Come See the Paradise Page #3

LILY:

I like baseball, creep.

CHARLIE:

Oh sh*t, did you lock up?

JACK:

No, I gave you the keys.

CHARLIE:

I'll be back. Talk about baseball.

LILY:

So, you work in my father's theater?

CHARLIE:

Yeah, projectionist.

LILY:

The films must be boring for you.

CHARLIE:

No. No. Some people would kill to get my job. The last guy

even killed himself.

LILY:

Are you from Los Angeles?

CHARLIE:

No, I'm from Philadelphia by way of New York. I just got out

here. And you?

LILY:

Little Tokyo. By way of Little Tokyo.

JACK:

Your father?

LILY:

Ah, he's Issei. First generation. He's from Wakayama, Japan.

JACK:

Issei.

LILY:

Mm hm. But all us kids were born right here. Nisei.

JACK:

Nisei.

LILY:

Nisei. That's us. Second generation.

JACK:

Oh.

LILY:

What happened to your hands?

JACK:

Oh, it's a long story.

LILY:

Do they hurt?

JACK:

Only when I use chopsticks. Um, you work in the costume shop

long?

LILY:

Uh, since school.

JACK:

And uh, your father owns that, too, or...?

LILY:

Oh no, and he only rents the movie theater. He's not allowed to

own it. He's Japanese. It's against the law.

JACK:

What, he never became a citizen or uh...?

LILY:

That's against the law, too, for Japanese.

JACK:

Well, I didn't know that.

LILY:

Not many people do.

JACK:

You're really beautiful, Lily.

LILY:

Thank you.

JACK:

I was expecting a plate of steamed dumplings.

LILY:

To eat?

JACK:

No. To have lunch with. Can I kiss you?

LILY:

What?

JACK:

Can I kiss you?

LILY:

Shall we order?

JACK:

What, the steamed dumplings?

LILY:

To eat?

JACK:

To eat...to have lunch with...to play baseball with...to kiss...

LILY:

Just order.

JACK:

Oh, I'm only serious. Can I kiss you again?

LILY:

It'll give you indigestion.

JACK:

Kampai.

LILY:

Kampai.

SCENE 17

DULCIE:

You let him kiss you, just like that?

LILY:

Uh huh.

DULCIE:

In a chop suey restaurant? Are you gonna tell Mama?

LILY:

No. And neither are you.

DULCIE:

You're gonna go dancing?

LILY:

Uh huh. Maybe.

DULCIE:

Are you gonna kiss him again?

LILY:

Maybe.

DULCIE:

Are you gonna...do it?

LILY:

Do it?

DULCIE:

You know...it.

LILY:

Dulcie, I just met him!

DULCIE:

You kissed him in a chop suey restaurant for God sake!

LILY:

Well, if I did, I'm certainly not going to tell you.

DULCIE:

I guess this means you're not going to marry Mr. Fujioka.

LILY:

No, I'm not.

DULCIE:

Papa's gonna kill you if he finds out.

SCENE 18Jack and Lily dance.

SCENE 19

JACK:

Mr. Ogata left this behind before the rest of his spirit departed

for heaven.

LILY:

Poor Mr. Ogata. I never saw him sober...How did you burn your

hands?

JACK:

Oh, in a fire. It was a mistake. I was a sweat shop lawyer for

the New York Projectionists Union.

LILY:

What's a sweat shop lawyer?

JACK:

Not a real lawyer. Nothing special. Just anybody in the union

who can read. The Noris-La Guardia Anti-Injunction Act to the

Wagner Labor Relations Act. I know them all. Every line, every

comma. Got me into trouble.

LILY:

Why?

JACK:

Because we lost sight of what we were fighting for. It got too

rough. I'm not proud of it, but it's in the past. Startin'

over. From nothin' to nothin.'

LILY:

Tell me about your wife.

JACK:

Uh, we were eighteen when we got married and it didn't work. She

went back to Ireland.

LILY:

Why did she do that?

JACK:

She had an accident. She worked in a shoe factory and her hair

got caught in one of the machines...It wasn't serious but she was

pregnant and the shock of it made her lose the baby. I wasn't

there. I was at a meeting. She wasn't happy here so her sister

paid for a ticket and she took the boat back home. Can't blame

her. I guess she'd had enough of America...or enough of me...You

don't like sake.

LILY:

I hate it.

JACK:

I'm gonna take you home.

LILY:

No. It's better if I go on my own. I'll be fine. If Papa sees

you, you'll be joining Mr. Ogata in heaven.

JACK:

Good night.

LILY:

Good night.

SCENE 20

MINI:

Did you really kiss him in the chop suey restaurant?

LILY:

Yes, I did.

MINI:

Weren't you embarrassed?

LILY:

A little, maybe...No, it seemed a nice thing to do. Come to

think of it, I wasn't embarrassed one little bit.

MINI:

Weren't people looking at you?

LILY:

I didn't notice.

MINI:

God, you were kissing him already and you hardly knew him!

LILY:

Somehow it didn't seem to matter.

MINI:

Did you love him?

LILY:

Oh, yes. Very much.

MINI:

Did you go to lots of nice places?

LILY:

Some.

MINI:

What did Papa Kawamura say?

SCENE 21

PAPA K:

No.

LILY:

Papa, let's just talk about it even.

PAPA K:

No!

LILY:

Papa.

PAPA K:

No! No! No! No!

LILY:

Mama?

FAMILY:

Itadakimasu.

SCENE 22

CHARLIE:

Come on. (TO JACK): Did you let him in?

JACK:

No. (TO MAN):
Come on, your Highness. The Prime Minister wants

to tell you how the invasion of China is going.

PAPA K:

*Yells at Jack and fires him.

CHARLIE:

Did you get that?

JACK:

It's about Lily, right?

CHARLIE:

He says your not to see her again. And your fired. He wants you

gone by Friday. It's best, Jack. For her and you. I told you

Jack! Best to get yourself a nice American girl.

SCENE 23

JACK:

Lily? Is Lily here?

MATSUI:

No Lily. Sorry. She not work today.

JACK:

What?

FUMIKO:

She's gone to see her aunt on Terminal Island.

JACK:

Thanks.

SCENE 24Lily thinks about Jack on Terminal Island.

SCENE 25

JACK:

Mr. Kawamura? May I have a word with you, please?

NISHI-

KAWA:

I'll leave you to your domestic problems, Hiroshi!

JACK:

May I sit down, sir? Mr. Kawamura, I'm sorry if I've offended

you, sir. I still don't know why I've offended you...You see,

I'm just a dumb mick from New York and I'm not aware of all your

customs and your traditions and all...But I'm trying really hard

to learn. And I would very much, like to see your daughter

again, sir.

PAPA K:

It's not possible.

JACK:

To go out with her...

PAPA K:

It's not possible.

JACK:

To...

PAPA K:

It's not possible!

JACK:

You can keep saying "It's not possible" all night, Mr. Kawamura.

Mr. Kawamura, I am trying really hard to be respectful, sir.

Honest to God I am. I'm trying really hard to understand what

this must mean to you. But I love your daughter. And I know you

look at me and see some bum who works for you for twenty dollars

a week and doesn't seem to amount to much, I know that. But I

think that I can be better than that, sir. And dumb and stupid

as this may sound, to you, what I can never be, not ever, is

Japanese. But I couldn't love Lily more.

SCENE 26

JACK:

How was Terminal Island?

LILY:

Pretty. We had tea with my aunt. My mother and my sister

stayed. I left. I took the ferry home. They're still probably

looking for me out on the beach.

JACK:

I have to leave.

LILY:

I know. I heard. Where will you go?

JACK:

I don't know. But I want you to come with me. I want to marry

you, Lilly.

SCENE 27

MINI:

You sat up and talked all night?

LILY:

Yep.

MINI:

What did you talk about?

LILY:

Oh, lots of stuff. Your Papa knew so many things...about

politics, history, and everything.

MINI:

Did you kiss?

LILY:

A little.

MINI:

Did you have a big wedding? With Mama and Papa Kawamura? And

Dulcie and Frankie and....

Rate this script:0.0 / 0 votes