Michael James Heartly

Complementary Colors SAMPLE TEXT A Play by Michael Heartly Inspired by a true story CHARACTERS: 7 total – 5 Female, 2 Male HUMA - Female, freshman at NYU. Pre-med. Afghani female. YONA - Female, freshman at NYU. Undeclared major. TAMERA - Female, freshman at NYU. Full Scholarship – Tisch Drama ZOEY - Female, freshman at NYU. Physics major. UNCLE WASIM – HUMA’s Uncle. Afghani. Late 40’s to mid- 50’s. AUNT KINA – Married to UNCLE WASIM. Afghani. Early 30’s. FEDA - An Afghani male. Barely 20. We pick up the Action at the start of the play as the three NYU ladies await the arrival of Huma. YONA Oy, she is such a nebbish. All she does is flop around day and night watching movies. She says she wants to be a critic. HUMA A critic? Does that pay? TAMERA Here in New York, New York, it does. But Yona has primo connections. So don’t worry. Some hack critic can’t derail this talent express! YONA Yes. I have connections. And clean laundry. ZOEY Rosario does her laundry. The maid. And she irons everything for her. I mean everything. Even her unmentionables. YONA Some of us wear clean undies. TAMERA How do you iron a thong? YONA There’s an idea. Let’s take Huma to Bergdorf. We can all pitch in for Christmas and get her a pair of swanky Italian lace unmentionables. HUMA Back home, there is not a large market for … unmentionables. A few of the women ... maybe. But the men… (ZOEY goes to the laptop and begins to type.) TAMERA What about the men? HUMA Nothing. They wear nothing under … ZOEY Commando? Oh god… HUMA It is so gross. Standing in a hot bus. They rub up against you. I hate it. TAMERA Oh no. Disgusting. You can feel their junk? HUMA The clothing in the summer is very… thin. TAMERA Right. And what about those beekeeper suits? Them things cover every inch? What’s with that? (ZOEY points to the laptop screen.) ZOEY (To HUMA.) Hey, Check out these chicks from Afghanistan. Back in the sixties! Check the skirts. They are almost Fifth Avenue ya’all. (TAMERA, HUMA, and YONA look.) YONA. My god. Check them out! At least … Macy’s? TAMERA Tar-jay maybe? (To HUMA.) You have ladies hooked up like this now? HUMA Not anywhere I have ever been. Not these days anyway. Not in my country. Hard to believe. ZOEY Did you ever have to wear a Burka? HUMA Quite the opposite. You must understand, customs were very different (Pause.) For me. ZOEY Yeah, I heard your dad has four wives. HUMA No. TAMERA More? HUMA Let me explain. How shall I put this? (Pause.) Back home we don’t have what you call a ‘yard.’ The traditional family home is square and has four sides. Four walls and an inner courtyard. The husband can have one wife for each wall. Up to four wives by law. He then simply rotates from wall to wall, as he see fit. ZOEY Four seems a nice round number. TAMERA You have more than one mother? HUMA My father has two wives. My mother is the second wife of my father. ZOEY Wow, maybe you should move to Utah! TAMERA Lots of brothers and sisters I bet. Must be crazy at Christmas. Excuse me. No Christmas I am guessing? HUMA No. But here … I can already see the lights and the decorations. I think it’s wonderful. YONA They go up right after Labor Day. ZOEY The night is young. Let’s get crackin’. TAMERA Let’s get this songwriting gig going. HUMA I really have to get to the Laundromat. ZOEY Wrong. We have to get on The Late Show! HUMA More importantly… I have Anatomy first thing in the morning. ZOEY Oh gruesome. HUMA I get my cat tomorrow. YONA You are getting a … a cat? ZOEY (Melodramatically.) Not just a cat. But a dead cat. TAMERA Me – owww. YONA I think I am totally going to pass out … just thinking about you cutting up that poor… ZOEY (Cutting off YONA. Sarcastically.) One of God’s little creatures. HUMA Sorry everybody. I’m still new at this band rehearsal night idea. You can stay if you wish. But I need to get to the laundry. YONA You are on keyboards. No sense without you. I’ve got papers due too. And…speaking of laundry. Let’s get a look at your wardrobe? (YONA goes to the basket and begins to leaf through her clothing.) TAMERA Any designer (Af) Gan-ni rags over there? ZOEY Be nice. (To YONA.) Leave the girls stuff alone. HUMA Nothing too designery for me thank you. YONA Yep… Salvation Army hand-me-downs. Now I know what we are getting you for Christmas, sweetheart. How much laundry can you possibly have? HUMA Plenty. Sorry. ZOEY And Scene! That’s a wrap for tonight everyone. Same time next week? TAMERA Well dang. Ain’t this grand you ‘all. So much for the band. My feet are freezing. Peace out. (TAMERA moves quickly to put her boots on. YONA and ZOEY begin to put their shoes on.) ZOEY. Back to the Reuben? Ah… shoes. Great invention if you ax me. (HUMA puts on a different headscarf.) YONA (To HUMA.) You got that dawlink? (To ZOEY.) Hey Ringo, ring for the elevator. ZOEY Got it. (Zoey pushes the button to call the elevator.) YONA (On her phone.) Yes mom! I am back in my room. I have to get this paper finished. (Beat.) Love you more. Bye. (Puts phone away.) Let’s bounce. (HUMA puts her laptop into the clothesbasket and picks up the basket of clothing.) TAMERA How far is your Wi-Fi laundry Pookie? ZOEY It is like … right next-door. YONA Oh my gaud, I am so not wanting to finish this paper. TAMERA Three way east? ZOEY I’m feeling like west village. TAMERA You get half. Then Washington Square. Let’s go, yo. (The elevator door opens. All four enter the elevator.) YONA When can we see the magic drum set? ZOEY Stuck in Rhode Island. TAMERA Looking for them that’s invisible. ZOEY (mockingly.) A tree knows… YONA Knows you da ho. (The elevator door closes. Lights fade to black) End of Scene ACT I Scene two (Setting: Somewhere outdoors in Afghanistan. HUMA enters. She is dresses the same. HUMA is isolated in her own light.) HUMA (To the Audience.) My village, you see, is very old fashioned. My father’s first wife gave him two daughters. A third daughter died at the age of three months. Then my mother. The second wife. Gave only girls. I have two sisters, and two as you say, half-sisters. Our house was a house of all girls. Our village is very traditional. Men and women never congregate. Marriages are arranged at an early age. Women cannot play sports. Cannot hold a job. Cannot play musical instruments. It is rare for a woman to go into higher education, let alone to a private University in America. In grade school, I sit with the other girls. Life is very strict. No smoking. No drinking. My father married my mother with full hopes of her bearing him a son. Bitter disappointment. My mother delivered her third child. Me. (AUNT KINA enters.) Neither wife was able to produce a male child. On my tenth birthday, all of that changed. (Lights restore.) AUNT KINA Huma, come here. HUMA Yes Kahla. AUNT KINA Your grandfather has passed. HUMA Yes. AUNT KINA Your father has inherited his glorious house in Kabul. HUMA Then we shall have such a majestic home? AUNT KINA The prestige has elevated our family and your father. HUMA Thanks be to God. AUNT KINA However. I must tell you. You are aware I am sure … that your family has been blessed with all females. HUMA Yes. AUNT KINA With his new station. Your father now feels shamed. HUMA Shamed? But why. AUNT KINA He is without honor. HUMA I do not understand. AUNT KINA No male child. One’s family can never be considered honorable or complete … without a boy child. Your father has become very important in the village. HUMA It is the will of Allah. AUNT KINA And now he must have a son. HUMA Perhaps father can keep trying? A boy will arrive, God willing. AUNT KINA No Huma. You … shall become this lost son. Your father must make this family whole. To establish his honor. HUMA What has this to do with me, Auntie? AUNT KINA From now on, you will no longer be Huma. Your name is to be Armagn. (are MAHN) It means ‘the gift.’ You are to be a gift to your family Armagn. (AUNT KINA begins to take off HUMA’s blouse revealing a white shirt and tie. AUNT KINA then removes HUMA’s hijab and puts a hat on HUMA. AUNT KINA exits.) HUMA (To the audience.) Ten years old and suddenly I am a boy. I wore only boy’s clothes. My hair shorn. I was Armagn. The joy of my Father. A gift to my family. The village accepted me as Armagn. I did as I was told. The inherited house, which elevated our family, is indeed grand. My father rents it to the Americans. Large corporations are eager to ply weapons in my country. They need comfortable homes for their employees. We maintained our modest house in the village. The Americans usually shied away from our village. The Taliban were known to be around. I did as I was told. This continued for the next four years. (Pause.) I am now fourteen. The elders expect my beard to begin growing. My inevitable leave was being fashioned. (YONA, ZOEY and TAMERA enter. They are wearing traditional Afghanistan clothing. Their faces are veiled. UNCLE WASIM (Wah SEEM) and FEDA (Fay DA.) enter. There is a clear division of the females and males. UNCLE WASIM and FEDA wear basic Afghanistan men’s clothing. UNCLE WASIM is heavyset, and his beard has signs of grey. FEDA is in his late teens. He is short in stature. FEDA has a string of bullets across his chest and a rifle strung over his back. Both men have thick black beards. FEDA goes to UNCLE WASIM and shows him a pack of Winston Cigarettes. The two exchange money.) FEDA So… this is Armagn? Salaam alaykum. UNCLE WASIM Armagn, you speak the English, yes? HUMA Yes Kaka. I speak it. FEDA The Americans. UNCLE WASIM They make the English … to speak many times, yes? HUMA Yes Uncle. (FEDA hands UNCLE WASIM a magazine with American woman scantily clad on the cover.) FEDA American woman. Here. UNCLE WASIM Aww. Magazines from America. (UNCLE WASIM looks through the pages of the magazine.) Photos. (To HUMA.) Look. New York City. Is it not? What say you? HUMA I do not think New York is good. Do they not hate us there? UNCLE WASIM One can do anything in America. One can become whatever one wishes … yes? FEDA The limit is the sky, young one. What do you think is possible? UNCLE WASSIM What say you, boy? HUMA A farmer? UNCLE WASIM A banker. A lawyer. FEDA Yes. Anything. HUMA A doctor? UNCLE WASIM Yes Armagn …even a doctor. HUMA What wonders? To care for the sick. It is noble, yes? UNCLE WASIM In America they have great buildings that make the doctors. HUMA Universities. UNCLE WASIM Yes. FEDA Look at him. Such a scrawny boy… a doctor? UNCLE WASIM Yes Feda. (To HUMA.) University in America. Does that interest you my boy? FEDA He is too skinny I say. UNCLE WASIM He will grow Feda. You will see. (To HUMA.) Well, my son, your father has promised help for me. And for you. If you wish it? HUMA Why do I need your help Uncle? UNCLE WASIM You father wishes to keep his son from … trouble. So …You shall be moving to America my boy. HUMA Truly? FEDA Oh, the lucky one. To live in the land of the milk and the honey. (HUMA, UNCLE WASIM and FEDA watch the females across the way.) UNCLE WASIM Look at them Armagn. FEDA I think one of them was spying you. HUMA God willing. UNCLE WASIM Can you imagine just a peek under the robes? FEDA Such fruits of joy, aye? HUMA It is written we should not think of such things. UNCLE WASIM That is true Armagn. That is why the Qur’an insists on such modesty for the females. HUMA To deliver us from temptation. So it is written. FEDA Armagn the Khastegar? The suitor? Perhaps the young stallion should see for himself, yes? (FEDA grabs his rifle and points it to the women.) FEDA (To HUMA.) Pick … little one. UNCLE WASIM Feda… do not. FEDA To be like an American … one can do many, many things. Yes Armagn? UNCLE WASIM America. The land of the free, Armagn. FEDA So… the time is now. (Towards the woman.) They will obey… or I will punish them. HUMA No please. UNCLE WASIM (Softly.) Feda. Do not. (FEDA goes to YONA and pulls her away from the rest.) FEDA This one. What do you think my boy? Such a beautiful creature you have never seen, yes? UNCLE WASIM (Warning voice.) Feda…? (FEDA puts HUMA’s hand under YONA’s top.) FEDA Feel how smooth. HUMA No! FEDA How soft. (HUMA pulls her hand away.) HUMA It is forbidden. UNCLE WASIM (Laughing.) Such courage, young lion. (Accepting the game.) In America you may have as many women as you wish my boy. Go ahead. Try. YONA Kama tataminna. (As you wish.) FEDA As you wish. Let the lion roar with pleasure. (YONA pulls HUMA to her and lets HUMA fondle her.) YONA La shy litakhaf minh. (Nothing to fear.) (HUMA is frozen. She looks into YONA’s eyes.) HUMA Nothing to fear. FEDA Ha. You see? Such a lovely creature. HUMA (Softly.) Yes. UNCLE WASIM Enough! (UNCLE WASIM pulls HUMA away. They move away from YONA.) UNCLE WASIM (To FEDA.) Put your weapon down. The lion is not yet ready. FEDA As you say. (FEDA motions the rifle towards the women.) Away with you. (YONA, ZOEY and TAMERA quickly exit. FEDA puts his rifle back around his back.) FEDA Once in America you will have women begging to be with you Armagn. New York. Many women. (UNCLE WASIM shows HUMA the cigarettes he just purchased.) UNCLE WASIM Cigarette? FEDA From the Americans. Winston. HUMA Forbidden. UNCLE WASIM Not in America. Try. (FEDA strikes a match and lets HUMA take a puff. She coughs wildly. UNCLE WASIM and FEDA laugh loudly.) FEDA Not for the boy. (FEDA pulls out a small package from his tunic and shows it to UNCLE WASIM.) UNCLE WASIM He can do this. FEDA You must deliver this to the next village for us, yes? HUMA If it is your wish. UNCLE WASIM See? Brave as a lion. HUMA What is in the package? UNCLE WASIM Nothing that concerns you. FEDA Medicine… little one. UNCLE WASIM Yes of course. Very important medicine. FEDA Some things are best left alone. UNCLE WASIM Little one… It is the way. The Americans. They promise vast riches for all of Afghanistan. But what do we get? Huh? No electricity. FEDA No water. HUMA But surely the Americans are helping. FEDA Of course. They help your father. But us Kasseef? Us … dirty villagers? No. One must do what one needs to do. HUMA Uncle. I do not think it is for me to deliver. (UNCLE WASIM takes HUMA aside.) UNCLE WASIM You must do this Armagn. HUMA Why? UNCLE WASIM If a certain little boy… was discovered to be? (Pause.) The punishment… (HUMA separates from UNCLE WASIM and speaks loudly for FEDA to hear.) HUMA As you wish Kaka Wasim. FEDA Fearless. As you say. UNCLE WASIM Excellent my boy. HUMA I am your humble servant. UNCLE WASIM (To HUMA.) Soon young one… you shall soon go to America! I have heard that my brother is sending your second sister to Shahruuk for marriage. FEDA Oh yes! One-eyed Shahruuk. HUMA But he is older than is my father. FEDA Yes. Much older. So it is written. For your sister is but a girl. HUMA This cannot happen Uncle. Not in America, yes? UNCLE WASIM That is true. Not in America. HUMA (Softly.) Not in America. FEDA (To HUMA.) So, the boy shall live in the home of the red, white, and blue. UNCLE WASIM Yes Feda. Come. (UNCLE WASIM and FEDA exit. Any hint of Afghanistan disappears. HUMA is isolated in her own light.) HUMA (To the audience.) How could he speak such blasphemy? America is the infidel. The enemy. Yet, my Uncle has teased me many times with the wings of freedom. Freedom, or the teachings? It was such a problem for a little girl…who is a boy. Such an adventure was unthinkable for a child in my situation. Suddenly, I am to relocate to America. Many sleepless nights for me. As a boy, I had enjoyed playing cricket in my village. Also, soccer. I could giggle at the girls who are not permitted to gaze upon a boy of my stature. But time was against me. There is no hiding from nature. Arrangements were made. I said goodbye to my sisters and my mother. My father assured me it was all God’s will. I was placed on an airplane. Petrified. Unable to move from fear. Suddenly I was high over the earth as if a bird. Out the tiny window my world was dissolving. With the dusty mountains growing smaller in the distance, I worried. Have I been exiled to the land of the unclean? Was this punishment for being disguised as a boy? (Pause.) (Deadpan.) I was sent to Pittsburg. And the world did not come to an end. Praise Allah. I was enrolled in a boarding school for girls. Everything was so green. Beautiful green trees everywhere. And the air was so clear, and crisp, and thrilling. (The sound of children playing in a gymnasium is heard.) HUMA (Continues in her own light.) So many new faces, and amazing discoveries. Sports I had never heard of. Basketball? Softball? I was both mesmerized and depressed. To be in the land of the free, yet forbidden to venture beyond the towering iron gates. My Father left instructions with the headmistress…I was not to venture off campus. Solitary. Still, I managed to adapt. Although, I found the food … mostly horrible. (Sound fades out.) Some of the girls believed I was a princess from a far-off land. Fearing harm from kafar, the non-believers… I immediately hid any reminders of my past. No Hijabs. No head scarf. We were required to wear blue jumpers during class. But after class, my roommate would try to bring me up to date on all the latest fashions. (Fade to Black.) ACT I Scene three (Setting: Two years earlier. A boarding school dorm room. A clothesbasket and a cricket bat.) (YONA enters carrying her backpack.) YONA Oh…my gaud … I saw this new blouse online at Bergdorf. It is Stella. Stella–style. I am totally buying it. That will show those Connecticut bitches huh? HUMA If you say so. (YONA pimps into a mirror, which is not visible to the audience.) YONA I hate those girls and their ungodly Shmatta? HUMA Do not remind me. YONA Oy, If I hear one more Al-Queda joke. HUMA Their insults don’t bother me. They are just silly little girls anyway. (HUMA lifts up her cricket bat.) HUMA (Continues.) Nothing a cricket bat against the bum can’t fix. (YONA pushes her butt out, sarcastically pointing.) YONA (Teasing.) Ohhhh … Right here. HUMA You are so bad. YONA Give me your best shot. I dare you! (HUMA slaps YONA on her butt lightly with the cricket bat.) YONA Is that all you got? HUMA The cricket bat would hurt. Truly. YONA Well, over here it’s called a Louisville Slugger, you big brute. HUMA Maybe I should carry my bat around when I go to classes? YONA Nobody is going to mess with you as long as I am here. Right? Those brats should be so lucky, darlink. HUMA You are too kind. YONA Hey sweetie. Lighten up. You and I are going to have so much fun this year. Just leave it to me. By the way, I am heading back to (Exaggerated New York accent.) lawn-guy-land. Are you sure you can’t put it on your calendar? (HUMA puts the cricket bat down.) HUMA I will check with my social secretary. But I am sure my daily planner is full, (Sarcastically.) darlink. YONA Damn. I will miss you Bubbala. (Big sigh.) Oh well, if you like ever need anything from Manhattan. Don’t hesitate. K? HUMA Yes ma’am. YONA Study group in ten minutes. You coming? HUMA No. Laundry. YONA OK, miss know-it-all. I gotta’ run. Kisses. (YONA exits carrying her backpack.) (To the audience.) I was stranded behind the stone towers and the gigantic, trimmed hedges. Imprisoned. Still, I did not miss the dust of Afghanistan. I missed my family. I wrote to my father many times. No answer. I was stuck in Pittsburg. Back in my village, with the money from the Americans, my father paid for my aunt and uncle to emigrate here. On my sixteenth birthday my father purchased this entire building with the pizza shop. Imagine, knowing my father owns a building in New York City. Not until I was accepted to the university, was I finally allowed to travel. And now, here with my Aunt and Uncle… the greener grass … is not. I am truly as a fig … stranded on an olive tree. Bitter fruit indeed. (HUMA picks up the basket of clothes and exits.) (Lights fade to black. End of Scene.)