Lutt^ stoE I
5
to her mouth. Oh, Gawd,
it'sso bad! She shuts it offand her head go
to her hands.
Lucia's hands go
ABEL opens the door. When he notices
LUCIA is at her desk, he knocks to get her
attention which startles her.
LUCTA (CONT',D)
Ay, me asustaste!
She goes back to the computer and clicks
on the episode again. ABEL stands there
for a moment. He then quietly goes to
empty the trash from the bin next to the
desk as the clip plays again...
ROSA (v.O)
Do you know what'sthe hardest thing about being brown and from the barrio,
like I am? lt's knowing that l'll never be one of them. Knowing that all they'll ever
see is my brown-brown skin. lt'smy curse...
ABEL leaves as LUCIA keeps laser focused
on the screen. Steeling herself.
SCENE 3
LUCIA is on
SrN&T
the couch, holding
a
binder
and some pages, crying. ABEL comes in,
ear buds firmly placed in his ears, but when
he sees LUCIA in an obvious emo state, he
immediately starts to leave.
LUCIA
No, pasale.[No, come in.]
Taking off his ear buds...
ptø$5
uetA Stu€
I
6
ABEL
Huh?
LUCIA
Oue le pases. il said come inl
She points to the trash can, which is
overflowing with balled-up papers. Her
eyes still on the script she's been studying,
even when she stands.
LUCTA (CONT',D)
Date vuelo. Es pura mierda. (beat) Digo, de papeles. No de verdad. [Go crazy. lt's
all shit. (beat) I mean, of paper. Not real shit.J
LUCIA reaches the shelf for a Kleenex
when the whole thing comes tumbling
down, again. This makes her start bawling
again. ABEL's like, "great, this bitch is a
mess. "
Feeling toda sorry for herself
LUCTA (CONT',D)
Fuck all my life
ABEL
Well, those shelves aren't too sturdy. They keep puttin'them up and takin','em
down, so of course they're gonna be loose.
A PAUSE. She
stares at ABEL as if she's looking at him for
the first time.
LUCIA's head shoots up.
LUCIA
You speak English
ABEL
Y,P
Pause
p
ÀoS9
Lucr{ slù€
t
7
LUCIA
So why have I been speaking to you in Spanish?
ABEL
Um, I don't know
Abel stafts fixing the shelves.
LUCIA
Why did I do that?
ABEL
Couldn't tell you.
Beat.
LUCIA
Sorry
ABEL
's okay.
LUCIA
You know how sometimes you go on auto pilot?
ABEL
No
LUCIA
Like you know when you assume?
ABEL
I
don't assume stuff like that
LUCIA
Oh. fbeat) I guess I do. Which I didn't even know I did.
ABEL starts to go, then, LUCIA, so fucking
needy...
LUCTA (CONT',D)
People don't like it here right? Like in l-A.
P3o$5
Luetg
SrÙÈ
I
B
ABEL
I
don't know.
LUCIA
don't. Mexicans don't like it here. I was at this restaurant the other
d.y -- by myself, like a total loser because, well, I know zero people in this town -so my waitress was taking my order and to me it's obvious that Spanish is her first
language, right? Her accent was just... well, of a person who'd be more
comfortable in Spanish. So she'staking my order and l'm like, "me puedes traer
agua por f avor? " and she shoots all this shade and all this attitude -- and she
refuses to answer me in Spanish. l'm like here thinking, "ittOBV|OUS you speak
Spanish. Why are we playing this little game?" "l'm trying to make it easy for
you." Just ridiculous.
Yeah. They
ABEL
Sometimes they don't let you speak it at work
LUCIA
Oh, well, I guess that's* true. But she'd rather struggle with her broken English
than answer me in Spanish when it's obviously easier for her? That's bizarre.
ABEL
Sorry... but what do you mean it was "obvious"?
LUCIA
What was obvious?
ABEL
You said that you spoke Spanish to her because it was "obvious" that she spoke
Spanish. What does that mean?
LUCIA
Like she looked like she spoke Spanish.
ABEL
Like I look
LUCIA tries
to recover,
¡{of 5
trcrl 9\be t
9
LUCIA
Like... we look.
srnun
Eru.0
ABEL
Right
Alright, why did this just get awkward?
LUCIA
l'm sorry. (beat) Me assuming you speak Spanish wasn't like an insult. lt was like a
good thing. I do it because... I mean, it'sactually what l'm most comfortable with.
And it's a little like, "we're in this together" when I do it, you know what I mean?
ABEL
We're in what together?
LUCIA
l'm just saying that it's my comfort tongue, so whenever I get a chance to speak
it, it's like taking offa tight belt, you know? Like...
She makes a sound like she just unbuckled
her pants. They just stand there, so fucking
awkward.
LUCTA (CONT',D)
Wait. Are you even Mexican*...? I'm sorry, I totally just assumed...
ABEL
Of course. No, I am. I just try not to speak it at work, you know?
LUCIA
Wait. Why?
ABEL
Why I try not to speak Spanish at work?
?
gofS