Her In The Room Upstairs. (3) Violet: Last night. In Cropsure Street. Sidney: Cropsure Street? That’s two streets away. Sally: What did they want to know? Violet: Did we hear anything or know anything? Sidney: Two murders in a week? That’s awful. Who was murdered? Sally: Did they ask you anything in particular? Violet: Well, who lived here and if we had seen any strangers in the streets in recent days. Sidney: What did you say? Violet: I said I’d not seen anyone around. Sidney: What about me? Did they want to know about me? Violet: Why should they want to know about you? Sidney: Well, you told them I lived here didn’t you? Violet: Yes, but they didn’t ask about you. Sally: Did you tell them I was here? Violet: No. No, I didn’t. (Pause. They eat for a few moments in silence.) Sidney: Did they ask about lodgers? (Violet doesn’t respond straight away but continues eating.)You didn’t mention Sally being here? Sally: She said she didn’t. She must have had her reasons. Sidney: Maybe she did, but I’d like to know why she didn’t at least mention you being here. Violet :( Sips her tea for a few moments.)No point in mentioning it when she only arrived a few days ago. What would Sally know about it? Sally: I only arrived the other day. I didn’t know anything about any murder. (Pause. Eats a little of her breakfast.) Violet: Of course she didn’t. Why bring the police here if there’s no point in doing so. Sidney: I’m not saying she knew anything, but it would have made things clearer. Violet: Clearer? What are you talking about, Sid? Sally’s no murderer. Sidney: I never said she was it’s just that it makes it less… Sally: Less what? Secret? You think my being here is a secret? That I’m here on some murder mission? Sidney: of course I don’t. I just think Violet should have been honest with the police. Violet: They didn’t ask. I didn’t tell them. If they’d asked I would have said told them she was here, but they didn’t so I didn’t. (Pause. All eat in silence for a few moments.)The murdered person this time was a woman. Sidney: Woman? It doesn’t make sense. Man last time, woman this time. Where’s the logic in that? Sally: Is there logic to murder, Sidney? Sidney: Do the police think it’s by the same murderer? Violet: They didn’t say. Sally: It’s a bit unnerving being in a house close to two murders. Sidney: It must be linked. The same murderer did for them both. It stands to reason. Some bloody link somewhere there. Someone had it in for them. Some reason we don’t know about. Violet: The police didn’t say much about it. Just that a woman had been murdered. Sally: Makes you feel uneasy. Sidney: You’re be safe here, Sally. Violet: How can we say that when there’s been two murders so near and so close together? I don’t feel a bit safe. I feel as if someone’s out there going around murdering people for no apparent reason. It could be one of us next. Sidney: Don’t be bloody daft. Who’d we know should want to murder us? We don’t know any one who’d be a murderer. Talk sense woman. Violet: They don’t go around with badges on their coats saying murderer. You don’t know who could be a murderer. Could be anyone. That Doctor Crippen was outwardly a doctor but he murdered his wife. And what about that Christie? He murdered his wife and lodger. Sidney: Well, it isn’t me. I didn’t murder anyone. (Pause. They eat for a few moments in silence.)If I was going to murder anyone I would hardly stay around here would I? I’d have vanished somewhere far from here, not sat around waiting for the police to knock at my door. (Pause.)Could be anyone, but it isn’t me. Violet: I didn’t say it was you. You don’t think I’d sit around here eating breakfast if I thought you were the murderer do you? Sally: Of course it isn’t you, Sidney. (Pause. Sips her tea.)You’re too kind to be a murderer. Violet: Kind or not, I’d not sit here if it was you Sidney, so stop being so silly. I never aid it was you. Never mentioned you being a bloody murderer. The words never left my lips. (Pause. Looks at Sidney for a few moments then looks at Sally who smiles.)Anyway, you’d best get a move on or who’ll be late for work, Sidney. (Pause. Rises up and walks to the kitchen.) Sally: She didn’t say anything about you being the murderer. Sidney: It was the way she said about that Christie bloke. Murdered his wife and lodger she said. Sally: She was just saying. :( Puts her hand over Sidney’s hand for a few moments.)You’re too sensitive. Take things to heart too much. That’s what I like about you. You’re kind and considerate. Sidney :( Looks at Sally’s hand on his.)I don’t see how she can talk about bloody murder at the breakfast table. (Pause. Sally removes her hand.)Haven’t seen my newspaper have you? Sally: No, no haven’t seen it today. (Pause.)I have to go out soon. Sidney: How’s that job of yours? Sally: It’s all right. Nothing much to write home about. (Pause. Rises up from the table, goes, gets the tray from the floor by the window, and begins to stack the items from the table onto it.)You’re going to be late if you don’t get a move on, Sidney. Then you’ll have your wife after you. Sidney: God! Two women nagging me now. What’s my life come to when I’ve got two of them on at me? (He rises from the table and stands looking at Sally.) You be careful. You don’t know who’s about these days. (Pause. Walks upstage to the door and goes out.) Sally :( Once she has gathered all the items on the tray, she leaves the tray on the table for a few moments.)Two of them. Murdered. Makes you think doesn’t it? Makes you wonder whom you can trust these days. (Smiles. Picks up the tray and walks slowly to the kitchen. She stops and looks downstage.)You have to be careful. Have to be very careful whom you let into your house these days. You never know who it might be. Could be anyone. Could be the murderer. (Smiles. Looks in at the kitchen.)I’ve brought you the tray, Violet. (Disappears in to the kitchen. Voices in whispers. Silence.) End of Scene One. Act Two. Scene Two. A few hours later. The large brown sofa is centre stage. Sally is standing on the edge of the stage peering at the auditorium. She wears a short green dress and bare footed. Sally: Oh, the way things are I’d be forgiven in thinking I was in heaven. That Sidney is such a dear, that I’d give my back teeth just to see his face if he ended up in bed with me. (Giggles.)The thing is I mustn’t spoil things by rushing it. Must keep him in his place until it’s the right time. Hold him back until he’s fit to burst with lust and able to make worthless promises. (Giggles.)Oh, my God, where have I landed? Is this some paradise or what? (Pause. Looks about the room.) What a bare Spartan room. It’s like being in some puritan church. Nothing to look at. Nothing to view. What a place. (Pause,)Now, she’s the one I want really. Sidney’s only a form of bait. A mere interlude between two great acts. (Laughs.)Oh, what a fool he is. But aren’t all men? Are they not just that little bit off key with madness and folly? (Pause. Stares at the auditorium.)Yet, it’s her that I’ve got my mind set on. She’s the one I want to be close to at the end of all this. It’s Violet that I want and no one else. (Stops suddenly as the door upstage opens and Violet enters. She looks downstage at Sally and walks slowly downstage to the sofa where she sits and stares at Sally.) Violet: What are you doing in here? We don’t usually come in here until the evening. Sally:(Stands facing Violet.) I wanted to relax. Violet: I thought you were working this morning? Sally: I didn’t feel well, so I took the day off. Violet: Why here? Why not go to bed and rest? Sally: I was going to but I thought I’d sit in here for an hour or so. Violet: Sidney doesn’t like it if we sit in here during the day. Says it not right. Sally: He won’t mind me being in here. Things move on. Matters come to a head. Things get done. (Pause.) Violet: Sidney’s too soft with the way things are. He’d give a miser his last pound. The fool. (Pause. Sally walks to the sofa and stands looking down at Violet.)You don’t want to be taken in by his so-called charm. He’s always had it. That way of making a girl feel she’s the only one he’s ever met. Sally: You’re quite stunning in that dress. Violet: It’s an old one. I wear it for doing the housework. Sally :( Sits down on the sofa next to Violet.)I wonder who did those murders? Violet: I don’t want to think about it. It makes my skin crawl. Sally :( Moves closer to Violet.)Do you and Sidney make love often? Violet :( Embarrassed.)I don’t see what it has to do with you. Sally: Oh, sorry, Violet, I wasn’t thinking. I just come out with these things sometimes. Makes me embarrassed to think about it. Violet :( Pause. Moves to the edge of the sofa.)Sidney does his best. He’s no Casanova. But at least he’s honest and has a weird sense of what is right and wrong. Even if it’s only his idea of right and wrong Sally :( Moves closer to Violet.)And you? What are you really like? Violet: I don’t know. I’ve never given myself much thought. Sally: Sidney and I are like a couple of friends who have come together to see the world and make sense of the universe. Violet: My husband said it was all a mistake. Sally: What was a mistake? Violet: Our marriage. He said it’s finished. Dead. We say little and when we do, we argue. Until you came, we’d had no reason to speak. Sally :( Puts her hand on Violet’s shoulder. They look at each other.)We can speak openly to each other can’t we? Tell each other our darkest woes and miseries? Violet: Yes. Yes, I suppose we can. (Pause. Looks at the floor and sighs.) Sally: I feel really at home here. I’ve not felt like this for years. Even as a child, I never felt this much at home in a place before. (Pause.)I was always just one of a crowd, then. But here I feel as if I’ve finally found a home I can be happy in. A place where I think I can settle down. Violet: I wasn’t happy at first about renting out the room. I thought it’d be difficult and problematic. I thought that if it was another women Sidney might get tempted to wander or… Sally: What Sidney? (Laughs.)Oh, Violet. Your Sidney would never wander in a thousand years. He’s too rooted in this place with you and what you both have together. Violet: He’s a man isn’t he? Don’t they all wander eventually? Sally: No, not all of them. (Pause.)Not Sidney any way. He’s not the sort. Too stuck in his ways. Too rooted in his little world and stamps (Laughs. Violet smiles.)But you’re not happy, are you? You’re not rooted here. You’re not settled here anymore because you’re not fulfilled. Violet: I like it here. (Pause. Looks at Sally.)Most of the time. Of course I get days when I think I ought to be doing something more or something different, but who doesn’t feel like that at sometime or other? Sally: It’s a matter of fulfilment, Violet. Unless we’re fulfilled, we can never be really happy. And fulfilment is a matter of our desires being satisfied. Violet: Desires? What desires? Sally: Whatever desires arise in us. Violet: What? You mean sexual desires? Sally: No, not just sexual desires. Whatever desires you feel deep down. I mean, some people desire peace and quiet and if they have that desire fulfilled then, they’re happy. Simple as that. Violet: So it can be any sort of desire? Sally: Yes, any kind of desire. Like collecting butterflies or stamps. (Giggles mildly.)No. To be serious, it can be any desire. Not necessarily sexual. It can be something like painting the best picture ever or meeting the Queen or climbing Mount Everest. It doesn’t matter what it is. It’s the fulfilment of that desire that matters. That’s where real happiness lies. (Pause. Both women look at the floor for a few moments. Then Sally sighs.)Well that’s the theory anyway. But what do we know about desires? We’re just women. We’re not supposed to have desires. Violet: What are your desires? What would make you happy? Sally: I’m not sure. (Pause.)I’d have to think about it. Violet: I thought once upon a time that being with Sidney was all that I wanted. That, getting a nice home together, and the things for the home. We didn’t want children. We just wanted each other. But now, I’m not sure what it is we’re after anymore. Sidney and I seem to have drifted apart. (Sighs.)It’s not his fault. I think I just wanted more and more things that we couldn’t afford and then… Sally: But you still love him, surely? (Put her hand on Violet’s knee for a few moments. Violet doesn’t react to this but looks at the auditorium.)I mean, he is your husband. And I can tell by what you’ve said that you’re concerned that he might wander and if you’re concerned he might wander you must care about him to worry about it. Mustn’t you? Violet: Must I? (Sighs. Looks at Sally’s hand on her knee.)Or perhaps I just don’t want to be betrayed by him. That would be a real dagger blow. (Looks at Sally.)No one wants to be betrayed. Even if the person betraying them isn’t the person they love anymore. It’s the principle of it that hurts. The fact of them being betrayed. (Looks at Sally’s hand again. Sally removes her hand from Violet’s knee.)I loved Sidney once. He loved me. We seemed to be just right together. Now, we just exist together. Side by side like a pair of old shoes. Sally: How poetic. Old shoes. (Pause.)There must be something that you still desire, surely? Violet: Perhaps there is, but I don’t know what it is yet. I think I’ve become wary about desires and wants. Wary that they might never be able to be fulfilled and I’ll end up being even more unhappy. (Pause. Gets up from the sofa suddenly as if invisible hands have ejected her forcefully. Sally sits up and stares.)But there you are. What we can’t have we can’t have. We have to be satisfied with what we have. Put up with it. Make the most of things, as my mother would say. She used to say that quite a lot. It was a way to make her feel she was some sort of martyr when she couldn’t have certain things she wanted. (Walks to the edge of the stage and stares out at the auditorium.)Perhaps I’ll be like her. Grow old unfulfilled. Old before my time. Full of bitterness and resentment. Sally: It needn’t be that way. You just might find out what it is you want and be able to have it fulfilled and be happy. If you’re brave enough. Violet: Brave enough? What do you mean, brave enough? Sally: Well, sometimes we know what we want but haven’t the nerve to reach out and grab it. We’re too frightened that we’ll reach beyond ourselves, fall, and get hurt. It takes a steady nerve to be happy. (Rises up from the sofa and walks to where Violet is standing.)Do you have the nerve to be happy, Violet? Violet: I don’t know. At the moment, I’m too tired to want anything. I just want to get on with my life with as little problems as possible and… Sally: Be happy? Violet: Yes. Yes, that’s probably it. Happiness in my mediocre life. Content with my second-rate state of being. My ordinary boring way of doing things. (Both women turn and stare at each other.)When we’re young, we have so many dreams we think we’re going to fulfil and yet we don’t. We seem content to grab the first chance of settling down and then before we know it we’re stuck in the rut of boredom and we believe it’s what we want. Sally: It’s what people call maturity. Settling down to a quiet life with a husband and kids and a home which is middling and making out they’re happy when all the time deep down they’re not, but too damned frightened to admit it to themselves.(Pause. Reaches out her hand to touch Violet’s, but Violet puts her hands behind her back.)God, Violet, there must be something you want? Something or someone that you feel you want or better still, desire? Violet :( Moves away from Sally.)I don’t know what I want or desire. I just want to get through each day with as little trouble as possible and go to bed and sleep. That’s all I can say at the moment. Nothing else makes sense other than that at the present time. Now I must be getting on with things. Sidney likes things to be tidy when he gets home. Likes everything in its place and his dinner ready. (Moves slowly upstage.)It’s what we do. Make ourselves a home. Sally: Yes. Yes of course you do. It’s what people do. (Pause.)But think about what we’ve been saying. You will won’t you? Violet: I’ll try. (Pause.)You’d better go to your room. Keep it tidy in here. (Sally nods. Violet goes upstage and leaves the room. Sally stares as the light fades.) End of Scene Two. Act Two. Scene Three. Late afternoon a few days later. Sidney and Sally are sitting at the table. Sidney is looking upstage at the kitchen door.) Sidney: Violet went out? Sally: Yes, she said she had to see someone. Sidney: That’s not like her. She’s usually here when I get home. Who did she have to see? Sally: She didn’t say. Just said she’d be back later. Sidney: Why now? Couldn’t she have gone after dinner? Sally: I don’t know, Sidney, she never told me who she was seeing or why it had to be then and not later. You’ll have to ask her when she comes home. (Pause.)Had a busy day at work? Sidney: Yes, very busy. I always am. It’s the nature of the job. Ticket offices are generally busy places. (Pause.) She never mentioned about going out this morning. I wonder who she's gone to see? Sally: What’s the matter, Sidney, frightened she might have found another man? Sidney: Don’t be daft. Violet’s not like that. She’d not go off with another man in a month of Sundays. (Pause. Looks at Sally.)Unless you know different, do you? Sally: How would I know who she was seeing? She wouldn’t confide in me, would she? (Pause. They look at each other intensely for a few moments.)What’s she going to say to me? “Oh, Sally, by the way, I’m out to see this bloke who’s promised me a good time and won’t be home until midnight”? Do you think she’d tell me? Sidney: I don’t know what she’d tell you do I? You and she seem to talk quite a lot. Sally: You and I talk a lot but you don’t tell me bugger all about your work or who you see there. So why should Violet? (Pause. Sidney looks upstage again.)I thought you trusted her? I thought she could do no wrong in your eyes? Sidney: I didn’t say she was doing wrong. I just think It’s unusual for her not be here when I get home that’s all. I didn’t say she was seeing another man. (Pause. Looks at Sally.)Has she said anything about another bloke? Sally: Of course, she hasn’t. Do you think she’d tell me, Sidney? (Laughs softly.)No, she wouldn’t. Not even if there was something to tell, she’d not tell me. Sidney: Well, I expect it’s all innocent anyway. Bound to be something straight forward that turned up. Things happen like that sometimes. (Pause. Stand up from the table and walks to the edge of the stage and peers out at the auditorium.)I though you and Violet got on all right. Has something gone on between you two? Sally: What do you mean, gone on? (Looks at Sidney.)What like a row you mean? Sidney: Well, something that has caused unease between you both. Have you two had a row? Sally: No. Why should we have had a row? What’s there to row over? Sidney: How do I know. You and she could have had a row about anything for all I know. Women do. They always row between each other. Sally: That’s rubbish. You know that’s not true. Women don’t row anymore than men do. Look who causes all the wars in the world and most of the blooming crimes. Men. Men that’s who. Don’t talk to me about women having more rows. (Pause. Rises up from the table and walks to the edge of the stage.) Sidney: Well that’s the way it seems to me with the women I’ve encountered. They seem to row over the silliest things. Things that men wouldn’t even raise an eyebrow over. (Pause. Sighs.)Sorry if I’m a bit grumpy. I like things to be orderly. Like things to run according to plan. I don’t like it when things get out of order. I don’t like it. Makes me feel uneasy. Makes me feel insecure. Sally: Life’s like that, Sidney. Life is only orderly when people try to make it orderly, but on its own life is very disorderly. Chaos is the natural way of things. I read about it somewhere in some book or magazine. Order is man’s attempt to control the world and make sense of it. Sidney: Oh, yes? Then what about the laws of nature? That’s a form of order isn’t it? The way the planets rotate round each other and the seasons of the year? That’s a form of order isn’t it? Chaos is anarchy. Chaos is death. Sally: Things happen the way that do because that’s how they happen. Nothing to do with laws or anything. We see things happening in a certain way and all of a sudden mankind thinks it’s discovered laws of nature or seasons. There are no laws. Just events that happen a certain way. I read it somewhere. Sidney: Nonetheless, I like order in my life. I need things to be orderly. Violet and I live our lives in an orderly fashion. We always have. Sally: Perhaps Violet’s got fed up with the orderliness. Perhaps she’s gone to seek out a bit of disorderliness and chaos. (Smiles.) Maybe she has gone to find another bloke. Maybe she needs more than you can give her, Sidney. Perhaps she’s off in some room somewhere enjoying herself. Sidney: Don’t be bloody daft. You’re just getting me wound up now. Sally :( Moves close to Sidney and looks at him.)I wouldn’t wind you up, Sidney. I like you too much. I like you very much indeed. Sidney :( Looks at Sally.)Do you? Sally: of course I do. I thought you realized that. I thought you knew how I felt about you. Sidney: I haven’t given it much thought. Sally: Liar, Sidney Tuckbrush. You men are such liars. You couldn’t tell the truth if it came up and sat on your forehead playing the bagpipes. Sidney: No, honestly. I haven’t thought about it. Sally: Well you know now. (Pause. Takes hold of Sidney’s right hand and squeezes it.)You’ve no excuse now have you. Sidney: Excuse for what? Sally: You are slow, Sidney. What do you want me to do, draw you a diagram? Sidney :( Looks at Sally’s hand.)I think what you’re saying isn’t right. I’m a married man. I like you, but I couldn’t do anything that would upset Violet. Sally: There you go again, lying to me once more. Why lie to me, Sidney? I know men and I know you. You’re not concerned about hurting Violet; you’re concerned about getting caught doing something. Sidney: No, I’m not. I don’t want to hurt Violet. Sally: Don’t lie, Sidney, it’s so bloody frustrating when people don’t admit to the feelings they have. Of course, you want me. You’ve done nothing but look at me and lust after me since I came. Sidney: No I haven’t, I haven’t lusted after you at all. I’m a faithful husband. I’ve never been with another woman. Sally: Always a first time, Sidney. (Leans forward quickly and kisses Sidney on the cheek.)There, that wasn’t painful was it? (Sidney looks upstage towards the kitchen door.)Don’t worry, Violet’s not here yet. She might not be home for hours. Plenty of time for you and me. Sidney: Go away. Leave me. (Becomes nervous and confused.)I think it best you leave. Sally: Leave? Sidney it’s not possible for me to leave. If I left now, I’d have to tell Violet you made a pas at me and tried it on. Sidney: That’s a lie. I haven’t made a pass at you or tried anything on. Sally: But who will Violet believe? You or me? Sidney: Me of course. Sally: Are you sure? I think she already suspects you and me. Me leaving would just confirm her suspicions. (Pause.)I don’t mean any harm, Sidney. I just think you and I could be happy together. And Violet needn’t know. At least not yet. Not until we’re sure about each other. Sidney: I don’t want to have anything to do with you. I want… Sally: Liar! You damned liar, Sidney Tuckbrush, you know that you want me. Go on admit it! Don’t be such a mouse! Sidney :( Moves away from Sally.)Keep your voice down. She may be home at any moment. Sally: No, she won’t. Sidney: How do you know? Sally: Because she told me. Sidney: Told you what? Sally: Her mother died this morning and she’s gone to sort things out. Won’t be home for a day or so. She left you a letter. It’s in your bedroom.
Copyright © 2005 Terry Collett |