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Author:
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Ken Orford
Short Play
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| Two men,
one black and
one white are sitting on a verandah, watching the sun set. The sound of
cicadas is all around. |
| George |
You
know
Mikaya, I defy anyone to show me a finer view – anywhere in
the world – than this. |
| Mikaya |
My father always
said
that if anyone doubted there was a God, and a perfect creation, then
they should stand here at sunset.
|
| George |
Your father was not
only a good man, but he was a wise one too. I just wonder how many more
of these sunsets I’ll get to see. |
| Mikaya |
My brother in law
called me today. He said that if they do not come tomorrow, then it
will be the next day. |
| George
nods and walks to
the small refrigerator. He gets out two beers and throws one to Mikaya. |
| George |
In
that case, I am really
glad I sent Mary and the girls to Cape Town. It wasn’t a
moment too soon. |
| They
sip their beers each
deep in his own thoughts. |
| George
|
It
took my great great
grandfather all his life to carve this farm out of the scrubland that
it once was. He drilled wells, planted crops – more often
than not they failed in the early days. He must have been a stubborn
old bastard. |
| He
takes a swig of his
beer |
|
But
all that time, he
gave the locals jobs, and paid them a fair wage for their labours. |
| Mikaya |
When
I was small my
grandfather told me about watching his grandfather working on drilling
that first well. He swore that clean water is why we all live so long
here. |
| George |
That
and the clinic that
my grandfather sponsored, and your grandfather built. |
| Mikaya |
Yes,
we have been foremen here for four generations now. And tomorrow it
will be over. The Xanu PF bully boys will come and take the livestock,
and give the land to the Africans. Providing of course they belong to
the right tribe … |
| George |
…
and have the right political views. |
| They
sip their beers again |
| Mikaya |
What
will you do boss? I’d hate to think my eldest son will never
see his Godfather again. |
| George |
Oh
I’ll be okay. They’ll take everything they can, but
I’m sure they’ll let me leave. After all,
it’ll be one less white man for them to worry about.
It’s just history … Hitler, Milosovitch
– it’s ethnic cleansing. Mixed in with a bit of
racism. But I’m more worried about you. Tens of thousands of
Zimbabweans like you are starving |
| Mikaya |
Yes.
But this is my country. I will stay. |
| George
laughs a
humourless laugh |
| George |
It’s
my country
too. I was born here. The last three generations of Formby’s
have been born here. I don’t know any other home. |
| Mikaya
nods his agreement |
| Mikaya |
You know George,
there’s only one thing missing from this country |
| George |
What’s that |
| Mikaya |
There’s no
bloody oil here. If there was oil like in Kuwait or Saudi, then George
Bush’s tanks and the SAS would be over there now, defending
that
gate from Mugabe’s lunatics. |
©
Ken Orford, 2008
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