(no subject)
First couple scenes from one of my new plays, the one about all the different kinds of love and how toxic they can be. Characters are based loosely on people that I know in situations and relationships that they would never actually be in. Kit and Frankie and Wolfe are the characters they I started to write in one of the exercises for Kia Corthron's master class, and I liked them so much that I had to use them.
Very, very rough first draft, of course.
The stage remains black as music begins to play, softly at first, then getting louder. Slowly, party sounds can be heard as well - people laughing, chattering, drinks popping open, clapping, etc. Through the noise, a GIRL is heard, crying. Her crying gets louder as the other sounds begin to fade again, until she can be heard clearly.
GIRL
Please... stop... stop it...
She starts to scream. Footsteps are heard running, then a door slams open.
BOY
What the fuck?! You piece of -
Sounds of a scuffle, fighting. Things falling, breaking, more footsteps running.
OTHER BOY
Steve? Dude, what the -
STEVE (BOY)
Some asshole. Some asshole with Sophie; she was crying, he was -
OTHER BOY
Holy... which one? Point him out, I swear to God, man, we'll -
STEVE
I don't know! I don't know which one!
OTHER BOY
What did he -
STEVE
That one! That one, there. Don't fucking move, asshole!
FRANKIE
What?!
OTHER BOY
That fucker's fast.
STEVE
Where did he go?!
OTHER BOY
Is that the guy that's been -
STEVE
Where did he fucking go?!
Another door slams. Music is muffled. Sounds of a boy breathing heavily, crickets chirping, footsteps running. The footsteps slow to a stop; sounds of a cell phone dialing.
FRANKIE
Wolfe. Come get me. Delta Tau house.
Pause.
FRANKIE (CONT’D)
If you love me, you won't ask questions. You'll just get the fuck down here.
Silence. Then, LIGHTS UP on KIT CARTHRIDGE'S living room. It is tastefully decorated with matching furniture. KIT (24) is curled up on her sofa in a kimono, sipping a cup of coffee and staring at her television. Generic horror movie music plays from the TV. A scream is heard as MOLLY (25) walks out of the bathroom, wearing one towel as she scrubs her wet hair with another one.
KIT
Look at this. Do you see this? Bitch sees a guy in a clown mask bust out of her closet and wave a knife in her face, and what does she do? Does she get a knife of her own from the kitchen? Does she run out the front door? Does she do the - the self-defense WINGS thing that Sandra Bullock does in Miss Congeniality? No. She runs upstairs. Up. Stairs. (to the TV) Common sense, bitch! Common sense!
MOLLY
I don't think she can hear you.
KIT
They should put me in a horror movie. I'd do it the way it should be done. Some crazy psychopath guy busts up in my face, and I mace him. Bam. Right between the eyes. I don't play around.
MOLLY
Wasp spray. They say you're supposed to use wasp spray, I think.
KIT
That's stupid.
MOLLY
No, really. It's more accurate, and it shoots further. That's what they say. I don't even use mace any more.
KIT
Really.
MOLLY
Yeah.
KIT
You have some right now?
MOLLY
There's some in my purse, and back at my place, I've got some by my bed and another can by the door. I'm not making any mistakes. My sister learned that lesson for me.
Pause.
KIT
So... she's -
MOLLY
Home now. Still doesn't want to talk about it, and to tell you the truth, Kathy, neither do I.
Silence. KIT puts down her coffee cup and opens her arms. MOLLY sits down next to her and leans her head on KIT'S shoulder.
MOLLY (CONT'D)
Love you, honey.
KIT
Back at you.
MOLLY
Gia's coming back this weekend, and after that, I'll be out of your hair. Pinky promise.
KIT
Oh, please. Mi apartamento es su apartamento.
MOLLY
Sweetie, you know I don't habla no Spanish. But... thanks. For, you know, the thousand little things you do. Without you, I think I'd be kind of fucked.
KIT
What can I say? I'm a superhero.
MOLLY
Pretty damn close, yeah.
Pause. KIT kisses MOLLY on top of her head.
KIT
Know what the problem with this flick is?
MOLLY
What, honey?
KIT
It's in English. No good horror movies are in English. Let's check out Video Vidal and rent Ichi the Killer.
MOLLY
What about Jacob?
KIT
Eat hummus, freak ourselves out, drink tequila, and go swimming at four AM 'til the cops give us the boot. Sound good?
MOLLY
Kathy.
KIT
What?
MOLLY
Jacob.
KIT
Oh. Eh. He'll live. He needs to work on his dissertation anyway.
MOLLY
You canceled on him two days ago.
KIT
You needed me.
MOLLY
You're doing it again.
KIT
I'm not doing shit.
MOLLY
You really care about him.
KIT
Ha. She just maced the clown guy. Or wasp sprayed him. Sweet.
MOLLY
I can tell by the way you're trying to run screaming in the other direction.
KIT
Molly, you don't want to talk about your shit? I don't want to talk about mine.
Silence.
MOLLY
Fair enough.
KIT
(gently mocking)
Love you, honey.
MOLLY
(playing along)
Back at you.
KIT
So. Ichi the Killer?
MOLLY
Ichi the Killer.
Silence. They continue to watch the movie. Another scream is heard. MOLLY flinches visibly. KIT doesn't falter.
KIT
I'm telling you. Right in the eyes. (softer) Right in the fucking eyes.
LIGHTS FADE.
POLICE SIRENS whiz by in the darkness. After a few seconds, LIGHTS UP on two men. FRANKIE (18) has his back to the audience, relieving himself. WOLFE (25) is crouching down near the front of the stage.
WOLFE
I think we lost them.
Pause.
WOLFE (CONT'D)
Jesus, did I really just say that? Ugh. What's next, "you'll never take me alive, coppers?" Next thing you know, I'll just be wearing, like, fedoras and pinstripes and suspenders and carrying - what did gangsters carry? A tommy gun? Is that what it's called? I'll look like a reject from the Newsies set gone rebel or something. Promise me you'll slap me before I get that far. I'm seriously counting on you.
Silence.
WOLFE (CONT'D)
Frankie?
FRANKIE
Yeah.
WOLFE
Are you okay?
FRANKIE
Yeah.
He zips up and pulls his hood over his head, walking towards WOLFE.
FRANKIE (CONT'D)
I wanted to let you calm down.
WOLFE
I was calm. I am calm. Check out my hands. Super steady. I could, like, diffuse a bomb.
FRANKIE
You ramble when you're losing it.
WOLFE
I don't ramble. Maybe I can get a little wordy sometimes, yeah, I can see that, but I always know exactly where I'm going with what I’m saying, and I always have -
FRANKIE
You're rambling. You're losing it. Calm down.
Silence.
WOLFE
Well, what am I supposed to do, Frankie?
FRANKIE
Stay calm for me.
WOLFE
You're the calm one; you're supposed to be calm for me!
FRANKIE
I can't do that right now, Wolfe. Okay? I'm being chased by the fucking cops.
WOLFE
I know, but for what?
FRANKIE
For a mistake.
WOLFE
Yours or theirs?
Silence.
WOLFE (CONT'D)
Are you planning on telling me why I ditched rehearsal and drove, like, thirty miles to drag you out of a frat house and run my car into the woods to hide from a bunch of cops?
FRANKIE
Not right now, no.
WOLFE
You must be kidding. You're kidding, right? I think you at least owe me that much - I mean, my God, Frankie, I evaded the police, I could go to jail if they -
FRANKIE kisses WOLFE, cutting him off.
WOLFE (CONT'D)
Unfair.
FRANKIE
Let's get back on the road.
WOLFE
So unfair.
FRANKIE
People make mistakes. Even cops.
WOLFE
You're infuriating.
FRANKIE
We just need to lay low until this blows over.
WOLFE
You infuriate me. Did you know that?
FRANKIE
Far away from here.
WOLFE
(serious)
Don't do that if you don't mean it.
FRANKIE
What?
WOLFE
Don't "what" me. You know what.
FRANKIE
I mean it.
WOLFE
Right.
FRANKIE
You know that I love you.
WOLFE
Well -
FRANKIE
Well?
WOLFE
Well, yeah, but -
FRANKIE
But what?
WOLFE
But... how? How do you -
FRANKIE
Wolfe, you are one of two people in this world that I trust unconditionally with my life. I would die for you.
WOLFE
Not really what I meant, Frankie.
Silence.
FRANKIE
I know. But does it really matter?
WOLFE
I love you.
Silence.
FRANKIE
I need someone to be the adult here. Okay?
WOLFE
You're an adult.
FRANKIE
I'm eighteen.
WOLFE
Eighteen's plenty grown up.
FRANKIE
Barely eighteen.
WOLFE
You've been an adult since you were twelve.
FRANKIE
And you still aren't one at twenty-five.
WOLFE
Harsh.
FRANKIE
I'm serious. Grow up, and help me here. I need you.
Silence.
WOLFE
Like I could tell you no.
FRANKIE
Okay. We need to go to Florida.
WOLFE
Why Flori... you mean we need to go to Kit.
FRANKIE
Yeah. I mean we need to go to Kit.
WOLFE
She's got a life without us now.
FRANKIE
No, she doesn't. Not really.
WOLFE
She's trying to get one.
FRANKIE
You get those texts, too. The Facebook messages. "Please, please, please, come visit, I miss you guys, I love you guys, these assholes don't get me."
WOLFE
I think she's better off without us.
FRANKIE
I think she can't survive without us.
Pause.
FRANKIE (CONT'D)
She's our best friend, Wolfe, and something's off without her. We're falling apart. Kit's depressed all the time. What if she starts cutting again? And you're always so jumpy, and when's the last time you got a full night's sleep? Or knew the name of the guy you woke up next to?
WOLFE
And what about you?
FRANKIE
What about me?
WOLFE
Did you start drinking again?
FRANKIE
I never really stopped.
WOLFE
Frankie -
FRANKIE
Lay off. That's my point. Without each other, without all of us together, we'll just keep doing stupid fucking shit.
WOLFE
Like what you did tonight?
FRANKIE
Like what they think I did tonight.
WOLFE
We've been putting this off since she left for undergrad. It's always been her trekking her happy ass back home to see us. You really think everything's gonna be, like, all hearts and flowers if we show up six months into her first year of grad school with a bunch of cops on our tail?
FRANKIE
Yeah. I do.
WOLFE
What makes you so sure?
FRANKIE
Because Kit can't tell me no, either.
Silence.
WOLFE
Do you ever get the nagging feeling that we're... you know. Poisonous? That we're all kind of, like, toxic for each other?
FRANKIE
That's codependence for you.
WOLFE
Shouldn't we do something about that?
FRANKIE
We are. We're consolidating the biohazard bags.
Pause.
FRANKIE (CONT'D)
I'm scared, Wolfe. All right? I'm too smart for my own good, and I try to act like a badass all the time, but underneath it all, I'm still a kid. I'm a kid, and I'm scared, and I need you and Kit to make me feel like my life makes sense again. So can we just go? Please?
Silence.
WOLFE
Yeah. Okay.
FRANKIE starts to exit.
WOLFE (CONT'D)
But first, I need you to tell me what's going on. I mean, it's not going to change anything in the long run. You know I'd still take you to hell and back if you wanted. Which is good, because that's probably where we're going. You know. Considering...
FRANKIE
Yeah.
Pause.
FRANKIE (CONT'D)
There's a guy who's been haunting the frat houses on campus and raping drunk girls. They can't catch him because he's too fast, but he's about my height, and he wears a hoodie like mine. Another girl got raped tonight, and they think I did it.
WOLFE
Did you?
Pause.
WOLFE (CONT'D)
I cannot believe I just asked you that.
FRANKIE
It's okay. Besides, I'm pretty sure you already know the answer.
Pause. WOLFE pulls FRANKIE into a hug.
WOLFE
You have to call her. I can't talk and drive at the same time.
FRANKIE exits.
WOLFE (CONT'D)
Manipulative little bastard.
Not a bad start, I don't think.
Very, very rough first draft, of course.
The stage remains black as music begins to play, softly at first, then getting louder. Slowly, party sounds can be heard as well - people laughing, chattering, drinks popping open, clapping, etc. Through the noise, a GIRL is heard, crying. Her crying gets louder as the other sounds begin to fade again, until she can be heard clearly.
GIRL
Please... stop... stop it...
She starts to scream. Footsteps are heard running, then a door slams open.
BOY
What the fuck?! You piece of -
Sounds of a scuffle, fighting. Things falling, breaking, more footsteps running.
OTHER BOY
Steve? Dude, what the -
STEVE (BOY)
Some asshole. Some asshole with Sophie; she was crying, he was -
OTHER BOY
Holy... which one? Point him out, I swear to God, man, we'll -
STEVE
I don't know! I don't know which one!
OTHER BOY
What did he -
STEVE
That one! That one, there. Don't fucking move, asshole!
FRANKIE
What?!
OTHER BOY
That fucker's fast.
STEVE
Where did he go?!
OTHER BOY
Is that the guy that's been -
STEVE
Where did he fucking go?!
Another door slams. Music is muffled. Sounds of a boy breathing heavily, crickets chirping, footsteps running. The footsteps slow to a stop; sounds of a cell phone dialing.
FRANKIE
Wolfe. Come get me. Delta Tau house.
Pause.
FRANKIE (CONT’D)
If you love me, you won't ask questions. You'll just get the fuck down here.
Silence. Then, LIGHTS UP on KIT CARTHRIDGE'S living room. It is tastefully decorated with matching furniture. KIT (24) is curled up on her sofa in a kimono, sipping a cup of coffee and staring at her television. Generic horror movie music plays from the TV. A scream is heard as MOLLY (25) walks out of the bathroom, wearing one towel as she scrubs her wet hair with another one.
KIT
Look at this. Do you see this? Bitch sees a guy in a clown mask bust out of her closet and wave a knife in her face, and what does she do? Does she get a knife of her own from the kitchen? Does she run out the front door? Does she do the - the self-defense WINGS thing that Sandra Bullock does in Miss Congeniality? No. She runs upstairs. Up. Stairs. (to the TV) Common sense, bitch! Common sense!
MOLLY
I don't think she can hear you.
KIT
They should put me in a horror movie. I'd do it the way it should be done. Some crazy psychopath guy busts up in my face, and I mace him. Bam. Right between the eyes. I don't play around.
MOLLY
Wasp spray. They say you're supposed to use wasp spray, I think.
KIT
That's stupid.
MOLLY
No, really. It's more accurate, and it shoots further. That's what they say. I don't even use mace any more.
KIT
Really.
MOLLY
Yeah.
KIT
You have some right now?
MOLLY
There's some in my purse, and back at my place, I've got some by my bed and another can by the door. I'm not making any mistakes. My sister learned that lesson for me.
Pause.
KIT
So... she's -
MOLLY
Home now. Still doesn't want to talk about it, and to tell you the truth, Kathy, neither do I.
Silence. KIT puts down her coffee cup and opens her arms. MOLLY sits down next to her and leans her head on KIT'S shoulder.
MOLLY (CONT'D)
Love you, honey.
KIT
Back at you.
MOLLY
Gia's coming back this weekend, and after that, I'll be out of your hair. Pinky promise.
KIT
Oh, please. Mi apartamento es su apartamento.
MOLLY
Sweetie, you know I don't habla no Spanish. But... thanks. For, you know, the thousand little things you do. Without you, I think I'd be kind of fucked.
KIT
What can I say? I'm a superhero.
MOLLY
Pretty damn close, yeah.
Pause. KIT kisses MOLLY on top of her head.
KIT
Know what the problem with this flick is?
MOLLY
What, honey?
KIT
It's in English. No good horror movies are in English. Let's check out Video Vidal and rent Ichi the Killer.
MOLLY
What about Jacob?
KIT
Eat hummus, freak ourselves out, drink tequila, and go swimming at four AM 'til the cops give us the boot. Sound good?
MOLLY
Kathy.
KIT
What?
MOLLY
Jacob.
KIT
Oh. Eh. He'll live. He needs to work on his dissertation anyway.
MOLLY
You canceled on him two days ago.
KIT
You needed me.
MOLLY
You're doing it again.
KIT
I'm not doing shit.
MOLLY
You really care about him.
KIT
Ha. She just maced the clown guy. Or wasp sprayed him. Sweet.
MOLLY
I can tell by the way you're trying to run screaming in the other direction.
KIT
Molly, you don't want to talk about your shit? I don't want to talk about mine.
Silence.
MOLLY
Fair enough.
KIT
(gently mocking)
Love you, honey.
MOLLY
(playing along)
Back at you.
KIT
So. Ichi the Killer?
MOLLY
Ichi the Killer.
Silence. They continue to watch the movie. Another scream is heard. MOLLY flinches visibly. KIT doesn't falter.
KIT
I'm telling you. Right in the eyes. (softer) Right in the fucking eyes.
LIGHTS FADE.
POLICE SIRENS whiz by in the darkness. After a few seconds, LIGHTS UP on two men. FRANKIE (18) has his back to the audience, relieving himself. WOLFE (25) is crouching down near the front of the stage.
WOLFE
I think we lost them.
Pause.
WOLFE (CONT'D)
Jesus, did I really just say that? Ugh. What's next, "you'll never take me alive, coppers?" Next thing you know, I'll just be wearing, like, fedoras and pinstripes and suspenders and carrying - what did gangsters carry? A tommy gun? Is that what it's called? I'll look like a reject from the Newsies set gone rebel or something. Promise me you'll slap me before I get that far. I'm seriously counting on you.
Silence.
WOLFE (CONT'D)
Frankie?
FRANKIE
Yeah.
WOLFE
Are you okay?
FRANKIE
Yeah.
He zips up and pulls his hood over his head, walking towards WOLFE.
FRANKIE (CONT'D)
I wanted to let you calm down.
WOLFE
I was calm. I am calm. Check out my hands. Super steady. I could, like, diffuse a bomb.
FRANKIE
You ramble when you're losing it.
WOLFE
I don't ramble. Maybe I can get a little wordy sometimes, yeah, I can see that, but I always know exactly where I'm going with what I’m saying, and I always have -
FRANKIE
You're rambling. You're losing it. Calm down.
Silence.
WOLFE
Well, what am I supposed to do, Frankie?
FRANKIE
Stay calm for me.
WOLFE
You're the calm one; you're supposed to be calm for me!
FRANKIE
I can't do that right now, Wolfe. Okay? I'm being chased by the fucking cops.
WOLFE
I know, but for what?
FRANKIE
For a mistake.
WOLFE
Yours or theirs?
Silence.
WOLFE (CONT'D)
Are you planning on telling me why I ditched rehearsal and drove, like, thirty miles to drag you out of a frat house and run my car into the woods to hide from a bunch of cops?
FRANKIE
Not right now, no.
WOLFE
You must be kidding. You're kidding, right? I think you at least owe me that much - I mean, my God, Frankie, I evaded the police, I could go to jail if they -
FRANKIE kisses WOLFE, cutting him off.
WOLFE (CONT'D)
Unfair.
FRANKIE
Let's get back on the road.
WOLFE
So unfair.
FRANKIE
People make mistakes. Even cops.
WOLFE
You're infuriating.
FRANKIE
We just need to lay low until this blows over.
WOLFE
You infuriate me. Did you know that?
FRANKIE
Far away from here.
WOLFE
(serious)
Don't do that if you don't mean it.
FRANKIE
What?
WOLFE
Don't "what" me. You know what.
FRANKIE
I mean it.
WOLFE
Right.
FRANKIE
You know that I love you.
WOLFE
Well -
FRANKIE
Well?
WOLFE
Well, yeah, but -
FRANKIE
But what?
WOLFE
But... how? How do you -
FRANKIE
Wolfe, you are one of two people in this world that I trust unconditionally with my life. I would die for you.
WOLFE
Not really what I meant, Frankie.
Silence.
FRANKIE
I know. But does it really matter?
WOLFE
I love you.
Silence.
FRANKIE
I need someone to be the adult here. Okay?
WOLFE
You're an adult.
FRANKIE
I'm eighteen.
WOLFE
Eighteen's plenty grown up.
FRANKIE
Barely eighteen.
WOLFE
You've been an adult since you were twelve.
FRANKIE
And you still aren't one at twenty-five.
WOLFE
Harsh.
FRANKIE
I'm serious. Grow up, and help me here. I need you.
Silence.
WOLFE
Like I could tell you no.
FRANKIE
Okay. We need to go to Florida.
WOLFE
Why Flori... you mean we need to go to Kit.
FRANKIE
Yeah. I mean we need to go to Kit.
WOLFE
She's got a life without us now.
FRANKIE
No, she doesn't. Not really.
WOLFE
She's trying to get one.
FRANKIE
You get those texts, too. The Facebook messages. "Please, please, please, come visit, I miss you guys, I love you guys, these assholes don't get me."
WOLFE
I think she's better off without us.
FRANKIE
I think she can't survive without us.
Pause.
FRANKIE (CONT'D)
She's our best friend, Wolfe, and something's off without her. We're falling apart. Kit's depressed all the time. What if she starts cutting again? And you're always so jumpy, and when's the last time you got a full night's sleep? Or knew the name of the guy you woke up next to?
WOLFE
And what about you?
FRANKIE
What about me?
WOLFE
Did you start drinking again?
FRANKIE
I never really stopped.
WOLFE
Frankie -
FRANKIE
Lay off. That's my point. Without each other, without all of us together, we'll just keep doing stupid fucking shit.
WOLFE
Like what you did tonight?
FRANKIE
Like what they think I did tonight.
WOLFE
We've been putting this off since she left for undergrad. It's always been her trekking her happy ass back home to see us. You really think everything's gonna be, like, all hearts and flowers if we show up six months into her first year of grad school with a bunch of cops on our tail?
FRANKIE
Yeah. I do.
WOLFE
What makes you so sure?
FRANKIE
Because Kit can't tell me no, either.
Silence.
WOLFE
Do you ever get the nagging feeling that we're... you know. Poisonous? That we're all kind of, like, toxic for each other?
FRANKIE
That's codependence for you.
WOLFE
Shouldn't we do something about that?
FRANKIE
We are. We're consolidating the biohazard bags.
Pause.
FRANKIE (CONT'D)
I'm scared, Wolfe. All right? I'm too smart for my own good, and I try to act like a badass all the time, but underneath it all, I'm still a kid. I'm a kid, and I'm scared, and I need you and Kit to make me feel like my life makes sense again. So can we just go? Please?
Silence.
WOLFE
Yeah. Okay.
FRANKIE starts to exit.
WOLFE (CONT'D)
But first, I need you to tell me what's going on. I mean, it's not going to change anything in the long run. You know I'd still take you to hell and back if you wanted. Which is good, because that's probably where we're going. You know. Considering...
FRANKIE
Yeah.
Pause.
FRANKIE (CONT'D)
There's a guy who's been haunting the frat houses on campus and raping drunk girls. They can't catch him because he's too fast, but he's about my height, and he wears a hoodie like mine. Another girl got raped tonight, and they think I did it.
WOLFE
Did you?
Pause.
WOLFE (CONT'D)
I cannot believe I just asked you that.
FRANKIE
It's okay. Besides, I'm pretty sure you already know the answer.
Pause. WOLFE pulls FRANKIE into a hug.
WOLFE
You have to call her. I can't talk and drive at the same time.
FRANKIE exits.
WOLFE (CONT'D)
Manipulative little bastard.
Not a bad start, I don't think.