Memory Denial
Characters:
Adorna (Doctor)
David (Father)
Fatima (daughters)
Leila (mother)
Act 1. Doctor’s office
(The scene shows a doctor’s office. The Doctor is sitting behind a desk and checking her medical devices. There is a knock on the door. A young girl and an old man, bent over with a walking stick, arrive)
Daughter: Doctor, you are celebrated as the best and most benevolent physician in this town. Please help my dad; he fell three times today. I brought him here with lots of difficulties. He’s stubborn.
Doctor: Don’t worry! I’ll do my best. Please leave us alone for a few minutes. (Daughter leaves)
Doctor: Before I introduce myself, I like to know whether you are comfortable that I do my examinations in the presence of your daughter.
Father: (Shouting) No, I am not comfortable with you.
Doctor: OK. We’ll do it without her presence. (Doctor stands and stretches her hand toward David)
Doctor: My name is Dr. Adorna…. (David refuses to shake hands with the Doctor and throws Doctor’s hand away angrily)
David: Are you going to kill me, Major Doc?
Doctor: No! Never! I’m a physician, a healer, not a killer. (Doctor takes out a pen and paper and starts taking notes)
Doctor: What’s your name, sir?
David: 7399664SB
Doctor: What does SB stand for?
David: It doesn’t stand, Major Doc; it sticks on the shirt.
Doctor: What’s the date of your birth?
David: I wasn’t born. I was hatched?
Doctor: When?
David: It was a cold midnight. We crossed the border to Canada. Ask Fatima, my Daughter.
Doctor: What’s your address, sir?
David: In the middle of nowhere.
Doctor: Give the street and unit number.
David: It’s somewhere between the earth, which is contaminated by you, and the sky, which is contaminated by superpowers.
Doctor: Please help me to record your medical history.
David: First, you record yours, then I’ll tell you mine.
Doctor: (Doctor closes her eyes and goes into a state of hangover. She then responds in a sad voice as if talking to himself) It’s a beautiful idea, but now you’re a patient, and I am your Doctor.
David: Yes, I recognize you well, Major Doc; where is your uniform? Where are the two male nurses that always accompanied you? What did you do to my wife and baby daughter? You were a male then. Why have you dressed as a woman?
Doctor: I don’t understand a word of what you say. What are you talking about?
David (with a gesture of a man who has woken up from a long sleep): Oh! No! No! It was a bitter joke. I have Alzheimer’s.
Doctor: Don’t worry; you have no symptoms of Alzheimer’s. Once diagnosed with Alzheimer’s never says so because of not remembering anything.
David: I thought you were an idiot, but now I’m sure you are a total idiot.
Doctor: Why? Why do you insist on using a negative word?
David: You don’t understand that Alzheimer’s is the best medication that helps me to get rid of my memory once and for all. I love Alzheimer’s. (David tries to dance with his walking stick, but his old age does not allow him)
Doctor (looking at her watch): You’re more knowledgeable than me. Why, then, did you come to me?
David: I didn’t come to you; Fatima forced me.
Doctor: I need to speak with her. Let me guide you outside. (Doctor tries to help the patient out, but he raises his walking stick and responds with a threatening voice)
David: I don’t need your help Major Doc; I’ll get out myself. (Pause. Light off. Doctor and Fatima begin a dialogue)
Doctor: At this rate, we’ll reach nowhere. Your dad doesn’t cooperate. Please tell me in great detail about his medical and social history.
Fatima: I can share my dad’s medical conditions with you, but I know almost nothing about his past. He has never opened his mouth. It seems that there is a big family secret.
Doctor: Who’s taking care of him at home?
Fatima: I do. We have always lived together. He has gone far beyond his way to do everything for me. I love him like the pupil of my eyes. We have nobody in the world except each other. (A deep silence prevails, during which the Doctor looks down thoughtfully)
Doctor: A strange similarity!
Fatima: Similarity of what? (Doctor ignores the question and continues)
Doctor: It seems that your dad doesn’t trust me. He did not answer any of my questions correctly and constantly ridiculed me. Does he behave like this to other doctors?
Fatima: He never goes to any doctor. He has developed his self-care technique through the use of herbal medicines. Today, his condition turned so critical that I wept and used the power of love to bring him to you.
Doctor: I agree with you. There might be an unresolvable mystery here that no treatment is effective without revealing it. Now please fill up this information sheet and respond to questions as much as you know. Then bring him back to me and use your power of love to make him cooperate. (Fatima completes filling out the sheet and hands it to the Doctor. Upon seeing the name, the Doctor jumps out of great astonishment, repeating the name with a voice that gradually becomes louder and turns into a crazy voice at the end)
Doctor: David Boxana! Boxana! Boxana! Boxana! Boxana! Box… bo… bbbb….
Fatima: What is happening with you, Doctor? You are behaving like my dad. (Light off)
(Doctor, Fatima, and David are together. Fatima is helping the Doctor to examine her dad. David shows his reluctance by playing with the Doctor’s measurement devices and imitating the Doctor)
Doctor: Let me start with your heart. Please unbutton your shirt, sir. (David unties his shoes and removes them. Fatima tries to unbutton David’s shirt, but he resists)
Fatima: Dad! Don’t you love me?
David: I love you like the entire earth. (She begins unbuttoning his shirt)
Doctor: Now let me listen to your heartbeats. (David grabs the device from the Doctor and passes it to Fatima, who plays the role of Doctor)
Fatima: My darling dad, please close your eyes (David closes his eyes and blocks his ears with his thumps. Fatima passes the device to the Doctor, who does her job. The same episode repeats for the examination of David’s lungs and oxygen level. The Doctor takes out a piece of stick, sterilizes it with alcohol, then, with a pleading voice, appeals to David)
Doctor: My lovely David, please open your mouth and say Haa, I want to examine your throat. (David ridicules the Doctor by imitating a cat’s voice and closes his mouth tightly. Fatima intervenes)
Fatima: Dad. For my sake, please open your mouth widely and let me examine you. (David obeys)
Fatima: Dad, please close your eyes again!
David: Don’t fool me, my sweetheart. Pass the stupid stick to the stupid Doctor. (Fatima passes the stick to the Doctor. Both Fatima and the Doctor burst into laughter. The Doctor does the job)
Doctor (to Fatima): Given his age, your lovely dad enjoys the best health condition. Tell me about his diet and whether he smokes or drinks.
Fatima: He is a vegetarian who does not smoke but drinks a lot.
Doctor: Do you take him out for walking?
Fatima: Yes, I take him out every day at least three times, each time at least 20 minutes.
Doctor: Excellent. But he should stop drinking even though a drop harms his health. (Doctor shakes hands with Fatima and waits for the old man to stretch his hand. The old me turn back. They leave the Doctor’s office)
Doctor (alone speaking to herself): Boxana! Boxana! Boxana! It’s strange; something is on the top of my mind, but I can’t remember. (She begins walking, sitting, thinking, and turning around repeatedly. Suddenly she remembers)
Doctor: Eureka! Eureka! Mom! Mom! My darling mom. Boxana is the word that she utters loudly while sleeping. (Doctor picks up the phone and calls her mother)
Doctor: Hi, Mom! (pause). I am all right. (pause). I love you too, mummy. There is something urgent. (pause). Don’t be worried. I have heard you repeatedly repeating the word Boxana in your dreams. Any time I asked you, you immediately changed the topic. (Pause) please don’t change the subject again. (Pause). No! No! I want to hear from you right now. There must be a secret here that you don’t want to reveal. (Pause). You don’t want to tell me. OK. I ask you a simple question. Do you know by any chance David Boxana? Yes or no? Mom! Mom! (pause) I love you. Please don’t disconnect. (Pause) What happened to you, Mom? You are crying. (long pause). Thank you, Mom. I am coming home right now. (Doctor begins dancing. (Light off)
Act II. At home
(The scene shows the dining room with some chairs and a table with fruits and nuts on it)
David: (To Fatima) It was a hectic day, my child. Please bring me a double whisky.
Fatima: It is not suitable for you, Dad.
David: I may live two years more if I don’t drink. I don’t want those years, and I want to enjoy the joy of drinking.
Fatima: Don’t you remember what the Doctor said? She said you should not drink even a drop of it.
David: The Doctor is an idiot; doctors are a bunch of asses. They don’t understand the benefit of forgetfulness.
Fatima: You are one of the wisest persons I have ever seen in my life…. (David interrupts him)
David: I am not wise; I am your father.
Fatima: A wise person does not harass others. Why did you harass the noblest and most skillful Doctor of the town?
David: I did not harass her; she harassed me.
Fatima: Don’t you love me, Dad?
David: I love you as much as I love the entire world.
Fatima: Then, please tell me the truth. You always hide something from me. (David pauses for a few seconds)
David: All right, my little child. It was not in my hands. It was an impulse that I could not help it.
Fatima: I can guess. It goes back to your past that you have never told me a word about it, and you may never tell me.
David: Leave it, my lovely child. We must not contaminate our minds. Let us have supper. Please bring my whisky.
Fatima: Please reveal the secret in the name of your love for me.
David: (shouting) You knew that I was sensitive to doctors. Why did you take me to her? (There is a knock, a knock, a knock on the door)
Fatima: It’s strange! Who is that at this time of the evening?
David: Don’t open the door, darling. They have come to kill us. (Fatima opens the door. The Doctor and an older woman arrive)
Fatima: Welcome, my dear Doctor. Nice to see you in our home.
David: Didn’t I tell you that they have come to kill us? (To Fatima)
David: (To the Doctor) This is our private home. You have no right to disturb our peaceful life.
Doctor: I am not intervening in your life; I am a part of it.
David: Who are you, and who is this woman?
Doctor (passes a picture to David): Please look carefully! Do you recognize people in the image? (By looking at the picture, David jumps and loses control. Fatima, the Doctor, and the woman hold him. He almost loses consciousness)
Doctor: Fatima, bring cold water (Fatima rushes to the kitchen and brings a glass of water. The Doctor sprays water on the face of the old man, then dissolves a powder in the water and makes the old man drink. David comes back to his senses)
David: This picture was taken 33 years back when I was a famous doctor in the town living with my beloved wife and two little sweet baby girls. This is me, this is Fatima, and the other two are my wife and the child who Major Doctor took away in the concentration camp. (Fatima gets agitated and moves back and forth in a spontaneous way)
Doctor: Yes! You are right.
David: (While staring at the Doctor hostilely) Where did you get this picture? Tell me now. Aren’t you the daughter of the same Doctor who took my wife and child away?
Doctor (with a gentle voice pointing at the woman): Do you recognize this great lady?
David: No! I have never seen her in my entire life.
Women: What type of Eros have you become that you don’t recognize your Psyche?
David (Mesmerized) Leila! Leila! That’s you? Where were you all these years? I never forget the day when Major Doc took you and Adorna away and left me with little Fatima and lifetime grief. I searched for you tirelessly everywhere after the liberation of the camp. With pain in my heart, I found your names on the list of those who were killed due to the fatal project of Major Doc. I escaped our war-ravaged country and ended up in Canada after a long period of wandering. Fatima was four years old when we reached here.
Leila: That day, Major Doc and his nurses took us to another camp where women were used as guinea pigs as a component of the government’s genocidal policy. I pretended to be fully cooperative. They transferred us to a hospital where they studied the effect of medication for sterilization. In a rare opportunity, I escaped with Adorna. With tremendous difficulties, we crossed the border. Life was scary. I changed our names and tried to begin a new life. I also found your names on the list of those who were massacred in the camp. We also ended up in Canada. Now I feel honored to introduce your daughter Dr. Adorna to you.
David: (To Leila) And here is your daughter Fatima. (It is a passionate moment. Four members of the reunited family hug and kiss one another while crying loudly)
Dr. Adorna (To Leila); Why did you remain silent all these years? It bothers me that you didn’t share your memory with me. I desperately needed to know about my family roots
Leila: I wanted to protect you from the trauma. I kept everything in my heart because I loved you and didn’t want to lose you.
Fatima: (To David) You did the same thing to me, Dad. I suffered in silence all my life as a person with no roots.
David: My main preoccupation was protecting you and protecting myself from the devastating impacts of terrifying memories. Ignorance is sometimes a virtue.
Dr. Adorna: Not at all. Remembrance is a part of healing and is the best tool to resist evil. We must revive our hidden memories and share them with new generations.
Fatima: Now that we are reunited after so many years, we consolidate our solidarity, share our traumas with the whole world, help survivors to expose their collective traumas, and record them in the history of genocide and other heinous crimes. (Members of the united family make a circle as a solidarity and show their fingers as a sign of victory)
End
Toronto, June 9, 2023