Roland Iraq War veteran 22 years old
Billie ROLAND’s
Father, A Vietnam Vet, Biker
Lily ROLAND’s Mother
Dodge ROLAND’s Paternal Grandfather
Sarah ROLAND’s Wife
Angel ROLAND’s Daughter age 6
Rich (Dick) A
war profiteer
Diego (Garcia) RICH’s
Houseman, called GARCIA by RICH
Libby RICH’s
wife
Abeer Iraqi
girl (14 years old)
Malik ABEER’s
sister (age 5)
Mother ABEER
and MALIK’s Mother
Baba ABEER
and MALIK’s Father
Doc ROLAND’s
best friend 23 years old
Valentine (Val) ROLAND’s
Christian Marine Buddy
Goldie ROLAND’s
Squad Leader 37 years old
Tony Green Marine Recruit
Kenny Green
Marine Recruit
ACT I
Prologue:
BILLIE’s arrival home.
Scene 1: BILLIE’s
Kitchen, ROLAND’s brother has killed himself.
Scene 2: RICH’s
Library, RICH watching TV, “Support Our Heroes.”
Scene 3: BILLIE’s
Kitchen, Funeral for ROLAND’s brother.
Scene 4: ROLAND’s 1st
nightmare, Torture (4 mos later)
Scene 5: ABEER’s trouble at the checkpoint, SARAH’s
fears.
Scene 6: RICH’s
interview.
Scene 7: SARAH leaves with ANGEL.
Scene 8: ROLAND’s 2nd
nightmare, Home invasions, Death of friends.
Act II
Scene 1: ABEER and
MALAK, the smell of jasmine in springtime.
Scene 2: ROLAND and
New Platoon drink, talk about Rape.
Scene 3: Rape and
murder.
Scene 4: ROLAND’s
last nightmare.
Scene 5: ROLAND’s confrontation.
Scene 6: ROLAND
listens to RICH’s speech.
Scene 7: ROLAND
confronts RICH.
We seem willing to regret the Iraq War, provided that we never have to face it.
(Projected on a curtain or scrim. A tarmac. Yellow ribbons and American flags abound. The sound of a jet’s engines winding down.
(VOICEOVER announcement)
Please go welcome home your soldier!
We hear ROLAND’s wife SARAH, Go hug your daddy! He’s a hero!
(Up Stage Right ROLAND places his rucksack on the ground as his small daughter rushes toward him. He goes down to one knee and embraces her. He laughs as his daughter squeals. He picks her up and begins to walk off downstage left. From a distance we hear people calling out “thank you for your service” and other inanities. His smile vanishes. A Marine Corp Band plays “The Halls of Montezuma.” It is early spring.)
(Fade to black)
(WE are in the dilapidated kitchen of ROLAND’s childhood home. BILLIE (ROLANDS’s father) and DODGE (ROLANDS’s grandfather) are drinking coffee. They are not speaking. They are interrupted by a knock on the door.)
It’s open.
(ROLAND enters he is in jeans, tee shirt and a cap.)
Hey Dad what’s going on? I got here as quick as I could.
(Standing, going to his son.)
Not quick enough I’m afraid. He’s gone.
What do you mean gone? Where did he go?
(Brusque)
He’s gone to the morgue.
Last night, your brother shot himself. Right here in my bathroom.
(ROLAND grabs the chair back to steady himself)
How? Why?
I don’t know what got into him. One minute he was all excited about you coming home, the next, he shoots himself.
Where’s Ma?
Your Mother is with him. She’s signing all the papers. Did you know he was an organ donor? Always thinkin about others, that one. Of course, they won’t be able to use the eyes.
They can’t use the eyes?
He shot himself clean through the right eye.
(ROLAND rushes off stage.)
Hey don’t go in there we haven’t finished cleaning up yet.
(We hear sounds of ROLAND vomiting.)
Great.
(Fade to Black)
(Lights up slowly. We are in RICH’s library, dark paneled walls, the hundreds of books on the shelves are of a conservative bent, but also include military history and political biography. A flat screen TV facing upstage a blue light emanating from it, no sound. There is a small desk and leather chair, and above the white-trimmed fireplace hang mementos. One is a U.S. Marine Corps Ceremonial Sword.
Light slowly up on RICH, an old, disheveled man. He does not look well. He is drinking scotch from a glass and having trouble catching his breath. The bottle sits on his desk, next to an American flag, tri folded in a display case. Near him is an oxygen machine with tubes and a mask. He mumbles to himself for a while.)
RICH has a remote in his hand and turns up the TV.
(Voiceover)
I am sick and tired of everybody out there complaining. I hear so many people complaining about everyday life- I didn’t get the right Mercedes, my house is too small, I didn’t get this or I didn’t get that. I ran into a guy in the lobby- he didn’t have a left foot. He lost it in Ramadi. He came up to me to thank me for what I am doing.
(Incredulous)
For what I do, Dude! I’m MCing a fundraiser. Thank you for your service. I want to say lets stop complaining, it’s really not that bad. You may not have the fanciest Mercedes but you still have your feet, don’t you? We are here tonight to celebrate our veterans- they keep us safe everyday. So let’s hear it for them.
(Chants of USA, USA, USA.)
I said, let’s hear it for them!
(Chants grow louder. Cuts to an intro for a Mercedes commercial. RICH turns off the TV.)
I have the fanciest Mercedes. No complaints here. There is a cost to war, there is a benefit, oh yes, the benefit. (RICH smirks and sips his scotch) Keeping us safe. That’s what I like to hear.
(DIEGO, RICH’s Houseman, enters with a latte in a Starbucks cup with a cardboard Starbucks sleeve)
Isn’t that right GARCIA? There is a benefit.
(RICH pours the remainder of his scotch into the latte.)
(He’s heard it a million times.)
That’s right, sir. There is a benefit.
(Under his breath.)
And the cost you never pay.
What’s that…
(RICH’s laughs turns to wheezing, then coughing. He can’t catch his breath. The phone rings. DIEGO runs between the oxygen machine and RICH, putting the mask on upside down and turning on the oxygen. LIBBY, RICH’s wife, enters, quickly crosses, places the mask over RICH’s head properly and goes to the machine and regulates the airflow. The coughing fit subsides. Heavy breathing.)
Why didn’t you answer the phone?
(Trying to speak with the mask on, garbled.)
I didn’t answer the phone because I was hacking out a lung.
What?
(Pissed off, pulling the mask from his face.)
I didn’t answer the phone because I was hacking out a lung.
(Ignoring him, delighted)
Well our prayers have been answered. That was Dr. Vorkevian on the phone. They have a heart for you. You must call him right back. I’ll grab your bag. Thank the Lord.
(LIBBY Exits)
Thank the Lord? GARCIA, thank the Lord.
(DIEGO looks skyward with his hands out imploring.)
Thank my money getting me to the top of the list. That’s what needs thanking. Thank my money GARCIA.
Thanking the money! Thanking the money!
(RICH starts laughing and goes into another coughing fit.)
(Fade to Black)
(Four days later, BILLIE’s kitchen. On the Kitchen table are photos of ROLAND and his older brother, Owen. Other photos of Owen in a cap and gown, Owen in his Marine Corp blues and in his camo with an M-16, a cigarette hanging from his lip. ROLAND’s mother LILY closes the back door and wipes tears from her eyes. BILLIE and DODGE stand stoically by her side. ROLAND holds SARAH’s hand and his family stand slightly aside. Metals and accolades cover the table as well as a bottle of Wild Turkey and several glasses.)
Thank God they’ve left. His Marine buddies... he was so loved, by so many. It’s killing me. He was a good Christian. He loved his men.
Of course they loved him. He was a leader of men and he was never one to turn down a challenge. He followed your advice, BILLIE- Each day, live life to the fullest, because tomorrow may not come.
(Drinks)
He even influenced his younger, didn’t he Roland?
I was an excitable boy, that’s all. I had a good time. It wasn’t like I was drowning puppies or anything. I mean I wasn’t an A student or captain of the football team. Buying cigarettes underage isn’t exactly a capital crime. Livin’ life to the fullest means different things to different people, gramps. And even daddy's been known to smoke some herb now and again.
Shush now RO.
(Nodding toward ANGEL.)
I was thinkin about the time you were running naked through the woods claiming you were chasing rabbits.
DODGE, now is not the time or the place.
The point is your brother was a natural leader. He led from the front.
Oh, ROLAND I wish you were here. He just couldn’t talk to us, said we’d never understand. Maybe you could have talked to him.
He was a different man after this deployment. His demons got’em.
I told him he was loved, no matter what. Jesus forgives. But Owen couldn’t forgive himself.
He would get a far away look in his eyes. He’d go quiet, or I’d find him weeping. Cryin like a baby. That’s not your brother. He was tough, tough as any man I ever met. Cryin.
He was the best damn sniper I know. No one had a bad thing to say about him. Killed more damn hadjis then whole teams combined. An American hero.
Like you daddy, you’re a hero.
(Aside, quietly)
Not like me.
I don’t understand. He seemed to be doing better. Then, last week, after we found out you were coming home, he seemed to fall apart.
He told me the rush of combat was an adrenaline rush you couldn’t forget. What sticks with me is the smell of pulverized concrete and human flesh. He failed to mention that.
Roland!
He’d drink too much and tell us terrible stories. Your government hires you to kill and you’d better get good at it. It’s ugly. It’s dirty. You visit violence on others, there’s collateral damage. That’s the job.
I told him we were here to listen, you know, but that was too much.
Believe me Vietnam was no picnic, but over time you manage to bury it, get on with your life. I told him, give it time, you’ll bury it.
Even in death he gave his heart, some young person will have another chance at living!
Come on, let’s have a drink.
The Marines was somethin he believed in. So there’s that.
(4 mos later. Late summer. Stage Left. ROLAND’s bedroom. ROLAND and SARAH are in bed. We hear heavy breathing shifting to moaning, thumping, and the sound of someone hitting the floor. Spotlight up very slowly on ROLAND on the floor, sweating profusely, a look of terror in his eyes, wired to survive. He has a gun in his hand. The spot light broadens to show SARAH sitting in bed.)
(very, very quietly)
Ro, you are ok, you are fine. You are safe.
(In one motion, ROLAND lunges, onto the bed and places the barrel of the gun against SARAH’s cheek. She screams. ROLAND cocks the gun. We hear ANGEL scream.)
Daddy!
(Stage Left Quick fade to black.)
(Stage Right: Lights up, very bright. A man, naked, hooded, his wrists chained, his toes barely touching the floor, hangs from the ceiling of a small cage. A loud burst of intolerable music. He moans deeply. ROLAND, shirtless but in desert khakis walks toward him. He pounds him in the gut and knees him in the thigh several times.)
Stop moaning. Bastard. Stop moaning.
(Another loud moan erupts. ROLAND pulls his pistol and presses it to the detainee’s cheek.)
(The detainee whispers, not loud enough for us to hear. On the scrim behind the players we see his words, a prayer of mercy- in Arabic and in English.)
(Stage Right Quick fade to black)
(Stage Left. Lights up slowly. SARAH’s lips are moving in prayer, we cannot hear her.)
(From the darkness of Stage Right, The detainee says the prayer in Arabic, then in English. Softly.)
(There is pounding on the bedroom door. Cries of “Daddy!”)
(very, very quietly)
Please don’t kill me. Please.
(ROLAND looks terrified. He eyes search the room. He uncocks the gun and drops his arm to his side. He looks at SARAH, she is shaking with fear.)
(ANGEL enters. ROLAND quickly hides the gun.)
It’s ok. Daddy was having a bad dream. It’s ok. It’s ok. It’s ok.
(Lights fade)
Stage Right. ABEER’s MOTHER is standing in a simple kitchen, typical of poor farmers in Iraq. She is preparing a simple lunch. MALAK stands by her side, breaking the tomatoes off the vine. ABEER enters with a water container.
Father will be home shortly.
Lunch is almost ready. Start the tea, Abeer.
(ABEER fills the tea kettle and lights the burner.)
Mother, the soldiers at the checkpoint keep calling to me. They make gestures. They laugh at me.
(Alarmed)
Do not look at them or answer them.
(ABEER’s FATHER enters. He is a large man, he smiles broadly when he sees his wife and daughters. MALAK crosses to him and gives him a hug. He sees the concern on his wife’s face. He crosses to ABEER, his first, and embraces her gently, cradling her head.)
What is wrong? ABEER are you giving your mother a hard time about school?
No. Worse. The soldiers. They say vile things to ABEER. They make monkey sounds. I’ve seen it myself.
(Worried, but hiding it)
Monkey sounds? Never mind them. They are just making noise. Abeer you are so young. They will not bother with you.
Father, they scare me. Why don’t they just leave us alone?
(Uncertain)
They are here to protect us.
I will speak with your Aunt. I think it may be better if you stay with them for a while.
(ABEER stops pouring the tea.)
Mama, no.
Abeer, do not argue.
(Lights down, Stage right, Simultaneously, up stage left. Angel, ROLAND’s youngest is in the kitchen with SARAH)
Mama can I help?
Yes, dear, bring me the carrots.
No, Mama, I want to help. Can’t I cut the carrots?
Angel knives are dangerous, you are too little to use knives.
(Playing with the carrots)
Mama, why is Daddy so mad?
Since the war, Daddy has very bad dreams. He isn’t mad at you.
Sometimes Daddy scares me. Daddy can be a very scary man.
We need to do our best, Angel. Daddy loves you very much. He needs all our love. Let’s love Daddy as much as we can. He will get better.
(ROLAND yells from offstage.)
Hey, I’m home! Where is everybody?
(Both SARAH and ANGEL freeze in fear)
(Lights up on RICH’s porch. A makeup artist is finishing RICH’s face. He looks more robust. An interviewer relaxes across from RICH. Lighting for the interview comes up.)
So how has retirement been treating you? Have you been doing all the fishing you had hoped to?
Well I have managed to get out on a few of my favorite rivers. After the transplant, I’m amazed how well I feel. I’m just grateful for another day. And I’m not really retired. I’m getting out on the lecture circuit again.
So, tell me, what do you know about your heart donor? What kind of life did they lead, who were they?
I don’t concern myself with that sort of thing. I can tell you I am grateful. A family suffered a tragedy. But this organ donation program is really something. I am grateful just to wake up in the morning. I tell you, kiss your loved ones, tell them you love them. I feel stronger everyday. I feel great.
You don’t have any curiosity?
No, I look at it like this; it’s my new heart, not someone else’s used heart. And I always generically thank donors for the gift that I’ve been given, but I don’t spend time wondering who had it, what they’d done, what kind of person they may have been.
(RICH begins to chuckle.)
What if, God forbid, he was a liberal?
(RICH and Interviewer start laughing.)
What if he was an environmentalist?
What if he were a peace activist?
(RICH and Interviewer laugh harder.)
What if he was a murderer?
(RICH and Interviewer can barely contain themselves.)
What if he were a Muslim?
(Interviewer’s laughter abruptly ends.)
(Seriously)
Why do you press on even in light of your health?
Well, I worry about the people running our country. They appease the terrorists. As a nation we’re soft, weak. It is important to talk about the war on terror- our freedom is at risk. Across generations, brave Americans have served honorably and kept us safe.
Did you serve your generation?
At the time, I had other priorities.
As a soldier a lot is sacrificed.
But there are rewards too. There is the pride of developing one's character and becoming a leader. Knowing that our nation's cause is the hope of the world. Every man and woman in America's Armed Services is part of an unbroken line of achievement and honor.
The administration is saying that the central tenets of our anti-terrorism policy have amounted to torture. That soldiers as well as the CIA tortured people.
We don't do torture. We checked. The Justice Department issues the requisite opinions in order to know where the lines were that you could not cross. The professionals involved in that program were very, very cautious, they wouldn't do anything without making certain it was authorized. And any suggestion to the contrary is just wrong.
(Pause)
Do you think they love America, this administration? They have a funny way of showing it.
The soldiers involved are under a great deal of scrutiny.
Every one of them deserves the thanks and the admiration of our entire country.
(Pause)
War is not a ladies auxiliary tea party. It’s all too easy for people comfortable in LA, or New York, to condemn the troops without context.
(Pause)
No single military power in history has done greater good, or upheld higher standards of decency and valor than our Armed Forces. You know, military service demands a special kind of sacrifice. The interests of the nation must always come first.
What sacrifices have you made?
(ROLAND sits close to SARAH. They are holding hands, deep in conversation filled with long pauses.)
ROLAND, I’m scared.
I love you. I would never harm you. These nightmares are killing me.
You had a gun in my face! I want to support you, I want to be with you, I don’t know how.
It’s like I never know when I am awake. What’s real? I’m awake right? But this shadow, this horror is going to swallow me. It’s not who I have become, it’s who I am and it is ugly.
I just don’t know what to do. I’m going to have a breakdown. I’ve let you down, I’m not strong enough. Angel is terrified.
ANGEL? ANGEL is terrified? Look, I have another appointment. I’ll ask them to adjust my meds.
In a month you have an appointment. I don’t know if I have a month. I’m afraid to go to sleep at night. I know what you’ve been through was terrible. But how can you manage to be here, now, with us. Without destroying us?
I just don’t know where to turn. I can’t reconcile my... I’m stuck in a loop in my head. The past is like a freight train barreling through. I can’t accept... unacceptable.
I was thinking we might stay with my mom for a while. She’s just in town. I could bring Angel to visit.
(Distraught)
I don’t know if that’s a good idea. I need you. I’m so sorry, for everything. I am so sorry. Please don’t quit on me.
It’ll just be temporary ROLAND. I’ll go with you to the VA. We’ll see your counselor. We’ll work through this. It will be better.
(ROLAND wipes his eyes and rests his head on his wife’s shoulder. She cradles his head. LILY enters with a bouquet.)
There you are. I am going to see your brother. Do you want to come with me? It is so tranquil at Mount Comfort. I’m glad he is so close to us, instead of Arlington. It seems so cold there, all those crosses exactly the same, you could get lost. Come with me, we’ll say a prayer.
Thanks mom, but I’ll pass. Maybe another day.
Ok, but it’ll cheer you up. It’s a relief to know Owen is at peace, resting by our creator’s side.
Peace. Jesus.
(2 rooms of a small house. DOC and GOLDIE are in the room stage right, tossing the room, searching for weapons.)
(As lights come up we can hear Goldie barking commands along with small arms fire, screaming.)
There is nothing here. Let them go, let’s move. Let’s go, let’s go!
(The rest of the team enter and follow GOLDIE through the hole in the wall into the darkened stage left room)
(In the dark we hear a voice crying out.)
Laish? Laish? Laish?
(Translated on scrim Why? Why? Why?)
(ROLAND’s team pushes past her, exiting stage left through another hole blasted in the stage left wall. ROLAND is the last of the team to move into the room. He steps into the bedroom. Lights up in the room. The bodies of two young boys and a young father are lying dead in a corner. The wife/mother bloodied, stands in the doorway. ROLAND’s legs buckle. He leans against the wall for support. He can’t breathe. He hangs his head and begins sobbing. The WIFE comes over to him. She stops screaming. She looks him in the eyes.)
Inshallah. Inshallah.
(The English translation, “God’s will” drifts across the scrim.)
(Looks at her, mumbles)
I’m sorry.
(ROLAND exits stage left. Lights slow fade.)
(Lights up on ROLAND. He is sitting on a bar stool, drinking. Three of his Marine buddies (GOLDIE, DOC and VAL, in tank tops and desert camo) sit with him, their kelvar, guns, and gear nearby. GOLDIE remains a silent witness throughout.)
It’s so great to just chill with you.
(His left bicep displays a tattoo of the Marine Corps emblem – a globe, an anchor and a bald eagle clutching a streamer displaying the Corps motto, Semper Fidelis. With his broad shoulders, crew cut and glowing smile, he could be the poster boy for recruiters.)
Dude, great to see you. I can’t believe it.
(VAL has the words “Semper Fi” Tattooed across his chest and Natural Born Killer down his right arm, His left arm has Jesus on a crucifix wrapped in an American flag. He is tall, gangly, with black-rimmed glasses)
(Mocking)
I don’t believe it.
(Laughing)
Shut the fuck up. Seriously think I’m losing it. What becomes of us?
Talk to me. I got your back man, always have.
Things have changed.
Sure have. You look like shit. Haunted.
Remember when we went to the recruiter. We wanted to serve our country. We wanted to fight.
Convinced. Convinced it was our duty. It wasn’t a choice, we had to join.
My old man served, my granddaddy. He told us we could serve with honor. We could be part of something.
Get the hell out of here.
Yeah. Said they’d make me a man.
They have. A broken man, a shell of a man.
Remember the crucible? It was somethin. I knew then I was a soldier.
Yeah, that was something. But it wasn’t nothing compared to Anbar.
When I got that Eagle, Globe and Anchor, I was never so proud. I was born again. I could feel everything the DI said right in my heart. Like Marine Corp was tattooed on my soul forever.
Dude, we did the best we could. We didn’t know. For everything we thought we had learnt, we didn’t know shit.
(Laughing)
A noble cause, men. A noble cause.
This war, it’s not like my daddy’s war, or my granddaddy’s war. Those wars meant something. This is for nothing.
Dude, First, I would reevaluate your ideas on Vietnam... But listen, securing peace, and uplifting the good in these god-forsaken lands means something, I still believe that.
Is that what we are doing? Is it what we’ve ever done? My family are soldiers. I wanted to follow them.
Did you ever ask them how the war looked to them? Look, to restrain evil out of love for my neighbor- is a God-like act. Rely on a higher power my friend. We are warriors for Jesus.
Damn, my mother would love you. I thought I was fighting evil. It was black and white for a while, then white and black. Everything turned around. I fought to survive. Then, I fought to get even.
My job is to help liberate humanity. Hardship, struggle, brotherhood- that’s our salvation.
The hell with all that. Jesus don’t know shit about IEDs. All I know I gotta be here for another year and there ain't shit I can do about it. I just want to go home alive. I don't give a rat’s ass about the whole thing. I don't care.
I hear ya on that. Do whatever is necessary.
(Shakes his head)
Cheers!
(Everyone drinks)
I love my fuckin’ country. I love it.
A patriot. I am a fucking patriot.
(As though reminding himself)
I’m a force for good. A force for good.
(Drinks)
I told my father I was heading to Iraq and he said, Good. It’s about time you became a man. Then he tells me, just don’t be a pussy. I told him, I thought you’d tell me to come home safe, maybe give me a hug.
(Laughs)
Nope, all he said is don’t be a pussy. I told ‘em I’d try my best.
I thought we would earn their respect.
You did. You did that.
Yeah, draped in an American flag.
I can’t even look in the mirror. Who can I talk to about this? You would rather die than hear what I am about to say.
We gotta go.
(DOC embraces ROLAND for a second too long.)
DOC (cont.)
Stay safe brother.
(The three marines get up, grab their kelvar and M-16’s and cross the stage. At mid-stage they shift to stances of being on patrol. The sound of a big explosion, a flash of light and smoke. When the smoke clears the three marines are in pieces on the ground.)
(Jumping from his bar stool, ROLAND moves towards his friends.)
Nooooo.
(He stops center stage.)
(Lights Down)
(Lights up slowly. Sitting amongst the gore, covered in gore himself, ROLAND is drinking from a bottle of tequila with his wife (SARAH remains unbloodied.)
I got up in the middle of a cloud of smoke. The ground was slippery. Something was dripping from my face. I thought I was bleeding. I rubbed it between my fingers. Bone. I thought I was dead. I searched my body for the wound. Then I saw my friends. Just pieces. (He takes a swig and hands the bottle to SARAH, who drinks long.) DOC’s head was hanging by a thread. I cradled him and begged him not to go. Slippery. Wet. Alpha came around the corner. They looked at me. They looked at me, they saw a ghost. I had a concussion and headaches for weeks, until now. I went for counseling, I did. I told them all I wanted was to kill Iraqis, just kill as many as I could. I told them. I did. I told them I was crazy. I was given sedatives and told to rest. I was sent to a new unit. Daylight speared into my brain. At night my heart beats so hard I think the evac-choppers are coming in.
(ROLAND sits cradling his friend’s remains as lights slow fade.)
(During fade)
DOC still comes to me in my dreams. He asks me…
(Blackout)
(Spot on DOC standing downstage in his dress blues, with ceremonial sword.)
What are you gonna do now? You‘re fresh out of friends.
(Whispers)
Ooh-Rah.
From that moment on, I was a dead man.
(Lights up on MALAK as she “studies” English. The living area is all but empty, an old TV on a table in the corner, with cushions on a worn carpet. She scribbles furiously. She is concentrating as hard as a 5 year old can muster)
Ohhhh. I’ll never get it.
(ABEER enters carrying vegetables from the garden, she is happy and smiling)
Malak! You are learning with my English books again?
Yes. I wish to learn English.
Why, sweet MALAK?
I want to tell the soldiers to go away. We are happy without them.
Oh, hush. It is such a beautiful day. Spring is finally here. The jasmine has bloomed. Smell!
(She holds her wrist to MALAK’s nose.)
You should play outside. Come now.
(ABEER snatches the book away and runs. MALAK follows her outside, screaming and laughing.)
(ROLAND sits around a plastic table, playing cards with TONY and KENNY. They are drinking whiskey. They are already drunk, and talk over each other. They are in various stages of undress, with helmet and weapons propped nearby. All are getting drunker as the scene goes on.)
Jesus, I’m bored to tears. This place is makin me crazy. Why aren’t we doing something.
Take it easy, it’s too hot to move, never mind patrol. Have a drink.
That’s your answer to everything. Have a drink.
(Passes bottle.)
Take a drink, asshole.
(Drunk)
You know what I don’t understand, we’ve been here for a six months.
(Talking over KENNY)
Yeah dude, I’ve been here a year. I was with the best damn crew to be found in this godforsaken sandbox. They held me up. I miss those bastards. Why the fuck am I here? I’m losing it. I go to psych and they tell me alright, suck it up, wipe the sand out of your crack and get on with the mission. And they tell me to rest. Rest? Rest brings on the horror show. Sleep hurts.
(TONY slides the bottle over, ROLAND drinks.)
Why the fuck haven’t we gone after Ali Baba who killed my boys?
(ROLAND drinks.)
And then they throw me in with you fucking fobbits. Fuckin’ groundhogs day.
Would you quit whining and hear me out, first, we’ve been here six months and killed plenty of Hadjis. So how is it we haven’t fucked a single one?
That‘s the truth. Why is that? What’s up with that ROLAND? How many Hadjis have you fucked in a year?
None.
(TONY and KENNY, laughing, derisively.)
You’ve been here a year? What the hell?
Fucking be a man.
But there’s a girl and she lives just near here.
Not that baby on that farm a click or 2.
She is not a baby. She‘s at least 14. That’s marrying age around here.
Let’s do it. But there can’t be any witnesses.
I’ll kill the whole Hadji family if you want me too Sarge. Kill ‘em all. I don’t care. Kill every last one of them.
(ABEER’s MOTHER enters with a broom, begins sweeping the rug and cleaning the room. The offstage laughter of ABEER and MALAK can be heard. The mother is singing sweetly to herself. (In Arabic, translated on the background)
“Like a Raindrop”
Like a raindrop
I was alone darling
Alone, my darling
Like a raindrop
MALAK
(Enters, out of breath. Hugs her mom, sings overly dramatic, fluttering eyebrows and all)
Don't be sad
Tomorrow I will buy you the moon
and a morning star
And a garden of flowers
Tomorrow, if I return from my journey
Tomorrow, if leaves sprout in my ribs of stone
But today I'm alone my darling
Alone my darling like a raindrop.
Where is Abeer?
She has gone to the well.
(TONY & KENNY pull ABEER into the room, KENNY has his hand over her mouth. MOTHER jumps up, shielding MALAK and moving toward ABEER. TONY shoves her back, points his rifle at her. ROLAND enters pushing the Father ahead of him.)
(ROLAND stands guard over the family with the family’s AK-47 and a shotgun slung over his shoulder, as TONY and KENNY drag ABEER to the next room.)
(In Arabic, translation on scrim)
What are you doing? ABEER do as they say. Stop this. How can you harm a child?
(In Arabic, translation on scrim, Overlapping with MOTHER)
How dare you enter this house? We’ve cooperated. We trusted you. Enough. If you harm my daughter, I will kill you.
(Cocking and pointing AK-47 at FATHER)
Everybody just calm down and shut up. I don’t understand. And I don’t care.
Shut the fuck up!
(Mother begins praying/cursing in Arabic, translated on Scrim)
(ABEER speaks in Arabic, translated on scrim)
I love you Mama, I love you Father. Malak, stay strong. Remember the jasmine in the spring.
(ABEER cries out in pain and her scream is muffled.)
(MOTHER pushes past FATHER and nears ROLAND. He fires one shot and she drops to the floor dead. FATHER shields MALAK, after the shot, he charges. The AK47 jams and they grab each other. ROLAND fires the shotgun, killing FATHER. MALAK, covered in blood moves downstage, facing audience. She screams. ROLAND clears the AK 47 and shoots her from where he stands.)
(ROLAND turns to enter the next room. He takes off his flak jacket and puts down the shotgun. He unzips his fly, and enters the room. We here a cry, and some grunting as lights slowly die. Just before blackout, we here a single shot.)
SCENE II Act 4
(Spot on ROLAND as he sits at his kitchen table. GOLDIE, VAL, DOC, BILLIE and DODGE sit around him. It is 4:30 am. 15 bottles of different pills litter the table. A ½ bottle of Wild Turkey on the counter, a couple empty beer cans, more on ice. He is playing with his 9 mm. He is not drunk.)
Soldier, what were you thinking? I love you like a brother, but you were wrong, dead wrong.
(Shamed)
I was drunk. High. Look, I just didn’t care. I was a dead man. All of me. I am a dead man.
I lost it.
(Drunk)
You fucking pussy.
You’ve gotta get yourself right with God.
Honor, courage, commitment son. Core values of the U.S. Marine Corp. Honor- the bedrock of who we are. You’ve tarnished my reputation, and worse, you have tarnished the institution. We only wanted the best of the best. We’d weed out the little wussies that didn’t want to be real people. You’re a Marine.
You’re a Marine. What the hell does that mean? Some gold standard of warrior? I was in the WWII. We rampaged across France raping the women we liberated. Saving Fucking Private Ryan doesn’t mention that does he? We were all heroes. Are you kidding me? We did chemical weapons tests on our own troops. They wanted to see if mustard gas affected black men differently than whites. That’s crazy shit. Damn it’s all lies. Heroes my ass. War is carnage and vileness. Core values. Core values.
(Almost poetic)
I was 18. Hiding in the forest just outside a village. I got separated from my guys. The sun was sinking behind me, illuminating the trees across this big golden field. I could see the enemy across the way. And I could see this young kid crawling in a ditch straight toward my position. He kept comin (uneasy giggle), I let him crawl.
(Side tracked)
I was 18, I didn’t know shit. They call it the Good War, We firebombed Hamburg, Dresden, 67 Japanese cities 67, incinerated...
(shaking his head)
I digress, out there in the trees, look, there was nothing good about... when he got within 10 or 15 feet of me I screamed for him to stop. He was shocked. He raised his gun. That was death for him. But this young man, he was beautiful. Fair skin, blond hair, and crystal clear blue eyes. A blue the color of the sky. He was beautiful. He was like an angel. I shot him- right in the heart. And it didn’t bother me that first night. I was bone tired. But the second night I woke up crying, because that boy was right there. And to this day I wake up crying. I still see this angel in my dreams. I just don’t know how to get him off my mind... I never told anyone this story til just now.
(Addressing Goldie)
You make them army strong. But after that, they’re just not strong enough.
(Pointing at GOLDIE, entreating)
You demanded I hate. To survive. You taught me to kill.
(He breaks into a Marine Corp Cadence)
Hail, hail, infantry
Queen of battles, follow me
Marine Corps life is the life for me
Cause nothing in this life is free.
Kick in the door, what do I see
a whole fucking Hadji family
pull the pin and toss the room
I stand outside I hear the boom
Blood and guts are everywhere
I even got some in my hair
I pick it out and i say
Hadji, Hadji it’s not your day
Hadji, Hadji can’t you see
USMC was made for me
We have a job to do gentlemen. War is brutal. In order to win in war we must be more brutal than the enemy. Anything less will ensure defeat. Get ready!
(Clapping his hands in time)
Fired up
Everybody
Fired up
I am
Lean and mean
Rough and tough
I know my stuff
I can run
All day
I can fight
All night
I’m gonna be
infantry
I’m airborne
(ROLAND, DOC & VAL clap in cadence)
You got the feeling
In your heart
Sound off
Everybody
We gonna rock
(ROLAND, DOC & VAL join in repeating each line in cadence)
All right
Hey Hey
Every day
I’m motivated
I’m dedicated
I can run
I can jump
A Paratrooper
A superdooper
A Paratrooper
All right
How ya lookin
Lead: Lookin good
Group-Lookin good
Lead- Hollywood [returns to regular pattern]
All right
You’re dynomite
Hey hey
Everybody
Feelin good
Fired up
Motivated
Dedicated
(Claps continue for 2 meters)
(Over clapping)
I did it for you. I did it for all of you.
(DOC pats him on the shoulder, hugs him hard, VAL looks at him with pity, & GOLDIE looks down dejected)
If I thought it was an ok thing now I wouldn’t be much of a human being would I?
Would I?
In defense of all we hold dear back home, we fight. We will locate, disrupt, and destroy the enemy. I’m looking forward to this fight because we’re going to smoke check these motherfuckers.
(His three buddies exit to GOLDIE calling cadence)
Hail, hail, infantry
Queen of battles, follow me
Marine Corps life is the life for me
Cause nothing in this life is free.
Here I lie in this foreign land
Bleeding on this foreign sand.
Ground around me turning red
By the time they find me, I'll be dead.
Hail, hail, infantry...
(ROLAND’s kitchen. ROLAND is sitting center downstage facing audience)
(Lights up on ROLAND’s kitchen. ROLAND is alone. Listening to RICH’s interview. He is drinking a glass of orange juice. The sun sets through the kitchen window.)
No single military power in history has done greater good, liberated more people, or upheld higher standards of decency and valor than the Armed Forces of the United States of America. You know, military service demands a special kind of sacrifice.
(ROLAND turns off the TV and throws the remote across the table.)
This family? We sacrificed. Him sitting on his porch drinking iced tea, not so much. Telling me about sacrifice? Telling me about service? He’s got balls.
(Quiet)
My brother died twice for this country. Once in Iraq and once in the god damn bathroom. Wait a minute. Wait a minute. What day did that SOB get his transplant?
(Realizing the worst)
No, no, no. Wait a fucking minute. Are you kidding me? My brother was a good man. He had heart.
(Pushes back his chair and stands)
I’ve done terrible things but I’ll got a mission.
(RICH’s library, early evening. RICH sits at his desk, feet up, back to the door, reading. Pounding on the door.)
Why the hell are you pounding? The door is open. Where the hell is my latte?
(The door opens DIEGO stumbles forward followed closely by ROLAND, who has a pistol at his side. DIEGO hands RICH his latte. RICH adds his remaining scotch. DIEGO is shaking.)
(RICH looks over his shoulder and notices ROLAND, not turning around.)
Who are you soldier? What do you want?
This place doesn’t look anything like on TV.
This isn’t TV soldier. How did you get in here? Security like Fort Knox.
Respect for the uniform I guess. Like a ninja, a ghost, all Rambo like. I just drove right up to the front door, no questions asked.
Are you intoxicated, you are acting a bit strange.
I’m off my meds. It makes me unpredictable.
Well what do you want? Security will be here in minutes. Make it quick, I’m a busy man.
It will be quick alright. If I hadn't ever been in Iraq, I wouldn't be in the kind of trouble I'm in now. I'm not happy about that.
And that’s my fault? We are keeping America safe, son.
My brother is dead. He kept America safe. He came home and died.
A man who has nothing he is willing to fight for, nothing that he cares more about than his own personal safety, is a miserable creature who has no chance of being free, unless he is made free by the exertions of better men than himself. That’s a quote son, John Stuart Mill, ever hear of him?
Don’t you patronize me.
Just relax. Have a seat. What can I do for you?
I believed you. I joined the fight.
(Sweating. Taking off his Jacket. He wipes his brow.)
I’ll tell you what I want. I want an apology. Here and now. And I am taking back what doesn’t belong to you.
Apologize? I don’t apologize, it’s not in my vocabulary. Go see Kissinger. He called military men “Dumb, stupid animals to be used as pawns for foreign policy.” Me, I’ve always supported the troops. I haven’t done anything I wouldn’t do again son.
Don’t call me son.
They hate us for our freedoms.
They hate us for our freedom--- what do you think I’m stupid? I’ve been there. I know why they hate us.
The day I shipped out you shook my hand and thanked me for my service.
I shake a lot of hands.
(Reaches out to shake hands.)
Thank you for
(Apoplectic)
I don’t want your thanks. Sitting here in your library sipping your lattes. You don't know anything about what it's like to be out there on the line.
Son, What line? Are you having trouble with the VA? I thought that issue was resolved.
Waiting times are now only 40 days. They gave me more pharmaceuticals than Elvis. They told me to get more sleep.
Are you getting more sleep?
Nothing but nightmares. You. My nightmare. My wounds are not invisible.
(ABEER, bloodied, her clothes burned off her, a look of distress and fear on her face, her hands out from her sides silently crosses the stage. This should imitate the iconic photo of Phan Thi Kim Phuc fleeing her village in Vietnam after it was hit with napalm)
Do you see? ...I can still smell her.
(RICH sees nothing. Sneers)
See what? Smell who? And I don’t have anything that belongs to you. Son, buck up. This conversation is over. GARCIA will show you to the door.
(RICH sips his latte.)
Don't call me son.
(Roland points his gun at RICH, RICH sits back down, quickly)
I saw your interview. I did a little research. You got your heart on April 1st didn’t you?
(For the first time RICH really looks at ROLAND, hesitates.)
Didn’t you?
(DIEGO is shaking his head no, vigorously.)
I got my heart transplant on April 3rd.
(Pulling out a crumpled NY Times article. Waving it.)
NY Times, April 2nd, announcing your transplant. My brother died on April 1st. He killed himself just a few miles from here, but a world away. His was a broken dream, built on a shit heap of lies.
Don’t believe everything you read in the Times. Filled with liberal bias.
(Pause. ROLAND considers this.)
(ROLAND lunges. DIEGO screams. RICH whimpers. ROLAND cuts out RICH’S heart with his KBar. ROLAND grabs RICH by the collar and dumps his lifeless body on the floor. He grabs the Marine Corp ceremonial sword from the wall. He sits in RICH’s chair, blood running down his arms. ROLAND wipes the sweat from his brow, a smile on his face. He sips from RICH’s scotch. His pistol sits on the table He is waving around his bloody KBar, DIEGO cowers in a corner.)
(Singing) (Note: This is a rip off of a Lee Greenwood song. Possible Copyright issues.)
Today the things I’ve known are gone
That I’ve worked for all my life
And I have to start again
Without my children and my wife
I thank my lucky charms,
I’m still standing here today
Old glory still stands for freedom
And they can’t take that away
I’m proud to be an American,
Where I still dream I’m free.
And I don't forget the men who died,
who gave that right to me.
(We hear helicopters outside. We also hear a message over a PA: The police are surrounding the house. There is no escape. Come out with your hands up, etc. ROLAND stands and picks up his jacket and puts it on. He wipes the knife blade and tucks it in its sheath. He picks up his pistol.)
The few, the proud, the Marines. Ooh-Rah. Can I get an Ooh-Rah? Be All You Can Be.
(A SWAT team pounds on the door. A brief moment of silence. ROLAND points his pistol to his eye.)
Let the Journey Begin. Aim High.
(A shot rings out simultaneous to Blackout.)
(Darkened stage. VOICEOVER. ROLAND reading the most recent Marine Corp advertising campaign)
It is a right of passage. A challenge to join the elite. And if you succeed, if you can master your fear, outsmart your enemy and never yield even to yourself, you will be changed forever. Many will hear the call. Few will earn the title. (weeping) The few, the proud… (sobbing, can not continue.)
THE END.
Prologue
(Projected on a curtain or scrim. A tarmac. Yellow ribbons and American flags abound. The sound of a jet’s engines winding down.
(VOICEOVER announcement)
Please go welcome home your soldier!
We hear ROLAND’s wife SARAH, Go hug your daddy! He’s a hero!
(Up Stage Right ROLAND places his rucksack on the ground as his small daughter rushes toward him. He goes down to one knee and embraces her. He laughs as his daughter squeals. He picks her up and begins to walk off downstage left. From a distance we hear people calling out “thank you for your service” and other inanities. His smile vanishes. A Marine Corp Band plays “The Halls of Montezuma.” It is early spring.)
(Fade to black)
SCENE I Act 1
(WE are in the dilapidated kitchen of ROLAND’s childhood home. BILLIE (ROLANDS’s father) and DODGE (ROLANDS’s grandfather) are drinking coffee. They are not speaking. They are interrupted by a knock on the door.)
BILLIE
(Barely lifting his head)It’s open.
(ROLAND enters he is in jeans, tee shirt and a cap.)
ROLAND
Hey Dad what’s going on? I got here as quick as I could.
BILLIE
(Standing, going to his son.)
Not quick enough I’m afraid. He’s gone.
ROLAND
What do you mean gone? Where did he go?
DODGE
(Brusque)
He’s gone to the morgue.
BILLIE
Last night, your brother shot himself. Right here in my bathroom.
ROLAND
(ROLAND grabs the chair back to steady himself)
How? Why?
BILLIE
I don’t know what got into him. One minute he was all excited about you coming home, the next, he shoots himself.
ROLAND
Where’s Ma?
BILLIE
Your Mother is with him. She’s signing all the papers. Did you know he was an organ donor? Always thinkin about others, that one. Of course, they won’t be able to use the eyes.
ROLAND
They can’t use the eyes?
BILLIE
He shot himself clean through the right eye.
(ROLAND rushes off stage.)
BILLIE
Hey don’t go in there we haven’t finished cleaning up yet.
(We hear sounds of ROLAND vomiting.)
Great.
(Fade to Black)
SCENE I Act 2
(Lights up slowly. We are in RICH’s library, dark paneled walls, the hundreds of books on the shelves are of a conservative bent, but also include military history and political biography. A flat screen TV facing upstage a blue light emanating from it, no sound. There is a small desk and leather chair, and above the white-trimmed fireplace hang mementos. One is a U.S. Marine Corps Ceremonial Sword.
Light slowly up on RICH, an old, disheveled man. He does not look well. He is drinking scotch from a glass and having trouble catching his breath. The bottle sits on his desk, next to an American flag, tri folded in a display case. Near him is an oxygen machine with tubes and a mask. He mumbles to himself for a while.)
RICH has a remote in his hand and turns up the TV.
(Voiceover)
TV MC
I am sick and tired of everybody out there complaining. I hear so many people complaining about everyday life- I didn’t get the right Mercedes, my house is too small, I didn’t get this or I didn’t get that. I ran into a guy in the lobby- he didn’t have a left foot. He lost it in Ramadi. He came up to me to thank me for what I am doing.
(Incredulous)
For what I do, Dude! I’m MCing a fundraiser. Thank you for your service. I want to say lets stop complaining, it’s really not that bad. You may not have the fanciest Mercedes but you still have your feet, don’t you? We are here tonight to celebrate our veterans- they keep us safe everyday. So let’s hear it for them.
(Chants of USA, USA, USA.)
I said, let’s hear it for them!
(Chants grow louder. Cuts to an intro for a Mercedes commercial. RICH turns off the TV.)
RICH
I have the fanciest Mercedes. No complaints here. There is a cost to war, there is a benefit, oh yes, the benefit. (RICH smirks and sips his scotch) Keeping us safe. That’s what I like to hear.
(DIEGO, RICH’s Houseman, enters with a latte in a Starbucks cup with a cardboard Starbucks sleeve)
RICH
Isn’t that right GARCIA? There is a benefit.
(RICH pours the remainder of his scotch into the latte.)
DIEGO
(He’s heard it a million times.)
That’s right, sir. There is a benefit.
(Under his breath.)
And the cost you never pay.
RICH
What’s that…
(RICH’s laughs turns to wheezing, then coughing. He can’t catch his breath. The phone rings. DIEGO runs between the oxygen machine and RICH, putting the mask on upside down and turning on the oxygen. LIBBY, RICH’s wife, enters, quickly crosses, places the mask over RICH’s head properly and goes to the machine and regulates the airflow. The coughing fit subsides. Heavy breathing.)
LIBBY
Why didn’t you answer the phone?
RICH
(Trying to speak with the mask on, garbled.)
I didn’t answer the phone because I was hacking out a lung.
LIBBY
What?
RICH
(Pissed off, pulling the mask from his face.)
I didn’t answer the phone because I was hacking out a lung.
LIBBY
(Ignoring him, delighted)
Well our prayers have been answered. That was Dr. Vorkevian on the phone. They have a heart for you. You must call him right back. I’ll grab your bag. Thank the Lord.
(LIBBY Exits)
RICH
Thank the Lord? GARCIA, thank the Lord.
(DIEGO looks skyward with his hands out imploring.)
Thank my money getting me to the top of the list. That’s what needs thanking. Thank my money GARCIA.
DIEGO
Thanking the money! Thanking the money!
(RICH starts laughing and goes into another coughing fit.)
(Fade to Black)
SCENE I Act 3
(Four days later, BILLIE’s kitchen. On the Kitchen table are photos of ROLAND and his older brother, Owen. Other photos of Owen in a cap and gown, Owen in his Marine Corp blues and in his camo with an M-16, a cigarette hanging from his lip. ROLAND’s mother LILY closes the back door and wipes tears from her eyes. BILLIE and DODGE stand stoically by her side. ROLAND holds SARAH’s hand and his family stand slightly aside. Metals and accolades cover the table as well as a bottle of Wild Turkey and several glasses.)
LILY
Thank God they’ve left. His Marine buddies... he was so loved, by so many. It’s killing me. He was a good Christian. He loved his men.
DODGE
Of course they loved him. He was a leader of men and he was never one to turn down a challenge. He followed your advice, BILLIE- Each day, live life to the fullest, because tomorrow may not come.
(Drinks)
He even influenced his younger, didn’t he Roland?
ROLAND
I was an excitable boy, that’s all. I had a good time. It wasn’t like I was drowning puppies or anything. I mean I wasn’t an A student or captain of the football team. Buying cigarettes underage isn’t exactly a capital crime. Livin’ life to the fullest means different things to different people, gramps. And even daddy's been known to smoke some herb now and again.
SARAH
Shush now RO.
(Nodding toward ANGEL.)
DODGE
I was thinkin about the time you were running naked through the woods claiming you were chasing rabbits.
LILY
DODGE, now is not the time or the place.
BILLIE
The point is your brother was a natural leader. He led from the front.
LILY
Oh, ROLAND I wish you were here. He just couldn’t talk to us, said we’d never understand. Maybe you could have talked to him.
BILLIE
He was a different man after this deployment. His demons got’em.
LILY
I told him he was loved, no matter what. Jesus forgives. But Owen couldn’t forgive himself.
BILLIE
He would get a far away look in his eyes. He’d go quiet, or I’d find him weeping. Cryin like a baby. That’s not your brother. He was tough, tough as any man I ever met. Cryin.
ROLAND
He was the best damn sniper I know. No one had a bad thing to say about him. Killed more damn hadjis then whole teams combined. An American hero.
ANGEL
Like you daddy, you’re a hero.
ROLAND
(Aside, quietly)
Not like me.
BILLIE
I don’t understand. He seemed to be doing better. Then, last week, after we found out you were coming home, he seemed to fall apart.
ROLAND
He told me the rush of combat was an adrenaline rush you couldn’t forget. What sticks with me is the smell of pulverized concrete and human flesh. He failed to mention that.
SARAH
Roland!
BILLIE
He’d drink too much and tell us terrible stories. Your government hires you to kill and you’d better get good at it. It’s ugly. It’s dirty. You visit violence on others, there’s collateral damage. That’s the job.
LILY
I told him we were here to listen, you know, but that was too much.
BILLIE
Believe me Vietnam was no picnic, but over time you manage to bury it, get on with your life. I told him, give it time, you’ll bury it.
LILY
Even in death he gave his heart, some young person will have another chance at living!
BILLIE
Come on, let’s have a drink.
DODGE
The Marines was somethin he believed in. So there’s that.
SCENE I Act 4
SARAH
(very, very quietly)
Ro, you are ok, you are fine. You are safe.
(In one motion, ROLAND lunges, onto the bed and places the barrel of the gun against SARAH’s cheek. She screams. ROLAND cocks the gun. We hear ANGEL scream.)
ANGEL (off stage)
Daddy!
(Stage Left Quick fade to black.)
(Stage Right: Lights up, very bright. A man, naked, hooded, his wrists chained, his toes barely touching the floor, hangs from the ceiling of a small cage. A loud burst of intolerable music. He moans deeply. ROLAND, shirtless but in desert khakis walks toward him. He pounds him in the gut and knees him in the thigh several times.)
ROLAND
Stop moaning. Bastard. Stop moaning.
(Another loud moan erupts. ROLAND pulls his pistol and presses it to the detainee’s cheek.)
(The detainee whispers, not loud enough for us to hear. On the scrim behind the players we see his words, a prayer of mercy- in Arabic and in English.)
(Stage Right Quick fade to black)
(Stage Left. Lights up slowly. SARAH’s lips are moving in prayer, we cannot hear her.)
(From the darkness of Stage Right, The detainee says the prayer in Arabic, then in English. Softly.)
(There is pounding on the bedroom door. Cries of “Daddy!”)
SARAH
(very, very quietly)
Please don’t kill me. Please.
(ROLAND looks terrified. He eyes search the room. He uncocks the gun and drops his arm to his side. He looks at SARAH, she is shaking with fear.)
(ANGEL enters. ROLAND quickly hides the gun.)
ROLAND
It’s ok. Daddy was having a bad dream. It’s ok. It’s ok. It’s ok.
(Lights fade)
SCENE I Act 5
Stage Right. ABEER’s MOTHER is standing in a simple kitchen, typical of poor farmers in Iraq. She is preparing a simple lunch. MALAK stands by her side, breaking the tomatoes off the vine. ABEER enters with a water container.
ABEER
Father will be home shortly.
MOTHER
Lunch is almost ready. Start the tea, Abeer.
ABEER
(ABEER fills the tea kettle and lights the burner.)
Mother, the soldiers at the checkpoint keep calling to me. They make gestures. They laugh at me.
MOTHER
(Alarmed)
Do not look at them or answer them.
(ABEER’s FATHER enters. He is a large man, he smiles broadly when he sees his wife and daughters. MALAK crosses to him and gives him a hug. He sees the concern on his wife’s face. He crosses to ABEER, his first, and embraces her gently, cradling her head.)
What is wrong? ABEER are you giving your mother a hard time about school?
MOTHER
No. Worse. The soldiers. They say vile things to ABEER. They make monkey sounds. I’ve seen it myself.
FATHER
(Worried, but hiding it)
Monkey sounds? Never mind them. They are just making noise. Abeer you are so young. They will not bother with you.
ABEER
Father, they scare me. Why don’t they just leave us alone?
FATHER
(Uncertain)
They are here to protect us.
MOTHER
I will speak with your Aunt. I think it may be better if you stay with them for a while.
ABEER
(ABEER stops pouring the tea.)
Mama, no.
MOTHER
Abeer, do not argue.
(Lights down, Stage right, Simultaneously, up stage left. Angel, ROLAND’s youngest is in the kitchen with SARAH)
ANGEL
Mama can I help?
SARAH
Yes, dear, bring me the carrots.
ANGEL
No, Mama, I want to help. Can’t I cut the carrots?
SARAH
Angel knives are dangerous, you are too little to use knives.
ANGEL
(Playing with the carrots)
Mama, why is Daddy so mad?
SARAH
Since the war, Daddy has very bad dreams. He isn’t mad at you.
ANGEL
Sometimes Daddy scares me. Daddy can be a very scary man.
SARAH
We need to do our best, Angel. Daddy loves you very much. He needs all our love. Let’s love Daddy as much as we can. He will get better.
(ROLAND yells from offstage.)
ROLAND
Hey, I’m home! Where is everybody?
(Both SARAH and ANGEL freeze in fear)
SCENE I Act 6
INTEVIEWER
So how has retirement been treating you? Have you been doing all the fishing you had hoped to?
RICH
Well I have managed to get out on a few of my favorite rivers. After the transplant, I’m amazed how well I feel. I’m just grateful for another day. And I’m not really retired. I’m getting out on the lecture circuit again.
INTEVIEWER
So, tell me, what do you know about your heart donor? What kind of life did they lead, who were they?
RICH
I don’t concern myself with that sort of thing. I can tell you I am grateful. A family suffered a tragedy. But this organ donation program is really something. I am grateful just to wake up in the morning. I tell you, kiss your loved ones, tell them you love them. I feel stronger everyday. I feel great.
INTEVIEWER
You don’t have any curiosity?
RICH
No, I look at it like this; it’s my new heart, not someone else’s used heart. And I always generically thank donors for the gift that I’ve been given, but I don’t spend time wondering who had it, what they’d done, what kind of person they may have been.
(RICH begins to chuckle.)
What if, God forbid, he was a liberal?
(RICH and Interviewer start laughing.)
INTEVIEWER
What if he was an environmentalist?
RICH
What if he were a peace activist?
(RICH and Interviewer laugh harder.)
INTEVIEWER
What if he was a murderer?
(RICH and Interviewer can barely contain themselves.)
RICH
What if he were a Muslim?
(Interviewer’s laughter abruptly ends.)
INTEVIEWER
(Seriously)
Why do you press on even in light of your health?
RICH
Well, I worry about the people running our country. They appease the terrorists. As a nation we’re soft, weak. It is important to talk about the war on terror- our freedom is at risk. Across generations, brave Americans have served honorably and kept us safe.
INTEVIEWER
Did you serve your generation?
RICH
At the time, I had other priorities.
INTEVIEWER
As a soldier a lot is sacrificed.
RICH
But there are rewards too. There is the pride of developing one's character and becoming a leader. Knowing that our nation's cause is the hope of the world. Every man and woman in America's Armed Services is part of an unbroken line of achievement and honor.
INTEVIEWER
RICH
(Pause)
Do you think they love America, this administration? They have a funny way of showing it.
INTEVIEWER
RICH
Every one of them deserves the thanks and the admiration of our entire country.
(Pause)
War is not a ladies auxiliary tea party. It’s all too easy for people comfortable in LA, or New York, to condemn the troops without context.
(Pause)
No single military power in history has done greater good, or upheld higher standards of decency and valor than our Armed Forces. You know, military service demands a special kind of sacrifice. The interests of the nation must always come first.
INTEVIEWER
What sacrifices have you made?
SCENE I Act 7
SARAH
ROLAND, I’m scared.
ROLAND
I love you. I would never harm you. These nightmares are killing me.
SARAH
You had a gun in my face! I want to support you, I want to be with you, I don’t know how.
ROLAND
It’s like I never know when I am awake. What’s real? I’m awake right? But this shadow, this horror is going to swallow me. It’s not who I have become, it’s who I am and it is ugly.
SARAH
I just don’t know what to do. I’m going to have a breakdown. I’ve let you down, I’m not strong enough. Angel is terrified.
ROLAND
ANGEL? ANGEL is terrified? Look, I have another appointment. I’ll ask them to adjust my meds.
SARAH
In a month you have an appointment. I don’t know if I have a month. I’m afraid to go to sleep at night. I know what you’ve been through was terrible. But how can you manage to be here, now, with us. Without destroying us?
ROLAND
I just don’t know where to turn. I can’t reconcile my... I’m stuck in a loop in my head. The past is like a freight train barreling through. I can’t accept... unacceptable.
SARAH
I was thinking we might stay with my mom for a while. She’s just in town. I could bring Angel to visit.
ROLAND
(Distraught)
I don’t know if that’s a good idea. I need you. I’m so sorry, for everything. I am so sorry. Please don’t quit on me.
SARAH
It’ll just be temporary ROLAND. I’ll go with you to the VA. We’ll see your counselor. We’ll work through this. It will be better.
(ROLAND wipes his eyes and rests his head on his wife’s shoulder. She cradles his head. LILY enters with a bouquet.)
LILY
There you are. I am going to see your brother. Do you want to come with me? It is so tranquil at Mount Comfort. I’m glad he is so close to us, instead of Arlington. It seems so cold there, all those crosses exactly the same, you could get lost. Come with me, we’ll say a prayer.
ROLAND
Thanks mom, but I’ll pass. Maybe another day.
LILY
Ok, but it’ll cheer you up. It’s a relief to know Owen is at peace, resting by our creator’s side.
ROLAND
Peace. Jesus.
SCENE I Act 8
(2 rooms of a small house. DOC and GOLDIE are in the room stage right, tossing the room, searching for weapons.)
(As lights come up we can hear Goldie barking commands along with small arms fire, screaming.)
GOLDIE
There is nothing here. Let them go, let’s move. Let’s go, let’s go!
(The rest of the team enter and follow GOLDIE through the hole in the wall into the darkened stage left room)
(In the dark we hear a voice crying out.)
IRAQI WIFE
Laish? Laish? Laish?
(Translated on scrim Why? Why? Why?)
(ROLAND’s team pushes past her, exiting stage left through another hole blasted in the stage left wall. ROLAND is the last of the team to move into the room. He steps into the bedroom. Lights up in the room. The bodies of two young boys and a young father are lying dead in a corner. The wife/mother bloodied, stands in the doorway. ROLAND’s legs buckle. He leans against the wall for support. He can’t breathe. He hangs his head and begins sobbing. The WIFE comes over to him. She stops screaming. She looks him in the eyes.)
IRAQI WIFE
Inshallah. Inshallah.
(The English translation, “God’s will” drifts across the scrim.)
ROLAND
(Looks at her, mumbles)
I’m sorry.
(ROLAND exits stage left. Lights slow fade.)
SCENE I Act 9
ROLAND
It’s so great to just chill with you.
DOC
(His left bicep displays a tattoo of the Marine Corps emblem – a globe, an anchor and a bald eagle clutching a streamer displaying the Corps motto, Semper Fidelis. With his broad shoulders, crew cut and glowing smile, he could be the poster boy for recruiters.)
Dude, great to see you. I can’t believe it.
VAL
(VAL has the words “Semper Fi” Tattooed across his chest and Natural Born Killer down his right arm, His left arm has Jesus on a crucifix wrapped in an American flag. He is tall, gangly, with black-rimmed glasses)
(Mocking)
I don’t believe it.
ROLAND
(Laughing)
Shut the fuck up. Seriously think I’m losing it. What becomes of us?
DOC
Talk to me. I got your back man, always have.
ROLAND
VAL
Sure have. You look like shit. Haunted.
ROLAND
Remember when we went to the recruiter. We wanted to serve our country. We wanted to fight.
DOC
Convinced. Convinced it was our duty. It wasn’t a choice, we had to join.
ROLAND
VAL
Get the hell out of here.
ROLAND
Yeah. Said they’d make me a man.
VAL
They have. A broken man, a shell of a man.
ROLAND
Remember the crucible? It was somethin. I knew then I was a soldier.
VAL
Yeah, that was something. But it wasn’t nothing compared to Anbar.
ROLAND
When I got that Eagle, Globe and Anchor, I was never so proud. I was born again. I could feel everything the DI said right in my heart. Like Marine Corp was tattooed on my soul forever.
DOC
Dude, we did the best we could. We didn’t know. For everything we thought we had learnt, we didn’t know shit.
VAL
(Laughing)
A noble cause, men. A noble cause.
ROLAND
This war, it’s not like my daddy’s war, or my granddaddy’s war. Those wars meant something. This is for nothing.
VAL
Dude, First, I would reevaluate your ideas on Vietnam... But listen, securing peace, and uplifting the good in these god-forsaken lands means something, I still believe that.
ROLAND
Is that what we are doing? Is it what we’ve ever done? My family are soldiers. I wanted to follow them.
VAL
Did you ever ask them how the war looked to them? Look, to restrain evil out of love for my neighbor- is a God-like act. Rely on a higher power my friend. We are warriors for Jesus.
ROLAND
Damn, my mother would love you. I thought I was fighting evil. It was black and white for a while, then white and black. Everything turned around. I fought to survive. Then, I fought to get even.
VAL
My job is to help liberate humanity. Hardship, struggle, brotherhood- that’s our salvation.
DOC
The hell with all that. Jesus don’t know shit about IEDs. All I know I gotta be here for another year and there ain't shit I can do about it. I just want to go home alive. I don't give a rat’s ass about the whole thing. I don't care.
ROLAND
I hear ya on that. Do whatever is necessary.
(Shakes his head)
Cheers!
(Everyone drinks)
DOC
I love my fuckin’ country. I love it.
ROLAND
A patriot. I am a fucking patriot.
(As though reminding himself)
I’m a force for good. A force for good.
(Drinks)
I told my father I was heading to Iraq and he said, Good. It’s about time you became a man. Then he tells me, just don’t be a pussy. I told him, I thought you’d tell me to come home safe, maybe give me a hug.
(Laughs)
Nope, all he said is don’t be a pussy. I told ‘em I’d try my best.
DOC
I thought we would earn their respect.
ROLAND
You did. You did that.
DOC
Yeah, draped in an American flag.
ROLAND
I can’t even look in the mirror. Who can I talk to about this? You would rather die than hear what I am about to say.
DOC
We gotta go.
(DOC embraces ROLAND for a second too long.)
DOC (cont.)
Stay safe brother.
(The three marines get up, grab their kelvar and M-16’s and cross the stage. At mid-stage they shift to stances of being on patrol. The sound of a big explosion, a flash of light and smoke. When the smoke clears the three marines are in pieces on the ground.)
ROLAND
(Jumping from his bar stool, ROLAND moves towards his friends.)
Nooooo.
(He stops center stage.)
(Lights Down)
(Lights up slowly. Sitting amongst the gore, covered in gore himself, ROLAND is drinking from a bottle of tequila with his wife (SARAH remains unbloodied.)
ROLAND
I got up in the middle of a cloud of smoke. The ground was slippery. Something was dripping from my face. I thought I was bleeding. I rubbed it between my fingers. Bone. I thought I was dead. I searched my body for the wound. Then I saw my friends. Just pieces. (He takes a swig and hands the bottle to SARAH, who drinks long.) DOC’s head was hanging by a thread. I cradled him and begged him not to go. Slippery. Wet. Alpha came around the corner. They looked at me. They looked at me, they saw a ghost. I had a concussion and headaches for weeks, until now. I went for counseling, I did. I told them all I wanted was to kill Iraqis, just kill as many as I could. I told them. I did. I told them I was crazy. I was given sedatives and told to rest. I was sent to a new unit. Daylight speared into my brain. At night my heart beats so hard I think the evac-choppers are coming in.
(ROLAND sits cradling his friend’s remains as lights slow fade.)
ROLAND
(During fade)
DOC still comes to me in my dreams. He asks me…
(Blackout)
DOC
(Spot on DOC standing downstage in his dress blues, with ceremonial sword.)
What are you gonna do now? You‘re fresh out of friends.
(Whispers)
Ooh-Rah.
ROLAND
From that moment on, I was a dead man.
END OF ACT 1
ACT II Scene 1
(Lights up on MALAK as she “studies” English. The living area is all but empty, an old TV on a table in the corner, with cushions on a worn carpet. She scribbles furiously. She is concentrating as hard as a 5 year old can muster)
MALAK
(ABEER enters carrying vegetables from the garden, she is happy and smiling)
ABEER
Malak! You are learning with my English books again?
MALAK
Yes. I wish to learn English.
ABEER
Why, sweet MALAK?
MALAK
I want to tell the soldiers to go away. We are happy without them.
ABEER
Oh, hush. It is such a beautiful day. Spring is finally here. The jasmine has bloomed. Smell!
(She holds her wrist to MALAK’s nose.)
You should play outside. Come now.
(ABEER snatches the book away and runs. MALAK follows her outside, screaming and laughing.)
ACT II Scene 2
(ROLAND sits around a plastic table, playing cards with TONY and KENNY. They are drinking whiskey. They are already drunk, and talk over each other. They are in various stages of undress, with helmet and weapons propped nearby. All are getting drunker as the scene goes on.)
ROLAND
Jesus, I’m bored to tears. This place is makin me crazy. Why aren’t we doing something.
TONY
Take it easy, it’s too hot to move, never mind patrol. Have a drink.
ROLAND
That’s your answer to everything. Have a drink.
TONY
(Passes bottle.)
Take a drink, asshole.
KENNY
(Drunk)
You know what I don’t understand, we’ve been here for a six months.
ROLAND
(Talking over KENNY)
Yeah dude, I’ve been here a year. I was with the best damn crew to be found in this godforsaken sandbox. They held me up. I miss those bastards. Why the fuck am I here? I’m losing it. I go to psych and they tell me alright, suck it up, wipe the sand out of your crack and get on with the mission. And they tell me to rest. Rest? Rest brings on the horror show. Sleep hurts.
(TONY slides the bottle over, ROLAND drinks.)
Why the fuck haven’t we gone after Ali Baba who killed my boys?
(ROLAND drinks.)
And then they throw me in with you fucking fobbits. Fuckin’ groundhogs day.
KENNY
Would you quit whining and hear me out, first, we’ve been here six months and killed plenty of Hadjis. So how is it we haven’t fucked a single one?
TONY
That‘s the truth. Why is that? What’s up with that ROLAND? How many Hadjis have you fucked in a year?
ROLAND
None.
KENNY
(TONY and KENNY, laughing, derisively.)
You’ve been here a year? What the hell?
TONY
Fucking be a man.
ROLAND
But there’s a girl and she lives just near here.
KENNY
Not that baby on that farm a click or 2.
ROLAND
TONY
Let’s do it. But there can’t be any witnesses.
ROLAND
I’ll kill the whole Hadji family if you want me too Sarge. Kill ‘em all. I don’t care. Kill every last one of them.
SCENE II Act 3
(ABEER’s MOTHER enters with a broom, begins sweeping the rug and cleaning the room. The offstage laughter of ABEER and MALAK can be heard. The mother is singing sweetly to herself. (In Arabic, translated on the background)
“Like a Raindrop”
MOTHER
Like a raindrop
I was alone darling
Alone, my darling
Like a raindrop
MALAK
(Enters, out of breath. Hugs her mom, sings overly dramatic, fluttering eyebrows and all)
Don't be sad
Tomorrow I will buy you the moon
and a morning star
And a garden of flowers
MOTHER & MALAK
Tomorrow, if leaves sprout in my ribs of stone
But today I'm alone my darling
Alone my darling like a raindrop.
MOTHER
Where is Abeer?
MALAK
She has gone to the well.
ABEER
(Screams)(TONY & KENNY pull ABEER into the room, KENNY has his hand over her mouth. MOTHER jumps up, shielding MALAK and moving toward ABEER. TONY shoves her back, points his rifle at her. ROLAND enters pushing the Father ahead of him.)
(ROLAND stands guard over the family with the family’s AK-47 and a shotgun slung over his shoulder, as TONY and KENNY drag ABEER to the next room.)
MOTHER
(In Arabic, translation on scrim)
What are you doing? ABEER do as they say. Stop this. How can you harm a child?
FATHER
(In Arabic, translation on scrim, Overlapping with MOTHER)
How dare you enter this house? We’ve cooperated. We trusted you. Enough. If you harm my daughter, I will kill you.
ROLAND
(Cocking and pointing AK-47 at FATHER)
Everybody just calm down and shut up. I don’t understand. And I don’t care.
Shut the fuck up!
MOTHER
(Mother begins praying/cursing in Arabic, translated on Scrim)
ABEER
I love you Mama, I love you Father. Malak, stay strong. Remember the jasmine in the spring.
(ABEER cries out in pain and her scream is muffled.)
(MOTHER pushes past FATHER and nears ROLAND. He fires one shot and she drops to the floor dead. FATHER shields MALAK, after the shot, he charges. The AK47 jams and they grab each other. ROLAND fires the shotgun, killing FATHER. MALAK, covered in blood moves downstage, facing audience. She screams. ROLAND clears the AK 47 and shoots her from where he stands.)
(ROLAND turns to enter the next room. He takes off his flak jacket and puts down the shotgun. He unzips his fly, and enters the room. We here a cry, and some grunting as lights slowly die. Just before blackout, we here a single shot.)
SCENE II Act 4
(Spot on ROLAND as he sits at his kitchen table. GOLDIE, VAL, DOC, BILLIE and DODGE sit around him. It is 4:30 am. 15 bottles of different pills litter the table. A ½ bottle of Wild Turkey on the counter, a couple empty beer cans, more on ice. He is playing with his 9 mm. He is not drunk.)
DOC
ROLAND
(Shamed)
I was drunk. High. Look, I just didn’t care. I was a dead man. All of me. I am a dead man.
I lost it.
BILLIE
(Drunk)
You fucking pussy.
VAL
You’ve gotta get yourself right with God.
GOLDIE
Honor, courage, commitment son. Core values of the U.S. Marine Corp. Honor- the bedrock of who we are. You’ve tarnished my reputation, and worse, you have tarnished the institution. We only wanted the best of the best. We’d weed out the little wussies that didn’t want to be real people. You’re a Marine.
DODGE
You’re a Marine. What the hell does that mean? Some gold standard of warrior? I was in the WWII. We rampaged across France raping the women we liberated. Saving Fucking Private Ryan doesn’t mention that does he? We were all heroes. Are you kidding me? We did chemical weapons tests on our own troops. They wanted to see if mustard gas affected black men differently than whites. That’s crazy shit. Damn it’s all lies. Heroes my ass. War is carnage and vileness. Core values. Core values.
ROLAND
Grandpa why didn’t you ever talk to me? And what about killing? Why isn’t killing a core value?
DODGE
(Almost poetic)
I was 18. Hiding in the forest just outside a village. I got separated from my guys. The sun was sinking behind me, illuminating the trees across this big golden field. I could see the enemy across the way. And I could see this young kid crawling in a ditch straight toward my position. He kept comin (uneasy giggle), I let him crawl.
(Side tracked)
I was 18, I didn’t know shit. They call it the Good War, We firebombed Hamburg, Dresden, 67 Japanese cities 67, incinerated...
(shaking his head)
I digress, out there in the trees, look, there was nothing good about... when he got within 10 or 15 feet of me I screamed for him to stop. He was shocked. He raised his gun. That was death for him. But this young man, he was beautiful. Fair skin, blond hair, and crystal clear blue eyes. A blue the color of the sky. He was beautiful. He was like an angel. I shot him- right in the heart. And it didn’t bother me that first night. I was bone tired. But the second night I woke up crying, because that boy was right there. And to this day I wake up crying. I still see this angel in my dreams. I just don’t know how to get him off my mind... I never told anyone this story til just now.
(Addressing Goldie)
You make them army strong. But after that, they’re just not strong enough.
ROLAND
(Pointing at GOLDIE, entreating)
You demanded I hate. To survive. You taught me to kill.
(He breaks into a Marine Corp Cadence)
Hail, hail, infantry
Queen of battles, follow me
Marine Corps life is the life for me
Cause nothing in this life is free.
Kick in the door, what do I see
a whole fucking Hadji family
pull the pin and toss the room
I stand outside I hear the boom
Blood and guts are everywhere
I even got some in my hair
I pick it out and i say
Hadji, Hadji it’s not your day
Hadji, Hadji can’t you see
USMC was made for me
GOLDIE
We have a job to do gentlemen. War is brutal. In order to win in war we must be more brutal than the enemy. Anything less will ensure defeat. Get ready!
(Clapping his hands in time)
Fired up
Everybody
Fired up
I am
Lean and mean
Rough and tough
I know my stuff
I can run
All day
I can fight
All night
I’m gonna be
infantry
I’m airborne
(ROLAND, DOC & VAL clap in cadence)
You got the feeling
In your heart
Sound off
Everybody
We gonna rock
(ROLAND, DOC & VAL join in repeating each line in cadence)
All right
Hey Hey
Every day
I’m motivated
I’m dedicated
I can run
I can jump
A Paratrooper
A superdooper
A Paratrooper
All right
How ya lookin
Lead: Lookin good
Group-Lookin good
Lead- Hollywood [returns to regular pattern]
All right
You’re dynomite
Hey hey
Everybody
Feelin good
Fired up
Motivated
Dedicated
(Claps continue for 2 meters)
ROLAND
(Over clapping)
I did it for you. I did it for all of you.
(DOC pats him on the shoulder, hugs him hard, VAL looks at him with pity, & GOLDIE looks down dejected)
ROLAND
If I thought it was an ok thing now I wouldn’t be much of a human being would I?
Would I?
GOLDIE
In defense of all we hold dear back home, we fight. We will locate, disrupt, and destroy the enemy. I’m looking forward to this fight because we’re going to smoke check these motherfuckers.
DOC, VAL & GOLDIE
(His three buddies exit to GOLDIE calling cadence)
Hail, hail, infantry
Queen of battles, follow me
Marine Corps life is the life for me
Cause nothing in this life is free.
Here I lie in this foreign land
Bleeding on this foreign sand.
Ground around me turning red
By the time they find me, I'll be dead.
Hail, hail, infantry...
SCENE II Act 5
ROLAND
I had a mission. I
never denied what I did. I have done evil, but I am not an evil man. I’m a
believer. I love my family. I love my country. I’m being straight with you. This
isn’t a story anyone wants to hear. Look, what you see on the news isn’t real.
It’s not so simple. They talk about bad apples, call me a disgrace. They want
to create this space between me and them. I’m not that much different than you.
I wasn’t much for high school, drank plenty of beers… but that’s my family, we
drink. I’d cut out to go to the river plenty. That’s where I met SARAH. The best
thing that ever happened to me. Then came the war. I joined willingly. I turned
my head and I was in the desert. A 120 fuckin degrees in the shade. My brother
never talked about this stuff. My dad is right, I’m weak, I couldn’t hold a
candle to him. I thought I’d come home clean. I thought I’d be tellin stories
of building soccer fields for the kids, liberating women, finally some respect.
Then I come home, I’m fending for myself. I’m not making excuses. Paxil,
Zoloft, Lexapro, Trazodone. I call them my I don’t kill people drugs. The last
thing I thought was that one day I’d be home, dealing with this. What I thought
was normal is the farthest thing from normal. I am trying to make sense of who
I am. You call me a coward. I went to war. Revenge is wrong? In war? When your
family is hit, don’t you want revenge? I’m asking you. Or do you forgive? Who
is eligible for forgiveness? I’ve been discarded like yesterdays trash. I’m
invisible to you but I am here. Chris Kyle- You know him right, he’s a superhero.
Like my brother, he was a sniper. He killed hundreds. He said he loved what he did. He said he wasn’t exaggerating
to say it was fun. Some killing’s just fine with you isn’t it?
(Shaking head, smiles.)
Fun. I quote him a
lot. He also said, “I hate to say it, but when you’re back and you’re just
walking around a mall or something, you feel like a pussy.” And this gem, “If
you hate the war, that’s fine. You should still support the troops. They give
the American people a blank check for anything up to and including the value of
their lives, and the least everyone else can do is be thankful.” What about
you? Where do you stand in all this? When you say, “Thank you for your
service,” what exactly are you thanking me for? Do you realize my service is
killing? Or maybe you thank me for something else, something you can’t bear? Do
you support the troops? Fuck Chris Kyle. And now what? I don’t stand a chance,
and I don’t blame you for what I have become.
SCENE II Act 6
RICH (Voiceover)
No single military power in history has done greater good, liberated more people, or upheld higher standards of decency and valor than the Armed Forces of the United States of America. You know, military service demands a special kind of sacrifice.
ROLAND
(ROLAND turns off the TV and throws the remote across the table.)
This family? We sacrificed. Him sitting on his porch drinking iced tea, not so much. Telling me about sacrifice? Telling me about service? He’s got balls.
(Quiet)
My brother died twice for this country. Once in Iraq and once in the god damn bathroom. Wait a minute. Wait a minute. What day did that SOB get his transplant?
(Realizing the worst)
No, no, no. Wait a fucking minute. Are you kidding me? My brother was a good man. He had heart.
(Pushes back his chair and stands)
I’ve done terrible things but I’ll got a mission.
SCENE II Act 7
(RICH’s library, early evening. RICH sits at his desk, feet up, back to the door, reading. Pounding on the door.)
RICH
Why the hell are you pounding? The door is open. Where the hell is my latte?
(The door opens DIEGO stumbles forward followed closely by ROLAND, who has a pistol at his side. DIEGO hands RICH his latte. RICH adds his remaining scotch. DIEGO is shaking.)
RICH
(RICH looks over his shoulder and notices ROLAND, not turning around.)
Who are you soldier? What do you want?
ROLAND
This place doesn’t look anything like on TV.
RICH
This isn’t TV soldier. How did you get in here? Security like Fort Knox.
ROLAND
Respect for the uniform I guess. Like a ninja, a ghost, all Rambo like. I just drove right up to the front door, no questions asked.
RICH
(Faces Roland)Are you intoxicated, you are acting a bit strange.
ROLAND
I’m off my meds. It makes me unpredictable.
RICH
Well what do you want? Security will be here in minutes. Make it quick, I’m a busy man.
ROLAND
It will be quick alright. If I hadn't ever been in Iraq, I wouldn't be in the kind of trouble I'm in now. I'm not happy about that.
RICH
And that’s my fault? We are keeping America safe, son.
ROLAND
My brother is dead. He kept America safe. He came home and died.
RICH
A man who has nothing he is willing to fight for, nothing that he cares more about than his own personal safety, is a miserable creature who has no chance of being free, unless he is made free by the exertions of better men than himself. That’s a quote son, John Stuart Mill, ever hear of him?
ROLAND
(Snarls)Don’t you patronize me.
RICH
Just relax. Have a seat. What can I do for you?
ROLAND
I believed you. I joined the fight.
(Sweating. Taking off his Jacket. He wipes his brow.)
I’ll tell you what I want. I want an apology. Here and now. And I am taking back what doesn’t belong to you.
RICH
Apologize? I don’t apologize, it’s not in my vocabulary. Go see Kissinger. He called military men “Dumb, stupid animals to be used as pawns for foreign policy.” Me, I’ve always supported the troops. I haven’t done anything I wouldn’t do again son.
ROLAND
Don’t call me son.
RICH
They hate us for our freedoms.
ROLAND
They hate us for our freedom--- what do you think I’m stupid? I’ve been there. I know why they hate us.
The day I shipped out you shook my hand and thanked me for my service.
RICH
I shake a lot of hands.
(Reaches out to shake hands.)
Thank you for
ROLAND
(Apoplectic)
I don’t want your thanks. Sitting here in your library sipping your lattes. You don't know anything about what it's like to be out there on the line.
RICH
(Confused)Son, What line? Are you having trouble with the VA? I thought that issue was resolved.
ROLAND
Waiting times are now only 40 days. They gave me more pharmaceuticals than Elvis. They told me to get more sleep.
RICH
Are you getting more sleep?
ROLAND
Nothing but nightmares. You. My nightmare. My wounds are not invisible.
(ABEER, bloodied, her clothes burned off her, a look of distress and fear on her face, her hands out from her sides silently crosses the stage. This should imitate the iconic photo of Phan Thi Kim Phuc fleeing her village in Vietnam after it was hit with napalm)
Do you see? ...I can still smell her.
RICH
(RICH sees nothing. Sneers)
See what? Smell who? And I don’t have anything that belongs to you. Son, buck up. This conversation is over. GARCIA will show you to the door.
(RICH sips his latte.)
ROLAND
Don't call me son.
(Roland points his gun at RICH, RICH sits back down, quickly)
I saw your interview. I did a little research. You got your heart on April 1st didn’t you?
(For the first time RICH really looks at ROLAND, hesitates.)
ROLAND
Didn’t you?
(DIEGO is shaking his head no, vigorously.)
RICH
I got my heart transplant on April 3rd.
ROLAND
(Pulling out a crumpled NY Times article. Waving it.)
NY Times, April 2nd, announcing your transplant. My brother died on April 1st. He killed himself just a few miles from here, but a world away. His was a broken dream, built on a shit heap of lies.
RICH
Don’t believe everything you read in the Times. Filled with liberal bias.
(Pause. ROLAND considers this.)
(ROLAND lunges. DIEGO screams. RICH whimpers. ROLAND cuts out RICH’S heart with his KBar. ROLAND grabs RICH by the collar and dumps his lifeless body on the floor. He grabs the Marine Corp ceremonial sword from the wall. He sits in RICH’s chair, blood running down his arms. ROLAND wipes the sweat from his brow, a smile on his face. He sips from RICH’s scotch. His pistol sits on the table He is waving around his bloody KBar, DIEGO cowers in a corner.)
ROLAND
(Singing) (Note: This is a rip off of a Lee Greenwood song. Possible Copyright issues.)
Today the things I’ve known are gone
That I’ve worked for all my life
And I have to start again
Without my children and my wife
I thank my lucky charms,
I’m still standing here today
Old glory still stands for freedom
And they can’t take that away
I’m proud to be an American,
Where I still dream I’m free.
And I don't forget the men who died,
who gave that right to me.
(We hear helicopters outside. We also hear a message over a PA: The police are surrounding the house. There is no escape. Come out with your hands up, etc. ROLAND stands and picks up his jacket and puts it on. He wipes the knife blade and tucks it in its sheath. He picks up his pistol.)
ROLAND
(A SWAT team pounds on the door. A brief moment of silence. ROLAND points his pistol to his eye.)
Let the Journey Begin. Aim High.
(A shot rings out simultaneous to Blackout.)
(Darkened stage. VOICEOVER. ROLAND reading the most recent Marine Corp advertising campaign)
It is a right of passage. A challenge to join the elite. And if you succeed, if you can master your fear, outsmart your enemy and never yield even to yourself, you will be changed forever. Many will hear the call. Few will earn the title. (weeping) The few, the proud… (sobbing, can not continue.)
THE END.
