Rambling Rose

In deep Dixieland, the month

of October is almost summery.

I had come to visit my father.

Mother had died a few years before

and Daddy was living alone.

He wouldn't have it otherwise.

Seeing the old house,

nostalgia for the south gripped me.

The old South I had known

and the people in it.

When I was 13,

a girl came to this house.

I overheard my father

decide with my mother

to hire this girl.

A good-natured, but unfortunate girl,

working for a farm family,

near Gadsden, Alabama.

Thus she was hired,

sight unseen, by a long-distance call.

She was the first person

I ever loved outside my own family.

But, as my father said,

she caused

one hell of a damnable commotion.

Hello.

I'm Rose.

I've come to live with you.

Mother, the new girl's here.

Wonderful.

What's your impression of her?

She's big.

She could beat up Daddy if she wanted.

But she's very girlish.

She wouldn't hurt anybody.

Your impression is very reassuring.

I sensed that she was so.

I'm glad to have it reconfirmed.

You mean confirmed, mother.

If it had been confirmed previously,

it would be reconfirmed.

Alright.

You get Doll and Waski.

I'll telephone Daddy.

This is Waski. His real name

is Warren, but we call him Waski.

He dislikes it. I guess, one day

we'll have to stop calling him that.

You can stop it now.

You'll find him a very good boy.

As you can see, he's beautiful.

Rose,

this little girl is Frances.

We call her Dolly.

It's short for Doll or Doll Baby.

Doll Baby, that's worse than Waski.

I want to be called Fran.

Daddy won't allow it.

That young man, you have met.

He is my oldest son

and my most brilliant child.

They say

I brag too much about my children.

I simply tell the truth.

Am I boring you, Rose?

No, ma'am. Not at all.

Good.

I realised the remarkable thing

about Brother when he was 6 weeks old.

He looked at me and recognised me.

He understood me.

Sounds crazy, but it's the truth.

I have to warn you about him.

He can be very dangerous.

He has an evil streak in him.

It is a streak

of pure, sheer meanness.

You'll scare the girl, going into

the 4th dimension like that.

Maybe to you it's the 4th dimension,

but to me, it's the truth.

Well, well,

so Miss Rosebud has arrived.

Yes, indeed.

Doll Baby, take this for me.

Rosebud...

I swear to God, you are

as graceful as a capital letter "S".

You will adorn our house

and give a glow to its old walls.

Yes, indeed.

Now, it is my wife's belief,

which I accept, though do not grasp,

that to hire a person to do

household work is a criminal practice.

You are therefore here as a friend,

and indeed as a member of this family.

In love and harmony, dear Rosebud.

In love and harmony.

Do you understand?

Yes, sir.

I know you've had some troubles.

Those scoundrels in Birmingham

trying to lead you astray, and so on.

Life can be

very cruel to a young girl.

You've had a hard time.

But I hope and believe you've found

a safe haven in this house.

We welcome you to our home.

We welcome you from the heart.

We hope you're happy here.

Thank you, sir.

Hands in your pocket,

pockets in your pants,

watch the turtles

so the hootchie-kootchie dance.

Let's see if she goes in the water.

Waski, you gotta lick your lips.

You mean to those seeds,

they'll snap at you, Waski.

Buddy,

that hotel that Mr. Hillyer runs...

do y'all own it personally?

Yes, it's part of Mother's estate.

Her estate?

Her inheritance. It was left to her

when she was orphaned.

Buddy, your mama was a orphan?

Yes.

Y'all help me shuck.

Hey, Buddy?

Where is Columbia University?

And what is it exactly?

It's an advanced school

for brilliant people, in New York.

New York?

New York! Imagine that,

with all them skyscrapers, and...

...things like that. New York.

And your mama lived there?

Went to that school. Good Lord.

That's something.

Rose? Who were

those scoundrels in Birmingham?

Nobody. Keep shucking.

But who were they?

Bad men, that's all.

Bad in what sense?

Bad is bad, Buddy.

Ain't no sense to it.

Did they try

to make you become a prostitute?

I don't listen to talk like that.

I turn my back and look the other way.

That's why Daddy hired you, isn't it?

T o keep you away

from those scoundrels.

Your daddy is the best and

most kind-hearted man in the world.

Did you hear about

the terrible thing in Cave Spring?

What terrible thing?

There was this old man

that ate his niece.

I did not hear that. I don't hear you.

Chopped her into pork-chops.

- I don't even hear that.

There's terrible things in this world.

Rose, did you hear

about that man in Chattanooga?

Killed his wife with a black widow

spider. She suffered horribly.

You are in one of your evil moods.

That's what it is.

The family's all here.

Reverse-insomnia.

What a curse.

No appetite, either.

Rose, may I have half a cup of coffee?

- I already got it.

Rosebud baby...

you are the light of my life, darling.

You're as pretty as a moonbeam,

and warm as sunshine.

Now, how did we get by without you?

Rose must be

"non compos mentis" this morning.

Must be that time of the month.

She has been a little peaky lately.

- Not till Daddy came.

What, dear?

Your hearing aid is on the blink.

- What?

Your hearing aid

is buzzing at me like a snake.

Waski, I shot you. Fall down.

- I'm going.

Hey, Doll, come on.

I got you, too, Doll.

Mrs. Hillyer?

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