Good Things Happen (excerpt) by Martin Murray

GOOD THINGS HAPPEN

A Full-Length Play Written By Martin Murray

(607) 821-9417 MartinMichaelMurray@gmail.com

Spring 2020

SCENE 5 Slight transition into: Saturday.

3:30am.

(Note: the first gesture of this scene should act somewhere in between dreamtime and waking life.)

The living room. Lights are off.

The glow of the television.

Pizza boxes and snacks on the floor.

BRIAN (age 13) is asleep on the couch.

MAX (age 16) is asleep on the floor. After a moment, MAX stirs and wakes. He sits up and sees someone in the shadows of the room.

The someone steps forward into the glow of the television, a STRANGER. The SRANGER kneels in front of MAX. Hi.

STRANGER A pause. The STRANGER reaches out and opens the pizza box on the floor, takes a slice, winks at MAX, stands and disappears.

(Note: After this, we are no longer in full dreamtime.)

Somewhere in this, LISA has appeared in the darkness, unseen by MAX. She should be unseen by the audience until she speaks. (She does not react as if she saw the STRANGER.)

LISA (quiet) What are you doing?

MAX Oh my god, Mom! You scared me.

LISA Were you outside?

2.

Huh?

MAX

LISA Did you and Brian go outside?

MAX No, Brian is asleep.

LISA I thought... Maybe there is a deer or something in the yard. I thought... Or it’s the wind. Did you hear the wind blowing?

(Beat) Why are you awake?

MAX I had a weird dream.

LISA Did your movie scare you?

No.

MAX

LISA Did it scare, Brian?

Probably.

MAX

LISA Neither of you went outside?

No.

MAX

LISA You said you heard the wind?

What?

MAX

LISA You said you heard the wind blowing?

MAX No, you said that.

LISA Oh. I wasn’t sure... (she trails off).

Silence. They listen for the wind.

3.

LISA You know the wind chimes on the porch? My little buddha ones?

MAX The green one?

LISA Yes. They broke. Little buddha’s head fell off. I asked your Dad to fix it. But I can’t remember if he did. Did you see them on the porch earlier tonight?

MAX I wasn’t paying attention.

LISA If the chimes are hanging up and I can’t hear them, then I’d know the wind isn’t blowing.

But... are they hanging up?

MAX Open the door and look.

LISA I don’t want bugs coming in.

MAX Look out the window.

LISA It’s- it’s too dark.

MAX The porch light is on.

LISA It- it shouldn’t be on. Did I leave it on?

MAX I guess. I can turn it off.

No!

LISA (slightly loud)

(quiet again) No, no. Leave everything as it is. Leave everything alone. Everything’s fine. I think I was having a bad dream too.

BRIAN sits up straight on the couch.

4.

BRIAN Shut up! Leave me alone!

MAX and LISA are startled. BRIAN sinks back on the couch.

MAX He’s talking in his sleep.

LISA steps forward over to BRIAN. We should notice that she has been hiding in the shadows this entire time.

LISA (gently) Brian, honey. Brian. Go on up to bed.

What?

BRIAN

LISA (ad libbing) Go up to bed, Brian. Go on.

BRIAN stands and groans. He is still mostly asleep and he clomps up the steps, groaning the entire way.

Silence.

MAX Mom? What’s going on?

LISA What do you mean?

MAX Are you bribing us?

Bribing you?

LISA

MAX The videos, and the pizza, and the snacks? Are you bribing us?

LISA Why would I bribe you?

MAX Because something is going on.

5.

LISA Nothing’s going on.

MAX But you’re scared.

LISA Scared? Do I look scared?

MAX Yes. (Pause) Mom. Every spring, you take the phone book delivery job and ever since I was Brian’s age you make me help you deliver them.

LISA Make you? You do it to make extra allowance.

MAX No, that’s not what I’m saying. I’m saying, I know how it works. Every year, you get a bonus based on how quickly you deliver these phone books, right?

LISA Yes, that’s right.

MAX The quicker we deliver them all the more money you get.

LISA The more money we get, yes. It’s an incentive toMAX No, I know. You said last yesterday morning that we had to deliver them all last night.

And we didn’t. You said that.

LISA Sure, maybe I said that, but I thought about it and I thought, let’s take it easy this year.

MAX But we need the money.

Max, I-

LISA

MAX I pay attention. You think I’m a little kid or something but I’m not. We need money. We always need money.

(MORE)

6.

MAX (CONT’D) You have two jobs and deliver phone books. Dad had to leave when Lou called in sick today, because you worry that if he doesn’tLISA Max, I’m- you don’t need to worry about this.

MAX But I do. I worry. I’m scared. I’m scared because you’re scared and worried and Dad is scared and worried all the time. And everything you feel, I also feel. I can’t help it.

LISA Max, okay, I hear you but youHold on.

MAX

LISA Hold on? I’m your mother, I do not hold on.

MAX This is bullshit. Stop pretending. You getting us videos and pizza and everything, that’s fake- what is going on? Why are you up in the middle of the night? Why are you scared?

LISA considers for a long moment.

Silence. Does the wind blow?

LISA Okay. I... I want to tell you something. I, need, to tell you something. Can I do that?

Yes.

MAX

LISA It has to be between you and me, okay? It has to be a secret. Can you do that?

Yes.

MAX

LISA (beat) Something happened today. Something big.

Something very big. Come here.

7.

LISA leads MAX over to the coat closet. They slowly open the door.

LISA reveals the duffle bag.

LISA Grab one side of this. We’re going to slide this out. Be careful. it is really heavy.

They each take a side and slowly slide it across the ground.

LISA Shh. Shh. Shh. (Beat) Okay. Open it.

What is it?

Open it.

MAX LISA MAX slowly unzips the duffle bag.

It is full of money.

MAX What the hell? What is this?

LISA It’s money. And it’s full. It’s totally full.

Whose is it?

MAX

LISA It’s mine. Ours. It’s all ours.

MAX Who the fuck are you?

LISA I know. Can you believe it?

MAX Where did it come from?

I found it.

LISA

MAX You found it? Where?

LISA In the middle of the road. In the graveyard.

8.

MAX In the graveyard?

LISA You know the one where I took you to practice driving?

MAX What were you doing there?

LISA I was on my lunch break from work.

MAX At the call center?

LISA Yes. I got a call on my direct line at work.

It was Arnold from the phone book delivery. He said he needed me to come in and fill out a form. I said: “A form?” He said: “A background check”. I said: “Arnold I’ve delivered phone books for you every spring for seven years”.

He said: “New policy”. So, I got in on my lunch break. I fill out his form and give it to him and be plunks down a plastic cup. I say: “What’s that for?” And he said “For urine”.

Urine?

MAX

LISA He says: “Drug test”. He tells me to pee in the cup or I won’t get paid. So I do. And before I leave I say: “Arnold, why are you doing this all of a sudden?” And he says: “We need to make sure you are not the type of person who will take our phone books and throw them in a dumpster.” And I say: “Arnold, I always deliver the phone books.” And he says: “That’s what you say, but how do I know?” (she breathes out; hard) I have worked for that man for seven years.

Every spring. I need the money. We need the money. I rely on that job. And today I realized, he doesn’t rely on me. To him, I’m a nobody. I’m just some piss in a cup. And so I’m standing in the graveyard and I think: “Wait, how does me peeing in a cup prove that I won’t throw phone books into a dumpster?”

MAX Hold on. Why are you in the graveyard?

9.

LISA Usually I go there to sit. It’s the only quiet place. But I actually thought. I should take the phone books in the back of this truck, drive to the little walking bridge over that creek and throw the fucking phones in. (Beat) I’m leaning on the railing of the bridge. And I decide, no. Don’t let him affect you. Keep making good choices. Don’t let another person make you a bad person. And as I think that thought, I look down and I see this duffle bag. Right in the middle of the road. I walk over. Something pulls me over and I kneel down and open it and I see the money. And I knew it was mine. It was mine because I’ve been good.

I’ve been good all my life. And I’m being... I don’t know if rewarded is the right word, but... I knew I was meant to take it.

MAX Is that true?

LISA Yes it is true. No one was around. I was alone, totally alone. And it saves us. This really saves us. We don’t have to be scared anymore. We get to make new choices now. Good choices. Better choices. Everything is different now.

MAX What did Dad say?

LISA I... I haven’t told him yet.

Why not?

MAX

LISA Well. He’s out of town. And I went back to work. And then I came home. I need a plan. I don’t have one yet. I want to have a plan before I tell him.

MAX I’ll help you come up with a plan.

You will?

LISA

MAX Yes. We won’t tell, Brian, either. He’s a kid.

He won’t know what to do.

10.

LISA Okay. Yes. We’ll come up with a plan. A good plan. We can do this. Help me put this back.

LISA and BRIAN slide the duffle bag back into the closet and hide it again under the coats.

LISA I’m glad I could tell you, Max. Yeah.

MAX LISA reaches out and gently grabs MAX’s wrist. She uses two fingers on her opposite hand and takes his pulse.

Okay...

MAX (strange)

LISA Your heart is racing. Take a deep breath with me.

I’m okay.

MAX

LISA My heart is beating fast too. Here. Feel.

LISA holds out her wrist for MAX to take her pulse.

MAX (not taking her wrist) Yeah. I believe you.

Pause.

LISA I feel different. Do you feel different?

MAX No. (Beat) Not yet.

End of scene.