Daddy and Them Page #7

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But in view of

what's happened tonight...

and in the light of hard times ahead of

us, with Hazel's trial, I thought I should.

Frankly, I thought it would be irresponsible

of me not to have this little talk with you.

Listen.

I really love Hazel...

as unlikely a pair

as we are.

I mean, who's to say how love

comes about? Hmm?

I've heard him

pour out his heart...

seen him cry,

laugh and play...

and get angry.

And he reason

he was drawn o me, I believe...

is because he wanted

someone stable in his life...

some order,

some communication.

He's gotten to the point where

he can't stand to be around you!

And he loves you all.

But for God's sake...

I mean,

think about it!

I should sart seeing you all regularly,

on a one-o-one basis.

I can't really do that...

that wouldn't be ethical...

but there are other people

like me you can talk to.

Haven' you noiced you're

f***ed up, oally f***ed up?

You're so negative!

You don't ever communicate to each other,

and you never ever resolve anything.

Plus, you're all alcoholics.

You drink constantly...

and two of you were nearly killed

tonight because of it.

- Killed?

- J.C. Claude.

In a car crash tonight.

And hey were drunk.

My husband can't stand

to be around his own family.

He didn't realize that,

poor love...

until somebody... me...

pointed it out to him.

Help me. I mean,

why do you jus si here, hmm?

You're not going to die.

You're going to fade away.

Talk to each other,

not at each other.

Connect, connect,

connect!

You talk. You listen.

You respond.

You respond to the response.

You see, that's how it works.

You see,

you never ever connect.

- Do you drink?

- Yes!

From time to time,

like normal people!

Now, if I'm not mistaken,

the English invented whiskey.

I'm not an alcoholic!

I'm not like you people!

Well, I tried.

Yes, Julia, you tried.

Maybe I'll see you when

my husband comes up...

before the supreme high judge.

Good-bye.

- Well, she got a bee

up her ass, don't she?

Hmm. Yeah.

Hmm. Yeah.

My goodness.

Watch this.

- I'm sorry.

- For what?

Hazelnut hittin' you in the head

with that iron deal.

Well, that's how come me...

to come on over here.

- Oh, that's old business.

- Well, I lied.

Okay? And I need somebody

to talk about it.

All right.

Let's get away from this music.

- Okay.

- Here. Have a seat on the steps over there.

- Set yourself down.

- Okay.

Now, I wouldn't blame you if you wanted

to kill me, but it's been eatin' at me.

The truth, that is.

See, I've been workin' on myself

a little bit at a time.

Well, I been seein' a therapist and

eatin' fresh fruits and raw vegetables...

and all kinds of things,

and it ain't helped me none...

other than the fact that I'm regular

and I don't eat as many antacid tablets.

Anyhow, when I was talkin'

to your uncle on the hot line...

See, I was drinkin', which I've quit,

other than smokin' reefer...

which I do every now and then with my

next-door neighbor, who's eat up with glaucoma.

Anyhow, I was just bitchin'

and complainin' and moanin'...

and just blamin' everybody for everything,

and he was just so nice to me...

that I...

well, I just kept it up.

And we became friends. And I'm always shitty

to my friends, especially the nice ones.

- You know how that is. Anyhow...

- Mm-hmm.

Oh, I guess I was just

bein' terrible to him.

I mean, to the point where I was just huntin'

him down just to tell him how much I hated him...

for not making my life right.

Anyhow... Well, I guess he became

some disgruntled office worker...

'cause he comes over to the house

and starts screamin' and yellin'...

and just spillin' his guts

about how much I'm ruinin' his life...

and how much I remind him

of his family.

And that's when I told him to kiss my

ass. Well, see, I shouldn't have done that.

'Cause then he comes into the house.

And he's angry. And he starts screamin'...

and throwin' things around, and I tried to

stop him before he got into my shoe closet.

You see, I'm a shoe nut. And then he throws

me off of him. I go flyin' through the air...

and I hit my head

against that big old doorstop...

which they would've found out ain't made out

of iron anyhow once we got into the courtroom.

Then my neighbor, the witness... Well, he was

high on pot and all eat up with that glaucoma.

So I had him say

that he saw Hazel hit me.

Anyhow,

Hazel can't stand y'all.

Not near one of ya. He hates every single

one of ya, but he's too afraid to tell ya.

Now, I'm gonna go down, and I'm gonna

drop the charges and tell the law I lied.

And all the good eatin' in the world

or therapy or nothin' did one thing.

And my therapist told me to go to a spa

and get some rest, and I did. I went...

and I got massaged

and I meditated.

I ate oat bran, and nothin'...

not one thing... did one thing.

But then I got a facial. And I don't mean

a deep-cleansing, but a relaxing facial.

And I fell asleep. And I started

to dream, and I dreamed these boys...

they come along,

and they threatened to cut me open...

fill my belly full of saltwater

and then sew me back up...

if I didn't start tellin' the truth

and acting grown-up.

So your uncle's

gonna be a free man...

even if I go to jail

for "abstraction" of justice.

And, oh, God,

I just thought you might wanna know.

I'm gonna go buy you

a record player, Mama...

so you can listen

to some different music.

Boy, that'd be something,

wouldn't it, hon?

- Daddy?

- Huh? Oh, oh.! I ain'...

I ain't ready yet, Lord. Please. I can't

go now. I ain't got no grandkids yet.

It's me. It's me,

Daddy. It's me.

Alvin, what in the sh*t are you doing?

You scared me half to death.

I was havin' a nightmare.

I got ganged up on by a bunch of boys.

You might wanna tell somebody

about those nightmares sometime.

If you'd talk

to Mama sometimes...

she might quit

playin' that damn monkey.

Alvin, you're one of my boys

and everything...

but you are the oddest

poor son of a b*tch there is.

- #

- Ruby?

Ruby?

Oh, hey, Alvin.

Is something wrong, hon?

If Claude still wanted to be with Rose

or anybody else for that matter...

he'd still be with her.

Your fear of losin' him

makes you want to blame him...

for stuff you don't do.

Lord knows he's

got his problems.

Y'all both want to mess things up

before the other one does.

He told me one time...

you look like

an old-time movie star...

so pretty,

you're not even real to him.

Actually, he didn't tell me.

He told it to you.

I just heard it.

He talks to you

while you're sleepin'.

He's just crazy

about you.

'Night, Ruby.

- #

- Goddamn it.

What you doin', Alvin? Ain't you

got somethin' to read or somethin'?

Brothers ain't supposed

to see brothers on the shitter.

- I don't even let Ruby watch me take a sh*t.

- Maybe you ought to sometime.

Claude?

What, for God's sake, Alvin?

Ruby wouldn't hurt you for anything

in the world. She's crazy about you.

Any man in he world

ougha be happy as hell...

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