Streetwise Page #9

Tiny Why? Why do you have to leave a day before I get out?

Rat Why? Because Monday, Mike gets out. I'm going to break him out

Monday. Thump, take their cuff keys. Open the door, take Mike's cuffs

off and off to Alaska we go. It's that simple. Maybe we'll stop through

here and pick you up. Doubt it, but maybe. Oh, well, so long ... Tiny

... Hey Tiny. What's the matter?

Tiny Nothing.

Rat If nothing's the matter, then why're you crying?

Tiny You should have figured it out by now.

Rat Well, I gotta go.

Tiny Go, then.

Rat Don't I at least get a hug good-bye?

They hug for a long moment and Rat leaves. Tiny sits down on the bed

and sobs.

Rat goes down to the pier and watches a ferry come in. A freight train

moves off, leaving Seattle. Rat hops on and disappears between the

cars.

An empty funeral parlor with a closed casket.

Jerry (voice over)

I found out in the morning that there'd been a suicide. I didn't know

who it was and I didn't think of Dewayne, even though I knew he was in

that institution. Dewayne hung himself. The one thing that Dewayne

wanted was a family. And he wanted to grow up as what he saw as just a

regular kid. I think he sort of had that dream of a mother and a father

and a house in the country, maybe a horse or a bicycle to ride on. He

just wanted what every kid has a right to have, I think.

At the funeral home, Dewayne's father, handcuffed to a prison guard,

comes in and sits down. Three more people follow.

Jerry (voice over)

At the funeral home, there was his father. There were prison guards

because of his dad's status. Three other people, all three who worked

with Dewayne in one way or another as part of the Social Service

Agencies. And that was it. So it was pretty much as his life had been.

A pretty lonely, pretty skimpy affair.

Minister Lord, in our lives, we are often confused and we often ask

'why?' But it is times like these when our 'why' becomes our strongest

cry.

Flashback of Dewayne on Pike Street.

Dewayne (voice over)

Get a girl friend, have a house or a car or somethin'. Have a little

money in the bank, get a job. That's what I expect out of life. Not

much.

Lee sits handcuffed to a guard beside the coffin.

Lee "I love you. And I'm sorry. But I'll see you."

A small boat moves slowly across Puget Sound in the morning mist.

Jerry (voice over)

It's my understanding that Dewayne will be cremated and his ashes

spread on Puget Sound. Dewayne was a street kid. Dewayne drifted all

his life. And it seemed better for me than just putting him in the

ground in a box where's he's got to be there. He's free. He's never

been that way before.

Take Care of All of My Children Copyright © 1984 Jalma Music

Words and music by Tom Waits

Take care of all of my children

Don't let them wander and roam.

Take care of all of my children

For I don't know when I'm coming back home.

You can put all of my possessions here in Jesus' name

And nail a sign on the door.

Bright and early Sunday morning with my walking cane,

I'm going up to see my Lord.

Keep them together at the sundown

Safe from the devil's hand.

You got to make them a pillow on the hard ground.

I'll be going up to Beulah land.

You can put all of my possessions here in Jesus' name

And nail a sign on the door.

Bright and early Sunday morning with my walking cane,

I'm going up to see my Lord.

Remember you never trust the devil,

Stay clear of Lucifer's hand.

Don't let them wander in the meadow,

Or you'll wind up in the frying pan.

You can put all of my possessions here in Jesus' name

And nail a sign on the door,

Bright and early Sunday morning with my walking cane,

I'm going up to see my Lord.

Rate this script:0.0 / 0 votes