The Flamingo by S.T. Brant

Casino Bar. 2017. The Flamingo. In the middle of the stage, there is a rectangular bar. The countertop is marble and shines. A smaller rectangle within that is carved out for the bartender. In the middle of that void is an island where all of the alcohol is displayed. There are sixteen stools seated around the bar. Four cannot be seen because they are at the back of the stage. The four stools at the short ends of the bar, the sides facing the back and the front of the stage are packed closer together than the four along the sides. There are four high top tables with two high chairs each. Two of the tables are on the left side and two are on the right, placed behind the backs of the patrons sitting at the bars. The bar is far enough toward the back of the stage that it would appear there’s a great deal of space at the front of the stage, which serves as the main floor of the casino, which people will occasionally be sent back and forth along to simulate traffic and the time of day. To the far left of the stage behind the tables isa row of slow machines giving off light. Off stage right is the glow from a great deal of TVs, where the Sports Book is located. The lights are shot on stage. At the back of the stage on the left side is a poker table and to the right is a blackjack table. Neon signs hang on the back wall, which is blacked out beyond the tables, because beyond them is table after table after table. The left-back corner has a pink neon sign that says Flamingo with a giant, pink neon flamingo at the far right corner.

From the TVs, we hear “Thanks for joining us for today’s pregame. The Golden Knights are getting ready to take the ice for their warmups. The puck drops at 5:30 p.m. when we’ll bring you the Golden Knights, in their inaugural season, against the San Jose Sharks. Stick right here for further pre-game coverage.”

There’s a poker dealer at the poker table waiting for players and a dealer at the Blackjack table with someone playing. Real cards will be passed around and the movements of the game will be simulated to begin the scene. The lights will gradually dim on the tables so that only the silhouettes of the figures will be able to be made out, then the actors will remain still throughout the scene. At the back tables stage right sit two people with drinks and chips before them. At the tables to the left of the stage are two people occupying the first table with drinks before them and a half-eaten burger before one person, the other person eating their fries. The slots are filled, and to begin the scene the people are pulling the levers, not in rhythm with each other, but in the rhythm of their own games. Nine people sit at the bar. Four people sit in the back row facing out to the stage. Lights will dim on them as the scene begins so that they’ll be noticed but not paid attention to. Three people sit along the right side, one person in the seat nearest the back wall, and two in the front two seats. Two people sit along the left side, one closest to the audience, one closest to the wall. The bartender is moving around the bar as the scene opens. When the scene is in progress he will be working, occasionally moving to the non-speaking characters and consulting them about their drinks. Otherwise, he is toward the back of the bar. Everyone has a drink in front of them.

Two men enter, mid-conversation from the Sports Book.

Man 1

Hope? (shouts to the bar) Buy the poor man a drink, he’s got a heart! We need to tame that instinct of belief. (Barroom laughs, cheers to the fool. They walk to the back high top table stage left and sit.) You’re in over your head. You were from the beginning. Before you began. Tell me the whole story. It’s over now.

(They begin conversing in silence as lights fade on them, putting them in dusk at the edge of the stage.)

Man #2, in bar seat #2

I asked her–I said to her — get this — here is where I turned it on… Grade A-wonderful — I spoke richly, all the wealth in the world in my voice; my question implied that vast fortunes lay behind it — answer me wisely, love, darling, and I will put a paradise at your feet — my tone says to her. See, it’s as much about the tone as the words…

HART

The words.

Man #2

Yes, yes, okay, I asked her to tell me what she thought of love.

HART

Hardly a brilliant line.

Man #2

It was to initiate. Lead me to the castle.

HART

What did she say?

Man #2

She spit on me.

HART (chuckles)

Sounds like a woman who knows the in’s and out’s of love!

Man #2

You swine, you bastard, you don’t believe in grace or harmony, you have no respect for the castles of romance, the palaces where life’s ornamented with opulent…

HART

Bastards are the kings, the life, the heirs of caprice. The swinger of the system, the engine and the wheel, and the oil.

Man #2

Jester. You are the comedy for the king. You are a head on a platter. To be on a platter. I’m staring at another John here. (Shouts to bar) Fellas, to my buddy, John! and his head on a plate! (Crowd cheers then resumes their silent gloom or continues on with their silent reveries, depending. There are all sorts at this reservoir, always in flux, the mood, between despondence, balance, and some light melody.) Your name John? I’ll call you John.

HART

What you will.

Man #2

What about you, John? Any stories with a lady for me?

HART (Grabs saltshaker with his left hand, passes it to his right, unscrews cap with his left, and with his right, dumps it out before the other man)

Lots. (Gets up and walks out.)

BARTENDER #1 comes over with a rag to clean it up:

I hate my goddamn life. This fucking place.

Man #2 says to bartender:

Can you believe that John? I’ll tell you — that guy — if I see him again… I’ll bust his head.

Curtain.

S. T. Brant lives in Las Vegas where he teaches high school English and Journalism. His debut collection Melody in Exile was published in 2022 with Atmosphere Press. His work has appeared and is forthcoming in numerous journals including Honest Ulsterman, EcoTheo, Timber, Rain Taxi, Ocean State Review, Green Mountains Review, Ekstasis, and New South. He is the founder of the online reading series In the Fire Garden that hosts virtual readings and interviews with emerging and established writers. He can be contacted through his website at ShaneBrant.com, Twitter: @terriblebinth, or Instagram: @shanelemagne.