A Gray Heart Turned Blue

December, 1861

SCENE: (The kitchen of a tastefully furnished southern house. In the center stands a small wooden table with two wooden chairs. Off to upstage right sits a large fireplace, with a fire burning. Over the fire hangs a small iron cooking pot. Tending to the pot is HARRIET, a middle-aged African-American servant. Despite her inferior position, she seems content, humming tunelessly to herself as she adds some ingredients. Off to upstage left is a wooden door, the entrance to the house from the outside. Beyond, offstage, lies the rest of the house. Through the door enters SIMON GRAY, a young white man of seventeen.)

HARRIET

Mr. Gray, good evening.

(SIMON turns and shuts the door behind him rather quickly, having just come in from a snowstorm. He then turns to face HARRIET.)

(Quickly) Evening, Harriet. How have you been?

(HARRIET smiles, crosses to SIMON, and helps him remove his coat and hat. She then hangs them on a nearby hook on the wall.)

HARRIET

At the moment? I can’t complain, sir.

SIMON

(Uneasily) That is good to hear.

(HARRIET notices SIMON’S nervous manner.)

HARRIET

Are you well, sir?

(SIMON does not respond to this question.)

SIMON

Is my mother home?

HARRIET

(Suspiciously) Yes, sir. She’s just in the other room. Do you want me to get her for you?

SIMON

Yes, Harriet…if you don’t mind.

HARRIET

Not at all, Mr. Gray.

(HARRIET exits stage left, leaving SIMON alone in the kitchen. He crosses to center stage and sits in one of the wooden chairs.)

SIMON

Pull yourself together, Simon. She’s your mother. It’s not like she’s going to disown you.

(Pause.)

SIMON

(Sarcastically) Wonderful. I feel much better now.

(He places his head in his hands for a moment, and then rises. He stares offstage left.)

SIMON

I can’t just say it and be done with it, can I? Oh, God, that would break her heart.

(He turns away and faces stage right, a pained but thoughtful look upon his face.)

SIMON

But my father always did say: “Son, there will come a time when you must make decisions for yourself.” Oh, if only he were alive and here. Perhaps he could shine a light through this cursed fog that is my indecision.

(HARRIET enters stage left with MRS. GRAY, SIMON’S elderly mother. She walks with a cane, but it is obvious that she does not wish to be assisted by HARRIET as she walks.)

MRS. GRAY

Simon! How wonderful to see you!

(She crosses to SIMON and embraces him happily.)

SIMON

Hello, Mother.

MRS. GRAY

Now, I trust that you will stay for supper.

SIMON

Mother, I –

MRS. GRAY

Oh, come now! It’s been almost three months since your last visit. One home-cooked meal won’t do any harm, now will it?

(SIMON laughs, unable to resist his mother’s natural stubbornness.)

SIMON

No, I suppose it won’t.

MRS. GRAY

There! Now, sit down, Simon. You must tell me everything.

(Both sit.)

HARRIET

Would you care for a drink, sir?

SIMON

Just a bottle of scotch, thank you.

(Harriet exits stage left.)

SIMON

(To MRS. GRAY) I’m sorry? Everything?

MRS. GRAY

Yes. How goes your business?

SIMON

You mean my job at the store?

MRS. GRAY

Of course! What other job would I be talking about?

(Pause.)

SIMON

I was sacked, Mother.

MRS. GRAY

Mr. Crawford sacked you? After all the work you’ve done for him?

SIMON

Yes, Mother. Which is why I came here.

(MRS. GRAY laughs.)

MRS. GRAY

Simon, dear, I’m an old woman. I’ve never done any business a day in my life. That was your father’s job. How could I possibly help you with business?

(SIMON shifts uncomfortably in his seat. A look of concern comes over MRS. GRAY’S face.)

MRS. GRAY

Simon, you seem tense. Are you ill?

SIMON

No, Mother. I am not.

MRS. GRAY

You’re probably hungry, then. We’re having stewed potatoes with -–

SIMON

No, Mother. It’s not that either.

MRS. GRAY

Then what is it, Simon?

(SIMON does not respond. MRS. GRAY leans forward in her seat.)

MRS. GRAY

What’s wrong, dear? I’m your mother. You can tell me anything.

(HARRIET enters stage left with a bottle of scotch, but stops in her tracks when she sees what is taking place.)

HARRIET

I’m sorry. Am I interrupting something?

MRS. GRAY

Not at all, Harriet. Actually, you could be of some help.

HARRIET

Oh? What’s the matter?

MRS. GRAY

Simon won’t talk to me.

SIMON

Mother, I am not a child.

HARRIET

He’s right, Mrs. Gray. Your son’s grown up. He’ll tell you when he feels like it.

(HARRIET places the scotch on the table in front of SIMON.)

SIMON

Thank you.

(HARRIET crosses to stage right and continues cooking.)

SIMON

Mother, I…I am going to enlist.

MRS. GRAY

(Uneasily) Enlist? What for?

SIMON

For two reasons, one of which is I have no job, and need all the money I can get to support you.

MRS. GRAY

Simon, there’s no reason for you to risk your life to earn money. I’m sure you could find a job somewhere.

SIMON

Alongside slaves, no doubt.

MRS. GRAY

That’s how every business is these days. That’s no reason for you to fight in the Confederate armies –

SIMON

I’m not enlisting for the Confederacy, Mother.

MRS. GRAY

Then might I ask whom you are enlisting for?

SIMON

The Union.

(A long pause. MRS. GRAY cannot believe her ears.)

MRS. GRAY

The Union? Them? Why?

SIMON

I am an anti-slavery man, Mother. It goes against my morals.

MRS. GRAY

And I respect that, dear. You're just like your father: very independent. But look at me, dear. I am not independent. I am an old woman, and you know as well as I do that I need Harriet here. And I'm sure Harriet doesn't object.

(She looks to HARRIET.)

HARRIET

Ma'am, no disrespect intended, but I was always taught that a person couldn’t truly be a person if they were enslaved. Now, I enjoy your company, Ma'am, and I have served you faithfully over the years, but to tell the truth, I feel, as Mr. Simon does, that blacks like me aren’t living up to their potential.

MRS. GRAY

I can't believe it. Harriet, I've known you since you were a little girl. Are you telling me that behind those smiles lay anger?

HARRIET

I would never think of it, Ma'am. You have been too good a mistress for that. However, I do support your son's decision.

MRS. GRAY

(To SIMON) And what if the slaves are freed? What shall I do then? I can't support myself, you know.

(A long pause. SIMON is thinking.)

MRS. GRAY

Well?

(SIMON is about to answer when there is a knock on the door. HARRIET crosses to it and opens it. She then steps aside to allow a Union officer, Commander JAMES WILLIS, to enter. SIMON rises.)

SIMON

Commander Willis.

MRS. GRAY

Who?

(WILLIS bows cordially.)

WILLIS

Commander James Willis, madam. I am here because one Simon Gray asked me to summon him when needed.

(WILLIS looks around until his gaze falls upon SIMON.)

WILLIS

You must be Mr. Gray.

SIMON

Yes, sir.

WILLIS

I apologize if I am interrupting anything, a heartfelt conversation or something like that, Simon, but the moment has come. Lee has taken Manassas, and is marching towards Vicksburg. If you want to join us, now is the time.

MRS. GRAY

He can’t.

WILLIS

(Disappointed) No? May I ask why not?

SIMON

Commander, is it possible that we two, you and I, could find some way to bring her north?

WILLIS

North? Why do you --?

MRS. GRAY

(Adamantly) North? I think not. I was born and raised here in Virginia, and I won’t go anywhere else.

(Pause.)

WILLIS

Is that all, madam?

SIMON

Commander, she is an old woman. She’s told me that she needs slavery to support herself.

SIMON

Not true.

MRS. GRAY

Not true? And why not?

HARRIET: If I may, sir.

(SIMON nods.)

HARRIET

Ma’am, you know as well as I do that you don’t need help. Just an hour ago, I tried to help you into this here kitchen, but no. You wouldn’t let me. You wanted to walk all by yourself.

MRS. GRAY

Well, I need to do some things alone, don’t I? It’s what makes me human.

(Pause.)

WILLIS

“Human” is the word…

SIMON

Indeed.

MRS. GRAY

Kindly explain.

WILLIS

You say that being independent is what makes you human.

MRS. GRAY

Yes.

WILLIS

Then you have just denied your servant’s humanity.

MRS. GRAY

How so?

SIMON

Mother, if independence equals humanity, a slave therefore cannot be human.

MRS. GRAY

Of course they can! They can have friends, they work to survive, they –

HARRIET

They are not independent. We cannot be people if we are enslaved.

SIMON

Exactly the policy of President Lincoln. Which is why, Mother, if you wish to be supported in an anti-slavery country, you may want to come north with us.

MRS. GRAY

Again with the north!

(Pause.)

MRS. GRAY

Simon, you are seventeen years old. I am your mother. You will not command me.

(SIMON rises and crosses behind MRS. GRAY.)

SIMON

I may be young, Mother, but I am not ignorant. I see the tragic lives of slaves every day, and I will not stand for it. Yet, you are correct. You are my mother, and I have no right to order you about.

(Beat.)

SIMON

Therefore, if you will not join us, you condemn yourself to solitude.

MRS. GRAY

Harriet will be here with me. Won’t you?

SIMON

Harriet, if you wish to be free, the north awaits.

(A long pause. HARRIET sits where SIMON once sat.)

HARRIET

The law commands us all, doesn’t it?

WILLIS

Yes. It does.

HARRIET

Then, by law, I must remain here, until the time that I may be free.

SIMON

Harriet…

HARRIET

Go on, child. Don’t let me stop you. You have a long life ahead of you.

MRS. GRAY

Not if he fights.

(HARRIET fixes MRS. GRAY with a glare.)

SIMON

I will make my own decisions, thank you.

HARRIET

And so you should. Just as your father taught you.

SIMON

Just as my father taught me…

(HARRIET places a hand on SIMON’S shoulder.)

HARRIET

May good fortune be with you, Mr. Gray.

SIMON

Please, Harriet…call me Simon.

MRS. GRAY

Why, I never –

HARRIET

Good luck, Simon.

(Pause.)

WILLIS

Come, Simon. General Grant awaits.

SIMON

Yes, sir.

(SIMON and WILLIS cross to the door, and SIMON turns to face his mother one last time.)

SIMON

Good-bye.

(MRS. GRAY does not answer, but merely seems to weaken from the emotional blow. SIMON turns and retrieves his coat and hat. WILLIS places a hand on his shoulder. The two exit and shut the door. After a brief moment, MRS. GRAY speaks.)

MRS. GRAY

Do you think he’ll ever return?

HARRIET

I can’t say, Ma’am. He’s a gray heart turned blue.

MRS. GRAY

(In agreement) Mmmm…

(Lights down.)

THE END