Scene: Mick’s bar, late morning
Enter Ella, Phil, and Zack from the swinging exterior doors, stage left.
Ella: Mick? Mii-iick! Where you at? Miiick? Hunh. He’s usually up by now.
Enter Mick, also through the swinging doors, stage left: Ella, what’s up? You don’t need to shout, I’m right here. Back already?
Ella: Hunh? Sorry, I just assumed you were upstairs in your room.
Mick: How’d the fishing go, Mr….was it Zachariah?
Zack: Fish. You can call me Mr. Fish. We didn’t catch anything. I have a business proposition for you, Mr. Mick.
Mick: No? That’s a shame. I was looking forward to trying out a new recipe for smoked caviar with cream cheese and lemon zest. In any case, a business proposition? I’d love to hear it. Say, where’s your associate, the ever-so-pleasant gentleman from Chicago?
Zack: He had to travel to conduct some business. I dropped him off; he asked me to contact him once I’d concluded this deal he’d like to set up with you.
Enter Sheriff Jim, stage left: A business deal? Interesting? Anything I should know about?
Zack: Probably not, assuming Mr. Mick’s restaurant license is in good order with the county. Would a change in ownership require a new inspection if the management stays the same?
Mick: I’m sorry, what’s this about?
Zack: I understand from Ella and Phil here that you may be looking to sell your bar. As it happens my associate and I are looking for a nice place where we could try out some….catering ideas.
Sheriff Jim: Catering?
Zack: Yes, Sheriff. Catering. My associate was impressed with Mr. Mick and Ms. Ella’s here recipes, and we’ve been looking for a location that might provide some country entertainment for people looking to take a drive of a weekend afternoon. Legislators from the Capitol, maybe. Or folks looking to escape the smog in Oakland for some fresh air.
Sherriff Jim: One of those recipes, I might point out, will be illegal in… oh, two weeks or so.
Mick: Tell me more about your idea.
Zack: It’s simple, Mr. Mick. You sell us your interest in this property, and we assume the risk for capitalizing it into a country destination for day-trippers. Maybe some of them would even want to spend the night — we’ll see about that, given the current state of those bedrooms upstairs. If you’re willing, we’d like to keep you on as bartender. No, I’m sorry, that’s the wrong word. Maitre’d, maybe. Or host. But Missus Ella hear tells me she has some ideas for lunch trade on the weekends that my associate and are willing to finance on a trial basis to see if we can generate some tourism in this picturesque, um, place you have here.
Mick: Keep talking, I’m intrigued.
Sherrif Jim: Nobody comes through this town. This is a crazy idea. You think tourists are going to come to Riverton from Oakland? You’re kidding me.
Mick: How much are you thinking about offering, Mr. Zack?
Zack: How much were you thinking about selling for, Mr. Mick?
Mick looks at the Sheriff: Well… as you may imagine, I had been hoping that business would pick up with the end of the war. But that hasn’t trickled down here to Riverton. That said, Mr. Logan does make use of the kitchen sometimes to provide meals for his workhouse crew. And now that they have that ferry running on the river road, this is the main way to get back and forth to Oakland. What about $5000?
Sheriff Jim, Ella, and Phil: What!?!
Zack: Deal.
Mick: Deal?
Zack: Deal.
Enter Daisy, upstage center. She should be perfectly coiffed.
Daisy: Zack? Back so early? Where’s…
Zack: He’s gone away on business for awhile, Daisy. We have some good news, though. What would you think about a return to the stage?
Daisy: What’s that?
Zack: A return to the stage. As the star of the show, the primary attraction, the only one in the spotlight. You, Daisy. The spotlight only on you.
Daisy: Zack, honey, it’s a little early for this kind of talk. What time is it, and where did Mister go, really?
Zack: It is 9 a.m. on a Friday morning, and I told you, Daisy, he’s gone away on business for a spell. He asked me to stay here and arrange a deal with Mr. Mick here, who has kindly and most graciously offered to sell us this bar.
Daisy: This bar? This bar?
Zack: Yes, Daisy. This bar.
Daisy, looking around: when you say “us,” does that mean me and you?
Ella: No.
Zack: Not exactly, Daisy. Here’s my vision: you on the stage. Ms. Ella here — is that right? Or no, I guess it’s Mrs. Villareal, yes? — as the public owner, and myself as the silent owner.
Ella and Mick, simultaneously: Wait, what?
Zack: Mr. Mick here, remains as day-to-day manager. We spruce the place up a bit to highlight your talents, and it’ll be a destination.
Daisy, looking around: Zack, am I reading this right? This is my situation now. …Mr…. No, My….no. Your boss has gone away to… meet an associate, and this is my new performance venue?
Zack: Yes, Daisy, that’s right.
Daisy, turning to Ella: I think you might be my new manager. Can we talk about the show? I have some ideas I think might be possible in this space.
Ella: Oh, honey. Let’s talk.
Zack: Mick, my man. What do you have in mind for a new menu for this joint?
Lights fall.
Pimpgnosis 