Dark of the Den

Excerpt: I had a dream that you were an untamed beast, and I… had to tame you.

SHORT PLAY

Characters:

Badu (A motorcyclist)

Rose (Badu’s dream)

Ravi (A magician at the Full Metal Jacket Circus)

Radha (The magician’s assistant at the Full Metal Jacket Circus)

Anwar (A gymnast at the Full Metal Jacket Circus)

Raja (A gymnast at the Full Metal Jacket Circus)

Ram (Ring Leader at the Full Metal Jacket Circus)

Paul David (An African lion)

A commentator of football

 

ACT I

Scene 1

Light fades in. Time passes and the stage remains dull and lifeless. As

As the light on stage gets brighter it reveals the canvas of the Full metal jacket circus. It is an ominous world of its own making underneath the shade of a grand mosaic.

The ring leader of the circus, Ram, enters the stage with a stool in his hand. He is accompanied by a free roaming lion shortly thereafter. Ram places a leash around the neck of the beast beside him and caresses its face. The lion naturally takes its place on top of the stool.

Ram: Let us see how it goes then, eh?

He mimes a command to get off the stool before the lion but the lion does not involve itself in the act. Some time passes. Flies begin to buzz around the animal. It shoos them away with its tail.

Ram: Down, you beast! Do as master say!

The lion hopelessly looks around itself. With its tail it continues to shoo away the flies. Irritated, the ring leader grabs the whip tightly and threatens the lion with it. When the animal does not respond as the its master commands, it is aggressively pulled by its collar and dragged out of its stool.

Ram: What’s wrong? Won’t you do your trick? This act is a matter of prestige. We have only just started and you are upsetting me. Why must you make me… Down! (commands)

Ram whips the lion. The lion slips once or twice from its tiny throne.

Ram: Here you are now. (Shows the whip to the lion again) You’ll get it if you disobey. After all these years? You are a good sport, aren’t you? Huh?

In frustration he whips the beast again. On being struck this time the lion loses strength in its hind legs and stumbles onto the floor with a loud thud. Sadistically the ring leader laughs at the poor suffering animal.

Ram: (trying to contain his laughter) I’m really not enjoying this, you know. (Goes around the stool) Once upon a time I was the only one who believed in you. Such a pity this circus is giving you away to a zoo. A zoo! That’s where you will die your death in painful misery. Nobody cares when you are old and ugly, boy. Stand up now!

The lion stands up after a struggle and then looks at its master.

The ring leader whips at him again. This time the whip hits the lion in the eye and the beast lets out a weak groan. His wounds begin to bleed.

Ram: You’ve always been such a good show. Why now? Why give up now? You’ve always kept the public asking for more. (Furiously) Now you can’t even get up! You’re a fucking disgrace, you old bum! (With a cynical smile) If you can’t go through with this, I’ll whip you to death.

The lion stays still. The ring leader reacts almost immediately and whips the beast with such force that a part of his whip breaks and falls far away. He whips the lion till the animal is covered in blood. Soon it is dead and still its master does not stop.

Ram: You see, you were always my slave! You died for my entertainment.

With a man screaming the stage turns red, then light fades off.

Light.

A man, Badu, is standing in one corner of the stage under the spotlight screaming. His eyes are wide open and he is running his hands along the sides of his body. In another part of the stage, under the guise of the dim red colour, Ram can be seen dragging the dead lion out.

Exit Ram.

A woman called Rose enters and goes to Badu.

Rose: Wake up… wake up… wake up!

Badu wakes up.

Rose: (plainly) Still having nightmares?

Badu: I was trapped inside a circus… What I just saw there was… (breaks down completely into tears) Oh my… it was horrible…

Badu sobs uncontrollably.

Rose: What was it about? Your nightmare?

Badu: I can’t begin to put that horrid image in words. I simply mustn’t ever think of it again. I will never try recollecting what it was.

Rose: You were screaming like someone had slain your throat, like you were being butchered. (Goes around him into the darkness) What time do you leave?

The crying reduces.

Badu: (getting a hold of himself) What time do I leave?

Rose: Why haven’t you left already? It’s late! Did you oversleep? You get horrible dreams if you oversleep, you know? You look dead. I’ve never seen a man so pale.

Badu: Do you think I’m not worthy of love? I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have said that.

Light rises over Rose.

Rose: At quarter past the hour, there is a train. Do you know the way from the station to the circus? The circus expects you after dark. They need you for their show tonight.

Badu: Is there a cage… and a bike?

Rose: You’re The Joker, I think. You better hurry. We’re losing sun. 

Badu: (aside) It felt like I was being sucked into a big black abyss. Like I’d vanish if I fell into the darkness. (Turns his hands over again and again to make sure he is still not dreaming) Like I would have never been able to tell what was real and what wasn’t… A man dressed all in white kept asking me if I’d go with him. I knew he meant going to the afterlife. He wished me dead, perhaps.

Rose: What do you say when you talk to yourself? (laughs) 

Badu: Whatever.

Light fades away. Stage is dark.

Light.

Badu is standing before The Full Metal Jacket Circus. The tall red figure of the circus is overpowering. It’s about sundown, the sun has melted over the land spreading its orange wings and the filament bulbs decorating the circus are illuminated.

The magician, Ravi, at Full Metal Jacket Circus is a tall man with a black pointy beard. He is wearing black kajal around his eyes. His costume includes a long black cape. He can be seen practicing fitting a rabbit inside a hat. Upon placing the rabbit inside his hat, he produces a pigeon. His assistant, Radha, comes swerving around everybody in a unicycle. Two gymnasts, Anwar and Raja, play their tricks in the upper tier of the tent. The newcomer, Badu, is mesmerized to see all this.

The chaos dies down as Badu walks over to Ravi.

Ravi: Hello and welcome to Full Metal Jacket Circus! You have entered an extraordinary world of fun and (finally pulls the rabbit out of the hat) magic!

Badu: I know this trick.

Ravi: (Surprised) What was that?

Badu: I know this trick.

The gymnasts stop swinging in utter disbelief. Gasps and swooning fill the air.

Ravi: (letting go of the rabbit) Very well! (Calls) Assistant!

The rabbit runs away.

Radha enters the stage again.

Ravi: Hand me the poison! This man knows the secret to my trick. I no longer wish to live.

Radha produces a goblet filled with hemlock. Ravi takes the goblet in his hand and hands her his hat.

Ravi: (addresses Radha directly) Now show this man that the hat is empty.

Badu confirms that there is nothing inside the hat.

Ravi: Abracadabra! (Pulls the pigeon out of the hat)

Everyone cheers.

Ravi: Now the pigeon will drink from this cup!

Badu gasps in disgust.

Ravi: Abracadabra! (The pigeon drinks the poison)

Within seconds the pigeon dies.

The stage is silent.

Ravi: You see, huh? (Holds the goblet up for everyone to see) Now I… (pauses) I will drink from this cup.

He empties the cup in his mouth, swallows and reveals his tongue with an abominable expression. Nothing happens to him. The bird is still in his hand, dead.

Ravi: Now, you must believe that I am a magician. What is this, huh? You are still not impressed? You want Houdini, huh?

He signals Radha to tie him and Radha does so. In a grand show of spectacle, the magician sets himself free. The crowd cheers. The magician takes a bow in thanks.

Ravi: (turns back to Badu) Welcome! Our newest entrant! I believe you are the motorcyclist of the den of death.  

Anwar yells from the top tier.

Anwar: You are yet to see our leader.

Ravi: Yes, yes… It isn’t me the crowds gather to see. It’s the ring leader and his lion, Paul. So, why are you yelling? Well, where is he?

Radha: He’s gone to the smugglers… to buy another lion.

Ravi: (addressing Ram again) Paul passed away.

Badu again gasps in disbelief.

Ravi: Poor old Paul David. Paul David was his full name. We had him smuggled from Africa when he was a baby. A lion lives up to eight to ten years, do you know?

Badu: (sounding suspicious) Paul passed away?

Ravi: You are the replacement.

Another gymnast in the top tier begins laughing uncontrollably. The laughing eventually stops.

Ravi: You’ll play The Joker for a few days. Your job will be to lure people into the acts. (Speaks to his assistant) I believe the cage is in the making?

Radha: I believe it will be complete in a week.

Ravi: (to Badu) Don’t be alarmed. Things will be as they were before. The show must go on, you see. You’ll be delighted to meet our ring leader, Ram. Unfortunately, he isn’t here at present. He’ll show you Full Metal Jacket Circus, he has plenty of costumes which will fit you. Radha will help you too. But the final call will be his, we are all afraid of the wrath of our ring leader. He thinks himself a destroyer. He feels he is our master and we are his servants.

Radha: Our audiences will be heartbroken to learn that Old Paul is dead, I’m sure. (Speaks to the motorcyclist) But we’ll show them a different act, right?

The gymnasts do elaborate tricks to briefly pause the action.

Ravi: (Speaks to Badu) Don’t feel pressured. I’ve been working on a card trick. Would you like to see? The trick shows you my true character. I’ve put my soul into this trick. I call it “the king and the queen of hearts”.

Everyone: (exclaims) A new trick!

There is ecstatic chaos in the crowd. The magician goes to stand on the pedestal and signals them to cut the ruckus.

Ravi: But I am yet to perfect this trick. It is not ready yet. It will be some time before I can show this trick to the world.

Radha: Oh, go on. Give us a trailer.

Ravi: You are an eager one. Alright. (To the motorcyclist) Step forward.

Badu goes near him.

Ravi: (Points at a case and orders Radha) Produce for me the contents of this box.

Radha walks over to the case, opens it and produces from it a metallic ball. The magician covers it in a cloth and lights the ball on fire.

Ravi: Place the ball of fire in this man’s hands.

Radha places the ball of fire, which is glowing like red crystal, in Badu’s hands. Badu cries in pain and falls to the ground.

Ravi: (to his assistant) Say, do you fancy this man? Would you like to save his life and give him back what he has lost?

Radha: (shyly) Yes. He is the king of my heart and I am the queen of his.

Ravi: (Cheers the audience on) There we have it. We call this trick the king of hearts and the queen of hearts.

The crowd applauds. Badu rolls around on the floor in agony.

Ravi: You laugh, so I must be joking. Of course, the real magic is yet to happen. Do you think it will be perfect? I’ve revealed my soul to you all.

Badu: (looking up at the mosaic, aside) This dream must surely come to an end. I’ve never known such pain. Why must I suffer this way? I curse my destiny.

Ravi brings a bucket of water from behind the pedestal and splashes the water which puts out the fire.

Ravi: (Turns to his audience which is watching in wonder) Now I must reveal why the fire did not hurt this man. He is not hurt, because this woman loves him. Her love for him is so strong that it has saved him from the pain this fire can cause any other man. The message is that you must love wisely. There you have it. The trick that is called the king of hearts and the queen of hearts. (Begins to leave, then stops) But before I go, I must say, that my beautiful assistant, Radha, and the motorcyclist from act called the den of death are bound only by my spell. This magic, and this man’s pain will vanish into thin air with a snap of my fingers. And so as I leave you, their love too will melt into thin air.

Radha: (looking at Badu) Better never leave, eh? My love for you will last forever.

Ravi: (snaps his fingers) Behold, I shall return! (Laughs and exits)

The magician leaves.  

Stage is dark.

 

Act 1

Scene 2

Ram returns to the Full Metal Jacket circus. He pulls a wooden horse behind him onto the stage. Badu’s head is in Radha’s lap, and they are playing with each other’s hands. On seeing the bestial walk of their ring leader they get up at once. Badu again remembers his nightmare and slows down for a minute. Radha goes near the ring leader.

Radha: What’s with the cart, starting street shows?

Ram: I found it inside the black box. I’m going to run it into to the water.

Badu: (goes near Radha, like a child towards his mother) What black box?

Radha: It’s got all our things in it. Everything anyone could ever need.  

Badu: What things?

Radha: Costumes, masks, props… things like that.

Ram: There is much more inside that box.  

Radha: So, it is! No doubt! Its more than just a black box. It holds within itself entire worlds.

Badu: (whispers to Radha) May I see it?

Ram: You’re in it, you damn fool! Its darkness is the night, its blackness eats your soul away. (Looks at Badu) Huh? (Goes near Badu) Have you never seen it from the outside? It looks like a cage. A cage veiled with black cloth. You are inside the Full metal jacket circus now, kid. You are in no longer inside an ordinary world. You can’t escape from here. If you wish to escape, you will have to die! There is simply no other way about it. (Clearing his throat) Now if you’ll excuse me, I have a wooden horse to drown. Do you like horses?

Radha: I love horses! I dream of them every night! (joyfully) I dream they are drawing near. No horsemen, just wild horses! I dream I might finally be able to speak to them, and they will understand everything I say.

Badu: (pulls Radha to a corner) Let the ring leader go. He seems like a man on a mission. (Whispers in her ear) He’s a murderer… I’ve seen it with own eyes. (Staggers away dreamily)

His whisper echoes hauntingly and there is a pause.

Badu: Seen with my own eyes. Or was it in my head? (Shuts his eyes and clutches his head in severe pain)

Ram: What is he saying to you, Radha?  

Radha: Nothing. It’s just (hesitant to tell him her dream) It’s what my dreams are made of that’s all.

Ram: What lives there, in that darkness? Huh, Radha? What do you dream of? Can you be honest to the world about it?

Radha: Horses… Wild horses.

Ram: (imitates her) Horses… Wild horses. (Angrily) It makes me just so angry that wild horses are all you ever dream about… Doesn’t it bother you to lust after them so wholeheartedly?

Radha: My lust is for life itself, ring leader. I want to be free. I want my life to mean something more than just this. I am destined to be something more than just this. That is the message wild horses come bearing in my dreams.

Badu: (screams) Enough! Don’t speak no more! His wrath has no limitations, he will kill them all!

Raja: If only…

Radha: Is it true? (Traces her footsteps away from the ring leader)

Raja: If only I knew the gateway to new worlds, I would fly away too, like my dear Paul. I would haunt those who say there is peace in this world. (Forgetting what he was saying, confusedly) If only I knew what I had promised myself. But I can’t remember now. It’s been years since I’ve had any sleep. I dream no more.

Enter Rose

Badu tries to go near her, but stumbles on his way and begins to fall. Still, he doesn’t give up, he continues to crawl towards her. Stage is dark.

A ray of light rises on Rose.

Rose: It’s a new world. It’s calling. Can you hear it calling you? You dream about it when your mind falls deep into the darkness of its mystery.  A fictitious world. Fiction… yet alive, like a motorcycle orbiting inside a cage. Loud, noisy, dangerous, chaotic. How dare this soul not drink from the wrath caused by the poison of deceit. How dare it forgive the body for not going where the soul may wander when the night grows dark?  

Stage is dark. Light rises.

The ring leader goes near Badu, who is on unconscious on the floor. He bends forward and pulls Badu by the collar.

Ram: You are going to let the dream take you?

A hawk flies into the circus and presses the dead pigeon lying on the ground with its claws. Ram stops for a while and watches the hawk eat the poisoned pigeon. Enter gymnasts, swinging from the top tier.

Anwar: (announces to break the ring leader’s focus) The hawk did not kill the pigeon. He is merely eating it. The magician poisoned the pigeon to show the motorcyclist his new magic trick.

Raja: I wonder if the hawk will die too. The poison must have spread all over the pigeon’s body.

Anwar: Surely it too will die.

Raja: Should I shoot down the hawk? We should bury the hawk and break the chain of death. What happens when the hawk dies and the worms come to eat it.

Anwar: Or some fox, maybe?

Raja: The earth where the hawk will be buried will grow numerous seeds of poison. There will be more death. The garden of Eden lives no more.  

Anwar: Then let’s feed the poison to a fire. Fire may purify all evil.  

Raja: Yes, we’ll have to burn it away. What about the ashes?

Anwar: Never cared for ashes. (Thinks) We’ll bottle the ash away in an urn.

Raja: …and when the bottle spills? More death.

Anwar: Nothing can be done.

Badu wakes up. He notices the ring leader and remembers what he had seen in his dream with absolute certainty. Ram walks away from the motorcyclist.

The sight of the ring leader suddenly induces uncontrollable panic in Badu and he begins to cry like a little child. He bellowing goes unnoticed.

Ram: (suddenly hopeless) I am leaving. I am taking the horse too.

He finds the leash of the horse. Talks to it.

Ram: (speaking secretively) Only you know. Only you know. The riverfront, where the sun…  The gateway to neverland. The promised neverland.

The gymnasts stop swinging.

Ram: I am leaving. (Sighs deeply) I wish nothing more than acceptance from the new world. But I’m afraid there might not be any refuge for me there. (Looks mournfully at the canvas of the Full Metal Jacket Circus directly above him) This world I built for Paul will mean nothing to him anymore. Then what is left in it for me? We believed in magic. A world without Paul has no room in it for joyful spectacles. Paul is dead and I have killed him. This is a world where I simply cannot breathe. I will accept death even if I have to, but I cannot continue living here. (Sits on his wooden horse) Come, beast! Carry me away. (The horse does not move) What is this? Why doesn’t it obey me? Am I powerless? Can’t I do as much as move a lifeless horse with this will of mine? How utterly petty is existence. Come, all. Push me off from the edge of this world. This will be the end of me. This world has lost its meaning for me.

Badu: (Screams) Murderer!

Ram: You are the voice of my conscience.

Enter Rose.

Rose: It is time.

Ram: Who dares call me a murderer?

Rose: Perhaps it is too late for confrontations. I’m afraid, we’ve run out of time. Too late for justice.

Badu: (sadly) If only I could go back.

Rose: There is nowhere you cannot go. This world is all there is to believe in.

Badu: (Talking to himself) I am torn between these parallel worlds. Lives that seem familiar, yet never cross paths. It’s maddening.

Rose: (Speaks with hopeful cheerfulness) Yet another line to cross! Yet another life to cross! Yet another ocean of dreams! Yet another lighthouse for a sailing ship!

Badu: Afterall… It is only a dream within a dream within a…

Light fades off the stage and the stage is dark.

 

Act 1

Scene III

Light rises only on Badu who is lying on the floor in deep sleep. The spot light fades away. Stage is dark once again.

Light. Enter ring leader walking the African lion Paul by its leash. The light grows dim from bright like the two have entered a dark den. The ring leader takes the leash off the lion and throws it away.  

Ring leader: I had a dream that you were an untamed beast, and I… had to tame you. I don’t know why my mind would ask this of me but, I tried to tame you since I had no choice. A faceless hollow man, his name was Badu, saw what I did to you. He wanted me to pay off my sins, suffer for what I had done. He came to me… as I stood amidst my peers. He marched towards me like a warrior, with heroic blood possessing him through his veins. But he was no ordinary warrior. He was a mortal man made immortal with dreams of immortality. I was so terribly shaken with fear of his demeanour. But it was my horrible dream. It was the kind of nightmare which drove me insane. It was made of a fabric not known to me. I shall not discover the origins of such wrath, neither in heaven nor in any hell may I find redemption for my sins. But I could understand why he wanted me dead. (Pause) I know… (Confusedly) Do I know? (He walks away from the lion, to the outside of the den and looks to the sky where the sun is rising from the horizon) The night has ended. When this dream has ended, this world should end too and I should cease to exist. But I dread, that it shall not be the end of you, dear Paul.   

 

ACT II

Stage is dark. Dim light rises. A seductive woman, Rose, appears first and gestures that he be followed deep into the dark. Enters Badu, following Rose into the darkness.

Rose: Are you afraid?

Badu: What is this place?

Rose: The veil.

Badu: What does it hide?

Rose: An ode to the woman you love. I’ve brought you here so that you can hear it one last time before you go.

Badu: Where are you leading me?

Rose: To the last known dream in the kingdom of life.

Rose walks a few steps forward and the man follows. She stops to see if he is behind her. She gestures at him to come a little closer.

Badu: (looking back) We have travelled far. I have never been here before, of this, I am sure. But I get the feeling that I know this place. I think I know who I am supposed to be in this dream of mine.

Rose: Be brave. You will see horrible things, but you mustn’t forget why you are here. You must do what is expected of you. You know what it is. You remember, don’t you?

Badu: I do.

Rose walks across the stage and exits from the other side. Badu is surprised to see her vanish into thin air.

Radha, a bartender, goes behind a bar counter, built on stage right, and putting on her apron begins to clean the dishes in the sink.

She tidies her hair hurriedly as three gamblers, Ravi, Anwar and Raja enter casually trying not to draw her attention. They sit at the round table few booths away from the bar counter.

Raja: (Yells) Hey, bartender!  Three beers here!

Ravi: (Yells) and a tuna sandwich for each one of us.

Anwar: (Yells) Go on, hurry up! Switch on the telly! The match is about to start!

Radha hurriedly switches on the TV and turns over to the sports channel. Then she puts three bottles of beer before her customers. After helping the gamblers in lighting their cigarettes, Radha returns back to the bar counter where she sticks a sharp knife into canned tuna and spreads it onto slices of white flat bread.

Raja: Is it on? The match… Is it starting?

Ravi: Are you blind? Can’t you see, it’s on! Take your damned sunglasses off. It’s dark as night in here, what do you have sunglasses for? Hey Anwar, does this man not have any eyes? (Speaks to Raja) Why do you even wear them anyway?

Anwar: He’s got to lay low for a few days Ravi. They’re after him, don’t you know already? We have a dead man walking amidst us.

Ravi: Yeah, but hasn’t he a clue of the weather outside? It’s bleak as hell. There is not a ray of sunshine out there? What’s Raja got to wear glasses for?

Anwar: He’s got to do it to save his life, wouldn’t you? He’s changed the very way he looks, hasn’t he? It can’t be helped. They will murder him if they find out where he’s been lurking.

Raja: (Looking at the bartender) Hush now, quiet down. Don’t draw too much attention onto us. (Signals at Radha to come over)

Radha brings them their sandwiches and they all dig in. Raja signals Radha to lean forward.

Raja: Do me a favour, honey, give us a heads up if anybody new comes barging in through that front door, will you?

Radha gives him a polite nod and goes back to the bar counter.  

Raja: (rubbing his glasses on his coat) Now listen here fellas. I’m in too deep with the sharks. I owe them a lot of money. There are not many opportunities out there for honest men now, you see. So, I’ve come to you. You and I are gamblers alike. We place our bets and we play clean. Winner takes the money and that is the game. It’s true I’ve got lot of people looking for me. They’d kill me definitely if I am found.

Their conversation is broken down by introduction of the upcoming match in the voice of a football commentator.

Commentator: Welcome to the amateur domestic league. Today’s match will be played between Inter Junior and Olympic 60. Both the coaches have made their intentions clear by playing their best eleven. The players are eager to get onto the field and give us a game worth remembering. The game is expected to have plenty of goals. The sun is shining and the players walk onto the field. As the players leave the tunnel the crowd greets them with cheers.  

Raja: If the sharks have declared a price on my head, then what am I supposed to do? I have to repay them any way I can.

Ravi: Quit your whining. My bosses too once wished me dead. I have sold their drugs, killed their enemies, transported their weapons. What have I not done for them to pay off my debts. It starts with football.

Anwar: Place your bets then, gentlemen.

Raja: Oh no, no bets for me this time. I still haven’t paid you any money for the previous bets I lost. I’m here today to just watch the match. My cousin’s in the starting eleven for Olympic.

Ravi: Your cousin plays the league? Can you make me speak with him? I’d offer him a sweet-sweet retirement plan. All he’s got to do is…

Raja finishes off his beer and signals the bartender for another round.

Anwar: (Taking note of Raja’s anxiety) We’re even if you win, you sink further if you lose. Either way, place your bet. Our bosses won’t hurt you. They’ll protect your neck if you join their syndicate.

Raja: I’ve got some really dangerous men chasing me.

Anwar: Soon enough they’ll be chasing shadows. No one would even imagine touching you if they knew who your new bosses are.

Ravi: We’ve paid off the referee too, you see. He’s notorious for taking bribes! He’s got a weakness for women too, you see. No one plays fair these days.

Raja: Isn’t he currently under investigation? My cousin says, mysteriously the Inter left, who is best friends with the Olympic centre forward was seen being addressed personally by referee three days before the match. I won’t be surprised if the centre forward goes past the left back and Olympic win 1-0.

Commentator: The referee blows his whistle and we are under way. Inter play from left to right in their famous blue and yellow, meanwhile Olympic attack with the ball from right to left donning white and green as part of their away colours.

Ravi: A solid no nonsense clearance early on in the match! (Rubs his hands together in excitement)  

Anwar: Inter are pressing quite high up the pitch. Olympic don’t know how to counter attack.

Raja: Game has only just begun, let’s see how it goes.

Stage is dark momentarily. Light rises slowly. Some time has passed and the three are visibly under the influence of alcohol.

Commentator: (Speaking rapidly) Inter try to sieve the ball through and the ball is cleared once again by the big central defender. It’s turning out to quite a high intensity match up.

Raja: (yelling) You’ve got to play your passes right… What’s he doing? Has he gone mad?

Ravi: So, they are best friends, you say? Are you sure?

Raja: I’ve seen them go fishing together. They are technically inseparable.

Anwar: But what’s that got to do with the game? (Signals the bartender) Another round here.    

Enter Badu slowly. The bartender goes from counter to their table, leans forward and places the beer bottles on the table. Anwar and Ravi ogle her and then smile at each other but Raja is a little shaken at the sight of a stranger at the front door.

Raja: (Catching the bartender’s hand as she is turning away to leave) Say love, who is that man over there giving us glances?

Radha: He’s nobody.

Commentator: The ball’s been pinned towards the Olympic striker who chests it down and volleys it on the turn. (Screaming) It’s hit the cross bar! Would you believe it? Will Olympic get a better chance than this, I wonder! My oh my!

Raja: (Words stumbling out of his mouth) What do you mean, nobody?

Radha: (Snatches her hand back from him) I mean, he’s a nobody to me.

Ravi and Anwar laugh as Radha goes back to the bar counter to wipe down empty glasses with a table cloth in humiliation.

Raja: Alright, alright… Why has she got to be so fiery about it?  

Badu walks past the three gamblers towards the bar counter. He takes a seat right next to the bartender and points with his index finger as if to order a single of his usual. Radha pours for Badu a whiskey on the rocks.

Badu: (Staring right at the gamblers) What was he saying to you?

Radha: Don’t stare at them, they belong with dangerous people.  

Badu: (angrily) What will happen if I do?

Radha: I don’t men acting renegade.

Badu: I didn’t like the way he caught hold of your hand.

Radha: We’re not characters of a romantic story.

Badu: Then what is our story?

Radha: Low lives and goons come here. These three are here to watch a football match. They will drink till the match is on, then they will go to some other sorry place. It’s only a matter of time before one of them gets their head chopped off with a machete.  

Badu: Then it is destiny I follow him wherever he goes. It is as though I am drawn to the dark of this den where men such as these hide.

Radha: There is something in the shadows which calls out to me as well. But I can tell you that it’s a cold place. It’s the kind of cold one feels when they abandon the memories of their love. Cold like death, icy its hands, fatal its glances, love leaves them standing in the dark.

Badu: I am defeated by a similar past. But I have been seduced by a mysterious voice to go towards the future. I am afraid, this voice has told me that this night shall be my last.

Radha: Then let it be a silent one, as love will never make itself be heard by anyone other than you.

Badu: I wonder if I ever lived, now that I am about to die perhaps, now that I am reminded that one day I too will be no more.

Rose enters the stage and goes to sit next to Badu at the bar counter.

Badu: I haven’t got long to live and my words don’t carry any meaning. I’ve got to do one last thing before I wake up once again in someone else’s body. (Points at Raja) It’s that man! The one in the middle. I’ve heard the sharks have placed bounty on his head and it has to be mine. It’ll be the last thing I ever do.

Radha: (Outraged) Why must you?

Badu: Because love has driven me to insanity.

Radha is shocked by what she has just heard. She paces out from the bar counter dragging Badu away with her by his hand. Moonshine. She leads him through the front door. Outside, on the street, where Badu’s bike is parked, the neon sign reading bar spreads a violent purple, red and green light.

Rose drinks slowly from Badu’s glass.

Just as Radha rests herself against his body, the clouds break and a heavy rain begins to pour over them. The thick mist passes through the neon lights and a strange smoke from an unknown source rises. 

Radha: I thought you had quit doing all that! You’ve suffered enough already… and what do you mean you haven’t got time left? What have you hidden from me?

Badu: I love you. I always have.

Radha: You haven’t left any room for love. This was never meant to be a love story.

Badu: I am sick of trying to make meaning out of everything. I will not make it through this. I’ve got to kill that man so I can go far away before I die and leave you what I’ve earned. Isn’t that all there is to life? When you’ve been wronged, shall you not revolt? My conscience has long been afflicted by criminals like them. I must take from them that which they can give.

Radha: (breaks down into tears) Why are you telling me all this?    

Badu: I guess I wanted someone to notice when I’m not around. Remember, I used to talk to you about the dreams I used to have. I guess I saw that man in one of my dreams, but it was a dream I was never able to forget. It’s brought me till here. I don’t care if it will be the death of me.

Radha: (her voice trembles with sorrow) I’d do anything to forget you ever existed. I get such terrible fits in my sleep. I dream… My neck strangled… My arms and feet tied… My body being ripped apart by the five wild horses I once so dearly loved. Wild horses pulling my arms and my feet and my neck in opposite directions. The rope tied around my neck tightens as it nearly breaks my spine into two and the wild horse behind me pulls at my legs with a force you cannot imagine. I throw my head around, wailing, I see the end finally. I see the blackest raven, hovering in the dusty sky. The raven so black, the sun so bright that it nearly blinds my eyes. When I wake up, I am screaming, I have no one near me anymore, no human, no wild horses. Can you really ever love me? Does love exist only to make a person feel so damn lonely when it’s no longer there? You are no more than a hole in my heart. You are no more than a shadow of a nightmare which is killing me softly. I’ve never felt so afraid in all my life. (Remembers the strangulation from her nightmare and anxiously feels her own neck and arms) This insomnia, not knowing where dreams ends and where dreams begin… I’ve lost myself darkness. I’ve lost everything and you care for bounty! (Produces a knife from her apron and puts it on her neck)

Badu: I’ll lose you forever. Don’t do this. You don’t have to do this.

Radha: I can’t gather these pieces of me anymore. (She runs the knife softly over her neck, warm red blood flows outwards and she falls down)

The stage is dark. Light rises.

Commentator: (with the most excited voice) A longball is launched from the Inter backline over the right wing. The right wingback who has received the longball first time, dribbles past the defenders and whips it into the box. There was no one to strike it and the ball is safe in the hands of the goalkeeper. Either of the teams must find a way to get the first goal of the match. The goalkeeper kicks it all the way forward and Olympic counter attack once again. Inter look vulnerable every time they have to defend. Can the Olympic striker put the ball in the back of the net? The players look disappointed and frustrated as the match is nearing its end with the score board still reading nil-nil.  

Anwar: I need another drink.

Ravi: (calls) Waiter! (Gets no response)

Raja goes to the counter himself and brings six cans of beer back to the table.

Ravi: Ay! How dare you? (Breaks into laughter)

Raja: I’ll pay for these once I win my bets. I’m not a thief, alright? Just wait, at full time I’ll be a rich man again, you watch. (He grabs Anwar by the collar and stumbles)

Anwar: Sit back, you’re drunk!

Ravi: (drinks his beer violently all in one go) Aah!

Raja laughs at him.

Anwar: There… there… look… He’s going to score. The Olympic number six. I’ve put my money on him!

Commentator: (ecstatically) …and the ball bounces off the crossbar yet again! Unbelievable. A man of his standards. Not a bad effort from long range.

Raja: Don’t get your hopes up in vain. The game is mine.

Anwar: Sit back, you’re drunk. (Points and laughs wildly at everybody again)

Raja: Let my guy score or I’ll break his neck. I’ve put everything I have on that Olympic striker. 

Anwar: How are you so sure he’ll score?

Raja: He’s taken big money to let the goal happen. You wait, it’ll happen any minute.

Commentator: Referee looks at his watch, we’re going into extra time now. Inter lose the ball in midfield and Olympic take it forward with short passes in the Inter half. Now the striker has the ball, it’s back with the midfielder who plays it to the left wing, it’s threaded through towards the striker, he takes one look at the target and plays it back to the winger to his right. Oh! What’s happening here? What a cheeky little nutmeg to go past the Inter left back who has literally left the goal open for a one on one! The ball is played back to the striker! It’s just him and the keeper! Inter are caught ball watching! Which way is he going to go? (Screams) He’s chipped the keeper. Goal! Goal! Goal! Just look at the clock, we haven’t got much time left! This could be checkmate. 

The three gamblers: Ole… ole… ole… O! Ole! Ole! (They sober up a little bit, swing their heads in the song) 

Raja: (Punching the air) I knew it! I knew it! It was my man! It’s my bet! I’m rich!

Anwar: I don’t believe you. There is still time for an equalizer.

Raja: It doesn’t matter what you say. I know it’s over.

Ravi: (Falls over as he is getting up to leave the bar) You’re a cheat! You bastard!

Anwar: (Gets up and shuts off the TV) So, we consider ourselves even?

Raja: Thank you.

Anwar: But you’ll be seeing more of us. I’ll remember to tell my bosses about you. There’s plenty of money… All you’ve got to do is…

Ravi: I’ll finish him. He’s dead…

Anwar put Ravi’s arm over his shoulder and carries him with him. They exit. Rose circles her finger around the glass and gulps down the last of her drink. She stands up and exits the stage.   

Stage is quiet. Badu enters holding up a pistol from the right, unnoticed. He aims it at Raja. Stage is suddenly dark. A loud shot is fired from the pistol and the echo of its bang fades off in the darkness and later into oblivion.

 

 

 

END.