Kevin, Son and Daughter

by

Sydney Rudman

CONTENT WARNING: Strong homophobic language. INT. UNDERGROUND BALLROOM, 1986 - NIGHT

Cameras flash. Lights blink and blind. A crowd of teens and twenty-somethings hollers and snaps and laughs. A cacophony of light and sound booms.

Red high heels strut across a gym-like ballroom floor. They belong to COCOA RICHE, a 18-year-old African American baby stomping down the floor in her Realest outfit. She's pretty and very feminine, the kind of queen that blends into the heterosexual definition of a woman.

She stops at the end of the runway and poses, lifting her arm into the air and letting the noise wash over her.

An emcee, PEPPER LABEIJA (46), seasoned African American drag queen and head of House LaBeija, calls out to the crowd.

PEPPER LABEIJA Why you all gagging? You know she gives it to you every ball!

Cocoa twirls her long earring with three crystal strands in her hand. She's feeling the fantasy.

She struts back to the podium where a long line of other queens stand.

Pepper hands the microphone to another emcee, CRYSTAL LABEIJA (50s), an older African-American drag queen. Pepper pulls Cocoa aside into the wings of the stage.

INT. UNDERGROUND HARLEM BALLROOM WINGS - CONTINUOUS

CRYSTAL LABEIJA (O.S.) Up next we have...

PEPPER LABEIJA You the realest queen out there.

COCOA RICHE Oh, this old thing?

PEPPER LABEIJA Show up like this to every ball and you'll stunt your way into the LaBeija House.

Cocoa's eyes light up.

COCOA RICHE The other girls would have my neck. 2.

PEPPER LABEIJA Say it's fair and square. House LaBeija is hosting our own Baby Ball this Saturday. Winner takes the crown, $100, and a spot in the LaBeija house. Between you and me, I hope you make it.

COCOA RICHE I'm there.

PEPPER LABEIJA I know you will be. And stick with those earrings girl, they're working.

Pepper heads back onto the stage, leaving Cocoa with a grin. She steps back out in line with the other girls.

CUT TO:

INT. HARLEM APARTMENT - NIGHT

Cocoa, now out of drag as KEVIN MIGHTY, walks into to a crowded, dingy apartment with a duffle bag.

At a small table in front of him sits a full meal complete with chicken, rice, and vegetables, as well as his mother, NINA MIGHTY (40s), wearing a tattered diner's waitress uniform. She's nursing a can of beer and an empty plate.

Kevin eyes a feather sticking out of his duffle. He quickly shoves it back in. Nina looks away.

NINA You're late.

KEVIN It's 12. I was studying at Samira's.

NINA I asked you to be here at 9.

KEVIN Sorry.

NINA I don't want you to be sorry. I just want you to show up. I ran out from class to cook dinner.

She clears her plate and puts it in the sink, washing it off. 3.

Kevin sits at the table.

KEVIN I'm here now.

NINA Just in time for me to leave. The diner called. They want me in for the graveyard.

He starts to eat.

NINA (CONT'D) My graduation is this Saturday. It would mean something to me if you could come.

She turns off the sink.

NINA (CONT'D) (CONT'D) And clean up when you're done. Gotta go earn us something better than bland chicken.

She walks over to Kevin and kisses his head.

She walks to the door and puts her coat on. She leaves. Kevin continues eating in silence.

INT. KEVIN'S BEDROOM - SATURDAY AFTERNOON

Kevin's room is undecorated and bland. His blue comforter is the only thing bringing color into the stained, white walls and carpet.

Kevin takes out the contents of his drag duffle. He places a necklace, eyelashes, and stockings into a shoebox on the bed. He takes out his earrings and sets them beside him.

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK. Kevin quickly closes the shoebox and puts it in the back corner of his closet. He sits on the earrings.

Nina opens the door.

NINA I'm gonna put my gown on. You wanna see?

Kevin smiles.

CUT TO: 4.

INT. NINA'S ROOM - MINUTES LATER

Nina stands in her room, similarly undecorated, looking in a mirror. She's wearing her graduation cap and gown. She twirls its edges.

Kevin walks in holding his earrings. She spies him through the mirror.

NINA I'll be free after today.

KEVIN You look beautiful.

NINA Not as good as I'll look with a bigger check from a degree-paying job.

She dances a little. They laugh.

He approaches her with the earrings.

KEVIN I got these for you.

She looks at them.

NINA With what money?

KEVIN (shrugging) Picked up some change. Got 'em from Sears.

He puts the earrings in her ears. She watches him carefully.

Nina shakes her head back and forth, watching the earrings dance. She scrunches her nose.

NINA They ain't working. Take em back.

KEVIN (annoyed) Really?

NINA They're gaudy. 5.

KEVIN I thought they would go nicely... Distract from that purple polyester.

Nina takes the earrings out. She hands them to him.

NINA You think I look cheap?

KEVIN Not cheap, just not Bergdorf...

NINA Well I don't really care even if you got em at fuckin' Bergdorf.

KEVIN They were supposed to be your gift.

NINA And you can get me another one. Take em back.

KEVIN Maybe I'll just return them and not show up to graduation.

NINA You'll return those damn things to whatever cheap ladyboy store you got em from and be at graduation without 'em.

KEVIN (insisting) I got em at Sears.

NINA You think I'm an idiot? I'm your mother. I sit back and watch you run off with those fags, acting like you're one of them, while I wait in the wings for the goddamn respect you give out to strangers like it's Halloween candy. Who feeds you with our pennies, Kevin? Who puts a roof over your head?

She smoothes out the sides of her gown in the mirror.

KEVIN (under his breath) We're not fags. 6.

NINA No, my son isn't a fag. But I don't know who you are.

Kevin stares at her defiantly.

NINA (CONT'D) Funny, you think those people are your family.

She laughs.

KEVIN They are my family. They love me. (pause) They see me.

NINA Oh yeah? See where your family is when you end up dead on the side of the road with AIDS. They won't be there. And I won't be the one to claim the body of a person I don't know.

Kevin turns away from Nina, heading towards the door.

NINA (CONT'D) (appeasing) I just want you to be safe. But it's your call. Be at graduation without those damn things or don't bother coming home at all.

Kevin storms out of the room.

Nina takes a fake, demure pearl earring from her dresser and puts it in her ear. She eyes herself.

INT. KEVIN'S BEDROOM - SECONDS LATER

Kevin sits on his bed with his head in his hands.

NINA (O.S.) See you at 8.

He hears the door slam. He looks up.

He eyes the shoebox in the corner of his closet. He takes it out and opens it. Inside the box is an extravagant menagerie of items including lashes, stockings, duct tape, and jewelry. 7.

He puts the earrings inside the box. Kevin closes the lid, barely fitting on top. He sticks it into his duffle bag.

INT. UNDERGROUND HARLEM BALLROOM - NIGHT

A crowd bustles. Camera lights flash. Madonna's "Material Girl" plays, and the crowd dances the . They snap and ka-ka-ka at one another.

Crystal Labeija reappears at the stage holding a mic.

CRYSTAL LABEIJA Brothers and sisters, let the music play, and welcome to the LaBeija Ball!

The crowd hollers.

CRYSTAL LABEIJA (CONT'D) Give it up for your host, the queen that makes you death drop, Pepperrrrr LaBeijaaaaa!

Pepper appears from the wings wearing her best Liz Taylor Cleopatra. The crowd goes wild and chants, "LaBeija! LaBeija!"

Pepper starts down the runway, slowly and languidly. She relishes everyone in the crowd. She stops at the end, basking in the applause.

At the end of the runway, she meets a pair of red heels. It's Cocoa, dripping in a diamond-studded gown and the crystal earrings. She looks like a 10.

Pepper blows a kiss at Cocoa and struts back to the top of the runway. She takes the mic from Crystal.

PEPPER LABEIJA Settle in children. We got serious business.

CUT TO:

INT. UNDERGROUND HARLEM BALLROOM WINGS - LATER

Cocoa waits in the wings, smoothing out her dress. She eyes the girl on the runway.

PEPPER LABEIJA (O.S.) , honey! This is the woman you see in your dreams, honey! 8.

Cocoa fidgets. She plays with her earring and settles.

The runway queen steps back to the stage.

PEPPER LABEIJA (O.S.) (CONT'D) And last, the queen we're here to see, the queen that heats it up and serves it melted, Cocoa Riche!

Cocoa takes a deep breath. She walks out onto the stage.

INT. UNDERGROUND HARLEM BALLROOM - CONTINUOUS

Cocoa steps into a beaming spotlight. She bathes in it. The crowd cheers and snaps at her.

She stomps down the runway confidently. All eyes are on her.

She gets to the end of the runway and stops, feeling the sides of her body. She bites her nail coyly. She giggles.

Her fingers dance around her earring. The earring falls out of her ear and onto the floor.

Cocoa stops, a deer in headlights. She eyes the earring, then the crowd. She stomps on it. The crowd erupts.

Cocoa lifts up both of her arms as the crowd cheers. She walks back to the beginning of the runway, arms raised. She stops and eyes the crowd once more. They applaud and snap for her.

She turns toward a PANEL OF JUDGES, murmuring amongst one another. The first judge holds up a sign with the number 10. Then the second. Then the third.

PEPPER LABEIJA Boys and girls, there you have it! 10's across the board and we crown our new baby, Cocoa Riche LaBeija!

The crowd explodes. Crystal, holding a massive crown, and Pepper step down from the stage and meet Cocoa.

Crystal places the crown on Cocoa. Pepper hugs her and puts her arm in Cocoa's. Cocoa smiles and waves out into the crowd. They wolf-whistle for her.

In the distance, Cocoa eyes the crushed earring glinting in the light. She waves.

FADE TO BLACK