| Ruben: |
|
Hey Miguel,
you hear what this lady said? She’s willing to
take us in! She’s gonna put a roof over our head
for this nasty storm that’s coming tonight. Now
we don’t gotta worry if we’re gonna make through
our not.
|
|
|
|
| Miguel: |
|
I’m
sorry to tell you this—but you can go ahead and
go with her. I’m gonna stay right here and wait
for Mom.
|
|
|
|
| Ruben: |
|
Oh
Man, you gotta be kidding me. Don’t tell me you gonna
stay here, man. This is our only opportunity to get a
family and we gotta take it. You know how many people
rejected us from living with them. This lady’s giving
us the opportunity to live with her, and you don’t
want to take it. |
|
|
|
| Miguel: |
|
On the real,
I don’t like living here. I don’t like living
on the bottom of cars, watching People in Red drink
in the corner of Little Mex. But I’m scared of
more people making fun of me if I go to a new family—cuz
you know God didn’t give me the best looks a dog
could have—but other people don’t understand
it, but they have to have somebody to pick on. I’m
scared that Miss Cory ain’t gonna treat me good,
that she’s gonna treat me different from the way
she treats you.
|
|
|
|
| Ruben: |
|
We known
Miss Cory for two months already. She treated us both
the same. She seems like a nice person. Why don’t
you give it a chance? If you don’t like it, we’ll
just leave the house.
|
|
|
|
| Miguel: |
|
I
ain’t trying to hold you back, so you just go ahead
and live with her. I’ll just wait for Mom right here—and
if you wanna come visit me, I ain’t goin’ nowhere. |
|
|
|
| Ruben: |
|
Don’t
you get it, fool? Mom left us and she ain’t never
comin’ back. I want her back, but it’s all a
dream. She abandoned us. She left us to die on these streets.
The only dog you got in this world is me. |
|
|
|
| Miguel: |
|
(aggressively)
You know what—don’t say that! You never met
Mom. You never got the chance to see how she really
is. In my heart, Mom is the best dog there ever is.
If she was a human, she’ll be just like Miss Cory.
It ain’t her fault we’re livin’ put on
these streets. Just cuz that Old Geezer threw us out
of his house cuz there was too many of us, don’t
mean nothing about Mom.
|
|
|
|
| Ruben: |
|
Alright,
maybe I did jump a little ahead of myself, but you also—Mom’s
livin’ large, and she ain’t gonna give it up
just to live with us. You know she’s always sleeping
in that king size dog bed. We’re eating spaghetti
out the garbage and I bet you Mom’m eating spaghetti
fresh out the oven. |
|
|
|
| Miguel: |
|
You
remember when we seen that movie Beethoven togther? They
were living large but they gave it up to live with their
kids. It ain’t about living large. It’s all
about the heart. A Mom will do anything for one of her
puppies—so I know she’s coming back.
(It starts to rain harder. The 1st strike of lightning
went off) |
|
|
|
| Ruben: |
|
So
what you gonna do? You gonna stay here or come live with
me? If you wanna live in Little Mex for the rest of your
life, sleeping on bottom of cars that’s on you. But
I ain’t going through it no more. I want some real
food. I’m tired of that nasty stuff we get outta
the garbage. |
|
|
|
| Miguel: |
|
It
ain’t that bad. As long as we got each other we can
make it through anything. |
|
|
|
| Ruben: |
|
(starts
crying)
Lookie here, Miguel. I care for you with all my might,
and I don’t wanna leave you. But this is my dream.
I told you since we were puppies that I was gonna find
a family for both of us. And I did. Now it’s up to
you if you wanna take it or leave it. I did what an older
brother’s supposed to do—and I found you a family.
Now please do what a younger brother’s supposed to
do and follow me. |
|
|
|
| Miguel: |
|
You
know what—if you really mean take it or leave it—then
I’m leaving it. |
|
|
|
| Ruben: |
|
You know
what, man? go ahead and leave it. I’m gonna be
the one to have a roof over my head, a place to sleep,
and food to eat.
(Ruben walks away with Miss Cory)
(to himself)
You know what—I’m just going to tease Miguel
for tonight. I’m gonna make him sleep all alone—cold,
hungry for tonight. I feel disrespected—but he
is my little brother. I’ll come back for him tomorrow
morning. Then hopefully he’ll change his mind –
he’ll probably come with me and live with me for
the rest of our lives.
(The whole night pass. Ruben didn’t get any
sleep, thinking about how his brother’s doing,
but he thinks that hopefully this night could change
Miguel’s mind. Ruben goes back to Little Mex in
the morning searches everywhere—on bottom of cars
in trash cans, by their favorite restaurant—and
doesn’t find them. Until he goes to the gutter,
looks in, and sees his body laying inside—dead.)
|
|
|
|
| Ruben: |
|
(to
himself)
What did I do? How can I do this to my only brother that
I had. After all them nights and days that we spent together—I
abandoned him. What kind of brother am I? I never even
got a chance to tell him how much I loved him. He went
through his whole life without getting told “I love
you.” He used to tell me everyday that he loved me,
but I never told him once…supposedly because of the
big, tough dog I am. |
| |
|
|
| |
|
The
End. |
