ACT 1 EPILOGUE:
Violence
Lights up. Tom and Pete are in his office speaking.
TOM. George, I need to ask you a couple questions for the case.
GEORGE. What's up?
TOM. Since you consider yourself an artist at heart, I need to know your stance on violence in entertainment and if that assisted your decision to attack those people.
GEORGE. Oh. That's easy. Since art is a vehicle for communication, as long as your intentions are for the good of the world, even if you lie and go for peace but you don't really want that (I mean an agreed upon good), of course —
TOM. Of course —
GEORGE. Have at it. You're fine and it's fine. It's art, not propaganda meant to incite violence. There is a clear line between propaganda and art.
TOM. Okay.
GEORGE. According to Frontiers of Psychology there is no real direct link to violent video games and the such and violent actions of people. If it happens due to entertainment it's a rarity. Increased aggression is short term. So, did any of those things assist in my decision to attack those people and then kill myself? No. That's more attributed to DNA and nurturing. And I really did have a great childhood.
TOM. Okay, that's all I need. GEORGE. Cool.
Lights out.
END OF ACT ONE EPILOGUE
ACT 2 PROLOGUE:
Tomorrow
Lights up. George and Tom are speaking in Tom's office.
TOM. George, tomorrow is your funeral; would you like to be there?
GEORGE. I don't know. (He thinks for a beat.)
TOM. What are you thinking about? (Beat.) They will not know that you're there.
GEORGE. But I'm a monster to them. Whether they know or not I don't think it's right. When I did what I did, I didn't think about my funeral or those people's funerals; I didn't think about my family, or friends. I shouldn't be there.
TOM. Why do you think you didn't think about your family or friends or those people?
GEORGE. Hate.
TOM. Do you still hate them?
GEORGE. I never actually hated them; I hated my powerlessness.
TOM. George, do you know what you just said?
GEORGE. What?
TOM. You freed them from this event. It's not them — GEORGE. It's, it.
TOM. Exactly. By the way, I say you go. You should go and understand them. GEORGE. Maybe.
Lights out.
END OF ACT 2 PROLOGUE
ACT 2 SCENE ONE:
George’s Funeral Lights up.
PETE. Red, the funeral director said everything is fine, it was just a minor scare.
RED. Great, fear and a funeral. It's bad enough we're having one for a psychopath.
PETE. What does that sound like to you? BOTH. A Patterson novel. (Beat.)
PETE. Red, everything will be all right.
RED. That's good too, because my parents will be here soon.
PETE. How’s your mother?
RED. Not great at all.
PETE. Has she said anything since the day?
RED. She’s sure she’s the worst parent ever. I know she will get over it...when is the killer though. She keeps a smile on her face, but you can tell she's just heart-broken.
PETE. What about your dad?
RED. He wants to kill George.
PETE. And you?
RED. I wish I could leave.
PETE. Be strong, California.
RED. I am being strong; I’m just not.
PETE. Stop.
RED. That's how I feel, Peter.
PETE. What can I do?
RED. You can take me on vacation.
PETE. Let’s go next week.
RED. Okay. Sammy keeps asking me if I want to take time off anyway. He began with a day, and now he's up to, "Yeah, you know, I get it." Which means a lot of time. (Sammy approaches.) SAMMY. Red, hi.
RED. Hi, Sammy.
SAMMY. Petey, hi.
PETE. Hi, Sammy.
SAMMY. How are you two?
BOTH RED AND PETE. We're doing the best we can.
SAMMY. And that is the best anyone may. God bless.
BOTH RED AND PETE. Same to you.
SAMMY. Look, guys, I wanted to give a few words today.
RED. You barely knew him.
SAMMY. But I knew something; and what I knew tells me to say something. I think I can say this: (Lady, very sad, enters.) LADY. Red.
RED. Mommy! (They hug.) I love you so much.
LADY. I love you too.
RED. Where’s dad?
LADY. Arguing with a man of God.
RED. Why?
LADY. Because he’s nuts - just nuts.
RED. Pete, will you go break them up?
PETE. I’ll be right back.
RED. Tell my dad that there are more important things than some silly dispute.
PETE. Okay. (To Lady.) Hi, Lady. LADY. Hi, Peter. (Pete exits.) SAMMY. So, your name is, Lady?
LADY. Yes. Who are you?
RED. Mom, this is Samuel Leland, my boss.
LADY. Hello, Mr. Leland.
SAMMY. Hi, Lady. I was hoping I could say a few words today.
LADY. You knew my George well?
SAMMY. No, I just have a few uplifting objective words to share.
LADY. Like what?
SAMMY. Like this: “The hard part about these things is seeing good in bad or bad in good. It’s tough because we are afraid of making a mistake and glorifying the wrong thing, or allowing anything to be glorified; for example, we’re afraid to accidentally make what George did seem like a good thing - and believe me - it’s not. We live in a world where we are always being tried; tried by some tall law that says no matter what, good is in bad and bad is in good; so, we must at least always remember the law to be safe. Today, we want to celebrate life. The trouble is that we are currently surrounded by wickedness. What can we do? It’s like a guy on a skateboard; it’s fun to him, but there are dangers. What George did is bad, but what we’ve learned from this is that life is important and good and worth all of the work we put into it. Let’s remember the good things that were with George, like any person in this situation, in his position, but let’s also gain from the bad things. How? How do we ‘gain from the bad things?’ His death, and the circumstances surrounding it, should be a guide for us. Let’s walk behind George, step for step, being better and doing better than he did, or better than he had the power to do. When he goes left, we should consider what left was and possibly go right, if not forward. When we feel ill mentally let’s use George as a stepping stone to stand up and tell someone that we’re not okay. This funeral is also a celebration to living a life without pain and sickness. Let’s go and be better and be happy.” That’s all.
LADY. (Beat.) You must say that.
RED. Do it, Sammy.
SAMMY. Okay. (Pete enters with, Terry.) PETE. Here he is.
RED. Daddy!
TERRY. Cali! (They hug.) How are you, my girl?
RED. After what I just heard, much better.
TERRY. What did you hear?
RED. You’ll hear it later.
TERRY. Okay. So, should we get this show on the road?
PETE. I’ll grab, Jake.
TERRY. A man of God whose name is, Jake. Ha! What a phony!
LADY. You’re just angry.
TERRY. You’re damn right I am! I didn’t raise a murderer! I did not want to be here. RED. It’s not your fault.
TERRY. I wish it was.
LADY. Why would you wish that?
TERRY. So I could die. I’ll never sleep again. I’ll always remember the last time I saw him; I kissed him on the cheek and I thought, "What a good man." How wrong could an old idiot be? Wronger? What a bad man he was. You’re damn right I’m angry. You’ll be damn right forever. LADY. (Just heart broken.) Oh, Terry. (An angry family member of one of George's victims enters. Her name is Margot.)
MARGOT. How dare you honor this man!?
TERRY. And you are?
MARGOT. Margot Miller, the mother of one of the dead men.
TERRY. (Meaning the man of God.) Goddamn it, Jake! Fucking, Jake, this is a private event! Is that priest allowing anyone in?
LADY. He's a priest not a security guard.
TERRY. (He ignores Lady and goes back to Margot.) Get out of here woman!
MARGOT. Not until you stop this thing! You're an enabler!
TERRY. My ass, I hate him too!
MARGOT. I would never do this to people!
TERRY. You think you're better than me!?
MARGOT. You did raise a murderer.
TERRY. Yeah? Well, at least I didn't raise a victim. Nothing is lower than a victim. A weak crime against nature. (Pete enters.)
PETE. Stop this right now! (To Margot.) This is a private event, we will call the police. Don't make us. Please.
MATGOT. (Breaks down into tears.) But I have nothing left. (Pete holds her.) PETE. Listen, this all is in God's hands now.
MARGOT. There is no God. Just murderers and evil.
PETE. Look, no matter what happened, we don't know what this was all about. He could have been very sick. Just, look, stay here with us and celebrate life. Believe me, none of this is easy for any one of us. We're all hurt.
MARGOT. I just don't know what to do; he was all the family I had.
PETE. You can be better than this. Do that. Share life with us and do that. Please try. (Jake enters.)
JAKE. Is everything okay?
PETE. Yes.
JAKE. Are we ready? (Beat. Pete extends his hand to Margot. Beat. She takes it.) PETE. Yes. We're all ready.
Lights fade to black.
SCENE TWO:
Gun Control
Lights up. Red, Pete, Micky, Lionel, Sammy and Terry are at Pete and Red's home. This is a day after the funeral.
PETE. (On the phone with Jake.) Yes. Yes. Okay. Yes, Jake, the service yesterday was beautiful. Thank you. Okay. Alright. Bye. (He hangs up.) TERRY. How's the man of God named, Jake?
PETE. He's great.
TERRY. Lucky him.
PETE. I know you don't like him —
TERRY. You're right, son, fuck him!
PETE. Listen — TERRY. I will not!
MICKY. Do you see what the gun control issue is doing to us? (Terry lets out a magnificent and irritated sigh. He can see where this conversation is going.) What?
TERRY. Cali, do you have any beer?
RED. We do.
TERRY. How about some before it's too late?
RED. What's, "too late?"
TERRY. I can feel the room getting political. MICKY. He's right — it's about to happen — TERRY. Hurry, California! Get that beer!
MICKY. (As if someone brought it up.) What about gun control?
TERRY. Here we go.
MICKY. I mean, what is our problem?
TERRY. I'm perfect.
MICKY. This nation...why can't we fix this issue easily?
TERRY. Free will?
MICKY. It's that simple?
SAMMY. We can't fix this because sometimes people are too unpredictable.
PETE. People kill people.
RED. We have a people problem, not a gun problem.
PETE. And there will be no day when we all do not have a basic right to bare arms.
TERRY. What do you say to that, Micky?
MICKY. Then only give firearms to certain people.
PETE. But people in general are too unpredictable.
MICKY. It surely has to be the right people.
LIONEL. Like who?
MICKY. One of the best mass shooting deterrents that I have ever heard in one situation is arming school teachers. (Terry laughs.) What?
TERRY. Have you ever met a teacher?
MICKY. I don't follow you.
TERRY. Yeah, well, some of them are as batshit-crazy as the gunmen.
MICKY. Come on.
TERRY. Micky, I mean that. We trust teachers to give information, not to wield weapons. Just think about it: Give one of those half out half closeted lesbian chemistry teachers a gun and she'll kill everybody. All because she's fifty-parts angry that she doesn't have a penis and fifty-parts happy that she doesn't have a penis. The only thing she'd be good for is making Christmas shopping cheaper.
PETE. Oh, boy.
LIONEL. You know, if you trained them well, a teacher with a gun could be just as good as your best cop.
TERRY. Ha! The next thing you'll say is: "If that doesn't pan out we should just make guns illegal and only cops and military personnel should have guns anyway.
LIONEL. Why not do that?
MICKY. Only allow military personnel and police officers to carry guns.
TERRY. Here's an issue: Some of them are batshit-crazy too! There is no win here, boy.
RED. The problem is people, not guns.
TERRY. And that's the truth.
RED. The problem is we can't really do anything about freedom. We may threaten freedom with incarceration, but it's not an absolute. Not in this country. We could make possessing guns more difficult, especially if you have broken certain laws. But what's stopping people from breaking that law and bringing in guns from other places?
LIONEL. Fear of more time behind bars.
PETE. People kill people out of anger and helplessness. Their parents and friends or teachers or even the police can't fix their issue so they take the law into their own hands. A kid is bullied in school and next thing you know he becomes the judge, jury, and executioner. Red's right: it's not about guns. Sure we have a responsibility to make laws that attempt to stop the possession of guns by what we determine is undesirable people, but it will never be absolute.
MICKY. I just wish that I could do more.
TERRY. Run for, God.
RED. Dad, stop.
TERRY. What!? He could!
RED. Run for, God?
TERRY. Yeah! Apparently any son-of-a-bitch could!
RED. Come on, Dad.
TERRY. No! That mother-fucker owes me $85,000!
MICKY. Okay, I think we're starting to get a little crazy here.
TERRY. But it's true!
SAMMY. How does God owe you $85,000?
RED. My dad prayed to God for a new life —
TERRY. And next thing you know — poof — I'm out of a job, sick, and up to my nose in hospital bills. I paid off $85,000 on my own! God wasn't there for me. That mother-fucker owes me $85,000.
PETE. If I had a dollar for every time I heard "fuck God" this month — RED. You'd have three dollars, now be quiet.
TERRY. Look, if you can't tell, I'm a little angry. But, anyway, here's my point: Gun control, bank control, birth control, boob control, the problem is people feeling mistreated and alone. So, then they give people what they felt that they were given: they take lives and now you both have nothing. That's what we all do. One day it was teat in a harbor and then it's gunmen striking down fellow classmates. That's what broken people do: they bite.
SAMMY. Do you believe that's why George did what he did?
TERRY. George did what he did because he's evil.
LIONEL. That's hypocritical! You're contradicting yourself.
TERRY. My seed should be better than that! Just look at, California. Perfect. I'm not contradicting myself. I'm acknowledging a flaw in the system. Life stinks at times — but golly — my children are better than this all. I hate my George and that's that. Goddamnit, Red, where's that beer?
Lights out.
SCENE THREE:
Red and Pete Go Fishing Lights up. Red and Pete are fishing.
PETE. Are you having fun, Red?
RED. Yeah. You?
PETE. I am.
RED. Buuuuut?
PETE. I’m just so hungry.
RED. Would you like a snickers?
PETE. No, I think it’s the call of the wild running through me. The moment I eat needs to be when I catch a fish.
RED. But you’re not yourself when you’re hungry. Eat a snickers.
PETE. (Beat.) Did you just quote a commercial?
RED. Yeah.
PETE. Intentionally?
RED. Yeah.
PETE. May I ask why?
RED. Then what the hell do they want? It's catchy. Next thing you know you repeat it and your husband hates you.
PETE. I don't hate you.
RED. Fine. (Beat.) Was it at least funny? PETE. Hilarious, Red.
RED. Good. (Beat.)
PETE. We should switch positions.
RED. Okay. (They switch positions. Beat. Both lines snag a fish.) Good idea, Pete.
PETE. Yeah, let’s reel them in! (He howls. It’s the call of the wild. They both pull in giant fish.) RED. This is huge!
PETE. Mine too! We’ll eat for days!
RED. (She howls.) How’s that for the call of the wild?
PETE. Wonderful. You’re getting extra love for timing.
RED. May I cook?
PETE. (A sarcastic, "do you know how to cook?) Can you?
RED. Shut up.
PETE. Never.
RED. Good. I like your voice.
PETE. Because you're in love with me, dude get a room.
RED. Maybe I will.
PETE. You never told me when you go back to work.
RED. I offer you a good time and you ask about work- you're your own cock-block, señor. Just so you know.
PETE. Just so I know. (Beat.) RED. On the first.
PETE. Cool.
RED. Seriously, may I cook?
PETE. Seriously, can you?
RED. Dude, I'm a brother-ow.
PETE. A what?
RED. A brother-ow... It's like a widow -
PETE. But it's your brother - RED. And not my husband.
PETE. Dude, what the fuck?
RED. Seriously; so be nice to me.