Scene One
Itās the summer holidays and there are two young friends, BILAL and OMZ, playing football inside of a football pitch whilst the third friend, JOEY, is attentively watching the game whilst in goal. The game is FA.
BILAL and OMZ are really going for it. There is grabbing, hard tackles ļ¬ying in and sweat pouring from their faces. Eventually, BILAL does his classic ādrop, dropā shoulder move (a move in which he shifts his body weight to his right then to his left then back to his right whilst tapping the ball in that direction) taking him around OMZ. BILAL shoots and scores a goal past JOEY, effectively ending the game.
BILAL remains humble in victory. OMZ is disappointed.
JOEY. Good shot bro.
BILAL. Light work.
JOEY. Mbappe yeah? Make sure you do that at the trials.
BILAL. Obviously. āDrop, dropā shoulder ā easy.
BILAL does the ādrop, dropā shoulder move again without the ball.
Omz, I want a tropical juice yeah.
OMZ pauses for a second, taken aback. He looks around as though BILAL could never be talking to him.
OMZ. What?
BILAL. Tropical juice. Itās a blue carton ā says āSun Prideā on it.
OMZ. Whyās that my problem?
JOEY. Here we goā¦
BILAL. Red Pitch rules: Loser of FA goes shop for the winner. You lost. I won so pick me up a tropical juiceā¦ and a Twix.
JOEY. Letās just play FIFA you man.
OMZ stands still staring at BILAL.
BILAL. Bro, this isnāt shop, this is Red Pitch.
OMZ. You cheated. You didnāt / ask me if I was ready.
BILAL. / ask me if I was ready.
Pause.
OMZ. Wanna play best two / out of three?
BILAL. That was best two out of three.
OMZ. Joey / let it in.
JOEY. Nooo, I never.
OMZ. Iām not going nowhere. Whereās Femi? Weāre supposed to be playing two-on-two anyway.
JOEY. Femi said heād be down in twenty minutes when I knocked for himā¦ (Checking his phone.) one hour and fifty-seven minutes ago.
OMZ. I bet you Femiās looking for that purple shirt. He loves wearing that purple shirt.
JOEY. Why does he wear it? Honestly, does he think itās cool?
BILAL. That shirt makes no sense. I canāt lie.
OMZ. I think his brother got it for him.
BILAL. His brother set him up ācause his brotherās drip is on point, always.
JOEY. Thatās ācause his brother is making big money. I think he does law ā thatās gonna be me soon, looking ļ¬y. (Beat.) It was sick when Femiās brother used to come Red Pitch.
BILAL. That was time ago.
OMZ. None of the olders come any more. (Beat.) You sure Femiās coming Joey?
JOEY. He said he was.
BILAL. You lot know that Femz is a liar. I remember knocking for this guy once, he said that he werenāt allowed out, I said cool, okay, fair enough. It was winter them times and it was getting dark early or maybe he had a family commitment ā whatever. I came Red Pitch now, worked on a few tekkers ā can you believe next minute, I see him chilling in the park with his girl on the swings?
They all laugh.
OMZ. This guy.
BILAL. Swinging back and forth like this is a romcom!
OMZ. You shouldāve went up to him.
BILAL. I did. He said that he couldnāt play football ācause he injured his leg when he was at work. He works in an office bro. Did he injure it making coffee?
They all laugh.
JOEY. Femi is setting pace though. He has a job, has a girlfriend at sixteen years old! They go on dates and everything.
BILAL. Psssh, sixteen is young man. We have time.
JOEY. So you man donāt want a girl?! Someone to take care of you, someone you can take care of? You guys can be chilling, watching movies all cuddled up in bed on a cold day like today ā eating popcorn in the warmth watching Save the Last Dance.
JOEY imagines the scenario.
āHey, hey, hey, you have the last popcornā, āNo, you have itā, āOkay, weāll share it then.ā You man saying you donāt want that?!
BILAL. āSave the Lastā what?
JOEY. āDanceā ā itās some ooolllddd-school dance film. Litty though.
OMZ. Joseph, itās me: Omz. Do you know with whom that you speak with? Iāve had girls for days.
BILAL. Swear? Whatās their names?
OMZ. You lot donāt know them.
JOEY. Try us.
OMZ gets the ball and then starts bouncing it. BILAL and JOEY wait.
OMZ. Huh? Oh, you man still want names?
JOEY. You know we want names.
OMZ. Classified ā thatās their names.
BILAL and JOEY shake their heads.
JOEY. Letās just play FIFA you maā¦
OMZ. We wait for Femz. Weāre meant to be playing two-on-two.
JOEY. Itās like you love him.
OMZ. Dead! Itāll be better practice for football trials.
BILAL. Ayyy! Thatās gonna be nuts! Professional football trials you know ā Iām gonna be ādrop, dropā shouldering all over likeā¦
BILAL demonstrates the ādrop, dropā shoulder move again.
OMZ. Yeah, exactly but we need to practise, thatās why Femz needs to be here. Canāt be a professional footballer without putting in the work.
Silence.
JOEY. Itās cutting out āere manā¦ Supposed to be summer you know? Climate change is real.
OMZ. Shake my head. You believe everything you hear on Insta. Some any conspiracy theorist.
JOEY. Iām not you, you know.
OMZ. Bilz, aināt ā
BILAL. Not involved bro. Whatās the point in saying we play and youāre not even gonna follow through?
OMZ. What you talkinā ābout?
BILAL. Shop ā Youāre the one that said āFA Red Pitch rules.ā
JOEY. Itās true though.
OMZ. Joey, stop bum-licking, man.
JOEY. Iām not bum-licking.
OMZ. You are.
JOEY. How? Thatās what you said though.
OMZ. So what? Ever since primary school days, youāve always been defending Bilal like youāre his lawyer. Why are you here in your jeans anyway? Rubbish footballer.
JOEY. Iām better than you and Iām just saying thatās what you said. How is that bum-licking?
OMZ. Donāt lie, doesnāt he always stick up for you Bilal?
JOEY. Cap.
OMZ...