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I CALL MY BROTHERS

By Jonas Hassen Khemiri

Translated from the Swedish by Rachel Willson-Broyles

Current to Swedish version 2.2 30 January 2013

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UPDATED PRESENTATION OF THE PLAY

A car has exploded. A city has been crippled by fear. Amor wanders around the city, doing his best to blend in. He’s going to exchange a drill head. He’s going to call his brothers. He’s going to stop stalking Valeria and take care of his long-since-dead grandma. Most important of all: he

must not attract any suspicious glances. But what is normal behavior? Who is a potential perpetrator? And how many times can Shavi call in one day?

For 24 intense hours we find ourselves in Amor’s head, where the lines between criminal and

victim, love and chemistry, and fantasy and reality become blurrier and blurrier.

I Call My Brothers is a funny, frenzied showdown between our prejudices toward other people and each other.

The play was written for the project EUROPE NOW and has its origins in the text “Jag ringer mina bröder,” which Jonas Hassen Khemiri published in Dagens Nyheter in December, 2010,

one week after the suicide bombing in Stockholm.

FOUR ACTORS:

1 Man (AMOR) 2 Man (SHAVI, AMPLIFIER, BULLY, THE SALESMAN) 3 Woman (AMPLIFIER, BULLY, VALERIA, KAROLINA) 4 Woman (AMPLIFIER, AHLEM, THE SUPERVISOR, TYRA) 1. SCENE 1—INTRO……………………………………………..…………..3 2. SCENE 2—SHAVI……………………………………………..…………..4 3. SCENE 3—INTERLUDE…………………………………………………..19 4. SCENE 4—AHLEM………………………………………………………..21 5. SCENE 5—INTERLUDE…………………………………………………..33 6. SCENE 6—VALERIA……………………………………….……………..38 7. SCENE 7—INTERLUDE…………………………………....……………..58 8. SCENE 8—KAROLINA……………………………….…………………..61 9. SCENE 9—INTERLUDE…………………………………………………..71 10. SCENE 10—TYRA……………………… ……………………………..73 11. SCENE 11—OUTRO……………………………………………………..86

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1. SCENE 1—INTRO 1 enters the role of AMOR. 1/AMOR I call my brothers and say: Something really sick just happened. Have you heard? A man. A car. Two explosions. Right downtown. I call my brothers and say: No, no one has been arrested. No suspects. Not yet. I call my brothers and say: Now it begins. Get ready.

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2. SCENE 2—SHAVI 2 enters the role of SHAVI. 2/SHAVI Hello? 1/AMOR Shavi was the one who told me. 2/SHAVI Hey mate, pick up! 1/AMOR He called, I was standing on a dance floor, it was late at night, or actually: it was early the next day. We are transported to the night when it all happened. 2/SHAVI Pick up if you’re there! Pick up! It’s important! 1/AMOR I was drunk, he called, I danced, he called again. 2/SHAVI Pick up! 1/AMOR I felt the vibrations, I checked who it was, but I… 2/SHAVI Pick up! 1/AMOR I didn’t answer. 2/ SHAVI Fucking traitor. 1/AMOR I mean… 2/SHAVI What are you doing?

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1/AMOR If it had been someone else, I would have picked up. 2/SHAVI Are you out? 1/AMOR If it had been mom. Or my brothers. Or. 2/SHAVI Who are you out with? 1/AMOR Anyone at all. 2/SHAVI Tell me you’re not out alone on a Saturday night? Totally lame. 1/AMOR But instead it was Shavi… 2/SHAVI I swear bro, you’re shady. We leave the night when it all happened and enter AMOR’S memories of SHAVI. 1/AMOR I mean, don’t get me wrong…We’re still good friends. SHAVI turns to face the audience. 2/SHAVI That’s right. 1/AMOR I love him like a brother. 2/SHAVI Correct. 1/AMOR He’s my brother. 2/SHAVI Precisely.

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1/AMOR Almost in the same way that my brothers are my brothers. 2/SHAVI Exactly. We’ve got each others’ backs, and we would die for each other any day, right? Pause. SHAVI smiles proudly at the audience, AMOR looks at SHAVI, hesitates. 1/AMOR Exactly…or…maybe not die…for my brothers, I would die. For mom, I would die. But…for Shavi? 2/SHAVI Come on now, mate. 1/AMOR I mean…We grew up in the same neighborhood. We know each other. He’s got my back and I’ve got his. 2/SHAVI Word. 1/AMOR I would stand up for him any day, lie for him, take a bullet for him. 2/SHAVI Exactly. SHAVI nods and thumps his hand against his chest. 1/AMOR As long as the bullet doesn’t hit my face…I would take a non-life-threatening, non-face-hitting bullet for him any day. 2/SHAVI Likewise, mate. Pause 1/AMOR But at the same time…I have to say. Ever since he became a dad he’s been a little… 2/SHAVI What? 1/AMOR

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I don’t know. We’ve drifted apart. He’s changed. 2/SHAVI You’re one to talk. 1/AMOR When we were growing up he was always the guy who saw the world from a different angle. 2/SHAVI What do you mean? 1/AMOR Well, like, if you’d lost a basketball game and were on your way home on the subway, you could call Shavi and he’s just: 2/SHAVI How’d it go? What? You got creamed? By Trelleborg? Well, forget it, mate. Fuck basketball—I swear, basketball is for jerks. Think of all the other sports there are—soccer, handball, fencing. (Pause) Windsurfing, darts, tag. (Pause) Next time, you should’ve called me, I would have dunked them all to bits! 1/AMOR And if you’d for example cheated on your physics text and the teacher saw and snatched your test and threatened you with an F you could go home to the courtyard and Shavi was standing there and just: 2/SHAVI Whaddaya sad? So what? What does an F matter? You’ll still get into KTH. I’m gonna get Fs in four subjects and admit it, I’ll be fine, huh? 1/AMOR And if your cousin was caught by plainclothes cops and at first she didn’t get that it they were plainclothes and thought it was Manal’s brothers who he had a little beef with and so she resisted and tried to run away and so she got a broken nose, then Shavi said: 2/SHAVI Your cousin should have called me, I swear I would have had her back, I would have dealt combo after combo, I would have boxed the pig’s nose until there was only blood left. AMOR turns directly to SHAVI. 1/AMOR You would have? 2/SHAVI For sure I would’ve. Besides, Ahlem´s just gonna look extra tough with a crooked nose.

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1/AMOR (turning back to the audience) And even though everyone knew that Shavi was way too short for basketball… 2/SHAVI Bullshit. 1/AMOR And too skinny to get in fights… 2/SHAVI I’m not as short as I look. 1/AMOR He always made everything feel… Lighter. 2/SHAVI (points at his belt, whispering to the audience) Plus I been in a shitload of fights. Black belt, yo. Pause. 1/AMOR That’s why he was helium. 2/SHAVI Huh? 1/AMOR Helium. You were helium. 2/SHAVI What the fuck are you talking about? SHAVI walks threateningly toward AMOR, trying to get his attention. 1/AMOR He was happy when I told him. 2/SHAVI What the fuck do you mean by helium, nerd? 1/AMOR We had just learned the periodic system in school and to remember it we started thinking of everyone on our block as different elements. 2/SHAVI

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No no no. We didn’t do that. You did. 1/AMOR Camilla K was titanium since she was so strong and Steve-the-knife was uranium because he was so dangerous when he’d been drinking. 2/SHAVI I swear bro – you’re strange. 1/AMOR And Lisa was silica because she was fragile but still cocky and tough on the outside, and handball-Jimena was quicksilver because of her agility… 2/SHAVI Seriously – you need help. 1/AMOR And Shavi was helium. 2/SHAVI Fuck helium! I don’t want to be gas. 1/ AMOR That’s exactly what he said. (to SHAVI) So what do you want to be? 2/SHAVI I don’t know? Something else. Like, iron? 1/AMOR Already taken. 2/SHAVI Steel? 1/AMOR Not an element. 2/SHAVI But why am I helium? Are you trying to say that my head looks like a balloon? That my voice is squeaky high? You’re helium! Your mama’s helium! 1/AMOR No, you’re helium. Because you always make everything…I don’t know. Lighter. SHAVI realizes that helium is a good element.

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SHAVI I get it. So helium is good? 1/AMOR Helium is wicked. SHAVI Helium is heavy shit? 1/AMOR Helium is heavier than heavy shit. 2/SHAVI Helium is the heaviest shit. 1/AMOR Helium is the heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeaviiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiest! 2/SHAVI Good. So I’m Helium. What about you? 1/AMOR What? 2/SHAVI What element are you? 1/AMOR Me? 2/SHAVI Yeah, come on, Amor. You have to be an element, too. 1/AMOR No I… I don’t have one. 2/SHAVI Quit joking, tell me. I swear, you’re wood because you’re dry as a twig, or no, you’re water because you always start crying when… 1/AMOR (interrupting) Ununtrium, maybe. 2/SHAVI What? Unun…

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1/AMOR Trium. Ununtrium. 2/SHAVI What’s that? 1/AMOR A temporary name for an unconfirmed synthetic element. Atomic number 113. Atomic symbol Uut. 2/SHAVI I think wood fits you better. 1/AMOR And then some time went by and Camilla K died in a car accident and handball-Jimena stopped playing handball and I graduated second best in my class and Shavi— 2/SHAVI —almost graduated. 1/AMOR I got accepted to KTH and Shavi met Nina and became a dad… 2/SHAVI And an entrepreneur: Shavi Constructions, scaffolding you can count on. Call me. 1/AMOR I moved away and Shavi… 2/SHAVI Stayed in the neighborhood. 1/AMOR Everything changed. 2/SHAVI Bullshit. Everything stayed the same. 1/AMOR Except Shavi. Shavi changed. 2/SHAVI No, you changed. Paus

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1/AMOR After the election he called me and sounded totally shocked. We are transported back to the night of the election. 2/SHAVI This is completely sick, are you watching? Are you watching? 1/AMOR And of course I was watching. 2/SHAVI I can’t believe it. 1/AMOR Everybody was watching. 2/SHAVI They got in. 1/AMOR The results were coming in from the whole country. 2/SHAVI Those fucking racist cunts got into fucking parliament. 1/AMOR The numbers spoke loud and clear. 2/SHAVI This is so fucked up! 1/AMOR And I admit. I was a bit… irritated. I don’t know why, but there was something about how upset Shavi was that annoyed me. 2/SHAVI This is the sickest thing I’ve ever seen, bro! 1/AMOR (turns to Shavi) What the hell did you expect? Are you surprised? We live in a racist country, of course they would vote for the racist party. 2/SHAVI But come on—how …How dumb can they be?

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1/AMOR Who? 2/SHAVI The voters! The people! 1/AMOR What about you, what did you vote for? 2/SHAVI Completely sick. 1/AMOR Shavi. What did you vote for? 2/SHAVI Me? 1/AMOR You voted, right? Tell me you voted. Pause. 2/SHAVI I mean, I was on my way. But Peanut had a fever. 1/AMOR (to the audience) Peanut. I swear on my mother’s life, he calls his daughter “peanut.” Even though she was totally fat when she was born. 2/SHAVI And then I couldn’t find my voter ID. (pause) The bus was late. (pause) It was raining. (pause) The line was super long. (pause) Peanut’s stroller had a flat tire. 1/AMOR Peanut…All the time, him and Peanut. Him, Nina, and Peanut. AMOR and SHAVI enter the memory of how their relationship has been since SHAVI’s had a family (and AMOR has been left all alone). We’re transported to Peanut’s bedroom when she was a newborn. 2/SHAVI Isn’t she honestly, totally objectively, the cutest, most gifted kid you’ve ever met? 1/AMOR Shavi, I don’t know. She’s four days old.

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2/SHAVI Exactly! Look at her. It’s really uncommon for such a young child to focus her eyes this way. Pause. 1/AMOR But… 2/SHAVI Hmm? 1/AMOR She’s asleep. 2/SHAVI Yeah, but before she fell asleep. 1/AMOR (to the audience) Then Nina started working and Shavi went on paternity leave and then it started for real… 2/SHAVI Hey, how’s it going. 1/AMOR Honestly, cell phones are an awesome invention… 2/SHAVI Hey, it’s me. 1/AMOR But there ought to be some sort of block function… 2/SHAVI Wzup, so what’s happening? 1/AMOR A block function that makes it impossible to dial the same number… 2/SHAVI Helloooo me again. 1/AMOR More than—I don’t know—ten times a day?

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SHAVI and AMOR enter a memory of a typical weekday. AMOR is woken early by SHAVI calling. 2/SHAVI Hey man, how’s it going? 1/AMOR (half asleep) Hello? 2/SHAVI Banana. 1/AMOR What time is it? 2/SHAVI Banana, man. She ate banana for the first time today. Can you believe it? 1/AMOR Okay, but I… I just woke up. What time is it? 2/SHAVI It’s almost seven. The early bird catches the worm! 1/AMOR (to the audience) You try to go back to sleep. 2/SHAVI BANANA, MAN, BANANA! 1/AMOR It doesn’t work. 2/SHAVI BANANA! 1/AMOR You get up, you make breakfast. 2/SHAVI Shooo bro, so what’s happening? 1/AMOR The next call, fifteen minutes later. 2/SHAVI

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Good. She threw up a little, but otherwise everything is okay. 1/AMOR Ten minutes go by. 2/SHAVI Yo. So how’s it going? 1/AMOR Good. 2/SHAVI So, are you eating breakfast? 1/AMOR No, right now I’m on the phone but hopefully soon I will continue to eat my breakfast. 2/SHAVI Sweet. (pause) So what are you eating? 1/AMOR Same thing as yesterday. 2/SHAVI Tea and a sandwich? 1/AMOR Tea and a sandwich. 2/SHAVI Sweet. Talk to you later. We return to the night when everything happened; AMOR is sitting in the taxi after having left the dance floor. 1/AMOR So…I admit it. I didn’t answer when Shavi called. I was standing on a dance floor. I was drunk. I was alone. I didn’t know. (pause) When I came out, I had five missed calls and three messages. All from Shavi. I hailed a cab, I said my address, I listened to the first message. 2/SHAVI (voice changed) Hey man have you heard? 1/AMOR The clock was shining 2:16 on the dashboard, it was a new day, I was drunk, I had been dancing.

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2/SHAVI There were two explosions in the city. 1/AMOR My lips tasted like salt, the taxi driver was humming along with a song. 2/SHAVI They say it might be a… 1/AMOR Shavi’s voice sounded like he’s been running. 2/SHAVI Totally sick, totally fucking sick. 1/AMOR Empty streets. 2/SHAVI Hey it’s me again. They say it’s a fucking car bomb man, a car full of fucking dynamite. 1/AMOR Blinking traffic lights. 2/SHAVI It went off a couple hours ago now. I hope it’s not a… 1/AMOR Deserted bridges. 2/SHAVI I hope to God it’s not a… 1/AMOR Abandoned sidewalk cafés. 2/SHAVI Hey again, I just wanted to say they got a description of the guy. They say he looked like a… 1/AMOR Empty bus shelters. 2/SHAVI They say he was wearing a… 1/AMOR

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Dark display windows. 2/SHAVI They’ve raised the security level to class four or red or whatever the fuck it’s called when it’s the next-to-highest level. 1/AMOR I was sitting in the taxi wondering why he was reacting so strongly. 2/SHAVI Shit. Goddamn shit. 1/AMOR It sounded almost like he was starting to… 2/SHAVI Shit shit shit shit. 1/AMOR I mean…. It was just a car. 2/SHAVI Call me. 1/AMOR It wasn’t like anyone was going to… 2/SHAVI Call me. 1/AMOR It didn’t have anything to do with us. 2/SHAVI Call me. 1/AMOR Nothing.

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3. SCENE 3—INTERLUDE AMOR remains onstage; 2, 3 and 4 enter their roles as AMPLIFIERS. They share the lines and can take over from one another at any time, split a line right down the middle, read the same line simultaneously, in chorus. It’s up to the director to choose just who out of 2, 3, and 4 will say what in Scenes 3, 5, 7, and 9. 1/AMOR I call my brothers and say: 2 (whispering) Sch… 3 Lie low for a few days. 4 Stay at home. 2 Turn off the lights. 3 Lock the doors. 1 Fold the curtains in that special way, so that nobody can see in… 4 …but you still can see out. 3 Unplug the television. 2 Turn off your cellphone. 1 Toss your newspaper straight into the recycling. 4 Do not go outdoors. 3 Wait until everything has calmed down.

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1 Repeat to yourselves: ALL We are innocent. 3 Because you are. 2 Your consciences are clean. 1 You have nothing to do with this. 3 Await further instructions.

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4. SCENE 4—AHLEM 2 and 3 exit the stage. 4 enters the role of AHLEM. We are transported to AMOR’S home. 1/AMOR The next person to call was Ahlem. 4/AHLEM (solemnly) Better than a thousand hollow words, is one word that brings peace. 1/AMOR I was hung over, curled up like a shrimp on my tiny sofa, in the same clothes as the night before. 4/AHLEM Holding onto anger is like grasping a hot coal with the intent of throwing it at someone else. You are the one who gets burned. 1/AMOR My phone vibrated and I saw the foreign number and for one short second I thought that maybe it was…What if it’s…(loudly, since it’s a call from abroad) Hello? (normal volume) My voice sounded creakily hung over but full of expectation at the same time and I hated my voice for not being able to disguise itself better. (loudly) Allo? Shkon? Allo! Baba?1 4/AHLEM (loudly because the call is from abroad) Allo? 1/AMOR (loudly) Allo? Baba? Shkon? 4/AHLEM La la, it’s Ahlem! 1/AMOR (disappointed) Ah, Ahlem. Lebes? 4/AHLEM Lebes hamdullah. Oa enta lebes? 1/AMOR Lebes hamdullah, aicheck.2(to the audience) It wasn’t Ahlem from when I played clarinet and it wasn’t Ahlem, Fijona’s neighbor; it was my cousin Ahlem, the one who was down helping Grandma build a summer cottage on the coast. 4/AHLEM 1 Hello? Who’s there? Dad? (Tunisian Arabic) 2 Polite phrases (Tunisian Arabic)

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Were you sleeping? 1/AMOR No. Not at all. 4/AHLEM Were you out partying yesterday? 1/AMOR No. I. I was up late studying. How are you? How’s Grandma? 4/AHLEM My dear cousin. Haven’t you heard what happened? 1/AMOR What? 4/AHLEM Haven’t you seen the news? 1/AMOR What? Are they reporting it outside of Sweden? 4/AHLEM Al-Jazeera, CNN, Fox News, France 24—it’s everywhere. 1/AMOR I crawled up off the sofa while my cousin started to drop wisdom. 4/AHLEM Remember one thing. 1/AMOR I walked toward the hall. 4/AHLEM Hatred does not cease by hatred… 1/AMOR On the first page of the paper: the ruined car, the cordons, the smoke, the headline. 4/AHLEM Hatred only ceases by love; this is the eternal rule. 1/AMOR The description of the suspect. His build. The color of his hair. His beard.

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4/AHLEM This is a time of trial that approaches us, my dear cousin. 1/AMOR He looked like... 4/AHLEM You have to ask yourself this question: 1/AMOR He almost resembled… 4/AHLEM What do you do when the wind howls? 1/AMOR He could be anyone at all. 4/AHLEM Do you answer the wind by building yourself a shelter or a kite? Do you build yourself a bath house or a wind turbine? (more hesitantly) Do you build yourself a badminton court or a…or a…dartboard? 1/AMOR What are you talking about, Ahlem? 4/AHLEM What? 1/AMOR What the hell are you talking about? 4/AHLEM Me? I’m talking about the wind. 1/AMOR What wind? 4/AHLEM The harsh, ominous wind that is threatening to sweep down over you and your brothers, after this terrible thing that has happened. You must prepare yourself…Soon the time of trial is come. 1/AMOR (to the audience) She talked just like that.

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4/AHLEM (exaggerated formality) The time of trial is come. 1/AMOR But what does that mean? 4/AHLEM Trial—ordeal, hardship. 1/AMOR Yeah, but what does it mean? 4/AHLEM That something is hard. Really hard. Awfully hard. 1/AMOR Well, just say so then. Why do you have to talk so weirdly all the time? 4/AHLEM I don’t talk weirdly. 1/AMOR Yes, you do. And I wouldn’t care if you always had, but I remember how you were before. 4/AHLEM Before? 1/AMOR Yes, before. 4/AHLEM Before was a long time ago. 1/AMOR Mmm. 4/AHLEM Before was before I saw the light. Before I found my inner calm. Before I became myself. 1/AMOR Exactly. But before was also before you started acting fake. 4/AHLEM (trying to stay calm) What do you mean by “fake”, dear cousin?

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1/AMOR You know what I mean. 4/AHLEM No, please explain. 1/AMOR Don’t play dumb. Our history is either Muslim or communist. We support either Mohamed or Marx. We… 4/AHLEM (interrupting) Not me. 1/AMOR No, I know! But it doesn’t make you special! You are just like us. You just don’t want to admit it. No pathetic fucking Buddhist blather can help you! Pause. 1/AMOR Ahlem? Ahlem, are you still there? Sorry, I didn’t mean. I don’t know what…I just feel a little strange today. Are you there? We leave their real conversation. 4/AHLEM And I was still there. 1/AMOR Mm. 4/AHLEM But you didn’t say sorry. 1/AMOR I didn’t? 4/AHLEM No, you just stood there. Silent. And waited for me to say something. Pause. 1/AMOR I should have said sorry. 4/AHLEM

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Mmhmm. 1/AMOR I should have told you about the night before. I should have said: sorry, but I was out last night and Shavi called and I couldn’t answer because. 4/AHLEM Because? 1/AMOR I don’t know. Maybe because I didn’t want to think about how different everything used to be – when baba was living with us and Shavi was helium and you the whole neighborhood was afraid of you. 4/AHLEM (flattered and skeptical) Me? 1/AMOR Yeah? Don’t you remember? When it was enough just to say your name to get out of any fix at all? We leave the apartment and find ourselves in AMOR’S memory; three quick snapshots from his childhood: 2 and 4 enter the roles of BULLIES and attack AMOR. 4/BULLY There he is! 2/BULLY Get him! 4/BULLY Not so cocky now, huh, you little cunt. We find ourselves in a snowy scene. THE BULLIES chase AMOR, who, laughing, allows himself to be caught and lifted into the air. 1/AMOR Listen…just one thing I want to tell you before you throw me into that ice-cold snowbank… We find ourselves in a school bathroom. THE BULLIES push AMOR to his knees. Before you press my head into that pee-smelling toilet... We find ourselves in a schoolyard. THE BULLIES are holding him still to punch him in the face.

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Before you spit in my cap and take my headphones and hit me in the face with that gravelly bandy stick… THE BULLIES listen. 1/AMOR You know Ahlem? From number seventeen? That’s my cousin. THE BULLIES’ eyes meet, they look over at AHLEM, and they stop short. They lower AMOR, straighten his clothes, fix his hair, wave nicely at AHLEM 1/AMOR That was all I needed to say. 4/AHLEM I remember that. 1/AMOR And I remembered that time when we were at the outdoor pool and the lifeguard called the spot where we were sitting “Monkey Mountain” and when I told you you got up and… 4/AHLEM Went over and pushed him into the water. 1/AMOR Exactly! 1/AMOR I remembered when you huffed glue and kicked side mirrors off cars and hit guards – 4/AHLEM He was asking for it. 1/AMOR And sometimes when I ran into you in town I thought that you were easily lit like magnesium and that you would never be transformed into boring aluminum. (Pause.) Then you started doing kung-fu and reading those wishy-washy books and coming to family reunions with that strange smile on your lips. 4/AHLEM I had finally seen the light. 1/AMOR You had been blinded. 4/AHLEM

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I was devout. 1/AMOR You were fake. 4/AHLEM Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, but today is a gift. That is why it is called the “present”. 1/AMOR Exactly. You said things like that. And looked super proud. Up until I revealed to everyone that the quote came from Kung-Fu Panda. 4/AHLEM (sarcastically) Haha, that’s so funny. 1/AMOR But it does! 4/AHLEM Of course it doesn’t. 1/AMOR Yes, it does. 4/AHLEM In that case, Kung-Fu Panda took it from the book I read. 1/AMOR Or else you took it from Kung-Fu Panda. We leave the memories and return to the apartment and the phone call. 4/AHLEM You were just jealous. 1/AMOR Jealous? Me? 4/AHLEM Mmhmm. Just because I had found myself. While you were more confused than ever. 1/AMOR I wasn’t confused. I was completely normal. 4/AHLEM

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Oh yeah, sure. Because completely normal people name others after elements and describe their feelings as equations and stalk the same girl for twenty years until she has enough and… 1/AMOR (interrupting--faking an echo on the phone) Oh oh oh come come come on on on you you you are are are exa exa exaggerating ing ing. 4/AHLEM Hello? 1/AMOR Hello, hello? 4/AHLEM Your voice is echoing! 1/AMOR What what? Come come on on. I I am am? You you sound ound complet et etly normal al al. 4/AHLEM There must be something wrong with this line. Hold on, I’ll call you right back. 1/AMOR Okay okay. Strange ange becase ause you you sound sound complet et etly normal al al. 4/AHLEM Hold on, hang up and I’ll call you back. AMOR looks at the audience with a pleased expression so we understand that he’s tricked his cousin. 1/AMOR And we hung up. 4/AHLEM And I called back. 1/AMOR But it took a while. And while I was waiting for the call to connect, I turned on the TV and on channel four a policeman with a hook nose was saying that it was hardly the work of a lone madman and on channel two there were pictures from the site of the explosion and on CNN an expert was saying that the failed attack could have been catastrophic and when the phone rang again I muted the TV and answered. 4/AHLEM It seems to be working now.

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1/AMOR We started over again. Ahlem tried to bring up the drill head and I asked how the relatives were. 4/AHLEM You avoided my question about the drill head and I told you about the cousin who got an internship in a hotel. 1/AMOR Ahlem tried to ask me about the drill head again and I said: Wow, that’s great, which hotel? 4/AHLEM Hannibal Hotel where we used to swim when we were kids, and they’re renovating it, and speaking of renovations: how are things going with the drill head? 1/AMOR Yes I know. 4/AHLEM Have you sent it? 1/AMOR I will. 4/AHLEM But you did get a refund? 1/AMOR Kind of. 4/AHLEM Did you or not? 1/AMOR I’ve been so busy lately. It’s my last exams and a ton of other stuff. And to be completely honest it’s a bit embarrassing to go back and… ugh. I don’t understand how it could’ve broken again. 4/AHLEM What can I say? A house isn’t built in a day, a government doesn’t fall in a year, and a drill head only holds out for a few weeks. Can you go take care of it today? 1/AMOR Absolutely. I’ll take care of it. That’s what I said. And I thought about all the times I’ve said just that: Absolutely I’ll take care of it. You need a ride? I’ll take care of it. You’re short on cash? I’ll take care of it. You need the ingredients for guacamole? I’ll take care of it. Because that’s what you do when you’re a big brother. You take care of it.

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Pause. 4/AHLEM Hello? You still there? 1/AMOR (mumbling) Envelope. 4/AHLEM What? 1/AMOR I have to buy one of those bubble envelopes too. And take care of postage. 4/AHLEM How hard is that? 1/AMOR It’s not that, it’s just the feeling, the feeling that I’m always doing things for other people. The feeling that it’s up to me to keep everything. I don’t know. Flowing. 4/AHLEM But then why didn’t you say no? Why didn’t you say: 1/AMOR “No, I don’t have time to do it today. You’ll have to call someone else. Call my brothers.” I don’t know. I don’t know. Instead I said: Absolutely, I’ll take care of it. I’ll take care of it later today. No problem. 4/AHLEM Good. 1/AMOR Is it urgent? 4/AHLEM Wait a second. Pause. We hear AHLEM’S voice, distant. 1/AMOR Hello? Are you still there? 4/AHLEM Yes, sorry. Yes, it’s urgent. It would be super if you could take care of it today.

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1/AMOR Who were you talking to? 4/AHLEM What? 1/AMOR Who were you talking to? 4/AHLEM Me? 1/AMOR Yes? Is he there? Don’t tell me he’s standing there right now? Pause. 1/AMOR This is just completely fucked up. He’s standing there and hiding in the same room you’re in, but he can’t take the phone and say hi? Tell him he can go to hell. You hear me? Tell him that, tell him he can go to hell! 4/AHLEM But. You didn’t say that. 1/AMOR Yes I did. I said something about like that. 4/AHLEM No. You said. 1/AMOR Okay. So he’s there. Okay. Tell him hi. Tell baba hi from his sons. Tell him we’re fine. 4/AHLEM That’s what you said. 1/AMOR And then? 4/AHLEM Then we hung up. 1/AMOR But didn’t you end with some words of wisdom?

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4/AHLEM No. I didn’t end with any words of wisdom, because the whole thing suddenly made me feel so sad, because I was standing there in our other country and your father was standing in the same room and because you didn’t talk to each other that I... It was like...It was like the words of wisdom that popped into my head weren’t really enough. Then we hung up and that was that. Ahlem exits the stage. 1/AMOR We hung up and I put the paper in the recycling and got dressed and went out, I left the apartment, I took the broken drill head, but then when I got down to the street I went back, I went back up and I don’t know why but I took out the box with old teenage things and there was the beeper and the cleaning kit for cassette tapes and there was the knife, the old knife with the dull, dirty blade, and I stood there for a few seconds, I held it in my hand, I put it in my back pocket even though I knew I wouldn’t use it, I didn’t even think of it as a weapon, it was just nostalgia, it was just the feeling, of the feeling of, the feeling of company. We leave the apartment. 2/SHAVI Hello? Are you there? 1/AMOR When I came out into the stairwell my phone rang. 2/SHAVI Pick up, I need to tell you something 1/AMOR It was Shavi. Again.. 2/SHAVI Call me when you can. 1/AMOR Not right now, I thought. Soon.

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5. SCENE 5—INTERLUDE AMOR remains onstage; 2, 3 and 4 enter the roles of AMPLIFIERS. 1/AMOR I call my brothers and say: 3 Now is the time. 2 This is the day. 4 The clock has struck. 1 Wake up! 3 Hello – Wake up! 2 It is time to get up. 4 Get out of your beds. 1 Shave your faces. 2 Put on clean, neat clothes. 3 Observe: 1 The clothes should be anonymous. 4 But the clothes should not be too anonymous. 2 They must not be so anonymous that they stick out in their anonymity.

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3 Exactly. 4 The goal is to blend in. 3 The goal is to become invisible. 1 Leave your keffiyeh at home. 2 Do not carry a suspicious bag. 4 There. Now you’re ready. 3 Now you can leave your homes. 1 But before you go out you must arm yourselves. 2 What? 3 No,Why? 1 Bring a knife. Sharpen a screwdriver. Smuggle a razorblade in your wallet. 4 Is that really necessary? 1 Now you are ready. 2 Leave your houses. 3 Transform yourselves into representatives. 4

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Smile at everyone and everything. 1 Smile at neighbors. 2 Smile at pets. 3 Smile at mannequins. 2 If someone opens a door for you – thank them VERY loudly . 1 Apologize for existing. 3 Whisper on subways. 4 Laugh quietly at movie theaters. . 2 Transform into invisible gas form. The imagined brothers leave their homes, but when they are met by the gazes of nearby people on the street it becomes difficult for them to walk normally. 3 What are you doing? 4 Hello? 2 Walk normally! 3 Walk like a person who isn’t thinking about walking! EVERYONE tries to walk with maximal normalness. 4 Come on now—shape up—swing your arms.

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3 Use your legs. 2 Bend your knees. 4 Rotate your back. EVERYONE, in their attempt to walk normally, shows how difficult it is to do. 1 There. 4 That’s good. 2 Now we’re getting somewhere. EVERYONE is still walking extremely abnormally. 1 Remember: Every flash of sunlight is a camera lens. 2 Every gust of wind is the static of their surveillance system. 4 You are not safe anywhere. 3 Turn up the volume in your headphones so you don’t hear people whispering. 1 Close your eyes so you don’t see people looking. 2 Don’t attract anyone’s… 3 Anyone’s… 4 …attention.

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6. SCENE 6—VALERIA 2 and 3 exit the stage, 4 enters the role of SUPERVISOR. We find ourselves on the street outside AMOR’S apartment. 4/SUPERVISOR (to the command center) Visual contact, over. 1/AMOR I went out on the street. 4/SUPERVISOR He’s leaving his apartment, over. 1/AMOR I walked toward the subway. 4/SUPERVISOR He’s moving west, over. 1/AMOR I took out my wallet, pulled out my card, and took the escalator down to the tracks. 4/SUPERVISOR He is on his way down into the subway system—I repeat—he is on his way down into the subway system, over. 1/AMOR I sat down on a bench and waited. 4/SUPERVISOR He has a backpack with him, over. 1/AMOR I didn’t look curiously at my fellow passengers. I didn’t write anything down in a notebook, I didn’t take any pictures with my phone. 4/SUPERVISOR A black backpack, just the right size to contain a… 1/AMOR No one felt uncomfortable when they saw me. 4/SUPERVISOR He seems very protective of his backpack, over.

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1/AMOR The train was coming and I stood up from the bench. 4/SUPERVISOR There’s something odd about the backpack, over. 1/AMOR The first car was pretty full so I walked toward the next one. 4/SUPERVISOR He’s trying to lose us, over. 1/AMOR Then I rode into the city. 4/SUPERVISOR He’s trying to blend in, over. 1/AMOR I was mostly absorbed in my own thoughts. 4/SUPERVISOR He’s pretending to be unconcerned, over. 1/AMOR I didn’t look aggressively at anyone. I didn’t read a suspicious book in a foreign language. 4/SUPERVISOR We have him in sight, over. 1/AMOR I got off and took the escalator up to Sergels Torg. 4/SUPERVISOR He’s almost downtown, over. We find ourselves downtown. The speed of the lines below gradually increases until AMOR gets hold of VALERIA. 1/AMOR I wasn’t being followed. 4/SUPERVISOR He’s a few minutes from the scene of the crime, over.

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1/AMOR I didn’t look anxiously over my shoulder. 4/SUPERVISOR He looks nervous, over. 1/AMOR I came out onto the street and started walking at the same pace as everyone else and the sun was shining and the buses were driving and the snow was melting and dropped gloves lay dripping on electrical boxes and everything seemed normal. 4/SUPERVISOR He is moving north on Drottninggatan. I repeat: north on Drottninggatan, over. 1/AMOR Nothing was different, nothing was new, I wasn’t being followed, no one was looking at me strangely, no one was thinking: he is one of them. 4/SUPERVISOR He’s moving towards the scene of the crime, over. 1/AMOR I was part of this city—just like everyone else, just like the girl with the Twilfit bag and the guy with the inside-out hat. 4/SUPERVISOR He has stopped moving—I repeat, now he is standing perfectly still, over. 1/AMOR Just like the lady with the hotdog and the father with the double stroller. 4/SUPERVISOR He’s sweating, he looks nervous, over. 1/AMOR I was part of the city just like the barber who was smoking outside his shop. 4/SUPERVISOR He’s adjusting his backpack, over. 1/AMOR Just like the guys in the identical soccer scarves, in line for the ATM. 4/SUPERVISOR He’s still standing still, please advise, over.

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1/AMOR I was just as much a part of the city as the police officers who stood ready at every street corner. 4/SUPERVISOR He’s changing direction, he’s turning back, he’s moving south, fast, over. 1/AMOR Police dogs and batons, visors and pistols. 4/SUPERVISOR (increased intensity) He’s starting to run, over! 1/AMOR Shields and tear gas and mouths speaking sideways into radio transmitters. 4/SUPERVISOR He’s changing directions again, he’s running east, over! 1/AMOR Hands brushing holsters. 4/SUPERVISOR Please advise, over. 1/AMOR Eyes staring, heads nodding. 4/SUPERVISOR Advise, over? 1/AMOR The sweat and the backpack and the drill head and the knife in my back pocket. 4/SUPERVISOR (yelling) ADVISE, OVER? 1/AMOR Valeria’s name and Valeria’s number and then the dial tones. One. Two. Three. Pause. The speed with which lines are delivered returns to normal. 4/SUPERVISOR He’s stopped. He’s taken out his phone, over. 1/AMOR Four. Five. She doesn’t answer. She’s busy. She is a traitorous fucking…

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3 enters the role of VALERIA. She answers and AMOR calms down, breaks into a smile. 3/VALERIA Hello? 1/AMOR Hi! 3/VALERIA How many accounts would you like today? 1/AMOR (laughing) TONS of accounts! At least 25! 3/VALERIA And who rocks the hall? 1/AMOR Santa rocks the hall! And slaughters the studio! By the way: whose rowanberries are these? 3/VALERIA ASK the guy who sewed the blanket! AMOR and VALERIA laugh for a long time at their inside jokes. 4/SUPERVISOR He’s speaking in code, over. 1/AMOR (to VALERIA) Classic. 3/VALERIA So how are things? 1/AMOR Good. How about you? 3/VALERIA Oh, fine. I’m just at work, but I can talk. 1/AMOR You’ve heard, right? 3/VALERIA

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About the bomb? Yes, I heard. It’s creepy. 1/AMOR Fucking creepy. 3/VALERIA Has it begun? 1/AMOR What? 3/VALERIA You know what I mean. AMOR looks at the SUPERVISOR. 1/AMOR I mean. The whole city is full of cops and everything feels different, but… 3/VALERIA But…? 1/AMOR I’m not sure how much of it is in my head, you know? 3/VALERIA Typical you. Wait a sec…(Pause, VALERIA at a distance) No, I’m sorry—all the sizes are out here. On Storgatan, maybe. No, I’m sorry, I can’t do that but stop by there, I think they have it. (Pause. VALERIA comes back.) Fucking idiot. 1/AMOR Who? 3/VALERIA The customer. So, what is the mood like there? 1/AMOR It’s. I don’t know…I…(whispering) I feel like I’m being watched somehow. AMOR looks at the SUPERVISOR, who tries to look invisible. 3/VALERIA Haha, you’re just too cute. 1/AMOR What?

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1/VALERIA Of course you’re being watched! 4/SUPERVISOR (to AMOR) Don’t believe her. 3/VALERIA You’ve been watched all your life! 4/SUPERVISOR She’s lying. 3/VALERIA In fact, I’m watching you at this very moment. 4/SUPERVISOR She’s just kidding. 1/AMOR Stop joking around. 3/VALERIA But it’s true. I know exactly where you are at this very moment. 4/SUPERVISOR Test her! 1/AMOR Prove it. 3/VALERIA You are standing… just a second…I have to turn on my sensors. And zoom in a little. You are standing. On a sidewalk. 1/AMOR Correct. 3/VALERIA Not too far from a bus stop. 1/AMOR Mmhmm. 3/VALERIA

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And within your field of vision is a parking ticket machine. A manhole. And at least one commercial sign. 1/AMOR That’s right! 4/SUPERVISOR So? Was that so hard? 3/VALERIA And somewhere, there’s a 7-11. 1/AMOR Well… 3/VALERIA Or a Pressbyrå. Or an H&M. Admit it, I’m right. 1/AMOR Yes, that’s right. 4/SUPERVISOR No it isn’t! 3/VALERIA Who’s the best? 1/AMOR (grudgingly) You’re the best. 3/VALERIA Who sips the slushie? 1/AMOR (grudgingly) You sip the slushie. 4/SUPERVISOR (to the command center) He’s speaking in code again, over. Pause. 3/VALERIA So what are you going to do now? 1/AMOR Me?

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3/VALERIA Yeah, you have to do something. 4/SUPERVISOR He’s sitting down on a bench, over. 1/AMOR Like what? 3/VALERIA Typical you. Just do something! Anything. Something to confuse them. Something to make them get it. 1/AMOR Get what? 4/SUPERVISOR He’s getting ready for an assignment, over. 3/VALERIA Where are you exactly? 1/AMOR Downtown. A few blocks from the cordons. 4/SUPERVISOR He’s still sitting on the bench, over. 3/VALERIA So go over there. 1/AMOR Where? 3/VALERIA Go over to the cordons. 1/AMOR Okay. 3/VALERIA Are you walking over? 1/AMOR Mmhmm.

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3/VALERIA Tell me when you’re there. (pause) Wait a sec (with the receiver against her chest) What size are you…no, that’s a small, Mmhmm, all the ones in the window are smalls. Except the men’s coats. Mmhmm. Exactly. (back) Idiot. Where are you now? 1/AMOR I’m there. 3/VALERIA What does it look like? 1/AMOR It’s just a burned-out car. Inside a ring of blue and white police tape. 3/VALERIA So are there cops all over the place? 1/AMOR Every corner. 3/VALERIA Then it’s simple. Just go up to the closest officer and… (whispering) grab his dick. 1/AMOR Why would I… 3/VALERIA Yeah, do it! It’ll be funny. Walk up, grab his dick and say “I knew it” and then walk away. 1/AMOR What do I get if I do it? 3/VALERIA You don’t have to sip the slushie. Your bed will be completely free of rowanberries. 1/AMOR And? 3/VALERIA What, you want more? 1/AMOR Come up and visit soon. 3/VALERIA

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Okay. I promise. We hear AMOR collecting himself and trying to give the impression that he’s approaching a policeman. 1/AMOR So I did it, I said: wait a second to Valeria and I snuck up closer to the cordons and there were three large policeman and one skinny one and they looked at me and I looked them in the eye and at first they looked away and then they looked back and I got closer and said: Hi, how’s it going? And they didn’t answer, they looked off over my shoulder, all but the skinny one, and when there were just a few meters left to go I bend forward, a little like I was going to tie my shoe, about like if I had just gotten a stomachache and when I looked up the skinny one was coming closer and I stuck out my arm, I grabbed his dick, I cried: Haha, I knew it, and then I ran back toward the bench and… We hear AMOR trying to sound like he’s running away. 3/VALERIA What, did you do it? AMOR is out of breath. 1/AMOR Yeah, I did it! 3/VALERIA You’re joking. 1/AMOR No, I’m not joking! I did it! I went up to a policeman and pretended to trip and then I did it. 3/VALERIA Oh, lay off. 4/SUPERVISOR He’s still sitting on the bench, over. We realize that AMOR has been sitting on the bench this whole time. 1/AMOR So…when are you coming up? 3/VALERIA I don’t think that’s such a good idea. 4/SUPERVISOR

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He seems to be crumpling up, over. 1/AMOR Why not? 3/VALERIA You know why. (pause) I…I have to go now. 1/AMOR Okay. 3/VALERIA The store manager will be back soon and it has to look like I’m working. 1/AMOR Then get to work. 3/VALERIA Talk to you soon. 1/AMOR Absolutely. 4/SUPERVISOR He’s still sitting on the bench, over. (pause) He’s putting the phone in his pocket, over. (pause) He’s still sitting there on the bench, over. (pause) He’s hiding his face with one hand, over. (Pause, in which we let our imaginations decide whether or not AMOR is crying.) 4/SUPERVISOR Permission to terminate surveillance? Over. 1/AMOR (whispering) No. 4/SUPERVISOR He’s not the one we’re looking for, over. 1/AMOR (whispering) Maybe that’s exactly who I am. 4/SUPERVISOR It is 1:42 PM and surveillance is terminated. 1/AMOR Don’t go.

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4/SUPERVISOR Over and out. The SUPERVISOR exits the stage. We’re still downtown, even as we hear/see his memories of VALERIA 1/AMOR It was Sunday and it was almost two o’clock and I got up from the bench and left downtown, or I was still downtown but I took a detour to avoid walking same policemen again and I bought a coffee and an apple and I only thought about Valeria occasionally. 3/VALERIA Hey, by the way, I ran into your brothers last weekend. 1/AMOR The apple had a sticker that I picked off and carried for two blocks, waiting to see a trash can. 3/VALERIA Shit, you’re so different. 1/AMOR When I finally saw a trash can, I went up to it and tossed the sticker in. 3/VALERIA There’s a pretty big age difference, huh? 1/AMOR And I tried to do it as naturally as possible so people would see and remember that there…by golly, there’s the sort of person who isn’t someone like that. 3/VALERIA Yeah, but your brothers are so…I don’t know. Naturally social. 1/AMOR And I put the sticker in the trash can and tried to keep walking without looking proud. 3/VALERIA They seem so spontaneous. 1/AMOR And I think it worked, I felt trustworthy, I felt real. 3/VALERIA I don’t get how you can be so different.

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1/AMOR I passed a grocery store, I passed a Korean restaurant, I wanted to call Valeria and say, the ticket is reserved, so just come anytime, see you in a few hours at the station, okay? We enter an alternate world where VALERIA comes to visit that very night. 3/VALERIA What are you talking about? 1/AMOR The train ticket. I got one. For you. Totally spontaneous. And tonight we’d walk around the city and she wouldn’t compare me to my brothers and no one would look strangely at us and if we ran into anyone who asked how we knew each other we would both burst into laughter… 3/VALERIA We? 1/AMOR We go waaaaay back. 3/VALERIA Mmhnn, so far back that we don’t even remember when we met. 1/AMOR Exactly—we’ve been friends since day one. 3/VALERIA Like since day care. 1/AMOR Since before day care. 3/VALERIA Since milk teeth and diapers. 1/AMOR Since nursing and name-marked hats. 3/VALERIA We sipped bottles. 1/AMOR We chilled in sandboxes. 3/VALERIA We cruised around in strollers.

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1/AMOR We got up to rowanberry mischief. 3/VALERIA We ate each other’s boogers. 1/AMOR That far back? 3/VALERIA Mmhmm, THAT far back. 1/AMOR Wow, then what happened? 3/VALERIA In our teens it got a little more complicated because one of us. 1/AMOR We won’t mention names. 3/VALERIA One of us started to feel love while the other felt friendship. 1/AMOR And that person refused to give up? 3/VALERIA Exactly. Some would probably say he was… 1/AMOR A little persistent. 3/VALERIA Others would probably call him an actual stalker. 1/AMOR He started sending poems to her. 3/VALERIA She started to receive postcards with strange calculations that showed how his love grew exponentially each week. 1/AMOR He drew romantic bar graphs that showed how good they were together.

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3/VALERIA He wrote formulas and equations and described chemical experiments where he persisted in calling her osmium because…well, why was it, actually? 1/AMOR Because she had the greatest density of all the elements. Because she refused to bend. Because she always said… 3/VALERIA But don’t you get it? I’m in love with someone else. 1/AMOR And he thought: That means that one day she could be in love with me. 3/VALERIA No, it means I’m taken. 1/AMOR And he thought: Everything that is taken will be free sometime. 3/VALERIA But don’t you get it, Amor? I like you. But not that way. 1/AMOR And he thought: She likes me! 3/VALERIA But pretty please, stop sending equations, stop sending graphs, and for God’s sake stop calling me osmium. This isn’t going to happen, do you get it, are you listening to me now, read my lips: this ISN’T GOING TO HAPPEN! Pause. 1/AMOR Unless… 3/VALERIA Unless nothing, can you get into your thick skull that it will never be us, it’s been nineteen years now… 1/AMOR Eighteen. 3/VALERIA

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… and you keep clinging to something that never even happened. You have to stop now, because this person you’ve made me into doesn’t exist, I don’t exist, you’ve turned me into a fixed idea and I will never be able to match up to the fantasy you’ve made me into, can you understand that? You have to move on. You have to let go. 1/AMOR Then they got older. 3/VALERIA Years went by. 1/AMOR He started school at KTH. 3/VALERIA She moved out of town. 1/AMOR He lived alone. 3/VALERIA She had kids. 1/AMOR He passed his exams, all but the last three. 3/VALERIA She started an extra job in a clothes shop. 1/AMOR But it was temporary. 3/VALERIA Everything was temporary. 1/AMOR Almost everything. Pause. 3/VALERIA But they’re still friends, right? 1/AMOR That’s right. They call each other. They talk. And sometimes there’s one of them…

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3/VALERIA Who? 1/AMOR One of them. 3/VALERIA Say who. 1/AMOR No, I can’t say who. 3/VALERIA But what if it’s both of them. 1/AMOR No, it’s just one of them who starts thinking of himself as nitrogen because of his extreme inertness. It’s just one of them who calls and says: Hey, it’s me. We’re transported back to the night when AMOR tried to do something spontaneous. 3/VALERIA (half-asleep) Amor? Has something happened? 1/AMOR It’s time. 3/VALERIA What? Why are you calling in the middle of…? 1/AMOR (interrupting) Look out the window. 3/VALERIA Why? 1/AMOR Just look. 3/VALERIA And the one who just woke up twists open the blinds and there’s the parking lot and there’s the closed-for-the-night shopping center sign and there…farther off is a car whose high beams are blinking. 1/AMOR And one of them says…

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3/VALERIA Are you completely fucking nuts? And the other one says… 1/AMOR I’m here now. I’ve come to get you. We’re getting out of here. Fuck them. 3/VALERIA What them? 1/AMOR All of them. Pause. 1/AMOR We get out of there, and in one day two weeks three months we’ll arrive, and we’ll both know it, suddenly know that this, this is the place, the place for us. 3/VALERIA They are quiet for a minute or two. 1/AMOR Then one of them says. 3/VALERIA Hey…I’m gonna go back to sleep now. 1/AMOR But I’m standing here outside. 3/VALERIA Yes, I see that, but I’m going back to sleep and you should go home. 1/AMOR But… 3/VALERIA And we’ll talk in a few days and we aren’t going to mention this and next week we’ll talk again and we aren’t going to mention this then, either. VALERIA ends the conversation and exits the stage. 1/AMOR And one of them hangs up and the other is still sitting outside in the car that he borrowed from Shavi and it’s red and rusty and when you put it in third gear the motor grates but if you go

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straight from second to fourth then it works great and he’s sitting there with the phone to his ear and he still hasn’t hung up and he thinks: I can call again, he thinks: Maybe she wasn’t totally awake, he thinks: I can go by myself, I don’t need her, why would she be the one I…But it’s pretty late or actually pretty early and he puts down the phone and starts the motor and it starts right away this time and he turns out of the parking lot and the bag of food is in the backseat and the luggage is in the trunk and he wonders how his calculations could have gone so wrong, what it was that didn’t work, what part of the equation didn’t hold, and as he gets on the highway he has to stop on the shoulder because the wheel is shaking and the white marks on the road are running away like puddles and he thinks: This isn’t over, he thinks: I don’t need to go home, he thinks: I can go anywhere in the world but then he ends up going north after all and later he finds a good parking spot just a few meters from his door and he comes home to his kitchen and takes out the bag of food and the bread that’s gotten mushy and the cucumber slices that have become limp but the thermos coffee is still warm and now I don’t have to make a lunch, anyway, and then another workday starts and another and he goes to work and he comes home from work and he says hi to coworkers in the break room and his life goes on and sometimes he thinks that he should call and say that he’s gotten over it, that he’s moved on, all he needs to do is pick up the phone and dial her number, and just as he’s about to do that, just as he is standing with his phone… We’re transported back to the Sunday in the city. SHAVI sounds broken. 2/SHAVI Hello? It’s me! 1/AMOR Shavi’s name on the display. 2/SHAVI Answer! Is everything all right? 1/AMOR I put the phone in my pocket and thought typical...Typical me.

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7. SCENE 7—INTERLUDE AMOR remains onstage. 2, 3, and 4 enter the roles of AMPLIFIERS. 1/AMOR I call my brothers and say. 4 Forget what I said. 3 FUCK silence! 2 FUCK invisibility! 1 Exchange your anonymous clothes for… 4 Neon colored grass skirts 1 Yes, that´s good. 3 Decorate your bodies with glimmering Christmas ornaments. 1 Yes! 2 Rub neon paint on your face. 1 (hesitantly) Well…okay 2 Play the whistle. 3 Scream holes into megaphones. 4 Occupy malls.

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1 March in the front of demonstrations. 3 Tattoo PC 4 LIFE in black Gothic letters on your stomach. 2 Make yourselves maximally visible until they understand that there is an opposition. 4 Defend the rights of all idiots to be idiots until you lose your voice. 2 Until you die. 3 Until they understand that we’re not who they think we are. 1 Because we are not like them. 4 We don’t long to go back to a made-up past. 2, 3, and 4 (solemnly) We march proudly into a future filled with dissolved borders, knowing that no clocks can ever be turned back! 3 We are not afraid. 4 We are not afraid. 2 (to 1) We’re not, right? Right? 3 (to 1) Come on—repeat after us. 4 We are not afraid. 3 We are not afraid.

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1 is silent and can’t formulate words.

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8. SCENE 8—KAROLINA 3 enters the role of KAROLINA 1/AMOR I went back downtown, I crossed streets, I squinted at the sun, I was an ordinary person, I didn’t stand out in any way, nobody saw me and thought I was a… 3/KAROLINA Hello? 1/AMOR Valeria? 3/KAROLINA (in a chipper salesperson manner) My name is Karolina! 1/AMOR Yes? 3/KAROLINA My name is Karolina and I am calling from Animal Rights. 1/AMOR Okay. 3/KAROLINA Can you spare a couple of minutes for the animals of the world? 1/AMOR I told her I was busy. 3/KAROLINA I understand. Can I call back a little later? 1/AMOR I said I wasn’t interested. 3/KAROLINA But how about I’ll call you in ten minutes? Will that be okay? We find ourselves in a shopping center. 1/AMOR Sure, I said, and we hung up and I kept walking towards the mall, there were people in the café, children were running in the aisle, there was a line in front of the chocolate stand, everything just

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kept going, everything was like normal. The ruined car had been towed off, the sidewalk had been washed, people were drinking coffee, people were ordering almond tarts, people were looking, I took the escalator up to the top floor and went in and I didn’t discover until I got inside that they’d moved the return counter out; now it was just before you went in but instead of sneaking out through the entry gates I walked around the whole store and out through the registers and then back so that no one would see me and suspect that I had…(pause) I took a number, I took a number and sat down on the bench and waited for my turn and there was a blonde girl and a guy that was one of us, and even if we didn’t know each other he was the one I was hoping for. I was sitting on the bench with my backpack on my lap and when my number came up our eyes met and (AMOR smiles proudly) he waved me up even though he was actually about to go on break. We find ourselves at the return counter. 2 enters the role of THE SALESMAN 2/THE SALESMAN It’s okay. I’ll take one more… AMOR approaches THE SALESMAN, proud and grateful. 1/AMOR The girl took another customer and I walked up to guy who could have been my brother and I winked at him so he would get that I got that he got that I got it. (THE SALESMAN ignores the wink. AMOR suddenly starts speaking with an accent, talking to THE SALESMAN as though he were a close friend) Whaddup maaan, what’s going on? 2/SALESMAN Excuse me? 1/AMOR Whatsuuup man, what’s happening? Everything cool? 2/SALESMAN (clearing his throat) Oh, I’m fine. How about you? 1/AMOR Good. Chill. All good. It’s going. Hey, listen…I need to get a refund. 2/SALESMAN Okay. 1/AMOR (to the audience) I opened the backpack and showed him the worn-out drill head and… AMOR takes out a dusty, stripped drill head. 1/AMOR

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Suddenly he started to like grin. THE SALESMAN listens attentively to AMOR but doesn’t smile. 1/AMOR (to the salesman) I mean…I was here once before, you know, with the same problem and then you just exchanged the drill head and… THE SALESMAN still isn’t smiling. 1/AMOR (to the audience) He just kept smiling, he looked at the receipt, he kept grinning and I wanted to say: stop smiling you cunt, you whore, stop pretending I’m not your brother. 2/THE SALESMAN (without smiling) It looks…hmm. It’s quite well-used. If I may say so. 1/AMOR Yeah, you know how it is. 2/THE SALESMAN May I ask…What…What did you use it for? 1/AMOR It’s not me, it’s my relatives, you know. They’re working on building a house, or more like a cottage. You know how it is…family. 2/THE SALESMAN The problem is that this drill is meant for use around the home. That means that…well…you should use it at home. Putting up a bookcase, screwing a bathroom cabinet up. It’s not really made to build a house. 1/AMOR Cottage. 2/THE SALESMAN I don’t think I can help you, sorry. 1/AMOR And he said it like he was trying to sound nice, but I could hear him laughing inside just like the betraying fucking cunt he was. 2/SALESMAN Our customer policy here is blah blah blah. 3/KAROLINA

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Hi, this is Karolina again. 1/AMOR What? 2/SALESMAN …even if you have a receipt then blah blah blah. 3/KAROLINA Yes, this is Karolina again from Animal Rights. 2/SALESMAN …accept all returns then you as customers would have to blah blah blah. 1/AMOR I’m still busy…Can you call back a little later? 3/KAROLINA Absolutely. 1/AMOR And I turned back to the guy who wasn’t one of us at all and I said: But it was no problem last time. I just showed the receipt and everything was fine. THE SALESMAN sighs. 2/SALESMAN Okay, I can double-check with my boss… Can you wait a minute? 1/AMOR But what he really meant was… 2/SALESMAN Okay, I can leave the counter, go to the back, and stand there for four minutes and then come back with a lying face and say “Sorry, I did my best, I checked it out, but unfortunately we can’t help you.” 1/AMOR And you can’t buy a drill head like that separately? 2/SALESMAN A what? 1/AMOR A drill head. Or bit. Or what is it called? Can you buy one separately?

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2/THE SALESMAN No, unfortunately it isn’t sold separately. But maybe you can order it straight from the manufacturer? 1/AMOR But I said that I would take care of it. It’s kind of an emergency. You can’t make an exception? Pause. 1/AMOR (whispering) Come on, bro! Be a pal. 2/THE SALESMAN What did you call me? Pause. 2/THE SALESMAN My recommendation would be to buy a new drill of the same model. You’ll find them on shelf K54, just to the right after the curtain rods. 1/AMOR But… 2/THE SALESMAN Was there anything else? Pause. 2/THE SALESMAN Was there anything else? 1/AMOR And even though it wasn’t me who did it… 2/THE SALESMAN Thank you. 1/AMOR I saw how someone who looked like me thanked him and shoved the drill head its dusty plastic shell into my backpack and went back into the store and the knife was in my back pocket and I went to the right after the curtain rods and found shelf K54 and checked the price and took a drill to the register and I got in the line, two blond children were in front of me, they looked at me sideways, they were afraid, they were eating ice cream and laughing but deep inside they thought I looked like a…(pause) And just when the ice-cream eaters’ dad was about to pay I took out my

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phone and just (speaks loudly so everyone will hear) –Yes, hello? What? Shavi! What are you saying? What? What happened? Are you there now? Have you called an ambulance? And people looked and moved aside and I put the drill down on a basket of wrapping paper and I walked quickly to the exit and roared Shavi! Tell me where you are! Wherever you are I’ll get a taxi and come there! Calm down—it will be okay, everything will work out do you hear me I’ll be there soon I’m on my way! I took the escalator down to the street while I continued to talk—yes I’m here can you hear me? Can you hear me now? I had kind of a bad signal but yes I can hear you I was just at the mall and I was trying to return a drill head but it all went to shit because the guy behind the counter was a fucking cunt and now I don’t know what I should do maybe I’ll just keep talking because now I’m out of the store and there’s no one listening anyway, there’s no one who knows that I’m faking this call so I can say whatever I want and just then—when I’d come out onto the street, then… We find ourselves outside the shopping center. KAROLINA is speaking in a voice that sounds like she’s memorized what she’s saying. 3/KAROLINA Yes, hi Amor, this is Karolina again. 1/AMOR What? 3/KAROLINA This is Karolina again from Animal Rights. Is this Amor? Do you have a minute for the animals of the world, Amor? (no pause) Great. 1/AMOR I started to walk. 3/KAROLINA We are Sweden’s largest animal rights organization with about 35000 members. 1/AMOR I started running. 3/KAROLINA We believe animals have feelings and rights just like humans, with interests and needs that must be considered. 1/AMOR I passed a church. 3/KAROLINA We can never accept that animals are seen as goods, as objects for humans to use as they wish. 1/AMOR

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I passed a statue of a king. 3/KAROLINA We want to be the voice of animals in society, and defend their rights. 1/AMOR I crossed a bike lane. 3/KAROLINA We only work with legal methods. 1/AMOR A bus honked. 3/KAROLINA Our goal: a society that doesn’t oppress animals. 1/AMOR I stopped in an alley. 3/KAROLINA And now you are of course wondering why I called you, right? (no pause) If you, too, have had enough of crowded chicken cages, excess time in transport for animals, and painful animal testing, you can become a member of Animal Rights. 1/AMOR But listen. 3/KAROLINA We think everyone should be respected as unique individuals, no matter if they have four legs, feathers or scales, or fur. 1/AMOR Don’t you think I can hear you’re faking? 3/KAROLINA So my question to you is simply: do you think you can help...? 1/AMOR I hear you’re faking! 3/KAROLINA Uh, I am not sure I understand… 1/AMOR

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What did you say your name was? “Karolina”? “Ka-Ro-Lina”? Of course your name isn’t Karolina. 3/KAROLINA Uh. Okay. 1/AMOR Where are you from? 3/KAROLINA Sorry? I’m from Animal Rights. Sweden’s biggest… 1/AMOR But what is your name? 3/KAROLINA My name? Karolina. 1/AMOR No, your name is not Karolina. I can hear that you’re faking. I can hear it. Come on, tell me your real name. 3/KAROLINA What do you mean? 1/AMOR I hear there’s something else in your voice. What are you? 3/KAROLINA What’s with you, my name is Karolina—why couldn’t my name be Karolina? 1/AMOR We were quiet for a minute, I was breathing more calmly, the alley was empty, the walls were yellow. If you tell me your real name I will support your organization. Afida? Maral? Omera? Rani? Pause. 1/AMOR Are you still there? 3/KAROLINA So, what, if I tell you that my name is something else, you’ll support Animal Rights with a monthly donation? 1/AMOR

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Just tell me your real name. 3/KAROLINA (hesitantly) My name is… Golbarg. 1/AMOR I knew it. 3/KAROLINA But my name is Karolina as well. It´s … well. You know. 1/AMOR Of course. I get it. 3/KAROLINA And you said you’re interested in supporting us? 1/AMOR I get that you’re playing the same fake game as everyone else. 3/KAROLINA Excuse me? 1/AMOR You’re playing the same game as everybody else and your days are fucking numbered. 3/KAROLINA Are you talking to me right now? 1/AMOR I swear—all you cowards who think you can blend in without showing your hand, your day of reckoning is coming, just wait. I’m gonna fuck you all, do you hear me? I’ll treat you worse than animals. I will shoot you like dogs, I’ll skin you like cats, I’ll club you like seals, I’ll, I’ll, I’ll stomp you like cockroaches and shave you like mink, and… 3/KAROLINA Wait a minute. I recognize your voice. 1/AMOR (Ignoring Karolina) It is easier than you’d think… either you take organic peroxide… or black powder… 3/KAROLINA What’s your last name? 1/AMOR Or nitrocellulose if you feel like it.

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3/KAROLINA Admit it, you went to the Maria school, right? 1/AMOR Or you can mix chlorate and sugar, that makes a big bang… 3/KAROLINA You knew Shavi, right? 1/AMOR I stood stock-still, I had been running, a bird lifted from a roof and disappeared, no one was walking by, no one saw me. 3/KAROLINA Wow. You’re awful quiet now. Are you still there, Amor? I remember you. You were that science nerd who stalked a chick till she moved away and had to contact… 1/AMOR I hung up. KAROLINA exits the stage. 1/AMOR It started to get dark, someone from Animal Rights had dialed the wrong number, she had mistaken me for someone else, she thought I was my brother, the day started to end, it was a completely normal Sunday, nothing special had happened, I walked toward the subway, I checked my cell phone, no missed calls, just two and they were from… 2/SHAVI Hohooooo? Amor! Call me. What’s going on? Why aren’t you answering? Nothing has happened, has it? 1/AMOR No, I thought. Nothing has happened. Not yet.

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9. SCENE 9--INTERLUDE AMOR remains onstage; 2, 3 and 4 enter the roles of AMPLIFIERS. 1/AMOR I call my brothers and whisper: Okay. I admit it. It was me. Pause 4 What do you mean “you”? 3 I was the one who… The car. The explosions. 2 What are you talking about? 4 Of course it wasn’t you. 1 Yes, it was me. 4 But… no, it wasn’t you. 3 We know it wasn’t you. 1 It must have been me. All the signs say so. It was me. 2 No, don’t listen to him. 3 It wasn’t him. 1 But it feels like it was me. 4

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But it wasn’t. 1 Are you sure? 2, 3, and 4 look at each other. 1/AMOR Are you one hundred percent sure it wasn’t me? 2, 3, and 4 leave the stage.

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10. SCENE 8—TYRA We’re still downtown; AMOR is on the way home. 1/AMOR Then it was night and I would be home soon, I walked toward the subway, I saw a person standing and swaying in front of a display window, he was holding a packet of French fries in his hand like it was a baby bird, he slurred something, I kept walking, I was on my way home, I wasn’t far from the bus stop when I saw the police car. The sirens were off so they wouldn’t attract attention but you could tell that something was going on because the one cop turned his head toward his shoulder and called for backup and the other cop slowly placed his hand on the holster and the guy they had caught was pressed up against the bridge railing and the one cop had one hand on his holster and the guy looked afraid, he met my eyes, I saw the color of his hair, I thought “enough is enough” and I came closer, my steps were lead, my eyes were neon, my arms were arsenic, the police officers stood with their backs to me and they were crowding the guy and he was my brother, he needed my help, they were going to arrest him, they were going to deport him, they were going to shoot him, they had forced him out of the car, the hazard lights were blinking, the police car was dark, his car was lit up, they had seen his license plate, they had suspected drugs or smuggling or bodies, they had already called for backup, and soon the dogs will be here, and the bulletproof vests and the visors and the horses and the helicopters and the batons and the tear gas and as I got closer I remembered the policeman who jumped on Houda’s cousin and beat him bloody with the butt of his baton just because he talked back and the Securitas guards who broke Nasim’s shin and then accused him of assault on an officer and Maribel’s sister who wasn’t allowed into that soul club and when she started yelling discrimination security called the police and the police came and found a bag of weed in her purse even though she’d never smoked weed in her life and she said herself that she didn’t even understand that it was grass when the police took it out because she thought grass looked more like grass and less like moss and so she tried to get off by saying: “that’s not grass, that’s moss”, and the police looked at her like she was completely nuts and much later, after she’d received the letter with her sentence, after she’d paid the fines, after she’d been nervous that her next employer would look up her criminal record, she said that the worst part was the looks they gave her when she tried to explain that it wasn’t hers and she had been set up, that it was all a lie, because they looked at her with smiles that said: “Yes, we know that’s what’s going on, but what are you going to do about it, what are you going to do?” And I remembered the plainclothes cops and Ahlem and the lifeguard and Monkey Mountain and I approached the police, they had the guy surrounded, he didn’t know Swedish, he was gesticulating wildly, he feared for his life, a car door was open and his family was sitting in there and I saw the contours of the mom and the children, the streetlights and the reflections and the stars in the sky and the mom was on her way out, one foot on the asphalt, she wanted to help, she wanted to explain, she wanted to protect but she didn’t need to because I was already there, I was light as lithium, I was self-igniting like phosphorus, I had my hand on my pocket, I snuck the knife out, I felt its weight and hid the blade against my forearm. The first policeman didn’t have a chance, I stabbed him in the back and I, policeman number two reached for his weapon but didn’t get more than halfway before the knife punctured his stomach and the blood flowed and the bridge swayed and police dogs were coming and I killed them too and a patrol on horseback came and I split them right in half and a helicopter came and I threw the knife straight into the propeller so that it first slowly and then

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quickly crashed down into the black-as-night sea where everything was mirror images and upside-down buildings and just before I came up to them I heard the first policeman say: (Swinglish) “No, no, it’s not difficult at all,” and the other policeman said: “Just listen to him now,” and the first one said: “You go straight, you hear me you go straight over this bridge and then the first one to the right and you take that street and you follow it okay? You follow it and you go and go and go and then when you reach the roundabout there’s the sign to the highway” and the guy said “Right then straight, okay”, “You got it now?” “I hope so thank you” and the dad went back to the car and the light went off when he closed the door and the police looked at each other and smiled and shook their heads and then they caught sight of a strange guy who was standing there crying farther away on the bridge, they approached him, they said: “Hey, you, are you okay” and the guy just refused to answer, he refused to answer, he was crying even though he didn’t have a reason and there was a splash from down by the water, he had thrown something into the water, it glittered on the bottom, maybe it was a knife or maybe it was a worn out drill head and when the police came up to him he turned around and ran in the opposite direction and the police just wanted to ask a few questions so they started running after him, a little slowly at first but the guy ran faster and the police sped up and called for backup, “we have a person on a bridge his description is” so and so and the police radio screamed out his appearance and police ears listened and police hands turned wheels in the direction of the guy who obviously had something to hide but he who was him who was me had already run one bridge and four blocks then turned left after a park and then up some stairs and then down into a parking lot and then into a 24-hour 7-11 and out through the other entrance and soon he had been swallowed up by the city he had disappeared he snuck around like a hidden shadow among shadows and he was asphalt and bike lanes and curbs and he was beyond saving and he hardly noticed when his phone rang but soon he noticed it and dried two kinds of salty taste off his face and he answered he said: Hello and he imagined that his voice sounded normal. Hello, he said. Hello. Is anyone there? We find ourselves behind an empty bus shelter downtown. 4 enters the role of TYRA. 4/TYRA Yes? 1/AMOR Hello? 4/TYRA Yes? 1/AMOR Grandma? 4/TYRA Yes? 1/AMOR Hi Grandma, how are you?

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4/TYRA Not so good. 1/AMOR Why not? 4/TYRA Haven’t you heard what happened? 1/AMOR No? 4/TYRA The gas station in Skolsta was vandalized last night. 1/AMOR Oh. 4/TYRA They wrote obscene things with markers on the windows and they also stole a fire extinguisher. 1/AMOR No. Is that true? 4/TYRA Yes, of course it’s true—why do you think I’d say it otherwise? Do you know where Skolsta is? 1/AMOR No. 4/TYRA You really don’t know where Skolsta is? 1/AMOR No, I’m sorry. 4/TYRA About ten kilometers outside Enköping. 1/AMOR Okay. 4/TYRA So now you know.

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1/AMOR Thanks. 4/TYRA There’s nothing to thank me for. Pause. 4/TYRA And a homeowner near Storuman had a break-in. 1/AMOR That’s too bad. 4/TYRA And in Landskrona, an optician had his day’s earnings stolen by a man in a “brown-beige coat”. 1/AMOR I see. 4/TYRA It’s not easy. 1/AMOR No, it’s not easy. But how are you? 4/TYRA A car with a trailer lost control on highway 92 and the trailer overturned. But no one was injured. 1/AMOR Oh, that was lucky. 4/TYRA Yes, that was lucky. 1/AMOR Mmm. But Grandma, how… 4/TYRA And outside Örtofta there were train delays because of a downed overhead line. And a car blew up in Stockholm and four tractor tires were stolen from a potato field near Borås. 1/AMOR Yes, that can happen.

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4/TYRA That can happen. (happily) But I have some good news, too! 1/AMOR Oh, that’s nice. 4/TYRA (happily) Märta finally died yesterday! 1/AMOR (happily) Well, congratulations. Märta who? 4/TYRA Märta Hansson. Who lived on Virkesstigen. 1/AMOR Were you close? 4/TYRA Oh, yes. We’ve known each other all our lives. 1/AMOR How nice! 4/TYRA I’m going to introduce her to Lennart. And Stig. And Iris Levander. 1/AMOR But Grandma. 4/TYRA What? 1/AMOR Iris Levander is still alive. 4/TYRA No. Iris Levander is dead, too. She died two weeks ago. Stroke. 1/AMOR Well, that’s nice! So now you’re all there together? 4/TYRA Mmhmm. Everyone’s together. Almost. And how is my beloved grandchild? 1/AMOR

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He feels good. He feels…he feels. How about you? 4/TYRA Oh, you know. Can’t complain. 1/AMOR Is it about like how you imagined? 4/TYRA No, I suppose it isn’t, really. But things never are, I suppose. It’s a bit like when we were in Greece, remember that? When we had booked that hotel that looked so good in the catalogue but when we arrived we realized that the room had been photographed from a very particular angle and that the pool was on the other side of the road and that nothing looked like we’d imagined. 1/AMOR You have a pool? 4/TYRA It was just an example. But of course there are pools. There’s everything you can think of and a little more. 1/AMOR How old are you? 4/TYRA You can switch when you want to. 1/AMOR So how old are you today? 4/TYRA This morning I was twenty-two—I had just gotten my degree, I was out in the archipelago at that Midsummer celebration and I met your grandpa for the first time. At lunch I was fifty-five—all the children had just moved out and your grandpa had died and I felt completely free for the first time in my life. 1/AMOR And right now? 4/TYRA Right now I’m maybe twelve. 1/AMOR And what do you do when you’re twelve? 4/TYRA

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Masturbate. 1/AMOR But, Grandma. 4/TYRA But what—you asked, didn’t you? That all I do. Day in and day out. 1/AMOR And how old will you be tomorrow? 4/TYRA I’ll decide that then. I’ve never been one for planning, you know. Your grandfather was the one who did that stuff. 1/AMOR Do you miss anything? 4/TYRA Yes, I miss everything. All the time. But if you have a particular reason you can go back and walk around on the streets just as though you had a body. 1/AMOR Particular reason? 4/TYRA Yes, like for example if your grandchild needs you. 1/AMOR So you could be here at this very moment? 4/TYRA I’ve walked beside you all day. I was with you on the dance floor, I slept beside you on the sofa, I held your hand at the mall, I ran with you across the bridge. 1/AMOR And you’re here now? 4/TYRA I am here now. 1/AMOR I miss you. 4/TYRA I miss you too.

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1/AMOR I wish we had talked to each other more. 4/TYRA But we’re talking now. 1/AMOR Yes, but it’s not the same thing. 4/TYRA It’s the same thing but better. 1/AMOR I feel like I’m alone. 4/TYRA You are not alone. 1/AMOR I feel like I’m alone. 4/TYRA You are not alone. 1/AMOR I don’t know what I should do with myself. 4/TYRA You should go home now. You should get up and go home. 1/AMOR I can’t. 4/TYRA Yes, you can. I’ll help you. 1/AMOR Where are we? 4/TYRA We’re crouching behind an empty bus stop downtown. 1/AMOR Why are we doing that?

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4/TYRA No idea. 1/AMOR Are we talking to ourselves? 4/TYRA Yes, we are. 1/AMOR Are people looking at us? 4/TYRA Yes, they are. But to hell with them. We don’t need them. We just need to get home. Stand up. 1/AMOR I’m trying. 4/TYRA Walk towards the subway. 1/AMOR I’m walking towards the subway. We leave the bus stop and approach the subway. 4/TYRA Good. Just keep walking straight again, walk past the Pressbyrån, past the café that’s closed for the night, past the homeless people on benches, past the Italian tourists with their maps, past the guards at the entrance.Why are you stopping? 1/AMOR They’re looking at us. 4/TYRA Their looks can´t hurt us. Walk past them, walk normally, swing your arms, put your right foot in front of your left, walk like you’re not thinking about walking. 1/AMOR I’m trying. 4/TYRA Good. Keep going. Good. Don’t turn around. 1/AMOR Okay.

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4/TYRA Breathe in the night air. 1/AMOR 4/TYRA Think: 1/AMOR Now the worst is over. 4/TYRA Think: 1/AMOR I will take care of this. 4/TYRA Think: 1/AMOR I am not alone. 4/TYRA Good. Keep going like that. We arrive on the subway platform. 2 enters the role of SHAVI. 2/SHAVI Hello? Pause. 2/SHAVI Hey bro, pick up! 4/TYRA Pick up. 2/SHAVI Hello, it’s Shavi, pick up! I have something super-important to tell you. 4/TYRA Answer!

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2/SHAVI Hello? What’s going on, I’ve been calling you all day and you never answer. 2/SHAVI and 4/TYRA (simultaneously) Pick up the phone and answer! 1/AMOR Hello? 2/SHAVI Hey man. How…how’s it going? 1/AMOR Oh, it’s. Good. I think. Pause. 1/AMOR You? 2/SHAVI Yeah, I’m chill. What are you up to? 1/AMOR Nothing special. Waiting for the subway. On my way home. You? 2/SHAVI Not much. Hanging at home. Have you heard about the bombing? 1/AMOR Yeah, crazy stuff. 2/SHAVI Totally crazy. Nina’s sister was there when it happened. She heard the first explosion, but didn’t react. She thought it was fireworks. It wasn’t until later she realized it was a... 1/AMOR Have they arrested anyone? 2/SHAVI I don’t know… Haven´t heard anything more. I’ve called you a couple times…? 1/AMOR Yes, I saw. Sorry. I’ve just. There’s been so much going on all day. So much to do. I had to exchange a drill head for my cousin and decide if I was going to join Animal Rights and take care of a ton of other practical things for my brothers.

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2/SHAVI Got it. But you’re okay? 1/AMOR Absolutely. It’s chill. 2/SHAVI And your brothers? 1/AMOR They’re good. I was just about to call them, actually. How are you? 2/SHAVI We’re good. Everything’s chill. I didn’t want anything in particular. Just wanted to see what was up. Pause 2/SHAVI Good. I’m…. I’m going to put Peanut to bed now. 1/AMOR How is she? 2/SHAVI Huh? 1/AMOR How is she feeling? 2/SHAVI Peanut? She’s great. Today she ate potato for the first time. 1/AMOR Wow, potato. 2/SHAVI Mmhmm, that was big. 1/AMOR Give her a hug from me. 2/SHAVI Of course. 1/AMOR

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Tell her she should never… 2/SHAVI What did you say? 1/AMOR Oh, it was nothing. Here’s my train. 2/SHAVI Okay. Catch you later. 1/AMOR Absolutely. Take care. 2/SHAVI You too. 1/AMOR Shavi? 2/SHAVI Yes? 1/AMOR Talk to you tomorrow. 2/ShAVI Sounds good. 1/AMOR I stood there with my phone in my hand, I was on my way home I was just about to take the escalator down into the subway, I was going to manage, I knew I would manage it, but then something happened and I dialed Shavi’s number and he answered on the first ring. 2/SHAVI Hey, how’s it going? 1/AMOR Shavi. You couldn’t come downtown, could you? 2/SHAVI What? 1/AMOR Can we meet up? Do you have time? I need...it would be nice to see you. I…I need…I don’t know. And Shavi understood. I could hear in his voice that he understood.

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2/SHAVI Wait there. 1/AMOR And in the background I could hear the car keys and the whispers and the jacket and the zipper. 2/SHAVI Wait there, brother. 1/AMOR The apartment door and the stairwell steps and the garage door and the car alarm. 2/SHAVI I’m coming. 1/AMOR The car door and the motor and the gear shift that went from second straight to fourth. 2/SHAVI I’m on my way. 1/AMOR The gas and the brakes and the horn and the swearing. 2/SHAVI I’ll be there soon.

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11. SCENE 11—OUTRO 1/AMOR I call my brothers and say: Something really sick just happened. I was on my way home when I caught sight of an extremely suspicious individual. He had black hair and an unusually large backpack and his face was covered by a keffiyeh. Pause. I call my brothers and say: It took a split second for me to realize that it was my reflection.

THE END