Written by Joe Janes
5/18/09
120 of 365
CAST:
Leonard, 50s
Jack, 30s
(Lights up on a pawnshop. Leonard, late 50s sits behind a counter reading a paperback novel. Something cheap, tawdry and well leafed. Jack enters. He carries an old paper shopping bag with handles. It is late at night. He stands in the doorway and takes in the place.)
LEONARD
In or out, Pal.JACK (entering further)
Sorry.LEONARD
Buying or selling?JACK
Uh, selling. Selling.LEONARD
Bring it over here. I don’t bite.JACK
Sure. I’ve never done this before.LEONARD
You came to the right place, then. Most guys are going to try to screw you. Me? I’ll give you a fair deal. Leonard.JACK (holds hand out)
Jack.LEONARD
I don’t touch people. Nothing personal. (Leonard puts on a pair of gloves.) Now, show me what you got.JACK (pulls small box out of bag)
I’ve got this. An engagement ring. I bought it at the mall and they said they don’t take ‘em back. Weird, hunh?LEONARD
They don’t take it back because it’s not worth anywhere near what they sold it to you for. How much did you pay for this bauble?JACK
Two grand.(Leonard whistles in astonishment.)
LEONARD
I’m going to do you a favor. I’ll give you three hundred for it.JACK
That’s a favor?LEONARD
What’s the ring made out of?JACK
Plutonium.LEONARD
Plutonium?JACK
Titanium. I meant, titanium.LEONARD
May as well be made out of saltine crackers. It’s worthless. The rock is what, half a karat?JACK
Three-quarters of a karat. And I have the certificate and receipt, too.LEONARD
Three hundred dollars. You shop it around and see if anyone will give you more than three for it. You find a better deal, take it. You don’t, come back. What else you got?(Leonard hands the ring back to Jack who puts it in his shirt pocket.)
JACK
A bunch of CDs. (He hands Leonard a small stack.)
LEONARD
Ani DeFranco, Annie Lennox, the musical “Annie”… How much you going to give me to take these off your hands?JACK
What?LEONARD
I don’t need them. Nobody buys CDs anymore. Take ‘em and burn ‘em for the heat or something.(He hands them back.)
JACK
I’m not doing to well, here. LEONARD
Times are tough. Got anything else?JACK
Just this.(He hands Leonard a box. Leonard opens it, but the audience is unable to see inside of it. Leonard whistles, again.)
LEONARD
How old is it?JACK
38.LEONARD
38? Looks older. Looks like it’s been through the ringer.JACK
It has. But, it’s still got to be worth something, right?LEONARD (puts on one of those jeweler eye thingies)
Maybe. Maybe. Is it broken?JACK
No. It still works, I think. Just banged up a bit. LEONARD
Why would you want to pawn this?JACK
I don’t need it anymore. I’m done with it. Maybe there’s someone out there who knows how to work one of those things. LEONARD
Nobody I know. It’s hard to find replacement parts for these. Besides, and don’t you dare tell any other pawn shop owner that I told you this, I can’t afford to pay you what it’s really worth.JACK
What should I do?LEONARD (closing box and handing it back)
You hang on to this. I know a way to do some repair work on it. Give me that ring. I’m going to give you six hundred for it.JACK (handing Leonard ring)
Okay. You sure?LEONARD
I’ve had this shop thirty years. It ain’t gonna break me. You want cash or you want trade?JACK
I never thought about trade. You’ve got a lot of musical instruments here. What can I get for six hundred?LEONARD
You can get that amp and electric guitar, that saxophone or the keytar. JACK
Can I get the amp and the keytar?LEONARD
Today, you can.(Jack straps on the keytar and picks up the amp, along with his shopping bag.)
JACK
Thanks, Leonard.LEONARD
Take care of what’s in that box. And I don’t want to see you back here. (Jack nods and exits out the door. Leonard picks up the phone and dials.)
LEONARD (on phone)
Hey, Manny… you looking for any engagement rings? Got one, titanium, ¾ karat, certified… two grand, I’ll let it go for eighteen hundred… okay. I’ll hang on to it for you.(He hangs up and goes back to reading. He rubs his chest just lightly as if bothered by a bit of indigestion. Lights fade.)
2 comments:
Let the audience draw their own conclusions? Awesome. I gotta conclusion alright.
I'd say either drop the plutonium line or make something more out of it.
Probably a cut. It stuck out to me, too, as a line to drop. I included it because I have actually unintentionally done that. And I like the notion that the ring is like plutonium.
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