Midnight In The Garden Of Good And Evil Page #4

- You're an actress?

- I'm not an actress. I'm a showgirl.

I work at the Pick-Up on Congress.

I lip-synch, I emcee, I dance.

You know, sh*t like that.

The person you see now

is just little old simple Chablis.

But in the evenings...

...when I put on my gowns

and my makeup...

...and my jewelry and my perfume...

...I become "The Lady Chablis."

You are just so cute.

A cool white wine for a cool black girl.

And you're full of flattery too.

It's getting hot up in here, honey.

My shots are kicking in.

Excuse me?

Yes, honey, my shots.

Never mind that.

What'd you want to talk to me about?

Billy Hanson.

No. Billy's dead.

Case closed.

Was he your boyfriend?

Billy, my boyfriend?

Were you two lovers?

No. Hell, no.

Billy was way too trashy for me, honey.

I'm a lady.

However, he did date

my roommate Corinne for a while.

CHABLIS:
The two of those

had some wild times together.

CHABLIS:
Those are beautiful.

JOHN:
So, tell me more about Corinne.

Corinne's like a lot of girls.

She found herself attracted

to the wrong type of man.

Billy was not the right type of man.

She thought she could change him.

But there was no way of changing

that evil son of a b*tch.

- I'd love to speak to Corinne.

- I'd like to too.

But she skipped town

owing me two months' rent.

And Billy said he would pay for it,

but now he's...

But you know...

- Here you go.

- Thank you.

But you know,

it's like my mama always said...

..."Two tears in a bucket...

...motherfuck it."

I have to remember that one.

Don't remember that one.

That's off-the-record.

Let me get your door for you.

Thank you, hon.

In the phone book,

you were listed as F. De Veau.

What's the "F" stand for?

The "F" stands for Frank, hon.

That's me.

SONNY:
She's a he.

JOHN:
Correct.

You're shitting me.

If this thing heats up,

I think you'll want to talk to her.

SONNY:

Proper folks don't discuss such things.

She paints a rotten picture of Billy.

SONNY:
Let me tell you a story.

There was a judge here years ago.

His oldest boy was messing around

with a gangster's girlfriend.

One morning they found him...

...lying under the porch

with his privates tucked into his lapel.

Dead men tell no tales.

Next day, headline read...

..."Fall From Porch Proves Fatal."

Some fall.

What's your point?

Saving face in the light of unpleasant

circumstances is the Savannah way.

I'll try to track down that real girl.

Corinne, you said?

Well, I got to skedaddle.

Doing Christmas at Tybee Island.

We got all sorts of folks coming.

JOHN:

Have a great Christmas.

SONNY:
You too, John.

JOHN:
See you later, Uga.

(OVER TV)

Merry Christmas!

(FLIES BUZZ)

He's got it on a string!

Luther's not eating!

Check, please.

You didn't like it?

No, they were very good.

Excellent.

What was in the vial?

He says it's enough poison

to kill everybody in the county.

If he eats and it's a good day...

...fine.

If he doesn't eat...

...let's put it this way: If I were

you, I wouldn't drink the water today.

Where does he put the poison?

In the water supply system.

Is that true?

Do you believe that?

I've lived here a long time, honey.

I believe most anything about anybody.

Where are we going?

Patience, dear boy.

JIM:
It's time you meet the most

important member of my defense team.

We're going to the cemetery?

Not Bonaventure.

The colored cemetery's down the road.

Looks like we got the garden

all to ourselves tonight.

Meet Minerva.

How do you do?

You trying to work me, boy?

Put that hand back in your pocket.

I feel sorry for you.

Do tell, Minerva.

He think nobody love him.

That's silly.

We've never met.

You got a hole in you.

Too many questions.

Don't know whether to be this way

or that without the answers.

There ain't no answers.

You come a long way to find that out,

didn't you?

Now we got to get to work.

You bring the money?

MINERVA:

Put it on the grave.

MINERVA:
Kiss it first,

so it come back to you.

You bring the shiny dimes?

Bury them.

He's working hard again you, James.

Who? Dr. Buzzard?

The boy.

The dead boy.

JIM:
Oh, Billy.

That doesn't surprise us.

Dr. Buzzard?

(FOGHORN)

MINERVA:

Ain't got much dead time left.

Dead time?

Lasts an hour.

Half-hour before midnight

till half past.

Half-hour before midnight

for working good.

Half-hour after for evil.

We'll need a little of both tonight.

You got the bottle of water?

Ain't been through no pipe?

Give it to me.

We got to make him...

...Ioosen up on James.

I need Shango...

...and a little hungan.

Come.

Come!

Tell me something about him.

He tried to kill me?

No, before then.

Something good.

Your kind words...

...take root, flower,

come back to bless you.

Something that made him happy?

His Camaro.

JIM:
He loved his Camaro.

He wouldn't let anyone near it.

That car was his pride and joy.

Keep talking. It's working.

It's working!

He spray painted it flat black.

You should've seen him.

He spent hours on that car, fixing it...

...cleaning it.

He painted racing stripes on it...

...and all kinds of other things.

He was very creative.

That's something

most people didn't know.

He was an artist.

Just now,

when you were saying them things...

...I felt him ease off.

He heard you say you love him.

That's preposterous.

He tried to kill me.

He was working against you,

and now I know why.

He wants you to tell the whole world

you hated him.

Maybe they think you hated him

enough to kill him.

If you do that, you go to jail...

...and he know that.

Most important thing:

You got to beg that boy's forgiveness

each and every day.

(BELL TOWER RINGS)

Time for evil.

Quick, quick.

Tell me his name.

Finley Largent.

When you get home, write his name

Connect all the names into one.

Dot no I's, cross no T's.

Fold it twice and put it in your pocket.

Get a picture.

Sew up the mouth with dove's blood.

Blacken the eyes.

Now go!

I got works to do.

Boy!

Take these words to heart.

To understand the living...

...you got to commune with the dead.

Now go!

And don't you dare look back!

(MINERVA CHANTS)

Jim...

On the grave...

Who is Dr. Buzzard?

Minerva was married to Dr. Buzzard...

...the foremost voodoo practitioner

in Beaufort County.

You may not know it,

but you are deep in voodoo country.

I don't believe

in the hocus-pocus of it...

...but the spiritual force behind it.

The shiny dimes were easy...

...but the virgin water

was a trick or two.

How do you know she wouldn't know

the difference if it was tap water?

Not by looking or taste...

...but she would've known

in an instant by looking at my face.

I think...

...the photo-doctoring

is going to be good therapy.

What about the pleas

for daily forgiveness?

No, I don't think that's

going to be happening. Definitely not.

WOMAN:
Thank you.

MAND Y:
Have a good day.

JOHN:
Hey, you.

MAND Y:
How are you?

JOHN:
How you doing?

MAND Y:
Good.

You work here?

What you see is what you get.

Nothing wrong with that.

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