Chapters (27)
| PHEBE |
They’re coming, Augustus! They’re coming to see if you did what you were told! Oh, Augustus— you were supposed to kill her! |
| AUGUSTUS | (Shaking himself into action, threatening AMALIA.) |
|
My mother, who is my mother? Out with it! |
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| AMALIA |
Phebe, you tell him. You were there. Everyone was there— under my window, |
| AMALIA | waiting for news . . . |
| PHEBE |
That . . . was the night we all came to wait out the birth. |
| AUGUSTUS | What birth? |
| AMALIA | Hector on the porch. |
| AUGUSTUS | What about Hector? |
More shouts outside; compelled by the urgency of the growing revolution, PHEBE tries to distract AUGUSTUS.
| PHEBE | There’s no time! |
| AUGUSTUS | (Grabs AMALIA as if to slit her throat.) |
| What about Hector? | |
| AMALIA |
Chick in a basket, going to market! They said you died, poor thing. That’s why Hector went to the swamp. |
AUGUSTUS stares desperately at her. PHEBE turns, thunderstruck.
| AUGUSTUS | Hector? |
| AMALIA | But you didn’t die. You’re here . . . |
Reaches for him; he draws back.
| PHEBE | (Looks from AMALIA to AUGUSTUS, horror growing, recites tonelessly.) |
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Stepped on a pin, the pin bent, and that’s the way the story went. |
|
| AMALIA | (Sadly, in a small voice.) |
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Silk for my prince, and a canopy of roses! You were so tiny—so sweet and tiny. I didn’t know about the spurs. |
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| PHEBE |
You sold your own child. Hector’s child. |
| AUGUSTUS | Hector . . . |
The knife slips from his fingers.
| AMALIA | I was trying to save you! |
| AUGUSTUS | Save me? |
| AMALIA | (Extremely agitated.) |
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I felt like they had hacked out my heart. But I wouldn’t let them see me cry. |
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| AUGUSTUS | (Wrestling with the horror.) |
| You? My mother? | |
| AMALIA | (Clutching herself.) |
|
It was like missing an arm or a leg that pains and throbs, even though you can look right where it was and see there’s nothing left. |
She stops abruptly.
| AUGUSTUS |
My own mother gave me away. But I found my way back . . . a worm crawling into its hole. |
| AMALIA |
For weeks afterwards my breasts ached with milk. |
| AUGUSTUS | (Sinking to his knees.) |
| Better I had bled to death in that basket. |
A great shout goes up as the insurrectionists gain entry to the main house. AMALIA takes advantage of the ensuing distraction to pick up the knife.
| PHEBE | Augustus! |
| AUGUSTUS | (Passive.) |
| The Day of Redemption is here. | |
| PHEBE | They’ll kill you, Augustus! |
| AUGUSTUS | Time to be free. |
| AMALIA |
Poor baby! I thought I could keep you from harm— and here you are, right in harm’s way. |
PHEBE gasps; AMALIA stabs herself as AUGUSTUS, alerted by PHEBE’s gasp, jumps up, too late to stop her. The room turns red as the out-buildings go up in flames.
| AUGUSTUS | Amalia! |
Catching her as she falls.
| No . . . |
Calling out in anguish.
| Eshu Elewa ogo gbogbo! |
The chanting of the rebelling SLAVES grows louder.