Date: Wed, 11 Feb 2009 08:21:49 -0800 (PST) From: Henry Brooks Subject: Let's Play Short Story Time: Just before dawn. The present. Place: The master bedroom of an upscale apartment on the upper west side of Manhattan ACT ONE SCENE ONE The furniture is expensive but sparse. A king size bed sits stage right. There is a bed stand with a lamp on each side of the bed. Next to the bed stand, stage front and right, there is a closed door leading to a walk in closet. On stage left an armoire and dresser stand side by side. Next to the armoire a closed door leads to a hallway. Next to the dresser an open door leads to the master bathroom. The bathroom door is open and a sink and commode are clearly visible. A large picture window occupies stage rear. The window is covered by sheer curtains but a hint of the Manhattan skyline is visible. As the curtain rises two men covered by a bed sheet are lying on opposite sides of the bed. The room is dimly lit, but lightens gradually as the sun rises. One of the men is snoring quite loudly. Suddenly the other one sits up and socks the snorer on his arm. The snoring stops, but the man continues to sleep. The man who sat up is now seen naked from his waist up. The bed sheet continues to shield his lower body. Sleepily he gets out of bed. He has a beautiful, muscular body. As he stands, he stretches his arms and then adjusts his penis in the bikini underwear he is wearing. He walks to the bathroom and he can be seen peeing with his back to the audience. While he is peeing, the other person resumes snoring. His snoring gets louder and louder. His bed mate gets back in bed and socks him again. The snoring stops. Joe: (yelling) Screw you Richie. Are you ever going to stop snoring and let me get some sleep? Richie: (sitting up with his eyes closed) Whaaa? Joe: (softening his tone) Please Richie, stop snoring. I need to sleep. Richie wiggles up to Joe and snuggles against him. He throws an arm across Joe's chest. Richie: I got plenty of sleep last night. What the fuck time did you get home? Joe: About an hour ago, I think. Richie: Great! And what bimbo Twinkie did you screw last night? Or was it you who got screwed? Joe: Hey, just don't start that shit with me again. You know damn well that when I said that I would move in with you, we had an agreement. We agreed that we didn't have to be monogamous. Richie: You're right. I don't give a shit who you sleep with as long as you're careful. All I ask is that when you aren't coming home, would you please call me. Is that too much to ask? I waited up for you until midnight. Dammit, Joe, I could have been having some fun too. Joe: Calling home like a teenager was not part of the agreement. Look, let me get some sleep and we'll talk later. Richie: You're a fuck Joe, Yeah, we'll talk later. Blackout. The stage darkens for a few seconds. When the lights go on again, the room is bright with late morning sunshine. Joe is alone in bed. The door to the hallway is open. After a second or two, Richie enters through the open door. He is bare-footed and bare-chested, but he is wearing a pair of gym shorts. He walks over to Joe to see if he is still sleeping, and then he shakes Joe's shoulder. Richie: It's almost noon Joe. Are you going to sleep forever? Joe does not budge. Richie turns to leave when suddenly Joe's arm shoots out and grabs Richie pulling him into bed with him. He embraces Richie and begins to kiss him. At first Richie resists but finally responds by kissing Joe back. Joe: Jerk! Don't you know how much I love you? If I've told you once, I've told you a million times. Love is a commitment. I'm totally committed to you, but sex is for fun. I need to have fun with different guys. I can't seem to help it. I know it irks you, but I can't change. Richie: I know. I try to be adult and urbane about it. God knows the last thing I want to impose upon us are middle class, heterosexual values about the sanctity of marriage, but I get jealous. I don't want to share you. The least you can do is bring the guy home and we can have him together. Joe: (pulling Richie closer to him) Bullshit! I know you would never want to do that. Richie: (kissing Joe on his forehead) You're right of course. But Joey, I'm so scared. I'm so scared of losing you. Joe: (kissing Richie on his lips) It ain't gonna happen, Babe. I love you and only you. Richie: Show me. Richie covers the both of them with the bed sheet. He reaches under the bed sheet and it is clear that he is removing his gym shorts and briefs. He throws them on the floor. Joe does the same with his briefs. The two men wrap their arms around each other. Joe: Let's make it quick. I'm starving. Richie: You total prick! Richie sits up on the edge of the bed and retrieves his underwear and shorts. He puts them on. The audience can see enough of him to be teased and titillated. Richie: Get your ass into the kitchen. I'll rustle you up some grub. He exits. The stage darkens for a few minutes. ACT ONE SCENE TWO The room is now lit only by moonlight. It is night. Off stage a door has opened and closed, but no voices are heard. Joe enters the bedroom and flicks a switch. The two bedside lamps illuminate. Joe sits on the bed and begins to remove his socks and sneakers. Richie enters sullenly. Joe: Are you going to be pissed at me all night? Richie: Probably. Joe: What now? Richie: You know very well what. You totally ignored me all evening. You danced all night with that bimbo and your fucking hand never left his crotch. Joe: For God's sake Richie. I was only having fun. The twink was so scared, he didn't even get hard. I think it was the first time he was ever in a gay bar. Besides, I came home with you, didn't I? I wish you could leave the green eyed monster out in the lobby somewhere. How many times do I have to tell you? It's you I love. As he speaks Joe has stripped naked. His back is to the audience and he climbs into bed covering himself quickly. Richie has remained silent as he begins to strip also. When he is naked, he shuts the lights and he gets into bed on the other side. The audience is teased a little more with quick glimpses of his genitalia. Richie: I know that I shouldn't be jealous, but just like you can't resist the twinkies, I can't help being jealous. The lovers snuggle up to each other. They rub their bodies together and begin to kiss. Their activity is barely visible in the moonlight, but there is no question that they have begun to make passionate love. Joe: You're a major fool Richie. I couldn't live without you, even if I do want a Twinkie now and then. Richie: You call two or three times a week, now and then? Joe: Please shut up. Let me show you how much I love you. He kisses Richie and slithers under the bed sheet. Suddenly Richie's body bucks and he begins to sigh and moan. His moans grow louder and stronger as the bed sheet bobs up and down. Finally Richie screams loudly. The head under the bed sheet stops bobbing and Joe re-emerges. He leans over Richie and kisses him passionately. Joe: Does that tell you something? Richie: (kissing Joe) Yes, it does. It tells me that I want to do the same thing to you. Joe: Not until you promise me that you truly believe that you are the only one I love, and that any dalliance I may have with a twinkie is pure recreational sex, maybe even lust. It does not diminish how much I love you. Please say you understand and get off my back. Richie: I'll try to understand, but now, my love, it's time for you to get on your back. The two men lean into each other and kiss as the stage slowly darkens. When the curtain fell at the end of the first act the two actors rushed to the dressing room they shared. They were totally naked. As soon as they closed their door they embraced, kissed and fondled their cocks. "You shithead," Mark said. Zack began to laugh his head off. Mark and Zack had met at the auditions for the play. There was an instant chemistry between them. It was obvious to the casting director as well as everyone else that they made a great couple. They were given the roles of the two characters in this two character play. All during rehearsal, Zack who was playing Joe kept threatening Mark that he would give him a real blow job under the bed sheet on opening night. Mark told him that he better not, but Zack said that he wanted to see how professional Mark would be under the circumstances. "Shithead," Mark said and then repeated. "Shithead, you really did it." "Yes, and you were able to complete the scene. My dick is doffed to you. You were very professional. I'd ask for equal treatment, but we have to get dressed for Act Two." In the second act both actors are fully dressed. The act takes place in the living room of their apartment. Richie's jealously has finally taken all it can take, and the two lovers are splitting. They argue over what belongs to whom, and as they argue they recall the special circumstance they shared when they bought the object they are arguing over. Little by little they realize how bound up together their lives have become. Slowly they realize that they can't live apart and the act ends as they strip naked, and enter the door to the bedroom. The living room is empty as the stage darkens. Zack and Mark put robes on for their curtain call, but some of the audience yell for them to drop the robes. They smile at each other, holding hands and bow to the applause. Back in their dressing room, they remove their makeup and get into their street clothes. "Are you going to blow me again every night?" Mark wants to know. "Nope," Zack answers. "You know what they say in the theater. Always leave them wanting more." Outside the theater they go their separate ways. During the course of rehearsals, they had become good friends and they had made it together a couple of times, but neither had realized that they had fallen in love. So on this very successful opening night, they didn't even think to celebrate together. Mark knew of a rather quiet gay bar on East 86th Street called Dudes. It was a more intimate spot than most other bars in the city. He had arranged to meet some friends there after the performance whether the play was a success or not. He could only hope the critics loved it as much as the predominantly gay opening night audience seemed to have. He wasn't there more than five minute sipping his first gin and tonic when he spotted Zack coming in to the bar. Zack was greeted by a few well wishers when he spotted Mark. He immediately went over to Mark and kissed him on the lips. "Gee, I'm glad you're here," Zack said. "We should have agreed to celebrate together in the first place." A strange thing happened that night. No matter how many friends tried to get their attention, Mark and Zack remained glued to each other. They had no idea that there were other people in the bar. They were in a world of their own. They had fallen hopelessly in love before this night, but now they were finally aware of it. Suddenly Mark started to giggle like a school girl. "What?" Zack asked. "Let's switch parts tomorrow. I know all your lines and you know mine. Then I can give you an onstage blow job at the end of Act One. In fact, I think it would be fun to alternate roles so neither of us gets stale. It's been done before especially in two character plays." Zack looked seriously at Mark. "It's a wonderful idea he said, "but I don't think I can wait until tomorrow night for you to go down on me. Please spend the night with me." He took Mark's hand and they left the bar. Their friends were still celebrating and nobody even noticed when they left. So far neither of them had said the magic words, but as they walked hand and hand to Zack's nearby apartment, Mark leaned over and whispered in Zack's ear, "I love you Zack." "I love you more," Zack said and squeezed Mark's hand even tighter. When they got home Mark gave Zack what he couldn't wait for and a whole lot more. At the theater the next night, they told the director about their idea for alternating their roles. The director wasn't sure, but he said that they could do it that evening and he would decide after the performance. As Act One, Scene Two drew to an end, it was Mark's turn to go down on Zack. The scene was played much differently than the night before. Mark had moaned and groaned with pleasure but Zack was so amused by the whole idea that he kept giggling. The audience believed that he was acting as if he was very ticklish and they laughed along with him. As his passion grew, however, he began to moan and sigh just like Mark had the night before. The audience felt his segue from fun to passion in their own groins, and somehow, as well as Mark had played it (it was real after all), Zack's unintended interpretation was something the audience had no trouble relating to. When the curtain fell, the director told them, that they could indeed alternate the two roles, but he asked Mark to put a little comedy in the blow job scene just as Zack had. The two lovers broke into gales of laughter, but declined to explain their amusement to the director. Mark's tenancy was month to month, and he moved in with Zack as soon as proper notice was given. The nightly audiences could not get over how convincing their love scenes were. One day when the theater was dark, Zack brought home a young twinkie whose territory was Eighth Avenue in midtown Manhattan. It was just intended as a joke and to tease Mark. The twinkie and they fully expected to have a three way, but at the end of the day, neither Mark nor Zack could do it. They wined and dined the young man, paid him and sent him on his way. Alone together that night Mark kissed Zack delicately on the lips and said, "You are all I need or ever will." Zack returned the delicate kiss and said, "Ditto." Art does not always imitate life or vice versa.