HUMANITIS
341
MOIT:
Sheldon is the Father. I'm the Mother. Imogen is Miss Bella
Boxer, your fiancee. . . .
BUMMIDGE :
Why did I get mixed up with this middleclass gang? I
was in Showbiz already. I guess I couldn't stand the lonely life on
the road-hotel rooms. I didn't drink, I was too repressed. Then I
met Bella Boxer. Her family had dough. Papa Boxer manufactured
chopped herring, eggplant, Greek salad and such stuff. . . .
Enter
BELLA.
IMOGEN:
(Acting)
I'm six weeks late. What are we going to do? But
that's all right, Bummy, don't worry about it.
BUMMIDGE:
Oh, my God! I didn't really enjoy it!
BELLA:
Did I?
It
was over in a minute.
She
is
unheeded.
BUMMIDGE :
It was a beautiful Sunday in May. I took time off from
my grim life to have a passing look at lilacs . . . The Boxers are hav–
ing a card party-Father Boxer says, "Come down to the base–
ment and help me bring up chairs." ...
SHELDON:
Help me bring up chairs.
BUMMIDGE:
And when he gets me down there by the furnace, he
grabs me and yells what did you do to my child. . . .
SHELDON:
(Shaking him)
What did you do to my child- The father's
heart is busting.
BUMMIDGE:
This you do to a father?
SHELDON:
This you do to a father?
BUMMIDGE:
Punishment for my sins. Pain, fear, doubt,
guilt.
The Id
tries to show its rage. But the censorship distorts it into laughter.
Ha, ha-ha-ha-ha-ha. I'm fighting my own father.
BELLA:
My father was a gentleman. Don't compare
him
to your
father.
BUMMIDGE :
And Mother Boxer comes down the stairs and says,
"Please, please, we have guests...."
MOIT:
Please--we have guests.
BELLA:
Who is this creep!
MOIT:
I beg pardon. . . .
BELU:
If
you want to know what really happened, I'll show you.
BUMMIDGE :
Your mother threw her arms around me and cried, "Do
you love my baby!"
BELLA :
Yeah? Well, move over a little, and I'll open your eyes some–
what. Imogen, you play my mother for a second, will you? You're
talking to me, and you say, "What do you want with
him,
Bella?
He's going to turn into a fat, selfish old fool. ..."
