Five Television Plays (David Mamet) (4 page)

W
AITRESS:
That fellow giving you a hard time?

W
INNIE:
Well, you know, it takes all kinds.

W
AITRESS:
Hey: your vacation starts tomorrow.

W
INNIE:
You bet. Me and my Son are going to Yellowstone.

W
AITRESS:
I bet that you wish you were there right now.

W
INNIE:
I surely do.

R
ANGER:
And they were all instantly transported to Yellowstone Park, the Congressman, the Judge, the Bailiff, the Guards and the Prisoners, and Winnie and her Son. For two weeks of life in the Great Outdoors.

They all sing a chorale. To wit:

Always tell the truth.

Never insult a congressman.

Don't go to court without a lawyer.

Be calm at Roadblocks.

Do not feed the bears.

Bradford

Dramatis Personae

B
USINESSMAN

S
ECOND
B
USINESSMAN

O
LD
W
AITRESS

H
ARRY

F
ARMER

J
OHN
P
RICE,
C
HIEF
OF
P
OLICE

R
EGULAR

M
AYOR

P
RIEST

B
ILLY
B
ATES

T
OWNSWOMAN
(M
ARY)

W
OMAN
D
ISPATCHER
(M
AY
F
OWLER)

B
OBBY
B
ARNES

O
FFICER

S
ECOND
O
FFICER

A
NNA
M
OORE

G
INNY
M
OORE,
HER
D
AUGHTER

R
EPORTER

S
ECOND
R
EPORTER

F
IREMAN
(J
ERRY
B
ATES,
B
ILLY’S
F
ATHER)

T
OWNSMAN

M
AN

T
ROOPER

S
ECOND
T
ROOPER

N
URSE

B
ILL
S
IMONS

B
US
S
TATION
A
TTENDANT

P
ASSERBY

FADE IN.

EXTERIOR: MAIN STREET, BRADFORD, A SMALL NEW ENGLAND TOWN.

Pan past several firemen working in the ruins of a burnt, still smoldering building, across the street to the facade of an old diner, “The Coffeecorner.”

(
ANGLE INTERIOR: THE COFFEECORNER. Businessmen in shirt-sleeves, in the bay window, looking out at the burnt building.
)

B
USINESSMAN:
. . . gonna cost
someone
couple bucks, put that building back up.

S
ECOND
B
USINESSMAN:
The question is, but who.

B
USINESSMAN:
Another
question: Who did what?

S
ECOND
B
USINESSMAN:
Well, that's
always
the issue, isn't it . . . ?

(
An old
W
AITRESS
tops up their coffee. Camera pans with the
W
AITRESS,
back behind the counter.
)

W
AITRESS:
. . . top it up, Harry?

H
ARRY:
Thank you very much. (
He addresses the man to his right:
) All I'm saying, you get people down the Capital, telling
other
people how to live their lives, and got no
notion
how those people live, then, yes, then people lose their respect for the Institution.

(
The
W
AITRESS
takes a pot of coffee. Camera follows her down to the far end of the counter, past a
F
ARMER.)

F
ARMER:
What they talking about down there?

W
AITRESS:
Oh, they're arguing about the
Doe
season . . .

F
ARMER:
Jimmy! Whyn't you come up with a new subject, talk about the
weather,
some damn thing.

B
USINESSMAN:
Weather's
changing
all the time, you talk about the
weather,
you never know where you stand . . .

(
Camera follows her down to
P
RICE,
a man around forty, in a corduroy sportscoat, plain shirt, and a tie. He is looking at a road map.
)

W
AITRESS:
More coffee . . . ?

P
RICE:
Yes. Thank you.

W
AITRESS:
’Nother order toast?

P
RICE
(
checks his watch
): No, thank you. I don't have time.

B
USINESSMAN
(
offstage
): Yes, I can attest to the
usefulness
of passing
laws,
but I can't see laws ‘bout something none of your concern.

P
RICE
(
to the
W
AITRESS.
He points to the map
): Could you tell me where this is . . . ?

W
AITRESS
(
she checks the map
): Right out the door, one block down State Street.

P
RICE:
Thank you.

(
He drinks his coffee, camera follows him down the counter to the cash register.
)

H
ARRY:
Mister, you tell me,
you
ain't from around here: how many acres does it take to support a doe all winter?

P
RICE:
I have no idea.

H
ARRY:
F‘
course
you don't, neither do they down state, then they should stay
out
of it. Keep
the peace,
’stead of getting so involved with the
law.

P
RICE
(
to the
W
AITRESS):
What do I owe you . . . ?

W
AITRESS:
That'll be ninety-five cents.

(
He pays her.
)

B
USINESSMAN:
You want to use the
law
for something, find out who burnt the
Emporium . . .

S
ECOND
B
USINESSMAN:
Charley Hopkins would've found him in an hour.

F
ARMER:
You going today? The Memorial?

B
USINESSMAN:
That's today, Lord,
isn't
it?

F
ARMER:
Yep.

B
USINESSMAN:
Time flies, don't it?

F
ARMER:
I've noticed it does.

B
USINESSMAN:
You going down the Memorial . . . ?

(P
RICE
walks out of the restaurant.
)

(
ANGLE EXTERIOR: STATE STREET, TOWN OF BRADFORD. A SMALL NEW ENGLAND TOWN. He has just exited from The Coffeecorner, and behind him, in the bay window, we see the
R
EGULARS
whose conversation we have just been hearing.
P
RICE
stands on the sidewalk for a moment, looks up at the sky and shivers a bit. One of the
R
EGULARS
comes out behind him, stands near him, lighting a cigarette.
)

R
EGULAR:
Just passing through?

P
RICE:
No
.
I think I'll stay a bit longer than that.

(
The
R
EGULAR
moves off Camera follows
P
RICE
to an old station wagon at the curb. It is piled high with personal effects, clothing, and furniture.
P
RICE
opens the passenger door, takes out a raincoat, puts it on, consults his map, and moves off down the street.
)

EXTERIOR: BRADFORD LIBRARY. DAY.

A small granite block; cut into it, a five-point star, with the name “Bradford” on it, and the badge number 2121 and “Sacred to the Memory of Charles Hopkins, Chief of Police 1968-1987.”

M
AYOR
(
voice over
): What is a “good man"?

(
Angle: The
M
AYOR
on the steps of the police department, flanked by three uniformed officers; in the foreground, twenty or so townspeople. As he speaks, it begins to rain lightly and the townspeople begin to put up umbrellas.
)

People might say,
no
man is quite as good, or quite as bad as he seems; but there
is
such a thing as a good man, and we were privileged to
know
such a man . . .

(
Angle: The group of bystanders. A
P
RIEST
listening.
)

Charley Hopkins defined for me the meaning of Community Service, and, as I think he did for
all
of us, helped define the meaning of
Community.

(
A
young man of eighteen walks in front of the
P
RIEST.
They nod to each other.
)

B
ILLY
B
ATES:
Morning, Father . . .

P
RIEST:
. . . Billy.

(B
ILLY
moves out of the frame.
)

M
AYOR
(
voice over
): Chief of Police, Past President of our Local Post of the VFW, active in
Scouting,
a grandmaster of the Masons.
Many
might say, those who did not
know
the Chief might say, “A
joiner,
a
booster,
a ‘babbitt’ . . .”

(
Angle: The
M
AYOR.)

M
AYOR:
But
who
among us, does not have a Charley Hopkins story? Of the things he might have taught you . . . of a good
word
he put in for you, at
school,
to get
a job,
you never found out ‘til years
later
. . . I remember one time . . .

(
Angle: The
P
RIEST.
P
RICE
now comes into the group. It has started raining heavily.
P
RICE
stands next to the
P
RIEST.
We hear the
M
AYOR’S
voice in the background, as
P
RICE
and the
P
RIEST
converse. The
P
RIEST
motions for
P
RICE
to come share the umbrella with him.
P
RICE
demurs.
)

P
RIEST:
. . . Come on, don't get yourself wet.

(P
RICE
moves under the umbrella with him.
)

. . . our Chief of Police. Chief Hopkins.

(P
RICE
nods.
)

One year anniversary, his death.

(P
RICE
nods.
)

Hell of a thing. Good man. Very good man. Died last year. Hunting accident.

P
RICE:
Uh-hmm.

P
RIEST:
A hunting accident.

P
RICE:
His family here?

P
RIEST:
Didn't have one. Someone more poetic might say the Town was his family.

P
RICE:
Sounds like a rare man.

P
RIEST:
Yes. He was.

(
Angle:
P
RICE
and the ground in the foreground. The
M
AYOR,
et cetera beyond.
)

M
AYOR:
I have in my hand
telegrams
from twenty states, from police departments, from Chiefs of Police, and from Officers that Charley met on his travels, as part of his activity in the Law Enforcement World. I will read
one . . .
(
He reads:
) "Any officer is touched when a brother gives his life in the Line of Duty. What great example, also, of a man who gave his life to a
life
of Duty. We learned from him, and we will miss him . . .”

(
The
M
AYOR
concludes his speech and nods. The little groups start to break up in the rain.
)

(
Angle:
P
RICE
and the
P
RIEST.
Several people come up and say good-bye to the
P
RIEST.)

T
OWNSWOMAN
(
to
P
RIEST):
We'll never see his like.

P
RIEST:
. . . Mary . . .

T
OWNSWOMAN:
You know, I owe him my boy's life.

P
RIEST:
No
,
I didn't know that.

T
OWNSWOMAN:
That time, he got into an accident, the 302. (
Beat. She moves off.
) Father . . .

(
The
P
RIEST
is left alone with
P
RICE.)

P
RICE:
Hard to replace a man like that.

P
RIEST:
Yes, it would be. Life goes on, though, doesn't it?

P
RICE:
I've
noticed.

P
RIEST:
. . . problems of a Town . . . someone has got to deal with them.

P
RICE:
Yes.

P
RIEST:
Can't live in the past, now,
can
you?

P
RICE:
No
,
you can't.

P
RIEST:
Brings you here today?

P
RICE:
I . . . I came here to pay my respects. (
Pause.
) Pay my respects to the man.

(
The
P
RIEST
nods. They have stopped walking.
)

P
RIEST:
I walk you somewhere?

P
RICE:
Uh, no thank you. I'm going right here.

(
They look up, they are at the Police Station.
)

P
RICE:
I'm the new Police Chief.