Good monologue

GOOD

INT: A CHURCH BASEMENT

About a dozen men and women are sitting in a circle, sipping coffee and listening to each other tell their stories. It's a rehabilitation group. Everyone has gone except Rick, a reluctant man of middle age.

RICK

(awkwardly clearing his throat)

Uh, yeah. Hi. I'm Rick.

(A chorus of greetings, which he acknowledges with a nod.)

Yeah, I wasn't really expecting to talk today. It's my first meeting, so…No? Okay, I'll just say why I'm here.

I uh, had an altercation. With the law. I was high on coke at the time. I'm not addicted to coke or anything. I've had it a few times at parties but I've never felt the need for it. I don't crave it. I'm serious-I don't. And I didn't take it because I was repressing anything. Nobody touched me weird when I was a kid or anything like that. I just felt lousy from work and everyone was talking too much. My kids and my lady and…I don't know, I just needed a load off. That's it. She called the cops on me and I "resisted" arrest, which was a total crock.

I hope you don't expect to "unwrap" me. This is it; I have nothing to hide. The judge made me see a therapist just because I'd gotten high and broken that cop's nose. He thought maybe I had a problem with authority, or daddy issues, or what have you. I don't. Honestly, I was just…high. It wasn't really me. I just felt weird and invincible and not myself. I wanted to know what bones would feel like breaking under my bones. And it felt incredible. Might be why I broke my lady's jaw in the first place. She just wouldn't shut up and the noise of it felt bad in my head, so I hit her and it stopped the noise and through my fist I got the vibrations of her bones snapping apart and it felt better. I felt better after that. Until the cop came and ruined it all over again.

So, see, really, there's nothing to me. I don't have anything "wrong" with me. I just like to feel good.