Take No Prisoners

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In Chapter 29 of FILLMORE, after Lottie and Flora give up Slim to the cops about his involvement about hiding the dead john they killed, he ends up going to court ... and then to prison.


EXT. CITY STREET - NIGHT
Slim’s girls work the stroll.
Lottie pulls out her smokes.

Sticks one in her mouth.
Searches through her purse for a light.
Can’t find one. Looks at Flora.

LOTTIE
Hey, Flora. You gotta light?

FLORA
Yeah.
She starts to go into her handbag,
and gets GRABBED by Dick Gamble.
Norm takes Lottie’s arm.

DICK
Come with us, ladies.

NORM
You’re under arrest.

INT. INTERROGATION ROOM - NIGHT
A plain cement room. A plain wooden table
with two metal folding chairs.

A two-way mirror on the far wall.
Norm sits facing Lottie.
Between them is a piece of paper and a pen.

LOTTIE
I can’t sign that.

NORM
They’ll make your life a living hell.

LOTTIE
It already IS.

NORM
Your kids will go to the state.

LOTTIE
Please. My KIDS. Don’t you dare fuck with my KIDS.

NORM
It’s out of my hands.
All you have to do is sign the complaint
against Slim for pandering.

Lottie breaks down. Starts crying. Norm gets up.

NORM
(as he leaves)
I’m sorry.

INT. INTERROGATION ROOM - DAY
The twin brother of the first room.
Flora sits at a table, facing Dick.
Looks at the piece of paper on the table.

FLORA
I’m fucking tired.
You’ve had me in this room for twelve hours.

DICK
Sign the complaint and you’re back
on the street in five minutes.

FLORA
I need some sleep. Please.

DICK
I’ll keep you in here for a week.
I don’t give a damn if you don’t sleep, ever.
This is your third time.
You’re facing at least three years.
And I’m gonna be at every parole hearing
to make sure you serve every minute of it.
(beat)
Or you can sign this complaint for pimping.

INT. BLUES CLUB - NIGHT
Dark. Smoky. Packed to the gills with
a mixed crowd jamming to the hot music.
Slim’s onstage playing his guitar
with SLY STONE (29) on his guitar.

SLY STONE
(sings)
Thank for lettin’ me be mice elf again --

Suddenly Dick Gamble walks onto the stage.
GRABS Slim by the collar.

Leans into the mike.
The band stops playing.

DICK
(loud, over the PA)
Fillmore Slim, you’re UNDER ARREST.
(to Sly)
Sorry for the inconvenience, Mr. Stone.

Norm takes Slim’s guitar off him.
Gamble, his jacket and hat.
Norm CUFFS his hands behind his back.

EXT. NIGHT CLUB - NIGHT
Gamble and Norm pull Slim
outside the club toward their car.

A throng of SPECTATORS and PRESS fight for a look.
Dick is now wearing Slim’s jacket and hat.

DICK
What do you think? Do I look like a pimp?

SLIM
You’ll never be a pimp. Ain’t got the balls.

EXCITED REPORTER
Is that your new look, Detective Gamble?

DICK
You know what they say, fellas -- when in Rome --

INT. WILLIE BROWN’S OFFICE - DAY
The corner office of a partner in a small law firm.
Nicely decorated. Willie leans back in
his leather chair behind his giant desk.
Slim sits in a wing chair in front him.

WILLIE
We have to take their deal.
They drop the pimping charge,
and you do two-and-a-half to three on the pandering.

SLIM
And if I don’t take the deal?

WILLIE
We go to trial.
We both know that their confessions were coerced,
but they have you by the balls.

INT. VACAVILLE PRISON - COUNSELLING OFFICES - DAY
The usual institutional cinder block walls
painted a pale puke color.

Slim and a BULKY PRISONER (20’s)
sit on metal folding chairs
waiting to speak with a counsellor.

SLIM
Why do they call her San Quentin Sally?

BULKY PRISONER
She sends all the white cons to Jamestown,
which isn’t so bad as prisons go --
and she sends us black folks to San Quentin,
where we do that real hard time.

SLIM
We’ll see about that.

INT. COUNSELLING OFFICES - DAY
SAN QUENTIN SALLY (50) sits behind
her plain desk in her plain office.
Slim sits in front of her in a wooden chair.

SAN QUENTIN SALLY
(looking over his file)
Clarence Sims, let’s see --

SLIM
I’m more well-known as Guitar Slim.

SAN QUENTIN SALLY
Guitar Slim?

SLIM
Yes, ma’am. I play the blues.
I’m a recording artist, too.
You might have heard my songs
BIG BRASS MONKEY and FAMILY MAN.

SAN QUENTIN SALLY
(smiles)
Can’t say I have --

SLIM
That was back in Los Angeles a few years ago.
I was also the house band at The Fillmore in San Francisco.
Opened for Sly Stone, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, The Grateful Dead --

SAN QUENTIN SALLY
(impressed)
I see.

SLIM
So, Miss Sally -- can I call you Miss Sally?
(off her nod)
I need your help, Miss Sally.
San Quentin is full of hardened criminals and violent men.
I’m an entertainer, a musician, and I’m afraid
if I were to be incarcerated there,
something bad might happen to me.

SAN QUENTIN SALLY
(looks at the file)
But it says here you were found guilty of pandering.

SLIM
Miss Sally, that was just a fork in the road
I took that I didn’t plan on.
I just wanted to play my music --
and women kept giving me money.
I didn’t ask them to.
(turns on the charm)
Trust me, I’ve learned the error of my ways,
and once I finish my sentence,
I plan on returning to playing music.

SAN QUENTIN SALLY
I see --

SLIM
Excuse me for asking,
but have you ever done any modeling?