Five Plays. Samuel D. Hunter

(Becky enters.)

      BECKY: What’s going on?

      TROY: It’s fine, Grandpa’s fine.

       (Cole knocks over a potted plant. It spills dirt all over the floor.)

      COLE: You see what you did?! You’re distracting me!

      TROY: OKAY DAD? LOOK AT ME. LOOK AT ME.

       (Cole finally looks at him.)

       You’re not at the store, the store closed twelve years ago. Remember? Look at me.

       (Cole looks around. Silence.)

      COLE: I don’t— . . . (Long pause) Glass of water, please.

       (Cole sits at a table.)

      TROY (To Eddie): Just keep him in here, okay? (To Cole) Dad, I’m going to get you some water and make a call, okay? Just—stay here.

       (Troy exits. Cole grabs a breadstick and starts eating it. Cole looks at Eddie.)

      EDDIE: I’m, uh—. I’m Eddie, I work with your son. I work with Troy.

      COLE: Damn paper mill makes the whole town smell like dung. When I was a kid we could actually breathe. (To Becky) Tammy, this bread is awful. Would you bring me something else?

       (Becky, not exactly knowing what to do, goes to the table and pushes the vat of salad toward Cole. Cole grabs a fork and starts munching on the salad. Becky sits, joining him at the table. Eddie watches.)

       Where did Troy run off to?

       (Pause.)

      BECKY: He’ll be back in a second.

      COLE: He doesn’t sit still for ten seconds, that one. You’re good for him. You’re his ballast.

       (Silence as Cole eats.)

      BECKY: Grandpa how did you get here?

      COLE: How’s that?

      BECKY: County Care is like six miles away, how did you get here?

      COLE: I don’t know what you’re asking me. Get me some water, please?

       (Becky hands him an untouched glass of water from the table. Cole drinks.)

      BECKY: Did you walk all the way here?

      COLE: Nothing wrong with it, it’s good for you. People drive too much in this town.

      BECKY: I told Dad not to put you in that County Care place. That place is terrible. I told him it’d just make you worse. But of course, he doesn’t listen to me, he’s such an idiot.

       (Eddie sits at the table across from them, watching.)

      COLE: Well, he’s not the brightest. I always tell him, if you don’t want to take over the store, be a plumber. There’s a simple logic to it. You should have waited longer before having a child with him. I don’t mean to sound harsh.

       (Pause. Cole continues to eat.)

      BECKY: No, it’s okay.

      COLE: Still in his twenties and he thinks he knows everything. His sister is the same way, she rushes into everything. Marries that idiot straight out of school. He’s not good for her, you know, I think he smokes marijuana.

      BECKY: They got divorced when I was a kid, Grandpa.

       (Cole looks at Becky for a second, becoming a little more lucid. He looks around a bit.)

      COLE: Hm.

      BECKY: Your store is closed. Dad took it over when I was a kid for like a couple years but he sold it and now it’s a Payless Shoes.

      COLE: I know that, I’m not an idiot. (Pause) Becky. Have some.

       (Cole serves Becky a little bit of salad.)

      BECKY: I don’t—I don’t want to eat.

      COLE: You’re skin and bones.

      BECKY: I don’t know where it came from.

      COLE: What do you mean?

      BECKY: It might be full of pesticides and antibiotics. Or it might be made of lettuce grown in some country where people get paid five cents an hour, or tomatoes picked by starving nine-year-olds.

      COLE: Hm. That sounds needlessly complicated.

       (Becky chuckles despite herself. She picks up a fork, starts picking at the salad a bit. A few moments pass.)

       I suppose Troy must be calling County Care to pick me up.

      BECKY: Probably. Are you better now? Do you know where you are?

      COLE: I’ve pieced it together.

      BECKY: That must be annoying.

      COLE: Eh. Lucidity is overrated, remember that.

       (Cole continues to eat. Becky looks at him.)

      BECKY: I should come and visit you more often.

      COLE: It’s not the most welcoming place, I don’t blame you.

      BECKY: Do you hate it?

       (Pause.)

      COLE: Never really thought much about it, it’s just—where I am at the moment.

      BECKY: But does that—? Does that make you sad?

      COLE: I guess at a certain point you stop worrying about that, you just take things as they come.

       (Pause.)

      BECKY: I wish I was like that. I hate it here. As soon as I turn eighteen, I’m moving out of this town.

      COLE: Oh. You think it’s going to be better someplace else?

      BECKY: I mean, I don’t know? It’ll be different, at least.

      COLE: Towns aren’t much different nowadays, Becky.

       (Silence.)

      BECKY: Grandpa I just like hate everything about life.

       (Cole looks up at her, stops eating. Pause.

       Troy reenters with a glass of water.)

      TROY: Okay, Dad—we’re gonna take you home, okay? Some people from where you live are coming / to—

      COLE: Don’t—. You don’t need to talk to me like I’m a child, Troy, I’m—.

       (Troy puts the water on the table.)

      TROY: They’ll be here in a minute, let’s just wait outside.

       (Cole gets up. He begins to exit with Troy, then stops and turns back to Becky. He goes to her.)

      COLE: For the intelligent person, the world is full of idiots. I know that’s not very helpful.

       (Cole kisses the top of Becky’s head, then exits with Troy. Becky and Eddie are left alone. Pause.)

      EDDIE: You—okay?

       (Pause.)

      BECKY: Yeah. (Pause) Yeah, I’m fine. (Pause) I think I’m gonna walk home tonight. Can I go out the back? Will the alarm go off?

       (Pause.)

      EDDIE: No, you’re okay.

      BECKY: Cool.

       (Becky pauses, then heads toward the back.)

      EDDIE: Do you— . . .? You really hate everything about life?

       (Becky stops, turns to him.)

      BECKY: I don’t know, I just—. (Pause) I guess I just haven’t figured out how to be a happy person without being stupid and naive.