| Ruben: |
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Hey Miguel, you hear what this lady said? She’s willing to take us in! She’s gonna put a roof over our head for this nasty storm that’s coming tonight. Now we don’t gotta worry if we’re gonna make through our not.
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| Miguel: |
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I’m sorry to tell you this—but you can go ahead and go with her. I’m gonna stay right here and wait for Mom.
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| Ruben: |
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Oh Man, you gotta be kidding me. Don’t tell me you gonna stay here, man. This is our only opportunity to get a family and we gotta take it. You know how many people rejected us from living with them. This lady’s giving us the opportunity to live with her, and you don’t want to take it. |
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| Miguel: |
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On the real, I don’t like living here. I don’t like living on the bottom of cars, watching People in Red drink in the corner of Little Mex. But I’m scared of more people making fun of me if I go to a new family—cuz you know God didn’t give me the best looks a dog could have—but other people don’t understand it, but they have to have somebody to pick on. I’m scared that Miss Cory ain’t gonna treat me good, that she’s gonna treat me different from the way she treats you.
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| Ruben: |
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We known Miss Cory for two months already. She treated us both the same. She seems like a nice person. Why don’t you give it a chance? If you don’t like it, we’ll just leave the house.
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| Miguel: |
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I ain’t trying to hold you back, so you just go ahead and live with her. I’ll just wait for Mom right here—and if you wanna come visit me, I ain’t goin’ nowhere. |
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| Ruben: |
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Don’t you get it, fool? Mom left us and she ain’t never comin’ back. I want her back, but it’s all a dream. She abandoned us. She left us to die on these streets. The only dog you got in this world is me. |
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| Miguel: |
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(aggressively)
You know what—don’t say that! You never met Mom. You never got the chance to see how she really is. In my heart, Mom is the best dog there ever is. If she was a human, she’ll be just like Miss Cory. It ain’t her fault we’re livin’ put on these streets. Just cuz that Old Geezer threw us out of his house cuz there was too many of us, don’t mean nothing about Mom.
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| Ruben: |
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Alright, maybe I did jump a little ahead of myself, but you also—Mom’s livin’ large, and she ain’t gonna give it up just to live with us. You know she’s always sleeping in that king size dog bed. We’re eating spaghetti out the garbage and I bet you Mom’m eating spaghetti fresh out the oven. |
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| Miguel: |
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You remember when we seen that movie Beethoven togther? They were living large but they gave it up to live with their kids. It ain’t about living large. It’s all about the heart. A Mom will do anything for one of her puppies—so I know she’s coming back.
(It starts to rain harder. The 1st strike of lightning went off) |
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| Ruben: |
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So what you gonna do? You gonna stay here or come live with me? If you wanna live in Little Mex for the rest of your life, sleeping on bottom of cars that’s on you. But I ain’t going through it no more. I want some real food. I’m tired of that nasty stuff we get outta the garbage. |
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| Miguel: |
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It ain’t that bad. As long as we got each other we can make it through anything. |
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| Ruben: |
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(starts crying)
Lookie here, Miguel. I care for you with all my might, and I don’t wanna leave you. But this is my dream. I told you since we were puppies that I was gonna find a family for both of us. And I did. Now it’s up to you if you wanna take it or leave it. I did what an older brother’s supposed to do—and I found you a family. Now please do what a younger brother’s supposed to do and follow me. |
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| Miguel: |
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You know what—if you really mean take it or leave it—then I’m leaving it. |
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| Ruben: |
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You know what, man? go ahead and leave it. I’m gonna be the one to have a roof over my head, a place to sleep, and food to eat.
(Ruben walks away with Miss Cory)
(to himself)
You know what—I’m just going to tease Miguel for tonight. I’m gonna make him sleep all alone—cold, hungry for tonight. I feel disrespected—but he is my little brother. I’ll come back for him tomorrow morning. Then hopefully he’ll change his mind – he’ll probably come with me and live with me for the rest of our lives.
(The whole night pass. Ruben didn’t get any sleep, thinking about how his brother’s doing, but he thinks that hopefully this night could change Miguel’s mind. Ruben goes back to Little Mex in the morning searches everywhere—on bottom of cars in trash cans, by their favorite restaurant—and doesn’t find them. Until he goes to the gutter, looks in, and sees his body laying inside—dead.)
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| Ruben: |
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(to himself)
What did I do? How can I do this to my only brother that I had. After all them nights and days that we spent together—I abandoned him. What kind of brother am I? I never even got a chance to tell him how much I loved him. He went through his whole life without getting told “I love you.” He used to tell me everyday that he loved me, but I never told him once…supposedly because of the big, tough dog I am. |
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The End. |
