knees. She’s sobbing. She rests a moment in the tall grass
.]
74] SILVA.
He runs up to her and stoops down to help her
.
BABY DOLL : Le’ me go. Le’ me go.
[
She gets up and moves away from him towards her house
.]
75] AUNT ROSE COMFORT, AND BABY DOLL.
Aunt Rose comes out of the house all dressed up
.
BABY DOLL : Aunt Rose Comfort.
[
Aunt Rose Comfort rushes past her
.]
Aunt Rose Comfort!! Where are you going?
AUNT ROSE : I have to see a sick friend at the county hospital.
[
And she is gone. Silva has caught up to Baby Doll again
.]
BABY DOLL : You might as well shout at the moon as that old woman.
SILVA : You didn’t want her to go??
BABY DOLL : She’s got no business leaving me here alone.
SILVA : It makes you uneasy to be alone here with me.
BABY DOLL : I think she just pretended not to hear me. She has a passion for chocolate candy and she watches the newspapers like a hawk to see if anybody she knows is registered at the county hospital.
SILVA : Hospital. . .?
BABY DOLL : They give candy to patients at the county hospital, friends and relations send them flowers and candy and Aunt Rose Comfort calls on them and eats up their chocolate candy.
[
Silva explodes with laughter
.]
BABY DOLL : One time an old lady friend of Aunt Rose Comfort was dying at the county hospital and Aunt Rose Comfort went over and ate up a two-pound box of chocolate cherries while the old lady was dying, finished it all, hahahaha, while the old lady was dying.
[
They’re both laughing together
.]
I like ole people—they’re crazy. . . .
[
They both laugh together
. . . .]
SILVA : Mrs. Meighan. . . . May I ask you something? Of a personal nature?
BABY DOLL : What?
SILVA : Are you really married to Mr. Meighan?
BABY DOLL : Mr. Vacarro, that’s a personal question.
SILVA : All questions are more or less personal, Mrs. Meighan.
BABY DOLL : Well, when I married I wasn’t ready for marriage. I was still eighteen, but my daddy was practically on his death bed and wanted to see me took care of before he died. Well, ole Archie Lee had been hanging around like a sick dog for quite some time and. . . the boys are a sorry lot around here. Ask you to the movies and take you to the old rock quarry instead. You have to get out of the car and throw rocks at ’em, oh, I’ve had some experiences with boys that would curl your hair if I told you—some—experiences which I’ve had with boys!! But Archie Lee Meighan was an older fellow and in those days, well, his business was better. You hadn’t put up that cotton gin of yours and Archie Lee was ginning out a lot of cotton. You remember?
SILVA : Yes, I remember. . . .
BABY DOLL : Well, I told my daddy I wasn’t ready for marriage and my daddy told Archie Lee that I wasn’t ready for it and he promised my daddy he’d wait till I was ready.
SILVA : Then the marriage was postponed?
BABY DOLL : Not the wedding, no, we had the wedding, my daddy gave me away. . . .
SILVA : But you said that Archie Lee waited?
BABY DOLL : Yes,
after
the wedding. . . he waited.
SILVA : For what?
BABY DOLL : For me to be ready for marriage.
SILVA : How long did he have to wait?
BABY DOLL : Oh, he’s still waiting! Of course, we had an agreement that. . . well. . . I mean I told him that I’d be ready on my twentieth birthday—I mean ready or
not
. . . .
SILVA : And that’s tomorrow?
BABY DOLL : Uh-huh.
SILVA : And are you. . . will you—be ready?
BABY DOLL : That all depends.
SILVA : What on?
BABY DOLL : Whether or not the furniture comes back—I guess. . . .
SILVA : Your husband sweats more than any man I know and now I understand why!!
[
There is a pause. They look at each other. Then Baby Doll looks away. Then with a sudden access of energy she enters the house, slams the screen door in his face and latches it
.]
BABY DOLL :
There now! You wait out here! You just wait out here!
SILVA [
grinning at the screen door
]: Yes, ma’am. I
.]
74] SILVA.
He runs up to her and stoops down to help her
.
BABY DOLL : Le’ me go. Le’ me go.
[
She gets up and moves away from him towards her house
.]
75] AUNT ROSE COMFORT, AND BABY DOLL.
Aunt Rose comes out of the house all dressed up
.
BABY DOLL : Aunt Rose Comfort.
[
Aunt Rose Comfort rushes past her
.]
Aunt Rose Comfort!! Where are you going?
AUNT ROSE : I have to see a sick friend at the county hospital.
[
And she is gone. Silva has caught up to Baby Doll again
.]
BABY DOLL : You might as well shout at the moon as that old woman.
SILVA : You didn’t want her to go??
BABY DOLL : She’s got no business leaving me here alone.
SILVA : It makes you uneasy to be alone here with me.
BABY DOLL : I think she just pretended not to hear me. She has a passion for chocolate candy and she watches the newspapers like a hawk to see if anybody she knows is registered at the county hospital.
SILVA : Hospital. . .?
BABY DOLL : They give candy to patients at the county hospital, friends and relations send them flowers and candy and Aunt Rose Comfort calls on them and eats up their chocolate candy.
[
Silva explodes with laughter
.]
BABY DOLL : One time an old lady friend of Aunt Rose Comfort was dying at the county hospital and Aunt Rose Comfort went over and ate up a two-pound box of chocolate cherries while the old lady was dying, finished it all, hahahaha, while the old lady was dying.
[
They’re both laughing together
.]
I like ole people—they’re crazy. . . .
[
They both laugh together
. . . .]
SILVA : Mrs. Meighan. . . . May I ask you something? Of a personal nature?
BABY DOLL : What?
SILVA : Are you really married to Mr. Meighan?
BABY DOLL : Mr. Vacarro, that’s a personal question.
SILVA : All questions are more or less personal, Mrs. Meighan.
BABY DOLL : Well, when I married I wasn’t ready for marriage. I was still eighteen, but my daddy was practically on his death bed and wanted to see me took care of before he died. Well, ole Archie Lee had been hanging around like a sick dog for quite some time and. . . the boys are a sorry lot around here. Ask you to the movies and take you to the old rock quarry instead. You have to get out of the car and throw rocks at ’em, oh, I’ve had some experiences with boys that would curl your hair if I told you—some—experiences which I’ve had with boys!! But Archie Lee Meighan was an older fellow and in those days, well, his business was better. You hadn’t put up that cotton gin of yours and Archie Lee was ginning out a lot of cotton. You remember?
SILVA : Yes, I remember. . . .
BABY DOLL : Well, I told my daddy I wasn’t ready for marriage and my daddy told Archie Lee that I wasn’t ready for it and he promised my daddy he’d wait till I was ready.
SILVA : Then the marriage was postponed?
BABY DOLL : Not the wedding, no, we had the wedding, my daddy gave me away. . . .
SILVA : But you said that Archie Lee waited?
BABY DOLL : Yes,
after
the wedding. . . he waited.
SILVA : For what?
BABY DOLL : For me to be ready for marriage.
SILVA : How long did he have to wait?
BABY DOLL : Oh, he’s still waiting! Of course, we had an agreement that. . . well. . . I mean I told him that I’d be ready on my twentieth birthday—I mean ready or
not
. . . .
SILVA : And that’s tomorrow?
BABY DOLL : Uh-huh.
SILVA : And are you. . . will you—be ready?
BABY DOLL : That all depends.
SILVA : What on?
BABY DOLL : Whether or not the furniture comes back—I guess. . . .
SILVA : Your husband sweats more than any man I know and now I understand why!!
[
There is a pause. They look at each other. Then Baby Doll looks away. Then with a sudden access of energy she enters the house, slams the screen door in his face and latches it
.]
BABY DOLL :
There now! You wait out here! You just wait out here!
SILVA [
grinning at the screen door
]: Yes, ma’am. I
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