Scene Seven
Through the blackout,
the orchestra swings from "It’s Fun To Be Young!" to "In Nueva York". The
lights rise downstage, and we are on the deck of a liner. On the backdrop
we see the hazy skyline of New York. ISHMAEL, ROSA, ALEJANDRO and BLASINA,
all dressed fashionably, are looking over the railing. BLASINA is silently
crying into her handkerchief, but the OTHERS are staring out.
ISHMAEL
Look! You can barely make
out the skyline. There…there’s the Empire State Building. I was on the
top years ago when I was here at a Pan-American theatre conference.
ROSA
Nueva York! Oh, Ishmael!
ALEJANDRO
Blasina, stop that crying
already. You’ve cried ever since we boarded the ship in Rio de Janeiro.
And you cried all the way through the helicopter ride before that.
BLASINA
I can’t help it. My little
Inkecito. He’s probably eating caramel custard all day long…nothing else…no
vegetables…nothing.
ALEJANDRO
I wouldn’t worry about that.
Inkecito seems pretty able to take care of himself.
BLASINA
I don’t understand it. Only
two weeks ago he was helping me shell peas in the kitchen in Ivez. Now
all of a sudden he wants his whole family shot.
ISHMAEL
Talk about power corrupting…
ROSA
I could care less about Inkey.
I’m sorry, Mama, but I couldn’t. I do wonder about Flora Pasquale, though.
ISHMAEL
Yes. Flora Pasquale.
ALEJANDRO
I heard when we reached Rio
that she had been shot at sunrise the very next day.
ISHMAEL
Poor Flora Pasquale.
ALEJANDRO
You say "poor Flora Pasquale"?
ISHMAEL
It’s funny. In a strange
kind of way I feel sorry for her. All that ambition. All that drive. She
should never have been shot. She should have had something done to her
larynx perhaps, but never shot.
ROSA
Yes, she should never have
been shot. Poor Flora Pasquale.
(THEY stand silently
regarding the skyline. Gradually the lights behind the backdrop scrim rise,
and we are in the Presidential Palace. INKEY is stretched out on the chaise
lounge, eating an ice cream pop, resplendent in his uniform. And FLORA
is right by his side, gazing at him lovingly.)
FLORA
You’re a number ten,
A man among all men---
You were born beneath
a very special sign!
Simon Bolivar was just
a number nine.
(As she sings, the
Curtain begins to descend slowly. It is once again the map of Montillano
only everything that had been named "Ibañez" has been changed to
"Escabosa"---everything, that is, except for Ciudad Ibañez which
is now "Ciudad Florita". In the upper left hand corner, the new flag sports
the profiles of Inkey and Flora.)
CURTAIN
