Placas
Selected Monologues
ACT 1 , SCENE 1 TATTOO REMOVAL CLINIC , LASER ROOM , SAN FRANCISCO
PLACAS stands shirtless , chest and arms full of tattoos .
PLACAS What ’ s in a number ? Any number .
It was the Mayans invented the zero . Simón . Short , dark indios staring at the stars above the Yucatán thousands of years ago decided that it all came from nothing . The universe birthed the first . To the Maya , zero was God .
How about the number one ? Americans believe everything starts with the number one . First is the most important . First day of the month . First kiss . First son . First kill . First toke . First tear . One nation under God . It ’ s a cheerleader song at every game : We ’ re number one . Number one is God .
Trip on that , ese .
And how about the number three ? That ’ s an important number . The Father , the Son and the Holy Ghost . Karma comes in threes , right ? The Lencas , The Spaniards , then the mestizos . Three dots on my hand . Three words to live by : Mi . Vida . Loca .
One . Three . Thirteen . Which is from Southern California . All the clikas from the south show our unity with the number thirteen .
I got thirteen tattooed all over my body , and sometimes I wonder which came first : bad luck , or thirteen ? It ’ s what you call a conundrum .
Prison library — what can I say ?
Conundrum . I like that complex word . Kinda like my tattoos . I ’ m supposed to burn them off . Part of my probation . But these placas are for life . My loyalty to the homeboys . My history . My clicka don ’ t like no drop-outs . To them , tattoo removal is disrespecting the hood . You can get killed for that .
But I think different now .
Photo : Aimee Santos
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