MOTHER
Sally, it’s time you learned the awful truth.(SALLY coughs on her scone.)
SALLY
What truth?MOTHER
The antonym of falsehood.SALLY
Not what’s truth, but what truth---?MOTHER
About your aunt Berthe.
SALLY
She was like a mother to me, when you were in the institution. Is there a secret behind her death?MOTHER
Is there ever, Sally. I suppose you know how she died---SALLY
Suicide.MOTHER
(Simultaneous with her daughter)Suicide.
(Disconcerted pause)
Well, I guess you knew.
SALLY
I figured, with the family history and all your attempts---MOTHER
We’re not---SALLY
Really, it would be more remarkable if she didn’t commit suicide. Why, you’re doing it right now.MOTHER
I am simply cutting my scone---SALLY
So what’s the secret?MOTHER
It’s not that she killed herself, but how she did it.SALLY
Pills?(MOTHER stares incredulously. She blinks.)
MOTHER
Pills? Would I mention it if it were pills? No; much more shocking. You’ll never think of her the same.SALLY
Well, tell me---MOTHER
An oriental rug.SALLY
What?MOTHER
An oriental rug.SALLY
That doesn’t make---MOTHER
She ate it. She took a knife and fork and ate the whole damn thing. Fibers expanded and burst her digestive tract.SALLY
Oh, god---MOTHER
When they found her, it was a pool of blood, with elegantly colored threads in the corners of her mouth. And the remnant was hanging from her lips, as if she’d vomited it up.SALLY
Oh, god. I remember.MOTHER
You what?SALLY
I came in from playing. I wanted an ice cream. But she hadn’t died yet. She looked up, and she croaked---MOTHER
If I hadn’t been in the institution---SALLY
I know. I put it out of my mind, but . . . Why did you bring it up? Why would you expose me again, you loon?MOTHER
Lately, you’ve been sleepwalking---SALLY
Dr. Theos said---MOTHER
Well, you’ve been sleepwalking. I’ve seen you.SALLY
Oh, god---MOTHER
You come into my room; and---how do I say it?SALLY
Oh, god.MOTHER
You look . . . hungry for rug.(Dum dum dum---shocking music.)
THE END.
