"It's all so strange." "All I remember is that I wasn't happy... was I?" " Scarlet" " You keep calling me that." "It sounds like some other person." "Isn't there anything that you can remember?" "There is something." "It's more like a dream than anything that really happened." "I'm walking down a hallway." "It's dark... and it's so quiet I can hear my footsteps echoing." "The hallway is very long." "It seems never to end." "While I'm walking, I have this feeling that when I reach the end of the hall..." "I'll find something." "It's very frightening at first... but if I can stand up to it and face it, it could be something wonderful." " But I can't remember my dreams." " That's my close-up." "Maybe I just don't want to." "He gave her my fucking close-up." "Is something wrong?" "I thought that was the call button." "Do you know where you are?" "Yeah." "I'm in the fucking hospital." " I was here yesterday, wasn't I?" " You've been here for a while." "My legs fell asleep." "I wanted to get up." "Do you know who you are?" "She's the one with the amnesia." "Not me." "Just help me sit up, all right?" "You had surgery yesterday." "We put the rods on your spine." "Do you remember?" "I'm going to call Dr. Miles." "He'll give you something to calm you down." "No, I don't need to be calmed down." "I need to be helped up." "You did something to me, didn't you?" "You gave me a shot and my legs went to sleep." " I'm going to call Dr. Miles." " No!" "Just give me a straight fuckin' answer!" "What did you do to me?" "I think he's on the floor." "I'll get Dr. Miles." "He'll give you something to calm you down." "No." "What happened to my legs?" "Sometimes the medication makes it hard to remember." "What am I doing here?" "What is wrong with me?" "Scarlet, it's good to see you out of the hospital." "Scarlet, it's good to see you out of the hospital." " How are you feeling?" " Fine, Dr. Buckner." "Try to hold your position without using your arms too much." "Now turn your head to the left, very slowly." "I'm right here." "I'm not gonna let you drown." "I knew there was a catch." "Look at Carlos." "He's doin' ten reps already with weights on his shoulders." "Carlos is a fucking monster." "Carlos belongs in a circus." "You're just as good a candidate for rehab as he is." "Right." "Can you take me back to my room now?" " No." " My shoulders hurt." "Are you gonna make me stay here?" "Go back to your room if you want." "You know the way." "If you had some upper body strength, you wouldn't have any trouble with that." "Fuck you!" "Fuck you too, Carlos!" " Who are you?" " I'm Dr. Kline." " A shrink." " I'm a psychologist." " You've got the voice." " Do I?" "I was under analysis for seven years." "I see." "I'm going to ask you some questions about yourself." "You gonna make me walk?" "No, May-Alice." "You gonna make it so I can pee without sticking plastic inside me?" "I'm not a urologist." "Then go peddle it somewhere else." "Okay, I want you to raise yourselves up on your elbows." "That's it." "Not too much side to side with the head." "Now push your body back to where your elbows are underneath your shoulders." "That'll give you the leverage." "Hey, that's really good, Chuck." "I want you to roll to the left... really slowly now, under control." "Go right to the supine elbows position." "Use your momentum." "Don't lie back." "From the elbows we extend the arms, keeping balance." "Walk it up to a sitting position." "Wonderful." "Okay, leaning forward, those of you with your legs still crossed" "I just want out of this fucking boot camp." "It's like a fraternity here: all these gang members shot in holdups... motorcycle casualties, hang gliders." "I want to go home." "No." "Home home, down there." "You're my business manager." "You're supposed to know about this stuff." "Square it with the insurance company... and get me outta here." " Scarlet." " We read all about your tragedy." " We were so shocked." " You're one of our favorites." "Could you sign this?" "Thank you so much." "You're gonna make a wonderful comeback." "I just know it." "Hold it there as long as you can." "Is that as much as you can do?" "I don't have any upper body strength." "We're gonna get you some." " Car accident." " Fucking taxicab." "I was getting out of one, another one sideswipes it." "Hit me, took the door right off." "Fucking kamikazes." "Don't let me push this down." "I was going to have my legs waxed." "New York City." " It says you're some kind of actress." " Some kind." " I was on daytime." " Daytime?" "Soap operas." "Some of my patients watch those." "Yeah, we always got lots of letters from shut-ins." "What brings you down to Louisiana?" "I heard what a brilliant therapist you were." "Might not be New York City, but we do all right." "Can even get your legs waxed here, if you want." "I have a house here." "Vacation house?" "No." "I grew up here." "Jeff Davis Parish." "Could've fooled me." "I spent a fortune losing my accent." "Okay, there's two kinds of therapy I'm gonna work on with you." "One is to strengthen the muscles you still have control over... keep your back lined up right, increase your range of motion." "The other is to promote circulation and tone... in the areas you've lost the use of." "I'm not the wheelchair Olympics type." "May-Alice, you're a T-10 complete spinal lesion." "Whatever movement and sensation you've lost because of that isn't coming back." "But the rest of your body, the rest of your life is whatever you wanna make it." "Right, Coach." "I don't know what you were like before the accident." "You mean my pre-morbid personality?" "Ooh, you've been reading the literature." "You got a standing frame at this house?" "My business manager said he bought everything in the catalog." "You have to use it." "I want you to stand one hour a day." " Sure." " If you're going to be my patient" "I know the whole routine, and I'm not buying into it." "I don't want you coming to my house." "I don't want your pep talks." "This visit is just something... that my business manager cooked up with the insurance company." "Am I gonna meet this guy, this business manager?" "I'm out of business." "No ramp." "The house has not been prepared." "I figured we'll sort of work our way into it." "An old house." "Not that old." "Old houses are dirty." "I had my business manager call to get it cleaned." "There should be a ramp." " That hurts." " You must be clean." "I'm clean enough." "It hurts." "You think this is pain?" "At home I do one hundred abortions." "Illegal." "No drugs." "That is pain." "You eat now." "What exactly is this?" "Kasha." "Big fiber." "Is good for stool." "Yeah." "It looks like it might have something to do with that." "That's what it's all about." " It was a computer error." " Computer error?" "Isn't somebody supposed to check dosages before the prescriptions are filled?" "Do you know how many patients a day we treat here?" "I don't care how many." "The only one I care about is Scarlet." "A little cleaning?" "It's important that we have clean walls." "I'll be climbing them soon." "Can you hear this?" "Is 3:00 in morning." " I'll turn the volume down." " Is night." "You must sleep." "I got the rest of my life to sleep." "Eat." "I'm not hungry." "Is good breakfast." "Eat." "I'm not hungry." "I'm not even awake." "No eat, no TV." "Weren't you in lisa:" "She-Beast of The Gulag?" "Eat." "I call agency." "They send new person tomorrow." "Before I found Him, I used to get really depressed and all." "Before I found Him, I used to get really depressed and all." "Like I'd try to go on a diet... and I'd starve myself and like throw up a lot and everything, you know." "But then the minute I went off the diet, I gained back all the weight I'd lost." "And I'd feel so weak and worthless... and, you know, like" " Pudgy." " Pudgy!" "Yes!" "But then I found Him, and it like clicked in my head... that He loves you whether you're... like pudgy or skinny, or short or tall... or really smart or kinda stupid... or all healthy and athletic, or like" "Crippled." "Physically challenged, you know?" " I'm sorry." " You hate this job?" "No, it's not that." "I mean, I do hate this job, but that's not what's so terrible." "You got problems with your boyfriend?" "Yes." "Well, you shouldn't let some big dope get you all hysterical." "But he's not a dope." "He's not even American." "What's his name?" "Derek?" "No." " Jean-Claude?" " No." "Paulo?" "Yes." "Do you know that Blake?" "Different show." "I hate her." "How's about Lucinda?" "Lucinda?" "On the stories." "Do you know her?" "A different show." "Raven?" "Dominique?" " Ditterent show." " It's on the same network though." "She comes on right after you." "There's not like a room where they store us all in between shows." "What about that Erica?" "Morgan City, which is like the lowest pit of hell, you know?" "I was stuck there for about two or three weeks... until I met this guy Blackout, this biker." "You like bikes?" "Blackout got these disability checks from the government, you know." "'Cause he was in this psychological drug experiment thing... when he was in the army, and somethin' went wrong." "You know what it's like to sleep with somebody that's got... like a ten-inch hunting knife strapped to his thigh?" "But you know, he was an okay guy really... as long as he stayed on medication." "Boy, if he skipped a dose or two, that was like" "And besides, he had to go back in the hospital to get a refit... on this steel plate that, you know, he had in his head." "And that's when I met this guitar player." "You know, heavy metal?" "Well, this is way beyond that." "I know this guy that got electrocuted once when he was working out on the rig." "He told me that he sees exactly the same kind of blue flashes when Dwaine plays." "You ever been electrocuted?" "I'm Chantelle." "Didn't think they'd send another one." "How long have you been without somebody?" "I dropped the remote." "I think it's behind the couch." "You really oughta have a ramp out there." "Breakfast." "Oh, shit." "I haven't been taking my..." "Ditropan." " I had an accident here." " I'll help you wash up." "Listen, Sharelle." "Chantelle." "You got any problems... personal problems..." "I don't wanna hear 'em." "You been doin' this long?" "No." "You?" "You are a nurse, aren't you?" "Yeah." "I just haven't done this caretaker thing before." "I mean, staying over at somebody's house." "Well, I'll tell you, Shondelle, it's a snap." "Chantelle." "All the things I can't do, you do 'em for me." "These days, that's just about everything." "Can't go anywhere by myself." "I can't cook anymore." "I can't work anymore." "I can't shit without a suppository." "I can't have sex I can feel... unless I really get into blowjobs." "Sorry." "You're probably some big Christian, and I just put my foot in my mouth." "It's none of my business what you put in your mouth, Ms. Culhane." "Chantelle, huh?" "What'd they tell you about me at the agency?" "You're a T-10." "What else?" "You have your own money, so the pay was better than the state cases." "Did they tell you I was a bitch?" "On wheels." "You found my umbilical cord." "Do you have any way to call me if you need anything?" "I just turn the volume way up." "Look, I got no idea what the last one left you up there." "I'll be fine." "Good night, Ms. Culhane." "I don't usually wet myself." "Don't worry about it." "Do you need me to cut that up for you more?" "I can't deal with grapefruit in the morning." "We don't have any eggs." "I've got 'em on the list." "I can't deal with breakfast at all." "There's still a car out back, isn't there?" " Big brown thing?" " Good." "Last one took it into Lafayette a couple times." "Afraid she might have sold it." "Is there anything you need before I go?" "I can change the channels myself." "Should I help you in the bathroom before I go?" "I was the best voider in my rehab group." "Thought they would give me a fucking medal or something." "Your bathroom's not set up too well." "Keys should be in the car." "Try to get back as soon as I can." " Don't kill yourself." " You neither." "Oh, God." "You ain't from around here." "I can tell." "Yeah." "And you are." "I can tell." "Somebody's in a bad mood." "Must've walked what?" "Three, four miles?" "What do you do for this lady you work for?" "I take care of her, I guess." "White lady?" " Mm-hmm." " Old?" "Are you a detective?" " You a nurse?" " I was, almost." "The pay must be real good to get a fine-lookin' young lady... to live out with some sickly old white woman." "Pay's all right." " I hope you stay working' around here." " Look." "If you're trying to be charming', don't be wastin' it on me." "What is that smell?" " That's horse, darlin'." " You put a horse back there?" "I take care of 'em." "Put shoes on their hooves." "Train 'em for their owners." "You're giving me grief about workin' for a white woman." "Is this the town?" "Most of it." "Where you want me to leave you?" "Right here is good." "Right." "You want me to find some gas when you're back out?" "I can manage, thanks." " Sugar." " What?" "Sugar Ledoux." "That's me." "You have got to be kidding." "Well, my real name is Ulysses." "Like Ulysses in the ballad." "What's your name?" " Chantelle." " Chantelle what?" "Chantelle who's got no time for French-talkin' Louisiana cowboys." "You dance, Chantelle?" "No." "Not anymore." "Excuse me." " Could I buy one of those cans?" " Them are mine." " You don't work here?" " Well, nobody work here." "Old Abe there owns the pumps, but he mostly drinks and sleeps." "Leave the box out for people to put the money in." "He's sleepin' now." "So they just leave the money for what they take?" " You're not from here, are you?" " No." "And your car's broke down somewhere without no gas?" "Wait one minute." "I'II take you there, put some in." "I also have a lot of stuff over at the liquor store." "We go by there, pick 'em up." "Shit!" "Propane guns keep the birds off the rice seed." "It's that time of year." "This used to belong to Mr. Culhane." "Lived out by the lake." " It's his daughter's now." " Word is, she's stuck in a bed." "She's paraplegic." "Well, how's she doin'?" "I just started out there." "The place could use some work." "It wasn't set up for somebody in a chair." "I'll do the carpentry, a little plumbing', fix your roof." " I'll talk to her." " You'll wanna have this car looked at." "I'll tell her you said hi." "Nah." "She won't remember me." "I'm really sorry I'm so late." "I need a glass of wine." "Car broke down." "Didn't have any gas in it." "With ice." "I had a really terrible day." "Mine was a scream." "If you'd just bring the bottle over, I can pour my own." " I'm not your waitress." " What are you then?" "I'm going to get the rest of the groceries." "If you want a drink, I'll be in the kitchen." " I can't make it out there." " Where's your chair?" "You're all sweaty." "I couldn't get into it in the bathroom." "It was easier to come out here." "You fell?" " What are you doing?" " I need to look at your legs." " I didn't hit hard." " I need to look at your legs." "No!" "Please." "You might be hurt." "You got a big bruise under your hip." "Nothing's broken, but let me take you for x-rays." " No." " There's no way for me to be sure." "No!" "It's my fucking body!" "I said no!" "I'm not very good at this, am I?" "Yeah, I know." "I've been thinkin' about a career change myself." "I thought that you drove back in to the agency... and told them you were quitting." "I need this job." " I'll get you some dinner." " Could you help me... pull up my pants first?" "Hello there." "Anybody home?" "Can I help you?" "I was wonderin' if May-Alice might be in." "No one seems to answer your telephone." "I was somethin' of an afterthought in the family." "May-Alice's father was already in high school when I was born." "What time does May-Alice usually rise?" "About noon." "Sensible girl." "Noon suit me just fine." "But as long as there's real estate... to be bought and sold in Crescent City..." "I have no rest." "Real estate-- that's what our dreams come to." "Can I help you find something?" "I'm poking' around, aren't I?" "I lived here for a spell... after May-Alice's parents passed on." "Bachelor days." "If you're lookin' for the bottles, I threw all that away." "I see." "There wasn't so much left." "We got some white wine cold here." "That might be pleasant." "My brother, May-Alice's father, was an amateur flyer." "He was quite a sportsman, actually." "His house was once filled with his trophies on every wall." "Until I was compelled to donate them to the local museum of natural history." "Their eyes seemed to follow me from room to room." "They were flyin' down at the Keys... for the bonefishin', I believe, not the Marlin." "May-Alice's father was a great admirer of Mr. Hemingway." "He flew everywhere hunting', fishin'." " Her mother went along?" " Whither thou goest, I shall go." "At the service, three people rose... to comment on what an excellent pilot my brother was." "Not my drink, I'm afraid." "I built this myself." "When I was younger... photography was quite an obsession of mine." "You ever seen the work of Mr. E.J. Bellocg?" "I don't think so." "Well, it's very striking." "Anyhow... photography remained an avocation... not a way of life." "Improves with age." "My friend Jason got his first taste of financial independence... and it was gone with the proverbial wind." "He inherited money?" "The only thing Jason's in line to inherit is a Naugahyde dinette set." "You remember he was somethin' of a potter?" "Well, he came up with a scheme... to manufacture homoerotic delftware." "Go on !" "Dinner plates with little Dutch boys painted in compromising' positions." "Perversion is rampant in our society." "You're better off without him." "I keep tellin' myself that." "I was so sorry to hear about your affliction, May-Alice." "I always wanted you to be the one who went away... and became famous and was always happy." "Now this." "Reeves, if you start to cry, I'm gonna throw my drink at you." "That's my Uncle Reeves." "Isn't he great?" "He's real literary." "Reeves has been literary ever since he was a boy." "Didn't go down real big in my family." "Takes all kinds." "He gave me his camera." "Isn't that sweet?" "But you were insane toward the end... making up all kinds of crazy stories... sleeping with other men on the side, and then accusing" " What is this?" " I'm taking them out with us." " Us?" " Us." "You and me." " Out?" " Outside." "Uh-uh." "I don't like the sound of this." "You need strength in your upper body." "Really?" "Why is that?" "Because I'm not takin' you to the potty every four hours, wiping' your butt." "And pretty soon you're gonna be too weak to do it for yourself." "How's that?" "When was the last time you were outside?" "They used to park us on the roof at the rehab hospital." "You need sun." "Raisins need sun." "Alfalfa needs sun." " Do you swim?" " Not willingly." "Can you swim in this lake?" "You mean, with the snakes?" "Maybe I can find you a pool." "Let's see what you can do." "Here." "That's what I can do." "Now push me back inside." "Push yourself back inside." "Don't pull that motivational crap on me." "I wanna go back in!" "I'll have lunch ready when you get there." "Chantelle, get back here!" "You get back here!" "I wanna go back inside." " It's uphill!" " So's life!" "Damn it!" "Here's some hot tea." "Water gets lively this time of year." "Saw some fish." "Couple of herons too." "Are there really snakes out there?" "Were when I was little." "We kind of ignored 'em." "Kids aren't scared of anything." "I was scared of stuff." "Are you gonna do something to get stronger?" "And why do you think I need to be stronger?" "Because the next one may not be so nice as me." "Right." "And you're Florence fuckin' Nightingale." "You got a telephone anytime you wanna get rid of my ass." "But if I'm going to stay..." "I have to be able to do my job." "Are you gonna try it?" "Don't leave me places." "Hello." "May-Alice." "Oh, shit." "We're so glad to find you at home." " We've been naughty about not visiting'." " And we weren't sure if" "We weren't positive you'd remember us." "That's the character she played, Precious, not May-Alice." "You do remember us, don't you, darlin'?" "Hello." "Chantelle, these are my old friends, Ti-Marie and Precious Robichaux." "Chantelle is my assistant." " Pleased to meet you." " Hello." " Would you like to stay for lunch?" " We'd love to." "We've been following your program." "Everybody is so proud of you." "There are so few people from here to be recognized on a national level." "Unless, of course, you read the sports pages." "Edward reads them out loud to me." "Edward is her husband." "Twenty years next May." "Precious has inertia confused with romance." "And Ti-Marie changes husbands like Edward changes automobiles." "A new one every four years." "Anthony lasted five." "It took you a year to find him to serve the papers." "Of course... we're very provincial compared to the goings-on on your TV program." " What was it called?" " The Young And The Stupid." " Was that it?" " It's a joke, Precious." "What do these people eat for lunch?" " You never married, did you?" " Once." "And were you blessed?" " Pardon?" " Children?" "She wants to know if you had children." "I don't need an interpreter, Ti-Marie." "I do speak English." " I never had children." " What a shame." " And now you can't." " Precious, slow down, darlin'." "I thought about havin' them, but I never really did anything about it." "You were always so eccentric at school." "She means different." "I knew you'd do somethin' original with your life." "Didn't we always used to say, "I wonder how May-Alice is gonna end up"?" "Now you know." "Well, what have we here?" "We haven't unpacked the china yet." "Movin' is such a bother." "You haven't moved in 20 years, Precious." "Well, I can empathize, can't I?" "Could you bring some wine?" "She is such a jewel." "Wherever did you find her?" "Did her people work for your parents?" "She works for an agency." "You don't see as much colored help these days." " It was the '60s, the riots up north." " Right." "How ya gonna keep 'em down on the farm after they've burned Chicago?" "Did they burn Chicago too?" "It's a joke, Precious." "Well, ours down here have certainly caught... the " attitude."" "Precious and Edward have a Guatemalan woman." " Spanish." " She speaks Spanish." "She's from Guatemala." "Oh, it's warm." "I thought it was gazpacho." "I wasn't expecting'" "Campbell's?" "Just a little surprised." "Excuse me." "My husband, Edward, can't tolerate truly hot soup." " He's very sensitive." " Edward?" "Sensitive?" "You are so critical of him just because he's faithful and steady." "Steady?" "He's practically comatose." " Edward is in perfect health." " It's a joke, Precious." "Chantelle, I just thought of somethin' else we need at the market." "I remember when we were here last." "Your parents, God bless 'em, were still with us." " Some sort of soiree." " A slumber party." "Yes, I remember now." "Laurel Pettibone was there, and Stacy Lee Ellis." "And who was that girl?" " That one with the hair?" " We all had hair, Precious." "No, the one with the hair... who we were so awful to." "She wore it in that enormous braid down her back... like some sort of peasant woman." "That was me." "Oh, May-Alice... it couldn't have been you." "It was a picture I had of Joan Baez." "Took me hours to get the same effect." "Perhaps I misremember." "I'm thinkin' of someone we just tortured." "That was me." "Ms. Culhane?" "It's 2:15." "It's time for your injections." "Right." "My injections." "Oh, dear." "Have we overstayed our welcome?" "If I don't have the spasms, they only take about an hour." " We were just passing through anyway." " And now we know where you are." "Do you think I'll need the restraints today?" "They've been set up." "Excuse us, please." "That was her with the strange hair... wasn't it?" "I feel like I've been picked clean by buzzards." "You hadn't seen them in a while?" "Not since I boarded with 'em at Grand Coteau." "I thought that soup bit was brilliant." "You just open the can and heat it up." "What's so brilliant about that?" "Well, I thought, you know... you were tryin' to help me get rid of 'em." " I can't cook." " Sure you can." "Is there some rule all black people gotta know how to cook?" "Darlin', down here there's a rule that everybody got to know how to cook." " You wanna watch with me?" " What is it?" "Bette Davis and Joan Crawford pretendin' they're the Robichaux sisters." "You thought I looked bad." "Chantelle, do you have to wear that uniform all the time?" " I thought you wanted it on." " It's so " nursy."" "I am a nurse... not an assistant." "I don't know what else to call you." "You're not my servant." "Thank you." "You're not my baby-sitter or my housekeeper." "I'm not your friend." "You can go out at night if you want." "No." "I'm fine out here." "Must be so boring for you." "It's a job." "It's supposed to be boring." "" Oh, no, Ms. Culhane." "It's never boring working for you."" "If you want me to be that way, I'll try." "No." "You have to be totally straight with me, okay?" "Whatever you got on your mind, I wanna hear it." "Yeah?" "Yeah." "You drink too much." "No, I don't." "Is this the one where she feeds her sister the rat?" "Somebody is pounding' on my house with a large, blunt object." "He's been doing that for a long time now." "Who's he?" "He's the guy that I hired to build a ramp and to fix up the bathroom." "You told me you wanted to, and I think he's given a good price." "Why'd he have to start so early?" "It's past noon, Ms. Culhane." "Could you call me May-Alice?" "You mean when your friends aren't here?" "I mean all the time." "Whatever you want." "How long have I been wearin' these?" "Since Monday." " I kind of gross you out, don't I?" " Is this a trick question?" "Rennie." "Hi." " It's Rennie, right?" " Yeah." " Yeah, it's me." " Wow." " How are you?" " I'm fine." "I'm older." "How are you?" "So, you're a carpenter?" "Yeah." "Some of this, some of that." "Oh, Chantelle wondered if you wanted to come inside and have somethin' to drink." "Lemonade, iced tea." " Sure." " Great." " You have a family, I guess." " Oh, yeah." " How many kids?" " Five." "Wow." "I didn't realize people had that many anymore." "Us coon-asses do." "You still go out on your daddy's boat?" "I suppose you got your own now." "That's mostly what I do." "Take tourists out on the swamp and point out the alligators and snakes." "Beats chasing' around an oil patch, like my daddy." "Five kids." "I know your wife?" "I don't see how you'd have met." "Well... thanks." "Later you might wanna show me what you need in the bedroom." "We got all these rails and things from the gimp catalog... but I never got 'round to havin' them installed." "Well, I'll take a look at it." "You know, that's a real nice boat you got sitting' out front." "Hasn't been run in 20 years." "Well, oughta have somebody check it out someday." "Why didn't you tell me it was him?" "Was he somebody special?" "At least he's not in jail." "Did you go to school with him?" "He's from before I went off to Grand Coteau." "He was real wild." "We all had crushes on him." "But he was, you know" "His daddy wore alligator teeth around his neck and had all these tattoos." "Rennie'd come over and sell fish bait to my daddy." "White trash?" "It was more complicated than that." "They was the real swamp Cajuns, darlin'." "Rennie Boudreau." "Five kids." "Jesus." "I look like shit, don't I?" "Hi." "May-Alice isn't here right now." "If you want to leave a message, wait till after the beep... and leave your phone number." "May-Alice is always here." "They know that." "And what if it's for you?" "I won't be gettin' any messages." "What if the car takes longer than a day to fix?" "Stay over, I guess." "Be a nice break for me." "I should tell them to leave the time they call." "Hi." "May-Alice has crawled into a hole to die." "If you'd like to leave a message, forget about it." "Hello?" "Is Chantelle here?" "No." "She went to town." "You the lady she working for?" "Yes." "I don't know when she's going to be back." "You afraid of me?" "Don't be." " Is she okay?" " Chantelle?" "Sure." "She's fine." "Happy?" "Well, happy?" "I don't know." "I mean, she seems okay." "She lives upstairs." "I don't know if she's happy." "No reason you would." "I just live with her 24 hours a day." "Was she expecting you?" "No, I don't think she really wants to see me." "It's nice to live near the water." "Yeah." "I suppose it is." "You can't feel anything... in your bottom half?" "That's the general idea." "Yeah, I felt that once." "Yeah, it started in my feet." "And then it moved to my knees." "And I remember thinking how when... it reached my heart, I'd be dead." "What happened?" "I just did some more of whatever it was I was all messed up on... and it shot me right past into somewheres else." "Did she finish with the detox?" "Yes." "I think so." "When she make up her mind to do something... you do not want to be in her way, Chantelle." "I've noticed." "Well, you know, that's good." "She's keeping it straight." "I don't think I want to wait around for her." "Don't mind me." "I just ain't ready to do this." "When you see Chantelle, you tell her..." "I'm sorry." "Who do I say came to call?" "Bad news." "She'll know who you mean." "It's Chantelle who don't have time for me." " Sugar." " Yeah, you're right." "Only thing good here's breakfast, and that's long over." "What are you doing here then?" "Coffee machine busted over at work." "Come on with me, get you some real food." "I have to be somewhere." "You got time to burn, girl." "That car of your white lady's sittin' at the Bourgeois Brothers garage." "Them boys is slower than a three-legged mule." "Can't tell you what to do with the rest of your life, Chantelle... but I know you don't want to be spending no five hours of it in here." "How's that for you?" "It's fine." "That there on top is court bouillon." "I made that myself." "So, all the women up north so hard to get next to, or is it just you?" "Just me." "Hey, darling." "Albertine, say hi to Chantelle." " Hello." " Hi." "Nice to meet you." "Albertine's my first girl." "She stays with me most of the summer." "You've got more?" "Yeah, by Albertine's mama, which was my first wife." "I had her and a boy, Henri." "Henri just got him a scholarship to LSU." "Then with my second, I had Cecile and Eugenie." "They live over by Breaux Bridge now." "Don't see enough of them." "Then, let's see." " Rosalynn." " Ah, Rosalynn, yeah." "I had Andre, Delia and Lorenzo." "Lorenzo just startin' up school now." "Whose horse is this?" "Man who gonna put his top stallion on one of my mares." " You're gonna let him do that?" " I'm getting paid, darlin'." "Kind of blood line his stallion got, cost me a fortune for that semen." "You gonna do that just like in the cowboy movies?" "I'm a blacksmith." "You're a black somethin', all right." " Are you following me?" " Just giving you some space, darlin'." " I don't know how." " Ain't nothing to it." "You have to show me how to do it." "Show me how!" "No, don't be sorry." "Just don't be so suspicious." "The man been married 25 times, got more kids than a field got corn." "How am I supposed to trust you?" "I never asked you to trust me, darlin'." "Just want you to be with me... have some fun." "I already had enough fun to last me a lifetime." "Will you spend the night with me?" "You don't have to like it." "You probably live in the swamp, right?" "You got dead raccoons and shit hanging on your house." "The Lord can't hate anyone." "How can He hate a small child?" "That doesn't explain it." "He only" "Wow." "Oh, Reeves, I love you." "I'm sorry." "I made love to women who wasn't satisfied before... but you're the first that come out and cried about it." "No, it's just me." "I been wondering what you taste like." "Yeah?" "More salt than sugar so far." "I'm sorry." "I just don't think it's gonna happen." "Not tonight." "Yeah." "Well... you kind of took the wind out of my sails anyway." " Poor baby." " I got feelings, too, you know." "Is that right?" "If I'm lyin', I'm dyin'." "Could I stay right here tonight?" "Mm-hmm." "What's that name of yours, the real one?" "Ulysses." "Like that guy in the story that... went to fight the Trojan wars with an army." "And he's the only one that make it back alive." "A survivor." "He was that." "May-Alice!" " Don't come in." " Are you all right?" "Shut the door first." "I'm printing." " You get in late?" " It's morning." "Really?" "I stayed all night." " They didn't finish the car." " No sense of time in here." "I see you've been busy." "I don't need a sermon." "Do you think you can get through a day without a drink?" " Sure." " Okay." "Twenty-four hours, starting right now." "You have enough problems with your liver and kidneys" "You're the addict, not me." "What do you mean by that?" "He was here?" "In the afternoon." "I hope he didn't scare you." "He wouldn't hurt anybody." "I'm glad to hear it." "He didn't seem too healthy." "Turn that light on, would you?" "Shoot." "This is the only part I can't remember how to do." "I cleaned up." "Finished detox a month ago." "Maybe the fixer's worn out." "Am I fired?" "I lied to the agency." "I gave them my records from back in Chicago... and told them I'd been off in Europe for two years." "Luther had some restaurants." "He owned a big car." "It was fun living high." "It was exciting." "And then we got to freebasing... and all of it just fell away." "What stopped you?" "I guess I didn't want to die." "I need this job." "You're not fired." "And..." "I'm not gonna drink today." "I may as well go to bed." "How you feeling?" "Like shit." "How did you do it?" "At first I was in the hospital." "There's no place to score." "It's back in the real world that's hard." "This isn't the real world." "I know." "People who been cutting your grass all these years had any sense... they'd have brought this inside." "You got you some rust." "A couple, three parts, though, I could have her running." "Did Chantelle ask you to fix this?" "No, I just thought I'd do it." "Why, you live by the water, you want a boat." "So how's your Daddy these days?" "He's dead." "Oh." "Yeah, he started him a fight in Smokeys over at the Sabin Pass." "Couple of roughnecks put him away in a parking lot." "That's the way he lived it." "I'll have her running someday, I'll take your friend and you out... show you the neighborhood." "Sure." "You never did like it much down here." "The place is all right." "I just had problems with who people expected me to be." "You okay?" "You seem a little upset about something." "I'm fine." "I'm trying to" "I've started a diet." "It makes you cranky, raises your blood sugar... and all that." "So did you ever get away from here?" "Drafted." "Sent me to the Philippines, guard ammunition on the way to the war." "All of us are real proud of how you did on the TV." "Sure." "You know, I never did see your program." "Arlene won't have it in the house." "A critic." "No television, no radio, no liquor, no card playing." "Can't sing a song unless the Lord's name's in it." "That's serious." "She took religion between the second and third babies." "Her people were like that, but she'd run off from them when I met her." "She got the kids in it with her now." "They pray for me a lot." "Was I snotty to you when we were kids?" "Well, you weren't much of anything to me." "You know, we kind of just looked at each other." "I think you were real nice to the people you knew." "You were different, you know, but you were real nice." "Then how'd I get like this?" "I'm laying cement at Landrys today." "I'll be by in a couple of days." "Bye, Rennie." "All right." "Game's over." "What game?" " Where'd you put all the liquor?" " I threw it out." " It's in the trash?" " I poured it out." " Bottles are in the bin." " You poured it out?" "The recycle people don't want nothin' left in the bottles." "Look, Chantelle, I am not ready for this." "When I get stronger, I'll quit drinking." "If you keep drinking, you will not get any stronger." "Okay." "The deal was 24 hours, right?" "I've already done that." " Ernie's closes by 9:00." " I'm not getting you any more." "What?" "You want it, you get it yourself!" "I can't drive." "That's something to work toward." "Don't hand me that condescending bullshit!" "Just go and get me some fucking wine!" " Listen to you." " You listen to me." "I hired you!" " I want you to do what I tell you!" " Dream on, girl." " Who made you the fucking warden?" " Who made you queen of the whole world?" "You sit around, feeling sorry for yourself... you miserable, TV-watching, dried-up old witch!" "You can't go more than a day without a drink, and you're not even a drunk yet." "You're just fucking spoiled." "Most mornings I wake up, I wanna get high so bad I can't breathe." "Cocaine is different." "Bullshit!" "What do you know about it?" " Where are you going?" " I am going away from you." "I don't want to be around your shit anymore, understand?" "Away from you !" "You've been cooking." "Gotta do something to keep busy." "Smells good." "Sit." "Nice plates." "I broke most of the other stuff." "You did a number on them." "That's okra gumbo there." "You can start with some of that." "Thank you." "I was gonna make biscuits, but couldn't find the lard." "Yeah?" "Iced tea or Kool-Aid?" " May-Alice." " Yeah?" " We've got company." " Who is it?" " They say they're from daytime." " Damn." "Dawn." "Oh, baby, it's so good to see you." "You tracked me down." "Florida junket." "They expanded it to New Orleans this year." "Oh, May-Alice, Nina." "This is Nina Crossley." " She's playing you." " Yeah, Scarlet." " I'm back in the story." " Vance thought it was time." "I'm pregnant." "I'm sorry." "Have a seat, please." "Oh, no, Scarlet is pregnant, on the show." "Oh." "Wow." "I'm taking Lamaze classes." "You know, me, personally, as a preparation." "I had a hysterectomy." "Oh." "I'm sorry." "On the show." "Scarlet." "My third season." "A hysterectomy?" "They took the crib and left the playpen." "Oh." "Something my mother used to say." " Was she from the south?" " She was from the south side." "Maybe that's why the baby had to be by Zon-Dar." "I haven't been keeping up lately." "Zon-Dar?" " He went back to his planet." " Ah." "Well, this is a great surprise." "Have a seat." "Would you like something to drink?" "Yes." "Do you have sassafras tea?" " Oh, she read that someplace." " A wine spritzer?" "We don't have anything alcoholic." "I'II just go and bring out a bunch of stuff." "Chantelle isn't my maid or anything." "Oh, I'm sorry." "I thought she was a family retainer." "Right." "May-Alice, this country is so-- it's so laden, you know?" "Laden?" "With what?" "Oh, just atmosphere and portent." "It's like the air is thick with" "What's it thick with?" "Humidity." "Right." "It's liquid and heavy with history and tradition." "It's fecund." "Well, it must be great for the soil." "This land, deep and inviolate... paid for in blood... infused with the life spirit of those... who would endure on its face." "Standing in mute and eternal reproach... to the cheap intransigent babble... of the towns that fester in its nether parts." "This land... whispering with overripe breath... its tale of original sin." "That's amazing." "Who wrote that?" "I forget." "That's why I've never had kids." "After surviving me as a mother, they'd grow up and write... more of that twisted gothic shit." "May-Alice, I think you'd make a great mother." "Dawn, I couldn't keep a pet turtle alive." "And when I was married, it was to that-- that " actor."" "He was on the show." "Jamie?" "On a soap?" " He played Zon-Dar." " He got you pregnant?" "He's got a sperm count of two." "Does this place have a name?" " You mean Lake Arthur?" " Arthur?" "Arthur, like the king." "May-Alice is turning back into a cracker." "Actually I meant the house." "Does your family have a name for it?" "You mean like Belle Rive?" "Well" " Does your apartment have a name?" " 14G." "Jeffrey calls our apartment in the Hamptons Uncle Tom's Condo." "Excuse me." "I feel terrible." "Here I am, sitting in your backyard... having a nice time." "I'm the one who stole your part and had an affair with your ex-husband." "Now I'm carrying his baby." "An affair?" "Oh, not in real life." "Oh, no." "No." "She" "He was taken." "Taken?" "He's grown a lot since you knew him." "At least that's what I thought anyway." "You poor baby." "How'd it come out?" "He went back to his planet." "Can I help you with anything?" "I'm fine." "Kim doesn't eat meat... and Nina is just going to open it up and scrape out the mayonnaise." "What about you?" "I eat anything." "So... you from around here?" " Chicago." " Really?" "Me too." "Cooley High." "Du Sable." " Where'd you live?" " Euclid Street." "Pill Hill." "Father must have been a doctor." "I'm from out of Cabrini Green." " It's a long way out." " Yeah." "So, how is she doing?" "See for yourself." "I don't think I could handle it." "Are you and her good friends?" "We spent a lot of time together." "Work, you know." "Yeah." "You two seem to get along pretty well." "We spend a lot of time together." "I did Blanche." "I did Laura." "I did Alma in Summer and Smoke." "I did Frankie in Member of the Wedding." " Where was this?" " Minnesota, in school." "Oh, Minnesota, huh?" "One more year on daytime, save my money..." "I am going to quit." "I'm gonna go back to class and I'm gonna do theater." " I think I've heard this one before." " I've said that one before." "I didn't ask for the anal probe." "Four years starving in New York... doing showcases I had to pay for myself." "That was my first big break." "My first feature, this zero-budget movie... about people who are taken up into alien spaceships... and given physicals against their will." "I go in for the audition, and the director... is really intense and mysterious... and he has me sit with my eyes closed... and free-associate, right?" "We do these improvs about the aliens... representing our most primal fears." "And it's great." "Finally some real acting." "And they tell me before I leave that I've got the part." "Only I don't know what it is yet, but I'm so thrilled... because it's this feature." "It's not a student film or anything." "The agent gives me my script, and I go through it..." "looking for Margaret, the part that they say I have." "And I've got my yellow underliner marker in my hand... only it's drying out." "Finally I find only one page with the corner folded over." "I'm in this therapy group of these people... who have had these alien physicals." "And I've got only one line." "" I didn't ask for the anal probe."" "Not much to build a character on." "But I'm a professional, right?" "I prepared." "I had back story on this woman." "I knew that she had been to the hairdresser... before she came to the therapy group." "I knew that she didn't trust that guy who sat next to the fuchsia." "I knew that she turned the TV set on... the minute she got to her apartment, just for the sound of it." "I even had my boyfriend-- my boyfriend at the time-- with a thermometer, you know, for the sense memory, right?" "I was loaded for fucking bear." "So finally it comes time to shoot the scene." "They do one take of the wide shot, and they stop before my line." "I was terrified... that they were gonna cut it." "They move in for reaction shots, close-ups." "Mostly things that mean that I have to go and sit outside... because the camera is set up where my chair is." "By the time they get to me, the crew is grumpy... because it's late and they're non-union and don't get paid extra for overtime." "The lead actor is gone." "He's got his shrink appointment." "And I'm" " I'm alone." "I'm staring at this piece of tape... stuck to a stand next to the camera." "The director says..." ""Okay, let's try it a few times without cutting... and show me a few different colors."" "I didn't ask for the anal probe." "That was it." "You come back up, you let me know right away." " You promise?" " I promise." "Take care." "Bye, Chantelle." "I need a drink." "That's too bad." "When do you think I'll be strong enough to have just a little?" "Never." "You miss it much?" " Drinking?" " Acting." "It was the only thing I was ever good at." "Yeah?" "I think I need help dressing." "Do my legs look weird?" " A bit pale." " More than the rest of me?" "No, not really." "Shorts." "It's what I'm wearing." "Of course." "Do you have any I could borrow?" "Yeah." "Look at this." "Think you can do anything with this?" "I'm not a hairdresser." "You have friends." "Women friends help each other with their hair." "My friends don't have your kind of hair." " Right." " We don't have time for cornrows." "Why am I doing this?" "Why do I give a shit?" "Because he likes you." "You think he does?" "He asked you out on his boat." " He asked you out too." " He's not after me." "He's not after me either." "He's just asking us out to be nice." "He asked you out." "He asked me to come along." " Now, if you don't want me to" " No!" "You have to come." "Oh, I feel like I'm fucking 13 years old." " I am pathetic." " You're not pathetic." "Or maybe he just wants us to see his boat." "Men like that, to show women their machines." "Or maybe he really is after you." "You are pathetic." " Are we lost?" " No." " How can you tell?" " I've been coming here all my life." "Look." "Oh, yeah." "I saw one of those take off with a two-foot mud snake in its mouth." "My daddy almost swallowed his tobacco." "It meant something to him?" "Yeah, everything meant something to him." "He had all of them coon-ass superstitions." "Catch something in his traps, whatever it was-- turtle, gator, possum." "He'd cut open the stomachs, see what was inside, tell the future." " Are there a lot of snakes in here?" " This is cottonmouth heaven in here." " I'll find some for you." " Don't go out of your way." "I never went out on any boat." "It's not my father's style, the nature stuff." "Of course, maybe if he had had sons." "You had sisters?" "He wanted boys." "All he got was me." "Tough on your mother." "I lost her when I was 14." "Diabetes." "Are you still close to your father?" "I got married right out of high school... and he didn't want me to." "So when we split up, it was like, you know, "I told you so."" "And who needs that, right?" "And later on... when I hooked up with Luther... well" " We don't talk anymore." " Lunch." " That's nasty looking." " She's from Chicago." "Well, let's check out what the future's got in store for us, huh?" "What's that mean?" "Is it good?" "Passion fish." "Hold out your hands." "It's real bad luck not to." "Squeeze that little fish tight now." "Think about somebody you want some lovin' from." " You're makin' this shit up, right?" " Oh, no." "Ever since there been Cajuns, they been squeezing the passion fish." "Some says you gotta swallow them raw." "I don't need it that bad." "What is this island, Rennie?" " Does it have a name?" " Oh, yeah." "Misère." " Misery." " Nice." "The story is some slave woman went crazy out here." "Lost her only child to pneumonia, run off from her people... holed up out here." "Trappers come by in their pirogues." "They hear her moaning and crying about her lost baby." " Isle of Misery." "You okay?" " Mm-hmm." " What'd she live on?" " Oh, bird's eggs." "Fish." "Everything out here that flies, walks, hops or crawls has got a use." "It's all good eatin'." "Something broke?" "Yeah." "Can you fix it?" "It's gonna take a little time." "I'm real sorry about this." "No hurry." "Sure, we'll feed the bugs while you fix it." "Well, I got just the thing for that." "You better do this." "It keeps the mosquitos off your legs." " Looks like fun." " Help yourself." "Now are we lost?" "No matter where you're at, there you is." "Your kids must love being out here with you." "Arlene won't let 'em come." "Says the devil lives out here." "That's why the trees won't grow straight." " You getting cold up there?" " We're fine up here." "Just fine." "I'm really sorry about all this." "I loved it." "It was wonderful." "A thrill a minute." "You want to make a call from the house?" "Your wife." "She knows where I am." "She's not worried." "Right." "Well, good night." "Good night." "Good night." "His wife's not worried." "Should she be?" "Why worry about some cripple who's got a freezer compartment for a pussy?" "Don't be like that." "Look at me." "I'm pitiful." "My palms are all sweaty." "They smell like fish." "Passion fish." "May-Alice!" "May-Alice, I found her!" "It's okay!" "You okay?" "I was dreaming." "You were in it." "You were on that island." "And you had this little girl with you." "Don't dream that anymore, okay?" "It's a dream." "It's time to go." "We're gonna have to get you a car with hand controls." "I haven't driven in 20 years." "Hey, I lived in New York." "I took taxis." "Besides, I'd look like fucking Robocop." "Jesus, there's Rennie." "You want me to pick you up anything while you're in session?" "I don't know." "Some more film." "I wish she'd open up a little more." "She's carrying a lot of weight around." " You've gotten a little more flexible." " What?" "Especially in your neck and shoulders." "Try to cross your chest." "She's been all over me about my drinking." "Give me some resistance." "I used to have a few glasses of wine with dinner... another while I learned my lines for the next day, then fell asleep." " The rest of the time I was working." " The other one." " When I had the whole day to face" " You're getting stronger." "If I ask her for a drink now, she won't give it to me, like she's the boss." "You think it's something you can handle on your own?" "How's your bowel function?" "Fine, if I eat at the same time every day." "I almost feel like we could be friends." "Only there's so much garbage in between us." "Any shortness of breath?" " Pain in the lungs?" " Mm-mmm." " So what do you think?" " I'm not done yet." "I mean about her" " Chantelle." "I'm a physical therapist, May-Alice, not a marriage counselor." " Right." " You've been doing your standing?" " Doc?" " Don't call me Doc." "Call me Louise." "Did you ever fall in love with a married man?" "I gotta go!" "Sugar!" "Oh, hi." "I'm Chantelle." "I remember." "Sugar said that you were at the track." "Albertine, when your parents broke up and Sugar wasn't around... were you mad at him?" "Both of them." "Did you stay mad long?" "I figured they're just people." "They got their problems, I got mine." " You got problems at your age?" " I'm workin' on some." "Chantelle?" " Chantelle!" " Yeah?" "Could we drive on the right side of the road for a minute?" "Sorry." "I spaced out." "So what did you do while I was with Louise?" "Just killed time." "Hello." "I'm calling for Chantelle." "This is her father speaking." "It's 5:00 on Thursday." "Denita and I would like to visit you this weekend." "Please give me a call." "Denita?" "My daughter." "Chantelle is such a wonder in the kitchen." "I wasn't much of a cook to begin with, and then with my misfortune, well" " You like that, darlin'?" " It's got rice in it." "That's what makes it boudin." "We've never had someone in the family work as a cook." "Oh, we do share the cooking." "Mine just doesn't taste like much." "It's just so nice to finally have you here in person." "Chantelle talks about you so much...." "I feel like I already know you." "You ever do any gardening, Dr. Blades?" " Can't say that I have." " Me neither." "Don't think my family ever put anything in the ground that wasn't a drill pipe." "My grandfather was a farmer." "Yeah?" "Sharecropper." "Alabama." "He must have had some stories." "None that he cared to pass on." "Do you think you'll continue to employ my daughter?" "As long as she'll have me." "Did she tell you I have legal custody of Denita?" "She never got into the details." "The court gave her to me when-- when Chantelle was unfit to be a mother." "Right." "Denita's got some school left this year, but for her vacation..." "I was wondering" "A house, a place for her to run around." "Well, I'm not going anywheres." " Real alligators?" " Yeah, real ones." "There's a man that's a friend of ours who knows all about where they live." "Maybe sometime he'll take you out to see all that." " How big is it?" " The lake?" "This one spreads all the way out to the ocean." "You've never seen the ocean, have you?" "That's something we'll have to do." "I have been missing you so much." "I messed up." "I got caught... in something bad." "And I lost you, Denita." "You didn't forget about me?" "Do you remember what Mommy was like when she was sick?" "Yes." "You're not ever gonna see me like that again." "I promise." "Went on down to New Orleans" "Just to see the zydeco queen" "From La Riége to the Thibodaux" "Everybody, we're doin' the zydeco" "I went on down to New Orleans" "Just to see the mighty black queen" "When I got there I didn't know" "That kings would live to do the zydeco" "Devil's music." "I love it." "Last time I saw you, before you went north, was at one of these." "Yeah?" "I must have sneaked over with Darcell Moutant." " My daddy didn't approve." " Yeah." "And I never got the nerve up to ask you to dance." "Right." "And then I heard you had gone away for good." "Well, my dancing days are over." "How's your family?" "They're fine." "Yeah?" "You don't have to have a job to do or something to fix... to come over and visit." "Yeah?" "Maybe I'IL do that, then." "Do it soon, okay?" "You're being entertained by John De Laforest and the Split Boys." "You're being entertained by John De Laforest and the Split Boys." "We're gonna do a little something called "The Poor Man's Two-Step."" "Excuse me, young lady." "May I have this dance?" "This is the part that's like magic." "Okay." "Cute guy." "Did you get his phone number?" "You got pictures of alligators?" "No." "I'm gonna get me some." "They make great subjects." "They'll hold still for hours if they're not hungry." " It's nice, isn't it?" " Mm-hmm." "Of course, it's easier to get a smile out of an alligator... than it is to get one from your mother." "But I'm fine now." "I really am." "I'll be calling you and your lady at the end of the school year." "Can't I come up?" "I don't think you should be back in Chicago." " You're not the damn parole board." " I am Denita's legal guardian... for as long as I think it's necessary." "This seems like a good place for you." "You show me you can hold on here, we'll make some plans for Denita." "Good-bye." "Bye-bye Daddy." "Thanks for bringing her down." "Excuse me." "Where can I find Lake Arthur?" "It's right under my nose, huh?" "Actually, I'm looking for somebody." "May-Alice Culhane." "We do a big blitz about in response to the flood of mail..." "May-Alice Culhane is returning to daytime." "What about Nina?" "She's been gone for weeks." "We sent Scarlet to the Mayo Clinic." "We have hatched a great plan to bring you back in." "We found a scene from before where you leave Rhonda in the living room set... and you actually walk over to the door." " So we shoot a couch scene on the set." " Right!" "You're back from the clinic, no improvement." "Then we cut to the tape of you actually walking to the door." "You go outside, we cut back to her, watching from the doorway." "And I still have amnesia, and I'm pregnant?" "Bear with me a second." "We hold on Rhonda, then there is the sound" "Of screeching brakes." "Edna called you." "No, I'm just guessing." "Go on." "There was a screech of brakes, Rhonda screams." "Cut." "Monday's show: first thing, you're on a stretcher... lights flashing around you." "The driver of the car that hit you steps forward." " Guess who it is." " Max." " Edna did call you." " No, really." "Go on." "Max ran me over, and" "And he says, "Scarlet, my God."" "But I don't recognize him because of the amnesia." "No, you recognize his voice... because the impact of the car cured the amnesia." " A traumatic blow like that" " Can reverse the effects... of what happened when I was pushed down the elevator shaft." "Exactly." "So Max is there." "And I remember him, but now I'm paralyzed." "Right." "That and" "Well, Edna had to go beyond that." "Go beyond?" "See, they're doing a wheelchair thing with Brenda St. Clair on Santa Fe." "So we thought, you've lost the amnesia... and you recognize Max's voice, but" "I'm blind." "See, it works as a metaphor for Scarlet's" "I'm paralyzed and I'm fucking blind." " It opens up so many possibilities." " Sure." "I can run into walls with my chair, knock over props." "Have Max take me back... so that twit Jessica can get it on with him while I'm in the room!" "None of this is chiseled in stone yet." "Why not put me in a coma?" "Total fucking veg." "Then shoot a few angles of me in bed... and I can come down here and phone in voice-over, Vance." "Brain death." "Think of the metaphoric possibilities in that." " I'd have to check with Edna." " You do that." "This is a chance that's not gonna come around again." "You better think about it." "I'm at the Ramada in Lafayette." "Call me." "Chantelle, right?" "Uh-huh." "She seems really good, don't you think?" "I guess." "I mean, she hasn't gained a lot of weight or anything." "Think I have a shot with her?" "A shot?" "Talking her into coming back to the show." "I think she's ready." "Ask her." "You know, I might need an ally on this, Chantelle." "She'd have to come up right away." "It's her life." "Can't have her going to seed down here, can we?" "Guess he's not staying for dinner." "Help me on board, okay?" "I want to go out." "We have to talk." "Yeah." "Vance asked me to come back to daytime." " You could do it." " Yeah." "I could." "So, what did your father say?" "He thinks you're a good influence on me." "Shows how much he knows." "I can't believe I still have to do whatever he says, like I'm 13 years old." "I played the faithful daughter in Lear once." "What's her name?" "Cordelia." "There's not much you can do but play it straight... till it's over." "Haven't spent a July down here since I lit out." "It gets pretty steamy." "I'll bet it does." "You think he'd let Denita stay with you this summer?" "I have to have a job." "You've got a job." "In New York City?" "He wouldn't go for that." "What's New York City got to do with it?" "It's where your show is." "Back to daytime?" "Pshaw." "Darlin', it's either Friday nights at 10:00 or nothin'." "You turned him down?" "If I'm gonna be here..." "I need you workin' for me." "Bullshit." "If I'm lyin', I'm dyin'." "Then we're stuck with each other." "Well, for the time being." " Chantelle?" " Yeah?" "You are gonna have to learn how to cook."