The Member of the Wedding Page #4

I wish somebody

would call me Lightfoot Addams.

Suit me better if Honey Camden

had brick feet.

Keeps me anxious and keeps me worried.

Come on, let's go.

Now, Frankie, I want you to forget all that

foolishness we were discussing. You hear?

Now, if your papa ain't home by good dark,

go over to your Aunt Pat's

and play with John Henry.

Since when have I been scared of the dark?

You'll find your supper on top of the stove

and pie in the icebox.

Good night, sugar.

John Henry!

John Henry!

John Henry!

Yes, Frankie?

You asleep?

No. What do you want, Frankie?

Come on over and spend the night with me.

I can't.

Why?

Just because.

Because why? We could have a good time.

Frankie, I don't want to.

Oh, you fool jackass! Suit yourself!

Only asked you because you looked

so ugly and so lonesome!

Why, I'm not a bit lonesome.

Well, I don't want to go into that empty,

ugly house all by myself.

I'm mad at you.

I think something's wrong. It's too quiet.

I've a peculiar, supernatural warning

in my bones.

I'll bet you $100 it's going to storm.

I don't want to spend the night with you.

A terrible, terrible dog-day storm.

Or maybe even a cyclone,

or a tornado, or a tidal wave!

Frankie, if you're afraid,

I'll get my weekend bag and come over.

- Suit yourself.

- Then I'll stay here.

You don't need a weekend bag.

You're not going up to Savannah, just here.

Go tell your mama.

She's at the show.

Well, she'll know where you are. Come on.

Now I lay me down to sleep.

If I should die before I wake,

I pray the Lord my soul to take.

God bless Bernice, Mama, Uncle Royal,

Honey, T.T., the Americans and Frankie.

Frankie, when Bernice said...

That sounds like Honey.

He stopped to bang the spit out of his horn.

Please, Honey, go on, finish.

I bet a policeman stopped him.

To me it is the irony of fate,

the way they come here.

Those moths could fly anywhere,

yet they keep hanging around

the windows of this house.

I told Bernice I was leaving town for good.

She did not believe me.

Sometimes I honestly think

she's the biggest fool that ever drew breath.

You try to impress something

on a big fool like that,

and it's just like talking

to a block of cement.

I kept on telling and telling and telling her.

I told her I had to leave this town for good,

'cause it is inevitable.

Inevitable!

What's "inevitable"?

Don't bother me, John Henry. I'm thinking.

What you thinking about?

About the wedding.

About my brother and the bride.

Everything's been so sudden today.

I never believed before

about the fact that the Earth turns

at about the rate of 1,000 miles a day.

But now it seems to me,

I feel the world going around very fast.

I feel it turning, and it makes me dizzy.

Turn the other way.

I'm going with them!

- What?

- I tell you, I'm going with them!

It's like I've known it all my life.

- Tomorrow I will tell everybody.

- Huh?

After the wedding,

I'm going with them to Winter Hill.

You serious?

The trouble with me

is that for a long time

I have been just an "I" person.

All people belong to a "we," except me.

When Bernice says "we," she means

her church, and lodge, and colored people.

Soldiers can say "we" and mean the army.

Until this afternoon, I didn't have a "we. "

But now, after seeing Janice and Jarvis,

I suddenly realize

that the bride and my brother

are the "we" of me.

So, I'm going with them.

I'm going with them

and joining with the wedding.

This coming Sunday,

when my brother and the bride leave town,

I'm going with them to Winter Hill,

and after that, to whatever place

that they will ever go.

I love the two of them so much,

and we belong to be together.

I love the two of them so much,

because they are the "we" of me.

You're going into tar, if you ain't careful.

I'm leaving town tomorrow.

After the wedding, I'm going with

my brother, Jarvis and Janice to Winter Hill.

And after that, for the rest of our lives

over the whole wide world.

That's a solemn fact.

I'll probably never see this old street again

for the rest of my whole life.

- Goodbye!

- Take care.

Good morning, Papa.

Good morning.

Papa, there's something I have to tell you.

After the wedding, I'm going away.

Papa?

How many times do I have to tell you

not to touch things.

If you break that, it will cost me $5.

Papa, please, listen to me.

All right, I'm listening. What is it?

I'm trying to tell you

that after the wedding, I'm...

Frankie, you take that lipstick off.

Now, what was it you wanted?

- I have to buy a wedding dress.

- All right, you charge it at O'Rourke's.

And wedding shoes

and a pair of sheer stockings.

You get what you need.

I'll call up and tell them it's all right.

Now, you get something nice.

I'll write to you, Papa.

I'll write you every day.

Pretty good, huh?

Yes. You on that stuff again?

Of course not.

Stop lying, Satan.

That much wind ain't natural.

That's gin blowing.

What's gin, Bernice?

Now, you go inside, candy,

and if you get caught high like that,

you're going to be in trouble for sure.

The parole man says so,

and remember, I've warned you.

Honey,

I need some help down at my store.

My porter's failed me again.

I wonder if you could help me.

I ain't got the time.

He's got a job.

He plays nights at Sam's Caf, Mr. Addams.

Keep Frankie home.

I won't be back for supper

I don't want her running wild in the streets.

All right, Mr. Addams.

Liar! And you got me lying, too.

You're in Sam's all night, playing,

but you're playing for nothing.

And when you ain't playing,

you're drumming up liquor parties.

But I feel good when I play.

Bernice, I got to have a dollar.

You're barking up the wrong tree, boy.

One of these days,

I'm getting me a good job.

Save my money, get out of this town.

You're just mean enough to do that.

Can't get a job to earn your rent money,

but you can to go away

and leave me alone to worry.

Bernice,

I got to have a dollar.

Here. At least it'll stop you from stealing.

Well, guess I'll be dancing off now.

Go away, boy. You ain't fooling nobody.

Don't worry. One buck ain't gonna get me

no ticket to Chicago.

Frankie, I'll thank you to do one thing

or the other, eat or comb.

I'm about to show you something.

- What? Frankie, what?

- You'll see.

Now, don't come in here, mind.

And don't peek!

Now, close your eyes,

and don't open them until I tell you.

These are the wedding clothes.

Oh, how pretty!

Well, what's the matter, Bernice?

Don't you like it?

No. It don't do.

What do you mean, it don't do?

Exactly that. It just don't do.

But I don't see what you mean.

What is wrong?

Well, if you can't see what is wrong,

I can't explain it to you.

Look at your head to begin with. Done had

all your hair shaved off like a convict.

You tie this ribbon around this head

with no hair, it looks peculiar.

But I'm going to wash

and try to stretch my hair tonight.

Stretch your hair?

How you going to stretch your hair?

And look at them elbows. Done bought

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