(Aco Tiny is playing the guitar. Nina is sitting beside him. He is singing the famous song “Who Do You Belong to”, performed by Slave Dimitrov. After a while he gets up. He goes to the hedge, takes scissors and begins trimming it. The entire setting is a street from a suburb in Skopje. It takes place in late spring.)
ACO: “There’s a home amid yellow leaves, hidden somewhere… (sings) na na na… who do you belong to, who strokes your long hair…”
NINA: Bye! (leaves)
ACO: Arrivederci! (Lights a cigarette and continues singing.)
(Enter Ringo the Duck and Kiro the Stick.)
RINGO: Hey, who are you?
ACO: Sandokan and Mariana.
RINGO: An’ in your personal life?
ACO: Aco Stankoski from Prilep…
KIRO: Are you visiting somebody?
ACO: I live here.
RINGO: Since when, I haven’t seen you around.
ACO: I’ve been around for a couple of weeks plus three or four days!
KIRO: Are you planning to stay forever or are you going to move away?
ACO: Till the day I die!
RINGO: New kid on the block.
KIRO: How tall are you?
ACO: A hundred and eighty two.
RINGO: Now that’s tiny.
ACO (Collects the trimmed branches.)
KIRO: If you plan to stay on the block you should learn some of our house rules.
ACO: Why should I?
RINGO: So you’ll behave yourself.
ACO: I come from a good family!
KIRO: Want a cigarette? (slaps him)
ACO: I just got rid of it. These cigarettes are gonna kill me.
RINGO: Nobody says no to Stick!
ACO: The guy offered me a cigarette, not a stick!
RINGO: This fine gentleman is Kiro the Stick, the best poker player in Skopje and its surroundings, even plays barbut when he feels like it.
ACO: Sorry, Stick. I didn’t know they called you a stick.
KIRO: It’s all right, son, I forgive the first time, next time I’ll rip your ears off!
(He leaves.)
RINGO: Tiny, I’m Ringo.
ACO: I know, Duck.
RINGO: Hey, Prilep, I’m Ringo the Hunk for you, and Duck only for nice kids.
ACO: O.K., Duck…
(Pause.)
RINGO: Which school do you go to?
ACO: Skopje high school, and you?
RINGO: Skopje pool house… and sometimes the civil engineering school.
ACO: I thought you’ve finished high school. You look older.
RINGO: I look like a rock, but I’m a baby at heart, with guts like King Marko. I flunked two or three times. Tax for our block. (Pause.)
RINGO: What does your father do?
ACO: First class sergeant in the army. And yours?
RINGO: My father is a conductor (pause) in jail, and my mother, prima ballerina (pause) in the cemetery.
ACO: Sorry…
RINGO: Forget it, I’m always direct with friends.
ACO: Have a girlfriend?
RINGO: I have girlfriends.
ACO: I like Nina, Fatso’s sister.
RINGO: Great chick, but already taken!
ACO: By who?
RINGO: By Stick…
ACO: Come on, he’s too old…
RINGO: Who cares if he’s too old. He’s the champ when it comes to girls and pool!
ACO: He seems to be the champ for everything!
(Pause.)
RINGO: Drink?
ACO: Milk.
RINGO: … with cocoa…
ACO: … and I cut hedges!
(Pause.)
RINGO: It’s easy for you to say!
ACO (Lifts the bag full of leaves.): Easier than for anybody else in the world!
RINGO: I see you play the guitar…
ACO: Yeah, I play…
RINGO: Where did you learn, in Prilep?
ACO: A bit here, a bit there, but mostly by myself.
RINGO: Ever played in a group?
ACO: I play solo, man, been playing solo all my life!
RINGO: If you want, you can join our band!
ACO: You have a band?
RINGO: “Fatsos”, the best in Central Europe…
ACO: Central Europe is too small for me. I wanna be the best in the world…
RINGO: Me too! Same blood group… Come tonight to rehearsal!
ACO: Where?
RINGO: At the Town Hall, we’ll play till morning…
ACO: O.K. …, pal!
RINGO: O.K. … , best in the world!
(They leave the scene, the friendship for “the best in the world” is born.)