House of Many Tongues by Jonathan Garfinkel Read Free Book Online Page A

(She does.) You’ve got the hands of a gardener. I could do with some landscaping.
    Suha: I’ve never touched a plant in my life.
    The House: Then you’re a cook.
    Suha: I hate cooking. I hate food. I hate boys. I hate Jews. I hate fathers. I hate trees I hate Nazis I hate soccer balls I hate high-heeled shoes I hate newspapers. I hate everything.
    The Camel: Not good. Not good at all.
    The House: (to SUHA) I know what you want.
    You want satellite television. A room of your own. A fridge full of orange Tang—
    Suha: I don’t want any of that shit. Not in this house. Not with my father. He didn’t even invite me inside, the prick. (to ALEX) Dig, kike!
    Alex: This kike is digging with zeal and determination. My pecks are glistening with sweat!
    Suha: Your pecks are small and unmanly, just like your shovel.
    The Camel: These kids couldn’t live together if their lives depended on it. They’re going to grow up to be just as messed up as their parents. Worse.
    The House: (to SUHA) You want to live here.
    Suha: No, I want to bury my mother.
    The House: You came to Jerusalem because you want to live in this house.
    Suha: Absolutely not. (to ALEX) When I’m done burying my mother I’m going right back to Jenin.
    Alex: Isn’t Jerusalem nicer?
    Suha: At least I know what to expect in Jenin.
    The House: (to THE CAMEL) She’d rather live in a refugee camp.
    The Camel: She’s right: you can’t love here. Tragedy.
    That’s all there is in Jerusalem.
    Of course, there’s always Paris.
    The House: Paris.
    The Camel: Everything is beautiful in Paris.
    The House: A house and a camel—in Paris.
    The Camel: “Exiles in Paris.”
    The House: You just want to sleep with me.
    The Camel: No, I want to make love to you. Slowly.
    The House: You don’t know the first thing about love. You have to commit to love for it to work. You need to stick around. I’m not coming to Paris.
    The Camel: You’re a fool. You wouldn’t know love if it stared you right in the face.
    The House: (to SUHA) If you don’t live here you can’t bury her here.
    SUHA stops digging.
    Suha: (to THE HOUSE) Fine. (to ALEX) Enough.I’m taking my mother back with me.
    Alex: But this is where your mother wanted to be.
    The House: You just said so yourself.
    Suha: I can’t live here.
    The House: Sure you can. I might be falling apart but I’m no refugee camp. And a house depends on people to live in it. Not just any people. It has to be the right people—ones who don’t fight and hate each other. Because otherwise a house just falls apart.
    Alex: This is where you want your mother to be.
    The House: Yuad will like it here. So will you. I promise.
    The Camel: Since the beginning of time:
    Neighbours, brothers, lovers, nations:
    Noise.
    That’s what humans are addicted to.
    The noise stands in for life.
    Humans can’t handle happiness.
    They can’t handle peace.
    And they sure can’t handle love.
    They don’t know what to do with it.
    That’s the tragedy.
    Taxi!

Scene 3
    Time passes. ABU DALO, slightly more sober, typing.
    Shimon: What are you writing?
    Abu Dalo: I’m writing your biography. The Story of a Nation . And I’m using my writerly flourish.
    Shimon: We’re taking the day off.
    Abu Dalo: Absolutely not.
    Shimon: You’re not in any shape for this; you’re in mourning.
    Abu Dalo: I want to work.
    Shimon: We can work tomorrow. Be sensible.
    Abu Dalo: I am sensible. I am so full of sensibility, I’m hypersensible. And my hypersensible senses are saying: I don’t want to think about my dead wife.
    Shimon: (a beat) But I’m not telling you what to write.
    Abu Dalo: I know.
    Shimon: Read me what you’re writing.
    Abu Dalo: (still typing) “The General’s fear was his humanity: but his job demanded he keep it buried, deep within. Hidden. Even from himself.”
    Shimon: What do you think you know about me?
    Abu Dalo: I’ll read you everything when it’s done.
    Shimon: I’d like to hear it now.
    Abu Dalo: It’s not finished.
    SHIMON picks