Max and Cypress Build a Shed
Excerpt of a screenplay.
***
Cass, Cypress, and Max all sit at the dining table eating dinner.
CYPRESS
We normally subsist on Costco rotisserie chicken and salad kits, so apologies for the quality of food.
MAX
Oh, don’t worry about it. It’s not bad.
CASS
You don’t have to be polite.
MAX
It’s not too bad, honestly. My mom can’t cook to save her life, so I’ve had worse.
CASS
My mother couldn’t cook either. I blame her for my lack of skills.
MAX
So, uh, how long have you guys lived here?
CASS
Oh god let me think...
CYPRESS
Me nine years, Cass about twenty.
CASS
It’s really been nine years already?
CYPRESS
And five months.
MAX
So where did you live before you came here?
CYPRESS
Oh, here and there. And nowhere. Originally I’m from Colorado, but I don’t really remember it.
CASS
I offered a lost little boy a warm meal one night, and next thing I know I’m taking care of a teenager.
CYPRESS
Oh is that what you call it? “Taking care of”?
CASS
I’m feeding you, aren’t I?
MAX
Lost little boy?
CYPRESS
I left Colorado when I was 8, hopped from bus to train until I got somewhere around New York, and apparently wandered until Cass found me. Again, I don’t really remember it.
MAX
Oh, wow.
CASS
I put him right to work.
CYPRESS
I was happy to help. Anyway, enough about me. How about our guest? Hopes and dreams? Deepest fears? Darkest secret?
MAX
Those are big questions.
CYPRESS
Do you have big answers?
MAX
Um, I dunno. I want to get into a good college. Move out. Get a good job. I’m scared of spiders and the dark.
CYPRESS
It’s okay you don’t have to bullshit me. I’ll figure you out soon enough.
CASS
So, Max, what’s your mother up to these days. Last time I saw her was her high school graduation.
MAX
Oh, she’s a yoga instructor now. She teaches at the Y, and then she’s also trying to start her own private classes.
CASS
Yoga. Of course. I always thought yoga was kinda bullshit.
MAX
I’ve never tried it. But my mom loves it.
CASS
Well, good for her.
MAX
Thanks for dinner. I’ll clean up.
As Max collects the dishes from the table, both Cass and Cypress notice that Max hardly touched his food. They exchange a look but don’t mention anything.
