Bully Boy

Sandi Toksvig

WHO    Eddie, twenty, a soldier from Burnley.

TO WHOM    Major Oscar Hadley.

WHERE    A military aeroplane en route from Iraq to the UK.

WHEN    Present day.

WHAT HAS JUST HAPPENED    Major Oscar Hadley has been sent to Iraq to investigate the alleged misconduct of the ‘Bully Boy’ unit and in particular Eddie Clark, a young squaddie from Burnley who has been accused of the murder of an eight-year-old-Iraqi boy. During the investigation, Eddie has been kept apart from the other members of the team, all witnesses to the crime. On a journey back to base from the village they patrol, Eddie and the Major are in a separate truck from the others. There is an ambush. Eddie saves the Major, who has been knocked unconscious by the blast, but when he goes to check on the other vehicle he finds his friends have perished. Here, on a flight back to England, waking from a nightmare, Eddie recalls what happened.

WHAT TO CONSIDER

•	Eddie joined the army at sixteen. He says there was ‘Nothing else to do’.
•	Major Oscar Hadley had already been injured in the Falklands and is in a wheelchair.
•	The play explores not only the physical trauma but also the harrowing psychological effect of war.
•	To what extent does Eddie feel a survivor’s guilt and a helplessness for not having been able to save his friends?
•	Read the play to see how the relationship between Oscar and Eddie develops, and how Eddie struggles to cope with life back home.

WHAT HE WANTS

•	To punish Oscar. Note how he blames Oscar for the fact that he was separated from his friends.
•	To torture himself for not having been there.
•	To forgive his friends for having betrayed him. (It is not until later in the play that we discover Oscar has lied to him and that, in fact, nothing had been said to incriminate Eddie.)

KEYWORDS  determined  white  angry  shock  hot  liquid  exploding  drenched  poured  smell  empty  box/boxes

Eddie

I can’t stop thinking about it. You don’t remember, do you? Wish I’d had a blow to the head. […] You were so determined I wouldn’t speak to the lads. I should have been with them. You made me go with you in the vehicle in front. We were moving so slow. Just been through the checkpoint. I’d been sitting next to you. The convoy got held up. I don’t know what. Goats. Fucking goats or something. You let me get out. Check ahead. […] People talk about explosions but you don’t know, do you? Not really? Everything went white. Knocked the shit out of me. Improvised Explosive Device, my arse. They’re getting better and better. Vehicle landed on its side and you were out cold. I knew you couldn’t get out even if you woke. You were taking us back to base. The others were in the vehicle behind. Brian, Jack, Paki, Harley. My mates. The Bully Boys. I thought they were my mates but you said they told you about the boy. Said I killed him. After all we’d been through. I was angry with them. I don’t want to be angry with them… not now…

The blast took half the road with it. Funny thing is, their vehicle looked fine. Honestly. Just the same as before. I ran to the back to open up. Get them out. I thought they were alright because there was no noise. I couldn’t hear any noise from inside but you know, shock, maybe they were shocked. I couldn’t get the doors open. I was pulling at them. The handle was hot. Then the doors burst open. It was the liquid, you see. Like a fire hose of hot liquid exploding over me. There was nothing but liquid. Just liquid. Hot liquid where the lads had been and it drenched me. My friends poured over me. The smell.

[…]

I can’t stop thinking about them. In the back of the plane except not really. Not really there. Just an empty box. Boxes. Four boxes.