#20: Madison deWitt & Danielle Amaral, recording: June 15, 2017
[Beginning of Recorded Material]
Madison: Excuse me? Danielle?
. . .
Madison: (Louder) Excuse me? Are you Danielle Amaral?
Danielle: Yeah?
Madison: I don’t know if you remember me? My name’s Madison deWitt. I lived next door to you on Oak Circle?
Danielle: Madison… Oh, shit! Yeah, I remember you! How are you doing?
Madison: I’m good. Good.
Danielle: Want a drink? I about finished with this one.
Madison: No, I –
Danielle: Hey, Sean, can I get another round over here for me and my friend?
Bartender: What are you having?
Madison: Umm, what do you have for wine?
Bartender: Red or white.
Madison: Uhh. White, please?
Bartender: You got it.
Danielle: Jeez, I haven’t seen you since… I haven’t seen you in years! How have you been? What have you been up to?
Madison: Umm, good. I’m working a research job in Boston.
Danielle: No shit! Good for you. And how’s your brother… Mark?
Madison: Mike. He’s in the Navy. He’s good.
Danielle: Aw, that’s awesome. I’m happy for you both!
Bartender: Here are those drinks, ladies.
Danielle: Thanks. Oh no, Maddy, I got this. Put it on my tab, Sean.
Danielle: Cheers!
. . .
Madison: How have you been, Danielle?
Danielle: Fine, you know. Same old same old. Never left the town. You know.
Madison: How’s your aunt and grandmother?
Danielle: Aunt Rebecca’s fine. Nana died a few years ago. Stroke.
Madison: I’m sorry to hear about that.
Danielle: Yeah, thanks.
. . .
Madison: So, uh… did you hear about Jai Shankar?
Danielle: Who?
Madison: Jai. He was the little kid who lived on the other side of your house.
Danielle: Oh. Yeah.
Madison: Did you hear what happened?
Danielle: No.
Madison: He went missing from his aunt’s house in Vermont. They found him wandering near Oak Circle.
Danielle: Why are you talking to me about this?
Madison: Excuse me?
Danielle: It’s taken me ten years to try and forget about that and you come in out of the blue and start dragging up old shit.
Madison: I’m not trying to…
Danielle: Look, if you want to sit and have a chat, fine. But I’m not talking about the old neighborhood. End of story.
Madison: Michael and I are having the dreams again.
. . .
Madison: We’re both having dreams of the deer man again.
. . .
Madison: Are you having the dreams-
Danielle: What did I just tell you?!
Bartender: Keep it down, Dani.
Danielle: I told you. I’m not talking about this. You know better than anyone that a lot of really fucked up shit happened on that street that I just don’t want to think about anymore.
Madison: Danielle, something strange is happening and I’m just trying to figure out what’s going on! Jai’s having the dreams too and he-
Danielle: Enough, okay?!
Bartender: Dani! I said keep it down!
Danielle: I am having a conversation here!
Bartender: Yeah, that’s your last one. Finish it up but then it’s time for you to head on home.
Danielle: Are you fucking kidding me? Look what you did.
Madison: I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to-
Danielle: You want to talk about Oak Circle, Madison? Let’s talk about Oak Circle. Where should we start, huh? When all the grown-ups started losing their minds? Thinking that there were wild dogs roaming around? Or how about the old lady who thought the place was surrounded by invisible people trying to get us, huh?
You think it’s fun for me to remember us kids huddling under that tree in the middle of the night while our parents and neighbors were out in the streets screaming like crazy people? Do you think I like to remember my dad hammering nails into the side of the house because he thought it was falling down? Or my mom curled up on the ground screaming how everything’s going wrong?
Oh, and how about YOUR mom, Madison, huh? How she shot that pregnant lady trying to get into your house. Do you think I want to remember that? Is that something YOU like to think about?
Madison: Danielle, I don’t –
Danielle: I watched my sister run to my parents only to have the world explode around us! Huh? I saw my whole family get blown to pieces! I spent years, YEARS in therapy and people treating me like a broken little doll! Do you think that’s fun to remember, Madison?! Huh?!
Bartender: Dani!
Danielle: Am I having the dreams, Madison?! I’ve never stopped having the dreams! You got to leave! I’m stuck here with him!
Bartender: That’s enough! Grab your stuff and get out!