MRS REYNOLDS AND THE RUFFIAN

by Gary Owen

This play was first performed at Watford Palace Theatre on 15 April 2010.

Mrs Reynolds and the Ruffian is set ‘somewhere in present-day Britain’. Mrs Reynolds’ garden has been vandalised by a troubled youth, JAY. Social services organise a truce and stipulate that JAY must fix the damage he has caused. Despite their differences, a strong bond forms between JAY and Mrs Reynolds. In a rare moment, he confides in her about his early life.

JAY

When I was little, all I remember is

My mum, always sick

And me worrying about her all the time.

She had doctors coming every day

To give her medicine.

Except it wasn’t medicine.

And the men weren’t really doctors.

And sometimes she didn’t have money.

So she’d pay for ‘her medicine’ in other ways.

There was this one bloke

She called him Holliman

I walked into the lounge one day

Found mum on her knees, in front of him.

I didn’t know what it meant.

After that, mum put a lock on my door

On the outside.

They used to lock me in – for my own sake.

Stop me seeing things I shouldn’t.

But they’d get so wasted, they’d forget I was there.

One time I had to shit in the corner of my room.

I couldn’t help myself.

I was seven. It was hurting my belly. Holliman

Rubbed my nose in it.

Held my face down

And rubbed my nose in my own shit.

Said that would teach me.

He would bring men round,

Let them use my mum.

Before they locked me in, mum

Would give me a pot noodle

And the kettle, so I could feed myself.

I would eat every mouthful and think –

See? My mum loves me, really.

One time I heard her screaming.

I kicked the door till the lock gave way

Holliman was standing over her, his foot

On her throat.

I stabbed him in the leg with my penknife.

And she –

– she threw me out.

I was thirteen.

And I don’t look to her for nothing these days.

I just thank her.

For everything she taught me.

For how strong she made me.