Joey is a young man sharing one of the most difficult stories of his life with us. He starts by telling us about his little brother Peter who is mentally delayed but that never stopped him from doing anything he wanted to do. But his favorite thing to do was to watch G. I. Joe on television and play with his Army men. He loved and appreciated the police and firemen so that when he was at the park and the sun was going down, he didn’t understand why Joey was yelling at him to “stop.” As Peter runs towards the police officers, who have their guns out, and are running towards him Peter has not a care in the world. In this child like mind he is playing the best game of cops and robbers with his hero’s. As Peter plays with his toys in hand Joey tries to get him to stop running, stop moving but he runs with the greatest innocence is in the fearless mind of a child. And on that day as Peter bled to death on the playground after being shot by the police as his brother Joey held him. Peter never stopped smiling even in pain and when he took his last breath it was in that moment that he told Joey that he loved the show G.I. Joe because his brother’s name was in the title. He loved his brother because he was his true hero. Told from the perspective of the older brother with flashes of his little brother constantly present we see the joy and pain of a dynamic duo where one is taken too soon and the other must pick up the pieces to be able to see the light that is always possible even when one light has been burned out.
Male- Hero
(Peter, a mentally delayed little boy comes to life. He is playing with his Army men.) Run to the other end of the battlefield and wait for me there. I will save all of the people that are not safe. I will save them and make them safe. Because if I save them and make them safe then I am like G.I. Joe. I am a hero! (He puffs out his chest a bit. Holding his men in both of his hands. He makes a fake gun and starts to shoot it running toward danger.) I am the Capitan. I will save everyone just like G.I. Joe does on the old cartoons I watch with my brother Joey. I will save the Universe!! (He runs off with his Army men. Beat. Joseph enters a room. He surveys the room for a moment then something catches his eye. He goes to it, picks it up. Under his breath.) “I will save the Universe.” (He laughs at the memory. To audience.) I’ve been walking into this room for months trying to just get started. Make the first step towards (Beat) something. (He adjusts the toy G.I. Joe figure that he has in his hands and shows it to the audience with joy.) Peter always wanted G.I. Joe men. It didn’t matter if it was Christmas or his birthday he wanted G.I. Joe men and it didn’t matter if he already had the figure, he wanted as many Army men as he could get so that he could have the biggest Army and save the Universe. (Laughs) He never liked the new stuff. I bought him a toy from this badass cartoon warrior television show and he said, “If he’s not on G. I. Joe’s team I don’t want him.” (Laughs) He really believed he could save the world; that the military men would always win and always keep everyone safe. (Beat) They didn’t keep him safe. They killed him.