Ofélio

[print edition page number: 391]

SETTING: A clinic in Houston, and an apartment near campus; 2010s. The set should easily transform from one location to the other, almost in a dreamlike way.

Characters

OFÉLIO — An undergraduate student at a local university. Latino, male, queer.
DOCTOR — Works at Planned Parenthood, mostly examines women. Female, any race or ethnicity.
GRAD STUDENT — A Ph.D. student at the same local university. White, male, queer. [392]

OFÉLIO walks alone on a sidewalk to a clinic, his mouth tightly shut. OFÉLIO stops walking. He stands there nearly motionless as the DOCTOR approaches him. He opens his mouth, and she pulls out a little purple flower. He drops everything he’s carrying. As OFÉLIO begins his poetic monologue, the DOCTOR stands, facing another direction, and asks him about his medical history.

OFÉLIO
what can grow in
the wake
of his
brush
fire?

DOCTOR
If you could fill out this form here …

OFÉLIO
i coat myself in
mud.
i cool myself with
the earth’s
soil.

DOCTOR
Who’s your insurance provider?

OFÉLIO
my armor against the
elements so that he
doesn’t
burn
me anymore.

DOCTOR
Do you have a regular physician?

OFÉLIO
under the force of his
chest he
pressed me deeper into this
mud. [393]
not by choice but by
reality.

DOCTOR
When’s the last time you visited a clinic?

OFÉLIO
into my own little
cave under the
ground.

DOCTOR
Are you up to date on all your vaccines?

OFÉLIO
he dug my
naked body in
deep.

DOCTOR
Are you on any medications currently?

OFÉLIO
i heave
caked on the ground after
he finishes and walks
away.

DOCTOR
Are you allergic to any medications that you know of?

OFÉLIO
left in pieces
scattered
all over his floor ready
to give a final
exhale.

DOCTOR
Are you sexually active? [394]

OFÉLIO
and i wonder if
a purple pansy can
ever grow
again?

DOCTOR
Where are you coming from today?

OFÉLIO begins to acknowledge the DOCTOR.

OFÉLIO
I asked for a male doctor.

DOCTOR
Well, the other doctor is on vacation. I’d say you could wait until next week, but you’ve described this appointment as urgent.

Beat.

DOCTOR
Where are you coming from today?

OFÉLIO
Montrose.

DOCTOR
Do you live there?

OFÉLIO
No, no. Was in the neighborhood. I’m a student. I live in the East End with a couple roommates.

DOCTOR
What brings you here today?

Beat.

DOCTOR
STI testing? HPV vaccine? Education on PrEP?

OFÉLIO (on edge)
Why do you assume I’m gay? That I need the little blue pill? [395]

DOCTOR
I don’t, sir. But you’re not giving me a lot of information. And I assume you aren’t here for an abortion or a breast cancer screening.

OFÉLIO
Right.

Beat.

OFÉLIO
I had sex last night. For the first time.

DOCTOR
With a man or woman?

OFÉLIO
Another guy. From the university.

DOCTOR
Did you use protection?

OFÉLIO
… No.

DOCTOR
Well, I’m sure you’ve had this lecture before, but I must advise you, even if you and your sexual partner have nev —

OFÉLIO
He isn’t my partner.

DOCTOR
Well. More important, then, for you to use condoms or consider getting on PrEP. And even if you don’t see this particular individual again, we should get you tested.

OFÉLIO
Okay.

DOCTOR
Sexual health is health. And there’s no shame in that.

OFÉLIO
There was a little blood. [396]

DOCTOR
That’s perfectly normal if it was your first time, as long as it wasn’t excessive —

OFÉLIO
There was blood. Still. Dried into my boxers this morning. Blood on the toilet paper, on my fingers.

Beat.

I didn’t want to do it. I asked him to stop. Because it was painful.

Beat.

DOCTOR
Did you report this? To the campus police?

OFÉLIO
No. No. No. I can’t do that. He’s a friend.

DOCTOR
Look, he’s not really a friend if he —

OFÉLIO
I feel nothing. But a searing pain here (indicating his lower abdomen).

DOCTOR (gentle, but insistent)
Let’s get you checked out, then. We’ll schedule an STI testing — but an HIV infection wouldn’t show up for at least thirty days. But I can give you an examination. Just to make sure everything’s okay.

Mechanically, OFÉLIO unbuttons his jeans as the DOCTOR instructs and lets them fall to his ankles, standing there in his boxers. He bends over but not without a degree of resistance and begins reliving the night before. The DOCTOR stands behind him and puts on a rubber glove. She proceeds to examine him. She dissolves and the GRAD STUDENT appears.

GRAD STUDENT
You just hit it too hard tonight. It’s the end of the semester, exams are finished. You can sleep it off here. I’ll even take you to breakfast in the morning.

OFÉLIO
Ay! I didn’t start drinking until a few months ago. Still a bit of a lightweight. [397]

GRAD STUDENT
It shows. But no shame in that. You’re a good boy. Focused on your studies. But believe me, a few glasses of wine goes a long way when you’re a graduate student like me.

OFÉLIO
Oh yeah?

GRAD STUDENT
Sure. And once you’re a seasoned drinker, you won’t jump on coffee tables and tear your shirt off, shouting about queer takeovers and utopias!

They laugh.

OFÉLIO
Thanks for rescuing me. I don’t think I said that. Things could’ve gone much worse.

GRAD STUDENT
It was getting late. You needed a safe couch.

OFÉLIO
I still can’t believe my roommate just left with that random math major. Especially after we agreed on a “no boys” policy tonight! But I can’t blame her. He was cute.

GRAD STUDENT
It’s the end of the semester! She needed to celebrate too, I bet. So about that no guys rule. She broke it — are you still hanging on?

OFÉLIO smirks. They kiss. They remove each other’s shirts, but then the GRAD STUDENT fondles OFÉLIO’s crotch.

OFÉLIO
I, uh, I haven’t exactly done anything before. I’m a … a … virgin, you know.

GRAD STUDENT (delighted)
Oh, Ofélio. There’s no such thing as virginity. Didn’t you pay any attention when you took my course? Get your head out of the patriarchal past.

OFÉLIO
I don’t know if I’m ready yet! Look, I’m just an intellectual queer boy. All the theory, none of the experience. [398]

GRAD STUDENT
You don’t have, like, some Southern Baptist — or Catholic — hang-up do you?

OFÉLIO
No, no, no, no! It’s definitely not that. I just, uh, I don’t know … I don’t know what my hang-ups are or why it’s taken me so long. I’ve definitely wanted to — and, and it’s not like guys here aren’t interested —

GRAD STUDENT
I’ll go slow, Ofélio. I don’t want to hurt you. I just want to take you to a place where we can escape the rules, where we can live up to that queer future you’re always talking about. A place where simple sex acts are revolutionary.

The GRAD STUDENT disappears, and the DOCTOR stands behind OFÉLIO again.

OFÉLIO
undignified
her cold plastic hand in
me.

for sanitation i
know
but only then
did i feel
dirty.

don’t breathe my
lungs.
fill yourself with
mud and
water.

maybe if i inhale only
water and mud
i can grow more
flowers.

maybe the other faggots won’t
choke on the
pansies.
as easily as me.

THE END