Genius in Love (Scene 4)

by Jay Squires

Thumbnail sketch of the last scene: Toalache and Cornelius’s principal, Mr. Hallows, discuss the school’s concerns over the lad. Cornelius is in another room playing Classical piano. The music forms a backdrop to their conversation, which focuses on the contents of a school assignment that raised troubling questions. Reading the paper brings tears to Toloache’s eyes, and the principal (an empath), tears up watching her. Mr. Hallows brings Cornelius into the room … with Cililla Queez in tow. She is seen only by Cornelius (and the audience).

CHARACTERS

Cornelius Plumb: An autistic, musical genius child, age 12.

Toloache [Pron: Toh-loh-AH-chee] Plumb: Cornelius’s mother. Former actress, now a studio-owning acting coach. She is thoroughly devoted to Cornelius.

Mr. Hallows: Dedicated principal of Zachary Taylor Middle School, though soon to be discharged. Age 45. A true empath.

Celilla Queez: An apparent product of Cornelius’s mind, a replacement for Pidely-Poo, and there to transition him through puberty.

SETTING: The principal’s office. Large desk, center stage, facing left. His desktop has a look of controlled clutter. Two-tiered tray with papers hanging over the edge. Several stacks of papers. A box of tissue with a sheet protruding. A Large dictionary, to the side. A chair faces the desk. Another chair sits at the far side of the desk. Centerstage left, on a small circular table, a sizeable ebony Buddha sits. On the floor beside the Buddha table, a white vase holds a lily. Upstage, on the wall, a large cubist, or another modernistic, rendering of Jesus with pierced hands spread. Upstage right, a door.

AT RISE: MR. HALLOWS sits at his desk opposite TOLOACHE. In a chair at the far side of the desk; midway between them, sits CORNELIUS, staring at the floor; he has a red abrasion on his cheekbone and chin. Standing beside, and slightly leaning against Cornelius, is CILILLA QUEEZ, not visible to either MR HALLOWS or TOLOACHE; her hand rests on CORNELIUS’S shoulder.

MR. HALLOWS:
(Appraising CORNELIUS’S face with concern.)
Looks like you hurt your face, Son.

CORNELIUS:
(Darting a glance toward his mother without connecting with her eyes)
Mr. Hallows … is angry.
(Rocking in his chair)
Ohh. Ohh. I am … in trouble now.

TOLOACHE:
No, no, sweetheart, Mr. Hallows isn’t angry with you. You can tell him about your face.

CORNELIUS:
Mr. Hallows called … me to his … office. With—with you. Ohh, we are in trouble now.

MR. HALLOWS:
I’m not angry with you, Son—you or your mother. You’re not in trouble. In fact, this is the first time you’ve been in my office, isn’t it?
(Chuckles, knowingly.)
But it sounds like you’ve heard other kids talk about being called in here.

TOLOACHE:
I’m sorry, sweetheart; I should have explained it to you.

(CORNELIUS’S rocking slows. His body seems to soften to a more relaxed posture)

TOLOACHE (Continues):
No one is angry. But you need to tell him about how you got the scrapes on your face. Tell Mr. Hallows how you got hurt.

CORNELIUS:
His—his friends were … laughing.

MR. HALLOWS:
Whose friends?

CORNELIUS:
Um … Mr. Delaney’s friends … they were laughing … at me.

MR. HALLOWS:
Mr. Delaney? Delaney … Delaney … James. James Delaney?

CORNELIUS:
(Resumes rocking, now more frantically. CILILLA QUEEZ bends down and gives him a peck on the cheek and the rocking slows.)
Mr. Hiney calls … him … Mr. Delaney.

MR. HALLOWS:
(As though to himself)
Of course. Mr. Hiney would. Tell me though son, why were … Mr. Delaney’s friends laughing at you?

CORNELIUS:
Be-because he hurt … he hurt me.

MR. HALLOWS:
Because he hurt you.

CORNELIUS:
I got pushed down and … and I got up … and he pushed me down … and I got up … and then they all laughed at me.

MR. HALLOWS:
(Slowly shaking his head and looking at TOLOACHE, whose eyes are closed, her chin resting on her blouse.)
And do you know why he hurt you?

CORNELIUS:
Because … be-cause I don’t have … an ounce of pride.

TOLOACHE:
(Eyes snap open; she straightens up and stares painfully at MR. HALLOWS.)
Jesus H. Christ! I’m sorry, but those are his father’s words—an ounce of pride! Oh, Christ!
(Reaches out and strokes CORNELIUS’S arm.)
You took his words as gospel—my poor, lovely boy!

(MR. HALLOWS is momentarily overcome by this. His eyes fill to overflowing and he yanks out a tissue and holds it to his eyes.)

CORNELIUS:
Mr. Hallows is … crying. Why is … Mr. Hallows crying?

MR. HALLOWS:
Ohh ... Don’t mind me, Son—I’m just cursed; I’m afraid I wear my heart on my sleeve.

CORNELIUS:
(Registering confusion. Shoots scattered glances.)
Mr. Hallows’ sleeve. His … his sleeve?

(CILILLA, sensing CORNELIUS’S rising confusion in seeing his mother’s anger and MR. HALLOW’S tears, inclines her head to him. [The Stage lights pan in on the two, and TOLOACHE AND MR. HALLOWS go into shadow.])

CILILLA:
You’re okay, Sweetie. Shhhhhhh. Just like Pidely-Poo taught you, let the harmony in. Floooow. That’s right. Floooow. Listen inside you, Cornelius … Sweetie, can you hear your music now? Inside you? Listen.

(CORNELIUS visibly relaxes)

CILILLA (Continues):
That’s right. The music knows. The music knows. Cililla has so much to teach you about grownups. They can cause an awful lot of confusion. So much disharmony. Even when they love you.

CORNELIUS:
Mother loves … Cornelius.

CILILLA:
She does. You can feel her loving you, can’t you? And she’ll always be here to protect you. She’ll always try to keep others from hurting you.
(Scrunches up her face.)
I know it confuses you. Your mother has to protect you against … your father.

CORNELIUS:
Howlword is bad. Howlword makes Mother cry.

CILILLA:
Yes. Yes, he does, Sweetie. Sometimes. Ohhh … There’s so much I need to teach you.

CORNELIUS:
Howlword makes Mother cry.

CILILLA:
And crying makes you sad, doesn’t it?

(CORNELIUS nods vigorously)

CILILLA (Continued):
But you know what, Sweetie? Look at Mr. Hallows there …. He can’t see you. You can look at him.

(CORNELIUS shoots him a glance, then looks down, blinking rapidly)

CILILLA (Continued):
See? Mr. Hallows is crying. He is crying because of something you said. And yet you know you didn’t try to make him cry. You know something else? Mr. Hallows cries when he hears you playing the piano. I know it gets all jumbled up inside you. But crying is not always bad.
(Lightly kissing his cheek)
We’ve got so much work to do, Cornie.
(Pulls away and cocks her head at him)
Pidely-Poo used to call you Cornie. Can I do that, too, Sweetie? Can I call you Cornie?

CORNELIUS:
(With a full smile)
Pidely-Poo used to take Cornie to the-the island of …
(Takes a deep breath and lets it out slowly, audibly)
Ahhhhhhh—

CILILLA:
(Interrupting his long exhale.)
I know he did, Sweetie. Just like that. Whenever you were frightened or confused he’d have you take a deep breath, wouldn’t he, and you’d say the island’s name real slow … Ahhhmmm. But don’t do it now, Cornie. Okay? Not now.
(CILILLA bends down and gives CORNELIUS a hug. [The lights come up on all.])

MR. HALLOWS:
I must apologize, Mrs. Plumb, for that emotional display—the board was right, I suppose ….
(Clears his throat)
Now, should I do the honors, or would you rather?

TOLOACHE:
The letter?

MR. HALLOWS:
Yes. Unless you’d rather read it to him at—No, I probably should observe, though.

TOLOACHE:
I’ll read it, Mr. Hal—Mr. Hallows.

(Both glance at CORNELIUS who slowly begins his rocking back and forth. Invisible to MR. HALLOWS and TOLOACHE, but without any change in the lighting, CILILLA whispers something in CORNELIUS’S ear, and his rocking slows. TOLOACHE unfolds the letter in her lap.)

TOLOACHE (Continued):
I’m going to read something you wrote, Darling, in Mrs. Bain’s class. Now, you’re not in trouble. No one is angry. What you wrote was … very lovely, really.

MR. HALLOWS:
It was. Quite lovely, Cornelius. You should be proud of it.

TOLOACHE:
So … so this is the question Mrs. Bain typed at the top of the assignment sheet: “A wise man once said, ‘You are what you think all day long.’ So, when you daydream, what do you think about most? Let your mind take you wherever it wants, as long as it’s true.”
(Studies CORNELIUS a moment)
That's what she wrote, and then you wrote: “Pidely-Poo is Cornelius’s friend. Pidely-Poo says he is Cornelius's brother, but I don’t have a brother and he is only pretending with me. So he is my friend. Pidely-Poo always takes me to his castle whenever I am sad or afraid. He calls it my castle, too, my true home, he says. But I know he is pretending again because I have a home at forty-one-twenty-one Manmour Place, and I live there with my—”
(TOLOACHE’S voice breaks at this moment and she pulls some tissue from the box and holds the wad at each eye socket before she continues.)
“—with my Mother and with Howlword. Pidely-Poo tells me that Howlword was really the King’s brother who lived in our Castle on the island of Awm.”

CORNELIUS:
(Who had been following his Mother’s reading in a state of bliss, his eyes closed, a small smile tugging at the corners of his mouth, suddenly opens his eyes …)
No … like this …
(Filling his lungs with air and letting it out audibly)
Ahhhhhhhhhhmmmmm. I … did not know how … how to … write it.

TOLOACHE:
(Speaking through mingled tears and laughter)
I-I see. So, on the Island of Ahhhhhhhhhhmmmmm.

CORNELIUS:
Ahhhhhhhhhhmmmmm.

TOLOACHE:
I’ll just continue then.
(Reads)
“Pidely-Poo tells me that Howlword was really the King’s brother who lived in our Castle on the Island of Awm.”

CORNELIUS:
(Taking over as though he is reading off the page. He speaks with his eyes closed, head down, but articulating with the flow of a seasoned speaker—in stark contrast to his normal, crippled style.)
“Pidely-Poo says Howlword was the King’s evil brother. He was in love with the Queen. He wanted to kill the King and rule the Island of Awm with the Queen as his own. But the King had a mighty band of guards and Howlword had only a small number of followers. Now, Pidely-Poo says he remembers most of this, even though he was only a five or six-year-old Prince. I was merely an infant, in my Mother’s—the queen’s—arms.”

(While CORNELIUS recites his paper from memory, TOLOACHE and MR. HALLOWS exchange glances and share their joint amazement at what they are witnessing.)

CORNELIUS (Continued):
“Although Howlword’s followers were few, their leader was shifty and shrewd. They couldn’t get to the King, but the Queen’s handmaiden was weak and was bribed to allow them access to the Queen’s chambers. There, the evil Howlword and his men stole the Queen away in the night, still clutching Cornelius, her infant, to her.”

(CILILLA moves behind CORNELIUS and begins massaging his shoulders.)

CORNELIUS (Continued):
“Pidily-Poo told me how brokenhearted the King was. He couldn’t sleep. He wouldn’t eat. His men searched every part of the land until the King was forced to accept that his loving Queen was forever gone. Meanwhile, all the people of the Kingdom, who adored their King, served him loyally as he slowly regained his strength and continued, though sadly, to rule the great Island of Awm. The King now poured all his attention on Pidely-Poo who heard from the mouth of the King so many loving stories of his mother, that, as he grew to manhood, he never forgot her. But in his heart, he knew he had to leave the Island of Awm and search the world until he found his Mother, the Queen, and his Brother, Cornelius.”

(Suddenly, blinking away the last of the self-confidence he’d been almost magically imbued with—looking momentarily confused—he looks down, and is silent a long grappling moment before he continues reciting, in his more clipped style.)

CORNELIUS (Continued):
“Cornelius. That’s me. Pidely-Poo found me in Mrs. Gracely’s classroom in Kindergarten. And Pidely-Poo stayed with me. He taught me the secret way to return to the Island of Ahhhhhhhhhmmmm—like that. And I did. And I went there with Pidely-Poo. And it was so beautiful and music was everywhere, in the trees, in the waterfalls, in the waves crashing all around the island. So beautiful, the music. And then, one day he was gone. He left me back here. I want Pidely-Poo to come back. I looked for him everywhere on the Island of Ahhhhhhhhhmmmm, but he is gone. What I daydream about most is Pidely-Poo coming back to me. I need Pidely-Poo to help me bring our mother back to the Island of Ahm because I can’t do it myself. But Pidely-Poo doesn’t come back to me. Anyway, that is my daydream. And it is true. Cornelius B. Plumb.”

END OF SCENE FOUR

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April
2021

Much gratitude for the photo by Daniel on Upsplash.

Note: The stage directions are from the Actor's perspective, not the audience's, nor the readers: therefore, everything is reversed: i.e., what the actors perceive as stage right would be perceived as stage left by the audience.

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Reading the Assignment

A chapter in the book Genius in Love

Genius in Love (Scene 4)

by Jay Squires

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