Scene Two
The music segues quickly from
an exciting to an ominous to a plaintive rendition of "Return to Montillano".
The lights rise, and we are in a small, dank cell. There is only a bench
and a picture of the Madonna on the wall. ISHMAEL sits alone in the dim
light, tenderly caressing his little plant. Almost all of his aplomb had
disappeared. A key turns in the lock. SENORA BALDOMERO is admitted. She
is a tiny, gray-headed creature in faded clothes and a tattered shawl.
She carries a satchel.
ISHMAEL
Mama!
(HE goes to her, and SHE bursts into sobs.)
SENORA BALDOMERO
Oh, Ishmael…Ishmael…
ISHMAEL
No, Mama…please, Mama…
SENORA BALDOMERO
Oh. Ishmael! Ishmael…
Where did I go wrong?
Somewhere along the line
I must have done something or other
For you
To do
A thing like this
To me, your poor old tired mother.
ISHMAEL
What?
SENORA BALDOMERO
(reaching into the satchel and extracting a bunch of candles)
I had to go and buy the candles
And light them in the church for you;
You know I can’t afford the candles---
Oh, what a selfish thing to do!
ISHMAEL
Mama?
SENORA BALDOMERO
You know yourself the price of candles,
The price they charge is so unfair;
I just can’t purchase any candles,
But you would be the last to care.
ISHMAEL
But, Mama…
SENORA BALDOMERO
You go
And decide to get yourself shot---
You go
And you never falter.
Who cares
If the neighbors gossip or not:
"Señora Baldomero has the cheapest candles at the altar!"
ISHMAEL
Mama, they’re going to come for me
in eleven minutes!
SENORA BALDOMERO
Oh, other women’s sons are lawyers,
Those women have no cause for tears;
You surely could have been a lawyer---
A lawyer lives for years and years.
ISHMAEL
Mama! I’m going to be dead in twelve
minutes!
SENORA BALDOMERO
Some sons
Make a mint from the numbers they play,
And some when the market rises;
Who cares
If the neighbors whisper all day:
"Señora Baldomero has a son who sits and criticizes?"
ISHMAEL
Ten minutes, Mama!
SENORA BALDOMERO
And now I’ve had to buy
the candles---
What else could any mother
do?
If you had been a candle-maker,
This money would have gone
to you!
But, no, you had to be a
critic,
You had to be a big, fine
critic!
If you had been a candle-maker,
This money would be yours
right now!
(SENORA BALDOMERO shakes her
head and sighs. Outside we can hear the heavy metallic footsteps of GUARDS
approaching. ISHMAEL shivers, clasps the plant to him for support, but
SENORA BALDOMERO pays no attention. SHE extracts a candle and goes to the
Madonna on the wall.)
SENORA BALDOMERO
Thank the Good Lord for your sister.
Without her, I don’t know what I could have done. She got me to a man who
got me to a man who had candles left over from the Great Airport Massacre.
Don’t think I didn’t have to pay, mind you. I had to pay through the nose.
But they’ll be the biggest, roundest candles in the church!
(Lighting one, overjoyed)
Why they even tick a little when
you get real close. Oh, the things a mother will do for her children. They
don’t appreciate it. You take the last centavo from the tortilla-jar…
(Door of the cell swings open.
FOUR GUARDS are about to enter when the candle explodes with deafening
impact. GUARDS are knocked off their feet; the stage is smothered in smoke.
We can see almost nothing, but we can hear SENORA BALDOMERO’s voice.)
SENORA BALDOMERO
He said they were genuine beeswax!
He swore they were genuine beeswax! I can’t put candles on the altar that
aren’t genuine beeswax! They’ll excommunicate me!
(The smoke has begun to die
away. We see a section of the wall has been destroyed. ISHMAEL and the
plant are gone.)
Ishmael! You come back here! Come back,
I say! That man cheated your mother!
BLACKOUT
