Mother.
Gambling is like playing Mah Jongg
with blank tiles.
No one really wins.
Im enriched by your presence,
my son.
I think Ill go pray.
Hello, Sha-Ron.
Is Fa Mulan here?
Shes out in the field.
Yeah, doing her chores.
Ill go help her.
Thank you.
The children all love Mulan.
And why not? Shes strong,
shes brave, shes beautiful.
Shes a chip off the old block.
Its okay, Little Brother.
Whats goin
mother -- everythings fine
with her?
JEANNE
Oh yes, shes... wonderful.
FLASH: we see Jeannes peasant MOTHER, sitting by the
fire, sewing. Their home is little more than a hovel -- a
low, dark cave of a place, traversed by a huge beam.
PRIEST
Good, good. And your sister...
Catherine -- shes still your best
friend?
JEANNE
Oh yes, my sisters just... shes...
wonderful.
FLASH: Jeannes sister CATHERINE
MOTHER sticks her head in with a worried look. TINA sits
up and blows out a breath, groggy.
TINA
Just a dream, Ma...
(more to herself)
Damn dream, is all...
The woman, once attractive, ventures a step into the room. A MAN
hovers BACKGROUND. TINAS mother waves him away without looking,
shoving a strand of bleached hair from her eyes. She appraises
her daughter.
TINAS MOTHER
Some dream, judging fro
mother cleans floors. She works.
What country are you in? Tell me.
You make fun of my life
with your dreams of...
Im tired and I have to go to work.
That is America.
Last night, I dreamed
I danced with Isadora Duncan.
Those things I saw while I danced...
Wild, wild things.
And I never did those steps before.
They were just coming to me
in the last second.
Just when I thought there was no place
to
mother, who made
the most delicious blintzes in the world.
Of course, there was Old Gregor,
and his son, Young Gregor.
Young Gregors son
was older than Old Gregor.
Nobody could fiigure out
how that happened.
My two brothers, lvan and Mikhail,
used to play amusing little games.
But I had a completely different
concept ofmyselfas a child.
My fiirst experience with death
was with one ofourserfs, Old