AND THE BRONX GOT BOMBED, Act 1, Scenes 1-2

I just spent a fantastic weekend in Sacramento’s little neighborhood of Granite Bay, with the lovely and awesome Sara. It was a great, if not short, weekend getaway that will suffice for my holiday time off since company management must work Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years, which isn’t something new for me (cough: past three years) but nonetheless, would like to celebrate not in a work environment sometime in the near future. That’s not my point, though. My point is that hanging out with your girlfriend, going on muddy hikes to a receding lake, catching a double feature of sex-romp comedies at a creepy drive-in, eating at California’s finest establishments (love you Tower Restaurant) even if it means you get eye-fucked by the waiter more than she does, and going wine tasting in the beautiful autumn landscape is the probably one of the best ways to spend four days off. Oh, and it so was.

One of the things I really truly love about Sara is that she has no problem telling me her opinion when it comes to my work. She’s unabashedly honest and candor in calling-out things that don’t make sense or parts that just didn’t grab her. That’s something I need with my work, especially from someone who does not consider herself a writer because most of my audience isn’t going to be a writer. After telling her my idea about a new, musically inspired play (yes, The Operator, Sara) I told her I was debating giving the writing group next week my Staten Island play or my newly finished Bronx play. These are the two I’ve written as part of my Borough Series: Five Plays, Five Neighborhoods anthology. I’ve sort of outlined a third one, but that needs a lot of work. As does the Bronx play. But I’ve been so tempted to go back and just make Staten Island the best it can. I even got a call, by mistake, I admit, from a director in New York who got the script by accident and told me she really liked it. Ultimately though, she didn’t have any means of getting it produced. Nice to have the feedback anyways. So that brings me back to the original question and I must agree with my better-half on this one: it’s going to be AND THE BRONX GOT BOMBED for writers’ group next week. But, for your viewing pleasure and honest critique, I give you the first two scenes from my new play:



ACT 1

SCENE 1 - BRONX CORNER, NIGHT - SUMMER, 1989

Lights up. Summer in the South Bronx. Los Cuerpos gang-bangers stand guard over their territory. Blunts and smack talk are exchanged.
They wear scars like tattoos and their tattoos like scars. This is their neighborhood.

Off to one side, RICO leans against a wall as GABE paces around TONIO seated on the curb.

GABE
Stand up, homes.

Tonio tries to get to his feet but Gabe pushes him back down to the sidewalk.

GABE (CONT’D)
(“Bastard! Listen to me and get up!”)
Cabron! Escuchame: levantate!

Again, Tonio attempts to stand only to have Gabe knock him back on his ass.

GABE (CONT’D)
(“You don’t want it”)
No se lo quiere.

TONIO
I do...

GABE
...say again, homes...

TONIO
Said “I do”.

GABE
Ya do? This ain’t no weddin’. I ain’t lookin’ to make ya an honest woman.
(“You are my bitch”)
Eres mi puta!

TONIO
(“Fuck it”)
Chingalo.

GABE
(“Are ya seein’ this?”)
A te ves eso? He comes on up like he’s gonna ask us out on a date or somethin’ and the little piece’a shit don’t want us no more, Rico.

TONIO
I do want ya -- mean, y’know -- I wanna be in y’all. I wanna be a Cuerpo.

GABE
The hell ya do.
(“Go home, bastard”)
Vaya a la casa, Cabron!

TONIO
I ain’t goin’ home, yo. I came to talk to Rico --

GABE
-- too bad, homes, ya got me --

TONIO
(to Rico)
HEY RICO! C’mon, man --
(“I need to talk to ya”)
-- necesito hablar contigo --

GABE
-- then stand up, bitch.

Tonio flies to his feet, this time anticipating the push from Gabe. When it comes, Tonio braces himself and shoves Gabe back. Gabe takes a moment, smiles, and turns to Rico.

GABE
(to Rico)
Ya wanna hear the man...?

RICO
Sure. Why not?

TONIO
What the fuck, man! All that -- what the hell was that all ‘bout?

RICO
(“Ya wanna be a Cuerpo, yeah?”)
Quieres ser El Cuerpo, no?

TONIO
Si.

RICO
(“Then I need to understand the world we live in”)
Entonces necesario para tu entiendes el mundo vivamos.

TONIO
Yo, no disrespect...or nothin’...but I ain’t got a fuckin’ clue ‘bout what y’all runnin’ ya mouth about.
(beat)
No disrespect or nothin’.

RICO
None taken.
(beat)
Y’know what I see when I look at Gabe? A boy -- Cuerpo, sure, but still a boy. Now look at me. I’m the world.

Rico nods; Gabe charges. As he approaches, Rico punches him in the face. Gabe falls back, shakes his head, and finally raises it proudly even as blood trickles down his nose.

TONIO
Jesus -- !

RICO
(“I am the world. Ya understand now?”)
Yo soy el mundo, Tonio. Entiendes ahora? I will fuck ya up and not even blink an eye. Us Cuerpos...we don’t think ‘bout nothin’ when it comes to takin’ on the world.

TONIO
(stunned)
So...ain’t he...he’s just gonna take it?

GABE
I’m just gonna take it.

TONIO
Why?

GABE
‘Cause he’s the world, homes. God is the world. Ya don’t go fist-a-cuffs with God.

RICO
Gabe, c’mere.

Gabe approaches Rico, who pulls him in close, whispers something in his ear, and puts money in his hand. Tonio watches all of it.

GABE
(softly)
Si, Papi...

RICO
Ya get somethin’ to eat, somethin’ to drink. That’s it. I don’t wanna have to put out no fires tonight...ya hear?

GABE
A’ight...

RICO
(“Gabe -- I’m serious”)
Gabrielle -- estoy serioso.

GABE
(“I know...I know...It’s all good. Don’t ya worry ‘bout it.”)
Yo se. Esta bien. No te preocupas.

RICO
No fires --

GABE
-- Said I got it, Rico!

Gabe exits.

RICO
(“Ya family? Where’re they from?”)
Tu familia? De donde van?

TONIO
Los Bronx.

RICO
(“No, originally”)
No, originale?

TONIO
(“Dominican Republic”)
Dominica Republica.

RICO
Ya sure ya gots the blood in ya?

TONIO
I gots in it me, man.

RICO
(pause)
Let me ask ya a question: why ya choosin’ to be a corner boy? Eh?

TONIO
This a job interview or some shit like that?

RICO
It’s important...now, answer the question.

TONIO
(pause)
My mom’s is gone.

RICO
Since when?

TONIO
Last week. Took up with some chupadura-maricon outta Bay Ridge. She started seein’ him last month. Subway ride so long she stopped huffin’ it back up here. Asshole...

RICO
Ya thinin’ she ain’t comin’ home?

TONIO
Ain’t no home to come back to.

RICO
Shit, man.
(“And your daddy?”)
Y tu papi?

TONIO
(“I don’t got one. My grandma lives in a city north of Boston, but...”)
No lo tengo...Mi abuelita viva en un ciudad norte Boston, pero...

RICO
(“Ain’t nothin’ up there for you.”)
Nada esta alla para tu. I hear ya, man. I got sent up to a boradin’ school ‘round there few years back.

TONIO
For reals...?

RICO
Ain’t frontin’. Shit’s borin’. Winters -- mad nothin’ to do. Solo chicos. Felt like my dick was gonna freeze and fall off, y’know what I’m sayin’...?

TONIO
(laughs)
Aw, man. That sucks.

RICO
Made us sleep in an old barn for a dormitory -- shit’s was crumblin’. Freeze ya ass off ‘cause the walls were only insulated with old newspapers.

TONIO
Ya makin’ shit up now.

RICO
Dog, do I look like I’m jerkin’ ya off here? Ya could reach into the wall and pull out the sports section from, like, I dunno -- 1977! But if ya did -- shit, man -- ya ass was in for one cold night.

TONIO
So ya dick definitely would freeze up and --

RICO
(cool, even keeled)
-- shut the fuck up, Tonio, I’m tryin’ to tell ya a story.

TONIO
Uh...sorry...sorry...

RICO
(beat)
We make walls here, Tonio...’cause I ain’t never goin’ cold again. Ya could make walls with us...roofs...shit, a whole house if ya feels like it. But we protect ourselves even when we without. Even when there ain’t no home, we push the world back. Hell, we fuck it up the ass is what we do.

TONIO
(finally)
Let me fuck shit up with ya...?

RICO
Ya askin’ me or tellin’ me?

TONIO
I’m tellin’ ya, Rico.

RICO
(pause, “Give me a hug.”)
Dame una brazo.

Tonio tries to hug Rico, but is stopped when Rico knocks him square in the jaw. Tonio stumbles back in shock. He starts to get angry, breathing through his teeth. Rico remains cool.

RICO (CONT’D)
Dame una brazo.

Hesitantly, Tonio tries again, but the same things happens. Rico stays collected. Tonio spits out blood.

TONIO
Ow, man! That knocked a goddamn tooth loose.

RICO
This...this never stops. Gabe did it. I’m doin’ it. The rest of the crew gonna be doin’ it for the rest of they lives. Normally, we’d have to jump ya ass to see if ya hard core, but I gots other plans for ya, hombre. Get some nice threads and show up here tomorrow ‘round six.

TONIO
In the morning?

RICO
Yeah. Problem with that?

TONIO
What if I ain’t got no nice threads?

RICO
Ain’t ya Mamasita hook ya up with some cash for new school shit and...
(beat)
...right. Never mind.

Rico pulls out a roll of bills and tosses a few twenties to Tonio on the ground. Tonio collects them slowly.

TONIO
Hey, uh, Rico...

RICO
Hm...?

TONIO
...well...uh...don’t know how to ask this, but...can I get a few more of those?

RICO
I ain’t the bank. That there be pocket money.

TONIO
I know, I know...but my girl...don’t know if ya know but...she pregnant and all...

RICO
That bitch ya popped ya cherry on? I heard. Don’t tell me ya stickin’ with her.
(no response)
What’s her name again?

TONIO
Don’t think ya know her. But she’s like, two weeks away or somethin’ from the baby comin’ out, and...to be honest with ya, I need to show her I can bring home some money, y’know, show her that I can take care of her. First I get with Los Cuerpos and next --

RICO
-- nobody sayin’ ya with Los Cuerpos --

TONIO
-- no, I know -- I know and all, but I mean, if --

RICO
-- and this ain’t earnin’ --

TONIO
-- right, but if I get to be a Cuerpo...y’know...
(“That’s money in my hand everyday.”)
...hay es dinero en mi mano cada dia.

Rico stares Tonio down. After a moment, he holds up two more twenties. Tonio takes them, nodding in thanks.

RICO
One time.

TONIO
Absolutely, man. One time.

RICO
Six. Tomorrow.

TONIO
I’ll be here.

RICO
A’ight.

Rico exits.

TONIO
Hey...Rico...thanks, man. Good lookin’ out!

Tonio recounts the money in his hand and exits in the opposite direction.

Lights fade.

SCENE 2 - SANDRA’S APARTMENT, LATER THAT NIGHT

Lights up. Tonio bounces off the walls with excitement. SANDRA, his girlfriend, sits at the kitchen table with a cup of tea.

TONIO
(getting louder and louder)
...and then he pushed me again so I was like, “homes, ya best stop gettin’ up in my face...” and that’s when Rico -- ya ‘member, Rico -- ?

SANDRA
-- calm down...my mother, Tonio...she hear you --

TONIO
-- Dude’s huge and don’t gotta get bent outta shape or nothin’ to get no respect --

SANDRA
-- she just go to bed now. How I explain if she find you here at this time of night -- ?

TONIO
-- and he said, “come see me tomorrow mornin’. Ya got cojones, hombre. I want ya to work for me.” Rico said that, baby.

SANDRA
I don’t remember no Rico. All your friends look same.

TONIO
Y’know what? I’m gonna let that slide tonight ‘cause girl...I gots somethin’ in the works and everythin’ gonna be a’ight.

SANDRA
“A’ight?” “A’ight?” What this “a’ight...a’ight” all the time?

TONIO
Are ya even listenin’ to me, Sandra?

Sandra gets up and puts a hand over Tonio’s mouth.

SANDRA
(softly)
Yes! I listen. Yes. You have job interview with local goons. Fantastic, Tonio. You live up to your potential.

TONIO
C’mon -- ain’t ya the least bit excited for me? Think they want me to paint somethin’ for them.

SANDRA
This is you put cart before horse.

TONIO
(under his breath)
Don’t see yo ass workin’ no job.

SANDRA
What you say?

He snatches a piece of paper from a pad on the table. Tonio then grabs a pencil, pulling over a cup filled with pens and pencils. They spill out with a bunch of bobby pins.

TONIO
Shit.

SANDRA
Tonio! Look what you do!

TONIO
Since when ya start wearin’ bobby pins...?

Sandra scoops the mess back into the cup.

SANDRA
I don’t! No, but -- you -- go back to what you say before. About me with no job?

TONIO
I ain’t said nothin’.

Tonio begins sketching on the piece of paper.

SANDRA
For your information, my ass huge from carryin’ baby of your’s. How I supposed to work?

TONIO
From Russia with love, D.R. with Hate. Or vice-versa...

SANDRA
Are you even listening to me now?

TONIO
Yeah...I am listenin’. And I can’t believe ya ain’t even a little bit excited ‘bout me steppin’ up and takin’ care of ya.

SANDRA
I will be once job -- real job -- come through. You forget, Tonio, I have five years on you. I work jobs before. This, you have not done yet. Jobs, uh...uh, they bleed out.

TONIO
Bleed out?

SANDRA
Yes, you know, they -- they have way of losing blood. Dying. Or changing. Job today, no tomorrow. Why? They never say. Sometimes. Right now...you have no job...just possibility. But here you promise Christmas ham and two story house.

TONIO
I swear to god, sometimes I don’t understand what ya sayin’.

SANDRA
Funny, because sometimes I feel same way with you. “A’ight”?

Tonio stop drawing. He reaches in his pocket and pulls out the money Rico gave him. He drops it on the table. Sandra takes a seat and shifts through the bills.

TONIO
Better than a’ight, huh?

SANDRA
What this?

TONIO
Money, mi bonita.

SANDRA
I not your “bonita”...
(throws the money on the table)
This money...no, I don’t want this.

TONIO
The hell ya don’t.

SANDRA
Exactly. To hell with it.

TONIO
Sandra...what the fuck ya tryin’ to pull here?

SANDRA
This Rico...you say he going to give you job...I remember him now. He the one that got out of jail last year. Out on the corner all night long. Sellin’ drugs...

TONIO
...they don’t sell drugs...

SANDRA
...shooting each other...

TONIO
...sometimes. Mean, they the muscle of the other corner boys. One hand washes the other...shit like that...

SANDRA
And this Rico...gave you this money, didn’t he? He wash our hands now?

TONIO
Maybe it’s an advance. For bein’ an artist...ever think ‘bout that?

SANDRA
Then what you call the blood spots on your shirt? This also an advance?

TONIO
And what if it is?

SANDRA
This no good, Tonio.

TONIO
It is so long as it keeps ya ass and my son’s ass comfortable.

SANDRA
First of all, who said it was a boy? And second, I think of many, many, many answers to that stupid question. You sell drugs, you beat up peoples, you get shot --

TONIO
-- no! I tag! I write! I get respect, start earnin’ some money --

SANDRA
-- you shoot someone else, you go to jail, you get killed --

TONIO
-- I ain’t goin’ to jail and I ain’t goin’ to be killed --

SANDRA
(yells)
-- and then there no chance of having family with you because you are dead!

A light from the back room clicks on. Sandra notices it and drops her head back in frustration. Tonio goes back to his drawing as Sandra tends to her mother.
Sandra opens the door, peaks her head inside, and argues with her mother, ELIKA, in Russian. When she’s done she slams the door on her mother.

TONIO
She up?

SANDRA
What you think, Tonio?

TONIO
I dunno.
(pause)
Can I finally meet her?

SANDRA
That joke?

TONIO
No.

SANDRA
Sounds like joke.

TONIO
Nah, yo. For reals. I wanna meet her.

SANDRA
She don’t want to meet . She think you are devil.

TONIO
Shit...

SANDRA
Yes, shit. Just imagine what she think of her own daughter.

TONIO
I just feel like I should say somethin’ seein’ as how I’m part of the reason she’s gonna have a grandson.

SANDRA
STOP SAYING THING YOU CAN’T -- what is word! She don’t come out of room for years. Protest against my father for bringing us out of Russia to here. Of the five she’s been locked in her room, my father has been gone three of.

TONIO
Where?

SANDRA
I don’t know. Maybe he also mobster and you two can have lunch on Wednesdays with one another.

TONIO
Sandra...girl, c’mon. I’m really tryin’ hard to make somethin’ of myself here and I need my girl with me on this.

SANDRA
Why?

TONIO
‘Cause I think I really like ya.

SANDRA
Uh-huh.

TONIO
‘Cause I love ya.

SANDRA
(beat)
Would be nice to believe that true. But this is no way to prove it.

TONIO
Look at this and tell me it ain’t proof.

Tonio holds up his sketch: a picture of Sandra. For how quickly he’s done it, it’s not bad.

SANDRA
This lovely. But no proof of love.

TONIO
Then how?

SANDRA
Get real job. Go back to school.

TONIO
Can’t do both at same time.

SANDRA
Fine. Go to school in day, work at night. That what I do when I your age.

TONIO
Thanks, Grandma, but I can’t make enough to get a place and food and keep --

SANDRA
-- stay here. I take care of other things. I get job too.

TONIO
No. No, that ain’t right. I’m supposed to take care of ya ass.

SANDRA
Tonio...how I supposed to believe that? How? You know...I have baby to care after...I can’t take care of two children at once...

TONIO
I am doin’ for reals now.

SANDRA
You are going to play in street. Like little boy.

TONIO
That ain’t -- I ain’t no little boy.

SANDRA
Come back with job -- real work -- tomorrow. Then we talk about if you no little boy.

TONIO
I’m tellin’ ya, I ain’t --

SANDRA
-- TOMORROW...Tonio...

Tonio glares at her. Sandra crosses her arms and locks eyes with him. Tonio grabs most of money off the table and pockets it.

TONIO
(re: the money)
This...this is for clothes...for my job...tomorrow...when I start. And when I come back here tomorrow night...they’ll be more.

Tonio exits in a huff. Sandra then looks at the drawing on the table. She smiles, but quickly wipes it off and hangs the picture on the fridge with a magnet. About to exit, Sandra pulls a bobby pin from her hair, looks at it with confusion, and tosses it in the cup with the rest of the pencils.

Lights fade.

Okay, my poor Spanish skills aside, what are your thoughts? Does it intrigue you to want to keep watching? Is it stereo-typical, in terms of character and plot, or does it feel like a new take on an old tale? Has the since of family come through at all, even thus far? Putting race aside, does it remind you more of The Wire or more of West Side Story or none of those? And most of all, what’s confusing?