In many of my efforts, I didn’t think I would continue this so soon, but to put a certain daydream to rest I felt the need to continue sooner than later, especially with the approaching start of year four, the start of the fall semester, my return to work. The not so surprising that a feeling I’ve had about the last article. Will I be able to do it? Looking at this section and those to follow I am not so sure since, right now, but something will change.
COMMENTARY:
By far, this is my favourite section. This is a real insight into Kay’s character, but it is also a look into the aftermath of a bad decision. Granted, I never made the decision that is examined in this scene. This scene plays not only to the conflictions of the past and the future but what both efforts task on the present. And through that, out of love and/or a misplaced view of morality and dedication, which I am sure I would have made, regret and confusion would stem.
This is a vague explanation, but once you read the scene it will make sense. So without further ado, here’s part three…
“THE NEXT COUNTER”
(pt. 3 of 7)
SCENE III:
RAISE LIGHTS:
PRESENT:
Kay is standing in front of the PDQ as he was before.
KAY
Shows what I know.
Marley walks up.
MARLEY
New release?
KAY
I’m afraid so.
She picks up a copy of the movie.
MARLEY
A horror movie?
KAY
Yeah.
MARLEY
Is it scary?
KAY
Not sure...
(Sighs)
I could probably tell you the ending if you like. (If he hasn’t changed it.) Save you the twenty-five bucks.
MARLEY
Christ!
(Scoffs)
Kay, you don’t like the same movies I do. You think “Fast and the Furious” is stupid... I think it is the greatest movie ever made... You like to dwell on sappy crap like “The Shawshank Redemption”.
KAY
Excuse me... I haven’t spoken about the Shank in years.
MARLEY
Yeah, whateve’... You cling to it.
KAY
I do shed a tear every time it shows up in the value bin... Then again my opinion is a bit outdated and bias.
MARLEY
They’re your addiction, darling.
KAY
That they would, be it another day, but I haven’t seen a movie in a while.
MARLEY
What a week?
KAY
Try years.
MARLEY
You mean in the theatre, right?
KAY
In the theatre, on TV, on the net or on DVD.
MARLEY
DVD? You don’t have a Blu-Ray?
KAY
I didn’t see the point of upgrading.
MARLEY
Okay, you’ve been lazy. How does that make you biased?
KAY
It doesn’t...
(Puts away the movie he’s holding)
I tried making these things.
He heads towards the open floor.
Flabbergasted, Marley is taken aback.
She follows him out.
MARLEY
A movie? You tried to make a movie?
Kay shakes his head.
MARLEY (CONT’D)
Where? When?
KAY
Locally in Delusional, of course... but that was another life, another time.
MARLEY
(Scoffs)
You spend far too much time thinking about the past. You remind of a goddamn history class.
Kay is perplexed.
KAY
I don’t follow.
MARLEY
You know how they talk about people and places and like they matter... Who gives a shit how people died in some time in some country that doesn’t exist anymore, speaking a language that no one understands?
KAY
That’s ancient history. There are more current events.
MARLEY
Like what?
KAY
Both world wars... they happened last century...
Marley shakes her head.
KAY (CONT’D)
The Vietnam war... both Gulf Wars.
MARLEY
Oh my god. Is that all?
KAY
Well there’s the Emancipation Proclamation...
She continues shaking her head.
KAY (CONT’D)
Women’s Suffrage... The Holocaust... The Civil Rights movement... The Fall of the Berlin Wall...
(Sigh of defeat)
(flat)
Nine-Eleven?
MARLEY
Of course I know about Nine-Eleven... I started working for the company the day before.
KAY
Of course you did.
MARLEY
I don’t remember all that stuff happening then.
KAY
Not really. They happened mostly over the course of the last century.
MARLEY
Nuh-uh... the didn’t happen in the last ten years.
KAY
The past ten years?
MARLEY
The past century.
KAY
You mean decade.
MARLEY
No century.
KAY
No... a decade is ten years. A century is a hundred.
MARLEY
No... a century is ten years... A millennium is a hundred.
KAY
A thousand... a millennium is a thousand years.
Jim walks up.
JIM
Hey Marley, it’s quitting time.
MARLEY
Yay... I can’t wait to leave... I can’t stand hearing the professor’s lecture here.
JIM
What are you bugging her about, now?
KAY
I’m not bugging her--
MARLEY
--Yes you are! Talking about wars and the last millennium.
KAY
Last century.
MARLEY
See.
KAY
I can’t help correcting grievous errors.
MARLEY
Who cares?
JIM
Don’t mind the professor, Marley; he likes to think of himself as a smart guy.
KAY
Well I am.
MARLEY
Oh yeah... If you’re so smart, then why are you working here?
Kay is taken aback.
JIM
Oh snap. She got you.
MARLEY
C’mon Jim let’s go clock out.
JIM
Yeah. Night, boss.
KAY
Night.
Marley and Jim exit.
Kay rubs his face in exasperation. He doesn’t notice a woman around his age, RACHEL, standing at the counter.
RACHEL
My father use to ask that same question.
Kay opens his eyes. He’s surprised.
RACHEL (CONT’D)
Although I never had a problem with what you did for a living. “A job is a job after all.”
KAY
Yeah well...
RACHEL
I know you only said that because you were hoping for bigger things.
KAY
I hadn’t planned on making a career of this.
RACHEL
Do you still write?
KAY
As always... I eventually finished my book.
RACHEL
How well did it sell?
Kay sighs.
RACHEL (CONT’D)
Dumb question... I know, sorry.
KAY
No worries.
(Sighs)
Did you need help with something or...
RACHEL
You know why I’m here.
She holds up a card.
KAY
Right, my birthday. How could I have forgotten?
RACHEL
But it’s you’re birthday, you can’t forget your birthday.
KAY
Birthdays and holidays are you thing, not mine.
RACHEL
The only holiday I made you celebrate was New Years.
KAY
I preferred Halloween.
A young child, DAISY, walks up.
DAISY
I do, too.
KAY
(to Daisy)
You like Halloween?
DAISY
Oh yes I do. That’s when Mommy let’s me wear a costume.
KAY
(Looking to Rachel)
Really?
(To Daisy)
Do you go out as a princess?
DAISY
No way! I go out as a vampire.
KAY
(to Rachel)
A vampire?
Rachel shrugs her shoulders.
KAY (CONT’D)
(To Daisy)
Well I’m sure you’re a cute vampire.
DAISY
Oh no. I’m evil.
KAY
Ye-ah... Evil or not, you’re probably pretty cute.
DAISY
That’s what my Mommy says.
KAY
I see.
DAISY
(to Rachel, pulling her)
C’mon, Mommy, there’s a game I want to show you.
RACHEL
Sure, Baby... But you go ahead and play one of the games and I’ll join you there in a few. Okay?
DAISY
Okay.
RACHEL
(to Kay)
It’s okay if she plays?
KAY
Sure.
Daisy runs off towards the games.
KAY (CONT’D)
You’re really a Mommy.
RACHEL
Yeah, I’m really a Mommy.
Rubs his arm)
I’m still looking for her Daddy.
Reluctant, he catches her hand.
KAY
I know...
(He looks to Daisy)
She’s very beautiful... She takes after her mother.
RACHEL
Oh, I think she’s got some good attributes from her father.
KAY
The hair and the eyes, maybe.
RACHEL
She likes weird stuff.
KAY
Looks who’s talking.
RACHEL
Touché... She likes things that should be beyond her age... old movies, old music, old shows, old plays, old books, the BBC, the CBC... she really likes thrift shops and she definitely get her dark side from him.
KAY
Yet you named her Daisy?
RACHEL
I thought it would brighten her disposition.
KAY
I’m sure it does for those around.
RACHEL
I’m sure she’ll grow out of it.
(Scoffs)
She’ll probably go by Daze as a teenager.
KAY
Don’t think that way.
RACHEL
I’m not, but I know you are.
KAY
You got me there, Love.
RACHEL
Do I, sir?
Both stare at one another and sigh out of exasperation.
She hands him the card.
She nods to him to open it.
He opens it carefully. The card is rather plain.
He reads the card to himself.
He takes a breathe, closes the card and puts it back in the envelope, carefully setting it down. He turns to her.
KAY
I still do... I never stopped... but I’m still not sure... I still have to think about it.
RACHEL
It has been how long?--
KAY
--I know, I know--
RACHEL
--A girl can only wait so long.
KAY
--I know.
RACHEL
Isn’t that enough of a reason?
KAY
Yes but I want it to be the right one.
Rachel sighs, resting herself on the counter.
RACHEL
That’s probably why I’ll wait some more.
She pulls him forward, kissing him for a spell on the forehead, as to say: “I Miss you, I love you.”
RACHEL
Happy Birthday, Kay.
She releases him and heads to Daisy.
The two exit the stage.
KAY
Happy Mother’s Day, Rachel.
He walks out of the podium.
CURTAIN.
CLOSING COMMENTARY:
Although I am not too particle to how the scene starts my attachment is to the implied mistake. Just to clarify, I don’t have an estranged ex-wife and child, although it does share a parallel with my own existence and as the old statement goes, history has a way of repeating itself. When I wrote it I knew there was an inherent strength to it—when I shared this with Beka, she nearly teared up. I cry just reading it myself thinking about the decisions I could’ve made and the ones I might have made for something as trivial as a story—hell I did it for a number of scripts. Knowing how I was, I might have done something selfish in place of being a responsible spouse or parent—it was similar feeling I had when I started my transition/ascension, especially when I considered the actions of those before me. From draft to draft, this scene changed very little, except I removed the dialogue that obvious abundantly clear.
TEASER:
On the next installment of “The Next Counter”, it is less about the past and future and more of a joke of the present. How serious is Kay’s back trouble? And what happens when he is caught in the middle of an injury? Find out in part four of “The Next Counter”.
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
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