Excerpt starts on Page 24 Esther Choi is your favorite all-American, overachieving-Asian teen except she has a ghost. Anthony Gibson is Esther’s best friend and (spoiler alert) he’s dead. Mr. Choi is Esther’s grandfather and he owns a haunted dry cleaner on Cheltenham Ave. In an (un)likely turn of events, Esther must grapple with grief, loneliness, and winning first chair in high school orchestra, all while living up to her grandfather’s new expectations.
Characters: Esther: A practical and driven high school student (but only because she knows she’s supposed to be). She’s tough on others, but tougher on herself. She is second generation. Asian-American, female, early 20s. Anthony: A brilliant and kind high school student. Musical genius that works at a fish supply store. A compelling gentleness lives inside him. African-American, male, early 20s. Mr. Choi: Esther’s grandfather and immigrant from Korea. He owns a dry cleaner. Asian/Asian-American, male, grandfather age (let’s not be insulting here)
Setting: Choi Dry Cleaner: Mr. Choi’s business on Cheltenham Ave. in Philadelphia, PA; worn and stood the test of time. Fins N Gills: an aquarium and fish supply store where Anthony works; this is a new (read: gentrified) business.
Key:
Pace: . = a blink - = the other side of a conversation / = interruption or continuation … = waiting
The play should feel like a dry cleaner conveyor belt, circling around. Some pieces come off. Some stay on for forever. It’s a cycle. But it stops and starts.
“We are all interwoven and create each other’s universes. When one person dies out of his time, it affects us all. We don’t live for ourselves; we are interconnected. We live for the earth, for Texas, for the chicken we ate last night that gave us its life, for our mother, for the highway and the ceiling and the trees. We have a responsibility to treat ourselves kindly; then we will treat the world the same way.” Writing Down The Bones - Natalie Goldberg
Nine Months Before Everything Changed (Anthony continues to play alone. It sounds a little off without ESTHER. Another memory rolls in. MR CHOI is locking up Choi Dry Cleaner. ANTHONY is leaving Fins N Gills.) ANTHONY Goodnight, Mr. Choi! MR CHOI Huh? Oh. Um. Yes. ANTHONY Tell Esther I’ll see her tomorrow! Oh, can you make sure she writes out her part of the Composition homework? She always just plays from memory and I think Dr. G is catching on… MR CHOI Oh. The computation homework? ANTHONY Composition. MR CHOI Okay okay. I’ll call her. She’s with her mom tonight. ANTHONY Ohhh, my bad. She said she was staying with you cause her mom was looking at apartments in Massachusetts. MR CHOI She got back early. Esther rushed over to show her some concert video. “Spring something”? ANTHONY Oh nice! The Spring Strings concert! Esther had a big solo. MR CHOI (without any memory of such a thing) O h. 1
ANTHONY It’s was a good solo, Mr. Choi. Um. Maybe she can show you the video too. MR CHOI I was working late and I missed it. ANTHONY My mom was working too. It’s okay. MR CHOI Oh yes, you tell her that her bedding is ready for pick up. I didn’t want to call in case she was sleeping. ANTHONY Yeah, nightshifts last week had her going crazy. But she’s back to the normal schedule. I’ll let her know. MR CHOI Or you want them now? ANTHONY Oh nah, that’s okay. You just locked up. MR CHOI It’s no trouble. ANTHONY Your bus is up the street, Mr. Choi! MR CHOI Ah! Igo! Okay. You tell your mom! ANTHONY Have a great night, Mr. Choi! MR CHOI Anthony, you taking the bus too? ANTHONY Nah, my mom is picking me up. It’s Tuesday. She picks me up on Tuesdays after her shift at the hospital. 2
(MR CHOI nods and quickly heads for the bus stop. ANTHONY opens up his violin case and practices while he waits for his mom. He plays as car head lights pass him. Finally, a friendly tap of the horn. He looks up and waves to his mom. He packs up his violin and runs to meet the car off stage.)
The Tuesday Everything Changed (ESTHER is in Choi Dry Cleaner.) ESTHER (yelling to the backroom) Harabuji!!!! I’m done!!!! MR CHOI (from offstage) Okay! ESTHER Can I meet you at the apartment?! I want to get home to see if mom can skype!! She said she doesn’t have rehearsals on Tuesday nights / MR CHOI (popping his head out) O h!! Okay okay! Go go go. Tell her I say hello! ESTHER Thanks, see you at home. Oh crap! The bus!
(The lights of a SEPTA bus roll past.)
MR CHOI Yes! Go, Ga!! (ESTHER runs out of Choi Dry Cleaner. The bell twinkles. She disappears behind the glass and the sound of a SEPTA bus is heard rolling away. MR CHOI locks the door and returns to the backroom. Through the glass we see ANTHONY. He is bent over his violin case like in the scene before. Car lights pass over him.) (A shot breaks the air.) (ANTHONY clutches his violin case like it is a dying child. From inside the violin case, ANTHONY pulls out a dead fish floating in a plastic bag.) (It’s night time at Choi Dry Cleaner. MR CHOI finishes buttoning an old sweater. Red lights flash against the storefront. MR CHOI is working on alterations. His hands shake.) (ANTHONY enters from the dry cleaner conveyor forest. He plops the dead fish in a bag on the counter.) ANTHONY You’re here late. MR CHOI Alterations. A lot. It got cold so quickly.
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ANTHONY Why isn’t Esther helping you? MR CHOI She has an exam tomorrow. Needs to study. ANTHONY Right - American Lit. She has my flashcards. She’ll probably ace it. I sat behind her in American Lit. And AP bio. MR CHOI You’re AP too. ANTHONY And AP maths. MR CHOI Oh ANTHONY 3.78 MR CHOI Oh ANTHONY Esther loans me a pencil every Monday. And I return it every Friday. She eats lunch from a pink plastic container. I buy a circle pizza and dip the crust in ranch dressing. She has five pins on her backpack, but she crumples her papers. I have one binder for every subject and a five-divided spiral notebook. She listens to old-school Mariah Carey in the mornings and classical music in the afternoons. I listen to the Black Violins on my big sister’s spotify account. We sit together on the bus. Me and Esther. Fifteen stops to Cheltenham Creative. Seventeen stops to get to work, after school. And now, she’ll get to keep holding pencils and eating lunches and wearing backpacks and listening to music and playing music and taking the bus and going to work and going to school and breathing and living and she’ll get to do it all and I / (Sounds of police chatter from the street.) MR CHOI You. ANTHONY Mr. Choi, what happened? 4
MR CHOI Oh. Um. I really didn’t. I really couldn’t. It was so dark. ANTHONY It’s still so dark. And cold. MR CHOI Anthony. It got cold so quickly. It was all very quick. (They are silent. ANTHONY turns to face the flashing red lights and stares out the window. We can’t see his reflection in the window, but we can clearly see MR CHOI’s.) MR CHOI (trying to be cheerful) Hey! Oh! Esther told me that you got first chair!! ANTHONY Not anymore. MR CHOI Esther is second. ANTHONY Not anymore. MR CHOI Right. MR CHOI Anthony with the perfect placement. She wants to copy you. . She said you are the best lab partner because you always / cut the frog. ANTHONY I would dissect the frog for her. MR CHOI Right. ANTHONY What are you gonna tell her? 5
MR CHOI Huh? ANTHONY She’s gonna notice I’m gone. She’s gonna notice. American Lit. Bio. Math. The internet. The person who becomes a hashtag. The person who became a hashtag on the sidewalk out front of Choi Dry Cleaner. She’s gonna notice. . She’s my best friend. She’s gonna notice.
The Tuesday Everything Changed (MR CHOI stands behind the counter at Choi Dry Cleaner. The red lights still flash beyond the glass. ESTHER runs through the door and the bell is manic.) ESTHER I came as soon as I could. I used the emergency money in your What’s with all the police? What happened? You said / MR CHOI Take a deep breath - Esther. Just breathe. It’s hard to / ESTHER You’re scaring me. Was that blood out there? What happened? MR CHOI You need to calm down before I try to explain / ESTHER Explain what? What’s going on? MR CHOI Esther. Um. 6
Here, sit. I Uh. Hm. ESTHER What?! You’re freaking me out! MR CHOI Esther, there was an accident. Or at least, I think it was an accident. I think … There was - it was a I heard this sound when I was in the back. I thought it was maybe Mr Zhang’s old car backfiring. But it was so loud. And so fast. ESTHER What was it. MR CHOI . . It was a shot. ESTHER . MR CHOI It was - so dark. And I couldn’t really see and it was hard to tell at first. But then I saw him. ESTHER Who. MR CHOI Anthony. He was on the ground. And I ran as fast as I could to get him. But, but but but - it was too late. I was too late. ESTHER It was too late for what? What happened? MR CHOI I’m so sorry, Esther. I really am.
ESTHER 7
I am so so sorry. I know he was your best friend. I know this is hard /
No. No. No. No. This isn’t happening.
ESTHER No! Stop it! That’s not him out there in that ambulance! No! That’s not his blood. NO! I know it couldn’t be. It’s not! No No no no no no no no please no. MR CHOI Esther. I’m so sorry. I I don’t know what to say. It was all so fast. I (ESTHER collapses into MR CHOI) It’s okay. It’s okay, I’ve got you. I’m here. It’s okay. . Esther. Go wash your face. They’re coming. (They look to the door as the bell twinkles and the sound of big boots break them apart.) (MR CHOI and ESTHER are seperate. MR CHOI is uncomfortable. ESTHER is defiant.) MR CHOI Officer, I wish you would understand. My granddaughter has told me / ESTHER He’s a good kid. MR CHOI You have every reason to / ESTHER Believe me. MR CHOI I am calm, officer. I just / ESTHER Wish you would listen! 8
MR CHOI Yes sir. ESTHER Yeah. MR CHOI But you’re getting it all wrong. ESTHER We’re friends from school / MR CHOI I had no problem with the boy. ESTHER Best friends! MR CHOI I’ve been here so long. I never thought anything like this would happen. ESTHER He works at Fins N Gills. MR CHOI I have a business to worry about. Not good for business, you understand. ESTHER He’s just a kid!!! MR CHOI I would never want to hurt him. He’s my granddaughter’s friend. A friend from school. ESTHER I mean, he knew Anthony - but not like know him, know him. MR CHOI I was just trying to keep him alive. ESTHER He’s a good man. MR CHOI 9
It was a mistake. To try. To roll my sleeves up. ESTHER It was outside Fins N Gills. Why isn’t Scott here? MR CHOI No, I didn’t see anyone else on the street. ESTHER He could have just as easily seen what happened. MR CHOI The fish store. That’s where he worked. So I assume he was coming from work. ESTHER His mom picks him up on Tuesdays. MR CHOI Officer, this is embarrassing, but my cameras are all fake. I just have them for show. I never hooked them up. I never knew how. ESTHER Well check Scott’s cameras! You can ask him for the footage when you start questioning him! MR CHOI He was a good boy. Esther has told me all about him! He wouldn’t have / ESTHER Why are you sitting here, talking to us when you could be out there, looking for the person who murdered my best friend?!? MR CHOI I know you must have a lot of work to do, Officer, but if you could just / ESTHER Leave us alone! MR CHOI I need to make sure Esther gets some rest before school. ESTHER 10
I can’t believe you’re going to let whoever did this just walk away! MR CHOI Are you accusing me of anything, Officer? ESTHER No! I WILL NOT! MR CHOI Then, I must respectfully ask if I may, please leave.
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