Better Places to Go

Don’t you think?

RICARDO. It’s one of my favorites.

DEREK. It makes me want to kiss you.

RICARDO. Don’t do that.

DEREK. Why not?

RICARDO. Not here. Not now.

DEREK. Are you mad? About the ring and the gun?

RICARDO. I didn’t know you were going to buy bus tickets.

DEREK. Yesterday, some boys threw rocks at me and I hid underneath a car so that they couldn’t get me.

RICARDO. Derek, I’m scared. I’ve screwed things up for you.

DEREK. No, you didn’t.

RICARDO. Listen, when you and I first met, I felt sorry for you. I knew you needed a friend.

DEREK. I have to go. I’ll go to the bus depot and I’ll sit there and I’ll wait. You can bring me some food in a little while and then at ten-thirty we can — (He grabs his backpack, as if to leave. Ricardo suddenly reaches for him, to calm him down.) You’re mad at me because of the tickets.

RICARDO. I’m not mad.

DEREK. You didn’t want to kiss me.

RICARDO. (Frustrated:) Derek, I don’t know what I want. Can’t you understand that?

DEREK. I only did what you said. It was a beautiful ring. (Beat.) Maybe it will lead us to heaven.

RICARDO. What if it doesn’t? None of this is easy.

DEREK. It’s killing me. Not being able to be with you. I’d rather let them shoot me dead and murder me than to go another day of my life without being with you. (Beat.) I know you wanted us to wait a little bit before we finally left. But I can’t wait anymore. I swear to God, I’ll die. I’ll go crazy. (Beat.) Maybe I already have. You’re the only person in this entire world who cares about me. We can do this. We can get on that bus tonight at ten-thirty and we can leave Grand Island and we don’t ever have to come back. And in a couple of days, we’ll be in San Diego. We can walk on the beach and we can put our feet in the water and we can laugh in the sun and we can be together. I want that more than anything. (Beat.) I hate this place. I hate everyone here because they all hate me. And I don’t ever want them to hate you. So if we leave tonight, we can get away from here before they turn on you like they’ve turned against me. And I’ll be good there. I promise. I’ll take the medication and I’ll try to stop the noise in my head, once and for all. And I’ll work really hard and I’ll do whatever I have to. But if we stay here…My heart can’t take it no more, Ricardo. I lay awake at night and I listen to Britney and Nathan beat the hell out of each other and I close my eyes and I pretend you’re there with me and you’re holding me and I feel safe. I feel loved. That’s all I’ve ever wanted. (Beat.) Please. Let’s go. Tonight. If we do, I know I’ll still be alive when dawn breaks.

RICARDO. Derek, there’s a lot to talk about.

DEREK. I don’t understand. You said—

RICARDO. I know what I said! What do you want me to do? My sister is sick. My Mom and Dad—

DEREK. They can take care of her! They made her sick and it’s their fault and they can fix it!

RICARDO. Maybe I’m not ready to leave Grand Island.

DEREK. Well, I am.

(Derek grabs his backpack and the bus tickets and he bolts out the front door, leaving the road map behind. Ricardo starts to run after him, but he stops. He looks out the front door for a moment, watching Derek disappear. He sits down at a table, lowering his head into his folded arms. Softly, he begins to cry.

A few moments pass before Judy enters. She stands in the doorway and watches Ricardo. Slowly, she goes to him and runs a comforting hand through his hair.)

JUDY. I hate to see men cry.

RICARDO. (Looks up, wipes his eyes:) I have a lot on my mind.

JUDY. My daddy used to cry. My mother would take off for days at a time and she wouldn’t call. My daddy would sit in the kitchen until all hours of the night and he would just cry. It used to break my heart. (Beat.) What have you gotten yourself into, Ricardo?

RICARDO. I’m scared.

JUDY. If what folks are saying about the two of you is true, then you should leave. You won’t survive here. It’ll destroy you. Look what it’s done to him. That boy is ruined.

RICARDO. It’s my fault.

JUDY. That’s what my daddy used to say. He’d look at me and say, ‘Judy, this is all my fault. I wasn’t good to your mother and now she’s gone and run away’. I’ll tell you the same thing I used to tell him. It’s not your fault. No matter how hard you try, you can’t tame a wild heart. (Beat.) You’ve been real good to me, Ricardo, and I’ve never spoken an unkind word about you. I know what the Bible says and I know what I’ve heard around town, but I know the type of person you are. Despite what I’ve been taught to believe, your relations with that boy are of no concern to me. You’re still my friend. (Beat.) Every time she ran, my mother always came back home. The last time she ran, she didn’t return. (Beat.) A whole year went by before they found her body in the trunk of a car.

RICARDO. Does your father still cry?

JUDY. No, but I never hear him laugh.

RICARDO. My mother and father need me. We moved to Grand Island to try to give my sister a better life. She’s so messed up and the medical bills are more than my parents can handle. If I don’t help them—

JUDY. What will happen if you leave?

RICARDO. My sister might die.

JUDY. That’s not your decision, Ricardo. That’s the will of God. From what I gather, your sister has been in pain for a long time.

RICARDO. It wasn’t her fault. (Beat.) My father was driving and he was fighting with my mother and it happened so fast, they didn’t have time — my sister was thrown from the car and she’s never been the same. We came here because life was quiet and my grandparents got us a house but nothing seems to help. I work as much as I can and it doesn’t seem to matter. Nothing matters anymore.

JUDY. Derek needs you and you’re good for him. Nobody’s ever wanted him. Not even his own mother, God rest her soul. Britney is too busy with her six hundred boyfriends and each one of them is worse than the last. Nathan is a monster.

RICARDO. You think I should go?

JUDY. I’m going home, Ricardo.

RICARDO. What about your truck driver?

JUDY. Maybe Rosie is right. Maybe I’m just a ridiculous woman. We both know there’s a storm coming tonight. I don’t want to get stuck in the middle of it. I’d rather be at home, with my father. He needs me.

RICARDO. You’re giving up? You said he was coming back.

JUDY. I’ve been promised that before and each time I wanted to believe it, but I can’t and I don’t anymore.

RICARDO. I think he’ll be back, Judy.

JUDY. No, he won’t. But that’s all right. I won’t stop laughing. (Beat.) No matter what. (She exits.)

(Ricardo, alone, picks up the road map. He unfolds it and starts to trace a route to San Diego with his finger.

Lights fade to black.)