The Sting Page #10

Now a blaze of activity. We take several cuts of workmen

papering the walls, tacking down carpet, putting in new

light fixtures, painting signs, all under the supervision of

Niles. From now on, we will refer to the pool hall as the

store.

Back in the office, Kid Twist is "interviewing" one by one,

a group of con men lined up outside the office door. A

gray-haired old buzzard, Curly Jackson, approaches the table

which is serving Twist as a desk. Curly is practically in

rags and has several days growth on his face. He wears a

little beret which he takes off to address Twist.

CURLY:

Name's Curly Jackson. I worked for

Gad Bryan outa Baltimore.

TWIST:

You ever played the Wire, Curly?

CURLY:

Used to rope for it long ago. I

can shill, mark board, anything you

want. I don't run with riffraff

and I only drink on weekends.

(affecting an English accent)

Me specialty is an Englishman.

Twist is taken with the man, despite his appearance.

TWIST:

All right, Curly, you're in. We

got a rack of suits over there.

Get yourself a nice tweed one.

CURLY:

(exiting)

That's all right. I got all my own

stuff.

CUT TO:

THE CARD GAME AGAIN

Gondorff and Lonnegan have most of the chips. Lonnegan is

slightly ahead. Gondorff has made a token attempt to wear

the provided tie, having tied it in a knot around his neck,

but not having bothered to put it under his collar. He has

a shot glass and a bottle next to him, from which he has

been drinking heavily. He and Lonnegan are the only ones

left in this hand.

LONNEGAN:

(throwing chips in)

Raise 500.

GONDORFF:

(likewise)

See ya and raise three.

LONNEGAN:

(more chips)

See and raise five.

GONDORFF:

Five and call.

Lonnegan lays down his hand, a solid two pair. Gondoroff

turns out three tens. Lonnegan is beat.

GONDORFF:

Tough luck, Lonnihan, but that's

what you get for playin' with your

head up your ass. Couple more like

that and we can all go to bed

early, huh boys.

Lonnegan burns, and the "boys" have no comment.

CUT TO:

INT. THE STORE - NIGHT

The work is still progressing. We see two workmen installing

a ticket tape machine in a secluded area of the store.

GARFIELD:

We bought ya a tap into Moe

Anenberg's wire. He's got eyes at

every track in the country. You'll

get race results, odds, scratches,

pole positions, everything; and

just as fast as Western Union gets

'em.

NILES:

Does J.J. know how to use this thing?

GARFIELD:

All he's gotta do is read.

We go to Kid Twist, still conducting interviews in the

office. A young, rather sullen man, Buck Duff, steps to the

table.

DUFF:

Buck Duff. I was in Maxwell's

boost in Troy.

TWIST:

You the Duff that didn't come up

with his end when Little Jeff was

sent up?

DUFF:

Wasn't no problem a mine.

TWIST:

He was a con man, wasn't he?

DUFF:

He was a tear-off rat. He got what

he deserved. No sense helpin' pay

his bills.

TWIST:

(like ice)

Shove off, Duff.

Duff stands there a second and then slouches away from the

table. He stops however, by the door. The next man up is

the Eirie Kid. Twist knows he's seen him somewhere before.

EIRIE KID:

(nervous as hell)

Names's Joe Eirie.

Twist waits for more, but it's not coming.

TWIST:

You played for any particular mobs?

EIRIE KID:

No.

TWIST:

You know the Wire at all?

EIRIE KID:

No...I never played no Big Con

before. But Luther Coleman was a

friend a mine. I thought maybe

there was something I could do.

TWIST:

(pointing to Eirie

slightly swollen nose)

You get that nose in Duke Boudreau's

tonight?

Eirie nods a reluctant "yes."

TWIST:

You got moxie, Eirie. Get yourself

a suit.

Eirie is so happy, he can barely blurt out a thank you.

Buck Duff, enraged that Twist would hire a total amateur,

turns in disgust and strides vengefully out of the store.

CUT TO:

THE CARD GAME AGAIN

The room is dense with smoke now, and the players are

feeling the heat. Gondorff has his white shirt open,

revealing a stained T-shirt underneath. The bottle next to

him is almost empty. He sneezes and wipes his nose with the

tie Lonnegan gave him.

The chips are now about equally divided between Gondorff and

Lonnegan. The others are losing badly.

GONDORFF:

Raise 300.

LONNEGAN:

Pass.

JAMESON:

(throwing in his last

few chips)

Raise 200.

GONDORFF:

Two and call.

Jameson lays down two pair. Gondorff has a flush. Gondorff

rakes in the chips, which now put him ahead of Lonnegan.

JAMESON:

Well, I'm out.

GONDORFF:

Don't worry about it, pal. Lemongan

here wouldn'ta let you in the game

if you weren't a chump.

LONNEGAN:

(getting to his feet)

I've had enough of your lip, Shaw.

Gondorff grabs the whiskey bottle next to him, breaks it

against the table and waves the jagged end in Lonnegan's face.

GONDORFF:

(barely able to stand up)

Just take it easy there, Larrabee.

Jameson and the conductor step in between.

JAMESON:

Let's take a break for a couple

minutes and cool off.

Lonnegan storms out of the room, followed by Floyd and

Bodyguard.

INT. SMOKING ROOM

We pick up Lonnegan coming down the passageway to enter the

smoking room.

LONNEGAN:

(to his assistant)

I've had it with that bum, Floyd.

Stack me a cooler.

FLOYD:

(trying to settle him down)

You've only been playin three

hours, Doyle.

LONNEGAN:

(not to be pacified)

I don't care. Load me a deck. Set

it up for threes and nines. I'll

cut it in on his deal.

FLOYD:

(taking a deck and

beginning to sort it)

What do ya want the others to get?

LONNEGAN:

Nothin'. They gotta be outa there

early. I'm gonna bust that bastard

in one play.

CUT TO:

INT. THE POKER ROOM AGAIN - NIGHT

A pair of hands shuffling. We pull back to reveal that

they're Gondorff's. He passes the deck to Lonnegan to be

cut and turns to pen a new whiskey bottle. Lonnegan takes

the deck and in one lightning motion substitutes a new deck,

while making it look like he's cutting the old one.

Gondorff picks up the deck and begins to deal. As the hand

is picked up, we see that Gondorff has four threes, Lonnegan

four nines, and everybody else has nothing.

CLAYTON:

(opening the bidding)

Fold.

LONNEGAN:

250.

GONDORFF:

Raise 1,000.

LONNEGAN:

Raise 500.

Gondorff looks at Lonnegan very carefully for a second.

Lonnegan meets his stare.

GONDORFF:

(slowly)

Raise 2,000.

The spectators shift a little. It's the biggest bet of the

night.

LONNEGAN:

See and raise 1,000.

GONDORFF:

(taking it to him)

Raise 5,000.

Lonnegan fingers his remaining chips. He knows he's won,

but he wants to bleed it for every bit of suspense.

LONNEGAN:

(going for broke)

See, and raise the rest.

Lonnegan pushes in the rest of his chips. Gondorff, who is

only required to match Lonnegan's total, throws in all his

too. It's a showdown.

GONDORFF:

Call.

Lonnegan puts down his four nines. Gondorff just stares at

them a second, lets out a deep sigh and lays down four jacks.

Lonnegan is aghast. This just can't be. He glances at

Floyd, who can do nothing but sit there with his mouth open.

GONDORFF:

(raking in the chips)

Well that's all for me tonight,

boys. I'm gonna leave ya some cab

fare.

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