Implied Consent: Act I, Scene III

A Play on the Sanctity of Human Life, in Four Acts

This is a part of Mr. Stolyarov's play, Implied Consent. To navigate through the various parts of the play, go here.

(Enter TRENT ROBERTS into the Grummond Mansion, where OSWALD and WESLEY are awaiting him.)

WESLEY (to OSWALD): Here is Trent Roberts, at your disposal.

ROBERTS: Good to see you again, Wes. Good to see anyone again who brings me another case. May I remind you that this one trumps them all? (Points at his closed suitcase with a shyster grin.) 

OSWALD: Mr. Roberts...

ROBERTS: That's Trent. I get enough of "Mr. Roberts" in court. We're all buddies here. Especially since I will be getting to know some of your darker secret desires. Isn't that right, Wes?

WESLEY: Has to be.

ROBERTS: So, Oswald-is it?-tell me what you really want out of this lawsuit. We will have time to make your desire presentable, soften in up a little, add a little drama here, a touch of sentiment there, spiced with a few old catch phrases and new lingo, or maybe hide it altogether and invent something entirely new and more (grins) politically correct... but now I just want the bare truth, to know what I'm to be working with.

WESLEY: Tell him. He does this to everyone, and it works all the time. This man's a genius.

ROBERTS: Now, now, Wes, I appreciate that, but we all know that genius is relative. What is genius for you might not be genius for me, or for those other guys we'll be facing in court. For them, I might not be a genius, but just some sophist shyster lawyer! (They laugh hysterically) So now, Oswald, the truth. Your truth.

OSWALD: My father is on life support after his heart gave out, and is currently brain dead. I would like... for his... suffering... to end...

ROBERTS: That's what you'll be telling the courts. What do you really want?

OSWALD: I would like the... absurdity... of his every vital function... being artificially maintained... to be remedied.

ROBERTS: A little better, but I need to know what you truly, genuinely want, deep down.

OSWALD: Oh, fine. I won't pretend. I want my father to be officially dead so that I can inherit his money and spend it.

ROBERTS: A lot better, but the case still seems too easy. There remains something you're not telling me.