"Okay, pa, I'm not a little girl anymore." "I'm gonna be late." "I gotta go." "Any orders?" "You know." "It's so hot out there." "Amaryllis, we have a problem." "What?" "Javier called." "He can't come, he's sick, so I need you to go and clean the toilet, okay?" "What are you talking about?" "I've worked here longer than anyone." "Get Tito to do it." "Besides, I have deliveries." "They can wait." "I'm asking you to do it." "When their pizzas get cold, I don't get any tips." "You know that." "I'm not cleaning any toilet." "Amaryllis, since when do you tell me how to do my job?" "Great, here's the mop." "Hand me the pizza." "Amaryllis, where do you think you're going?" "Now, I'll take the pizza, you take the mop, okay?" "Thank you." "There's the bucket." "God bless you." "God be with you." "What you want?" "Scrambled eggs?" "Sure, why not?" "The usual." "Runny, with a lot of bacon?" "The same as always." "What numbers?" "7-4-8." "Mami, we're out of eggs." "I'm going out." "Where to?" "I gotta go see this guy about something." "When are you coming back?" "See you later." "Franco, peace out, man." "Your boyfriend's a joker." "I'm gonna go buy the eggs." "That Dominican just doesn't have any class." "I don't know, sweetheart." "I don't think he's so bad." "I think he's got a good heart." "Don't start, Franco, please." "Don't start." "Change the bandage." "You wouldn't believe my boss." "Tell me about it." "The old asshole." "He's really got it out for me, man." "He's only 23." "Really?" "Yeah." "Don't worry about it." "Sit down, watch television with us." "Yeah, your mom's right." "You should check this shit out." "It's really funny, baby." "Did you hear anything I said?" "Sure." "Something about a bald-headed shit." "Yes, yes, Mrs. Juarez's cousin is bald." "Now let me watch the show." "He's a bald motherfucker." "Baby, turn the TV back on." "Why should I?" "You're not listening to me." "Amaryllis, relax." "The TV stays on." "Hey, just back off." "Says who?" "You're not the only one making money." "Well, tell me who does." "Why, you think selling dime bags on the street helps us out?" "Please." "What are you talking about?" "It's the truth." "Come on." "I got my own money, my savings." "You'll see." "You'll see." "I'm gonna take that money and buy a great big ranch someday." "I don't owe my family fucking A." "You must be tripping, right?" "Mama, has he ever said anything to you about a savings account?" "Let's make a deal." "Put your shirt on and try growing up." "Pack of cigarettes." "Four." "I heard about your papi." "I'm sorry for your loss." "Thank you." "Hey." "Hey, come on." "Angelo, come." "Come on, let's dance." "Angelo, dance." "Dance." "Come on." "Like I taught you." "Wait a minute." "A toast to my late husband, Franco." "He was a great classical dancer." "To Franco." "But an even better salsa dancer." "A bottle of water, please." "Can I..." "Can I ask you a favor?" "Can I stay with you tonight?" "Please." "Come in." "Have a seat." "Thank you." "Just in case you get cold." "Thank you." "Good night." "Good night." "Go to Marcello's bar." "Over there, baby." "Come on, baby, come on." "No, no." "Marcello's is closed, baby." "Come over here." "I want to go Marcello's bar." "Marcello's is all closed down, mamita." "It's all closed down." "Come this way." "I have to get out of here." "I have to dance." "I have a cousin, Jorge Guzman." "He lives in the East Village in New York." "He doesn't have a telephone, but he calls me every once in a while." "I know he could help you out." "You could stay with him." "Here, this is for the ticket." "No, no, no." "Yes, take it, please." "Come on." "No." "Take it." "Please." "Please." "How much is it?" "Not important, forget about it." "I'm not sure how I'll ever pay you back." "Thank you for everything." "Just be careful." "Oh, baby, you're late." "Come on, let's go." "Come on." "Give me the apples." "Don't worry about the apples." "Come on, I'll take that." "We gotta go now." "Come on." "Look, all you gotta do is get him to sign this, "To Mr. and Mrs. Emory." ""God bless, Langston Hughes."" "You're confused." "My name is Amaryllis Campos." "Goddamn student." "How many times have I told you..." "I'm here..." "Wait, listen to me." "I'm telling you, Monday through Thursday, 1 :00 to 3:00." "Those are my office hours." "That's it." "You don't come to my house." "It's not a library." "Pound, Eliot, Perse, I lost all of them to students." "Let me get my stuff." "Hasta la vista, my darling" "Damn it." "Sir, give me my stuff." "That's my stuff." "Okay." "It's okay." "I'm sorry." "Can I help you?" "What is the problem?" "What is wrong?" "I'm looking for Jorge Guzman." "I'm a friend of his cousin in Puerto Rico." "I'm supposed to stay with him." "Okay." "Well, I..." "I haven't seen Jorge for a couple of months." "Sometimes he's gone for a couple of months, sometimes he's gone for over a year." "But the best of luck to you, and God bless you and all." "Take care." "What are you doing?" "I'm tired." "I can't let you stay." "This is Jorge's." "This is it." "You think I can stay?" "It's no skin off my ass." "I'll get your bag." "Hi." "Can I help you?" "I thought you were looking for dancers." "We are, honey." "We are." "No, but I thought a different kind of dancing." "Yeah, baby, keep walking like that." ""Set me free from this dark prison And henceforth and forever" ""Men shall know of your achievements" ""Calling you Kayoshk, the seagulls," ""Kayoshk, the Noble Scratchers Set me free from this dark prison" ""Henceforth and forever"" "Hello." "Hi." "Longfellow." "Song of Hiawatha." "Do you know it?" "Nope." "I don't think I got your name the other day." "Amaryllis." "The shepherdess." "It's close to yellow." "Well, the amaryllis flower is actually red." "You know, that's my boy's name." "His name is Red." "His given name is actually Augustus, but we called him Red." "So, maybe we should meet." "Well, actually, I haven't seen him for quite some time." "Do you like garbanzo beans?" "Yeah." "Can I sit at the table?" "Please excuse me." "Excuse my manners." "I'm very sorry." "Please have a seat." "Thank you." "Please." "Are you comfortable?" "Yeah." "Yeah." "Very good." "Actually, I'm not a bad cook." "This is my family's recipe for soup." "You should really mind your own goddamn business, you know." "I'm sorry." "You come into someone else's house and you take something that doesn't" "belong to you." "I'm sorry." "You know, it's like almost 10:00 now, and I think I have to read some poetry, a new book from Langston Hughes." "So, maybe you should leave." "I wanna hear one of the poems." "Can you read one?" "Okay." "The name of this poem is A Dream Deferred by the great, great Langston Hughes." "Okay?" ""What happens to a dream deferred?" ""Does it dry up like a raisin in the sun?" ""Or fester like a sore" ""And then run?" ""Does it stink like rotten meat?" ""Or does it crust and sugar over like a syrupy sweet?" ""Maybe it just sags like a heavy load" ""Or does it explode?"" "Amaryllis, this is Jack." "You ever dance before?" "Yeah." "Yeah?" "You ever strip?" "Well, that's okay." "Everybody's gotta start sometime." "So, what kind of dancing you do?" "Modern." "Well, classical and ballet," "and jazz, modern dance." "Oh, yeah, yeah." "That's great." "That's great." "You know, because I used to be a choreographer." "Like big time, you know." "I like to give my girls a personalized routine." "A onstage identity that really reflects and expresses who they are." "For me, it's all about the girls." "It's a professional gig, understand?" "I mean, lots of my girls, they dance here just for the money, while they were waiting for legit dance jobs." "I'm cool with that." "I am very cool." "You see that girl over there?" "She just finished an Off-Broadway show." "On Broadway?" "That's right." "That's the kind of people I'm looking for." "Look, it's a seller's market if you're beautiful, and I have to be perfectly frank with you." "You're like a drop-dead knockout, Amaryllis." "So, what's it gonna be?" "I'll start you out at a 100 a day?" "Yeah, plus, you keep your tips." "Okay, Amaryllis." "You're on the floor." "Strut your stuff, kid." "Listen, Amaryllis, I love everything you're doing." "Everything." "It's athletic, it's sexy, it's sensual, it's beautiful." "But take your clothes off." "Okay, take the shirt off, honey." "Five, six, seven, and plié, relevé." "Plié, relevé." "Amaryllis, plié, relevé." "Amaryllis, pay attention." "Plié, relevé." "Lose the skirt, darling." "Amaryllis, arabesque." "Arabesque." "Arabesque." "I need to see your tits, Yellow." "By the way, that's your name from now on," "Yellow." "Eyes open, baby." "Come on." "Come on." "It's just like losing your virginity." "First strip is always the worst." "Oh, my God, over here." "It's okay." "Come on." "Here." "Here we go." "Why don't you use this one till Jack and Joeli comes up with a theme for you, okay?" "Okay." "Pretend you're not here." "Pretend you're someplace else." "Someplace fun and alive, with the man you love." "You're dancing for the man you love." "He loves your body." "He loves the way you move." "And not just because he wants to fuck you." "When I'm dancing, I call that man Charlie." "And when I'm done, I always say," ""How did you like that, Charlie?"" "And he always says," ""Sensational."" "Hello, hello, hello!" "And welcome, ladies, gentlemen..." "Let's go, let's go!" "...and children of all ages, you know?" "Tonight, I'm gonna introduce to you a new dancer at the Club La Dor." "A real Puerto Rican beauty." "Put your hands together." "Give it up for Yellow!" "What's her name?" "Nina." "Nina." "She's a cutie." "So, anyway, Tony left me, and I didn't have any money." "You know, never finished high school." "I don't have any skills." "Honey, every girl got some skills." "You know what I'm saying?" "You see Christian tonight?" "Sure did." "Who's that?" "He's one of the new regulars." "Yeah, he was the cute guy." "Oh, my God." "You remember?" "Across the table, short hair, black shirt." "He makes a lot of money." "And he pays well to know the dancers better." "How do you know that?" "You should ask her." "Represent." "Represent." "What?" "Miles?" "I didn't know you worked here." "What the hell are you doing here?" "Buying groceries." "It's none of your damn business why I'm here." "This is my volunteer thing." "I'm giving back to the community." "I bet they appreciate that." "Yeah, well, a lot of teachers, you know, they come here, they volunteer, give back to the community." "That's what I'm doing." "Okay?" "So you are a teacher?" "Yes, at NYU." "Well, usually, but I'm on sabbatical now." "I'm a professor of poetry." "Do you write poems?" "Many, many volumes." "Yes." "So, which one is your favorite one?" "Can I hear it?" "The only reason that I'm going to read this poem to you is because you really are a persistent pain in the ass and I like you very much." "Okay, cool." "Okay." "The name of this poem is Yellow, Color of Forgiveness." "Color of Forgiveness." "Thank you." "Okay." "Pray for me and I'll pray for you" "Pray for the wicked and the evil, too" "Pray for the genius and the not so smart" "Who with their smiles still touch our hearts" "Pray for those who would destroy All the baby girls and all the baby boys" "With their evil toys" "Pray for the robber, pray for the thief Pray for the loss of our belief" "Pray for those who can no longer pray Pray for the loss of another day" "My mother and my father have gone from here" "Others I've loved from yesteryear" "As I grow old and move toward sleep Releasing pains I've held so deep" "Deeper than the soul's regret Memories I've yet to forget" "O hope, my love, don't leave me yet" "Your lips speak softly of the light" "As I move humbly into night" "Mama Joeli." "Hey, what's up, Liz?" "Look, I'm having a little trouble with my costume here." "That's chic, baby." "Chic." "It fucking falls the moment I walk on the stage, Joeli." "They wanna see your titties." "What's the big deal?" "You give them everything at once and the game's over." "Trust me." "Well, c'est la vie." "Hey, Bette Davis..." "I'm going for a smoke." "This guy." "I used to dance ballet since I was a little girl." "My father was my teacher." "He danced for Henri Clementine." "Shit." "All right." "Talking about dancing, I got to tell you something." "I know this producer." "He's doing a reggaeton video." "No offense, but you should audition for him." "Music is music, you know." "And besides, let me tell you something." "You're a great, great dancer, all right?" "And besides, I know for sure you're gonna get the part." "So when you're in, you can tell them about my costumes and probably I can do the wardrobe." "Ted, put on some reggaeton." "I gonna show you how to move, all right?" "Yeah!" "Oh, baby!" "He doesn't live here anymore, okay?" "He's not here." "I'm sorry." "I'm not here to see Jorge." "You're not here to see Jorge?" "No, I'm here to see Miles Emory." "Who are you?" "I'm his son." "Red?" "You're Red?" "No one's called me Red since I was a kid." "Oh, well, he talks to me about you." "So, he lives here?" "Yeah." "Yeah, right here." "Well, I knocked on that door, no one came." "Because he's probably at the store." "Which store?" "The grocery store." "That's where he works." "Listen, could you please tell him that I came by?" "Yeah." "I'm staying at the Pioneer Hotel in Midtown." "Okay." "Thank you." "You're welcome." "Okay, so basically, I need three men and three women." "You guys know the drill." "Let's get to it." "Come on, now." "Right." "We're gonna start off with the right arm, and it goes one, two, and three." "Okay." "One, two." "One, two, and three, four, and five, six, seven, and eight." "Back to one." "Okay." "Cut the music." "Okay." "Now, let me just see these three guys over here." "Keeps bumping into me." "Who?" "The choreographer." "The choreographer was doing good." "I think it was the other guy that choreographer was..." "It was him!" "I'm sorry." "You know what, honey, you can go now." "Thank you." "Guys, take it from here." "I'll talk to you later, okay?" "What's going on?" "Wait." "Miles." "Miles." "Oh, Jehovah's Witness." "Oh, Jehovah's Witness, Jehovah's Witness." "Red came to see you." "Oh, he wants some money." "He wants some..." "I don't have any goddamn money." "Okay, no, listen..." "Goddamn money." "Goddamn freeloader." "Get out!" "Goddamn freeloader." "He wants something." "He always wants something, you know." "And he'll think I'm a sucker." "That's what it is." "He'll think that here comes Miles, he's the sucker." "No, I don't think you're a sucker." "You're not a sucker." "Okay?" "Okay?" "Oh, yeah." "Oh, you're that new girl that my boy's been talking about." "Maria." "Red was here." "Stop." "I'm Amaryllis." "And we had soup right here." "Look." "You know, somewhere in the process of history, human biology trumped mathematics..." "Okay." "Okay." "I know for a fact that the devil comes with many names." "And it was really good." "Yeah." "Yeah." ""ln those days, the evil spirits The Manitos of mischief" ""All fearful, all fearful, Hiawatha's wisdom"" "Stop!" "We were right there." "Bye-bye." "Here you go." "What the hell is that?" "That's your costume, honey." "My costume?" "Joeli wants you to wear body paint for your act." "Is he crazy?" "Be still." "Be still." "Easy." "Are you the guy from the club?" "What happened?" "You cut yourself up pretty bad." "I'll check back on you." "The dressings are changed around 2:00 p.m." "So, all I need you to do is to check the lV, all right?" "ls it bad?" "No, it's okay." "There was a doctor here earlier." "What's his name?" "Oh, I believe it's Dr. Kyle." "Yeah, that's right, Dr. Christian Kyle." "Would you rather have a female doctor?" "No, no, no, it's okay." "Don't worry about it." "He's very competent." "I'm sorry." "I'm trying to be gentle." "Hi, girls." "Hi." "How you doing?" "I'm good." "I'm all right." "You're gonna cover all this with makeup, right?" "Yeah." "Yeah." "We were just getting to that." "It's okay." "Yeah." "Yeah." "Listen, that's okay." "Why don't you take the night off?" "Yeah, you go home, you relax." "Forget about dancing." "Oh, no, no, please." "I wanna dance." "You're still beautiful." "You're still my Yellow." "You just need to take some time off, you dig?" "What?" "For you." "It's the least I could do." "Thanks." "Hey, who ever said I wasn't a good guy, huh?" "Keep these on for a few more days." "Change the bandage each night." "And when you do, you know, put some ointment on there, some first-aid cream." "I wanna thank you for the other night, and all your help." "I really appreciate it." "Well, any doctor would have done the same." "Maybe." "Campos?" "Campos." "C-A-M-P-O-S." "All right." "This will help you sleep a little bit." "And put some vitamin E oil on there, so it won't scar." "Okay." "Listen." "You wanna get a drink somewhere or something to eat or..." "No, I got to get home." "Miss Campos." "So, I've seen you with Elizabeth in the bathroom at the club." "What does she do to you?" "lt doesn't matter." "I wanna know." "Why?" "I'm just curious." "She sucks my cock." "She does it well?" "lt doesn't matter." "lt doesn't matter?" "Not really." "Oh." "So when you're watching us strip, what do you think about?" "Do you think about fucking us?" "That's what Jack says." "I don't think about fucking..." "No, I..." "Sometimes I think about my..." "What?" "Sometimes I think about my wife." "She's gone." "I'm sorry." "Oh, no, no, no." "She left." "I took a job in a hospital in Sydney, Australia, far away, and she didn't wanna go, so she left." "You have kids?" "No." "Maybe you're better off without her." "She's my best friend." "So, the club, you go there for what?" "Trying to get even?" "Maybe." "And this thing with Elizabeth?" "What is it with Elizabeth?" "What is that?" "Why did you bring me here?" "You asked me first." "'Cause I'm not gonna suck your dick." "You know what?" "I didn't come here to get laid." "I just came here to talk." "So, talk." "Okay." "All right." "Look, my life is a mess." "All right?" "I can't concentrate at work." "So, why do I come to the club?" "Okay, I come to the club to look at sexy women, right?" "To see naked, to watch them, imagine them." "I don't even know." "Maybe it makes me feel powerful." "It makes me feel like I have control." "But I'm not coming..." "I didn't come here for sympathy." "But that night when you first danced for me, I felt something." "I had this funny feeling." "I never had that before, not even for my wife." "So what is it?" "I wanted to protect you." "Look, I mean, I've had that kind of a feeling, you know, for my patients." "You know, a caretaker or something, but this is different." ""Oh, pray for me and I'll pray for you" ""Pray for the wicked and the evil, too"" ""Pray for the genius And the not so smart" ""Who with their smiles" ""Still touch your heart"" "I read all your poems." "You never came back for me, Pops." "All a book needs is to be read, you know." "Just needs to be read." ""At each stride a mile he measured" ""Lurid was the sky above him Lurid seemed the earth beneath him" ""Close and hot the air around him" ""Filled with smoke and fiery vapors" ""As of burning woods and prairies" ""And his..."" "Hi." "Amaryllis of Puerto Rico." "Yes." "What happened to your arms?" "Are you okay?" "I had a..." "It's okay." "Feels better." "Okay." "You know, if I had a daughter, she would be just like you." "You like to dance?" "You like dancing?" "Oh, I used to dance with my wife at weddings and such functions." "Let's dance." "Oh, yes." "Come on." "Okay." "Put this over here." "Come on." "Dancing." "Okay, okay, okay, okay, okay." "Okay." "Over there." "Dancing." "Let's do some dancing." "Okay." "All right." "All right." "Over here." "So, salsa." "You guide me." "I'll guide you." "And then I'm gonna turn." "And I have to move my hips like that." "And then I go like that." "Either I move or..." "So, how did your wife die?" "She was hit by a car." "A car?" "Yeah." "You know, Red was about 10 when she died." "And of course they didn't want him to come live with me." "They wanted, you know..." "She wanted him to go live with her brother." "But I always called him Red, because the first time I saw him, that's what he was, he was red." "You know, my wife's blood." "She gave it to my boy." "Then she gave it to me." "Crossing Broadway, you know, 9:00 p.m. in the evening." "Fucking car." "I ran to her in the middle of the street and held her in my arms." "I couldn't stop the bleeding." "Couldn't stop the bleeding." "And that night I went home and I wrote a poem." "You know, I put everything I knew about her in that poem." "The way she smelled after a day at the ocean, you know." "When she went to sleep, you know, her feet used to rub up against each other because, you know, her extremities, they got cold, you know." "Just a bunch of..." "Just a bunch of goddamn words." "You know, I still have that poem, you know, but I don't have my..." "I don't..." "I don't have my wife." "You are a very good dancer." "I want you to come with me to Australia." "To where?" "Australia." "I'm flying tomorrow." "I want you to come with me." "I know we haven't known each other for a long time, but I think you feel what I feel." "Listen, I've never been further away from Puerto Rico than New York." "That's too far away." "But..." "Look at this." "I'll take you away from that terrible place you're staying." "Look at that." "We can have a beautiful life." "It's pretty." "Let me take care of you." "We can have a beautiful life together." "To Australia and to us." "Oh, my God." "What happened back at the club with the glass cage?" "I didn't wanna be there, you know." "I wanted to disappear." "I just went crazy." "I didn't come to New York to be a stripper." "You know, when I was a kid, six, seven years old, my dad worked all the time, never saw him." "He used to come home after I was asleep." "So, one night, I sneak downstairs in the middle of the night, hide behind a chair in my dad's office all night." "Next morning, everybody wakes up frantic, looking for me." "My dad finds me." "He starts spanking the shit out of me." "Over, over, over." "I was crying and yelling." "And all of a sudden he stops and he hugs me so tight." "He saw me." "He really saw me, and he held me just as tight as he could." "I think sometimes we think we want to disappear, but we really just want to be found." "Look what I got for us." "Two tickets to the other side of the world, Sydney, Australia." "We leave tonight." "Tonight?" "Tonight." "If we give ourselves too much time, we'll talk ourselves out of it." "Can..." "Give me one week." "I'll meet you in one week." "No, we have to go together." "And I have to be there on Monday for my job." "We walk down the aisle of that plane together." "We get off in a new country, on a new day, together." "We reinvent ourselves together." "It's gotta be tonight." "Say yes." "We go together." "Okay." "Yeah?" "I'll do it." "Okay, folks, this is it." "Thank you." "Yeah." "Thank you." "Nice." "Hold that." "And drop." "That's it." "Great." "Nice." "Very nice." "Thank you." "Fantastic." "Fantastic." "Okay." "I need to bring it down to three couples, please." "Let me have..." "You, please come forward." "Let me see you with this gentleman here." "And let me have you." "The rest of you, thank you very much." "Guys, we're gonna take it from this whole section through." "Four, five, six, seven, and eight." "And one, two." "That's it." "Okay, take your time." "That's it." "Nice." "Pick it up." "Push it." "Take it right through." "Get down." "Yes." "Okay." "Very nice, very nice." "Very nice, you guys." "Take a break." "Take a break." "Ladies and gentlemen, obviously we have three very solid couples here today." "Unfortunately, there is only one that is appropriate for our show." "Mr. Robert Jones." "You're a great dancer." "Thank you." "You're in." "Nice." "Miss Amaryllis Campos." "You're very special." "Congratulations." "You got the job." "Well done." "That's your grandson, Pops." "Miles Vario Emory." "When your mother first arrived here, she was in bad condition." "Bad condition because, you know." "So if we tried to talk about you or your father, she'd get very upset." "These cases are very complicated." "So, please, have a little more patience, all right?" "Go easy." "She's very fragile."