Episode 5: The Holy One by Owen Whitelaw

"It's been weeks now. Still no sleep. The Zopiclone and whisky won't touch the sides and my mind, it's slipping..."

As Pink's search for Billie drags her into the chaos of a wild Saturday night, ancient saints with wounds of their own to salve might just offer up a vital clue.

Performed by Sharon Duncan-Brewster, Catriona Faint, Lewis Gribben, Louise McCarthy, Gavin Mitchell, Martin Quinn and Matthew Zajac
 
Written by Owen Whitelaw
Directed by Lu Kemp
Sound Design and Music by Danny Krass
Series concept by Oliver Emanuel
Produced by Tron Theatre and supported by Creative Scotland
 
#TheLovedOne

Transcript

The Loved One

Speaker 1 0:00

Hello, welcome to the Loved One. This is a piece of immersive audio drama designed for listening on headphones. If you want to have a wee, lie down in a dark room, stick on a cheeky eye mask and go ahead. But wherever you're listening, please enjoy the Loved One.

Speaker 3 0:35

It's been weeks now, still no sleep. The zoplicone and whiskey won't touch the sides. In my mind it's slipping.

Speaker 1 0:46

Mom no one there.

Speaker 3 0:51

But I'm still here, here again, searching for you in the nightly zoo, forcing myself on through the crowds and the rain, because I know I'm getting close.

Speaker 1 1:04

This is the Loved One, episode 5. The Holy One by Owen Whitelaw.

Speaker 3 1:17

Pink, your aunt phoned. She got your package. It's Billy's handwriting, my name written in scrawling blue. I've set it on. So I'm running, billy, I'm running here to you.

Speaker 4 1:33

I thought I told you to stop doing this. We're a cafe, not some kind of letter receptacle. Where is it, luca Gone? We got robbed this morning. Some bastard smashed a lock on the storeroom door, took the microwave and all of the cups. I mean, for fuck's sake, who steals fucking teacups? But my package? It was locked in the storeroom along with the cups. It got took and all. So let that be a lesson to you. No more post Now. Are you wanting a coffee or no? No One black coffee coming right up, wait I oh hey, huh, I'm the same deal.

Speaker 3 2:19

I look down to find the darting eyes of a wiry young man, his head pushed through the seat of the booth like a rat escaping a flood.

Speaker 2 2:29

How the hell did you get in there? Oh, didn't you worry about logistics then I couldn't help overhearing you after buying some cups, what Tea cups?

Speaker 5 2:41

No Microwave.

Speaker 3 2:44

Do you mind?

Speaker 2 2:45

Spoon of sugar, a wee parcel, oh, bingo bongo. That was it. You must be Pink.

Speaker 5 2:54

The name's Ant and I can get you what you've lost. Oh my, God when is it Easy, Carly, Give it to me now. I ain't got it on me. I'm not a thief. I find things, that's all. It's a service I offer to those in need. Yeah, and what do you get out of it? Well, I'm not running a fucking charity, darling, but I'm not here to break your bank. Neither Cheap as chips me Well fish actually Three of the bastards and plenty of sauce.

Speaker 2 3:31

Oh, and of course, a wee bag of the old St Joseph on the side Joseph.

Speaker 3 3:38

Brown, what Heroin.

Speaker 5 3:44

Come on, we'll have your package back to you quicker than you can say. Eh, blue Lagoon, will you hurry up? You can eat. If you walk, I can do. I'm like a snake, me, like one of the big pythons you see on the telly, with a deer sticking through its belly, you know, I shouldn't have really moved now for a good few hours.

Speaker 2 4:17

I don't think so. Repent, repent. The end is upon us, for fuck's sake.

Speaker 5 4:27

What are you doing? Just stand right there. I have done my duty. I sacrificed my child, don't let that preacher see me. Saint, he sees you. Fuck. Just make yourself bigger, it's coming over, just try.

Speaker 4 4:44

Open your eyes, anthony, both of them.

Speaker 5 4:52

Oh, I'm sorry, Are you talking to me?

Speaker 4 4:55

Where's my daughter? You wee shitebag.

Speaker 5 4:58

I tell you I made a mistake. It wasn't her.

Speaker 2 5:02

Bullshit.

Speaker 5 5:04

Whoa, whoa. Look, it's only been a while. Put your knife away.

Speaker 3 5:08

I'm sure we can solve this out.

Speaker 4 5:10

Is this your new bit of skirt, is it?

Speaker 2 5:12

She's maybe no.

Speaker 4 5:15

Whatever she is, she's coming with me. You can have her back when you tell me where my enoch is hiding.

Speaker 2 5:23

You gotta be.

Speaker 3 5:31

Anne takes me by the hand and we cut through the neon and the rain, this fever dream of a night stretching and bowing beyond its true strength, ant and all the time the preacher nipping at our heels and Ant pulling me harder and harder, further and further, deeper and deeper into the darkness of the night, further and further, deeper and deeper into the darkness of the night.

Speaker 5 5:59

What the hell was that about?

Speaker 3 5:59

It's nothing, just a wee misunderstanding it didn't seem that wee to me Serpo, where the fuck, have you taken me Language Serpo? From out of the shadows, two huge wing-like arms lift me high into the air oh, she ain't not Sandful. And, turning my head skyward, I look up and into the chasm of a woman's tongueless mouth, her rasping shriek echoing through the canyons of the streets.

Speaker 2 6:32

Sandful pal burn. She's with me. She's cool, ain't they?

Speaker 3 6:35

She's cool, I'm dropped. I run. What about your package? I stop. The streetlights flicker.

Speaker 5 6:42

Serfo, it's King, he's back. You need to warn Enoch.

Speaker 3 6:48

From the dead end of the alley. Bricks fall and a wild woman pushes her way into the world.

Speaker 2 6:55

I am Mother Clascot. That nae fog wi me Get a drink inside us. I'll tell you what I see. Every devil buys me in here.

Speaker 3 7:08

Tell the bastard it and put in place God's good grace and let you bleed right out, tattooed from crown to heel, a halo of pound shop fairy lights threaded through her hair. She turns in circles in the rain.

Speaker 5 7:26

Enoch, you need to hide your father's on his way. We tried to lose him, but he's a canny old cunt. He's no cunt. Cunts are useful. He's nae worth the breath of a worm, but yet I love him. How cruel a curse is that Cruel aye. But he'll kill you if you stay. I must ken my story. I must know. But, king, he's gaining ground.

Speaker 3 7:53

Enoch lunges towards me and grabs me by the wrist.

Speaker 5 7:57

Oh, lovely stranger New eyes for an old tale, come see.

Speaker 3 8:05

Enoch forces my head towards the gutter and running her fingers through the water stirs an image into the oily black.

Speaker 5 8:14

You see, there Under the surface, that's my father chasing us to the tap of old Traprain Law. He was a preacher and a king, and I was fool enough to cross him. I had a child, never wedlocked, but never choice either. I was raped by my cousin and forced to hold his son. I had a child, but neither wedlocked but neither choice either. I was raped by my cousin and forced to hold his son, and when my father found out he threw me off the cliffs in shame.

Speaker 3 8:45

Enoch hits the gutter water hard and a huge wave rises up around us. Ain't ya hit?

Speaker 5 8:52

That is the water in the middle. What is it? The wind rises up around us. Mind your head. That is the water in the middle.

Speaker 2 8:58

What is it Blood?

Speaker 5 9:05

In it. Fuck's sake, be careful, it's deep out there. There's someone beneath the current. It's just an echo Her own body. If they be full of it, she's beaten to a pub. I was Mit Serfo. She saved me, dragged these broken bones to her boat and set me half to five. She cut out her own tongue so as to never give me a wa. She brought me back to health and soon my boy was born. I named him Dear One, but I had trouble holding his gaze, couldn't bear to look His eyes. You see were his feathers made. So he was taken from me to a green field to the west and fae that place he grew this city. Tweet Glezga. I'm awfully proud of him. So I'm awfully awfully proud of him. Your son's sure we're after finding him. Eh, he has something my pal here's wanting back.

Speaker 3 10:14

Her son has my package.

Speaker 5 10:16

Aye, all lost souls wash up with him. Enoch.

Speaker 4 10:21

Enoch, we need to go there now.

Speaker 5 10:26

You and Hynek down here, not a chance. But your father, let him come. He cannae, make me see the dear one, but he visits him his mornings To leave me food outside my tent, but his eyes I'm still too fat to look Repent. Give me a hand, pink. Take her arm, get back, but we can't force her. Do you want your package back or no, cos I'm no taking you force her. Do you want your package back or no, because I'm not taking you without her.

Speaker 3 10:57

I look to Enoch terror etched and I think of you, Billy, and hope you never know.

Speaker 5 11:05

You can't eat demons, stop it.

Speaker 3 11:08

We drag her to the sewer's edge, her body convulsing like a wild horse, and force her flailing limbs down into the stench.

Speaker 2 11:24

Keep going Bank. I'm trying.

Speaker 3 11:27

But it's hard. Ant, with nothing but the screen light of his phone to guide our way, and Enoch, legs held curled, our arms locked into hers as we carry her through the sludge. Was that a robin? What's happening?

Speaker 5 11:50

The dear one's close.

Speaker 3 11:52

From behind the stack of caged robins, a man painted in peeling gold dances his way towards us. He inhales a long-drawn huff from a blue plastic bag and the smell of glue hangs heavy in the air.

Speaker 5 12:10

Oh Jesus, Pick some clothes on, will you?

Speaker 4 12:17

Welcome.

Speaker 3 12:18

He flicks on an electric lantern and I see beside him a crate of cups marked Luca's Cafe. My heart skips. Where is it?

Speaker 2 12:28

Easy, Pink.

Speaker 3 12:29

Tell me.

Speaker 2 12:30

Who is this?

Speaker 3 12:31

She's our pal. There was a package. You took it from the cafe along with those cups. I want it back. Oh that that's lost. Don't lie to me.

Speaker 2 12:42

Got washed away by all the rain. I don't believe you.

Speaker 3 12:45

I hurl a cup against the wall and the shards rain down on Enoch, hiding in the shadows, Her head bowed, eyes forced shut.

Speaker 5 12:57

Who's there? Dinny, come near Ma, is that you Please stay back? But your face, you've been cut Nay closer. I said Dinny, look this way To twa closer. I said, did he look this way?

Speaker 1 13:09

To twa millennia, ma it's still the same old fear.

Speaker 5 13:12

Time cannae heal it.

Speaker 3 13:17

The dear one drops down to his haunches and takes another huge gulp of glue. Enoch's eyes flicker open with a wince and for a moment she catches her son's reflection in the shot of broken china and, leaning close, takes in his eye like a child first seeing sky.

Speaker 1 13:41

What do you see, Ma?

Speaker 3 13:43

Enoch pushes her eyes tight shut and crushes the shard into the dirt.

Speaker 5 13:52

Well, this time there was light in them. Then look again no, no more, no more today.

Speaker 3 13:58

The dear one looks to me and before I know it, he has his hand entwined with mine.

Speaker 1 14:06

I owe you something for bringing your hair.

Speaker 5 14:10

Well, technically I did that.

Speaker 1 14:12

Then you can help some more. Lift up your shirt, easy tiger, don't squirm what are you doing?

Speaker 5 14:18

Your horns are fucking freezing. This isn't right, not right at all. A fool.

Speaker 3 14:25

From deep within Ant's bowels, three live fish come hurtling to the surface.

Speaker 1 14:36

Beautiful, aren't they?

Speaker 5 14:38

For fuck's sake, dear one.

Speaker 3 14:40

My gift to you. He picks up a fish from the floor and, slipping a shard of china into its arching belly, reveals a small package glistening in its guts.

Speaker 5 14:53

This is what you seek.

Speaker 3 14:55

I hold the sodden mess in my hands. Your writing blue smudged across its face. A miracle.

Speaker 1 15:07

You need to go. They flood this tunnel at dawn.

Speaker 5 15:10

Aye, not so fast. What about my hat? I'm still old.

Speaker 3 15:13

The dear one takes a brick from the wall and chucks a bag to Ant.

Speaker 1 15:18

For bringing me the cups, the cups, his daily offering. He's a good lad.

Speaker 3 15:23

I shoot Ant a look, but he just shrugs, laughs and pockets the powder as water begins to push its way towards us.

Speaker 1 15:32

Hughes Baron.

Speaker 3 15:34

Will I see you, ma? Enoch reaches out for Ant and beckons to be led away, willa.

Speaker 5 15:41

Ma Can we have a bite?

Speaker 3 15:44

The dear one opens the cages and the robins swarm towards us. I push her package deep into my pocket and begin to climb, and looking back over my shoulder, catch Enoch gazing at the fading figure of her son.

Speaker 2 16:10

Climb, enoch Climb, oh, oh, where are we?

Speaker 5 16:35

Inside my dear. What is coming?

Speaker 3 16:38

We run through the church and out of the fire exit and looking up I see the name St Mungo's Beaming out into the night.

Speaker 2 16:55

Oh, for fuck's sake, does this guy never take a break?

Speaker 3 16:59

Stumbling out onto the road. We flag down a cab and bundle into the back. I look towards the driver's seat and, to my surprise, I see.

Speaker 5 17:10

Thanks, Biggy.

Speaker 3 17:12

Serphal staring back.

Speaker 5 17:14

Drive us somewhere. King will never find us.

Speaker 3 17:19

Serphal revs the engine and suddenly we find ourselves reversing fast. Are you hurt? Are you hurt, Fuck? I watch out the back window as Enoch crouches over the broken body of her father. She kisses him gently on the cheek and from out of the gutters and the shadows, the edges of the world faces, emerge strings of fairy lights strung through their hair.

Speaker 2 18:00

And for a moment this dark night is lit up by halos. Don't say a fool, no, oh God, jesus Christ.

Speaker 4 18:11

Calm down.

Seeking an Escape

Speaker 3 18:16

You had it coming, Are you okay? Enoch says nothing, just closes her eyes and goes to sleep. I stare down at the package, this damp little square of hope, and I wonder am I the same as King? Are you running from me too, Billy?

Speaker 2 18:46

Maybe you should join me in a bit of this Guaranteed relief no thanks, suit yourself.

Speaker 3 18:54

Ant shoots up and drifts away. I brace myself and push my fingers through the sea-worn paper, through your writing and the saliva-kissed edge, and find a Walkman with a set of airline earbuds pushed into the side. I scramble them into my ears and force down play, please, please work.

Speaker 1 19:28

Mom, mom, mom, please work, mum, mum, mum.

Speaker 3 19:32

Did I always mean to run away Was?

Speaker 4 19:37

it inevitable.

Speaker 1 19:46

You've been listening to the Loved One, episode 5 by Owen Whitelaw, featuring Sharon Duncan Brewster, louise McCarthy, gavin Mitchell, martin Quinn, lewis Gribbon and Matthew Sajak, directed by Lou Kemp. Sound design and music by Danny Crass and Matthew Sajak, directed by Lou Kemp. Sound design and music by Danny Crass Made in partnership with Tron Theatre Glasgow, supported by Creative Scotland. Next time, on episode six of the Loved One, an absent mother Hard questions for Pink. A young woman speaks into the abyss. Is anyone listening?