Tuesday, September 6, 2016

Monologue Mania Day #937 Belabor Day (revised) by Janet S. Tiger (c) Sept. 6, 2015

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Monologue Mania Day #937 Belabor Day (revised) by Janet S. Tiger (c) Sept. 6, 2015
        
                                   
Original Post Below - Day # 201 by Janet S. Tiger   Belabor Day  Sept. 1, 2014 

                                                   Belabor Day                                          
                                (for THE DEVIL COMES TO RIVER BEND)
                       A monologue by Janet S. Tiger   © all rights reserved 2014                                                                                                  tigerteam1@gmail.com  

               (Carrying a box of papers, a man dressed in a sweaty sheriff's uniform takes the box and drops it on the floor.  He is irritated.) 

There.  All the paperwork involvin' the Novak case.....you can go through them right now.  

               (He wipes his face with a bandana, he is very deliberate)

We close in two hours.  And we will be closed until Tuesday because Monday is Labor Day. And no, we don't have anythin' online yet, not until the state fundin' comes through next year. 

             (Listens, shakes his head) 

You want more than this here box of papers?  More than the official statement?  

             (He looks the reporter up and down, makes a decision)

(Very even, just the facts)  All right, here's the news - Calvin Novak was drunk, which was not an unusual occurrence, and while driving drunk, hit and killed two boys, the only two sons of Mr. and Mrs. Jorge Rodriguez.  Then Calvin was shot, and died, and Jorge Rodriguez is gonna be on trial for Calvin's murder.  

            (Listens, shakes his head, almost laughs)

You people from the newspapers and the TV are all the same!    You come here for what, a day or two, maybe if you have some extra money, a whole week, and you talk to a few people and you stand in front of the courthouse and get some video feed, and you decide what the story is gonna be before you even arrive here.  But you still say you want more.  All right.  You want more?  All right.  Here's more. 


I been here as sheriff for 40 years, and I know these people, not just as neighbors, but some of 'em as friends, too, and it is my job to make sure that justice is done.  It ain't easy doin' that when it's quiet, but it don't get easier with all you breathin' down our necks. 

         (He indicates the boxes) 

This is Labor Day weekend, and you can run around as much as you want, it'll be hot, and you'll get sweaty, just like all of us, and you'll call home and complain how you hate small towns, especially ones in Texas, but after you leave and write your story, and have it broadcast and get your paycheck and drink it, we will still be here, watching our high school team get ready for football season, goin' to church, getting a drink at the local bar, .....burying our dead. 

          (Listens) 

Yeah, I knew the Rodriguez boys.  Nice family.  Quiet.  Had a small place out on Old Ranch Road.  And I knew Calvin Novak, too, his daddy, Casper, and I went to school together.  Calvin was taught to drink by his daddy.  His daddy died in a crash, too, but no one else died in that one, except maybe the tree he hit. 

         (Thinks) 

No, maybe the tree made it.  But his son, Calvin, he did not do well in the brains department, he got cut from the military after Iraq, and everyone thought he'd kill himself on a cycle......(he is upset but trying not to show it)......but then he got that big ole truck.......and when he hit those two boys, they didn't have a chance. 

         (He sighs, picks up the box and drops it heavily by the reporter)

But that didn't mean someone had to kill him.  The state of Texas is the only one got the right to decide that, and someone took that right away when they shot Calvin, and my job is to find out who that someone is.  And I know it's Jorge, because Jorge had a 45 caliber, just like the one that shot Calvin.  And the wife sayin that they give the gun away when the boys were little, for safety.  But then why did they still have the bullets? 

Jorge did it.  I know it.  I can smell it.  And one day, I'm gonna find that gun.  Now Clark, the District Attorney, he's a go getter, wants to be mayor someday, so he's gonna prosecute before I find that gun.  Because, without the gun.....it's a much different case, and everyone knows it......

And that, my dear reporter friend, is off the record. 

So you can go send in your story on the Internet, and people all over will read it, and make faces and talk about drunken Texans, and they will be right, and they will be.....wrong. 

          (He looks out the window)

Labor Day.  I'll be workin' Labor Day, too.  And so will you, I suppose.  

(Remembers, smiling)  Don't belabor the point, my momma used to say, just the day.   She loved to laugh at words, my momma did.  If a woman was havin' a baby right around Labor Day, she would laugh about it for a month before 'n after. 

Belabor Day.  You have two hours. 

         (He turns to leave, looks back) 

Two hours. Not one minute more. 

          (He exits.  Lights down on scene) 
  

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Original Post -
  
                                             Belabor Day                                          
                                (for THE DEVIL COMES TO RIVER BEND)
                       A monologue by Janet S. Tiger   © all rights reserved 2014                                                                                    tigerteam1@gmail.com  

               (Carrying a box of papers, a man dressed in a sweaty sheriff's uniform takes the box and drops it on the floor.  He is irritated.) 

There.  All the paperwork involvin' the Novak case.....you can go through them right now.  We close in two hours.  And we will be closed until Tuesday because Monday is Labor Day. And no, we don't have anythin' online yet, not until the state fundin' comes through next year. 
             (Listens, shakes his head) 
You want more than this here box of papers?  More than the official statement?  All right, here's the news - Calvin Novak was drunk, which was not an unusual occurrence, and while driving drunk, hit and killed two boys, the only two sons of Mr. and Mrs. Jorge Rodriguez.  Then Calvin was shot, and died, and Jorge Rodriguez is gonna be on trial for Calvin's murder.  
            (Listens) 
You people from the newspapers and the TV are all the same, you come here for what, a day or two, maybe if you have some extra money, a whole week, and you talk to a few people and you stand in front of the courthouse and get some video feed, and you decide what the story is gonna be before you even arrive here.  But you still say you want more.  All right.  You want more?  All right.  Here's more. 
I been here as sheriff for 40 years, and I know these people, not just as neighbors, but some of 'em as friends, too, and I got to make sure that justice is done.  It ain't easy doin' that when it's quiet, but it don't get easier with all you breathin' down our necks. 
         (He indicates the boxes) 
This is Labor Day weekend, and you can run around as much as you want, it'll be hot, and you'll get sweaty, just like all of us, and you'll call home and complain how you hate small towns, especially ones in Texas, but after you leave and write your story, and have it broadcast and get your paycheck and drink it, we will still be here, watching our high school team get ready for football season, goin' to church, getting a drink at the local bar, .....burying our dead. 
          (Listens) 
Yeah, I knew the Rodriguez boys.  Nice family.  Quiet.  Had a small place out on Old Ranch Road.  And I knew Calvin Novak, too, his daddy, Casper, and I went to school together.  Calvin was taught to drink by his daddy.  His daddy died in a crash, too, but no one else died in that one, except maybe the tree he hit. 
         (Thinks) 
No, maybe the tree made it.  But his son, Calvin, he did not do well in the brains department, he got cut from the military after Iraq, and everyone thought he'd kill himself on a cycle, but then he got that big ole truck, and when he hit those two boys, they didn't have a chance. 
But that didn't mean someone had to kill him.  The state of Texas is the only one got the right to decide that, and someone took that right away when they shot Calvin, and my job is to find out who that someone is.  And I know it's Jorge, because Jorge had a 45 caliber, just like the one that shot Calvin.  And the wife sayin that they give the gun away when the boys were little, for safety.  But then why did they still have the bullets? 
Jorge did it.  I know it.  I can smell it.  And one day, I'm gonna find that gun.  Now Clark, the District Attorney, he's a go getter, wants to be mayor someday, so he's gonna prosecute before I find that gun.  And so, who knows what's gonna happen. 
And that, my dear reporter friend, is off the record. 
So you can go send in your story on the Internet, and people all over will read it, and make faces and talk about drunken Texans, and they will be right, and they will be.....wrong. 

Labor Day.  I'll be workin' Labor Day, too.  And so will you, I suppose.  (Remembers, smiling)  Don't belabor the point, my momma used to say, just the day.   She loved to laugh at words, my momma did.  If a woman was havin' a baby right around Labor Day, she would laugh about it for a month before 'n after. 
Belabor Day.  You have two hours. 

         (He turns to leave, looks back) 

Two hours. Not one minute more. 

          (He exits.  Lights down on scene) 


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Janet S. Tiger    858-736-6315                CaregiversAnon.org
JanetSTigerMonologueMania.blogspot.com
Member Dramatists Guild since 1983
Playwright-in-Residence
Swedenborg Hall 2006-8
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