Trying to Find Chinatown: The Selected Plays of David Henry Hwang Read Online Free PDF Page B

that.
    STEVE: Tell him!
    DALE: Huh?
    GRACE: All the stuff about rice bowls and—zippers—have you ever been there, Dale?
    DALE: Well, yeah. Once. When I was ten.
    GRACE: Well, it’s changed a lot.
    DALE: Remember getting heat rashes.
    GRACE: People are dressing really well now—and the whole place has become really stylish—well, certainly not everybody, but the people who are well-off enough to send their kids to American colleges—they’re really kinda classy.
    DALE: Yeah.
    GRACE: Sort of.
    DALE: You mean, like him. So what? It’s easy to be classy when you’re rich.
    GRACE: All I’m saying is...
    DALE: Hell, I could do that.
    GRACE: Huh?
    DALE: I could be classy, too, if I was rich.
    GRACE: You are rich.
    DALE: No. Just upper-middle. Maybe.
    GRACE: Compared to us, you’re rich.
    DALE: No, not really. And especially not compared to him. Besides, when I was born we were still poor.
    GRACE: Well, you’re rich now.
    DALE: Used to get one LifeSaver a day.
    GRACE: That’s all? One LifeSaver?
    DALE: Well, I mean, that’s not all I lived on. We got normal food, too.
    GRACE: I know, but . . .
    DALE: Not like we were living in cardboard boxes or anything.
    GRACE: All I’m saying is that the people who are coming in now—a lot of them are different—they’re already Westernized. They don’t act like they’re fresh off the boat.
    DALE: Maybe. But they’re still FOBs.
    STEVE: Tell him who I am!
    DALE: Anyway, real nice dinner, Grace. I really enjoyed it.
    GRACE: Thank you.
    STEVE: Okay! I will tell myself.
    DALE: Go tell yourself—just don’t bother us.
    GRACE (Standing, to Steve) : What would you like to do now?
    STEVE: Huh?
    GRACE: You wanted to go out after dinner?
    STEVE: Yes, yes. We go out.
    DALE: I’ll drive. You sent the hearse home.
    STEVE: I tell driver—return car after dinner.
    DALE: How could you...? What time did you...? When did you tell him to return? What time?
    STEVE (Looks at his watch) : Seven-five.
    DALE: No—not what time is it. What time you tell him to return?
    STEVE: Seven-five. Go see.
    (Dale exits through the kitchen.)
     
     
    (No accent) Why wouldn’t you tell him who I am?
    GRACE: Can Gwan Gung die?
    (Pause.)
     
    STEVE: No warrior can defeat Gwan Gung.
    GRACE: Does Gwan Gung fear ghosts?
    STEVE: Gwan Gung fears no ghosts.
    GRACE: Ghosts of warriors?
    STEVE: No warrior ghosts.
    GRACE: Ghosts that avenge?
    STEVE: No avenging ghosts.
    GRACE: Ghosts forced into exile?
    STEVE: No exiled ghosts.
    GRACE: Ghosts that wait?
    (Pause.)
     
    STEVE (Quietly) : May I... take you out tonight? Maybe not tonight, but some other time? Another time? (He strokes her hair) What has happened?
    DALE (Entering) : I cannot believe it... (He sees them) What do you think you’re doing? (He grabs Steve’s hand. To Steve) What... I step out for one second and you just go and—hell, you FOBs are sneaky. No wonder they check you so close at Immigration.
    GRACE: Dale, I can really take care of myself.
    DALE: Yeah? What was his hand doing, then?
    GRACE: Stroking my hair.
    DALE: Well, yeah. I could see that. I mean, what was it doing stroking your hair? (Pause) Uh, never mind. All I’m saying is... (He gropes) Jesus! If you want to be alone, why don’t you just say so, huh? If that’s what you really want, just say it, okay? (Pause) Okay. Time’s up.
    GRACE: Was the car out there?
    DALE: Huh? Yeah. Yeah, it was. I could not believe it. I go outside and—thank God—there’s no limousine. Just as I’m about to come back, I hear this sound like the roar of death and this big black shadow scrapes up beside me. I could not believe it!
    STEVE (Speaking with accent again) : Car return—seven-five.
    DALE: And when I asked him—I asked the driver, what time he’d been told to return. And he just looks at me and says, “Now.”
    STEVE: We go out?
    DALE: What’s going on here? What is this?
    STEVE: Time to go.
    DALE: No! Not till you explain what’s going on.
    STEVE (To Grace) : You now want to dance?
    DALE