The Bag Man Page #6

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Nothing. Nothing.

It's a business transaction.

I did everything you

asked me to do.

I'm sitting here in

this goddamn motel.

I'm going out of my mind

in this goddamn motel.

And all I want to

do is get my money.

Tell me the truth.

Did you look inside the bag?

We had a deal. No.

Anybody see it?

No.

You show it to anybody?

No.

How about your girlfriend here?

She sneak a little peek inside?

No.

Death is inside that bag.

Did Jack tell you that?

No.

JACK:
We had an agreement.

I kept my end of the bargain.

You either believe me or you don't.

Trust, the foundation

of friendship.

No, I trust you.

Okay.

The bag, Jack, where's the bag?

Under the bed. That's just genius.

Huh?

On the bed.

Unbelievable.

I wish I could share this

with you, Jack. I do.

But as fate would

have it, I just can't.

I want you to know something.

All this, everything, was a

test, Jack, to test you.

To test our friendship.

I have a job.

It's more than a job,

it's a life changer.

I need one man,

just one special man.

With your cut, you can buy

your own private island

and you can fly there in your

own Boeing Business Jet.

I told you not to look in

the bag and you didn't.

You kept your word.

You passed.

I am so proud of you.

This Pavlovian loyalty of yours

is really kind of mind-boggling.

You're a total throwback.

I mean, you're like some blacksmith

in colonial Williamsburg.

You're like an aborigine

with a boomerang

hunting in the diorama of some natural

history museum. Unbelievable.

How do you know I'm not lying?

Oh, I know.

Trust me. It would be

all over your face.

There's money and very, very important

instructions in that satchel.

Goose.

Do you believe me?

JACK:
Sure.

You wanna count it?

Of course not.

Now we have trust again,

as I would have predicted.

You know, when you're aware,

Jack, of someone's tropisms,

you can predict what

directions he'll turn in

in response to certain stimuli.

People are what they are

and they do what they do.

Does Kojak cook kasha? No.

Kojak sucks on Tootsie Pops.

People always say,

you know, if Lenny Bruce

or Miles Davis or Jimi

Hendrix didn't do drugs,

they would have done

so much better.

Actually, I don't think

they would have done sh*t.

Tropisms.

You know, originally, I was going

to pursue a career in academia?

I have a Master's degree in

Transnational Criminal Syndicates.

Seriously.

My thesis was about

the relationship

between the yakuza

and ultranationalist

right-wing politics

in post-war Japan.

I was gonna be a professor.

Then, one day, I was watching

an episode of Full House,

where Jesse goes

bungee-jumping with Becky?

Changed my whole life.

I decided, "You know what?

I gotta take the plunge."

I don't want to sit on the

sidelines my whole life.

I don't want to teach,

I want to do.

Let's go.

The big one's soon.

Caveat emptor.

Jack...

I looked...

You looked in the bag.

In the bag...

Yeah.

You know we're gonna die.

God damn it!

Hey.

What, the bills

aren't crisp enough?

There's a problem.

What's that?

Cat looked in the bag.

I didn't know.

Jack, sometimes you disappoint

the hell out of me.

You got emotionally

involved with a whore?

Yeah.

She's not a whore.

All women are whores.

No, they're not.

Take care of your business,

Jack, right now.

Okay. She's not a whore.

Shut your goddamn mouth!

You're making me sick.

Can I see the bag for a minute?

What?

I want to see what's in the bag.

For what?

I want to look inside.

Who do you think

you are talking to?

You don't talk to me,

I talk to you.

You know what you have to do,

take care of business.

RIVKA:
Jack.

(EXHALES)

Kill him.

I don't wanna leave you.

I'll be right here.

Kill him.

Here, take this.

(DRAGNA LAUGHS)

(THUNDER RUMBLING)

(DRAGNA CHUCKLES)

DRAGNA:
Try and give the master

of the game a better game, Jack.

Jesus, Jack!

You passed the Lizard

and Sheriff tests,

but I'm out of your league, Jack.

I see you haven't

read Sunzi's Art of War.

(DRAGNA GROANING)

Shot ya.

What's in the bag?

It was a gift. You were

just too blind to see it.

What's in the f***ing bag?

Oh, shut up.

What's gonna happen now is you're

gonna throw your gun over here.

I'm gonna throw my gun over there?

The motel, my motel,

is rigged with enough C4 to wipe

it off the face of the Earth.

And in case you were

wondering what this is.

It's a detonator. Not a coincidence.

Am I lying?

I'm gonna count to three.

Yeah, well, I'm gonna count to two.

You wanna start, or should I?

You didn't leave your girlfriend

in the room there, did you?

You know, something tells

me you might have.

You just can't keep the

women in your life

from dying horrible,

violent deaths, can you?

I don't care about her.

I think you do care

about her, Jack.

That's your whole,

tragic thing here.

And by "tragic" I mean "pathetic."

Tell me what's in the bag.

What's in the bag?

I think you have to

look for yourself.

(INHALES SHARPLY)

They never recovered your fiance's

entire body, did they, Jack?

No leads, no clues.

She had no enemies.

She just had you.

I couldn't let my best man go.

In this business you are sui generis.

Absolutely unique.

Your word is your bond.

Your fiance was taking

you away from me.

I couldn't allow that.

I told you I'd find the guy who

did it and bring him to you.

It took me a little time, but

I'm also a man of my word.

Here I am.

You know,

I'm doing you a favor by putting

you out of your misery. Trust me.

Six divorces and eight kids later,

I'll tell you one thing as

sure as the day you die.

A woman will always let you down.

(GROANING)

Was that your good hand?

What are the odds?

You could have been a

multi-multimillionaire...

Or at least a contender.

RIVKA:
Drop it.

Turn around and face me,

you piece of trash.

Oh, you wouldn't shoot a man

in the back, would you?

A man, no, but you're not a man.

I know you.

Shoot him.

More important is that I know you.

What are you doing in

public without your horns?

JACK:
Shoot him!

- Horns? That's a good one.

And just what the f*** are you?

I'm the one who's dealt

with evil all my life.

That's a little dramatic.

Not...

JACK:
Shoot him!

(BOTH GROANING)

If you want me to live,

clap your hands.

I didn't hear anything.

(GRUNTING)

(GUN FIRING)

It is time to go, Jack.

(SIRENS WAILING)

(GROANS)

Closure.

I should just mind my

own business, huh?

If you did, I'd be dead.

It's true. It's true.

It is true.

You are one tough Hebrew.

You have no idea.

Mmm.

Maybe we should go to a hospital.

You think?

Just a thought.

(GRUNTS)

(STARTS ENGINE)

You lawyers have nice offices.

Thank you very much.

Come and sit down.

You look like you've been in a war.

You could say so.

I'm lucky to have good doctors whose

specialty's not asking questions.

There's a lot of tidying up to do.

I suggest we make a start.

You mentioned something on

the phone about a motel.

A motel where?

Louisiana, the bayou.

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