Play # 24

The Figures

__________________________

By Joseph Frost

Originally written for the 2019 "31 Plays in 31 Days" challenge

Contact:
Joseph Frost
710 Newland St
Jackson MS 39211
FrostJosephD@gmail.com
 WILLA sits down stage to one side.

DEAN is in an overstuffed chair.

FULTON stands upstage.

DEAN
I’m not sure when I lost her.

FULTON
Are you sure you lost her?

DEAN
I must have.

FULTON
I’m saying maybe you haven’t.

DEAN
You’ve spoken with her?

FULTON
No.

DEAN
Then I’m sure I have.

FULTON
She went to her mother’s.

DEAN
I didn’t know that.

FULTON
Now you do.

DEAN
You said you hadn’t spoken with her.

FULTON
That’s right.
(beat)
That’s what I said.
 2.

DEAN
She was angry.

FULTON
Yes she was.

DEAN
I messed up.
(beat)
Do you think I messed up?

FULTON
Honestly, Dean, I have no idea.
(beat)
I don’t even know if it’s about that.

DEAN
About what?

FULTON
It may not have anything to do with you at all.

Light shift.

Fulton walks downstage.

WILLA
Thanks for coming.

FULTON
Sure.

WILLA
I didn’t know who to call.

FULTON
I’m glad you thought of me.

WILLA
You were the last person I had called.

FULTON
I was?
 3.

WILLA
When I called to see if Dean was coming home soon. His phone had died.

FULTON
Last week?

WILLA
Yes.

FULTON
You hadn’t called anyone since last week.

WILLA
No one. Other than Dean.

FULTON
Geez, Willa.

WILLA
I don’t call many people.

FULTON
You mainly text?

A moment.

WILLA
I’m going to my mother’s house.

FULTON
Oh. For, like, a weekend?

WILLA
No.

FULTON
For longer?

WILLA
I don’t know.

FULTON
Willa.
 4.

WILLA
Yes?

FULTON
Are you leaving Dean?

A moment.

WILLA
My mother said she was feeling lonely.

FULTON
She did.

WILLA
Yes. And I didn’t want her to feel lonely anymore.

FULTON
I see. That’s... kind... of you.

WILLA
Yes. Thank you.

FULTON
I don’t think I’d want to visit my mother for more than two or three days.

WILLA
Do you love her?

FULTON
I think so.
(beat)
Maybe I don’t.

WILLA
That’s not good.

FULTON
No. It’s not good.
(beat)
Maybe admitting it’s not good... is a good thing.

WILLA
Maybe you should decide to love her.
 5.

FULTON
Like you do with your mother.

WILLA
Right. Mothers like that kind of thing.

FULTON
I bet fathers do too.

WILLA
Probably. I wouldn’t know.

FULTON
Oh?

WILLA
My father’s gone.

FULTON
Oh.

A moment.

WILLA
Fulton?

FULTON
Yeah.

WILLA
You should call your mother.

FULTON
I think I will.

WILLA
Do you have her number?

FULTON
Yeah.

WILLA
Call her.
 6.

Willa stands.

Light shifts.

Willa crosses behind Dean in the chair.

DEAN
The paper didn’t come today.

WILLA
It’s only noon.

DEAN
It’s already noon.

WILLA
What?

DEAN
It should be here by noon. Well before noon. If it’s not here by noon, it’s not really
relevant information anymore. If it’s going to be useful, it should be here first thing in
the morning.

WILLA
You don’t get up until eleven.

DEAN
I work late.

WILLA
I know.

DEAN
You made it sound like I should feel guilty for getting up at eleven.

WILLA
I’m only saying that if you don’t get up until eleven, what do you care if the paper is here
before then or not.

DEAN
It should be here before then.

WILLA
You’re asleep.
 7.

DEAN
He doesn’t know that.

WILLA
Who?

DEAN
The paperboy.

WILLA
What difference does that make?

DEAN
The paper should be here. Well before eleven. Which is also, by the way, before noon.

WILLA
Maybe he’s had some kind of trouble.

DEAN
Like forgetting to deliver my paper.

WILLA
Like getting into an accident. Maybe he’s hurt. Maybe he’s lost. Maybe he got robbed,
held at gunpoint, and a madman desperate to hear the news as early as physically possible
attacked him, abused him, and left him for dead by the side of the road. Bereft of
newspapers. And as he lay dying, bleeding into the storm drain, his last fading breath
was an exhalation of regret, that he did not deliver your paper.
(beat)
You owe that poor boy an apology.

A moment.

Dean rises and goes to Willa.

DEAN
I didn’t mean to take it out on you.

WILLA
Well you did. And now I don’t want to give you your paper.

DEAN
You have it?
 8.

WILLA
It’s in your chair.

Dean turns. He had been sitting on the paper.

DEAN
Thank you.

Dean picks up the paper, sits down, opens the

paper and reads.

Lights shift.

Willa sits on the arm of the chair.

Dean folds the paper in half.

FULTON
You staying in Vegas an extra two days?

DEAN
Yeah.

FULTON
Not smart, Dean.

DEAN
I know.

FULTON
Two days.

DEAN
She was livid.

FULTON
I’m about livid myself. Two days in Vegas and you don’t call your best friend? I want to
spend two days in Vegas.

Dean rises and crosses.

DEAN
It’s not what you think.

FULTON
I’m thinking a lot of things, man.
 9.

DEAN
It’s not any of them.

FULTON
Casinos. Drugs. Hookers. Wedding chapels. The strip. Showgirls. Slot machines. The
mob.

DEAN
Nope.

FULTON
Hoover Dam?

DEAN
Not exactly.

FULTON
Then what?

DEAN
Stomach flu.

FULTON
No.

DEAN
Yep. The full nine, my friend. One side. The other. Every bit of anything I ate from the
buffets. A couple things I hadn’t. One or two things I’d only looked at. All. Came.
Flying. Out.

FULTON
You liar.

DEAN
That’s what Willa said.

FULTON
I have no doubt.

DEAN
What kind of proof do I have to show?

FULTON
What kind of proof would anyone even want to look at?
 10.

DEAN
My point exactly.

FULTON
Sorry, man.

DEAN
Not as sorry as I was.

FULTON
I bet.

DEAN
And now, there’s not really anything I can do about it.

FULTON
About what?

DEAN
She’s angry. I have no proof.

FULTON
You haven’t made it easy for her to trust you.

DEAN
I know.
(beat)
I know.

Dean stands upstage, facing upstage.

Lights shift.

Willa slides back into the chair.

WILLA
I don’t know why I went through with it. Honestly. I knew what he’d done. She told me
about three days before the wedding. Of course I was shocked. Who wouldn’t be. You
know?
(beat)
Everyone was already on the road. My cousins. Grandma Sharon. His family. I just... I
didn’t know what to do. So I went ahead with everything. Pretended I didn’t know.
Hell, she even showed up that afternoon. Couldn’t believe it.
(beat)
 11.

I think the only thing I remember from that day, clearly anyway, was the little groom and
bride figures on the cake. When we went to cut the cake, I looked at them, and it
honestly looked like someone had... moved them. The icing was all broken up, they
weren’t quite facing each other right. I could have sworn I’d looked at it before, but I
can’t quite remember. But right then, at that moment, they just looked like they hadn’t
belonged there. Not together anyway. Not together.
(beat)
You didn’t know, did you. I believe you didn’t. I hope you didn’t. It doesn’t matter.
It’s not your fault. It wasn’t up to you to tell me. You probably should have told him to
tell me. Maybe you did. I hope you did. I’m going to believe you did. So thank you.
For trying. Thank you. Thank you.

Lights down.

Silhouettes.

Blackout.

End.