by Lynn Nottage
MAMA: The commander is buying you a drink.
(Mama places the glass in Christian’s hand. She signals to the musicians to play.)
Raise your glass to him, and smile.
CHRISTIAN: Thank you, but I don’t drink.
MAMA (Whispered): Oh, you most certainly do, today. You will drink every last drop of what he offers, and when he buys you another round you’ll drink that as well. You will drink until he decides you’ve had enough.
(Christian looks over at the smiling Osembenga. He raises his glass to Osembenga across the room, contemplating the drink for a long hard moment.)
OSEMBENGA: Drink up!
CHRISTIAN: I—
MAMA: Please. (Whispered) He’s a very important man.
CHRISTIAN: Please, Mama.
MAMA: He can help us, or he can cause us many problems. It’s your decision. Remember, if you don’t step on the dog’s tail, he won’t bite you.
OSEMBENGA: Drink up!
(The Government Soldiers egg Christian on. Unnerved, Christian, slowly and with difficulty, drinks the liquor, wincing. Osembenga laughs. He signals for Mama to pour Christian another. She does. Again, the Soldiers cheer Christian on.)
Good. (Shouts) To health and prosperity!
(Christian contemplates the second drink. Osembenga raises his glass. Christian nervously knocks back the second shot of whiskey, and, again, winces. Osembenga smiles. He signals for Mama to pour another. The Soldiers cheer. Mama pours him another.)
CHRISTIAN: Don’t make—
MAMA: Trust me.
(She places the glass in his hand. Christian walks over to Osembenga’s table. We aren’t sure whether he is going to throw the drink in his face or toast him. He forcefully thrusts his drink in the air. Blackout.)
Scene 5
Morning. The bar. Sophie reads from the pages of a romance novel.
Josephine and Salima sit listening, rapt. It is a refuge.
SOPHIE (Reading): “The others had left the party, they were alone. She was now painfully aware that there was only the kiss left between them. She felt herself stiffen as he leaned into her. The hairs on her forearms stood on end, and the room suddenly grew several degrees warmer—”
JOSEPHINE: Oh, kiss her!
SALIMA: Shh!
SOPHIE: “His lips met hers. She could taste him, smell him, and all at once her body was infused with—”
(Mama enters with the lockbox. Sophie protectively slips the book behind her back. Mama grabs it.)
MAMA: What’s this?
SOPHIE: … A romance, Uncle Christian bought it.
MAMA: A romance?
SOPHIE: Yes.
(Mama examines the book. The women’s eyes plead with her not to take it.)
MAMA: Josephine, we need water in the back, and Salima, the broom is waiting for you in the yard.
SALIMA: Ah, Mama, let her finish the chapter.
MAMA: Are you giving me lip? I didn’t think so. Come here. Hurry.
(Salima reluctantly walks over to Mama. Mama grabs her wrist and runs her hand over Salima’s stomach.)
You must be happy here. You’re getting fat fat!
SALIMA: I didn’t notice.
MAMA: Well, I have.
(Salima, petrified, isn’t sure where Mama’s going. Then:)
You did good last night.
SALIMA (Surprised): Thank you.
(Mama tosses the book back to Sophie.)
JOSEPHINE: You don’t care for romance, Mama?
MAMA: Me? No, the problem is I already know how it’s going to end. There’ll be kissing, fucking, a betrayal, and then the woman will foolishly surrender her heart to an undeserving man. Okay. Move. Move. Ach. Ach. Sophie wait.
(Salima grabs the broom and exits.)
JOSEPHINE (Gesturing to Sophie): What about her?
MAMA: I need her help.
JOSEPHINE: Tst!
MAMA: You have a problem with that? You count good?
(Josephine stares down Sophie. Sophie isn’t having it. Mama laughs. Salima pokes her head in the door.)
SALIMA: Mama. Someone’s coming around the bend.
MAMA (Surprised): So early?
JOSEPHINE: Tst! Another stupid miner looking to get his cock wet.
SALIMA: No, I think it’s Mr. Harari.
JOSEPHINE: What?
SALIMA: “Come with me to the city, my darling.”
JOSEPHINE: Don’t hate!
SOPHIE: “I’m going to buy you a palace in Lebanon, my darling.”
(This strikes a nerve.)
JOSEPHINE: Hey, hey. At least I have somebody, I take care of him good. And he comes back.
(Josephine seductively approaches Sophie. She grabs her close.)
Joke, laugh, jolie fille, but we all know a man wants a woman who’s complete.
SOPHIE: Okay, stop—
JOSEPHINE: He wants her to open up and allow him to release himself, he wants to pour the whole world into her.
SOPHIE: I said stop!
JOSEPHINE: Can you be that woman?
MAMA: Let her alone. Go get the water!
JOSEPHINE: I was firstborn child! My father was chief!
MAMA: Yeah, and my father was whoever put money in my mama’s pocket! Chief, farmer who the hell cares? Go!
(Josephine storms off. Salima follows.)
Give Josephine a good smack in the mouth, and she won’t bother you no more.
(She plops the lockbox on the table.)
Here. Count last night’s money. Let me know how we did.
(Sophie opens the lockbox. Mama skillfully funnels water into a whiskey bottle.)
I don’t know where all these men are coming from, but I’m happy for it.
(Sophie pulls out the money, a worn ribbon, and then a small stone.)
SOPHIE: Why do you keep this pebble?
MAMA: That? It doesn’t look like anything. Stupid man, give it to me to hold for one night of company and four beers not even cold enough to quench his thirst. He said he’d be back for it and he’d pay me. It’s a raw diamond. It probably took him a half year of sifting through mud to dig it up, and he promised his simple wife a Chinese motor scooter and fabric from Senegal. And there it is, some unfortunate woman’s dream.
SOPHIE: What will you do with it?
MAMA (Chuckling to herself): Do? Ha!
(Mama knocks back a shot of watered-down whiskey.)
It still tastes like whiskey. I don’t know, but as long as they are foolish enough to give it to me, I’ll keep accepting it. My mother taught me that you can follow behind everyone and walk in the dust, or you can walk ahead through the unbroken thorny brush. You may get blood on your ankles, but you arrive first and not covered in the residue of others. This land is fertile and blessed in many regards, and the men ain’t the only one’s entitled to its bounty.
SOPHIE: What if the man comes back for his stone?
MAMA: A lot of people would sell it, run away. But it is my insurance policy, it is what keeps me from becoming like them. There must always be a part of you that this war can’t touch. It’s a damn shame, but I keep it for that stupid woman. Enough talk, how’d we do?
SOPHIE: Good. If we—
MAMA: We?
SOPHIE: Charged a little more for the beer, just a few more francs. By the end of the year we’ll have enough to buy a new generator.
MAMA: Yeah? A new generator? Good. You’re quick with numbers. Yes. You counted everything from last night. Your tips?
SOPHIE: Yes.
MAMA: Yes?
(A moment. Mama reaches into Sophie’s chest and produces a fold of money.)
MAMA: Is this yours?
SOPHIE: Yes. I was—
MAMA: Yes? So tell me what you’re planning to do with my money. (With edge) Cuz it’s my money.
SOPHIE: I—
MAMA: I,I,I … what?
SOPHIE: It’s not what you think, Mama.
MAMA: No, you’re not trying to run off with my money? “Take her in, give he
r food.” Your uncle begged me. What am I supposed to do? I trust you. Everyone say, she bad luck, but I think this is a smart girl, maybe Mama won’t have to do everything by herself. You read books, you speak good, like white man—but is this who you want to be?
SOPHIE: I’m sorry, Mama.
MAMA: No. No. I will put you out on your ass. I will let you walk naked down that road, is that what you want? What did you think you were going to do with my money?!
(Mama grabs Sophie, pulls her to the door.)
SOPHIE: Mama! Please! …
MAMA: You want to be out there? Huh? Huh? Then go! Go!
(Sophie struggles, terrified.)
Huh? What were you going to do?
SOPHIE: A man that come in here said he can help me. He said there is an operation for girls.
MAMA: Don’t you lie to me.
SOPHIE: Listen, listen, please listen, they can repair the damage.
(A moment. Mama releases Sophie.)
MAMA: An operation?
SOPHIE: Yes, he give me this paper. Look, look.
MAMA: And it can make it better?
SOPHIE: Yes.
(Mama makes a show of putting the money into her lockbox.)
MAMA: Hm. Congratulations! You’re the first girl bold enough to steal from me. (Laughs) Where are your books?
SOPHIE: Under my bed.
MAMA: Go bring them to me. I know you better than you think, girl.
(The lights fade.)
Scene 6
The bar. Morning light pours in. Josephine struggles with a drunk Miner. She finally manages to push him out of the bar, then exits into the back. Salima quickly sneaks food from under the counter. She stuffs fufu into her mouth. The bird squawks as if to tell on her.
SALIMA: Shh! Shh!
(Christian, winded and on edge, comes rushing into the bar. He is covered in dirt.)
Professor!
CHRISTIAN: Get Mama!
(Salima quickly exits. Christian paces. Mama enters.)
MAMA: Professor! (Beat) What, what is it?
CHRISTIAN: The white pastor’s dead.
MAMA: What?
(Christian sits, then immediately stands.)
CHRISTIAN: He was dead for over a week before anyone found his body. He was only a hundred meters from the chapel. The cook said it was Osembenga’s soldiers. They accused the pastor of aiding rebels. Do you hear what I am saying?
(Mama takes in his words, they bite her.)
They cut him up beyond recognition. Cut out his eyes and tongue. (Nauseated by the notion)
MAMA: The pastor? I’m sorry to hear that.
(Mama pours herself a whiskey.)
CHRISTIAN: Can I have one of those, please?
MAMA: Are you sure?
CHRISTIAN: Just give it to me damn it!
(Mama hesitantly pours Christian a drink. She stares at him.)
What?
(He gulps it down.)
The policeman said there were no witnesses. No one saw anything, and so there is nothing he can do. Bury him, he said. Me? I barely know the man, and people who worked with him for years were mute, no one knew anything. He was butchered, and no one knows anything.
MAMA: Take it easy.
CHRISTIAN: These ignorant country boys, who wouldn’t be able to tell left from right, they put on a uniform and suddenly they’re making decisions for us. Give me another.
MAMA: The Fantas are cold.
CHRISTIAN: I don’t want a Fanta.
(Mama reluctantly pours Christian another drink. His hand slightly quivers as he knocks back the liquor.)
They’ve killed a white man. Do you know what that means? A missionary. They’re pushing this way. They won’t think twice about killing us.
MAMA: A dead pastor, is just another dead man, and people here see that every day. I can’t think about it right now. I have ten girls to feed, and a business to run.
(Mama buries her face in her palms, overwhelmed.)
CHRISTIAN: Come with me, Mama. We’ll go to Kinshasa where there’s no trouble. Between the two of us … The two of us. We’ll open a small place. Serve food, drink, dancing.
(Mama isn’t convinced. Christian reaches for the bottle of whiskey, she snatches it away. Christian slams the bar.
Two ragged Soldiers, Fortune and Simon, enter like a whirlwind. They carry beat-up rifles and wear dirty ill-fitting uniforms. Fortune also carries an iron pot. They are on edge, which makes Mama very uneasy.)
MAMA: Yes?
FORTUNE: Is this the place of Mama Nadi?
MAMA: Yes, that is me. What can I do for you?
FORTUNE: We’ll have a meal and a beer.
MAMA: Okay, no problem. I have fish and fufu from last night.
FORTUNE: Yeah. Good. Good.
MAMA: It ain’t hot.
SIMON: We’ll have it.
(Mama eyes the men suspiciously. Christian, petrified, does his best to mask it.)
MAMA: Please don’t be offended, but I’ll need to see your money.
(Fortune removes a pile of worn bills from his pocket. The men move to sit.)
Hey. Hey. Hey. Empty your weapons.
(The men hesitate.)
SIMON: No, our wea—
MAMA: It’s the rule. If you want to be fed.
(The men reluctantly remove their clips from their guns and hand them to Mama.)
FORTUNE (To Christian): Good morning.
CHRISTIAN: Good morning.
SIMON: Do you have a place for us to wash up?
FORTUNE: In the back maybe.
(Fortune gestures toward the backdoor.)
MAMA (Suspicious): I can bring you a basin of water.
(They sit. Sophie enters, she’s surprised to find Christian and the Soldiers.)
SOPHIE: Uncle.
CHRISTIAN: Bonjour, mon amour.
SOPHIE: What happened to—
CHRISTIAN: Shh. I’m okay.
(Sophie notes the caution in his tone.)
FORTUNE AND SIMON: Good morning. How are you?
(The men politely rise.)
SOPHIE (Timidly): Good morning.
(The men sit.)
MAMA: Bring some water for the basin.
FORTUNE: Please.
(Sophie exits with the basin. Mama serves beer.)
Thank you.
MAMA: You come from the east?
FORTUNE: No.
MAMA: Farmers?
FORTUNE: NO! We’re soldiers! We follow Commander Osembenga!
(Sophie returns with the full basin, but Christian signals for her to leave. Christian grows increasingly nervous. He watches the men like a hawk.)
MAMA: Easy. I don’t mean to insult you, Soldier. But you look like good men. Men who don’t follow trouble.
(Fortune seems reluctant to speak.)
SIMON: We are—
FORTUNE: I’m told there is a woman here named Salima. Is that true?
CHRISTIAN: There—
MAMA: Why? Who is looking for her?
FORTUNE: Is she here!? I asked you, is she here!?
MAMA: I’d adjust your tone, mister.
FORTUNE: Please, I’m looking for a woman named Salima.
MAMA: I have to ask inside.
(Christian and Mama exchange a look.)
FORTUNE: She’s from Kaligili. She has a small scar on her right cheek. Just so.
MAMA: A lot of women come and go. I’ll ask around. And may I say who’s looking for her?
FORTUNE: Fortune, her husband.
(Christian registers this discovery.)
MAMA: Excuse me. I’ll go ask inside.
(Mama exits. Christian disappears into his drink.)
SIMON: We’ll find her, Fortune. C’mon, drink up. When was your last cold beer? FORTUNE: I’m not thirsty.
(Simon drinks.)
SIMON: Ah, that’s nice. It’s nice, man.
(Fortune paces.)
FORTUNE: Come on, come on, where is she?
SIMON: Be patient. Man, if she’s here we
’ll find her.
FORTUNE: Why is it taking so long?
SIMON: Take it easy.
FORTUNE: You heard it, the man on the road described Salima. It is her.
(Simon laughs.)
What?
(Fortune paces.)
SIMON: You say that every time. Maybe it is, maybe it isn’t. We’ve been walking for months, and in every village there is a Salima. You are certain. So please, don’t—
MAMA (Reemerging): There is no Salima here.
FORTUNE (Shocked): What? No! She is here!
MAMA: I’m sorry, you are mistaken. You got bad information.
FORTUNE: Salima! Salima Mukengeshayi!!
MAMA: I said she is not here.
FORTUNE: You lying witch! Salima!
MAMA: Call me names, but there’s still no Salima here. I think maybe the woman you’re looking for is dead.
FORTUNE: She is here! Goddamn you, she is here.
(Fortune flips over the table. Mama grabs a machete. Christian brandishes the whiskey bottle like a weapon.)
MAMA: Please, I said she is not here. And if you insist I will show you how serious I am.
SIMON: We don’t want trouble.
MAMA: Now go. Get out! Get the hell out of here.
FORTUNE (Shouts): Tell Salima, I will be back for her!
(The parrot raises hell. Christian scolds Mama with his eyes. Blackout.)
ACT TWO
Scene 1
Fortune, in his ill-fitting uniform, stands outside the bar, like a centurion guarding the gates.
Josephine teases two drunk Government Soldiers and a Miner. Guitar. Drums. Mama and Sophie sing a dance song. Mr. Harari and Christian watch. Festive.
MAMA (Sings):Hey, monsieur, come play, monsieur,
Hey, monsieur, come play, monsieur,
The Congo sky rages electric
As bullets fly like hell’s rain,
Wild flowers wilt and the forest decays.
But here we’re pouring Champagne.
MAMA AND SOPHIE (Sing):Cuz a warrior knows no peace,
When a hungry lion’s awake.
But when that lion’s asleep,
The warrior is free to play.
SOPHIE (Sings):Drape your weariness on my shoulder,
Sweep travel dust from your heart.
Villages die as soldiers grow bolder,
We party as the world falls apart.
MAMA AND SOPHIE (Sing):Cuz a warrior knows no peace,
When a hungry lion’s awake.
But when that lion’s asleep,
The warrior is free to play.
(The drum beats out a furious rhythm. Josephine answers with a dance, which begins playfully, seductively, then slowly becomes increasingly frenzied. She releases her anger, her pain … everything. She desperately grabs at the air as if trying to hold on to something. She abruptly stops, overwhelmed. Sophie goes to her aid.)
