Page 103 [103]
CHAPTER Two: WHAT Is A DRAMA EVENT
this story and offers to take her to the doctor. We find out that Liz is pregnant,
and Richard tells her to get rid of the baby. Finally, he tells her to choose
between him and the baby, and goes away leaving enough money in her purse
to “shop for one”.*°° There is a leap in time and the second panel begins with
Liz’s son Dan arriving into the room with a serious injury to his arm, which he
received when he was getting drugs for his mother. Liz gets hysterical when
she sees his injury worried about blood on the steps marking them out, but
then leaves the drug on the table and gets some antiseptic and a bowl of water
to clean the injury. As she cannot find any bandage Liz brings a sheet which
she starts to tear into strips. Dan tries to stop her, in the tussle the water
spills. Liz takes the drug out so it does not get wet. Dan explains that it was
his mate Arnie who injured him when he tried to steal the drugs from Dan.
He cleans and bandages his injury himself, before the mother comes back.
She is high. Dan asks her to quit, and says that he will fetch no more for her,
but Liz just giggles at this. Dan lies down on the chaise-longue and falls into
a deep sleep. Liz reacts in desperation to the situation, she engages in a series
of actions and talks about her relation to the boy, her own life and the story
of the blinded child recurs as well. At one point she decides to blind Dan so
he does not leave her, but is then unable to do it, and decides to hang herself
with the strips she has torn. Finally, she goes out to hang herself in her room,
but leaves the packet of drug on the table to show Dan that she cared and
switches on an mp3 player to cover the noise. Dan wakes up after the crash
of a chair is heard from outside. He starts clearing the mess up in the room
and while he is doing so starts to cry and dance to the music at the same time.
In the third scene, a few days later, Richard arrives and lets Dan believe he
has come from the social service to check on how he is. After some discussion
about Liz with Dan, Richard goes out and returns with a heap of Liz’s clothes
that he wants to take with him. Dan gets the clothes back and finds out that
Richard is his father. He also tells Dan that his mother was a prostitute and
that everyone knew about this and her drug issues. Dan is destroyed and asks
Richard to leave. He says there is some jewellery in his mother’s room. While
Richard goes out he turns the chaise-longue upside down, revealing a big
heap of bedsheet strips. When Richard comes back Dan knocks him out and
ties him to the chaise-longue. Dan tries to get Richard to tell Liz’s clothes
the story he has said about her, and to say sorry. He finally decides to blind
Richard, he stamps across the room, and asks “what did the kid see — what
did its ‘ands do”°’ referring to the blinded child. Richard frees his hand and
topples Dan over, who repeats his question as he is lying on the ground. Dan
lets an animal cry out as he jumps to his feet and says sorry as he backs away
406 Tbid., 187.
407 Ibid., 207.
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