Oh, Ye of Little Faith

(The scene opens on the three YOUNG RADLEY BROTHERS playing with trucks on the back deck.)

YOUNG SLADE
Vroom, vroom!

(YOUNG ROYCE crashes his truck into YOUNG SLADE’s truck, playing with him.)

YOUNG ROYCE
Ha ha, boom! I win!

(YOUNG SLADE laughs, hitting at YOUNG ROYCE playfully.)

YOUNG SLADE
Royce, no fair!

(YOUNG CAMILLE brings his truck in between his brothers as he lays on his stomach and kicks his feet.)

YOUNG CAMILLE
My truck is the mom-truck.

YOUNG ROYCE
Stop trying to make the trucks a family, Camille, they’re just trucks.

YOUNG SLADE
Yeah!

(Their mother, HELEN, emerges from the house, smoking a cigarette.)

HELEN
Get back inside, boys. Playtime is over.

(YOUNG ROYCE, YOUNG SLADE, and YOUNG CAMILLE follow HELEN back into the house. The lights dim. Set change. Lights up on the RADLEY BROTHERS, now adults, entering a motel room. It has two twin beds and a pullout couch. It is not luxurious, but it isn’t a slum either. The RADLEY BROTHERS are in a somewhat depressed state, and are dressed for a funeral.)

CAMILLE
Wow, look at this. The Radley brothers are sharing a room for the first time in, like, a millennia.

SLADE
(Sarcastically) Ha.

(SLADE collapses sideways onto the couch and pulls out his phone.)

ROYCE
It hasn’t been anywhere close to a millennia. And last time we shared a room, Camille, I think we were all a bit happier.

(CAMILLE sits on one of the beds.)

CAMILLE
You make a good point. Today was definitely not that.

(ROYCE walks over to SLADE and stands by the arm of the couch.)

ROYCE
On your phone again?

SLADE
(With a grunt) Texting Alicia.

CAMILLE
The old ball and chain, huh?

SLADE
Yeah.

ROYCE
Weren't you texting her in the Uber?

SLADE
What, you looking over my shoulder now? Surveilling me?

ROYCE
What? No, I saw a glimpse of the contact name. Calm down.

CAMILLE
I mean, Royce does have a point, Slade, you’ve been texting a lot. I don’t text my wife as often as you text Alicia.

ROYCE
Speaking of, how’s Sorrell doing? You two enjoying life as the Radley-Lamberts?

CAMILLE
Oh, it’s going great. She’s as amazing as always. Her kids are wonderful, they’ve already started calling me “Dad.”

SLADE
You didn’t invite me to your wedding.

CAMILLE
(CAMILLE speaks to SLADE slowly and cautiously, in a slightly condescending tone.)
I did, Slade. You declined. You said you had plans with Alicia.

(ROYCE isn’t looking at his BROTHERS, and is instead focusing on carefully placing his shirts in the dresser drawer.)

ROYCE
I kinda got the feeling that those plans were made for him when the invitation arrived.

CAMILLE
(Head in hands) Royce, not now, please.

(SLADE stands up to confront ROYCE.)

SLADE
What are you implying about Alicia, Royce?

CAMILLE
Please sit back down, Slade.

ROYCE
No, no, it’s okay.

(ROYCE approaches SLADE with a menacing aura.)

ROYCE
I want to hear what he thinks I’m saying.

SLADE
You always have some criticism about Alicia. How she’s a “bad influence.” Acting like she makes my decisions. Like she’s done something terrible.

ROYCE
You know something, Slade? You’re right. I don’t like Alicia. I think she’s a bad influence on you. I think you’re so whipped that you don’t think for another second about what that will mean for anything going on in the real world. You weren’t at your brother’s wedding - the first of us to get married - because she didn’t want you to go. And you know something else, kid? I know she’s the reason you spent five years in jail. She’s the one who told you to steal money from Dad’s business. I knew the whole time, and I thought maybe if there was the possibility of jail time, you would actually reflect on it, but you were so far gone by that point that all you did was dig yourself a deeper hole to protect her.
 

(SLADE moves forward violently and grabs ROYCE’s shirt in his fist, growling. CAMILLE tries to tear them apart unsuccessfully.)

SLADE
You goddamn Judas.

(CAMILLE succeeds in tearing them apart. SLADE and ROYCE stumble backwards.)

CAMILLE
God, will you two just break it up? You’re worse than my kids, and they’re not even ten! We all haven't seen each other in over five years, and we just left our mother’s funeral, and all you two can think about is fighting each other.

(SLADE steps outside to cool down. CAMILLE pulls ROYCE aside.)

CAMILLE
Royce, what the hell was that? I would’ve expected that out of Mom, but not you.

(ROYCE sinks down onto the couch, laughing, disappointed in himself.)

ROYCE
I know, Camille. I really pulled a Mom there. I… I shouldn’t have done that. I just…

(CAMILLE sits down next to ROYCE and wraps an arm around him.)

CAMILLE
I know. It’s hard. It took me a long time to figure it out myself. But you have to try. Otherwise, you’ll just push him away even more.

(ROYCE leans into CAMILLE’s half-hug.)

ROYCE
I can see why your kids like you so much.

CAMILLE
When your family is upset with you… it's hard. It’s really hard. You should've seen Dad-

(CAMILLE cuts himself off, seemingly becoming aware again that ROYCE is in the room with him.)

ROYCE
I should’ve seen Dad what?

CAMILLE
Nothing. It’s nothing.

(CAMILLE stands and makes for the door.)

ROYCE
Camille-

CAMILLE
I’m going to talk to Slade.

(CAMILLE steps out the door and closes it behind him. ROYCE reaches for him. He begins to remove his clothes from the dresser and put them back in his suitcase. CAMILLE and SLADE can be heard arguing loudly outside, although the words are not audible. SLADE storms back inside, and ROYCE whirls around to face him.)

ROYCE
Slade, listen, I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have said that-

(SLADE grabs ROYCE by his collar once more.)

SLADE
Shut your face. You don’t care about me. You’re never going to approve of Alicia, so I don’t care anymore. Alicia is everything to me. And you- you want her out of my life. Well, I won’t take it anymore. I’m leaving. I’m going back to Alicia, and I’m not coming back. Good luck with the family business. Don’t contact me.

(SLADE grabs his bag and storms back out. The door slams into CAMILLE, who was trying to come back in, leaving him with a bloody nose. He gets back inside just in time for SLADE to slam the door shut. CAMILLE stares at ROYCE for a moment, holding his bloody nose, before picking up his bag and moving back to the door.)

CAMILLE
I’ll… go. You probably… yeah.

(CAMILLE exits, leaving ROYCE alone in the motel room. ROYCE waits a moment, staring at the door, before sitting down on the floor. ROYCE watches on as a memory plays out in front of him.)

YOUNG SLADE
(Distantly) Come on!

(The YOUNG RADLEY BROTHERS burst through the motel door one at a time, followed by HELEN. ROYCE watches them.)

YOUNG SLADE
Watch this! Watch this!

(YOUNG SLADE attempts to impress his brothers.)

YOUNG ROYCE
I bet I can do it better!

YOUNG SLADE
I bet you! I bet you!

YOUNG ROYCE
What do you bet?

YOUNG SLADE
Um… my favorite car!

YOUNG CAMILLE
Woah… that’s a big one.

YOUNG ROYCE
You’re on, Slade! I’ll bet my favorite car, too.

(YOUNG SLADE and YOUNG ROYCE attempt to outdo each other as YOUNG CAMILLE watches on with excited reactions. YOUNG SLADE eventually cedes the victory. YOUNG ROYCE does a victory cheer. The YOUNG RADLEY BROTHERS share a secret handshake - a cross over the heart, pinkies in the air, and a cheer of “brothers forever” - before running offstage at HELEN’s beckon. As they leave, ROYCE weakly echoes the secret handshake.)

ROYCE
Brothers forever.

(ROYCE stares longingly after his memory. He pulls out his phone and calls one of his contacts.)

ROYCE
Hey. Can you pick me up from the motel? (Beat.) Yeah. I don’t… I don’t want to be alone.

(End.)