(glances at JOSÉ and then away)
Why not? She can tell us how wonderful we’re going to be living soon.
The three girls shepherd TERESA to a table.
TERESA
(in a wonderfully husky voice)
I’m thirsty.
FRASQUITA
What do you want?
TERESA
Cappuccino.
MERCEDES signals to a man behind the bar, who starts making the cappuccino.
TERESA opens her purse and takes out a pack of cards, which she shuffles and lays out facedown.
MERCEDES
(lightly)
The cards don’t lie.
FRASQUITA
They’ll tell us what the future holds.
CARMEN
They’ll speak our destinies.
TERESA places her hands over the cards, closes her eyes, nods, and then turns the first one over.
TERESA
You will meet a young man. He has a job in an office.
MERCEDES
Young. But old enough to drive?
TERESA
Old enough to drive, and he leads many men.
MERCEDES
He’s in the army. How much does a general make?
TERESA
Everybody looks up to him!
MERCEDES
Oh, my God, it’s that cute quarterback that won the Super Bowl!
TERESA
He loves you very much. He adores you!
MERCEDES
Do you have a name? Does he have a tattoo?
TERESA
You are lucky. The cards have spoken well of your future.
FRASQUITA
Do me!
TERESA gathers the cards and once again shuffles them and lays them out facedown. She then begins to turn them over.
TERESA
Hah! You will marry an old man. He has been married before, but still he wants you.
FRASQUITA
Mine’s old! Pooh. How old? But look, diamonds! He’s going to be rich. Old and rich. Not good, but I’ll take it.
MERCEDES
Look how much mine loves me! I’d better start taking vitamins.
FRASQUITA
Will we have a big house?
TERESA
In the Bronx.
FRASQUITA
An old man in a big house in the Bronx? That’s no fun.
TERESA
More bad news: he dies.
FRASQUITA
Oh, look-he’s going to die. Poor thing. But wait-he leaves me all his money. I’ll be a rich widow! Yes! Yes! I’ll wear my black toreador pants to the funeral, the ones with the sequins.
TERESA
He dies, but such things happen. We cannot put our hands up against the winds of fate.
CARMEN
Teresa, do my fortune.
TERESA looks up at CARMEN. She brings her hand to her forehead and closes her eyes for a moment. She exhales heavily.
TERESA
I am too tired.
CARMEN
No, Teresa. I need you to do mine.
TERESA hands the cards to CARMEN, who kisses them up to heaven and then hands them back. TERESA shuffles them, lays them out, and begins to turn them over.
CARMEN
Oh, no! Diamonds, then spades-death! I see it clearly. First him and then me. Here, give me the cards.
CARMEN gathers up the cards and takes the rest of the deck from TERESA as MERCEDES and FRASQUITA go off to one side, still talking about their good luck. CARMEN frantically shuffles the cards herself, then lays them out and begins to turn them over.
CARMEN
Again! Two deaths! Two destinies intertwined. The cards come up one by one to speak of my doom. Let me shuffle them again.
(She does so.)
Again and again I shuffle them, turn them up, but it’s always the same…
CARMEN throws the cards down and staggers to a table.
CARMEN
Teresa, what’s wrong with these cards?
TERESA
They’re only cards, Carmen. They don’t know how to lie.
FRASQUITA and MERCEDES go to CARMEN.
FRASQUITA
Teresa, Carmen, come with us. We’ll go case out the company. It’ll be fun.
CARMEN
One minute.
CARMEN shuffles the cards again. Again she lays them out and turns them over one by one.
CARMEN
Muerte, siempre muerte.
FRASQUITA
(at the door)
Carmen?
CARMEN looks away for a moment, then forces a smile and follows her friends out.
JOSÉ has been sitting in the corner, facing away from the stage. TERESA walks over to him and touches his shoulder. JOSÉ brushes her hand roughly away and turns again toward the wall, lost in his own thoughts.
MICAELA enters from a side door. She looks around nervously and is clearly upset by the sinister look of the room. She spots JOSÉ in a corner, takes a tentative step toward him, then stops. She crosses herself and begins to pray aloud.
MICAELA
I pray that one day he will see me. I pray, O Lord, I have so much to give but nothing that pleases him. I have this heart he doesn’t want, these arms so ready for him. I’m so in need, and all he wants is her! O God, please give me this moment. Let him see me at last, O Lord.
MICAELA hears a commotion from the front of the club and steps into a darkened corner.
JOSÉ stands quickly and points his gun at the door as ESCAMILLO enters.
ESCAMILLO
Relax, cowboy! It’s only me. Drinks for everybody!
JOSÉ
They don’t serve drinks here. This is a social club. Only coffee and sodas. They don’t want the police raiding them on some phony liquor charge.
ESCAMILLO
Good thinking. You have to be focused. Give me an iced tea.
(gesturing to the gun)
You need to be careful with that thing.
JOSÉ
I don’t expect a big name like Escamillo to come rushing in here every day.
ESCAMILLO
You’re right. Usually, I’m in my corporate offices, taking care of serious business. If I pull off this concert this weekend-and I will-it’ll be the start of the greatest tour you’ve seen. Bigger than Lil Wayne, Shakira, and Beyoncé combined.
JOSÉ
So what are you doing here?
ESCAMILLO
I’m looking for a certain girl. I’ve only met her once, but somehow she stays in my head.
JOSÉ
With all the girls following you around the world, you actually remember one of them? She must be beautiful.
ESCAMILLO
Beautiful, but not available. That’s what I’ve been told. They say she leaves men lying in her wake the way a ship leaves dead fish in the water, gasping and confused.
JOSÉ
So why would you be interested in her?
ESCAMILLO
I don’t know. Maybe because I’ve always wanted what other men have said is not available. When I lived in the projects, I wanted to be rich. I used to look up into the sky and envy people flying high above me. Now when I look down from my private jet, I wonder if there’s some small boy looking up in envy of me as I soar overhead.