The Hash Tag

Characters

Leon Smith brother

Lucie Smith sister

Scene

LEON’s student house, the kitchen. Siblings are cooking dinner together.

Time

The present.

 

Act 1, scene 1.

Enter LEON and LUCIE, LUCIE is smoking a cigarette.

LUCIE

Thanks for feeding me dude, I completely ran out of food yesterday.

LEON

No problem, I’d be cooking anyway. Do you eat fish these days? (LUCIE nods) How are you doing?

LEON starts chopping vegetables.

LUCIE 

(inhales) Good, a bit anxious. Something happened yesterday, I feel a bit weird about it (pauses, then hesitantly) Alright, let’s see. So last week me and my friends went to this gay club, got schwasted. In the smoking room I talked to this guy, he seemed pretty cute and we exchanged numbers. Obviously, I forgot my papers and had to borrow them from someone. Oh by the way, can I help with something? 

LEON 

(jokingly) Nice one, picking up guys in a gaybar. Yeah, you can fry the fish if you want.

LUCIE stirs in a pan, picks up cigarette from ashtray

LUCIE 

(smokes) Then this guy called me yesterday, said he wanted to come through. Didn’t really have much to do and I wanted to get to know him, so an hour later he was on my couch. I was like, “what is it like to be James?”, turned out his name was Xavier. A pianist, 28, studying medicine, very smart. He showed me some of the songs he composed. Pretty impressive, but it felt very much like that was the goal.

                                   LEON

What kind of music does he write then?

LEON throws vegetables in pan.

                                   LUCIE

(surprised) It was a sort of modern trippy piece, like a sound collage. But that’s besides the point, he like played it for twenty minutes, while we just.. listened. (laughs)

                                   LEON

So what happened then?

                                   LUCIE

Well, he was quite the flirt, but I didn’t really remember what he looked like, so when I picked him up from the bus I was already a bit surprised but I mean, I wasn’t gonna say that. So he started making moves on me, while I was still trying to have an existential conversation with him. (scoffs)

                                   LEON

(suppresses smile) I guess that’s one way of dealing with it.

                                   LUCIE

Anyway I said “wow, calm down, I just wanted to hang out man.” So we talked again until he kissed me again. Didn’t really see a reason why it would be wrong to kiss back so I did. (increasingly agitated) But he started like touching me and I really did not want that. I told him I wasn’t feeling it, but he kept insisting and every time I’d take his hands from my pants or boobs, he’d just pretend like nothing happened. I told him to stop that. I told him I was uncomfortable. I asked him to leave. He just kept creeping up on me and refused to leave and ugh, it was awful y’know… I just feel sort of violated.

LUCIE smiles quietly and stirs intensely.

LEON

Fuck man, I’m sad to hear that happened, that sounds awful…  (pauses, carefully) But you know that you said yes when he wanted to come over to your room. I mean, was there even anyone else home? Why did you meet a random guy anyway? You should have been more careful.

LUCIE

I just thought he was a nice person to hang out with. Yeah, he came to my room but still, when someone says no, it’s no. (stamps cigarette out in ashtray) And the worst part is, I don’t even think that guy has a single clue what he has done to me.

                                   LEON

I mean he obviously crossed your boundaries, but don’t you think you led him on? I mean when he started kissing you, you could have guessed what he was trying to do.

LUCIE

(scoffs) So kissing men means promising sex? That’s such bullshit. I understand you see it as a grey area but it’s just… not okay. That’s why I’m so happy that the hashtag is going viral.

LEON

Come on. It has been used a lot, but do you think it actually helps? Yes I know which people it happened too, but putting your story out there just victimizes you. Is it really going to change something in how people behave? Maybe in Hollywood, but for people like you.. I don’t think so.

LUCIE

(intensily) Dude, it’s to raise awareness. People need to understand that this doesn’t happen to just some people around you. Everyone of my friends starts telling their stories, once someone starts talking about! (pauses) Fuck man.. Let’s talk about something else.

LEON 

(sighs, after 30sec) Well, food’s almost done. I’m starving, can you put some plates and cutlery on the table?

                                   LUCIE

(suddenly excited) On it!

Exit LEON and LUCIE