Fences
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14
| August Wilson |
- 57 -
me in the chest. It felt just like somebody had taken a hot branding iron and laid it on me. When he shot me I jumped at him with my knife. They told
me I killed him and they put me in the penitentiary and locked me up for fifteen years. That’s where I met Bono. That's where I learned how to play
baseball. Got out that place and your mama had taken you and went on to make life without me. Fifteen years was a long time for her to wait. But
that fifteen years cured me of that robbing stuff. Rose'll tell you. She asked me when I met her if I had gotten all that foolishness out of my system.
And I told her, "Baby, it's you and baseball all what count with me." You hear me, Bono? I meant it too. She say, "Which one comes first?" I told her,
"Baby, ain't no doubt it's baseball ... but you stick and get old with me and we'll both outlive this baseball." Am I right, Rose? And it's true.
ROSE Man, hush your mouth. You ain't said no such thing. Talking about, "Baby, you know you'll always be number one with me." That's what you
was talking.
TROY You hear that, Bono. That's why I love her.
BONO Rose'll keep you straight. You get off the track, she'll straighten you up.
ROSE Lyons, you better get on up and get Bonnie. She waiting on you.
LYONS
(Gets up to go.) Hey, Pop, why don't you come on down to the Grill and hear me play?
TROY I ain't going down there. I'm too old to be sitting around in them clubs.
BONO You got to be good to play down at the Grill.
- 58 -
LYONS Come on, Pop . . .
TROY I got to get up in the morning.
LYONS You ain't got to stay long.
TROY Naw, I'm gonna get my supper and go on to bed.
LYONS Well, I got to go. I'll see you again.
TROY Don't you come around my house on my payday.
ROSE Pick up the phone and let somebody know you coming. And bring Bonnie with you. You know I'm always glad to see her.
LYONS Yeah, I'll do that, Rose. You take care now. See you, Pop. See you, Mr. Bono. See you, Uncle Gabe.
GABRIEL Lyons! King of the Jungle!
( LYONS exits.)
TROY Is supper ready, woman? Me and you got some business to take care of. I'm gonna tear it up too.
ROSE Troy, I done told you now!
TROY
(Puts his arm around BONO.) Aw hell, woman . . . this is Bono. Bono like family. I done known this nigger since . . . how long I done know you?
BONO It’s been a long time.
TROY I done known this nigger since Skippy was a pup. Me and him done been through some times.
BONO You sure right about that.
TROY Hell, I done know him longer than I know you. And we still standing shoulder to shoulder. Hey, look here, Bono ... a man can't ask for no
more than that.
(Drinks to him.) I love you, nigger.
- 59 -
BONO Hell, I love you too . . . but I got to get home see my woman. You got yours in hand. I got to go get mine.
(BONO starts to exit as CORY enters the yard , dressed in his football uniform. He gives TROY a hard , uncompromising look.)
CORY What you do that for, Pop?
(He throws his helmet down in the direction of TROY.)
ROSE What’s the matter? Cory . . . what's the matter?
CORY Papa done went up to the school and told Coach Zellman I can't play football no more. Wouldn't even let me play the game. Told him to tell
the recruiter not to come.
ROSE Troy . . .
TROY What you Troying me for. Yeah, I did it. And the boy know why I did it.
CORY Why you wanna do that to me? That was the one chance I had.
ROSE Ain’t nothing wrong with Cory playing football, Troy.
TROY The boy lied to me. I told the nigger if he wanna play football ... to keep up his chores and hold down that job at the A&P. That was the
conditions. Stopped down there to see Mr. Stawicki . . .
CORY I can't work after school during the football season, Pop! I tried to tell you that Mr. Stawicki's holding my job for me. You don't never want to
listen to nobody. And then you wanna go and do this to me!
TROY I ain’t done nothing to you. You done it to yourself.
- 60 -
CORY Just cause you didn't have a chance! You just scared I'm gonna be better than you, that's all.
TROY Come here.
ROSE Troy . . .
(CORY reluctantly crosses over to TROY.)
TROY Alright! See. You done made a mistake.
CORY I didn't even do nothing!
TROY I'm gonna tell you what your mistake was. See . . . you swung at the ball and didn't hit it. That's strike one. See, you in the batter's box now.
You swung and you missed. That's strike one. Don’t you strike out!
( Lights fade to black.)
Act 2
Act 2, Scene 1
Act Two Scene One
The following morning. CORY is at the tree hitting the ball with the bat. He tries to mimic TROY, but his swing is awkward, less sure. ROSE enters
from the house.
ROSE Cory, I want you to help me with this cupboard.
CORY I ain't quitting the team. I don't care what Poppa say.
ROSE I’ll talk to him when he gets back. He had to go see about your Uncle Gabe. The police done arrested him. Say he was disturbing the peace.
He’ll be back directly. Come on in here and help me clean out the top of this cupboard.
(CORY exits into the house. ROSE sees TROY and BONO coming down the alley.) Troy . . . what they say down there?
TROY Ain't said nothing. I give them fifty dollars and they let him go. I'll talk to you about it. Where's Cory?
ROSE He's in there helping me clean out these cupboards.
TROY Tell him to get his butt out here.
( TROY and BONO go over to the pile of wood. BONO picks up the saw and begins sawing.)
- 62 -
TROY
(To BONO.) All they want is the money. That makes six or seven times I done went down there and got him. See me coming they stick out
their hands.
BONO Yeah. I know what you mean. That's all they care about . . . that money. They don't care about what's right.
(Pause.) Nigger, why you got to go and get some hard wood? You ain't doing nothing but building a little old fence. Get you some soft pine wood.
That’s all you need.
TROY I know what I'm doing. This is outside wood. You put pine wood inside the house. Pine wood is inside wood. This here is outside wood. Now
you tell me where the fence is gonna be?
BONO You don’t need this wood. You can put it up with pine wood and it'll stand as long as you gonna be here looking at it.
TROY How you know how long I'm gonna be here, nigger? Hell, I might just live forever. Live longer than old man Horsely.
BONO That's what Magee used to say.
TROY Magee's a damn fool. Now you tell me who you ever heard of gonna pull their own teeth with a pair of rusty pliers.
BONO The old folks ... my granddaddy used to pull his teeth with pliers. They ain't had no dentists for the colored folks back then.
TROY Get clean pliers! You understand? Clean pliers! Sterilize them! Besides we ain't living back then. All Magee had to do was walk over to Doc
Goldblums.
- 63 -
BONO I see where you and that Tallahassee gal . . . that Alberta ... I see where you all done got tight.
TROY What you mean "got tight"?
BONO I see where you be laughing and joking with her all the time.
TROY I laughs and jokes with all of them, Bono. You know me.
BONO That ain't the kind of laughing and joking I'm talking about.
( CORY enters from the house.)
CORY How you doing, Mr. Bono?
TROY Cory? Get that saw from Bono and cut some wood. He talking about the wood's too hard to cut. Stand back there, Jim, and let that young
boy show you how it’s done.
BONO He’s sure welcome to it.
( CORY takes the saw and begins to cut the wood.) Whew-e-e! Look at that. Big old strong boy. Look like Joe Louis. Hell, must be getting old the way
I'm watching that boy whip through that wood.
CORY I don't see why Mama want a fence around the yard noways.
TROY Damn if I know either. What the hell she keeping out with it? She ain't got nothing nobody want.
BONO Some people build fences to keep people out . . . and other people build fences to keep people in. Rose wants to hold on to you all. She
loves you.
TROY Hell, nigger, I don't need nobody to tell me my
- 64 -
wife loves me, Cory ... go on in the house and see if you can find that other saw.
CORY Where's it at?
TROY I said find it! Look for it till you find it!
( CORY exits into the house.) What's that supposed to mean? Wanna keep us in?
BONO Troy ... I done known you seem like damn near my whole life. You and Rose both. I done know both of you all for a long time. I remember
when you met Rose. When you was hitting them baseball out the park. A lot of them old gals was after you then. You had the pick of the litter. When
you picked Rose, I was happy for you. That was the first time I knew you had any sense. I said ... My man Troy knows what he's doing ... I'm
gonna follow this nigger ... he might take me somewhere. I been following you too. I done learned a whole heap of things about life watching you. I
done learned how to tell where the shit lies. How to tell it from the alfalfa. You done learned me a lot of things. You showed me how to not make the
same mistakes ... to take life as it comes along and keep putting one foot in front of the other.
(Pause.) Rose a good woman, Troy.
TROY Hell, nigger, I know she a good woman. I been married to her for eighteen years. What you got on your mind, Bono?
BONO I just say she a good woman. Just like I say anything. I ain't got to have nothing on my mind.
TROY You just gonna say she a good woman and leave it hanging out there like that? Why you telling me she a good woman?
| Kỳ Trước | Kỳ Sau |
Ý Kiến Bạn Ðọc