Baby Doll & Tiger Tail Read Free Page B

’em, keep an eye on ’em, specially if they start to wander around. . . .
    THE OLD BOY [
who has continued
]: Natchully, a thing that is profitable to some is unprofitable to others. We all know that some people in this county have suffered some financial losses due in some measure to the success of the Syndicate Plantation.
    [
Vacarro is looking around again
,
rather defiantly
,
but at no one in particular. Between the knees of his corduroy riding breeches is a whip that he carries habitually, a braided leather riding crop
.]
    THE OLD BOY : But as a whole, the community has reaped a very rich profit.
    [
He has said this rather defiantly as if he knew he was bucking a certain tide. . . . A voice from the crowd
.]
    VOICE : Next time you run for office you better run on the Republican ticket. Git the nigger vote, Fatso!
    THE OLD BOY [
answering
]: Just look at the new construction been going on! Contractors, carpenters, lumbermen, not to mention the owner and proprietor of the Brite Spot down the road there! And not to mention—
    [
Suddenly somebody throws something at the speaker, something liquid and sticky. Instantly, Rock and Vacarro spring up
. . . .]
    ROCK : Who done that?!?!
    SILVA [
crossing to front of platform
]: If anybody’s got anything more to throw, well, here’s your target, here’s your standing target! The wop! the foreign wop!!
    [
Big rhubarb. The Old Boy is wiping his face with a wad of paper napkins
.
    [
Suddenly, we see that something in the middle distance is on fire. The wide dark fields begin to light up
.
    [
Voices cry alarm. Shouts, cries. Everyone and every thing is lit by the shaking radiance of the fire
.
    [
Vacarro races towards the fire. It is in the gin building. The volatile dust explodes. Loaded wagons are being pushed away, by Negro field hands driven by Vacarro
.
    [
A fire engine arrives. But it seems lax in its efforts and inefficient. A hose is pulled out, but there is insufficient water to play water on the blaze, and the hose itself falls short. The firemen are not merely ineffectual. Some seem actually indifferent. In fact, some of their faces express an odd pleasure in the flames, which they seem more interested in watching than fighting
.
    [
Vacarro rushes among them exhorting, commanding, constantly gesturing with his short riding crop. In his frenzy, he lashes the crop at the man holding the fire hose. The man, resentfully, throws the end of the hose at Vacarro, who seizes the nozzle and walks directly towards and into the flames
.
    [
Now men try to stop him. Vacarro turns the hose on them, driving them back and then goes into the flames. He disappears from sight. All we hear is his shouts in a foreign tongue
.
    [
A wall collapses
.
    [
The hose suddenly leaps about as if it has been freed. The crowd. Horrified. Then they see something
. . . .
    [
Vacarro comes out. He holds aloft a small, gallon-size kerosene can. He strikes at his trouser bottoms, which are hot. He is on the point of collapse. Men rush to him and drag him to a safe distance. He clutches the can
.
    [
They lay him out, and crouch around him. He is smudged and singed. He eyes open, look around
.
    [
His viewpoint. From this distorted angle, lit by the victorious flames are a circle of faces which are either indifferent or downright unfriendly. Some cannot control a faint smile
.
    [
Vacarro clutches the can, closes his eyes
.
    [
Another wall collapses
.]
    DISSOLVE.
    31] EXTERIOR. MEIGHAN HOUSE. NIGHT.
    Archie Lee’s car turns into the drive. He descends noiselessly as a thief. Camera follows him, and it and he discover Baby Doll on the porch swing. There are several suitcases, packed and ready to go. In a chair near the porch swing, sleeping as mildly as a baby, is Aunt Rose Comfort
.
    ARCHIE : What are you doin’ out here at one o’clock in the morning?
    BABY DOLL : I’m not talking to you.
    ARCHIE : What are you doing out here?
    BABY DOLL : Because in the first place, I didn’t have the money to