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WORD AGAINST WORD
				______________________

				A Mystery in One Act

				by
				
				Jeff Barker

    

Copyright  1995						321 Albany NE
By Jeff Barker							Orange City, IA  51041
								(712) 737-8090
								barker@nwciowa.edu

				Royalty and Rights

To obtain rights to produce this play and for a royalty quote, send a request to one of the following addresses: 

Mail:		Jeff Barker
321 Albany NE
Orange City, IA 51041

E-mail:		barker@nwciowa.edu

Cast of Characters

Requirements: 2 males

	Jay:			a graduate student in Literature; he has been badly beaten.

	Easy:			a graduate student in Literature; accused of beating Jay.

Scene

	A hospital room

Time

	The present

	SETTING:		A hospital room.

AT RISE: 	The lights come up on a man in a hospital bed.  He is propped up and has a blanket over his lap.  His face has been roughed up, so HE has bruises and small cuts.  Slightly blackened eyes.  His legs do not move throughout the scene.  HE moves little other than his head, and his hands move at the end.  His name, we discover, is JAY, short for Jacob.  HE is awake and staring a bit.  The door at left opens and EASY enters.  "EASY" is a derivation of his given name for which HE doesn't really care.  His given name is Esau.
JAY looks over to see EASY and tries not to look startled or frightened.  EASY stops at the door.  HE has his hand in the downstage pocket of his coat.  The two men look at each other for a while without movement.  Then finally. . .

				JAY                                               
Why are you here?

				EASY                                              
Hello Jay.  
(EASY takes his hand out of his pocket.  Another short pause.)
How are you doing?

				JAY                                               
You of all people should know.

				EASY                                              
I didn't come here to fight with you, Jay.

				JAY                                               
No, it looks as if you've done enough of that already.

				EASY                                              
I'm not so sure this was such a good idea.
(HE turns to go.)

				JAY                                               
Don't go.

(EASY stops.  Perhaps turns partway back to JAY.)

				JAY (continued) 
"Stay a while, that we may end."  Who's that?

				EASY                                              
George Herbert, "Jacula Prudentum."

				JAY                                               
Good work!  Keep it up!  Comprehensives are coming up soon.  You can represent us both.

				EASY                                              
You can take care of yourself.  Besides, if you keep up this vendetta, I'm the one who won't be there to write the exam.

				JAY                                               
That's not what I've heard.  I'm told you've come up with an alibi.  Is that how you got out?

				EASY                                              
I'm out on bail.  Every dime of my past, present, and future is in hock so that I can be standing here asking my accuser to vindicate me.

				JAY                                               
Is that why you're here?

				EASY                                              
Partly.

				JAY                                               
What's the other part?

	(Pause)

				EASY                                              
To see how you are.

(Pause)

				JAY                                               
(with slight mockery) 
I'm beat up.  I'm making friends with death.  How are you?

				EASY                                              
Why did you tell them I did it?

				JAY                                               
"Truth is the pleasantest of sounds."

				EASY                                              
Plato.  "What everybody echoes as true today may turn out to be falsehood tomorrow."

				JAY                                               
Thoreau.  Waldon.  "Face to Face the truth comes out."

				EASY                                              
That's Fitzgerald!  "Truth has rough flavors if we bite it through."

				JAY                                               
George Eliot of course.  A couple of grad students in literature ought to be able to keep this up all night.

				EASY                                              
Easily.  But you're side-stepping the question.

				JAY                                               
Which is what again?

				EASY                                              
Why did you tell them I did it?

				JAY                                               
And my answer is the same:  because it's the truth.  But here's my question for you.  What possible reason would I have to accuse you falsely?

				EASY                                              
There are plenty of reasons.  Not the least of which is that you hate my guts.

				JAY                                               
Why do you assume that because you hate me that I therefore hate you?

				EASY                                              
I don't hate you, Jay.

				JAY                                               
Think you do, Easy.

				EASY                                              
I think I don't.

				JAY                                               
And I think you do.

				EASY                                              
And I think I don't.

(Pause)

				JAY                                               
This seems to be our pattern of late doesn't it, Easy.  My word against yours leading up to one big non-conclusion.

				EASY                                              
Well, you don't have to worry anymore.  There'll be some facts soon.  As it turns out, you're right.  I do have an alibi.  It just has to be verified.  As soon as that happens, the charges will be dropped.  And my bail money will be returned.  And then I can decide whether or not to sue you for defamation of character.

				JAY                                               
Your threats are very meaningless to someone in my position.  I suppose I could have guessed that you'd be able to find an alibi.  Alas, "Honest men are the soft easy cushions on which knaves repose and fatten."  

				EASY                                              
Ah ha.  You've stumbled onto my thesis topic.  Thomas Atway. Venice Preserved, Act one, scene one.

				JAY                                               
But it's your turn not to worry.  I have another way.

				EASY                                              
What are you talking about?

				JAY                                               
Ah . . .  "Suspicion always haunts the guilty mind."  Henry VI, part III.

				EASY                                              
Damn your quotations!

				JAY                                               
Uh-uh-uhhh.  "Liars are always most disposed to swear.

(EASY glares, JAY smiles.)

				JAY (continued)                                               
From Alfieri's, Virginia.
(slight pause)
A man can't do what you've done and simply walk away.  You will be found out, Easy.

				EASY                                              
	(angrily) 
And what is it exactly that you say I've done?

				JAY                                               
Still hiding huh?  Well this might be fun.  Let's see if I can inspire a reaction.  

	(EASY just stares at JAY throughout the following.)

				JAY (continued)
Do you remember me coming down the sidewalk at about 11:30?  Do you remember me stopping at the bridge to drop rocks in the water?  Moonlight on rippling water used to be good inspiration for this struggling poet.  Do you recall coming up the bridge toward me?  Do you recall my words?  "Hello, Easy.  Beautiful night."  Do you recall the moment that you recognized me?  Do you remember the rush of your response?  
	(pause)  
Do you remember the sound of my head hitting the metal rail of the bridge?  Did you count how many times you kicked me?  
	(very slowly)  
Do you yet know how it is that you came to hate me so much?

(Pause.  They eye each other.)

				EASY                                              
My attorney showed me your fabrication.  It has all the ear marks of a well-made play.  
	(pause)  
I don't understand you.  And I can't begin to understand why you're doing this to me.  But let me ask you one question.  Had you been drinking that night?

				JAY                                               
What makes you ask me that?

				EASY                                              
Because I think that maybe you were.
   
				JAY                                               
What makes you think that I was.  Were you there to see me?

				EASY                                              
You know I wasn't.

				JAY                                               
I know you were.

				EASY                                              
And I know I wasn't!  You can't just say that Jay!  
				EASY (continued)
	(Getting angry)  
You can't just mouth words and thereby conjure up a reality!  You've got to have witnesses.  Facts.  Evidence.  Proof!  

				JAY                                               
And that's what you really know, isn't it Easy?  You know that I don't have proof.  
	(pause)  
And I don't.  It's just my word against yours.   And that's why I have to have another way.

				EASY                                              
Here we go again.  You haven't answered my question, had you been drinking that night?

				JAY                                               
And you haven't answered my question, what makes you think that I was?

				EASY                                              
Your friend, Angela.

				JAY                                               
What about, Angela?

				EASY                                              
She called me last night.

(slight pause)

				JAY                                               
Go on.

				EASY                                              
She told me that she was sorry this had all happened.

				JAY                                               
	(happily) 
And so you told her you were sorry you'd done it.

				EASY                                              
	(an edge of frustration) 
And so I told her I didn't do it.

				JAY                                               
Darn.  And?

				EASY                                              
She told me that she wasn't calling to accuse me.  She said she just wanted to see the whole truth come out.  She described to me how badly you had been hurt, and 

				JAY                                               
Did she tell you that I'm in constant pain.

				EASY                                              
She told me that-

				JAY                                               
	(overlapping) 
Did she tell you that I may never again use my legs.

				EASY                                              
She told me -

				JAY                                               
	(overlapping) 
Did she tell you how worthless my life seems now.

				EASY                                              
	(Overlapping) 
She -
 
	(JAY is now quiet.  EASY proceeds with caution)

				EASY (continued)                                    
She told me that she didn't want to see me convicted if there wasn't definite proof.  You see, it seems to Angela that you aren't a hundred percent certain yourself that it was me.  

				JAY                                               
Is that what Angela said to you?

				EASY                                              
	(Thinks very carefully.)  
No.  She didn't say that to me.  What she told me was that you had been drinking.

				JAY                                               
And?

				EASY                                              
Well, had you?

				JAY                                               
What if I had?

				EASY                                              
Why are you afraid to answer the question?

				JAY                                               
I'm not in the least bit afraid to answer the question.

				EASY                                              	(beginning to push just a bit) 
Well then answer it!

				JAY                                               
I will-

				EASY                                              
Had you been drinking?!

				JAY                                               
-answer it.  I would like to know first just how you plan to use the information.

				EASY                                              
What difference does it make how I'm going to use the information?  Are you going to change your answer depending on how I'm planning to use the information?

				JAY                                               
You know, Easy, you have an amazing knack for seeing the worst in people.  I am going to tell you the truth.  But I'm going to tell you when I choose.  What else did Angela say to you?

				EASY                                              
	(Pause.  HE proceeds warily.)  
She suggested that I come and see you.

				JAY                                               
	(slowly) 
Why?

				EASY                                              
To see if I could get you to tell the truth.

				JAY                                               
Are those her exact words?

				EASY                                              
	(Firing up again)  
No!  Not exactly.  I'm inferring.  I could figure out what she meant!  You were drinking!  You don't even remember who your attacker was.  But Iago-like you see only revenge, 
and having no . . . no one to accuse, you choose your greatest enemy.  But I've come to uncover you Jay.  To find your crannies and prove-

				JAY                                               
	(sharp groan)  
Ohhwhghw!

				EASY                                              
	(a bit startled) 
What's wrong?

				JAY                                               
Mixed metaphor.  Covers are on a bed; crannies are in a wall.

				EASY                                              
Your constant evasion is proving your guilt.

				JAY                                               
Yes I had been drinking.  A fair amount.  I was celebrating the acceptance of my thesis topic.  But I was alone most of the night.  I left Angela around 8:00.  I doubt that you'll find any other witnesses.  Not much of a defense anyway; I still remember the night pretty well.

				EASY                                              
	(calm at last)  
"Pretty well" doesn't hold a candle in court.  The preponderance of evidence is beginning to stack up against you Jay. 

				JAY
Maybe so.  But it's all a moot point, because I won't make it to court anyway.

				EASY                                              
	(pause) 
I think I'd better be going now.

				JAY                                               
Stay for just a minute longer, Easy. I want to ask you a question.

(JAY struggles to pull himself up.  HE reaches over to the bed table and gets a box of chocolate candies, which HE lays unopened on his lap.  All this makes EASY a bit impatient.)

				EASY                                              
Well?

				JAY                                               
I'm running out of options Easy.  You've stymied me at every turn.  Given my present physical condition prognosis, there seems to be the strong possibility that I'm even running out of time. . . to work on this little problem.

				EASY                                              
What problem?

				JAY                                               
You really don't know what we've been doing here do you?

				EASY                                              
I don't understand what you're talking about right now, if that's what you mean.

				JAY                                               
The problem of your confession, Easy.  Your confession.

				EASY                                              
A person can't confess to something that they're not guilty of.

				JAY                                               
Of which they're not guilty.  Right.  So then our problem becomes a demonstration of guilt, which is what we're going to do now.  Here's the question:  what if I die while you're here?

				EASY                                              
	(trying to make sense of this, so there is not yet any verbal response.)

				JAY                                               
What if I die while you're here, Easy?

				EASY                                              
	(struggling to know, beginning to know, so no response.)

				JAY                                               
Let me help you.  
(HE takes the syringe out of the box and inserts it into a nipple in the intravenous tube which is very close to the skin.  HE keeps his hand on the syringe as he continues speaking.)  
Please don't make any sudden moves, because it only takes about a half a second to push this.  Don't step toward me and don't step away.  You've walked into a very tricky situation here, Easy, because the state's attorney does not take it lightly when his star witness is found dead.  No matter how it looks, he will always assume foul play.  Yours 
				JAY (continued)
is the first door on which he will come knocking.  If you run out of this room right this second, you will certainly be seen by someone in the hallway.  You will at least be seen 
by Angela, who is waiting next door in the visitors lounge in case I need her.  It was me who suggested to Angela that she call you.  In fact she called from that phone right there, and I admire your honesty.  She did say pretty much what you said she did.  But I didn't tell her everything.  She didn't know why I wanted you here.  She didn't know that you will walk out of this room a guilty man, one way or another.  As I said, you forced me into this, Easy.  I've played out all my other options.
(pause)
I can see what you're thinking.  You're saying to yourself, "All I have to do is tell the truth.  I'll just go out there and tell them that he did it to himself."  But it's too late for only half the truth.  This time whether you tell half the truth or all the truth or no truth at all, you'll still be guilty.  The pendulum of the preponderance has swung back the other way.

				EASY                                              
This is not serious, Jay.  You're not being serious.

				JAY                                               
Just watch.

				EASY                                              
There's not even anything in that syringe.

				JAY                                               
There's air in it.  Once injected into my blood stream, the air bubble will take approximately one minute to travel to my heart where it will bring an abrupt, but meaningful, climax to this potentially meaningless story.

				EASY                                              
	(After a pause) 
Are you really that obsessed with making me seem guilty that you'd kill yourself to do it?

				JAY                                               
You've killed most of me already, Easy.  But the answer is yes.  It's important to me.

				EASY                                              
You'd really kill yourself. . . to get revenge?

				JAY                                               
Is that what you call it?

				EASY                                              
Well that's what it looks like!

				JAY                                               
Revenge?

				EASY                                              
Yes.

				JAY                                               
You think I'm trying to  get revenge on you?

				EASY                                              
That's what I said.  Yes.

				JAY                                               
Then you admit that you did it ?!

				EASY                                              
No!  I'm only speaking hypothetically . . . from your perspective.  From the way you're looking at the situation here.

				JAY                                               
You don't know what my perspective is, Easy.

				EASY                                              
Well then what is it?  If you don't call it revenge, what is it?

				JAY                                               
	(After a pause) 
Forgiveness.

				EASY                                              
You're psychotic.

				JAY                                               
	(cheerfully) 
Not a bit.  You only think that because you aren't aware of the origin of the concept of forgiveness.  
	(Laughs)  
Now you've stumbled onto my thesis topic.  Have you ever read Butler's Heroical Epistle?

				EASY                                              
	(shakes his head "no")

				JAY                                               
"To have power to forgive is Empire and prerogative!"  An emperor doesn't wait and respond.  That's a position of weakness.  The true emperor acts.  So it is with forgiveness.  
				JAY (continued)
True forgiveness is present before the confession is proffered.  And even if forgiveness cannot change the consequences of misbegotten deeds, it can do far more.  It can alter the essence of another human being.  The essence, Easy.  The essence.
	(pause)
Have you not found that to be true?
	(pause)
Perhaps not.  But I do want you to understand, Easy.  There is only one way to deny forgiveness its power:  by denying guilt.  By hiding truth.  That's what you've tried to do.  But true forgiveness is not weak and inactive.  It is ruthless in the quest for confession.  Without confession, there is nothing left but justice and revenge!  Remember Pittacus?  "Forgiveness is better than revenge."  You can't deny me any longer, Easy, because of what I'm willing to do.  

	(HE pushes the syringe.)

				EASY                                              
No.  Don't!

				JAY                                               
I.  Forgive.  You!

				EASY                                              
(Slips his hand quickly into his pocket.  Pause.  Then HE begins to laugh deep inside himself, because HE'S won.)  
You are such a fool, Jay.  You always were a sucker for the Romantics.  Well your old world values don't stand up too well in the technological age.  
(HE giggles with delight.  HE pulls his hand out of his pocket, holding a pocket tape recorder.)  
Look what I've brought with me, Jay.  It's a time machine.  I've pushed this little "pause" button and as far as this tape recorder is concerned, all time is standing still.  Me and you, and all of time are standing still, just waiting for that little bubble of air to reach its destination.  And when its work is done, I'll release this little button.  And as your soul leaves your body, you'll hear me shouting for help, and the tape will be rolling as if no time had passed.  Do you know the old Hebrew proverb?  "Even a fool who keeps silent is considered wise."  You should have done your act without words, Jay.  Because your words have spoiled your plan.  I'm vindicated and you're the fool.  You know, that's the sweetest thing about this moment.  For all your conniving and plotting, you've lost.  For once, you've lost, and I've won.  I've got your suicide confession.  I've got the evidence about your drinking.  And what have you got?  A picture of my face, with the same expression you saw on the bridge that night.  Only this time, you're going to take it with you to your grave. 

				JAY                                                
Please.  Tell me.  Why?

				EASY                                               
Life is mystery, you romantic.  You can ask your question forever.

(JAY'S body suddenly jolts, HE grimaces, shuts his eyes and goes limp.) 
 
				EASY (continued)                                              
I reject your forgiveness, Jay.  
(HE looks down at the recorder, and carefully positions it above his pocket.  HE releases the pause button and dumps the recorder into his pocket at the same time.  HE runs out shouting.)  
Help, somebody, help!  Help!

(After about 10 seconds, JAY'S eyes open carefully and glance cautiously toward the door.  HE turns his head to the door.  EASY is gone.  JAY pulls intravenous tube free from where it is taped to his arm or hand, showing that there is no needle.  Then JAY reaches his hand under the covers and brings out a tape recorder which is recording.  HE pushes the stop button, with a joyous grin.  HE reaches for a book by the table as the lights fade.)

THE END