Belle Prater’s Boy
by Ruth White
Script by Becky Endlich

Parts 4-6
Woodrow (12), Gypsy (6), Mrs. Compton (3), Willy Stacy (4), Mary Lee Rover (4)

Gypsy: Woodrow has come to live in the same town as me. There is a big mystery surrounding his mother, Belle Prater. No one knos what kind of byoy her son will be and we are about to find out about his sense of humor when we all go to Sunday Schoo. One of the crowd of children asks Woodrow a question as they go in.

Willy: Do you believe in God?

Woodrow: Yeah, I met him once.

Willy: You met God? No, you didn’t!

Woodrow: Yes, I did. And you know what? He sneezed, and I didn’t know what to say.

Gypsy: No one got the joke so Woodrow tried again:

Woodrow: His name is Howard, you know.

Mary Lee: God’s name ain’t Howard!

Woodrow: Sure it is. It says in the Lord’s Prayer- ‘Howard be thy name.”

Gypsy: We laughed and settled down to meet our teacher, Mrs. Compton. The lesson was about Jesus healing the sick.

Mrs. Compton: Have you ever known anyone who was very, very sick? Would one person like to tell us about someone who was very, very sick? Woodrow?

Woodrow: Yes, ma’am. (Goes to the front of the class) This is a story about Buck Coleman who had a sickness so bad- well let me tell you. His belly kept gettin’ bigger and bigger and bigger. It got as big as a watermelon, but the rest of him kept fallin off. Buck finally had to go to the doctor and the doctor said, “Buck, you got the biggest tapeworm I ever did hear of and it’s curled up in your belly getting all your food.” Well, the doctor tried everything to kill that tapeworm but they couldn’t do it without killing Buck with it. He kept eatin’ a lot but he was still starvin’ to death. And, oh, yeah, I forgot to tell you, he craved molasses.

Willy: Molasses?

Woodrow: Yeah, molasses. Finally the doctor decided to lure the tapeworm out.

Mary Lee: How was he going to lure it out?

Woodrow: With molasses, naturally. They took a big jar of molasses and held it in front of Buck’s face, and the tapeworm smelled it and came crawling out to get it.

Willy: And Buck was saved?

Woodrow: No, that tapeworm was so lang and fat, Buck suffocated to death before it got out.

Gypsy: Woodrow sat down and it looked as though Mrs. Compton would faint.

Mrs. Compton: Really Woodrow, was that necessary? Did you make that up?

Woodrow: ‘Pon my word of honor, Buck Colemand was my daddy’s sister’s husband’s uncle’s cousin.

Mary Lee: I know a story about my Aunt who went to New York and they fed her snails!

Mrs. Compton: Never mind! Let’s turn to page 36.

Gypsy: Woodrow glanced at me and winked. I ducked by head to hide my smile. That’s when I knew for sure that Woodrow wasn’t as backwoard as he let on, but he has a bit of the devil in him.

Woodrow and Gypsy together solve many of the mysteries surrounding the two families and change their lives forever. Read BELLE PRATER’S BOY.