American Violet Page #4

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to talk to me about the papers

on my guys in the kitchen.

I can't be fighting

with the DA.

- Don't worry about it.

- Please, take it.

- Don't worry about it.

- Take it.

Please.

- Thank you.

- You're welcome.

- Um...

I'm sorry.

- Me too.

- So did you get a chance

to read the material

that I gave you?

- What do you need

local counsel for?

Doesn't the ACLU

have enough lawyers?

- We need insight

into the local justice system.

- It's simple.

The DA

decides what he wants,

the cops

go and get it for him,

and the judges

bless what they have done.

- Are you hostile toward

this case for some reason,

Mr. Conroy?

- Mr. Cohen, when Joe Fischer

recommended me to you,

did he tell you,

before I became a lawyer,

I'd been a drug cop

for ten years

and that I trained

the task force officers

you're planning on suing?

- Mr. Fischer told me

you were a man of principle,

a fair man.

Does what happened

at Arlington Springs

seem fair to you?

- Not much

seems fair to me these days,

Mr. Cohen,

so I deal in practicalities.

You're asking me to sue

everybody I ever met

for racial discrimination.

Now, you know

where we are down here?

You might as well ask me

to stick a shotgun up my ass

and blow my head off.

- Well, that's very colorful.

I apologize

for wasting your time.

- You don't

have to be sorry.

You're just doing

what you think is right,

and despite how it may look,

so am I.

But I got to live down here.

You're gonna be able to go back

where you come from.

I'm gonna ask you again.

Why do you want

local counsel?

- We intend

to file very quickly.

To handle discovery,

depositions,

and a trial,

I need somebody who knows

how to navigate sh*t down here,

somebody to whom witnesses

and a local jury can relate.

I think we both know

that isn't me.

- [Chuckles]

Well, that's a sensible answer

there, Mr. Cohen.

[Sighs]

Who is your plaintiff?

- Hello.

Is your mom home?

- Who's that, Sherice?

- Hi, are you Dee Roberts?

- Mm-hmm.

- Hi, I'm David Cohen

with the ACLU,

and this is Sam Conroy.

Reverend Sanders suggested

that we come talk to you.

- Reverend Sanders?

Mm-hmm.

Okay.

Bye, babies.

Get into Mommy's room.

Got a visitor.

Sharonda, make sure your

sisters keep quiet, all right?

All right.

- So, Miss Roberts,

what has happened to you

and others here in Melody

is simply wrong.

The ACLU wants to make sure

that it doesn't happen again.

And we plan to sue

the district attorney,

the county,

the drug task force,

and the policemen

involved in the raids.

We'd like to do it

in your name.

- Are you kidding me?

You want her to sue

Calvin Beckett?

- Yes, ma'am.

- Y'all must be

the ones doing drugs

if you think my daughter's

gonna sue the DA

and Harmon County,

Texas.

- Would y'all excuse me

for a second, please?

- Huh.

Hey.

Mm-mm.

Mm-mm.

Since when

did you start smoking?

- Since I spent

- I can't believe Reverend

Sanders sent them round here,

talking about sue Beckett.

You can't beat Beckett.

- I would need to.

He wants to put me in prison

for 16 years.

- Beckett

don't care nothing about you.

You take the plea,

he will leave you alone.

You stay to yourself,

he ain't gonna bother you

never again.

- Why should I

have to keep to myself?

I did not do anything.

- Dee,

it ain't always about you.

You got kids

to take care of.

- Mama, these police

been raiding these projects

since I was a kid.

Now they done

started on my kids.

Look at Sherice in there.

It scared her

half to death.

You think it's gonna stop

'cause I plead guilty?

- Excuse me.

Why is that

any of your business?

- After what

they done to me, Mama,

they made it my business.

- Dee!

Dee, wait a minute!

- No, Mama.

I want to help.

- Great.

- May I?

- Please.

- Miss Roberts,

I know Calvin Beckett.

I know him personally.

And filing this suit

against him,

it may make him

change his plans.

But more than likely,

he's gonna come after you

even harder.

He may come after you

very hard.

You need to remember that you

still have criminal charges

pending against you.

- He's right.

- [Mumbling]

He ain't gonna leave me alone

unless I plead guilty.

And I ain't doing that.

So...

what exactly

do you need me to do?

- So why does it seem

such a hard choice, Sam?

- Well, it makes me take sides.

It'll seem kind of like

a political thing, doesn't it?

And I'm not

a political person.

You know that.

And I mean,

well, okay, I'm gonna sue

the district attorney down here.

I mean, the establishment would

be done with me, wouldn't it?

And Leona has been sick.

And we can't afford-

- Then why are you thinking

about doing it at all?

- Hey, did you know that

when I was in high school,

I was in West Louisiana,

and used to work

at a town pool out there?

And blacks and whites were just

beginning to swim together.

The idea wasn't very popular

with anybody at that time.

And one afternoon,

I was out there,

and there were

two blacks in the pool,

and there was one black man

in the shower room.

It was in the pool house

where I was mopping down

the floor in there.

And this white man

comes in and he says,

"Sam, get out of here."

And I said,

"Well, I work here.

I'm mopping up the floor.

What do you"-

And he said,

"Get the hell out of here."

And I said,

"I can't do that.

I'm not finished

mopping up."

And he pulled out

a tire iron and said,

"Boy, you get your ass

out of here right now."

And I did.

And as I'm running out,

all these men

come running in.

They're carrying metal rods,

sticks, pipes.

And as I'm running out,

I heard, you know,

the sound...

And, um...

man died that night.

Couple weeks later,

the FBI

came to my house.

And they wanted to know

what I'd seen.

- What did you tell them?

- I didn't say anything.

I knew

who those men were,

and I didn't say anything.

- Lavosha.

- Hey, Dee, girl.

Baby, how you doing?

It's so good to see you.

- Mm, I'm...

[chuckles]

- There.

A whole new you.

- Wow, thank you, Vosha.

I promise,

when I get a new job...

- Mm-mm.

Don't worry about it.

It's on me, honey.

Anytime.

- Thank you so much.

- Aw, sweetie.

- This is good.

- Yeah.

- Okay.

Well, okay.

Well, it's nice to meet you,

Miss Roberts.

Do you think you could

start next Monday?

- Can I start sooner?

- We're just gonna do

a background check first.

You know, arrest record

and all that stuff.

But it shouldn't take long.

- It was nice to meet you.

- Nice to meet you.

- No.

- Look...

- No, we're not hiring

at the moment.

No.

- I'm a hard worker.

You won't

have to pay me much.

- I'm sorry.

- I'll do dishes,

bus tables, anything.

- No.

- Come on.

- I said no.

- [Speaking over intercom]

Combo special,

number 23.

- [Speaking Spanish]

Here, everybody

has to do everything:

Clean the bathrooms,

scrub the dishes,

and go to the warehouse

to get supplies.

Thanks.

- That's all right for me.

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