Special Skills

Tshombe presents his case.

Select the Play button

After watching the video above, see what happens if

Tshombe does not present his case.

Tshombe presents his case.
 
WIZARD:
And action!
 
We are back at the point in time when Tshombe is called to speak. Tshombe doesn't move.
 
JANET:
Mr. Gabriel, do you have anything to say?
 
TSHOMBE:
Yes, I do.
 
Tshombe looks up at everyone. He moves toward the podium, but doesn't say anything.
 
Tshombe gathers himself.
 
TSHOMBE:
My name is Tschombe. I am a street vendor. But I did not come here to talk about myself. I came to talk about a very important subject. Street vending.
 
The croud cheers
 
The street is not owned by the merchants. They do not belong to them. It doesn't belong to us. The street does not belong to him or her or you. They belong to the city and the people of the city. What do the people want? They want safe streets. Here is a letter from the Fire Marshall. He says there are no fire hazards because of the street vendors. Here is a letter from the Police Chief. There have been no unusual crimes on the street because of street vending. Over one hundred and fifty people wrote letters supporting us. Over two thousand people signed the petition supporting us.
 
Silvia and Jose clap. A security officer touches Jose on the back and signals Jose to be quiet.
 
Mrs. Vargas stands up and objects.
 
MRS. VARGAS:
Where are these letters and petitions?
 
JANET:
Excuse me, Ms. Vargas. It's Mr. Gabriel's turn to speak.
 
MRS. VARGAS:
He has no community support.
 
MR. JONES:
Well, Mr. Gabriel, do you have any of those petitions? We'd like to see them. Well, do you have them? Well?
 
Tshombe doesn't know how to answer.
 
TSHOMBE:
No, sir. Somebody stole them.
 
MR. JONES:
Stolen?
 
TSHOMBE:
Yes, sir. We had a folder full of signatures and petitions and somebody took them from our stand.
 
MRS. VARGAS:
That's ridiculous. No one stole them. They never had any signatures or petitions.
 
TSHOMBE:
Yes, we did.
 
MRS. VARGAS:
Sure, you did.
 
MR. JONES:
Well, Mr. Gabriel, where are those petitions?
 
On the verge of defeat, suddenly Anna, stands up.
 
ANNA:
I took them, Sir.
 
MR. JONES:
Excuse me?
 
ANNA:
Yes. I took them. (pointing at Ms. Vargas) My aunt told me I must steal them or lose my job. I am very, very sorry. Please forgive me. Street vendors are good for the community. And here is the proof. Here are the petitions.
 
She reaches into her bag and pulls out the folder with all the letters and signatures.
 
Mrs. Vargas turns and scowls at Anna.
 
MRS. VARGAS:
You're fired.
 
MR. JONES:
May we see those, please?
 
Anna takes the letters to the Presiding Chair.
 
MR. JONES (CONTINUED):
Well, this does change everything.
 
Tshombe and the others are set up on the street. There is a crowd of people surrounding them. Tshombe serves lemonade to his customers.
 
TSHOMBE:
There you go. Thank you. Hey, Joe. Guess what? If I sell five more glasses of lemonade, I will have enough money to pay my taxes..
 
JOE:
Five more glasses? Congratulations, Tshombe.
 
Suddenly a familiar voice interrupts.
 
TSHOMBE:
There you go. Thank you.
 
ANNA:
Five large glasses of lemonade, please.
 
TSHOMBE:
Five glasses?
 
Tshombe turns around. It's Anna.
 
Anna, hi.
 
ANNA:
Hi. I'm really sorry about what happened.
 
TSHOMBE:
Don't be sorry. Thanks to you everything worked out okay.
 
ANNA:
Yes, it did.
 
TSHOMBE:
What's going to happen to the store?
 
ANNA:
Well, after my Grandmother found out about my Aunt, she fired her and asked me if I wanted to manage the store.
 
TSHOMBE:
Really?
 
ANNA:
Yes! So I'm going to be the new store manager.
 
TSHOMBE:
That's wonderful, Anna. Whenever you need some lemonade to cool off, just let me know.
 
ANNA:
Thanks, I'll drink to that. Cheers.