Enter Voices

Look, he’s doing the best he can! Shut the fuck up and leave him alone!

“The best he can?! “ Ha! What exactly is—

That’s “the best he can?” Jesus Christ what’s all that yammering on his does about being a Marine and that being for life and all? If all Marines were like him, we’d still belong to the Brits!

(laughter from several)

Y’all are assholes, he’s been through a lot in the last couple of years you know!

(faggoty voice) “He’s been through a lot in the muh-muh-muh-muh

Well what the fuck are you doing to help? I mean if you’re just going to stand there and criticize the poor fucker maybe you should just get the fuck out of here!

Fuck, I’d love to get the fuck out of here. Only problem is, I can’t! I’m here because he brought me here. I don’t even know who I’d be if it weren’t for his idea of me. I think he actually needs me!

Needs you?! Why do you think he needs you?!

He needs me because if it weren’t for me he would have no excuse but to thrive. All that bullshit he’s always touting like “this happened to me when I was three” and “they were mean to me at school” Wah! Guess what? There aint’ nobody standing here calling him faggot or nigger lover right now is there? Hell no! He keeps us around to—

Woah, woah, woah! What’s this “we” shit? I try to be a voice of encouragement!

Try is right! All you do is perpetuate his weakness by telling him its okay for him to sit around on his ass all day.

That is not fair! It’s not fair! He does anything but “sit on his ass!”

Well forgive me but flitting from here and there doing this “important errand” and then that “important something for somebody else” until time to go to his fucking CrossFaggot workout is not really getting into action is it?

Cross— what did you call it?!

Hey look you dick, going to the gym has been one of the only things that has worked consistently for him. Could you cut him a goddamn break for a minute?

A break? Hell that’s all he’s done since he got back from Iraq, is take one big long  break!

That is not true at all you fucking fuck! He barely sat still for the first ten years after he got back, running from one fucking save-the-vet function to the next peace action to—

“Peace Action?” what the hell action was he involved in that promoted any real peace at all?!  If you ask me, they were just running around trying to act like modern day hippies or something. It was all about his ego if you want to know the truth! He’d show up at the opening of a goddamn envelope if he thought it meant he was going to get the microphone for more than a minute.

Well so what!? He was told to sit down and shut up for the greater part of his early life so who could blame him if he—

What? Wait a minute, hold on right there. I’ve heard some of you say that before and I let it pass on by but I really do have to know if you think you believe that shit.

What shit?

That he was told to “sit down and shut up for the—“ well whatever you said.

He was!

He wasn’t! He was up in church and talking and in school the teachers where always asking him this and that because they knew he—

(under his breath) teachers faggoty little pet!

—knew that he knew the answers and was

Are you all serious right now!? I mean are you seriously going to criticize him for being smart and trying to participate in school?

Y’all are trying to change the subject! I was asking if you actually believed your own bullshit about how he was someone not allowed to speak when he was a fucking kid!

Of course he was allowed to speak! You are missing the point entirely! Just because someone is allowed to speak doesn’t mean that they are being heard! Especially if they feel like their complete and authentic self is not welcome!

You sound like you have some personal experience with that!

Well maybe I do. Forgive me for trying to have  a little compassion toward someone who is doing his best to try to save his own life!

Oh God, there she goes with that again.

No really, I mean—

Look sister, far be it from me to have to be the heartless asshole all the time but I am merely pointing out that, when it’s all left up to y’all and all you do is tell him that he’s being too hard on himself all the time or suck his fucking dick for wasting entire days flitting around doing god-knows-what while there is so much work to be done, well, I don’t know, don’t blame me when he ends up fucking homeless again!

Look, I really dont’ think he’s going to end up—

Really? Why not? What’s to keep him from it? You think just because he’s got a place to sleep tonight and food to eat tonight that—

Oh God, I could use some food right now!
Shut up you fat bitch you just had a protein shake with two scoops!

Well I’m still hungry! I worked out hard today!

Oh listen to her brag, (mocking voice) “I worked out hard today!” Well why don’t you go on in there and strap on the late-night food bag! Have you looked at yourself in the mirror lately!? No fucking wonder that other one felt like he had to drink all the time! What if you were expected to sleep with that shit!

(laughing) Yeah, I sure couldn’t ever blame him for that! Where is he now and who’s he with?

No! No! Please do not be taking us all down that road tonight! It is too late and we have all got to get some sleep tonight! And I mean good sleep! We all know that we’ll wake up all fucked up if we spend the whole night dreaming Iraq dreams set against the template of that disaster of a marriage.

And who’s fault was that?  I believe I was the one who suggested we just started drinking with the other one!

Can we please just leave the other one out of this for once?

See? See? That’s what I was talking about before! More ancient history! When was the divorce, two years ago?

One and a half and you can’t call it a “divorce” if it wasn’t a real marriage. If it was a real marriage then—

Oh! My! God! Do you see what y’all have done again?! I started out just trying to call some attention to a problem we have here— a very serious problem— and all of a sudden you’re all coming in here with your grievances and your opinions and your—all that other shit and it all doesn’t really matter shit  if we don’t get our shit together and do something to get this deadbeat off his ass and into action!

He is off his ass, that’s what I’ve been trying to say! And he’s not a deadbeat!

Well clearly we have very different ideas about what “off his ass” looks like.

None of us are going to get to live much longer if somebody doesn’t do something to figure this shit out!

Why? How do you mean? I’ve been here since at least the 80s. I feel like my job is pretty secure.

Why can’t we all work together for once?

Because it’s not our job to work together you pollyanna bitch!

Hey, hey! Is that really necessary?

You all have worn me the fuck out! I’m gong to bed!

Oh hell no you’re not! Not until we’ve at least figured out a plan of attack for tomorrow!

We don’t need a plan of attack! Don’t you see that’s what I’m saying? All we have to do is do what we always do, whoever wakes up first will be the first to go after him. If it’s one the good team, then we’ll be off to a g—

Wait, what the fuck do you mean “good t—“

Shhhhhh! Please just let her finish!

Thank you! If it’s one of the g—, okay if it’s one of the one team over here that gets first crack at him, then that’s the way we’ll head out tomorrow. If it’s one of the other team over here we’ll start out over—

You astound me, do you know that?

What?

You actually talk like this is some kind of goddamned game show with team A and team B. I, for one, am in this to win—- for myself! I owe no allegiance to no one!

Not even him?

Especially not him. I’m here to make sure he doesn’t get out of this thing alive!

What?! I thought we were all here to help!

(several laugh)

Well I don’t even know what to do with this. I want him to live. I want him to live and to flourish! And I’m going to keep saying the things I need to say to him to help that happen.

Go right ahead, Sister! See how far you get with that. I’m pretty much assured that if I just show up, I’m gong to be walking out with the prize that day.

You are an asshole, you know that? Consummate evil!

( _______ laughs)

Yuk it up, Bro. But one day I’ll see the end to you! I’ll be here when you are nothing but a faint unpleasant memory. I’ll fight for the poor bastard even when he’s not able to fight for himself and in the end— we’re going to win. We’re going to—

(phone rings)

Who in the FUCK is calling at 23:15 at night!? Holy Christ you’d think that—

Don’t answer it!

But—

I SAID do not answer that fucking phone!! You can not handle you’re own shit right now, much less trying to fix other people’s fucking problems! Turn the fucking light off and GO TO SLEEP! The only possible chance we have at a better tomorrow is if “It”—

HE!

Very well, if you like— if HE wakes up feeling someone rested and hopeful. So can we ALL just table the rest of our shit until tomorrow morning? Who’s got fire watch?

(_______ raises hand)

(sarcastically) Great! I certainly feel safe now.

Please y’all, please! Just. Go. To. Sleep. We’ll try again tomorrow.

a few of the voices continue to congregate and whisper to each other as if building confederacies for tomorrow’s fight. most amble out of the room and are dressed in different kinds of bed clothes. three or four of the voices are dressed in costumes and are clearly preparing to be part of the dreams for the night. 

_______ clicks the light on and off a couple of times to signal that the room must now be emptied. the rest of the voices, except for ______ who will stand fire watch, leave the room. 

_______, the three year-old voice starts to cry out of fear of the dark and the coming dreams.

from off-stage the sound of Sinister Laughter is heard in the distance, first faintly and then getting closer and closer as the lights fade slowly. just before we are plunged into darkness, only the two sounds are heard— the toddler crying and the Sinister Laughter.

Blackout.

See y’all tomorrow.