Owen Sheers - The Two Worlds of Charlie F

AliHe’s like the dormouse, the fucking dormouse from Alice in Wonderland ! Calling Sobey! Are you receiving us?

Charlie pulls out a rectangular piece of metal from his package.

CharlieSweet! Take a look at that, motherfuckers.

He turns the object around to reveal a personalised numberplate. N0 LEG 14.

The group nod in approval.

RogerHerrick 14?

CharlieYeah.

RichardWhat you got coming?

CharlieBMW 3 series. Black. If I’d lost a nut or the other leg I’d have gone for a Merc, but you know, needs must.

AliI swear, it’s getting like a footballer’s driveway round here. What is it with you lot and the cars?

LeroyMotobility, isn’t it? You go for having that off and you’ll qualify too.

AliDon’t joke, mate. I’ve been thinking about it. I mean, it’s still killing me and I’m still in this wheelchair when other blokes who’ve lost their leg are up and about already, aren’t they? Climbing fucking Everest. I mean, what?

LeroyJust watch out for the small talk, that’s all I’d say.

AliWhat?

LeroyI’m not kidding. It’s the worst thing about it. You wheel into a room and you can fucking bet some old regimental duffer will clock you and think, ‘Oh, young bloke, no legs, I’ll go and talk to him.’ It’s like, I just want a drink, or some food but I can’t because I’m too busy passing the fucking time of day with Colonel Blimp about having no fucking legs.

Three Nurses enter carrying trays of medication.

RogerEh up! Make room for the cavalry.

The Nurses begin going about the room, handing out the medication.

Ali and Roger( singing )

And when they were up they were up

And when they were down they were down

And when they were only halfway up –

Darren is woken by the singing.

Darren

They were neither up nor down.

AliWa-hey, the Kraken awakes! Welcome back, Sobey, my son! Just in time for round two.

The Nurses reach the group. As they hand them their medication they begin singing ‘The Meds Round’.

All( sung )

Codeine, Tramadol, Fentanyl, Oramorph, Paracetamol, MST, Amitriptyline, Diazepam, Mirtazapine, Citalopram, Ranitidine, Omeprazole, Lactulose, Butran, Ibuprofen, Venlafaxine. Co-codamol.

The lights fade down on the repeating song.

SCENE SIX — SOMEONE TO HOLD

Lights up on a Psychologist talking to Charlie, who sits in a wheelchair without his prosthetic leg. As they talk the silhouette of a Vallon man sweeping for IEDs is seen upstage.

Psychologist… Severe allergic reactions: rash; hives; itching; difficulty breathing; tightness in the chest; swelling of the mouth, face, lips, throat, or tongue; unusual hoarseness; chest pain; confusion; difficult or painful urination; disorientation; excessive sweating; fainting; fast or irregular heartbeat; fever; hallucinations; loss of coordination; mental or mood changes, agitation, depression, red, swollen, blistered, or peeling skin, and … seizures.

CharlieSevere nausea? Vomiting; diarrhoea; headaches; suicidal thoughts — cos I need more of those, right? — Loss of appetite; tiredness; weakness; pale shit and dark piss.

Beat.

And I mean, that’s just the Tramadol. Wait till you hear about the Venlafaxine –

PsychologistIt’s OK, Charlie. I see your point. The meds aren’t helping?

CharlieNo. The drugs, as the song says, don’t fucking work. I mean, yeah, they work , but at the same time they mess everything up.

PsychologistLike?

CharlieSleep. Attention. Anger. Sex.

PsychologistHow are things with Lauren?

Beat.

CharlieI don’t know. Answer me this, Doc? How can you be angry at someone for loving you too much? She’ll try and help me, or cuddle me — oh, yeah, cuddling, that’s the worst — and I’ll be like, ‘Get the fuck off me!’

PsychologistYou’ve lost interest in sex?

CharlieNo. Yes. I mean … you get back and you think what you want is a slut. It is. You think you’ll want to do all that stuff you’ve been dreaming about doing for six fucking months in the desert. But when you do get back, you don’t. You don’t. The juices aren’t flowing. Not the actual juices, no problem there — but you know, the metaphorical ones. You want something else instead.

PsychologistAnd what’s that? What do you want?

CharlieExactly what she’s offering. That closeness, the contact. But when she does. There’s this fucking distance and I just want to be alone. On my own.

Dave enters and approaches the Psychologist.

DaveShe doesn’t understand. She thinks I’m a lazy bastard. I know she does. She gives me these fucking chores, these lists. And then the meds knock me out. Or I haven’t slept for days because of the flashbacks. And what the kids say. That’s the worst. ‘Daddy, are you drunk?’ ‘Why is Daddy sleeping all the time?’

PsychologistHave you tried explaining things to them?

DaveLike what? How every time I see them I think of those kids in Afghan? No. I’ve put my bed in the back room now. So they don’t have to see me like this.

PsychologistAnd your wife? How’s she coping?

DaveDon’t get me wrong. I know how hard it’s been for her. They’ve all had to get on without me. And that’s part of the problem — they’ve got their own routines now. Without me. They live without me.

Beat.

Do you know what she said the other day? ‘Dai didn’t come back.’ That’s what she said. ‘The Dai that went away hasn’t come back.’ And in a way she’s right. She is.

Frank enters and approaches the Psychologist.

FrankI’ll just go out on the piss all day. Don’t give a fuck, then I’ll get wound up by something small and I’ll just want to smash something up. Or someone.

PsychologistOnly when you drink?

FrankWell, the drink makes it worse. The anger’s there all the time. And these images. Like, I don’t fucking know. When an IED blew my mate’s hands off. The look in his eyes. That kind of thing.

PsychologistYou’re on probation now, right?

FrankYeah. But they said if I come and talk to you, it’ll keep me out of prison.

PsychologistDoes that worry Michelle? You going away again? Doing time?

FrankYeah, yeah, it does.

Beat.

I don’t know. When she’s talking to me. When I can’t be near her. I just want to go back there, get vengeance on the fuckers who done this to me. It’s like … it’s like there’s hatred running through my whole body. But I do love her. I do.

DaveShe’s right. She is.

CharlieShe’s pretty amazing, doc. I mean, I know she’s my solution. But I’m fucking it up. And it’s like I can’t stop.

As he continues the three women, Lauren, Marie and Michelle (carrying a child) enter and come to stand beside the three men.

It’s like I really, really want to square this one away but I can’t. It’s a whole second tour, Doc. It is. The one no one tells you about. And I don’t know if I can do it. I mean, I’ll storm a fucking compound tomorrow. Even with one fucking leg. But this tour. I’m outnumbered. You take meds for the pain, then meds for the meds. Then every time you close your eyes …