Characters
REGINA, late teens
Mother to a four-week-old baby. Petulant, sarcastic, deliberate, an avid reader. She’s a smart kid.
BONNIE, early 30s
Regina’s aunt. Sanctimonious, judgmental, short-tempered, not an avid reader. Life has been unkind to her.
Setting
A small kitchen in a small house in a small town in the hot-and-humid Florida panhandle, somewhere between Gainesville and Tallahassee.
Time
August 2016
Note: I use (Shift.) in place of (Beat.) to more aptly denote a pause in the dialogue. Rather than a simple rest in the action, a (Shift.) should be considered a motivated tactical change toward pursuit of a goal.
Lights fade up on a grimy, dated kitchen. A round plastic laundry basket sits atop a sturdy wood dining table, flanked by mismatched chairs. The surrounding linoleum and laminate are illuminated by streaks of sunlight, which invade the space through a window above the sink. The window is decorated by a threadbare waterfall valance patterned in footballs, basketballs, and baseballs. A back door is on one side, a hallway to the rest of the house on the other side. A quick KNOCK-KNOCK-KNOCK can be heard against the back door.
BONNIE
(offstage)
Reggie? I’m comin’ in! You better not be in bed!
BONNIE enters the kitchen with two grocery bags and puts them on the counter next to the sink. She crosses to the laundry basket on the table and looks inside. Satisfied, she crosses back and quietly unloads can after can of baby formula from the grocery bags.
REGINA, wearing an oversized football jersey and pajama shorts, enters the kitchen through the hallway.
BONNIE
Stealin’ a nap?
REGINA
(with faux enthusiasm)
I fell asleep readin’ Shakespeare, and then I was dreamin’ you were here to rescue this poor innocent baby and gimme my life back.
BONNIE
Please don’t start with me. I just walked in.
(Shift.)
Your little girl here is just quiet as can be. I’m not sure I’ve ever heard her cry.
REGINA
It’s kinda like she knows no one’ll listen. She’s smarter’n all of us.
BONNIE
Well, we ALL listened to you cry. You wouldn’t shut up. Ever. So count your blessings.
REGINA
(notices the formula on the counter and crosses to inspect it)
What the hell, Aunt Bonnie? I told you I’m breast feedin’.
BONNIE
We all know you mean well, but I thought you and your mom decided that formula would be best movin’ forward. You know, just in case.
REGINA
You two decided, not me. If you don’t like the way I’m raisin’ her, maybe you should take her.
BONNIE
Knock it off. She just wants what’s best for your baby, Reggie. She just wants everybody to be safe and healthy.
REGINA
It don’t really matter what she wants any more, does it? Unless she can see and hear outta that coffin.
BONNIE
(smacks Regina across the face)
If you can’t respect yourself, at least show some respect to her. She might have been your mother but she was my big sister and I knew her way longer’n you did. And I will tell you this, little girl: There is no way I am lettin’ you breast feed that innocent baby.
Regina rubs her cheek and sits.
BONNIE
I’m sorry. I just hate it when you make me hurt you like that.
REGINA
(gesturing above the counter)
Open that cabinet up there.
Bonnie opens it and it’s stocked full of formula.
REGINA (CONT’D)
I’m NOT breast feedin’ that innocent baby, okay? Fully stocked by your big sister a month ago. I ain’t a monster.
BONNIE
It’s all one big joke, isn’t it?
REGINA
Then why ain’t you laughin’, Aunt Bonnie?
BONNIE
Give me strength.
(Shift.)
Are you gonna go to the game tonight?
REGINA
Are YOU?
BONNIE
‘Cause I can watch her for a couple hours if ya want.
REGINA
(sarcastically)
Two whole hours? Nah, I gotta stay in and darn some booties and whittle some buildin’ blocks outta that dead tree in the backyard.
BONNIE
Another joke. Well, if ya change your mind …
(Shift.)
Oh yeah, I got ya lunch.
Bonnie hands Regina a wrapped sandwich.
REGINA
Thank you?
BONNIE
Tuna fish on wheat with extra jalapeños, ya weirdo. Your favorite.
REGINA
It’s not weird, it tastes great. What are ya doin’? Why ya bein’ so nice to me?
BONNIE
Yesterday was tough. Sayin’ goodbye is tough. Funerals are tough. Your mom isn’t gonna be around anymore, and I wanna do what I can while I’m still around.
REGINA
(sarcastically)
Yeah, it sure is gonna be tough without my mom.
BONNIE
Yes. It’s gonna be a lot different with her gone.
REGINA
Ya know, there is somethin’ you can do to help me out. It’d be a major help for me, actually. Since you’re offerin’.
BONNIE
(apprehensively)
Uh huh …
REGINA
I need you to reconsider taking her, at least for a little while. So I can get things sorted out. Ya know, get my GED and save for a car.
BONNIE
And start usin’ again. Right back to old times.
REGINA
I ain’t used since I got pregnant. Don’t be like that.
BONNIE
You were high at the funeral yesterday.
REGINA
Fine, ya got me! Why do you always focus so hard on the negative? Why can’t you give me even just a little credit?
BONNIE
Well, I’m sorry, Reggie, I truly am. A couple hours is one thing, but I can’t just take this little baby for you.
REGINA
I’m not askin’ for forever.
BONNIE
But it’d turn into forever.
REGINA
So, what if it did? You know she’d be better off with you.
BONNIE
Your baby, your responsibility.
REGINA
Yes, my baby, and I’d do anything for her. I would die for her. That’s why I’m askin’ for help!
BONNIE
Your mother would be so disappointed in you right now. She believed in you, she thought you could stand up and handle this challenge.
REGINA
Well, I can’t, okay! I can’t do it! I can’t be a mom.
BONNIE
Regina Lynn, look to the Lord if you wanna lighten your burden, don’t look to me. You. Cannot. Abandon. Your. Baby.
REGINA
Why not?! You did!
The two women stare at one another across the table. Bonnie’s eyes widen as she slinks into one of the chairs.
BONNIE
(with rueful realization)
How long have you known?
REGINA
She told me … before she died.
BONNIE
That explains why you’ve been so cruel to me lately.
REGINA
(sarcastically)
Well gee whiz Bonnie, it WAS really hard learning the truth: She was my aunt, and you’re my real mom. But thank the Lord up in Heaven that I got such a strong support system in place to help me navigate all these complicated feelings I got swimmin’ around in my big dumb empty head. Thanks for makin’ sure I’m okay!
BONNIE
Will you please let me explain some things to you?
REGINA
Will the explanation involve definin’ the term “trailer trash,” AUNT Bonnie? Are you sure, you’ll have enough time before the 12-step meeting in your double wide?
BONNIE
Please let me try and explain.
REGINA
She told me enough. You two lied to me for my entire life. She took me when I was probably no bigger than this baby is now. You couldn’t handle being a “teen mom.”
(Shift.)
She said you saved my life, givin’ me up. She said you had no choice.
BONNIE
And I swear to you, little girl, that’s the truth.
REGINA
(rhetorically)
Ain’t you the hero?
(Shift.)
You didn’t have to stay there, under the same roof. You could’ve left, too, ya know.
BONNIE
No, I was where God wanted me.
REGINA
That might be the stupidest thing I ever heard. I hope you’re not too scared’a heights, hangin’ up there on that cross like that.
BONNIE
That is ENOUGH! I am sorry that we lied to you, Reggie. It was a terrible thing that we did … that I did. I don’t expect you to forgive me for it.
REGINA
Good.
BONNIE
But I will not suffer your hypocrisy. You and me, we’re the same, kiddo. Like mother, like daughter. If you’re gonna judge me, you need to take a long look in the mirror. Or at least a long look at your baby.
Regina throws the wrapped sandwich onto the ground and stomps on it with her foot. She stomps again. And again and again until it is flat as cardboard. She composes herself, picks it up, and tosses it in the trash. They both peer into the laundry basket.
REGINA
Still breathin’.
BONNIE
And still not cryin’. I guess she can sleep through anything.
REGINA
Lucky me.
BONNIE
Please promise me that you’re not gonna use all of this as an excuse not to do right by your baby, Reggie.
REGINA
What does that mean? I’m not promisin’ you a thing.
BONNIE
I just don’t want you to be an angry person. I want you to find serenity, like I did.
REGINA
You ain’t serene, you’re an airhead and a deadbeat. Besides, serenity is an extravagance I can’t afford.
BONNIE
It doesn’t have to cost you anything.
REGINA
Funny, I’d say it cost YOU almost everything.
They share a brief silence
BONNIE
Listen. I don’t want ya to overthink the timing or anything, but now that your mom is gone and you have this house and the insurance money, I’m gonna be moving.
REGINA
I see. And I guess you’ll be leavin’ Florida.
BONNIE
Belize. I’m moving to Belize. Next week.
REGINA
Get outta here! That’s a fun coincidence, ‘cause we’re movin’ to Belize, too!
BONNIE
Don’t make this any harder than it needs to be.
REGINA
No, no. I’m bein’ deadly serious. We’re movin’ out of the country just like you, and that’s a very normal and not at all insane thing to do.
BONNIE
You’re mad now, but it’s for the best. You’ll see.
REGINA
I’m actually not mad. In fact, I think I finally decided how to find my serenity.
BONNIE
I can’t stay here, little girl. I can’t do it anymore. Everywhere I go is pain. Pain I endured, pain I inflicted. It’s around every corner, waiting behind every closed door. Pain and I are so intimate, I should wear a ring. Make it official.
REGINA
I don’t think you can outrun your pain.
BONNIE
Maybe not, but I sure am gonna try.
REGINA
Belize is hotter than Florida. More humid, too.
BONNIE
They speak English in Belize. I’m going to work at an orphanage. It’s through the church. Somebody needs to help those poor babies.
REGINA
How noble.
BONNIE
It’s where God wants me now.
REGINA
Look around, Bonnie. There is no God.
BONNIE
If there’s no God, then there’s no Heaven. And if there’s no Heaven, then your mama’s spirit is lost on the wind, little girl.
REGINA
My mama’s movin’ to Central America. Did ya mean your sister? She’s gettin’ the best sleep of her life. Ultimate serenity.
They share a brief silence.
BONNIE
Ya know, I’m not a deadbeat. I tried my best. I just never caught a break. I’m not an airhead, neither.
REGINA
I saw this video online, and they were sayin’ that there’s some theory about how there’s an infinite number of universes. So according to that theory, there’s an infinite number of “me”s. And an infinite number of “you”s. (She gestures to the laundry basket.) And an infinite number of “her”s. That means sometime, somewhere … we’re all happy.
BONNIE
But not here.
REGINA
And not now.
(Shift.)
You and I, we’re never gonna see each other again.
BONNIE
I know.
REGINA
Say goodbye to your grand-daughter.
BONNIE
Goodbye. I love you. Both.
Bonnie exits. Regina crosses to the basket and places her hand on it.
REGINA
(looking inside)
“When we are born, we cry that we are come to this great stage of fools.” But you don’t cry. Maybe Shakespeare didn’t know everything.
(Shift.)
I love you, little girl. One day you’ll understand why I had to do this. It’s for the best. You’ll see.
She picks up her cell phone from the counter and dials.
REGINA (CONT’D)
My address is Nine-Sixteen Mulberry Street … Please come very quick … My baby is havin’ an emergency … The front door’s unlocked … And please, make sure they know… Her name is Hope.
She lowers the phone, takes one last look into the basket, and exits the kitchen into the hallway. A few moments later, a deafening GUNSHOT penetrates the silence. For the first time, the baby begins to CRY. Lights fade.
END OF PLAY