Tuesday, June 23, 2015

We Might Be Heroes: The Sound It Makes

(CAROL and LISA are at the gym.)

CAROL:  She tried to tell me she wasn’t talking shit.  I was like, Gurl, I hearrrrrd you.

LISA:  Damn.

CAROL:  She was like ‘How’d you hear me?  I was in San Diego.’  I said, ‘Bitch, I heard you in San Diego.’

LISA:  She didn’t know about your hearing?

CAROL:  Nope.  And I thought we were friends.

LISA:  Even friends gossip sometimes.

CAROL:  Yeah, all my friends, apparently.

LISA:  Hey—

CAROL:  Not you, not you.

LISA:  So you two are done?

CAROL:  With Sheila?  Hell yeah.  She’s living in San Diego now anyway.  What do I need to bother with her for?

LISA:  I think you’re a little too quick to cut people loose.

CAROL:  If you’re worried I heard what you said about my potato salad—

LISA:  You were listening to—

CAROL:  It’s fine.  It wasn’t my best batch.  I didn’t take it personally, okay?

LISA:  Jesus, Carol.

CAROL:  What?

LISA:  You can’t just eavesdrop like that.

CAROL:  I can’t help it!

LISA:  All the people in the world, and you just happened to be listening to what your best friend was saying about your potato salad?

CAROL:  The people I know come through loud and clear.  Everybody else is just static.

LISA:  You know, you could put that skill to good use if you learned to weed out some of the helpful stuff from the static.
CAROL:  Like what?

LISA:  Like terrorist threats or whatever.

CAROL:  Terrorist threats?  Lisa, I don’t need to be listening to terrorists.  I’m nervous enough as it is with all these aliens flying over us.

LISA:  You should help out.

CAROL:  Why?  You think I can listen to the aliens too?

LISA:  Have you tried?

CAROL:  No, I haven’t tried.  I’ve been busy.

LISA:  Doing what?

CAROL:  Listening to you bash my potato salad.

LISA:  Come on, Carol.

CAROL:  The government has people who can do that kind of stuff.  They don’t need me putting my two cents in.

LISA:  They’re saying they do.

CAROL:  Well, if Sheila starts threatening the government, I’ll let them know.

LISA:  You ever hear about Rich?

CAROL:  Yeah, I hear he’s an asshole.

LISA:  Carol—

CAROL:  Lisa, I didn’t listen to Rich when he was standing right in front of me.  Why would I listen to him now?

LISA:  Aren’t you curious about where he is?

CAROL:  I know where he is.

LISA:  You do?

CAROL:  Well, I have a general idea.

(A beat.)

LISA:  Well?

CAROL:  Why do you care?

LISA:  He’s my brother.  And he’s a good brother.

CAROL:  Yeah, well, he’s a lousy boyfriend.

LISA:  Ex-boyfriend.

CAROL:  Thanks for that, Lisa.

LISA:  If you knew where he was, would you tell me?

CAROL:  Gurl, I’d buy you a plane ticket.

LISA:  He’s not back in Dallas, is he?

CAROL:  He might be.

LISA:  Carol—

CAROL:  I’m not his keeper, Carol.

LISA:  No, but you’re my friend.

CAROL:  And as a friend, let me just tell you that he’s involved with some stuff you don’t want to be involved in.

LISA:  Like what?

CAROL:  Like some bad shit.

LISA:  So you have been listening to him?

CAROL:  Sometimes I can’t help it.

LISA:  I should do something.

CAROL:  Lisa—

LISA:  Is it like what happened the last time?

CAROL:  It doesn’t sound that bad.

LISA:  Dammit, Carol—

CAROL:  What are you gonna do?  You’re gonna go running off to Texas like—

LISA:  You know, if you gave a damn about anybody, you’d understand why I can’t just…

(A beat.)

CAROL:  Hey, I gave a damn about him, all right?

LISA:  I know.

CAROL:  Yeah, but it’s different for you.

LISA:  It is.

CAROL:  Then why don’t you try listening to him all the time?  And listen to you talking about how I failed?  And listen to every friend I have blaming me for it.

LISA:  Nobody’s blaming you.

CAROL:  I’m not stupid, Lisa.

LISA:  I never said—

CAROL:  And I can hear it, all right?  I can hear it.

(A beat.)

LISA:  I never said you were to blame.

CAROL:  What about your Mom?

LISA:  Well, my Mom’s a bitch, so—

CAROL:  It figures, you know.  He tried telling me, and I couldn’t hear him.

LISA:  None of us could.

CAROL:  Then he takes off and…Suddenly I can hear miles and miles away.  People, sounds, rain falling, stones going across a lake, a fly buzzing around across the ocean, but…But when I close my eyes and focus?  All I can hear is him.

LISA:  What about right now?

CAROL:  He’s sitting on a bed in a motel room.

LISA:  What a cliché.

CAROL:  It’s not a bad motel.  It’s just…a motel.

LISA:  What’s he doing?

CAROL:  He’s being quiet.

LISA:  That’s it?

CAROL:  Yeah, he’s just…kinda sitting.

LISA:  So how can you hear him?

CAROL:  Sometimes the sound right before the sound is louder than the sound itself.

LISA:  How long has he been sitting there?

CAROL:  A long time.  And he’s going to keep sitting there.

LISA:  How do you know?

CAROL:  Because I don’t hear anything coming for him.  All I hear is him waiting.  Waiting on something that’s never going to come.

                (Lights.)

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