Fingertrap: Scene Two
Fingertrap -- Scene II
Characters
Tommy, 18
Ben, 18
Jason, 17
Time
Noonish on May 12th, 2001
Place
Ben's house in his bedroom. Ben's bedroom is almost the opposite representation of Tommy's. There is a trophy case on the back wall, upstage with a baseball bat leaning against it. The door is stage left while Ben's bed is stage right.
At rise
Ben and Jason are leading Tommy into the room. Tommy's eyes are closed as he is being led into Ben's bedroom.
Tommy
(Giggling) Hey guys if it's a birthday cake, thanks but no thanks. I'm on a little diet so I can lose a pound or two.
Ben
(Laughing with him) LOSE a pound or two? Dude as if you couldn't stand to GAIN a pound or two.
Jason
It's not edible, don't worry.
(Scanning the room)
Tommy
Well? Can I open my eyes now and see what you dragged me over here for?
Jason
Umm...
Ben
Sorry it had to be now, but...my dad is out and... (Slight pause) you know he doesn't like guests that much...
Tommy
I never understood why the...uhh Lieutenant...
Ben
(Correcting) Major...
Tommy
Oh, why the Major never liked guests in the house. (Opens his eyes.)
Ben
(Shrugging) Who am I to argue with Major Lucas, well...ex...retired...major...whatever? Don't understand half the things that man does. I mean it's one thing to follow your religion and principles, it's another thing to take a job in it. (Seeing Tommy with his eyes open. In a barking voice, almost like shouting orders.) Keep your eyes shut!
Tommy
(Quickly and taken back) Sorry...sorry... (Closes his eyes again.) How much longer will this take?
Jason
(Actively searching the room)
Uhh...I can't find it. Ben, where'd you put it?
Ben
(Thinking, then snapping his fingers) I must have left it downstairs! I'll be back in a jiffy! (Running to the door)
Tommy
(Mockingly) Do my eyes have to be shut still? (Peeking with one eye)
Ben
(Chuckling) Man, don't be so gay all the time. (Exiting and closing door behind him as he finishes sentence. Walks off stage left. Tommy, hearing the remark, runs to the door with a fist in the air as if he was going to pound on it, as if the door was Ben.)
Tommy
(Annoyed) Why does he have to say stuff like that? (Sigh) It's so wrong...
Jason
He doesn't think he's saying anything wrong. You probably didn't think you were doing anything wrong before you knew. It's the same for everybody.
Tommy
Well, what about you?
Jason
(Not expecting the conversation to swing toward him) M...me?
Tommy
Yeah, you. What makes you any different from Ben? You two are quite similar...sports...popularity...looks...
Jason
You and I have our similarities as well...
Tommy
But what sets you aside from everybody else? By the looks of it, you should be just as bad as Ben is...but you're not.
Jason
I know I'm not, I just...
Tommy
But that's the truth of the matter...
Jason
Why are you interrogating me? This isn't about me. (Whispering.) Are you forgetting what we came here to do?
Ben
(Offstage. Calling.) It's gonna be another minute guys, I'm still trying to look for it!
Tommy
Seems like he hid that gift pretty well; disorder in a household in which the number one priority is order. I wonder what's going to happen next, hmm?
Jason
(Snapping fingers.) Get yourself together! And calm down!
Tommy
I am calm! I just want to know why this whole situation, which involves MY life and MY problems, is so important to you!
Jason
I'm trying to help you hear, Tom! That's all I'm doing...are you asking me if I'm gay?
Tommy
That would surely explain a lot of things...
Jason
Hey, I can relate to a lot of what's going on here. I'm trying to be your friend here. This isn't about MY life and MY problems, it's about yours, remember? You just keep in your mind that today, on this day, your 18th birthday; the world stopped turning for just a few moments, just for you...
Ben
(Offstage again.) Hey Jason, I found it! I'll be up in a minute I just have to do something! And make sure his eyes are closed by the time I'm up there! (Both remain quiet, being given time to react. Tommy bites his lower lip nervously.)
Jason
Ben likes you just as much as I do, possibly even more. You guys are neighbors and have been friends for a real long time. Maybe it won't be as bad as you think.
Tommy
(Excitedly) Oh yeah. And what if it is? Don't you think Christian Miller said to himself, "Maybe it won't be so bad"? Where is he now, huh? Where is he now? Where is my father now, huh?
Jason
Y...your father? Look, if you just calm down...
Tommy
(More excited and louder) I am calm! I've been calm for two yeas now! Two years! And I really can't take it anymore. (Pacing around the room) Could you possibly imagine how hard this is? It's like...I can't...ugh! There are a million and one things that can happen once I tell him I'm gay. And once I do, there's no turning back, no turning back at all. There's no "just kidding" or "oops I changed my mind". I just...feel like...I feel as if the more I try to get myself out, there's just more and more stuff trying to push me back in. And I keep pushing and pushing until my whole entire life falls apart before me!
Jason
But it doesn't have to be that way! You can be happy!
Tommy
Damn right it doesn't have to be that way. I don't have to tell him! Then I can still be happy!
Jason
But you're not happy, Tommy. You will tell him. If you don't tell him you're gay then your whole life will be ruined. Please... (Pleading.)
Tommy
As if it could get any worse? I don't have a father, I barely have a mother, and my brother is still trying to "accept" me.
Jason
But Ben might!
Tommy
Ben will always be Ben. People can't change.
Jason
Yes they can! They can if there is a good person inside of them...trust me, Tommy, please. Ben isn't an evil person. You know that.
Tommy
Jason, just stop it. Look what you're trying to make me do!
Jason
Tell him you're gay, Tommy...tell him now! For the love of God, tell him now! You'll regret it for the rest of your life!
Tommy
(Raising voice to it's highest dynamic. Ben appears outside the door, with an object in his hand, and is about to go in, but listens in instead.) My life? Forget it! Forget the whole thing! Forget Ben knowing! This was a disaster from the beginning, and now because of you I'll end up just like my father. Dead! I knew it was a mistake confiding in you. (Ben decides to see what the yelling is about and begins to walk in.) The day I tell Ben I'm gay is the day I die! (Jason does not respond, but turns his head to notice Ben instead, who has just walked into the room and obviously heard what Tommy had just said. Tommy, who's back is to the door, sees Jason's eye divert to behind him and turns around slowly, seeing Ben's blank expression, staring at Tommy, then looking down at the object in his hand, which is, in the light, revealed to be a book, then looks back up to Tommy.)
Jason
(Coming between them.) Ben, what Tommy just said...it's not...
Tommy
No! Jason...wait...it's true, what I just said, it's true. I'm gay, Ben.
Jason
(Seeing that Ben isn't reacting.) And Ben, if you just...
Ben
(Softly, almost inaudible) Wait outside, Jason.
Jason
What? Wait outside?
Ben
(More rudely.) That's what I said, isn't it?
Tommy
Go, do what he says...I'll...be fine...don't worry...
Jason
(Looking at Tommy, knowing he's going to worry.) Tommy...(Silent for a moment.) I'll just be waiting outside then. (Walks out the door, Ben strafing sideways as he passes. Once he's out, Ben closes the door and paces shortly, not being able to look Tommy in the face, who takes a step backwards in fear, waiting to see what Ben will do. Jason is listening through the closed door, quivering in anticipation and fear.)
Ben
Is it really true, Tommy? Are you a...homosexual?
Tommy
Uhh...yeah...Ben...it's true. Uhh...
Ben
Oh my God...
Tommy
Ben...
Ben
Oh my God...I'm so sorry...you should have told me sooner. I could have done something to help.
Tommy
(Smiling at the note. The both of them slowly stepping closer to each other.) You mean it? You really would have helped me?
Ben
Of course, you're my friend. What did you think I was going to do? (Laughing) Let my best friend be a fag his whole life?
Tommy
(Stepping back again.) Excuse me?
Ben
My dad knows a guy who used to be gay, now he's a regular person, and you will be with time.
Tommy
(Smile faded completely.) Umm...I don't want that. I don't want to do that, Ben. I think you misunderstood me. I'm gay, see? And I'll always be gay, that's just one thing you can't change about someone.
Ben
What? You WANT to be like this? But...but...that's so...sinful! (Going into a preach-like mode) The Lord doesn't like sinners, Tommy. If you lie in bed with a man the way you would a woman...
Tommy
But that's all religious stuff. What do YOU really think?
Ben
I...I don't think it's right...it's not what human nature intended.
Tommy
Well I'm sorry, but I believe that every part of me is natural. You can't make me not gay, and nothing you can do will make me go to Heaven straight!
Ben
Wake up, Tommy! If you follow this destructive and abnormal path then you're not getting into Heaven! Get it? St. Peter looks in his books and sees the word "fag" in big red letters printed right next to you name.
Tommy
Oh is that so, huh? You think I'm going to Hell?
Ben
Yeah I do! You big sinner! Prancing around with purses and turning everyone else the same way!
Tommy
Purses? Prancing? What are you talking about? Am I so different to you now? Am I not your best friend? The person that you know best? Tell me! Am I so different?!
Ben
I don't even know you anymore, you're a stranger to me, and you're not my friend! You're just a fag who's going to Hell for the sins he's committed, for corrupting our country, our homes, and our family. Everything you ever touched is tainted now! (Throws the book at him. Tommy smacks it away with his hand.) You're just a gay to me now, just like Christian Miller, and just like you're scummy father.
Tommy
You leave my father out of this! He was a great dad!
Ben
Great dad he was! Turning my friend into a fag, just like he was.
Tommy
Shut up! Just shut up! You don't know what you're talking about!
Ben
Don't I, Tommy? Your faggot father was killed in a...hmm...what would they call it now? A hate crime?
Tommy
My father had two sons. He wasn't gay. He was a great person. I can't say the same about your father though...
Ben
(Grinding teeth) My father is honorable, and follows the Good Book. He taught me good morals. I'm a good person and I've heard enough of your pansy talk! Get out of my room!
Tommy
No! I'm a good person. I'm a good person God damn it! (Voice squealing from being on the verge of tears.) I'm not leaving until I prove to my friend, my best friend, that I'm not any different than I used to be five minutes ago, and until then...
Ben
I said get out you pansy!
Tommy
(Tries placing his hand on Ben's shoulder) But Ben... (Ben pulls away and smacks Tommy's hand out of the way in a knee-jerk reaction.)
Ben
Don't you ever touch me again! Ever! (Grabs the baseball bat next to his trophy case and raises it above his head right in front Tommy, threatening him with it.) Now get out of my house you f...f...faggot! You're not my friend and I don't want to see you anymore! I hope you rot in Hell and die! I don't want to see you anymore. We're through. I hate you! Do you understand me? Do you hear me? We're over with!
Tommy
Ben, can't you just hear me out?
Ben
I've heard you OUT and I got the gist of it, you're a goddamn queer!
Tommy
But Ben...
Ben
Queer...
Tommy
(Weakly) Ben...
Ben
You're a fucking QUEER!
Tommy
(Breaking into tears and muttering.) Asshole! (Runs out of the room and offstage, almost hitting Jason with the door.)
Jason
(Calling after him, but he's already gone) Tommy, wait! (Then looking in to notice Ben with the baseball bat clenched in his hands. Jason walks into the room. Ben is catching is breath, taking in what just happened. He lowers the bat, looking at it, then lets his fingers go limp and lets it drop to the floor. Ben then slowly sits on the bed with his head in his hands. Jason moves forward towards Ben.) Ben, w...wha...what was THAT?
Ben
I don't know. (Sniffles) I don't know. (Raises head.) I just...something inside me made me feel as if I had to do it... (Looks at Jason.) I need help on this here.
Jason
(Thinking for a moment.) No.
Ben
No? I don't need help?
Jason
Oh, you need help. I'm not going to help you.
Ben
What? But I thought you were my friend? But...but how could you...
Jason
But how could YOU? I thought you were Tommy's friend. Maybe you should really think about what friendship means to you, and what it means to him. I'll tell you what it means to me. I've heard people say things, say things about you. Believe it or not you are not the most liked person in school. Some people call you a `dumb jock' but I tell them otherwise, because you were my friend. There have been some rumors spread; I didn't believe them. I set people straight because I knew you, because you were my friend. (Sighs angrily.) How could you do that to him? To Tommy! You've ruined him for good now! You really blew it, Ben!
Ben
What? I ruined him? What are you talking about?
Jason
How could you, Ben? After all you've been through, have you learned nothing but hate? Do you have no decency for other people's feelings? Can you honestly tell me that you don't care what happens to him now? I guess I'm the better person, because I do. I care what happens to Tommy Davis! Shame on you, Ben. Shame on you. (Begins to walking out.) If you have any common decency left in you, you'll go talk to him right now. I've already lost one person I cared about because of people like you, and I'm not about to let YOU make it two! (Turns back. Yelling.) And prayer isn't going to make him come back! Prayer didn't make my brother come back! Because of assholes like you he's gone for good! Do you hear me? My brother is DEAD! He was gay and he couldn't take it anymore! He overdosed on pills and killed himself, because he couldn't take it anymore! (Right in his face. Screaming wildly.) How the hell do you think that makes me feel, huh? Do you think the world is better because my brother is dead? (Beginning to cry.) Well? Do you, you lunatic! I should be beating YOUR brains with that bat, because Kevin is dead! My brother, Kevin is DEAD! (Turns away from him, wiping his tears, then starts out the door.) Yeah...real good person you are Ben...Tommy is a beautiful person on the inside, you're just a...you're just a monster... (Leaves, slamming the door behind him. Lights.)
Please find scene two to continue story! :P