~ .

'
'. ......
The legend SPRING appears, then dissapears on the black
screen. We hear the VOICE OF JIM CARROLL:
JIM (V.o.)
When I was young, eight or so, I tried
making friends with God by inviting
him to my house to watch the World
Series ... He never showed ...
FADE IN:
The chained front door of a catholic High School on the
Lower East side of Manhattan. The CAMERA GLIDES right
through this door into
AN EMPTY OMINOUS HALLWAY. WE are aware of a RHYTHMIC
THUMPING ECHOING somewhere in the building. As we WIND
through the hallways the SOUND gets LOUDER AND LOUDER.
Finally, We ARRIVE at a CLASSROOOM and MOVE inside.
We PAN across the rows of STUDENTS in their matching
uniforms. It is obvious they are witnessing some sort of
beating, because the THUMPING is coming FROM THIS ROOM and
their faces are scared.
In the back row sit the Bad Boys of the Class - PEDRO, a
lovable, little Puerto Rican kid, sneaky as a thief, HERBIE,
dark and strong and violent, and NEUTRON, older than the
others, a heartbreaker, handsome and athletic. They cringe
with each SMACK.
ANOTHER ANGLE ON THE CLASSROOM - A large Priest, FATHER
MCNULTY, is standing over JIM CARROLL, 15, a handsome,
athletic kid with defiant, mischievous eyes, smacking his
ass with a paddle over and over and over and over. Jim
smirks through the pain, but it clearly hurts like a bitch.
Just as Father McNulty is about to land another blow, t h ~
BELL RINGS, seemingly saving Jim. Jim smiles up at the
Priest.
JIM
Too bad, Father, I was just starting
to enjoy myself ...
The Priest lands the final, thudding blow. Jim grimaces.
FATHER MCNULTY
We can do it again tomorrow, if
you like, Mr. Carroll.
1

2
Jim doesn't say anything. He falls into step with his
Friends, who are filing out of the classroom. Herbie is
staring murderously at Father McNulty.
They walk into the crowded hallway.
PEDRO
Jim, is your ass O.K.? Does it hurt,
man?
Herbie wacks pedro in the back of the head.
HERBIE
You want to rub it for him, Pedro?
PEDRO
Don't fuckin' hit me!
Herbie is LAUGHING at him. Jim puts his arm around Pedro's
shoulder, stopping him from going after Herbie. Neutron
looks on, amused.
JIM
Come on, let's get outta here ...
They dissapear down a stairway.
EXT. SCHOOL - PARKING LOT - MOMENTS LATER
Jim, Herbie and Neutron are hurriedly putting on their
streetclothes over their basketball uniforms. They put their
school uniforms in a bag and ditch them behind a bush. Pedro
is the lookout.
They are all dressed in the latest city style, oversized
jeans, plaid shirts, White t's, hats to the back.
They finish dressing and bust out into the street like
prisoners in a jailbreak.
MUSIC UP. An EXUBERANT, CITY GROOVE.
CREDITS START TO ROLL as the Boys hide their catholic School
uniforms behind a bush and swagger to the street.
EXT. STREET - sAME DAY
Jim and his Friends hop on the back of a slow moving
downtown bus. Jim hangs dangerously off the side of the bus
as it picks up speed and disappears in a maze of traffic .
CLOSE ON JIM - His eyes are shining with excitement as the
city whips by him at hyperspeed.

ANOTHER ANGLE - Jim almost falls off the bus as it makes a

sharp turn. He lets out a WAR WOOP as he regains his
balance, exhilirated by the near catastrophe.
The Bus moves past STREET VENDORS HAWKING their wares on
Delancey Street, past the deserted decay of alphabet city,
past the Wall Street BUSINESS MEN in their suits ~ n d ties.
Jim spots a PRETTY YOUNG WOMAN walking a DOG. He SHOUTS TO
HER and smiles. She smiles back.
THE MUSIC ROCKS ON. THE CREDITS CONTINUE TO ROLL.
ANOTHER STREET - SAME DAY
Jim, Pedro, Neutron and Herbie hop off the bus as it slows
down near the Ferry Basin.
They move to the turnstiles of the Staten Island Ferry. Jim
puts in one token and Herbie and Neutron push in with him.
Pedro scoots underneath and through like a gutter rat on the
subway tracks. .
INT./EXT. STATEN ISLAND FERRY - DAY
Jim and the Boys run up the stairs to the top deck of the
Ferry. They catch their breath. Jim looks out at the East
River, at the sun dancing off the water like diamonds.
Herbie takes something out his pocket.
NEUTRON
Whatcha got there, Herbie?
Herbie shows them a bottle of Carbona cleaning fluid. He
takes a hankie out of his pocket and soaks it in the
Carbona.
HERBIE
Shit make you high as a motherfucker.
Herbie breathes deeply into the hankie. The head rush hits
him.
HERBIE
Oh, man ...
Herbie passes it Neutron, who declines, shaking his head and
smiling as if to say "You think I'm crazy?"
Neutron moves away from Herbie and leans against the rail,
looking out over the water.
3

~ I M
Yo, Herbie, let me try that .
~ i m presses the hankie to his nose and takes four good
whiffs. He passes the Carbona down to Neutron.
4

We HOLD ON ~ I M as the high hits him. His eyes roll back into
his head. He sways dizzily in the breeze.
~ i m focuses his eyes in time to see Pedro lose his cookies
over the side of the deck.
They hear PISSED OFF SHOUTS from the bottom deck.. Pedro
leans over and sees that he had zeroed in over the head of
some incredibly huge monster of a CONSTRUCTION WORKER.
PEDRO
Oh, shit, man, we gotta get outta
here ..
They hear him STOMPING UP THE STAIRS, looking for revenge.
He chases them toward the other side of the boat. He manages
to grab the back of Neutron's shirt, but it rips off in his
hands, revealing his basketball jersey. Neutron catches up
with his buddies.
The Construction Worker is hot on their trail. He seems to
have them cornered at the end of the Ferry.
Suddenly, they pull a Mel Gibson and make a risky jump to
the lower level of the Ferry, leaving him alone on the upper
deck.
He CURSES them and runs back down to the lower level. They
are nowhere to be found.
INT. BATHROOM - MOMENTS LATER
Jim, Pedro, Neutron and Herbie are all crowded into one
stall. They GIGGLE at the dirty grafitti as the CONSTRUCTION
WORKER SCREAMS BLOODY MURDER OUTSIDE the bathroom:
CONSTRUCTION WORKER
Where are ya? Ya fuckin' pricks ya!
EXT. STATEN ISLAND FERRY - DAY
The Ferry docks peacefUlly in the harbor. The Passengers
file out en masse. The Construction Worker looks around
angrily for his assailants, but they're not around. He
finally blends in with the crowd .

HOLD on the empty Ferry another long moment - Pedro peaks

his head out, making sure the coast is clear. Then Jim and
Herbie and Neutron walk cautiously from the boat to the
shore.
JIM
(laughing)
Did you see his fucking face?
They all CRACK up.
END CREDITS.
EXT. STREET - STATEN ISLAND
Jim and his Boys swagger down the tree lined suburban
street, past the big, pretty houses, street urchins let
loose in paradise.
A RICH WOMAN gets out of a white BMW and looks at them
suspiciously, the way a hack looks at a black man trying to
hail a cab on 5th Avenue: "Are you going to steal something
from me?"
Herbie lets out a WAR CRY, giving the Woman the scare of her
life. They LAUGH
The Boys are knee deep in BULLSHIT as they continue down the
block.
PEDRO
Alright, what about the four of
us vs. Patrick Ewing?
HERBIE
Four of us? What the fuck are you
gonna do, Pedro, tie his shoelaces
together when he's not lookin'?
PEDRO
Alright, alright, the three of us
Whaddya think?
HERBIE
We take him, no doubt-
JIM
Are you kidding me, Herbie?
HERBIE
He can't guard all of us at the
same time, right? And I've never
seen you or Neutron miss an open
5

jumper. I'll be there for the

rebounds.
31M
The rebounds? Herbie, that freak is
seven feet tall!
HERBIE
I can rebound with anybody.
31M
You're sniffin' too much of that
shit. Patrick Ewing would fuckin'
destroy us.
HERBIE
There's no way we don't score as
long as we move the ball ..
As they move away from us, further down the block, the
VOLUME of their CONVERSATION SLOWLY FADES.
HERBIE
Neutron, what do you think?
NEUTRON
You guys been killin' way too many ~
brain cells. .-/
They disappear over the horizon, but we get the feeling the
debate is far from over.
ESTABLISHING SHOT - SUBURBAN SCHOOL - AFTERNOON
The school is a huge, modern building surrounded by well
tended playing fields and a parking lot filled with
expensive cars.
INT. LOCKER ROOM - SUBURBAN SCHOOL - AFTERNOON
LEFTY, the coach, a tall seedy looking man in his early
fifties with greasy black hair and a cheesy sweatsuit goes
through the locker room KNOCKING on toilet stall doors.
6

LEFTY
(overenthusiastically)
We gotta game today, gentleman! Who'S
ready to play ball?
He opens one of the stall doors and catches a PLAYER smoking
a cigarette. The Player quickly throws it in the toilet
bowl.

LEFTY
No smoking, Iggy, stunts your growth.
You wanna be big and strong like me,
don't ya?
He opens another stall door - This one is empty.
LEFTY
(to no one in particular)
No smoking, no pUlling your peekers
before a game.
Lefty opens the last stall door. Herbie sits on the can,
shorts around his ankles, reading an "X-MEN" comice book.
HERBIE
You mind, Lefty?
Lefty closes the door and come over to Jim and the rest of
the players, who are signing a basketball. Pedro is in the
corner giving out towels - He is the team manager.
LEFTY
. Hey, whatcha doin'?
JIM
We're signing a ball for Bobby .
LEFTY
Can I sign?
JIM
Why not?
Herbie throws Lefty the ball. Lefty takes the marker and
scribbles something on the basketball.
LEFTY
(reading what he's writing)
"To Bobby - Get well soon, kid.
We're holding your spot for you.
Your coach, Lefty."
He hands Jim back the basketball. Jim starts out of the
lockerroom with the rest of the players.
LEFTY
Hey, Jim! Wait a second..
Jim turns back to Lefty, who is smiling at him eagerly.
Jim looks uncomfortable .
7

JIM
(V. o. )
I'm not sure, but I think Lefty's a
queer. He likes to do funny things like
put his hand between your legs and pick
you up. When he did this I got keenly
suspicious ...
LEFTY
(trying find something
to say)
That's a nice thing you're doing
for Bobby ...
Jim nods, waits.
LEFTY
You seen Neutron?
JIM
Yeah, he's talking to some scout from
st. John's ...
LEFTY
Uh-huh ... They'll be scouts here
when you're a senior, too . You
wanna play college ball, don'tcha?
JIM
Why not?
LEFTY
Yeah, the scouts're sniffing you out
already. They like 'em young You
come by sometime, we'll go over
the schools together
JIM
Sure, Lefty...
LEFTY
We'll get a pizza and make a night of
it, whaddya say?
JIM
My nights are pretty busy..
LEFTY
(smiling knowingly)
Homework and all, huh?
Jim nods. Lefty looks hurt. There is an awkward pause. He
looks deeply into Jim's eyes for a long moment. Jim looks
down at the floor, very uncomfortable.
8

JIM
(v.O.)
I heard one of the guy's on last
year's team let Lefty touch his
thing for twenty bucks. I would
never do that. Not even for a
free ride to North Carolina ...
He puts his arm around Jim as they move to the locker room
door.
LEFTY
Let's go get 'em!
INT. GYM - AFTERNOON
The HOME TEAM is wearing snazzy blue and gold uniforms and
going through perfect lay up drills. Jim's TEAM is helter
skelter, wearing ragged uniforms and goofing around during
warm ups.
There is a big banner hanging on the wall that reads
"Catholic Youth Organization spring Basketball League".
The CROWD is filled with basketball fans. They are getting a
kick out of the tough ragamuffins from the Lower East Side.
A BUZZER SOUNDS, signaling the beginning of the game.
The TEAM gathers around Lefty, who is in a froth of
excitement.
LEFTY
Let's press these pricks from
minute one. Tough "0", tough "0",
tough "D"!!!
Jim and Neutron roll their eyes at each other in response to
Lefty's shenanigans.
CUT TO:
THE OPENING TIP-OFF:
Neutron leaps high and gets the ball to Jim,'who dribbles
upcourt, perfectly calm, at home with the game. He easily
alludes the DEFENDER'S attempt to steal the ball by
dribbling between his legs. He plays with a zen like cool,
seeing everything on the court.
Neutron goes back door and Jim whips him a perfect no look
pass. Neutron scores on a pretty reverse lay up and points a
9

finger to Jim as they run back upcoart, thanking him for the
pass. The CROWD EXPLODES.
IMAGES COME FAST AND FURIOUS:
10

Jim and Herbie double teaming a RIVAL PLAYER in the corner.

Jim steals the ball and passes to Neutron for a wide open
dunk.
Jim drives hard to the hoop and, in mid air, drops off a
pass for Herbie. Herbie muscles toward the basket and gets
fouled hard on the shot.
Herbie bumps into a gangly, pimple faced, OPPOSING PLAYER
with his chest and TALKS TRASH in his' face. Jim has to get
between t h e ~ to stop the enraged Herbie from beating the
shit out of the guy.
Pedro is at the door of the home team's locker room, making
sure the coast is clear. He enters and surveys the long row
of neat lockers. He slides a small file out of the sleeve of
his long coat.
JIM
(V. O. )
You gotta have presence on the court
Presence like a cheetah rather than a
chimp. They've both got it, but chimpy
gotta jump his nuts around all day to
get it, shy cheetah just moves in total
nonchalance a sec or two in his slow,
sexy strut .. Me, I play like the
cheetah...
As he SPEAKS, WE SEE, IN SLOW MOTION: Jim rising up and up
and up on his jump shot. We see the ball leave his hand and
rotate slowly, ina high arc, toward the basket and swish
softly through the net. Jim turns upcourt, a peaceful smile
on his face.
The Team is in a time out. The buzzer SOUNDS. Lefty pats Jim
on the ass as he returns to the court. Jim looks back at
Lefty, pissed off.
Pedro expertly opens a locker with his file. He rifles
through the pockets of a pair of jeans and grabs a wad of
bills from the wallet.
Pedro finds a nice watch hidden in one of the sneakers. He
slides up his sleeve and puts it on his forearm with three
other watches .

Herbie grabs a tough rebound and throws a baseball pass to

Jim streaking upcourt. Jim makes a graceful, show off lay
up. Lefty pumps his fist in the air, he loves it!
Pedro shoves more cash into his'pocket, plus somebody's
class ring. He finds a walkman wrapped in a sweatshirt and
hides it in one of the pockets of his long coat. He moves
with the speed and efficiency of a professional.
Jim pulls up at halfcourt and heaves a shot that bounces off
the rim as the BUZZER SOUNDS ending the game. The CROWD
AAAAHS at the near miss.
Pedro exits the Home Team's locker room and returns to the
court.
The Scoreboard reads HOME - 29, AWAY - 66. Pedro hands Jim a
towel as he jogs off the floor. A "LEAVE IT TO BEAVER" TYPE
DAD tells Jim "GOOD GAME, SON".
11

JIM
(to Pedro)
Any trouble?
Pedro smiles at Jim as if to say "What are you, kidding me?"
Jim musses Pedro's hair .
INT./EXT. WHITE CASTLE HAMBURGER JOINT - LATE AFTERNOON
The TEAM is gathered in White castle wolfing down the tiny
burgers in one bite. Lefty enters and goes to the counter
and pays the bill.
JIM
(v.O.)
There are only two things Lefty
forbids: Using the word "Motherfucker"
and stealing from the other team as
long as they're white.
Lefty comes over to Jim, Herbie, Pedro and Neutron angrily
waving the check.
LEFTY
I told you shmucks one burger each!
JIM
You know it takes at least eight of
these burgers to get filled up.
NEUTRON
(smiling)
Yeah, we're growing boys.

HERBIE
We're hungry motherfuckers.
Lefty eyes narrow with anger at the word "motherfucker".
Everybody LAUGHS UPROARIOUSLY. "
LEFTY
Funny, huh? I'm not driving you
guys home, how's that for laughs?
Through the glass windows" Jim sees the GUYS from the team
they just robbed coming toward the White Castle with TOUGH
GUYS f r ~ m the neighborhood.
Pedro and Jim lock eyes. Then pedro, loot in pocket, slips
immediately out of the restaurant, unnoticed.
JIM
Lefty, how are we gonna get back?
Lefty sees the Gang coming and LAUGHS back at his Team.
LEFTY
You ripped 'em off, didn't you?
Lefty starts to walk out the door
JIM
Lefty, wait!
LEFTY
Face the music, pricks!
Lefty splits.
NEUTRON
What are we gonna do? They got the
door blocked off ..
Herbie gets up, pissed off, carrying a bottle of coke.
HERBIE
I'm not afraid of these pussies.
The Team follows Herbie outside to face off with the Gang.
Jim brings his gym bag with him.
BOBO, the leader of the gang, the tall, pimply faced member
of the opposing basketball team confronts Jim, he's nervous,
but very angry. His sidekick, TOMMY, another player on the
team looks on
BOBO
Where's the stuff you stole?
12

JIM
I didn't steal anything, Bobo.
TOMMY
Come on, give him his stuff.
Jim shrugs.
BOBO
Don't fuck around with me Somebody
stole my father's ring from my locker.
Bobo holds up a nasty looking box cutter.
BOBO
Don't make me cut you ..
Herbie suddenly shatters the bottle of coke against the
Bobo's head. He goes down SCREAMING, blood pouring from his
head. Tommy kneels over him to see if he's alright.
13

HERBIE
Punk!
Herbie and Jim start kicking ass maniaclY,on everyone in
their path. Neutron is not much of a fighter, but he manages
to kick a BIG MONSTER in the balls and leave him howling on
the floor.
They look up and see TOUGHER, OLDER GUYS, maybe twenty in
all, coming up the street towards the White Castle with
bats, pipes etc..
Jim, Neutron and Herbie know what's good for them, they
scatter like roaches in opposite directions.
INT. SUBWAY - SAME DAY
Jim runs onto the SUbway between the closing doors and sits
down, trying to catch his breath. Through the doors, he
waves a sarcastic goodbye to one of the GUys chasing him.
After a moment, an ANCIENT DRUNK stumbles over and sits down
next to Jim and launches into a rambling SOB STORY. We see
Jim nodding his head, trying to follow the story.
JIM
(v.c.)
Why is it, that on a crowded train,
they always come right to me? It's
like radar or something. I never have
the heart to tell them to fuck off
or find another seat. I wind up getting

all involved in the story and saying

something like "I know just What you
mean, the same thing happend to a man
I knew and he became a drunk from
it and blah blah"blah etc... "
A TRANSIT COP comes over and kicks the Drunk off the sUbway.
As the train pUlls away, he waves sadly to Jim through the
window with a face that says, "Who's gonna listen "to me
now?"
JIM
(V. o. )
Lotta sad stories in the naked city...
EXT. JIM'S STREET - EARLY EVENING
The block is hopping - DEALERS, CHEAP WHORES on the corner,
OLD NEIGHBORHOOD GUYS hanging out in front of a bodega.
We catch sight of Pedro, Herbie and Neutron drinking and
BULLSHITTING on a stoop. Jim makes his way down the block.
PEDRO
Yo, Jimi We did good .. C'mere ...
Jim goes over to his Boys on the stoop. Pedro hands Jim
three twenty's and six singles. He is wearing the ring that
belonged to Pimple Face's Father.
PEDRO
Herbie's brother's gonna fence the rest
of the shit ...
Neutron twists open a forty ounce of Olde Golde and takes a
swig. He passes it to Herbie, who takes an enormous swig.
14

Jim takes his turn on the bottle as DIANE MOODY, a pathetic,

young, neighborhood crack whore, comes over to their stoop,
in a filthy mini skirt and tube top.
DIANE
Hey, fellas ... Anybody looking for a
date?
HERBIE
Yeah, Diane, let's go out for a
candlelight dinner.
DIANE
How 'bout we skip right to desert?
I'll do it real good for fifteen bucks ...
HERBIE
Fifteen bucks? I'll give you a penny

15
if you let Pedro suck your titty
DIANE
very funny ...
NEUTRON
Do I look like I gotta pay for it?
Huh, Diane?
Diane zeroes in on Jim.
DIANE
Jim, whaddya say? Whaddya say?
She puts her arms around Jim.
I'll do it special, I promise ...
Jim untangles himself from her. He offers her a half eaten
bag of pretzels from his pocket.
JIM
It's all I got ...
She angrily knocks the bag of pretzels out of his hand .
DIANE
Fuck you. Fuck all you guys!
She walks away, desperate and pissed off.
HERBIE
Fuckin' baseheads ... That crack
shit'll kill you.
Herbie takes another huge swig of Olde Golde. He looks up
the block at the rest of the Whores, someone catches his
eye.
HERBIE
Isn't that Pedro's Mother slinging her
wares over there?
Everyone LAUGHS until they look and see it really is Pedro's
Mother on the corner, one foot against the wall, dressed for
the job. Pedro's eyes fill with tears as he looks.
JIM
Herbie, shut the fuck up, man!
Pedro runs from the stoop into his apartment building,
CRYING.

HERBIE
Why's the little shoe cryin'? Because
his father's a loafer and his mother's
a sneaker?
Jim doesn't answer, he gets off the stoop and walks down the
block.
HERBIE
Hey, Jim, where you going?
ESTABLISHING SHOT - ST. VINCENT'S HOSPITAL - NIGHT
A HOMELESS MAN PLAYS an old Temptations tune on his guitar
in front of the large, modern hospital that occupies the
busy corner of Seventh Avene and Greenwich street.
INT. HOSPITAL - OUTSIDE BOBBY SACH'S ROOM - NIGHT
16

Jim walks up to Bobby's room and nods politely to his solemn

looking PARENTS. He enters
INT. BOBBY'S ROOM
Jim looks in and doesn't see Bobby.
BOBBY
Over here, Jim...
Jim sees BOBBY SACH sitting up in the second bed, skinny and
hairless, a victim of leukemia. In his face, one can see the
remnants of a handsome, strong boy.
BOBBY
What? You didn't recognize me with
my "Charles Barkley" hairdo?
Bobby runs his hand over his bald head. Jim LAUGHS and walks
over to Bobby.
JIM
Tell you what Bobby, when you get
outta here, we'll all get buzzed.
They'll think we're a fuckin' gang
of skinheads.
BOBBY
You mean if I get outta here ..
JIM
(forced cheerfulness)
Come on, you know you're gonna be
fine.

Bobby shrugs, there is an uncomfortable silence.

JIM
I brought some s ~ u f f for you, from the
guys.
BOBBY
Yeah, I see you got a Santa bag ...
Jim takes out the signed basketball and hands it to Bobby.
JIM
Even Lefty signed.
Bobby spins the ball on the his finger.
BOBBY
Remeber when I dunked on that spook in
Riverside Park?
. JIM
Yeah. You always had good ups.
BOBBY
Yeah ...
Jim hands Bobby four dirty polaroids. Bobby looks through
them.
JIM
Check these out ... Pedro found them
in some lady's bag ... She's gettin'
it on with a donkey, no shit ...
Jim picks out another polaroid.
JIM
I love this one. She's throwing
this big, hairy spread and has this
look on her face that says, "Everything
is perfectly O.K." Drove me wild.
I broke your record.
BOBBY
How many times did you choke it?
JIM
Seven times.
BOBBY
Get the fuck outta here!
"
17

JIM
I'm serious. One miserable little drop
came out the last time. My Mother
thinks I have a cold year round because
of all the tissues.
BOBBY
They're pumping so much junk in me,
I can't even get a decent chubby.
JIM
Is that right?
Jim goes over to the closet and opens the door, taking a
pair of Bobby's jeans off the hanger.
JIM
I got an idea.
BOBBY
What?
JIM
Get dressed. We're goin' out
BOBBY
Are you crazy?
Jim smiles mischieviously at him and suddenly throws the
pants to Bobby. He snatches them out the air, his hands
moving with surprising speed. He smiles back at Jim.
CUT TO:
Jim wheeling a heavily bundled up Bobby in his wheelchair
full speed across Seventh Avenue on 42nd Street, wildly
dodging traffic.
18

Bobby is elated by the speed and the danger, his face is

really alive for the first time. Jim looks down at him as
they make it to the other side of the street, he is thrilled
at the sight of his friends pleasure.
They continue down 42nd Street at a slower pace- The block
is crackling with kinetic energy as it's usual assortments
of hustlers, whores, commuters and suckers go about their
business.
Bobby looks up and notices something very unusual about the
movie marquee above him: Instead of one of the usual porno
titles, it reads BOREDOM MAKES YOU CRAZY .

Bobby LAUGHS. He looks at the other marquees and they all

have these kinds of slogans - SAVOR KINDESS BECAUSE CRUELTY
IS ALWAYS POSSIBLE LATER, SLOPPY THINKING GETS WORSE OVER
TIME, SLIPPING INTO MADNESS IS GOOD FOR THE SAKE OF
COMPARISON. It is surreal. (* note to reader - these are
actual slogans currently on movie marquees on 42nd Street.)
BOBBY
(amazed)
what the fuck happened to Forty Duece?
He points to a marqee.
Last time I was here, that theatre
was playin' "Sperminator II".
JIM
The whole block's been done over by
artists, man. It's pretty cool.
BOBBY
(smiling)
They should put your stuff up there.
JIM
(flattered)
Yeah, right.
BOBBY
You're still scribbling shit in
that notebook of yours, aren't you?
JIM
Of course.
BOBBY
You bring anything for me?
JIM
What, to read?
BOBBY
No, to eat. Whaddya think?
Jim stops wheeling Bobby for a moment. He finds a scrap of
paper in his pants.
JIM
I found this crumpled in my pocket
the other day. I don't even remember
writing it .
He hands it to' Bobby.
19

BOBBY
(reading the poem aloud)
little kids shoot marbles
where branches break the sun
into graceful shafts of light
I just want to be pure ..
Bobby thinks about the poem for a moment, trying to
understand it.
I just want to be pure ...
CUT TO:
A BLACK SCREEN.
This blackness turns out to be a partition that slowly rises
revealing a naked belly, then tassled breasts, then the
shoulders and face of a FEMALE DANCER.
Jim and Bobby are revealed just ~ s slowly in the reflection
of the glass as the partition rises. Jim stands behind Bobby
in his wheelchair, both watch the Dancer bump and grind.
JIM
Nothin' like the real thing to float
your boat, huh, Bobby?
Jim smiles, but Bobby doesn't smile back, he watches the
Dancer intensely, trying to get into it.
20

She has a look of vacent boredom on her face as she performs

her specialty - swinging her breasts in opposite directions
at the same time.
JIM
(nudging Bobby)
How 'bout that, man?
Jim looks down to Bobby and sees that he's getting more and
more frustrated and angry. Bobby is shaking his head and
MUTTERING to himself.
Jim doesn't know what to do.
The Dancer looks down at Bobby, sees that he's having a bad
time and her eyes soften. They stare at each dther for a
long moment, two people trapped in nightmare situations.
BOBBY
(harshly)
Get me outta here, Jim.

21
JIM
What's wrong, Bobby?
BOBBY
This was a stupid fuckin' idea.
I don't feel good.
Jim's eyes fill with tears as he sees Bobby's p a i ~ .
BOBBY
(exploding)
Didn't you hear me? Get me the fuck
out!
JIM
O.K. , O.K
Jim hurriedly backs Bobby's wheelchair out of the booth.
Bobby turns back for one last look at the Dancer, but the
black partition has already gone down on her face.
All Bobby sees is a dwindling view of her mechanically
gyrating body as the partition again fills the screen with
blackness.
INT. BOBBY'S HOSPITAL ROOM - LATER THAT NIGHT
Jim lifts Bobby out of his wheelchair onto the bed. He kicks
off his shoes.
JIM
Yo, Bob, I'm sorry, man, next
time we go out we'll-
BOBBY
There ain't gonna be a next time,
Jim...
There is silence as Bobby lies back on his bed.
BOBBY
Can you close the window? It's
cold.
JIM
Yeah ...
Jim goes over to the window, but it's already closed.
BOBBY
I'm fucking tired...
Bobby face looks old and fragile on the pillow, his eyes
flutter. Jim looks uncomfortable and frightened.

22
EXT. STREET - OUTSIDE JIM'S APARTMENT - NIGHT
Jim climbs the fire escape up to his window and sneaks into
INT. JIM'S ROOM - NIGHT
Jim is surprised to see his MOTHER sitting on the bed,
waiting for him. She is a tired, red headed woman, missing a
tooth, wearing a dirty housecoat.
MOM
What does the word "enigma" mean?
JIM
Mom, get outta my room. I'm not in
the mood for any crap right now.
MOM
What does it mean?
Jim doesn't answer her.
MOM
I gotta letter from school today, it
says, "Jim has become a constant enigma
around here. He is an exceptionally bright
boy who is not coming close to reaching
his potential. We want to know if anything
is wrong at home."
Jim picks up a dictionary off the shelf and opens it up.
JIM
(reading)
Enigma: a model of perfection, an example
to which others strive toward. E.g.,
Jim was a constant enigma to his Math
classmates."
Mom grabs the dictionary out of his hands and reads the real
definition.
MOM
You think you're funny, don't you?
JIM
Get outta my room, I'm tired...
MOM
We had a deal, Jim - You have to
go to school if you want to live in
this house .

JIM
I go to school.
MOM
Don't bullshit me or I'll throw your
ass out right now. Father McNulty called
and said you cut out after first period.
What the hell is wrong with you?
JIM
You want to see what Father McNulty
taught me first period?
Jim pulls down his pants to reveal his bare ass covered with
serious looking welts from the beating he took. They are
starting to blister.
MOM
What did you do? You must have
done something ...
JIM
I told a fucking joke..
Jim pUlls up his pants and heads back out the window.
MOM
Jim!
EXT. FIRE ESCAPE
Jim climbs up the fire escape to
EXT. ROOF - NIGHT
Jim stands on the roof, looking out at the city, breathing
hard, upset. Slowly, he relaxes and strips down naked.
He lies down on the tar and looks up at the stars.
We see Jim from the waist up, but it is obvious he has begun
masterbating.
JIM
(V.C.)
I love it this way. My feet against
the tar, which is soft from the Spring
heat, the slight breeze that runs across
your entire body, especially your crotch.
You feel an incredible power being naked
under a dome of stars While a giant city
is dressed, dodging cars all around you five
flights down. I don't think of anything
while I'm doing the actual tugging,
least of all the heavy sex fantasies
23

I have to resort to indoors. It's

just my own naked self and the stars
breathing down. And it's beautiful ...
We PULL BACK until we see Jim, a small, naked white figure
against the black of the roof tar. The stars hang over him
surreally close and large in the dark sky.
DISSOLVE TO:
BLINDING SUN - The Legend SUMMER appears, then dissapears on
the screen.
Our eyes focus to find
JIM sleeping barechested in his small, ratty room, stained
white sheets bunched around his waist, a sly smile on his
lips. He looks like a choir boy caught in the middle of a
dirty dream. He is bathed in sunlight.
On the wall behind his head, tattered newspaper clippings of
Jim's basketball exploits share space with a harem of
Playboy pinups. An old photograph of a five year Jim and his
tall, stern Father is also prominently displayed. His
basketball trophies stand on top of a rickety dresser.
We don't see any roaches at the moment, but they're here.
It's that kind of joint.
Jim is jerked suddenly awake by the sound of a WOMAN
SCREAMING. He looks bleary eyed to his open window - Five
feet across the alley from Jim, a MIDDLE AGED WOMAN dressed
only in her bra and panties is loudly CHANTING THE MASS.
Whenever she gets to the Virgin Mary's name, she lets loose
with an INCREDIBLE STREAM OF OBSCENITIES. It is a freaky
sight to wake up to.
JIM
Damn ... There she goes again ...
Jim watches her with fascination as she CONTINUES CHANTING.
He takes a dog-eared marble notebook out from under his
mattress and starts writing in it.
His Mother POUNDS on his door.
MOTHER
(o.s. )
Jim! Jim, are you up?
Jim doesn't answer, he's lost in what he's writing.
24

MOTHER
(0.5.)
Jim!
JIM
I'm up, Ma, I'm up! The loony alarm
went off ...
He writes a few more moments, caps his pen and puts the
journal back under his mattress. He takes one last look at
the Woman in the window.
He struggles out of bed, dressed only in his underwear. He
opens his door and walks into
A NARROW HALLWAY that leads to
INT. BATHROOM - MORNING
Jim stares at his reflection in the bathroom mirror, fingers
the beginnings of a pimple on his chin, checks out the
buzzed sides of his reddish blonde fade haircut.
He looks like a 90's version of a Dead End Kid, tough and
innocent at the same time, undeniably' cool
Jim takes a piss. We hear his Mother's VOICE through the
door.
MOTHER
(0.5.)
Jim, I think I found you a job for
the summer-
JIM
Ma, please, I just woke up-
MOTHER
Six fifty an hour, mowing lawns on
the highway. It'll be nice, working
outside in the sun-
JIM
That's work convicts do. Gimme
a break.
MOTHER
Alright, listen to this one-
Jim flushes the toilet drowning out the rest of her
sentence
25

INT. KITCHEN - MOMENTS LATER

Jim is sitting at the kitchen table wolfing down a poptart.
His Mother sits across from him'with the newspaper opened to
the classifieds.
JIM
Why are you so worried about this?
Do I ever ask you for money?
MOTHER
I don't want you running wild. Idle
time is the devil's plaything.
JIM
"The Devil's Plaything", that
might be a cool title for my first
book. Thanks a lot.
Jim stuffs the rest of the poptart in his mouth and walks
towards the door.
MOTHER
Where are you going?
JIM
out.
MOTHER
What do you mean, out?
JIM
Chill, Ma, I can take care of
myself.
Jim leaves his Mother alone in the kitchen, feeling uneasy.
EXT. WEST 4TH STREET BASKETBALL CAGE - MORNING
Jim sits on the asphalt of the basketball court, leaning
against a chain link fence, writing in his journal.
A basketball suddenly bounces hard off the fence right above
his head. startled, Jim looks up, right into the face of
REGGIE PORTER, a powerfully built man in his early 40's.
Reggie's face is bearded, scarred, his eyes betray a life of
bad luck and hard living. He has the wisdom of someone who
has seen it all and come through.
He and Jim treat each other with contemptuous affection.
26

REGGIE
Hey white boy, you ready for your
beating?
JIM
Old man, your mouth's making promises
your body can't cash.
Jim caps his pen and carefully puts his journal in his
jacket pocket.
REGGIE
I'll shoot for it.
Reggie swishes a thirty footer.
JIM
So it's gonna be like that, huh?
He checks the ball to Jim, then blows past him to the basket
with deceptive quickness. But Jim recovers, leaping high and
pinning Reggie's shot to the backboard. Jim LAUGHS as he
puts in an easy lay up.
Reggie steals the ball from Jim and dunks two handed. He
hangs on the rim to further embarrass Jim
They start playing the roughest, most intense game of one on
one you've ever seen. A CROWD gathers around the fence to
watch them.
They trade baskets and insults, example for Jim: "Time out!
Geritol break for Reggie ... ", example for Reggie, "I didn't
know Richie cunningham had a fuckin' jumpshot.
1l
Herbie, Neutron and Pedro enter the playground and see Jim
playing with Reggie.
PEDRO
Oh, shit, here they go again ...
Jim scores on an acrobatic lay up over Reggie's outstretched
arms. Reggie checks Jim the ball, Jim TAUNTS him.
JIM
You see that, Reggie? I'm not White,
I'm just pale ...
Jim tries to go to the hoop, but Reggie knocks him down
hard, bloodying Jim'S nose .
REGGIE
You want the foul?
27

Jim shakes his head "no". Reggie puts in the easy lay up.
The game continues, harder than ever.
HERBIE
Yo, Jim! What's the score, man? We
gottago...
NEUTRON
They don't keep score, Herbie.
HERBIE
What? Jim, corne on! We're gonna lose
the sun.
Jim ignores him, he's locked in his battle with Reggie.
HERBIE
Jim!
(to Pedro and Neutron)
Wanna see me put ~ charge in his ass?
He goes over to Jim's jacket and takes out his journal ..
HERBIE
(loudly, so Jim can
hear)
Oh, what's this? It looks like
Jim's secret diary that he's always
writing in. Let's see what he says
about me ...
28

But Jim is still too involved in the game to pay attention

to Herbie. So Herbie leafs through the journal. He starts to
read out loud from the journal at the top of his voice, to
get Jim's attention:
HERBIE
(reading)
"SPRING '93 - Herbie ... ", Hey, there
I am, "Herbie takes out a bottle of
carbona cleaning fluid and suggests
we do a little sniffing to get high .. ".
JIM
Herbie, put that down!
Herbie winks to Pedro and Neutron. Jim moves to Herbie.
HERBIE
(keeps reading)
"After four deep whiffs, we were sailing
someplace else, bells ringing through

29
my ears and little lights flashing
through my eyes .. "
JIM
I'm serious, mant
Jim tries to grab the journal, but Herbie holds him off and
keeps READING.
HERBIE
(GIGGLING)
" ... 1 pictured myself paddling across a
river with black water, only the canoe was
going backwards instead of forwards, with
clouds that were faces' laughing spooky
funhouse laughs which wouldn't stop
echoing... " What is this shit, Jim?
REGGIE
(impressed, to Jim)
You wrote that?
Jim jumps up and grabs his journal from Herbie.
JIM
You're a fuckin' shmuck, Herbie.
HERBIE -
You were keeping us waitin', man ...
JIM
(serious)
Don't do that again, you understand,
it's private.
Herbie shrugs.
REGGIE
Hey, Shakespeare, you gonna finish
the game?
JIM
This game never ends, Reggie. You know
that ...
They slap hands goodbye. Jim, Herbie, Neutron and Pedro walk
out to Sixth Avenue and hail a cab. They all pile in, Pedro
is last, he sits up front with the Pakistani Cabdriver.
CABBIE
Where you go?

HERBIE
(reactingto his halting English)
Oh shit ...
JIM
The Cloisters ...
CABBIE
Huh?
HERBIE
The Cloisters, motherfucker, you want me
to sign it for you?
Herbie goes into an grotesque imitation of sign language.
CABBIE
You bad mouth, you get outta my fokkin'
cab, motherfokker you!
JIM
Chill, chill, I'li get you there,
swami ...
Herbie and Neutron start LAUGHING. Herbie starts rolling a
joint as they dissapear down the street.
CUT TO:
The cab pUlling up at light all the way uptown. The doors
suddenly fly open and Jim, Neutron and Herbie sprint out,
stiffing the driver.
Pedro is not quick enough, the Cabbie grabs him by the neck.
CABBIE
You pay! You pay!
Herbie comes running over. He rips Pedro out of the Cabbie's
clutches.
CABBIE
Police! Police!
Herbie and Pedro haul ass down the block.
PEDRO
(as they run)
Thanks, Herbie!
HERBIE
What were you doing back there, teaching
him English?
)0

EXT. 225th STREET - DAY

The Gang walk up 225th Street to the Bridge, BULLSHITTING
with each other.
JIM
Can you imagine that guy trying to.
describe us to the police?
HERBIE
(imitating the Cabbie's accent)
"Dere were four bad mouth bastid
motherfokkers my fokkin' cab... "
They all LAUGH. Pedro points to a street sign.
PEDRO
Hey, look, Seamen Street. Get it,
like "semen" street?
HERBIE
Yeah, I get it, whaddya think,
I'm brain dead?
NEUTRON
I knew a girl lived on the corner of
Seaman and Cummings street, no shit.
She fucked her weight in guys, but
living on a corner with names like
that no one could blame her.
JIM
Dyke street's two blocks up.
HERBIE
Dyke Street? No shit?
JIM
No shit ...
They all LAUGH harder.
PEDRO
The whole fuckin' neighborhood's
perverted...
They shimmy down the bridge to the railroad tracks. They
start climbing up a mountain about a fifty feet from the
tracks.
Herbie finds a broken crutch on the ground, he uses it as a
walking stick.
31

JIM
(V. O. )
Every crowd has it's little games to
prove if you're a punk or not. My
cousin in Newark plays "chickie
ll
, which
is two cars heading towards each other at
about 80 miles per hour. The first
driver to serve out of the way is, of
course, chicken. On the lower east side,
they'd make you press a lit cigarette
onto your arm and have it burn all the
way up to the filter without the slightest
flinch ...
Jim and his Boys are climbing up the steep moutain, higher
and higher, passing around a joint and a forty ounce Olde
English, getting fucked up.
JIM
(V.O. cont.)
Us Manhattan boys jump off cliffs
into the Harlem River, which is
literally shitty because there are
giant sewer deposits where half a
million toilets empty their goods
daily. There are lines of shit about
five feet wide that come by every forty
seconds or so.
They get to the top of the mountain, and stand on top of a
huge rock. They look down and there it is, stretched
endlessly in front of them, the Harlem River, the water
green and ominous, a good 150 feet down.
They keep smoking and drinking, working up their courage.
JIM
(V. o. Cant.)
You have to time your jump in between
the lines just like those jitterbugs
down in Acapulco got to time their
jumps so they hit the water just as
the wave is beginning to break.
They poke around the bushes at the base of the rock to find
their hidden bathing suits and jocks.
They are down to their scivvies when they hear GIGGLES from
the bushes. They turn to see THREE THIRTEEN YEAR OLD GIRLS
trying to get a free show.
Herbie pulls down Pedro's underwear, exposing his privates.
Pedro lets out a high pitched SCREAM and covers himself.
32

PEDRO
I'm gonna fuckin' kill you, Herbie!
The GIRLS are LAUGHING uncontrollably.
HERBIE
Let's get 'em!
They charge after them, only in their underwear, slinging
their jockstraps in the air. Their true purity exposed, the
Girls are off like a breeze.
LAUGHING, the Guys change into their suits. Herbie puts all
their stuff in a plastic bag and throws it onto the rocks
below.
Pedro is sullen. Herbie puts him in a good natured headlock.
HERBIE
Come on, little man, you know I love
ya ...
He lights another joint and hands it to Pedro.
HERBIE
Truce, O.K.?
Pedro takes a long toke and looks down into the faraway
water.
PEDRO
Long way down ...
HERBIE
Oh, come on, Devil's Toe ain't no
big fucking deal. We've all done it
plenty of times.
PEDRO
I never done it.
HERBIE
Bobby used to do backflips off this
fucking rock, man. He was fucking awesome.
JIM
Don't talk about him like he's dead.
He's not dead.
Herbie gives Jim a strange look .

NEUTRON
Hey, check it out, it's the Circle
Line ...
Sure enough, the Circle Line, a large sightseeing boat
loaded with TOURISTS slowly cruises by. They wave at Jim and
the Boys, who drop simultaneously drop their trunks and moon
them.
Herbie takes a huge swig from the 40 ounce. He hands it to
Pedro and gets ready to jump. The whole Circle Line is
watching him.
He suddenly jumps. He has one hand covering his balls, the
other holding his nose. He clears a tree hanging dangerously
over the rock, and goes down, down, down into the water like
a rocket, narrowly missing the thick line of shit that
floats past him.
It takes him a few moments to surface. He puts up his hands
like a boxing champion, then motions for them to jump, too.
PEDRO
I'm gonna walk down ...
JIM
What're you crazy? There's no
way to walk down.
PEDRO
I'm not jumpin'.
JIM
Your clothes are down there, man.
NEUTRON
You can make it, Pete ... Come on, you
don't want Herbie teasing you, do ya?
Pedro takes two more drags from the joint and steps to the
edge of Devil's Toe.
PEDRO
(muttering to himself)
Fuck it ...
He crosses himself and jumps, YELLING "FUCK IT!" really
loud. It looks bad right from the start.
JIM
Oh, no ... Bad form...
34

)LUILL'j
l1'{206', 7-
""S \,lye-,
Jim SIGHS as he watches Pedro hit the water like an octopus,
limbs flying everywhere, the SMACKING SOUND of the splash
carries clear up to Jim and Neutron on the rock.
Pedro surfaces after a moment, shaking his head in anger and
pain. A thick wedge of shitty water floats right over him.
He is absolutely miserable.
JIM
(holding back laughter)
You alright?
Jim and Neutron crack up hysterically as Pedro paddles
painfully to shore.
NEUTRON
Yo, Jim, don't tell the other guys,
but after we get finished with
everything tonight, I got a big
surprise for us ...
JIM
What is it?
NEUTRON
(smiling mischievously)
Trust me ...
They step up to the the edge of the rock. The Tourists on
the circle Line are waiting expectantly.
NEUTRON
You ready? One ... Two ... Three ...
They dive athletically in unision, floating through the blue
sky in SLOW MOTION like a pair of beautiful birds. They
dissapear into the inky blackness of the water with almost
no splash at all.
We hear the APPLAUSE of the Tourists.
THE SCREEN IS BLACK FOR A MOMENT.
Slowly, our eyes get adjusted to the darkness. Finally, we
focus in on Jim, Neutron, Pedro and Herbie are in an alley
in the ritzy Upper East Side. Night is just falling.
Herbie peaks out onto the street and SEES: A WEALTHY WOMEN
walking alone, fiddling with her purse.
HERBIE
(whispering)
Here she comes ...

They all cover their faces like bandits with their bandanas.
HERBIE
Get ready, P e d r o ~ ..
PEDRO
I'm not doing it.
HERBIE
You're doing it!
PEDRO
It's always me ... Fuck you ...
NEUTRON
She's coming!
Herbie peaks out and takes a look at her.
HERBIE
I'll do it, I'll do it .
Herbie takes off his bandana and stuffs it in his back
pocket. He walks onto the street as casually as he can.
The Wealthy Woman is walking towards him. Herbie makes
himself appear young and All American.
HERBIE
Excuse me, Miss, can you tell me
where I can find the subway?
WOMAN
Just go down 68th Street and turn
right on Lexington-
She points up the block, her purse dangling off her elbow.
Herbie makes a quick grab for the purse, but she holds onto
it.
They get into a mini tug of war, this lady is much feistier
than he expected.
Jim, Neutron and Pedro leap out of the alley in their
bandanas to help Herbie. She starts hitting Jim in the head
with her other bag. There is something hard in the second
bag, a bottle of something and blood trickles down Jim's
forehead.
Finally, Herbie viciously rips the bag out of her hand,
sending it flying in the air. He pushes her very roughly to
the street as Jim looks on in disgust at the unnecesary
violence.
36

Pedro snatches the purse off the ground and puts it under
his shirt.
WOMAN
Help! Help!
They run away down the street. Jim looks back at her in a
combination of horror and guilt, his blood still flowing.
EXT. ANOTHER ALLEY - SAME NIGHT
Jim, Neutron, Herbie and Pedro silently split up the money.
Jim presses his bandana over his cut and bruised head,
sipping from a fifth of Scotch. Each man has a stack of
twenties.
They are still a little keyed up. Pedro is LAUGHING almost
uncontrollably.
PEDRO
That was so funny when she was crackin'
Jim in the head with her ba9' Jim was
like "Oh, shit, this bitch hits like
Tyson. II
He keeps on GIGGLING. The rest of the GUys are annoyed with
him. Herbie suddenly smacks Pedro in the head, hard.
HERBIE
Now you got cracked in the head,
is it funny now, you motherfuckin'
dwarf spic?
JIM
Go, easy, Herbie, he's just goofin'
on me ... Jesus ...
There is awkward silence between the Friends.
JIM
What the hell are we fighting for?
Let's go spend some of this money.
Herbie and Pedro won't look at each other.
JIM
Come on, guys, whaddya say?
They both nod, still not looking at each other.
37

:rl fT\ff\'j U0\D \ N e \ J \ ~ C J J ' J

38
INT. "POOL BAR" - DOWNTOWN NEW YORK CITY
Jim, Neutron, Herbie and Pedro stand at the bar in the
incredibly crowded, low ceilinged PoolBar, so named because
the tiny joint is dominated by a large pool table in the
middle of the club that WOMEN dance on.
An EARSPLITTINGLY LOUD PUNK BAND is PLAYING and the YOUNG
CROWD is slam dancing and stage diving with crazy energy.
Herbie and Pedro, buddies again, are kidding around with the
BARTENDER.
PEDRO
(to the Bartender)
Let me have a Lincoln Continental.
BARTENDER
What's in a Lincoln Continental?
PEDRO
Power steering, bucket seats.
Pedro and Herbie crack up LAUGHING. The Bartender is staring
at them impassively.
HERBIE
We're just fucking with you. Give
us two more shots of Jack.
The Bartender serves them the shots and Pedro and Herbie
down them immediately. They run full speed to the dance
floor and hurl themselves wildly into the CROWD.
Jim and Neurton watch them with bemused looks. Jim holds an
ice cold beer to his swollen head.
NEUTRON
You still up for your surprise?
JIM
What is it, man? My head is killing me.
Neutron grins wickedly.
NEUTRON
I think this will ease your pain.
Neutron puts some money on the bar .

EXT. STREET - NIGHT

Jim and Neutron walk up to a nice doorman building on
Riverside Drive. Their noses are buried in the New York Post
as they walk.
NEUTRON
Unbe-fuckin'-lievable It's in the
fuckin' paper already .
We get a look at the headline - "Diaper Bandits strike
Again."
NEUTRON
(reading)
" ... this gang of pUbescent thugs is wanted
in connection with six savage muggings
in the Manhattan area ... " You think
we're savage, Jim?
JIM
Does it say anything about the woman?
She went down hard...
NEUTRON
(reading)
Here it is ... "51 year old Barbara Fleming
is in guarded, but stable condition in
Roosevelt Hospital with a fractured jaw
and a concussion... "
JIM
Christ ... We gotta cool Herbie out ..
They enter
INT. BUILDING - NIGHT
They walk through the lobby. Neutron nods to the DOORMAN.
NEUTRON
What's up, Manny?
Jim and Neutron disappear into the elevator.
EXT. HALLWAY - MOMENTS LATER
39

Neutron knocks on the door of one of the apartments. He

smiles confidently at Jim.
A sexy, curvaceous young BLONDE, about 16 years old, answers
the door and smiles sleepily, she appears wasted. She's
dressed in a groovy, seventies style clothes.

NEUTRON
This is Winkie ...
Behind Winkie steps another, identical looking young blonde.
NEUTRON
... and this is Blinkie ...
Jim smiles at her.
INT. APARTMENT - LATER
Jim and Blinkie, Neutron and Winkie sit on a huge couch in
their beautiful, but hopelessly messy apartment. Incense
burns, COOL MUSIC plays from a CD player, there are pillows
allover the floor and exotic tapestries on the walls,
cigarettes fill the ashtrays, empty bottles seem to be
everywhere.
This party has been going on awhile. Wherever their parents
have gone off to, they better get back soon.
Neutron and Winkie are furiously making out, he has his hand
under her halter and she is MOANING LOUDLY. Jim is
uncomfortable.
Blinkie is arranging a line of cocaine on the glass coffee
table, unfazed by the sexual activity taking place right
next to her. She smiles at Jim invitingly.
BLINKIE
I've seen you play ball, Jim..
You're a very beautiful player ...
Very Zen ...
JIM
Thank you ...
BLINKIE
I saw your red hair and I thought
to myself, "He must taste like
strawberry's ... "
Neutron pulls off Winkie's short shorts - She is wearing
leather panties with fringes.
Jim sneaks a peak, he's a little jealous. Blinkie snorts an
enormous line of coke through a hundred dollar bill.
she hands Jim the bill and nods to the cocaine. The way Jim
looks at the coke, we know he's never done it before.
Blinkie leans over and WHISPERS in his ear.
40

41
BLINKIE
It'll make you fuck like superman...
She kisses his ear sexily.
BLINKIE
Faster than a speeding bullet ...
She kisses his neck.
BLINKIE
More powerful than a locomotivie ...
She rubs his cock over his pants.
BLINKIE
Able to, able to, uh ..
(giggles spacily)
I can't think of anything for the
single bound ...
Jim again looks over at Winkie and Neutron who are really
going at it, then he looks at Blinkie who nods seductively
to the line of cocaine on the table.
She hands him the hundred dollar bill and Jim is frozen for
a moment in indecision.
Jim snorts a line. He shakes his head from the jolt, his
eyes glassy. He snorts another line immediately off the
coffee table.
Blinkie blows a freeze of cocaine into his mouth, then they
french kiss in a slow passionate rhythm.
Blinkie stands up and extends her hand to Jim.
BLINKIE
Come on...
DISSOLVE TO:
Blinkie doing a sexy striptease for Jim who lies back on her
enormous white bed. She pulls off her short shorts to reveal
identical leather panties with the fringes. Jim looks
excited and nervous.
BLINKIE
Do you have any protection?
Jim takes out a condom from his pocket

Jrn
(trying to make a joke)
Got my jimmy hat .. This one's
guaranteed pleasure proof ..
Jim LAUGHS nervously.
BUNnE
What are you waiting for?
JIM
Huh?
BLINKIE
Take off your clothes ..
Jim looks uncomfortable.
JIM
Turn off the light ...
42

She smiles, turns off the light, leaving us in the darkness.

FADE IN:
Jim and Blinkie fucking, she is WHISERING in his ear,
teaching him. In a stripe of light from the window, we see
Jim's heavenly smile. FADE TO BLACK.
FADE IN:
Blinkie is crashed out sleeping. But Jim is still wired,
writing furiously in his journal. FADE TO BLACK.
FADE IN:
Jim is pacing the living room nervously. Neutron'and Winkie
are asleep on the floor. The colorful tapestries on the
walls are taking on an ominous look. The first sunlight of
the day is on his face.
He rubs his eyes, he's starting to get a little crazy. He
desperately wants to sleep.
He walks into the modern, black tiled bathroom and starts
tearing through the medicine cabinet.
He finds some valium and downs three. He puts the whole vial
in his jacket pocket. He takes a big swig of cough medicine
with codeine and puts that in his jaCket, too.
He steals another vial of seconal, closes the medicine
cabinet and comes face to face with himself in the mirror.

His own reflection shocks him - His eyes are bloodshot and
wild, with dark circles underneath, there are cocaine traces
on his nose and dried blood on his forehead and matting his
hair.
He stares at himself, horrified, for a.moment, then his lids
start drooping from the effects of the cough medicine and
valiums.
FADE TO BLACK. The Legend FALL appears, then disappears on
the screen.
FADE IN:
A BIRO'S EYE VIEW of Bobby Sachs in his open casket, hands
folded in front of him, wearing a dark suit. Jim is kneeling
in front of the coffin, tears in his eyes, he tentatively
reaches out and touches his dead friend's hand.
JIM
(V.O.)
I looked at his body and it was death
for the first time. His face was thin
and wrinkled, almost ape like, his
hair just grey patches on his scalp .
He looked sixty years old, and he was
sixteen. I couldn't believe how skinny
his arms were, much skinnier than they
were even in the hospital . It was like
having the skeleton of someone you
knew
put in front of you .
EXT. STREET - NIGHT
Jim, Neutron, Herbie and Pedro walk through the streets in
their suits, a light rain falls, as if the night itself is
crying.
JIM
(V.a.Cont.)
I felt dazed, like I had just come out
of a four hour movie I didn't understand.
I kept thinking about his face, and
death, and what a cheat the whole thing
was ..
EXT. PLAYGROUND - LATER THAT NIGHT
The Boys are sitting on the stone bleachers overlooking the
playground, reminiscing, drinking and smoking. Jim is
43

uet>bl, ') 44
1 d
" t d '1 k' '1
strange y ant an ent, ta snorts of
blow from a little spoon and bottle.
PEDRO
Remember that Halloween when Bobby
filled that paper bag with dogshit
and lit it on fire outside Father
Dunne's door? We hid behind the
dumpster and watched him stamp it
out with his foot. Remember the .
expression on the Father's face?
I was picturing him wiping his
slippers off over the john with "
toilet paper ...
He LAUGHS.
PEDRO
You think that'll keep him out of
heaven?
. HERBIE
Nah ... Jesus Christ himself woulda
laughed at that. It was fuckin'
hilarious ...
NEUTRON
Or that time at the Formal when Bobby
got caught with Mary Ann Dugan in the
boy's bathroom and he's going, "We
weren't doing anything, Father, we were
just talking... " and there's this, like,
giant wad of cum hanging off her hair ..
They all LAUGH.
HERBIE
Bobby was a pisser.
PEDRO
It was weird seeing him today. He was
all shrunk and wrinkly, like my
Grandfather-
NEUTRON
Like it wasn't even Bobby, really-
PEDRO
It was freaky-
NEUTRON
He was such a strong guy-

PEDRO
I know.. Remember San Gennaro? He hit
that thing with the hammer and the bell
rung.
NEUTRON
Uh-huh.
PEDRO
Even Herbie couldn't do it .
There is a silence, Jim still hasn't said anything.
PEDRO
You see his Mother? She was crying
so hard she couldn't even breathe...
HERBIE
It's better he died. He was in a
lot of pain.
JIM
(suddenly exploding)
How the hell would you know, Herbie?
You never went to visit him. None of
you did..
They are all shamed into silence.
NEUTRON
I didn't know what to say to him,
Jim...
They all nod as if that was their problem, too.
PEDRO
My Mom didn't let me go. She was afraid
I was gonna catch something.
Herbie tries to suppress a sudden case of the GIGGLES.
HERBIE
Your Mom was afraid you were gonna
catch something? She should worry about
catching something herself.
His GIGGLE bursts out. Pedro's eyes well up.
NEUTRON
Herbie, can you shut the fuck up for
one night? Have some respect, huh ...
45

JIM
(quietlY)
Pedro, tell your Mother you can't catch
leukemia, O.K.? ~ t ' s not contagious ...
There is silence as the rain steadily FALLS.
HERBIE
Look, Jim, his time came, alright?
What can you do? My Brother's old
Girlfriend caught a bullet in Fort
Tryon park, just got in the middle
of something, I guess. She was eating
a sandwich, next thing'. she's dead.
NEUTRON
Or Little Teddy Rayhill, 'member, he
was doing poppers that time and he
fell off the roof-
HERBIE
Just the way it was meant to be.
JIM
Fuck that! It fuckin' sucks! Bobby
was the best fuckin' guy around.
He deserved better, he
Jim puts his head in his hands. Neutron pats his back.
NEUTRON
Maybe you should talk to one of the
Priests, Jim.
JIM
I wouldn't ask one of those cocksuckers
for directions!
Nobody says anything, they sit around feeling shitty for a
long moment. Suddenly, Herbie stands up like a crazy man.
HERBIE
(screaming)
Would everybody fuckin' lighten
up! ! !
Herbie runs over to the park house and SUddenly picks up a
garbage can. He throws it through the window of the park
house.
NEUTRON
What the hell is he doing?
46

Herbie comes out of the park house dribbling a basketball.

He goes on the court and viciously dunks the ball. Once,
twice, a third time. The rain is really coming down, soaking
his suit.
Pedro runs onto the court and steals the ball from Herbie.
Herbie chases him around, angry at first, but then he starts
to LAUGH as Pedro throws it over his head to Neutron in a
game of keep away.
Jim finally joins his Friends. He throws the ball from
halfcourt to the o p p o s i ~ e basket, it careens against the rim
and bounces off, almost going in.
The crazy game that follows is SCORED.to Jim Carroll's
frenetic, oddly euphori'c ode to teenage death, II PEOPLE WHO
DIED".
They start letting out all the tension from the funeral.
They take wild shots, lift Pedro on their shoulders
and let him dunk the ball, they tackle each other, SCREAMING
AND YELLING, all the while swigging down large quantities of
cheap w i n e ~
47

The rain is coming down in sheets. They strip off their

suits until they are down to their underwear. They are
really out of their mindS, running wild in the unbridled
madness of the moment.
Jim dunks the ball backwards with such ferocity that it rips
two of its screws off the backboard. Jim hangs off the
precariously dangling rim, like a monkey, a wild look on his
face, his hair completely soaked with rain.
This image FREEZES. We hear Jim's VOICE, older, harder
edged:
JIM
(V. O. )
Did I ever tell you about the first time
I did heroin?
We see a door, open a CRACK, we hear someone GAGGING.
JIM
(v.a. )
I went down to the cellar of Herbie's
building, all sorts of characters were
in this storage room shooting gallery.
I was just gonna sniff a bag, but a guy
says, "if you're gonna sniff, you might
as well pop it, and if you're gonna pop
it, you might as well mainline." I was
scared of needles, but I gave in...

48
We MOVE into the room, Jim is leaning over the toilet in his
bathroom, really nauseous, desperately wanting to throw up.
He's still high, nodding from the effects of the heroin.
JIM
(V. O. cont.)
It was like one long heatwave through
my body, any ache or pain or sadness
or guilty feelin' was completely flushed
out ..
Jim sticks his finger down his throat and finally vomits.
JIM
(V.O. cont.)
You can never top that first rush,
it's like ten orgasms .
There is nothing left in his stomache, but his throat keeps
convulsing.
. MOM
(O.S.)
Jim, there's a strawberry poptart
on the table for you.
She comes to the door, dressed in a cleaning woman's
uniform, and KNOCKS.
MOM
Are you O.K.? You been in there
awhile .
JIM
(trying to get his breath)
Yeah, yeah... Oon't worry.
She opens the bathroom door and sees Jim kneeling above the
bOWl, facing away from her.
MOM
You usually get sick after you eat my
breakfast.
Jim doesn't respond to her joke.
MOM
You're really sick, aren't you?
JIM
Had some bad chinese last night ...
Go to work, I'll be O.K....

She picks up a towel and turns his face to her. His pupils
are almost completely dilated, he's trying desperately to
keep his head up. She looks at him, horrified.
MOM
Oh, Jim, what are you doing to
yourself?
She wipes off his face with the towel.
JIM
I just gotta little food
poisoning...
MOM
You think I'm stupid?
JIM
I shouldn't eat in them little joints,
that's alL ..
MOM
What's bothering yqu so much, you
gotta do this?
JIM
Mom, I gotta headache, I'm not in
the mood for your dimestore psychology!
MOM
How you gonna do school like this, huh?
How you gonna do school?
He tries to push her a w a y ~
MOM
I'm not gonna live with this, Jim.
I'm warning you.
JIM
You're always warning me ... Blah blah
blah in my fuckin' ear! Blah blah blah
blah blah! You don't understand anything ...
Get outta here, go clean toilets or
whatever the fuck you do. You can clean
this one when you get home.
She smacks him very hard in the face, twice. He smiles at
her sarcastically. She smacks him again.
1- MOM
You're ndL,the only one here with a
temper!
49

50
J'IM
(sarcastic, nasty)
Gee whiz, Ma, we gotta have these
heart to hearts more often. Golly
gee willickers ~
MOM
J'esus Christ, what is wrong with you?
There is a silence between them.
MOM
I can't believe this is you, Jim,
I really can't-
J'IM
(finishing her sentence)
I know, I was such a good little boy ..
with so much potential ...
She looks at him sadly.
MOM
You really were . I don't know
what's happening
JIM
I don't know either .
INT. J'IM'S KITCHEN - NIGHT
Jim is sitting at the kitchen table, slumped over his
history book. His reading lamp the only light in the dark
room. He stares at the page and rubs his eyes, unable to
concentrate. He is obviously high.
J'IM
(V. o. )
First, it's a Saturday night thing, and
you feel cool, like a gangster or a rock
star. It's just something to kill the
boredom. They call that a Pepsi- Cola, a
small habit. Then it feels so good you
start doing it on Tuesdays, then Thursdays,
then it's got you .. Every wise ass punk
on the block says it won't happen to them,
but it does ...
INT. GYMNASIUM - DAY
Jim, Neutron, Herbie and the rest of the team are gathered
around Lefty in the huddle. The gym is crowded with FANS and
CHANTING CHEERLEADERS. Jim looks completely exhausted.

LEFTY
You're my man, Jim, right? I'm
counting on y o u ~ ..
A BUZZER SOUNDS. Jim looks up at the scoreboard - HOME - 69,
AWAY - 70. Eight seconds left on the clock. Lefty pats him
on the ass as he jogs onto the court.
Herbie passes the ball in to Jim, who dribbles quickly over
the time line, to the top of the key. Neutron comes over to
pick Jim's man. Jim makes his move and ... dribbles the ball
off his foot!
The ball rolls slowly towards the out off bounds line.
Everyone is SCREAMING for him to PICK-UP THE BALL, but Jim
just watches it, seemingly transfixed.
Time runs out on the clock, they've lost the game. Jim
slumps over at halfcourt, with fatigue and dissapointment.
INT. JIM'S KITCHEN - NIGHT
Jim is still sitting at the kitchen table, under the
lamplight in the darkened room, but now he is scribbling
maniacly in his notebook
JIM
(V. o. )
Your nose is running, your stomache
cramps, your legs feel like you just
played six games right on top of each
other ... And the voice is always there,
in the back of your head, "Just one
more time, then we'll stop ... "
EXT. PARK - DAY
A beautiful fall day, leaves fall gracefully from the trees.
A GYM CLASS OF BOYS make their way to the soccer field. They
are RAZZED by the tough DENIZENS of the Park about their
corny matching shorts and t-shirts.
Jim, carrying his gym bag, and Lefty, who just happens to be
the gym teacher, lag behind. Jim catches eyes with a rail
thin LONG HAIRED WHITE MAN sitting on one of the benches.
They nod silently to each other.
JIM
Lefty, I'm gonna take a leak,
O.K.?
51

LEFTY
You gotta bladder like a woman,
Jim, you go everytime we're out
here ..
Jim ducks away, into the woods. He exchanges drugs for money
with the Black Man.
Jim sits down, mostly hidden by some bushes.
The Soccer game is going full blast. Lefty walks over to Jim
in the woods. Jim hears him coming and we see him scurrying
to hide his paraphenalia in the bushes.
LEFTY
I thought you were taking a piss ...
What are you doing out here every
gym class?
Jim doesn't say anything.
. LEFTY
Have you been waiting for me, Jim?
Giving me some kind of signal?
JIM
What are you talking about?
LEFTY
Don't act surprised..
Lefty smiles and leans down to Jim. He makes sure noone can
see them and then he reaches into his pocket and produces a
twenty dollar bill. He offers it to Jim.
LEFTY
Do we understand each other?
Jim doesn't take the money.
JIM
Get the fuck away from me, Lefty.
LEFTY
Take it, take it ...
Lefty takes out a second twenty.
52

LEFTY
You want rnore ... Here, just let me
do it, O.K.?
Lefty reaches for Jim's fly. Jim pops him in the face, hard.

Lefty's nose bleeds. Jim gets to his feet quickly, ready to

hit Lefty some more.
LEFTY
(in a ~ a n i c )
Whoa there, Jim, take it easy ...
Lefty wipes the blood from his nose with a hanky.
LEFTY
You can't blame an old man for
trying...
Jim just stares at him.
LEFTY
(quickly)
I made a mistake, alright? Let's
just pretend it never happened.
Things'll go back to exactly how
they were, O.K.? O.K.? Here, keep
the money, keep the money ...
Just don't tell anybody, O.K.?
He holds the forty bucks out to Jim, but Jim doesn't take
it
LEFTY
(suddenly angry)
Good, tell anybody you fucking
want! Nobody's gonna believe a
drughead like you anyway .. You
think we don't know what you're
doing?
Jim snatches the forty bucks from Lefty.
JIM
Now get the fuck outta here ...
Lefty walks away from Jim, moving so fast he's almost
running. Jim sits back down and reaches into the bushes for
his works.
INT. JIM'S APARTMENT - NIGHT
Jim working at the table as his Mother washes dishes in the
sink.
MOTHER
How's your homework coming?
Jim GRUNTS SOMETHING TO HER. The CAMERA moves in a circle
around the kitchen, catching both of them doing their work,
53

in their own universes, giving the scene a disjointed

feeling.
Jim leans back over his books and starts writing again.
JIM
(V. O. )
... and you wanna stop, you really do,
but it's 1ike a dream, and you can "t
stop dreams, they move in crazy pieces,
anyway they want ..
The CAMERA ZOOMS in over his shoulder so we can see what's
he's doing: Jim's writing has spilled out of his notebook
and he is now scribbling furiously on-the table top in an
increasingly wild hand.
It is a scary sight as his head hangs down about an inch
from his pen.
EXT. PLAYGROUND - CATHOLIC SCHOOL - DAY
Jim discreetly hands a little bag'of pills to a STRAIT LACED
LOOKING STUDENT who hands him some money. Jim looks up and
catches eyes with Father McNulty, who has seen the whole
thing.
CLOSE ON JIM'S EYES, shifting nervously, paranoid.
JIM
(V.o. cont. )
.. and suddenly, you're capable
of anything...
INT. CATHOLIC SCHOOL - DAY
REVERSE ANGLE ON JIM, wearing a long coat, walking through
the long, ominous hallways of the school. Jim arrives at a
classroom and kicks in the door.
He whips out a machine gun from under his coat and randomly
annhilates the students in a hail of bullets and blood.
He saves Father McNulty for last. Jim levels the gun at the
Priest who is on his knees in front of Jim, BEGGING FOR HIS
LIFE.
Jim listens impassively, then calmly pulls the trigger.
BOOM!
BACK TO REALITY - The BOOM! is Father McNUlty slamming his
paddle on Jim's desk, waking him from his dream with a
start. All the other STUDENTS are walking out of the
classroom already.
54

FATHER MCNULTY
Wake up, Mr. Carroll, it's later than
you think..
INT. CATHEDRAL - DAY
Jim, Herbie, Pedro and the rest of the CLASS wait in line
for confession inside the cavernous, gothic Cathedral.
Herbie nods towards the confession booths.
HERBIE
They remind me of them peep booths
on 42nd Street. I'm on my knees,
thinking thedoor's gonna slide
open
and there's gonna be some woman dancin'
with her top off. I always wind up
confessing with a hard on.
JIM
. A hard on? Man, they're like phone booths
to God. I can't tell a lie in there ..
A STUDENT comes out of one of the confessionals - It's now
Jim's turn. He looks incredibly nervous
JIM
Father McNulty 1
Father McNulty turns to Jim.
JIM
I don't want to go in.
FATHER MCNULTY
Why? What are you scared of?
JIM
Nothin' I just don't wanna go in
today .
FATHER MCNULTY
(with a wry smile)
I imagine you have more to confess than
anybody here ... Unburden yourself ...
Jim sees there is no negotiating with Father McNulty. He
opens the ornately carved door of the confessional .
55

56
INT. CONFESSIONAL - DAY
Jim kneels in the tiny, dark booth. He can see the
silhouette of a PRIEST behind a "screen. He makes the sign of
the cross.
JIM
Bless me father for I have sinned.:.
It's been, uh, four months since my
last confession...
There is a long pause. Jim doesn't know what to say. He
looks terrified.
PRIEST
(deep, reassuring voice)
Yes, my son?
JIM
I don't know where to start, Father ..
There is another long pause. Jim is starting to sweat with
nervousness .

PRIEST
Have you taken the name of Jesus
Christ in vain?
JIM
Uh-huh ..
PRIEST
Have you disrespected your Mother and
Father?
JIM
Yes, I have ..
PRIEST
Have you stolen, or cheated your fellow
man?
JIM
Yeah, but I'm not proud of it ...
PRIEST
Have you had impure thoughts or engaged
in impure deeds?
JIM
Oh, Father, you have no idea ..
PRIEST
Is there anything else you want to
tell me? In your own words?
JIM
Oh, man ... I've done all kinds of crazy
shit .
(catches himself)
Oh, I'm sorry! I didn't mean to
curse... Christ, I gotta dirty mouth.
Oh, damn, there I go again, excuse
me, Father, I'm...
Jim shakes his head in disgust at himself. He wipes the
perspiration off his face. There is silence in the
confessional.
PRIEST
Ten Hail Mary's, five Our Father's ...
JIM
(Surprised)
That's it? That's my punishment
for everything?
57

Jim looks dissapointed, almost angry.

JIM
I don't understand, Father. My friend
Bobby was the best and he's dead. It's
not fair, you know? It's not fair.
EXT. SCHOOL GYM - DAY
The CROWD is filing into the gymnasium. There are two police
cars parked in the parking lot. THE OFFICERS are TALKING
with Father McNulty.
INT. LOCKER ROOM - DAY
Jim, Herbie,' dressed in their uniforms, are in secret
consultation with Pedro in a corner of the locker room.
Pedro has a pile of pills, half pink, half red and black in
his open palm.
JIM
I've never seen these before.
Which are the ups?
PEDRO
I never asked, I thought you'd know.
JIM
Oh, shit ..
HERBIE
The red and blacks are ups.
JIM
You sure?
HERBIE
(uncertain)
Yeah ...
JIM
I think the pinks are ups ...
PEDRO
Why?
JIM
'Cause I associate pink with lightness,
and the others seem hardcolored, like
they might knock you on your ass .
58

59
HERBIE
Maybe they're faded seconals?
PEDRO
No, man, if they"re faded, they'd be
sticky.
HERBIE
Bullshit.
PEDRO
Fuck your-mother, prick -
JIM
All right, all right, everybody cool
out .
Jim takes a hat out of his locker. He takes the pills from
Pedro and puts them in the hat.
JIM
Herbie, pick a pill ...
Herbie picks out a black and red.
JIM
That's what we're all taking..
HERBIE
You sure?
JIM
You got a better idea?
CUT TO:
A BASKETBALL bouncing off the rim on a missed shot - FOUR
PLAYERS, including Jim, crash the boards hard. Through the
maze of flying elbows and leaping bodies, Jim comes down
with the ball.
He dribbles upcourt and finds Herbie in the corner. Jim cuts
through the lane and makes a lay-up over the HUGE BLACK
OPPOSING CENTER on the return pass.
Jim pump fakes, takes two dribbles, then hits a pretty jump
shot from the left side.
AN OPPOSING GUARD slices into the middle and drives for the
basket. Jim moves in front of him and is knocked to the
floor, taking the charge.
Scoreboard reads HOME - 23, AWAY - 19. Everything is cool so
far.

Herbie boxes out for a rebound, but HIS MAN soars over him.
Herbie only got about a half inch off the floor.
Jim tries to drive toward the basket, he fakes once, then
tosses the ball over the backboard. He and Herbie exchange
worried looks.
QUICK CUTS of OPPOSING PLAYERS whizzing by Jim and" Herbie
with exaggerated speed, like sports cars passing hitchikers
on the highway.
Jim and Herbie are walking upcourt together.
HERBIE
You and your fucking pick from the
hat trick...
They both supress a LAUGH, totally downed out.
The REFEREE gives Jim the ball on the foul line. Jim's eyes
are drooping so bad he can barely keep them open.
The POLICE enter the gymnasium and watch Jim, who stares at
the basket for a long time. Pedro, seeing the cops, leaves
the gym floor immediately .
REFEREE
(to Jim)
Are you alright, Son?
Jim and Herbie bust out LAUGHING. Jim shoots the foul shot:
it lands about five feet short of the rim. The CROWD is
BOOING.
The SLICK BLACK PLAYERS from the other team are LAUGHING
with Jim and Herbie: they know what's going on.
Lefty pulls Jim and Herbie out of the game and sits them
down on the bench.
LEFTY
(livid)
You two are off the fucking team!
Jim and Herbie scrunch down on the bench, still GIGGLING.
Jim covers his head with a towel.
INT. LOCKER ROOM - AFTERNOON
There is a big crowd in the locker room, including the
important looking HEADMASTER, Father McNulty, Lefty and the
REST OF THE TEAM as the POLICE clip open Jim and Herbie's
lockers.
60

61
Jim and Herbie are sweating it out, knowing they are busted.
The cops toss everything out of the lockers, but they can't
find a thing.
Jim and Herbie look at each other quizzically, in great
relief. Father McNulty is staring at Jim hatefully.
HEADMASTER
You think you're awfully smart, don't
you boys? You're both suspended for
a week.
LEFTY
And you'll never play basketball here
again... That you can bet on...
JIM
You can't kick me off the team, Lefty ...
LEFTY
Oh, why is that?
JIM
'Cause I quit the team, the school
and this whole fuckin' fag ass scene!
HERBIE
Me, too!
HEADMASTER
Do you mean that?
Jim looks confused for a moment, trying to decide if he
wants to take it back.
HERBIE
Of course, we mean it ...
There is another tense silence. Jim looks like he's' going to
say something, then doesn't.
HEADMASTER
We accept your resignations ...
Everyone is staring at Jim and Herbie. It is silent in the
locker room. Jim walks slowly towards the locker room door.
He turns to Lefty, who looks away from Jim nervously.
JIM
Don't worry, Lefty, I'm not gonna rat
you out ...

He walks over to Father McNulty and stands about three

inches from his face.
JIM
In the next life? Father, I'll have
the fucking paddle ...
Jim smiles wickedly.
EXT. SCHOOL - SAME DAY
Jim and Herbie walk down the street, away from the school.'
HERBIE
What do you think happened to the pills?
JIM
I don't know...
HERBIE
Fuckin' cops probably stole it, they
do that all the t i ~ e , then they sell
it themselves ... We just lost about
forty bucks worth of pharmacuticals.
Goddamnit!
Pedro runs up to them from the school, out of breath and
smiling.
HERBIE
What the fuck are you so happy about?
Pedro reaches into his pocket and holds up the full bag of
pills. Herbie grabs him in an affectionate headlock and
kisses his cheek.
HERBIE
All right, Litte Man saves the day!
JIM
Fuck the day, how about a night in the
Tombs ...
Jim looks up and notices Reggie Porter across the street,
staring at him. Jim locks eyes with him, pops the pill in
his mouth and swallows it down. Reggie shakes his head
dissaprovingly.
Jim, Pedro and Herbie walk on down the street. Jim turns
around and looks back at the school, one last time.
INT. KITCHEN - JIM'S APARTMENT - NIGHT
Jim and his Mother are in the middle of a blowout fight:
62

MOTHER
You never sold any pills out in
the schoolyard?
JIM
They didn't find anything in my
locker, did they?
MOTHER
So It's all just a big conspiracy
against you, right Jim?
JIM
Yeah, maybe it is!
MOTHER
You're lying to me right through
your Goddamn teeth..
She goes into the cupboard and takes out a bag of pills from
behind the Campbell's Soup cans.
MOTHER
Did you miss these, Jim, huh?
What are you gonna tell me,
they're Flintstone Chewables .. ?
JIM
Fuck you ...
MOTHER
Get the hell outta my house ...
JIM
Is that what you want?
MOTHER
Get out!
JIM
No problem...
Jim runs to his room and slams the door, SCREAMING OUT "YOU
FUCKIN' BITCH!". She runs after him and BANGS furiously on
the door.
INT. JIM'S ROOM - NIGHT
Jim is packing his meager possessions into his gymbag.
His Mother is SCREAMING at him through the door .
63

MOTHER
What did you call me? What did.you
call me, you piece ot shit?!
We hear a dish SHATTER. She is really out of her mind with
anger. Jim is impassive as he zips up his bag.
INT. STAIRWAY - MOMENTS LATER
Jim is walking down the narrow, seedy staircase. His Mother
is hanging out of her apartment door, still SCREAMING
INVECTIVE down on him.
She runs back into the house for a minute and returns with a
few of Jim's basketball trophies. She throws one at his
head, but misses. The trophy SHATTERS off the wall.
She throws the other two trophies, but they miss Jim, too.
One of the statues doesn't break, Jim picks it up off the
floor.
EXT. STREET - MOMENTS LATER
Jim walks down his block, alone, holding his basketball
trophy in his righthand, like a nightstick. His Mother hangs
out the window, still SCREAMING and CRYING.
JIM
(v.O.)
It was a dream, not a nightmare ..
A beautiful dream I could never
imagine in a thousands nods ...
Jim doesn't turn back to her, he just keeps walking until he
dissapears into the shadows.
We STAY IN BLACK.
JIM
(v.a. cant.)
I saw this girl next to me who wasn't
beautiful until she smiled, and I
felt that smile come at me and heat
waves following, soaking through my
body and out my fingertips in shafts
of color ...
FADE IN:
Headquarters - a rundown, two story dive in Alphabet City. A
HOMELESS MAN walks by the building, shivering, his breath is
visible in the cold, morning air.
64

The leqend WINTER appears, then disappears on the screen.

JIM
(V.O. cant.)
and I knew somewhere in the
world there was love for me .
CUT TO:
A SCEEVY FEMALE DOPEFIEND dozing openmouthed by the
radiator. The CAMERA moves from her and PANS across
Headquarters, revealing a Whole row of sleeping junkies
trying to escape the first light of day. They are like
vampires in glass coffins.
The room is unspeakably filthy, a black and White t.v. plays
soundlessly, endlessly in the corner.
JIM
(V. o. )
Headquarters Home, on and off,
to every down and out junkie and
wino from 14th street to the Bowery ..
It's like a fuckin' all star team
We see an OBESE MAN sleeping heavily on a filthy mattress
JIM
(V. o. )
Ju-Ju Johnson, the fattest
junkie in New York. He can hide a
complete set of works, a cooker and
innummerable bags of dope in the
layers of fat that flop one by one
down towards his belt like a drenched
wedding cake ... I've seen him do it ..
. The camera picks up a nattily dressed BLACK MAN IN
SUNGLASSES sleeping sitting up on an old sofa.
JIM
(V. a . )
Black Earl, he is a man who all day
just cleans his nails ... We'll bury
him with his file, understand?
65

Among the tangle of YOUNG ADDICTS, the camera spots Herbie

sleeping besides the couch, a stack of comics on the floor
next to him, then Pedro, curled up with an angel faced
TEENAGE GIRL who's even smaller than he is.
An ancient, skin and bones DRUNK in a wrinkled, filthy suit,
WHEEZES as he sleeps against a graffitied wall.

~ ....

JIM
(v.o. cont.)
Willie Bender, King of the Drunks,
drinks two quarts of straight whiskey
a day. IINo wino me
ll
, he'd say, "Give
me a Johnny Walker Red or go fuck
yoursel! ... "
The camera finally reveals Jim in the corner with an old
hardcore addict named FRANKIE PINEWATER. They are the only
ones awake, so they TALK QUIETLY as they cook up their
morning shot.
FRANKIE
Last Sunday, my Mother' drags me off to
High Mass and we go through the whole
bit, right? I'd been reading the
Bible some lately, and it was making a
certain amount of sense, so I was up
for a play at Mass again. And what the
hell, I tried every other cure in the
book, so why not the religous route, right?
So I'm sitting in the pugh there and I
hadn't had my morning shot yet, 50 I
was craving bad. If a miracle was gonna
happen it was gonna have to be a biggie
So I'm sitting there with a side altar
to my right stacked with hundreds of
those tiny candles in the red glass,
just like the ones we clipped to get a
nice solid flame to cook up the dope on
windy nights in the park. So I'm staring
at these candles imagining a little spoon
or a twist off bottle cap over each with
bubbling dope inside. Then the altar boy
walks to the altar lugging a giant
candle and it's visions of glassine
stamp holders, you know, the size of
shopping bags and a ten foot long spoon
over that candle cooking pounds of junk
from powder to sweet juice. I'm goin'
fuckin' loony and my Mother's lookin'
at me funny ... I'm trying to pretend
I'm picking up a revelation from God
or some shit ... Then the topper comes,
... the priest starts shaking the incense
burner out to the people and it's got the
absolute, exact same smell as dope when
it's cooking, no mistake about it ...
JIM
What happened then?
66

~ ....

FRANKIE
What the hell you think happened,
for Christ's sake? I got up, left
and tore ass home to my bottom
drawer and emptied my entire stock
into the cooker and over the red
candle Stoned
ZOOM IN SLOWLY on the flame of Frankie's lighter under the
bubbling liquid on the spoon.
EXT. STREET - DAY
Jim, Pedro and Herbie walk up the block, into a Pudgie's
Chicken joint with a big "Grand opening" sign in front.
JIM
(V. o. )
People are always branding junkies
the slob wastes of society. Not so,
chumps. The real j ~ n k i e should
be raised up for saying fuck you
to all this shit city jive, for
going on with all the risks and
hassles and can, willing to face
the rap .
INT. PUDGIE'S - MOMENTS LATER
The FRIENDLY COUNTERMAN puts the last of the food in a huge,
overstuffed take-out bag. Another equally large bag sits on
the counter next to it.
Pedro and Herbie hang back behind Jim.
JIM
(smiling)
We've gotta hungry poker crowd
upstairs ...
The Counterman starts tallying the bill.
COUNTERMAN
That's two twenty piece Pudgie's
Chicken dinners, fourteen Wingee's
Hot Wings, twenty buttermilk
biscuits and fifteen cokes ..
Anything else?
Jim shakes his head "no".
67

HERBIE
You gotta enough to handle it,
right, Jim'?
Jim takes out his wallet.
JIM
68
...........

Yeah, I got it
Pedro and Herbie take the bags off the counter and start
creeping out of the store.
JIM
Oh, Jesus, I just remembered, one
coffee for my Old Lady .
The Counterman spins and pUlls the coffee knob. Off Jim
goes, out the door . up the block... down an alley... over a
fence . running his balls off toward freedom.
CUT TO:
An insane party at Headquarters, we see Herbie, Pedro,
Frankie Pinewater, JuJu Johnson and OTHER FAMILIAR FACES, as
well as various DRUNKS, PROSITUTES and UNDERAGE GIRLS, who
are dancing wildly to the HIGH DECIBEL MUSIC.
Everybody is feasting on Pudgie's chicken.
DIANE MOODY, on the make, walks up to Jim and his Friends in
the corner. She doesn't know that it's him. She lifts Jim's
face with her hand, he looks up into her eyes.
DIANE
(recognizing him)
You're lookin' good, Jim.. Who's
your embalmer?
Jim smiles at her for a moment, but she doesn't smile back,
holding her grudge against him. His head starts nodding to
his chest.
JIM
(V. a . )
We've mastered the life of doing
nothing, which when you think
about it, may be the hardest thing
of all to do ...

COT TO:
JIM shoving a slapjack into a sidedoor lock of a late model
Porsche, destroying the tumbler, popping the button. Herbie
and Pedro are on lookout.
JIM
(V.o.cont.)
We just gotta raise enough
enough cash to keep our heads
straight . Luckily, finding
money in New York is like
getting laid at the prom,
easy..
69
" " " ~ ~
Jim opens the door and Pedro crawls into the car and lays on
his back under the steering wheel, hot wiring the car.
Finally, the engine ROARS to LIFE.
INT./EXT. PORSCHE - STREET - NIGHT

The car careens down the West Side Highway at high speed,
zipzagging through traffic, an accident waiting to happen.
HIP HOP MUSIC is blasting from the car..
HERBIE
My brother says he can get us
twenty five hundred for a car
like this ..
Jim WHISTLES in appreciation of the money. Herbie is cooking
up his smack, breathing in the smell.
PEDRO
Wow, that's like six hundred each...
HERBIE
We should buy some shit in bulk
and put it on the street, make
some real money ...
JIM
I wanna maybe spend a week at
Action Park or something ...
Get wrecked and go on the Great
American Scream Machine on one
big fuckin' nod ...
PEDRO
No, man, I'm gonna go to Puerto
Rico and see my girl, soak up
some rays ...

~ ..

70
HERBIE
I neVer even seen a picture of this
woman, I bet she's about five hundred
pounds and got a"fuckin' mustache-
PEDRO
No, Herbie, that's your Mother. My
girl's in one them swimsuit calendars,
man! She's got a booty that stops
traffic-
HERBIE
Get the fuck outta here! She probably
doesn't even exist.
Pedro tries to cut into the right lane, but a car cuts him
off.
JIM
Whoa, Pedro! Mira! Mira!
Pedro swerves away at the last minute. Then he dances to the
music on the radio, driving with no hands, as he speeds down
the highway
CUT TO:
Jim, Herbie and Pedro waiting at a phonebooth in front of a
diner in Lower Manhattan.
KENNY, Herbie's older, bigger, and crazier brother, pulls up
in a black Trans Am and gets out of the car. The Boys seem
suddenly very young next to him.
KENNY
(all business)
Where is it, Herbie? I'm in a
hurry...
Kenny follows Herbie, Pedro and Jim around the block, onto a
deserted side street.
They sag in amazement and disappointment when they see their
precious Parsche hooked to the back of a tow truck with it's
yellow light spinning.
Kenny is silent, but obviously very pissed off. Herbie looks
at his brother fearfully as the tow truck pulls away with
the car.
HERBIE
I don't believe this ...

PEDRO
Where's the sign? Huh? Show me
the freakin' sign...
KENNY
It's right there, you stupid, fucking
morons! I should kick all your junkie
punk asses ...
He points to a sign that clearly reads TOW AWAY ZONE ... NO
PARKING AFTER 6 P.M.
KENNY
Can you mental defectives even
read?
Kenny' suddenly twists Herbie's arm behind his back
painfully.
HERBIE
Hey!
He twists Herbie's arm back even further, Herbie SCREAMS IN
PAIN.
HERBIE
Kenny, come on, man .
Kenny twists his arm back even further, theatening to snap
the bone.
KENNY
John Halligan is waiting for the
car right now. I got him out of
bed with his wife ... You know how
this makes me look?
Tears of pain are running down Herbie's face.
KENNY
You are too fuckin' stupid to be
my brother-
HERBIE
I'm sorry, alright?
71

Herbie is now laying on the sidewalk face first as his

brother digs his knee into Herbie'S back, still twisting his
arm upwards.
Jim moves to help Herbie, but he is scared.
JIM
Yo, Kenny, go easy, man ..

KENNY
Shut the fuck up, Carroll, or
I'll give you some, too...
72

Jim doesn't know what to do, so he does nothing. Kenny keeps

the pressure on Herbie's arm.
Herbie suddenly struggles desperately to get away -from
Kenny's grip, but Kenny slams him back on the pavement face
first.
KENNY
You tryin' to be a tough guy in front
of your friends? Huh? You a tough guy?
HERBIE
No ... No!!!
Jim and Pedro look away in embarrassment and fear as the
humiliating assault on Herbie continues.
CUT TO:
THE PARK, night. Jim, Pedro and Herbie sit at the edge of a
raised concrete trail, their legs dangling down into the
shadows. Herbie's left arm is in a cast and he is unusually
quiet and sullen.
Jim is swigging from a bottle of coca cola.
PEDRO
Gimme a sip of that soda,
man .
Jim hands him the soda. Pedro wipes off the top of the
bottle with his shirt before taking a sWig.
He gives Jim back the bottle, then picks up the bloody set
of works that Herbie just used and starts preparing his own
shot.
JIM
(incredulous)
I don't get it, Pedro... You wipe
off the fucking bottle before you'll
take a sip of soda, but you don't
think twice about sharing Herbie's
works? You think you're gonna get
something from the bottle you're not
gonna get from the needle?
Pedro shrugs as he ties up.

JIM
You believe this guy, Herbie?
Herbie manages a weak smile as he enjoys his high.
JIM
Reminds me of this girl I used to
fool around with who had my
tongue in her mouth for like, ten
hours straight, but would have a
fuckin' fit if I used her tooth brush...
Jim tosses Pedro a fresh set of works.
JIM
You wanna kill yourself, jump off
the Empire state Building, set
yourself on fire, do something
creative at least ..
They HEAR A POLICE MINICAR coming around the trail towards
them like a predatory animal.
They panic, jumping to a wooded area about fifteen feet
down. The Cops pass by above them.
The red and blue police lights dance off Jim's face as he
hides out in the underpass. He waits a moment, the lights
fade.
DISSOLVE TO:
SNOWFLAKES falling gracefully out of blue sky. We're in
Rockefeller Center in the midst of the Holiday crush.
TOURISTS and SHOPPERS gather around the tremdendous
Christmas tree.
Jim leans against a festive display window, smoking a
cigarette, looking old and hard.
JIM
(V. O. )
This hustling scene is getting
hairier and hairier. You wouldn't
believe what people need just to
get off ... Last week, this woman had
her pet parrot eating grapes out
of my pUbic hair, with a leather
muff over my cock to make sure
the dumb bird doesn't rob me of
my main asset. It's all out of
hand as far as I'm concerned...
73

GLADYS
(0. S. )
Whip the cat and jerk yourself
off into my mouth .
Jim doesn't move. He stands silhouetted in the bathroom door
with the whip.
GLADYS
(0.5.)
What part of that didn't you
understand?
Jim still doesn't move.
GLADYS
(0.5.)
I said, do it! Do it now.. You
want to get paid, don't you?
Jim moves into the bathroom with the whip. We hold on the
entrance of the bathroom. A GREAT'SCUFFLE is heard from
inside. We hear GLADYS SCREAMING:
GLADYS
(0.5.)
No! No! That's not what I want!
We hear more SCREAMS and the hair raising SCREECHING OF THE
CAT. Finally, Jim emerges with a beautiful CALICO CAT under
his arm.
He goes into Glady's coat, takes several twenties out of her
wallet and shoves them in his pocket.
Gladys crawls pathetically out of the bathroom, HYSTERICALLY
CRYING.
GLADYS
You said you'd help me .. You said
yOU'd help me ..
Jim hurriedly throws on his shirt and jacket and runs out of
the apartment with the Cat under his arm, leaving her alone.
CUT TO:
NIGHT - Jim stands in a shadowy doorway on his old block,
smoking a cigarette .
75

A Mercedes pulls up to the curb and GLADYS, a thin, well

dressed woman in her mid forties gets out of the car and
goes to Jim.
74

Something about the Woman is nat quite "right" her eyes have
a crazy gleam and a slight twitch, as if she's medicated or
psychotic. She WHISPERS something in Jim'S ear. He nods
"yes".
CUT TO:
Jim, in baggy jeans and no shirt, walking through the
spacious, modern apartment and looking out the window to the
magnificent park views.
He hears the SOUND of a cat SCREECHING as he walks to the
open bathroom door.
JIM
(V. o. )
I want to run this one case down on
paper before I develope some heavy
guilt feelings ....
He hears her VOICE coming from the bathroom.
GLADYS
(O.S.)
Under the big painting is a bureau...
I want you to open the middle drawer.
Jim goes over to the bureau and does what he's told.
GLADYS
Take out the whip and come to me ...
Jim takes a mini-Whip with leather fringes out of the
drawer. He walks to the open door of the bathroom and looks
inside.
We see Jim from behind, the whip dangling in his hand. The
cat continues to SCREECH HORRIBLY, as if it's being
tortured.
GLADYS
(O.S. )
I want you to whip the cat ...
JIM
(taken aback)
What?

JIM
(V. O. )
She haunts me, that woman haunts me
sometimes ..
Jim watches the stooped figure of his Mother walk past him
carrying a big bundle of groceries.
From his eyes we see he wants to callout to her, but he
doesn't. He watches her fumble with her key and disappear
into her building.
CUT TO:
MORNING - Jim, Frankie Pinewater and Herbie bag smack for
distrubution on a linoleum table in Headquarters. The Calico
Cat drinks from a saucer of milk at Jim's feet.
CUT TO:
JIM exchanging money for drugs with a SKINNY BLACK MAN in
the smoky haze of Julian's Billiards, a downtown poolhall.
Jim looks like a sleazy, skinny, old drug dealer.
A huge, tattooed SKINHEAD walks purposefully to Jim and .
pushes him hard against the wall.
JIM
What's your problem?
SKINHEAD
(screaming)
You sold me some shit the other
day almost killed my girlfriend!
What did you cut it with, rat
poison?
Jim motions for him to keep his voice down.
JIM
(calmly)
It's not my fault your lady can't
handle her drugs.
SKINHEAD
I want my fucking twenty dollars
back!
JIM
There's no money back guarantees,
I'm not selling refrigerators here.
But I'll cut you a great deal on
some dynamite Mexican shit, O.K.?
76

SKINHEAD
Give me twenty dollars now or
get your faggot ass outside!
JIM
If we go outside one of us going
to get hurt.
The Skinhead smiles and Jim follows him to the exit.
CUT TO:
A VIOLENT CONFLICT BETWEEN JIM AND THE SKINHEAD in the
stairwell. He punches Jim in the face ,and stomache, hard,
then he slams him against the wall.
Jim falls down, bleeding from the eye and mouth.
The Skinhead kicks him in the face and body over and over.
Jim tumbles hard down the long flight of stairs.
He looks up to the Skinhead at the top of the landing and
manages a smile through his split lips.
JIM
I told you one of us was going to
get hurt.
Jim, his energy spent, slumps against the wall of the
entranceway, closing his eyes to the pain.
JIM
( V . O ~ )
It's been hard, the writing,
lately.. a terrible numbness,
then suddenly, it comes ...
in beautiful fragments, or
terrible dreams .. like nods ...
so high ...
CUT TO:
JIM, in SLOW MOTION rising and rising to the basket, on his
way to a magnificent tomahawk dunk. The Golden Arches of the
McDonald's Logo loom above him on West 4th street.
Everything is seen in neon, surreally bright colors. He
continues to rise, impossibly high, floating in the air
towards the basket.
Then, at the apex of his jump, a shotgun blasts rips through
his chest, blood leaps in geysers from the open wound.
77

Jim collapses to the ground like a strange, broken bird, a

pUddle of shocking red blood spreads in a circle around his
body.
MATCH CUT TO:
Jim lying in the snow on the West 4th Street basketball
court in the exact same position as the previous shot,
except instead of a pUddle of blood around him, it's piss.
His face is still misshapen and scabbed from the night
before.
Reggie Porter stands above him, poking at Jim with his foot.
REGGIE
Get your ass up, come on! I'm
talking to you, boy ...
He gets scared when Jim doesn't respond: He kneels down and
sees frozen snow on Jim's eyelashes and a blueish bruises on
his eyes and cheekbones. Reggie feels his neck for a pulse:
Jim is still alive.
REGGIE
Jesus Christ ...
With great effort, Reggie lifts Jim out of the snow and over
his shoulder. He carries Jim to the street and disappears
down the block.
ESTABLISHING SHOT - REGGIE'S APARTMENT BUILDING - NIGHT
CAMERA favors a lighted room over a Korean deli in the East
village, a fire-escape hangs down towards the street.
DISSOLVE TO:
INT. REGGIE'S APARTMENT - MORNING
Jim, wrapped in several old blankets, jerks awake in the
neatly furnished, small apartment. All available wall space
is taken up with shelves filled with books and records.
Reggie is eating bacon and eggs at a desk near the window,
reading from Jim's diary.
JIM
Reggie?
Reggie nods "hello" to Jim and sees that Jim looks unsure of
where he is.
78

79
REGGIE
Don't worry, you're "not dead ..
yet ...
Jim GROANS, rubs his eyes dizzily. Reggie holds up Jim's
diary and smiles.
REGGIE
Not bad...
JIM
Gimme that!
Reggie tosses the diary to Jim on the 'couch.
JIM
Why the fuck is it wet?
REGGIE
'Cause you pissed on it
JIM
(disoriented)
I didn't say you could read it,
did I .. ? You been going through
my pockets?
Reggie says nothing, takes a big bite of his eggs. The sight
of food nauseates Jim.
JIM
My jacket .. My jacket . ?
Reggie points with his head to the coatrack. Jim stands up
unsteadily.
JIM
I gotta get the fuck outta here ...
REGGIE
Your welcome ...
JIM
What the hell am I thanking you
for?
REGGIE
You were frozen in the snow like
a fuckin' creamsickle ...
Jim grabs his coat and looks hurriedly through the pockets:
he doesn't find what he's looking for.

JIM
Where is it?
REGGIE
What?
JIM
You know what .. Don't fuck around
with me, Reggie.
Reggie holds up a small, tinfoil package.
REGGIE
You mean this?
Jim moves shakily towards Reggie, furious, but already a
little sick without his wake up shot.
JIM
Gimme my shit!
Reggie shakes his head "noll. Jim .pounds on Reggie's desk
with his fist.
JIM
I'll cut your fuckin' throat, Reggie!!!
REGGIE
(calm)
I'm gonna make you an incredible
offer. I'm gonna save your life
twice in one day...
Jim makes a lunge for the package. Reggie easily fights off
the weakened, defeated Jim, who crumbles with sickness and
frustration to the floor.
Reggie locks the package in a drawer of his desk.
JIM
You should've left me in the fucking
snow..
Jim starts to CRY, clutching his journal. Reggie goes back
to his desk and calmly takes another bite of his eggs.
JIM
I'm not gonna suck your dick, man.
I don't hustle for nobody ...
REGGIE
Who wants to suck your dick?
80

JIM
Why do you care, Reggie? What's in
it for you?
REGGIE
Once upon a time, someone helped
me ... I always pay what I owe ...
CUT TO:
A DARK ROOM - Jim, in bed, writhing in agony, his guts
crawling with sickness, intense heat, then shivering chills
hit his body, his muscles spasm.
JIM
Gimme something, Reggie, please,
just a taste, just a little taste,
please! ! !
81

Reggies just sits in a chair by the bed, gripping Jim's hand

as he BEGS and MOANS with an almost inhuman sound. We hold
on him for a long moment as the p ~ i s o n s pour out of him. Jim
is indeed in hell.
The CAMERA moves in, closer and closer, on Jim's face until
his delirious, burning, strangely beautiful eyes fill the
frame. We move through his eyes, into darkness and we ...
DISSOLVE TO:
A BIRD'S EYE VIEW OF A TOILET BOWL. PULL BACK TO REVEAL Jim,
sick, kneeling before the bowl, GASPING FOR BREATH, sweat
pouring down his face, His delirium is worse, his eyes seem
to be on fire.
He kneels in front of the toilet, he seems to remember
something. He puts his hands in a praying position and
STARTS RECITING THE PENANCE the Priest gave him when he went
to confession.
JIM
(mumbling weakly)
Hail Mary, full of grace the Lord
is with thee ... Blessed are thou
amongst women and blessed are the
fruits of thy womb, Jesus ... Holy Mary,
Mother of God, pray for our sinners
now and at the time of our death...
Amen ... Hail Mary full of grace the
Lord is with thee ...
Reggie watches intently from the open door as the Jim's
PENANCE continues.

DISSOLVE TO:
Jim propped up in bed, still very sick, but looking a little
better. Reggie is feeding him chicken soup. The sun is
pouring in through the window.
REGGIE
. You can't go left, that's your whole
problem-
JIM
I can go left-
REGGIE
No, you make that same' stupid move
down the lane everytime, so fuckin'
predictable. That's why you can't
even beat me an old timer like me ..
JIM
How the hell you know that? We don't
keep score.
REGGIE
I keep score in my head, you've
never won.
JIM
BUllshit, that is such bullshit.
Jim takes an angry SLURP of soup, competitive fires burning
for a moment in his pale, sick face.
CUT TO:
Jim sitting on Reggie's couch, eating some plain toast,
watching the Knick game on Television, holding a basketball
on his lap.
He looks a lot healthier, although he is still pale and
shaky.
Reggie come out of the back bedroom, his security guard
uniform hanging open as he zips up his pants. There are two
ugly scars on his body, one on his chest, one near his neck.
JIM
Jesus Christ, Reggie, what happened
to you?
REGGIE
Whaddya think happened? Some
motherfucker shot me, woke my
black ass up ...
82

JIM
Shit .
Reggie tucks in his shirt, ready to leave.
REGGIE
I'll be back in in the morning,
Jim. Just stay cool, you're almost
there .. Seriously, you get panicky,
write about me in that book of yours.
I was a little hurt I wasn't mentioned ...
JIM
You really like my writing, hUh,
Reggie?
REGGIE
I told you four times already, whaddya
want me to do, bend over and kiss your
ass?
Jim smiles with embarrassment, but he's secretly pleased.
Reggie goes to the door.
JIM
Yo, Reg, pick me up a nickel bag
while you're out, O.K.?
Reggie gives him a knowing look.
JIM
Just kiddin', just kiddin', Jesus ...
Jim LAUGHS like a wise ass. Reggie shakes his head and
leaves the apartment. He locks the door behind him, leaving
Jim alone.
Jim takes a bite of his toast and tries to get into the
Knick game, but he's restless, distracted. He starts
changing the channels, never staying with anything for more
than five seconds. He goes back to the Knick game, feeling
suddenly anxious. He looks at the steam pouring off the
radiator. A CAR ALARM SHRIEKS endlessly outside.
DISSOLVE TO:
Jim hyperactively dribbling the basketball in the apartment,
passing it to himself off the walls. Finally, SOMEONE POUNDS
on the ceiling and YELLS, "STOP BANGING!!!" Jim starts to
pace without dribbling the ball.
83

DISSOLVE TO:
Jim picking up his diary and uncapping his pen. He looks
intently at the blank page, but nothing comes to him, he
can't seem to concentrate. The white page blurs in his eyes.
He closes his diary, feeling sick.
DISSOLVE TO:
Jim, driven by some inner demon, at the desk trying to open
up the drawer where he thinks Reggie stored his drugs, but
the drawer is locked.
Jim tries to pry it open with a letter opener, but still it
won't budge. He tears through the papers and drawers of
Reggie's desk until finally he finds the key in the bottom
of one of the file cabinets.
He opens the drawer with the key, his hands shaking, but the
package is not inside.
He angrily rips the drawer out the desk and it CRASHES to
the floor.
Frantically, he looks on top of the books, under the stereo,
between albums, in the freezer, but he still can't find his
smack.
He puts on his coat and tries to leave the apartment, but
the door is locked from the outside. Jim SLAMS his hand
against the door in frustration and rage.
JIM
Fuck! ! !
Jim bangs his shoulder against the door hopelessly. Finally,
he wraps his hand in a towel and smashes his fist through
the window.
CUT TO:
Jim smashing his fist through the backdoor window of an old
fashioned ice cream shop. Pedro crawls through the opening
and opens the door for Jim and Herbie. They are all
obviously wacked out of their heads.
INT. OLD FASHIONED ICE CREAM PARLOR - AFTER HOURS
Jim is fiddling nervously with the cash register, having
alot of trouble getting the old machine to open.
Herbie, his left arm still in a soft cast from his sCUffle
with his brother, is rifling though boxes behind the
84

counter. He opens a cigar box and finds a .38 special. He

holds it up with awe.
HERBIE
Holy shit ...
Jim looks fearfully at the gun as Herbie moves to the door
to stand guard, assuming a stance with the weapon 'that is
right out of a T.V. cop show.
Pedro, a glassy look in his eyes, is behind the counter,
scooping heaping mounds of different flavor ice cream into
an old fashioned float glass. He licks his lips in
anticipation.
Herbie gives Jim a murderous look as he continues to
struggle with the register.
PEDRO
(licking his fingers)
I always wanted to use those syrup
pumps and those professional ice
cream scoopers and shoot in that
seltzer like old Gussie does ...
Pedro pumps in the chocolate syrup and pours in the seltzer
PEDRO
They don't make 'em like this anymore.
Pedro goes around to the front of the counter and casually
sits down to drink his ice cream soda with a straw. Jim and
Herbie look at him incredulously.
HERBIE
Am I having a fucking hallucination
here?
Herbie goes to the cash register and pushes Jim out of the
way. He FIRES THREE LOUD SHOTS into the register and
finally, it jerks open. All he finds is change, no bills.
HERBIE
Oh, shit, there's no fuckin' money ...
He shoves as many quarters in his pocket as he can, then he
moves to the back door.
HERBIE
e'mon, let's get outta here!
Jim checks the -register, sees the terrible truth, then he's
right behind Herbie, ready to run.
85

JIM
Pedro, let's go!
Pedro doesn't look up. He's in his own world, calmly
drinking his ice cream soda. Herbie runs over to Pedro and
puts the gun to his head.
HERBIE
If you take one more sip of that
fucking soda, I'm gonna blow your
brains allover the fucking c o u n ~ e r ...
We hear distant SIRENS from the street.
JIM
Pedro, you're gonna get us all
nailed, come on!
With the gun pressed to his head, Pedro lifts up his glass
and tries to finish the ice cream soda in one gulp. It
spills down his chin as he drinks. Herbie's eyes go black
with rage.
86

HERBIE
Don't fuck with me, motherfucker ..
He clicks the safety off the gun and cocks back the hammer.
Pedro just keeps drinking in the sweet soda. Herbie's finger
starts to squeeze the trigger.
JIM
Hey! Hey! What're you crazy?
Pedro finishes the ice cream soda with a final, satisfied
gulp and slams the glass down on the counter in triumph.
Suddenly, Herbie viciously pistol whips Pedro, knocking him
unconscious.
HERBIE
Let the little spic rot ...
Herbie puts the gun in his pants and runs out the back door
of the street with the money. Blood is running down the
unconscious Pedro's face, mixing with the ice cream.
The blue and red police lights are shining surreally through
the window as they speed up the street. Jim is momentarily
frozen with panic and indecision. Does he run or help his
friend?
He hears the Police Car SQUEAL to a halt outside the store
and the car door slam. Pedro is MOANING.

A POLICEMAN SMASHES his shoulder into the door, the old wood
starts to give.
Jim starts backing out of the store. Pedro slowly comes to,
he opens his eyes as the door is about to give.
PEDRO
(terrified)
Jim, help me!
The Cop breaks down the door. Jim runs full speed out the
9ack, leaving Pedro behind. The Policeman trains his gun on
Pedro.
POLICEMAN
On your stomache now! Hands behind
your head!
Pedro does what he's told. The Cop cuffs him and leads him
outside.
They push Pedro's head down roughly as they shove him into
the police car. We see his face pressed against the window
of the squad car.
PAN UP to Jim and Herbie hiding out on a rooftop five
stories above the ground, watching the police car move down
the street.
JIM
Why'd you fuckin' hit him, Herbie?
Herbie doesn't answer, so Jim smacks him in the shoulder,
really angry.
JIM
I'm talking to you, asshole ...
Herbie watches the Police car disappear around a corner with
a lopsided weird smile.
HERBIE
I sure hope he enjoyed that ice cream
soda ..
EXT. BUCKET OF BLOOD - LATER THAT NIGHT
Jim and Herbie walk up the street into the Bucket of Blood,
a skanky dive bar in the meat district in Manhattan.
INT. BUCKET OF BLOOD - MOMENTS LATER
Jim and Herbie sidle up to the bar. A college basketball
game is on the T.V.
87

88
HERBIE
Check this out, man, this is all
of it .
He dumps a handful of change on the bar.
HERBIE
I bet that old Jew keeps all his
money under his fucking pillow...
And Pedro, Christ, he went right
over the fucking bend, there
was nothing I could do ...
The TOUGH IRISH BARTENDER comes over to them. He sees the
bruises on Jim's face.
BARTENDER
What happened, your mother kick your
ass?
JIM
Very funny, now give us a coupla
cokes ...
The Bartender goes to get their drinks. Herbie pays him in
quarters.
HERBIE
Fuck, man, I'm starting to jones.
We gotta get some money to cop ...
Jim is staring transfixed at the T.V., he doesn't answer
Herbie. Herbie passes his hand in front of Jim's face to get
his attention.
HERBIE
Yo, Jim, you with me here?
Jim points to the T.V.
JIM
Check it out ...
Herbie looks up and sees Anton Neutron shooting free throws
on T.V., looking spiffy in his red St. John's uniform, his
name printed on the screen along his stats.
HERBIE
Hey, it's Neutron ...
Herbie watches for a second, then is quickly distracted.

HERBIE
Who can we hit up for some cash?
Jim just keeps staring at Neutron on the tube with a
terrible combination of loss, self hate and burning
jealousy: He knows that could've been him.
FADE TO BLACK.
FADE IN:
EXT. TENEMENT BUILDING - NIGHT
89

Jim and Herbie BUZZ the buzzer repeatedly, but get no reply.
They are sweating and fidgety, starting to go through
withdrawals.
A MAN leaves the building and they catch the door before it
closes.
INT. TENEMENT BUILDING - MOMENTS LATER
Jim and Herbie bang on an apartment door over and over and
over until the door finally CREAKS open.
A double barreled sawed off shotgun is leveled at their
faces. Jim throws his hands up in surrender.
JIM
It's cool, man, it's cool ...
Jim and Herbie back off slowly down the piss stained
corridor, then haul ass down the stairs.
EXT. WINKlE AND BLINKIE'S SWANKY BUILDING - LATER
Herbie is doubled over with stomache cramps, sweat pours
down his face. Jim is sick, too, but he tries to make
himself look presentable by combing back his greasy hair
with his hand.
JIM
I'll be right back...
INT. HALLWAY - WINKlE AND BLINKIE'S BUILDING - LATER
MANNY, the doorman, reads his newspaper in the lobby.
Jim tries to walk by him casually the way Neutron did the
last time they came here.
JIM
What's up, Manny?

Manny sees Jim, who looks like a common, dirty bum, walk
into the elevator.
MANNY
Hey! stop!
INT. HALLWAY - WINKlE AND BLINKIE'S APARTMENT - LATER
Jim stumbles quickly down the hallway and BANGS on" the door
several times, looking behind him for a sign of Manny.
Finally, the door opens revealing a large, distinguished,
angry MAN.
MAN
What do you want? It's one o'clock
in the morning?
JIM
I'm looking for Winkie and Blinkie ...
MAN
Who the hell is Winkie and Blinkie?
Behind the Man's back, Winkie and Blinkie appear, dressed
conservatively in matching pajamas and cute haircuts. They
gesture for Jim to leave. It's all a little surreal to Jim.
MAN
Karen, Amy, do you know this man?
AMY AND KAREN
No, Daddy ...
Jim slumps against the back wall, sick, as he sees Manny
come out of the elevator with a baseball bat, pissed off.
JIM
I'm goin', I'm goin' ...
Manny grabs him roughly, Jim puts up no resistance.
MANNY
(to the Father)
Sorry, Mr. RUbin, he got past me ...
Jim and Mr. Rubin lock eyes as Jim is shoved down the
hallway.
90

CUT TO:
Jim and Herbie panhandling on the subway, JINGLING CHANGE in
styrofoam cups, very shaky from withdrawals. Herbie WARBLES

91
a terrible off-key version of whitney Houston's "1'11 Always
Love You" as Jim makes his PITCH:
JIM
Ladies and Gentleman, we don't mean
to disturb you, but me and my
brother ...
He looks over at Herbie SINGING THE WRONG WORDS TO THE SONG
and weaving unsteadily as he walks through the car.
JIM
me and my mentally retarded brother
are homeless at the moment and we
haven't eaten for two whole days.
Any donation, large or small, would
be greatly appreciated.
Herbie is getting frustrated, He shakes his cup agressively
in PEOPLE'S FACES, SINGING LOUDER AND LOUDER IN A PIERCING
FALSETTO, -but nobody gives him a cent.
ALL THE SUBWAY RIDERS look away from Jim, too, except for a
CLEAN CUT BLOND TEENAGER who stares Jim right in the eye..
This image of innocent youth haunts Jim: Now he'S the bum
getting the sympathetic looks. The Kid puts a dime in Jim'S
cup.
Herbie sidles up to Jim in the subway.
HERBIE
Maybe we'll have better luck alone.
I'll meet you back at Thompkins
Square in a coupla hours, O.K.?
Jim nods, still staring at the Kid.
EXT. ANOTHER STREET - LATER THAT NIGHT
Jim stumbles through the streets in the deep pain of cold
turkey. He sees a vision of Diane Moody, the crack whore
from the beginning of the movie, through his stinging,
tearing eyes.
Diane is dressed well, clear eyed, it is Obvious she has
gotten herself together. Jim moves frantically to her,
grateful to see someone he knows.
JIM
Diane, Diane, hi! You look great ...
DIANE
Thanks ...

JIM
(wiping his nose)
You holding?
She shakes her head "no".
JIM
Lend me a five, will ya? Just a
five ..
Diane reaches into her purse, Jim waits expectantly. She
hands him two 'quarters.
DIANE
(smiling)
BUy yourself some pretzels ...
INT. GRAND CENTRAL TERMINAL - LATER THAT NIGHT
Jim, deliriously sick, walks into the terminal bathroom.
INT. BATHROOM - MOMENTS LATER
Jim makes eye contact with a STRANGER in the crowded john.
Jim sidles up to next to him at adjoining urinals and
flashes three fingers.
The Stranger hands him thirty bucks, then disappears out of
frame, on his knees in front of Jim. We hear Jim's zipper
being PULLED DOWN.
CLOSE ON JIM'S FACE as the Stranger goes about his business.
We see the pain and tears in Jim's eyes.
He SCANS the hordes of faces watching him in the bathroom,
they are a surreal mixture of the strange and the ordinary:
FEMM:ES IN DRAG, NASTY S&M FREAKS with their hard butch
crewcut stares, OLD GREY MEN, SHY YUPPIES, TEEENAGERS.
Jim swears he even sees coach Lefty's face LAUGHING CRAZILY
at him in the midst of the CROWD.
EXT. THOMPKINS SQUARE PARK - NIGHT
Jim and Herbie, hands shaking, exchange money for drugs with
a tough looking PUERTO RICAN DEALER with a muskrat on his
shoulder.
INT. ALLEY - EAST VILLAGE - MOMENTS LATER
Jim and Herbie, sick with anticipation, rip open the bag
hungrily. Herbie puts it on his spoon to cook up.
92

Jim holds his portion of smack in his hand, something

doesn't look quite right to him.
JIM
Taste it, man, I"gotta hunch..
HERBIE
Brown can be dynamite, come on,
Jim!
Jim wets his finger and dips into the stash, raising a small
taste to his mouth. Jim leaps up sUddenly, shocked, and
tosses the rest of the smack down the alley.
HERBIE
What the fuck are you doing?
JIM
Taste it! Taste it!
Herbie takes a taste.
HERBIE
(furious)
It's Ovaltine, it's fuckin' Ovaltine!
CUT TO:
Jim and Herbie running madly toward the Puerto Rican Dealer,
who dashes away, his muskrat falling off his shoulder and
scrambling away in the night.
A CHASE ensues: Jim and Herbie follow the Dealer through the
streets, into a building, up the stairs.
EXT. ROOF - TENEMENT APARTMENT - NIGHT
Jim, GASPING FOR BREATH from running, trails Herbie to the
roof. Herbie, totally out of contrOl, has the Dealer by the
neck and is shaking him violently, pushing him closer and
closer to the edge of the rooftop.
Jim watches transfixed from the doorway, about forty feet
from the action.
HERBIE
(screaming)
Where's my money? Where's my money?
Suddenly, the Dealer's foot slips accidently off the roof.
He grabs instinctively for Herbie as he topples backward,
but Herbie misses his hand.
93

JIM
Nooooooooooo!
The Dealer sommersaults SLOW MOTION through the air and
SPLATTERS on the pavement below. The last PITIABLE SCREAMS
of his life echo in the night. Jim slowly walks to Herbie
from the doorway.
HERBIE
We killed him..
JIM
Whaddya mean "we"? I didn't even
touch him! Don't even try to pull
that shit, Herbie!
There is a moment of silence.
JIM
(horrified)
You sure he's dead .. ?
HERBIE
Of course he's fucking dead,
he fell six stories . Let's
get outta here .
JIM
This is crazy ..
Herbie takes off. Jim is frozen in time, dazed.
A LIGHTNING FLASH OF IMAGES TEAR THROUGH JIM'S BRAIN:
Bobby Sachs in his coffin with his ape-like old man face and
his hands folded in front of him.
The first Lady he mugged staring sadly up at him from the
pavement. bloody.
Gladys crawling naked out of the bathroom, crying
hysterically, "You said you'd help me ... "
Pedro in the ice cream shop SCREAMING as the red and blue
lights of the police close in on him. "Help me, Jim... "
Jim sees himself, in neon colors, being shot out of the air
in the middle of a soaring dunk .
Then he looks down and sees a CROWD already forming around
the Dealer's Corpse, like flies BUZZING around dogshit.
94

95
He hears SIRENS approaching and rouses himself, scrambling
across to the roof of the building next store, disappearing.
EXT. STREET - MOMENTS LATER
A MOB OF NEIGHBORHOOD GUYS chase Herbie through the streets,
SCREAMING, "THAT'S THE GUY! THAT'S THE GUY WHO THREW PINO
OFF THE ROOFJ" Herbie is sick, his stomache cramping, his
running gets slower. SIRENS WAIL from nearby.
He finally gets tackled near a subway entrance. They hold
him down and stomp him as a Police Car SCREECHES to a halt.
The POLICEMEN get the Neighborhood Lynch Mob off the bloody
Herbie and cuff him.
EXT. JIM'S APARTMENT - NIGHT
Jim stumbles into his old apartment building, very sick.
INT. HALLWAY - NIGHT
JIM BANGS desperately on his apartment door.
JIM
Ma! Let me in, Goddamnit!
CUT TO:
Jim's Mother on the other side of the door. Jim's banging is
as loud as shotgun blasts. She looks through the peephole
and gets a fisheye look at Jim's desperate face.
JIM
(O.S.)
Ten bucks, come on, that's all
I'm asking for! Please .. PleaseJ
I know you're in there. You
can slip it under the door ...
COME ON!! J
CUT TO:
Jim, with the last of his energy, slamming his shoulder into
the door trying to break it down. His SCREAMING and BEGGING
continues, but it is angrier now.
CUT TO:
Jim's Mother on the phone. She is really frightened .
MOTHER
(on phone, frantically)
Someone is breaking into my apartment.

He has a knife, please help me!

CUT TO:
96

Jim in the hallway, so weak and'sick that he is sliding onto

the floor, holding onto the doorway for leverage.
JIM
(weakly)
I never asked you for a fuckin'
thing, not a fuckin' thing..
SIRENS WAIL close by as he slides all the way to the floor.
EXT. STREET - SAME NIGHT
Jim's Mother watches out her window as the police lead her
handcuffed son to the squad car. Jim turns around to look at
her. Her eyes seem to say, "I didn't know what else to do."
Jim shakes with sickness, his eyes are absolutely insane.
THE SCREEN GOES BLACK.
FADE IN:
On a very TIGHT SHOT of Jim's eyes, shrouded in darkness,
stiped by the shadow of prison bars.
JIM
(V. O. )
I did three months in Riker's
Island Juvenile Reformatory
for robbery, assault, resisting
arrest and possession of narcotics ...
We PULL BACK SLOWLY, almost imperceptibly, to REVEAL more of
his face in this ominous place.
JIM
(V. o. )
Today, I walked out of those gates
a "free man", feeling like a cartoon
about to run off it's reel ..
I'm putting these past months
behind me for now, and for later
and we won't have any more about
it .
We now see him from the shoulders up, in his prison blues as
The CAMERA CONTINUES ITS SLOW REVEAL.

JIM
(V. O. )
Suffice to say I am finished with
eating meat that tastes like something
from the remote inner guts of a very
sick animal, suffice to say that I
am finished with the asshole bandits
of shower room rape ...
The CAMERA has PULLED BACK enough to fully reveal Jim
sitting on the floor, his entire body striped by the shadows
of the bars.
The CAMERA MOVES around him, catChing him in profile for a
moment. His mouth moves along with the words he writes in
the diary on his lap.
JIM
(V. o. cont. )
Suffice to say that those swine for
guards won't draw blood from my ankles
again: suffice to say nobody will hang
himself one night on the other side
of a wall six inches from Where I
sleep... Suffice to say that I found a
broom closet at the end of my
cellblock Where I could hide from
the ugly screws and filthy cock
and sad eyed forms and learn to
love silence and SUffice to say
that, though I spent four hours
a day in that closet, sweating
out a horrible cure, I didn't
become pure on Riker's Island..
There is a moment of silence, then an EXPLOSION OF APPLAUSE.
FROM OVER JIM'S SHOULDER, we see that he has been reading
from his diary in a staged performance piece in front of a
large audience. He gets up from his "Cell" and nods his head
to the APPLAUSE.
A TRENDY M.C. takes the mic from Jim.
M.C.
Jim Carroll ... Let's give a hand
to Jim carroll ..
A MAN IN A BERET turns to his INTELLECTUAL FRIEND and SAYS,
"How old is that kid?"
Jim is receiving CONGRATULATIONS from EVERYBODY after he
comes off the stage. Last in line is Frankie Pinewater, who
smiles his rotten toothed smile.
97

FRANKIE
We gotta party going down at
Headquarters, Jim... Everybody
wants to see you': ..
Frankie WHISPERS SEDUCTIVELY in Jim's ear.
FRANKIE
I want the honor of preparing
you a syringe filled with the
finest junk in Manhattan...
Jim is tempted, we see it in his eyes.
The M.C. CALLS to Jim from across the room, he's standing
with the Man in the Black Beret.
M.C.
Jim, come over here a minute,
someone wants to meet you!
FRANKIE
Shit is dynamite, baby
Jim is torn. After a moment, he nods to himself and starts
backing away from his Old Buddies.
JIM
I gotta go meet this guy .. I
gotta go ...
Frankie smiles at Jim.
FRANKIE
You'll be back..
Jim shrugs as if to say "we'll see" and disappears into the
CROWD.
EXT. STREET - SAME NIGHT
Jim turns onto his block and spots Pedro standing on the
stoop of a brownstone, looking hard and old. He's obviously
dealing drugs.
Jim goes up to him. Pedro seems distant and distracted.
JIM
Pedro, how are you, man?
PEDRO
I'm good, I'm good ..
98

JIM
Listen, I'm sorry I left you in Gussie's
that night. I don't know what-
PEDRO
Shit happens ..
JIM
I know, but-
PEDRO
(Cutting him off)
Tryon turned out to be cool, so
don't sweat it .
JIM
Yeah?
PEDRO
Yeah, I was playing shortstop for the
baseball team, we had all these
tournaments against the other reform
schools ... And I had cable in my room
and the food was good, so what the fuck,
you know? I'm planning on going back
there in the winter.
Jim LAUGHS.
JIM
You're still growin', maybe
you'll give football a shot
Pedro smiles, looks past Jim down the street.
JIM
Good to see you, Pete, seriously.
Pedro nods, but the old magic somehow isn't there.
PEDRO
You hear about Herbie, that scumbag?
Jim shakes his head "no".
PEDRO
He's doin' five to fifteen for
throwing some chump off a roof.
They tried him like an adult.
JIM
Shit ...
99

-.
A SKINNY DRUG DEALER comes over and WHISPERS SOMETHING in
Pedro's ear. Pedro's eyes narrow as he watches a Cop car
creep slowly down the block toward' them.
Pedro slaps Jim/s hand goodbye."
PEDRO
Catch you on the flipside, Jim,
alright?
Jim nods as Pedro and the Drug Dealer go down the stairs of
the brownstone. Trouble is in the air.
JIM
Take care of yourself,' little man....
Pedro turns around and winks at Jim. He disappears into the
basement. They hoth know that things will never be the same.
The cop car moves up the block and the POLICEMAN stares hard
at Jim. Jim stares right back.
INT, JIM'S APARTMENT - DAY
Jim comes out of his room in his Mother's apartment, dressed
in shorts and t-shirt, carrying his basketball .
He takes an apple out of a bowl and takes an enormous bite.
Sun is pouring in through the windows.
He writes a note for his Mother on a napkin and leaves it on
the kitchen table: "Be Back For Dinner."
CUT TO:
Jim dribbling his basketball down a west Village street. He
looks healthy and strong as he whips it between his legs.
JIM
(V. o. )
Know this: There's different type
users of junk. You have your rich
diletantte square ass who dabbles
now and then, always has the cash
handy to take off to the Riviera
if he feels he's fucking around
to the danger point. Street junkies
hate these pricks, hut theY/re all
suckers and their money makes
them tolerable. Then there/s the
upper middle class Westchester
Preppies, same as the other
basically. What they're good for
is opening their Mommy and Daddy's
100

eyes to this social virus and putting

pressure on the Government to do
something about it .
Jim dribbles on down the street:
JIM
(V.O.cont.)
Then there's us street kids that
start fucking around very young,
thirteen or so, and think we can
control ourselves and not get
strung out. It rarely works,
I'm living proof .. ln the end,
you gotta see that junk is just
another nine to five gig, the
hours are just a bit more inclined
to shadows
Jim comes up to the West 4th Street basketball courts and
sees Reggie leaning against the fence, sweating, swigging
down some Gatorade.
Jim goes over to him and slams the basketball into the fence
right above Reggie's head, startling him.
JIM
I've been lookin' for you, Old Man ..
Reggie looks up at Jim, surprised. Jim offers him some
money.
JIM
For your window..
Reggie doesn't take the money.
JIM
Take it, Reggie, come on ... I pay
what lowe, too ...
Reggie smiles wickedly and gets off his ass.
REGGIE
I'll play you for it.
He checks the ball to Jim. Jim fakes right, then blows by
Reggie to the left and dunks the ball.
JIM
I thought I couldn't go left,
Reggie ..
Reggie LAUGHS and checks the ball to Jim again.
101

JIM
This time, we keep score .
They start to play their usual, "intense, TRASH TALKING game
of one on one.
The CAMERA PULLS BACK until they are TWO TINY FIGURES
playing ball on a little square of asphalt in an early
morning New York just beginning to fill it's streets with
PEOPLE.
THE END
102

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