IF IT HEALS

Scene 7

(Wednesday afternoon. Lights up on RUFUS and a nine year old boy. RUFUS is seated in his big chair and the BOY sits on the floor in front of him. The BOY listens and responds, but is very involved with playing with a large, shiny handgun.)

RUFUS: (very gentle, hesitant, and seductive throughout.)....So, you were three when your mother left. That's a long time ago. Do you remember being three?

BOY: No.

RUFUS: Before?

BOY: No.

RUFUS: Do you remember ever having a daddy?

BOY: I told you, he died before I was born.

RUFUS: That ain't exactly true.

BOY: Huh?

RUFUS: Your daddy ain't dead. He's still alive. And I know where he is.

BOY: What are you talking about?

RUFUS: I knew your mama from before you were born, and I was there when you did get born, and I was there to watch you learn to walk, start figuring out how to do steps without help....

BOY: You knew my daddy?

RUFUS: Yeah, bettern' that even. This might be hard for you to understand, Titus, but--

BOY: My name is Brian.

RUFUS: No. No it's not. I was the one that named you. I'm your father and you name is Titus.

BOY: My daddy is dead, I want to go home. Titus is a stupid name.

RUFUS: It was my father's name, your grandpa.

BOY: Mom says he's dead too. Me and Mom don't got nobody, 'cept Jim, everybody's dead.

RUFUS: Who's Jim?

BOY: He's just this guy. He stays over a lot.

RUFUS: You like him?

BOY: He's ok. When am I gonna go home?

RUFUS: Not for a while yet. (pause) Titus?

BOY: My name is Brian.

RUFUS: I know this is hard for you, but it's the truth, and it's important that you start to believe it.

BOY: How come you think you're my father?

RUFUS: Because I am your father.

BOY: How come Mom told me that my father's dead then?

RUFUS: She lied, Titus. Do you know what lies are?

BOY: Sure. Lies are what men do. Mom told me.

RUFUS: (smiles) Yeah. Have you ever lied?

BOY: Not too much. Mom told me not to. She says lies never help, they only hurt, and they hurt the liar most of all.

RUFUS: Well, she was dead right about that. And that is exactly why you are here with me right now. Your Mom told an awful big lie and she feels terrible about it. That lie hurt her and a lot of other people real bad. After six years of hurting over it, she finally decided to make up for it. That's why you're here. She wants you to be.

BOY: Why would Mom lie about Dad being dead?

RUFUS: Do I look dead to you? Me and your Mom were married for a while, and for a lot of reasons, that didn't work out as well as either one of us wanted. Sometimes people do things they think they want to do, try to get the things they think will make them happy, but when they have them they aren't really all that happy and they can't figure out why.

BOY: Like they lied to themselves and believed it?

RUFUS: Yeah, exactly. Your Mom done just that when she married me. She left me when she couldn't hide the lie anymore, and she took you with her.

BOY: Didn't you love each other anymore?

RUFUS: I loved both of you with all my heart. You have to believe that. I still do. You and your Mom are the most important things int he world to me.

BOY: Then how come you didn't stay married? How come Mom told me you were dead?

RUFUS: Like I said, honey, sometimes things just don't work out. Two people start something and in the middle of it they get scared and run away from it, and when she ran away from me, she had to start making up new lies or the old ones would catch up to her again.

BOY: Mom's a liar?

RUFUS: She ain't a bad woman, she's just trying to do right things in a very wrong way. She doesn't really even know how wrong she was. Didn't, until now.....she has a problem. Had a problem. And she ran away from it instead of facing it. You can't hate her, or fault her for it, any more than you can hate a cripple for not walking. You just gotta live with it and try to make it right somehow.

That's what we're doing now. Taking a wrong and trying to make it right again. A boy needs his father, so he can grow up to be a man.

BOY: The other kids at school, they all got fathers.

RUFUS: So do you.

BOY: I missed you. Even though I didn't know you until yesterday.

RUFUS: I missed you too, Son. So much....

BOY: Is my name really Titus?

RUFUS: I told you it was.

BOY: It was Grandpa's name?

RUFUS: Yes.

(long pause)

BOY: Will Mom come and visit us?

RUFUS: Not for a while. She wants to, very much, but she can't, she has to make up for the terrible lies she told. It will be hard for you, but you have to be very brave now. We all have to work together to undo the wrong that she did. You love your mother, don't you?

BOY: Yeah.

RUFUS: Then do this for her. We talked it over and we both agreed that you need to spend as much time with me as you did away from me to make it even. You need to learn about having a father, learn the things that only a father can teach you, and learn about a family, about yourself, your body, your will....living your whole life with your mother might make you a good daughter, but you're a boy. When you go back to your mother, we want her to have a real man in the house, right?

BOY: What about Jim?

RUFUS: She won't need Jim anymore, because she'll have you.

BOY: Won't you live with us?

RUFUS: No.

BOY: How come?

(pause)

RUFUS: Well, Titus, we'll talk about that later. Come here and sit on your old Dad's knee.

TITUS: OK.

RUFUS: That's my little man.

TITUS: Is this a real gun?

RUFUS: It sure is. Pretty, isn't it?

TITUS: Can I sleep with it?

RUFUS: (with a proud chuckle) No, no, that's my job. Daddy sleeps with the gun. When you're old enough to have things to protect, you can have your own gun.

TITUS: Wow! When?

RUFUS: Real soon.

(Door opens, EMILY enters, turns on the light.)

TITUS: Bang. You're dead.

(Lights out, end of scene.)