Read Online Thirty Pieces of Silver: A Play in Three Acts by Howard Fast - Free Book Online Page B

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    FULLER ( graciously ) How do you do, Mrs. Graham. I hope I didn’t take too great a liberty to drop in like this.
    JANE You can’t really take any liberties, can you, Mr. Fuller? Whatever you do is all right, isn’t it, Mr. Fuller?
    FULLER ( diffidently ) I hardly think that’s fair.
    JANE Do you always do what’s fair, Mr. Fuller?
    FULLER I try to. That’s all any of us can say, isn’t it?
    HILDA ( with controlled irony ) May I go and finish packing, Mrs. Graham?
    FULLER ( unctuously ) Is your girl leaving, Mrs. Graham?
    JANE ( speaking with almost tortured concentration ) Yes. And she’s not a girl. A woman, Mr. Fuller. Look at her. Do you understand—a woman.
    ( HILDA exits. JANE walks over to the piano, watching FULLER, who drops into a chair again. )
    FULLER They’re all the same, aren’t they? The mind of a child and the responsibility of a child.
    JANE I don’t think so, Mr. Fuller. I said that before. But you don’t listen to what you don’t want to hear. You’re full of your own questions, aren’t you, Mr. Fuller?
    FULLER ( raising his brows ) I see. I almost forgot——
    JANE ( interrupting ) Yes, Mr. Fuller, you forgot about my political views. You ought to be ashamed of yourself.
    FULLER ( a note of anger in his voice ) I don’t think I’ve ever done anything to be ashamed of, Mrs. Graham.
    JANE What a colossal ego. Have you ever done anything to be proud of?
    FULLER ( rising and forcing a smile in return ) I owe you an apology. I’m sorry, Mrs. Graham.
    JANE They train you to be polite, don’t they? I’ve been thinking all day, like in a hotel—European plan, American plan. How do they do it? Do they have a printed set of instructions? Or do they have classes in how to behave before women—different classes of course for white women and for black women.
    FULLER ( with abiding patience ) I shall have to repeat myself, Mrs. Graham. I hardly think that’s fair.
    JANE ( taking a few steps toward him ) I’m hardly concerned any more with what you think or what you don’t think, Mr. Fuller. Does that hurt your feelings?
    FULLER It doesn’t hurt my feelings; Mrs. Graham, because I understand your reactions completely. On the other hand——
    ( The bell rings, and JANE goes to open the door. DAVID enters, carrying a paper, which he opens for JANE before he sees FULLER .)
    DAVID ( exhibiting the paper, the headlines of which proclaim: AGRONSKY CALLED AS STAR WITNESS) There it is.
    JANE We have a guest, David.
    FULLER Good evening, Mr. Graham. I took the liberty of dropping in. I felt it was fairly important—important enough for me to do away with formalities.
    DAVID ( halting uncertainly ) How do you do, Mr. Fuller.
    FULLER I suppose you didn’t expect to see me so soon.
    DAVID No.
    FULLER At least I come with better tidings than last time.
    DAVID I don’t know that it matters a hell of a lot now, Mr. Fuller.
    FULLER ( alert and easy-going ) And that’s just where you’re wrong, Graham. Your wife was taking me over the coals before you arrived, and I can’t say I blame her. She has every right to have it in for me—and so do you. That’s what I was trying to explain to her just now, but I must admit——
    ( He laughs appreciatively. )
    â€”she didn’t give me half a break. Well, she’s a fighter, and I like a fighter, but I can’t say I like being cast as a villain.
    DAVID What are you talking about, Mr. Fuller?
    FULLER Couldn’t we talk better if we sat down? I’ve had a hard day, and yours hasn’t been a bed of roses. I mean that whole stupid unpleasantness that took place this afternoon. Why don’t we all sit down?
    JANE Why don’t you say whatever you want to say, Mr. Fuller, instead of beating around the bush?
    FULLER ( sitting down, although DAVID and JANE remain standing ) Because it’s a little more than a word or