THE LAST DAYS OF PTOLEMY GREY - PILOT
Written by
Walter Mosley
Based on the novel "The Last Days of Ptolemy Grey" by Walter Mosley
INT. PTOLEMY'S APARTMENT, LIVING ROOM - TODAY SIX MONTHS FROM NOW * Ptolemy is sitting at a card table in the living room. On the table is a small portable tape recorder, a .38 Caliber pistol, a half pint bottle of bourbon, a disposable plastic cup, an 1841 Coronet Head Gold Quarter Eagle $2.50 Piece, and a standup frame with the photo-portrait of Sensia smiling out at him. This is a very neat room with a TV/radio console that is off. A foldaway sofa-bed that his ward, Robyn, uses as her bed. There’s a bookcase filled with hard and paperback volumes. Ptolemy is wearing a pretty snazzy dark blue suit and a light blue shirt with a muted red tie. He studies the treasures, memories, and tools set before him and then turns his attention to the tape recorder. He turns on the recorder and says... PTOLEMY Two plus nine makes eleven. He rewinds the tape and plays it back. PTOLEMY’S VOICE Two plus nine makes eleven. He rewinds again. Turns on recorder again. He pauses a moment before speaking. PTOLEMY Robyn, I want you to know that
everybody in my family is counting on you. They might not like you. They might be mad that I put you in charge of my affairs. But in the end they will be better off for your strength; that and Coydog’s crime so many years ago.
Ptolemy turns off the recorder and ponders the words he must say next. After a beat or two he turns the recorder back on. PTOLEMY (CONT'D)
You’re off with Billy Freres on Catalina Island and I am here waitin’ for the man with two names to come and tell me the truth.
(MORE)
2.
PTOLEMY (CONT'D)
Because even though I can remember all the way back for ninety-three years, I still don’t know for a fact what happened and a man has to know the truth and act accordingly, that’s only right. I never did what
was right before. I should have saved my little friend from that fire. I should’a tried to stop what those white men did to Coy- LOUD KNOCKING on the door stops Ptolemy. He looks up at the door, frightened and yet determined. ALFRED GULLA (O.S.) I know you’re in there, old man. Ptolemy waits a beat more. More LOUD KNOCKING. Ptolemy picks up the pistol and puts it in his jacket pocket. He notices that the recorder is still on. PTOLEMY I love you, Robyn. He turns off the recorder and stands up. He takes a step toward the door. CUT TO:
INT. PTOLEMY’S APARTMENT, LIVING ROOM - DAY CURRENT DAY
It’s the same space but this is the apartment of a hoarder. The living room has four or more times the furniture than it needs. Add to this stacks, heaps and piles of detritus and debris the room begins to seem... vertical. There are four dining tables stacked one on the other; most of the ensuant shelves are packed with junk. There are a dozen chairs of all types; most used to stack and pile things upon and shove things underneath. Also there are huge piles of newspapers, magazines and cardboard boxes overflowing with knickknacks, take-out menus, old-time mechanical and electrical devices and other less recognizable flotsam and jetsam, bits and bobs. One of the shelves that the stacked tables form is made up like a cot. The imposition of so much debris has transformed a fair sized room into a literal maze.
3.
There’s a scarred up, blond-wood console housing a TV and radio/record-player. The console’s flat top is crowded with dozens of old photographs in tiny frames. Some have little pieces of tape attached scrawled upon with the names of those depicted. The TV is tuned to a brassy 24-hour news station while the radio is playing soothing classical music. There’s SOMEONE sitting on a broad-bottomed ribbon-laced green and cream colored chair set before the console. All we see is the back of his black bald head. Our POV, after having traveled around Methuselah's Maze, settles on the face of the old man PTOLEMY GREY (male, black, confused, 93 years old). His chin has three days growth. NEWSCASTER ...a bomb exploded in Kabul RADIO ANNOUNCER
We just heard Johann Sebastian Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto Number Two in F Major and now we are going to hear Viola Concerto in G Major by Georg Philipp Telemann.
today killing 14. Three Americans were among...
PTOLEMY Tell the man? Is that what you said? Huh? Tell him what? Ptolemy really seems to expect an answer. COYDOG (O.S.) Stop playin’ ‘round, Pity.
Ptolemy turns his head to see who it is that has spoken. This simple motion is a long journey for the old man; he travels through time and space taking us to...
INT. SHARECROPPER’S SHACK, CIRCA 1928 - NIGHT We are mostly in the shack but in some places the ramshackle cottage shares its dimension with the hoarder’s apartment. Ptolemy comes face to face with COYDOG McCANN (black, 40s, small, wiry, sly). PTOLEMY Coydog? COYDOG What you doin’?
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PTOLEMY Uh, um... tell the man? COYDOG Boy, stop plain’ around and do what you promised. PTOLEMY But I forgot. I mean, I don’t know anymore. SIRENS of fire engines begin their WHINE somewhere outside Ptolemy’s apartment - faintly at first. COYDOG Forgot? I didn’t give my life for you to forget. PTOLEMY But I did. Maybe, maybe if you reminded me some... COYDOG The treasure, Pity. You remember... As the SIRENS increase in volume Coydog and his shanty begin to fade. PTOLEMY I’m sorry, Coydog, but I, but I... COYDOG No, Pity, don’t go! Coydog is yelling but we can hardly hear him as he and his world are drowned out by the sound of sirens. Ptolemy turns away and our vision shifts from the sharecropper’s shack to... INT. PTOLEMY'S APARTMENT, LIVING ROOM - CONTINUOUS ...where we find our protagonist distracted and pained by the SIRENS wailing outside. He struggles to his feet and begins pacing the lanes of his maze becoming more and more agitated as he goes. Finally, reluctantly he looks to his right where he sees... A CLOSET DOOR, slightly ajar but also partly blocked by an overstuffed bookcase.
Blue Rev. (mm/dd/yy)
5.
This door brings despair to Ptolemy. And with that despair he is once again transported to...
EXT. BURDETTE, MISSISSIPPI CIRCA 1925 - NIGHT Burdette is a small town, a village replete with dirt roads that are lined with rows of rude huts and houses. There’s a FIRE RAGING burning hot and high over a tarpaper shack. The fire engines in 2010 slowly morph into clanking fire bells. Black WOMEN and MEN are passing buckets down a long line and tossing the water at the flames. They might as well be trying to douse the inferno with water balloons. A CHILD SCREAMS PITEOUSLY. MRS. IONA GREY (black, mid-20s, zaftig) is holding back 5 year old PTOLEMY who is trying to run into the burning building.
INT. PTOLEMY'S APARTMENT, LIVING ROOM - CONTINUOUS The elder Ptolemy is bereft. PTOLEMY I should’a done it. I should’a.
EXT. BURDETTE, MISSISSIPPI CIRCA 1925 - CONTINUOUS Volunteer firemen are hacking away at the places where they can maybe get in. This is a heroic and deadly occupation. Their axes make a KNOCKING sound that gets louder and louder. REGGIE (PRELAP) Papa Grey! Papa Grey, you in there! INT. PTOLEMY'S APARTMENT, LIVING ROOM - CONTINUOUS Ptolemy the Elder hears the call but before he can respond the calls become a WOMAN’S HUMMING. Ptolemy looks toward the HUMAN MUSIC. Then... INT. YOUNG PTOLEMY’S RAMSHACKLE HOME, BURDETTE MISSISSIPPI - DAY IONA GREY (black woman not yet 25), Ptolemy’s mother, is * standing over a cast-iron stove making grits in a battered old pot while humming to herself.
Blue Rev. (mm/dd/yy)
6.
Child-Ptolemy comes in through the front door unseen. He looks toward someone behind him and urges them forward. PITY Come on in. She don’t bite. Little MAUDE PETIT (very dark-skinned girl, five years old) comes in tentatively. PITY (CONT'D) Mama. With all the clanking, stirring and humming Iona doesn’t hear her son. PITY (CONT'D) Mama!... Mama! Iona hears the calls and turns to see her beloved son. IONA Yeah, baby? Who’s your little friend? Urging Maude on Ptolemy says: PITY Go on. Tell her. MAUDE I’m, uh, I’m Maude. Smiling, Iona says: IONA I know who you are . Lana Petit’s * little girl. PITY
Her mama been gone three days an’ Maude don’t have nuthin’ t’eat.
Iona understands.
IONA Come on in, baby. Take a chair at the table.
Nervously Maude moves toward the table. REGGIE (PRELAP) Papa Grey! (knocking) You okay!
7.
INT. PTOLEMY'S APARTMENT, LIVING ROOM - PRESENT DAY The KNOCKING at the door frightens and confuses the old man. He looks around again and finds himself in... EXT. MISSISSIPPI COUNTRYSIDE - LATE NIGHT Pity (Ptolemy as a child) sees a MAN, a HUMAN TORCH, running and screaming through the countryside setting dried foliage aflame wherever he passes. The KNOCKING continues. As the BURNING MAN fades into the distance the scene slowly shifts again. INT. PTOLEMY'S APARTMENT, LIVING ROOM - DAY Ptolemy has absorbed, literally, a lifetime of pain in these moments. Weakened he lowers back into the lawn chair. The TV console is still chattering and playing. The KNOCKING continues. Ptolemy is breathing hard. REGGIE (O.S.) Papa Grey! You okay in there? Ptolemy looks up at the door wondering what indeed is reality. REGGIE (CONT'D) Papa Grey! The old man pushes himself up from the chair and moves to the door. PTOLEMY Who’s that? REGGIE (O.S.) Who? It’s me. PTOLEMY You that woman wanna rob me? REGGIE (O.S.) I’m a man, Papa Grey... Reggie. PTOLEMY Reggie? REGGIE (O.S.) Yeah, Uncle, it’s me.
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PTOLEMY (suspicious) How I know it’s you? REGGIE (O.S.) Don’t you know my voice? PTOLEMY
I know a voice if I see the man. Sometime, you know, I ain’t so sure... REGGIE (O.S.) Well how can I prove it to ya that I’m me? Ptolemy glances over at the pictures on the console. He gets a little lost. REGGIE (O.S.)(CONT'D) Huh, Uncle? PTOLEMY What? REGGIE (O.S.) How can I prove to you that I’m me? PTOLEMY What did I always tell Reggie that he got to do? REGGIE (O.S.)
Ummm. Take care’a my kids, uh, see the doctor if I get fever. Put at least ten dollars in the bank whenever I get paid. PTOLEMY Anybody know that. But what did I tell Reggie ‘bout drinkin’? REGGIE (O.S.) Not to do it because when I do I’m likely to get mad.
Ptolemy puzzles out that this is the right answer. He grins and then, with some coordination difficulty he throws the six multi-colored bolts on the door and pulls the portal open revealing his tall, hefty great grandnephew, REGGIE LLOYD (32 year old dark-skinned black man, big and friendly).
Blue Rev. (mm/dd/yy)
9.
Ptolemy stands, blocking the doorway and smiling at his nephew. He loves Reggie and feels anchored by his monumental presence. PTOLEMY * Sure is good to see you, boy. * REGGIE * You too, Uncle. * Papa Grey has forgotten that he needs to back away from the door in order to let Reggie in. REGGIE (CONT'D) Lemme just try and get around you here. Reggie gently moves the old man to the side employing a kind of dance between the two men. INT. PTOLEMY'S APARTMENT, LIVING ROOM - CONTINUOUS Reggie has passed Ptolemy into the living room. As the younger man looks around Ptolemy starts to relock the door. PTOLEMY
First the blue and then the green. After the green come the yella and then red and then orange. REGGIE That’s right, Uncle you always gotta lock that door. You don’t want that woman to come in and rob you again. PTOLEMY Uh-uh. Not her. She slapped me down. Stole my change can. That’s okay, Uncle. You got some ice water I could drink? PTOLEMY Huh? REGGIE Ice water to drink.
This memory bothers Ptolemy. REGGIE
Blue Rev. (mm/dd/yy)
10.
PTOLEMY Oh. Yeah. Uh-huh. Come on. Ptolemy forges past Reggie; a man with a mission he can understand. INT. PTOLEMY'S APARTMENT, KITCHEN - MOMENTS LATER The kitchen is a close cousin to the living room. Cluttered with dirty dishes, rags, rusted cutlery and broken crockery. They are greeted by scuttling roaches and even a fluttering moth or two. We know it smells in there because Reggie’s nose turns up. There’s one area that’s pretty much clutter free. Here there’s a cardboard carton that has nine cans of baked beans lined up on it, a shelf that is at full capacity with three * empty cans, and a very simple electric can-opener. REGGIE You see, Uncle? You had three cans’a beans for lunch and here I am. PTOLEMY Uh-huh. You get the pitcher outta the ice box and I’ll get your special glass. While Ptolemy searches the cluttered shelves Reggie opens the refrigerator. This is packed with things that belong there, that have gone bad there, and things that should be somewhere else - like the alarm clock on the shelf next to the plastic pitcher filled with water. PTOLEMY (CONT'D) I know that glass here somewhere. I kept it clean for when Reggie want his water. Yes I did. Reggie takes the pitcher and the clock from the refrigerator. PTOLEMY (CONT'D)
I know I put it up here the last time you was here two, no, no, no three cans ago. REGGIE Papa Grey, why you got the alarm clock in the ice box?
11.
Ptolemy realizes that something is wrong with leaving a clock in the refrigerator and so he intensifies his search for the special glass . PTOLEMY
I know I put it here somewhere cause my favorite nephew needs a good glass.
Reggie puts the pitcher down on a small table and then reaches up to a high shelf that Ptolemy could never reach. He takes a glass from up there and brings it down. He places the glass and the alarm clock down on the table too. REGGIE
Keep this clock on your sleeping table and wind it every morning when you get up. PTOLEMY You put that glass up there, huh? It wasn’t me. REGGIE What about the clock? PTOLEMY Yeah. Sure. I’ont know how it got in there in the first place. Let’s go in the living room and sit down to drink.
Ptolemy leads the way out of the kitchen - leaving the alarm clock. Reggie shakes his head but smiles. He picks up the alarm clock and follows his ancient great granduncle.
INT. PTOLEMY'S APARTMENT, LIVING ROOM - A WHILE LATER Ptolemy is sitting in his lawn chair while Reggie has brought up a dark-wood dining room chair. The TV news-channel and classical radio station are still playing. Reggie is drinking from the tumbler of ice water. PTOLEMY ...I had a visitor just before you got here. I mean it was a long time ago but then you showed up. Reggie doesn’t like the idea of someone in his demented uncle’s home. REGGIE They came inside?
12.
Absently, Ptolemy nods.
REGGIE (CONT'D)
Who was it?
PTOLEMY
Coy.
REGGIE
Who?
PTOLEMY
(insistent) Coy. You know - Coydog. REGGIE Uh-uh, Uncle. He one’a them niggahs hang out up on the corner? PTOLEMY Oh, yeah, that’s right. He was, he was prolly before your time. REGGIE Who was he? Reggie takes the pitcher and refills the glass. PTOLEMY Coydog was this old man, good friend who taught me my letters and
made me swear I’d do something, something. But I cain’t remembah what it was.
Reggie leans over and brings the good glass to Ptolemy’s lips. It is only now that the old man realizes how thirsty he is. He guzzles the water, stops, and then guzzles some more. PTOLEMY (CONT'D) ...and, and there was this fire somewhere. I could hear the cowbells clankin’. REGGIE There was a fire up on Crenshaw. Maybe it was that. PTOLEMY Naw... I don’t think it was that one. REGGIE What about this Coy guy?
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PTOLEMY I don’t know. I mean, I forgot what I was supposed to do. Reggie reaches out and touches Ptolemy’s grizzled chin with his fingers. REGGIE You need a shave ‘fore you go out in the world, Uncle. Ptolemy likes this idea. INT. PTOLEMY'S APARTMENT, LIVING ROOM - LATER Ptolemy is sitting on a backless stool with a sheet wrapped around him. Reggie is standing over his uncle using a barber- grade electric razor to trim his chin stubble. Ptolemy is enjoying the process but Reggie has to keep moving the old wandering man’s head to get the work done. REGGIE So do you think it would be okay for other people come by and see about you? PTOLEMY Oh yeah, sure, sure. The more the better. Ow! That hurt! Reggie pulls back and looks at his job. He takes the sheet from Ptolemy’s shoulders. REGGIE Looks like we done. How do you like it? Ptolemy runs a palm across his cheek. PTOLEMY Smooth. What we doin’ now? ...like I was sayin’, Uncle, Nina ain’t, um, so happy here and I been thinkin’ about takin’ her and the kids an’ movin’ down to San Diego. PTOLEMY Uh-huh, yeah. REGGIE
14.
REGGIE Don’t you remember what we doin’ today? With yet another challenge to his redirected mind Ptolemy concentrates. PTOLEMY The Lumber yard? No. The ice house? No, not no more. Zenobia’s place? Ptolemy stops for a moment at the thought of the Mississippi cathouse. REGGIE You want me to turn off the radio and TV so you could think? PTOLEMY No! Don’t turn it off. I might not find my stations again. REGGIE I could just turn down the sound. PTOLEMY
Then I won’t be able to hear it. An’ if I cain’t hear it then it ain’t worf it. REGGIE But you could turn it up again after. PTOLEMY Anyway I know what you want. You wanna go to the doctor even though that burn is all healed up... (holds up his right hand) ...Look I took the bandage off an’ everything. REGGIE After the doctor we could go to the diner an’ get fried chicken thighs and french fries. PTOLEMY I love them chicken thighs. I surely do.
15.
EXT. PEOPLE’S CLINIC - EARLY AFTERNOON This is one of those nondescript plaster-sided bungalows that infest the LA landscape. Through a large picture window we see all ages of people of color in the waiting room, there to
see one of the doctors or paramedics. Reggie and Ptolemy are among these.
INT. PEOPLE'S CLINIC - CONTINUOUS Reggie’s reading a sports magazine while Ptolemy is looking around at the various PATIENTS waiting to be seen. There are maybe a dozen potential Patients with various visible and invisible ailments. ONE WOMAN has a large goiter on the side of her neck. She’s sitting there uncomfortably waiting. PTOLEMY (too loudly) What’s wrong with that woman, Reggie? That one there. REGGIE
Ain’t nuthin’ wrong with her, uncle. Now lower your voice. PTOLEMY But she got a big lump on her neck like another head ‘bout to come out. What’s wrong with her?
The Woman is all the more mortified. REGGIE Just be quiet, Papa Grey. PTOLEMY
I will not be quiet. That woman got a, got a I don’t know what growin’ outta her neck and I wanna know what it is. RECEPTIONIST (O.S.) P-Tolemy Grey. P-Tolemy. REGGIE (relieved) Yes, ma’am. Right here.
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Taking Ptolemy, only a little roughly, by the arm Reggie gets them both up. Then Reggie begins to drag them toward the Receptionist’s desk. PTOLEMY Lemme go. Stop pullin’. REGGIE We goin’ to see the doctor, Uncle. That’s why we here. Ptolemy isn’t completely convinced but he let’s his nephew pull him along until they get to... INT. PEOPLE'S CLINIC, RECEPTIONIST’S DESK - CONTINUOUS MRS. KAMAL (50’s, black woman, professional as hell) looks up as Reggie brings Ptolemy in tow. MRS. KAMAL P-tolemy? REGGIE Ptolemy. It’s Egyptian from the time of Cleopatra. PTOLEMY That’s right. MRS. KAMAL Dr. Riley will see you now. With only the mildest of struggles Reggie and Ptolemy go toward the doctor’s open door. INT. DR. RILEY’S OFFICE - CONTINUOUS DR. RILEY (a kindly brown man of about 40) comes from the neighborhood. Smiling, the doctor stands to greet his visitors and ushers them toward his battered visitors chairs. DR. RILEY Reggie, Mr. Grey, come on in. Have a seat. Riley takes a chair next to Ptolemy. DR. RILEY(CONT'D) It’s good to see you again, Mr. Grey.
17.
PTOLEMY
Uh-huh. He takes the older man by the wrist and studies his hand. PTOLEMY (CONT'D)
Why you got me in here when there’s that woman out there with that big lump on her th’oat? DR. RILEY Esther? She’s okay. We’re just prepping her for a trip to the hospital. PTOLEMY Coydog used ta tell me that hospitals was where black folk went to die. DR. RILEY I think Esther will be fine. PTOLEMY My cousin Petey went to the hospital and so did, so did, um, that woman. She was like, um... I don’t remember. DR. RILEY Do you remember when I was a kid that lived in your building about thirty years ago?
Ptolemy studies the doctor’s face. PTOLEMY No. REGGIE How is he, Dr. Riley? DR. RILEY
Hand is almost completely healed. PTOLEMY I told ya. I told ya I didn’t need no doctor stickin’ me with needles an’ wrappin’ up my hand like it was a ornery hog.
18.
DR. RILEY Most people your age, when they have burns as bad as yours was, take months to recover. PTOLEMY I always healed fast. Black man in the cotton fields ain’t got time to play sick. REGGIE I told him that he can’t make coffee no more, Doctor. I disconnected the gas to the stove. PTOLEMY ...yeah, one time I could pick three hunnert pounds’a cotton on a
summer’s day. Other niggahs be droppin’ in the dirt cause’a the heat but I’d work till the June moon rose in the sky. The June moon. DR. RILEY (to Reggie) Physically, your uncle is the healthiest man of his age I’ve ever seen. The doctor gets up to go sit behind his desk. REGGIE
They tell me that when he left the Delta to go up to Chicago he was only twelve and he went by foot, barefoot. PTOLEMY I ran. DR. RILEY (settling behind desk) His recuperative ability was the reason I suggested him for this process.
Ptolemy’s attention wanders. Dr. Riley reaches down under his desk, fumbles around a bit, then... DR. RILEY(CONT'D) Mr. Grey.
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PTOLEMY
Yeah? For maybe three seconds Riley holds up an orange in his left hand. Then he puts the orange away and holds up a coconut in the right hand. DR. RILEY You don’t remember when I used to trick or treat at your apartment door? You’d give out apples. PTOLEMY Apples? Um, maybe. DR. RILEY What did I have in my left hand? Riley holds up his left hand - now empty. Ptolemy looks from one side to the other. Says nothing. DR. RILEY(CONT'D) Can you point to the side that I had the orange on? Ptolemy concentrates but it’s no use. REGGIE You remember, uncle. PTOLEMY Remember what? This response is a sad revelation for Reggie. DR. RILEY Would you like a pop, Mr. Grey? PTOLEMY Coca-Cola? Smiling Dr. Riley nods and hits a button on his phone. MRS. KAMAL (O.S.) Yes, Doctor? DR. RILEY
Mrs. Kamal, can you bring Mr. Grey down to the snack room and give him a Coke? MRS. KAMAL Yes, Doctor.
20.
Coming in Mrs. Kamal smiles at Ptolemy. He basks in this simple display of friendliness. MRS. KAMAL(CONT'D) Come with me now, honey, and we’ll get you a soda. Ptolemy gets up, takes two steps with the kindly assistant and then turns to Reggie. PTOLEMY You comin’? REGGIE I’m going to talk to the doctor a minute, Papa Grey. PTOLEMY Oh. He gonna tell ya you need to lose some weight. Ptolemy and Mrs. Kamal leave the room. INT. DR. RILEY'S OFFICE - CONTINUOUS The men allow the tragedy of the moment to settle a bit. DR. RILEY He’s healthier than either one of us. REGGIE He’s bound to outlive me. DR. RILEY But his mind has slipped even in the last few weeks. Reggie knows this truth but the doctor’s corroboration hits him hard. Riley hands Reggie a slip of paper. Reggie reads it. DR. RILEY(CONT'D) Dr. Rubin. He’s a specialist that does research in Mumbai. REGGIE Where? DR. RILEY India.
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REGGIE What good is that to a old black man in LA? DR. RILEY Dr. Rubin will be in town for a few days in a week or so. He specializes in dementia and needs candidates like your uncle for examination and tests. REGGIE Tests like on a guinea pig? DR. RILEY I’ve made the appointment already. The address is on the back side. Rubin knows more about your uncle’s condition than anyone I know. He’ll make suggestions but it’ll be up to you how far you go.
Off Reggie - thinking many things.
EXT. BUSY STREET OF SOUTH LA - AFTERNOON Walking down the street Reggie is on point but Ptolemy is distracted by people and movements: Ptolemy sees someone across the street. It looks like Coydog; maybe it is him - in Ptolemy’s mind. Coydog gestures at Ptolemy to cross over to him. PTOLEMY Hey, Reggie. There he is. That’s Coydog. Hey, Coy! Ptolemy walks right out into the street causing a driver to hit his brakes and honk. Reggie rushes out and pulls the old man back up on the curb. PTOLEMY (CONT'D) Lemme go! That’s Coydog. The DRIVER (black male, 30s, medium build) jumps out of his car, furious. DRIVER What the fuck you think you doin’? Driver angrily rushes up to the duo only realizing Reggie’s size and power when he gets on them.
22.
REGGIE
Yeah?
DRIVER What the fuck is wrong with him? He retarded or sumpin’? REGGIE Whatever’s wrong with my uncle
ain’t nuthin’ compared to the hurt on you if you don’t back it up. Behind Reggie a WINO (black, 60’s, teetering) walks up to Ptolemy. Backing away, the Driver is trying to escape a beating while, at the same time, keeping some dignity. DRIVER You bettah put that old man on a leash. REGGIE What you say? Reggie takes a step toward the Driver and the driver dives into his car. EXT. BUSY STREET OF SOUTH LA - CONTINUOUS Reggie turns around to see Ptolemy talking to the Wino. He goes up to them. PTOLEMY Reggie, this here’s my friend, um, what’s your name again? WINO Luther. Luther Jones. PTOLEMY Yeah, yeah. Luther need a dollar. Give him one’a mines. Reggie steps into the space between Ptolemy and Luther. Luther puts up his hands and backs off a step because some of the anger at the Driver still hovers around Reggie’s shoulders. Reggie realizes the fear he’s instilled. REGGIE Hold up, brother, I ain’t gonna hurt you.
Blue Rev. (mm/dd/yy)
23.
As Reggie takes a dollar from his pocket two young BLACK WOMEN pass by and are noticed by Ptolemy. PTOLEMY Hello, ladies. You goin’ down to Madame Zenobia’s? The lovely young women are a little charmed by the man’s unabashed appreciation. YOUNG WOMAN #1 You a player, granddad? PTOLEMY I haven’t been to Zenobia’s in a hunnert years. YOUNG WOMAN #2 I bet she miss you too, huh? PTOLEMY I don’t even know where she is no looked. A THIRD YOUNG WOMAN walks up to her friends. Ptolemy looks at this newcomer and sees: EXT. SAME STREET 40 YEARS EARLIER - DAY The Third Young Woman turns into SENSIA HOWARD (black, 30, beautiful, with a devilish inner light). PTOLEMY Sensie. Sensia doesn’t say anything but there’s a impish look in her eye. PTOLEMY (CONT'D) I miss you so bad. more. YOUNG WOMAN #1 Bet you could find her, if you Ptolemy reaches out to take her hand. The contact causes flutter between realities. Sensia turns back into Third Young Woman who pulls her hand away from him...
* *
*
EXT. BUSY STREET OF SOUTH LA - CONTINUOUS Third Black Woman pulling away from Ptolemy’s hand.
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THIRD BLACK WOMAN
Take your hand off me! PTOLEMY (confused) Sensie? Reggie is on his way to this new situation. THIRD BLACK WOMAN Say what? Reggie puts himself between the young women and his great uncle. REGGIE
Sorry if he did anything wrong, miss. You know he’s old and spends a lot of time thinking about the past. YOUNG WOMAN #2 He’s cute. THIRD BLACK WOMAN Let’s get outta here.
As the women leave Ptolemy looks after them. He sees, superimposed upon the contemporary ladies, Sensia Howard turning and blowing him a kiss. REGGIE You okay, Papa Grey? PTOLEMY She’s the most beautiful woman I ever known. God’s one true gift to me. Reggie looks at the three young women a little perplexed at what his elder is seeing. EXT. NOLAN’S DINER - AFTERNOON Nolan’s looks like a train’s caboose lifted up on giant cinder blocks. INT. NOLAN'S DINER - CONTINUOUS On the inside it’s not a very large place; six tables and two booths next to the window.
25.
Reggie is standing next to the Men’s Room. The door opens and Ptolemy comes out. The old man has taken a big shit. PTOLEMY Whew. That was somethin’ else. REGGIE We gotta get a plumber to fix your toilet. PTOLEMY I’m hungry. They walk toward an empty booth by the window. INT. NOLAN'S DINER - MINUTES LATER SONIA LAVANDRELL (black woman, 40s, waspish and yet friendly) is taking their order. SONIA
Now don’t tell me. Chili size for you Reggie and Mr. Grey wants fried chicken, only thighs. REGGIE That’s right, Sonia. How you doin’, girl? SONIA Sent Mr. Pete packin’. I told the niggah that if he didn’t have some kinda reg’lar job in six weeks he’d have to go. REGGIE Can’t fault you there. You take him back if he finds work? SONIA
Uh-uh, no. If a dog bite you once you better believe he’ll do it again. Reggie laughs. Ptolemy, who is a little lost in their conversation, tries to act like he’s with it. SONIA (CONT'D) You look like you losin’ weight, Mr. Grey. Ptolemy knows the spotlight is on him but he doesn’t know what to say.
26.
REGGIE He mostly only eats when I’m around. SONIA He needs to eat more.
TIME LAPSE Sonia is serving big plates of food to Nephew and Uncle. TIME LAPSE The plates are empty. Sonia is picking them up and taking them off. REGGIE You like the chicken, Uncle? PTOLEMY
It’s like I can’t remember nuthin’. Sometimes I sit there and remember little Maud Petit comin’ to live wit’ us but then I try to say what day it is and I ain’t got no idea. REGGIE Dr. Riley says that there’s a doctor for that. You want to go see him? PTOLEMY I’m hungry, Reggie. When we gonna eat? REGGIE Sonia, could you bring my uncle some more fried thighs?
INT. LARGE SUPERMARKET - AFTERNOON Somewhere in the middle of the frozen confections aisle Reggie is studying the ice creams and Ptolemy is shivering from the cold. Reggie notices his uncle’s condition. REGGIE You cold, Papa Grey? PTOLEMY Sh-sh-sh-sure I am. What you think?
27.
Reggie takes off his big army jacket and wraps it around Ptolemy’s shoulders. Feeling the heat immediately Ptolemy giggles. PTOLEMY (CONT'D) It’s warm. REGGIE So you want me to take you to that special doctor? While luxuriating in Reggie’s warm jacket Ptolemy is trying to remember, to understand what his nephew is asking. PTOLEMY Maybe some angel’s food cake? Reggie loves his Uncle. REGGIE And Coydog would he’p us. And Sensia would cook ‘em on the wood stove down at Zenobia’s. Reggie pats his uncle on the shoulder and they move on down the aisle. INT. PTOLEMY'S APARTMENT, LIVING ROOM - LATER Back at their chairs before the TV/radio/phonograph console, listening to the news and some other classical masterpiece, Reggie is concentrating on Ptolemy while Ptolemy is studying some abstract concept in space. REGGIE Papa Grey... Papa Grey. PTOLEMY Yeah? REGGIE You remember when you would to take me out to the stream they used to have out around Venice? We’d catch crawdads there and come home to eat ‘em over white rice. PTOLEMY
Would you mind if other people came and took care of you now and then? PTOLEMY You mean if they came with you?
28.
REGGIE At first with me but other times alone, maybe. Ptolemy doesn’t like the idea but he’s hesitant to complain. PTOLEMY
The woman on the TV, you know, the pretty black one, said that there was a accident on the freeway and the traffic went for miles. Ain’t that sumpin? REGGIE Yeah, uh-huh... (Making to rise) ...I gotta go home, Uncle. PTOLEMY Already? Why’ont you stay an’ play some dominoes with me? Or, or, or maybe you could help me look for Coydog’s um, lost, um, lost thing. REGGIE I’ll play next time after we go to the bank. Tonight’s Latisha’s birthday. PTOLEMY You gonna have a party? REGGIE Just some cake and a few presents.
Ptolemy reaches out and grabs onto Reggie’s arm. It’s as if he’s trying to cross a barrier that keeps them apart. After a few beats of this heartfelt silence Reggie stands. This movement causes Ptolemy to lose his grip on his nephew. REGGIE (CONT'D) Remember, Uncle. When the bean cans fill up the shelf I’ll be back the next morning. Ptolemy follows Reggie to the front door and reaches out to touch him again as he crosses the threshold. PTOLEMY I’ll be here. REGGIE
Close the door now, Papa Grey. Close it and do your colors.
29.
Reggie pulls the door closed leaving Ptolemy to stare. REGGIE (O.S.)(CONT'D) Do your colors, Uncle. Ptolemy goes through the ritual of locking the bolts; this time working from the bottom to the top (maybe muttering to himself). REGGIE (O.S.)(CONT'D) Good-bye, Uncle. PTOLEMY I’ll be here. Ptolemy waits for a while expecting he knows not what. Then he turns away and walks past the console and into the back part of his apartment. INT. PTOLEMY'S APARTMENT, LIVING ROOM - SOON AFTER (**NOTE** In this section of the script we find Ptolemy alone and anxious, wandering through the house and missing his nephew. In order to deal with this angst he narrates his journey. In this heightened state partially garbled VOICES come to him at differing volumes, but mostly pretty soft and whispery, like the murmuring background at a restaurant. These voices and their content will come from this episode and later ones. People speaking will be Coydog, Sensia, the Evil White Man who Coydog stole from, etc.) Ptolemy goes to the partially open and yet blocked closet door. He stares at the portal expectantly. After a beat or two... PTOLEMY Coydog? Coydog you there? A beat or two more. No answer. PTOLEMY (CONT'D) I think I lost what you gave me... I’m sorry. Ptolemy turns away from the closet door and shuffles out of the scene.
30.
INT. PTOLEMY'S APARTMENT, KITCHEN - CONTINUOUS Ptolemy enters the kitchen and, after a little struggle finding the switch and remembering how it works, turns on the light. When the light comes on ROACHES scuttle across the floor, the counter, and up and down the walls. Ptolemy pays them no mind. He goes to the sink and taps the basin. PTOLEMY
That’s my sink where I do my number one ‘cause the toilet don’t work.
He turns on the faucet.
PTOLEMY (CONT'D) You got to turn the water on for a minute to make sure it all goes down the drain after. He turns the faucet mostly off and then walks out of the kitchen, leaving the leaky spigot in his wake. INT. PTOLEMY'S APARTMENT, LIVING ROOM - SOON AFTER The TV, radio, and murmuring voices vie for his attention but Ptolemy has a goal. Ptolemy approaches a muslin cloth hanging on the wall behind the TV/radio console. He pulls back the shroud revealing another door. This one is padlocked. He checks the lock. PTOLEMY Sleep, my darling. Rest. Sensia appears like a projection on a panel of the door. SENSIA You the one look tired, Pitypapa. You the one. She fades away leaving Ptolemy with a beatific look. The murmuring has stopped. His journey through the house has calmed him. Pitypapa goes to his chair and sits again. The TV NEWSCASTER is talking about child suicide-bombers in Afghanistan while the classical radio station plays the refrain to Beethoven’s Seventh Symphony.
31.
INT. PTOLEMY'S APARTMENT, KITCHEN - MORNING There are six cans on and around the bean-can ledge. Ptolemy’s chin has the fuzz of a week’s growth on it. His shirt only has one button buttoned, and it is askew. PTOLEMY Is it this many mean Reggie?
INT. PTOLEMY'S APARTMENT, KITCHEN - EVENING Eight cans. There’s a cut on his hand.
INT. PTOLEMY'S APARTMENT, LIVING ROOM - EARLY AFTERNOON TV, radio, SNORING PAPA GREY. He’s sitting in his lawn chair; grizzled and a week and a half worth of disheveled. KNOCKING. HILLY (O.S.) Papa Grey! Papa Grey, you in there? Ptolemy is startled awake. PTOLEMY What? Huh? HILLY (O.S.) Papa Grey! Hilly keeps CALLING and KNOCKING while Ptolemy tries to orient himself. Finally the elder gets to his feet and staggers to the door. PTOLEMY Who is it? Reggie? HILLY (O.S.) No, Uncle, it’s Hilly. PTOLEMY Who-ee? HILLY (O.S.) Hilly. Niecie’s son. He might as well be speaking ancient Phoenician for all that Ptolemy understands.
32.
PTOLEMY Where Reggie at?
HILLY (O.S.) He couldn’t, um, be here and mama send me to come get you. PTOLEMY Get me? Why you wanna get me? HILLY (O.S.) To bring you to Niecie’s house. PTOLEMY Knees-ee? HILLY (O.S.) Niecie. Hilda Brown. Your sister June’s daughter. PTOLEMY June’s dead. She died a long time ago. HILLY (O.S.) There’s a picture sittin’ on your TV box, Papa Grey... Ptolemy looks at the collection of little standup frames. PTOLEMY How you know what’s in my house? HILLY (O.S.) There’s a picture there with a piece’a tape on it says Hilliard. That’s who I am. Ptolemy goes to the pictures but he’s already forgotten why. HILLY (O.S.)(CONT'D) Papa Grey? PTOLEMY What you say I’m lookin’ for? HILLY (O.S.) Hilliard. H-I-L-L- PTOLEMY That’s enough. I got it.
33.
Rummaging around Ptolemy finally comes up with a picture of a round young black man. There’s a piece of masking tape attached that reads - Hilliard . PTOLEMY (CONT'D)
June had Niecie and Niecie had Hilliard. Yeah. But they call him Hilly. Uh-huh, that’s it. HILLY (O.S.) Papa Grey? PTOLEMY I’m comin’. Ptolemy starts the process with the locks.
INT. PTOLEMY'S APARTMENT BUILDING HALLWAY - SOON AFTER Hilliard Brown (black, male, 30, bulbous, brooding and taciturn) is standing at the door when it opens inward. Ptolemy looks up at him. HILLY Hey, Uncle. I didn’t think you was evah gonna open up. COYDOG (O.S.) Sumpin wrong with this boy, Pity. PTOLEMY I know, Coy. I got eyes. HILLY What? PTOLEMY Nuthin’. Come on in. Two beats. HILLY You gotta move back to let me in. Ptolemy doesn’t understand. HILLY (CONT'D) Move. Rather than gently like Reggie, Hilly pushes past the elder. Making his way in he is assailed by the strong odors of the unkempt apartment.
34.
HILLY (CONT'D) Oh shit! What’s that smell? PTOLEMY What smell? I don’t smell nuthin. HILLY Is it your toilet? PTOLEMY Where Reggie at?
This question sobers Hilly somewhat. HILLY Is that what you wearin’? Hilly blunders further into the house. The squalor and smell seems to assail the younger man almost physically. PTOLEMY Stop touchin’ things, boy. HILLY Come on, Uncle. Let’s find you some clean clothes. We got to go. PTOLEMY Where Reggie? He ain’t been here and this is bank day. Again Hilly’s attention is pressed beyond his complaints. HILLY You got to go to the bank? PTOLEMY Yeah. With Reggie. HILLY He’s at mama’s place. I could take you to the bank and then we could go over there. Hilly stumbles into a stack of old LOOK magazines toppling them into one of the maze-like aisles. PTOLEMY Oh my God. What you done boy? How am I, how can? Oh no. Ptolemy’s response is over the top. One might think that the young man had just destroyed his life’s work.
Blue Rev. (mm/dd/yy)
35.
HILLY Uncle, we gotta go. I’ll pick up the damn magazines. Hilly moves toward the fallen tower of LOOK. Ptolemy blocks him holding up his hands. PTOLEMY No, no, no, no, no. Don’t do no more. Please. Just go outside. Go on and I’ll come in a minute. Hilly is an angry, brooding sort. But he’s on a mission and so he swallows some of his ire. HILLY Okay. But at least put on a clean shirt. Hilly blunders out slamming the door behind him. The sound of the slam frightens Ptolemy so much that he has a vision: INT. PTOLEMY'S APARTMENT, BEDROOM - DAY IN THE PAST A BLACK MAN is shouting. There’s a loud SHOT and then a WOMAN’S SCREAM. INT. PTOLEMY'S APARTMENT, LIVING ROOM - CONTINUOUS Ptolemy is breathing hard. He’s recovering from current trauma and the long ago one. He looks around the apartment trying to reorient himself. As Ptolemy talks to himself he moves around the living room looking... for something. PTOLEMY He stops at the table-shelf made up like a cot. Tapping the thin mattress and looking around he’s searching for a memory. Finally he sees a small rectangular bench at the end of the sleep-shelf. Upon it is a drinking glass, a lamp, and a box * of tissues. He removes these items, takes the bench and places it on the floor. Then he manages to step up on the little stool facing a teddy bear wedged into the junk crowding the table-shelf above. I got to, got to go see Reggie and he’s at, he’s at Niecie’s... that’s right, Niecie. June’s girl.
36.
The MURMURING starts up again. The voices and their garbled content distract Ptolemy somewhat. But, finally, he manages to overcome these psychic obstacles enough to pull the teddy out of its spot revealing... A miniature ironing board with a full-sized iron on it. Beneath the iron are three envelopes with cellophane windows in them. These are retirement checks that he receives in the mail. PTOLEMY (CONT'D) One, two, three. The next trial for Ptolemy is getting off his stool while carrying his checks. He finally succeeds. EXT. PTOLEMY'S APARTMENT BUILDING PORCH - A WHILE LATER Hilly is smoking a cigarette on the top stair (of three stairs). Ptolemy comes out wearing a clean shirt and clutching his envelopes. HILLY You got what you need, Uncle? PTOLEMY One, two, three. MELINDA HOGARTH (O.S.) Hold it right there, mothahfuckah! Storming across the street we see MELINDA HOGARTH (black woman, hard-lived 40s, hefty, drug addict). She runs up on the porch reaching for Ptolemy. He ducks behind Hilly to avoid her grasp. She grabs for him again and Hilly pushes her so that she walks backward down the stairs. Melinda looks up as if maybe she hadn’t seen Hilly standing there. MELINDA HOGARTH(CONT'D) Fuck you push me for? HILLY Fuck you mess with my uncle for? MELINDA HOGARTH
Your uncle? That mothahfuckah there owe me money. He told me he gonna give me money for my, uh, my, uh rent. He promised me. An’ you know he got it.
(MORE)
37.
MELINDA HOGARTH (CONT'D)
Everybody know that he got a whole bag fulla money in that apartment. PTOLEMY No, uh-uh. HILLY He say no. MELINDA HOGARTH I say yeah.
Melinda takes a step up. HILLY
Bitch, take one more step and I’ma slap you hard enough yo mama gonna feel it. A frightened Ptolemy sniggers behind his other nephew. MELINDA HOGARTH He owe me! Hilly takes a step down. Melinda takes three steps back. This equation continues until the woman-bully is across the street - glowering. Ptolemy is sticking close to Hilly now. HILLY That’s okay, Papa Grey. She ain’t gonna mess wichu no mo’. What way is the bank? Looking to see where Melinda is, Ptolemy points in the opposite direction. EXT. AVALON BLVD - EARLY AFTERNOON They’re standing on the sidewalk. Ptolemy is looking all around but does not see what he’s looking for. HILLY What’s the name of your bank again, Uncle? PTOLEMY It’s the bank. My bank.
38.
HILLY But we been up and down this street ten times. If you have a name I could call information. PTOLEMY Call ‘em then. Call ‘em. HILLY Here, Papa Grey gimme your wallet. PTOLEMY What for? HILLY Maybe there’s a bank card in there. Lemme look. PTOLEMY (hesitant) Okay.
Ptolemy gives his assent but doesn’t move to get the wallet so Hilly reaches into the old man’s back pocket and fishes out the billfold. While this process is going on a Police Cruiser passes down the opposite side of the boulevard. The car starts to make the U-turn. PTOLEMY (CONT'D) John Bull. Hilly is looking for the wallet while the cops make their turn. PTOLEMY (CONT'D) (louder) John Bull. Hilly finds something that might reveal the name and location of the bank. HILLY Grollier’s Bank. It ain’t even on this street. The cruiser is pulling to the curb behind Hilly. PTOLEMY Goddammit, boy, I said John Bull. HILLY What?
39.
LOUDSPEAKER Stop right there and turn around with your hands empty. HILLY Shit. While Hilly is standing there frozen the policemen climb out of the car, their guns out. They come up on either side of Hilly. POLICEMAN #1 (white male, brunette, 20s, in shape) removes the wallet from his hand. HILLY (CONT'D) Hello, officers. My name is Hilliard Brown and this here is my Uncle, Mr. P-Tolemy Grey. POLICEMAN #2 (to Ptolemy) Are you okay, sir? POLICEMAN #2 is a blond clone of #1. Ptolemy doesn’t seem to understand. He’s the perfect victim. POLICEMAN #1 (to Hilly) Alright, down on your knees. HILLY My knees? Man, these is new pants and he really is my uncle. Policeman #1 pushes Hilly to hurry the process. Seeing the danger Ptolemy makes a supreme intellectual effort. PTOLEMY
No, no, no, no, Mr. Bull. Uh-uh. No. This here is, um, um, Reggie... No, uh-uh, we goin’ to see Reggie and this is Hilliard. He’s my sister’s daughter’s son. POLICEMAN #2 (to Hilly) Show me some, ID.
Hilly is eager to comply.
40.
PTOLEMY He a bull in china store but he ain’t bad. We goin’ to cash my checks and, and, and see Reggie. BYSTANDERS have stopped to watch. Some take out cellphones to record the encounter. Hilly is frightened. Ptolemy is anxious. The police check his ID. POLICEMAN #1 Hilliard Brown? HILLY Yes, sir. POLICEMAN #1 This is your uncle? HILLY My mother’s uncle, my great uncle. POLICEMAN #1 Why are you going through his wallet? HILLY He got a account at Grollier’s Bank but he forgot the name so I was looking for his card. PTOLEMY That’s right, officers, what he said. The policemen don’t like Hilly but there’s not quite enough here to bring the black man to his knees. POLICEMAN #2
All right. Go on to the bank but we’re putting the word out on you. We’ll be watching. HILLY Don’t need to watch me, Officer. I’m just helpin’ my uncle out.
As the police go back to their car... PTOLEMY I said John Bull.
41.
INT. GROLLIER’S BANK - MID-AFTERNOON Just another bungalow bank with linoleum floors, a row of tellers behind bulletproof glass, and a dozen or so customers. Opposite the wall of tellers, against a broad window is the high shelf where people fill out deposit slips, etc. Hilly and Ptolemy are there. The nephew is getting his uncle to sign the backs of the three retirement checks. Standing a little way off from them is SHIRLEY WRING (black woman, 70s, sympathetic). She watching them surreptitiously. HILLY You get three checks every month? PTOLEMY One, two, three. My social Damn. You a lucky mothahfuckah. That what you is. If I had that money my life’d be made. Ptolemy agonizes over his signature. He writes slowly, mouthing the letters as he goes. When he’s finished he gives the checks to Hilly, who hurries off to a free window. INT. GROLLIER'S BANK - CONTINUOUS As soon as Hilly is gone Shirley approaches Ptolemy. SHIRLEY WRING Excuse me, sir. PTOLEMY Yeah? SHIRLEY WRING Hi. My name is Shirley, Shirley Wring. security, my pension, and Sensia Howard’s death benefit. One, two, three. HILLY She holds out a hand to shake. At first Ptolemy doesn’t understand this simple greeting but Shirley reaches out for his hand and then shakes. After a moment he remembers the nicety. PTOLEMY Shirley Wring?
42.
SHIRLEY WRING
W-R-I-N-G.
PTOLEMY Hello, double-U, ara, eye, Enne, gee.
They both grin like schoolkids.
PTOLEMY (CONT'D) My name is, um, um, Ptolemy. SHIRLEY WRING Um... You look like a good person, Ptolemy. PTOLEMY Thank you. Meanwhile, in the background Hilly has gotten into a discussion with the teller, KORA BROOKS (black woman, 30s, sharp as a tack). Hilly points at Ptolemy. SHIRLEY WRING This is embarrassing but I’m here to pay me and my daughter’s phone bill but I’m short some money. I need forty dollars. I don’t have it but I have this, this ring. Shirley produces a six or seven carat fire opal ring. The setting is very old. She hands it to Ptolemy. He takes the beautiful piece. Looking at it he is deeply impressed by the beauty. PTOLEMY This is a treasure. A treasure. SHIRLEY WRING I only need forty-eight dollars to pay the bill and all I ask is that you let me buy it back when I get my social security check. Ptolemy isn’t following all of what she’s saying. He is, instead, thinking about his own words. PTOLEMY That’s what Coydog was tryin’ t’tell me. A treasure. SHIRLEY WRING So will you lend me the money?
43.
Hilly and Kora approach the two. Kora comes right up to Ptolemy and proffers a hand. Ptolemy remembers to shake and seems to get some pleasure from the ability. KORA BROOKS Hello, Mr. Grey. Do your remember me? Kora Brooks. PTOLEMY (not really, but) Uh-huh. KORA BROOKS Mr. Brown here says that you want him to cash your checks. PTOLEMY Yeah, uh-huh. Reggie’s at his house and um, and um... Hilly is taking me there. KORA BROOKS So you know Mr. Brown? PTOLEMY He’s my sister’s daughter’s child. Like the cops before her Kora is leery of Hilly but Ptolemy is just lucid enough. KORA BROOKS (to Hilly) Come with me, Mr. Brown. They leave. SHIRLEY WRING So can you lend me the money, Ptolemy? He looks at her, a little at sea. SHIRLEY WRING(CONT'D) For the ring, the treasure. This reminds Ptolemy to look at the ring in his hand. PTOLEMY That’s what Coydog meant. A treasure.
44.
INT. GROLLIER'S BANK - SIMULTANEOUSLY Here we have to see Hilly getting the money and pocketing half of it. INT. GROLLIER'S BANK - CONTINUOUS Shirley and Ptolemy are again grinning like schoolchildren. Hilly walks up to them. HILLY Let’s go, Uncle. We already late. PTOLEMY This here is Shirley Wring. Double- U, ara, eye, Enne, gee. Hilly gives her a curt nod. HILLY We got to go. PTOLEMY I need my money. HILLY I can hold it for you. PTOLEMY I need my money now. Hilly hands his uncle an envelope with the money in it, at least the money he hasn’t stolen. Ptolemy looks for more than just one envelope. PTOLEMY (CONT'D) Where’s the other letters? HILLY They put all the money in one. Ptolemy inspects the contents and then turns his attention to Shirley. PTOLEMY How much did you want, Shirley Wring? SHIRLEY WRING Forty-eight dollars. PTOLEMY Here, count out what you need.
45.
She takes the envelope under scrutiny of Hilly. She counts out fifty dollars. SHIRLEY WRING I took an even fifty. Thank you so much, Mr. Grey, Ptolemy. Ptolemy experiences great joy through Shirley’s gratitude. He takes her hand and places the ring in her palm. PTOLEMY Thank you so much. This is my gift to you. Shirley is beyond words. She turns to Hilly (who is confused by the whole interchange). SHIRLEY WRING Ptolemy says that you have his address. HILLY Yeah? SHIRLEY WRING Will you please write it down so I can return his kindness? Off Hilly - whatever. INT. CROSSTOWN BUS - LATER Hilly and Ptolemy sit at the back of the bus in the two seats at the left side. The bus is only about a quarter filled. Ptolemy is sitting on the inside counting his money obsessively and shooting angry questioning stares at Hilly. HILLY Put your money away, man. Some thief liable to see an’ knock you on the head. Ptolemy looks around for said thief but no one fills the bill. PTOLEMY
When Reggie take me to the bank I always get three hunnert dollars. One, two, three. This here’s only one hunnert. One.
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