ain’t no longer a part a’ his.

LUKIE
Didn’t mean nothin’ by it.

(LUKIE clears his throat)

You got all the rules?
For the job?
All of ’em?

CLEM
Yeah.

LUKIE
It all clear?

(CLEM nods)

I know it’s a lot—

CLEM
No burden—

LUKIE
If you need more time—

CLEM
I got it, Lukie.

LUKIE
’Cause everybody needs to feel safe
In hospital. To help, to heal.

CLEM
Sure.

LUKIE
It’s first an’ foremost of importance.

CLEM
Lukie—

LUKIE
This is no light business.

CLEM
I got no trouble,
With any of it.

LUKIE
Good.
’Cause we ain’t throwin’ the pig ’round here,
Lookin’ up cheerleaders’ skirts.
These are folks’ lives we’re protectin’.

CLEM
When’s the time you pull your gun on shift?
Can’t even fire the—

LUKIE
I keep it clean!

CLEM
Wouldn’t know which end to pull.

LUKIE
I got a regular practice appointment at the range.

(LUKIE gets his back up)

I’m your boss!

Until Dad gets back.

I’m in charge, you hear!

CLEM
Louder ’n’ fuckin’ thunder.

LUKIE
Good.
It best be
Least
That loud.

(KITTY enters with Cokes / places on table

CLEM takes one / drinks)

CLEM (to Lukie)
Let’s get back.

KITTY (to Clem)
Gid’s comin’ over at 5
For the news.
I hope.
They doin’ a special half hour,
With Florida State bein’
Integrated and all.

(KITTY loads a Coke / sandwich / into brown bag)

KITTY
Call me, will you?

(CLEM impulsively grabs / holds KITTY / relaxes / back to his old self)

CLEM (teasing)
I’m gettin’ you a cookbook for Christmas.

KITTY (teasing back)
Good.
Gives me somewhere to
Put out my cigarettes.

CLEM
Get some turkey.
I’ve had enough peanut butter to last.

KITTY
Maybe.

(CLEM kisses her hard / she gives as good as she gets

LUKIE’s embarrassed / spills Coke / wipes up spill with bottom corner of shirt)

LUKIE
Uh, y’all?

KITTY
Come back fast.

CLEM (whispers in her ear)
Come fast?

KITTY
Come Back Fast.

CLEM
Always.

KITTY
I got a surprise, when you get home

CLEM
Give it to me, now.

(KITTY looks to LUKIE)

KITTY
Naw, I think you need somethin’
To look forward to tonight.

CLEM
Already got that.

LUKIE
Good day, ma’am.

KITTY
Bye, Lukie.
Keep an eye on my wandering parakeet.

LUKIE
Uh,
Yes, ma’am.

(CLEM / LUKIE exit

KITTY lights another cigarette / sits / drinks Coke)

Miz. Athey’s Kitchen

(table / pile of books / cardboard boxes

MIZ. ATHEY sorts books

MONROE enters / wears apron)

MONROE (teases her lovingly)
Yes, ma’am.

(MIZ. ATHEY looks at him / slantwise / suppresses smile)

MIZ. ATHEY
Don’ get smart.

MONROE
Didn’t say nothin’.

MIZ. ATHEY
Well, don’t say it someplace else.
How’d the pie come out?

MONROE
Good, cooling.

Akeem Davis and Cathy Simpson. Photo by Johanna Austin.

MIZ. ATHEY
An’ the gravy—

MONROE
I got it, Momma.

MIZ. ATHEY (teases)
Phrasie’s sure gonna love that apron.

MONROE (teases back)
I don’t think she’d mind.
Not as much as she’d mind
Stolen books.

MIZ. ATHEY
These books aren’t stolen!

(MONROE enjoys needling / Goody Two-Shoes)

MONROE
You don’t mind Lee’s help
When you stealin’ trashy old library books.
Won’t let him set a
Foot
In this house,
But got him cartin’
Stolen Goods
In that old truck.

MIZ. ATHEY
That truck’s seen more a’
Other people’s property
Than JC Penney’s.

MONROE
You think,
When he was pullin’ these
Outta the trash,
You think he
Was smilin’?

MIZ. ATHEY
I told you.
I don’t want
Any knowledge of—

MONROE (teases)
The crime?

MIZ. ATHEY (a loving scolding)
Hush, now!
It’s not a crime.

MONROE
I’m hushed.

(MIZ. ATHEY sorts books)

Not sayin’ another word.

(MONROE waits)

Jus’ standin’ here,
Hands in my pockets,
Pockets in my pants.

(MIZ. ATHEY’s done playing)

MIZ. ATHEY
These books, left to seed.
Thrown out like
Rotten bait, like they useless,
Because they served our people.
They’re not good enough for the new integrated library.

(MIZ. ATHEY pulls out a few books)

MONROE
They pro’lly already have—

MIZ. ATHEY (methodically underscores her point)
The Souls of Black Folk
Their Eyes Were Watching God
Langston Hughes

(MONROE sighs / he’s heard this all before)

All we are,

MIZ. ATHEY / MONROE
Are our stories.

MIZ. ATHEY
Don’t smart-mouth, Monroe.
When you get into Florida State next year,
You’ll see. Sometimes, the
First voice a people’s got
Is on a page somewhere.
Phrasie’ll tell you.
She’s gonna be a teacher, right?
Teachers know better than most.

MONROE (smirks)
Yes, ma’am.
Now, ’bout you
Stealin’ these
Particular books—

MIZ. ATHEY
You best go stir your gravy.
You can’t serve lumps to Phrasie.

MONROE
You don’t care
’Bout my gravy.

MIZ. ATHEY
I can feel the lumps
Comin’ on.
What a sweet girl like that
Think of a boy,
Serves her lumpy gravy.

MONROE
That she needs to
Stay around
And teach him right,
I hope.

(MONROE smiles / does a little dance step / spins / exits

MIZ. ATHEY sits / watches kitchen door with a smile

MONROE returns in a rush / carries picnic basket)

Oh, Momma!

MIZ. ATHEY
It’s later than you thought,
Itn’t it?

MONROE
You knew that.
Momma, you knew!
She’s about to be here.

(MONROE fumbles with picnic basket)

MIZ. ATHEY
Don’t be such a smart-mouth next time.
Maybe I’ll tell ya.

MONROE
How you put a hot pie in a basket?
Where the gravy go?
It makes no sense.

MIZ. ATHEY
There is a bit of a trick to it.

(MONROE holds out basket / to MIZ. ATHEY)

MONROE
Please, Momma.
Please.
I don’t want it all messed up
When I take it out.

MIZ. ATHEY (smiles, lovingly plays with him)
Hmmmm . . .

MONROE
Momma.
She really is gonna be here soon.
I’m not jokin’ now.

MIZ. ATHEY
You know what would make me
Feel a lot better about helpin’ you?

MONROE
What?

MIZ. ATHEY
It would make me feel a lot better
If I knew these books had a
Good home
They were goin’ to.

MONROE
And where would this new home be?

MIZ. ATHEY
Miss Lena’s.
She’ll give ’em out.
Get a paid haircut,
Get a free book.
If someone’ll just
Carry ’em over to her.
So,
I was hopin’
That someone with the
Love of Jesus in his heart
Would take ’em over.

MONROE
Right now,
I do not have the
Love of Jesus in my heart,
But I’ll take ’em over tomorrow.

(MIZ. ATHEY makes him sweat / just for a minute)

MIZ. ATHEY
Okay.

(MIZ. ATHEY smiles / takes basket / touches his arm lovingly)

Love you.

(MIZ. ATHEY exits to kitchen

MONROE exhales / follows)

Kitty’s Kitchen

(radio plays / Patsy Cline’s “Crazy”

KITTY bored shitless / chews gum / plays with gum in mouth / stretches gum with tip of finger / breaks / returns to mouth / tosses gum / lights cigarette / smokes / smokes / smokes

switches off radio / picks up phone / dials)

KITTY
Hey, Momma.

Naw, Gid jus’ left.
We watched the news.
Saw folks marchin’ into a building, big deal.

Yeah, well, I’m never goin’ to the University,
Just get your mind off that.

No, Momma, he don’t mind
That I don’t cook. I got other skills.

You don’ have to laugh so loud.

Love you, too.
Night, M—

(Momma’s already gone . . .

KITTY hangs up / dials

no answer

hangs up / dials

no answer

hangs up / closes eyes / leans back / crosses arms over chest in an “X” / pretends to be dead)

Might as well, might as well, might as well.

(KITTY pops open beer / smokes / smokes / smokes

picks up phone / dials / waits / slams down receiver)

Sears itn’t ever supposed to close.

(phone rings)

Thank God!

(KITTY answers phone)

Gid, hey!

No, I don’t see a bag.
Hold up.

(KITTY finds Gid’s bag)

Yeah, yeah, it’s here.

You play those sweepstakes things?
How many sweepstakes
Can you enter at a time, anyways?

You win anything?

But you don’t need a new oven.

How much you sell it for?

Shit, no kiddin’!
Mind if I look?

(KITTY empties Gid’s bag on table)

Want me to bring it over?
Oh, course, it’ll be on the porch for him.

Yeah, I don’t like Clem workin’
Nights either.

Kiss the baby for me.

(she hangs up / sorts / reads / sweepstakes entries)

KITTY (to self)
No shit.

Park

(MONROE / PHRASIE / picnic)

PHRASIE
That gravy
Was a little lumpy.

MONROE
I know.
I like it that way.

Taysha Canales and Akeem Davis. Photo by Johanna Austin.

PHRASIE
You do not.

MONROE
I do not.

(teases)

You gonna be there
To stir my gravy, baby.

PHRASIE (playfully)
Gonna do more than that.

MONROE
Uh-huh!

(they hold / look at stars)

PHRASIE
You think
We’ll be able to see
This many stars
From the Carolinas?

(MONROE looks at her)

MONROE
I think
I’m gonna have
All kinds a’ beauty
In my life.

(she notices him / lookin’ at her)

PHRASIE
If I get in,
You really gonna come
After me?

MONROE
You could be as
Far off as the moon,
I’d be there.

(they kiss / it gets a little more serious

PHRASIE stops him)

PHRASIE
Did you hear somethin’?

(there was no noise)

MONROE
No.

(MONROE tries to kiss her / she stops him / straightens up her dress and hair)

PHRASIE
Are you sure?
My Daddy’ll kill me
If he knows what we do out here.
They’ll have me locked in Church
’til Judgment Day.

(MONROE looks around)

MONROE
Nobody.
I promise.
Here, look.

(MONROE takes out pint)

I brought you somethin’ special.

(hands pint to PHRASIE

PHRASIE sips

MONROE swigs / offers the pint again)

PHRASIE
No, thanks.
That grain tears my stomach up.

(MONROE takes another swig)

PHRASIE
I’m gonna miss you.

MONROE
That first year in college,
It’ll go fast.
Then I’ll graduate and be up there,
Faster than a jackrabbit with a fox after it.

PHRASIE
Promise.

MONROE
Promise.

(they kiss)

PHRASIE
You told your Momma,
You leavin’?

MONROE
Don’t bring my Momma up now, baby.

PHRASIE
Okay.
But you got to tell her soon.
Say you’ll—

(MONROE cuts her off with a kiss / they make out

PHRASIE massages his cock through his pants)

MONROE
OH!

PHRASIE
Is that too hard?

(a beat)

Too soft?

(a beat)

Monroe?

MONROE
Perfect, just per—oh!
Just stop talkin’, baby.

(PHRASIE stops)

PHRASIE
Did you hear . . .
Oh, nothin’.

(they kiss / snuggle

MONROE takes a long pull / from the pint)

Slow up on that, baby.

(MONROE / puffs out chest / deepens voice)

MONROE
I’m a man, baby.
I can take ten of these.

(she smiles

they go back to making love)

Hospital Emergency Room Entrance

(CLEM plays with gun / Old West style

there’s a noise offstage

CLEM / draws himself up / holsters gun)

CLEM
Hello?
Come on into the light now.

(MONROE appears / smilin’ / a little drunk)

MONROE
Hey.
Sorry to scare ya.

CLEM
I’m not scared, I just,
Didn’t know what was comin’.

MONROE
I’m just—

CLEM
This is a whites-only hospital.

MONROE
This itn’t a whites-only
Sidewalk, though.
So I may just,

(MONROE does a little dance step / spins

CLEM smiles a little)

CLEM (friendly)
Just, get on now.
There’s not supposed to be
Any traffic blockin’ the ER door.
I’m supposed to keep the door clear,
For emergencies.

(MONROE looks around)

MONROE
Traffic, at midnight?
You got a lightnin’ bug emergency
Or somethin’?

CLEM (smiles a little)
Just, get on.

(MONROE holds up hands)

MONROE
Just kiddin’.
I’m just takin’ a shortcut,
Had my lady tonight.
Had a little too much
Fun tonight,
You know what I mean.

(CLEM / MONROE / share a small “I'm gettin’ laid, hell yeah” moment

CLEM watches MONROE walk away / unholsters gun / Old West spins it like in the beginning

MONROE turns back)

MONROE
Hey—

(CLEM’s startled / shoots MONROE / it happens in an instant

MONROE hits the sidewalk / gone

CLEM rushes to him / bends down)

CLEM (under breath)
Oh, God.

(calls offstage)

Doc!
We need a doctor here!

(looks over shoulder / sees no one is coming)

Oh, God.

(CLEM exits)

CLEM (O.S.)
Doc!

Kitty’s Kitchen

(KITTY smokes / stares at door / has not slept

CLEM and SHERIFF enter)

KITTY
What happened?
The hospital
Told me to call the Sheriff
An’ the Sheriff’s office
Wasn’t answerin’ the phone.

CLEM
Not now.

KITTY
I been up all night.

CLEM
Not now, I said.

SHERIFF
Go on, girl,
We got business.

(KITTY rounds corner / listens)

Close all the doors.

CLEM
What happens now?

SHERIFF
Lock ’em tight,
Keep ’em locked,
Day an’ night an’ day again.

CLEM
Who I call . . . ?

Keith Conallen and Kevin Meehan. Photo by Johanna Austin.

SHERIFF
Don’t talk to no one.
No other police.
No reporters.
No nobody.
You stay home.
You get Kitty’s Momma to—

CLEM
What do I do now?

SHERIFF
Nothin’.
You do nothin’.
An’ you wait for this to calm.

CLEM
I didn’t mean—

SHERIFF
I know.

CLEM
I didn’t, Sheriff.
It slipped,
The gun just—

SHERIFF
Don’t matter.

CLEM
It does.
If I could tell
Someone.
His family.
If they knew—

SHERIFF
The coloreds all riled up,
With all this integration an’
Whatever else.

CLEM
I got nothin’ against those people
I don’t even know ’em.
Can’t you tell that to them?

SHERIFF
With your father an’ them
At each other’s throats—

CLEM
I got a new family,
And I got no business with the old one.
They gotta understand.

SHERIFF
Listen now!

CLEM
He had blood in his eyes.
Like he’s the Jesus
Or somethin’.

SHERIFF
He wadn’t no Jesus.

CLEM
I was just, tryin’ to,
I don’t know.
I didn’t even hear the shot.
He just fell over,
Like a sack a’ blood oranges.

SHERIFF
Listen, now,
This was one of their prime boys,
One of their top boys,
Well-liked,
Smart as those folks come.
You stay home.
Kitty stays home.
Keep the doors locked.
I don’t want no retribution on my shift.
You hear?
Them folks ain’t clever, but sure as shit some can shoot.

CLEM
Sheriff—

SHERIFF
Nothin’ folks like better than a juicy story.
Even politicians got that figured.

(SHERIFF sits CLEM down / explains)

Everyone’s gonna figure,
You,
Being your Daddy’s boy,
They all gonna say . . .
Here’s the son,
An’ the first chance he gets,
He takes vengeance on
Black folks that took his Daddy’s job.
Turned his Daddy drunk.
After his Momma died,
His Daddy had nothin’ left but
Vengeance.
They gonna say,
An Avenging Angel.
That’s buzzin’ already.

(insists)

So you just stay home,
There ain’t gonna be no charges.
It’s just an accident report in a drawer,
Locked away.
But you can’t lock people’s minds or mouths,
So you stay home,
Until another story comes ’long,
An’ yours falls away to nothin’.

CLEM
What if I give a statement,
Offer to pay for the funeral,
And—

SHERIFF
You still his blood.

CLEM
I am not my father.

SHERIFF
We are all our fathers.

(calls offstage)

Kitty,
You do what he says,
You hear?

(KITTY enters / tears in her eyes)

KITTY
Yes, sir.

SHERIFF
Good girl, now.
Y’all lock up behind me.
Lock it tight.

KITTY
Yes, sir.

(SHERIFF exits)

I was supposed to give you a surprise.
When you got home.
I was supposed to.

CLEM
Go to bed.

KITTY
What happened?
Clem?

CLEM
I ain’t no killer.

KITTY
Did you shoot somebody?
Baby?
Was it at the hospital, Clem?
Was it, did you go out somewhere,
Or somethin’?
Did he have a gun, too?
Was he tryin’ to shoot you?

CLEM
I was just at work.
I, the gun slipped,
It was slippery,
I’d been holdin’ it,
Practicin’,
And he startled me,
I jumped and
It slipped, is all.

KITTY
It slipped.

CLEM
Kitty,
It just . . .

KITTY
Okay,
It’s gonna be okay.
It’s gonna,
The Sheriff says it’ll be okay.
I won’t be raisin’ this baby alone.
It’s gonna be okay, Clem.

CLEM
Baby?

KITTY (whispers)
Surprise.

(a beat)

I just,
I’m gonna lock the doors
And windows.
Like the Sheriff said.
Just for tonight.

(KITTY exits

a few quiet moments / CLEM’s sorrow / fear begins)

CLEM
Kitty,
You about done?

(KITTY enters / trying to be collected / trying to be grown)

KITTY
You hadn’t had dinner then.
You should eat.

CLEM
I’m not hungry.

(KITTY / shakily / makes a PB&J)

KITTY
It’s been a while.
It’s past your dinnertime
And on into breakfast.
You should try to eat.
The Sheriff said,
It’s all gonna be fine.
It’s gonna be okay.
Okay?
I locked up.
It’s gonna be fine.
You’re home now.
You don’t have to worry ’bout nothin’.

(KITTY / places PB&J on table

CLEM / doesn’t / eat)

CLEM (quietly)
He usta’ . . .

(clears throat, rolls neck)

He usta’ . . .
When it wadn’t good,
He usta’ lock doors.
When he lost his job,
Opened the Southern Comfort
Every mornin’
In the kitchen.
Lock the door behind him.
So we couldn’t see him,
Or he didn’t see us.
Don’t know which.
One way or the other.
It’s all about the same.
An’ when Momma got sick,
Was dyin’
He sat on the bed
An’ stroke her hair
An’ lock the door behind him.
An’ after she’s gone
Back in the kitchen,
Comfort,
An’ an old Pine door.

I hate locked doors, Kitty.
’Cause who knows what’s
On the other side of ’em?

(CLEM / still / don’t / eat)

Miz. Athey’s Kitchen

(MIZ. ATHEY / PHRASIE / SHERIFF / sit)

PHRASIE (to SHERIFF)
What you mean,
You can’t do anything?

SHERIFF
Now, ma’am.

PHRASIE
Don’t
“Now, ma’am”
Me.

MIZ. ATHEY
Pray,
Girl,
Pray with me.

PHRASIE
That man murdered my Monroe.

SHERIFF
It was an accident.

PHRASIE
Please!

SHERIFF
Don’t take that tone with me, girl.

PHRASIE
You the law!
So be the law!
Arrest him.

MIZ. ATHEY
Go on home, now, Sheriff.

SHERIFF (to MIZ. ATHEY)
You best get this girl under control.

Taysha Canales and Cathy Simpson. Photo by Johanna Austin.

MIZ. ATHEY
Go on, now.

SHERIFF
Don’t want to hear any talk from her.

PHRASIE
I’m right here, talk to me.

SHERIFF (to MIZ. ATHEY)
No big talk.
No agitatin’ folks.
You a good woman, Miz. Athey,
You un’nerstand accidents.

MIZ. ATHEY
I’d like time alone now, Sheriff.

SHERIFF
I respect that.
As long as you keep a muzzle
On that girl.

PHRASIE
Euphrasie, my name is Euphrasie!

SHERIFF (to PHRASIE)
I know folks already talkin’.
You heard from who?
A janitor?
Somebody?
It don’t matter as long as it stays talk,
And quiets down fast.

MIZ. ATHEY (to PHRASIE)
Pray with me, Euphrasie.

(to SHERIFF)

Good bye, Sheriff.

(SHERIFF exits)

PHRASIE
You just gonna let him walk out!
Who are you?
What are you?
Where’s Monroe’s Momma at?

(mocks SHERIFF)

“You best get this girl under control.”

MIZ. ATHEY
You think all this,
Laws passed like ticker tape,
They Mean Somethin’?
Civil rights can’t stop blood or bullets,
What’s it gonna do for you now?
It’s all the same.

PHRASIE
What you gonna do?

MIZ. ATHEY
Only thing I can.

(MIZ. ATHEY prays)

PHRASIE
What’s that supposed to do?

(MIZ. ATHEY keeps praying)

Get up!
You gotta,
Do,
You gotta,
Feel,
Let them know how you,
You got to let them know.
Let the world know.
You gotta shout it
Until they lock that man up.

(PHRASIE rages)

MIZ. ATHEY (to self, in prayer)
Amen.

(to PHRASIE)

Go on, now,
I got people comin’.
You got to get on.

PHRASIE
I got,
I got to get on?

MIZ. ATHEY
I got family comin’.

PHRASIE
You got,
What am I? What,
He was gonna marry me,
He, we were gonna,
You know he loved me.
We been together,
You know.

MIZ. ATHEY
All I know is you the one
Kept him out late.
He’d be safe in bed,
It wasn’t for you.
That’s what I know.
Now go.

(PHRASIE exits

MIZ. ATHEY / tries to pray / fails / picks up a book / begins to read / but can’t / she rips out pages / they flutter to the floor / she picks up another book / and rips / and another / and rips / and another / she breathes hard

MIZ. ATHEY / surrounded / pages / pages / pages / pages of books / struggles to contain sorrow)

4 Months Later: Kitty’s Kitchen

(KITTY / pregnant / looks through baby basket)

KITTY (talks to belly)
Won you a basket,
A baby basket,
Rattle,
Bottles,
Spit-up cloth,
All kinds a’ nice things.

(CLEM enters)

KITTY (to Clem)
Where you been?
Clem,
Baby?

CLEM
Patrol.
Just ’round the yard.

KITTY
I don’t like wakin’
Findin’ you missin’.
I think terrible things.

CLEM
Saw the mailman.

KITTY
Won a baby basket.
From that Johnson and Johnson
Sweepstakes.
Last month,
Remember,
You stamped—

(he not listenin’)

Clem—
You stamped the postcards.

CLEM
I just keep thinkin’ I see . . .

KITTY
You can keep watch
From in here
If you want.
Momma—

CLEM
But then I don’t.

KITTY
Don’t talk that way.
I get scared
When you say awful things, Clem.
Momma says we should go out,
Momma says,
Hardly anybody says anythin’ ’bout it
Anymore.

(a bang / sounds like a gunshot)

Jesus H. Christ!

(KITTY exits towards sound

she returns / with newspaper / rolled up / rubber-banded / hands it to him)

KITTY (testing the waters)
Momma wants to give us a
Baby shower.
At her house.

CLEM
Don’t think we should go out,
Not quite yet.

KITTY
It was an accident.
Everybody believes,
Knows, it was.
Now you gotta believe it
Or we’ll both go crazy,
Like those two boys up at Natural Bridge.
One thinkin’ the Confederacy’s over
But the other too ’fraid to go see.
So they stay up in that tree,
Holdin’ onto one another so tight,
They squeeze the air outta each other.
They die, Clem,
An’ their hair bleaches in the sun
And becomes tree moss that hurricanes
Spread all over Florida.
And when we see that moss,
We know,
That’s what fear does to you.
Turns you into little bits of nothin’,
Floatin’ in the wind.

CLEM
I’m afraid . . .
For my boy.
Nobody knows what they’ll do, Kitty.
When I think what we’d do.

KITTY
Can’t be afraid no more.
He, or She,
Needs us.
So many things to be afraid of
When you little.
You need folks who make you feel safe.
Somebody, not afraid.

CLEM
It’s gonna hang on him.
Just like it hung on me.
So heavy,
’Til you’re held in place by the weight,
Pressed down into your grave by it.

KITTY
You’re not in your grave yet, Clem.

CLEM
This is gonna taint him.
Steal his life away ’fore
It has a chance for its ownself.
Like my Daddy did to me.
I was always just waitin’
To fight somebody he pissed off.
I got so tired of lookin’ over my shoulder,
I just walked away,
’Fore it got too heavy,
’Fore it crushed me.

KITTY
There ain’t no weight,
It’s just us.
And we’re gonna raise you up.
You’ll be so proud of us.

(CLEM turns away)

Please think about Momma’s?
Gid’d pro’lly bring some lime fizz,
An’ Momma’ll show off the quilt
She’s workin’ on.

CLEM
I’m gonna make another round.

(CLEM exits

KITTY’s alone with the basket)

Miz. Athey’s Kitchen

(PHRASIE / MIZ. ATHEY / in the quiet

PHRASIE’s gained weight / but not obviously pregnant

after some silence . . . )

MIZ. ATHEY
What you want?
I got things to do.

PHRASIE
I called.

(silence)

Phone’s turned off.

MIZ. ATHEY
Nobody I need to talk to
Outside shoutin’ distance

(a cold silence)

PHRASIE
I just wanted to say,
The funeral was beautiful.

MIZ. ATHEY
It was.

PHRASIE
So many folks.
I sat
Nigh on
In the back.
It was so full.
Even an hour early,
People to the rafters.

MIZ. ATHEY
All his school friends.
Family,
From all over.

PHRASIE
Yeah.
I thought . . .
I don’t know.
I thought,
Maybe you’d ask me to say somethin’.
Maybe you’d want to,
I don’t know,
Have me say a piece,
A short piece.
About him.
About us.
Or maybe you’d say it.

MIZ. ATHEY
Why?

PHRASIE
I just thought,
I mean,
We’re almost family.
I felt like—

MIZ. ATHEY
You in his life two minutes
And you think you family?
That his life is
All about you?

PHRASIE
No.
I just thought,
I don’t know.
He’s part of me.

MIZ. ATHEY
Wasn’t no almost family.
He go off to school,
You go off to school,
Pro’lly never even see one another.

PHRASIE
That’s not true!
He was gonna be with me until—

MIZ. ATHEY
Look.
I let you in ’cause
Monroe
Woulda let you in.
I let you in because
I know you stubborn, and gonna
Stand there and ring the bell,
And annoy me ’til I did.
But I’m about done with you now.

PHRASIE
It’s not my fault!

MIZ. ATHEY
I never said—

PHRASIE
You said,
You said I was why he wasn’t home safe.

MIZ. ATHEY
I was grievin’.

PHRASIE
And why you so mean to me now?

MIZ. ATHEY
I lost my boy.

PHRASIE
I lost him, too.

MIZ. ATHEY
It’s not your fault.
When you got a child
You’ll understand.
Until then—

PHRASIE
Then I’ll know soon.

(MIZ. ATHEY looks at her / hard / it all adds up)

MIZ. ATHEY
Lord Jesus.

PHRASIE
I didn’t find out until,
An’ then your phone was off,
An’ then I got into Lincoln,
The teacher’s college, up in the Carolinas.
Got a scholarship, too.
An’ then I told
Momma and Daddy about school . . .

(PHRASIE’s unable to finish / haunted by a good memory about to turn bad)

MIZ. ATHEY
They proud?

(PHRASIE nods)

PHRASIE
Momma can’t stop laughin’.
Daddy said,
My Girl
Never
Gonna Be
In Somebody’s Kitchen.

I just thought,
If I had spoke at the funeral,
Or if you had,
If somebody had,
Said somethin’
To the congregation
Then
When I tell Momma and Daddy
About the baby,
When I tell them,
They won’t see my baby as a bastard.
Because we were gonna get married,
And everyone woulda known it.
We were
Gonna be family.
It just
Didn’t happen that way.
And they’d love the baby,
And we’d have a picture of Monroe on the wall,
And say, that’s your Daddy.
Almost made it to bein’ a man.
Momma and Daddy’d have to
See.
I didn’t waste their sweat.
Daddy workin’ the orange groves.
Momma sittin’ with that
Old woman who say ugly things to her
All day long,
And she just keeps thinkin’,
My little girl is goin’ to school,
Don’t matter what this woman say to me.
My little girl’s gonna be
Raised up
Soon.
I didn’t waste nothin’.
It could all still be.

(MIZ. ATHEY is quiet / careful / doesn’t want to hope too hard)

MIZ. ATHEY
What’ll happen
When you tell ’em?

PHRASIE
Momma’ll stop laughin’.
Daddy’ll say,
My Girl
Gonna be in
Somebody’s Kitchen.

He’ll kick me out.

I thought,
I’d take the baby and just go,
Go on up to school,
Tell them she’s my sister,
But
They won’t,
The school don’t ’llow for no babies.

MIZ. ATHEY
They pro’lly right.
All that baby feedin’,
Up all night,
Wouldn’t be able to keep up.

PHRASIE (softly)
Then
I guess
I will be in somebody’s kitchen.

MIZ. ATHEY
Right now all you got to worry over
Is a place to stay.
The rest of this mess’ll wait.

PHRASIE
Don’t call my baby a mess!

MIZ. ATHEY
She ain’t the one I’m callin’.

(PHRASIE / sucks her teeth)

PHRASIE
See,
If that’s the way you gonna be,
Just forget I came by.
Just erase me like you had done before.

(PHRASIE stands)

I don’t need you.

(less sure / holding strength by the coattails)

I don’t need anybody.
It’s just me and my baby
And that’s fine with me.

(PHRASIE moves to exit)

MIZ. ATHEY
I’m sorry.
I shouldn’t a’,
I got no manners anymore.
After the funeral,
After a few weeks,
Everybody drifted back home,
Back to their own lives,
And I’ve just been sittin’ here,
And lost myself, a little.

Come back.

If your Daddy kicks you out,
And your Momma lets him,
Just come on back.
I got nothin’ here but room.

Park at Dusk

(CLEM / bearded / wears FSU cap / smokes / waits / smokes / waits

PHRASIE enters)

CLEM
Thank you.

PHRASIE
I didn’t come for you.

CLEM
No, no.

PHRASIE
I don’t owe you nothin’.

CLEM
’Course not.

PHRASIE
I did not come,
For you. I came for . . .

(rubs belly)

I did not come for you.

CLEM
I didn’t ask
For me.

PHRASIE
Didn’t you?

CLEM
No,
Not on the whole,
Not really.

(CLEM looks at her / carefully)

You pregnant?

PHRASIE
Yeah.

CLEM
You havin’ his baby?

PHRASIE
Yeah, why,
You want a shot at him, too?

CLEM
No,
God,
No.
It’s just all,
All gonna go on and on.
I’d change it if I could.

PHRASIE
You can’t change anything.

CLEM
No.
Wish to God I could
Though.

PHRASIE
Leave Him out of it.

CLEM
You don’t think
He’s been far enough away
Already?

PHRASIE (turns to leave)
This isn’t—

CLEM
Months.

PHRASIE
Yeah?

CLEM
Months,
I been tryin’ to call.

PHRASIE
How’d you get my number?

CLEM
Lena comes over,
Does my wife’s hair.

PHRASIE
Lena comes over to your house?

CLEM
She says
You were with that boy
That night.

PHRASIE
You know Lena?

CLEM
My wife knows her a little.
She used to come
Before.

PHRASIE
She still comes now?

CLEM
No.
But my wife,
They have a special bond,
Women and their hair,
My wife called Lena.
She gave her an earful,
Wouldn’t come over,
But I said to tell her,
I want to apologize,
In person.

(a beat)

You here alone?

PHRASIE
Why?

CLEM
I just

PHRASIE
Why you want to know if I’m here alone?
You want me to be here alone?
You want to do something to me?
That what you want?

CLEM
No!
I jus’ wouldn’t blame you, if—

PHRASIE
You think someone gonna shoot you,
Like you did Monroe?

CLEM
I didn’t mean to—

PHRASIE
Someone standin’ in the woods,
With a gun,
A soft trigger?
Someone you never met before,
Won’t ever again.
Someone,
A different color?

CLEM
Look, that had nothin’
To do with noth—

PHRASIE
Stop.

CLEM
I just—

PHRASIE
Please!

CLEM
No!
No, it wadn’t,
Not at all like that.
I just, wanted to say,
To his Momma
But her phone was cut off,
I wanted to say,
It was an accident.

PHRASIE
You think it’s all better now?

CLEM
No, but,
It’s something,
Itn’t it?

(a long hard beat / of PHRASIE’s disbelief)

What do you need?
To forgive.
What do you want?
So no one hangs this on my boy.

PHRASIE
I want you to die,
After trying to be a man,
To do something
Beautiful and Special,
I want you to die,
At the hands of a black man.

CLEM
That might happen still.

PHRASIE
You tell me,
And think about it first.
You tell me
That all them stories,
All them byways of lies,
That make it righteous for y’all to do what y’all always done,
All that didn’t make it easier to pull the trigger?
That somethin’ inside,
Somethin’ your Daddy used to say,
Teachin’ you to be afraid of someone different,
Didn’t make it easier to shoot?

CLEM
I’m not—

PHRASIE
It wasn’t easier to pull the trigger
On just another uppity nigger.

(CLEM / really / doesn’t / know)

CLEM
I don’t know.

PHRASIE
Can’t even be a man
And find the truth about it.

CLEM
But I want you to know I thought
About payin’
For the funeral,
I thought about a
lot of things.
But the Sheriff an’
Other folks, maybe
I should have anyway, they
Said I would seem guilty like
It was on purpose they said
After who my Daddy is it'd
be salt in the . . .
I don’t know just
Tell me what you want.

PHRASIE
I want the world to change,
For real, for good.
But all I got is you.
And you don’t know
Nothin’.
So you figure it out,
But I’m done with you.

CLEM
Wait, please,
I need an answer.
I need to know,
Everything’s gonna be fine, be good,
I need to know,
This wasn’t all,
Everythin’ I done since
Walkin’ out of his house
Wasn’t a mistake.
I need to know,
My boy and yours,
Gonna be okay with one another.

PHRASIE
Don’t call me again.

(PHRASIE exits)

Kitty’s Kitchen

(low light

from now / until final scene / KITTY’s house is much darker

CLEM / sits at table / a leftover splintered board / before him)

KITTY (O.S.)
Clem, what’s all that noise over?
Clem, when I was in the shower.
Did you fix the—

(KITTY / four months pregnant / enters)

It’s like midnight in here.
We won’t be able to breathe.

(picks up board)

What’d you do to the crib?

CLEM
Boards, for the winda’s.

KITTY
That’s an antique.

CLEM
Not no more.

KITTY
Clem,
I,
This itn’t right.
It just itn’t.
Clem, you know it itn’t.

(no response from CLEM)

We’re closed in, Clem.
A house of locks
With no keys.

CLEM
It’s gonna be okay now,
Baby.
I’m gonna keep you safe.
Keep the baby safe.
It’s okay now.

KITTY
Baby . . .
When I first saw you,
You had all those friends around
But you wasn’t talking to nobody.
Not dancin’ with nobody.
I thought you had a mystery about you.
Something special and strong and
Something nobody understood but me.
I loved you
From then on
But now,
You’re turnin’ me crazy, Clem.
I can’t be alone no more.
I can’t raise a child like this.
Clem,
I’m scared, all the time now.

All the time.

CLEM
Come on.
Let’s lay down an’ take a nap.
A little rest, you’ll feel better.

(CLEM turns away)

KITTY
Please, Clem.
I’m just,
I’m one of those boys,
Those little Confederates,
Up in that tree.
I’m so scared,
And holdin’ on to you so hard,
That sometimes . . .

Sometimes . . .

I think I see ’em comin’, too.

Miz. Athey’s Kitchen

(MIZ. ATHEY / PHRASIE together

PHRASIE / visibly pregnant / suitcase at her feet)

MIZ. ATHEY
I heard you went to see that man.

PHRASIE
He said . . .
He couldn’t even apologize right.

I thought, if I did it,
Meet him,
It’d make me feel better.
It’d give me some way to make sense,
So I could make sense for my little . . .

(touches pregnant belly)

Like a jigsaw puzzle finally snapped into place.

(MIZ. ATHEY / tries to comfort her / although / history itn’t always comforting)

MIZ. ATHEY
When my husband Albert died,
He was out hunting
And Mr. Robertson, a white man who sometimes hired Albert,
Was hunting in the same woods,
Right behind our house.
Mr. Robertson thought Albert rustling in the brush
Was a deer.
Sicked his dog on him.
Dog ripped up his leg, tore most of it clean off,
Albert’s yelling, I come running,
And he’s . . .
It don’t even look like my husband.

An’ Monroe comes runnin’ out an’ I yells for him to
Git back
Git back in the house
An’ he sees his Daddy
But I yells ’gain an’ ’gain ’til he goes.
An’ Robertson say, he say, he be right back
Th’ Carters gots a phone, he’ll call Doc, he’ll call him now.
An’ we wait, an’ Albert quiets down, an’ I’m holdin’ his leg together,
Best I can with my apron.
I say, Albert, it’s gonna be okay, Albert, I got you,
Through betta’ or worse, an’ this is the worst, an’ I’m still here.
I’m right here.
An’ it got dark, an’ Monroe come out, an’ wasn’t no doctor comin’.
An’ I rocked Albert to sleep, like I always done Monroe,
Just rocked him,
To eternity.
An’ Monroe says, Momma, you put him to sleep.
An’ I said, yeah, baby, I did.

Monroe and I moved to Florida,
The Sunshine State,
A place of hope.

Before we left Louisiana,
Mr. Robertson come back,
To apologize.
He says he ain’t get the doctor
’Cause he was scared
they’d put the dog down.

Sometimes people know why they do what they do,
Sometimes they don’t.
Sometimes you all tangled up in it,
Sometimes you as far away as the Lord.
Either way, it all come out the same.

You’ll call the baby after Monroe, won’t you?

(PHRASIE nods / “yes”)

And Monroe,
He was called after his father’s people.
I think Albert would like that,
Very much.

Kitty’s Kitchen

(KITTY / stamps sweepstakes entries

CLEM / sleeps / in chair

knock on door

CLEM jumps)

CLEM
Who’s there?

SHERIFF
Sheriff.
Let me in.

(CLEM lets SHERIFF in

SHERIFF enters / looks around)

Well,
I been in
Roadhouses
Cleaner than this.

CLEM
Kitty hadn't been
Feelin’
Well.

SHERIFF
I just came by to
Let y’all know that the case is
Officially
Closed.
It’s ruled accidental.
And there’s nothin’ brewin’
With the coloreds neither.

CLEM
Thank you, Sheriff.
But we best be careful.

(a beat / SHERIFF looks to KITTY / doesn’t want to undermine CLEM)

SHERIFF
Careful is good.

(to Kitty)

Kitty, give us a minute.

KITTY
Yes, sir.

(KITTY exits)

SHERIFF
I like a careful man.
But you got a family
To consider now.
They need stock boys
At the grocery.
Manager came in to report
One of his boys was stealin’,
Had to fire him.
I thought of y’all out here alone.
Mentioned you might be lookin’,
He’d be happy to have you.
Just go on down,
Tell him
On my say-so.

CLEM
Can’t leave Kitty all alone.
What if somethin’ happens,
Someone comes,
And I’m washin’ heads of lettuce?

SHERIFF
I pulled your Daddy in
Last night
For somethin’ stupid,
Drinkin’ and singin’
And playin’ the devil
Out by the river.
I know that I’ll never
Find you out there,
Makin’ a fool of yourself.
You a good man, Clem,
Remember what a good man does.

CLEM
Yes, sir.

SHERIFF
Okay, then.

Okay.

(calls offstage)

Goodbye, Kitty.

(KITTY enters)

KITTY
Bye, Sheriff.

(SHERIFF exits)

What’d he want?

CLEM
You weren’t listenin’?

KITTY
I’d rather hear
From you.

CLEM
There’s a job,
But I’m
Not gonna leave you alone.
Leave the baby.

KITTY
Oh.

(they sit / KITTY stamps sweepstakes entries)

Okay.

(he watches her stamp)

Miz. Athey’s Kitchen

(PHRASIE’s bigger / sits at table)

PHRASIE
How it look?

MIZ. ATHEY (O.S.)
Almost done.

(MIZ. ATHEY enters / paint clothes on)

PHRASIE
It don’t look too yellow,
Does it?

MIZ. ATHEY
Wait ’til it dries a little bit.

PHRASIE
I don’t want it lookin’ too yellow.
Like a madhouse.
It’s supposed to be
Soothin’.
Help the baby sleep.

MIZ. ATHEY
Well,
I’m soothed,
And I been workin’ on it all day.
So, I say, it’s soothin’.

PHRASIE
It itn’t dry yet,
So we don’t know.

MIZ. ATHEY
We got time to fix it.

PHRASIE
Just as long as—

MIZ. ATHEY
Oh, Lord.
You been pickin’
At me,
At this paint,
At the baby clothes,
At the radio,
At everythin’ all day.
What’s needlin’ you so much
You got to go out
And bother everyone else?

PHRASIE
I hadn’t told Lincoln I ain’t comin’.
I told ’em, I might have to
Put it off.
But,
I haven’t told ’em
I ain’t comin’ at all.

MIZ. ATHEY
Gotta face the truth
Sometime,
Phrasie.

PHRASIE
I know I just . . .
I love my baby,
You know I do.

MIZ. ATHEY
I know.

PHRASIE
But I can’t . . .
I was lookin’
At the paper today
And all I could see was
Waitress
Cook
Housekeeper
Nanny.
Without schoolin’,
I just,
I . . .
But you,
You stayed home with Monroe.
Did all right.

MIZ. ATHEY
I did.

PHRASIE
I gotta let them know.
There’s a waiting list,
Somebody else be happy with
My scholarship.

MIZ. ATHEY (nods “yes”)
I’d say.

(MIZ. ATHEY / considers)

But now and then,
I think
What if Monroe’s Momma
Was more than a part-time librarian
For colored folk.
What if, where would he be,
Or woulda been,
If I coulda given him somethin’ more?
Maybe he’d’ve had a chance
To go someplace,
See somethin’.
Maybe attend that private school
Down in St. Augustine.
Worn a real suit every day.
He wouldn’t a’ even been here for,
Well,
Maybe it just woulda been different.

(MIZ. ATHEY / decides)

You know,
If that child had
Both of us;
Had me at home,
And you at school.
If little baby Monroe
Had everythin’ we both could give,
Well,
That’s pretty good.
Better than what most get.

PHRASIE
Say what you mean
Straight out.

MIZ. ATHEY
I’ll raise the baby
While you’re at school.
You can visit.
After you graduate,
Make a nice home for the two of you.
You don’t have to be what they say in the paper.

PHRASIE
Thank you, but,
It seems like,
I don’t know.
I got to think.
I can’t just,

(rubs belly)

Let ’em go,
Can I?

(MIZ. ATHEY squeezes PHRASIE’s shoulder / comforts her / this is an answer she’ll have to find on her own)

MIZ. ATHEY
I’ll get that paint picked up.

(MIZ. ATHEY exits

PHRASIE sits / alone / with the baby / and her thoughts)

Kitty’s Kitchen

(KITTY / eight months pregnant / still stampin’ / sweepstakes entries

soft knock at door)

LUKIE (O.S.)
Kitty,
It’s me.
It’s me,
Kitty.

KITTY (softly)
Lukie?

(KITTY lets him in

LUKIE enters / carries box / surveys wreckage)

LUKIE
Gee, Kitty.

KITTY
Hey.

LUKIE
Hey.

KITTY
You see anybody
Out there?

LUKIE
It’s almost night, Kitty,
It’s dark.

KITTY
Yeah, yeah,
’Course,
I knew that.

LUKIE
Dark in here, too.

KITTY
Yeah, yeah.

LUKIE
Where’s Clem?

KITTY
Sleepin’.

LUKIE (gestures to her belly)
So you
’Bout to drop.

KITTY
Yeah.

(an uncomfortable pause)

LUKIE
I got . . .

(LUKIE puts box on table)

KITTY
What is . . . ?

(KITTY gestures to box)

LUKIE
I,
I been lookin’
For a reason
To come say, hey.
Didn’t want to just barge in.
And Margie,
At the post office,
Got tired of luggin’ stuff to your door.

KITTY
What chu’ got?

LUKIE (opens box)
Uh,
Six sets of shower curtains.
How’d you win
Six sets of shower curtains?

KITTY
I entered that sweepstakes
209 times.

LUKIE
Dang.

KITTY
Yeah,

(small realization: I can do things that change my situation)

I got more energy to do with
Than I thought.

LUKIE
Brought you a baby gift, too.
Can’t come visitin’ a new Momma
Without somethin’ in hand.

(LUKIE / hands her / a memory book

KITTY / looks / through it)

Rachel Camp and Erik Endsley. Photo by Johanna Austin.

LUKIE
Momma made one for me.
Family names, dates,
My first word: Arrrrrr!
Like a pirate.
Don’t know if that really counts.
Momma always thought it did.
Anyways,
I thought you could use it.
Thought the baby might like it,
Later, you know.
Maybe even put a couple a’ Hen pictures in.
Y’all should come on back some time,
Have a picture taken for the book.
It’d be fun.

(a beat)

I miss dancin’ with you,
Kitty.

(KITTY / rubs / belly)

KITTY (sad smile)
Not much of a dancer
No more.

LUKIE
Could be again.

KITTY
Clem says
It itn’t safe.
He says
He’ll hold us tight
So no one can get at us.

LUKIE
Oh, okay.
Well,
That’s . . .
Okay, I guess.
I just thought you might like,
I don’t know.
I just,
I really miss you, Kitty-cat.

KITTY
Bye, Lukie.

(LUKIE’s heart breaks

he exits)

Miz. Athey’s Kitchen

(night / a light rain / soft rumble of thunder in distance

MIZ. ATHEY / finishes up for the day

PHRASIE enters / seven months pregnant / exhausted / stretches)

PHRASIE
Ever part of me hurts.

MIZ. ATHEY
That’s just the baby
Getting’ you ready,
Getting’ y’all warmed up,
For the main event.

PHRASIE
Months now,
I’m warmed enough.

MIZ. ATHEY
Get back to bed.

PHRASIE
Can’t sleep.

MIZ. ATHEY
Well, I’m gettin’.
One of us gotta be able
To get somethin’ done tomorrow.
Still got to put up bookshelves in that room.

PHRASIE
Don’t have anythin’
To put on ’em yet.

(MIZ. ATHEY / pulls out / a surprise / hands picture book / to PHRASIE)

MIZ. ATHEY
That’s the one
I taught Monroe
His ABCs on.
It’s a start.

(PHRASIE / cherishes book / MIZ. ATHEY / where she’s at)

PHRASIE
A good one.
Thank you.

(now she’s / sore / again)

MIZ. ATHEY
Good night, baby love.

PHRASIE
Night.

(PHRASIE / sits / thinks about what she’s gonna do / opens book / reads quietly to baby)

In the old days
there was a Momma Goat with seven kids
that she loved
to the ends of the earth.
So when she went to the market,
She warned them about the Wolf.

(Mother Goat’s voice)

“He’ll dress up to hide his thick coat
And long ears, but you will know him
By his rough voice and black coat.”

(thoughful)

Black coat?

(Mother Goat’s voice)

“But you will know him by his rough voice and his . . .
green coat.”

(not reading)

You gonna
Change the world
For me, baby?
Then
I think
I gotta go first.

Kitty’s Kitchen

(it’s still raining.

KITTY works on memory book

CLEM enters / sleepy)

CLEM
Baby?

KITTY
I had a dream, Clem.
A waking dream.

CLEM
It’s four in the mornin’, sugar.
You can finish that
Memory Book
Later.
Come back to bed.
You haven’t slept in days.

KITTY
I used to have such
Good dreams,
Clem.

CLEM
Come on back now.

KITTY
Not no more, though.

(CLEM looks at memory book)

CLEM
What you puttin’ pictures
Of my Daddy
In here for?
Take ’em out.

KITTY
He’s part a’ us,
Part a’ the baby.

CLEM
I don’t want the baby
Knowin’ him.
Keep Momma in,
But take him out.

KITTY
Not your choice to make.
Not mine neither.

(KITTY / takes picture from CLEM / returns / to book)

I want the baby to know
The whole of us.
The whole of themself.

(CLEM takes a newspaper clipping / out of book)

CLEM
This is that boy!
What are you doin’
With a picture of that,
Of Him.
He don’t belong here neither.
Not near my Momma.
Not near us.
Why’d you put—

KITTY
I don’t want to be scared
To look out the window no more.
Don’t want the baby to be afraid
To come out.
I’m gonna fix it.
I’m puttin’ it all in together,
Puttin’ it all right.

(KITTY finishes book / tries to show it to CLEM)

See.

(CLEM waves it away)

CLEM
Naw,
I don’t want to see no more.

(CLEM exits

blackout)

Kitty’s Kitchen / Miz. Athey’s Kitchen

(hurricane builds

stage illuminated by flashes of lightning

PHRASIE’s on MIZ. ATHEY’s table / giving birth / MIZ. ATHEY helps

KITTY squats / giving birth / CLEM at her side)

PHRASIE
MIZ. ATHEY!

KITTY
CLEM!

PHRASIE / KITTY
Please!

(in MIZ. ATHEY’s kitchen . . . )

MIZ. ATHEY (to PHRASIE)
It’s okay, girl.
It’s looking good.

PHRASIE (to MIZ. ATHEY)
This can’t be right.

MIZ. ATHEY (to PHRASIE)
It is, it sure is.

PHRASIE
Get the Doc.

MIZ. ATHEY
Everybody’s flooded out
By the hurricane.
I delivered
Both
My sisters’ babies.
All of ’em was early.
So was Monroe.
It’s a family tradition.

(in KITTY’s kitchen . . . )

KITTY
Loves you.

CLEM
Farther than the farthest star.

(CLEM stands)

KITTY
Deeper than—
Clem, where you goin’?

CLEM
For the Doc.
I love you, Kitty Kat.

KITTY
You can’t just leave us!
Clem!

CLEM
It’s safer, if the Doc . . .
I don’t know what to do . . .

(CLEM leaves)

KITTY
Clem,
Please,
Clem!

(in MIZ. ATHEY’s kitchen . . . )

MIZ. ATHEY (to PHRASIE)
Almost time to push now,
Almost.

(PHRASIE / KITTY / push / scream / together

darkness / thunder clap

light rain)

Kitty’s Kitchen / Miz. Athey’s Kitchen

(in MIZ. ATHEY’s kitchen / PHRASIE rocks baby

in KITTY’s kitchen / CLEM stands / holds bag

KITTY enters / baby in arms

CLEM reaches for her / she pulls away)

KITTY (regarding baby)
You told him bye.
You can go.

CLEM
Kitty—

KITTY
No.

CLEM
I just thought—

(CLEM goes to touch her)

KITTY
Quit!

(but she listens / gives him a chance to say his piece)

CLEM
I didn’t mean to,
It just got outta hand.
We can figure somethin’.
I can find a way.
Work at home.
I love you,
Farther than the—

(he hasn’t changed / she sags)

KITTY
Stop, now.
I ain’t raisin’ my baby in fear.
Ain’t playin’ life like a sweepstakes
Somebody else always gonna win.
You go get right.
You figure what story
I can tell Ben about
His Daddy
That’d make him proud.
I gotta be a Momma now.
I gotta be strong, for my boy.
Come back to us
When you ready to be a Daddy for real.

(KITTY cradles baby

CLEM exits

in MIZ. ATHEY’s kitchen / MIZ. ATHEY enters / carries suitcase)

PHRASIE
Just another minute.

(PHRASIE holds / kisses / baby Monica)

MIZ. ATHEY
You’re gonna
Miss
Your bus.

PHRASIE
I, I don’t think I want to go.

(PHRASIE fights tears)

MIZ. ATHEY
She’ll always be your girl.

PHRASIE (to baby)
I’ll visit soon,
Monica.

(MIZ. ATHEY puts down suitcase / holds out arms for baby

PHRASIE can’t let go)

MIZ. ATHEY
You know Saint Monica?

(PHRASIE shakes head / “no”)

MIZ. ATHEY
Saint Monica
Was the mother of Saint Augustine.
She prayed so hard, so long, so loud,
That she saved him from self-destruction,
And he became one of the greatest Saints
The world’s ever known.
When I prayed, nothing much happened on this earth,
But when she prays, she will
Shake the heavens.

(MIZ. ATHEY holds out her arms)

PHRASIE
One more minute.

(PHRASIE kisses baby

PHRASIE / KITTY / tell a story)