Traffic Page #11

PROSECUTOR:

This is a man who heads a large

criminal organization with

international contacts we can only

begin to understand. Our case against

him is very strong. He is not a

flight risk. His flight is assured.

The people ask that your honor denies

bail.

The prosecutor sits. Carl's defense lawyer, MICHAEL ADLER,

from the Georgetown party, stands and speaks.

ADLER:

My client is no more a flight risk

than your Honor or the able

prosecutor. He is a pillar of his

community, a family man with a wife

and child in La Jolla, the community

where he has made his home for over

twenty years. As our defense will

quickly show, my client is guilty of

nothing more than being a handy target

for an admitted criminal. Therefore

we ask that you release Carl Ayala

on his own recognizance.

Adler sits. The JUDGE makes a quick decision.

JUDGE:

I'm gonna deny bail.

The judge SLAMS his gavel. The crowd is on its feet. Carl

tries to get a glimpse of Helena. They make eye contact.

Reporters from the press gallery are yelling for Helena.

Arnie ushers her away.

EXT. COURTHOUSE - DAY

Adler, Arnie, and Helena push through a crowd toward her

car.

There are several reporters there who ask questions --

REPORTER:

Mrs. Ayala, were you aware your

husband is the largest cocaine

smuggler in America?

ADLER:

Alleged, people, alleged.

Helena gets into her car and slams the door. Adler faces

the reporters.

REPORTER #2

Mrs. Ayala is it true your husband

has ordered a hit on Eduardo Ruiz?

Adler is in a role he relishes. Helena drives away. We

move up to Gordon, who is watching from the hotel window

across the street. He speaks into a walkie-talkie, and a

car down below pulls out to follow Helena.

ADLER:

Carl Ayala sits on the board of the

Children's Hospital. He is heavily

involved with Adult Literacy. He

has a small boy and another child on

the way. If you spread this kind of

innuendo, you can expect legal

recourse. Are we clear on this point?

CUT TO:

INT. GOVERNMENT BUILDING - EARLY MORNING

The marble government corridors are empty. No one is in

yet.

One office has lights on.

INT. A.D.A. KELLY'S OFFICE - EARLY MORNING

Robert Wakefield talks with an Assistant District Attorney,

DAN KELLY, 40's.

ROBERT:

I appreciate you coming in so early.

A.D.A. KELLY

Judge Wakefield, it's an honor to

handle it for you. Consider it gone

away. She's a minor; it probably

would've expunged on her 18th birthday

anyway.

ROBERT:

Still, this was a sensitive issue

for me and I wanted to thank you

personally.

A.D.A. KELLY

Like I said, open container, P.I.,

Misdemeanor possession. Easy to

make it disappear. For you, poof,

it's gone.

A.D.A. Kelly thinks a moment, then tries for tact.

A.D.A. KELLY

One thing bothers me... That kid

they dropped off had coke and heroin

in him. Serious amounts. He's lucky

he lived. So I gotta ask: what's

your daughter on?

ROBERT:

I don't know what you mean.

A.D.A. KELLY

I mean, did you ask her? What kind

of drugs has she tried?

Robert is silent for a beat.

ROBERT:

I... I don't really know.

A.D.A. KELLY

Is she in any kind of therapy...

professional help?

ROBERT:

No, of course not. She's one of the

top students at her school.

A.D.A. KELLY

Well, I hope it stays that way.

INT. ROBERT'S CAR - EARLY MORNING

Robert in his car, thinking. The streets are empty. He

picks up the cell phone.

ROBERT:

(into phone)

It's Robert. Wipe your schedule

clean for the next three days. I'm

tired of talking to experts who never

set foot outside the beltway. It's

time to see the front lines.

INT. CAROLINE WAKEFIELD'S BATHROOM - MORNING

Caroline sits on the toilet in her private bathroom. She's

not going to the bathroom, it's a seat and she's wearing her

pajamas. She's reading a magazine. The exhaust fan is on.

There are pictures of her and her friends on the walls: goofy

pictures from camp, from school, a collage she's made with

cutouts from magazine pictures and copy.

On the sink next to her is a little square of well-charred

aluminum foil; she's done many hits. She leans over and

picks up a small piece of crack cocaine from a small pile in

her soap dish. She drops it on a clean place on the foil.

She picks up a lighter and the tube of a ball point pen she's

turned into a straw.

She heats the bottom of the foil. The crack "crackles."

She chases the smoke across the foil. A huge hit. She leans

her head back, her eyes roll back, she tries to focus on the

magazine, on anything, she stares up at the ceiling.

She holds it as long as she can then blows it toward the

exhaust fan.

Caroline looks at her watch. It's 7:20. She stands suddenly,

unsteadily. She looks at herself in the mirror.

She's really high and indecisive. She looks around wildly.

She sees the shower. She turns it on. She drops her pajamas.

She goes back to the foil and hits another piece of the rock,

taking another really big hit. She crushes the foil and

flushes it down the toilet. She hops in the shower.

IN THE SHOWER:

The water streams over her face. After a long beat she

finally exhales the smoke of the hit through the water and

steam. She's in ecstacy.

It's almost time to leave for school.

CUT TO:

EXT. LA JOLLA PLAYGROUND - DAY

Helena reads a book, Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert, and

keeps an eye on David, who is playing on the monkey bars.

ACROSS THE ROAD at a careful distance is the ubiquitous

telephone repair van. On the roof a parabolic mike swivels

around.

INT. TELEPHONE REPAIR VAN - DAY

Castro and Gordon watch Helena via a small surveillance

monitor.

GORDON:

You should see little Montel play.

Little Montel is the next Maradona.

CASTRO:

Maradona is a cokehead. Hand of

God, my ass. We're wasting our time

here.

GORDON:

He won. He was a winner. That

bothers you.

CASTRO:

Winners don't do coke. Or haven't

you been reading the bumper stickers?

Gordon looks at the monitor --

GORDON:

What do we have here?

ON THE MONITOR:

David kicking a soccer ball with an

older strange man, TIGRILLO, Latino,

40's, fit and tough looking.

The man is very good. He juggles the ball and bounces it

off his head and David follows him away from the center of

the playground.

EXT. PLAYGROUND - CONTINUOUS

Helena notices David moving away while playing with the man.

She follows, then begins to jog after them.

HELENA:

David, come back here this minute.

David!

As she closes distance the man stops juggling the ball and

abruptly picks up David and begins swinging him around by

his arms. David is having fun as Helena approaches.

HELENA:

David --

DAVID:

We're playing!

The strange man swings David up so that he's under his arm.

STRANGE MAN:

Yeah, this is fun.

HELENA:

Please put down my son.

The man holds David.

STRANGE MAN:

Shouldn't let your kid wander off

with strangers.

HELENA:

Thank you. That's a valuable lesson.

David, come on.

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