ARRANGED MARRIAGE

BY

MUONEKE CHIDIEBERE

08168473187

Chiboymuoneke@yahoo.com


Over, then there are simple words in white lettering:

ARRANGED MARRIAGE

We, hear, Fela, “I NO BE GENTLEMAN”

INT. DAY: JAMES SITTING ROOM
James is sitting in his dining table in the sitting room waiting for his lunch.
Suddenly, we are watching in CLOSE VIEW, James Okafor is a tall, fat man of thirty-five with prominent rotund tummy.
James looks at wall clock hung a mantelpiece on the wall at intervals and shakes his head irritably.
It is two O’clock in the afternoon of a sunny day.


JAMES
(Calls loudly)
MARY! MARY!


No responses.


JAMES
(CONT’D)
Where in god name is this woman and my LUNCH?!.......Mary! Mary!


Mary Okafor enters to the sitting room quickly from the kitchen, carrying a saucer containing plates of dishes.
She’s James’s wife and their marriage was arranged by both their parents
MARY is a slender, dark-skinned woman of twenty-five.
She wears an apron.


MARY
Sorry, my husband.


JAMES
(Petulantly)
It’s a shame….a big shame that it takes my wife a decade to make her husband lunch.


MARY
Sorry, dear.


Mary places the saucer on dining table
She grins at her husband.


JAMES
What are you smiling for?


MARY
(Softly)
Because……I prepared your special dish—


JAMES
And what’s my special dish?


MARY
(Smiling complacently)
Rice and turkey…fried turkey.


JAMES
FRIED TURKEY?

MARY
(Gloatingly)
Well spiced and dressed.


JAMES
(Expressionlessly)
And when on earth did I tell you that my favorite delicacy is rice and turkey?


Mary’s grin melts off her face.


MARY
During our honeymoon, dear?


JAMES
You bloody liar!


MARY
Okay, then…try the rice and turkey…it’s nice.


JAMES
Have you tasted the food?


MARY
Yes. Why?


JAMES
Because I am so bored of you that most times I dream in my sleep that you poisoned me.


MARY
(Shocked; morose)
That I poisoned you?


Mary begins to sob.


JAMES
(Begins to eat)
Oh, yes…Jezebel.


MARY
(Weeping)
I don’t like how you treat and talk to me most times…but yet I still love and adore you.


JAMES
But who cares.
(Tiny pause; bites and chews the turkey)
There is too much pepper in the turkey—


MARY
It’s fried and spiced.


JAMES
Too much Pepper…you are dumb like a BELL and a pathetic fool. Big, bloody fool!


MARY
I am sorry—


JAMES
I am tired of this marriage…thank God I have so many concubines.


MARY
(Shocked)
You have many what?


JAMES
Oh, yes…beautiful, preen concubines! That makes me happy and satisfied.


MARY
But it’s a sin. Have you forgotten our vow? Till death do us part?


JAMES
And SO?!


MARY
You are cheating on me….and that makes you unfaithful—


JAMES
What?


He dashes to her violently and stands in front threateningly.


JAMES
(CONT’D)
What did you just say?
(Mary trembles and says nothing)
Exactly, what I thought you said nothing…I guessed it was the wind or squeal of a wounded bird. I am thirst….dying of thirst.


MARY
(Tears wells in her eyes, speaks weakly)
Are you thirsty? Should I get you some water?


JAMES
No, JEZEBEL! NO! I despise you! I am going to bar to get a drink and drown myself to stupor. I hate you and your food.


James spits in front of Mary, picks his coat from the couch and exits the sitting room.
He opens and slams the entrance door. ‘BAAM’
Mary walks weakly to couch and sits dejectedly.


MARY
Oh, my God. Please help me…Help me. My husband needs your help.


EXT. JAMES SITTING ROOM
Mary sits on a couch dejectedly. In CLOSE VIEW, Mary holds her head in her hands.
She is obviously crying.
There are knocks on the sitting door. She stares at sitting room door with her red, tearful eyes and quickly wipes her tears with her apron.
Mary lifts her gaze and darts her sight at the door.


MARY
(Weakly)
Come in. Please come in.


Isabella enters.
Isabella is a fair skinned, short, stocky-built woman of late twenties.


ISABELLA
(Smiling)
Hey…..good day.


MARY
(Forces a weak smile on her lips)
Hello.


Isabella ambles to the couch and sits.


ISABELLA
(Stiff her nose)
What aroma and delightful smell, too. Was there any celebration in your home I was not aware of?


Mary wipes a tear from her reddened left eye.


MARY
No, Isabella.


ISABELLA
(Sees array of dishes on the dining table)
Hmmm…… Nice display of delicacy.


Isabella smiles


MARY
Oh, thank you.


ISABELLA
(Looks at Mary warily)
What’s wrong? Your eyes are red…seems like you have been crying for so long.


MARY
Oh, it just an allergy?


ISABELLA
Allergy that comes with tears, uh?


MARY
Don’t worry…it’s just allergies and nothing.


ISABELLA
Allergies that make a grown woman weep, uh? Come on stop lying to me. You voice is weak; your mouth shudders when you speak…where is your husband?


MARY
Eh?


ISABELLA
Did that bastard beat you up? Where’s that brute?!


MARY
Please keep your voice down.


ISABELLA
I won’t. Where’s that drunk pig?


MARY
Drunk pig? Please he doesn’t drink that much.


ISABELLA
Where’s that lunatic that smells like an old, he-goat!


MARY
He doesn’t smell at all…He just smells a little.


ISABELLA
Like a he-goat!


MARY
No…not like that.


ISABELLA:
(Irritably)
Where’s he? Where—


MARY
He is not at home now. He went out—


ISABELLA
To get drunk I guess.


MARY
No, to visit some friends—


ISABELLA
What’s wrong with you?


MARY
How? I don’t understand?


ISABELLA
James treats you badly and you keep defending him……How many times does he hit you in a day?


MARY
What?


ISABELLA
How many times does he hit you in a day?


MARY
(Weakly)
I don’t know.


ISABELLA
I guess hundreds…..thousands. You have turned swiftly into his punching bag


Mary blows her nose with her apron.


MARY
You are exaggerating.


ISABELLA
Exaggerating? But come to think of it. How many times does he kiss you in a day?


MARY
(Puzzled)
What?


ISABELLA
You heard me, how many times does he kiss you in a day?


MARY
Er…


ISABELLA
I guess none!


MARY
May be because he has tooth ache—


ISABELLA
Come on stop defending him….How many times does he have sex with you in a week?


MARY
Er…


ISABELLA
I guess none, too!


MARY
May be because he has rheumatism—


There is a deep pause.


ISABELLA
That man…..you call your husband has turned your life upside down….he has ruined you. You remember those days we were growing up—


MARY
Few years back?


ISABELLA
Yes, when we were eighteen…..or nineteen. Everybody applauded your grace and your beauty—


MARY
(With a smile on her lips)
……seriously?


ISABELLA
Absolutely, you were just perfect….long legs, dark skin, large eyes, and lovely breasts. You had them all—


MARY
Don’t I still look good?


ISABELLA
Oh, now……You have lost great deal of weight….your hips are gone
(Tiny pause)
I wondered how you cope with him.


MARY
With James?


ISABELLA
(Speaks with venom)
Yes! He is pockmarked and awfully ugly…most times he reminds me of Obasanjo or something like that….with his large, drooping face and rotund stomach—


MARY
But I love him…that why I married him.


ISABELLA
To hell with marriage then…
(Looks at Mary’s face)
Mary, you have to do something about your marriage.


MARY
(Speaks slowly)
But I have been praying, you know.


ISABELLA
Praying, uh?


MARY
Yes…..I even attended T. B Joshua’s convention this week—


ISABELLA
That’s not going to work, prayers need to been backed up with something. I am suggesting something new.


MARY
Divorce….. Is divorce right?


Isabella didn’t have divorce in mind.


ISABELLA
Divorce?


MARY
Divorce…signing papers, going to court, end of marriage and goodbyes…I and James are divorced……..simple and smoothly.


ISABELLA
I don’t think that would work with James.


MARY
Why?


ISABELLA
He is a thug and a drunk……he would search for you, threaten and might even kill you. James is a Blood narcotic!


MARY
(Trembling; scared)
Oh my god…what should I do then?


ISABELLA
(Sharply)
Poison him.


MARY
(Shocked)
I beg your pardon?


ISABELLA
You heard me…poison him. You are helping yourself….your freedom…remember.


MARY
But that’s a sin—


ISABELLA
SIN? Look at me, Mary…look at me!
(Mary looks at Isabella)
You want to live in agony and be tortured all through your life, uh?


MARY
But that’s a crime….killing James is profoundly evil.


Isabella slowly rises from the couch and sits beside Mary.


ISABELLA
No-no, This scenario is different.


MARY
But I can’t poison James. I can’t do that.


ISABELLA
You can. It’s not difficult.


MARY
No, I can’t—


ISABELLA
Yes—you can. Just some droplets of poison…..rat poison in his food and he is gone…dead like a doornail.


MARY
But—


ISABELLA
Listen to me Mary…it would be nice for you to poison him to clear the air.
(Tiny pause)
It is a lot easier than you think…some droplets of rat poison in his food and you carry on your life warm and sweet.


MARY
But, it’s not right—


ISABELLA
Mary……….your freedom, I believe poisoning him is what a proper, dignified woman in your shoes would do.


MARY
Are you sure, Isabella?


ISABELLA
Absolutely!


There is a deep pause.


MARY
Some droplets of poison?


ISABELLA
Yes, rat’s poison will kill him quickly, you know. Rat’s poison kills like hell.


MARY
I need—


ISABELLA
(Interrupts)
…….Courage?


MARY
Umm
(Rubs her thighs violently to brush away fears)
I need courage…


ISABELLA
I back you…and I promise to keep what we discussed now secret.


MARY
Yes, please keep it secret.


ISABELLA
My lips are sealed….sealed like they are glued.


MARY
Jesus…
(Looks at Isabella)
I am scared.


ISABELLA
Mary, please stop trembling like reed. Pick courage—


MARY
(Big breathe)
How does the poison work?


ISABELLA
Oh, quick and steady. His face becomes red…..red like a lobster, his lips white as chalk and he would slobber and……in minutes he’s breathless


MARY
So you are backing me.


ISABELLA
I am with you; solidly behind you…do you have rat’s poison in your house?


MARY
Yes. I have…..I bought it for the rats……the rodents.


ISABELLA
Yes, rodents. But you have to eliminate the bigger rodent first…James!


MARY
James.


ISABELLA
Okay, I will leave you now…but don’t forget just some droplets and your freedom is won.


MARY
My freedom could be gotten with just some droplets of poison?


ISABELLA
Oh, yes! Some droplets! I will leave you now. I will like to visit my boyfriend.


MARY
(Flicks a smile)
You have a boyfriend? Oh, yes, I heard rumors that you are going out with James’s brother. The fat, short, light-skinned one….what’s his name again?


ISABELLA
Anthony?


MARY
Yes—Tony. Are you and he courting?


ISABELLA
No, I don’t want to have anything to do with James or his brother.
Because I believe strongly that he’s just like James.


MARY
You despise James a lot, don’t you?


ISABELLA
A lot. If I slept on the same bed with him and he treats me like a dump like he does to you…in night
I would wait patiently when he is asleep, I will cut his scrotum bag open.

MARY
That would be painful……..I guess putting some droplets of poison in his food isn’t that gross after all.


ISABELLA:
Oh, yes.
(Slight pause)
I will go now…just call me after the deed is done.

Isabella stands up from the couch with much difficulty.


MARY
Thanks for the advice.


ISABELLA
What are friends for…a friend in need is a friend indeed…you know— you might meet any divinely beautiful men like Jim Iyke or something close.


MARY
[Slight pauses; nods agreeably]
That’s true.


ISABELLA
Okay, then. I have to hit the road. Just call me after he is stone dead.


MARY
I will call you.


ISABELLA strolls to the door.


ISABELLA
Just call me after he’s dead.


Isabella smiles, opens and closes the door.



INT. OUTSIDE JAMES APARTMENT___SUNSET
ANGLE on James; he turns the handle of door.
He opens the door of the sitting room and enters the sitting room.
James is slightly drunk like a duck.
He yawns, sits on the couch recklessly and begins to sing.


JAMES
(Sings)
“Give me a glass of whiskey and gin
Let me put an end to my pain
With a bottle of whiskey and gin
I am robust like a train”


Mary enters the sitting room.
She is well dressed and preened.


MARY
Welcome my husband.


JAMES
Not you again…..make me cup of coffee!


MARY
Coffee? Coffee has been exhausted. Should I make you tea?


JAMES
But why didn’t you buy tins of coffee from the groceries store off the street?


MARY
I wanted, but—


JAMES
But what, bloody amnesia patient?!


MARY
I don’t know what I have done to you—you are always mean to me. What do want from me—


JAMES
Your head on a plate!


MARY
What does that suppose to mean, my head on a plate? You talk like a serial killer.


JAMES
Shut up! You nag and gabble a lot like an old typewriter…..you’re just a crazy bug!


MARY
Crazy bug?


JAMES
Yes, that’s what you are! You think like a fool and talk like fool, my useless tool! How many years have we been married now?


MARY
Six months.


JAMES
Six months! And you aren’t pregnant?



MARY
We haven’t had sex since then.


JAMES
I thought you were a catholic—


MARY
And so what?


JAMES
Remember how baby Jesus was conceived? Without Mary sleeping or having sex with a man…and even think of it your name is even Mary—


MARY
Please stop, that is blasphemy—


JAMES
Blasphemy my ass!
(Slight pause)
Make me a cup of coffee.


MARY
But I told you the coffee is exhausted—


JAMES
Shut up and make coffee!


MARY
Stop yelling at me!


JAMES
What? Did I hear you speak to me in that tone?


MARY
What? Eh?


JAMES
Did you just speak to me insolently?


MARY
(Sudden spark of courage)
Yes I did.


James walks to Mary swiftly, slaps her across the face.
She falls to the floor.
James tugs her hair.


JAMES
(Tugging her hair and dragging on the floor)
You will learn to respect me.
Mary whimpers on the floor.


MARY
(Whining)
AWWWW! Please—you are hurting me.


James abandons her on the floor
He walks and sits on the couch


JAMES
Now, I know the reason my dad always hit my mom….women talk and gabble a lot…I don’t understand why God made women so dumb!


MARY
(Sobbing)
I am leaving you…


JAMES
Leaving who?


MARY
You, of course—


JAMES
I will kill you before you do that….make me tea now. I am tired.


MARY
I am not.


JAMES
You won’t?


MARY
I will—


JAMES
And why are looking at me like that?


MARY
Like what?


JAMES
Like you are looking through me?


MARY
Your pride irritates me…and you don’t know how to treat a woman.


JAMES
Who cares!

Mary ambles sluggishly to get a cup and to make the tea.
James stares at her ass.


JAMES
(Staring at Mary’s ass)
What happened to your ass?


MARY
(Tries to look at her ass)
My ass? Are there dusts there?


JAMES
No— it is flat and bony like you are losing weight there!


MARY
Losing weight on my ass?
(She strains her neck as she tries to look at her ass)
Oh, my neck—


JAMES
Oh, your neck…..I will perhaps prefer a woman with a neck that would spin 360 degrees round.


There is deep pause.


MARY
Would you like sugar in your tea?


JAMES
Yes….put in calories there and don’t ask me again.


Mary walks to the cupboard in the dinner room in the sitting room.
She sees a bottle containing rat poison on the floor
She speaks between her teeth.


MARY
(Mutters under her breathe)
Rat poison—


JAMES
What? Did you say something?


MARY
What? .....no!


JAMES
I guess its evening wind rattling the window pane.


Mary collects a pack of sugar and the bottle of rat poison lying on the floor.
She walks to the dining table to make James a cup of tea.


JAMES
You know what, these days
(Looks at Mary as she walks to dining table)
You have grown old swiftly. Just in six months and you are old—


MARY
How?


JAMES
There’re wrinkles across your face….you look like my mom’s twin, Crazy bug.


MARY
(Touches her face tenderly)
Umm.


JAMES
(Sees the bottle Mary is holding)
What’s that? Syrup or something?!

MARY
(Gabbles)
Um, Syrup and something. It’s—


JAMES
CODEINE? Is it, Codeine?


MARY
(Lying)
Oh, yes….Codeine.


JAMES
Ho-ho!
(Laughs)
Sweet Rosemary! Never knew we had the same taste!


MARY
(Dripping some droplets of the poison into the tea)
Yes
(Drawing on a rueful smile on her face)
Yes, dear.


JAMES
(Grinning)
Put all, sweetheart! Sweet Rosemary! Drip all!
James blows Mary a kiss.


SUSPENSE >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>


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THE SCREENPLAY IS FOR SALE AND OTHERS SCREENPLAYS FROM THE AUTHOR

too much censoring kills bitter dialogue
thanks alot of making me sound like my pen had lisp!

I may sound a bit critical but pls bear wiv me...
op...nice job for at least xpressin ur creativity but der are too many abusive words dat makes d characters and even d scenes a bit less realistic. u can still portray a nagging nd uncaring husband without using an abusive word! d isabella of a frnd kind of spewed insults too in d name of referring to mary's hubby...wc woman wud allow dat in real lyf no matter hw bad d hubby is? i think u av to very much undastand d xters u re includin in ur screenplay nd develop dem realistically.
also, d overall excerpt sounds lyk d usual nollywood storyline of an uncaring husbnd maltreating his 'innocent' wife. (hav u seen mr. and mrs. ft. nse ikpe etim nd joseph benjamin?). as much as u write, der is always a room for devpt and evrione includin me shud develop our sense of creativity. frm my personal point of view, i dnt tink u re ready to sell ur screenplay yet if u want to be outstandin nd make.a difference in nollywood esp...no nid to rush../kip writing...wiv more trials...u wil improve...den try seeing movies dt won best screenplays.oscars...u wud surely b better. but if u dnt want to join d hundreds of poor scriptwriters we av outside der...tarry in d rum for personal devpt. gudlck.

And let me add...if d story is dt of a nigerian setting...i dnt see d reason y all d xters are.bearing english names- mary, james , isabella? cnt we also hav kemi, aminat or chinwe? we ve gat to bring our african culture to d table...d whites wont do dat for us...my opinion.

Take the advice Sholay wrote. I personally didn't like the script sample.

Nice job!

I love ur comments. thanks alot George Lucas and Ingar Bergman (Village boi & sholey)