2 by ben pease
from Fugitives of Speech. Book 3: Poverty of Speech.
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On the town green sitting in the white gazebo, SHEER and NELSON prepare for another film.
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SHEER
I can't fit into this Link costume, not even uncomfortably for fifteen minutes. It was made for someone half my age and one-third my size.
NELSON
What options does that leave us?
SHEER
There are a few odds and ends that I've fit together. I don't want you to see it until you start filming me walking out of the library.
NELSON
Casey is on her way now. You have your mom's dress and the cane?
SHEER
Did I tell you this cane turns into a fucking pool stick? The end even screws off so you've got the rubber bumper on the end.
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CASEY arrives on her neon yellow Huffy mountain bike, and without a thought towards her kickstand lets the bike fall to the ground and enters the gazebo.
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CASEY
You fucktards ready for this shit?
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She pushes SHEER on the shoulder as if to start a fight.
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CASEY (CONT'D)
Check out this grey granny bob wig I borrowed from my great aunt. Is that the dress?
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She picks up the dress, takes off her cardigan and pulls the dress on over her clothes, and once it is on, she removes her pants and shirt so as to be properly attired.
It is a sleeveless gingham black and white checkered dress, knee length with an oversized bow at the waist. Neither Sheer nor Nelson has seen Casey so dressed up, and they are both taken aback during this process. While she is distracted hiding her hair under the wig and putting her cardigan back on, they do not communicate their incredulity of the situation in any way except to share a look of amusement, a dual raising of the right eyebrow, a mutual disguise. |
FADE IN:
EXT. LUDLOW TOWN GREEN A doubled-over OLD LADY waits at a cross-walk to get from the town green to the Walgreens on the other side of the street. Even when the stoplights nearby show green, THE PEDESTRIAN is unable to cross due to cars pulling out of the Walgreens parking lot. Leaning heavily on her cane, THE PEDESTRIAN, although wobbly, remains unshaken by the selfishness of others. During a lull in the traffic, THE PEDESTRIAN slowly makes her way across the street but is abruptly stopped in the narrow space between the lanes by a Mac truck blowing a red light. EXT. HUBBARD MEMORIAL LIBRARY ENTRANCE The doors slide open to reveal THE GOOD SAMARITAN. He is wearing a George W. Bush mask inside out with a handmade Tigger costume and a black cape. He walks with an exaggeratedly long gait as the chorus to "Werewolves of London" plays. At the sight of him the cars near the crosswalk stop, and he takes THE PEDESTRIAN's arm and escorts her to the Walgreens parking lot. She nods in thanks. THE PEDESTRIAN enters Walgreens with THE GOOD SAMARITAN, buys two left-handed golf gloves and immediately pulls out an old-fashioned pair of scissors to cut off the pinky and ring fingers on each glove. She hands one of the gloves to THE GOOD SAMARITAN. Extreme CLOSE UP of THE GOOD SAMARITAN putting on the glove. INT. MALLENDER'S REC ROOM BAR MALLENDER, The Bartender, flips three quarters at a time while consulting a printout from the internet. He is wearing blue jeans and a white button up shirt with the sleeves rolled up; his mane of curly brown hair has been greased and put into a ponytail. CLOSE UP of the third coin landing on tails next to two heads. He puts down the handout to draw a third solid line on it in a vertical column
THE BARTENDER hands THE PEDESTRIAN and THE GOOD SAMARITAN each an Amstel Light and does not charge them anything.
CLOSE UP of the bottles clinking. They are never opened, but THE GOOD SAMARITAN sticks his through the hole in his George Bush mask as if he were drinking it. THE PEDESTRIAN unscrews the handle of her cane and begins to transform it into a pool stick. THE GOOD SAMARITAN pops a tape into a Boombox and David Bowie’s “Young Americans” fills the scene. THE GOOD SAMARITAN breaks for a game of eight ball, and using a quick series of jump cuts the balls drop into the pockets in sequence while the solid yellow (1) the solid purple (4) and the solid green (6) hang on the lips of three separate corner pockets. CUT TO: THE BARTENDER who has finished the second trigram by throwing three tails in a row, drawing Without taking anything with him, THE BARTENDER exits through the back door, and a slow-motion closing of the door means it is evidently for good.
CUT TO: the yellow, purple, and green solids’ momentary stasis at the edge ended by a synchronized descent. Thud. CUT MUSIC. BLACK SCREEN. THE END.
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from Fugitives of Speech. Book 3: Poverty of Speech.
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FADE IN:
EXT. QUABBIN RESEVOIR — DAY
THE FACTORY WORKERS open a few bottles of Panama Jack suntan lotion and spray it frivolously in protest.
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CUT TO BLACK.
THE END.
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BEN PEASE is a board member of the Ruth Stone Foundation and an editor of Monk Books. His first full-length collection of poems, Chateau Wichman, is forthcoming from Big Lucks Books, and more work can be found online at fugitivesofspeech.tumblr.com/works. He lives in Brooklyn with his wife, the poet and artist Bianca Stone.
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