Institute History
Description
This is a story about the travels of a twenty dollar bill.
Sam Mastrewski is a working class dreamer who is about to marry Anna Holiday, the daughter of an Arab chewing gum tycoon. Anna assumes Sam will go into the family business despite his resistance. Anna's father, Jack Holiday, allays Sam's fears by giving him a token wedding present—twenty dollars—representative of the only money Jack had when he first arrived in America. At Sam's bachelor party, his rowdy friends steal the bill and place it down a stripper's G-string. Anna arrives unexpectedly, eager to hear what her father has offered Sam. This initiates an argument about the future, which escalates to their breakup just as the stripper walks out the door with the bill in her crotch. The bill continues its travels.
Bobby McCormac has just received a twenty dollar bill as a birthday gift from his eccentric grandmother. Bobby takes the bill down to the corner convenience store to buy some beer. While in the process of doing so, two robbers, Frank and Jimmy, on a convenience store robbing spree, come in to rob the mini-mart. After discovering that the receipts have already been banked, Frank proceeds to shoot up the mini-mart. Jimmy takes Bobby's twenty dollar bill in an attempt to pacify Frank; he also gets beer for Bobby. Frank tries to strong-arm all the loot from Jimmy, who is forced to shoot him. The twenty is left on the dead body and impounded into the police station as evidence.
The buck next appears at an abandoned housing development where Craig, an eleven year old bully, steals it from Brian, a tag-along. Craig and his buddies break Brian's home-made skateboard and throw him into a murky swimming pool where he nearly drowns. Later, the gang arrives at Brian's low-rent home. Ashamed and repentant, they give him a newly repaired skateboard with brand new wheels that were purchased with the found money.
Susan Williford has returned home to attend the funeral of her father. The two have been estranged for years—ever since she refused to go to work for him in the family business and left town. Susan learns that her father has cut her out from the will entirely and tells her mother that she cannot go to the funeral. Alone one night in his room, she finds a newspaper clipping about her winning a professional award in his wallet. The clipping rests next to a twenty dollar bill. The next day she arrives late to the funeral service.
At the airport, Susan demonstrates to her younger brother her philosophy about being tied to money. She shreds the twenty dollar bill. Sam Mastrewski is also at the airport; he is borrowing money from Jack Holiday for a trip to Europe. As Susan and Sam leave for the same plane they strike up a conversation that could lead to bigger things. A man in the background watches. He gathers the pieces of the bill torn up by Susan and proceeds to tape it back together. He takes it to the bank to exchange it for a better twenty. Feeling lucky, he heads out of the bank to buy lottery tickets.
Another twenty dollar bill begins its journey.