Carmen (5 page)

Of free-floating hate, and if your brain has the uplift

To master the hard drift from grime to sublime,

He might give you some time and… who knows?

He puts his hand to his ear.

MERCEDES

Who knows?

GORDITO

Even a 3-D flick! Let me step aside for the pride of San Juan, Santo Domingo, México, Bogotá, and El Bronx Remembered! Escamillo!

ESCAMILLO

I said what? I said what? I said WHAT’S HAPPENING?

FRASQUITA

Yo, Escamillo! Put me in a movie. The world needs to see me.

In the background, we hear the strains of “The Toreador Song”
, rhythmic and upbeat, which continue as Escamillo speaks.

ESCAMILLO

(begins rapping)

The world needs to see all of us, mis amigos. That’s what Escamillo is all about. Fighting against the invisibility of being poor, being a nobody. They don’t kill us! They don’t lynch us! They make us invisible, as if we don’t really exist! They take away our identity. At first we think it’s harmless; we just don’t see ourselves anywhere. We see shells where men should be standing; we see cartoons where our women should be. But then one day you wake up and look in the mirror, and there’s no one there looking back at you. All the dreams that held you together are gone, and all the hope you could feel is gone. You know your brain is fading fast and you feel a sense of panic.

Invisibility sees your panic, smells your despair as it paws the ground waiting to charge across the arena, waiting to destroy you. But now ESCAMILLO has given you the warning, and you are ready to fight back. The cold steel of truth is in your hand and you get ready. Across from you, invisibility trots proudly, snorting its contempt for you.

Okay, my people. Show me what you got!

The club suddenly comes alive as the patrons begin to dance. The dancing ranges from salsa to a kind of street flamenco. ESCAMILLO nods approvingly as he sees the vibrant life of the community. But throughout the dancing, CARMEN sits at the far end of the bar, looking on with apparent disinterest.

ESCAMILLO

Yo, I see the happenings! I feel the beat! I see the beauty and feel the heat! But where are the stars in this tiny universe? Where are the sisters and brothers gonna shoot across the sky? Who’s gonna light up the firmament? Where are the heart stoppers? The hammer droppers? Yo, mamacita, I see you glowing like you knowing something spelled truth. What’s the word, little bird?

CARMEN

I’m not interested in your moves or your movies, Escamillo. And Hollywood is not on my to-do list.

ESCAMILLO

I thought you were special, and I definitely got an eye for fly.

GORDITO

She fades into the woodwork like yesterday’s news.

ESCAMILLO

No, Gordito, she ain’t fading. She’s masquerading as ordinary, but she looks dangerous to me, and you know how I flirt with a danger high. It brings out the bullfighter—the toreador—in me.

CARMEN lifts her hands to her head, fingers pointed as if to represent horns, and struts sensuously toward ESCAMILLO, who instantly takes the challenge and goes into a bull-fighting pose. CARMEN makes three passes at ESCAMILLO, all of which he sidesteps deftly. Hands on hips, she throws her head back in laughter. Then she lifts her arms to the ceiling and swoops them down, jabbing her fingers into ESCAMILLO’s side. She and ESCAMILLO both laugh.

GORDITO

It’s time to go. We have to see the manager before the concert to iron out last-minute details. And there are a million dollars in these details. He wants to negotiate foreign rights and subsidiaries. We have to be there.

ESCAMILLO

Of course. Of course.

(He takes his cape.)

But I will be back for you. What is your name, angel?

CARMEN

Carmen. Or Carmencita. Your choice.

ESCAMILLO

Carmen. Carmencita. It’s all the same. You are too beautiful for words. My tongue gets excited just saying your name. I will be back for you. To everybody here: you are all invited to my concert this weekend. I’ll send fifty tickets over to

(looks around and sees the sign above the stage)

Lillas’s place.

FRASQUITA

This show is going to be good, right?

ESCAMILLO

The fire department is sending over a special truck, it’s going to be so hot.

FRASQUITA

Is it going to be on television? Because when concerts are on television, they’re usually pretty good.

ESCAMILLO

This won’t be good because of television, baby.

(turning to Carmen)

This is going to be good because of Carmen. Everything I think up I’m going to be asking myself what Carmencita’s going to be thinking about it, and then I’m going to make it even better. I’m good whenever I’m awake, but when I got somebody to inspire me, I’m knee-deep in fantastic!

CARMEN

You got game, and you’re running it!

ESCAMILLO

Your game is deeper, baby, but Escamillo’s steadily climbing on up. I think we just might reach the top together!

CARMEN

I’ll be there.

ESCAMILLO

All you need to bring is your heart and your dancing shoes. Leave the rest to Escamillo.

ESCAMILLO and his entourage leave.

MERCEDES

Carmen, he was digging on you something crazy. No tengas pena just because you’re in love.

FRASQUITA

He can take me to Hollywood anytime he wants to, but I’m not doing nothing nasty in front of a camera.

ZUNIGA

(after ESCAMILLO’s people leave)

That Escamillo’s all glitter. Nothing more. No substance. You can dress up street, but you can’t take away the stink. Let’s get out of here.

ZUNIGA and SHEA leave.

MERCEDES

He’s going to go look for somebody else to hate.

CARMEN

He probably hates himself.

The excitement of ESCAMILLO lingers for a while in the air, then slowly dies down as DANCAIRO and RAIMONDO enter. DANCAIRO is thin and nervous and has a teardrop tattoo under his left eye. RAIMONDO is short and heavy, with the nervous habit of hunching his shoulders as he speaks.

RAIMONDO

(to MERCEDES)

We got it going. Major-league stuff all the way.

DANCAIRO

We can score every credit card number in the city of Pittsburgh for three hours. That’s a hundred and fifty-nine thousand names.

RAIMONDO

And they’re rich in Pittsburgh.

DANCAIRO

In three hours, we can make a fortune.

RAIMONDO

And since it’s all electronic, there’s no evidence.

DANCAIRO

No fingerprints. No DNA. Just get in and boom, boom, boom! It’ll take them three hours to figure out what’s happening and another three hours to shut the system down, and we’ll be done by then.

RAIMONDO

We’ve got the log-in code. All we need is two smart kids who can hack into one lousy computer to get the master password. Then we’re in and gone without even a gun drawn. Thank God for technology.

DANCAIRO

(to CARMEN)

And we also need the charms of some beautiful women to keep a certain computer security chief—how do you say?—occupied!

MERCEDES

How much is in it for us?

FRASQUITA

We don’t work for nothing!

RAIMONDO

Fifty thousand—twenty-five thousand apiece—if the score is small.

DANCAIRO

I would tell you how much you would get if it is completely successful, but I can’t count that high.

FRASQUITA

You got us!

RAIMONDO

Carmen?

MERCEDES

She’s too much in love. With a cop!

RAIMONDO

No, I’m serious. Carmen, are you with us?

CARMEN

I’ve got stuff on my mind, Raimondo. Maybe some other time.

RAIMONDO

What some other time? This is once in a lifetime, sweet cheeks!

MERCEDES

Lighten up, Raimondo. She’s got a life, too.

FRASQUITA

(spots JOSÉ at the door)

And here he is.

JOSÉ enters. DANCAIRO and RAIMONDO back away quickly, DANCAIRO shielding his face with his hand. They both exit out of the rear door but not before RAIMONDO glances toward CARMEN and shakes his head in disbelief.

JOSÉ

Carmen, I’ve been looking everywhere for you. I thought you were going to be home.

CARMEN

Too hot in there. I got home last night and a mouse was sitting in the refrigerator!

JOSÉ

A mouse? Oh, that’s a joke. Right. At first I couldn’t remember the name of this place. But then I did. You’ve been on my mind all day.

(looks around)

Can we go somewhere?

CARMEN

José, I want you to meet my friends. This is Frasquita.

FRASQUITA

Hey, guy.

CARMEN

And this is Mercedes. They’re my homegirls.

MERCEDES

What’s happening?

JOSÉ

Hello.

FRASQUITA and MERCEDES retreat to a table, and JOSÉ kisses CARMEN’s hand tenderly.

JOSÉ

Nice friends.

CARMEN

The kind that look out for you. You know what I mean?

JOSÉ

Yes, I do. I like loyalty in my friends.

CARMEN

Frasquita asked me why I’ve been talking about you so much.

JOSÉ

You’ve been talking about me? What did you say?

CARMEN

That you make me remember the girl I once was, the girl who believed in every dream that came her way, who used to roll the top of her skirts up outside of Saint Dominic’s, hoping the boys would notice her.

JOSÉ

You did go to Saint Dom’s.

CARMEN

In a way I did. I mean, it was me, but I wasn’t who I am now. I was just a little girl with wide eyes and teeny boobs. I was maybe softer inside than I am now.

JOSÉ

You are like a breath of fresh air to me, Carmen. My life has been just stupid for the last few months. First it was that kid—

CARMEN

I know about that, José. It was in La Prensa that you shot a boy who threatened you. But I know that’s not who you are. I know that.

JOSÉ

It really hurt to see the things they wrote about me in the papers.

CARMEN

Nobody wants to hurt another person.

JOSÉ

The thing with the boy—it happened so fast.

CARMEN

The thing?

JOSÉ

He came out of the shadows and…

CARMEN

(putting her fingers on his lips)

Don’t talk about it.

JOSÉ

I’ve been really depressed since it happened. I can’t sleep.

CARMEN

Let’s talk about us.

JOSÉ

Last night I tried to make my mind blank, just not think about anything. Then, in the morning, the air was all still and I reached over to get a glass of water and my hand touched the flower you gave me. You remember the flower?

CARMEN

You kept it? All this time?

JOSÉ

And suddenly the flower was more than just a flower. It was a promise that your soul had made to mine. I put the light on and took it in my hand, and the lightness of it just spoke of you. I put it to my lips and I could smell it, and it was as if you were near.