--------------------------------
[Crickets chirping.]
It started when I was young.
Your womanhood?
Sort of.
It arrived first through a pair of itchy fingers. I was old enough that Pa had decided I was grown enough to accompany him to the city. To sell our wares. I had never seen so many people. Or such fine things.
Ahh. Your first petty theft?
Haha... I s'pose.
Let me guess... A watch--
I--
WAIT! A lovely pearl necklace.
...
Go on. Fess up.
Nothing like that.
--------------------------------
I thought if I lived as a woman the itch would go away.
And did it?
It did. For a time. I went the whole nine yards. Did everything women ought to.
Including grabbing yourself a cowboy.
...Yes.
Handsome fella, ain't he? Was he any good?
Now don't you--I'm not gonna--
Come on! Who am I gonna tell?
Anyone in earshot.
Pff, Well--
Whoever you can reach with your nonsense.
Wow. And ruin such a pretty lady's honor?
... I think you believe you are beyond such earthly things.
...
Am I?
Of course not.
--------------------------------
Do you ever regret it?
...
Casting aside your old life. Trading your pair of trousers in for skirts.
Metaphorically speaking.
...
...
...
I don't believe I do.
You don't sound sure.
Is anyone? Of anything?
...
Well, shit! I guess not!
Ive got plenty of regrets. Can tell you that much.
It wasn't the wrong thing to do, but I misjudged how deep the issue ran. I didn't even know I had such depths within me.
Every person is like that. Most don't know their own complexity, though. Or they forsake it in the hope of living their lives only skimming from the topmost layers--else risk finding out what lies beneath the depths.
Is that not how you've been livin' your own life?
Tallahassee lets out a laugh, his smile not quite meeting his eyes. He hammers on his chest twice, right over his heart.
[Thump thump.]
Oh, darlin'...
There ain't any depth to me. I'm skin deep.
...
There's multitudes, sure. But my heart is covered in pustules.
I don't find that to be true, sir.
No?
No.
Then you ain't seein' me.
I reckon I see you just fine.
You can't even begin to know what's under the surface.
You've been through a lot, and it's cut you up inside.
You don't know me.
...
I'd like to.
The moment lingers between the two, with Caroline slowly moving inwards. She pulls Tally close--then even closer, still.
The scene fades into the next, and the pair now sit on the balcony together. The sun has set, the sky is dark. Tallahassee is laid out on a reclined chair, while Caroline is perched on the guardrail, cigarette in hand. Crickets can be heard under the clamor of the rest of the gang below, still in the throes of a party.