While the England football team is busy getting eliminated from the World Cup and there are riots going on in nearby boroughs, Lennon’s second-hand record shop is under threat of being developed into the kitchen of an Italian restaurant run by his not-quite half-brother, Georgette…
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GEORGETTE Well then?
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What’ve you got to say for yourself?
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LENNON Nothing.
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What you want me to say?
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Bit early for me.
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Slept on the floor.
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Not feeling so great.
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But I’ll be alright… don’t worry about me.
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Has it started yet? The match?
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I haven’t got it.
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I haven’t got your money.
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GEORGETTE You haven’t got it?
LENNON No.
GEORGETTE Then let me have the lease.
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LENNON No but I’m gonna get it.
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I’m gonna get it.
GEORGETTE You’re gonna get it?
LENNON I’m gonna get it.
GEORGETTE When?
LENNON Soon.
GEORGETTE How soon?
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LENNON Hard to say.
GEORGETTE Tomorrow?
LENNON Tomorrow no. Don’t think so. Tomorrow I can’t promise you anything.
GEORGETTE So. Not tomorrow. When then?
LENNON Hard to say.
GEORGETTE It is not hard to say.
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Thursday? Friday? It’s easy to say. Try it.
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Saturday?
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LENNON What day is it today?
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GEORGETTE Today is Tuesday.
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LENNON Tuesday?
GEORGETTE Tuesday.
LENNON Tuesday… Well then, maybe this weekend.
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GEORGETTE All of it?
LENNON No, not all of it. Some of it.
GEORGETTE Some of it?
LENNON Well, yeah. Some of it.
GEORGETTE How much?
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LENNON Well that’s… hard to say.
GEORGETTE You can’t tell me how much?
LENNON Not exactly.
GEORGETTE You can tell me when but you can’t tell me how much?
LENNON Not exactly. And when I say this weekend…
GEORGETTE What?
LENNON Well, that’s not completely…
GEORGETTE Oh yes it is.
LENNON Might be a bit later…
GEORGETTE No. This weekend is this weekend. It’s not the weekend after. It’s Saturday or Sunday. It is definitively this Saturday or this Sunday.
LENNON Yeah but when I say this weekend…
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GEORGETTE When you say this weekend, that means Saturday or Sunday. This coming Saturday, or this coming Sunday, you are going to give me some of what you owe me.
LENNON Yeah well, I can’t promise anything.
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GEORGETTE You’ve just contradicted yourself.
LENNON Yeah well, it’s a bit…
GEORGETTE What? It’s a bit what?
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LENNON It’s a bit early for me.
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Why d’you wanna close my shop?
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GEORGETTE There aren’t any customers, for your shop. Nobody knows your fucking shop. It costs more than it brings in.
LENNON It doesn’t cost anything.
GEORGETTE It doesn’t cost you anything. And it doesn’t bring anything in. You break even. But you’re forgetting the rates. You’re forgetting the electricity, the water, the phone. You forget all that cos it’s me that pays for everything.
LENNON You had the phone cut off.
GEORGETTE I had the phone cut off cos you never paid the bills. It’s me that pays for everything.
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And then you start saying I’ve taken everything off you. If I’d taken a tenth of what you owe me you wouldn’t be here. You’d be out on the street. So stop talking rubbish, face up to the facts and sign the lease over to me.
LENNON But how am I supposed to live, without my shop?
GEORGETTE How d’you live with it? It doesn’t bring anything in, your shop. It’s a bottomless pit, your shop. It’s a ruin. Is it my fault?
LENNON No but I’m not blaming you for anything…
GEORGETTE I should fucking well hope not. Blaming me for it now…
LENNON No but…
GEORGETTE You’ll be calling me selfish next.
LENNON I didn’t say that…
GEORGETTE After all I’ve done for you. Gratitude? Never heard of it.
LENNON It’s not that…
GEORGETTE What is it then? What is it if it’s not that?
LENNON You don’t understand.
GEORGETTE I don’t understand?
LENNON No, you don’t understand.
GEORGETTE What don’t I understand?
LENNON This shop, it’s more than just a shop.
GEORGETTE It’s less than just a shop. It’s not even a proper shop. A shop is meant to sell things. It’s meant to sell things and you make a living out of it.
LENNON That’s not what my shop’s about.
GEORGETTE That’s what I’ve just been telling you.
LENNON It’s a lot more than that.
GEORGETTE It’s a lot less than that. You make bugger all out of it.
LENNON It’s a whole mindset. My shop’s got soul.
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GEORGETTE Soul?
LENNON Soul.
GEORGETTE He’s getting religious on me now. Can’t you see that your shop’s just a load of worn-out old records that nobody wants? It’s a refuge for old hippies who’ve got nothing better to do. A hostel for deadbeats talking crap amongst themselves cos they’re so fucking hopeless they can’t even pull a bird. Your clientele is just a load of wankers. And broke wankers at that.
LENNON That it? You done?
GEORGETTE Don’t you understand the times are changing? I’ll tell you something that might surprise you: the sixties are over. The seventies too. Both of them. For quite a while now. Not only are they over but the only people who remember them are old farts like you. And they’ve already got all the records they need. You’ve missed the boat there. You’ve missed several boats. For one thing, records are a thing of the past. Even CDs are yesterday’s news. Now they get it all for free on the internet. Nobody buys records any more. That’s progress for you. You have to learn to adapt. You have to study your market and draw your own conclusions. Like me. You take me for a fool but you’ll see. You’ll see what’s going on round here. Cos I know a good thing when I see it. I’ve got a nose for these things. I keep my eyes and ears open. I see what’s going on. Things are changing round here. In five years’ time you won’t recognize this place. There’ll be wine bars, Japanese restaurants and antique shops. They’ll have swapped the pitbulls for fucking chihuahuas. And there’ll be those who don’t wanna know. And those who know how to adapt.