Starring:
Mo McKynzie as Marisol Montgomery
Yodeet Nymberg as Nina
Cody Smith as Aaron
Jacquir LaFond as Oliver
Akanimo Effang as The Host
Director & Sound Designer: Nathan Gabriel
Writer, Creator, & Producer: Jade Madison Scott
Script Supervisor: Virginia Wilson
Theme Composer: Sterlyn Termine
Show Art: Julia Patrick
Introduction
HOST
WGC Productions presents Small Victories.
MARISOL
(Running and deeply out of breath)
Hey, it’s Marisol. So, this time we got sexually suggestive situations and strong language. Try saying that three times fast. Also, we got drug use and mentions of self-harm, but that didn’t go with the alliteration I was going for. Anyways, just heads up ’cause, uh, ’cause I care, I guess. You’re welcome. Alright, let’s go.
EXT. City Streets- Dead of Night
The crickets chirp. The street is deserted. Marisol is running down the street.
MARISOL
(Internal)
As someone who once stole a hundred and seventy-two dollars from their father to buy heroin they would later smoke behind a raggedy laundromat on Florida Ave, I can honestly say I’ve done a lot of shit in my life I’m not proud of. I mean, come on, of course, I have. It’s kind of assumed that if your favorite hobby is getting so crossfaded you forget months of your life, you’re not gonna do all the right things all the time, which is why I thought when I quit doing….everything, I’d, I don’t know, not be such a piece of shit? Someone you could count on. Someone who doesn’t need to be high to clean their apartment. Someone who doesn’t need to be full of speed to say ‘I love you’ for the first time. Someone you could leave your kids with or ask to do your taxes or whatever dumb shit normal people do. I didn’t know it’d be this….I didn’t know I’d still be like this, but what was I supposed to do? Two grams of coke is a lot of fucking coke when you’re Black, and it’s not like I was getting rid of it. I’m in debt over this shit, I had to leave. I had to leave and Nina, she’s too big to fit through that window anyway, and if she tried she’d be all cut up and bleeding like I am now. And if the cops came in and found some bloody Black girl, ass up, trying to get out a window they’d beat the shit out of her. And her mom is an assistant attorney general so, like, that’s a get-out-of-jail-free card right there. Unless her mom isn’t talking to her again. That’d be...that’d be a big problem. Shit, I gotta talk to her.
(Transition Music)
INT. Nina's Apartment Door
Marisol knocks on Nina's door three times.
MARISOL
(Internal)
Look, I did the right thing. When you look at the facts I did the right thing. Yeah. Yeah, I did the right thing. You know when I was a kid my mom once told me that if you have to justify what you’re doing, you’ve probably done the wrong thing. I don’t think it’s good that I’m thinking about that right now. Maybe she’s not back from the station yet. This would be easier to do if I actually did coke before I got out that window. I ended up hiding it in my shoe. It seemed smart at the time. Maybe when I get inside I can do some. Get some courage and go in the bathroom and….and maybe I shouldn’t. Maybe I just need to come back tomorrow and—
(Nina opens the door.)
NINA
Hey.
MARISOL
Nina, I...hi.
NINA
Your arms are bleeding.
MARISOL
It feels worse than it looks. Or, I mean, it looks worse than—
NINA
I know what you mean.
MARISOL
Are you drunk?
NINA
Yup. Merlot.
MARISOL
Um, can I come in?
NINA
You still live here, you know.
(Pause)
NINA (CONT'D)
Yeah. yeah, come in.
(Marisol enters and Nina shuts the door.)
Int. Nina's Living Room
NINA
You—
MARISOL
Are you okay? I mean, are you...did they...are you okay? I mean, I hoped that your mom would be able to handle everything. She did, right?
NINA
I’m good. Yeah.
MARISOL
Good. That’s good.
NINA
Are your arms okay?
MARISOL
I don’t think I got glass in ’em. I’m gonna have some dope scars though.
NINA
Here, let me get my first aid kit. Don’t worry, I’ll move slow.
(Nina goes to the kitchen to grab the first aid kit from the drawer.)
MARISOL
Um….Nina? Are—
NINA
Get on the couch.
MARISOL
Uh…
(Nina walks to the couch herself.)
NINA
(While getting the first aid kit)
So, I can clean you up and wrap your arms.
MARISOL
Oh, okay.
(Marisol walks to the couch and sits down.)
NINA
Arms out.
MARISOL
Okay, but, I was gonna ask, are—
NINA
Stay still.
MARISOL
Sorry.
(Pause)
MARISOL (CONT'D)
Hey. Hey, look at me.
NINA
What?
MARISOL
Thank you. Really, thank you.
(Pause)
MARISOL (CONT'D)
You know, I...I—
NINA
You wanna stay the night?
MARISOL
What?
NINA
Well, do you? Come on, sit down.
(Marisol sits)
NINA (CONT'D)
Brace yourself, this is gonna sting.
(Marisol winces)
NINA (CONT'D)
Told you.
MARISOL
Nina—
NINA
Stop moving.
MARISOL
Nina, I want you to know that….I’m sorry. For all the shit that I’ve been doing. I love—
NINA
Uh, what are you doing?
MARISOL
I’m going in for a kiss. I thought maybe—
NINA
Are you serious?
MARISOL
I thought with the staying over it meant—
NINA
God, no, I don’t want to have sex with you. Are you kidding me right now?
MARISOL
Oh. Okay, wow.
NINA
I mean, Marisol, I thought you killed yourself. It was so close to Sam’s anniversary, and I thought...Do you know how that felt? How worried I was? I couldn’t sleep. I couldn’t make myself do anything. Christ, do you even know how it felt? Of course not! Cause you wouldn’t talk to me. And then tonight. The cops are apparently a big enough risk for you, but you left me—
MARISOL
I’m sorry.
NINA
Jesus Christ, it’s not that simple.
MARISOL
Are you breaking up with me?
NINA
NO!
(Nina pauses and breathes)
NINA (CONT'D)
No. I didn’t mean to shout. I know how sensitive you are about that.
MARISOL
Thanks.
NINA
Marisol, I really like caring about you, and I like knowing you care about me and I don’t want to lose that, but I’m also furious with you and I don’t know how to like you right now? Does that make any sense?
(Beat)
MARISOL
You—
(There’s a ferocious knocking on the door.)
MARISOL (CONT'D)
Jesus Christ, what the fuck is with people and doors today?
(Marisol walks to the door and opens it.)
MARISOL (CONT'D)
What—
(Oliver rushes in.)
OLIVER
Oh, thank God.
NINA
Oliver, what’s with the knocking? I have neighbors.
OLIVER
Well, I called both of you, but no one picked up.
MARISOL/NINA
Sorry, it’s been—
(Nina sighs)
MARISOL
It’s been a long night.
OLIVER
Yeah, I’ll say. Tiny, I...I don’t even know where to begin. We fight and you disappear—
NINA
At least I’m not the only one.
MARISOL
Hey—
(Text notification ding)
AARON
I know you broke my fucking window!
OLIVER
What happened last night? What happened to your arms? What’s with all the band-aids? Are you okay? Did you...did you try to—
MARISOL
No. No, I’m fine.
OLIVER
Then what happened?
MARISOL
Okay, this is gonna sound bad, but it’s not as bad as it sounds—
OLIVER
Tiny—
MARISOL
So, I went to Aaron’s party, right—
(Text notification ding)
AARON
It’s double pane glass!
OLIVER
Marisol—
MARISOL
And ran into Nina.
NINA
Hi.
MARISOL
And then the cops came—
(Text notification ding)
AARON
It’s going on your fucking tab, Momma.
MARISOL
And the cops came and I flung myself out a window to, uh, to avoid them.
OLIVER
And you just let her do this?
(Text notification ding)
AARON
That’s 350 for the window.
NINA
She’s grown. She doesn't need me to make her bad decisions for her.
(Text notification ding)
AARON
300 for the coke.
MARISOL
Hey—
OLIVER
And Aaron….I thought you were doing okay?
MARISOL
I am.
(Text notification ding)
AARON
I want all 650 in three days. All of it.
MARISOL
Oh, fuck me with a bamboo skewer.
OLIVER
What?
MARISOL
Nothing.
NINA
Can you stop looking at your phone for one minute?
MARISOL
Sorry, I—
(Text notification ding)
AARON
You’re on some primo junkie shit, right now—
OLIVER
Marisol!
MARISOL
WHAT!
OLIVER
I asked if you were okay. I mean, you’re a recovering addict, you go to your plug’s party, you’re acting real weird. Are you okay?
MARISOL
Am I okay? I don’t—
NINA
Recovering addict? What are you talking about?
MARISOL
Right. You don’t...okay, so—
OLIVER
Wait, she didn’t know? You never told her? I thought you told her.
MARISOL
It hasn't come up yet.
NINA
“Yet”? How long has this been going on?
(Pause)
NINA (CONT'D)
Marisol?
MARISOL
Twenty days. Well, twenty-one counting today.
NINA
Twenty-one days. Huh.
OLIVER
Um, I feel like the energy shifted—
NINA
So, this is the big thing that made you leave me, then?
MARISOL
Nina, that’s not even—
NINA
You want to make all these big life changes and it’s just like, “fuck me” right? Want to improve your life as long as it doesn’t include me, right?
MARISOL
That’s not what any of this is about—
NINA
She bought coke.
OLIVER/MARISOL
What?/Come on.
NINA
Last night, she bought coke. I saw it.
OLIVER
Tiny, did you?
MARISOL
Yes, I bought it, but—
NINA
See.
MARISOL
But I didn’t do any of it. Look—
(Marisol takes off her shoe and pulls out the bag.)
MARISOL
See? Two grams all right here.
NINA
That’s been in your shoe the whole time?
MARISOL
Yeah. It’s the only place I could think of putting it after I ran from the cops, and I didn’t do any of it though.
NINA
Give it.
MARISOL
What? No.
NINA
If this is a deal now, if this is some big fucking deal now then give it—
MARISOL
Don’t touch it.
OLIVER
Maybe we just need a breath.
NINA
No, if she wants to be sober, then she can’t be around anything right—
MARISOL
I’m not gonna do it.
NINA
Then you don’t need it.
MARISOL
I said, get off. Nina, get—
OLIVER
Nina, stop.
NINA
Are you crazy?
OLIVER
I don’t think playing keep-away is the best course of action here. Come on, just let it go.
NINA
How long did you know, huh? Why’d you tell him before me?
OLIVER
She—
MARISOL
Don’t talk around me. I’m right here.
NINA
How long did he know?
MARISOL
Since the first night.
NINA
Why couldn’t you tell me?
OLIVER
You know what? We should—
NINA
Oliver, this isn’t a throuple so stop. You know what, actually? Get out. This is between me and her. Get out.
OLIVER
Nina—
NINA
I said get out.
OLIVER
Fine.
(Oliver leaves.)
MARISOL
You didn’t have to do that.
NINA
Don’t start. Don’t start with me.
MARISOL
I….I didn’t want you to be disappointed in me. If it didn’t work out I didn’t want you to….that’s why I didn’t tell you.
NINA
Do you get that I love you, Marisol? Do you get that?
MARISOL
Of course I—
NINA
No. No, do you get that so much of my happiness, so much of my ability to go to sleep at night, depends on if you’re okay? Depends on if you’re happy. Do you really think that I would care if—
MARISOL
You said you didn’t even know how to like me. So forgive me if I’m a little confused.
NINA
I’m sorry about that. Of course, I like you. I’ve never liked anybody as much as I’ve liked you. I just want you to talk to me. I want you to want to talk to me.
MARISOL
Okay. Okay. Um, in the bathroom, at the party in the bathroom you said you wanted to know what was wrong. What happened to me. You really want to know?
NINA
Yeah.
MARISOL
Okay, well, I, um, you...do you remember the night I left?
NINA
Of course.
MARISOL
Right, well...that night, it was a couple nights after Sam’s anniversary and I just wasn’t….I couldn’t….anyway, I got really fucked up. Like way beyond what...anyway I, like, I started feeling really bad and….and you were at the bar and I just felt like I was gonna pass out so I, I tried to get to the bathroom to splash water on my face. I did. I made it to the bathroom, and….long story short, I started throwing up, my body was so hot but it still felt like I was freezing. I was shaking and clammy….I started throwing up but I was so….I don’t know how but I ended up on the floor in a stall and I was on my back and the vomit it, I was on my back, it couldn’t get out and I started sucking it back down….I think I was dying. I was just lying on the floor choking and I…..um, actually, I can’t, I can’t talk about this.
(Marisol sniffs. She’s holding back tears. She laughs.)
MARISOL (CONT'D)
God, I’m crying. That’s disgusting. Sorry. Let me just—
(She composes herself.)
MARISOL (CONT'D)
Sorry.
(Beat)
NINA
Okay, well, I wanna help.
MARISOL
I don’t need you to—
NINA
No, look, I want to help. Listen, if you give me the coke I can get rid of it and—
MARISOL
I owe money for this. I’m not giving it away.
NINA
How much? I can—
MARISOL
No. I got it, okay. I do.
NINA
Okay, well, then I got you.
Non-Corporeal Space
MARISOL
Hey. It’s Marisol. I don’t know who listens to voicemails anymore but if you wanna leave one go ahead.
(The voicemail beeps)
AARON
You not answering my texts is real shitty. I know you’re the one who broke my window! Shit, Marisol. It was 350 and it’s going on your tab. I want all my money, all of it, in 3 days or else.
(Small Victories Theme Fades In.)
Closing
HOST
You have just listened to Small Victories. Starring Morgen McKynzie as Marisol
MORGEN
Someone who doesn't need to be full of speed to say I love you for the first time!
HOST
Yodeet Nymberg as Nina
YODEET
I don't wanna have sex with you.
HOST
Jacquir LaFond as Oliver
JACQUIR
I feel like the energy shifted.
HOST
Cody Smith as Aaron
AARON
You're on some preemo junkie shit now.
HOST
Composer, Sterlyn Termine. Script Supervisor, Virginia Wilson. Director and Sound Designer, Nathan Gabriel. Writer, Creator and Producer, Jade Madison Scott. And Akanimo Effang as The Host. Small Victories is supported by listeners like you. You can support us by subscribing to our Patreon and purchasing our merchandise from our store. Links to both can be found at www.wgcproductions.com. Please follow us @withgoodco on Instagram and Twitter to stay up-to-date.