Script!
Part 4
BAILOFF:
All rise. All rise. Court is now in session. Judge E.A. Monahan presiding.
MONAHAN:
Are any of you boys represented by council? No? Good, that will move things along considerably.
SPOT:
hey, yer honor, I object!
MONAHAN:
On what grounds?
SPOT:
On the grounds of Brooklyn, yer honor.
(The newsies crack up laughing. Monahan bangs on his desk.)
MONAHAN:
I fine each of you five dollars, or two weeks confinement in the House of Refuge.
RACETRACK:
Whoa. We ain�t got five bucks. We don�t even got five cents. Hey, yer honor, how �bout I roll you for it. Double or nothing?
MONAHAN:
Alright. Move along, move along.
(Denton, David and Les enter)
DENTON:
Your honor, I�ll pay the fines. All of them.
DAVID:
Hey, you fellas alright? Where�s Jack?
DENTON:
Look, we�ve got to meet at the restaurant. Everybody. We have to talk.
MONAHAN:
Pay the clerk. Move it along.
(Jack is lead in, handcuffed)
JACK:
Hey fellas!
RACETRACK:
Hey, Cowboy! Nice shiner!
JACK:
Hey, Denton. I guess we made all the papes this time. So, how�s my picture look?
DENTON:
None of the papers covered the rally. Not even the Sun.
BAILOFF:
Case of Jack Kelly. Inciting a riot. Assault. Resisting arrest.
SNYDER:
Judge Monahan, I�ll speak for this young man.
JACK:
You two know each other. Ain�t that nice.
MONAHAN:
Just move it along, Warden Snyder.
SNYDER:
This boy�s real name is Francis Sullivan. His mother�s deceased. His father�s a convict in the state penitentiary. He�s an escapee from the House of Refuge where his original sentence for three months was extended to six moths for disruptive behavior.
JACK:
Like demanding we eat the food you steal from us.
SNYDER:
Followed by an additional six months for attempted escape.
JACK:
Attempted? Last time it wasn�t an attempted escape. Remember Snyder? Remember me and Teddy Roosevelt? Remember Roosevelt and the carriage?
SNYDER:
Therefore, I ask that he be returned to the House of Refuge.
JACK:
What? For my own good, right? Move it along? For my own good and for what he kicks back to you
SNYDER:
I ask that the court order his incarceration until the age of twenty-one, in the hope that we may yet guide him to a useful and productive life.
MONAHAN:
So ordered.
LES:
No!
(Jack is led away. Snyder follows, then turns and smiles at the judge. Later- The newsies sit in Tibby�s. Denton enters. They greet him)
DAVID:
Why didn�t the Sun print the story?
DENTON:
Because it never happened
RACETRACK:
What do you mean it never happened? You were there!
KID BLINK:
You wrote it!
DENTON:
It�s not in the papers, it never happened. The owners decreed it not be in the papers, therefore� I came to tell you fellas good bye.
DAVID:
What happened? Did you get fired or something?
DENTON:
No, I got reassigned back to my old job as the Sun�s ace war corespondent. They want me to leave right away. The owner thinks I should only cover the really important stories. Wish me luck fellas. At least half of what I wish for you. They don�t always fire. I would be black balled from every paper in the country. I�m a newspaper man. I have to have a paper to write for. This is the story I wrote about the rally. I want you to read it at least. This should cover it
(Denton pays the waiter and leaves. David crumples the story up and throws it on a table)
DAVID:
We get Jack out of the Refuge tonight. From now on, we trust no one but the newsies.
(The newsies get up and leave. Les uses Denton�s article to wrap his unfinished hot dog in. That night- David, Les, Mush, Kid Blink, Racetrack and Boots sneak into the Refuge�s gates. Kid Blink had a rope.)
DAVID:
That�s the window where we saw Crutchy
(They are about to move when they see Snyder leading Jack into a carriage.)
LES:
It�s Jack!
MUSH:
Where they takin� him Dave?
DAVID:
Only one way to find out. I�ll meet you guys at the square. Racetrack, watch him.
(David hides in the back of the carriage, which goes to Pulitzer�s house. Seitz is waiting outside for them.)
SEITZ:
Get him inside
(Snyder takes Jack�s arm and leads him in. David pulls out the pin that attaches the horses to the carriage. Inside- Seitz leaves Jack in Pulitzer�s study. Pulitzer enters.)
PULITZER:
Sit. Know what I was doing at your age, boy? I was in a war. The Civil War.
JACK:
Yeah, I heard of it. So, didja win?
PULITZER:
People think war is about right or wrong and not power.
JACK:
Yeah, I heard of that too. I don�t just sell your papes, Joe. Sometime I read �em.
PULIZTER:
Power of the press is the greatest power of them all. I tell this city how to think. I tell this city how to vote. I shape it�s future.
JACK:
Yeah? Well, right now I�m only thinking about one future, and that�s mine.
PULITZER:
So am I boy. I have the power to see you stay locked in the Refuge
JACK:
And I have the power to break out again.
PULITZER:
Or, I can see you released tomorrow, free and clear, with more money in your pockets than you can earn in three lifetimes.
JACK:
Are you bribin� me, Joe?
PULITZER:
No
JACK:
Well, it�s been real nice chattin� with ya, Joe. But I got to be goin� now.
PULIZTER:
You listen to me, boy. You just shut your mouth and listen to me! You shut up and listen to me for once! No game I�m playing. You work for me til the strike�s over, and it will end, boy, make no mistake, with or without you. Then you go where ever you want to buy a ticket for. Away from the Refuge, these foul streets. Free. With money to spend and nobody chasing you
JACK:
We must have you scared pretty bad, old man
PULITZER:
I offer you freedom and money just to work for me again. To your friends, I won�t be so kind. Now, you�re partner, what�s his name? David. I understand he has a family. What do you think the Refuge will do to him? And it will be you who put him there. And all the others, after all, you�re their leader. Go back to the Refuge tonight, think about it. Give me your answer in the morning.
(Jack leaves. As he is being taken outside, Snyder lets go of him for one second)
DAVID:
Jack! Come on! Come on!
(Jack slides down the railing and jumps over it. He and David take off)
SNYDER:
After him!
(The driver whips the horses, who take off without the carriage.)
SEITZ:
Don�t worry. He�s got no place to go
(David and Jack run into an alley. Jack slows down)
DAVID:
Come on! Keep running!
JACK:
You shouldn�t have done this, Dave. They could put you in jail
DAVID:
I don�t care
JACK:
Come here. What about your family? What happened to them if you go in jail. You don�t know nothing about jail. Now, thanks for what you done, but you get out of here
DAVID:
I don�t understand
JACK:
I don�t understand either, but just get outta here!
DAVID:
No!
JACK:
Go!
(David turns slowly and walks away. Jack leans against a wall. Suddenly, he�s leaning against a wall in the Refuge.)
JACK:
Santa Fe
My old friend
I can�t spend my whole life hidin�
You�re the only light that�s guidin� me today
(Crutchy opens a little slot in the door. He has a potato)
CRUCTHY:
Psst! Jack! Look! I snitched it off Snyder�s plate while I was serving him. It�s the biggest one. Oh, Mr. Snyder was eating good tonight. You know the stuff that we don�t ever get? He got potatoes, olives, liver, bacon, sauerkraut. And guess what I done to his sauerkraut, huh?
JACK:
So, what�d it get ya?
CRUTCHY:
Oh, anudder three months, probably, but you can�t let �em beat you, right Jack? That�s what you always said
JACK:
We was beat when we was born
(Crutchy frowns and closes the slot)
JACK:
Will you keep a candle burnin�
Will you help me find my way?
You�re my chance to break free
And who knows when my next one will be
Santa Fe
Wait for me
(The newsies are picketing outside the World building.)
NEWSIES:
Stop the World! No more papes! Stop the World! No more papes! (etc.)
(The police form a barricade. Some of the newsies start to fight amongst themselves.)
DAVID:
Race! Help me! I need some help!
RACETRACK:
Alright! I ain�t deaf!
SPOT:
Hey, hey, hey! Break it up. Hey, Race, come here.
(Weasel leads Jack out. He�s in a new suit)
RACETRACK:
What?
SPOT:
Just tell me I�m seeing things. Just tell me I�m seeing things.
RACETRACK:
No, you ain�t seeing things. That�s Jack. What�s he doing?
SPOT:
He�s dressed like a scabber!
MUSH:
Jack? Jack, look at me, will ya? Come on, it�s me, Mush. Look at me. What are you doin�, Jack?
KID BLINK:
This ain�t happening. This can�t be happening. What are you doin� Jack? Come on, what are you doin�?
BOOTS:
Come on. What is this? Where�d you get them clothes?
WEASEL:
Mr. Pulitzer picked them out himself. A special gift to a special new employee.
SPOT:
He sold us out!
RACETRACK:
I�ll give you a new suit! You bum! I�ll soak ya!
SPOT:
Hey, hey, hey! Let me get my hands dirty. Come here you dirty rotten scabber! Traitor!
(Some newsies pull Spot away. David stares at Jack)
WEASEL:
Aww. You wanna talk to him? Come on, come on. Sure. Got right ahead.
(David walks up to Jack)
DAVID:
So, this is why you didn�t escape last night. You�re a liar! You lied about everything. You lied about your father being out west, �cause he�s not out west! You didn�t even tell me your real name!
JACK:
So? What you wanna do about it Dave?
DAVID:
I don�t understand you.
JACK:
Oh, so let me spell it out for ya. You see, I ain�t got nobody tucking me in at night, like you. It�s just me, I gotta look out for myself.
DAVID:
You had the newsies
JACK:
Oh, what�d being a newsies ever give me but a dime a day and a few black eyes? You know, I can�t afford to be a kid no more, Dave. For the first time in my life, I got money in my pockets. Real money. Money, you understand? I got more on the way and as soon as I collect, I�m gone, I�m away. Alright?
DAVID:
Well, that�s good. That�s good because we don�t need you! We don�t need you! All those words you said, those were mine.
JACK:
Yeah, but you never had the guts to put them across yourself, didja?
DAVID:
I do now
(Dave starts to go back to the newsies, then turns to look at Jack again.)
JACK:
What�sa matta? Got a problem?
(David rushes towards Jack, but Weasel and a few policemen pull him away.)
WEASEL:
Maybe you�d like a new suit of your own, huh?
DAVID:
Never! Never!
WEASEL:
Get outta here! Get outta here!
DAVID:
I�m not like you!
(The cops surround Jack so the newsies can�t get him. The newsies watch him go.)
SPOT:
Traitor!
KID BLINK:
You make me sick!
BOOTS:
I trusted you!
RACETRACK:
Seize the day, huh Jack?
LES:
He�s foolin� �em, so he can spy on �em or something. Yeah, yeah, that�s it. He�s foolin� �em!
RACETRACK:
Yeah, he�s spying on then, kid.
(Sarah is going through a pile of lace. She finds Les�s old hot dog)
SARAH:
Les. What is this?
LES:
Savin� it
(He takes the hot dog and leaves the article in Sarah�s hands. She looks at it.)
SARAH:
David. It�s Denton�s article. �The Dark Truth; Why Our City Really Fears The Newsies Strike� by Bryan Denton. �Last night I saw naked force excised against mere boys, the newsies, who were��
(David climes out the window, slams it, then storms off the fire escape. That night-Weasel leads Jack to his new bedroom, the basement of the World building.)
WEASEL:
One trick, Cowboy, and it�s right back to the Refuge. Please.
(He throws a dust covered sheet to Jack.
WEASEL:
Ah. You gonna be requiring anything this evening? Huh? No? Aww..tick tick. Well then, I ought to be saying good night. Remember, on trick and I go straight to Mr. Pulitzer.
(He exits, leaving Jack alone. Morning- Jack goes to collect his papers. Oscar and Morris come up behind him.)
WEASEL:
Sleep well Cowboy?
OSCAR:
Come with us Cowboy. We�re gonna go fix you�re pal, Davey. Fix him so he can�t walk.
MORRIS:
Shut up
(Jack starts to go after them.)
WEASEL:
Ah! Lift one finger and it�s right back to the Refuge. Next!
(Jack picks up his papers and leaves. Later that morning- Sarah is walking to work with Les. She has a basket full of lace.)
SARAH:
Morning
LADY:
Good mornin�, dear.
(Oscar �bumps� into her)
OSCAR:
�Cuse me, Sweetface.
(She continues to walk with Oscar behind her. Morris steps out in front of her.)
MORRIS:
Where�s your little brother, Tootsie? Where�s little Davey?
(Sarah tries to get by, but the brothers push her around.)
LES:
Leave my sister alone!
(He shoves Oscar. Morris holds onto Sarah while Oscar pushed Les into a puddle.)
SARAH:
Stop it! Leave him alone!
(Oscar shoves Les into a pile of baskets. Sarah shoves Morris away.)
SARAH:
You stupid ape.
(She punches him, but it doesn�t hurt him. She runs into the alley. The brothers catch her. David sees Les and helps him up.)
DAVID:
What�s the matter? Are you alright?
LES:
I�m alright, I�m alright. Help Sarah!
SARAH:
Run Davey!
OSCAR:
Yeah, run Davey. We got the best part of your family right here.
(David tackles Oscar.)
SARAH:
Let go of me!
(Morris throws her to the ground. Oscar punches David)
SARAH:
Stop it! Les! Stop, you�re hurting him! No!
(Morris pulls out a pair of brass knuckles and puts them on.)
SARAH:
Leave him alone!
(Oscar continues to punch David. Les runs to Sarah. Jack is walking down the street near the alley.)
SARAH:
Stop it! Leave him alone!
(Jack hears her cries and runs, dropping his papers as he goes. Oscar holds David as Morris gets ready to hit him with the knuckles. Jack comes up behind Morris and punches him. David gives Oscar a elbow in the stomache. Jack throws Morris into a box)
JACK:
Get over here.
(Jack grabs Oscar)
JACK:
Remember Crutchy?
(Jack headbutts him and he falls near Morris. Jack goes to help Sarah up)
JACK:
You alright?
SARAH:
Yeah.
(The hug breifly)
SARAH:
David!
(Jack goes to David and checks him out before helping him up. Oscar and Morris finally get up.)
MORRIS:
You�d better run, Cowboy. We�re gonna tell uncle Weas. You�ll be back in the Refuge before suppertime!
OSCAR:
Run, you lousy coward, run!
(Jack starts to go after them, but Sarah stops him. Les runs to the end of the alley.)
LES:
Go one! Get outta here! Don�t come back! You hear me?
DAVID:
What? You couldn�t stay away?
JACK:
Well, I guess I can�t be something I ain�t.
DAVID:
A scab?
JACK:
No, smart.
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