The Kings of Poverty Row, S1E3
TEASER:
FADE IN:
INT. ESTEEM PUBLICATIONS. JAKE AND HAROLD’S OFFICE. DAY.
HAROLD ENTERS the empty office. Seeing it’s empty, he smiles, closes the door behind him, and takes a step towards JAKE’S desk. Then he stops, thinking better of it. He goes back to the door and opens it.
HAROLD
Lillian! Where’s Jake?
LILLIAN (o.s.)
Where he usually is. In the can or upstairs bothering someone else. Either way, the result’s always about the same.
HAROLD closes the door, then turns back to JAKE’S desk. He sits, the reaches down to open one of the desk drawers. From that he takes a cigar box on the lid of which a piece of white masking tape has been placed and “Petty Cash” scrawled in grease pencil across it.
HAROLD places the box on the desk and takes out the wad of bills tossed in there. He quickly counts out $200, which is most of the cash. He drops what’s left back in the box, closes the lid, starts to return it to the drawer, then opens it and quickly plucks a last $20 bill from it before returning it to its rightful place and closing the drawer.
HAROLD [mutters]
In case of emergencies, god forbid.
He rises, meticulously returns the desk chair to where it had been and turns to leave. He pauses. Glances thoughtfully back at JAKE’S desk, thinking. Then goes over, opens the top drawer, pulls out the company checkbook, rips a single blank check from it, folds and puts it in his breast pocket, then returns it to the drawer.
Another pause to doublecheck that everything is the way he left it, then HAROLD walks across the room to the door, grabbing his hat, opens it, and exits.
Harold [shouts]
Lillian! I’m going out for a little bit.
LILLIAN [o.s./shouts]
I’ll alert Walter Winchell! Where are you if anybody needs you?
HAROLD
Tell them I... I ran out of cigars.
(smiles)
I’m just running down to the candy store.
HAROLD pats his breast pocket and EXITS.
CUT TO:
SCENE 1
FADE IN:
INT. MITZI’S LUNCH COUNTER. DAY.
SHERMY is sitting nervously at the counter, hair combed, a kid trying to look grown up for a meeting. MITZI is behind the counter, coming towards SHERMY with a pot of coffee in hand.
MITZI
Coffee, Shermy?
SHERMY
Not right now, Mitzi. I’m waiting for a couple of guys for lunch.
MITZI
Business or pleasure?
SHERMY
What?
MITZI
I said, business or pleasure? You meeting these guys for business or pleasure?
SHERMY
Business. What difference does it make?
MITZI
‘Cause if it’s pleasure, I’ll be my usual charming, convivial self. If it ain’t, I’ll keep my yap shut and stay out of your way.
SHERMY
Thanks, Mitzi. You’re a prince.
MITZI
Customized customer service is the cornerstone of business success!
SHERMY
What book are you reading now, Mitzi?
MITZI
Yeah, how can you tell? It’s called “Charm Your Way to Business Success.” It’s by some college professor so I gotta figure the guy knows what’s what, right?
SHERMY
I don’t know. If I were you, I’d want to read a book written by some guy whose actually had a successful lunch counter, like Dubrow or either Horn or Hardart.
MITZI
Huh! You might have a point there.
The sound of a tinkling bell accompanies the opening of the front door. SHERMY turns to look as DAVID and DAN enter. They’re both barely 20 years old themselves, neebishy, chubby, dressed in their high school graduation suits. DAVID carries a thick letter-sized envelope, DAN, wearing thick glasses, is carrying a cardboard portfolio.
They pause at the door until DAVID spots SHERMY. He gives SHERMY a tentative smile. They’re startled by SHERMY’S age. SHERMY is startled by their appearances.
DAVID
Mr. Markowitz?
SHERMY
Dan?
DAN
I’m Dan.
DAVID
I’m David.
SHERMY
Hi. Hello! Hey, thanks for coming down here on such short notice, you guys. I really appreciate it!
DAVID
No problem, Mr. Markowitz. It’s just a subway ride down from the Bronx. Anyway, we were excited to get your call. I’ve been meaning to get in touch with you about the sample stories we dropped off last month, but I know how busy you must be...
SHERMY
Yeah, I’m sorry about not responding sooner. I really like what you guys are doing...
DAN
(DAN exchanges an excited glance with DAVID)
That...that’s great, Mr. Markowitz.
SHERMY
Please, stop with the Mr. Markowitz! My name’s Sherman. Everybody calls me Shermy. Look, come in, grab a couple of stools so we can talk.
DAVID and DAN enter towards the counter. It’s then that we see DAVID walks with the slow, lumbering gate of a polio victim wearing a leg brace. SHERMY takes note, but he doesn’t show any reaction.
MITZI comes over to lay down menus in front of the three men as they take their seats and settle in.
MITZI [putting on airs]
Greetings, gentlemen. Welcome to Mitzi’s Lunch Wagon, where lunch is more than a meal. My name is Mitzi and I’ll be your server and chef today. Is this your first visit with us?
DAN
Uhm, yes?
DAVID
Me too, I guess.
SHERMY
Me, only since breakfast.
MITZI
Very good, good sir. I’ll just leave these menus and I’ll return to take your orders shortly. Until then, please don’t hesitate to call on me if there’s anything you need. Bone appetite.
(leans across the counter to SHERMY, sotto voce)
How’m I doing?
SHERMY [whisper]
This is your idea of keeping your yap shut and staying out of my way?
MITZI [whisper]
Yeah.
SHERMY [whisper]
In that case, you’re doing fine.
(turns to DAVID and DAN with a smile)
So.
DAN
So...
DAVID
So, you said you liked our samples?
SHERMY
Oh, yeah. A lot. You guys have got a load of talent.
DAVID
Thanks for saying. To tell you the truth, we were beginning to wonder if we had any at all. You’re the first editor we’ve heard back from that didn’t just tell us “thanks, but no thanks.”
DAN
Or the ones who offer to publish our stuff, but they can only pay us in copies.
DAVID
Actually, most aren’t even that encouraging.
DAN
Yeah. We get a lot of form rejection letters.
SHERMY
That’s unbelievable. You guys are fantastic. Better than anything Esteem’s been publishing. Wait. I’m sorry, that’s not actually a compliment, is it? What I mean to say is, you guys are as good or better than anything anybody in the business is publishing.
DAVID (glum)
We’ve been rejected by thirteen newspaper syndicates and nine comic book publishers.
DAN
Also, seven pulp houses, three print jobbers, two sign shops, and six newspaper advertising departments.
DAVID
Don’t forget the seven syndicates in Canada and Mexico.
DAN
I did. I forgot those.
DAVID
The Photostat costs and postage were costing us a fortune. That’s why we left the original art for you at Esteem.
DAN
We just about scraped up the subway fair to deliver it.
SHERMY
Sounds like you boys have had a rough time of it. How have you been making ends meet?
DAVID
Well, we still live at home.
DAN
With our parents.
DAVID
Yeah. But I think mine are about fed up.
DAN
Same here. My mother just bought me a new set of luggage and it’s not my birthday.
DAVID
Pop’s started leaving the newspaper open to the help wanted ads on my breakfast plate in the morning.
DAN
But it’s not like either of us can just go out and get any job. I mean, DAVID’s leg...
DAVID
...And DAN’s eyes...
DAN
... We’re not exactly the first to be picked from the employment line.
SHERMY
What’s the matter with your eyes, DAN?
DAN
Nothing a strong pair of prescription glasses doesn’t take care of. I see fine for drawing and reading, as long as I can get up close to the page.
DAVID
Yeah. I say that Dan really keeps his nose to the grindstone. And me, well, you know polio, when I was ten years old. But being stuck in bed is how I started reading the pulps and caught the writing bug. Anyway, I don’t need two good legs to write.
SHERMY
Well, however you guys are doing it, keep it up. I don’t mean just the art either. Your writing is top notch too, David. I really love the way you build your story and use the characters.
DAVID
Thanks, Mr. Markowitz. That’s really encouraging to hear.
SHERMY
I mean it, David. And I told you, call me Shermy.
DAVID
Thank you, and no offense, but I think I’ll wait to hear what you have to offer before we put ourselves on a first name basis.
SHERMY [taken aback]
Oh.
DAN
Like David said, Mr. Markowitz, no offense.
DAVID
None, but you’re not the first editor to invite us into the city for lunch.
DAN
We don’t even get our hopes up anymore. It’s too easy to be disappointed. We mostly came to get the art back.
DAVID
Usually it’s the ones who want to pay us in copies.
DAN
Those are the ones who stick us with the lunch check, too.
DAVID
We can’t afford to be paid in copies, Mr. Markowitz. No landlord or grocer takes copies.
DAN
And, well, Esteem Comics...
DAVID
Understand, Mr. Markowitz, we hear things when we’re making the rounds.
DAN
The Diniwitz brothers don’t exactly have the best reputation. You know, among the comics magazine publishers.
DAVID
Right. For being particularly...
DAN
Honest.
DAVID
No offense, Mr. Markowitz.
SHERMY
Sure. You guys have to look out for yourselves, I get it. So, let me assure you right off the bat that no matter what you may have heard about the Diniwitz brothers, I promise you I’d never ask you to work for Esteem Comics for anything except an agreed upon page rate.
DAN
We are talking about cash money? American?
SHERMY
Yes. A page rate in actual money.
(beat)
An absurdly low page rate.
DAN
I’ll take a low page rate over no page rate any day.
DAVID
Not so fast, Dan.
(to SHERMY)
What exactly are you buying with that page rate, Mr. Markowitz?
SHERMY
I really wish you’d stop calling me that. It makes me feel like an old man.
DAN
Er...how old are you anyway?
SHERMY
Eighteen. I’m from the Bronx too. The Grand Concourse. I graduated from the High School of Industrial Arts last June. Where’d you guys go to school?
DAVID [brightening]
Us too. Class of thirty-five.
SHERMY
No kidding? You were seniors when I was a freshman. Funny we never ran into each other.
DAN
I guess we mostly kept to ourselves. We’ve been trying to develop a comic strip together since we met in freshman year home room.
SHERMY
Yeah, I saw the way you cut up the Sam Strong strips and re-pasted them into the comic book page format.
DAN
Boy, that was a job.
DAVID
But once we cut out all the re-cap and set-up panels and came up with some new connecting story and art, I think it turned out pretty good.
SHERMY [making the Boy Scout salute]
And I promise we’ll work out a fair deal, even if I have to pay you out of my own pocket. Scout’s honor!
DAVID
Are you really a Scout?
SHERMY
Eagle Scout, Troop One twenty-two, the Bronx!
DAN [laughing, he and DAVID returning the salute]
Star Scout, Troop One eight-seven, Riverdale!
DAVID
Sorry to cut this jamboree short, but how absurdly low a page rate are we talking about?
SHERMY
Just let me preface this by saying this just to start. Once the kids get a load of Sam Strong, I’m positive the magazine is going to be a hit. Once that happens, I won’t have any problem getting your rate increased. It won’t even matter what back-up stories we use.
DAN
You mean Sam Strong’s going to be the cover feature?
SHERMY
Oh, yeah, didn’t I say? Yeah! We’re launching a new title, Hero Comics. Sam Strong’s the perfect lead character. Before I left to meet you guys, I put together a half-page house ad to announce Sam Strong is joining the Esteem family of magazines that will run in every book scheduled to go to print tomorrow.
(SHERMY extends his hand to shake)
That is, if you accept my offer.
DAVID
Wait. You still haven’t made an offer.
SHERMY [slaps forehead]
Sorry. My ma always said I’d forget my own head if it wasn’t screwed on. Okay. Here it is. Twenty bucks a page to start, but we’ll bump that up to twenty-five if the magazine sells more than a quarter of a million copies an issue.
DAN
Wow. That’s a lot of magazines!
SHERMY
Sure, but we sell nearly that many of the dreck we’re publishing now. And like I said, the kids are gonna eat Sam Strong up like ice cream, so I can’t see how we don’t easily make that number. From there we can work out a sliding scale. You know, the higher the sales, the higher your page rate. In the meantime, I’ll make sure you’re kept busy with as many back-up stories as you want to do, so you don’t have to scrape by on Sam Strong.
DAVID [nodding]
Uh-huh. But what if we get too successful and we start costing too much? What’s to stop you from firing us and replacing us with a cheaper team?
SHERMY
That can be part of the deal. You guys would be the sole suppliers of Sam Strong stories for Hero Comics. And you’ll get a byline.
DAN
Sam Strong!
DAVID
By David Richter and Dan Reiner!
DAN
By Dan Reiner and David Richter.
SHERMY
The point is, fellas...Hero Comics does well, you do well!
(holds up Scout salute again)
Scout’s honor.
DAVID
Excuse us a minute, Mr. Markowitz.
DAVID beckons to DAN and they slide a couple of stools down from him to huddle in conversation. SHERMY gestures to MITZI, who comes over with a coffee cup to pour a cup for him, which he nervously sips at while the two men talk.
DAVID
So, Dan? This is what we’ve been waiting for, right?
DAN
What do you think?
DAVID
I like him.
DAN
Me too.
DAVID
But can we trust the Diniwitz brothers?
DAN [shrug]
So, we get it in writing.
DAVID
We get it in writing.
(To SHERMY, louder)
Would it be all right if we got all of this is writing. You know, sort of like a contract or a letter of some sort?
SHERMY [quickly]
Sure. Yeah. A letter of agreement. That won’t be a problem. I can get that right off to you.
DAVID (back to DAN)
Okay. We got a letter. What else?
DAN
What else? What else? I don’t know. I’ve never been in a position to ask for anything before.
DAVID
Uh. We’ve covered money, being the exclusive supplier of Sam Strong stories, and giving us other work. What else is there?
DAN
I’m too excited to think straight.
DAVID
This is no time to lose your head, Dan. We only get one chance to make a deal.
DAN
Right, right? It’s just...look, David, Esteem Comics is our last shot. No one else wants us. I’m afraid if we push too hard, Mr. Markowitz will say to hell with it and find some other strip for his lead cover feature.
DAVID
Yeah.
(the air goes slowly out of him)
Yeah. I know what you mean. I guess you and me, we’re not exactly the world’s greatest businessmen, huh?
DAN
Ha! No. You know numbers always give me a headache.
DAVID
Who tried tutoring you in algebra for two years?
DAN
Let’s face it. My head’s full of pictures and yours is nothing but stories. I say... I say we take the offer. We both like him and I think we can trust him.
DAVID
Because he’s a Boy Scout?
DAN
An Eagle Scout, Davey. It’s part of the oath we take. To keep ourselves “physically fit, mentally awake, and morally straight.”
DAVID
Well, one out of three ain’t bad, I suppose. You know, I don’t think I’ve ever met anybody as corny as you, Dan.
(beat)
Okay.
(looks up at SHERMY)
We’ve talked it over.
SHERMY
And...?
DAVID and DAN slide back to the stools next to SHERMY.
DAN [grinning, extending hand]
It’s a...
Before DAN can finish his sentence or any hands can be shaken, the diner door opens, and JAKE comes through it. SHERMY is surprised, like he’s been caught do something wrong.
SHERMY (surprised)
Jake?
DAN and DAVID turn to see what’s going on.
DAN
Who--?
JAKE ignores SHERMY and the boys, going past them and urgently snapping his fingers at MITZI. MITZI looks up from his newspaper.
JAKE
Mitzi! You got my lunch order ready?
MITZI
You got the six bits you still owe me from last week?
With a snarl, JAKE does into his pocket and pulls out a handful of change. He throws several down on the counter.
JAKE
A buck and a quarter, there you go. Covers today’s lunch too.
MITZI
What? No tip?
JAKE
I paid for the sandwich. You want more?
MITZI reaches under the counter and comes back up with a paper bag with JAKE’S lunch in it.
MITZI
From you? I should live so long.
JAKE snatches us the paper bag and turns to leave, spotting SHERMY as he turns.
JAKE
Why aren’t you at work?
SHERMY
I’m... it’s my lunch hour...
JAKE
You need a whole hour to eat lunch?
(looks at DAN and DAVID)
Who’s this?
SHERMY [nervous]
Them? They’re... I was... I mean, they’re artists and...
JAKE is already losing interest, in a hurry to leave.
JAKE
You’re buying these bums lunch? Don’t expect me to reimburse you.
SHERMY
They’re not...
JAKE
Last thing we need is to start feeding them too. Bad enough we gotta pay them for that dreck we print.
JAKE is out the door, leaving four pairs of eyes staring at it in uncomfortable silence. DAN and DAVID look at one another, both grim. SHERMY is stunned.
SHERMY
I’m... I’m sorry, guys. Jake’s just having a bad day, honest! Believe it or not he's usually the... the... the...nicer of the brothers.
MITZI
Hard to believes, but true.
SHERMY
But it will be like I said. You’ll be dealing with me, not them, and I’ve already promised you...
DAN
No offense, Mr. Markowitz, because you seem like a nice guy.
DAVID
We like you, really.
DAN
But you work for them, and when push comes to shove, they have the final say.
DAVID
The man doesn’t even want to buy us a hamburger.
DAN [shrugs]
He’s never going to give us any of what you’ve been promising.
DAN and DAVID rise from their stools in unison to leave.
SHERMY
Come on, guys, at least give me a chance to try, okay? I can talk to the brothers and make a...
DAN
Thanks, but why bother getting our hopes up again when we all know how it’s going to end up?
DAVID
We’ve met enough men like Jake and Harold Diniwitz to know their kind when we see them.
DAN
They only want what they can get at someone else’s expense. We don’t want to work for those kind of people.
DAVID
Sorry, Mr. Markowitz.
DAN
Yes. Sorry.
DAN and DAVID put on their hats and head for the door. DAN holds open the door for DAVID, and before he follows his friend out, he looks back at SHERMY. SHERMY perks up.
DAN
You’ll send the Sam Strong art boards back to us...?
SHERMY just as quickly deflates.
SHERMY
I... yeah, Dan. Sure. Of course...
DAN and DAVID EXIT. SHERMY sits, stunned and staring at the door. MITZI starts wiping the counter, edging closer to SHERMY.
MITZI
That didn’t look very encouraging.
SHERMY
It wasn’t.
MITZI
How bad is it?
SHERMY slowly spins around on his stool to face MITZI.
SHERMY
Remember last year when you put a chocolate strawberry oyster sundae on the menu?
MITZI [makes face]
That bad.
SHERMY
Worse... although thankfully with substantially less vomiting.
CUT TO:
Scene 2
INT. MITZI’S LUNCH COUNTER. NIGHT.
SHERMY sits hunched miserably over an egg cream at the counter, while MITZI reads a newspaper. SHERMY makes a loud sucking sound with the straw at the bottom of the glass.
SHERMY
Mitzi, let me have another one, willya?
MITZI
You already had three, Shermy. You might wanna slow down.
SHERMY
Who are you, my mother?
MITZI
No, but don’t make me call her and tell her you’re ruinin’ your dinner.
SHERMY
She’s making brisket tonight.
MITZI
Yeah? I didn’t know you liked brisket. You never order it when I got it on the menu.
SHERMY
My mother’s is good.
(slides empty glass across the counter)
Come on, Mitzi. Fill ‘er up. Heck, make it a vanilla egg cream this time.
MITZI
You’re a wild man.
(starts making egg cream)
What’s buggin’ you, Shermy?
SHERMY
I messed up.
(beat)
I made a promise I had no right to make.
(beat)
I also sort of lied to my bosses. A little. Technically.
MITZI
I ain’t never heard of a technical lie.
SHERMY
It’s like... the words you use are technically true, but you’re not using them to say exactly what you mean.
MITZI
You know, I don’t know fancy words or stuff, but that all sounds like a way to say you’re lyin’ without actually sayin’ you’re lyin’.
SHERMY
Yeah. It does.
MITZI sets the egg cream before SHERMY.
MITZI
Y’know, a soda jerk’s the same as a bartender. You can tell us your troubles.
SHERMY
Good, because I don’t drink.
MITZI
So, gimme the Reader’s Digest version.
SHERMY
Sure, why not? Remember those two guys I was in here with yesterday?
MITZI
The Super-Sam guys?
SHERMY
Sam Strong, yeah. See, I promised them that the brothers would pay a certain price for their story... but the brothers already think they own the story...
MITZI [understanding]
So, you were schmoozing those guys because they got something the Diniwitz’ already think they owe because you lied.
SHERMY
And I had them, Mitzi. We were just about to shake on the deal...
MITZI
When Jake came crashing in here and put the kibosh on it.
SHERMY
Yeah. Thing is... I’ve kind of painted myself into this corner. See, we’re publishing a new comic magazine and I hated the story they’d bought to be the cover feature. So, I sort of, well...
MITZI
Painted yourself into a corner?
SHERMY
Painted the story with India ink I spilled on the art boards so they’re unpublishable, then told the brothers they already owned Sam Strong before I even spoke to the creators.
MITZI
Wouldn’t that be more a case of puttin’ the cart before the horse?
SHERMY
What?
MITZI
I said you painted yourself into a corner. Now I’m thinking it sounds more like you put the cart before the horse. It’s a proverb.
SHERMY
Thank you. Pardon me. I meant to say I painted myself into a corner by putting the horse before the cart. Now I don’t have any story for the first issue which, as soon as I tell the brothers...
(SHERMY slices his finger across his throat.)
MITZI
This ain’t good, Shermy.
SHERMY
It ain’t.
MITZI
You gonna come clean with the brothers?
SHERMY
They’ll fire me.
MITZI
They’re gonna find out sooner or later, don’t you think? Like when you publish the magazine with all them blank pages.
SHERMY
At least I’ll stay employed a few weeks more.
MITZI
Or--!
SHERMY
Or? There’s an “or”?
MITZI
Sure. There’s always an “or”... even if it’s, “Or you hire a hit man.” Look, I was in your shoes once upon a time, y’know. I used to manage a cafeteria in the city, before I got this place. It was downtown in the Wall Street district. Anyway, the place did a good business, but I kept tellin’ the boss he could be doing better. “Bernie,” I’d tell him, “we could be doing better!” I wanted to modernize a few things, update the operation. You know what it says in “Charm Your Way to Business Success,” don’tcha?
SHERMY
Uhm, no. I must not be up to that chapter yet.
MITZI
It says, “Don’t rest on your laurels,” that’s what it says. That means you shouldn’t get, y’know, comfortable just ‘cause somethin’ works. ‘Cause sooner or later the customer’s gonna get bored and go lookin’ for somethin’ new and exciting. So, one day this guy comes in sellin’ an electrical machine that makes fresh ice cream in two minutes and I get an idea. We got this big window opens on the street at the end of the counter, see? I figure we stick the machine right there in the window with a big sign advertising fresh ice cream, made while you wait and watch.
SHERMY
Your boss hated it?
MITZI
Hated it. Told me to forget about it.
SHERMY
Let me guess. You didn’t?
MITZI
I couldn’t! I waited until he was outta town for a week and called up that salesman and paid for the machine out of my own pocket. I figured once the boss saw how much ice cream we was sellin’, all he could do was say thanks and pay me back for the machine. Maybe even make me a partner.
SHERMY
And...?
MITZI
Annnnd... turns out he’s got this deal with his dairy distributor for ice cream, see, so when they find the electrical machine, they raised his prices and sued him for some kind’a breach of contract. Anyway, long story short, I got fired and he sent me and the ice cream machine bouncin’ down Pearl Street.
SHERMY
I gotta say, Mitzi, so far, you’re not inspiring me to take any drastic alternative actions.
MITZI
Don’t you see, Shermy? If I hadn’t’a took the chance, I’d still be somebody else’s assistant manager instead’a the sole proprietor of all...this!
SHERMY
So...you sold the ice cream machine and used it for a down payment?
MITZI
Naw. I borrowed that from my brother-in-law. Still got the machine. It’s in the back.
SHERMY
What’re you saying my “or” is? That I confess everything to the brothers, or...
(beat, slow dawning of realization)
Or that I buy my own electrical ice cream machine!
MITZI
Uh, not sure what you need one’a them for...
SHERMY [excited]
No. I mean, I make a deal with Richter and Reiner. Them and me. For Sam Strong. I pay them for the first episode, get them to let me personally represent their interests with Jake and Harold...
MITZI
What about the other stuff they wanted? The money and the contract?
SHERMY
Look, the brothers are a lot of things, but mostly what they are is greedy.
MITZI
And cheap. I’m lucky if I get a three-tip on a 47¢ check from those schnorrers.
SHERMY
Once they see the circulation numbers and the profits start rolling in, I can tell the brothers what I did, but then it’ll be too late. I mean, once they see how much Sam Strong is worth, they won’t have any choice but to give in to Richter and Reiner’s demands.
MITZI
Sure, and then the brothers can figure out a way to steal it out from under their noses at their leisure. Besides, I wasn’t sayin’ you should do exactly like done...
SHERMY
No, no, no, you’re right, Mitzi. I’ve got a few dollars put away. Money I’ve been saving to move into my own place, but I’ve waited this long, right? A couple more months living at home won’t kill me.
MITZI
You better be sure about this, kid.
SHERMY
I keep talking about how much I believe in Sam Strong and the future of comics... I guess it’s time I put my money where my mouth is.
MITZI
Yeah, that’s another one of those proverbs. I don’t thnk you should take it literally here...
SHERMY takes a last draw on the egg cream and rises, smiling.
SHERMY
Okay. I’m off to the bank to get a check for Richter and Reiner. Wish me luck!
MITZI
Zay gezunt, boychik!
SHERMY
Relax! It’s going to be great!
MITZI
I’m relaxed. It ain’t my money on the line!
SHERMY (pauses at door):
Hey! How come you don’t use that electrical ice cream machine now that you got your own place?
MITZI
Oh, that? It broke down after about two months, right around the time the company that made it went bust.
SHERMY (long pause)
Oh.
(beat)
I wish I hadn’t asked.
SHERMY exits.
FADE OUT
To be continued...
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