Archipelago Page #4

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R:
Yeah.

Man:
It protects her eggs, and carries her eggs down there, and see, they hide up under the shell, there.

R:
I see.

Man:
You can carry them in here. With this male, here, the shell comes level with the body. That's the difference. That's the male, and that's the female.

R:
How amazing.

Man:
Yeah, yes, incredible.

R:
And he seems to be a lot smaller than her, as well.

Man:
Well, they're the same weight.

R:
Really?

Man:
Slightly different shape. She looks bigger because...

R:
She looks wider.

Man:
Yeah Well, she's, it's a slightly different shape, - because her shell is much bigger, you see, for carrying the eggs.

R:
Okay.

Man:
That's why. But they're about the same weight.

> The man drives off in his boat.

> Rose stands in the kitchen, the lobsters on the counter, not moving; a pot nearby. She examines them, smells them, pets them, and sighs...

R:
Okay...

> She puts them in an empty pot preparing to cook them.

Close up of the lobsters in the warming water, unmoving.

> Edward stands in the kitchen watching the lobsters slowly come up to a boil as Rose explains the process.

R:
Well, by the time they're cooked, they'll be bright red. They change colour.

E:
What's that noise?

R:
It's just air being released.

E:
Have you done this before?

R:
Um...Not very many times, to be honest. I'm not that comfortable around them. Because I don't really, um, eat much shellfish. In fact, I don't really eat it at all. I've had quite strange reactions in the past.... So, um...

E:
Did you do it at Ballymaloe?

R:
Yeah, I did.

> The water begins to boil and the lobsters "hiss" more beginning to bounce in the pot.

E:
Oh, God! Oh, my God; its starting!

R:
You're scaring me!

E:
Sorry. Oh, my God.

R:
Yeah, we did it at Ballymaloe, and they were much worse than this. They were, you know, if we put the lid on, they'd be thrashing the lid off, and the lid would go flying across the room, and they were very, very awake. And very aggressive.

E:
Wow. These, these seem so.. so sleepy.

R:
Well, you know, they've been out of water for a long time.

E:
Right.

R:
Longer they've been there, you know, in Ireland, it was literally like out the sea, two minutes down the road, they were in our kitchen. It's the same here, but it's...

E:
Did you always cook them like that?

R:
Well, this is the way that we were taught, because there's so many different ways. I mean, you know, at Ballymaloe, they were really big on, you know, killing things in the most humane way possible, obviously.

E:
Sure.

R:
Um... And so the way that we learnt was to put them into sort of tepid water, you know, sort of warmish, and then, as you bring the water up to a boil, or a simmer, they will automatically fall into a coma, basically. And then they'll die peacefully.

E:
Right.

R:
Rather than, um, boil- you know, putting them in a thing of boiling water.

E:
Which is like gassing them.

R:
Yeah, it's like torturing them.

E:
Yeah.

R:
Which is not, you know, not fair. And none of it's fair, really, but...It's probably not a conversation you want to have, being a vegetarian.

> Patricia, Cynthia, and Edward are seated at the table finishing dinner; Rose is in the kitchen cleaning up.

E (whispered):
I just think it might be nice if we asked her to join us.

Cyn:
I can't think of anything worse than eating with another family.

P:
I don't think she wants to...

E:
OK, fine. Fine. Fine. Fine.

Cyn:
Listen, if she's at the table-

P:
She's just here to do a-

E:
Fine. Fine, its fine-

Cyn:
She'd probably just prefer to eat on her own; talk to her friends.

P:
Yeah, yeah.

E:
I don't, I don't-

Cyn:
Edward, don't you have your own friends? You don't have to make friends with the cook.

E:
I, I just don't see her talking to her friends, that's all.

Cyn (laughing):
She's doing the washing up.

E:
Yeah, on her own.

P:
Darling, it's a job.

Cyn:
Oh, my God.

P:
It's a job. It's a job she's taken on for two weeks.

E:
Yes, but all we have to do is ask her to join us. We've got a massive table. It wouldn't be a huge thing.

Cyn:
Well, then, go and do it.

P:
Edward, go on and ask her to join us tomorrow.

Cyn:
Ask her, if you like to. That's fine.

P:
She's a sweet girl.

E:
It doesn't matter.

Cyn:
She's very sweet.

E:
OK. Rose?

R:
Yeah?

Cyn:
I think Edward's got a bit of a crush.

E:
Do you want a hand?

Cyn:
He is so ridiculous. Burning martyr, sort of. Poor cook. Staff.

P:
He's just got too much empathy.

Cyn:
It's so annoying, though. It's always in such a, sort of, accusatory way.

P:
Well...

Cyn:
"Why don't we ask cook to join us?"

P:
Oh, Cynthia...

Cyn:
As though we've... No, we shan't.

P:
That's just Edward. Thank you, darling.

E:
What's just Edward?

E:
Caring about people's feelings.

E:
Right.

Cyn:
Clearing the table.

R:
Why are you...?

E:
No, I think we're all full.

R:
Okay

E:
Yes.

R:
I could have done that. That's...

E:
No problem.

Cyn:
God... It's actually getting quite embarrassing now. I feel sorry for her.

R:
So what do I do now?

E:
We can both do it together.

(Patricia and Cynthia chuckle quietly)

P:
You're right!

E:
Would you rather I wasn't here?

Cyn:
He's always trying to make himself... Now he's got to sort it out there, too. This is the whole point about helping. Poor girl just wants her bloody wages.

P:
Job's a job. It's a very straightforward thing.

Cyn:
Just do it, like- yes, exactly. Go on to the pub for a drink, or something.

E:
.. absolutely delicious.

> Edward sits in bed writing; the night sky slowly turning to day

> Cynthia is up, pushing the curtains open in her room, and looks out at the morning light; Edward and Rose's voices carrying up the stairs. She sighs and crawls back into bed with her Badger hand puppet, cuddling her pillow.

> Edward lounges in the living room still in his pajamas, tea in hand, talking to Rose.

R:
My dad worked in motor racing. He was a racing driver, so, yeah. So..That's why we've ended up there, really. Yeah, so I think we're still very much, erm, as a family, we're, you know... I don't know. It's like we've come out, come out of the coma.

E:
Sure.

R:
And that can be good, and it can also be bad, because... because it's the realisation, you know. That he's never coming back, sort of thing, and that's the... Yeah, I mean, that's the hardest thing, really.

E:
Sure.

R:
And yeah, you don't really feel anything after it happens for a long time. Because he died in an accident, so it was all very... You know.

E:
Mmm.

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