Streetwise Page #3

Chrissie Whacha gonna do about it? Huh? Tramp!

Lillie I'm gonna quit. Sorry, but I ain't a tramp and I ain't a f***ing

snitch either.

Chrissie Come here and say it to my face, you little tramp.

In a parking lot near Pike Street at night.

Lulu I want to call your man and tell your man I want to beat you up,

but I want to talk to him first, to let him know what's goin' on.

'Cause he's streetwise like a mother-f***er. If you wanna be downtown,

you gotta be cool. You better learn the ways of the streets before you

start hangin' down here and doin' sh*t like you're doin'.

Blond I didn't know I was doin' anything.

Pike Street, at night. Patrice gets arrested. A group of born-again

Christians sing hymns. Three boys and a girl have a fist fight in the

street, stopping traffic.

Morning comes to an alley lined with garbage dumpsters.

Rat Sh*t, what is all this sh*t?

Jack I dunno, come on.

Rat Wanna jacket, a leather jacket?

Jack It's full of grape jelly, man.

Rat and Jack come upon a familiar dumpster and start digging in.

Rat and Jack (in unison) It's the Chinese Dumpster!

Rat (Voice over)

When you get regular dumpsters, we call 'em regs, you go there every

night. You check all these dumpsters all these different places. And

you can tell because they're regs what's been there since last week and

what was put in there that night. 'Cause alot of people say, 'Sh*t,

that sh*t could be a week old and you can't even tell,' but you can

because it's your reg, your regular dumpster.

Rat samples some fried chicken.

Rat I think I hit the jackpot.

On Pike Street. Lulu tries to persuade Lillie and her boyfriend to

leave.

Lulu I told her I'd even get her bus fare, really. I don't want to see

her get beat up, she's too young.

Lillie I'm fifteen.

Lulu You ain't even fifteen. Don't give me that.

Lillie By next year I'll be ...

Lulu Bullshit. You're talking sh*t. How come you can't say it to my

face. You ain't fifteen. (To Lillie's boyfriend.) She's gonna get you

in trouble. Thirteen'll get you twenty.

Lulu (voice over)

I help a lot of people out. I've talked kids into going home. I ain't

got to prove myself to show that I'm a girl. I've thought about not

being a lesbian, but then every guy I've ever been with has screwed me

over anyway. I get along with straight people too. Just, most of them

think that because I'm gay that I'm trying to pick up on their

girlfriends. To tell you the truth, I got to like somebody alot to even

kiss 'em. See, I'm my own type of person, I am. I protect alot of

people. This bum was trying to feel on this friend of mine's chest. I

literally walked up and made him come back and apologize to the girl.

(Lulu forces the bum to his knees and slaps him across his face.)

Because she's not public property. I could understand if it was a

telephone pole or something, he could touch it then. It's just the way

I am. I've been like that since I've been down here. 'Cause nobody did

nothin' for me. So, I made him come back and apologize and sent him on

his way. I just told him, 'Go on, man, get out of here.' He left. (Lulu

pushes him into the traffic.)

Tiny visits her mother Pat who works as a waitress at the Coffee Hut.

Pat (Voice over)

She has grown up quite a bit since she's been on these streets. She's

fourteen going on twenty-one.

Tiny Extra pickles too, mom, please.

Pat (to the cook) Put extra pickles on that.

Pat (voice over)

Oh, when I was drinkin', Erin and I used to get in some bad arguments.

I could see it in her mind, she's thinkin', 'Oh no, not again.'

Tiny (getting the hamburger) Mmmmmm. Thank you, mom.

Pat (voice over)

I don't know why I started drinkin'. Just cause of boredom half the

time. I don't know.

Tiny (shouting to the cook) Too much juice.

Pat Come on, two more bites.

Tiny One more. I don't like the bread.

Pat (voice over)

See, I've had Erin all my life. I've had to bring her up myself.

And then one day I suddenly get married. I think she likes Tom.

She just doesn't want to admit it.

Tiny (holding her full stomach) I feel like I'm pregnant.

Pat (yawning) Oh, goodness. (She serves Tiny some pie.)

Tiny (sniffing the pie suspiciously) Don't you have no whipping cream?

Pat No.

Pat (voice over)

My fear is that some day I'm going to get a phone call or a knock at my

door ... and she's not going to be there any more.

Tiny and Pat walk to their bungalow.

Tiny (voice over)

We started living at Larry's a couple of months ago, because my mom and

my dad got kicked out of their apartment. And Larry offered them a

place to stay. Naturally you call somebody who marries your mother a

'dad.' Sometimes he's an a**hole. But he's in the (alcoholic) treatment

center. He's going to stay there for two months.

Tiny climbs in the window to open the door from the inside.

Pat Oh, for cryin' out loud. Damn dog. (Dog yelps.)

Tiny Quit pissin' on the floor now. Look at this mess.

Pat Damn that dog.

Tiny You should have left her out...What happened to this house? I

cleaned it. I'm going to spray some deodorant around here, some Right

Guard.

Pat Right Guard? Well, you wanted a dog, Erin, I didn't want her.

They sit down at the kitchen table. Pat does a crossword puzzle and

drinks a beer. Tiny goes through the Avon cosmetic book:

Tiny I need more make-up, Mom. I want "Cloudy Blue" and "Meadow

Violets" and ...

Pat (voice over)

She's always wantin' this and wantin' that. When you're a waitress you

just don't make that much. One day she came home and told me she'd made

$200. I 'bout fell off my chair.

Tiny ... then I want these three frosts, the blue, the lavender, and

"The Best of Bronze."

Pat That costs too much. Look at the price on that!

Tiny Two for $4.99.

Pat Oh, two.

Tiny moves to the bedroom and their conversation continues from

separate rooms.

Pat (voice over)

When Erin first told me about this, she thought I would be really angry

with her and hate her, but I don't. It's just a phase she's going

through right now. I can't stop her from doing this. She's just going

to do it anyway.

Tiny Do you think I'd be gettin' that make-up by the end of this month?

Pat Probably about the seventeenth.

Tiny Isn't that the day you got married?

Pat Oh, yeah. How 'bout that?

Tiny I betcha Dad's goin' start bitchin' at ya.

Pat No. 'Bout what?

Tiny Probably wondering if you was sleeping with Larry or not.

Pat Oh, Erin. For heaven's sake.

Tiny I'm not saying you did. But that's what he's gonna start bitchin'

at you about.

Tiny (voice over)

He beats up on my mom. He broke her leg once. He doesn't work. He

depends on my mom alot, which is not right. I think the man should

support the woman. He says, 'She doesn't have any money.' And I say,

'It's because of you. You spend her money on beer. So she doesn't have

time for me.' Now my mom's in a mess she can't get out of. I feel

really sorry for her.

Tiny It'll be a year since you were married. A year has gone by fast,

hasn't it? Huh? Mom?

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