Basquiat Page #6

GINA (CONT'D)

Wake up! I'm back!

She shakes his arm. No result. She lifts his head, revealing his

painted hair.

She shakes him harder. His body is totally limp.

The whites of his eyes are red; his pupils slowly float up,

vanishing.

GINA:

Jean, what did you do to yourself?

She listens to his breath, then to his heart.

GINA:

(panicking)

Jesus Christ!

She finds heroin sprinkled into some pot on the floor near him.

GINA:

(slapping his face)

Don't do this to me.

She shakes him until his eyes unglue. His pupils float into their

proper place.

BASQUIAT:

... What's the matter?

GINA:

(furious)

Oh, God, Basquiat, you scared the sh*t out

of me. How the f*** could you do that to

yourself?

BASQUIAT:

You're back.

GINA:

It's Monday morning.

BASQUIAT:

It's not Sunday? I missed you. You

shouldn't leave me alone.

GINA:

You're blaming me? I had to go see my

family.

BASQUIAT:

I'm your family.

GINA:

Basquiat, what did you take?

Jean tries to pick himself up from the floor. He gets up stiffly,

like Pinnocchio. The long sleep made his limbs wooden.

BASQUIAT:

Nothing special – just some weed.

He finds an old joint and lights it up.

GINA:

Basquiat, don't lie.

(holds up powder)

This is smack.

BASQUIAT:

You want some?

He offers her the joint.

EXT. ST. MARK'S PLACE – NIGHT

Jean and Benny walk along, sharing a beer in a brown paper bag.

They approach a DRUG DEALER and exchange money for dope.

Jean finds a discarded window frame in a pile of trash and carries

it with him.

They sit down on a stoop. Jean rolls up a dollar bill, empties the

dope onto the window, and splits it into two lines. He hands the

rolled up bill to Benny, who snorts the line.

Benny shakes his head involuntarily, making a violent face, as

though the dope burned a hole in his sinus.

BENNY:

We got beat.

BASQUIAT:

For real?

Jean takes a taste with his finger... He tastes his tongue and

makes a face..

He snorts part of his line, anyway, to make sure.

He frowns.

They continue onwards. Jean still carries the window.

BENNY:

You gonna carry that around all night?

BASQUIAT:

Yeah... I'll paint on it.

INT. PARTY – NIGHT

The party's winding down – hip-hop kids, Lower East Side types.

Jean and Benny pass through the room, ignoring the two or three

clusters of people – maybe fifteen in all...

Jean encounters a familiar face: an enormous red-haired dealer –

ROCKETS (35). They greet each other as friends.

Rockets leads Jean aside. They stand near a wall where a painting

hangs ("Flats Fixed"). It bears Jean's three-point crown.

ROCKETS:

You did that, didn't you?

Jean shrugs.

BASQUIAT:

I gave it to Maripol. She let me stay here

for awhile.

Jean hands him twenty dollars. Rockets hands him two dime bags. As

if thinking better, he hands the bill back to Jean.

ROCKETS:

Do one for me and it's free. How's that?

Jean re-pockets his money. He gestures to Rockets as if to say

"fine – it's a deal."

He and Benny sit down across the room and split a bag onto the

window, as before. This time, it's good. They lean back into it,

slumping down into the couch.

Nearby, Rene sits on a couch with THREE STREET KIDS – artists (who

we've seen at Milo's opening). They sit on their knees looking out

a window passing binoculars back and forth.

ARTIST #1 looks through the window with a pair of BINOCULARS. He

points down towards the street, trying to get Rene's attention.

ARTIST #1

Check this out, Rene.

Rene lunges towards the window. The stereo BLARES (Curtis Blow's

"Survival")

RENE:

(singing along)

"The name of the game is survival, You

learn it in jail upon your arrival!"

Another ARTIST (#2) a young black man, runs up and tries to turn

down the volume.

Rene grabs his crotch.

ARTIST #2

Chill, man! Be cool! This isn't even my

apartment!

RENE:

Oh man, you a FINE nigga! You know that?

ARTIST #2

Cut it out, man! And don't be callin' me

that sh*t!

ANGLE ON:

Benny is now alone on the couch. He nods out.

RENE:

(noticing him)

Oh my, there goes the neighborhood. Who's

house is this, anyway?

Artist #2 is still mad at Rene.

RENE (CONT'D)

(to Artist #2)

That's what I like about you straight

boys. You're so sensitive!!!

(resumes singing)

"The name of the game is survival,

Survival! Survival! only the strong

survive"

ARTIST #1

Rene! Come here, man!

RENE:

I gotta go pee.

Rene weaves across the room. Suddenly, he stops cold. He's staring

at Jean's painting. He doesn't move.

RENE (CONT'D)

(to himself)

Who did this?

(beat – louder)

Who did this?

ARTIST #2

I don't know. I told you, this isn't my

apartment.

ARTIST #3

I know who did that. That's Jean Michel's.

He's right here, man...

He turns to look for Jean.

ARTIST #3

F***, man, where'd he go? Where's Jean?

Benny looks around ineffectually and shrugs.

RENE:

(to himself)

It's f***ing amazing. Motherf***er's got

to put a crown on it.

ARTIST #1

(yelling from the window)

Rene, man, check this out. Whoa... He's

kinda cute.

Rene looks to him and back at the painting. He takes one last

look.

He stumbles towards the window and grabs the binoculars from

Artist #1..

We look through the binoculars' POV at a GUY coming down the

street. He's wearing all black, cowboy boots, and sunglasses.

RENE:

Naaaa. Poor thing has a little dick.

ARTIST #2

How do you know?

RENE:

Just look at him.

(Rene hands the binoculars

to him)

Little silver thingies on his cowboy

boots? Honey, I don't think so.

He looks around the room again as if looking for Jean.

ARTIST #3

Whoa – check it out. It's him!

Rene grabs binoculars.

BINOCULARS POV:

Jean pauses before one of his own graffiti pieces:

"PLUSH SAFE, HE THINK"

Rene watches in awe. Jean, moving a bit slowly, `signs' his tag

with the copyright sign. He walks off.

RENE:

MOTHAFUCKAH!

ARTIST #2

That's the same guy who did this painting.

RENE:

I know that. Don't let him get away.

He hands the binoculars to Artist #3 and runs towards the door.

EXT. STREET – NIGHT

BINOCULARS POV:

We watch as Rene looks frantically for Jean, but can't spot him.

Finally he sees Jean's hair-do bobbing up and down a block away.

He runs towards it.

RENE:

Hey, wait up!!!

Huffing and puffing, he catches up.

RENE:

You heard of Albert Milo. I made that

niggah. I'm Rene Ricard. Didn't you read

"Not About Albert Milo?" I know who to

hype. Baby, I'm gonna make you a star.

BASQUIAT:

Can you put me in the ring with him?

RENE:

I can put you in the ring with him. Even

book the dates.

(beat)

But those big boys know how to fight. They

could make you look real sissy.

(they laugh)

I was looking at that painting upstairs.

It's the first time a picture made me

embarrassed to own anything.

(beat)

So what's your real name? 'Samo?'

BASQUIAT:

Jean Michel Basquiat.

They shake hands.

RENE:

Sounds famous already.

INT. PS 1 SHOW – DAY

INSERT:
A huge poster reads:

"NEW YORK / NEW WAVE

100 ARTISTS"

CLOSE ON:
A HAMMER, POUNDING

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