Bars (excerpt) by Pravin Wilkins

SCENE FIVE: Lights up. Dae, back at Project Lyric, stands by a mic stand.

DAE It’s time, people, to turn the pressure up, They mighta thought they had the best of us, Invested in the venomous snakebite of the law but yesterday I saw Robi, and you know what the kid told me? Not only is he being forced to do time for a crime that shouldn’t be a crime, He’s being framed, ATTENDEE #1 You said framed, DaeDae? DAE Yup, you heard me right, kid’s being blamed for the mistakes of a cop who shot shot shot without thinking ATTENDEE #2 Fuckin pigs!

DAE Not even blinking at the thought of blood on his hands and somehow avoided the slightest of reprimands for the damage to that pipeline they’ve managed to pin on Robi, might as well have beaten him too and charged the kid for bleeding on their uniforms, and the tragedy is if you think the analogy doesn’t fit or if it sounds a bit ridiculous you might be surprised to know that’s a true story 1

DAE (CONT.) of what happened to a man in Missouri, go ahead, Google Henry Davis 1500 if you doubt these cops would bludgeon us and then send us the motherfucking check.

And now they want Robi in prison for years to quench the fear that a boy in blue would ever have to face the justice we do. Well I say We can’t have that. I’ll say it again: We can’t have that!

Y’all got the word out and I know people heard now it’s third down and we gotta go long, It’s time to stand strong and proud on the streets downtown, Chant scream and shout til the D.A. his goddam self can’t help but hear us out. Are you with me now?

Cheers from offstage.

I said are you with me now?

Cheers grow louder. Dae places the microphone back on the stand.

All power to all the people when we stand together There ain’t no equal.

Dae steps away from the mic, steps off the stage-within-the-stage.

Lights out.

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SCENE SIX: Alex stands in a plaza, checks the time.

A beat.

Dae enters the stage and approaches Alex.

ALEX So, meeting on neutral ground this time, I see.

DAE Not so neutral. This is where we held the die-in. The day you didn’t come. Last time we met on your turf. I figured this was only fair.

ALEX Believe it or not… Dae, I really am sorry that I wasn’t there for you.

DAE Maybe you’re sorry that you had to choose between me and this noble career. But don’t lie to yourself; you aren’t sorry you weren’t there.

Alex sighs.

ALEX So, you must be proud of yourself. I got cocky; I told you too much and you took advantage of it. It came as quite the surprise when I got word that Robi’s lawyer agreed to a substitution.

That he got a new lawyer now because he… had a change of heart about the plea deal. I was positively shocked, at first.

But of course, that was you, wasn’t it? I guess it’s not worth my time asking you how you managed that. But I must say, I am impressed.

DAE There’s only one way this is going to end. And it’s with Robi walking free.

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ALEX Look, I wouldn’t have come here if I wasn’t willing to cut some kind of deal. You don’t have to start the conversation with an ultimatum.

DAE I’m not here to cut a deal. I’m here to convince you this is the best thing for everybody.

ALEX That’s not how this is going to work. That’s not how anything works. The world runs on deals, not on righteous deeds. Don’t preach to me.

DAE Why is that the way you choose to look at the world?

ALEX Ohhhh, “the way I look at the world”… Yeah let’s talk about the way I look at the world. Because from my perspective, it looks like one of us did what they had to do to get a seat at the table, and one of us could never reign themselves in enough to get in the building. And you want to use me; you want to use my position for your ends.

DAE Use your position, for my ends… Alex, why does this have to be a zero-sum game?

ALEX Tell me one part of this universe that isn’t a zero-sum game.

Nature is a zero-sum game. Life is a zero-sum game. There are winners and losers, and every bit that you have is a bit that somebody else doesn’t. And you aren’t here to help me. So it’s pretty clear who’d be doing the giving and who’d be doing the taking.

DAE What a bleak view. What a bleak view to think that symbiosis is of another universe.

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ALEX Symbiosis is when both sides have something to offer one another.

DAE And you really believe there’s nothing I could have to offer you? I’m here with my hands full. Not empty. I am not here for a handout from you, I’m here with an opportunity for you.

ALEX “I’m here with an opportunity for you” is what we tell un-paid interns. I’m the fucking lead attorney of the city and I was put here by the people; what “opportunity” do you have for me?

DAE The opportunity to do what’s right.

Alex finds this hilarious.

The opportunity to help someone who deserves your help. To take a stand for justice.

ALEX You’re joking.

DAE And the opportunity to get recognized for it. The opportunity to begin what could be a cascade of positive change for this country. Today it’s the D.A. of Oklahoma City refusing to press charges for this bogus crime, maybe tomorrow it’s the Attorney General of the state. Maybe it gets to a point where no attorney in the country would dare prosecute this crime. This could be an opportunity to restore freedoms that should have never been taken away.

ALEX Oh now you’re talking so big I think you just transported me back to college commencement.

DAE Aren’t you tired of locking people up for exercising their rights? Doesn’t it make you sick that oil companies get more protections under the law than the people of your city?

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A beat.

ALEX I’m going to be honest with you, Dae. It doesn’t make me any sicker than any of the other shitty things we have done and continue to do to keep this country going. Should I just feel sick all the time? I carved out a place of respect and authority for myself in this country—a country that wasn’t exactly handing me anything—and I’m not going to spend all my time lamenting things I can’t change.

I’m an agent of a system that is bigger than me and I’m not going to fucking Scorpio myself: I’m not going to let Alex Long be crucified because I was the only one dumb enough to step out of line.

DAE It’s that same shit again: you’re either crucified or the crucifier, huh.

There is a young person’s life in your hands.

ALEX So I’m going to stick my neck out for this kid, because what, he’s got a sad story? Maybe he didn’t deserve whatever happened to him in the past, but Robi Adan brought this upon themself.

I’m not going to drop these charges and give ad material to the Republicans on a silver platter.

DAE Why do you think showing some compassion is going to cost you so fucking dearly? Why are you so ready to question the consequences of forgiveness and so ready to accept the consequences of aggressiveness? Of violence?

ALEX Violence? What violence is being done here? There is only the law being enforced.

DAE Only somebody who has never had their freedom stripped away would ever say that. Imprisonment is violence. It is violence against the mind and the body, and when it’s deployed to crush expression, it is violence against the soul. So don’t you dare 6

DAE (CONT.) tell me violence isn’t being done here when you’ve locked up a child who has already spent more years in refugee camps / than in school.

ALEX So what are you suggesting I do? Some of us can’t just shout from the sidelines about the “right thing to do.” Some of us have jobs that we are expected to perform.

DAE And since when was it an attorney’s job to just crank out guilty verdicts? Since when was the success of the legal system measured by how many people are behind bars?

ALEX Since our entire fucking lives, Dae. DAE And you’re okay with that? Put aside whether or not this law should even be enforced to begin with—you’re okay with churning out another guilty verdict, even if the kid is innocent?

ALEX Just because you think you can see a lie on my face doesn’t mean you really can. Robi Adan is not innocent.

DAE Why are you so sure?

ALEX Because I have the testimony of numerous officers / who all have said…

DAE You have the testimony. Of numerous officers. What a surprise they’re all putting the blame on the victim here.

ALEX When the crowd was told to disperse, Robi charged towards the pipeline and the officers on the scene responded / by neutralizing…

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DAE Responded by shooting live rounds into the pipeline causing an oil spill and you’re here charging Robi with “WILLFULLY” damaging it? Robi didn’t do anything except run for his life!

ALEX I guess there’s always two versions of a story, aren’t there?

But live rounds? That’s—that’s insane. None of the officers on the scene even brought real bullets.

DAE And I’m supposed to believe a rubber bullet would rupture a pipeline?

ALEX Sections of the pipeline are made / of plastic…

DAE Are you fucking serious right now? Don’t play that attorney shit with me; we aren’t in court.

A beat.

ALEX So that’s what you’re telling your little activist mob, isn’t it? That it’s all the cops’ fault, and innocent, pure-hearted little Robi was just caught in the middle.

DAE You’re goddamn right that’s what I’m telling them. You might run the show at the bench, but the streets are my home court. And I can fill em up like that…

Dae snaps or claps, puts on some emphasis in a way that visibly startles Alex.

If I have to.

ALEX Is that a threat?

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DAE It’s a promise. Either you drop the charges, or you’ll have to answer to a mob outside your office.

A beat.

ALEX I can give Robi the absolute minimum sentence. One year. That’s the most I can offer.

DAE I’ve stated my terms.

ALEX Look, there’s no way around the fact that this a felony charge…

If I drop that, scrutiny is right back on the officers for how things went down. And I don’t have to tell you D.A.’s don’t get far without support of the department.

But what I can do, if the judge will allow it, I can see if it’s possible to get Robi community service in lieu of time served.

Given the circumstances. Given that… he’s so young. And reckless.

DAE I’ve stated. My terms.

ALEX Dae, I’m trying to work with you here. What’s your endgame? Do you want me to lose the election to some fucking jackboot Republican? Because I guarantee they won’t give you a goddamn INCH if you try something like this on them. They’d love for you to fill the streets with protesters; their base eats that shit up! They’d pay to see a strongman type send out riot police to beat down the rabble and brag about it. You know that. You want somebody like that as the top cop of the state, or do you want me?

I’m trying to make a compromise here. I’m trying to make this work for both of us.

DAE That’s your problem, Alex. You’re measuring everything based on the outcome for yourself and you assume I’m doing the same. But 9

DAE (CONT.) there’s only one victory here for me, and it isn’t some halfmeasure. It is Robi’s un-besmirched freedom, it is the triumph of our people over an unjust law. What side are you going to be on?

A beat. Dae starts to walk away from Alex, who smolders.

Lights out.

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