MEMPHIS: I still say that boy don’t want to work.
(WEST enters. He is a widower in his early sixties. He is dressed all in black, except for a white shirt. He wears a pair of black gloves. Since his wife’s death he has allowed his love of money to overshadow the other possibilities of life.)

HOLLOWAY: Hey, West.

WEST: Hey, Risa.

RISA: How you doing, Mr. West?
(She puts his coffee in front of him and goes to get the pie.)

WEST: Let me get a little bit of sugar here, Risa.

MEMPHIS: I see they lined up out there.

WEST: Yeah, I finally got him laid out like they wanted and the people over there trying to rub his head. I got it roped off, but they duck right under the rope talking about they didn’t see it.

MEMPHIS: I ain’t been over there yet, but Holloway say they got all kind of jewels and hundred-dollar bills in the casket with him.

WEST: I don’t know how that got started. The man ain’t got nothing but a couple of rings, that gold cross he wear, and two hundred-dollar bills. Got one in his breast pocket and one wrapped around his finger . . .  tucked and glued in his hand.

MEMPHIS: You ain’t glued the man’s money in his hand.

WEST: Yeah, I did. I done learned in this business. I can’t tell you how many rings and watches and whatnot have disappeared.

MEMPHIS: I know you ain’t gonna put that money in the ground.

WEST: I’ll bury anything with anybody. You be surprised what people want in the casket with them. I done buried people with Bibles, canes, crutches, guitars, radios, baby dolls. . . . One lady brought some tomatoes from her sister’s garden. She didn’t just want me to put them in there. She wanted to tell me where to put them. That wouldn’t have been so bad, but she kept changing her mind. People’s something. They don’t understand about dead folks. Dead folks don’t know nothing. They don’t know them tomatoes is in there with them. But the family know. That’s who it’s important to. It took me a while to figure that out. . . . But I don’t mind putting anything in there with anybody as long as the casket close.

MEMPHIS: Is you gonna put that money in the ground? That’s what I wanna know.

WEST: Most times the family come and get the money before you close the casket. Take off their rings and everything else. I hate to even lay people out with jewelry . . .  cause the family come and remind you every day that it ain’t supposed to go in the ground.

MEMPHIS: Holloway say they was over there taking up a collection. Say they was charging the people to see him.