Streetwise Page #7

Mother He don't want no advice right now. He thinks he's doin' it.

Mother's friend That's why he's gettin' knocked around and beat around,

too.

Mother You think you're doin' it? I love you, Patrice. You wanna go eat

somethin'? I'm not gonna just give you my money, now. If you wanna go

eat somethin', I'll feed you.

Patrice I'm not hungry, ma.

Mother Yes, ya are.

Mother's friend What did you eat today?

Patrice Some cookies and ah ...

Mother's friend junk food.

Patrice ... and some juice.

Mother You want something hot in your stomach? That's what you need. If

I give you some of my money, whacha gonna do with it?

Patrice Save it.

Mother Oh, yeah. How're you gonna save it out here? You'll just tell me

anything just to shut me up.

Mother's friend I'm tellin' ya. He gonna save it. (Laughing.)

Mother (to her friend) You got some money?

Mother's friend Just a little change.

Mother If I think you're buying a pack of cigarettes, next time I see

you I won't give you a dollar.

Patrice OK.

Mother's friend Or some weed.

Mother You'd better not! You know that's hard-work money. I worked for

that money. You spend it wisely, OK? When you get straight, you know

where your house is.

Patrice OK.

Mother's friend And the only way you can really get straight is to stay

in touch with mom, because you can't straighten yourself.

Lulu on Pike Street.

Lulu (voice over)

I have seven brothers and sisters. I lost one seven months ago from

cirrhosis of the liver. She was twenty-six. I loved her alot. It made

me sort of loony for about a month. People thought I was going crazy. I

wasn't going crazy, I just couldn't handle it.

Lulu fights with a cop.

Lulu (shouting) I just got out of jail not even a month ago. I ain't

gettin' in no trouble, punk. I bet you I got a bruise on my arm,

guaranteed. And I'm pressing charges on your ass. Punk. 'Cause I hate

you and I'm gonna git you for that.

Another cop arrives in a squad car.

Second cop What's the trouble here, young man?

Lulu I'm not a him. I'm a her. I'm pressing charges ...

Second cop Will you please calm down?

Lulu I'm pressing charges on him. I want you to know that right now.

Second cop Alright, you do that.

Lulu Are you a sergeant?

Second cop I'm asking you to please calm down.

Lulu I'm calm.

Second cop Now will you please leave because we have quite a crowd

here?

Lulu (walking off, screaming at the first cop) YOU'RE A PUNK! PUNK!

Shadow gets a dragon tattooed on his forearm.

Shadow (voice over)

Giving blood, there's pain. Falling in love, there's pain. All you feel

is the first initial needle. The rest is lingering pain from when the

needle pulled out.

Patti gives Munchkin a permanent.

Patti Honey, come and help me figure this out. Now hold this.

Right here. Bring your head back up here.

Munchkin The sh*t burns my eyes, I'm telling you.

Patti Not supposed to have your eyes open.

Munchkin Yeow, you poked me in the eye now.

Patti Stop being a jerk.

Munchkin Thanks. You just wiped it right across my f***in' eye. God,

man.

Patti Why doncha do your own f***in' permanent.

Jerry Esterly, Patti's probation officer, pays a can on Patti and

Munchkin at their boarding house.

Jerry(voice over)

I probably have about a hundred kids on my case load. 'Course Patti is

Patti. She's an individualist. She'll go along with you if you're doin'

what she wants, but she ain't gonna do a damn thing she doesn't want to

do.

Jerry I knocked on the door and I was just worried about you.

Patti (in a towel and shower cap) I don't care how worried you're

gettin' about me. All I gotta say is that you don't got no right

walkin' in my house.

Jerry But this morning, we've got job therapy ...

Patti We know that, Jerry. But you gotta understand that you can't just

be walking into my house. You might get shot as far as you know.

Jerry Well, I took the chance on ya wouldn't shoot me. And then I

banged on the door.

Patti Well, the next time you're gettin' shot, OK?

Jerry OK ... So the rent's due today, right?

Patti No ...

Jerry And if you're gonna stay here ...

Munchkin Not from what Bob says. I told Bob I'd give him $20 and the

rest on Friday.

Jerry This is the deal. If you're gonna stay here, you gotta go out to

job therapy.

Patti You can't tell me what to do.

Jerry Patti, we've been together ...

Patti You and me ain't been together.

Jerry We have. We've been working together, Patti. And I'm concerned

about you. I don't want you guys to have to hit the bricks again. I

don't want you to have to get back into some crap that you shouldn't be

involved in to pay your rent. You've got a chance to make it a good

way, OK? Now this guy has got some ideas that can help you get a job.

That's a better life for you than having to be hustling on the streets

or be down there pushing ...

Patti Who says we're hustling down on the streets, huh jerry?

Jerry Oh, come on. How else you gonna make your money?

On Pike Street, kids are hanging out. Girls are looking for dates,

including Patti.

Rat (voice over)

Most of the kids on the street, that's how they survive. They feel like

if they don't do the dates, that they're gonna be broke, they're gonna

have to dumpster dive, they're gonna have to beg for money. And that's

gonna make them feel, 'cause they're girls, like 'Oh, I'm no good. I'm

dirty, I'm rotten, I'm a scum, I'm living in this rat-hole, no water,

no electricity, no nothing, I'm beggin' for money.' I guess they feel

that's worse than pullin' dates. I don't know what their problem is.

Tiny and Shellie talk in a parking lot near Pike Street.

Shellie Munchkin's the one that wants us out there 'hoing and sh*t, and

I don't want to do it. The only reason I'm out there is, like I said,

Patti's out there and she has to have somebody with her. And when I

moved in with them, I said, 'Patti, I don't wanna be 'hoing or

anything.' She said, 'You won't be. Munchkin's not gonna pimp you or

nothin'

Tiny Do you turn dates now?

Shellie Hell, yeah. Me and Patti do. I try to tell Patti I don't want

to and she'll start bitchin' at me saying that I just missed a hundred

dollar date. Every time I f*** up she says it was a hundred dollar

date.

Tiny When you do make money, do you give it to Munchkin?

Shellie I give it to Patti and Patti gives it to Munchkin.

Tiny And you haven't got nothin' out of it, huh?

Shellie Me and Patti are both mad right now, because he's sending both

of us out there to get him a suit! All he wants is a whole bunch of

clothes and sh*t. Get this, Patti hasn't pulled any dates today and I

did two. Forty bucks each. Well, I told her I can't handle this. I'm

gonna take off and sh*t. Last night she says 'you ain't goin' nowhere.'

And I said, 'Yes I am.' This morning she was even talking all this sh*t

about how she was gonna sock me if I even tried to go up there and

stuff. I mean I was just trippin' out. How the hell can these people

think they own me. Nobody does.

Rate this script:0.0 / 0 votes