Persuasion

Here is an exercise about persuasive dialogue. The biggest critique in class was that Jay got what he wanted too easily.

EXT. ALLEY WAY – DAY

A man dressed in clean but worn clothes stands on a mattress lying in a trash strewn alley. This is Jay, 27 years old. He is staring straight upwards, head cocked. He shifts position slightly but continues staring into the sky.

JAY

(loud)

Muuuuuuuuuse! Hello!

Jay paces in a brief circle, wringing his hands. Suddenly from the sky a blonde woman dressed in a bright blouse and a fluffy short skirt with red petticoat lacing drops onto Jay’s pile of blankets. She resembles the classic version of Cyndi Lauper. Jay smiles and becomes animated as she stands and brushes herself off.

MUSE

(paying attention to her dress only)

You know I have to take a fucking cab home every time we do this?

JAY

Sorry.

MUSE

Well you’re lucky cuz I don’t do this for everybody.

Jay rummages around in his pile of bedding that he makes his home. He pulls out a tarnished saxophone, licks his lips and saxophone reed and then stands staring at the woman. She raises an eyebrow.

MUSE

What.

JAY

Um, nothing. Just…

MUSE

Seriously Jay it’s your music not mine!

She turns her back to him.

JAY

I know but it’s… people really like the stuff we make better.

She turns to him with a flash of intensity.

Muse

(quickly)

What, did someone say something? What’d they say?

JAY

What did they saaay?

MUSE

Yes!

JAY

Oh, you know, they like it, they... it moves them, I can see it.

A pause.

JAY (CONT’D)

Just one more song Muse… I just want one.

She thinks for a minute, smoothing and picking a piece of debris off her dress. She exhales deeply with a huff and her posture changes as she places her hands on her hips.

MUSE

All of you fucking artists are so fucking… self-centered. Really I’m getting a little sick of this shit.

JAY

What? No. I name every song after you!

MUSE

No Jay, not this time, things have got to change. It’s always my idea but who always gets the credit? Not me! Like that little wimpy-ass French horn player who I got into Oberlin? He didn’t even say thanks. And Mister big stuff rapper, Sir Big Puffs-A-Lot whatever his name is? I got him a Grammy! Flowers, a card at least? No! Just take take take. And then you! I know what you named your last song Jay. That wasn’t my name. At least have the respect not to lie to my face.

JAY

Muse! No no, Muse, listen, when I play, I only think about you… I swear.

The muse turns and puts her head down. Jay moves to her and tries to make eye contact.

JAY

Are you, don’t cry Muse, please don’t cry. Listen… without you I’m nothing...

Jay tries to comfort her but she violently swipes his advance away. Her face is red and her mascara runs from tears.

MUSE

(outraged)

Stop it! Stop it goddamn it! You need me!? YOU!? What about me, I have dreams and wants and aspirations also. Me me me!!! What do I get out of all this?

She is fuming and paces back and forth. Jay tries to follow her but she moves too quickly.

JAY

It’s about the music Muse! Remember the music! You get songs, you get beauty.

MUSE

I don't know what music you've been listening to but beauty isn't one of the things I get out of this whole... ordeal. Headache yes. Beauty, no… I could give a shit.

A pause as she breathes deeply trying to catch her breath and wipe away her tears.

MUSE (CONT’D)

And I know what you do with the money you make playing the sidewalks, I know you jazz types and your… habits. I’m not here for that bullshit!

Jay hands her a handkerchief and she swipes it from him, blowing her nose.

MUSE (CONT’D)

You want a song Jay, you want a goddamn song? Play then. Play your little saxophone!

Jay’s eyes light up and he again licks his lips and reed in preparation, his gaze enthralled on the teary eyed woman. He slowly begins to blow and a single beautiful note rises and fills the alley. Jay’s eyes concentrate on the woman next to him, sustaining the note. He lightly and skillfully lets off the horn and begins to blow again, a beautiful new note rising, but abruptly cut off with a loud belching sound from the horn. Jay slowly raises his vision to the muse.

JAY

That’s mean.

The muse, now hiding a subtle smile looks coyly over her shoulder.

MUSE

(playfully but still teary)

Fucker.

JAY

So mean.

She starts laughing to herself, glancing at Jay. He turns, slightly embarrassed at being taken by her prank.

JAY

Well at least you’re smiling I guess. I’ll be starving here in this dark ass cold alley, broke ‘cause I got no new songs and you’ll be pulling pranks.

The muse smiles broadly but still has her back to him.

JAY (CONT’D)

We can do big things Muse, me and you, we could change jazz music if we wanted to, I’m ready. All I do is eat, sleep and play music, but if you want to joke around…

He shrugs and Muse turns and stares, face wiped straight now.

MUSE

You’d better be careful Jay. I won’t always be so nice.

Jay smiles and they stare. Then Jay’s bedding begins to rustle. A sleepy eyed woman with strewn dirty blonde hair sits up after being hidden by the bedding. Jay’s attention snaps behind him to her, then quickly back to the muse who has suddenly disappeared. He glances around the alley for her and then his vision once again rises to the sky.

Ext. dirty alley – day

A man dressed in clean but worn clothes stands on a mattress and blankets lying on the pavement of a trash strewn alley. A large pile of clothes and blankets sits in a mass on the bed. A large duffle bag leans against a dumpster. This is Jay. He is 27 years old and is homeless at the moment.

JAY

(yelling)

Hey!

A pause.

JAY (CONT’D)

Hello!!! Heeeeeelloooooo!

There is silence. Jay is standing with his head slightly cocked, hands cupped around his mouth. There is no one else anywhere nearby in the alley.

JAY (CONT’D)

One more time! One more time please!

A long pause.

JAY (CONT’D)

(becoming volatile)

Fuck you then! I fucking hate you… Bitch!

Jay turns and kicks angrily at the blankets on his bed. He lies down, shifting for a moment. As he settles a voice permeates the alley that sounds as if it is coming from all directions at once.

VOICE

Jay.

Jay shoots out from under the covers. He looks around for the direction of the voice.

JAY

Hello? I’ve been, I can’t, I need, I’m…

There is a beat of silence as Jay scans the alley. His rigid posture changes as he leans back and relaxes against the wall of the building behind him.

JAY (CONT’D)

Wow it’s good to hear you again. I haven’t stopped thinking about you since the last time… we’re so good together.

There is a pause and Jay waits for a reaction.

JAY (CONT’d)

Hey I’m sorry about the cursing. And the bitch thing. It’s just, it’s, I’ve been here for like 4 days trying to put together new tunes but, it just… without your help it’s… Do you want to get out of here, come downtown, we could do like you like, listen to the streets… we could work stuff out together.

Jay sits and looks around the alley again. There is no one around. He reacts suddenly and pulls a tarnished saxophone out from his blankets.

JAY (cont’d)

Hey listen, listen, I’m still thinking on that piece we came up with in the Camarillo… the arrangement is good but maybe give me some thoughts on harmonies.

Jay licks his lips and licks the reed of his saxophone, fingering the keys quickly to limber up.

JAY (cont’d)

I named it after you by the way.

Jay closes his eyes and plays a slow jazz song that echo’s beautifully off the alley walls. After a moment it fades and Jay becomes unsure of where the notes go. Jay looks around and there is beat of silence.

JAY (cont’d)

You don’t like it…

VOICE

Not at all.

JAY

But we put so much into it, listen, come on now. Lets make something like we made…

VOICE

(abruptly)

I didn’t show you that song.

JAY

What, wait, come on now, who else would show me, you know we have something good here, what we have is beautiful. Lets play.

Jay is staring straight up into the sky as he finishes talking. His vision comes down and a stunningly beautiful woman is sitting on the bed next to him. She has translucent blonde hair and wears a clean flowing white dress and no shoes. He notices her smirking at him and is shocked and winces.

JAY (CONT’D)

Awe! Oh come on now. I don’t need you, I don’t need you, I don’t need you.

He looks back up into the sky.

JAY (CONT’D)

I swear it wasn’t her. It was all you, I wasn’t with her then, I wasn’t.

A pause.

Jay (CONT’D)

Awe fuck. Now she’s not gonna come back.

He looks at the girl sitting next to him.

JAY (CONT’D)

Can’t I just do this alone, in peace? I’m not... I don’t need you.

Jay stands up and walks down the alley a distance. As he turns back toward his bed the blonde woman is suddenly in his face again.

JAY (CONt’D)

No. No. No!

He quickly turns to avoid her but she is once again supernaturally near. Her gaze catches him. She smiles seductively and bites her lower lip. Jays face moves closer to hers. She closes her eyes. Jay snaps out of his forward movement, shaking his head.

JAY (CONt’d)

No don’t do it. No… But… It could be great, I think this could be great, just… No, no, no! But maybe, um, just do up a little and spend the rest of the day working on my notebooks. If I can remember… do I still, where the fuck are my notebooks?

Jays words fade and his attention focuses on the girl. He slowly turns to her, grabs her delicately by her shoulders, closes his eyes, and moves to kiss her.

CUT TO:

Jay is playing a slow saxophone, very dreamy and disconnected. He looks very high and is intensely overtaken with the music. The girl in white dances in front of Jay, just as disconnected looking, her movements flowing and water-like.

GRUFF VOICE (Pre-lap)

Wake up fucker, wake up.

CUT TO:

Jay is now lying in his bed, head on a stained pillow. His eyes slowly open. They are bloodshot. He is disoriented. Two men dressed in khaki Dickies pants with creases ironed down the front, both heavily tattooed, stand above his mattress. The girl in white is gone.

MAN ONE

Good morning peaches.

MAN TWO

Wake the fuck up loser.

Man number two rips the blankets off of Jay’s bed and grinds the toe of his boot into Jays ribs. Jay reacts with a grimace and sits up quickly.

MAN ONE

You know why we’re here. Pay up.

Both of the men stare and an unresponsive Jay. Man Two shakes his head at Jay disapprovingly.

MAN ONE (Cont’d)

Pawn shop.

Jay shakes his head pleadingly no. His head drops.

MAN TWO

You know the second time we won’t ask as polite.

Jay stands. His movement is exaggeratedly slow and he stares in a daze for a moment before one of the men jabs him in the lower stomach with a pointed index finger. He reacts and rummages under his blankets, pulling out the tarnished saxophone. The two men walk Jay out of the alley, one on either side of him. The saxophone dangles languidly from Jay’s hand.

Distant Relation

He always told us that he didn’t feel like he belonged as part of our family. Of all eight of us kids, Thomas was by far the quietest. We all talked like there wasn’t enough air to finish a sentence. His words were quiet and with purpose. We hated chores in the horse stalls where as Thomas was as happy as a pig in you know what to help out in the barn. We were all allergic to cats, Thomas loved them. He liked the mountains and we liked the lake. Tenny said she liked fishing with him but almost drowned when Thomas took her out a second time and then refused to go with him ever again. Fish guts just made me feel light headed. Our skin was all pale like the moon, he was tan like the sun through haze over wheat fields. It went on and on. One thing that we did have in common though was that we were brothers and sisters. That was for sure one way or the other and I felt a connection to him that you just know means you came from the same mother and father. It wasn’t likes or dislikes or sharing allergies. It was something completely silent and intangible but that overrode your thoughts at every instance. I loved him and couldn’t picture him not in my life even though our views of that life pretty much never met.

He was so different that when he said he wanted to take a cargo ship to China one winter no one was surprised. But when he said he was never coming back it hit me hard like the first time Thomas and I snuck sips of Uncle Mac’s corn whiskey in the study. All of us were dazed and also a little afraid about what he decided, not because we didn’t think he could handle it but because without him the equilibrium of the family would be completely thrown. He was like a silent sun thats gravity stabilized the orbits of the planets that frantically circled around it.

When I asked him why he wanted to leave his answer was not vague but too vast. I couldn’t understand completely but he did. What I could grasp was that he thought maybe he might fit in better, maybe there were more people like him somewhere else than here in America. He said he was looking to find something new but I think that what he really needed was to find himself. That person, who he was, wasn’t here in our childhood home or even on the continent. It was important to him, like a mission from God except he wasn’t religious like us.

I wondered why he picked China. Spain or the Riviera sounds like a nice place to find yourself to me. I’d find me with a sangria and a cheap romance novel on a white sand beach but he liked China. For him it wasn’t a choice. It was just something that he needed to do. He said he’d send me a postcard.

Six months later the card came postmarked from somewhere called Yinchuan,Ningxia. It had a picture of a big orange dirt mound on the front. His words were short and to the point. It said, “I made a mistake.” The date on the postmark was March 18, 1937. That was 75 years ago now and it was the last time that I or anyone in my family ever heard from my brother Tommy again. Now I look back and think of his face, him sitting silent and watching, almost smiling. I really hope he’s happy.

The Dreamer TREATMENT

We see a close up of a young man’s face. He is looking down and concentrating on bouncing a basketball. This is Tommy. He is wearing an ORANGE HEADBAND.

The sound of the bouncing stops and Tommy’s vision focuses sheepishly on something out of the frame.

We see that Tommy’s girlfriend Annie is standing and staring at him with her arms crossed. Tommy is fully decked out in a casual basketball outfit. Tommy’s ball bounces and rolls near his girlfriend’s feet. She holds out a folded newspaper to Tommy. He grabs is excitedly and turns to sit and read on the steps of the house that they are standing in front of. He whips open the paper and buries his head in the SPORTS SECTION. His girlfriend turns and snatches the paper out of Tommy’s hands, quickly turns to the JOBS SECTION and then returns the paper to Tommy with a glare in her eyes. She leaves quickly.

Tommy puts the paper down, stands from the steps and once again picks up the basketball and dribbles it a couple of times. We cut to the close up of his face again and now hear the SOUND EFFECTS of a large crowd cheering enthusiastically. As he dribbles his vision moves off to the distance and he smiles dreamily.

The rhythm of the dribbling basketball stops with a dull thump as the ball bounces clumsily off Tommy’s foot and rolls out of frame. The cheering crowd SFX also stops abruptly with this bumble. As Tommy’s eyes follow the ball bouncing away he notices something off frame. He reacts and runs out of the opposite side of the frame. An older gentleman walks quickly up the stairs of Tommy’s house and tapes a YELLOW ENVELOPE to the door.

Tommy returns to the frame and walks to the foot of steps, looking toward the yellow envelope on the door. His attention is broken by a football landing near him. He picks it up and holds it for a moment. He daydreams. The crowd SFX ramps in again. He throws the football back but his technique is pathetic and his pass is a “dead duck.” The ball barely makes it off frame and the crowd SFX cuts off abruptly.

Tommy is un-phased by his lack of athleticism and walks up the stairs and pulls the envelope off of the door. We see that it says, “LATE BILL. PAY NOW.”

Tommy moves to sit on the stairs and looks at the letter in his hand. He glances at the newspaper next to him. He grabs a bag of SHELLED PEANUTS that have been sitting on the steps. He starts cracking them and throwing the nuts into the air, trying to catch them in his mouth. He is pathetically bad at this. One peanut that he misses lands on the open newspaper next to a large ADVERTISEMENT that says “CITY BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT. WIN BIG CASH PRIZES.” Tommy’s attention is deeply absorbed by the ad.

His vision again goes to the horizon as he daydreams. The crowd SFX again rises.

We see a pair of fancy basketball shoes walk into frame and Tommy’s hands adjust the laces and tongues. The crowd SFX continues. Tommy is on an outdoor basketball court. He is alone. He stretches and then checks to see if his basketball is inflated to his liking. He dribbles a few times and attempts to do a few fancy but unimpressive foot moves. He turns to shoot and misses the hoop and the backboard completely. The crowd SFX cuts off. He recomposes himself and then shoots again. This time he hits only the far side of the backboard and misses the rim. After many tosses at the basket and attempts at layups we see that Tommy is absolutely terrible at basketball. He stands at the free throw line one last time and concentrates on the basket. The ball bounces harshly off the front of the rim. Tommy is dejected by his lack of skill.

Tommy walks through crowds of busy downtown sidewalks and looks like he has no purpose.

He walks back to the front steps of his house and we see a PINK ENVELOPE taped to the door. He pulls it down and we see that it says. “FINAL RENT NOTICE!!!”

Tommy slumps on to the steps and looks at the bill. He has lost motivation and has given up. He doesn’t know what to do so he crumples the envelope into a ball and throws it off the stairs. We do not see what has happened but Tommy’s face changes as he notices some significance to his throw. His eyes become wide and his smile broadens as he looks around for something to throw again. He takes the YELLOW ENVELOPE from earlier out of his pocket and slowly crumples it with his vision focused on the trash can. He methodically raises his hands, holding the paper like a basketball and throws a beautiful shot into a trash can sitting below the steps. Tommy is excited and scrambles to find more paper to throw. He finds the JOBS section of the paper and crumbles up a page. He stands for a moment envisioning what it will mean if he makes another shot and then tosses the crumpled paper toward the trash. He drills a shot and the crowd SFX explodes. Tommy runs about the yard and sinks many shots. Some of them are almost unbelievably tough but he makes every single attempt. He has amazing talent at crumpled paper basketball. Tommy is overjoyed with his new found skill.

We see a CLOSE UP of a crumpled piece of paper sitting on the asphalt of an ALLEY. Tommy’s feet come into frame. We see him notice the paper. He picks it up and smiles. He is wearing a pair of coveralls with the top hanging down around his waist and his orange headband. He is also wearing a bright orange t-shirt that says “DEPARTMENT OF SANITATION” and he holds a TRASH PICKING STICK and pushes a GARBAGE CAN ON WHEELS. Tommy runs, makes a few basketball moves and throws the paper he has picked up into the can from a distance. The crowd noise erupts as he makes the shot and he smiles broadly. He is happy.

The Lonchera

Evolution of a character as told through three separate scenes in the same location and without dialogue.

“Roommates” Assignment – CTWR 505

Matthew Halla – February 15, 2012

THE LONCHERA

Scene One

We see a Latino man pushing a small ice cream cart with Mexican snacks dangling from its sides and hanging cow bells ringing. He walks down the edge of a street lined with thin palm trees and the skyscrapers of downtown LA in the distance. This is Alvarado and he is sixty five years old. He wears a worn white cowboy hat.

Alvarado approaches a large shiny lonchera, or Mexican food truck, parked on the street. It is an older model but is well maintained. He stops for a moment and stares at it. He approaches and stoops near the rear wheels of the truck, opposite the trucks serving window side. Air hisses from of one of the tires. Alvarado continues to let air out of the tire for several seconds, even as a foot comes into frame near him. His vision rises to the face of a woman standing over him. She is staring disapprovingly with her arms crossed. Alvarado slowly stops what he is doing in a defiantly delayed manner. He stands and sees a man standing behind the woman. They stare at each other for a moment. He spits on the ground near the truck.

With Alvarado’s insulting action the other man rushes toward him but the woman gets between them before they can do even superficial harm to each other. They both angrily stare and posture like roosters but look a little bit ridiculous and unintimidating because of their age. They seem to be holding back any real threat of physical violence. The scuffle is broken up completely when three small children noisily and happily run out from the truck and wrap themselves in hugs around Alvarado’s legs. Both men become self-conscious of their actions in front of the children and stop being combative. The man is Ulises. He is sixty-two years old and owns the lunch truck, Taco’s Gabilondo. The woman is named Flora and is the wife of Ulises. Flora and Ulises step back for a moment and watch as Alvarado kneels down and kisses each of the three children on the forehead, one time each. He hands them a piece of candy from his shirt pocket and they laugh and run excitedly away from Alvarado and to the legs of their father, Ulises.

Ulises stares with his arms crossed and then turns to walk back inside the truck to continue cooking. We see the profile of Ulises from the inside of the truck. He takes a quick slug from a bottle of tequila and watches Flora walk with Alvarado across the grass of the park that the truck is parked in front of. She has her arm around him. Ulises paces back and forth in front of our view. Alvarado and Flora are in the distance and we cannot hear them but they talk for a bit.

We see Flora take a few bills out of her pocket and hand them to Alvarado. Ulises notices this and storms out of the truck. In the distance we see him arguing with Flora and gesturing wildly around her. Alvarado places his hand on Ulises shoulder, trying to get him leave Flora alone, but Ulises turns and punches Alvarado in the face instead. Alvarado falls to the grass.

Scene Two

We see Alvarado standing in the dark of night illuminated from the back by a dim street light. His eye has a bandage above it. He is smoking a cigarette and looking at something. We see that it is Ulises’ lunch truck. Alvarado finishes his smoke and stoops to pick something up off the ground. It is a gas can. He walks toward the truck and looks into the driver side window. He wraps a piece of cloth around his elbow and breaks the wing window. It makes a small crashing sound but nothing too noisy.

Alvarado is inside the food truck now and is looking around. He turns on a small light under a prep shelf and the stainless steel interior of the kitchen is illuminated in an ugly florescent green glow. The light shines on a bottle of tequila and Alvarado reaches for it but then sees a cash box hidden behind it. He opens it and sees a small stack of bills and looks through them but puts them back after inspecting them for a moment. Alvarado then picks up his gas can and starts to unscrew the lid while still looking around the truck in an infatuated manner.

He sees a picture of something tacked to the wall and it makes him stop in his tracks. He takes the photo off the wall and holds it for a moment. He tears it down the middle and drops it on the floor. As it lands we see that it is a photo of a much younger him standing close to Ulises, both smiling and with their arms around an older woman dressed in black. Alvarado’s vision shifts from the photo on the floor to the sight of an old woman sitting in the front seat of the truck looking at him. It is the woman from the picture. She is supernaturally illuminated. They stare at each other for a moment. Alvarado again looks down at the ruined photo on the floor and then back up at the old woman but she is quickly gone. He stares forward for a moment more and then picks up the photos and walks out of the side door of the truck.

As he exits to the exterior we see that Ulises is standing twenty or so feet from the truck and is staring at it in the early morning light. Alvarado is slightly shocked to see him. Alvarado slowly turns to leave but still keeps his eyes on Ulises. His movement stops and he squints.

Ulises is swaying slightly. His head is tilted and his eyes are half closed.

Alvarado slowly walks to him and Ulises looks up. He seems drunk. Ulises and Alvarado stare at each other for a moment then Ulises raises a bottle of tequila he is holding and offers it to Alvarado who hesitates for a moment but then shakes his head no.

Ulises then raises a set of keys in front of the Alvarado’s face. They hang there for a moment before Alvarado again shakes his head no.

Ulises drops to his knees and starts to cry. He wraps his arms around Alvarado’s legs. Alvarado becomes uncomfortable. Ulises notices the can of gasoline in Alvarado’s hands that is now next to Ulises face. He stares at it for a moment before slowly taking it from Alvarado’s hands. Ulises gets to his feet, holding the can now and looking at his truck. He stands motionless for a moment. He throws the keys at his truck with a loud yell. He quickly walks toward the truck, unscrews the gasoline lid and starts splashing gasoline all over it. Alvarado is surprised but does not do anything. Ulises is yelling with each splash of the can. After the can is empty he stands and looks for a moment. Alvarado is standing still in the background. Ulises has a strange intense stare on his face. He reaches into his pockets and pulls out a book of matches and begins to strike them but he is too drunk to light one. He reaches for another and it lights but it goes out quickly. He tries again and this time is successful. It flares and burns in his hand.

Alvarado’s hand comes into the frame and snatches the match from Ulises. Ulises tries to light another but Alvarado stops him again. They start struggling over the book of matches and are soon wrestling. They skirmish back and forth and fall to the ground. The intensity of the struggle lessens and they both come to be lying face to face on the asphalt and out of breath. Alvarado and Ulises stare at each other on the ground and then Alvarado reaches and puts his forehead against Ulises’s. They stare at each other eye to eye on the ground. The porch light comes on and Flora looks out into the dark and over the two men lying motionless on the ground.

SCENE THREE

We travel back 35 years and see a much younger Ulises working at the griddle in a restaurant kitchen. There is a woman that resembles the woman from the torn photo in the taco truck. She stands behind a register. Ulises attention is briefly grabbed as Alvarado walks into the restaurant and kisses his mother. Alvarado sees his brother in the back and walks to him. His brother looks up and smiles but is paying attention to his cooking. Alvarado leans against the wall and smiles broadly while watching his brother. His brother notices and smiles back with a quizzical look on his face like Alvarado is crazy. Alvarado takes a piece of meat from the grill and makes a face exaggerating that Ulises cooking doesn’t taste good. Alvarado grabs some seasoning and sprinkles it over the grill. Ulises playfully gestures Alvarado away and Alvarado does some play fighting with him but moves quickly back to the wall and again leans and smiles. His brother stops cooking now, confused with the strange stare and smile. Ulises takes a quick drink from a tequila bottle that he has hidden next to the stove, offers his brother some and stares back with a questioning look. Alvarado gestures no and then pulls a set of keys out of his pocket and holds them out in front of his brother. Ulises moves to grab them but Alvarado pulls them quickly away. Ulises is smiling ecstatically now and he starts playfully chasing his brother around the kitchen. He stops and then looks out toward the parking lot and we see that a big lunch truck is parked on the far side of the lot. Alvarado throws the keys up in the air to his brother who catches them. They both laugh and walk quickly toward the parking lot. A woman gets up from a booth in the store and Alvarado puts his arm around her. She looks like a younger version of Flora. Alvarado and Flora stand on the sidewalk and smile as Ulises goes and takes a closer look at the truck, opening its door with the key. The side of the truck is painted with red and green lettering that says “Hermanos Gabilondo.”