The Sting Page #4

COLEMAN:

You're late. Where you been?

HOOKER:

(flopping into a chair)

I had some appointments.

COLEMAN:

(not fooled)

How much did ya lose?

HOOKER:

(after a pause)

All of it.

COLEMAN:

(pissed)

In one goddamn night? What are ya

sprayin' money around like that for?

You coulda been nailed.

HOOKER:

I checked the place out. There

weren't no d*cks in there.

COLEMAN:

You're a con man, and you blew it

like a pimp. I didn't teach ya to

be no pimp.

HOOKER:

What's eatin' you? I've blown

money before.

COLEMAN:

No class grifter woulda' done it,

that's all.

HOOKER:

You think my play is bad?

COLEMAN:

I think it's the best...

Hooker sinks back, embarrassed that he misread Coleman's

intentions.

COLEMAN:

...It's the only reason I ain't

quit before now.

HOOKER:

(bewildered)

What?

COLEMAN:

I'm gettin' too slow for this

racket. I done the best I'm gonna

do. You hang on too long, you

start embarrassin' yourself.

HOOKER:

What are you talkin' about? We

just took off the biggest score

we've ever had. We can do anything

we want now.

COLEMAN:

It's nothin' compared to what you

could be makin' on the Big Con.

You're wastin' your time workin'

street marks.

HOOKER:

Hey look. You think I'm gonna run

out on ya or somethin'? Just cause

we hit it big. Luther, I owe you

everything. If you hadn't taught

me con, I wouldn't know nothin'.

COLEMAN:

(a little embarrassed)

Aw hell, you sound like some

goddamn sucker. You know everything

I know. You got nothin' more to

learn from me.

HOOKER:

But you played the Big Con. You

said it was nothin'. A game for

flakes and mama's boys.

COLEMAN:

And I'm tellin' ya now, you're a

fool if you don't get into it. A

bigger fool than I was.

(pause, holding up

the money)

I been lookin' for this one all my

life, Johnny. Now I got a chance

to step out at the top.

Hooker knows it's no use.

HOOKER:

(after a long silence)

What the hell you gonna do with

yourself?

COLEMAN:

Aw, I got a brother down in K.C.,

runs a freight outlet. I can go

halfsies with 'em! It ain't too

exciting, but it's mostly legal.

Hooker just nods.

COLEMAN:

Straighten up, kid. I wouldn't

turn ya out if ya weren't ready.

(flipping Hooker a

piece of paper)

I got a guy named Henry Gondorff I

want you to look up. There ain't a

better insideman alive. He'll

teach ya everything ya gotta know.

HOOKER:

You'll take a cut of what I make,

won't ya?

COLEMAN:

I'm out, Johnny.

HOOKER:

If that's the way you want it.

COLEMAN:

That's the way I want it.

CUT TO:

EXT. A DIMLY LIT STREET - NIGHT

It's late at night now. Hooker and Eirie wander along the

street together, not really ready to go home, but with no

other ideas either. Hooker, obviously preoccupied, idly

strikes a match on a street lamp as he passes and lets it

burn out. He does this several times.

HOOKER:

How do you like that Coleman, huh?

After three years.

EIRIE KID:

Aw come on, it was the only thing

to do. He knew he was holdin' ya

back.

HOOKER:

We were partners. If it weren't

for Luther I'd still be hustlin'

pinball down at Gianelli's. I

don't need anything more than I got.

HOOKER:

You ain't gonna have nothin' if you

don't lay off them games of chance.

There's a depression on ya know.

HOOKER:

There's always a depression on.

EIRIE KID:

If you saved a little, you wouldn't

have to grift so much.

HOOKER:

I like griftin'.

EIRIE KID:

You could buy yourself some things.

Clothes, or a nice car...

HOOKER:

I don't look any good in clothes

and I don't know how to drive.

What else ya got to sell, Eirie?

EIRIE KID:

Forget it.

They walk on a few more feet, when suddenly a police car

pulls up alongside them and two men jump out. The first, a

uniformed policeman, grabs Eirie around the neck.

Hooker makes a break for it, but the second Figure, a burly

detective named Snyder, tackles him in the middle of the

street, drags him back into the alley and plasters him up

against a brick wall. The two have met before.

HOOKER:

Hi there, Snyder. Things a little

slow down at the Bunco Department

tonight, eh? Somebody lose the

dominoes?

SNYDER:

You scored blood money today,

Hooker. You need a friend.

HOOKER:

(knocking Snyder's

hand away)

Aw, find yourself a shoplifter to

roll.

Snyder gives Hooker a swift knee in the thigh and follows it

with an elbow across the head. Hooker flies into a row of

boxes and garbage cans.

HOOKER:

(getting up slowly)

You got the wrong guy, pal. I been

home with the flu all day.

(rising to a fuller height)

You can stake out my toilet if you

want.

Bang. Snyder, infuriated by Hooker's irreverence, slams him

to the ground again. The policeman is no longer holding

Eirie but is almost daring him to make a move. Eirie wants

to go to Hooker's aid, but he knows the policeman will beat

him to a pulp.

SNYDER:

(pulling Hooker out

of the heap and

smashing him against

the wall again)

I'll tell ya what you did, smart

boy. You tied into a loaded mark

on 47th across from Maxies. You

and Coleman played the switch for

him and blew him off to a cab on

49th. If he hadn't been a numbers

runner for Doyle Lonnegan, it

woulda been perfect.

HOOKER:

(startled by the information)

You're crazy. I'm not stupid

enough to play for rackets money.

SNYDER:

Not intentionally maybe, but that

don't make no difference to Lonnegan.

He'll swat you like any fly.

HOOKER:

I'll square it with the fixer.

SNYDER:

Nobody can buy you a prayer, if I

put the finger on ya.

Snyder lets go. Hooker sinks back against the wall. He

says nothing; he's waiting for the price.

SNYDER:

I figure your end of the score was

at least 3 gees. I want 2 no

matter what it was.

HOOKER:

(lying)

My end was only one.

SNYDER:

(not taking the fake)

Then you'll have to come up with

another grand somewhere.

Hooker is beat and he knows it.

HOOKER:

All right.

He reaches into his coat, pulls out a stack of bills and

counts out $2000 to Snyder. Eirie looks on in amazement; he

didn't think Hooker had it.

SNYDER:

(pocketing the money

and motioning his

partner to put his

gun away)

You're a smart egg, Hooker. No use

dyin' for 2 grand.

Snyder and his policeman friend get in their car and start

down the street. Hooker and Eirie walk nonchalantly in the

other direction.

EIRIE KID:

I thought you blew all your money.

HOOKER:

I did. That stuff I gave him was

counterfeit. They'll pinch him the

first place he tries to spend it.

Snyder and his partner disappear around a corner. Hooker

suddenly takes off like a shot.

INT. DRUGSTORE - NIGHT

He runs into a drugstore and goes to the phone booth.

There's already a woman in it. Hooker rips open the door

and throws her out. Hurriedly, he begins to dial.

EIRIE KID:

(standing outside the booth)

What the hell you gonna do when

Snyder rushes his finger right to

Lonnegan? You're committin'

suicide, kid.

HOOKER:

(waiting for the ring)

Aw Christ, it doesn't make no

difference now. If Snyder knows

about it so does everybody else.

He never gets anything first...Damn,

there's no answer at Luther's.

EIRIE KID:

Listen to me, Hooker. What ever

you do, don't go back to your place

tonight, don't go anyplace you

usually go, ya hear me? Get outa

town or somethin', but...

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