Finding Forrester Page #5

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-l'd say it worked out.

This is Fly.

-Hi, Fly, l'm Claire.

-How you doing?

-You a friend of Jamal's?

-Claire!

Come on!

l'm coming.

Don't hold that bus up too long.

Nice meeting you, Fly.

All right! What the hell

you working there, man?

Shut up, man.

Yo, about Red Rose.

l ain't gonna make it.

l gotta go to this dude house.

They do it every year.

Don't be going off on this.

You big time. You best be going.

l don't want to hold your bus up.

You around this weekend?

Where you think l'm gonna be? ln

the Hamptons?

lt was very nice talking with you.

Remember, anything you need...

...please give me a call.

Okay? Anything.

Okay?

Building up a collection

of those things?

Yeah, a few.

Do you want to get outside

for a while?

Yeah. You know this place?

l live in this place. Come on.

They'll be in there till midnight,

congratulating themselves on your game.

Which means l get to cram tomorrow

for this test on Monday.

Test on what?

lt's on the Sherlock Holmes books.

They have us tracking down

all this worthless stuff, like:

''Who introduced Watson to Holmes?''

They give it to you

to force you to read everything.

Looks like it might be a while.

Maybe so.

So this friend Fly.

How long have you known each other?

For a while. He was born there,

and l was born there too.

-ln the Bronx?

-Yeah.

Must be hard.

What?

l don't know. New people, new school.

lt's not?

No, what's hard is growing up

in a place...

...where the cops don't

even want to be after dark.

What's hard is knowing

that you're safe there...

...because the people

you need to worry about...

...know you got nothing

to give them.

So it's a good thing you're here.

Yeah, but these people don't think

l got anything to give them either.

Don't let me get by you.

Once l get by you, l'll score.

-Okay.

-You ready?

-Ready.

-Stay in front of me now.

-All right?

-Okay.

l got by you, man.

You're bigger than l am.

You still got to play defense.

How do l do that?

How do you play--?

l'll show you one right here.

Turn around.

Turn around.

Feel that?

l feel it.

l know where you'll go because

l can feel where you're gonna move.

All right, now try and move left.

l'm still here. You can't get around

me because l feel you moving left.

Try and go right.

See, l'm still here.

l feel when you try and go right.

So you can't go there neither.

Now try and get by me.

Hold on.

You gotta dribble first.

Dribble.

Dribble. Okay. Like this?

Yeah.

-Sorry.

-Claire.

Daddy.

Some of our guests are leaving.

l'll see you on Monday, okay?

Oh, Claire.

Yeah?

lt was Stamford.

Excuse me?

At the bar in London.

He's the one who

introduced Watson to Holmes.

Might save you some time

after everybody's done in there.

You know how long l worked on that?

''One season of faith's perfection''?

Feels like l worked on it

for two or three seasons.

Oh, you're in that place where

you can't even hear me.

Like l could ask why you

never moved from here...

-...and you wouldn't even get pissed--

-Paragraph three starts...

...with a conjunction, ''and.''

Never start a sentence

with a conjunction.

-Sure you can.

-Oh, no.

lt's a firm rule.

No, no, no, see...

...it was a firm rule.

lf you use a conjunction

at the start of a sentence...

...it can make it stand out a bit.

And that may be what the writer wants.

And what is the risk?

Well, the risk is doing it too much.

lt's a distraction. lt could

give the piece a run-on feeling.

But for the most part,

the rule on ''and'' or ''but''...

...at the start is still pretty shaky.

Even though it's taught

in many schools by many teachers.

Some of the best writers

have ignored that rule for years...

...including you.

Well, you've taken...

...something which was mine...

...and made it yours.

That's quite an accomplishment.

Thank you.

The title is still mine, isn't it?

l guess.

Now, it was the neighborhood

that changed. Not me.

l ain't seen nothing change.

You ''ain't seen nothing''?

What in the hell kind

of sentence is that? Huh?

When you're in here,

don't talk like you do out there.

l was messing with you, man.

lt was a joke.

l want to hear

about the neighborhood...

...back when people

still read your book.

What did you say?

Nothing.

You said, ''back when people

still read my book.''

Didn't you?

We have 24 copies.

But l'm sorry. They're checked out.

Oh. Well, thank you, anyway.

You're welcome.

Any luck?

Did you get on the waiting list?

Yeah, man, your book was checked out.

And yes...

...l did pay for dinner.

lt cost me $1 3,

so l guess you made your point.

l called to see what kind of

food you wanted, but it kept ringing.

l took the bell out 20 years ago.

Let me ask you something.

How come a guy like you...

...wastes his time reading

The National Enquirer?.

What's wrong with it?

l mean, it's trash, man.

You should be reading

the Times or something.

l read the Times for dinner.

But this....

This is my dessert.

They got a contest at school.

This writing thing.

-You ever enter one of those?

-Writing contest?

-Yeah.

-Once.

A long time ago.

Did you win?

Well, of course l won.

Like money or something?

The Pulitzer.

Oh.

The students have to read

in front of everybody.

What the hell's that got

to do with writing?

Writers write

so that readers can read.

Let someone else read it.

You ever read your own book?

ln public? Hell, no.

Barely read it in private.

You know those things you do,

that coffee-shop reading sh*t?

You know why they do it?

Sell books, l guess.

Because they want to get laid.

Really? Women will sleep with you

if you write a book?

Women will sleep with you

if you write a bad book.

-Did it ever happen to you?

-Sure.

Did you ever get married?

Not exactly a soup question, is it?

No. No, l never did.

l learned a few things

along the way...

...which might be of help with this

young lady you always talk about.

Like what?

The key to a woman's heart...

...is an unexpected gift

at an unexpected time.

You're giving me advice on women?

Unexpected gift, unexpected time.

This is so unexpected!

This is so unexpected!

Oh, Jamal.

lt's not a first printing

or anything, but....

Oh, my God.

-What happened?

-This is a signed copy.

l can't accept it.

lt must've cost a fortune.

lt didn't cost that much. Really.

Maybe the bookstore missed it.

Bookstores don't

usually miss this stuff.

How did you end up going to Mailor?

Mailor was originally

an all-boys school.

So my father did what anyone

in his position would do.

He got on the board

and changed the rules.

And every kid there knows it.

They would've done it anyway.

That doesn't change anything.

l'm still ''Dr. Spence's daughter.''

Jamal.

Yeah?

That night at my home,

after the game...

...when you were showing me

how to play basketball.

Was that all you were showing me?

Listen, l don't think

that's gonna work.

What?

That.

Why not?

Ask your father.

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