Act One, Part B

 

 

SAVANNAH: Are you going to have it christened?

CAT: Oh, yeah. But, I’m going to do it myself. I’m going to take her down to the place…she was conceived and do it there. Just above where it happened, one of the pipes had a very slow leak. I think that’ll be sufficient.

SAVANNAH: Sandra’s not going to agree with that.

CAT: I know, but Sandra doesn’t seem to agree with a lot of things these days. I don’t really need to have it done in a church. I mean, how could anything so beautiful as a newborn baby be anything BUT saved?

SAVANNAH: Have you thought of a name yet?

CAT: I don’t know. I’ve had some ideas. Some really great, long, elaborate ideas. But I keep remembering that they’re going to have to live with them. So, I’m just going to give them a temporary name, and if they want to change it, when they’re 18 or whatever, that’s fine. I was thinking of Kitty.

SAVANNAH: And if it’s male?

CAT: Mmmmm…I don’t know yet. I don’t know. I better hurry; everyone else is going to be here soon. Could you, could you just sort of straighten up so it doesn’t look as…lived in? I’ll just be a minute. (Runs into the bathroom)

SAVANNAH: Sure.

(Savannah does attempt to straighten up the place, and just as she’s about to stack up all the papers left strewn on the coffee table, she notices the letter Cat was writing at the beginning of the play. She glances at the first line, not really intent on reading the contents, but keeps the same glance for about 30 seconds; the duration of time needed to fully read what has thusfar been written. She then stacks up all the papers like she had originally planned and continues to straighten up the place. Cat reenters, attire changed, but still running around.)

CAT: Jeez, I’ve been running all afternoon. You know what I want? One of those old New England type houses with the widows walk on the roof so when things get really frazzled I can just go up there and watch all the ships come in.

SAVANNAH: A gazebo would do me.

CAT: Yeah, one of those, too.

(Savannah sees Cat’s camera on the table and picks it up, puts it to her eye, finds the shutter release, finds her subject, and saysJ

SAVANNAH: Say "gazpacho."

CAT: No, wait, don’t; there’s only one exposure left. I was saving it for when we’re all here. For a group shot.

(Rat-a-tat-tat at the door)

CAT: And speaking of when we’re all here…

(Cat flings the door open widely)

CAT: Here she is!!!

(Roan and Cat embrace in the doorway. Roan is physically between 20 and 25, but you could never tell if her skin didn’t give it away. Roan’s eyes are the key to her character. The universe may begin, the universe may dissolve away, entirely at their whim, or so it seems. But, it isn’t whim, it’s just a mysticism many of us have let escape from our daily lives.)

CAT: I’ve missed you.

ROAN: I’ve missed you, too.

(Roan turns to Savannah, steps and hugs her as well, tightly)

SAVANNAH: Welcome back, Roan.

ROAN: I got everybody’s letters, but I’ve just been too busy to write.

SAVANNAH: Same here.

CAT: Don’t worry about it; it’s just that time of year. Well, what have you been up to?

ROAN: Oh, same old thing…work and classes.

CAT: Would you like a drink?

ROAN: Mmm. Yes, please.

CAT: What would you like?

ROAN: Do you have any tea?

CAT: Sure. What kind?

ROAN: Anything is fine.

CAT: Savannah?

SAVANNAH: Tea sounds good, thanks.

(Cat excuses herself stage left to the kitchen to make tea)

SAVANNAH: How are you, Roan?

ROAN: Ohhhh…busy. But hanging in.

SAVANNAH: Now, you’re finishing up this year?

ROAN: Hopefully, yes. A couple of more quarters.

SAVANNAH: That’s good. I bet your mother’s happy for you.

ROAN: Yes, surprisingly she is. I didn’t think she really cared, but, all of a sudden she’s been bending over backwards to try and get me as much information about grad schools as she can.

SAVANNAH: My mother was really happy when I graduated, too. She threw a really big party, practically a banquet, for half of our block. And she made…everything. And she made tons…of everything. And we still had stuff leftover. It was just a bash.

ROAN: Mmm. For me, it’s really strange to think that…I’m graduating. Four and a half years ago I couldn’t afford to put myself all the way through, but I wanted to go even if it was just for a quarter or two. So I just thought, "Oh, I’ll just go until I can’t go anymore." So I thought I might as well major in something I enjoy, in something that’s fun, because I know I’ll be a dishwasher when I get out anyway. So, here I am with two quarters left and…ta dah!
So, Cat…you’re going to go through with it?

CAT: Yes…I am.

(Savannah and Roan look at each other)

ROAN: Do you feel good about that?

CAT: …yeah, I do.

ROAN: How far along are you?

CAT: Six weeks. Six weeks tomorrow.

ROAN: God, I couldn’t do it. I’d just feel repulsed every time I thought about it.

CAT: Believe me, I’ve given it lots of thought. Six weeks worth of thought, which is why I thought we’d celebrate tonight.

ROAN: But, why do you want to—

CAT: It’s a little hard to explain. It’s just something I have to do. I know it sounds illogical and it’s going to be a strain financially, but…that’s what I’ve chosen.

ROAN: You still don’t know who it was?

CAT: Nope.

ROAN: Did you ever go to the police?

CAT: Finally, yes. It took a few weeks, but I did. They still haven’t found anything.

ROAN: I remember one time down at the center when a woman called up saying she had seen her attacker in the restaurant she was in and what should she do. She wanted to keep him there, but she was too terrified to really do anything. Then by the time the police got there, he was gone. She never saw him again. Good thing, too. Does Mike know?

CAT: Why should Mike know?

ROAN: Aren’t you two still—

CAT: Oh, no, I haven’t seen him in months. Apparently he’s doing okay. He told me to tell you "hi" the next time I see you. That was last May sometime.

ROAN: Mike…. I don’t think I’ve ever thought about him the same way twice. He always seemed like he was…standing sideways. He’d just let out whatever directions seemed to be right at the time. And I used to be so jealous because he had so many sides he could just spin them around and hide so easily. He just made me dizzy all the time. He made me want to stop having sides and just…be. After that when he’d shine his mirror on me and nothing would reflect he probably thought I wasn’t there or something.

SAVANNAH: Oh, he always knew you were there.

ROAN: But, at least he’d listen; at least he could put two and two together. There were times when he’d say something and I’d just listen to the way he spoke to me, not listening at all to what he was actually saying; just the way the words came out. He’d speak to me like I wasn’t a woman. Well, like I wasn’t first, you know, a Woman. He’d just talk and I really liked that. The strangest thing is that as I grew fond of him, the worse I would treat him because I expected him to be so perfect. And the less I cared about him, the nicer I became because I just didn’t care. Sometimes I’m sure he would have wished I just would have stayed home, and those were the times I felt the closest to him. I could always feel something bubbling under, though. If it wasn’t me, it was him. And when I could feel him start to finally open up, I just…I couldn’t. I knew that if I did that, there would be no turning back, and I just…. I’d always waited for someone like that; something just all-consuming, but when it was finally there…it was just too much. I tried looking inside and it just looked…smoldering.

SAVANNAH: He needs something that only a few people can give. If they can.

ROAN: He reminds me of two elderly Chinese men I saw walking down the street once, holding hands. Not because they were gay necessarily. Just because they needed to hold hands.

(Beat, two, three, four)

CAT: You know, he was one of only a few people who wouldn’t sleep with me. I just—I don’t know what it was. We went out to dinner, we went to shows, and he always brought me things and we always seemed to wind up on the sofa, but he never….Do you think it was me? That’s what I kept thinking. I thought it must be. But, he kept coming back…I don’t know. I remember one night, the last night, or at least I knew that it was the last night, before John came back, I thought I’d give him a treat, you know, just because he’d been so good to me. The TV light was kind of bouncing around the room, and my legs were kind of bridged over his, and it was getting pretty late, and I knew we’d never get to be like that again. So I turned to him and whispered "let’s do something dangerous." And he looked really puzzled, so I got up, walked over and stood beneath the colored light bulbs we used for the party, and knelt on the floor. He followed me over and knelt just across from me, and looked up at the bulbs. Then when I looked up, he looked at me. I knew he probably didn’t, but I pulled him down anyway. And that was all it took. It only seemed like five or ten minutes, but it must have been at least an hour and a half. But nothing happened. Nothing at all. But, it didn’t matter, though, because it was a beautiful way to remember him…but nothing happened. But, it just seemed so right for some reason. Kind of puzzling, really, if you think about it. Really puzzling guy. I think I hear a whistle.

(Cat heads over to relieve the tea kettle)

ROAN: Is Sandra going to be here tonight?

CAT: She can’t make it, but she said she’d call. She left little cryptic messages for everyone, though. For you, Roan, she said (checks pad of paper by the phone) "I stayed, my mother didn’t."

SAVANNAH: What’s that?

ROAN: Oh, some weird dream she had once. Something about blood coming out of museum alleys or some weird thing.

CAT: Hmm. Then for you, Savannah, she left the message "What time is it?"

SAVANNAH: Oh, Sandra, Sandra, Sandra… Whatever THAT means.

CAT: You don’t know?

SAVANNAH: I don’t even think Sandra knows. I’m never sure just what Sandra wants to be: a sister, a mother, a counselor, a shaman. It always seems like she just goes from base to base making sure everyone’s okay whether they are or not. It’s like she does it because we all wish someone would do it, you know? But it’s just…weird. I don’t know.

ROAN: She was really upset when I took the pills that once. It was like I personally offended her or something. It was like "call me if you die."

CAT: You’re kidding. Did she really say that?

ROAN: Pretty much.

SAVANNAH: If you hadn’t hung up and called me she probably would have made you apologize. "Oh, yes, Sandra. I ask for your forgiveness. I ask for your mercy. I ask to touch the buckles of your Birkenstocks!"

ROAN: Do you ever wonder what she does when she’s on the phone? I bet she doodles mandalas or something. I bet she staples little quotations all over her walls.

ROAN: How is your mother doing, Cat?

CAT: Teetering…still.

ROAN: Still?

CAT: No one’s really sure. All of a sudden her breathing will go, so they put her on the respirator. Then a couple of hours later, her breathing comes back. And the first time that happened, my sisters wanted to have it turned off. It’s like, if she’s breathing, fine. But if she’s not, let’s put her out of her misery type-of-thing.

ROAN: How long has she been line this?

CAT: A little more than a month.

ROAN: What do the doctors say?

CAT: Oh, this and that. No one’s really sure what’s going on anymore.

ROAN: How is your family taking it?

CAT: Well, my father’s taking it the hardest. Any my mom’s sisters, but MY sisters are just driving me up a wall. It’s really funny to see their attitudes change week to week. The first week they just didn’t know how to deal with it. Then they were mad at themselves for not anticipating it. Then they started going back to church again. And how this week they’ve started to attack me, saying it was all my fault and how if I hadn’t done this or if I hadn’t done that…blah blah blah. So next week I suppose they’ll just get it out of their system and start ordering a tombstone or something. Jesus, did I say that? Did I actually say that?

SAVANNAH: It’s okay, Cat. It’s a lot to go through. We know you didn’t mean it.

CAT: But, Jesus, what a—what a—(sighs) What a month. I went down to center yesterday, just to, you know, just to talk; and there was this woman there who was just so into, you know, cause and effect, and just…I couldn’t talk with her at all. She kept looking at me, even when I’d turn away. And her eyes were just…there. I just couldn’t get through to her. At all. I think it was probably the same woman that was so mean to you that one time, Roan.

ROAN: Which time?

CAT: The time your mother came home that once…?

ROAN: …Oh, that time. That wasn’t anybody from the center, Cat. That was my mother.

CAT: But I thought—

ROAN: No. That WAS my mother.

SAVANNAH: What is this?

ROAN: Ohh…I came home really drunk one night after…I came home drunk one night and my mother wasn’t there, she was out having dinner with some boyfriend. And they came back, and they were both smashed. And she was so drunk that not only was she embarrassed that they were drunk in front of me, but she was embarrassed that I was drunk in front of them. I ignored her boyfriend and she started shouting at me. Eventually he just left and my mother grabbed me by the arms and dragged me in the bathroom. She took down her bottle of Valium, the same bottle I’d swallowed before, and just put them on the toilet seat and said "I’ve had it" and walked out. She didn’t come back until 9 the next night. And she didn’t say a word. In those 24 hours I had enough time to fill half a journal, burn a couple of photo albums, read four shoeboxes full of old letters, eat two boxes of flatbread with 12 ounces of Provolone and 20 ounces of Feta cheese, make two handfuls of origami swans, and give myself two tattoos with a needle I found in her sewing box.(Four beats; maybe eight) She let me die.(Four beats) Even thought she wouldn’t admit to herself why I did it the first time, at least she comforted me. But that time…she just left.

CAT: (quietly) I always thought it was one of the women down at the center.

ROAN: I told myself it was one of the women down at the center.

(CAT goes over to hold Roan, while Savannah walks over and puts a quiet record on the turntable. By the time she’s finished, Roan turns to Savannah to be held for a bit.)

(The doorbell rings as Cat goes over to answer it)

CAT: And that must be….

(throws door open)

CAT: TA-DAH!!! Here they are!!!

NINA: HEY!!! Maria had to pick up Susan from school, so she’s coming by herself. But, hey, how’s CAT doing?

CAT: She’s doing okay. A little weary, but okay. (Steps back to clear the sight lines for everyone.)

Savannah, Roan. This is Nina and Pin. Nina, Pin: Roan, Savannah.

Hi. Hi. Hi. Hi.

(Nina and Pin may or may not be lovers. It’s not explicitly said, though each acts as if they’re the other half of the other. Always knowing what the other one will do, sometimes even finishing the other’s sentences. They are both mid-20s, and try to be.)

NINA: Sorry we’re late. We stopped off at Lillian’s before we came over. I picked up these shoes.

CAT: Lillian’s?

NINA: You know: That lady on Adler who always has a yard sale? There.

CAT: Oh, her. Right. How does she do that all the time? All she has is that little dolls house and then every other week she dumps everything out into the yard. Does she get many people over there?

NINA: We go over every other week. That’s where I got my gray sweater, my voodoo bottle opener, my box of paints and my basket full of Lego.

SAVANNAH: Sounds like she mugs little school children and then eats them for dinner.

PIN: I think she does. She’s trying to get a liquor license right now so she can open up a bed and breakfast. She wants to call her place "Gretel’s".

 

Widowspeak, Act One, Part C