**Sorry about formatting, this has been transferred from a Word doc.
Character List:
ALEX: main character: a young boy in his late teens to mid-20’s
LINDSAY: one of ALEX’s girlfriends and around the same age as ALEX
MOM: ALEX’s naïve mother
DAD: MOM’s husband and ALEX’s father.
GIRL 1: a girl from ALEX’s past
GIRL 2: a girl from ALEX’s past
GIRL 3: a girl from ALEX’s past
Scene I
At rise:
There is nothing on stage save a small loveseat sofa in center and a worn armchair (or box) downstage left. There are two doorframes: one is a deep red and the other an eggshell white. A spotlight appears to reveal ALEX sitting on the armchair (or box). He is shirtless.
ALEX
Ever since I left home, I’ve been happier. No more parents; no more worries, right? Everything has changed now that I’m on my own: more freedom, more excitement… more girls. Of course, not everything is wonderful all the time.
LINDSAY
(offstage.)
Alex?
ALEX
You know the saying with more freedom comes more responsibility? Yeah, responsibility sucks. But that doesn’t stop me from having fun every now and then.
LINDSAY
Where’d my shirt go?
ALEX
Work all day sleep all night, if you know what I mean. Mom isn’t here to freak out about it and Dad, well, I never really cared what he said anyway. What I’m saying is I’ve got life made. Yeah. Definitely happier.
(LINDSAY enters stage left.)
LINDSAY
(rubbing her hands on ALEX’s stomach, and then suddenly pauses)
Alex, what are these?
ALEX
(Ignores her talking and hurriedly puts his shirt on.)
Then again, sometimes this happens: a girl is just infatuated enough to ask me questions.
(Girls’ voices from offstage flood in asking questions one at a time,
progressively getting louder and faster along with the music, though
LINDSAY’s voice is more distinct.)
GIRL 1
Where are you from?
GIRL 2
Oh, do you have any siblings?
LINDSAY
Alex, what are these?
GIRL 3
Do you still talk to your parents?
LINDSAY
How did you get these?
GIRL 1
You don’t remember?
GIRL 2
Is that so?
GIRL 3
Have you been lying to me?
(There is a pause.)
LINDSAY
Alex?
ALEX
And that’s about the time that I get rid of her. I mean, not in a morbid sense or anything, but I don’t answer phone calls, don’t initiate conversation, don’t make direct eye contact. The way I see it, there are plenty other fish in the sea, specifically ones who won’t care about “our” future… or my past.
(Spotlight fades to black.)
Scene II
Lights fade up on center to reveal MOM and DAD sitting in the living room scene as the spotlight comes on to ALEX. MOM occasionally gets up and walks in and out of the white door, bringing in a newspaper, or coffee, or whatever else DAD might ask of her. These actions continue in silence as ALEX speaks. LINDSAY is now slightly behind him and cannot hear him talking.
ALEX
When I was a kid, life wasn’t that great. my mom was strict as anything because as soon as something went wrong my dad would make her life a living hell.
(He gestures to his parents as the spotlight fades and the lights focus on
the scene on stage.)
MOM
Darling, the coffee is a bit hot, so be careful, alright?
DAD
I’ll be careful when I want to be careful.
(He sips the coffee.)
This is disgusting. Go make me another.
MOM
But, I made it just the way you like it: one crème, two sugars, and a dash of vanilla. I haven’t changed the way I’ve made it in years.
DAD
Are you talking back to me?
MOM
I- I..
(DAD drops the coffee mug on the ground. MOM flinches at the hot
liquid splashing on her, DAD grabs her aggressively and she becomes
silent. The lights dim on stage and ALEX’s spotlight returns.)
ALEX
That’s just the way he treated her when she messed up his coffee. You can only imagine how much worse it got. He would hit her and yell at her and every night I heard my dead dead dead mom’s whimpering because of his unwanted advances… That’s a thing you know, marital rape… Every morning without fail, she would be up before either of us, making us breakfast in bed with the biggest smile on her face and the biggest bruises on her arms, acting like they didn’t exist, like everything was fine. I would tell her that he was scum, that she didn’t deserve to be treated like that, that she should leave with me when I turned eighteen, that she was a coward for staying. One day, I guess she finally listened.
(The spotlight fades again as the lights on stage come up
MOM is sitting on the sofa, knitting. DAD enters through the
red door holding a piece of paper in his hand)
DAD
What the hell is this? You little whore, you think you can just tell me you're leaving? I bet it’s another guy isn’t it? You’ve been cheating on me!
MOM
No.
DAD
You have some nerve to sit there like that. Look me in the eyes and tell me what this is all about?
MOM
I’m leaving you. I haven’t cheated, I haven’t done anything wrong. It’s been you. This whole time… And I’ve known it, I just never wanted it to be true. But, now I’m leaving and there’s nothing more to be said or done.
DAD
How dare you, you little slut!
(DAD begins to attack MOM just as ALEX walks in through the white
door. ALEX fights DAD off MOM. DAD grabs one of the knitting
needles, but ALEX is oblivious, still fighting blindly. DAD pins ALEX
down on the couch with his back to the audience and lifts up the knitting
needle, stabbing ALEX in the abdomen multiple times until he no longer
struggles against his hold. MOM weeps at the edge of the couch. DAD
drops the needle and looks around in a panic then exits through the red
door. The lights fade.)
Scene III
LINDSAY and ALEX are back on stage as they were before when the spotlight comes back on.
ALEX
I went to the hospital that day; my mom took me. I was in the ICU for a while. I probably stayed for a good three days before being released. And the worst part is that she went right back to him, begging for forgiveness. I guess some things never change… some things can’t. But when I think about it, as much as I hate her for going back to him after what I did, I remind myself, if it wasn’t for me, it would have been her. It’s better me than her.
LINDSAY
(rubbing his chest)
Are these scars?
ALEX
Don’t worry ‘bout it.
LINDSAY
I can worry if I want.
ALEX
Look, I like what we’ve got here, I don’t wanna screw it up.
LINDSAY
I’m not asking for a ring.
ALEX
You’ve never mentioned them before.
(Beat.)
I don’t mean to-
LINDSAY
It’s fine, baby.
(They sit in silence for a few seconds.)
ALEX
(To the audience)
It's been five years since the incident back home. She wasn't the first girl to ask about my scars and how I got them. Every other time, I would say it was a sports accident or that they were from a procedure I had when I was young. Most of the girls were dumb enough to believe me. But I couldn't bring myself to tell her that I tripped while hiking with my family.
(To LINDSAY)
Actually, no. I said I don't want to screw this up. I don't. You deserve to know things about me.
( ALEX continues to talk, but fades to silence as the lights fade to black. Curtains close)
Points: 2421
Reviews: 122
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