Jimmy and Penelope are trying to rationalize a tragic situation in which they’ve been faced with.  This is a short drama script for 1 woman, 1 man.

• Download the free .pdf screenplay version: Name of the Man

Name of the Man

Jimmy: How do you feel?

Penelope: Same old same old.

Jimmy: Yeah…I feel like crapola.

Penelope: You should.

Jimmy: Alright, haven’t you made your point? Want to keep beating a man down?

Penelope: I’m not over it.

Jimmy: Get over it already. Life’s too damn short.

Penelope: I keep playing that image in my mind. It’s stuck in there.

Jimmy: Watch TV then.

Penelope: I already tried, Jimmy.

Jimmy: There was nothing for me to do but do what I did.

Penelope: You could have slowed down.

Jimmy: Not at the speed I was going.

Penelope: The man looked straight into me.

Jimmy: Did he wink?

Penelope gives Jimmy a look of absolute disgust.

Relax. I know it’s serious but lower the flame woman.

Penelope: He had the saddest face.

Jimmy: I don’t want to hear this sh’t.

Penelope: You didn’t see his eyes. He looked right through me, it was so sad and we connected in that instant…like, I felt him, I can’t explain it, I felt what he was feeling. I don’t understand how you didn’t see him Jimmy? I mean, he was clear as daylight and you laughed out-loud and swerved as if you wanted to hit him but then you did, you did hit him and I can’t stand it…what’s wrong with you?

Jimmy: Look. I saw him. I saw him. I can’t deny it. But I laughed because he wasn’t making it across the road in time and I was playing around that I was gonna hit him but then I actually did and I didn’t mean it, I didn’t, it wasn’t my intention to hurt the man.

Penelope: You killed him.

Jimmy: We don’t know that for sure.

Penelope: The man’s head bashed into the front windshield and he flipped over the car and landed like a pretzel on the road! Don’t tell me he’s fine Jimmy!

Jimmy: I’m saying he–I know he got hurt—

Penelope: He’s dead!

Jimmy: Don’t say that word. I didn’t kill nobody! I didn’t want to kill nobody!

Penelope: Why’d you swerve the car?!

Jimmy: I just told you it was, I was playing around, I didn’t expect to hit the damn guy. Christ! I didn’t want–

Penelope: You hit him so hard that I felt it, the whole car jolted and you kept going full speed. How can you not have stopped?

Jimmy: I did stop!

Penelope: Not until way after.

Jimmy: I stopped when we were far enough because you know, I was shaken up. I mean damn, don’t you think I was in some sort of shock. I’m still in shock, my whole body is trembling.

Penelope: This is so wrong.

Jimmy: It’s you! Making me crazy in the car all the time. Telling me which way to go and how to drive and blasting the radio, always distracting me from the road.

Penelope: Don’t try to pin this sh’t on me you liar!

Jimmy: You’re a liar!

Penelope: No, you’re a liar!

Jimmy: I’m not a liar! Calling me a—I hit the guy cause you make me—

Penelope: You saw him and you made him a target! That’s the truth.

Jimmy: Is that what you think of me?

Penelope: I don’t know what to think of you but you hit him so now what? Couldn’t even get help.

Jimmy: I got out of the car.

Penelope: And what did I see you do? (pause.) Tell me, Jimmy. What did I see you do?

Jimmy: My heart was pounding, thought I was gonna have a heart attack, never felt anything like that, I thought I was dying, the closer I got to him, I thought I was gonna die and I saw him, he was, he was alive but dying…no way he was gonna make it, not the way he looked and what I saw…he was, he was going.

Penelope: Jimmy, I saw what you did…I watched the whole thing.

Jimmy: What was—the poor bastard was gasping for air and he was suffering, in pain, his eyes were, filling with blood…blood was…he wanted, he didn’t want –but I—

Penelope: You a doctor? What right did you have to decide?

Jimmy: I was trying to put him out of his misery Penelope.

Penelope: If we called for help, I bet he would have lived. You just didn’t want to face the consequences.

Jimmy: I’m gonna punch you right in your face if you say that again!

Penelope: Go ahead and punch me and I will kill you.

Jimmy: Kill me? Go ahead and kill me. KILL ME!

Penelope: Useless.

Jimmy: KILL ME!!

Penelope: Animal. We are done. I am done with you. I am not going to be with a man who did what you did. I cannot believe what you did.

Jimmy: I saved him from suffering.

Penelope: Disgusting. You are–I can’t believe what you did, I can’t believe it.

(pause.)

Jimmy takes a seat and tries to calm down.

Jimmy: I didn’t want to do it. I didn’t. But he was struggling. He was hopeless. I saw all those stones and I just thought it was the best way. Something took over me, I don’t know if it was a good thing or a bad thing but something entered inside of me and I grabbed the rock and I stood over him and at first I couldn’t do it but he nodded. This man nodded approval of what I—I brought it down on him as hard as I could. It was done. When I moved him on the side of the road, I took his wallet cause I needed to know his name. I wanted to know the name of the man. I realized that my fingerprints were…so I took his wallet, I kept his wallet. I panicked.
Penelope: You what?

Jimmy pulls out a bloodied wallet.

Jimmy: This is Chito Creedmore’s wallet.

Penelope: How is anyone going to identify who this man is if you have his wallet, Jimmy?

Jimmy: I don’t know.

Penelope: You can’t leave him out there like he’s deer.

Jimmy: I know. Can’t go back now. Cops might be there. The car is evidence cause of the windshield and…

(pause.)

Penelope: Give me the wallet.

Jimmy: No.

Penelope: Give me his wallet! There’s probably a number we can call to at least tell his family.

Jimmy: No way.

Penelope: Give me his wallet.

Jimmy: I am not giving you this wallet. I will search through it myself.

Penelope: No you won’t.

Jimmy: Yes, I will.

Penelope: This is all wrong. This whole thing is wrong. Someone could have seen us, the car and took down our information…what if he wasn’t alone…we’re done…we need to call the cops, tell the police the truth of what happened.

Jimmy: I can’t. I’ll go to jail. I have a record and I fled the scene.

Penelope: Don’t matter! It was an accident! I’m a witness!

Jimmy: I smashed his face in with a rock!!

Penelope: (weakly) …what the hell is wrong with you…

Jimmy: (just as weak) …I don’t know…

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