Virginia Street, a play

by Toni Press-Coffman

For Pete and Sue, and Virginia, and Richard

CHARACTERS:

ABIGAIL a woman in her late 20s/early 30s, who lives on Virginia Street

MARTIN a boy, 17, who visits Virginia Street

HENRY a 20 year old Latino, who visits Virginia Street in his wheelchair

JENNIFER a young woman, 18, who lives on Virginia Street

This play should be multi-culturally cast. It may be presented entirely in English, in Spanish, or in a mixture of English and Spanish.

Virginia Street was originally produced in Tucson, Arizona in April, 1997 at Upstairs Theatre Company with the following cast:

Abigail Amy Christianson

Martin Jonathan Ingbretson

Henry Gabe Najy

Jennifer Jennie Mahalick

A residential city street in late summer. This particular street has a park and Neighborhood Center on it. We see the porch of a house and the sidewalk in front of it. We hear cars drive by.

1. (The sun is about to go down. We hear people in the park, particularly teenagers. A beer bottle thrown onto the street breaks, noisily. ABIGAIL, a woman in her late 20's/early 30's, walks onto the porch from her house, wearing exercise clothes, exercise bag over her shoulder. She looks at the kids across the street, hands on her hips. After a beat, she puts her bag down, walks into the street, picks up shards of glass there. A car honks at her.)

ABIGAIL

Sorry. (Another car honks at her from the other direction, then another.) Sorry. Sorry. I'm hurrying.

(She runs back to the porch, disposes of the glass, grabs her exercise bag, gets in her car and leaves.)

2. (The sun has set. Norteño music blasts, in Spanish. ABIGAIL gets out of her car, walks toward the porch, carrying her exercise bag, two bags of groceries, a rented movie. She stops to get the mail and, when she opens the mailbox, she drops something. When she bends down to pick it up, she drops something else. She lets everything in her hands fall to the ground. She follows suit. MARTIN enters, walking backwards.)

HENRY (OFF)

Then fuck you, Marty.

MARTIN

Shut up, you know?

HENRY (OFF)

It don't matter to me you know. I don't care.

MARTIN (stopping in front of ABIGAIL's porch)

Then why don't you shut the fuck up?

HENRY (OFF)

Then be pussy whipped. Be pussy whipped. I don't care about that shit.

MARTIN (sees ABIGAIL, steps toward her)

Hey, lady, that's your house, right?

ABIGAIL

Is there something you need from me?

MARTIN

Do I need something from you? Like what?

ABIGAIL (looking toward HENRY, intrigued)

Who's that?

MARTIN

Like what could I possibly need from you?

ABIGAIL

Who's that telling you you're pussy whipped?

MARTIN

I been meaning to tell you about this yellow thing you did to your house, y'know?

HENRY (OFF)

Who you talking to?

(ABIGAIL stands up. MARTIN takes several steps towards her.)

ABIGAIL (distracted by looking at HENRY)

It was white 4 years. I needed a change.

MARTIN

You're all sweaty. You lookin' good, all sweaty like that.

ABIGAIL (turning to him)

Do you just throw bottles into the street and paint colors on my fence, or do I need to buy a gun?

MARTIN

You want a gun? I can get you a gun.

HENRY (OFF)

Who the hell you talking to, Marty?

MARTIN

People 'cross the street at the pool or whatever, playing basketball or whatever, we got to look at that house.

ABIGAIL

Or you could hang out someplace else. (She walks off the porch, onto the street. referring to HENRY) What happened to him?

MARTIN

What do you mean?

ABIGAIL

Your friend's in a wheelchair.

MARTIN

No shit.

ABIGAIL

What happened?

MARTIN

I don't know.

ABIGAIL

You don't know? How long's he been in the wheelchair?

MARTIN

Long time. (beat) Maybe he got shot or something.

ABIGAIL (still looking at HENRY)

Is he Italian?

MARTIN

No, he ain't Italian, what you talking about, Italian?

ABIGAIL (gathering up her things)

I nearly got killed picking up the pieces of your broken beer bottle.

MARTIN

You gotta be pretty stupid, go in the street and pick up the trash.

ABIGAIL

It is not nice to litter. Didn't your mother teach you that?

MARTIN

It is not nice to litter? Are you for real?

JENNIFER (OFF, overlap)

Martin, what is keeping you?

MARTIN

No way he's Italian.

(MARTIN runs off in the direction of JENNIFER's VOICE. HENRY, about 20, rolls by in a wheelchair. ABIGAIL watches him as he follows MARTIN off.)

3. (ABIGAIL sits in the morning sun on her porch, wearing shorts and a brief top, no shoes. Now there are children in the park; we hear them making kid noises. ABIGAIL looks sharply across the street, stands up. After a couple beats, she steps onto the street, waves. She doesn't see HENRY enter. He stops the wheelchair on the sidewalk in front of her house. She backs into him, falls on him.)

ABIGAIL (getting off him)

God Almighty. Sorry.

HENRY

No problem.

ABIGAIL

What's your friend doing over there?

HENRY

He got community service.

ABIGAIL

Why? What'd he do?

HENRY

Why you want to know?

ABIGAIL

So I can protect myself.

HENRY (a laugh)

He robbed a store's all. He didn't even have a piece. He pretended. Now he gotta work at the day care center.

ABIGAIL

He robbed a store, now he's working with three-year-olds?

HENRY

He volunteered for it --uh, what's your name?

ABIGAIL

Abigail.

HENRY (holding out his hand; she takes it)

Henry. So Martin wanted the day care and (kidding) those judges are so overworked, you know, kids today, you know, that poor judge must just not have been thinking. I'm sure he did his best.

ABIGAIL

So what are you doing here? You have community service too? Did you help? (beat) Rob the store?

HENRY

Nah, I just like to help him out over here sometime. What can I say, I love children.

ABIGAIL

Did you get shot?

HENRY

What's it look like?

ABIGAIL

Looks like you might have been in a skiing accident.

HENRY

Yeah. That's right. I was in a skiing accident. (calling) Hey, Marty! Yeah, when I was on the Olympics. It was tragic. I was gonna get the gold medal, you know? But then I had this terrible accident. It was a fucking tragedy.

(MARTIN enters.)

HENRY (to MARTIN)

How's the brats?

MARTIN

They're kids. They can't help it. (to ABIGAIL) You better put on your shoes. People around here's mamas don't teach 'em nothin', broken glass all over the place.

4. (After midnight, porch light on. An occasional car drives by. Noise of shouting, punching--someone is getting beaten up. After several seconds, ABIGAIL steps out onto the porch in her robe.)

ABIGAIL

Shit. (shouting toward the noise) I'm going to call the police, so you better get the hell out of here.

(She turns to go back into the house, but stops when she hears sirens. She steps back out onto the porch and watches as the sirens get closer and closer. Then we see the lights of a police car.)

5. (Afternoon. ABIGAIL enters from her house, sees MARTIN crossing the street.)

ABIGAIL

How long's your sentence?

MARTIN

100 hours.

ABIGAIL

Nothing tacked on for last night? (silence) That was you I saw with those other brave boys, beating up on--(somebody).

MARTIN

You know, you just a bitch with nothing to say. Business is business.

ABIGAIL

My mistake. (beat) Poor kid.

MARTIN

What poor kid? Hector ain't no poor kid.

ABIGAIL

I meant you.

MARTIN

You don't know nothin', do you?

(JENNIFER enters. She is pregnant.)

JENNIFER (glaring at ABIGAIL)

I'm waitin' on you, Marty.

ABIGAIL

I'm Abigail.

JENNIFER

So?

HENRY (off)

Marty.

JENNIFER

Would you just crawl off someplace and die, Henry.

HENRY (entering)

You here again? Why don't you lay off this guy?

JENNIFER

And who are you to be telling me to lay off anybody? You are nothing but a fucking cripple.

HENRY (overlap)

You already gone and got yourself pregnant, he already says he's gonna do the right thing, so why don't you make yourself scarce sometime?

JENNIFER

Faggot.

(HENRY lunges at her with his wheelchair. MARTIN stands between them.)

MARTIN (to JENNIFER)

Shut your mouth. (to ABIGAIL) A man gets a beating sometime. So what? He deserves it, he gets it. He takes it like a man. (back to JENNIFER) Stop with him, all right? (beat, he touches her stomach) You all right?

(MARTIN puts his arms around JENNIFER, she leans into him.)

MARTIN

What's the matter? Huh?

JENNIFER

I'm still bleeding.

MARTIN (to HENRY)

Man, we got to go to the clinic. She's bleeding.

HENRY

Catch you later, bro.

(MARTIN and JENNIFER exit. As they go, JENNIFER swats at HENRY. HENRY moves toward her, but she's out. ABIGAIL moves toward her car.)

HENRY

Where you goin'?

ABIGAIL

To work. You should try it.

HENRY

I work.

ABIGAIL

At what?

HENRY

I'm a speech writer for the president. (She laughs.) What's so funny? I write speeches for the president and what I can do, I can write speeches for any president, for any political party, it don't matter, they're all after me. You know, Hank, write for me, he's just a sucky liberal. Nah, Hank, don't write for him, he's a Nazi, write for me, bro. How about you?

ABIGAIL

I'm a trainer.

HENRY

Like with dogs?

ABIGAIL

Like with athletes. (She starts to leave.) What happened to you, Hank? You get shot?

(She looks at him for several beats. He says nothing. She leaves.)

HENRY (calling after her)

Hey, I'll catch you later.

6. (Night, about 8. MARTIN and JENNIFER sit on ABIGAIL's porch, HENRY sits in his wheelchair; they're all drinking beer, listening to Ice Cube. We hear ABIGAIL's car pull up. The door slams; she gets out. Again, she's carrying a lot of things, wearing her exercise clothes.)

HENRY (seeing her)

Hey, you're home.

MARTIN

Mama, you sure look - (fine)

JENNIFER

Shut up. (to ABIGAIL) You're practically naked out here in the street, why don't you get dressed or something, stop sticking your tits in everybody's face.

ABIGAIL

What was the bleeding? (JENNIFER shrugs.) When are you due, shouldn't you be in the hospital if you're bleeding?

MARTIN

They don't know what it is. Fucking doctors.

JENNIFER (overlap)

We ain't got the money for the hospital and even if we did, I don't want to go to no hospital. I'm havin' the baby at home. (beat) It's due October.

HENRY

Halloween. Perfect. I'm sure the little guy's gonna look just like you.

ABIGAIL (putting her packages down)

Did the bleeding stop?

JENNIFER

Yeah, it stopped. Don't worry yourself, all right? You ain't my mother.

MARTIN (overlap)

I'm gonna take care of her, all right?

ABIGAIL

She shouldn't be drinking beer.

JENNIFER

You standing out here with no clothes on, who you telling not to drink beer?

ABIGAIL (overlap, matter of fact)

It's not good for your baby. And you're sitting on my porch.

(JENNIFER gets up.)

JENNIFER

No I'm not.

(JENNIFER starts to exit.)

JENNIFER

You comin', Marty? (to ABIGAIL) Good thing it's night time. This house the fucking ugliest color I ever saw.

MARTIN (to ABIGAIL)

What'd I to tell you.

(MARTIN and JENNIFER exit, taking Ice Cube with them. ABIGAIL sits down on the porch, looks after them. Now Caribbean dance music can be heard, faintly.)

HENRY (imitating JENNIFER)

You comin', Marty? He's pussy whipped. She tricked him, getting pregnant. Women always wanting to trick us, right?

ABIGAIL

I knew immediately you were an expert on women.

HENRY

Yeah. I'm a psychologist, did I forget to tell you? (She smiles. A beat.) I'd help you with your packages, but, you know, here I am, stuck in this-- (wheelchair).

ABIGAIL

God, that smells good. You smell that? Juan next door, he barbeques a couple times a week in the summer. Sometimes I sit out here and try to look so tired and hungry he'll take pity on me and offer me some. He always does beef, you know, and sometimes he does corn too and then his whole family sits on his porch and eats.

HENRY

So I see. But what the hell kind of music is that?

ABIGAIL (shrugs)

It's music from Juan's native country, except he's lived next door so long, I can't remember where that is. (beat) You have nice eyes, Hank. I've been meaning to tell you that.

HENRY

I'm named after Hank Aaron. Henry Aaron. My old man's favorite ball player. (He touches her arm.) I like you callin' me Hank. (beat) You got nice eyes too. What color are they anyway?

ABIGAIL

Gray.

HENRY

Yeah, but-- They change, right?

ABIGAIL

So I've been told.

HENRY (referring to her packages)

You got anything you need to put in the refrigerator?

ABIGAIL

What? (realizes he's referring to her packages) No.

(She touches his face. He kisses her hand. Lights fade to almost out.)

7. (Lights fade up. ABIGAIL is kissing HENRY, passionately. Lights fade out.)

8. (In black, a gunshot. Lights up fast. ABIGAIL is sitting on HENRY's lap. She jumps off.)

ABIGAIL

Oh, my God. (beat) What was that?

(HENRY pulls her back onto his lap, kisses her, then rubs her back. A few beats.)

ABIGAIL

What happened to you?

HENRY (rubbing her back)

It was a mistake, that's all. I was drunk, I was sittin' in the street with friends from work. I work. At one of those places where they sell used office furniture. Now they got me doing inventory and shit, but - (I used to be able to move things around)

ABIGAIL (referring to his rubbing her back)

You're distracting me.

HENRY (stops rubbing)

Oh. (beat) So we were all out in the street and here they come, the boys from two different gangs. It was like the gunfight at the OK Corral, man, they walking down the street at each other, you think you're about to see holsters slung across their hips or something. I'm polluted. I get up and yell HEY. Don't ask me why, I don't know. Marty thinks I did it to warn him, but how am I gonna warn him, he's walking with the others, they headed straight for each other. Nah, I was just drunk. (beat) Just drunk. Just fucking stupid and drunk.

ABIGAIL (after a pause)

How about that time? Did he have a gun that time?

HENRY

Nah. Martin don't have a gun.

ABIGAIL

He's in a gang without a gun?

HENRY

What are you, writing a story for People magazine? (beat) I was an investigative reporter myself once upon a time, but that was - (a while back)

(She puts a finger on his mouth to stop him talking. A couple beats.)

ABIGAIL

I lift weights, you know.

HENRY (running his hand down her arm)

Yeah?

ABIGAIL

I could get this chair up on that porch and into my house. You want to see my house?

HENRY

What, now?

ABIGAIL

We could practice now. Then you could come for real, and we could be in my house in case there's shooting at night. Then in the morning we could sit out on the porch in the sunshine. Then maybe you could leave Martin and Jennifer alone. Why are you so jealous about that?

HENRY

Hey, shut the fuck up. I am not jealous, what the fuck do you mean, jealous? A kid, this girl following him everywhere, it's a dead end, that's all.

ABIGAIL

Walking down the street facing off the other gang is what? A golden opportunity?

HENRY

That's the reality. You go where your posse goes.

ABIGAIL

He loves the girl, he's working at a day care center learning how to be a good father, leave them alone.

HENRY (comes in on "good father")

You're full of shit, that's court ordered.

ABIGAIL (after a beat)

You go where your posse goes? Or are you retired?

HENRY (looking at her intently)

Neither one. I'm a rugged individualist. Like John Wayne.

(ABIGAIL turns his wheelchair so it faces her house.)

ABIGAIL

Okay, here we go, we're going to try it. (A beat. Then she stops.) What are they doing here?

HENRY

Excuse me, I didn't hear you right. What are they doing here?

ABIGAIL

The posse, the gang. Where'd they come from?

HENRY

Mars? (beat) They live here, what the hell do you think?

ABIGAIL

No, I live here.

HENRY

So do they.

ABIGAIL

Since when?

HENRY

They live around here, what, you never leave this block?

ABIGAIL

Yeah, I do.

HENRY

Yeah, sure.

ABIGAIL (overlap)

In my car.

HENRY

Two blocks from here? They got a fresh fish market.

ABIGAIL (amused)

I know that.

HENRY

Yeah. (beat) So that's where I got shot. Right in front of the fishmonger. He came runnin' out. I bled all over his apron. A fluke he was there. It was night time, you know, so he was late with ordering or something. I don't know. (beat) He took me to the hospital. (beat) I took him for a beer when I got out. (pause) So, now Martin has the day care, his posse hangs out on your block.

(ABIGAIL looks at him for a moment. Then she kisses him with great passion.)

ABIGAIL (after a beat)

We're going to give this a try now. Are you ready?

(She takes hold of the back of the wheelchair. The lights go down. We hear HENRY, nearly in black.)

HENRY

Ready.

(End of play.)