Lodestar Quarterly

Issue 7 • Fall 2003 • Drama

The Hot Month

Taylor Mac Bowyer

Scene II

Scene II

Nighttime. Split scene with MAG driving in her chair/car scanning the road and RED and GRIFFIN driving in their bench/truck. RED drives while GRIFFIN watches the oncoming traffic lights. LEN pops up from behind the bench/truck.

LEN
Hey.

GRIFFIN
Shit.

LEN
Shhhhh.

GRIFFIN
What the...

LEN holds his hands over GRIFFIN's mouth. RED doesn't notice LEN or GRIFFIN.

LEN
Shhhh. You'll wake yourself up. I'm not dead yet, just in case you were wondering. Still existing. Bored out of my mind. I might not even be here. You could just be going crazy from leaving. Instant karma. Wouldn't that be fun? But who wants to be the figment of an imagination?

LEN uncovers GRIFFIN's mouth.

GRIFFIN
I'm dreaming?

LEN
(indicating RED) Are you sure you didn't eat any peyote.

GRIFFIN
Not since high school.

LEN
You, Mag, and I tripping at the all-night Denny's. Mozzarella cheese sticks start to strangle your esophagus.

GRIFFIN
Mag is too busy staring at the swirling carpet to help.

LEN
So I take you into the bathroom to splash some cold water on your face, maybe try to pull out the mozzarella.

GRIFFIN
Smells like disinfectant and pee.

LEN
You glance at yourself in the mirror and get sucked in. So cold inside. Skinny and small.

GRIFFIN
Fluorescent lights.

LEN
And you see me. Leaning over you. With your hair in my knuckles. Holding on for dear life. Trying to get as close as possible. And never knowing if I should gamble squeezing another centimeter. Always me making the move in. Always you letting me take the chance. And your hair is growing.

GRIFFIN
Just feels like it 'cause of the drugs.

LEN
It feels like it. Hair follicles pushing dead skin cells up and over. Gaining mass. And all you see is color. And I'm somewhere vaguely inside the color. And you think you're so ugly and I'm so beautiful, nothing but color. So bright you can't look at me.

GRIFFIN
That's not how I remember it.

LEN
You told me.

GRIFFIN
Never.

LEN
Right, you'd never say something like that. Come back.

GRIFFIN
Why?

LEN
It's nice to finish things.

GRIFFIN
Says you.

LEN
Maggie needs some help.

GRIFFIN
She's a big girl.

RED reaches over and caresses GRIFFIN's ear.

LEN
What's she doing?

GRIFFIN
Touching my earlobe.

LEN
Why's she doing that?

GRIFFIN
It's her thing.

LEN
Make her stop.

GRIFFIN
I think I like it.

LEN
I'm not allowed to stay if you get distracted.

GRIFFIN
Thanks for the tip.

LEN
Cretin.

There is a sound of MAG's car screeching to a halt. Lights out on the bench/truck. MAG grabs her stomach.

MAG
Oh, my.

Next Page:   Scene III   (page 5 of 12 pages)

All Pages:   See the entire play on one page

Table of Contents:   The Hot Month

Taylor Mac Bowyer's plays include The Hot Month (recipient of the Ensemble Studio Theater's "Next-Step Fellowship"), Red Tide Blooming, Dilating (an evening of one-acts), The Levee (published by Vintage), Blue Grotto, and the solo-play Okay. He is a member of the Circle Repertory Lab and has acted with The Jean Cocteau Repertory, Mabou Mines, Dixon Place, and at several regional theaters. As drag performer, Taylor Mac, he has performed in venues such as Joe's Pub, FEZ, and the San Francisco Opera House.

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