Five Television Plays (David Mamet) (9 page)

P
RICE:
I'll try to earn your trust.

(S
IMONS
leaves the office.
B
ARNES
and
P
RICE
look at each other. Beat. There is a knock on the door. The
M
AYOR
enters.
)

P
RICE:
Thank you, Bob.

(B
ARNES
nods, leaves the office.
)

M
AYOR:
Chief?

P
RICE:
Sir,
it
ain't pretty.

M
AYOR:
It's . . . um . . .

(P
RICE
reads from the form.
)

P
RICE:
Mr. Richard Ellman. D.W.I. Alcohol content of
.10%
driving while under suspension, two priors, D. W.I. And if I can be frank, Sir, I understand he was a, I beg your pardon, is a prominent citizen, and an attorney, we'll assume there were a couple more he walked away from. The guy is an alcoholic, he should never have been driving a car, the Courts
said
so, and he's driving anyway. That's too bad in the first place, he goes out and kills four people. (
Pause.
) And the law says: vehicular homicide, it's manslaughter.

(
The
M
AYOR
nods, leaves.
P
RICE
is left alone at his desk, looking through the file on the murder of Chief Hopkins.
)

“Chief Hopkins” attendance, law enforcement seminar, San Juan, Puerto Rico, January . . . Reno, Nevada . . .

(M
AY
comes in.
)

The Chief had a lot of
time
on his hands,
didn't
he . . . ?

M
AY:
Waaall, he liked to travel in his off-time.

P
RICE:
God bless him, is it always so busy around here?

M
AY:
You having second thoughts?

P
RICE:
I thought the country was s'posed to be peaceful . . .

M
AY:
You can't prove it by me. Ellen Rice, Guidance Counselor, Central High School, would be glad to come in this afternoon after school. What's that about, if I may ask?

P
RICE:
"Arson,” I have been reminded, is often a crime of a disturbed adolescent, seeking adult recognition.

M
AY:
Oh . . .

INTERIOR: LIBRARY. DAY.

P
RICE
in the stacks. Taking a book out. Camera follows him back to his table where there are several books on psychology.
P
RICE
sits, reads.

P
RIEST
(
voice over
): How you doing, John?

P
RICE:
Fine, Father, yourself?

P
RIEST:
I'm alright.

P
RICE:
Nice library you've got here.

P
RIEST:
We like it.

P
RICE:
Spent a lot of time in libraries . . .

P
RIEST:
Did
you . . . ?

(P
RICE
picks up books, returns them to the main counter, says “Thank You.” He and the
P
RIEST
walk out.
)

P
RICE:
I was a beat cop. Roof over your head, warm
radiators
.
. .
nothing like a library.

(
Angle exterior: The library.
)

P
RIEST:
Where are you off to?

P
RICE:
Meeting with some real-estate types.

P
RIEST:
I'll walk with you.

(
The
P
RIEST
and
P
RICE
start to stroll down the street.
)

Hard night, last night.

P
RICE:
Yes, I suppose it was. Seems, though, that that's what they
pay
you for.

P
RIEST:
You ever need to talk about it, call me up.

P
RICE:
Seems to me we had a date last night, to get together.

P
RIEST:
Yes, we did.

P
RICE:
. . . before it heated up. Waaall, one thing you can say for it, the
work's
steady. You know. I wanted to ask you ‘bout Chief Hopkins.

P
RIEST:
. . . yes . . . ?

P
RICE:
I've been doing some
research.
A, uh, a
reporter
asked me a
question . . .

(
They have arrived at the bus station.
B
ILLY
B
ATES
comes over to them.
)

B
ILLY:
Father!

P
RIEST:
Hello, Billy. Today, ah, today . . .

(B
ILLY’S
father comes over.
)

F
IREMAN:
That's right. Off to the Wars.

P
RIEST:
Well, all the best.

P
RICE:
All the best. (
To the
Bus S
TATION
A
TTENDANT:)
Waiting for the One O'clock bus . . . ?

A
TTENDANT:
. . . going to be ten minutes late.

(B
ILLY
takes
P
RICE
aside.
)

B
ILLY:
I wanted to thank you.

P
RICE:
To thank me for what?

B
ILLY:
For taking me along last night.

P
RICE:
Well, you did good. You kept your mouth shut and your eyes open . . . and
listen
to me, you
go
off to the Air Force, you see the world, learn what they got to teach you, you come
back,
I'm still
here,
you want a job, come in my office and we'll have a talk.

B
ILLY:
Thank you.

(P
RICE
refers to
B
ILLY’S
luggage.
)

P
RICE:
You're traveling light?

B
ILLY:
Well . . . it's a new life . . .

P
RICE:
That's right. You're not taking your guns with you? They let you take ‘em in the Air Force . . . ?

B
ILLY:
I just had the one, the deer rifle, ‘n'I traded it off, buy my bow.

(P
RICE
nods.
J
ERRY
calls
B
ILLY
over to say good-bye to some people. A police cruiser with
B
ARNES
pulls up.
)

B
ARNES:
. . . I've got some information for you . . .

P
RICE:
Can't get away from the office, eh?

B
ARNES:
Yes, look . . .

P
RICE:
. . . uhhhh . . . The
old
Chief, eh, how'd he manage it, got so much time off, running here, running there . . . (
Pause.
)

B
ARNES:
I don't know.

P
RICE:
Running off, this
convention,
that
seminar
. . . (
Pause.
) How did he manage that?

B
ARNES:
Well: he'd been in the job a long time, he . . .

P
RICE:
. . . uh-huh . . .

B
ARNES:
. . . he
designed it
that way. He needed time away, keep
current
with the current law enforcement . . .

(
Over the P.A. we hear “The one o'clock bus south has left Lynn Junction, and is due to arrive this terminal approximately five minutes.”
)

Why are you asking me this?

P
RICE:
Because I
telephoned
several of those organizations, the Chief was supposed to've gone to, those conventions. And you know, he never went. (
Pause.
) He never went to any of ‘em. (
Pause.
)

B
ARNES:
I know that.

P
RICE:
You do. How come?

B
ARNES:
I checked ‘em out, too.

P
RICE:
Did yon . . .

B
ARNES:
Yes.

P
RICE:
He was there, in the cities, according to the airline tickets, vouchers, so on, but he never made it to the Seminars. (
Pause.
) Mister Barnes. (
Pause.
) What do you think he was
doing
there? (
Pause.
) Is there something I should know? Down there, doing something he couldn't do here? (
Pause.
)

B
ARNES:
You don't . . . you don't like to live a life founded on rumors . . .

(P
RICE
turns to look at
B
ILLY
B
ATES.)

P
RICE:
The
kid
spent a lot of time at the Station House.

B
ARNES:
. . . why do you bring him up?

P
RICE:
Because I never heard of any kid would trade away a
rifle
he took a trophy buck with. (
Pause.
) Did
you
. . . ? (P
RICE
turns to the
B
US
A
TTENDANT,
gestures back at a storeroom.
) Can I use this room, please . . . ?

A
TTENDANT:
Yessir.

(P
RICE
walks over to the group of
J
ERRY,
B
ILLY,
the
P
RIEST,
et cetera.
)

P
RICE:
Can I steal Billy away for a second . . . ?

(
He walks
B
ILLY
back into the storeroom.
)

B
ILLY:
What is it, Chief. . . ?

(
Pause.
)

P
RICE:
When'd you decide you were going to go into the Air Force, Bill?

B
ILLY:
’Bout, ‘bout a
year
ago, I . . .

P
RICE:
After Chief Hopkins died.

B
ILLY:
Yes.

P
RICE:
His death disturbed you.

(
Pause.
)

B
ILLY:
Yes.

P
RICE:
You wanted to get out of town?

B
ILLY:
Yes. My, my, my father, I wanted to, if I was going to go into the Police, to go right away, but my father said to finish High School, so I . . . (
pause
) so I . . . (
pause
) I . . . (
Pause.
) You know, when you want to
do
thing, when something
happens,
you know what I mean, when, when . . . (
Pause.
)

P
RICE:
Where's the deer rifle, Billy? (
Pause.
)

B
ILLY:
What rifle?

P
RICE:
What did you do,
bury
it? (
Pause.
) You buried it, is that it? Uh-huh,
you
don't have to tell me where it is. (
Pause.
) You were
hunting
with him? Is that the thing? He took you
hunting?
(
Pause.
) What did he
do
to you? (
Pause.
) Hmmm . . .

B
ILLY:
. . . I . . .

P
RICE:
D'you
mean
to shoot him? (
Pause.
) Well, I suppose it comes down to the same thing.
Doesn't it?
(
Pause.
)

B
ILLY:
I . . . Oh God. I don't know what to do. I . . . I . . . (
Pause.
) I . . . It was . . . I didn't
mean
to . . .

(
Announcement over the P.A.: “The one o'clock bus from Lynn Junction is now arriving, passengers for Weston, Hereford, Blake, and Johnson. Your one o'clock bus arriving at the terminal.
")

What am I going to
do;
what am, what will
happen
to my
family?
I . . . I didn't
mean
it! I didn't
mean
it . . . no one can
help
me . . . no one can
help
me . . . what am I going to
do . . .
? Help me . . . (
pause
)
. . .
Help me.

(
The door opens, they look up to see the
P
RIEST.
Pause.
)

B
ILLY:
Father . . .
help
me . . .

P
RIEST:
The, uh, the
bus
is here. (
Pause.
) I came in to say the bus is here. Mr. Price . . . ?

(
He leaves. Beat.
)

P
RICE:
Uh-huh. Alright. What happened, that's something that happened. It's done. It's not your secret, see, I know it, too, ‘cause you confessed to me. And you know what I told you?
Live
with it. You told your story and the law don't want you. Far as I'm concerned. This
never took place, you and me, you ask me, I deny it. Far as you, what happened, you told me it was a hunting accident, and I believe it. Suck it up and live with it. It happened a long time ago, and no one's going to be served by bringing it up. He said the bus is here.

(P
RICE
walks to the door, he opens the door.
)

(
ANGLE EXTERIOR: THE BUS LOADING.
P
RICE
coming out, followed by
B
ILLY.)