[INT. THE SUITE - A BASEMENT CARD SAME - NIGHT]
[Glazed walls, ornate sconces, and a rumpus room bar. HENRY, JIMMY, TOMMY and OTHER WISEGUYS are playing cards. TOMMY is a little drunk. SPIDER, a 22-year-old apprentice hood, is waiting on the PLAYERS, bringing then drinks. The sort, of thing we saw HENRY doing earlier. TOMMY is feeling expansive. He throws his jacket open TO REVEAL a gun tacked in his belt.]
TOMMY *impatiently*: Spider. C'mon, get me a seven and seven.
[WE SEE SPIDER deliver a drink to HENRY and slowly back toward the bar.]
TOMMY: Spider, what did I say? Did I say I was dying over here? Come on. Move it. Don't walk, dance. *to his fellow players* Did you ever see in the cowboy movies where they make them dance? Did you see The Oklahoma Kid, the only cowboy movie Cagney ever made? Come on, dance, you varmit.
[WE SEE TOMMY taking out his guns.]
SPIDER: Tommy, don't fuck around.
TOMMY: Yahooo.
HENRY: Tommy, don't fuck around. Put the gun away. Tommy!
TOMMY: No, no. It's okay.
HENRY: Tommy, come on. Put the gun away.
TOMMY: No. It's okay. Just watch this. Watch it.
[The gun explodes and WE SEE SPIDER shot in the foot.]
[EXT. HENRY'S HOUSE - EVENING]
[WE SEE a set of keys come flying out the window. TILT DOWN to keys.]
CUT TO: BEDROOM
[HENRY is furious. He pushes past KAREN and looks out window]
HENRY: I gotta go out!
KAREN: Not tonight, you're not. Not without
the car keys, you're not.
HENRY: Are you nuts?
KAREN: I don't care. Something's going on.
HENRY *exasperated*: That again.
KAREN *shrieking and in tears*: You're a liar. I look at you and I
know you're a liar.
[HE SEE HENRY pick up a large lamp and throw it at KAREN. He misses.]
HENRY *suddenly calm and walking out* I need some air. I need a little peace. At least at home.
[WE SEE KAREN sit down on bed and begin to cry. We hear the CHILDREN crying in BG.]
[INT. THE SUITE - BASEMENT CARD GAME - NIGHT]
[ANGLE ON SPIDER With bandaged foot and HENRY walking in and TILT UP TO both of them.]
[JIMMY, TOMMY and SOME HOODS are playing cards. TOMMY Is already drunk.]
TOMMY: Hey! Look at this. Fred Astaira, back from the wars. Can you believe this guy? That bandage. It's bigger than his foot.
[SPIDER ignores him.]
[The card game is going on. Shirts are unbuttoned. The table filled with empty glasses. SPIDER limps over with drinks.]
TOMMY: Spider. You're so full of shit. Even with that foot, I bet you can dance.
[SPIDER puts the drinks down and tries to ignore TOMMY again.]
TOMMY: Come on. Spider. Come on. Let's see you dance.
SPIDER
Why don't you go fuck yourself.
JIMMY *laughing*: Hey, Spider. That's very good. Did you hear, Spider? The kid's got balls. See, the kid's got balls. He's a good kid.
[SPIDER starts to limp proudly back to the bar.]
JIMMY *whispering to Tommy*: You going to take that shit from this punk? This fuckin' low-life. This kid's got bigger balls than you'll have any day. He just got shot in the foot by you and he tells you to go fuck yourself. I can't believe this shit. *to the crew, roaring
with laughter* Can you believe this shit? *To Tommy, almost whispering* Tommy! You gonna take that shit from a punk?
[The PLAYERS are all laughing loudly. SPIDER is proudly standing near the bar. And, before anyone has any idea of what is about to happen, TOMMY pulls out one of his two guns and puts three deafening shots into SPIDER'S chest.]
[EVERYONE is frozen in silence. HENRY is upset by shooting. There is a long pause.]
JIMMY: All right, you dumb fuck, if you're going to be a big fuckin' wiseguy, you can dig the hole.
[WE SEE a frowning TOMMY get up from table and slowly begin moving chairs around to get ready to dig the hole.]
HENRY: After Billy Batts and Spider, everything was going crazy. Not just our crew, but everybody.
CUT TO: EXT. LINDA'S APARTMENT - DAY
[WE SEE LINDA in the apartment.]
CUT TO: LINDA'S DOOR
[WE SEE KAREN pressing the buzzer while holding TWO hysterical CHILDREN.]
KAREN *screaming*: Open up! I know you're there! You stay away from my husband.
KAREN *V.O.*: She wouldn't open the door. I rang her bell. Still, she wouldn't open. I rang her bell for two hours, and she kept on hiding.
CUT TO: INT. HENRY'S HOUSE - BEDROOM - NIGHT
[ON HENRY'S SLEEPING FACE CAMERA IS LOOKING at him. Peel a presence on top of him. We hear a click. HENRY's eyes open. HENRY looks up.]
CUT TO: HENRY'S POV
[WE SEE the gun aiming right through the lens. WE CAN SEE the bullets in the chambers.]
KAREN *straddling Henry in bed, holding a gun*: Henry. *she pulls back the hammer* Wake up.
HENRY *always deny*: What's the matter with you? You're crazy.
KAREN *hysterically*: Crazy? I'm crazy enough to shoot you and her.
[COVERED BY A SERIES OF QUICK CLOSE UP CUTS]
[KAREN sweating, HENRY'S profile, the hammer of the gun, etc.]
KAREN *V.O.*: But still I couldn't hurt him. How could I hurt him? I couldn't even bring myself to leave him.
CUT TO: KAREN sweating.
HENRY *carefully moving his head away from the gun*: It's all bullshit. I swear. It's nothing. Whatever you want, we'll do.
CUT TO: HENRY'S PROFILE
CUT TO: KAREN'S TRIGGER FINGER
KAREN *V.O.*: The truth was, that no matter how bad I felt, I was still very attracted to him. Why should I give him up to someone else? Why should she win?
HENRY *quickly moving his head away and grabbing the gun*: Son of a bitch.
[WE SEE HENRY slap KAREN across the face and knock her off the bed.]
HENRY *angrily getting out of bed and packing his clothes*: I don't need this bullshit. I got enough to worry about getting whacked on the street. I gotta come home to get whacked?
[WE SEE KAREN crying.]
HENRY: I swear on my mother, I should kill you. You're fucking crazy.
[WE SEE HENRY hit her. He is about to hit her again, but stops. He turns his back on her and opens the door of his closet roughly grabbing some clothes as if getting ready to pack.]
CUT TO: INT. LINDA'S APARTMENT - DAY
[HENRY opens the door and PAUL VARIO and JIMMY enter. They walk toward the kitchen. The place is in disarray.]
HENRY *to Linda*: Honey. Go get me some cigarettes.
[LINDA leaves without saying a word.]
VARIO *after watching the door close*: Karen's come to the house. She's very upset. It's no good. You gotta straighten this all out.
[HENRY looks down.]
JIMMY: Things gotta be calm right now, and Karen's so high-strung. She's with Mickey every day. Who knows what she's gonna do?
VARIO: Jimmy and Tommy were supposed to pick up something in Tampa for me this weekend.
[JIMMY nods in agreement.]
VARIO *V.O.*: You go with Jimmy, instead. Get away for a few days. Relax.
CUT TO: INT. REAR SEAT OF CAR - NIGHT
[WE SEE MAM's bleeding face being punched.]
VARIO *V.O.*: Enjoy yourselves. Have a good time. Then, when you get back Monday, you go home to Karen.
WE PULL BACK TO SEE JIMMY and HENRY beating a MAM who is
squashed between them.
MAM *pleading*: I ain't got it. I swear.
[WE SEE JIMMY and HENRY beat him more.]
MAN *crying*: I can't. I swear.
[WE SEE JIMMY and HENRY look at each other.]
[EXT. EXIT SIGN TO BUSCH GARDENS - TAMPA ZOO - NIGHT]
[We hear the roar of lions.]
[WE SEE JIMMY and HENRY drag the BOOKIE out of the car by his arms and legs just outside the zoo.]
JIMMY: we're gonna feed the bastard to the lions.
HENRY *while dragging bookie*: What lions? I'm not going near any lions.
JIMMY: We only have to shove'em over the moat.
[WE SEE the MAN finally begin to squirm and scream.]
CUT TO: EXT. ROADSIDE PHONE BOOTH - NIGHT
[ANGLE ON BLEEDING MAN on phone with JIMMY and HENRY waiting outside.]
HENRY *V.O.*: They must really feed each other to the lions down there, because the guy gave the money right up and we got to spend the rest of the weekend at the track. *pause and genuine shock* But then, I couldn't believe what happened.
CUT TO: NEWSPAPER PICTURE of HENRY and JIMMY getting arrested.
HENRY *V.O.*: When we got home, we were all over the newspapers. At first, I didn't even know why we got picked up.
CUT TO: NEWSPAPER PHOTO of MAN they beat being arrested with his head bandaged.
HENRY *V.O.*: Then, I found out, that the guy we roughed up turned out to have a sister working as a typist for the FBI.
[GOVERNMENT OFFICE where sobbing TYPIST is surrounded by MEN in business suits.]
HENRY *V.O.*: Who could believe it? Of all the fucking people. She gave up everybody. Jimmy. Me. Even her brother.
CUT TO: INT. COURTROOM - DAY
[HENRY and JIMMY before JUDGE. KAREN and CHILDREN crying in court. OTHER FAMILY MEMBERS present and crying.]
HENRY *V.O.*: It took the jury six hours to bring us in guilty. The judge gave Jimmy and me ten years like he was giving away candy.
[INT. MAXWELL'S PLUM - THE BAR - LATE AFTERNOON]
[TOMMY, MARTY KRUGMAN, JOE MANRI, STACKS EDWARDS, FRENCHY McMAHON, etc., are all having drinks with HENRY before he goes off to prison.]
[WE SEE by the bar clock that it is four o'clock.]
Suddenly, KAREN comes charging into the bar. She is angry. She has tracked HENRY down.
KAREN *frantic*: I thought you were supposed to turn yourself in at ten o'clock this morning?
HENRY: I'm just having my last few drinks.
KAREN: I've been all over town. I got a call from the bondman. He says they're going to rescind your bail if you don't show up and sign in right now. They're going to take away the house.
HENRY: Shit.
[HENRY looks at his PALS, orders his last Screaming Eagle for a while, and gently touches the tips of KAREN'S fingers. He swallows his drink, hugs and kisses a tearful KAREN and walks out of the bar to a long, white, stretch limo waiting at the curb.]
TOMMY: Say hello to Jimmy.
[HENRY gets in the rear seat of the limo.]
HENRY *downing a plan full of valium*: Okay, now you can take me to jail.
CUT TO: INT. DORMITORY - LEWISBURG FEDERAL PRISON
[CLOSE UP - GARLIC being sliced razor thin.]
HENRY *V.O.*: Dinner was always a big thing. We had a pasta course and then meat or fish. Paulie did the prep work. He was doing a year for contempt and he had a system for doing garlic. He used a razor and he sliced it so thin it used to liquify in the pan with a little oil.
CUT TO: HOT PLATE with a pot full of tomato sauce and meatballs being stirred.
HENRY *V.O.*: Vinnie was in charge of the tomato sauce. I felt he put in too many onions, but it was a good sauce anyway.
CUT TO: FRYING PAN With smoking steaks.
HENRY *V.O.*: Johnny Dio did the meat. He didn't have a broiler, so Johnny did everything in pans. He smelled up the joint something awful and the hacks used to die.
CUT TO: HOT FLAT Hooked up by long extension cord to an electric outlet in the toilet. There are huge kitchen knives, a block of ice
in a tin pail covered with a cloth and large pots and colanders necessary for cooking pasta dishes.
[PULL BACK to a large dorm with four beds separated by shoulder-height partitions. The room does not look like a prison. There are curtains over the bars. The room is filled with smoke from the pan-fried steak.]
HENRY *V.O.*: Everybody else in the joint was doing real time, all mixed together, living like pigs.
CUT TO: HENRY In grey prison garb, carrying a heavy canvas mail sack
marked "LEWISBURG PRISON." He dumps the sacks on one of
the beds.
HENRY *V.O.*: We lived alone, we owned the joint. Even those hacks who we couldn't bribe would never rat on the guys who did.
CUT TO: HENRY opens the sack on his bad and pulls out bottles of wine, scotch, and brandy, and holds them aloft.
HENRY *looking for praise*: Nice? Good?
VARZO *looking up from: his garlic surgery* Okay. What else?
[WE SEE HENRY reach in the sack and pull out cheeses, dried sausages, a large jar of vinegar peppers and dried mushrooms.]
VARIO *beaming with pride*: Now we eat.
[WE SEE HENRY begin to set the table.]
CUT TO: VARIO AND THE REST OF TEE MOB BOSSES playing cards, sipping wine, scotch and brandy. HENRY is sitting on his bed with his back to the GROUP. When he sees that no one is watching him, he pulls a black plastic garbage bag out of the sack. HENRY opens the bag and quickly counts the clear plastic bags of marijuana, glassine envelopes of heroin and bottles of pills. HENRY quickly repacks the drugs and slips them under his covers.
[INT. PRISON ENTRY GATE - DAY]
[Visiting day. HENRY is in a GUARD'S booth watching the VISITORS' gate through a window. WE SEE a GUARD in the room with HENRY. There is a knock. The GUARD opens the door and looks at HENRY. HENRY nods. The GUARD lets the INMATE enter. While the GUARD watches, the INMATE gives HENRY some cash and HENRY gives him one of the plastic bags filled with marijuana and a bottle of pills. The INMATE is then escorted out by the GUARD who closes the door.]
GUARD: Are there any more?
HENRY *looking intently at the visiting gate*: No, that's it. Ho more today.
[WE SEE HENRY casually stuff some bills into the GUARD'S shirt pocket.]
CUT TO: INT. VISITORS' GATE - DAY
[ANGLE ON KAREN coming through. She is wearing such a large, oversized
coat that KAREN looks twice as big as she was when we last saw her. She has the TWO CHILDREN with her. She is carrying a large purse and some empty shopping bags. The GUARDS see her and immediately help her get through the metal detection device and past the table where OTHER WOMEN are emptying the contents of their bags and packages.]
CUT TO: REGISTRATION DESK where KAREN quickly signs the visitors'
book.
CUT TO: GUARD'S GRINNING FACE
[WE SEE him turn page of book so KAREN can see the name of another of HENRY's visitors.]
CUT TO: PAGE OF BOOK WE SEE name, 'Linda Rossi" written next to BILL, HENRY.
CUT TO: INT. PRISON VISITING ROOM
[PAN BACK to a large gymnasium filled with formica tables and cheap plastic chairs at which WE SEE PRISONERS and their WIVES and CHILDREN eating, talking, crying and, in discreet corners -- hidden behind makeshift screens of shopping bags and scarves -- having oral sex.]
[WE SEE that the bored GUARDS are indifferent to what is happening.]
CUT TO: TABLE
[HENRY and KAREN are talking while WE SEE the CHILDREN playing in the distance at the commissary food machines.]
KAREN *fuming*: You son of a bitch. She's been here.
HENRY *acting dumb*: What are you talking about?
KAREN *gottcha*: Don't lie to me. I saw her name in the register.
HENRY: Jezuz Christ!
KAREN: You want her to visit you? Good! Let her stay up all night crying and writing letters to the parole board.
HENRY *astounded*: What am I doing? I'm in here! I'm in jail. I can't stop people from coming to see me.
[WE SEE KAREN open her coat revealing large inside pockets where she has stowed salamis, wine, cigarettes, cartons, etc.]
KAREN: You want her? Good! Let her sneak this stuff in for you!
[WE SEE KAREN slam a salami on the table with such a thud that the other PRISONERS and WIVES turn around.]
KAREN: Let her fight with these creep bastards every week to make life easier for you!
[WE SEE KAREN slam down cigarettes and wine with a thud, this time WE SEE a GUARD turn around and look at KAREN and HENRY and the contraband on the table. Pause. WE SEE the GUARD turn his head away.]
HENRY *desperate*: Stop! Stop!
KAREN: Let her carry this shit inside.
[WE SEE KAREN boldly wave a Baggie filled with marijuana and some plastic medicine containers with pills.]
[HENRY grabs the narcotics out of KAREN's hand and grabs her. WE SEE HENRY hug KAREN to him and WE SEE her drop her arms and hug him.]
KAREN *quietly sobbing*: Nobody's helping me. Tommy got four years. Marty and Fran are broke. I asked your friend Remo for the money he owed you, and you know what he told me?
HENRY *stroking her head and soothing her*: It'll be okay.
KAREN: He told me to take the kids to the police station and make the cops put me on welfare.
[WE SEE HENRY take the drugs from KAREN's hand and slip it into his shirt.]
HENRY: We've got to help each other.
KAREN: Even Paulie, since he got out, I hardly see him.
HENRY: It's only you and me. That's what happens when you go away. We're on our own. Forget everybody. Forget Paulie. As long as he's on parole he doesn't want anybody doing anything.
KAREN *sobbing*: I can't do it anymore.
HENRY: Yes, you can. I've got it set up. We'll be fine. All I need is for you to keep bringing the stuff. I've got a guy in here from Pittsburgh who'll move it for me. Believe me, in a month we'll be fine. We won't need anybody.
KAREN: I'm afraid. I'm afraid if Paulie finds out.
HENRY: Don't worry about Paulie. Is he helping you? Is he putting food on the table? We've got to help ourselves. We just have to be careful while we do it.
KAREN *looking in his face*: I don't want to hear about her anymore.
HENRY *hugging her to him*: Never.
