Thumbnail sketch of the previous chapter: Toloache and Phyllis are in Mr. Hallows's office to decide how, when, and where they should tell Cornelius about Jennie’s abduction by her own father. Phyllis, who has hired one of the best private investigators in L.A. to find her daughter, is an emotional wreck. They finally decide to tell Cornelius in the office, and Mr. Hallows has an aide go to fetch him from his class.
Two critical notes for readers: First, to new readers: It’s important to keep in mind that Cililla is an actualized part of Cornelius’s deeper mind. No one but Cornelius can hear Cililla’s words. Second note to all readers: Some may complain that this scene is heavy with stage direction, light with dialogue. There can be no other way for this inexperienced playwright to envision bringing it off. What may take 20 minutes to read, would take the actors, if they fully heed these directions, 10 minutes to act out. But their success would come as much out of what they didn’t say as what they did.
CHARACTERS DESCRIPTION: Found in “Author’s Notes”
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 tissues with a sheet protruding. A Large book, probably a dictionary, to the side, next to an intercom box. Two chairs face 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 floor-to-ceiling cubist, or another modernistic, rendering of Jesus with pierced palms spread. Upstage right, a door. A few chairs line that wall.
Time: Spring, 1952.
At Rise: MR. HALLOWS, TOLOACHE, and PHYLLIS sit staring intensely at the door, upstage right. This staring should go on uninterruptedly, save for the two women occasionally glancing at each other, then back to the door. This silent period should be long enough that the audience begins to get fidgety in anticipation. There is a rapping at the door followed by it opening enough for the student assistant to stick her head in.
STUDENT AIDE:
(Nervously)
Umm… I have Cornelius for you, Mr. Hallows.
MR. HALLOWS:
(Standing)
Thank you, Miss Gagliagni, I’ll be right there.
[He crosses to the door and opens it wide. Immediately, CILILLA slips past him. Her eyes sweep the physical aspects and the mood of the room like a good general would the battlefield, or a comedian his audience. She looks first at the concerned TOLOACHE, then at PHYLLIS, whose recent tears do not escape CILILLA’S assessment. Then she looks up at the smiling MR. HALLOWS, whose eyes are focused on CORNELIUS, still waiting (out of view of the audience) in the hallway]
MR. HALLOWS (Continues):
Please … come in Cornelius.
CILILLA:
(Craning her neck to look back into the hallway)
You can come in, Sweetie. Be calm.
[CORNELIUS comes through the doorway but stops just inside, looking toward his mother and Jennie’s mother. Then his eyes begin to dart about the room.]
MR. HALLOWS:
(Snatching one of the chairs that line the wall)
Your mom stopped by to see you, son, along with … with Mrs. Jax.
TOLOACHE:
(Rising from her chair, she crosses to CORNELIUS her arms spread to embrace him, her voice strained in an effort to be casual)
Hi, Sweetheart.
(Hugging his rather rigid body)
I—we just stopped by to—to talk to you, Darling.
CILILLA:
(standing beside CORNELIUS, leaning toward him, on her toes)
Try to relax, Sweetie-pie. You’re in your rowboat, on the ocean. Remember? Just relax.
MR. HALLOWS:
(Placing the chair alongside the desk, facing TOLOACHE’S chair)
Well. Okay!
(Clapping his hands, and holding them clasped together)
Here we are. Why don’t you just have a seat, son—I believe you met—um … Mrs. Jax … um, the other night?
CORNELIUS:
(Staring intently at her eyebrows)
How—do you do? Mrs. Jax?
PHYLLIS:
(Tenderly, but with a tinge of irony)
How do I do? Oh, Cornelius …
(keeping her composure)
… you are so precious!
CORNELIUS:
(His eyes, unlinking from her brows, rove the room)
Where’s Jen-nie!?
TOLOACHE:
Baby!
[CILILLA, aside, frantically tugs an imaginary cable]
CORNELIUS:
Cornelius m-missed two—n-notes.
PHYLLIS:
Notes … what?
CORNELIUS:
Mr. Jax … he heard—Cornelius’s mis-mistakes.
TOLOACHE:
(Sotto Voce, To a perplexed PHYLLIS)
He means when he played for us.
(Then to CORNELIUS)
Baby! No! You played beautifully!
PHYLLIS:
You were perfection, Darling!
CORNELIUS:
Noooo! No, no! Cornelius’s fingers were—sweat-ting. Mr. Jax—he knew.
PHYLLIS:
Knew what? What …? Why?
CORNELIUS:
Then —wh-where’s—Jen-nie?
[While PHYLLIS and TOLOACHE cautiously murmer (extemporaneously) out of their confusion and fear of dealing with his rising emotion; CILILLA finds space between them and CORNELIUS and bends to look directly at him.]
CILILLA:
Sweetie … Cornelius … Sweetie-pie, you’re in your boat … you’re on the peaceful ocean now. Remember? Like we talked about? Relax with it, Sweetie … Relaaaax.
CORNELIUS:
(Suddenly and loudly, prompting CILILLA to pull back and slip out from her position between them, to stand beside CORNELIUS)
No, no! No ocean. Mr. Jax—Mr. Jax, he pulled Jen-nie’s boat—away. C-Cornelius c-c-couldn’t hold on. Muuus-ic is baaad. Ocean is baaad.
[MR. HALLOWS, who had, throughout, been showing increasing concern, rises from his desk and moves to stand behind CORNELIUS, putting his hands on the boy’s shoulders. PHYLLIS, trying to be inconspicuous, pulls another tissue from the box and holds it to her nose and mouth, eyes closed, head down.]
CORNELIUS (Continues):
(his stammering pronounced)
C-C-Cornelius w-waants Jen-nie. Jen-nie t-t-trades s-sandwich.
(uncharacteristically smiles, briefly, eyes brimming; then adds,)
Doesn’t—d-doesn’t like p-p-peanut-b-butter and—and je-lly.
PHYLLIS:
(Shaking, crying, but trying to control it.)
Oh, God! Jeee-sus!
CORNELIUS:
Why is Mrs. Jax—c-c-crying?
(Voice rising in pitch)
W-why …? Why …? W-where …?
(Pulling his shoulders away from MR. HALLOWS’ hands, he scrambles to his feet)
W-where’s J-Jen-neeeeee! Nooooooo!
[In the ensuing confusion, TOLOACHE stands, her body rocking toward her son then away, confounded, stunned to silence; PHYLLIS, fully sobbing now, hides her face in tissue; MR. HALLOWS glances from one to the other of them and then trains his eyes on CORNELIUS who turns and lumbers upstage toward the wall on which the picture of Jesus hangs; CILILLA follows behind him, reaching for him, then pulling her arms back]
CILILLA:
(To CORNELIUS’S back)
This is getting you nowhere, Sweetie. Don’t you see …? You’re only listening to your voice, and it’s filled with your own doubts about yourself and your fears about Jennie. And neither are connected. Do you hear me, Sweetie? They’re just not connected. You’re standing up in your rowboat now, and it’s rocking, dear … the two fears are not connected. You’re going to fall out of your boat and drown!
CORNELIUS:
(Turning to CILILLA, his voice intense)
Then. Where. Is. Jennn-eeeee!?
CILILLA:
Why, Sweetie, don’t you see? You haven’t let anyone tell you where Jennie is. You’re only listening to your own voice.
(Beat)
Listen to my voice, Cornie. My voice. It’s coming from a better place in you. Be still, and listen.
(Coupling her arm in his, she gently leads him in the direction of the others)
You need to go back, Cornie; go back and sit down. In your chair ... and in your boat. And you must be calm, Sweetie. Be calm and … and just let them tell you where Jennie is. They will tell you if you just let them. Can you do that, Cornie?
CORNELIUS:
Let them—t-tell Cornie. Yes. Yes.
TOLOACHE:
(Puzzled, watches CORNELIUS sit, then looks helplessly at MR. HALLOWS, lifting her shoulders to her ears, then dropping them)
Let who, Darling? Tell you what?
[After a long, uncomfortable pause, CORNELIUS looks over at CILILLA]
CILILLA:
I understand, Cornie, but you must be patient. They will tell you.
CORNELIUS:
(Looking at his mother’s eyebrows)
Jen-nie w-was w-with me—on the-the piano bench.
CILILLA:
Watch out, Sweetie, you’re starting to slip back there again.
TOLOACHE:
(Struggling to control her emotions)
I know, honey. Mama knows. You really like Jennie, don’t you?
CORNELIUS:
Oh! Ohhhh!
PHYLLIS:
(Suddenly regaining her self control)
Oh, Sweetheart! You lovely, lovely boy—I promise you, Cornelius, Jennie—your friend, Jennie—is coming back to you.
[Both MR. HALLOWS and TOLOACHE shoot PHYLLIS a cautionary glance while CORNELIUS turns back to CILILLA with a rare, fleeting smile; the last vestiges of which remain on his lips as he turns back and focuses on PHYLLIS’S eyebrows]
PHYLLIS (Continues):
… You see, Mr. Jax decided, after our visit with your mama and daddy, that he needed to return to our old home in New Mexico to pick up and bring back some things. He decided to take Jennie with him at the last minute—to make it a kind of vacation.
(She pauses to press her wadded tissue into each eye socket)
I know Jennie didn’t want to go, Sweetheart. You have to understand that. She’d much rather have spent the time with you …and-and me … but she has an aunt there, Aunt Fawnelle, my sister, who really loves Jennie, too, and misses her an awful lot since she moved here. But I promise you …
(Beat)
Jennie will be back very soon—in a few days—in a week at the most.
[CORNELIUS can’t contain himself: much to the chagrin of the others, who have never seen him like this before, and stare at him open-mouthed, he bounces up and down in his chair, laughing and crying at the same time, slapping his open palms against his thighs.]
CORNELIUS:
Jen-nie's com-ming baaaack!
PHYLLIS:
(Deeply moved by what she’s watching, she lays her open palm on her breast)
Oh, Cornelius, Cornelius! I know how Aunt Fawnelle feels. I want—Oh Cornelius—it would be so sweet if—if you would let me be your Aunt, too … even if it’s make-believe. Won’t you let me be your Aunt Phyllis?
(Opening her arms to him, half-rising, leaning across TOLOACHE, who scoots her chair back and smiles encouragingly at CORNELIUS, who stops his bouncing and looks toward PHYLLIS, a trace of a smile still on his face)
CILILLA:
(As an aside, less to CORNELIUS, but more the sudden expression of an epiphany, she shakes a fist in the air in victory)
As make-belief! Yes!
(Then leaning toward CORNELIUS)
See how much she needs this, Sweetie? Can you lean in and let her hug you? Oh, do it, Cornie. Even if it feels uncomfortable, do it, Cornie. Do it. Please.
[CORNELIUS slowly stands and awkwardly leans in toward PHYLLIS, letting her wrap her arms around him.]
CILILLA (Continues):
Now, put your arms around her, too. It’s not hard. Do it, Sweetie, Put your arms around her and then relax, Cornie. That’s right, Cornie, keep your arms there until she pulls back. Then, you let go.
[CORNELIUS follows CILILLA’S instructions, only releasing PHYLLIS when she pulls away, grinning, her head at a slight cant. Meanwhile, CILILLA is doing a victory dance about the room. She stops when she notices the rather pained expression on TOLOACHE’S face as she watches her son.]
CILILLA (Continues):
I know someone else who would like one of your special hugs, Sweetie. Why not give your Mama a hug? She may need it even more. Hold out your arms to your Mama, Sweetie.
[What follows is a special moment: CORNELIUS holds out his arms, TOLOACHE relaxes into them. Their embrace is long, and it is attended by MR. HALLOWS’ and PHYLLIS’S, restrained, but tear-filled, compassion. When mother and son reach that intuitive moment when one feels it is time to let go, TOLOACHE makes a slight, but perceivable, move to release, but CORNELIUS continues to hold onto her. The initial recognition, and the following intimacy, is expressed in TOLOACHE’S face. The stage lights dim.]
END OF SCENE 15
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Author Notes
Toloache [Pron: Toh-loh-AH-chee] Plumb: Cornelius's mother; former off-Broadway actress and bit player in daytime soaps, she now owns a small, borderline-successful acting studio. She glows with love for her son and protects him with much the same fierce devotion and duty as a knight would protect his kingdom.
Phyllis Jax: Jennie's mother; housewife and very serious amateur painter.
Mr. Hallows: Principal of Zachary Taylor Middle School. Age 45. A true empath. He understands Cornelius from within the social and educational construct better than anyone. Is there a dark, troubling secret to which the administration and he are privy?
Cornelius Plumb: An autistic, musical genius child, age 12. He is uncommonly handsome, well-groomed, well-dressed. His speech is clipped, with a beat, between each word, as though he is forcing himself to slow the flood of experiences bubbling from inside.
Cililla Queez: An apparent product of Cornelius' mind, there to guide him through a rough emotional patch. Only Cornelius can see Cililla. And while they are able to converse openly with each other, no one else is privy to these conversations. [This is accomplished by fading into shadow all but the two, who are in full light.]
Miss Gagliagni: Teacher's Aide
Thanks to Jason Rosewell on Unsplash for the photo.
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