American Buffalo

Act I takes place mid-morning at Don’s Resale Shop in a downtown location of an unnamed city. The resale shop is home to various odds and ends. Donny, a man in his late 40s, and Bobby, a teenager, are in the back of the shop. They discuss Bobby’s failure to attend to a customer’s exit via the store front, as instructed. Donny lectures Bobby on the importance of doing good business, which he explains, in punctuated examples, involves being a man of action. To illustrate his point, Donny invites Bobby to think about a man named Fletcher, who, according to Donny, could end up running a town with only a nickel in his pocket.

They discuss the poker game from the previous night. Donny explains how Fletcher and Ruthie won considerable amounts of money. Bobby asks how Teach did, and Donny replies that he didn’t do well. Donny assures Bobby that one can learn to be good at something like business. When Bobby suggests that Fletcher once conned Ruthie out of a piece of pig-iron, Donny says that such was an act of business, which should not be confused with friendship.

Teach enters in a fit of rage, aimed at Ruthie, who he just saw at The Riv next door. He is angered at how she sarcastically invited him to help himself to a piece of toast from her breakfast plate. Teach claims that he never treats his friends in such a way. Instead, he often treats them to food and drink during poker games, but—unlike Ruthie—he does not seek recognition for it.

Donny tries to calm Teach down and sends Bobby to The Riv for breakfast. Donny asks for a Boston donut and a plain yogurt, and invites Teach and Bobby to get something. Teach reluctantly orders bacon, and Bobby leaves to get the food. When Bobby comes back, he has forgotten the coffee. He claims to have seen “the guy”, a previous customer who bought a buffalo nickel and a potential mark for theft, putting a suitcase in his car. Don questions Bobby further about what the man was wearing before sending Bobby back out for the coffee.

When Bobby is out, Teach complains that The Riv consistently messes up his orders, that his bacon is too burnt. Teach presses Bobby for details about the man with the suitcase. Donny dismisses Teach’s question, insisting that he needs to make a phone call. During the call, he asks the man on the other line whether he would be interested in “some of that stuff” (48). After hanging up, Donny explains that recently a man (the same man Bobby claimed to see with the suitcase) was in his store picking up odds and ends, including a buffalo nickel for which he offered $50. Donny refused to let the nickel go for $50, though it seems that he had—and still has—no idea what the nickel’s value was. After some negotiation, the man bought the nickel for $90. Donny says that the man returned the next day and asked if Donny had any similar items, and that Donny should call him if any come in.

Though neither Donny nor Teach know much about the nickel, they both assume that it is worth five times the amount the man paid for it. Thus, they justify planning a heist to steal it back and sell it for more money. Donny says that the man on the phone was a coin collector whose number he was given by a mutual poker-playing friend, Earl. Donny explains that Bobby has been following the man, as they plan to steal the nickel back. Teach insists that Bobby is too unreliable to be counted on for the heist. Teach says that this promises to be a major heist, potentially requiring cracking a safe. They should steal more than just the coin, like cash and other objects. Teach confidently proposes that he is the man for the job, and that Donny’s loyalty to Bobby is excessive.

Bobby returns from his coffee errand. Teach insults Bobby to demonstrate his incompetence to Donny. Before leaving, Bobby requests $50 from Donny as a deposit on the heist. Because Teach has convinced Donny that Bobby is unfit, Donny tries to dismiss Bobby, offering to give him $20 for spotting the man with the suitcase. Bobby explains that he needs $50, and, to rush him out of the store, Donny agrees to give it to him. Donny tells Bobby that the proposed theft is canceled.

Teach is pleased that Donny has dismissed Bobby from the job. Teach shows his cunning by picking up a book of coins and quizzes Donny on the value of select items. Donny insists that Fletcher, who has street smarts, be a back-up for the theft. Teach resists this idea, but eventually agrees. The two men will meet back at the shop between 10:30 and 11:00 p.m. Donny plans to call Fletcher and Teach goes to his hotel.