Goldberg Street (14 page)

Shoeshine

Shoeshine
was first produced at The Ensemble Studio Theatre in New York with the following cast directed by W. H. Macy: Everett Ensley, Arthur French, Pirie MacDonald, Joseph Jamroy, Colin Stinton, and Trey Hunt.

Scene:
Sam's Shoeshine Parlor
.
Afternoon
.

Characters

Sam,
a middle-aged black man
.

Jim,
a young black man
.

Miller
and
Fox,
two middle-aged white men
.

Dowd,
a white man
.

Customer,
a white man
.

Jim:
You want me to do these?

Sam:
They got a shine ticket on it?

Jim:
I
saw
it .. .

Sam:
You did . . . ?

Jim:
Yeah. It must of gone down in the boot.

Sam:
No, no. I'm saying that it
has
a ticket on it.

Jim:
I know that it has. I got it. Here it is.

(
Pause
.) You want me to do ‘em?

Sam:
Yeah. You start on ‘em.

Jim:
Which ones here?

Sam:
The
brown
there. Just like you're doing.

Jim:
Alright. (
Pause
.)

Sam:
And those ones there?

Jim:
The red?

Sam:
Yeah.

Jim:
Uh-huh . . .

Sam:
When you get to them you tell me.

Jim:
Alright.

Sam:
‘Cause that bitch come in here yesterday . . .

Jim:
Uh-huh.

Sam:
She said we fucked them up.

Jim:
We didn't fuck them up.

Sam:
I know we didn't. (
Pause
.)

Jim:
She fucked ‘em up her
own
self if she fucked ‘em up.

Sam:
I know she did. (
Pause
.)

Jim:
Uh-huh. (
Pause
.) You got a cigarette? (
Sam takes out his pack of cigarettes
.
Jim comes over and takes two
.) Thank you.

Sam:
That's alright.

Jim:
I went down Fifty-seven Street last night.

Sam:
Uh-huh. And how was that?

Jim:
Yeah. You know. Down on Fifty-eight Street there.

Sam:
Uh-huh. You have a good time?

Jim:
Yeah.

Sam:
Uh-huh.

Jim:
Yeah. I was glad to be there.

Sam:
I bet that you were.

(Miller
and
Fox
enter
.)

Miller:
They make me tired and after a point I can't say I blame them.

Sam:
Yessir. You get up there.

Miller
(
Referring to Fox
)
:
Me and my man here both.

Fox:
No. I don't need a shine.

Miller:
Come on, now, let me get you.

Fox:
No, I got shined up yesterday.

Sam:
We gonna get you now.

(Miller
and
Fox
climb up on the shoeshine stand
.)

Fox
(
Waving
Sam
off
)
:
I'm alright.

Sam
(
Starting on
Miller): Yessuh! (
Pause
.)

Jim
(
Of
shoes
)
:
Sucker dropped these in the
mud
. . .

(Miller
sighs loudly
.)

Fox:
Uh-huh. (
Pause
.)

Miller:
The whole thing.

Fox:
Yeah.

Sam:
You got some salt here.

Miller:
Uh-huh. (
Pause
.)

Sam:
You want me to take it off?

Miller:
What do you use to get it off?

Sam:
What? (
Pause
.)

Miller:
What do you use to get the salt off?

Jim:
. . . Down on Fifty
-eight
Street.

Sam:
Don't you worry now. We get it off.

Miller
(
To
Fox): You got’ em shined up yesterday.

Fox:
Uh-huh. (
Pause
.)

Miller:
Hmmm.

(Fox
picks up a newspaper
.)

Sam:
Yessir. You take that paper. That's for you.

Jim:
Want me to do these clear ones?

Sam:
Yeah. You do them with the saddle soap.

Miller
(
To
Fox
of paper
)
:
What's in there?

Fox:
Nothing. (
Pause
.)

Miller:
You go down to Intercorp?

Fox:
No.

Miller:
John Reynolds saw you down there.

Fox:
Well, I only stopped by.

Miller:
Why?

Fox:
You know.

Miller:
No.

Fox:
To talk to some people.

Miller:
Uh-huh. Yeah. I wouldn't take it, you know.

Fox:
No?

Miller:
Uh-huh. They offered it to me.

Fox:
I wish they'd offered it to me.

Miller:
You'd be a fool to talk to them. I think you'd be a fool to go in there.

Fox:
Come on, I only went down to say hello.

Jim:
. . . The
saddle
soap.

Miller:
And how is everyone down there?

Fox:
Fine.

(Dowd
enters
.)

Sam
(
To
Dowd): Yessuh. Did you forget something?

Dowd:
I think I lost my wallet here.

Miller:
I saw where Charlie Beeman's moved.

Fox:
Where were you sitting?

Dowd:
Up there.

(Miller
and
Fox
search for the wallet
.
Pause
.)

Fox:
It isn't here.

Miller:
How long ago’ d you . . .

Dowd:
Just a minute . . .

Sam:
Just before you came.

Miller:
Huh! (
Pause
.)

Dowd:
None of you saw a wallet here?

Miller:
No.

Sam:
Jimmy . . . ?

Fox:
No.

Jim:
What?

Sam:
You seen a wallet?

Jim:
No. (
Pause
.)

Sam:
I'm sorry, mister.

Jim:
. . . What? I seen a
wallet
?

Sam:
Yeah.

Jim:
No. (
Pause
.)

Sam:
I'm sorry, mister. (
Pause
.) You can look around. Ain't no one moved since you left.

Dowd:
Could I talk to you? (
Starts taking Sam aside
.)

Sam:
Uh?

Dowd:
Please, one moment. (
Takes him aside
.)

Miller:
Uh, buddy, can your friend finish me up?

Sam:
Jim, you finish up that man. (
Jim
goes to do so
.)

Jim:
You using the saddle soap on these?

Sam:
Yes. I am.

Jim:
Alright.

Miller:
You'll finish off the bottoms with the brown . . . ?

Jim:
Sure will.

Sam:
I understand it all. I just can't help you.

Dowd:
I would hate to have to go and get the cops.

Sam:
Mister, you trace your steps back.
I
don't know . . .

Miller:
Where were you before you were here?

Dowd:
Next door.

Miller
(
To
Fox): . . . You want to brown-nose your way through
life
. . .

Jim:
No.

Dowd:
Then what the fuck business do you have asking how much was in it?

Sam:
You go an’ call your cops.

Miller:
I mean if you want to get
Byzantine
. . .

Jim:
I was just asking, sucker.

Dowd:
You've got no business to know.

Jim:
I don't?

Dowd:
You absolutely don't.

Jim:
Unless I took it.

Dowd:
Uh-huh, yeah.

Jim:
An’ then I
know
how much it was.

Dowd:
That's right.

Jim:
So what the fuck I'm
asking
for? You motherfucker, get out of this store.

Dowd:
I don't want to come back here with the police . . .

Sam:
You come back however you want. Now we don't have your money. If we had it, we would give it to you. (
Pause
.
Dowd exits
.) Oooeee! Now there's a fellow that was
mad
. . .

Jim:
. . . Sonofabitch . . .

Jim:
. . . Come in here like the viceroy of some place.

Fox:
Yeah.

Sam:
Sucker come in here yesterday . . .

Jim:
Yeah . . .

Sam:
Me an Bill here, he say, “Which one of you fellows
going to give me a fine
shine
today?”

Miller:
You're going to do that brown thing?

Jim:
Yeah. I'll do her.

Miller:
In fifty years who's going to know who went to Maui with the boss.

Sam:
“Which one o’ you fellows going to give me a
shoe-shine
today!”

Jim:
Hnuh!

Miller:
. . . They wonder why the people walk.

Fox:
Uh-huh.

Sam:
“Get up,” Bill say, “You want your shoes shined you get up there.”

Miller:
. . . Not one word of backing.

Fox:
No.

Jim:
He get up?

Sam:
Yeah. He got up there.

Miller:
I'm sorry . . .

Jim:
. . . Sonofabitch.

Miller:
. . . Buddy up to you at Christmas if you made the list . . .

Sam:
“Which one you mens goan shine my nice sweet shoes today . . . “

Miller:
He wants his picture with his arm around you in the Trades . . .

Jim:
. . . Sonofabitch.

Miller:
And if you didn't make the list that year, fuck you.

Fox:
Uh-huh.

Miller:
I'm glad that sucker's gone.

Jim
(
Of nothing in particular
)
: Yessuh
. . .