Sharky's Place: Farmers and Shepherds

SHARKEY'S PLACE
SEASON 3, EPISODE 4
Written by
Rick Regan
Rick Regan
Raleigh.RickRegan@gmail.com
919-218-8834CHAPTER 1: SHARKY’S PLACE - MORNING
The breakfast business has brought in a lot of new customers,
mostly Hispanics. The place is bustling with workmen, at
tables and getting sacks of burritos to-go. Groups of five
and six men sit at tables, eating, sipping coffee and talking
in Spanish. Magdalena works through the crowd, talking to the
men, taking orders and laughing with the customers.
Kirini is at the register, taking money and giving change as
fast as she can.
KIRINI
(to a customer)
Thanks for coming in. Here’s your receipt.
Gracias!
Customers move through the line and by eight o’clock, the
place is empty.
MAGDA
(sitting down)
Whew! Finally get to rest for a moment’s
peace.
KIRINI
(giving her a cup of
coffee)
What a crowd! I don’t think we should open for
lunch. It’s just too much in one day.
MAGDA
My sister Olivia is coming this afternoon. She
can help. I will put her to work for you.
KIRINI
Where does she live?
MAGDA
She is coming up from Virginia, on a bus. She
will stay with me until she can get her own
place - or a boyfriend, but that won’t take
long.
KIRINI
Does she have any restaurant experience?
MAGDA
Of course! She’s good. Not as good as me, but
she’s good.
KIRINI
Can she work tonight? I’ll be short handed.MAGDA
She’ll work tonight. I will tell her. And I
will tell her to dress right.
KIRINI
What do you mean?
MAGDA
Caliente! Like Thalía or Shakira.
KIRINI
What? Why?
MAGDA
The two fry-cooks, they said you had a woman
here who was very popular with the customers.
KIRINI
Yes...
MAGDA
Because she wore tight trousers.
KIRINI
Oh! Sandra. Yes. She was very popular and very
beautiful.
MAGDA
Mi Olivia is like J.Lo and she moves like a
dancer. But she carries trays like a
lumberjack. Very strong.
KIRINI
That’s good. Do you think she will be better
in the morning or the evening?
MAGDA
Both! Work her like a plow-horse! She can
sleep in the afternoons. She will work as much
as she can - for the money, the tips.
KIRINI
A plow horse?
MAGDA
The ox is no good in the barn, only when it is
pulling the wagon. A working woman is no good
standing on the street, only when she is
working. She is a good girl. She will not
cause you trouble. I promise.
KIRINI
OK. When does she get in?MAGDA
I hope she gets here at two. Maybe late,
probably not early. She can rest, then I will
send her here.
KIRINI
That would be very helpful.
Boots comes in for coffee.
BOOTS
Morning, gals. Coffee hot?
KIRINI
And burritos!
BOOTS
I’ll take one of each, thank you very much.
Boots sits at the bar, across from Kirini and Magda.
KIRINI
Coming up!
Kirini gets a coffee ready and Magda fetches one of the prewrapped burritos.
BOOTS
(trying the burrito)
Say, this is good!
MAGDA
Yes.
KIRINI
Boots, you should have seen it this morning.
We were slammed, from six-thirty to sevenforty-five! I don’t know where they all came
from.
BOOTS
Who?
KIRINI
The Mexicans. The place was full of them. I
didn’t even know that there were that many
around town.
BOOTS
Mexicans? You never see Mexicans in Milbridge.
MAGDA
You never see them, that’s true.BOOTS
But they are there?
MAGDA
Yes.
KIRINI
And now here.
MAGDA
They come for my food.
KIRINI
Yes, that’s right.
MAGDA
It is important to them that they know a woman
is making food for them in the morning. It is
a way of showing them that we love them.
BOOTS
Is that right?
MAGDA
Yes.
BOOTS
(brightly)
I suppose the fellows who are looking for a
taste of home just found their spot.
MAGDA
No, it is not a taste of home. They come from
everywhere. Mexico, yes, but Honduras,
Nicaragua, El Salvador, Guatemala, and all the
way from Panama. Español? Of course! But very
different. Different countries, different
foods, different clothes. Would the men from
Hermosillo be the same as the men in Managua?
No!
BOOTS
And the women are different too?
MAGDA
No. Women are the same everywhere. There are
good women and bad women, but we are all the
same. What is different is how a woman makes a
family. But that is the same, all over the
world.
BOOTS
But the men change?MAGDA
There are only two types.
KIRINI
Two types of men? Is that enough?
MAGDA
It is enough for God.
KIRINI
Meaning?
MAGDA
God made Cain and God made Abel. One is a
shepherd and the other is a farmer. But God
only blessed the farmer.
BOOTS
I don’t understand.
MAGDA
No.
KIRINI
I don’t understand either.
MAGDA
The Captain.
KIRINI
Captain Gordon?
MAGDA
The Captain Gordon, he is a farmer and God
blesses him. But the other Captain, the
Captain of the Police, he is a shepherd.
BOOTS
OK.
MAGDA
The farmer, he lives on the farm, builds barns
and fences. Farmers build towns with banks and
schools. Farmers builds civil society, and
that pleases God.
BOOTS
Hmmm...
MAGDA
The shepherd, he lives in the wild. He
protects his sheep from the wolves and the
storms.Maybe he has a dog, but does not keep a family
with him because he must always be on watch.
The Captain of the Police must be a shepherd
because he cannot be in civil society. He must
be outside of society, defending against
criminals and people with evil in their heart.
But God curses these men to live their lives
away from the comforts of a woman and
children. They must be apart.
BOOTS
So how does Hermosillo fit in?
MAGDA
Some places, like Hermosillo, are lands of
shepherds. There is much danger, much evil. It
is a rugged land. The ranches are hard places,
where animals have to work hard, just to
survive. The men there must be rugged and must
suffer, but that is the way of that land.
BOOTS
And Managua?
MAGDA
Managua is between two fresh lakes, and near
the Pacific Ocean. There are trees everywhere
and the land is rich and well watered. This is
where a farmer goes, to build cathedrals and
universities. There is an opera house and
beautiful parks. This is a civil society,
where a mother can send her daughter to an
academy for ballet. That is a land of farmers
and bankers.
BOOTS
Then why come here? This is the end of the
earth from there?
MAGDA
Not the end of the earth, the edge of the
colonial empire. And when the cities like
Managua become dangerous and as frightening as
the edge of Hermosillo, because of corrupt
governments, criminals and dictators, what is
a man to do? If he is a farmer, he must become
a shepherd, and run, into the wilderness. And
the shepherd? He already knows what to do. Go
and face the wild lands. Let the dirty moneymen stab each other in the face.
KIRINI
Wow!MAGDA
So, I make the men food and coffee. We talk in
the voices of home. But some are farmers who
want to build and make homes. Some are the
tough men with squinted eyes, not trusting
anything. And all of them come to the land of
empire, because this is where all of the money
went. So each of them, shepherd or farmer,
picks fruit, builds houses, drives trucks, so
that they can send money to their women and
children, and maybe they can bring them here,
to be safe. But you know what?
KIRINI
No. What?
MAGDA
They come here in the morning, because they
know a woman is making good food for them, to
fill their bellies for work. And they are
lonely so we must love them because if we do
not, no one will. And what is a life if no one
loves you?
BOOTS
Well, damn girl! You have got it all worked
out. And all that to make a burrito.
MAGDA
Miss Boots, it is not just a burrito.
BOOTS
I know, I know. It’s love.
MAGDA
It is love. Yes. Now you know.
Magda gets up and goes to the kitchen to clean up.
BOOTS
(to Kirini)
Now we know.
KIRINI
But do we? Shepherds? Farmers?
BOOTS
The curse of God, my dear.
KIRINI
Yes. She sounds like Gordo, talking about
angering Poseidon.BOOTS
A little faith might do you some good, my
friend.
KIRINI
(sighs)
Oh, I’m too tired for that now. I closed last
night and up again this morning. It never
stops.
BOOTS
Any chance you can get Sandra back?
KIRINI
I haven’t heard from her but you never know.
Magda is bringing her sister in tonight - as a
Sandra substitute. We’ll see how that goes.
BOOTS
(laughs)
Well, if she’s anything like Magda, the local
boys will have their hands full!
KIRINI
Maybe that’s a good thing?
BOOTS
Maybe you should stock some Mexican beer, and
put some tequila on the shelf.
KIRINI
Not a bad idea. If the night crowd is going to
be anything like the morning crowd, I’m going
to have to put Corona on tap.
BOOTS
You want to sell what people want to buy.
KIRINI
Where are you off to today?
BOOTS
Me? I’m heading down to Bangor. Going to meet
a writer from there, with her publisher. She
wants to pick my brain and I want to support
up and coming women. It’s the publisher I’m
worried about though. They always have an eye
on the prize.
KIRINI
Meaning?BOOTS
She’ll want me to change publishers and go
with her shop. But, no way. S&S has been with
me from the jump and made my books fly off the
shelf. I just write them and, honestly, they
are OK, but there are a lot of OK books. What
makes the difference is covers, production and
putting them on the shelves in airport
bookstores. That’s the steam-powered engine of
publishing: airport bookstores.
KIRINI
Really?
BOOTS
Yep. And this woman is going to be behind the
eight-ball so far that she doesn’t even know
how far it is to the top of the mountain. Even
the big publishers, like Simon and Schuster,
get bought up and shuffled like playing cards.
But it’s the way the game is and I’ve got to
go along with it or I’ll be on the remainders
pile too.
KIRINI
And the writer?
BOOTS
She should work with her publisher. She’s not
ready for the big leagues yet. But when she
is, she’s got to move on. That’s my advice.
KIRINI
You’d know.
BOOTS
And speaking of moving on, I’ve got to run. I
might stop in tonight for a Hurricane when I
get back. See you later.
KIRINI
OK. See ya’ Boots!
Boots exits.
CHAPTER 2: SHARKY'S PLACE - EVENING
Aiden and Caiden come in.
CAIDEN
Looks like we came in at the nick o’time!AIDEN
Crowded isn’t the word. Maybe ‘flush’.
CAIDEN
Flush with new patrons.
AIDEN
Who are all these people? It’s not the
regulars.
CAIDEN
Good for Kirini though. Keeps the cash flowing
on a Thursday night.
AIDEN
Would you say this crowd has a whiff of
Hispanic?
CAIDEN
Well, my olfactory senses are overwhelmed but
I would say there is a strong note of, hmmm...
Lacoste Red, with a lingering undertone of Axe
Bodyspray.
AIDEN
(stares)
How do you make that out?
CAIDEN
I’ve been tinkering, in the spirit of Yankee
thrift, with custom fragrances.
AIDEN
Custom?
CAIDEN
Blending. Mixing.
AIDEN
I see.
CAIDEN
And what I note here is, oddly, a lacking.
Something’s missing.
AIDEN
Do tell.
CAIDEN
There is no hint of sandalwood. Or patchouli.
But, and here I’m guessing, the tobacco-andsmoke notes are the genuine article.AIDEN
As in, cigarettes?
CAIDEN
And I suspect cigarillos also. Just a hunch.
AIDEN
OK, professor, can I get a beer now?
CAIDEN
You first.
They make their way to the bar. Kirini is running the whole
show herself.
KIRINI
(shouting over the noise)
Couple o’Harps for you, boys!
AIDEN
You’re a wonder. Like a medium.
KIRINI
Medium? Medium? What?
CAIDEN
Like a psychic. Divining our intention, just
by reading our minds.
KIRINI
What? Like the guys who find water with a
stick?
AIDEN
You mean a divining rod?
CAIDEN
I believe ‘dowsing’ is the term, for the art
of using a divining rod to find water. But I
think Aiden means that you can intuit our
intentions.
KIRINI
That you want beer? That’s no surprise. Look
around!
AIDEN
Christ on a cracker! Their lining up!
KIRINI
What?
CAIDEN
It’s line dancing! Oh no! It’s line dancing!The crowd starts stamping and swinging with the music.
A woman is there at the front, showing the crowd the moves,
sliding, scooting and twirling. The crowd follows along.
There are a lot of cowboy hats that seemed to have appeared
out of nowhere.
AIDEN
Who’d a thunk it?! Line-dancing at Sharkey’s!
CAIDEN
And who’s that leading the action?
KIRINI
That’s Olivia. She’s Magda’s sister. She just
got here.
CAIDEN
Astonishing!
AIDEN
Well it brings home the age-old wisdom:
There really is a time for everything,
And a season for every activity under heaven.
CAIDEN
A time to mourn, and a time to dance.
AIDEN
Turn, turn, turn.
CAIDEN
I’d like to harvest a couple more beers!
KIRINI
(pouring beers)
Busy night, boys!
Olivia finishes the line dancing and the crowd erupts in
applause. She waves and comes to the bar.
Olivia is probably twenty-five, with shaggy blonde hair and a
big smile. She’s in purple yoga tights and a tie-died sports
top. She looks like a Zoomba instructor.
OLIVIA
Miss Kirini, was that alright?
KIRINI
Here’s some water, hon. They loved it!
Now there is a surge at the bar, three deep with people
calling for beer. Kirini has put Jalisco on-tap. The calls
come up for Más cervezas!KIRINI
(Handing out beer)
Beer here! Beer here!
Aiden and Caiden settle in at a table in the corner.
CAIDEN
I feel like a stranger.
AIDEN
In a strange land.
CAIDEN
Are we welcomed?
AIDEN
Or feared?
CAIDEN
Probably feared.
AIDEN
Probably. Knowing you.
CAIDEN
I’m not afraid to throw hands.
AIDEN
Sure, but there’s no need for that. These seem
like friendly, hard-working people.
CAIDEN
Salt of the earth?
AIDEN
But more spicy.
CAIDEN
Caliente.
AIDEN
Picante.
CAIDEN
A people warmed by the equatorial sun.
AIDEN
Mexico is not on the equator.
CAIDEN
A turn of phrase.
AIDEN
The imaginary line goes through Ecuador.CAIDEN
Indeed.
AIDEN
I have it on good authority that the topic is
quite sensitive to many Chicanos who feel that
the American ignorance of Mexican geography is
an embarrassing indignity.
CAIDEN
Are you suggesting that the US declare war on
Mexico, so that Americans can learn where
Mexico is on a map?
AIDEN
Nothing of the sort. Just that declaring
themselves North Americans, and rightly so, is
an important delineation. Like Hispanic versus
Latin.
CAIDEN
What’s the difference?
AIDEN
Well I’m not an authority on the matter but my
own reading refers to the people of the
continental mainland, Mexico and such, are
said to be Latin Americans.
CAIDEN
I see.
AIDEN
And the Spanish-language people of the islands
in the Western hemisphere, Cuba, Dominica,
Puerto Rico, etcetera, are more comfortable
with the denomination as Hispanic.
CAIDEN
And what of the Mestizos?
AIDEN
Let’s not get into it.
CAIDEN
But isn’t all of this naming and classifying
just a way to sort everyone by class, or dare
I say, caste?
AIDEN
There is popular support for that idea but
critics argue that global inequity, or more
clearly, global poverty, has been steadily
improving for decades.CAIDEN
But for caste and class, in the Americas, it’s
like the rings on a dart board. The further
away from the center, the greater the
inequity.
AIDEN
It’s true and it’s not fair.
CAIDEN
Not everybody can be lucky enough to be born
in the center of the world.
AIDEN
New England.
CAIDEN
Maine.
AIDEN
Milbridge.
CAIDEN
The Axis-Mundi.
AIDEN
Center of the world.
CAIDEN
The very gateway to the heavens, and the
Underworld.
AIDEN
As ol’ Cap tells us: Poseidon is just below
the surface.
CAIDEN
He would know.
Olivia makes her way around the room and arrives at Aiden and
Caiden’s table.
OLIVIA
Hello. Miss Kirini said I should introduce
myself.
CAIDEN
Good evening.
OLIVIA
I’m Olivia.
AIDEN
Astonishing!OLIVIA
Excuse me?
CAIDEN
I would say that my brother Aiden here is
somewhat overwhelmed by your, what was it,
caliente dancing.
AIDEN
Picante dancing.
OLIVIA
Baile picante? By Esteban? No. This is
different.
AIDEN
What?
OLIVIA
No, that is with the hips and the knees. Chacha-cha, you see?
She steps forward and back, in time, swiveling hips and
knees.
CAIDEN
I’m not sure what I’m looking at!
AIDEN
Astonishing!
OLIVIA
But the line-dance, it is stepping and
scooping. You see?
She steps forward, then scoops sideways, hands moving.
OLIVIA
That’s how it works. Do you like to dance?
AIDEN
I have seen my share of mosh-pits, but I
wouldn’t say it is dancing.
OLIVIA
Well, maybe when the music is right, we can
dance. Can I get you anything?
CAIDEN
Couple of Harps wouldn’t go wrong.
OLIVIA
Harpoon? You don’t like Jalisco?CAIDEN
I prefer local.
AIDEN
But an import is always welcome.
OLIVIA
(Laughs)
Heh! OK. OK. Harpoon.
Olivia goes back to working the room.
CAIDEN
I believe we have our new Sandra.
AIDEN
No substitute for Sandra.
CAIDEN
True but you saw those tights.
AIDEN
Tight.
CAIDEN
And that business with the hips?
AIDEN
A new era begins.
Boots comes in. She looks around at the crowd. She goes to
the bar.
BOOTS
Kiri? A Hurricane?
KIRINI
(busy pouring beers)
Hey, Boots. I’ll bring it over.
Boots goes to Aiden and Caiden’s table.
BOOTS
Can I join you? Hardly any room at the bar.
CAIDEN
Boots, you’re just in time.
AIDEN
A little late, in fact. You missed the linedancing.
BOOTS
Line dancing? At Sharkey’s?!CAIDEN
I know, I know. Georgios must be spinning.
BOOTS
Ah, he’d have loved it. Packed house, music.
Beer flowing like a river.
AIDEN
Money flowing like Niagara Falls.
BOOTS
Like I said, he’d have loved it.
Kirini comes by with Boots’ drink.
KIRINI
Hurricane for you, Boots.
BOOTS
Thanks, dear. You alright? Full house, you
single-handed?
KIRINI
Olivia just started. She’s good.
BOOTS
Where’d you get her.
KIRINI
You remember Magda, my new cook? Her sister.
AIDEN
A fit spinner!
CAIDEN
Like a Jazz-ercise class in here!
BOOTS
And what would you know of Jazzercise?
CAIDEN
Merely by reputation.
BOOTS
Uh-huh.
(to Kirini)
So she’s working out, the new girl?
KIRINI
Olivia. Oh, yeah. Lots of new customers. She
really did just lead a line dance. Everybody
was up.At that, the music gets turned up and the lights go lower.
Someone has turned on the spotlight, but the stage is not
down. The opening notes of “Conga” by Miami Sound Machine
start, horns blare, “Come on shake your body, baby, do the
Conga!”
Olivia is in the light, waving everybody up to dance. The
crowd follows as Olivia swivels and steps to the beat. The
whole place is jumping.
BOOTS
Well, my stars!
CAIDEN
Aiden, perhaps this is your opportunity.
AIDEN
To dance?
CAIDEN
Well, I would say, not dance, exactly, because
it is still you, but rather to join the
community and move with them.
AIDEN
But, but... it’s line-dancing!
CAIDEN
We all have to get out of our comfort zones,
our information bubbles.
The music pumps with horns and drums. “Come on baby, do the
Conga. I know you can’t control yourself -any longer. Come
on, shake your body, baby, feel the Conga- beat!” Long piano
interval.
AIDEN
You think?
BOOTS
Feel the rhythm, honey! Shake your body!
AIDEN
I’m going in!
Aiden gets up and joins the crowd, at the back, at the end of
the line. A man next to him hands him his cowboy hat.
The music keeps jamming and Aiden is in the groove.
CAIDEN
I think our boy’s in love.KIRINI
Again? Oh, boy.
CAIDEN
It’s a matter of being an irrepressible
optimist.
BOOTS
That’s right, honey. The future can always get
better.
KIRINI
I just can’t believe the turnaround. Since
Magda got here, the place has been packed. In
the morning, for coffee. At lunch, for
burritos. And beer at night.
BOOTS
Well she made that whole speech about men
needing women to cook. Maybe she’s right.
KIRINI
Or maybe there was an untapped market.
BOOTS
You mean that the old-time New England sailors
are few on the ground but that teams of
Mexicans building houses are a growing market?
KIRINI
Yep.
BOOTS
I’d say so. And what’s that new beer?
KIRINI
Jalisco. Real Mexican. Sam the Butcher lined
it up for me.
BOOTS
Swingin’ Sammy! How is he? Haven’t seen him
for a while, since Myra left.
KIRINI
He’s been sourcing my coffee beans, from
Veracruz. Now Mexican beer.
BOOTS
No, I mean, how’s he doing? How’s he look?
KIRINI
Good, Boots. He’s been putting his time in at
the gym. He looks bigger, in the shoulders.
You should call him.BOOTS
Call Sammy. Sure! You know why they call him
the Butcher?
KIRINI
Because he cuts meat?
BOOTS
No, because he’ll rip your heart right out of
your chest. Love ‘em and leave ‘em. Then come
back.
KIRINI
Myra got on with him OK.
BOOTS
She left. She only got the love-’em part. She
did the leaving. Smart.
KIRINI
And you?
BOOTS
I’ve been here a long time. Known Sammy a long
time.
KIRINI
Water under the bridge?
BOOTS
A couple times. Now, just curious.
KIRINI
Next time I talk to him, I’ll tell him.
BOOTS
Don’t do that. He’ll just call me then.
KIRINI
So what? You got any other hot-dates lined up?
BOOTS
(looks at Caiden)
Well, Caiden is looking pretty good right now.
CAIDEN
Boots, we’ve been down this road before. I’ll
take you home but I’m dedicated to my work.
BOOTS
Work? What, frying clams?CAIDEN
That, and my more academic endeavors. My
research. My writing. The articles for the
journals.
BOOTS
Articles? What are you talking about?
CAIDEN
I was just telling Aiden about my current
interest in perfumes and colognes. The art of
the smell, if you will.
BOOTS
You are studying perfume?
CAIDEN
It’s an extension of my oenological interests,
seeking new frontiers of aroma, as linked to
memory and experiences.
BOOTS
Oh, I can see you are going to be a lot of fun
tonight.
CAIDEN
A barrel of laughs.
BOOTS
Well, all right. Let’s go. You see me home?
CAIDEN
It is my distinct honor.
BOOTS
Come on then.
Boots and Caiden get up to leave.
KIRINI
Good night, Boots. Thanks for coming in.
BOOTS
Kiri, you are the best. See you for coffee.
CAIDEN
Good night.
END