Truck Stop
Page 7
SAM: Dare.
KELLY: No.
SAM: Double dare.
KELLY: No.
SAM: Double dog dick dare.
KELLY: No. Truth.
KELLY begins to cry.
SAM: I hear Kelly crying, hear that stupid bitch sobbing like she’s on Judge Judy.
I know she’s gonna tell them everything.
So I stand up. I open the door and they all look at me.
ROWSE: Samantha how dare you barge in here.
SAM: But I say it.
It was her idea. She thought it up. She did it first.
She was gagging for it. She wanted it so bad and she couldn’t get it anywhere else.
She was fucking them weren’t you Kelly?
She was fucking them and I wasn’t. I’m not a slut like her.
SAM and KELLY stare at each other.
The slapping sound.
AISHA: In the middle of the quad.
Slap like a whip. Everyone hears it. Stops.
Kelly snatches Sam’s hair twists it round her wrist. Sam’s down on the ground. Kelly shouting Sam screams, kids in a circle around them, phones held overhead.
Teachers rip them apart.
Noah’s next to me in the quad. He reaches out, squeezes my hand. We walk away.
AISHA leaves.
We see KELLY sitting and staring into nothingness, the blue light of a television. She watches without distraction.
SAM: Now. Right now. And it’s my birthday tomorrow. Turning fifteen.Mum gave me my present early, tickets to the Ke$ha concert. Most embarrassing night of my life. Mum took me but she looked so out of place. She bought all this glitter and shit so she could cover up her wrinkles, she said it was so we could bond again.
There were all these hot guys there and they could tell she was a freak all I did was try to lose her. Didn’t enjoy the music at all.
My new school sucks but it’s better than being at that shithole by the highway. Not that many friends yet. On the weekend I was so bored I even cleaned up my room. Chucked out stuff, tiaras and princess shit Dad bought for me.
I’m not a princess, I’m not a movie star. I’m a…
Bitch. I’m a bitch. I’ve been a total bitch to everyone.
I thought my life was a music clip or a movie. But it is not. I guess I’m just…
The fly circles around the room. Around me.
Camera pans in.
Close up on my eyes, on the tear as it dribbles over my cheekbones.
On my lips. Music starts.
Camera circles round me.
SAM watches KELLY watch television. She almost makes her way to speak to her but instead turns and leaves. KELLY is alone. The television blares on.
We hear some bland talk show which in turn blurs into ‘Love Song Dedications’.
MERCER: ‘Love Song Dedications’. You’re with Richard Mercer on the coldest night of the year. Just the kind of night to snuggle by the fire… I’ve got Kelly on the line. Thinking of someone special on this chilly night?
KELLY: Yes.
MERCER: What is his name?
KELLY: Dad.
MERCER: Dad. And if Dad is out here listening Kelly, what would you like to say to him?
KELLY: I missed him but now it’s okay.
MERCER: It’s okay Kelly?
KELLY: Yes. He said he could protect me. He said while he was around nothing bad would ever happen to me again. But he left. And if he’s out there listening I want to say to him that it wouldn’t have mattered anyway.
Mum acts like you’re dead and I’m not going to stick around here. Maybe I’ll see you one day. But just… need you to know. I don’t need protecting anymore.
Day fades to night. KELLY continues to watch television. Insects call, becoming louder and louder.
Then silence.
THE END
Copyright Page
CURRENCY PLAYS
First published in 2012
by Currency Press Pty Ltd,
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Q Theatre Company, Penrith NSW
This revised edition published 2014
First electronic edition published in 2014 by Currency Press Pty Ltd.
Copyright © Lachlan Philpott, 2012, 2014
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