"Yo, Casimiro Flores".

Wood, Silviana

SCENE 11

Lights up. Something similar to "la Danza de los Viejitos" from Michoacan is heard. DON PRISCILIANO is walking down the ramp or step unit, pushing a metal walker with very slow turtle steps. He is wearing a hospital gown, slippers, and his old black hat; a sign stating "Do not resuscitate" is hanging from his neck. DON PRISCILIANO finally reaches the bottom and does not see MICTLANTECUHTLI step up behind him. MICTLANTECUHTLI is wearing surgical greens and a stethoscope around his neck. DON PRISCILIANO continues to walk around the room, looking out for MICTLANTECUHTLI, not knowing that MICTLANTECUHTLI is behind him, matching him step by step. All the others quietly move in behind MICTLANTECUHTLI, also stalking DON PRISCILIANO, until he is surrounded. DON PRISCILIANO finally turns and sees MICTLANTECUHTLI behind him. He is startled and starts to run slowly up the ramp/step unit.

MICTLANTECUHTLI: (Forcefully.) Don Prisciliano, stop!

DON PRISCILIANO stops and walks down.

MICTLANTECUHTLI: (Gently.) ?Por que corre? (Points to the sign.) Aqui dice "Do not resuscitate."

DON PRISCILIANO: (Looking down at the sign and trying to read it upside down.) Si, eso dice. (Beat.) Pero--I changed my mind.

Picks up the ends of his hospital gown, leaps up, and starts to run again, but MICTLANTECUHTLI grabs him.

MICTLANTECUHTLI: Pues you changed your mind too many times before, pero esta vez, lo siento, pero you finally died, and now you're to going Mictlan. (DON PRISCILIANO gets dejected.) Ande, Don Prisciliano, no se ponga triste. You've been wanting to die for over sixty years, !pues hasta que se le hizo! Come and meet the others who are going with you. (Takes DON PRISCILIANO to the others.) Les presento a Don Prisciliano.

DON PRISCILIANO: (Talkative like most viejitos.) Si, es cierto, hace mas de sixty years que mi vida termino. My fiancee, Maria Isabel, and I were planning our wedding. We were novios for three years, mientras yo trabajaba, saving our money for the wedding. Y la noche antes de la boda, we all went swimming a las pompitas, the irrigation canals near Oracle. I kept going (yelling to her) "!No te vayas a lo hondo! !No te vayas a lo hondo!" You see, she didn't know how to swim, but she wouldn't listen to me. Y se ahogo. Right in front of my eyes, she drowned. (Beat.) I tried to save her; I wanted to save her, pero no pude.

MAD DOG: And why not?

DON PRISCILIANO: !Porque yo tampoco sabia nadar!

MICTLANTECUHTLI: Pero animese, Don Prisciliano. You'll be seeing Maria Isabel very soon. Esta en Tlalocan. The land of Tlaloc, the water god. (Beat. Giving orders as he removes the surgical gown and stethoscope.) Bueno, you must make preparations for your journey. You'll need plenty of water, your favorite foods, pots and pans for cooking--pronto!

A lively polka is heard. Energy rises as the CALAVERA NURSE equips them for the trip with water, backpacks, etc.

DON PRISCILIANO: (Mostly putting on a pair of pants behind a chair. Complaining.) Pues yo digo, que no es proper que una senorita, como Xochil, haga travel sola, sin chaperone, con hombres--

ROCKY: Oh, Don Prisciliano, don't be so ... prissy.

DON PRISCILIANO: (Steps out.) No soy prissy, but in my time--

ROCKY: (Crosses.) Han cambiado los tiempos since you were engaged. (She links her arm through his.)

XOCHIL: (Also crosses to him.) I've never ever gone on a trip, with or without men, Don Prisciliano. In fact, I never did get to do much of anything. And now, I'm ready to go to Mictlan. (Links arms on his other side.)

MAD DOG: (Crosses next to ROCKY.) And I will protect you! And if I can't-I've got this!

MAD DOG takes out a little toy dog from inside his shirt and places it on the floor. The dog has batteries that make him wiggle.

CASIMIRO: Good thinking, Mad Dog. The book says que ningun viajero a Mictlan puede caminar sin un perrito amarillo.

MICTLANTECUHTLI: Si, es cierto. And in case que les de hambre, you can always make him into taquitos de escuincles!

All react, horrified.

MICTLANTECUHTLI: (Continues.) Just kidding. But it would be one way to finish off that odious dog in the commercial: "Yo quiero Taco Bell!"

MAD DOG: (Picks up the dog.) Not this perrito. (Links arras with ROCKY.) Ready? (Beat.)

Music similar to The Wizard of Oz theme is heard. XOCHIL, ROCKY, MAD DOG, and DON PRISCILIANO link arms, skip, hop, and sing in unison, to the tune of "We're off to see the wizard": "Vamos a ir a Mictlan, the wonderful world of the dead! The dead, the dead, the dead! O! Hermoso mundo Mictlan!"

Lights go down as music goes up.

SCENE 12

Lights up and music down. XOCHIL, ROCKY, MAD DOG, DON PRISCILIANO, and the CALAVERA NURSE have exited. MICTLANTECUHTLI is putting on his headdress.

MICTLANTECUHTLI: Your friends ate waiting for you; listo?

CASIMIRO: No son mis friends; I don't even know them,

Soft music, as in the beginning of CASIMIRO's dream.

MICTLANTECUHTLI: No? (Beat.) Casimiro, te dije que el perdon y la redencion eran conceptos que yo no comprendia muy bien, perhaps they're concepts that are too modern for me to understand. Tambien te dije que puedo cambiar el pasado--

CASIMIRO: !El pasado no me interesa!

MICTLANTECUHTLI: Then why are you forever dreaming of the past?

CASIMIRO: Porque nadie puede dirigir sus suenos. Not even you, the mighty Mictlantecuhtli.

MICTLANTECUHTLI: (With sarcasm.) Hello? Who do you think brought your Tata Remigio into your dream last night? And not only can I direct your dreams, I can bring the past to you. Now! Casimiro, listen carefully: sit down, close your eyes, put your head down, and start counting while your Tata Remigio hides from you. (CASIMIRO follows his orders. Calls out to beyond.) Vamos a su pueblito en Mexico cuando eras un nino, many, many years before the tragedy at the border.

Lights down. The sound of a conch shell and indigenous music is heard.

MICTLANTECUHTLI: (Continues.) Casimiro, you're now very young; unchamaco, jugando en el monte, entre los nopales. Your grandfather's hiding from you, y tu lo buscas porque te prometio un cuento si lo encuentras. Find him!

CASIMIRO: (Raises his bead and finishes counting. As a young child.) Veintiocho, veintinueve ... !treinta! (Runs around.) !Tata Remigio! !Quiero mi cuento! (Runs to slightly offstage and pulls DON REMIGIO forward.)

Offstage voice of CASIMIRO'S MOTHER.

CASIMIRO'S MOTHER" !Casimiro, dejate de juegos y cuentos! Tienes que ir a ayudarle a tu padre en el molino.

CASIMIRO: (Responding to offstage voice.) I still have time! (To DON REMIGIO.) Please tell me a Yaqui legend, please, Tata. We still have time antes que entreguen el maiz al molino. Please.

DON REMIGIO: Bueno, hijo. Te platicare de nuestra religion yaqui; but then you must go and help your father. You know that he needs your help. (Sits down.)

CASIMIRO: Si, Tata Remigio, I will. (Kneels on the floor next to DON REMIGIO.) Abuelito, tell me about the seyewailo.

DON REMIGIO: Mijito, la seyewailo is the Yaqui convergence of time, place, direction, and quality of being--donde todo de la vida se junta, ?me entiendes?

CASIMIRO: Si, Tata, seyewailo also means "the earth covered with flowers," no?

DON REMIGIO: Mijo, oyeme bien. This is very important. Para llegar a seyewailo, un yaqui debe ser de buen corazon. With good heart. Some Yaquis have a very special power: seatakaa, the flower body. Solo las personas de buen corazon tienen seatakaa. Only those persons that would never harm another person have this special power.

CASIMIRO: (Impatiently.) Si, si, Tata. A Yaqui must be with good heart to reach seyewailo--ahora, tell me about the sea ama--

DON REMIGIO: Again? Bueno. La sea ania is the essence of the Yaqui world of flowers. Someplace in the east--en un lugar "beneath the dawn"--esta nuestra sea ania. And there, toda la belleza natural del Sonoran Desert may be seen. Las flores, el agua--abundancia de todo--pajaros, insects--all the animals live there. And especially the deer-

CASIMIRO: I know! I know! The Yaqui word for deer is malichi, ?que no?

DON REMIGIO: (Laughs. Proud that CASIMIRO remembers.) Si, hijo. Malichi. Our sacred deer. (Starts to sing popular song.) "Soy un pobre venadito que habita en la sea ania." (Beat. Reflecting.) Casimiro, hijo mio, last year, cuando estabas tan enfermo con una fiebre, I made a promise that I would teach you our deer dance and that you would dance it at our ceremonies.

CASIMIRO: Abuelito, teach me la Danza del Venado now; I know I can learn it. I'm ready. Mire.

(Tries to dance.)

MICTLANTECUHTLI: Dispense, Don Remigio, but we don't have time. Se nos termino el tiempo; we must return to the present. Es la hora que Casimiro tiene que caminar hacia Mictlan.

Sound of conch shell once again and lights up. DON REMIGIO is standing at the top of the ramp.

DON REMIGIO: Ven, hijo mio, I will help you on your journey to Mictlan. You won't see me, but on every step of the way I will be with you, guiding you. (Puts his hand out to CASIMIRO.)

CASIMIRO, almost trancelike, starts to walk slowly up to DON REMIGIO.

DON REMIGIO: Escuchame bien, Casimiro: Life here on earth is a journey. And you are now embarking on a journey que sigue en este camino peligroso. On one side of this road, there is an abyss. (CASIMIRO looks to one side of the ramp.) En el otro lado del camino, otro abismo. (CASIMIRO looks at the other side.) You must walk without falling on either side; andando siempre en el mero centro del camino. Always, right in the center.

CASIMIRO centers himself and holds out his hand to DON REMIGIO. DON REMIGIO pulls CASIMIRO to him and embraces him.

DON REMIGIO: (Continues.) And at the end of your journey ... (His voice breaks. Beat. He is unable to continue.)

MICTLANTECUHTLI: Siga, Don Remigio. And at the end of his journey--what?

DON RRMIGIO: (Turns to MICTLANTECUHTLI. Forcefully.) Mictlantecuhtli, this time, he will not fail; Casimiro will fulfill his obligation and his destiny. (Turns to CASIMIRO and places his hands on CASIMIRO'S shoulders.) And at the end of your journey, Casimiro, you will dance la Danza del Venado, y cumpliras la manda y tu destino.

Lights go down as la Danza del Venado music is heard.

Act Two

TIME

Sometime in the beyond,

PLACE

Mictlan, which is rather brown and desolate. The center ramp or step unit now has a carpet runner with an Aztec design. There are two platforms with sloping ramps on each side of the stage and possibly some side-decorated pillars.

TECHNICAL NOTES

ACT TWO is one long scene and is not divided into traditional format; it should have a dream quality of seamless unconnectedness. Please note that the set does not change during ACT TWO.

The ALLEGORICAL DANGERS--BOULDERS, BLADES, WINDS, JAGUARS, and LIZARDS--are dressed in surrealistic costumes and masks and are positioned in place.

The ending will consist of two parallel scenes on the platforms that take place at the same time: the shooting at the border in 1977 and the gang shooting on the barrio street in 1997. Precise coordination of lights, sound cues, music, blocking, dialogue, repeated lines, pantomime, and freezes is required and is not always marked in the script.

Lights come up as indigenous Aztec music is heard. Then there is a soft drumbeat during MICTLANTECUHTLI's monologue.

MICTLANTECUHTLI is standing at the top of the center ramp or step unit, very much as he was in his first entrance in ACT ONE. The ALLEGORICAL DANGERS are simply lounging and making very slight, menacing movements. They will be choreographed to follow MICTLANTECUHTLI's descriptions.

MICTLANTECUHTLI: (Directly to audience, almost chanting.) En Apanohauyan, the water crossing place, los viajeros a Mictlan cruzaron el rio on the back of a dog ... (an aside to the disbelieving audience) ... believe me, they did. (CASIMIRO, ROCKY, MAD DOG, XOCHIL, and DON PRISCILIANO enter, tired and staggering from their arduous trip.) Y en Tepetlimonamiquiyan, the place where mountains come together, las montanas golpearon a todos los viajeros. (BOULDERS knock them around.) En Itztepetl, the knives as sharp as obsidian blades made them bleed. (BLADES cut them.) Y en Ehecayan, the wind place, los fuertes vientos brought out the fierce jaguars and green lizards. (JAGUARS and LIZARDS attack them.) Pasaron por Pacoecoetlacayan, and in Temiminaloyan they were repeatedly shot by arrows. Y en Teocoyllqualoyan, the place where one's heart is eaten, their corazones were ripped out. (Any of the DANGERS can cut out their hearts. Another aside to audience.) Creanmelo, you must suspend your disbelief, asi paso. (All DANGERS exit.) Hasta que por fin llegaron a Izmictlan, Apochcalocan, the place with no chimneys, o simplemente, el lugar sin escape. (Starts to exit, sternly. Stops. Turns.) Oh, what the hell. There is an escape. But I'll leave that to my compadres, Cantinflas and Quetzalcoatl.

A final sharp drumbeat is heard. Lights go down and MICTLANTECUHTLI exits. CASIMIRO, ROCKY, MAD DOG, XOCHIL, and DON PRISCILIANO are huddled in a dead heap on the ground. Lights go up. They get up slowly, helping each other. They look around, trying to get their bearings.

CASIMIRO: Bueno, parece que ya estamos en Mictlan.

XOCHIL: This is Mictlan? (Disparagingly.) Ghet-to heaven.

ROCKY: If it is, it looks like I'll need to take more pills!

DON PRISCILIANO: Casimiro, ?que hacemos ahora?

CASIMIRO: I don't know what you'll do, Don Prisciliano, pero I'm heading back to the hospital. Mictlantecuhtli just said I had to bring you here, to Mictlan. Pues aqui estan.

MAD DOG: But where's Mictlantecuhtli? Shouldn't he be here? How are we supposed to know where to go now?

DON PRISCILIANO: Casimiro, yo no pienso que nomas te puedes ir and just leave us here. Alone.

All ad lib, worried and complaining.

CASIMIRO: Quiet, everybody! Everyone, stay here, and I'll try to find him. (Exits.)

CANTINFLAS: (Enters as TOUR GUIDE. To TRAVELERS.) Bienvenidos a Mictlan, my sweethearts. (He places arms around XOCHIL and ROCKY's shoulders in a very familiar manner.) Let me give you a brief overview of your new residence, el merito Mictlan.

LA LLORONA: (Enters, crosses, practicing her wailing.) !Ay, mis hijos! Where are my children?

(Stops, takes a can of hair spray from a shopping bag, and sprays her hair. Continues wailing as she exits.)

ROCKY: (In wonder.) Es la Llorona. All my life I've been afraid of her and now I finally get to see her.

CANTINFLAS: La Llorona? There's really no reason to be afraid of her; she just has abad reputation. Como dice el refran: cobra fama y acuestate a dormir. Es la best friend de la goddess Chocaciuatl. Y las dos son bien chillonas. Actually, there's three crybabies. (Begins to cry as he gives lecture.) Chocaciuatl was the first of all mothers to die in childbirth, forever wandering, forever wailing for her lost baby and her own life. La tercera chillona es the goddess Cihuacoatl, que siempre se viste de blanco and also roams the earth, weeping and wailing, predicando guerras y miseria. (Blows his nose loudly.) But we should be the ones weeping and wailing, porque fue Ciuacoatl who gave mankind the tools of labor: el azadon and the tumpline--

DON PRISCILIANO: Herramienta para que el hombre trabajara como un buey--

CANTINFLAS: (Abruptly continues his tour lecture.) El calendario azteca is divided into ... (he takes out pad and pencil, licks the pencil, and writes as be talks) eighteen months, each with twenty days, porque mire usted, dieciocho por veinte equals three hundred and sixty days, and it's very clear that the year has three hundred and sixty-five days, ?verdad, chato? Si, pero no. Vea usted, ahi 'sta el detalle, compadre. Sobran cinco dias. Entonces, in these leftover five days, useless and inservibles, porque digame usted, Don Prisciliano, what do we need these five days for? (DON PRISCILIANO opens his mouth to answer, but CANTINFLAS merely takes a deep breath and continues.) Es bueno el cilantro, pero no tanto, y no todo en el monte es oregano, ?verdad? Pues por eso mismo le digo, that's precisely why we have dias de los muertos. To use up these five days. Pero, llegaron los espanoles y lueguito metieron la pata, con sus santos y misas y que se yo, y luego los gringos con su "Halloween" y "trick or treat." Bueno pues, lo que se va a pelar que se vaya remojando. Caminen, caminen, no se haga bola.

CESAR CHAVEZ: (Enters, reading his notes.) Tenemos que organizar a todos los trabajadores en Tlalocan. We have to demand better wages, an eight-hour day, breaks, clean and sanitary bathrooms.

CANTINFLAS: Es el senor Cesar Chavez, el presidente de los United Farmworkers. He and I came to Mictlan almost at the same time. Fijense nomas, when he was alive, he was always organizing, organizing, organizing. Y desde que llego a Mictlan, ?que creen ustedes que se la pasa haciendo? Organizing! He hasn't stopped organizing. Listen to him; esta preparando su speech para los aguacateros, newly arrived de por alla de Chula Vista, California, y que bien lo saben son rabble-rousers criados en Oaxaca donde se conocen sus derechos, not like the mensos en Tlalocan. Pay attention.

CESAR CHAVEZ: (Repeats. Louder.) Tenemos que organizar a todos los trabajadores en Tlalocan. We have to demand better wages, an eight-hour day, breaks, clean and sanitary bathrooms ... (XOCHIL moves away from the other TRAVELERS and moves closer to hear CESAR CHAVEZ.) Vacaciones con pago, agua fresca, todos los dias de fiesta pagados o double pay if they have to work on holidays. Aguacateros, !salganse de los files! (Starts to exit.)

XOCHIL: Mr. Chavez! Please wait; who are the aguacateros?

CESAR CHAVEZ: They are the avocado pickers, m'ija. They have very dangerous jobs, way up in the trees, cutting avocadoes with sharp knives--vente con migo, I'll introduce you to them. (Starts to exit with XOCHIL. Stops.) Ah, but what's your name?

XOCHIL: Xochil Martinez.

CESAR CHAVEZ: Xochil? (Leading her.) Wait until you see the flowers in Tlalocan. They are the most beautiful flowers on earth--pero we must organize the nursery workers--

XOCHIL: (Stops in her tracks.) Nursery? With babies? I distinctly told Mictlantecuhtli that I wouldn't be stuck babysitting in Chichihuacuahco--

CESAR CHAVEZ: No, no. This is a nursery for plants and flowers and they need tender care just like babies, pero Tlaloc tiene un foreman ... (CESAR

CHAVEZ continues talking as he and XOCHIL exit.)

ROCKY: Oh, no! Did you hear what he said about the avocado workers? He wants them to go on strike! And if they go on strike, we won't have guacamole for the Super Bowl fiesta tonight and I must find Selena and convince her to let me help her choreograph the half-time dance ... (Her attention is caught by EHECATL's entrance.)

EHECATL enters, in full costume and mask, carrying his bench and a bag filled with "PowerBall" numbered balls. He sits down and starts to throw the balls around.

MAD DOG: Who's that vato?

CANTINFLAS: Ese "vato" es Ehecatl, god of the wind. Bueno, technically he's another aspect of our great Quetzalcoatl, pero eso es demasiado metaphysical to explain to mere mortals, so never mind.

MAD DOG: What's he doing with those balls?

CANTINFLAS: Picking the PowerBall winner. Ehecatl loves to roam the earth--y aqui en Mictlan--dressed in rags, sentadito en su banco.

MAD DOG: Why does he do that?

CANTINFLAS: If I knew that, no anduviera aqui de tour guide. Pero lo que si sE, es que if you catch him, he'll grant you a wish and a long life to enjoy it.

MAD DOG and ROCKY: (Together as they exchange looks.) Un wish?

CANTINFLAS: Aha, un wish. (Continues as TOUR GUIDE.) Por aqui tenemos Tlalocan, the land of water, filled with corn, frijol--all kinds of beans--squash, and chili. Chili, pues pa' que les cuento: chili colorado, chili del Arbol, serrano, jalapenos, chili piquin, chili poblano--

DON PRISCILIANO: DEjese de chilis, Senor Cantinflas. I'm dying to see my fiancEe--bueno, ya murio--and Mictlantecuhtli said that Maria Isabel, mi novia, estA aqui, en Tlalocan, because she died by drowning. (To others.) VerAn cuando la vean; she's so beautiful and--

CANTINFLAS: ?Se ahogo? Ah, pues si, todos los ahogados llegan aqui, a Tlalocan. Y ahi les va algo muy interesante que yo sE que no sabian porque apenas lo supe yo, pero not only do the drowned ones end up here in Tlalocan, but also the ones que les pego un rayo, or that died from water-related enfermedades like gout o pulmonia y--

DON PRISCILIANO: ?Pues donde esta? Yo quiero ver a mi novia ahorita mismo. Where is she?

CANTINFLAS: Ay, Don Prisciliano, pues where else do you think she'd be? (Points offstage.) Alli, en aquel swimming pool, taking swimming lessons, pues no faltaba mAs ... (continues without pause) sigamos a Chichihuacuahco, land of infants and children, where el Arbol chichihuacuahitl nourishes them with milk from its leaves. Caminen, caminen, no se hagan bola. Walk this way.

All follow CANTINFLAS--comedy bit, imitating his famous walk--and exit.

DON PRISCILIANO: (Stops, To himself.) Yo no tengo que ir a ningun Chichihuacuahco; yo voy a buscar a mi Maria Isabel en la alberca. That shouldn't be hard; I remember exactly how she looked that night she drowned. Recuerdo muy bien como se veia, con su bathing suit--modesto, no disoluto--so beautiful, so young. (Starts to sing.) "Coje tu sombrero y pontelo, vamos a la playa, calienta el sol. Chiviriviri--" (Exits.)

EHECATL glances up and sees that he's now alone. Stands and picks up his bench and starts to cross, stealthily. Entering from the opposite side that they exited, ROCKY and MAD DOG sneak up behind EHECATL, match their steps to his, and grab him. EHECATL puts up a struggle, but he is quickly subdued and forced to sit down on his bench. MAD DOG holds him down on one side and ROCKY holds him down on the other side. DON PRISCILIANO enters, sputtering, with a chubby MARIA ISABEL, who is wearing a very old-fashioned bathing suit and cap.

DON PRISCILIANO: (Still sputtering, indignant.) Esta ... dice ... que es ... Maria Isabel.

ROCKY and MAD DOG: (Together, introduce themselves but do not release EHECATL.) Mucho gusto, Rocky Road y Mad Dog, a sus ordenes.

DON PRISCILIANO: !No! !No! No es mi Maria Isabel. Esta es una vieja; mi Maria Isabel is seventeen.

MARIA ISABEL: I was seventeen, but Prisciliano, that was over sixty years ago. DON PRISCILIANO: Yes, but now you're so ... old.

MARIA ISABEL: Well, viejo chorro, have you looked in the mirror lately? (Exits in a huff, sputtering insults.)

ROCKY: Se fue bien enojada, Don Prisciliano.

DON PRISCILIANO: (Somewhat remorseful.) I'm sorry, but did you see her? My Maria Isabel was so beautiful, and so--

EHECATL: Young?

DON PRISCILIANO: ?Y a usted quien le dio permiso pa' que se metiera en la conversacion?

MAD DOG: (Quickly.) Don Prisciliano, this is the god Ehecatl. ?Se acuerda? The Cantinflas dude told us he can grant wishes.

DON PRISCILIANO: ?Un deseo? (Gets idea.) Hmmm.

EHECATL: Yes, but only if you let me get up. I'm not going to run away, ?quE creen? ?Que soy un leprechaun?

ROCKY and MAD DOG release him.

DON PRISCILIANO: Senor dios Ehecatl, yo quisiera que--

EHECATL: Ay, Don Prisciliano, I'm sorry. I know what your wish is, but I can't grant it. I cannot make your Maria Isabel young again. Don Prisciliano, todos estos anos, you've been in love with a memory, and now it's time for you to fall in love with the present.

DON PRISCILIANO: Y entonces, ?de quE demonios sirve?

Exits grumbling about useless gods. XOCHIL enters, carrying a flower.

XOCHIL: (To EHECATL.) Can you really grant us a wish?

EHECATL: Si, I can grant wishes. Bueno, within reason. Pero before you ask me for anything, think about it. Above all, consider your reasons. Ya vieron a Don Prisciliano, his was a purely selfish wish, pero everyone does that at first. I'll give you some time to reflect on your wish. PiEnsenlo muy bien; and one more thing: you must justify your wish. (Exits.)

XOCHIL: Think about it? That'll take forever! Where do I start? I never got to do anything!

ROCKY: And I already did everything! I don't need a wish. (Exits.)

MAD DOG: And everything I did, I did for the wrong reasons.

XOCHIL and MAD DOG share brief awkward moment, neither knowing what to say next. The same music as when XOCHIL entered in ACT ONE continues during this dialogue.

XOCHIL: Well, if neither Rocky nor Don Prisciliano get to make a wish, I guess that leaves just you and me, no? But how does this work? Do we really get to wish anything?

MAD DOG: Remember, he said "within reason" and "justified." You know, like in those social science exercises: you're in a spaceship of a raft in the middle of the ocean, and you have room for only six persons, do you throw out the prostitute or the matches?

XOCHIL: Oh, forget about the matches. I never went out on a date, much less a spaceship. (Plays with her flower nervously.) I never danced with a boy, and I never, ever ... got kissed.

MAD DOG: (Beat.) We might end up having the same wish. (Crosses to her.) I never went out on a date (MAD DOG takes the flower from XOCHIL's hand), danced with a girl (holds her other hand), or ever ... kissed (kisses the flower) a girl. (He then brushes XOCHIL's lips with the flower. XOCHIL takes his hand and both look into each other's eyes.) Would you vote to throw me off the raft in the middle of the ocean?

XOCHIL: Depends. Is the ocean filled with sharks?

MAD DOG: Sharks, barracudas, giant squid, piranhas--

XOCHIL: Piranhas? In the ocean? I thought they were somewhere in the Amazon--

MAD DOG: OK, the Amazon. Would you throw me off the raft and keep all the water for yourself?

XOCHIL: (Teasing.) Maybe.

MAD DOG and XOCHIL lower hands. Soft kiss. EHECATL enters. Sighs.

MAD DOG and XOCHIL break apart quickly. Beat. MAD DOC and XOCHIL exchange looks.

MAD DOG and XOCHIL: (Together.) Dios Ehecatl, we have our wish; we want t--

EHECATL: (Sadly.) Si, yo sE. But your wishes cannot--

Interrupted when ROCKY ROAD enters with LA LLORONA in tow; she is wearing something obviously borrowed from ROCKY and pink plastic rollers in her hair.

ROCKY: Mr. Ehecatl Quetzalcoatl, I've been networking with this lady, and we need to deal with her depression and self punishment. Sure, she did wrong, pero even the prisoners on death row can get out on appeals, entonces, ?por quE esta pobre mujer no? Y nada de Prozac. We've decided that Chichihuacuahco, where all the babies are at, needs to be reorganized. The children there do nothing but drink milk from that immense.., chichi tree--well, you tel! him our plans, Chillona.

ROCKY pushes LA LLORONA forward.

LA LLORONA: Queremos establish un beauty shop for all the working moms and a day-care center para los ninos, con musica, theater, arts and crafts. Y vamos a tener poetry readings, plays--muchas cosas--para los aguacateros con el Senor ChAvez, y--

DON PRISCILIANO and MARIA ISABEL enter, holding hands.

DON PRISCILLIANO: ?Gran dios Ehecatl? (Embarrassed slightly.) My wish is--to marry Maria Isabel!

MARIA ISABEL: I have forgiven his unkind words and have agreed--again--to be his wife.

EHECATL: Bueno, let me review your wishes. Raquel Castillo, is this your wish then, to work with the ninos en Chichihuacuahco? (ROCKY nods yes.)

XOCHIL: And my wish is I want to

MAD DOG: It's the same as mine. We both want to

EHECATL: Wait, Xochil and Mad Dog. (To ROCKY.) ?EstAs segura? It'll be a drastic change from your life when your T-shirt's slogan was "Life is too short to dance with ugly men," ?no te parece?

ROCKY: Oh, that was the shallow Rocky Road. You know, dios Ehecatl, when I was alive I never realized that the best thing, the very best thing about life, is that we can always ... (Trying to think of the word.)

ALL: (Impatiently.) !?QuE pues?!

ROCKY: (Calmly.) Change. If I had, I guess I never would've taken those pills.

MAD DOG: Our wish is to--

EHECATL: ?Y usted, Don Prisciliano? Your wish is to marry Maria Isabel and stay here?

DON PRISCILIANO: Si. Dijo bien, I was in love with a memory, pero ya veo que la Maria Isabel that I knew and loved is still the same one, underneath the old body here.

MARIA ISABEL: Si, Prisciliano, and even though our bodies get old and wrinkled, our corazones don't get old.

DON PRISCILIANO: Es cierto; our corazones siempre recuerdan el "first love."

CANTINFLAS: (Enters and crosses.) Bueno, si vamos a tener una boda y una fiesta, tenemos mucho que preparar. Lo que se va a pelar, que se vaya remojando. Vente, Chato.

Exits with DON PRISCILIANO and MARIA ISABEL.

ROCKY: If there's going to be a fiesta, we have to find Selena. She promised me that I could choreograph one of the halftime dances at the Super Bowl. (To LA LLORONA, giving her "bad hair day" tips.) Mira, Chillona, con el humidity que tenemos aqui, necesitas un buen mousse; I know how to make an excellent moisturizer from the nopal, si, el cactus, es un secreto, pero I'll share it with you, just don't be a crybaby anymore, OK?

ROCKY and LA LLORONA exit. MAD DOG and XOCHIL exchange uneasy looks. EHECATL is clearly uncomfortable.

XOCHIL: It looks as though Don Prisciliano's and Rocky Road's wishes are to remain here, in Mictlan.

EHECATL nods yes.

MAD DOG: Well, that takes care of two of the wishes. What about our wishes? You can't keep stalling around--

CESAR CHAVEZ: (Enters.) Xochil! You must come quickly. The meeting you had with Tlaloc's foreman--?que le dijiste?--he has agreed to start negotiations, and you must be at these meetings to--

Starts to exit with XOCHIL.

XOCHIL: Wait, Mr. Chavez. Mad Dog, come with us; we need all the help we can get.

MAD DOG: (To EHECATL.) I know there's something wrong here that you don't want to tell us.

CESAR CHAVEZ: Xochil, we have to go before the foreman changes his mind.

XOCHIL: Please, Mad Dog.

MAD DOG: All right, I'll go with you, but I'm not gonna carry no picket sign. That would ruin my image. (Crosses to them, strutting. Stops. To EHECATL.) But I'll be back and I'm getting my wish.

XOCHIL, MAD DOG, and CESAR CHAVEZ exit.

CASIMIRO: (Enters.) Well, that should make it easier for you, no? Solo te quedan los wishes de Xochil y Mad Dog.

EHECATL: Si, pero there's a problem; they both have the same wish: to return to the living.

CASIMIRO: (Impressed.) Can you do that?

EHECATL: ?Yo? No. Solo Mictlantecuhtli puede regresar los muertos a la vida. And only in very special cases. Es algo muy dificil: the circumstances, the timing, el ... sacrificio.

CASIMIRO: Sacrifice?

A special light goes on MICTLANTECUHTLI. Drums and conch shell sounds are heard. The same Aztec or indigenous music as before is also heard. MICTLANTECUHTLI is standing exactly as when he first appeared to CASIMIRO in ACT ONE, and next to him, an assistant is burning copal.

MICTLANTECUHTLI: Si, el sacrificio. Before I can return someone who has died back to the land of the living, another living being must be willing to die and take that person's place aqui en Mictlan.

CASIMIRO: Die?

MICTLANTECUHTLI: (With sarcasm.) Si, dying is usually enough. Una vida por otra vida, you might say. So, que dices, Casimiro, would you be willing to give up your life for one of your friends? For Xochil or Mad Dog?

CASIMIRO: !Ya te dije que no son mis friends! I only helped them because you made me. I've done what you wanted, now let me go back. Es demasiado lo que pides. No one can be expected to give up his life for a stranger. (Starts to exit.)

MICTLANTECUHTLI: No, I guess not. Pero entonces, ?que tal si la conoces? (CASIMIRO stops in his tracks.) It's been a long time, Casimiro--twenty years to be exact--but surely you remember ... Mariel?

MARIEL: (Enters. Calls him to pose for the picture.) !Casimiro! !Ven, apurate! Manuel nos va a tomar una foto.

CASIMIRO: Mariel!

MARIEL: !Ven, Casimiro! (Holds her hand out to CASIMIRO.)

MICTLANTECUHTLI: (Taunting.) Anda, ve, Casimiro.

CASIMIRO starts to go to MARIEL, holding out his hand to her.

MICTLANTECUHTLI: (Continues.) Ahora si le puedes dar la mano. After all, it's just for a photo, no? ?Por que, no se la diste aquella noche en el desierto? (CASIMIRO hesitates.) Take Mariel's hand!

CASIMIRO: No, no puedo. I know what you're asking me to do, but I'm not ready to die.

MICTLANTECUHTLI: Casimiro, Casimiro. ?De veras no ves? You're already dying, Casimiro. ?Me entiendes? You're dying, there on the rediner, with my book on your chest; y el sueno que tuviste de tu abuelo y Mariel was to be your last dream. You're just like Don Prisciliano, living in the past.

CASIMIRO: Maybe the past is safer.

MICTLANTECUHTLI: Maybe. (Beat.) Pero, Casimiro, ?sabes que es lo mas triste? That you're gonna lay there, dead, dia tras dia, hasta que someone finally notices that the hospital garbage is piling up, porque nobody will notice that you're gone, Casimiro. Nobody. Oh, but I'm forgetting your sweetheart, Geraldine. Ella si va a derramar muchas lagrimas--

DON REMIGIO: (Enters. Forcefully.) !Mictlantecuhtli! !Ya dejalo! No trates a mi nieto como un raton entre las garras de un gato. You told him he only had to bring the four bodies to Mictlan; he's done that. Ahora, dejalo que regrese.

MICTLANTECUHTLI: (Chastened.) Perdoneme, Don Remigio, dice bien. Go, Casimiro, and get your water and food for your journey back.

CASIMIRO starts to exit.

DON REMIGIO: !Hijo! Espera--prove to Mictlantecuhtli and to yourself que si tienes seatakaa, the flower body. Que si eres de buen corazon. Help Mariel now and forever change your past.

CASIMIRO stops and turns to MARIEL, giving her a thoughtful look. Beat.

CASIMIRO: No, Abuelito. Lo siento, pero yo no tengo seatakaa. Yo si he lastimado a otras personas. I am not of a good heart. (Exits.)

MICTLANTECUHTLI: I'm sorry, Mariel; you must remain in Mictlan.

MARIEL exits.

DON REMIGIO: Estaba segura que Casimiro--

MICTLANTECUHTLI: Give up, Don Remigio; he's failed again.

DON REMIGIO: No tuve bastante tiempo para prepararlo con solo una noche. Mictlantecuhtli, I need more time!

MICTLANTECUHTLI: But we don't have more time! Ya es demasiado tarde para Mariel, but there's still hope for Xochil.

DON REMIGIO: Only Xochil? Are you forgetting that Mad Dog wants to return also? Son dos almas, dos cuerpos. You need two bodies.

MICTLANTECUHTLI: Yes, I know, but there's also the special consideration for exceptional bravery. Yo creo que'l Mad Dog-DON

REMIGIO: Mad Dog? (Beat.) Yes, I see what you're planning. And if Casimiro--

MICTLANTECUHTLI: Forget Casimiro! El es un cobarde, and I'm sending him back to his Geraldine.

Starts to exit.

DON REMIGIO: Casimiro is not a coward!

MICTLANTECUHTLI: ?No? ?Que no lo vio, Don Remigio? Ni el gran amor que le tiene a Mariel fue suficiente.

DON REMIGIO: Mictlantecuhtli, tu nunca has sido cruel. Give him another chance.

MICTLANTECUHTLI: Another chance? ?Para que?

DON REMIGIO: Para que encuentre ese perdon que busca.

MICTLANTECUHTLI: You know that the foregiveness he seeks must come from himself.

DON REMIGIO: Nosotros vemos eso; pero el no lo ve. We must help him see this.

MICTLANTECUHTLI: (Beat.) There's only one way left to find out.

DON REMIGIO, realizing what MICTLANTECUHTLI means, nods his head slowly.

DON REMIGIO: Si, volveremos al pasado.

MICTLANTECUHTLI: Bueno. We will let the events of those nights reoccur.

A conch shell is heard. Mysterious lights dance across the stage. The music is a blending of previous music, almost jarring, as when a sound technician is trying to find a cue.

MICTLANTECUHTLI: (Continues.) Esta sera la ultima vez que Casimiro podra cambiar su destino. There will not be another.

Lights go down.

DON PRISCILIANO: (Enters with his chair. Talks at times to himself and at other times to audience.) Si, I saw everything. Bueno, almost everything. I didn't see Rocky take the pills or I would've called the paramedics, although no se si hubiera servido de nada porque los paramedics don't want to go to my house after ... Yo, como siempre, estaba sentado afuera--ahi. (Points and crosses.) Just watching people go by. Nomas sentado ahi, looking across the street at a vacant lot, wondering: when did it become a vacant lot? Una vez era un negocio, lots of trucks in and out, mucho ruido ... (Sits down.)

The sounds of trucks, etc., are heard.

DON PRISCILIANO: (Continues.) Muchos trabajadores, and then one day--nothing. (The sound stops abruptly.) Not even one brick. (Beat.) Primero, Xochil came down the street.

XOCHIL: (Enters, talking to someone offstage.) How come I always have to go for his tortillas?

Freeze.

DON PRISCILIANO: I knew that she would stop and talk to me. Siempre que la mandaban a la tiendita de la esquina, y le dijian que se hiciera "hurry up," ella siempre hallaba tiempo para platicar con este viejo. Not like that pachuco, Mad Dog, strutting como un gallito del gallinero. I'm not sure if Xochil really liked to stop to talk to me or if she only did it to make her father mad for making her go to the store all the time. Anyway, I always enjoyed our platicas.

XOCHIL breaks freeze and crosses to DON PRISCILIANO.

XOCHIL: (Dreamy.) For my quinceanera, Don Prisciliano, I'm gonna have fourteen madrinas and they're gonna each carry a bouquet of white roses with pink and lavender ribbon streamers--my favorite colors--

DON PRISCILIANO: (On his own usual subject, his health.) Todo el dia he tenido un dolorcito right here on my chest. It hurts more when I take a deep breath--like this. (Breathes deeply.)

XOCHIL: And their caps come over their foreheads, like this, pointing down, in a triangle, you know, sorta like from Romeo and Juliet's time, with little pearls hanging-DON

PRISCILIANO: Xochil, dime una cosa: when did that building across the street disappear?

MARIEL: (Enters, leading a cheer with her bedraggled pom-pom.) A la bim, a la bum, a la bim, bum, bah--

Freeze.

XOCHIL: Disappear? It didn't "disappear." Don Prisciliano, lo tumbaron last year, ?que no se acuerda? You sat here every day and watched the wrecking crew from sunup to sundown. Remember?

DON PRISCILIANO: Si, ya recuerdo. But what I said about the building

disappearing, yo se que it didn't just "disappear." Pero tengo miedo que someday alguien va mirar pa'ca and see this empty chair and wonder, when did that old man disappear?

XOCHIL: Oh, Don Prisciliano, don't worry; you're not gonna "disappear." (Back to her usual subject, without dropping a beat.) And I haven't decided if the dresses will have hoops, like in Gone with the Wind, you know? But probably not, 'cause all my madrinas say they won't wear them, but I tell them: whose quinceanera is it, yours or mine?

DON PRISCILIANO: (Continues on his subject.) Maybe not "disappear," but what if I die someday?

MARIEL: (Breaks freeze, finishing her cheer.) "Nogales, Nogales, rah, rah rah!" (Jumping up and down.) !Ganamos, ganamos! (Freeze.)

XOCHIL: You're not gonna die. Besides, if you do, I'll always think of you when I have to go to the store for my Dad's tortillas. I promise. (Starts to leave.) Con su permiso, do you need anything from the tiendita?

DON PRISCILIANO: Si, hija. Comprame un frasquito de Vicks. No se te olvide. Vicks. I don't want Mentholatum. Tiene que ser Vicks. (Stands up to get the money from his pants" pocket.)

A danzon is heard. ROCKY ROAD enters carrying a cellular phone and pacing nervously. She carries a large purse on her shoulder as though ready to leave the house.

XOCHIL: Look, Don Prisciliano, up there. See? La Rocky Road. What's she doing?

DON PRISCILIANO: (Looks up at ROCKY ROAD.) Pues, what she's been doing all week, m'ijita. Walking back and forth with that newfangled telephone, waiting for the llamada.

XOCHIL: Who calls her?

ROCKY: (Willing phone to ring.) Ring, dammit, ring. (Freeze.)

DON PRISCILIANO: Quien sabe, pero I think it was someone that used to call her every day, a todas horas, and she'd jump in her car and run all over town with him, probably. Pero luego, las llamadas stopped. Pobrecita.

A contemporary rap is heard. MAD DOG enters, strutting.

XOCHIL: (Turns toward MAD DOG.) Here comes that loser, Mad Dog. (Freeze.)

DON PRISCILIANO: (Also turns.) Desgraciado pachuco, perro callejero; stay away from him, Xochil.

Freeze.

MAD DOG gives his monologue as he finishes dressing in a ritualistic manner, similar to a matador--buttoning shirt, combing hair, folding handkerchief, putting it on as a headband, shades, etc.--as all are in freeze position, watching him, hypnotized like spectators seeing a cobra coming out of a basket.

MAD DOG: (Getting ready to face rival gang.) After I beat up my foster mother's real kid, the welfare said they were going to have to put me in another foster home. And nobody ever asked me why I beat up the punk. He used to go into the room and sit across from me, drinking this big glass of ice-cold milk. The rest of us foster kids weren't allowed to get into the milk 'cause it was just his milk, she said. Just some cheap fruit punch she got with the food stamps was what we had to drink.

The recorded voice of MAD DOG'S FOSTER MOTHER is heard in the background.

MAD DOG'S FOSTER MOTHER: Mad Dog! Ventea comer, and don't you dare say nothing about it just being baloney y papas, que crees, que the welfare money is for millionaires?

MAD DOG: I bet you've never tasted baloney con papas, tomato sauce, and onions. Tastes like shit.

Freeze.

The recorded voice of XOCHIL'S MOTHER is now heard.

XOCHIL'S MOTHER: !Xochil! !Apurate! Your dad's waiting for his tortillas!

XOCHIL: (Breaks freeze. To DON PRISCILIANO. Repeating previous lines.) For my quinceanera, I'm gonna have fourteen madrinas and they're gonna each carry a bouquet of white roses with pink and lavender ribbon streamers--my favorite colors--marching like this ... (Freeze.)

DON PRISCILIANO: (Breaks freeze. Repeating previous lines.) Todo el dia he tenido un dolorcito right here on my chest. It hurts more when I take a deep breath--like this. (Breathes deeply. Freeze.)

EL COYOTE enters. He is not wearing the coyote mask. He is counting money and talking to an unseen "associate."

DON REMIGIO: (Enters.) !Coyote, maldito! (Freeze. Angry, fist up.)

EL COYOTE: Yo le dije a Casimiro que les cobraria "group rate"! It's not worth the risk to cross with less than ten persons, pero ya llevan mas de tres anos juntando el dinero. I'll make an exception just this once. Cruzar a los cinco a la noche. There's five of them: Casimiro and his four friends. (Freeze.)

MAD DOG: (Breaks freeze.) So I wrote a letter to my sister, BeeBee, in California, asking if I could go live with her and her husband. She says they live in some apartments that have a swimming pool for everybody to use. A swimming pool. It took her over two months before she finally answered my letter. "Sorry, but Brian thinks that you'd be abad influence on our younger kids." Can you believe that? Bad influence? Me? (Freeze.)

The sound of a telephone ringing insistently is heard.

ROCKY ROAD: (Breaks freeze. Continues pacing with phone but doesn't answer it.) I know exactly what he's gonna say. (Quoting her SUGAR DADDY's litany of excuses.) "Sorry, sweetheart, but you know how it is, in-laws came into town, had to take them and wife and kids to Sea World, the baby has a temperature, too much sun, I guess, you understand, don't you? Ah, c'mon, don't be like that--"

Throws telephone into her purse. Freeze.

MARIEL: (Breaks freeze.) Nogales, Nogales, rah, rah, rah! (Jumping up and down.) !Ganamos! !Ganamos! (MIGUEL, JESUS, and CARLOS enter and join MARIEL'S jumping and hugging.) !Casimiro! !Ven, apurate! Manuel nos va a tomar una foto. (MARIEL and the MALE FRIENDS group themselves as in the photo on CASIMIRO'S altar. Insistent.) Casimiro, ven. No vamos a sacar la foto sin ti. Manuel, espera. !Casimiro!

CASIMIRO enters, crosses to MARIEL and FRIENDS, and joins them in the pose for the camera. He places one arm around MARIEL. The previously recorded line from the unseen amateur photographer, MANUEL, is heard.

MANUEL: Pero no tan serios, you're not at a funeral. !Sonrian!

CASIMIRO AND FOUR FRIENDS: (In unison. Smiling.) !Enchiladas de pollo!

The flash of a camera is seen. CASIMIRO and FRIENDS freeze as though in a photograph. NOTE TO DIRECTOR: By now everyone should be in a freeze position. Some, but not all, of the freezes will break with sound cues. Also, some of the lines are intentionally repeated and out of order, overlapping, fast-paced, and without pauses. The repeat recorded voice of XOCHIL'S MOTHER is heard.

XOCHIL'S MOTHER: !Xochil! !Apurate! Your dad's waiting for his tortillas!

XOCHIL: (Breaks freeze. To DON PRISCILIANO. Repeating previous lines.) For my quinceanera, I'm gonna have fourteen madrinas and they're gonna each carry a bouquet of white roses with pink and lavender ribbon streamers-my favorite colors--marching like this--

The repeat recorded voice of MAD DOG'S FOSTER MOTHER is heard.

MAD DOG'S FOSTER MOTHER: Mad Dog! Ventea comer, and don't you dare say nothing about it just being baloney y papas, que crees, que the welfare money is for millionaires?

MAD DOG: (Breaks freeze. Gets gun out.) So. Fuck the baloney con papas.

The recorded voice of ROCKY'S SUGAR DADDY on the telephone is heard.

ROCKY'S SUGAR DADDY: (Caressingly, sexy. R OCKY breaks freeze and rummages through her purse, taking out bottles of pills.) Sorry, sweetheart, but you know how it is, in-laws came into town, I had to take them and the kids to Sea World, the baby has a temperature, too much sun, I guess, you understand, don't you? Ah, c'mon, don't be like that--

EL COYOTE: (Breaks freeze. Gun in his hand. Defensively.) Hey! It's a job; someone's gotta do it.

DON REMIGIO: (Breaks freeze.) !Coyote, maldito!

MAD DOG: I'm going out to waste either El Tanque of El Peewa. Maybe both.

DON PRISCILIANO: (Breaks freeze. Repeats line.) Desgraciado pachuco.

EL COYOTE and MAD DOG put guns into waistbands in same movement.

EL COYOTE: (Crosses to CASIMIRO. Familiarly.) Casimiro! Amigo mio. (He pulls CASIMIRO out of the pose and others remain in freeze.) ?Ya tienes el dinero pa' cruzar la frontera a la noche?

CASIMIRO: Si, I have the money.

EL COYOTE: Pues, it's about time. Ya llevas mas de tres anos saving for the trip. ?Y tus amigos? Did you convince them to cross with you?

CASIMIRO: Si, there's five of us now. Ellos tambien tienen el dinero.

EL COYOTE: (In an aside.) !Cinco pollos!

DON PRISCILIANO: (Repeats previous lines.) Xochil, comprame un frasquito de Vicks. Tengo un dolorcito right here on my chest, No se te olvide. Vicks. I don't want Mentholatum. Tiene que ser Vicks.

XOCHIL and EL COYOTE take the money.

EL COYOTE: (To CASIMIRO.) Hicistes bien, Casimiro, porque asi les cobro "group rate"! It's not worth the risk to cross with less than ten persons, but for you, Fil make an exception this time. Cruzare a los cinco a la noche. I'm taking a loss, tu sabes, pero como eres amigo mio ... (Turns to FouR FRIENDS.) !A la noche, muchachos, a los United States of America!

FRIENDS and EL COYOTE break freeze. They prepare for the crossing, putting on pre-set jackets, mochilas with a few clothes, and water. Talk turns to food: fried chicken, chop suey, etc.

MARIEL: !Manuel! Otra foto, anda, no seas malo. !Pa' que te acuerdes de nosotros!

CASIMIRO and FRIENDS group themselves again, unsmiling. A different recorded line from the unseen amateur photographer, MANUEL, is heard.

MANUEL: Pero no tan serios, you're not at a funeral. Se van a hacer ricos en los United States of America.

MARIEL: !Tu tambien, Coyote!

EL COYOTE joins them. Recorded line from MANUEL.

MANUEL: Smile!

CASIMIRO, FRIENDS, and EL COYOTE: Cheeseburgers! (End with a smiling, silly camera pose.)

Camera flash. CASIMIRO, FRIENDS, and EL COYOTE freeze.

DON REMIGIO: Casimiro, mijo, aqui puedes cambiar tu destino; don't listen to him, quedate en Mexico.

CASIMIRO: (Breaks freeze and crosses to DON REMIGIO.) ?Para que, Abuelo? So that I can end up like my father? Ni tiene los cuarenta anos y ya lo ve jorobado como un viejito de noventa, his back bent from carrying los costales de maiz sixteen hours a day. Y yo y mis hermanos sufriendo hambre, eating week-old tortillas--tengo que irme a los Estados Unidos. I'll find a job, facil. And I'll send all my money to my father, se lo juro. (Turns to his FRIENDS.) We'll all find a job. !Esta noche, nos vamos a los Estados Unidos!

A blending of CASIMIRO's and MAD DOG's rap music is suddenly heard and then OUT. Lights go down and then shadows. MICTLANTECUHTLI enters and stands at the top of the center ramp or step unit. Spot on MICTLANTECUHTLI.

MICTLANTECUHTLI: Volveremos al pasado. Don Remigio, empezamos. Spot on DON REMIGIO.

DON REMIGIO: (Praying.) Vesate sewau hotekate; sewa valikai, sewau hotekatee. (Starts to heat his drum and crosses to his place at the border shooting. Repeats softly as he continues to beat his drum.)

JESUS, MIGUEL, CARLOS, AND MARIEL: (Break freeze. Together.) Nomas queremos trabajar.

They position themselves as in CASIMIRO's dream and start to more slowly, repeating this line softly. The repeat offstage voice of XOCHIL'S MOTHER is heard.

XOCHIL'S MOTHER: !Xochil! !Apurate! Your dad's waiting for his tortillas!

XOCHIL: For my quinceanera, I'm gonna have fourteen madrinas and they're gonna each carry a bouquet of white roses with pink and lavender ribbon streamers. (Crosses to her place in the street for the barrio shooting and repeats softly when in place.)

The repeat offstage voice of MAD DOG'S FOSTER MOTHER is heard.

MAD DOG'S FOSTER MOTHER: Mad Dog! Vente a comer; and don't you date say nothing about it just being baloney y papas, que crees, que the welfare money is for millionaires?

MAD DOG: All I want is for someone to write a corrido about me. (Struts to his place in the barrio shooting and keeps repeating softly.)

DON PRISCILIANO: Tengo un dolorcito right here, and it hurts when I take a deep breath. (Sits down on his chair and keeps repeating softly.)

ROCKY: Ring, phone, ring. (Pacing, repeating softly.)

EL COYOTE: Hey! It's a job; someone's gotta do it, ?que no? (Gun in hand, moves stealthily and positions himself, repeating line softly.)

All should now be in their places for the barrio street shooting and the Mexican/U.S. shooting. Each is repeating his/her lines softly at the same time, almost chanting or praying as DON REMIGIO beats the drum. Beat. Volume increases. Beat. DON REMIGIO gives one last loud drumbeat and all stop chanting at exact same time. Lights go up.

DON PRISCILIANO: (Stands up suddenly and with energy.) !Xochil! !Cuidado! !Ahi vienen otros desgraciados pachuco gang members!

EL TANQUE and EL PEEWA enter strutting, menacing. EL TANQUE is huge, and EL PEEWA is a skinny runt. They are dressed almost identical to MAD DOG with guns showing at their waists.

XOCHIL: !El Tanque y El Peewa!

Comedy bit. EL TANQUE is on EL PEEWA's left side. On XOCHIL's line, they look at each other, point to selves, and see that they are not in the correct order, so they do-si-do and change position so that EL TANQUE is now on EL PEEWA'S right side.

EL TANQUE and EL PEEWA: (Together.) !Ese, Mad Dog Sanchez!

MAD DOG turns to them, defiant and without fear.

MAD DOG: That's my name; don't wear it out.

EL TANQUE: Wrong. It was your name--

EL PEEWA: Pero te vamos a hacer into dog food, so now it's Dead Dog. (Nervous giggle.)

MAD DOG, EL TANQUE, and EL PEEWA take out their guns in one quick movement. JESUS, CARLOS, MIGUEL, and MARIEL get separated.

MARIEL: !Casimiro! No puedo ver; !dame tu mano!

DON PRISCILIANO: !Xochil! !No cruzes la calle!

XOCHIL is confused and crosses toward EL TANQUE and EL PEEWA. Turns to MAD DOG.

XOCHIL: Mad Dog! Look out!

A shot is heard. MAD DOG is wounded. XOCHIL starts to cross to MAD DOG.

DON PRISCILIANO: !No, Xochil, no!

MARIEL: !Casimiro, dame tu mano!

EL COYOTE aims at MARIEL, and EL PEEWA aims at XOCHIL.

DON REMIGIO: Casimiro! Take Mariel's hand!

MICTLANTECUHTLI: Mad Dog, you're wounded, but you still have time. (Commands.) Salva la vida de Xochil.

CASIMIRO starts to cross slowly to MARIEL, and MAD DOG starts to cross slowly to XOCHIL. Both move with almost identical movements. Both stop. NOTE TO DIRECTOR: By now CASIMIRO and MARIEL should be on one of the ramps, and MAD DOG and XOCHIL should be on the other ramp.

DON REMIGIO: Hijo, prove to Mictlantecuhtli and to yourself que si tienes seatakaa, the flower body. Help Mariel now, con buen corazon, and forever change your past. !Casimiro! !Salva a Mariel! Save her, m'ijo!

CASIMIRO and MAD DOG move closer to MARIEL and XOCHIL. At the precise moment that the bullets are fired, CASIMIRO and MAD DOG reach MARIEL and XOCHIL and move them so that CASIMIRO's and MAD DOG's backs are now to EL COYOTE and EL PEEWA, who are ready to shoot. Gunshots. CASIMIRO and MAD DOG get shot at the same time. XOCHIL and MARIEL try to support and hold the bodies.

MICTLANTECUHTLI: We have the sacrifices: dos almas y dos cuerpos.

Conch shell sound. Lights down. JESUS, MIGUEL, CARLOS, EL TANQUE, EL PEEWA, DON PRISCILIANO, ROCKY, and EL COYOTE exit. Lights up.

MICTLANTECUHTLI: Mariel, you may return to the land of the living--to that night twenty years ago. You will work in Manuel's camera shop and eventually become a professional photographer there in your pueblo and buy him out.

MARIEL: (Slowly letting go of CASIMIRO as he falls to the floor.) Casimiro, you've been too hard on yourself. All these years, blaming yourself for what happened. Tu no sabias que el coyote nos iba a traicionar; besides, it wasn't your fault. We were to blame, too. We were young and caught up in the excitement of crossing the border, and we took that risk. (Exits.)

MICTLANTECUHTLI: Xochil, you will return to the land of the living, take your father his tortillas before his sopita de fideo gets cold, and help your mother with all those silly table decorations you want for your quinceanera fiesta.

XOCHIL: (Teasing. As she crosses.) They're not silly! They're pink and lavender Jordan almonds wrapped in white veil with a good-luck charm.

MICTLANTECUHTLI: And you, Mad Dog Sanchez, stand up!

MAD DOG stands up.

MAD DOG: I know; you don't have to tell me, I'm not going back.

MICTLANTECHHTLI: No, you're not going back; only Mariel and Xochil can return.

Mad Dog: But you said there was no place here in Mictlan for people like me. Stupid.

MICTLANTECUHTLI: Si, es cierto, te dije que there was no place for you here in Mictlan, but that was before you saved Xochil. Now there is a place for you, a very special place. Ven. (MAD DOG crosses to MICTLANTECUHTLI.) I want you to know that I'm making a great exception here. (He removes MAD DOG's headband and tosses it aside.) Gang members who kill each other or who kill innocent bystanders do not come to Mictlan, much less to be among the brave guerreros who die in real battle.

MAD DOG: Guerreros? I'm gonna live with the warriors?

MICTLANTECUHTLI: Si, porque you've done a very heroic act, mas o menos; by taking that second bullet aimed at Xochil, you will now reside in Tonatiuhilhuicac and ride with the sun god, Tonatiuh, on his daily journey across the sky for four years. (Places magnificent headdress of sun rays on MAD DOG's head.)

MAD DOG preens proudly.

XOCHIL: (Exits, looking over her shoulder.) Uuhhh, Mad Dog, you look like a god!

MAD DOG: The name's Daniel. Daniel Garcia.

XOCHIL: Uuhhh, Daniel Garcia, you look like a god!

MICTLANTECUHTLI: Despues de los cuatro anos, you will return to earth as a hummingbird or a butterfly. If you're really lucky, you'll end up in Xochil's garden!

Lights down and indigenous music, with violin.

DON REMIGIO: (Crosses to CASIMIRO, prays as he removes CASIMIRO's shoes.) Vesate sewau hotekate/sewa valikai/sewai hotekate/ne Casimiro Flores, sewa walikai, sewai hotekatee. (CASIMIRO stands up slowly.) Ahora si, mijo, puedes bailar la Danza del Venado.

The music from la Danza del Venado starts. CASIMIRO starts to dance. At first slowly, then faster, assured and skillfully.

MICTLANTECUHTLI: Already we sit down to the flower, para recibir la flor, we sit down to the flower--

DON REMIGIO: (Continues praying.) Vesate sewau hotekate; sewa valikai, sewau hotekatee.

CASIMIRO: Yo, Casimiro Flores--

Music goes up. Flower petals and blossoms float down. Slowly, lights go down and out.

End of play

A native of Tucson, Arizona, Silviana Wood received her MFA in creative writing from the University of Arizona and has been involved in the local theater community since the 1970s. She is known for her bilingual comedies and dramas as well as for her work as a professional storyteller, actor, director, and teacher of literature and Chicano theater. For many years she appeared in Reflexiones, a program on the University of Arizona's PBS station KUAT-TV, as the feisty Dona Chona, an elderly woman who had an opinion on everything and who without hesitation would call the White House collect to give advice on running the country.

Wood is the author of many plays, including Anhelos por Oaxaca, Amor de hija, and A Drunkard's Tale of Melted Wings and Memories, and her works have been produced in Arizona, California, Texas, Colorado, New York, and Massachusetts. And where was Pancho Villa when you really needed him?, about a high school dropout's remembrance of fifth grade and her language difficulties and "failure" to assimilate, was published by the University of Arizona Press in Puro Teatro, A Latina Anthology (Alberto Sandoval-Sanchez and Nancy Saporta Sternbach, eds.). It was performed at the Henry Street Settlement/Abrons Art Center Urban Youth Theater in New York City and at the TV Studio, Mendenhall Center for the Performing Arts, Smith College, Northampton, Massachusetts.

Silviana Wood has twice won the Chicano/Latino Literary Prize from the University of California, Irvine: once for short story, and once for drama. In 1993 she was awarded the Arizona Arts Award from the Tucson Community Foundation. She has also received playwriting fellowships and done several residencies at the Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center in San Antonio. She has been a member of TENAZ (El Teatro Nacional de Aztlan), Teatro del Pueblo, Teatro Libertad, and Teatro Chicano and is a founding member of Mujeres Que Escriben, a Latina writers' group that was formed in 1991 and is comprised of professional women whose poetry and fiction have been published in various anthologies. She recently completed her first novel, La Quinta Soledad, which will be published by Aztlan Libre Press in 2014.