What Mama Said: An Epic Drama

MOVEMENT TWELVE

MOVEMENT TWELVE (As the people organize in the dark, more explosive sounds can be heard. Voices of protesting women and the youths can be heard. They’re now ready to attack and they have Oceana’s gun. BONNY/GUARD X and the fugitive or jailed women, too, have joined them. Thereafter, OCEANA enters, groping for the light that’s since been cut off. Loud drumbeats and explosive sounds take over.) OCEANA: Say. What have they done this time? Who? Who took . . . took the light? (Shouts.) Guard! (Silence.) Security? Lights! (Silence.) Lights! (Silence.) Security, where are you? What’s going on? (Silence.) YOBE: (Entering.) What’s not going on? OCEANA: (Startled.) My God! You scared me! YOBE: (Agitated.) I’m sorry. Crisis. Crisis. Listen, my friend. (War drums break loose.) OCEANA: (Frightened.) They’re already here? YOBE: No, they’re marching . . . OCEANA: (Alarmed.) Where? YOBE: On the streets. OCEANA: They’re coming? (Sighs.) I’m finished. Hold me. (They support each other.) YOBE: You’re not alone. (Chanting and drumming intensifies.) 173 OCEANA: (Frantic.) Finished. We’re finished. (Pause.) What are they saying? What do they want? YOBE: They say they too can do oil bunkering. They’ve set the Zone A oil pipeline on fire. OCEANA: (Alarmed.) What? The new plant? YOBE: Yes. (Rising tension. Sounds of the protesters. OCEANA searches frantically for his gun. But he can’t find it. Meanwhile, the protesting women, led by OMI, IMO, and HADEJA, approach with the gun.) OCEANA: Oh my God! My gun! That guard. The bloody thief must have stolen it. I’m gone! Gone! (He’s still searching for his weapon. Meanwhile, the explosive sounds continue, followed by loud drumbeats. PIPELINE enters.) PIPELINE: (Running.) What are you going to do? YOBE: You can see there’s no time to waste. The General has sent me here to summon you all. OCEANA: And we have to go? PIPELINE: Do we have a choice? OCEANA: I guess not. YOBE: No. (Silence. They stare at each other.) Gentlemen, it’s time for us to go. (Exit PIPELINE and YOBE. Some of the activists ambush and arrest them. Others, led by OMI and IMO, invade the premises and bind Oceana’s hands and feet together as he struggles to be free.) OCEANA: You? You too? But I’ve been kind to you. Giving you my money? OMI: Stolen from our land. 174 W H A T M A M A S A I D OCEANA: I see. You will regret this. OMI: Re-what? Ha! Ha! Ha! Look at me now, Oceana. Where? Where is your power? (Displaying her chest.) Shoot! Shoot! Shoot, Lord Director! OCEANA: (Spitefully.) I will get you. OMI: What? So he still has a mouth? Now get it. First! (She slaps him. OCEANA swoons, bleeds.) IMO: No, sister. No blood. OMI: Yes. We must avoid violence. IMO: Their game. Their style. OSHIMI: Yes, children. We must not leave our dance to dance somebody else’s dance. (They start leading him away. IMO is soothing OCEANA, wiping away the blood.) IMO: Sorry about that, Mr. Oceana Wilbros. Just one of those things . . . with young people. Can anyone stop youthful exuberance? CROSS RIVER: Payback time! What you people have done to us . . . to this land? (Deep sigh.) OCEANA: Not me. I’ve done nothing. IMO: Precisely! You’ve done nothing. Nothing good for this land. HADEJA: Except to take and take and take! OCEANA: Look here. I did my part. I’m only here to represent an interest, you know. I’m not part of the system. Your government . . . IMO: Your partners in crime. OMI: You work with them. You eat with them. W H A T M A M A S A I D 175 IMO: Then get ready to die with them! (Jumps to fight him.) OSHIMI: (Restraining her.) Imo. Stop! IMO: (Enraged.) No, mother! Not now! You see? You know what they did to me? CROSS RIVER: To us. We know. But calm. We’ll see the light. OSHIMI: At the end of the tunnel. OMI: (Rather coyly, takes up Oceana’s chin.) Now, look into my face. Tell me. Tell us. How do you feel now? OCEANA: Betrayed. Abandoned. IMO: Like us? (Silence.) OSHIMI: Then you’re not alone, man. CROSS RIVER: Makes us one. United. IMO: So welcome to the Club! OMI: Our Club! CHORUS: Of sufferers! Welcome, man! OMI: (Like a reporter.) And...