I MARRIED YOU

A Two-Act Drama

SETTING: Hotel suite. Saturday 5 PM.

AT RISE: WALTER is seated on the chair. Seated on the sofa are TIMOTHY, dressed in army khakis, and MIRIAM, in an airport staff uniform. The briefcase is open and lecture notes are spread out on the coffee table.

WALTER: How can I help you?

MIRIAM: Four months ago, I wrote you a letter about Timothy and me.

WALTER: Did I answer?

MIRIAM: You said a broken engagement is less damaging than a divorce.

WALTER: Now I remember. You wondered whether your love was deep enough.

MIRIAM: You told me to listen to my feelings. But I'm not sure how I feel. I've been too uncertain even to set a wedding date.

WALTER: Timothy, why do you think Miriam has doubts about marrying you?

TIMOTHY: I dunno. Maybe 'cause I'm shorter and younger.

WALTER: Why don't you ask her?

TIMOTHY: We don't talk about stuff like that.

WALTER: Do you know how much Miriam gets paid?

TIMOTHY: Haven't talked about it.

WALTER: Who has more education?

TIMOTHY: (Shrugs.) I joined the army after 8th grade.

WALTER looks at MIRIAM.

MIRIAM: I finished high school.

WALTER: What plans do you have now?

TIMOTHY: Plans?

WALTER: What are your hopes for the future?

TIMOTHY: Nothing much. Maybe I'll make sergeant, maybe corporal.

MIRIAM: I'm only a ticket agent, but someday I want to run the airport!

TIMOTHY: You do?

WALTER: Why didn't you two get better acquainted before getting engaged?

MIRIAM: In our country, a young woman isn't allowed to talk to a boy unless they are engaged.

TIMOTHY: Can't our marriage survive anyway?

WALTER: Possibly. But do you love each other enough to make it thrive?

TIMOTHY: I love Miriam! If I can't get her, I'll... I'll...

WALTER: Attempt suicide?

TIMOTHY: (To MIRIAM.) You put that in the letter too?

WALTER: Do you want Miriam to marry you out of fear, or love?

TIMOTHY: But how can I make her love me?

WALTER: Show her your love by hard work.

TIMOTHY: Work? What kind of work?

WALTER: Work on yourself.

TIMOTHY: I can't change my height or age.

WALTER: Work on what you can change.

TIMOTHY: I'll never catch up to Miriam's schooling.

MIRIAM: You don't have to.

WALTER: If Miriam flaunts her education, and if you lack the humility to accept her being ahead of you, what will happen?

TIMOTHY: We'll flop.

WALTER: But if you succeed, many people will be impressed by a marriage in which the husband respects his wife as more than just the bearer of his children. That would be extraordinary.

MIRIAM: But we're not extraordinary people.

WALTER: God may want to do something extraordinary with you.

TIMOTHY: Well, Sir, you have given us a lot to think about--and talk about.

TIMOTHY and MIRIAM walk to the door at stage right. WALTER follows.

MIRIAM: Thank you. We'll see you later.

TIMOTHY and MIRIAM exit.

SOUND: Telephone rings.

WALTER answers.

WALTER: Hello. (Pauses.) I'll be right down.

WALTER hangs up, puts on his sport coat, and walks out the door. In a moment, HE returns for the briefcase and walks out the door. HE returns again, this time to collect his notes from the coffee table. He thrusts them into the briefcase and walks out the door.

LIGHTS down.

SETTING: Maurice's car. Saturday 6 PM. At stage right, two chairs are set side by side representing a car. MAURICE is distinguished-looking and wears a tie and jacket.

AT RISE: MAURICE is driving. WALTER is in the passenger seat.

WALTER: Are you married, Maurice?

MAURICE: My first duty is to care for my widowed mother. Perhaps someday.

WALTER: Do you have anyone in mind?

MAURICE: Yes, I do.

WALTER: What does she say?

MAURICE: I don't know. I haven't spoken to her.

WALTER: Why not?

MAURICE: I've only seen her from my office window when she's at the bus stop waiting to go to school.

WALTER: How old is she?

MAURICE: Sixteen, maybe.

WALTER: Why do you choose such a young girl?

MAURICE: The older ones are either spoiled or already married. Do you think it's a mistake?

WALTER: Well, when she's forty, you'll be ...?

MAURICE: Fifty-eight.

WALTER: (Peers out window.) Are we going directly to the church?

MAURICE: That was the plan, but a construction detour is taking us through a corner of Honeytown.

WALTER: Honeytown?

MAURICE: It's a play on words.

WALTER looks out window and eyes widen.

WALTER: I can see tomorrow's headlines: "Maurice Brings Visiting Marriage Counselor to Red Light District."

MAURICE: Let's just keep our eyes straight ahead.

WALTER: Good idea. What makes a man come here?

MAURICE: Hormones. And a double standard that says men are free to dally, but not women. Fellows at work invite me here sometimes.

WALTER turns his head and looks at MAURICE, who turns his head and looks at WALTER.

MAURICE: It's not easy, but so far I've said, "No, thank you."

WALTER: What leads these women into prostitution?

MAURICE: Financial crisis brings them. Evil pimps enslave them. Some are widows struggling to keep their children. If they remarry, they lose their children to their in-laws. Others are sent away by their husbands, because they don't have children.

WALTER: What makes them barren?

MAURICE: Mostly venereal diseases, which they get from their husbands who became infected by visiting prostitutes.

WALTER: What a vicious circle!

MAURICE: Good, Honeytown is behind us. Will you be discussing veneral diseases tonight?

WALTER: Pastor Daniel told me to be careful about mentioning sex.

MAURICE: Older folks consider the subject taboo.

WALTER: Taboos can be helpful. In Cameroun some tribes had no taboo against men sleeping with young unmarried girls. The tribes were decimated when gonorrhea left many women sterile.

MAURICE: I guess we should thank God for taboos. Without them, what would sexually transmitted diseases do to the population of Africa?

LIGHTS down.

Unless otherwise noted, Scripture quotations taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society.