The Root of All
CHARACTERS
JAMES GODOY (60s) -- unassuming man who likes to garden; employed for
years as a personal assistant/butler by Leon King.
WILLOW GODOY (20) -- his adopted black daughter, an aspiring actress
anxious to figure out who she is and where she belongs.
LEON KING (60s) -- successful, wealthy, self-absorbed hedge fund manager.
LUCILLE SCHENK(40) -- Leon’s fiercely independent, pregnant girl friend, a
psychotherapist.
SY -- cantankerous 15-foot puppet with huge white papier-mache head, his
“body” draped in dark cloth. Spouts verse, mainly nonsense. Only James knows he’s
there.
The present.
The stage is divided into three distinct areas:
--James’s backyard, with raised garden box, low stool,
chalked out hopscotch court; two exits, inside and
outside.
--Leon’s
solarium in his gated community manse, with potted
plants and exercise bicycle; one exit inside.
--Lucille’s therapy office, two armchairs; one exit
outside.
*******
“...We move in and out of rooms, leaving
Our dust, our voices pooled on sills.
We hurry from door to door in a downpour
Of days. Old trees inch up, their trunks thick
With new rings. All that we see grows
Into the ground. And all we live blind to
Leans its deathless heft to our ears
and sings.”
(Excerpt from The Largeness We Can’t See by Tracy K.
Smith)
2.
At rise, JAMES, in his backyard, stares straight ahead.
SY enters to play hopscotch, moving to the beat of a
rhythmic CLACK of bones.
SY
THE BOATSWAIN’S MATE WAS VERY SEDATE,
YET FOND OF AMUSEMENT, TOO;
AND HE PLAYED HOPSCOTCH WITH THE STARBOARD WATCH,
WHILE THE CAPTAIN TICKLED THE CREW.
(beat)
Hopscotch. AKA hopescotch . Known all over the globe by all sorts of appellations:
Potsy, laylay, kith-kith, peevers, escargot, tengteng, chirpi, peeko, and my hands-down
fave: Himmel und Holle,heaven and hell, betwixt and between, where poor schmucks
like you and I find ourselves stuck like flies in molasses...
JAMES
(annoyed)
I laid that out for Willow.
SY
Ain’t here, Boss.
JAMES
She’ll be home any minute. Juba’s picking her up at the airport.
SY
JUBA DIS, AND JUBA DAT,
AND JUBA KILLED DA YELLOW CAT!
JUBA DIS, AND JUBA DAT,
AND JUBA KILLED DA YELLOW CAT!
JAMES rakes soil.
SY
Rakin’ that over and over, James Godoy, won’t begin to cure what’s ailin’ ya.
3.
JAMES
Cut the idle prattle, please? Can’t you see I’m busy?
SY
I’m busy, too.
JAMES
You busy? Doin’ what?
SY
I’M JUST BIDIN’ MY TIME,
‘CAUSE THAT’S THE KINDA GUY I’M,
WHILE OTHER FOLKS GROW DIZZY,
I KEEP BUSY,
BIDIN’ MY TIME...
JAMES
Truth is you’re nothing but a busybody. Beat it.
SY
(seeing someone approaching)
Uh-oh. Your dusky daughter full of fret,
Bears down upon us with each step.
Not too late to hit reset,
While I take the hint and get.
SY exits inside. WILLOW enters from outside, wheeling
suitcase.
JAMES
(embracing her)
Willow.
WILLOW
Papa.
4.
JAMES
So. How’d everything go?
WILLOW
About as expected.
JAMES
(beat)
How’s your mother?
WILLOW
Gettin’ on. Has her own brood now. Husband, three kids. Teenagers. We kinda look
alike. Skin in the game. Pigmentation. If you know what I mean? Leah home?
JAMES
Work.
WILLOW
Never home much of late.
JAMES
Working two jobs now, of necessity. These days bookkeeping barely pays a living
wage.
WILLOW
(re: garden plot)
You’re wastin’ your time. Nothing’ll grow here. Not enough sun.
JAMES
You did; bloomed into an amazing young woman.
(re: seed packets)
As for these carrots...hope springs eternal.
WILLOW
(re: seed packets)
Come in purple, too, don’t they?
JAMES
Something wrong with orange?
5.
WILLOW
Purple’s like me. Peel the skin off, orange underneath. Like you always preach, we’re
all the same, under the skin.
JAMES
I’ll exchange these, then.
WILLOW
My mama let me down. Flat out refused to tell me who my daddy was. Said she’d
promised not to. Guess now I’ll never know...
JAMES
(beat)
Laid out the hopscotch court again. When you were little, used to play night and day.
WILLOW
That girl’s gone forever...hardly remember how now.
JAMES
Give it a whirl. Like riding a bike, it’ll come back.
JAMES exits inside. WILLOW tentatively tries some
steps; in no time at all she’s got the hang of it. JAMES
comes back out with a sign on a stick that he plants in
his plot; it reads “Willow’s Patch”.
WILLOW
(playing hopscotch)
SIGH NO MORE, LADIES, SIGH NO MORE;
MEN WERE DECEIVERS EVER;
ONE FOOT IN SEA AND ONE ON SHORE,
TO ONE THING CONSTANT NEVER;
THEN SIGH NOT SO,
BUT LET THEM GO,
AND BE YOU BLITHE AND BONNY;
CONVERTING ALL YOUR SOUNDS OF WOE
INTO HEY NONNY NONNY.
6.
JAMES
See. You remembered.
(beat)
Sorry Barbados was disappointing.
WILLOW
She wanted to connect. Sorry, once a year birthday cards don’t cut it. Can’t begin to
forgive her for abandoning me.
(beat)
Gotta get to work.
WILLOW exits inside.
LEON enters solarium, mounts exercise bike. LUCILLE
enters.
LUCILLE
You need to say something, Leon. Please.
LEON
What do you want me to say?
LUCILLE
I don’t know. Something.
LEON
I’m ecstatic, Lucille!
LUCILLE
Something sincere.
LEON
(beat)
Thought you were on the pill?
LUCILLE
I want this baby more than anything in the world. After two miscarriages...
7.
LEON
What about what I want?
(beat)
You’re sure it’s mine?
LUCILLE
(sarcastically)
No. Been cheating on you with the butler.
LEON
How far along are you?
LUCILLE
Midway.
LEON
And you’re just telling me now?
LUCILLE
I considered not telling you at all. I know how you feel about procreation. Didn’t want
you to think I tricked you into this. But if the shoe were on the other foot, I’d want to
know. Every child needs two parents, if it can be helped, two mothers, two fathers,
doesn’t matter, two’s always better than one. But one’s better than none. I love you,
Leon, I want to give you a son.
LEON
It’s a boy?
LUCILLE
(nodding)
You got lucky.
LEON
(beat)
One thing for sure. Won’t let myself be roped into marriage.
LUCILLE
Who said anything about that? Once was enough for me, trust me.
LEON
Not ready to be a father, either. Screaming babies, dirty diapers...
8.
LUCILLE
There’s plenty of time to get there.
LEON
Don’t you think I’m a little too old?
LUCILLE
Not too old to make a baby. Leon. I need you to be all in on this. The most amazing
time of our lives. Tell me you will be.
LEON
(long pause)
Sure.
LUCILLE
Thank you, love.
LUCILLE embraces LEON, exits.
SY enters backyard swatting flies.
SY
Someone somehow concocted the fly,
Leaving the rest of us to wonder why.
(beat)
So, what’d she say about Bella?
JAMES
Nothing.
SY
Hold on. Hold on right there. Are you telling me she meets her birth mother for the first
time ever and has absolutely nothing to say?
(beat)
You’re holding out on me, Boss.
JAMES
It’s none of your business.
SY
I need to know. Did Bella spill the proverbial beans?
9.
WILLOW, having changed her clothes, re-enters from
inside.
WILLOW
Hate this crappy job. Nothing’s more degrading than going down on my hands and
knees scrubbing toilet bowls for white preppies.
JAMES
Helps pay for your schooling.
WILLOW
That’s the problem. Pathetic paupers have to take pathetic jobs.
WILLOW exits outside.
SY
Beggary. That thar’s the rub, Bub.
SY exits inside.
LEON pedals on his bike in the solarium. LUCILLE,
now showing and wearing maternity clothes, enters.
LUCILLE
Good morning. Thought you might be here, spinning away.
LEON
Like to keep myself in Olympic shape.
LUCILLE
So? Which room did you select?
LEON
Anyone you want, it’s yours.
LUCILLE
Not for me. The nursery, for the baby.
LEON
You cherish your independence, I get that, but why not move in now?
10.
LUCILLE
I will, I promise, after I give birth.
LEON
Guess you’ll have to, to feed him, right? You’re all into natural. No bottle for the little
sucker.
LUCILLE
Leon.
LEON
Suckling. I meant to say suckling.
LUCILLE
I asked you weeks ago...
LEON
There’s plenty of time.
LUCILLE
I know you’d rather this whole thing just went away but it’s not going to.
LEON
That’s not true. I’m very...excited about what’s coming.
LUCILLE
You promised to do your due diligence in advance: setting up the nursery, ordering and
installing the necessities. Here, to help you, I made a list.
LEON
(taking list)
Don’t worry, my staff’ll handle everything.
LUCILLE
Better go over it, to be on the safe side.
LEON
(reading list)
Baby crib with padding, changing table, stroller, car seat, mobile...what’s that for?
11.
LUCILLE
To hang over his crib, stimulate his imagination.
LEON
Never had one over mine.
LUCILLE
That was a long time ago, Leon. What else?
LEON
(reading)
One year’s worth of...onesies...what the hell are onesies?
LUCILLE
The baby store will know.
LEON
I’m not ready for this. Not ready at all.
LUCILLE
You will be, trust me.
LEON
I’m worried he’ll be a distraction. You know how busy I am, 24/7?
LUCILLE
A baby’s hardly a distraction.
LEON
Never any downtime, even out on the yacht; speaking of which, the deck needs
repairs...always something...Tell you what, I’m willing to baby-sit.
LUCILLE
Excuse me?
LEON
When I can fit it in. Can’t let a kid take over my life.
12.
LUCILLE
Baby-sit? Your own child? We can hire baby-sitters...
LEON
Perfectly willing...time permitting...
LUCILLE
Wow. Such a sacrifice. It’s called parenting, Leon. What moms and dads do.
LEON
Spare me your sarcasm, will you?
(beat)
I draw the line at poopy diapers. Categorically.
LUCILLE
That’s what nannies are for.
(beat)
Leon, I understand you’re anxious, sailing for the first time into uncharted seas. I’m
anxious, too.
LEON
You are?
LUCILLE
Yes. Of course.
Then why not listen to Dr.
workload.
LEON
Lydon ? He recommended more bed rest, and a lighter
LUCILLE
I feel fine. And my patients depend on my being there for them. Which reminds me...
(checking watch)
I’ve an appointment. Don’t forget tonight. Seven sharp...
LEON
Tonight?
LUCILLE
Dinner at Balanchino’s. With the Rutherfords. You never remember anything.
13.
LEON
The Rutherfords?
LUCILLE
Your friends from the club.
LEON
I’ve no friends at that stupid club.
LUCILLE
The real estate magnate, and his wife. Jack and what’s her name...Cheryl.
LEON
Oh, those two. Can’t even look at her. All that fat, jiggling like a bowlful of jello.
LUCILLE
She’s big-boned, not fat.
LEON
And his going on and on about all his amazing deals. What a snooze.
LUCILLE
Why’d you invite them then?
LEON
(shrugs)
Who knows? Maybe to show off that blue chip acquisition I’ve my eye on.
Showed you already.
LUCILLE
Do me a favor, please? Don’t hang that anywhere near the nursery. Don’t want our
son...
LEON
Exposed to art?
LUCILLE
Frightened to death. I wouldn’t even have it in the house.
LEON
It’s a cold, cruel world, Lucille, the sooner he’s exposed, the better...
14.
LUCILLE and LEON exit.
WILLOW enters backyard from inside, waving some
bills.
WILLOW
(agitated)
What up with this? Half my allotted allowance? Where the rest?
JAMES
Decided to reduce it, for the time being.
WILLOW
(beat)
You fucking kidding me?
JAMES
Hey. Watch your language. You’re still in my house...
WILLOW
Why? Why cut it in half without talking to me first?
JAMES
You weren’t here...
WILLOW
You’re such an effing skinflint. I need this money.
JAMES
Am I now? Who paid for Barbados? Not that it did you much good.
WILLOW
Wasn’t a beach vacation, y’know.
JAMES
(beat)
Willow. Listen to me. I think you need to see someone.
WILLOW
News flash. I am seeing someone.
15.
JAMES
I’m talking about therapy.
WILLOW
Oh? So now you’re sayin’ I’m a mental case?
JAMES
No, I’m not saying that...just professional help might...we used to be so close. But
lately you’ve changed, been acting more...
WILLOW
(beat)
What? More what?
JAMES
Difficult. Depressed.
WILLOW
Wanna know why? Wanna know the truth? I fucking hate it here.
JAMES
That’s it. Time-out. To your room.
WILLOW
No. I’m not a child anymore.
JAMES
To your room. Now.
WILLOW
By the way, what up with you and Leah? Separate bedrooms. Frostiness in the air.
Don’t take it out on me.
A moment. WILLOW stomps inside.
SY enters.
SY
What’s all the commotion about?
16.
JAMES
None of your business.
SY
He fucks you up, your clueless pa,
Does not mean to, but he does,
Unlike your saintly angel ma,
He piles on, just because.
But he was fucked up long ago,
By his benighted parents, too,
Who spent their lives in Ramapo,
Like baboons a-pacing in a zoo.
WILLOW wheels out suitcase from inside.
SY
Uh-oh. Push coming to shove...
SY exits inside.
JAMES
(re: suitcase)
What’s that for?
WILLOW
What’s it look like?
(beat)
I’m moving out.
JAMES
Willow...
WILLOW
I’m of age, can do what I want. And what I want is to get the hell outa here.
JAMES
I don’t understand...
17.
WILLOW
As the rapper man says: “The percentage who don’t understand is higher than the
percentage who do. Check yourself: what percentage is you?” What’s not to
understand? I’m outa here.
JAMES
This is your home...cost-free, too, by the way.
WILLOW
Cost-free? Living with strangers?
JAMES
I’m your father. And Leah’s...
WILLOW
No you’re not. Not really.
JAMES
I raised and nurtured you, tried to teach you what’s important in life...
WILLOW
What’s important in life...
JAMES
Leaving this world a better place for your having been here. That’s what I aspire to
myself, that my time here, insignificant as it is, will somehow benefit those who come
after. If I could do just one unadulterated deed before I die, I’d know my life was worth
living.
WILLOW
Who’s my real daddy?
JAMES
(beat)
Willow, please. Not that again.
WILLOW
I need to know. Where he at? Dead or alive? White or black? I know you know.
Why you ain’t tellin’? Why no one tellin’?
18.
JAMES
Stop that.
WILLOW
What?
JAMES
Butchering the language like some sort
educated, you’ve read the classics...
of...guttersnipe . You know better. You’re
WILLOW
News flash. That how we talk, we black folk. I’m
talkin’ skin in the game.
Pigmentation. You feel me? And you should talk. Guttersnipe? That there’s the 1800’s.
JAMES
All of a sudden you’re getting militant? What’s got into you?
WILLOW
We have cause, believe me, justification, we black folk. Brutally torn from our roots,
butchered and nearly broken by all the lies that those who think they’re white force-fed
us. Ain’t ashamed to sound like my street peeps, you feel me? Beats
talkin’ like you
honkies...
JAMES
Listen to me. Speaking properly has nothing to do with race or class. Talk like you
know how to, show the world how strong, good, smart, brave and necessary you are,
neither above nor below anyone else.
WILLOW
You got no clue who I am.
JAMES
(beat)
I know where this’s coming from...Juba.
19.
SY
(entering)
JUBA DIS, AND JUBA DAT,
AND JUBA KILLED DA YELLOW CAT!
JUBA DIS, AND JUBA DAT,
AND JUBA KILLED DA YELLOW CAT!
JAMES
Quiet!
(to Willow)
Moving in with him, aren’t you?
WILLOW
Got no choice, since you barred his black ass from movin’ in with me.
JAMES
You know Leah’d never...
WILLOW
You never did take to my homeboy, Lord knows why...
JAMES
He took your money...which I gave you for that Shakespeare class.
SY
JUBA DISH AND JUBA DASH,
AND JUBA TOOK DA YELLOW CASH!
WILLOW
Didn’t take it. I gave it to him.
JAMES
Why?
WILLOW
He needed it for something else.
JAMES
What?
20.
SY
Careful, Boss...
WILLOW
Art class.
SY
Art class my ass.
WILLOW
You were thinkin’ drugs, right? Juba’s just another gang-bangin’ thug all strung out on
drugs. Always the same with honkies. The venomous rattle of racism...