Hilary and Tilly.
Hilary How was school?
Tilly All right.
Hilary Did you have a good day? Tell me something that happened.
Tilly Christ, I just walked in the door.
Hilary Don’t go upstairs yet.
Tilly Why?
Hilary Just sit down, have a cup of tea with me.
Tilly No.
Hilary Five minutes is all I’m asking.
I want to talk to you.
Tilly God.
She sits down.
Go on then, speak.
Tilly’s phone goes. She gets it out and reads a text, laughs. Texts back. Hilary waits till this is over.
Hilary Having a daughter, well, it’s a privilege.
Tilly’s phone beeps again.
She scans phone. Texts back quite a long message.
Hilary waits till this is finished.
It goes fast, though, really fast, and I don’t want to waste this time we have together.
Tilly Is this going on much longer?
Hilary Why?
Tilly Because it’s really dull.
Her phone beeps. She answers.
Hilary Can that wait?
Tilly No.
Hilary Of course it can. It can’t be more important that this.
Tilly Well, it is.
She texts back.
Can I go now?
Hilary SIT DOWN!
Tilly Don’t go all psycho on me.
She sits.
Hilary I want us to do more things together.
Tilly Like what?
Hilary I wanted to show you my album.
Tilly What album?
Hilary The blue one. I stuck everything in. Old bus tickets.
Tilly What’s a bus ticket?
Hilary / What’s –
Tilly I know. / Joke.
Hilary There’s photos of me when I went to Greenham Common.
Tilly What?
Hilary A peace camp
A protest against American nuclear missiles being sited at Greenham. Women lived there.
For years. In tents. I went. It got very muddy.
Tilly Like Glastonbury without the music.
Hilary There I am.
Tilly Why are there are loads of men there?
Hilary They’re women. They have short hair.
Tilly Not a good look.
Can I go now?
Hilary In December 1982 thirty thousand women from all over Britain came to ‘embrace the base’.
Which we did. Nine miles of perimeter fence. You felt this incredible energy and also lots of confusion, women were saying, ‘Are we supposed to hold hands now?’
Tilly Time’s up.
Hilary I’m talking to you.
Tilly Five minutes, you said.
Hilary I didn’t mean five minutes.
Tilly You’re a liar then because that’s what you said.
Pause.
Hilary Is there something you want to tell me?
Tilly What?
Hilary Something you want to tell me?
Tilly No.
Hilary Are you sure?
Tilly What?
Hilary I know what happened at the party.
Tilly What party?
Hilary The party where you went into a room – and – did you use a condom?
Tilly Oh my God.
Hilary We have to talk about this.
Tilly I’m sixteen. I don’t have to talk.
Hilary No, I know. But if you want to.
Tilly I don’t want to.
What’s the matter with you?
Why don’t you have a drink?
Hilary Listen.
Tilly Open another bottle.
Hilary I have two glasses a night.
Tilly Yeah.
I’m going out.
Hilary You’re not.
Tilly I’m not a prisoner.
Hilary It’s a school night.
Tilly It’s six o’clock.
Hilary Twenty past.
Tilly So. I’ll be back in an hour.
Hilary Is that the three-hour-long hour?
Or the four?
Tilly Is this talking?
Hilary Let’s not shout. This is emotional.
All I’m saying is – be safe, look after yourself. That’s all I’m saying. Tell me.
Tilly What is it you want me to do? Do you want to tell me what to do?
Hilary Listen. You think ‘I’m being a strong woman’, that’s a misinterpretation …
Tilly Like you’re so happy.
Hilary What?
Hilary It’s never an hour, is it?
Tilly It’s never five minutes, is it?
Hilary But did you want to do it?
What did you want?
Tilly Did I want?
Hilary Yes.
You must know. What you wanted?
Tilly LEAVE ME ALONE.
Mark enters.
I want to go to Lauren’s for an hour.
Hilary She wants to go out. Tell her she can’t go out.
Mark Hello.
Hilary Just tell her.
Mark How long for?
Hilary It’s a no.
Tilly An hour.
Mark OK. That seems OK. If it’s an hour. That should be OK.
Tilly exits.
Bit of an overreaction.
Hilary She slept with some boys at a party. She hasn’t told us.
Mark Hold on. Hold on. What?
Hilary That’s it. That’s all I know. Look at us, we’re supposed to be a family.
She exits.