The Hurricane Page #6

Show me your feet.

Spread 'em.

Next.

Open your mouth.

Roll your tongue.

Extend your arms.

Show me your palms.

Turn around.

Show me your feet.

Spread 'em.

Ready on the outside!

Okay. Come on.

Single file.

Let's go.

Single file.

Let's go. Single file.

Mr. Carter?

Rubin "Hurricane" Carter,

that you?

Mm-hmm.

You don't look like your pictures.

I thought you'd be bigger.

Hey, I'm bigger than you.

But don't tell anybody,

okay?

All right.

Okay. Sit down.

Hey, this is some place, man. No.

No, it's not. This is no

place, not for a human being.

Don't ever get used to a place

like this, Lesra.

You got a lot

of guts, kid.

Takes a lot of courage to come

all the way down here by yourself.

I'm impressed. I was scared

you weren't gonna let me come.

Me too.

But you're Rubin "Hurricane"

Carter. What would you be scared of?

Doors opening, of the light outside, of you.

Me? Mr. Carter, I don't understand. Mm-hmm.

Oh, no, no, no. Don't call

me Mr. Carter. Call me Rube.

Rube?

Yeah.

Rube.

All right, Rube.

So, tell me about these

folks you're livin' with.

Oh, the Canadians?

Yeah. I got pictures of' em.

Here.

This is Sam, this is Terry and this

is Lisa, and they're the greatest, man.

Huh. Yeah. I met 'em at an EPA in Brooklyn.

And, you know, they was doin'

business and brought me home and stuff,

and the rest

is what happened, man.

Yeah. That's when

my life changed, Rube.

Hmm. Just yanked a brother up and

took him up to Canada, just like that?

No, no.

They asked my folks.

I see.

So what they do?

Are they a religious group

or hippies or a commune or-

No. They fix up houses

and sell 'em. You know?

They're just people.

Just people. Just workin',

eatin', livin' together?

I don't know. This is what they

do, man. That's their thing.

What'd your folks say?

Oh, my dad, you know, he's

happy. He's glad for me. Oh, good.

You see 'em much,

your folks?

Yeah, but sometimes it's

hard though. Yeah, well-

Yeah, it's hard.

You give them hope.

Yeah, I guess.

You do.

You give 'em hope because

you have transcended, Lesra.

It is very important to

transcend the places that hold us.

You know that? You've learned

to read. You've learned to write.

Writing is-

It's magic.

You feel that sometimes?

Yeah, I guess I do.

Mm-hmm.

When I started writing,

I discovered that I was doing

more than just telling a story.

See, writing is a weapon,

and it's more powerful

than a fist can ever be.

Every time I sat down to write, I could

rise above the walls of this prison.

I could look out over the walls

all across the state of New Jersey,

and I could see Nelson Mandela

in his cell writing his book.

I could see Huey.

I could see Dostoyevsky.

I could see Victor Hugo,

Emile Zola.

And they would say to me,

"Rube,

what you doin' in there?"

And I say, "Hey,

I know all you guys. "

It's magic, Lesra.

They sure don't teach it

that way up in Canada.

Maybe you could tell me some

books to read. I can do that.

But these people in Canada or anywhere

else, they can only teach you so much.

It's up to you.

It's your search.

You gotta find out what's true for

you, what is true for Lesra Martin.

I ain't never met

nobody like you before.

You think I killed

those people, son?

No, I know you didn't.

How you know?

I just know.

I'm so glad

I met you, Lesra.

Me too.

Visit's up.

Everybody out.

Come on, folks,

let's go.

You like a quick picture of you

and your son, Mr. Carter?

Come on, folks. Let's go.

It's up to my son. Yeah,

all right. All right.

That's enough pictures.

Come on. Let's go.

Dear Lesra,

whoever is responsible for your present

condition obviously cares a great deal.

For me, it was a miracle to see

such light in a human being again.

When you came, it was like the day

had started off without the sun.

It's dim and it's cool.

Then suddenly,

and without any warning,

the sunshine breaks through the

dimness and lights up everything.

What ya gonna do

Do you wanna get down

What ya gonna do

Do you wanna get down

You been all around

the world, huh, Mobutu?

Been everywhere. Shut your

motherfuckin 'mouth up.

Where your people from, Africa?

Born in the Congo, mm-hmm.

In the blackness of black.

My mother was a Pygmy. She

stood four foot, one inch. Hmm.

My father was a big Watusi.

He was seven foot, ten.

Oh.

He'd have to pick her up

like a little child to kiss her.

Cute.

Get down on it if you

really want it Get down on it

What do you think

of white folks?

Mmmmmm...

Just a little bit too much

of this stuff, you know?

But, uh, then again,

I once rode the rails

with a hobo by the name of, um,

Alabama.

Now, he was white folks,

and he was a good man.

Mm-hmm. He saved my life

three times.

Three times?

Mm-hmm. Three times.

Three times life, huh?

Everything I lost...

that really matters,

I lost at the hands

of white folks.

I know what you mean,

but they ain't all bad.

What ya gonna do

Do you wanna get down

What ya gonna do

But they sure can't dance.

Oh, sh*t.

Mm-hmm.

Hey, y'all,

this is where we go in.

Come on.

Come on!

Don't look now, but we're

being watched. Stop it.

Somehow I don't think

you can smoke in there.

Right over there.

Hey, Rube, man, we made it.

How you doin', man? All right.

Sam. Hey, Rubin. Good to meet you.

Yeah. Good.

Good. Good.

Professor.

Yeah.

This is Terry.

Terry.

Nice to meet you. It's my pleasure,

Terry. Heard a lot about ya.

Lisa. Hi.

Lisa.

So, you don't look

like I thought you'd look.

Lesra said

you were so tough.

Is that good?

Don't know.

Don't know.

Don't know.

Come on.

Sit down.

Everybody together.

How can you stand it?

So, uh, Rubin,

how's the appeal goin'?

We hear it's with the New Jersey

Supreme Court. Have they set a date?

Why don't

we talk about Lesra?

Well, I'm sure that Lesra wants to know

what's happening with your case too.

My case is doing

what it's doing.

I have to focus on the fact

that I have to do the time.

Well, how do you

do that?

How do I do that?

I do that by not allowing myself

to want or to need...

anything.

I'm free in here because

there's nothin' I want out here.

Not free to want? Not

free to risk human contact?

This place doesn't allow you

to be human.

The only contact you get in here

is gettin' stabbed in the back...

or gang-raped in the shower.

That's what

they reduce you to.

You've obviously elevated it

to something else with Lesra.

Because of you, I wanna be a lawyer

when I grow up and prove you innocent.

Except we don't have to wait until...

...I'm a lawyer because these

guys are willing to help.

We all believe

in your innocence.

I've been innocent for 16 years.

That's how long I've been in here.

Innocence is

a highly overrated commodity.

None of us can judge what you've been

through, but you might wanna consider-

You're damn right none of you

can judge what I've been through,

because none of you

have been through it.

What do you know about doin

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