The Sparrows Also Die (A Little Mid-evil) by Stephen Parsons Copyright (c) March 1997 Revelations 9: I beheld and lo a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the lamb, clothed in white robes, and palms in their hands. Revelations 14: These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the lamb. Act One Characters Harold: Intelligent man who took all the wrong turns. We join him three days into a cocaine binge. He is experiencing stimulent induced paranoid schizophrenia. Earl: Harold's father. A frustrated and irritable man of 55. Also intelligent but a classic red neck otherwise. Billy: Harold's brother 14 months his senior. Really the best and kindest of men. Leonard: Carpenter and alcoholic 60 years old. He is a tennessee native who has taken all the wrong roads and enjoyed every mile of them. Tex: A semi-deaf mute. Completely irrational but harmless. He is about 65 but looks 90, no teeth, hunched at the shoulders. He becomes larger than life in Harolds eyes. Mike: Bar tender, 23 years old. Setting: Construction site, 1990, memory. Bar, 2020, present day. The play begins in memory. (Sparrows sing quietly on a very dimly lit set when suddenly a shot gun blast...boom...horrible scream...boom...silence.....boom.. silence.....sparrows sing. Harold walks on the construction site, foundation and blocks, no-one else is there slightly dark, and then a light as if it were the first rays of a new day shine kindly on his face and body.) He addresses the audience: Harold: (looks up and smiles naughtily) Ahh, at last we meet. You are the lucky ones, one part of the whole in the meeting of the two societies. A dialogue must not we partake for to do so is obsurd not to mention impossible. Much of I will be revealed here, but very little, and much of yourselves. For you see little of myself can be explained as I now stand before you, but so much can be said of what used to be. So be happy my friends, for as I have said you are the lucky ones partaking in an immense endeavor, longed for but not achieved, sought after but unapproached, since the beginning of time....or should I say awareness?.......Cognition? (As the monologue is in progress the work crew arrives on the set not noticing Harold not he noticing them) ----(He smiles, looks down, and then looks up again)--- (A dim spotlight shines on Earl for a brief moment then brighter on Billy behind him as Harold again addresses the audience.) Earl is my father, but the appellation of Dad has floated away and landed on another man......Earl has taken its place for myself and for my brother Billy who is the second of Earl's two sons. Inside him is an innocent child which has grown tired...so very tired at twilights becoming. I found as a youth that painting to me came naturally. I was gifted with the artists hand if you will, but Billy has a gift not to be found at the end of a brush or within the confines of any bureaucratic system but deep within the essence of his being, for he has the artist's heart. (He pauses and looks down for a moment as if in deep thought, when the set lights up and the noise and bustle of the site comes to life) And this (spreading his arms to his surroundings) this is the job site and also the site of my deepest education, though I feigned to believe so. Earl is a framer, in a line of descent of many who shared him proper mane of Thomas, and many more who shared his trade. This art has passed through the centuries and has come to rest on the laps of my brother and I. Though other plans will estrange my mind from this possibility, as you will see, they will be deeply rooted in the plans of my brother. (The noise and bustle gradually quiet as he proceeds, until by the end, nature and its bustle take over the background) Ahh (again spreading his arms) nature is beautiful is it not? Just look at the sun and blue sky. Can you hear the sparrows singing restlessly? Of course you can... The sparrow sings in his lonesome tree upon the hill it saddens me deeply to hear his trill of many lost forgotten springs a dream a vision of the sparrow and the hawk the sparrow cries sullenly with tears flowing like raindrops from the leaves of thirsting trees and the sparrow said "hawk, I love you" the hawk replied with deeply plunging talons penetrating deeply into his heart squeezing and working his life into oblivion to sleep the everlasting sleep his beaten worn flesh to feed her young how sad? (Upon completion of monologue, Harold turns and becomes part of an already busy scene) Earl: Where the hell have you been boy? (irritated) Harold: (Equally irritated) Earl you know I have classes today. Why do you always ask me the same damn question? Earl: Ahh, you don't need to go to that stupid college, there's plenty of work right here. I'm short handed as it is. Harold: It's not stupid Earl. I don't want to work like this the rest of my life. I want to live comfortably and have a real job!...!!!.. Earl: (interrupting) A real job? What the hell do you think this is? This is what work is all about boy, you're the one who wants to be cooped up in some office somewhere. Harold: You don't even know what I want to do. Earl: And I don't want to either, it's so damn foolish your just looking for an easy way out. Harold: You think going to school is easy? I work, just as hard as you, the only difference is I don't want to work this hard forever, and just barely get by. You've been working fo forty years Earl, and what do you have? Nothing, not a damn dime to show for your labor. Earl: Well, you can sure as hell bet I would have something if it weren't for that ungrateful mother of yours. Harold: She's got nothing to do with it. Earl: She's got everything to do with it. I was doing fine, everything was running smooth when she left me, and then it all just went to hell. I had a house, a car, and a farm boy, and she got it all. I've been paying support every year for twenty years to support her and you damn kids ever since. Harold: You should have been able to come through fine, you make good money, you just wasted it on nothing. Earl: I have never wasted a dime in my life. I did start to come out of it after a while and I was doing finr again until that damn Carter got into office, and everything just slid out from under my feet. I'm just coming out of it now, and it's 1990 boy, its been 20 years. Harold: (repeating Earls lines as he completes them) I've heard it all before, Earl and to honest I'm sick to death of hearing you bitch all the time. Earl: (becoming quite agitated) God damn it boy you just don't know what i've been through! You think you know everything. You don't know the first thing about life or anything else. That school isn't teaching you a damn thing. I've been working for twenty years boy, hard, I'm tired. I'm just so God damn tired I can't stand it anymore! (they both pause for a moment) Harold: (Walking away) I've heard it all before. Earl: Ahh just get to work. (both men shaking their heads) Scene: Earl standing to the left of the horses looking the plans over. Billy and Leonard are inside the crawl space working. Harold climbs in and approaches them. During the argument John and Leonard continue on seeming not to notice. Billy: Hi Harold. Leonard: Hello there kid. How are you (simulatneously). Harold: Oh, I'm fine. How you guys doing today? (seeming to be completely unaffected by the argument). Billy, Leonard: Fine, fine (Billy and Leonard go back to work, Harold comes to help Billy). Billy: Fighting with Earl again huh? Harold: He keeps riding me every day. Why is he constantly on me? Billy: (with an understanding tone) Its nothing personal Harold. He's just tired, like he said. I think he would like to be able to understand you but he doesn't seem to be capable and its frustrating to him. Harold: Ahh hell he just likes to bitch. ( and they go to work putting up floor joists) Leonard: (Begins to sing a song, excellent voice when he has been singing for a few moments Earl yells.) Earl: Shut up you old drunk! Leonard: (in a pleading tone) Come on now Earl don't jump my monkey ass. You know I can't work without singing. It passes the time. Earl: I also know you can't sing without drinking first, so that makes you a worthless drunk like I said. Leonard: Ahh Earl just stay off me. I'm working just fine. I've been doing this with you for years. Earl: Yeah, and one of these days your going to hurt someone besides yourself being drunk like that on the job like that. You could stumble off the wall and kill somebody. Leonard: And I hope it's you, you damned old fool! Earl: Oh, so that's the thanks I get for hiring an old drunk when no- one else would. You'd have starved in the streets if it hadn't been for me. I should have turned my back on you and said hell no twenty years ago when you asked for a job.(slightly annoyed) Leonard: (sarcastically) I know Earl you're just a hell of a nice guy. Now leave me alone and let me get back to work. (Continues his song) Where are you happiness Oh happiness Where can you be Where are you happiness Oh happiness you're no-where I've seen I'd trade the world in For a bottle of gin Oh happiness where can you be I'd trade the world in For a bottle of gin Oh happiness you're Nowhere I've seen Where are you happiness Oh happiness Where can you be Where are you happiness Oh happiness you're nowhere I've been I've searched the world over and under it seems Oh happiness where can you be I've searched the world over and under it seems Oh happiness you're nowhere for me (lyrics repeat twice, time simulates a three or four hour time period in which the others continue working in a laborious strapped in fashion, the endless yet unremembered moments of life, set becomes darker and red colors ominously light the set during the song) Harold: (Calling joyously, the set suddenly brightens) 11:30 time for lunch. Earl: Let's finish these joists first! Harold, Leonard: (Billy remains silent) Come on Earl it's hot and were starving. Earl: All right, all right, let's eat. I wouldn't want you guys to shrivel up and die or something. (They all get water out of a big jug sitting to the right and sit down to eat. Billy and Harold are sitting leaning their backs against a block wall, Leonard and Earl are sitting forward to the right and the left) Earl: This is the hottest May I've ever seen. Leonard: I feel like I could pass out any minute. Earl: Oh you crazy old coot, you're as weak as a little baby aren't you? (Leonard just shakes his head) Earl: We need some help around here. I'm sick of having to cut and carry these boards. We need someone to lug thses joists to you boys. It'd sure help out a lot. (Enter a timid black man looking for a job) Young Man: Ah, excuse me sir. (coming up behind Earl) Which one of you all do I talk to about a job? (Everyone points at Earl) Earl: We don't need anybody right now. (Billy and Harold look at each other in surprise) Young Man: I've got plenty of experience sir, been working for ten years or more. Earl: We got all the help we need. (rather rude) Young Man: Well thank ya anyway sir. (turns timidly and walks away) Harold: What's wrong with him? He said he had a lot of experience. Jesus Christ I think the hole in the ozone layer is burning a hole in your memory! Earl: Ah, that lyin' nigger. Ain't ever been a one of 'em put in a good day's work in their lives. Billy: You've got to be kidding me? You wouldn't hire him simply because he's black? That's completely ridiculous! Earl: Ahh hell ain't a one of 'em got a lick of brains in their heads. Harold: And I suppose Martin Luther King was dumb. Earl: Dumbest nigger that ever lived. Best thing that ever happened was the day he was shot. Billy: Earl the man was a genius. He was one of the greatest public speakers and leaders that ever lived. He was actually able to lead his people on a platform of non-violence, which speaks volumes for him and his people. Leonard: He wasn't too smart Billy. Billy: Of course he was. Have you ever listened to one of his speaches? Leonard: The fact that he gave them speeches was what made him stupid. Billy: How can you say that? Leonard: Well Billy, have you ever had a dog? Billy: Yes, of course, so what? Leonard: Well take that dog of yours for a walk in the country, and walk with him across an old iron bridge....but before you set foot on that bridge stop and look at it...look real close and you know what you'll see? Billy: An old weak bridge. Leonard: No, that's not what you'll see at all. You'll see a strong, powerful way of life. A comfortable way of life, that reaches it's fingers into every corner of the earth and builds bridges over every river. A way of life that has built this great country of ours. The souls of the great men of America are the iron in that bridge. Their lives were spent constructing it in one way or another for you and me. Can you see that? Billy: Yes. Leonard: Well, once you have seen that, you and that little black dog can start walking across the bridge. Just you and your dog, no cars, no trucks, just you walking with him trotting beside you. When you reach the middle stop and look over the edge into the river. Do you know what you'll see? Billy: An old bridge under my feet. Leonard: No, you'll feel that bridge shake and shudder like an earth quake. You'll see those iron bars weave back and forth. You'll fear that you will fall and drown in that water below for one reason and one reason only. That dog of your's, like a single man, like Martin Luther, with his rhythmical trot will do more to threaten that bridge than any car or any war ever dreamed. You aren't just walking across a bridge, Billy, you're threatening a way of life. Billy: That's what made him so great. He was a single man, a single cause, standing up for the rights that were rightfully his. He wasn't just fighting for himself he was fighting for equality for all, yourself included. Leonard: In order for the rich man to remain rich, the poor man must remain poor. The smart black man just goes about his business quietly, and makes his living quietly. Billy: Yeah, just like that man tried to do, but people like you and Earl are too afraid to let it happen. I'll tell you what I see. I don't see any bridge, composd of great men, because great men would never create a bridge made of fear and ignorance. I see a bridge made from fools, and if that bridge has to come down, then I'm all for it, and I'll swim those treacherous waters for every man woman and child of any color. (Billy gets up and goes to the water jug) Earl: What do you think of them niggers, Harold? Harold: I think they're human beings just like you and me, they're just as worthy of a job as anyone else. Not to mention the fact that there is at least the same if not more genetic variation between myself and Leonard, thank God, than there is between that young man and I. If you guy's weren't so damn dumb and uneducated you would know that. (Earl and Leonard both shake their heads) Earl: Well, come on, let's get this thing done. Scene: Work begins noisily for a few moments then gradually quiet as the lights begin to fade (forgotten moments) music begins to build slowely as the construction site darkens. An adjoining set depicting a bar begins to light up off to the right of the construction set as it darkens, when suddenly. Tex: Hooty hoo! Hooty Hoo! you big idget( laughs heartedly, as soon as Tex exclaims the bar set immediately lights up and the construction set becomes completely dark and quiet. The lights should slowly fade to reveal a dark bar with a short old wrinkled man standing up stage of a seated older version of Harold) Tex: (Begins a very expressive but unintelligible communication to Harold who barely shows interest. Harold: Do you want a beer Tex? Tex: (immediatley) nods uh-huh Harold: Mike, get Tex a Rhinelander will yah? Mike: Sure...Here you go Tex. Tex: (laughs, turns away mumbles to an invisible person, laughs loudly again, and begins dancing and singing to the music) Harold, Mike: (Look at each other and laugh, shaking their heads) Mike: You know where I can get any herb man? Harold: I have some on me, but not for sale. Why do you want to smoke one? Mike: Sure, Tex won't know the difference, and no-one else is in here anyway dude. Harold: (Get's out a sack of pot and begins to break up weed for a joint) I'm supposed to get in some real good skunk from this guy I know. He smoked a joint of it with me yesterday and I was so fucking stoned I didn't get off the couch all day. I've got some pretty good coke though (licking the paper and putting on the final twist) if you want some of that. Mike: I thought I noticed you sniffling, but no thanks man I don't have the money for it right now. I do want some of that skunk though dude. Harold: Cool. (lighting up the joint) How'd ya like that acid I got for ya last week? (holding in a hit and passing the joint) Mike: Oh man I didn't tell you about that? That shit was killer man. Me and a couple of my friends went fishing when we dropped and we got so fucked up and paranoid it took us all night to find our way out of the woods again. It was crazy man! Harold: I told you when I sold it to you that you were going to be in for an eventful evening. Mike: And you were right dude, cause thats not all that happened that night! Harold: Why what else happened? You didn't get busted did you? Mike: No man but my buddy I was with wrecked his truck into a telephone pole! Harold: No shit, did you guy's leave the scene? Mike: We tried to dude, cause we were trippin' and ya know we had that sheet on us you gave me, but his truck was so fucked up we couldn't move it, so we had to wait for the cops to get there man, no shit! Harold: Did the cops give you a hassle? Mike: Not really dude, my buddy's uncle is a police captain, but it was wild talking to a cop when you're trippin your ass off man! I was getting visuals from the car lights and even from his badge! Harold: So you maintained? Mike: Yeah, they didn't say anything. Harold: I always knew you were a loose cannon, but somehow I think I can trust you. Mike: Oh man, you know you can. You never have to worry about anything with me. I would never squeel man. Would I have told ya if I was fuckin with ya dude? Harold: I know (taking a hit off the joint) you're all right. (just then someone makes a racket at the front door, scaring both of them, Mike puts the joint behind the counter and light up a cigarette) Mike: Oh it's just Harry. Harry: What's going on dudes?