Caged Page #3

---

I want to go home.

I want to get out of here.

Do you hear that train?

People are going home on that train.

Conductor, wait for me.

Let me on that train!

Let me out of here.

I don't belong in here.

I'm Georgia Harrison.

Father!

Father! Father!

Father!

Oh, Father!

- No.

- Grab her.

- No! No!

- She's bleeding like a stuck pig.

A cold hose will quiet her down.

No, Harper, the infirmary.

She's cut an artery.

File out, you tramps!

- Christiansen, Velma.

- Kopsky, Gita.

- O'Connor, Mary.

- Allen, Marie.

That old lady of mine,

the things she writes.

"And I know you'll be a good girl

and keep out of trouble."

How much more trouble can I get into?

Get lost.

You ain't deep.

I've been watching you.

You're no squealer,

so I'm gonna give you a break.

What are you gonna do

when you flop out of stir?

Ever figure on boosting?

This kid wouldn't know

a booster from a hustler.

Boosting, shoplifting,

the department store circuit,

none of your five-and-dime stuff

like your first rap.

We operate on a big scale.

The boys will protect you

just like your own mother.

If they protect you, why are you in here?

I knocked a guy off.

The syndicate pays me for recruiting,

so I can take care of Harper.

Live easy.

You just leave it to me,

and I'll see that you get your parole quick.

You see, these guys I'm working with,

they got drag.

Time to flop out,

and they'll fake a legit job for you.

With the soft dough

you can make shoplifting,

you can get the things a girl likes.

I know what's going through her head.

She's been listening to Benton.

Rehabilitation, taking cold showers,

working for good behavior.

When I get out, I'm not coming back.

- After I'm paroled...

- Parole? Didn't the parole board okay me?

I've been packed a solid year

pulling dead time.

You're a repeater.

They don't let any con out of stir

until the parole officer gets her a job

and a place to live.

We think we're flopping out, then wham,

they can't find us a job,

and we're packed in here

pulling dead time.

You see, kid, in this cage,

you get tough or you get killed.

Better wise up before it's too late.

Now, how about it?

Don't think I'm not grateful,

but I don't want to get mixed up

in anything.

I don't think

boosting is the only way to get along

when I get out of here.

I've got to do it my own way.

You was a nurse in the free side.

What's the matter with her?

Nothing that vitamins

and calcium wouldn't help.

You got them pills in the pogey?

They never heard of anything but aspirin.

Tell the nurse I said she should go out

and get you whatever stuff you need.

That slob will do it. She owes me plenty.

I'm all right now.

Marie knows where taking favors from you

will land her.

- Ain't you learned nothing?

- Quit needling her.

The only thing important is my baby.

If you're old enough to have a kid,

you don't need this big sister

sticking her nose where it don't belong.

Harper.

Tomorrow's parole-board day.

Would you find out

if my name's on the list?

- Mrs. Benton promised that the moment...

- You're on the list.

3:
30 tomorrow, Benton's office. Be there.

Nice work, kid.

I got a new bra you can have.

I got some slick, new perfume

you can have.

Let me iron your dress.

Want me to put your hair up

in curlers for you?

Do they fit?

They pinch a little,

but they look better than mine.

Thanks.

Well, how do I look?

Oh, fine.

3:
00. Three hours away.

I'd have gone crazy

if I had to pull another year.

I'll be 30 soon.

After you got out the first time,

what made you fall back in?

The same thing that got me in

the first time,

a guy.

When I met him,

I was wet behind the ears,

sex and love and marriage all mixed up.

When I got out of school, he hired me.

I didn't know until it was too late

what kind of a dirty racket he was in.

I loved him too much to walk out on him.

You're lucky your man's dead.

- Don't say that!

- Your man's dead.

He can't turn you into a two-time loser

like mine did.

Even after I got out the first time,

there he was, waiting for me,

but that's all over with.

I'm starting from scratch.

They flopped me back.

They flopped me back.

Quit cheating, you dirty crook.

Who you calling a dirty crook?

Shut up, the both of you, and play cards.

- She called me a dirty crook.

- Well, it's true, ain't it?

Yeah, but I got a right to be sensitive

about it, ain't I?

I'll call you and up two.

You're loaded with nothing.

There's your two and three more.

You in this pot, June?

The twister and the slammer.

Three hundred and sixty-five more nights

and days, and I wake up.

Get a load of the new look.

By the time we get out of here,

it'll be the old look.

I got news for you.

If that's what dames are wearing now,

I'm glad I'm in here.

The guy outside likes the way I look.

Just bought himself a brand-new car.

Must be a truck.

He's taking me to a show.

Tough they flopped you back in.

We could have double-dated

with his friend.

After the show,

he's taking me to his place.

He's got a room up over the bar

where he works.

Real comfortable,

if you know what I mean.

Every time he kisses me good night,

I just want to keep on leaving him.

- He's got...

- Keep your snoot out of our business.

Good night, girls. Pleasant dreams.

At least we got honest matrons in here.

When I bribe one, she stays bribed.

Anything you want?

Harper! Harper!

Before you go, you better tell Benton.

June's acting stir-bugs.

All repeaters act queer

when they're flopped back.

Pete don't like me to keep him waiting.

See you in the morning, girls.

June.

June. June.

I'd like to speak to Dr. Saunders.

What? I can't hear you.

Yes, I know.

He's not here. He went out on a case.

Dr. Ashton? This is Ruth Benton.

I'm sorry to call you at such an hour,

but I remember your offer

to be a free consultant.

An emergency. A premature birth.

Eight months.

Yes, thank you, Doctor.

What's everybody blowing their fuse for?

I've delivered kids in here by the dozen.

It's a miracle he didn't die.

Get a clean blanket.

When my dog had distemper,

I took him to a cleaner infirmary

than this one.

Yes, I know, Doctor.

Twice I've put in requisitions

to have this place

modernized and repainted.

Why not use $1,000 of your budget

for the purpose?

Maybe if the medical board

were to take it up.

Five inmates have told me

June was acutely depressed last night.

They swear they asked you to advise me.

You believe any bull

these inmates hand you?

I've asked you time and time again

to watch changes in a girl's behavior.

You mean to tell me you couldn't see

that she was acting strangely?

With 60 girls in my bullpen,

my only job is to see that nobody escapes.

You helped to kill June just as surely

as if you'd hanged her yourself!

Will they investigate?

I wish somebody cared enough

to make an investigation.

So what are you going to do?

Suspend me?

I'm going to do everything I can

to have you fired.

Rate this script:0.0 / 0 votes