1 | P a g e NEW YORKER IN TONDO (Marcelino Agana, Jr.) SCENE: The parlor of the Mendoza house in Tondo. Front door is at right. Curtained window is at left. Left side of stage is occupied by a rattan set –sofa and two chairs flanking a table. On the right side of the stage, a cabinet radio stands against a back wall. Open door-way in center, background, leads into the rest of the house. MRS. M: (As she walks toward the door) –Visitors, always visitors. Nothing but visitors all day long. Naku, I’m beginning to feel like a society matron. (She opens door. Tony steps in, carrying a bouquet. Tony is 26, dressed to kill, and is the suave type. Right now, however, he is feeling a trifle nervous. He starts slightly on seeing Mrs. Mendoza.) MRS. M : Tony! I thought you were in the provinces. TONY : (Startling) –But is that you, Aling Atang? MRS. M : ( Laughing) --- Of course. It’s I, foolish boy. Who did you think it was …Carmen Rosales? TONY : You …you don’t look like Aling Atang. MRS. M : (shyly touching her boyish bob) – I had my hair cut. Do I look so horrible? TONY : Oh, no, no … you look just wonderful, Aling Atang. For a moment I thought you were your own daughter. I thought you were Kikay. MRS. M : (Playfully slapping his cheek) --- Oh, you are as palikero as ever, Tony. But come in, come in. (She moves toward the furniture and Tony follows.) Here, sit down, Tony. How is your mother? TONY : (As he sits down, still holding the bouquet) --- Oh, poor mother is terribly homesick for Tondo, Aling Atang. She wants to come back here at once. MRS. M : (Standing beside his chair, putting on an apron) – How long have you been away? TONY : Only three months MR. M : Only three months! Three months is too long for a Tondo native to be away from Tondo. Ay, my kumare, how bored she must be out there! TONY : Well, Aling Atang, you know how it is with us engineers. We must go where our jobs call us. But as soon as I have finished with that bridge in 2 | P a g e Bulacan, mother and I are coming back here to Tondo. MRS. M : Yes, you must bring her back as soon as possible. We miss her whenever we play panguingue. TONY : (Laughing) --- That is what she misses most of all. MRS. M : Now I understand how she feels! Your mother could never, never become a provinciana, Tony. Once a Tondo girl, always a Tondo girl, I always say. (She pauses, struck by a thought). But I wonder if that’s true after all. Look at my Kikay; she was over there in America for a whole year, and she says that she never, never felt homesick at all! TONY : (Beginning to look nervous again) --- When … when did she, Kikay, arrive, Aling Atang? MRS. M : Last Monday. TONY : I didn’t know she had come back from New York until I read about it in the newspapers. MRS. M : (Plaintively) --- That girl arrived only last Monday and look at what has happened to me! When she first saw me, she was furious; she said that I need a complete overhauling. She dragged me off to a beauty shop, and look, look what she had done to me! My hair is cut, my eyebrows are shaved, my nails are manicured, and whenever I go to market, I must use lipstick and rouge! All my kumares are laughing at me. People must think I have become a … loose woman! And at my age, too! But what can I do. You know how impossible it is to argue with Kikay. And she says that I must learn how to look and act like an Americana because I have a daughter who has been to America. Dios mio, do I look like an American? TONY : (Too worried to pay much attention) --- You look just wonderful, Aling Atang. And … and where is she now? MRS. M : (who’s rather engrossed in her own troubles too) --- Who? TONY : Kikay? Is she at home? MRS. M : (Snorting) --- Of course she is at home. She’d still sleeping! TONY : (Glancing at his watch) ---Still sleeping! MRS. M : She says that in New York people do not wake up before twelve o’clock noon. TONY : (Glancing at his watch once more) --- It’s only ten o’clock now. MRS. M : Besides, she has been very, very busy. Uy, the life of that girl since she came home! Welcome parties here and welcome parties there and visitors all day long. That girl has been spinning around like a top!3 | P a g e TONY : (Rising disconsolately) --- Well, will you just tell her I called … to welcome her home. Oh, and will you please give her these flowers? MRS. M : (Taking the flowers) --- But surely, you’re not going yet, Tony. Why, you and she grew up together! Sit right down again, Tony. I will go and wake her up. TONY : Oh, please don’t bother, Aling Atang. I can come back some other time. MRS. M : (Moving away) --- You wait right there, Tony. She’ll be simply delighted to see her old childhood friend. And she’ll want to thank you in person for these flowers. How beautiful they are, Tony…. How expensive they must be! TONY : (Sitting down again) --- Oh, they’re nothing at all, Aling Atang. MRS. M : (Pausing, already at center doorway) --- Oh, Tony … TONY : Yes, Aling Atang? MRS. M : You mustn’t call me “Aling Atang.” TONY : Why not? MRS. M : Kikay doesn’t like it. She says I must tell people to call me Mrs. Mendoza. She says it’s a more civilized form of address. So … and especially in front of Kikay…. You must call me Mrs. Mendoza. TONY : Yes, Aling … I, mean yes, Mrs. Mendoza. MRS. M : (Turning to go) --- Well, wait just a minute and I will call Kikay. TONY : (To himself as he sits down) --- Hah! MRS. M : (Turning around again) ---- Oh, and Tony … TONY : (Jumping up again) --- Yes, Aling … I mean yes, Mrs. Mendoza. MRS. M : You must not call Kikay, “Kikay.” TONY : (Blankly) --- and what shall I call her? MRS. M : You must call her Francesca. TONY : Francisca? MRS. M : Not Francisca … Fran…CES…ca. TONY : But why Francesca?4 | P a g e MRS. M : She says that in New York, every body calls her Fran-CES-ca.That is how all those Americans in New York pronounce her name. And all she wants everybody here to pronounce it in the same way. She says it sounds so “chi-chi”, so Italian. Do you know that many people in New York thought she was an Italian…an Italian from California? So be sure and remember; do not call her Kikay, she hates that name … call her Fran-CES-ca. TONY : (Limply, sitting down again) --- yes, Mrs. Mendoza. MRS. M : (Turning to go again) – Now wait right here while I call Fran-CES-ca. (Somebody knocks at the front door. She turns around again.) Aie, Dios mio! TONY : (Jumping up once again) – Never mind, Mrs. Mendoza, I’ll answer it. (He goes to open the door.) MRS. M : (As she exists) --- Just tell them to wait, Tony. (Tony opens door and Totoy steps in. Totoy is the same age as Tony and is more clearly a Tondo sheik. The one word that could possibly describe his attire is “spooting”. Both boys extend their arms out wide on beholding each other.) TOTOY : Tony! TONY : Totoy! (They pound each other’s bellies.) TOTO : You old son of your father! TONY : You big carabao, you! TOTOY : Mayroon ba tayo diyan? TONY : You ask me that … and you look like a walking goldmine! How many depots have you been looting, huh? TOTOY : Hoy, hoy, more slowly there … It’s you the police are out looking for. TONY : Impossible! I’m a reformed character! TOTOY : (Arms around each other’s shoulders, they march across the room) --- Make way for the Tondo boys … Bang! Bang! TONY : (Pushing Totoy away and producing a package of cigarettes) Good to see you, old pal … here, have a smoke. TOTOY : (Taking a cigarette) – I thought you were in Bulacan, partner. TONY : I am. I just came to say hello to Kikay. TOTOY : (As they light cigarette) --- Tony, I’ve been hearing the most frightful things about that girl.5 | P a g e TONY : (Sinking into a chair) --- So have I. TOTOY : (Sitting down too) --- People are saying that she has gone crazy. TONY : No, she has only gone New York. TOTOY : What was she doing in New York? TONY : Oh, studying. Hair culture and beauty science. She got a diploma. TOTOY : Uy, imagine that! Our dear old Kikay! TONY : Pardon me, but she’s not Kikay anymore … she is Fran-CES-ca. TOTOY : Fran-CES-ca? TONY : Miss Tondo has become Miss New York. Our dear old Kikay is now an American. TOTOY : Kikay, an American? Don’t make me laugh! Why, I knew that girl when she was still selling rice cakes! (Stands up and imitates a girl puto vendor) --- Puto kayo diyan … bili na kayo ng puto. TONY : (Laughing) – Remember when we pushed her into the canal? TOTOY : She chased us all around the streets. TONY : Naku, how that girl could fight! TOTOY : (Fondly) --- Dear old Kikay! (Knocking at the door. Totoy goes to open it. Enter Nena. Nena is a very well possessed young lady of 24. ) NENA : Why, it’s Totoy! TOTOY : (Opening his arms) --- Nena, my own! NENA : (Brushing him aside as she walks into the room) – and Tony too! What’s all this? A Canto boy Reunion? TOTOY : (Following behind her) – We have come to greet the lady from New York. NENA : So have I. Is she at home? TONY : Aling Atang is trying to wake her up. NENA : To wake her up! Is she still dreaming?6 | P a g e MRS. M : (Appearing in the center doorway) – No, she’s awake already. She’s changing. Good morning, Nena. Good morning, Totoy. (Totoy and Nena are staring speechless. Mrs. Mendoza is carrying a vase in which she has arranged Tony’s flowers. She self-consciously walks into the room and sets the vase on the table amidst the silence broken only by Totoy’s helpless wolf whistle.) MRS. M : (Having set the vase on the table) –Well, Totoy? Well, Nena? I said good morning. Why are you staring at me like that? NENA : Is … is that you Aling Atang? TOTOY : Good God, It is Aling Atang! (He collapses into a chair) TONY : Totoy, Aling Atang now prefers to be called Mrs. Mendoza. MRS. M : Oh, Tony … you know it is not I but Kikay who prefers it. She was delighted with these flowers, Tony. She thanks you very much. Nena, if you don’t stop gaping at me, I’ll pinch you! NENA : (Laughing) – How you used to pinch and pinch me, Aling Atang, when I was a little girl. MRS. M : You were a very naughty girl, always fighting with Kikay. You were all very naughty children. (She points at Totoy) – This one, especially, always sneaking into our backyard to steal mangoes from our mango tree. TOTOY : Do you still have the mango tree? MRS. M : Yes, it’s still out there in our backyard. TOTOY : (Jumping up) – Come on, Nena…let’s steal their mangoes! MRS.M : Ah-ah, you just try! I still run as fast as ever. See if I don’t catch you again and pull your pants off! TOTOY : (Gripping his pants) – ah, but I wear suspenders now, Mrs. Mendoza. MRS. M : Oh, you rascal! Come with me to the kitchen. TOTOY : Why? To pull my pants off? MRS. M : No, idiot! I want you to help me carry something. NENA : Aling Atang, don’t prepare anything for us. We’re not visitors. And we’re not hungry. MRS. M : It’s only orange juice, Nena. I was preparing some for Kikay. She takes nothing else in the morning. She says that in New York nobody eats breakfast. Come along, Totoy.7 | P a g e (Exits Mrs. Mendoza and Totoy. Left alone, Nena and Tony are silent for a moment. Tony seated; Nena stands behind the sofa.) NENA : Well, Tony? TONY : You shouldn’t have come today, Nena. NENA : Oh, why not? TONY : I haven’t talked to Kikay yet. NENA : You haven’t talked to Kikay yet..! I thought you were going to come here and tell her everything last night. TONY : I lost my nerve. I didn’t come last night. NENA : Oh, Tony, Tony! TONY : (Irritated, imitating her tone) – Oh, Tony, Tony! Use your head, Nena. Whoever heard of a man breaking off his engagement with a girl! It’s not usual! And … my God …it’s not easy! NENA : (Belligerently) – Are you in love with Kikay or with me? TONY : Of course I’m in love with you. I’m engaged to you. NENA : (Bitterly) –Yes…and you were engaged to Kikay, too! TONY : But that was a year ago! NENA : (Flaring up) – Oh, you wolf! (She flounces away, furious) TONY : (Jumping up and following her) – Nena, Nena, you know I love you, only you! NENA : (Whirling around to face him) – How could you have the nerve to propose to me when you were still engaged to Kikay? TONY : I wish I had never told you. This is what I get for being honest! NENA : Honest! You call yourself honest? Getting me to fall in love with you when you still belonged to Kikay? TONY : I … I thought I didn’t belong to Kikay anymore. It was only a secret engagement anyway. I proposed to her just before she left for America and she said we must keep our engagement a secret until she came back. But when she had been there a couple of months, she stopped answering my letters. So I considered myself a free man again.8 | P a g e NENA : (Sarcastically) – And you proposed to me. TONY : (Miserably) – Yes … NENA : And then asked me to keep our engagement a secret! TONY : Because right afterwards, I found out that Kikay was coming back. NENA : Well, I’m tired of being secretly engaged to you! What fun is it being engaged if you can’t tell everybody! TONY : Just give me a chance to talk to Kikay and explain everything to her. Then you and I will announce our engagement. NENA : Well, you better hurry. I’m getting impatient. TONY : The trouble is, how can I talk with Kikay now? NENA : Why not? TONY : Well you are here, and Totoy is here. You don’t expect me to jilt Kikay in front of everybody, do you? NENA : You want me and Totoy to clear out? TONY : No…just give me a chance to be alone with Kikay for a moment. NENA : I’ll take care of Totoy. TONY : That’s good. NENA : Just leave it to me. (Totoy appears in the doorway with tray on his head; glasses and a pitcher are on a tray.) TOTOY : (Sailing in) – Puto kayo diyan, bili na kayo ng puto…! (Mrs. Mendoza appears in the doorway, carrying a plate of sandwiches.) MRS. M : Listen everybody…here comes Kikay…but she prefers to be called Fran-CES-ca. (She moves away from the doorway and Kikay appears. Kikay is garbed in a trailing gown trimmed with fur at the neck and hemline. From one hand she dangles a large silk handkerchief which she keeps waving about as she walks and talks. In the other hand, she carries a very long cigarette holder with an unlighted cigarette affixed. Kikay’s manner and appearance are …to use a Hollywood expression …”chi-chi mad.”) KIKAY : (Having paused a long moment in the doorway, hands uplifted in surprise and delight) – Oh, hello, hello… you darling, darling people! (She glides into the 9 | P a g e room. Everybody else is too astonished to move) Nena, my dear…but how cute you’ve become! (She kisses Nena)And Tony, my little pal of the valley…how are you? (She gives her hand to Tony) and Totoy…my, how ravishing you look. (She walks all around the apprehensive Totoy) goodness, you look like a Tondo superproduction in Technicolor! But sit down everybody…do sit down and let me look at you. (Her three visitors sit down. She sees the tray with the glasses and pitcher on the table and throws her hands up in amused horror.) Oh, mumsy, mumsy! MRS. M : What’s the matter now? KIKAY : How many times must I tell you, mumsy dearest, never, never serve fruit juice in water glasses! MRS. M : I couldn’t find those tall glasses you brought home. KIKAY : (Approaching and kissing her mother) – Oh, my poor li’l mumsy…she is so clumsy, no? But never mind, dearest; don’t break your heart about it. Here sit down. MRS. M : No, I must be going to the market. KIKAY : Oh, mumsy, don’t forget my celery. (to her visitors) – I can’t live without celery. I’m like a rabbit…munch, munch all day. MRS. M : Well, if you people will excuse me…Tony, remember me to your mother. (She moves away) KIKAY : (Gesturing make up) – and remember, mumsy…a little bloom on the lips, a little bloom on the cheeks. MRS. M : Oh, Kikay, do I have to? KIKAY : Again, mumsy? MRS. M : (Already in the center doorway) – Do I have to paint this old face of mine, Fran-CES-ca? KIKAY : (Breaking into laughter and turning towards the others) – But how dreadfully she puts it! Oh, mumsy, mumsy…what am I going to do with you? MRS. M : (As she exits) – I give up! KIKAY : (Still laughing) – Poor mumsy, she’s quite a problem. (She waves her cigarette) Oh, does anybody have a light? (Totoy jumps up and gives her a light.) KIKAY : Merci. TOTOY : Huh?
Posted on: Thu, 15 Aug 2013 03:45:10 +0000
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