American Buffalo Page 7
BOB: I guess so.
TEACH: Hey, thanks for coming here. You did real good in coming here.
BOB: Yeah?
TEACH (to DON): He did real good in coming here, huh, Donny? (To BOB) We really owe you something.
BOB: What for?
TEACH: Coming here.
BOB: What?
TEACH: Something.
BOB: Like what?
DON: He don’t know. He’s saying that he thinks we owe you something, but right now he can’t think what it is.
BOB: Thanks, Teach.
TEACH: It’s okay, Bob.
Pause, BOB starts to exit.
Stick around.
BOB: Okay. For a minute.
TEACH: What? You’re busy?
BOB: I got, like, some things to do.
TEACH: Whaddaya got, a “date"?
BOB: No.
TEACH: What, then?
BOB: Business.
Pause.
DON: Where did they take him, Bob?
Pause.
BOB: Uh, Masonic.
DON: I don’t think that they got hours start til after lunch.
BOB: Then we’ll go then. I’m gonna go now.
TEACH: Hold on a second, Bob. I feel we should take care of you for coming here.
BOB: That’s okay. I’ll see you guys.
DON: Come here a minute, Bobby.
BOB: What, Donny?
DON: What’s going on here?
BOB: Here?
DON: Yes.
Pause.
BOB: Nothing.
DON: I’m saying what’s happening, Bob?
BOB: I don’t know.
DON: Where did you get that nickel from?
BOB: What nickel?
DON: You know what nickel, Bob, the nickel I’m talking about.
BOB: I got it off a guy.
DON: What guy?
BOB: I met downtown.
TEACH: What was he wearing?
BOB: Things.
Pause.
DON: How’d you get it off him, Bob?
BOB: We kinda talked.
Pause.
DON: You know what, you look funny, Bob.
BOB: I’m late.
DON: It’s after midnight, Bob. What are you late for?
BOB: Nothing.
DON (very sadly): Jesus. Are you fucking with me here?
BOB: No.
DON: (Bobby.)
BOB: I’m not fucking with you, Donny.
Pause.
DON: Where’s Fletcher?
Pause.
BOB: Masonic.
DON goes to telephone and dials information.
DON (into phone): For Masonic Hospital, please.
BOB: . . . I think . . .
DON (to BOB): What?
BOB: He might not be Masonic.
DON (to phone): Thank you. (Hangs up phone. To BOB) Now, what?
BOB: He might not be there . . .
DON: You said he was there.
BOB: Yeah, I just, like, I said it. I really don’t remember what they said, Ruthie.
TEACH: (Ruthie.)
BOB: . . . so I just . . . said Masonic.
DON: Why?
BOB: I thought of it.
Pause.
DON: Uh-huh. (To phone) Yes. I’m looking for a guy was just admitted. Fletcher Post.
Pause.
Just a short time ago.
Pause.
Thank you. (Pause. To BOB and TEACH) She’s looking for it. (To phone) No?
BOB: (I told you . . . )
DON: You’re sure?
Pause.
Thank you. (Hangs up phone. To BOB) He’s not there.
BOB: I told you.
TEACH: (What did I tell you, Don?)
DON: Where is he?
BOB: Somewhere else.
DON: (This makes me nuts . . ) Bobby . . .
BOB: Yeah?
Pause.
They broke his jaw.
DON: Who?
BOB: Some spics. I don’t know.
TEACH snorts.
They did.
DON: Who?
TEACH: Yeah.
DON: Who is this “they,” Bob, that you’re talking about?
TEACH: Bob. . . .
BOB: . . . yeah?
TEACH: Who are these people you’re talking about?
BOB: They broke his jaw.
TEACH: They took it in them all of a sudden they broke his jaw.
BOB: They didn’t care it was him.
TEACH: No?
BOB: No, Teach.
TEACH: So who is it takes him out by accident Huh? Grace and Ruthie?
BOB: They wouldn’t do that.
TEACH: I’m not saying they would.
BOB (to DON): What is he saying, Donny?
TEACH: Bob, Bob, Bob . . . what am I saying . . .
Pause.
DON: Where’s Fletch, Bobby?
BOB: Hospital.
TEACH: Aside from that.
BOB: All I know, that’s the only place he is, Teach.
TEACH: Now, don’t get smart with me, Bob, don’t get smart with me, you young fuck, we’ve been sweating blood all day on this and I don’t want your smart mouth on it (fuck around with Grace and Ruthie, and you come in here . . . ), so all we want some answers. Do you understand?
Pause.
I told you: Do you understand this?
DON: You better answer him.
BOB: I understand.
TEACH: Then let’s make this clear: Loyalty does not mean shit a situation like this; I don’t know what you and them are up to, and I do not care, but only you come clean with us.
BOB: He might of been a different hospital.
TEACH: Which one?
BOB: Any of ‘em.
DON: So why’d you say “Masonic"?
BOB: I just thought of it.
TEACH: Okay. Okay. . . . Bob?
BOB: . . . yes?
TEACH: I want for you to tell us here and now (and for your own protection) what is going on, what is set up . . . where Fletcher is . . . and everything you know.
DON (sotto voce): (I can’t believe this.)
BOB: I don’t know anything.
TEACH: You don’t, huh?
BOB: No.
DON: Tell him what you know, Bob.
BOB: I don’t know it, Donny. Grace and Ruthie . . .
TEACH grabs a nearby object and hits BOB viciously on the side of the head.
TEACH: Grace and Ruthie up your ass, you shithead; you don’t fuck with us, I’ll kick your fucking head in. (I don’t give a shit . . . )
Pause.
You twerp . . .
A pause near the end of which BOB starts whimpering.
I don’t give a shit. (Come in here with your fucking stories . . . )
Pause.
Imaginary people in the hospital . . .
BOB starts to cry.
That don’t mean shit to me, you fruit.
BOB: Donny . . .
DON: You brought it on yourself.
TEACH: Sending us out there . . . who the fuck knows what . . .
BOB: He’s in the hospital.
DON: Which hospital?
BOB: I don’t know.
TEACH: Well, then, you better make one up, and quick.
DON: Bob . . .
TEACH: (Don’t back down on this, Don. Don’t back down on me, here.)
DON: Bob . . .
BOB: . . . yeah?
DON: You got to see our point here.
BOB (whimpering): Yeah, I do.
DON: Now, we don’t want to hit you . . .
TEACH: (No.)
BOB: I know you don’t.
TEACH: No.
DON: But you come in here . . .
BOB: . . . yeah . . .
DON: . . . the only one who knows the score . . .
BOB: Yeah . . . (My ear is bleeding. It’s coming out my ear.) Oh, fuck, I’m real scared.
DON: (Shit.)
BOB: I don’
t feel good.
TEACH: (Fuckin’ kid poops out on us . . .)
BOB: Don . . .
TEACH: Now what are we going to do with this?
DON: You know, we didn’t want to do this to you, Bob.
BOB: I know . . .
DON: We didn’t want to do this.
Phone rings.
TEACH: (Great.)
DON (to phone): What? What the fuck do you want?
TEACH: (It’s the guy?)
DON: (It’s Ruthie.) (To phone) Oh yeah, we heard about that, Ruth.
TEACH: (She’s got a lot of nerve . . .)
DON (to phone): From Bobby. Yeah. We’ll all go.
Pause.
I thought he was at Masonic? Bobby. Well, okay, that’s where we’ll go then, Ruthie, we aren’t going to go and see him at some hospital he isn’t even at . . .
Pause.
Bobby’s not here. I will. Okay. I will. Around eleven. Okay. (He hangs up.)
TEACH (to BOB): And you owe me twenty bucks.
DON (dialing): For Columbus Hospital, please.
TEACH: (Fuckin’ medical costs . . . )
DON: Thank you.
TEACH (singing softly to himself): “. . . and I’m never ever sick at sea.”
DON: Yes. For Fletcher Post, please, he was just admitted?
Pause.
No. I only want to know is he all right, and when we go to see him.
Pause.
Thank you.
TEACH: What?
DON: She’s looking. (To phone) Yes? Yeah. Thank you very much. Yes. You’ve been very kind. (He hangs up phone.)
TEACH: What is he, in there?
DON: Yeah.
TEACH: And they won’t let us talk to him?
DON: His jaw is broke.
BOB: I feel funny.
TEACH: Your ear hurts.
DON: Bob, it hurts. Bob?
TEACH: I never felt quite right on this.
DON: Go tilt your head the other way.
TEACH I mean, we’re fucked up here. We have not blown the shot, but we’re fucked up.
DON: We are going to take you to the hospital.
TEACH: Yeah, yeah, we’ll take you to the hospital, you’ll get some care, this isn’t a big deal.
DON: Bob, you fell downstairs, you hurt your ear.
TEACH: He understands?
DON: You understand? We’re going to take you to the hospital, you fell downstairs.
TEACH (at door): This fucking rain.
DON: You give ‘em your right name, Bob, and you know what you can tell ‘em. (Reaches in pocket, thrusts money at BOB.) You hold on to this, Bob. Anything you want inside the hospital.
BOB: I don’t want to go to the hospital.
TEACH: You’re going to the hospital, and that’s the end of it.
BOB: I don’t want to.
DON: You got to, Bob.
BOB: Why?
TEACH: You’re fucked up, that’s why.
BOB: I’m gonna do the job.
DON: We aren’t going to do the job tonight, Bob.
TEACH: You got a hat or something keep my head dry?
DON: No.
BOB: I get to do the job.
TEACH: You shut up. You are going in the hospital.
DON: We aren’t going to do the job tonight.
BOB: We do it sometime else.
DON: Yeah.
TEACH: He ain’t going to do no job.
DON: Shut up.
TEACH: Just say he isn’t going to do no job.
DON: It’s done now.
TEACH: What?
DON: I’m saying, this is over.
TEACH: No, it’s not, Don. It is not. He does no job.
DON: You leave the fucking kid alone.
TEACH: You want kids, you go have them. I am not your wife. This doesn’t mean a thing to me. I’m in this. And it isn‘t over. This is for me, and this is my question:
Pause.
Where did you get that coin?
BOB: What?
TEACH: Where’d you get that fucking nickel, if it all comes out now.
Pause.
He comes in here, a fifty dollars for a nickel, where’d you get it?
BOB: Take me to the hospital.
Pause.
TEACH: Where did you get that nickel? (I want you to watch this.)
Pause.
BOB: I bought it.
TEACH: (Mother Fucking Junkies.)
DON: Shut up.
TEACH: What are you saying that you bought that coin?
BOB: Yeah.
TEACH: Where?
BOB: A coin store.
Pause.
TEACH: You bought it in a coin store.
BOB: Yeah.
Pause.
TEACH: Why?
DON: Go get your car.
TEACH: What did you pay for it?
Pause.
What did you pay for it?
BOB: Fifty dollars.
TEACH: You buy a coin for fifty dollars, you come back here.
Pause.
Why?
DON: Go get your fucking car.
TEACH: Why would you do a thing like that?
BOB: I don’t know.
TEACH: Why would you go do a thing like that?
BOB: For Donny.
Pause.
TEACH: You people make my flesh crawl.
DON: Bob, we’re going to take you out of here.
TEACH: I can not take this anymore.
DON: Can you walk?
BOB: No.
DON: Go and get your car.
TEACH: I am not your nigger. I am not your wife.
DON: I’m through with you today.
TEACH: You are.
DON: Yes.
TEACH: Why?
Pause.
DON: You have lamed this up real good.
TEACH: I did.
DON: Real good.
TEACH: I lamed it up.
BOB: He hit me.
DON: I know, Bob.
TEACH: Yes, I hit him. For his own good. For the good of all.
DON: Get out of here.
TEACH: “Get out of here"? And now you throw me out like trash? I’m doing this for you. What do I have to wreck this joint apart? He told you that he bought it in a coin store.
DON: I don’t care.
TEACH: You don’t care? (I cannot believe this.) You believe him?
DON: I don’t care. I don’t care anymore.
TEACH: You fake. You fucking fake. You fuck your friends. You have no friends. No wonder that you fuck this kid around.
DON: You shut your mouth.
TEACH: You seek your friends with junkies. You’re a joke on this street, you and him.
DON: Get out
TEACH: I do not go out, no.
BOB: (I eat shit.)
DON: You get out of here.
TEACH: I am not going anywhere. I have a piece of this.
DON: You have a piece of shit, you fucking lame. (Advancing on him.)
TEACH: (This from a man who has to buy his friends.)
DON: I’ll tell you friends, I’ll give you friends. . . (Still advancing.)
BOB: (Oh, fuck . . .)
DON: The stinking deals you come in here . . .
TEACH: You stay away from me . . .
DON: You stiff this one, you stiff that one . . . you come in here, you stick this poison in me . . . (hitting him).
TEACH: (Oh, Christ . . . )
BOB: (I eat shit)
TEACH: (Oh, my God, I live with madmen.)
DON: All these years . . .
BOB: (A cause I missed him.)
DON (advancing again): All these fucking years . . .
TEACH: (You’re going to hit me.)
BOB: Donny . . .
DON: You make life of garbage.
BOB: Donny!
TEACH: (Oh, my God.)
BOB: I missed him.
DON (stopping): What?
BOB: I got to tell you what a fuck I am.
DON: What?
BOB: I missed him.
DON: Who?
BOB: The guy.
DON: What guy?
BOB: The guy this morning.
DON: What guy?
BOB: With the suitcase.
DON (Pause) : You missed him?
BOB: I eat shit.
DON: What are you saying that you lied to me?
BOB: I eat shit.
TEACH: What is he saying?
Pause.
DON: You’re saying that you lied?
TEACH: What is he saying?
DON: You’re saying you didn’t see him with the suitcase?
TEACH: This kid is hysterical.
DON: You didn’t see him?
TEACH: He’s saying that he didn’t see him?
DON: When he left this morning.
TEACH: He’s saying that he lied?
BOB: I’m going to throw up.
TEACH: He’s saying he didn’t see the guy?
Pause.
When he came out. I was in here. Then you saw him.
When he had the suitcase. (Pause.) Then.
Pause.
You saw him then.
Pause. BOB shakes his head.
My Whole Cocksucking Life.
TEACH picks up the dead-pig sticker and starts trashing the junkshop.
The Whole Entire World.
There Is No Law.
There Is No Right And Wrong.
The World Is Lies.
There Is No Friendship.
Every Fucking Thing.
Pause.
Every God-forsaken Thing.
DON: Calm down, Walt.
TEACH: We all live like the cavemen.
During the speech, DON tries to subdue TEACH, and finally does.
DON: (Siddown.)
Pause.
TEACH sits still.
TEACH: I went on a limb for you.
Pause.
You don’t know what I go through. I put my dick on the chopping block.
Pause.
I hock my fucking watch . . .
Pause.
I go out there. I’m out there every day.
Pause.
There is nothing out there.
Pause.
I fuck myself.
Pause.
DON: Are you all right?
TEACH: What?
DON: Are you all right.
TEACH: How the fuck do I know?
DON: You tire me out, Walt.
TEACH: What?
DON: I need a rest.
TEACH: This fucking day.
DON (Pause): My shop’s fucked up.
TEACH: I know.
DON: It’s all fucked up.
Pause.
You fucked my shop up.
TEACH: Are you mad at me?
DON: What?
TEACH: Are you mad at me?
Pause.
DON: Come on.
TEACH: Are you?
DON: Go and get your car. Bob?
TEACH (Pause): Tell me are you mad at me.
DON: No.
TEACH. You aren’t?
DON: No.
Pause.
TEACH: Good.
DON: You go and get your car.