Part VII: Time Warp 2000’s – Cut! #1 (Chapter 103)
October 31, 1987
Dear Mr.
G. Byrnes:
I cut out
your ad in our local paper about six months ago and have been carrying it
around ever since.
Are you still interested in a female pen pal? If so, you may
write me at the address in the letterhead.
I’m sorry about the P.O. box; one needs to be careful these
days.
Please tell me about yourself ‒ but no
photograph, please.
One more thing: I must know what you’re in for, even if it’s
murder, and when you expect to get out.
No matter what you have done, if you’re sorry now, I can
forgive.
This I believe: no one is irredeemable.
Sincerely,
*
(Auntie,
gray haired and decked out
in her signature red ribbon dress, pearls, rings on both hands, and Harlequin
sunglasses, enters from stage left
and moves center and down stage. She’s
obviously upset and angry about something.
To the Audience:)
Rosalyn [Rosie], I am positively,
absolutely mortified.
What you have done is beyond my
comprehension.
I have never heard of such a
disgusting situation, what you have done.
Your mother is absolutely
heartbroken.
She will never get over this.
It hurts me tremendously to see
how much your mother, my baby sister, suffers from your unspeakable act.
Lucky for you, Kat will forgive
because she loves you fiercely and would never do to you what you have done to
Candy.
I just hope your horrid action
doesn’t kill her and your dad. If it does, you’ll have to live with it.
How could you tear this family
apart like this?
If I live to be a million, I will
never understand any of this.
Family is all we have.
Have you no shame?
The Bible says I shouldn’t judge
you, but, in my heart, I know you will have to answer to God, our Father, He
will sit in judgment and punish you accordingly.
I have loved you since the day
you were born. I have taken you into my home, given you presents, added you to
my will.
But now you have killed any love,
Rosalyn, forever and an eternity.
Your shocking behavior gives me
no choice but to cut you from my life and will, which fills my heart with great
sorrow.
Rosalyn Mallory Kane, as of
yesterday, you are no longer named in my will.
Most important, you have been
excised from my life.
Do not attempt to get in touch with me or try to get in touch with me
through Unkie. We will rip up your letters, unread.
(Pause. Auntie
scans the Audience. With an
emphasis that doesn’t feel quite genuine:)
If only I could change any of
this, I would give up all my riches
and live in a shack.
(As if in deep thought, Auntie pauses. Then she continues:)
Perhaps even a prison cell.
(Brenda Lee’s “I’m Sorry” plays. As the music fades mid-song, the lights dim. Darkness. Curtain.)