CAST OF CHARACTERSAMY: A female cop.
DEBRA: A female inmate.
ACT I
SCENE 1
AT RISE: AMY, dressed in a police uniform, and DEBRA, dressed in inmates uniform, sits across the table in a prison visitors room.
AMYIt's my fault.
Debra shakes her head.
AMYI'm the one that started it.
DEBRAYou can't take credit for this.
AMYIf only I'd-
DEBRAWhat? If only we'd never met? If only you'd never thought? You can go on with all the what-ifs in the world and it still won't change this.
AMYBut I was the one that started it.
DEBRAFine. I'll give you that. I was standing behind that counter at Dunkin Donuts, wiping down the counter like some zombie when I heard you say, "I wonder what it'd be like."
AMYI wish I'd never-
DEBRA
(continuing like she didn't hear Amy)I don't think I heard you at first. I was thinking about when my night would be over. Waiting for the chance to shower off my day. And then you nudged me. You said, "To be them for a day."
AMYIt was wrong. I could have entered the academy anytime-
DEBRAAnd you pointed at them. At those two lazy cops that came in every night to eat their doughnuts and drink their coffee. And I think I said, "Sure," because I wasn't even listening to you. I was on automatic, like some-
Amy jumps out of her chair.
AMYYou have to stop. I can't tell you how bad I feel-
DEBRAWhy feel bad? My life was like a dream. Sometimes a nightmare and sometimes a daydream, but always sleepwalking. I remember those days like a movie played out in another persons life.
AMYI made sure it was a nightmare.
DEBRANo. God, you don't understand. Please sit down.
Amy sits.
DEBRAYou're gonna make the guard nervous out there and I certainly don't need that.
AMYI'm a cop. He's probably not even thinking about us in here.
DEBRAYeah. You're wearing the uniform and I still forget.
AMYI just wish I'd never brought in that box.
DEBRAIt wasn't the box that convinced me.
AMYThen what about the month of me talking about it? Like there was some master plan. Something I thought we had to do.
DEBRAYou planted the seed, sure, but it was the pathetic emptiness of my life that let it grow.
AMYYou never used to talk like this. All poetic like.
DEBRAI was a different person. And unhappy person caught in her own inertia.
AMYAnd I set the fuse.
DEBRAMaybe. Do you remember that awful uniform?
They both pull Dunkin Doughnuts uniforms from under the table and then start to change into them.
AMYI remember that awful synthetic material.
DEBRAThe cloying scent of doughnuts mingled with our sweat.
AMYI couldn't wait to get out of it each night.
DEBRAIt was suffocating, that cloth.
AMYIt gave me heat rash.
The light on them changes slightly, to indicate a moment in the past.
AMYThey're not coming tonight.
DEBRAWho?
AMYOur victims.
DEBRAOkay.
AMYAren't you going to ask me about the box?
Debra shakes her head.
DEBRAWhy the hell not?
AMY
(taking a deep breath)Because I think that you think I really want to do something that I don't want to do.
Debra laughs, trying to make light of Amy's objections. Amy folds her arms. Debra sighs.
AMY
(shrugging her sholders)Okay.
DEBRAOkay.
AMYC'mon.
Debra looks doubtfully at Amy.
AMYDon't be so doubtful. I can't do this without you. If you don't want to do it, then that's the end of it.
DEBRAYou're not gonna try and guilt me into changing my mind?
AMYWe won't talk about it again. I'll take the box home. No big deal.
DEBRAI think that's best.
AMYThen we agree.
They stand silently for a moment.
DEBRAFine. What's in the box?
AMYNothing. We're not talking about it anymore.
DEBRADon't be like that.
Debra smiles at Amy.
AMY
(looking surprised)I don't think I've ever seen you smile before.
Debra's smile turns into a grimace.
AMYAre you okay? It looks like you're in pain.
DEBRAMy cheek is cramping up. Have you ever gotten a cramp from smiling?
AMYSure. And seeing as you never use those muscles, I'm not surprised.
DEBRAI was thinking...well, shit...Maybe I was hasty.
AMYHasty?
DEBRAAbout your plan.
AMYYou wanna do it?
DEBRAI wanna talk about it.
AMYYou wanna know what's in the box.
DEBRAYeah. What's in the box?
AMYEverything it takes to execute the plan, my dear.
DEBRAI can't believe I'm thinking about this.
AMYI can. And I can't tell you how thrilled I am.
Amy and Debra stare at each other for a moment. Amy picks up her police uniform from the table and Debra her inmates uniform. They walk to opposite sides of the stage and change out of their Dunkin Doughnuts uniforms.
DEBRAI was happy to give up that uniform. So happy to do anything else but stay up all night serving people doughnuts and coffee.
AMYI have mine at home in my closet. I wouldn't go back to that job for anything but the uniform is a part of my history.
DEBRAI wish I could forget I ever wore it.
AMYNot me. It's an important part of my past. A stepping-stone.
When they're finished changing, the two women sit back at the table.
DEBRAThe one thing I still can't believe is that it went off without a hitch.
AMYMy plan was solid.
DEBRAFirst drug the cops.
AMYI feel disloyal even thinking about that.
DEBRAThen take them to our apartments.
AMYI was so worried mine would wake up while I was undressing him.
DEBRAI wasn't. He was out. He didn't even wake up when I soaked his shirt in tequila.
AMYI remember putting on his uniform and thinking that I smelled like a cop. And then the car. I was so enamored of that car. It's funny how quickly the romance of something can wear off. I patrol everyday now and it doesn't seem like such a big deal.
DEBRADo you remember what you said when we pulled that first guy over?
Amy sighs.
DEBRAYou said, "This is it. You can't hide anymore. It's time to start living your life." I almost burst into tears, but then you went on.You said, "Forget it. Whatever is keeping you from this moment, right now, throw it away. There is a guy in that car and he's sweating bullets, just waiting for you to put down the law."
AMYI shouldn't have-
DEBRABut the words that really stuck with me came next. You said, "You're the one in power now."
Amy shakes her head.
DEBRAOh, what a rush. And you were so right. He was just waiting for me, in that car, terrified. I made up some stupid reason why I pulled him over and he totally went with it. He made all these excused and then tried to wheedle me into not giving him a ticket. Finally, after I really made him work for it, I let him off with a warning. He was so grateful. No man - that wrong, no person - has ever treated me with as much reverence and respect as he did.
AMYI couldn't sleep for two days. I kept listening for the sirens in the distance. I kept waiting for them to come arrest us.
DEBRABut they didn't! We got away with it.
AMYYou never would have thought to do it, if I hadn't-
DEBRAYou're damn right! I wouldn't have thought, without you. I'm in prison but I'm not unhappy. I mean, I'm not happy about being in prison, but it's damn better than living in a prison I made for myself.
AMYBut what about after? You never would have started down this path-
DEBRAYou can't take credit for the choices I made for my own life. If I went too far, if I kept pressing the law further and further for more of a thrill, then that's my fault.
AMYWhat we did was wrong-
DEBRAI know that. It was so great because it was wrong.
Amy shakes her head.
DEBRALook, you're not supposed to understand this. You're the law now and if you really got why I am the way I am, it would ruin your whole being a cop thing. I just want you to understand that I don't regret it. After that night I kept asking myself; is it better to live a life that's wrong because you're doing everything right or a life that's right because you're doing everything wrong? When I actually asked myself that question, the answer wasn't what I expected.
AMYI just wish...
DEBRAIf you're going to regret what we did, then regret for yourself, not for me.
AMYSo you're a career criminal now? You're just gonna live your life out in jail?
DEBRAA few months in here has shown me that I need to find a better way to get my kicks. But at least I'm thinking about it. I have to figure out what I'm doing with my life. I think it's about time I did.
AMYI'm just...I'm just so sorry.
Amy stands.
DEBRAHey.
Amy looks at Debra.
DEBRAIt was fun, though, right?
Amy nods.
DEBRAThanks for that.
Amy walks off.
(THE END)