Joshua

Mother smiles and door closes behind them, camera rolls.

Josh: she’s a real nice lady, ain’t she? Ain’t she michael?

Michael: *kicks a pen on the floor* yea i guess… don’t you miss your real mom though, like back home? *sits on bed, visibly pouting*

Josh: well, it hasn’t even been a day yet but yea I guess i do. *sits on bed next to him*

Michael: *silence, looking off*

Josh: What is your mom's name?

Michael: Stevie, but my paw calls her eve.

Josh: Well what do you call her?

Michael: momma, or sometimes mommy if i want a sweet or a pop

Josh: I do the same thing mike . I always ask my mom for a tootsie roll every time we leave the store.

Michael: i miss tootsie rolls… you think they have tootsie rolls here? At this school?

Josh: I mean, I’m sure they could get it, but i’m not sure if tootsie rolls are catholic

Michael: Well why wouldn’t they be?

Josh: because, well, you know, at church the pastor always says the devil wears a costume, and all good things are evil.

Michael: i don't get it josh… how can the devil fit inside a tootsie roll? And how is a tootsie roll evil?

Josh: no no no. *lightly hits him on the head* *they laugh* the devil is like a - bad guy, and he has to convince people, like you and me, to do bad things.

Michael: Well then why would anyone listen to him? If its the devil and all… Id say NO DEVIL! Leave me and maw and paw and jenine alone!

Josh: well that's the thing mike, the devil, he has to - he has to pretend to be someone or something else in order to get people to do what he wants

Michael: like lying? Maw said lying is real bad and you’ll go to h- oh josh i get it!

Josh: you do?

Michael: yes josh yes i do. *stands off the bed, begins an exaggerated pantomime* the devil is a bad thing, and he lives in hell…?

Josh: yes…

Michael: right i knew that shut up! And he uses bad stuff to trick people into doing bad things

Josh: exactly

Michael: but then why is a tootsie roll the devil?

Josh: why is anything the devil?

*they ponder in silence, swinging their feet*

Mother: (thru door) *singsongish* boys, it is time to go. Please present yourselves immediately.

Mike: snap

Simultaneously, split cam vertically

Josh: shit

*boys rush to change into their own clothes, mike wears white shirt josh wears black*

*boys rush outside door*

Both: sorry mother for being late!

*camera reveals hallway is empty, excluding mother and the boys*

Mother: boys, let’s talk, come here.

*leads them down same hallway of the altercation with father herod*

Mother: boys, listen, there is a certain… strictness, here at St. Benedict’s.

Mike: rules are rules Mother, how is this different from my rules at home? Like the one that said no pop after dinner, paw said that after I ain't sleep one night because of a cola.

Mother: well, yes but you see michael, there was a reason that your , uhm, ‘paw’ made that rule, right?

Mike: gee, sure Mother, but why have a rule for no reason?

Mother: i- uh, um.. Look boys, just stick to me and keep quiet, okay? Yea?

Mike: speakin of sticky, that reminds me of this one time, back home, me and jenine were in the backyard playing *fades out*

*the camera focuses on Josh's eyes, scanning off, past mother’s shoulder. He sees the same cross, still crooked. He begins to walk over to fix it*

Mother: *grabs him by the arm, puts him back in front* do NOT wander off Joshua!

Josh: but, mis-

Mother: *squeezes tighter around josh’s arm* while you are enrolled at MY establishment you will refer to me by my religious title, do you understand? DO YOU UNDERSTAND?

Josh: *tearing* y-y-yes…

Michael: miMOTHER *she looks at mike and breaks grip of josh*

Mother: yes michael?

Michael: what’s so sour about wanderin’? I ain’t mean anything by it Mother, I just -

Mother: *stands up, pushes (lightly) the boys away from the hallway and back into the main atrium area* come with me boys, we are late for lunch.

They hurriedly rush through the oaky brown innards of the school. The hallways are winding and indistinguishably bland. They arrive at the mess hall, which has an auditorium seating arrangement aimed at a podium in the back of the room, with lunch lines on the exterior in a U shape.

Lunchlady: next!

Josh: hello maam may i have some fried chicken?

Lunchlady: *unbothered* fried chicken? Sure let me get it. Its *facetiously* in the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, right next to bigfoot and the mothman *slops lumpy mashed potatoes onto his tray* *scoffs* NEXT!

Josh: why are you so rude?

Lunchlady: the fuck did you just say to me you little shit?

Josh: it isn’t kind to treat others so meanly

Michael: my maw always said to treat others as you’d like to be treated

Lunchlady: well maybe I wanna be treated like an elementary school brat then huh? *scoffs* hurry the fuck up you’re holding up the line.

Josh: *looks down at potatoes, then up at lunchlady* do you mean that, miss?

Lunchlady: mean what? Why the fuck are you still here?

Boy from behind Josh: he means this bitch *throws mashed potatoes at lunchlady* eat that ya fuckin cunt!

*The boy is older than josh and michael, maybe 14, but is visibly holding a bigger weight on his shoulders than a normal teenager should. He has a faint australian accent, and is wearing his uniform sloppily. *

Lunchlady: OH PAUL YOU FUCKING SHIT!! GET YOUR ASS TO THE PRINCIPAL’s NOW!

Paul: *scoffs* worth it eh? *walks away with his hands up*

Lunchlady 2: oh come now mary pay them no mind.. Lets get you cleaned up alright?

Josh: well that was… something

Michael: you got a little guardian angel it seems like josh

Josh: *pauses* cmon, lets sit down before the assembly starts.

*THEY SIT ALONE IN FRONT ROW BY STAGE, SIGNIFICANT ANGLE UP*

*four seasons spring by vivaldi begins to play*

*five member troupe of 10-13 year old female ballerinas come in from offstage left and right, and begin to dance*

Michael: wow… its only the first day josh, how do you suppose they learned this dance already?

Josh: must be people from last years class or something. Besides you’re focusing on the wrong thing, what kind of build up is this for a catholic school?

Michael: what do you mean ? it sure looks swell

Josh: i mean theater used to be banned from like all christianity and now its being used to introduce it…

Michael: things change josh. For better or worse they all do. And this is definitely for the better I mean just look how pretty that girl in the middle is!

*camera zooms up to the girl, heavy makeup on one side of her face but it is well applied, continues slow zooming into her eye until it cuts back and the quintet bows and walks off. Middle girl walks to the microphone*

Ballerina: I hope you enjoyed the performance! Now, please give a welcome for the head of our school, Father Herod!

*scattered applause, ballerina scampers off stage*

*from behind a deep sultry red set of curtains, father herod emerges brandishing a cane, monocle, and a lit cigar. He struts forward in an almost hyperbolic gait, mockingly*

Father Herod: hello children, boys and girls alike! My name is Father Herod and please let me offer a warm welcome to orientation. You will all love your time here at St. Benedict’s as long as you behave and listen to your superiors. Good? Good. Now, every year I like to start this meeting with a - um- classification of sorts, something that has been passed down the line of clergy that we use to help define young people like yourselves moral compasses. There are three types of people. The first type are evil people, and those are killers and robbers and rapists and such. Half of the time they’re so evil they’ll only fake being good to continue doing bad things. They have lost all sense of an inner guide, and have no confliction in their ungodly actions. You would think these people would be Satan’s favorite, as their lack of inhibition would allow them to perpetuate and spread the most evil, like some vile diaspora. But no, you see, Satan’s world is founded on sin, so the difference between 500 and 5000 atrocities is not even an afterthought to him. The real evil Satan appreciates is when a good person commits a sin that they SWORE they never would. An action so blatantly contradictory to one’s own composition that its completion disintegrates the person’s psyche. *he puffs his cigar, drops it on the floor, and stomps it repeatedly with his cane* much like this children. Dante Aligheri had a good idea when crafting the Inferno, and i am more than sure the Lord was appreciative of Judas’ placement in the bottom layer, but it’s simply incorrect. A corrupt soul being corrupted is expected, but compared to the corruption of a truly pure soul, Lucifer himself can do nothing but admire his work. Because, children, Satan is a creature that feeds not on hate, anger, war, famine, death, or sin - but on guilt and wasteful remorse. Hell is, in essence, a pain induced guilt trip and THAT is the lifeblood of the damned. Now, the next type of person. A truly good man. These are men of faith such as myself, men of philanthropy and of a high pedigree who dedicate themselves to others, and will stop at no tempest, no firestorm, no crack of earth to do what is right by the lord. These are God’s favorite, even more than the atoned or the repented. These men are of a calibre that cannot be unmatched or faked by the other two type of men, and a truly empathetic being will know a good soul when he encounters it, though such a gift is rare - rarer than good men themselves. Finally, are the neither truly depraved or truly godly people. These are the majority of people you will encounter throughout your hopefully abundant and lengthy life times. Beings of such a designation are susceptible to vices and tricks of the devil, like gambling, lust, et cetera et ce-te-ra… *he scans the crowd* looking amongst the sea of students in front of me, I know some of you, but a vast majority of you are complete strangers. However, within each of you I see potential for greatness and glory of mind, body, and soul. I can guarantee you this if you just follow the expectations in class and out. Now, let’s have a superb year my children! Adieu *bows and walks backstage*

Josh: that was a trip mike

Michael: he didn’t fall??

*they give their empty trays to a lunch lady*

Josh: no like that was a wild speech. Kinda all over the place.

Michael: i guess… *beat* what kind of person do you think he is?

Josh: of the three?

Michael: well yeah unless there’s a fourth you know about

Josh: i think he’s one of the bad people who thinks he a saint or something

Michael: really? He didn’t seem all bad.. Though the cane thing was a little wonky

Josh: just a guess … dont think about it too much, okay? Now cmon lets get back to our rooms.

Michael: yes josh.

*they walk around the school with a tense music building, camera follows them like a stalker*

*josh sees principal’s office*

Josh: *stops michael* hey you wanna go in and see if uh- what’s his name is in there?

Michael: who?

Josh: the older kid who threw the potatoes at that cranky lunch lady, i’m just drawing a blank man

Michael: oh yea! His name was Paul, or that was at least what the lunch lady yelled at him.

Josh: paul the baptist! Let’s find paul the baptist!

Michael: why paul the baptist?

Josh: we’re at catholic school and he saved us from our sins or something

Michael: what sins?

Josh: i was about to throw MY potatoes at the lady before he did.

Michael: oh okay josh... but let’s maybe not like act as his friends?

Josh: why wouldn’t we ?

Michael: it's not even really the first day let's not get a bad name as troublemakers already.

Josh: fine yea but how do we know him though? Like why are we asking for him if we’re not his friends?

Michael: Well one time my big sister jenine brought my hunting knife to school for show and tell and carried it around all day. It was this brown camo mark two from my dad when he fought at Argon in France. He gave it to me when I turned 6, and jenine stole it the night before the show and tell. Anyway, day’s going along normally for me until one of my friends, a black fella named Samson ran up to me and said my big sis was in biggggggg trouble. He said it like that josh, ‘bigggggggggg’ trouble. I still had a little less than half of the day left, and i really do not like waiting you know. Im a real impatient kid. I hate not knowing stuff, it’s my animal peeve.

Josh: pet peeve michael, not animal peeve.

Michael: sure whatever you say josh. Anyway, It was the beginning of the school year and maw had been trying to get the job of principal secretary but lost it because of her criminal record. But that meant that the lady who DID get the job was new, and didn’t know I was jenine’s little brother. So I grabbed a colorful pencil from my bag and went to the lady and said “i found this girl jenine’s pencil on the floor next to her desk, do you know where i could find her? She didn’t even ask me for my name, just made a real fast glance towards the principal’s door and quietly said “i can take that for her, she’s busy”, and that’s how I knew she actually was in ‘biggggggg’ trouble and it wasn’t just samson trying to pull a prank on me.

Josh: So what object would we use to be Paul's?

Michael: We could use a napkin if we needed to. It isn’t really about the thing, it's about the eyes josh. Weren’t you listening?

Josh: *uneasy* yea. Yea, okay let’s do it.

Michael: okay grea-

Josh: wait Mike what in the hell did you sister do? How is a knife ‘bigggggg trouble’

Michael: isn’t it obvious? She stabbed a bully

Josh: no that isnt obvious at all! Was she okay?

Michael: no jenine was expelled and had to go to a special school for people who can’t control their emotions or something.

Josh: not jenine! The girl who got stabbed!

Michael: oh yea no she died

Josh: *speechless*

Michael: im joking joshy! It was more of a slashing. Just a few stitches.

Josh: doesn’t really change much mike.

Michael: well why are we even talking about it? Let’s go find Paul.

*they enter the principal’s office*

Wide shot from outside doorway

Secretary: hello boys. How may I assist you? *sing songy*

Josh: uh, hi, we’re um- my name’s j-

Michael: Hi maam! My friend and I found this here handkerchief fall from a fella’s back pocket. Well we just asked around and it seems that it belongs to a paul - we ain’t get a last name sorry about that miss…?

Secretary: ave. miss ave.

Michael: sorry miss ave, but the fella paul, tallish with blonde hair if i remember right, would you happen to know what dorm he’s in? Or could you help me get this here handkerchief back to him? I’d be so appreciative ma’am.

Secretary: *eyes dart to father herod’s door* i’m sorry, I’m really not permitted to just give out student’s information like that. But if you want, I can take the handkerchief for you? Make sure he gets it?

Josh: why can’t we know his name? Its not like we can do anything bad with it.

Secretary: it’s policy young man. I am not permitted to divulge potentially sensitive information to any random kids who just waltz in here asking questions. You could be bullies for all i know.

Josh: i’m sorry - bullies? That kid paul’s like 15 and 6 foot how exactly would WE bully him? Now listen here lady, all we want is a last name. Even if its just to satiate the itch of curiosity.

Secretary: *begins laughing* how does a kid like you know what satiate means? Okay okay, just for your exhibition of stupendous vocabulary ill tell you his name. paul benniger. But he’s busy right now. So just leave the handkerchief with me, and I’ll make sure he gets it.

Michael: how can I make sure you don’t just steal it? Take it home with you for it to never be seen again?

Secretary: well, we live on site, so it’d never really leave the campus.

Michael: that doesn’t really make me think you’re not going to steal it….

Secretary: well if I steal it, then they’ll fire me. Look - I’ll make a note of it and leave it under Father Herod’s door. And the kerchief will stay right here in this little box until Paul can get it. That sound okay?

Josh: yea that’s fine whatever. IS Father Herod in? Can I have a word?

Secretary: he’s ---- busy right now. I’m sorry.

Michael: oh well josh let’s go back to our rooms I want to play jacks.

Josh: i - fine okay let’s go. Thanks Miss A-

Father Herod: *busts out of his office* my ears are burning hellfire! Miss ave, did you say my name? *sees children* why didn’t you say I had some visitors! What can I do for you two today? Oh little boy *kneels down next to Joshua* have we met? You do seem oh so familiar.

Josh: no. no, i don’t think so.

Michael: is Paul in there?

Father Herod: *loses smile* who? Who is Paul.

Michael: Paul Benniger. Miss ave here said that’s his name. We got his handkerchief and would love to give it back to him.

Father Herod: no such student is enrolled at St. Benedict’s. Please get back to your dorms for afternoon check.

Michael: bu-

Father Herod: NOW!

*the boys leave the office*