The Night of the Iguana Page #9

here. Collect the money from him.

Miss Fellowes, you've been doing a lot of

complaining about the food on this trip.

You figure you're gonna do any better

in a Mexican jail?

- Attagirl.

- One, two, three.

And watch out for the fleas

at the Ambos Mundos.

All you have to do is sponge down

with a little kerosene.

The manager keeps a big supply

right in the lobby.

There go your ladies, Mr. Shannon.

The spook's triumphant.

He's won his point.

He's proved there's no place

for Shannon...

...on the realistic level.

The last thin thread

that bound him there...

...is broken.

Now, Lord...

...letteth thy servant...

...depart in peace.

Mr. Shannon, stop that.

You're cutting yourself doing that.

Here. Please. Let me help.

- Let me take it off.

- I've got to break the chain.

No, no, no. Now, wait. Wait.

There.

There, I have it.

Thank you.

It's yours. You keep it.

Where are you going?

The long swim. To China.

Mrs. Faulk, stop him.

Mrs. Faulk.

Mrs. Faulk, stop him.

You must stop him. Please stop him.

Knock him out if you have to.

Hang one on him.

Baby.

You've got the daddy of all spooks.

This is a blue plate special.

- Let me out of here!

- You lie doggone now. Quiet down.

You know and I know that half this show

you're putting on...

...is playacting. Only trouble is,

sharks don't know that.

Let me loose.

Honey, you scared me out of seven years'

growth tonight, you ain't gonna do it again.

Mrs. Faulk?

I wonder if you'd mind

making a pot of this tea?

Miss Jelkes, does this strike you

as the right time for a tea party?

But this isn't ordinary tea. It's poppy

seed tea. It has a very calming effect.

Let me go!

- Tea, it's a hell of a solution.

- Please believe me, Mrs. Faulk.

I've had experience of someone

in Mr. Shannon's condition.

And I do know whereof I speak.

Untie me!

Poppy seed makes a mild

sedative drink...

...that helps you get through nights

that are hard for you to get through.

We could all use some tonight.

Because for all of us...

...you, me, my grandfather...

...this won't be an easy night

to get through.

Without a cry, without a prayer

- With no betrayal of despair

- Untie me.

- Not yet.

- I'm panicking.

- I know.

- A man can die of panic.

Not when he enjoys it as much

as you do, Mr. Shannon.

What do you mean by that insult?

You think I like being tied in this hammock,

trussed up like a hog in a slaughterhouse?

No, who wouldn't like to atone

for the sins of themselves...

...and the world if it could be

done in a hammock with ropes...

...instead of on a cross with nails?

On a green hilltop...

...instead of on Golgotha,

the place of the skulls.

Isn't that a comparatively

comfortable...

...almost voluptuous crucifixion to suffer

for the sins of the world, Mr. Shannon?

- Why have you turned against me?

- I haven't turned against you.

Thought you were sexless, but you've

suddenly turned into a woman.

You know how I know that?

Because you, not me, are taking

pleasure in my being tied up.

All women, whether they want

to face it or not...

...want to see a man

in a tied-up situation.

They spend their lives trying to get a man

into a tied-up situation.

Their lives are fulfilled when

they get as many men as they can...

...into a tied-up situation.

I'd like to untie you right now,

but I can't.

You believe in people being tied up?

Only when they might take

the long swim to China.

The long swim to China...

Shannon!

- Oh, yeah.

- Stop.

Stop it. Stop it, Shannon.

I'm gonna call Dr. Lopez.

And I'm gonna have you carted off

to the Casa de Locos.

- And you'll be put in a cell, alone!

- Off, off!

With hay on the floor and a bucket.

And that's all!

Off! Off! Off!

Off!

- Here, Mr. Shannon, drink this.

- Untie me!

You can holler

and howl to your heart's content...

...in the Casa de Locos.

All day and all night.

I'm a citizen with inalienable rights. Get

me the consul. I demand to see the consul!

Please, Mr. Shannon,

drink this poppy seed tea.

How can I with the widow Faulk

sitting on me?

Here, give me that tea. I made it.

I'll give it to him.

Drink this, you buzzard!

It's scalding.

Thank you, Maxine.

That's all I needed.

To have my mouth burned raw.

Now, if you could put some splinters

of bamboo under my fingernails...

...and have my eyelids cut off...

- Mrs. Faulk, let me.

Okay, honey.

You take over completely.

He's entirely yours.

May I make a further suggestion,

Maxine?

Why don't you go moonlight bathing

with your beach boys.

Don't let my presence stop you, any more

than old Fred's presence used to stop you.

You bastard!

Pepe.

Pedro.

You no-good bastard!

That was cruel, Mr. Shannon.

Childishly cruel.

I can't stand for a person I respect

to behave like a small, cruel boy.

Now, what do you respect in me,

Miss Thin-Standing-Up-Female-Buddha?

I respect anybody who has had to...

...fight and howl for his decency.

- What decency?

- Yes. His decency.

And his...

His bit of goodness.

Far more than I respect

those lucky ones who've...

...had theirs handed out to them at birth...

...and never afterwards snatched

away from them by unbearable torments.

A chronicle no longer gold

A bargaining with mist and mold

Listen to him,

saying them over and over.

The lines of his new poem.

Like a blind man climbing a staircase

that leads nowhere.

Should you be in there

helping him?

He'll call me when he needs me.

Drink this, Mr. Shannon.

I have no right to ask the question...

...but why did you go to such lengths

to protect Miss Fellowes...

...for whom you have no high regard...

...and to equal lengths to hurt Mrs. Faulk,

for whom you have?

Maxine's indestructible.

Is she?

Or does she just give that impression?

The only impression Maxine

gives is herself. Maxine's Maxine.

And I'm a no-good bastard.

Lay it to the drink. I'm a bad drunk.

You were drunk when you came

to Miss Fellowes' rescue.

I got drunker.

Drink isn't your problem, Mr. Shannon.

And what is my problem, Miss Jelkes?

The oldest one in the world.

The need to believe in someone,

or something.

Almost anyone. Almost anything.

- Your voice sounds hopeless about it.

- Oh, no, I'm not hopeless about it.

In fact, I've...

I've discovered something to believe in.

What?

Broken barriers between people.

A wanting to help each other.

Through nights like this.

One-night stands.

One-night communications

between them.

On a veranda...

...outside their separate cubicles.

You don't mean physically, do you?

- No.

- I didn't think you did.

An intercourse not well-designed

For beings of a golden kind

Whose native green must arch above

The earth's obscene, corrupting love

Is that what you advocate for me?

Is that what you call a human

relationship, you and Grandpa there?

Yes, Mr. Shannon. Yes. Yes, I do.

We make a home for each other,

my grandfather and I.

Oh, I don't mean a regular home,

because...

...I don't regard a home as a...

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