Queen A Pawn by Gary O. Bennett
INT. LIVING ROOM EVENING
HEIDI GARNER sits on a couch, elbows on knees, facing a chess
board on a coffee table. The chess board rests on a small
Lazy Susan. Heidi plays a black piece, then turns the Lazy
Susan, setting up the white pieces in front of her. No one
is playing with her. She is playing herself. Moving a black
piece, then a white piece, turning the Lazy Susan after each
move. Heidi is dressed very casually, maybe as if she has
not yet dressed for the day. The apartment is small, the
kitchen is open, part of the center living area. There are
two bedrooms. The front door to the apartment is ajar. PAT
GARNER opens the door from the outside hallway, a business
briefcase strapped to her shoulder and a bag of groceries in
her arm.
PAT GARNER
The door is open. Did you know the
door is open?
Heidi does not answer. Pat closes the door and places the
groceries on the kitchen counter.
PAT GARNER
Sorry I’m late. Dad’s not pissed,
is he?
HEIDI GARNER
Nope.
PAT GARNER
I better start dinner like pronto.
Pat clears the mess from the kitchen counter to make room for
her groceries.
PAT GARNER
Jeeez Heidi…this is sort of a pig
sty, don’t you think? Dad lets you
get away with this?
HEIDI GARNER
Yes.
Pat cleans up, including the pile of dirty dishes in the
sink.
PAT GARNER
I’m going to just clean up a bit.
I mean when Dad sees this he is
going to, well, he’ll probably
blame this on me.
Heidi does not respond. Pat continues to clean.
PAT GARNER
Where’s Dad, anyway?
HEIDI GARNER
Resting.
PAT GARNER
Resting? What’s he not feeling
good?
HEIDI GARNER
He never felt better.
PAT GARNER
I am making pasta.
HEIDI GARNER
You made pasta last Wednesday.
PAT GARNER
Dad likes pasta. Last week was
marinara. Tonight I will make
pesto. You like pesto.
HEIDI GARNER
That’s Mom’s favorite.
PAT GARNER
Yes. Mom. You like pesto?
HEIDI GARNER
It’s green, right?
PAT GARNER
It’s the basil. The basil makes it
green.
HEIDI GARNER
I don’t like pea soup.
PAT GARNER
It’s nothing like pea soup, Heidi.
HEIDI GARNER
Mom doesn’t like pea soup.
PAT GARNER
I think it’s about time we stop
referring to Mom in the present
tense. It’s been, what, five
years.
HEIDI GARNER
Four years eight months three days.
PAT GARNER
You want to go wake Dad?
Heidi does not respond.
PAT GARNER
God, what a day, what a day. I had
to cancel lunch with Bob. Can you
believe it. If only I had known
the law was more demanding than
medicine, Bob and I could have
worked together. You want to wake
Dad?
HEIDI GARNER
Not really.
PAT GARNER
What do you mean?
HEIDI GARNER
I don’t want to wake him.
PAT GARNER
What’s the matter? You guys have a
fight?
HEIDI GARNER
Nope. It’s been quiet for like
three days.
PAT GARNER
Three days?
HEIDI GARNER
Three days.
PAT GARNER
Have you gotten out at all?
HEIDI GARNER
I haven’t heard from you since last
week.
PAT GARNER
I was out of town.
HEIDI GARNER
No you weren’t.
PAT GARNER
Heidi…Heidi, I was out of town,
and I do not wish to get into a…
tussle with you.
HEIDI GARNER
Tussle. Tussle. I like that word.
You do not tussle over facts.
Facts are facts. You should know
that as a lawyer.
PAT GARNER
Actually, that’s not true.
Virtually everything in a courtroom
concerns facts.
HEIDI GARNER
Since when have you been in a
courtroom? All I hear about is you
doing research and writing motions
and doing deposition summaries.
PAT GARNER
A few more years I will be moving
up the ladder. It’s how it works.
HEIDI GARNER
You are on a ladder? You tussle
over facts on a ladder.
PAT GARNER
Lets have a nice evening. Dad in a
good mood? I hope he’s in a good
mood. Is he in a good mood?
HEIDI GARNER
Moodless. Moonless. A moonless
night. A moodless night. What
mood does the moon put you in?
PAT GARNER
It’s full moon tonight.
HEIDI GARNER
Gibbus. It’s a gibbus moon. So I
am in a gibbus mood. Not all
there.
PAT GARNER
Oh stop it, Heidi. You are all
there. Has Dad not been so…sweet
to you?
HEIDI GARNER
Sweet to me? Let’s just say Dad
does not want to talk to you
anymore. No more. Dad, no more
talk-ee to you-ee.
PAT GARNER
Silly you.
HEIDI GARNER
I do not appreciate you talking to
me like a child. Silly you. Silly
you. I am an adult. You don’t say
“silly you” to an adult.
PAT GARNER
OK. OK. Sorry. It’s just that
you said something hurtful.
HEIDI GARNER
Hurtful?
PAT GARNER
About Dad not wanting to speak with
me. You know Dad loves us both.
HEIDI GARNER
(sarcastic)
Please.
PAT GARNER
Maybe we shouldn’t talk about this
right now. Dad’s here and it will
be awkward.
HEIDI GARNER
Yes. Dad doesn’t like awkward. He
likes everything in its place, all
lined up. Ducks in a row. Peas in
their pod.
Pat picks up a prescription bottle from the kitchen counter.
PAT GARNER
Heidi, this is empty. You have
another bottle?
HEIDI GARNER
No more drugs for me.
PAT GARNER
This is not a drug, Heidi. It’s
your medication.
HEIDI GARNER
You want me medicated, just like
Dad. You don’t like me, so you
turn me into someone else, another
person. Someone who is not me.
PAT GARNER
Does Dad know you have not been
taking your medication? He would
have called me. You want me to go
to the drug store?
HEIDI GARNER
I’d rather you go to the toy store.
PAT GARNER
I’m going to go wake Dad up and
tell him…
HEIDI GARNER
No. You leave Dad out of this. I
am sick of Dad telling me what to
do. I know about you and him. I
know about the whole thing.
PAT GARNER
You know what?
HEIDI GARNER
Pat went to law school, Pat is
successful, Pat is pretty, Pat
makes money, Pat has her own
apartment, Pat has a doctor
boyfriend, Pat has nice clothes,
Pat smells nice, Pat has sex.
PAT GARNER
Dad didn’t say that?
HEIDI GARNER
Do you even know your own father?
PAT GARNER
Maybe Dad is just a little
frustrated by your lack of, lack of
ambition to get a job and find
yourself.
HEIDI GARNER
Find myself. I am right here.
See. Do you see me? There is
nothing to find.
I am not looking for me. In fact,
no one is looking for me.
PAT GARNER
But you are 24 years old, Heidi.
You should be thinking about a job
or something.
HEIDI GARNER
Dad needs me here.
PAT GARNER
Dad is healthy and fine and does
not need you taking care of him.
HEIDI GARNER
So Dad doesn’t need me? You don’t
need me. Does anyone need me, Pat?
Am I needed by anyone? If I am not
needed, then what is the whole
thing for? What’s it for?
PAT GARNER
You know, you read all the time.
You love to read. Why not get a
job at Barnes & Noble. You could
work their information desk. You’d
be great. Dad and I could visit
you at the bookstore.
HEIDI GARNER
Dad and you…ha ha ha. Visit me?
Funny. Funny. Dad never even lets
me go to the bookstore. He picked
out all my books. He bought all
the books. I could only read what
he gave me. There ain’t no way Dad
will be visiting me at any
bookstore.
PAT GARNER
You really need your medication.
Pat drops everything and walks over to the closed bedroom
door and opens it. She enters. Heidi makes a few chess
moves. A moment passes. Suddenly we hear a scream. Heidi
does not react. Pat emerges from the bedroom. She appears
to be holding back tears.
HEIDI GARNER
He’s quiet, huh? Ever see Dad so
quiet.
PAT GARNER
How…how long has he been…
HEIDI GARNER
I told you. Three days.
PAT GARNER
Three days? He’s been lying there
for three days.
HEIDI GARNER
Yeah.
PAT GARNER
He was fine last week. He was
built like an ox. This is…when
did you find him?
HEIDI GARNER
He was lying just like he is now,
all naked and fat with his legs
spread eagle. I hate his whitey
white skin and his black hair.
Black hair all over his pasty white
skin. I bet you didn’t know how
hairy Dad was. And did you see his
thing just hanging there. Looks
pretty small if you ask me.
PAT GARNER
Did you call anyone?
HEIDI GARNER
Nope.
PAT GARNER
You’ve just been in the apartment
with Dad lying in the bedroom for
three days?
HEIDI GARNER
Yep.
PAT GARNER
Heidi, sweetheart, you probably
don’t even know that he’s…
HEIDI GARNER
Dead. What do you think I am,
stupid. Dad is dead. Yesterday
his limbs and fingers were hard.
Today you can move him around a
little. That’s what happens.
PAT GARNER
You’re in shock. This is awful. I
feel so bad. Dad was, oh my god,
Daddy. I can’t believe this. He
was fine last week. He was fine
last week. And I didn’t call.
HEIDI GARNER
Yeah, that’s what Dad said.
PAT GARNER
What? What do you mean? What did
he say?
HEIDI GARNER
He said you hadn’t called.
PAT GARNER
When did he say that?
HEIDI GARNER
Oh, maybe the day before he died.
PAT GARNER
So many things to do? We should
call 911.
HEIDI GARNER
911? This is not am emergency,
Pat. He’s already dead. There’s
nothing they can do for him.
PAT GARNER
Yes, but you call 911 when there is
a death.
HEIDI GARNER
Call a funeral home.
PAT GARNER
When was Dad’s last checkup?
HEIDI GARNER
I don’t know. He never told me
where he was going or what he was
doing.
PAT GARNER
You think it was a heart attack?
Pat walks over to the telephone and enters three numbers.
HEIDI GARNER
I don’t know…what are you doing?
PAT GARNER
Calling 911.
Heidi jumps up with a start, rushes over to Pat, grabs the
telephone out of her hands and throws it against the wall.
HEIDI GARNER
I told you, there is no reason to
call 911. This is not an
emergency. You going to be
bothering 911 when there’s no
emergency? Bad. Very bad.
PAT GARNER
Dad is dead. He’s been dead for
three days. We have to call the
police.
HEIDI GARNER
You call the funeral home. You
call Dad’s sister. You call Dad’s
two friends. We put Dad in a box
and bury him. And we move on. Now
why don’t you make dinner. I’m
starved. I have not eaten in three
days. I am the emergency. I need
some thing. Dad needs nothing.
Heidi strolls back to the couch and sits.
PAT GARNER
Heidi…Heidi, you didn’t do
anything, did you?
HEIDI GARNER
Do anything?
PAT GARNER
Why is Dad lying naked like that?
Heidi does not respond.
PAT GARNER
His head is on a pillow, facing
straight up, his arms and legs
spread out with perfect symmetry,
as if…as if he was placed there.
HEIDI GARNER
It does look like that, doesn’t it.
PAT GARNER
And he is naked.
HEIDI GARNER
People lie in their bed naked, Pat.
PAT GARNER
Heidi…Heidi, what did Dad do?
Did he hurt you? Did he try to do
something to you?
HEIDI GARNER
With me. With me. He tried to do
something with me. Actually, ha
ha, he did do stuff with me.
PAT GARNER
Oh my god. Dad didn’t?
HEIDI GARNER
What, rape me? No. No. You watch
too much TV.
PAT GARNER
What then?
HEIDI GARNER
He beat me.
PAT GARNER
Oh baby. You’re kidding me. I
don’t believe it. How? How often?
How long has this been going on?
You have no bruises.
HEIDI GARNER
He beat me at chess.
PAT GARNER
This is not making any sense. How
did Dad die, Heidi?
HEIDI GARNER
I told you I do not want to talk
about it. Now make dinner. My
blood sugar is low. I am not
feeling right.
PAT GARNER
Stop it. Just stop it, Heidi.
This is not funny. You are turning
this into a circus. Dad is dead.
You have left him lying for three
days. You have not called anyone.
And you are playing like this
little mind game. You look at me
when I’m talking to you?
HEIDI GARNER
What are you, my mommy?
PAT GARNER
So why can’t I call 911? I’ll tell
you what I am thinking. You did
something to Dad, and you are
afraid of the police finding out
about it.
HEIDI GARNER
Everyone thought I was the idiot,
the dim witted one, the slow one,
the one with mental problems, the
one with no friends, no social
skills. Dad didn’t like you.
Because you looked down on me and
him. Dad knew you thought he was
an illiterate embarrassment. Why
else would he not be invited to
your law school graduation, or that
he never met any of your friends or
that doctor boyfriend of yours.
PAT GARNER
It was not like that.
HEIDI GARNER
Do you know I read to Dad. Every
night, I read books to him. He
would bring books home for me to
read to him. He went out and
bought them. He was not an idiot.
He just never learned to read. He
needed me. I was his window to the
world. And now that bastard took
the only thing I had. The only
thing.
PAT GARNER
Heidi, you are not connecting the
dots here. Why would you do
something to Dad if he needed you?
HEIDI GARNER
I didn’t do anything to Dad. He
was lonely. He was depressed.
He’s been acting funny for months.
PAT GARNER
Months?
HEIDI GARNER
Oh you’d never know. You never
notice a damn thing. He’d play all
sweet and nice and like everything
was fine. But I knew. Lately when
I read to him, he wouldn’t listen.
I could tell he wouldn’t listen.
Can you believe that? Can you
believe I would get into bed with
him and read, and I saw his mind
was elsewhere. He wouldn’t listen.
I would rub his arms and try to get
him back, but he just stared and
said it wasn’t worth it anymore.
PAT GARNER
OK. OK. Listen, you are throwing
too much at me. You were in bed
with Dad rubbing him?
HEIDI GARNER
Affection can be a beautiful thing.
But he would not listen. He would
not listen. And he wanted to end
it all, the bastard. The bastard.
PAT GARNER
Shut up. Just shut up.
HEIDI GARNER
Dad downed all my pills. He
committed suicide, Pat. You got
it. The asshole committed suicide.
There is a long awkward moment. Heidi returns to her chess
game.
PAT GARNER
Did he leave a note?
HEIDI GARNER
Did he leave a note? Did he leave
a note? What is this, Law and
Order? There was no note because
Dad couldn’t write.
PAT GARNER
We can’t call 911.
HEIDI GARNER
Yeah. Tell me about it. Everyone
will think I killed him.
PAT GARNER
Dad had life insurance. Term.
He’s been paying it for years.
It’s a three million dollar policy,
but they will not pay if it was a
suicide. And you and I are the
beneficiaries.
HEIDI GARNER
Okie dokie.
PAT GARNER
Everyone knows or thinks you are,
well, a little slow, Heidi, so it
will not be hard to explain why you
did not call anyone.
HEIDI GARNER
Yeah. Slow. I am good at slow. I
am slow. I am fast. I am never in
the middle. Never in the middle.
Too slow for people, too fast for
people. I am hot and cold, black
and white.
PAT GARNER
We’ll get him embalmed quickly to
avoid any possibility of an
autopsy. Oh god, this is crazy.
This is crazy. What am I doing? I
can’t be thinking this. This is
fraud.
HEIDI GARNER
Life is a fraud. The whole damn
thing. You see this? You see this
chess board? This is not a fraud.
PAT GARNER
You playing your friend?
HEIDI GARNER
Yeah. Never beaten her yet.
PAT GARNER
Maybe you should play white
sometime. Take an advantage.
HEIDI GARNER
That’s what Dad always said. Play
white. Play white. I am playing
white. When I am my friend, I am
playing white.
PAT GARNER
How’s this game going?
HEIDI GARNER
She is playing good, but I have her
on the run.
PAT GARNER
So this is our secret, Heidi, OK.
You, me and your chess friend.
HEIDI GARNER
Yeah. Secret.
PAT GARNER
I’ll call Bob. I think he can sign
off on the death. He will help us
get this certified as a cardiac
incident or whatever.
HEIDI GARNER
Ahhhhhh! No. No. (talking to a
spot where Heidi’s imaginary friend
is) You bitch. You bitch. It’s
stalemated. I screwed up. I
screwed up.
Heidi throws all of the chess pieces off the chess board and
starts to cry.
HEIDI GARNER
Stalemate. Stalemate. It’s never
a win for me. Never.
PAT GARNER
This is crazy. Dad is dead. Holy
jesus…we are the only one’s left,
Heidi. We need each other. I need
you, Heidi. You are important to
me.
HEIDI GARNER
Where am I going to live? What am
I going to do? Who’s going to take
care of me?
Heidi picks up two chess pieces, a king and a pawn. She
places them on the chess board.
HEIDI GARNER
That’s what was.
Heidi hits the king with her hand, it flies off the board,
leaving a lone pawn.
HEIDI GARNER
That’s what is now.
Pat goes over to the coffee table opposite Heidi. She picks
up a queen and places it on the chessboard next to the pawn.
PAT GARNER
This is what is now. I am here.
Pat is tapping the top of the queen. Heidi stares at it.
She then moves the lone pawn to the opposite side of the
board and replaces it with the other queen.
HEIDI GARNER
You get two queens if you queen a
pawn.
PAT GARNER
Turn a pawn into a queen. Just
like that, Heidi. It’s that
simple.
HEIDI GARNER
I hope so.
THE END.
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