B-Sides: Track Five

Scene Five of Eleven. "A twenty-seven year old despondent writer and a sixteen year old musician form a profound attachment to each other through their love of David Bowie."

 

 

 

TRACK FIVE

[Lights up stage right with Mayya’s mother, Olga, sitting in a chair, smoking a cigarette. Mayya walks in, with her guitar.]

                   OLGA

I’m glad you finally decided to make it back home.

                   MAYYA

I was with friends.

                   OLGA

Were you? Or were you studying with one of your teachers again?

              [Mayya goes to leave]

                   OLGA

No. Stay.

[Lights up stage left. Clive walks in with a pint of MacGregors. He’s drinking as if he has something to prove. He sits down on the chair and picks up a book and starts to read it. Sarah walks in. A moment. The scene shifts back stage right]

                   MAYYA

Mother.

                   OLGA

I want to talk. Who were you with?

                   MAYYA

A friend.

                   OLGA

What’s his name?

                   MAYYA

How do you know it’s a him?

                   OLGA

Because I know you, Mayya.

                   MAYYA

His name is Clive.

                   OLGA

Who’s Clive?

              [Stage Left]

                   SARAH

Who’s Mayya?

                   CLIVE

              [Going to leave]

I’ll leave.

                   SARAH

No, you’re staying.

                   CLIVE

What do you want me to say?

                   SARAH

Who is Mayya?

              [Stage Right]

                   MAYYA

He’s just some guy I’ve been hanging out with, okay? He’s a friend. He walked by me at Union Square when I was selling my paintings and I said hi to him and we’ve been hanging out ever since. That’s all.

                   OLGA

And you’re sleeping with him?

                   MAYYA

It’s not like that, trust me.

                   OLGA

Why should I trust you? You’ve done this sort of thing before.

                   MAYYA

He’s different. He actually gives a s**t about me. He came to see one of my shows.

                   OLGA

And you don’t think I give a s**t about you.  

MAYYA

You’ve never come to see me play.

              [Stage Left]

                   SARAH

Were you with her tonight?

                   CLIVE

Yes.

                   SARAH

What did you do?

                   CLIVE

Nothing.

                   SARAH

Tell me the truth.

                   CLIVE

That is the truth. She was playing a show at Brainwash, I went to see her. That’s all.

                   SARAH

I don’t believe you.

                   CLIVE

I should go.

                   SARAH

Are you cheating on me?

              [Stage Right]

                   OLGA

What did I ever do to you to make you feel this way about me?

                   MAYYA

I’m tired. I need to go to bed.

                   OLGA

You’re gonna stay here and talk to me.

                   MAYYA

I don’t want to talk.

                   OLGA

I don’t give a s**t.

                   MAYYA

You’re drunk again.

                   OLGA

Be quiet.

                   MAYYA

You’re not?

              [Stage Left]

                   CLIVE

I’m not, Sarah. She’s just a friend.

                   SARAH

Then why would you lie to me?

                   CLIVE

I didn’t think you would-Why do I have to inform you about every little thing I do? It’s fucked up.

                   SARAH

It’s fucked up that I give a s**t about you? That I’m curious about what you’re doing? That I give more to you than you ever give back to me?

                   CLIVE

That’s bullshit.

                   SARAH

Is it, Clive? You know, sometimes you can be the most selfish person I know.

                   CLIVE

Whatever.

                   SARAH

You are. You’re so caught up in your own little world that you can’t even bother to care about someone other than yourself.

                   CLIVE

I care about you.

                   SARAH

You have a funny way of showing it. Blowing me off to hang out with some girl you met on the street. Jesus, Clive, what the f**k?

              [Stage Right]

                   OLGA

The amount of work I put in. Everything that I do for you and you’re completely ungrateful.

                   MAYYA

You don’t do s**t.

                   OLGA

I don’t?

                   MAYYA

Leave me alone.

                   OLGA

I put up with so much. At work, with your school. Do I ever get a thank you?

                   MAYYA

I just want to go…

                   OLGA

A “Thanks, Mom, for all you’ve sacrificed for me?”

                    MAYYA

Just let me go to my room…

                   OLGA

No, not once. You just play your music and don’t show up to school and smoke pot and remain completely ungrateful for what I do for you.

                   MAYYA

That’s not true.

                   OLGA

Yes it is, Mayya. You know it is. What do I have to do to make you understand?

              [Stage left]

                   CLIVE

Give me some f*****g space. Christ, will you just let me have some space? Everyday all it’s been has been “Oh, let’s go see a movie tonight. Let’s do this, let’s do that.”

                   SARAH

It’s what people in relationships do.

                   CLIVE

But not so incessantly and aggressively. I shouldn’t have to constantly check in with you to let you know where I’m at. You’re not my f*****g mother.

                   SARAH

I’m worried about you.

                   CLIVE

Again, not my mother. Just leave me the f**k alone for once.

              [Clive opens the door. Sarah slams it shut.]

                   SARAH

I’m afraid of you.

                   CLIVE

What?

                   SARAH

I’m…Every day I come home from work and I walk in here and expect to find you…

                   CLIVE

Can you let me go? Please.

                   SARAH

Not yet. Just tell me one thing, then you can go and not come back.

              [Stage right]

                   MAYYA

Tell me where dad is.

                   OLGA

Goddammit Mayya.

              MAYYA

Tell me. I wanna know.

                   OLGA

Why does it always end up coming to this?

                   MAYYA

Because I hate you. I hate everything about you, I look at you and I wanna throw up. Tell me about him. You’re just some worn out drunken old lady who happens to be my mother, I wanna know about my father.

                   OLGA

What do you want to know?

              [Stage Left]

                   SARAH

Are you thinking about killing yourself?

                   CLIVE

Yes.

                   SARAH

Why? Is it because of what happened? Babe, there’s nothing you could have done.

                   CLIVE

It’s you.

                   SARAH

What?

                   CLIVE

And Josh. My father. Everything. I need to get away from it all.

                   SARAH

Clive, we can talk about this.

                   CLIVE

We can’t. You don’t understand what it’s like. I love you both so much but every time I see you the only feeling that’s in me is this desire to leave all of it. To just walk down the street and keep walking till my feet bleed and I finally escape this constant entropy that my life has become.

                   SARAH

We’re your friends.

                   CLIVE

Then why do you guys conspire behind my back? As if I didn’t know. You guys constantly talking about me, I know you do, I can feel it, like I’m some freak.

                   SARAH

We’re just worried.

                   CLIVE

Stop treating me like I’m some charity case.

                   SARAH

Stop acting like one.

              [Stage Right]

                   OLGA

What do you want to know about? How big of an a*****e he was? How he was a drunk and a womanizer? How he fucked other girls the entire time we were married? Or how you look exactly like him?

                   MAYYA

That’s not true.

                   OLGA

And you’d know so much about it, because you were there? You were already in bed by the time he came home late, or sometimes not at all.

                   MAYYA

No.

                   OLGA

I have nothing in my heart left for that man, and you…Mayya…Mayya, you’re so beautiful. Every time I look at you I’m reminded of all those terrible years I spent him.

[Stage Right] 

              [pause]

CLIVE

I fucked Mayya.

                   SARAH

Clive.

                   CLIVE

That’s what you want to hear. I fucked her. Tonight, that’s where I was.

                   SARAH

Clive, baby, that’s not you.

                   CLIVE

Stop pretending I’m still who I used to be. I’m not.

[Clive leaves. Sarah stays in the room crying. Stage Right.]

     MAYYA

I hate you so much.

                   OLGA

I don’t care anymore Mayya. I’m done with this. I’m done with pretending to act like this is how I wanted everything to turn out.

[The lights go out on Sarah. Clive walks out of the stage left door with his jacket on. He reaches out of his pocket and pulls out of a cigarette. As he begins to walk downstage right, a man in a hoodie comes up to him and stops him.]

     MAN

Hey man, do you have an extra cigarette I can bum?

                   CLIVE

Sorry, I’m out.

              [Clive walks by]

                   MAN

No, really come on man.

              [The man grabs Clive’s elbow tightly.]

                   CLIVE

Hey, man, f**k off!

[The man punches Clive in the face. Clive goes down hard. The man begins to kick Clive on the ground]

[Stage right]

     MAYYA

I hate you! I f*****g hate you.

                   OLGA

Calm down, Mayya.

                   MAYYA

              [Almost having a panic attack]

Oh my god. I f*****g hate you. I hate you!

                   OLGA

Mayya.

                   MAYYA

No, stop talking to me. Don’t ever talk to me.

[The man takes Clive’s wallet out of his back pocket and runs away. Clive remains motionless.]

OLGA

              [getting in her face]

Mayya, knock it off.

                   MAYYA

God, I wish you were dead. Get away from me.

[Mayya pushes Olga hard. Olga retorts by slapping Mayya across the face. Mayya falls down and hits her head against the corner of the table. She starts crying. Clive manages to roll onto his back.]

                   OLGA

Mayya? Mayya?

                   MAYYA

Get the f**k away from me!

[Olga exits, leaving only Mayya and Clive together onstage and badly hurting.]

END OF SIDE ONE

Author's Note

This is a very rough first draft of the full length I just finished; I would be tremendously grateful of any opinions or suggestions for it; it's a story I'm rather passionate about and would like to know just how much work I have left to do on it; more scenes to follow