We sometimes ignore what’s troubling us.
In the dramatic scene from Dead Man’s Wallet, Cal and Kya must decide what to do after accidentally killing a man with their car.
KYA: What’s his name?
Cal refers to the identification card.
CAL: Mazda Boothe.
KYA: Let me see.
Cal hands Kya the identification card. She examines it carefully.
CAL: We can go to his house.
KYA: What for?
CAL: I don’t know, to have a look around.
KYA: Have you lost your mind?
CAL: I’m just saying that there may be something valuable.
KYA: We shouldn’t even be here! We should be halfway across the state by now.
CAL: Yeah, but no one saw us, and no one is going to find his body.
Kya stands.
KYA: I don’t know who the hell you are.
CAL: Kya –
KYA: No! You killed someone, and now you want to rob his house?!
CAL: Lower your voice; people will hear you, please!
KYA: I want out!
CAL: Kya, Kya, listen to me, we don’t have to go, okay? It was only a suggestion. I was only mentioning it.
KYA: Don’t!
CAL: We keep driving south; we’ll be fine. You’re right. We shouldn’t stay here.
Kya grabs her bag.
KYA: I’m ready. Let’s go.
CAL: Now?
KYA: Yeah.
CAL: Right. Okay. We, uh-
Knock on the door.
Cal and Kya look at one another in panic.
Cal pulls out a handgun. He puts his finger over his lips to silence Kya.
Cal goes over to the door.
Someone knocks again. LOUDER.
CAL (through the door): YEAH?!
BENDRICK (through the door): Fresh towels.
KYA (to Cal): I asked for towels earlier.
Cal carefully opens the door.
BENDRICK: …Fresh towels.
Bendrick willfully enters the room, passing Cal.
Cal puts his gun in the back of his pants.
Bendrick places the towels on the bed.
BENDRICK: Was it a deer?
CAL: Huh?
BENDRICK: Fender-bender.
CAL: What? No, I mean, yeah, it was a deer.
BENDRICK: Mighty big deer that was.
CAL: Thanks for the towels.
BENDRICK: I got a guy in town to fix you right up.
CAL: Oh, no, that’s alright.
BENDRICK: You, uh, you both gonna stay the night?
CAL: That’s the plan.
BENDRICK: Hmm.
Cal gestures for Bendrick to leave.
CAL: Well…
BENDRICK: I believe I’ve met my son. Hell, I think I may have seen him once. Think he came passing through this way looking for me. Casual conversation is all we had; he never realized he was already talking to his dad. I knew who he was as soon as he checked in. He only stayed the night. Reminded me of myself when I was his age. Hasn’t been back since.
Agony. We sometimes ignore what’s troubling us. We think that if we ignore it, it’ll go away…we could carry on smiling and going about our day and such…we can play happy, like a dog can play dead, but what we truly feel never goes away. It always keeps a safe distance from your thoughts, but every so often it stages an attack on your senses, reminding you of that piece of yourself you wish didn’t exist.
Had a brother who was always cheerio; nothing ever phased him, he kept busy, and was always bright and fuzzy. Till one day he blew his brains out. I found him in the back of his house, right where the stream ran through…he couldn’t pretend any longer.
…They already caught your scent. There are pieces of flesh and bone amongst the shattered glass. Your car leaks a trail of blood leading right to this room.
You’re going to have to hide your agony until it finds you and has its way with you.
I wish you all the luck.
Bendrick leaves the motel room.
- To read the full one-act ePlay, find purchase link below:
In the one-act ePlay Dead Man’s Wallet, Cal and Kya try to figure out what they are going to do after hitting a man with their vehicle while he was crossing the road. 1 woman, 2 men. Drama.
