American Buffalo

The play concerns a team of men, Don, Teach, Bob, and Fletcher (who does not appear in the play, but is referred to), who are conspiring to steal a coin collection from a wealthy man. Don, who owns a junk shop, sold a nickel to a man for much less than what it was worth. Out of revenge, he and his young gofer, Bob, plan to steal the man's coin collection after suspecting that he went away for the weekend. Teach, an experienced and misanthropic friend of Don's, persuades Don to release Bob from the job because of what Teach feels is inexperience and potential disloyalty, using himself and Fletcher in Bob's place. Right before the caper is going to be carried out later that night, Bob appears at the store and attempts to sell Don a rare nickel, similar to the one Don sold. When asked where he got the nickel, Bob is evasive. He explains Fletcher's absence by saying he was mugged and is now in a hospital, but when Don calls the hospital, Fletcher has not been admitted. Bob's excuse is that he didn't actually know which hospital Fletcher went to, but by this time Teach is sure that Bob is trying to trick them and in anger strikes him on the head with a metal object from the store. Shortly thereafter a call comes in from another friend of theirs corroborating the Fletcher story and naming the correct hospital, which Don calls and confirms. Don admonishes Teach for wounding Bob and orders him to get his car so they can take him to the hospital.