Mississippi Grind Page #3

---

need to bring him into all this.

Couple of days I'll

have a commission and...

- Get it together.

- I had the money.

- Yeah.

- This time is wasn't my fault.

I understand.

Take care.

- Gerry.

- Heyyy.

Curtis, I know you're probably

half way to New Orleans...

Crazy day, Gerry!

I ended up in Chicago.

I w-won a ticket to the bulls

game shootin' dice this mornin'

so I went. Now I'm back

in your neck of the woods.

You are? Where?

Same uh, same place

we met the other night.

No.

Gerry.

Gerry, would you be so fine

as to order me a woodford?

A woodford.

Two woodfords!

You ever seen an

NBA game up close?

Those guys are tall.

Hey man.

- It's a sign.

- What is?

It's a sign. You walking in

the door when I'm calling you

on the telephone is a sign.

I'm telling you it's a sign.

Alright.

Okay, look what happened

to me after you left last night.

What is that?

In the parking lot,

some guy cut me.

Are you okay?

It's not, it's

not, s-so serious.

Did you know the guy?

Yeah, yeah,

I knew him, yeah,

w-we played some softball

on the weekends...

That's a fair question.

- No it's not a...

- Does that hurt?

- He was mugging...

- That's gotta hurt like hell.

It stings a little

bit but what I'm getting at...

Shhhhh. Hey, Curtis what I'm

trying to get at here is that

good things happen when you're

around and when you're gone.

When you leave...

- you get stabbed.

Yeah.

I've been thinking.

You know that home game,

New Orleans, dissasociated guy.

- Tony Roundtree.

- Boom. I want in.

That game has a twenty-five

thousand dollar buy-in, Gerry.

- Which is a lot.

- Yup.

- I got a plan.

- I'm listening.

We go down the Mississippi.

Okay.

Yeah, we go,

down the Mississippi.

Like huck-f***in'-fin and Jim...

On a raft?

No, we take my car.

Okay.

Okay, but we

hit up all the action.

Everything along the way. Cause

I know some weekly home games.

Yeah.

- Casinos.

- Sure.

Then we got

the gambling towns.

Memphis Tennessee.

Tunica.

Absolutely, Tunica.

Now, I'm gonna be

straight with you.

I'm in a little bit

of a hole right now,

but I'm working my way back

out so all I need is for you to

stake me fife hundred

out the gate-hey, look.

It's not it's not,

I-it's an investment.

Okay because I'll play,

you'll be my lucky charm.

We split the winnings

even-Stevens.

- What about your job?

- They won't miss me.

Can I ask you

a personal question?

Uhh, yeah.

How much do you owe?

A lot.

To who?

Everyone.

I'll stake you two thousand

dollars. Your car, my cash.

Hot damn. That's what I'm

talkin' about.

- That's what I'm talking about.

- Come here.

Easy.

Easy with that.

Oh sh*t.

Wish me luck.

Heyyyy.

- Let's go!

- Go, go, go, go.

Is everything okay?

Tony Roundtree he,

he once had a pet tiger.

Won it playing baccarat

with an Arab prince.

Cleans the guy out, the prince

wants to keep playing so

he puts his tiger on the

table-not literally but...

Yeah.

Yeah, you know

jokes on Tony, though.

Didn't' know he'd be

hemorrhaging money on this

thing. He's got to register it

with the federal government,

get a special permit.

First time I met him was on a on

a bar car on an amtrack train

from Denver to Albuquerque and

remember he was wearing this

blue velvet smoking jacket and

drank from a copper flask.

And the tiger?

It was tranquilized.

Checked with the other cargo.

He checked a

tiger on an amtrack train?

Apparently,

they have a policy.

Hey. Hey. You wan-you

wanna know what it costs

to check a six-hundred

pound animal?

Yeah. Yeah.

Hold on a sec,

wh-what-what are

we listening to here?

Oh, this? Two-hundred poker

tells by Joe Navarro.

- Are you serious?

- Yeah.

How, how often do

you listen to this Gerry?

Whenever I drive.

Are you gonna make me

listen to this the whole way

to New Orleans?

We don't have to listen to it.

Hey there Gerry.

Missed you at the office

today, hope everything's okay.

Umm, anyway, it's all a bit

awkward but I feel I need to

mention some of the petty cash

seems to have gone missing.

Not that I'm accusing you of

taking it but Jenna says that

when she left last night there

was over two-hundred in the box.

Also, a friend of yours

named Tim stopped by,

said he's looking for ya.

...Fear.

These soft areas will

quiver or twitch,

revealing the persons

negative, emotional state.

Sudden changes

in fortune triggers...

Who's that?

Nobody.

You got any snacks?

Yeah, I have

some jerky back there.

Can you grab some for me too?

Yep.

Nice!

You brought cigars?

- Oh no, that's not...

- What's all this?

An emergency fund.

Just in case.

- In case of what?

- Emergency.

A lot of watches Gerry.

You collect baseball cards?

That a wedding ring?

Yeah.

Get outta here.

You were married?

Hard to believe, huh?

I don't mean it like

that, just... What happened?

She left.

Wanna get any of that

jerky back there?

Yeah. Yeah.

There it is.

Jackpot.

Yessir. That's what

I'm talking about.

Well, hello.

Hi.

Can I help you with something?

- I'm Curtis.

- Simone.

- That's a nice name.

- Thanks.

I'm uhh, I'm

looking for a for a woman.

Sure what sorta

woman you looking for?

She's about uhhh that tall.

She's got cinnamon hair

and soft pale skin,

devastating blue eyes.

Funny but I think I've seen just

the woman you're looking for.

- You have?

- Yeah.

I've been tracking

her scent for Miles.

Well. They say that

working class hound dogs

have the best sense of smell.

Woof. Woof.

Woof, woof, woof, woof.

Don't just stand there

you barking little doggie,

come inside get

yourself a treat.

Simone, this is Gerry.

Gerry, Simone.

Hey.

Alright, these were

the best that I could do.

Did I ever tell

you how amazing you are?

To often to feel sincere.

Thank you.

Don't be shy, Gerry,

we're all friends.

So you guys play poker?

No, we just work here, honey.

What is it you do?

We get paid for...

Our companionship.

Oh yeah. Yeah.

Hi.

What happened there?

Oh, it's nothing serious.

Doesn't look like nothing.

Gerry saved my

life in a knife fight.

That's not true.

Hey Curtis, how was Peru?

Not yet, sweetie,

but soon. I promise.

You can change in

there if you want to.

Yeah, okay.

Looking good, Mr. Bond.

I tell

ya something Ger,

first thing we do when we get to

New Orleans, we buy new suits.

Aw, I don't really wear suits.

Well, yeah,

your gonna have to.

We're going to Tony Roundtree's

we can't go dressed like this.

Well, in that case, I've

always wanted a white suit.

You know like Glen Campbell.

Mental note.

Next trip, open sea.

Hey, what's up with Peru?

I heard you talking to Vanessa,

what's that all about?

I've been joking, you know.

When I'm done with a person or a

place or it's time to move on,

I'll say it's Machu Picchu time.

Machu Picchu time?

You might say it's,

it's kinda like the end of my

rainbow, you know. Mysterious

and exotic, a place you just

get lost and never come back

Rate this script:0.0 / 0 votes