An Almost Perfect Thing Read online

(to MATHEW) No—

  MATHEW

  You don't have to be afraid.

  He goes to touch her.

  CHLOE

  (to MATHEW) No, please—

  MATHEW

  It's okay. I promise. Do you like your room?

  CHLOE

  (to either GREG or MATHEW) What?

  GREG

  Should I not call it that? Room.

  CHLOE

  (to GREG) It's okay.

  GREG

  Tell me what it looks like when you first open your eyes.

  CHLOE

  (to GREG) There's a bed.

  MATHEW

  It used to be mine. The comforter's new though. Brand new.

  CHLOE

  (to GREG) Beside the bed was a little wooden table.

  MATHEW

  If you look underneath, you'll see my initials. I did that when I was about your age. The lamp is new. I wanted a pink one but I couldn't find it, so you'll have to make do with yellow.

  CHLOE

  (to GREG) A closet with some clothes.

  MATHEW

  I guessed at your size. And there are your underthings there. I didn't really know…

  CHLOE

  (to GREG) A toilet. Sink with a hose attached.

  MATHEW

  For washing.

  CHLOE

  (to GREG) A bookshelf.

  GREG

  Books on the bookshelf?

  CHLOE

  (to GREG) Yeah.

  MATHEW

  And a desk. I never had one growing up. I always wanted one. I imagine you reading there, and writing. If you open it up there are pens, pencils, scribblers.

  GREG/MAT

  How do you feel?

  CHLOE

  (to MATHEW) My tummy hurts.

  MATHEW

  I'll get you some food. That'll help. What else do you need?

  Beat.

  Talk to me.

  Beat.

  I'm going to take care of you. I promise.

  Beat.

  It's just for three months. Less than that, how 'bout? Ten weeks. Seventy days.

  CHLOE

  (to MATHEW) No—

  MATHEW

  We're going to teach your dad a lesson. I watched him leave you in the library. Instead of taking care of you. You don't deserve that. He needs to learn—

  Your hands—

  He reaches for her hands; she recoils.

  Let me see them. They're all red. Were you banging on the walls? There's no point, you'll just hurt yourself.

  GREG

  So you're alone. No idea where you are. Did you yell? Scream? Pound on the walls?

  CHLOE

  (to GREG) Obviously it was gonna be soundproof. I knew that. I'm not dumb. I saved my strength.

  GREG

  Really? Okay… so, what's going through your mind? What's happening?

  CHLOE

  (to GREG) I search for an escape route. See if there's a way I can dig myself out. Break a whole in the wall. Anything. I figure out where I should stand when someone opens the door so I can run. I think about what my dad would tell me to do. I wasn't scared. You can't get scared. Or you'll go crazy.

  MATHEW

  No one can hear you. I had to make sure of that. I had to. Now there has to be rules. I want to be fair, so we'll both make them. My first rule. Don't talk about wanting to leave. Not after everything I've done. It'll only upset me. Your turn.

  Beat.

  You don't say anything, you miss a rule.

  Beat.

  Fine. My turn. You have to listen to me. I'm the grown-up. I know what's best. Okay? Your turn. You should talk this time.

  CHLOE

  (to MATHEW) Please let me go.

  MATHEW

  I said don't talk about wanting to leave. You already broke a rule.

  CHLOE

  (to MATHEW) You can't hurt me.

  MATHEW

  Okay. There you go—

  CHLOE

  (to MATHEW) You have to feed me.

  MATHEW

  That's two rules. But I'll let it go since you're new at this. My third and final rule.

  Beat.

  You have to call me Dad.

  CHLOE

  (to MATHEW) No—

  MATHEW

  Yes. And… I have to tell you this. I have a gun upstairs. It was my dad's. If you run away… if you run away, I won't kill you. I don't want to hurt you. Ever. Cross my heart and hope to die. But I will find your dad. Because he has to be punished one way or another. Don't cry. That's only if you run away.

  I left a schedule in your desk. It's all the times this week that I'll be downstairs, upstairs, and out of the house. I'll give you a new one every week. Okay?

  Beat.

  I'll leave you alone now.

  CHLOE

  (to MATHEW) NO! Don't leave me here! Please! I can't breathe! PLEASE! You can't leave me here! Please just let me come upstairs just for a second. I can't breathe!

  MATHEW

  I have to go now.

  CHLOE

  (to MATHEW) No. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, I can't stay here, I can't stay here. Please. Please. Please.

  MATHEW

  (overlapping with her) Calm down. Ssshhhhh. Calm down.

  CHLOE

  (to MATHEW) Please—

  MATHEW

  Breathe in and out. Okay? In and out. Count with me.

  She keeps panicking.

  Five… four… three… two… one… Now you do it.

  CHLOE

  (to MATHEW) No—

  MATHEW

  You have to or you'll panic. Panicking is the worst thing you can do.

  CHLOE

  (to MATHEW) I want my dad. I want my dad. I want my dad. I want my dad! I want my dad! I want my dad! I WANT MY DAD! I WANT MY DAD! I WANT MY DAD! I WANT MY DAD! I WANT MY DAD!

  Shift. Lights down on CHLOE's room in MATHEW's house.

  (to GREG) Did you get all that? Could you see the room? See it like you were there?

  GREG

  Definitely. Now, how long was it before someone finally came in?

  CHLOE

  I have to go now.

  GREG

  We need to go over what happened when someone came down to the room. If you leave now we'll have to meet again this week.

  CHLOE

  I can't.

  GREG

  But you haven't talked about the person. What they said. What they did.

  CHLOE

  I talked about the beginning. How strong I was. How I didn't panic.

  GREG

  You talked about your room.

  CHLOE

  My dungeon. Where I spent hours and hours and hours locked up, hidden from the world. Isn't that enough?

  GREG

  It is… but… a whole article is—

  CHLOE

  I know you can do it. It's like a book. But you get the… instant gratification of the newspaper. People will love your writing. Trust me.

  SCENE FIFTEEN

  Shift. To the audience.

  GREG

  It takes me five days to write it.

  MATHEW

  Five months to build it.

  GREG

  I agonize over every line.

  MATHEW

  Every piece of furniture.

  GREG

  It's painstaking.

  MATHEW

  Perfect.

  CHLOE

  Brilliant.

  GREG

  Bullshit. I mean not totally but—

  CHLOE

  It'
s all about my room.

  MATHEW

  Her room.

  GREG

  This room. I'm supposed to make it interesting enough—

  MATHEW

  —beautiful enough—

  GREG

  —that people will follow me.

  MATHEW

  —that she will love it. I think of everything. The locks, the lights on a timer, bars on the window, the outer door.

  CHLOE

  The colour of every piece of furniture, the feeling of the walls.

  GREG

  The number of books, the smell, how cold it is.

  CHLOE

  How the breeze from the fan feels against my arms—things I didn't even tell him. He just creates it himself.

  MATHEW

  It's much better than I had.

  CHLOE

  He writes it just like I said.

  GREG

  Like a book. And the people respond to that.

  CHLOE

  Because they can really see it. Like they're really there.

  GREG

  Of course that leads them to more questions.

  (imitating public) "Who was it? Do I know them? Why did they put so much care into the room? Was she the first? Will she be the last? Wasn't she terrified?"

  They want more. My editors expect more.

  MATHEW

  She's talking more now.

  CHLOE

  I want to go out more.

  GREG

  I can't rush her.

  CHLOE

  I take the bus this morning.

  GREG

  But I can't let her lie to me either.

  CHLOE

  I tell my dad Greg's picking me up. He believes me.

  MATHEW

  I love when she talks to me… but sometimes she asks me too many questions. Where do you work? What did you want to be when you grew up? Do you have brothers and sisters? What do you do for fun? Sometimes I think she's planning something… Tricking me…

  CHLOE

  Everyone on the bus stares at me.

  MATHEW

  Sometimes she just stares at me. Like I'm doing everything wrong.

  CHLOE

  When I look at them, they look away.

  GREG

  I just need to communicate on her level. Figure out what she needs. Make her feel comfortable enough to open up.

  MATHEW

  I need to remember—

  GREG

  —two things:

  MATHEW

  She's just a kid.

  GREG

  A scared kid. But still—

  MATHEW

  I'm the one in control.

  GREG

  I have a job to do. I repeat it—

  MATHEW

  —over and over as I make her meals. Wash her clothes. Check her assignments. Go downstairs exactly when the schedule says.

  CHLOE

  I sit in the back of the bus and two girls come up to me: "Sorry about what happened to you. Can we have your autograph?" They're holding pens and a magazine up to my face. My face is on the magazine. Then this woman. Sitting beside me. She reaches over and grabs my hand. Doesn't say anything. Just looks straight ahead. And when she's getting off the bus, she says: "Thank you." Like I did something for her.

  SCENE SIXTEEN

  Shift. GREG's condo.

  GREG

  How are you? How was your weekend?

  CHLOE

  Boring. Yours? Did you go out lots?

  GREG

  Uh… enough. Can I get you something to—

  CHLOE

  Not till two. I have more time today. Like four hours.

  GREG

  Excellent. We can definitely use more time—

  CHLOE

  So when we're done the interview at two, we can just talk. Like people. Having a conversation.

  GREG

  …Sure. Yeah. Definitely. Whatever you want.

  CHLOE

  Whatever I want? Good. 'Cause I want to talk about my routines. My schedule, my lessons, my books, my exercises, the classes I made up—

  GREG

  Absolutely. Can't wait to hear all about them. But be prepared, we're also going to have to talk about the person that—

  CHLOE

  I think this one should just be about me again. How I taught myself. Last time you only wrote about me and they liked your article. On my way here, there was this woman on the bus—

  GREG

  The bus? Chloe—

  CHLOE

  She was reading your article and then she hugged me and she wouldn't stop and she was like, "It's so real. It's like I'm there." And she was like bawling her eyes out. Arms around me. That's what your article did.

  GREG

  Your situation.

  CHLOE

  Uh-uh. Your writing.

  GREG

  Well, I'm glad it made an impact. But that doesn't change things. We're still going to talk about who. Now, I have a new plan for today. Since you demonstrated that you like to ask questions, I'm going to let you ask me five questions. So that you can get to know me. Feel more comfortable. Then it's my turn. The whole time. Sound good?

  CHLOE

  You have to answer my questions no matter what?

  GREG

  Absolutely.

  CHLOE

  Number one. Do you have a girlfriend?

  GREG

  No.

  CHLOE

  I want to ask why, but I don't want to waste a question.

  GREG

  I'm too busy. That's a bonus.

  CHLOE

  Do you have a best friend?

  GREG

  …Sure. Myself. Happens when you're older.

  CHLOE

  Happens when you're younger too. Do you think you're a good writer?

  GREG

  Uh… I don't know—

  CHLOE

  I think you are. I think you're the best. I think you're—

  GREG

  Thank you. Two more.

  Beat.

  CHLOE

  Are you close to your family? Wait. No. Don't answer that. What does your family think about the articles?

  GREG

  Haven't really talked to them much about it.

  CHLOE

  Really? It's a pretty big deal. I thought they'd be proud of you.

  GREG

  I'm sure they are… in their own way.

  Beat. She stares at him.

  What?

  CHLOE

  What was it like raising yourself?

  GREG

  What do you mean?

  CHLOE

  Your parents were divorced. You mentioned that a few times in your columns. You lived with your dad and his new wife up north. I remember in one column you said that they worked all the time. You made it seem like they were too busy for you. That you were alone a lot growing up. So I thought that meant you had to raise yourself. What was that like?

  GREG

  …I don't really think about it.

  CHLOE

  Must've been tough. You must've had to work really hard. No one helped you, did they?

  GREG

  Not really.

  CHLOE

  No one helped me either. I had to raise myself too. We're the same. Don't you sometimes wish that people knew how hard you worked? They had it easy and you had to earn it. Don't you want to tell them what you went through to get here?

  GREG

  …Sometimes. Maybe.

  CHLOE

  Come on. Don't you think you deserve to just screa
m it so that everyone can hear?

  GREG

  I don't know—

  CHLOE

  Admit it. Admit you deserve it.

  GREG

  Fine. Maybe I do deserve it.

  CHLOE

  Don't you think I deserve it too?

  If we talk about that person, that's all they'll care about. It'll take away from what I did. How I survived. How I taught myself everything. How I raised myself. Just like you. We both had to earn it and no one should take that away from us. Right?

  GREG

  Of course, but—

  CHLOE

  I know you understand.

  GREG

  I do, but—

  The sound of deadbolts.

  CHLOE

  So…

  MATHEW enters.

  Shouldn't the article be just about me, then? No one else.

  Beat. Beat.

  GREG

  Next time you—

  CHLOE

  Next time.

  A door slams.

  Every day started the same. Seven a.m. I trained my mind to wake me up without an alarm. First—

  SCENE SEVENTEEN

  Shift. CHLOE's room in MATHEW's house.

  CHLOE

  Reading.

  GREG/MAT

  What did you read?

  CHLOE

  The Outsiders. From nine to eleven. Then I did my exercises.

  GREG/MAT

  What did you do?

  CHLOE

  Jumping jacks. Push-ups. Touch my toes. Running on the spot for fifteen minutes.

  MATHEW

  Perfect. Afternoon?

  CHLOE

  I wrote a story. It was about—

  MATHEW

  You keep playing with your hands, what's wrong?

  CHLOE

  Nothing.

  MATHEW

  And you're pulling on your hair. Tell me.

  CHLOE

  You were late today. You told me you'd always follow the schedule.

  MATHEW

  It was eleven minutes.

  CHLOE

  I know, but I got scared.

  MATHEW

  Did you count?

  CHLOE

  I tried but it didn't work. And I couldn't breathe

  She starts breathing harder.

  I didn't know where you were. I thought you weren't coming back. I was gonna be trapped down here forever. No one would find me.

  Breathing harder.

  I didn't know what to do and… I thought I was gonna—

  MATHEW

  It's okay… just breathe.

  CHLOE

  I can't— I can't— I'm sorry—

  MATHEW

  Close your eyes. Breathe. Here's a trick I learned when I was your age. Imagine all the houses in the neighbourhood. Okay? My neighbours and their neighbours. Can you see it?