This Property Is Condemned

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Wish me red roses

And yellow balloons

Black sequins whirling

To gay dancing tunes

I want all these treasures

The most you can give

So wish me a rainbow

As long as I live

All my tomorrows depend on your love

So wish me a rainbow above

Hey! You seen a kite?

Don't talk to me till I fall off. Here,

come here! Hurry, will you? Run, stupid!

Here, take my crazy doll, will you?

I don't want to break her when I fall.

I don't think I can stay on much longer.

This is the furthest I've ever gone

without once falling off.

- Hurt yourself?

- Skinned my knee.

Good thing I didn't put

my silk stockings on.

- Spit on it. That takes the sting away.

- OK.

- Hey, are you OK?

- Yeah, I guess so.

Principal damage was done

to my bracelet. Knocked out a diamond.

- It wasn't a genuine diamond.

- How do you know?

If it was, you wouldn't be out

walking railroad tracks.

Not with a banged-up doll

and a piece of a rotten banana.

I forgot to ask. What's your name?

- Tom.

- Mine's Willie.

- How did that happen?

- I was expected to be a boy, but I wasn't.

They already had one girl,

Alva. That was my sister.

- Why ain't you in school?

- I thought it was gonna be windy.

- So I could fly my kite.

- What made you think that?

'Cause the sky's so white.

Hey... why ain't you in school?

I quituated. They started on algebra.

I didn't care what X stood for, so I quit.

You ain't gonna get an education

walking a railroad track.

You ain't from flying a kite neither.

Besides, what a girl needs

to get along is social training.

I learned that from Alva. She was

mighty popular with the railroad men.

- Train engineers?

- Engineers!

Engineers, firemen, brakemen,

conductors, the freight superintendent,

every one of them after Alva.

She was, I guess you might say,

the main attraction.

Beautiful? Jeez!

Boy, you see that house over yonder?

- We had some high old times in there.

- I'll bet you did.

Musical instruments going all the time.

Piano, victrola, Hawaiian steel guitar...

Everybody playing on something.

It's awful quiet now, though.

- Is it empty?

- Except for me.

They got a big sign stuck up.

"This property is condemned".

- You ain't still living there?

- I'm not supposed to be, but I am.

Property's condemned,

but there ain't nothing wrong with it.

Some welfare worker came yesterday.

I recognised her by the shape of her hat.

It was something, all right.

You wouldn't believe it.

Sure is empty now, though.

- Boy, see these clothes I got on?

- Yeah.

They're Alva's. Inherited from her.

Everything that was Alva's is mine.

She was always singing around

that house. This is her favourite song.

Wish me a rainbow and wish me a star

All this you can give me

Wherever you are

And dreams for my pillow

And stars for my eyes

And a masquerade ball

Where our love wins first prize

All my tomorrows depend on your love

So wish me a rainbow above

OK, here she is. Dodson.

Get ready to hit the ground running.

Mind if I asked you a question?

Doing the things that you do,

how do you sleep?

On my stomach.

My mama in here?

We got a problem on our hands.

She went back this way, Willie.

You seen my mama?

You shouldn't be out here alone,

sporting a big diamond like that.

You scared me!

And it ain't a real diamond.

- Sparkles like one to me.

- No. It's a firefly. Gotta...

- Willie, where's your ma?

- I don't know.

- Gotta snip off its tail... when it's lighted.

- Do you belong to that boarding house?

That's the Starr Boarding House.

I'm Willie Starr.

Well, how do you do, Willie?

You railroad?

- Why do you ask?

- We get mostly railroad men.

Mama will put you up some place...

soon as I find that old thing!

Mama? That you, Mama?

Willie, quit that hollering!

Leave them alone!

Come on.

- Where've you been?

- Down to Jake's to see if Alva's there.

- Who are you, honey?

- He wants a room.

- You ain't a vagrant?

- No.

- Lay-off?

- No.

Well, my rooms are two a night...

Where are you going? I got the beer!

- Happy birthday!

- Two a night, ten bucks a week.

Two meals included. Cash in advance.

- How long you fixing to stay?

- Five... A week... Ten. About a week.

Only a week? Well, a buck is a buck.

If you're lucky.

Hey, where's the beer?

It ain't usually so noisy.

Some old fool got hold of it's my birthday.

- Happy birthday!

- Damn fool! What's your name, honey?

- Owen Legate. Happy birthday.

- What room?

- No, you can't go yet! I just got the beer!

- What room?

- Better put him in Papa's room.

- I forgot to say. There's gonna be a fight.

Jimmy Bell done got drunk and

Charlie Steinkamp's gonna lay him out!

Hey, wait a minute.

You knew it was firefly, didn't you?

Hey...

Come on in, honey. You wanna meet

anybody, you just introduce yourself.

- Ain't she back?

- I haven't seen her.

She don't come soon,

I got an awful early run.

Your change, Mr Johnson.

I got a dozen. Should be enough.

I don't see how you can stand still

with all that music going.

I know you'd prefer to dance with Alva,

but today is my birthday.

- What about Mr...?

- I can only please one at a time!

You can take Mr what's-his-name

upstairs and settle him in. Excuse me.

Show him the bathroom. We got an

indoor toilet, modern bathing equipment.

It isn't complicated once Alva and I show

you how. Give him something to eat.

Then you come and join the party. Oh!

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