Читать книгу The Trespassers - Morris Panych - Страница 5

1.

The play unfolds over the course of a few weeks, in some town in the middle of nowhere, not small enough to be a quaint place or large enough to be in any way an interesting one. They had a sawmill there, which was a going concern, but it has since shut down; it now crowns a sort of half-town, gutted of its reason for being. The story unfolds in many locations in town, moving in a generally chronological fashion; these events are recalled from the mind of LOWELL. Out of the darkness, an ungainly boy, fifteen years of age, appears in the middle of a police interview, holding a peach. Nearby, RCMP OFFICER MILTON takes notes.

LOWELL

Between just the two of us, we could collect a dozen peaches in one haul. A dozen is twelve, which is a religious number, based on the Apostles.

MILTON

Okay, a dozen.

LOWELL

A baker’s dozen is thirteen. Thou shalt not steal is the Sixth Commandment. I believe it’s the Sixth Commandment. Or it’s the Seventh. My mother made me memorize them.

CASH, a tired woman in her late thirties, appears.

CASH

I didn’t.

LOWELL

And you have to listen to your mother. That’s the Fourth Commandment.

MILTON

Lying, what about that?

LOWELL

Technically, not a sin.

MILTON

Bearing false witness against your neighbour, or something like that?

CASH

Neighbour means anybody.

HARDY

There’s something in-between lying and not lying. It’s called a story.

MILTON

What about murder? Isn’t that a Commandment?

LOWELL considers.

CASH

It’s a Commandment.

LOWELL

Murder is the Fifth. And it isn’t just a person. It can count if it’s a frog, say—if you killed it for no reason. That’s what I believe.

CASH

You won’t get a straight answer.

LOWELL

Or—or—hunting, unless you eat it after; or you could freeze it. But stealing, that’s—besides, even if it was on somebody else’s property, it isn’t stealing if the peach falls from the tree; that’s what my grandfather said.

MILTON

What your grandfather said, okay.

HARDY appears, a wiry old man in a straw hat, carrying a stack of newspapers.

HARDY

Anything that isn’t attached to something else belongs to God.

LOWELL

You don’t believe in God.

HARDY

Don’t I?

LOWELL

You’re an atheist, Grandpa.

HARDY

You’ll find, as you get older, God starts to slip into the conversation.

LOWELL

I’d like to be old.

HARDY

Just don’t ever get the feeling that you’ve lived too long.

LOWELL

I won’t.

HARDY

I’m going to the shed for a bit. Say nothing to your mother on the subject.

LOWELL

My grandfather had a stash of newspaper clippings out there, which he took out of their folders and read. My mother called it unseemly.

CASH

Trash.

LOWELL

He listened to his old records out there. He collected stories about crime. Murder, mostly, but also grand larceny, rape, a story about a man who cut off his balls by accident, only it didn’t say balls, it said “a disfiguring accident involving an olive press.”

Strains of an old recording.

HARDY

You need to read between the lines.

LOWELL

Sometimes he’d let me look at his clippings. On a hot day, say. When it was too hot for peach expeditions, or going down to the trough. Horses used to water there, in the old days. You could just imagine. You could.

HARDY

A guy gets off his horse, dips his hat in, pours cool water over his head.

LOWELL

Were you ever a cowboy?

HARDY

I knew one. Buster Hinkey. Rode in the rodeo. But he fell off a mountain—blown clean off in a sudden gust of wind. That’s the way to go: a sudden gust of wind, Lowell. Don’t stick around for the details.

LOWELL

Mom says she can hardly wait for you to drop dead.

The music stops.

MILTON

Your mother said that.

CASH

I never said that.

HARDY

Your mother has a way with words.

LOWELL

Ever since Dad left, Mom had it in for my grandfather.

CASH wears a security guard uniform from the local Museum of Forestry.

CASH

And that is also not true.

LOWELL

It’s all very psychological.

CASH

Is that a peach?

LOWELL

I’m not sure.

CASH

Did your grandfather put you up to this?

LOWELL

He says they’re fair play.

CASH

Not from someone else’s property.

LOWELL

They don’t even live here anymore.

CASH

Doesn’t matter.

LOWELL

It’s the redistribution of wealth.

CASH

There’s no such thing.

LOWELL

They’re just lying there on the ground, Mom. Do you call that an equitable situation?

CASH

A what?

LOWELL

If somebody doesn’t use something, then they shouldn’t have it, and that’s final.

CASH

I don’t have the energy for you, Lowell. Go find something useful to do.

LOWELL

Everything I do around here is practically illegal.

CASH

If it involves a rifle again, yes.

MILTON

Tell me about the rifle.

LOWELL

I took it out so Grandpa could teach me how to aim.

HARDY appears with a rifle.

HARDY

Cock your head slightly to the side; that’s it. Pay attention; this is a dangerous weapon.

LOWELL

You said “cock.”

HARDY

You should be able to see clearly the two sights of the rifle. That’s how you line it up.

MILTON

What did you shoot?

HARDY

Steady hand, steady hand. See if you can hit the letter o.

LOWELL

We tried to shoot the r completely out of the sign and make the v into an r so it would say “pirate property.”

MILTON

So you’re a pretty good shot then.

LOWELL

No.

A gunshot, distant, but distinct.

HARDY

Looks more like “primate property” now.

LOWELL

Sometimes we shot at peaches, to watch them explode.

HARDY shoots.

HARDY

Beautiful.

LOWELL

Besides, what else is there to do in this thankless valley?

MILTON

You tell me.

LOWELL

You tell me.

MILTON

Oh. I’m sorry. Are you asking the questions, now?

LOWELL

Why do we live here anyway, Grandpa?

HARDY

Somebody had to.

LOWELL

Sitting on a porch all day is about it. Grandpa calls this booger country.

HARDY

Nose picking—it’s about the only industry left.

CASH

Don’t you have any friends?

LOWELL

No.

CASH

What have you done all day?

LOWELL

You know.

CASH

What about that boy who just moved in? That one with the what do you call it—

LOWELL

Weird head? (out) A boy moved to our town. It was a singular experience. No one has moved here since anyone can remember; they only just move out. But he moved in with his family and his weird head. They started a grocery but nobody goes there—ever.

CASH

Don’t say “weird head.”

LOWELL

(to CASH) His ears are too low; have you noticed? Grandpa says it’s from being amphibian. Did you know that we are descended from sea creatures? We’re at the forward end of an evolutionary process, but if something goes haywire in the womb, it’s what happens—a reversion to am-phib-ianism. That’s why you look exactly like a fish before you’re born—because you’re not even a human being yet, just evolving into one, basically.

CASH

A fetus is a human being.

LOWELL

That’s not what Grandpa says.

CASH

Your grandfather is going to Hell.

LOWELL

Hell is completely full.

HARDY

Not even the Pope could get in now.

CASH

Whatever happened to that girl from the apartments? She’s nice.

LOWELL

Her father got arrested.

CASH

He did?

LOWELL

Anyway, their house smells like pee.

CASH

No it doesn’t.

LOWELL

How would you know?

CASH

I just know.

LOWELL

It smells like pee. I’m telling you. All the boys in one room and they all pee the bed; there’s five of them in there. Five boys in one room. You should see it. It’s a dereliction of social mores.

CASH

Is that right?

LOWELL

By the way, is it okay to jack off with another person?

CASH

Oh my God.

LOWELL

Just asking.

CASH

What are you talking about? No it is not okay! It’s not okay.

LOWELL

I thought that would be your reaction. I meant to ask Grandpa, but he won’t discuss sex with me. He says it’s better if I find out on my own through trial and error.

CASH

I can’t talk about this.

LOWELL

That’s alright. I appreciate your candour.

CASH

Candour is not the right word to use, Lowell. Stop eating that peach. Are you doing something that you shouldn’t be doing?

LOWELL

No.

CASH

Then why did you ask about that—business?

LOWELL

I was invited to join a club is all.

CASH

What sort of club?

LOWELL

Just a club.

CASH

Look at me. Come here. Look at me. What do they do in this club?

LOWELL

Mostly they take their clothes off and stuff, but they also play thirty-one and smoke menthols.

CASH

They do not! Who’s in this club?

LOWELL

There’s some guys. And some girls.

CASH

Girls, too?

LOWELL

I don’t know all the exact inside details, Mom. I’m not even an initiate. They told me first I have to pass a series of humiliating personal tests of my character.

CASH

Are kids making you do things you shouldn’t again?

LOWELL

It’s just an innocent blossoming.

CASH

You are not playing cards with a bunch of naked boys and girls. Believe me, there are far more innocent ways of blossoming in this world.

LOWELL

I’m at the sexually curious stage; it’s an awkward and difficult time.

CASH

You’re not at any such stage, young man, any such stage. Sex is for marriage.

LOWELL

Okay.

CASH

Besides, those kids just want to make fun of you.

LOWELL

No they don’t.

HARDY

No they don’t.

CASH

And if you are at that—stage, then—then I think you should talk to someone who can help. The minister. I have to get to work.

LOWELL

It’s Sunday.

CASH

Is it?

LOWELL

Are you sneaking off to church again?

CASH is gone.

LOWELL

Mom was trying to pretend she wasn’t a Christian.

MILTON

Why pretending?

HARDY appears, with magazines.

HARDY

Opiate for the masses.

LOWELL

Grandpa didn’t want any Christians in our house.

HARDY

Never talk to a minister about sex, Lowell, unless you don’t want to have any. I suppose I’ll have to step in here. Have you ever been to a prostitute?

LOWELL

I’m only fifteen.

HARDY

Well, I’ll have to show you some pictures then.

LOWELL

Grandpa showed me pictures, from his private collection.

HARDY

People who don’t like this call it pornography.

LOWELL

I’ve seen pictures like this before, Grandpa; believe me.

HARDY

Of course you have, but not in any objective way. Let me just start by saying, these are not naked women, Lowell. These are pictures of naked women. There’s a difference. In order for a woman to have her picture taken, she had to strip in front of a camera. I want you to think about that.

LOWELL

Okay.

HARDY

It’s a non-union job.

LOWELL

Is it?

HARDY

You can rely on these for pleasure but not for any lasting satisfaction. I recommend this one here. It’ll give you a few unexpected biological insights. That’s a labia.

LOWELL

Gee.

HARDY

Try to remember, while viewing this, that this, here, is also the passage through which children are brought into the world; you yourself entered through such a passage. It’s a miraculous place, Lowell. Covet it and respect it, simultaneously.

CASH

(re-entering) Are you completely out of your—are you out of your ever-loving mind?

HARDY

I can’t stop the free flow of information.

CASH

It’s getting to the point where I can’t trust you alone with him. Where’s my I.D. badge?

HARDY

You can trust me.

CASH

You think it’s clever to treat him like an adult.

HARDY

The boy is gifted in ways you don’t know.

CASH

See? You put that kind of idea in his head; it makes him think he’s invincible. It’s dangerous. You know how reckless he can get.

HARDY

He’s been misdiagnosed. That is, if you want my medical opinion.

CASH

I don’t.

HARDY

Quit trying to control him. You turn him into a dullard, a vacant parking lot.

CASH

I’m trying to help him.

HARDY

Mind control, that’s all that is. You can’t control people, Cash. That’s part of your problem. You want to control people.

CASH

No I don’t. I do not. Control people?

HARDY

What about Connor?

CASH

What about him?

HARDY

I only mention him.

CASH

In a conversation about me wanting to control people.

HARDY

Draw your own conclusions.

CASH

Connor was sleeping with another woman.

HARDY

So what?

CASH

So what?

HARDY

He was redefining himself in the context of his redundancy.

CASH

What?

HARDY

It’s what men do. In the context of their redundancy, they redefine themselves.

CASH

Not all men.

HARDY

Blame capitalism.

CASH

Worse than that, he lied and he kept on lying. I can live with a cheater, but I can’t live with a liar.

HARDY

The problem with marriage, you see—the problem with marriage—

CASH

Actually, what am I saying? I can’t live with a liar or a cheater.

HARDY

You can’t live with the simple truth is what you can’t live with. Men are men. And women are not.

CASH

Gosh, that is simple.

HARDY

I slept with other women.

CASH

You did not.

HARDY

How do you know?

CASH

You’re my father and you did not sleep with other women. And if you did sleep with other women, you can leave this house and never speak to me again. You never slept with other women.

HARDY

It’s my house by the way. Small point.

CASH

Fine, then I’ll leave.

HARDY

You know that’s not going to happen.

CASH

No?

HARDY

You’ve got a good thing going here.

CASH

Oh, right. I forgot. I’ve got a good thing going here. I live in a mill town with no mill, work in a museum that nobody visits, and my husband left me for a woman half my height.

HARDY

Half your age is what I think you mean to say.

CASH

While Mom was still alive?

HARDY

Eh?

CASH

I do not try to control people.

HARDY

Lithium. That’s mind control. Every child is a normal child; it’s the parents that fuck ’em up.

CASH

That word.

HARDY

I’m trying to expand the boy’s horizons. The kid doesn’t even know how to play with himself.

CASH

If you can’t look after him, properly, I’ll just have to make other plans.

HARDY

What other plans?

CASH

Other plans.

HARDY

I’ll look after him. Don’t you worry.

CASH

What are you doing with those magazines anyway? I don’t want to know. Aren’t you a bit old? Is that a peach?

HARDY

This?

CASH

I’m warning you, Dad. The police have been here twice already.

HARDY

Have they nothing better to do?

CASH

You’ve been warned. It’s private property.

HARDY

That is an abandoned orchard.

CASH

That belongs to someone else.

HARDY

Peaches, rotting. Is that what we have police for? To protect abandoned fruit? Corporate thugs, that’s what they are.

MILTON

Your grandfather was a troublemaker, wasn’t he? A real shit-disturber?

LOWELL

My grandfather had principles and I guess some other people just don’t.

CASH

Dad, I’m not going to have this argument again. Stay away from those peaches, or you’ll find yourself in jail.

HARDY

Good.

CASH

I don’t have the money to bail you out.

HARDY

Good.

CASH

Fine.

LOWELL

Mom made my grandfather swear on his own grave not to go over that fence again.

CASH

And that goes for you too.

LOWELL

I didn’t even know I had a grave.

LOWELL deals out some cards; we are in the downtown rooms of ROXY, HARDY’s sometime-girlfriend.

HARDY

Not a grave, specifically, but you’ve got a death awaiting you. The date is already set. When you pick them up, don’t look at them right away. You want to seem confident and, at the same time, see if your opponent reacts to his hand in any telling way; if his pupils dilate, he’s got at least a pair of queens. The next move is yours. The thing about cards is you get what you’re dealt, but how you deal with them defines your character.

ROXY, a hard woman about forty-five years old, appears with drinks.

ROXY

Tequila can be a hallucinogen, if used correctly.

HARDY

We all know that. (to LOWELL) I’d fold if I were you.

LOWELL

Why?

HARDY

You can’t beat me.

LOWELL

What makes you so sure?

ROXY

I don’t go in for this salt/lime thing. Just a waste of my time.

HARDY

What are you doing?

LOWELL

Folding?

HARDY

Why?

LOWELL

You said I should.

ROXY

Never believe an old man, sweetie.

HARDY

Don’t play what’s in your hand.

ROXY

Let him do what he wants.

HARDY

If I teach him nothing else before I die, I’m going to teach him how to bluff. Bluffing is humankind at his finest. It involves two completely contradictory aspects of thought:

knowing and not knowing. Between the two, Lowell, lies the sublime.

ROXY

He’ll say anything to win a hand of poker.

HARDY

Did anybody ask you?

LOWELL

What if my cards aren’t very good?

HARDY

Don’t tell me that. He tells me his hand isn’t very good. Don’t tell me that.

LOWELL

Okay.

HARDY

Like I said, Lowell, it’s got absolutely nothing to do with what’s in your hand. It’s what’s in your mind that counts. That you can control. What’s in your hand is what’s in your hand. Make me think you’re holding three aces.

LOWELL

How?

HARDY

When you look at your cards, let your head go back just slightly and widen your eyes a little; keep scanning the cards, as if you can’t quite believe your good luck. Bet tentatively at first, then lean back. Try to act unexcited. That’s good. I see you and raise you.

LOWELL

Can you beat three aces?

HARDY

No, but I know you’re trying to bluff me, now.

LOWELL

Then I fold.

HARDY

Don’t fold. Make me doubt my own wisdom. Great men make little men doubt. That’s how Lenin came to power, and Stalin after him. Bet, and bet high. Churchill, now there was a bluffer.

LOWELL

I’ll lose all my money.

HARDY

Losing or winning isn’t the point.

ROXY

No?

HARDY

You want to be a victim of your own fate?

LOWELL

No.