[TITLE UP - 10:45 P.M.]
[EXT. HENRY'S DRIVEWAY - NIGHT]
[WE SEE HENRY and JUDY get into his car. As they start to move out of the driveway, HENRY notices that there is a traffic jam in front of his property. PEOPLE are walking around with flashlights. It looks like an accident. Suddenly, a MAN in windbreaker appears at HENRY'S window and jams a gun against HENRY's head.]
MAN: One move, motherfucker, and I'll blow you away.
HENRY *V.O.*: For a second I thought I was dead, but when I heard all the noise, I knew they were cops, only cops talk that way. If they had been wiseguys, I wouldn't have heard a thing. I would have been dead.
[INT. HENRY'S BEDROOM TOILET - NIGHT]
[WE SEE KAREN hurriedly flushing heroin down the toilet upstairs while we hear FBI MEN at the door downstairs. We hear MICHAEL and CHILDREN'S VOICES downstairs.]
[WE SEE KAREN go to the bureau drawer and grab a small caliber gun, lift her dress and, grimacing, shove the cold metal into her underpants.]
CUT TO: INT. FBI OFFICE
[HENRY is seated and surrounded by FBI MEN and PROSECUTOR EDWARD MCDONALD. WE SEE JUDY WICKS brought in past HENRY and ushered into another room. WE SEE the DEALER ushered past HENRY and placed into yet another room.]
HENRY *V.O.*: All day I thought the guys in the helicopter were just local cops busting my balls over Lufthansa, but they turned out to be Narks. They had been on me a month. Phone taps. Surveillance.
[WE SEE ROBIN brought in, followed by TWO COPS carrying cardboard boxes filled with pots, sieves and scales from ROBIN's table. The COPS put the boxes on a-table where HENRY can see them. WE SEE ONE of the NARKS lick his finger after wiping it across one of the bowls. He smiles at HENRY and rolls his eyes.]
[WE SEE HENRY slouch further in his seat while questioning
continues.]
[INT. PRISON VISITING AREA]
[WE SEE KAREN and HENRY seated at a table in a visiting area. HENRY is nervously looking around at the GUARDS and whispering to KAREN.]
CUT TO: IN SYNCH
KAREN *anxious*: Jimmy's calling every day. It's urgent.
HENRY *a little annoyed at Karen*: What did he say, exactly?
[INT. HENRY'S HOUSE - DAY]
KAREN *V.O.* *her turn to be annoyed*: At least Jimmy and Mickey want to help. I talk to Mickey every day. That's more than I can say for the rest.
HENRY *V.O.* *placating*: Paul will calm down. You'll see.
[INT. JIMMY'S HOUSE - DAY]
[HE SEE MICKEY on the phone.]
KAREN *V.O.*: I told Jimmy the cops took our cars and froze our bank accounts and he offered to get me some money. Be wants to know what's happening. You gotta meet him.
HENRY *V.O.*: Fuck Jimmy and the money. Didn't I tell you I gotta get out of here first. I gotta straighten every- thing out with Paulie or I'm dead.
[CAMERA PANS to sinister JIMMY BURKE in BG.]
[INT. PRISON VISITING AREA - DAY *CONTINUOUS*]
KAREN *annoyed and indicating the jail*: Then you're safer in here.
HENRY *exasperated*: Safe? Here? They'll kill me here. They're all afraid I'm gonna rat them out. People are already looking to walk away from me. I'm dead in here. You gotta get me out.
KAREN *worried*: Who's gonna do that?
HENRY *pleading*: Just get me out.
CUT TO: KAREN
[Her face drops, but she's not sure.]
[EXT. PRISON BAIL RELEASE GATE - MIDNIGHT]
[WE SEE HENRY hurry out of the prison. He looks nervous over his shoulder.]
HENRY *V.O.*: Karen finally got her mother to put her house up for my bail. I was out.
[WE SEE KAREN and her MOTHER are waiting in the car.]
HENRY *VO CONTD*: I remember I had this feeling I was going to get killed right outside the jail. I knew Paulie was still pissed at me and he's such a hothead I was afraid he might have me whacked before he calmed down. And I was also worried about Jimmy. Jimmy knew if Paulie found out he was in the drug deals with me, Paulie would have Jimmy killed even before me. This is the bad time. I didn't feel safe until I got home.
CUT TO: INT. HENRY AND KAREN'S HOUSE - BEDROOM - NIGHT
[ANGEL ON HENRY frantically looking around the bedroom.]
HENRY *V.O.*: So now my plan was to stay alive long enough to sell off the dope that the cops never found and disappear for a while until I got things straightened out.
HENRY *to Karen*: Where's the stuff?
KAREN: What are you talking about?
HENRY: You know. The stuff I left.
KAREN: *beginning to cry*: I flushed it down the toilet.
HENRY *anguish and anger, mixed*: You what?
KAREN *crying anguish*: What did you want me to do with it? They were all over the house.
HENRY: Are you fucking nuts? That was forty, fifty thousand. I need it. I was depending on that money.
KAREN *crying*: They had a warrant. They went through everything. They would have found it. I swear.
HENRY: Shit You know they would have never found it. Why did you do it? Why did you do it? My God, why did you have to do it?
KAREN *a primal scream*: Oh no! No! Noooo!
HEHRY *screaming*: Why? Why?
[WE SEE HENRY, and KAREN holding onto each other as they cry and scream, with the screams echoing out on the sound track.]
[DISSOLVE TO: THEIR FACES asleep, and CAMERA DOLLIES OUT TO REVEAL a gun in HENRY'S hand as they sleep.]
[INT. GEFFKEN'S BAR]
[The place is closed, but inside WE SEE PAUL VARIO in the kitchen cooking peppers and eggs in a frying pan with olive oil. WE SEE SEVERAL HOODS surrounding him at a distance. VARIOUS SUPPLICANTS, a LOCAL BUTCHER, an OLD LADY, etc., wait for a papal audience.]
VARIO *looking down*: I warned you a million times.
HENRY: I've been all fucked up since I got out.
VARIO: You think I didn't know what you were doing?
HENRY: It was easy money. I did it in the can. Shit! I learned the junk business in the can, Paulie.
VARIO: Right in my face. You looked in my face and you lied.
HENRY: But, Paulie, I'm sorry. Believe me. I was fucking crazy. But I'm okay now. I can be trusted. I'm clean now. On my children. Believe me! Two weeks cold turkey waiting for bail got my head together...
VARIO: You thought I was some fucking jerk?
HENRY: Paulie, I couldn't come to you. I didn't want to put you in this shit. *pause* I was ashamed to come to you. I knew I was wrong.
[WE SEE VARIO. stand, mute.]
HENRY: Paulie. You're all I got. I need help.
VARIO: You treated me like shit.
[WE SEE VARIO reach into his pocket and take out a thick wad of bills. Without counting the money he puts the cash in HENRY'S hands. VARIO clasps HENRY'S hands in his own.]
VARIO *looking down while handing Henry the cash*: Here. Take it.
*looking up with tears in his eyes* Now I gotta turn my back on you.
[CLOSE UP - HENRY]
HENRY *V.O.*: Thirty-two hundred bucks. That's what he gave me. Thirty-two hundred bucks for a lifetime. It wouldn't have paid for the coffin.
CUT TO: INT. HENRY AND KAREN'S BEDROOM - NIGHT
KAREN: I'm not going to run. Live the rest of our lives like rats. Is that what, you want? Leave my mother. Leave my family. Never see anybody again.
HOOD *pleading*: We're gonna leave then anyway, because if we stay around here we're gonna be dead.
KAREN *angrily pulling away*: They're right. You are paranoid.
[EXT.JUKEBOX STOREFRONT - DAY]
[ANGLE ON JIMMY Nervously pacing near the doorway. There are jukeboxes and pinball machines of various sizes and hues on the sidewalk. Some are being loaded onto panel trucks and carted off.]
JIMMY *concerned*: How is he? Okay? Are they busting his chops?
KAREN: He's okay. They sobered him up.
JIMMY: Did he say what they're asking him about?
KAREN: Jimmy. I don't know. I got so much else on my mind. I got the kids. We got no money.
JIMMY: I gotta talk to him as soon as I can.
KAREN: He says he's too hot. He doesn't even know I came here today. It's like he's crazy. Jimmy.
JIMMY: I know. I know. But it'll be okay. Don't worry. I got some money for you. It's down the block.
[WE SEE JIMMY lead KAREN to the edge of the sidewalk and point down the block toward a row ot stores.]
JIMMY *pointing*: The third store down.
KAREN *V.O.*: Jimmy just stood there on the sidewalk. It felt funny. I started walking down the block, but I noticed the stores were empty.
CUT TO: EMPTY STOREFRONT with chalked storefront
KAREN *V.O.*: I got a bad feeling. I just kept walking.
CUT TO: JIMMY standing on sidewalk.
JIMMY *shouting*: Inside! Go in there!
CUT TO: EMPTY STOREFRONT
[With open door and DARK FIGURES waiting inside.]
KAREN *very rattled*: Jimmy, I'm in a hurry. I've got to pick up the kids at my mother's. I'll come back later.
[WE SEE KAREN hurry down the block past the stores.]
[EXT. DRIVEWAY - HENRY'S HOUSE - DAY]
[WE SEE KAREN'S car screech to a halt near the garage as HENRY comes racing out of the house toward her. He has a gun pressed close to his side.]
[WE SEE KAREN is frozen to the wheel in fear. She is visibly shaking, crying.]
[WE SEE HENRY very gently pull her from behind the wheel. He has cradled her in his arms as, after a wary look around the street, HENRY walks her toward the house.]
HENRY: What happened? You okay?
KAREN: I got seared.
HENRY *soothing*: Okay. Don't worry about it. It's okay.
KAREN *still in shock*: I got scared.
[INT. SHERWOOD DINER - LATE MORNING]
[CAMERA MOVES IN ON TABLE - HENRY'S POV]
[LONG TRACKING SHOT - THROUGH RESTAURANT]
[You don't know what you're TRACKING until YOU SEE all the food on the table and JIMMY looks up.]
HENRY *V.O.*: If you're part of a crew, nobody ever tells you that they're going to kill you. It doesn't happen that way. There aren't any arguments or curses like in the movies. Your murderers come with
smiles. They come as your friends, the people who have cared for you all your life, and they always come at a time when you are at
your weakest and most in need of their help. So I met Jimmy in a crowded place we both knew. I got there fifteen minutes early and I saw that Jimmy was already there. He took the booth near the window
so he could see everyone who drove up to the restaurant. He wanted to see if I had been tailed.
[JIMMY stands to embrace HENRY. WE SEE a table with melon, eggs, sausage, toasted English muffins, etc. HENRY notices that JIMMY has not touched any of the food. Next to JIMMY, WE SEE a large legal folder.]
JIMMY *sailing, friendly greeting*: You look good.
HENKF *shaking his head*: I didn't need the headache.
JIMMY: Come on, eat something.
HENRY: I can't eat, just get me some coffee.
HENRY *V.O.*: He was jumpy. He hadn't touched a thing. In the old days, Jimmy would have ordered doubles and eaten it all. On the surface, of course, everything was supposed to be fine. We were supposed to be discussing my case, just like we always would, but I had a feeling Jimmy was trying to sense whether I was going to rat him out to save my neck.
JIMMY *patting the legal folder*: I think you got a good shot at beating the case.
HENRY: How?
JIMMY: It's that rat bastard from Pittsburgh. He ratted you all out. He's been a rat since he got busted in Pittsburgh.
HENRY: Yeah.
JIMMY: He's hiding, thE son of a bitch, in Florida.
HENRY: Yeah.
JIMMY: I want you and Anthony to go down there and take care of that bastard. Without him, they've got no case.
[CLOSE UP - JIMMY'S HAND giving a piece of paper to HENRY.]
[TILT UP ON JIMMY AND FREEZE]
HENRY *V.O.*: Jimmy had never asked me to whack somebody before, but now he's asking me to go down to Florida and do a hit with Anthony.
CUT TO: FREEZE OF HENRY HEAD ON Looking at JIMMY.
HENRY *V.O.*: That's when I knew I would never have come back from Florida alive.
[UNFREEZE ON HENRY and BACK TO ACTION like nothing is wrong.]
[CAMERA DOLLIES OUT and WE SEE JIMMY and HENRY sipping their coffee. WE SEE JIMMY reach for some food. HENRY passes JIMMY the salt. They are TWO GUYS finishing breakfast in a diner.]
[INT. FBI OFFICE - DAY]
[ANGLE ON HENRY AND MCDONALD arguing. KAREN and SOME FBI AGENTS are standing nearby.]
MCDONALD: We'll pack up everything and send it to you.
KAREN: I got dry cleaning.
MCDONALD: We'll pick it up.
[EXT. JUKEBOX STOREFRONT - DAY]
[WE SEE a grim JIMMY getting into the rear seat of an unmarked FBI car while HOODS watch silently.]
CUT TO: INT. FBI OFFICE - DAY
[KAREN is now seated next to HENRY on sofa. MCDONALD is leaning against the desk. In BG, WE SEE FBI MEN playing with the CHILDREN. HE SEE HENRY and KAREN's suitcases stacked near the sofa.]
MCDONALD: We'll sell your house here and apply the money to your new name.
HENRY: I don't want to go anywhere it's cold.
MCDONALD: I can't control that.
HENRY: I don't care who controls it. Nowhere cold.
KAREN: He's very bronchial.
[INT. GEFFKEN'S BAR]
[WE SEE FBI MEN filling the barroom and VARIO, surrounded by AGENTS, being handcuffed and shoved toward the door.]
CUT TO: INT. FBI OFFICE
[ANGLE ON HENRY AND MCDONALD arguing.]
KAREN *whispering to Henry*: What about the schools?
HENRY: Yeah. What about the kids' school?
MCDONALD: Don't worry about the schools. We'll take care of the schools.
KAREN: I don't want them left back.
MCDONALD: They won't be left back. They'll stay in their grade.
KAREN: That's important.
CUT TO: INT. COURTROOM
[ANGLE ON BACK OF HENRY'S HEAD and TRACK AROUND.]
HENRY *V.O.*: It was easy for all of us todisappear. My house was in my mother-in-law's name. My cars were registered to my wife. My Social Security cards and driver's licenses were phonies. I've never, voted. I never paid taxes. My birth certificate and my arrest sheet, that's all you'd ever have to know I was alive.
[SLOW DOLLY IS TO HENRY'S FACE.]
HENRY *V.O.*: The hardest thing for me was leaving the life. I still love the life. We were treated like movie stars with muscle. We had it all just for the asking.
[CLOSE UP - JIMMY BURKE seated at defense table in grey suit and rimless glasses. He almost looks like one of his lawyers.]
HENRY *V.O.*: Our wives, mothars, kids, everybody rode along. I had paper bags filled with jewelry stashed in the kitchen and a sugar bowl full of coke next to the bed.
[IN BG, WE SEE MICKEY BURKE CRYING.]
HENRY: Anything I wanted was a phone call away. Free cars and the keys to a dozen hideouts flats all over the city. I'd bet twenty, thirty grand over a weekend ...
[CLOSE UP - JIMMY BURKE]
[COME UP ON SCREEN - TWENTY-FIVE YEARS]
HENRY *V.O.*:... and than I'd either blow the winnings in a week or go to the sharks to pay back the bookies.
CUT TO: CLOSE UP - PAUL VARIO looking older and grey. VARIO is looking down.
[COME UP ON SCREEN - FOUR YEARS]
[DOLLY IN TO EXTREME CLOSE UP - HENRY As be speaks-; in synch, directly to CAMERA. DOLLY IN TO EXTREME CLOSE UP as he speaks.]
HENRY: It didn't matter. When I was broke I just went out and robbed some more. We ran everything. We paid off lawyers. We paid off cops. Everybody had their hands out. And now it's all over.
[EXT. STREET IN MIDWESTERN ANDY HARDY TOWN - DAY]
[TRACK down the street.]
HENRY *V.O.*: And that's the hardest part. Today everything is different. There's no action.
[CAMERA TRACKS past white picket fences.]
HENRY *V.O.*: I have to wait around like anyone else. You can't even get decent food. Right after I got hare I ordered some spaghetti with marinara sauce and I got egg noodles and ketchup.
[CAMERA APPROACHES house and TRACKS IS TO DOOR OF HOUSE as it opens. A MAN, still in his pajamas, leans out to get the milk and newspaper. He looks up. It's HENRY.]
HENRY *Talking to camera*: I'm an average nobody. I get to live the rest of my life like a schnook.
FADE OUT: THE END
