The Butler Page #14

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LOUIS:

What?

CHARLIE:

Yeah. I’m going to Vietnam.

This hits like a load of bricks.

LOUIS:

Charlie, don’t do this. DON’T DO

THIS. This country treats us like

dogs!

CHARLIE:

Do what?! Don’t do this? You fight

your country, I wanna fight for my

country.

LOUIS:

I won’t go to your funeral.

Charlie smiles, making light of it all.

CHARLIE:

Good, because I don’t want you

there with all of that... black...

leather... latex... shining and

taking all of the attention off MY

pretty face in my casket...

Louis chuckles.

CHARLIE (CONT’D)

What they call you now? Lou-eez?

LOUIS:

Shut up.

CHARLIE:

Lou-eez Gaines...

Louis can’t help but laugh at his brother.

INT. WHITE HOUSE - HALLWAY - DAY - 1970

Cecil walks down a hall with a tray of tea. Anger and

bitterness still shows on his face. As he enters the room, he

flips to his pleasant smile.

82.

INT. WHITE HOUSE - OVAL OFFICE - DAY - 1970

Cecil brings in tea for Nixon who is deep in conversation

with his advisors - BOB HALDEMAN, 44, crew cut, intense, and

JOHN EHRLICHMAN, 45, balding, boy scout face.

NIXON:

I want to know every God damned

domestic policy decision right now

and I want it on the table right

now.

EHRLICHMAN:

Did you get the memos we sent last

week?

HALDEMAN:

John and I strongly agree that the

time calls for a period of benign--

A fly buzzes around Nixon’s head.

NIXON:

There’s a God damned fly. A God

damned fly in here. Jesus f***ing

Christ.

HALDEMAN:

...a period of benign neglect.

Cecil pours tea for Nixon.

NIXON:

Benign neglect?

EHRLICHMAN:

Yes.

NIXON:

I like that. I like that.

INTER CUT WITH:

INT. BLACK PANTHER HEADQUARTERS - DAY - 1970

Ten BLACK PANTHERS, all in black jackets and berets, load

shotguns in a smoked filled room. The leader of this group

ELDRIDGE HUDGINS, 29, black, muscular, loads his shotgun.

ELDRIDGE HUDGINS

The pigs in the media describe us

as terrorists.

83.

(MORE)

A terrorist is one who terrorizes

and frightens others. We’re the

ones getting terrorized! How can we

exist in peace when we scared to

walk down the street to the store?!

INT. WHITE HOUSE - OVAL OFFICE - DAY - 1970

Cecil pours tea.

NIXON:

Now there’s this whole black power

movement going on, right? What if

Nixon promotes black power to mean

black businesses, and we find ways

to support black entrepreneurs. We

pass the buck on desegregation to

the courts, but push black

enterprise to get the 20% that

could vote our way...

EHRLICHMAN:

Excellent.

HALDEMAN:

Excellent, sir.

INT. BLACK PANTHER HEADQUARTERS - DAY - 1970

ELDRIDGE HUDGINS

You don’t know if your ceiling gon’

cave in because your slumlord too

busy running around collecting rent

checks, but he won’t fix your roof.

It’s time that we take a stand

against these injustices that

plagued our community! They take

one of ours? We takin two of

theirs!

INT. WHITE HOUSE - OVAL OFFICE - DAY - 1970

EHRLICHMAN:

We just need to make sure that

‘Nixon’s black power’ doesn’t

equate Nixon with the Black

Panthers.

Cecil pauses for a slight beat.

84.

ELDRIDGE HUDGINS (CONT'D)

NIXON:

Have you lost your mind!? Did you

read Hoover’s last memo on that?!

EHRLICHMAN:

That’s my point.

NIXON:

It’s God damned terrifying. No no

no... I gave him the green light to

gut those sons of b*tches...

Cecil tries not to show the terror on his face.

HALDEMAN:

Absolutely.

NIXON:

Round them all up and throw them

down a f***in’ elevator shaft.

Cecil’s eyes shut in pain.

INT. BLACK PANTHER HEADQUARTERS - DAY - 1970

ELDRIDGE HUDGINS

I don’t proclaim to know

everything. But I promise you,

they’ll always beware of the n*gger

with a gun.

A few people in the room laugh, but Louis is uncomfortable.

He looks around at the guns. The smoke. He doesn’t like it.

INT. WHITE HOUSE - OVAL OFFICE - DAY - 1970

Cecil turns to Nixon.

CECIL:

Will there be anything else, Mr.

President?

Nixon is silent. Cecil walks out of the room.

INT. BLACK PANTHER HEADQUARTERS - HALLWAY - DAY - 1970

Louis gets up and walks out of the room.

85.

INT. BLACK PANTHER HEADQUARTERS - BACK ROOM - DAY - 1970

Louis is seated in another room, he looks deeply concerned,

doesn’t know what to do. Carol walks into the room and sits

next to him. She knows he’s torn.

LOUIS:

What are we doing here? I thought

this was gonna be our community

service?

CAROL:

This is community service.

LOUIS:

Someone kills one of us, we kill

two of theirs?

CAROL:

Community protection.

LOUIS:

Are you willing to kill somebody,

Carol? Because I aint.

Carol looks at him, a pain and anger deep in her soul.

CAROL:

I am.

LOUIS:

Did you ever love me baby?

No response. The answer too painful to say.

Louis gets up and walks out of the room. He takes his beret

off as he exits, his Black Panther days are over.

EXT. OAKLAND STREET - DAY - 1970

Filled with sadness, but also resolve, Louis walks down the

block as we hear a newscast:

NEWSCAST V.O.

A Police raid killed at least 4

Black Panthers in Oakland,

California this week. Marking

another police victory against this

terrorist organization.

A136 CUT TO - FULL SCREEN ARCHIVAL FOOTAGE - SOUL TRAIN A136

Funky SOUL TRAIN DANCERS groove across the stage.

86.

INT. GAINES HOUSE - LIVING ROOM - DAY - 1973

We pull back from a TV to see Gloria dancing to Soul Train

which plays on the television.

Cecil walks into his home. He sees Gloria dancing, she sports

an enormous curly Afro and looks incredible in a velvet bell

bottomed leisure suit. Cecil’s mood has perked.

GLORIA:

Hi baby! Happy birthday to you!

CECIL:

Well this is the present I want,

right here.

GLORIA:

Well, you want it right here?

CECIL:

Alright! Kids up? Kids down?

GLORIA:

Ain’t no kids in the house no more!

Hey, I made you a birthday cake.

Gloria walks over to the counter and picks up the cake.

CECIL:

(smiling)

I got all the cake I want right

here.

GLORIA:

No... you don’t... Hey I got some

champagne, cooling in the ice box.

And some ice cream too! Get some

ice cream!

CECIL:

You gonna be drinking with me?

GLORIA:

You know I don’t drink. I don’t

drink.

CECIL:

I was just playing with you. I was

just seeing if it worked. Go ahead.

Gloria dances.

CECIL (CONT’D)

Oh my God!

87.

Cecil heads to the kitchen and grabs a glass of champagne.

CECIL (CONT’D)

We get any mail from Charlie today?

GLORIA:

No. I haven’t heard from Charlie. I

know I got an idea. I think we

should go to Shantay’s tonight.

CECIL:

Ohhhhh no... No. I’m too old for

disco.

GLORIA:

We not old! Come on! Our boys are

gone! Just you and me! You and me!

We are free- oh! I forgot this. I

forgot this. Now look at us.

Gloria picks up a present and gives it to Cecil.

GLORIA (CONT’D)

A little happy birthday present. I

want you to go put it on, upstairs.

CECIL:

Put it on?!

GLORIA:

Put it on, and make it snappy!

Bring down my sewing kit because I

need to do some alterations. Make

it snappy!

Gloria continues dancing, adjusting her hoop earrings in the

mirror. The phone RINGS, she answers:

GLORIA (CONT’D)

Hello.

(She whispers)

Hi. Where are you? Where?! You

should call me back because this is

not a good time. He’s here...

Gloria looks nervous. She does a double take upstairs making

sure Cecil is out of ear shot. Cecil comes down stairs

wearing the same velvet disco outfit as Gloria.

CECIL:

They fit! We gonna be going out

tonight!

88.

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