to
SHELLY.) Sit down! Sit back down! (SHELLY
sits. Sound of
HALIE
‘s laughter again. To
SHELLY
in a heavy whisper, pulling the coat up around him.)
Don't leave me alone now! Promise me? Don't go off and leave me alone. I need somebody here with me. Tilden's gone now and I need someone. Don't leave me! Promise!
SHELLY:
(Sitting.)
I won't, (HALIE
appears outside the screen porch door, up left, with
FATHER DEWIS .
She is wearing a bright yellow
dress, no hat, and white gloves, and her arms are full of yellow roses.
FATHER DEWIS
is dressed in a traditional black suit, white clerical collar, and shirt. He is a very distinguished gray-haired man in his sixties. They are both slightly drunk and feeling giddy. As they enter the porch through the screen door,
DODGE
pulls the rabbit fur coat over his head and hides,
SHELLY
stands again,
DODGE
drops the coat and whispers intently to
SHELLY.
Neither
HALIE
nor
FATHER DEWIS
is aware of the people inside the house)
DODGE: (
To
SHELLY
in a strong whisper.)
You promised! (SHELLY
sits on the stairs again,
DODGE
pulls the coat back over his head.
HALIE
and
FATHER DEWIS
talk on the porch as they cross toward the right interior door.)
HALIE: Oh, Father! That's terrible! That's absolutely terrible! Aren't you afraid of being punished?
(She giggles.)
DEWIS: Not by the Italians. They're too busy punishing each other.
(They both break out in giggles.)
HALIE: What about God?
DEWIS: Well, prayerfully, God only hears what he wants to. That's just between you and me of course. In our heart of hearts we know we're every bit as wicked as the Catholics.
(They giggle again and reach the right door.)
HALIE: Father, I never heard you talk like this in Sunday sermon.
DEWIS: Well, I save all my best jokes for private company. Pearls before swine, you know.
(They enter the room laughing
and stop when they see
SHELLY, SHELLY
stands,
HALIE
closes the door behind
FATHER DEWIS. DODGE
's
voice is heard under the coat talking to
SHELLY.)
DODGE:
(Under the coat, to
SHELLY.) Sit down, sit down! Don't let ‘em buffalo you. (SHELLY
sits on the stair again,
HALIE
looks at
DODGE
on the floor, then looks at
BRADLEY
asleep on the sofa and sees his wooden leg. She lets out a shriek of embarrassment
for
FATHER DEWIS.)
HALIE: Oh my gracious! What in the name of Judas Priest is going on in this house?!
(She hands over the roses to
FATHER DEWIS .) Excuse me, Father, (HALIE
crosses to
DODGE,
whips the coat off him, and covers the wooden leg with it.
BRADLEY
stays asleep)
You can't leave this house for a second without the devil blowing in the front door!
DODGE: Gimme back that coat! Gimme back that goddamn coat before I freeze to death!
HALIE: You're not going to freeze! The sun's out in case you hadn't noticed!
DODGE: Gimme back that coat! That coat's for live flesh not dead wood, (HALIE
whips the blanket of
BRADLEY
and throws it on
DODGE, DODGE
covers his head again with the blanket.
BRADLEY
‘s amputated leg can be faked by having it under a cushion on the sofa, B’&ADíWí ‘s fully clothed. He sits up with a jerk when the blanket comes off him.)
HALIE:
(As
SHE TOSSES THE BLANKET.) Here! Use this! It's yours anyway! Can't you take care of yourself for once?!
BRADLEY:
(Yelling at
HALIE.) Gimme that blanket! Gimme back that blanket! That's my blanket! (HALIE
crosses back toward
FATHER DEWIS,
who just stands there with the roses.
BRADLEY
thrashes helplessly on the sofa trying to reach the blanket,
DODGE
hides himself deeper in the blanket,
SHELLY
looks on from the staircase, still holding the cup and saucer.)
HALIE: Believe me, Father, this is not what I had in mind when I invited you in. I keep forgetting how easily things fall to pieces when I'm not here to hold them together.
DEWIS: Oh, no apologies please. I wouldn't be in the ministry if I couldn't face real life, (FATHER DEWIS
laughs self-consciously.
HALIE
notices
SHELLY
again and crosses over to her.
SHELLY
SHELLY.) Sit down! Sit back down! (SHELLY
sits. Sound of
HALIE
‘s laughter again. To
SHELLY
in a heavy whisper, pulling the coat up around him.)
Don't leave me alone now! Promise me? Don't go off and leave me alone. I need somebody here with me. Tilden's gone now and I need someone. Don't leave me! Promise!
SHELLY:
(Sitting.)
I won't, (HALIE
appears outside the screen porch door, up left, with
FATHER DEWIS .
She is wearing a bright yellow
dress, no hat, and white gloves, and her arms are full of yellow roses.
FATHER DEWIS
is dressed in a traditional black suit, white clerical collar, and shirt. He is a very distinguished gray-haired man in his sixties. They are both slightly drunk and feeling giddy. As they enter the porch through the screen door,
DODGE
pulls the rabbit fur coat over his head and hides,
SHELLY
stands again,
DODGE
drops the coat and whispers intently to
SHELLY.
Neither
HALIE
nor
FATHER DEWIS
is aware of the people inside the house)
DODGE: (
To
SHELLY
in a strong whisper.)
You promised! (SHELLY
sits on the stairs again,
DODGE
pulls the coat back over his head.
HALIE
and
FATHER DEWIS
talk on the porch as they cross toward the right interior door.)
HALIE: Oh, Father! That's terrible! That's absolutely terrible! Aren't you afraid of being punished?
(She giggles.)
DEWIS: Not by the Italians. They're too busy punishing each other.
(They both break out in giggles.)
HALIE: What about God?
DEWIS: Well, prayerfully, God only hears what he wants to. That's just between you and me of course. In our heart of hearts we know we're every bit as wicked as the Catholics.
(They giggle again and reach the right door.)
HALIE: Father, I never heard you talk like this in Sunday sermon.
DEWIS: Well, I save all my best jokes for private company. Pearls before swine, you know.
(They enter the room laughing
and stop when they see
SHELLY, SHELLY
stands,
HALIE
closes the door behind
FATHER DEWIS. DODGE
's
voice is heard under the coat talking to
SHELLY.)
DODGE:
(Under the coat, to
SHELLY.) Sit down, sit down! Don't let ‘em buffalo you. (SHELLY
sits on the stair again,
HALIE
looks at
DODGE
on the floor, then looks at
BRADLEY
asleep on the sofa and sees his wooden leg. She lets out a shriek of embarrassment
for
FATHER DEWIS.)
HALIE: Oh my gracious! What in the name of Judas Priest is going on in this house?!
(She hands over the roses to
FATHER DEWIS .) Excuse me, Father, (HALIE
crosses to
DODGE,
whips the coat off him, and covers the wooden leg with it.
BRADLEY
stays asleep)
You can't leave this house for a second without the devil blowing in the front door!
DODGE: Gimme back that coat! Gimme back that goddamn coat before I freeze to death!
HALIE: You're not going to freeze! The sun's out in case you hadn't noticed!
DODGE: Gimme back that coat! That coat's for live flesh not dead wood, (HALIE
whips the blanket of
BRADLEY
and throws it on
DODGE, DODGE
covers his head again with the blanket.
BRADLEY
‘s amputated leg can be faked by having it under a cushion on the sofa, B’&ADíWí ‘s fully clothed. He sits up with a jerk when the blanket comes off him.)
HALIE:
(As
SHE TOSSES THE BLANKET.) Here! Use this! It's yours anyway! Can't you take care of yourself for once?!
BRADLEY:
(Yelling at
HALIE.) Gimme that blanket! Gimme back that blanket! That's my blanket! (HALIE
crosses back toward
FATHER DEWIS,
who just stands there with the roses.
BRADLEY
thrashes helplessly on the sofa trying to reach the blanket,
DODGE
hides himself deeper in the blanket,
SHELLY
looks on from the staircase, still holding the cup and saucer.)
HALIE: Believe me, Father, this is not what I had in mind when I invited you in. I keep forgetting how easily things fall to pieces when I'm not here to hold them together.
DEWIS: Oh, no apologies please. I wouldn't be in the ministry if I couldn't face real life, (FATHER DEWIS
laughs self-consciously.
HALIE
notices
SHELLY
again and crosses over to her.
SHELLY
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