Alysse Aallyn

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  • Rough Sleep – the Last Scene – play by Alysse Aallyn

    CORSO’s voice

    I stand at the ready to assist my adorable Jazz.

    SCENE XVI – JAZZ’S DORM ROOM

    (Ordinary dorm room with desk lights, two twin beds, built ins. JAZZ feels her body as if to reassure herself that it’s still there. CORSO – bare-chested – is sitting on one of the beds, studying a laptop)

    CORSO

    Lose something?

    JAZZ

    I lost everything. What are you doing here?

    CORSO

    Installing fun software. You seem distraught – your mood begs improvement. Come over here into the light and let me look at you. 

    JAZZ

    I’m not distraught, I’m disgusted. Hey, that’s my laptop.

    CORSO

    Nothing human disgusts. Take it from me, you’re going to love your new social media interface.

    JAZZ

    The thing that disgusted me wasn’t human.  Is your software a game?

    CORSO

    Everything worth doing devolves into game. As your administrator, I’m in charge of upgrades. We’ll do Mr. Quinn next. Any idea where he’s been hiding?

    JAZZ

    Stevie Farrell, din’t you mean? How did you get in here?

    CORSO

    I’m loco parentis, poor, suspicious little Jazz, just checking up. You’ve been keeping such bad company. And Stevie’s not the worst of it – there’s a prowler around campus who seems to have it in for you. Let’s hope it’s not too late to put your feet on a better course.

    JAZZ

    I’m leaving if you’re not.

                               CORSO

    Poor Jazz, what can we do to mitigate these fears?

                               JAZZ

                      (Throws herself impulsively on the other bed)

    I’m not afraid of you. 

    CORSO

    I see we have much work ahead.

    JAZZ

    (She finds his shirt – reacts like it’s infectious and throws it at him)

    Why can’t you keep your clothes on?

    CORSO

    (Catching the shirt effortlessly)

    Stevie and I were very informal; I was hoping we could be informal too.  I gather he confessed his proclivities to you?

    JAZZ

    I heard a lot about how you can’t be trusted.

    CORSO

    Credulous Jazz! We must teach you discernment. Education is challenge, not safety or comfort – I strengthen minds and bodies to appreciate, manipulate and surmount reality. Recreate your own world. If you don’t want those things, then you’re fodder like the rest of them.

     (fans himself with the shirt)

    These rooms are very hot.  Do you know the trick to opening these windows? Aren’t you feeling overdressed? 

    JAZZ

    I saw your game.

    CORSO

    I borrowed bodies that weren’t being used! And aren’t you the better for it?  Restful sleep, interesting dreams, AND a paycheck, now there’s a deal. I’ll throw in little Stevie to be your guide.

    JAZZ

    How can we converse when you pervert language?  You pervert language and ideas. You pervert bodies.

    CORSO

    Debate’s not your forte, Jazz. I can assist with that. You entered this room requesting an upgrade in your selective amnesia. It’s something we all must have, otherwise none of us could function. I can help you control it.

    JAZZ

    If it comes from you, I don’t want it.

    CORSO

    Poor little Jazz! Who could you be channeling – me or him? Or perhaps it’s that desperado asking everyone for scuttlebutt? 

    JAZZ

    I went with the flow till the flow tried to drown me. I’m becoming my own person.

    CORSO

    All freshmen think that. Is the real Jazz so robotic? You used to be so much more fun. You were quite the adventurer.

    (laughs)

    Let’s laugh together. Why so serious? 

     (mimes a ridiculously pulled down clown face)

    Life unlocks all its secret pleasures once you master the key.

    CHASE

    (Bursts into the room)

    Is the key murder?  Soul murder, followed by physical murder to make sure the souls stay dead?

    (JAZZ vaults to her feet, they hug, obviously drawing strength from one another)

                               CHASE

    Stand up, you bastard.

    CORSO

    Oh, can the paranoia, little Steve. Victimology is so limiting. Jazz and I aren’t involved, if that’s what’s bothering you. We share a strictly business relationship. There’s room for you, too if you down your tools of self-destruction.

                      (Rises imposingly. He’s bigger than CHASE)

    CHASE

    We have all the proof we need.  You can’t get away with it.

    JAZZ

    The bodies are piling up.

                               CORSO

    But they long to pile, and not feel guilty! Everyone wants to be a porn star!

    CHASE

    We know what you did.

    CORSO

    What a shame, then, that you felt the need to mime unconsciousness. When will feel your feelings and live your truth? Isn’t that what youth is all about?

    JAZZ

    Being drugged isn’t truth!

    CORSO

    Yet you – both of you – acceded to all of it. Names along the bottom line. The law says you’re adults.

    JAZZ

    I know what you did is illegal!

    CORSO

    Fashion to law, little Jazz, and with such startling speed!  Too bad the law is amorphous, the law’s in transition, it’s a creature of fashion just as you were. Things that were illegal last year are perfectly legal today. People go to court and bankrupt themselves to “win” – ask your sad friend – but the law doesn’t help them feel they have won. They spend the rest of their lives trying to recapture the glow of surrender.

    CHASE

    You are vile and despicable – everything about you is saturated with evil.

    CORSO

    I see that you two have made loserdom your bond.  It’s so unhealthy, all this focus on the past. You could enjoy both youth and wealth, but you consciously choose misery. Let’s try ratiocination for a change. Who gives benefits and who gives problems? Haven’t I made all your tiny dreams come true?  You can have Mr. Quinn if you want him, Jazz, anyone can. Now let’s concentrate on upgrading these immature fantasies.

    CHASE

    What if we tell the Dean?

    CORSO

    Who, Bernie? I’m sure you’ll find Bernie doesn’t expect me to police my students’ very randy sex and dream lives.  Bernie and I understand each other perfectly. People love porn, everyone wants an avatar and to feel like a creator.  Let’s consecrate all this blood and shit to transcendental purposes.

    JAZZ

    You use words you can’t understand. We’re soulmates. We’ve seen worlds of possibility, of universe and time.

    CORSO

    You’re welcome!

    JAZZ

    You’ll never know what we can do.

    CORSO

    Pretty sure I can guess. Everything except freedom?

    CHASE

    Your freedom is all fake. You’re nothing but an appetite.  All you create are slaves.

    CORSO

    Oh. Slaves! In a limitless universe, slaves are no fun at all. It’s such a bore always having to direct.

    (fanning himself)

    Jazz, how can you tolerate this hideous heat? I know there’s a trick to these windows.  

    (Successfully opens window)

    Stevie, get us a drink. Let’s sit down and talk this over like grownups.  

    CHASE

    Not a chance.

    (BEX appears spot-lit on the TOWER LIFT, scanning with his binoculars, holding his shotgun at the ready. He sights his quarry & racks his slide)

    JAZZ

    Look out the window, Dr. Corso.

    (She pulls CHASE away)

    Tell me what you see.

    CORSO

    (Peering)

    Who’s out there, Jazz? Bile stained, piss stained revenants skulking home for parietals? 

    (BEX climbs awkwardly out on the tower lift, hooking his leg, trying to get a good shot)

    CORSO

    (Waves out at the world)

    Run home, little oneironauts! Your memory cards expired!

    (JAZZ grabs CHASE and pulls him to the floor. Shots ring out. CORSO, looks down at his chest as red stains bloom across his back. Plummets slowly out through the window. Recoil causes BEXto lose his footing – drop his gun – throw his arms up – cry out – fall)

                      JAZZ

    Set a demon to catch a demon!

    CHASE

    May the aspirations of murderers always overreach.

    JAZZ

    And those of lovers override.

    CHASE

    Time to free the others? Whether they like it or not?

    JAZZ

    Kiss me.

    (They kiss. Sacred music, pink glitter. DARKNESS.  FINAL CURTAIN)

    END

  • Rough Sleep – a play by Alysse Aallyn

     SCENE XV – STAGE APRON 

    CHASE

    This can’t be real, Jazz. It isn’t real. It’s some planet we’re not on.

    JAZZ

    But it makes perfect sense. It answers all the questions. You know in your heart that was his plan all along.

    CHASE

    It can’t be real because my Mom is dead. Years ago. She killed herself the first Christmas I didn’t come home.

    JAZZ

    (Keeps trying to go back)

    But I saw her. I We were there. How can it not be true?

    (He tries to hug her – she resists)

    Don’t touch me! I don’t feel like touching ever again.

    (CHASE sits on the edge of the stage)

    CHASE

    Corso loves games – he’s always up for the latest thing. He can even claim he told us! We fell for it like puppies jumping for a biscuit.

    JAZZ

    So that part’s real? Our sex archetypes all over the cloud?

    CHASE

    Sexsomnia is real. He was way ahead of me.

    (beat)

    I should have guessed. It’s always the worst thing he can think of. Welcome to my nightmare.  

    JAZZ

    I don’t want details.

    CHASE

    But we need to see – Everyone needs to see – just how the magician operates.

    JAZZ

    You’re right – magic is the important thing. There was magic all along, in spite of Corso.

    CHASE

    All he cares about it is cash and control. He honed the perfect weapon to take life hostage. 

    JAZZ

    How ironic that the moment we stop believing, magic appears! 

    CHASE

    Only toddlers believe. And toddlers are ill-equipped for these frolics. Where’s the magic in that?

    JAZZ

    Seeing your Mom was magic.

    CHASE

    Dark magic, you’ll agree. What were they thinking? Russian-Irish could never work!

    JAZZ

    My combination’s Portuguese-Swedish. Your Mom said she forgave you. 

    CHASE

    She didn’t!

    JAZZ

    She did. I heard her. What was it like to see her again?

    CHASE

    Amazing and frustrating – the way it always was. 

    JAZZ

    Admit we got the most wonderful bath!  For a few minutes we saw how happy we could be.

    CHASE

    A ritual cleanse. Did seem like it was working.

    JAZZ

    I felt such peace, like nothing could hurt us ever. 

    CHASE

    Then my Dad showed up.

    JAZZ

    So now I know him, too. I experienced them through you.

    CHASE

    In the house that never got finished. I pushed my Dad into bankruptcy. I destroyed my family.

    JAZZ

    You did not.

    CHASE

    If you’re going to be my soulmate you’ve seen the house of horrors where you have to live. Nobody could blame you for walking out.

    JAZZ

    Where would I walk to?  Seriously.  I thought the more worlds we saw the more paths – the more choices we would have, but the maze leads only two places – sickness and murder or – each other.

    CHASE

    But what if we resist?

    JAZZ

    Are we back to murder? A life for a life?

    CHASE

    Surely you see the appeal?

    JAZZ

    I think when you want to kill Corso it’s really your dad you want to kill. 

    CHASE

    Wow! Free therapy! Bzzzt! No. My Dad I can get away from.

    JAZZ

    Apparently not.

    CHASE

    Once and done.

    JAZZ

    Finding crime scenes should not be inspiring us to create more of them.

    CHASE

    Why not, if everyone’s doing it?

    JAZZ

     Jails are full of defective reasoners.

    CHASE

    So I’m a defective reasoner, am I?

    (JAZZ sits beside him)

    JAZZ

    Seems like. I’m stuck with you and you’re stuck with me.

    CHASE

    But I don’t get it – if death doesn’t free you, what does?

    JAZZ

    Why couldn’t you tell me about her?

    CHASE

    I can’t even go there.

    (long pause)

    JAZZ

    If you can’t go there I can’t see where there is to get to. 

    CHASE

    Sexsomnia is like sleepwalking.  They –

    JAZZ

    Would you stop it with trying to rationalize the irrational? It makes me feel so alone.

    CHASE

    (Holding her – she lets him)

    We can’t have that.

    (They start to kiss)

    Maybe it hasn’t happened yet.

    JAZZ

    What part?

    CHASE

    The video Corso’s trying to create. If he hasn’t finished it, he hasn’t released it.

    JAZZ

    But what we did. It’s out there, alive, wandering the cloud. 

    CHASE

    Maybe not. 

    JAZZ

    I like this Chase better.  So let’s get rid of it and warn the others.

    CHASE

    Are you sure they’ll care?

    JAZZ

    Someone will.

    CHASE

    They may prefer secrecy, or destruction. But people don’t believe without evidence.

                               JAZZ

    Our suffering is the evidence.

                      (She pushes him away)

    You wanted this to happen.  You twisted my life into evidence for your crime scene. You used the rest of us as bait.

    CHASE

    I swear I had no idea he’d go this far. But if it’s real we’ve got to face up to it. Destroying the evidence doesn’t cancel our suffering.

    JAZZ

    Without the video, we don’t remember. If we pass it along, Corso wins – whoever we pass it to.

    CHASE

    It isn’t “gone” just because we can’t remember. Haven’t what we’ve been through shown us that? It becomes a negative hallucination.

    JAZZ

    I feel sure I don’t want to know what that is.

    CHASE

    It means is not seeing the obvious. 

    JAZZ

    Forgetting is almost as good as innocence.

    CHASE

    That’s what Corso counted on.

    JAZZ

    Help me.

    CHASE

    I’m trying.

    (the distance between them is growing. They reach out their arms to each other but it’s too late. CHASE fades into darkness)

    JAZZ

    I want to forget! Help me forget!

    CORSO’s voice

    I stand at the ready to assist my adorable Jazz.

  • Rough Sleep – a play by Alysse Aallyn

    – KITCHEN set, bar with overhead wineglass and pot rack, burners steaming ( ZOYAorchestrates the food)

    ZOYA

    Stevie, could you open the wine and let it breathe?

    (Clutches her own throat)

    No one wants a strangled wine.

    CHASE

    Jazz drinks any kind of wine.

    ZOYA

    Jazz? What kind of name is that?

    JAZZ

    It’s a nickname. My name is Jasmyn Suzino.

    ZOYA

    (Thawing. She is cautious and protective, not mean)

    If you’re important to my son I’m so glad you’re here.

    CHASE

    She’s very important to me. 

    ZOYA

    I hope you like Welsh rarebit and Coquille Saint Jacques.

    JAZZ

    Sounds delicious. I hear you do your own cooking?

    (CHASE takes bottle and opener from his mother.)

    ZOYA

    Love is the main ingredient, I always say. Red or white?

    (She pulls down wineglasses from the overhead rack. There are several bottles of wine.CHASE opens them one after the other. JAZZ looks a little scared as if she might have to drink all this)

    JAZZ

    Oh, whatever.  May I have ice, please?

    CHASE

    (Being a Farrell)

    No.

    ZOYA

    Oh, for heavens sake let her have whatever she wants!  Lemon, sugar! Anything! This is a party!

    (Slaps out an ice bucket)

    CHASE

    Taste it without ice first.  It’s Christmas wine from Lebanon.

    JAZZ

    Wow.  Delicious.  You’re right….forget the ice.

    (JAZZ sits at the bar – ZOYA blots the corner of JAZZ’s mouth with a napkin, lays napkins down.  What with spoons and potlids, she gives an impression of sacred priestess juggling sacred tools)

    CHASE

    Mom made all this lace herself.

    JAZZ

    Awesome. Exquisite.  I didn’t know humans made lace.

    CHASE

    Mom was beaten into submission by nuns. You propitiate the gods by giving them lace. 

    ZOYA

    (Raps him sharply with a spoon)

    Stevie, you heretic! What will our guest think?

    CHASE

    “Make our damn lace or be consumed by the Holocaust!”

    ZOYA

    Stevie! Oh, what’s the use? You’ll never change. I forgive you.

    JAZZ

    Uh, the flowers on that cake look almost real.

    ZOYA

    I love making sugar flowers.  Those are lilies and camellias.  I wore them at my wedding.

    CHASE

    Mom studied pastry making at the Cordon Bleu in Paris. 

    ZOYA

    It was just a summer course. Canapés or crudités?

    CHASE

    Crudity always.

    JAZZ

    (To CHASE)

    Paris!  Were you there?

    CHASE

    Naw.  I was just a bullet in my father’s bandolier in those days.

    ZOYA

    Oh, Stevie!  You’re such a silly! How I love you! No, he’s never been to Paris.  We’ve not been back. That was our honeymoon, so long, long ago.

     (Seems like she might cry) 

    It’s so hard to keep the rarebit from separating. 

    (sniffs – offers a plate)

    Duck pâté?

    JAZZ

    Er, sure.

    (ZOYA and CHASE toss off their wine, he refills their glasses.  JAZZ holds hers against her chest. ZOYA reaches down a platter)

    ZOYA

    I love to cook! Following a recipe to make things right. I wish people ate more, but they’re always on such weird diets. Cyanne’s a vegan who won’t eat gluten.  Everything’s changed. I used to pick my own watercress but now I’m afraid of the fisher cats. 

    CHASE

    Fishers eat squirrels, mom, not people.

    ZOYA

    Somebody needs to eat those squirrels. They’re too assertive. But it’s the fisher cats who scream – like someone being murdered.

    CHASE

    They’re nocturnal, Mom.  And watercress is out of season.

    ZOYA

    (Fighting back tears)

    So how does your family celebrate grand occasions, Jasmyn? I’m sure it’s something more splendid than a homely family party.

    JAZZ 

    (nervous)

    We make a lot of toasts.

    (She lifts her glass. ZOYA and CHASE both drain their glasses and immediately refill as if that’s what etiquette requires)

    ZOYA

    Stevie, you say the blessing.

    CHASE

    You’re going to have to stop calling me that, Mom.  My name is Chase.

    ZOYA

    But that’s a stupid name.  It doesn’t mean anything.  Steven was your grandfather’s name.

    CHASE

    But he’s gone. You want me to be gone?

    ZOYA

    I’m praying you never leave again.

    (Lifts her glass)

    Zemlya pukhom!

    CHASE

    It’s your birthday, Mom.  We toast to you.

    (He raises his glass)

    ZOYA

    (Abashed, almost frightened.)

    No more bad luck.  I’m not fit to catch God’s eye. Dolgaya zhizn!

    JAZZ

    What’s that mean?

    CHASE

    Long life.

    JAZZ 

    Long life!

    (They drink. A moment of happiness. Enter CUTTER FARRELL dressed as if for wild weather.  CUTTER slowly removes outer gear but continues to play with belt – appraising the group as if wondering who to use it on. He is a cold, cold-eyed man, a paler, blockier version of CHASE. Accepts drink from placatory ZOYA)

    CUTTER

    Filthy night. What have we here?

    ZOYA

    Stevie brought a friend to my birthday party! Isn’t that exciting?

    CUTTER

    (Takes drink, cranes his neck insultingly)

    Little Stevie brought a date?  Where is he? I don’t see him.

    (JAZZ steps up bravely and offers her hand)

    JAZZ

    Hi, I’m Jasmyn Suzino.

    (CUTTER takes her hand and presses it to his chest, looking her up and down at his leisure)

    CUTTER

    Where did this dark-eyed beauty spring from? Be still my loins.  I’m Cutter Farrell, young lady. Pleased to make your acquaintance.

    JAZZ

    (Awkwardly)

    I go to school with Chase. Er – Steven.

    CUTTER

    Bet you met him yesterday.

    (JAZZ reacts as though this might be true. CHASE steps forward, detaches JAZZ’s arm)

    CHASE

    Pick on someone in your own weight class, Dad.

    CUTTER

    And that would be you? I’ve heard braggadocio but I’m getting tired waiting.

    ZOYA

    (Panicky)

    Please don’t fight. It’s my birthday.

    CUTTER

    I don’t like surprises.  That’s all.

    (Pops some savory in his mouth and drains half his drink)

    So. Suzino.  What kind of a name is that?

    JAZZ

    It’s Portuguese.

    CUTTER

    Is there a Dad in your picture?

    JAZZ

    (After a beat)

    Not really.

    CUTTER

    That’s the Portuguese in him. We Irish, now, keep families together. We hang on till every lost dog is drawn and quartered.

    (ZOYA snaps tensely at CHASE who is eating)

    ZOYA

    (Spanks his arm with her lace napkin)

    Don’t double dip, darling!  It’s disgusting!

    (Blots her forehead)

    I’m sorry.

    CUTTER

    (Poking freely among the crudités tray)

    When’s dinner?

    (ZOYA clatters pot lids hopelessly)

    ZOYA

    Half an hour.  Forty-five minutes.

    CUTTER

    Just enough time for a private pow-wow.  Bring your drinks, kids. You’ll need them.

    CHASE

    No thank you.

    CUTTER

    I’ve got a business proposition for you. Come along now:  fair’s fair.  You’ve got to give me a chance to get my money back. All the cash I spent on you…

    CHASE

    I’m not putting my money into any of your schemes.

    (CUTTER takes JAZZ’s arm)

    CUTTER

    Fine.  Then your little girlfriend and I will have a sit down. You stay out here with Mummy the way you always preferred, Jasmyn and I will have a heart to heart and find out what’s what.

    ZOYA

    (Desperate)

    Cutter, please! 

    CUTTER

    You cook, dumpling, I’ll entertain our guests.

    ZOYA

    By arguing?

    CUTTER

    I only stand up for what’s mine.

    (To CHASE who’s sliding unwillingly off his barstool)

    You’re going to want to see this.  Believe me. It’s the next biggest thing, and I’m offering you a buy-in on the ground floor.

    CUTTER’S DEN- SCENE XIV.  Macho and dark; leather furniture, deer head, creels and powder horns, gun rack

    CUTTER

    So, what are you studying in this college of yours?

    JAZZ

    We’re participating in a research experiment.

    CUTTER

    I’ll bet you are. Anything to do with the Internet?

    JAZZ

    The Internet?

    CUTTER

    (Shaking his head as he looks at CHASE)

    Where do you get these girls?  You haven’t heard of the Internet, young missy? The World Wide Web?

    JAZZ

    (Blushing but controlling herself at a warning look from CHASE)

    It has nothing to do with that.

    CUTTER

    (Studying her speculatively)

    Well, I can’t answer for how they behave in Portugal, but it’s possible you were pimped out without your knowledge. 

    (Picks up a video controller. CHASE and JAZZ stares stupefied at a screen that flickers dancing shapes over their faces)

    CUTTER

    Look what your boyfriend got you into! It’s a game, see? You can make them do any combination, anything you want.

    (Struggles with his controller)

    How do you make this thing go frame by frame?

    JAZZ

    Oh, my God. It’s US!

    CHASE

    Turn that thing off!

    (CHASE lunges for his Dad, they tussle, CUTTER playing “keep away” with remote)

    CUTTER

    Wait, wait –the good part is coming up! 

    (CHASE succeeds in dashing controller to floor, screen light goes off)

    Here’s a fine thing for a father to have to see! You could at least ensure they disguise the faces – but you all make yourselves so recognizable with those tattoos. Nice birthday gift for mommy, wouldn’t you say?

    (CHASE lunging – they are full-on wrestling)

    CUTTER

    This idea’s worth millions – unless you sign away your rights – AGAIN. But that’s what you do, isn’t it? Anything rather than take dad’s advice! Why don’t you hit me, since you’ve been longing to. Go ahead – hit your father!

    (CHASE manages to turn off screen, throw remote, pushes CUTTER away)

    CHASE

    Come on, Jazz, let’s get out of here.

    CUTTER

    I suppose you’ll claim that was art. 

    (Heavy fake Irish accent)

    Will you be taking it around to the festivals now?  Put it up for the booby prize?

    CHASE

    You’re dead to me.

    (Dragging JAZZ away)

    CUTTER

    I’m dead to you, you spineless party pooper? I’m dead to you?

    (ZOYA appears holding a wine opener pushed to her neck)

                               ZOYA

    I’m dead to everyone and nobody noticed! Nobody even noticed!

    (JAZZ tries to go to her, CHASE pulls her away downstage – lights off on FARRELL RESIDENCE)

  • Rough Sleep – a play by Alysse Aallyn

     SCENE XII – BATHTUB/DRESSING ROOM with towel & clothes rack. HUGE bathtub

    CHASE

    Here we are.

    JAZZ

    God, this is luxe.  Now I’m scared of drowning.

    CHASE

    (Touches her)

    I have a lifesaving badge. 

    JAZZ

    Coming in with me?

    CHASE

    Soulmates should never be apart too long. In relationships timing is everything and we don’t want to miss a beat.

    JAZZ

    Right. We might end up in different universes.  Who’s to say we’d ever get back?

    (She turns on taps, sounds of water flowing – bubbles)

    CHASE

    You’re getting bubbles all over the floor.

    JAZZ

    Who cares? Your mother already hates me.

    CHASE

    (Reaches in to turn off the jets)

    She absolutely does not.  My mother’s not a hater.  Look at this.  There seems to be a drain in the floor.

    JAZZ

    Seems to be? Didn’t you live here?

    CHASE

    Nope. This house is new to me.

    JAZZ

    What a thoughtful vortex we’ve fallen into.

    (They undress.  CHASE has chain tats twisting up his arms)

    JAZZ

    I see you made your status permanent. What with the chains.

    (Touches them)

    CHASE

    I’ve got commitment. How about you? Any tattoos?

    JAZZ

    A tiny one you’ll never find.

    (Slides into bath)

    CHASE

    Sure you want me in there? What if I’m contagious?

    JAZZ

    Here’s hoping we both are.

    (He climbs in)

    CHASE

    You like it hot. Just like my mom.  She thinks you’re not clean unless you remove the top layer of skin.

    (JAZZ dumps bubbles on his head – they play – she squeals – he upends her looking for the tattoo))

    CHASE

    Here it is! I found it!  What’s that – a hummingbird?  A butterfly?

    JAZZ

    (Spitting bubbles)

    It’s a dragonfly.

    (They play.  Ah, love)

    Weren’t we doing something important before we got worm-holed away?

                      (Seductively)

    CHASE

    Nothing as important as this. 

    (Kissing)

    JAZZ

    Now I recognize you without your skin.

    CHASE

    You’ve heard the theory angels are hermaphrodites? 

    JAZZ

    I missed that one.

    CHASE

    You can be my other wing.

    (ZOYA strikes a gong in the front hallway)

    CHASE

    Uh oh. There goes the dinner bell.

    JAZZ

    There’s a dinner bell?

    CHASE

    Mom needs an audience for her extravaganzas.

    JAZZ

    She cooks her own birthday dinner?

    CHASE

    From scratch. She’s a one-woman homemaking army. What does your Mom do for her birthday?

    JAZZ

    We go to one of those sneeze guard buffets where children throw meatballs. Intro to Plague Theory.

    (They wrestle, squealing)

    CHASE

    This is the best bath I ever had. I’m looking forward to getting dirty just so we can get clean again. 

    JAZZ

    I know! It’s so much more fun with two of us!

    CHASE

    No baths with the Bexter?

    JAZZ

    Are you kidding? I had to use reverse psychology just to get him to shave. Please – no more Old Boyfriend talk. Let’s agree when we get out of this bath we will be completely new.

     (Embrace)

    CHASE

    Agreed.

    (Magical moments. ZOYA strikes gong again)

    CHASE

    Uh oh.  Thirty second warning.

    (He climbs out, helps her into towel)

     Time for Lady’s Choice.

    (Rack of clothes in spot)

    JAZZ

    I can be anyone I want? There’s plenty to choose from.

    (Handles clothes)

    Your mother wasn’t kidding. Most of these still have tags. Is your sister even real?

    CHASE

    Sure she is.  She got all the niceness, I got all the meanness .

    JAZZ

    How can she nice and miss Mom’s birthday?

    CHASE

    You’ll see why. How about this one?

    (Prom dress)

    JAZZ

    No I like this one better.

     (Girl Scout uniform)

    CHASE

    Or Pocahontas.

    (Fringed Indian outfit)

    JAZZ

    Or a cheerleader! Maybe there’s a football uniform for you. I have my fantasies, too.

    CHASE

    Better keep it simple. We might have to make a break for it.

    (They don cleaner versions of their old clothes)

  • Rough Sleep – a play by Alysse Aallyn

     SCENE XI – FARRELL RESIDENCE.  (ZOYA, festively dressed excitable little woman with dyed hair teeters forward on high heels)

    ZOYA

    Stevie!

    (She clutches CHASE, kissing him everywhere)

    Oh Stevie, Stevie, I was so afraid you wouldn’t come.

    CHASE

    Miss your birthday?  How could I possibly?  And I brought a friend.

    (JAZZ waves nervously)

    JAZZ

    (Awkwardly extending plant)

    Happy Birthday.

    (Painfully obvious this is way too big a plant for this tiny person)

    ZOYA

    (Making no move to take it)

    Oh, my. That looks so…interesting. Well come in, come in.

    ( JAZZ unloads plant on hall table, looking around, awed. ZOYA regards plant apprehensively.)

    ZOYA

    I suppose I’m ancient, dry and prickly just like this plant. Does it come with directions?

    JAZZ

    It’s a Christmas cactus. It’s going to have three blooms.  See?

    ZOYA

    (Without enthusiasm)

    Lovely.

    (Clings to CHASE)

    It’s so wonderful to see you!

    (She squeezes him)

    Look how tall you’ve gotten.

    CHASE

    (hugs her)

    Good to see you, Mom. You’re looking well.

    JAZZ

    Sorry I’m not dressed for a party.

    CHASE

    Jazz had kind of a disaster. Somebody jumped out of her dorm room window.

    (JAZZ and CHASE exchange looks)

    ZOYA

    How terrible! Were they badly hurt?

    CHASE

    (With relish)

    Killed, Mom. Dead.

    (His mother backs away, looking at the pair of them)

    ZOYA

    Do they give you an automatic A and send you home?

    CHASE

    Urban legend, Mom. You’ve got to stop believing myths.

    (His mother strikes him lightly on the arm)

    ZOYA

    I never know when you’re teasing.

    CHASE

    If Jazz could borrow something of Cyanne’s…?

    ZOYA

    (Recollecting she’s the hostess)

    Of course, of course.  Cyanne has way too many clothes. She’s always shopping. You look about the same size.  She’d say yes but she’s away at college.  She’s pledging my sorority. Quick drink before you freshen up?

    (An expression almost of panic)

    Because I’ve got to get back – back to the kitchen.

    (Backs away as if dragged – exit)

    CHASE

    My Mom always bakes her own birthday cake.

    JAZZ

    Why didn’t you tell me your mother hates plants?

    (Gestures)

    All these plants are fake.

    CHASE

    Mom says growth’s a lot of work. 

    JAZZ

    (Mimes looking at family photos on the walls)

    That you as a baby?

    CHASE

    The very same. Aren’t I adorable? You can’t tell which is me and which is Cyanne.

    JAZZ

    You all look so happy.

    CHASE

    Appearances can be deceiving.

    JAZZ

    So your real name’s Stevie.

    CHASE

    Steven.  Now that you know it, forget it. Just another thing that’s gone.

    JAZZ

    You could have told me. 

    CHASE

    Who knew we’d end up here? I’ve never been good at telling people things. The vortex assumed control.

  • Rough Sleep – a play by Alysse Aallyn

    (BEX appears in a spot on the TOWER LIFT, holding a pair of binoculars and a shotgun.  Scans the stage)

    CHASE

    (Holding JAZZ close)

    You’re making me feel incredibly powerful 

    (They kiss with increasing urgency. BEX appears to focus on them. He racks his gun angrily, climbs down, his spot dissolving.  JAZZ and CHASE’s “shadows” explode hugely against the back wall, seeming to rise up in the air)

    JAZZ

    Feel that?

    CHASE

    I do. Don’t fight it.

    JAZZ

    Who’s fighting it?  You’re the one fighting it.

    SCENE X – SWAP MEET. (When the lights come up the curtain has fallen and JAZZ and CHASEstand outside it, hand in hand, staring into the audience.)

    JAZZ

    Where are we?

    CHASE

    Looks like a swap meet. But all they’re selling is Christmas stuff.

    JAZZ

    That’s weird.

    CHASE

    Especially since I hate Christmas.

    JAZZ

    Who could possibly hate Christmas?

    CHASE

    It never lives up to its billing.

    (RAD appears, pushing a shopping cart. Sets up a table and starts laying out junk)

    RAD

    Hi, guys! Long time no see. You in the market for a knickknack?  Ganja? Electronics?  Jewelry? 

    CHASE

    Is this your gig?

    RAD

    Gotta have a side hustle – gotta get the scratch. You’d be amazed what some people just throw away. How about a nice Christmas cactus? I did have a shotgun but I sold it.

    CHASE

    You sold a shotgun? Who to?

    RAD

    Biker dude from out of town. He said if it didn’t work he would come looking for me.

    JAZZ

    Does it work?

    RAD

    Let’s hope so. Just passing on whatever I find.

    CHASE

    We don’t want anything.

    JAZZ

    Speak for yourself. I’d love a Christmas cactus. 

    (RAD reaches into the depths of his cart and produces an unflowering – apparently dead plant – JAZZ takes it)

    CHASE

    Great. It’s dead.

    JAZZ

    It is not. It only blooms once a year.  Says here, this one’s going to have three blossoms.

    RAD

    Can’t go to the party without a present.

    CHASE

    What party?

    RAD

    Isn’t life a party?

    JAZZ

    So far. 

    CHASE

    More like a bribe for the deadboat captain. So we poor ghosts don’t get shoved into steerage.

    RAD

    That’ll be a hundred bucks.

    CHASE

    A hundred bucks!

    RAD

    This is a rare, one time offer. Not shown on TV. I’ve got bills.

    JAZZ

    Blood money, remember?

    CHASE

    If that’s what you want. You got giftwrap?

    (RAD  produces pink foil and a massive ribbon)

    JAZZ

    Wow. This says “Happy Birthday.” Do we know anybody born in December?

    CHASE

    My mom.

    JAZZ

    Oh, my God! Hide!

    (She drags CHASE down the stage steps to cower behind the stairs. BEX appears with a shotgun, racking the slide. RAD hastily packs up. Both exit offstage)

    JAZZ

    See that?

    CHASE

    He’s gone now. Let’s find the party.

    JAZZ

    Anything to get away from here.

  • Rough Sleep – a play by Alysse Aallyn

    JAZZ
    Time to forgive yourself.


    CHASE
    Oh, that’ll be easy. Walk in the park.


    JAZZ
    I’m still here.


    CHASE
    You’re scared to leave because Bex is out there.


    JAZZ
    That’s not it. I’m here because I want to be. I can handle Bex. His pride is hurt but he’s basically lazy. I don’t matter that much to him. He spent all our time together trying to convince me I was worthless and making him look bad.


    CHASE
    Sounds like my dad. Except I really was all he had. His only son.


    JAZZ
    You’re not responsible for him. Bex wanted me to believe that I was stuck with him, but he wasn’t stuck with me, that I owed him a debt that kept mysteriously increasing.


    CHASE
    Ouch. I need a shower. Want to come?


    JAZZ
    Oh, no you don’t! We’re not finished yet! Why come after Corso? Why pick this college?


    CHASE
    You really want me to roll in it, don’t you? Can’t you just be a good soulmate and fill in the blanks?


    JAZZ
    Total honesty. Full disclosure. Tell each other everything, don’t you agree?


    CHASE
    Maybe.


    JAZZ
    So when Bex bothers me you want me keeping it secret?


    CHASE
    Hell no! Point taken.
    (forcing himself to reminisce)
    I just couldn’t get it out of my mind that nothing bad happened to Corso. No jail time! No publicity. No fines even. They made him promise not to work with children, but he’d graduated to teenagers by that time anyway. I gradually realized the money was to control me, so I wouldn’t tell the police. Blood money. What a bad deal that was. He wasn’t controlled! Rewarded, if anything. I might as well have been protecting him. When I looked him up – there he is running “perceptual studies” at a prestigious college! That sound like “punishment” to you?


    JAZZ
    That would be punishment for me, but I get what you mean.


    CHASE
    So I decided to kill him. It’s the only way. I mean, Corso’s a monster, right? And he’s only getting worse. I grew up, I bulked up, I legally changed my name, I disguised myself every way I could think of. I mean, he hadn’t seen me since I was a squeaky-voiced platinum haired tot of thirteen.


    JAZZ
    But let me guess. He recognized you right away.


    CHASE
    He just assumed I couldn’t live without him. I was there to bring him souls!


    JAZZ
    You confronted him?


    CHASE
    He says the university knows all about his “spot of bother.” There’s no official record. To hear him tell it, we were co-victims!


    JAZZ
    Co-victims!


    CHASE
    Yeah. Of religion. Of repression. Of the fifties, of his parents – you name it. But he’s fine now. Happily married, to a nice older lady who just happens to be rich! He’s “freed” himself, see, from his horrible past and he just wants to liberate everybody else.


    JAZZ
    What a bastard.


    CHASE
    So either I get the goods on him or I kill him. There aren’t other options. If that makes me a monster, then, that’s what I’ll be.


    JAZZ
    Hard luck on me, having a monster for a soulmate. What did I do to deserve this?


    CHASE
    Clearly you attract monsters.


    JAZZ
    You sell us both short. If you wanted to be a monster, you would be one already. You’ve been here four years!


    CHASE
    I got distracted. College is interesting – wrestling, debate club, research, biofeedback… Suddenly I found myself in a much bigger world. But whatever avenue I went down… he was always there ahead of me. Like, he’s the creator of everything and I’m just his mutant, the cuckoo on his clock. I want a world without Corso, a universe to call my own, but… he’s polluted everything.


    JAZZ
    So he still holds you hostage.


    CHASE
    He’s inside me. He’s like, taken over the inside of me. Robbed me of my self. I always seem to know exactly what he’ll do, or say, so in some sick way it’s me doing it. There’s no “me” any more, as long as he’s alive. My only hope is to off him.


    JAZZ
    That’s stinking thinking. If you kill him, he still wins. You’d be linked to him forever. I refuse to lose a perfectly good soulmate. You’re nothing like Corso. He’s soulless and that’s why he collects souls. You’re real. Without a self, how could you have a soulmate? Knowing him just makes him easier to trap. If we’ve learned anything, it is that he’s up to no good. He’s a predator- parasite. We’ve got to keep that straight. Trust?


    CHASE
    If only I could believe in souls. I don’t feel indestructible. I’m staying alive by the force of my resistance.


    JAZZ
    You woke me.


    CHASE
    That’s what we have in common. You resisted Bex.


    JAZZ
    I’ll say! He worked so hard to keep me down. We recognized each other. We’re the same.
    (passionately kiss)


    CHASE
    It’s only our worlds that keep changing.


    JAZZ
    It’s love.


    CHASE
    And we keep falling into it. “Falling” seems more than a metaphor.


    JAZZ
    If we’re in the middle of something extraordinary, we’ve got to stop looking with ordinary eyes.


    CHASE
    But everything’s corpses. Corso threatens life itself.


    JAZZ
    Murderers do tend to round up the refugees.


    CHASE
    He’s poisoning us. The question is whether it’s terminal. I wish I knew what was in that stuff he gave us.


    JAZZ
    Who cares what he gave us? He wants you to think he’s some scientific mastermind wielding a secret weapon. We’re the ones with the secret weapon.


    CHASE
    Some amnesiac, like scopolamine or propanolol. Without memory, he assumes we lose identity. But stress-based experiences are processed like dreams – we keep having flashbacks.


    JAZZ
    And flash-forwards. But we all formed new memories – some of them pretty crazy I admit – but others right on target. Look at Soliz falling through my window, Zane at the toxic dump, Koo with her body-bags. Something happened to us and he doesn’t want us to find out what. Bex wants me thinking he’s all powerful and everywhere so I’ll feel weak and helpless and give up, and Corso’s exactly the same. You must have gotten close –that’s why he fired you.


    CHASE
    He didn’t reckon with us happening.


    JAZZ
    We have a superpower!


    CHASE
    I’m scared the universe is setting us up, just to knock us back down.


    JAZZ
    But the universe loves creators, and lovers are the ultimate creators.


    CHASE
    Creation takes so long and destruction lasts forever.


    JAZZ
    Doesn’t the green growth keep coming up?


    CHASE
    Death is inevitable. It’s life that’s the surprise. In wrestling your attacker takes himself down. We need to find Corso’s weak spot –


    JAZZ
    He’s not immortal, is he?


    CHASE
    God, I hope not.


    JAZZ
    I mean, if he keeps swelling up with everybody else’s souls he’s going to explode. The universe will take care of Corso.

  • Rough Sleep – a play by Alysse Aallyn

    (At Hadleigh Hall, a body lies under a tarp)

    SOLIZ

    They’re not letting anyone in. Do you know who lives in Room 824?

    JAZZ

    Actually, I live there.

    SOLIZ

    Oh, you do, do you? Well, some guy fell out your window.

    JAZZ

    Just like your dream!

    SOLIZ

    (threateningly)

    I don’t know what you’re talking about.

    CHASE

    Some guy? Who?

    SOLIZ

    Unidentified.  You can’t see him, he’s under a tent.

    CHASE

    Can’t Jazz collect her stuff?

    SOLIZ

    Come back later. It’s chaos over there.

    (SOLIZ frees them from tape; JAZZ and CHASE lurch off downstage)

    JAZZ

    This is Soliz’s dream. I remember if she doesn’t.

                               CHASE

    Except this was a guy.

    JAZZ

    Let’s hope it was Bex.

    CHASE

    So now you’re pro-violence?

    JAZZ

    Who’s saying I pushed him? It would be so unlike me.

    CHASE

    So, no going home for you.

    JAZZ

    Hadleigh was never my home.

    CHASE

    Well, you can camp out at my place while we figure out what to do with this new corpse.

    JAZZ

    Makes me harder for Bex to find. On the other hand when he does, he’ll just get madder.

    CHASE

    We’ve got enough problems without worrying about satisfying his unsatisfiable psyche. We’ve got three dead bodies!

    JAZZ

    And God knows how many crime scenes. Explain exactly why soulmating requires detective work?

    CHASE

    Maybe nature is one big crime scene. Red of tooth and claw.

    JAZZ

    You and your classical education.

                               CHASE

    Voilã! Here we are at my place.  

    SCENE VIII – Lights go up on CHASE’S APT – disheveled male bedroom/kitchenette

    JAZZ

    This is definitely a crime scene.

    (Throws herself into a low-slung chair)

    CHASE

    (Sitting close)

    You expected harp music? Hey, you admitted your life was a crime scene too. 

    JAZZ

    I guess I thought the point of soulmates is all the hard work would be magically be done.

    CHASE

    So no going over the past trying to understand and explain the mess? Wouldn’t that be nice!

    JAZZ

    Why can’t we just escape the mess?  The mess would no longer matter. We could rise above the mess.

    CHASE

    Your fantasy forgets about the demons. If we’ve unleashed demons –

    JAZZ

    Who’s to say we unleashed them?  I’m not responsible for Bex.

    CHASE

    Yet he’s out there, rampaging. At least I know I’m responsible for Corso.

    JAZZ

    But Corso’s using your involvement to keep his rampage going. Oh. Touché. I see what you mean.

    CHASE

    We’re dissociating. Living each other’s nightmares.

    JAZZ

    At least we’re braving hell together.

    (they touch hands) 

    CHASE

    If it’s purgatory, graduation’s a possibility.

    JAZZ

    We’re on a multiple universe scavenger hunt! 

    CHASE

    A time and space jigsaw puzzle!

    JAZZ

    We need to get to the crime scene before the crime happens.

    CHASE

    How would we know it was a crime scene?

    JAZZ

    Tell me what you know. What Corso did to you.

    CHASE

    God! You know I don’t want to talk about it.

                               JAZZ

    What specifically are you afraid will happen if you talk about it?

    CHASE

    That this whole thing would shatter right in front of me. I would wreck – whatever this is happening between us.

    JAZZ

    Maybe we’re meant to reveal, not repair, each other’s real selves.

    CHASE

    Let’s talk about your fears and malfeasance. That’s more fun for me.

    JAZZ

    Somebody increased power by sucking out ours. We’re going to reclaim it. Tell your soulmate what Dr. Corso did to you. 

    CHASE

    If you know, aren’t you ruined too? How can I stay with someone who knows this disgusting thing about me?

    JAZZ

    I guess we’ll just have to see.  We need to free ourselves to be with each other. 

    CHASE

    But there’s the difference, right there – you left Bex,  I pursued Corso. I came after him. 

    JAZZ

    You are so competitive. If you need to be “worst”, prove it.

    CHASE

    He was a teacher at my choir school. Latin, of all things. We spent an eternity on the Aeneid. God, I hate talking about this. I haven’t talked about it since I was fifteen, with the lawyers and judges.

    JAZZ

    He molested you?

    CHASE

    Between my ninth and thirteenth years. He had a way of making us compete to be “the favorite”. If you could just get on that easy street, life became golden. Finally I saw what a prisoner I was. Mustered up the courage to get the hell out of there.

    JAZZ

    Jesus.

    CHASE

    Great pillow talk, huh?  And that’s not the worst of it.

    JAZZ

    How could it get worse?

    CHASE

    I brought him other boys.  Whatever he wanted.

    JAZZ

    You were a kid.  None of this could possibly be your fault.

    CHASE

    Yet here I am. Still a slave.

    JAZZ

    But you found your soulmate.

    (They hug)

    How did it end?

    CHASE

    It hasn’t ended. I mean, the sex thing ended when Corso met my sister – my twin sister – and decided he was ready to branch out. He was like, deliver her or else.  That woke me up. I went home and refused to go back to school.  I finally told my parents.

    JAZZ

    And?

    CHASE

    They pretty much behaved the worst they possibly could.  First, they didn’t believe me. My dad has always been a total bastard making fun of me for singing in a high voice and wearing a lace collar and Mom was sort of a “the church can do no wrong” nut. You know, like, who are you going to believe, a priest or your own lying eyes?  They just couldn’t take it in.  But then a kid at school hanged himself and things started to snowball. Corso got kicked out. People started suing. My dad smelled a payday. The other families accepted settlements not to squeal. Everybody settled except my father. He was holding out for the Big Money that was going to make all his dreams come true.

    JAZZ

    Then what?

    CHASE

    What always happens with my Dad.  He was having such a good  time holding the whip, he waited too long. The minute I turned sixteen, I got legally emancipated. I could prove that Dad was hitting me – I had the sense to record him – so the judge refused to give Dad the cash. Dad declared bankruptcy and I finished high school on my own. Living at the Y.

    (Restless pacing)

    So on top of everything else, I’m singlehandedly responsible for the destruction of my family.

    JAZZ

    Scapegoating. People need someone to blame, it’s another form of hostage-taking. This isn’t your fault.  Time to forgive yourself.

    CHASE

    Oh, that’ll be easy. Walk in the park.

    JAZZ

    I’m still here.

  • Rough Sleep – a play by Alysse Aallyn

    CHASE

    Here’s more fodder for my theory that reality is totally submerged – it’s never what you think you see.

    JAZZ

    Sounds deep.

    (CHASE plays with his phone, paws through lists, makes a choice, phone to ear)

    CHASE

    Uh oh.

    JAZZ

    What gives?

    CHASE

    Howk’s work phone at the Health Center is disconnected.

    (Paws through more lists, tries another number)

    And her voicemail is full. I’m listening to it now.

    JAZZ

    You’re listening to her voicemail?

    CHASE

    Default pincode. Most employees never change it. Sounds like she didn’t show up Friday and they can’t get hold of her. 

    JAZZ

    That’s not good. Any calls from Corso?

    CHASE

    Not one. And that’s not good either. Let’s try something else.

    (Fingers phone)

    She lives at Punch Drunk Apartments.  Punch Brook’s it’s name but Punch Drunk’s more appropriate to the lowly adjuncts.

    JAZZ

    Poor Howk.

    CHASE

    Not answer there either.

    (Stands up)

    It’s a five minute walk.

    (They walk to the edge of the stage.  BEX darts out, snaps a picture of them)

    JAZZ

    Kiss me, quick.

    (Throws herself into CHASE’s arms for a long smooch. BEX exits.)

     SCENE VI – HOWK’s APARTMENT

    CHASE

    How’d you do that?

    JAZZ

    Giving Bex material for his revenge porn site.

    CHASE

    Not what I mean. How’d we get here so fast?

    JAZZ

    You said it was a short walk.

    CHASE

    Not that short. You kissed me.

    JAZZ

    You liked it.

    CHASE

    You triggered a flashback.  Maybe we’re dreaming. Maybe we’ve fallen into some weird wormhole vortex thing.

    JAZZ

    Ugh.  Just one more crime scene. What happened here?

    (She pushes a door, it falls down)

    Is this even true?

    CHASE

    Maybe it’s meta-truth. Super-truth.

    (Furniture thrown around, plants and upholstery dismembered)

    Somebody had fun.

    JAZZ

    Why’s the multiverse such a nasty place? And what’s all this pink stuff?

    CHASE

    Looks like insulation.  Somebody searching for something.

    JAZZ

    Well, they must have found it.  The bedroom’s untouched. 

    CHASE

    I don’t believe it. There’s no body?

    JAZZ

    I didn’t see one.

    CHASE

    Did you look under the bed?

    JAZZ

    You look under the bed! I’m opening this closet!

                      (Disgusting corpse falls out, suspended mid-air)

    Aaargh!

    CHASE

    That’s Howk all right. She looks – drowned. And her skin’s all eaten off with some kind of acid.

    JAZZ

    I’m getting out of here. Everywhere we go is death. 

    CHASE

    Smells like Corso. That’s Corso’s M.O. Find out what’s alive and kill it. He stinks of sulfur. My guess is he was searching for whatever she held over him. Better get the drop on him before he comes after us.

    JAZZ

    Maybe that sex tape?

    CHASE

    But that’s over at his place. 

    JAZZ

    Maybe we’re going backwards and forwards in time. A U-turn in the multiverse.

    CHASE

    Maybe he killed Howk and hid her body. Remember Zane’s dream?

    JAZZ

    The abandoned warehouse? The toxic condemned site?

    CHASE

    Perfect place to stash a corpse.  People are afraid to enter. Very Corso.  

    JAZZ

    OK you solved this one. God, you’re competitive. 

    CHASE

    History is moving us forward. It has to.

    JAZZ

    This just isn’t what the Tibetan monks promised me. The moment we considered love, death was everywhere.

    CHASE

    I prefer Dante. Dante’s my guide.  He says you go through hell to get to heaven.  

    JAZZ

    Dante! Weird subject for psych majors!

    CHASE

    There’s a lot about me you don’t know. You need a firm grip on purgatory to understand law.

    JAZZ

    I think I’m coming down with something.

    CHASE

    You’re coming down with me. Kiss me.

    JAZZ

    (Fending him off)

    What if I’m infectious?

    CHASE

    If you’re my soulmate I’m hoping you’re infectious. Maybe I could get back my soul.

                               JAZZ

    Where’d it go?

                               CHASE

    Taken hostage.

                               JAZZ

    By –

    (Their kiss triggers police car lights & sirens)

    You’re right, I feel better.

    CHASE

    Sirens when we kiss – that’s a first for me.

    (They kiss more)

    JAZZ

    Are they after us or our crime scene?

    CHASE

    We’re after them. Look where we are.

    JAZZ

    This is my dorm! Are you thinking what I’m thinking?

    CHASE

    Let’s kiss forever.

    SCENE VII – Outside Hadleigh, FRESHMAN DORM

     (Enter SOLIZ, dressed like a security guard, stringing crime scene tape)

    SOLIZ

    Hey!  Watch your step!  Respect my perimeter! O, hi guys.

    (They can’t step away – tape impedes)

    JAZZ

    What the hell happened here?

    SOLIZ

    Nobody knows. Keep moving.

    JAZZ

    But this is my dorm! I live here!

    SOLIZ

    They’re not letting anyone in. Do you know who lives in Room 824?

    JAZZ

    Actually, I live there.

    SOLIZ

    Oh, you do, do you? Well, some guy fell out your window.

    JAZZ

    Just like your dream!

    SOLIZ

    (threateningly)

    I don’t know what you’re talking about.

  • Rough Sleep – a play by Alysse Aallyn

    (CORSO doesn’t like CHASE and JAZZ’s new alliance. They walk toward steps while lights go down on DREAM LAB. CORSO exits huffily)

    Scene V – Cafe

    JAZZ

    You owe me a sandwich for backing up your lie, you lying liar.

    CHASE

    Liar? I was just being a gentleman. Don’t kiss and tell.

    JAZZ

    Somehow I doubt your motives.

    CHASE

    Never give monsters bones to make their soup.  

    (He shepherds JAZZ up the steps to SCENE V –  CAFÉ set: table and chairs are set up beneath Tiffany lamp upstage another table with two hunched unidentifiable figures in close conversation at distant table)

    Any truth you give Corso, he’ll use it against you.

    (Calls offstage)

    Two specials!  Meat on the side! And plenty of Joe.

    JAZZ

    What’s the special?

    CHASE

    Whatever it is, it’s the only thing they didn’t make yesterday. That’s why we call it “Chem Lab”. I take it you’ve never been here before? Vegan?  Gluten-intolerant? I’ll eat anything you don’t.

    JAZZ

    I’m on meal plan. I’m currently omnivorous but I aspire to someday be selective. How about your aspirations?

    CHASE

    Aspirations are good.  I’m pro-aspiration. At the moment, I aspire to anonymity.

    JAZZ

     You failed anonymity in dream lab. 

    CHASE

    I had a job to do. I did it.

    JAZZ

    Getting yourself kicked out?

    CHASE

    That was inevitable. I made it through one round, and I found out what kinds of dreams everybody’s having. Now we put it together, like a psychotic jigsaw puzzle.

    JAZZ

    Are you ever going to tell me why are you so pissed at Corso?

    CHASE

     Because he took something from me and he won’t give it back.

    JAZZ

    Maybe. What’d he take?

    CHASE

    My future. 

    JAZZ

    Can he prevent you from graduating?

    CHASE

    If he makes me a killer. Corso needs to be put down like a rabid dog. It’s a dirty job but someone’s got to do it.

    JAZZ

    Please don’t even joke like that. Nobody can take away your future without your cooperation. Go be a lawyer. You’d make such a great lawyer. You argue with everybody.

    CHASE

    So help me get evidence against him and I’ll let the cops take him off my hands.

    JAZZ

    You’re obsessed.

    CHASE

    I call it goal-oriented. Russian-Irish is a volatile mixture.

    JAZZ

    It’s tunnel vision. There we were, standing right at the edge of the soulmate multiverse and where do you want to go? Corso’s apartment! What is it with men and threesomes?

    CHASE

    You went to a morgue. So what do you know about the multiverse?

    JAZZ

    You should have done the reading! Retrocausation. Many Worlds theory.  If the universe is infinite then every possible outcome must happen somewhere.

    CHASE

    So I kill Corso in some other world?

    JAZZ

    Haven’t you heard that if you look too long at a monster you become the monster?

    CHASE

    Too late. 

    JAZZ

    Are you telling me that my soulmate is a monster?

    CHASE

    I’m starting to see why we belong together. You should segue out of pre-fashion into pre-law.

    JAZZ

    I’m allergic to violence. Violence is flirtation with losing control. It gives you nowhere to go. 

    CHASE

    You referring to that big bruiser who’s stalking you?

    JAZZ

    Maybe.  He represents my official knowledge of crazy. But now it’s over and I don’t have to talk about it.

    CHASE

    “Those who make a peaceful revolution impossible make violence inevitable.” 

    JAZZ

    Oh, please. Your evidence hunt makes sense at least. Let’s do that instead. You get to find out about Corso and I get to find out about you. Where would you go first?

    CHASE

    Well, I want to go to his office but I’m afraid he’s in there. That nympho-slut Nurse Howk is probably his weak link.

    JAZZ

    Don’t slut-shame. She’s probably one of his victims.

    CHASE

    Naah. She’s a fully consenting sub-monster. Didn’t she try to ooze all over you?

    JAZZ

    She’s just living up to the archetype. It’s one of the signs of a victim.

    CHASE

    Meaning what?

    JAZZ

    Don’t you know what an archetype is?

    CHASE

    I’m a psychology major, I hope I know what an archetype is. I’m asking if you know what it is, and since I’m not getting any answers, I’m going to go see what’s keeping our food.

    (Stands up, exits.  Big, ugly, longhaired BEX looms up from darkness and pounds his hands on JAZZ’s table)

    BEX

    Is that the guy? That’s the weasel you’re dumping me for?

    JAZZ

    Bex! I told you to get gone.

    BEX

    I’m just trying to talk to you since you won’t talk to me.

    JAZZ

    (Tries to stand up but he’s pushing the table into her)

    Bex it’s over!  How many ways can I say it? Don’t you have a job to get back to?

    BEX

    And that player doesn’t?  So now I’m not good enough for you?  Is that it?

    JAZZ

     I don’t get what you’re making a big deal about – you’re the one that said we’d never be exclusive! Go find someone else to torture!

    BEX

    (Leaning in threateningly)

    You’re not the boss of me. 

    (CHASE returns with tray) 

    CHASE

    This dude harassing you?

    JAZZ

    Just go, Bex. Go home.

    BEX

    Who’s gonna make me?

    (Two figures stand up at the distant table and advance – it’s ZANE and KOO)

    ZANE

    Having trouble here?

    (BEX knows when he’s outnumbered and retreats)

    BEX

    (Shouting over his shoulder)

    Better get ready! This means war!

    (ZANE and CHASE high-five, ZANE returns to his table – KOO puts a hand on JAZZ’s shoulder)

    KOO

    We’ve all been there.

    (Exit KOO and ZANE)

    CHASE 

    (Comforting JAZZ whose head is in her hands)

    Nice guy.  I think I understand what you saw in him.

    JAZZ

    (Writhing with mortification, sits down, head on table)

    I’m so sorry. What can I say? He’s a jerk, but pickings were slim. 

    CHASE

    (Serving sandwiches and coffee)

    Hey, everyone’s entitled to at least one monster. The good news is, today’s special is meatloaf.

    (JAZZ inspects inside her sandwich)

    JAZZ

    I think I lost my appetite.

    CHASE

    More for me.

    JAZZ

    The coffee’s good. Say, Zane and Koo! Huh?

    CHASE 

    I know, right? Think something’s – going on there? Traumatic bonding?

    JAZZ

    They didn’t say anything.

    CHASE 

    We didn’t say anything.

    JAZZ

    It’s hard to say anything when you don’t know what’s going on,

    CHASE

    More fodder for my theory that reality is totally submerged – it’s never what you think you see.