Monster (14 page)

CUT TO: Motto over desk.

 

JUDGE

 

…that Mr. Harmon did go into the store with the purpose of…
(Voice fades out.)
without regard to who actually pulled the trigger…

 

CUT TO: Wall mural.

 

CUT TO: JURY.

 

CUT TO: CU of JUDGE.

 

JUDGE

 

Then you must return a verdict of Guilty of felony murder.

 

Camera, from POV of STEVE's MOTHER, swings wildly around the room, stopping momentarily at those symbols that fill the COURTROOM. Throughout this time the last words of the judge are repeated.

 

JUDGE

 

Then you must return a verdict of Guilty of felony murder.

 

Then you must return a verdict of Guilty of felony murder.

 

Then you must return a verdict of Guilty of felony murder….

 

FADE OUT.

 

FADE IN: STEVE in CELL. For the first time JAMES KING is in the cell with him. KING leans against wall, still dressed in the clothes he wore at the trial.

 

KING

 

How you doing? You scared?

 

STEVE

 

Yeah. You?

 

KING (subdued)

 

Naw, ain't nothing to it. If the man wants you, he got you. Ain't nothing to it, man.

 

GUARD

 

Hey, we got a pool going. I bet you guys get life without the possibility of
parole. The guys on the next block think you're going to get 25 to life. You guys want in on it?

 

CUT TO: STEVE. He looks away, then buries his face in his hands.

 

CUT TO: GUARD. He is smirking.

 

GUARD

 

That a yes or a no?

 

CUT TO: Two YOUNG MEN, handcuffed together, being led to the next cell. One looks terrified. The other is putting on a show of bravado.

 

GUARD

 

You guys treat me nice, and I'll put in a word for you up at Greenhaven. Maybe I can get you a boyfriend that's really built.

 

CUT TO: STEVE in the MESS HALL. He avoids looking at KING. There is a shoving match down from where he sits. An inmate reaches over and takes STEVE's meat with a fork. STEVE looks up and sees the taker looking at him menacingly. He looks down at the tray.

 

CUT TO: STEVE in CELL. Outside the cell there is a clock on the wall with a wire guard over it. The second hand moves slowly.

 

CUT TO: INMATES enjoying a domino game as if they are far away from the prison, in some friendly setting.

Friday afternoon, July 17th

Last night I was afraid to go to sleep. It was as if closing my eyes was going to cause me to die. There is nothing more to do. There are no more arguments to make. Now I understand why so many of the guys who have been through it before, who have been away to prison, keep talking about appeals. They want to continue the argument, and the system has said that it is over.

My case fills me. When I left the courtroom after the judge's instructions to the jury, I saw Mama clinging to my father's arm. There was a look of
desperation on her face. For a moment I felt sorry for her, but I don't anymore. The only thing I can think of is my case. I listen to guys talking about appeals and I am already planning mine.

Every word that has been said in court is burned into my brain. “Steve Harmon made a moral decision,” Ms. Petrocelli said. I think about December of last year. What was the decision I made? To walk down the streets? To get up in the morning? To talk to King? What decisions did I make? What decisions didn't I make? But I don't want to think about decisions, just my case.
Nothing is real around me except the panic. The panic and the movies that dance through my mind. I keep editing the movies, making the scenes right. Sharpening the dialog.

“A getover? I don't do getovers,” I say in the movie in my mind, my chin tilted slightly upward. “I know what right is, what truth is. I don't do tightropes, moral or otherwise.”

I put strings in the background. Cellos. Violas.

 

GUARD

 

King! Harmon! You got a verdict! Let's go!

 

CUT TO: COURTROOM, now fairly crowded. O'BRIEN is talking to JUDGE. She finishes and sits down next to STEVE.

 

O'BRIEN

 

They got a verdict this morning. They've just been waiting for the Nesbitt family to arrive.

 

STEVE

 

What do you think?

 

O'BRIEN

 

They have a verdict. I hope it's one we want to hear. No matter what it is, we can continue your case. We can appeal. You okay?

 

STEVE

 

No.

 

JUDGE

 

Is everybody here? Is everybody here?

 

CLERK

 

I think so.

 

JUDGE

 

Prosecution ready?

 

PETROCELLI

 

Ready.

 

JUDGE

 

Defense?

 

CUT TO: CU of O'BRIEN.

 

O'BRIEN

 

Ready.

 

CUT TO: CU of JUDGE.

 

JUDGE

 

Bring in the jury.

 

Very LS as WORDS roll slowly over the screen as in the beginning.

 

This is the true story of

Steve Harmon.

This is the story of his

life

and of his

trial.

 

(We see the jury members taking their places in the jury box.)

 

It was not an episode that he expected.

It was not the life or activity that he thought

would fill every bit of his soul or

change what life meant to him.

 

He has transcribed

the images and

conversations as he

remembers them.

 

The color begins to fade as the JURY FOREMAN reads verdicts. Two GUARDS begin to put handcuffs on JAMES KING as color changes to black and white. It is clear that the JURY has found him guilty. We see KING being taken from the COURTROOM.

 

We see JURY FOREMAN as he continues to read.

 

CUT TO: CU of STEVE's MOTHER. We see her desperately clasping her hands before her, her face distorted with the tension of the moment, then suddenly, dramatically, she lifts her hands high and closes her eyes.

 

CUT TO: The GUARDS who were standing behind STEVE move away from him. He has been found not guilty. STEVE turns toward O'BRIEN as camera closes in and film grows grainier. STEVE spreads his arms to hug O'BRIEN, but she stiffens and turns to pick up her papers from the table before them.

 

CUT TO: CU of O'BRIEN. Her lips tense; she is pensive. She gathers her papers and moves away as STEVE, arms still outstretched, turns toward the camera. His image is in black and white, and the grain is nearly broken. It looks like one of the
pictures they use for psychological testing, or some strange beast, a monster.

 

The image freezes as last words roll and stop mid screen.

 

 

A Steve Harmon Film

December, 5 months later

It is five months since the trial, almost a year, minus a few days, since the robbery in the drugstore. James King was sentenced to 25 years to life. Osvaldo was arrested for stealing a car and sent to a reformatory. As far as I know, Bobo is still in jail.

My mother doesn't understand what I am doing with the films I am making. I have been taking movies of myself. In the movies I talk and tell the camera who I am, what I think I am about. Sometimes I set the camera up outside and
walk up to it from different angles.

Sometimes I set the camera up in front of a mirror and film myself as a reflection. I wear different clothes and sometimes try to change my voice. Jerry likes to use the camera, and I let him film me, too. Whatever I do pleases my mother, because I am here with her and not put away in some jail.

After the trial, my father, with tears in his eyes, held me close and said that he was thankful that I did not have to go to jail. He moved away, and the distance between us seemed to grow bigger and bigger. I understand the
distance. My father is no longer sure of who I am. He doesn't understand me even knowing people like King or Bobo or Osvaldo. He wonders what else he doesn't know.

That is why I take the films of myself. I want to know who I am. I want to know the road to panic that I took. I want to look at myself a thousand times to look for one true image. When Miss O'Brien looked at me, after we had won the case, what did she see that caused her to turn away?

 

 

What did she see?

WALTER DEAN MYERS
is the renowned author of
AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF MY DEAD BROTHER
, a National Book Award Finalist;
SHOOTER
, a Children's BookSense Summer Pick;
MONSTER
, the first winner of the Michael L. Printz Award;
THE DREAM BEARER
and
HANDBOOK FOR BOYS
:
A Novel
, both New York Public Library Books for the Teen Age;
BAD BOY
:
A Memoir
, a Parents' Choice Gold Award winner;
STREET LOVE
, an ALA Best Book for Young Adults; and the Newbery Honor Books
SCORPIONS
and
SOMEWHERE IN THE DARKNESS
. He makes frequent appearances with the National Basketball Association's “Read to Achieve” program. Mr. Myers lives with his family in Jersey City, New Jersey. You can visit him online at www.walterdeanmyers.net.

Caldecott Honor artist
CHRISTOPHER MYERS
is the illustrator of Coretta Scott King Honor Book
JAZZ; TIME TO LOVE
:
Stories from the Old Testament
;
BLUE JOURNEY
a BCCB Blue Ribbon Nonfiction Book Award winner; and Coretta Scott King Honor Book
HARLEM
:
A Poem
, all written by Walter Dean Myers. He is the author-illustrator of Coretta Scott King Illustrator Honor Book
BLACK CAT
;
JABBER-WOCKY; FLY
!; and
WINGS
, and the illustrator of
LIES AND OTHER TALL TALES
by Zora Neale Hurston. A graduate of Brown University, Christopher Myers lives in Brooklyn, New York.

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