Slip/Shot

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

Tallahassee, Florida: a rural southern capital

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.

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)

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.

I’m your boss!

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)

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?

CLEM (whispers in her ear) Come 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.

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.

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

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 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 . . . ?

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.

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.

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)

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.

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.

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)

PHRASIE Once upon a time . . .

KITTY . . . in a pine forest . . .

PHRASIE . . . years from now . . .

KITTY . . . there lives a little boy . . .

PHRASIE . . . a little girl . . .

KITTY Once upon a time . . .

PHRASIE (whispers to baby) I’ll see you at Christmas. I promise.

(PHRASIE hands baby to MIZ. ATHEY

PHRASIE hesitates / picks up suitcase / exits

KITTY / MIZ. ATHEY / rock babies to sleep)