The Pretender’s Tobacco-less Pipe
Facilitated By Katrina Kelley
March 31, 2017
Scene set in Paris, New York.
Customer is thinking about something. Maybe he has left home or left somebody special to him.
He wishes he wasn't going where he is headed. He's waiting for a train to take him to Chattanooga. He's meeting someone, afraid he will be late.
He could be thinking about income tax! He can't believe that Trump is taking a salary. He hasn't turned in his income taxes. Who's going to make sure he follows the rules?!
The bags behind the chair belong to the shoe-shine man. His luggage customer is sitting on a shoe shine box. His customer left in a hurry and threw stuff in a bag. He had a fight with his wife.
He wants his shoes to be shined to look nice for an interview.
He's really worried about something - perhaps a donkey bbq? He's so upset that he forgot to put tobacco in his pipe. He's around 50 years old. Virgil is his name.
The shoe shine man is called, George, and in his late 40's. They both have thinning hair. He may or may not have his green card.
The weather is cold. The bricks look dry.
The guy with the pipe may be a great pretender. He has gone to a shelter and gotten some clothes.
George asks a question, but gets no answer. "Where are you going, mister? Why in such a hurry? Why are you holding on to a pipe without tobacco?" George is nosy. George is concerned because Virgil looks so sad.
Unbeknownst to George, Virgil is applying for an executive reporter-news correspondent. He may even have a camera in his bag.
The shoe polish smells like wax and creosote.
People in the background are all going in the same direction. Probably just got off the same train.
The chair Virgil is sitting on looks uncomfortable, small, cold, metal, and about to collapse.
The shapes in the cobble stone street looks like Russian nesting dolls or flowerpot with flowers in it.
There is an outdoor restaurant across the way-chairs are empty, maybe too cold to eat right now.
Could the men be thinking that if they had a million dollars, they would go to Florida on a plane, where it's warm.
Virgil is very serious-minded, educated, a teacher with patches on the coat sleeves. You know, Einstein looked like a tramp sometimes too. Virgil looks like Rodan's "Thinker", but with clothes on.
What about George? He could be Virgil's prop, informer, snitch that gathers information to help Virgil complete his mission. Virgil is thinking, "If I don't get this job, what will I do?" George says "If you don't get this job, you may be shining shoes with me!"
And the plot thickens!!
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