Lesson 3, Assignment 1 Cache Winter 2011

Lesson 3, Assignment 1

2. Write a scene in which one person is listening to two other people have an argument or discussion. For example, a child or adult listening to her parents argue.
Have the character narrate the argument and explain what is going on, but have the other two provide the entire dialogue. It is not necessary to have the narrator understand the argument completely. Mis-communication is a major aspect of dialogue. (Turned in second)




Justin sat on the front stairs watching the street as it entered his cul de sac. Where was she? Earlier that morning, his mother called to say she would be there for his birthday party and he hadn’t seen her for weeks. She did that sometimes. He lives with his aunt and her husband now, cause the judge said his mother wasn’t being a good parent. But she was still his mom. He was all she had. He jumped when he heard his aunt call his name.

“Justin, baby, come on in and let’s get your bath. I’ll save a piece of cake for both of you when she gets here.”

“What about the candles?”

“I saved all six of them. We’ll put them in your slice and you can blow them out all over again.”

“Can I light em too?”

“Don’t push it kiddo. Hop upstairs and lets get you cleaned up. I can still see the green on your face from that ogre you ate on top of your cake. I already have your bathwater run. Go on, and don’t forget to use the bathroom first. Lift the lid, Justin. Good boy.”

He climbed into the warm water and gathered his boat, and his spider man, and that chemistry cup he got at Wendy’s or somewhere. Yep, there’s that pair of goggles. He had them on when his aunt popped her head in the door.

“P.J.’s on the toilet top. Brush your teeth and holler if you need anything. I’ll be in my room folding clothes if you need me. Don’t forget to use some soap in there, sweetie.”

“I won’t.” He used soap alright. The spider man needed it to keep from sinking. He was still playing when he heard a loud door slam, a car door. He stopped splashing and sat real still in the tub. He could hear his uncle on the porch.

“Where the hell have you been, Jennifer? Did you know Justin has been sitting on that porch for hours waiting on you?”

“God, quit being such a jerk, Sam. I’m just a few hours late. See, I brought him a present. I had to bum a ride from that guy, whas is name?”

“You’ve been drinking, haven’t you?”

“Bingo”

“He’s not seeing you like this tonight. Get in the car. I'll get Amy to drive you to a hotel. Sit right there. Do not come inside. Justin will hear you.”

Justin heard them all. He could hear his uncle's footsteps coming up the stairs.

“Amy, can you come down here a minute?”

That was his aunt’s name. She peeked into the bathroom. “Time to get out, sweets. Go on and put your pajamas on and brush your teeth. Here, let me shut the door. We have company but I’ll be right back to kiss you goodnight.”

“Is that mommy?”

“Sweetie, I’m not sure. Be right back.”

Justin wrapped his towel around his waist and sat on the closed toilet lid, chin resting in his fists and elbows making red spots on his knees. He knew it was his mommy but she sounded funny. He knew what that meant. There was gonna be a fight. All 'cause of him. He shouldn’t have asked her to come to his party. A little sob worked its way up but he stuck it back down and just sat there, listening for his mommy’s voice. Instead, he heard his aunt and uncle arguing in their bedroom.

“Sam, she’s my sister. What am I supposed to do?”

“Take her to a hotel, Amy. She can’t be here like this. He doesn't need this mess today. Tell her we’ll come get her in the morning after she sleeps it off. Tell her to clean up first. You can take her a jogging suit or something. I can’t take her shit tonight. And I’m not riding in a car with her. She’ll try to get me out of my shorts before we get there or lie and say I did. Remember last year?”

Justin wondered why he would take his shorts off. Maybe they had a pool at the hotel where his mommy stays. He finished his teeth and got his pj’s on but they were still talking. So, really quiet like, he snuck into his room and slipped under his bed so he could hear his mommy downstairs. He liked to hear her voice. He even missed her sometimes.

“Fine, Sam, give me some cash and I’ll take her to the LaQuinta down the road. But I’m telling you, it isn’t right. What if she uses while she’s there? Then what?”

“Well, for starters, pay for her damn room with that cash and don’t give her any of it or you know she will. Put her to bed and come on home. She’s a grown-up now, Amy. You aren’t responsible for her anymore.”

“If not, who? She’s Justin’s mother. What will he think if we kick her out?”

“Nothing, if we tell him she’s just spending the night at the hotel because we didn’t have an extra room. We don’t, you know, since we used the guest room for Justin’s room. It’s not like we’re lying.”

Justin tried to hold back his crying but it came out anyway. He got some courage and came downstairs in his pajamas. He decided he was the one who had to fix this since he started it.

“Mommy, you can have my bed. I’ll sleep on the couch. It’s okay, mommy. I haven’t peed on my bed in a real long time. And my cover is real warm.” He looked up at his three grown-ups and realized, for the first time, that even big people have trouble keeping those stupid tears stuffed down in their cheeks.

Next thing he knew, he was being squeezed between all three of them and he decided that if he ever got to breathe again, he was gonna remember this as the best hug he ever got for his birthday.




***************************************************************************************************************************
(Scenario below was turned in first)

# 7.Write a dialogue scene between two people of different genders. This could be a parent and child, heterosexual lovers--whoever, as long as one is female and one is male.

Scene: Husband and wife. Husband comes home from hunting for a job. Told from wife's point of view.


I heard the sigh before he entered the room, replacing his cell in its belt case.
“Did George call about the job?”

“Yeah, he said not this week. Maybe next Monday. Still waiting on the permits to come in.”

Good, I thought. Wonder how long it takes to get permits in. “So, what about that government job you were looking at? That one sounded more secure, I mean, better benefits at least.”

“Please quit grilling me about this. I don’t even want to come home knowing you’re gonna start in on me the minute I walk in. C’mon babe, you know I hate this. Gimme a break, alright?”

“I know, I’m just scared, honey. Don’t yell at me either. I just can’t stand uncertainty and we’ve had a double dose lately.” It’s déjà vu again. I can hear my mother’s chatter in my ear from 20 years back, and right up to this week.

“Your dad, again?” I felt the tension leave as he returned to our typical kitchen conversation mode.

“How’d ya guess? You know, he wasn’t as awful as my mother makes him out to be.”

“Maybe not, but he didn’t bring much to the table either, the way I hear it.”

“Hey, don’t go there hon. It was a two-way street and Mom did her share of the nagging. And you think I’m bad?”

“No, really. Its not like I knew him and to give him credit, I do know your mom. But what do you remember about him, really. I mean, not what your mom says but what do you remember?”

I had to think a minute. That was never easy to answer. Sort of like picking out Father’s Day cards. Do you choose what you wanted your father to be like and take a chance on him getting a card that smacks of sarcasm because you know he knows he wasn’t that kind of dad or do you slide out of the game by getting some generic card with a blank inside and just write Happy Father’s Day and sign it?

“Babe?”

“Oh, sorry. I’m trying to remember. I guess he was like two fathers in one. There was the one fighting with mom and there was the one who got me out back when mom wasn’t looking and played cops and robbers with me. She didn’t like guns. It was our little secret.”

“Sounds fun.”

“Yeah, it was, till mom got wind of the fact that we were both missing from the couch and started looking. She’d find us and start sending me off to clean my room and then the fight would come. Without a job, he’d better pull his weight around the house. She got crazy when she caught him goofing around, even with his own kid.”

“Crazy huh? That’s not a far stretch.”

“Okay, I asked for that one. No, I see her side of it too. As a kid, she was the spoiler of the fun, the bully to my playmate. But as a wife and mother, I get it."

“Why, because I’m between jobs. Don’t tell me I’m going through all this to help you understand your mother.”

“Oh, shut up. You know what I’m talking about. I think, deep down, she wanted to be the fun one, the confidant, to just leave the laundry for another day and get in the dirt with her kid but he had already claimed that role. Left her with the boring, disciplinarian, filth police, and janitor jobs. Seeing him playing with me just rubbed her nose in it.”

“Then what happened, you know, when she sent you off to clean your room?”

“The fights, the nagging, all that stuff. You know.”

“What, like, when are you getting a job you good-for-nothin' leech?

His eyebrows went up and I knew I’d just danced right over his trap. “Something like that.” I had to admit, he'd made his point.

“Do me a favor.”

“Yeah?”

“Don’t forget it’s me standing here, not your dad. I’m not him, baby. I’m not going to leave you and I’m not planning on shirking my responsibilities. I’m just not that guy.”

“I know, that’s why I married you. And don't forget, you married me after you met my mother, so you best watch it. You may not be like my dad but I can’t promise you I won’t ever sound like my mom.” It was my turn to lift the eyebrows. I think my point came across in bright red letters. “Be afraid, my dear. Be very afraid.” I told him in that low voice I save for threatening the children while at the same time, chasing him out of the kitchen with a dishrag. I smiled as he did a fake jog out of the kitchen, pretending to be a scared and scolded puppy. I wasn’t so sure he was pretending.

**********************************************************************************************************************************