Tim (a ten-minute play)
STACY – Late 20’s, reasonably attractive, with hair tied in tight bun. She is a controller. DAVE – Late 20’s, plain, a free spirit of sorts.
Now
Here SCENE: A Kitchen.
STACY Is that a new song? DAVE No...So what’s next? STACY Well...Beans are almost done. DAVE Cornbread?
STACY Just get it wet, David. DAVE I know, Stacy.
STACY Just fold it. DAVE I know.
DAVE (CONT'D) It’s the brand. It’s always crumbly...I can do this, Stace. STACY Fold it.
DAVE Oh, thanks.
DAVE (CONT'D) (2 Beats) How was work? STACY All right. Busy. You? DAVE It was work.
DAVE (CONT'D) Saw Tim today. STACY Oh yeah? DAVE At Trader Joe’s. Buying broccoli with some girl. Sara.
STACY What happened to Bevan? Did she come to her senses?
DAVE Dunno. (Beat) So uh, what are we doing? With the mango? STACY Mango salsa... Black beans, mango salsa and cornbread. DAVE Is it gonna be spicy? STACY No.
DAVE What can I do? STACY Sit there and look pretty, honey.
STACY How long you give this one? DAVE The box said— STACY No, Tim. And...
STACY (CONT’D) Sara, or whatever you said her name was. DAVE Oh. Dunno. She was cute, in that Tim kind of way. STACY Slutty? DAVE In that Tim kind of way. (Pause) He’s, uh, opened a bar downtown.
STACY A bar? What kind of bar? DAVE A bar. With bands. And beer. STACY Where? DAVE I dunno, downtown. STACY Tim. Opened a bar. Tim, the guy who’s had like, a different job every two weeks for the last five years? Tim. DAVE Yeah. STACY How? DAVE I dunno. He bought some old building and remodeled it. STACY What building? DAVE The one over there by Target on Young Street. That old brick building. I think it used to be a diner. He remodeled it. Did a lot of the work himself, you know. His dad’s a retired contractor, so he had some connections. So that cut down a lot, on the money. STACY (Snorts) Where’d he get the rest of the money? DAVE Investors. I guess...The thing is, remember last year when we loaned him that money? STACY (Recalling a sore spot) Yeah. When you loaned him that $2000? DAVE Yeah, well. (Pause) STACY That he paid you back. DAVE Well, I mean... STACY Well? (Pause) You mean he didn't pay you back? (Pause) You lied? DAVE No, no no! I invested. He gave me the first dividend check today, see?
$200. I was gonna surprise you with it! See? He's been doing pretty well.
DAVE I already did that. STACY Two hundred bucks? DAVE Yeah. I was gonna tell you, but I wanted to wait until we got some of it back. We turned a profit in the second month. Which is good, for a new business. STACY (Beat) You’re a fucking idiot. DAVE Oh, that’s mature. STACY Mature? Don’t even start! How can you call me immature when you’re giving $2000 to that loser to invest in a bar! DAVE How is he a loser? He's paying it back! See? We're making money! STACY Yeah, well don't hold your breath till you see the rest of it. DAVE You can't ever be happy. STACY Maybe if you weren't always making me miserable, I could be happy some times! DAVE This was a mistake; trying to discuss this with you. STACY No, giving Tim $2000 was a mistake. NOT discussing it with me beforehand was a mistake. Now, you’re way beyond mistakes, you’re in the realm of pure fuck ups. DAVE This is exactly why I didn’t tell you about it. STACY Cause I might talk some sense into you? Good plan. (Pause) STACY (CONT’D) You’re just like him, you deserve each other. DAVE At least he has the balls to try. STACY Yeah, it really takes balls to blow other people's money. DAVE Most of it was his own money...You have to have investors, everyone has investors. That’s how you do it. STACY Well, I’m glad he followed protocol. DAVE (Beat) Well, I just thought I’d tell you, since it's starting to turn around. You don’t have to worry about it. It won’t affect you. STACY It does affect me when you throw your money away on stupid...get rich quick schemes! DAVE Why is it stupid? It could be the investment of a lifetime. STACY Yeah, it could be a goldmine. DAVE You're just jealous because someone you wrote off is succeeding.
DAVE (CONT’D)
STACY
DAVE
STACY DAVE Bullshit. Every time I even mention Tim, you go ballistic. STACY You’re imagining things. DAVE (Implying more than one thing) Yeah. I guess I am...
STACY Must be nice, always being right.
DAVE
STACY Shit.
Shit!
DAVE It hasn’t even been in ten minutes, it’s okay.
It’s fine.
DAVE Look, Tim asked me to sit in tonight, with the band. Their drummer's sick... STACY (O.S.) (Stunned silence) Well are you?
DAVE STACY (O.S.) (Laughing) Well I guess you are then.
DAVE STACY (O.S.) It's your life. DAVE Why do you hate Tim so much?
STACY Because he’s dragging you into his never ending... childish...slacker-hood. Just when I thought you were done with that…here, it’s got a couple of inches of dust on it, but have fun. DAVE You used to like me being a musician. STACY I never said anything against you being a musician. DAVE Oh bullshit. STACY Bullshit? You were the one who gave up playing. DAVE Because you hounded me about it. (imitating STACY’s voice) "You need to get a real job, something that pays money, you need to stop hanging around with those wastes." STACY Welcome to the real world, Dave. Here you have to work for a living. You can't hang around smoking pot and spending your parents' money all the time. You have to contribute to society. You have to have a job.
DAVE STACY You know...what makes you so fucking special...you think you deserve a medal? Grow up. If you're so fucking miserable, why are you even here? Why don't you go...get the band back together? Bet they'd love to play at Tim's. Oh, wait; they all have lives now, don't they? Not like you. You're stuck in the past. Waitin' for your medal.
DAVE Yeah thanks. (Beat) You gonna eat anything? Look, I'll only be gone a little while. It's just that I should go soon... STACY (laughs) All right, whatever. Have fun.
DAVE That's probably him. STACY Have fun.
DAVE
Yeah, hey. Hang on a second.
Stace?
Hey, look, Tim, I’ll be there in a minute.
BLACK OUT
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C. L. Bledsoe