Short stories and novellas

A Dead Body

 A Dead Body. Scene 1.

  Scene: We can see the fa�ade of a building on its side. Very 
little light gives a hint of being night and not a very well 
light street. It is so dark that we can barely see the silhouette
of a kid coming out of the front door and running toward the 
street down the short stairs. A voice stops him on his track and
makes him look at one of the windows.

  Mother: And don't forget to get the brand of bread I told you,
not the generic one, you hear?

  Kid: Yes, mom.

  (Whistling is heard while the shadow disappears toward the back
of the scenario. The lights go out and the spectators are left in
complete darkness. A couple of seconds a number of shots are 
heard accompanied of flashes of light blinding the audience. 
Tires screeching are all the noises heard after this. Complete 
silence is left after this for a few seconds.)


A Dead Body. Scene 2.

  Scene: A dead body appears on the stage under a bright, tight 
focus of light. It is the body of a child of between 10-12 years 
old. The focus spreads and other focuses pop up to reveal two 
detectives. One is much older than the other is, and both are 
looking at the dead, immobile body.
	"Do not pass-Crime Scene" tape around a couple of pole 
lights blocks one side of the stage. The other side is kept open.
	O'Shea is the older one, in his sixties. He puts rubber 
gloves on, and inspects the body closely, without touching much.
	Gordon is the younger one, even though he is in his late 
forties. He just stands there, looking at O'Shea doing his job.

  Gordon: Another child dies in the streets of this city . . .Yet
another one.

  O'Shea: Looks like he didn't have much of a chance. The bullet 
holes go from his backside to his chest. Probably shot in the 
back while running, judging by his posture.

  (O'Shea stands up and takes the clean rubber gloves, looks at
Gordon puzzled and then goes to talk to a lieutenant about 
information on the discovery of the body. The scene is silent, 
with O'Shea talking and Gordon staring.
O'Shea comes back a minute later to find Gordon still fixated at
that fragile and small body on the asphalt of that street.)

  O'Shea: Are you OK, Gordon?

  Gordon: I'll survive, which is more to say than this kid ever
did. (Gordon stops staring at the body and looks at O'Shea)

  Gordon: For how long have you served in the department?

  O'Shea: 21 years, man. Too long it feels sometimes.

  Gordon (with a nervous smile): Too many kids, too many times, 
right?

  O'Shea: You got that right. But it doesn't matter or makes a 
difference. Easier to forget maybe, but it always hits me like a
full speed ahead fist in the cheek.

  (An officer enters the scene. He is a young man, early in his 
years in the service.)

  Officer: Detective O'Shea; There is a hysterical woman that 
found out about the murder and believes it to be her son since he
didn't come back home after being sent to the store.

(O'Shea without speaking looks intently at all the pictures taken
with a Polaroid to choose the best one to show. He picks one that
has a tight shot of the head. He walks toward the woman who is 
being forcibly refrained from entering enter the crime scene area
by two female officers.)

  O'Shea: I know this is difficult for you, but I need for you to
look at this picture and tell me if this is your boy.

  (The mother, crying and sobbing takes the picture and opens her
 sore eyes wide.)

  Mother: Oh my God! Thank you God!

(O'Shea doesn't bother to ask more questions. He goes back to 
Gordon. The same young officer comes back and toward them 
smiling.)

  Officer: Good luck it wasn't her son, right?

  O'Shea (giving him a bad look): The problems have only began,
son. There is still out there a mother with a murdered son. When
she finds out, her world will collapse right on top of her. And 
now we know of another mother with maybe a missing son. 
The problems have just begun . . .

  Gordon: Too many kids . . .


A Dead Body. Scene 3.

  Scene: A kid is seen on a small alley hidden on a pile of trash
bags. He is staring at the ground and not paying attention at the
pedestrian traffic at the street at the alley exit. A homeless 
person enters the scene coming from the street. He is about 45 
years old, has torn pants and a red flannel shirt. He also wears 
a small mustache, no beard and glasses.

  Homeless: 15 pennies. We are making a lot of money, they say 
�Ha! (He bends over and picks up something on the ground toward 
the back of the alley.) Half of a cigar . . . Aren't I lucky 
today! (He looks up further inside the alley and sees the kid.
The kid seems scared.) Are you O.K, kid? (The kid does not 
answer.) Are you lost? (The kid still does not answer.) 

(The homeless man sits down slowly next to the kid. He gets a 
match and lights the cigar he found.)

  Homeless: It seems to me like somebody is missing a kid. I am 
sure that she must be crying her eyes out�(He looks at the kid as
if waiting for an answer whether there is a mother that is 
looking for him or not.) I'm Jimmy. What's your name?

  Kid: Mike. I'm scared. I want to go home.

  Jimmy (homeless): I know, I know. I feel the same way. (Puffing
some smoke) Where do you live kid?

  Kid: 1597 Freeman St.

  Jimmy: O.K. Shall we? (He looks at the kid and offers him his
hand. The child offers his back and Jimmy grabs it. Both start 
walking toward the street.)


A Dead Body. Scene 4.

  Scene: We find that the mother has already been reunited with 
her kid and is embracing him. Tears are running through her face 
as she has found the life that she almost lost. The scene is made 
with a sofa on the middle and two chairs by it with a table in 
between. A door, with no wall holding it, is placed at one side 
of the scenario. Somebody knocks on this same door. It is O'Shea,
whom we had seen on the second scene. He has the company of his 
trusty partner, Gordon.
  O'Shea enters the room once the mother has opened the door. The
mother goes back to the sofa to keep on holding her child.

  O'Shea: Glad to see you got your son back, ma'am.

  Mother: How did you find out so soon?

  (O'Shea sits down at one of the chairs and is followed by 
Gordon.)

  O'Shea: Jimmy is a good friend of mine. He helps us from time 
to time. Guess he did this time too.

  Mother: I offered him something to eat and drink, which he 
accepted, but he didn't take the money that I offered him as 
well.

  O'Shea: He is a proud man. He will not accept that he needs 
help, even though he doesn't mind giving it to others he has 
found on his path. (O'Shea looks at Gordon.)

  Gordon: Anyway, madam. We are here because we believe your son
was a witness to the kid that was killed yesterday. The Raven 
gang killed that kid, which is in dispute with the Yellow gang 
over territory on the south side of our district. We have been 
trying to catch both gangs for a while now and this is the best 
chance we have gotten on a long while.

  Mother: I don't want for my kid to go through more pain than he
already has.

  Gordon: That is very noble of you. However somebody else's kid
died yesterday and more will die unless we put and end to it by 
asking your kid what he saw.

  Mother: How do you know that he saw anything at all? Even that 
he was there?

  Gordon: We have a witness that saw a kid fitting your son's 
description, down to what he was wearing running away from the 
murder scene. 

  O'Shea: This witness will not claim to have seen the murder 
itself, but it is more than what we get sometimes. We will do our
best to try and get more information from her, but right now your
son is our best bet.

  Mother: I will do as my son wishes, all right? (Looking at her
son.) Do you want to talk to these detectives? Do you want to 
tell them what you saw? (The son nods in disagreement) Sorry.

  Gordon: More sorry are we.

  O'Shea: We will come back in a couple of days, when your son 
has recovered from the trauma. Think about it until then.


A Dead Body. Scene 5.

  Scene: A couple of days have past and we are shown the same 
scenario than the scene before. However now there are two doors, 
one on each side of the room and some low light lights up another
small room at the other side of the door that goes to the street.
A door bell rings and the mother, who was sitting by the sofa 
reading a magazine goes to open the door. Jimmy is standing on 
the outside of the apartment, dressed in the same attire than 
before.

  Jimmy: How are you doing?

  Mother: You decided to take the money, maybe? Is that why you 
came back?

  (Jimmy reacts as if a little bit offended)

  Jimmy: Not really. I wanted to know how Mike was doing.

  Mother: Please, come in. (She opens the door wide)

  (Jimmy reacts surprised that the mother lets him inside the 
house again. Even if he help his kid he is still a homeless who 
hasn't showered in a week, a kind of person that not many people 
let inside their houses. That gesture makes up for the insult a 
second before.)

  Mother: Would you like something to drink? A beer, perhaps?

  Jimmy: Sure, thanks.

  (The mother gives him the beer and then goes to one door on the
left of the room and knocks on it.)

  Mother: Can I come in, dear? 

  (A fragile voice is barely heard and so she opens the door. The
room, which had been in the dark, gets a lot of white light and
so we see Mike lying on his bead. Jimmy steps inside the room.)
  Jimmy: How are you doing, Mike? (The kid, when he sees Jimmy 
runs toward him and holds him with his arms. Slightly 
overwhelmed, Jimmy holds him with his arms as well.) You seem to 
be doing better, huh? (They hold each other for a few seconds
while the mother leaves them alone and goes back to the living 
room.) Everything is all right now. You don't have to be scared 
anymore.

  Mike: But "they" want me to tell them what I saw, and I don't 
want to. I don't want to be the cause of "his" going to jail.

  Jimmy: Are you talking about Detective O'Shea and Gordon? Well,
they are doing their job, which is to find out what happened and
apprehend the person that killed that other kid. They are good 
people, Mike. Are you trying to protect somebody else besides you
and your mother? Because that would probably explain your 
resilience to talk to them . . .

  Mike: I don't know what I'm supposed to do. I don't want for 
anybody to get hurt.

  Jimmy: I know, I know. Something like that happened to me once.
Having to choose between on what's best and a close friend is not
easy at all. You know, standing by your friend may seem a good 
thing, but if he truly was involved on the shooting, maybe he is
not such a good friend after all. Not to you, not to himself. Is 
he such a friend that you don't mind let the mother of that kid 
that was shot suffer such pain? That kid had a mother just like 
you, you know? I bet she loved him very much, just like your 
mother does.

  Mike: But he'll go to jail!

  Jimmy: Yes, that is probable. But it's also probable that if he
doesn't leave that gang that he got involved into soon, going to
jail may not be the worst of his problems. This may be his only 
chance of realizing that he is not choosing the best path he 
could on his life. If nobody does anything, things will only get
worse for him, the gang, and this neighborhood. 

  Mike: Is it true that you were in a situation like mine? What 
did you do?

  Jimmy: Not really, Mike. I just wanted to make you feel better. 
I'm afraid you'll have to decide by yourself what you are going
to do. You see, each person's life is different. Nobody can 
pretend to know you or what you are going through because we are
all different and experience things in different ways. Yes, I 
have had my share of problems on my life, but only I know the 
reasons why I'm still on the streets. Or maybe I don't after all.
Look inside you, Mike, and try to find what is best for 
everybody. Not just you; your mother, whoever . . . everybody.

  (Jimmy stands up and goes toward the door. He looks at the kid
with a serious, yet gentle look.)

  Jimmy: Whatever it is you choose to do, kid, will change your 
life. There is nothing you can do about that. What you can do is 
try to pick the best choice, for you will have to live with it 
for the rest of your life. No matter what you choose to do, you
know you will always have me as friend, for friends help one 
another, not let them by themselves on the bad times.



A Dead Body. Scene 6.

  Scene: We see the desks where Gordon and O'Shea work back at 
the station. The desks are cluttered with papers and they seem 
messy, even though Gordon's is neater than O'Shea's. Noise in the
background gives us a hint that they are not alone, even though 
real people are not around them, only them. A column on one side 
of the scenario represents the entrance to the room, since it is
supposed to be a big room with many desks and people working.
Gordon and O'Shea are sitting by their desks looking at papers.

  Gordon: You know what? No matter for how long I think sometimes 
I have worked this job that something always amazes me.

  O'Shea: Oh, yeah?

 Gordon: Look at Jimmy. I mean, we asked him to help us and he 
did. You would think that he is so messed up that he couldn't 
help himself even, and there he goes, trying to make a 
difference.

  O'Shea: Well, you don't know him. He really gets involved in 
things.

  Gordon: No, I can't say I know him yet, I haven't been in this 
precinct that long, but I have known other people like him.

  O'Shea: People are different than what sometime we think they 
are. You can't stereotype, 'cause if you do then you miss out on 
the exceptions to the rule, the flowers on the desert, even if 
the stereotype seems to be true.

  Gordon: Wow. And I thought that by now I knew you and you get 
soft on me . . .

  O'Shea: That's right. And if you tell anybody I will kick your
butt. (He gives a tap on Gordon's shoulder.)

  (Jimmy enters the room now, and looks for O'Shea. Then he goes 
toward him.)

  O'Shea: Well, if it isn't our knight in shiny armor . . .

  Jimmy: Well, it needs a little polishing. (He pauses for a 
second to look at his own clothes.) I talked to Mike and 
convinced him to do what was best. He decided to talk to you guys
after all.

  Gordon: He changed his mind?

  Jimmy: No. He just grew up. 

  (Jimmy points toward one of the sides of the scenario, where
Mike has been waiting in the dark to go into the scene. He walks 
toward them and the lights fade out.)



The End