Gunshots Down the Hall (Concept Scene)

Scene: A journalists (Curtis) office. Daytime. Theres a knock at the door. Curtis rises from his chair, confused,  to answer.

Curtis: (Surprised) Oh! Luke!

Luke enters stage right, maintaining his normal low energy and stoic posture.

Luke: (Plainly) I’ll do your interview

Curtis: (taken aback) What? (catches himself) Great! Come on in! Sorry the place is a mess.

Luke walks in slowly. Curtis embarrassedly shoves a few stacks of paper to the side of his desk to clear a viewing lane as they both take a seat at Curtis’s desk

Curtis: (after a long pause, rests his chin on his hands) What made you change your mind?

Luke: Don’t push it

Curtis: (without hesitation) Fair. (Thinking) Then, I do have to admit you have me at a bit of a loss. The story I wanted your help for was about the immediate emotional reaction to the shooting and how the town was coping with it. It printed months ago.

Luke: Blood and ink journalism.

Curtis: (snorting in annoyance) A viewpoint the reader can emphasize with

Luke: And feel sorry for. I dont want nobody's pity

Curtis: Oh? Then what do you want?

Luke: (long pause) You’re following the baseball team right? I’m on the team. An interview with me could tie in nice. Add a little perspective. Give your reader a reason to be invested in your updates.

Curtis: You want to be heard.

Luke: (for the first time, eager)Yes!

Curtis: (pauses, finaly nods understandingly) Okay. I’m in.

Curtis grabs a pad and a pen off of his desk and sets a recorder in front of him, he hits play and there is a long, nervous silence.

Curtis: Interview, Luke Carmine, April fifth

Beat

Curtis: I never got to say it Luke, because our previous conversations have been brief, but what you and your boys have been able to do in the face of tragedy is inspiring.

Luke: ( a tad stiff) Yeah. Well, none of us could’ve gotten by alone. We figured we’d rather be by each others sides.

Curtis: As someone who’s taken a leadership role on this team during the pre season, what is your philosophy? How do you get a team functioning during a time like this.

Luke: (Relaxing a bit) I’ve never been a great talker. Its not my thing. All I can do is show up to work every day and get a little better. Try to make a teammate a bit better. And be there if I notice anyone who looks like they need me, on or off the field, I help. I figure if I do that and everyone else does that, we can grow.

Curtis: (impressed) A great leader. And just a month or so after you voted to not go ahead with the season.

Luke: Yes

Curtis: why?

Luke: (After a long pause) For...Selfish reasons.

Curtis: (confused) Selfish how?

Luke: (Tightening back up, saddness) I couldn’t bare the thought of walking back onto that field without him there.

Curtis: Billy King?

Luke nods

Beat

Luke: (tearing up) He was my best friend. The real captain of this team. I just caught for him and got on base to let him knock me in. He was the best baseball player I’ve ever seen. (bitterly) If he doesnt get to ever play again. Ever laugh again. Ever see another day. Why the f**k should any of us? It’s not fair.

Curtis: (at a loss for a moment) I see

Luke: I know the underclassmen will do a fine job. But the idea that its going to be someone else on the mound opening day makes me sick.

Curtis: What made you change your mind?.

Luke: (smiling a bit through the tears, wiping his eyes) The son of a gun left his mark on me i suppose. His stubbornness wore off. I heard him telling me i needed to get my a*s recruited so I wouldn’t go dumb and hungry. And that the boys needed me. If I was the one who got shot, he’d have been on the field the next day. Not that he wouldn’t miss me. But baseball was therapy for him. Almost his church.

Curtis: It sounds like he made quiet the impact on your life. Is there anything else you would like our readers to know about Billy?

Luke: (chest tightening, anger creeping into voice) I want them to know that he was the greatest human being I have ever met. That he died in my arms. That he left behind a mother and a little sister who needed him. And that I still have his blood on my favorite white shirt because it wont come out.

Curtis: (interested, leaning forward) What do you want people to learn from that?

Luke: The only lesson any person with some damn sense can learn from it! That something has to change.

Curtis: You mean gun laws?

Luke: I’m no politician. Call it whatever you want. Flower it up however you want to make a headline. But ain’t no way in hell that monster should have been able to but the power to shoot forty rounds in two minutes. No one should be.

Curtis: And you’re prepared to go on record with that opinion.

Luke: Dont demean me. I’m here. You’re a journalist. I’m saying this to you with a recorder running. Yes i know I mean it.  I know where I grew up. I know this isn’t going to be popular. I don’t care.

Curtis: Where you grew up?

Luke: The type of place where every house has a gun and the songs we listen to treat them like a cute fact of life. Yeah.

Curtis: Is your family an exception?

Luke: (shaking his head) My father taught me to respect my weapon. Not worship It..

Curtis: Whats the difference?

Luke: When you respect something, you keep it clean and pointed in the right direction. When you worship something, you sacrifice your children to it.

Curtis: A lot of people around here view a weapon as a line of defense if someone does try to harm their children.

Luke: And a lot of people around here were well out of helping distance when my classroom got shot up.

A tense silence hangs over the room

Beat

Curtis: Its a common argument that a well armed population is more prepared to stop….

Luke: (interrupting) Billy had a gun in his truck. Parked about a block away. Any guess on how much good that does you when you have four holes in your chest? My father owns an assault rifle, sitting right in his closet, unloaded and legal. Absolutely useless. I had a better chance of accidentally killing myself with the thing growing up than he did of saving me with it that day.Thats not me being emotional. Thats math.

Curtis: You’ve thought about this a lot.

Luke: I don’t sleep much.

Curtis: I’m sorry (beat) Is there anything else you’d like to add?

Luke: Just this. That burglar that breaks into your house while your home for some reason and gives you an opportunity to load, aim and fire at him in your day dreams is imaginary. Billy King was real. And you can visit him at lakeside cemetery. .

Curtis: Outside of your more political message, what do you want the town to know.

Luke: (thinks for a long time) That this team and this school are stronger than this tragedy. That we are working hard every day and that if you come out and support us, we’ll give you everything we have.

Curtis: (wrapping up) Okay. Thank you so much for speaking with me Luke.

Luke: Just hope someone listens

End scene