“Sure, sure. Give me a chance to tell you. You, Lucille, Archie—you all get something.” “What?” Ambrose Carver said: “You get experience.” CHAPTER 4 “The name,” Joe Carlin said bitterly, “is sucker. My name, Amby.” He knew now that he should have asked what FKIP paid for cutting a platter. “I shouldn’t have taken fifty dollars for granted.” Ambrose Carver was aghast. “You expected fifty dollars? Fifty?” “I didn’t expect to work for nothing.” “But fifty dollars....” Amby bleated in horror. “I thought there was big money in radio.” “Sure there’s big money. Does Jack Benny work for peanuts? Use your head. Does Edgar Bergen work for three cheers? Does—” “I did.” Amby mopped his face with an agitated hand. “Wouldn’t I like to see you make a fortune? Don’t I get half?” “Not a fortune. Fifty dollars.” “But what for?” Amby began to squeal. “Didn’t I rehearse a show? Didn’t I cut a platter? Isn’t there a scale?” “Did I say there wasn’t? But where? Here? You think it’s here?” Suddenly Joe was bewildered, uncertain. “What does that mean, Amby?” And, just as suddenly, Amby put the agitated handkerchief away and became brisk. “Joe, it’s time somebody wised you up. We can’t talk on the street. Let’s go to Munson’s.” Munson’s main floor fountain was three deep with the lunch-hour rush. Eventually Amby spotted a table for two. “Look, Joe. At Hickville you pay a quarter to see a movie. It costs you a buck to see that same movie at the Music Hall, New York. Why? I’m telling you. Because New York is New York. Big time. Tops. Show business has only a few big-time spots—New York, Chicago, Hollywood, and Los Angeles. That’s where almost all the sponsored chain shows originate. Sure there’s an established scale. But get this, Joe: the scale’s only for New York, Chicago, and the coast. Every place else is small time. In show business, small time pays small time. That’s how it’s always been.” Joe’s coffee cooled, unnoticed. Disillusionment crushed him. “Suppose the _I Want Work_ platter gets a sponsor?” “Maybe you get five dollars; maybe three dollars. It’s only a bit.” “What if I’m on a five-a-week sustaining?” “Nothing changes. It’s a sustaining show, isn’t it? You get experience.” A nerve in Joe’s cheek twitched. “Isn’t that generous?” Amby pleaded. “Listen, Joe. Your curtain’s only going up. Some day you crash the big time. Then you wear diamonds. You stick with a good agent, and he gets you big time. I’ve told you about John Royal of N.B.C. A great friend of mine. A pal. When I take you to New York, Royal listens.” “Take me to New York now.”