Rue Kassie lines

Beginning of scene two

Jo? Hey! Where are you? Ugh. I hate this place. It's always so...so... so sticky and smelly. I still don't git why you wanna stay here! Hey! 

Jo? If you're tryin' t' scare me, then you better stop it, Josephine! Get out here right now! Jooooooo?!

JO. (Jumping out with a roar:) ARRRRRHHHHH!

(Screaming:) UGH! I hate when you do that! I thought you were loup-garou

JO. That swamp monster would eat you alive! LOOOOUUUPPPP- GAROUUUUUU

Quit it! You know this place creeps me out! 

JO. Ha ha ha! Then, why do you keep comin' in here?

T' keep trying to convince you to get out! Ha ha! 

JO. You know that's never gonna happen. It's th' only tie I still have to Momma n' Daddy.

I juss feel... I feel safe. An' I like the smell. What's in th' bag? 

Dad told me you and Donnie-

JO. Ooooohhhh... Donnie? 

Sigh. Dad said you and Don needed some oil for th' lanterns

JO. Tell 'im I said thanks. 

Ya know, you could come t' town with Donnie ... with Don...or me and thank my daddy yourself. 

JO. Kass...

 I know, I know.

JO. How's yer daddy doin?

He says he's fine, but you know Lyle. Gonna keep on keepin' on, no matter what.

JO. I know he's gotta be hurtin', though. Flora too.

He ain't never gonna show it. Not gonna give that woman the satisfaction. She walked out on us. Said she was too good for this nasty little ole town. And Flora. Ugh. My sister thinks she owns th' place... tellin' me what t' do and how t' do it. She ain't my momma.

JO. She's about as stuck up as your momma.

No lie. And... and... I'm sorry 'bout the way she treated you.

JO. It wasn't just her. It was all those girls... throwin' their garbage at me... sayin' "Here ya go, swamp trash!"…

What kind of person says that, Kassie?! What'd I ever do t'them?

I dunno, Jo. People are just dumb sometimes. No home trainin', I guess. You just gotta focus on the ones that love ya! (Beat) Look, I know it's been hard... I know it's hard not knowing 'bout your parents... what really happened. But, somebody's gotta know somethin', right? Why don't you go ask that ole swamp witch about yer momma and daddy?

JO. Oh no. Uh-uh. Miz Creesha don't talk to nobody unless they got money. And I ain't got nuthin'. 

Josephine? I... I found something else while I was in town.

JO. Oh! Before I forget... I promised your daddy I'd send him some rue t' keep those doggone dogs outta his garden.

Oh yeah, thanks, he asked about that. Now, look in the bag!

JO. Oh yeah! Ooooh! What... what is it?Kass! Is this? Oh... it... it's the play Momma would read from, isn't it?! 

It's Hamlet. Look inside the front cover.

JO. Oh, Kass. No. No way. (Beat.) It's hers. That's her... that's her name ... in her handwriting. How... where... where did you find this?

Find the page. The one with the quote. Act four-

JO. (Flipping through furiously:) -Act four, Scene five... "We know what we are, but not what we may be." (Beat.) Kassie, it's wonderful.

Look down at the bottom, Jo. Look at what she wrote. 

JO. (Reading:) "I am Op... Op-he...

Ophelia

JO. "I am Ophelia. Ophelia in the swamp... tor-tormented... an-an-"

-Anxious-

JO."-anxious... un-certain." What does... I don't... I don't know what all that means. Anxious? Like... like me? Why would she write that?

 I dunno

JO. Don told me Momma was an actress. Did you know that? I guess before she had me and Don. I dunno when, but...

We're readin' it in school, ya know? The play. It's Shakespeare. You'd like it. If you came back-

JO. I'm not comin' back. I just... I just can't. Those girls... your sister... They were so, so ugly t' me...

I know. (Beat.)... maybe... maybe your momma felt like that lady, the one in the play. Ophelia. Kinda... kinda like you feel sometimes, ya know? Like when you have one of your...your... spells.

JO. It's... it's not a spell. Don't call it that, like... like I'm crazy. I'm not crazy, Kass.

I know that and that's not what I'm sayin'... it's just that Don said that... that they've... they've been happenin' a lot... an' that—

JO. -Don needs t' shut his big mouth, is what Don needs t' do.

He loves you, Jo.

JO. He's never home... gone all the time. Workin' fer yer daddy or ... or hangin' out with you. It's just me and Willa and Battry. (KASSIE laughs.) 

What's so funny?

I just like that you name your firefly friends. It's cute.

JO. They're not fireflies! They're-oh, forget it. You think I'm stupid anyway. You won't git it.

Uh-uh. Don't do that. You're not stupid and you know it. Ya gotta stop talkin' like that, Jo. You are so much more than th' bad things that happened to ya. You refuse to go one step outside of this sweaty, dark, depressing swamp. (Beat.) You really think your momma and daddy woulda wanted ya to stay here?

JO.... stop...

you know they didn't want that.

JO. No, I don't know that Kass! They're not here! They're dead and gone an' they can't tell me what they woulda wanted, now can they?! They didn't just run away from their family like your momma did! They're dead!

(Hurt:) Oh. Alright...ha... okay... I think... I... I'm just... I'm just gonna go.

JO. Kass... I'm sorry... I didn't mean t'-

You're stuck, ya know? Here in this... this swamp... and in... in your head... and... and... in th' past. I'm just tryin' t' help ya and you just keep pushing me away. You're not the only one who's gone through tough stuff, Jo.

JO. I know... I'm sorry, Kass... I just... it's just that... I don't know how.

I don't either... and, honestly, I'm tired of tryin'. Maybe you should go see Miz Creesha. Cuz you sure ain't listening t' me.

DON. Josephine! Hey, Jo! (Running into KASSIE:) Whoa... whoa! Hey, hold up. What's the matter?

I gotta get home, Donnie.

DON. Now, stop for just a minute. What did ... did somethin' happen?

Jo and I just-

DON. Is Josephine okay? Where is she?

You're always gonna take her side, aren't ya.

DON. I'm not taking sides, Kass! I dunno what's even goin' on! But ... but, she's my sister. She's all I got.

Oh...

DON. That's not what I mean and you know it. C'mon. (He grabs her hand.) Talk to me. What happened?

You know...she just shuts me out, an' I... I keep tryin'... I mean... I want to help her so badly, but...I dunno. I mean, I know losing your momma and daddy was hard, but I just think that stayin' in this... this swamp... away from ever-body isn't helping her.

DON. It wasn't just losin' Mom n' Dad, Kass. It's... it's... ya know, when they went missin'... it broke her. And, then, when they ... when they found Momma like that...

It's okay. You don't have to talk about it. I mean, unless you want to.

DON. It's a lot to think about. Josephine has just struggled so much since then. No momma. And them never findin' Dad's body. I... I try and raise her the best I can and-

-and you shouldn't have to.

DON. Who else is gonna? She won't go to school no more. You don't know the half of what she went through at that school when all this happened. People are cruel... just ugly in their souls. You're a town girl... they don't look at you like they look at us... swamp trash.

Hey. That ain't true.

DON. Yeah, well I know that! But it's different for Jo. She's lost. Thinks she's gonna find all the answers to Momma and Daddy... and what happened... somewhere in this swamp. It's like it's sucking her in and pulling her further and further down in th' darkness. Like it did t Momma. And if she doesn't get out... I can't... I can't lose her, Kass.

You won't. She's strong.

DON. Not lately. Her... episodes... are getting worse. I been tryin' t' keep a close eye on her... mostly cuz I'm scared. She don't need to be wanderin' alone all th' time. She's not safe by herself. 

Oh...uh...

DON. What? What is it?

Just a minute, Flora! Um... we mighta had an argument and I mighta told her to go see Miz Creesha?

FLORA. (Entering:) Little girl! I have been callin' you for an hour- 

I said just a minute! I'm... I'm sorry, Donnie! We were fightin' an' ...

FLORA. What'd you do?

You mind your business! Donnie, wait! I'm so sorry! 

FLORA. Kassie Boggs! Don't you dare go one step further into this garbage place! I will not have my sister hanging out with the crazy swamp trash!

You shut your fat mouth, Flora! You're part of the reason for this mess! You and your ugly friends always lookin' down on other people... thinkin' you're better than ever-body. Just like Momma! Maybe you should just leave too, like she did!

FLORA. Wow. I guess hangin' out with the swamp trash has made you a piece of garbage too. Go find your stupid lil boyfriend and his crazy sister. I hope you get lost in this dump. I'm not coming back for you. Maybe you were the reason Mom left, Kassie. You, Kassie Boggs. Ever think of that?

I hate you. I really, really do. Donnie?! Donnie, wait! I'm comin'!

LYLE. Well, we don't really know, but Mrs. Justice thinks she saw somethin'-

Donnie! Don-Oh, Dad! What're you doin' down here?

DON. That's what they're sayin'.

I don't even know what a loup-garou is. Just that everbody is scared of it.

FLORA. They also say that loup-garou is somebody the victim knows.

No. I don't believe that! People're just makin' stuff up to scare people!

FLORA. Nuh-uh! I know people who've actually seen him

Oh, no you don't. You don't know anybody that's seen 'im. You're lyin', and you know how I know you're lyin'? Your mouth is movin'!

FLORA. Shut up!

What's he look like, then? Miss I-Know-More-Than- Anybody-Else.

FLORA. I know more than you do! He looks like... like... like a half-wolf...half-man... kinda thing. Loup-garou is actually French for werewolf. So, if you actually paid attention in school rather than hangin' out with the swamp crazies, you might know some things!

They're not crazy!

LYLE. That's it! Both a' ya need to stop! This ain't th' time or th' place for this! Flora, get up and get her home.

But dad, I wanna help find Jo.

LYLE. I know ya do... but I... I don't wanna risk losin' any more a' my girls. You hear me?

Yessir. I hear you. (Hugging him:) I love you, Daddy. Please find my friend. (Beat.) Donnie, I am sorry.

DON. Josephine?

Jo.