SAM
How ’bout dat time ovah at yo’ sistah’s?
LIZZIE(penitently)
I know, I know—(Lays a hand on his arm.) Fo’give me, Sam—! ’Deed I did’n’ mean nuffin’ den!
SAM(drawing away from her)
I ain’ boderin’ ’bout yo’, Lizz.
LIZZIE(passionately)
Listen, son, ain’ yo’ gwine ter fo’give yo’ ole budigee?
SAM
Go ’long ’bout yo’ bus’ness—.
LIZZIE
I’ll give yo’ money, Sam—! Give yo’ de bes’ eats in de worl’—!
SAM
Shet up!
LIZZIE
Sam—!
SAM
Yo’ an’ me done call it quits—long time ago.
LIZZIE(collects herself gradually, and draws back a step or two with a sardonic leer)
Done pass me up, huh?
SAM
Yo’ yered me.
LIZZIE
Pass me up fo’ dis lil’ wench.
SAM(flaring up)
Who yo’ talkin’ ’bout?
LIZZIE
Yo’ know—!
SAM
Who—?
LIZZIE
Lucy Belle.
SAM
Don’ yo’ go blackguardin’ her.
LIZZIE
I ain’ blackguardin’ nobody.
SAM
Den watch yo’ step!
LIZZIE
Fell fo’ her! Oh, mah Gawd!
SAM
Keep yo’ tongue off her!
LIZZIE
I knows her as well as yo’ do! Bettah—!
SAM
Yo’ don’—!
LIZZIE
I knowed her w’en she live ovah in Carter Street—
SAM
Carter Street—?
LIZZIE(with a loud, rasping laugh)
W’en she livin’ dere wid Jeff Bisbee—!
SAM(with a shout which is a mixture of incredulity and menace)
Livin’ wid Jeff Bisbee—!
LIZZIE
Sho’! Big as life.
SAM
Yo’ lie—!
LIZZIE
Ain’ she tol’ yo’? Oh, mah Gawd! (Gives a raucous, sardonic laugh.) Ask her—! She’ll tell yo’ all ’bout it! I knowed yo’d fall fo’ a wench like her!
(The door, Back, opens and Lucy Belle enters, carrying several small packages. An expression of blank dismay floods her face upon discovering Lizzie.)
LIZZIE(regarding her with an expression of leering vengeance)
H’yo’, Luce—!
LUCY BELLE(in a low, choking voice)
’Lo—!
(Sam’s eyes are first upon one, then the other, in a gaze of fierce, tigerish scrutiny.)
LIZZIE(with a wink and a laugh as she slouches toward the door, Back)
Great lil’ gal, Sam—!
LUCY BELLE(angrily)
Yo’—yo’—
LIZZIE
Go on an’ say it! I dare yo’—!
SAM(to Lizzie)
Shet up!
LIZZIE(with a leering smile)
So long, Sam. See yo’ some mo’. (At the door, Back.) Good beatin’ w’at she need!
(She goes out quickly, Back. Lucy Belle advances to Center, and deposits her packages on the table.)
LUCY BELLE(studying Sam’s face with eager, pathetic anxiety)
Hardes’ ole gal in Wash’nin’!
SAM(fiercely)
She say yo’ live wid Jeff Bisbee—!
LUCY BELLE(agitatedly)
She—she say dat—?
SAM(advancing quickly to her side)
Did yo’—?
LUCY BELLE
Oh, Sam—I—I—
SAM
Yo’ yere me?
LUCY BELLE
She—she hate me like sin—!
SAM
Did yo’—?
LUCY BELLE
Tryin’ ter git back at me—!
SAM(grabs her and jerks her to his side)
Did yo’ live wid him—?
LUCY BELLE
Oh, Sam-boy, honey-baby—! Don’—
SAM
Did yo’—?
LUCY BELLE(with a sob)
Oh—oh, Sam—I—I ain’ gwine ter lie ter yo’—
SAM(putting a hand on each of her shoulders, and staring down into her eyes with a look of scarce-believing, burning intensity)
Took up wid dat dirty skunk—?
LUCY BELLE
He made me—!
SAM
Yo’ lie—!
LUCY BELLE
He did—he did! Say he kill me ef I did’n’—!
SAM
An’ yo’ let him git away wid it—!
LUCY BELLE
Did’n’—did’n’ know w’at ter do—!
SAM(mockingly)
Did’n’ know w’at ter do!
LUCY BELLE
He kep’ aftah me—an’ kep’ aftah me—
SAM
W’en—w’en?
LUCY BELLE
Aftah Ed leaves me. Yo’s in Atlanta.
SAM
An’ yo’ stick yere?
LUCY BELLE
I was ha’f sick—an’ did’n’ have no money. He—he had me so scar’t I was neah crazy.
SAM(in anguish)
Gawd—!
LUCY BELLE
Ha’f-out-a mah haid, honey—did’n’ know w’at I was doin’—
SAM
Took up wid de wust niggah in de worl’—!
LUCY BELLE
I—I could’n’ help it—’deed I could’n’!
SAM
Swo’ I nevah touch anathin’ or anabody dat he lay a fingah on.
LUCY BELLE
Dat’s de reason I ain’ said nuffin’.
SAM(bitterly)
I reckon it is!
LUCY BELLE
I knowed how yo’ hate him.
SAM(harshly)
Dey don’ come no wuss.
LUCY BELLE
Treat me like a dog!
SAM
W’at kin’-a crazy fool is yo’?
LUCY BELLE
I done tol’ yo’. I was down an’ out—an’ scar’t ter deaf.
SAM(shaking his head)
Took up wid him—!
LUCY BELLE
I know, I know—
SAM
Why did’n’ yo’ kill him?
LUCY BELLE
Gawd, I wan’ed ter—!
SAM
Why did’n’ yo’?
LUCY BELLE
Ev’y day I prays dat yo’ would come back. An’ I thinks ’bout yo’ all de time. Sam-boy, honey-baby, dey ain’ nevah been anabody but yo’—an’ nevah will be! (Stretching out her arms to him.) W’en yo’ come back it seem too good ter be true.
SAM
Wish I nevah come back.
LUCY BELLE
Don’ say dat, Sam—don’—!
SAM
Whar was yo’ livin’—?
LUCY BELLE
Carter Street.
SAM
An’ he come ter yo’ dere?
LUCY BELLE
Yas.
SAM
An’ yo’ let’s him stay.
LUCY BELLE
Had ter—. (Sam gives a short, savage laugh.) I—I only done w’at oder gals would-a done—ef dey been in mah place. I gits away de fust good chanct I gits.
SAM
How long yo’ live wid him?
LUCY BELLE
’Bout yeah-an’-a-ha’f. (In tender, appealing tones.) Honey-baby, I loves yo’—an’ I’se loved yo’ all de time—right from de fust. Yo’ knows I is! W’en me an’ yo’ hooks up yere—yo’ say w’at is pas’ is pas’! Don’ yo’ membah—? (Sam nods.) An’ yo’ say dat yo’ ain’ been no angel—an’ yo’ knows I ain’—
SAM
Did’n’ know yo’d been tied up ter anabody like Jeff.
LUCY BELLE
I done tol’ yo’ why I did’n’ say nuffin’. Oh, Sam-boy, I ain’ nevah come back at yo’ ’bout ole Lizzie Gibbs. I don’ hol’ dat agin yo’—even ef she do blackguard an’ lie on me. I ain’ nevah said nuffin’ ter yo’ ’bout it. Is I?
SAM
No.
LUCY BELLE
Den don’ hol’ dis agin me. It all happen fo’ me an’ yo’ hook up fo’ good. It’s pas’ an’ gone. Fo’give me. I ain’ nevah gwine ter keep nuffin’ back agin. Fo’give me, honey-baby—please fo’give me?
SAM(takes her in his arms and kisses her passionately)
Mah lil’ baby budigee!
LUCY BELLE
Yo’ does fo’give me, don’ yo’?
SAM
Yas, yas—!
LUCY BELLE
I knowed yo’ would.
SAM
Ef yo’ evah has anathin’ ter do wid anoder niggah I’se gwine ter kill yo’!
LUCY BELLE
No, no, Sam—nevah agin—! Don’ yo’ worry—!
SAM(with passionate fervor)
I loves yo’ bettah den anathin’ in de worl’—!
LUCY BELLE(ecstatically)
Sam-boy budigee!
SAM
I wants ter go on wukkin’ fo’ yo’—
LUCY BELLE
Honey-baby!
SAM
An’ w’en anathin’ like dis come up—
LUCY BELLE
I know, I know—
SAM
Ef it had been anabody but Jeff—
LUCY BELLE
But w’at is pas’ is gwine ter be pas’—!
SAM(repeating)
W’at is pas’ is gwine ter be pas’. An’ I’se gwine on wukkin’ fo’ yo’—an’ tryin’ ter make yo’ happy—
LUCY BELLE(with a sob)
I knows yo’ is, ole Sam-boy, baby!
SAM
Yo’s all I got in de worl’.
LUCY BELLE
Yo’s all I got!
SAM
By-an’-by we gwine ter git nuff saved ter buy a lil’ place down neah Frederick—mah ole home.
LUCY BELLE
Yas, yas—jes’ as soon as we kin—
SAM
An’ we gwine down dere an’ raise garden truck—an’ chickens—an’live right—
LUCY BELLE
Yo’ said somefin’!
SAM
De chillen’ll have plenty-a room ter play. An’ I kin take a day off now an’ go huntin’. (Wistfully.) Still got-a lot-a possums down ’roun’ dere.
LUCY BELLE
Is dey—?
SAM
Heaps. (With a sigh.) Yas, indeedy! We gwine down dere—an’live right!
(The footsteps of someone coming rapidly down the alley arrest them. Lucy Belle gives a start. They both listen intently. The door, Back, suddenly bursts open and Jeff Bisbee dashes in. He halts abruptly upon discovering Sam and stares at him—his face distorted with rage. Sam breaks away from Lucy Belle and starts at him—menacingly.)
SAM(at the top of his voice)
Git out-a yere!
(Lucy Belle gives a cry of anguish and fear and draws back, toward Left, cowering.)
JEFF(drawing a knife and snapping open the blade)
Who yo’ talkin’ ter?
SAM
Ter yo’!
LUCY BELLE(rushes forward, as though to place herself between them)
Jeff—! Fo’ Gawd’s sake!
JEFF
Thought I’d find yo’ yere!
SAM(thunderously)
Git out—!
(Jeff lunges at Sam. Lucy Belle gives a blood-curdling shriek. The men grapple and sway about the room, grunting and cursing.)
LUCY BELLE
Oh, mah Gawd!Po-lice!Po-lice! Murder!
(Sam has a firm grip on Jeff’s right arm. After some desperate maneuvering, Jeff contrives to swing it down in an attempt to stab Sam in the side. Sam diverts the thrust and the blade plunges into Jeff’s side. Jeff gives a groan, his body becomes limp, his knees sag, the muscles of his hand relax and the knife falls to the floor. Sam releases him and he staggers toward the table, Center. He makes a grab for it, misses it, and falls to the floor. He raises himself on one elbow, puts his free hand to his side, and lies there groaning and rolling his eyes. Sam and Lucy Belle stand gazing down at him—terror-stricken.)
LUCY BELLE(in wild, hysterical tones)
Sam—run! Git out—git out fo’ yo’ life!
(At this juncture a policeman dashes in, Back. He pauses near the door for a second, sees Jeff lying on the floor, turns, discovers Sam, springs over and grabs him.)
CURTAIN