OTHELLO UNDERCOVER - Chelsea

Othello Undercover by D. Richard Tucker

CHELSEA, F 20-35

CHELSEA:  (at the counter at a computer store) Okay, I’m losing my patience. I don’t think I’m asking too much. Now could you please tell me if you have one in stock.? ……. Okay, for the last time, I need a ….. DataMax CFS-9000 Combination Digital Scanner- Photocopier – Facsimile Machine. “What am I going to use it for?” Who cares? What difference does it make?…… The fact is, you little transistor-headed geek – it’s not even for me. I’m tracking it down for a friend of mine who wants to get it as a gift for his wife, and what happens to it after it leaves your store, is none of your business….. So you have one ?…. Are you sure? Does it have a USB connection?…Does it have 4800 dpi? ….. Are you sure?…. No, I don’t know what a dpi is – I just know that I need 4800 of them…… Don’t get smart with me, you little jerk…..Oh, you keep that up and I’ll reach over there and slap your pimply little face….. You think that’s funny? I’ll tell you what’s funny – have you ever been on a date? No, you haven’t, have you? Now that’s funny! You know what else is funny? Let me guess, you still live with your parents, you have a gargantuan comic book collection and you’ve memorized the screenplays to all the Star Trek movies. And what’s more, you’ve never even kissed a girl. Am I right? ….. Oh, hold on … I’m sorry….. no, please, no…. don’t cry….no, I didn’t really mean it – I’m just a little upset……No, I’m sorry…… I was just guessing….. No, I wouldn’t say that’s pathetic….. Look it’s okay. Now do you have one?…Okay, that’s great. Okay, thanks so much. You’re a real sweetheart. Thank you……thank you. (under her breath)

They just don’t make men like they used to.

Two Angels by D. Richard Tucker

DISPATCHER, M, (30 - 40), cold and calculating, rarely loses his temper, focused, but not malevolent, totally dedicated to the mission.

DISPATCHER: When I was a kid, my older brother Robert was in a bad car accident. In the hospital for months. The doctors were able patch him up, but he needed a new heart. The hospital contacted a family on the north side of the city, an Adversary school teacher whose daughter had drowned in a boating accident. They asked for the girl’s heart, and told the parents that it was for my brother, one of our people, not an Adversary. You know what that Adversary school teacher said? Do you? Do you know what this Adversary father said when they asked him for his daughter’s heart? (getting no response) He said ….”yes.” This Adversary father gave my brother his daughter’s heart. I’ve never forgotten that. Of course, Robert didn’t either. My parents wouldn’t let him visit this Adversary family, but he told me that one day he would. Robert was going to meet the people whose daughter saved his life. So, on his eighteenth birthday, Robert took the bus to the North end. The girl’s father was now an elementary school principal. He was very surprised to see Robert, but he met with him, showed him around the school, took him to lunch in the cafeteria with the students. Then when they had eaten, Robert stood up and thanked him for this amazing gift. And as the principal shook his hand, he asked Robert if he could, one more time, hear his daughter’s heartbeat. Robert let the principal put an ear to his chest, to hear the beat of his daughter’s heart. The man listened for a moment, and then with tears streaming down his face, he looked into Robert’ eyes and thanked him…for reuniting him with his daughter once again. At that moment, Robert detonated the bomb in his backpack, killing himself, and the principal, and twenty-six third graders. (pause) Robert taught me a valuable lesson that day.

 Watering the Tree of Liberty by D. Richard Tucker

Lisa, F, 20- 40

LISA:  Look, You don’t know what you’re saying. I’ve known Blake for years. I’m telling you - he eats, drinks, and breathes this stuff. The principles he talks about are his own. If he didn’t believe it, he wouldn’t say it. 

Blake Evans isn’t like that. Yeah, he was a drunk. He did drugs. He used to be a piece of scum that would bend whichever way the wind was blowing-

But he changed. He picked himself up and figured out what he really believed. He changed his life. And he’s changed a lot of others, too.

Like mine. This man showed me what was really important in life. He showed me how I’d been brainwashed by all the bullshit that people throw at you. So I stood up for myself. I was able to feel proud of who I am. I was all mixed up from the crap had been fed to me by school and church and society in general. Blake taught me to hold on to my principles – to stand up for my beliefs – and now I can take a stand and be proud of it.  Blake taught me that.

I’m not the only one. We’re talking about millions of Americans who follow his program daily. Two hundred and fifty one affiliates – When you speak against Blake Evans, you’re opposing the views of millions.

Watering the Tree of Liberty by D. Richard Tucker

Blake, M, 40-60

BLAKE

I understand that.

You feel powerless. Somebody’s high-jacked your government. 

They’re holding your country hostage, and in the meantime, they’re starting wars in parts of the world that you can’t even pronounce. 

And if they’re not fighting these foreigners, they’re sending them your money. Money that would be better spent here on Americans. 

They’re neglecting the real problems in our country and making decisions that only feed special interest groups and line their own pockets. They allow their buddies to cash in on the American public while they look the other way. We’re not that different, Joe. We want the same thing. This isn’t about me or my radio show.  This is about you and me and millions of other – just everyday citizens. Nothing is going to change until politics is free from all that corporate money. They’re not looking out for us – they just grabbing everything they can for themselves and their buddies. This isn’t a war between your side and my side. It’s between average joes like us and the ruling class that wants to oppress us. If we can come together on this one thing, all the other solutions will fall into place.

Watering the Tree of Liberty by D. Richard Tucker

Joe, M, 30-50

JOE:  Mr. Evans, you’ve got quite a following - millions who believe what you’ve been broadcasting. They’ve been writing their congressmen – stirring up their neighborhoods. The fields are ripe for harvest. It wouldn’t take much to push them over the edge. 

Just a little closer to revolution, just a little closer to standing up to this tyranny. 

Folks are sitting on the fence. They haven’t taken notice yet, but when they do, the country will explode. We’ll take back our government and stomp out the greedy bastards who’ve enslaved us all these years. 

It makes sense, doesn’t it? Blake Evans, spokesman of the people, is shot down in his studio by a crazed gunman – maybe a wacko, maybe a government agent. 

Oh, no – I’m not. I’m on your side. I’m just trying to spread your message

Undiscovered Places by D. Richard Tucker

GRETA, F, 40 - 55

GRETA:  Yeah, eight years is a long time - half of Scottie’s life time, but there’s just no….. The nurse noticed me fretting over Scottie the day we left the hospital –she said “Take it easy – you’ll be worrying about him for the rest of your life: Every time he cries, or falls down, or goes to school, or learns to drive. You’ll worry when he leaves home, or gets married, or gives you grandchildren. You’ll never stop worrying about him.” Then, one day, I didn’t have to worry any more. It was the worst day of my life.

(pause)

It doesn’t go away, Dan, even if they’re out of sight, even if they’re rude and insensitive, even if they die and leave you all alone in the world.

(pause)

I miss him, Dan. I don’t know what else to do…..so I stare at his photo and I try to make him feel close to me.

Undiscovered Places by D. Richard Tucker

JULIE, F, 28

JULIE:  Oh, I always wanted to fly. Something about being above everything, up in the air, separated from the ground. They always joke about helicopters, saying that airplanes fly, but choppers just beat the air into submission. When it comes to flying, everybody wants to fly a jet - you know, fighter planes are sexy, but there was something about rotary flight that appealed to me - kind of like the difference between a hawk and a hummingbird. 

It’s totally epic – absolutely the coolest feeling you can have. The best way to describe it…you know how it feels when you get to the top of a roller coaster, when you come to the top and just before you raise your hands in the air? You get that feeling in your stomach like it’s kind of floating, just before you make the descent? That’s what it feels like, only for more than just that split second. It’s an amazing feeling. 

Undiscovered Places by D. Richard Tucker

DAN, M, 50

DAN:  I just…. I don’t know. When I saw her there…it was different. She seemed new and… familiar all at the same time. Her nose is just like my mom’s. The way she talked, was kind of like Candice – when she was younger. And she just had something…I don’t know – she just drew me to herself. So there I was, trying not to say anything stupid, and trying to sound smart and fatherly, and somewhere in the midst of that, she sucked me in and I fell in love with her.

No, not like that. Like…. I started worrying about her, thinking about every aspect of her life, and looking for ways to ensure that nothing ever happened to her, you know nothing bad, or anything that would cause her disappointment. I wanted to audit her home owner’s insurance policy, and measure the thickness of her brake pads. I wanted to be there to check out the guys who might drop by. I wanted to give her advice on her 401K. All of this just welled up inside me, over a person I had just met, and I didn’t know how to deal with my feelings, so I bit my tongue, and watched as she walked out of my life.

I just know that…..I don’t know what I know.

I mean…. I didn’t know I was a parent, and because of that, I didn’t want kids. Once I found out that I was a father, I was confused, until I met her – my own flesh and blood, and then it clicked – I really want to be a dad to Julie.

Martin Luther, M 30 -40

MARTIN:  Johann… remember my trip to Rome? My grandfather had passed away just before that, and I was deeply concerned for his soul. When we arrived in Rome, I found the Palace of the Holy Stairs and climbed the twenty-eight steps on my knees, stopping on each one to say the Lord’s Prayer,. I hoped my penance would rescue my grandfather’s soul, but when it was done, I couldn’t help but wonder if my efforts had any effect at all. For all I knew, it was of no purpose.

(pause)

I don’t understand how we can stray so far from the truth. I look at the Church and…..I feel she’s being polluted by ungodly practices. Why doesn’t anyone else say anything? We all see it. Everything I had learned about God had taught me that I was unworthy to stand before Him.  You taught me to seek the truth in the Scriptures. 

I found there was nothing I could do to justify myself….that only by God’s grace and love, could I be worthy. That’s why it grieves me to see clergy preaching of indulgences to the church, as though buying a scroll will make the sinner worthy. They’re stunting the growth of their own congregations, ….they’re cheating God.

But God is in our hearts, not in a pile of relics.  A coin to see this, a coin to touch that – a lock of hair from the Virgin Mary, a piece of manna saved by Moses in the wilderness - the pockets of the ignorant are being picked by the Church. For a few coins, you can kneel at the grave of one of the saints and decrease your stay in Purgatory – which is very convenient, because of the original twelve disciples, eighteen of them are buried here in Germany.