You said you always would protect it. You said it ain't got no
better home then right here amongst us. Now what you gon' do
with it? What else you gon' need it for?
DOAKER:
I said I was gon' take it to Monroe County on the river.
BOY WILLIE:
(Rattling as if in a frenzy) Monroe County on the river?
DOAKER:
Yea.
BOY WILLIE:
Monroe County on the river. Monroe County on the river. Now
why you wanna go to Monroe County? Ain't nothin' but cotton
over there.
DOAKER:
(Rising) Cotton! (Shaking his head violently) Cotton done
ruined me. Every acre I owned, ever seed I sowed, that cotton done
ruined me.
BOY WILLIE:
(Trying to calm Doaker) Who ruined it?
DOAKER:
The devil! The devil ruined it. I worked hard, worked my
fingers to the bone, got up fo day, went to bed after midnight--every
move I made was on account of that cotton--but all the time the devil
was waitin' out yonder in Monroe County on the river.
BOY WILLIE:
How come?
DOAKER:
(Looking off as if staring at a distant field of cotton) The
worms. Boll worms, cutworms, army worms, you name it. Just when
I thought I was gon' make a dollar they come along. Couldn't hardly
pick it fast enough. It just set there and rotted. Worms would
leave cotton bolls layin' on the ground. Couldn't even feed it to
the hogs. Worms got it.
BOY WILLIE:
(Trying to reason) But cotton--cotton got everything you could
want, all the money you could ever use. Don't matter what, I
always could come to this piano. It didn't never make me nothing
but happy, and--why you don't even play--you gave up the piano
for her. You gave up the piano. It's all you had.
DOAKER:
(As if to himself) I gave it up for her, and when she left, it
was gone.