Lone Star Page #3

We are back in 1995 --

HOLLIS (O.S.)

"Mas cerveza por favor."

FENTON (O.S.)

That Buddy was a cool breeze.

We PULL BACK to see Hollis and his buddies at the table,

eating their lunches as they listen

FENTON:

Charley Wade were known to have

put a good number of people in

the ground, and your daddy gets

eyeball to eyeball with him.

HOLLIS:

We made our collection at

Roderick's place and that was the

last anybody seen hide nor hair

of him. He went missing the next

day, along with ten thousand

dollars in county funds from the

safe at the jail.

SAM:

Never heard from him again?

HOLLIS:

Not a peep. Buddy run the man

out of town.

FENTON:

Buddy Deeds said a thing, he damn

well backed it up. Won't be

another like him.

SAM:

So he arrested all of Jimmy

Herrera's people and sent 'em

back to the other side?

Hollis sees what Sam is getting at, grins--

HOLLIS:

Oh--he come to an accommodation.

Money doesn't always need to change

hands to keep the wheels turning.

SAM:

Right.

HOLLIS:

Look, I know you had some problems

with your father, and he and Muriel--

well--

FENTON:

Your mother was a saint.

HOLLIS:

--but Buddy Deeds was my salvation.

Sam nods, speaks softly--

SAM:

Won't be another like him.

EXT. ARMY INSTALLATION -- DAY -- CU DEL PAYNE

COLONEL DELMORE PAYNE (DEL), a very direct, by-the-book Black

officer, addresses them. Artillery pieces angle toward the

sky behind him--

DEL:

--it's an honor for me to assume

command of this unit, and I look

forward to working with all of

you.

OFFICERS:

Cliff and Mikey, in uniform now, flank SERGEANT PRISCILLA

WORTH, a Black woman in her early 40s, as they stand in

formation--

DEL (O.S.)

I'm sure you're all aware of the

Army's decision to close this

installation under the Reduction

in Force plan. That does not

mean, however--

REVERSE:

We look over the shoulders of assembled OFFICERS and NCOs

toward Del.

DEL:

--that we've been sent here to

mark time until we are absorbed

by another unit.

CU DEL:

DEL:

You may have heard rumors that I

run a very tight operation. These

rumors are not exaggerated.

INT. SHERIFF'S OFFICE -- AFTERNOON -- BUDDY PHOTO

We are looking through a magnifying glass at an old photo.

Buddy's face is slightly distorted by the glass.

SECRETARY (O.S.)

Sam? I got Danny Padilla from

the paper for you--

Sam sits at his desk in the Sheriff's office, looking down

at the photo--

SAM:

Tell him I'll catch him later.

CU PHOTOGRAPH:

An old photo of the 1957 Sheriff's Department officers on

the courthouse steps. Wade, Hollis, Buddy, a few others,

all in uniform

SECRETARY (O.S.)

He says he needs to talk to you

before the ceremony.

SAM:

Sam puts a magnifying glass over the photo and bends close

to look.

SAM:

Tell him to try me tomorrow.

EXTREME CU PHOTO -- BADGE

MAGNIFIED POV of the badge on Wade's chest swims into view.

A metal star. We hear the secretary getting rid of the

caller.

SECRETARY (O.S.)

He thinks you're trying to duck

him.

CU SAM:

Looking at the photo, troubled--

SAM:

(Mutters)

He's right.

EXT. BIG O'S ROADHOUSE -- NIGHT -- NEON SIGN

We start on a BLINKING SIGN -- BIG O'S, then PAN to see a

full parking lot outside the low, neon-lit roadhouse. R&B

MUSIC blasts from inside

EXT. DOORWAY -- CHET

CHET, a Black kid around 15, stands nervously at the door

building up his courage. He takes a deep breath, plunges in

INT. BIG O'S

We TRACK with Chet, very nervous, as he makes his way through

the crowded roadhouse. The customers are all Black, many

from the nearby Army post, SHOUTING and LAUGHING over the

loud MUSIC. Chet, edgy, is looking for somebody. He sees

CHET'S POV -- OTIS

Seen through the crush is OTIS "BIG O" PAYNE, a large man in

his early 60s, laughing as he stands behind the bar

CHET:

He nervously puts his hand under his jacket. A gun? He

pushes forward to get a better view.

CHET'S POV -- OTIS

Moving in on him. Otis looks over, sees the boy, frowns --

CHET:

Reaching under his jacket, he pulls out -- a photograph.

He looks at it -- suddenly there is a SCREAM from behind,

then GUNSHOTS, patrons diving for the floor.

Chet whirls around and we WHIP PAN to see a young man, SHADOW,

emptying his pistol into RICHIE, a young soldier, as a young

woman, ATHENA, screams and tries to pull the gun away. With

the last shot, Shadow turns and heads for the door, but is

tackled and swarmed by angry men, SHOUTING. We PAN to Athena,

kneeling over the bleeding, twitching body of Richie --

CHET:

Chet backs up, horrified. A large hand grasps him on the

shoulder from behind. He turns to see Otis standing over

him, strangely calm amid the chaos

OTIS:

You weren't in here tonight, were

you?

CHET:

No sir.

OTIS:

(Points)

Go out through the back.

Chet hurries away. Otis watches him for a moment, then turns

to the mess in his club.

INT. AUDITORIUM -- NIGHT -- CU ANGLO MOTHER

An angry woman stands from her auditorium chair --

ANGLO MOTHER:

You're just tearin' everything

down! Tearin' down our heritage,

tearin' down the memory of people

that fought and died for this

land

CHICANO FATHER (O.S.)

We fought and died for this land,

too!

We WHIP PAN to see another standing parent --

CHICANO FATHER:

We fought the U.S. Army, the

Texas Rangers--

ANGLO FATHER (O.S.)

Yeah, but you lost, buddy!

We WHIP PAN to a man in the rear --

ANGLO FATHER:

Winners get the bragging rights,

that's how it goes.

PRINCIPAL (O.S.)

People--people--

WIDER:

We are in the High School auditorium, a hot-and-heavy teachers-

and -parents meeting in progress. Pilar sits at the end of

a long table facing the agitated parents, taking some heat.

DANNY PADILLA, a young, long-haired reporter, sits in the

front taking notes, enjoying the show

PRINCIPAL:

I think it would be best not to

put things in terms of winners

and losers--

ANGLO MOTHER:

(Points at Pilar)

Well, the way she's teachin' it

has got everything switched around.

I was on the textbook committee,

and her version is not--

PRINCIPAL:

We think of the textbook as kind

of a guide, not an absolute--

ANGLO MOTHER:

--it is not what we set as the

standard! Now you people can

believe what you want, but when

it comes to teaching our children--

CHICANO MOTHER:

They're our children, too!

ANGLO FATHER:

The men who founded this state

have a right to have their story--

DANNY:

The men who founded this state

broke from Mexico because they

needed slavery to be legal to

make a fortune in the cotton

business!

PILAR:

I think that's a bit of an

oversimplification--

ANGLO FATHER:

Are you reporting this meeting or

runnin' it, Danny?

DANNY:

Just adding a little historical

perspective--

REAR OF AUDITORIUM

PALOMA CRUZ, Pilar's teenage daughter, peeks into the room,

then moves down the side toward the stage.

ANGLO FATHER:

You may call it history, but I

call it propaganda. I'm sure

they got their own account of the

Alamo on the other side, but we're

not on the other side, so we're

not about to have it taught in

our schools!

PILAR:

There's no reason to be so

threatened by this--

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