My story being done, She gave me for my pains a world of sighs:

She swore, in faith, twas strange, 'twas passing strange,

Twas pitiful, 'twas wondrous pitiful:

She wish'd she had not heard it, yet she wish'd

That heaven had made her such a man: she thank'd me,

And bade me, if I had a friend that loved her, should but teach him how to tell my story.

And that would woo her. Upon this hint I spake:

She loved me for the dangers I had pass'd,

And I loved her that she did pity them.

This only is the witchcraft I have used:

Here comes the lady; let her witness it.

Translation

Setting: The inside of the administrative building. Nighttime. Othello is wearing a suit, and is confronted by the school's president, 'Dr. B,' and several members of the administration in their pajamas.

John Othello: Look Dr. B, I know it's not easy when your little girl leaves you. Lord knows how I'd feel if I were in your shoes. Maybe I'd feel just the same way, as if I'd like to strangle the guy who took my only baby girl away. I've never been a father, or known a father really -- or a mother. Never had a sister or a brother neither. All I know is that I love your daughter, and I'm going to treat her right.

You're just about the only father I ever had, you and this damn school, I mean, darned school. You know my story. Born to a mother I never knew, abandoned at birth.

Shot of baby John lying on the steps of an inner city church during a snowstorm)

Got put into a foster home before I could talk.

He keeps trying)
Got moved home to home, sometimes to no home at all, just a halfway house of crazy guys who'd all done something wrong, when the only thing I ever did wrong was being born.

John on the court gets older with time-speeded photos, and his shots become more confident and accurate.)

But I always tried to keep myself on the straight and narrow.

Shot of John, stopping practice, looks in backpack that is filled with books.)

And ever since I arrived here, I haven't just done you proud on the courts. I've also maintained my grades, I've got my eye on a future, maybe in business or law school, and I've tried to inspire the other guys on the team to do the school proud, and you proud, Mr. B, so the whole team isn't just empty heads throwing around a ball for fun and games and for the laughs of the spectators and the alumni dollars. I've tried to make it so we're a team with real goals off the court and beyond. If I didn't think I had a future beyond the game, I wouldn't have asked Des to marry me.

I told you all this before -- you remember, and not just to you, but also to Des.

I want you to know this loud and clear, too -- no matter what anyone says, I never disrespected you in your own home, or disrespected her. That's not my style, and I wouldn't have been able to keep myself together, keep myself sane, through all of this, if I hadn't been the kind of guy who tells the truth.

If you don't believe me, ask your daughter. I know we're young, but I'm an old man inside, with all I've seen, and your daughter is an old soul. You know that, you're her father. That's why we're meant for each other.

Works Cited

Shakespeare, William. "Othello." MIT Classics Page. [2 Nov 2006] http://www-tech.mit.edu/Shakespeare/othello/othello.1.3.html