The Sting Page #18

COLE:

Salino, hey look. I didn't mean to

move in on...

Before anything else can come out, two bullets rip into his

chest. He falls to the concrete, coming to rest on a

manhole cover, which we notice is slightly ajar. We:

CUT TO:

THE SEWER PIPES:

Beneath the manhole. We see Hooker making his way through

the slop, having gained another reprieve, but unaware that

with two down, there is still one to go.

CUT TO:

INT. HOOKER'S APARTMENT BUILDING - EVENING

Hooker comes in the front entrance and goes to the elevator,

one of the old-fashioned kind with the iron grid on the

inside. He's still a little rattled and waiting for the

elevator is making him restless. It finally arrives, and he

steps inside, closing the grid behind him. As he starts to

push the button for his floor, he realizes for the first

time that he's not alone. He looks to the corner to find

Snyder, holding a gun on him. This time there's not much

doubt that he'll use it if necessary.

CUT TO:

INT. THE ABANDONED WAREHOUSE - EVENING

Snyder brings Hooker into the crate room where Capt. Polk

and the other Agents are waiting. Polk, as usual, has his

coat off, revealing his shoulder holster.

POLK:

Hello, Mr. Hooker. Captain Polk,

F.B.I...

(shoving a chair over

to him)

Have a seat.

Hooker remains standing.

POLK:

(ignoring it, drinking

from a cup)

You want a drink or something?

HOOKER:

No.

POLK:

We want to talk to ya about Henry

Gondorff.

HOOKER:

Don't think I know him.

POLK:

Well give yourself a couple seconds,

crumb. You wouldn't wanna lie to

me. Lt. Snyder here says you done

a lotta griftin' in this town.

HOOKER:

Lt. Snyder doesn't know sh*t.

Capt. Polk almost laughs, but he checks it.

HOOKER:

You got nothin' on me.

POLK:

We'll get it, and if we can't,

we'll just make it up. Grand

larceny, extortion.

(with special emphasis)

Counterfeiting, anything you want.

Hooker says nothing, but it's not from defiance now. He's

beginning to get the picture.

POLK:

Look, I got nothin' against you,

but you're in trouble here. All

you gotta do is tell us when

Gondorff's gonna play his chump.

We come in at the sting, make the

pinch, and you walk out free as a

bird. No questions, no court

appearance, nothing.

HOOKER:

No.

POLK:

You've already done time twice, and

judges don't like three time losers.

You wanna sit in the can for forty

years, startin' tonight?

HOOKER:

I'll make parole.

POLK:

Like hell. You won't even get a

review till you're seventy. And if

the board starts to go soft, we'll

let ya out in the yard some night

with a hard-nose young bull who'll

put fifty slugs in your face and

ask what you were doin' there later.

Hooker wants to come back with something, but can't find it.

POLK:

Don't be a sap, kid. You could

save us a little trouble. But

Henry Gondorff is through whether

you help us or not. There's

nothin' left to do now but save

yourself.

Hooker's thoroughly whipped. He sits down for the first time.

HOOKER:

(softly)

Will you wait until the chump is

played?

POLK:

Hell yes. We don't care about the

mark. He deserves what he gets.

HOOKER:

(with heat)

I mean completely played. Until

he's beat and the score is taken.

You come in before we beat him and

I'll kill him. You'll have a tough

time explaining that, won't ya.

POLK:

All right, Hooker, but you take it

on the lam, and we'll shoot you

down on sight.

HOOKER:

(barely audible)

Just as long as I get to finish the

play.

CUT TO:

INT. GONDORFF'S ROOM - NIGHT

Gondorff and Hooker are playing gin rummy and drinking.

Gondorff makes little comments as he plays, but Hooker is

quiet and withdrawn. The carousel is not in operation and a

heavy silence hangs over the place.

GONDORFF:

What's the matter, kid? You're not

sayin' much.

HOOKER:

Just a little nervous, that's all.

GONDORFF:

Luther always told me to bite my

toenails when I get nervous. You

see yourself doin' that and you

realize it ain't worth it.

Hooker smiles feebly.

Billie appears at the door.

BILLIE:

Things are a little slow tonight,

Henry. I wanna open the round for

the girls.

Gondorff takes out a set of keys and tosses them to her.

She leaves to go start the merry-go-round. Gondorff settles

back into the game.

GONDORFF:

Take it easy, you won't lose him

now. We had him 10 years ago when

he decided to be somebody. Believe

me, I've seen enough to know.

HOOKER:

(softly)

How many guys you conned in your

life, Henry?

GONDORFF:

Two or three hundred I guess.

Sometimes played two a day when I

was in Shea's mob. We had it down

to a business.

(pause)

'Course Chicago was a right town

then. The fix was in. The d*cks

took their end without a beef. All

the Wall Street boys wanted to make

investments for us. Even had marks

looking us up, thinkin' they could

beat the game.

(pause)

Yeh, kid, it really stunk. No

sense in bein' a grifter if it's

the same as bein' a citizen.

Gondorff chucks his cards on the table. He's through for

the night.

GONDORFF:

I better do some packin'. I'm

gonna be a hot number again after

tomorrow.

HOOKER:

Then why you doin' it?

GONDORFF:

Seems worthwhile, doesn't it?

Maybe it's just for the cave-in on

Lonnegan's face when we put in the

sting.

That's good enough. Hooker gets up to leave.

HOOKER:

Henry.

HOOKER:

Yeh.

HOOKER:

(apologetically)

I appreciate your stickin' your

neck out. I wouldn't have asked ya

if it weren't for Luther.

GONDORFF:

Ain't nothin' gonna make up for

Luther, kid.

(pause)

Revenge is for suckers. I been

griftin' 30 years and never got any.

Hooker just nods and walks out the door.

INT. CAROUSEL

We follow him past the Carousel which is now full of giggling

prostitutes in various stages of undress. Their childish

frolicking is charming from a group usually so jaded, but

it's lost on Hooker tonight.

CUT TO:

EXT. A CITY STREET - NIGHT

It's late now and the street is deserted save for an

occasional derelict or streetwalker on her way home from a

night's work. We pick up Hooker coming down the street

toward his apartment building. He walks slowly, almost

reluctantly, as if he didn't care whether he ever got there

or not.

As he nears his building, he notices Loretta coming out of

the diner across the street. He stops and watches as she

looks up and disappears into an adjacent building that

advertises rooms for rent. After a few seconds, we see a

light come on in one of its second story windows.

Hooker just stands there a second, debating with himself,

trying to figure out a reason for doing what he's going to

do anyway. We follow him across the street to Loretta's

building and:

INT. LORRETA'S

He goes up the stairs to the room where the light came on.

He passes a couple of derelicts on the way. He knocks twice

and Loretta answers in her bathrobe. She is more than a

little startled to see him.

LORETTA:

Looks like he missed ya.

HOOKER:

Yeh, this time anyway.

Loretta notices an old busybody peeping out at them from her

room across the hall.

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