JUST A KISS
We’re in a windowless room. There’s a small table and chair SR. It’s dim, but we can see a man sitting in a chair, no tied to it. The chair is just off center to the left. He’s wearing chinos, a dress shirt, and loafers. His hands are behind his back and his legs are tied to the legs of the chair with thick rope. He is blindfolded and a white cloth is stuffed into his mouth. At first, he doesn’t move, he isn’t unconscious, just catching his breath. Suddenly, his body jolts and he tries to break free. No use. He does it again and the chair wiggles, but he’s tied too tightly. A man enters from SL dressed in jeans, loafers, and a dress shirt. He is in his mid-40s and looks like a suburban dad. He turns on a light. If possible, it’s a lightbulb hanging from the ceiling. He’s holding a manila envelope.
FRANK
That’s useless.
The man in the chair looks in the direction of FRANK’s voice, but FRANK crosses to SR and puts the envelope on a table. There’s a chair next to it.
FRANK
You know how well the rope is knotted. You can feel it.
Pause and then the man wiggles violently.
FRANK
Stop that. (The man ignores FRANK and continues to try and break free.) No. No! Knock it off!
The man keeps trying, his chair teetering from side to side.
FRANK
(Screaming in the man’s ear.) I said knock it the fuck off!
The man stops moving, but his body is tense, he’s waiting. FRANK is just as tense as he watches. After a moment, FRANK takes the chair and moves it away from the table so he can sit next to GARRETT, on his right. He sits down.
FRANK
You know it’s a waste of time. You know that. So please just stop. Just sit there like a good boy, okay? That’s all I’m asking you to do. Sit there. Nothing more. (Beat) Not yet. Show me you can do that and I’ll take the gag out of your mouth. (FRANK watches the man, waiting for him to move, he doesn’t.) Good. Thank you. I’m going to take the gag out now and you can scream if you want, but it won’t do you any good. Nod if you understand that.
The man nods his head.
FRANK
We’re far from home. No neighbors to hear you, to get in the way and ruin your peace. If it makes you feel better you can scream, but you’ll be wasting your energy.
FRANK slowly walks toward the man and pulls the gag out of his mouth. The man breathes deeply and then takes several more breaths.
GARRETT
(Calmly) Take off the blindfold. (Beat) I know it’s you Frank.
FRANK thinks about this for a moment and then gets up and takes off the blindfold. The two men stare at each other. There’s recognition, almost relief, and then confusion in GARRETT’s eyes. FRANK puts the blindfold and gag next to the manila envelope.
GARRETT
Why are you doing this?
FRANK
I love it out here. We all do. Did. Spent so many weekends here, summer weekends by the lake. Winter too, snow tubing, skiing.
GARRETT
I said, why are you doing this?
FRANK
This place was our sanctuary, our private getaway. It hasn’t been the same since. We’ve tried, but . . .
GARRETT
This is senseless and you know it.
FRANK
(Beat, maybe) This place is anything you want it to be. That’s why I called it Chameleon House. I didn’t put up a sign or anything, family joke. It can be silent and calm or deafening and chaotic. I appreciate both. Which do you prefer? (Beat) Silence or chaos?
GARRETT
Untie me. Let me go and I won’t tell anyone about this. No one has to find out.
FRANK
You’re not going to tell anyone.
GARRETT
That’s right, I won’t. So, let me go.
FRANK
It doesn’t matter how you get out of here, Garrett, you’re not going to breathe a word of this. Whether I let you go or if you escape on your own, which you can’t, whether you walk out of here or leave in a stretcher you’re never going to tell anyone. You know that.
GARRETT
C’mon, Frank.
FRANK
You know that.
GARRETT
(BEAT) Fine, you’re right, I’m not going to tell so then let me go. You’ve made your point.
FRANK
Have I?
GARRETT
Yes. I mean, look at me. I’m tied up here in your . . . in the middle of nowhere . . . nobody knows I’m here. I’m fucked. You made your point.
FRANK
That wasn’t the point I was trying to make.
GARRETT
(Trying to control his anger.) I am at your mercy. That’s what you want, isn’t it? You’ve made your point.
FRANK
You think that’s what I want?
GARRETT
What else?
FRANK
No wonder. Really, no wonder. I didn’t bring you here and risk . . . I didn’t do all of this to make a point.
GARRETT
Then why?
FRANK
You honestly think this is about me?
GARRETT
Yes! Of course it is! (Softer) We know what this is about.
GARRETT waits for FRANK to speak, but he doesn’t. FRANK merely stares at GARRETT.
GARRETT
We both know why I’m here.
FRANK still doesn’t respond, only stares.
GARRETT
This is about you and me.
FRANK
(Long pause). Really. Just you and me?
GARRETT
(Looking away from FRANK no longer able to maintain his stare.) And them.
FRANK
Yes. Them.
GARRETT
I understand why you feel the need to do this.
FRANK
You do?
GARRETT
Yes. And I don’t blame you.
FRANK
How magnanimous. How so fucking noble of you. Thank you for not blaming me.
GARRETT
It was no one’s fault. It was an accident.
FRANK
You can choose that word until you take your last breath, but you know as well as I do, as well as everyone knows, that that word is a lie.
GARRETT
It isn’t.
FRANK
It wasn’t an accident!
GARRETT
The judge declared . . .
FRANK
You mean, your buddy.
GARRETT
I didn’t know him.
FRANK
Not by name. But by allegiance. You’re the same kind. You protect each other, ignore the facts, claim it was an accident, and agree to believe the lie so you can move forward in a state of manufactured bliss. But that condition is fragile, it can rupture at any moment if the truth that lies just beneath the surface breaks free.
GARRETT
Musings and rope aren’t going to get us anywhere. It’s over.
FRANK
(At some point, FRANK gets up and walks over to the table and with his back to GARRETT he takes a gun and bullets out of the manila envelope.). Of course, you’d think it was over. It’s what you’d like to believe. You’re safe. Your family is safe. Thanks to a judge who was bound to an oath to protect his brothers instead of his duty to protect the innocent, you got away with it.
FRANK turns around and GARRETT sees that he’s holding a gun. FRANK doesn’t look at GARRETT, he puts bullets in the gun.
GARRETT
Frank no!
FRANK
Your job, now, is to move forward. Mine is to look back.
GARRETT
Frank, my God, you can’t . . . don’t do this. We’re friends.
FRANK
(Finally looking at GARRETT.) We are not friends.
GARRETT
This won’t change anything. Think about your family, they need you now more than ever.
FRANK
My son needs me.
GARRETT
Dwelling on the past won’t change anything.
FRANK
Thanks to you, the past is all I have.
As GARRETT gets angrier and louder, FRANK remains calm. His fury has not disappeared, it’s merely controlled. For the moment. FRANK holds the gun at his side, almost as if he’s forgotten what he’s holding.
GARRETT
(Exploding) It was an accident Frank! A fucking accident! No one meant for it to happen!
FRANK
Connor did.
GARRETT
No!
FRANK
Yes, Garrett, he did. Your son knew exactly what he was doing.
GARRETT
He’s a boy!
FRANK
Eleven, nineteen, five, what does it matter? His intent was to kill.
GARRETT
That isn’t true! Frank, I know you’re in pain, I know that! But you cannot believe . . .
FRANK
But I do.
GARRETT
My son would never intentionally kill!
FRANK
But he did.
GARRETT
He reacted!
FRANK
Violently. With intention.
GARRETT
No! He was confused, he didn’t understand what David had done.
FRANK
He understood.
GARRETT
The action, maybe . . . yes, yes, okay, but not why. He didn’t understand why!
FRANK
So instead of asking my son for an explanation he silenced him. Permanently.
GARRETT
He lashed out. For God sakes he was scared.
FRANK
Of David? The boys grew up together. They learned to crawl at the same time. They learned the right way to swing a baseball bat on the same afternoon. When did Connor learn to be afraid of my son?
GARRETT
When David changed everything?
FRANK
What did he change?
GARRETT
Everything! Rules. Their relationship. Right and wrong!
FRANK
Right and wrong? Really?
GARRETT
No, I didn’t . . .
FRANK
Let me take a wild guess here, your son was right and mine was wrong?
GARRETT
That’s not what I’m saying.
FRANK
(Screaming and getting right in GARRETT’S face.) Then what are you saying?! Tell me!
GARRETT
(He is terrified of FRANK and of the truth.) You know I loved David like my own son. You know that. But . . . he . . .
FRANK
What?! What did our son do?
GARRETT
He crossed a line, Frank, you know he did. He didn’t mean it, I know that, he couldn’t help himself. He was . . . I don’t know . . . overcome, overwhelmed . . .
FRANK
Happy.
GARRETT
What?
FRANK
They both had just been picked to be on the A team. Big accomplishment for an eleven-year-old. Little League is important. So maybe David was just happy.
GARRETT
Well, yes, sure. Yes.
FRANK
And he expressed his happiness.
GARRETT
That isn’t what happened.
FRANK
My son expressed his happiness with a kiss. Just a kiss. And how did your son reply? By pushing him to the ground and throwing rocks at his head until he couldn’t get back up.
GARRETT
Connor panicked.
FRANK
No, Connor killed. Deliberately.
GARRETT
He didn’t understand what was happening.
FRANK
David understood. When he lay on the ground, bleeding, watching his best friend slam rocks into his face.
GARRETT
Connor didn’t mean to kill David, he just . . . he couldn’t control his anger.
FRANK
Did you teach him to be so angry? Did you teach him to respond with violence when his friend tried to express how happy he was?
GARRETT
It isn’t that simple and you know it. Think of yourself at that age, a boy doesn’t understand feelings, he can’t control how he responds. But he knows right from wrong.
FRANK
Again, judgment. My son is wrong because he wanted a kiss. Your son is right because he wanted death. This is what you believe. You and your wife and Connor and the judge and the whole world, you all believe my son, my boy, deserved what he got! He deserved to be killed like a dog because he defied your idea, your definition of how a boy should act. That’s what you believe, isn’t it? (FRANK waits for GARRETT to respond, but he doesn’t.) Answer me!
GARRETT
David didn’t deserve to die, no, but Connor doesn’t deserve to be punished. They both gave in to ugly instincts.
FRANK
Ugly?!
GARRETT
They both did things they knew were wrong.
FRANK
It was a kiss! One small kiss. How many times did Connor strike my son with a rock? How many?
GARRETT
I don’t know!
FRANK
Nine! He threw nine rocks at my son’s beautiful face! Nine! After each time he picked up a rock he had a chance to stop, he had a chance to pick up my son instead and get him help, but he didn’t. He continued to strike my boy. His face. And you don’t think he intended to kill? You think David’s death was an accident?
GARRETT
(Beat) It’s the only choice I have.
FRANK
Because you want to protect your son.
GARRETT
Yes.
FRANK
(He holds the gun up to GARRETT’s head.) Which is what I need to do?
GARRETT
Killing me isn’t going to protect your son, Frank.
FRANK
It will protect his memory and his spirit. He’ll know that someone paid thanks to his father.
GARRETT
What about the rest of your kids? Your family, Christine?
FRANK
My wife will understand. And she’ll thank me.
GARRETT
(Frantic) You can’t do this, please Frank, this is a mistake. I’m begging you, please don’t do this.
FRANK
(Quiet and by now, if not earlier, he is kneeling next to GARRETT.) Do you think my son begged? Do you think he asked Connor to stop? Please, Connor, don’t throw another rock. I didn’t mean anything, I just wanted a kiss. Just a kiss.
GARRETT
(Crying) I don’t know. Oh God, I don’t know.
FRANK
Do you think Connor heard my son begging for his life? Or do you think he just ignored his words?
GARRETT
Dear God forgive me. I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry.
FRANK uses the gun to turn GARRETT’s face toward him. He stares at him for a moment and then kisses him. Just once.
FRANK
That’s all my boy wanted. Just a kiss. Thanks to your son he’ll never get another.
(FRANK gets up and sits on the chair. He rests the gun in his lap.)
GARRETT
What now?
(FRANK starts to stay something, but stops. He looks at GARRETT, then looks away. He’s searching for an answer. After a long pause . . .
BLACKOUT
THE END
Michael Griffo has written 14 novels, including two young adult gay-themed supernatural trilogies, all published by Kensington Books. Griffo is an award-winning playwright and has written over 20 plays, some of which are available for license at TRWplays.com and Playscripts.com. For more information, visit www.michaelgriffo.com.