Chili He got something he ain’t proud of? (To Riaz.) My fucking socks as well!
Riaz is forced to complete the undressing.
Chad You goin’ straight to hell!
Chili Just the place I want! Care to join me there? Now fuck off out of here with your poodles! Then I’ll release this one!
Chad There are hundreds like us, hundreds and thousands!
Chili What you waiting for – bring them on!
They go, and Chili flings Riaz out.
Riaz We will start another experiment, insha’Allah!
Chili Yeah, yeah.
Deedee (concerned) Shahid …
Shahid I’m all right. Really.
Deedee Time we had a proper meal.
Chili I’ve had all I can stomach, babe.
A beat.
Deedee Take care of yourself, Chili.
Deedee goes to the kitchen.
Chili (to Shahid) Hug me, bro.
They embrace.
Shahid Thanks for saving my balls.
Chili Cool entrance, eh? Someone should have videoed it. You okay?
Shahid Sore all over. Going somewhere?
Chili nods.
With Strapper?
Chili Yeah.
Shahid After what he did?
Chili Will you talk to Ammi for me? Say I’m okay? Getting better? You know what to say.
Shahid Toot sweet, brother.
Chili Yeah.
Chili exits, with Strapper. Deedee leaves the room.
There is a tapping on the window. Shahid grabs a knife and investigates. Hat is knocking. Shahid opens the window.
Hat Will you listen if I say something? Please, Shahid.
Shahid Why should I trust you?
Hat I trying to say I sorry about what happened.
Shahid Oh, yeah.
Hat Please listen! There’s no one else – I alone! Because Allah is forgiving and merciful, I will only show love and consideration for others. I ashamed of what we did.
Shahid Why?
Hat Whatever you done, it not my place to condemn another person. Only God can do that. I was wrong to put myself in that position, as if I never done wrong things. I hope you don’t turn away from Allah.
Shahid To tell you the truth, Hat – I’m sick of being bossed around, whether by Riaz or Chad or God himself. Brother, what we do, and the things we make, is more interesting than anything that God is supposed to have done. Do your accountancy, Hat. You’ll regret it if you don’t pass.
Hat I disagree. But I get what you say. I said what I have to.
He starts to leave.
Shahid Where are you going?
Hat To paradise. Please forgive me. Forgive all of us and may there be mercy.
Hat leaves. Deedee enters.
Shahid I want to be with you.
Deedee For as long as it lasts?
Shahid For as long as that.
They embrace.
A beat.
Dawn. Hat is seen carrying a rucksack. He bends down to take it off his shoulders. An explosion. Hat is killed. Sounds of sirens. Ambulances, fire engines, police cars and flashing lights.
Deedee and Shahid go out. There is a pall of smoke.
Shahid and Deedee look at each other.
Shahid I want to see my mother. Come with me? Then we can go to the sea – I know a place. I’ve decided. I know what to write.
She holds out her hand. He takes it and they walk off, towards the dawn.
Mobile phones start ringing, coalescing into sounds of wild celebrations at news of London winning the 2012 Olympics. Four young men appear, wearing baseball caps and with rucksacks slung on their backs.
Blackout.
About the Author
Hanif Kureishi is the author of novels (including Something to Tell You, The Buddha of Suburbia, The Black Album and Intimacy), story collections (Love in a Blue Time, Midnight All Day, The Body), plays (including Outskirts, Borderline and Sleep With Me) and screenplays (including My Beautiful Laundrette, My Son the Fanatic and Venus). Among his other publications are the collection of essays Dreaming and Scheming, The Word and the Bomb and the memoir My Ear at his Heart.
By the Same Author
plays
PLAYS ONE
(The King and Me, Outskirts, Borderline, Birds of Passage)
SLEEP WITH ME
WHEN THE NIGHT BEGINS
screenplays
COLLECTED SCREENPLAYS 1
(My Beautiful Laundrette, Sammy and Rosie Get Laid,
London Kills Me, My Son the Fanatic)
THE MOTHER
VENUS
fiction
THE BUDDHA OF SUBURBIA
THE BLACK ALBUM
LOVE IN A BLUE TIME
INTIMACY
MIDNIGHT ALL DAY
GABRIEL’S GIFT
THE BODY AND SEVEN STORIES
SOMETHING TO TELL YOU
non-fiction
THE FABER BOOK OF POP
(edited with Jon Savage)
DREAMING AND SCHEMING:
REFLECTIONS ON WRITING AND POLITICS
Copyright
First published in 2009
by Faber and Faber Ltd
Bloomsbury House
74–77 Great Russell Street
London WC1B 3DA
This ebook edition first published in 2010
All rights reserved
© Hanif Kureishi, 2009
The right of Hanif Kureishi to be identified as author of this work has been asserted in accordance with Section 77 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988
All rights whatsoever in this work are strictly reserved. Applications for permission for any use whatsoever, including performance rights, must be made in advance, prior to any such proposed use, to The Agency (London) Ltd,24 Pottery Lane, Holland Park, London W11 4LZ ([email protected]). No performance may be given unless a licence has first been obtained
This ebook is copyright material and must not be copied, reproduced, transferred, distributed, leased, licensed or publicly performed or used in any way except as specifically permitted in writing by the publishers, as allowed under the terms and conditions under which it was purchased or as strictly permitted by applicable copyright law. Any unauthorised distribution or use of this text may be a direct infringement of the author’s and publisher’s rights, and those responsible may be liable in law accordingly
ISBN 978–0–571–25327–2
Table of Contents
Title Page
Newness in the World
Characters
Act One
Act Two
About the Author
By the Same Author
Copyright
The Black Album Page 10
