August: Osage County

It’s nighttime, and the windows are now uncovered. Barbara, Ivy, and Karen are in the study, passing a bottle of whiskey. In the dining room, Mattie Fae and Charlie play cards on one team against Steve and Jean. Bill is on the porch looking at paperwork, Little Charles watches television in the living room, and Violet, fresh from a bath, sits and stares thoughtfully out the second-floor window. The three sisters talk about Violet, apparently having come to their mother’s defense when her doctor had suggested sending her to an institution, claiming that Violet is mildly brain-damaged from drug use. Barbara posits that he’s trying to avoid a lawsuit for prescribing all those painkillers in the first place. They wonder how Violet managed to get so many pills, and Ivy explains how Violet claims different pains and lost pills to get new prescriptions until the doctor cuts her off. Then, she blackmails him by threatening a lawsuit and to report him to the American Medical Association if he doesn’t keep prescribing. For the doctor today, Violet had acted fragile and betrayed, with no trace of the ranting and raving at dinner.

Barbara talks about the time that Violet had acted like she was brave and determined while heading into rehab, but she had actually hidden a stash of pills in her vagina. The three women giggle about this. When the laughing fades, Karen expresses sympathy to Barbara about her failing marriage. Barbara doesn’t know if they’ll stay together or not, as they’ve been married a long time. Karen mentions Violet and Beverly as a couple that had successfully stayed married for a long time, but Ivy points out, “Karen. He killed himself” (101). Barbara questions Ivy about whether there’s something happening between her and Little Charles. Ivy demurs, but they press, reminding her that he is their first cousin. Karen adds that they shouldn’t have kids. Ivy replies that she’s not only 45, but also had a hysterectomy two years ago for cervical cancer. Karen and Barbara are surprised that Ivy hadn’t told them, but Ivy hadn’t told anyone except Little Charles. That was what had brought them together. Ivy reminds Barbara that she was keeping her separation a secret, and Barbara asserts that a divorce is embarrassing, but cancer isn’t one’s fault.

Although Karen claims to feel a connection with her sisters, Ivy disagrees. They never see each other or act like sisters, and Karen and Barbara had left Ivy alone to take care of their parents. Ivy feels like their relationship is an accident of genetics. Barbara is defensive, but Ivy tells her that she doesn’t plan to feel any more guilty than her sister when she leaves to move to New York with Little Charles. Barbara laughs, but Ivy says that her relationship is “rare, and extraordinary, something very few people ever have” (103). Barbara questions whether she feels all right leaving Violet, but Ivy reminds her that she is also leaving Violet. They argue about which of them was their dad’s favorite and which is their mom’s. Ivy isn’t angry about their father’s suicide, but Barbara is furious that he didn’t give them a chance to help him. Ivy suggests that perhaps their father only saw his daughters as an accident of genetics. Barbara disagrees hotly. She asks if Ivy will tell Violet about her relationship with Little Charles, and Ivy doesn’t know. She notes that she is leaving, and Karen is returning to Florida, therefore Barbara can be the one to decide what to do about their mother.

Violet comes downstairs and knocks quietly on the study door, asking if she’s interrupting. The three invite her in, and Barbara offers her food or something to drink. Violet declines and tells them that it makes her feel warm to hear all their voices in the house again. Karen thinks of the embarrassing secrets they once shared as teenagers, but Violet disagrees, commenting, “Secret crushes, secret schemes […] province of teenage girls. I can’t imagine anything more delicate, or bittersweet. Some part of you girls I just always identified with” (106). Violet tells them about her childhood crush on a boy who wore an amazing pair of cowboy boots. She desperately wanted the matching feminine version of his boots, certain that would make him fall in love with her. Violet had begged and pleaded her mother for those boots to be her only Christmas present. On Christmas morning, she had excitedly jumped to open the boot-sized box under the tree, but found inside a filthy, worn-out pair of men’s work boots instead. Her mother had cackled. Violet never got the boots. She tells the sisters that her mother was a mean and nasty person, which is probably where she learned it.

After an awkward silence, Karen reassures their mother that she isn’t mean and nasty, and that they love her. Barbara asks the other two to give her a moment with Violet, and they exit. Barbara apologizes, but Violet waves it away, acknowledging that she had been looking for a fight. She reassures Barbara that she doesn’t need rehab, as all her pills are gone anyways. Barbara wants to help, but Violet insists that she doesn’t need her help, and that soon everyone will go back to their own lives and leave her there as usual. Ivy joins Little Charles in the living room, and they talk about the near incident at dinner. Little Charles tells Ivy that he was trying to be brave and open about their relationship to show everyone that he isn’t a loser. Ivy tells him, “You’re my hero” (109). Smiling, Little Charles goes to the electric piano and invites Ivy to sit next to him while he plays and sings a love song he wrote for her. Mattie Fae and Charlie enter, and Mattie Fae calls him Liberace, telling him to get ready to leave. Mattie Fae starts to mock Little Charles relentlessly for watching television and getting fired from his latest job. Charlie tries to interrupt multiple times before telling her firmly to get in the car, adding, “If you say one more mean thing to that boy I’m going to kick your fat Irish ass onto the highway” (111).

Mattie Fae is stunned, and Charlie tells his son and Ivy to go outside. Charlie tells her that he doesn’t understand why she is so mean. He threatens to leave her after their 38 years together if she doesn’t treat Little Charles better. Charlie exits, and Mattie Fae realizes that Barbara is there. Barbara apologizes, explaining that she had frozen. Mattie Fae asks Barbara if there is something going on between Ivy and Little Charles. Barbara demurs at first but admits that there is when Mattie Fae presses. Mattie Fae states that it has to stop. Barbara tries to defend their relationship, acknowledging that it’s frowned upon for cousins to be together, but Mattie Fae asserts that they aren’t cousins. They’re half siblings. Beverly was Little Charles’s father. Karen and Steve enter, and Barbara tells them to turn around. They do. Barbara starts to berate Mattie Fae, and she admits she made a mistake. She tells Barbara that she has no intention of revealing the truth, and Barbara needs to find a way to break them up. Barbara asks, “Why me?” and Mattie Fae replies, “You said you were running things” (114).

It’s the middle of the night, and Jean and Steve, who are high, sneak into the dining room from the kitchen. They giggle and joke about Jean’s young age, and Steve notes that the others won’t be happy if they catch him smoking weed with such a young girl. But he also flirts and makes sexually charged comments. Jean remarks that the weed is just as strong as Steve promised. Steve offers her a shotgun, which she’s never heard of but consists of Steve inhaling and blowing smoke into her mouth. Jean agrees, and their lips almost touch as he exhales smoke. Jean coughs and starts to get dizzy, commenting that she feels it in her chest. Steve asks to touch her chest, and Jean shoves him off, calling him “an old perv” (116). Steve agrees and starts to harass her, offering, “I’ll show you mine if you show me yours” (116). Jean isn’t interested, claiming that she has seen a penis before and isn’t a virgin, but she amends, “Not technically. Well, no technically, I am. I mean not theoretically” (116). Without articulating the word “no,” Jean clearly wants Steve to stop. But Steve turns off the lights, and in the darkness, he can be heard moaning and panting.

Suddenly, the light turns on, and Johnna is wielding a cast-iron skillet. She attacks Steve, hitting his hand and then his head. Karen, Barbara, and Bill wake up in different parts of the house and move toward the dining room. Karen shrieks when she sees Steve, demanding to know what happened. Johnna explains, “He was messing with Jean” (118), but Karen is too preoccupied with Steve’s injuries to listen. Bill and Barbara enter, and Johnna repeats herself, adding, “So I tuned him up” (118). To Barbara and Bill’s questions, Johnna clarifies, “He was kissing her and grabbing her” (118). It takes a moment for this to sink in, and then Barbara abruptly lunges at Steve. Bill tries to hold her back, and Karen gets in the middle. Threatening to murder Steve, Barbara shouts that Jean is only 14 years old. Steve replies that she said she was 15, which sets Barbara off again. Karen and Steve exit the dining room quickly and go to pack their bags. Bill tries to get Barbara to calm down, and Jean tries to downplay what happened to make her parents stop talking about it. They don’t believe her, and Jean admits to smoking pot with Steve.

Jean asserts that it’s not a big deal, and Bill points out that the big deal is that she’s only 14. Jean retorts, “Which is only a few years younger than you like ‘em” (120). Barbara slaps Jean, and Jean starts crying, telling her mother that she hates her. Barbara replies, “Yeah, I hate you too, you little freak!” (120). Jean rushes out, breaking free when Bill tries to stop her. Bill asks Barbara what is wrong with her before exiting to pursue Jean. Johnna exits and goes back to her room in the attic. Karen and Steve enter, having hastily dressed and packed, and Karen tells Barbara to save the lecture. Karen explains that she’s going back to Florida to marry Steve, asserting that Jean isn’t totally without blame, or at least Jean should share some of the blame with Steve. Karen adds that life isn’t always so clear-cut or black and white. Barbara can’t get a word in as Karen tells her that she has done things too that make her imperfect, and she will be going to Belize in January. Karen and Steve exit.

Bill enters and tells Barbara that he is taking Jean and going home to Colorado, asserting, “She’s too much for you right now” (122). Barbara, now passive, agrees, admitting that she has failed “as a sister, as a mother, as a wife” (122). Bill disagrees, but Barbara points out that she has now physically assaulted both Violet and Jean. She’ll have to make amends with Jean later, when she’s back in Colorado. Bill reassures her that she’ll have 40 years to get into more fights and make more amends with Jean. Barbara asks what will happen in 40 years, and Bill replies, “You die” (122). Though Bill hesitates when Barbara asks if he will come back to her, Barbara understands that the answer is no, regardless of whether his relationship with his student lasts. She realizes that she will never understand why, and Bill agrees. As he starts to leave, Barbara starts to weep and say that she loves him. Bill listens for a moment and then leaves without turning around.

In the study, Barbara and Johnna sit much like Johnna sat with Beverly in the Prologue. Barbara is drinking whiskey. She remembers her father’s melancholy tone when she last spoke to him, as if he had lost something that couldn’t be recovered. Johnna asks whether Barbara is firing her, and Barbara reassures her that she is not. She is acknowledging her own faults, and although the family could certainly use Johnna’s help, she wants to give Johnna a chance to quit and get away from their toxicity. Johnna replies that she isn’t staying out of a sense of obligation to Beverly or Violet. She just needs the job. Barbara asks Johnna what Beverly had said to her. Johnna answers that he had told her that his daughters and granddaughter were what made him happy in life. Barbara says, “Thank you. That makes me feel better. Knowing that you can lie” (124). Barbara adds that she would like Johnna to stay, and she’ll make sure that she gets her salary. Johnna nods and exits. Refilling her glass, Barbara murmurs, “I’m still here, goddamn it” (124).

With the shades gone, light appears from the windows for the first time. Barbara is sitting with Sheriff Deon Gilbeau, and she seems nervous as they flirt and catch up. He is divorced with three daughters, which he says remind him of the three Weston sisters. Barbara tells him that she is getting divorced, and Gilbeau asks if Barbara would like to have lunch sometime. Gilbeau also brings the information that a motel clerk had recognized Beverly’s obituary photo in the newspaper as having been a guest for the first two days that he was missing. The police don’t have any clues as to why he stayed in a motel, and Barbara suggests that he was building up courage to kill himself. Gilbeau replies that maybe he was “overcoming the courage not to” (127). Beverly hadn’t made any outgoing calls, but they can check the phone records to see if he received any. Barbara comments that there’s probably no point, since no one knew where he was. Barbara asks if Gilbeau has a cigarette, and he gives her one. Gilbeau asks again if he can call her for a lunch date, and she beckons him to come here. After an unsure moment, he does. She kisses him and then pulls away. Gilbeau is confused, and Barbara explains, “I’ve forgotten what I look like” (128).

Ivy and Barbara sit in the dining room as Johnna finishes making dinner in the kitchen. Ivy asks if Violet is sober, and Barbara says “relatively.” Ivy and Little Charles are leaving to move to New York tomorrow, and Ivy is planning to tell Violet about them tonight. Barbara tries to dissuade her, not only from telling Violet but also from continuing the relationship. Ivy is surprised by Barbara’s sudden disapproval, but she’s in love and won’t be discouraged. Johnna brings plates of fried catfish. Violet enters, and Barbara calls to Johnna to bring a plate for her. Violet says she isn’t hungry, and Barbara tells Violet that she will eat. Ivy notices that both her mother and sister are in their nightgowns and asks why. They both mock her for expecting a fish dinner with Ivy to be a reason to dress up. Johnna enters with a plate for Violet and one for herself, stating that she’s going to eat in her room. Barbara tries to force Violet to eat, and they argue back and forth, escalating in aggression and interrupting each time Ivy tries to speak. Suddenly, Ivy throws her plate, smashing it against the wall, announcing, “I have something to say!” (132). Giddily, Barbara asks, “Are we breaking shit?” (132) and hurls a vase. Violet lobs her plate of food, breaking it.

Ivy tries to tell Violet about her relationship, but Barbara keeps cutting her off. Just as Barbara gives up and lets her speak, Violet interrupts, “Little Charles and you are brother and sister. I know that” (133). Ivy is confused for a moment and then horrified. Barbara pleads with her to ignore Violet. Violet announces that she knew about Beverly’s affair with Mattie Fae while it was happening because she knows everything that goes on. Beverly had felt guilty and brooded over it his entire life, which Violet said was just part of who he was. Shocked and appalled, Ivy leaves the table and heads toward the door. Barbara chases her, admitting that Mattie Fae had told her, but she didn’t know what to do. Ivy insists that she’s going to go to New York with Little Charles and cutting off contact with the rest of the family. Barbara reminds her that she had tried to protect Ivy from the truth. Violet had been the one to tell her, not Barbara. Ivy replies, “There’s no difference” (134). Ivy leaves. Violet comments that Barbara knows that they couldn’t just let Ivy go to New York with Little Charles, and Ivy belongs at home. Violet notes that if she had managed to reach Beverly when she called the motel, she would have told him to stop feeling guilty about something that happened decades ago, revealing nonchalantly that Beverly had left a note telling her that he would be at the motel if she wanted to call him.

Violet had waited to call until Monday, when she could get into the safe deposit box, but he had already checked out. Barbara is aghast at this new information, exclaiming that if Violet had called and stopped him, she wouldn’t need the safety deposit box. Violet argues that Beverly wouldn’t have killed himself if Barbara hadn’t left home, abandoning the two of them to be alone together in the house. She asserts that his final act of cruelty was making his death by suicide Violet’s fault. Waiting until Monday was refusing to let him win and be stronger, but, she adds, “Nobody is stronger than me, goddamn it” (137). Barbara agrees and gives her a kiss. She immediately exits into the living room, gathers her things, and walks out the front door. Violet calls after her repeatedly with increasing panic. Disoriented, she calls for Beverly. Violet puts an Eric Clapton album on the record player and then rips the needle across the disc. Reeling, she drags herself up the stairs, crawling, calling Johnna’s name. Reaching the attic room, Violet paws desperately to lay her head in Johnna’s lap. Johnna soothes her, stroking her hair and singing, “This is the way the world ends” over and over as Violet repeats to herself, “—and then you’re gone” (138).