A Stolen Letter


Characters:

Seen:

Adam
Mike


Unseen/Referenced:

Charlie
Adam’s girlfriend


Act 1
Scene 1

Curtain opens to ADAM pacing back and forth in his bedroom, appearing agitated. He stops and looks at his watch, and then kicks his bed in frustration. Accidentally hurting himself, he hops up and down, holding his foot, and muttering angrily. There is a knock at the door.

(ADAM opens the door)
ADAM:
Did you bring it?

(MIKE steps into the room)
MIKE:
Of course I did, brother.

(MIKE and ADAM sit on his bed side by side, separated by a noticeable gap between them.)
ADAM:
The proof?

MIKE:
More than proof, man. That chick was planning on dumping you for sure.

ADAM:
Yeah? Does she know that I know?

MIKE:
Nope, she had all of it in the corner, next to Charlie’s stuff... Snuck it into my backpack when she went downstairs to talk to her mom about something.

(MIKE hands ADAM a letter, a t-shirt, a small teddy bear, and a picture. ADAM seems to be unable to speak. After several moments, he manages to muster a few words.)
ADAM:
Is that girl crazy? Who does she think is going to treat her better than me?

MIKE:
Who knows, dude. It probably has less to do with who’s going to treat her better and more to do with who has more dough.



ADAM:
(Quietly, and very still)
Some rich guy is only going to like her as an arm piece.

MIKE:
Yeah, but she don’t care. She’s just social climbing like all chicks do.

ADAM:
I thought she was different.

MIKE:
Come on, man, lighten up! (Chuckles slightly) Now at least you don’t have to be waiting around for some stupid girl to dump you for the next fat wallet that comes around. You’re free!

ADAM:
This is not the kind of freedom I want.

MIKE:
(Suddenly seeming to take on a more serious tone) What kind of freedom do you want?

ADAM:
(Unaware of MIKE’s change in tone) I don’t know, man, not this. Girls only seem to care when it suits them… I wish they made more sense.

MIKE:
Girls are never going to make sense.

ADAM:
Well I better get used to this then… (ADAM crumples up the letter and the picture, and throws them at the door so they make a loud thump when it connects. MIKE moves a little closer to ADAM)

MIKE:
What if you didn’t have to get used to it?

ADAM:
What? What are you talking about?

(MIKE moves a little bit closer still and puts his hand on ADAM’s hand, which was resting on his thigh. ADAM doesn’t respond for a split second before pulling his hand away and moving sharply backward from MIKE, as he understands what was meant by MIKE’s gesture. ADAM accidentally knocks over a lamp that was on the table next to his bed, and as he is righting it, MIKE bolts out of his room)

Mike! Wait! Come on, man, I’m sorry!

(ADAM stares at the open door and then at the crumpled letter lying a few feet away where it fell. Then he walks over to the letter, picks it up and flattens it. As he looks at it for a moment, he withdraws a lighter from his pocket. He sets the letter and the picture on fire and watches them burn as the curtain closes.)




Scene 2

(Curtain opens to reveal MIKE sitting on a bench in the park with his head in his hands. ADAM enters on stage, but MIKE does not notice him. ADAM walks quietly up to the bench and sits next to his best friend. ADAM puts his hand on MIKE’s shoulder.)

ADAM:
You know sometimes when we are losing someone… as people, we forget about the other important people in our life. (MIKE raises his head slowly out of his hands as ADAM continues) I wasn’t trying to make you feel bad, dude. But I’m not into guys.

MIKE:
I know. I didn’t mean to make you feel uncomfortable. (Turns his head to look ADAM in the eyes) It’s hard sometimes, watching all these girls treat you so badly. I know you deserve better than them, but I know that I can never be that for you. I feel like a fool.

ADAM:
You shouldn’t. It’s not that big of a deal. See man, the thing is that no matter what stupid girl I’m with, you’re my best friend, and I’ll always want to hang out with you. You’re like a brother to me, and if you ever have some problems with another dude or something, I’ll be here for you.

MIKE:
Thanks, dude. I’m glad you’re not as ignorant as some of the other guys at school. Most of them would never speak to me again after that.

ADAM:
(Laughs)
Come on! We’ve been friends since our sandbox was as far as we got from the house without our parents hanging over our shoulder. I wouldn’t stop hanging out with you just because of something like that. You weren’t trying to make me feel uncomfortable. I just wasn’t expecting that, man.

MIKE:
(Chuckles)
I hear you. I know, right, who would have thought; Big bad Mike, a gay guy.

ADAM:
I think there may have been some suspicion, but I don’t think people care as much as you do.

MIKE:
What do you mean?

ADAM:
Well you ran out of the room before I could even say anything. You must have been expecting me to freak out, but I didn’t care. I just surprised me, is all. I think you worry about it more than most other people do.

MIKE:
Yeah, I feel like that is a tendency in any minority. Simply the knowledge that you are a minority is enough to feel persecuted, even if no one has ever shown you any hate. Feeling different is hard because it’s tough to find out who you are when everyone else seems so different.

ADAM:
Well, even if you and I are different in that way, we are going to be best friends no matter what.

MIKE:
Sounds good, man.

(Curtain)