There Was a Crooked Man... Page #2

I heard tell he wrung the neck off

some other Chink in a railway gang.

If it was a white man,

they'd have strung him up on the spot.

What about you?

l... I pulled three years.

- What about you, son?

- Two.

Because he cried in front of the judge.

You should've seen him

sniveling like a street whore.

Fish piss. If it hadn't been for me,

you'd have got more, fraud.

You must know an awful lot

about what goes on here, I bet.

Excuse me. Where's the gents'?

He's got his foot on it.

I say, you must know an awful lot

about what goes on here.

You ain't pulled much time

in the pokey, have you, son?

If you want something, you'll pay for it.

I'll pay my way.

Hey, Tobaccy!

Listen, every spindle in this place

has a dodger game.

This one here is Tobaccy.

He sells you, like, cigarettes and plug.

Another one is Whiskey.

And then there's Sweets.

You ain't got a fella here

named Poontang, have you?

- Yeah?

- What's the going rate?

- Five tailor-mades for a dollar.

- Go and pay the man.

All right. Start asking.

How many ever bust out of here?

Now, don't ponder on that,

it'll just weaken your mind.

How many?

Well, none that lived to tell about it.

What time do they change the guards?

And where?

It's always different times

and different places.

And it's never all at once.

They don't miss a trick.

Those on the front gate,

always the same number on top? Below?

Believe me, sooner or later

you're gonna give up.

Son, let me tell you something.

It'll help you make your time here.

About 25 years ago...

...when I seen I wasn't ever

gonna get out of this place...

...I said to myself, "Kid," I said:

"Kid, you better figure out some way

to keep from going cuckoo."

Well, you know,

I tried this and I tried that.

And then one day, like, sudden-like,

it come to me.

A way to bust out of here.

No. There ain't no way out.

No, listen. I thunk me up a farm.

I mean, not a big place, it...

There's no more than 25 acres,

but it's real good land.

And now when things get too tough

around here for me...

...I just close my eyes...

...and I farm that land.

Well, anyway, I was thinking, son...

...if you was to get yourself...

Get yourself a farm, a store or something...

...why, it would help you

to pass the time.

It'd give you something...

Give you something to think about.

Thanks, Kid,

but I got something to think about.

All right, get to work!

Hey, hey, come on!

Chop, chop, chop.

We thought some little, bitty ones

might come in handy.

You see, there's this shoulder wound

I got at Gettysburg.

I was just a kid.

- Name.

- Cavendish.

- First name.

- Coy.

Coy.

Maybe we can find

something easier for you to do.

Let's talk about it sometime.

Hey! Hey! Come on! Hit it! Hey, hey!

Hit it!

Oh, my God, how will I live through this?

I've got the chilblains all over.

I can feel my consumption coming back.

The one you caught at Gettysburg?

How can you eat that?

Oh, this ain't that bad.

It ain't as good as my cooking.

It'll be a long time

before you get anything that good again.

You got some gall to talk like that.

If you hadn't backed your butt

into that stove...

You put me here,

just like you'll be the death of me!

Fish piss.

It's no one's fault we're here but yours.

If you'd have listened,

we could've had a nice little house...

...you could've got a decent job and gone

to work the way that other men do.

I'd have cooked and cleaned

and worked my fingers to the bone.

But, oh, no, no, no. That wasn't

good enough for you, Mr. Big-ldeas.

"Just one more dodge.

Make a million. Easy money."

- Everything I did, I was only thinking of us.

- Lies.

- Of you!

- Lies, lies, lies. Just a pack of lies.

- I'm coming down with something.

- Yeah.

- Consumption, I tell you.

- Yeah.

- My lungs are gonna go ahead of my heart.

- Have consumption.

I don't care what part of you goes first.

- Your name Paris Pitman?

- Yeah.

- Junior?

- That's me.

Hey.

Hey, now, hold it.

Now, what's the trouble?

Why don't we talk about this?

You sure you got the right man?

Let's be reasonable.

That's it.

I've known Woody Lopeman for 15 years.

I'd give him the shirt off my back...

...but that don't mean

I'll let this town go down the drain.

Hold on there, Harry. It ain't like he was

an out-and-out cripple. He's doing his job.

The way I see it,

it's about time we got us a sheriff...

...who can treat that jailhouse scum

like they was meant to be.

- What do you mean by that?

- Face up to it, Billy.

He always did mollycoddle

those bastards.

Christ, look at how he got it. Asking

a robber to hand his gun over to him.

I don't care what the man's style is.

He kept this town clean and quiet.

He did his job good.

That's exactly what I'm trying to tell you.

He did his job, but he can't do it no more.

Doc, now, you know I'm right.

Can a sheriff with a busted-up limb

do his job? For my money he's...

Thought the two of us

were gonna have a talk.

I can't wait forever.

Things can get tougher, you know.

They can also get easier too.

It's up to you.

Go to hell!

- What was that?

- He said, "Go to hell."

Get to work!

This could be the beginning

of something big.

Such as what?

Such as we could be

running this place pretty soon.

They just must not like your face.

They keep trying to change it.

There's got to be a reason, Kid.

Somebody's got to have

something in mind.

Yeah, but whatever it is,

they're playing it close to the vest.

I couldn't find out nothing.

So, what are you gonna do?

Well, for one thing,

I've gotta get me some help.

Six to two he spits in your eye.

You got a bet.

Cabbage. My ma would have to whip me

before I'd eat it.

Well, I guess it's a matter of taste.

I notice you happen to like it. I hate it.

Here. Take mine.

I been watching you, Floyd.

What's going on inside you?

Nobody knows but you. Smart.

Real smart.

I hear you shot it out with a sheriff.

Cut him down to size, I hear, huh?

That's a pretty feisty thing to do,

if you did it.

I bet there ain't a man in this yard

with your guts.

If you did it.

Well...

I was...

I was drunk.

And I still beat him to the draw, by God.

Ain't that something?

You must be the goddamnedest shot

in this territory.

- Just one of the best.

- A sheriff?

He must have been crazy

to tangle with you.

- Well...

- Must have been a pretty big job.

Hey, you don't shoot a sheriff

if he caught you spitting on the floor.

I've had my share

of the big ones, all right.

Big jobs, big outfits. The best, right?

That's right. They had to be.

You're only as good as your worst man.

Well, me, I never could afford to be choosy

who I had on my side.

I'd wind up with some of the worst

lamebrains you ever saw.

- You know, this time in Nogales, we...

- Hey, four-eyes.

This time in Nogales,

there was this little bank...

Hey, four-eyes!

We're tired of coming to you.

This time you come to us,

you yellow bastard.

All right, come on, break it up. Get back.

Rate this script:0.0 / 0 votes