I Am the Night (2019) s01e03 Episode Script
Dark Flower
1 This my cousin Fauna.
- This is Nero.
- Want to give me a kiss.
Nero, bad apple, rotten tree.
PETER: Something is up.
You run with those dogs again, they'll bury you 10 feet deep.
I mean, Hodel might be a lot of things but he sure as hell isn't the bogeyman.
Hello.
I'm Fauna.
I'm George's granddaughter.
Come to find my real mother, Tamar.
You're not black.
You're a lair.
JAY: Tamar got sent to a convent.
They hide you till the baby's born, and then whoosh! You never see her again.
Do you have a favorite? [ANIMAL GROWLING.]
[INDISTINCT CONVERSATIONS.]
Now you're anonymous.
I don't feel anonymous.
Good evening, gentlemen.
There you are.
Are you ready for tonight? [INDISTINCT CONVERSATIONS CONTINUE.]
Do you like what's on the menu? HODEL: Hello, my angel.
Tamar.
Tamar, are you dreaming again? Take this kiss upon the brow and in parting from you now thus much let me avow [WOMAN MOANS.]
you are not wrong, who deem that my days have been a dream.
[GASPS.]
Yet if hope has flown away, in a night or in a day, in a vision or in none [ANIMAL GROWLS.]
is it therefore the less gone? [WOMAN MOANS.]
All that we see or seem is but a dream within a dream.
[ANIMAL LOWS.]
Hey, you all right? Oh.
Come on in here, let me buy you a drink.
[LAUGHS.]
So nice to finally meet you.
Look, I can explain some things to you should know about.
I know things.
[GRUNTS.]
[RADIO CHATTER.]
JENNINGS: Ma'am, are you okay? It's not really safe for you to be by yourself in this neighborhood, ma'am.
I'm happy to help you.
Maybe you need a ride home? [RADIO CHATTER CONTINUES.]
No, thank you, Sir.
This is my home.
You and the roaches.
[SIREN WAILS DISTANTLY.]
[JAY SNORING.]
[SNORTS.]
[GUN CLICKING.]
LAPD, get up! Get your ass up! JAY: Oh, shit, what Don't worry, cupcake, you're not under arrest.
- Right there, right there! - [GRUNTING.]
Oh! What seems to be the problem, officers? Tough guy.
Don't get so sharp you chop off your own fingers.
Hey, champ, you see this? What a psycho.
You jerk off to these, huh? These your pin-up girls? Okay.
Let's go.
Bring the pervert.
Okay.
Okay, okay.
All right.
[GRUNTS.]
Okay.
MAN: Come on.
CORINNA: You're not black, you boring girl.
[LAUGHS.]
Ernest, stop.
[DIAL TONE.]
That damn phone! - Xander, you need some bacon? - Let me tell you Without Willie Mays and Koufax making peace, they'd still be fighting at Candlestick.
- Marichal is a son of a gun.
- Boys, - They need to arrest that fool.
- You need some more bacon? - No, ma'am, coffee for me.
- Yes, please, Big Momma.
Fauna, you find your grandma yesterday? - The white one? - Yeah, I did.
And? [CHUCKLES.]
You ever seen a weird, ugly white man hanging around? Drives a Buick? [CHUCKLES.]
All white men is ugly.
Got that right.
Mmm, not that Mick Jagger.
He got some brother in him.
His lip is all big at the bottom.
[SNORING.]
[DOOR BUZZES.]
[CREAKING LOUDLY.]
[HANDCUFFS CLANK.]
Agh! You know, they say only the guilty ones fall asleep.
It's the innocent ones who are too nervous.
You got me, I did it.
What did I do? I know what I'm looking at.
I just twigged it.
Oh, yeah? Failure.
You're just another hack out there chasing a hustle.
One worn out decent suit, the rest cheap crap.
Hiding behind a garbage can with a camera.
I'm a journalist.
[SCOFFS.]
Yeah, yeah.
Yeah, you're a regular Ed Murrow, not some loser shit-bird.
I know what I'm looking at.
I've seen guys like you get made.
Is that right? You're just so scared.
And all that hate you got in you, it's just fear.
And the more fear there is, the more hate until you're just a sack of hate hiding behind a badge hurting people.
What do you know about hate, cupcake? Oh, I know everything there is to know about hate.
Oh, yeah, right.
Right, I remember now.
You was a soldier.
Korea.
You see, the thing about soldiers in my experience, is they like to play tough.
But without orders, they just fall apart.
Maybe we'll find out someday.
Maybe we'll find out today.
What's on your mind, pal? You keep turning up in the wrong places, cupcake.
Whatever you're sniffing on got you running in the wrong direction.
And I feel like I've already warned you.
So now what do I do? Oh, and by the way, you think you're slick? You ain't slick.
The ex-wife caught you following her and gave us your plates.
What? Not the greatest tail man in the world, are we? Anyways, I don't necessarily think it's a good idea to send a message, but I'm just the messenger.
Personally, I think we'd be better off without you.
So the question and this is at my discretion is what does it take to get a message across to a smart-ass? Is it a finger? Is it an eye? Probably a finger doesn't mean a great deal to a genuine war hero like yourself so I think it needs to be an eye.
What happened? Not so chatty anymore? Now, hold still, 'cause this is gonna really, really hurt.
You gonna kick me? Kick me? [GRUNTS.]
See, you thought you knew everything there was to know about hate.
I want to teach you something new about hate today.
- [BANGING AT DOOR.]
- CAPTAIN: Billis! - Goddamn it! - [GRUNTS.]
- What?! - Billis, get out here! Oh, shit! [PANTING.]
- [SCREAMS.]
- [DOOR BUZZES.]
CAPTAIN: I don't care how protected this monkey is, he ain't getting away with this.
What's going on, sir? That's my investigation through Shut up, Billis.
Shut your face, Ohls.
- This ain't your pond.
- Enough! This ain't your pond, neither, son.
This is my Goddamn pond.
You got a charge for that detainee? - No, Sir.
- Hmm, very well.
Without charges, you can remand your suspect over to Detective Ohls.
Sure thing.
Bunch of Goddamn clowns.
You know what you just did to your career? - Yeah, I know.
- Kaputnik, Sputnik.
- I know.
- Why? For that flaky shit-bird? You wouldn't understand, Billis.
Come on, explain it to me.
What, does he keep your pup-tent warm? Look, you weren't there.
You ever heard of Dog Company? [CHUCKLES.]
About what happened on Hill 1240? Dog Company sent 200 guys up that hill, only 16 ever came off.
I'm hit in both legs, I'm a dead man.
I don't bleed out 'cause the bullet holes froze.
I might as well have been on the moon.
Are you following this? That flaky shit-bird in there, I seen him with my own eyes, Billis.
I seen him run dry and kill God knows how many of 'em Oh, seven or eight of 'em with his entrenching tool.
A shovel.
Just a little shitty shovel.
So he walks while I'm alive.
So be it Dog Company.
[BUZZER IN DISTANCE.]
[CAMERA SHUTTER CLICKING.]
I mean, if you go in there, man, hold right there.
FAUNA: Pulling everyone off the damn bus, making 'em sit out in the sun for two hours for nothin'.
So you saw your white grandma? What's she like? Rich? Yeah, she was rich and a liar, hiding things from me.
I think maybe even I don't know.
Maybe even Tamar.
- Who's Tamar now? - She's my real mother.
My birth mother.
I think she was in that house, hiding.
I'm gonna go back and find her.
I mean, if I was rich, I'd get me a color TV.
Shoot, I think about money plenty.
[TELEPHONE RINGS.]
- [CHUCKLES.]
- Go on and get that money, girl.
Y'all need to leave her alone.
She's just looking for her family.
BIG MOMMA: Pat? I just want my own room so I could shut the door.
Pat?! Fauna, when you get it, can we come live with you in your big white house? - I ain't about that, Tina.
- Telephone, girl! How stupid we look? Just give the girl some space, man.
- You see that? - I saw that.
[CHILDREN PLAYING IN DISTANCE.]
Hello? Hey, uh girl? Yeah, this is Nero.
What do you want? You don't remember me? The handsome one from the party.
- What do you want? - What do I want? What do I want? Come on, what you think I want? Have you been drinking already? Playing hard to get, you know? I know all about you.
See, I saw you looking.
Stop calling me, you snap case.
See, y'all girls, y'all want it just as bad as dudes.
See, I got a magic tongue.
And you should check it out sometime.
[DIAL TONE.]
[ENGINE STARTS.]
Hey, you know we're we're square.
No, we ain't square.
Ever.
You think you can stay out of trouble? Yeah, but see, they they wouldn't have dropped the hammer on me if it was nothing.
They just showed me that there's something there.
They blew their whole hand.
Jay, crossing Billis like that, that means I've crossed all kinds of people up and down the food chain.
He's more connected than Ma Bell.
Sorry about that.
They are gonna put me on animal control in Santa Ana till I quit or eat my gun.
I'm out of favors, you're out of friends.
If they get you again, you're staying got.
Hop in, Sally.
[ENGINE STARTS.]
Tamar? [LOCK RATTLES.]
[HINGE SQUEALS.]
[GATE CLANGS.]
PETER: And somebody's gotta be helping Martin with the civil war thing in Indonesia.
He can't figure out the time thing, so he keeps calling in his sides when the desk is asleep.
- [LAUGHTER.]
- I gotta talk to you guys.
Hello, Jay.
I'm in a meeting here.
Give me 10 minutes, please.
It's pressing.
Yeah.
- Just can you go have a soda? - Not thirsty.
- Go have a scotch and soda.
- Don't drink.
Go have a shot of soda, for God's sakes! All right.
All right, Tommy, can you take that one on, please? Yeah.
I know it sucks, but at least you ain't married.
So take it.
Thank you, guys.
We'll meet later.
I can tell from your excitement, you've cracked open the Bloody Romeo case to nationwide acclaim.
Look at me, Peter.
The Hodel thing, it's real.
They're cracks, like I told you.
I just got rousted really bad by the LAPD.
Now, why in the hell would they do that if there wasn't a story to follow, Peter? Okay, Jay, you want to hold hands and jump off a bridge? Huh? I gave you something.
- I - A real crime that happened this Goddamn year, the Bloody Romeo case.
I got rousted because I was staking out his ex-wife, for the love of Mike.
What does he got, who's he got it on? These are the questions we have to be asking, Peter.
You know, you got rousted because some cop had grievance when you shtupped his girl.
Or some bullshit drug beef.
Jesus, look at you.
You look like hammered shit, Jay.
That's not what it is, he's got juice, and he's being protected.
What I'm trying to tell you is it's active.
It's active, it's all over the place.
I feel it, and there's, like there's like a buzz.
- You know what it is? - Hmm? It's gotta be that abortion shit he's running.
- Oh, oh.
- Yeah, it's still happening.
- Oh, fine - Don't you dare, don't you dare try and tell me that the abortion clinic protected by the LAPD ain't something you're interested in, - that's Pulitzer.
- Oh, my Jimmy Jonkers.
Does this go all the way to the top, Jay? - Yes, it does go to the top.
- Please, go home and clean yourself up.
Oh, you're you're on their side.
- Oh, screw you, Indigo.
What did yo - Screw you! - When did you when did you - I'm the only sad son of a bitch - forget about the truth, Peter? - Even close to your side.
- To my side? - You're a party-line hack.
[LOUD BANG.]
Aah! [MEN LAUGHING, TALKING INDISTINCTLY.]
- MAN: Fire in the hole! - [BREATHING HEAVILY.]
Hey, Shell Shock, look out for mortars! [DISTANT MACHINE GUN FIRE.]
[ECHOING LAUGHTER.]
[GROWLS.]
- Hey! - What are you doing?! [GRUNTING.]
- [SCREAMS.]
- PETER: Jay?! [GLASS SHATTERING.]
Jay! Jay! Jay! Jay, Jay! Jay! Enough.
Let's go, let's go, let's go.
- Let's go.
Let's go.
- Get out of here.
- I'm sorry.
I'm sorry.
- Let's go.
- Sorry.
- Let's go, let's go.
- I'm sorry, I'm sorry.
Sorry.
- Let's go.
MAN: Just get out of here, you son of a bitch.
Jesus, Jay.
The ex-wife is the key, Peter.
[BIRDS CHIRPING.]
Tamar? [WATER DRIPPING.]
Last week? HODEL: Beautiful day.
Do you have a favorite? Do you have a favorite? Fauna? Hello, Fauna.
It's lovely to hear your voice, Fauna.
So glad you've contacted me.
In fact, you should come here and see me.
Call me when you arrive.
[GATE HINGE SQUEALS.]
[DOOR BANGS CLOSED.]
[FOOTSTEPS IN DISTANCE.]
[WATER DRIPPING.]
MAN: Fauna? [FLOORBOARD CREAKS.]
Fauna? You here? Something important to tell you.
To show you.
Fauna? - [DOOR OPENS IN DISTANCE.]
- CORINNA: Who's there? [DOOR CLOSES.]
I'm calling the police.
Who's there?! [DOG BARKING IN DISTANCE.]
[INDISTINCT CONVERSATION.]
[INDISTINCT CONVERSATION CONTINUES.]
[DOOR CLOSES.]
Hey, Miss, excuse me.
Do you need a ride? Hey, hey, listen there, I just want to talk to you for a second.
Are you related to Tamar Hodel? Shit.
[TIRES SQUEAL.]
Shit, don't lose her, Jay.
Don't lose her.
There you are.
[TIRES SQUEAL.]
You okay? You okay, Miss? I I'm sorry I scared you back there.
I just, um Fauna, get in the car.
I just wanted to, uh, talk with you for a second.
Do you mind? Fauna.
Get in the car.
[SIGHS.]
Really, I just want to I just want to talk.
Fauna, get in the car! You all right? [TIRES SQUEAL.]
Geez, who was that Joe? Seems like a real sweetheart.
You okay? Who are you? Are you Tamar Hodel's daughter? Who are you? Um, I'm a friend.
A friend of who? Can I buy you a cup of coffee, a slice of pie, then we can Then we can talk? You a friend of Tamar's? Yes.
Yes, I am.
I'm on her side, anyways.
So what's your name? What's your name? Puddin' tame.
Ask me again, I'll tell you the same.
[CHUCKLES.]
Um I'm Jay Singletary.
I, uh Oh, I saw the tail end of that B&E you were pulling on Corinna Hodel's house.
That was quite something.
You just practicing gymnastics or steal the family silver? Thanks for the coffee.
[CHUCKLES.]
Oh, hey, whoa.
Slow down.
I'm just spinning your wheels.
Tell you what.
I'll pay ya.
Pay me for what? Just sit down, talk to me for 10 minutes, and eat your pie.
10 minutes.
- Some date.
- I wouldn't call it a date.
Yeah, why not? Would you date a ghost? I might a friendly ghost or the Ghost of Christmas Past.
Hmm.
What about a sad ghost that can't scare anyone anymore because he's lost his joie de vivre, his zest? I might date a sad ghost like that.
So what's your name? It's Fauna.
What's your last name, Fauna? Are you Tamar's daughter? Why? What's it to you? I'm a reporter.
I wrote about Tamar a long time ago.
So, what, like, newspapers? - Yeah.
- Sounds important.
I'm really important.
Not me.
You sure? Yep, I'm nobody.
Maybe.
Was Tamar famous? Is she around, Tamar? What do you want with her? What do you mean, you're on her side? What does that mean? Side of what? What did you write about her? Do you know where she is? No.
Okay.
But you want to be careful.
Careful of what? Tamar's a liar.
Where did you hear that from? I'm gonna use the ladies room.
Oh, oh Little girl, little girl left me And why? Why did I I love her so? Why did I love her so? Oh, I want to know I want to know, yeah I want to know, little girl, yeah Little girl, do you love me so? Oh, oh Shit.
Hey, boys, did you see a girl walk through here? - Huh? - Not since last night.
Your pie is too sweet.
[SIGHS.]
Shit.
[SIREN WAILS DISTANTLY.]
[KEYS JANGLE.]
[GROWLS.]
[CAR HORN HONKS.]
[KEYS JANGLE, SOFT JAZZ PLAYS ON RADIO.]
[SNORTING.]
[EXHALES SLOWLY.]
[SNIFFLES.]
Can I help you with something, sir? I'm afraid the sergeant's gone home.
Uh, yeah, I was looking to enlist to reenlist Well, you have prior service?for Vietnam.
Yeah, Korea.
It was a long time ago, I know, but I I could, uh I could be of some real help to some of the young guys.
Right.
Um, but there is a maximum age for enlistment, which is 27.
Now, for re-enlistment into the Marine Corps, you might need some type of recommendation from a C.
O.
- or your discharge paperwork.
- Yeah, I can I can fight, I can help, I could be a real - I could - Okay.
You know, I have experience, so, uh, who do I have to talk to to make that happen? Sir, I understand.
Um, why don't you just fill this out? I need your name, your rank, your serial number, and we'll be able to locate your records as soon as possible.
But the age requirement is not waiverable.
Hmm.
[PAPERS RUFFLE.]
How old are you? 18 years old, sir.
Keep your head down.
[DOOR OPENS.]
[DOOR CLOSES.]
[DOG BARKING IN DISTANCE.]
[KEYS JANGLE.]
[BELL JINGLES.]
[INDISTINCT ANNOUNCER ON RADIO.]
[BELL JINGLES.]
Dahlia, huh? How much? 25 cents.
Thanks.
HODEL: This shows real promise, Sepp.
You've made a great leap.
SEPP: Thank you.
Doctor, couldn't I I know there's so much more I can do for you.
Your real work.
Your secret work.
Please, George.
[CHAIN RATTLES.]
My God, man, you give yourself such airs.
[CHAIN CLATTERS.]
Well, you've succeeded here.
But there's so much farther for you to travel.
Couldn't I just [SPEAKS LATIN.]
Know thyself.
HODEL: Remember where I found you? Rotting in insipid banality.
I took away your school books and gave you De Sade, Breton, Stirner.
Be content to be a man amongst all these puling maggots.
But do not dare my height, Icarus.
You think you contemplate the truth, but you see the barest glimmer, and the full light would blind you.
Besides, you have important work already, Sepp.
You need to keep track of the girl.
[DOG BARKING IN DISTANCE.]
BIG MOMMA: Jesus! Girl, where you been? I'm sorry, Big Momma.
I I had to meet a friend.
[SNIFFLES.]
What's going on? Neighborhood boy got hisself killed.
Murdered.
What's going on? It was that boy Nero who was calling you.
You remember that boy that kept calling? I never thought he would.
No, no.
He got his tongue cut out and tied into a knot.
You ever heard of something like that? TERRENCE: It just don't make no sense, Mama.
I just can't understand it.
This ain't Mississippi.
- [INDISTINCT.]
- I'm so sorry.
I know you known that boy a long time.
[DOOR OPENS.]
[DOG BARKING IN DISTANCE.]
[INDISTINCT SHOUTING IN DISTANCE.]
What the hell?! Girl, you scared me.
There's something going on, Terrence.
I can't stay here.
It's not safe.
Please, you can you can drop me at a hotel or or somewhere.
I just can't stay here.
Man, what happened to Nero it's weird, man.
You know, shit happens.
Nero messes with the wrong cats.
Easystreeters been running up in here for weeks.
But not like this.
Please.
[UPBEAT MUSIC PLAYING ON RADIO IN DISTANCE.]
I'll sleep in here, and you can take the bed.
Oh, no, no.
I can't.
I'd sleep on the floor first.
[SCOFFS.]
Nah, come on.
T-There's No, please.
Just let me be on the couch.
It's perfect.
Uh, well Can I use your phone? I'll pay.
Yeah.
Thanks.
[ROTARY CLICKING.]
[LINE RINGING.]
JIMMY LEE: Hello? Hey, Mama, it's it's Pat.
What the hell do you want? I just didn't want you to be worried.
So? I'm not staying at Big Momma's anymore.
Well, where you staying at? - With a friend.
- [SIGHS.]
You better get your stupid ass home.
You're gonna get yourself in all kinds of trouble.
I I can't do that, Mama.
There's something going on.
Well, if you don't come home, I'm gonna come get you.
What do you know about it, Mama? You know something.
What about all this? What about George Hodel? I'm coming to L.
A.
[DIAL TONE.]
Thank you.
What are you doing here? I'd go home if I was you.
I can't let it go.
If you go looking for trouble, you'll find it.
[JAZZ PLAYING ON RADIO.]
[ANIMAL GROWLING.]
[GROWLING CONTINUES.]
JAY: Elizabeth Short.
[GROWLING CONTINUES.]
Janice Brewster.
[DOOR THUMPING.]
[GROWLING CONTINUES.]
[GROWLING CONTINUES.]
- This is Nero.
- Want to give me a kiss.
Nero, bad apple, rotten tree.
PETER: Something is up.
You run with those dogs again, they'll bury you 10 feet deep.
I mean, Hodel might be a lot of things but he sure as hell isn't the bogeyman.
Hello.
I'm Fauna.
I'm George's granddaughter.
Come to find my real mother, Tamar.
You're not black.
You're a lair.
JAY: Tamar got sent to a convent.
They hide you till the baby's born, and then whoosh! You never see her again.
Do you have a favorite? [ANIMAL GROWLING.]
[INDISTINCT CONVERSATIONS.]
Now you're anonymous.
I don't feel anonymous.
Good evening, gentlemen.
There you are.
Are you ready for tonight? [INDISTINCT CONVERSATIONS CONTINUE.]
Do you like what's on the menu? HODEL: Hello, my angel.
Tamar.
Tamar, are you dreaming again? Take this kiss upon the brow and in parting from you now thus much let me avow [WOMAN MOANS.]
you are not wrong, who deem that my days have been a dream.
[GASPS.]
Yet if hope has flown away, in a night or in a day, in a vision or in none [ANIMAL GROWLS.]
is it therefore the less gone? [WOMAN MOANS.]
All that we see or seem is but a dream within a dream.
[ANIMAL LOWS.]
Hey, you all right? Oh.
Come on in here, let me buy you a drink.
[LAUGHS.]
So nice to finally meet you.
Look, I can explain some things to you should know about.
I know things.
[GRUNTS.]
[RADIO CHATTER.]
JENNINGS: Ma'am, are you okay? It's not really safe for you to be by yourself in this neighborhood, ma'am.
I'm happy to help you.
Maybe you need a ride home? [RADIO CHATTER CONTINUES.]
No, thank you, Sir.
This is my home.
You and the roaches.
[SIREN WAILS DISTANTLY.]
[JAY SNORING.]
[SNORTS.]
[GUN CLICKING.]
LAPD, get up! Get your ass up! JAY: Oh, shit, what Don't worry, cupcake, you're not under arrest.
- Right there, right there! - [GRUNTING.]
Oh! What seems to be the problem, officers? Tough guy.
Don't get so sharp you chop off your own fingers.
Hey, champ, you see this? What a psycho.
You jerk off to these, huh? These your pin-up girls? Okay.
Let's go.
Bring the pervert.
Okay.
Okay, okay.
All right.
[GRUNTS.]
Okay.
MAN: Come on.
CORINNA: You're not black, you boring girl.
[LAUGHS.]
Ernest, stop.
[DIAL TONE.]
That damn phone! - Xander, you need some bacon? - Let me tell you Without Willie Mays and Koufax making peace, they'd still be fighting at Candlestick.
- Marichal is a son of a gun.
- Boys, - They need to arrest that fool.
- You need some more bacon? - No, ma'am, coffee for me.
- Yes, please, Big Momma.
Fauna, you find your grandma yesterday? - The white one? - Yeah, I did.
And? [CHUCKLES.]
You ever seen a weird, ugly white man hanging around? Drives a Buick? [CHUCKLES.]
All white men is ugly.
Got that right.
Mmm, not that Mick Jagger.
He got some brother in him.
His lip is all big at the bottom.
[SNORING.]
[DOOR BUZZES.]
[CREAKING LOUDLY.]
[HANDCUFFS CLANK.]
Agh! You know, they say only the guilty ones fall asleep.
It's the innocent ones who are too nervous.
You got me, I did it.
What did I do? I know what I'm looking at.
I just twigged it.
Oh, yeah? Failure.
You're just another hack out there chasing a hustle.
One worn out decent suit, the rest cheap crap.
Hiding behind a garbage can with a camera.
I'm a journalist.
[SCOFFS.]
Yeah, yeah.
Yeah, you're a regular Ed Murrow, not some loser shit-bird.
I know what I'm looking at.
I've seen guys like you get made.
Is that right? You're just so scared.
And all that hate you got in you, it's just fear.
And the more fear there is, the more hate until you're just a sack of hate hiding behind a badge hurting people.
What do you know about hate, cupcake? Oh, I know everything there is to know about hate.
Oh, yeah, right.
Right, I remember now.
You was a soldier.
Korea.
You see, the thing about soldiers in my experience, is they like to play tough.
But without orders, they just fall apart.
Maybe we'll find out someday.
Maybe we'll find out today.
What's on your mind, pal? You keep turning up in the wrong places, cupcake.
Whatever you're sniffing on got you running in the wrong direction.
And I feel like I've already warned you.
So now what do I do? Oh, and by the way, you think you're slick? You ain't slick.
The ex-wife caught you following her and gave us your plates.
What? Not the greatest tail man in the world, are we? Anyways, I don't necessarily think it's a good idea to send a message, but I'm just the messenger.
Personally, I think we'd be better off without you.
So the question and this is at my discretion is what does it take to get a message across to a smart-ass? Is it a finger? Is it an eye? Probably a finger doesn't mean a great deal to a genuine war hero like yourself so I think it needs to be an eye.
What happened? Not so chatty anymore? Now, hold still, 'cause this is gonna really, really hurt.
You gonna kick me? Kick me? [GRUNTS.]
See, you thought you knew everything there was to know about hate.
I want to teach you something new about hate today.
- [BANGING AT DOOR.]
- CAPTAIN: Billis! - Goddamn it! - [GRUNTS.]
- What?! - Billis, get out here! Oh, shit! [PANTING.]
- [SCREAMS.]
- [DOOR BUZZES.]
CAPTAIN: I don't care how protected this monkey is, he ain't getting away with this.
What's going on, sir? That's my investigation through Shut up, Billis.
Shut your face, Ohls.
- This ain't your pond.
- Enough! This ain't your pond, neither, son.
This is my Goddamn pond.
You got a charge for that detainee? - No, Sir.
- Hmm, very well.
Without charges, you can remand your suspect over to Detective Ohls.
Sure thing.
Bunch of Goddamn clowns.
You know what you just did to your career? - Yeah, I know.
- Kaputnik, Sputnik.
- I know.
- Why? For that flaky shit-bird? You wouldn't understand, Billis.
Come on, explain it to me.
What, does he keep your pup-tent warm? Look, you weren't there.
You ever heard of Dog Company? [CHUCKLES.]
About what happened on Hill 1240? Dog Company sent 200 guys up that hill, only 16 ever came off.
I'm hit in both legs, I'm a dead man.
I don't bleed out 'cause the bullet holes froze.
I might as well have been on the moon.
Are you following this? That flaky shit-bird in there, I seen him with my own eyes, Billis.
I seen him run dry and kill God knows how many of 'em Oh, seven or eight of 'em with his entrenching tool.
A shovel.
Just a little shitty shovel.
So he walks while I'm alive.
So be it Dog Company.
[BUZZER IN DISTANCE.]
[CAMERA SHUTTER CLICKING.]
I mean, if you go in there, man, hold right there.
FAUNA: Pulling everyone off the damn bus, making 'em sit out in the sun for two hours for nothin'.
So you saw your white grandma? What's she like? Rich? Yeah, she was rich and a liar, hiding things from me.
I think maybe even I don't know.
Maybe even Tamar.
- Who's Tamar now? - She's my real mother.
My birth mother.
I think she was in that house, hiding.
I'm gonna go back and find her.
I mean, if I was rich, I'd get me a color TV.
Shoot, I think about money plenty.
[TELEPHONE RINGS.]
- [CHUCKLES.]
- Go on and get that money, girl.
Y'all need to leave her alone.
She's just looking for her family.
BIG MOMMA: Pat? I just want my own room so I could shut the door.
Pat?! Fauna, when you get it, can we come live with you in your big white house? - I ain't about that, Tina.
- Telephone, girl! How stupid we look? Just give the girl some space, man.
- You see that? - I saw that.
[CHILDREN PLAYING IN DISTANCE.]
Hello? Hey, uh girl? Yeah, this is Nero.
What do you want? You don't remember me? The handsome one from the party.
- What do you want? - What do I want? What do I want? Come on, what you think I want? Have you been drinking already? Playing hard to get, you know? I know all about you.
See, I saw you looking.
Stop calling me, you snap case.
See, y'all girls, y'all want it just as bad as dudes.
See, I got a magic tongue.
And you should check it out sometime.
[DIAL TONE.]
[ENGINE STARTS.]
Hey, you know we're we're square.
No, we ain't square.
Ever.
You think you can stay out of trouble? Yeah, but see, they they wouldn't have dropped the hammer on me if it was nothing.
They just showed me that there's something there.
They blew their whole hand.
Jay, crossing Billis like that, that means I've crossed all kinds of people up and down the food chain.
He's more connected than Ma Bell.
Sorry about that.
They are gonna put me on animal control in Santa Ana till I quit or eat my gun.
I'm out of favors, you're out of friends.
If they get you again, you're staying got.
Hop in, Sally.
[ENGINE STARTS.]
Tamar? [LOCK RATTLES.]
[HINGE SQUEALS.]
[GATE CLANGS.]
PETER: And somebody's gotta be helping Martin with the civil war thing in Indonesia.
He can't figure out the time thing, so he keeps calling in his sides when the desk is asleep.
- [LAUGHTER.]
- I gotta talk to you guys.
Hello, Jay.
I'm in a meeting here.
Give me 10 minutes, please.
It's pressing.
Yeah.
- Just can you go have a soda? - Not thirsty.
- Go have a scotch and soda.
- Don't drink.
Go have a shot of soda, for God's sakes! All right.
All right, Tommy, can you take that one on, please? Yeah.
I know it sucks, but at least you ain't married.
So take it.
Thank you, guys.
We'll meet later.
I can tell from your excitement, you've cracked open the Bloody Romeo case to nationwide acclaim.
Look at me, Peter.
The Hodel thing, it's real.
They're cracks, like I told you.
I just got rousted really bad by the LAPD.
Now, why in the hell would they do that if there wasn't a story to follow, Peter? Okay, Jay, you want to hold hands and jump off a bridge? Huh? I gave you something.
- I - A real crime that happened this Goddamn year, the Bloody Romeo case.
I got rousted because I was staking out his ex-wife, for the love of Mike.
What does he got, who's he got it on? These are the questions we have to be asking, Peter.
You know, you got rousted because some cop had grievance when you shtupped his girl.
Or some bullshit drug beef.
Jesus, look at you.
You look like hammered shit, Jay.
That's not what it is, he's got juice, and he's being protected.
What I'm trying to tell you is it's active.
It's active, it's all over the place.
I feel it, and there's, like there's like a buzz.
- You know what it is? - Hmm? It's gotta be that abortion shit he's running.
- Oh, oh.
- Yeah, it's still happening.
- Oh, fine - Don't you dare, don't you dare try and tell me that the abortion clinic protected by the LAPD ain't something you're interested in, - that's Pulitzer.
- Oh, my Jimmy Jonkers.
Does this go all the way to the top, Jay? - Yes, it does go to the top.
- Please, go home and clean yourself up.
Oh, you're you're on their side.
- Oh, screw you, Indigo.
What did yo - Screw you! - When did you when did you - I'm the only sad son of a bitch - forget about the truth, Peter? - Even close to your side.
- To my side? - You're a party-line hack.
[LOUD BANG.]
Aah! [MEN LAUGHING, TALKING INDISTINCTLY.]
- MAN: Fire in the hole! - [BREATHING HEAVILY.]
Hey, Shell Shock, look out for mortars! [DISTANT MACHINE GUN FIRE.]
[ECHOING LAUGHTER.]
[GROWLS.]
- Hey! - What are you doing?! [GRUNTING.]
- [SCREAMS.]
- PETER: Jay?! [GLASS SHATTERING.]
Jay! Jay! Jay! Jay, Jay! Jay! Enough.
Let's go, let's go, let's go.
- Let's go.
Let's go.
- Get out of here.
- I'm sorry.
I'm sorry.
- Let's go.
- Sorry.
- Let's go, let's go.
- I'm sorry, I'm sorry.
Sorry.
- Let's go.
MAN: Just get out of here, you son of a bitch.
Jesus, Jay.
The ex-wife is the key, Peter.
[BIRDS CHIRPING.]
Tamar? [WATER DRIPPING.]
Last week? HODEL: Beautiful day.
Do you have a favorite? Do you have a favorite? Fauna? Hello, Fauna.
It's lovely to hear your voice, Fauna.
So glad you've contacted me.
In fact, you should come here and see me.
Call me when you arrive.
[GATE HINGE SQUEALS.]
[DOOR BANGS CLOSED.]
[FOOTSTEPS IN DISTANCE.]
[WATER DRIPPING.]
MAN: Fauna? [FLOORBOARD CREAKS.]
Fauna? You here? Something important to tell you.
To show you.
Fauna? - [DOOR OPENS IN DISTANCE.]
- CORINNA: Who's there? [DOOR CLOSES.]
I'm calling the police.
Who's there?! [DOG BARKING IN DISTANCE.]
[INDISTINCT CONVERSATION.]
[INDISTINCT CONVERSATION CONTINUES.]
[DOOR CLOSES.]
Hey, Miss, excuse me.
Do you need a ride? Hey, hey, listen there, I just want to talk to you for a second.
Are you related to Tamar Hodel? Shit.
[TIRES SQUEAL.]
Shit, don't lose her, Jay.
Don't lose her.
There you are.
[TIRES SQUEAL.]
You okay? You okay, Miss? I I'm sorry I scared you back there.
I just, um Fauna, get in the car.
I just wanted to, uh, talk with you for a second.
Do you mind? Fauna.
Get in the car.
[SIGHS.]
Really, I just want to I just want to talk.
Fauna, get in the car! You all right? [TIRES SQUEAL.]
Geez, who was that Joe? Seems like a real sweetheart.
You okay? Who are you? Are you Tamar Hodel's daughter? Who are you? Um, I'm a friend.
A friend of who? Can I buy you a cup of coffee, a slice of pie, then we can Then we can talk? You a friend of Tamar's? Yes.
Yes, I am.
I'm on her side, anyways.
So what's your name? What's your name? Puddin' tame.
Ask me again, I'll tell you the same.
[CHUCKLES.]
Um I'm Jay Singletary.
I, uh Oh, I saw the tail end of that B&E you were pulling on Corinna Hodel's house.
That was quite something.
You just practicing gymnastics or steal the family silver? Thanks for the coffee.
[CHUCKLES.]
Oh, hey, whoa.
Slow down.
I'm just spinning your wheels.
Tell you what.
I'll pay ya.
Pay me for what? Just sit down, talk to me for 10 minutes, and eat your pie.
10 minutes.
- Some date.
- I wouldn't call it a date.
Yeah, why not? Would you date a ghost? I might a friendly ghost or the Ghost of Christmas Past.
Hmm.
What about a sad ghost that can't scare anyone anymore because he's lost his joie de vivre, his zest? I might date a sad ghost like that.
So what's your name? It's Fauna.
What's your last name, Fauna? Are you Tamar's daughter? Why? What's it to you? I'm a reporter.
I wrote about Tamar a long time ago.
So, what, like, newspapers? - Yeah.
- Sounds important.
I'm really important.
Not me.
You sure? Yep, I'm nobody.
Maybe.
Was Tamar famous? Is she around, Tamar? What do you want with her? What do you mean, you're on her side? What does that mean? Side of what? What did you write about her? Do you know where she is? No.
Okay.
But you want to be careful.
Careful of what? Tamar's a liar.
Where did you hear that from? I'm gonna use the ladies room.
Oh, oh Little girl, little girl left me And why? Why did I I love her so? Why did I love her so? Oh, I want to know I want to know, yeah I want to know, little girl, yeah Little girl, do you love me so? Oh, oh Shit.
Hey, boys, did you see a girl walk through here? - Huh? - Not since last night.
Your pie is too sweet.
[SIGHS.]
Shit.
[SIREN WAILS DISTANTLY.]
[KEYS JANGLE.]
[GROWLS.]
[CAR HORN HONKS.]
[KEYS JANGLE, SOFT JAZZ PLAYS ON RADIO.]
[SNORTING.]
[EXHALES SLOWLY.]
[SNIFFLES.]
Can I help you with something, sir? I'm afraid the sergeant's gone home.
Uh, yeah, I was looking to enlist to reenlist Well, you have prior service?for Vietnam.
Yeah, Korea.
It was a long time ago, I know, but I I could, uh I could be of some real help to some of the young guys.
Right.
Um, but there is a maximum age for enlistment, which is 27.
Now, for re-enlistment into the Marine Corps, you might need some type of recommendation from a C.
O.
- or your discharge paperwork.
- Yeah, I can I can fight, I can help, I could be a real - I could - Okay.
You know, I have experience, so, uh, who do I have to talk to to make that happen? Sir, I understand.
Um, why don't you just fill this out? I need your name, your rank, your serial number, and we'll be able to locate your records as soon as possible.
But the age requirement is not waiverable.
Hmm.
[PAPERS RUFFLE.]
How old are you? 18 years old, sir.
Keep your head down.
[DOOR OPENS.]
[DOOR CLOSES.]
[DOG BARKING IN DISTANCE.]
[KEYS JANGLE.]
[BELL JINGLES.]
[INDISTINCT ANNOUNCER ON RADIO.]
[BELL JINGLES.]
Dahlia, huh? How much? 25 cents.
Thanks.
HODEL: This shows real promise, Sepp.
You've made a great leap.
SEPP: Thank you.
Doctor, couldn't I I know there's so much more I can do for you.
Your real work.
Your secret work.
Please, George.
[CHAIN RATTLES.]
My God, man, you give yourself such airs.
[CHAIN CLATTERS.]
Well, you've succeeded here.
But there's so much farther for you to travel.
Couldn't I just [SPEAKS LATIN.]
Know thyself.
HODEL: Remember where I found you? Rotting in insipid banality.
I took away your school books and gave you De Sade, Breton, Stirner.
Be content to be a man amongst all these puling maggots.
But do not dare my height, Icarus.
You think you contemplate the truth, but you see the barest glimmer, and the full light would blind you.
Besides, you have important work already, Sepp.
You need to keep track of the girl.
[DOG BARKING IN DISTANCE.]
BIG MOMMA: Jesus! Girl, where you been? I'm sorry, Big Momma.
I I had to meet a friend.
[SNIFFLES.]
What's going on? Neighborhood boy got hisself killed.
Murdered.
What's going on? It was that boy Nero who was calling you.
You remember that boy that kept calling? I never thought he would.
No, no.
He got his tongue cut out and tied into a knot.
You ever heard of something like that? TERRENCE: It just don't make no sense, Mama.
I just can't understand it.
This ain't Mississippi.
- [INDISTINCT.]
- I'm so sorry.
I know you known that boy a long time.
[DOOR OPENS.]
[DOG BARKING IN DISTANCE.]
[INDISTINCT SHOUTING IN DISTANCE.]
What the hell?! Girl, you scared me.
There's something going on, Terrence.
I can't stay here.
It's not safe.
Please, you can you can drop me at a hotel or or somewhere.
I just can't stay here.
Man, what happened to Nero it's weird, man.
You know, shit happens.
Nero messes with the wrong cats.
Easystreeters been running up in here for weeks.
But not like this.
Please.
[UPBEAT MUSIC PLAYING ON RADIO IN DISTANCE.]
I'll sleep in here, and you can take the bed.
Oh, no, no.
I can't.
I'd sleep on the floor first.
[SCOFFS.]
Nah, come on.
T-There's No, please.
Just let me be on the couch.
It's perfect.
Uh, well Can I use your phone? I'll pay.
Yeah.
Thanks.
[ROTARY CLICKING.]
[LINE RINGING.]
JIMMY LEE: Hello? Hey, Mama, it's it's Pat.
What the hell do you want? I just didn't want you to be worried.
So? I'm not staying at Big Momma's anymore.
Well, where you staying at? - With a friend.
- [SIGHS.]
You better get your stupid ass home.
You're gonna get yourself in all kinds of trouble.
I I can't do that, Mama.
There's something going on.
Well, if you don't come home, I'm gonna come get you.
What do you know about it, Mama? You know something.
What about all this? What about George Hodel? I'm coming to L.
A.
[DIAL TONE.]
Thank you.
What are you doing here? I'd go home if I was you.
I can't let it go.
If you go looking for trouble, you'll find it.
[JAZZ PLAYING ON RADIO.]
[ANIMAL GROWLING.]
[GROWLING CONTINUES.]
JAY: Elizabeth Short.
[GROWLING CONTINUES.]
Janice Brewster.
[DOOR THUMPING.]
[GROWLING CONTINUES.]
[GROWLING CONTINUES.]