Killing the Father
by Jacob Juntunen
(A YOUNG MAN in a suit stands and walks from the circle; as he speaks, a YOUNG WOMAN in a white dress with a white shawl dances the waltz alone. All characters address the audience as if it’s a jury.)
YOUNG MAN
Ladies and gentlemen, witness the new world order! My father is getting married to a woman with an adolescent child of her own; Dad’s so infatuated with his new family, I was surprised I even got an invitation to the wedding.
(MAN enters, dressed in a black tuxedo. MAN and YOUNG MAN hug)
MAN
At the wedding, I told my son, “You cannot cast out family. Ever.”
YOUNG MAN
Dad wasn’t drunk, but his college-professor diction is stronger when he’s had a couple glasses of wine, like a long-lost accent.
MAN
You must always be drunk, Son, on wine, women, or love.
YOUNG MAN
“Wine, poetry, or virtue,” Dad.
MAN
What’s wrong with love.
YOUNG MAN
It’s virtue, Dad. The quote is be drunk on “wine, poetry, or virtue.”
MAN
Ladies and Gentlemen, my son is drunk on virtue! That is his upbringing! He may come from a broken home, but our values are intact. When he left for college, I made him promise:
YOUNG MAN
“I will not associate with anyone corrupt.”
MAN
If you do, it will surely corrupt your soul.
YOUNG WOMAN
It was a dream from my childhood! Beautiful white dress, laughing guests, and the words: love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.
MAN
Why is your new sister dancing alone?
YOUNG MAN
Step-sister.
MAN
I’m going to dance with her.
YOUNG MAN
That’s weird, Dad.
MAN
If my mother were still alive, I would dance with her at my wedding. Instead, I dance with my new daughter.
YOUNG MAN
Step-daughter. There’s no blood between you.
MAN
He believed then that blood mattered more than family by marriage. But he was in college, young, and his mind changed.
YOUNG MAN
Over the years, seeing her at Christmas with my Dad and new Mom, I came to understand she was family.
YOUNG WOMAN
He always bought me books of poetry, as if to educate me, but I already loved words. He was older, though, and introduced me to worlds.
MAN
I treated them equally, proofreading her high school English papers, paying his college tuition.
YOUNG MAN
Whenever I came home on breaks, he’d make sure to take me out to breakfast by myself. He called me his favorite son; her, his favorite daughter.
MAN
I ask you, Ladies and Gentlemen, what could make your new step-daughter feel more loved than a waltz?
YOUNG MAN
She’s losing one parent and gaiting another. She’s just a kid. What if she’s scared?
(MAN hugs YOUNG MAN, hard)
MAN
I’ll be as charming as a poem; my children will never be scared.
YOUNG WOMAN
The words from the priest! Love is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no records of wrongs.
YOUNG MAN
And so my father kept my step-sister, his new daughter, from being scared.
(MAN goes to YOUNG WOMAN and bows, asking her to dance in gesture)
MAN
Ladies and Gentlemen, I will admit she blushed at first, and what I said is forgotten. But I saw her and though, “Love does not delight in evil, but rejoices with the truth.”
YOUNG WOMAN
I will always remember the priest saying, “Love always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.” His son should remember that. Love always perseveres. Always.
(YOUNG WOMAN curtseys and YOUNG WOMAN and MAN begin to waltz)
YOUNG MAN
Ladies and Gentlemen, observe! A waltz consists of a step forward, a step to the side, and then a step together. If it wasn’t for that last step together, I would not stand before you this evening.
MAN
My son cannot understand that people grow apart. That even a second marriage may fail. I finally admitted I loved someone more than his stepmother.
YOUNG MAN
My father divorced my step-mother, and my step-sister turned eighteen. Judge for yourselves the events that occurred after I graduated college. But remember: You must not cast out family, nor can you abide corruption for it will corrupt your soul.
(YOUNG WOMAN and MAN stop dancing and turn towards each other, holding hands. MAN pulls the white shawl from the shoulders of the YOUNG WOMAN and wraps their hands with it.)
MAN
With this ring, I thee wed.
(MAN and YOUNG WOMAN kiss, all smiles. MAN strides over to YOUNG MAN, arms out for a hug. YOUNG MAN pushes MAN away, violently, and exits leaving MAN and YOUNG WOMAN standing alone; blackout)
Read full lengths by Jacob Juntunen here!
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