Читать книгу Real and Phantom Pains: An Anthology of New Russian Drama - John Freedman - Страница 13

A thin, but steady stream of blood runs from BLACK GUY’s leg.

BOY (Trying to be funny): You afraid?

GIRL: Yes. Of this and that. (She gestures to the dead POLICEMAN.)

BOY: Don’t be. I sat with my Mom and Dad for three hours waiting for the cops. They don’t move. They don’t speak. They just lie there, that’s it. I opened the door, in case he gets out, but he’s stuck worse than Winnie-the-Pooh in the honey tree.

(BOY pulls on BLACK GUY’s leg.

BLACK GUY moans and comes to his senses.)

GIRL: Don’t hurt him –

BOY: He wasn’t hurt when he tried to kill us.

GIRL: Doesn’t matter. It makes you the same as him. And if you... I won’t be your friend.

BOY: Ok. No, you’re right... so what should I do?

GIRL: I dunno. Call the police?

(BLACK GUY’s legs twitch. He screams from pain.)

BOY: Hush, hush! No one’s gonna rat you out to the cops. Relax.

GIRL: You aren’t gonna call?

BOY: Why should I? He came here with the cops. You want more like him here? What would we do then? Yeah, sure, they may do nothing now, but they’ll come find me... at night. Calling the cops is the last thing we want to do.

GIRL: So, what? You’re going to keep him here?

(BOY picks up Policeman’s gun and pulls out the clip. BOY snaps the clip back into place. He goes to the Policeman’s body, picks up Black Guy’s revolver, flips open the cylinder, empty casings fall to the floor.

BOY puts both guns on the table, side by side.)

BOY: No bullets.

(BOY covers the Policeman with a blanket from the sofa.)

Now he won’t frighten you.

GIRL: Thank you. I didn’t used to be afraid of anything, but at camp, Sushka and me conjured up a troll –

BOY: Wow! You conjure trolls too?

GIRL: Absolutely! Girls invented fortune-telling and conjuring –

BOY: I wasn’t arguing... Is the troll the only thing you’ve summoned?

GIRL: I don’t know how to conjure, Sushka did it, but she’s the only one who knew how to call the troll.

BOY: We’ve conjured a hundred trolls, and once we summoned it using... holy cow!

GIRL: What?

BOY: Very cool.

GIRL: Why?

BOY: Cause I figured it out.

GIRL: What?

BOY: What kind of inheritance I got.

GIRL: What kind is that?

BOY: Well, Mom – She could leave me whatever... Right?

GIRL: Yes.

BOY: But she left me this.

GIRL: So?

BOY: She wanted to destroy it herself, but couldn’t. Now it’s up to me.

BLACK GUY (Hoarse): Oh, Jesus –

GIRL: What’d he say?

BLACK GUY: Don’t be stupid –

BOY: And you’re real smart hanging there –

(BOY pushes Black Guy’s leg.

BLACK GUY screams.)

BOY: See?

GIRL: What’s he saying?

BOY: You’re ready to listen to the enemy and I haven’t even finished him off yet?

GIRL: But he’s alive and trying to talk.

BOY: All right, yeah, fine. No problem. But I know what I’m doing. Some awesome, super-hot-shit I came up with.

GIRL: Then you go first.

BOY: Right here and now, we’re going to summon the Queen of Spades and give this guy to her. That way you can see what she is.