Gangs of New York Page #6

JAILER:

Your full name.

AMSTERDAM:

Vallon.

The JAILER writes this down with a scratchy pen.

JAILER:

First name?

AMSTERDAM:

I told you.

JAILER:

(skeptical, resigned)

Address?

AMSTERDAM:

Got none.

JAILER:

I'll put city. Now what's your age?

(Amsterdam shrugs.)

Maybe twelve. Got a family?

AMSTERDAM:

No more.

JAILER:

Well, where was they from when you had one?

AMSTERDAM:

(beat)

City.

JAILER:

(writing)

Disrobe.

As Amsterdam obeys, the Jailer turns to the Cop in the leather helmet

standing at his side.

JAILER:

What's the charge, Asbury?

COP:

Theft. Assault. Creating a ...

The Jailer finishes writing. Amsterdam stands naked.

JAILER:

Through that door there.

(lowers his voice)

And don't stand too near no one else.

CUT TO:

19 INT. CREMORE NIGHT

The largest, noisiest, gaudiest dive we have yet seen, full to bursting

with bawdy CUSTOMERS even at this late hour. Therels a long bar, where men

and women stand three deep; lots of small tables; a dance floor; and a

stage on which four blowsy DANCING GIRLS are giving out with a ribald

number titled "My Father's Teeth Were Plugged With Zinc."

One end of the bar is entirely taken up by a huge woaden keg with an

attached hose. BAR ATTENDANTS DUMP the unfinished contents of glasses into

the open barrel top as a line of FAR GONE DRUNKS wait their turn for the

hose. Maggie, Jenny's mother, is close to the front of the line, very

drunk, hanging on to a mush-faced HOODLUM.

Two VISITORS watch. One has a pad and makes quick SKETCHES.

VISITOR ONE:

Ought to be served in a trough, properly. Will you try some?

ARTIST:

Probably. What is it?

VISITOR ONE:

All-Sorts. It's made of all that's poured and not drunk, and any they can

salvage that's spilt.

Maggie GRABS the hose, staring at the Artist as she takes a drink. His

hand moves quickly an the page, SKETCHING her.

VISITOR:

(to Maggie)

Your health.

She SPITS at him, insulted. The Artist steps forward, puts some of the

All-Sorts from the hose into his glass, and toasts Maggie. She nods and

turns away....

...as Johnny enters, dragging a large SACK across the crowded floor toward

a far door.

CUT TO:

20 INT. CREMORE BACK ROOM NIGHT

Johnny RUSHES toward a wooden pen in the center of the room. There are

cries from the crowd of SPORTSMEN of "Hurry it up" and "More speed!"

Johnny dodges a kick or two before he finally arrives at the pen.

He UPENDS the sack over the pit and a dozen live RATS tumble out. A

GAMEMASTER slips Johnny a couple of cents as he starts his spiel.

GAMEMASTER:

Alright, gents and ladies, your bets now on Towser against the vermin, the

count to beat is ten rodents in three minutes.

The crowd starts to place bets. A sleepy Johnny settles down close to

ringside to watch the show.

At a signal from the Gamemaster, a TRAINER tosses TOWSER--A fierce

mongrel--into the ring. The crowd cheers lustily, continuing to shout out

bets, as the dog goes after the rats.The rats, fighting for their lives,

bite the dog, attaching themselves to his body. Towser retaliates by

gnawing the rats, SNAPPING them in half and spitting them out.

As the CROWD cheers, and Towser kills, and money changes hands, Johnny

curls up and goes to sleep.

CUT TO:

21 INT. TOMBS NIGHT

A row of cells, noisy and cold. The GUARD shoves Amsterdam into a cell.

GUARD 2

You get to live private until they come from the orphan's asylum. On

account of your tender years.

There is nothing in the cell but a board for a bed, and a window through

which Amsterdam can see the late winter moonlight. He looks for stars in

the sky, but can see none.

CUT TO:

22 INT- MAIN ROOM/OLD BREWERY

Jenny Everdeane and a girl FRIEND, her own age, huddle together in a dark

corner of this huge space. The Friend opens her hand to show Jenny a

glimpse of what she's clutching: a penny.

JENNY:

Let me see! I don't believe it.

FRIEND:

(closing her hand)

No! It's a danger.

JENNY:

Oh come on! It's not.

(Friend shakes her head)

Then tell me where you got it.

FRIEND:

From some man. He took me in his carriage. He only wanted to do something

to me fast.

JENNY:

What?

FRIEND:

(shrugs)

I didn't understand.

JENNY:

Would he do the same with me?

FRIEND:

I won't tell you if he's around again.

(clutches penny tight)

He's my secret.

JENNY:

Better keep it more careful, then.

The Friend GETS UP and starts across the Brewery floor, acting nonchalant.

But she looks around her, across the sleeping, passed-out bodies, past the

desperate families and their squalling infants, to see if she's been

noticed.

A man and two women cast a glance her way. She looks away, but the TRIO

keeps watching her... then FANS OUT and starts to FOLLOW her.

The Friend looks over her shoulder again. SEES the Man. Locks in another

direction, SEES:
the woman. And then: the second woman. All closing on her.

The Friend starts to RUN. The Trio runs after her. And no one else pays

attention. The Friend PLUNGES into one of the warren of TUNNELS that lead

off the Brewery floor.

CAMERA plunges through the darkness, after her. Her footsteps ECHO; there

is the SOUND of stumbling, falling, an angry CURSE and a BLOW being

struck. The FRIEND picks herself up out of the darkness and keeps running,

CAMERA following down the dank halls.

Suddenly the TRIO runs AHEAD of the camera. There is a SCREAM. CAMERA

staps. And others SOUNDS follow quickly now: the dull THUD of a heavy

object against bone, REPEATED several times; and then, very soon after,

the most terrible sound of all: silence.

Then Two Women emerge from the darkness of the tunnel, fighting over the

penny. The Man, several steps behind them, throws an object to the dirt

floor:
it's a STONE, and it is covered with blood. He comes up behind the

Two Women quickly and GRABS the penny from them with a hand that still

DRIPS blood and gore. They CHASE after him across the crowded Brewery

floor.

CUT TO:

23 INT. HALLWAY/TAMMANY NIGHT 2

CAMERA races along the ornate corridor, past PORTRAITS of many affluent

and self-important GENTLEMEN... through a door and into...

24 INT. TWEEDIS OFFICE/TAMMANY NIGHT

... Tweed's domain. Small in size, but there are dozens of CAGES OF

CANARIES all around. Tweed looks up startled as the door flies open. The

birds set up a COMMOTION.

CAMERA bears down on Tweed as a pair of HANDS grabs him and hurls him

against the wall.

Bill The Butcher GLARES at Tweed. Some NATIVES come into the room behind

him.

BILL THE BUTCHER

You come into the Five Points and you stole from me.

TWEED:

I don't know...

BILL THE BUTCHER

You stole Vallon. He was my kill. My example, of my power. You took him

and made him yours.

TWEED:

You're a lunatic to come here like...

In the background, same of the NATIVES have begun to play CATCH by

removing the CANARY CAGES from their places and tossing them all over the

room.

BILL THE BUTCHER

Thank you. Just listen good. The Native Americans holds the Five Points.

We have prevailed. What you do outside the Points is your deciding.

Outside is your city. Inside the Points is mine. Anyone who says

different, or does different, or thinks different...

(smiles)

... theylll draw my unwelcame attention. You understand?

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