Silent Billy

Characters

paige, woman in her late thirties

sonny, paige’s husband, slightly younger

billy, paige’s son, sonny’s stepson, around seven years old

Setting

Night. Living room in modest, working-class home. Front door. Hallway to bedrooms. Sofa, its back to the hallway. Armchair facing sofa, coffee table, et cetera. Entry table with a purse on it.

At Rise

sonny enters through front door, car keys in hand. Pauses, listening. Places keys in purse on entry table. paige enters from hallway.

paige:

Any problem?

sonny:

It was closed.

paige:

(Looks at watch) Closed? I thought it was open.

sonny:

The grocery part was open, the pharmacy was closed.

paige:

I’m sorry, I should’ve checked first.

sonny:

I’ll go by after work tomorrow.

paige:

That’s OK, I’ll stop by in the morning . . . on my way.

sonny:

(Sits in armchair) There’s no hurry.

paige:

Just to be sure.

sonny:

He’s fine for now.

paige:

(Sits on sofa) I don’t want him to run out.

sonny:

There’s no need to worry. Before I left . . . after I left . . . before I got in the car . . . when I saw I didn’t have my keys . . . I came back in and . . .

paige:

(Interrupting) I didn’t hear you come back in.

sonny:

Yes, I came back in, and your purse was on the table, so I looked in your purse . . .

paige:

(Interrupting) You looked in my purse?

sonny:

. . . to get your keys . . . because I forgot mine. And that’s how I know there’s enough: “William Weston. Ten milligrams. One tablet twice daily.” And there are enough pills for a few more days.

paige:

(Caught off guard) Oh . . . I . . . of course, that was stupid of me. I forgot all about those pills. They’re extras . . . I always keep extras, just in case . . . I mean, you never know . . . so I always keep extras tucked away somewhere.

sonny:

Oh, you’d have found them anyway . . . the next time you went out . . . because when you open your purse . . . to get your keys . . . they’re right there . . . next to the keys. You couldn’t miss them.

paige:

I’m getting awfully scatterbrained.

sonny:

You’ve had a lot on your mind lately.

paige:

Even so.

sonny:

(Pause) Is he still up?

paige:

What? Billy? Yes, he’s getting ready. (Turns around and calls down hallway) Billy? Are you getting ready? Sonny’s back . . . Sonny’s home, Billy.

sonny:

(Looks at watch) He’s up a little late, isn’t he?

paige:

(To billy) Your pajamas are in the . . . Have you put on your pajamas? (Silence) I’ll be there in a minute, Billy. Put on your pajamas and I’ll be in. (To sonny) I’ll check on him in a minute.

sonny:

(Beat) So, how’s the new doctor?

paige:

Good, good . . . I think she’ll be good. I like her . . . Billy seems to like her.

sonny:

How can you tell?

paige:

How? I don’t know . . . I could just see . . . he was paying attention . . . he was listening.

sonny:

That’s good, then . . . that she’ll be able to help. The last guy didn’t do much of anything, so far as I could tell . . . except send a bill.

paige:

Oh, I’m sure he did something.

sonny:

But not enough to make any difference . . . not enough to solve the problem.

paige:

I don’t know if it’s a problem that can be “solved,” in that sense.

sonny:

What sense?

paige:

In the sense that there’s a problem one minute and then there’s no problem the next.

sonny:

But a solution to the problem is the point, isn’t it?

paige:

Of course it is . . . but you can’t expect . . . in this kind of situation . . .

sonny:

What kind of situation?

paige:

What kind?

sonny:

You said “this kind of situation.”

paige:

I meant losing his father like that.

sonny:

But he didn’t lose his father like that.

paige:

What’s that supposed to mean?

sonny:

It means, you haven’t told him what that is, so he couldn’t have experienced it like that. He...