An excerpt from my play, "BROTHERhoods" :

David Richardson as Kendall & Marlon Russ as Jabari. Summer,  2004

Damn, young’un. I knew your ass was up in there, but I was beginning to think you weren’t trying to answer the door.

The guest room is all the way upstairs, on the third floor.

So . . . what’s up, playa?

[A beat . . .]

How did you find me here, Jabari?

C’mon, man. Living on campus at a black college is like living in the projects. Ain’t no secrets.

. . . I don’t know. Sometimes, seems like it’s nothing but secrets around here . . . secrets and lies.

Besides, it ain’t exactly like you’re holed up across town and shit. The damn quad is only six blocks away . . . as a matter of fact, I been out here awhile today, walking up and down. I saw Mr. Julian and that other dude when they left. . Are you alone now?

. . . very much so.

I thought maybe there might be another meeting or something, goin’ on in there.

No. No more meetings – How did you find out about that?

I told you. I been out here, off and on, a couple of times today. I was trying to wait for all the "traffic" to die down, so I could – Look man, you trying to let a brotha in, or what?

I’m just a guest here myself, Jabari. And . . . since I already showed up on their doorstep uninvited, I don’t think –

For real, kid. I just . . . I want to holla at you.

. . . since when?

C’mon, Kendall man . . . before somebody see me out here. Way these folks around here yap? All I need, is for it to get back to my girl that some nosy mothafucka saw me up here – especially with you . . . especially now.

No, we . . . definitely wouldn’t want that, would we?

I’m just saying . . .

[KENDALL unlocks the security bars.]

– my man . . .

[JABARI enters, looking around the room as KENDALL watches him.]

Dayum! Julian must be pullin’ down some serious loot. This joint could be on "Cribz".

His partner is an architect.

That dude he rolled out with? He live here too?

They’ve been working on it for a while . . . years .

Yeah, well . . . the shit is definitely hooked . . . I’m tellin’ you now. Let me up in this motherfucka –

What did you need to talk to me about?

Can’t you guess?

I’m not in a guessing mood.

Yeah . . . I feel ya, cuz. [Pause.] Does it still hurt?

Does what still hurt? How you dogged me last semester? The way you dumped me, after you got over and . . . got what you wanted?

Your eye, young’un. Your head. Does that still hurt?

Not as much as having you stand there and watch the whole thing happen. Now, that . . . really hurt.

Can you see?

Clearly.

JABARI

I wanted to come and . . . y’know, check on up you in the hospital and shit, but . . . you know how it is.

Yeah, well . . . they didn’t keep me long. Just a couple of days. And I’m sure you were busy. I can just imagine how much time and energy it takes to maintain that D plus average.

[A beat.]

I guess you think I should have tried to stop them.

I guess you don’t.

But I’m sayin, cuz . . . what could just the two of us do against – what? Over a dozen mothafuckas?

Obviously more than I could do alone. But, we’ll never know, will we?

You did catch the one bama, though. That red nigga you hit with your backpack as you were falling? What’d you have in that mug, anyway – a brick?

. . . a Chem Lab book – Jabari, what are you doing here?

I just wanted to tell you . . . how sorry I am.

I already know how sorry you are.

I mean, sorry about what happened at school last week. . . . you gettin’ jumped and all.

Don’t you read the campus newspaper? They didn’t jump me. I attacked them. I just suddenly felt the need to start a fight with a hallway full of jocks and intramural assholes, for no reason at all. I must’ve been high on something – that’s what people are saying. Or maybe I’m just . . . into that kinky, S&M rough stuff. You know how fucked up faggots are. Some of them even like to get their asses kicked . . . anyway, I obviously got what I deserved, right?

Look, Kendall . . . I don’t know where they got all that from –

You don’t? That’s funny. I heard everybody that was questioned told the same, identical story. Almost word for word. It had to come from somewhere.

I sure didn’t tell nobody that.

What did you tell them.

. . . nothing.

Didn’t they ask you?

Sure, you know they did. Campus security . . . people from the Dean’s office, and the cops eventually . . . after BLAGOSAH made a big stink. They questioned all of us.

How is it that, when the gay student organization at Howard wants to learn why a classmate was assaulted on college property – it’s making a "big stink". But when a gang of dorm rats puts a student in the hospital, it’s just, "boyz will be boyz" ? And, what about when they were kicking me . . . and stomping me? Did Dante, James, and Craig and them, really seem like they were " just playing" to you?

Look, I’m not goin’ into all that. On top of which, I’m not tryin’ to be callin’ no names and talking about shit. For all I know, you got this room bugged. It could be hidden cameras somewhere and you videotaping our whole conversation. Surveillance and shit . . .

You watch too much reality T.V. I can’t even pay my library fines. How could I do all that? Plus, I didn’t even know you were coming over here. And, even if I had known, why would I do all that?

To trick me. To trap me. Cause you got no case, young’un. It’s your word against theirs and it’s just one of you . . . and fourteen of them.

Fifteen . . . counting you.

. . . you don’t have to count me.

Why not? You were there.

But, I wasn’t in it.

You were right there with them. You saw the whole thing.

I’m just saying, I didn’t have nothing to do with what went down, and I’m not trying to have nobody draggin’ me into some shit I ain’t had nothing to do with. But look, squash all that. I ain’t come over here to beef with you –

Why did you come over here? I keep asking –

I told you. To see how you were doing. I was worried about you.

Yeah. Okay.

I was. Real worried . . .

I’ll bet. You were probably worried, alright – but not about me.

Word is bond. It was all these crazy-ass rumors going around campus . . .

. . . so, what else is new?

. . .that your nose was broke, that you lost a eye . . .

Sorry to disappoint everyone, but I only had I had a mild concussion, some bruised ribs, and stitches from the cut on my head – that’s where all the blood was coming from. There were some knots and other bruises, but most of those have just about gone away now.

Yeah, I can tell your face is still kinda swollen some on this side, though.

But, other than that, and a little scratch or two . . . here . . . and here . . . looks to me like you’re just about back to your same, old . . . fine . . . self again . . .

What are you doing?

Why you jump? I know that didn’t hurt . . . or you jumpin’ cause it felt good?

C’mon, Jabari –

Y’know, you got some smooth skin . . . soft like a baby . . .

Cut it out.

What? I can’t touch you no more?

I think I’ve been "touched" enough lately.

But you used to like it when I touched you..

I used to like a lot of things.

I remember.  You used to like me, too . . . I bet you still do, don’t you?

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