Demigod
By Bobby Flores Villasis
Characters
CRISTINA, daughter to
SALUD and
ALFONSO FLORES
LEON
DON FILEMON TABUCAY
MOLDERO, friend to Leon
LILIA, cousin to Cristina
TWO GUARDIAS CIVILES
SOLDIERS to Leon
TOWNSPEOPLE
1898 in Bacong, Negros Oriental; and Cebu City. This highly-fictionalized account touches on the last few days in the life of Pantaleon Villegas, also known as Leon Kilat. Born in Bacong and celebrated in Cebu for leading the successful breach of the Spanish garrison on April 3, what little else that survives of his private life has become obfuscated by the swollen retailing of folklore, as is this interpretation. As a free rendition, the play makes few concessions to historical fact. The characters, with the exception of Leon, are all inventions of the author. Historical events and characters allude to may have been wrenched out of their proper time. There is no guarantee that other incidents and attributes cited or dramatized here may have occurred at all.
There are no strict divisions of scenes. The play moves on several scene-fragments, on a multilevel stage with flats, box risers, cubes and other geometric constructions serving as furniture. All surfaces are either grey-washed or the texture of concrete or stone. The highest level is found upstage right, the next highest upstage left. Spots are used to isolate small areas for separate and often simultaneous scene-fragments. The curtain opens on a dark stage. A circle of light falls on an arrangement of flats downstage left. Down under, whisper of wind and waves: we are close to the beach. CRISTINA and LILIA, faces almost concealed by mantons, enter lighted area, look around, remove their mantons.
LILIA Now we’ve done it.
CRISTINA Don’t start that now or I’ll send you home.
LILIA We’ll never see home again. I’m sure Señor Tabucay saw us.
CRISTINA He didn’t, or he would have called out.
LILIA He saw us! I tell you he did! Oh, I should have stayed home.
CRISTINA You couldn’t have, because you’re silly, curious girl. Now be quiet or the guardias will hear us.
LILIA I’m sure he followed us. He’s probably out there now, watching, waiting —
CRISTINA (Looks around) There’s no one there.
LILIA He’s hiding! He’s behind those trees — He’s waiting for Leon to come, and then —
CRISTINA And then — ?
LILIA Then he’d catch us!
CRISTINA Just like that, huh? Like we were mere dragonflies?
LILIA He could tell the Teniente. The Teniente will believe him. You know how close they are.
CRISTINA A dog and its master. Teniente de Vera’s hands so reck with blood he attracts mongrels.
LILIA I hate them both!
CRISTINA And guardias civiles. And the nice Padre Diego. Oh, and don’t forget the guardias de honor.
LILIA All of them! I hate all of them!
CRISTINA Don’t bring it here. There’s too much of that. It has infested everything around us. Streets, gardens, the trampled fields, violated churches, even the sanctuaries of the dead are harrowed by hate. Don’t bring it here. Leon and I would like this place to nourish love only. (LILIA is silent.) There. In a few minutes you are going to be sad again, and sulk, and then I would have no one to talk to. Forget the bitterness for a while. Come, the sun has begun to set. Look — oh, you can’t think of ugly things as long as there are moments left like that. (Points to her right.) The Isla de Siquijor. There is a convent there, big as a town, in case no one thinks of marrying you. And there — (Points to her left.) is Cebu. It is closer. On sunny days you can even see the trees. The capital in on the other side, behind those hills —
LILIA The capital!
CRISTINA Hundreds of people would be promenading the streets at this time, fluttering perfumed fans, rustling dresses made of silks from China, and the finest Sevillian lace —
LILIA And the houses —
CRISTINA Palaces! The peninsulares live like Cesars. Mansions with beldeveres and sweeping balustrades, grape vines burgeoning in trellises, fountains whispering in the courtyards.
LILIA Fountains! Oh, Cristina, take me with you when go! Please —
CRISTINA I’m beginning to fear Leon and I will never have a moment to ourselves the way you keep tagging along.
LILIA (Quietly) I wouldn’t, if there was someone else. Mama used to say we would go one day, during fiesta of the Santo Niño, so I could lay my handkerchief under His feet and be blessed, and then we would go looking for new dresses —
CRISTINA I’ll take you. When it’s all over let us all go! We will rent a caruaje and drive around the city and look at the houses and Fuente and the Fort and the bazaars in Colon —
LILIA When?
CH Soon, I hope. We must ask Leon.
LILIA I don’t see him coming. I think he has forgotten.
CRISTINA He will be here.
LILIA But where is he?
CRISTINA (Points to her right) There. (To her left.) There, in the front of Sudlon. (Upstage) Or there.
LILIA In the Cuernos de Negros?
CRISTINA In the heart of Mount Talinis. I don’t know.
LILIA You don’t know?
CRISTINA Leon is — like the wind, the clouds, the feeling that quickens the heart. You don’t ask where he’s coming from. He will say, I will come to you. And you believe.
LILIA I believe. (Pause) Will he be of help to us if — if Señor Tabucay gets us arrested?
CRISTINA You’re much too afraid of Señor Tabucay.
(Spot upstage left. Don FILEMON TABUCAY is smoking pipe, listening to a speaker not shown. There are now two separate scenes.)
LILIA I’m afraid to die. Suppose he tells the Teniente we’ve come to meet Leon —
CRISTINA (Mock-dramatic) Then we would be tried, and sentenced, and on a bleak dawn we would be marched to the Bacong Plaza, you in severe black, I in pristine white, and there as the rain falls, we would be hanged —
(Freeze. TABUCAY whips pipe from his mouth.)
TABUCAY Hang him! There’s no way, Teniente.
(Spot upstage right. SALUD and ALFONSO are sipping coffee in their living room. There are now three separate scenes.)
No, no, no, no, no! Don’t think I, your humble friend Don Filemon Tabucay, can abuse your confidence and tell you what to do, que barbaridad! But believe me, there is no other way that peace can return to Bacong!
ALFONSO I hear even the insulares in Cebu have been harassed. This Villegas bandido seems to be everywhere these days.
SALUD Yet they say he has never left the island.
ALFONSO Obviously he has. I wonder what his intentions are.
SALUD It doesn’t look like a rebellion to me.
TABUCAY Oh, I agree, it’s not a major uprising in the manner of San Juan del Monte, or Nueva Ecija —
ALFONSO I don’t think he has anything like that in mind.
SALUD Still, it must be very annoying.
TABUCAY Very annoying, peste. The tulisan is like a gadfly pestering us!
SALUD Many little gadflies, pestering the tyrant’s hide.
ALFONSO Soon the Teniente will itch. Then he will scratch. Then some of us will get hurt.
TABUCAY There must be something you can do. His antics are starting to attract a following. Not too much in Bacong, perhaps, since you made it clear the townspeople would bear the brunt of reprisals. But think. Just you think what would happen if the tulisanes multiplied. You could have a real revolution on your hands.
SALUD As it is, there must be quite a lot of them if they can split up like that.
ALFONSO Everytime he strikes, his band swells.
SALUD Gathering power.
ALFONSO Like a wave.
TABUCAY These indios mal educados are natural ladrones, you see. I don’t think the rest of them can be kept at bay for long. A few more successful raids by this Villegas bandido and he will turn into a hero. You must not give him another chance.
ALFONSO I must admit he’s very clever.
SALUD Leon was always clever. When he was little, I remember, Padre Hervas would spend hours looking for whoever has been robbing his fruit trees, and all the while, there was Leon hidden in the thick of the sweetest santol.
ALFONSO People tend to look in the wrong places.
SALUD He confuses the guardias no end.
ALFONSO They lose time deciding which way to go, then they end chasing their own tails.
SALUD So would I, if trouble erupted in all four directions at the same time.
ALFONSO Very clever.
SALUD They say Leon is there when it all starts. In all the places.
ALFONSO Gossip. Silly marketplace gossip.
SALUD Many other people don’t think so.
TABUCAY They think he’s some kind of encantado, with powers we cannot explain. Siquijor? No, not Siquijor. He was born right here, in Bacong. This is dangerous, Teniente. Besides being thieves by nature, the indios are also superstitious. They believe anything.
SALUD I can’t help it. There must be something to these talks. There is no smoke without a fire.
ALFONSO Padre Diego warned us about this, Salud.
SALUD (Imitates sermon.) Beware! You are doomed to fire and brimstone, all you herejes who believe in these false prophets! The devil comes in many guises! Beware!
TABUCAY We must be careful.
SALUD You know, of course, what happened to Padre Diego’s hacienda the next day?
TABUCAY A ridiculous encounter! Half the fields burned, the almacen razed, the guardias civiles trampling down the rest of the sugar cane and firing at each other!
ALFONSO And all the time Leon was emptying our files at the municipio. It does save me a lot of work.
TABUCAY And last night, you know what happened to those bottles of brandy I had imported from Xeres? Smashed! All smashed, puneta. I was keeping it for your birthday, you know. They must have broken into my bodega while the guardias civiles where chasing their onw horses all over Bacong!
SALUD Fachada.
TABUCAY How did those horses get loose in the first place?
ALFONSO Perhaps the guardias had been sleeping.
TABUCAY At eight o’ clock in the evening?
SALUD The witching hour
TABUCAY And the looting of Don Felipe’s arrocerra in the middle of the afternoon? How do you explain that?
ALFONSO A hundred sacks, Salud.
SALUD A lot of rice, Alfonso.
TABUCAY I’m afraid this will cause you a great embarrassment if word gets to Manila.
SALUD The Teniente will be red in the face.
ALFONSO The Teniente’s birthday is next week. They must get Leon before then.
TABUCAY Bacong is beginning to talk. Our guardias civiles are getting to be laughing stocks, Teniente. I wouldn’t want the talks to affect you. You must get Leon.
SALUD They’ll never get him.
ALFONSO They will. Give the bumbling fools time.
SALUD Comadre Tinay says Leon can make himself disappear.
ALFONSO How would she know?
TABUCAY Like the lightning, they say. Encantoces, we shall be faster than lightning, eh, Teniente?
ALFONSO He can be captured. He’s only a man, like us.
SALUD The idiots will never know how.
ALFONSO You forget, they alone possess a superior intelligence.
SALUD Intelligence will never get him. Ask. (Smiles.)
ALFONSO Otra. When the Teniente scratches, I fear for that silly daughter of yours.
(Spot out upstage right.)
TABUCAY I fear we’ll never sleep unless these tulisanes are crushed. But first, get Leon. It’s only the way. I can’t wait to see the rope tighten about his neck until it snaps!
(CRISTINA mimes tightening of rope about her neck pretends to die. LILIA squeals with fright. Spot out upstage left.)
LILIA Don’t scare me!
CRISTINA (Laughs.) You’re scaring yourself.
LILIA I can’t help it.
CRISTINA We are safe here, Lilia. No one comes her but us.
LILIA Someone’s bound to, soon enough. We’re too close to the cemetery. Soon they will come to — all those corpses — (Begins to cry.)
CRISTINA They won’t see us, and they won’t come here. The fields are not good for walking. Too many mimosas. And the water is not best for bathing in. so still on the surface, raging underneath. The rocks are sharp. The jellyfish, ah, such pale monstrous creatures — they need only to look at you to make you bloat, like days-old carcasses they cart out of jail — (Sees LILIA crying.) Lilia — oh, my dear, I’m so sorry, I forgot, I just forgot —
LILIA I wish I could forget. I wish to God I could. I keep seeing their faces, the screams frozen in their mouths where only laughter had been, the terror in their eyes where only affections had gleamed — it haunts me all the time.
CRISTINA Hush, now. Hush. I know we will be avenged. Leon will avenge us. Pray the Lord to keep him safe.
LILIA Will the Lord still listen to me? Each time I think about what must be done — I am like a cesspool inside!
CRISTINA The Lord will understand.
LILIA He must! I’ve told Him, time and again, and I will not let Him rest till he’s given me their heads on bamboo stakes, their entrails torn out for the crows, their genitals cut off, flung to the dogs! (Takes knife from a sleeve.) Or I’ll do it myself.
CRISTINA Put that away!
LILIA (Touches blade.) Into their necks, is where I want to put it away.
CHRISTINA Lilia — you’re much too young to feel this way. Bitterness won’t help. It won’t bring back your father and mother.
LILIA I know. That is my pain.
CRISTINA You’re not only the one who’s been through harrowing times. Many other women in the islands have been sacrificed on the altars of greed, many other men murdered for defying the “servants of God.”
LILIA God has fled the churches. His servants now serve themselves.
CRISTINA (To herself) So much blood, so many lives paid up each day. I don’t know what we’ve done to deserve this. Lord, speak up and tell us!
LILIA He won’t listen.
CRISTINA Three hundred years. Too many martyrs. When will it all end?
LILIA I told you he won’t hear us! He has left us to defend ourselves! (Test knife with a finger.)
CRISTINA Perhaps he hasn’t. Perhaps He has given us Leon so we can continue to hope. (Suddenly awestruck.) Yes… He has given us Leon instead!
LILIA Cristina! Do you know what you’re saying? That sounds like blasphemy!
(Freeze. Spot downstage right. TWO WOMEN enter lit area: housewives from the market.)
WOMAN 1 I know. (Crosses herself.) Let it be blasphemy then but that is what I feel, God help me!
MAN 1 You won’t think I’m losing my mind?
MAN 2 I promise. Tell me, I won’t laugh.
(Spot stage center. A group of TOWNSPEOPLE facing the audience listens to a person not shown. There are now four separate scenes.)
WOMAN 1 I was desperate, you see. We had just paid taxes.
MAN 1 Not a single centavo left in the house.
TOWNSPEOPLE 1 They’d take the house, too, if you let them.
TOWNSPEOPLE 2 Be quiet.
TOWNSPEOPLE 3 And then — ?
WOMAN 1 To make it worse, my little boy Berting was sick.
MAN 1 Malaria.
WOMAN 2 Susmariosep!
WOMAN 1 And we were down to our last cup of rice.
MAN 2 The last cup.
TOWNSPEOPLE 4 The last cup!
TOWNSPEOPLE 1 Everytime I get to my last cupful I curse the hijos and wish I could eat them.
TOWNSPEOPLE 3 The Teniente is old meat, too tough. You would need to stew him for a week!
TOWNSPEOPLE 2 Be quiet!
MAN 2 You could have gone to Señor Tabucay for a loan.
WOMAN 1 We did that last year when Berting got run over.
TOWNSPEOPLE 1 It was Don Felipe’s caruaje.
TOWNSPEOPLE 4 Berting lost a leg.
TOWNSPEOPLE 3 What about the loan?
WOMAN 2 I remember. You couldn’t pay it back on time, so Señor Tabucay sent the guardias to confiscate your carabao.
MAN 1 And two goats.
TOWNSPEOPLE 2 And so — ?
WOMAN 1 I got desperate. I was ready to kill myself.
MAN 1 She went down to the garden.
TOWNSPEOPLE 3 What did she do in the garden?
MAN 2 In the garden?
MAN 1 To talk to the camotes.
TOWNSPEOPLE 3 What did she tell the camotes?
WOMAN 1 Hurry up, fill out, grow huge! I neeed you for food tomorrow!
WOMAN 2 Comadre! What did your husband say?
MAN 1 Are you out of your mind, woman?
WOMAN 1 I’m hurrying the camotes or we’ll heve to fast till you get your wages!
MAN 1 You must be mad, talking about fasting!
WOMAN 1 We have no more money, no more rice —
MAN 1 Rice? Why did you hide the sack of rice in the toilet?
WOMAN 2 In the toilet?
TOWNSPEOPLE 2 What?
TOWNSPEOPLE 1 And a leg of ham.
MAN 2 You’re joking.
WOMAN 1 A leg of ham. He thought I hid it there.
WOMAN 2 You’re joking.
WOMAN 1 Where would I get the money to buy it?
MAN 1 I wouldn’t have believed it —
WOMAN 1 But it was there I Christ Almighty, it was there!
(Sensation among TOWNSPEOPLE)
WOMAN 2 Leon.
MAN 1 Who else could it be?
TOWNSPEOPLE 4 I told you. He’s been sent to help us.
TOWNSPEOPLE 2 Leon.
MAN 1 Who else could it be?
TOWNSPEOPLE 4 I told you. He’s been sent to help us.
TOWNSPEOPLE 2 Leon.
(The name gets repeated from area to area until it becomes concentrated into one general whisper: Leon. All spots out except downstage left and downstage right.)
WOMAN 1 I told you God has sent him to help us. Now you must believe me.
WOMAN 2 I do. But let’s not talk about it or guardias de honor will think we worship him.
(They stop, look at each other, stricken at the import of the words.)
WOMAN 1 Let’s go home.
(Spot out downstage right.)
LILIA Let’s go home. (Gathering her manton.) It’s getting cold. Perhaps Leon has forgotten.
(Angelus tolls in the distance.)
CRSITINA (Crosses herself.) The angel of the Lord declared unto Mary-
LILIA And she conceived of the Holy Ghost.
(Freeze. Spot upstage right. SALUD and ALFONSO are concluding their prayers.)
SALUD May by His passion and cross be brought to the glory of His resurrection through Christ our Lord.
ALFONSO Amen.
(They cross themselves, rise, move to the “windows” overlooking audience.)
SALUD How fast the day dies. All of a sudden it is dark and I feel I haven’t even awakened from last night.it seems as if the hours are rushing towards — I don’t know what…
ALFONSO Just like your daughter. Always rushing towards we don’t know what. I saw her going off with Lilia.
SALUD They’ve gone to — to meet him.
ALFONSO I keep telling you it isn’t safe. Why did you let them go?
SALUD Ay, she’s stubborn, that Cristina. If I forbid her she’ll probably run away and be a katipunera. You’ll never know.
ALFONSO You should. You’re her mother.
SALUD I hope they don’t catch cold.
ALFONSO Her daughter goes to meet a hunted man, a fugitive, and all she worries about is daughter’s catching cold.
SALUD What should I worry about? Drunken guardias civiles? Padre Diego? The Teniente? Tabucay and the rest of the guardias de honor? They don’t deserve my concern.
ALFONSO Let her catch cold. Don’t let her get caught by the bastards.
SALUD The bastards have been around for three hundred years. They practically own us. There’s nothing to prevent them from taking what they want.
ALFONSO You talk as though they could take your daughter without resistance.
SALUD Nunca. But if the hands grab, I wouldn’t be able to stop it. Not even you could, Alfonso.
ALFONSO No one does.
SALUD Leon will have blood. Cristina is sure of it.
ALFONSO If it’s the only way to get the leeches off our flesh. But Leon — I don’t know. He’s not the man for it. All he’s doing is a lot of mischief to embarrass the Teniente. No, he’s not the man to deliver us. (Beat.) We were almost there. With Bonifacio, and Jacinto —
SALUD And Aguinaldo-
ALFONSO Ah, the Magdalo. The hero of the Cavites. So safe, so far away in Hong Kong.
SALUD Then you need Leon.
ALFONSO For what? He has many enemies. Already some of his own men are disgusted about the way he acts.
(Spot upstage left. MOLDERO is wiping sweat from his forehead. There are now three separate scenes.)
SALUD Moldero?
ALFONSO I was at the municipio when they brought him in. he and the Teniente had a good talk.
SALUD What about?
ALFONSO We were asked to leave the room.
SALUD Alfonso — do you think — ?
ALFONSO I don’t wish to think about it, Salud. It is no concern of ours.
MOLDERO Something has happened to him. He no longer laughs as easily as before. He has grown — grave, confident. He acts like a supremo. It’s that thing he wears around his waist. It gives him — powers. No, no, I’m not going mad. It’s true. I’m his trusted friend, remember?
SALUD Leon’s trusted friend.
ALFONSO It has happened many times before.
MOLDERO It makes him — different. Like he knows what will happen. He has stopped telling me his plans. But I know it will be bigger. There have been revolutions from Cebu to see him —
ALFONSO Even Christ had Judas.
SALUD It’s a pity.
ALFONSO It’s destiny. History repeats itself, they say.
SALUD You could still be wrong. After all, Moldero escaped.
ALFONSO I know. The Teniente has expressed plans of offering rewards for both their heads now. He has begun to itch.
SALUD They will catch him. He is swift, like the lightning, they say. Comadre Tinay says he rides a white handkerchief when he’s not on his white horse.
ALFONSO Marketplace gossip.
SALUD Del Pilar rides a white horse, too, doesn’t he?
ALFONSO So would I, if I had one. It saves such an effort walking to the municipio.
SALUD But no one else rides a handkerchief. And I don’t know of anyone else with a habak like that.
MOLDERO It makes him invisible, it renders him invulnerable to blunt weapons.
ALFONSO Pure fabrication. Unbelievable.
SALUD So like Leon.
(Freeze. Downstage left, a shadow passes overhead. CRISTINA looks up.)
CRISTINA He’s here.
(Spots out upstage right and left.)
LILIA Where?
CRISTINA I told you he would come!
(They stare upward, facing audience. Behind them, upstage center, spots picks LEON. He is on oneknee, folding a handkerchief. He holds it in his right hand, picks up a bouquet of yellow flowers with his left, rises. CRISTINA whirls around, sees him. LEON flings out both hands, for an instant his figure forms a cross. He comes downstage, into lighted area downstage left. CRISTINA embraces him, he whirls her around. LILIA sinks to the ground, awed. LEON gives CRISTINA her flowers. CRISTINA holds the bouquet to her cheeks, sits on flat.)
I knew you’d come.
LEON (Sees LILIA) Lilia —
LILIA Señor Villegas —
LEON You have been crying again.
LILIA It — it is nothing — a drop of dew —
LEON How gently it sits on your cheeks.
CRISTINA She is such a baby, she weeps all the time.
LILIA You have not tasted my griefs! You don’t know how it is!
LEON I know.
CRSITINA Oh, Lilia —
LILIA (Quietly.) I’m sorry, Señor —
LEON Do not regret your sadness. It will make your happiness more dear.
LILIA I no longer know what that means.
LEON In time, you will know it again.
LILIA Señor —
LEON Soon, Lilia. We shall all know soon.
LILIA Now I must go. (Rises.)
LEON Go and shed no more tears. (Touches her cheeks.) Soon all this will be as we would like it.
(LILIA backs away, disappears.)
CRISTINA The silly girl is afraid of you, I think.
LEON Because I’m a mere criminal? (Sits on higher level.)
CRISTINA Because you are encantado, not like us.
LEON Is that what you think?
CRISTINA No. (Lays her cheek on his knees.) I need time to think what to think of you.
LEON Don’t take too long.
CRISTINA Not too long. I, too, grow impatient. You are so seldom with me.
LEON I am with you all the time.
CRSITINA Not like this.
LEON My life was never entirely my own.
CRISTINA I knew that a long time ago.
LEON And now — there are other demands.
CRISTINA You have decided.
LEON Greater decisions compel us.
CRISTINA You had a choice.
LEON Surrender is not a choice.
CRISTINA You were not asked to surrender. Only to lay down your arms.
LEON And accept their dominion. I will not bargain with Primo de Rivera.
CRISTINA It would have been a chance for us to be together. Not in these short secret places only.
LEON In homes when we are mere tenants. In lands we no longer own. I’m sorry, Cristina. I cannot be like the others. Squabbling over the price of betrayal. Biak-na-bato. Ha! How prophetic. A mockery of all we’ve done so far.
(Freeze. Spot upstage left. MOLDERO is wiping his brows.)
MOLDERO He thinks Biak-na-bato is a mockery. But this amnesty that de Rivera has offered might persuade him. I need time. If he must die, then he must. But not as a martyr to his people. It will only inflame the cause.
CRISTINA When it all ends, do you think they will give you back to me?
LEON If it ends all.
CRISTINA How long will it take?
LEON We cannot say. We musn’t think of time. These things are not measured by days, hours, minutes.
CRISTINA The days still move by minutes, and such anxious empty hours. Were there only the dark nights, without sunrise, then perhaps I would forget to count. Leon, does it have to be you?
LEON For all our sakes.
CRISTINA I wish it were someone else.
MOLDERO Then it would have been easier.
CRSISTINA They will kill you.
LEON I will not let them.
CRISTINA Is it so simple? They’ve killed lesser men for less important reasons. Señor Tabucay has made known his hatred of you. He is very powerful.
MOLDERO I will do all that I can, I promise you. Let me go.
LEON I do not fear the hatred of my enemies. I fear the love of my friends.
MOLDERO Thank you very much, Teniente. I’ve always know we were wrong about you. I shall do what I can. Do not worry. I am his friend, remember? I, Moldero, we love each other dearly. At least we used to. Still, it cannot be my fault if he has changed, can it?
CRISTINA Moldero?
(MOLDERO smiles. Spot out upstage left.)
LEON Moldero is my friend.
CRISTINA I heard he managed to escape.
LEON He is back with me, yes.
CRISTINA The guardias muct have been asleep.
LEON They were going to hang him. He had been tortured.
(Spot upstage left. TWO GUARDIA CIVILES, backs to the audience, have you just given MOLDERO a final blow. MOLDERO reels, falls to the ground.)
They were going to murder my friend. I think the blows may have softened him. He no longer wishes to fight.
(MOLDERO looks up, wipes blood from the corner of his mouth. Slowly, he smiles. One GUARDIA offers him a hand, as though to help him up. MOLDERO takes it.)
CRISTINA I, too, wish you would stop, Leon.
(Spot out upstage left.)
Those little encounters, those were all right. But what you wish to do is different. They have more arms, more men.
LEON We will never know our own strength unless it’s been tried.
CRISTINA And there’s no other way.
(LEON embraces CRISTINA. He rises, takes her hand, leads her upstage beyond lighted area. Spots upstage right. SALUD and ALFONSO receive TABUCAY coldly at the “door”.)
TABUCAY Buenas noches, Salud, Alfonso.
ALFONSO It is rather late, Señor. We were about to sit down to supper, and then we had planned to retire early. At our age, rest has become necessary.
TABUCAY Nonsense. You work at the municipio is not very tiring, is it? Or would you like the Teniente to relieve you at once?
ALFONSO It will be difficult to find money for food if that happened. I will suffer it for a while.
TABUCAY (Sits.) May I?
SALUD If you must. Perhaps you, too, need to rest.
TABUCAY Thank you, muchas gracias. (Takes out cigars from a chest pocket, offers one to ALFONSO. ALFONSO shakes his head.) Well. (Lights cigar.) The weather is terrible, isn’t it?
ALFONSO Now that you mention it, yes. It has become terrible all of a sudden.
SALUD Of course not, Alfonso. It has always been terrible around here.
TABUCAY Mucho calor. Terible. The Teniente says it is all the same in Spain. But everything else is fascinating.
SALUD Really? With all those Spaniards?
TABUCAY I was telling the Teniente just this afternoon how wonderful it would be to visit the Mother Country. He said it can be easily arranged.
ALFONSO Imagine.
SALUD Will he go as well?
TABUCAY Not right now. I don’t think so.
SALUD How sad.
TABUCAY Yes. But he has such a tremendous job to finish. The tulisanes of this villeggas bandido are becoming such nuisance. The other day they broke all the bottles of the choicest wines I had ordered from Spain. I had planned to pick out a bottle of cognac for you. Alfonso.
ALFONSO How thoughtful.
TABUCAY Oh, you don’t have to thank me. Such a trifling in return for our future together.
(SALUD and ALFONSO look at each other, stricken.)
Have you relayed my — my honorable intentions to the fair Cristina?
ALFONSO My daughter is — not very well these days.
TABUCAY I thought I saw her this afternoon wandering towards the cemetery with her cousin, I believe. But I may have been mistaken. I hope they don’t do it often. The place is not safe.
SALUD Yes. Snakes and mad dogs all over. Even our houses are being invaded.
TABUCAY Sarcasm does not become you, Salud. It creates lines down the corners of the mouth.
SALUD There is no need for you to concern yourself with my face. The times are ugly. My face cannot resist reflecting it.
TABUCAY You have not forgiven me.
SALUD Forgive? I wish to forget. If you stop showing your face here perhaps in time I can forget.
TABUCAY You must stop holding me responsible for what the Teniente does.
SALUD You knew the truth. You held the evidence.
TABUCAY I do not decide for the Teniente.
ALFONSO You could have spoken for us.
TABUCAY Your brother defied authority. That is something I cannot intercede for. The Teniente is very sensitive about his position. He cannot let it be said that his kindness can be profaned.
SALUD Much does he know profanity.
TABUCAY Your brother did not even define himself.
ALFONSO He knew it was useless to do so. Without support from the only witness who could help him.
SALUD And his wife. The poor woman had nothing to do with it. There was no reason for her to be dragged into such shame, such humiliation-
TABUCAY Basta ya, Salud. Stop blaming me for what I did not do-
SALUD What you did not do cost us two lives.
TABUCAY Por dios, I am neither judge nor executioner. I am only a poor indio, like you —
ALFONSO Not us. We call ourselves Filipino.
TABUCAY I see. I take it my suit will be — difficult.
ALFONSO As far as I am concerned, it does not exist.
TABUCAY I am not used to disappointment, you know that.
SALUD You have guardias civiles. You have guardias de honor. Why should you be disappointed?
(LILIA rushes is, breathless, stops as she sees TABUCAY.)
TABUCAY Ah, Lilia. Out walking?
LILIA Y — yes.
TABUCAY Did you enjoy the fresh air, and the view?
LILIA Yes, thank you.
TABUCAY Don’t thank me. I didn’t make the landscape. I think, though, that the fields to the south are more charming. And where is — Cristina?
LILIA She — she must have stopped at the church.
TABUCAY To pray for better health, I suppose. (Rises.) Well, it’s been such a pleasure seeing you all again, but I must be going now-
SALUD (Abruptly.) Goodnight.
TABUCAY My dear Salud, always so charming. Buenas noches. Hasta la vista, Alfonso, se dios quire. (Pauses at the door.) By the way, Alfonso, the Teniente is quite displeased at the escape of Moldero.
ALFONSO What do you mean?
TABUCAY I don’t know exactly what the Teniente means. He seems to think the clerks at the municipio may have had something to do with the incident. However, since you’re not the only clerk there, I guess he will not have cause to have you arrested for helping the enemy. Hasta luego. Oh, and give my best to your cousin, Lilia. (Exits.)
LILIA (After making sure TABUCAY has gone.) Hijo de puta!
SALUD Lilia!
LILIA I’m sorry. (Lifts SALUD’s hands to forehead, does the same with ALFONSO’s hand.)
SALUD Alfonso — I’m worried —
ALFONSO I’m innocent.
SALUD That’s what your brother said.
(ALFONSO hesitates, exits.)
Lilia, Cristina is not in church, is she?
LILIA No.
SALUD Did — did he come?
LILIA Yes, yes, he came. It was all — very confusing. One minute he wasn’t there, and then, he was! It was as if — as if he just appeared!
SALUD (Sighs.) Ay, Cristina.
(Spot out. CRISTINA and LEON return to lighted area downstage left, sit on flat. LEON’s shirt is open. Around his waist is seen a strip of red cloth, folded in such a way that the corner of the cloth, marked with an indeterminate symbol, forms a triangle above his navel. A medallion on a strip of leather hangs from his neck. CRSITINA leans her head on his shoulder, runs her hand down his neck, encounters the medallion, touches it.)
CRISTINA Will I see you tomorrow?
LEON I must be in Cebu tomorrow.
CRISTINA I forgot. You are always running away.
LEON I always fly back to you.
CRISTINA Is it — tomorrow?
LEON Yes.
CRISTINA Has Llamas secured more arms?
LEON Time is running out. Llamas thinks it is the proper time. The Spanish may not be too alert. They will be thinking de Rivera’s offer of amnesty has appeased us. They will think Auinaldo’s order for us to lay down our arms brought things to an end.
CRISTINA I think I’m afraid.
LEON Not now, Cristina.
CRISTINA You are outnumbered. You lack arms.
LEON We will use our hands. The rest is up to God. (Touches her cheek, rises.) I must go.
CRISTINA You are seldom with me.
LEON I am always with you.
(LEON steps away from the light, slowly, disappears upstage. Silence. A shadow passes overhead. CRISTINA follows shadow above audience, stares after it, picks up bouquet and rises to exit. Spot out. Spot upstage left. MOLDERO is seated on a level, fidgeting.)
MOLDERO Don’t be unreasonable, Leon. The offer is as good as gold. There will be gold, in fact. Our little attacks are embarrassing the Bacong municipio so much that the Teniente is willing to come across.
(LEON steps into lighted area, moves to highest level.)
You’re not the only one who wants peace. The Teniente wants it desperately.
LEON How did you know all these?
MOLDERO He — he asked me to arrange for a meeting — to persuade you — but refused, believe me, I refused, that’s why they were going to hang me.
LEON What were you going to get if I laid down my arms? If I sold my men?
MOLDERO You think I’ve sold you. I am doing this for your best interests.
LEON And yours.
MOLDERO It wounds me, the way you say that.
LEON Then don’t say any more. I will not bargain with Primo de Rivera.
MOLDERO So you will not sendword to start negotiations?
LEON No.
(MOLDERO stares ahead, frowning. Spot downstage right. TWO GUARDIAS CIVILES are talking to a person not shown.)
GUARDIA CIVIL 1 We will be in Cebu at once.
GUARDIA CIVIL 2 We will be awaiting your instructions.
GUARDIA CIVIL 1 The Teniente’s orders are to have a report within a week.
GUARDIA CIVIL 2 Only a week, remember.
GUARDIA CIVIL 1 We will be awaiting your instructions.
GUARDIA CIVIL 2 A week, Moldero. Then it will be his head, or yours.
(Spot out. MOLDERO wipes sweat from his forehead.)
MOLDERO I am afraid. For our men. We are outnumbered. We lack arms.
LEON You wish me to give up now? We’ve come this far. The men look on us —
MOLDERO On you, only on you, Leon.
LEON I will not fail them.
MOLDERO You will sacrifice them to Spanish fire. Ther is no battle to begin with. We are defeated from the start. Pampanga, Tarlac, Ilocos Sur — how many Filipinos have died before us just because they, too, could not stop this senseless rebellion?
LEON Three hundred years. Too late to call it senseless.
MOLDERO Is it senseless to want to live? To be free of the burdens war? To plot nothing except a happy life with your woman?
(Freeze. Spot center stage. CRISTINA is walking home, towards upstage right. TABUCAY steps into area.)
TABUCAY Buenos noches, Cristina.
CRISTINA (Holds flowers close to her breast.) Señor?
TABUCAY Lilia said you had gone to church.
CRISTINA I did. Then I — I went to pick flowers.
TABUCAY I don’t see those flowers blooming in Bacong.
CRISTINA You have to look between the weeds.
TABUCAY I would not exert myself — unless I would be sure to find the flower of your face.
CRISTINA Señor Tabucay!
TABUCAY I have not seen such a bloom to rival it, in the whole Negros.
CRISTINA You have not looked enough. Or your eyes have gone bad.
TABUCAY The Señorita is not too kind, or too tactful, with what she says.
CRISTINA Did I offend Señor?
TABUCAY Listen. Teniente has begun to arrange for my trip to Mother Spain.
CRISTINA How wonderful! We shall not be seeing you for a long time, then?
TABUCAY You will be. It would be such a pleasure to enjoy Spain — with you.
CRISTINA I would much rather stay.
TABUCAY I would much rather you came with me.
CRISTINA You cannot force me.
TABUCAY I hope I shall not have to. Perhaps I can persuade you with jewels? Your own carriage? I am rich, Cristina. I can give you anything you want.
MOLDERO Be reasonable.
CRISTINA I want you to leave me alone, that’s all.
LEON I don’t wish anything for myself. Not while my people are slaves.
TABUCAY Don’t play hard to get with me — (Seizes CRISTINA shoulders. At the same time, MOLDERO touches LEON on the shoulders. LEON turns, stares MOLDERO, CRISTINA steps back, slaps TABUCAY.)
CRISTINA You bastard! Dog!
LEON I am not a whore.
TABUCAY You will regret this.
(CRISTINA rushes to exit. TABUCAY stares after her.)
MOLDERO I hope we will not leave regrets.
(Spot out center stage.)
LEON I will regret nothing but that there is so little I may have done.
MOLDERO They have been slaves so long they wouldn’t know what it is to be free.
LEON Stay with me. We can teach them.
MOLDERO They wouldn’t care. They are all lazy sticks in the mud!
LEON When the tyrants leave, no one will have to wallow. Will you help me?
MOLDERO You don’t need help.
LEON Because you have always been by my side.
MOLDERO To fetch and carry. You need a slave.
LEON I need a friend.
(Freeze. Spot downstage right. Three TOWNSPEOPLE are talking.)
TOWNSPEOPLE 1 Lolo Simeon say’s it’s that amulet.
TOWNSPEOPLE 2 The habak!
TOWNSPEOPLE 3 It makes him invisible, they say.
TOWNSPEOPLE 1 What will the jackals fire at?
TOWNSPEOPLE 2 Let them! They say the habak makes him invulnerable.
TOWNSPEOPLE 3 He’s not like us, they say.
TOWNSPEOPLE 1 He has powers, they say.
TOWNSPEOPLE 2 It’s the habak!
TOWNSPEOPLE 3 It makes him like some kind of god!
(LEON puts a hand on MOLDERO’s shoulder, steps down to area upstage center. Spot out upstage left. Spot on downstage left. Five TOWNSPEOPLE are talking.)
TOWNSPEOPLE 4 God has sent him to us.
TOWNSPEOPLE 5 I feel we are close, we are about to see the end.
TOWNSPEOPLE 6 And a new beginning.
TOWNSPEOPLE 4 Oh, god, at last!
TOWNSPEOPLE 5 Deliverance!
TOWNSPEOPLE 6 A new life, a new world!
TOWNSPEOPLE 7 At last, Lord, we can hope!
TOWNSPEOPLE 8 A new hope!
TOWNSPEOPLE 7 I always knew this darkness would end.
TOWNSPEOPLE 8 God still loves the world.
TOWNSPEOPLE 4 There will be light once more.
LEON Why? Why me?
(Cyclo lights up. LEON stands center in silhouette. LEON’S soldiers drift in, then other TOWNSPEOPLE. There are now three separate scenes: two groupings parallel to each other downstage left and a third grouping upstage center. Figures downstage are lighted. Figures are upstage in silhouette. LEON’s soldiers sit or kneel facing upstage. LEON cups his palms before him, raises it in an attitude of offering; moves to stage right and mines the administering of communion to the soldiers. Downstage, the TOWNSPEOPLE continue.)
TOWNSPEOPLE 1 He cannot die, Lolo Simeon says.
TOWNSPEOPLE 2 He isn’t mortal!
TOWNSPEOPLE 5 It’s that amulet, they say.
TOWNSPEOPLE 7 The habak!
TOWNSPEOPLE 3 It makes him invulnerable.
TOWNSPEOPLE 8 Knife or bullet —
TOWNSPEOPLE 6 It won’t hurt him!
TOWNSPEOPLE 4 Oh, God, at last. A miracle!
TOWNSPEOPLE 1 A man above all men!
TOWNSPEOPLE 5 He strikes so swiftly, they say.
TOWNSPEOPLE 2 Then he disappears.
TOWNSPEOPLE 8 Like lightning from the sky.
TOWNSPEOPLE 6 Like lightning from three hundred years of a gathering storm.
TOWNSPEOPLE 4 The lightning has come.
TOWNSPEOPLE 3 Soon, the thunder of deliverance.
TOWNSPEOPLE 1 And then — and then the healing rain —
TOWNSPEOPLE 2 And then the skies would brighten —
TOWNSPEOPLE 5 And the armies of the evil will flee —
TOWNSPEOPLE 7 And the tyrants crawl from their thrones —
TOWNSPEOPLE 8 And the might of the wicked cower before him-
TOWNSPEOPLE 6 And leave our shores —
TOWNSPEOPLE 4 And we would be once more — free!
TOWNSPEOPLE 1 After this night.
TOWNSPEOPLE 2 Tonight they march.
TOWNSPEOPLE 5 To the garrison!
TOWNSPEOPLE 7 To kill the jackals!
TOWNSPEOPLE 3 And the slobbering dogs —
TOWNSPEOPLE 8 And after this dawn —
TOWNSPEOPLE 6 April 3 —
TOWNSPEOPLE 4 Oh, God, deliverance!
TOWNSPEOPLE 1 Deliverance!
TOWNSPEOPLE 2 The lightning sword!
TOWNSPEOPLE 5 The wrath of God!
TOWNSPEOPLE 7 The sword of light!
TOWNSPEOPLE 3 The lightning!
TOWNSPEOPLE 8 Leon, Leon Kilat!
(The name is repeated in loud whispers from mouth to mouth until it comes one whisper: Leon Kilat! The communion over, LEON stretches out his arms, palms down, as if in benediction. As TOWNSPEOPLE whisper, SOLDIERS move out to exit stage left. TOWNSPEOPLE upstage follow, then TOWNSPEOPLE downstage. LEON remains on a level, spot stage center. Cyclo lights down. Spots out downstage left and right.)
LEON (Alone on stage.) Forgive us for the blood that must be shed, that your altars may be restored. Guide our hands to the heart of the enemy, for you have so ordained. Make us strong, light our oaths, do not forsake me, now and at the hour.
(Spot out. Beat. Down under: noises, shouts of “Viva la Independencial”, sounds of artillery fire and clashing swords through succeeding scene. Spot upstage right on SALUD and ALFONSO.)
ALFONSO Just think! They were poorly armed, they were outnumbered. But they pressed on. Volunteers joined them along the way until they swelled to six thousand strong!
SALUD The stars are with him. God is with him. He is blessed!
ALFONSO He is incredible!
(Freeze. Spot upstage left. TABUCAY is talking to a person not shown. There are now two separate scenes.)
TABUCAY Now, more than ever, Teniente. You need his head. You must prove to Manila that what Cebu cannot do, you can. Has Moldero made his report? No? Very well, let us wait for him to make his move. I trust he wants to keep his head. My god, what a humiliation! The whole country will think we can be defeated by a banf of ladrones and tulisanes! Six thousand men! Poorly-armed at that! Que horror! I think it is ridiculous! Already there is talk that this man Villegas is more than a hero!
(Freeze. Spot downstage right. CRISTINA and LILIA are talking in their bedroom. There are now three separate scenes.)
CRISTINA More than that! More than any man! Not quite a god, no. A demigod!
LILIA (Awed.) Demigod!
CRISTINA Oh, he is so gifted! Soon everything will be over. Then he will be black —
LILIA To avenge us! He must avenge us! He must throw out the dogs from our houses!
CRISTINA I know he will. I have faith in my general.
SALUD What next?
ALFONSO The capital, I guess, then the island, then our island and then the other islands — who can tell? He has shown the way.
SALUD I told you. He is not like the others.
TABUCAY I’m telling you, Teniente. We are all in danger. I don’t wish to think of my days as numbered, and neither do you. But as long as he lives, we might have to start counting. We must strike first! We must hit before he comes back. (Smiles.) You are sharp, Teniente. Yes. Salud and Alfonso. I’ll take care of Cristina.
(Spots out upstage left.)
CRISTINA I can take care of myself. You stay here.
LILIA But I want to come with you.
CRISTINA You’ll be such a bother again. You’ll be so afraid and nervous and we will both have no peace.
LILIA Oh, alright.
CRISTINA (Kissing her hand.) Mama and Papa will be worried for both of us. You stay, and if they ask —
LILIA I’m tired of telling them you’ve gone to church. I’ll be damned to hell for all those lies you make me tell.
CRISTINA Tell hem I’ve gone, then. That’s all.
SALUD Dark so soon. I feel as if I’m still asleep but — now I am no longer afraid to wake.
ALFONSO Are the girls gone to God-knows-where again?
SALUD They were in their room a while ago. (Calls.) Cristina!
LILIA There. Now what?
CRISTINA Go!
LILIA But —
CRISTINA I’ll climb down the window!
LILIA I hope you fall down!
CRISTINA I’ll haunt you if I die! Go!
(LILIA exits. CRISTINA moves to “window”. Spot out.)
SALUD Silly tattletales. They never run out of gossip.
ALFONSO I wouldn’t say that, if I were you.
(LILIA enters lighted area upstage right.)
ALFONSO Ah, Lilia. I thought you had gone out again.
LILIA No, I haven’t.
SALUD You and Cristina are both in your room so often one would think you had become nuns. On the other hand, sometimes you are both on the streets so often one would think malicious things. It will be angelus soon. Call Cristina please, will you, Lilia? Let us recite together. We have so much to be thankful for.
(LILIA hangs her head. SALUD looks at her.)
She went off again.
(LILIA nods.)
Susmariosep.
ALFONSO The guardias are very touchy. All they’re waiting for is any little excuse to get back at Leon-
(Stops to listen, as though to a knocking at the door. SALUD opens “door” TABUCAY enters lighted area.)
ALFONSO Your visits are grown frequent, Señor.
TABUCAY Does your hospitality turn so grudging that you must count, Alfonso?
ALFONSO We are rather tired.
SALUD It is such an effort to be hospitable to certain people in those trying times.
TABUCAY Trying times! I thought I would find you in the middle of a celebration. The Villegas tulisan has just captured a garrison in Cebu.
ALFONSO What is that to us? We are not his enemy.
TABUCAY Precisely. The Teniente seems to think the bandido is your friend. Ah, Lilia. And your lovely cousin is well, in trust?
LILIA She is well, yes.
TABUCAY In which field is she resting today?
LILIA Don’t be obscene, you stinking dog! (Whirls around, exits.)
SALUD I think it will be better if you leave now.
ALFONSO Before you upset the rest of us.
(Spot downstage right on LILIA.)
TABUCAY I regret this inconvenience, Salud, Alfonso. From now on, I promise you, things will be different. The Teniente has asked me to relay his very best wishes, and his hopes of seeing you both very soon.
SALUD What — what do you mean?
ALFONSO We are innocent, you conniving bastard!
TABUCAY I am so sorry, but I cannot defend you. You don’t trust me. I regret I shall not be able to squander my time on your behalf. Adios, Salud, Alfonso.
(Exits as LILIA looks around, rushes towards “window” and SALUD rushes to bar the door but too late. TWO GUARDIAS CIVILES barge in. SALUD rushes to ALFONSO, who holds her close. Spot out. Spot upstage left. LEON is seated, looking out towards audience. MOLDERO enters lighted area.)
MOLDERO Aren’t you coming?
LEON I would like to rest a while.
MOLDERO This celebration is for you. A battle is over —
LEON Now the war starts.
MOLDERO What is worrying you? I’ve come this far with you. We will have greater triumph still. Come, tonight, let us celebrate.
LEON You go on ahead.
(MOLDERO exits. Spot downstage left. CRISTINA enters, looks around, sits on flat.)
LEON (Rises, looks out to audience.) Is it time? Must it happen this way? So far I travelled, only to come to this? (Spot out.)
CRISTINA Come to me. It is so sad, this waiting. Forever, yes, but come to me.
(Spot on upstage left. MOLDERO enters from left with some men and a woman. They settle about, start to drink.)
MOLDERO Don’t let him frighten you. He is only a man, like the rest of us. He is only a mortal, like all of us. (Thinks.) Only a man. (To woman.) Dance.
(Guitar music down under. Woman starts to dance. LEON enters lighted area from right.)
MOLDERO Leon, my friend. Ah, you have come to us from your mountaintop.
(LEON sits on flat. MOLDERO hands him a glass of wine. He stares at it. MOLDERO raises his glass.)
Hail, hero!
(They look at each other, briefly. MOLDERO drinks. LEON looks at his glass, drinks. They sit and watch the dancer. MOLDERO refills LEON’s glass, offers a toast.)
To future victories!
THE MEN Viva la Independencia!
(Dance and drinking continue. Downstage left, TABUCAY appears behind CRISTINA.)
TABUCAY Waiting for the hero?
CRISTINA (Shrinks from him.) I — I was looking at the sunset —
TABUCAY The sun has set.
CRISTINA How did you find me?
TABUCAY I looked between the weeds. And her you are. The fairest flower in all Negros Oriental.
CRISTINA Do not waste your flattery on me. You will not be around long enough to enjoy its fruits.
TABUCAY You sound very hopeful.
CRISTINA Leon has shown us how to hope again.
TABUCAY He has been very naughty. The Teniente is angry. There have been too many deaths because of Pantaleon!
CRISTINA Merece! (TABUCAY seizes her shoulders.) You dog of tyrants! Don’t touch me!
(There is a struggle. TABUCAY delivers a strong blow. CRSISTINA drops. Upstage left, the glass from LEON’s hand. He is dazed. TABUCAY drags CRISTINA away from lighted area towards downstage right. LEON drags himself up, reels, holds out a hand as though for support. MOLDERO catches the hand, then let’s go. LEON falls to the floor, behind flats. Silence. MOLDERO nods, turns his back. One of the men brings out a length of wood, raises it, smashes down on LEON repeatedly. The dancer watches. When it is over, MOLDERO leaves the area, followed by the men. The dancer waits, then screams. At the same time, spot reveals downstage right. CRISTINA is sprawled on the ground. TABUCAY is crouched over her, his face frozen in terror. Upstage left, soldiers and some townspeople pick up the wailing. Soldiers wrap the body in a mate. The wailing becomes concerted into a funeral chant as the body is brought downstage to a flat, center. More townspeople enter, some women with sheets, clothing, ointments. CRISTINA starts to recover. The mat is rolled open. It is discovered that the body is gone. In its place is a length of banana trunk. MOLDERO appears upstage center. The light diffuses into a general illumination, with two intense spots — upstage right, and downstage left. CRSITINA struggles to stand, sees TABUCAY’s body. For a moment, MOLDERO and CRISTINA are stunned, MOLDERO at the banana trunk, CRISTINA at TABUCAY. Then both break out into laughter. As though crazed, MOLDERO flees up to area upstage right as CRISTINA flees downstage left. The rest of the stage is frozen. MOLDERO reaches upstage right area. Two GUARDIA CIVILES appear before him, he falls to the floor, sobbing. Downstage left, CRISTINA sinks to the floor, sobbing. A shadow passes overhead, she looks around, looks up, rises. She holds out her arms, holds it upward, while staring at the sky. She begins to laugh and turn slowly, then faster, whirls faster, laughing, as the lights die. Blackout.)
