HeLa
by J. Nicole Brooks
EXCERPTED FROM OPENING NIGHT SCRIPT - NOV. 23, 2018 SIDESHOW THEATRE COMPANY CHICAGO, IL
Actor tracklist 5 women 2 men
Actor 1: Little Girl aka Suhaila
Actor 2: Big Titty Pat / Medical Assistant / Cousin
Actor 3: Bird / Woman/ Patient Woman/ Little Girl 2001
Actor 4: Dr. Jones / Major Tom the Action Man / Dr. Brack/ Dr. Gey (pronounced Guy) /Researcher 3
Actor 5: Nurse / Nurse Practitioner / Researcher 2 (Karen) / Assistant / Charge Nurse
Actor 6: Jata/ Hopkins Patient / Researcher 1/ Bird 2001
Actor 7: Steve / Husband Man
… Notates a trailing thought OR a non verbal, organic response from the actor in the moment.
(Parenthesis) around dialogue suggests an aside, a shady remark, or a private thought. For example: John: I love boating (although I get really seasick).
Slashes for Overlapping a single slash in the middle of dialogue signals the following character to overlap. I’ve also used a // to give a bit of a heads up. For example:
Mary: I love eating vegan food / meat eaters are destroying the planet.
John: //Vegan food? It’s so elitist and trendy. No thanks.
For every man who has ever lived, in this Universe there shines a star.
A.C.C. - 2001: A Space Odyssey
ACT ONE
SCENE 1 WHEN PLUTO WAS STILL A PLANET
1981
Blackness. One teeny tiny star in the distance.
Sound: Head by Prince pipes into the space.
A grey stone home on Chicago's west side. The offstage sounds of a house party. Shit talkin, laughter, and a competitive game of Bid Whist. The star grows bright as the basement door cracks open, allowing a sliver of light into the space. Closes. Hard soled shoes ease down a staircase, and into the playing area. Though we cannot see LITTLE GIRL [Black girl curious, sharp 5-6yrs old], she is holding asmall tv/radio with long rabbit ears. She moves around the space, occasionally bumping into things and then settles.
LITTLE GIRL: ...come on…
Little Girl plays with the knobs and frequency modulation. She taps the device. The tv/radio device screen shows "snow" for a few brief moments. WACK. An image of something gold and metallic briefly appears. SPARK. The screen of the device goes black.
LITTLE GIRL: Aw man.
(The door opens, light flooding the dark basement. Little Girl hides. BIRD [Black female 30 tenacious, sharp humor] stands in the doorway. Lights shift, and there is the brief sound of NASA ground control message sequence. Tiny lights glimmer in the darkness.)
BIRD: Little Girl! You down here? Suhaila?
(STEVE [Black male 40s cool as a fan] peers into the basement looking over Bird's shoulder. He likes Bird. A lot.)
STEVE: Say baby, Big Titty Pat want some more drank. You got some more Grandad?
BIRD: If any of y’all nigros want some more drank, gone down to Cut Rate.
STEVE: Cool. Can I bring you back something? Name it. Anything you want.
BIRD: Oh my, ain't you generous.
STEVE:What you want girl?
BIRD: Pack of Virginia Slim menthols, bag of Jays, I want a ice cold RC, a pint of butter pecan ice cream - oh you know what? I'm out of dental floss. And I need a can of oil sheen. What else, oh, I need a new carburetor, the back steps need new steps, tuition money, uniforms, school supplies and books, and better electrics for this damn basement.
STEVE: Ion't think they gone have all that the Cut Rate.
BIRD: Well then bring me back a bottle of VSOP and a card player that don't talk across the table / I saw you jive fuckers!
STEVE: Aw girl you just mad cuz yall ain't get that book. Know you ain't have no five cards.
(Bird purses her lips. Steve runs his finger across her collar bone leading to her cleavage. She smacks his hand.)
STEVE: I tell you how much I enjoy your potato salad? Perfectly sliced eggs on top. Then the way you sprinkle paprika on it...
(He’s closer.)
BIRD: Don’t forget to pick up a bag of ice from the store. So you can cool off.
STEVE: Aw come on baby, don't be that way. It ain't Christian like.
BIRD: I ain't christian.
STEVE: I'm ain't either. I’m a sinner. A heathen./ A lover and a fighter.
BIRD: ( She finally cracks a smile .) //Man...why you so...You be up in the clouds.
STEVE: Naw baby, I move through the clouds. I'm stardust. Showered down to this earth to cover you.
(Bird gives in a bit.)
BIRD: ...Don't come talking that space hoo doo voo doo..
(We hear Sweet Sticky Thing by Ohio Players. It’s Bird’s jam. She tries to hold her ground.)
BIRD: (Re: card game) Bid Whist is my card game and I never lose. Thought you was gone run a Boston on me? Sheeeit, you mighta got to Cambridge… I stopped that hand / Y’all cheated, I know you did.
STEVE: //What you wearin’? Chantilly? Some Jean Nateˊ? Damn you smell good.
(Little Girl scuttles to another part of the basement. Steve leans in for a kiss. Bird playfully turns her head away narrowly escaping his lips. Steve goes in again, kissing her sweetly on the lips. They kiss again more passionately. They look into each other’s eyes.)
BIRD: ... is you high?
STEVE: Yes. I like you. I got 2 days away from that plantation and I ain't got to look listen to, nor think about them ofays. I'd rather look at the black gold of your skin. Come over.
BIRD: No.
STEVE: I’ll even make you some grits in the morning. You like sugar in your grits?
BIRD: Hell naw!
STEVE: Me neither. See we a perfect together.
(Steve kisses the inside of her palm. She considers this but…)
BIRD: Things is different now.
STEVE: Yeah, I hear you.
(The moment is interrupted when BIG TITTY PAT [black female, ageless, boisterous, lovable] collides into the pair. She’s the person at the party with the lampshade on her head.)
BIG TITTY PAT: What chall over here-Awwwwwh shit. Boy I know you ain’t tryna push up on her! Shit, Bird like a eagle. See, Steve you more of a a a sparrow. Eagle and a sparrow don’t hang together.
STEVE: (Oh lord…)
BIG TITTY PAT: Birdie you like Steve?? I ain’t stop yall kissing did I? He got some nice soup coolers.
(Bird is mortified and annoyed. BTP continues to gossip and talk about Steve as if he weren’t standing right next to them.)
BIG TITTY PAT: And gots a good job too!! Type of nigro that hand over the paycheck come Friday.
STEVE: I’m standing right here.
BIG TITTY PAT: I could tell you like him. I seent them googly eyes you was giving him when the Isley Brothers was playin.’ He was dancing with me, but ain’t try to feel on my booty or nothing like that! (turning to him) Although Steve you is welcome to do so, since it’s a party and all.
STEVE:L (Flatly) Thank you Big Titty Pat.
BIG TITTY PAT: My husband might not like it. He a mean drunk. Gotsa drankin’ issue. Only at parties though...
BIRD: What can I get for you Big Titty Pat. What you need?
(Bird’s clipped tone sobers BTP up a bit.)
BIG TITTY PAT: Oh, nothing...I uh, see, I was gon’ check down here-
BIRD: Check my basement? For what? What you tryin’ to go in my basement for? Ain’t no party there.
BIG TITTY PAT: (Lying) Oh, I just wanted to see if you had anymore chairs-
BIRD: Lies. You came down here to see if’n I had any more booze. Am I right or Am I right?
BIG TITTY PAT: Well, yes. You is right. I come for chairs and more booze. Full moon out tonight and we wants to sit up and howl at her! (Then) Gaaadamn. Look at you. Girl you look more and more like your sister. You know that?
(BTP catches the slightest lump in her throat. Bird turns away, uneasy. Steve intervenes.)
STEVEL Hey uh, Big Titty I’ll pick up a bottle for you. I’m on my way to the store right now. Why don’t you gon’ back and join the party.
(Big Titty Pat smiles and drunkenly slaps five’s with Steve. Bird shoots daggers with her eyes. BTP gets the message but has a little fun before departing.)
BIG TITTY PAT: His eye is on the sparrow! (She cackles) Steve I am yo’ disciple. Ay bring me back some Wild Irish Rose!
(Big Titty Pat is off to bother some other party goer.)
STEVE: Pat don’t mean no harm. You alright?
(Bird smiles and nods. Steve laces their fingertips.)
BIRD: Thought a party could change the mood around here, you know? I’d like to go with you, but I got my hands full.
STEVE: It's a hunnard million people here. Your brother or Pat can keep an eye on her. I’ll bring you back in a few short hours. Lemme runa bath for you. Rub them feets down. Oooh yo feet so pretty. You know some peoples feets be disrespectful.
(Little Girl knocks over something in the basement.)
BIRD: Shh.
(She can hear Little Girl's movement. Bird elbows Steve prompting him to cool it. Bird whispers into Steve's ear. Steve steps away momentarily returning with a slice of cake on a little plate.)
BIRD: Oh man! Sure is dark. Wish I had a flashlight. I'd be so afraid, if I was all alone in a dark basement. (elbowing him.) Say something!
STEVE: Yeah,'specially of the boogeyman. He likes base-
(Bird swats at Steve to shut up.)
STEVE: Uh I mean...ain't no boogeyman. He only be in the attic.
BIRD: Well, you can't eat cake in the dark. Oh! I got a big ole slice of coconut cake with pineapple filling! Auntie Pauline recipe. (nothing.) Oh guess what Steve? The mail just come, and well...don't tell anybody yet, but the Sea Monkeys have arrived. Yep. They just delivered by the mailman a little while ago. They up there on the kitchen counter.
STEVE: Well golly wow, that's good news. Sea Monkeys yeah. Say we'd better dump out the punch bowl and fill it with water so they can come party with us. Yeah, we can take toothpicks and make they house castle.
(Still nothing. Steve shrugs.)
STEVE: Maybe she playing hide and seek.
BIRD: (Defeated) Shit. Shit. Shit…I’m not very good at this am I?
STEVE: Let her be in her own world for now. She be alright.
(Steve sings along to the record. Bird laughs and smiles.)
STEVE: Give her some time. Give yourself some time too.
(Steve speaks down into the dark basement.)
STEVE: Dig, babygirl?We just gone leave the cake right here, right by the door. It's here. And...your auntie is here. And, so am I. We here. Ok? We here.
(He offers Bird an encouraging smile. Sweetly strokes her face.)
BIRD: We here.
(Bird and Steve drift off leaving the doorway open. Little Girl's tip across the floor and carefully up the stairs. She sits in the doorway with her radio/tv device. She plays with the antennae. In another part of the space a tiny light twinkles. Little Girl wacks the tv device again, this time it comes into focus. Carl Sagan’s voice narrates Cosmos on the device.
SAGAN (V.O): ...a journey through the cosmos. We'll encounter galaxies, Suns and planets, life and consciousness, coming into being...evolving, and perishing. Worlds of ice and stars of diamond, atoms as massive as Suns......
Increasingly lights twinkle throughout the space. Little Girl eats her cake, as the glow of the tv brightens. Her afro puffs look like satellites. Sound of frequency modulation in the soundscape.
SCENE 2 WHERE ANGELS TREAD LIGHTLY
Jan 1951
(Lights up on DR. GEY [ tenacious, scholarly, quirky, mischievous Headof Tissue Culture Research at Hopkins] speaking in a “lecture hall” to his audience.)
DR. GEY: I want to rid the world of cancer. I’m convinced the way to do this lies inside the human cell. For twenty years I have been trying to grow human cells in test tubes. So that in test tubes, the secret of cancer cause could be exposed. And once exposed it could be altered and corrected. In 1951 a Negro woman called (___sensor tone__) came to Hopkins seeking treatment for Intermenstrual bleeding and abdominal pain.
Lights up on a cold exam room. 1940s style gynecological wooden exam table, medical illustrations, sundry jars with cotton balls, tongue depressors, swabs, gauze, etc., A patient in a starched white hospital gown WOMAN [30 sweet, gentle] stands near the counter looking at the wooden exam table, unsure of what to do. Her street clothes and purseare neatly hung on a hook. She takes in every inch of the room, absentmindedly chipping away her nail polish. NURSE [40s-50s white female, no nonsense and accurate] walks up the "hallway" stopping at the room. She flips the color coded room signal flag. She enters the room, moving like an octopus with set up. She wheels over a stainless steel instrument stand prepping the instrument tray with instruments: a vaginal speculum, lubricating gel, endocervical wood scraper etc., The stand has a sign on it "COLORED". Woman remains standing near the counter.
NURSE: Verify your name.
WOMAN: Morning. My name is (____sensor tone____).
NURSE: Date of birth?
WOMAN: August 1st, 1920.
(The nurse makes a few quick marks on a chart. Woman picks at her nail polish. The Nurse squints while reading through the chart.)
NURSE: Can’t hardly read this… Did you fill this out?
(Woman hesitates. She’s illiterate.)
WOMAN: ...I had... A lady in the lobby. She was real nice. I don’t...Sorry if you can't make it out.
NURSE: He's busy today and I need you charted properly. Come sit on the table.
(Nurse fills out parts of the form throughout. Woman crosses to the table sits, and starts to recline.)
NURSE: Remain sitting upright.
(Woman pops up, embarrassed. Offers a polite smile.)
NURSE: Start of your last period?
WOMAN: Miss that's part of why I came. I been bleeding outside my time.
NURSE: I need a date. Start of your last period?
WOMAN: ...uh...I guess I've been bleeding so much I've lost track a bit. I been bleeding most of the month. My time should be around the middle of the month or so--the 18th.
NURSE: Sexually active?
WOMAN: I'm married.
NURSE: Sexually active yes or no?
WOMAN: Yes, ma’am.
NURSE: Do you have one or more partners?
WOMAN...Only my husband.
NURSE: Does your husband engage in sexual activities with other partners?
WOMAN: (defensive) We happily married-
NURSE: Answer the question directly. Yes, no, or you don't know.
WOMAN: I don't know...Yes.
NURSE: Do you experience pain during sex?
WOMAN: I… I’m not sure-
NURSE: Do you bleed after sexual intercourse?
WOMAN: Hard to day.
NURSE: Do you experience pain in the lower abdomen? Your belly, pelvis?
WOMAN: I feel pressure down there. From the baby, I figure. All my parts feel like they trying to get back in place, you know? I guess it’s a little uncomfortable.
NURSE: Do you have a history of sexually transmitted diseases? Has any doctor ever treated you for syphilis, gonorrhea, genital warts?
WOMAN: No. (hesitates) I mean...I been treated before for- It was like a rash...I took penicillin. Didn't need to long, felt fine... my husband he... But like I say, they gave me treatment and I still been able to have my babies and be alright.
(Nurse gives Woman a look. We can’t quite tell if it’s one of judgement or empathy.)
NURSE: To your knowledge, has there been any abnormality of your cervix?
(Woman doesn’t understand the question.)
NURSE: Has a doctor ever told you something is wrong with your cervix?
WOMAN: I...I don’t think so. Uh...No? I’m not sure. What is the cervix?
(Nurse doesn’t bother explaining.)
NURSE: How many children do you have?
WOMAN: Five.
(Nurse records info. A short silence. The nurse reads something on the chart.)
NURSE: When was your last visit here?
WOMAN: When I had my baby ma’am.(proudly) September Nineteenth, bless god.
(Nurse searches through paperwork.)
NURSE: Wait here. And do not chip that nail polish all over my floor.
(Nurse exits. Woman hops to her feet, pressing her palm to the ground picking up any nail paint chips. She dusts her hands over a small trash bin. She leans against the counter again. She is taken by emotion and quietly begins to cry. Nurse re-enters with more folders and paperwork. Woman quickly recovers wiping tears and takes her seat back on the table.)
NURSE: I have records here that show you had a term delivery September 19th, but I see no notes on a six week return visit.
WOMAN: You know after 5 babies, you get to know yourself a bit. I healed up good.
(Nurse gives a look; makes notes.)
WOMAN: I just...been noticing a few things-
NURSE: That’s why we schedule follow up appointments. Besides excessive bleeding outside your regular menstruation are there other symptoms you want to inform us of?
WOMAN: ...um, sometimes I have discharge...it's..mucus or something, when I’m not bleeding. And being with my husband can be hard some nights. Not always-
(Nurse is clearly losing patience.)
NURSE: So you do have pain during sexual intercouse?
WOMAN: Well, I don’t always like it-
NURSE: I’m only going to ask you again girl, do you have pain during intercouse yes or no?
WOMAN: (She comes clean) Yes I do. I bleed a lot afterwards. More and more so.
(Nurse makes notations on the chart. Woman grows uneasy.)
WOMAN: But the reason I come ain’t got nothing to do with my husband… I feel…well, I feel like something is wrong in my womb. I feel a knot- a knot inside me. Something is wrong in the neck of my womb.
(Nurse finishes writing. She walks over to the weight/height scale Woman hops off the table and steps on to the scale. Nurse adjusts scale, records weight. Extends ruler, records hw. Nurse takes the chart and places it in a slot for the doctor. She changes the flags outside the door and exits. Woman goes back to the table and sits.)
Lights shift abruptly to blackness. The tiniest lights twinkle creating bright stars, notable galaxies and deep sky.
JATA [black female, electric, ageless] appears to be in an unconscious state. She wakes with a start. Her physicality suggests physical prowess. Stands, walks around space. Touches objects. Maybe she organically moves about as one might when they discover they’re all alone.
No sign of life (that she can identify) seems to be within touch. But OFF there is so much to take in. A strange brightness that glows in the space. Some of the glow comes from her gold metallic wardrobe and space helmet.
In another part of the space, a tight FLASH of light on LITTLE GIRL/ SUHAILA looking towards the sky. She listens to music from her walkman headphones.
Jata removes her helmet. She sits on what appears to be the lip of a flying saucer or some precious metal design element. Jata kicks her legs. Another FLASH of light on Little Girl. Jata’s spine goes erect. She turns her head. She closes her eyes briefly using both hands to touch her womb.
Her body has the slightest undulation. One arm becomes stiff, while her finger ticks. When Jata finally decides to speak, sometimes she talks to herself. Sometimes she speaks directly to her audience.)
JATA: RCW 86. The first human recording of a supernova in the sky. The salt lickin’ Romans wrote about it, 185 years after the birth of Jesus the Christ. But the Chinese recording is where the beauty lies. Two thousand eight hundred eighty three years after the birth of the yellow emperor. A strange star appeared in the middle of Nan Mun... It was like a large bamboo mat. It displayed the five colors, both pleasing and otherwise. It gradually lessened. Lessened... Lessened. Shit I guess less is relative. ‘Cause I’m right here and It’s right there. But now look at it.
She stayed in the sky for eight months. Shows how complex A star’s afterlife can be.
She stayed in the sky for as long as she could. The stellar explosion, A hollowed out cavity-
(Jata gestures towards zero gravity)
A.D. 185
(Jata gestures towards gravity)
A.D. 1-9-5-1. In 1-9-5-1, The shattered remains ultimately spread out to great distances in order for a new bright star To shine. To be. I am I be… The evolutionary stages of a star The stellar evolutionary stages…
(Jata goes still. She looks around.)
JATA: I remember I remember one time… What is time? ...time is...shiiid Who cares about time? Time is a construct. Time is a thief That’s what I remember they say down there on that pale blue dot, Infested by gravity.
But why do I worry about what they say? I’m not there anymore. Don’t quite know where the fuck I am but... Gaaaaaaadam this is trippy Shiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiid. I’m out here. Out here like a Sun Ra record Out here like a muffucka. I am. I be. I am...
(Jata looks out. Her arm goes erect. It makes a motion that suggests she is collecting atmosphere. She exams with her eyes.)
I used to be there, I think. Down there. Look at it. Jive ass planet. The pale blue dot is becoming- Lesser
(She laughs a hearty laugh. Looks off.)
Isn’t it odd that gravity holds everything to earth? X-ray light is the key. The tell-tale signs of the presence of dark matter-
(Jata stops talking. She places a hand briefly on her womb. She steps a little further out, looks off)
(Lights shift and restore back to the hospital exam room. Woman is fully reclined legs in the stirrups staring at the ceiling. DR. JONES [white male 40s easy going, slight southern lilt] sits on a stool, reading Woman's patient notes.)
DR. JONES: Housewife and mother of five. Breathing difficult since childhood due to recurrent throat infections and deviated septum in patient's nose. Physician recommended surgical repair. Patient declined. Patient had one toothache for nearly five years; tooth eventually extracted with several others. Unexplained vaginal bleeding and blood in urine during last two pregnancies' physician recommended sickle cell test. Patient declined. Been with husband since age 15 and has no liking for sexual intercourse. Patient has asymptomatic neurosyphilis but canceled syphilis treatments, said she felt fine. Two months prior to current visit, after delivery of fifth child, patient had significant blood in urine. Tests showed areas of increased cellular activity in the cervix. Physician recommended diagnostics and referred to specialist for ruling out infection or cancer. Patient canceled appointment. One month prior to current visit, patient tested positive for gonorrhea. Patient recalled to clinic for treatment. No response.
(Dr. Jones turns back to Woman. He crosses to a basin with water and cleans his hands.)
DR. JONES: You can sit up now.
WOMAN: Yes sir, thank you.
DR. JONES: I’m going to send these samples off to the pathology for testing.
WOMAN: Do I wait here doctor?
DR. JONES: No, go on home. Won’t be about or day or so for the biopsy results. In the meantime, don’t go seeking any homemade remedies or potions. It’s very important that you follow up. Do nothing until you hear from Hopkins. And when you hear, you must respond and come back. You understand?
WOMAN: Yes sir. (Pause.) Is it something serious?
DR. JONES: Just follow up with me. Good bye now.
(Dr. Jones exits. Woman gets up from the table, crosses to her clothes and begins to dress. Little Girl by The Chi Lites creeps into the distant soundscape. On another part of the stage Little Girl stands in a pool of light. She clears her throat. Looks at the audience. She speaks low, and fidgets.)
LITTLE GIRL: Accretion is the accumulation of particles into a massive object by gravitationally attracting more matter typically gaseous-
BIRD: Speak up. Can’t nobody hear you. Or understand you. Break it down. Help us understand what you talkin ‘bout.
LITTLE GIRL: ...Accretion is the process of growth or increase. Things coming together and cohesion of matter under the influence of gravity to form larger bodies.
BIRD That’s better. Now stop moving around so much.
LITTLE GIRL: (She barely does so) Most astronomical objects like galaxies, stars and planets are formed by accretion. Dust and gas were moulded into meteoroids and-
BIRD: Come on baby, speak louder.
LITTLE GIRL: Um, astronomical objects-
BIRD: What I tell you about starting sentences with “Um.”
(Lights shift. Chicago, Westside. 1984. A half-finished basement. A poster of Mayor Harold Washington hangs alongside the Origin of the Solar System. A small desk/table with school materials, and a cosmic aircraft midconstruction. Steve sits on the basement steps smoking a cigarette, doing the crosswords. Bird busies herself with Saturday morning chores throughout. A lawn mower chomps grass outside in the distance.)
BIRD: Enunciate. Speak with some umph in your mouth. Can’t talk low and removed. People won’t listen. You think people woulda heard Malcolm X if he talked like he had marbles in his mouth? You think people woulda heard-- Steve give her another example.
STEVE: Welp…(he considers this) Nobody would listen to the Commodores if Lionel wasn’t talking long and strong in middle of the song. Lionel would talk, ok? And we listened. It’s all in how you say it. (Your auntie got a weak spot for Commodore records...)
BIRD: Aw man, that ain’t the right kind of example! She talking about science.
STEVE: I’m am too! Biology.
(He flashes a cheeky smile.)
BIRD: See this why I don’t like to spend my day off with him. He like to irk me. Don’t let no boys distract you.
STEVE: You talmbout? I’ma great example. Say youngblood, all the other kiddies doing reports like this? Seem kinda advanced for your grade.
LITTLE GIRL: I don’t know...
BIRD: No they ain’t. This report ain’t even a assignment. She done read all the books and passed all tests. She bored. That’s why I’m having her do the report. Its extra. Gonna present it to the board, they gone see she way smarter than them other punk ass kids-
STEVE: You can’t call kids punks-
BIRD: Yes I can. They don’t do nothing but tease her. And you know Catholic school kids be the worst ones. Sadiddy little... Plus, I don’t like her going to mass.
STEVE: (to Little Girl) Ain’t it just once a month?
LITTLE GIRL: Once a week.
(Little Girl shrugs.)
STEVE: You put her in the school.
BIRD: She there for the curriculum, not the religion. Now Suhaila gone give a report and they gone see, they need to skip her a grade ahead. Or just graduate her on the spot. This girl smart, I’m talking Channel 11 smart. And if they don’t see that, I’m gone pull her out of this school and put her in St. Ignatius or Whitney Young or somebody, shit. They messing with our kids right now. Theyon’t even teach Latin no more in the schools. Baby you learn them Latin roots, and you can speak any mothafuckan language you want.
STEVE: Say, I thought you liked St. Agatha?
LITTLE GIRL: It’s fine.
BIRD: Well I don’t like it. Come on, let's get back to the report.
STEVE: What’s a meteorite anyway? I mean I know what it is- I think...but then I hear the word Meteor. Meteorite. And I get confused. Shit, then there’s the other one-- meteoroid. Why it’s three of ‘em?
BIRD: Oh hush up being silly.
STEVE: I’m tying help her win the science fair!
LITTLE GIRL: (Thanks Uncle Steve. But it’s not a science fair...)
BIRD: Let her focus! Now talk like Shirley Chisholm, or somebody...you know black and important!
STEVE: She right youngblood, you gots to talk strong. Take a deep breath.Good. Roll them shoulders back. Then you stand in there in front everybody and look at ‘em like they short. Stare ‘em down. And then, you hit ‘em with that science talk! Say “here the problem and I am the answer.” Now, talk to me about the report. What it ‘sposed to be about?
LITTLE GIRL: Um...
BIRD: What I tell you ‘bout starting sentences with “Um” and “uh.”
LITTLE GIRL: ...I got the idea for my report about metals while I was reading Atomic 79 ...this book is kinda like a science fiction book. It's about the Myrzaids, this alien race of people ruled by the Golden Queen on Canopus. They’re at war. And because of that war, gold keeps falling into the earth’s atmosphere from space. So the Myrzaids try to send their queen to collect-
STEVE: Say, hold on. You say gold from outer space? They got gold in outer space??
LITTLE GIRL: Well in Atomic 79 -
STEVE: Gold from outer space! (considers) Yeah! Yeah, naw that make sense. Is that why they say aliens built the pyramids? You know I heard that theory.
BIRD: What you talkin? Slaves built the pyramids not no damn aliens-
STEVE: Hush up man, we working! That’s gon’ be a good report Dr. Youngblood. They not ready for this! Out of this world! Gimme some skin!
(Steve and Little Girl slap fives.)
BIRD: Gold ain’t from no outer space. It’s from Africa.
STEVE: She just said it was from outer space.
BIRD: Everythang is from Africa, alright. She is the core of this planet! Ain’t I’m right?
LITTLE GIRL: The core of the earth isn’t a continent auntie.
BIRD: Don’t let nobody run that game on you! Everything come from Africa.
STEVE: Not marijuana. That came from the Chinese.
BIRD: And they came from AFRICA!
STEVE: How you know gold from Africa?
BIRD: I know it ain’t from no gatdamn outer space.
(Little Girl goes to the desk and works on her cosmic construction.)
STEVE: How you know?
BIRD: Oh, you think Buck Rogers came down here and dropped it off??
STEVE: Okay, alright ok. Where in Africa?
BIRD: Everywhere! All of it. Shit, on the west, you know over there... in Ghana with Kwame and them. You know they was the first ones in Africa to kick them white people out.
STEVE: Here she go...
BIRD: But before them white people came, and did what they do, it usta be called the Gold Coast. That lil mess down on Michigan Ave ain’t shit, ok? The real Gold Coast in Africa. Long before them crackers started looting, and stealin’ our kin-
STEVE: And our kin started selling us! / See she like to leave that part out.
BIRD: //That is irrelevant! The richest person that ever lived was a Black king in Africa. Suhaila we read about him, remember? He had alllll the motherfuckan gold. King- king uh..., -king
LITTLE GIRL: King Mansa Musu.
BIRD: -King somebody, shit I can’t remember his name right now. Back in the 1300s. He had all the gold baby! All the power. Before the A-rabs.Before the Europeans. Gold come from Africa. / They don’t want you to know your history!
STEVE: // Whatchu talmbout? Gold come from outer space, she just said it. I bet you something like--gold came from outer space and landed in like Egypt from some dudes in a Parliament mothership. And then humans came. They took the gold left behind by space- and humans did what they did- and gold spread throughout the land- some getting it, some not. It was a lot of gold in Africa and it came from outer space first. Right.
BIRD: She might know science, but I know my history!
STEVE: Look we ain’t gotta argue about it. We both right. (I’m more right), but we both right.
LITTLE GIRL: You’re right.
(Steve and Bird pause their debate, looking to her.)
BIRD: /Who me? I know I’m right.
STEVE://See, told you. I’m right?
BIRD: Tell Steve he wrong.
LITTLE GIRL: Um…
BIRD: What I tell you about um???
(Little Girl looks to Steve. He gives her a “roll your shoulders back” and “stare them down” gesture. Little Girl assumes a more assertive posture. She looks at both of them with confidence and breaks it down.)
LITTLE GIRL: The Earth is about four billion years old. And when earth first formed the beginning was violent and gas and dust moulded into meteoroids- (she addresses a lot of this to Steve) Ok so, a meteoroid is like a rocky object in space, that’s smaller than a planet. It becomes a meteor when it enters the earth's atmosphere. It glows brightly like a shooting star. If a meteor survives a plunge into the earth, then it’s a meteorite. They’re mostly made of iron. But the stony ones have oxygen, magnesium and other stuff. Some scientists think that after the core formed there was a meteoric shower that struck the Earth. Some of those meteorites contained a certain amount of gold. So, yeah... Gold comes from space basically.
(The landline phone rings. A short pause. Steve heads up to answer the phone.)
STEVE: Gaaadamn this girl smart! I even got me a tooth, capped in gold right here. See your auntie thought I was trying to be an flashy pimp, or a preacher or something. I keep tryna tell her I’m just otherworldly, tryna connect with celestial beings.
BIRD: Man, gon’ get the phone!
(Steve exits. Bird looks Little Girl over pride and affection.)
J. Nicole Brooks is an author, actor, director and gremlin. Born on the west side of Chicago and raised by the south side it’s her mission to embrace freaks and geeks, while punching fascists in the face.
@doctaslick