A Play by HELEN FROST and HARVEY COCKS. Copyright 1999, by Pioneer Drama Service, Inc.

Transcription

1 A Play by HELEN FROST and HARVEY COCKS Copyright 1999, by Pioneer Drama Service, Inc. PERFORMANCE LICENSE The amateur acting rights to this play are controlled exclusively by PIONEER DRAMA SERVICE, INC., P.O. Box 4267, Englewood, Colorado 80155, without whose permission no performance, reading or presentation of any kind may be given. On all programs and advertising this notice must appear: Produced by special arrangement with Pioneer Drama Service, Inc., Englewood, Colorado. copying or reproducing all or any part of this book in any manner is strictly forbidden by law. All other rights in this play, including those of professional production, radio broadcasting and motion picture rights, are controlled by Pioneer Drama Service, Inc., to whom all inquiries should be addressed.

2 WHY DARKNESS SEEMS SO LIGHT A Play by HELEN FROST and HARVEY COCKS Based on writing by high school students Acknowledgements: This play is based on writing by high school students in Fort Wayne, Indiana, in the spring of Students from North Side, Heritage, Wayne, South Side and Homestead High Schools and the Fort Wayne Community Schools Alternative Learning Program participated in writing residencies led by Helen Frost and sponsored by the Fort Wayne YWCA as part of their annual Week Without Violence Awareness Campaign. Financial support for this project came from Target, GTE, NBD, Tokheim, Don R. Fruchey and Arts United. Although this play grew out of true stories, all of the names, places and other details have been changed. None of the characters in the play is based on actual people. SETTING: The action of the play is set in an American city in the spring of this year. SYNOPSIS OF SCENES Prologue: Mrs. Appleton, reading the poem Why Darkness Seems So Light. Scene One: A high school classroom. Scene Two: Outside the house of Johnny, a 16-year-old boy. Scene Three: Same evening, outside a house in another part of town. Segue A: Reverend Davis, monologue, Who is Johnny? Johnny s Mother, monologue, Johnny is my son. Scene Four: The next morning, inside Ginger s house, kitchen/family room. Segue B: Rory, monologue, Now what do I do? Scene Five: Later that day, in Ginger s grandmother s kitchen. ii

3 Segue C: Mrs. Appleton, monologue, It s heartbreaking. Scene Six: One week later, inside the home of Whitney and Megan, 12 and 15-year-old sisters. Segue D: Megan, monologue, It makes me mad. Scene Seven: In front of a laser-tag place, that evening. Segue E: Chris, monologue, Things can happen anywhere. Scene Eight: Later that evening, inside the home of Marcus and Nathan, 13 and 16-year-old brothers. Segue F: Amy, monologue, I recognized him. Scene Nine: The next day, hospital waiting room. CAST OF CHARACTERS (In Order of Appearance) MRS. APPLETON... teacher (part could be played by male, Mr. Appleton ) TANK... teenage boy JOHNNY... teenage boy GINGER... teenage girl BEE... teenage girl, Ginger s cousin DANAE... Bee s friend COURTNEY... girl at the party RORY... teenage boy DAVID... Rory s friend REVEREND DAVIS... adult (male or female) JOHNNY S MOTHER CONNIE... Ginger s mother CHARLES... Ginger s father SAMMIE... Ginger s younger sister iii

4 ROSE... Ginger s grandmother DIANE... Whitney s mother WHITNEY... teenage girl MEGAN... Whitney s younger sister BILLY... small boy, neighbor (could be played by girl, BILLY JO ) MARCUS... teenage boy NATHAN... Marcus s younger brother ART... Nathan s friend RALPH... Marcus s and Nathan s stepfather SALLY... Marcus s and Nathan s mother CHRIS... teenager (could be played by girl or boy) AMY... teenage girl, volunteer in hospital EXTRAS... for party scene (optional) iv

5 WHY DARKNESS SEEMS SO LIGHT PRIOR TO CURTAIN: JOHNNY is on stage, playing a saxophone as the audience enters. Taped music can be substituted. PROLOGUE MRS. APPLETON: (ENTERS as the LIGHTS go UP. SAXAPHONE MUSIC OUT. Begins reading the poem Why Darkness Seems So Light. ) Have you heard the angry voices, a slap against skin? Have you heard the gunshots in the kitchen at a party in the street? Do you see the broken dishes broken window, broken face? Can you see the broken hearts in the classroom in the prison at the mall? Can you feel this darkness resting on our shoulders so wide and deep it s hard to know it s there? Can you find one corner, find a sister, brother, friend? Can we lift the darkness and let our light shine in? (LIGHTS DOWN on MRS. APPLETON. SAXOPHONE MUSIC plays as interlude between Prologue and Scene One.) Scene One SETTING: A classroom with a desk at RIGHT side of stage. The background is generic. It will change in appearance and represent each location for the scenes that follow. LIGHTS UP: TANK is sitting at the desk. MUSIC FADES. TANK: (Head down on his desk; after a pause, looks up and addresses the audience.) That one poem the teacher read got me thinking. She 1

6 said, Respond to this poem in writing. What do you have to say about violence? (Laughs.) If I could write... and I can t... it would be the biggest book anyone ever wrote. (Doodles as he thinks.) Well... I guess it gets us out of doing our vocabulary for a couple days. (Looks back down at his paper and writes something. He scratches it out, writes something else, then holds it up and reads it out loud.) At this time I m briefly going to tell you about the time a single bullet changed my life forever. It was a warm spring evening, the fifteenth of May. Ginger and Johnny and me were sitting on Johnny s porch, listening to Live and Die in L.A. [or a current song]. (Looks up. He is tentatively pleased with what he has written. He looks back down at his paper and continues writing. LIGHTS DOWN.) End of Scene One Scene Two SETTING: JOHNNY S front porch. There are several chairs DOWNSTAGE. LIGHTS UP: JOHNNY, TANK and GINGER are sitting on the porch, listening to a boom box playing loud music. JOHNNY: Hey, Tank, I gotta get me a job. It s gonna take a lot of money to keep this Buick LeSabre on the road. Glad school s almost out. TANK: What you talkin about, Johnny? You never go anyway. How many times you been to school this past month? JOHNNY: Every time I go, I get in some kind of trouble. Didn t get my homework done or they don t like the clothes I m wearing. It s always something. I m thinking of quitting. I can always get my GED. TANK: Yeah, that s what I d do too, except I want to do second year metals next year. JOHNNY: I just want to learn auto mechanics. All I really care about is my saxophone and my ride. GINGER: You keep talking about your new Buick, Johnny. When do we all get to ride in it? JOHNNY: I got a full tank of gas. Let s go somewhere... see where we end up. GINGER: We could drive across town. I heard about a party out by my cousin s house. 2

7 JOHNNY: (Rolls his eyes.) No way, girl. You don t know the dudes in that part of town. They don t like us going out there. GINGER: It s fine. My cousin s friend told her about it. It s a big party. They won t even know we re not from there. Some other kids from school might go. TANK: Who? GINGER: Marcus, and maybe Whitney. JOHNNY: Ginger, you know your father will get mad if you go out there. GINGER: Now tell me, how will he know? JOHNNY: I know your father. He finds out everything. You d be grounded for life. GINGER: He won t find out. What could happen? JOHNNY: Tank, you talk her out of this! TANK: Lighten up, man. It can t hurt just to drive out there and check it out. JOHNNY: (Looks from GINGER to TANK and shrugs.) Okay, but just until midnight. GINGER: Your Buick LeSabre turns into a pumpkin at midnight? TANK: (Laughs.) And Johnny turns into a rat. JOHNNY: You can laugh, but if anything happens, it s your fault. GINGER: Nothing s going to happen. Let s go! (ALL EXIT, TANK carrying boom box still playing CD. LIGHTS FADE, MUSIC FADES.) End of Scene Two Scene Three SETTING: Same evening. In front of BEE S house, across town. Table CENTER STAGE. Chairs UP RIGHT, loveseat LEFT. LIGHTS UP: PARTY SOUNDS of music, laughter and talking in the background, OFFSTAGE. BEE, MARCUS and a few other people are ONSTAGE, talking. 3

8 GINGER: (ENTERS with JOHNNY and TANK.) There s my cousin, Bee. And there s Marcus. Looks like Whitney didn t come. (MARCUS EXITS without noticing them.) BEE: (Approaches GINGER, TANK and JOHNNY.) Hey, girl, what s up? GINGER: I told you I d get here somehow. Johnny just bought a car. (Nods towards JOHNNY.) He brought us. This is Tank. BEE: Good to meet you. Come on in. There s a keg in the kitchen. People out back are rolling blunts. (Motions taking a drag.) Game of spades going on upstairs. JOHNNY: I ll just stay out here for a while. GINGER: (To BEE.) He s nervous cause he doesn t know this crowd. BEE: Well, come on back whenever you want to. (She EXITS through door on back of porch.) JOHNNY: (To GINGER.) What you talkin about, girl? I ain t nervous. I got my nine. (Pats his pocket.) Ain t nothin gonna happen to me. GINGER: (Alarmed.) What? You don t need that here. Put it back in the car! JOHNNY: Don t worry. I don t plan to use it. I just carry it for protection. GINGER: Johnny! Someone could see you with that. JOHNNY: I know how to keep it to myself. You didn t even know I had it on me. TANK: She might be right, Johnny. If the cops bust this party, you could get caught with it. Why don t you take it back to the car? JOHNNY: Okay, fine. But if it s up to me, I say let s all go back to the car and split this whole scene. Don t none of us belong here. (He EXITS.) GINGER: (To TANK.) Do you know why he s been so worked up lately? TANK: (Pauses before answering). He has his reasons. GINGER: What reasons? TANK: I ain t saying. GINGER: Is he in some kind of trouble? TANK: Could be. 4

9 GINGER: Does he know something he shouldn t know? TANK: Ginger, you ask too many questions. (SOUND of CAR PULLING UP and LOUD CAR STEREO.) TANK: Look at this car pulling up. I don t like the look of that dude that s driving. GINGER: You know him? TANK: Not really, but I ve heard about him and I don t want nothin to do with him. (CAR STEREO stops, SOUND of CAR DOORS SLAMMING.) RORY: (ENTERS along with DAVID, COURTNEY and DANAE.) You ain t from around here. Where you from? TANK: Why? Who wants to know? RORY: Me. That s why I asked. GINGER: My cousin invited us. RORY: I ain t askin about no cousin. I said where you from? TANK: That s our business. RORY: (Cocks his head, studies them for a minute, addresses TANK.) You want to talk business? You looking for some heat? TANK: (Shrugs, acts casual.) How much? RORY: Fifty bones. TANK: Let me peep it out. RORY: (Pulls out a gun.) Here you go, Dogg. (Takes clip out.) TANK: It looks tight, but I ain t got enough. Would you take forty? RORY: Nope, I need fifty. TANK: Come on, Dogg. DAVID: (Yells.) He said fifty! TANK: Why you yellin, man? DAVID: Cause you re tryin to rip off my boy. TANK: That s cause you re chargin too much! (Hands gun back to RORY, who puts the clip back in and puts it in his back pocket.) 5

10 DAVID: Maybe where you re from, it s too much. (JOHNNY ENTERS.) Around here, people know what things are worth. (To RORY.) Let s go, bro. JOHNNY: What s goin on here? (DAVID, RORY, COURTNEY and DANAE start to walk away.) TANK: They been rattin us out. RORY: (To DAVID, but over his shoulder so that TANK and JOHNNY will hear.) Maybe we should teach them a little respect before we go. JOHNNY: (Walks towards RORY. TANK follows. GINGER stands back.) Go ahead, then. GINGER: Johnny! Tank! Don t get into this! Just ignore them. Let s go. RORY: Listen to the girl. Time for you to go. (Shoves JOHNNY.) JOHNNY: (Ignores GINGER.) We ll go when we re ready. (Shoves RORY.) RORY: (To his friends.) Let s help them get ready. (He and DAVID rush toward TANK and JOHNNY. GINGER moves to help. TANK restrains her. A fight breaks out. COURTNEY and DANAE stand by watching.) GINGER: Stop! Come on, let s go! (Still trying to help.) TANK: No, Ginger. (RORY throws a punch at JOHNNY that grazes his shoulder, throwing him off balance. DAVID quickly throws a punch at JOHNNY, but JOHNNY is able to grab DAVID S hand and stop the blow. RORY, at the same time, moves behind JOHNNY, grabbing him around the neck and breaking his grip on DAVID S hand. JOHNNY struggles to free himself from RORY S grasp. DAVID moves in, punching JOHNNY in the stomach, doubling him over. RORY trips JOHNNY, forcing his legs from under him. JOHNNY falls to the ground, and RORY and DAVID start kicking him. JOHNNY keeps trying to get up, but RORY and DAVID keep kicking him down. The OTHERS are watching and cheering them on.) RORY: What you staring at? I m finished with this dude. (Gives JOHNNY one final vicious kick, then turns to walk away. JOHNNY struggles to his feet, springs forward and jumps on RORY S back. RORY knocks JOHNNY off his back and turns around as JOHNNY falls to floor on his back. RORY takes out his gun.) You didn t get enough yet? (EVERYONE becomes quiet, watching. RORY points gun at JOHNNY.) GINGER: No! No! Stop! (RORY fires gun.) He s been shot! 6

11 RORY: (To his friends.) Come on. Let s go. (He, DAVID, COURTNEY and DANAE EXIT. GINGER and TANK run to JOHNNY. SOUND of CAR DOORS SLAMMING, TIRES SCREECHING. Then QUIET. SPOTLIGHT ON GINGER, TANK and JOHNNY.) TANK: Stay with him. I ll call 911. (He EXITS as GINGER holds JOHNNY.) JOHNNY: (Quiet voice, weak). Ginger, it s gonna be okay. Trust me. GINGER: (Crying.) I m sorry. Johnny, I m so sorry. JOHNNY: Please don t cry. It s gonna be okay. GINGER: No, it s not. I shouldn t have asked you to come here. Where are you shot? JOHNNY: Here in my side. It s bleeding pretty bad. GINGER: (Takes off her white shirt has another shirt on underneath it and presses it to JOHNNY S side.) I ll try not to hurt you. JOHNNY: You ll ruin your new shirt. GINGER: Do you think that matters now? You re really hurt. What can I do? JOHNNY: You can t do anything. You better go. I don t want you getting involved in any of this. GINGER: I m not leaving you, Johnny. What was that guy s name? JOHNNY: It s better if you don t know. You get out of here now before the cops come and start asking questions. (Grimaces in pain.) GINGER: No! I can t leave you here alone. JOHNNY: Please go now. I ll call you tomorrow morning and... oh... I m dizzy... GINGER: Keep talking to me, Johnny. JOHNNY: Nothin more to say. This was bound to happen sometime. Go home now. You re a nice girl, Ginger. Stay out of this mess. Take my car and drive yourself home, and don t say nothin to no one. (Struggles to get his keys out of his pocket, drops them on the ground, then falls limply in GINGER S arms.) GINGER: (Crying.) Tank! I think he s dying! Tank! 7

12 TANK: (ENTERS.) An ambulance is on the way. We better get out of here now, Ginger. The cops will be here and they ll be asking questions. GINGER: But, Tank, we can t leave him here! (SOUND of SIRENS in the distance.) TANK: We have to. And don t leave your shirt here. (Lifts JOHNNY S head out of GINGER S lap, lays him gently on the ground, picks up JOHNNY S keys and offers GINGER a hand to help her up.) GINGER: (Kisses JOHNNY S forehead, still crying. Then takes TANK S hand to get up. ) Goodbye, Johnny. I love you. I m so sorry. TANK: Let s get out of here. (SIRENS get louder. TANK and GINGER EXIT, with TANK pulling GINGER urgently away as she looks back at JOHNNY. BLACKOUT except for SPOTLIGHT on JOHNNY.) End of Scene Three Segue A SETTING: The monologues are spoken at the front of the stage during the scene change. SPOT LIGHTS UP: REVEREND DAVIS ENTERS and stands on one side of the STAGE. He carries a bible. JOHNNY S MOTHER ENTERS on other side of the STAGE. REVEREND DAVIS: Who is Johnny? Johnny could be an honors student headed for college. A five year old in his kitchen making Kool-Aid with his cousin. A youth worker returning home from a church trip to Chicago. A young woman expecting twins any day now. One of her unborn twins. A 13-year-old girl walking to school. A first grader walking home from school. A girl whose parents think she is at school. The aunt of a 6-year-old. The mother of a 12-year-old. The father of a 2-year-old. (SPOTLIGHT OUT on REVEREND DAVIS and UP on JOHNNY S MOTHER.) JOHNNY S MOTHER: No. Johnny is my boy, my only son, my best friend, my life. He always has a smile for everybody. His laugh makes us all laugh, even when we don t know what we re laughing about. If 8

13 something is wrong with your car, or your friend s car, he ll drive it around the block and hear what s wrong and fix it. You try to give him money for it, he ll give it right back. What are friends for? he ll say. And you should hear my Johnny play the saxophone. Quiet and slow, it can make you cry. (SAXOPHONE MUSIC is heard. BLACKOUT.) End of Segue A Scene Four SETTING: The next morning. The kitchen/family room with eating area of GINGER S house. RIGHT there s a table with three chairs. LEFT is a chair in front of a television. LIGHTS UP: CONNIE is sitting at the table drinking coffee and reading a newspaper. CHARLES is watching TV across the room, flipping channels. SAMMIE sits at the table in her pajamas, eating a bowl of cereal, silently watching this whole scene. CONNIE: Another shooting in the paper this morning. Some kids at a party across town. CHARLES: I saw that on the news. One of them died. What are these 16-year-olds doing with guns, anyway? CONNIE: I m just glad Ginger has better sense than that. She seems to hang out with a good bunch of kids. No drinking or smoking. CHARLES: We don t know that. Hard to tell what the kids are getting up to these days. CONNIE: Well, I try not to be suspicious. She s never given me any reason not to believe her. CHARLES: Where was she last night? CONNIE: I think she said something about going to Bee s house, but I might have that wrong. I was on the phone when she told me and then she rushed out. I haven t really talked to her since she got home. She got in late. CHARLES: She better have a good reason. (GINGER ENTERS, sits down at the table.) Your mother tells me you got in late last night. GINGER: Yeah. CHARLES: What time? 9

14 GINGER: I don t remember. CHARLES: What do you mean, you don t remember? GINGER: Dad, I just don t. I didn t look at the clock. CHARLES: Well, you re grounded next weekend. GINGER: That s not fair. I had a lot on my mind last night. I couldn t get home when I was supposed to. CHARLES: Well, a couple nights at home should clear your mind and make you think a little harder next time. (GINGER starts to answer, then changes her mind and stares down at the table.) CONNIE: What is on your mind, honey? GINGER: Nothing. CONNIE: You just said... GINGER: Never mind, Mom. I don t want to talk about it. CONNIE: How can we help if you won t tell us what s wrong? GINGER: You can t help. CONNIE: You might be surprised. GINGER: You might be surprised. (CONNIE looks startled at this remark but doesn t say anything.) CHARLES: Don t talk back to your mother. GINGER: Could everyone just leave me alone? CHARLES: (Flips channels on TV.) Here s something about that shooting last night. You know any of these kids, Ginger? GINGER: (Goes over to look at the news. Stands behind CHARLES, fearful. CONNIE S back is to Ginger.) Did anyone die? CHARLES: Yeah, kid named Johnny something. Looks like another case of someone being in the wrong place at the wrong time. They re looking for witnesses. (GINGER abruptly, but quietly, EXITS.) CHARLES: Now what s got into her? CONNIE: I don t know. Lately, I ve given up trying to figure her out. End of Scene Four 10

15 Segue B SETTING: The monologue is spoken at the front of the stage during the scene change. RORY: (ENTERS, holding a newspaper.) Oh, man, he s dead. I was just trying to scare him. A lot of people saw me. What am I supposed to do now, find every one of them? Kill them, too, or just scare them bad enough so they won t turn me in? Sit around and wait for one of them to get back at me? Wait for the cops to figure out it was me? Maybe I should just turn myself in and get it over with. I d be safer locked up than I am out here right now, but once they ve got you, there s no way out. I don t know what to do. I guess the best thing is just keep quiet and hope everyone who saw me is too scared to talk. End of Segue B Scene Five SETTING: Later that day. The pleasant kitchen/living room of ROSE S house. A table with three chairs is CENTER STAGE. To the RIGHT is an ironing board, to the LEFT a loveseat. LIGHTS UP: ROSE is standing at an ironing board, ironing. There is a knock at the door, then the door opens before ROSE goes to answer. GINGER: (ENTERS.) Hi, Grandma. It s just me. ROSE: Come on in, sweetie. I just made some tea. Want some? GINGER: No. (Sits down at table.) ROSE: How s everything going? GINGER: Okay. ROSE: You sure? You seem worried. GINGER: I m okay. (ROSE studies GINGER but doesn t ask any questions. Keeps ironing while GINGER sits in silence.) GINGER: Grandma, there s something I need to ask you. ROSE: What s that? GINGER: A friend of mine was wondering and I thought you might know... Is there some way to get blood out of a shirt? 11

16 ROSE: (Pauses, looks at GINGER a minute before answering, then goes back to her ironing as she answers.) Well, yes. You use cold water. Hot water sets the stain, so don t wash it in hot water first. Sometimes you have to soak it a while, or rub a little soap into it. (She looks thoughtfully at GINGER for a minute, then continues.) Is it a big stain or a little stain? GINGER: Big. ROSE: (Carefully trying to get more information.) What kind of material? GINGER: Cotton. ROSE: Ginger, you didn t get hurt, did you? GINGER: (Looks up quickly.) No, it s not my shirt. A friend of mine wants to know. ROSE: What happened? GINGER: Nothing. Don t worry about it. ROSE: You know me better than that. I worry even when there s nothing to worry about, and this sounds like maybe I should be worried. GINGER: (Looks up at ROSE, considering.) Well, don t tell Mom and Dad. ROSE: Why don t you want them to know? GINGER: I was somewhere I wasn t supposed to be. Dad would kill me. ROSE: I doubt that. GINGER: Well, you know what I mean. ROSE: He s just trying to protect you. GINGER: I know. But if I tell you what happened, don t tell him or Mom. Please? ROSE: (Puts down her iron, sits down at the table, pours a cup of tea.) We ll see. What happened? GINGER: I was with a boy who got shot last night. It s his blood on my shirt. ROSE: Oh, my God. Is that the boy I read about in the paper? GINGER: Yes. ROSE: (Sets down her tea. Takes a deep breath.) Do you know who shot him? 12

17 GINGER: I don t know his name, but I think I could find out. I ll never forget his face. He looked really mean. ROSE: (After a pause.) Maybe you should forget his face. GINGER: What? Grandma, you always know exactly what s right and what s wrong. How can it be right not to tell the police what I saw? They re looking for witnesses. ROSE: This is a dangerous person, Ginger. Don t get yourself involved in this. GINGER: I m already involved. I could call anonymously. ROSE: It s too dangerous. Just stay out of it. GINGER: He should be in jail. He might kill someone else. ROSE: And that someone could be you! GINGER: Grandma, Johnny had a gun, and I made him put it back in the car. (Puts her head in her hands and starts to cry.) It s my fault he was killed. He didn t even want to go to the party. I talked him into it. ROSE: (Gets up and stands behind GINGER and puts her arms around her.) You had no way of knowing what would happen. GINGER: It still happened. ROSE: It s not your fault, honey. (Moves over to the couch and fluffs up a pillow.) Come on over here and rest for a while. GINGER: (Goes over to the couch and curls up, clutching a stuffed bear.) I just wish I could live yesterday all over again. ROSE: (Puts an afghan over GINGER, stands behind her and puts her hand on GINGER S shoulders.) Oh, honey, we all wish that sometimes. (Hums a quiet song. BLACKOUT.) End of Scene Five Segue C SETTING: The monologue is spoken at the front of the stage during the scene change. MRS. APPLETON: (SPOTLIGHT ON as she ENTERS and begins cutting an article out of a newspaper.) I don t know why I save all these articles. I have a file folder full of them things my students have 13

18 been involved in. (Holds up a file folder full of newspaper articles. Puts the new clipping in it.) And these are just the ones I know about, the ones who have been caught. Johnny was in my class. He d been coming to class once or twice a week. I m sure Tank knows something about this, but of course I can t ask him about it. Even Ginger seems unusually distracted this week. Who can these kids talk to? I start the year with 30 students in each class, and I try to keep track of all of them, but it gets overwhelming. Usually I don t know why they stop coming to school. It just happens gradually. Something happens at home or on the streets, and they miss a day or two and then they re behind when they come back. They miss 4 or 5 assignments and their grades slide. I hate to give out D s and F s, but if they don t do the work, I don t have any choice. And then they see the F, they start thinking they re a failure, what s the use, and it s a downward slide from there. It s heartbreaking. End of Segue C Scene Six SETTING: A week later. Living room of WHITNEY S home. Table with three chairs CENTER. Another chair LEFT. Loveseat RIGHT. LIGHTS UP: SAMMIE and MEGAN are sitting on the floor in front of the couch, playing cards. SAMMIE: Thanks for inviting me over. I really needed to get out of my house for a while. MEGAN: How come? SAMMIE: (Sympathetic.) It s Ginger. If you ask her the slightest question, she either bites your head off or bursts into tears. MEGAN: She must be having a hard time. It s even been hard for Whitney, and she really didn t know Johnny very well. Ginger was his friend, wasn t she? SAMMIE: She was with him when he got shot. Then a couple days later, the police came to our house asking a lot of questions. My mom was totally trippin. They sent me to stay with Grandma Rose for two days, so I didn t hear all the details. MEGAN: It must be hard for your whole family. Poor Ginger. No wonder she s crying all the time. (WHITNEY ENTERS with BILLY.) 14

19 MEGAN/SAMMY: Hi, Billy. BILLY: Hi. WHITNEY: Wait here. I ll go ask my mom if we have some food for you. (Goes over near the door to the kitchen.) Mom, they re out of food at Billy s house. Do we have any extra food or money? DIANE: (ENTERS, reaches into her purse for money.) I only have five dollars. (Gives WHITNEY the money.) Take him into the kitchen. (WHITNEY gives BILLY the money, then they EXIT together through door to kitchen.) Give him that macaroni and the box of Crispix I got yesterday. There s a can of soup in the cupboard, and I think there s some bread left too. See if there s a stick of butter in the fridge. WHITNEY S VOICE: (From OFFSTAGE.) No, I don t see any. Oh, here it is. It s the last one. DIANE: Give it to him anyway. (WHITNEY RE-ENTERS with BILLY and hands him the sack of groceries.) There you go. It may not be much, but it s all we have. BILLY: Oh, thank you! (He EXITS.) WHITNEY: Mom, was that really your last five dollars? DIANE: Yes. I can t stand to see a child go hungry. I remember what that felt like. We don t have much, but you kids always have enough to eat. (She EXITS. MEGAN and SAMMIE resume their card game.) WHITNEY: (Crosses and sits down near them on the couch. She is curling her hair and putting on makeup while the younger girls are talking.) What are you doing? SAMMIE: Playing cards. MEGAN: Duh. SAMMIE: Did you see the fight in school today? MEGAN: Didn t everyone? It seemed like the whole school was crowded around those five girls. I know one of them, and I talked to her about it afterwards. She said she tried to stop the fight, but everyone pushed her right into the middle of the circle. When she saw how her friend was outnumbered and she couldn t get the other girls to stop, she just jumped in too. SAMMIE: Was she hurt bad? 15

20 MEGAN: Yes. When she was talking to me, she was still dizzy and she had a huge bump on her forehead. Right after that, she got called down to the office and I heard she got suspended. SAMMIE: I almost threw up when I saw all the blood running down that one girl s face. Everyone was acting like it was so exciting, like it was a big show or something, but I don t even want to go back to school. I get sick to my stomach every time I think about it. MEGAN: Me too. Whitney, are you going out tonight? WHITNEY: Mom was going to give me money to go to Laser-Zone. I ve been planning on it all week, and I really want to go. Well, I guess I can let Marcus pay for me. MEGAN: I thought you broke up with Marcus. WHITNEY: We might get back together. He keeps saying he wants to, but I m just not sure. I told him we could be friends, and he said he d take me to Laser-Zone. MEGAN: Mom told you not to let boys pay your way. WHITNEY: I know. She says that makes them think you owe them something. But I don t want to miss out on going to Laser-Zone just because Mom gave all her money to Billy. MEGAN: When are you leaving? WHITNEY: Marcus is picking me up at 7:30. His mom s making him bring his little brother Nathan along. So it won t be like a date or anything. SAMMIE: Oh, is Nathan his brother? I know him. He s really quiet, but I think he s nice. MEGAN: It s hard to get to know him. He s cute though. (Smiles at SAMMIE. BLACKOUT.) End of Scene Six Segue D SETTING: The monologue is spoken at the front of the stage during the scene change. MEGAN: (ENTERS. SPOTLIGHT ON.) It makes me mad to see little kids like Billy that don t have enough to eat! Why should anyone have to go to someone else s house asking for food? There are plenty 16

21 of people who have lots of money, and they could help families like Billy s, but they just don t care! In my school, there s this one girl named Josie and everyone makes fun of her because her clothes don t match and sometimes they say she smells bad. Whenever we have to choose partners, nobody wants to be her partner and if she starts crying about it, everyone laughs at her. I feel really bad about it, but I never say anything because I know if I did, everyone would just laugh at me. Sometimes I wonder if any of the other kids feel as bad about this as I do. I wish we could all just start being nicer to Josie. End of Segue D Scene Seven SETTING: That evening. In front of Laser-Zone. There two tables, each with two chairs. LIGHTS UP: There is LOUD MUSIC and FLASHING LIGHTS. SOUNDS of LASER-TAG come from OFFSTAGE. The MUSIC becomes quieter as WHITNEY and MARCUS ENTER. NATHAN trails behind a few paces. NATHAN: Are you about ready to go Marcus? We ve been here for two hours. MARCUS: Leave us alone for a while, Nate. I ll let you know when it s time to leave. NATHAN: Okay. I ll be over there with Art. (He EXITS.) WHITNEY: I m ready to leave now. This was a lot of fun, but I m supposed to be home in 15 minutes. MARCUS: A few minutes won t matter. Here, I got you a Coke. (Offers can.) Come over and sit down for a while. WHITNEY: Here is fine. (Indicates near the lights and side of the stage that the noise is coming from.) MARCUS: No, I want to get away from all the noise. Come over here. (WHITNEY accepts the Coke but sits down where she wants to, near Laser-Zone. MARCUS picks up her Coke and moves to another table, farther away. She follows him and sits down across the table from him.) Sit over here. I won t bite. 17

22 WHITNEY: I m fine here. (MARCUS moves to where she is sitting and puts his arm around her. WHITNEY gets up and moves away from him.) I don t want to start that again, Marcus. MARCUS: Sure you do. WHITNEY: No, I told you. I just want to be friends. MARCUS: Can t a friend get a little hug now and then? WHITNEY: Well, I guess, just a little hug. (She hugs MARCUS, and he pulls her to the chair and sits down, pulling her onto his lap.) MARCUS: I ve really missed you, Whitney. I can t stop thinking about you. (Tries to kiss her.) WHITNEY: Stop it, Marcus. I don t want to do this. (Gets up and moves away.) MARCUS: You always say that. I know you don t mean it. WHITNEY: I do mean it. This was why I broke up with you! Things were moving too fast. You promised it would be different tonight. MARCUS: It will be different. Let me show you. You ll like this. (He kisses her as she tries to turn her head away.) WHITNEY: Stop it. You re hurting me. MARCUS: You know I wouldn t hurt you. I love you. WHITNEY: Let me go! (He keeps kissing her and holds her so her arms are pinned. She breaks free.) MARCUS: I just can t help myself. You look so fine in that outfit. WHITNEY: Can t I look nice without you attacking me? MARCUS: (Beginning to get angry.) Hey, now, I m not attacking you. This is just the way guys are. WHITNEY: Well, I m leaving. MARCUS: Just one more kiss. WHITNEY: No! MARCUS: I m going to get what I deserve from you before we break up for good. (He pushes WHITNEY roughly onto the table, pins her down 18

23 and starts kissing her again. She kicks at the table, trying to attract attention.) WHITNEY: Help me! Someone help me! NATHAN: (ENTERS, runs over and jumps on MARCUS S back and pulls him off WHITNEY.) What are you doing, man? Leave the girl alone! MARCUS: Hey, we re not doing anything. Just having a little fun. NATHAN: Doesn t sound like she s having fun. MARCUS: Mind your own business. (Pushes NATHAN aside.) Just leave us alone. NATHAN: I ll leave you alone if you leave her alone. MARCUS: You ve already ruined everything. Just get out of here. (NATHAN EXITS, looking back over his shoulder at MARCUS and WHITNEY.) Let s go. Come on, I ll take you home. WHITNEY: I m not going home with you. I m calling my dad. MARCUS: Okay, fine. (Shrugs.) I m outta here. (He EXITS, angry. WHITNEY crosses her arms, looks up, shudders, then slumps in a gesture of relief. BLACKOUT.) End of Scene Seven Segue E SETTING: The monologue is spoken at the front of the stage during the scene change. CHRIS: (ENTERS. SPOTLIGHT ON.) Could something really happen in a public place, with people around? Things can happen anywhere. In a city park. Riding your bike or walking down the street. At home in your own kitchen. In your front yard while your brother is mowing the lawn. In your bedroom in the middle of the night with the doors locked. Just outside your window in the neighbor s front yard. In your cousin s driveway. In the school hallways. In the parking lot of the mall. At your uncle s funeral. On the school bus. 19

24 In an abandoned house. In your living room. In a church parking lot. End of Segue E Scene Eight SETTING: Later that night. Living room of NATHAN S and MARCUS S home. Three chairs UPSTAGE. Table and chair LEFT, loveseat RIGHT. AT RISE: NATHAN ENTERS with ART. NATHAN: Thanks for bringing me home, Art. Marcus probably doesn t care if I ever get home. ART: I ll stick around until he gets back, but then I m leaving! I don t even want to think about what he s going to do to you. NATHAN: I didn t even know it was Marcus until I was practically on top of him. I heard some girl yelling, and it was just instinct to try to help her out. ART: Nathan, the superhero! NATHAN: Don t talk to me about heroes. ART: I know. Some kids, like me, when we think of heroes, we think of someone like Michael Jordan [or current sports star]. But you... you think of your brother. NATHAN: Ever since I can remember, he s helped me out when I needed it. Remember that time he jumped in when those three kids were beating me up? ART: Yeah, I remember. NATHAN: And one time last year, Ralph was going after me, and Marcus tried to grab the belt away from him. ART: Marcus will be the one that s going after you now. NATHAN: He makes me sick. ART: Nate, you can t let things like this bother you so much. NATHAN: I can t help it. He s my brother! I never thought he d act like that. 20

25 ART: Well, even if it does bother you, don t let it show. Especially to him. NATHAN: You re right. Why should I care? ART: Here he comes. See ya. (He EXITS.) MARCUS: (ENTERS in a fury.) Now, just what were you trying to do? (NATHAN doesn t answer.) Don t pull one of your silent acts on me. I asked you a question! (No response from NATHAN.) You almost broke my back, you little punk! If you weren t my brother, I d have smashed your face in! NATHAN: (Moves away from MARCUS.) I don t want to talk about it. MARCUS: Well, I do! (Crosses and reaches out to turn NATHAN around. NATHAN pulls away, eludes him.) NATHAN: Leave me alone, Marcus, or... MARCUS: Or what? NATHAN: I don t know. MARCUS: (Suddenly uneasy.) You better not squeal to Mom or Ralph! NATHAN: I wasn t going to. Mom would die if she knew. She thinks you re perfect! Don t worry, I won t ever tell anybody. I d be too ashamed for you. MARCUS: Ashamed! What s that supposed to mean? NATHAN: How could you treat her like that, Marcus? MARCUS: I wasn t going to... I mean... she wanted me to! NATHAN: Is that why she was begging you to leave her alone? MARCUS: She was just acting! NATHAN: She was scared! MARCUS: Scared? Not that girl! She s had every guy in school! NATHAN: I ve never seen her with anyone but you! MARCUS: How would you know! You don t see anything. There are worse things happening all the time... all around you, but you don t even see them! NATHAN: I see what I need to see and I saw you clear as day. Why, Marcus? I always looked up to you. 21

26 MARCUS: Don t lay that hero stuff on me! I m just a normal guy with normal feelings. I go to school... I work... I m not anything special! You re making me sound like some kind of monster! NATHAN: I just want to hear you admit you did something wrong. MARCUS: Wrong? We ve been going out for almost seven months now. Don t I deserve something? You just wait, Nate. You just don t know what it s like. NATHAN: I do know what it s like. Just look at what happened to James. He s locked up for raping Nicole, and now she s walking around with a baby and she s only in 8th grade! MARCUS: Don t worry about that. If Whitney got pregnant, I could get four or five guys to say they had sex with her. They couldn t pin anything on me. NATHAN: You re living in the past! They got all this DNA testing now. They can have you paying child support for the next 20 years! MARCUS: I d find a way to get out of it. Leave town if I had to. NATHAN: Now, that s something I swear I ll never do. I m going to take care of any kids I have. Look how hard it was for Mom after Dad died. Marcus, do you remember how good it used to be? Why do you think Mom married Ralph, anyway? MARCUS: I wish I knew. I can t stand to hear her crying at night after he s been slappin her around. And I know it bothers her to see the way he treats us, but she won t ever stand up to him. Must be she thinks she can t support herself. Maybe she just thinks that staying with Ralph is better than being alone. NATHAN: I feel like laying into him whenever he hurts her, but he s so big. He could kill me. MARCUS: I know. Sometimes I get so mad, I want to kill him. I decided a long time ago I m better off just staying out of his way. (LOUD LAUGHTER from OFFSTAGE.) Here he is now. NATHAN: Sounds like he s been drinking. MARCUS: Yeah, only time we hear him laugh is when he s drinking. Later on he s bound to get mean. I really hate him. I m gonna get a job and move out. 22

27 NATHAN: Don t do that! I don t want to live here with just him and Mom. It s not so bad when you re here. (More LOUD LAUGHTER OFFSTAGE.) He scares me when he gets like this. Don t leave home, Marcus. MARCUS: You mean, be a hero? (Gives NATHAN a playful punch) NATHAN: (Smiles.) Yeah! (Both BOYS are smiling as RALPH ENTERS, obviously drunk, with a bottle in one hand. He laughs again, but his demeanor changes at the sight of the boys.) RALPH: What are you two starin at? What you been up to? NATHAN: Nothin much. We just got back from Laser-Zone. RALPH: Bet you had fun. How many girls did you blast in the butt? NATHAN: It wasn t like that. RALPH: (To NATHAN, pushing him out of the way.) Maybe not you, (Crosses to MARCUS.) but how about you? MARCUS: Yeah. RALPH: Yeah, what? Don t you have a tongue in your head? I ask you a question, you better answer me. MARCUS: I did. RALPH: You smartin off to me? MARCUS: Nope. RALPH: Yeah. Nope. Can t you talk? You better show me some respect. (Gives MARCUS a shove. MARCUS steps back a couple of steps, clenching his fists, then crosses away.) MARCUS: (Quiet, but angry.) I don t respect a drunk. RALPH: After all I ve done for you? MARCUS: What have you ever done for me? RALPH: I go to work every day so you two can eat up my paycheck. MARCUS: You re supposed to support us! Dad never complained about us eating. RALPH: Oh, Daddy was perfect, wasn t he? Well, I m your father now, and it s about time you got used to it. 23

28 NATHAN: (Sees a fight brewing, tries to interrupt it.) What were you laughing about when you came in? RALPH: I m sure you d like to know, wouldn t you? (Laughs again.) NATHAN: It s just... you sounded happy. RALPH: (To MARCUS.) See, now, Nate isn t afraid to talk to me. MARCUS: (No longer able to stand it.) I m not afraid of you! (Moves towards RALPH and shoves him. RALPH moves back, takes a drink from his bottle, then pulls out a gun. MARCUS and NATHAN step back.) RALPH: (To MARCUS.) Looks like I ve got you scared now! NATHAN: (Moves between RALPH and MARCUS.) You ve got me scared, Ral... Dad. RALPH: Oh, I wouldn t waste this on you. But (Pats gun.) my little buddy here just got rid of another one of my miseries. NATHAN: What do you mean? RALPH: Go outside. See for yourself. NATHAN: (Looks at the gun and at MARCUS.) You come out and show me... Dad. RALPH: Oh, no! I m staying here with buddy and Mister Brave Man. Now you get outside! NATHAN: Okay, but don t hurt Marcus. Please don t hurt him, Dad. (He EXITS, looking back over his shoulder at MARCUS and RALPH.) RALPH: (Waves gun at MARCUS.) Now, I want to hear you talk to me. And you can start by saying I m sorry, Dad. You hear me? Dad. MARCUS: You ll have to shoot me first. You want to fight me, put down your gun, and I ll fight with my fists. You ll be beggin me to stop. SALLY: (ENTERS. Screams when she sees what is happening.) Ralph! Stop! RALPH: (Startled. Turns to her.) You giving me orders? SALLY: You re drunk! You don t know what you re doing! RALPH: Oh, I know what I m doing, all right. (Waves the gun towards MARCUS again.) NATHAN S VOICE: (From OFFSTAGE, screams.) Scarlett! 24

29 SALLY: Nathan? (Moves to door. RALPH moves and blocks her way.) Ralph, please, let me see what s wrong. (NATHAN plunges through the door. He can hardly breathe from shock.) Nate? Are you all right, baby? (NATHAN stares ahead.) RALPH: (Laughs.) So, what do you think? SALLY: Nathan NATHAN: You killed Scarlett! MARCUS: What the SALLY: I don t understand. NATHAN: She s dead! Scarlett s dead! RALPH: Yep. I put her out of her misery... and my own. SALLY: But why, Ralph? A little dog... RALPH: Got tired of her yappin and howlin all the time. I was tryin to take a nap, and she wouldn t shut up. I warned her. She was just a dumb animal. Plenty more where she came from. NATHAN: Dad gave her to me! MARCUS: You dirty... rotten... (Moves towards RALPH.) SALLY: (Steps between MARCUS and RALPH.) No, Marcus. RALPH: Don t you start callin me names. SALLY: (Grabs hold of RALPH S arm.) I won t let you hurt them anymore. RALPH: (Turns on SALLY, grabs her, starts pushing her away.) You re the one s gonna get hurt. SALLY: Ralph... please... MARCUS: (Moves in.) Take your hands off her. (Grabs RALPH, who falls down, dropping the gun. NATHAN quickly runs across, picks up the gun and runs OUT.) SALLY: (Pushes past RALPH, runs to door.) Nathan, you come back here with that! Oh, dear Lord! (LIGHTS DOWN. RALPH, SALLY and MARCUS EXIT.) NATHAN: (Runs ONSTAGE as SPOTLIGHT comes UP on him. Falls to his knees, gun in hand. Attempts to catch his breath.) I loved 25

30 that little dog more than anyone. Scarlett never asked for anything. Just someone to scratch her back... feed her. I could have a rotten day, and she d see me and come running to me, making those little happy sounds. She d look at me with those big eyes, and nothing seemed so bad anymore. Oh, God, I m going to miss her! (Sudden sob, covers his face, then looks up.) Why did you do it, Ralph? Not Dad! You re not my father! I hate you! (Looks down at the gun, pauses, then speaks in a quiet voice.) I should ve killed him. (Another pause, looking at the gun, thinking.) What s the use? What s the use of anything? Nothing s ever gonna get better. I m tired of fighting everyone. (Holds up the gun, looks at it for a moment, then looks upward.) I know it s not right. Preacher Davis says so and Mom would too. I know all that... but, I just can t... Mom, please forgive me. I don t mean to hurt you... I just can t... (Raises gun, holds it out, pointed at himself.) MARCUS: (ENTERS running.) No, Nate... Nooooo. (BLACKOUT. In DARKNESS, SOUND of GUNSHOT.) Nathan! End of Scene Eight Segue F SETTING: The monologue is spoken at the front of the stage during the scene change. AMY: (ENTERS.) I ve been volunteering at this hospital for three months, and this was the hardest night I ve ever been through. When I started here, I thought it would be like E.R, on T.V. It s nothing like that. Mostly, it s just broken bones, minor car accidents, that sort of thing. But when it s someone really hurt, especially someone my age, it s hard to just go about my job, cleaning up the mess after the doctors do their work. And tonight, when they brought Nathan in, I recognized him. The first thing that registered was his shirt. I recognized the shirt, and then I saw the blood on it. He sat in front of me in math class and I guess I must have stared at that shirt when I was bored listening to the teacher. I never talked to him much, just hi when we passed in the hallway at school, but he seemed nice. I can tell from what the doctors are saying that they don t know if he s going to live. I keep thinking about what Nathan s family is going through right now. End of Segue F 26

31 Scene Nine SETTING: The next day. Hospital waiting room. Three chairs CENTER. Three other chairs LEFT. A small couch with a coffee table in front of it is RIGHT. LIGHTS UP: MARCUS and SALLY sit on the couch, thumbing through magazines, distractedly. MARCUS: (Tosses his magazine down, looks up at SALLY.) I tried to stop him, Mom. SALLY: I know you did, Marcus. You did what you could, and now it s out of our hands. We can only wait. (Pause.) I just don t know what got into Ralph, shooting that little dog. He knew how much she meant to Nate. MARCUS: Mom, sometimes I wonder why you ever married Ralph. We were doing fine without him. SALLY: It must have looked that way to you. I tried to keep my troubles away from you and Nathan. But those years were hard for me, Marcus. I married your father the summer after I got out of high school and when you were born, all I wanted to do was stay home and take care of you. He was making enough money, and it worked out fine. We were so happy... do you remember that? I hope so. You had six years of the kind of childhood you deserved, surrounded by love. MARCUS: I remember. SALLY: After the accident, all our savings went to medical bills. And then the funeral put me into debt, and I never could climb out. I m not trained for anything but minimum wage jobs. MARCUS: I think you d be a good teacher. SALLY: Maybe so, but I don t have time or money to go back to school. You boys need food and clothes, and I don t want you turning in the wrong direction to get the things you need. MARCUS: I understand all that, Mom, but I ll never understand why you married Ralph. SALLY: (Sighs.) Ralph came into my life when I was desperate. He seemed like a nice man. I didn t know how bad his drinking was until after we got married. I ve always tried to keep his meanness on myself, away from you kids. But lately he seems to be turning on you. Now, after last night, I don t know what to do. 27

32 MARCUS: I can work more hours. SALLY: You need to finish school so the same thing doesn t happen to you. I ll figure out a way. It s not your problem, Marcus. MARCUS: Maybe not. But this thing with Nate, Mom, this is my problem. Nathan and I have always been close and he always made me feel so important. Sometimes just trying to live up to what he thinks I am makes me a better person. But last night he saw me and Whitney together. We were messing around. He thought I was going to hurt her, I guess, and he got really mad at me. He s still a kid. He thinks it s so easy to do what s right. It s not. Sometimes I don t know what a girl wants. I remember how Dad was with you. He never hit you or yelled at you... I d like to be like that. But I m afraid I m getting to be more like Ralph, even though I hate him. GINGER: (ENTERS along with WHITNEY, TANK, CONNIE, CHARLES and ROSE.) We heard what happened. How s Nathan doing? MARCUS: (Looks up, surprised to see them.) Thanks for coming. (He stands and shakes hands with CONNIE, CHARLES and ROSE. ALL sit except MARCUS and WHITNEY. To WHITNEY, gentle.) I m surprised to see you, Whitney. WHITNEY: This is what I mean by friendship, Marcus. (She holds her arms out to him, and they embrace. Then they both sit down with the others.) ROSE: You kids are living in a hard world. I think it s harder than it was when I was young. We didn t have much money, but maybe that was better. Hardly anyone could afford guns and they were harder to come by. Now, it seems like everyone has a gun and if they don t, they think they better get one because everyone else has one. GINGER: I ve been thinking about that too. But you know what? Having a gun doesn t protect you. It makes it more dangerous for you, especially if people know you carry one. Think about it... say you have a gun and you re threatened by two people. You know one has a gun and the other one doesn t. Which one are you going to shoot first? (Pauses as OTHERS think about it.) Word gets around. The guy who shot Johnny probably knew that Johnny carried a gun. I ve done so much thinking about all this, but it won t bring Johnny back. I m just hoping Nathan pulls through. I ve been to enough funerals. 28

33 TANK: Johnny s funeral was the third one I ve gone to this year. All my boys are dying, and I ll probably be next. Why try to succeed when I probably won t live longer than a few more years? I look at the little son of one of my friends, two years old and already lost his daddy. So many of us don t have fathers. It s hard to know how to be a good father even if we do live long enough. I ve got bolts in my knee from where I was shot, and it still hurts to walk. But that kind of pain is nothing compared to the pain of watching your whole crew dying off. You get numb trying not to think about it. CONNIE: When Ginger finally told me what happened, I couldn t breathe. She could have been killed. Just being at a party, having fun. It could have been her funeral everyone was going to. It could be any one of our kids. CHARLES: I m strict with my kids. I know sometimes they resent me for that, but I know some of the things that can happen. Sometimes I feel like I m sending them out to walk across a minefield, and they think it s just a field of daisies. Part of me wants them to believe it is a field of daisies, that life is beautiful... because it is. I remember being a teenager and I wouldn t want them to miss out on any of the fun of being young. But I want them to live through it. I want them to grow up and get married and have children. (LIGHTS DOWN on waiting room. AMY EXITS and immediately RE-ENTERS wheeling NATHAN in a wheelchair. He wears a sling on the arm he didn t hold the gun in.) NATHAN: (Looks around with an amazed expression.) Tonight I know that I want to grow up. Last night I didn t think I could do it without my hero, without my father, without my dog. I felt like I just couldn t make it. I can still hear the gunshot ringing in my ears. I m surprised to be alive. I ll never forget hearing Marcus call out my name. I heard something in his voice that made me change my mind, but I thought it was too late. I was pulling the trigger. It must have been that exact second he called out, and I moved my arm just enough to shoot my shoulder instead of my face. What was it I heard in my brother s voice? It reminded me of my real father, but it wasn t that. No, not my father coming back to save me. And not my hero coming to the rescue. It was... it was... love... I heard my brother call my name... and I stayed alive. (LIGHTS stay on NATHAN for a moment of silence. BLACKOUT.) END OF PLAY 29

34 PRODUCTION NOTES PROPERTIES BROUGHT ON, Pre-opening: Saxophone (JOHNNY). BROUGHT ON, Prologue: Book of poems (MRS. APPLETON). BROUGHT ON, Scene One: Pad of paper, pencil (TANK). BROUGHT ON, Scene Two: Boom box (TANK). ON STAGE, Scene Three: Soft drinks, plastic cups on large table. BROUGHT ON, Scene Three: Gun, car keys (JOHNNY); gun with clip (RORY); white shirt (GINGER). BROUGHT ON, Segue A: Bible (REV. DAVIS). ON STAGE, Scene Four: Coffee mug, newspaper, cereal bowl, spoon on large table, remote control. BROUGHT ON, Segue B: Newspaper (RORY). ON STAGE, Scene Five: Iron and ironing board, piece of clothing on ironing board, teapot, cup, saucer on large table, stuffed animal, afghan on loveseat. BROUGHT ON, Segue C: Newspaper, scissors, file folder with clippings (MRS. APPLETON). BROUGHT ON, Scene Six: Deck of playing cards (SAMMIE, MEGAN); purse, money (DIANE); filled grocery sack, makeup, curling iron (WHITNEY). ON STAGE, Scene Seven: Tables and chairs. BROUGHT ON, Scene Seven: Can of Coke (MARCUS). BROUGHT ON, Scene Eight: Liquor bottle, gun (RALPH); gun (NATHAN). ON STAGE, Scene Nine: Magazines on coffee table. BROUGHT ON, Scene Nine: Wheelchair (AMY); arm sling (NATHAN). SET DESCRIPTION The settings can be presented simply, through the use of a few pieces of furniture that can be arranged in a different pattern for each scene. See diagrams at end of playbook. 30

35 The original production was played on an open stage and utilized two small round tables, one large round table, a small settee or loveseat, one coffee table, a small portable television set and eight chairs. To vary the appearance of the large round table, different tablecloths and centerpieces were used in each scene when it was needed. The look of the settee was changed by an exchange of pillows and/or throws for each of its scenes. Two chairs were permanently located before the front curtain, one at STAGE LEFT and one at STAGE RIGHT for SCENE ONE and all SEGUES. Scene Two consisted of three chairs CENTER STAGE, also played before the front curtain. The actors at the end of the scene carried them off for placement in Scene Three. Additional set dressing may be added if desired. CASTING The original production was cast in an ethnically diverse community. Casting was racial-blind, with one exception. The decision was made that Marcus and Whitney should be the same race in order to maintain the focus of Scene Seven on sexual violence and away from racial stereotypes. Families and groups of friends were deliberately cast in racially mixed groupings. LANGUAGE The play includes slang and other references that is current at the time of publication, but this will change. Actors are encouraged to update the language as appropriate. SOUND Pre Opening and Prologue: Saxophone music. Scene Two: Music from boom box. Scene Three: Party sounds, tires screeching, car pulling up, car stereo, car doors slamming, gunshot, siren. Segue A: Saxophone music. Scene Seven: Music, sounds of laser-tag. Scene Eight: Gunshot. 31

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