Read Online Vieux Carre by Tennessee Williams - Free Book Online

cain’t, she stays— which applies to you all!
    PHOTOGRAPHER : The fact that she is insane and allowed to remain at large . . . doesn’t excuse it.
    [
A patrolman bangs at the door
.]
    MRS. WIRE : Shh! Nobody make a sound!
    PHOTOGRAPHER : Not only she but her tenants; why, the place is a psycho ward.
    [
More banging is heard
.]
    MRS. WIRE : What’s this banging about?
    PATROLMAN : Open this door.
    PHOTOGRAPHER : One of my guests was the nephew of the District Attorney!
    PATROLMAN : Open or I’ll force it.
    PHOTOGRAPHER : Break it in! Kick it open!
    MRS. WIRE : [
galvanized
]: You ain’t comin’ in here, you got no warrant to enter, you filthy— morphodite, you!
    WRITER : Mrs. Wire, you said not to make a sound.
    MRS. WIRE : Make no sound when they’re breakin’ in my house, you one-eyed Jack? [
The banging continues
.] What’s the meaning of this, wakin’ me up at two A.M. in the mawnin’?
    PHOTOGRAPHER : Scalded! Five guests, including two art models!
    MRS. WIRE [
overlapping
]: You broken the terms of your lease, and it’s now broke. I rented you that downstair space for legitimate business, you turned it into a— continual awgy!
    PATROLMAN : Open that door, ma’am, people have been seriously injured.
    MRS. WIRE : That’s no concern of mine! I open no door till I phone my nephew, a lieutenant on the police force, Jim Flynn, who knows the situation I’ve put up with here, and then we’ll see who calls the law on who!
    WRITER : I hear more police sirens comin’.
    [
The pounding and shouting continue. A patrolman forces entry, followed by another. All during the bit just preceding, Miss Carie and Mary Maude have clung together, their terrifiedwhispers maintaining a low-pitched threnody to the shouting and banging. Now as the two patrolmen enter, their hysteria erupts in shrill screams. The screams are so intense that the patrolmen’s attention is directed upon them
.]
    PATROLMAN 1 : Christ! Is this a fuckin’ madhouse?
    [
Still clinging together, the emaciated crones sink to their knees as if at the feet of an implacable deity
.]
    MRS. WIRE [
inspired
]: Officers, remove these demented, old horrors. Why, you know what they done? Poured water on the floor of my kitchen, boiling water!
    NIGHTINGALE : She’s lying. These unfortunate old ladies just came in, they thought the house was on fire.
    PHOTOGRAPHER : This woman is the notorious Mrs. Wire, and it was she who screamed out the window. Why, these old women should be hospitalized, naturally, but it’s her, her! [
He points at Mrs. Wire from the door
.] that poured the scalding water into my studio, and screamed with delight when my art models and guests ran naked into the street!
    MRS. WIRE : There, now, AWGY CONFESSED!!
    PATROLMAN 2 : All out to the wagon!
    [
The scene is dimmed out fast. A spot comes up on the writer in the witness box at night court
.]
    OLD JUDGE’S VOICE : Let’s not have no more beatin’ aroun’ the bush in this court, young fellow. The question is plain. You’re under oath to give an honest answer. Now for the last time, at risk of being held in contempt of court, “Did you or did you not see the proprietor of the rooming house. . .”
    MRS. WIRE’S VOICE [
shrilly
]: Restaurant and roomin’ house respectfully run!
    [
The judge pounds his gavel
.]
    OLD JUDGE’S VOICE : Defendant will keep silent during the witness’ testimony. To repeat the question: “Did you or did you not see this lady here pour boiling water through the floor of her kitchen down into the studio of Mr. T. Hamilton Biggs?”
    WRITER [
swallows, then in a low voice
]: I, uh . . . think it’s unlikely . . . a lady would do such a thing.
    OLD JUDGE’S VOICE : Speak up so I can heah you! What’s that you said?
    WRITER : . . . I said I thought it very unlikely a lady would do such a thing.
    [
Laughter is