Dead White Writer on the Floor
Page 2
POCAHONTAS
Not me. I like white men.
TONTO
Me too. Probably different reason though.
INJUN JOE
(indicating TONTO) He did it. He’s got a gun. He shot him. Dirty, lousy, stinking murderer. Let’s hang him!
BILLY JACK quickly takes TONTO’s gun out of its holster and smells the barrel, then checks the six cartridges.
BILLY JACK
This gun has not been fired recently. And there are no bullet wounds on the body.
INJUN JOE
Maybe he hit the guy with it. Pistol-whipped him. You can do a lot of damage with the barrel of a gun. I know. Or maybe him (indicating KILLS MANY ENEMIES) with that pig-sticking spear of his. I know he denies it but …
KILLS MANY ENEMIES
Little man, why do you taunt death so much? The coyotes of the prairies could grow very fat upon your carcass. I have killed many white men. But I have also taken many Indian lives in battle. Mind your tongue or I will cut it out and use it to lace my moccasins.
TONTO
Why you accuse us? You see him, or any here, take man’s life?
INJUN JOE
I didn’t see nothin’. It wasn’t me, so it had to be one of you. That’s my reasonin’. I bet it was you! (indicating BILLY JACK) Yeah, it was him that did it. Killed this old white fellow. Case closed. Now let’s figure a way out of here.
TONTO
Why him?
INJUN JOE
Look at him. He looks white. White people do this to each other all the time.
BILLY JACK
I’m only half-white. Just like you.
INJUN JOE
But I didn’t do it. That’s the diff’ … how do you know I gots white blood?
BILLY JACK
I read it.
INJUN JOE
You read it?! Where?
BILLY JACK
In a book.
INJUN JOE
I don’t know anything about no book. Are you playing with me, boy? ’Cause that’s a dangerous business. I’d hate for you to end up …
OLD LODGE SKINS
Enough! Harsh words breed harsh actions.
TONTO
Hmmm, good words.
POCAHONTAS
(to BILLY JACK) Did you kill him?
BILLY JACK
No.
KILLS MANY ENEMIES
Your skin might be white, but your heart is indeed red. I will spare you your life. (to INJUN JOE) You … I have not decided yet.
INJUN JOE
I ain’t afraid of you.
KILLS MANY ENEMIES
Then you are foolish, as well as ugly.
POCAHONTAS
(to BILLY JACK) Oh good. I’m so glad you didn’t kill him. I didn’t want to be afraid of you. (looks at the body) He’s kind of a nice-looking man, don’t you think? As white men go.
TONTO
Yes. Plenty strong features. Good chin. Nice dimples.
POCAHONTAS
My father wanted to kill a white man once, but I wouldn’t let him.
BILLY JACK
John Smith.
POCAHONTAS
That was him. Such a strong and memorable name, don’t you think? John Smith.
TONTO
Hmm, my friend Kemosabe never kills anybody, white or Indian. Just shoots guns out of their hands.
INJUN JOE
He shoots the guns out of their hands?!
TONTO
Him good shot.
INJUN JOE
What the hell good does shooting the guns out of people’s hands do? Him stupid. I’ve killed a few white people in my day, but only the ones that did me wrong. I got a long memory. (to BILLY JACK) How many you put in the ground, boy? I bet your share.
BILLY JACK
My past is my past. Not yours.
OLD LODGE SKINS
Wise words.
INJUN JOE
And you, old man. Ever killed a white man?
OLD LODGE SKINS
Many winters ago, I was once a great warrior … I think. My lance was bloody and my heart fearless. But we did not meet the white man till many years after I had put my war lance down. Though once, when our village was attacked by the long knives, I grabbed a gun and fired at one riding a horse. But by then, though my heart was strong, my eyes were weak and my aim poor. He escaped and my village died.
POCAHONTAS
You remind me of my father. Brave and wise.
OLD LODGE SKINS
My heart thanks you, little one.
KILLS MANY ENEMIES goes into his monologue state.
KILLS MANY ENEMIES
Enough! I grow weary of this talk. My heart is young and my anger hungry. If we must battle our way out of here, then let it begin. I am not afraid to face whoever hides from us or whoever killed this white man. Let them die under my tomahawk. Let my lodgepole be covered with their scalps. Let the wind carry my battle songs to the Four Directions, for I am not afraid. My name is Kills Many Enemies and my name rings true!
There is silence.
TONTO
Who him talking to?
INJUN JOE
No idea.
POCAHONTAS
(indicating the body) Should we just leave him lying there like that? He looks so sad and lonely.
KILLS MANY ENEMIES
Let him rot in the sun. Let the maggots enjoy his pasty flesh. Let the birds pick his bones clean.
POCAHONTAS
Eww.
KILLS MANY ENEMIES
Let the winds blow the dust from his bones far from our sacred lands. Let …
BILLY JACK
I think we need a more immediate plan.
TONTO
So what we do now, Kemo … sorry. Habit. Ah, what we do now, then?
BILLY JACK
You can do things without him, you know.
TONTO
It just come so naturally. Hard to stop. So what we do, then?
BILLY JACK
What do you think we should do?
TONTO
Me? Me never have to come up with plan. You think one up, you part white. White people good for that kind of thing.
BILLY JACK
No. You try.
TONTO
Uh, you hungry? Me can maybe cook something. Who up for some gopher?
INJUN JOE
Me.
BILLY JACK
No. You must adjust. You are in a different time and place. You are here now. You are equal to each of us. You don’t have to follow him anymore.
TONTO
Me don’t understand. You sound like you know Tonto.
INJUN JOE
Yeah, don’t he?
BILLY JACK
What I do know is that you can be better than you were. All of you. Maybe all of us. We’re obviously here for a reason.
OLD LODGE SKINS
For one so young, you speak much truth. There is a purpose to everything in creation. A purpose why the mighty eagle hunts the prairie dog, a reason why the rains come when they do, a reason for everything. Often times we might not understand that logic, but we may rest assured that there is a design. We six stand here, in this strange place, with a dead white man on the floor. Why?
INJUN JOE
’Cause he (indicating BILLY JACK) killed him!
OLD LODGE SKINS
Maybe, maybe not. I do not know what the truth in that matter might be. But one of us killed this poor man. But if we are to solve this great mystery, must we understand why someone would want to take his life? For that, we must learn more about the man. What do we know?
TONTO
Him kind of handsome.
OLD LODGE SKINS
Not what I was expecting, but okay.
INJUN JOE
He gots plenty of books.
BILLY JACK
That’s because he’s a writer.
POCAHONTAS
A what?
BILLY JACK
A writ
er. A teller of tales.
INJUN JOE
Hey, how … how did you know he was a … what did you say … a teller of tales? A writer? That’s a pretty detailed and specific piece of information to know. You seem to know a lot of things.
BILLY JACK
On his desk, a stack of books with several different titles. But only one name. And the photo on the back … him.
TONTO
Him right.
INJUN JOE
Why would we be locked in a room with a dead white writer? This be gettin’ stranger and stranger.
Everybody looks at each other in confusion.
KILLS MANY ENEMIES
So what? A dead white man is a dead white man. Who cares what he did in his life? (to BILLY JACK) My brother, if you do not want his scalp, then I will take it. For my knife is sharp and well practised.
He kneels down, pulling out his knife, but POCAHONTAS grabs his arm.
POCAHONTAS
Noble warrior, please don’t.
KILLS MANY ENEMIES
Why not? What is this man to you?
POCAHONTAS
Nothing, but that would be icky.
KILLS MANY ENEMIES
What is “icky”? I do not know this word “icky.”
POCAHONTAS
It means … I mean … it’s … not a very nice thing to do. And I’m all about being nice.
INJUN JOE
I bet you are. What do you think has happened here, sweet cheeks?
POCAHONTAS
Well, maybe … maybe this man died because of love. The only marks left by love are on the heart. Back in the forest, I once saved a life for love. I don’t know much about these things, but wouldn’t it be just as easy to take a life for love?
BILLY JACK
Some might say love has taken more lives than it has created.
TONTO
Hmm, wise words wisely spoken.
INJUN JOE
Will you shut up with that? It’s getting on my nerves.
TONTO
Me sorry.
BILLY JACK
One small problem. Who did this man love, or who loved this man, that would cost him his life, and more importantly, would get us involved?
INJUN JOE
What would you know about love?
BILLY JACK
Enough.
POCAHONTAS
I know about love.
INJUN JOE
I bet you do.
POCAHONTAS
Love makes the sun rise, the rivers flow, the birds sing. It makes the heart sing. Love is everything.
TONTO
For you, maybe.
POCAHONTAS
You don’t agree?
TONTO
No want talk about it. Hurt too much.
POCAHONTAS
Oh, you sound bitter. That’s so sad. Can I help?
TONTO
We swim different rivers. Let me leave at that.
KILLS MANY ENEMIES
(to BILLY JACK) Why does he talk like that? It is confusing.
POCAHONTAS
How tragic. Maybe this man died because he had no love in his life. I know I would die.
INJUN JOE
I got some love for you.
BILLY JACK
No you don’t.
INJUN JOE
Just trying to be friendly.
POCAHONTAS
It’s okay. I’ll be your friend. I’m everybody’s friend. Have you ever heard the wind call your name?
INJUN JOE
Not sober.
BILLY JACK
Your kindness is wasted there.
POCAHONTAS
Kindness is never wasted.
BILLY JACK
Neither is vigilance.
KILLS MANY ENEMIES
(frustrated) Yes, yes, the girl is very pretty. (indicating INJUN JOE) He is not to be trusted. (to BILLY JACK) You are her protector. That is all rather obvious, but that is not important to me. I want to get out of here. I want to feel the prairie wind again. There are soldiers waiting to be ambushed. Settlers to be massacred. This place is a box and Kills Many Enemies does not belong in a box. Can we move on and find different hunting grounds?!
POCAHONTAS
How? He said the door is locked. I don’t know what we should do!
OLD LODGE SKINS
Come, little one. Sit by me. You can help keep an old man warm while we decide.
INJUN JOE
Sure. He gets to sit with her. Why don’t you all mind your own business? She’s a grown woman.
BILLY JACK picks up a pencil. He places it right in front of INJUN JOE’s face and breaks it in half.
BILLY JACK
The sound of your bones breaking.
INJUN JOE
Leave me alone.
TONTO
Hmm, him trouble.
OLD LODGE SKINS
Not all arrows fly true.
INJUN JOE
Oh give it a break! “Him trouble.” You mak’em good point. Jesus, try using a personal pronoun properly for once. You might like it. And what’s with the “not all arrows fly true”? What the hell is that supposed to mean? “Not all arrows fly true.” Talk to me like a real person. Enough with the “my heart soars like an eagle” mumbo jumbo. Try to be like a real and true person.
BILLY JACK
A real and true person …
KILLS MANY ENEMIES
What is “mumbo jumbo”?
OLD LODGE SKINS
You have a lot of anger in you, my son. Perhaps you are the man who took the writer’s life. You have a desperate look about you.
POCAHONTAS
Did you kill the white writer?
INJUN JOE
No. I ain’t got no love for white people or most Indian people, but that ain’t my work. I use this.
He holds up a knife then puts it away.
INJUN JOE
And there ain’t no knife marks on him. Go ahead and look.
POCAHONTAS kisses him on the cheek.
POCAHONTAS
Good. I’m glad you didn’t kill him either. I think you try to be a lot meaner than you actually are. I believe in the inherent goodness of everybody. It is my way.
POCAHONTAS wanders away. INJUN JOE watches her longingly. TONTO is nearby.
INJUN JOE
Look at those fringes shake.
TONTO gives her a glance but doesn’t really react.
INJUN JOE
What’s with you anyways? That’s one fine woman walkin’ away. Your headband a little too tight?
TONTO
Pretty woman all right.
INJUN JOE
That’s all you can say! Women like her were created to be looked at. I’ve even caught the do-gooder over there giving her the occasional glance. If the old man didn’t have cobwebs under his loincloth, he’d be shaking his lance at her. But not you. Why not?
TONTO
I said pretty woman.
INJUN JOE
I don’t get you. I mean, you’d think after all those nights in the desert with the masked man, just the two of you, alone, week after week, month after month, doing his laundry, cooking for him, always together …
He pauses. The proverbial light bulb goes off over INJUN JOE’s head as the obvious occurs to him.
INJUN JOE
Ahhh …
TONTO
What?
INJUN JOE
I got it. It’s so obvious. Never mind. Moving on.
TONTO
What?
INJUN JOE
Let’s just say, you two ride double, and leave it at that.
INJUN JOE walks away. All the while, BILLY JACK is closely examining the books on the shelves.
TONTO
What?
POCAHONTAS joins KILLS MANY ENEMIES, who is staring at the computer on the desk.
POCAHONTAS
What are you looking at?
KILLS MANY ENEMIES
I do n
ot know. Like many things in this strange place, I do not know its nature. What do you think it is? Should I kill it?
POCAHONTAS
It makes a noise, like bees, only softer.
OLD LODGE SKINS
Beware its sting.
KILLS MANY ENEMIES
Whatever it is, do not fear it. I will protect you. All of you. For I am Kills Many Enemies.
OLD LODGE SKINS
Yes. We know. You’ve told us. Many times.
POCAHONTAS
What is that, across its front?
OLD LODGE SKINS
It is the white man’s writing. I saw such scratchings once when Black Robes gave me a book about a medicine man named Jesus. They are only markings. A way of telling stories. Talking. Like smoke signals, but smaller.
INJUN JOE
You’re right. That’s writin’. Muscle boy over there said the dead guy had something to do with writin’ and books. This might be the answer.
POCAHONTAS
The answer to what?
INJUN JOE
To everything. (to BILLY JACK) You can read this, can’t you?
BILLY JACK
Yes.
INJUN JOE
What does it say?
BILLY JACK, his arms full of books, approaches them. He puts the books down and examines the computer screen.
BILLY JACK
It is some sort of story. About Indians.
POCAHONTAS
I love stories. Is it a love story?
BILLY JACK
I’m not sure. I can only read what’s on this screen.
KILLS MANY ENEMIES
Want me to stab it? It might have spurting blood.
TONTO
What happen in story?
BILLY JACK
I can’t tell from this one page, but the title here says The Further Adventures of … I think it’s about us. It’s a collection of short stories. According to these notes here, there’s a dozen or so stories in this thing continuing these adventures, featuring each of us.
OLD LODGE SKINS
I do not understand. What do you mean … each of us?
BILLY JACK
It seems you are all characters from books and stories.
INJUN JOE
And you ain’t?
BILLY JACK
Logic says I am. As are all of you.
There is silence.
KILLS MANY ENEMIES
No. I am Kills Many Enemies, not some person in a story. Touch me. Feel me. I am real. My lance is real. My bravery is real. You are wrong.
POCAHONTAS
The big violent man is right. I am a real person. I’m not make-believe …
BILLY JACK
You were once, but most of that has been lost. You are now … as much make-believe as any of us. You are now less fact, more … a symbol.
POCAHONTAS
I am? Nobody told me.
TONTO