Brother's Visit

Content Warning Color Scale (CWCS): Orange- Caution. Some may find certain content (life around drugs and some swearing) upsetting. No warning will be mentioned if the story is on the green or yellow on the CWCS. Stories in red and purple are not posted here.

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Setting: PRISON– VISITING ROOM.

Characters:

Will (27)- Prisoner

Hayes (31)- Will’s brother.

Guard #1– Will’s escort to the Visiting Room. Doesn’t speak.

Guard #2- Will’s second escort to the Visiting Room. Doesn’t speak.

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Friday afternoon. Inside a Montana Prison, visitors are busy talking to other prisoners. HAYES waits patiently for his brother, WILL, to be escorted into the room.

WILL: (He comes in with GUARDS 1 and 2 beside him.) Oh… You…

HAYES: Hey, Will. Long time no see… and how are you doing?

WILL: I was dragged down here for you to say, ‘Hey, how are you doing?’ (He sighs while he sits down in a chair in front of HAYES.) Why are you here, anyway?

HAYES: Can I see my only brother?

WILL: After a long time… Was it your will, or did Grandpa tell you I was in here?

HAYES: No, I decided to come here.

WILL: You always had freedom of choice, Hayes. Not me.

HAYES: So did you. Bad choices, but not totally your fault.

WILL: Don’t give me pity, Hayes. What I’ve done is what got me here.

HAYES: Do you regret it?

WILL: (Chuckles.) No.

HAYES: Then, you don’t deserve to get out of here. You need more time away from the things you’ve been doing.

WILL: Ah, screw you! Chelsey was just as bad.

HAYES: Grandpa knew you were going down this path.

WILL: Grandpa is not a fortune-teller, so how did he know?

HAYES: Our parents, Will. You were only so young.

WILL: Dude, you are a couple of years older than me! We were so young! Did you come here just to talk about how our parents raised us?

HAYES: You mean our grandpa?

WILL: Our parents did too!

HAYES: They were dealing drugs, Will.

WILL: To keep both of us alive, Hayes. The economy sucks!

HAYES: There are many jobs out there, and they choose the one that causes violence and changes people for the worse.

WILL: Your job is not so goodie either, Hayes. You’re wearing corporation management all over you. MLM? Corporations are usually worse than drugs, so you screwed up too.

HAYES: No, it’s my own business. I started out with nothing, Will. I have something to keep doing.

WILL: (Snarky.) Good for you. I can see how formal you look, like you're attending my funeral. I'm still alive, dumb-

HAYES: Will, don’t talk like that. (Pause.) I can help you get away–

WILL: (Chuckles and speaks sarcastically.) Break me out of prison? How bold of you, Hayes. How are you going to do that? Put me in your pocket? Massa-

HAYES: (He raises his hand up.) Enough. I’m not going to do that. Not even a year locked in a cell, and you are talking about murder. I’m sure those guards will put you in a solitary confinement chamber after this.

WILL: I was a step away from it. I wasn’t even high. That bitch took my heroin and cash. What did she get? A hospital stay! She got off scot-free for stealin’ while I was working my ass off to keep living.

HAYES: Do you even realize how you sound? You ignored Grandpa’s warning to stay away from our parents and still hung out with them.

WILL: We always risk our lives, Hayes. Someday, your business will attract unwanted fellows, and you’re screwed.

HAYES: I groom dogs and cats, Will.

WILL laughs.

HAYES (CONT’D): (Sighs.) I’m serious. Your path is already pointing to the rugged life on the streets, hitting rock bottom, and dying in misery. Grandpa may be a hard hat, but he still loves you. I love you. I don’t want to lose you to what killed Mom and Dad.

WILL: (Glares.) They are not dead. We were taken away when I was ten, Hayes. You don’t know that because you have not been with them for years!

HAYES: Grandpa told me when I checked up on him. His health is starting to decline. As soon as you went to prison, Mom had an overdose while Dad got shot when a client became so… irritable… impatient… They died a few months apart. I wish I could show you a paper with their names down at the morgue. You may ‘win’ big; however, it's a gamble on your survival. He was not trying to dictate your life; he was trying to save you. He lost his own son to it. His only son!

WILL: (Pause.) Do you love Mom and Dad?

HAYES: I had no choice on who my birth parents were. I wished they had taken the time to raise both of us properly, not giving us directions on how to deal and make lethal injections. I wish things were different with you. Even when warned about drugs in school, kids can still be looped–

WILL: I had no choice who I was born to, either. I even had no choice about who was going to be my brother.

HAYES: Unlike Mom and Dad, I care about you, Will. The harsh reality is that they only like you for giving them profits. When you’re finally done with your sentence, don’t go back home. I will pick you up.

[Beat.]

WILL: (Frustrated.) How come you only visited now? After you finished high school, you disappeared. You left me with Grandpa, who only loved you, not me! I was only fifteen when he kicked me out! I had nowhere to go other than going back to Mom and Dad! Why didn’t you pick me up then? I could not be in this prison if YOU took me in! It was your choice to leave, and it wasn’t my choice to be homeless! Why? And here you are, not giving me the option to live my life!

HAYES: (Poise.) I didn’t know what was going on. If Grandpa wasn't a fortune-teller, I'm not omniscient. He's also not keen on technology; he can't even pick up a pay phone. I wanted to get a fresh start, so I moved to Canada, got training, created my own pet grooming business, and got a girlfriend. Everyone seems so much calmer without being in a drug ring. I’m so sorry, Will. The lack of contact bugged me too. I didn’t want to abandon you. After all I have said earlier, do you know why he kicked you out?

WILL stays silent.

HAYES (CONT’D): Grandpa wanted this cycle to end. He got his own son, our dad, into the loop. He stopped because he saw how he messed his son up, and you reminded him of his mistake, so he lost it. I agree that he shouldn’t have thrown you onto the streets. (Pause.) It wasn’t a good idea if he wanted to fight against it. (Takes a deep breath.) I still have a spare room. You can live with me under one condition– no more drugs. You find something better to do and distract yourself. I know it will be hard to combat your addiction, but I’ll be happy when I see you thrive in a breathable environment.

WILL is still in a painful silence.

HAYES (CONT’D): (Reluctant sigh.) Look, Will, I am not controlling you; I am offering you to come to Canada. You can become clean and live with (Stern.) or continue this path and die like our Mom and Dad, and you’ll be fussing that you had no way out. You’re an adult, Will. It's all up to you.

Blackout.