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Scene 1:
Mrs. M: Visitors, always visitors, nothing but visitors all day long. I’m beginning to feel like a society
matron.
Mrs. M: of course. It’s I, foolish boy. Why are you staring like that? Do I have a dirt in my face? ?
Tony: Oh, no, no.. You look just...wonderful. Aling Atang. For a moment, I thought you were Kikay.
Mrs. M: Oh, you are so palikero as ever, Tony. But come in. Here, sit down. How is your mother?
Tony: Poor mother. She is homesick for Tondo. She wants to come back here at once.
Mrs. M: Only 3 months!!! It's too long for a Tondo native to be away from Tondo. My poor kumare. She
must be bored out there.
Tony: Well, you know, we engineers are always on call. But as soon as I finish the bridge in Bulacan, we’ll
be going here in Tondo.
Mrs. M: Yes, you must bring her back as soon as possible. We miss her when we play mahjong..
Mrs. M: I understand. Once a Tondo girl always a Tondo girl. I wonder if that fits my Kikay because after
a year in America , she says she’s not homesick at all..crazy girl.
Mrs. M: That girl only arrived last Monday and look what happened to me! She dragged me to the
parlor. My hair was cut, my eyebrows were shaved, my nails are colorrd. And when I go to the market, I
always need to use lipstick! All my kumares are laughing. People think I’m a loose woman because of my
age. Well, you knowI can’t do anything. It's hard to argue with Kikay. And she insists that I should look
like an Americana...I dont know what happened to that girl
Tony: Don't worry Aling Atang You look just wonderful then and now. Oh and is Kikay around?
Mrs. M: She’s still sleeping!
Mrs. M: She says, in New York , people don’t wake up until 12:00 noon.
Mrs. M: Besides, she's busy. Since she came home, welcome parties here and there. Visitors all day long.
She's spinning like a top. My head is aching
Tony: Well, will you tell her I came to welcome her. And kindly give her these flowers.
Tony: I did want to see Kikay. But if she doesn’t get up at 12 noon
Tony: Please don’t bother Aling Atang. I can come back some other time.
Mrs. M: Wait right here. She’ll simply be delighted to see her childhood friend. And oh, the flowers are
beautiful, how expensive they must be.
Mrs. M: Kikay says that it's more civilized to call me Mrs. Mendoza.
Mrs. M: Wait a minute and I’ll call Kikay. Stay there okay?
Tony: Francisca?
Mrs. M: Because in New York , she says that’s the way they pronounce her name, it sounds like “chi-chi”
so Italian, be sure to call her Francesca and not Kikay. Okay?
Mrs. M: Now, wait right here while I call Francesca…. AIE DIOSMIO!!!
Scene 2:
Totoy: Tony!
Tony: Totoy!
Tony: You ask me that… and you look like a walking goldmine! How many depots have you been looting,
huh!!??
Totoy: Hey hey!! More slowly there.. It is you the police are looking for.
Totoy: Tony. I’ve been hearing the most frightful things about that girl.
Tony: So have I.
Totoy: Fran-CeS-ca??
Totoy: Don’t make me laugh! Why I knew that girl when she’s still selling rice cakes.. Puto kayo dyan!!
Bili na kayo ng puto mga suki!!
Scene 3:
Nena: And Tony, too.. What’s all this? A Canto Boy Reunion ?
Mrs. M: No, she’s awake already. She's dressing. Good morning Nena and Totoy.
Mrs. M: Well, Totoy? Nena? Why are you staring me like that?
Nena: How you used to pinch and pinch me Aling Atang, when I was a li’l girl.
Mrs. M: Because you were all naughty, especially you! Always sneaking into our backyard for mangoes
Mrs. M: It's only orange juice. I was preparing some for Kikay. Come.
Scene 4:
Tony: Use your head. Nena it's not easy breaking off this engagement with Kikay for God's sake!!
Tony: That was a year ago! Nena, you know how much I love you.
Nena: How dare you ask me if you’re still engage with Kikay!
Nena: Honest? Making me fall for you when you’re still inlove and engaged with Kikay!
Tony: I thought I didn’t belong to Kikay anymore. It's only a secret engagement anyway. I proposed to
her before she left for America . But when she stopped answering my letters, I considered myself a
freeman again.
Tony: Yes..
Tony: Just give me a chance to explain to Kikay. Then we’ll tell them.
Tony: Because you’re here and also Totoy. I don’t wanna jilt Kikay infront of everybody.
Tony: No.. just give me a chance to be alone with Kikay for a moment..
Scene 5:
Mrs. M: Here comes Kikay, But she wants to call her Francesca.
Kikay: Oh hello darling people!! Nena my dear…… But how but you’ve become.. and Tony, my little pal…
how are you? And Totoy… my ravishing! Goodness! you look like a Tondo Super Production in
Technicolor!! But sit-down everybody and let me look at you.. Oh mumsy!!!
Kikay: How many times I must tell you, never to serve fruit juices in water glasses?
Kikay: Oh, poor li’l mumsy.. she is so clumsy noh? But never mind, don’t break your heart about it. Here
sit down.
Kikay: Oh, don’t forget my celery. I can’t live without it. I'm like a rabbit, munch munchall day.
Mrs. M: Well, if you people will excuse me. Tony, remember me to your mother.
Kikay: And remember, a little bloom on the lips, a little bloom on the cheeks. mwah, mwah..
Kikay: Yes, I feel as if I was still there, as though I had never left it, as though I lived there all my life. But I
look around me and I realized that no, no, I’m not there. I’m not in New York , I’m at home. But which is
home for me, this cannot be home because here, my heart aches with homesickness..
Naputol!!!
Totoy: Oh, the backyards of Tondo, the barong barongs of Mypaho, the streets of Sibakong..
Scene 6:
Kikay: Apparently, our Totoy still has a most terrific crush on Nena. Oh they look so cute together. Do
wake up, Tony. What are you looking so miserable about?
Tony: Forget??
Kikay: That’s the New York way, Tony. Forget, nothing must ever too serious; nothing must drag on too
long. Tonight, give all your heart, tomorrow, forget. And when you meet again, smile, shake hands… just
good sports..
Tony: When?
Kikay: When you and I got engaged. I’ve changed so much since then, Tony.
Kikay: To me, it seems a century. So much had happened to me. More can happen to you in just one
year in New York .
Tony: Listen, I don’t want to talk about New York … I want to talk about our engagement.
Kikay: Tony, you got engaged to a girl named Kikay. Well, that girl doesn’t exist anymore. She's dead.
The person you see before you is Francesca. Don’t you see, Tony, I’m a stranger to you. I hate to hurt
you, but surely you see that there can be no more talk of an engagement between us. Imagine, a New
York Girl, marrying a Tondo Boy!!! It's so insane right!!
Kikay: Hush! Tony! Hush! Don’t shout, don’t lose your temper. It's so uncivilized. People in New York
don’t lose their temper.
Tony: What do you want me to do? Smile, say thank you for slapping it to my face?
Kikay: Yes, Tony. Be a sport, let’s smile and shake hands, and be just friends, huh?
Scene 6:
Kikay: We were not quarrelling. Tony and I just decided to be good friends and nothing more
Nena: Tony, is it true?
Tony: Yes!
Kikay: Engaged!!
Tony: I did try to tell you Kikay, I was trying to tell you…
Nena: Well, he's not engaged to you anymore, you just said it yourself.
Tony: Now remember, Kikay… it's so uncivilized to lose one’s temper, People in New York don’t lose
their temper.
Kikay: I’ve never felt so humiliated in all my life!! You beast, I’ll teach you!!
Kikay: And I tell you he's not!! He's engaged to me until I release him… and I haven’t released him yet.
Nena: You ought to be ashamed of yourself! You’re just being a dog in the manger!
Kikay: You keep out of this or I’ll knock your head off!
Totoy: Naku lumabas din ang pagka Tondo!
Nena: Are you trying to defend her now? You never defended me!
Tony: Hey!
Totoy: Don’t you speak to me either! You have insulted the woman I love!
Scene 7:
Kikay: Don’t you come near me, you,,, you Canto Boy..
Tony: Don’t worry, I wouldn’t touch you with my ten foot pole.
Tony: Just one year in New York and you forgot your old friends.
Kikay: Just one year that I’m in New York … and what did you do? But when we got engaged, you swore
to be true, you promised to wait for me. And I believed you!! Oh, you’re a fickle, fickle..
Tony: What are you crying about? Be brave…..forget….. That’s the New York way.. Nothing must ever be
too serious, nothing must ever drag on too long..
Tony: Besides, there could be no more talk of an engagement between us. Imagine a New York Girl,
marrying a Tondo boy!!
Tony: Well, I’m not! I’m glad I found out what kind of a person you are!
Kikay: Oh Tony, you’re wrong, you’re wrong! I’m not that kind of person at all..
Kikay: Yes Tony, that was Francesca saying all that. But Francesca exist no more, Tony, the girl standing
before you now, is Kikay.
Mrs. M: Frances ……. Oh, Tony, are you still here? Francesca, don’t be angry but I couldn’t find any
celery..
Mrs. M: Hate celery? Why? You said, you couldn’t live without it!
Tony: That was Francesca Aling Atang and Francesca is dead. The girl standing before you is Kikay!
Mrs. M: Aaaah!
Kikay: That tune! What memories it brings back! I first heard it in New York , at Eddie Candon’s..
Tony: uh-uh..
Kikay: Sorry darling. May I have this dance with you partner?