Monday, January 1, 2018

Caroline

               INT  CONFERENCE ROOM

               TETRA GILL sits at a table.  Her hair is matted, she is
               unfocussed, and her nose is running.  Tetra is wearing
               hospital greens, or something similar.  We are alone with her
               briefly.  She has white gauze wrapped around each wrist.  And
               her wrists are tied to each other with a plastic tie, the
               kind that are often used in place of handcuffs.  In walks
               MONICA WICK.  Monica sits down opposite Tetra.  She has
               folders and papers.  Monica is dressed professionally.
               Monica settles, taking in Tetra.  Tetra seems uninterested in
               Monica.

                                   MONICA WICK
                         So now that things are calm, do you
                         want to tell me what happened?

                                   TETRA GILL
                         Can you take this off?

               Tetra refers to the plastic tie around her wrists.

                                   MONICA WICK
                         I'm sorry.  I can't.

                                   TETRA GILL
                         This is a hospital?

                                   MONICA WICK
                         Yes.

                                   TETRA GILL
                         Who are you?

                                   MONICA WICK
                         I am like a social worker.

                                   TETRA GILL
                         A social worker?  They send a
                         social worker in here.  For what?
                         After the cops and the doctors and
                         nurses... now they send a social
                         worker.

                                   MONICA WICK
                         We are simply trying to communicate
                         with you.

                                   TETRA GILL
                         And you are good at that?
                         Communicating.

                                   MONICA WICK
                         I don't know.  Maybe.

                                   TETRA GILL
                         Do you have a tissue?

                                   MONICA WICK
                         No.

               Tetra wipes her nose again, sometimes with her hands,
               sometimes with the shirt she is wearing.  Monica pulls out a
               photograph of a little girl and places it on the table in
               front of Tetra.

                                   MONICA WICK (CONT'D)
                         Do you know who that is?

                                   TETRA GILL
                         That?  Is that how you refer to
                         her?

                                   MONICA WICK
                         Who is she?

                                   TETRA GILL
                         She is my daughter.

                                   MONICA WICK
                         When was the last time you saw her?

                                   TETRA GILL
                         Is that supposed to be a joke?

                                   MONICA WICK
                         You were shown that photograph by
                         Officer Grayson.  At the time, you
                         said you did not know who she was.
                         So you now recognize her?

                                   TETRA GILL
                         I need a cigarette.

                                   MONICA WICK
                         So you now recognize her?

                                   TETRA GILL
                         I need a cigarette.  Can you put
                         that away.

                                   MONICA WICK
                         This photograph of your daughter
                         troubles you?

                                   TETRA GILL
                         You trouble me.  This whole process
                         troubles me.  First it's the
                         doctors putting bandages on me,
                         then it's the cops, then a
                         photographer taking pictures of me
                         and Caroline, then some grief
                         counselor, and god knows how many
                         fucking nurses.  And now you.  Is
                         this some sort of torture?

                                   MONICA WICK
                         I understand why you might feel
                         like a victim.  But as far as we
                         know, you were the only one present
                         when your daughter was... when she
                         was murdered.

                                   TETRA GILL
                         And so everyone thinks its me, is
                         that it?

                                   MONICA WICK
                         Look at this photograph.  Look at
                         it.

               Monica pushes the photograph closer to Tetra.  Tetra looks
               away.

                                   MONICA WICK (CONT'D)
                         Do you see your daughter here.
                         Caroline.  Six years old.  Long
                         brown hair.  A smile.  Doesn't she
                         look happy, doesn't she look alive.

                                   TETRA GILL
                         Stop it.

                                   MONICA WICK
                         Caroline is alive in this
                         photograph.

               Monica pulls another photograph our of her folder and places
               it on the table.

                                   MONICA WICK (CONT'D)
                         Now take a look at Caroline here.
                         Here she has her throat cut and her
                         eyes gouged out.  Here she is
                         disfigured and her body and soul
                         have been desecrated.  Look at her.
                         Look at her.

                                   TETRA GILL
                         My husband did that.

                                   MONICA WICK
                         You were kneeling over Caroline
                         with a spoon in your right hand.
                         There was blood on the spoon, on
                         your hand and arm.  Caroline's
                         eyeballs were on the wood floor.
                         On the wood floor lying next to
                         your knees.  I have pictures.  You
                         want me to show you more pictures?

                                   TETRA GILL
                         I told you.

                                   MONICA WICK
                         You told me what?

                                   TETRA GILL
                         My husband.

                                   MONICA WICK
                         Your husband is dead.

                                   TETRA GILL
                         It's because he did that.  He did
                         that to Caroline.

                                   MONICA WICK
                         And tell me how that is possible.
                         Tell me how that is possible that
                         we found your husband's body in the
                         basement, decomposed.  Dead for
                         months...your husband dead for
                         months when your daughter, when
                         Caroline died, was murdered just
                         two days ago.  Tell me how that is
                         possible.

               There is a long twisted pause.

                                   TETRA GILL
                         You don't understand.  You don't
                         understand how the dead...You know.
                         You know...we were...it was a beach
                         cottage.  On the beach.  And
                         George...he was...he was drinking.
                         And dancing.  He liked to dance,
                         and tell me what to do.  He liked
                         to tell me what to do.  It wasn't
                         the first time he did this, you
                         know.
                         He drank, and danced, and told me
                         to undress.  But when he woke
                         Caroline up and brought her into
                         the room...that was the first time
                         he did that.  I didn't mind the
                         stuff, the hitting, he liked to
                         pull my hair, slap me.  He yelled.
                         He was always yelling.  George
                         liked to hit me.  Give me tattoos,
                         he called it.  Black and blue
                         tattoos.  But making Caroline
                         watch.  And she watched.  She just
                         watched...in that cottage... with
                         those big eyes, she watched.  And
                         she kept watching like she... like
                         she... George and Caroline...

                                   MONICA WICK
                         I know this is difficult.

                                   TETRA GILL
                         Excuse me?

                                   MONICA WICK
                         This must be very difficult to talk
                         about.  About what happened to you.
                         About what you did.

                                   TETRA GILL
                         George raped Caroline.  He raped
                         his own daughter.  She was only
                         five years old.

                                   MONICA WICK
                         And so you killed George.

                                   TETRA GILL
                         It had to be done.

                                   MONICA WICK
                         And Caroline?

               At this point, Tetra reaches across the table and grabs
               Monica by her collar and yanks her up over the table.

                                   TETRA GILL
                         You think I murdered my own
                         daughter?  You think it was easy?
                         It wasn't easy.  It is not an easy
                         thing to do to cut the life out of
                         a little girl.  She was an angel.
                         She was an angel.

               Tetra pushes Monica back down.  Tetra sits back down.  She
               covers her face with her clasped hands.

                                   TETRA GILL (CONT'D)
                         Is there anything else?

                                   MONICA WICK
                         No.

               Monica attempts to recover.  She observes Tetra briefly, then
               starts to gather the papers and folders on the table.

                                   MONICA WICK (CONT'D)
                         OK.  So I am finished.  I am
                         finished here.

                                   TETRA GILL
                         Excuse me?

                                   MONICA WICK
                         My work is done.

                                   TETRA GILL
                         Your work?

                                   MONICA WICK
                         I am a professional.  I know when
                         my work is done.

                                   TETRA GILL
                         Tell me?

                                   MONICA WICK
                         Tell you what?

                                   TETRA GILL
                         I need...I need to start over.  I
                         am thirsty.   Are you thirsty?  It
                         is hot in here.  It is very hot in
                         here.  I am burning up.  It must
                         mean something.  I am going to
                         start over.  Do it all over again.
                         I have a right to do it again.
                         This can't be all there is.  Is
                         this all there is?

                                                       THE END.

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