The Quick And The Dead

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In Chapter 38 of FILLMORE, Slim goes out on the town with a few of girls and gets rousted by the cops, who bust him for coke, but then let him go after getting a bribe. Meanwhile, beat cop Dick Gamble hangs out with a couple of other officers, who complain about how their coworkers are dating white women ...


EXT. SLIM’S CAR - MOVING - NIGHT
Slim drives down the freeway with
TRICIA (20’s) a new girl.

Very pretty, wearing a giant wig,
and right now extremely fucked-up.
Her head goes down as she starts to nod out.

SLIM
I said, where’s my money, bitch?
(SLAPS her head)
Don’t fucking FALL ASLEEP on me, whore.
Gimme my money.

TRICIA
(wakes up, tries to focus)
Sorry, baby. Hold on.

She reaches up under her wig. Searches for the money,
and a BAGGIE OF PILLS drops out, lands on her lap.

TRICIA
Shit.

SLIM
(looks)
What did I tell you about doin’ those reds?
They fuck you UP.

A PATROL CAR pulls up alongside them.
The WHITE COPS turn and look at Slim.

He sees them. They smile, driver starts
BANGING their car against his,
SCRAPING the paint, denting the metal.

SLIM
My CAR --

The COP (30’s) on the passenger-side, a short guy, YELLS.

SHORT COP
PULL OVER.

Slim brakes, slows down, pulls the car over to the shoulder.
Stops. The cops get out. Walk over to the car.

SHORT COP
(points at his car where it’s scraped)
You see what the fuck you did to our car? Get OUT, now.

Slim sighs. Gets out of the car.
Short Cop proceeds to search him.

His PARTNER (20’s) a young kids sneers at him.
Short Cop pulls a WAD OF MONEY out of one of his pockets.

SHORT COP
Well, look what we have here --
(pulls out a baggie of coke)
And hey, look -- it’s snowing.

SLIM
It’s not mine.

SHORT COP
Well, I might have a solution to our little dilemma.
See, we’ve got a policeman’s ball coming up,
and we’re looking for donations.

Short hands the money back to Slim. Slim eyes him. Thinking.
He peels off a stack of bills. Hands it to Short.

SLIM
I’d like to make a donation, officer.

SHORT COP
(counts it)
Fifteen hundred dollars. Hmmm --
(beat)
It’s kind of a BIG policeman’s ball.

Slim counts out more bills.
Hands it to him. Short counts it.

SHORT COP
Twenty-five hundred bucks.
Why, that’s a very generous donation, boy.
(hands him the coke)
Now you be careful.

INT. SAN FRANCISCO - NEIGHBORHOOD BAR - DAY
Gamble’s hangout. We see alot of the same COPS as before,
but now alot of them are with white women.

Gamble and Norm sit at the bar
nursing beers, deep in conversation.

Prentice walks in with a HOT WHITE CHICK (20’s)
on his arm, a busty blonde.
They take a seat at a table in a dark corner.

NORM
It’s like they’re all tradin’ up or somethin.’
Prentice over there makes Lieutenant,
then dumps his wife of ten years for that white trash.

DICK
You ain’t gonna see me dump
MY wife for some cream of wheat, that’s for sure.
Just because I made sergeant? That’s some bullshit.

NORM
And this is another thing.
Just because the DA’s got a bug up his ass,
we gotta keep bustin’ the same perps
over and over again.
It’s like a revolving door.
Don’t make anything better --

Dick finishes his beer.
Pays his tab. Gets up off his stool.

DICK
Hey. That’s why they call it work --