Fences Page #6

Troy heads inside as Rose brings the

laundry basket to the line and hangs

it.

rose (to troy in the kitchen): Well, you wishing and calling

it foolish ain’t gonna stop folks from playing

numbers. That’s one thing for sure.

Besides . . . some good things come from playing

numbers. Look where Pope done bought him that

restaurant off of numbers.

Troy comes out, cup of coffee in hand.

troy:
I can’t stand n*ggers like that. Man ain’t had

two dimes to rub together. He walking around with

his shoes all run over bumming money for cigarettes.

All right. Got lucky there and hit the

numbers . . .

rose:
Troy, I know all about it.

troy:
Had good sense, I’ll say that for him. He ain’t

throwed his money away.

Troy goes down the steps toward the

ruined fence.

troy:
I seen n*ggers hit the numbers and go through

two thousand dollars in four days. Man brought

him that restaurant down there . . . fixed it up

real nice . . . and then didn’t want nobody to

come in it! A Negro go in there and can’t get no

kind of service. I seen a white fellow come in

there and order a bowl of stew. Pope picked all

the meat out the pot for him. Man ain’t had nothing

but a bowl of meat! Negro come behind him and

ain’t got nothing but the potatoes and carrots.

Talking about what numbers do for people, you

picked a wrong example. Ain’t done nothing but

make a worser fool out of him than he was before.

Rose comes out from behind the hanging

laundry.

rose:
Troy, you ought to stop worrying about what happened

at work yesterday.

troy:
I ain’t worried. Just told me to be down there

at the commissioner’s office on Friday. Everybody

think they gonna fire me. I ain’t worried about

them firing me. You ain’t got to worry about that.

(pause)

Where’s Cory? Cory in the house?

(loud)

CORY!

rose:
He gone out.

troy:
Out, huh? He gone out ’cause he know I want him

to help me with this fence. I know how he is. That

boy scared of work. He ain’t done a lick of work

in his life.

rose:
He had to go to football practice. Coach wanted

them to get in a little extra practice before the

season start.

He had to go to football practice. Coach wanted

them to get in a little extra practice before the

season start.

troy:
I got his practice . . . running out of here

before he get his chores done.

rose:
Troy, what is wrong with you this morning?

Troy grabs a shovel goes to a corner

of the yard.

rose:
Don’t nothing set right with you. Go on back in

there and go to bed . . . get up on the other side.

troy:
Why something got to be wrong with me? I ain’t

said nothing wrong with me.

rose:
You got something to say about everything. First

it’s the numbers . . . then it’s the way the man

runs his restaurant . . . then you done got on

Cory. What’s it gonna be next? Take a look up

there and see if the weather suits you . . . or

is it gonna be how you gonna put up the fence with

the clothes hanging in the yard.

troy:
You hit the nail on the head then.

rose:
I know you like I know the back of my hand. Come

on in here and get you some more coffee . . . see

if that straighten you up.

(going into the house)

’Cause you ain’t right this morning.

Troy starts to pace out the fence

line . . . He stops at the sound of a

young girl’s shout which seems to come

from the abandoned house. Troy looks,

listens:
Nothing. Then the unsettling

silence is broken by faint

singing . . .

gabriel (o.s.):
Yes, ma’am, I got plums

You ask me how I sell them

Oh ten cents apiece—Three for a quarter

Come and buy now . . .

EXT. SIDE ALLEY—MORNING

Troy heads up the dark alley toward

the street. The singing gets louder,

intermingled with children’s voices,

chanting, mocking the singer.

EXT. THE STREET IN FRONT OF THE HOUSE—

MORNING:

Troy sees his brother gabriel coming

down the street, followed by the

neighborhood kids. He is seven years

younger than troy. Injured in world

war ii, he has a metal plate in his

head. He carries an old trumpet tied

around his waist and believes with

every fiber of his being that he is the

archangel gabriel. He carries a

chipped basket with an assortment of

discarded fruits and vegetables he has

picked up in the strip district and

which he attempts to sell.

gabriel (singing): ’Cause I’m here today and tomorrow

I’ll be gone.

As the kids see Troy heading their

way, they scatter.

gabriel:
There’s Troy . . . Hey, Troy!

troy:
Hey, Gabe.

Rose comes out on the porch.

gabriel:
Hey, Rose!

rose:
How you doing, Gabe?

She continues down the steps, past

Troy, and up to Gabe. Troy looks up

and down the street, embarrassed. One

or two old people are watching from

windows and stoops.

rose:
What you got there?

gabriel:
You know what I got, Rose. I got fruits and

vegetables.

Rose looks through his basket,

treating the produce carefully.

rose:
Where’s all these plums you talking about?

gabriel:
I ain’t got no plums today, Rose. I was just

singing that. Have some tomorrow. Put me in a big

order for plums. Have enough plums tomorrow for

Saint Peter and everybody.

Gabriel shoots an anxious glance to

Troy.

gabriel (to rose): Troy’s mad at me.

troy:
I ain’t mad at you. What I got to be mad at you

about? You ain’t done nothing to me.

gabriel:
I just moved over to Miss Pearl’s to keep

out from in your way. I ain’t mean no harm by

it.

troy:
Who said anything about that? I ain’t said anything

about that.

gabriel:
You ain’t mad at me, is you?

troy:
Naw . . . I ain’t mad at you, Gabe. If I was mad

at you I’d tell you about it.

gabriel:
Got me two rooms. In the basement. Got my own

door too. Wanna see my key?

He fishes out a key on a string and

shows Rose and Troy.

gabriel:
That’s my own key! Ain’t nobody else got a key

like that. That’s my key! My two rooms.

troy:
Well, that’s good, Gabe. You got your own

key . . . that’s good.

rose:
You hungry, Gabe? I was just fixing to cook Troy

his breakfast.

gabriel:
I’ll take some biscuits. You got some bisI’ll take some biscuits. You got some biscuits?

Rose tries to lead Gabriel by the hand

into the house.

gabriel (to rose): Did you know when I was in Heaven . . .

every morning me and Saint Peter would sit down

by the Gate and eat some big fat biscuits?

Troy sees a pair of old ladies across

the street, whispering.

gabriel:
Oh, yeah! We had us a good time. We’d sit

there and eat us them biscuits and then Saint Peter

would go off to sleep and tell me to wake him

up when it’s time to open the Gates for the Judgment.

rose:
Well, come on, I’ll make up a batch of biscuits.

gabriel:
Troy . . . Saint Peter got your name in the

book. I seen it. It say . . . Troy Maxson. I

say . . . I know him! He got the same name like

what I got. That’s my brother!

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