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MOTIONLESS
a scene of drama
by Andrew Butler


 2010 Andrew Butler
abutler@stedwards.edu
(512) 633 7636

Lights fade up on Bert’s Booze Barn, decorated as the name implies. It’s a sleazy dive but meticulously clean. The lights are dim, and a solitary neon sign over the bar provides additional illumination. Behind the counter, BERT stands with his arms crossed. He is listening to an old portable radio; his brows are knitted together. The news is on, and we can hear the broadcast. It can be spoken off stage via microphone, or pre-recorded. Upstage from the bar counter, seated at the middle table in a row of three is Randall. He is haunted, and too broken for a boy of his age. He is quickly drinking a pint. The atmosphere is thick with intense feeling.

NEWSCASTER

-- to bring you a shocking update on the shooting that occurred two days ago, on the evening of July 3rd, at The Whistmere. Leaked video footage of the on site police investigation was discovered circulating on the Internet this afternoon. The footage confirms multiple rumors that seven of the twenty-nine casualties were not civilians, and were in fact the shooters. In addition to this, the seven shooters were Caucasian males in unmarked black uniforms. Their bodies are visible throughout the video, all appear to have been brutally mutilated, the cause of which is currently unknown. Even more shocking, the video also shows members of the Atlanta Police Department acting “suspiciously, and tampering with evidence.” APD Police Chief Jeromy Grath has refused to take questions regarding this footage, and is expected to hold a press release within the half-hour, with Mayor Daniels present. No new information has been released regarding an eighth suspect, but national press waits for the statement of an unnamed witness to the shooting, who claims to have spoken directly with this suspect before the attack. Police presence in our city has greatly increased, and all throughout Georgia people cry out for justice. Stay tuned as I report live from Chief Grath’s press release, and on channel 5 A.N.N. This is Ethan Ramos with Atlanta Public Broadcast, and I’ll be with you all night in our search for the truth of this horrible tragedy.

BERT
(Watching Randall tip back the rest of his drink.)

Last call kid.

RANDALL

I’ll take two more.

BERT

I’m giving you one more. Then you’re out of here.

RANDALL
(He seems disoriented, but it’s not the booze)

Please man… Bert, give me two more. I’m not drunk, and I don’t have a car- I walked. I’m no trouble.

BERT

You want two, than show me some money.

(RANDALL removes his wallet, and pushed himself away from the table. As he approaches the bar, TRANSGRESSOR enters, and sits at Randall’s table without his knowing.)

RANDALL
(Setting the money on the counter and sliding his pint to BERT)

Here. Thank you. I’m no trouble, honest. I’m not drunk.

BERT
(Takes the money from the counter, and holds out his other hand)

I.D.

RANDALL

What?

BERT

You heard me. You want more drinks, let me see it.

RANDALL
(He takes out his fake I.D., holds it out towards BERT but doesn’t hand it over)

I already showed you. Here.

BERT
(He takes the I.D. from RANDALL, and inspects them both.)

When’s your birthday?

RANDALL

August 16th

BERT

What year?

RANDALL
(He stumbles)
Nineteen eighty-nine.

BERT
(Not convinced, he points to the door, and sets half of RANDALL’s money on the counter before him)
Get out of here before I throw you out.

RANDALL
(Struggles to remain composed)
Please let me stay. I showed you my I.D., I told-

BERT

-OUT!-

(CATHERINE is moving to the bar by this point. RANDALL is losing hope.)

RANDALL

Bert, I’m really no trouble. I won’t bother anybody. Please… please just let me have those drinks.

CATHERINE

Come on Bert. He’s half the business you have right now.

BERT
(Looks angrily to Catherine, but she’s been by before and is a good patron.)

I won’t serve under age. No way. This kid is not worth my license.

CATHERINE

He said he’s no trouble. Don’t you believe him? Stop being such a hard a**- the boy’s a total wreck. Let him relax for a while. It’s just the three of us, and I won’t tell anyone.

(There is a moment of silence as BERT sizes up RANDALL, who is clearly embarrassed.)

Bert… it’s been an absolutely ******** week, and we’ve all got a lot on our minds. Please, give the kid a break.

BERT
(He looks back to RANDALL. CATHERINE’s statement has struck home.)
…What’s your name?

RANDALL
(He collects himself)
Randall.

BERT
You don’t have to go anywhere, Randall. Catherine’s right. You keep this to yourself and don’t cause trouble like you promised, and we’ll be just fine. What do you want? Same thing?

RANDALL

Yeah, thanks. Uh, Catherine, can I get you a drink?

CATHERINE
(She smiles.)
I’d like that.

RANDALL
(He smiles back. It’s nearly real)
Okay. What would you like?

CATHERINE
(Indicates Bert)
He knows what I like.

BERT
(In the process of preparing their drinks)
Yeah, I do. You keep your hands off this poor kid, okay? Take a seat. Make yourselves comfortable.





RANDALL
(CATHERINE moves back towards RANDALL’s table, and he follows.)

Thanks for what you said, Catherine… I appreciate it. Really need to drink right now.

CATHERINE

Please, call me Cathy. And it’s nothing, really… you’re distressed, and I won’t refuse free drinks and company.
(She’s smiling to mask her confliction. She is going to say something, but refrains)
Are you from Atlanta?

RANDALL
(His joy is extinguished)
Yeah… Yeah I am.

(CATHERINE is troubled by his state, and she moves forward in her chair as BERT arrives with the drinks. He sets them down on the table and then takes a seat. Everyone’s mind is on the same thing, but BERT is the one to break the silence.)

BERT

Don’t know if you heard Catherine, but there’s been news on the shooting. Someone secretly taped the police investigation. It’s not pretty. They’ve been lying about it. There were lots of shooters, not one, and they had on uniforms of some kind. There’s something really twisted going on here. Cops were messing with evidence, and they’re not saying a word about it. So it’s possible these villains aren’t terrorists. Maybe they are. Maybe they’re cops. Maybe Mister Obama decided we need another war to save the economy and killed some of our boys. It’s an outrage! (He suppresses some of his anger) It’s unbelievable. The families, their friends… we don’t know a God damned things but I think the Feds do, and they’re trying to cover it up. It makes me sick. The only good news is that all but one of those bastards is dead. They were found mangled. Viciously. Good. ********, great, that’s what I got to say! I hope they died slowly, crying and pissing themselves in pain. With God as my witness, it’s already more than they deserved.

RANDALL

Yeah.

BERT

When they find him - when that witness identifies the other suspect. So help me God… They try and dupe us, I’m going to make a racket. They better make him squeal and tell everyone who’s behind this. I don’t care how deep this goes. I want to see their face on the news, and then I want to find him in an alley. If it’s the government, then lynch the President. Hang him high on TV with the world watching, so everyone knows that he’s going to Hell for what he did!

RANDALL
(He is overwhelmed with devastation)
Yeah.

CATHERINE

Weren’t there lots of witnesses? I heard around 100 people escaped.

BERT

Yes, but sounds like this one knows more than the rest of them. They say he talked the guy… They’re going to broadcast his statement shortly. We won’t miss it.

CATHERINE

…Good. They’ll have nowhere to hide.

BERT

Damned right. I’m going to watch the police chief’s press release. It’ll be on the TV in a couple of minutes. If you want to come into the back, I got a small one in my office.

RANDALL
(Is on his second pint)

No, thank you.

CATHERINE

He needs some company.

BERT

…Okay. You shout if you want anything.

(BERT exits.)

CATHERINE

I went there with my Mom two weeks ago. We had drinks with a friend to celebrate her husband’s promotion. …What if we had gone on Friday instead? (She is very troubled) Something’s eating at you, Randall… I can tell. What’s wrong?

RANDALL
(He’s failing)
Please don’t do this.

CATHERINE

Talk to me. It’s okay, I’ll listen – it’s the least I could do for this drink.
RANDALL

I was there.

CATHERINE

You were… Oh my God. The Whistmere, on Friday?

RANDALL

Yeah, with my Dad and brother.

CATHERINE

Jesus Christ… Randall that… I can’t imagine. How’s your family holding up?

RANDALL

Their funeral’s tomorrow.

(His composure shatters, and he cradles his head in his hands. He cries openly, and CATHERINE quickly moves to comfort him. She struggles to find words)

CATHERINE

Randall… I’m so sorry… I… Talk to me. Just, just let all of it out. I’m here for you.

RANDALL

Please don’t be. Don’t look at me.
I want to be dead. I can’t live anymore, but I’m too ******** scared to kill myself. I can’t stop thinking about it, hearing all of the screaming and the guns… It’ll never stop, I won’t ever forget, no one will let me. They’ll look at me liked I’m ******** broken and I’ll see that I am, and I’ll have to remember this every ******** day every second of my life and it just won’t stop... ******** Christ, my dad got shot in the face. Parts of him got on me. My brother’s leg… it… they shot him down while he was running away. My family is dead. It’s too much. I can’t keep going. Just let me go, please…please… I just want to die. To go lie down in the street and wait for a car. It’s better than this – anything is better than this!

CATHERINE
(She holds him, speechless. It takes all of her courage to speak.)

Please don’t kill yourself. You’re young and you’re handsome, and there’s so much to live for. And you can’t leave your mother alone like that. She’d never forgive herself. She might kill herself too.

RANDALL

She died when I was a kid. (He chokes on the absurdity of it all.) Things were getting better, too. My brother had just got home. He didn’t talk to my Dad much and we hadn’t seen him since he went to college but he got a job nearby, and they were going work together. They’d snuck me in for drinks before the Fourth. They told me it was time I be part of the tradition. Christ, I… I’m trapped in a horrible nightmare, watching my life unravel from outside of my body, but I’m here, and my heart is exploding, and every time I think about it it becomes more real and I can’t stop thinking about it and how they’re both in ******** boxes. I watched the-them die and now I have to watch them be buried forever! God isn’t real. I thought he was, but I… I can’t ******** stand it…

BERT
(He shouts from off stage)

The witness - the ******** giving his statement! Turn on the radio!

CATHERINE

Look at me Randall. Randall! Please. Right here, I’m right here, look at me… be with me right now, just look at me and don’t think about them. I can’t help you. I don’t know how to. I can’t even imagine what you are feeling, but I’m here for you okay? Look at me, in my eyes. They’re going to find whoever did this and, Bert’s right, justice will be served. They won’t be able to hide the truth… I know it. I promise.

RANDALL

How the ******** can you promise me??

CATHERINE
(She takes his face in her hands. She is racked with agony and guilt)
Because I can! I know how to find him, and I won’t let them get away with this. It was beyond anything I thought people were capable of… so monstrous… All I wanted was to be free… to meet someone and leave this place. I’m so sorry. I’m so, so sorry…

RANDALL
(There’s a long beat as RANDALL tries to make sense of this. A sudden realization, as if he tries to make sense of a deeply cryptic dream)

I’ve seen you before. I smiled at you from across the room.

CATHERINE

(Their eyes pierce one another as she has the same revelation.)

I should have known it was going to happen. In the back of my mind, I knew they would do whatever it took to flush me out. I should have torn them apart the second they walked through the door. I was too ******** scared to act first. I just wanted to hide. Please forgive me… I never should have been so careless.

RANDALL

You were dancing like it was the greatest night of your life… when you smiled back I felt like I could take on the world…

(BERT comes out of the back room. He is looking at CATHERINE differently, and there is a shotgun in his hands)

BERT

You missed the report. The eighth suspect is a woman in her late twenties (general description of actress)… named Catherine.

CATHERINE
(Immediately realizes what’s happening; that they’re trying to flush her out again)
That’s really freaky Bert… What are you doing with that gun?

BERT

It was you. You helped them sneak the weapons into the bar. He saw everything… and I poured your drinks to help ease your mind…
(He raises the shotgun to his shoulder and advances toward her.)
Get on the floor right now.

CATHERINE
(Speaks desperately to Randall, trying to keep his mind from the impending disaster)

You may never understand but listen to me, don’t give up. Life is too wonderful to simply surrender. You’ll never forget these terrible things, but it’s worth it. Living is worth it. I promise. I’ll find the men that broke you, I’ll make them pay! Live to see it Randall! Don’t let go!

BERT
(At the same time as CATHERINE, their dialogue races chaotically together and climaxes violently)
NO TALKING, YOU SHUT THE ******** UP RIGHT NOW AND GET ON THE FLOOR! THE POLICE WON’T SAVE YOU, YOU’RE MINE, YOU HEAR? I’LL GAG YOU, TORTURE YOU, TEAR OFF YOUR SKIN AND LEAVE YOU TO THE DOGS! YOU’LL BE BEGGING ME TO KILL YOU! LOOK AT ME YOU PIECE OF s**t! LOOK AT ME!
RANDALL

I don’t-


CATHERINE
(Her line is heard clearly as it breaks out of Bert’s tyrade)
Live through this and never look back!

(BLACKOUT, and a heavy object clatters to the floor. LIGHTS UP on Bert’s Booze Barn. RANDALL’s eyes search the empty space before him. BERT’s body lies face down on the floor, limbs twisted oddly. His shotgun lies on the floor beside him. CATHERINE is gone without a trace.)

RANDALL
(For the first time since the shooting, his mind is captivated. The impossibility of what has occurred impacts him)
…Catherine, I...
(The magic remains, but his mind returns to July 3rd. He clutches the table, suddenly aware that he is alone next to death)
I can’t...

(BLACKOUT)