Life Page #10

MAN WITH LANTERN

He can ride with us.

Suddenly, the men all have guns. And they're pointed at Ray

and Claude.

MAN WITH LANTERN

So can you.

INT. NATCHEZ JAIL -- NIGHT

In a holding cell, Ray tests the window bars. Solid.

Meanwhile, Claude sits on a cot brooding darkly. Through the

bars, we see the rednecks laughing and passing around a bottle

of bootleg rum with the DEPUTY on duty.

RAY:

Man, this is gonna delay everything.

Spanky's gonna be pissed.

CLAUDE:

Spanky's gonna be pissed? Poor Spanky.

F*** Spanky! What the hell kind of a

name is Spanky, anyway? You're

responsible for this situation. I

blame you for everything. If it wasn't

for you, I'd be home having a hot

meal right now.

RAY:

If it wasn't for me, you'd be washing

up on the beach at Coney Island right

now.

(mocking Claude)

"I need all my thumbs and fingers

for praying and doing good."

The jailhouse door opens and Sheriff Pike walks in. He pauses

to give the prisoners the once-over. There's a fresh bandage

over the cut on his cheek.

PIKE:

What do we have here?

DEPUTY:

Billy Bob and the boys found them

down down under the hill with Winston

Hancock. He was dead. Looks like

murder.

PIKE:

You don't say.

DEPUTY:

Looks like they was running rum. Got

thirty six cases of evidence out

back. You want I should call in the

federal prosecutor?

PIKE:

Let's not drag the feds into this. I

can think of better uses for that

rum than letting it collect dust in

some government warehouse up in

Nashville.

Pike winks at his deputy, then turns to regard the prisoners.

PIKE:

Besides, why bother with bootlegging

when we got us a clear cut case of

murder?

RAY:

Excuse me, sheriff. As we explained

to your associate here, there's been

a mistake. We didn't kill anybody.

Now, as for the bootlegging, we happen

to work for a very important man in

New York.

CLAUDE:

That's right. Does the name Spanky

Johnson mean anything to you?

PIKE:

Afraid not.

RAY:

Mr. Johnson is very well connected.

If you were to let us go, I guarantee

he would show you his appreciation,

if you know what I mean.

PIKE:

Are you offering me a bribe?

RAY:

I'm just trying to pay the toll on

the road to justice.

PIKE:

You may be able to buy your way out

of trouble up in New York City, but

down here we take murder seriously.

CLAUDE:

Look, man, how many times we gotta

tell you people, we didn't kill that

guy!

PIKE:

Well, if that's the case, then you

don't have anything to worry about,

do you?

Pike turns his back on the prisoners and checks the time on

a gold pocket watch -- Ray's pocket watch. But from his cell,

Ray can't hear the mechanical tune.

PIKE:

Time to get home to the missus. See

y'all in the morning.

In the cell, Claude turns to Ray.

CLAUDE:

The man's gotta point. We're innocent,

after all. I just gotta get a good

night's sleep on this filthy mattress.

Keep our heads on straight, stay

cool, what's the worst thing that

could happen to us?

SMASH CUT TO:

INT. COURTROOM -- DAY

The CAMERA Scorseses in on the JUDGE'S face...

JUDGE:

Life!

The gavel comes down with a thundering crash. Stunned, Ray

and Claude resist the BAILIFFS' efforts to remove them from

the courtroom.

RAY:

Life?! How long is life? We were

just walking back to the truck. We

didn't do nothing! F*** life!

CLAUDE:

Life?! What's life mean? There's no

way I can do life. I got a job starts

Monday morning!

They continue to protest loudly as they are dragged bodily

through the door.

EXT. COUNTRYSIDE -- DAY

Blues music kicks in as a prison transport bus rolls down a

dirt road cutting through the bleak Mississippi Delta.

INT. BUS (MOVING) -- DAY

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