The Sting Page #11

The other players look at each other in disgust, and reach

for their wallets, all of which are well stocked.

GONDORFF:

(to Lonnegan)

You owe me 15 grand, pal.

Lonnegan, with a stare that could kill, reaches for his

wallet. Suddenly the stare goes soft. He tries a few more

pockets. No soap.

LONNEGAN:

(getting up to get it)

I guess I left it in my room.

GONDORFF:

(blowing up)

What! Don't give me that crap you

little weenie. How do I know you

ain't gonna take a powder.

(waving his wallter,

which is full of

Lonnegan's money)

You come to a game like this, you

bring your money.

Lonnegan, having had all he can take, goes for Gondorff, but

is restrained by the conductor.

GONDORFF:

All right, buddy, I'm gonna send a

boy by your room in five minutes,

and you better have that jack, or

it's gonna be all over Chicago that

your name ain't worth a dime.

Gondorff stalks out of the room. We pick him up coming down

the passageway to his compartment.

INT. GONDORFF'S COMPARTMENT

The drunkenness has vanished. We follow him into his cabin,

where Hooker is waiting anxiously.

HOOKER:

How'd ya do?

GONDORFF:

(modestly)

Well we got some workin' money

anyway.

Gondorff tosses his winnings on the table.

GONDORFF:

(big smile)

Okay, kid, you're on. But I gotta

tell ya, its a hard act to follow.

CUT TO:

INT. LONNEGAN'S CABIN - NIGHT

Lonnegan sits in a chair smoking, obviously still upset.

Floyd paces in front of him.

FLOYD:

I know I give him four threes. We

can't let him get away with that.

LONNEGAN:

What am I supposed to do? Call him

for cheating better than me?

There's a knock at the door. Floyd goes and opens it. It's

Hooker.

HOOKER:

My name's Carver. Mr. Shaw sent me.

Floyd motions him in without a word.

LONNEGAN:

Your boss is quite a card player,

Carver. How does he do it?

HOOKER:

(very matter-of-factly)

He cheats.

Lonnegan says nothing. He doesn't like smart asses. He

looks Hooker over a second, as if considering whether to

have him wasted or not.

LONNEGAN:

(reaching into his

coat pocket)

He'll have to take a check.

(pulling out a check)

I couldn't find my wallet.

HOOKER:

Yeh, he knows that.

LONNEGAN:

(startled)

What do you mean?

HOOKER:

(pulling out

Lonnegan's wallet and

tossing it to him)

He hired a dame to take it from ya.

Lonnegan just holds the wallet. He can't believe it.

HOOKER:

You were set up, Lonnegan. Shaw's

been planning to beat your game for

months. He was just waiting for

you to cheat him so he could clip ya.

LONNEGAN:

(the heat rising)

I could have you put under this

train for this, errand boy.

HOOKER:

(cool as hell)

So could Shaw.

LONNEGAN:

Then why the rat?

HOOKER:

Cause I'm tired of bein' his n*gger.

(pause)

I want you to help me break him.

Lonnegan looks at Hooker long and hard, as if the intensity

of his gaze could separate truth from fiction. Lonnegan

hadn't expected this, but now that it's here, it better be

on the level. The silence is suddenly broken by the noise

of the train braking into the station.

LONNEGAN:

(to Hooker)

C'mon, I'll give ya a lift home.

Hooker hesitates, not sure whether to accept or not.

LONNEGAN:

What's the matter? You gotta get

back to Shaw?

HOOKER:

Naw, he picked up some jane in the

bar. Can't see him till morning

anyway.

LONNEGAN:

All right, then.

CUT TO:

INT. LONNEGAN'S CAR - NIGHT

Driving through the city, the driver and Floyd in front,

Hooker and Lonnegan in back.

Hooker glances out the window from time to time, just to

make sure they're really going to his place.

LONNEGAN:

Why me? Shaw probably has lotsa

enemies to choose from.

HOOKER:

I need somebody respectable...but

not completely legit. What I'm

gonna do isn't very legal.

LONNEGAN:

(insulted)

I'm a banker, friend. That's legit

in this state.

HOOKER:

All you gotta do is place a bet for

me at Shaw's place. I'll supply

all the money and the information.

Lonnegan is listening, but you'd never know it.

HOOKER:

If you help me out, I'll pay ya

back the money you owe Shaw, myself.

LONNEGAN:

That's worth fifteen grand to ya?

HOOKER:

Maybe a couple million.

We go to Lonnegan. He's still not talking, but that last

phrase has registered.

EXT. HOOKER'S PLACE

The car pulls up in front of Hooker's place.

LONNEGAN:

You're dreamin', kid.

HOOKER:

(getting out)

660 Marshall Street. Tomorrow at

12:
30, if you're interested.

LONNEGAN:

(diffidently)

If I'm not there by quarter of, I'm

not coming.

Hooker nods and walks up the steps to his apartment building.

Lonnegan's car speeds away from the curb and on out of sight.

Hooker breathes a sigh of relief. He's passed his first

test; or has he? We follow him up the stairs to his room.

INT. HOOKER'S APARTMENT

He's just about to unlock the door, when he notices the

little piece of paper he left in the door is on the floor.

Without the slightest hesitation, Hooker leaps over the

bannister and races back down the stairs. Two gunmen, Riley

and Cole, burst out of his room and fire at him over the

railing, but he's already too far down. Riley and Cole give

chase.

CUT TO:

THE FRONT OF THE BUILDING

Riley and Cole barrel out of the building and onto the

sidewalk. There is an empty bus stopped at a light, but

they find no sign of Hooker. As the light changes, we cut

to the other side of the bus, where we see Hooker crouched

on the rear wheel housing, hanging on to a vent. He's a

little shaken, but most of all, he's still alive. We hold

on him, as the bus moves off.

GONDORFF (V.O.)

Everything go all right?

HOOKER (V.O.)

(lying)

Yeh, it was easy.

CUT TO:

INT. THE STORE - NIGHT

Hooker and Gondorff are sitting alone in the back office

while the work goes on outside. Their conversation continues.

GONDORFF:

No signs of trouble?

HOOKER:

What do ya mean?

GONDORFF:

You know, somebody tailin' ya. A

torpedo or somethin'.

HOOKER:

(wanting to get off

the subject)

No, not a thing.

Gondorff has his doubts, but lets them ride.

CUT TO:

OTHER PARTS OF THE STORE

We concentrate on some of the fine details, i.e. Garfield

explaining how the ticker will read out to Singleton and

Billie; Curly Jackson showing a younger con man how to mark

the odds board properly.

GONDORFF (V.O.)

How 'bout Lonnegan?

HOOKER (V.O.)

I gave him the breakdown just like

ya told me to.

GONDORFF (V.O.)

And?

HOOKER (V.O.)

He threatened to kill me.

GONDORFF (V.O.)

Hell, they don't do that and you

know you're not gettin' through to

'em.

We concentrate on Niles, who's making up the "boodles" or

fake bankrollls. He puts a real $100 bill on the bottom,

then two inches of cut green paper on top, and then another

$100 bill on top of that, so that it looks like he has a

whole stack of $100 bills. The bundle is then bound with a

sealed label, like those used in banks, that says $10,000.

We see that he has already made several of these bundles.

HOOKER (V.O.)

Then he drove me home. He tried to

put himself away as legit, so I

went right into the pitch.

GONDORFF (V.O.)

Did he hold you up on anything?

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