SPOKEN PORTRAIT, by Ben Gavarré

 

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SPOKEN PORTRAIT

by Ben Gavarré

This work has been published for free and open dissemination, although all intellectual property rights are reserved. The public use of this work requires the author's permission and in order to obtain the corresponding authorization contact bengavarre@gmail.com or gavarreunam@gmail.com (Reg. Prop. Int. Expte. Inbox)

Characters:

• TAVO (50 years old). Wears comfortable, slightly dated clothes.
• JONATHAN (25 years old). Very attractive, athletic, with visible muscles in his arms, and meticulous about his hairstyle. For now, in pajamas or messy casual clothes.

SCENE 1: The writer 

Setting: The living room/study of their third-floor apartment.

Sound: The irritating click-clack of the keyboard.

(TAVO is in front of his computer, writing an essay. Suddenly, he pulls his hands away from the keyboard as if it were burning him and rubs his temple. He slumps heavily in the chair, wrestling with the text.)

TAVO (Low, sarcastic voice, while typing with extreme correctness): "Finally, contemporary discourse must avoid the instrumentalization of resilience and seek a post-traumatic narrative that does not victimize the subject, but empowers them from an ethical and responsible position..." (He reads what he has just written in an affected tone, mocking himself). How beautiful! How professional! What a pompous way of saying I don't have a f*cking idea what to put, but it sounds like I'm smart! (He leans toward the screen and whispers loudly, without typing, preparing his next 'essay' sentence): The truth is I need a language that isn't ashamed of desire! But how do you explain that to the algorithm? What I'm looking for is the power of the word to rewrite history... one's own. (He types again, censoring his language): "It is imperative to underscore the need for a constructive critique of the structures of power that permeate the virtual space, seeking non-binary narrative alternatives that validate individual experience..." (He sighs, satisfied with his self-censorship). Done! I survive one more day under the tyranny of cool. (Then, TAVO smiles privately. He quickly types a sentence that doesn't belong to the essay, but to his novel, with a deliberate cadence.)

TAVO (Low voice, almost a whisper, with secret pleasure): —What he thought was a simple, reckless flirtation, a challenge to his youth in someone else's kitchen, I knew was the tacit acceptance of a destiny that had sought us out for years.

(The click-clack of that sentence is loud and sudden. TAVO gets up from the chair and walks. JONATHAN comes out of his room. His hair is now impeccable, and he wears a tank top that accentuates his arms. He stops at the entrance and watches the text on the screen over Tavo’s shoulder, with palpable curiosity and very little shame. Tavo has his back to him, heading toward the refrigerator.)

JONATHAN (Walking slowly toward the refrigerator, just behind Tavo, with a strained smile): You sound like you're writing an epic of forbidden melodrama. Did the essay suddenly get interesting?

TAVO (Opens the refrigerator and slams it shut, the crash is violent, he looks at his phone, ignoring the question): Are you talking about the prose or the tone? Critical thinking is always intense.

JONATHAN: About the cadence. It sounds very... autobiographical.

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SCENE 2: THE ROOMIE

(TAVO dials his sister, Clara. JONATHAN sits on a couch, without greeting him, scrolling on his phone.)

TAVO (On the phone, rough voice): Clara! Yes, it's me... I didn't finish telling you, of course, because of your husband. Nothing important. Listen, they made me feel like a despot for asking for a concept map. (JONATHAN smiles slightly.) (To Clara, a comedic complaint tone): No, don't tell me I have to be more empathetic! What I'm doing wrong is living with a 25-year-old specimen who is forcing me to live on cans! He didn't just eat the turkey ham and eggs! He ate my anxiety Doritos, my cookies, the fruit pie, and, worst of all, my pork rinds! Everything that gives me comfort, his insatiable metabolism and ascetic morality devour!

JONATHAN (Looks up from his phone, interrupting with a playful, yet intelligent tone): You mean it's not fair to my emotional capital to only consume lettuce. And yes, I was hungry. Or were you expecting that, with how much I take care of myself, I would go to the corner and eat an orgy of carbs and saturated fats like you would in a nighttime attack? No, reading labels is a micro-aggression!

TAVO (To JONATHAN, with annoyance): Shut your mouth, Jonathan! Sabotaging my provisions is an aggression against the peace of my soul! Your existence could be material for a stand-up!

JONATHAN (Intervening, with a mischievous smile. He gets up and approaches TAVO): And you would be a subject for an entire performance based on the hairy ego you leave in the sink. (He points toward the bathroom with a mischievous smile). I pay rent too, Tavo. I plead guilty to not being a master of cleanliness, but, look, I don't wear 'lucky' socks for a whole week. Ugh.

TAVO (Defensively, but without letting go of the phone): That's personal! (He returns to Clara): See, Clara?! The enemy lives under my roof! He criticizes my socks, but I don't complain about the liquid evidence of his lack of morning aim! Did I do it too? You're wrong, not all men... are... Fine, leave me with the word in my mouth... Say hello to him for me. (He hangs up abruptly).

JONATHAN (Muttering, still holding his phone, with theatrical indifference): Family is Greek tragedy with the worst wardrobe. I feel like you're telling on me to your sister. She doesn't even know me...

TAVO (Exasperated. His tone is low, but full of contained affection): That's enough, Jonathan! Stop with your sagacious comments and refill the pantry you emptied.

JONATHAN (Smiling, evasive, enjoying the provocation): Uf, I don't have time for revenge, Tavo. My time is at the service of the calls. (TAVO clutches his head. He sits down for a second and returns to the keyboard. JONATHAN sits on the couch, watching him. TAVO types, no longer with the essay tone. He writes to provoke.)

TAVO (Low voice, focused on the screen): —His athletic body tensed with the awareness of the power it gave him. His intelligence always challenged me, assuming an intellectual superiority that I silenced with greater information and years of experience. The boy admired the professor, but would never say it out loud.

(The click-clack is intentionally loud. JONATHAN hears it. His eyes widen slightly, he freezes. His phone falls into his lap, forgotten. He looks at TAVO's back, the complicit smile completely erased, revealing a cold panic. He forces the smile back and regains his composure just as TAVO's phone vibrates with a ridiculous musical ringtone.)

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SCENE 3: THE MYSTERIOUS CALL 

(TAVO looks at his phone. It's his ex-lover Lino. JONATHAN watches him closely.)

TAVO (Answers, with a sweet, tired tone): Hello... Yes. I'm still here, Lino, in the bunker... Dealing with existentialism... (He listens, his smile completely disappears. He glances discreetly at JONATHAN who is making faces at his ex's silly name.) (He speaks in a lower voice, turning his back to JONATHAN): No... No, he's not here, truly. He's in his room, yes. He's my roomie. You know that. What does that have to do with anything? ... Look, don't start with the interrogation! Jonathan is my roomie. He's my former student. He's... a financial disaster that gives me material to write, and that's it. What happened is no longer worth mentioning, it's not happening again... it was scarcity, not desire. (JONATHAN takes off his headphones and yawns theatrically. TAVO is startled.) (He regains his composure, speaking sharply): In any case, I don't think you're still in a position to demand answers. I have to go, I have to go to the supermarket. No, no, he's not going, he has a casting. I'll do it. Goodbye. (He hangs up abruptly, forcefully).

TAVO (Still agitated, he throws the phone onto the couch with a dull thud, his voice rougher): I don't know why I always fall for his game! I don't have to give him explanations. Enough! It's not my business anymore. It's over!

JONATHAN (Lowers his phone, with a raised eyebrow, a smirk of self-satisfaction. He approaches slowly): Scarcity, Tavo? Was it scarcity or Linus's lack of attention? You knew your most faithful reader has a ridiculous name. I picture him as a faithful puppy, Linus, you can tell he still wants you, I mean, by the tone, he still wants you. Did you break up because reality wasn't as fluid as our first virtual chats?

TAVO (The silence is absolute. TAVO looks at him intensely, unable to formulate a verbal response; it's a tacit acknowledgment that Jonathan has touched a sensitive spot).

JONATHAN (He laughs, a low, victorious laugh. He scores the point): I thought so.

TAVO (Looks at JONATHAN, his voice still agitated): Come on! Come with me to do the shopping together. Since you don't want to do it alone, at least carry the bag. Mutual respect. I promise to clean the sink... And you... consider what you want to do... But seriously. (JONATHAN nods with a lazy gesture. TAVO returns to the computer with a grim smile, knowing Jonathan is watching him, and types the final sentence.)

TAVO (Low voice, a sharp strike on the keyboard): —What the distance did was shape an intimacy so private, so messy, that the physical encounter was not the beginning, but the confirmation of what was already written in the secret language of our intimacy in the virtual space of the screens.

(The click-clack resonates. JONATHAN, who was about to get up, stops dead. Real panic. He coughs and brings his hand to his face. He looks at TAVO with wide eyes, without Tavo seeing him. This passage is too specific, referring to their virtual intimacy transmitted by cell that no one else knows... He recovers with the most arrogant smile he can muster.)

JONATHAN (He approaches Tavo, his voice is low and professional, trying to sound casual): Hey, is what you wrote fiction or personal literature? Because it sounded very... intimate. It reminded me of old times: me in my room and you... Well, I was just looking at my phone screen.

TAVO (Without looking at him, he puts away the computer): Jonathan, my friend... I'm just documenting an era.

JONATHAN (Brushes his arm as he passes, an intimate, automatic gesture): Friends, you say! Good... We're not just roomies, that's for sure. But you're right... We have to restock the pantry because if we wake up at midnight, anxiety will kill us. And you know...

(TAVO organizes his things to go out. JONATHAN enters his room. He comes out again a minute later. The transformation is complete. He is no longer wearing casual clothes. He wears a semi-open black silk shirt that highlights his chest and fitted dress pants. His hair is perfectly sculpted. He looks like a 'casting star': sensual and elegant, ready to be scrutinized. TAVO looks him up and down with a mixture of admiration and silent desolation.)

TAVO (Mutters to himself, picking up the keys): And like the lead actor... Jonathan, in action.

JONATHAN (Smiling, he poses for a second): Time is a scarce asset. Let's go, Tavo!

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SCENE 5: TWIN SOULS WALK  (Conclusion)

Setting: The street, a few meters from the apartment. Action: TAVO and JONATHAN walk back with the supermarket bags. TAVO carries the heavy bag and JONATHAN carries the lighter one. Both are more relaxed, laughing together.

TAVO (Exhausted by the weight of the groceries): I bet you all the healthy food we bought will be replaced in the next few days by new junk food and sugary drinks!

JONATHAN (Carefree): It will be replaced by you... I'm not the one who buys the pork rinds and Doritos... I eat them, but you buy them with so much anxiety. Let's not be hypocrites, Tavo. We can be healthy until death reaches us by heart attack; in any case, food is the only form of truly intimate connection we still have. (He looks at TAVO meaningfully). See? We have a deeper bond than friends and roomies, we are soulmates.

TAVO: With benefits.

(JONATHAN looks at him significantly, as if to say he will not answer that provocation.)

(JONATHAN and TAVO "watch" a man, a RUNNER, who passes exactly "on the opposite side of the street they are walking on".)

(The RUNNER, very Americanized or "very modern," with headphones, a giant GPS watch, and a heart rate monitor on his chest, is shouting into his phone.)

TAVO (Watching the runner's trace, amused): Oh, look, he's training for the CITY marathon! I see it clearly. He's going to win: Two hundred kilos of functional anxiety. And did you see his heart monitor? It's bigger than his head. And he's shouting into his phone.

JONATHAN (Mocking, imitating TAVO's exaggerated manner): And why wouldn't he shout! He's doing PUBLIC RELATIONS while running. He's saying something like: "...The optimization of synergy requires that the transversal discourse be in inclusive language! Remember, we are in the era of conscious capitalism!"

TAVO (Laughing out loud, more genuinely than before): He is quite an archetype! I'm sure he'll get into his monster Tesla now and upload all the photos he took to Instagram... All of them... I'm more afraid of those kind of brainless people than the robbers of the 20th century. At least they knew they were bad; this one thinks he's doing the right thing.

JONATHAN (Concluding): You're right. It is the moral dilemma today. And if he dies of a heart attack from his two hundred extra kilos, it will be a whole performance that will make him go viral.

(TAVO stops to adjust his bag. The moment of complicity is strong. JONATHAN quickly pulls out his phone, it rings insistently.)

JONATHAN (Very excited): That's it! They confirmed the casting! It's a main role!

TAVO (Nodding. His smile is tense for an instant): That filmmaker is brutal! Congratulations! What is the role about?

JONATHAN (In an actor's tone, making a dramatic gesture): An intern with childhood trauma who opposes concept maps and ends up doing a monologue about the fluidity of virtual space. It's perfect. Literally, your life is my material.

TAVO (Sarcastic, regaining his pose): Go on! Your preparation will speak for itself! I'll continue with my novel... so you can criticize it later, after all, you already know what it's about.

JONATHAN (He leaves quickly, almost running, in the opposite direction from TAVO): See you, Tavo! The space must be fluid! And don't forget you have to retire that fabric you call underwear!

(JONATHAN disappears. TAVO remains for a moment watching the direction he went. His smile fades, but he shakes his head and returns to the apartment.)

TAVO (He stops at the apartment threshold. He looks out, toward where JONATHAN went. A small, knowing, somewhat melancholic smile crosses his face. Then, he looks directly at the audience): A novel that is the story of what happens in a play... Or vice versa.

(The End )