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Priest

Screenplay By Phillip Ghee (USA)

Chapter Eight

Storyline

CHAPTER 8
STORYLINE

Scene: Police Headquarters

DeBaptise is not assigned to what has been now tagged as the Paper Mill Lot murder. His co-worker, streetwise and hardboiled NYPD transplant, Sergeant Domino Garcetti has been assigned the case. DeBaptise happens to be walking past the integration room as Garcetti is questioning a somewhat comical-looking and obviously homeless, whiskered man. More amused than intrigued, DeBaptise enters the adjacent observation room to listen in.

GARCETTI

“Alright Santa youse telling me that neither you nor any of your
bum elves saw anything strange Friday night? I guess a body
can fall out of the sky and youse see nothing and, youse hear
nothing yet let some one crack open a forty once and you are on
it like a bum ona, ona, ona… like a bum on a forty ounce.

HOMELESS MAN
(Agitated)

“Look mister I swear I ain’t see nuthin strange that night.”

GARCETTI

“What’s the matter, we know that’s gang turf, gang banger
got your tongue, do they? Maybe they paid you off.”

HOMELESS MAN
(Proud)

“I don’t need no gang bangers money, I mind my bizness alright
but I ain’t afraid of no gang banger. I don’t need no stolen money.
I got me everything I need. Ya’ll think all homeless are po’
I don’t need me no crack, and I ain’t afraid, I ain't afraid, I got me
a nice box and I got me Jesus, I ain’t afraid you or your big gun.”

GARCETTI

“So now you’re Howard Hughes with a hard on. Maybe I’ll send a
couple of blue suits over there with a can of gasoline and see
if they can find your cardboard mansion.”

HOMELESS MAN
(Concerned)

“COM’ on Mr. Police give me a break. I ain’t see nobody that night
Neither Harold or Old Snake. And those gang bangers don’t come
dat way much at night. They come out there for an hour or so,
sometime during the day. They drink their beer, smoke dat crazy
shit, then they go out and kill I suppose”.
 
“It been real quiet out there at night. We wuz up late that night too,
Old snake did sum serious panhandling downtown.
so he had himself a bottle of sum nice Port and a shorty of Old times. It was a
chilly that night so we all thought we get a heat buzz on.”

GARCETTI

“So what about traffic, any strange cars, anybody park around the lot.”

HOMELESS MAN

“No it was real quiet like I say, we sees the rent a cops from the
Warehouse driving around a little making their rounds. The Mission
Priest came over for a second or two and made a blanket drop off.
They know we probably too! drunk to make our way over right so
they just leave em, they know if not us the fifth street bridge bums will
pick-em up.

FADE OUT

Continued next week...