Gross Misconduct
By Bevin Magama
()
About this ebook
Gross Misconduct consists of 5 lively and enquiring plays. The plays show subtle rhythms of people living on the periphery and the malleability of human personality. What runs through each play is some erosion of personal integrity. In The Art of Book Thieving, two sisters employed in a bookshop are stealing books whilst the shop manager and the security guard are locked in a game of seduction. In The Caveman of Llanrumney, a fifty something man is married to a twenty something girl but who is taking advantage of who? 69 Is Not Politically Correct is a witty, complex and gritty exploration into the world of alcoholism and relationships. The Bus Conductor portrays the struggles of a man against social forces that exploit and finally finds his justice. Changes shows the agonies and triumphs of a young man in a country that’s transforming.
Bevin Magama
A Zimbabwean-born storyteller and writer living in Cardiff, UK.
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Gross Misconduct - Bevin Magama
GROSS MISCONDUCT
BY
BEVIN MAGAMA
2018
Gross Misconduct
Copyright © 2018 Bevin Magama. All rights reserved.
ISBN 978-0-9934173-2-0
No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise) without the prior written permission of the publisher. Any person who does any unauthorized act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages. Although every precaution has been taken in the preparation of this publication, the publisher and author assume no responsibility for errors or omissions. Neither is any liability assumed for damages resulting from the use of this information contained herein.
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
Published by Magmatic Stories
www.magmaticstories.com
For more printed copies of this book please contact:
info@magmaticstories.com
Printed in Great Britain
CONTENTS
The Art of Book Thieving
Two sisters work in a bookshop and are serious book thieves. They see the guard as a threat to their enterprise and they plan a plan, scheme a scheme…
The Caveman of Llanrumney
The play portrays a sourly vernacular landscape of a relationship between Rob and Sian living in Llanrumney, a deprived area composed of large-scale council estates. Sian, Rob’s 25-year-old wife is a gambler and is always at the casino. Rob is 55 years old and likes to stay at home, but he is getting more and more frustrated with his wife.
The Bus Conductor
The play is based on a true story about Chalkie, the first black bus conductor in Cardiff. It is set in the late 60s’ in the midst of rising voices crying for equality and fairness.
69 Is Not politically Correct
This play is lively and enquiring. It is about a group of alcoholics meeting up at Number 69, an old church used as an Alcoholic Anonymous venue. They all have stories to tell in the hope of solving alcohol addictions that inflict their lives.
Changes
Munashe grows up in racially segregated Rhodesia. What’s lurking in the background is a guerrilla war, which Munashe joins. War changes many things: statuses and stations, fortunes and love.
From the Author
About the Author
Acknowledgements
THE ART OF BOOK THIEVING
Two sisters Yaz and Rachel both work at Wayside Bookstore. Yaz is 23, five foot one, weighs seven stone. She has thick black natural hair hanging to her shoulders. She wears thick rimmed glasses. Rachel is 20 years old, five foot five, weighs eight stone, keeps her long black hair in a ponytail.
Tom Moyo is a 35-year-old black man. He is six-foot-tall, weighs 14 stone, muscly built, shaven head. He is employed at Wayside Bookstore as a guard.
Ms Powers is the store manager. She is 30 years old, curvy, ten stone in weight, five foot six tall, has short mousy blond hair.
Jim is 38 years old married man, weighs 15 stone, has a bit of a potbelly, five foot ten tall. Jim has short brown hair and a well styled and short trimmed moustache and beard. He is not only Yaz’s scrupulous landlord but also her occasional lover and business partner.
Yaz is a thief. She has been stealing from shops ever since she was a teenager. Now in her twenties, securing a job in a bookstore enabled her to diversify into stealing lucrative books for sell. Yaz supplies regularly to Jim who through his shady contacts has a ready market for the stolen books.
Yaz manages to recruit her sister Rachel to her book stealing scheme. The two sisters fear their book stealing operation will be jeorpadised by the guard. They put a plan in place to get rid of him once and for all... but it’s not all as it seems.
1. EXT. IN A BOOKSTORE. CARDIFF CITY CENTRE. EVENING
Inside wayside bookstore, the walls are lined with bookshelves, what is clearly conspicuous are the labels for the Fiction, Non- fiction and Travel sections. These sections are stacked with books. Adjacent to the Fiction section is a computer terminal for checking book titles and availability. The floors in Wayside Bookstore are carpeted red. Also visible is the CCTV camera hanging above the bookshelves. A few metres away on the right-hand side of the bookshelves is a doorway which opens to the stockroom. On the door is a big sign STAFF ONLY Do Not Enter.
YAZ, RACHEL.
NEAR THE FICTION SHELF, THERE IS A BLUE TROLLEY FILLED WITH BOOKS. YAZ IS STANDING ON ONE SIDE OF THE TROLLEY, PICKING UP BOOKS, ONE BY ONE AND SHELVING THEM. RACHEL COMES IN THROUGH THE STAFF ONLY DOORWAY AND JOINS YAZ. SHE HAS A FEW BOOKS IN HER HANDS.
LIGHT GENTLE MUSIC IN THE BACKGROUND
1 YAZ: (Excitedly) E.L James. Fifty shades. Hmm not bad. The Hundred-Year-Old Man Who Climbed the Window and Disappeared. I think this is a good read. I’ll definitely have a copy. Rachel, what do you think?
2 RACHEL: It’s rubbish, Yaz. Believe me.
3 YAZ: Have you read it?
4 RACHEL: Yes.
5 YAZ: When?
6 RACHEL: Months ago. I took home the proof copy from the staff room. Read it halfway and it became so boring. It was just not my taste.
7 YAZ: How’s mum?
8 RACHEL: She was moaning. You haven’t replied to her texts.
9 YAZ: I didn’t have any credit on my phone.
10 RACHEL: If you’re skint, why don’t you move back home?
11 YAZ: No, I won’t move back home. Things are slowly picking up, I can assure you. Pass me copies of The Racketeer.
12 RACHEL: Where?
13 YAZ: John Grisham. On bottom shelf of the trolley, sis.
14 RACHEL: So what things are picking up when you say you’re skint?
15 YAZ: Come to mine after work and I will tell you. I can’t discuss it here.
16 RACHEL: It must be big then. I’ll come over after.
17 YAZ: Let’s finish up. It’s almost closing time.
18 RACHEL: Yeah. Here Yaz, grab these copies. I will take the trolley back to the stockroom.
19 YAZ: Bring my backpack on your way back. It’s at the back in the stockroom.
20 RACHEL: Did you say stockroom or staffroom?
21 YAZ: I said stockroom ehh behind the door.
22 RACHEL: Okay, will do.
RACHEL WHISTLES TO THE SOUND OF THE GENTLE MUSIC PLAYING IN THE BACKGROUND AS SHE PUSHES THE TROLLEY AWAY. THE TROLLEY IS SQUEAKING. IN FRONT IS A GUARD (TOM MOYO) WHO IS COMING FROM THE STOCKROOM. THE GUARD HAS A CLIPBOARD AND A PEN IN HAND. HE IS LOOKING DOWN JOTTING SOMETHING AS HE WALKS. RACHEL ACCIDENTALLY BUMPS ONTO HIM. (SOUND OF A SQUEAKING TROLLEY COMING TO A SUDDEN HALT.)
23 GUARD: Watch where you’re going, sweetheart. That hurts.
24 RACHEL: Sorry. But there is no need to exaggerate.
A PRE-RECORDED INTERCOMM ANNOUNCEMENT INTERRUPTS THE GENTLE MUSIC. LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, WAYSIDE BOOKSTORE WILL BE CLOSING IN FIFTEEN MINUTES. THANK YOU.
THE GENTLE MUSIC