I CALL MY BROTHERS

I CALL MY BROTHERS

Jonas Hassen Khemiri

Translated from the Swedish by Rachel Willson-Broyles

OBERON BOOKS
LONDON

WWW.OBERONBOOKS.COM

First published in 2015 by Oberon Books Ltd

521 Caledonian Road, London N7 9RH

Tel: +44 (0) 20 7607 3637 / Fax: +44 (0) 20 7607 3629

e-mail: info@oberonbooks.com

www.oberonbooks.com

I Call My Brothers © Jonas Hassen Khemiri, 2015

English translation I Call My Brothers © Rachel Willson-Broyles, 2015

Jonas Hassen Khemiri is hereby identified as author of this play in accordance with section 77 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. The author has asserted his moral rights.

Rachel Willson-Broyles is hereby identified as author of this translation in accordance with section 77 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. The translator has asserted her moral rights.

All rights whatsoever in this play is strictly reserved and application for performance etc. should be made before rehearsal to Rosica Colin Ltd., 1 Clareville Grove Mews, London SW7 5AH. No performance may be given unless a licence has been obtained, and no alterations may be made in the title or the text of the play without the author’s and translator’s prior written consent.

You may not copy, store, distribute, transmit, reproduce or otherwise make available this publication (or any part of it) in any form, or binding or by any means (print, electronic, digital, optical, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise), without the prior written permission of the publisher. Any person who does any unauthorized act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

PB ISBN: 978-1-78319-484-1

EPUB ISBN: 978-178319-494-0

Cover image: Shutterstock

Photo courtesy of Melbourne Theatre Company

Printed, bound and converted

by CPI Group (UK) Ltd, Croydon, CR0 4YY.

Visit www.oberonbooks.com to read more about all our books and to buy them. You will also find features, author interviews and news of any author events, and you can sign up for e-newsletters so that you’re always first to hear about our new releases.

The Australian Premiere of I Call My Brothers was presented by Melbourne Theatre Company at Southbank Theatre, The Lawler on Thursday 16 April 2015, with the following cast:

Cast |
Osamah Sami | AMOR
Ray Chong Nee | AVI, AMPLIFIER, BULLY, THE SALESMAN
Joana Pires | AMPLIFIER, BULLY, VALERIA, KAROLINA
Alice Ansara | AMPLIFIER, AHLEM, THE SUPERVISOR, TYRA
Creative |
Nadja Kostich | Director
Marg Horwell | Set and Costume Designer
Rachel Burke | Lighting Designer
Darrin Verhagen | Composer and Sound Designer
Michael Carmody | Video Designer

Characters

FOUR ACTORS

1. Man

AMOR

2. Man

SHAVI, AMPLIFIER, BULLY, THE SALESMAN

3. Woman

AMPLIFIER, BULLY, VALERIA, KAROLINA

4. Woman

AMPLIFIER, AHLEM, THE SUPERVISOR, TYRA

INTRODUCTION

A car has exploded. A city has been crippled by fear. Amor wanders around the city, doing his best to blend in. He’s going to exchange a drill head. He’s going to call his brothers. He’s going to stop stalking Valeria and take care of his long-since- dead grandma. Most important of all: he must not attract any suspicious glances. But what is normal behaviour? Who is a potential perpetrator? And how many times can Shavi call in one day?

For 24 intense hours we find ourselves in Amor’s head, where the lines between criminal and victim, love and chemistry, and fantasy and reality become blurrier and blurrier.

I Call My Brothers is a funny, frenzied showdown between our prejudices toward other people and each other.

The play has its origins in the text Jag ringer mina bröder, which Jonas Hassen Khemiri published in Dagens Nyheter in December, 2010, one week after the suicide bombing in Stockholm.

1. SCENE 1 — 3

1. SCENE 1 – INTRO

1 enters the role of AMOR.

1/AMOR

I call my brothers and say: Something really sick just happened. Have you heard?

A man. A car. Two explosions. Right downtown.

I call my brothers and say: No, no one has been arrested.

No suspects. Not yet.

I call my brothers and say: Now it begins. Get ready.

2. SCENE 2 – SHAVI

2 enters the role of SHAVI.

2/SHAVI

Hello?

1/AMOR

Shavi was the one who told me.

2/SHAVI

Hey mate, pick up!

1/AMOR

He called, I was standing on a dance floor, it was late at night, or actually: it was early the next day.

We are transported to the night when it all happened.

2/SHAVI

Pick up if you’re there! Pick up! It’s important!

1/AMOR

I was drunk, he called, I danced, he called again.

2/SHAVI

Pick up!

1/AMOR

I felt the vibrations, I checked who it was, but I…

2/SHAVI

Pick up!

1/AMOR

I didn’t answer.

2/ SHAVI

Fucking traitor.

1/AMOR

I mean…

2/SHAVI

What are you doing?

1/AMOR

If it had been someone else, I would have picked up.

2/SHAVI

Are you out?

1/AMOR

If it had been mom. Or my brothers. Or.

2/SHAVI

Who are you out with?

1/AMOR

Anyone at all.

2/SHAVI

Tell me you’re not out alone on a Saturday night? Totally lame.

1/AMOR

But instead it was Shavi…

2/SHAVI

I swear bro, you’re shady.

We leave the night when it all happened and enter AMOR’s memories of SHAVI.

1/AMOR

I mean, don’t get me wrong… We’re still good friends.

SHAVI turns to face the audience.

2/SHAVI

That’s right.

1/AMOR

I love him like a brother.

2/SHAVI

Correct.

1/AMOR

He’s my brother.

2/SHAVI

Precisely.

1/AMOR

Almost in the same way that my brothers are my brothers.

2/SHAVI

Exactly. We’ve got each others’ backs, and we would die for each other any day, right?

Pause. SHAVI smiles proudly at the audience, AMOR looks at SHAVI, hesitates.

1/AMOR

Exactly…or…maybe not die…for my brothers,

I would die. For mom, I would die. But…for Shavi?

2/SHAVI

Come on now, mate.

1/AMOR

I mean… We grew up in the same neighborhood.

We know each other. He’s got my back and I’ve got his.

2/SHAVI

Word.

1/AMOR

I would stand up for him any day, lie for him, take a bullet for him.

2/SHAVI

Exactly.

SHAVI nods and thumps his hand against his chest.

1/AMOR

As long as the bullet doesn’t hit my face… I would take a non-life-threatening, non-face-hitting bullet for him any day.

2/SHAVI

Likewise, mate.

Pause.

1/AMOR

But at the same time… I have to say. Ever since he became a dad he’s been a little…

2/SHAVI

What?

1/AMOR

I don’t know. We’ve drifted apart. He’s changed.

2/SHAVI

You’re one to talk.

1/AMOR

When we were growing up he was always the guy who saw the world from a different angle.

2/SHAVI

What do you mean?

1/AMOR

Well, like, if you’d lost a basketball game and were on your way home on the subway, you could call Shavi and he’s just:

2/SHAVI

How’d it go? What? You got creamed? By Trelleborg? Well, forget it, mate. Fuck basketball – I swear, basketball is for jerks. Think of all the other sports there are – soccer, handball, fencing. (Pause.) Windsurfing, darts, tag. (Pause.) Next time, you should’ve called me, I would have dunked them all to bits!

1/AMOR

And if you’d for example cheated on your physics text and the teacher saw and snatched your test and threatened you with an F you could go home to the courtyard and Shavi was standing there and just:

2/SHAVI

Whaddaya sad? So what? What does an F matter? You’ll still get into KTH. I’m gonna get Fs in four subjects and admit it, I’ll be fine, huh?

1/AMOR

And if your cousin was caught by plainclothes cops and at first she didn’t get that they were plainclothes and thought it was Manal’s brothers who she had a little beef with and so she resisted and tried to run away and so she got a broken nose, then Shavi said:

2/SHAVI

Your cousin should have called me, I swear I would have had her back, I would have dealt combo after combo, I would have boxed the pig’s nose until there was only blood left.

AMOR turns directly to SHAVI.

1/AMOR

You would have?

2/SHAVI

For sure I would’ve. Besides, Ahlem’s just gonna look extra tough with a crooked nose.

1/AMOR (Turning back to the audience.)

And even though everyone knew that Shavi was way too short for basketball…

2/SHAVI

Bullshit.

1/AMOR

And too skinny to get in fights…

2/SHAVI

I’m not as short as I look.

1/AMOR

He always made everything feel… Lighter.

2/SHAVI (Points at his belt, whispering to the audience.)

Plus I been in a shitload of fights. Black belt, yo.

Pause.

1/AMOR

That’s why he was helium.

2/SHAVI

Huh?

1/AMOR

Helium. You were helium.

2/SHAVI

What the fuck are you talking about?

SHAVI walks threateningly toward AMOR, trying to get his attention.

1/AMOR

He was happy when I told him.

2/SHAVI

What the fuck do you mean by helium, nerd?

1/AMOR

We had just learned the periodic system in school and to remember it we started thinking of everyone on our block as different elements.

2/SHAVI

No no no. We didn’t do that. You did.

1/AMOR

Camilla K was titanium since she was so strong and Steve-the-knife was uranium because he was so dangerous when he’d been drinking.

2/SHAVI

I swear bro – you’re strange.

1/AMOR

And Lisa was silica because she was fragile but still cocky and tough on the outside, and handball-Jimena was quicksilver because of her agility…

2/SHAVI

Seriously – you need help.

1/AMOR

And Shavi was helium.

2/SHAVI

Fuck helium! I don’t want to be gas.

1/AMOR

That’s exactly what he said. (To SHAVI.) So what do you want to be?

2/SHAVI

I don’t know? Something else. Like, iron?

1/AMOR

Already taken.

2/SHAVI

Steel?

1/AMOR

Not an element.

2/SHAVI

But why am I helium? Are you trying to say that my head looks like a balloon? That my voice is squeaky high? You’re helium! Your mama’s helium!

1/AMOR

No, you’re helium. Because you always make everything… I don’t know. Lighter.

SHAVI realizes that helium is a good element.

2/SHAVI

I get it. So helium is good?

1/AMOR

Helium is wicked.

2/SHAVI

Helium is heavy shit?

1/AMOR

Helium is heavier than heavy shit.

2/SHAVI

Helium is the heaviest shit.

1/AMOR

Helium is the heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeaviiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiest!

2/SHAVI

Good. So I’m Helium. What about you?

1/AMOR

What?

2/SHAVI

What element are you?

1/AMOR

Me?

2/SHAVI

Yeah, come on, Amor. You have to be an element, too.

1/AMOR

No I… I don’t have one.

2/SHAVI

Quit joking, tell me. I swear, you’re wood because you’re dry as a twig, or no, you’re water because you always start crying when…

1/AMOR (Interrupting.)

Ununtrium, maybe.

2/SHAVI

What? Unun…

1/AMOR

Trium. Ununtrium.

2/SHAVI

What’s that?

1/AMOR

A temporary name for an unconfirmed synthetic element. Atomic number 113. Atomic symbol Uut.

2/SHAVI

I think wood fits you better.

1/AMOR

And then some time went by and Camilla K died in a car accident and handball-Jimena stopped playing handball and I graduated second best in my class and Shavi –

2/SHAVI

– almost graduated.

1/AMOR

I got accepted to KTH and Shavi met Nina and became a dad…

2/SHAVI

And an entrepreneur: Shavi Constructions, scaffolding you can count on. Call me.

1/AMOR

I moved away and Shavi…

2/SHAVI

Stayed in the neighborhood.

1/AMOR

Everything changed.

2/SHAVI

Bullshit. Everything stayed the same.

1/AMOR

Except Shavi. Shavi changed.

2/SHAVI

No, you changed.

Pause.

1/AMOR

After the election he called me and sounded totally shocked.

We are transported back to the night of the election.

2/SHAVI

This is completely sick, are you watching? Are you watching?

1/AMOR

And of course I was watching.

2/SHAVI

I can’t believe it.

1/AMOR

Everybody was watching.

2/SHAVI

They got in.

1/AMOR

The results were coming in from the whole country.

2/SHAVI

Those fucking racist bitches got into fucking parliament.

1/AMOR

The numbers spoke loud and clear.

2/SHAVI

This is so fucked up!

1/AMOR

And I admit. I was a bit…irritated. I don’t know why, but there was something about how upset Shavi was that annoyed me.

2/SHAVI

This is the sickest thing I’ve ever seen, bro!

1/AMOR (Turns to SHAVI.)

What the hell did you expect? Are you surprised? We live in a racist country, of course they would vote for the racist party.

2/SHAVI

But come on – how… How dumb can they be?

1/AMOR

Who?

2/SHAVI

The voters! The people!

1/AMOR

What about you, what did you vote for?

2/SHAVI

Completely sick.

1/AMOR

Shavi. What did you vote for?

2/SHAVI

Me?

1/AMOR

You voted, right? Tell me you voted.

Pause.

2/SHAVI

I mean, I was on my way. But Peanut had a fever.

1/AMOR (To the audience.)

Peanut. I swear on my mother’s life, he calls his daughter ‘Peanut.’ Even though she was totally fat when she was born.

2/SHAVI

And then I couldn’t find my voter ID. (Pause.) The bus was late. (Pause.) It was raining. (Pause.) The line was super long. (Pause.) Peanut’s stroller had a flat tire.

1/AMOR

Peanut… All the time, him and Peanut. Him, Nina, and Peanut.

AMOR and SHAVI enter the memory of how their relationship has been since SHAVI’s had a family (and AMOR has been left all alone). We’re transported to Peanut’s bedroom when she was a newborn.

2/SHAVI

Isn’t she honestly, totally objectively, the cutest, most gifted kid you’ve ever met?

1/AMOR

Shavi, I don’t know. She’s four days old.

2/SHAVI

Exactly! Look at her. It’s really uncommon for such a young child to focus her eyes this way.

Pause.

1/AMOR

But…

2/SHAVI

Hmm?

1/AMOR

She’s asleep.

2/SHAVI

Yeah, but before she fell asleep.

1/AMOR (To the audience.)

Then Nina started working and Shavi went on paternity leave and then it started for real…

2/SHAVI

Hey, how’s it going.

1/AMOR

Honestly, cell phones are an awesome invention…

2/SHAVI

Hey, it’s me.

1/AMOR

But there ought to be some sort of block function…

2/SHAVI

Wzup, so what’s happening?

1/AMOR

A block function that makes it impossible to dial the same number…

2/SHAVI

Helloooo me again.

1/AMOR

More than – I don’t know – ten times a day?

SHAVI and AMOR enter a memory of a typical weekday. AMOR is woken early by SHAVI calling.

2/SHAVI

Hey man, how’s it going?

1/AMOR (Half asleep.)

Hello?

2/SHAVI

Banana.

1/AMOR

What time is it?

2/SHAVI

Banana, man. She ate banana for the first time today. Can you believe it?

1/AMOR

Okay, but I… I just woke up. What time is it?

2/SHAVI

It’s almost seven. The early bird munches the worm!

1/AMOR (To the audience.)

You try to go back to sleep.

2/SHAVI

BANANA, MAN, BANANA!

1/AMOR

It doesn’t work.

2/SHAVI

BANANA!

1/AMOR

You get up, you make breakfast.

2/SHAVI

Shooo bro, so what’s happening?

1/AMOR

The next call, fifteen minutes later.

2/SHAVI

Good. She threw up a little, but otherwise everything is okay.

1/AMOR

Ten minutes go by.

2/SHAVI

Yo. So how’s it going?

1/AMOR

Good.

2/SHAVI

So, are you eating breakfast?

1/AMOR

No, right now I’m on the phone but hopefully soon I will continue to eat my breakfast.

2/SHAVI

Sweet. (Pause.) So what are you eating?

1/AMOR

Same thing as yesterday.

2/SHAVI

Tea and a sandwich?

1/AMOR

Tea and a sandwich.

2/SHAVI

Sweet. Talk to you later.

We return to the night when everything happened; AMOR is sitting in the taxi after having left the dance floor.

1/AMOR

So… I admit it. I didn’t answer when Shavi called. I was standing on a dance floor. I was drunk.

I was alone. I didn’t know. (Pause.) When I came out, I had five missed calls and three messages. All from Shavi. I hailed a cab, I said my address, I listened to the first message.

2/SHAVI (Voice changed.)

Hey man have you heard?

1/AMOR

The clock was shining 2:16 on the dashboard, it was a new day, I was drunk, I had been dancing.

2/SHAVI

There were two explosions in the city.

1/AMOR

My lips tasted like salt, the taxi driver was humming along with a song.

2/SHAVI

They say it might be a…

1/AMOR

Shavi’s voice sounded like he’s been running.

2/SHAVI

Totally sick, totally fucking sick.

1/AMOR

Empty streets.

2/SHAVI

Hey it’s me again. They say it’s a fucking car bomb man, a car full of fucking dynamite.

1/AMOR

Blinking traffic lights.

2/SHAVI

It went off a couple hours ago now. I hope it’s not a…

1/AMOR

Deserted bridges.

2/SHAVI

I hope to God it’s not a…

1/AMOR

Abandoned sidewalk cafés.

2/SHAVI

Hey again, I just wanted to say they got a description of the guy. They say he looked like a…

1/AMOR

Empty bus shelters.

2/SHAVI

They say he was wearing a…

1/AMOR

Dark display windows.

2/SHAVI

They’ve raised the security level to class four or red or whatever the fuck it’s called when it’s the next-to-highest level.

1/AMOR

I was sitting in the taxi wondering why he was reacting so strongly.

2/SHAVI

Shit. Goddamn shit.

1/AMOR

It sounded almost like he was starting to…

2/SHAVI

Shit shit shit shit.

1/AMOR

I mean… It was just a car.

2/SHAVI

Call me.

1/AMOR

It wasn’t like anyone was going to…

2/SHAVI

Call me.

1/AMOR

It didn’t have anything to do with us.

2/SHAVI

Call me.

1/AMOR

Nothing.

3. SCENE 3 – INTERLUDE

AMOR remains onstage; 2, 3 and 4 enter their roles as AMPLIFIERS. They share the lines and can take over from one another at any time, split a line right down the middle, read the same line simultaneously, in chorus. It’s up to the director to choose just who out of 2, 3, and 4 will say what in Scenes 3, 5, 7, and 9.

1/AMOR

I call my brothers and say:

2 (Whispering.)

Sch…

3

Lie low for a few days.

4

Stay at home.

2

Turn off the lights.

3

Lock the doors.

1

Fold the curtains in that special way, so that nobody can see in…

4

…but you still can see out.

3

Unplug the television.

2

Turn off your cellphone.

1

Toss your newspaper straight into the recycling.

4

Do not go outdoors.

3

Wait until everything has calmed down.

1

Repeat to yourselves:

ALL

We are innocent.

3

Because you are.

2

Your consciences are clean.

1

You have nothing to do with this.

3

Await further instructions.

4. SCENE 4 – AHLEM

2 and 3 exit the stage. 4 enters the role of AHLEM. We are transported to AMOR’s home.

1/AMOR

The next person to call was Ahlem.

4/AHLEM (Solemnly.)

Better than a thousand hollow words, is one word that brings peace.

1/AMOR

I was hung over, curled up like a shrimp on my tiny sofa, in the same clothes as the night before.

4/AHLEM

Holding onto anger is like grasping a hot coal with the intent of throwing it at someone else. You are the one who gets burned.

1/AMOR

My phone vibrated and I saw the foreign number and for one short second I thought that maybe it was… What if it’s…(Loudly, since it’s a call from abroad.) Hello? (Normal volume.) My voice sounded creakily hung over but full of expectation at the same time and I hated my voice for not being able to disguise itself better. (Loudly.) Allo? Shkon? Allo! Baba?¹

4/AHLEM (Loudly because the call is from abroad.)

Allo?

1/AMOR (Loudly.)

Allo? Baba? Shkon?

4/AHLEM

La la, it’s Ahlem!

1/AMOR (Disappointed.)

Ah, Ahlem. Lebes?

4/AHLEM

Lebes hamdullah. Oa enta lebes?

1/AMOR

Lebes hamdullah, aicheck.² (To the audience.) It wasn’t Ahlem from when I played clarinet and it wasn’t Ahlem, Fijona’s neighbor; it was my cousin Ahlem, the one who was down helping our Nana build a summer cottage on the coast.

4/AHLEM

Were you sleeping?

1/AMOR

No. Not at all.

4/AHLEM

Were you out partying yesterday?

1/AMOR

No. I. I was up late studying. How are you? How’s Nana?

4/AHLEM

My dear cousin. Haven’t you heard what happened?

1/AMOR

What?

4/AHLEM

Haven’t you seen the news?

1/AMOR

What? Are they reporting it outside of Sweden?

4/AHLEM

Al-Jazeera, CNN, Fox News, France 24 – it’s everywhere.

1/AMOR

I crawled up off the sofa while my cousin started to drop wisdom.

4/AHLEM

Remember one thing.

1/AMOR

I walked toward the hall.

4/AHLEM

Hatred does not cease by hatred…

1/AMOR

On the first page of the paper: the ruined car, the police tape, the smoke, the headline.

4/AHLEM

Hatred only ceases by love; this is the eternal rule.

1/AMOR

The description of the suspect. His build. The color of his hair. His beard.

4/AHLEM

This is a time of trial that approaches us, my dear cousin.

1/AMOR

He looked like…

4/AHLEM

You have to ask yourself this question:

1/AMOR

He almost resembled…

4/AHLEM

What do you do when the wind howls?

1/AMOR

He could be anyone at all.

4/AHLEM

Do you answer the wind by building yourself a shelter or a kite? Do you build yourself a bath house or a wind turbine? (More hesitantly.) Do you build yourself a badminton court or a…or a…dartboard?

1/AMOR

What are you talking about, Ahlem?

4/AHLEM

What?

1/AMOR

What the hell are you talking about?

4/AHLEM

Me? I’m talking about the wind.

1/AMOR

What wind?

4/AHLEM

The harsh, ominous wind that is threatening to sweep down over you and your brothers, after this terrible thing that has happened. You must prepare yourself… Soon the time of trial is come.

1/AMOR (To the audience.)

She talked just like that.

4/AHLEM (Exaggerated formality.)

The time of trial is come.

1/AMOR

But what does that mean?

4/AHLEM

Trial – ordeal, hardship.

1/AMOR

Yeah, but what does it mean?

4/AHLEM

That something is hard. Really hard. Awfully hard.

1/AMOR

Well, just say so then. Why do you have to talk so weirdly all the time?

4/AHLEM

I don’t talk weirdly.

1/AMOR

Yes, you do. And I wouldn’t care if you always had, but I remember how you were before.

4/AHLEM

Before?

1/AMOR

Yes, before.

4/AHLEM

Before was a long time ago.

1/AMOR

Mmm.

4/AHLEM

Before was before I saw the light. Before I found my inner calm. Before I became myself.

1/AMOR

Exactly. But before was also before you started acting fake.

4/AHLEM (Trying to stay calm.)

What do you mean by ‘fake’, dear cousin?

1/AMOR

You know what I mean.

4/AHLEM

No, please explain.

1/AMOR

Don’t play dumb. Our history is either Muslim or communist. We support either Mohamed or Marx. We…

4/AHLEM (Interrupting.)

Not me.

1/AMOR

No, I know! But it doesn’t make you special! You are just like us. You just don’t want to admit it. No pathetic fucking Buddhist blather can help you!

Pause.

1/AMOR

Ahlem? Ahlem, are you still there? Sorry, I didn’t mean. I don’t know what… I just feel a little strange today.

Are you there?

We leave their real conversation.

4/AHLEM

And I was still there.

1/AMOR

Mm.

4/AHLEM

But you didn’t say sorry.

1/AMOR

I didn’t?

4/AHLEM

No, you just stood there. Silent. And waited for me to say something.

Pause.

1/AMOR

I should have said sorry.

4/AHLEM

Mmhmm.

1/AMOR

I should have told you about the night before. I should have said: sorry, but I was out last night and Shavi called and I couldn’t answer because.

4/AHLEM

Because?

1/AMOR

I don’t know. Maybe because I didn’t want to think about how different everything used to be – when baba was living with us and Shavi was helium and the whole neighborhood was afraid of you.

4/AHLEM (Flattered and skeptical.)

Me?

1/AMOR

Yeah? Don’t you remember? When it was enough just to say your name to get out of any fix at all?

We leave the apartment and find ourselves in AMOR’s memory; three quick snapshots from his childhood: 2 and 4 enter the roles of THE BULLIES and attack AMOR.

3/BULLY

There he is!

2/BULLY

Get him!

3/BULLY

Not so cocky now, huh, you little bitch.

We find ourselves in a snowy scene. THE BULLIES chase AMOR, who, laughing, allows himself to be caught and lifted into the air.

1/AMOR

Listen…just one thing I want to tell you before you throw me into that ice-cold snowbank…

We find ourselves in a school bathroom. THE BULLIES push AMOR to his knees.

Before you press my head into that pee-smelling toilet…

We find ourselves in a schoolyard. THE BULLIES are holding him still to punch him in the face.

Before you spit in my cap and take my headphones and hit me in the face with that gravelly bandy stick…

THE BULLIES listen.

1/AMOR

You know Ahlem? From number seventeen?

That’s my cousin.

THE BULLIES’ eyes meet, they look over at AHLEM, and they stop short. They lower AMOR, straighten his clothes, fix his hair, wave nicely at AHLEM.

1/AMOR

That was all I needed to say.

4/AHLEM

I remember that.

1/AMOR

And I remembered that time when we were at the outdoor pool and the lifeguard called the spot where we were sitting ‘Monkey Mountain’ and when I told you you got up and…

4/AHLEM

Went over and pushed him into the water.

1/AMOR

Exactly!

1/AMOR

I remembered when you huffed glue and kicked side mirrors off cars and hit guards –

4/AHLEM

He was asking for it.

1/AMOR

And sometimes when I ran into you in town I thought that you were easily ignited like magnesium and that you would never be transformed into boring aluminum. (Pause.) Then you started doing kung-fu and reading those wishy-washy books and coming to family reunions with that strange smile on your lips.

4/AHLEM

I had finally seen the light.

1/AMOR

You had been blinded.

4/AHLEM

I was devout.

1/AMOR

You were fake.

4/AHLEM

Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, but today is a gift. That is why it is called the ‘present’.

1/AMOR

Exactly. You said things like that. And looked super proud. Up until I revealed to everyone that the quote came from Kung-Fu Panda.

4/AHLEM (Sarcastically.)

Haha, that’s so funny.

1/AMOR

But it does!

4/AHLEM

Of course it doesn’t.

1/AMOR

Yes, it does.

4/AHLEM

In that case, Kung-Fu Panda took it from the book I read.

1/AMOR

Or else you took it from Kung-Fu Panda.

We leave the memories and return to the apartment and the phone call.

4/AHLEM

You were just jealous.

1/AMOR

Jealous? Me?

4/AHLEM

Mmhmm. Just because I had found myself. While you were more confused than ever.

1/AMOR

I wasn’t confused. I was completely normal.

4/AHLEM

Oh yeah, sure. Because completely normal people name others after elements and describe their feelings as equations and stalk the same girl for twenty years until she has enough and…

1/AMOR (Interrupting – faking an echo on the phone.)

Oh oh oh come come come on on on you you you are are are exa exa exaggerating ing ing.

4/AHLEM

Hello?

1/AMOR

Hello, hello?

4/AHLEM

Your voice is echoing!

1/AMOR

What what? Come come on on. I I am am? You you sound ound complet et etly normal al al.

4/AHLEM

There must be something wrong with this line. Hold on, I’ll call you right back.

1/AMOR

Okay okay. Strange ange becase ause you you sound sound complet et etly normal al al.

4/AHLEM

Hold on, hang up and I’ll call you back.

AMOR looks at the audience with a pleased expression so we understand that he’s tricked his cousin.

1/AMOR

And we hung up.

4/AHLEM

And I called back.

1/AMOR

But it took a while. And while I was waiting for the call to connect, I turned on the TV and on channel four a policeman with an aquiline nose was saying that it was hardly the work of a lone madman and on channel two there were pictures from the site of the explosion and on CNN an expert was saying that the failed attack could have been catastrophic and when the phone rang again I muted the TV and answered.

4/AHLEM

It seems to be working now.

1/AMOR

We started over again. Ahlem tried to bring up the drill head and I asked how the relatives were.

4/AHLEM

You avoided my question about the drill head and I told you about the cousin who got an internship in a hotel.

1/AMOR

Ahlem tried to ask me about the drill head again and I said: Wow, that’s great, which hotel?

4/AHLEM

Hannibal Hotel where we used to swim when we were kids, and they’re renovating it, and speaking of renovations: how are things going with the drill head?

1/AMOR

Yes I know.

4/AHLEM

Have you sent it?

1/AMOR

I will.

4/AHLEM

But you did get a refund?

1/AMOR

Kind of.

4/AHLEM

Did you or not?

1/AMOR

I’ve been so busy lately. It’s my last exams and a ton of other stuff. And to be completely honest it’s a bit embarrassing to go back and…ugh. I don’t understand how it could’ve broken again.

4/AHLEM

What can I say? A house isn’t built in a day, a government doesn’t fall in a year, and a drill head only holds out for a few weeks. Can you go take care of it today?

1/AMOR

Absolutely. I’ll take care of it. That’s what I said. And I thought about all the times I’ve said just that: Absolutely I’ll take care of it. You need a ride? I’ll take care of it. You’re short on cash? I’ll take care of it. You need the ingredients for guacamole? I’ll take care of it. Because that’s what you do when you’re a big brother. You take care of it.

Pause.

4/AHLEM

Hello? You still there?

1/AMOR (Mumbling.)

Envelope.

4/AHLEM

What?

1/AMOR

I have to buy one of those bubble envelopes too. And take care of postage.

4/AHLEM

How hard is that?

1/AMOR

It’s not that, it’s just the feeling, the feeling that I’m always doing things for other people. The feeling that it’s up to me to keep everything. I don’t know. Flowing.

4/AHLEM

But then why didn’t you say no? Why didn’t you say:

1/AMOR

‘No, I don’t have time to do it today. You’ll have to call someone else. Call my brothers.’

I don’t know. I don’t know. Instead I said: Absolutely, I’ll take care of it. I’ll take care of it later today. No problem.

4/AHLEM

Good.

1/AMOR

Is it urgent?

4/AHLEM

Wait a second.

Pause. We hear AHLEM’s voice, distant.

1/AMOR

Hello? Are you still there?

4/AHLEM

Yes, sorry. Yes, it’s urgent. It would be super if you could take care of it today.

1/AMOR

Who were you talking to?

4/AHLEM

What?

1/AMOR

Who were you talking to?

4/AHLEM

Me?

1/AMOR

Yes? Is he there? Don’t tell me he’s standing there right now?

Pause.

1/AMOR

This is just completely fucked up. He’s standing there and hiding in the same room you’re in, but he can’t take the phone and say hi? Tell him he can go to hell. You hear me? Tell him that, tell him he can go to hell!

4/AHLEM

But. You didn’t say that.

1/AMOR

Yes I did. I said something about like that.

4/AHLEM

No. You said.

1/AMOR

Okay. So he’s there. Okay. Tell him hi. Tell baba hi from his sons. Tell him we’re fine.

4/AHLEM

That’s what you said.

1/AMOR

And then?

4/AHLEM

Then we hung up.

1/AMOR

But didn’t you end with some words of wisdom?

4/AHLEM

No. I didn’t end with any words of wisdom, because the whole thing suddenly made me feel so sad, because I was standing there in our other country and your father was standing in the same room and because you didn’t talk to each other that I… It was like… It was like the words of wisdom that popped into my head weren’t really enough. Then we hung up and that was that.

AHLEM exits the stage.

1/AMOR

We hung up and I put the paper in the recycling and got dressed and went out, I left the apartment, I took the broken drill head, but then when I got down to the street I went back, I went back up and I don’t know why but I took out the box of old teenage things and there was the beeper and the cleaning kit for cassette tapes and there was the knife, the old knife with the dull, dirty blade, and I stood there for a few seconds, I held it in my hand, I put it in my back pocket even though I knew I wouldn’t use it, I didn’t even think of it as a weapon, it was just nostalgia, it was just the feeling of, the feeling of, the feeling of company.

We leave the apartment.

2/SHAVI

Hello? Are you there?

1/AMOR

When I came out into the stairwell my phone rang.

2/SHAVI

Pick up, I need to tell you something.

1/AMOR

It was Shavi. Again..

2/SHAVI

Call me when you can.

1/AMOR

Not right now, I thought. Soon.

5. SCENE 5 – INTERLUDE

AMOR remains onstage; 2, 3 and 4 enter the roles of AMPLIFIERS.

1/AMOR

I call my brothers and say:

3

Now is the time.

2

This is the day.

4

The clock has struck.

1

Wake up!

3

Hello – Wake up!

2

It is time to get up.

4

Get out of your beds.

1

Shave your faces.

2

Put on clean, neat clothes.

3

Observe:

1

The clothes should be anonymous.

4

But the clothes should not be too anonymous.

2

They must not be so anonymous that they stick out in their anonymity.

3

Exactly.

4

The goal is to blend in.

3

The goal is to become invisible.

1

Leave your keffiyeh at home.

2

Do not carry a suspicious bag.

4

There. Now you’re ready.

3

Now you can leave your homes.

1

But before you go out you must arm yourselves.

2

What?

3

No. Why?

1

Bring a knife. Sharpen a screwdriver. Smuggle a razorblade in your wallet.

4

Is that really necessary?

1

Now you are ready.

2

Leave your houses.

3

Transform yourselves into representatives.

4

Smile at everyone and everything.

1

Smile at neighbors.

2

Smile at pets.

3

Smile at mannequins.

2

If someone opens a door for you – thank them VERY loudly.

1

Apologize for existing.

3

Whisper on subways.

4

Laugh quietly at movie theaters.

2

Transform into invisible gas form.

AMOR leaves his home, but when he is met by the gazes of nearby people on the street it becomes difficult for him to walk normally.

3

What are you doing?

4

Hello?

2

Walk normally!

3

Walk like a person who isn’t thinking about walking!

AMOR tries to walk with maximal normalness.

4

Come on now – shape up – swing your arms.

3

Use your legs.

2

Bend your knees.

4

Rotate your back.

AMOR, in his attempt to walk normally, shows how difficult it is to do.

1

There.

4

That’s good.

2

Now we’re getting somewhere.

AMOR is still walking extremely abnormally.

1

Remember: Every flash of sunlight is a camera lens.

2

Every gust of wind is the static of their surveillance system.

4

You are not safe anywhere.

3

Turn up the volume in your headphones so you don’t hear people whispering.

1

Close your eyes so you don’t see people looking.

2

Don’t attract anyone’s…

3

Anyone’s…

4

…attention.

6. SCENE 6 – VALERIA

2 and 3 exit the stage, 4 enters the role of SUPERVISOR. We find ourselves on the street outside AMOR’s apartment.

4/SUPERVISOR (To the command center.)

Visual contact, over.

1/AMOR

I went out on the street.

4/SUPERVISOR

He’s leaving his apartment, over.

1/AMOR

I walked toward the subway.

4/SUPERVISOR

He’s moving west, over.

1/AMOR

I took out my wallet, pulled out my card, and took the escalator down to the tracks.

4/SUPERVISOR

He is on his way down into the subway system – I repeat – he is on his way down into the subway system, over.

1/AMOR

I sat down on a bench and waited.

4/SUPERVISOR

He has a backpack with him, over.

1/AMOR

I didn’t look curiously at my fellow passengers. I didn’t write anything down in a notebook, I didn’t take any pictures with my phone.

4/SUPERVISOR

A black backpack, just the right size to contain a…

1/AMOR

No one felt uncomfortable when they saw me.

4/SUPERVISOR

He seems very protective of his backpack, over.

1/AMOR

The train was coming and I stood up from the bench.

4/SUPERVISOR

There’s something odd about the backpack, over.

1/AMOR

The first car was pretty full so I walked toward the next one.

4/SUPERVISOR

He’s trying to lose us, over.

1/AMOR

Then I rode into the city.

4/SUPERVISOR

He’s trying to blend in, over.

1/AMOR

I was mostly absorbed in my own thoughts.

4/SUPERVISOR

He’s pretending to be unconcerned, over.

1/AMOR

I didn’t look aggressively at anyone. I didn’t read a suspicious book in a foreign language.

4/SUPERVISOR

We have him in sight, over.

1/AMOR

I got off and took the escalator up to Sergels Torg.

4/SUPERVISOR

He’s almost downtown, over.

We find ourselves downtown. The speed of the lines below gradually increases until AMOR gets hold of VALERIA.

1/AMOR

I wasn’t being followed.

4/SUPERVISOR

He’s a few minutes from the scene of the crime, over.

1/AMOR

I didn’t look anxiously over my shoulder.

4/SUPERVISOR

He looks nervous, over.

1/AMOR

I came out onto the street and started walking at the same pace as everyone else and the sun was shining and the buses were driving and the snow was melting and dropped gloves lay dripping on electrical boxes and everything seemed normal.

4/SUPERVISOR

He is moving north on Drottninggatan. I repeat: north on Drottninggatan, over.

1/AMOR

Nothing was different, nothing was new, I wasn’t being followed, no one was looking at me strangely, no one was thinking: he is one of them.

4/SUPERVISOR

He’s moving towards the scene of the crime, over.

1/AMOR

I was part of this city – just like everyone else, just like the girl with the Twilfit bag and the guy with the inside-out hat.

4/SUPERVISOR

He has stopped moving – I repeat, now he is standing perfectly still, over.

1/AMOR

Just like the lady with the hotdog and the father with the double stroller.

4/SUPERVISOR

He’s sweating, he looks nervous, over.

1/AMOR

I was part of the city just like the barber who was smoking outside his shop.

4/SUPERVISOR

He’s adjusting his backpack, over.

1/AMOR

Just like the guys in the identical soccer scarves, in line for the ATM.

4/SUPERVISOR

He’s still standing still, please advise, over.

1/AMOR

I was just as much a part of the city as the police officers who stood ready at every street corner.

4/SUPERVISOR

He’s changing direction, he’s turning back, he’s moving south, fast, over.

1/AMOR

Police dogs and batons, visors and pistols.

4/SUPERVISOR (Increased intensity.)

He’s starting to run, over!

1/AMOR

Shields and tear gas and mouths speaking sideways into radio transmitters.

4/SUPERVISOR

He’s changing directions again, he’s running east, over!

1/AMOR

Hands brushing holsters.

4/SUPERVISOR

Please advise, over.

1/AMOR

Eyes staring, heads nodding.

4/SUPERVISOR

Advise, over?

1/AMOR

The sweat and the backpack and the drill head and the knife in my back pocket.

4/SUPERVISOR (Yelling.)

ADVISE, OVER?

1/AMOR

Valeria’s name and Valeria’s number and then the dial tones. One. Two. Three.

Pause. The speed with which lines are delivered returns to normal.

4/SUPERVISOR

He’s stopped. He’s taken out his phone, over.

1/AMOR

Four. Five. She doesn’t answer. She’s busy. She is a traitorous fucking…

3 enters the role of VALERIA. She answers and AMOR calms down, breaks into a smile.

3/VALERIA

Hello?

1/AMOR

Hi!

3/VALERIA

How many accounts would you like today?

1/AMOR (Laughing.)

TONS of accounts! At least 25!

3/VALERIA

And who rocks the hall?

1/AMOR

Santa rocks the hall! And slaughters the studio! By the way: whose rowanberries are these?

3/VALERIA

ASK the guy who sewed the blanket!

AMOR and VALERIA laugh for a long time at their inside jokes.

4/SUPERVISOR

He’s speaking in code, over.

1/AMOR (To VALERIA.)

Classic.

3/VALERIA

So how are things?

1/AMOR

Good. How about you?

3/VALERIA

Oh, fine. I’m just at work, but I can talk.

1/AMOR

You’ve heard, right?

3/VALERIA

About the bomb? Yes, I heard. It’s creepy.

1/AMOR

Fucking creepy.

3/VALERIA

Has it begun?

1/AMOR

What?

3/VALERIA

You know what I mean.

AMOR looks at the SUPERVISOR.

1/AMOR

I mean. The whole city is full of cops and everything feels different, but…

3/VALERIA

But…?

1/AMOR

I’m not sure how much of it is in my head, you know?

3/VALERIA

Typical you. Wait a sec… (Pause, VALERIA at a distance.) No, I’m sorry – all the sizes are out here. On Storgatan, maybe. No, I’m sorry, I can’t do that but stop by there, I think they have it. (Pause. VALERIA comes back.) Fucking idiot.

1/AMOR

Who?

3/VALERIA

The customer. So, what is the mood like there?

1/AMOR

It’s. I don’t know… I… (Whispering.) I feel like I’m being watched somehow.

AMOR looks at the SUPERVISOR, who tries to look invisible.

3/VALERIA

Haha, you’re just too cute.

1/AMOR

What?

3/VALERIA

Of course you’re being watched!

4/SUPERVISOR (To AMOR.)

Don’t believe her.

3/VALERIA

You’ve been watched all your life!

4/SUPERVISOR

She’s lying.

3/VALERIA

In fact, I’m watching you at this very moment.

4/SUPERVISOR

She’s just kidding.

1/AMOR

Stop joking around.

3/VALERIA

But it’s true. I know exactly where you are at this very moment.

4/SUPERVISOR

Test her!

1/AMOR

Prove it.

3/VALERIA

You are standing… Just a second… I have to turn on my sensors. And zoom in a little. You are standing. On a sidewalk.

1/AMOR

Correct.

3/VALERIA

Not too far from a bus stop.

1/AMOR

Mmhmm.

3/VALERIA

And within your field of vision is a parking ticket machine. A manhole. And at least one commercial sign.

1/AMOR

That’s right!

4/SUPERVISOR

So? Was that so hard?

3/VALERIA

And somewhere, there’s a 7-11.

1/AMOR

Well…

3/VALERIA

Or a Pressbyrå. Or an H&M. Admit it, I’m right.

1/AMOR

Yes, that’s right.

4/SUPERVISOR

No it isn’t!

3/VALERIA

Who’s the best?

1/AMOR (Grudgingly.)

You’re the best.

3/VALERIA

Who sips the slushie?

1/AMOR (Grudgingly.)

You sip the slushie.

4/SUPERVISOR (To the command center.)

He’s speaking in code again, over.

Pause.

3/VALERIA

So what are you going to do now?

1/AMOR

Me?

3/VALERIA

Yeah, you have to do something.

4/SUPERVISOR

He’s sitting down on a bench, over.

1/AMOR

Like what?

3/VALERIA

Typical you. Just do something! Anything. Something to confuse them. Something to make them get it.

1/AMOR

Get what?

4/SUPERVISOR

He’s getting ready for an assignment, over.

3/VALERIA

Where are you exactly?

1/AMOR

Downtown. A few blocks from the barricade.

4/SUPERVISOR

He’s still sitting on the bench, over.

3/VALERIA

So go over there.

1/AMOR

Where?

3/VALERIA

Go over to the barricade.

1/AMOR

Okay.

3/VALERIA

Are you walking over?

1/AMOR

Mmhmm.

3/VALERIA

Tell me when you’re there. (Pause.) Wait a sec. (With the receiver against her chest.) What size are you…no, that’s a small. Mmhmm, all the ones in the window are smalls. Except the men’s coats. Mmhmm. Exactly. (Back.) Idiot. Where are you now?

1/AMOR

I’m there.

3/VALERIA

What does it look like?

1/AMOR

It’s just a burned-out car. Inside a ring of blue and white police tape.

3/VALERIA

So are there cops all over the place?

1/AMOR

Every corner.

3/VALERIA

Then it’s simple. Just go up to the closest officer and… (Whispering.) grab his dick.

1/AMOR

Why would I…

3/VALERIA

Yeah, do it! It’ll be funny. Walk up, grab his dick and say ‘I knew it’ and then walk away.

1/AMOR

What do I get if I do it?

3/VALERIA

You don’t have to sip the slushie. Your bed will be completely free of rowanberries.

1/AMOR

And?

3/VALERIA

What, you want more?

1/AMOR

Come up and visit soon.

3/VALERIA

Okay. I promise.

We hear AMOR collecting himself and trying to give the impression that he’s approaching a policeman.

1/AMOR

So I did it, I said: wait a second to Valeria and I snuck up closer to the barricade and there were three large policemen and one skinny one and they looked at me and I looked them in the eye and at first they looked away and then they looked back and I got closer and said: Hi, how’s it going? And they didn’t answer, they looked off over my shoulder, all but the skinny one, and when there were just a few meters left to go I bent forward, a little like I was going to tie my shoe, about like if I had just gotten a stomachache and when I looked up the skinny one was coming closer and I stuck out my arm, I grabbed his dick, I cried: Haha, I knew it, and then I ran back toward the bench and…

We hear AMOR trying to sound like he’s running away.

3/VALERIA

What, did you do it?

AMOR is out of breath.

1/AMOR

Yeah, I did it!

3/VALERIA

You’re joking.

1/AMOR

No, I’m not joking! I did it! I went up to a policeman and pretended to trip and then I did it.

3/VALERIA

Oh, lay off.

4/SUPERVISOR

He’s still sitting on the bench, over.

We realize that AMOR has been sitting on the bench this whole time.

1/AMOR

So…when are you coming up?

3/VALERIA

I don’t think that’s such a good idea.

4/SUPERVISOR

He seems to be crumpling up, over.

1/AMOR

Why not?

3/VALERIA

You know why. (Pause.) I… I have to go now.

1/AMOR

Okay.

3/VALERIA

The store manager will be back soon and it has to look like I’m working.

1/AMOR

Then get to work.

3/VALERIA

Talk to you soon.

1/AMOR

Absolutely.

4/SUPERVISOR

He’s still sitting on the bench, over. (Pause.) He’s putting the phone in his pocket, over. (Pause.) He’s still sitting there on the bench, over. (Pause.) He’s hiding his face with one hand, over.

(Pause, in which we let our imaginations decide whether or not AMOR is crying.)

4/SUPERVISOR

Permission to terminate surveillance? Over.

1/AMOR (Whispering.)

No.

4/SUPERVISOR

He’s not the one we’re looking for, over.

1/AMOR (Whispering.)

Maybe that’s exactly who I am.

4/SUPERVISOR

It is 1:42 PM and surveillance is terminated.

1/AMOR

Don’t go.

4/SUPERVISOR

Over and out.

The SUPERVISOR exits the stage. We’re still downtown, even as we hear/see his memories of VALERIA.

1/AMOR

It was Sunday and it was almost two o’clock and I got up from the bench and left downtown, or I was still downtown but I took a detour to avoid walking past the same policemen again and I bought a coffee and an apple and I only thought about Valeria occasionally.

3/VALERIA

Hey, by the way, I ran into your brothers last weekend.

1/AMOR

The apple had a sticker that I picked off and carried for two blocks, waiting to see a trash can.

3/VALERIA

Shit, you’re so different.

1/AMOR

When I finally saw a trash can, I went up to it and tossed the sticker in.

3/VALERIA

There’s a pretty big age difference, huh?

1/AMOR

And I tried to do it as naturally as possible so people would see and remember that there…by golly, there’s the sort of person who isn’t someone like that.

3/VALERIA

Yeah, but your brothers are so… I don’t know. Naturally social.

1/AMOR

And I put the sticker in the trash can and tried to keep walking without looking proud.

3/VALERIA

They seem so spontaneous.

1/AMOR

And I think it worked, I felt trustworthy, I felt real.

3/VALERIA

I don’t get how you can be so different.

1/AMOR

I passed a grocery store, I passed a Korean restaurant, I wanted to call Valeria and say, the ticket is reserved, so just come anytime, see you in a few hours at the station, okay?

We enter an alternate world where VALERIA comes to visit that very night.

3/VALERIA

What are you talking about?

1/AMOR

The train ticket. I got one. For you. Totally spontaneous. And tonight we’d walk around the city and she wouldn’t compare me to my brothers and no one would look strangely at us and if we ran into anyone who asked how we knew each other we would both burst into laughter…

3/VALERIA

Us?

1/AMOR

We go waaaaay back.

3/VALERIA

Mmhnn, so far back that we don’t even remember when we met.

1/AMOR

Exactly – we’ve been friends since day one.

3/VALERIA

Like since day care.

1/AMOR

Since before day care.

3/VALERIA

Since baby teeth and diapers.

1/AMOR

Since nursing and name-marked hats.

3/VALERIA

We sipped bottles.

1/AMOR

We chilled in sandboxes.

3/VALERIA

We cruised around in strollers.

1/AMOR

We got up to rowanberry mischief.

3/VALERIA

We ate each other’s boogers.

1/AMOR

That far back?

3/VALERIA

Mmhmm, THAT far back.

1/AMOR

Wow, then what happened?

3/VALERIA

In our teens it got a little more complicated because one of us.

1/AMOR

We won’t mention names.

3/VALERIA

One of us started to feel love while the other felt friendship.

1/AMOR

And that person refused to give up?

3/VALERIA

Exactly. Some would probably say he was…

1/AMOR

A little persistent.

3/VALERIA

Others would probably call him an actual stalker.

1/AMOR

He started sending poems to her.

3/VALERIA

She started to receive postcards with strange calculations that showed how his love grew exponentially each week.

1/AMOR

He drew romantic bar graphs that showed how good they were together.

3/VALERIA

He wrote formulas and equations and described chemical experiments where he persisted in calling her osmium because…well, why was it, actually?

1/AMOR

Because she had the greatest density of all the elements. Because she refused to bend. Because she always said…

3/VALERIA

But don’t you get it? I’m in love with someone else.

1/AMOR

And he thought: That means that one day she could be in love with me.

3/VALERIA

No, it means I’m taken.

1/AMOR

And he thought: Everything that is taken will be free sometime.

3/VALERIA

But don’t you get it, Amor? I like you. But not that way.

1/AMOR

And he thought: She likes me!

3/VALERIA

But pretty please, stop sending equations, stop sending graphs, and for God’s sake stop calling me osmium. This isn’t going to happen, do you get it, are you listening to me now, read my lips: this ISN’T GOING TO HAPPEN!

Pause.

1/AMOR

Unless…

3/VALERIA

Unless nothing, can you get into your thick skull that it will never be us, it’s been nineteen years now…

1/AMOR

Eighteen.

3/VALERIA

…and you keep clinging to something that never even happened. You have to stop now, because this person you’ve made me into doesn’t exist, I don’t exist, you’ve turned me into a fixed idea and I will never be able to match up to the fantasy you’ve made me into, can you understand that? You have to move on. You have to let go.

1/AMOR

Then they got older.

3/VALERIA

Years went by.

1/AMOR

He started school at KTH.

3/VALERIA

She moved out of town.

1/AMOR

He lived alone.

3/VALERIA

She had kids.

1/AMOR

He passed his exams, all but the last three.

3/VALERIA

She started an extra job in a clothes shop.

1/AMOR

But it was temporary.

3/VALERIA

Everything was temporary.

1/AMOR

Almost everything.

Pause.

3/VALERIA

But they’re still friends, right?

1/AMOR

That’s right. They call each other. They talk.

And sometimes there’s one of them…

3/VALERIA

Who?

1/AMOR

One of them.

3/VALERIA

Say who.

1/AMOR

No, I can’t say who.

3/VALERIA

But what if it’s both of them.

1/AMOR

No, it’s just one of them who starts thinking of himself as nitrogen because of his extreme inertness. It’s just one of them who calls and says: Hey, it’s me.

We’re transported back to the night when AMOR tried to do something spontaneous.

3/VALERIA (Half-asleep.)

Amor? Has something happened?

1/AMOR

It’s time.

3/VALERIA

What? Why are you calling in the middle of…?

1/AMOR (Interrupting.)

Look out the window.

3/VALERIA

Why?

1/AMOR

Just look.

3/VALERIA

And the one who just woke up twists open the blinds and there’s the parking lot and there’s the closed-for-the-night shopping center sign and there…farther off is a car whose high beams are blinking.

1/AMOR

And one of them says…

3/VALERIA

Are you completely fucking nuts? And the other one says…

1/AMOR

I’m here now. I’ve come to get you. We’re getting out of here. Fuck them.

3/VALERIA

What them?

1/AMOR

All of them.

Pause.

1/AMOR

We will get out of there, and in one day two weeks three months we’ll arrive, and we’ll both know it, suddenly know that this, this is the place, the place for us.

3/VALERIA

They are quiet for a minute or two.

1/AMOR

Then one of them says.

3/VALERIA

Hey… I’m gonna go back to sleep now.

1/AMOR

But I’m standing here outside.

3/VALERIA

Yes, I see that, but I’m going back to sleep and you should go home.

1/AMOR

But…

3/VALERIA

And we’ll talk in a few days and we aren’t going to mention this and next week we’ll talk again and we aren’t going to mention this then, either.

VALERIA ends the conversation and exits the stage.

1/AMOR

And one of them hangs up and the other is still sitting outside in the car that he borrowed from Shavi and it’s red and rusty and when you put it in third gear the motor grates but if you go straight from second to fourth then it works great and he’s sitting there with the phone to his ear and he still hasn’t hung up and he thinks: I can call again, he thinks: Maybe she wasn’t totally awake, he thinks: I can go by myself, I don’t need her, why would she be the one I… But it’s pretty late or actually pretty early and he puts down the phone and starts the engine and it starts right away this time and he turns out of the parking lot and the bag of food is in the backseat and the luggage is in the trunk and he wonders how his calculations could have gone so wrong, what it was that didn’t work, what part of the equation didn’t hold, and as he gets on the highway he has to stop on the shoulder because the wheel is shaking and the white marks on the road are running away like puddles and he thinks: This isn’t over, he thinks: I don’t need to go home, he thinks: I can go anywhere in the world but then he ends up going north after all and later he finds a good parking spot just a few meters from his door and he comes home to his kitchen and takes out the bag of food and the bread that’s gotten mushy and the cucumber slices that have become limp but the thermos coffee is still warm and now I don’t have to make a lunch, anyway, and then another day starts and another and his life goes on and sometimes he thinks that he should call and say that he’s gotten over it, that he’s moved on, all he needs to do is pick up the phone and dial her number, and just as he’s about to do that, just as he is standing with his phone…

We’re transported back to the Sunday in the city. SHAVI sounds broken.

2/SHAVI

Hello? It’s me!

1/AMOR

Shavi’s name on the display.

2/SHAVI

Answer! Is everything all right?

1/AMOR

I put the phone in my pocket and thought typical… Typical me.

7. SCENE 7 – INTERLUDE

AMOR remains onstage. 2, 3, and 4 enter the roles of AMPLIFIERS.

1/AMOR

I call my brothers and say.

4

Forget what I said.

3

FUCK silence!

2

FUCK invisibility!

1

Exchange your anonymous clothes for…

4

Neon colored grass skirts.

1

Yes, that’s good.

3

Decorate your bodies with glimmering Christmas ornaments.

1

Yes!

2

Rub neon paint on your face.

1 (Hesitantly.)

Well…okay.

2

Play the whistle.

3

Scream holes into megaphones.

4

Occupy malls.

1

March in the front of demonstrations.

3

Tattoo PC 4 LIFE in black Gothic letters on your stomach.

2

Make yourselves maximally visible until they understand that there is an opposition.

4

Defend the rights of all idiots to be idiots until you lose your voice.

2

Until you die.

3

Until they understand that we’re not who they think we are.

1

Because we are not like them.

4

We don’t long to go back to a made-up past.

2, 3, AND 4 (Solemnly.)

We march proudly into a future filled with dissolved borders, knowing that no clocks can ever be turned back!

3

We are not afraid.

4

We are not afraid.

2 (To 1.)

We’re not, right? Right?

3 (To 1.)

Come on – repeat after us.

4

We are not afraid.

3

We are not afraid.

AMOR is silent and can’t formulate words.

8. SCENE 8 – KAROLINA

3 enters the role of KAROLINA.

1/AMOR

I went back downtown, I crossed streets, I squinted at the sun, I was an ordinary person, I didn’t stand out in any way, nobody saw me and thought I was a…

3/KAROLINA

Hello?

1/AMOR

Valeria?

3/KAROLINA(In a chipper salesperson manner.)

My name is Karolina!

1/AMOR

Yes?

3/KAROLINA

My name is Karolina and I am calling from Animal Rights.

1/AMOR

Okay.

3/KAROLINA

Can you spare a couple of minutes for the animals of the world?

1/AMOR

I told her I was busy.

3/KAROLINA

I understand. Can I call back a little later?

1/AMOR

I said I wasn’t interested.

3/KAROLINA

But how about I’ll call you in ten minutes? Will that be okay?

We find ourselves in a shopping center.

1/AMOR

Sure, I said, and we hung up and I kept walking towards the mall, there were people in the café, children were running in the aisle, there was a line in front of the chocolate stand, everything just kept going, everything was like normal. The ruined car had been towed off, the sidewalk had been washed, people were drinking coffee, people were ordering almond tarts, people were looking, I took the escalator up to the top floor and went in and I didn’t discover until I got inside that they’d moved the return counter out; now it was just before you went in but instead of sneaking out through the entry gates I walked around the whole store and out through the registers and then back so that no one would see me and suspect that I had… (Pause.) I took a number, I took a number and sat down on the bench and waited for my turn and there was a blonde girl and a guy that was one of us, and even if we didn’t know each other he was the one I was hoping for. I was sitting on the bench with my backpack on my lap and when my number came up our eyes met and (AMOR smiles proudly.) he waved me up even though he was actually about to go on break.

We find ourselves at the return counter. 2 enters the role of THE SALESMAN.

2/THE SALESMAN

It’s okay. I’ll take one more…

AMOR approaches THE SALESMAN, proud and grateful.

1/AMOR

The girl took another customer and I walked up to a guy who could have been my brother and I winked at him so he would get that I got that he got that I got it. (THE SALESMAN ignores the wink. AMOR suddenly starts speaking with an accent, talking to THE SALESMAN as though he were a close friend.) Whaddup maaan, what’s going on?

2/THE SALESMAN

Excuse me?

1/AMOR

Whatsuuup man, what’s happening? Everything cool?

2/THE SALESMAN (Clearing his throat.)

Oh, I’m fine. How about you?

1/AMOR

Good. Chill. All good. It’s going. Hey, listen… I need to get a refund.

2/THE SALESMAN

Okay.

1/AMOR (To the audience.)

I opened the backpack and showed him the worn-out drill head and…

AMOR takes out a dusty, stripped drill head.

1/AMOR

Suddenly he started to like grin.

THE SALESMAN listens attentively to AMOR but doesn’t smile.

1/AMOR (To the salesman.)

I mean… I was here once before, you know, with the same problem and then you just exchanged the drill head and…

THE SALESMAN still isn’t smiling.

1/AMOR (To the audience.)

He just kept smiling, he looked at the receipt, he kept grinning and I wanted to say: stop smiling you bitch you whore, stop pretending I’m not your brother.

2/THE SALESMAN (Without smiling.)

It looks…hmm. It’s quite well-used. If I may say so.

1/AMOR

Yeah, you know how it is.

2/THE SALESMAN

May I ask… What… What did you use it for?

1/AMOR

It’s not me, it’s my relatives, you know. They’re working on building a house, or more like a cottage. You know how it is…family.

2/THE SALESMAN

The problem is that this drill is meant for use around the home. That means that…well…you should use it at home. Putting up a bookcase, screwing a bathroom cabinet up. It’s not really made to build a house.

1/AMOR

Cottage.

2/THE SALESMAN

I don’t think I can help you, sorry.

1/AMOR

And he said it like he was trying to sound nice, but I could hear him laughing inside just like the betraying fucking bitch he was.

2/THE SALESMAN

Our customer policy here is blah blah blah.

3/KAROLINA

Hi, this is Karolina again.

1/AMOR

What?

2/THE SALESMAN

…even if you have a receipt then blah blah blah.

3/KAROLINA

Yes, this is Karolina again from Animal Rights.

2/THE SALESMAN

…accept all returns then you as customers would have to blah blah blah.

1/AMOR

I’m still busy… Can you call back a little later?

3/KAROLINA

Absolutely.

1/AMOR

And I turned back to the guy who wasn’t one of us at all and I said: But it was no problem last time. I just showed the receipt and everything was fine.

THE SALESMAN sighs.

2/THE SALESMAN

Okay, I can double-check with my boss… Can you wait a minute?

1/AMOR

But what he really meant was…

2/THE SALESMAN

Okay, I can leave the counter, go to the back, and stand there for four minutes and then come back with a lying face and say ‘Sorry, I did my best, I checked it out, but unfortunately we can’t help you.’

1/AMOR

And you can’t buy a drill head like that separately?

2/THE SALESMAN

A what?

1/AMOR

A drill head. Or bit. Or what is it called? Can you buy one separately?

2/THE SALESMAN

No, unfortunately it isn’t sold separately. But maybe you can order it straight from the manufacturer?

1/AMOR

But I said that I would take care of it. It’s kind of an emergency. You can’t make an exception?

Pause.

1/AMOR (Whispering.)

Come on, bro! Be a pal.

2/THE SALESMAN

What did you call me?

Pause.

2/THE SALESMAN

My recommendation would be to buy a new drill of the same model. You’ll find them on shelf K54, just to the right after the curtain rods.

1/AMOR

But…

2/THE SALESMAN

Was there anything else?

Pause.

2/THE SALESMAN

Was there anything else?

1/AMOR

And even though it wasn’t me who did it…

2/THE SALESMAN

Thank you.

1/AMOR

I saw how someone who looked like me thanked him and shoved the drill head in its dusty plastic shell into my backpack and went back into the store and the knife was in my back pocket and I went to the right after the curtain rods and found shelf K54 and checked the price and took a drill to the register and I got in the line, two blond children were in front of me, they looked at me sideways, they were afraid, they were eating ice cream and laughing but deep inside they thought I looked like a… (Pause.) And just when the ice-cream eaters’ dad was about to pay I took out my phone and just (Speaks loudly so everyone will hear.) – Yes, hello? What? Shavi! What are you saying? What? What happened? Are you there now? Have you called an ambulance? And people looked and moved aside and I put the drill down on a basket of wrapping paper and I walked quickly to the exit and roared Shavi! Tell me where you are! Wherever you are I’ll get a taxi and come there! Calm down – it will be okay, everything will work out do you hear me I’ll be there soon I’m on my way! I took the escalator down to the street while I continued to talk – yes I’m here can you hear me? Can you hear me now? I had kind of a bad signal but yes I can hear you I was just at the mall and I was trying to return a drill head but it all went to shit because the guy behind the counter was a fucking bitch and now I don’t know what I should do maybe I’ll just keep talking because now I’m out of the store and there’s no one listening anyway, there’s no one who knows that I’m faking this call so I can say whatever I want and just then – when I’d come out onto the street, then…

We find ourselves outside the shopping center. KAROLINA is speaking in a voice that sounds like she’s memorized what she’s saying.

3/KAROLINA

Yes, hi Amor, this is Karolina again.

1/AMOR

What?

3/KAROLINA

This is Karolina again from Animal Rights. Is this Amor? Do you have a minute for the animals of the world, Amor? (No pause.) Great.

1/AMOR

I started to walk.

3/KAROLINA

We are Sweden’s largest animal rights organization with about 35000 members.

1/AMOR

I started running.

3/KAROLINA

We believe animals have feelings and rights just like humans, with interests and needs that must be considered.

1/AMOR

I passed a church.

3/KAROLINA

We can never accept that animals are seen as goods, as objects for humans to use as they wish.

1/AMOR

I passed a statue of a king.

3/KAROLINA

We want to be the voice of animals in society, and defend their rights.

1/AMOR

I crossed a bike lane.

3/KAROLINA

We only work with legal methods.

1/AMOR

A bus honked.

3/KAROLINA

Our goal: a society that doesn’t oppress animals.

1/AMOR

I stopped in an alley.

3/KAROLINA

And now you are of course wondering why I called you, right? (No pause.) If you, too, have had enough of crowded chicken cages, excess time in transport for animals, and painful animal testing, you can become a member of Animal Rights.

1/AMOR

But listen.

3/KAROLINA

We think everyone should be respected as unique individuals, no matter if they have four legs, feathers or scales, or fur.

1/AMOR

Don’t you think I can hear you’re faking?

3/KAROLINA

So my question to you is simply: do you think you can help…?

1/AMOR

I hear you’re faking!

3/KAROLINA

Uh, I am not sure I understand…

1/AMOR

What did you say your name was? ‘Karolina’?

‘Ka-Ro-Lina’? Of course your name isn’t Karolina.

3/KAROLINA

Uh. Okay.

1/AMOR

Where are you from?

3/KAROLINA

Sorry? I’m from Animal Rights. Sweden’s biggest…

1/AMOR

But what is your name?

3/KAROLINA

My name? Karolina.

1/AMOR

No, your name is not Karolina. I can hear that you’re faking. I can hear it. Come on, tell me your real name.

3/KAROLINA

What do you mean?

1/AMOR

I hear there’s something else in your voice. What are you?

3/KAROLINA

What’s with you, my name is Karolina – why couldn’t my name be Karolina?

1/AMOR

We were quiet for a minute, I was breathing more calmly, the alley was empty, the walls were yellow. If you tell me your real name I will support your organization. Afida? Maral? Omera? Rani?

Pause.

1/AMOR

Are you still there?

3/KAROLINA

So, what, if I tell you that my name is something else, you’ll support Animal Rights with a monthly donation?

1/AMOR

Just tell me your real name.

3/KAROLINA (Hesitantly.)

My name is… Golbarg.

1/AMOR

I knew it.

3/KAROLINA

But my name is Karolina as well. It’s…well. You know.

1/AMOR

Of course. I get it.

3/KAROLINA

And you said you’re interested in supporting us?

1/AMOR

I get that you’re playing the same fake game as everyone else.

3/KAROLINA

Excuse me?

1/AMOR

You’re playing the same game as everybody else and your days are fucking numbered.

3/KAROLINA

Are you talking to me right now?

1/AMOR

I swear – all you cowards who think you can blend in without showing your hand, your day of reckoning is coming, just wait. I’m gonna fuck you all, do you hear me? I’ll treat you worse than animals. I will shoot you like dogs, I’ll skin you like cats, I’ll club you like seals, I’ll, I’ll, I’ll stomp you like cockroaches and shave you like mink, and…

3/KAROLINA

Wait a minute. I recognize your voice.

1/AMOR (Ignoring KAROLINA.)

It is easier than you’d think… either you take organic peroxide… or black powder…

3/KAROLINA

What’s your last name?

1/AMOR

Or nitrocellulose if you feel like it.

3/KAROLINA

Admit it, you went to the Maria school, right?

1/AMOR

Or you can mix chlorate and sugar, that makes a big bang…

3/KAROLINA

You knew Shavi, right?

1/AMOR

I stood stock-still, I had been running, a bird lifted from a roof and disappeared, no one was walking by, no one saw me.

3/KAROLINA

Wow. You’re awful quiet now. Are you still there, Amor? I remember you. You were that science nerd who stalked a chick till she moved away and had to contact…

1/AMOR

I hung up.

KAROLINA exits the stage.

1/AMOR

It started to get dark, someone from Animal Rights had dialed the wrong number, she had mistaken me for someone else, she thought I was my brother, the day started to end, it was a completely normal Sunday, nothing special had happened, I walked toward the subway, I checked my cell phone, no missed calls, just two and they were from…

2/SHAVI

Hohooooo? Amor! Call me. What’s going on? Why aren’t you answering? Nothing has happened, has it?

1/AMOR

No, I thought. Nothing has happened. Not yet.

9. SCENE 9 – INTERLUDE

AMOR remains onstage; 2, 3 and 4 enter the roles of AMPLIFIERS.

1/AMOR

I call my brothers and whisper:

Okay.

I admit it.

It was me.

Pause.

4

What do you mean ‘you’?

1

I was the one who… The car. The explosions.

2

What are you talking about?

4

Of course it wasn’t you.

1

Yes, it was me.

4

But… no, it wasn’t you.

3

We know it wasn’t you.

1

It must have been me. All the signs say so. It was me.

2

No, don’t listen to him.

3

It wasn’t him.

1

But it feels like it was me.

4

But it wasn’t.

1

Are you sure?

2, 3, and 4 look at each other.

1/AMOR

Are you one hundred percent sure it wasn’t me?

2, 3, and 4 leave the stage.

10. SCENE 8 – TYRA

We’re still downtown; AMOR is on the way home.

1/AMOR

Then it was night and I would be home soon, I walked toward the subway, I saw a person standing and swaying in front of a display window, he was holding a packet of French fries in his hand like it was a baby bird, he slurred something, I kept walking, I was on my way home, I wasn’t far from the bus stop when I saw the police car. The sirens were off so they wouldn’t attract attention but you could tell that something was going on because the one cop turned his head toward his shoulder and called for backup and the other cop slowly placed his hand on the holster and the guy they had caught was pressed up against the bridge railing and the one cop had one hand on his holster and the guy looked afraid, he met my eyes, I saw the color of his hair, I thought ‘enough is enough’ and I came closer, my steps were lead, my eyes were neon, my arms were arsenic, the police officers stood with their backs to me and they were crowding the guy and he was my brother, he needed my help, they were going to arrest him, they were going to deport him, they were going to shoot him, they had forced him out of the car, the hazard lights were blinking, the police car was dark, his car was lit up, they had seen his license plate, they had suspected drugs or smuggling or bodies, they had already called for backup, and soon the dogs will be here, and the bulletproof vests and the visors and the horses and the helicopters and the batons and the tear gas and as I got closer I remembered the policeman who jumped on Houda’s cousin and beat him bloody with the butt of his baton just because he talked back and the Securitas guards who broke Nasim’s shin and then accused him of assault on an officer and Maribel’s sister who wasn’t allowed into that soul club and when she started yelling discrimination security called the police and the police came and found a bag of weed in her purse even though she’d never smoked weed in her life and she said herself that she didn’t even understand that it was grass when the police took it out because she thought grass looked more like grass and less like moss and so she tried to get off by saying: ‘that’s not grass, that’s moss’, and the police looked at her like she was completely nuts and much later, after she’d received the letter with her sentence, after she’d paid the fines, after she’d been nervous that her next employer would look up her criminal record, she said that the worst part was the looks they gave her when she tried to explain that it wasn’t hers and she had been set up, that it was all a lie, because they looked at her with smiles that said: ‘Yes, we know that’s what’s going on, but what are you going to do about it, what are you going to do?’ And I remembered the plainclothes cops and Ahlem and the lifeguard and Monkey Mountain and I approached the police, they had the guy surrounded, he didn’t know Swedish, he was gesticulating wildly, he feared for his life, a car door was open and his family was sitting in there and I saw the contours of the mom and the children, the streetlights and the reflections and the stars in the sky and the mom was on her way out, one foot on the asphalt, she wanted to help, she wanted to explain, she wanted to protect but she didn’t need to because I was already there, I was light as lithium, I was self-igniting like phosphorus, I had my hand on my pocket, I snuck the knife out, I felt its weight and hid the blade against my forearm. The first policeman didn’t have a chance, I stabbed him in the back and I, policeman number two reached for his weapon but didn’t get more than halfway before the knife punctured his stomach and the blood flowed and the bridge swayed and police dogs were coming and I killed them too and a patrol on horseback came and I split them right in half and a helicopter came and I threw the knife straight into the propeller so that it first slowly and then quickly crashed down into the black- as-night sea where everything was mirror images and upside-down buildings and just before I came up to them I heard the first policeman say: (Swinglish.) ‘No, no, it’s not difficult at all,’ and the other policeman said: ‘Just listen to him now,’ and the first one said: ‘You go straight, you hear me you go straight over this bridge and then the first one to the right and you take that street and you follow it okay? You follow it and you go and go and go and then when you reach the roundabout there’s the sign to the highway’ and the guy said ‘Right then straight, okay’, ‘You got it now?’ ‘I hope so thank you’ and the dad went back to the car and the light went off when he closed the door and the police looked at each other and smiled and shook their heads and then they caught sight of a strange guy who was standing there crying farther away on the bridge, they approached him, they said: ‘Hey, you, are you okay’ and the guy just refused to answer, he refused to answer, he was crying even though he didn’t have a reason and there was a splash from down by the water, he had thrown something into the water, it glittered on the bottom, maybe it was a knife or maybe it was a worn out drill head and when the police came up to him he turned around and ran in the opposite direction and the police just wanted to ask a few questions so they started running after him, a little slowly at first but the guy ran faster and the police sped up and called for backup, ‘we have a person on a bridge his description is’ so and so and the police radio screamed out his appearance and police ears listened and police hands turned wheels in the direction of the guy who obviously had something to hide but he who was him who was me had already run one bridge and four blocks then turned left after a park and then up some stairs and then down into a parking lot and then into a 24-hour 7-11 and out through the other entrance and soon he had been swallowed up by the city he had disappeared he snuck around like a hidden shadow among shadows and he was asphalt and bike lanes and curbs and he was beyond saving and he hardly noticed when his phone rang but soon he noticed it and dried two kinds of salty taste off his face and he answered he said: Hello and he imagined that his voice sounded normal. Hello, he said. Hello. Is anyone there?

We find ourselves behind an empty bus shelter downtown. 4 enters the role of TYRA.

4/TYRA

Yes?

1/AMOR

Hello?

4/TYRA

Yes?

1/AMOR

Grandma?

4/TYRA

Yes?

1/AMOR

Hi Grandma, how are you?

4/TYRA

Not so good.

1/AMOR

Why not?

4/TYRA

Haven’t you heard what happened?

1/AMOR

No?

4/TYRA

The gas station in Skolsta was vandalized last night.

1/AMOR

Oh.

4/TYRA

They wrote obscene things with markers on the windows and they also stole a fire extinguisher.

1/AMOR

No. Is that true?

4/TYRA

Yes, of course it’s true – why do you think I’d say it otherwise? Do you know where Skolsta is?

1/AMOR

No.

4/TYRA

You really don’t know where Skolsta is?

1/AMOR

No, I’m sorry.

4/TYRA

About ten kilometers outside Enköping.

1/AMOR

Okay.

4/TYRA

So now you know.

1/AMOR

Thanks.

4/TYRA

There’s nothing to thank me for.

Pause.

4/TYRA

And a homeowner near Storuman had a break-in.

1/AMOR

That’s too bad.

4/TYRA

And in Landskrona, an optician had his day’s earnings stolen by a man in a ‘brown-beige coat’.

1/AMOR

I see.

4/TYRA

It’s not easy.

1/AMOR

No, it’s not easy. But how are you?

4/TYRA

A car with a trailer lost control on highway 92 and the trailer overturned. But no one was injured.

1/AMOR

Oh, that was lucky.

4/TYRA

Yes, that was lucky.

1/AMOR

Mmm. But Grandma, how…

4/TYRA

And outside Örtofta there were train delays because of a downed overhead line. And a car blew up in Stockholm and four tractor tires were stolen from a potato field near Borås.

1/AMOR

Yes, that can happen.

4/TYRA

That can happen. (Happily.) But I have some good news, too!

1/AMOR

Oh, that’s nice.

4/TYRA (Happily.)

Märta finally died yesterday!

1/AMOR (Happily.)

Well, congratulations. Märta who?

4/TYRA

Märta Hansson. Who lived on Virkesstigen.

1/AMOR

Were you close?

4/TYRA

Oh, yes. We’ve known each other all our lives.

1/AMOR

How nice!

4/TYRA

I’m going to introduce her to Lennart. And Stig.

And Iris Levander.

1/AMOR

But Grandma.

4/TYRA

What?

1/AMOR

Iris Levander is still alive.

4/TYRA

No. Iris Levander is dead, too. She died two weeks ago. Stroke.

1/AMOR

Well, that’s nice! So now you’re all there together?

4/TYRA

Mmhmm. Everyone’s together. Almost. And how is my beloved grandchild?

1/AMOR

He feels good. He feels…he feels. How about you?

4/TYRA

Oh, you know. Can’t complain.

1/AMOR

Is it about like how you imagined?

4/TYRA

No, I suppose it isn’t, really. But things never are, I suppose. It’s a bit like when we were in Greece, remember that? When we had booked that hotel that looked so good in the catalogue but when we arrived we realized that the room had been photographed from a very particular angle and that the pool was on the other side of the road and that nothing looked like we’d imagined.

1/AMOR

You have a pool?

4/TYRA

It was just an example. But of course there are pools.

There’s everything you can think of and a little more.

1/AMOR

How old are you?

4/TYRA

You can switch when you want to.

1/AMOR

So how old are you today?

4/TYRA

This morning I was twenty-two – I had just gotten my degree, I was out in the archipelago at that Midsummer celebration and I met your grandpa for the first time. At lunch I was fifty-five – all the children had just moved out and your grandpa had died and I felt completely free for the first time in my life.

1/AMOR

And right now?

4/TYRA

Right now I’m maybe twelve.

1/AMOR

And what do you do when you’re twelve?

4/TYRA

Masturbate.

1/AMOR

But, Grandma.

4/TYRA

But what – you asked, didn’t you? That all I do.

Day in and day out.

1/AMOR

And how old will you be tomorrow?

4/TYRA

I’ll decide that then. I’ve never been one for planning, you know. Your grandfather was the one who did that stuff.

1/AMOR

Do you miss anything?

4/TYRA

Yes, I miss everything. All the time. But if you have a particular reason you can go back and walk around on the streets just as though you had a body.

1/AMOR

Particular reason?

4/TYRA

Yes, like for example if your grandchild needs you.

1/AMOR

So you could be here at this very moment?

4/TYRA

I’ve walked beside you all day. I was with you on the dance floor, I slept beside you on the sofa, I held your hand at the mall, I ran with you across the bridge.

1/AMOR

And you’re here now?

4/TYRA

I am here now.

1/AMOR

I miss you.

4/TYRA

I miss you too.

1/AMOR

I wish we had talked to each other more.

4/TYRA

But we’re talking now.

1/AMOR

Yes, but it’s not the same thing.

4/TYRA

It’s the same thing but better.

1/AMOR

I feel like I’m alone.

4/TYRA

You are not alone.

1/AMOR

I feel like I’m alone.

4/TYRA

You are not alone.

1/AMOR

I don’t know what I should do with myself.

4/TYRA

You should go home now. You should get up and go home.

1/AMOR

I can’t.

4/TYRA

Yes, you can. I’ll help you.

1/AMOR

Where are we?

4/TYRA

We’re crouching behind an empty bus stop downtown.

1/AMOR

Why are we doing that?

4/TYRA

No idea.

1/AMOR

Are we talking to ourselves?

4/TYRA

Yes, we are.

1/AMOR

Are people looking at us?

4/TYRA

Yes, they are. But to hell with them. We don’t need them. We just need to get home. Stand up.

1/AMOR

I’m trying.

4/TYRA

Walk towards the subway.

1/AMOR

I’m walking towards the subway.

We leave the bus stop and approach the subway.

4/TYRA

Good. Just keep walking straight again, walk past the Pressbyrån, past the café that’s closed for the night, past the homeless people on benches, past the Italian tourists with their maps, past the guards at the entrance. Why are you stopping?

1/AMOR

They’re looking at us.

4/TYRA

Their looks can’t hurt us. Walk past them, walk normally, swing your arms, put your right foot in front of your left, walk like you’re not thinking about walking.

1/AMOR

I’m trying.

4/TYRA

Good. Keep going. Good. Don’t turn around.

1/AMOR

Okay.

4/TYRA

Breathe in the night air.

1/AMOR

Okay.

4/TYRA

Think:

1/AMOR

Now the worst is over.

4/TYRA

Think:

1/AMOR

I will take care of this.

4/TYRA

Think:

1/AMOR

I am not alone.

4/TYRA

Good. Keep going like that.

We arrive on the subway platform. 2 enters the role of SHAVI.

2/SHAVI

Hello?

Pause.

2/SHAVI

Hey bro, pick up!

4/TYRA

Pick up.

2/SHAVI

Hello, it’s Shavi, pick up! I have something super-important to tell you.

4/TYRA

Answer!

2/SHAVI

Hello? What’s going on, I’ve been calling you all day and you never answer.

2/SHAVI and 4/TYRA (Simultaneously.)

Pick up the phone and answer!

1/AMOR

Hello?

2/SHAVI

Hey man. How…how’s it going?

1/AMOR

Oh, it’s. Good. I think.

Pause.

1/AMOR

You?

2/SHAVI

Yeah, I’m chill. What are you up to?

1/AMOR

Nothing special. Waiting for the subway. On my way home. You?

2/SHAVI

Not much. Hanging at home. Have you heard about the bombing?

1/AMOR

Yeah, crazy stuff.

2/SHAVI

Totally crazy. Nina’s sister was there when it happened. She heard the first explosion, but didn’t react. She thought it was fireworks. It wasn’t until later she realized it was a…

1/AMOR

Have they arrested anyone?

2/SHAVI

I don’t know… Haven’t heard anything more. I’ve called you a couple times…?

1/AMOR

Yes, I saw. Sorry. I’ve just. There’s been so much going on all day. So much to do. I had to exchange a drill head for my cousin and decide if I was going to join Animal Rights and take care of a ton of other practical things for my brothers.

2/SHAVI

Got it. But you’re okay?

1/AMOR

Absolutely. It’s chill.

2/SHAVI

And your brothers?

1/AMOR

They’re good. I was just about to call them, actually. How are you?

2/SHAVI

We’re good. Everything’s chill. I didn’t want anything in particular. Just wanted to see what was up.

Pause.

2/SHAVI

Good. I’m…. I’m going to put Peanut to bed now.

1/AMOR

How is she?

2/SHAVI

Huh?

1/AMOR

How is she feeling?

2/SHAVI

Peanut? She’s great. Today she ate potato for the first time.

1/AMOR

Wow, potato.

2/SHAVI

Mmhmm, that was big.

1/AMOR

Give her a hug from me.

2/SHAVI

Of course.

1/AMOR

Tell her she should never…

2/SHAVI

What did you say?

1/AMOR

Oh, it was nothing. Here’s my train.

2/SHAVI

Okay. Catch you later.

1/AMOR

Absolutely. Take care.

2/SHAVI

You too.

1/AMOR

Shavi?

2/SHAVI

Yes?

1/AMOR

Talk to you tomorrow.

2/SHAVI

Sounds good.

1/AMOR

I stood there with my phone in my hand, I was on my way home I was just about to take the escalator down into the subway, I was going to manage, I knew I would manage it, but then something happened and I dialed Shavi’s number and he answered on the first ring.

2/SHAVI

Hey, how’s it going?

1/AMOR

Shavi. You couldn’t come downtown, could you?

2/SHAVI

What?

1/AMOR

Can we meet up? Do you have time? I need…it would be nice to see you. I… I need… I don’t know. And Shavi understood. I could hear in his voice that he understood.

2/SHAVI

Wait there.

1/AMOR

And in the background I could hear the car keys and the whispers and the jacket and the zipper.

2/SHAVI

Wait there, brother.

1/AMOR

The apartment door and the stairwell steps and the garage door and the car alarm.

2/SHAVI

I’m coming.

1/AMOR

The car door and the motor and the gear shift that went from second straight to fourth.

2/SHAVI

I’m on my way.

1/AMOR

The gas and the brakes and the horn and the swearing.

2/SHAVI

I’ll be there soon.

11. SCENE 11 – OUTRO

1/AMOR

I call my brothers and say:

Something really sick just happened.

I was on my way home when I caught sight of an extremely suspicious individual.

He had black hair and an unusually large backpack.

Pause.

I call my brothers and say:

It took a split second for me to realize that it was my reflection.

The End.

¹ Hello? Who’s there? Dad? (Tunisian Arabic)

² Polite phrases (Tunisian Arabic)