Shawshank Redemption Page #5

36EXT -- EXERCISE YARD -- DAY (1947) 36

Exercise period. Red plays catch with Heywood and Jigger,

lazily tossing a baseball around. Red notices Andy off to the

side. Nods hello. Andy takes this as a cue to amble over.

Heywood and Jigger pause, watching.

ANDY:

(offers his hand)

Hello. I'm Andy Dufresne.

Red glances at the hand, ignores it. The game continues.

RED:

The wife-killin' banker.

ANDY:

How do you know that?

RED:

I keep my ear to the ground. Why'd

you do it?

ANDY:

I didn't, since you ask.

RED:

Hell, you'll fit right in, then.

(off Andy's look)

Everyone's innocent in here, don't

you know that? Heywood! What are

you in for, boy?

HEYWOOD:

Didn't do it! Lawyer f***ed me!

Red gives Andy a look. See?

ANDY:

What else have you heard?

RED:

People say you're a cold fish. They

say you think your sh*t smells

sweeter than ordinary. That true?

ANDY:

What do you think?

RED:

Ain't made up my mind yet.

Heywood nudges Jigger. Watch this. He winds up and throws the

ball hard -- right at Andy's head. Andy sees it coming out of

the corner of his eye, whirls and catches it. Beat. He sends

the ball right back, zinging it into Heywood's hands. Heywood

drops the ball and grimaces, wringing his stung hands.

ANDY:

I understand you're a man who knows

how to get things.

RED:

I'm known to locate certain things

from time to time. They seem to

fall into my hands. Maybe it's

'cause I'm Irish.

ANDY:

I wonder if you could get me a

rock-hammer?

RED:

What is it and why?

ANDY:

You make your customers' motives a

part of your business?

RED:

If you wanted a toothbrush, I

wouldn't ask questions. I'd just

quote a price. A toothbrush, see,

is a non-lethal sort of object.

ANDY:

Fair enough. A rock-hammer is about

eight or nine inches long. Looks

like a miniature pickaxe, with a

small sharp pick on one end, and a

blunt hammerhead on the other. It's

for rocks.

RED:

Rocks.

Andy squats, motions Red to join him. Andy grabs a handful of

dirt and sifts it through his hands. He finds a pebble and

rubs it clean. It has a nice milky glow. He tosses it to Red.

RED:

Quartz?

ANDY:

Quartz, sure. And look. Mica. Shale.

Silted granite. There's some graded

limestone, from when they cut this

place out of the hill.

RED:

So?

ANDY:

I'm a rockhound. At least I was, in

my old life. I'd like to be again,

on a limited scale.

RED:

Yeah, that or maybe plant your toy

in somebody's skull?

ANDY:

I have no enemies here.

RED:

No? Just wait.

Red flicks his gaze past Andy. Bogs is watching them.

RED:

Word gets around. The Sisters have

taken a real shine to you, yes they

have. Especially Bogs.

ANDY:

Tell me something. Would it help if

I explained to them I'm not

homosexual?

RED:

Neither are they. You have to be

human first. They don't qualify.

(off Andy's look)

Bull queers take by force, that's

all they want or understand. I'd

grow eyes in the back of my head if

I were you.

ANDY:

Thanks for the advice.

RED:

That comes free. But you understand

my concern.

ANDY:

If there's trouble, I doubt a rock-

hammer will do me any good.

RED:

Then I guess you wanna escape.

Tunnel under the wall maybe?

(Andy laughs politely)

I miss the joke. What's so funny?

ANDY:

You'll know when you see the rock-

hammer.

RED:

What's this item usually go for?

ANDY:

Seven dollars in any rock and gem shop.

RED:

My standard mark-up's twenty

percent, but we're talkin' about a

special object. Risk goes up, price

goes up. Call it ten bucks even.

ANDY:

Ten it is.

RED:

I'll see what I can do.

(rises, slapping dust)

But it's a waste of money.

ANDY:

Oh?

RED:

Folks who run this place love

surprise inspections. They turn a

blind eye to some things, but not

a gadget like that. They'll find

it, and you'll lose it. Mention my

name, we'll never do business

again. Not for a pair of shoelaces

or a stick of gum.

ANDY:

I understand. Thank you, Mr...?

RED:

Red. The name's Red.

ANDY:

Red. I'm Andy. Pleasure doing

business with you.

They shake. Andy strolls off. Red watches him go.

RED (V.O.)

I could see why some of the boys

took him for snobby. He had a quiet

way about him, a walk and a talk

that just wasn't normal around

here. He strolled. like a man in a

park without a care or worry. Like

he had on an invisible coat that

would shield him from this place.

(resumes playing catch)

Yes, I think it would be fair to

say I liked Andy from the start.

37INT -- MESS HALL -- DAY (1947) 37

Red gets his breakfast and heads for a table. Andy falls in

step, slips him a tightly-folded square of paper.

38INT -- RED'S CELL -- NIGHT (1947) 38

Lying on his bunk, Red unfolds the square. A ten dollar bill.

RED (V.O.)

He was a man who adapted fast.

39EXT -- LOADING DOCK -- DAY (1947) 39

Under watchful supervision, CONS are off-loading bags of dirty

laundry from an "Eliot Nursing Home" truck.

RED (V.O.)

Years later, I found out he'd

brought in quite a bit more than

just ten dollars...

A certain bag hits the ground. The TRUCK DRIVER shoots a look

at a black con, LEONARD, then ambles over to a GUARD to shoot

the sh*t. Leonard loads the bag onto a cart...

40INT -- PRISON LAUNDRY -- DAY (1947) 40

Bags are being unloaded. We find Leonard working the line.

RED (V.O.)

When they check you into this

hotel, one of the bellhops bends

you over and looks up your works,

just to make sure you're not

carrying anything. But a truly

determined man can get an object

quite a ways up there.

Leonard slips a small paper-wrapped package out of the laundry

bag, hides it under his apron, and keeps sorting...

4lINT -- PRISON LAUNDRY EXCHANGE -- DAY (1947) 41

Red deposits his dirty bundle and moves down the line to where

the clean sheets are being handed out.

RED (V.O.)

That's how Andy joined our happy

little Shawshank family with more

than five hundred dollars on his

person. Determination.

Leonard catches Red's eye, turns and grabs a specific stack of

clean sheets. He hands it across to Red --

TIGHT ANGLE:

-- and more than clean laundry changes hands. Two packs of

cigarettes slide out of Red's hand into Leonard's.

42INT -- RED'S CELL -- DAY (1947) 42

Red slips the package out of his sheets, carefully checks to

make sure nobody's coming, then rips it open. He pulls out the

rock-hammer. It's just as Andy described. Red laughs softly.

RED (V.O.)

Andy was right. I finally got the

joke. It would take a man about six

hundred years to tunnel under the

wall with one of these.

43INT -- CELLBLOCK FIVE -- 2ND TIER -- NIGHT (1947) 43

Brooks Hatlen pushes a cart of books from cell to cell. The

rolling library. He finds Red waiting for him. Red slips the

rock-hammer, wrapped in a towel, through the bars and onto the

cart. Next comes six cigarettes to pay for postage.

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