"Our best customer." "Well we got him off again." "Look, we know he doesn't mean any harm but the judge doesn't know it." "The next time Antonapoulos gets in trouble I don't think they'll let him off with just a fine." "So for all our sakes make it clear to him he's gotta behave." "It ain't Singer's business." "He ain't his family." "I'm his family." "I'm the only family he's got." "And I say he gets committed." "But why?" "On account of I don't want to be responsible for whatever that dummy takes it into his mind to do." "What if Singer assumed legal custody of Antonapoulos?" "Would that satisfy you?" "I guess." "Only till it's all legal, Spiros has got to stay in the hospital." "But it's a mental hospital." "What do you want from me, mister?" "I got a wife and four kids to look out for." "He's only a cousin." "I tell you, I would do the same thing even if he was my own brother." "Yeah, I'm sure you would." "Look." "Now, look." "Look, I've been thinking." "This custody business is liable to drag on for some time." "But there's no reason you gotta sit here while it does." "Now, it's just an idea, mind you." "But maybe you'd be happier moving some place closer to the hospital." "And it's not as if you got anything to keep you tied here, is it?" "Of course, I'll hate like hell to see you go." "I'll miss our chess games." "But I gotta admit, it'd be a lot easier moving your friend some place where they don't know him." "Jefferson, for instance, that's 300 miles nearer." "If you'd be interested, I got a cousin runs a jewelry store over at Jefferson." "I could write him about you." "I mean, even if he doesn 't need anybody himself he 'd be bound to know of any openings." "Hell, Jefferson 's practically a city." "They got three jewelry stores there." "Yeah?" "What do you want?" "If you're selling something, we don't want any." "Who is it, Mick?" "Oh, there's somebody about the room, Mama." "MRS. KELLY Oh, I see." "Well, we do have a room, but it's $20 a week." "Come on in then, I'll show it to you." "Hey, Papa, guess what." "I give up." "You can't give up without guessing anything." "Besides, who asked you?" "I was talking to Papa." "Well, Mick, let's see, what could it be?" "There's a man up there." "He's a deaf-mute person." "A what?" "A dummy." "Came about renting the room." "Ugh." "I sure hope Mama won't let him." "I'd feel sort of creepy having a dummy living in my room." "it ain't your room, not anymore." "Morally it's still my room." "How do you know this guy's a whatchamacallit?" "He's got a card says so." "It's all about how he can read lips and please don't shout." "If he can't hear, how's he going to know if you're shouting?" "I bet he's a fake." "Huh." "What if I could read lips?" "Hey, Bubber, now you say something." "I'm gonna cover up my ears and see if I can read your lips." " Well, I finally rented that room." " To the dummy?" "Did you give him that new word?" "What'd I do?" "Is it, Mama, is it?" "Yes, but you're not to call him that, hear?" "He's paying more than I expected and won't be no trouble." "So don't you trouble him." "Can't I just go look at him?" " No, I told you not to bother him." " Aw." "Mick, you take Ralph and Bubber for a walk." "Oh, Mama, do I have to?" "No arguments." "Oh, all right." "First my room, now my afternoons." " Shut up about the room." "Well" "Just shut up." "Now both of you, just stop it." "We need that money." "You won't be fit to go back to work for close on three months." "What in God's name are we supposed to live on?" "I'm sorry, Papa." "It's okay, honey." "Come on, Bubber." "Mama, how can this guy ask for something?" "A glass of water or something?" "Oh, he, uh, just writes a little note, see?" "Better not ask me then, I can't read." "He is paying $20." "Hey, Mick." "Ralph is crying." "Well, see what he wants and give it to him." "Why, Mick Kelly." "What are you doing out here?" "Hi, Delores." "I was just resting for a minute." "Uh, got Ralph and Bubber out for a walk." "Would you like to come inside and have some iced tea?" "No, she's taking us for a walk." "Don't let me interrupt your playing." "Practicing, and my poor hands are so weary." "Been at it for two whole hours." "It sure sounded real good." "Especially that last one." "What was it?" ""The Rondo" from Mozart's piano sonata in C major." "Mozart?" "He's the man who wrote it." "Oh." "Can you play anything else by him?" "Not now." "It's time I was getting dressed for the party." "What party?" "Mary's." "Oh, I guess I put my foot in it." "I just took it for granted you'd be there." "Well, she didn't ask me." "I could just bite my tongue." "Well, so long, Delores." "What are you doing?" "I'm gonna be famous some day and when I am I don't want folks finding these tacky little pictures even if I was just a child when I painted them." "I sure would admire to have that one of the airplane crash and all the people getting killed." "Okay." "You love me?" "Of course I do." "I have to, you're my sister." "Oh, I don't mean that way." "I mean, would you love me if I wasn't your sister?" "If you wasn't my sister, I wouldn't even know you." "Well, suppose I wasn't your sister and suppose you did know me." "If you wasn't my sister..." "Yeah." "...and I knew you..." "Yeah." "...I wouldn't love you." "Who wants you to love me?" "No sense loving you." "You know less about things than I do." "Mick, is that you?" "Yes, Papa." " What are you doing?" "Nothing." "Well..." "Are both the boys in bed?" "Yes, Mama." "Still working on that same watch?" "Yep." "You must be about the best watch-fixer in the whole world." "Spread that around, will you?" "I could sure use the extra business." "Oh, Papa, nobody expects you to earn a lot of money..." "...while your hip's still mending." "Mm-hm." "Billy." " Papa." " Billy." "Yes, honey." "You think some day, well, after you're well and all do you think maybe we could buy a piano?" "Well, Mick" "Why not make it a solid gold one while you're wishing?" "No, really, Papa, could we?" "Well, Mick, I don't know." "A piano, that'd cost a lot of money." "And it ain't as if any one of us could play it." "I could learn." "That'd take more money." "Mick, I tell you, if you're so set on making music I could carve you out a ukulele." "Oh, Papa." "That's just a kid toy." "I bet you Mozart never wrote any music for any ukulele." "Maybe when I'm better and back on the job" "Don't go putting those kind of notions in her head." "If and when you go back to work, there are places to put good money before we start throwing it away on pianos and music lessons." "If I can't have a piano, could I give a party?" "A party?" "Honestly, Mick, I don't know where you get your ideas." "It doesn't seem like so much to ask, Margaret." "Please, Mama." "Well, I just can't see throwing money away." "And it's not like you get invited to so many parties yourself that you have to give one." "Well, maybe if I gave one myself I would get asked." "Ha, she's got a point there." "Oh, you, you'd side with her no matter what she wanted." "Don't you worry, baby." "She'll come round." "You just leave it to me." "Oh, Papa, that's what you always say." "You getting fresh with me?" "That's what you said about my room, wasn't it?" "You said you wouldn't let her rent it." "But she did." "And to that cripple." "Now you get out of here!" "Papa, I didn't" "Get out of here!" "Go away, leave me alone." "Well, go away." "I hate you!" "You know what's wrong with the world?" "No causes left." "There's nothing to believe in." "There ain't anything left to live for." "Hell, there isn't even anything left to die for." "Huh?" "Hey, more, more beer." "Give me another beer." "Hey." "Hey, you know the only" " Huh?" "Hey, tell me." "Uh." "Yep, more chip." "Chip?" "I was just...." "You know, you got something to do, everything else just falls right into place." "Yeah." "You know." "You got a reason to get out of bed in the morning." "Ha." "After that, the rest of the day is all downhill." "If I could only find me something to believe in again, something to hold on to." "I might have a chance to make something better of myself." "Or at least something different." "At least different." "I mean" "You think that's funny?" "You think it's easy for a guy like me?" "You don't think I want to be somebody?" "Be somebody better, huh?" "Hey, now he don't think it's funny." "Got more sense than the whole lot put together." "Hey, now, buddy, you got a heart." "You know that?" "Yeah, you do." "You got the biggest damn heart in the whole world." "Okay, mister, that's enough." "Hey, it's a free country." "The country may be free but the beer ain't." "You got the money for all them drinks you've been belting down?" "Now, wait a minute." "I know a deadbeat when I see one." "Now, I don't mind getting took for a drink or two." "I don't even mind that bull you've been slinging." "I'm a sort of a freak fancier." "But I do mind it when you start pestering my customers." "Meaning who?" "Him." "Well, he ain't complaining." "Well, he's hardly in a position to." "You come along nice and quiet before I have to get rough." "Well, okay, boy, you" "Where's my bag?" "It's over by the door, now get it and get out." "Lunch, uh, soup and a meat sandwich." "Dinner?" "Well, I'll take care of that personally." "Oh, since you're gonna be a regular customer maybe you ought to get a discount." "How about, uh, $25 a week?" "Damn." "Man, he's crazy." "Yeah, look at that." " You just take a look at that." " Yeah." "He's gonna bust his skull." "He's in trouble." "What do you want?" "That is a white man, I only treat my own." "What is the matter with you?" "Are you deaf?" "I said l" "Very well." "I will give him emergency treatment." "Evening, William." " Well, good evening, Portia." " Father." "lsn't William coming in?" "Not unless you apologize." "Apologize?" "Apologize for what?" "Last time we were here you called him Uncle Tom." "Oh." "Uh, who told him what it meant?" "Don't, Father." "Don't what?" "Don't make me choose between you because if you do, I'm gonna choose Willie." "Seems to me you already did that three years ago." "No, Father, I didn't choose between you." "I only chose to marry him over your objection." "Uh, when I think of all the plans...." "Those were your plans, not mine." "Well, you could have done something, something worthwhile with your life." "I did." "I married a man I love and a man who loves me." "I raised you to be something better." "Well, I wasn't better." "I was different." "All those years after Mama died, all that time I was growing up what was I?" "I don't know." "I only know I wasn't white." "And you wouldn't let me be black." "William, please come in." "So I upped and enlisted when I was 16." "Figure that, will you, 16?" "My folks, they didn't care too much." "Hell, they was glad to see me go." "Meant one less mouth to feed." "You know, most guys don't like the Army." "But I did." "I did." "For a while there I thought of making it my life's work." "Sooner or later I always get to feeling restless." "Gotta be moving on." "So I...." "Mick, won't you ever learn how to come down a flight of stairs?" "I do it just like Bubber." "Where is he?" "Bubber!" "Hey, what time is it?" "Yeah." "What time is it?" "Uh-huh." "What?" ""John Singer." "I am--"" "Um." "A mute?" "Christ, and all this time I thought you was a good listener." "Why, I must have really been drunk." "I mean, really." "Hey, hey, did I do anything bad?" "Bad?" "Hm?" "Oh, wow." "Into a wall?" "Ha." "Well, I've done worse, believe me." "A mute." "Why, I never, l" "I don't think I've ever been that drunk before." "I mean, when I get to mixing up with a dummy, l" "Excuse me, no offense, man." "It's just my way of talking." "Ha." "And anyway, when I get that far gone, I know it is time to stop." "Yeah, well, I gotta be going." "I gotta get me a place to stay, find a job." "Hey, you know, I really like your chess set." "Yeah, that's real nice." "Hey, if you're not too good, I'd like to play with you some time." "That is, if you want to." "Boy, I must have really been drunk." "Thank you, doctor." "Serena." "Go on in, I'll be with you in a minute." "Thank you." "Please." "As I told you last night, Mr. Singer, I don't treat whites." "No charge." "I said, no charge." "Bad enough having to treat him without taking money for it." "The attitude shock you, huh?" "Why should it?" "You'd take it for granted if I were white and he were colored." "Yes, you would." "But in this case if anyone knew about it, I'd be called uppity." "Lucky thing for me you can't talk." "Please wait." "Wait a minute." "Wait." "I'm sorry." "It just came out." "It wasn't kindly of me." "Please accept my apology." "Believe me, it doesn't come easily." "However if you are still willing to pay me no, not with money." "Not with money." "I have a patient." "A deaf-mute." "It is very difficult for me to treat him without the specific answer to my question." "I have a patient, a deaf-mute." "It is very difficult for me to communicate with him without specific answers to my questions." "Now, if you could find the time at your convenience, maybe you'd come with me and translate." "Thank you." "Now, if you forgive me, I must be getting back to my patients." "Thank you." "Thank you." "Mama, who's playing that music?" "Mama?" "Hi." "Uh, it's over." "The record." "Could I turn it?" "Would it be okay if I stay and listen?" "I won't disturb you any, honest." "Maybe I could swipe some Tintex from the five-and-dime." "Can I go with you?" "Swipe what?" "Tintex." "I'm figuring on dyeing my dress purple for the party." "Purple's no color for a girl your age." "Besides, stealing is a sin." "Well, I gotta dye it some color." "If I leave it white, everybody will know it's my old graduation dress." "You could buy purple Tintex." "You don't have to swipe it." "You've got better than $4 in your hiding place." "I counted it." "That was my fireworks money." "But I'm gonna spend it on my party, so you're on your own this year." "I don't need your money." "I've got money of my own, 65 cents." "Me, Sucker Wells, Baby Wilson and Spareribs is all putting in our money to buy fireworks." "That is what they call a syndicate." "Well, I'll be." "That's communism, Bubber Kelly." "And they can put you in jail for it." "They can't prove it." "Hey, stop picking on Bubber." "He's only a child." "Oh, I'll get it." "He's no child." "He's a red menace, that's what he is." "If you're selling something we don't want any." "No, I'm Jake Blount." "Is Mr. Singer in?" "He's expecting me." "Oh, yeah." "Front room on the left upstairs." "I know, thank you." "Oh, I'm" " I can only stay a minute." "I just stopped in to tell you that I got a job." "Yeah, over at the Sunny Dixie Carnival, running the merry-go-round." "Yeah." "Oh, thank you." "I mean, it ain't much but what the hell?" "I gotta start somewhere." "Hey, listen, anytime you want a free ride you just come right on over." "It'd be my pleasure." "Yeah." "Oh, listen, I forgot." "I gotta work tonight." "So I guess the chess game's off." "That's all I come by to tell you." "Look, I'll be seeing you real soon." "We'll play chess some other time." "Yes, can I help you?" "Oh, I see, and you want to see--?" "Who is it?" "I can't quite make out the last name." "Oh, yes, I know, the other one." "Here we are." "Spiros Antonapoulos." "He's in the infirmary." "That's in Building J." "It's only a little kidney infection." "Nothing serious." "Now, you'll need a special pass." "A special pass to get into the infirmary, so I'll just fill one out for you." "Yes, ma'am." "Hi." "Oh." "Sorry, Mr. Singer." "I didn't know you'd be back so soon." "Uh, hope you don't mind my coming in like this, playing the records." "You said I could." "Uh." "Yeah." "No." "I couldn't get to sleep, you know and I thought it'd be all right." "With you away." "No." "I'll go to bed now." "Oh." "Thanks." "Did you have a nice day?" "Nice day?" "You feeling okay?" "Yeah." "I guess you'd" " I guess you'd really rather I let you alone." "You're lonely." "I never thought about anybody else being lonely before." "But you are, aren't you?" "Boy, all this time I thought I was the only one ever felt like that." "But you know what?" "Since I found music" "Oh, well, since you bought the record and the phonograph I don't get lonely anymore." "Well, I do get lonely, you know, but l" "Soon as I listen to the music, it just goes right away." "Sometimes I can even make it go away by just remembering the music in my head." "And then other times, I can" "Now, you won't laugh if I tell you this, will you?" "I make up tunes of my own." "You know, I think up music nobody's ever written." "I wish you had something like music." "Hey, may" " Maybe I could make you sort of hear music." "Describe it to you." "Would you like me to try?" "Okay." "The beginning." "This part that's on now." "Now, it's slow and kind of solemn." "Like old ladies when you see them walk in to church." "Oh, now a horn comes in here." "A horn, a horn." "Yeah." "But it sounds like the sun feels on a hot day when you don't have a hat on." "Oh, and everything's going much faster now." "Each part has a different speed, you see." "And it all fits together somehow." "It's like water running downhill." "Like the leaves are, you know, the leaves just before it starts to rain when the wind blows them all upside down." "You ever seen that?" "Now all the instruments are playing together." "It's as if they were dancing." "Some of them to one tune, some of them to another." "But it all works." "They're all part of one beautiful thing." "Oh, I wish I could make you hear." "No, not like that." "I mean, really hear." "That's very good." "Um, only, the record's over now." "Guess I'd better go now." "Mm-hm." "Ask him, does he still have pain?" "Mm-hm." "Now ask him, does he still want to start school in the fall?" "Ask him, does he still want to start school in the fall?" "Mm-hm." "Will you tell him he can't go to school unless he goes back to the hospital first?" "I'll drive him over myself on Monday." "There's Horace struggling against odds that you can well appreciate to get an education." "While my own daughter...." "Oh, yes." "Yes, I have a daughter." "She had everything right in her lap, threw it away." "I'd hoped she'd become a doctor." "She chose to become a maid." "Hey, you wanna be sure and try the whirligig." "That's the best ride in the place." "Well, what about the Ferris wheel?" "Ferris wheel?" "Yeah." "Well, I don't know." "It gets pretty scary up there." "We're not scared of anything, are we, Mr. Singer?" "Come on, let's go on this ride." "Come on, one time." "No, I ain't." "I don't wanna go on that." "Let's go on the merry-go-round." "Come on." "Hey, watch it, will you." "Just watch it." "Well, I don't see what's eating you, boy." "I ain't said nothing when you grabbed my wife." "Are you all right?" "I'm all right." "You sure?" " Yes, I am." "What'd he do to your wife?" " He grabbed and ripped her blouse." " He tore it?" " Yeah." " Come on." "Hey, you guys." "Hey." "Now, let us not have any trouble around here, all right?" "We ain't fixing to cause any trouble, mister, unless it's with you." "Oh, yeah?" "Well, I guess you'll just have to reckon with me then." "It'll be a pleasure." "Will you hold this, please?" "Get up, boy." "Get up." " Leave me alone." " Get him." "Get him." "Excuse me." "Hey, what you guys doing?" "They ripped her blouse." "Come on." "Come on." "Hey, boy." "If you ain't done nothing, why are you running?" "Let him go." " Get out of the way, girl." " Get out of the way." "Get out." " Leave him alone." "Get up." "Come on, boy, get up." " Leave him alone." " Go on, hit him." " You gotta stay out of it." " Leave him." "Stop it." "You ain't got the message, boy." "No!" "Willie!" "Stop it!" " Did he kill him?" " No." "But he cut him up real bad." "They got him down to the hospital now." "Somebody said they're gonna have to take 30 stitches." "And Willie?" "What about William?" " Where is he?" " They got him down to the jail." "They're gonna sentence him in the morning." "No." "No, they can't do that." "Not without a trial." "Sheriff says that'll just be a formality." "He said there'd been too many fights and he means to make an example out of this one." "We gotta get him a lawyer." "That won't do no good." "You gotta help him, Father." "You're the only one who can." "If you would tell the sheriff that you was with us and how it was the white man that pulled the knife first." "That Willie was only defending himself, they'd have to believe you." "You're being hysterical." "Everyone would know I was lying." "No." "We all look alike to white folks." "The blacks will say anything you tell them." "Portia, that is perjury." " I couldn't do that." " Why not?" "That's what happened." "But that's not the point." "Father." "You're always talking about helping people." "Who is "people"?" "Willie is "people." And so am I." "And I'm asking you to help us." "Us." "And you won't do it?" "Because I wouldn't do what you wanted." "Because I stayed here and married Willie instead." "Because we don't see eye to eye on anything." "I cannot perjure myself." "Not even for you." "Lucky, you get home." "Lucky, go home now, boy." "Hey, look." " Oh, how sweet." " I bet you I picked every weed in town." " Ha." "They're not weeds." "They're wildflowers." "It don't seem fair that I picked all them weeds and now I can't come to the party." "I bet she invited Mr. Singer." "Well, if he just happens to drop in." "Mick's got a crush on Mr. Singer." "Mick's got a crush on Mr. Singer." "Okay, Bubber." "That's just too silly." "Whoever heard of anybody having a crush on a deaf-mute person." "Careful, Mick." "Deny it too loud, we're liable to think it's true." "Anybody wants to use the bathroom, better go now." "Because I'm gonna take a one-hour bath before I get dressed." "Your fingers are all gonna get wrinkly." "I have already taken that into consideration, smarty." "That's why I'm taking it now so they'll have a chance to unwrinkle." "What have you done to this room?" "Why, it looks positively elegant." "Really, Mama?" "You're not just saying it?" "Oh, no." "No, I mean it, really." "It never looked so pretty." "I think it stinks." "Jealous, jealous, jealous." "You're just pea-green with jealousy because you can't come to the party." "I'm gonna get drunk." "And then I'm gonna get out of this lousy town." "Six months, they gave him." "Six months, hard labor." "Poor nigger." "Them white guys, the ones that started it." "Well, they got off scot-free." "And you know, they wouldn't even let me testify." "They said I was irrelevant and immaterial." "Irrelevant and immaterial, that's me, all right." "No, no, I told you, I never stay long in any one place." "I'm sorry we never had that chess game." "But I'll think about you, Singer." "I could talk to you." "And you listened." "You old dummy, you really listened." "Sometimes I think you're the only one that ever did." "What a pleasant surprise." "Glad to see you." "An old friend of mine." "My very first patient." "Treated him for tuberculosis when he was still in school." "Cured him too." "Well, at least so I thought." "But now I'm afraid there might be a recurrence." "Over here." "You see here." "Now, these are the healed lesions from the first incidence." "Now, here." "No." "No trace of TB." "Lot of cancer." "No, I can manage." "Strange how life works itself out." "Here I am." "A man who has hated all whites for as long as I can remember." "Now, in the last year of my life, a secret shared only by us, links me closer to you than to anyone else." "A superb joke if you have a sense of humor." "Please don't tell anyone." "My work has been my life." "I'd like them to go on together as long as possible." "My patients might not take to the idea of my being sick." "I thought they had a pretty good team." "Oh, they don't have a chance, I tell you." "Thank you, Mick." "What did you say?" "So I said, " If you're so good, how come you let Jack get 40 homers off of you? "" "That's the way to tell him." "Would you excuse me while I answer the door?" "Oh, no, he got so excited" "The skirt is blue with the prettiest applique." "I bet she bought it in Atlanta." "She always buys her clothes in Atlanta." "She's so stupid." "Oh, I know it." " Come on there, boys." "How about dancing with these pretty girls?" "Come on." "Boy, I'd about given you up." "You remember my brother, Harry." "Sure." "Hi." "How do you do?" "Harry." "It was nice of you to let me come." "Oh, I was flattered you wanted to." "I mean, we're so much younger than you." "Two years behind in school." "Oh, well, I didn't have anything better to do." "That's a sweet little dress, Mick." "Thanks." "Same one I had for graduation." "I would have worn mine too but I've filled out so much since then that it's practically indecent." "Um, will y'all come on in?" "Excuse me." "Mr. Singer." "Hi, Mr. Singer." "Wanna come look at my party?" "Pretty." "Really?" "Nice, isn't it?" "All the other girls wearing ten-cent store perfume." "I think it smells cheap." "Besides, it costs too much." "So I just swiped some vanilla extract from the kitchen." "I figure if I don't smell sexy, at least I'll be appetizing." "What they doing now?" "Dancing." "Well, what do we do?" "Well, we could eat again." "Yeah." "Okay, I'll go get some more food." "You know, you're not much like the other girls Delores knows." "Oh?" "Is that good or bad?" "Oh, that's good." "I mean, a guy can talk to you and you'll give him a straight answer." "And besides, you smell different than they do." "Bubber, what are you doing?" "We need some more sandwiches." "Now, you have all had supper." "And some of the party food." "That's enough." "After all, Mick did pay for it." "Now you stay outside and play." "Where's the sandwiches?" "Them pigs is gonna eat up everything." "Let's fix them." "How?" "Well, we get some of our fireworks, see?" "And we light them and we throw them in there." "And then steal the food." "Yeah." "Yeah." "I'll throw them." "Why you?" "Because it's my house and my sister's party we're wrecking." "Can I light the match?" "Honestly, Sucker, you are the biggest baby in this town." "Well, I'm only 5." "Let's go." "It's just a few firecrackers." "Hey, they've got Roman candles too." "Let's go, boys." "We'll teach them a lesson." "Just wait till I get my hands on that Bubber and his syndicate." "Hey, look here." "They left their stuff behind." "Let's see." "Bubber Kelly, I'm gonna skin you alive for doing this." "I didn't do nothing." "He's the one who lit the match." "I wondered what all that noise was." "I didn't know fireworks could go that high." "Okay." "Okay, that's enough." "Let's all go back inside..." " ...to the party." " Hey, throw it up on the porch." "Are there any sparklers?" "Hey, that's stealing." " Yeah." " Tough luck." " Hey, Billy" "Okay, okay, come on now, let's all go back inside to the party." "Okay, okay, that's enough." "Okay, okay, that's enough." " All of you go home." " Hey, give it to me." "I can" "You hear me?" "Go home." "Get off my property before I call the police on you." "You're trespassing." "Go home." "But why?" "Because the party is over as of this very instant." "What did we do?" "Oh, never mind her." "I tell you what, y'all come over to my house." "Well, there they go." "Can't say as I blame them either." "After all, you did throw them out." "Well, I don't care." "I don't care one little bit." "Here I thought they were all so smart and grown-up and everything." "And they're not." "They're not even as grown-up as me." "Hey, look, they're selling fireworks." "Bubber Kelly, I told you that you're never to speak to me again in this lifetime." "If you don't watch out, me and my syndicate might sue you." "Them fireworks was shot off illegal." "You sue me and I'll see that you collect one big bust in the nose." "Bubber's mooning." "Bubber's mooning because all his fireworks got shot off last night." "No, thanks, Mr. Singer." "I was bad and I'm not supposed to have no fireworks." "Aw, go ahead." "You know you're dying to." " Can I?" " It was me you done it to, wasn't it?" "If I say it's okay, I don't see it's anybody else's business." "Oh, boy." "Thanks, Mr. Singer." "Thanks, Mick." "Hey, Mick." "Um." "Uh...." "I hope you weren't mad about last night." "I wasn't mad." "I was just bored." "I mean, when a bunch of high school sophomores not to mention a senior like you, start acting like a bunch of kids...." "Yeah, I guess we were pretty silly." "Yeah." "Mick, uh could I speak to you for a minute?" "Go ahead." "I mean alone." "You can talk here." "He can't hear." "Just stand where he can't read your lips." "Well, I thought" "I thought maybe if you weren't doing anything tonight, we'd go to the movies." "You treating?" "Of course I'm treating." "Haven't you ever been on a date before?" "Hundreds of them." "Well, how about it?" "Okay." "Well, I'll pick you up at 7:30?" " Excuse me." "Seven-thirty, right?" " Right." "Thanks, Harry." "That was a swell movie." "You're welcome." "Tell me something." "Are you one of those girls who doesn't believe in kissing a guy on the first date?" "Well, this isn't really our first date." "You were at my party." "Hey." "Boy, I'd like to get this job this summer." "What do you want a job for?" "I wanna start saving up for something." "Really?" "What?" "A piano." "I thought maybe I could find a secondhand one." "Well, we have a piano that you can use anytime you want to." "No, I want one that belongs to me." "Portia?" "I come to congratulate you." "You drunk?" "No." "I been trying mighty hard, but I ain't been able to make it, yet." "Something wrong, let me help." "You any good at sewing an amputated leg back on?" "What are you talking about?" "I'm talking about Willie." "You remember Willie, don't you?" ""Ol' Uncle Tom" Willie, my husband, who I love?" "Willie?" "Something happen to Willie?" "I wanted you to be the first to know because I hold you responsible." "For God's sake, tell me what happened." "Him and two others tried to escape." "They beat them." "One man died." "The lucky one, as it turned out." "Then they locked Willie and the other one up in the smokehouse near the camp." "They chained their legs to the wall." "One of the leg irons was too tight for Willie." "But they jammed it in anyway." "Two days they kept them locked up in there." "How do you know all this?" "Remember Buster James?" "He got out today and come to tell me." "Buster say the first day you could hear Willie screaming in pain all over the camp." "Then his voice give out." "Oh, God." "God?" "Anyway morning of the third day, they let him out." "Only by this time, Willie leg all swolled up from that chain." "They took him to the hospital." "Turned out he had gangrene so they cut it off." "No." "Here." "Maybe you better have a drink." "Portia, please." "Why not?" "You got a lot to celebrate." "Please." "All I know is that I asked you for help and you wouldn't help and now my Willie is a cripple." "What can I say?" "You don't have to say nothing." "You already had your chance once." "Now it's too late." "Must be something I can do." "I'll tell you what you're gonna do." "They're sending Willie home as soon as he can travel." "He's gonna need a lot of care." "So we're gonna move in here." "Of course, yes." "I'll cook and do the cleaning and such but all the time you'll know I'm hating you." "I got a feeling I'm a mighty good hater." "And if I ain't I can learn to be." "This will be Mr. Antonapoulos' first day out." "You do understand, don't you that even if you are made his legal guardian it'll still be up to me as head of this hospital to authorize his release in your charge." "Let's say that today will be more than just an excursion." "It will be a test." "And I will be watching the results with a great deal of interest." "Remember now, Mr. Antonapoulos has been very ill." "Enjoy yourself, have a good time, but don 't overdo." "And remember, have him back by 6:00." "Six o 'clock." "Will there be anything else?" "Thank you." "Did you see what he did?" "Shh." "Why don't you sit down?" "Mind your own business." "Yes, sir." "Excuse me." "Excuse me." "Uh." "Let's see now." "Don't play with those, okay?" "Um." "Miss." "Yes, ma'am." "I'll be with you in just a second, okay?" "Uh, that's 59 cents and the envelopes are...." "Good night, Mick." "Good night, Harry." "Mick." "Doc Wilson came by tonight." "Seems there's some very bad news about your papa's hip." "I don't understand it all, what he said about my hip." "But it seems like I may never have the full use of it back again." "Oh, Papa, I'm sorry." "I know, baby." "Anyway, from what Doc Wilson said to us we can't figure on your papa just being laid up temporarily." "From now on, anything he earns will just be found money." "Mama." "A fact's a fact." "I can't change that." "Anyway, Mick your mama and I have been figuring things." "And we've been going over it, going over it." "And the long and short of it is we gotta do something." "Like what?" "We thought you could, uh, keep working down to the five-and-dime and go to school nights." "Just for this next year." "Oh, Papa, I can't quit school." "I just can't." "Well, you won't be quitting." "You'll just be going nights." "I've seen kids do that." "Pretty soon, they don't go nights either." "Margaret, maybe there's some way..." "...we haven't figured yet" "Of what?" "The only other way is for me to get a job." "Mick would have to stay home to look after you and the boys." "No, this is the only way." "But Mama, I wanna make something of myself, Mama." "I got this feeling inside me like I was destined for something." "We all have that feeling when we are young." "It will pass." "Margaret, don't." "Well, I know it won't be easy." "But without a high school diploma, what chance have I got?" "The same chance I had." "You'll meet some fellow and get married." "If you're lucky, you'll love him." "You'll have kids." "That's what life is, Mick." "That's all it is." "You make it sound awful." "No." " It's not awful." " But some of it is." "And lying to her ain't gonna change that." "Margaret." "You let me speak to her alone." "Now?" "Mick, baby." "Yes, Papa?" "Here." "You look at me." "Now, if you feel you just gotta stay in school why, we'll find a way." "How?" "Don't you worry." "You just trust your old Papa." "Okay?" "Now, come on, give me a kiss good night." "Good night, Papa." "Promise me something, baby." "Promise you won't get to hate me when you have to leave school." "Oh, Papa." "I couldn't hate you." "Not for anything." "Thank you, baby." "I love you." "And I love you, Papa." "Good night." "Good night." "Mick." "Good night." "Good night, Mama." "Mick, please don't blame me." "I'm not trying to be cruel." "I'm only doing the best I know how." "I gotta think of what's best for everybody." "Papa and Bubber and Ralph, as well as you." "I understand." "And I know I don't show it very much but" "Well, uh" "I do love you, honey." "Good night, Mama." "Hi." "Father has Willie down to the barbershop." "I'm going down there." "You may come with me, if you like." "What I don't understand is why my leg still hurting." "I know it ain't there anymore." "So, what makes it hurt, doc?" "Well, those are what we call phantom pains." "The nerves haven't adjusted yet to the amputation." "Now, the pain is really up here." "It only feels like it's down in your leg." "Oh." "Portia." "Mr. Singer brought you something, Willie." "Singer." "Thank you, Mr. Singer." "Real nice of you." "Thank you." "I ain't read but one of them." "You know, doc, about them pains?" "Yes." "You think it might be because I'm here and my leg is still someplace up at the prison hospital?" "Would it help any if we get it back?" "Don't know for a fact." "It might." "Then maybe Father would write them a nice, little letter and ask them to send it here." "Father would do anything for you, Willie." "Portia, please." "Yes, sir." "Father would do anything for you now." "Now, when it's too late." "Portia, that ain't no way to talk to the doc." "We got to live together now." "Oh, yes." "Just one big, happy family." "You drive Willie home." "Well, what's the matter, Father?" "Am I embarrassing you in front of your friend?" "Oh, you don't have to feel he's so much better than you." "After all, ha, you're pretty white yourself." "It's not her fault." "She don't know what she's saying." "She's half out of her mind with grief and hatred." "Grief for Willie, hatred for me." "I must show her where I stand." "I'll make a formal protest against what was done." "But I'm afraid." "Afraid of what they'll do to me." "Now, isn't that funny?" "I'll be gone in a few months and I'm afraid of a little punishment." "But I must do it." "Can I help you?" "I'm Dr. Copeland." "I'd like to see Judge Bronson." "Have you got an appointment?" "No, but I don't mind waiting until he's free." "Maybe if you told me about it." "It's a personal matter." "Family business." "Well, suit yourself." "Uncle." "I'm sure I can bring that man in without any help." "What's all this I hear about you taking piano lessons from my sister?" "Well, I wanna learn." "She can teach me." "Ha, ha, you've got to be kidding." "I mean, she's the worst piano player I've ever heard." "Even her teacher complains." "Ha-ha." "Well, maybe so, but, well, she can start me off and it won't cost much." "You mean, you're paying her?" "Mm." "Just my lunch money." "You sure must love music." "I guess." "You ever see a concert hall?" "Sure, in Atlanta." "What's it like?" "Mm." "Big, boring, you know." "Yeah." "You ever seen snow?" "Mm." "Lots of it." "Tell me about it." "What's there to tell?" "It's cold." "And it's white." "You've seen pictures of it, haven't you?" "Yeah." "That's not the same thing as really seeing it." "Sometimes I feel like that's what my whole life is like." "Not really being anything just looking at a lot of pictures." "Scares me." "Do you ever get scared?" "Sometimes." "Well, this summer sure scared me." "Where everything happened so fast." "Papa's hip not mending and me not going back to school." "I guess I'm all grown up now." "That scares me most of all." "Mick." "I think" " I think you're so pretty." "I never used to think so but" "But now I do." "Kiss me, Harry." "Kiss me the way married people kiss." "Do you think we should?" "Please." "Let me have just one thing the way I want it to be." "Who is it?" "Who is it?" "Who is it?" "It's Mr. Singer." "Father didn't get back yet, Mr. Singer." "I thought he was with you." "Me?" "I appreciate what you're trying to do, Mr. Singer." "But it really is none of your concern." "I said I don't wanna hear it." "I don't wanna hear nothing you have to say about Father." "I don't wanna hear nothing." "I don't wanna read nothing either, Mr. Singer." "Please." "No." "Portia, let him in." "Mr. Singer, please." "Stop it, Mr. Singer." "Please." "I'm sorry, l" "No." "Leave me alone!" "Willie!" "Portia." "Portia." "Singer, leave her alone!" "Portia, what is it?" "Portia." "Portia!" "You listen here." "Yeah." "We've got to understand this." "Do you?" "I don't know." "I never did more than kiss a girl before this." "Me neither." "It's all my fault." "Anyway you look at it, it's my fault." "It's a terrible sin and you're two years younger than me." "No." "I wanted it to happen." "I wasn't any kid." "Now I wish I was." "Do you think we ought to get married or something?" "Mm." "No." "I don't think I'll ever get married." "Me neither." "Well, I guess we better go home before it gets dark." "Good night." " Good night." "Excuse me, sheriff." "I'm still waiting to see Judge Bronson." "Judge went home an hour and a half ago." "Thank you." "Father!" "Father!" "No, I have to" "No." "Don't!" "Didn't anybody tell you?" "You wait here." "I'll go get Dr. Gordon." "He ought to be the one to tell you." "I brought you these, Mr. Singer." "They're very pretty too." "Oh." "Oh, yeah, you're Dr. Copeland, aren't you?" "I remember you from the funeral." "Yeah." "You're Mick Kelly." "I'm Margaret really." "Do you come here often?" "Most every day now." "Oh." "I don't." "Oh, I mean to." "But one thing comes along, then another." "But I haven't forgotten." "Honest, I haven't." "Oh, I don't think any of us ever will." "Why did he do it?" "I keep asking myself that over and over." "Oh, I don't suppose any of us will ever know that." "None of us ever knew him, not really." "We all brought our troubles to him never stopping to think he may have troubles of his own." "No." "I feel worse than that about it." "I feel like he was always there when I needed him." "And when he needed somebody, I wasn't there." "I wasn't even thinking about him." "Well, I wish I could say something wise to help you." "I won't ever forget him." "Ever." "I think that would make him very happy." "Well, I think I better be getting on home." "Bye." "Bye-bye." "Walking?" "Oh, no, I wanna stay around here for a while." "I want to arrange these flowers better." "Mr. Singer." "Can you hear me?" "I just wanted you to know, Mr. Singer that I loved you." "I loved you."