God's Pocket Page #2

cut it up for you.

- Here you go.

- I got it.

- You got it, Mick?

- All right.

- You okay?

- Yeah, I'm fine.

F*** it all.

It all works out in the end.

All right, what happened here?

It was the lift.

The shackle come loose.

Usually it's tied down

when we're not using it.

The...

chain swung out, and the shackle...

hit the boy right in

the back of the head.

That's what happened.

I seen the whole thing.

Kid never knew what hit him.

Anyone else?

I seen it too.

What was his job?

He was a day laborer.

That it?

That's what happened.

Jeanie?

Jeanie.

Leon's dead.

Richard.

You feeling all right?

Yeah, I had the flu.

Didn't see your column

on page two yesterday.

Opened the paper to see a

goddamn picture of some girl

that had her teeth wired

together to lose weight.

Readers count on you, Richard.

Feeling much better today, okay.

So I looked over the last year.

Did you know you missed 42

days, not counting vacations?

Really?

Mm-hmm.

And I got to thinking about it.

Maybe we ought to bring in

another columnist, you know,

someone to lighten the load.

Found one yet?

Thought I'd give you a

chance to think it over.

Whatever you want, Brookie.

But of course, if it's

a drinking problem...

No.

'Cause we have sent people

up to Horizons to dry out.

We could do it for you too.

No.

It's a bug I caught.

Here's my anniversary column.

Yeah.

You have to eat something.

She probably already ate lunch.

He was just a baby.

- Hello.

- Mick, it's Bird.

Hi. You get your electricity back?

Yeah, it came on right

after you left.

This isn't a great time.

Why, what's the matter?

We had an accident with Leon.

What, he got his dick caught

in somebody's cash register?

No, it's a real thing.

Something happened at work.

Some kind of accident. He's dead.

What?

What is it?

Well, they say

something fell on him.

Fell on him? No sh*t.

Yeah.

Jesus.

I'm sorry to hear that.

Yeah.

Anyway, what I was calling about...

I don't know if it's the appropriate

time, but it's that horse,

the one you was talking

about, Turning Leaf?

She's running in a $15,000

claimer tomorrow at Keystone.

I'm scaring up everything I can.

{figured you'd want to do the same.

- Okay, thanks.

- Okay.

I'll let Jeanie know.

Uh, just a friend,

heard about the accident.

Uh, I got to take care

of the arrangements.

I think I've been there

I think I know just what

you're going through

A fallen angel is what you are

You're Richard Shellburn.

Yes, I am.

I thought you'd look older.

Thought you would too.

You go to Temple University?

No.

I graduated.

Journalism.

Oh.

Yeah.

Now I freelance, mostly sports.

Who's Yama Bahama?

A fallen angel is what you are

Is that a name for your penis?

Jesus.

Everyone's got a name

for their penis.

Mickey.

We're real sorry, Mick.

Leon was a good boy.

It don't make no sense to me.

I mean, somebody ought

to do something.

The youth is our

hope for the future.

What happened?

I don't know.

They say something

dropped on him...

down at the job.

Jesus.

That's a shame.

Got to go see Smilin' Jack,

make arrangements.

Jeanie's messed up.

Well, Saturday's a good day

for a funeral, always.

Nobody has to get up the next day.

Mm.

We're collecting for the funeral.

F***in' Leon's gonna cost

me more dead than alive.

He was always a nice youngster.

Tell Jeanie that for me.

For Christ's sakes, Eleanor.

You didn't even know him.

That's a damnable lie!

I know all our youngsters!

He was nice back then, Mickey.

He never broke into nobody's

house in the neighborhood...

Eleanor!

Are you gonna sit down,

or I got to pour out your drink?

I mean it today.

I'm cutting you off!

Yeah, well, you can't

cut off the truth!

F***in' neighborhood.

Jack.

Mickey.

I'm so sorry to hear about Leon.

Yeah.

You know, sometimes you

wonder about God's plan.

I just want to make

Jeanie feel better.

Let me show you what we got, Mick.

This is our best seller...

mahogany veneer,

champagne interior.

What about that one?

Well, of course, you

know Jeanie best,

but she ain't gonna want

some piece of junk.

I got to think it over.

Mick...

we'll work something out.

I just don't want to give her

anything that she ain't gonna like.

Well, how about I stop

over tomorrow morning?

It might be easier for her to talk

about it in familiar surroundings.

I guess so.

Yo, Mick.

Was the body messed up?

No, his body's fine.

It's just the back of his head.

That's no problem at all.

The back of the head

takes care of itself.

Leon didn't take no sh*t.

If I was a father, that's what

I'd want my kid to be like.

You know what I did the

day my mother died?

I went out and I banged

a Locust Street whore.

Remember those girls?

No.

I got home at 1:
00 in the morning.

My whole family was

waiting up for me.

It was the Christians and

the lions all over again.

On the day your mother died?

I felt bad, but I had

to do something.

What the f*** you doing, man?

F*** you.

F*** him!

Hey, what the f*** is

wrong with you guys?

- You're always doing that!

- Play the game.

- Get out of here!

- Sit down!

- Got a problem?

- Get the hell out of here!

F*** him!

I got to get the f*** out of here.

Your f***ing shoe.

You had a lot of

those screwdrivers.

But you drank one.

That's why I can't get it up.

Could you always write?

I mean, did you always

want to be a writer?

What?

Do you think sometime I could watch

you write one of your columns?

Sometime.

Oh.

It is the damndest thing.

I can't remember which

one of you is which.

What time is it?

Closing time.

You been drinking?

Yeah.

Tonight you've been out drinking?

And don't go in Jeanie's room.

The doctor had to come twice

to give her medicine,

and he said that she needs

a good night's sleep.

I thought maybe she

might want someone...

Joyce is in there with her.

So you're Joanie.

Aah! Oh, Jesus.

- Oh, my God! Oh, my God!

- What?

Oh, my God.

It's all right. It's all right.

I thought I saw Leon!

Oh, my God!

It's all right.

Now, last but perhaps not least,

I feel obliged to show you

the blue-gauge steel.

In my opinion, uh, I think...

I think she likes the mahogany.

Now, do you have a particular

suit in mind for the service?

Come upstairs.

Voil.

Jesus Christ.

It's a f***ing men's shop.

You know, I never owned

anything you couldn't put

in a f***ing drawer

till I met Jeanie.

You suppose all this sh*t is hot?

You learn in my business

not to question.

So the 6 grand, can I put

it on layaway or what?

You want me to tell Jeanie

you want something cheaper?

Hey, I'm just...

This should be all I need.

Something happened to

Leon over at that job,

something nobody's told us yet.

Anybody tell you anything

you didn't tell me?

All they told me was that something

dropped and hit him on the skull.

That's the whole thing.

Something else happened.

It did.

Okay.

I'll see what I can find out.

Okay?

Hey, Mick.

The power's back on.

Rate this script:0.0 / 0 votes