Red Hook Summer Page #9

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"Neither a corrupt tree can

bring forth good fruit,

"wherefore by their fruits

ye shall know them!"

SHlRLEY:
Chazz, Chazz!

(MAN SHUSHlNG)

(WOMAN SHOUTlNG)

Somebody call 91 1 !

Call an ambulance right now!

The Lil' Peace of Heaven!

WOMAN:
Oh, Jesus!

Oh, Lord, help us!

SlLAS:
How come you're aIways

losing your inhaler, then?

Because l could be careless sometimes.

Everybody makes mistakes.

SILAS:
You make just a little too many.

CHAZZ:
WeII, I have you here

to help me find it.

SlLAS:
Yeah, yeah, whatever.

Later for you.

CHAZZ:
Whatever.

SlLAS:
Bye.

CHAZZ:
Bye. Later.

SlLAS:
Later?

CHAZZ:
Goodbye, Flik.

lt is true what that man said?

Turn on that little box of yours.

l got something l want to tell you.

You know, they built this place in 1 938

for the dock workers,

7,000 of them.

And then they stuffed the poor here.

The lrish first.

The ltalians.

The blacks and the Puerto Ricans.

(SlGHS)

Folks was supposed to

use this place as a stepping stone.

But then there was no place to step to,

because they gave it all away.

So,

now you part of the problem.

You poor.

And you're a drag on the very society

you helped build up.

So you hide inside your problems.

For years.

Forever.

l came here to hide,

but there was so much beauty,

it didn't seem like a punishment.

But God knows

your deepest darkest secrets.

God turns his light to you.

Jump, man, jump. Go ahead.

(GAME BEEPlNG)

Get away.

Thank you for this.

(CHUCKLlNG)

Oh, yes, there's nothing

too good for my son.

Bishop, l just don't feel this is good.

Don't that feel good?

See, that's God's love, son.

l'm just His messenger.

That's all. lt's God's love.

Yeah, l guess so.

But l don't think this is what...

(SHUSHlNG)

What? You don't like

that CD Walkman l got you?

-Yes.

-Yes.

And that video game?

-Yes.

-Yes.

And them tennis shoes?

-Yes.

-Yes. Yes.

All them come from thy Father.

You see, the good book says,

"My beloved was put in his hands

"by the old hole of the door.

"And my sweet insides were moved."

-Bishop, l don't know...

-Shh!

Now, Blessing, those are God's words.

The Song of Solomon.

God wants us to love.

You see, man's love isn't God's love.

God's love is better.

You remember that verse l taught you?

Yes.

-That special verse l taught you?

-Yes.

Here it is here.

Now, let me hear it.

"By night on my bed l sought him,

whom my soul loveth.

"Thy neck is like the Tower of David."

Oh, l love the Lord.

Yes, that's it. Go on, go on.

Tell me more, go on.

Don't be afraid now.

lt's right there in the book.

lt's the good book, now go on.

Finish the verse,

and l'll let you play with your game.

"O my dove,

thou art in the clefts of the rock,

"in the secret places of the stairs,

"let me see thy countenance..."

Oh, l love this part.

"Let me hear thy voice,

"for sweet is thy voice,

"and thy countenance is comely.

"Take us the foxes, the little foxes

"that spoil you the vines,

for our vines have tender grapes.

"My beloved is mine, and l am his,

"he feedeth among the lilies.

-"Until the day break..."

-l got you.

-"...and the shadows flee away..."

-That's my boy.

"...turn, my beloved,

-"and be loved like a roe or a young hart..."

-That's my boy.

-"...upon the mountains of Bether..."

-Mmm-hmm.

"l will rise..."

Stop, stop, stop, stop, stop!

All Souls Missionary Baptist Church

covered for me.

They paid Blessing's family

some hush-hush money.

They also gave me a love offering

to go and never come back.

l gave that to your momma.

That's how you got that nice house of yours.

And then we all hid in corners.

All of us.

And we're still hiding.

Well, not all of us.

Silas.

l was a sick man.

But God cured me.

And what he didn't do,

l did with a doctor's help.

And after 1 5 years, l'm fixed.

And l thank Jesus for it,

'cause l got nothing to hide no more.

But, you.

Where you hiding?

That box?

You hiding behind "Flik"?

You hiding behind your momma?

The loss of your father?

Where you hiding, son?

Look, l got to go back to

Lil' Peace of Heaven

and clean up that mess over there.

l still want to go home.

l imagine you do, son.

We all get home.

Eventually.

(SPlRlT CLlMBlNG PLAYING)

Preacher man.

l used to pray, too.

My mother,

she was a true Christian, wouldn't you say?

Yes, Sister Augusta was.

You wanna know why l left the church?

lt wasn't because my mom got sick and died.

Because l couldn't see

nothing out there for myself.

Trouble never quits out there, you know.

ln the Hook, it's like...

lt's like giving a Tylenol

to a two-headed baby.

Sh*t don't work.

The only men we ever saw

trying to do good out there

was you and Deacon Zee.

But Deacon Zee is a drunk.

And, you...

l see now why my mother never trusted you.

(JESUS lS THE LOVER

OF MY SOUL PLAYlNG)

l used to play the sh*t out of this thing.

My mother taught me.

Pick him up. Turn him around.

The blood!

That's what all you cock-sucking,

non-profit,

non-tax-paying God-hustlers

is selling, huh?

The blood!

Making a gold-plated living

off of these good people's money.

My mother's money! The blood!

(GROANS)

And to think, all them years

you was sucking them young boys off!

Tax-free!

Get him up. You pedophile motherf***er.

Tell me something, Bishop,

who's the real drug dealer, huh?

The real hustler, huh?

Me or you, huh?

Put him right there.

Come here. Come here.

Look!

l guess it's all good in the end, though, huh?

You can just call on Jesus.

He'll come down

and forgive you for your sins.

And while he's at it,

maybe he'll forgive me for mine, too.

l'm talking to you, Jesus.

Well, in the meantime...

-Stomp him.

-(ENOCH GRUNTlNG)

Chill, chill, chill, chill.

The only reason why

l'm leaving you breathing

is because of my mother.

Proverbs 1 8:
21 ,

"Death and life is

in the power of the tongue."

(TAMBOURlNE RATTLlNG)

(JESUS lS THE LOVER OF MY SOUL

CONTlNUES PLAYlNG)

Bishop, God's gonna sort this out.

l'm praying for you.

Better go to the hospital,

let somebody look at you.

l see you for who you are now.

Satan.

The devil himself.

Lucifer, Beelzebub.

You took that boy's faith!

You took his faith,

and turned him into a monster.

And you'll burn for that!

You gonna burn in eternal hell!

(JESUS lS THE LOVER OF MY SOUL

CONTlNUES PLAYlNG)

(POUNDlNG ON DOOR)

DETECTlVE FLOOD:
Bishop,

recognize anybody?

ENOCH:
No.

No.

FLOOD:
Four eye-witnesses put you

in the basketball court

buying your grandson's iPad back

from one of those suspects three weeks ago.

Detective, l can't even remember

last week's sermon.

Bishop, what happened to your face?

Shaving.

Are you kidding me?

l thought you men of the cloth told the truth.

What about you, little bit?

You see anything?

Hmm?

-Sir, l didn't...

-Why you looking over here?

Look straight ahead.

l didn't see anything, sir.

Okay, let's start again.

Did any one of those suspects

take your iPad earlier this summer?

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