What Inspired The Writing Of

“Patching Up Tomorrow With Yesterday’s Pieces”

In September 2007, as a new playwright with just a single produced script under her belt, actress Destiny Fletcher went to support another Indy theatre production that her good friend FRYDAY was a part of.   The production, titled “Our Neighborhood”, debuted in Middle Village, Queens, NY, and it was the writer’s interpretation of what had become of the neighborhood he had grown up in.   Over ran by two opposing gangs, his beloved childhood neighborhood had become a war zone of fair and fertile grounds for two vicious gangs to fight over for illegal drug territory.

Sitting in the audience one evening, Destiny Fletcher was moved as she watched her friend FRYDAY play the character of Mr. Johnson, a hardworking family man who scraped and saved to buy a home for his family in the upper middle-class neighborhood.    Before long, two drug-pushing gangs infiltrated the neighborhood and with that came constant conflict and bloodshed.    

There was a single scene that was so captivating, it didn’t leave a dry eye in the house.  Mr. Johnson, the law-abiding citizen who found satisfaction in impressing upon his children the difference between right and wrong and the importance of always seeking to do the right thing, looses his 8 yr. old son Christopher, at the hands of a gang member.  Mr. Johnson’s family, (particularly his only other child,16 yr. old Brenda) is hell bent on seeking vengeance for young Christopher’s death.  When another altercation erupts into gunfire between the opposing gangs, Mr. Johnson’s core values are put to a test when he realizes that one of the latest victims is another innocent bystander not much older that the age his own son was when he was murdered.  Jeffrey, the younger brother of the teen rumored to have fired the shot that killed Christopher, lays on the floor convulsing after having been shot in the chest by a member of the opposing gang.  Without any hesitation, Mr. Johnson risks his own life as he runs, through flying bullets, to aid the boy whose older brother had killed Mr. Johnson’s own son.   Jeffrey’s life was saved because of Mr. Johnson’s quick, selfless actions.

Destiny went home that night and was compelled to sit down and write about all the emotions and sentiments she had experienced while watching the provocative original theatrical piece.  At the end of the 72-hour long writing marathon (without the interruption of taking time out to eat or sleep), the completed script of “Patching Up Tomorrow With Yesterday’s Pieces” was the result.