German Skerries Page 4
A slight pause.
JACK. I find it embarrassin’ when she calls me pet.
CAROL. I ’ave told ’er not to do that.
JACK. Well tell ’er agen. Shiz thick, your mam.
CAROL. It’s because Arnold is away in the army.
JACK. I’ll bash Arnold next time I see ’im.
A slight pause.
CAROL. Me mam does like you yer know.
JACK. She has a funny way of showing it.
A slight pause.
CAROL. She likes ’er family. So does me dad deep in that stone-cold heart of his.
A slight pause.
You have to blame people for certain things, but not me dad. Cos it’s not his fault, being laid off twice in ’is life –
JACK (interrupting her). I know he’s been laid off, I know he’s been ill. (Pulling her close to him.) I’m sorry if I went on a bit.
CAROL (tenderly). Just talk to them.
JACK. Throw a drownin’ man two ends of a rope, you would. (Taking her hand.) Come on, let’s go.
The light in the hut goes on.
MICHAEL is standing there. He is wearing a wetsuit and a black oilskin and he is soaked from head to toe. He has an arc light in his hand. He looks in pain.
JACK and CAROL jump, they are startled by the light.
JACK (turning round). What –
MICHAEL. Could one of you help me? Could one of you take this. I’m sorry, I –
JACK helps him. He puts the arc light on the grass. MICHAEL leans against the hut.
CAROL. Are you alright?
MICHAEL. Yes.
CAROL (going to him). Yer don’t look it.
MICHAEL (pushing CAROL’s hand away). I’m fine, I can manage.
A sudden twinge of pain hits his stomach, he bends double.
CAROL (trying to). Let me help you, yer daft thing.
MICHAEL (pushing her hand away, straightening up. Angry). I can manage. Sorry, shouldn’t snap, it’s passing.
A small trickle of blood is coming from one corner of MICHAEL’s mouth.
(Bending double, trying to speak.) I – I –
CAROL helps him, she puts her arm round his shoulder.
CAROL (to JACK, urgent). Get the car.
JACK starts to exit.
MICHAEL (straightening up). Wait a minute.
CAROL (to MICHAEL). Don’t be silly.
JACK (walking back). What ’appened, mate?
CAROL (to JACK). Get the car. (To MICHAEL.) Look, yer bad, yer must let us help you.
JACK. What ’appened?
CAROL (to JACK). Give me yer ’anky.
JACK gives CAROL his hanky.
(Wiping the blood from round MICHAEL’s mouth.) Yerve cut yer mouth.
MICHAEL. I was workin’ for British Steel. On the pipe that leads to the German Skerries when it seemed to explode. My rowing pram overturned.
CAROL gives JACK his hanky. A little more blood trickles from MICHAEL’s mouth.
Can you help me off with this? I didn’t want to go in the lifeboat.
CAROL and JACK help him off with his oilskin.
(Smiling.) I didn’t think I was hurt very bad. That’s better.
JACK is holding the oilskin.
CAROL. Get the car, John.
JACK. What do I do with this? – ’ere, you have it.
He gives CAROL the oilskin and exits quickly.
CAROL. ’E won’t be a minute.
MICHAEL unzips the front of his wetsuit. A faint red mark can be seen on his stomach.
MICHAEL. I’m a fool. (Bending double, in agony.) I – I’m a fool.
CAROL is getting flustered, she doesn’t know what to do.
CAROL (putting her arm round his shoulder). Don’t worry.
MICHAEL straightens up.
MICHAEL. Can you get me sitting down.
CAROL helps him sit down. She puts the oilskin on the grass beside him.
That’s better. That’s better.
CAROL puts the oilskin over his lap.
CAROL (to herself). Come on, come on.
CAROL runs her fingers through his hair.
Don’t worry.
MICHAEL’s face is white.
MICHAEL (calmly, slowly). Did you know? – I’m a Catholic.
A slight pause.
If I were a Jew or a Protestant it wouldn’t make any difference.
CAROL. Please don’t try and talk.
MICHAEL is talking to himself.
MICHAEL. You’re supposed to know the answer, aren’t you.
A slight pause.
When everything is put in its place.
CAROL keeps looking anxiously for the car.
A slight pause.
Well, at the end of the day I don’t know any more than I did before.
The sound of a car pulling up.
A slight pause.
Once a Catholic, always a Catholic.
The sound of a car door opening.
CAROL. ’E’s ’ere.
MICHAEL. I feel peaceful now.
He makes the movements of a man being sick. A clot of blood comes out of his mouth and onto the oilskin. CAROL’s hands go in front of her face in horror, she nearly screams.
(Calmly.) That’s better. That was stuck in my throat.
CAROL (putting her arm round his shoulder). What’s ’appenin’?
JACK enters.
JACK. Right.
CAROL looks distressed.
Everythin’ okay?
CAROL (trying to talk quietly). ’E’s ’urt ’is stomach inside.
JACK (standing by CAROL). I’ll take ’im.
CAROL (firmly). I’m tekkin’ ’im.
JACK (talking quietly). No, I will.
CAROL (upset). What am I gonna do then?
JACK. Stay ’ere.
CAROL. I’m not stayin’ ’ere, I couldn’t.
JACK. I won’t be long.
CAROL. I’ve got to tekk him.
JACK. Why?
CAROL. I don’t wanna stay ’ere.
JACK. It’s the same f’ me.
CAROL. If you ’adn’t got that bloody sports car, I’m tekkin’ ’im.
JACK. Where will yer go?
CAROL. Redcar.
JACK. What if it’s shut?
CAROL. It’d be the same f’ you, wouldn’ it. ’Elp me get ’im up.
She still has her arm round MICHAEL’s shoulder. JACK moves the oilskin from his lap. They stand him up.
Take yer jacket off.
JACK takes his jacket off. He puts it round MICHAEL’s shoulders.
JACK (whispering). Are you sure?
CAROL. Yes. (To MICHAEL.) Can yer walk a bit?
MICHAEL. Yes.
JACK (taking MICHAEL’s other arm). Come on then.
They exit towards the car.
A pause.
The sound of a car door closing.
A pause.
The sound of the car pulling away.
A pause.
JACK enters, he looks lost, he doesn’t know what to do. The wind blows up.
He pulls the oilskin round to the side of the hut out of the way. He stands looking towards the German Skerries.
The sound of a flute, the same notes as before.
A moment’s pause.
The sound of the sea increases in volume. The wind blows up. It is very loud.
JACK goes inside the hut, he closes the door.
The sound stays for fifteen seconds and then slowly dies down as the lights pull up.
Early morning, five o’clock. The air is still. Absolute silence. A pause.
The silence is broken by the faint ‘chug-chug’ of a small fishing boat going out to sea and the sounds of the seagulls following it.
CAROL enters, she looks tired and drawn and has a car rug round her shoulders. She is carrying JACK’s jacket over her arm.
CAROL. John. (More loudly.) John.
She taps on the hut door.
John. (Knocking.) John.
T
he hut door opens. CAROL has woken him from sleep. His hair is dishevelled and his tie is hanging from his trouser pocket.
The light in the hut is still on.
For a moment they look at each other.
JACK. Where’ve yer bin?
CAROL walks away a foot.
Sorry a spoke – yer didn’ ’ave t’ be this long.
CAROL walks back and gives him his jacket.
Ta – I’ve been wantin’ a fag.
He puts on his jacket and takes the packet of cigarettes from his pocket.
Want one?
CAROL. Where were yer two hours ago?
JACK has the packet in his hand. He hasn’t taken one.
The police came lookin’ fo’ yer.
JACK. I was ’ere.
CAROL. Asleep, I bet?
JACK. So?
CAROL (breaking down). ’E died, John, ’e died.
CAROL is in JACK’s arms.
Why weren’t yer here?
She is sobbing.
JACK. I was, love. Oh, love.
CAROL. I can’t ’elp it.
JACK is holding her tightly.
JACK. Sssh.
A pause.
JACK manages to put the cigarettes back in his pocket.
Sssh.
A slight pause.
Sssh.
CAROL. ’E kept askin’ me all sorts of questions. ’E kept tellin’ me about ’is mistress an’ stuff like that. I didn’t know what to say.
A pause.
Then when a got ’im to the hospital an’ they wheeled ’im in ’e was dead. They ’ad to fetch a priest. ’E kept askin’ f’ one. Then they left the priest wi’ ’is body.
JACK. Sssh.
CAROL is still sobbing.
Sssh.
A pause.
I ’ad a walk around, love. I wen’ an’ ad a look at the new steel plant.
CAROL. ’E kept on callin’ God a bastard.
A slight pause.
I’ve gone an’ crashed the car an’ all. Comin’ back.
JACK. Sssh.
CAROL. Near the level crossing on Todpoint Road.
JACK. Sssh.
A slight pause.
’Ow bad is it?
CAROL. The front.
JACK. The front was bashed in anyway.
CAROL. Not like this.
JACK. It’s alright.
CAROL. I ’ad to walk from the end of the Gare.
JACK. Are you alright?
CAROL. Yes – yer won’t like it.
JACK. Listen, who do I care about, you or the car?
CAROL. Me.
JACK. Well then, I’m not gonna worry about the car, am I?
CAROL. No.
JACK. That’s sense, isn’t it?
CAROL. Yes.
JACK. Stand up a minute, I need a fag.
The fishing boat has gone. Silence.
CAROL stands up.
CAROL. I’m better.
She takes a hanky from his trousers pocket. JACK takes out his cigarettes. CAROL sees the blood on the hanky.
I don’t want to use that.
She pushes the hanky back in his pocket.
JACK. I’ve got a clean one.
He takes a neatly folded clean hanky from his other pocket. CAROL dries her eyes with it. JACK lights a cigarette, he offers it to CAROL.
CAROL. No thanks.
JACK puts his cigarettes and lighter away. He looks at his watch.
JACK. I don’t know what time it is.
CAROL. Five o’clock. I know what to get you for your birthday.
She gives him the hanky. JACK puts it in his jacket pocket.
He puts his arm round her waist.
JACK. It’s gettin’ light.
He turns off the hut light, walks back and puts his arm round her waist again.
That’s better, isn’ it?
Silence. They stand there.
Cold?
CAROL. No, not really.
JACK. I am a bit.
Silence.
JACK pushes CAROL forward, they walk a few steps.
Silence.
CAROL. There’s a pipe that runs from the river, to that steel plant, and back out to those rocks.
JACK. Mmm?
CAROL. What’s the matter?
JACK. I was thinkin’, love.
CAROL. What about?
JACK. I was lookin’ at all that out there. What were yer sayin’?
CAROL. I don’t know, I didn’ understand it all. The pipe goyn t’the rocks is carryin’ boiling hot water.
JACK. Who told yer this?
CAROL. People from the paper were at the hospital. It’s goyn to affect the bird life.
JACK. It’s what?
CAROL. The hot water. Millions of gallons a day comin’ out by those rocks.
JACK. Say this agen?
CAROL. It’ll affect the bird life.
JACK. What, love – there’s a pipe from the river?
CAROL. So ’e told me.
JACK. I don’t get this.
CAROL. The pipe from the river brings the water, it gets boiled, and then sent out there.
JACK. Why?
CAROL. How should I know, love.
A slight pause.
JACK. What else?
CAROL. A lot of things but I can’t remember.
JACK. Try.
CAROL. Don’t press me, John, I can’t.
A slight pause.
It was low-tide last night. That’s why they were down there. Tryin’ to fix it. They’d two days. Part of the pipe gave way, exploded, and turned ’is boat over.
A slight pause.
The plant can’t operate without the pipe.
JACK. I wish I’d got me telescope.
CAROL. I feel different this mornin’.
CAROL shivers.
JACK. Yer cold, we’ll go in a minute.
CAROL. Where to?
JACK. Home.
CAROL. What in? There’s no buses for hours.
JACK. Won’t the car go at all?
CAROL. No. That’s what I tried to tell yer.
JACK. We can phone a minicab.
CAROL. Walk to Redcar?
JACK. ’Ave you anythin’ else you’d like to do?
JACK smiles.
CAROL. No.
JACK. I bet you like anythin’ that water cools a turbine.
CAROL (shivering). I’m freezing.
JACK. I bet you it does.
CAROL. ’Adn’t we better set off then?
JACK. ’Ang on a minute. I bet you any money. Of course it does. It’ll cool a steam turbine. You can see the cooling tower. It’s like the ethylene plant I work on.
CAROL. I’m not very bothered at this moment.
JACK (getting excited). No listen –
A slight pause.
Any money on it. They’ll be using the turbine to generate electricity. The turbine works on steam. It’s a bit like a windmill, Carol. They ’ave t’cool the steam down so they take cold water from the river.
CAROL. Yer sound like a teacher.
JACK. It’s like a car radiator. The water’ll get bloody ’ot if it’s coolin’ that amount of steam. All the time. Day in day out.
Where they’re going to pump the water out it’ll raise the temperature of the sea. It’ll scare the birds on them rocks off. (Excited at working it out.) Fuckin’ ’ell. There’ll be bloody fireworks. Don’t yer see what I mean, Carol? Are you feelin’ a bit better anyway, love?
He squeezes her.
I meant what I said las’ night. I wasn’t that drunk.
He stubs out his cigarette.
A slight pause.
I feel a bit sick. Not of you though, pet.
CAROL. Don’t you start calling me pet.
JACK. I’m gettin’ me own back on yer mam.
A slight pause.
CAROL. A do feel different, John. I’ve bin thinkin’ a lot.
JACK. I know what you want.
CAROL. What?
CAROL. No a don’t.
JACK. I don’t want to. Not jus’ yet.
CAROL. It’s not that, John.
JACK. What is it then?
CAROL. I’m very proud o’you yer know.
JACK. What mekks yer feel different then?
CAROL. What’s ’appened last night.
A slight pause.
JACK. When I’ve bin on that course an’ got a new job we’ll be settled, won’t we?
CAROL (hugging him). Oh, I do ’ope so.
JACK (smiling). Give over.
He picks up a small pebble and throws it into the air.
Catch.
He catches the pebble himself throws it up again, and kicks it with his foot.
Charlie Geroge. Should ’ave said Mills, shouldn’ I? – if I’m supportin’ Middlesbrough.
CAROL. I sometimes feel I’m pushin’ you into things.
JACK (walking away). Lamp posts?
CAROL. You know what I mean.
JACK picks up a pebble, he throws it into the air and uses the palm of his hand as a tennis racket.
JACK. Björn Borg – no, not ’im, ’e’s Swedish.
CAROL picks up a pebble, she throws it at him. JACK kicks it away with his foot. He walks back to her.
(Holding up his crossed fingers.) I’ve got me fingers crossed. An’ me toes. I’ve got this feelin’ inside o’me, that they’re not gonna let me on it.
CAROL. Don’t be silly.
JACK. I’m bein’ serious.
Silence.
CAROL. Somethin’ inside all of us. Yer mustn’t think they won’t let you.
JACK. I know that, but wi’ me – I never ’ave that luck.
CAROL. It’s not luck, get that out of your head, it’s ability.
JACK. Ability to be lucky.
CAROL. Don’t be sarcastic. (Putting her arm round his.) Why d’yer keep tellin’ me I want to settle down? It’s not true.
JACK (smiling). Sommat t’ say.
CAROL (smiling). Yer not gettin’ away with that. It isn’t true.
JACK. A thought yer liked it when I fooled about?
CAROL. I do.
JACK. Well then, we’re not gonna settle down, a’we?
CAROL. No.
JACK (smiling). Fat chance wi’ me anyway.
CAROL (smiling). No.
JACK. No, what?
CAROL. A don’t know.
JACK. Perky, pet?
CAROL. John.
JACK. Trouble is wi’ me like, I wan’ t’do allsorts.
CAROL. We can.
JACK. When yer look at all those lights. (Points inland.)
CAROL. What?
JACK. That’s ’ow I imagine people will live on the Moon. Little bases all over. Little blocks of light.
CAROL (being silly). D’you want to live on the Moon?
JACK. No, I’m only guessing like. I was jus’ lookin’ at it all. When we’re on ’oliday we’ll ’ave to ’ave a walk up on Eston Nab. When I was a kiddie we used t’climb up there an’ one way yer looked all yer could see was moors and fields, and yer turned round and there was Teesside right down below yer. We used t’play emperors – ‘king of all I survey’. We worked out what we would do if we ruled it.