The Convert

ACT TWO SCENE II

45 ACT TWO SCENE II It is evening. Damien is sitting in his room, pondering over a mystifying educational system. He has failed the examination again and has lost his place in the university. DAMIEN [He thinks himself alone, until he hears an all too familiar invisible Voice that has haunted and moralised him since childhood] What good is a university where students work hard in vain? What good is a university where after four years one is no different from a fresher? What is in a university degree that the harder one toils the further away from it he gets? What good, just what good is there in being academically ambitious in a place like Nkwagh? I have endured the castigating French; employed diligence to supersede the regional, tribal and nepotism sentiments of wayward lecturers; hoped in vain to benefit from the spillovers of sexually transmitted marks; exhibited supernatural patience with the mediocrity of their standards; and abstained from many forms of distraction. Yet my failures have only multiplied. My academic frustrations have matured and have in turn engendered a social misfit. The university has mystified academics and crippled my self-confidence. It has ... [A loud, moralising, firm, slightly mocking voice interrupts] THE VOICE Not entirely true, young man, not entirely true. 46 DAMIEN What isn't true, you silly old bastard? THE VOICE No foul language, young man. Remember the girls? In all shapes and sizes? DAMIEN What about them? THE VOICE Remember how much time you spend sampling them like a butterfly? DAMIEN And so what? THE VOICE Time, young man. Time. DAMIEN Get lost! THE VOICE Not yet, young man, not yet. Remember the drugs, the booze, the... DAMIEN I block my ears! 47 THE VOICE As the university has blocked its doors ... its doors ... its doors ... its doors ... [The voice grows fainter and fainter until it disappears] DAMIEN Shit! [There is a knock at the door. He opens it and expresses surprise on seeing Charity] DAMIEN Ah! Ah! Charity! You're back? Is anything the matter? I don't think it is three months yet, is it? CHARITY Let me in, will you? You looked for it didn't you? Now that it has happened, start telling me what you plan to do. [Sits down and Damien sits by her after bolting the door] Yes, I am listening. [She turns and faces Damien boldly] DAMIEN [Embarrassed] I don't understand you. I don't know what you are talking about. What are you driving at, sister? CHARITY Stop that! So you knew I was a sister? Yet you went ahead and did it! DAMIEN Did what Charity? 48 CHARITY You impregnated me! You have offended God, you sinner! The devil dwells in you! DAMIEN So? CHARITY So what? Tell me what to do. Tell me your plans fast! I have just stolen time to be here, so be fast! DAMIEN No dispute has ever been settled in a marketplace, nor does one shake hands with a clinched fist. It is not by screams and wails that fellow Born Agains have succeeded in pocketing the gullible of our times. Neither is it through doing what you are doing at the moment that your Pastor has come by his riches. So be calm and tell me what you want, else... CHARITY I have told you that I'm pregnant. What else? DAMIEN So I should get up and start dancing? Or should I pull out my hair and eat because sister Charity is pregnant? Tell me what you want or get lost! CHARITY Don't just try to get angry with me; don't let me recall all the harm you have done to my faith and me! 49 DAMIEN Faith indeed! Tell me what you want us to do Charity, and be fast! CHARITY I just came to see you. I haven't yet thought of what to do. DAMIEN Then let me tell you. Be ready for an abortion tomorrow night. I have a friend who will take care of that. THE VOICE [Which only Damien hears] Abor-t-i-o-n? You again? Watch out, young man, watch out. DAMIEN [To The Voice] Get lost! THE VOICE [Before dying out] Don't say I never warned you, young man. CHARITY [Stunned] What! Aren't we getting married? DAMIEN Getting maaa...