Humana Festival 2019 by Amy Wegener

Author:Amy Wegener
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Limelight Editions
Published: 2020-08-12T00:00:00+00:00

SCENE ELEVEN

JAWAD stands next to BASIM (c. 1990-91). They are both in army fatigues, smoking cigarettes.

BASIM. I’m betting this Kuwait shit won’t be a real war. Not like that fucking bloodbath against the Ayatollahs. Who would be stupid enough to get out of one war and end up in another?

JAWAD. Basim, keep your voice down, man.

BASIM. Don’t worry. I’m the gatekeeper of the underworld out here, too. I get all the black market shit for the officers in this regiment. Smokes, booze, video tapes. I’m from around these parts, remember? And three times more efficient than the army’s useless supply lines.

JAWAD. You really think Saddam has it in him to fight the Americans?

BASIM. Who knows, man. Last I remember, he was their guy.

JAWAD. Their running dog.

BASIM. Who do you think shipped him the poison he used on the Kurds? It was Reagan and his gang.

JAWAD. Damn, it’s hot.

(The two men take off their shirts.)

BASIM. Well, this hot-ass plain is my hot-ass plain. Al-Samawa. You know nothing, Baghdad Boy. I’ll show you the desert. And Lake Sawa, too. Next time we have a free morning.

(They are in the desert now. Shirts off but tied around their heads. JAWAD is in awe.)

JAWAD. There can’t be a lake in this desert. No way.

(Blue seems to rise up around them.)

BASIM. See for yourself.

JAWAD. I’ve never seen anything like it.

BASIM. The only lake in the world fed entirely by ground water.

JAWAD. A blue like this blue.

BASIM. This lake shows up in all the ancient accounts, dates back to pre-Islamic times. Put your hand in it.

(JAWAD does.)

JAWAD. It’s cold! And this mud. It’s perfect. I’ll take some back to the barracks. I’ll sculpt a statue of...the King of Lake Sawa! Basim the Great.

BASIM. I don’t want to be a king. Just a free man. And a good friend.

(A fighter jet passes over them, closer now. They both look up.)

Ignore it. They’re not supposed to attack if we’re not a threat. They’re just:

JAWAD/BASIM. (Mocking.) “keeping the no-fly zone clear...”

BASIM. But even from that high up they can hear us breathe. So whatever you do, don’t shout at them or point at them or they’ll use you for target practice.

(The men are back in their bunkers.)

JAWAD. I hate sleeping underground.

BASIM. Like fucking rats, man. But you get used to it.

JAWAD. I hope not.

(A dull thud in the distance.)

BASIM. I gotta say, I didn’t think that old fart Bush had it in him.

JAWAD. He’s pulling out all the stops.

BASIM. The Empire Strikes Back.

JAWAD. The first movie was better.

BASIM. Second.

BASIM/JAWAD. Third was shit.

(The two men start undressing, down to their underwear. At times we hear explosions in the distance.)

BASIM. I got guard duty in an hour.

(They each lay out blankets and lie down with their heads on sand bags.)

Hey, how’s the brooding thespian girl?

JAWAD. Her name is Reem. And she’s a woman.

BASIM. Really? So, have you...?

JAWAD. Not yet. Almost, but then I was called up. Her family’s rich.

BASIM. Oooh. To a rich girl, poor is sexy, man.

JAWAD. I miss my workshop at the university.

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