This transcript was automatically generated and might contain errors.

[0:00] Iyvon Edebiri: Hello, everyone.

[0:04] Iyvon Edebiri: Welcome to The Parsnip Ship.

[0:05] Iyvon Edebiri: My name is Iyvon Edebiri, and tonight we are hearing the third episode of season six, which features queer playwrights.

[0:17] Iyvon Edebiri: This season we will be bringing their dynamic, colorful, all-around universal stories to you.

[0:22] Iyvon Edebiri: And we are recording tonight at the Marco Donnell Theater at the Entertainment Community Fund Art Center in downtown Brooklyn.

[0:32] Iyvon Edebiri: All right. So tonight we are hearing the play, Cockfight by Peter Gil-Sheridan.

[0:44] Iyvon Edebiri: Directed by Anna Brenner, and our musicians tonight are Vicki Quintero and Nakul Agrawal.

[0:55] Iyvon Edebiri: Okay, so before we get into our night, we like to ask our playwrights one question before we get to our first song.

[1:02] Iyvon Edebiri: Peter, what would the world be missing if it didn't have this play?

[1:07] Peter Gil-Sheridan: This is a very scary question. But you know, I think when I first wrote the play, I wanted to write a play about a father and a son who were fighting over the same cock.

[1:20] Peter Gil-Sheridan: I feel like we don't have such a play in the world. And maybe the Greeks did it, I don't know. But I think, in all seriousness, you know, the play is a fantasy of mine.

[1:35] Peter Gil-Sheridan: It's a long-standing fantasy of mine in many ways. And I think the biggest part of the fantasy is that the father and the son find a way to communicate and come together.

[1:50] Peter Gil-Sheridan: And I think that in my real life, that didn't happen for such a long time, but in a way, I feel like I manifested a much better, more wonderful relationship with my father through the writing of this play.

[2:03] Peter Gil-Sheridan: So my hope is that what the play does in the world is that it shows people a path to connection with people that they don't think they can connect to.

[2:13] Peter Gil-Sheridan: So that's my, uh, thank you.

[2:19] Iyvon Edebiri: And you had the audacity to come up to me talking about how you were nervous about your response.

[2:25] Iyvon Edebiri: Okay, cool, cool, cool. Someone's a writer.

[2:30] Iyvon Edebiri: Okay, so let's get into our evening. And um, I want to just uh welcome our wonderful musicians tonight, Vicki and Nakul. Welcome.

[4:32] ♪ Musical number ♪

[4:58] Alex Hernandez: Hi, I'm Alex Hernandez, and I'm reading Boosie Bluesy.

[5:01] Annie Henk: Hi, I'm Annie Henk, and I'm reading Boosie Bluesy.

[5:07] Miles Gutierrez-Riley: Uh hi, my name is Miles Gutierrez-Riley, and I'm reading Juani.

[5:13] Andrea Negrete: Hi, I'm Andrea Negrete, and I am reading Butica.

[5:21] David Anzuelo: I'm David Anzuelo, I'll be reading Big Juan's.

[5:21] Kelley Rae O'Donnell: I'm Kelley Rae O'Donnell, I'm reading the voice and stage directions.

[5:33] Kelley Rae O'Donnell: Cockfight by Peter Gil-Sheridan.

[5:39] Kelley Rae O'Donnell: This is Florida, West Tampa, in the shadow of Buccaneer Stadium.

[5:45] Kelley Rae O'Donnell: This is Juan Bravo's house.

[5:48] Kelley Rae O'Donnell: Juan Bravo's house isn't like other houses.

[5:51] Kelley Rae O'Donnell: They have an eight-foot-tall statue of Santa Barbara in the living room.

[5:56] Kelley Rae O'Donnell: The statue belongs on the lawn.

[5:59] Kelley Rae O'Donnell: But in Florida, when it rains, it rains.

[6:02] Kelley Rae O'Donnell: The Bravos think it's cruel to leave a saint in the rain.

[6:05] Kelley Rae O'Donnell: At the saint's feet, there's always a cup of rum and an apple.

[6:09] Kelley Rae O'Donnell: Juan Bravo has a son.

[6:12] Kelley Rae O'Donnell: His son is named Juani Juanito Little Juan.

[6:16] Kelley Rae O'Donnell: There he is. Juani.

[6:19] Kelley Rae O'Donnell: Sweet Juani.

[6:21] Kelley Rae O'Donnell: Out cold, somehow cozy on the concrete patio, never too far ever from his palette and paint brushes.

[6:28] Kelley Rae O'Donnell: It's just after 6 a.m. and there's no cock to do the crow.

[6:33] Kelley Rae O'Donnell: This patio is Juani's domain.

[6:37] Kelley Rae O'Donnell: Presently, Juani is painting on a temporary canvas, and while you could say every canvas is temporary, this one's destruction is imminent.

[6:48] Kelley Rae O'Donnell: He paints on an egg.

[6:52] Kelley Rae O'Donnell: Only this is no ordinary egg.

[6:55] Kelley Rae O'Donnell: This egg is massive, taller than Juani, even.

[6:59] Kelley Rae O'Donnell: Juani's egg is painted with naked bodies, women and men bearing all.

[7:06] Kelley Rae O'Donnell: It's clear that Juani doesn't quite yet know the body or how to paint the body, but the colors.

[7:14] Kelley Rae O'Donnell: The colours.

[7:17] Kelley Rae O'Donnell: This is the most magnificent egg you've ever seen.

[7:22] Kelley Rae O'Donnell: Juani sits up suddenly and stretches.

[7:24] Kelley Rae O'Donnell: He goes to the giant egg and embraces it.

[7:27] Kelley Rae O'Donnell: His arms don't reach all the way around, so it's awkward.

[7:31] Kelley Rae O'Donnell: His cheek rests on the smooth, cool curve of the egg.

[7:36] Kelley Rae O'Donnell: This egg is his first love.

[7:38] Kelley Rae O'Donnell: And this morning feels like a kind of afterglow.

[7:43] Kelley Rae O'Donnell: Juani paints.

[7:48] Kelley Rae O'Donnell: Here comes Big Juan's.

[7:51] Kelley Rae O'Donnell: The sun beat him home.

[7:53] Kelley Rae O'Donnell: He enters, his fingers stuck in a Heineken bottle.

[7:57] Kelley Rae O'Donnell: Fingers too goddamn fat.

[8:03] Kelley Rae O'Donnell: Fingers so fat, got it stuck.

[8:06] Kelley Rae O'Donnell: Fingers so fat.

[8:08] Big Juan's's: The cops see me and say, sir, you've got an open container.

[8:13] Big Juan's's: I say, no.

[8:16] Big Juan's's: No, I don't.

[8:18] Big Juan's's: This bears sealed up good and tight.

[8:23] Big Juan's's: Gringo!

[8:25] Big Juan's's: Gringo mandingo.

[8:27] Big Juan's's: You stay up all night.

[8:31] Big Juan's's: With boutique cat.

[8:34] Big Juan's's: Sweet little boutique cat.

[8:36] Big Juan's's: Her name is Belkis.

[8:38] Juani: Oh, Boutica's a pretty girl.

[8:41] Juani: Did you get your finger wet?

[8:44] Big Juan's's: Dad.

[8:45] Big Juan's's: Big Juan's has a habit of arguing with invisible men.

[8:48] Big Juan's's: Go ahead and smoke your cigar.

[8:51] Big Juan's's: Act like you own the cub.

[8:52] Juani: Club.

[8:53] Big Juan's's: Somebody told me you only own 10%.

[8:55] Juani: What's 10%?

[8:57] Big Juan's's: Dad, who are you talking to?

[8:59] Big Juan's's: El Martillo.

[9:00] Juani: Who's that?

[9:01] Big Juan's's: The hammer?

[9:02] Big Juan's's: Yeah, right. He says to me, I'm the hammer.

[9:06] Big Juan's's: You're the nail.

[9:08] Big Juan's's: But I ain't nobody's fucking nail.

[9:10] Kelley Rae O'Donnell: Big Juan's dances around the patio like a boxer at the start of a bout.

[9:14] Big Juan's's: Yeah, he's getting scared, boy, shaking on his little boots.

[9:17] Big Juan's's: He knows what's coming.

[9:19] Juani: What's coming?

[9:20] Big Juan's's: Blood.

[9:20] Big Juan's's: Gore, a vicious killer.

[9:22] Juani: You're gonna kill him?

[9:23] Big Juan's's: No, son, not me. What kind of man you think I am?

[9:27] Big Juan's's: Though I could if he wasn't always surrounded by his little bodyguards, Huey Dewey and Papooy.

[9:33] Big Juan's's: We're gonna be in the money.

[9:35] Big Juan's's: No more cash and carry warehouse.

[9:37] Big Juan's's: No more box cutters and pallets and forklets breaking down every fucking day.

[9:41] Big Juan's's: I'm in this to win this.

[9:43] Juani: In what?

[9:44] Big Juan's's: The fight, son?

[9:46] Big Juan's's: We're all in the fight.

[9:47] Big Juan's's: You, me, Boozy, this egg.

[9:49] Big Juan's's: Flacco says, this here is a Johnny jumper.

[9:53] Big Juan's's: A yanny fucking yumper, I told him I said, I says, I said, ah, said my cool puta quando yo yeah, come yo.

[10:04] Big Juan's's: He boxes with Juani.

[10:05] Big Juan's's: Come on! Bravo, mijo!

[10:09] Big Juan's's: That stop.

[10:10] Big Juan's's: You can do it, put him up.

[10:11] Big Juan's's: Watch your face.

[10:12] Big Juan's's: Come on.

[10:13] Big Juan's's: Throw a jab.

[10:13] Juani: No, I'm not gonna throw a jab.

[10:15] Big Juan's's: Aye, pero Juani, you gotta learn how to fight.

[10:17] Juani: Why?

[10:18] Big Juan's's: Cause there's always gonna be somebody who tries to get you like El Martillo.

[10:23] Big Juan's's: Would you look at this motherfucker?

[10:26] Juani: What does the egg have to do with El Martillo?

[10:29] Big Juan's's: The egg has everything to do with El Martillo's son.

[10:35] Big Juan's's: See? Because he has a little side business.

[10:40] Big Juan's's: We are going to take this bird, this big beautiful bird, and fight him.

[10:47] Juani: Fight him with who?

[10:49] Big Juan's's: Oh, the birds.

[10:50] Big Juan's's: El Martillo's scrawny little peckers.

[10:53] Juani: But why?

[10:54] Juani: Why not just fight El Martillo yourself?

[10:56] Juani: Why make the birds do it?

[10:57] Big Juan's's: You're in the fucking all, that's why.

[11:00] Big Juan's's: But this bird, he's gonna win.

[11:02] Big Juan's's: I'm gonna train him.

[11:04] Juani: How are you gonna do that?

[11:06] Big Juan's's: Well, I got plans.

[11:08] Big Juan's's: Big plans.

[11:09] Big Juan's's: I don't want to get into the details.

[11:10] Big Juan's's: It's classified CIA shit.

[11:12] Big Juan's's: Because one thing I know for sure, the winds got ears.

[11:18] Big Juan's's: Take everything I say and blows it right into El Martillo's sick fucking cabeza.

[11:24] Big Juan's's: He takes a close look at the egg.

[11:26] Big Juan's's: What the hell you got painted on there, boy?

[11:30] Big Juan's's: What's that supposed to be?

[11:31] Juani: Uh that's supposed to be a naked body.

[11:34] Juani: A man or a woman?

[11:36] Juani: Well, either, I guess.

[11:38] Juani: Either.

[11:39] Big Juan's's: Are you gonna make a body this year?

[11:41] Juani: I don't know.

[11:42] Juani: It's art.

[11:44] Big Juan's's: You know it's gonna crack, though.

[11:45] Juani: I know.

[11:46] Juani: You know the shell?

[11:47] Juani: It's like temporary.

[11:49] Big Juan's's: Everything is temporary, dad.

[11:51] Big Juan's's: Not me, son.

[11:52] Big Juan's's: Not my legacy.

[11:54] Big Juan's's: I am forever.

[11:56] Big Juan's's: You are too.

[11:57] Big Juan's's: Look at this egg.

[11:58] Big Juan's's: I don't know what the hell goes on inside that little head of yours, but boy, you got talent.

[12:03] Big Juan's's: You got something special inside you because you're mine.

[12:07] Big Juan's's: Everything I make got a lot inside it.

[12:09] Big Juan's's: You know, I got Hustler under the sink, boy.

[12:12] Big Juan's's: If you want to see what real body doesn't look like those bodies.

[12:17] Juani: Because you're a boy, son.

[12:18] Juani: No, but I mean the guys' bodies.

[12:20] Juani: In that magazine.

[12:21] Big Juan's's: My body.

[12:22] Juani: What guys?

[12:23] Juani: The guys in there.

[12:24] Juani: The guys, they're dicks, I mean, and they're like muscles or whatever.

[12:32] Big Juan's's: I've never seen no guys in Hustler.

[12:34] Juani: Are you kidding me? Those pages must be stuck together.

[12:38] Big Juan's's: I must love women so much, I don't even notice the guy.

[12:42] Juani: I like looking at the boys.

[12:43] Big Juan's's: Anyway, don't be going through my shit.

[12:46] Juani: Oh.

[12:47] Big Juan's's: I was just playing with you, boy.

[12:49] Big Juan's's: You'll grow out of looking at the other boys.

[12:51] Big Juan's's: You're just comparing notes.

[12:52] Big Juan's's: That's natural.

[12:53] Big Juan's's: Hell, it's all natural.

[12:56] Big Juan's's: I got videos too, but don't tell Boozy I said you can watch them.

[12:59] Big Juan's's: Don't be watching them when she's home.

[13:01] Big Juan's's: Come on, son, pull my finger.

[13:03] Big Juan's's: He holds his Heineken finger out.

[13:05] Juani: You're an idiot.

[13:05] Big Juan's's: You got that right.

[13:10] Big Juan's's: Pull it.

[13:11] Juani: Go it.

[13:11] Juani goes to Big Juan's and grips the bottle.

[13:13] Juani: He pulls.

[13:15] Big Juan's's: Told you it's real fat.

[13:17] Juani: Cause you're bloated.

[13:18] Juani: You're like a dead guy riding in a swamp.

[13:20] Juani: I'm pulling.

[13:22] Juani pulls with all his might.

[13:24] Juani: The bottle is set free.

[13:26] Big Juan's's: Beer spew.

[13:27] Big Juan's's: Quick, grabs the bottle and catches the foam.

[13:32] Big Juan's's: Ah, hair of the dog and all that.

[13:34] Big Juan's's: He drinks.

[13:36] Big Juan's's: Did you sleep?

[13:37] Juani: It's Friday night.

[13:39] Big Juan's's: Saturday morning.

[13:40] Big Juan's's: Never heard of it.

[13:41] Juani: Where's Boozy?

[13:43] Big Juan's's: I threw her out of the car.

[13:46] Big Juan's's: I threw her out on Dale and Mapry.

[13:48] Juani: You threw her out on the highway?

[13:50] Big Juan's's: By the little titty bar.

[13:52] Big Juan's's: I told her she should work there.

[13:54] Big Juan's's: She should live there.

[13:55] Big Juan's's: Put a fucking dent in the car with her shoe.

[13:57] Big Juan's's: Like I need any more dents in that jalopy piece of shit.

[14:00] Juani: Gonna be a dent in your head.

[14:02] Big Juan's's: Remember when I got that car?

[14:04] Big Juan's's: I was so proud.

[14:06] Big Juan's's: Look at me, I got Lincoln.

[14:08] Big Juan's's: I was a rich man.

[14:10] Big Juan's's: Before you started drinking.

[14:12] Big Juan's's: Before I started operating above board, gave up on the dark shit so I could see you grow.

[14:17] Big Juan's's: Because you only got me to see it.

[14:20] Big Juan's's: Now look.

[14:22] Big Juan's's: Can't even get out of my own car without rolling down the window and opening the door from the outside.

[14:28] Juani: Well, you should do like Boozy, just climb right out the window.

[14:30] Big Juan's's: That's because she thinks she's Daisy Dookie from the Dukes of Hazard.

[14:33] Big Juan's's: Boozy thinks a lot of things. Boozy thinks she's big shit in Ibor, but she ain't shit. She ain't shit. And now she's gonna come through here like a category five hurricane.

[14:46] Juani: Titty bar is only three blocks away.

[14:48] Boozy: Oh, it is?

[14:49] Juani: You'll be going there before you know it.

[14:51] Boozy: I will. You bet.

[14:52] Juani: For what?

[14:53] Boozy: You know.

[14:54] Juani: For what?

[14:56] Boozy: Titty son. Only.

[15:00] Juani: You listen to me. Keep it to the titties. Don't mess with what they got down south.

[15:07] Boozy: What does the South have to do with this?

[15:10] Juani: What?

[15:11] Boozy: What does the South have to?

[15:14] Juani: Well, I heard you.

[15:14] Boozy: No, then why'd you say what?

[15:16] Juani: What?

[15:17] Boozy: I'm confused.

[15:21] Juani: You won't always be. All I'm saying, and I know this from experience. You never want to eat a stripper's suddenly there's Boozy Floozy.

[15:34] Boozy: Boozy is a singer, a nightclub act, a kind of impersonator, but she's no drag act.

[15:40] Juani: Is that fruit on her head?

[15:42] Boozy: Yes, it is. Boozy blows the roof off all the clubs in Igor City. Only she performs at clubs that don't even have live performers. Boozy is a self-proclaimed legend. Presently she's sauced.

[15:59] Juani: Yes. I am talking to the crusty gnarled snaggle tooth motherfucker one.

[16:09] Boozy: Ah, that must be you, Dad, because I am not snaggle tooth.

[16:12] Big Juan's's: No, you are not, baby. But your father. Your father is one low life, no good sewer rat, swamp donkey, weasel, dick, big fucking son of a bitch!

[16:27] Juani: Calmate, Boosie! Nobody sung my sight. Now you not El Martillo. You were pulling. You were pulling at the wheel, mommy. If I didn't kick you out, we would have crashed. We would be dead.

[16:40] Boozy: I'm not your fucking mommy. Your mommy was a pussy.

[16:45] Juani: No, I'm not being mommy, I see. That bitch was a doormat. She had footprints on her face, Juani!

[16:55] Big Juan's's: Yeah, Juani. You know what? You know your grandma. I mean, you remember your grandma?

[17:02] Juani: Well, not really. She died when I was little.

[17:04] Big Juan's's: She died of a broken heart.

[17:05] Juani: She died of cancer.

[17:07] Big Juan's's: Where do you think she got the cancer? From all the fucking negativity. From being treated like a maid, your whole goddamn life. That's what killed my mother.

[17:21] Juani: But your mother's alive.

[17:22] Big Juan's's: That's right, baby. Cheese. On the outside. But she's got the cancer too. From all the cooking for ungrateful people. And washing all of my brother's nasty escape mark me boozy lights a cigarette me mama did I'll cancer I papado porque you can get cancer from smoking too.

[18:06] Boozy: That's why I smoke lice baby.

[18:12] Juani: I'm like Yogi Bera!

[18:14] Boozy: Yeah! If Yogi Vera was a dickhead, then you're just liking.

[18:18] Juani: Boozy collapses in a lawn chair and kicks her leg out to have a look at the line. Juani sits next to her to paint a portrait of her leg. She reaches her hand out and caresses Juani's head.

[18:33] Boozy: What kind of man you're gonna grow up to be?

[18:37] Juani: A good one.

[18:39] Boozy: You're gonna make people happy. You're gonna make something. Don't get yourself involved in all those clubs, because nobody there really cares whether you live or die. They just want your money or a song or a fuck.

[18:58] Juani: What you're doing as old, baby.

[19:00] Boozy: It's morning.

[19:01] Juani: I am a beautiful morning, it is.

[19:10] Boozy: Oh baby, listen to Boosie. Won't you go inside and get me some coke?

[19:16] Juani: Sir, you want a glass or straight from the bottle?

[19:18] Boozy: Bring me a glass, I'm a fucking lady.

[19:21] Juani: Okay. No ice too.

[19:23] Boozy: Okay, but the ice cubes taste like garlic. I don't know why. And one croquetas?

[19:28] Juani: There's some left on the counter from last night. Shaking or hang.

[19:33] Boozy: Oh yeah, baby. Dame hamong.

[19:39] Juani: Who taught you to be such a good boy?

[19:42] Boozy: It must be those white jeans you have in you. Because I know I never heard of a Cuban man taking care of a woman.

[19:49] Juani: I go to work every single day, five o'clock in the morning. That's all I do. Take care of you.

[19:59] Boozy: You were taking good care of me when I was walking home along from the ditty bar. In this ghetto.

[20:09] Juani: This ain't the ghetto.

[20:11] Boozy: Yeah, right. Anyway, I am not talking about work one. I am talking about respect. Maybe a little gratitude. I'm the one who fried the croquetas last night. You want your name in the newspaper? Your smiling face on the cover with the caption below. Dickhead, turn song the stuff.

[20:35] Juani: Oh, why? What do you want? Some kind of price?

[20:41] Boozy: Why you gotta make me feel small.

[20:43] Juani: Boozy hops out of her lawn chair. She nearly falls down, but catches herself. She dribbles herself over to her husband. She holds his head in her hands.

[20:52] Boozy: Baby, I'm feeling small. I gotta make something of myself. Everybody's got something but me. Juani's an artist, and you got a voice, baby. If I never heard a voice but yours, I'd die a happy man.

[21:12] Big Juan's's: El Martillo says, I'm old news. Fuck him. He says, Boosie, every night you do the same thing. You gotta keep it fresh. Don't do the same old songs like it's 1980 or 1950. Not in my club boosie.

[21:33] Boozy: But baby, can you imagine if I had a club of my own?

[21:38] Juani: Boozy takes a banana out of her hair, peels it, and eats it. Juani reappears with a tray. On it, a half full three-liter bottle of coke, a plate of about ten croquettes on a greasy paper towel, and a hunk of Cuban bread. He stands there like a butler while his parents discover him like a goldfish with no memory of the scenery.

[22:02] Boozy: Mira mi Juani. Not even when he was a little boy. What a blessing. He's growing up. He's nearly a man now. Watching his dad come home drunk after breakfast.

[22:25] Juani: Juani don't mind seeing his daddy drunk. Juani knows you are more than a drunk.

[22:31] Boozy: Does he? Breakfast is served.

[22:33] Juani: Oof, now this is what I call a breakfast.

[22:37] Boozy: She hurls the banana over the fence. Who needs ruy to ri fresh and fruity when I can have some Catalina croquetta hicoca-cola? She tears off a piece of bread.

[22:46] Boozy: Oh. Me cielo. Les crack open. These big fuck off egg and make a little scramble.

[23:05] Big Juan's's: Don't even yok.

[23:18] Boozy: Boozy feeds her husband a croquetta and they dance and carry on. Putika appears. This is this is Belkus. Juani is her best friend, and while he sees her more than the rest, she often gets missed. They call her Pootika, a name hardly appropriate for a child, despite the affection with which it is intended.

[23:45] Belkus: Juani? I said yoke.

[23:51] Juani: Juan!

[23:53] Belkus: Juanisa! Oh case, hey!

[23:58] Juani: Belkus, I'm sorry, I didn't hear you.

[23:59] Belkus: How could you hear me with Boozy and your dad screaming at the top of their lungs? You know what time it is?

[24:05] Juani: Dude, what are you wearing? It's like confusing. See, on one hand, you look really sexy, but then on the other hand, you look like a big fat nerd with those glasses on.

[24:13] Belkus: In case you're interested, I was fast asleep in my bed. You know, we don't all sleep out of doors.

[24:19] Juani: Oh, why are you talking like that?

[24:21] Belkus: Like what?

[24:22] Juani: Like saying fast asleep and um out of doors. What should we read that in some book? Don't you just mean outside?

[24:27] Belkus: There's more than one way of saying things. Why why y'all gotta be so fucking loud?

[24:32] Juani: Ah, there's the Belchus I know and love.

[24:35] Belkus: You don't love me. You love your egg and your stupid paint.

[24:39] Juani: Ah, my paint is not stupid. And of course I love you. You're my best friend.

[24:46] Belkus: Look at them jolly motherfuckers. Maybe we should take up drinking. Sure does seem to make them happy.

[24:51] Juani: I drank the Santa Barbara's rum the other day and then I refilled it with iced tea. Big Juan's thought some kind of miracle went down.

[24:57] Belkus: Did you feel drunk?

[24:58] Juani: Off of one shot. What are you like, retarded?

[25:00] Belkus: Your mother's retarded.

[25:01] Juani: My mother's dead, Belkiss. Dead.

[25:07] Belkus: Oh.

[25:16] Juani: And that's why I paint.

[25:18] Belkus: Shut up, Puta. You should cry for real sometime.

[25:22] Juani: What's that gonna do?

[25:23] Belkus: Make you feel better, that's what?

[25:25] Juani: I feel fine. Everything's fine. Dance with me like your dad is dancing with Boozy.

[25:30] Belkus: I'm not gonna dance with you in that.

[25:31] Juani: Why not?

[25:32] Belkus: You afraid you're gonna get a boner?

[25:34] Juani: You wish I'd get a boner. Even if you did have a boner, I probably wouldn't even notice. It'd be like little pinky winky poking me in the belly.

[25:41] Belkus: She pokes him with her pinky. He grabs her pinky real quick.

[25:44] Juani: I'll break it.

[25:45] Belkus: You would never hurt me.

[25:46] Juani: How do you know? Unless you count heartbreak.

[25:56] Belkus: Someday, Boutica will be our daughter.

[25:59] Juani: We're going to adopt her?

[26:01] Belkus: No, Boba. They'll get married.

[26:04] Juani: Juani. To Boutica. You think Juani's gonna marry Boutica?

[26:11] Belkus: Of course. Look at them. I'm gonna give up drinking when they get married.

[26:18] Juani: Me too. I'll have a fresh start.

[26:22] Belkus: Okay, I have an announcement. I have decided that you are coming with me to the freshman cotillion.

[26:29] Juani: Oh my god! Why do you have to be so different? No, I already told you I'm not gonna go to some stupid freshman cotillion, also you can get all dressed up like a cake and get congratulated for being all pretty.

[26:40] Belkus: Yeah, like anybody's gonna do that. My mother says if I don't go, she won't buy me an iPad, and I really want an iPad.

[26:46] Juani: At that moment, a beak pierces the shell of the egg.

[26:52] Belkus: Do you see that?

[26:55] Juani: Oh my god. The day has come.

[26:57] Belkus: If they bajaro is gonna eat us alive, like a carnivorous dinosaur.

[27:01] Juani: Ai pudiga. Nobody ever knows what the fuck you say.

[27:06] Belkus: I know, Boozy. I know.

[27:09] Juani: Chikuriki!

[27:14] Belkus: Chiquiriqui!

[27:15] Juani: Chikiri! The contents of the egg once out. These four will be the only ones to witness this extraordinary moment. The hatching. What will emerge from this moment of birth? This moment, like all newness will forever change the lives of those on that patio. But it's only an egg. A simple egg, a large egg, but a simple egg. How could one egg change so much?

[27:45] Juani: It's happening. It's finally happening. El Martillo is finished! Bits of painted shells start to fall away. Big Juan's scurries into the house. Today my art will die. Tomorrow I will resurrect it in a new place. Art can never die.

[28:00] Big Juan's's: Big one returns carrying the eight-foot-tall statue of the Santa Barbara over his head. He plops her down right in the front of the egg and drops to his knees.

[28:09] Big Juan's's: Let us pray. For one. For the bird. We're gonna pray for a bird.

[28:18] Juani: See, mommy, come on. Come on, boy.

[28:20] Boozy: No, but I don't believe in God.

[28:21] Juani: But he believes in you on your knees, boy. Come on, pussy.

[28:24] Boozy: Boozy and Wani join big one on his knees. They join hands. Putika joins the group. Everybody. Shh. The lights draw in on the family as another speck of shell drops.

[28:39] Big Juan's's: God is listening. Papa Dios is listening. Lord, this is Juan Bravo. I would like to thank you for being so generous with your time and meeting with us on such short notice. You may remember me for my time in 1984 when I won the Wilterweight title at the Fifth Street Gym in Miami. You looked out for me when I won. You raised me off the floor like a levitation and gave me the strength to knock the lights out of Cartageno Tomas Jesus Diaz de Arrieta.

[29:16] Big Juan's's: You may also remember me from the day that this boy, Mi Juancito, Misielo, Mi Vida came onto the scene. He was premature. I remember that without your light in La Santa Barbaras, that he might not be kneeling here with me. He doesn't believe in you, but I know that you know that he'll grow out of that. Teenagers don't believe in nothing.

[29:41] Juani: That's not true. I believe in art.

[29:44] Big Juan's's: You drive me nuts. You know that? He drives me nuts. It's the niño metiene ya loco. That's the price you pay for having a smart kid. A smart kid has big mouths. Lord, today is a momentous day because today a bird will enter our lives. We will welcome this bird that we know will bring glory to this home. We ask that you look after him in these difficult early days, that you provide him with nourishment and warmth, and that this guy grows to be the fiercest rooster in the state of Florida, the nation of the United States of America, and the world that is earth. I also ask that you let the Buccaneers win today's game, and if they lose, that they lose by no more than eight points, so that I don't have to pay El Martillo who is a fucking asshole 135 dollars. Anyone else need anything? Say bless the bird. No, say it, or no paintbrushes.

[30:56] Juani: Oh my god, bless the bird. I would like to ask you to keep my engine running good. Because I am tired, and maybe I am too young to be tired. Sometimes I can't even get out of bed in the morning. I look at the doorway, and I think I don't know how to get up. I don't know how to walk. And I think about all the people that I am going to have to see, and how all of those people will need something from me. I smile, a laugh, a beautiful song. Oh, yeah. Oh. I'm blessed the big bird that's about to come out of the show. Lord, hear my prayer. Boutica, dale.

[31:53] Belkus: Me? Oh, uh, okay, yeah. I would like to shh. Everybody see. I'm in quick. I'm in. Suddenly the top of the egg begins to split, and the bright light that previously came from God is now within the egg. A hand bursts through. The cock is coming. It's so big. I can't stop looking at it. I want to touch it. Another hand bursts through, then a foot, more light, blinding, another foot. The shell is being devastated before our eyes. Now a head. A beautiful olive-skinned head with the most sensational mohawk emerges. He grits his teeth and struggles to burst through. Suddenly with one final push. Push! Push! Push! Push! This is so beautiful! I think I'm gonna burst. Come on, boy. You can do it! I will never forget the day you came. The rooster emerges. The shell falls completely away, and he stands triumphant, muscled and beautiful. There he is. The bird! A creature deserving of marvel, a spectacle, such beauty, such form, so quickly. He's Lulu. Breathtakingly beautiful.

[33:41] Juani: I'm flu. South Floridas. But it ain't me, huh? Nightclub Act. Juan Bravo. 1998 Walterweight Champion. Fifth Street Gym, Miami. Your trainer. I am Belkis. I live next door. I am embarrassed. I am Juani. Your best friend. The rooster collapses in Juani's arms like a marathon runner at the finish line. We are going to call him Tunero.

[34:26] Big Juan's's: The what?

[34:27] Juani: Yes! After a velio Celestino Mustelli. Tunero.

[34:32] Big Juan's's: That's gay. I thought you said I could name him Pablo after Picasso.

[34:35] Juani: I was probably drunk.

[34:36] Big Juan's's: That could be the name of your autobiography. I was probably drunk by Juan Bravo. You close your mouth, boy. Kit Tunero had 37 KOs. You heard me right, 37. This bird here is my bird. And he's gonna be called Tunero. He's my bird. He's mine! My bird. You got that? But I watched him every single day. Mine! I made sure nothing happened to him. My my if it weren't for me, the vultures would have got him. You said so yourself. I'm the one who bought him from Flacco. I say, when you got a bird that looks like this, it belongs to the world.

[35:15] Juani: He belongs to Juan Bravo.

[35:18] Big Juan's's: 100% Exactly. He belongs to Juan Bravo. This Juan Bravo. Two Juan Bravo stuck together forever. Bad luck for you, boy. I bought him with my money that I earned while you were painting your little pictures. Nothing is your son. Everything you have belongs to me. Don't forget that. And this moment will be the last time you see this bird shivering and quaking because I am going to turn him, this bird, into the fiercest fighting machine in the state of Florida. The training begins.

[36:00] Juani: Tomorrow, the training begins.

[36:04] Big Juan's's: And so the first day came, and the first day made way for night with all of its familiar trappings, glasses clinking, gaffes and snorts. Big dreams soaked in liquor and put on hold once more while Juani tosses and turns on the patio. Here comes the sun. Tunero opens his eyes. Juani pretends to be asleep, but watches the bird's every move. Tunero looks at the world. It's only the second time he's seen it, actually, but he doesn't really remember the first. It's beautiful. This sunrise, this place, certainly more wonderful than the inside of a shell. Tenero inspects the Santa Barbara presiding over the patio. Then he looks at Juani, who quickly pretends to snore.

[36:52] Juani: The rooster puts his nose on Juani's nose and then pulls back. The playful bird is taking inventory. Tunero looks at his hands. They're big. Vascular. He plays a game with his fingers. He is amused. Then he looks at his arms. He makes a muscle. But he is startled by the difference between his arm at rest and his arm at flex. He kisses his muscle. This is a natural instinct. He raises his arm and sniffs his own armpit. He breathes the scent in deep, like it's a baking muffin in the oven. He stands on one leg and lifts his leg as high as he can to look at his foot. His foot makes him laugh. He runs his hands from his ankle up his thigh. He feels the thickness of his leg, the weight of it. He attempts to jump and falls down in a heap. He stands again, feels his thigh, jumps, and lands on his feet. He's impressed by this body. He takes a look inside his loincloth. He doesn't understand what he sees, so he quickly leaves a bee.

[38:16] Tunero: You do.

[38:17] Juani: I see you.

[38:19] Tunero: I I see you.

[38:21] Juani: Is it looking?

[38:24] Tunero: Oh, I I wasn't honest.

[38:27] Juani: Honest.

[38:28] Tunero: I know I was looking a little.

[38:30] Juani: Sorry.

[38:31] Tunero: I'm not sorry.

[38:32] Juani: What's sorry?

[38:33] Tunero: Look!

[38:34] Juani: Tenero points to the sun. He tries to crow at the sun, but no sound comes out.

[38:39] Tunero: Is that the sorry?

[38:41] Juani: Uh that's the sun.

[38:43] Tunero: A sun.

[38:44] Juani: The sun.

[38:45] Tunero: It's poking through the night.

[38:47] Juani: It'll be bright soon.

[38:48] Tunero: The sun.

[38:50] Juani: I want to see the sun.

[38:52] Tunero: Everything here is so different than I imagined.

[38:54] Juani: When I was in there, in wherever I was before I was here.

[38:59] Tunero: Your shell.

[39:00] Juani: My shell, yes. When I was in there, I knew there had to be more to life than this. This fluid, this viscosity.

[39:09] Tunero: What's viscosity?

[39:11] Juani: I don't know. But it's thick. I try and try and try to move, but I couldn't. But every day there'd be more and more of me. I was materializing. Gathering strength to finally emerge from the tight space. And I'm so relieved. There is something here. I thought there might be, but I had such uncertainty. And now all I want to do is fly.

[39:35] Tunero: What's fly?

[39:36] Juani: Uh it's when you flap your wings and go. But uh I don't think roosters can fly.

[39:43] Tunero: Is that what I am?

[39:45] Juani: A rooster?

[39:46] Tunero: Yes.

[39:47] Juani: Uh cock.

[39:49] Tunero: And cocks don't fly.

[39:50] Juani: I don't think so. And you are a rooster too.

[39:54] Tunero: No, I'm a boy.

[39:57] Juani: Well, now I'm I'm kind of a guy. Can't you see the difference between us?

[40:03] Tunero: I see some difference, yes.

[40:05] Juani: But I see similarities too.

[40:06] Tunero: Tenero touches his nose.

[40:08] Juani: Uh this is uh my nose.

[40:11] Tunero: Tenero touches his own nose.

[40:13] Juani: You have a beak.

[40:14] Tunero goes to touch Juani's eye.

[40:16] Juani: Oh, careful. The eyes. Uh eyes aren't for touching, they're for looking at.

[40:21] Tunero: Look.

[40:22] Juani: Tenero looks at his eyes.

[40:25] Tunero: Eyes?

[40:26] Juani: I can see you know things I don't know.

[40:30] Tunero: Will I always be a rooster?

[40:32] Juani: I guess so.

[40:33] Tunero: Until you die.

[40:34] Juani: Then you'll be dirt or whatever.

[40:36] Tunero: Someday I'll be dirt.

[40:38] Juani: And you too?

[40:40] Tunero: I'm dirt now.

[40:41] Juani: You're not dirt. You're a guy. You just said so.

[40:44] Tunero: Or maybe someday you'll you'll be a rooster with wings and a halo.

[40:49] Juani: There's always something next.

[40:51] Tunero: I'd like that.

[40:52] Juani: I think it's scary.

[40:53] Tunero: What's scary?

[40:55] Juani: Lots.

[40:56] Tunero: Guys?

[40:56] Juani: Some guys. Most guys.

[40:59] Tunero: What's a guy?

[41:00] Juani: It's like a human with a penis and a deep voice.

[41:05] Tunero looks in his loincloth again.

[41:07] Tunero: I like guys.

[41:09] Juani: And I like roosters. And this is how it was for a time. Morning after morning of newness. Growing bones and stretching skin and feather. Oh, the feathers. But here comes Boozy again, seemingly oblivious to the change before her.

[41:26] Tunero: Tenero looks to the sky curiously. Surely it's a bird, one of his own. But the ignorant bird is wrong. The cackling is coming from Boozy, who's about to drip in drunker than yesterday.

[41:59] Boozy: Juanito! Your father's gonna be beast! Like more pissed than you've ever seen. Get this! Get these bird. Get this. What I did was what I did was what I said was. I said, I say, I say, I what I said was Juan. Juan. Juanito. Are you listening to me? I say, Juan.

[42:41] Boozy: Oh shit. I left my purse inside. I left my purse inside with all my tips, my cigarettes, everything. And he said, go go inside and get it. So I said, Juan, you go, you go to the dressing room, go get my purse. And I say, leave the keys so I can turn on the air conditioner. Left the keys. And what did I do? I drove away. I peeled out. You could hear the tires screech. And I heard some of the other bitches cheering me on. And look what I have here. I have my purse.

[43:37] Tunero: What a fucking fool.

[43:39] Tunero: Suddenly, Tunero looks up and sees the sun.

[43:41] Tunero: It startles him and he barks at it like a dog.

[43:51] Tunero: I think we got it, bro.

[43:52] Tunero: We're fucking problems.

[43:55] Tunero: He doesn't have problems.

[43:56] Tunero: He's a chick.

[43:57] Tunero: You're a chick.

[43:58] Tunero: I'm a chick.

[44:00] Tunero: Everyone's a chick, chick.

[44:02] Tunero: Oh, make bravo hard farm.

[44:05] Tunero: Me high, me fly, ho.

[44:16] Tunero: I smoke a fat blonde.

[44:23] Tunero: With Carmen Carmena.

[44:26] Tunero: And let me tell you something.

[44:28] Tunero: When I drove that car after smoking a blonde.

[44:33] Tunero: It's like all the lice a spotting on a cho.

[44:38] Tunero: Show.

[44:39] Tunero: Why do you say cho when you mean show and shop when you mean chop?

[44:43] Tunero: Do I look like some kind of linguistic to you?

[44:46] Tunero: What do you think you are?

[44:47] Tunero: Check a spear or so shit.

[44:54] Tunero: You're doing it all wrong.

[44:55] Boozy: Boozy gets down on her hands and knees, she looks up at the sun and howls like a wolf.

[45:10] Juani: It's like this.

[45:11] Juani: Juani gets down on his hands and knees and crows at the sun.

[45:22] Tunero: That sounds like the real deal.

[45:35] Boozy: Boozy starts to stumble in a circle until she eventually just falls over and passes out.

[45:41] Tunero: Tunero looks at her quizzically.

[45:43] Tunero: He pokes at her, but she does not stir.

[45:46] Tunero: Has she gone to another place?

[45:48] Tunero: Is she gone forever?

[45:50] Juani: She'll be back, trust me.

[45:50] Juani: Just leave her be.

[45:51] Juani: She'll wake up when it gets too hot.

[45:52] Juani: She'll wake up and go sleep on the bathroom floor where it's coolest.

[45:55] Tunero: Tunero flexes his muscles and shows Juani his newfound feathers.

[45:59] Juani: Oh.

[46:01] Juani: Oh wow.

[46:02] Juani: That's pretty cool.

[46:05] Juani: Can I touch?

[46:06] Juani goes to the bird and runs his fingers along Tunero's bicep.

[46:11] Juani: I've never felt feathers before.

[46:12] Tunero: Most chickens just run away.

[46:15] Tunero: But I'm a rooster.

[46:17] Tunero: A boy chicken.

[46:18] Tunero: Girl chickens are hens.

[46:20] Juani: Someday you'll have a hen, like Boozy.

[46:22] Juani: Boozy's my, uh, dad's hen.

[46:24] Juani: Boozy's a chicken?

[46:25] Tunero: No, she's a girl, I mean, not a chicken.

[46:28] Tunero: A lady, actually.

[46:32] Tunero: Go fuck yourself, you gucksucker.

[46:35] Tunero: That's what I say.

[46:37] Tunero: A lady.

[46:41] Tunero: I need a role.

[46:43] Juani: She's asleep.

[46:45] Juani: What are these for?

[46:46] Juani: These feathers?

[46:48] Tunero: Uh, decoration, I think.

[46:50] Juani: Why can't I use them to fly?

[46:52] Tunero: You're too heavy.

[46:54] Juani: Okay.

[46:55] Juani: I'll do other things.

[46:56] Juani rolls up the sleeve of his shirt and attempts to make a muscle.

[46:59] Tunero: Tunero giggles and then feels Juani's arm.

[47:02] Tunero: Everything is a wonder.

[47:04] Tunero: You don't have any feathers.

[47:06] Tunero: Big Juan's is landed.

[47:08] Tunero: Boozy.

[47:11] Tunero: Nothing.

[47:13] Boozy: Boozy pretends to be asleep.

[47:15] Boozy: Tell him I died in the night.

[47:18] Boozy: And now he has to bury a second wife.

[47:20] Juani: I'll start digging the hole.

[47:22] Boozy: Dig it deep, baby.

[47:23] Boozy's tired of being a zombie.

[47:26] Big Juan's's: Big Juan's appears drunker than before.

[47:29] Big Juan's's: You think you're funny, Boosie.

[47:32] Boozy: I'm sleeping.

[47:34] Big Juan's's: You thought I was gonna have to walk, but I didn't have to walk.

[47:39] Big Juan's's: You wanna know why?

[47:41] Big Juan's's: Because I got friends.

[47:45] Big Juan's's: I got people who love me.

[47:47] Big Juan's's: I'm not alone in this world like some people.

[47:52] Big Juan's's: I'm surrounded by admiration.

[47:55] Big Juan's's: And so you know what I did?

[47:59] Big Juan's's: I got a ride from my friend Pepe.

[48:03] Big Juan's's: He took me.

[48:04] Big Juan's's: Pepe is a cab driver.

[48:06] Big Juan's's: He's a cab driver, and he's my friend.

[48:09] Tunero: You don't have any friends.

[48:10] Tunero: You had to pay for that taxi.

[48:12] Big Juan's's: I threw him a couple of dollars for the trouble.

[48:14] Big Juan's's got Boozy's purse now.

[48:16] Boozy: You get out of my fucking purse!

[48:18] Big Juan's's: I'm taking the money back I had to give to Pepe.

[48:20] Boozy: No, you're not taking my money.

[48:22] Boozy: I earned that money.

[48:24] Boozy: By being a hooker.

[48:25] Big Juan's's: I saw you.

[48:27] Big Juan's's: I saw you.

[48:28] Boozy: You didn't see nothing.

[48:30] Boozy: You can tell the difference between singing and fucking.

[48:33] Boozy runs up to him and snatches her purse away.

[48:35] Boozy: She pounds on his chest with her fist.

[48:37] Tunero: Why does she hit him?

[48:39] Juani: Uh, she doesn't mean it.

[48:40] Juani: Don't you touch my shit or I'll cut your crap!

[48:44] Just then, Tunero walks straight up to Dad and shows him his feathers.

[48:47] Boozy stumbles away from Dad with her purse.

[48:51] Tunero: Just like Flacco promised.

[48:54] Tunero: A bird with size and struts.

[48:58] Tunero: What's El Martillo gonna do when he sees you, my beautiful Tunero?

[49:02] Big Juan's's: Big Juan's kisses the bird on the cheek.

[49:05] Big Juan's's: Gonna get his bird to kick your bird's ass is what he's gonna do.

[49:09] Big Juan's's: Gonna peck this rooster's eyes out and spit him in your face.

[49:15] Big Juan's's: That's what he's gonna do.

[49:16] Boozy: Don't say that, Boozy.

[49:17] Big Juan's's: I say what I want, kid.

[49:19] Big Juan's's: I always say what I want.

[49:21] Juani: Don't listen to her.

[49:22] Juani: She's drunk.

[49:22] Big Juan's's: So are you, Dad?

[49:23] Big Juan's's: I'm tipsy.

[49:24] Juani: What's the difference?

[49:26] Big Juan's's: The difference is sanity.

[49:28] Big Juan's's: The difference is respect.

[49:30] Big Juan's's: The difference is a sense of loyalty and decency and, uh, respect for the Lord.

[49:36] Big Juan's's: That's the difference, son.

[49:39] Big Juan's's: Do you think fighting a bird is gonna make you a man?

[49:42] Big Juan's's: It's not, because you are not a man.

[49:45] Big Juan's's: You're a punk!

[49:47] Big Juan's's: A drunk punk!

[49:49] Big Juan's's: A punk.

[49:50] Big Juan's's: And I ain't never heard of a drunk who can do anything but drink.

[49:55] Juani: Well, you said I was more than a drink.

[49:58] Big Juan's's: Sometimes I lie.

[50:00] Big Juan's's: So we can guess some peace and quiet.

[50:03] Boozy: Boozy goes.

[50:05] Juani: So I'm a cock, you're a guy, and he's a punk.

[50:09] Tunero: Pretty much.

[50:10] Juani: Oh, and she's a lady.

[50:12] Tunero: She's a drunk.

[50:13] Juani: A cock, a guy, a punk, and a drunk.

[50:16] Juani: We're gonna make that bird a star.

[50:19] Juani: Come here, bird.

[50:20] Big Juan's reaches for the bird, but the bird joyfully makes a run for it.

[50:23] Big Juan's chases after the bird.

[50:25] Big Juan's's: Go, Pablo, go!

[50:27] Tunero: Tonero!

[50:28] Tunero: Dads are never gonna get him.

[50:31] Tunero: The bird outruns Big Juan's, who just collapses on the ground and passes out.

[50:35] Boozy: Boozy reappears.

[50:36] Boozy: She has a lit cigarette dangling from her lips and a bottle of rum in her hands.

[50:41] Boozy: Even though it's light as a feather, she drags her favorite pink patio chair across the stage like it's bearing the weight of the world.

[50:49] Boozy: Boozy's in a foul mood.

[50:51] Boozy: She ashes on Big Juan's.

[50:53] Juani: You just ashed on Dad.

[50:56] Boozy: I didn't ask you if I ashed on Dad now, did I?

[51:01] Boozy: Because I don't care if he catches on fire and burns to a crisp.

[51:08] Boozy: Boozy sleeps.

[51:09] Putika: Putika enters.

[51:11] Putika: She takes the lit cigarette from Boozy's mouth and mashes it out.

[51:15] Putika: Man, your parents are like fire hazards.

[51:17] Putika: They're serious drunks.

[51:20] Putika: Bird's looking good.

[51:22] Putika: Got a little pep in his step.

[51:24] Tunero: Right?

[51:25] Tunero: Like, really good.

[51:28] Tunero: He is a good looking bird.

[51:31] Tunero: Tunero taps his foot, flexes, and winks at Putika.

[51:35] Putika: Oh, for some reason I just want to keep looking at him.

[51:38] Tunero: Me too.

[51:38] Tunero: Let's look at him for a while.

[51:41] They look a while.

[51:45] Tunero: Maybe Pablo can take me to Freshman Cotillion.

[51:47] Tunero: That'll be the talk of the school.

[51:49] Juani: Did you hear Belkis Hernandez showed up to freshman cantillion with a farm animal?

[51:53] Tunero: He's not a farm animal.

[51:55] Juani: You see a farm around here, toolbox?

[51:57] Tunero: Please, Juani.

[51:58] Tunero: Please.

[52:00] Tunero: Not going.

[52:03] Tunero: Juani, it might be fun.

[52:05] Tunero: And I don't want to not go because everyone's expecting us to not go.

[52:09] Juani: Nobody's expecting anything.

[52:10] Juani: They don't even know we exist.

[52:12] Tunero: Don't say that.

[52:13] Tunero: We are alive, Juani.

[52:15] Tunero: We're not gusts of wind or spirit people.

[52:19] Tunero: We have to join the rest of the world sooner or later.

[52:21] Juani: Why don't you just go with someone else?

[52:23] Tunero: I don't know.

[52:24] Juani: Exactly.

[52:25] Juani: If we're together, we can get through it.

[52:27] Tunero: Why don't we get through it by not going?

[52:30] Tunero: My mom said she'd give me a hundred dollars to buy a dress.

[52:33] Juani: Oh, oh yeah.

[52:33] Juani: And my dad said he'd call our personal tailor.

[52:36] Tunero: You can borrow my dad's suit.

[52:38] Juani: That blue thing.

[52:39] Tunero: Yeah, I think it's nice.

[52:41] Juani: Yeah, if you're like 40.

[52:44] Tunero: Do we have to like slow dance?

[52:47] Juani: No, totally not.

[52:49] Juani: We could skip that part.

[52:50] Juani: We'll just do the fast dances.

[52:52] Tunero: Well, now that you put it that way.

[52:55] Juani: No!

[52:57] Tunero: Come on.

[52:58] Tunero: Say you'll think about it.

[53:00] Juani: I'll think about it.

[53:01] Tunero: Really?

[53:02] Juani: I'll think about it.

[53:03] Tunero: That isn't the same thing as yes.

[53:05] Tunero: She produces a catalog from nowhere.

[53:08] Tunero: I was thinking about this one.

[53:10] Juani: Oh my god.

[53:11] Juani tries not to look at it, but he can't help himself.

[53:13] Tunero: Tunero comes up behind them and looks at the magazine.

[53:16] Tunero: I do like the color.

[53:17] Juani: You think it's too short?

[53:19] Tunero: No, no, it's not.

[53:20] Tunero: It's hot.

[53:21] Juani: Really?

[53:21] Tunero: Yeah, you have good legs.

[53:22] Juani: Shut up.

[53:23] Tunero: Oh, they're not as nice as mine.

[53:24] Juani: Oh.

[53:28] Tunero: How about this one?

[53:29] Juani: That is so pretty.

[53:31] Tunero: You'd be like Cinderella.

[53:33] Juani: It's like $100.

[53:35] Tunero: Get it from your dad.

[53:36] Juani: You think we're like rich or something.

[53:38] Tunero: You have a pool.

[53:39] Juani: Above ground.

[53:40] Tunero: And two cars.

[53:40] Juani: Both used.

[53:41] Tunero: And your mom wears pearls.

[53:43] Juani: They were her grandmother's.

[53:44] Tunero: I heard she got him in a pawn shop.

[53:46] Juani: I heard they got you in a pawn shop.

[53:50] Tunero: Hey, if I buy this dress, will you promise?

[53:54] Juani: She said you didn't have the money.

[53:56] Tunero: Maybe I can ask Abuela Nila.

[53:59] Juani: Yeah, good.

[54:00] Juani: Do it.

[54:01] Tunero: So you'll go?

[54:02] Juani: Yeah.

[54:03] Juani: Probably.

[54:04] Tunero: She hugs him.

[54:05] Juani: Maybe.

[54:06] As she pulls away, Putika sees an eyelash on his cheek.

[54:10] Putika: There's an eyelash.

[54:11] Putika picks it off his face.

[54:13] Putika: Got it.

[54:14] Putika: I love your face.

[54:16] Putika: How did such a big jerk get such a pretty face?

[54:19] Juani: He suddenly licks her forehead and makes a run for it.

[54:21] Putika: She chases him.

[54:22] Tunero: Tunero joins in the chase, and in the chase, he catches Juani and they roll around on the floor.

[54:28] Putika: Putika tries to join in, but they don't pay much attention.

[54:32] Putika: After trying a couple times.

[54:35] Putika: Okay.

[54:36] Putika: Um, I guess I'll just be headed out then.

[54:41] Juani: Nothing.

[54:42] Juani: All right, Juani.

[54:44] Juani: See you soon.

[54:46] Juani: Nothing.

[54:47] Putika: Okay, then.

[54:49] Putika goes unceremoniously.

[54:52] Juani: Ugh.

[54:53] Juani: I want to turn you into a painting.

[54:56] Tunero: Alright.

[54:57] Juani: Yes.

[54:57] Juani: What's a painting?

[54:59] Juani: Uh, I'm gonna pose you, and then I'm gonna draw you with lots of different colors.

[55:04] Juani shows him one of his masterpieces.

[55:07] Tunero: You want to make another one of me?

[55:09] Juani: No, no, no.

[55:10] Juani: It's not like that.

[55:11] Juani: It's not a copy.

[55:12] Juani: Or really you at all.

[55:14] Juani: It's what I see when I look at you.

[55:16] Juani: Like when I look at you, I see a rooster, but I see other things too.

[55:21] Tunero: I guess that's because I see things kind of weird.

[55:23] Juani: What's weird?

[55:24] Tunero: I am.

[55:25] Tunero: I am very weird.

[55:27] Juani: But what is it?

[55:29] Tunero: It's like when you don't make sense to anyone or to yourself, even so you say and do things that are strange in order to try and figure out what you are.

[55:41] Juani: Right.

[55:42] Juani: Like, I don't even know why you're doing that, but I don't really need to either.

[55:48] Juani: A long sensual, sensual kiss.

[55:52] Tunero: I like weird.

[55:54] Juani: Juani is speechless.

[55:56] Tunero: I understand better what I am every minute.

[56:00] Juani: Why aren't you saying anything?

[56:03] Tunero: Nothing.

[56:04] Tunero: I'm ready to be a painting now.

[56:06] Juani: Uh, can we be weird again?

[56:07] Tunero: Sure.

[56:08] Tunero: Big kiss again.

[56:10] Tunero: Then he runs his hand through Tunero's hair.

[56:14] Juani: Yeah, I think you look best with your feathers ruffled, yeah?

[56:21] Tunero: This startles Tunero, who starts jumping about and flexing his muscles.

[56:31] Juani: Now freeze.

[56:40] Juani: I just need to make a few adjustments.

[56:42] Juani gets real close to Tunero to work the details.

[56:47] Tunero: Something is poking me in the leg.

[56:48] Juani: Oh.

[56:49] Juani: Uh, sorry.

[56:50] Juani: Um, stay still.

[56:52] Juani: You have to stay very still.

[56:55] Tunero: Tunero takes the cue.

[56:56] Tunero: Even though he's not even sure what the cue means, seduction is part of a rooster's natural instinct.

[57:04] Tunero: And so the words, the actions just come to him like revelation.

[57:09] Tunero: You're more beautiful than anything I've ever seen.

[57:12] Tunero: More beautiful than the sun and the white puffs.

[57:16] Tunero: And the stick with the orange fruits on Putika's lawn.

[57:19] Tunero: Be my hen, Juani.

[57:22] Juani: I can't be your hen because, well.

[57:26] Juani: Why?

[57:27] Tunero: Why can't you be my hen?

[57:29] Juani: Because I'm not one.

[57:30] Tunero: Pretend then.

[57:32] Tunero: Can you pretend to be a hen?

[57:34] Tunero: And then maybe if you pretend, you will believe.

[57:39] Tunero: And if you believe it to be true, then it will be true.

[57:44] Tunero: For you.

[57:45] Tunero: Even if everyone else sees it differently.

[57:48] Juani: They kiss once more.

[57:52] Tunero: I feel even stranger than before.

[57:55] Juani: Describe it.

[57:56] Tunero: Uh, like something inside my stomach is gonna grow teeth and eat me.

[58:01] Tunero: Like it's gonna explode out of me.

[58:03] Juani: You're hatching.

[58:04] Tunero: Yes.

[58:05] Juani: Hatch on me.

[58:07] Juani jumps into Tunero's arms, who catches him.

[58:10] Juani: Unbeknownst to them, Big Juan's is awake now.

[58:13] Big Juan's's: He looms large.

[58:15] Big Juan's's: Donero, come here.

[58:18] Big Juan's's: Tonero, venaka.

[58:19] Big Juan's's: Tonero puts Juani down.

[58:22] Big Juan's's: Son, come here.

[58:24] Big Juan's's: Come.

[58:25] Big Juan's's: Come over here.

[58:27] Juani: Papi.

[58:34] Juani: Por favor.

[58:34] Big Juan's's: Now.

[58:39] Big Juan's's: Fine.

[58:41] Big Juan's's: Stay right where you are.

[58:45] Big Juan's's: If that's where you want to stay, I'm not gonna tell you where to go.

[58:51] Big Juan's's: Listen to me. This bird is no pet.

[58:58] Big Juan's's: No. He's been bred to kill.

[59:02] Big Juan's's: It's seven o'clock.

[59:04] Big Juan's's: Seven o'clock.

[59:06] Big Juan's's: I gotta go to work, son.

[59:07] Big Juan's's: You're late.

[59:09] Big Juan's's: You're always late.

[59:12] Big Juan's's: This life.

[59:14] Big Juan's's: He goes. So Big Juan goes to once again face eleven hours of grueling work in the heat of the Florida sun.

[59:22] Boozy: Boozy sleeps off her liquor in the shade of the orange tree he was sick behind just before going.

[59:29] Juani: Juani is awake, but the beauty of his bloom is about to be tested.

[59:35] Juani: Juani paints his bird while Boozy puts her face back on for another night on the town.

[59:41] Big Juan's's: Big Juan's appears in his work uniform.

[59:43] Big Juan's's: It says, Bravo on his shirt.

[59:46] Big Juan's's: His hand is bandaged.

[59:47] Big Juan's's: He waits to be acknowledged, but nobody does.

[59:55] Big Juan's's: Since you're all so interested, I crushed my fingers.

[1:00:02] Big Juan's's: I crushed it between palates.

[1:00:07] Big Juan's's: Because I was dozing off.

[1:00:10] Big Juan's's: Because I was still drunk.

[1:00:12] Big Juan's's: The only way to go to work.

[1:00:19] Big Juan's's: Three.

[1:00:21] Big Juan's's: And I think everything in this place is a piece of shit.

[1:00:25] Big Juan's's: But then I think if it weren't, if everything were perfect, they wouldn't even need me.

[1:00:33] Big Juan's's: What kind of life is that? Only here to fix things that are broke.

[1:00:39] Big Juan's's: All day on my knees like a bitch, back breaking, legs burning.

[1:00:45] Big Juan's's: And chocolate.

[1:00:48] Big Juan's's: He was pissed about my finger, my crushed finger.

[1:00:53] Big Juan's's: Because now he has to do paperwork.

[1:00:57] Big Juan's's: And he says, Juan Bravo, you have a problem.

[1:01:07] Big Juan's's: And I said, Yeah. Well, I can smell yesterday's balls on your breath.

[1:01:17] Big Juan's's: He didn't like that.

[1:01:19] Big Juan's's: He says, You got one more chance, and then you're out.

[1:01:22] Big Juan's's: And I say, okay, Choco, whatever you say.

[1:01:25] Big Juan's's: And I think I don't want this job anyway.

[1:01:27] Big Juan's's: But then what am I gonna do? So mangoes on Dale May.

[1:01:33] Big Juan's's: But I'm not worried.

[1:01:36] Big Juan's's: No, sir. Because he ain't got nobody who can fix the old machines.

[1:01:41] Big Juan's's: All these young guys, they only know the new machines with the computers.

[1:01:46] Big Juan's's: But I got experience with the antiques.

[1:01:50] Big Juan's's: And since they're so fucking cheap, they ain't ever gonna get no new ones.

[1:01:58] Big Juan's's: I don't think.

[1:02:02] Big Juan's's: But then guess who's who shows up? Boozy, guess.

[1:02:11] Big Juan's's: I'm busy.

[1:02:14] Big Juan's's: Juani, guess.

[1:02:15] Juani: You said you were gonna buy me some new paintbrushes and canvases.

[1:02:20] Big Juan's's: Flacco, you hear me.

[1:02:25] Juani: How can I not?

[1:02:26] Big Juan's's: Juani, you hear me?

[1:02:28] Juani: Juani says nothing.

[1:02:30] Big Juan's's: Flacco, I'm talking about Flacco.

[1:02:33] Big Juan's's: Oh no. My main man, Flacco.

[1:02:36] Big Juan's's: You should see him.

[1:02:37] Big Juan's's: He lost some weight.

[1:02:39] Big Juan's's: And look at what he brings me.

[1:02:40] Big Juan's's: Big Juan's presents a bag of treasures.

[1:02:43] Big Juan's's: I hope it's a big bag of money.

[1:02:44] Big Juan's's: It may as well be.

[1:02:46] Big Juan's's: Because Flacco, my main man, Flacco, he gave me a little talking to a little encouragement.

[1:02:50] Big Juan's's: He says, Juan, Juan Bravo, listen to me.

[1:02:55] Big Juan's's: You want to make this bird a champion? You gotta start training it today.

[1:02:57] Big Juan's's: I said, I was supposed to start yesterday, but I got wasted.

[1:03:03] Big Juan's's: I bet we have fun.

[1:03:07] Big Juan's's: No more shoulder, he says. No more excuses, he says.

[1:03:11] Big Juan's's: He says, Juan, what you got in your background, backyard is a ticket out.

[1:03:18] Big Juan's's: Out of this dump.

[1:03:20] Big Juan's's: Flacco says, you gotta be sharp to get the results you want.

[1:03:23] Big Juan's's: And I got to thinking, yeah, I gotta be sharp.

[1:03:28] Big Juan's's: And this boozy, I mean this booze. Is dulling my senses.

[1:03:36] Big Juan's's: It's making me not keep promises to myself.

[1:03:40] Big Juan's's: Flacco's got a lot of advice that he don't know how to take.

[1:03:45] Big Juan's's: How's a man that puts more powder in his nose than a maricone in Miami? Gonna go around telling you how to be sharp.

[1:03:55] Big Juan's's: Not no more.

[1:03:57] Big Juan's's: He's sober. And I'm thinking, I gotta be like this bird here.

[1:04:04] Big Juan's's: Fit, ready, ruthless. And so I get to thinking, yeah.

[1:04:11] Big Juan's's: The drink. The drink is the reason that I'm not anything.

[1:04:18] Juani: Do you think it's the drink's fault?

[1:04:21] Big Juan's's: Yes, I do. The drink is robbing me of my best years, so I'm done.

[1:04:25] Big Juan's's: Oh no. I'm not gonna drink anymore.

[1:04:28] Juani: Yeah, right.

[1:04:29] Big Juan's's: You don't believe me?

[1:04:30] Juani: No, I don't.

[1:04:32] Big Juan's's: Watch this.

[1:04:32] Big Juan's's: He goes to Boozy's chair and grabs the bottle of rum she's got sitting beneath it.

[1:04:36] Boozy: Juan, you stay there.

[1:04:37] Big Juan's's: Fuck off my bottle.

[1:04:39] Big Juan's's: Dumping it.

[1:04:39] Boozy: Oh no, you don't.

[1:04:40] Big Juan's's: Oh yes, I do.

[1:04:41] Big Juan's's: Juan tips the bottle upside down and dumps all the rum out in the dead plant.

[1:04:45] Boozy: Boozy's attempts to stop him are futile.

[1:04:48] Big Juan's's: He holds her off.

[1:04:49] Big Juan's's: I'll just get more.

[1:04:51] Boozy: No, en mi casa, no mas.

[1:04:53] Boozy: En mi casa también.

[1:04:56] Boozy: Con yo pudo.

[1:04:57] Big Juan's's: It's only yours because I say it's yours.

[1:05:00] Big Juan's's: Last time you stopped drinking, you got really sick.

[1:05:03] Big Juan's's: And Boozy went missing, remember?

[1:05:05] Big Juan's's: This time is gonna be different.

[1:05:08] Big Juan's's: Why?

[1:05:09] Big Juan's's: Because this time your old man is ready.

[1:05:12] Big Juan's's: This time we got the goods.

[1:05:14] Big Juan's's: We're gonna be rich.

[1:05:16] Big Juan's's: You hear me? Shrimps and lobsters and king crab legs, rich.

[1:05:22] Big Juan's's: See, El Martillo, he's got this big finca.

[1:05:26] Big Juan's's: And what do you what do you do? Is you take the bird.

[1:05:29] Juani: What's a finca?

[1:05:30] Big Juan's's: A farm son.

[1:05:32] Big Juan's's: A farm. And you take the bird there to fight, and everybody goes and they make bets.

[1:05:38] Big Juan's's: And the owner of the bird that wins takes home a big percentage of the money collected.

[1:05:44] Big Juan's's: Vlacco says a couple of months back he won $3,000.

[1:05:48] Juani: Wow.

[1:05:49] Big Juan's's: $3,000 in 10 minutes.

[1:05:52] Big Juan's's: Maybe less. Probably about 30 seconds with Tonero.

[1:05:56] Big Juan's's: So you see, you want paint? You want canvases? No problem.

[1:06:01] Big Juan's's: We simp we take a little money, buy you what you'd like to make your pictures.

[1:06:05] Big Juan's's: We take a little for some seafood, baby. We eat like kings.

[1:06:10] Big Juan's's: And the rest we reinvest in the market.

[1:06:14] Big Juan's's: We buy 10 eggs, right? Think of all the eggs you can paint.

[1:06:19] Big Juan's's: And then we got 10 cocks strutting around.

[1:06:22] Juani: 10?

[1:06:23] Big Juan's's: 10 Pablos?

[1:06:24] Big Juan's's: 10. How would you like that?

[1:06:26] Big Juan's's: 10 cocks right here in the patio.

[1:06:29] Juani: I guess that'd be pretty great.

[1:06:31] Big Juan's's: Then 20. Then who knows how many?

[1:06:34] Big Juan's's: And with 10 eggs and 10 winners, just think that's a hundred thousand dollars.

[1:06:38] Juani: It's actually 30,000.

[1:06:40] Big Juan's's: 30,000!

[1:06:41] Big Juan's's: 100,000. C son, you got the brains. I got the muscle.

[1:06:44] Big Juan's's: Pero money is money.

[1:06:47] Big Juan's's: Big Juan's holds up his bag of treasures and dumps the contents of the bag out onto the ground like a child on Christmas morning.

[1:06:54] Big Juan's's: There are several knives attached to leather bands in several magazines.

[1:06:58] Juani: Tunero and Juani inspect the contents.

[1:07:02] Juani: What's all this?

[1:07:03] Big Juan's's: This is cocker. It's a magazine comes out every month about cock fighting.

[1:07:09] Big Juan's's: I'm gonna get me a subscription.

[1:07:11] Big Juan's's: They got techniques, strategies, weapons, tips.

[1:07:14] Juani: Juani inspects one of the blades.

[1:07:16] Juani: Pretty cool, right?

[1:07:17] Tunero: Tunero picks up one of the knives and inspects it.

[1:07:21] Tunero: This one here is a Mexican long blade. The blade is sharp.

[1:07:24] Tunero: Vlaco says that the longer the blade, the deeper the wound.

[1:07:28] Tunero: Cut through the feathers, the skin gets to the bone, the organs, the lung.

[1:07:33] Tunero: And this one here, see how the blade has hooks? So it catches in the skin and drags pools.

[1:07:39] Juani: You like that? What are the straps for?

[1:07:41] Tunero: That's how you attach the knives to the legs?

[1:07:43] Tunero: See, so when he flies, see these hooks into the other bird's skin and boom, he's hung.

[1:07:50] Juani: Uh roosters can't fly.

[1:07:51] Juani: They can't fly away.

[1:07:52] Tunero: No, pero Juani, they can get some air. Believe me, when they fight, sometimes they come five, six feet off the ground.

[1:07:59] Juani: I don't think it's a good idea.

[1:08:01] Big Juan's's: Son. Son, look me in the eye. I'm gonna make you a promise.

[1:08:08] Big Juan's's: This bird is going to go down in the books.

[1:08:12] Big Juan's's: Big Juan's grabs Tunero by the back of the neck again.

[1:08:16] Tunero: Ah!

[1:08:16] Tunero: What are you doing?

[1:08:17] Big Juan's's: Don't worry, son, it doesn't hurt him.

[1:08:18] Tunero: Tunero struggles to get away from Big Juan's.

[1:08:21] Big Juan's's: He tightens his grip and gets the bird down on the floor.

[1:08:24] Tunero: Ow!

[1:08:25] Tunero: You're you're hurting him.

[1:08:26] Big Juan's's: Nah, it doesn't hurt him. They just don't like to be held.

[1:08:28] Big Juan's's: Tough bird. He likes it when I hold him.

[1:08:30] Big Juan's's: Big Juan's gets Tunero's head down on the ground and puts his foot on the back of his head to hold him in place.

[1:08:35] Big Juan's's: Put the long knife on him.

[1:08:36] Juani: Juani reluctantly puts the knife on Tunero's ankle.

[1:08:40] Juani: It's gonna be okay, Pablo.

[1:08:41] Big Juan's's: Now do the other one.

[1:08:43] Juani: Then he attaches a second knife.

[1:08:44] Big Juan's's: Big Juan's picks Tunero up and grabs him by his mohawk.

[1:08:48] Tunero: Why do you hurt me?

[1:08:49] Big Juan's's: Big Juan's grabs him by the small part of his back and starts to thrust the bird ahead of him, almost so it looks like he's going to toss the bird.

[1:08:56] Big Juan's's: He thrusts him forward. Attack and then pulls him back and repeat.

[1:09:00] Big Juan's's: Attack! Repeat! Attack!

[1:09:01] Big Juan's's: He releases the bird.

[1:09:03] Big Juan's's: Big Juan's clocks Tunero right on the side of his head.

[1:09:13] Big Juan's's: Yeah. That's it, bird. You are the king of the world.

[1:09:19] Boozy: Boozy comes out of the house.

[1:09:22] Boozy: Where the hell are you going?

[1:09:24] Big Juan's's: I'm taking the link.

[1:09:25] Boozy: Like hell you are. Gonna give me a new bottle of rum.

[1:09:29] Big Juan's's: No, Boozy. No more, Boozy. I told you.

[1:09:30] Boozy: Just because you are pretending to be sober, doesn't mean the rest of us have to live in misery.

[1:09:39] Big Juan's's: I'm not pretending.

[1:09:40] Boozy: Yes, you are. You are a pretender.

[1:09:44] Boozy: At your core, you are a pretender.

[1:09:48] Boozy: Now get out of my way so I can buy a bottle of rum, or I'll you're what?

[1:09:55] Boozy: I'll burn this house to the ground.

[1:09:59] Boozy: I'll do it. I'll go in there and light it all up.

[1:10:06] Big Juan's's: You don't scare me.

[1:10:08] Boozy: That's too bad. Because I have the power to destroy you.

[1:10:15] Big Juan's's: They're gone.

[1:10:17] Juani: Juani and Tunero left alone on stage.

[1:10:20] Juani: He goes to the bird who has a trickle of blood coming from his nose.

[1:10:24] Juani: Juani wipes the blood from his nose with his shirt.

[1:10:28] Juani: I hope we both survive this.

[1:10:30] Tunero: Survive what?

[1:10:32] Juani: This sobriety.

[1:10:35] Juani: And this is how it is. For a time.

[1:10:38] Juani: At night, Tunero, traumatized from training, falls asleep in Juani's arms.

[1:10:43] Juani: The bird startles awake through the night, worried that Big Juan's is back.

[1:10:49] Juani: Juani rocks him back to sleep until eventually he falls asleep himself.

[1:10:53] Juani: And when he awakens, there is the brilliant Florida sun and Tunero.

[1:11:01] Tunero: Crowing.

[1:11:05] Juani: And though the bird feels fear in his heart, though the bird knows the crow will wake his master, he finds he can't help crowing.

[1:11:15] Juani: It is his instinct to crow.

[1:11:21] Juani: Shh, you'll wake him.

[1:11:23] Juani: Juani leads the bird back to where they sleep.

[1:11:26] Juani: They doze in each other's arms once more.

[1:11:28] Big Juan's's: Big Juan's appears. He holds an imposing steel cage high over his head.

[1:11:34] Big Juan's's: Big Juan's is momentarily a vision of his former self.

[1:11:38] Big Juan's's: He slams the cage to the ground.

[1:11:40] Big Juan's's: The sound is deafening.

[1:11:43] Juani: Juani and Tunero jump up.

[1:11:45] Tunero: Tunero stands at attention.

[1:11:46] Juani: Dad, it's Sunday.

[1:11:47] Big Juan's's: No more days off.

[1:11:48] Big Juan's's: He points to the cage. Tunero, enter it.

[1:11:51] Juani: Tonero doesn't move.

[1:11:52] Big Juan's's: Bahro, get in.

[1:11:53] Tunero: Tunero reluctantly gets in the cage.

[1:11:56] Juani: Why are you putting him in there?

[1:11:57] Juani: Can't be sleeping next to that bird all night. He's too gentle.

[1:11:59] Juani: But he's doing everything right.

[1:12:01] Big Juan's's: You're making him too soft.

[1:12:04] Big Juan's's: He'll get in the ring and be looking for you to save him.

[1:12:07] Big Juan's's: But you can't do that. You can't save him.

[1:12:10] Big Juan's's: He's gotta save himself.

[1:12:12] Big Juan's's: So, we isolate him now. Make sure he understands that when he's in a tight space, that the tight space is his.

[1:12:20] Big Juan's's: Big Juan's goes.

[1:12:21] Juani: Am I back in my shell?

[1:12:23] Big Juan's's: As soon as he goes out, I'll let you out, I promise.

[1:12:26] Big Juan's's: Big Juan's returns with a baseball bat.

[1:12:28] Big Juan's's: He hits the cage with the bat over and over again.

[1:12:32] Big Juan's's: It makes a terrible racket.

[1:12:34] Tunero: Tunero cowers.

[1:12:36] Juani: Dad, stop.

[1:12:37] Big Juan's's: You're scaring him.

[1:12:38] Big Juan's's: I'm trying to scare him.

[1:12:39] Juani: Why?

[1:12:39] Big Juan's's: Get angry, bird. Come on!

[1:12:41] Big Juan's's: Big Juan's hands Juani the bat.

[1:12:43] Big Juan's's: Do it, son.

[1:12:44] Juani: I don't want to.

[1:12:45] Big Juan's's: Bobby, do it.

[1:12:46] Tunero: You want him to get killed?

[1:12:47] Juani: No.

[1:12:48] Big Juan's's: Then do it.

[1:12:48] Juani hits the cage with the bat.

[1:12:51] Big Juan's's: Harder, son.

[1:12:52] Big Juan's's: That's it.

[1:12:53] Big Juan's's: Make it loud.

[1:12:54] Juani hits the cage harder and harder.

[1:12:56] Big Juan's's: It doesn't take long as before for the bird to rage.

[1:13:00] Big Juan's's: We see the ferocity that is within him.

[1:13:06] Tunero: If you hit this cage one more time with that bat, I'll break through these bars and pull your fucking eyes out with my mouth.

[1:13:11] Tunero: You hear me, motherfucker?

[1:13:13] Big Juan's's: That's it, boy. You're doing it.

[1:13:14] Tunero: You think you're top of me all locked up inside here, but you wait till I get out.

[1:13:14] Tunero: You wait till I get out. You're gonna be sorry when I break your arms.

[1:13:21] Tunero: I'm gonna break your legs and your back and your fucking neck, you fucking pussy!

[1:13:25] Juani stops.

[1:13:26] Big Juan's's: Keep going!

[1:13:27] Juani: I'm sorry, Pablo.

[1:13:28] Tunero: If you think you're sorry now, you just wait.

[1:13:30] Juani: Dad, I don't think I can do this anymore.

[1:13:31] Big Juan's's: Yes, you can, son. You can do anything. We're the bravos, and we're unstoppable.

[1:13:35] Big Juan's opens the cage and lets Tunero out.

[1:13:38] Tunero: He immediately goes to attack Juani, but Big Juan's stops him.

[1:13:41] Big Juan's's: Save it for the ring, bird.

[1:13:43] Big Juan's puts the bird back in the cage and goes.

[1:13:50] Big Juan's's sobriety gives him an unwavering determination.

[1:13:56] Big Juan's's: And it isn't long before Big Juan's has fully captured the young bird's attention.

[1:14:02] Juani stays up all night and tries to paint.

[1:14:06] Juani: But it's no longer as easy as it once was.

[1:14:10] Juani: He paints nothing.

[1:14:12] Juani: Then he paints over nothing.

[1:14:14] Juani: Then he sleeps.

[1:14:16] Boozy appears each morning just after the sun.

[1:14:22] Boozy: Want a cigarette, bird?

[1:14:24] Boozy: She offers him a drag.

[1:14:26] Tunero: The bird takes the cigarette.

[1:14:28] Tunero: He inhales and blows smoke rings.

[1:14:37] Boozy: She snatches her cigarette back.

[1:14:42] Boozy: What are you painting now, baby?

[1:14:44] Juani: The sea.

[1:14:46] Boozy: Looks like a woman to me.

[1:14:49] Juani: But you see what you see.

[1:14:52] Boozy: And you shout it out from the roof, baby.

[1:14:56] Boozy: We should go to the sea.

[1:14:58] Boozy: Clear water.

[1:14:59] Boozy: Or maybe Indian rocks.

[1:15:02] Boozy: Let's go today.

[1:15:03] Boozy: In the Lincoln.

[1:15:05] Boozy: We'll bring blankets and biking sandwiches, extra pickles.

[1:15:09] Boozy: I've got some tips.

[1:15:11] Boozy: And we'll eat sandwiches and sleep on the sand.

[1:15:15] Boozy: Fuck school.

[1:15:17] Boozy: That's not gonna get you nowhere.

[1:15:20] Juani: Okay, let's go to the sea.

[1:15:21] Boozy: You gotta get the keys from your father.

[1:15:24] Juani: He hid them on me.

[1:15:25] Boozy: Why would he give them to me?

[1:15:26] Juani: I can't drive.

[1:15:27] Boozy: I can teach you, baby. It's easy.

[1:15:29] Juani: I don't have a license.

[1:15:30] Boozy: You worry about such stupid things, my amor.

[1:15:33] Boozy: Why you worry about rules that aren't made for you?

[1:15:37] Juani: Oh yeah, I have to sleep.

[1:15:39] Juani: I've been up all night.

[1:15:41] Juani: All through the night.

[1:15:47] Juani: I love the night.

[1:15:49] Juani: The darkness.

[1:15:51] Juani: Because I look best under artificial light.

[1:16:02] Juani: I in the night I'm a beauty.

[1:16:06] Juani: That's what El Martillo says.

[1:16:10] Juani: That I'm a beauty.

[1:16:13] Juani: That I am a starlet.

[1:16:19] Boozy: No, baby. I made a lot of mistakes in my life.

[1:16:26] Boozy: But I made the biggest mistake.

[1:16:29] Boozy: The biggest mistake I ever made tonight.

[1:16:34] Juani: What?

[1:16:35] Boozy: I don't remember.

[1:16:39] Boozy: I'm gonna experience sing a blackout.

[1:16:42] Juani: You don't remember.

[1:16:47] Boozy: Sometimes things feel so right.

[1:16:52] Boozy: But then later, you feel so low.

[1:16:57] Boozy: You feel lonely, and you see that it was just a terrible illusion.

[1:17:04] Boozy: El Martillo says, he says, Do you want to sing your lousy songs in my club? From now on, you have to pay.

[1:17:15] Boozy: And I do want to sing them because if I don't sing, what am I?

[1:17:23] Boozy: So I paid.

[1:17:26] Boozy: I paid.

[1:17:29] Boozy: It felt right.

[1:17:33] Boozy: But you don't want to hear that from your mama.

[1:17:37] Juani: You're not my mother.

[1:17:40] Boozy: I'm the closest thing you got.

[1:17:42] Juani: No, you're not.

[1:17:45] Boozy: Yeah.

[1:17:47] Boozy: You're probably right.

[1:17:50] Juani: Ah.

[1:17:52] Boozy: Why are you crying?

[1:17:55] Juani: I'm not, baby. I don't want no kiss anyway.

[1:18:01] Boozy: That's not why I'm crying.

[1:18:02] Juani: Then why?

[1:18:06] Boozy: You know why?

[1:18:09] Boozy: You're a smart boy.

[1:18:13] Boozy: Maybe just don't tell him.

[1:18:16] Boozy: Or maybe just leave.

[1:18:20] Juani: I have nowhere to go.

[1:18:23] Juani: This is all I got.

[1:18:27] Boozy: How come I never see you cry?

[1:18:29] Boozy: I never seen you cry, even when you were little.

[1:18:32] Juani: It doesn't do anything, crying. It's pointless.

[1:18:34] Boozy: No, it isn't. I think we got all of these tears stored up inside of our bodies, and we never let them out.

[1:18:45] Boozy: If we never let them out, we could drown.

[1:18:50] Juani: You should try.

[1:18:52] Boozy: No.

[1:18:52] Juani: Do it. Try it now.

[1:18:55] Boozy: Stop. Please.

[1:18:57] Boozy: It will make me feel better.

[1:19:11] Juani: There. Happy.

[1:19:14] Boozy: That wasn't real. That was acting.

[1:19:17] Juani: Bad acting.

[1:19:20] Big Juan's enters awake like a gym coach.

[1:19:24] Big Juan's's: First thing in the morning. He releases Tunero from the cage.

[1:19:27] Big Juan's's: Have you ever seen a bird so incredible?

[1:19:30] Juani: No.

[1:19:31] Juani: I love him.

[1:19:32] Big Juan's's: Why do you love him?

[1:19:34] Juani: Because he's strong. Beautiful. He's special. That's why I love him.

[1:19:40] Big Juan's's: Does he talk to you?

[1:19:42] Juani: In his way, he does, son. He does.

[1:19:45] Big Juan's's: Ain't you gonna give me a kiss, gum warning?

[1:19:47] Juani: You smell like sweat.

[1:19:48] Big Juan's's: I've been working hard.

[1:19:50] Juani: I bet you have. I need new canvases.

[1:19:52] Juani: You said you'd buy me new ones and you never did.

[1:19:54] Big Juan's's: Paint on something else.

[1:19:55] Juani: Paint on the lawnmower.

[1:19:56] Big Juan's's: I already did.

[1:19:57] Juani: Or paint over one of the old ones.

[1:19:58] Big Juan's's: I'm not going to erase my former self.

[1:20:01] Big Juan's's: Your former self is dead. All that matters is today.

[1:20:04] Big Juan's's: And maybe tomorrow, but tomorrow we could be dead, so today, today is all that counts.

[1:20:11] Juani: Which one?

[1:20:12] Big Juan's's: Which what?

[1:20:13] Juani: Which one should I paint over?

[1:20:15] Big Juan's points to one.

[1:20:16] Juani: That one, please.

[1:20:18] Big Juan's's: No, that one's my favorite.

[1:20:20] Juani: Okay. That one.

[1:20:22] Big Juan's's: This one?

[1:20:23] Juani: Yes. But on a white canvas.

[1:20:27] Big Juan's's: It looks like you had an accident.

[1:20:29] Juani: It's modern.

[1:20:30] Big Juan's's: It's bullshit. That's the kind of shit that makes people hate art.

[1:20:33] Juani: What do you know about art?

[1:20:34] Big Juan's's: Same as you, nothing.

[1:20:36] Big Juan's claps his hands.

[1:20:37] Tunero stands at attention.

[1:20:39] Big Juan's's: He clicks his tongue and the bird runs off.

[1:20:42] Juani: Juan.

[1:20:43] Big Juan's goes without responding.

[1:20:47] Juani follows.

[1:20:48] Boozy and Juani are left alone.

[1:20:50] Juani picks up an old painting and paints on it.

[1:20:53] Boozy lies on the ground.

[1:20:57] Boozy: How did this happen? How did I become dead? How did I become my mother?

[1:21:09] Boozy: And so more days pass just this way. Drinking, followed by mistakes, followed by crowing, followed by training, followed by performances of grief.

[1:21:21] Boozy: And before long, a couple weeks even, Tunero has changed.

[1:21:26] Boozy: He is no longer gentle. He is lean. He is a machine.

[1:21:30] Boozy: Big Juan's has succeeded.

[1:21:35] Boozy: But no one appears to be congratulating him.

[1:21:38] Tunero twirls knives in his hands while doing squats.

[1:21:44] Tunero: He kicks and somersaults and punches while Boozy decomposes on the lawn.

[1:21:57] Boozy: It is a spectacle to behold.

[1:21:59] Tunero: He gears up for a big finish, a final flourish of kicks and punches.

[1:22:03] Tunero: He sets his sights on one of Juani's paintings and puts his foot right through it.

[1:22:12] Big Juan's's: Shit, son, you better put your little pictures in the house. He'll wreck them all.

[1:22:15] Big Juan's's: Plus, we need the yard for Tunero.

[1:22:23] Juani: Well, where will I paint?

[1:22:24] Big Juan's's: Paint at school.

[1:22:25] Juani: I can't paint at school. I only have art for like 40 minutes a week.

[1:22:28] Big Juan's's: The paint in your room or quit that shit. Where's that gonna get you?

[1:22:31] Juani starts to collect his paintings.

[1:22:33] Boozy scoops herself up off the lawn and stumbles over to her husband.

[1:22:37] Boozy: Let's go have a drink.

[1:22:39] Big Juan's ignores her completely and walks out.

[1:22:43] Boozy: What the hell you want from me?

[1:22:47] Boozy wanders off.

[1:22:49] Juani approaches the bird and touches his feathers.

[1:22:55] Tunero: Don't you touch my feathers?

[1:22:59] Tunero: You hear me? You hear me?

[1:23:02] Juani: Okay, okay.

[1:23:03] Big Juan's comes out with a shot of rum and an apple.

[1:23:05] Big Juan's's: He sees Tunero holding Juani.

[1:23:09] Tunero shoves Juani off, but stares him down.

[1:23:14] Boozy: Juani is a threat to the bird he's become.

[1:23:18] Big Juan's's: Better stay away from that bird, son. They can be very aggressive.

[1:23:23] Juani: You made him that way.

[1:23:25] Big Juan's's: It's his nature. Tomorrow is a big day.

[1:23:28] Big Juan's genuflects before the Santa Barbara.

[1:23:31] Big Juan's's: He puts Tunero in his cage and goes, leaving the boy and the rooster alone.

[1:23:38] Juani: You know, once my dad is asleep, I can sneak out.

[1:23:38] Tunero: Yeah?

[1:23:38] Juani: I can sneak out here and lie down with you like we used to.

[1:23:45] Tunero: Why would I want to do that?

[1:23:47] Juani: You can still be tough tomorrow, but tonight, maybe tonight you can be gentle. Like you are, deep down inside.

[1:23:56] Tunero: Call me gentle again, and I'll peck you in the neck.

[1:24:00] Juani: Okay. I won't call you that anymore.

[1:24:04] Tunero: Are you afraid?

[1:24:05] Juani: No.

[1:24:06] Juani: What do I have to be afraid of? Look at me.

[1:24:08] Tunero: You could lose.

[1:24:09] Juani: Why would I lose?

[1:24:11] Tunero: Maybe the other bird will be stronger.

[1:24:12] Juani: Unlikely.

[1:24:14] Tunero: How can you be so sure?

[1:24:16] Juani: How can you have any doubt? You could die.

[1:24:18] Tunero: There's always something next, right?

[1:24:22] Juani: You remember? You remember your first day?

[1:24:27] Tunero: Of course I remember. I remember everything.

[1:24:33] Juani: But I don't want to remember. I don't want to remember you or anything about you.

[1:24:38] Tunero: All I want is blood and bones. All I want is victory. Now buzz off.

[1:24:45] Juani: I wish you could like fly away from here. Just flap your wings and fly to a place where you'd be free.

[1:24:53] Tunero: But you can't. Because no matter how hard you flap, gravity will always win.

[1:24:59] Juani: Gravity sucks.

[1:25:01] Boozy: There's a look of desperate plea in Tunero's eyes. But Juani can't see it. All he can see is a friend who's moved on.

[1:25:09] Tunero: Juanito.

[1:25:11] Putika: Shh shh. You'll wake him.

[1:25:14] Putika is dressed in her gown, the one they picked out earlier from the catalog.

[1:25:19] Putika: It came. Juani was right. She looks like Cinderella.

[1:25:23] Juani: What do you think?

[1:25:25] Putika: I don't really want to talk right now.

[1:25:27] Putika: What happened to your painting?

[1:25:29] Juani: It broke.

[1:25:30] Putika: Looks like it was kicked.

[1:25:32] Juani says nothing.

[1:25:34] Putika: Uh, are you gonna say anything about my dress?

[1:25:37] Juani: You know what, Belkus? I don't want to talk about your stupid dress, okay?

[1:25:41] Putika: You think it's stupid?

[1:25:42] Juani: Yeah. I mean.

[1:25:47] Juani: It's not stupid. It's fine.

[1:25:51] Putika: Did you get a suit?

[1:25:53] Juani: I'm not going.

[1:25:54] Putika: But you said—

[1:25:56] Juani: I said maybe.

[1:25:57] Putika: But if I got the dress—

[1:25:58] Juani: I said maybe. And now the answer is no.

[1:26:01] Juani: So you know what? Fuck off, Putika.

[1:26:04] Putika: Huh?

[1:26:04] Juani: Go find another boy who actually likes you and who actually wants to take you to dances and put their dick on you after, okay? I'm not that boy. And I'm never gonna be that boy. So fuck off.

[1:26:16] Juani gathers the rest of his paintings and goes inside.

[1:26:21] Putika: I don't care about your dick, Juani. I care about you.

[1:26:26] Boozy: She is alone now. She goes to the Santa Barbara.

[1:26:30] Boozy: She sits at her feet and drinks her shot of rum.

[1:26:33] Boozy: She takes a bite of her apple.

[1:26:38] Boozy: I know you're a lawn ornament, but I feel compelled to ask you for a favor.

[1:26:43] Boozy: Well, two favors. Number one, can you please help Juani to not be such an asshole?

[1:26:50] Boozy: Because I am a very sensitive girl despite my tough exterior, and I don't want to get on his junk.

[1:26:57] Boozy: Why do guys think anyone wants to get on their junk? I've never seen it in person, but it looks really nasty online.

[1:27:04] Boozy: I just don't want to feel lonely anymore. And he's like the only one around here who knows what I'm ever even talking about.

[1:27:12] Boozy: I look normal, but I'm not normal.

[1:27:16] Boozy: I'm crazy. I have crazy ideas. Number two, can you please send a date for the freshman cotillion to my door? Because if you don't, my life will be ruined. My abuela Nila will be mad she spent $400 on a dress that I can't wear anywhere, and I won't get an iPad. If I don't get an iPad soon, I will have no choice but to take my own life by climbing up to the roof and jumping off. That is my prayer. And thanks for the rum. It was nice of you to offer. She's been drunk for weeks. And here now, she's having a flash of clarity.

[1:28:04] Boozy: I'm not a princess. I must be doing some dreaming. Or else. I know. I am going to die. Juani is only Juani won't go with me to the freshman cotillion, and now I'm gonna have to go alone.

[1:28:32] Putika: You will not die. Juani is only one boy. And I want to tell you that Juani can make your dreams come true. Because he's gay.

[1:28:43] Boozy: No, because he's a man. Listen to me, Muneca. Don't make the same mistake as me. Don't let no man break your stride. Mira la santa. I was just talking to her, kind of like talking to yourself.

[1:29:03] Putika: No. Because La Santa, she hears.

[1:29:09] Boozy: I hope so. No, this bitch right here. She says survivor. She said, men fucked you. Fucked you. I believe in something bigger than you. But men, they don't like when we don't need what they got. There wasn't no man in the sky with a white beard protecting her. It was her. This is what nobody tells you. The Lord is you, baby. La Santa Barbara is you at your best. But you know what? Eventually, they got her. You know, they cut off her head because a bitch gets tired. A bitch says, fuck it, cut it off. So I can get some rest. And she let that happen. She let them do it because she knew she would always have something. All those people who wanted to kill her didn't. Faith.

[1:30:28] Putika: What do you want to be when you grow up?

[1:30:30] Boozy: I am grown up.

[1:30:31] Putika: Yeah, you grow up like I'm a sober.

[1:30:34] Boozy: Not very.

[1:30:35] Putika: Exactly. But I mean, like when you're more grown up.

[1:30:40] Boozy: A doctor.

[1:30:41] Putika: A doctor. No shit.

[1:30:46] Boozy: You listen to me, mommy. There's gonna be a lot of people that say you can be no doctor. You send those people to Boozy. I'll occupy them so you can proceed without distractions.

[1:31:01] Putika: Okay, mommy. Me niña bonita. You go in your big beautiful dress and you do what you wanna do. Solita. Don't wait for nobody.

[1:31:17] Boozy: Thanks, Boosie. Putika goes. And so Putika listened to Boozy in part. Only instead of dancing alone at the freshman cotillion like some kind of drunken showgirl, she skipped the dance, returned to that dress, and bought herself an iPad.

[1:31:40] Boozy: Boozy notices Tunero sleeping. She creeps up to the bird and just stares at him at his beautiful feathers. She opens the door of his cage and reaches in. She lures him out by running her finger along the length of his body.

[1:32:25] Boozy: Because Juan, Big Juan's, that man is all lies. He's gonna tell you again and again that you're gonna be something. But really, you're gonna end up death by a thousand cuts, because that's what Big Juan's does, leads you straight to death.

[1:32:55] Boozy: What is it? You only live so long before you meet your match. One bird has to die. Only a matter of time before that bird is you. She runs her fingers along his chest. He runs his fingers along hers. You're just like Juani. You don't have feathers either. You don't need feathers to fly. She takes Tunero's face and presses it to her breasts. You want to be my hand? Just like that, she grabs him by the neck. I can break you little chicken. Because that's the only way I can break his heart the way he's broken mine. And then I can block you and bread you and fry you. But I won't. Because there's so much more power in letting you live. In letting you go on with your chicken life. In letting you meet your fate without my intervention.

I've never been as impressed by you as all the boys are. That's the thing about men. They admire a lot of stuff that don't mean shit. Guns, dogs, birds. You've stolen my family. But you know what? Have him. They were never really mine anyway. Keep 'em. I don't want him anymore. See if I care. She unhands the bird, who tries to chase her some, but she just laughs him off, stomps her feet, and he scampers back into his cage. She closes the cage door behind him. Stupid bird. Thinks he's ten feet tall when really he's only a couple of inches high. She lies down on the ground, satisfied. As she sleeps, Juani returns. He goes to La Santa Barbara.

[1:35:13] Juani: What do I do? Hello. Hello. Yeah, that's what I thought. Nothing. As usual. He picks up his palette and dips his brush in black. He goes to the saint and paints a mustache on her face. Stupid saint. Everyone here thinks you're so special, but I don't. You want to know why? You don't ever do anything. You just stand there with your stupid crown on and your stupid sword that you never use. You know, if you're so great. If you're supposed to be watching over us, why don't you actually do something? Huh? Why don't you tell me how to save my friend? Juani rests at the feet of La Santa.

[1:36:12] Juani: In the night, this final night, there's a heavy rain, terrifying thunder. In Florida, when it rains, it rains. But in Florida, the rain passes so quickly, and the sun rises to dry Juani, Boozy, and Tunero. They are drenched. Tunero crows. Juani and Boozy are awoken by the crow. They sit up and see one another. Must have rained in the night. Must have been a storm. We slept through it. Big Juan's emerges from the house. He opens the cage door and Tunero emerges. Big Juan's has his bag of treasures. He opens the bag and dumps the contents. This time he doesn't have to pin Tunero down. Tunero helps himself into his weaponry. He attaches the knives to his ankles and to his wrists. He spikes his mohawk.

That's it, bird. Look proud. This bird is a fierce warrior, armed for battle. Juani, vamos. I'm gonna say a prayer. Big Juan's gets on his knees to pray. Boozy and Juani stay right where they were, frozen. Juani, come. As Big Juan prays, Tunero also stands frozen. He steals himself. Papa Dios, La Santa Barbara. Please hear my prayer. But the prayer is interrupted. Juani falls at Tunero's feet and softly weeps. The bird looks down at the weeping boy. Then he looks at Big Juan's. Juani's weeping grows into a wail. The wail goes on, real. No performance. Big Juan's watches. Now that sounds like the real deal.

[1:38:06] Big Juan's's: Juani, you're crying. Please. Don't do it. Please don't do it.

[1:38:13] Juani: Don't do what?

[1:38:14] Big Juan's's: Fight him.

[1:38:17] Juani: What are you talking about? This is what we've been working for. He's gonna lose. The Bravos never lose.

[1:38:22] Big Juan's's: Yes, we do. We're losers.

[1:38:25] Juani: You shut up. Listen to me, son. This is his calling.

[1:38:30] Juani: No, it's not. It's yours. It's not too late.

[1:38:34] Big Juan's's: He signed up. If I don't go, they're gonna call me a coward.

[1:38:37] Juani: Look at me. You think your daddy's a coward, Juani? That's what you think. We're gonna go. And you're gonna see just how great this bird is.

[1:38:47] Juani: I'm not going.

[1:38:48] Big Juan's's: What?

[1:38:48] Juani: I'm not going. I can't.

[1:38:54] Big Juan's's: You can stay here with Boozy. You can always stay here with Boozy. I'm doing this for you, son. All this for you. Pablo, I know you won't let me touch you anymore, but I want you to know that you've been the best friend I've ever had. And I'm so sorry that you have to go. And I hope that you come back today. But if you don't, if you don't come back, I want you to know that I love you. I love you with all my heart. And I will always remember you for as long as I live.

[1:39:24] Big Juan's's: Yeah, Papi, you gotta be a man now. Juani's wailing has evolved into the worst kind of grief, the kind that lacks sound. Wide mouth, gasping grief, transcending this moment, hurtling young Juani back to his infancy. Boozy goes to him silently. She wraps her arms around him. Big Juan's is torn in two. He looks to his son, he looks to his bird. He chooses the bird. Come on, bird. Time to go. Ready to fight, sir. Big Juan's starts to leave the patio, but just as he does, he looks at the saint who gives him a wink. He looks at the saint again. La Santa.

[1:40:12] Big Juan's's: And suddenly he hears a voice. And though the voice has been with us for some time. This is her first intervention. La Santa Barbara speaks.

[1:40:27] La Santa Barbara: Juan Bravo!

[1:40:30] Big Juan's's: My Dios, La Santa está hablando! Juani, can you hear she speaking?

[1:40:34] La Santa Barbara: He can't hear me, Juan. Often we can only hear the things we believe. You believe in me, don't you?

[1:40:42] Big Juan's's: I do.

[1:40:43] La Santa Barbara: Good. And you believe in Juani?

[1:40:46] Big Juan's's: What do you mean?

[1:40:47] La Santa Barbara: I mean what I say. Do you believe in the boy?

[1:40:49] Big Juan's's: Of course I do. He's right there. I can see him.

[1:40:52] La Santa Barbara: You don't appear to see him. Or hear him.

[1:40:55] Big Juan's's: I hear him crying.

[1:40:57] La Santa Barbara: Why does he cry?

[1:40:59] Big Juan's's: He's acting like a child.

[1:41:01] La Santa Barbara: Is he not a child?

[1:41:02] Big Juan's's: He's not.

[1:41:03] La Santa Barbara: He's grown up.

[1:41:04] Big Juan's's: And you he shouldn't be crying over a bird.

[1:41:06] La Santa Barbara: He cries for more than his bird, but yes, he cries for the bird too.

[1:41:10] Big Juan's's: The bird you've stolen from him.

[1:41:11] La Santa Barbara: He's mine 100%. That was my money that bought the bird.

[1:41:15] Big Juan's's: Money has nothing to do with possession. Besides, what's yours is Juani's. You're his inheritance.

[1:41:24] Big Juan's's: Not gonna be much left when I'm gone.

[1:41:27] La Santa Barbara: You're likely to persist from well beyond the grave, my friend. That's why I want to make something of this bird. Because, Santa, this is America. You have to earn everything you got.

[1:41:46] La Santa Barbara: I know what country we're in. I can see it now.

[1:41:50] La Santa Barbara: I'm delighted you let me out of the house. It's terrible in there and hot. No wonder the boy sleeps on the patio. You should stop investing in eggs and start investing in air conditioning.

[1:42:02] Big Juan's's: This is Florida, West Tampa, in the shadow of Buccaneers Stadium. It's not that hot.

[1:42:08] La Santa Barbara: It's sweltering. Help your son.

[1:42:11] Big Juan's's: No, he's gotta learn to be a man on his own.

[1:42:16] La Santa Barbara: If that's what it takes to be a man, then he's already a man. A bigger man than you.

[1:42:28] Big Juan's's: What the hell's that supposed to mean?

[1:42:31] La Santa Barbara: What glory is this one, Bravo? This wreckage. What is it for? To take God's creatures and pit them against one another for the sake of your profit.

[1:42:45] Big Juan's's: My reputation is on the line.

[1:42:47] La Santa Barbara: Why must you have more when you already have so much?

[1:42:51] Big Juan's's: I have nothing.

[1:42:52] La Santa Barbara: If you fight that bird, you crush your son. You fight that bird, you snuff out the light he's got inside him.

[1:42:59] Big Juan's's: Hey Santa, no diga eso!

[1:43:02] La Santa Barbara: I speak the truth. This dream has a high cost. He needs you. He can't go it alone.

[1:43:09] Big Juan's's: He's a tough boy. He's always been alone. Juan. Juan the brave.

[1:43:17] La Santa Barbara: Your boy's only a baby, a baby born with a great burden, a baby who cost his mother her life. So heavy is his burden that he's never again asked for anything more than a paintbrush and some lousy canvases until now. This is the moment that will make all the difference.

[1:43:50] Big Juan's's: My boy.

[1:43:51] La Santa Barbara: Oh, he is. But Juan's smart people suffer too. Mirame, Principe Lindo. Llorando. Maybe I'm a terrible father.

[1:44:09] La Santa Barbara: You don't need to be a hero. Only a father. There is only one true hero. God. Or something like that.

[1:44:19] Big Juan's's: You?

[1:44:20] La Santa Barbara: Oh no, not me. I'm only just a statue. And a voice. Go to your son. Before his heart comes out of his mouth and burns up in the hot sun. Go to your son and Juan. Do the right thing. You can do it. Oh, and Juan, one more thing. Tell everyone to stop drinking my fucking rum.

[1:44:59] Narrator: Juan goes to his son, who is enveloped by Boozy. He put his hand on Juani's shoulder.

[1:45:10] Big Juan's's: No lores, mijo. No yours. Your daddy says, don't cry. I won't fight the bird.

[1:45:24] Narrator: Big Juan's goes to the bird and takes off all of his knives.

[1:45:33] Big Juan's's: Go. Do what you do. Do what comes naturally, bird.

[1:45:40] Narrator: And so he did. The bird lived a natural life. Free from the demands of desperate men, Flacco, Big Wan's good buddy, he was a fraud. Sold Big Juan a 50 cent egg for $50. Tenero wasn't bred to be a champion. He was bred to crow, to peck, to breed. His death would have been Big Juan's's death. And so Juani saved his father's life in a way. He saved his father's life by showing him his heart. And when faced with his son's heart, he called upon something quite divine within himself.

[1:46:30] Boozy: What now?

[1:46:35] Big Juan's's: Drink. Chunk pain. And you can get me dinner too. Something fancy, not some kind of piece of ship buffet.

[1:46:47] Boozy: Oh yeah, baby. Real fancy. What you gonna get? Steak? Salmon? Shaking. Let me get my purse. I'll buy you some new brushes and what, like canvases you need, right?

[1:47:06] Juani: And brushes, paint. Yeah, I'm really low on everything.

[1:47:10] Big Juan's's: We'll go to the store. Big Wan runs his hands through Juani's hair. We'll get you what you need, Mibida.

[1:47:18] Narrator: Big Wan goes. Juani lingers for a moment, taking it all in. The Santa, the bird. Tunero, kid to Nero, Pablo is just a regular rooster. He can't talk or twirl knives or kiss young artists. He is small compared to many roosters, the type you might not even notice. He has no special talents whatsoever. But for a few weeks, one spring in Tampa, the little bird had such power. Chick! Because he was given that power. Just as I, a simple statue was.

[1:48:28] Narrator: Sometimes before one of Juani's gallery openings in Miami or Bushwick or Berlin. They'd slow down, drink a little less, so they could witness their son become something of a legend himself. The end.

[1:49:21] ♪ Musical number ♪

[1:52:05] Iyvon Edebiri: Hello. Hi, hi Bye. Okay, before we get into our interview, I wanna um just give a beautiful round of applause to our wonderful cast. They were so great.

[1:52:21] Peter Gil-Sheridan: So how do you feel?

[1:52:23] Iyvon Edebiri: That was a really great reading. They did such a good job.

[1:52:26] Peter Gil-Sheridan: I feel really wonderful. It's been a long time since I've heard the play. And I think some of the actors are returning, returning to the play, so they know it. And some of the newbies really got right into it right away. So it was a really wonderful mix.

[1:52:43] Iyvon Edebiri: I love that. And so I know you talked a little bit about this in the first question that I asked about, you know, what would the world be missing if it didn't have this play. And you hinted a little bit, but can you talk more about what inspired you to write this play?

[1:52:59] Peter Gil-Sheridan: Yeah, so I I grew up I'm from uh I'm I'm biracial. My mom lives in New Jersey. She's um an Irish American lady, and my father is a Cuban guy who's a forklift mechanic in Tampa. Um and this isn't necessarily exactly who my father is, but I tried to capture his charisma because I think he has a lot of it and his energy and capture a lot of the women, the Cuban women in my life and some of their energy, although none of the Cuban women in my life are alcoholics. Um or the men for that matter. Um, but um I wanted um to kind of create that feeling of an unstable environment that I felt growing up. Um I'm not an artist, uh like a painter artist. Yeah. Um so that's where it comes from. It it came from. It's almost a kind of a tribute to my father in a weird way. Um as I said earlier, I think that you know, years ago, my father would not have made the right choice, but I think he would now. Yeah. And that's pretty cool.

[1:54:05] Iyvon Edebiri: Love that. And you just touch based a little bit on this on the on the characters. They were so vivid, so colorful, you know, so visceral and so funny. And like where did you get the inspirations? If not your family, where did you get the inspirations for these characters?

[1:54:23] Peter Gil-Sheridan: Yeah, I mean, I I think I came up with this idea for the rooster thing, you know. Just I thought it would be so fun to dress up Alex Hernandez like a rooster and see what happens. Yeah, I mean, I just I wanted, I thought of the name Boozy Floozy one day, and I thought, wouldn't it be fun to write a showgirl named Boozy Floozy? And so it sort of came together in the weird way that plays come together, you know, not all in one day. It started off with, you know, imagining this rooster coming to life and it having this fairy tale feeling. Um I feel like it's almost a children's story with adult themes, you know. So adult fable, yeah, yeah, yeah. It definitely, it definitely I think wants to have that vibe.

So I don't know if that answers where the inspiration comes from, but I think I think there's something so Cuban about all of it. The just the the energy and the sense of like there were no chickens growing up. Well, that's not true. You know, my cousin Vicky was the singer here tonight. And actually, I'm remembering now that my father did live on a farm for a long time. I kind of blocked this out of my memory. But there were, in fact, chickens walking around. I literally forgot about that, right, Vicky? I'm thinking that I always think of my childhood as the place on West Palm Meadow Street by the stadium. But when I was like an older teenager, my father moved to a farm to like remember his farm roots.

And there were fucking chickens everywhere. Yeah. I just literally occurring to me right now. Yeah, yeah. So that yeah, that's and also, oh my gosh, the big thing that I forget is that the eight-foot-tall statue of the Santa Barbara still lives in my father's house, and she has lived in my father's house all my life. And when I used to go down there and stay in Tampa in the summer, because I always went in the summers, I often would stay in the living room and sleep like right beneath her.

[1:56:23] Peter Gil-Sheridan: Oh my god. And she would watch me all night. So I kind of dig her. She's kind of amazing. That's kind of terrifying when you sleep under religious figures. It's totally frightening. And she should be out on a lawn. She's eight feet tall. So and my father puts out rum for her and an apple for her, you know. Like, I don't know if he's still does he still do that, Vicky? I don't know if he's still doing it because his wife was one of his more into Santa Barbara. Right, right, right, right. But she but the Santa Barbara is still there. She's still there. I hope to inherit her someday. Yes. I'm sure my husband will be thrilled with that. Oh, a daily tribute of rum. Exactly. It's an eight-foot woman.

We love it. This way was chosen in 2020. So three years later, here we are. And some of the there are so many things that really struck me about the play. One on top of it being just really, really fucking funny. But I think it's really just a pretty beautiful and brilliant about how the play deals with toxic masculinity, it deals with addiction, it deals with you know familial trauma. Um, and it's all channeled and challenged, I would say, by the presence of this rooster, this cock. And so I just actually wanted to know like why, why, why this animal and like what does it represent to you and or the culture that you you grew up in and were part of?

[1:57:47] Peter Gil-Sheridan: Yeah, I mean, I think you know, the rooster is probably I think the ultimate symbol of like masculinity, right? Like the breeder, right? The the the big tough man, right? And I think that I'm so drawn to that masculinity, you know, uh that's what I enjoy sexually. Um but also my my father really admires that as well, um, and and really admires strength and um bravado. Um and so the rooster just is such a great kind of thing for them to like do battle over. Um to they seem, you know, they seem like they have such disparate interest in the world and yet their interests are exactly the same. So it just it just feels like the right animal. I don't feel like it would be as good if it were a horse.

Or like a bull or a bull, a bull could have word. I think they did the Edward Alby did the goat. And yeah, yeah. We've had a lot of horse plays. We do. Yeah, yeah. So um, could you see this as like um like equus for equus? That's so funny that a horse but Equis is a horse but um, but yeah. I mean, I think, yeah, I think it's a it's a funny balance. I think when you do the play, you have to you have to like walk the line between him being a man and a rooster, right? Like that's kind of the fun of it. So I think if you if you walk it right, you kind of start to forget that he's well, I don't know if you forget he's a rooster, but you you um you I think you can you can begin to sort of empathize, empathize with him and sort of see that that being brutal is something that has to be trained into you.

That organically a rooster's nature is not to kill a rooster is a seducer, a rooster is can be gentle, right? Um I know that they also can organically be a little mean, but um, but but they're not they're not organically fighters. Um and I think you know, I think the rooster like really symbolizes what I think I used to think my father wanted me to be, and I was actually really Wanny, and I wasn't the rooster. Um and so that sort of feeling like I was being as a kid like trained to be like that when it was so the opposite of who I was. Like I just was there was no world where I was ever gonna be that. Yeah, I couldn't even begin to try to be that. So I think the rooster that we see at the beginning of the play is closer to who I am and who Wani is, and the rooster that we see at the end of the play um is who my father thought he was, and I don't think that's him either.

Right. I think my father is the guy who gets schooled by the Santa Barbara, yeah. And of course, the Santa Barbara is him. Yeah, it's all happening in his head. Right. He talks himself out of it, right? Yeah. And decides not to fight the bird. Which and it's through this divine feminine energy and intervention. Energy. Right, yeah. Right. Which I also think was just like brilliant and beautiful. Yeah. So like when it comes, I guess my next question is nature nurture where where have you fallen into, especially like through the development of writing this play.

[2:01:10] Peter Gil-Sheridan: Yeah. Well, there's talk right in the play about this is his nature. This is his nature. And um I think it isn't his nature. It's really um it's he's really nurturing to be this way. And Wani is so longing for nurturing as well through the play. Um, that he's he's there, he he's there sort of appearing in his own natural form, but is desperate for attention and desperate for care. And his parents are so deep into their addiction and their own problems and their own sort of narratives that they aren't able to do that to take care of him. So I think the play moves towards sort of learning how to nurture him. Yeah. Have you have you seen a cock fight? Did you go see like okay? Did you do any research into cockpit?

I did research, I read about it, but I don't want to see it. Yeah, I don't think I could deal with that. Yeah, I don't think I've seen one, and it's still kind of I kind of looked into it and I was like, huh. I think because I read that knives were and I was like, damn, they really got birds, holding knives. Yeah, they I read about that. I so there's actually the magazine Cocker is a real magazine, and they actually strap knives and scissors and hooks and all kinds of things into their feet so that when they fly up, they that section where he talks about hooking them and all that like really brutal stuff is really real. Um, obviously, in the play, it would have to be like man size, which I think would be terrifying to see.

Right. Um, that rooster has like so much movement in this play. Um, is something that I've I would I would very much like to see Alex Hernandez do. Studying again. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, but it would be, I mean, you know, it's such a big physical role, and it's actually almost like to the idea of like twirling knives and the danger of that, I think is is um is important for the play. Yeah. I love it. Okay, so we're gonna start to wrap up. Okay. Have a couple last questions for you. Um, okay, so first one is what does queerness mean to you? Either personally, artistically, privately, publicly, and this is the question that we're asking all of our playwrights or season six, who are all queer. And so we want to know what does queerness mean to you.

[2:03:27] Peter Gil-Sheridan: I mean, queerness means freedom to me. Um it means being able to um you know live with my lovely husband and have our poodle. Um, but it it also I think means sort of allowing myself to fit uneasily into my family the way that I do, um, to live inside those contradictions and those complexities. I think that they've come around to accepting me, and I think I've also come around to accepting them. Um so for me, I think I mean there's no other option but being queer for me. So um it means freedom.

[2:04:09] Peter Gil-Sheridan: Yeah, I love that. Um, and then our last question is what did you have for breakfast this morning?

[2:04:17] Peter Gil-Sheridan: I know, right? A hard one. I had a bowl of life cereal with one Splenda on it, and then I went to a fucking orange theory fitness class. Yes. And I'm still sweating from it. It's so that's that that was what I think cereal got you through. It got me through that one hour. That's right. That's right. I actually forget about life cereal. Yeah, it's good. Cinnamon Life is better, but we didn't have that. But there's also a game called Life. The game of life with that great spinner and the cars and the life. Yes. That you don't own any of the things you should own. Right, exactly. And that you have like six kids. Yeah. And one car. It's like great, thank you. Right, right. I love that for myself.

[2:05:08] Iyvon Edebiri: Oh, thank you so much, Peter, for the interview. Um, okay, so we're gonna um we have some thank yous uh to all of our artistic collaborators who were part of this episode. So to our wonderful, wonderful cast tonight, Andrea Negrete, Kelley Rae O'Donnell, Alex Hernandez, Miles Gutierrez-Riley, Annie Henk, and David Anzuelo. This episode was directed by Anna Brenner, and our musicians tonight are Vicki Quintero and Nakul Agrawal. And Cockfight was written by Peter Gil-Sheridan. Thank you to our sound engineer and editor Luke De Cola. And thank you to our TPS team and producer Business Lunch Productions. BLP is a leading creative agency based in New York City, working with creatives all over the world.

And thank you to the Marco Donnell Theater at the Entertainment Community Fund Art Center for having us in their space in downtown Brooklyn. Before we hear our last song from our wonderful musicians tonight, um, we want to just say please follow us on Facebook and Instagram at the Parsnipship NY to help support TPS and reach new audiences. Please share your experiences here and our episodes across social media networks. You can also listen to our past seasons on iTunes, Spotify, Broadway Podcast Network, and anywhere you hear your podcasts. New plays, new music. This is how we hear theater.

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