NAILED: The Truth Hurts Read online

  VII

  “INTO THAT BAD NIGHT”

  FRIDAY EVENING IN RICHARD’S AND BETTY’S HOUSE, IN THE KITCHEN DOWNSTAIRS:

  Everything is quiet and the lights are off.

  The lights turn on.

  Sam enters. He throws his backpack onto the table and leans on the counter. He is crying. He wears a bandage over his knuckles now, from when he broke the school mirror.

  SAM

  It’s not going to get better.

  (looks up towards the cabinets)

  It’ll never get better.

  He goes to the cabinet and opens it, looking at something he hasn’t dared laid eyes on in years.

  They are mood stabilizers, prescribed to him three years earlier when Sam cried and screamed after his father had caught him kissing another boy. The boy hadn’t asked for it, and Sam was severely punished for it, a bruised rib from his drunken father had proven it. After days of Sam’s outrageous mood swings following the incident, Betty was convinced he was crazy. A trip to a psychiatrist and two weeks later, Sam had a bottle of mood stabilizers that he had refused to take regularly. Eventually his mother and father let him be without them, and then they were forgotten in the kitchen cabinet, until now…

  He pulls out the prescription bottle and pours two pills into his hand.

  SAM

  (while he pours the pills out)

  Thanks for knowing I’m messed up, Mom.

  He goes to another cabinet, and from this one he pulls out his father’s whiskey bottle. He drinks the whiskey and swallows the pills with it. The liquor stings his throat and he coughs.

  SAM

  It’ll never get better.

  LATER IN SAM’S BEDROOM:

  Sam lies in bed under the sheets, naked, with his laptop next to him.

  On the laptop screen he watches gay porn, and the sheets rise and fall while he masturbates.

  From the stereo system on Sam’s desk comes blaring, angry music.

  Sam moans and finishes. He lays his head back on the pillow. He shuts his eyes and screams.

  IN SAM’S BATHROOM:

  Sam, still naked, stares with disgust at himself in the mirror. He looks down at his hands; he holds a razor in one, and he slowly turns his other arm over to reveal its wrist.

  He holds the razor close to the wrist of his other arm. His hands are shaking.

  In the background, the angry music still plays.

  Sam grunts and leans on the bathroom counter.

  SAM

  I can’t even

  cut myself right.

  The whiskey bottle sits on the bathroom counter. Sam snatches it up and gulps from it.

  SAM

  Damn it!

  BLACK SCREEN.

  MEANWHILE, IN THE CONSTRUCTION BUSINESS OFFICE:

  Richard is shutting down the computer on his desk.

  His cellphone beeps.

  He looks at the screen, and on it is a picture of a woman’s butt. She only wears black lingerie.

  Richard smiles.

  He messages back: “CAN’T WAIT!!!”

  He stands, rubs his neck, and dials a number on his cellphone.

  THAT SAME MOMENT AT BETTY’S MOTHER’S HOUSE:

  Betty lies in her mother’s bed, still wearing the clothes she had left her house with earlier that Friday morning. She is bawling, curled into a ball – her life crumbling around her. On the nightstand next to the bed is an empty bottle of wine.

  Her cellphone rings on the pillow next to her. On the screen is a picture of Richard.

  She looks at the phone, and then she rolls over onto her other side and keeps crying.

  Eventually, the damn phone stops ringing.

  But a moment later…

  The phone rings again. Richard’s picture is on the screen.

  Betty covers her ears.

  BETTY

  Just stop! Stop!

  DOWNSTAIRS IN BETTY’S MOTHER’S LIVING ROOM:

  Betty’s Mother sits still in a recliner in the dark. The television is on in front of her, and there are faint voices coming from it. She is illuminated in white light from the television screen, but the rest of the room remains in darkness.

  She is a conservative looking woman in plain colored dress. Her hair is pulled tight back. She is the image of what Betty could look like in the future.

  She remains there, simply staring forward in silence like a drone. She hears her daughter crying, but she does not react. She’s never reacted…

  BACK IN BETTY’S MOTHER’S BEDROOM:

  betty sobs as the phone keeps ringing.

  AT THE CONSTRUCTION OFFICE:

  Richard waits anxiously with his cellphone to his ear. He grunts and hangs up.

  RICHARD

  Bitch.

  He looks around the office and behind him as if he is being watched.

  Then, he opens his bottom desk drawer and retrieves a flask.

  He drinks from it, sharp whiskey that feels impeccable draining down his throat.

  He drinks more.

  He breathes deep and savors the taste of alcohol in his mouth. But he remembers something, a vow that he did make to Betty. He told her he’d never drink again, but he did anyway and always had.

  RICHARD

  Please ,

  (looks up)

  Forgive…

  (pause)

  her.

  He drinks again and nods his head. Sure, he’d made a vow, but she was the one wanting to give up on their marriage… not him.

  RICHARD

  That’s right. Please forgive her.

  He closes the flask and puts it back in the drawer.

  He turns the lights off and slams the door as he exits the office.

  BLACK SCREEN.

  VIII

  “TREY AND LILLY, PART TWO”

  INSIDE TREY’S TRUCK:

  Later into that Friday night, Trey is at the wheel of his truck as he drives down a country highway.

  Sad, country music plays on the radio.

  He drinks from a beer can as he drives the truck off the highway and onto a dirt road.

  The truck rolls on for a few moments down the dirt road and arrives at Harry’s and Lilly’s new home where Trey had been working.

  He parks the truck and sees that he is not alone there.

  Already parked outside the new home is Lilly’s car.

  TREY

  What the fu…?

  Trey exits his truck and approaches Lilly’s car.

  He looks in. She is not there.

  He goes back to his truck and gets his six pack of beer and walks to the construction site of the house.

  He looks around and spots her.

  Lilly sits on one of the boards he’d been nailing together that afternoon. She looks out into the night, softly crying.

  She hears his footsteps. She whips around and stands.

  LILLY

  Who’s there!

  Trey holds up his hands.

  TREY

  Relax. It’s just me.

  LILLY

  Oh my God. You again…

  TREY

  Yes. Me again.

  LILLY

  What the hell are you doing here?

  TREY

  What the hell are you doing here?

  LILLY

  That’s none of your business.

  Trey raises one eyebrow at her.

  LILLY

  I needed a place to think.

  TREY

  Me too.

  (pause)

  Want a beer?

  She studies him.

  LILLY

  This is weird. I’m leaving.

  She walks around him and is heading to her car.

  TREY

  Hey come on. I was trying to be friendly.

  LILLY

  We’re not friends.

  TREY

  Your name’s Lilly, right?

  She pauses. She turns around to face him.

  TREY

  We can get to
know each other over beer.

  She hesitates.

  TREY

  You look like you need one.

  She walks back to him and takes a beer. She opens it and drinks.

  LILLY

  Gonna try and nail something for me again?

  Trey lowers his head, embarrassed.

  TREY

  Yeah, about that…

  LILLY

  Uh huh. What was that?

  TREY

  The guys put me up to it.

  I’m sorry if I – made it awkward.

  LILLY

  Oh you definitely made it awkward.

  TREY

  Well all I’m after now is conversation.

  LILLY

  You need to stay at least five feet away from me.

  (pause)

  And I have mace, just so you know.

  He laughs.

  TREY

  Yes ma’am.

  MEANWHILE, BACK IN ROSEANNA’S TRAILER:

  Roseanna sits in one of her chairs around the small table. In her hand is a photo of herself and Trey, and in the photo they are smiling. His arms are wrapped around her, and they are happy.

  She looks up. On the couch lies Marie under a blanket. She is fast asleep.

  Roseanna sighs. She runs her finger over Trey’s image, and tear drop falls from her and onto the photo.

  BLACK SCREEN.

  IX

  “WHO’S HELEN?”

  THAT NIGHT IN HELEN’S OFFICE:

  It is a dimly lit office, the office of the woman Richard has been texting all day.

  On Helen’s cell phone, there is a message from Richard that reads: “I’ll be home in an hour. See you there!”

  She applies lipstick.

  She rolls on sexy panty hose.

  Helen is a vixen. She has long, brown hair, and she is wearing a tight black dress and high heeled shoes.

  She messages back to Richard: “See you then baby!”

  She walks out of the room and quietly closes the door.

  RICHARD’S AND BETTY’S HOUSE:

  Sam is standing on a ladder, tying a bed sheet to a beam in his parent’s living room. At the other end of the sheet he has tied a noose.

  He steps down from the ladder and places his hand on the note he left on the coffee table, next to the glass of whiskey.

  The note reads: “You said you’d rather have a dead son than a gay son, so here you go.”

  Sam gulps down the rest of the whiskey, and then he slowly, somberly climbs back up the ladder, and puts the noose around his neck.

  OUTSIDE RICHARD’S AND BETTY’S HOUSE:

  A small car parks outside of their home on the side of the street. The engine dies.

  Helen emerges from the car, and she walks casually up the sidewalk, her ass swaying confidently left and right, and to the front door of the home.

  She takes out a key, which Richard had given to her months ago, from her purse and opens the door.

  IN THE LIVING ROOM:

  Sam closes his eyes. He stands on the ladder, ready to fall off. The bed sheet noose is tight around his neck, and he feels ready to go…

  He hears a creaking sound from the side of the room.

  Sam opens his eyes.

  There, standing in the dim light of the living room before him, is Harry, or “Helen,” Richard’s mysterious lover. He is dressed in a tight black dress, heels, panty hose, and wears a wig of long, brown hair. He’s just as shocked to see Sam as Sam is to see him.

  SAM

  What the fu-!

  Sam slips off the ladder. The ladder falls back and crashes on the floor. The sheet tightens and he hangs, beginning to strangle.

  HARRY

  Shit!

  Harry races forward and holds Sam up by his legs. His heels clomp around on the wooden floor when he moves.

  Sam is grabbing at the bed sheet noose, wheezing and clawing at the fabric for his life.

  HARRY

  Hold on!

  Harry lets Sam go, and he swings to and fro as he strangles.

  Harry quickly picks the ladder up and sets it where it was. He climbs up a few steps and brings Sam back onto it.

  Sam is barely conscious, but he has enough strength in him to stand up on the ladder.

  Harry unties the bed sheet from the beam.

  HARRY

  What the hell are you doing?!

  Just then they slip off the ladder together and scream on the way down.

  The ladder falls over.

  Sam has landed on top of harry.

  They stay there, on top of one another, both unsure of where to move next.

  In the silence, there is another creaking sound.

  They both look to the side of the room.

  There stands Richard, who looks onto the situation with wide eyes filled with horror.

  They all stare back and forth at each other in silence.

  BLACK SCREEN.

  X

  “TREY AND LILLY, PART THREE”

  LILLY’S AND HARRY’S NEW HOME:

  Trey and Lilly sit next to each other on a board at the construction site. They’ve been drinking and talking all evening, and while it was tense in the beginning they’ve both relaxed. They are playing the drinking game “Never Have I Ever.”

  LILLY

  Never have I ever… had a threesome.

  SILENCE.

  Trey does not drink.

  LILLY

  Really? You’ve never had a threesome?

  TREY

  Why is that shocking?

  LILLY

  I don’t know.

  I guess I just figured… well you look

  like a guy who has threesomes… or whatever.

  Trey laughs.

  TREY

  No not really. I mean, my sex life is wilder

  than yours so far, Miss “I’ve Never

  Done Anything But Missionary”.

  She punches him in the arm.

  LILLY

  Shut up!

  They laugh together.

  Trey drinks the rest of his beer.

  LILLY

  Looks like you’re out.

  TREY

  That’s what you think.

  He leaves her and goes to his truck, and moments later he returns with another six pack of beer.

  LILLY

  Damn, and you plan on driving back?

  TREY

  I’m fine. Calm down.

  Lilly chugs the rest of her beer, ignoring its horrible taste.

  LILLY

  Well then give me another one, too.

  She burps, immediately followed by a wave of embarrassment as she covers her mouth.

  LILLY

  Oh God!

  Trey laughs.

  LILLY

  Sorry!

  TREY

  Don’t worry about it.

  He hands her a beer.

  TREY

  I don’t care.

  They open their new beers and toss some back.

  TREY

  So why are you here tonight anyway?

  LILLY

  Oh come on! Let’s not get personal.

  TREY

  We’ve been playing “Never Have I Ever” about

  our sex lives for an hour.

  (pause)

  We’re already personal.

  Lilly takes a drink.

  LILLY

  My fiancé and I, we have problems.

  Trey drinks.

  TREY

  Every relationship has problems.

  LILLY

  I don’t think he wants me.

  Suddenly she laughs.

  LILLY

  Holy shit. I’m being more honest

  with a stranger than I am my own fiancé!

  TREY

  Most people are never completely

  honest with who they’re in a relationship with.

  It’s human nature to lie to them… and to yourself.