THE DELINQUENT

by

GROUP 1
 CAST

Joshua Villar as Chippychipz

Erlena Mirador as Mudraching
Graciela Marie Samoy as Minchin
April Rhea Cortez as Minda, Damin
Kathleen Abaya as Luzvi, Vizlu
FADE IN

INT. GOOGLE MEET – DAY

Guidance Counselor MINCHIN of Colegio de San Luzviminda (40s), with nuns LUZVI
and MINDA (both in 30s), invites mother MUDRACHING (45), along with her son
CHIPPYCHIPZ (22), delinquent, the subject of concern, to a video call.

MINCHIN
Good morning Mrs. Mudraching, and to
you Chippychipz.

MUDRACHING
(weak voice)
Good morning, Ms. Minchin.

CHIPPYCHIPZ
(stares blankly at the monitor)
Uhm.

MINCHIN
Mrs. Mudraching, I think you
already know why we are meeting
today, and in regards with your
son’s performance and behavior, I
also asked Sisters Luzvi and Minda
for spiritual guidance.

LUZVI
(smiling)
Good morning!

MINDA
(smiling)
Good morning, Mrs. Mudraching! Good
morning Chippychipz!

MUDRACHING
(agitated voice)
Y-yes, Ms. Minchin. Gu-good morning,
Sisters.

MINCHIN
Let’s begin. Mrs. Mudraching, I’ve
been receiving complaints from
professors as well as students that
your son Chippychipz behaves
violently.
Ms. Minchin turns her attention to Chippychipz.

MINCHIN (CONT’D)
Chippychipz, your actions defy our
school policies, and you can be
expelled or blacklisted from the
school. And we’re here to help you.
We want to know the reason why you
are behaving like this. Son...

Chippychipz stares blankly. Mind goes to...

WORLD OF EMPTINESS

CHIPPYCHIPZ
Everybody's screaming
I try to make a sound but no one
hears me
I'm slipping off the edge
I'm hanging by a thread
I wanna start this over again
So I try to hold onto a time when
nothing mattered
And I can't explain what happened
And I can't erase the things that
I've done
No I can't
How could this happen to me
I've made my mistakes
Got no where to run
The night goes on
As I'm fading away
I'm sick of this life
I just wanna scream
How could this happen to me

BACK TO REALITY

MINCHIN
(worrying)
Chippychipz? Do you hear me?

Mrs. Mudraching shouts at her son.

MUDRACHING
(facing Chippychipz)
Chippychipz! Why are you spacing
out?! What?! You can’t even listen
to your Guidance Counselor?
 CHIPPYCHIPZ
(scowling)
Shut up!

MUDRACHING
You son of a...

Chippychipz turns his head towards his mother.

CHIPPYCHIPZ
(raises voice)
I said shut up!

MINDA
Chippychipz, calm down.

LUZVI
Son, she’s your mother.

Chippychipz turns his face and stares at the monitor. He remembers his father.

CHIPPYCHIPZ
(yearning)
When I was a young boy
My father took me into the city
To see a marching band
He said, "Son, when you grow up
Would you be the savior of the
broken
The beaten, and the damned?"
He said, "Will you defeat them
Your demons and all the non-
believers?
The plans that they have made?
Because one day, I'll leave you
A phantom to lead you in the summer
To join the black parade"

Silence.

MUDRACHING
Don’t bring your father to this!
He’s dead. And it’s because of you!
Of all people, why it has to be you?
You aren’t even like your father.
You aren’t even like me. Why can’t
you do something right? I feel
like...

Mudraching remembers some memories of his husband.

 MUDRACHING
(continuing, sad)
All by myself
Don't wanna be
All by myself
Anymore
Hard to be sure
Sometimes I feel so insecure
And loves so distant and obscure
Remains the cure
All by myself
Don't wanna be
All by myself
Anymore

CHIPPYCHIPZ
(smirks, shakes head)
Can’t do something right?...
(stands, point fingers)
...I'm tired of being what you want
me to be
Feeling so faithless, lost under
the surface
Don't know what you're expecting of
me
Put under the pressure of walking
in your shoes
Every step that I take is another
mistake to you
I've become so numb, I can't feel
you there
Become so tired, so much more aware
I'm becoming this, all I want to do
Is be more like me and be less like
you

MUDRACHING
(stands)
There were nights when the wind was
so cold
That my body froze in bed if I just
listened to it
Right outside the window...
(teary eyed)
...There were days when the sun was
so cruel
That all the tears turned to dust
And I just knew my eyes were drying
up forever
I finished crying in the instant
that you left
And I can't remember where or when
or how
 *And I never wasted any of my time
on you since then

Silence.

MUDRACHING
(continuing)
If you forgive me all this

CHIPPYCHIPZ
If I forgive you all that

MUDRACHING, CHIPPYCHIPZ
We forgive and forget and it's all
coming back to me
Now

Ms. Minchin interrupts.

MINCHIN
Mrs. Mudraching, Chippychipz, please
calm down. Let’s fix this. It’s now
clear to us, and we get it. We get
you Chippychipz. We are here to help
you, the both of you.

Mrs. Mudraching and Chippychipz sit down.

MINCHIN
(continuing)
Chippychipz, son
It's a long road
When you face the world alone
No one reaches out a hand
For you to hold
You can find love
If you search within yourself
And that emptiness you felt
Will disappear...
(faces Mudraching)
...Mudraching, he’s always beside
you. And I believe, seeing you like
this won’t make him happy.
And then a hero comes along
With the strength to carry on
And you cast your fears aside
And you know you can survive
So when you feel like hope is gone
Look inside you and be strong
And you'll finally see the truth
That a hero lies in you
 LUZVI
Everyone is struggling. But everyone
is fighting. Please don’t lose hope.
Imagine all the people
Living life in peace
You may say I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you will join us
And the world will be as one

MINDA
Let’s believe in god. Let’s believe
in our almighty lord. He will heal
us. Cause
There can be miracles
When you believe
Though hope is frail
Its hard to kill
Who knows what miracles
You can achieve
When you believe somehow you will
You will when you believe

CHIPPYCHIPZ
(kneels)
I'm sorry that I hurt you
It's something I must live with
everyday
And all the pain I put you through
I wish that I could take it all
away
And be the one who catches all your
tears
That's why I need you to hear
I've found a reason for me
To change who I used to be
A reason to start over new
And the reason is you

MUDRACHING
(stands, palms on her
face, crying)
I’m sorry too, son. I’m so sorry. I
hope you can forgive me.

Sister Luzvi smiles. Sister Minda wipes her teary eyes.

 MINCHIN
(tiny claps)
I can read your mind
And I know your story
I see what you're going through,
yeah
It's an uphill climb
And I'm feeling sorry
But I know it will come to you,
yeah

LUZVI, MINDA
Don't surrender
Cause you can win
In this thing called love

ALL:
When you want it the most
There's no easy way out
When you're ready to go
And your heart's left in doubt
Don't give up on your faith
Love comes to those who believe it
And that's the way it is

THE END