Monologue Mania Day #137 by Janet S. Tiger Choices (c) June 29, 2014

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Monologue Mania Day #137  by Janet S. Tiger  (c) June 29, 2014    

                                                           Choices

                                                        by Janet S. Tiger

                                       (c) June 29, 2014 all rights reserved

                                                     tigerteam1@gma

(From Christmas Knights of the Round Table – Mary is very angry, and she wants to make sure the others realize the reason)

                                                            MARY

 I KNOW!  And we all know that this girl needs to pull her act together!  But what you    all do not know is that it is very difficult to get away from someone who beats the tar out         of you!  You do not understand how a man can convince a girl that she is ugly, which Ree is certainly not, and        useless, which she is very certainly not, and that she cannot get along without him -     which she needs help to be able to do! ... and this gift, by our illustrious group, the Christmas Knights of the Round Table, is exactly what she needs!

            (Calms a bit)

- Okay, I know that it looks like she wasted our money the first time.....

            (The others protest, but she holds up the deck)

And maybe in your eyes she did, but not in mine.  It can take years to get the strength       to pull out of a quicksand like that bum!  And you need help - a strong horse, or car - and       friends to throw you a rope, so you can use that car!

            (She is distraught, and now takes the deck and throws it across the room)

None of you understand what that girl is going through!  You, Loretta, your husband is like a giant pussycat….

And you, Jean, Jerry is annoying, but I’ll bet he’s never laid a hand on you……

And Dorothy, I’ll bet you if Richard ever thought of hurting you, you’d….you’d bake      him in a cake and serve it to us at one of these poker nights!

            (Listens, hard to talk)

No, my Tom is a good man……

            (Mary turns back, she is trying not to lose control)

I understand Ree…. because I ...I was once Ree…..

            (The others react in horror and she puts up her hands to quiet them)

You all knew I was married before…..

            (She listens and nods)

I just didn’t talk much about it, did I? 

(Deep breath)  Before Tom…..before we moved here, and bought the coffee shop…..I was just like Ree.  I    worked in a donut shop, and he….my first husband, he used to come and pick up the used grease.  (She laughs remembering)   He was really strong, and, well, I was young.  And he had me in his power.  It was like...like he hypnotized me….and I could not escape his spell.  I became clumsy.     I had an excuse for every bruise and cut and wound.  I fell off a chair, I banged my eye on the closet door, I cut myself making a sandwich……..that’s how I recognized Ree all  those years ago when she first moved here.  It was as if I was looking into a mirror in the past, and there I was.  Smiling on the surface,, but inside, beaten down.  Like eggs.  Like     that analogy, Dorothy?  Like a beaten egg.  All mushed together, waiting to be thrown into the fire to feed someone.

And I only got away, because Tom used to come into the donut shop and have a donut every day, and he would leave a five dollar tip.  That’s 25 years ago, when five dollars was like 50 today.  Tom would walk me to the bus, and those tips helped me save up for a car.  And he helped find me a cheap, good car. And one day, when I was too scared to go home, he helped bandage up my wounds, and when my husband came to get me, Tom told him if he ever laid a hand on      me again, Tom would….would go to the police.  When my husband tried to fight with Tom, Tom ducked the punch and my husband, who was slightly drunk at the time, crashed into the counter, knocking himself out.  We went, got my things, drove to Nevada for a divorce ……(smiles) and a new marriage.  And we came here.

            And I hadn’t thought about it for a long time, until Ree came in a few years ago with a big bruise on her arm, and there it was again.  I know we helped her once, and she stayed with him.  But this time, I have a strong feeling it’s gonna be different.  So I’m going to be the one leaving the big tip for her, so she can escape.  My fifty will be a start, and if you all do not want to join me, I am completely serious about leaving this lovely group – which I helped found, may I remind you – and I will not be happy to do that, but I will….so ladies, you now have a choice- are we going to help....

            (She looks around the room with great focus)

Are we..... the Christmas Knights of the Round Table?   – or are we...mice?

            (She raises her glass.  Lights out.)


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Janet S. Tiger    858-736-6315
www.JanetSTiger.weebly.com
Member Dramatists Guild since 1983
Playwright-in-Residence
Swedenborg Hall 2006-8