Mary and Martha

WOMAN SINGS IN AFRICAN DIALECT

'My name is Mary Morgan, and this is the story of me and Martha.

'I'm telling it to you because it's still all a surprise to me.

'We start in April last year.

'I haven't met Martha at this point.'

GULLS SCREECH

-This is where I live.

-Ohh! God! Oh! Ohh!

Got it! It is officially THE smallest splinter ever removed from a human foot.

-Doesn't mean it didn't hurt.

-Oh, you are the biggest girl!

I don't know why I say that, cos I'm a girl and I never made a sound like that.

-It really did hurt.

-Oh, I'm sure it did.

-Somebody get me a microscope.

-Come on, guys. We gotta get moving.

And don't forget that I have book club tonight,

which means you two heroes are on your own for dinner.

-Please make it something other than a takeout pizza.

-Never! Extra pepperoni?

-What's the book?

-It's called Birdsong.

The definitive novel on World War I. Pretty serious stuff.

-Ben? Ben!

-What?

You're nearly 15 minutes late. You're gonna miss the train.

-No, I won't.

-Yes, you will!

No, I won't, because I'm a young person and therefore,

I travel faster than you, who's getting quite old now.

-You cheeky bugger.

-Can I have some tea and cake?

-No!

-You're totally too late for tea. Go on, get out the door before you're really in trouble.

-All right.

Just make me a slice of toast, will you, while I put on my shoes?

-Give me strength!

-Mum?

-What?!

-Where are my shoes?

CLASSICAL MUSIC

-Hey! Come and talk to your mom.

-One second.

I'm almost finished with my jungle city.

Gonna go on my "Death Star" later.

OK. It's your choice, though I may just turn into a death star if you never speak to me again.

Take him! Take him! Coming at ya! Go on, Benji!

Tackle the ginger bastard!

Come on!

Ooh!

George. Bed. George? George.

And tail lift. We have five of these. Just move through mud.

Keep the lower back drawn down, navel into the spine. In...

And he writes like a five-year-old. Urgh!

And that goon Scanlon, he spends 90 percent of his time preparing

the kids for tests, and the other ten percent

when they can actually be learning something, they're watching DVDs.

They're supposed to be studying Greek history and they're watching Clash of the Titans.

-SHE LAUGHS

-Alice, it's not funny.

I'm telling you, something's gonna change.

Oh, I don't know, you know? I mean, I think maybe you should take it a bit easy on George at the moment.

Take it easy? What? This is precisely the time I've got to save him.

He's my only son, I've got to hone him.

Yes, but I'm sure he's feeling pretty sensitive

-with the whole bullying thing.

-What bullying thing?

-What bullying?

-He's getting bullied at school,

and he doesn't want to talk about it.

And I hear about it from goddamned Alice in Pilates.

All right, well, I'll call the principal

and make an appointment immediately. I'll fix it.

-I don't know if I can wait.

-No, you'll wait, OK? This is serious.

We'll do it properly.

Mary? Mary, I would strongly advise we take this slowly.

You know, these things are always more complex than they seem.

OK. OK.

The first battles of the War of the Revolution are Lexington and...

Ted, sorry to disturb.

Mrs Morgan and I would just like to have a quick word with you.

Right, but first, I'd like to have a quick word with Felix

and Matthew, because your asses are mine, you little thugs.

-Oh. my God!

-Don't swear.

-Did you honestly think that was gonna make it better?

-Yeah, I did.

Well, you were wrong.

It's hard enough making friends without your mom making enemies.

-I'm sorry.

-BELL

And I was stupid.

-Are we gonna go?

-Shh, I'm thinking.

-I'm leaving you.

-Excuse me?

-I'm leaving you.

-Is it because of my strictly sexual affair with Anita?

-You're having an affair with Anita?

Well, maybe I am, maybe I'm not.

I'm trying to guess why you would possibly want to leave me.

OK, well, I'm not leaving you permanently,

but I do want to ask you if I can take George out of school,

take him away and teach him myself and have an adventure.

I just think he'll do better with me

than in the hands of the people teaching him now.

Honey, can't we just take him away for the summer like normal people?

No, that's two months away.

We'll lose him inside his computer by then.

In the school, they didn't even know that those kids were bullying him.

I don't know. Taking him out of school is extreme.

Yeah, it's extremely fun. And I think it should be abroad.

Is this the start of a long and serious conversation with me,

his father, or have you made up your mind?

Guess.

-Yes!

-What is it?

-They said yes! They thought I was brilliant.

-It doesn't actually say that, does it?

-Well no, but it implies it.

The implication is that they think I'm totally brilliant.

-Thank you for your application, which we have accepted.

-Yeah.

-What do you think?

-Well done, darling. Do you know what?

I am so proud of you, you great, stupid lump.

Though I wish you were going somewhere sensible like France or Belgium or somewhere.

-Mum, France is too small. I'm a big boy, I need a big continent.

-Get your feet off.

"Just two hours north of Johannesburg,

but uh, a million miles from the world as you might know it.

For less than you could live at home,

let my family and I treat you to a true African adventure.

"The three-bedroom house is surrounded by 500 acres..."

What do you think about South Africa?

Best scenery in the world, best animals in the world,

totally affordable.

You know, nice, but real.

-You're really serious about this?

-Yes!

I want to be an extraordinary mom.

And to be an extraordinary mom, I have to, at some point,

do something extraordinary.

-Come with us. Be an extraordinary dad.

-Oh, that's fair.

-I have 25 employees.

-I know.

Hmm.

-Bye.

-Have a good day. Love you.

-Love you, too.

TV PLAYS LOUDLY

What, right at the bottom?!

I'm reliably informed it's absolute heaven there.

So what exactly is your job? What subject are you teaching?

-I dunno. Everything.

-Really?

-I'll do sport, reading, English.

-You're teaching English?

-Sure as hell am.

Better learn how to speak it properly yourself first then.

Oh, don't be so stuffy. So will there be other English people there?

I don't know. I don't care. I've met thousands of English people.

They all hate people who aren't English.

-Dad?

-Yeah?

Will you buy me a nice, big, really expensive camera,

so I can take millions of photos while I'm out there?

-No, I won't.

-Thank you. Brilliant.

-OK. I have something huge to say. Ready?

-Are you having another baby?

No. It's not that. It's not that.

Good, cos nobody really likes to think about their parents having...

-Yeah, I know. It's disgusting.

-Well, it is.

Take a deep breath, because I had a big idea.

I've decided we're going away for six months.

I take a rest from designing, you quit school,

and we go live in Africa.

Dad joins us when he can, and together,

we have the biggest adventure of our lives, ever.

Like Swiss Family Morgan. What do you think?

If you guys really want a baby, I'm cool with that.

-Can I say no?

-No.

SHE CHUCKLES

-"You'll be in the Johannesburg area?"

-Yes. Although we may roam a bit.

"Well, malaria, but it's once you're over there,

-so that shouldn't be a problem."

-OK. And... tetanus and diphtheria?

-"He's up to date on those."

-And it says one more. Measles, mumps, rubella.

-"Yep, all up to date."

-Great! Thank you, doctor. Bye.

-"OK, goodbye."

Good to go.

MUSIC PLAYS

Here you go. More socks. Apparently it gets quite cold at night.

I'm not gonna be wearing socks in Africa.

Not with these beautiful feet. Mum, seriously. What...?

GULLS SCREECH

You ready for this?

I am.

In my experience...

Mom's usually right.

Yeah... I guess so.

-Say cheese.

-BOTH: Cheese!

-THEY LAUGH

-Perfect.

-Hurry up! You'll be late!

-Love you both.

Mind how you go, darling. Love you, son.

HE GROANS HE LAUGHS

-Bye!

-Bye!

-Take care.

Bye!

CHEERING

-Hi!

-Hi!

ALL SING: # Africa! #

SINGING CONTINUES

-Hello, Mrs Morgan. Hi, Mr George. I'm Kumalile.

-Kumalile?

-Yes.

-Nice to meet you. Wow, it's cooler than I thought.

-Oh, yeah.

It's almost winter here, and so it's sometimes cold.

But don't worry, ma'am, it'll be summer all afternoon.

-Would you like some music as we drive?

-Yeah, please.

OK.

School... starts now.

-What's this?

-Your first assignment.

Whatever catches your eye.

George, can you please take your iPod off?

This is also part of your education.

-You're kidding.

-What? No, no. Chastity Brown. A very great lady.

-You like country and western?

-Yeah, it's my favourite kind of music.

Wow! Like Dolly Parton and Tim McGraw?

That's a little bit old school.

Wait, so we're not gonna get any Ladysmith Black Mambazo?

Not in my car.

AFRICAN HILIFE MUSIC PLAYS

BLEEPING

-One bite?

-I've had one bite.

-OK. One step at a time.

-There you go.

-Patience, is that right?

-Yes, ma'am. Patience.

Do you happen to have anything, I don't know,

more American in the kitchen?

-She makes very good pizza.

-No, you do pizza in Africa?

-Of course.

Super crispy.

-SHE GIGGLES

-Do you... mind making it two?

-Two pizzas. OK.

-Thank you.

-SHE CHUCKLES

-Come on... a smile.

I know, that's too much to ask, but a nod would be great. Is pizza a good thing?

ALL SING

-Thank you. Thank you.

-Ah, Mr Conrad!

-Uh, Kumi, right?

-Yes, welcome.

-I feel like the Prime Minister.

-Yeah.

-This is amazing.

-Do you mind if I take some photos?

-Go for it!

-Is that OK?

They're beautiful children.

Oh!

Here you go, yeah.

THUNDER

-Can I?

-What's wrong with your room?

OK. Just this once.

-HE GROANS SOFTLY

-Did you just let one fly?

-Maybe.

-SHE LAUGHS

Maybe means yes, and you didn't say excuse me.

So you must be... punished.

THEY LAUGH

Phew! It smells so bad!

BIRDSONG

OK. Day one.

Weird. Now I have a serious curriculum and a serious timetable.

And I thought I brought a bunch of books...

on Africa, but I don't know where the hell they are. Now, I did find these inside.

-Although they're from 1973.

-SHE LAUGHS

We could just look it up on the internet.

Yeah, that's a great idea. OK, so what have we got?

The British Empire, a bunch of Zulus, a bastard named Rhodes,

apartheid, which is racism at its very worst,

and the incredible Nelson Mandela.

-He wears pretty strange shirts.

-Yeah.

-His moral sense is impeccable, but his clothing sense...

-Sucks.

-Yeah. It sucks.

So now we come to the final vote, OK? Greatest African of all time.

All those supporting Nelson Mandela, defeater of apartheid,

raise your hand.

Just,... just Paul? All right. OK.

And all those... for Didier Drogba,

ill-tempered striker for some team in China and the Ivory Coast?

All of you. Do you know what? Do you know what, though?

It's almost equal.

And as luck would have it, I have the casting vote,

so I vote for Nelson Mandela, so Nelson Mandela it is...

the greatest African of all time in this classroom today.

-ALL: No!

-Yes, he does.

ALL CHANT: Didier Drogba! Didier Drogba! Didier Drogba! Didier Drogba! Didier Drogba!

-Aw!

-CHANTING CONTINUES

Nelson Mandela. No.

-Five.

-Five.

-Six.

-Six.

-Seven.

-Seven.

-Eight.

-Eight.

-Nine.

-Nine.

-Ten!

-Ten!

-Ten!

-Ten!

HE LAUGHS

One day when I was about your age, very early in the morning,

my father wakes me up and he tells me, "We're going for a ride."

And after ten hours...

stops at a village and turns to me and says,

"Son, today you become a man."

So we're led into a kraal, you know, where they keep the cows.

I was snipped down there, brah.

BOTH LAUGH

Covered head to toe in clay, wrapped in a blanket

and put in a hut without initiates for one month.

Yeah. I left the boy I was behind, the day my father picked me up.

And I realised since then that actually becoming a man is a lifelong journey.

Keep going. Keep passing. That's it. Great play! Pass! Grrr! Pass the ball!

Paws on the ball! Paws on the ball!

Got it! Who's going to...

No! No!

This is rugby! This is not football!

He's getting there! He's getting there! Try! Try!

Definitely a try! Argh!

Help! Help!

No, you cheat you get punished! Go, go!

Yeah! Yeah!

OK, everyone, we have a big day tomorrow.

Because it goes all the way from dawn and right through to sunset.

Hey, Mr Ben. Are you and Mrs Micaela going to do putla-putla?

-ALL LAUGH

-You're in big trouble.

ALL LAUGH

-So what's the most dangerous animal in Africa?

-Got to be a lion.

-No, no. Hippo, man, Hippo!

-Yeah. It's the hippo.

What about humans? They got to be pretty high on the list, right?

OK, number one, human. Number two, hippo.

Number three, black mamba snake.

SPEAKS IN DIALECT

Let's go find a snake! Let's go!

-Yeah!

-Let's run again. Let's run!

-Let's run again! Wait, wait!

-Wait!

HUBBUB

-OK, dinner.

-Can we just finish?

-I beg your pardon?

Did you just say, "Can I just finish"?

You want to extend the class?

Maybe.

Yes! Yea!

-So, Mom.

-Yeah?

-Where are we going?

We are going out there on a field trip.

One schoolroom - not enough. A whole continent - that's more like it!

Yes.

today we go out into the great unknown,

accompanied by our fearless guide.

Hey.

-And, of course, inevitably...

-Country and western.

You're lying to me. There's not a thing out there.

Are you sure, my man? Look properly, look there.

-Wow.

-Wow!

Oh, my gosh! That's tall.

HE LAUGHS

THEY CHANT ALONG WITH THE MUSIC

Take care of your mother, Mr George! No scuba diving with the sharks.

-OK! We'll miss you!

-Oh, and Mrs Morgan!

-Yes, Kumi?

-No-one speaks English there in Mozambique, OK?

-Great!

-The sun feels good, huh?

-Yeah.

Glass in the window is so last year.

In fact, there will be an extra charge because of the

additional ventilation afforded by the no-window scenario.

HE SIGHS

Heaven!

-There you are.

-Thank you.

We should bring Dad here. He would completely freak out.

-He's more of a pizza-pasta guy.

-True. Oh. I think I just saw a rat.

I think I just ate one.

Did you and your mom and dad ever hang out like this?

Mom, lots, Dad, never.

Whenever we were on vacation, he was in Washington. Government bigwigs don't take time off.

I don't ever remember him on a beach or in shorts or even hanging out for that matter.

I like him. What can I say? He sends me money at Christmas.

You know, I'm starting to rethink these mosquito nets.

Hmm. They could be the height of fashion. I could make a fortune!

THEY LAUGH

BUZZING

-Goal!

-Definitely a goal!

CHEERING

Yeah, well played, Mr Beckham!

-Whoo! That was... awesome!

-I got it!

-Nice work!

Come on, just a beautiful smile.

-No! No more photos.

-Come here!

-You have that to look forward to.

-SHE SCREAMS

-Gross.

-Yeah, you say that now, but love's pretty nice.

I think you'll enjoy it.

Sorry.

-Thank you.

-You know what, I don't think I'll have any. I'm not feeling great.

-Really? What kind of not great?

-Just not great.

You know, there's a limit as to how much fish and rice a kid can eat.

-Do you think they poisoned the fish?

-Hmm, I'm not sure it was even fish.

-We're lucky to get out alive.

-HE LAUGHS WEAKLY

I need to get you to a doctor.

How do you feel, baby?

Worse.

We're gonna get you to the hospital and they're gonna fix you all up.

Then I'm gonna take you home and everyone there is gonna pamper you.

-Mom, stop, stop the car. I'm gonna be sick.

-Please stop.

-OK. OK.

George?

Honey?

George?

HORN

George?

-How much longer, Kumi?

-We'll be there very soon.

-How long?

-We should be ten minutes. OK? We'll be there soon. I promise.

George?

Kumi, please hurry!

HORN

I need a doctor! Please!

Hey, hi, yes. How long has he been like this?

-About three days.

-Three days?!

-I thought he had the flu.

-No, this isn't the flu. Come, come with me.

-I'm almost sure your boy has malaria.

-Malaria?!

Yes, I'm afraid he's very sick.

-But he's gonna be OK, right?

-We need some help in here.

Get him some oxygen! Please, ma'am. Stay outside! Stay outside!

Right, give me some diazepam.

Let's go! Let's not lose him.

Pulse, respiration. Quickly! Quickly!

Clear the airways. Suction it up. Come on!

Swipe it clean.

Hold him. Let me get it in. IV in.

Keep him still.

MONITOR BEEPS RAPIDLY

Check his pulse.

No pulse.

He's not breathing.

Let's start compressions. On my count.

One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten,

11, 12, 13, 14, 15.

Two breaths.

One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten,

11, 12, 13, 14, 15.

Two breaths.

One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten.

11, 12, 13, 14, 15.

-Two breaths.

-Still no pulse.

SHE SOBS

One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten.

INAUDIBLE SPEECH

PHONE DIALS

'Hey, babe.'

Peter?

HE SOBS

PEOPLE CRY LOUDLY

Peter, I can see some people crying.

Can you ask them to stop, please? They hardly knew him.

If I can hold in my tears, I would expect them to do me

the respect and do the same.

I can't do that, sweetheart. I won't, I won't do that.

OK.

OK.

Your dad is here.

We are met in this solemn moment to commend

George Anthony Morgan into the hands of almighty God.

# I can fly

# But I want his wings

# I can shine even in the darkness

# But I crave the light that he brings

# Revel in the songs that he sings

# My angel Gabriel

# I can love

# But I need his heart... #

Honey, your dad is still here. I think he's about to go.

I don't want to see him.

You haven't said a word to him all day.

The least you could do is say goodbye.

Dad.

Forgotten how beautiful it is here.

Maybe it's because you've only been here twice.

If Dad hadn't left me and Mom, I would have never taken him away.

-Mary.

-Well, it's true.

And I won't say it again and I will never say it to him.

But I was trying to prove to George that

I would always be on his side and by his side,

because my dad always put his job before his family.

Always.

If he had loved me more, our Georgie would still be alive.

And I can't sit here. I can't sit at this table.

Where is George?

Where is George?

I'm good. Don't worry.

BRASS BAND PLAYS

Hey. You ready?

I can't go out.

You know, at some point, you have to leave the house.

Let's make it tonight. There's a lot of people.

There's no focus on us.

What would I talk about?

Small, small talk. You know, that's what people do.

They...they talk about small things. It makes human company bearable.

Bearable's our highest goal right now.

You're right. I should leave the house.

But not to some party.

Well, OK. Where do you want to go?

Back.

INSECTS BUZZ

Hello?

Hi.

I'm Martha. Do you mind if I join you?

Oh, no. No, not...not at all.

Thanks. My first day here. Didn't know what to order.

Oh. You don't get a choice.

Oh, well, that's all right then.

Not necessarily.

You don't look like the normal clientele here.

No.

No, but if you don't mind my saying so, neither do you.

Yeah. I guess that's true.

My son came here.

Sent me lots of photos, but I wanted to see it for myself.

What about you?

Yeah, well I...I came here with my son.

But we didn't, we didn't get...so lucky.

Then I think we have something in common.

How old was he?

He was 24.

24? Wow. I thought...somehow I thought they were always younger.

God, how stupid of me.

That's what Ben thought, as well.

Gave all his pills away to the children he was teaching.

Well, he was fit and strong. Thought he wouldn't need them.

I'm so sorry.

Yeah.

And I am so sorry, too.

Wow, is he handsome!

Thank you. Quite surprising, really, coming from an old thing like me.

No. So what was he doing? Volunteering? A job?

Well, it was a bit of both, really.

He had been to university, but darn thing spent most of his time

out there playing ball and chasing girls.

Got no marks in his exams at all, so um, to make most of a bad job,

he thought - I know, I'll go teach in Africa.

That'll be interesting.

Hmm.

And he completely fell in love with it.

But then he...made his big mistake.

Is that easier for you?

What?

That he made the mistake? That you didn't make a mistake?

No.

Why, do you blame yourself?

I completely blame myself. I am completely to blame.

So what are your plans, Mary?

I don't know. You?

Well, tomorrow, I'm going to where Ben worked.

-I just want to see it, you know?

-Can I come?

Yes, of course you can come!

I should think they'll be thrilled to see you.

You're much prettier than I am. Up early, though.

The bus leaves in the jetty at 7.00.

Screw the bus. I got a car.

Great! That'll be much more comfy.

CHILDREN CLAP AND SING

Micaela.

Yes.

His camera.

Yes.

He gave it to me when he was sick.

I think you should have it.

No, no, no, no. No.

Look, if you do this, you can see all of his photos.

Oh, really? That's a good little camera, isn't it?

He was very lucky you were here.

Thank you. And thank you for him.

Yes. A nice piece of work.

I put a lot of work into him over the years.

Nets in here, but nowhere else?

Yes.

One day we'll have them everywhere, but for now,

this is the most important place.

And what's wrong with these little guys?

Jose here had a fall, and Manuel has diarrhoea.

And like your sons, Paul has malaria.

Is he going to be all right?

We hope so.

I have given him what we have to treat it.

I just wanted...

Yeah.

I'll go back to bed in a little while.

Yeah.

Sorry, Micaela.

How does he look to you?

He's a little worse. I think I should take him to a hospital.

How far away is that?

Two hours by bus.

Two hours? Jesus.

CAR HORN BEEPS

INDISTINCT SHOUTS

SHE SOBS

BEEPING AND CRYING

INDISTINCT SPEECH

BEEPING INCREASES

BEEPING AND FRANTIC SPEECH

BEEPING SLOWS

-I need to step outside.

-Hm-hmm.

We'll stay here and watch him.

SHE SOBS

Kumalile, he's quite handsome, isn't he?

Yeah. And he's quite the basketball player, too.

Yeah?

Yeah. Him and George, they used to play all the time.

Is your husband handsome?

Yeah. Yeah, I think he's pretty cute. What about yours?

Mine? I dunno.

SHE GIGGLES

I hadn't really thought about it before.

Oh, come on. He must be. Why else would you marry him?

Well, he was very polite.

A WOMAN SOBS

PEOPLE CHATTERING

There's lots of people.

Yes. It's malaria.

This is all malaria?

No, but most, yes.

Micaela, please don't be embarrassed if this is embarrassing,

but I need to be useful.

I don't have a job.

Do you think I could be of any help in your orphanage at all?

Really?

Yes, really.

Of course. It's easy to be useful there.

Yeah, well I can cook quite well, Victoria sponge cake is specialty.

That's a start. And football?

Football? Oh, yes. I'm a brilliant player.

If somewhat violent.

Ah, well. Like mother, like son.

And you, Mary? What are your plans?

I have to get home.

Yeah, of course you do, darling.

But didn't we get lucky bumping into one another?

Mm. Didn't we?

PEOPLE SINGING

SHE INHALES DEEPLY

PHONE RINGS

(WHISPERING) Hello?

Hello, Mary, darling. It's Martha.

Hi. How's it going? Can't sleep?

What? Can't sleep in the middle of the morning? Oh no!

I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry.

I've completely forgotten the time difference.

I'm sorry, darling. I'll call back later.

Oh, no, no. I was awake. How's it going there?

Not bad, actually.

And I'm thinking perhaps, um, I can be a little bit useful here.

'My muffins are a triumph.'

Um, you know what? I woke Peter up.

Maybe we can talk at a slightly better time tomorrow?

Yeah, OK, darling. Sorry. Bye.

Who the hell was that at 4.00 AM?

It was Martha. She's alone. She wants to talk.

Martha.

Sorry.

And as with most men,

he just assumes that I won't have an opinion about the car.

Don't tell me.

We've already been through this, even with the second car.

This is the second car!

I mean, I'm going to be driving the damn thing, but no.

No, no, no, he'll buy it. He'll decide what it is.

And so finally, he agrees to a Mercedes.

And I say, "I don't want that damn Mercedes. I want a Lexus."

Right? I mean, come on.

I'm going to go now.

Why?

The honest answer is I'm not ready to feel this normal again.

You know, I've just seen some terrible things

and I'm having a hard time getting worked up

about one great big car, which is just another great big car.

Honey? Mary? Don't go crazy on us.

You know, Alice, look.

The way I see it now, you're the crazy ones.

Here we spend every minute of our lives obsessed or

angry about things that don't matter at all.

When I've just stood in a room where children are allowed to die

of a mosquito bite.

And I would cry all night about how I wasted my life, except

I can't allow myself to cry at all because I've just wasted my son's.

I just wasted my son's life.

Maybe we should sell the house.

Sell the house?

Yeah. It just seems so big now.

We just have so many memories, you know? Tough ones.

Sweetie, you've made this house so beautiful. It's us.

We could buy something smaller that costs less.

We don't need to sell the house.

And buy stuff with the difference which would make a difference

where I've just been.

You know, nets, medicine, salaries for nurses and doctors.

You're kidding?

No.

Maybe what happened to George was a one in a million

chance for someone like him,

but it turns out he's just one of millions of kids this disease kills.

Honey, please. This is insane.

Give us a chance to get our lives back on track

before we try to fix other people's.

Please.

I love you.

I love you, too.

Can I help you?

Yes! I called a couple of hours ago and I couldn't get

an appointment for a month, so since I was just passing by,

I thought I'd just drop in, in case the senator happened to have...

No, I'm afraid that he doesn't.

OK. I don't want a lot of his time.

I just want a little bit of advice as a person from the state

who has just driven three hours in some really nasty traffic.

-Oh, really?

-Yeah.

No. It won't work.

OK. I'll just wait. Just in case.

OK.

-Senator, hi!

-Hi.

Excuse me. Excuse me, sir.

I'm Mary Morgan, and I was just, I was wondering if you had a minute.

Oh, I'm afraid I don't have a minute to spare right now.

Why don't you make an appointment with my secretary?

-I just, I wanted to talk to you about malaria.

-Malaria?

-Yeah.

-Wow. Uh, that's a big subject, Mary.

Uh, I'm going to be more useful on my local school did any good.

What exactly do you think I can do about malaria?

Um, I don't know, really, but oh, uh,

what I do know is that it's a preventable disease that has

killed over half a million people every year.

OK. Well, how much does the US spend on malaria at the moment?

I don't know exactly.

Is it more or less than the last administration?

Is it spent through governments or NGOs?

I don't know, but it killed my son.

Oh... Well, I'm sorry to hear that.

I'd be happy to help you pursue some kind of recompense, uh...

I don't want recompense. You can't sue a mosquito. I'm just...

I'm trying to work out if there's anything I can do about anything else.

Of course.

I-I do have to go, Mary, but it was good to meet you.

-Yeah.

-Good luck.

-Thank you.

I hope we meet again.

-Oh, and Senator?

-Yes?

My local school's no damned good, either.

OK, buddy. Let's do it.

CHILDREN LAUGH

Outside! Outside.

Now, you see this?

We're going to turn all those pieces of fabric into one of these

nice bags. Then we're going to take it down the market

and we're going to sell them for lots of money.

Now, then, fold it in half, like that...

Martha! You have a visitor.

A visitor - who's going to visit me?

Fold it in half...

Hello, darling!

What are you doing here?

I'm full of surprises.

No, you're not.

Only two kids have died since I've been here.

-What'd they die of?

-Malaria.

Yeah.

Er, when are you going to come home?

Where's that, then? Where's home?

It's where we live.

No, I don't think I CAN live in that house any more.

But you've been living here, where Ben was.

And he'd be leaving anyway.

And we'd be alone together anyway.

Yeah, I know. I've thought about that too.

And I'm sure we'd have been fine.

But I'd have lived on hope,

telephone calls, Christmases,

photographs of babies.

I am so sorry, Charles.

I clearly misjudged things.

Put too many eggs in one basket.

I've done too much.

And me, not enough.

We both let things slide.

Yes. I wasted you.

And my lovely...

noisy boy.

What an epic miscalculation.

HE SOBS

Hi.

I've been calling you for hours.

Oh, I'm sorry. My phone died, I'm sorry.

Where were you?

I went to Washington.

Today?

Yeah, I went to uh... talk to our senator about malaria.

And how did that go?

Very badly. He didn't have a huge gap in his schedule,

and he asked me a bunch of questions about policy, things I didn't have any of the answers.

But I'll be prepared next time.

So there's going to be a next time?

Maybe.

Maybe, I don't know.

The only person who knows anything about government policy now that works is your dad.

If I remember right, you're not too thrilled about what the time he spent on that did to your family.

That's not fair.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go find someone who DOES know

something about this, and I'm going to write to him.

Write them? To say what?

I don't know...

My son died. Their sons are dying. Help us.

PHONE BEEPS

(I know.)

I guess among other things...

I'm just jealous.

You got those five weeks.

The last ones.

PHONE RINGS

Hey, Martha. How you doing?

Oh, it's not the middle of the night again, is it?

Yes, it is. But don't worry, I was awake. I'm starting a campaign.

I am going to write to everyone, every address I can find,

and anyone who had anything to do with US aid

or malaria funding or the State Department...

I'm even going to write to the President.

What, the President? God, you ARE busy!

And you're never going to guess who popped in to see me.

-Who?

-'Charles!'

-No...

-'You could have knocked me down with a feather.'

I've never known him to leave home except on business.

'Do you know what? I think he's more affected by it all than I am.'

So, Martha, how long were you still thinking of staying with us here?

-Mm?

-You must be missing home.

Oh... You'd have thought, wouldn't you?

But what would I do there, mm? Who would I be?

It's just that um... I got a letter from the aid agency,

and it looks like they found a replacement for Ben.

Oh.

-Yes!

-What?

I got a letter from a McDonald, from the State Department, which is perfect, and he wrote,

"Dear Mrs Morgan, Thank you for your letter.

"We at the State Department have an ongoing commitment to the fight against malaria

"with our partners in Africa and around the world.

"If you're interested in learning more,

"the Senate Appropriation Subcommittee that deals with malaria

"is scheduled for October 7th."

What do you think? Maybe I should go.

What...? What?

You can't go, Mary. It would be a waste of time.

If you get in at all, you'll just sit there

and watch these politicians do their jobs, and you can't say anything or do anything,

and you're going to be heartbroken when you realise that you can't help with this.

Well, maybe I can learn something.

Maybe I can...meet someone.

I'm just starting to get replies -

if I can just get to the right people,

write to the right people, maybe I can do enough to save one life

and that will be enough for me.

Save a life, lose a marriage.

That's what you've been thinking?

While I've been writing my letters and trying to do all I can do, that's...where you've been heading?

I have to fight here, sweetheart.

You're fighting all the time and I have to fight too.

Do you remember before you went away we were up in the bedroom

and you said to me, "I'm leaving you"?

Yeah, I was...joking. It was a joke.

The joke came true.

If that's a threat, it's really unforgivable.

Maybe we both have too much forgiving to do.

OK.

OK, you're right.

I'm not a politician.

And I'm not going to change the world.

I'm just a mom.

But of course I'm not even that any more.

I want to show you something.

Hey, how you doing? Are you going on a trip?

'It's going to be wild.

'What do you mean, girls and drums, that kind of stuff?

'I mean, really WILD wild.'

It's supposed to be like we're castaways. Mom won't let me bring my iTouch cos there's no electricity.

Are you going to survive?

'I'm going to kill crocodiles and eat them.

-'Did you say crocodiles?

-'Yeah.

'I think that's a little bit of an exaggeration. Maybe bugs.

'Well, we'll eat the bugs.

-'Hi, honey!'

-Hi, love.

'I gotta go, but how are things with you?'

I'm getting a lot of work done. I'm watching a lot of bad TV.

'We really miss you. You'd be useful on the crocodile hunt.'

But you're happy?

'And hungry.

'Mom? The food machine is on its way.

'Dad, I gotta tell you a secret I don't want Mom to hear.'

-Yeah?

-'Just come closer.

'Closer. Closer, come on.

'Come on, Dad, closer.

'Really, Dad - come on, closer. Closer.

'I got you.

-'I love you.'

-You got me.

PHONE BUZZES

Hello?

'Hello, Mary?'

Oh, I can't believe it, this is incredible.

-(Sorry.)

-'What?'

This is the right time of day.

'I know! It's 11:30.'

-At night?

-'In the morning.'

-Well, that can't be right.

-'No, it is.'

Well, where are you?

Outside.

My house?!

What are you doing here?

-Hi!

-Oh!

I had to leave.

And, I suppose I'm heading home.

But I thought I'd come the long way, see you first, support you in your big fight.

Is that OK?

Yes. Thank you.

Come in! Come on.

-So, this is my place.

-Wow.

Stylish, right? And this is Peter. Peter, this is Martha.

Oh, hello, Peter. Very pleased to meet you.

-Not as handsome as I said, but he's not bad, right?

-Oh...

-Hello, Martha.

-Let me get you some tea.

-No, I'll get it.

Oh, thanks, thanks. But not iced tea. The English hate that stuff.

Actually, I'm rather a bush tea person now myself.

Well, aren't you fancy?

Listen, babe, I hope you haven't come here under false pretences.

This whole campaigning thing,

I don't think it was going to get anywhere.

It's just part of the craziness of grief, you know?

I'm sure that's not true.

And Peter, he just

sees me as breaking our hearts, all over again, day after day.

Oh, well...

I'm sure he must be right, then.

So tell me, why'd you leave in the end?

Oh... It got complicated.

'Ben's replacement arrived. Nice German boy.'

And I thought, you know... probably my work was done.

How'd it feel - leaving?

Oh, it was good.

On the last night, I had a lovely dinner,

and the kids gave me a sort of erm...

# We love you, Martha...

'I don't know what you'd call it. A collage?'

# ..Oh, yes we do

# We love you, Martha

-# Oh, yes we do

-# Oh, yes we do... #

It had a lovely picture of Ben on it.

And each of them had done a little drawing of themselves, put their names underneath.

And at the bottom, it said,

"We are all your children."

That's lovely.

Mm. All my children.

The problem is, darling...

..I'm not really ready to stop being a mother.

But what can a mother without a child

actually do?

It's a long shot, but we have to try.

What's he like?

Conservative, uncommunicative

and emotionally stunted.

And he put his work before his family,

and never really succeeded at either.

Oh, good. Just my type(!)

Mary.

-This is Martha.

-Martha.

And what does Peter think of all this political stuff?

Well, he thinks I'm stupid and crazy and destroying our lives.

What about you, Martha?

Oh... Goodness. Well, I think Mary is absolutely wonderful,

and can achieve anything she sets out to do.

And naturally, I support her 100%.

Right. Well, you may not be surprised to hear that I'm rather more on Peter's side of the fence.

To try to shift the needle of government policy is very difficult.

You're going to be frustrated and you're going to be demoralised,

and quite frankly, you would be better off at home.

Look, I know all this, Dad.

I just hoped that maybe you could help me

find a way to make a difference.

I'm not asking you to agree with me - I'm just asking you for a favour.

My concern is it may not be a favour at all.

You're clearly in such pain.

Hmm. And now you take notice of that.

Look, I don't think I should have come here.

I think this was always going to be a big mistake. I'm sorry, Martha, but let's go.

Uh, thanks for the cookies, Dad.

I can't deny it's an interesting area...

Interesting?

Yeah. I've been looking into it.

Did you know that

if you take every single person killed in a terrorist act

around the world in the last 20 years,

and you add to that all the lives lost in the Middle East since

1967, the Six-Day War...

..and you add to that every single American life lost in Vietnam,

in Korea, and in every single American engagement since then -

Iraq, Afghanistan...

If you take all those lives, and you multiply it by two,

that's the number of children that die of malaria

every single year?

So are you saying...you'll help me?

Yes. I will.

OK, um...

Well, there's a... an Appropriations Committee...

October 7th. I know.

It's where they fix the money to be spent -

they beef it up or they trim it down. Did you want to speak at it?

Well, I was hoping to just...go. Of course, if it's possible for me to speak...

I think you possibly could.

I'd have to call in all my favours. You'd have to work very hard.

And you would have to work out exactly what it is you want to say.

But of course, I suppose it's time I...started working for you.

And not for them.

91% of malaria deaths are in Africa...

There are 247 million...

So I'd have a few notes. Then we can just put it in one piece and then make it more um...

-Right.

-..concise. Am I going too fast?

-No, you're all right.

-OK.

My word, Mary. You're going to be absolutely marvellous!

-If I fall down dead of fear, will you take over?

-You must be joking.

You're not going to hear so much as a peep out of me.

And I'm so proud of you, I could explode.

No, no, no. Don't. Don't. Don't explode.

This room cost a fortune to decorate. OK, test me...

-Speak up. Look them in the eye. Stick to the script.

-Yes, Dad.

Now, we have had submissions from experts from Malaria No More, from UNICEF, from USAID.

We now have a submission from Mrs Mary Morgan

from South Hall, Eastern Virginia. Mrs Morgan, please.

Thank you.

Um, I don't want to take up too much of your time,

um... So before I start, I'll just say that there's only

a couple of things I want to say, and the first is congratulations.

Thank you. We do believe, when it comes to malaria, America leads the world.

But as a country, we still spend more on the cure for baldness than the cure for malaria.

CHUCKLING

So my second point and the purpose of my submission is to ask for more, please.

Right now.

Of course, Mrs Morgan, and if we lived in an ideal world

there'd be all the money in the world for malaria.

But a friend of mine used to say, "Politics is a pie. It's just a question of how you slice it."

What we do here in this committee is look soberly

and seriously, with experts in the field,

at how and if we can increase that slice.

Or if, in the very hard times for everyone, it has to be a slightly smaller portion.

Pardon me, but are you saying that I'm not an expert in the field?

Mrs Morgan, we're all aware of your personal involvement in this area,

and all admire your courage in coming here today.

Well, since I'm not an expert in the field,

perhaps you would prefer that I focus on my personal involvement.

Let me tell you how it feels to have a personal involvement with malaria.

I miss my son every second of every day.

I miss him with every bite of food...

..and every familiar object I hold.

And I think of that movie, you know, Back to the Future,

where that bastard McFly can just go back in time.

Because that's my greatest wish, that I could just go back, just once, and change that one thing.

I would give anything to change that one thing.

And my point, Madam Chair,

my point is,

that how I feel is how the parent

of every single child lost to malaria feels.

Every mother, every father.

That is no ordinary slice of pie.

I had the responsibility of one child, and I failed.

You have the opportunity

to take responsibility for millions of children.

Don't fail them too.

Now, uh...I have something prepared.

Just-just a minute, please.

I'm Martha O'Connell.

Yes?

I'm sort of...Mary's second.

I wonder if I might show you a couple of snaps?

If that's what Mrs Morgan wants.

Yes... Of course.

Thank you.

Erm...

Where shall I put...?

This is my son, Ben. Malaria.

And this is Mary's son, George.

Mary's boy.

And these are just some of the children

I met in Mozambique,

where both of our sons died.

This one is Sebastian. A little bit of a joker.

This is Anecia.

She wanted to be a teacher.

And Daniel here played the clarinet.

Pass them along...

All of them - all these sons and all these daughters -

are all now dead.

Would you like us to make another appointment with the committee in a year's time,

and come back then, with half a million more photographs?

-I'm sorry.

-Sorry? You were magnificent!

-Your father and I both thought you were magnificent.

-No, no, no.

I mean I'm... I'm sorry I took George away.

I never said "I'm sorry."

And I'm sorry you weren't in the little school. And I'm sorry you weren't on the beach.

And I'm glad you weren't in the hospital holding his hand.

But I am so sorry, I never said sorry.

It's OK.

-It's OK now.

-Yeah.

-Yeah.

-TV:

-'..Some of the most powerful men and women of the Senate were visibly moved.

'Tide Water local Mary Morgan's testimony

'in front of the Senate Appropriations Committee was a passionate, personal plea

'with fellow mother, Martha O'Connell, who herself lost a son to malaria.

-Martha...

-'The women asked families across the country to join them in raising money

'for malaria prevention and treatment.

'For 10 you can buy a net, which actually saves lives, for the price of three coffees at Starbucks.

'Lives that are as valuable as our sons' lives.

'Well, we don't actually believe that, but we know we should...

'and we know it's true.'

You know, when I was young, I used to be obsessed with the pop charts.

-Really?

-Yeah.

And ever since, I've always loved to put my life into charts -

you know, like when I was at school, I had a chart of my best friends

and when David Willoughby kissed me, he was at number one for 11 weeks.

Till he kissed my best friend. He shot straight down to number 37.

And I'm still doing it.

Shall we do our best three? Mm?

-Let's do it. Yeah.

-OK.

Number three...

the day my Ben was born.

Oh, it hurt a lot...

..but that was a wonderful day.

Hm.

Georgie, he took 27 hours to come out. Yeah.

So it was more than a day, but...that's a good three.

Yeah.

Two. Second best thing.

Nice!

Nice. Nice...

Today.

For the first time in a year, I'm glad to be alive.

So... Number one - best thing ever.

Every single moment George was alive.

And every single moment

my Ben was alive.

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd