narrative:
SCENE ONE
ESTER and S.KELLY walk into the dining hall. ester carries a white plastic bag full of half-full bags of doritos, two library books on the decline of steel manufacturing in america, and her bag, roomymarroon with a long strap. within it are ester’s wallet and her notebook. actual value: c.$250, incl. money in visa account. sentimental value: through the fucking roof.
s.kelly carries a nearly-empty gallon jug of green tea (actual value: nil. sentimental value: nil.) they sit at the end of a long table, putting all their stuff on the seats beside them, except for ester’s roomymarroon bag, which she places by the foot of her chair.
FRIENDS arrive, and with each new addition, the STUFF moves farther and farther down the length of the table, away from s.kelly and ester. an hour passes
SCENE TWO
ester tells the story of how problematic man visited her poetry class today
first, some girl wrote a poem making fun of maya angelou for being fat. i was the only one who didn’t find it clever. alienating enough. within the poem, however, the girl describes a nail clipping as being round “like a nubian hip.” that was when problematic man burst upon the scene. but before he come open his mouth, another girl said to the poet, “i love that you used the word nubian. it’s so … exotic!”
problematic man staggered back, then regrouped, setting his lasers to Stun. before he could shoot, another boy offered, “i guess some people would have a problem with it or call it ‘cultural appropriation’ … but i don’t believe that exists.” the rest of the class murmured agreement, continued to praise the poem, and then moved on. problematic man slunked away, rendered impotent once again by the innocence of freshmen.
FLASH FORWARD:
ester and s.kelly powerwalk back to the dining hall, ester clearly upset, s.kelly singing songs to distract her. one song melds into another and soon s.kelly is singing angrily about the living wage and democracy campaign.
FLASH BACK, MONTAGE; V.O., s.kelly singing:
1) ester and s.kelly gather up their belongings and leave the dining hall.
2) BEN walks into the dining hall and sits in the chair vacated by ester. glancing down, he notices the roomymarroon bag, recognizes it, picks it up, and hands it off to FELICIA, who lives in the building next to ester.
3) ester, near tears, describes the bag. dining hall workers lean on their mops, shake their heads and shrug.
SCENE THREE
ester and s.kelly powerwalk to the library. before they reach the door, someone calls their names. MARC, who knows everything, tells ester where her bag is.
fini.
it was however too much stress for one evening. s.kelly and ester decided to take time off, visit krispy kreme, rent soapdish and recline til 1 a.m. at stef and eliz’s. a wise choice.