ACT TWO

Scene Twenty-four:

"Pride"

The inside of the Gimnasio De Los Hermanos Rivera, it was dark as the night outside. The punching bags stood silently in their corners. The jump ropes and equipment put away.

A few Sharks found sanctuary here in the dark. Quique, Scar, Flaco, and Chucho stood in a circle in the centermost boxing ring inside the gym. They lit a candle in front of a miniature Virgin Mary statuette, placing it on a stool in the middle of their circle. They knelt around it, silently praying, for their friend that would never come back there again.

In the silence, there was a loud click as the lights of the gym suddenly flickered on and they all jumped up to their feet.

"¿Quién está ahí?" Quique announced loudly.

Out of the shadows, a skinny figure emerged with brown hair and his tan bomber jacket.

They saw it was Viktor, shuffling forward without his cane, without a word.

"¿Estás bien, hermano?" Quique asked, a little warily.

Viktor took a second to reply, nodding with a delay. "Bien… bien, Quique," he replied, half looking off into space. "¿Y tú?"

"Mal, muy mal," Quique answered, shaking his head to the floor of the boxing ring.

Viktor slowly walked around the boxing ring, looking around at the equipment. This used to be their place. The Shark's headquarters. The center of it all.

Jayce had always been a natural. Viktor was more suited for books.

Before Jayce got kicked out of high school, the two of them had spent a lot of time here. Jayce would train while Viktor helped tutor him. In the end, Jayce still got expelled, but Viktor never regretted their time together.

"It got so bad so fast," Quique said, "Y Jayce…"

"Jayce está muerto," Viktor said, flatly.

No one responded to that.

Chucho spoke up, "Jayce era el alma de todos nosotros. El más fuerte."

Quique spoke out, "He was a hero." He sniffled, wiping his nose. "I know people say that about a lot of people… pero Jayce sí que lo era…"

"Pero cayó de pendejo."

They all turned and stared at Viktor, their eyes wide.

Viktor looked at them, his gaze serious, uncaring. "Jayce was a fool. What did he die for?" he said with a shrug.

Scar got angry, raising his voice, "Murió luchando por su dignidad…" he argued, stepping toward him, aggressively, "And for pride, mi hermano, orgullo puertorriqueño!"

"Jayce, he died to show the gringos how tough Puerto Ricans are!" Chucho remarked in agreement. "Más fuerte que todos ellos –"

Scar added, pointing to his own chest, "And if they push us too far –"

Viktor narrowed his eyes. "If those nobodies can take your pride away from you, tú eres más estúpido que Jayce!" he spat with venom.

At this, Scar suddenly lunged at the ropes, toward him, ready to fight. The others shouted, trying to grab his arms, to stop him. But they all froze in shock as Viktor pulled out the gun from his pocket, holding it at his side. Only the ropes jiggled in the silence. No one moved.

Just then, the door to the gym opened again.

They all stiffened and turned their heads as they heard heels clacking on the cement floor. A dress swished in the dim light.

Coming into the light… was Sky.

"Viktor!" she breathed in relief, upon seeing him, hurrying over and hugging him.

Viktor didn't move and neither did the other Sharks.

"¡Yo estaba muy preocupado!" she exclaimed, holding him tightly, "I thought you might be here! Te escapaste de Caitlyn con tanta prisa que yo..." She pulled away to look at him, shaking her head. "Lo siento mucho, Viktor. Sé que Jayce significó mucho para ti."

Viktor didn't answer her. He gently took her hands and pushed them off him. She cocked her head to the side.

"Viktor?"

Then her brown eyes, behind identical eyeglasses to his, glanced down and saw the gun clutched in his hand.

She took a half step backward. There was a long pause.

"¿De dónde sacaste eso?" she asked, trying not to sound alarmed.

Viktor pursed his lips. "Tengo que ir, Sky," he said.

"¿Ir a donde?" she asked, holding her breath.

He didn't answer at first.

Sky shook her head, her face stricken. "No. No puedes hablar en serio. Jayce no te dejaría."

He still didn't answer.

"Come on," she grabbed his hand, squeezing it. "Camina a casa conmigo," she said, trembling on a sob. "No es cobarde marcharse. Por favor…"

He stared at her hand with a sad look.

"Adios prima," he said quietly, pulling his hand away. "Déjame en paz."

Then he stepped around her. Tears fell down Sky's face as he walked past her.

The look in his eyes… it wasn't Viktor anymore.

Sky didn't go after him. She stood rooted in place, staring at the opposite wall, biting her lip as her eyes burned. As she covered her face, Flaco and Chucho came out of the ring to comfort her. Scar watched Viktor go, shaking his head.

Viktor circled around the ring, heading toward the door.

"Eso es verdad." Quique spoke up gently as he carefully stepped toward Viktor, "It's a big world. Jayce let the gringos tell him there's only this barrio, these twenty bad blocks…"

Viktor continued walking around the ring without acknowledging him. Quique climbed out of the boxing ring, bending under the ropes and climbing down the platform.

"Pero, Viktor, pana…" he grabbed Viktor's arm, stopping him.

Viktor frowned but didn't move.

Quique looked him in the eyes. "Don't you do what Jayce did. You kill a gringo, they kill you."

Viktor's face was unreadable. His gold eyes dull.

"Sooner or later, the gringos kill everything," he answered.

He stepped out of his grasp, clutching the gun.

As he walked away, Quique chased after him, stepping in front of him once more. "Viktor, Viktor, Viktor, por favor… Sky tenía razón. Jayce no te dejaría hacer eso. Y Caitlyn…"

Viktor's eyelids fluttered for a moment, but he sighed through his nose.

"Don't follow me," was his reply.

Then he walked out of the gym, the darkness swallowing him.

A short distance away, a figure ducked down from behind another boxing ring, staying out of sight of the Sharks, in the shadows.

Ekko's eyes were wide.

/

"¿Quién está ahí?"

"Who is there?"

"¿Estás bien, hermano?"

"How are you, brother?"

"Bien, bien, Quique. ¿Y tú?"

"Good, good, Quique. And you?"

"Mal, muy mal."

"Bad, very bad."

"Y Jayce…"

"And Jayce…"

"Jayce está muerto."

"Jayce was murdered."

"Jayce era el alma de todos nosotros. El más fuerte."

"Jayce was the soul of all of us. The strongest."

"… pero Jayce sí que lo era…"

"… but Jayce sure was…"

"Pero cayó de pendejo."

"But he fell as an asshole."

"Murió luchando por su dignidad… And for pride, mi hermano, orgullo puertorriqueño!"

"He died fighting for his dignity. And for pride, my brother, for Puerto Rican pride!"

"Más fuerte que todos ellos…"

"Stronger than all of them…"

"…tú eres más estúpido que Jayce."

"…you are stupider than Jayce."

"¡Yo estaba muy preocupado! ¡Pensé que podrías estar aquí! Te escapaste de Caitlyn con tanta prisa que yo... Lo siento mucho, Viktor. Sé que Jayce significó mucho para ti".

"I was very worried! I thought you might be here! You ran off from Caitlyn in such a hurry that I… I'm so sorry, Viktor. I know Jayce meant a lot to you."

"¿De dónde sacaste eso?"

"Where did you get that?"

"Tengo que ir, Sky,"

"I have to go, Sky,"

"¿Ir a donde?"

"Go where?"

"No. No puedes hablar en serio. Jayce no te dejaría."

"No. You can't be serious. Jayce wouldn't let you."

"Camina a casa conmigo. No es cobarde marcharse. Por favor…"

"Walk home with me. It isn't cowardly to walk away. Please…"

"Adios prima. Déjame en paz."

"Goodbye, cousin. Leave me alone."

"Eso es verdad."

"That's true."

"Pero, Viktor, pana…"

"But, Viktor, corduroy…"

[couldn't find an alternate meaning of 'pana'. Maybe a term of endearment?]

"Viktor, por favor… Sky tenía razón. Jayce no te dejaría hacer eso. Y Caitlyn…"

"Viktor, please… Sky was right. Jayce wouldn't let you do that. And Caitlyn…"

/