Jennifer Clare
Excerpt from The Garage
Lights up on Sarah, a young woman of about twenty, kneeling on the ground of an auto shop. She rummages through her tattered purple backpack, pulling out random scraps of paper, a hairbrush, journal, couple of books, and magazines, and scattering them around her. She finds a picture of her ex-boyfriend.
Sarah
Jerk.
She rips the picture in half, and tosses it aside—into the quickly expanding pile. Finally, she shakes out her backpack, letting the many coins spill out onto the ground. Shrap, a scruffy man of about sixty, enters. He munches on a bag of Fritos, looks around the room, brow furrowed, then sees Sarah, and smiles.
Shrap
Lost something?
Sarah
How can you lose something if y’ain’t found it in the first place?
Shrap
You’re making a mess with all that crap.
Sarah
Got some things to get rid of.
Shrap
Time to refurbish, eh? New coat of paint, little re-upholstering, some shiny spoilers maybe.
Sarah stands up. She holds out her backpack over the garbage can.
Shrap
Not old purple!
Sarah
Sayonara!
Sarah drops the backpack into the garbage can.
Shrap
What about My Little Pony? Can’t throw her away. She helped me kick my bad habit.
Sarah
What?!
Shrap
Cigarettes.
Sarah
What’re you talking about?
Shrap
When I burnt my hand.
Shrap holds out his hand, showing Sarah the remnants of his wound.
Sarah
Shrap, you finally lost it?
Shrap
Think I’ve finally found it.
They smile. Sarah looks down into the garbage can, surveying the debris.
Shrap
See Oz?
Sarah
I don’t know what I see.
Shrap
Lemme take a look.
Shrap crosses and stands next to her.
Shrap
Ah ha!
Sarah
What?
Shrap
I see…
Sarah
Yeah?
Shrap
I see…
Sarah
Yeah?!
Shrap
You’ll have to figger that out for yourself.
Sarah
You’re so annoying.
Shrap
Don’t you got an imagination?
Sarah
Yeah. I see a bunch of garbage.
Shrap
Recycled waste, disappointment? That ain’t imagination.
Sarah
No?
Shrap
Nope. That’s reality. One reality.
Sarah
What’s the other?
Shrap
Others. Wish I could tell you that, my friend. If I could, I’d either be a prophet, a shrink, or a damn liar, which is all basically the same thing. And probably very wealthy.
Sarah
And instead?
Shrap
I’m just an old man that sees a little possibility.
Sarah
What kinda possibility?
Shrap
Well, that’s up to you to decide.
Sarah
Shit.
Shrap
Not shit. The opposite a shit.
Sarah
I don’t know if I can do it Shrap.
Shrap
Do what?
Sarah
Stop playing dumb. You know what.
Shrap
I wanna hear you say it out loud.
Sarah
Why?
Shrap
Sarah, you’re gonna be 20 tomorrow.
Sarah
So?
Shrap
It’s time to grow up.
Sarah
It don’t happen over night.
Shrap
How do you know? You might wake up tomorrow, and find yourself in the body of an ad-ult.
Sarah
What’s that feel like?
Shrap
Hell if I know. But you gotta start taking responsibility for your actions. It’s up to you, kid. Nobody else gonna do it for you.
Sarah
Whatta you think I been doing all this time?
Shrap
Well, you been making lots of excuses, I know that. And doing some work, between all your lollygagging and bellyaching.
Sarah
Bullshit! I’ve been working my ass off! I get up early—I’m outta bed by six AM! Every morning! Almost every morning. Yank Lo outta bed. You know how hard it is to convince a 14 year-old she’s gotta go to school, even when she’s got pimples and cramps? I jump on the bus so I can be at work by 8:30. I get one fifteen-minute break, where I get to cram down half a PB and J that I made. Then, I jump on a different cross-town bus to haul my ass over here. To learn some stupid shit about cars, so maybe I can figger out some better way to pay the freaking bills. Get outta Mona’s house. I been making my own damn dinner, doing my own damn laundry, cleaning up my own friggin’ toilet for years!
Shrap
So? Good for you. You can feed and dress yourself, and clean up your own crap.
Sarah
Why’re you picking on me?
Shrap
I ain’t picking on you. I’m giving you advice. Practical advice. So you can go out and live in the real world.
Sarah
Where you think I been living? Friggin’ Fantasia?! Lemme tell you, if I was living in fantasyland, it’d be a whole lot more exciting than this.
Shrap
Sarah, I just wanna see you go out there, and get whatever the hell it is that you want. I don’t want see another kid gettin' left behind.
Sarah
I’m not gonna get left behind! I haven’t made it this far just to be another idiot that lets life slip by.
Shrap
No, you’re going to school. Get your BS. Or…you stay here, and help me out.
Sarah
(Laughing) Doing what? Sweeping up between classes? Fixing the Dean’s car?
Shrap
Nah, you can…you know, assist me. Maybe help me open a shop.
Sarah
Shrap, I can’t do that. I’m okay at this, but it ain’t…
Shrap
Nah, it ain’t. That’s why you gotta go to school.
Sarah
But I don’t know if being a nurse is what I really wanna do.
Shrap
So? I don’t know if I wanna be doing this—teaching mechanics to young folks, fools, like you. It’s hard. It’s tiring. Sometimes, it feels downright pointless. When you think you got something important to say, and you say it, from deep down. From years a thinking, and falling on your ass, and getting back up again. And it feels real, real important. Vital. This could change some young person’s life. And I look around, and I see those eyes glazed over. They’re thinking about the release of Grand Theft Auto Five: Babes in Bizzaro-land. Or Six, or Seven, or Ten—whatever the hell it is. Or about their hangnail, or about the next hit they’re gonna take. Can’t wait to get high, numb, and dumb. Ain’t even proper adults yet. Can’t buy a six-pack, not legally anyhow, but already I see ‘em sitting there like old folks—swapping places with their parents. Making the same damn mistakes, and too stupid to realize it. Don’t see nothing through the smoke. Feels like a complete waste. I don’t know if I wanna be doing that no more. So what? I woke up this morning, and decided, yeah, I think I’ll go to work today. That’s how it happens. You make a commitment to today. Who knows about tomorrow? Who cares? Tomorrow’ll get here when it’s damn ready. Don’t need to go looking for it. I ain’t saying it ain’t prudent to think about your future. But most of the time, you start doing one thing, and it leads to something else. But you gotta start. You gotta take a step. If you don’t…
Sarah
I end up like Mona.
Shrap
Nah, that won’t happen. Cause you’re going to school. Real school. Gonna get your bachelors. Become a nurse. Then, who knows what? Maybe you’ll become a doctor. Maybe you’ll run a whole damn unit, or hospital even, or medical group, or….
Sarah
(Overlapping Shrap) Shrap. Shrap. Shrap! Stop. Where am I gonna get the time and energy to do all this? I gotta at least start class ‘fore I can take over the world.
Shrap
Nothing big ever happens if you don’t allow yourself to dream big.
Sarah
What if you don’t know what your dream is? What if…all you see is a blank page, but no pictures? No colors even? It’s all white. Just a big, white, empty…Boring.
Shrap
I don’t believe in boredom. Had a doc down at the Vet center, after I got back from Nam, she said something like, “Boredom is just pulling the plug, ‘cause you’re scared.”
Sarah
What the heck does that mean?
Shrap
I got something for you, Sarah.
Shrap crosses to his desk. He pulls out a large, brown paper bag from behind it.
Sarah
What?! Shrap, no, you can’t. I can’t take nothing from you. It ain’t right. You’ve already…given me so much.
Shrap
Can’t a fella just be nice? Gotta convince a lady to take a present?
Sarah
But, Shrap…
Shrap
How the hell you gonna refuse something you don’t even know what it is? Could be Grand Theft Auto Seventeen: Cowgirls Commandeer the World, or some shit like that. Hell, you don’t like it, you can return it, sell it—I don’t care. There’s a million pawn shops down the street. Or, if you don’t want me to give it to you at all, then I guess I can just…
Sarah
Wait, Shrap! What…what is it?
Shrap
Now, you wanna know?
Sarah
Shrap, stop pulling my leg, if you got something to give to me, then…of course, I’ll take it.
Shrap
You sure?
Sarah
Yeah.
Shrap
You sure you’re sure?
Sarah
Hurry, ‘fore I change my mind.
He hands her a large paper bag.
Sarah
Nice.
Shrap
It’s inside, ya a-hole.
Sarah
Dang, I was just playing with ya.
Sarah pulls out a rather misshapen gift-wrapped item; it’s been wrapped rather haphazardly in shiny balloon wrapping paper.
Sarah
Wow.
Shrap
Y’ain’t even opened it yet.
Sarah
I was remarking on your gift-wrapping skills.
Shrap
What? Little amateur? Sorry, haven’t had much experience with this sorta thing.
Sarah
No, it’s cute. But next time you’re wrapping something for a lady friend, be sure to gimme a call. I’ll give ya some pointers.
Shrap
You’re gonna teach me something?
Sarah
Haven’t I already?
Shrap
Alright, hurry it up. I don’t like all this…waitin’.
Sarah
Where you rushing to, Grumpy? Gotta date?
Sarah cautiously begins to open it.
Shrap
Hurry up with this slow pokey hokey!
Sarah
I can’t help it. I’m a little nervous.
She rips off the remainder of the wrapping. It’s a beautiful, brown leather shoulder bag.
Sarah
A purse?!
Shrap
It ain’t a purse. It’s a bag. You know, to carry your grown-up books in. Good leather. Outta last you awhile. Definitely through medical school.
Sarah
Shrap! It’s beautiful. Didn’t know you had such good taste.
Shrap
Well, I had a little help.
Sarah
Thank you.
Sarah starts to cry.
Shrap
Now, what are you doing that for?
Sarah
What?
Shrap
Getting upset.
Sarah
I’m not upset. This salt water dripping from my eyes is ‘cause I’m happy. I’m happy. Real happy.
Shrap
Oh.
Sarah
Thank you, Shrap.
Shrap
Y’already said that.
Sarah
And I said it again. Thank you.
Shrap
(Shrugging his shoulders, not really knowing how to be appreciated) You’re welcome.
Sarah
I didn’t get you nothin’.
Shrap
Sure, you did.
Sarah
Then how come you look so sad?
Shrap
I ain’t sad. I’m proud. And a little…sad. Just to, ya know, see ya go.
Sarah
I’m not going far.
Shrap
Yes, you are. By god, you better be going far, Sarah. So, far, I won’t even be able to recognize you if I see you walking down the street. So far, I won’t see you walking down these streets, not for a long time at least. You gotta go far, before you can come back. Promise me that. Promise me.
Sarah
Shrap, what was your big dream?
Shrap
Huh?
Sarah
What’d you dream about doing? Who’d you dream about becoming?
Shrap
Hell, it’s been so long, I can’t remember.
Sarah
I bet I can.
Shrap
What?
Sarah
Remember for you. I imagine. You walking into a garage. Your garage. And there’re a few kids there under the hood. Working. Fixing the carburetor. They look up, and smile when you come in. Even though you’re still half groggy, and got sleep sticking to your eyes. And your hair’s all messed up. But they smile, and then they get right back to work, cause they’re serious. They work hard. And the radio’s playing. Some Van Morrison song. But not “Brown Eyed Girl,” something else, something like…“Sarah,” it’s playing, “Sarah.” And you take a swig of your tar black coffee, and comment on how somebody don’t know how to make coffee right. Always tastes burnt, even when it’s fresh. And then some loud-mouth, hard-working girl calls ya over, cause she can’t figger out how to re-connect the throttle position sensors. And you go over, and you show her, and you make a joke about fuel injection that nobody understands. But they laugh anyway. And then you laugh, and next thing you know, you’re all laughing together, and nobody can even remember what the heck it is that you’re all laughing about, but it don’t matter.
Sarah smiles at Shrap.
Shrap
That’s it?
Sarah
Yeah.
Sarah
Close your eyes.
Shrap
What? Why?
Sarah
Just do it.
Shrap closes his eyes.
Sarah
Now, hold out your hand. And keep ‘em closed.
Shrap
You gotta frog in your pocket?
Sarah
Shrap.
Shrap holds out his hand. Sarah reaches into her pocket, pulls out the My Little Pony keychain, and places it in Shrap’s hand. Then, she blows him a kiss, and quickly sneaks out of the shop.
Shrap
Can I open my eyes yet? Sarah?
Shrap opens his eyes. He looks around.
Shrap
Poof.
Shrap places the keychain in his pocket. Lights dim.
Jennifer Clare Stuckert is an actor and emerging playwright. She received her BFA in acting from NYU, and her MA in counseling psychology from CIIS (drama therapy). Her playwrighting experience includes: the full-length play Far From Home, the one-act Brighter Shadows, the auto-biographical piece A Taped Reflection, and her graduate thesis project Taming the Wolf, which she was invited to perform at various venues in the Bay Area. She’s currently developing two new plays: The Garage, and Let Go. She’s particularly interested in work that explores the boundaries and interplay of psychological and interpersonal relationships, as well as the diverse facets of social and cultural mythology.