The Tiger and The SongBird

The Tiger and The SongBird

By Alex Lape

As the last bus en route to the Alamo reached its final stop, Alvin Curazo readied the last crumpled twenty dollar bill he had in his pocket to pay the driver before stepping into the fiercely breezy San Antonio night sky. The bus driver was affable enough, a short old African American man with a thin graying mustache who paired a warm, welcoming smile and laugh with a razor sharp wit that he used to “spit game” to his more attractive female passengers. As the man took Alvin’s bus fare, the kind old man took some time to give him advice on how to bring home a pretty young thing and wished him a good night. Alvin was just about to thank him beyond just a nod before a couple of rowdy teenagers behind him began trying to shove their way past him, forcing Alvin to settle for the nod and keep it pushing. The moment his feet touched to pavement, Alvin felt it all come back - the booming, festive sounds of mariachi bands playing on the street, the sweet aroma of barbecue and carne asada being cooked on the grill with spices, and the ever familiar sight of old Spanish missions that had slowly become worn down over time. Every limestone wall seemed to echo much of San Antonio’s history as much as it did the spirit of its people, a fact Alvin deemed fitting as flashes of his early days as a playwright and stagehand turned actor came flooding back to him the further he walked down Alamo Plaza to a little theater house known as “El Comienzo Theater House”. Staring at its now worn auburn and  gold laced exterior, Alvin felt a lump form in his throat. While most may have merely seen the building as another pile of bricks they could enter for two or three hours of escapism, Alvin remembered it as an empire in its own, a dynasty. It had been a place that forced him to put away the carefree nature he had known as a boy, and taught him how to face the stark realities of being a man. It had been a house of camaraderie, a den of spiteful rivalry, a place of budding romance, and a memorial to lingering pain. For many, it was the place that made them, broke them, and remade them again. It was a place of fights (both real and verbal), of laughs, and of love. And it was where Alvin discovered just how much a person could mean to him, and what void they could leave when they left.

“El Comienzo” was, like its name stated, a start - a start for up and coming actors, playwrights, fight choreographers, make up artists, and the like to cut their teeth in the theater. Alvin had initially been awarded an internship to work as a junior playwright and story boarder. A few people in the crew had noted Alvin’s pretty decent sense of comedic timing and acting, but Alvin usually stayed out of center stage beyond a few bit parts in order to master his first love and main craft of writing. At the start, the production crew might have ordered a “fight scene” to be sprinkled in every so often. Those fight scenes never failed to intrigue Alvin since he’d trained martial arts, self defense, and fighting since he was a boy. After he’d learned Okinawan Karate back in the islands, Alvin got the chance to get exposed to different martial arts when he moved to the Midwest. There would be schools offering Tai Chi Chuan, Wing Chun, Boxing, Taekwondo, Kenpo, Muay Thai, Northern Shaolin, etc. And Alvin had the honor to train with and spar a lot of them. But Alvin just focused on the comedy acts initially. To be honest, Alvin had initially hopped on board with the production crew to gain experience and exposure within the theater world, as well as to help his aging ailing parents with their bills. Alvin’s mom had just been diagnosed with cervical cancer, his dad was poorly managing his cardiovascular health, and the hospital bills had started piling up. So for Alvin, his theater run was just initially a fun nine to five that he didn’t feel the need to get seriously banged up for in order to collect a check. But as always, Alvin found out that somehow he couldn’t stay away from fighting for too long.

 The fighters Alvin had witnessed doing their thing varied from almost being competitive level to almost parody-level embarrassing. Most of the major “fight” material had been handled by a senior “fighter” named Nick who preferred to be called “Nicole”. Nicole had been one of the better “fighters” on the crew due to having a background in Korean martial arts. The main problem with Nicole was the fact that her superiority complex had made her prideful and brash; either Nicole would fly off the handle and force confrontations with performers who challenged her dominance or annoyed her - or she would force performers she supposedly had the best intentions for into situations that scarred them further.

Alvin had been content to write, rework, and run lines with various actors and actresses, as well as take time to go over blocking and pacing to make better performances. But one night, a fight choreographer had gotten into an argument  with an actor on whether or not his character needed to throw more high kicks, specifically more roundhouse kicks to the head. They initially asked Nicole to weigh in, but she was too busy flirting with a few actresses - so they settled for Alvin since they knew he had at least some martial arts training. Alvin reluctantly agreed, but quickly showed the complaining actor the flaws in his logic. Every time he threw a high roundhouse kick, Alvin swept his supporting leg and put him on his back. After about five rounds of this, even Nicole would turn her focus to Alvin and give him a knowing smile and nod. Alvin’s secret was out, and soon he couldn’t avoid the center stage as easily as before as he was usually sent out to help coach, choreograph and even perform in stage fight scenes whenever he wasn’t storyboarding and script editing.

Nicole, as previously seen, had taken note of Alvin’s capability of translating true fighting skill in stage performances and immediately began to introduce him to her entourage. Some of them had an ego to match Nicole’s, some merely hung around to kiss Nicole’s ass, and some tried to ignore Nicole’s antics as they carried on with their own quirks and goals. Of course, multiple crew members had their own trivial squabbles between each other over one thing or another. Hell, they even had disagreements with certain other performance crews over time slots or perceived toughness and “fighting ability” or whatever. There were times these would lead to challenge matches backstage or in the theater parking lot. Alvin loved a good spar every now and again if it was merely for the purpose of learning, but not for pure ego. And Alvin was content to not stick his beak into the fights since he didn’t have to at least not until the day one actress named Cassandra came into his life.

Cassandra was an aspiring half-Colombian, half-Irish singer from La Mesa, California, not too far from San Diego and happened to be a few years older than Alvin. Cassandra was a short, portly woman with an endearing, cherubic smile that displayed her caring, welcoming demeanor that went with a great voice. Cassandra could either be shy when other performers grouped around together for a couple rounds of raucous fun and shit talking; she could be happy and bubbly if the conversation includes topics which piqued her interests such as music, anime, and wildlife; or she could be the warm and nurturing type to her castmates, especially to those she was partnered up with for romantic bits or younger performers who needed guidance. It was this collection of traits that made Cassandra beloved among many if not all of the crew members in the theater house, especially Nicole. Cassandra was soon Nicole’s precious jewel: a sacred treasure that must be protected at all costs, and a princess undeserved by mere mortals with lesser character. Nicole herself carried a not-so-hidden torch for Cassandra that she stowed away in order to be there for her in a more sibling-like capacity. In fact, Nicole would eventually put out a mini casting call for someone to be Cassandra’s romantic partner in a new segment that’d run in the evening.

Now, by this time, Alvin had been with Nicole’s crew for four or five months: coaching, doing light sparring and drills, and still doing all the writing-based responsibilities. Nicole’s open call for Cassandra’s new partner had attracted all types of actors from various performance crews. Through putting his hours in and actually staying by Nicole’s crew loyally, Alvin managed to earn just a little bit of Nicole’s respect (well, he already had it in the martial arts department since his skill was undebatable) and was eventually asked to take on more important managerial responsibilities within the crew. And then, the day came.

With multiple failed attempts to find Cassandra a suitable on-stage partner, Nicole finally begrudgingly recommended Alvin to step up to the plate. Alvin had found Cassandra attractive in her own sweet way, but always kept a professional distance. Cassandra had always shown him kindness, even when everything else in the theater house had seemed to bear its weight down on him. He had also admired her singing to herself during session breaks and simply been blown away by an angelic voice that could melt any heart. Alvin had grown up on all types of music, even Motown, doo-wop, and jazz - so, Alvin knew a great voice when he heard one. There was also a vulnerability to Cassandra that resonated with Alvin, the feeling of them being out of place at times and not always feeling good enough for the people around them. And then there was also a cultural link: Alvin being Filipino, Cassandra being Colombian - both of them could relate to the Spanish side of their cultures.

But when Alvin found himself partnered with Cassandra up close, he found the atmosphere had shifted. As they spent more time together on-stage and backstage, Alvin found (at least, in his mind) that he was getting closer than he had ever really meant to be. And this was besides the fact Cassandra had the patience, grace, kindness, warmth, and drive Alvin loved in a woman. There were many nights where Alvin could do little more than try to console a tearful Cassandra between performances after someone she thought loved her had hurt her, or if she felt left out. And part of seeing someone he had begun to fall for go through pain they didn’t deserve. If Alvin could put it in words, he guessed his younger, foolish self thought he could whisk her away from everything that hurt her and give her the love she needed and deserved. Nicole even began to organize the fighters in the crew as more of an informal gang for support in case Cassandra ever got hurt.

As Alvin got closer to Cassandra, Nicole began to show more and more signs of a jealous rage building inside of her. And it wasn’t always so subtle, either. Nicole frequently tried her best to call Alvin out publicly, putting him on the spot and regarding him with derision maybe

 to elevate her status to others and possibly remind everyone (or maybe just Cassandra) that she was still top dog Alvin bet many other actors had felt the same way, especially with the way everyone was eager to protect her. And when the public humiliation didn’t faze Alvin enough to her liking, she eventually just shoved him into the middle of the sparring circles. Alvin was often given the excuse that this was meant to keep him sharp in order to protect Cassandra in case they got into trouble backstage. And with every match he survived, Nicole had to at least give him a little more respect. When everything was done,  performing on stage and sparring, Alvin again often found himself in Cassandra’s company. It was back to the warm embraces, back to the slow dance rehearsals they’d have to do for their bit and got them closer than anything else in the world could, back to the talks that peeled back the layers to show Alvin a woman with a beautiful but burdened soul with dreams of pursuing her passion of music and caring for animals. Cassandra had revealed herself to be a woman who tried her best at everything she did despite the stress of where she had come from and the expectations everyone had put on her, as well as anxiety and a damaged sense of self worth - the woman Alvin had grown to love. Alvin felt at home with her, he could relate to many of her doubts and fears of inadequacy and not always fitting in, and her voice transported him to realms of euphoria one could only dream of.

But soon months passed, turning into years, and Alvin had slowly found himself being worn down by the constant barrage of Nicole constantly and randomly badgering him both verbally and physically as his workload steadily increased. Then there were the frequent calls informing Alvin when his mom had taken multiple trips to the hospital, either from chemotherapy sessions or health scares. Some of those trips had been scary enough as to where Alvin’s cousin Isaiah had to call him to grill him on whether or not he was really taking care of the family how he was supposed to. And finally there was the seemingly endless cycle of Alvin having to deal with the fact he’d see Cassandra repeatedly give her heart to another man who’d leave her in tears, never finding the words nor courage to express the deep love that he kept inside of him. Alvin tried keeping himself together the best he could, trying to function as a trusted member of the  crew despite waking up with anxiety and going to bed feeling like the world had taken a dump on him.

It all came to a head when tragedy struck home, and Alvin had to take time away from the theater so he could make arrangements to help out his mom as his dad got his turn to have his health worsen. Also by this time, Cassanrda had made plans to return to the West Coast as an old flame of hers had promised her unconditional love and a better life. Ironically, one of the people who supported Alvin’s need for time away was Nicole herself. Nicole admitted that despite all of her brash and aggressive attitude that she displayed towards him(mostly because she loved Cassandra, too), she had genuinely grown to respect and care for him in her own way. Alvin had proven himself a loyal and supportive soldier to the crew. They had been through things, against each other and alongside each other. They were family. And the family would support him with whatever he’d done in life.

So here Alvin was now, five years later and still trying to make his way through the theater realm as a writer and stunt coordinator. Every now and then, Alvin would take a second to soak in a crowd’s roars and applause after a show went smooth as silk. Alvin had met his current theater company after his cousin Isaiah had convinced him to bring his mom with him to Reno, Nevada. And this company did shows everywhere, from Seattle to  Memphis, from Los Angeles to Philadelphia. But yet again, right in front of Alvin was the “El Comienzo” - a reminder of what was and could’ve been.