Carmen (6 page)

CARMEN

You speak very well, José. I’ve never been that good with words. They seem to only get in my way.

JOSÉ

Words are only tools, Carmen.

CARMEN, somewhat unsure of what JOSÉ is saying, stands and moves awkwardly away from him. He reaches for her and takes her wrist, and she turns to face him.

CARMEN

Dancing is a tool, too. Let me dance for you!

JOSÉ

Dance?

CARMEN

(brightly, changing the mood)

Yes, you’re the hero that kept me out of the slammer, and I’ll dance in your honor!

CARMEN begins to dance for JOSÉ. From time to time, he reaches for her swirling figure, but she moves away from him.

CARMEN

Look at me! Giddy as a schoolgirl. My body wants to move!

JOSÉ

You move your body, but you’ve captured my soul. We’ll be together from this moment on. From this very moment. Promise me. As the flower promised me.

CARMEN

(stops dancing and looks at JOSÉ)

José, my friends say that I’m taking a big risk.

JOSÉ

Take it, Carmen. I’m offering you my life.

CARMEN

(turning slightly away from JOSÉ)

José, why do you want me?

JOSÉ

Why? How can you ask a question like that? People look at you and they’re amazed. You’re the brightest star in their universe. People will look at us walking together and wonder what magic I performed to have you on my arm. They’ll know that together we’re somebody. That we’re special.

CARMEN

I don’t want to be that special. Just loved, José. I want to run and jump right into forever after. Does that make sense to you?

JOSÉ’s cell phone rings.

CARMEN goes over to him and puts her hand over the phone, which he now holds in his hand. JOSÉ turns as he answers the call.

JOSÉ

Yes?… Yes?… Of course! I’ll be there right away, sir.

CARMEN

What are you doing?

JOSÉ

They need me down at headquarters at once. It’s a big operation.

CARMEN

But I’m standing here promising you forever, and suddenly the phone rings and forever is put on hold.

JOSÉ

(checking his gun)

I have to go. I have no choice.

CARMEN

No choice? One minute you’re saying that you have no choice except to love me, and the next…

JOSÉ

This is my job.

CARMEN

(confused)

How can you—? Who are you? One minute you’re hopelessly in love, and… and the next minute you’re leaving?

JOSÉ

(roughly)

Be sensible! I have to go!

CARMEN

(emulating a ringing phone)

Brrring! Brrring! Calling all mice! Calling all mice!

Brrring! Brrring! There are crumbs on the carpet for you!

JOSÉ

You don’t understand, Carmen.

CARMEN

Yes, yes, you’re right. I don’t understand. And I don’t understand how I let myself fall in love again! What was I thinking?

JOSÉ

A man must do his duty, no matter what.

ZUNIGA enters. He is tipsy. His collar is unbuttoned, and he is carrying a brown paper bag that probably holds a bottle of liquor.

ZUNIGA

Carmen! I thought you might still be here. I was thinking about you all evening. Come sit with me. You old enough to drink wine? We could go someplace.

JOSÉ

Carmen doesn’t need a drink from you.

ZUNIGA turns slowly and eyes JOSÉ with contempt.

ZUNIGA

You still running around the city? When’s your hearing? Next week? Then you’ll be gone from the force forever, and maybe they can even give you some jail time for letting a prisoner escape. They’ll love you on the cell block. Now, get back to the precinct. They must have some wastebaskets that need to be emptied.

He puts his arm around CARMEN.

JOSÉ

(angrily)

Don’t tell me what to do! I am as much man as you are!

Curious about the shouting, DANCAIRO, RAIMONDO, and ANGEL enter from the back room.

ZUNIGA

(shouting)

You? A man? You’re a boy who occasionally dresses in the uniform of a man. Now, get out of here before I lose my temper!

JOSÉ

Go ahead: lose it!

ZUNIGA slaps JOSÉ, and for a minute the two men grapple. Then ZUNIGA throws JOSÉ to the ground.

ZUNIGA

Look at you! Lying on the floor like the child you are! See how all your friends stare at you—wondering if you have the nerve to stand up again.

CARMEN

(to both men)

Stop it! What are you doing?

JOSÉ

(pulls out his gun)

Watch your mouth, man!

ZUNIGA

Why, you going to mug me, lover boy?

JOSÉ fires, and ZUNIGA stiffens as he is grazed in the arm, then draws his own weapon.

CARMEN

(to JOSÉ)

Oh, my God! What have you done? We’re not murderers, you fool! Put that gun away!

RAIMONDO rushes over to ZUNIGA and gently pushes his gun down as DANCAIRO signals JOSÉ to calm down.

RAIMONDO

Sergeant, twenty thousand dollars! You forget this whole incident, and I’ll bring twenty thousand in small bills. I can have the money by noon tomorrow. Come on, man. You’ve taken money before. This is twenty thousand!

ZUNIGA

(angry but still greedy)

Twenty thousand dollars. Small bills. I’ll forget this incident but not this fool! No way I forget him.

DANCAIRO and RAIMONDO escort ZUNIGA out.

JOSÉ

(standing)

What have I done? My career is finished.

CARMEN

You shoot a man because he disses you? How stupid is that? I look at you and I don’t know who you are! When I saw your picture in the paper, I thought I recognized someone from when I was a girl. But now I don’t recognize you at all!

JOSÉ

Oh, God! Look, Carmen, I love you, but right now I have to think. I just know my career is wrecked.

CARMEN

What did the boy do? Did he look at you wrong, too?

JOSÉ

What boy? Look, I don’t have time to talk now. I have to go and pack some things.

(He looks around.)

I guess I’m one of you now. Carmen, wait here for me!

JOSÉ leaves, stopping for a moment to look at RAIMONDO as he returns.

RAIMONDO

We’re screwed if Zuniga changes his mind. He can arrest everybody here and make it stick if he wants to. Now we have to pull this job off. We better make it pay big-time or we’re all in trouble. How about you, Carmen? You down with us now?

CARMEN

Yeah, I’m down, Raimondo. I got nothing to lose.

RAIMONDO

Good. I need to hit the streets and get our lookouts on the corners in case Zuniga changes his mind and wants to hit us. You okay, Carmencita?

CARMEN

I’m okay, Raimondo.

RAIMONDO

Everybody out. I need you all on the corners looking out for the heat. Everybody out!

They all leave except for CARMEN, who stands alone, forlorn.

CARMEN sits and, for a long beat, thinks about what has happened. We hear the sound of a harp introducing her song.

CARMEN

(sings “Love Has Flown Away”)

Love came easy, but it just wasn’t for me.

It flew away like swallows on a summer evening.

Love sang softly, but it just wasn’t to me.

Was I a fool to give my love, to give my soul, and more away?

My heart aches with longing, cries each night,

As I just fall apart.

(clearly distressed)

What have I done? What have I done?

Am I so hungry for love that I can’t see

It’s not going to ever happen for me?

I saw the darkness in his eyes

And knew there was even more darkness behind those lovely eyes

And yet…

And yet I kept stumbling blindly

Like some silly schoolgirl from another place, another time.

I’ve got to be the old Carmen again.

Too hard to hurt, too hard to fall in love.

The music continues softly as CARMEN puts her head down on the table.

Act Two

Scene 1

We are in the back room of Lillas Pastia’s club, which is the home base of DANCAIRO’s crew. There is a bar at the back of the stage, and the back wall is covered with colored curtains depicting scenes from a tropical location.

At one table we see CARMEN, FRASQUITA, and MERCEDES. At the end of the bar, JOSÉ is drinking by himself, head down. The atmosphere is fairly busy, and the music from the sound system is upbeat.

MERCEDES

This boy wants me sooo much, you wouldn’t believe it. If I walk into a room where he is, his heart starts beating faster. You can tell from across the room—you can almost hear it! That’s how much he loves me.

FRASQUITA

Is he cute?

MERCEDES

He drives a BMW.

FRASQUITA

That’s pretty cute. What was he arrested for?

MERCEDES

How do you know he was arrested? You don’t know that.

FRASQUITA

He’s young, he lives around here, he’s been arrested. What for?

MERCEDES

On a technicality. They caught him with some television sets, which he was going to sell but they got to him before he could get the sets out. Then—and you’re not going to believe this—they charged him with possession of stolen goods, and the only reason he had them in his possession was because they arrested him before he could sell them!

FRASQUITA

That’s got to be some kind of violation. That’s what they do to us and then they say we don’t have family values. How are we going to have family values when you can’t afford a place to put your family?

CARMEN

I think I need somebody new to fall in love with. Maybe this weekend. Any parties going on?

FRASQUITA

Whoa, Carmen. What happened to José? I thought you were all hot and bothered over him. All the pain in his eyes and everything? I thought you went for that big-time?

CARMEN

Frasquita, I don’t know if I was really seeing his pain or just seeing the place where it should have been. Sometimes I look at him and I see that shining knight I was talking about. Then I look again and there’s a shadow across his face. I think you can hold some things in you too long and they go bad. It’s as if your soul gets dark. Then it gets to be dangerous. I’m a little bit afraid of him. Maybe I let my heart get away from me. It won’t happen again.