Script: School Of Hard Knocks

SCHOOL OF HARD KNOCKS
By Roseanne Lasater


A woman gets into her car and closes the door. There is a young stranger in the back seat.


JAMES

Don’t scream

DONNA

What?

JAMES

Don’t scream. Just sit still and listen.

DONNA

What the…who are you? And why are you in my car?

JAMES

Be quiet and listen to me. I’m not going to hurt you.

DONNA

Hurt me? What? You need to get out of my car!

JAMES

Please don’t make me hurt you. I just want to talk to you.

DONNA

Talk to me?!

JAMES

Yeah, talk to you.

DONNA

You want to talk to me?

JAMES

Yes. Talk to you. That’s all.

DONNA

What do you mean, you’re not gonna hurt me? Do you have a weapon? Is this a robbery?

JAMES

No. I don’t want to rob you. No weapon. Nothing like that. Really. Like I said, I just want to talk to you. I’m not gonna hurt you.

DONNA

Then why did you say it?

JAMES

Look lady, you seem like a nice person. I just want to talk.

DONNA

What? Do you always make this much sense? Who the hell are you anyway? And why are you picking on me?

JAMES

Like I said, you seem like a nice person.

DONNA

Based on what? You don’t even know me. Do you?

JAMES

No. But I can tell.

DONNA

Well, you’re wrong.

JAMES

Lady jeez.

DONNA

Now just get out of my car!

JAMES

Look I don’t mean you any harm. I just want to talk.

DONNA

Oh for Christ’s sake.

JAMES

Please?

DONNA

Please. Is that the problem? I didn’t say please? Okay then. Please get out of my car!

JAMES

No.

DONNA

No.

JAMES

Right. No. I just need to talk. And like I said, you look like a nice person.

DONNA

Thank you I think. So what could possibly be on your mind that’s so urgent and important, that you would ambush somebody to listen to you?

JAMES

I just got back from Iraq.

DONNA

Oh?

JAMES

Yeah. Three weeks ago.

DONNA

Okay, so now you’ve got me curious. What happened? You got home and found out your girlfriend didn’t want you back?

JAMES

No, no, it’s nothing like that. Something happened over there, and I can’t talk to anybody about it, and I just have to talk about it. I need to talk about it. But if I don’t get it out, I think I’ll explode!

DONNA

And you don’t have a weapon?

JAMES

No.

DONNA

Okay. So you pick a complete stranger?

JAMES

It’s just a feeling I had about you. As soon as I saw you shopping in the mall, I had this feeling that you could help me. So I followed you out, and when you put your packages in the car and went back inside…you really should lock your car.

DONNA

Boy, you really are desperate.

JAMES

Yes…I am.

DONNA

So why didn’t you go to a chaplain or somebody like that? A counselor maybe? I mean, for Christ’s sake, this is a parking lot at a shopping mall. Come to think of it, why don’t you go to the VA? You need professional help. I’m just an old lady who shops at The Rack. Why me?

JAMES

I don’t know. I guess I’m too ashamed to talk to anybody who knows me. And I don’t know any professionals. I’ve never been to a counselor. And like I said, I had a good feeling about you.

DONNA

Okay, well just keep this good feeling friendly, okay?


JAMES

Don’t worry. Please, just listen to me, okay?

DONNA

Okay. Okay already. I’m listening. Shoot.

JAMES

Okay. Well, it started out we were just fooling around. Just having a little fun. We didn’t mean anybody any harm. But then it all went wrong, in the blink of an eye, it ended up bad. Really bad.

DONNA

Uh huh.

JAMES

Yeah, cause I was a helicopter pilot over there, see? I was part of the ordinance crew that outfits the choppers with armaments. Before they get deployed in the field. We have to make sure everything is in tip top shape and ready to go. So anyway, part of it is to take them out, the helicopters, you know? We had to take them out on a test flight before deployment. It’s really routine, you know. After a while, it got really dull. So we came up with ways to make it more interesting, and have a little fun.

DONNA

Yeah. I get the picture.

JAMES

Yeah. So anyway, we’d be flying out over the desert and there would almost always be refugees, you know, civilians on the roads…just poor people making their way into the city trying to get away from the fighting. They’d always be in groups, in families, with kids and old people, all together, and they’d have these carts of stuff, all their worldly possessions, all tied onto a cart, even furniture, all kinds of stuff. And they’d always be there, walking along like little caravans.

DONNA

Okay. Got it. So what did you do?

JAMES

So just for fun, we’d buzz ‘em. Do you know what that means?

DONNA

Yes, I think I do. But tell me anyway.

JAMES

We’d fly down, you know, real close to the road, just to scare them. I know, it was a sick form of entertainment. Really stupid. But we didn’t mean any harm, really. We were just bored, and we’d get a kick out of watching them duck and scatter and run off the road. They were like chickens in a barnyard when you walk out into them. They scattered like scared chickens, and we, well we would have a laugh about how funny they looked. And that’s all there was to it really.

DONNA

Just some boys having a little fun…with a helicopter.

JAMES

Yeah. And I swear, we were just playing.

DONNA

Right. And then?

JAMES

And then, this one time, there was this old man on the road. And when everybody else scattered and ran off the road, he just stood there. He never moved out of the way. He didn’t even try to get out of the way. He just turned around and looked up at us. He looked right at us. And I even made eye contact with him. And that’s when I knew he wasn’t going to duck.

DONNA

Oh my God.

JAMES

I tried to pull up, but it was too late. I was coming in too low. I tried to correct, and I almost made it, but the edge of the landing gear clipped him in the neck, and…and…and it took his head off. It decapitated him.

DONNA

Oh my God. That’s really horrible.

JAMES

Yeah, it was. It was horrible. And all those other people that were with him, they all came running back up onto the road, and they were screaming and waving their arms around. And there were little kids there, and their mothers trying to block them from seeing. We didn’t know what to do. There was nothing we could do.

DONNA

You already did enough.

JAMES

We just pulled up and went back to base. We didn’t report it, and for a while we were worried those people would turn us in. But they didn’t. We never heard anything about it. But now I can’t sleep. I have no appetite. And I have nightmares about it. I see his face, the way he looked right at me.

DONNA

Get in the front seat. I want to look at you.

JAMES

You do?

DONNA

Yes, I want to look to you. If I’m gonna talk to you about this, I need to see your face.

JAMES

Okay. (gets in front seat)

DONNA

This changed everything for you, didn’t it?

JAMES

Yeah.

DONNA

No more fun and games after that?

JAMES

No. No more fun and games.

DONNA

Look me in the eyes. I want to tell you something. And I want you to listen.

JAMES

Okay.

DONNA

God forgives you. Don’t shake your head. Just listen to me. I listened to you. Now it’s your turn…And I forgive you too, for what it’s worth. But here’s the thing. Can you forgive yourself?

JAMES

I don’t know. But I don’t think so.

DONNA

Look, when the big problems come along and everything’s a great big mess in life, I know something about this. One thing I’ve learned is there’s usually something we need to give up.

JAMES

Give up? I don’t understand.

DONNA

Yes…there’s something you need to give up. I’m not sure what it is. You’ll have to figure that out for yourself. But a lot of times it’s an idea we have, sometimes it’s a feeling, or maybe a judgment we’ve made about something, about ourselves or somebody else.

JAMES

Oh.

DONNA

So what could you give up?

JAMES

Well, I’ve already given up thinking I’m a good person. I’ve given up on myself.

DONNA

Ah, but can you give up on judging yourself? Look young man, life threw you a hard lesson. At times like this, you have to learn the lesson so you can move on. So tell me, what have you learned?

JAMES

I killed that old man. I never meant to, but I did.

DONNA

Yes, you did.

JAMES

How can I not judge myself? I did it.

DONNA

Yes you did. And what did you learn? What lesson did that old man teach you?

JAMES

Well, I was so sure he would duck. But he didn’t. So I guess one thing I learned is never to assume anything, especially about other people or what they’re gonna do. I guess he taught me to be more careful, and to look before I act. To think before I act.

DONNA

Then he taught you a lot.

JAMES

But how can I believe this was a lesson? A person died.

DONNA

Yes, that’s true. But all of life is a lesson one way or another. I’ve been here long enough to know that’s true.

JAMES

I don’t think God will forgive me.

DONNA

To forgive is to give something up. And don’t think you know what God will do. Don’t try to read God’s mind. It’s not your job to judge yourself, or anyone else. It’s your job to learn and to forgive. Can you do that? Can you forgive that old man for not ducking?

JAMES

Me? Forgive him?

DONNA

Yes. Forgive him.

JAMES

I just want to beg him to forgive me.

DONNA

Do you think he was a wise old man? I mean, when you looked into his eyes, what did you see?

JAMES

I saw an old man. He looked right at me. He was kind. He wasn’t angry…just surprised to see me.

DONNA

Like me?

JAMES

Yeah, like you. Yeah, I guess so.

DONNA

I feel like you’re expecting something from me that I might not have to give.

JAMES

You listened, and you didn’t throw me out.

DONNA

No I didn’t. Do you feel any better?

JAMES

I don’t know. Maybe. Yeah, maybe I do. What did you do to me?

DONNA

I didn’t do anything to you. I just listened. And I think I understood. I tried to understand. What else can one person do for someone else, besides listening and trying to understand?

JAMES

Yeah. I think you did too. Yeah…I was right about you.

DONNA

And you were lucky too. Lucky I didn’t have a handgun in my purse!

JAMES

Wow. How can I ever thank you?

DONNA

You don’t need to thank me, but you’re welcome. Do you really want to thank me?

JAMES

Yeah, I do.

DONNA

Okay. Then here’s what you need to do. First, you’re going to tell me your name and we’re going to be friends.

JAMES

James Gantry. Jamie. And you?

DONNA

Donna. Donna Solomon. So tell me Jamie, are you a civilian now?

JAMES

Not yet, but I will be pretty soon.

DONNA

Okay. When you are, you’re going to go back to Iraq.

JAMES

I am?

DONNA

And clean up your mess.

JAMES

But how do I do that?

DONNA

You tell me.

JAMES

But I don’t even know who they were!

DONNA

Okay, but what do you know?

JAMES

I could never find them, and even if I did, they’d probably want to kill me!

DONNA

If they knew it was you, they might. But they don’t know you either.

JAMES

But there are so many refugees. And they’ve all lost people in this war.

DONNA

Yes, I suppose they have.

JAMES

I could spend the rest of my life helping people over there, and I might never find them. I might never find the right ones.

DONNA

But who’s to say, really, who are the right ones? I mean, Jamie, could you live with that?