2 TEAMSTERS share a bottle of whiskey at the bar while 3
SECRETARIES chat nearby. A BARTENDER works with a WAITRESS.
Near the back door, TWO MEN throw darts.
Patrick, Angie and Lionel sit around a table in the middle of
the bar. Lionel stares at his hands.
PATRICK
How long you known Remy?
LIONEL
Detective Bressant?
(liar's pause)
Just, in, met him through the investigation of Amanda.
PATRICK
That's it?
LIONEL
Yeah.
PATRICK
How long you known Remy?
LIONEL
What is this?
PATRICK
They have the internet now, Lionel.
LIONEL
(pauses -- looking from one to the other)
You know how it is in town. Everybody knows everybody.
PATRICK
No, Lionel. Everybody don't know everybody.
LIONEL
What are you talkin' about?
PATRICK
Why you lyin' Lionel?
LIONEL
I'm not.
PATRICK
Do you have something to hide? Why can't you tell me?
Beat.
PATRICK (CONT'D)
When you want to get away with a crime, Lionel it ain't bullshitting your way past ten questions. It's nobody asking the first one.
PATRICK ALTERNATIVE LINE:
PATRICK (CONT'D)
You came to our house....fuckin' explode.
Lionel puts up his hands.
LIONEL
Fine. Fine.
(beat)
I haven't been honest with you. It's just not something I'm proud of, you know? I was in a bar fight, in the day. The other guy cracked his skull. At some point, I musta said, "I'll kill you." So they had me up for attempted. My word against the other guy's. A witness testified to my version and the jury believed him.
PATRICK
'Cause he was a cop.
LIONEL
Yeah. He testified for me.
Angie starts to believe Lionel might be lying.
ANGIE
Why didn't you mention that?
LIONEL
I was embarrassed.
PATRICK
Bullshit. You bragged about taking a hard bust the first day we met you.
LIONEL
No I didn't.
PATRICK
So you knew 'Detective Bressant.'
LIONEL
It's not like we were best friends.
ANGIE
(building suspicion)
But you lied.
PATRICK
Why did you call Remy?
LIONEL
He's a cop...
PATRICK
And?
LIONEL
(getting flustered)
The case is closed, Patrick. It's closed.
PATRICK
You heard Helene and Ray talking about the money.
LIONEL
Come on...
PATRICK
It's a small place, they were loud, you heard them arguing.
LIONEL
Who? Who arguin'?
PATRICK
You and him took Amanda, to blackmail your sister.
LIONEL
Why would I do that?
PATRICK
For the money Lionel, the fuckin' money.
PATRICK ALTERNATIVE LINE:
PATRICK (CONT'D)
After the plug in the jug....then You were fucked.
ANGIE
You hate your sister.
LIONEL
Angie...
PATRICK
And you were fucked--
LIONEL
(looking for waitress)
Where's the-- why can't we get any--
ANGIE
Lionel, tell me what happened.
LIONEL
Hold on a second...
PATRICK
Coke dealin' Haitian would be an easy target for a frame--
LIONEL
Excuse me, miss?
PATRICK
You took your niece and laid it off on a black guy.
Lionel is going to break.
LIONEL
(seeing her)
Excuse me!
A WAITRESS gets there.
LIONEL (CONT'D)
Can I get some service?
She stares at him.
WAITRESS
What can I get you?
Lionel takes a long beat, then asks for:
LIONEL
Three shots of Maker's, please.
These will be Lionel's first drinks in twenty three years.
LIONEL (CONT'D)
And a Bud. Tall.
(beat)
Thank you.
The waitress goes to get the drinks. Lionel simply looks at
them, thinking over his secrets, wondering about the life
he's about to let go of.
LIONEL (CONT'D)
Just give me a second.
The waitress returns with the drinks and lines them up in
front of Lionel. He regards the drinks before him for a long
beat...
LIONEL (CONT'D)
Twenty three years is something, right?
Lionel downs one. He feels the liquor flame through his
bloodstream.
PATRICK
Go.
LIONEL
In May I came up to check on Amanda. She was alone, as usual. I was reading her a story when Helene and Ray came home. They didn't know I was there and they started talking about how they had robbed this drug dealer. Then they talked about leaving the state. I called Remy and told him.
PATRICK
Then what?
Lionel pours another shot down his throat, gathers himself.
LIONEL
Then we took her.
(beat)
Remy laid out this plan, it seemed easy. We take her, force Helene and Ray to cough up the money, and then put her back. You know? Amanda gets a weekend in the country; My sister learns a lesson; And fuck it, we'll all get paid on top of it... I got no problem taking money from a guy like Cheese.
(pause)
They were gonna handle the cops, but Bea went nuts calling the papers and hired you. Once you found the money they had Amanda and the money. So they decided to set up a fake exchange for you to witness. They got Chris Mullen to set Cheese up at the quarry for 15k and a chance to be the boss. Even though it was too late, Cheese figured out what was happening and started shooting. You have to understand, I never been around that. Everyone was panickin' and she...
(a beat)
...she got scared and she ran.
(another beat)
And she just fell in.
OVER THE PREVIOUS DIALOGUE WE PLAY FLASHES:
ANGIE
She was your sister's kid, Lionel.
(beat)
Your sister's child.
LIONEL
You don't think I miss her? She was more my kid than Helene's.
(beat)
Last summer, Helene and Dottie took Amanda to the beach. Real hot day. Amanda fell asleep and they left her in the car to go off with some guys in the dunes. For two hours. Amanda literally roasted. She was three.
He listens skeptically.
LIONEL (CONT'D)
My sister called me up later that night because Amanda was, "being a real bitch."
(pause)
When I got over there I found my niece in the bathtub, schriekin' in pain and she reeked, like beer. The best my sister could come up with to ease her daughter's pain was to douse her in cold beer. But not all of it, she wanted to "save some."
Long exhale.
LIONEL (CONT'D)
Later on, I was holding her, trying to help her sleep, and she was so hot she felt like something just outta the oven... Like a fuckin' pot roast.
(beat)
So don't feel too sorry for my sister. She never cared about anyone but herself.