The Twenty Club
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
The Twenty Club By Stewart Roche 26-02-2021 [email protected] 1 Part 1 Lights up on a very basic living room of a very basic flat. There are few furnishings and little to suggest anything about the kind of personalities that live there. There are two items of note- a radio in the corner (which is already on and playing music from the 1940s) and some sort of listening device with a crude looking set of headphones. Norah (20s) sits in a chair with the headphones on and waits. After a moment Ellen (late 30s) enters. It is 1942. Ellen: Anything? Norah: No. Did you forget my cup of tea? Ellen: Joan is making it. She’ll be up in a minute. Norah: Where is she? Ellen: In the garden. Norah: What were the odds of us getting the only non-smoking flat in all of Haddington Road do you think? Ellen: You should both give up anyway. Smoking is bad for you. Norah: Says who? Ellen: Doctors. Norah: Would you go on. My doctor smokes. As does my dentist. Ellen: They do not. Norah: They practically eat the things. Particularly the dentist. 2 Ellen laughs wryly. Norah: All this chat about smoking makes me want one now. Ellen: Go on. I’ll keep an eye on things. Norah leaps up, grabs her bag and exits. Ellen walks over to the radio and lowers the volume. She then moves over to the listening device, picks up the headphones and starts to flick through a notebook that is on the table. Joan (30s) comes in and watches Ellen. She has two cups of tea in her hands. Joan: I’m glad we’re not the ones who have to decipher- Ellen notices Joan and takes off one of the headphones. Ellen: Sorry I couldn’t hear you. Joan: I said I’m glad we’re not the ones who have to decipher those messages. Ellen: Mhmm. Joan: Although I suppose it’s slightly easier if you know what you’re looking for. Ellen: From what I’ve heard there isn’t anything easy about any of this. Joan: I said slightly easier. I didn’t say easy. Ellen goes back to the notebook. Joan: Who does? Decipher them I mean? Ellen: Some fella called Hayes. I’ve never met him, I’ve just heard his name mentioned. 3 Joan: What’s his rank? Ellen: He doesn’t have one. He’s not army. Joan: Not army? Ellen: No. He works in some museum. Or library, I’m not sure which. Joan: Huh. Ellen: Apparently he finishes up work, cycles over to the barracks and spends hours on it. Joan: I wonder what he tells his family. Ellen: Probably similar to what we tell ours. Norah comes back in holding a cup of tea. Ellen: Jesus you reek of smoke Norah. Norah: I decided to have a second one, save me a trip. Joan: Clever girl. Here. Joan hands Norah the cup of tea. Norah: Thanks. Joan: (to Ellen) And I didn’t bring you one because you don’t drink tea. Ellen: Correct. Norah: Because you’re strange. 4 Ellen: No it’s because tea tastes like drain water. Coffee however- Joan: Is incredibly difficult to get your hands on. Ellen: Also correct, sadly. Although, if the rumours are to be believed, tea will soon be similarly tricky to get your hands on. Joan: My bright young colleague here has that under control. She gestures to Norah who mock bows. Ellen: And how’s that? Norah: I buy it off the Gombeen man. Ellen: The what now? Norah: The Gombeen man. (Blank look from Ellen), You know, the black market? Wednesday evenings behind the Pepper Cannister church, a fella comes around and has all sorts of things for sale. Honestly, if you’re ever stuck for anything just let me know. It’ll cost you now, but worth remembering. Ellen: I’ll keep it in mind. Norah reaches into her bag and takes out a small bottle. She hands it to Ellen. Norah: Captain Farrell said we need to get some practice in. Ellen: I’m not sure he had this in mind. Norah: Go on. Joan: She’s right. He did. 5 Ellen: We are supposed to be working. Norah: Ellen. The people on the other end of that- (she indicates the listening device) aren’t going to invent some new code if you take a sip. Joan: And you can be damned sure they’re drinking like fishes. Honestly, half the German war budget is getting spent on Irish whiskey for the legation in Ballsbridge. Ellen: A small one then. Norah pours a drink and hands it to Ellen. Ellen: That's a small one? Norah: It’s Thursday. Let your hair down a little. Ellen: You won’t be saying that tomorrow when you’re halfway around that obstacle course, spewing your guts. Joan: With that gom Reilly screaming in your lug hole about what a disgrace you are. (putting on a voice) ‘Why don’t you piss off back to the farm girl, look after your sheep and hens.’ Norah: Farm? I worked in a pub all my life. He’s some knucklehead that fella. Ellen: He’s good at his job, that's all that matters in this instance. Norah: If his job is to pee me off, then yeah, he’s the tops. Ellen: Just wait and see. Norah: Why are we even still doing that obstacle course? Basic training finished six weeks ago, but still we sprint around, climbing up and down walls, underneath barbed wire- 6 Ellen: Have to keep us match-fit don’t they? While we wait for the greenlight. Joan: And wait. And wait… Norah: What do they think, we’re going to have abseil down the front of the Shelbourne if the krauts blow our cover and we find ourselves in a pickle? Joan: Pour me one of those. Norah: Now you’re talking. Norah pours Joan a drink. Then pours one for herself. Joan: Cheers. They clink glasses and drink. Ellen: Mother of god. Joan: That is something. Ellen: It really is. Joan: A couple of questions. One- what is it and two- where did you get it? Ellen: And three- how much do you have to drink before you go blind? Norah: One- I’ve no idea. Two- from some guy outside Smyths. And three- probably one more glass. Joan: Some guy outside Smyths? 7 Norah: That’s right. Joan: Did you not think of going into back into Smyths, buying a bottle of something decent in there? Norah: This was half the price. Joan: I’m not surprised. They smile. Norah tops up their glasses. Listens to the radio and recognises a song. She goes over and turns it up a bit. Norah: (gesturing to the listening device) Can you still hear the- Ellen: Yeah. Joan: What do you tell your family by the way? Ellen: What’s that? Joan: Earlier, when you were talking about that chap Hayes. You said he probably told his- Ellen: Oh. Extra training in work. Typing that kind of thing. You? Joan: The same. I’m sure they’re wondering why I haven’t been promoted yet. Actually, I may invent something the next time I’m talking to them. That might placate them. Norah: If you play your cards right you might even get a present out of them. Joan: Money hopefully. Norah: If you do you can buy a few more bottles of this. Joan: I’ll bring us for afternoon tea instead. 8 Norah: Fancy. Joan: Might be the only way Ellen gets a cup of coffee. Norah laughs Ellen: When was the last time you were home? Joan: 3 months ago. You? Ellen: I think the same. Joan: (to Norah) What do you tell your parents, sorry what do you tell your father? About never going home at the weekend? Norah: Night shifts in the hospital. Joan: The hospital? Norah: Yeah. I’m a nurse didn’t you know. Joan: I certainly didn’t. Norah: There you go. Joan: Any ailments I’ll know who to go to. Norah: You’d be dead with 48 hours of my diagnosis. Joan: Oh well. Norah: Not that I’d be able to get home anyway. I heard the other day that it took the train 13 hours to get from Dublin to Kilkenny. Joan: 13 hours? 9 Norah: Yep. Joan: Are they getting the passengers to get out and push the thing? Ellen: There’s hardly any coal left in the country. The trains are running off timber and straw. Joan: It’d be quicker to walk. Norah: When did you ever walk anywhere? Joan: I walk everywhere I’ll have you know. Norah: Jaunts around Wicklow is it? Joan: Sometimes. Norah: Not in those shoes. Joan: Obviously. Ellen: Ssshhh! They all stop. Ellen listens intently and then gestures for Joan, who takes the headphones and starts to write something down in the notebook. As soon as she does Norah moves quickly to the radio and turns the volume all the way down. No one makes a sound for a few moments. Finally Joan indicates that she’s done. Joan: Norah, in my bag, there’s a black notebook. Could you pass it to me please? Norah does so. Joan flicks through it and then looks at what she’s written down. She passes it to Ellen. Norah: Well? 10 Ellen: ‘Congratulations on the birth of a healthy son.’ Norah: Any idea what that means? Ellen: Joan? Joan: They gave me some phrases to watch out for, hold on, I think I have…Their radio transmitter is in working order.