by David Mamet
Williamson: Is that what you’re saying?
Levene: That’s what I’m saying. Yeah. (Pause.) I’d like something off the other list. Which, very least, that I’m entitled to. If I’m still working here, which for the moment I guess that I am. (Pause.) What? I’m sorry I spoke harshly to you.
Williamson: That’s alright.
Levene: The deal still stands, our other thing.
Williamson shrugs. Starts out of the booth.
Levene: Good. Mmm. I, you know, I left my wallet back at the hotel.
SCENE TWO
A booth at the restaurant. Moss and Aaronow seated. After the meal.
Moss: Polacks and deadbeats.
Aaronow: . . . Polacks . . .
Moss: Deadbeats all.
Aaronow: . . . they hold on to their money . . .
Moss: All of ‘em. They, hey: it happens to us all.
Aaronow: Where am I going to work?
Moss: You have to cheer up, George, you aren’t out yet.
Aaronow: I’m not?
Moss: You missed a fucking sale. Big deal. A deadbeat Polack. Big deal. How you going to sell ‘em in the first place . . . ? Your mistake, you shoun’a took the lead.
Aaronow: I had to.
Moss: You had to, yeah. Why?
Aaronow: To get on the . . .
Moss: To get on the board. Yeah. How you goan’a get on the board sell’n a Polack? And I’ll tell you, I’ll tell you what else. You listening? I’ll tell you what else: don’t ever try to sell an Indian.
Aaronow: I’d never try to sell an Indian.
Moss: You get those names come up, you ever get ‘em, “Patel"?
Aaronow: Mmm . . .
Moss: You ever get ‘em?
Aaronow: Well, I think I had one once.
Moss: You did?
Aaronow: I . . . I don’t know.
Moss: You had one you’d know it. Patel. They keep coming up. I don’t know. They like to talk to salesmen. (Pause.) They’re lonely, something. (Pause.) They like to feel superior, I don’t know. Never bought a fucking thing. You’re sitting down “The Rio Rancho this, the blah blah blah,” “The Mountain View—” “Oh yes. My brother told me that. . . .” They got a grapevine. Fuckin’ Indians, George. Not my cup of tea. Speaking of which I want to tell you something: (Pause) I never got a cup of tea with them. You see them in the restaurants. A supercilious race. What is this look on their face all the time? I don’t know. (Pause.) I don’t know. Their broads all look like they just got fucked with a dead cat, I don’t know. (Pause.) I don’t know. I don’t like it. Christ . . .
Aaronow: What?
Moss: The whole fuckin’ thing . . . The pressure’s just too great. You’re ab . . . you’re absolu . . . they’re too important. All of them. You go in the door. I . . . “I got to close this fucker, or I don’t eat lunch,” “or I don’t win the Cadillac . . . .” We fuckin’ work too hard. You work too hard. We all, I remember when we were at Platt . . . huh? Glen Ross Farms . . . didn’t we sell a bunch of that . . . ?
Aaronow: They came in and they, you know . . .
Moss: Well, they fucked it up.
Aaronow: They did.
Moss: They killed the goose.
Aaronow: They did.
Moss: And now . . .
Aaronow: We’re stuck with this . . .
Moss: We’re stuck with this fucking shit . . .
Aaronow: . . . this shit . . .
Moss: It’s too . .
Aaronow: It is.
Moss: Eh?
Aaronow: It’s too . . .
Moss: You get a bad month, all of a . . .
Aaronow: You’re on this . . .
Moss: All of, they got you on this “board . . . ”
Aaronow: I, I . . . I . . .
Moss: Some contest board . . .
Aaronow: I . . .
Moss: It’s not right.
Aaronow: It’s not.
Moss: No. (Pause.)
Aaronow: And it’s not right to the customers.
Moss: I know it’s not. I’ll tell you, you got, you know, you got . . . what did I learn as a kid on Western? Don’t sell a guy one car. Sell him five cars over fifteen years.
Aaronow: That’s right?
Moss: Eh . . . ?
Aaronow: That’s right?
Moss: Goddamn right, that’s right. Guys come on: “Oh, the blah blah blah, I know what I’ll do: I’ll go in and rob everyone blind and go to Argentina cause nobody ever thought of this before.”
Aaronow: . . . that’s right . . .
Moss: Eh?
Aaronow: No. That’s absolutely right.
Moss: And so they kill the goose. I, I, I’ll . . . and a fuckin’ man, worked all his life has got to . . .
Aaronow: . . . that’s right . . .
Moss: . . . cower in his boots . . .
Aaronow (simultaneously with “boots”): Shoes, boots, yes . . .
Moss: For some fuckin’ “Sell ten thousand and you win the steak knives . . . ”
Aaronow: For some sales pro . . .
Moss: . . . sales promotion, “You lose, then we fire your . . .” No. It’s medieval . . . it’s wrong. “Or we’re going to fire your ass.” It’s wrong.
Aaronow: Yes.
Moss: Yes, it is. And you know who’s responsible?
Aaronow: Who?
Moss: You know who it is. It’s Mitch. And Murray. ‘Cause it doesn’t have to be this way.
Aaronow: No.
Moss: Look at Jerry Graff. He’s clean, he’s doing business for himself, he’s got his, that list of his with the nurses . . . see? You see? That’s thinking. Why take ten percent? A ten percent comm . . . why are we giving the rest away? What are we giving ninety per . . . for nothing. For some jerk sit in the office tell you “Get out there and close.” “Go win the Cadillac.” Graff. He goes out and buys. He pays top dollar for the . . . you see?
Aaronow: Yes.
Moss: That’s thinking. Now, he’s got the leads, he goes in business for himself. He’s . . . that’s what I . . . that’s thinking! ‘’Who? Who’s got a steady job, a couple bucks nobody’s touched, who?”
Aaronow: Nurses.
Moss: So Graff buys a fucking list of nurses, one grand—if he paid two I’ll eat my hat—four, five thousand nurses, and he’s going wild . . .
Aaronow: He is?
Moss: He’s doing very well.
Aaronow: I heard that they were running cold.
Moss: The nurses?
Aaronow: Yes.
Moss: You hear a lot of things . . . . He’s doing very well. He’s doing very well.
Aaronow: With River Oaks?
Moss: River Oaks, Brook Farms. All of that shit. Somebody told me, you know what he’s clearing himself? Fourteen, fifteen grand a week.
Aaronow: Himself?
Moss: That’s what I’m saying. Why? The leads. He’s got the good leads . . . what are we, we’re sitting in the shit here. Why? We have to go to them to get them. Huh. Ninety percent our sale, we’re paying to the office for the leads.
Aaronow: The leads, the overhead, the telephones, there’s lots of things.
Moss: What do you need? A telephone, some broad to say “Good morning,” nothing . . . nothing . . .
Aaronow: No, it’s not that simple, Dave . . .
Moss: Yes. It is. It is simple, and you know what the hard part is?
Aaronow: What?
Moss: Starting up.
Aaronow: What hard part?
Moss: Of doing the thing. The dif . . . the difference. Between me and Jerry Graff. Going to business for yourself. The hard part is . . . you know what it is?
Aaronow: What?
Moss: Just the act.
Aaronow: What act?
Moss: To say “I’m going on my own.” ‘Cause what you do, George, let me tell you what you do: you find yourself in thrall to someone else. And we enslave ourselves. To please. To win some fucking toaster . . . to . . . to . . . and the guy who got th
ere first made up those . . .
Aaronow: That’s right . . .
Moss: He made up those rules, and we’re working for him.
Aaronow: That’s the truth . . .
Moss: That’s the God’s truth. And it gets me depressed. I swear that it does. At MY AGE. To see a goddamn: “Somebody wins the Cadillac this month. P.S. Two guys get fucked.”
Aaronow: Huh.
Moss: You don’t ax your sales force.
Aaronow: No.
Moss: You . . .
Aaronow: You . . .
Moss: You build it!
Aaronow: That’s what I . . .
Moss: You fucking build it! Men come . . .
Aaronow: Men come work for you . . .
Moss: . . . you’re absolutely right.
Aaronow: They . . .
Moss: They have . . .
Aaronow: When they . . .
Moss: Look look look look, when they build your business, then you can’t fucking turn around, enslave them, treat them like children, fuck them up the ass, leave them to fend for themselves . . . no. (Pause.) No. (Pause.) You’re absolutely right, and I want to tell you something.
Aaronow: What?
Moss: I want to tell you what somebody should do.
Aaronow: What?
Moss: Someone should stand up and strike back.
Aaronow: What do you mean?
Moss: Somebody . . .
Aaronow: Yes . . . ?
Moss: Should do something to them.
Aaronow: What?
Moss: Something. To pay them back. (Pause.) Someone, someone should hurt them. Murray and Mitch.
Aaronow: Someone should hurt them.
Moss: Yes.
Aaronow: (Pause.) How?
Moss: How? Do something to hurt them. Where they live.
Aaronow: What? (Pause.)
Moss: Someone should rob the office.
Aaronow: Huh.
Moss: That’s what I’m saying. We were, if we were that kind of guys, to knock it off, and trash the joint, it looks like robbery, and take the fuckin’ leads out of the files . . . go to Jerry Graff. (Long pause.)
Aaronow: What could somebody get for them?
Moss: What could we get for them? I don’t know. Buck a throw . . . buck-a-half a throw . . . I don’t know. . . . Hey, who knows what they’re worth, what do they pay for them? All told . . . must be, I’d . . . three bucks a throw . . . I don’t know.
Aaronow: How many leads have we got?
Moss: The Glengarry . . . the premium leads . . . ? I’d say we got five thousand. Five. Five thousand leads.
Aaronow: And you’re saying a fella could take and sell these leads to Jerry Graff.
Moss: Yes.
Aaronow: How do you know he’d buy them?
Moss: Graff? Because I worked for him.
Aaronow: You haven’t talked to him.
Moss: No. What do you mean? Have I talked to him about this? (Pause.)
Aaronow: Yes. I mean are you actually talking about this, or are we just . . .
Moss: No, we’re just . . .
Aaronow: We’re just “talking” about it.
Moss: We’re just speaking about it. (Pause.) As an idea.
Aaronow: As an idea.
Moss: Yes.
Aaronow: We’re not actually talking about it.
Moss: No.
Aaronow: Talking about it as a . . .
Moss: No.
Aaronow: As a robbery.
Moss: As a “robbery”?! No.
Aaronow: Well. Well . . .
Moss: Hey. (Pause.)
Aaronow: So all this, um, you didn’t, actually, you didn’t actually go talk to Graff.
Moss: Not actually, no. (Pause.)
Aaronow: You didn’t?
Moss: No. Not actually.
Aaronow: Did you?
Moss: What did I say?
Aaronow: What did you say?
Moss: Yes. (Pause.) I said, “Not actually.” The fuck you care, George? We’re just talking . . .
Aaronow: We are?
Moss: Yes. (Pause.)
Aaronow: Because, because, you know, it’s a crime.
Moss: That’s right. It’s a crime. It is a crime. It’s also very safe.
Aaronow: You’re actually talking about this?
Moss: That’s right. (Pause.)
Aaronow: You’re going to steal the leads?
Moss: Have I said that? (Pause.)
Aaronow: Are you? (Pause.)
Moss: Did I say that?
Aaronow: Did you talk to Graff?
Moss: Is that what I said?
Aaronow: What did he say?
Moss: What did he say? He’d buy them. (Pause.)
Aaronow: You’re going to steal the leads and sell the leads to him? (Pause.)
Moss: Yes.
Aaronow: What will he pay?
Moss: A buck a shot.
Aaronow: For five thousand?
Moss: However they are, that’s the deal. A buck a throw. Five thousand dollars. Split it half and half.
Aaronow: You’re saying “me.”
Moss: Yes. (Pause.) Twenty-five hundred apiece. One night’s work, and the job with Graff. Working the premium leads. (Pause.)
Aaronow: A job with Graff.
Moss: Is that what I said?
Aaronow: He’d give me a job.
Moss: He would take you on. Yes. (Pause.)
Aaronow: Is that the truth?
Moss: Yes. It is, George. (Pause.) Yes. It’s a big decision. (Pause.) And it’s a big reward. (Pause.) It’s a big reward. For one night’s work. (Pause.) But it’s got to be tonight.
Aaronow: What?
Moss: What? What? The leads.
Aaronow: You have to steal the leads tonight?
Moss: That’s right, the guys are moving them downtown. After the thirtieth. Murray and Mitch. After the contest.
Aaronow: You’re, you’re saying so you have to go in there tonight and . . .
Moss: You . . .
Aaronow: I’m sorry?
Moss: You. (Pause.)
Aaronow: Me?
Moss: You have to go in. (Pause.) You have to get the leads. (Pause.)
Aaronow: I do?
Moss: Yes.
Aaronow: I . . .
Moss: It’s not something for nothing, George, I took you in on this, you have to go. That’s your thing. I’ve made the deal with Graff. I can’t go. I can’t go in, I’ve spoken on this too much. I’ve got a big mouth. (Pause.) “The fucking leads” et cetera, blah blah blah “. . . the fucking tight ass company . . . ”
Aaronow: They’ll know when you go over to Graff . . .
Moss: What will they know? That I stole the leads? I didn’t steal the leads, I’m going to the movies tonight with a friend, and then r m going to the Como Inn. Why did I go to Graff? I got a better deal. Period. Let ‘em prove something. They can’t prove anything that’s not the case. (Pause.)
Aaronow: Dave.
Moss: Yes.
Aaronow: You want me to break into the office tonight and steal the leads?
Moss: Yes. (Pause.)
Aaronow: No.
Moss: Oh, yes, George.
Aaronow: What does that mean?
Moss: Listen to this. I have an alibi, I’m going to the Como Inn, why? Why? The place gets robbed, they’re going to come looking for me. Why? Because I probably did it. Are you going to turn me in? (Pause.) George? Are you going to turn me in?
Aaronow: What if you don’t get caught?
Moss: They come to you, you going to turn me in?
Aaronow: Why would they come to me?
Moss: They’re going to come to everyone.
Aaronow: Why would I do it?
Moss: You wouldn’t, George, that’s why I’m talking to you. Answer me. They come to you. You going to turn me in?
Aaronow: No.
Moss: Are you sure?
Aaronow: Yes. I’m sure.
Moss: Then listen to this: I
have to get those leads tonight. That’s something I have to do. If I’m not at the movies . . . if I’m not eating over at the inn . . . If you don’t do this, then I have to come in here . . .
Aaronow: . . . you don’t have to come in . . .
Moss: . . . and rob the place . . .
Aaronow: . . . I thought that we were only talking . . .
Moss: . . . they take me, then. They’re going to ask me who were my accomplices.
Aaronow: Me?
Moss: Absolutely.
Aaronow: That’s ridiculous.
Moss: Well, to the law, you’re an accessory. Before the fact.
Aaronow: I didn’t ask to be.
Moss: Then tough luck, George, because you are.
Aaronow: Why? Why, because you only told me about it?
Moss: That’s right.
Aaronow: Why are you doing this to me, Dave. Why are you talking this way to me? I don’t understand. Why are you doing this at all . . . ?
Moss: That’s none of your fucking business . . .
Aaronow: Well, well, well, talk to me, we sat down to eat dinner, and here I’m a criminal . . .
Moss: You went for it.
Aaronow: In the abstract . . .
Moss: So I’m making it concrete.
Aaronow: Why?
Moss: Why? Why you going to give me five grand?
Aaronow: Do you need five grand?
Moss: Is that what I just said?
Aaronow: You need money? Is that the . . .
Moss: Hey, hey, let’s just keep it simple, what I need is not the . . . what do you need . . . ?
Aaronow: What is the five grand? (Pause.) What is the, you said that we were going to split five . . .
Moss: I lied. (Pause.) Alright? My end is my business. Your end’s twenty-five. In or out. You tell me, you’re out you take the consequences.
Aaronow: I do?
Moss: Yes. (Pause.)
Aaronow: And why is that?
Moss: Because you listened.
SCENE THREE
The restaurant. Roma is seated alone at the booth. Lingk is at the booth next to him. Roma is talking to him.
Roma: . . . all train compartments smell vaguely of shit. It gets so you don’t mind it. That’s the worst thing that I can confess. You know how long it took me to get there? A long time. When you die you’re going to regret the things you don’t do. You think you’re queer . . . ? I’m going to tell you something: we’re all queer. You think that you’re a thief? So what? You get befuddled by a middle-class morality . . . ? Get shut of it. Shut it out. You cheated on your wife . . . ? You did it, live with it. (Pause.) You fuck little girls, so be it. There’s an absolute morality? May be. And then what? If you think there is, then be that thing. Bad people go to hell? I don’t think so. If you think that, act that way. A hell exists on earth? Yes. I won’t live in it. That’s me. You ever take a dump made you feel you’d just slept for twelve hours . . . ?
