Mobsters Page #15

LUCIANO:

That's why I'm here.

MARANZANO:

Coming with me will be a delicate

matter. We will work it out. But

Charlie...

Maranzano grasps Charlie's hands.

MARANZANO:

Conditions have changed. Some people

have become too powerful.

LUCIANO:

I'll take care of the Boss.

His hands tighten around Charlie's.

MARANZANO:

Not Masseria. The Jews.

Charlie pulls back, but Maranzano holds firm to his hands.

MARANZANO:

If you give him the chance, Lansky

will betray you like Judas.

LUCIANO:

I don't f*** my partners.

MARANZANO:

No worry, Charlie. I will kill them

for you. No one will know.

Charlie pulls himself free from Maranzano's grasp.

MARANZANO:

At first, it will hurt you. But you

will come to understand and we will

be strong together.

LUCIANO:

You're f***in' crazy. You're all

f***in' crazy!

CLOSE - on Charlie's face as a blackjack cracks across the

crown of his skull, and his eyes roll back in his head.

CUT TO BLACK:

Muffled voices over the sound of wood scrapping on concrete,

the screeching of metal on metal, and a hard splash of water.

CUT TO:

CHARLIE'S BATTERED FACE

Dripping wet. His eyes fluter open. Charlie hangs by his

wrists from a beam, his toes barely touching the ground.

Half a dozen men, their faces covered with bandanas, surround

him. Maranzano stands to one side as Charlie stirs from his

stupor. Looking toward Maranzano, Charlie shakes his head

"no".

MARANZANO NODS:

and the men converge on Charlie. Working him over with belts,

clubs, and fists. Not a sound escapes from between Charlie's

clenched teeth.

MARANZANO:

Enough!

One of the men lights up a cigarette, slipping it under his

bandana to smoke.

MARANZANO:

One word, and all this will end.

Charlie stares at Maranzano, then croaks his response.

LUCIANO:

No.

Maranzano shakes his head and nods to the man smoking

MARANZANO:

Always the wrong word, Charlie.

CLOSE ON CHARLIE

as the cigarette burns into his chest, his body shaking in

pain as two of the men hold him. Another man lights up, his

face glowing red in the light of the match. Then the men

back away as Maranzano moves in closer to the barely conscious

Luciano.

MARANZANO:

They will still die, even if you die

first. And all for nothing.

Charlie tries to form his mouth into words. His breath coming

in desperate gasps. Maranzano caresses Charlie's bloated

face.

MARANZANO:

Why must you hurt me like this?

CHARLIE JERKS HIS KNEE UP INTO MARANZANO'S GROIN

Maranzano doubles over and falls to the ground, HOWLING. As

the men move in on Charlie, Maranzano staggers back to his

feet. He grabs a knife from one of the men and slashes

Charlie's face. One of the men pulls out a gun, leveling it

at Charlie's head. Maranzano knocks the man away.

MARANZANO:

NO! Let him live to see what the

Jews have cost him.

DISSOLVE TO:

EXT:
A DESERTED ROAD - DAWN

Charlie crawls on all fours through the gravel at the side

of the road. A police car whizzes by, but WE HEAR it slow

down and pull over. As the car doors open, then slam shut,

Charlie looks up, only now aware of the cops. He collapses

into the gravel.

CUT TO:

INT:
HOSPITAL ROOM - DAY

Charlie lays in bed, casts on both arms and one of his legs.

The right side of his face sags where his facial muscles

were cut, giving him a particularly sinister look. Gay tries

to help him turn over on his side.

GAY ORLOVA:

Pull yourself toward me.

Grimacing at the pain, Charlie grabs the edge of the bed and

pulls himself over on his right side, leaving his bare

backside facing the door. Gay uses a washcloth to wipe sweat

from his forehead. Charlie grabs it away from her and uses

it to hide the tears of pain welling in his eyes.

GAY ORLOVA:

I booked passage to London.

LUCIANO:

London?

GAY ORLOVA:

My friends have a country house we

can use for a while.

Angry, Charlie throws the damp washcoth in her face.

LUCIANO:

What the hell is wrong with you!

Gay struggles to hold back her tears.

LUCIANO:

If I look weak now, it's over.

GAY ORLOVA:

I'm very sorry... I didn't...

LUCIANO:

Oh, God. Don't start actin' like a

f***in' wife on me.

BUGSY SIEGEL STICKS HIS HEAD IN THE DOOR

only to be greeted by Charlie's bare ass.

SIEGEL:

You're lookin' better already.

Charlie cuts off the laughter when he shouts over his

shoulder.

LUCIANO:

Where's the morphine!

Costello and Lansky follow Siegel into the room.

LANSKY:

You're getting' 10 cc's

LUCIANO:

I told you twenty!

Paying him no mind, Lansky pulls a vial and a hypodermic out

of his pocket. Filling the syringe, he leans over Charlie's

ass.

FRANK:

Relax, Charlie.

Charlie grasps Gay's hand, then reacts to the needle.

LUCIANO:

You bastards, I said twenty!

LANSKY:

It'll just be a few minutes.

LUCIANO:

I NEED THE TWENTY!

But Charlie realizes that his protests are to no avail.

LUCIANO:

F*** you all.

Losing her composure, Gay runs from the room. Charlie, calls

after her.

LUCIANO:

Not you!

But she's gone. Costello pushes the door shut behind her.

SIEGEL:

Everybody's talkin' about ya, Charlie.

First time anybody ever got took for

a ride and lived.

LUCIANO:

(bitter)

Guess I'm just lucky.

SIEGEL:

That's just what they're calling ya

pal. Lucky Luciano.

FRANK:

Masseria's confused. He can't figure

whether you're workin' for Maranzano,

or gettin' ready to kill the bastard.

So he's spreadin' the word that you're

goin' after Profaci because it

happened on his turf. I figure

Masseria's gonna try to rub out

Profaci, and pin it on us. Then

Maranzano will have to kill ya.

LUCIANO:

You got men on Profaci's place?

FRANK:

We got our boys paintin' the house

next door. Around the clock. We're

gonna keep old man Profaci alive if

it takes twenty coats.

LANSKY:

Tommy Reina's gone over to Maranzano,

but so far Masseria ain't lifted a

finger,

LUCIANO:

The fat man's scared. Scared of us,

and scared without us. Same with

Maranzano. We gotta get their minds

back on each other. This f***in'

peace is killin' us.

LANSKY:

We can get the war started tomorrow,

but it won't be pretty.

LUCIANO:

Who?

LANSKY:

Tommy Reina.

SIEGEL:

What you mean? Tommy ain't done

nothin'.

LANSKY:

Maranzano will think Masseria ordered

the hit, and won't have no choice

but to start the war.

SIEGEL:

Why's it gotta be Tommy!

LANSKY:

Masseria won't have any choice but

to trust you. And as long as we keep

the Boss alive, Maranzano can't win

without you.

LUCIANO:

Don't touch Tommy until Masseria

goes after Profaci.

Siegel explodes.

SIEGEL:

JESUS CHRIST WILL YA LISTEN TO ME!

Now he has their attention.

SIEGEL:

I'm a hard guy. I done more jobs

than alla you combined. And I never

said no. Not once. But dammit I don't

understand why the hell we gotta

kill our friends!

LUCIANO:

Because the world ain't big enough

for the Dons. So we gotta choose

between our friends and ourselves.

It ain't the way I'd make the world,

but that's the way it is.

LANSKY:

We're gonna change it, Bugs. Once we

get rid of the Dons, the Commission's

gonna rule. No more wars. No more

vendettas. No more Boss of All the

Bosses.

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