Except from YEN by Anna Jordan Old Scene 5 Hench and Jen are sitting on the floor, shaping the box from a large flat screen TV into a dog bed for Taliban. Hench is tearing newspaper to line it with. Jennifer is cutting at the box with a bread knife. Next to them there is a bag full of goodies from a pet shop. In the bag Bobbie has found the bounciest ball in the world and is playing with it. Bobbie: This is the bounciest ball in the world! Bobbie bounces it aggressively against the wall and watches. Hench: Give it a rest Bob. Bobbie: Look! It s still going! Hench: It s for the dog not you. Bobbie: WOOF! They keep working, Bobbie keeps playing. He loses interest and goes to sit with them. Where s did you get this box from? Jennifer: Keith s home cinema system. Bobbie: Who s Keith? Jennifer: My uncle. Bobbie: Your mum s boyfriend sort of uncle? Jennifer: No my mum s brother sort of uncle. Bobbie: You live with him? Jennifer: Yeah. Bobbie: Why is your mum sick too? Jennifer: Not exactly. Bobbie: Our mum s really sick. Hench glares over at Bobbie, but doesn t say anything. Jennifer: What s wrong with her? Bobbie: She s got Type 1 diabetes. Jennifer: Is that where you have to take insulin? 1
Bobbie: Yeah, but sometimes she forgets and her blood sugar goes really high and she has to go into hospital. Or she remembers but then she has few drinks and her blood sugar goes really low. Then she goes nuts, starts laughing and thumping the walls and stuff. Jennifer: Really? Jennifer looks to Hench for assurance. He shrugs. Is that why she doesn t live here? Hench: Sort of. Bobbie: What about your mum? Jennifer: Well, I live with her too. Bobbie: What about your dad? Jennifer: I... I / Hench: /Bobbie stop asking so many questions man. Bobbie: I was only asking. Jeeeeeesus.. Bobbie starts going through the bag. He takes a squeaky toy out and squeezes it. He picks up the dog chain that is in the bag, gets up and starts swinging it round his head. Man you could fuck someone up with this bruv! (To Jennifer) Where did you get this? Jennifer: That used to be my dog s. Bobbie: You ve got a dog? Jennifer: I ve got three. Hench: Three dogs in one of those Keating flats? Must be tight. Jennifer: No I mean, I used to. At home. Bobbie: Where s home? Jennifer: Aberthin. Bobbie: Where s that? Jennifer: Wales. Bobbie: Is that why you speak funny? Hench: Bobbie! Jennifer laughs a bit. Jennifer: Yep that s why I speak funny. 2
Bobbie: How long have you lived here? Jennifer: About three months. Bobbie: Do you like it? Jennifer: Not really. Bobbie: Nah its shit isn t it? Feltham. Did you know Feltham has the highest rate of incest in the country? Jennifer: Oh... Really? Bobbie: That means sisters having sex with brothers. And dads and cousins. Hench: Yeah we know what it means Bob. Jennifer: That s a funny fact to know. Bobbie: I watched a video of it. Hench: Bobbie / Bobbie:/ It was fucking sick. And I don t mean good bruv. Hench: Why don t you go and start cleaning out the room? Bobbie: You don t mean (He clutches his hands to his face) Not the shit!/ Hench: / Just DO IT! Bobbie: NIKE! Just do it! Hench gives Bobbie a stern look and holds out a black bin liner for him. Bobbie sighs, swaps the ball for the bag and heads towards the door. He turns back. OK Bro! He holds his nose. I M GOING IN! Hench: Sorry. Jennifer: It s OK. He s sweet. Hench: He s a psychopath. Jennifer: Does he always live here with you? Hench: What? Jennifer: He doesn t ever stay with his mum? 3
Hench: He lives here. Pause. Hench doesn t know what to say. Jennifer: What school are you at? Hench: I m not. I left. Jennifer: Did you do your GCSE s? Hench: Na. Jennifer: Why? Hench shrugs. Hench: Boring, innit. You? Jennifer looks depressed for a second Jennifer: I have to redo year eleven at Thames Park. I go in September. Hench: (Laughs a bit) Fuck that! Jennifer: (Concerned) Why? Hench: It s a shithole. That s where I went. Jennifer: Is it rough? Hench: Yeah it s... (realising her fear) nah, nah it s just...shit, isn t it? Why d you have to redo year eleven? Jennifer: Last year was a difficult year. Pause Hench: You live with your aunty and uncle then, is it? Jennifer: With my mum and my uncle. And the blond bastards. Hench chuckles a bit. Hench: Who s that? Jennifer: Keith s fiancé Michelle and her daughter Kayleigh. They re blond. And they re bastards. Hench: That s funny, the way you say that word. 4
Jennifer: What, Bastards? Hench: Yeah. Jennifer: (Laughing a bit) Why, how do you say it? Hench: I dunno. I s pose, bastards. Innit. Jennifer: Bastards, innit. Hench: You don t like it, no? Jennifer: I hate it. Everything revolves around the TV. Who s watching what? Who s Sky Plussing what? It smells like chip fat and perfume and everything s laminated. I hate it. Me and my mum share Dannii s room Michelle s oldest, she s moved out. It s all pink satin hearts and black lacy pillows; it s like sleeping in a brothel. I hate it. (She looks at him) I sleep in a bed with my mum. Have you ever heard of a teenager sharing a bed with their mother? Hench: Na... that s fucked up. Jennifer: Do you think I m weird? Hench: No, it just must be difficult like. Jennifer: I like your jumper. Hench: Don t take the piss. Jennifer: I m not. Pause Hench: So, do you miss... Jennifer: Aberthin? So much. Hench: Do you think you ll ever go back? Jennifer: (Grinning) I am. Next month. I m gonna ride the Severn Bore. Hench: Is that a pig? Jennifer: No you knob! It s a wave. You surf it. A couple of times a year there s a really big one. I watched my dad do it a few of years ago. I m doing it for him. Hench: Is it? Jennifer: Yeah.. Suddenly she looks at him. 5
He died. Pause. Hench despises himself for not knowing what to say. A couple of times he opens his mouth to speak to her but nothing comes out. He continues tearing newspaper. Jennifer finally breaks the silence. We used to own a pub. The Star and Garter. Hench: Is it? Jennifer: I had a tankard with my name on it for orange squash. Hench: Nice. Jennifer: There s nothing sadder than an empty pub. Mum didn t even fight for it. Hench: Guess it must have been hard - Jennifer: (Snapping) She didn t even try. Sorry. Hench: It s OK. Jennifer: We were in a hostel for a couple of months, in Merthyr Tydfil. Hench: What s that like? Jennifer: It s like the Feltham of Wales. Hench: Fuck. Jennifer: Mum couldn t take it. She rang Keith. Hello Feltham. () You know, at night I lay awake and watch her sleeping. And I think I wish it was you that had died. I ve never told anyone that before. I ve got no one to tell.. She fights tears. She smiles warmly at him. The bed is finished. There. Fit for a king. Fit for Taliban. Hench: (Smiling) Yeah. Jennifer: Hench do you think I m a freak? Hench: What d you mean? 6
Jennifer: Do you think I m a freak? Michelle and Kayleigh do. Hench: How do you know? Jennifer: They told me they do. Hench: Oh is it? Well... I don t think that. I think you re... I think you re Jennifer: What? Hench: Fine. Bobbie runs in Bobbie: Bruv I opened the window! Hench: Why? Bobbie: Because the place stank of shit! Hench: (Impatient) AND?? Bobbie: Taliban. He fucking legged it! Hench: Bobbie you dick! Bobbie: You do the front I ll do the back. GO. Hench jumps up, runs towards the door, stops, looks at Jenny. Hench: Err Do you wanna come? Jenny: Yeah OK. Jenny smiles up at him. They run to the front door. 7