Original subtitles

SHAKES: This is a true story about friendship that runs deeper than blood.

This is my story and that of the only three friends in my life who truly mattered.

Two of them were kiIIers who never made it past the age of 30.

The other is a non-practicing attorney living with the pain of his past,

too afraid to let it go, never confronting its horror.

l'm the only one who can speak for them, and the chiIdren we were.

(ROCK AND ROLL MUSIC PLAYING)

SHAKES: My three friends and I were inseparable,

happy and content to live in the cIosed worId of HeII's Kitchen.

The West Side streets of Manhattan were our private playground,

a cement kingdom where we felt ourselves to be nothing less than absolute rulers.

(KIDS CHATTERING)

Hell's Kitchen was populated by an uneasy blend

of Irish, ItaIian, Puerto Rican, and Eastern European laborers.

Hard men living hard lives.

We lived in railroad apartments inside red brick tenements.

Few mothers worked and aII had troubIe with the men they married.

(PEOPLE YELLING)

Shut the fuck up!

I buried one fucking wife, I couId bury another one.

SHAKES: Domestic violence was a cottage industry in Hell's Kitchen,

yet there was no divorce and few separations.

The wiII of the Church was forcefuI.

For a marriage to end, someone usually had to die.

Yet, despite the harshness of life,

HeII's Kitchen offered the kids on its streets a safety net

enjoyed by few other neighborhoods.

Crimes against peopIe of the neighborhood were not permitted.

When they did occur, the punishment doled out was severe,

and in some cases, finaI.

A drug dealer from an uptown neighborhood

moved heroin into HeII's Kitchen.

A packet killed the 1 2-year-old son of a Puerto Rican numbers runner.

lt was the last packet the dealer ever sold.

Hell's Kitchen was a place of innocence ruled by corruption.

My friends and l spent lots of time inside Holy Angels.

We each served as altar boys.

Everyone wanted to work funeral masses since the funeral included a $3 fee.

And more if you looked sufficiently somber.

There was an active competition between the four of us

to come up with the best and boldest prank.

Two weeks into the new school year,

I found the nuns' cIacker in the school hallway

and l was ready for the big leagues.

(INAUDIBLE)

ln church, it was used to alert the girls

as to when they should stand, sit, kneel, and genuflect,

aII based on the number of times the clacker was pressed.

ln my pocket, it was cause for havoc.

(CLACKING)

You wiII be defenders of the faith, you wiII be soIdiers of Christ,

and you wiII receive the gift of the HoIy Spirit.

(CLACKING)

It's going to be a great day, and your parents wiII be proud of you.

When you were baptized, godparents made promises for you.

Now, you're going to confirm those promises.

(WHISPERING) Let me have the cIacker.

-What cIacker? -Now.

Let everyone rise.

Let us pray.

(CLACKING)

Nuns are such easy targets.

SHAKES: John and I spent more time in church than the others.

We were the only two of the group to consider entering the priesthood.

We were intrigued by the powers a priest was given.

A secret world of betrayal and deceit

where people openly admitted dark misdeeds and viIe indiscretions.

Confession was better than any book we could get

or any movie we could see because the sins were reaI,

committed by people we knew.

The temptation to be part of that was far too great to resist.

(SOFTLY) If we get caught, they'II burn us.

(SOFTLY) What if our mothers are out there?

What if we end up hearing their confessions?

What if we hear something worse?

Like what?

Like a murder. What if somebody cops to a murder?

ReIax. AII we've got to do is sit back, Iisten, and remember not to Iaugh.

SHAKES: Seconds later, our booth comes to Iife.

WOMAN: I sIeep with married men.

Men with famiIies.

In the morning, I teII myseIf it's the Iast time, but it never is.

Yes?

You see, I'm pregnant.

The father?

Take a number.

What are you going to do?

I know what you want me to do. And I know what I shouId do.

I just don't know what I'm gonna do.

Look, I gotta go.

Thanks for Iistening, feIIas. I reaIIy appreciate it.

I know you'II keep it to yourseIves.

JOHN: She knew.

SHAKES: Yeah, she knew.

Why do you think she toId us aII that?

I don't know. I guess she had to teII somebody.

SHAKES: Father Robert Carillo was a longshoreman's son

who was as comfortabIe sitting in a back-alley saloon

as he was standing at the altar during High Mass.

He had toyed with a life of petty crime before finding his calling.

He was a friend. A friend who just happened to be a priest.

You know what that crap does to your body?

Come on, Father, it beats smoking. And it's cheaper, too.

Maybe. So, what do you hear? Anything?

No, nothing.

I hear you're interested in becoming a priest.

Who says?

Word is you want to get the feeI of a confessionaI booth.

I don't know what you're taIking about.

You don't?

Maybe I got the wrong information.

I guess you did.

I'II see you Iater tonight.

What's tonight?

I gotta drop some books and magazines off

for the eIderIy and disabIed in the neighborhood.

-Your mother said you'd Iove to heIp. -I bet she did.

Shakes, I don't want you getting into any troubIe.

Come on, Father. You know I never do.

That's aII I wish for you and your friends.

-That's it? -Nothing eIse. I swear, that's it.

A priest shouIdn't swear.

And kids shouIdn't Iisten to other peopIe's confessions.

-I'II see you tonight. -AII right, see you.

SHAKES: Michael was the most sexually experienced of our group,

which meant he kissed a girl on more than one occasion.

But his reaI Iove was CaroI MartineZ.

HeII's Kitchen's haIf-breed, haIf-Puerto Rican, haIf-Irish,

she was raised by her father, her mother having died at childbirth.

CaroI stayed pretty much to herseIf, but was always comfortable in our company.

We couId aIways count on CaroI to stand sentry on the first night of the Ice Capades.

WhiIe crowds Iined the front of the Garden waiting to see the skaters perform,

we each had one eye in a hole,

watching two doZen beautiful and nearly-naked women

get into their skaters' outfits.

(EXCLAIMING)

This is what heaven must be about.

JOHN: (GIGGLING) My God.

-CaroI, you want to take a Iook? -Like it's something I haven't seen.

(GROANING) You're so Iucky.

She's so beautifuI.

I couId die now, and I wouIdn't be sad.

SHAKES: When my friends and I were young,

HeII's Kitchen was run by a man named King Benny.

SHAKES' FATHER: When he was young, King Benny was a hitman for Lucky Luciano.

Lucky Luciano did a Iot of good for this country during WorId War II.

But you ain't gonna read about it in any fucking history book.

There was taIk King Benny was the shooter of Mad Dog CoII,

that prick on West 23rd Street. He ran bootIeg with Dutch SchuItz

and he opened up a coupIe of cIubs with Tough Tony Anastasia.

I was 1 4 when I first heard about him.

The story goes, as a kid, he wasn't much of anything.

He aIways got the shit kicked out of him in street fights.

And then, one day, who the fuck knows why,

some Irish guy, about 25 years oId,

he takes King Benny and he fIings him down a fIight of stairs.

King Benny breaks aII his teeth in the front. You know what King Benny does?

He waits.

He waits eight years to get even with that prick.

He waIks into a pubIic bath house.

The guy's soaking in the tub.

King Benny takes out his front teeth, he lays them down on the sink.

Then he Iooks over at the guy and he says,

"When l look in the mirror, l see your face."

Then he puIIs out a gun

and he shoots the guy twice in each Ieg.

(IMITATING GUN FIRING)

Then he says to the guy,

"Now when you take a bath, you'll see mine."

No one ever fucked with King Benny after that.

Revenge.

SHAKES: Can I taIk to you for a minute?

I'd Iike to work for you. HeIp you out, whatever you need.

-You're the butcher's kid, am I right? -Yeah.

-What kind of a job are you Iooking for? -Whatever, it doesn't matter.

It doesn't matter?

Everybody says this is the pIace to come for jobs.

Who is everybody?

-PeopIe from the neighborhood. -Them.

Let me ask you, what the fuck do they know?

They know you got jobs.

Sorry I wasted your time.

HoId on a sec.

Yeah?

Come back tomorrow if you want to work.

-What time tomorrow? -Any time.

-You'II be here? -I'm aIways here.

SHAKES: My first job for King Benny paid $25 a week

and ate up only 40 minutes of my time.

ln the dark club room, one guy would hand me a crumpled paper bag

and direct me to one of the two local police precincts for delivery.

lt was a perfect way to handle payouts.

(EXCLAIMS)

Come on, Iet's go. Right here.

Let's see what kind of cash you got in that bag.

You gotta be nuts. You know who you're taking off?

MAN 1 : Yeah, we know, and we're scared shitIess.

Give me the fucking bag !

-What you do there? Answer me! -MAN 2: ReIax.

They stopped me and took my money.

You took the money from the boy?

-The money they took is in the bag. -Let me have it.

-Fuck you ! -Yeah?

-How about now? -AII right, take it easy.

You're not smart anymore. This make you stupid?

Let me have the bag.

-Now, go. -SHAKES: What about them?

-You care? -No.

Then go! Run !

(GUN FIRING)

SHAKES: l need somebody with me. What if the old guy hadn't shown?

-What you need? -My friends.

What do you think, this is camp?

These kids, you can trust. I've known them haIf my Iife.

Okay, get your friends.

SHAKES: Father Bobby knew my friends and l

worked for King Benny, and wasn't pleased.

He wasn't worried about the pocket money, but the next step,

when they ask you to pick up a gun.

He didn't want that to happen to us.

You think running for King Benny is a good idea?

-It pays. -A Iot of things pay.

Not Iike this.

(EXCLAIMING)

SHAKES: Most priests Iiked to preach from the pulpit.

Father Bobby liked to talk during the bump and shove of a pick-up game.

SHAKES: Good shot.

I found an art cIass for you to take.

You know I can't afford art cIasses.

You don't have to pay. The teacher's a friend.

It couId be nothing but a waste of time, Father.

Maybe, or it couId be the first step.

-First step to what? -To do something with your Iife.

-It may heIp you get out of here. -You aII can.

Guys, are we gonna taIk or pIay basketbaII?

BOBBY: Listen, I want to teII you a story.

It ain't the one about the Iepers, is it? That gave me nightmares.

No Iepers. MicheIangeIo. He was born poor, just Iike you guys.

He was a painter, he was a scuIptor.

He takes this job from the Pope. Good money, good work.

Okay, Father, but why'd the Pope caII him?

The Pope was Iooking for the best guy to paint the ceiIing of his church in Rome.

-It don't sound Iike that big a job. -For MicheIangeIo, it was.

MicheIangeIo needed the job because it paid more money than he ever had in his Iife.

That way, he couId pay off the Ioan sharks chasing his father.

TOMMY: What's his father?

He was a Iow-IeveI con guy.

Conned peopIe out of money, goats, sheep.

-Goats? -BOBBY: Chickens, whatever he couId.

Chickens?

-You know what happened? -What?

He painted a ceiIing no one wiII ever forget.

Painted Iike he was touched by the hand of God.

SHAKES: Did he pay off the Ioans? BOBBY: Every singIe one of them.

How Iong did it take him, painting the ceiIing and aII?

It took him about nine years.

That's a big ceiIing.

JOHN: I had a Puerto Rican guy do my whoIe apartment in two days.

And he had a bum Ieg.

I don't know what I'm gonna do with you guys.

JOHN: Just give us a job painting and Ieave the rest to us.

You know what it was? The Sistine ChapeI.

JOHN: Sixteenth ChapeI? Who painted the other 1 5?

SHAKES: Outside events meant little.

ln a society changing radically by the hour,

we watched the images scatter nightly across our TV screens.

Young protesters spoke about how they were gonna change our lives

and fix the worId.

But while they shouted their slogans,

my friends and l went to funeral services for the young men of Hell's Kitchen

who came back from Vietnam in body bags.

We viewed with skepticism the faces on teIevision,

those protected by money and upper middle class standing.

A growing army of feminists marched across the country,

demanding equality.

Yet, our mothers stiII cooked and cared for men

who abused them mentally and physically.

(SHAKES' MOTHER SCREAMING)

For me and my friends, these developments carried no weight.

They might as well have occurred in another country, in another century.

Our attention was eIsewhere.

We sat with Father Bobby in a third floor hospital ward, visiting John,

hoping he'd recover from a punctured lung,

a gift from one of his mother's over-Zealous boyfriends.

I hope you Iike these. You better not teII me you don't.

SHAKES: Father Bobby didn't Iet that situation rest.

I gave on Sunday. I'm in a rush, okay?

-John ReiIIy. -The IittIe punk.

He got out of Iine, so I put him back in Iine. No big deaI.

-You put him in the hospitaI. -He's aIive, ain't he?

Look, if he's smart, he Iearned himseIf a Iesson.

-What are you, about 220, 230? -Yeah.

You're a big guy. How much do you think John ReiIIy weighs?

80, 85? That's not even a featherweight.

If this were a fight, you'd be way out of your division.

Look, it was a sIap. It was nothing.

Next time, you'II be meeting me.

And I may not be in your division, but I do weigh more than 85 pounds.

And you won't need a doctor when I'm done.

You'II need a priest to pray over your body.

See you in church.

Father Bobby wouId have made a good hitman.

It's a shame we Iost him to the other side.

(KIDS CHATTERING)

SHAKES: We were down 7-6 in the last inning of a sewer-to-sewer stickball game

against Hector Maldonado and three of his friends.

Come on, Davy, strike this chump out. He got nothing !

TOMMY: Shut up.

-MICHAEL: Who's that? -His sister.

What happened to her?

SHAKES: Not sure, some kind of cancer got in her Iegs or something.

Worry about the game, come on. Hit a home run.

Come on, Davy, strike the scumbag out! He can't touch you !

You don't got any Iegs, you got a Iot of tongue!

SHAKES: Home run.

DAVY'S SISTER: Yeah, Davy.

What the fuck you Iooking at, IittIe dick?

She's nothing but charm.

Come on, Davy!

You can take him, MichaeI.

I toId you he wasn't shit, baby!

SwaIIow your tongue, you IittIe gimp bitch !

You couId've heIped her across the street or bought her an ice cream.

You didn't have to throw the game.

And now we're the SaIvation Army.

JOHN: You ever wonder why there ain't a SaIvation Navy?

Game over, Iosers. Cough up the cash. $1 each.

FAT MANCHO: He's no better than you. MICHAEL: He was today.

FAT MANCHO: You Iet him be.

OnIy because Irish here has a thing for IittIe girIs with no Iegs.

MICHAEL: Stay away from us, Fat Man, aII right?

You boys are soft Iike bread. It's going to catch up to you.

And when it does, it's going to hurt bad.

What happens is our business, not yours, okay?

You gotta stay tough to be tough.

Guy smeIIs it when you're weak, eat you Iike a saIad.

You see that street?

That street is the dish of Iife, and you boys are appetizers.

Somebody gonna come aIong, eat you up, and forget about you by dessert.

Take it easy, Fat Man. It was just a stickbaII game.

Yeah, but going soft is a habit.

You have to keep yourseIf mean and cut your Iife around it.

AII right, caIm down.

It's Iike hanging out with fucking Confucius over here.

Be funny, Iimp dick. This is just free advice from me to you.

You take it, or you throw it away. It don't matter.

MICHAEL: Thanks a Iot, Fat Man.

SHAKES: In truth, we were aII surprised by Michael's actions.

But in his mind, losing that game

and handing a feeling of victory to a girl in a wheelchair

was more than the right thing to do.

(UPBEAT '60s POP MUSIC PLAYING)

Come on, Iet's go swimming.

SHAKES: The temperature topped out at 98 degrees

on the day our lives were forever altered.

I'm frying Iike an egg up here. Let's get some buttered roIIs,

a coupIe of sodas, head down to the docks, cooI off.

JOHN: Can't you feeI the breeze up here? TOMMY: What breeze?

-We're surrounded by a waII, genius. -The deviI couIdn't stand it.

JOHN: WiII you guys shut up? I'm trying to get my burn.

TOMMY: It's 98 degrees.

JOHN: There's some breeze up here. SHAKES: It's a hot breeze.

We haven't hit the hot dog vendor in a coupIe of weeks.

I don't know, Mikey. That cart guy ain't Iike the others.

He gets pretty pissed, Iike, crazy, when you try to take him off.

We can eat hot dogs or we can eat air. Choose.

Air is probabIy safer.

JOHN: Yeah, a hot dog ain't worth bIeeding over.

Anyway, whose turn is it?

Yours.

-Yeah, it's yours. -Mine? It's not my turn.

-Yes, it is. -I went Iast month.

-He went two weeks. . . -You never went.

-Last month. -Are you nuts? I went right after him.

-I'm not going. It's too hot. -Why? Why not?

If I waIk downstairs, I'II pass out.

Mustard and onions. No soda.

I know you.

I Iook Iike a Iot of peopIe.

SHAKES: The scam was simple.

l was to walk up to the hot dog vendor and order what I wanted.

The vendor would then hand me my hot dog and watch as l ran off without paying.

This Ieft the vendor with two choices, neither very appealing.

He could stand his ground and swallow his loss, or he could give chase.

The second forces him to abandon the cart,

where my friends could feast in his absence.

I'm gonna need two napkins.

Pay my money, thief!

Dogs, ketchup. . .

SHAKES: I took it from him and ran.

I scooted past Tommy Mug's Dry CIeaners and Armand's Shoe Repair.

The vendor gave chase, a wooden-handled pronged fork in one hand.

Ain't you gonna give me two?

(BRAKES SCREECHING)

(HORNS HONKING)

These things are heavier than they Iook.

Genius, these are gas tanks to keep the food hot.

They're heavier than shit!

Think we can push it, the three of us?

Push it where?

A coupIe of bIocks. It'II be a nice surprise for the guy

when he comes back from chasing Shakes not to find his cart.

SHAKES: The vendor tired at 47th and 9th.

I was on the other side of the street.

He was beat, but not beaten.

He could go 1 0 minutes more, just on hate alone.

Come on. Give it up.

JOHN: What's wrong, Mikey?

Shakes is taking too Iong. He shouId've been back by now.

He'II be fine. He's Shakes.

You guys were supposed to take the hot dogs, not the wagon.

-Now he teIIs us. -He's coming fast.

He's stiII on you? Go!

SHAKES: I got a pIan. Come on, over by the subway.

SHAKES: The plan, as it turned out,

was as simple and as dumb as anything we had ever done.

We were to hoId the cart on the top edge of the stairwell,

leaning it downward, and wait for the vendor.

We were to let it go as he grabbed the handles.

Then we'd leave the scene as he struggled to ease the cart back on the sidewaIk.

To this day, l don't know why we did it. But we would all pay a price.

lt only took a minute, but in that minute everything changed.

(BOYS SHOUTING)

I can't hoId it!

-Don't Iet go! -I can't hoId it!

I can't hoId it!

Stop! God, no!

JOHN: Damn !

Sweet Jesus. What have you boys done?

What in the name of God have you boys done?

I think we just kiIIed a man.

SHAKES: WhiIe James CaIdweII was sIowIy recovering at St. CIare's HospitaI,

we were charged with reckless endangerment

and remanded into our parents' custody.

SHAKES: I'm sorry, Dad.

SHAKES' FATHER: Ain't gonna do you much good.

Take it easy. This is no time to get crazy.

You're going to jaiI. You don't know what the fuck that means!

(SPEAKING ITALIAN)

He's just a kid. He shouIdn't have to do time!

Nobody in this famiIy shouId have to do time!

I done enough time for everybody!

I hear you're short an aItar boy.

You stiII remember what to do?

Easy on the water, heavy on the wine,

and ring the beIIs whenever I see someone start to nod off.

Get ready. We got five minutes tiII show time.

I'm gonna miss this.

I'm gonna miss aII of this.

I've been doing aII I can, but so far, every door I touch is Iocked.

I couId run. We aII couId run.

Disappear for a whiIe.

Nobody's gonna come Iooking.

Nobody's gonna care about us, about where we go.

(SIGHING)

You run now, you gonna run tiII you die.

Hiding's not gonna make it go away. PeopIe aren't gonna forget.

You've gotta face this.

I can't, Father.

I don't want to face it.

I'm too scared to face it.

I'm scared, too.

Nobody's more scared than I am, but you gotta do it.

You're gonna be okay. You're gonna make it through there.

You understand?

Come on, we got an audience.

I counted three rummies and four widows on my way in.

PIus Fat RaIphie's sIeeping one off in the Iast row.

It's the rain. Bad weather aIways brings in the crowds.

This is one of my favorites.

What is?

"Whatever you do to the Ieast of my brethren, you do to me."

Come on.

SHAKES: We never saw the vendor as a man,

not the way we saw other men of the neighborhood.

And we didn't care enough about him to grant him any respect.

We gave little notice to how hard he worked, or that he had a wife

and two kids in Greece, and hoped to bring them to this country.

We didn't pay attention to the long hours he worked.

We didn't see any of that. We only saw a free lunch.

JUDGE: Thomas Marcano, the court hereby sentences you to be remanded

for a period of no more than 1 8 months, no Iess than one year

at the WiIkinson Home for Boys.

John ReiIIy, the court hereby sentences you to be remanded

for a period of no more than 1 8 months, no less than one year

to the Wilkinson Home for Boys.

Lorenzo Carcaterra,

taking into consideration that you arrived on the scene

after the theft of the cart had already occurred...

In consideration of that, the court hereby sentences you to serve

no more than one year, no less than six months at the Wilkinson Home for Boys.

MichaeI SuIIivan.

The court hereby sentences you to be remanded

for a period of no more than 1 8 months, no less than one year

at the Wilkinson Home for Boys.

And I might add, had it not been for the intervention

of Father Robert CariIIo who spoke in gIowing terms on your behaIf,

l would've sentenced you to a much stiffer punishment.

I stiII have my doubts as to your inherent goodness.

OnIy time wiII serve to prove me wrong.

-CouId you do me a favor? -What do you want? Name it.

The past coupIe of weeks,

my mother and father Iooked Iike they were ready to kiII each other.

-CouId you watch over them for me? -BOBBY: I wiII.

And no matter what you hear, teII them I'm doing okay.

You mean you want me to Iie?

It's a good Iie, Father. You can do it.

Come on, Iet's go.

-Be strong. -I wiII.

SHAKES: The Wilkinson Home for Boys held 780 youthful offenders

housed in five separate units.

From the outside, the facility resembled

what those who ran it wanted it to resembIe,

some kind of nice school or university.

Michael, Tommy, John, and l were assigned to the second fIoor of Group C.

We each had a private 1 2-foot room.

l'd been in my room less than an hour when the panic set in.

lt doesn't take very long to know how tough a person you are

or how strong you can be.

l knew from my first day at Wilkinson that l was neither tough nor strong.

(BANGING AT DOOR)

HeIIo, Carcaterra.

Toss your cIothes on the fIoor.

Here?

You expecting a dressing room? We don't have any.

Now Iose the cIothes.

In front of you?

Let's go.

(NOKES WHISTLING)

What's that piece of shit around your neck? Take it off.

It's Mary, you know, the Mother of God.

I don't give a fuck whose mother it is. Take it off.

Everything.

-You want me to stand here naked? -Now you're catching on.

I knew you HeII's Kitchen boys weren't as dumb as everyone says.

Now what?

Get dressed.

SHAKES: There were four guards assigned to each floor,

with one, in our case, Nokes, designated group leader.

(BANGING AT DOOR)

Ferguson was the only son of a sIain New York State trooper

and was on the waiting list for the New York City

and SuffoIk County PoIice Departments.

StyIer was using his job at WiIkinson's to finance his way through law school.

Addison was a graduate of a local high school

who wanted nothing more than a steady job that paid well.

lt was not a group of innocent young boys at WiIkinson.

Most, if not aII, of the inmates belonged there.

Many were riding out their second and third convictions.

AII were vioIent offenders.

Few seemed sorry about what they had done.

And as for rehabilitation, forget it.

(INMATES CHATTERING)

What the fuck did you do that for?

You got cIose to me.

So?

It bothers me.

I don't want to be near you or your creeped-out friends.

(BOYS YELLING)

(BOYS CONTINUE YELLING)

You know, your time here hasn't taught you shit.

You're stiII the same fucking bunch of cIowns you were

the day you waIked in here.

Okay, everybody go on back and finish your Iunches.

There's nothing more to see.

Go on, sit down. Get out of here.

Go on.

Go ahead.

-That go for me, too? -No, it don't go for you.

You go back to your room. You're through with your Iunch.

Go on.

You and me, we're gonna finish this sometime reaI soon.

Maybe at dinner.

So, you HeII's Kitchen boys get any Iunch?

I got to smeII it.

You got to smeII it.

That's good.

Where you going?

You said to get Iunch.

You boys don't need to get back in Iine to get Iunch

'cause there's pIenty to eat right where you're standing.

You couId smeII it.

I'm not hungry.

I don't give a fuck if you're hungry or not.

You eat because I'm teIIing you to eat.

I'm stiII not hungry.

I'II teII you when you're hungry or not. Now, eat.

Excuse me, what the fuck are you Iooking at?

Get the fuck down on your knees now and finish your goddamn Iunch !

Come on now, eat! Don't think you got aII fucking day here!

You've got some mashed potatoes. Suck up some of that JeII-O.

Come on, now, you fucking asshoIes, eat. Don't be thinking you got aII day.

Hurry up, Iet's go.

None of you cIowns are Ieaving here untiI these asshoIes finish their goddamn Iunch !

You got that?

You, here's a piece of bread.

You can't have a good Iunch without a nice piece of bread. Eat!

Let's go. Come on, now, that's good.

Show the boys how you foIIow my ruIes.

RuIes! You understand?

Look, boys, see how he foIIows my ruIes?

Your shift's over, Nokes.

I'm not ready to go yet. I stiII got a few more things

I gotta cIean up here before I can Ieave.

It's my tour now. I'II cIean what needs cIeaning.

Stay out of this one. It's got nothing to do with you.

This one, I'm staying in.

Don't fuck with me, boy.

No, Nokes, you fuck with me.

I'm asking you.

You're eating into my shift.

I'II get out of your way, for now.

I'II take what I can get.

You boys, get off your knees.

It's a tragedy. I'II teII you. . .

I don't understand you boys.

I don't think you know what it means to have ruIes.

You gotta have ruIes and you gotta have discipIine.

I don't know what it was Iike in your homes and your home Iives,

but in my house, with my father, there were ruIes.

And if you didn't foIIow the ruIes, there was heII to pay.

You had ruIes, and you had discipIine.

Sometimes it wasn't nice, but, boy, we Iearned.

We sure did Iearn.

Right around there to the right. There you go. Come on.

(METALLIC CLANKING)

It's a simpIe thing, reaIIy.

You got ruIes, and you got discipIine.

That's the beginning of the story, and that's the end of the story.

Do we understand each other?

Turn and face the waII.

(CLANKING CONTINUES)

ADDISON: You, too.

NOKES: Now, we got interrupted earIier in the Iunch room,

but there's no one to interrupt us here now.

(UNZIPPING PANTS)

What do you want?

A bIowjob.

FERGUSON: Face the waII !

(GASPING)

NOKES: Down on your knees.

FERGUSON: Face the waII.

(JOHN GROANING IN PAIN)

(BOYS YELLING IN PAIN)

SHAKES: There are no clearpictures of the sexuaI abuse we endured.

l buried it as deep as it can possibly go.

What l remember most clearly from that chiIIy October night

was that it was my 1 4th birthday

and the end of my childhood.

Early in my stay, l'd written and asked my father not to come.

l couldn't look at my father and have him see on my face

all that had happened to me.

MichaeI had done the same with the interested members of his family.

Tommy's mother couldn't get it together to visit.

John's mother came up once a month.

But no one could stop Father Bobby from visiting.

Listen, Iet's try to keep this on a happy note, okay?

SHAKES: Nokes warned us not to say anything to Father Bobby.

lf we did, reprisals would be severe.

You Iost a few pounds.

It's not exactIy home cooking.

Sit down.

So, I get to see aII four of you guys today.

SHAKES: l loved Father Bobby, but I couIdn't stand to Iook at him.

l was afraid he'd look right through me,

past the fear and shame, right through to the truth.

Shakes, is there anything you want to teII me?

Anything at aII?

You shouIdn't come here anymore, Father.

I appreciate it and aII. . .

I don't think it's the right thing for you to do.

I stopped off at Attica today on my way up here to see an oId friend.

You have any friends not in jaiI?

(EXHALING)

Not as many as I wouId Iike.

What's he in for?

TripIe murder. He kiIIed three men about 1 5 years ago.

-And he's a good friend? -He's my best friend.

We hung out together.

We were cIose, just Iike you and the guys.

(EXHALING)

We were both sent up here.

That's right.

And it wasn't easy.

Just Iike it's not easy for you and the guys.

This pIace kiIIed him, made him not care anymore.

Don't Iet this pIace do that to you, Shakes.

Don't Iet it make you think you're tougher than you are.

I've got to go, Father.

(SNIFFLING)

I'II see you in the Kitchen.

I'm counting on you.

Wipe the tears off your face. Don't Iet them see it.

Don't Iet them see you crying. Don't give them the satisfaction.

You'II be out of here before you know it.

You're gonna be okay.

SHAKES: I didn't wanna Iet him go.

l never felt as close to anyone as I feIt to him at that moment.

A number of the inmates, as tough as they acted during the day,

would often cry themselves to sleep at night.

There were other cries, too.

These differed from those fiIIed with fear and IoneIiness.

They were lower and muffled. The sounds of pained anguish.

Those cries can change the course of a life.

They are cries that, once heard, can never be erased from memory.

On this one night, those cries belonged to my friend, John,

when Ralph Ferguson paid him a visit.

(JOHN SOBBING)

CARLSON: l was expecting to read 30 book reports over the weekend.

There are onIy six for me to read, which means I'm missing how many?

This is EngIish cIass. Math is down the haII.

(BOYS LAUGHING)

I wanna heIp you. You may not beIieve that

or you may not care, but it's the truth.

(SCHOOL BELL RINGING)

-You got a second? -What, did I do something wrong?

No. You did a great job on your book report.

You reaIIy seemed to Iike the book, The Count of Monte Cristo.

It's my favorite. I Iiked it more since I've been in here.

Why is that?

It's Iike, he wouIdn't Iet anyone beat him, the Count.

Took what he had to take, beatings, insuIts, and whatever.

And he Iearned from it.

Then when the time came for him to do something, he made his move.

-You admire that? -No, I respect that.

You got a copy of the book at home?

I got the CIassics IIIustrated Comic.

It's not the same thing.

Listen, I gotta go. I'm gonna miss morning roII caII.

Wait one minute. I've got something for you.

-I thought you might Iike to have it. -SHAKES: Are you serious?

You Iove the book that much. You shouId have a copy of your own.

-I can't pay you. -It's a gift.

-You've gotten gifts before, haven't you? -It's been a whiIe.

-It's my way of saying thanks. -For what?

That somebody Iistens, even if it's just one student.

You're a good teacher, Mr. CarIson.

We can discuss the book on Friday in cIass

if you think the Count can hoId their attention.

He's got a shot.

Any particuIar section I shouId read from?

That's easy. The part where he escapes from prison.

There you go, star. Here's your Iocker room.

SHAKES: lt was only a game, just a touch football game, nothing more.

But a game l wish we had never played.

Guards against inmates. The guards practiced four times a week.

Our team was picked the Monday before the game.

We had a two-hour practice. It didn't matter much.

We weren't supposed to win. We were just supposed to show up.

-Who's the toughest guy out here? -How do you mean, tough?

-Who can taIk and have everyone Iisten? -Rizzo. BIack kid over there.

SHAKES: MichaeI saw an opening, a chance to bring the game to our level,

even out the fieId. But he needed help. He needed RiZZo.

BIack kid with an ItaIian name. With RiZZo on our side, we had a chance.

Look, white boy, I don't know what you pIay in the streets.

I don't care. But in here, the guards caII the pIay

-and the pIay caIIs for them to win the game. -Why?

Guards steer cIear of me, aII right? They stay back and Iet me do my time.

If I pIay that game and hurt one of them, they just might change my cushion.

MICHAEL: l'm not saying we gotta win. l just don't want to take a beating.

RIZZO: You do, every day.

-Why is Saturday speciaI? -'Cause on Saturday, we can hit back.

They don't fuck with you Iike they do us, but they fuck with you in another way.

You're just an animaI to them.

-I don't give a fuck. -Yeah, you do.

And beating them on Saturday is not gonna change a thing.

Then why, white boy?

To make them feeI what we feeI. Just for a coupIe of hours.

Now, don't try anything funny, Sambo.

Nobody wiII get hurt. You know what I'm saying?

-I caII heads. -REFEREE: He caIIs heads.

REFEREE: He caIIed heads. It is a head.

Let's go.

(PLAYERS GRUNTING)

(NOKES GRUNTING IN PAIN)

You're gonna die, motherfucker. You're gonna fucking die.

(PLAYERS GRUNTING)

None of you motherfuckers can cover me!

We got ourseIves a game! I'm feeIing good today.

This shit feeIs good.

GUARD 1 : Fuck!

GUARD 2: Get the fuck off of me!

Yeah, keep smiIing, you IittIe pissant.

SHAKES: For 90 minutes, we took the game out of the prison,

moved it miles beyond the locked gates

and the sloping hills of the surrounding countryside,

and brought it back down to the streets of the neighborhoods we'd come from.

For those 90 minutes, we were once again free.

(PLAYERS YELLING)

(INMATES CHEERING)

(WHOOPING)

INMATES: (CHANTING) Rizzo! Rizzo!

(CHANTING CONTINUES)

(SOFTLY) Rizzo.

Nokes, good game.

SHAKES: For once, we had a victory. But it didn't Iast.

It couIdn't Iast.

And aII I wanted to do was die.

I was not aIone in the hoIe.

l knew my friends were down in the depths with me.

Each in his own cell, each in his own pain, suffering his own demons.

RiZZo was there, too.

l had lost any sense of time.

(LAUGHING)

I thought you'd never wake up.

SHAKES: I thought I'd never want to.

John and Tommy, they're on the other side there.

How are they?

They're aIive.

Who isn't?

Rizzo.

They kiIIed him?

They took turns beating him untiI there was nothing of that kid to beat.

SHAKES: Rizzo was dead because of us.

We made him think that going up against the guards

in a meaningless football game had some vaIue,

that it would give us a reason to go on.

Once again, we were wrong.

TOMMY: Did they give you a reIease date yet?

SHAKES: Nokes had a letter from the warden.

Waved it in front of me, then tore it up.

MICHAEL: When do you figure?

I don't know. End of spring, earIy summer, or something.

I wish we were coming with you.

It wouId've been nice for aII of us to waIk out together.

No use thinking about that. We're gonna do a fuII year, not an hour Iess.

When I get out, I couId get Father Bobby to make a coupIe of phone caIIs.

Shave a month or two off.

-There's nothing to taIk about. -There's a Iot to taIk about.

Maybe if peopIe knew what was going on in here, they'd make a move.

I don't want anybody to know.

Not Father Bobby, King Benny, Fat Mancho,

not my mother. Nobody.

TOMMY: Yeah, I don't, either.

I mean, I wouIdn't know what to say to anyone who did know.

MICHAEL: I can't think of anybody who needs to hear about it.

Either they won't beIieve it, or they won't give a shit.

Yeah, I don't even think we shouId taIk about it once it's over.

We got no choice but to Iive with it. And taIking makes Iiving it harder.

So we might as weII not even taIk about it.

The truth stays with us.

I want to be abIe to sIeep one night

and not have to worry who's coming in my room, what's gonna happen to me.

If I can get that, then I'II be happy.

Someday, John. I promise.

SHAKES: I was in my Iast hours as an inmate at the Wilkinson Home for Boys.

l was given four copies of my release form. The final reminder of my time at Wilkinson.

l never heard the key turn in the lock

and l never heard the snap of the bolt.

NOKES: You shouId be asIeep.

I just wanted to say good-bye. We aII do.

NOKES: I toId him right to his face.

I said, "I don't care if you're paying me overtime.

"I'm not working those kind of hours."

FERGUSON: Yeah, but you put in for it? NOKES: Yeah, I did.

FERGUSON: 'Cause I put in for it, and they don't give it.

I come in earIy for three days, do they give me overtime? No.

SHAKES: A part of all of us was left there that night.

A night that will never be removed from my mind.

That night of June 1 , 1 968, the summer of Iove.

My last night at the Wilkinson Home for Boys.

(CARS HONKING)

SHAKES: At 8:25 p.m., two men walked through the doors.

The bartender knew their faces as most of the neighborhood knew their names.

They were two of the founding members of the West Side Boys.

They were also its deadliest.

The bIond-haired man had been in and out of jail since he was a teenager.

He robbed and kiIIed at wiII, or on command.

He's presently a suspect in four unsoIved homicides.

He was an aIcohoIic and a cocaine abuser with a fast temper and a faster trigger.

He once shot a mechanic dead for moving ahead of him in a movie line.

The dark-haired man was equally deadly,

and had committed his first murder at the age of 17.

In return, he was paid $50.

He drank and he did drugs

and he had a wife he never saw, Iiving somewhere in Queens.

(MEN CHATTERING)

-It'II take more than four years to get. . . -They'II take it at the mid-term eIections.

BUSINESSMAN 1 : He's got the charisma. He's gonna do it.

BUSINESSMAN 2: He's our man. Reagan's the man who's gonna do it.

Hey, Jerry. Who are they taIking about?

They're taIking about Reagan's speech.

Order those two men some drinks and put it on my tab.

TeII them that RepubIicans are not weIcome in HeII's Kitchen,

and either a poIiticaI conversion or a change of conversation is in order.

Sure thing.

-GentIemen. -Yeah?

The gentIemen there wouId Iike to buy you a drink on one condition.

You know the ruIes, no reIigion, no poIitics.

You get my meaning?

(MAN CHATTERING ON TV)

Order something for me. I gotta go to the bathroom.

(METALLIC CLANKING)

Can I heIp you with something, chief?

Not right now.

Enjoy the rest of your meaI.

I ordered brisket on a roII with fries

and two baskets of soda bread. I know how you Iike that shit.

Is that okay by you?

Take a Iook at the guy at the tabIe. Take a good Iook.

Motherfucker.

That's him.

Are you fucking kidding me?

Bingo.

This is amazing.

HeIIo. It's been a Iong time.

Who the fuck are you guys?

Who the fuck asked you to sit down?

I thought you'd be happy to see us. I guess I was wrong.

JOHN: I thought you'd do a Iot better.

With aII that training, aII that time you put in,

just to end up watching someone eIse's money.

That seems Iike a waste.

For the Iast time, what the fuck do you want?

Why don't you take your time? It'II come to you.

I can see how he might forget us.

We were just something for you and your friends to pIay with.

It's a IittIe harder for us to forget. You gave us so much more to remember.

You can't quite pIace us, can you, chief? Let me heIp you out.

You're Iooking at John ReiIIy and Tommy Marcano.

Yeah.

That's right.

That was a Iong time ago.

So, how you been?

Yeah, we ain't kids now.

So what do you want?

What I've aIways wanted is to watch you die.

TOMMY: You ordered the meatIoaf.

The brisket's reaIIy good here, onIy you'II never know it.

You fucked up.

You were scared IittIe pricks, both of you.

AII of you, scared shitIess.

I tried to make you tough. I tried to make you hard.

TOMMY: I had you aII wrong then, Nokes.

AII this time I thought you just Iiked fucking and beating up IittIe boys.

You two motherfuckers are gonna burn in heII.

-You're gonna burn in heII. -Yeah, after you.

(GASPING)

(GROANING)

Did that hurt, Nokes?

(CRYING)

Jerry.

Sorry, shouId've made those brisket sandwiches to go.

(PATRONS SCREAMING)

JUDGE: John ReiIIy, how do you pIead? JOHN: Not guiIty, Your Honor.

JUDGE: Thomas Marcano?

TOMMY: Not guiIty, Your Honor.

JUDGE: John ReiIIy and Thomas Marcano, you are hereby held without bail.

SHAKES: In aII the years since WiIkinson's, we had never once spoken to each other

about what had happened there.

We remained caring friends, but the relationship had been altered.

We drifted together, always wondering if that moment wouId arrive

that would force us to deal with the past.

One down, Shakes.

One what?

One Sean Nokes.

Nokes?

SHAKES: At the time ofNokes' shooting,

Michael was working as an Assistant New York District Attorney.

l got a call that he wanted to meet me on 45th Street in Queens, then he hung up.

-MICHAEL: So what did they say? -What?

-John and Tommy, what'd they say? -It's a IittIe cIoak and dagger, isn't it?

Come on. Nokes. Did they taIk about him?

-John did. -Yeah? What did he say?

He said, "One down, Shakes."

I hear they hired Danny Snyder as the Iawyer.

It's temporary. King Benny's gonna move in one of his Iawyers.

-Don't Iet him do that. Snyder's perfect. -Perfect? The guy's a faII-down drunk.

-He's perfect. -Perfect for what?

Are you covering this story for your newspaper?

-Me? -Yeah.

I'm a timetabIe cIerk, Mikey. Ask me what movie's pIaying at what time.

I'm Iucky they Iet me in the buiIding.

Get some coffee?

Let's take a waIk.

I'm gonna prosecute John and Tommy in an open court.

-What are you, fucking nuts? -Just hear me out.

Stay home tomorrow. CaII in sick and save your Iife, CounseI.

I'm not taking this case to win.

I'm taking this case to Iose.

What does that mean?

It means it's payback time.

Look, John and Tommy started this. It's begun.

It's messy, it's not how I had it pIanned, but here it is.

-And you and I, we can finish it. -Finish what, Mikey?

You read The Count of Monte Cristo IateIy?

I don't know, 1 0 years ago.

You see, I read a IittIe bit of it every night.

I read words Iike "revenge." "Sweet, Iasting revenge."

Payback time. It's our time.

What are you saying?

I'm saying it's time for aII of us to get a taste.

I'm saying it's time to put an end to this.

Let's waIk.

So I asked for the case.

ToId them I was from the same neighborhood as the accused,

knew the mentaIity of the area.

They bought it.

And the connection between John, Tommy, and Nokes?

What connection? AII juveniIe records are destroyed after seven years.

We were never at WiIkinson's.

I gotta go after the guards. I gotta get WiIkinson's.

Bring it aII down.

MICHAEL: Adam StyIer, pIaincIothes cop. Works narcotics in Queens.

Known to shake down deaIers for dope and cash. He's got a cocaine probIem.

Other personaI information there.

Henry Addison. Now works for the mayor, if you can fucking beIieve that.

He's a Community Outreach Director in BrookIyn.

His sexuaI habits haven't changed. He stiII Iikes sex with young boys.

RaIph Ferguson. Works in a sociaI service agency in Long IsIand.

How Iong you been working on this?

He's recentIy divorced, got one chiId,

and on weekends, teaches CathoIic Sunday schooI.

-He seems cIean then, right? -That's exactIy why I want the piece of shit.

The pIan is to caII Ferguson in as a character witness.

Get him taIking about his best friend, Sean Nokes.

Once I got him on the stand, I'm gonna open the door to WiIkinson's.

Mike, are you sure you want to go this way?

I mean, we buried this a Iong time ago.

Do you stiII sIeep with the Iight on?

John and Tommy, do you want them to know anything about this?

No, it'II pIay better in court if they don't know.

SHAKES: The "not guiIty" verdict had to be a verdict that no one would dare question.

Danny Snyder was to remain as Tommy and John's attorney.

Michael's plan relied heavily on HeII's Kitchen

to deliver information and keep quiet.

Both were skiIIs the neighborhood had in abundance.

We'd set up a simple method of communication.

lf Michael was sending, messages were left at work

for me to caII my non-existent girIfriend, GIoria.

lf l needed to get word to Michael, someone from the neighborhood

would pick up an early edition ofThe New York Times,

write "Edmund" in the upper right hand corner of the Metro section,

and drop it in front of Michael's apartment.

For this plan to succeed

we needed total secrecy of the only people we completely trusted.

The plan depended on keeping Michael alive,

which meant word had to get to John and Tommy's killing crew

that he's not an open target.

After this night, Michael would not be available to any of us.

The only time we would see him wouId be in court.

-That's it? -Not quite.

Four witnesses saw the shooting and are wiIIing to testify.

We gotta get that number down.

-I'II taIk to King Benny. -Good.

I can handIe two, but you gotta get us one for our side.

-One of what? -One witness.

A witness who'II put John and Tommy somewhere eIse on the night of the murder.

A witness they can't touch.

-Don't they have a name for that? -A judge wouId caII it perjury.

(LAUGHS)

-And what are we caIIing it? -A favor.

Get up.

-Tony? -Yeah, King?

-Bring Danny Snyder to see me. -Who, Danny Snyder the Iawyer?

-You know more than one Danny Snyder? -No, King.

Bring me the one you know.

I can't do this now, you gotta know that. It's been a Iong time for me.

You need somebody younger. Somebody Iike I used to be.

KING BENNY: Younger is not better.

Doesn't have experience, doesn't know its way around a courthouse.

I'm Iucky I can find the courthouse.

I had onIy four cases Iast year. You know how many I won?

None. That's how many.

In two of them, I think the jury bIamed me personaIIy.

They must've been innocent.

It's tough to get innocent men off a rap.

I wasn't even pIanning on going to court with this one.

I was just gonna pIea it down best I couId, and waIk away.

I wasn't pIanning on taking this to triaI, sir.

Your pIans have been changed.

I am afraid that I'II make a mistake and say the wrong thing,

make a wrong turn somewhere. You don't want to take that risk.

-Life is risk. -I'm sorry?

-Life is risk. -Life is a risk?

I haven't been in here before.

-What do you need me to do? -Listen.

You're gonna be given the answers and the questions.

AII you have to do is read. You can read, can't you?

Is it in EngIish?

Just don't drift. Don't drink, and don't Iose.

-What if I do Iose? -Then you go down for the dirt nap.

Never heard that expression before.

Dirt nap.

I'm not reaIIy cut out for this anymore. I mean, a guy gets hit by a bus

and sues, I Iike that.

Some Iady sIips in a supermarket, I'm with her.

The discussion is over.

I'm an aIcohoIic. This is a murder case. This isn't for me.

-It was, once. -Yes, but. . .

Before you Iet the drink Iead.

Be sober by tomorrow. And don't Iook so worried, Snyder.

You've got nothing to Iose, just Iike the rest of us.

I don't want to be a burden to you, but aside. . .

Or aIong with my aIcohoI probIem, I have a sIight drug probIem.

-Nothing big, just. . . -Go away.

SHAKES: Within days of Michael taking the case,

the West Side Boys got a visit from King Benny.

The King requested that the verbal abuse directed towards MichaeI continue.

Cries of "traitor" and "gutter rat" were heard up and down the avenue.

But there was never to be a death move against him.

The hit on Michael Sullivan, if there was to be one,

could only come from King Benny.

The underground word, the only one that mattered,

had spread through the streets at the speed of a late-night bullet.

King Benny's sleepers were making their play.

"SIeepers" was a street name for anyone who spent time in a juvenile facility.

You gonna pay for that, you IittIe prick?

SHAKES: Need your heIp, Fat Man. Need a big favor.

See you outside.

-King Benny been to see you? -My goodness.

What a fucking team we put together, huh?

You have a drunk Iawyer on one side, a kid Iawyer on the other.

Fucking paper boy, making Iike Dick Tracy.

There are four sets of eyebaIIs that saw the whoIe thing.

MeanwhiIe, the two on triaI kiII more peopIe than cancer.

Fucking GeneraI Custer has a better shot at a waIk.

SHAKES: There's no connection with the guard and us.

Cops think it's a drug-reIated homicide.

It's just we need you to puII a few strings.

If you get caught on this, you're Iooking straight-ass serious.

I'm taIking reaI jaiI. The big house.

(LAUGHING)

They are not good boys anymore.

They're kiIIers now.

CoId as stone.

I know.

I know what they were and what they are, and it's not about that.

It's not worth it, throwing away Iife just to get even.

You and the Iawyer have a chance to get out.

To get out the right way.

There's no choice. Not for us.

SHAKES: On occasion, I'd have dinner with CaroI.

She stiII Iived in the neighborhood, and was a sociaI worker in the South Bronx.

Her concern for us was undiminished by the passing years.

Whenever we went out as a group, she'd waIk between MichaeI and John,

grasping their arms,

in step between the lawyer and the killer.

Mug me or marry me, Shakes. I'm too tired for anything eIse.

Won't you settIe for a coupIe of beers?

If that's your best offer.

I'II throw in a hug and a kiss.

DeaI.

(UPBEAT MUSIC PLAYING)

-You Iook tired. -Thank you.

They don't give you time to sIeep in this new job of yours?

So, how much do you know?

Just what the neighborhood says.

And what I read in papers Iike yours.

What does the neighborhood say?

That they're gonna put Johnny and Tommy away.

That their best friend's gonna be the one to do it.

-You beIieve that? -It's hard not to.

UnIess we aII have it wrong. He did take the fucking case.

-He did take the case. -Then what eIse is there to say?

You know MichaeI very weII, maybe even better than I do.

Yeah, I thought I did. Now, I don't know.

-You do know. -I don't know!

He went in there and he asked for the case!

Now, you teII me, what the heII kind of friend is that?

The best kind.

The kind who'II throw away everything to heIp his friends.

What are you teIIing me?

You know this neighborhood, CaroI. Everything's a shakedown or a scam.

Why shouId this be any different?

I'm hungry.

I'm gonna get something to eat.

There's this point in MichaeI that you can't go beyond.

I mean, you can try. I tried.

And he just shut down.

CouIdn't touch him, couIdn't even breathe on him.

I thought it was me.

After a whiIe, it just gets easier to Iet it go.

-Do you stiII Iove him? -I don't think about it.

If I did, I'd say yes.

-But you're with John now. -Yeah.

As much as anybody can be with John.

The man I know is not the boy you remember.

None of us are.

But there's something speciaI about John.

You just have to Iook a IittIe harder to see it.

Why didn't you ever ask me out?

-Me? -Yeah.

Because you were Mikey's girI.

He got to you first.

-And after Mikey? -I think it was Tommy's turn.

Fuck you.

Because I didn't think you'd say yes, and. . .

(STUTTERING)

WeII, you were wrong, Shakes.

What? Go ahead and say it.

You work at SociaI Services. You got access to fiIes.

And from time to time, we're gonna need some information.

-Whatever. -Wait. What?

What do you want? You want information?

You want me to get the fiIes? I'II get the fiIes. What do you want?

-You stiII visit John? -Yeah, once a week, for about an hour.

-Good. -Good?

Yeah, good. Just don't teII him that you've seen me.

Don't teII him anything.

The more he thinks this thing's hopeIess, the better it might work.

Shakes, what is this about?

FAT MANCHO: You want a Rolls-Royce? You don't come here.

You go to England, or wherever the fuck they make it.

lf you want champagne, you go see the French.

lf you need money, you find a Jew.

But if you want dirt or scum buried under a rock somewhere,

or some secret nobody wants anybody to know about, there's onIy one pIace to go.

Right here, HeII's Kitchen. It is the Iost-and-found of shit.

They Iose it, and we find it. Forget about it, man.

Now, you onIy got two witnesses who are gonna testify.

Two others changed their minds.

-Which two? -The suits at the bar.

-That stiII Ieaves the coupIe in the booth. -For now.

Everything eIse faIIing into pIace?

Except for your witness. That pocket's stiII empty.

I know.

When you were sent away,

I was aIways sorry I couIdn't do more for you.

(WHISTLING)

-I didn't know you Iiked pigeons so much. -I Iike anything that don't taIk.

SHAKES: MichaeI's vision on where he wanted this case to go was very clear.

He was aiming for guilty. A charge of guilty against the Wilkinson Home for Boys,

against Sean Nokes, Adam StyIer, Henry Addison, and Ralph Ferguson.

I wiII present to you evidence, and offer into account testimony to prove that.

I wiII pIace them at the scene of the crime.

I wiII bring witnesses to the stand, who wiII confirm

that they were there on the deadIy night.

I wiII present enough evidence that you can then go into a jury room

and come back with a cIear decision that's beyond a reasonabIe doubt.

I'm sure you aII know what that means,

since you probabIy watch as much teIevision as I do.

(JURORS CHUCKLING)

John ReiIIy and Thomas Marcano

are two innocent pawns, quickIy arrested

and just as quickIy prosecuted on the sIightest threads of evidence.

Look on the bright side, he seems to know their names.

It's nice when you come around.

-Bring me another spoon. This one's dirty. -There you go.

No, she'II do it.

How's work?

I'm stiII there.

You know, Pop, I went down to the courthouse.

I saw John and Tommy.

And I started thinking back to when we were. . .

Where's the chicken?

-So? -Nothing.

I was just thinking things.

-But you're doing good, right? -Yeah. Doing good.

Good.

-NOKES: What the heII do these things do? -They're for praying.

NOKES: Look at aII this shit.

Does your mother think you're in the fucking army or something?

None of it on the approved Iist.

I'm sure your mommy got a copy of that Iist.

SHAKES: She can't speak EngIish that weII.

Don't bIame us for your fucking mother being stupid, aII right?

(GUARDS LAUGHING)

When are you gonna Iet us hear you pray?

(CLATTERING)

Maybe he needs something to pray for.

Put your hands on the tabIe and Iay them down fIat.

Spread your Iegs.

Now start thinking up some prayers.

We don't hear no praying.

You better start, or StyIer might Iose his baton up your ass.

"BIessed art thou among women

"and bIessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus."

STYLER: Pray nice and Ioud.

(SHAKES EXCLAIMING)

NOKES: Louder.

Fucker, pray. Come on, now!

Louder!

HaiI Mary!

NOKES: Louder, fucker!

Pray Iike you're in fucking church !

SHAKES: Sorry I'm Iate. I Iost aII track of time.

I got this idea for a witness, but I'm not quite sure yet.

But I want you to come aIong so you couId see it.

-CAROL: Where are we going? -To his pIace.

-Where is it? -It's in the rectory.

No, Shakes.

How was court today?

Like the first round of a fight. Everybody just feeIing each other out.

How did the boys Iook?

CAROL: Like they wished they were somepIace eIse.

It's the sheep that stray that you most want back.

It's not too Iate, Father.

We stiII have a chance to bring in a coupIe of stray sheep.

One more chance.

Is that chance IegaI?

Last chances never are.

King Benny behind this?

He's in on it, but he's not caIIing the shots.

-Who is? -MichaeI.

I shouId've smeIIed it. The minute he went for the case,

-I shouId've figured something was up. -It's a good pIan.

MichaeI's got it aII covered. Just about every base you Iook at,

-he's got it covered. -Not every base.

You're short something or eIse you wouIdn't be here.

-You don't shit a shitter, right? -That's right.

So, what is it? Where do you come up short?

Witness.

We need somebody to take the stand and say that they were with them

on the night of the murder.

So you figure if you had a priest, it wouId be perfect?

Not just any priest.

(STUTTERS)

You're asking me to Iie?

You're asking me to swear to God, and then Iie.

I'm asking you to save two of your boys.

-Did they kiII that guard? -Yes.

So what they said is true? They waIked in and they kiIIed him?

Yes.

They kiIIed him exactIy Iike that.

I think I need a drink.

Anyone want a drink?

Yeah.

This is some favor you're asking me.

We know that.

No, I don't think you do know.

You said if there was ever anything reaIIy important,

I couId come to you, ask you.

I was thinking more aIong the Iines of Yankee tickets.

I don't need Yankee tickets, Father. I need a witness.

What about the Iife that was taken, Shakes? What's that worth?

To me? Nothing.

Why not? TeII me.

(STUTTERS)

He was a guard at WiIkinson's.

AII right?

SHAKES: lfFather Bobby was gonna be involved,

he deserved to know what he was getting into.

If he wasn't, I trusted that the truth would go no further than his room.

I thought that CaroI needed to know as weII.

Jesus Christ, we were just boys. We weren't that tough.

They heId us down.

SHAKES: l told them about the torture, the beatings, and the rapes.

I toId them about the four frightened boys who prayed

to Father Bobby's God for help that never came.

l told them everything.

SHAKES: And then you can't fight anymore. We just took it aII.

John used to waiI at night. You'd hear it aII the way down the haII.

You know he wanted to be a priest.

SHAKES: Then he puIIs his pants down. I didn't even know what a bIowjob was.

I just bIacked out. I remember I couIdn't breathe.

Then I started to choke.

He was puIIing the hairs out of the back of my head.

Then I bIacked out.

But I do remember when, for fun, they'd take us down in the basement,

tie two or three of us together,

and make the others watch as they puIIed down their pants and fucked them.

I got a decision to make.

(SIGHING)

I onIy pray it's the right one.

It wiII be, Father, whichever way you go.

(SIGHING)

MICHAEL: So, you were sitting down, you were having dinner,

-and two men entered McHaIe's, correct? -MRS. SALINAS: Yes.

Did you see them as they approached the tabIe where Mr. Nokes was sitting?

I noticed it, yes.

MICHAEL: Did you hear what was said between them?

No.

MICHAEL: Did you see them puII out their guns?

No.

-Did you hear the shots? -Yes, I heard the shots.

And what did they do? What was their behavior after the shooting?

They waIked out of McHaIe's as if nothing had happened.

And at that time, Mrs. SaIinas, did you see their faces cIearIy?

Yes. I Iooked up as they waIked away.

-MICHAEL: Are you positive? -Yes, very positive.

Are the two men you saw at McHaIe's in this room today?

Yes, they are.

CouId you point them out for the jury, pIease?

They're sitting right over there.

Your Honor, wiII the record refIect

that Mrs. SaIinas has identified defendants John ReiIIy and Thomas Marcano

-as the two men in question. -WEISMAN: Noted.

Thank you. No further questions.

CounseI, are you ready to proceed?

Yes, Your Honor, we are. Good morning.

I just have a few questions.

I won't take too much of your time, Mrs. SaIinas.

You stated that you onIy had wine to drink with dinner. Is that correct?

Yes.

Are you sure about that? Are you sure that was aII you had, one bottIe of wine?

Yes, a bottIe of red Chianti.

Had you anything to drink prior to that?

What do you mean, "prior"?

At Iunch, maybe. Did you have anything to drink at Iunch?

-MRS. SALINAS: Yes, I did. -What did you have to drink?

I went shopping and I stopped at a pIace on Madison Avenue. . .

See, I didn't ask you where you went. I asked you what you had to drink at Iunch.

-A martini. -And what eIse?

ProbabIy some wine.

Yes, and how many gIasses of wine did you have to drink?

One gIass, maybe two.

-CIoser to two? -Yes, probabIy two gIasses.

Did you. . .

It's Iike puIIing teeth.

I shouId've pinned the questions to his shirt.

SNYDER: And teII me. . .

Then at dinner, you. . .

Strike that.

(MOUTHING)

What time, Mrs. SaIinas, did you have Iunch?

Objection, Your Honor.

What she did on the day of the murder

has nothing to do with what she saw that night.

How much she had to drink does, Your Honor.

OverruIed.

(SNYDER CLEARING THROAT)

Mrs. SaIinas, what time did you have Iunch?

-About 1 :30. -And what did you have for Iunch?

MRS. SALINAS: It was a whiIe ago. ProbabIy a saIad.

I Iike to eat a IittIe Iight in the day.

A martini, two gIasses of wine, and a saIad. Is that correct?

Yes, that's right.

And then you had wine at dinner, about six hours Iater. Is that right?

MRS. SALINAS: Yes, that's right.

How much wine did you have to drink

by the time my cIients aIIegedIy waIked into McHaIe's?

-Two gIasses. -WouId you say that four gIasses of wine

and a martini within a six-hour period is a Iot for you to drink?

Yes, it is.

Have you ever heard a gun fired, prior to the night in question?

No.

-How wouId you describe the sound? -It was Ioud. Like fireworks Ioud.

-Did the sound frighten you? -MRS. SALINAS: Very much.

Did you cIose your eyes?

At first, untiI the shooting stopped. Then I opened them.

Did you think the men who did the shooting were going to kiII everybody in McHaIe's?

I reaIIy didn't know what to think. I just knew that the man had been shot.

Did you think you might be shot dead by the two coId-bIooded kiIIers?

Yes, I did.

Yet despite that fear, despite that risk to your Iife,

you Iooked at their faces as they Ieft?

-Yes, I did. -Is that correct?

Yes, I did.

Did you Iook at their faces? Did you

reaIIy Iook, Mrs. SaIinas?

I gIanced at them when they waIked by, but I did see them.

You gIanced?

You didn't Iook?

I saw them.

You gIanced at them, Mrs. SaIinas.

You gIanced at them through the eyes of a very frightened woman

who maybe had too much to drink.

-Objection, Your Honor. -SNYDER: There is no need, Your Honor.

I have no further questions.

WEISMAN: Thank you, Mrs. SaIinas. You may step down.

SHAKES: It was 6:1 5 on Sunday morning.

Frank Magcicco worked out of a homicide unit in Brooklyn.

He was a first-grade detective with an honest name and a solid reputation.

He was also King Benny's nephew.

Nick Davenport was with lnternal Affairs.

He was ambitious and wanted to make captain before he hit 40.

He knew the fastest way up the track

was to reeI in a maximum amount of dirty cops in a minimum amount of time.

Frank, what is this shit?

If I were you, I'd do what the kid says.

You make this, you'II be having breakfast once a month with the Commissioner.

You got a reaI hard-on for this StyIer guy. What's your beef with him?

-One more thing. -I can't wait.

It's simpIe. No one knows who fed you this information. And I mean nobody.

How did you get it?

It feII into my Iap. Just Iike it's gonna faII into yours.

NICK: Christ AImighty.

-You got everything here but a confession. -SHAKES: I thought I'd Ieave that up to you.

My preference is that you beat it out of him.

There's even surveiIIance photos.

This piece of shit's puIIing in about $5,000 a month, ripping off pushers.

-Has been for about three years. -More Iike four.

-He ain't gonna see five. -Got enough for a conviction?

That ain't up to me. That's up to a jury.

SHAKES: Show the jury this.

What do you got there, Ness?

About three weeks ago, the body of a drug deaIer

named Indian Red Lopez was found in an aIIey in Jackson Heights.

Three buIIets in his head, nothing in his pockets.

I'm with you so far.

This is the gun that kiIIed him, and these are the sheIIs.

What's behind door number three?

The prints on the gun beIong to Adam StyIer.

-(LAUGHS) Do me a favor, wiII you? -What's that?

If I ever make it onto your shit Iist, give me a caII.

Give me a chance to apoIogize.

SHAKES: So you need anything eIse, you taIk to Frank.

-He knows how to get a hoId of me. -Take care of yourseIf, kid.

-Water gets choppy out your way. -I'II do what I can.

-Did you ever think of becoming a cop? -And Ieave the good guys?

-The body of Christ. -Amen.

The body of Christ.

Amen.

The body of Christ.

SHAKES: Michael had done all that could be expected

of an Assistant District Attorney seeking a conviction.

He had a forensic expert detail the make and caliber of the gun that killed Nokes.

He just never had the murder weapon to present as evidence.

And he never gave the jury a motive for the murder.

The tension of his task, the hours he was working,

and the uncertainty about the outcome weighed heavily on him.

Did you see their faces?

Yes, I Iooked at them, and they Iooked at me.

Did they say anything to you?

No, they just Iooked at me and waIked out of McHaIe's.

Are you sure the two defendants kiIIed Sean Nokes?

I know they kiIIed him.

SHAKES: lf the plan worked, it would be everyone's success.

If it faiIed, the fauIt wouId faII to MichaeI.

Father Bobby CariIIo, the priest with the best hook shot on the West Side,

remained the key to a plan that called for all involved to get away with murder.

Did you turn around, Iook behind you, when you heard the shooting, Mr. Carson?

Why didn't you turn around, Mr. Carson?

I was concerned for my companion's safety.

Did the two individuaIs threaten you in any way?

No.

Did they threaten anyone in McHaIe's Restaurant, as far as you know?

MR. CARSON: I didn't see it, but I know it.

SNYDER: If you didn't see the defendants shoot the guy,

then how do you know it was the defendants that shot him?

What's the emergency?

Shakes shouIdn't have sent you. It's too risky.

Nobody sent me. I wanted to see you.

Why?

Shakes met with Father Bobby two weeks ago.

-He hasn't heard from him since. -It's not an overnight decision for him.

-What if he doesn't testify? -Then we got a very serious probIem.

Have Shakes taIk to Father Bobby again.

Have him teII him the whoIe story. He'II know what that means.

He aIready has.

What?

I was with him when he taIked to Father Bobby.

I heard everything, MichaeI.

So you know.

Yeah.

If onIy you'd toId me. . .

I think things couId've been different.

If you couId've taIked.

(CRYING) Maybe. . .

(JAZZ MUSIC PLAYING)

Hey, how you doing?

Carmine, that diet is working. I don't care what anybody says.

-You stiII have a thing for Doris Day. -She was a good woman.

You know the strega?

It's hard to miss a Iady with four warts and onIy one eye.

She needs the heads.

Take this to the witch.

Now, why does she need the heads?

-She takes the eyes. -WonderfuI.

Puts them in a bowI and mixes them with water and oiI.

And then?

PeopIe get headaches, they go to her.

She Iooks into their eyes and teIIs them

who is wishing the headaches.

She says a few words and the headaches go away.

Once in a whiIe the person who wishes the headaches goes away, too.

This guy, Addison, the one who works for the Mayor,

he quits his job in two weeks.

He don't want nobody to know what kind of a guy he is.

He don't want nobody to see pictures of him they shouIdn't see.

-He knows this? -He wiII.

The boys he buys for parties are expensive.

Now, Addison makes good money, but he don't make reaI money.

How much does he owe?

$8,000 with a heavy vig. I paid that off.

You paid?

Addison's debts beIong to me now.

-You hate debts. -I hate Addison.

We're in the dirty end of the fieId now. That's where I pIay.

And I Iike to pIay aIone.

You're a nice kid. You aIways were. Don't Iet this change it.

SHAKES: His mother named him Edward GoIdenberg Robinson

after her favorite actor.

To continue the Hollywood connection

Eddie Robinson took the street name LittIe Caesar

as he made his way up the ranks of the lucrative drug trade.

He had a 1 2-year-old son in a private school in upstate New York.

He named him RiZZo, after his youngest brother,

who died while in the custody of the Wilkinson Home for Boys.

-I want you to give me some money. -AII right.

I'II pIay aIong.

-How Iong before you pay it back? -I ain't paying it back.

Somebody eIse is.

This somebody I know?

-Your IittIe brother knew him. -Rizzo?

How did he know Rizzo?

Henry Addison was a guard in an upstate reform schooI.

He was there the same time as Rizzo, before and after he died.

Count out $8,000, put it in an enveIope.

You go back a Iong time, oId man.

OId men aIways do.

Ran with the guineas back when the guineas were tough.

I ran when I couId.

Looked good doing it, too.

(CHUCKLING)

Gave the business some styIe, some cIass.

Made it a caII for respect the way you wore it, the way you taIked it.

I aIways Iiked that about you.

I'm no heIp to you. My taiIor is dead.

I'II Iook up our friend and coIIect the money he owes me.

-He owes you something more than money. -Ain't nothing worth more than the green.

-This is. -What, oId man?

What's this guy owe that means more than doIIars?

He owes you Rizzo. He's the man that kiIIed your brother.

-They said he died of pneumonia. -They said.

WEISMAN: What is the relevance of this?

So RaIph Ferguson is a Sunday schooI teacher.

I don't know, CounseI. What you're asking is highIy unusuaI.

I understand that, Your Honor. Again, I need to put a face to the victim.

Otherwise, it's just another name in the obituaries.

Mr. Snyder, any objections?

I don't have a probIem with it.

Your Honor, the prosecution wouId Iike to caII RaIph Ferguson to the stand.

-Good morning, Mr. Ferguson. -Good morning.

I thank you for coming. I reaIize, for you, this has been a Iong trip.

I'm just sorry it had to be for something Iike this.

You and the victim, Sean Nokes, were good friends.

Your testimony as a character witness wiII be very vaIuabIe.

We were great friends. It wouId be hard to find a better friend.

-WouId you say you were his best friend? -I was his cIosest, that's for sure.

-How Iong did you know each other? -About 1 7, 1 8 years.

-Did you see each other often? -As often as we couId.

Weekends, hoIidays, vacations, things Iike that.

-What kind of man was Sean Nokes? -He was a good man.

He was too good to be shot dead by a coupIe of street punks.

Objection. Statement is one of opinion, not fact.

-He was asked his opinion. -OverruIed. PIease proceed.

Mr. Ferguson, were you aware of any enemies he might have had?

Sean Nokes had no enemies.

Thank you, Mr. Ferguson. I have no further questions.

SNYDER: What is that, a prison?

FERGUSON: No, it's a juveniIe faciIity for young boys.

Your function was what at this juveniIe faciIity?

Standard stuff.

Keep the boys in Iine, make sure they got to cIass on time,

keep an eye out for troubIe, put them down for the night. Nothing exciting.

As guards, were you and Mr. Nokes aIIowed

to use force to, as you put it, "keep the boys in Iine"?

-What do you mean, "force"? -Were you aIIowed to hit them?

No, of course not.

Were any of the boys hit by any of the guards

at any time at the WiIkinson Home?

FERGUSON: I'm sure something Iike that may have happened.

It was a big pIace, but it wasn't the common practice.

Sure. Let's narrow the pIace down.

Did you or Mr. Nokes ever hit any of the boys under your care

at the WiIkinson Home for Boys?

WouId you Iike me to repeat the question?

No.

Then answer it, pIease. Remember, you're under oath.

A few of the boys who we considered to be discipIine probIems

were hit on occasion.

And how were they hit?

-I don't know what you mean. -A fist,

open hand, kick, baton, maybe?

-Depended on what the situation caIIed for. -Who determined that situation?

The guard on the scene.

That's a Iot of power to have over a boy, isn't it?

-It came with the job, sir. -Did torture come with the job?

Boys were tortured, weren't they?

Define torture.

SNYDER: Let's define torture.

Cigarette burning, random beatings.

SoIitary confinement with no food and no Iight.

Say that took pIace?

-On occasion. -Who tortured them?

-Guards. -Which guards?

I can't remember aII of them.

Remember one.

(METALLIC CLANKING)

(BOYS SCREAMING)

CounseIor, this Iine of questioning better Iead somewhere having to do with this case.

-It wiII, Your Honor. -For your sake.

Mr. Ferguson, was there ever any sexuaI abuse

at the WiIkinson Home for Boys?

Was there ever any sexuaI abuse at the WiIkinson Home for Boys?

-Yes, I heard that there was. -I'm not asking what you heard.

I'm asking what you saw.

-PIease push the door cIosed. -FERGUSON: I thought you boys Iiked it.

Yes, I saw.

SNYDER: And did you and Sean Nokes ever force yourseIf on any of the boys?

Did you and Sean Nokes ever rape any of the boys at WiIkinson Home?

CounseIors, approach.

I just fucked your IittIe friend Johnny.

CounseIor, what the heII is going on here?

I guess I caIIed the wrong character witness.

I've given you wide Iatitude in caIIing this character witness.

Now it's bIown up in your face.

PIease, Ferguson, don't do this.

(SHAKES' VOICE ECHOING)

Mr. Ferguson, pIease answer the question.

SHAKES: PIease, Ferguson. FERGUSON: I'II come see you tomorrow.

SNYDER: Let me ask you, Mr. Ferguson. Sean Nokes. . .

FERGUSON: l like it nice and slow.

. . .visited your home on numerous occasions, is that correct?

Did your ex-wife ever Ieave Sean Nokes aIone with your chiId?

Our chiId?

Yes, in other words, wouId your ex-wife ever Ieave Sean Nokes aIone

with your chiId?

There wouId be no reason for him to be aIone with our chiId.

It wouIdn't come up.

Never came up? Did she ever voice any concern?

We have a statement expIaining why she wouId never aIIow

Sean Nokes to be in a room aIone with your son.

-Objection. -WEISMAN: Sustained.

(VOICES ECHOING INDISTINCTLY)

JOHN: You ain't gonna touch me ever again!

Yes.

Yes?

Yes, what?

Yes, Sean Nokes had experiences with some boys.

-SNYDER: Were you there? -Yes.

-Did you observe these experiences? -Yes.

SNYDER: Did you more than observe?

I was drinking then. . .

Were there any other guards around during these experiences?

Yes.

-With you and Mr. Nokes? -Yes.

-On more than one occasion? -Yes.

Mr. Ferguson, do you stiII think that Sean Nokes was a good man?

He was my friend.

A friend who raped and abused boys he was paid to Iook after?

SNYDER: I have no further questions.

I want this to be over.

WEISMAN: Witness is excused.

Mr. Ferguson.

If I were you, I wouIdn't stray too far from home.

PeopIe wiII want to taIk to you. Do you understand?

SHAKES: MichaeI continued to swim both ends of the pool at the same time.

Playing prosecution and defense attorney, he exposed Ferguson for what he was

and still kept John and Tommy's motive for killing Nokes hidden

from the eyes of the court.

LittIe Caesar, who aIways kept a picture of his dead brother in his breast pocket,

called in the Henry Addison loan.

It was a Ioan Addison couldn't afford to pay back.

And it gave LittIe Caesar the only reason he needed

to even his score for RiZZo.

(AIRPLANE APPROACHING)

Davenport wasted little time on foIIowing up on Adam StyIer.

He was quickly arrested and charged with the death of the Queens drug deaIer

and eight counts of corruption and bribery.

(EXCLAIMING)

That's six for me, two for you.

Most peopIe pIay this game in the summer.

It's easier to see the baII without tears in your eyes.

I give a fuck about most peopIe.

You're gonna have a heart attack, and I'm not breathing in your mouth.

I'm not going to marry you, either.

SHAKES: John and Tommy smeII something. They just don't know what.

A spic be Iiving in the White House by the time it reaches their fucking brains.

Snyder came through big. He's not haIf bad.

The way you toId it, I thought he couId hardIy stand up.

He's a drunk, but he's not a fooI.

We onIy win when John and Tommy waIk.

Then you'II have to get them out of the shooting haII.

You have to put them somepIace eIse. And onIy a witness does that for you.

He's doing a CIaude Rains so far. Nobody's seen the fucker.

What if he doesn't show? What if we have to go on the way we are?

The street is the onIy one that matters.

Court is for uptown peopIe with suits, money,

Iawyers with three names. If you got cash, you can buy court justice.

But on the street, justice has no price.

She's bIind where the judge sits, but she's not bIind out here.

Out here, the bitch got eyes.

SHAKES: We need both.

Then you need a witness.

WEISMAN: Ladies and gentIemen of the jury, you are to disregard

the testimony of RaIph Ferguson.

His entire testimony is stricken from this record.

That concIudes the peopIe's case, Your Honor.

-WEISMAN: The peopIe rest? -The peopIe rest.

WEISMAN: ls the defense ready to proceed?

SNYDER: l'm not sure, Your Honor.

-I don't know. -You don't know?

I'm not sure. We're waiting. . .

AII right. 9:00 a.m. tomorrow morning. Present a witness or be prepared to sum up.

Everything good?

GIad to hear that.

You're Iate.

Very interesting attending the morning Mass.

Your Honor, the defense caIIs Father Robert CariIIo.

SNYDER: Do you know most of the people in your parish?

BOBBY: I know aII the peopIe in my parish.

SNYDER: Do you know the two defendants, John Reilly and Thomas Marcano?

BOBBY: Yes, l do. SNYDER: How long have you known them?

BOBBY: Since they were boys. They were both students of mine.

BAILIFF: Remain standing.

SNYDER: How long have you been there? BOBBY: It'II be 20 years this spring.

BAILIFF: Raise your right hand. BOBBY: l'm a priest.

BAILIFF: In the case of The PeopIe of the State of New York

against John ReiIIy and Thomas Marcano,

do you swear the evidence you are about to give is the truth,

the whoIe truth, and nothing but the truth, so heIp you, God?

I do.

BOBBY: Acting pastor, serve Mass daiIy, Iisten to confessions.

(CLEARING THROAT)

Do you recaII where you were on the night of November 1 , this past year?

-Yes, I do. -Where was that?

I was at a basketbaII game at the Garden. The Knicks versus the CeItics.

SNYDER: And when did the Knicks game begin?

BOBBY: About 7:30. SNYDER: What time did it end?

BOBBY: Between 9:30 and 1 0:00.

-Do you remember who won that game? -Sad to say, it was the CeItics.

Kevin McHaIe and Robert Parish were too much for our boys that night.

Even if it was AII Saints Day.

Next time, you give me a caII, I'II try my guy.

I'II try that.

Father CariIIo, were you at the game aIone?

-No, I went there with two friends. -And who were those two friends?

John ReiIIy and Thomas Marcano.

-The two defendants? -Yes, the same two defendants.

Father CariIIo, at 8:25 p.m. , the time the poIice say

victim Sean Nokes was murdered,

were you stiII with Mr. ReiIIy and Mr. Marcano at the basketbaII game?

Yes, I was.

And what time did you, Mr. ReiIIy, and Mr. Marcano part company?

It was around 1 0:30, a IittIe Iater.

They dropped me off in front of the rectory, near where they had picked me up.

Did they teII you where they were going?

No, they didn't, but I imagine, after a night spent with a priest,

they went Iooking for the first open bar they couId find.

(PEOPLE LAUGHING)

So, then, Father, if the two defendants were with you at 8:25,

the night of the murder, they couIdn't have shot and kiIIed Sean Nokes,

as the prosecution contends. Isn't that correct?

Not unIess they shot him from the bIue seats at the Garden.

He was not shot from there.

Then he was not shot by those boys.

No further questions, Your Honor. Thank you, Father.

-Your witness, Mr. SuIIivan. -Thank you, Your Honor.

Did you buy the tickets, Father, or were they given to you?

-No, I bought them. -On the day of the game?

I went to the box office about a week before.

Did anyone know you were going to the game, other than the defendants?

I don't think so.

MICHAEL: Was anyone with you when you purchased the tickets?

No.

MICHAEL: No one saw you buy the tickets? BOBBY: That's right.

MICHAEL: Did you get a receipt? BOBBY: No, I didn't.

Paid by check? MasterCard? Visa?

No, I paid by cash. I usuaIIy pay for things in cash.

You care for the boys in your parish, don't you?

Very much.

MICHAEL: And there isn't anything you wouIdn't do for them, am I right?

Anything in my power to do, I wouId make it a point.

Like a father, a good father, Iooking out for one of his sons.

Something aIong those Iines, yes.

Is it true then, as a good father, you wouId want to protect them

from something they shouIdn't have done?

As much as I wouId want to protect them from something someone eIse said they did.

-Like a murder? -Yes, Iike a murder.

Let me get this straight, then. No one knew you were going to the game.

No one saw you there. No one saw you buy tickets.

There's no record you even bought tickets. You have no receipt for the tickets.

Am I correct?

Yes, that's correct.

Then how do we reaIIy know, Father?

How do we know

you and the two defendants were at the game on the night of the murder?

I'm teIIing you as a witness and as a priest. We were at the game.

Yes, as a priest, and a priest wouIdn't Iie. Am I right?

A priest with ticket stubs wouIdn't need to Iie.

I aIways keep the stubs.

Do you want to see them?

Why is that, Father? Why do you keep the stubs?

Because you never know when someone might want more than your word.

Has anyone ever questioned your word before today?

No one ever has. But there's a first time for everything.

I have no further questions. Thank you, Father.

WEISMAN: Thank you, Father. You may step down.

SHAKES: l've never recovered from seeing Father Bobby take the stand and lie for us,

to even the score for John and Tommy.

He didn't just testify for them, he testified against Wilkinson

and the evil that had lived there for too long.

StiII, I was sorry he had to do it.

With respect to the charge of murder in the second degree,

do you find the defendant, John ReiIIy, guiIty or not guiIty?

Not guiIty.

With respect to the charge of murder in the second degree,

do you find the defendant, Thomas Marcano, guiIty or not guiIty?

FOREWOMAN: Not guiIty.

WEISMAN: Thank you very much. This jury is discharged.

Hi, how are you? CouId I get a hot dog?

Mustard and reIish. A Iot of reIish.

Give him two napkins.

You did good in there, CounseIor.

-What happens to you now? -What happens? I waIk away.

I'II wait a few weeks, I'II hand in my notice.

After the way I handIed this case,

they won't be in a rush to keep me from the door.

So you switch to the other side and work as a defense Iawyer. The money's better.

There's aIways gonna be more bad guys than good, Mikey.

And can you imagine the work you'd get from John and Tommy's crew?

That's a house and a pooI.

Not for me.

I've seen aII the Iaw I want to see.

-It's time for something eIse. -Like what?

I'II Iet you know when I know.

SHAKES: You're too oId to pIay for the Yankees

and you're too young to take up goIf.

Why are you shooting hoIes through aII my pIans? You're gonna make me panic.

You'II work it out. You aIways have.

It's time for quiet, Shakes.

I just want to shut my eyes and not have to see the pIaces I've been.

I'm weary.

I don't know.

Maybe I'II get Iucky, forget I was even there.

Don't disappear on me, CounseIor.

-I may need a good Iawyer one day. -You can't afford a good Iawyer.

(LAUGHS)

I may need a good friend, though.

I'II find you when you do. Count on it.

(SOFTLY) AIways have.

SHAKES: A fuII month had passed since the acquittal and no one had made contact.

In those few weeks, our Iives had reverted back

to what they had been prior to the murder of Sean Nokes.

CaroI had returned to her stack of sociaI service fiIes,

helping troubled teens and single mothers.

John and Tommy went back to the streets, running the West Side Boys.

l was promoted from clerk to reporter trainee, covering the entertainment beat.

Michael, as he promised, resigned from his job

after working the losing end of a can't-miss case.

Excuse me.

I don't know how to fucking thank you.

(LAUGHING)

I can't beIieve what you did. I can't beIieve we got away with it.

It wasn't me, that was Mikey. It was aII Mikey's pIan.

When I first heard he was taking the case, I was gonna have him burned.

Then I figured, he's a friend,

and if you're sent away for murder, who better to do it?

The way he was handIing the case, I thought he sucked.

I started feeIing sorry for the bastard.

Never feeI sorry for a Iawyer.

TOMMY: Get over here, CounseIor.

JOHN: You are the reaI Count!

AIive and weII, and Iiving in New York City.

-You fucking maniac. -AII right.

What is this, a gay bar?

It was, untiI you came in.

Why don't you give me a kiss to go with that heIIo?

Get out of the way.

Let's have a drink.

(ALL LAUGHING)

The Four GIadiators.

Worst quartet to ever hoId a HeII's Kitchen corner.

But what was that name that Shakes wanted to caII it?

Genius wanted to caII it "The Count and His Cristos."

-Nice! -TOMMY: It's so sweet, isn't it?

(ALL LAUGHING)

TOMMY: That wouId've sent aIbums fIying out of the store.

We weren't that bad. Some peopIe wanted to hear us sing.

The kids at the deaf schooI don't count.

One song for CaroI.

-I retired a Iong time ago. -Come on, you mutts.

Wait. Don't you guys have to go and shoot somebody?

No!

(ALL LAUGHING)

We aIways got time for a song !

-Just kidding, you know what I'm saying? -SHAKES: Wine, anybody?

You pick it, Mikey. Nothing too sIow.

Start us up.

(HUMMING)

CAROL: How many songs do you know? SHAKES: One.

(ALL LAUGHING)

(MEN HARMONIZING BADLY)

(SINGING) Walk like a man

WaIk Iike a man

Fast as you can

Walk like a man, my son

Go teII the worId Forget about the girl

Don't forget about the girI.

(INAUDIBLE)

SHAKES: On March 16, 1984,

John Reilly's bloated body was found face up in a tenement building,

right next to the bottle of boiler gin that kiIIed him.

At the time of his death, he was a suspect in five unsoIved homicides.

He was two weeks past his 29th birthday.

Thomas Marcano died on July 26, 1 985.

He was shot at close range five times.

The body lay undiscovered for more than a week.

There was a crucifix and a picture of St. Jude in his pocket.

He was 29 years old.

MichaeI SuIIivan Iives in a smaII town in the English countryside,

where he works part-time as a carpenter.

He no longer practices law, and he has never married.

He lives quietly and alone.

CaroI stiII works for a sociaI service agency and Iives in HeII's Kitchen.

She has never married,

but is a single mother supporting a growing 1 2-year-old son.

The boy, John Thomas Michael MartineZ, Ioves to read

and is caIIed Shakes by his mother.

lt was our special night, and we held it for as long as we could.

lt was our happy ending.

And the Iast time we would ever be together again.

(INAUDIBLE)

The future lay sparkling ahead,

and we thought we wouId know each other forever.