print previewback KELLY YOUNGER
from This World We Know | Scenes 1 & 2
Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing,
there is a field. I'll meet you there.
—Rumi
| CHARACTERS: | |||
| JUNIOR (later NEIL) | Male, 27, brooding, unkempt, gentle, soft-spoken, withdrawn, a drifter, a nail-biter, likely mild autism, definite PTSD. | ||
| LOTTIE (later CHARLOTTE) | Female, 29, abrupt, defensive, domineering, overprotective, quick-tempered, conservative, a bulimic, a drinker, ruled by fear. | ||
| NEIL | Male, 63, weathered, businesslike, efficient, reserved, square, graying, muscular, handsome, uncomfortable, stubborn, stooped. | ||
| CHARLOTTE | Female, 65, earthy, gracious, uninhibited, optimistic, vital, warm, intuitive, devoted, spiritual, truthful, meditative, calm. | ||
| SETTING: | The field behind the family home. A large juniper tree. Gnarled. Braided. The corner edge of the house, with a small bit of roof appearing. A picnic table. |
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| TIME: | 1976 for JUNIOR and LOTTIE. The present for NEIL and CHARLOTTE. |
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| NOTES: | Question marks are often purposefully omitted, calling for the line to be delivered in a flat, non-inquiring way. Scenes should flow from one into the other with little to no break in the action. The director should attempt to have all characters active on stage as much as possible, but not in a way that upstages the scene being played. All four actors remain on stage for the entire play. |
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ONE
(JUNIOR, in a faded army jacket, sits on the picnic tabletop anxiously biting his nails. LOTTIE glares at him. She firmly holds a child’s stuffed Tweety bird.)
LOTTIE
You want me to thank you!
JUNIOR
No. I’m just saying if it weren’t for me—
LOTTIE
Everything would be better. So go!
JUNIOR
No.
LOTTIE
Get out!
JUNIOR
You’re not letting me explain.
LOTTIE
Because I don’t want to hear it.
JUNIOR
Lottie, I’ve been worried sick.
LOTTIE
Poor baby.
JUNIOR
Just tell me nothing’s broken.
LOTTIE
You think he just got a papercut?
JUNIOR
Shit. Shit.
(JUNIOR gets agitated, unconsciously begins unbuttoning and buttoning the pockets on his jacket.)
LOTTIE
What the hell were you doing up there?
JUNIOR
Was he scared?
LOTTIE
Answer me.
JUNIOR
Is he okay now?
LOTTIE (slapping his hands)
Would you quit with the fucking buttons and tell me why you had Trevor on the roof?
JUNIOR
It was his idea.
LOTTIE
That’s your excuse?
JUNIOR
It’s the truth.
LOTTIE
So it’s his fault.
JUNIOR
Yes. I mean, no.
LOTTIE
You’re blaming a five-year-old.
JUNIOR
I’m not blaming anybody. It’s no one’s fault.
LOTTIE
Un-fucking-believable.
JUNIOR
But he asked.
LOTTIE
Trevor always asks to drive the car as well, but do I let him?
JUNIOR
You have to be sixteen.
LOTTIE
I know that! I’m talking about your stupid logic.
JUNIOR
I wouldn’t let him drive a car.
LOTTIE
Who else was here?
JUNIOR
What?
LOTTIE
That hippie, what’s his name? Louis? Lee?
JUNIOR
Lee’s in Chicago.
LOTTIE
Then Tara? Is that what’s going on?
JUNIOR
I haven’t seen her since—
LOTTIE
You toss him on the roof so you and Tara can go screw for old time’s sake?
JUNIOR
I didn’t toss anybody!
LOTTIE
Oh my god, you didn’t strand him up there, did you? You put him up there then took the ladder down?
JUNIOR
No. Tara wasn’t here. No one was.
LOTTIE
Don’t you know he’s afraid of heights?
JUNIOR
Yes.
LOTTIE
You forced him anyway?
JUNIOR
Lottie, I didn’t force anybody. It was his idea.
LOTTIE
We’re back to blaming a five-year-old.
JUNIOR
Can I please see him?
LOTTIE
No. No way.
JUNIOR
But I really should.
LOTTIE
What did he say?
JUNIOR
When?
LOTTIE
When he supposedly had this brilliant idea.
JUNIOR
He said, let’s go on the roof.
LOTTIE
Out of the blue.
JUNIOR
Yes.
LOTTIE
Just like that.
JUNIOR
Yes.
LOTTIE
And you said.
JUNIOR
OK.
LOTTIE
Easy as that.
JUNIOR
Yes. So can I please see him, or is Mom still there?
LOTTIE
She wants to kill you.
JUNIOR
What’s new.
LOTTIE
And so do I.
(checks watch)
LOTTIE (cont’d)
You’ve got five minutes to explain yourself.
JUNIOR
Why?
LOTTIE
Because I am his goddamn mother and you owe me an explanation.
JUNIOR
No, I know that. I mean . . . why five minutes?
LOTTIE
Because I only came home to get Tweety. Because I’m going back to the hospital to comfort my injured son. And because if you don’t, I’m calling the police.
(A moment.)
JUNIOR
It was an accident.
LOTTIE
Like everything else in your life.
JUNIOR
Lottie, this isn’t about me.
LOTTIE
It’s always about you.
JUNIOR
I feel awful.
LOTTIE
I’m waiting.
JUNIOR
I mean it. I feel sick. Horrible.
LOTTIE
Were you high?
JUNIOR
Just at the chimney.
LOTTIE
Jesus. Not how high up. Were you high. When you were up there. With him.
JUNIOR
No. God no.
(She gets in his face, smells.)
JUNIOR (cont’d)
I just lit up, a little while ago.
LOTTIE
You asshole.
JUNIOR
I swear. Only after you all left. Because I’ve been stuck here, you know? Worried sick. I mean, like, actually throwing up sick.
LOTTIE
Well, good thing you were able to calm your nerves while we were all in the ambulance.
JUNIOR
You should have let me come with you.
LOTTIE
I should have paid for a goddamn babysitter.
JUNIOR
You’re mad.
LOTTIE
You think?
JUNIOR
I don’t blame you.
LOTTIE
No one’s ever to blame with you!
JUNIOR
I just, was trying so hard, you know?
LOTTIE
To what.
JUNIOR
Hearing him all Uncle Junior and all. And besides, it was that third-grader.
LOTTIE
What?
JUNIOR
Some kid told our Trevor that Santa was bullshit.
LOTTIE
Junior, what are you talking about?
JUNIOR
A kid said Santa was a lie, but I told him that third-grader was the one full of fucking bullshit.
LOTTIE
You said that.
JUNIOR
Yeah.
LOTTIE
To Trevor.
JUNIOR
Yeah.
(Beat.)
You mean the fucking bullshit part? Maybe. All I’m saying is, if that bully wasn’t teasing our little Trevor, none of this would have happened.
LOTTIE
So it’s not your fault.
JUNIOR
No.
LOTTIE
It’s another kid’s fault.
JUNIOR
Yeah.
LOTTIE
Who you never met.
JUNIOR
I was just looking out for our little Trevor.
LOTTIE
He’s my Trevor. Not ours. Mine.
JUNIOR
I was just trying be a good uncle. And I told Trevor I could prove it.
LOTTIE
By going up on the roof.
JUNIOR
Yeah.
LOTTIE
So it was your idea.
JUNIOR
Yeah. Wait.
LOTTIE
So you lied.
JUNIOR
No. I’m saying, I told him he’s real.
LOTTIE
Who.
JUNIOR
Santa Claus.
LOTTIE
What the hell does Santa Claus have to do with anything?
JUNIOR
He has everything to do with everything!
LOTTIE
It’s not even Halloween yet.
JUNIOR
Old Mrs. Lambert never even takes hers down. Her Christmas lights are up all year
long.
LOTTIE
Who cares about Mrs. Lambert?
JUNIOR
She’s your friend.
LOTTIE
She’s Mom’s friend, and what does it matter?
JUNIOR
I’m just saying, it’s not too early to hang lights, is all. Plus we had to look down the chimney.
LOTTIE
Why?
JUNIOR
Jesus, Lottie, do I have to explain everything?
LOTTIE
Yes!
JUNIOR
To show him that it’s large enough, you know?
LOTTIE
No, I don’t know, Junior. Large enough for what?
JUNIOR
Santa. His bag. The toys.
LOTTIE
I can’t believe my son . . . Jesus Christ, Trevor almost broke his neck because his stupid uncle was trying to prove Santa could fit down the chimney.
JUNIOR
Don’t call me stupid.
LOTTIE
Then what.
JUNIOR
I didn’t think it through.
LOTTIE
I call that stupid.
JUNIOR
I’m admitting, Lottie.
LOTTIE
All you’ve admitted is that it’s not your fault. It’s some kid, some third-grader, you’ve never met. It’s all his fault.
JUNIOR
That’s right.
LOTTIE
He says Santa’s not real, so my son’s got to look down the chimney.
JUNIOR
Yes.
LOTTIE
Thank God it wasn’t the Easter bunny, or the tooth fairy. What then, would you have made him climb a bridge?
JUNIOR
What’s a bridge got to do with the Easter bunny?
LOTTIE
You’re not getting it.
JUNIOR
And the tooth fairy’s not real.
LOTTIE
I know that! I’m trying to . . . Jesus, did it occur to you to just go inside, to the fireplace, and look up?
JUNIOR
Why?
LOTTIE
Take a flashlight. Just have Trevor look up the chimney and say, see? He can fit. That’s all.
(Beat. It hadn’t occurred to him.)
JUNIOR
But that’s not the entrance.
LOTTIE
Jesus. The roof?
JUNIOR
I just wanted him to tell that kid to go fuck himself.
LOTTIE
You told him to say that?
JUNIOR
Not exactly.
LOTTIE
Because that’s all I need. All the St. Anthony’s parents calling me asking why their kindergartners are now all telling them to go fuck themselves.
JUNIOR
You’re not listening.
LOTTIE
Since when do you even care?
(He is about to answer, stops himself, flustered. Buttons and unbuttons his jacket pockets, nervously.
LOTTIE crosses to the Juniper tree, places her finger on her temples, crushesdown. Takes a deep breath.)
LOTTIE (cont’d)
Junior?
(She turns, sees him holding out a $2 bill that he pulled from his pocket.)
LOTTIE (cont’d)
What’s that.
JUNIOR
Two-dollar bill.
LOTTIE
For what.
JUNIOR
Trevor.
LOTTIE
That’s supposed to make him feel better.
JUNIOR
It was. Not better, but, you know . . . I was planning on giving it to him. After dinner. As a surprise.
LOTTIE
He’s not coming home for dinner. Junior? You’re not going to be here either.
JUNIOR
They’re reissuing them, for the bicentennial, you know?
LOTTIE
Did you hear what I said?
JUNIOR
I went up to the bank especially to get this one.
LOTTIE
I’m going back to the hospital now, and when Mom gets home, you need to be gone.
JUNIOR
Made the teller go through a whole stack so I could pick the crispest. For him.
LOTTIE
I will call the police.
JUNIOR
I never had a Christmas with him before, Lottie.
LOTTIE
Do you hear me? I will press charges.
JUNIOR
If this was going to be the first, I just wanted it to still be, you know, a real one. You know?
LOTTIE
You were planning on sticking around? To December?
JUNIOR
I am. Yeah.
(Beat.)
I mean. I was.
(Beat.)
Is that not cool?
LOTTIE
No. Junior. It’s not cool.
(A moment. She stares him down, unrelenting. He becomes agitated, but tries to remain composed.)
JUNIOR
Good thing the tree broke his fall.
LOTTIE
Junior, the tree didn’t break his fall. It broke his wrist. His tailbone. And nearly his skull.
(He can’t respond. A long moment.)
JUNIOR
Which one?
(She regards him oddly.)
JUNIOR (cont’d)
Which wrist.
LOTTIE
Jesus. I’m done.
JUNIOR (earnestly)
I bet her muffins were good. Huh? Mrs. Lambert make those muffins she always makes at her fundraisers?
LOTTIE
Have a nice life, Junior.
(She turns to exit.)
JUNIOR
It was an accident.
LOTTIE (erupting)
Which part. The part where you accidentally helped him up the ladder even though Mom and I said . . . even though Mom and I explicitly said do not let Trevor up on the ladder?
JUNIOR
Lottie.
LOTTIE
Or the part where you accidentally took him up onto the roof.
JUNIOR
Just listen.
LOTTIE
Or when you apparently . . . sorry, accidentally lifted him up on the chimney.
JUNIOR
I had him by the hand the whole time.
LOTTIE
The whole time.
JUNIOR
I had him by the hand, and then he was just . . .
LOTTIE
(Beat.)
Jesus. Did you push him?
JUNIOR
What?
LOTTIE
I said, did you push him?
(She approaches, searches his expression.)
LOTTIE (cont’d)
Did you push Trevor off the roof?
JUNIOR
How can you even ask me that.
LOTTIE
Simple. Did. You. Push him.
JUNIOR
(Beat.)
No. Lottie. I did not.
(Her eyes do not relent. Long, difficult moment.)
JUNIOR (cont’d)
Why?
(Beat.)
Did he say something?
(The juniper tree sways gently. The wind chimes sound. Lights shift.)
TWO
(CHARLOTTE, dressed in flowing, layered clothes, sitting beneath the juniper tree, eyes closed, meditating. NEIL, dark suit and tie, stands at a distance, finishing a cigarette.)
NEIL
I should go.
(A moment. She opens her eyes.)
CHARLOTTE
We’re all that’s left?
NEIL
Trevor’s driving Mrs. Lambert home. How is that woman still alive?
CHARLOTTE
She’s a Catholic school teacher. They never die.
NEIL
Or miss a funeral.
CHARLOTTE
She looks the same, doesn’t she?
NEIL
Who?
CHARLOTTE
Mrs. Lambert. That wig. The lipstick.
NEIL
I guess.
CHARLOTTE
We should all take such pride in our appearance, especially at ninety-one.
(A moment. She eyes him.)
CHARLOTTE (cont’d)
You look good, by the way, Junior. If I hadn’t already told you.
NEIL
I go by Neil now. Long time, actually. And you hadn’t.
CHARLOTTE
Well. You do. Look good, that is.
(He adjusts the buttons on his suit. She waits, pulls her hair behind her ear, but he says nothing.
He takes out his cell phone, checks a message.
A moment.)
CHARLOTTE (cont’d)
Got rid of mine.
(He looks up.)
CHARLOTTE (cont’d)
My phone. Cell phone.
NEIL
Ah.
CHARLOTTE
Tossed it. On purpose. Tied me down.
NEIL
To what.
CHARLOTTE
Everything. I have a phone at the house, of course. I’m not a hermit, for heaven’s sake. For emergencies, you know.
(Awkward beat.)
And I can talk to Marlene on the computer, if you can believe it. There’s a camera, a little dot on the top, of the monitor, and it’s a camera. You look into it, and she can see me. And I can see her. In Denver. Course, she mostly holds up Barbies, makes them prance back and forth like they’re on TV, or a runway, but still . . . Nice for her to see her Grammie.
(Beat.)
I read her stories. Fairy tales. She likes those. At night. Before bed. I can hold up the pictures. To the computer.
(Beat.)
It would have been nice for you to meet her, but, you know, bringing a five-year-old to a funeral. And Trevor’s wife too. Would be nice for you to meet her. She’s a great mom. Really . . . She’s great.
(Long beat.)
Can’t believe my baby’s turning forty.
NEIL
It happens.
CHARLOTTE
Blink of an eye.
(Beat.)
So. Do you have it?
NEIL
What.
CHARLOTTE
A camera. On your computer.
NEIL (re: cell phone)
I can barely figure out this thing.
CHARLOTTE
I know. I got rid of mine.
(Beat.)
But I said that. Didn’t I.
(He takes a long drag on his cigarette.)
CHARLOTTE (cont’d)
Work busy?
NEIL
Steady.
CHARLOTTE
How many now?
NEIL
Fourteen.
CHARLOTTE
That’s a lot of employees.
NEIL
Others are bigger.
CHARLOTTE
Others are smaller, too, I’m sure. Still department stores? Malls?
NEIL
Warehouses, mostly. Construction sites. Parking lots. Some empty commercial buildings.
CHARLOTTE
Why would you need a guard at an empty building?
NEIL
Vandalism. Homeless playing house.
CHARLOTTE
So you just sit and watch an empty building all night?
NEIL
Not me.
CHARLOTTE
But someone.
NEIL
Yeah.
CHARLOTTE
That’s good. I mean, good it’s not you.
NEIL
Done it plenty. Not bad work.
CHARLOTTE
Not saying it’s bad. Just, I imagine, lonely.
NEIL
Keeps me busy.
CHARLOTTE
That’s good. Busy is good. Helps the process.
(off his look)
Recovery.
NEIL
(Beat.)
Right.
(A moment.)
CHARLOTTE
Did you get those books I sent?
NEIL
Hmm?
CHARLOTTE
The books.
NEIL
Oh. Those.
CHARLOTTE
(Beat.)
And?
NEIL
Never was much of a reader.
CHARLOTTE
I didn’t know if that had, I don’t know, changed.
NEIL
It hasn’t.
CHARLOTTE
But if it does . . . If you decide to, then, those are good ones. They come highly recommended.
(Beat.)
Highly.
NEIL
(Beat.)
I should get going.
CHARLOTTE
Already?
NEIL
Was there something else?
CHARLOTTE
I thought you were going to be around. For a while.
NEIL
What for.
CHARLOTTE
It’s been a long time, is all. I thought . . .
NEIL
What.
CHARLOTTE
Just thought . . . different, I guess. I thought it would be different.
NEIL
It is what it is. That’s all.
CHARLOTTE
But I was planning on telling you . . . I want to say to you . . .
NEIL
Don’t.
CHARLOTTE
No. I have to.
NEIL
Really, Lottie. You don’t.
(She closes her eyes, breathes deep, recites.)
CHARLOTTE
Hurt people hurt people.
(She opens her eyes. He looks at her.)
NEIL
(Beat.)
Okay then.
CHARLOTTE
I’m taking a workshop in radical acceptance.
NEIL
Radical what?
CHARLOTTE
Acceptance.
NEIL
Ah.
CHARLOTTE
That’s my mantra. We each have to memorize one. Recite it. Every day. That one’s mine.
NEIL
Okay.
CHARLOTTE
There are twelve.
NEIL
Mantras?
CHARLOTTE
Participants. Acceptors, actually. That’s what we call each other.
NEIL (slight chuckle)
So you’re adjusting to life in Sedona?
CHARLOTTE
(Beat.)
Junior, are you making fun of me?
NEIL
It’s Neil.
CHARLOTTE
Okay, then, are you making fun of me, Neil? Because I am. Adjusting. Very well. Sedona is warm. Dry. Healing.
(Beat.)
Have you ever been? When you were, you know, out there?
NEIL
No.
CHARLOTTE
You should visit. Winters must be cold where you are.
NEIL
I’ll think about it.
CHARLOTTE
Really?
NEIL
What are you doing with the house?
CHARLOTTE
Here?
NEIL
Yes.
CHARLOTTE
She left it to Trevor.
NEIL
Ah.
CHARLOTTE
It’s what she wanted.
(Beat.)
Why. Did you think . . . Were you hoping that she would . . .
NEIL
No. No, not at all.
CHARLOTTE
Because I assumed . . .
NEIL
I wouldn’t want it.
CHARLOTTE
If this is awkward . . .
NEIL
It’s not. I was just asking.
CHARLOTTE
We all thought . . .
NEIL
I was just asking.
(A moment.)
NEIL (cont’d)
Good seeing you, Lottie.
(He turns.)
CHARLOTTE
Wait. Junior.
(He keeps going.)
CHARLOTTE (cont’d)
Neil.
(He stops.)
CHARLOTTE (cont’d)
All afternoon, it’s like we’re these magnets. Turned the wrong way.
NEIL
That’s not true.
CHARLOTTE
Stop pretending.
NEIL
I’m not the one who—
CHARLOTTE
Just be honest with me. For once.
NEIL
We don’t need to do this.
CHARLOTTE
Every time I came into a room, you’d leave.
NEIL
There were a lot of people.
CHARLOTTE
No there weren’t.
NEIL
Still.
CHARLOTTE
I just, I’ve had this plan in my head. There’s so much I want to say to you.
NEIL
Again. We don’t need to do this.
CHARLOTTE
It’s important to me.
NEIL
Another mantra?
CHARLOTTE
No. I just . . . I would have really liked to have met her.
(Beat.)
Your wife.
(A moment.)
CHARLOTTE (cont’d)
That’s all.
NEIL
Okay.
CHARLOTTE
That’s what I wanted to say.
NEIL
You said it.
(He turns.)
CHARLOTTE
I’m sure she was just . . .
NEIL (stopping)
Just what.
CHARLOTTE
When I heard, at first, I thought, how wonderful. After all these years. My brother’s finally getting married. And I was just . . .
(Beat.)
I was so sorry to hear. We all were.
NEIL
You all?
CHARLOTTE
But to be there for her. In her suffering. During her battle. What a gift.
NEIL
(Beat.)
A gift.
CHARLOTTE
Yes. For both of you.
NEIL (clearing his throat)
Tell Trevor I said goodbye.
CHARLOTTE
Wait.
NEIL (snapping)
What!
(A moment.)
CHARLOTTE
Look at us.
NEIL
Let’s just . . .
(Beat.)
Let it.
CHARLOTTE
We can’t.
NEIL
No. You can’t.
CHARLOTTE
We’re running out of time.
NEIL
I’m too old for this.
CHARLOTTE
We’re too old for this. But we’re both here.
NEIL
For our mother’s funeral. Which is over.
CHARLOTTE
We should take advantage.
NEIL
There’s been enough of that already.
CHARLOTTE
I know it took a lot for you to come here.
NEIL
How.
CHARLOTTE
Trevor said you took a lot of convincing. But he did it.
NEIL
Law school taught him well.
CHARLOTTE
He’s very good at it. It’s his job.
NEIL
He said it would mean a lot.
CHARLOTTE
To us.
NEIL
No. To him.
CHARLOTTE
That’s the only reason you came?
NEIL
I wanted to see—
CHARLOTTE
I wanted to see you too. So many times. And you know, there were many times, many, that Mom wanted to see you.
NEIL
You don’t have to say things like that.
CHARLOTTE
It’s true. She did.
NEIL
When.
CHARLOTTE
A lot. Especially toward the end.
NEIL
And what would she say, exactly?
CHARLOTTE
That she wished, more than anything, to see you.
NEIL
Her exact words?
CHARLOTTE
(Beat.)
I know she felt that way. Deep down. She felt it, even if she couldn’t articulate it. She didn’t really have a way with words.
NEIL
But her fists, well . . .
CHARLOTTE
I do not believe . . . I do not expect everyone to practice vipassana.
(off his look)
I cannot—could not—make mindfulness an expectation of her. She was simply incapable. And that is not her fault. And I have forgiven her. For that. For that shortcoming.
NEIL
You’re a better person than me.
CHARLOTTE
I did it for myself. I couldn’t carry it around anymore. Everything she did. And didn’t do. I had to accept it. Accept her for her.
NEIL
You two always did see eye to eye.
CHARLOTTE
No we didn’t.
NEIL
Could’ve fooled me.
CHARLOTTE
Why do you say that?
NEIL
It’s the truth.
CHARLOTTE
No.
NEIL
Really?
CHARLOTTE
You always acted like she and I were in some kind of collusion against you.
(He stares at her.)
CHARLOTTE (cont’d)
And I want to put an end to that as well.
CHARLOTTE (cont’d)
(Beat.)
I want my baby brother to know that I miss him.
(A moment. NEIL is about to let himself be open.)
CHARLOTTE (cont’d)
And that I don’t blame him.
(He closes up again.)
CHARLOTTE (cont’d)
In the same way I don’t blame her. I can’t. She was just trying the best she could, with what she could.
NEIL
This is what you mean by radical exception?
CHARLOTTE
Acceptance. Yes.
NEIL
Well, whatever works. For you.
CHARLOTTE
Try it.
NEIL
I’m good.
CHARLOTTE
I’d hate for you to leave feeling this way. Thinking Mom felt a certain way about you, or not, because whatever it was, that’s all Mom could do.
NEIL
Still making excuses.
CHARLOTTE
Admissions.
NEIL
Of.
CHARLOTTE
Who Mom was. Why she was who she was.
NEIL
Good for you.
CHARLOTTE
Good for us. This is good for us.
NEIL
I came. Like I said.
CHARLOTTE
And I can’t tell you how much that means to Trevor. And to me.
NEIL
I wanted to see—
(prevents her from interrupting)
—to see for myself. Make sure it was true.
CHARLOTTE
That she passed over?
(Beat.)
You think I would lie?
(A moment.)
NEIL
I wanted to see her. Like that.
(Beat.)
But I hardly recognized her.
CHARLOTTE
You’ve hardly seen her in thirty-five years. You’ve hardly seen anyone.
NEIL
This may be hard for you to understand, Lottie, now that you’ve accepted her and everything, but that eighty-nine-year-old woman you buried today was your mother. You and me grew up under the same roof, with the same woman, but do not pretend she treated us the same.
CHARLOTTE
I don’t pretend anything.
(He laughs, shakes his head.)
NEIL (off her look)
I’m just being honest. Accept it.
CHARLOTTE
You and Mom had a complicated relationship.
NEIL
She hit. I bruised. Pretty simple.
CHARLOTTE
It was a different time.
NEIL
That’s your excuse?
CHARLOTTE
I’m just saying, it was different.
NEIL
It’s always a different time.
CHARLOTTE
All parents spanked their children.
NEIL
With switches?
CHARLOTTE
Sometimes.
NEIL
And wooden spoons? Coat hangers?
CHARLOTTE
Unfortunately.
NEIL
Belts?
CHARLOTTE
I’m not excusing it.
NEIL
Just accepting it. Like I had to.
CHARLOTTE
Imagine what Grandma Eileen must have done to her. Or Grandpa Al. He was no softie. Imagine what Mom must have gone through. She only did what was done to her, and they . . . probably them too . . . and their parents.
NEIL
So it’s a family tradition.
CHARLOTTE (snapping)
NO!
(A moment.)
CHARLOTTE (cont’d)
(calming)
Hurt people hurt people.
NEIL
Clever.
CHARLOTTE
It is something I had to learn. I also had to learn not to blame her.
(Beat.)
And I don’t want you to blame her either, Neil.
NEIL
Then who’s left?
CHARLOTTE
(Beat.)
They say, in the end, all you’ve got are your siblings.
NEIL
They who?
CHARLOTTE
People. Whoever said that. Someone.
NEIL
That’s what you wanted to tell me?
CHARLOTTE
Yes.
NEIL
That someone, somewhere, said something like that?
CHARLOTTE
Please don’t.
NEIL
And here you are telling me you don’t blame me.
CHARLOTTE
That’s right.
NEIL
For what.
CHARLOTTE
That’s my point. I blame you for nothing. Not anymore.
NEIL (with spite)
Good for you, Lottie. I’m glad you finally got your fucking life together and tied up in a neat little bow.
(This wounds her perhaps more than he intended.)
CHARLOTTE
I want you to do one thing for me. With me.
(Beat.)
Just this one thing.
(He stares at her.)
CHARLOTTE (cont’d)
What do you say?
(The juniper tree sways gently. The wind chimes sound. Lights shift.)
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