The Pier, part 1

The Pier

A Film for Faces and Voices.

1.  EXT.  PIER ENTRANCE.  DAY. 

The entrance of a pier.  The words ‘Grand Pier’ are on top.  The image is held for a few seconds.  Jolly organ music begins to fade in.  The camera starts walking towards the entrance and walks up a slope, that has food stalls and a few amusements, which leads up to the promenade.  The camera walks along the promenade and towards the main building.  On the promenade there are people walking, sitting on benches, seagulls, a land train, people eating.  Semi- transparent images of objections fade in and out on part of the screen, the objects include a candy floss machine and coins falling out a bag, a hand holding a plastic puck, a ring among pennies, a spinning roulette table, a slot machine handle being pushed down by a hand, a yellow token in hand, a letter being put in a back pocket, a wheel of a wheelchair,  a hand crushing a paper cup, a camera taking photos, an 8-ball passing hands, buttons on an arcade machine being pressed, the metal hand of a crane, a crumpled photograph.  Each object is displaced one by one.  The camera reaches the main building and it goes to the main doors and enters into it.  There is a slow flash of white light.  There are several shots overlooking the inside of the main building at different perspectives.  Alongside the organ music the sound of rides and games are now present and the sound of people’s laughter raises up starting with only a few voices, then more and more voices.  The sound of laughter gets louder and louder and reaches to a happy climax.  Cut to black and silence.

2.  EXT.  OUTSIDE MAIN BULIDING.  DAY.           

Cut to the face of an elderly man, FIRST VOICE, who is over sixty and laughing.  The old man is sitting on a bench next to a teenage girl, SECOND VOICE.    

FIRST VOICE:  To begin at the beginning.  The pier.  A very good place for beginnings.  Let me start by telling you that I have told stories, thousands of stories, countless, but I have never started one in this way before.  I have never shared this opportunity with anyone.  Every story I have started I have always started alone.  It is traditionally a job for one person and for only one.  One for each story.  That is how it is.  Two people together cannot tell the same story together because each one has his own version, their own slight variation of particular details and therefore they are not telling the same story but telling two different stories.  Also, the audience will find it difficult to understand and follow two people who are interrupting each other and prompting each other.  It is much easier for the audience to concentrate their energies onto a singular story teller.  That is how it is.  For you, however, it is different.  You are an exception.  You are an exception because you will be under my guidance and you shall not confuse the people who are listening and following my voice.  You are the only exception I will ever allow.  I have only allowed it because you are my granddaughter.  No stranger shall ever be part of this.  I shall guide you and teach you.  You shall become a skilled story teller, like your grandfather.  With my guidance you will become a far greater story teller then I ever could be.  The first of my teaching starts here. 

SECOND VOICE:  but grandfather, why a pier?  What does a pier have to do with stories?  I had expected for your first teaching to be conducted in a classroom, or, better yet, a library.  Surely a library would have been far more sufficient and suited for your teachings?

FIRST VOICE laughs.

FIRST VOICE:  do you not like the pier? 

SECOND VOICE:  it is too cold. 

FIRST VOICE:  you are far too much in love with your library.  I did not send you there because I wanted to pull you out from your normal comfort of books.  Let me tell you something.  Stories do not come from books.  Books are just a form of communication.  Just as sign language is a form of communication.  Just like my voice is a form of communication.  Stories do not come from books.  Stories come from people.  What better place for people than the pier?

SECOND VOICE:  there are no winds in a library.  I do not see how this can ever help me.

FIRST VOICE:  think.  I want you think.  Think about every single person on the entire pier.  Look around you.  There are mothers and children, grandfathers and teenagers, middle aged people and tiny babies.  All sorts of people.  I want you to think.  Why are all these people here?  What drives these different people all into the same building?  What are their reasons?  Understand their reason and a story is close at hand.  With a little observation you could learn more in an afternoon than you can with years of book study.    

SECOND VOICE:  I am not impressed.  This technique you use does not sit very comfortably with me.  However you are an old man and your experience vastly outweighs my own, and you may have an extra insight not taught by books.  Therefore I may not enjoy this experience but I am compelled to at least listen to you.

FIRST VOICE:  maybe I shall begin with some characters.  Then you will have to continue what I have started.  Giving each characters stories of their own. 

SECOND VOICE:  whatever you wish.  

FIRST VOICE looks at the people on the promenade.  There is a man walking towards the main entrance of the pier, PETER, in his late twenties, with a professional camera around his neck. 

SECOND VOICE:  for example that man over there.  What do you make of him?  I know what I think.

Fades into…

3.  BLACK SCREEN.

A one penny copper spins round and round until it slows to a stop.  The sound of the penny echoes.

4. INT.  ENTRANCE OF THE MAIN BUILDING.  DAY.

People enter through the doors of the main building and walk past.  PETER stops in the centre of the screen and looks around in amazement.  He takes some photos.

FIRST VOICE(VO):  a photographer who has never seen sea side amusements.

PETER walks off screen.  A seventeen year old teenager, JACK, walks through the centre of the screen.  He is laughing with a few friends at the same age.

FIRST VOICE(VO):  a sharp faced teenager on an outing with his friends.

JACK walks off screen.  A woman, TRACEY, in her early thirties, walks quickly to the centre of the screen and stops.  She quickly looks around obviously looking for something.

FIRST VOICE(VO):  a desperate woman who is searching for the missing part of her.

TRACEY dashes off screen.  Two business men in smart suites, PETE, in his early forties, and DUNCAN, in his mid forties, walk through the centre of the screen.  They are cheerful.  They are talking and laughing.

FIRST VOICE(VO):  two self confident business men uncovering hidden nostalgia in their lunch break.

 

PETE and DUNCAN walk off screen.  A shabby homeless man, DENNIS, in his late seventies, stops in the centre of the screen and looks objectively around.  He is wearing worn down and dirty clothes and a full white beard.

FIRST VOICE(VO):  a weary elderly man with nothing but the clothes on his back and the fingers God gave him trying to earn something.

DENNIS walks off the screen.  A woman, SUSAN, in her late thirties, pushing a pram stops in the centre of the screen.  She bends over the pram and shakes a little doll to comfort the baby sitting inside. 

FIRST VOICE(VO):  a mother who proudly shows her child the wonders of the lights and noises in the treasure chest of the sea.

SUSAN continues to push the pram and walks off screen.  Two teenagers, PATRICK, who is sixteen, and KATE, who is seventeen, walk into the centre of the screen, standing side by side and look around the main building.   

FIRST VOICE(VO):  a pair of…

PATRICK:  what do you think Kate? 

KATE:  I’m not sure Patrick.

PATRICK:  this had better be ok.  It was too much trouble to get here if it’s not ok.  From the wet and the cold of the train station to the long walk into town.

KATE:  it could be ok.

PATRICK:  it should be brilliant.  It should have everything we want.

KATE:  it looks like an arcade so they should have arcade machines here.

PATRICK:  none of the other arcades do.  We’ve trolled around this town and we found four or five arcades here and none of them have anything worth playing on. 

KATE:  so we came here in our desperation.   

PATRICK:  it’s the only place we’ve got now.  It’s the only thing to support us now. 

KATE:  have you ever been in a pier before?

PATRICK:  vaguely yes.

KATE:  I’ve never been in here before.  I’ve never played on the things they have to offer here.

PATRICK:  why would you? 

KATE:  out of interest.

PATRICK:  the only interest you have now is for arcade machines.

PATRICK and KATE walk off screen.  A man, JOHN, in his late thirties, leads his nine year old son, BEN, hand in hand to the centre of the screen and stop.  JOHN bends down to talk to BEN face to face.

JOHN:  here we are Ben.  This is the pier.  Look at all of these things to do.  This will keep you busy for a while.  What does the birthday boy want to go on first?

BEN:  I want to go home.  I want to be with mum.

JOHN:  Ben, we’ve only just got here.

BEN:  I don’t want to be here.  I want to be at home.

JOHN:  you mean my home?

BEN:  no.  Mum’s home.

JOHN:  you can’t go back home Ben.  You’re with me.  Your birthday landed on a weekend so you’re with me.  This can be fun.  We can have a fun day out.  This is your birthday.  I’ll do anything that will make you happy but you have to stay with me.       

BEN:  I don’t want to.

JOHN:  Ben I’ll promise that this will be a fun day and you’ll have a great time.  Okay?  Ben look at me.  I make a solemn promise that this will be a fun day and you will have a great time.  Alright?  Let’s shake on it.  Come on.

JOHN puts out his hand and reluctantly BEN shakes it.

JOHN:  there we go.  Let’s get something to eat.

Without letting his grip go JOHN leads BEN off screen.  A woman, WENDY, in her late forties, pushes her disabled daughter, KATIE, past the centre of the screen to an area beside the entrance with different colourful machines around.  WENDY pushes KATIE next to one of these machines.  WENDY points out the colours to KATIE.  KATIE giggles and gurgles and slaps the machine gently.   

WENDY:  look Katie, look at the pretty colours.  Look at the lights Katie.  What can you see?  There’s red, and blue.  What’s this one?  It’s green.

KATIE laughs and WENDY smiles.

WENDY:  you like that don’t you?

The sound of falling coins landing on metal and a shrill woman’s laughter is heard.  Katie looks up and sees a woman, PENNY, in her late forties, playing on a slot machine in an area that is separated by a barrier.

PENNY:  yes!

PENNY takes her winnings and puts the coins in a small plastic bag that is already half full with coins.  She places the coins on top of the slot machine.  WENDY pushes KATIE away from the machine.  PENNY puts in another coin in the slot machine.  She eagerly pulls the arm of the slot machine down and the slots spin round.  Both of her eyes are concentrated on the spinning slots.  She whispers a mantra to herself.

PENNY:  come on, come on, come on, come on, come on…

She presses a button.  A BAR slot stops.  She carefully times the next pressing.  She presses the button again.  Another BAR slot stops.  Excitement increases in PENNY’s face.  Her eyes are wide and she bites her lip.

PENNY:  come on, come on, come on, come on, come on…

She presses the button for the final time.  A lemon slot stops.  PENNY lets out a disappointing sigh.  She fishes out another coin from the small plastic bag and pops it into the slot.  A man in his late fifties, DAVIDSON, walks behind PENNY and to the opposite side of the pier.  He wears a dark blue shirt tucked into black trousers, and he also has a walkie talkie clipped onto his belt.  He looks serious and focused.  He walks out some stairs next to the entrance of the main building.  The stairs lead up to an office.  DAVIDSON takes out a large key ring with many keys around it and opens the office door.  He enters the office.  The noise of the pier is left outside, his office is quite.  The office is modest and fairy smart.  There are CCTV televisions, 3X4, on the far wall.  There is a fairly well kept desk with papers on top.  There is a few letters on the edge of the desk.  DAVIDSON picks up the letters and sits down on a black office chair.  He goes through the letters and puts some on the side.  He stops at a letter and stares at it.  His eyes grow wide with excitement.  He throws the other letters on the desk.  He fishes out a envelope opener from the top draw of the desk.  He opens the envelope a little bit.  There is a loud knock on the door.  DAVIDSON stops opening the letter and looks at the door.  There is another knock.  He sighs.  There is another knock.

DAVIDSON:  come in.

There is another knock.

DAVIDSON:  come in!  Come in I said!

The door opens.  DENNIS enters the office.  DAVIDSON stares at him perplexed.  DENNIS stands in front of his desk trying to look as smart as possible.

DAVIDSON:  yes?  Is there something you want?

DENNIS shifts his weight on the balls of his feet.

DENNIS:  I would like a word with you.

DAVIDSON stares at DENNIS.

DAVIDSON:  won’t you take a seat?

DENNIS:  thank you sir.

DENNIS sits down on the seat on the other side of the desk.  DAVIDSON stares at him.  DENNIS pulls the chair forward a bit.  DAVIDSON leans forward onto his elbow. 

DAVIDSON:  comfortable?

DENNIS:  oh yes sir.

They stare at each other.

DAVIDSON:  what is it that you want?

DENNIS:  oh…um…I’ve come here to talk to you.  To talk to you about the pr…prospect of a job.

DAVIDSON stares at him.

DAVIDSON:  you’ve come here for a job?  You want to work here?

DENNIS:  um…yes.  That’s right sir.

DAVIDSON:  I see.  Yes…well…okay.  I assume that you have filled in an application form.

DENNIS:  an application form?

DAVIDSON:  yes a form.  An application form.  Have you got one?

DENNIS:  um…no sir.

DAVIDSON:  right.  Well never mind.  Not to worry.  We can go through an application form right now.

DAVIDSON slowly opens the top draw of his desk and takes out an application form and puts it in front of him never taking his eyes off DENNIS.  He takes out a pen from his top pocket and takes the lid off.

DAVIDSON:  let’s start from the top.  What is your name?

DENNIS:  Dennis.  Dennis Whittingham.

DAVIDSON writes on the form.

DAVIDSON:  Dennis.  My name’s Davidson.  What was your last job?

DENNIS:  my last job?  I was a lollypop man.

DAVIDSON:  and how long did you have that job?

DENNIS:  about fifteen years.

DAVIDSON:  about?  You’re not certain?

DENNIS:  not exactly…

DAVIDSON:  not exactly?  You don’t remember?  You mean you don’t have that information on you?  Don’t you keep records?

DENNIS:  not as such…

DAVIDSON:  you don’t keep records.

DENNIS:  it just…

DAVIDSON:  I suppose that means you can’t tell me what grade it was, or the date you began nor the one you finished on?  You won’t be able to tell me your salary or any other benefits you might have?  You probably don’t even know what your main responsibilities were.

DENNIS:  yes.  Yes I can tell you that.  

DAVIDSON:  yes?

DENNIS:  I was… I had to go from one side of a road to the other.  I had to…help the kiddies across.

DAVIDSON looks at DENNIS.

DAVIDSON:  and what was your reason for leaving?

DENNIS:  I…um…I don’t know.

DAVIDSON:  you don’t know?  You mean that your employers fancied to fire someone from a lucky dip and that someone was you?

DENNIS:  I mean I can’t remember.

DAVIDSON:  can’t remember.  Did you leave of your own accord?  Did you have to leave?  Were you fed up of it?  Was it forced on you?  Were you made redundant?  

DENNIS:  no.  It wasn’t nothing like that.

DAVIDSON:  so you were fired?  I have to ask you what were you fired for?

DENNIS stays silent.  DAVIDSON stares at DENNIS.

DAVIDSON:  what was the reason for your employer to fire you?

DENNIS stays silent.

DAVIDSON:  why did they fire you?

DENNIS:  I…forgot to turn up a few times.

DAVIDSON:  really?

DENNIS:  it was only a few times.  I had problems back then.  Drink problems.

DAVIDSON:  drink problems? 

DENNIS:  but not anymore.  I’ve stopped all that.  I’m clean now.  Fresh as a daisy.

DAVIDSON looks at DENNIS.  DAVIDSON leans over the desk and sniffs DENNIS’ breath.  DAVIDSON leans back.

DAVIDSON:  I believe you.  What qualifications have you got?  Any GCSEs? 

DENNIS:  no.

DAVIDSON:  any A-Levels?

DENNIS:  no…

DAVIDSON:  O-Levels then?

DENNIS:  no.

DAVIDSON:  you have never been to college?

DENNIS:  I’ve got experience.

DAVIDSON:  but no proof.  Why do you think you should get this job?

DENNIS:  I’m willingly.  I’m able.  ’cause I want to.

DAVIDSON:  is that all?

DENNIS:  I need the money.

DAVIDSON:  do you have a full driving licence?

DENNIS:  no.

DAVIDSON:  do you have the use of a car?

DENNIS:  no.

DAVIDSON:  do you have any current endorsements?

DENNIS:  no.

DAVIDSON:  do you require a work permit?

DENNIS:  no.

DAVIDSON:  do you have a disability?

DENNIS:  no.

DAVIDSON:  are you a member of any club, group or society not open to the public without formal membership and commitment of allegiance and which has secrecy about rules or membership or conduct?

DENNIS:  no.

DAVIDSON:  and finally;  what is your full address?

DENNIS:  um…my address?  I don’t have a proper address now.  I’m in between houses now.

DAVIDSON:  in between houses?

DENNIS:  that’s right.  Moving in between houses.

DAVIDSON stares at DENNIS.  DAVIDSON holds up the application form and pushes the chair to the edge of the desk.  He throws down the application form into a metal bin.

DAVIDSON:  I’m sorry your application form has not been accepted.  How disappointing for you.  Oh well never mind.  These things happen.  Please try again sometime in the future.  You never know we may have something for you.  Now if you don’t mind I’m a busy man and there is a lot of paper work I need to get through.  The door is just behind you.  Goodbye and good day.

DAVIDSON takes one of the pieces of paper on is desk and begins to write on it.  DENNIS looks at DAVIDSON.  DAVIDSON is ignoring DENNIS.  DENNIS is dumbstruck.  DENNIS eventuality gets up and walks out of the office.  DENNIS shuts the door behind him.  DENNIS stands still outside the office for a moment and looks blankly around.  DENNIS walks down the stairs and walks off screen.  A black woman, MALORIE, in her mid fourties, and a black teenager, DANIEL, just gone eighteen, walk onto the screen.  MALORIE is firm and brisk, DANIEL is messy and resentful.  DANIEL drags his feet.  DANIEL looks at the different machines and amusements in the main building.  He stops walking.

DANIEL:  this is ridiculous.

MALORIE sees that DANIEL has stopped moving.  She reaches over and grabs his arm. 

MALORIE:  come on you lazy boy.

MALORIE starts walking again and drags DANIEL with her.  DANIEL reluctantly continues walking. 

DANIEL:  this is so gay.  Why can’t you just let me go?  I want to see my mates.  They’ll be wondering were I am.

MALORIE:  you won’t be going back to them if you know what’s good for you.

DANIEL:  what are you talking about?

MALORIE:  your friends are no good for you.  You nearly went to jail because of them. 

DANIEL:  but I wasn’t was I?

MALORIE:  do you want to be locked up because you were just doing what your friends were doing?  Are they really worth it? 

DANIEL:  that’s loyalty isn’t it? 

MALORIE:  and what about being loyal to me?  I told you to not to be involved with them but did you care about what I said?  Do you every care about what I say?  You care about what your friends say and they don’t even know you!

DANIEL:  course they know me.  They know who I am.

MALORIE:  they don’t know who you are.  Who you really are.  They don’t know what you looked like as a baby.  They didn’t go through the trauma of watching you grow up.  They don’t know who you are.  I know who you are and if you knew who you were you wouldn’t be so self obsessed with your image.

MALORIE and DANIEL walk past the Ferris wheel.  A teenager, KEITH, nineteen, is working on the Ferris wheel.  He wears a blue coat.  He lets people on the compartments and goes to the control box to put the wheel into motion.  He leans on the barrier where there are a small group of teenages on the other side of the barrier.

KEITH:  I never really cared too much about her.

TEENAGER1:  your such a liar.

KEITH:  I’m not lying.

TEENAGER2:  why not?

KEITH:  she just wasn’t my type. 

TEENAGER1:  didn’t think you had a type.

KEITH:  it’s not so much her type but would you go out with her?

TEENAGER2:  I wouldn’t

TEENAGER1:  no.

TEENAGER3:  I would.  There’s nothing wrong with her.

KEITH:  except that she’s got a disturbed mind. 

TEENAGER1:  a total mental case.

TEENAGER3:  I like mental cases.

TEENAGER2:  that would explain you then.

TEENAGER1:  you mental case.

TEENAGER3:  nothing wrong with a mental case.

TEENAGER2:  not a lot right about it either.

KEITH: (to teenager2)  there’s not a lot right about you.

TEENAGER3:  we’re all mental cases.

TEENAGER1:  at least I won’t have to be put in one of those homes they put retardted people in. 

At the word ’home’ KEITH’s face freezes.  He has disengaged himself from the conversation.  There is a noise of his friends voices but no words can be heard clearly.  KEITH expression suddenly changes to a sudden seriousness.  He has remembered something of vital importance. 

TEENAGER2:  Keith, you alright?

KETIH looks up at his friends.

KEITH:  I gotta go.

Without hesitating KEITH runs away from his friends and darts out of the Ferris wheel.

TEENAGER2:  where’re you going?!

As KEITH runs he goes past a roulette wheel.  It is not a real roulette wheel but in fact a plastic roulette wheel whit a clear plastic cover.  There are coin slots and colourful buttons for betting.  The roulette wheel starts to spin.  The metal ball spins is tossed and it bounces around.  A man’s voice, GARY, is heard.

GARY:  no more bets.

The wheel spins round and it begins to slow down.  The metal ball bounces on the wheel a bit before finally resting in one single space.  GARY, in his late twenties, is wearing a full tuxedo just like a croupier.  A few bemused people stand round the wheel trying to ignore him.

GARY:  winner is reds.

PETE and DUNCAN walk past him.  PETE notices that GARY is wearing a tuxedo.

PETE:  that guy’s wearing a tux.

DUNCAN:  who is?

PETE:  that guy over there.

DUNCAN looks over.

DUNCAN:  can’t blame a guy wanting to look his best. 

PETE:  reminds me of that first ever business conference we went to.  Remember?

DUNCAN:  that was our first year in the job.

PETE:  yeah.  There was that casino we went to.

DUNCAN:  wild times those were. 

PETE:  they certainly were.  We were young then.  Young men who didn’t know any better.

DUNCAN:  we’ve grown up since then.  We’ve become old and wise like our fathers.

PETE:  did we appreciatate our father’s wisdom all those years ago?  Will our sons appreciatate the things we have to offer?  Do even we appreciatate what we have now?  I’m not sure if I really care for wisdom. 

DUNCAN:  you would rather be a dunce then a clever man? 

PETE:  a clever man for sure but I was never happier then when I believed that I was a dunce.  I’ve got nothing against wisdom or knowledge but when we aqquired such things what has happened to our youth?  What happened to our simple joy in living?  What happened to our happiness?  To our dreams?

DUNCAN:  to morn far too much of what you have lost and what can be never regained.  Aren’t you happy in the world you live in now?  It’s a world of comfort.  What about the things that you have gained?  The things you could never have had you never grown up. 

PETE:  such as?

DUNCAN:  working, driving, marrying.  Don’t these things satisfie you?  Aren’t these things great pleasures?  Aren’t you glad you can do these things?

PETE:  if I was a child I would never have to worry about those things.  You can work, drive and marry as much as you like but it is only in the eye of a boy that you can see them for what they really are.

DUNCAN:  you are hard to please.  What about betting?  That was something you used to do as a teen and have you grown out of it?

PETE:  what of it?

DUNCAN:  do you not remember the things we used to bet on?  The contests we used to have?  Trying to outdo each other in every subject and in every movement?  Mind for mind and body for body. 

PETE:  skin cell for skin cell.  We were continually matching heartbeat for heartbeat I do remember. 

DUNCAN:  so what has become of this?  It has not decayed away by time.  It has only strengthened in every bet.  Our stakes becoming increasingly higher and higher.  The risks we take are on the same level as the sun in orbit around the globe.

PETE:  yes maybe it has. 

DUNCAN:  it looks as though you have forgotten the feeling.  Let us refresh your memory.  To the slot machines we shall go!  Those one arm bandits don’t frighten us!

They head off to gambling area nearby.  At the gambling area they walk past PENNY.  PENNY is still playing on the same machine.  She hasn’t moved from her spot.  She wins a small sum of money.  She laughs wildly. Behind her a bald man, STEVE, in his mid fourties, walks close up to her as she puts the money in the plastic bag.

STEVE:  still playing?

PENNY jumps at his voice.

PENNY:  what the hell are you doing?  Sneaking around behind people’s backs.

STEVE:  won anything yet?

PENNY:  yeah I have actually.

STEVE:  how much?  Six thousand pounds? 

PENNY:  don’t be absurd.  It’s all about the little wins.  Save up on your little wins and it’ll all add up.

STEVE:  look after the pennys and the pounds will look after themselves.  Is that it?  If only you didn’t take so long putting that proverb into action we wouldn’t be in this mess.

PENNY:  it’s hardly a mess.  We can save up that money and pay it off in little bits.  A little bit each month.

STEVE:  if we did that we would starve.

PENNY:  no we won’t.  paying it all off will take time.  In a couple of years everything will sort itself out.

STEVE:  we have less minuets then we do pounds.  Nothing will sort itself out.  We have to sort it out.  We have to take out a loan.  I have to get a second job.  I’ll have to work extra time and life for me will be extra hard and what are you doing?  You are trying to win your way out. 

PENNY:  that’s something isn’t it?  I’m trying hard too.  Don’t pull that one on me.  Do you think it is easy standing around all day with your eyes glued to the machine hoping for every penny?  I’m doing something.  I’ve earned at thirty pounds today already and I could win another thirty pounds today.  Altogether that’s sixty pounds per day!  That’s something!

STEVE:  you argue much better than you make decisions.  Sixty pounds today maybe but will tomorrow be just as certain?  How much of your winnings will turn into losses?  You need money to make money and when you can’t make money you lose money.

PENNY:  no!  I never lose anything!  I’ve got a technique and it can be just as certain of itself!  Why can’t you support me?  Why can’t you for once in your life accept that I am good at something! 

STEVE:  because you’re not good at it! 

PENNY:  liar!  You know I am!

STEVE:  in fact I don’t know what you are good for!

PENNY:  I can’t listen to this!  I can’t face you when your mood is like this.         

PENNY attempts to walk away.  STEVE grabs PENNY by the arm. 

STEVE:  you’re not going anywhere!  You can’t walk away from this! 

A man, IAN, in his mid twenties and wearing a smart suit, is watching the arguing STEVE and PENNY from a distance.

STEVE:  you can’t pretend that it’s not happening!  You don’t understand!  This is real!  This isn’t happening to some odd couple on the TV this is happening to us!

PENNY:  leave me alone!  Get away from me!  Let go of me!  Do’t you have any shame?!  Don’t you know how to treat a woman?!

STEVE:  you…bloody…

At his point of anger STEVE raises his hand about to slap PENNY.  Quick as lightning IAN steps in and firmly grabs hold of IAN’s hand.  STEVE looks at IAN and PENNY makes a get away and runs off.  STEVE attempts to follow her but he is prevented by IAN.

IAN:  hold it there.  Just stop.  Just stay still.  You don’t need to go after her.  Just let her go.

STEVE is bemused and overwhelmed, not by IAN but by what he was about to do.  STEVE is unsteady and giddy. 

IAN:  come on.  Let’s take a walk.

IAN holds STEVE by the arm and gently takes him off the other direction.  They walk outside the gambling area and they walk to the penny falls machines.  STEVE is numb, IAN is strong.  They lean on one of the penny falls machine.

IAN:  what is the point in arguing?  What good is ever to come from argument?  Are you married to her?

STEVE hesitates then he slowly nodds his head.

IAN:  then there marriage should be no argument.  You didn’t marry her to fight with her did you?  You married the person you loved not a boxer. 

STEVE:  how would you know I loved her?  It could be a marriage of conveinece.

IAN laughs.

IAN:  a marriage of convenience?  Since when has marrying ever been convenient?  There is no such thing.  Even if what you say is true it won’t last long before you fall in love break off your conveince for what is true in your heart. 

STEVE:  you seem to know a lot about love for a boy your age.

IAN:  that is because I have fallen in love myself. 

IAN takes out a small ring box.

IAN:  this is my engagement ring. 

STEVE gingerly takes the box and opens it.

IAN:  it is the slender piece of gold that will tie our two souls together. 

STEVE takes the ring out of the box and holds it up to the light.  The ring sparkles.  STEVE stares at it.          

 

IAN:  isn’t it beautiful?  It’s been made to specially fit my lover’s slender finger and no one else’s.  It’s like an angel’s halo.  A divine bond between two hearts.  An unbreakable bond.  Nothing can destroy a love between two people…

STEVE looks at the slot of the penny falls.  He shoves the ring into the slot.

IAN:…hey!  What are doing?!

The ring bounces down and hit’s the bottom joining the rest of the coins.

STEVE:  don’t tell me what love is.  I know what love is.  Not what you think love is.  You know what love should be like but do you know what love really is?  I know what love really is.  I’ve had the time to get acquainted with it.  I Know the reality of the ‘bond between two people’.  Don’t give me advice on things you know nothing of! 

STEVE storms off to find his wife. 

IAN:  my ring!

IAN tries to chase him put after a few steps he stops.  He looks back at the penny falls and then to STEVE who is already merging with the crowd.  IAN panics.  IAN runs back to the penny falls and puts his face to the glass.  He sees his shiny ring amongst the dirty coppers.  IAN quickly looks around for some help.  He sees something that could help him.  Reluctantly he runs away from the penny falls machine.  At a change kiosk IAN takes out a twenty pound note from his wallet and shoves it into the change machine.  There is a shower of two pence’s dropping into the metal slot.  The sound of coin against steel echoes. 

5.  BLACK SCREEN.

A two penny coin spins round on its side until it slows to a stop.  The sound of the penny echoes.