Scene 8: The Journal
(Everyone is seated and eating pretzels. Jenna is still behind the counter.)
TINA-LOUISE: In 1975, she appeared in the much-maligned cult favorite, The stepford wives, as well as God's little Acre, a 1958 drama which co-starred Jack Lord and Buddy Hackett. So it wasn't just Gilligan's Island. She did some fine work on the silver screen as well.
(Trey enters with his backpack, crosses.)
JENNA: It's about time. We have customers here. Where are you going?
TREY: To the bathroom, you mind? (puts down his backpack and exits)
JENNA: Wait'll Mark comes back! I'm gonna tell him you took a long break!
BUCKY: Who's Mark?
JENNA: He's the manager. He's at the mall getting his tongue pierced.
JULIA: Eww, That's sick.
CLIFFORD: I think it's awesome.
VINCENT: Hey, where's my twenty dollars?
ARNO: What?
VINCENT: I had twenty dollars in my coat pocket.
HELEN: Ken five him his twenty bucks back.
KEN: Why do you automatically accuse me?
HELEN: Because you steal stuff.
KEN: Shut up glass eye.
HELEN: Hey, I'm not the one who got caught shoplifting a Justin Bieber CD at the wal-mart.
KEN: That was never proven!
(Lights change. Arno reads from his journal.)
ARNO: I would never admit it, but I kinda like Justin Bieber.
(Lights back to normal.)
VINCENT: Just gimme my money, buttmunch.
KEN: I didn't take it.
VINCENT: I need that money to buy the new star wars movie!
KEN: I saw Trey hanging around your coat. Maybe he took it.
EDYTHE: Trey-didn't-take-his-money.
KEN: You don't know, so shut up. check his bag.
BUCKY: Wait until he gets back.
KEN: No, everybody's accusing me. Chek his bag.
JENNA: I'll check it. (She does)
KEN: Thank you. Everybody'sso quick to blame me just because I live in a trailer park.
HELEN: You don't live in a trailer park.
KEN: Well I used to!
JENNA: No money. Here's his journal though.
(Silence. They all look at each other.)
FRANKY: Should we read it?
KEN: Yeah!
BENNY: I don't think we should.
CLIFFORD: Read it, Jenna.
JULIA: How'd you like it if someone read your journal?
CLIFFORD: I wouldn't care. It doesn't say anything. (Clifford pulls out his journal. Lights change.)
CLIFFORD: says these journals are private so she'll just flip through to make sure we wrote something, but she won't read what it is. Blaaaah. Eckey-micker-ddooop-peeper. Xzeerrre-reeerly. I hate homework. Blah. Blah. cats sick. Meeeepww-ouch! I'm just writing anything, to fill up pages. Fla-fla-bla-bla-blooey. Crackymacky! Twix. I love Twix bars. Twix bars taste good. cookie crunch. Twix twix twix. Gotta get me some candy. Twix Rule! Twix make ya fat! Gimme some twix fat boy! writing is fun. The end. (Lights back to the pretzel knot.)
CLIFFORD: See? No big deal. I read mine. It doesn't say anything.
BUCKY: That's because you're an idiot.
CLIFFORD: Hey!
HELEN: Gimme his journal. I'll read it.
(Jenna hands Helen the journal.)
FRANKY: Hurry up, he's gonna come back.
BUCKY: Don't enourage them, Franky.
VINCENT: When do I get my money back?
KEN: Shut about the money. This is more important.
HELEN: (Reading from Trey's journal;) "I was alone and I noticed something moving in a snowdrift. I thought maybe it was an animal. But it was a boy, about my age, and I asked him what he was doing. He said his head hurt and he was looking for something called Whitestone and his name was Brendan."
(Lights change, Kids take turns reading from their own journals.)
JULIA: We shouldn't have been reading it out-loud like that. It was totally private and nobody's business.
TINA-LOUISE: I should've said something, but it was kind of interesting so I just sat and listened like everyone else.
BUCKY: I think Trey was making the boy up for fun.
EDYTHE: I-think-it's-like-an-imaginary-friend-because-he-doesn't-have-any-real-ones.
DOOFUS: Maybe it was one of those shows where they hide video cameras and play tricks on people, and that lost boy is really an actor and Trey is gonna be on TV and be all embarrassed.
(Lights back to the pretzel knot. Helen is reading from Trey's journal.)
HELEN: "And Brendan ran off again. I think he might need help."
(Trey enters unnoticed.)
HELEN: "I have to go back into the pretzel store and face those morons now. Breaks over. I hate this job."
TREY: What are doing?
HELEN: Oh, I was just-
FRANKY: Someone stole twenty bucks from Vincent-
BUCKY: And everyone kept blaming Ken-
JENNA: But Ken said he didn't take the money-
TREY: Why are you reading my journal?
HELEN: Clifford made me read it.
CLIFFORD: No I didn't.
TREY: Give it to me.
(Helen hands him the journal.)
CLIFFORD: I didn't make her read it.
DAN: Who's that guy you were writing about?
TREY: None of you business.
ARNO: Is it a story?
TREY: No
BENNY: You really saw him?
TREY: Jenna, I'm going home.
JENNA: You can't go home. You work to six.
TREY: Tell Mark I left. He can fire me if he wants to.
JENNA: But Trey...
TREY: Bye. (Exits)
JULIA: I told you we shouldn't have read it. He's gonna tell .
KEN: So what?
DAN: This place blows.
TINA-LOUISE: I'm taking off.
EDYTHE: Me too.
DOOFUS: See ya.
(They all exit, saying goodbye.)
JENNA: I'm always left alone.
(Lights out on the Pretzel Knot.)