Before the Night is Over (Part 2)

Scene 5
(Lights come up on the interior of a bridal shop. Dresses are hung on wracks and on display off to one side. The focal point is the exterior of a dressing room which faces a small platform and a trio of mirrors. A seamstress’s desk is towards the back of the shop.
BRYANNE, KATIE, and WRENN enter, BRYANNE heading straight for the seamstress’s desk and speaking to the WOMAN sitting there while KATIE and WRENN browse the racks. After a beat, the WOMAN exits and then re-enters the seamstress’s area carrying a wedding dress which she hands to BRYANNE. KATIE and WRENN rush over to see it)
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WRENN
It’s gorgeous!

KATIE
I almost wish I could get married again just so I could steal it from you.

BRYANNE
Don’t even think about it! Besides, it wouldn’t look right on you. It’s been altered to fit only me.

KATIE
Oh, I could make it work if I wanted.

BRYANNE
The only problem is you’re about four inches taller than me.

KATIE
I could claim it was a tea-party dress.

BRYANNE
It’s tea-length, you fashion halfwit!

KATIE
Whatever! I just want the dress.

BRYANNE
Sorry, it’s already spoken for.

WRENN
You should try it on.

BRYANNE
Why? I’ve already tried it on, multiple times.

WRENN
But if they’ve just done the final alterations, you should try it on and make sure it’s perfect and doesn’t need anymore work. You don’t want to put it on tomorrow and find out there’s something wrong, do you?

BRYANNE
I don’t wanna stick around here, you know…just in case... We should just take it home. I’ll try it on for you guys there.

KATIE
But if something’s wrong, you might not be able to get it fixed by tomorrow.

BRYANNE
Please! Mammaw could fix it herself. I could probably even fix it if it was something minor.

WRENN
But you wouldn’t want to bother Mammaw with trying to alter a huge, heavy wedding dress, would ya? And what if it’s not something minor?

BRYANNE
Ugh! Fine, I’ll try it on.
(She enters the dressing room)

KATIE
And don’t forget you have to come out and show it to us. I might even take pictures.

BRYANNE (offstage)
The hell you will. My hair looks like crap and I have no makeup on. There will be no pictures!

KATIE
We’ll see about that.

(KATIE and WRENN sit down in the chairs off to the side of the dressing area. After a beat, BRYANNE sticks her head out of the dressing room door)

BRYANNE
I need some help getting into this thing.

WRENN
(jumping up and rushing over to the dressing room)
I’ll go!

KATIE
I’ll just stay here then.

(WRENN enters the dressing room. Muffled noises can be heard from inside. KATIE picks up a bridal magazine lying on a small table next to her chair, rifling through it as she waits.
After a beat or two, DAVID enters the shop, looking around for a sign of BRYANNE. He sees KATIE and crosses to her, sitting down next to her)

DAVID
Good! You guys are still here.

KATIE
Uh…actually I’m the only one here. I’m just…here, looking through a bridal magazine, waiting for absolutely no one, just hanging out really.

DAVID
Come on, I know she’s here. Where’s she hidin’?

KATIE
She’s not hiding anywhere because she’s not here. At all. Already came and picked up her dress and left. I’m just waiting for…for Wrenn! She’s trying on some dress she liked for…for fun, or prom, or something. But Bry already left. Long time ago.

DAVID
(calling to the dressing room)
Wrenn, are you in there?

WRENN (offstage)
(after a slight pause)
Yes. What are you doing here?

DAVID
I came to talk to Bryanne. Is she in there, too?

WRENN (offstage)
Uh…no! Nope, it’s just me. Just me, all by my lonesome, here in this dressing room.

DAVID
Katie says you’re trying on a dress in there. Can I see it?

WRENN (offstage)
I…uh…I actually just took it off. Just putting on my clothes now and getting ready to come out. It’d be really pointless putting it back on just to show you. It didn’t even fit right anyway. I’ll be out in just a minute.

DAVID
All right then.
(to KATIE)
So how are all the wedding plans going? Any hitches popped up yet?

KATIE
No, nothing big. Just little things like the florist running out of the flowers Bry really wanted and stuff like that. But otherwise, nothing’s really wrong.

DAVID
Good, good to hear. So…uh, you got married pretty recently, right?

KATIE
Yeah! Yeah, about five months ago. Bry was my maid of honor. And now I’m hers. It was pretty small wedding, like Bry’s, but really great. And…um…what have you been up to…uh...lately?

DAVID
Oh, just this and that. Finding jobs where I can, makin’ a livin’, that sorta thing.

KATIE
That’s…that’s great. Um…
(calling to the dressing room)
Wrenn?! Are you almost done? I think we were supposed to be getting back to the house pretty soon.

WRENN (offstage)
Just one second!
(muffled noises again emanate from the dressing room. After a beat, WRENN comes through the door, very carefully shutting it behind her so DAVID can’t look inside)

DAVID
Where’s your dress?

WRENN
What? Uh…what dress?

DAVID
The one you were tryin’ on.

WRENN
Well…I…I didn’t like it. Really didn’t fit. So…

DAVID
So you left it inside the dressin’ room?

WRENN
Uh…yeah! Yeah, I did.

DAVID
That’s not a very nice thing to do, honey. I’m sure these good people don’t want to have to clean up after you. Go get it and put it back where you found it.

KATIE
(rapidly)
This store actually prefers that you leave the dresses in the dressing room when you’re done trying things on, because…because—
(looking at WRENN)

WRENN
—Because they don’t want customers to put the dress in the wrong place, like the twenty percent off rack so that the next customer gets miffed when they find out that that dress is actually not on sale.

DAVID
I’m not sure that that makes a whole lotta sense.

KATIE
But it does! To girls at least.

WRENN
Yeah, yeah, we totally get it.

DAVID
(looking back and forth between the two of them)
Why are you two bein’ so weird?

WRENN
Weird? We’re not being weird.

DAVID
Yes, you are. What’s goin’ on here?
(a noise is heard from inside the dressing room)
Is…is someone else in there?

WRENN
No!

KATIE
Of course not.

DAVID
Is Bryanne in there?

KATIE
Now you’re just being silly! I told you, she already left. It’s just me and Wrenn here. Scout’s honor.

DAVID
You’re not a scout.

KATIE
Uh…I could’ve been if they’d let in girls.

DAVID
(walking over to the dressing room and calling)
Bryanne? I know you’re in there. Why don’t you stop playing and come on out?

WRENN
Dad, we told you, no one is in there.

BRYANNE (offstage)
Oh, give it up, girls!

(the dressing room door opens and BRYANNE walks out, wearing her wedding dress. She moves past DAVID, ignoring him. She stands in front of the three-way mirror, examining her reflection while DAVID, WRENN, and KATIE look on)

WRENN
Wow! Sis, you look…frappin’ amazing.

KATIE
(Almost in tears.)
Oh, Bry, it’s beautiful.

BRYANNE
Hey! No crying. You can’t do that until tomorrow, and then you can’t do any after they get your makeup on. I do not want a raccoon for a maid of honor.
(BRYANNE looks at DAVID, who hasn’t said a word, and sees that he is tearing up as well, though he’s trying to hide it. KATIE and WRENN notice, and KATIE ushers WRENN to the far side of the store, by the dress racks)
(anxiously)
What’s wrong with you? Why—why are you crying? Is there something wrong…with—with it?

DAVID
No! She’s right. You’re beautiful…perfect.

BRYANNE
Then why are you crying?

DAVID
Do you remember when you were little, and I had that really crappy apartment in Austin? You used to come and visit, and I’d play Asleep at the Wheel tapes and you’d dance standing on my feet. Do you remember that?

BRYANNE
Maybe.

DAVID
Well, I remember it. Like it was yesterday. I remember thinking that someday, when you got married, I wanted to dance with you like that again. I just…I didn’t think I’d actually be here. After Wrenn told me that you were dating this great guy and that you were getting pretty serious, I thought, “If she gets married, I’m going to miss it, and it’s all my fault. She won’t want me there. And she’s right to not want me there. But God, how I wanna be there. Just to see her.” And now, even though it wasn’t you who invited me, I am here. I don’t deserve to be, but I am. I know you don’t want me at your wedding. You certainly don’t want me walking you down the aisle. That’s fine. But…at the reception, could we at least dance together…once? It doesn’t have to be one of those big showy father/daughter dances where everybody watches. I just wanna dance with you like I used to and pretend that you’re my little girl again, and that maybe…I do still have a chance to get things right.

BRYANNE
(Tearfully)
Why are you crying?

DAVID
You and your questions. I’m cryin’ because I’m happy. Because you’re beautiful. Because I’m here. Because I’m sorry. I’m so sorry, Bubba.
(He lowers his head into his hands and begins to cry in earnest. After a beat, BRYANNE walks over to him, kneels down in front of his chair, and hugs him. Lights fade.)

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Scene 6
(The backyard of the Pfieffer’s, late afternoon, the next day. Everything is set up for the wedding ceremony, chairs placed in careful rows facing the gazebo, flowers strewn everywhere. Off to the side an open tent can be seen, under which tables are set up for the reception. NATHAN sits in one of the tractor chairs, enjoying the mid-afternoon sunshine. After a beat, ZONA and KATIE enter and begin checking the chairs and decorations while talking to each other)

ZONA
He did not just show up there?!

KATIE
He did. It was so…awkward. Wrenn and I were trying to pretend that Bry had already left and we were just there trying on dresses for fun. I thought we nearly had, we were about to walk him out of the shop, when Bry drops something inside the dressing room and gets his suspicion up again. It was almost like she wanted to get caught.

NATHAN
(from his spot on the porch)
Maybe she did.

KATIE
What? Why? All she could talk about after she found out Wrenn had told him where we were gonna be was how we needed to get in and get out in case he did show up.

NATHAN
I know she plays everything all tough, like she hates him, but she doesn’t. She can’t. No matter how bad he acts, she can’t really hate him. It’s just not in her. At least, I hope it’s not.

ZONA
Of course it’s not! She’s too much like her momma: hate’s not in her vocabulary. I wouldn’t have her any other way.

KATIE
But…Mammaw, you can’t stand David.

ZONA
Doesn’t mean I hate him or want her to. He’s an asshole, yes—

KATIE
Mammaw!

ZONA
Oh, you children think us old people never heard all these cuss words in our long lives. Well we have, and we’ve used ‘em.

KATIE
But you don’t usually…well, you never cuss.

ZONA
Sometimes a situation calls for it. In his case, most of the time the situation calls for it. He’s an asshole and a terrible father, but he is her father. Now we just gotta hope he actually shows up.

KATIE
I thought you didn’t want him anywhere near here.

ZONA
Well, now he’s gotten her hopes up, made her trust him. If he lets her down this time, after everything he went through to get back in her good graces, she might just end up hatin’ him after all. Lord knows I don’t wanna see that.

KATIE
You gotta good point there. He told her he’d come to dinner last night and then stop by early today so he could talk to her before the ceremony. When he didn’t show last night, she…well, she was all eerily calm. That can’t be good.

NATHAN
Don’t you girls worry so much. Everything’ll be fine.

KATIE
Even if he doesn’t show up at all and she freaks out and cancels the wedding? Will it still be fine then?

(IAN enters during KATIE’S line, visibly upset)

IAN
(beginning to pace)
So she does wanna cancel it? I knew it! I knew this would happen as soon as he didn’t show up last night. And it’s all my fault. If I hadn’t invited him, he wouldn’t have had an opportunity to hurt her. And now I’m gonna lose the best thing I ever had all because I’m stupid and thought I was doing something good. I’m such an idiot! I can’t believe—

NATHAN
—Calm down, boy! She’s not gonna cancel the wedding. She’s stronger than this. A lot stronger. Both of you are.

ZONA
Are you sure about that?

NATHAN
You’re not? Mammaw, we’re the ones who know her best; we raised her for the past eleven years. And the girl we raised isn’t gonna let somethin’ like this destroy the best thing she’s ever had.
(to ZONA and KATIE)
Now, why don’t you two ladies go back inside and finish getting’ yourselves ready?

KATIE
But don’t you guys need to get ready, too?

NATHAN
Well sure! But we take a lot less time to get all spiffy than you girls do. Besides, I’m not done restin’.

ZONA
All you ever do is rest, ya lazy ol’ fart.

KATIE
(laughing as she ushers ZONA through the door)
Come on, Mammaw. Let’s go check on Bry.
(they exit)

NATHAN
Ya see, Ian? This is what marriage gets ya: a woman to look out for you all your life and tell ya the truth no matter how much it hurts your feelin’s.
(watches Ian, who has resumed pacing)
Sit down, boy! You’re makin’ me dizzy.

IAN
(sitting in one of the tractor chairs)
But what if you’re wrong? What if she does freak out and cancel the wedding? It was so hard to just get her here, to convince her that I did actually love her. I had to tell her over and over again before she finally started to believe me and even then…it took five months, five months for her to say it back.

NATHAN
But she did say it. And has she taken it back since then?

IAN
Well…no. But night before last we were talking and she talked like she might want to cancel the wedding. I thought we’d talked through it and everything was fine, but now…what if this is the last straw? What if… I’m not enough to help her get over him hurting her again?

NATHAN
Do you really believe that? If ever a girl loved a boy, she loves you. And God knows you love her. That love is stronger than anything her father can do to hurt her. She’s not gonna let him ruin the best thing in her life, not this time. Trust me, you’ll both be fine. Now, let’s get back inside and finish gettin’ ourselves ready. We got a weddin’ to get to!
(They exit into the house. Lights fade.)

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Scene 7
(Same setting as before. Now GUESTS occupy the chairs facing the gazebo while light instrumental music plays. After a moment, the music changes and USHERS begin to bring in the grandparents and parents, starting the wedding ceremony. Off to the side, partially under the tent, the bridal party and groomsmen stand with BRYANNE and NATHAN. KATIE approaches BRYANNE)

KATIE
You ready for this, Bry?

BRYANNE
Of course I am. Why wouldn’t I be?

WRENN
(crossing to join them)
Well…I mean, Dad—um, David isn’t…he isn’t…

BRYANNE
Isn’t here?

WRENN
Yeah. Are you…are you sure you’re okay to go through with this?

BRYANNE
You guys are like little mother hens! I’m fine. It’s fine. His being here would’ve been great, but it’s still great without him. I’ve got Ian; he’s what I need. So stop worrying. I’m not gonna call off the wedding just because Dad did what he always does. Some people just…just can’t change. And some can. Now, you guys should get lined up or else you’ll miss your procession. Go! I’m fine, really.

(KATIE and WRENN line up behind EVELYN and KIM, taking the arm of their respective groomsmen)

NATHAN
I tried to tell ‘em.

BRYANNE
Tried to tell them what?

NATHAN
That you’d be okay. You’ve figured out what this day is really about. I knew you would. Your Mammaw and I do know you best.

BRYANNE
(she kisses him)
That’s right. You do.

(the wedding march starts and BRYANNE and NATHAN, arm in arm, begin to walk down the aisle. As they reach the end, NATHAN gives BRYANNE away and joins ZONA in the front row. The ceremony proceeds for a few beats. DAVID enters, about halfway through, from the back and runs to the aisle, yelling as he does)

DAVID
Wait, wait! I have an objection.

ZONA
No one asked for objections.

DAVID
I just need to talk—Bryanne, I just need to talk to you, for a second, and explain what—

IAN
—No! No. What makes you think you have the right to explain anything to her after all the hell you’ve put her through? No! You don’t have any rights when it comes to Bry and her life. None whatsoever. Just—just leave. Get the hell out!

DAVID
Don’t you talk to me like that! I am still her father!

IAN
Please, you don’t know the meaning of the word. You’ve never been a father to her and you never will be because she can’t depend on you for anything! Come on—
(grabs DAVID’s arm and starts to pull him away)
—you’re leaving. I’m not going to let you hurt her anymore.

DAVID
(jerking away from Ian)
Get your goddamn hands off me! You have no right to tell me what to do. Who in the hell do you think you are? I’m—

BRYANNE
(to DAVID)
He’s my husband! Or pretty soon will be.
(to IAN)
And he is my father, Ian. A really terrible father, but still. Just…let me talk to him, for a minute.
(pulls DAVID away from the gazebo and GUESTS. Sadly)
You…you reek of alcohol.

DAVID
I’m…I’m sorry. I thought… Everything was going so well, I thought I could handle it. I only meant to have one drink. Just one, that’s it. I swear, I will never drink again. No more, I promise, I—

BRYANNE
—Please, stop giving me excuses. I know it’s what you’re best at, but I just can’t take any more right now.

DAVID
I was…I was scared. That everything was going too well, that…it was all too good to be true. That I was changing way too fast for it to stick. I started drinking to calm myself down. Calmed myself right into a toilet-huggin’ stupor. I really am sorry. I just wanted to… I don’t really know why I came here like this. I was just so afraid of missing… I acted like an idiot. I’m sorry, Bryanne. I didn’t mean to hurt you, I really didn’t. I’ll…I’ll just leave now. I know you don’t want me here.
(DAVID starts to exit)

BRYANNE
Wait! Just…please, wait. You’re right: you should be sorry. You have two wonderful, beautiful daughters who you can only seem to hurt. I’ve tried so hard to figure you out, to find out why you are the way you are. To find out if…if you could change. This time I thought you had. But I was wrong. I think I might have figured out that…you may never change. But…I’m tired of wasting so much energy on hating you. I thought that pushing you out of my life completely was the best solution. But that didn’t help; I was still angry with you, still resented you. And now within two days, you were able to make me…love you again. God knows I shouldn’t; you don’t deserve it. But it can’t be helped. I do love you. … And I forgive you. You’re really terrible at being a father: you miss everything important in our lives, you “borrow” money from us, and you drink too much for anybody’s good. There are so many things I shouldn’t forgive you for, but I do. You may never change, you may always fail me, but you’re still my father, and I still love you. And you tried, you really tried to be my father this time. So thank you for that.
(She kisses him on the cheek)
Now, why don’t you sit down and let us get on with our wedding? I promise we’ll still have our father/daughter dance at the reception.

DAVID
I don’t…why are you always so good to me?

BRYANNE
(looking to NATHAN and ZONA)
I think it has something to do with the way I was raised. Go on, sit down. Mammaw won’t bite.
(DAVID gingerly sits next to ZONA. She doesn’t even glance over at him, despite his worrying)
Okay, let’s get on with this shindig.

(The wedding ceremony continues. After BRYANNE and IAN kiss, ZONA smacks DAVID upside the back of his head)

DAVID
Ow! Zona! What was that for?

ZONA
For all the grief you gave my baby girl. Be grateful that’s all I did. And don’t you stir up any more trouble at the reception, hear?

DAVID
(grudgingly)
Yes, ma’am.

(All the GUESTS begin to clear away the chairs from the center of the stage in front of the gazebo, making an impromptu dance floor. As music begins to play, IAN and BRYANNE take to the dance floor, dancing gracefully, all laughs and smiles. After a few beats, DAVID crosses to them, shaking IAN’s hand before beginning to dance with BRYANNE, letting her stand on his feet while they sway back and forth. Lights fade until only the paper lanterns light the stage. After a beat, the lights fade to black.)