MY HATCH POCKET JOURNAL by BILLY COY (affordable ebook reader .txt) 📕

so saddened and in misery. They’re seated apart, in separate sofas, which are side to side each other: peter is seated in the couch and Maria in the smaller sofa; Ironically, Peter is sitting on the other far end of the couch, away from being close to his sister. With his elbows resting on his laps, Peter is holding his hands tight together, in between his parted laps, and he’s facing the floor. He’s all shabby: he’s wearing dirty jean pants and a wrinkled shirt, unpolished shoes, unshaven disorderly beards and barely combed afro-hair. He’s shaking continuously and looks so nervous. You can easily tell that he must be on drugs.

On the other hand, Maria is seated with her elbows resting on her laps and her hands held tightly together in between her laps; she’s looking forward and crying silently; she looks tense too.


She then, briefly looks her brother’s way, angrily, and turns her eyes away from him quickly; she does this twice, with eagerness, as though she has something burning her inside that she badly wants to spit out to him.

On her third look, she gathers strength, gets up and confronts him angrily.


Maria

(Rudely/angrily)

Is this how you repay mother, huh?

Peter immediately looks up at her with not a single word spoken.


Maria – Continues

(Bitter)

Don’t play dumb with me Peter; you know exactly what I’m talking about.
Peter gets up.

Peter

(Shaky voice and stuttering)

I’m not going to have this with you Maria.

As Peter walks away from Maria, she furiously pulls him back by his arm and immediately lets him go.

Maria

(Yells aloud)

Then what brought you here!


Peter forcefully points in the way where their mother is being operated on, while yelling back at Maria. His voice continues to be shaky, as is his whole body too.

Peter

She’s my mother too! They yell on.
Maria

You’re twenty five, but still act and think like a toddler.
Peter’s voice keeps on being shaky and stuttering.

Peter

How I live my life is none of your business.

Maria

How about mother’s business, huh?

Peter

You’re blaming me…, how about Letisha, where’s she now?
Maria

(In a cautioning way) Leave her out of this Peter!


Dr. Marco comes around and they both turn their eyes and attention to him. Before he gets to them, Maria gets to him first and fast.

Maria

(Nervously/eagerly)

How is mother doctor? Is my mother okay doctor?
Peter is standing back looking at them and listening attentively and
nervously too.

Dr. Marco

(Calmly)

We’re sorry, we…

Before the doctor finishes, Maria already has her hands raised up in the air, crying out loud and moaning for her mother. The doctor keeps silent too and remains looking at her miserably, with concern, as she moves about moaning and whining for her mother.

Maria

Oh my God, my dear mother…

Peter, sadly too, with tears starting to flow down his eyes, comes forward to console his sister.

Peter

Maria…


But she pushes him away in disgust.

Maria

(Barks)

Don’t touch on me you filthy bastard!

Peter stands back, looking miserably at his sister. Maria turns back to Marco while still crying and sobbing. She looks straight into the doctor’s eyes with her teary eyes.

Maria

(Calmly/whining)

How did she die doctor? How did my mother die? I want to know doctor…
Dr. Marco

(Gently/warmly)

Your mother still lives Maria.

Maria

(In disbelief/with eyes dilated) What? My mother…
Dr. Marco

(Chips in)

Yes, but she’ll now have to deal with two cancers, the other one in her spine.


Maria profusely weeps all over again. Marco embraces her; she sobs in his embrace. Peter is crying silently too, while wiping tears off his face with his hands, and sniffing continuously.

CURTAINS ROLL OVER


SCENE SIX (In the hospital) CURTAINS ROLL AWAY:
IN MRS. JERKINS’ ROOM

Maria is seated on a stool beside her mother’s bed. Meanwhile, Mrs. Jerkins too is seated up in her bed. They both look happy and are engaged in an intimate conversation. Mrs. Jerkins looks and talks weakly though.

Mrs. Jerkins

(Laughing)

I remember when your father went out of car that day to go buy some cigarettes and left you three and me in that car, but he had forgotten to put the car in break…
Maria

(Chips in/Laughing)

And the car just started moving slowly down the road.


Mrs. Jerkin

If it wasn’t for peter learning how to go by car-driving, bit by bit, watching your father drive, the four of us would have died back then.
Maria

Daddy could just not catch up with the car. Yeah, if it wasn’t for my little brother, we’d all have died back then.
Suddenly, Maria’s smile fades off her face and she looks at her mother
sadly and in thought.

Maria - Continues

I need my smart twelve year old stable brother back mother. With you like this, at least…
Maria cries.

Mrs. Jerkins

(Chips in/Sadly)

It’s okay Maria. Come here.


Maria gets up and gets into her mother’s embrace.

Mrs. Jerkins

I am sure your brother just needs sometime to get his act together. I’m sure he’ll come around.
Maria gets out of her mother’s embrace and holds her hand in hers,
while still looking into her eyes.

Maria

But when mother? When will he realize that he’s now a fully grownup man, and that he needs to take a hold of his life rightly, on his own?
Before Mrs. Jerkins can reply Maria, Peter walks in (still looking the way
he looked before, and still shaky and nervous). His mother sees him and smiles; Maria turns her head and sees him too; but for her (Maria), she looks at him with disappointment. Peter right away walks to his mother’s bed, to where Maria is standing; but when he’s approaching her, Maria excuses herself.

Maria

I’ll leave the two of you…

Maria walks past her brother without saying a word to him. He stops and tries to say ‘Hi’ to her.


Peter

Maria…

She doesn’t answer him; she totally ignores him. She walks out of the room. Peter is hurt.
Peter - Continue

(Sadly)

Mother, I am welcome here?

Their mother is touched and saddened by what she sees.

Mrs. Jerkins

Let her go baby. Come to mummy. Peter begins to cry as he walks to his mother’s embrace.
Peter

(Whining)

Why does my own sister hate me so much, mother?
They embrace. Mrs. Jerkins consoles him.

Mrs. Jerkins

She’s just hurt Peter, but she loves you. Your sister loves you so much.


Peter goes out of his mother’s embrace, still crying, and holds her hand into his. Mrs. Jerkins looks so saddened.

Peter

(Stuttering/shaky) Since daddy left, we have never been a real family.
Mrs. Jerkins takes her hand from his, stretches it to his face and wipes
off the tears on his cheeks.

Mrs. Jerkins

We can still be a happy family without your father.
Peter

(Stuttering/uncertain)

That’s a lie mother. I just know it is... Mrs. Jerkins starts crying too.
Mrs. Jerkins

We’re so sorry for the way things had to turn out son, your father and I.
Peter

Don’t cry mother.


Peter bends over and hugs his mother.

Mrs. Jerkins

(Sorrowfully)

I never knew that your father and I would ever be apart; we used to be so in love…
They remain in embrace and crying. CURTAINS ROLL OVER


SCENE SEVEN (In the hospital) CURTAINS ROLL AWAY:
IN MRS. JERKINS’ ROOM

Mrs. Jerkins is seated up in her bed reading Newspapers. While she’s at it, her longtime lost daughter (Letisha-30yrs old) walks in gracefully but looking sad. Mrs. Jerkins happens to pick on it and she looks away from the papers to see who’s walking in. On looking, she sees her daughter standing a distance looking at her so miserably. She (Mrs. Jerkins) then puts the newspapers aside, on her bed. She looks so shocked and surprised as she looks at her daughter; in misery, her face looks so happy to see her long-lost daughter; her eyes are dilated and mouth slightly open.


Mrs. Jerkins (Calmly) Letisha baby…
Mrs. Jerkins eagerly opens her arms wide for her daughter to come in;
she starts crying. Letisha stays standing back. Tears are already running down her eyes too.

Mrs. Jerkins - Continues Come give mummy a hug. It has been such a long time my girl.
Letisha

(Protests/whining)

No mother… I don’t want to be in your arms, not now or ever.
She (Letisha) gets out a handkerchief from her hand-bang and wipes her
noses, from the crying; she keeps crying and wiping away her tear from her eyes with her hand. After hearing what her daughter said, Mrs. Jerkins withdraws her hands that were positioned ready to hug her daughter; she puts her hands down looking so disappointed and so miserable.

Mrs. Jerkins

(Sadly)

It has been ten years Tisha; you still haven’t forgiven your father and me?


Letisha

(Protests/points a finger/whining/yelling aloud)

It was you! You tore our family apart mother!

Mrs. Jerkins

(Angrily/yells aloud too)

Your father was leaving me for a young girl! Did I have any choice?
Letisha

(Yelling aloud)

That’s what you thought mother; it was all just in your mind!
Mrs. Jerkins turns her eyes away from her daughter in a sort of guilty
conscious way and places them firmly on her hands that she’s holding together nervously.

Letisha - Continues

And that gave you the right to sleep with his best friend of all people? Our always, nice Uncle Phil mother…
Mrs. Jerkins lets loose her hands and looks back at her daughter with
tears streaming down her eyes.


Mrs. Jerkins

(Calmly)

It was not just in my mind, your father was having an affair with a twenty five year old college girl, twenty five years his junior.
Letisha is looking at her mother attentively, with tears still running
down her eyes too: she keeps sniffing and wiping her nose with the handkerchief, and her eyes, with the back of her hand.

Mrs. Jerkins - Continues

For me, I’m sorry for what I did. It was because of the daily loneliness and hurt.
Mrs. Jerkins breaks down into more emotional crying, pausing a bit from talking and she turns her eyes away from her daughter; her head is bent down.

Mrs. Jerkins

(Whining)

But your father goes ahead and marries that girl.

Letisha is looking at her sorrowfully; seeing her in such a hurt state, she walks up to her bed, sits beside it and takes her (Mrs. Jerkins) head into her arms and hugs her onto her chest.


Letisha

I am