4-Spring-2011+Gun+Control

Period 4 Spring 2011

Shannon Wesstrom Olivia Farish

//Brian enters stage left in handcuffs and an orange uniform. He stalks onto the stage, anticipating his future and dreading his past. He grumbles as he walks up stage and sits down in a chair. He adjusts his body as he attempts to get comfortable for a long story.//

Brian: This all could have been avoided. I’m not a bad guy. I’ve made my mistakes but it shouldn’t end like this. My first drug was weed. When I was in middle school, my friends and I would skateboard every weekend and we were close, like brothers. We made a pact that no matter what, we would be there for each other. My “brothers” first introduced me to marijuana one weekend when I was 14, the summer before my freshmen year of high school. After that, I became addicted. They say you can’t get addicted to weed, but to me, it was like my own personal drug. I could get away and feel free. My parents were going through a divorce and I would never want to go home, fearing the fact that I would have to continuously hear them yell. After weed began to fade and it did not affect me as well, I wanted new drugs. I moved on up.

//The next scene takes place in a back alley. The sun is shining brightly but is blocked by tall buildings and the air is filled with fog and the sounds of cop cars and horns from the angry taxi drivers trying to reach their destination.//

Drug Dealer: Yo, you got the money?

Brian: You got the money?

//The drug deal took place. The drug dealer shook hands with the teenage Brian as they trade money for a small bag of cocaine.//

//The focus is drawn back to Brian, sitting in his chair, still handcuffed and vibrant in his orange jumpsuit.//

Brian: That’s where it all started. I dropped school for my drug friends. I dropped my skateboarding friends once they began to freak out on me and refused to do cocaine with me. I was addicted. I dropped whatever I was doing for my other “brothers” and my new love, cocaine. I distanced myself from my mother once my father moved out. I always blamed them for my addiction when I was high off of life and out of it. My family tried to reach me several times but I would not give it. My thought process was that I didn’t need them then, so I didn’t need them now.

//The scene pans back to the drug deal gone bad.//

Officer 1: Hey! (//stern voice)// You two over there. What are you doing?

//Brian and the dealer run for their lives. The original officer and another who joins him chase after the two boys. Brian is caught but the dealer escapes. While the police officer tackels Brian to the ground the other officer comes over to talk to him without the dealer.//

Officer 2: I couldn't catch him.

Officer 1: We'll get him eventually. For now we'll book this kid. //To Brian.// What's your name kid?

Brian: My names Brian//. In a shameful voice.//

Officer 1: Well Brian your under arrest for possesion of illegal substances.

Narrator: Brian is taken to the county jail and is now a convicted felon.

//Panning back to Brian by himself in an orange suit.//

Brian: It could have all been avoided. I was released from jail on good behavior soon after my sentencing. I vowed to myself, my mother, and my family that I would not turn to drugs again. I promised my poor mother looking at my with the saddest eyes I've ever seen that I would never do this to her again. I lied. Soon after my release I felt the withdrawl take over my body. It was happening. I knew I'd give in. I quickly got over the fact that I would be breaking my promise to my mother but it didn't matter to me anymore. I started again with marijuana but then swiftly moved on to cocaine. Because I used so much I needed more money to get more drugs. I started selling. It was working for a few months but then just like the first time I was arrested I was caught again. This time the police officer charged me for the illegal substances and the fact that I had a gun. He also charged me for being a previously being a convicted criminal and having a gun.