The Counselor Page #5

---

I am perfectly

willing to believe

you had nothing to do with this

but I am not the party

you need to convince.

Convince of what,

for Christ's sake?

That this is just

some sort of coincidence.

They're a pragmatic lot.

They don't believe in coincidences.

They've heard of them,

they've just never seen one.

So, what happened

to the shipment?

I asked them that.

And?

They said, "Se fue."

It's gone?

Mmm.

Jesus.

Does his mother know?

I guess she does. I need to call her.

That is

probably not a good idea.

Why?

She said she's going

to have you killed.

Sweet Jesus!

Sorry about that.

What can I get you to drink?

Hemlock.

I'm sorry?

I'll have an OJ and a coffee.

He'll be having a double Maalox

and a side of Oxycontin.

Just bring us the two coffees.

And my OJ.

How did you wind up with her?

The mother?

Yes, the mother.

The mother of all mothers.

Court appointment.

It's an appeal.

One of Ferguson's f***ed-up deals.

Look, they can't hook me onto this thing,

mother or no mother.

Well, I don't know what the kid told her,

or what she told the kid.

But at this juncture,

I would avoid trying to explain myself.

What do they think I would do

with this sh*t?

They don't know.

They don't care.

They think everybody

is hooked into something.

You need to think

about this, Counselor.

These people are out 20 mil.

Do you understand

how serious this is?

They think we're all involved, don't they?

Reiner, too?

What do you think?

You f***ing genius.

Have you ever

seen a snuff film?

No. You?

Would you?

I would not.

Because the consumer

of the product

is essential to its production.

You cannot watch without

being accessory to a murder.

Will there be anything else?

No, thank you.

Do you know

somebody who's seen one?

Yes, I do.

He said the young girl was

looking into the camera, crying

when her head was lopped off.

Think about that

the next time you do a line.

I don't do drugs.

Well, I'm glad to hear that.

Because what follows,

I would hope

would be beyond your

powers of imagination.

They let a figure in,

wearing only a hood with eyeholes

to address himself to the

headless and quivering corpse.

Which, you must remember, was selected

because of her youth and beauty.

And all of this,

he has paid for.

So, what do you think that cost?

Ballpark?

Jesus.

Mmm.

God.

The point, Counselor

is that you may think

there are things that

these people are

simply incapable of.

There are not.

Counselor, I don't know

what you should do.

But at this point,

it's out of your hands.

What about you?

I've known this day was

coming for a long time.

Do I regret what I've done?

That's sophomoric.

I should've jumped ship a long time ago,

and I didn't.

So, what happens next?

I'm going to go find a nice,

quiet place,

and sit down and

think about this.

I would suggest you do the same,

but I know you won't.

If you think, Counselor,

that you can live in this

world and be no part of it,

then all I can

say is you're wrong.

It's not that you're going down,

Counselor

it's what you're

taking down with you.

Excuse me, ma'am.

I'm terribly

sorry to bother you

but my phone is out

and it's my kid's birthday.

May I please use your phone

for just a minute?

Sure.

Thank you.

Where are you?

I can't call you

on my cell anymore.

Now, listen to me. Go home and

wait for me there, I'll call you.

I'll explain everything later.

I love you.

I'll call you later. Okay.

Thank you.

I hope you didn't call China.

Have a nice day.

You, too.

F***.

Switch off the engine.

They're not cops.

These guys are cartel.

Switch off your engine!

Go check it out.

Ah!

No problems.

Got to go.

Bodies on the road.

You talked to him.

Yeah, I talked to him.

I don't feel comfortable here.

Can we go somewhere else?

Sure.

Come on.

You think I know something you don't,

Counselor? What would that be?

I don't know what "how bad" means.

Bad is bad.

Westray thinks we're f***ed.

"We"?

Yeah.

All right.

I suppose I could ask you

if you've got

a rat in your pocket.

You're not serious.

Well, when was the last time

you tried to call him?

Yesterday. Why?

Why?

Because I couldn't reach him now,

all right?

What are you going to do?

I don't know.

What are you?

I don't know.

That's what Westray said.

But he did know, didn't he?

What are you going

to use for money?

I've got some money.

I don't think so.

If you had any serious money,

you wouldn't be in this

jackpot in the first place.

I might.

Oh, yeah?

Well, I know why I'm in it.

Do you?

Sure. Same as you. Greed.

Yeah?

No. You got in trouble.

I tried to appeal

to your greed two years ago.

No deal. Now, it's too late.

It's too late.

What do you think I should do?

I don't know, Counselor.

I don't know.

They know that you're stupid.

They just don't

know how stupid.

You say that like

it's my hole card.

Maybe it is.

Suppose you could sit

down and have a chat

with these guys,

what would you say?

I'd tell them the truth.

You're just a f***ing wonder,

do you know that?

Go ahead.

Go ahead what?

With the truth.

I'd like to hear it.

I'd tell them that

I never even met this kid.

That I got him out of jail

on a speeding charge.

Okay, how did

he happen to hire you?

He didn't. I got him out

of jail as a favor to his mother.

How do you happen

to know the mother?

I was appointed by

the court to represent her

in an appeal on

a capital murder case.

Do you know what her son

did for a living?

No.

But you do now.

I do now.

And would it please

you to tell the court

what that occupation was?

How did I get in court?

I thought I was

talking to cartel guys.

Sorry, sorry, sorry,

I was giving you the easiest way out.

Very funny.

Yeah, well, probably not.

I'm really worried, baby.

It's going to be all right.

I'll take care of it.

Don't worry.

Can't you meet me someplace?

I can't right now.

That's not

possible that you can't.

God, I miss you.

Meet me.

We really have to be careful.

How bad is it?

How bad is it?

All right, where?

How about Boise?

Boise?

Boise.

Why Boise?

What's wrong with Boise?

Have you ever been to Boise?

No, have you?

No.

Do you have a hotel?

I'm looking as we speak.

Tomorrow.

Boise.

Yeah, Boise.

I'll leave you a message

at the Delta counter.

Okay.

Baby, I'm so sorry.

I'll set this straight.

I know.

I love you.

I love you.

Be safe.

So

where do you think this is going,

mi capitan?

This?

Yes.

I can't really

take your question seriously.

It's going where it's going.

Well, either you think

it's all going to work out

or you don't want

to think about it at all.

Because the third alternative

is unacceptable?

Yes.

The excluded middle.

I don't like

decisions made for me.

But if you put them off,

waiting for the maximum information

that may be what happens.

You think there's

still space enough

to make the decision,

and then there isn't.

"Space."

Yeah.

Greed really takes you to the edge,

Rate this script:0.0 / 0 votes