Chapters (10)
FRANCIS: [calling after her] Hey!
He runs after her. PETER walks over to STEF.
PETER: Hello!
The boy doesn’t seem to notice him. FRANCIS returns.
FRANCIS: My God, she’s quick. Lost her.
PETER waves his hand in front of the boy’s face.
Is he blind?
PETER: Maybe.
Suddenly the boy’s hand snakes out and grabs PETER’s hand. PETER is startled. The boy laughs, then bites the hand. PETER cries out in pain.
FRANCIS: What happened?
PETER: He bit it.
Silence.
FRANCIS: [to the boy] What’s your name? [Pause.] Your name, what is it?
The boy rolls over, not listening, and laughs at the sky.
PETER: What’s he laughing at?
Suddenly the boy’s mood changes. He grimaces.
[To the boy] Are you alright?
The boy groans loudly, rising to a sharply accentuated crescendo until, abruptly, he bursts into a wide grin. Then he moves on all fours, but the effort is too much and he collapses. His face goes blank and his eyes distant. FRANCIS and PETER don’t know what to make of it all.
[Laughing nervously] I wouldn’t mind not being here.
FRANCIS: We’d better pull him back or he might fall into the river.
They grab hold of the boy and drag him back from the river. The boy takes no notice of what is happening to him. BETSHEB silently enters and stands nervously nearby. PETER is the first to notice her.
PETER: [quietly] Francis.
FRANCIS turns and spots her. She is now extremely nervous. She sinks to her knees and dry-retches with fear. The two young men don’t know what to do. The woman crawls on all fours to the boy and makes sure he is alright. She slaps him hard. He laughs. She laboriously lifts him on her back. FRANCIS goes to help, but PETER holds him back.
She knows how to do it.
The boy clings to her back like a monkey. The woman goes off without looking at the two intruders. Silence.
FRANCIS: Come on.
PETER: What?
FRANCIS: Scared?
PETER: Pain in the arse.
They exit after her.