Coffee and a Free Donut
April 2007. Early morning, around 6:15 a.m. We are in a Waco, Texas Dunkin'
Donuts. The inner store is huge because it is a section of the city where a lot
of people pass through. It reminds one of a smaller scale department store,
ingeniously furnished with numerous tables and chairs. Swiveling stools and
long counters line the two sides of the store. The front counter is always
busy. Angela, 57, retired after hurting her back at a warehouse is taking a seat
towards the back, just catching the last man seated on a stool. His back of
course is to her. He is 47 year-old Arnie Makaram, an unemployed steel worker.
He has tan jeans on, a little dirty, and a plaid sport shirt, not washed. Both
live with an aged parent who is helping them. Angela has less to worry about,
being on disability.
Angela: Whoa! what a stink outside! (loud, to catch Arnie's attention)
Arnie: (startled) Yeah, they're fixing some pipeline.
Angela: These donuts are free. My mother keeps giving me money to go out and
have coffee and a donut. (Now familiar) I notice you ain't hurting for coffee
money.
Arnie: I'd like to say 'mind your own business.' Who foots my bills ain't none
of your concern. I always went out for my coffee. We always had some money
lying around. I just don't feel like no coffeemaker.
Angela: My mother always has coffee going. You look like Mickey Mouse with that
slicked back black hair.
Arnie: It's not gray yet. Surprised? How do you expect me to comb it?
M-I-C-K-E-Y M-O-U-S-E (sings it).
Angela: Hey, come on. I'm not lavishing praise.
Arnie: I thought so. You don't know what you're saying half the time.
Angela: Oh, yes, I do. Do you know how many detective stories I go through? I
read a lot. Not much else to do. Streets are either boring or dangerous.
Arnie: My favorite show was Cannon, years ago. I was younger. Frank Cannon.
Detetive Cannon. Now we got NYPD Blue and LA Law. There's plenty of detective
stories on the television. But, nobody beats Frank Cannon, sharp as a whip.
Just a little fat.
Angela: You mean like McCloud and MacMillan and Wife. I used to watch them.
Arnie: There you go. I got all the detective life around me I need.
Angela: The stories I read make you think and guess. That's why they coined
the phrase "whodunit." There's no better fun than trying to guess with the
author who the murderer is.
Arnie: Alright, Sherlock, I have a real mystery for you. When is the Iraq war
going to stop? Have you investigated that?
Angela: It's not going to stop. You and I are going to be dead and it'll still
be going on. This is all a mess. I mean, people dying over there.
Arnie: That answers my question. It hurts my head to go into that Shiite and
Sunni crap.
Angela: Oh, God, I'm going walking and then I'm going in Stern's over to the
jewelry section to hang out.
Arnie: Hang out? You can't.
Angela: I look around at the jewelry. I hang out there. The girls don't like
talking to me. They call me a "pest."
Arnie: You need cash to get in their good graces.
Angela: "Good graces." I like that phrase. I like to look at all the earrings,
bracelets, and necklaces.
Arnie: You're a nut. You bother the other customers.
Angela: I do not. I never say anything to them. I get the best of both
worlds. I walk and I look in the jewelry section.
Arnie: Standing there isn't wanted.
Angela: That's what the salegirls say. "How long are you going to take to make
up your mind?" the fat one yelled at me. Her name was Joyce.
Arnie: I'm right. You have to buy. Look in catalogs if you're so mesmerized.
Angela: When the skinny one that smelled of cigarette smoke ran up at me, I
told her I was Judy Garland.
Arnie: You're lucky they didn't call the police.
Angela: They better not.
Arnie: You're disturbing the peace as far as I can see. You must buy. Judy
Garland is dead.
Angela: I'm not stealing anything. I'm just looking. Who draws the line at
the time limit?
Arnie: That question bothers me. Time limit? You're annoying.
Angela: Oh, go find goofy and donald duck. You're dressed the part.
A young lady, in her mid-twenties, walks over from the far right side toward
them. She has overheard their conversation. She works in a nearby office
building in an insurance company. Her name is Monica.
Monica: Could you two please talk normal? You're disgusting me while I'm
having breakfast.
Angela: La-di-da! La-di-da! We're not hurting anybody.
Arnie: We're just talking, dear. We have coffee.
The End.
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Synopsis
There are so many different types of people in the world now. I am interested in exploring their lives and what meanings they find in them.
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