White Men Can’t Jump To Conclusions

[street]
Ray: This neighborhood makes yours look like Astor Street.
Fraser: Well, this was your recommendation, Ray.
Ray: Link’s the best bindlestitch guy in the world. You got a problem with your footwear, you bring it to Link.
Fraser: I agree. These boots are as good as new. Probably the best $125 I ever parted with.
Ray: You know, that’s something I’ll never understand. Why anybody would spend $125 to fix up a stinky old pair of Mountie boots.
Fraser: [chuckling]   Oh, Ray, Ray, Ray. Properly molded boots are a Mountie’s prized possession. Well, that and his horse.
Ray: Well, we’re not picking up your horse.
Fraser: I don’t have a horse. I mean, not here.
Ray: Well, you know, you ought to think about getting one cause I’m getting really tired of driving you around.
[gunshot]

[Vecchio goes to get into the Riv]
Fraser: Ray, that was a gunshot.
Ray: Yeah. If we stop for every gunshot we hear in this neighborhood, we’ll never get home.
[gunshot]
Ray: See? [gets into the Riv]
[gunshot]

[Fraser takes off running]
Ray: Arrgh! I’m off duty!

[Vecchio runs after Fraser...leaving the car and boots untended]

Ray : [shouting]   You’re off duty! And unless somebody shot a moose, you have no jurisdiction!

[Fraser rounds a corner, and knocks a man flat]
Fraser: Oh, pardon me. Excuse me, young man, you’re carrying a--

[gun-wielding teen (Tyree) runs off]
Ray: I’ll get the shooter.
Fraser: I’ll get the shootee. [to victim (Taylor), struggling to get up]  Hold on, hold on.
[Vecchio chases Tyree]
Ray: Give it up, man! I can run all day! Don’t make me take you down, man!

[Tyree runs into the street, almost getting hit; Vecchio continues pursuit]

[alley]
Fraser: [to bleeding Taylor]  Who did this to you?
Taylor: Nobody.

[Fraser presses a white handkerchief onto the wound]
Fraser: Hold that there. [to passerby]  Call 911!

[passerby keeps on passing by]

Fraser : [to Taylor]  Come on. Give me your hand. [picks Taylor up onto his shoulder]

[chase; Tyree leaps over a chain-link fence]
Ray: Oh, for God’s sake.

[goes to climb over... the fence falls; Vecchio stumbles, then continues pursuit]

[Fraser carries Taylor out of the alley & onto the street]
Fraser: Help!  [to passing car]  Sir, help! [car keeps going]

[group of teens approaches]

Fraser : Is there a phone nearby? [all four produce cell phones]

[chase; they go into a dead end alley]
Ray: [pulls gun]  Drop the weapon. Unless you can fly.

[Tyree drops the gun & turns... then leaps onto a ladder, which falls, dropping Tyree to the ground]
Tyree: I hate this neighborhood!!
Ray: Get your hands on your head.

[street; ambulance is taking Taylor away]
Teens: Good work, Fraser... You the man, Fraser...You da man...
Fraser: Thank you kindly.
Ray: Thank you kindly? Let’s just hope my car is still there.
Fraser: Ray, this was worth it. We saved a life, you made an arrest, and the neighborhood is a safer place. [at the Riv]   Oh, dear.
Ray: What?
Fraser: My boots are gone. [hangs his head]
Ray: It’s okay.

[apartment building; Fraser wears sneakers and white athletic socks]

[knock knock knock]
Fraser: Excuse me, I’m looking for a pair of boots-- [door shuts]

[next door]
Fraser: RCMP regulation issue, son. I suppose you wouldn’t be familiar-- [door shuts]

[next door]
Fraser: [shows encyclopedia]  They’re just like the man on the horse is wearing, only mine are somewhat older and therefore more faded. Um-- [resident takes the encyclopedia, then shuts door]
[Dief grumbles]
Fraser: Well, no matter what you may think, I remain undeterred. I am convinced that somebody took them in for safekeeping, and that they’re spending as much time looking for me as I’m spending looking for them.
[knocks knock knock]
Fraser: [to passing resident]  Excuse me, sir, the residents of this unit would appear to be home, yet they’re not answering their door.
Resident: Well, ain’t that a shock.
Fraser: Were you home yesterday at the time of the incident?
Resident: Man, let me tell you something. I didn’t hear a thing.
Fraser: Well, actually I’m looking for a pair of um-- [door shuts]  Right. [to Dief]  Let’s go. [exits, then returns]  Are you deaf? I mean, I know you are literally deaf... Oh, forget it.

[outside]
Fraser: All right, come on. I’m not having any success, let’s see how you do.
[Dief groans as Fraser takes off his sneaker]
Fraser: Or would you rather go back to knocking on doors?
[Dief whines, sniffs Fraser’s sock, and groans; Fraser take a big whiff of his shoe – it makes his eyes cross]
Fraser: Yes, I see what you mean. These sneakers don’t breathe quite the way my boots did. Okay, pick up the scent. That’s it. Good boy.

[Dief takes off; Fraser goes to follow, and a group of men surround him]

Fraser : Good morning, gentlemen.
Man 1: You hunting moose or something?
Fraser: Ah, no. Boots actually. You wouldn’t have seen someone wandering around--
Man 2: Yo-yo, check it. I can give you $200 Nikes for $50.
Fraser: Now that offer sounds almost too good to be true, but I’m really only interested in boots. Thank you kindly.

[Dief leads Fraser back to the crime scene]

Fraser : Diefenbaker, for God’s sakes, you’re tracking the wrong thing. You’re tracking my feet, not my boots. I know my feet were there. My boots were... Oh, forget it.

[his eyes catches on a long gray string, stuck into the wall; he retrieves it... a car pulls up]
Trevor: Yo.
Fraser: Good morning.
Trevor: Yeah. Just get in the car.
Fraser: Well, actually I don’t need a ride--
Trevor: Look. Lou would like to talk to you, man.
Fraser: Do I know Lou?
Trevor: First you meet him, then you get to know him. Get in.
Fraser: Very well.
Trevor: Hey, hey! No dogs in here, man.
Fraser: He’s a wolf.

[Fraser & Dief get in]

[27^th precinct; interrogation room]
Tyree: A man can’t walk down the street in this part of town without getting harassed.
Ray: You were running.
Tyree: I didn’t see no foot traffic speed limit.
Ray: You were carrying a gun and running from a shooting victim.
Tyree: He say that?
Ray: You know as well as I do he didn’t say that.
Tyree: Look, I was carrying a gun so I wouldn’t wind up a shooting victim.
Ray: Right.

[basketball court; practice in session]
Chatter: All right, baby... Here we go, here we go... Take a shot....Get that pick, baby... Here we go... watch him....

Reggie : Stamp drives up the lane. [makes a basket]  Oh, my God! A reverse lay-up! Can anybody stop this teenage dynamo, Marv? I honestly don’t think so, Dick.
Lou: Play the game, Reggie, not the crowd, man! Where y’all find him? [to Fraser]  You see that?
Fraser: Fine play.
Lou: He’s a hot dog. He’s a punk. They’ll be double-teaming him in 8 seconds.
Fraser: Are you their coach?
Lou: Huh. Hey, these kids? They’re our hope. I watch out for them. I provide the balls, a few burgers, a place to stay if they need it. People look at me as a corporate sponsor. Check out the sweats I got ‘em.
Fraser: Very magnanimous of you.
Lou: Magnanimous? Hey, I’m a magnanimous kind of guy.

[puts up his fist for a greeting, Fraser does, too – awkwardly – and Lou completes the exchange himself; they sit in the bleachers]

Lou : [shouts]   Inside, Reggie! Look for the ball! [to Fraser]  He’s so dependent on his setup man. Hmph. He’s not here, he just freaks.
Fraser: Where is his setup man?
Lou: Hmm, you busted him.
Fraser: Ah.
Lou: So who are you, what do you want?
Fraser: Benton Fraser. I’m a Mountie.
Lou: Why do they call you that?
Fraser: Well, it’s short for Royal Canadian Mounted Police.
Lou: So, you’re mounted.
Fraser: No. We mount horses, on occasion. Perhaps you’re familiar with the Musical Ride--
Lou: Then in all factuality, aren’t the horses the mount-ees, then?
Fraser: No. You see, we are mounted on top of horses... It’s historical.
Lou: So, my peoples tell me you been snooping around where the shooting went down. You looking for something?
Fraser: As a matter of fact, yes. I’m looking for my boots.
Lou: We’ll let you know if we find anything.

[thugs stand up, looking at Fraser pointedly]
Fraser: It’s been a pleasure speaking with you.

[Fraser stands and puts out his fist... Lou just waves him away; Fraser exits]
Lou: Get it in to Reggie! Reggie?! Purdue see that garbage, you’re going to be sweeping up your pop’s barbershop for a long time in your short stupid life!

[27^th precinct, observation room; Vecchio watches Tyree bounding around, practicing, in the interrogation room]
Fraser: Good news, Ray. He didn’t do it.
Ray: [hangs head]  No. Not this time.
Fraser: Not what this time?
Ray: Look, somebody shot someone, right?
Fraser: Yes.
Ray: And I have a responsibility to catch that someone that shot the other someone, right?
Fraser: Yes.
Ray: And if I catch that someone, it’s good news, right?
Fraser: Yes.
Ray: Okay, now if that person turns out to be the wrong person, does that mean that there was no shooting?
Fraser: No.
Ray: Does that mean that no one was almost killed?
Fraser: No.
Ray: Does that mean there’s one less bad guy in the world?
Fraser: No.
Ray: Right. It just means that the real bad guy is still out there instead of locked up somewhere safe. So by you coming in here and telling me that our guy is innocent, this is just not good news!
Fraser: I’m sorry. I see what you’re driving at and I stand corrected. It is bad news. He didn’t do it.

 

[into the corridor]
Ray: Look, Fraser, kids from that neighborhood, generally speaking, end up doing one of two things: basketball or crime.
Fraser: Tyree plays basketball.
Ray: Well, they all start out playing basketball, but if one of them is lucky enough, he’ll make it to Division One college ball. But if he’s not talented enough, if he’s not tall enough, if he’s not dedicated enough, he’s going to wind up like that kid and make life miserable for everyone else.
Fraser: Ray, please, look at this. [holds up the gray string]
Ray: What’s that supposed to be, evidence?
Fraser: The shooter wore this.
Ray: Well, let’s hope that’s not all he wore.

 

[observation room; Vecchio holds the string up to the glass, comparing it with Tyree’s sweatsuit]

Ray : Gray. Different shade? [Fraser shakes head]  Different material?
Fraser: Actually, no.
Ray: Then bag it and add it to my case file.

 

[bullpen]
Fraser: Ray, left-handed.
Ray: What’s left-handed, the thread?
Fraser: No, no. The shooter.

[Vecchio rolls his eyes & turns back the way they came]

Fraser : Aren’t you even interested in knowing how I know the shooter is left-handed?
Ray: Indulge me.

 

[observation room; they watch Tyree practicing free throws – with his left hand]

Ray : What hand?

 

[bullpen]
Fraser: I know what you’re thinking. He hasn’t made one right-handed shot.
Ray: Is this your way of admitting you’re wrong?
Fraser: No. It’s my way of suggesting the young man is extremely dedicated. He’s practicing his weaknesses, not his strengths. He’s making left-handed shots because he is right-handed.
Ray: All right, I’ll buy that. Explain this. Ballistics report. Gun matches the bullet that went through the victim. Your boy’s fingerprints are all over the trigger.
Fraser: Well, we know he held the gun, Ray, because we found it on him.
Ray: Turn the page. Paraffin test. Gunpowder blowback all over his hands. He fired that gun, Fraser. All the tests match him to the shooter, so for the next hour I’m going to treat myself to thinking that he’s the guy.
Fraser: Ray, what if--
Ray: Look, sixty minutes, all right? Just don’t talk to me for one hour.

[stairwell]
Fraser: I’m not asking you to tell me the truth. If you had wished the truth to be known, then I think you would have been more forthcoming with the authorities, so obviously you have reason to fear the truth. And I think you’re in some kind of trouble. Well, manifestly you’re in trouble - you’ve been charged with a capital crime. But that’s not the kind of trouble that I’m actually referring to. You know, it might help perhaps if you simply told us why it is you’re not telling us the truth. [they go outside]  And, of course, if you were to tell me why you are not telling us the truth, that would probably indicate what the truth might actually be, and you realize I’m not actually asking you to tell me the truth.
Tyree: Do you talk English?
Fraser: Canadian, actually.

[a car pulls up]
Reggie: Yo, Tyree!
Fraser: Perhaps we could speak later.
Tyree: Don’t count on it.
Fraser: All right.
Tyree: Hey, Reggie, thanks for the ride.
Reggie: Hey, it’s the least I can do for a fine young man with a noble heart helping to assist his friend achieve personal greatness. Ha ha!

[they drive off, and Vecchio comes outside]
Ray: That was him.
Fraser: Yes.
Ray: He’s out.
Fraser: Yes.
Ray: He made bail.
Fraser: Yes.
Ray: Where’d the punk get the money?
Fraser: I lent it to him.

[Vecchio hangs his head]

[corridor]
Huey: What’s wrong with your pal, Vecchio? He can’t think straight without his boots on?
Fraser: Well, I don’t believe the loss of my boots has affected my ability to think, Detective Huey. However, now that you bring it up, if you should happen to see my boots in any course of--
Huey: You better hope I don’t, Constable, because you don’t even want to think about where I’d like to put ‘em.
Ray: Pipe down, Jack.  In case you haven’t noticed, your popularity rating around here is at an all-time low.
Fraser: The young man is innocent, Ray.
Ray: No, you think he is innocent, which is still no reason to bail him out by yourself. Now, the next time you do something like that, you want to run it by me first?
Fraser: Well, I would’ve but you told me to stay away from you for an hour.

[bullpen]
Welsh: Detective, thank you for taking time out from your busy schedule to confer with me.
Ray: Anytime, sir.
Welsh: You must be even busier since your Canadian friend decided to release that dangerous felon that you worked so hard to incarcerate.
Fraser: I’d like to explain that, Leftenant. You see, the young man has an extremely important basketball game sheduled--
Welsh: Oh, I see. So if Charles Manson had a kazoo concert scheduled, you would have bailed him out, too.
Fraser: I don’t think so, sir. Furthermore, I believe that the evidence will support my theory concerning the young man.
Welsh: Well, why don’t we let the courts decide that, Constable? You see, he’s due for a prelim in a few hours, and if he doesn’t show up, you are out a lot of money. [to Vecchio]  And you are in for a long, long stay in my doghouse. Understood?

[liquor store]
Reggie: You know what? You did Lou a good turn, baby. You his man. You know you my man, baby. [puts a bottle under his jacket; Tyree grabs it & puts it back]  And the good times is going to roll in the club house tonight, Marv. Well, these fellas have earned it, Dick. [puts the bottle under his jacket; Tyree grabs it]  What, man?
Tyree: You are such an idiot, Reggie.
Reggie: And you?
Tyree: I can afford to be an idiot. I ain’t going nowhere. You got these college coaches licking your Nikes, man. You got a future. Me? All I got is a messed up shoulder. Now what coach is going to give me the time of day?
Reggie: Poor baby. Let’s be out, man. Come on.

[Tyree puts the bottle in his coat; as he leaves, he throws a bill on the counter]

[Riv]
Ray: You see that, Benny? The next 5 blocks down is the turf of the 2-4 Dragons. Now if you’re not a member of that gang and you cross this street, you’re going to wind up getting shot. Now that’s what happened to Taylor Thomas, left-handed thread or not.
Fraser: Tyree was not the shooter, Ray.
Ray: Then why was he carrying a gun?
Fraser: I don’t know.
Ray: Then why did he shoot the gun?
Fraser: I don’t know.
Ray: Then why did he make me chase him?
Fraser: I haven’t figured that out yet.
Ray: Well, at least we’re getting somewhere.
Fraser: Yes, it’s encouraging, isn’t it?

[basketball court; Tyree & Reggie practice]
Reggie: Rebound! 

Tyree : Give it to me, dog.

Reggie : Here we go, baby.

Tyree : Oh! That’s too bad for you.

Reggie : Set it up for me, baby, set it up.

Tyree : Go ahead, man.

[Reggie dunks the ball]

Tyree : Oh!!

Reggie : That’s what I’m talking about right there. One-two punch, baby!

Tyree : Won again, man!

Reggie : That’s it!

Lou : Tyree, come here a minute.

[crime scene]
Fraser: The bullet was extracted from the wall here, which would mean that the gunman had to be where you’re standing.
Ray: Because this is where you found the thread.
Fraser: It had rained earlier that day. The wind was from the southwest, yet the thread was dry. There was no sign of mold. Also, the footprints at the site would indicate that a man approximately 79.5 kilos stood there sometime after the deluge.
Ray: Well, that could have been anybody. Now here’s how I see it....

[Vecchio’s scenario...]

[Taylor comes around the corner, eating a sandwich...Tyree points a gun at him]
Tyree: What the hell you think you’re doing? This is my hood.

[Tyree shoots  *bang* Taylor shoots  *bang* Tyree shoots  *bang* hitting Taylor in the leg]

Ray : Tyree fires the first shot and misses. The victim fires back, misses by a mile, hits the garbage can. Tyree fires again and nails him. Ba-da-bing.
Fraser: What did you just say?
Ray: What?
Fraser: You said ‘Ba Da Bing.’
Ray: Yeah. Don’t they say that in Canada?
Fraser: No, no, just listen to the sound of that. Ba Da Bing.
Ray: What?
Fraser: Well, remember back to yesterday.

 

[scenario: gun shoots  *bang* gun shoots  *bang*]

Fraser : The first two shots had the same sound.

[gun shoots into can *bing* ] 

 

Fraser : The third shot was the bing. See, your scenario doesn’t hold up, Ray. The bing was the shot that hit the garbage can, not the second shot. That was a bang.
Ray: The judge is going to love this. Your Honor, we have no case because the bang is where the bing should have been.
Fraser: The sounds don’t lie, Ray.
Ray: All right, then tell me this. How does the bang being where the bing should have been--
Fraser: No, that’s the bing being where the bang should have been.
Ray: But what does any of this mean that I busted the wrong guy?
Fraser: Perhaps Tyree was with a left-handed man.

[basketball court]
Lou: And yet the Mounting just bailed you out, just out of the goodness of his heart?
Tyree: I don’t know.
Lou: Hey, hey.
Reggie: Man, Tyree ain’t going to say nothing.
Lou: Anything.
Reggie: What?
Lou: Anything. Tyree ain’t going to say anything.
Reggie: Oh. Right.
Lou: Reggie, go work on your jump shot. [he does]   I’m worried, Tyree.
Tyree: Ain’t got nothing to be worried about, Lou.
Lou: You’re due in court.
Tyree: In a couple of hours.
Lou: I want you there. I want this over. I want you to just plead it out.
Reggie: Hey, we got finals tomorrow.
Lou: Go work on your jump shot, Reggie! Tyree ain’t got to be there for you to show your stuff.
Reggie: But Purdue’s going to be there. Hey, Isaiah Thomas is going to be there.
Tyree: Yeah, right.
Reggie: No, for real. Everybody says so.
Lou: Reggie, you are going to make us all proud. Tyree or no Tyree. This man got business to take care of. Ain’t that right, Tyree? Ain’t that right?
Tyree: Yeah. Yeah, Lou.
Lou: All right. Tyree. Junior. You a juvie. You going to do light time, man. I’ll look out for your mom, make sure she okay. And when you get out, it’s you and me. Get you some protection, you’ll be making big money. Isaiah Thomas? You can meet Isaiah Thomas some other time.
Tyree: Thank you.

[Reggie & Tyree walk away; thug approaches Lou, and nods]

[consulate, Fraser’s office; knock knock, Thatcher walks in]
Fraser: Ah, ma’am. [sits up straighter at his desk]
Thatcher: I received a call from Lieutenant Welsh of the Chicago Police Department.
Fraser: Good man, fine commander.
Thatcher: He was less enthusiastic about you.
Fraser: Oh, I’m sorry to hear that.
Thatcher: He mentioned that you had bailed out a gang member who’s been accused of attempted murder?
Fraser: Yes, ma’am. As a matter of fact, I’m on my way shortly to attend his preliminary hearing.
Thatcher: Is there a good reason why you’re not standing at attention, Constable?
Fraser: I beg your pardon?
Thatcher: You heard me.
Fraser: Yes, I did.

[moves trash bin in front of his feet, then stands up]
Thatcher: Why did you do that?
Fraser: Do what?
Thatcher: You moved the garbage can in front of your feet.
Fraser: Did I?
Thatcher: Are you hiding something, Constable?
Fraser: No. No, no... Yes.

[steps in front of the trash bin]
Thatcher: You’re wearing sneakers.
Fraser: I lost my boots.
Thatcher: They’re not yours to lose.
Fraser: I understand that, sir. It was in the process of saving a life.
Thatcher: With your boots?
Fraser: No. You see, the seams had become frayed and, to be frank, I was less than enthusiastic about my prior cobbler’s mastery of the bindlestitch--
Thatcher: Is this going to be a long story, Constable?
Fraser: Quite a long story, yes ma’am.
Thatcher: The life you saved, was this person a Canadian?
Fraser: I shouldn’t think so.
Thatcher: Then you’re paying for the new boots yourself.
Fraser: Understood.

[she goes to exit, stops, turns, almost says something, looks at his feet, then merely sighs and leaves]

[Fraser closes his eyes and remembers the sounds... *boom* *bang* *bing*]

[courtroom; Fraser opens his eyes suddenly]
Fraser: It was boom bang bing.
Ray: What?
Fraser: It wasn’t bang bang bing. It was boom bang bing.
Ray: Look, Benny, I know what I saw. I know what I did. Now I’m going to have to tell that all to the judge and if it goes against the kid, I can’t help that.
Fraser: Ray, please, just try to remember. The sounds are all stored in here. So just clear your mind. Imagine you’re – imagine, say, you’re on an ice floe. You are thousands of miles from any conceivable distraction.
Ray: Is this an Eskimo trick?
Fraser: No, Inuit. Close your eyes. Close your eyes. [he does] All right, now. Put yourself back at that moment. What do you hear?
Ray: The entire Chicago Police Department laughing at me?
Fraser: Ray, please, humor me.
Ray: All right, all right. [sighs deeply]

[Tyree walks down the aisle in slow-motion]
Judge: In the matter of Illinois versus Tyree Cameron, case number J87965, how does the defendant plead?

[Vecchio hears...*boom* *bang* *bing*]
Tyree: Guilty, Your Honor.
Ray: [stands]   I was the arresting officer, Your Honor. He didn’t do it!
Tyree: Yes, I did!
Ray: No, he didn’t!
Judge: How do you know that, Detective?
Ray: Because, uh...
Fraser: It was boom bang bing, Your Honor.

[outside the courthouse]
Tyree: What is wrong with you?
Ray: Fraser was right, kid. You couldn’t have done it. The shots went boom bang bing.
Tyree: Are you out of your damn mind? Look, I shot that fool. Now why won’t you let me pay for my crime?
Fraser: Because it’s a crime you didn’t commit. The boom was clearly from the PPK 380, which was Taylor Thomas’ gun. He fired the first shot. The bang was from the .32, the shot that hit Mr. Thomas. The bing was the shot that you fired from the same .32 into the trash can because you needed to have your prints on the gun and you wanted the blowback to be revealed in the paraffin test.
Ray: Who you covering for, Tyree, huh? Who’s the real shooter?

[Tyree takes off running as a car cruises by...a shotgun pokes out of the window]

Ray : Fraser!

[Vecchio runs after Tyree; Fraser takes over the water cannon at the nearby construction site & sprays it through the window of the car... the car sideswipes another, knocking the door off, and peels away. Music: ‘Peeps’ by Cipher.]
Fraser: You all right, ma’am? [she nods] All right, I’ll just, uh....

[he attempts to put the door back in place, finally giving up... but they’ve lost Tyree]

[parking lot; Tyree runs into the thugs]
Trevor: Yo, Tyree, I think you and Lou need to talk. Move it.

[basketball court; Lou sells a man something; Tyree approaches]
Lou: I’d like to protect you, Tyree. Really I would, but, um, you shouldn’t have been walking away from that courthouse in the first place.
Tyree: Lou, it’s the Mountie and the cop. They’re not letting me take the fall for this. They’re not leaving it alone.
Lou: That Mounter know something, Tyree?
Tyree: No. Not from me, he don’t.
Lou: He been asking a lot of questions, you know what I’m saying? I mean, if he was to find out anything, that wouldn’t be good. I mean, you going to let that happen to your friend?
Tyree: I’m not going to let anything happen. I’m going to do the right thing.
Lou: I don’t know. You worrying me, Tyree.
Tyree: Ain’t nothing to be worried about, Lou.
Lou: They is one way you can eliminate my doubt and eliminate my worries.

Tyree : All right.

Lou : Trevor. Give him your piece. [he does]  Show me where you stand. Do the Mountie.

[Welsh’s office; Welsh is making a mondo cold cut sandwich]
Welsh: Vecchio? You know, sometimes it seems like you make a full-time job out of destroying your own career.
Ray: I see how you can think that, sir.
Welsh: No, no, no. This is not a talking time. This is a listening time. Your job is to respond to crimes and arrest the offender, not to become a public defender. Now your friend Fraser bailing this kid out does not make any sense to me, but I’ve learned to expect it from him. But you? Standing up in court attempting to have the charges dropped? That is nothing less than insanity.
Ray: Sir, insane is a very harsh word.
Welsh: Oh, no, no, no. The harsh words have not yet begun. You have not yet begun to hear how I feel about you being involved in a drive-by shooting in front of the courthouse.
Ray: Lieutenant, new information has surfaced suggesting that Tyree Cameron was not the shooter in the incident and that the shooting was in self-defense. I had to make that information known to the court.
Welsh: And what would that new information be?
Ray: Well, at first we believed the shots to be bang bang bing. But after further reflection we came to believe that the shots were boom bang bing. Sir, with a little time I now believe I can track down the real shooter.
Welsh: That’s great, Vecchio, cause a little time is about all you got.
Ray: Uh, sir, are you going to eat all these cold cuts?

[Cameron apartment]
Mrs. Cameron: Tyree’s not here right now. This is his room but he hasn’t been here since yesterday. Why’d you have to arrest him anyway? Tyree’s a good boy.
Ray: Mrs. Cameron, I may be old-fashioned but the way I figure it, good boys don’t carry handguns.
Mrs. Cameron: I’m not defending Tyree having that gun.
Fraser: Does your son know Mr. Lou Robbins?
Mrs. Cameron: Everybody knows Lou.
Fraser: Mrs. Cameron, I understand your reticence--
Ray: Is your son a member of any gang?
Mrs. Cameron: He plays basketball.
Ray: This isn’t the first time he’s been in trouble.
Mrs. Cameron: Tyree lives by his own rules, but he is a good boy. Only been arrested once.
Ray: Only once.
Mrs. Cameron: He fell asleep on the subway.
Fraser: That’s a crime?
Mrs. Cameron: Oh, it is if you wake up in Lake Forest, got to walk five miles through white neighborhoods. He tries. He works on that basketball court. But he ain’t got the body to play pro ball ever since his shoulder went out on him. He tried at school. But there even the teachers don’t pretend a boy from here can make it to college. What’s a young man to do but get frustrated?
Ray: Do you have any idea who he might have been with yesterday?
Mrs. Cameron: Yeah. He had a practice, like, every day. Lou takes ‘em out for a meal afterwards.
Ray: Yeah, he’s a regular prince.
Mrs. Cameron: It breaks me up inside to see that drug dealer being the only one who looks out for them kids. The only one who gets through to ‘em. But you tell me. If he doesn’t look after them, who does? The government? The police?
Fraser: So you think it’s possible that Tyree spent the day with Mr. Robbins.
Mrs. Cameron: Could be. It’s a sure bet he was with his friend Reggie. Ain’t nothing that separates those two but the need to shut their eyes every night. You talk to him.

[outside]
Ray: His own mother thinks he did it.
Fraser: She didn’t say that.
Ray: She stands by her family.
Fraser: I suppose.
Ray: You see, some people stand by their family, and some people stand by their friends, and then there are other people who stand by complete strangers only to have their friends reamed out by their lieutenant.

[they pass by a group of teens stomping around on a car]
Fraser: Ray.
Ray: It’s abandoned.
Fraser: Ah. Well, if it’s any consolation, things aren’t going very smoothly at the consulate, either.
Ray: Consolation would have been you buying a new pair of boots instead of me taking you to my cobbler.
Fraser: Well, as I recall, it was you that insisted--
Ray: I thought you were the one who was apologizing.
Fraser: Oh, right. I’m sorry.
Ray: Now, I’m gong to go back to the crime scene and take a look around. You coming?
Fraser: No, I think I’m going to go and talk to Reggie.
Ray: He probably won’t talk to you.
Fraser: Well he may not have to, Ray.

[basketball court]
Reggie: Stamp, coming down court ... For three! [makes basket]  Ahh! Yes!
Fraser: Nice shot.
Reggie: You’re that mounting guy, right?
Fraser: It’s Mountie, actually.
Reggie: And why do they call you that?
Fraser: Well, that’s a long story. Would you like to play some one-on-one?
Reggie: You’ll lose.
Fraser: I think that’s very likely.

[Reggie sinks one, nothing but net]
Reggie: You’re already down two, baby.
Fraser: Your friend Tyree is in trouble.
Reggie: Man, everybody around here got trouble. You still trying to get him off.
Fraser: Well, yes. You see, there’s certain elements of the crime that don’t make any sense.

[Reggie steals the ball & makes another basket]

Fraser : I don’t think Tyree shot that young man.
Reggie: Oh, yeah, and how you figure that?
Fraser: To begin with, the shooter was left-handed.
Reggie: You know, it’s hard to prove something like that.
Fraser: Well that’s true. But it’s also my belief that the third shot was fired to provide blowback on Tyree’s hand and arm to make it appear that he was the shooter.
Reggie: Why would somebody do that?
Fraser: Well, friends protect one another, and I think he was covering for someone.

[Fraser goes in for an undefended lay-up]
Reggie: Hey, Mountie! If Tyree said he did something, then he did it. I mean, it’s that simple. You know, you live down here sometimes you got to shoot somebody in self-defense!
Fraser: If it was self-defense, the man in the alley would have had a gun.
Reggie: He had a gun!
Fraser: How do you know that? Were you there?
Reggie: No.
Fraser: No. Of course not. Because if you had been, then you would have had to protect your friend. Thanks for the game.

 

[crime scene; Vecchio checking around...he steps on loose gravel – which hides a pistol]

[Fraser’s apartment building; Fraser walks down the corridor... Tyree hides in the shadows of the hallway, holding a gun]

[Dief yips as Fraser enters the apartment]
Fraser: Oh, you’re hungry, are you?
[Dief groans]
Fraser: Well, perhaps you should learn how to use the stove.
[Dief grumbles]
Fraser: Just joking.
[Dief sees Tyree’s shadow and snarls]
Fraser: Hello? [to Dief]  Stay.

[Tyree runs to the street, and goes through an unattached construction partition]

[construction site; Reggie comes through the same partition...Tyree jumps out, pointing the gun]
Reggie: Whoa! Man, it’s me, man! Put that gun away!
Tyree: Man, don’t do that!
Reggie: Look, I brought you some chips, man. Jeez.
Fraser: Mind if I join you?

[the boys jump, startled]
Tyree: Don’t come any closer.
Reggie: Hey, be cool, Tyree.
Tyree: Reggie, go home.
Reggie: Man, I ain’t going nowhere.
Fraser: You were waiting outside my apartment.
Tyree: So what if I was? Is it off-limits? I ain’t got a right to be in front of your building?
Fraser: Where you there to visit Mrs. Krezjapalov or Mr. Mustafi? Or were you there to visit me?
Tyree: Maybe I was.
Fraser: Well that’s good. Because we still have a lot of things to talk about. For one thing, I don’t understand why you’re prepared to go to prison for a crime you didn’t commit.
Tyree: Man, don’t try to get into my head. You and me, we ain’t nothing alike.
[music blaring from passing car]
Reggie: Sssh! It’s the 2-4’s.
[the car passes]

Reggie : So you’re Canadian, huh?
Fraser: That’s right, son.
Reggie: So that means you been outside of Chicago.
Fraser: Yes.
Reggie: What’s so different?
Fraser: Not that much. We have all the same stars, just more of them.
Reggie: So you grew up under the stars with the birds and weasels and wolves and trees and whatnot, huh?
Fraser: There was an abundance of wildlife.
Tyree: We got wildlife. They gunned down my daddy in front of me when I was four.
Fraser: My father was also killed.
Tyree: You don’t get over that.
Fraser: No.
Tyree: Life sucks, don’t it?
Fraser: What are you afraid of--
Tyree: Nothing.
Fraser: You’re not afraid of death?
Tyree: Are you?
Fraser: Yes, very much.

[Fraser’s apartment; knock knock knock]
Ray: Fraser, open up. It’s me.
[Dief whines; Vecchio comes in; Dief whines again]
Ray: What is it, boy?
[Dief barks]
Ray: Is Fraser in trouble?

[construction site]
Reggie: You gonna tell me what’s going on, Tyree?
Tyree: Why don’t you go home, Reggie? You got a game in the morning.
Reggie: You, too. I need you, man!
Tyree: You don’t need nothing. Look, you’re going to be golden, so why don’t you just go on home? I got some talking to do with the Mountie, all right?
Fraser: You’re not going to the game? This game you’ve practiced for all year? The game you love?
Tyree: It doesn’t love me. In this neighborhood, who lives and who dies is all set at birth. Either you got the genes to hoop or you don’t.

[alley; Dief runs around the corner & stops, waiting; he barks, runs a little farther, then stops... finally Vecchio appears, and leans against a post]
Ray: Okay. [pant pant]   Good boy. [pant pant]   We’ll rest here. [pant pant]  

[Dief runs off again]

Ray : Okay, maybe we won’t rest here. [runs after Dief]

[construction site]
Tyree : Reggie here, he’s good enough. He’s got a future. The rest of us? We’ll flip burgers for a while. We’ll sell drugs for a while. We’ll keep busy until we piss somebody off or we just happen to end up in the wrong place at the wrong time, which happens too damn often. And somebody steps up with a gun and they make you dead.
Fraser: Just because you have a gun doesn’t mean you have to use it. You proved that tonight.

[street; Vecchio knocks over garbage cans as he rounds a corner]

 

[construction site]
Reggie: See, they coming, man. Tyree, come on. [exits]

[Tyree begins to pull the gun out of his pocket...]
Tyree: Man... [runs after Reggie]

[Vecchio enters]
Fraser: Ray.
Ray: You okay?
Fraser: Yes, I’m fine.
Ray: You sure you’re okay?
Fraser: Oh, I’m fine.
Ray: [to Dief]  Did you hear him? He’s fine! What did you drag me all the way down here for?
Fraser: He’s probably just crying wolf.

[basketball court: The Game]

[lots of spectators in the bleachers & milling around; a man walks by carrying Fraser’s boots; Fraser catches Lou’s eye and holds up his fist...Lou just shakes his head]

[Reggie & Tyree score several points]
Lou: Young man’s a talent, ain’t he?
Scout: Yeah, he is.

Lou : Reggie! Double-team, my man. Down low, Reggie!

[the other team scores]
Lou: Damn, Reggie, where’s the ‘D’? Where’s the ‘D’, man? You’re not impressing anybody with that stuff, Reggie! You’re blowing it! You hear me? Reggie!

[Reggie misses a basket; Tyree pushes Reggie]
Tyree: What’s wrong with you?!
Reggie: Nothing, man!
Tyree: You’re blowin’ it!
Reggie: Then I’ll blow it!

[refs’ whistles blow]
Tyree: Hell, no, man. This is my ass that’s on the line for you.
Reggie: I didn’t ask you to do that, all right?
Tyree: You didn’t have to.
Reggie: You were going to kill that Mountie. Look, we can get out of this, all right? Both of us can.
Tyree: This is out of our hands. You do what you’re told and I do what I’m told. I mean, nothing happens around here – nothing! – that Lou doesn’t want to happen. He wanted you free and he wants the Mountie dead.
Reggie: All right, so what happens if he wants you and me dead, huh? We kill each other?
Lou: [hits Reggie upside the head]  What the *hell* are you doing, Reggie?
Reggie: Playing ball.
Lou: You play it better! You check that attitude! You don’t want to screw this up!
[bleachers; Fraser sees the boots]
Fraser: Ray, excuse me. I’ll be right back.

[Lou watches Fraser go after the boots; he motions to thug, who gets a buddy & stands in Fraser’s path]

Fraser : Good afternoon, gentlemen. You wouldn’t have happened to have seen a fellow carrying a, uh... [two more thugs appear behind him]  Oh, dear.

[game ends: Reggie scores the winning points with a textbook assist from Tyree; all crowd around the duo, congratulating; Lou pushes through the crowd to Tyree]
Lou: I’m impressed, Junior. I’m really impressed. That was a nice play.
Tyree: Thanks.
Lou: Come on, game’s not over yet. Coming through!

[Reggie, then Vecchio, realize that the main players are missing]

[outside]
Lou: [throwing Tyree against the wall]  You had a job to do, but you ain’t doing it!
Tyree: We won, didn’t we?
Lou: Yeah, yeah, you know what I’m talking about. The Mountie, Junior. The Mountie.
Tyree: The time wasn’t right.
Lou: Hell, yeah. Here’s your chance. [thugs lead Fraser into the courtyard]  The time is right, Tyree. [shoves a gun into his hand]
Tyree: Man, who’s he hurting?
Lou: He’s been snooping around ever since the shooting.
Tyree: He don’t know nothing, Lou.
Fraser: Actually, I do.
Lou: Huh. You hear that?
Fraser: But you’re not gonna shoot me.
Lou: Do it. Now.

[Tyree points gun at Fraser...]
Reggie: Tyree, stop!
Lou: Reggie, man, chill!
Reggie: There’s no reason!
Lou: Reggie, step back!
Reggie: There’s no reason.   I did it.  
Tyree: Reggie, don’t do this--
Reggie: Tyree! It’s over, man. It’s over! I shot Taylor.
Fraser: I know.

[scenario begins...]  

Fraser : Lou had taken you out for burgers after the practice and the three of you split up. Taylor was waiting for Reggie in the alley. He fired first but he missed. [*boom*]   Then Reggie fired, resting his left arm on the wall. [*bang*]   Taylor fell and the gun went into the dirt where he buried it. Tyree heard the shots. He ran back to help. He forced Reggie to give him the gun. Lou arrived, Then Tyree fired into the garbage can to get blowback on his hand and his arm. [*bing*]   Then Lou and Reggie ran, leaving you, Tyree, to take the blame.
Reggie: He came at me, all right? I mean, I guess he figured, he shoot me, he’d get his rag. It was self-defense. Tyree ain’t do nothing.
Lou: Both of y’all are fools. End it. Now.
[Fraser punches thugs behind him; dodges the one with the knife and hits him with a trash can lid; blocks the other guy’s punch & flips him; Lou holds his knife at Fraser]
Thug: [weakly]   Get him, man.
Tyree: [pointing gun]  That’s enough, Lou.
Fraser: You’re not going to shoot him.
Tyree: What did you say?
Fraser: You’re not a killer.

[Lou casually grabs gun from Tyree & points it at Fraser]
Lou: Now, let’s make this right.
Fraser: You’re not going to shoot either.
Lou: ‘Cause I’m not a killer?
Fraser: No, I think you’re an evil psychopath. But if you try-- [Vecchio holds his gun to Lou’s neck] --Detective Vecchio will blow your brains off.
Ray: Out.
Fraser: Out. I’m sorry, I stand corrected. He will blow your brains out.
Ray: Give me the gun.

[Lou is put in the back of a squad car]
Ray: I’ll see what we can do for you downtown.
Tyree: You better be straight, man. Reggie don’t deserve to go down for this.
Fraser: We know that.
Man: I heard you was looking for these. [holds out boots]
Fraser: Yes. Thank you.
Man: I saw them in the streets. Looked valuable, so I took them in. This isn’t a safe neighborhood.

[empty basketball court; Fraser is putting on his boots]
Isaiah Thomas: Hey.
Tyree: Hey!
Fraser: Hello.
Isaiah: Everybody gone?
Tyree: Yeah.
Isaiah: Oh, sorry I’m late. Bad weather. Plane got off a little late in Toronto.
Tyree: Hey, can’t change the weather.
Isaiah: Did y’all play today?
Fraser: Yes, and he played very well.
Tyree: Not well enough.
Fraser: For what?
Tyree: Play ball in college.
Isaiah: You and almost everybody else on this planet. So what else you going to do?
Tyree: Nothing to do, if not play ball.
Isaiah: You have to put your other assets to work.
Tyree: What other assets?
Isaiah: This kid got any other assets?
Fraser: Well, apart from his loyalty, his integrity, and his brains, no, I don’t think so.
Tyree: What about my dashing good looks?
Fraser: Well, we’re talking about assets, not drawbacks.
Ray: All right, Tyree. I spoke with the State’s Attorney and she’s considering dropping the charges. [distractedly to Isaiah]  How you doing.
Isaiah: I’m Isaiah. How you doing?
Ray: [amazed]   Yeah, I know who you are! Ray Vecchio!
Isaiah: So we going to play today or what?
Ray: Well, yeah! Give me the ball! Let’s go!

Tyree : Woo hoo hoo!
Isaiah: Mountie, right?
Fraser: That’s correct, Mr. Isaiah.
Isaiah: I was wondering, since I’m in Toronto now--
Fraser: Oh, we mount the horses. Do you play basketball?
[Isaiah laughs]

 

End