copyright © 2001 Clinton A. Johnston

To Give Than To Receive

By

Clinton A. Johnston

Characters

Karen — a woman, 20s to 40s

Paul — the best friend of Karen’s boyfriend

[Peter — Karen’s boyfriend, unheard, unseen]

[Nb: I wrote this part for a woman, but thinking about it, I don’t see why a man couldn’t play it. If you to try making it work that way, more power to you. — caj]

Paul sits SL at a table reading or drinking or something rather calm. Karen enters from SR, looks around for Paul, sees him, and goes to him. She’s determined and maybe a little miffed, but she’s not hostile. She has something small in her hand. It could be anything.

Karen

What is this?

Paul

[Surprised]

Karen!

Karen

What is this?

Paul

[Confused]

What is what?

Karen

Is this a gift?

Paul

I don’t know. Where’d you get it?

Karen

I found it on my bed … in my bedroom.

Paul

Oh. Well that’s nice, right?

[Beat]

Karen

Are you putting me on?

Paul

What?

Karen

You didn’t give this to me?

Paul

No. [She gives him a "Really?" look.] No!

[She sits. Wind out of her sails.]

[Beat.]

Paul

So much fuss.

Karen

[Distracted. Looking at gift.] Yeah. I’m sorry.

Paul

You must be fun at Christmas.

Karen

Okay really … honestly. I mean, you still have the keys we gave you, right?

Paul

I didn’t give you the gift!

Karen

Okay. I’m sorry. I’m sorry.

Paul

It’s okay.

Karen

[Beat. Takes some breaths. Looks at the gift again. Little bitter laugh.]

That son of a bitch.

Paul

What?

Karen

That son of a bitch. He gave me this. Goddamn him!

Paul

Okay, I’m missing the problem here. It’s your anniversary. Peter gave you a gift.

Karen

No, it’s just … [really upset] Paul, I don’t think I can take this anymore. Weeks go by, I mean … weeks and I get nothing from him. So, just when I’ve all but given up, he does something like this. I can’t … [Fights for words.] I can’t even count on him being consistently thoughtless.

[Pause.]

You didn’t say anything to him, did you?

Paul

Karen, you know, Peter loves you very much.

Karen

I know. That’s what makes it so scary. I know I’m getting his best. I know that no matter what, things don’t get better than this.

Paul

I don’t understand.

Karen

Don’t give me that! I know you and Peter are friends, but don’t give me that. You know how he is! You know that Peter is only there for Peter! He calls you when he needs you and he doesn’t think about you any other time. How many times has he stood you up? Huh? Remember the Ontario trip? You planned that for what … three weeks? And he didn’t even call you. I called you. [Beat.] He doesn’t know your birthday. I tell him, every year. I have to remind him, like I have to remind him about everything. He only has room in his thoughts for himself, and I can’t take that anymore.

Paul

What about that time you were sick and you were laid up? You said he waited on you hand and foot. You said he was sweet.

Karen

Yes … yes he was. [Looking at gift.] He can be sweet. But you know what I think? I think that was survival. I think he saw how sick I was, and he needed to keep his little … whatever going. I know that sounds horrible. I know. I know. But I swear, once I was back on my feet, things went right back to the way they were before. For days, I was so weak, I could barely climb stairs. I’d sit there, sweating, holding onto the banister and I’d think, where was he? [Pause. Look at gift. Pause.] You know, I had made a decision … that night I called you and asked you if you’d said anything about today and asked you not to. I must have sounded so strange.

Paul

I knew something was up.

Karen

I just had to know. I decided that if he missed this, then that was it. One last chance. I wasn’t going to take it anymore.

Paul

Yeah.

Karen

So I let time pass. And for weeks, I’ve gotten nothing from him, nothing! And so this morning I think, "Okay then. That’s it." And I knew, I knew that was it. And Paul ... I felt such relief. I’m serious, it’s like a weight was lifted. [Beat. Look at gift.] But now ...

Paul

Look, I know that Peter is … he’s just Peter. I’ve known him for a long time, and he’s a good guy. You know, sometimes he’s not reliable, but we’ve all got something. I guess I just accepted that about him a long time ago. [Beat.] I’ve known Peter longer than anybody else, and I know he would just die before he did anything to hurt you.

Karen

Paul! He’s already hurting me. Anyway, don’t I get more than that? If you love somebody, shouldn’t it be about more than just not hurting them?

Paul

I don’t know. He got you that gift. That’s something.

Karen

Yeah … maybe it is.

[Karen’s cell phone rings. She takes it out, looks at the number. It’s Peter.]

Hey you.

*

Happy anniversary to you too.

*

No.

*

I’m here at Simon’s.

*

Mm-hmm. With Paul.

*

I don’t know. We’re just talking.

*

Yes, I did get it.

*

Yes I do. Thank you very much. I was surprised.

*

I don’t know. It was just … very thoughtful of you. What made you pick it?

*

[Surprised. "That doesn’t make sense."]

My blue dress, really?

*

[She switches tone. He’s said the wrong thing. She puts the gift down on the table between her and Paul.]

Don’t you think it would go better with my red dress? I mean, considering the color …

*

Uh-huh. Or maybe my green sweater.

*

Oh, I know.

*

What?

*

Oh, I don’t know. A half an hour or so, forty minutes. I want to finish talking to Paul. You’re not jealous, are you?

*

Yes, I know. He’s a great friend.

*

Okay.

*

I’ll see you then.

*

I love you too.

*

Bye-bye. [She hangs up, looks at Paul.]

Did you not have time to tell him the color or did he just forget it?

[Pause.]

Paul? [Pause.] You got me this gift, didn’t you?

[Pause]

Paul

It’s not like … It’s just … I knew this was really important to you. That’s all. I’m sorry.

Karen

[She stops him somehow. There’s a moment of release for her.]

You’re a nice man, Paul. [Beat.] Don’t try to save us from ourselves. If you have to, we aren’t worth saving.

[Pause.]

Paul

I can return it.

Karen

No. No, I like it. [Pause. Picks up the gift again.] So, you got me this gift?

Paul

Yeah

Karen

It’s nice. [Beat. Beat. Brings gift to lap.] Thank you.

Paul

You’re welcome.

[Fin]

"To Give Than To Receive" IS COPYRIGHTED MATERIAL AND MAY NOT BE DOWNLOADED, TRANSMITTED, PRINTED OR PERFORMED WITHOUT THE EXPRESS PERMISSION OF THE AUTHOR

"To Give Than To Receive" debuted June 29, 2001.

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