Educational National Institute of Drug Abuse "The Weight" WRITING SAMPLE This show was fashioned to be a character- driven television drama, where we see how a family changes when one of its members contracts AIDS. Below are the first few pages of this 30 minute piece: If you'd like a copy of the complete script, let us know via our Contact page. INT APARTMENT KITCHEN - MORNING SHEREL, a black woman in her early 30's, dressed in bathrobe, is cooking at stove. She is six months pregnant. Her husband, JOHN, fully dressed in jeans and shirt, playfully peeks his head around the corner of the door, then enters room. JOHN Good mornin'. SHEREL Oh, good mornin' honey. I was just startin' breakfast. What are you in the mood for? JOHN I'm in the mood for somethin' hot, somethin' black, and somethin' sweet! SHEREL John, it's first thing in the mornin' and I don't have time for... JOHN (Interrupting) Yes, I am in the mood for some coffee. SHEREL (Laughs) You got me with that one. How'd you sleep? JOHN moves close to her and wraps his hands around her stomach. JOHN Tossing and turning like a baby. Just like John, Jr. here. SHEREL John, I keep tellin' you - that's Melissa you're holding there. JOHN And I keep tellin' you - this one feels like a boy. SHEREL That's what you said last time when... oh, and here she is now - the star of today's school play... PAULA, their 7 year old daughter enters room. She is dressed in a pumpkin costume. JOHN Well good mornin' sweetheart. PAULA Hi Daddy. Look at my costume! JOHN (Joking around with her) Oh, it's a great big orange! PAULA No, silly, it's a pumpkin. Daddy, are you still coming to see me in my play? JOHN I'll be right there tellin' everyone: "Look, there's my Paula Pumpkin". SHEREL Paula, you go back to your room and put on your clothes. You can wear your costume when it's time for the play. PAULA Oh, okay. (leaves room) SHEREL So why don't I meet you by the front entrance at ten. JOHN Yeah, that'll be fine. How you gonna take care of your job? SHEREL Oh, Rebecca said she'll cover for me. The department store don't mind as long as the cash register's covered. What about you? JOHN Mr. Peterson said I could take the mornin' off when I told him I had to go see the doctor and then see my baby in her first school play. SHEREL Doctor? What do you need to see the doctor for?. JOHN Ah, it's probably no big deal. But you know that cold I got about a month ago? Well, it feels like it's never really gone away, you know? I still feel all bumpy and achy. So I thought I'd see Doc Morgan and have him give me something to make me feel alright again. SHEREL He's a good man, that doctor of ours. I don't know where our family would be today without him. JOHN I know baby. I'd probably still be shooting dope if it weren't for you and him. SHEREL (Coming over to him, taking his hand) John, it's been 3 years now. JOHN Sherel, time don't matter to a man who used to use junk. I cleaned up 5 years ago, remember? Then a year later, I fell back in the hole. And I stayed there for six months until you and the Doc finally got me to go to that treatment program. SHEREL John, it was different then. You got a good job now - Plumber's Assistant. Another year and Mr. Peterson will have you out on your own. JOHN Oh, I know baby, and I'm grateful for the way my life is now. And I am so grateful to you for being there for me all these long years. SHEREL Well we have us a good life now, so you just tell the doctor to give you something to make you feel better. (Brightening) Besides, you know what I think is wrong with you? I think you're going through sympathy pains. JOHN Say what? SHEREL You know: where you're feelin' what I'm feelin'. In fact, my mamma told me that in certain parts of Africa, they build these special huts that are set aside for men whose wives are pregnant, and the men lay in these huts and go through real labor pains. JOHN (Laughingly) OK, I got it - you're the one that's pregnant but I'm the one that feels run down - like it was me that's carryin' little John Jr. there. SHEREL That's right, only you mean little Melissa. JOHN You wait. You'll see. Little John Jr. And he's gonna look just like his daddy. INT - DOCTORS OFFICE. DOCTOR is seated behind his desk. JOHN knocks on the open door and sticks his head in. DOCTOR Good morning, John. Come on in. How have you been? JOHN Oh, okay, I guess. I just have this cold that don't seem to want to go away. So I thought I'd stop by to see if maybe you could just give me something... DOCTOR Like a prescription? JOHN Sure, whatever. DOCTOR Uh, huh. You know I remember having a conversation like this with you a few years back. Only then you said it was a bad back and all you wanted was some pain killers. Just give you a prescription for some pain killers, that's all you needed. JOHN (Ironic laugh) Yeah... Yeah, I remember those days. You know, if you'd given me that prescription, I could have sold it on the streets for a good price or traded it out for maybe a couple of bags. Yeah, you caught on pretty quick, I'll give you that. DOCTOR Maybe it's 'cause we've gotton to know each other over the years. Back to Writing Samples page