Devil in a Blue Dress Page #19

109.

125 CONTINUED:
125

As he leads her through the doorway, he stops to look back

at Shariff's legs sprawling out on the floor from behind the

sofa.

126 EXT. ALBRIGHT'S CABIN - NIGHT 126

He leads her down the front porch and hears.

MOUSE:

There's blood all over here... I

got him.

Mouse gets up from squatting down, grinning, the gold rims

of his teeth catching a glint from the light coming through

the door. He looks Daphne over, admiring.

Damn.

MOUSE:

Sweetheart.

Easy leads her past, quickly.

She okay?

MOUSE:

Yeah.

EASY:

Let's go.

127 EXT. ROUTE 9 - NIGHT 127

Mouse opens the back seat door of the car and Easy sees that

there's no one there.

EASY:

Where's Joppy?

And then he looks around quickly, seeing

JOPPY'S BODY lying off on the side of the road.

EASY:

What happened?

Mouse shrugs.

MOUSE:

I didn't have time to be tying him

up.

Daphne sees the body too and starts gagging. Easy's face

twists into helpless pain and he holds a handkerchief to

Daphne's mouth.

Why, man?

EASY:

Why?

110.

127 CONTINUED:
127

MOUSE:

Why what? You just said don't

shoot him. And I didn't... I

choked his ass...

Easy helps Daphne into the car and closes the door.

EASY:

Damn Mouse! Why?

MOUSE:

How I'm gonna help you back there

foolin' 'round with him?

EASY:

He was tied up! Why?!

MOUSE:

Aw, man. If you didn't want him

kilt you shouldn't have left him

with me.

And he goes around to the passenger side of the car to get

in.

Unlike up at the house this was murder -- the same as it had

been in Texas with Mouse's stepfather and brother. Tears of

rage well up in Easy's eyes as he hears the car door close.

DISSOLVE TO:

A128 EXT. GLENDALE TRAIN STATION - NIGHT A128

Daphne sits in the car, her eyes staring straight ahead,

still in shock.

128 EXT. PLATFORM - NIGHT 128

A few people hurry to board the train, Easy and Mouse among

them.

EASY (V.O.)

I convinced Mouse to take the two

o'clock train to Pomona and to let

me handle everything else. He

could get a train back to Houston

later that morning... He was fine

with that but only because he was

seven thousand dollars richer.

Daphne had gotten the money out of

a locker at the YMCA without a

word...

(MORE)

111.

128 CONTINUED:
128

EASY (V.O.) (CONT'D)

Because she was still in shock and

couldn't really talk... Maybe too

because she had stolen about four

times that much from Carter.

MOUSE:

Listen, if you think you gonna have

trouble with that dude Frank, I can

run by and kill him and take that

evening train to Houston.

EASY:

Naw, man.

He has had enough of Mouse for a while.

MOUSE:

Oh. This is for you.

And he pulls out something wrapped up in a brown paper bag

from his coat.

MOUSE:

I cut you in for half 'cause I knew

you was too big a fool to take your

share from that white girl

yourself.

Easy stares numbly at the package and then takes it.

The conductor gets on board and the train starts making

those metal on metal sounds.

MOUSE:

Send my grip to Etta Mae. I'm

gonna see if she'll take me back

now that I'm flush.

He slaps Easy on the shoulder and boards the train.

MOUSE:

Oh, here's the keys to Dupree's

car.

He tosses them, and the train starts moving.

MOUSE:

And if you need somebody to run

them streets with ya, gimme a call.

You know how to put some money in a

nigga's pocket.

And he laughs, flashing gold teeth pulling away.

112.

128 CONTINUED:
(2) 128

Easy watches.

EASY (V.O.)

I knew I would see him again and I

didn't know how I felt about

that... 'cause, unlike Mouse, my

legs were like rubber... the way

they had been in the war the whole

two years I was there.

129 EXT. GRIFFITH PARK OBSERVATORY - NIGHT 129

Easy sits in his car smoking a cigarette, rubbing his aching

chin, looking out at

DAPHNE AND CARTER

standing on the lawn in front of the planetarium. Carter

wanders after Daphne, explaining while she paces back and

forth in anger.

EASY:

I could tell how it was gonna go

when Carter asked us to meet him at

the Observatory instead of at his

house... She knew it, too. But she

had come this far and she had to

play it out.

Suddenly, Daphne stops abruptly and strides hurriedly back

toward the car. Carter follows behind.

Daphne!

CARTER:

Daphne, sweetheart!

He starts over, too, but then stops, knowing here's no use.

130 INT. CAR - NIGHT 130

She gets in.

DAPHNE:

Come on, Easy. Let's go.

Easy throws a look over at Carter.

DAPHNE:

(continuing)

Don't worry, you can give him the

pictures yourself.

And she throws them down on the seat.

113.

131

OMIT 131

132

Easy fires up the engine and pulls away with Daphne 132

looking straight ahead.

EASY:

Hey, I'm sorry.

The slight twist of her head amounts to a shrug and then the

tears flow. The sun is coming up over the city below...

EASY (V.O.)

For the first time I felt that I

could fall in love with her, too...

I was even wondering if it was

starting to happen when I dropped

her off at 63rd and Dinker where

her brother, Frank, was waiting...

Then it occurred to me that she

still had Carter's money... and I

felt like a fool.

133

INT. CITY HALL 133

Easy walks onto the rotunda holding a hand to his aching

kidney. A secretary comes out to meet him and as she

leaves, Todd Carter and a group of men in business suits

converge on him, shaking hands.

EASY (V.O.)

Evidently Carter had told all his

cronies about the pictures because

they were all smiles and handshakes

and "how do ya do"... The Mayor,

the police chief... The newspaper;

land developers. All the men who

ran the City, and who really stood

to gain by who was the Mayor for

the next six years.

The group fans out leaving Carter and Easy alone to walk off

down a hallway.

134

OMIT 134

135

OMIT 135

136

INT. MAYOR'S OFFICE 136

Spacious and heavy in leather and wood with a not-so-

spectacular view of the mountains. It's cold and official

like the job itself.

Carter pulls a brown envelope from inside his coat pocket,

not unlike Albright.

114.

136 CONTINUED:
136

CARTER:

Here's the remaining eight hundred

that I owe you... in cash... And

another thousand which I hope will

keep this whole thing... you know.

Easy nods a tentative "sure."

CARTER:

(continuing)

And I've taken care of your

problems with the police. You'll

have no more trouble there. And

that's a promise.

Easy nods and starts to go, but...

CARTER:

(continuing; to Easy)

Mr. Rawlins... did Daphne ever

say... she loved me?

Easy shrugs, not knowing how to answer.

EASY:

Would it really matter if she did,

Mr. Carter?

Carter nods sadly and Easy walks away leaving him a lonely

figure amidst all his power.

137 EXT. CITY HALL - DAY 137

Easy holds his kidney and lowers himself gingerly down the

granite steps.

EASY (V.O.)

I'd been thinking about Daphne,

too... wondering if she meant what

she said about what could have

happened between us... But at the

moment I was wondering if there was

any such thing as a sprained chin.

But other than that and a headache,

a loose tooth and a kidney that a

doctor would need to look at, I

felt like five thousand, three

hundred dollars... And unless

Albright was alive somewhere, that

feelin' was gonna last a while.

O.S. VOICE

Hey, Ezekiel.

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