The scene opens on a graveyard. All four enter the grounds. Again the women are leaning quite heavily on the men. BARB and JANICE are in pain.
BARB:
(squinting) Rodney, do something about that sun, please?
JANICE:
(to TONTO) Not so fast. Easy. Slow down. Never again.
BARB:
Rodney, Rodney, if you love me, you’ll kill me right now.
JANICE:
I may never eat again.
RODNEY:
Boy, I wish we had a camera.
They arrive at Anne’s grave.
TONTO:
Here we are.
JANICE:
So this is it.
TONTO:
You sure you’re up to this?
JANICE:
No time like the present.
TONTO:
Still, it is kinda tacky visiting your mother’s grave hungover.
RODNEY:
That’s my Barb, tacky all the way.
BARB:
Okay, you guys, get away. Go wait at the car. This is daughter stuff.
RODNEY:
You sure? You look a little unsteady.
BARB:
It’s okay. We’ll be fine.
RODNEY:
We’ll be over here, if you need help.
The men exit.
JANICE:
God, I feel awful. Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea.
BARB:
Mom used to say, “Self-inflicted wounds don’t count.” Janice, hold me up.
JANICE:
I can barely hold myself up.
BARB:
Okay. I’m okay.
BARB walks to the tombstone.
BARB:
Mom, look who I brought. It’s Gra…It’s Janice, Mom. You were right. She did come home again.
JANICE:
I don’t know what to say, Barb.
BARB:
You’ll think of something. I got to go. I’m not feeling well.
BARB hobbles away in obvious pain.
BARB:
(calling plaintively) Rodney!
JANICE is left alone at Anne’s grave.
JANICE:
Hello, Anne.Wherever you are, I hope you’re feeling better than I am. The last time you saw me, I was a mess. Confused. In great emotional pain. Now it’s physical pain. I don’t know which one is better. (pause) Yes I do. The physical pain will go away. The emotional pain will take longer. If at all. I’m sorry I left the way I did. It must have been a horrible Christmas for you. But you must understand I didn’t walk out on you. I walked out on me. To everybody I was Grace, but to me I’m Janice. I don’t know if I can ever be the Grace you wanted, or the Grace Barb wants. I don’t know anything anymore. I’m hungover. I’ve met Amelia Earhart. And I’m standing at your grave, a woman I barely got to know.What a town, this Otter Lake of yours. I guess the reason I’m here is to seek forgiveness for the bad thoughts I had about you. I couldn’t help it. I needed a reason, some excuse for what happened to me, what I went through. You were all I had. Growing up in the home I did, looking the way I do, the schools I went to, the jokes I heard. I had to blame somebody. I feel so ashamed. You were so kind to me, so nice. And all I wanted was evidence, proof to justify my anger. And there you were, so sweet and accepting. My whole life fell away. Everything I had wanted to believe was gone because of you. That made me even more angry. I hate myself now. I’m tired of being angry. I’m tired of mistrusting you. I’m tired of everything. I just don’t want to fight it anymore. I’m sorry. You deserve better…
JANICE collapses. TONTO comes running up to her side.
TONTO:
Yo, Janice, are you okay?
JANICE:
I don’t know anymore.
TONTO:
Know what?
JANICE:
Anything.
TONTO:
That’s an awful lot to forget after one night of drinking. Trust me, you know everything you need to know. People may learn a few facts or stories over the years, but all the real important things in life we know at birth.
JANICE:
I don’t need graveside therapy right now. You had it easy; you grew up here. You knew everything.
TONTO:
That has nothing to do with it. Janice, have you ever heard of a bird called a cowbird? (JANICE shakes her head) Interesting bird, the cowbird. They lay their eggs in other birds’ nests, then fly off.
JANICE:
(sniffling) Cuckoos.
TONTO:
What?
JANICE:
Cuckoos. The English have a similar bird called a cuckoo.
TONTO:
Whatever. Anyway, the robins or starlings, whichever the nest belongs to, they raise the baby cowbird as a robin or a starling or whatever. But when it grows up, the cowbird is still a cowbird. It lays its eggs in another bird’s nest just like any other cowbird. Somewhere, deep inside, it knew it was a cowbird. No matter how it was raised or what it was taught. What are you, robin or cowbird?
JANICE:
I don’t know.
TONTO:
Well, let’s go find out.
JANICE:
What do you think I’ve been trying to do all these years?
TONTO:
Yeah, but you’ve been doing it alone. Two, three, four, eight, ten heads are better than one.
JANICE:
But it’s not your problem.
TONTO:
I’m a cowbird, too, remember. Let me help, okay?
Beat.
JANICE:
Why not?
TONTO:
Are you done here?
JANICE:
Not yet. Go ahead, I’ll be down in a moment.
TONTO exits. JANICE turns around and looks at the grave one last time. She sees a daisy growing off to the side. She picks it and gently places it against the headstone.
JANICE:
Co-waabmen, Mom, from your daughter, Grace.
JANICE walks toward the car. She exits.
The lights go down.
THE END