ONE: FRIDAY, SATURDAY, SUNDAY
Friday
1. City Centre.
Night. AMIR leads prayers in the City Park.
2. Clock Tower.
Itâs chilly. Itâs late. KASH in a suit and tie, smoking. NATALIE in work wear.
KASH. If I had a megaphone Iâd shout at them âtil their ears bled. Shout at them âtil they pack up and go. Iâd just abseil down with it and â
NATALIE. You canât abseil, you.
KASH. How do you know?
NATALIE. Well can you?
KASH. Look at it.
NATALIE. Theyâre tiny from up here.
KASH. It gets bigger every day.
NATALIE. Theyâre brave. Women like that, out all weather.
KASH. Theyâre using the car park as a toilet.
NATALIE. Theyâre not.
KASH. Theyâre showing me up.
NATALIE. Give us a go on that.
KASH. If you want one, have one.
NATALIE. I donât want one, I want a go on yours.
KASH. Canât you / just â
NATALIE. Iâm doing you a favour.
She takes a drag.
Menthol?
KASH. Yeah. What?
NATALIE. What do you mean what, / like itâs natural?
KASH. What were you doing?
NATALIE. Like itâs alright. Like you work in fashion.
KASH. You looked like you were praying. When I came back up.
NATALIE. I dropped something.
KASH. So you knelt down and prayed for it?
NATALIE. Go on then.
KASH. What?
NATALIE. Give us a cig then.
KASH. No.
NATALIE. Donât be an idiot.
KASH. What did you drop?
NATALIE. What does it matter?
KASH. Why wonât you tell me?
NATALIE. I just dropped something.
KASH. What?
NATALIE. A â coin.
KASH. A coin?
NATALIE. Why you being like / this?
KASH. Fifty pee? Twenty pee? / What?
NATALIE. I donât know!
KASH. How do you not know if you picked it up? You sort of scrambled up / when you heard me coming up the ladder.
NATALIE. No I didnât.
KASH. And then you pretended â badly â that you were picking something up.
NATALIE. What if I was praying?
KASH. So you were?
NATALIE. What does it matter?
KASH. ?
NATALIE. Yes! Okay, fine. Yes. I was watching them doing it down there. And â .
KASH. You decided youâd join in?
NATALIE. Yes.
KASH. âŚ
NATALIE. What?
KASH. No. Nothing.
NATALIE. No come on / what?
KASH. Well itâs a bit â.
NATALIE. ?
KASH. Why you acting like Iâm the one being weird here? Youâre the one denying something you were obviously doing.
NATALIE. Iâm not denying it.
KASH. Yeah but â
NATALIE. But what?
KASH. Okay.
NATALIE. What?
KASH. No. Nothing.
Pause.
NATALIE. Itâs beautiful from up here. All of them standing with candles like that. The tents all lit up from inside. Like paper lanterns.
KASH is unimpressed.
What?
KASH. Theyâre sitting ducks. Camped out in their jilbabs and hijabs like that. All it takes is some far-right farmer with a grudge and a shotgun / and â
NATALIE. You sound like the papers.
KASH. I expected some protests, after the General Election, after what the Tories said to win it. I knew theyâd get some stick coming up here for conference but never this.
NATALIE. âŚ
KASH. What?
NATALIE. You. Mr Westminster.
KASH. Hardly.
NATALIE. Getting your wig on.
KASH. âGetting my wig onâ?
NATALIE. Itâs a saying.
KASH. No it / isnât.
NATALIE. Youâre half talking to me and half doing your conference / speech.
KASH. Iâm not.
NATALIE. I can see it in your / eyes.
KASH. Itâs a massive opportunity.
NATALIE. They only asked you cos the other guy wouldnât do it!
KASH. Couldnât do it. This is my chance to get some profile, some momentum to stand for Bradford West.
NATALIE. So why you so wound up / about it?
KASH. Iâm not!
NATALIE. ?
KASH. I told them this shouldnât happen. It makes me look like an idiot.
NATALIE. How were you supposed to know?
KASH. Iâm supposed to know everything, arenât I? All the brown thoughts. Fifteen years Iâve been a councillor. The city finally gets some attention and then this happens. And the worst bit is Iâm going to have to stand up for that lot when I just wish theyâd go home.
NATALIE. ?
KASH. What?
NATALIE. Nothing. You.
Beat.
KASH. Were you really praying?
NATALIE. Yeah.
KASH. Why?
NATALIE. âŚ
KASH. Nat â
NATALIE. Iâve got a surprise for you.
KASH. Have you got it with you?
NATALIE. Itâs a surprise. Iâm not going to tell you.
KASH. Is it what I think it is?
NATALIE. âŚ
Sheâs tender with him.
No.
3. Tent.
Night. RUKHSANA in jilbab, QADIRA, frustrated.
QADIRA. Could you not have got a better tent?
RUKHSANA. Better how?
QADIRA. Better than a childrenâs one covered in pictures of Barney the purple dinosaur.
RUKHSANA. Itâs our Aish...