Monster (5 page)

 

How's he gonna say he's innocent? That's why they holding the trial—so the jury can say if he's innocent or not. What he says now don't even count.

 

OLDER PRISONER

 

Whatever. Anyone got a newspaper?

 

FADE OUT

 

FADE IN: INTERIOR: WAITING ROOM. O'BRIEN enters and sits on bench with STEVE. STEVE's wrist is handcuffed to bench.

 

O'BRIEN (indicating cuffs)

 

This wasn't necessary.

 

STEVE

 

They just like to show they're in charge. How do you think the trial is going?

 

O'BRIEN

 

It could be going better.

 

STEVE (surprised)

 

What's wrong?

 

O'BRIEN

 

Well, frankly, nothing is happening that speaks to your being innocent. Half of those jurors, no matter what they said when we questioned them when we picked the jury, believed you were guilty the moment they laid eyes on
you. You're young, you're Black, and you're on trial. What else do they need to know?

 

STEVE

 

I thought you're supposed to be innocent until you're proven guilty?

 

O'BRIEN

 

That's true, but in reality it depends on how the jury sees the case. If they see it as a contest between the defense and the prosecution as to who's lying, they'll vote for the prosecution. The prosecutor walks around looking very important. No one is accusing her of being a bad person. They're accusing you of being a monster. The jury can ask itself, Why should the prosecutor lie? Our job is to show that she's not lying, but she's simply made a mistake. How are you feeling? Is your stomach still upset?

 

STEVE

 

A little better.

 

O'BRIEN

 

This afternoon we have an important witness scheduled. This Osvaldo Cruz character. What do you know about him?

 

CUT TO: EXTERIOR: NEIGHBORHOOD STOOP. Fourteen-year-old OSVALDO CRUZ is slim, well built. He has a tattoo of a devil's head on his left forearm and a tattoo of a dagger on the back of his right hand between the thumb and forefinger. FREDDY ALOU, 16 and tough, sits fiddling with a beeper he is trying to repair. STEVE is sitting with them.

 

FREDDY (to STEVE)

 

What school you go to?

 

OSVALDO

 

He goes to that faggot school downtown. All they learn there is how to be a faggot.

 

FREDDY

 

You let him dis you like that, man?

 

OSVALDO

 

He don't have no choice. He mess with me and the Diablos will burn him up. Ain't that right, faggot?

 

STEVE

 

I can kick your narrow butt any day in the week.

 

OSVALDO

 

Well, here it is, so why don't you come and kick it?

 

FREDDY

 

You better chill; he hangs with some bad dudes.

 

OSVALDO

 

He don't hang with nobody. He's just a lame looking for a name. Ain't that right, Steve? Ain't that right?

 

STEVE

 

Why don't you shut up?

 

OSVALDO

 

You ain't got the heart to be nothing but a lame. Everybody knows that. You might be hanging out with some people, but when the deal goes down, you won't be around.

 

STEVE

 

Yeah, and you will be, huh?

 

CUT TO: INTERIOR: COURTROOM. OSVALDO is on the stand.

 

OSVALDO (softly, timidly)

 

So Bobo said to me if I didn't help him, he'd cut me up.

 

CUT TO: STEVE writing on pad.

 

CU: OSVALDO.

 

OSVALDO

 

He said he would cut me up and get my moms, too. I was, like, really scared of him.

 

PETROCELLI

 

Have you ever seen Bobo hurt anyone?

 

OSVALDO

 

I heard he messed up a dude in the projects.

 

BRIGGS

 

Objection.

 

JUDGE

 

Sustained.

 

PETROCELLI

 

Do you know as a matter of fact if Bobo has hurt anyone in the hood?

 

BRIGGS

 

Objection! Unless the prosecutor is going to pass out glossaries to the jury, I want her to use standard English.

 

JUDGE

 

Overruled.

 

OSVALDO

 

He told me he did some time for cutting a guy in the projects.

 

PETROCELLI

 

Do you know how old Bobo is?

 

OSVALDO

 

Twenty-two.

 

PETROCELLI

 

And how old are you, Osvaldo?

 

BRIGGS

 

Objection! Why are we suddenly on a first-name basis?

 

PETROCELLI

 

And how old are you, Mr. Cruz?

 

OSVALDO

 

Fourteen.

 

PETROCELLI

 

You live on 144th Street; is that correct?

 

OSVALDO

 

Yeah, across from the school.

 

PETROCELLI

 

I'm going to give you a series of names, and you will tell me if you know any of them. James King?

 

OSVALDO

 

Yeah, that's him at that table in the blue suit.

 

PETROCELLI

 

Let the record indicate that Mr. Cruz has identified Mr. King. Steve Harmon?

 

OSVALDO

 

He's the Black guy sitting at the other table.

 

PETROCELLI

 

Let the record show that Mr. Cruz has identified Steve Harmon.
(Turning back to Osvaldo)
All right. Did Mr. Evans, or Bobo, make a proposition to you?

 

BRIGGS

 

Leading!

 

PETROCELLI

 

Your honor, Mr. Cruz is a juvenile!

 

BRIGGS

 

He's hostile? He's a juvenile. Do you mean to say he's hostile?

 

PETROCELLI

 

No, but you are.

 

JUDGE

 

That's not necessary, Miss Petrocelli. You haven't established Mr. Cruz as a hostile witness.

 

PETROCELLI

 

Mr. Cruz, how real did you think Mr. Evans's—Bobo's—threat was?

 

OSVALDO

 

I thought it was the real deal. You know, like I thought he would mess me up.

 

PETROCELLI

 

Were you afraid of Mr. King?

 

BRIGGS

 

Objection! If she wants to testify instead of the witness, fine. Swear her in, but she can't lead the witness like that.

 

JUDGE

 

Sustained.

 

PETROCELLI

 

Did you participate in this robbery?

 

OSVALDO

 

Yes, I did.

 

PETROCELLI

 

Why?

 

OSVALDO

 

Because I was afraid of them. They were all older than me.

 

PETROCELLI

 

Who exactly were you afraid of?

 

OSVALDO

 

Bobo, James King, and Steve Harmon.

 

PETROCELLI

 

And was Bobo the only one who actually threatened you?

 

BRIGGS

 

There she goes again!

 

JUDGE

 

Where's she going? That's not leading! You think that's leading? Look, I think it's a good time for a break, folks. Maybe we'll all be a bit more civil after a good night's sleep.

 

LS as JURY files out. Then the GUARDS come and cuff STEVE and JAMES KING. MS of OSVALDO passing STEVE. The two young men look at each other for a brief instant; then OSVALDO turns away.

 

FADE TO BLACK.

Thursday, July 9th

Miss O'Brien's saying that things looked bad for me was really discouraging. I wonder if the prosecutor knows what Osvaldo is really like. I wonder if she knows what I'm really like, or if she cares.

This morning one of the guys in the next cell expects a verdict. His name is Acie. He was telling everybody that he didn't care what they said about him. He held up a check-cashing place and shot the guard.

“All they can do is put me in jail,” he said. “They can't touch my soul.”

He said he needed the money and intended to pay it back once he got on his feet. He said that God understood and would give him another chance. Then he started crying.

His crying got to me. Miss O'Brien said the judge could sentence me to 25 years to life. If he did, I would have to serve at least 21 years and 3 months. I can't imagine being in jail for that long. I wanted to cry with the guy.

As I got dressed, I felt sick to my stomach. Mama leaves clean shirts and underwear for me.
I thought of her in the kitchen ironing the shirts. I think about myself so much, about what's going to happen to me and all, that I don't think about my folks that much. I know she loves me, but I wonder what she's thinking.

Mr. Nesbitt. I thought about Mr. Nesbitt and remembered the pictures they showed of him. When they were passing them to the jury I didn't look at them, but afterward, when the jury left, Miss O'Brien took them out and put them on the table in front of us. She made notes about them, but I could tell she wanted me to look at them. I looked at them.

Mr. Nesbitt's right foot was turned out. His left arm was lifted and bent at the elbow so that his fingers almost touched the side of his head. His eyes weren't completely closed.

Miss O'Brien looked at me—I didn't see her looking at me but I knew she was. She wanted to know who I was. Who was Steve Harmon? I wanted to open my shirt and tell her to look into my heart to see who I really was, who the real Steve Harmon was.

That was what I was thinking, about what was in
my heart and what that made me. I'm just not a bad person. I know that in my heart I am
not
a bad person.

Just before I had to go back to the cell block yesterday, I asked Miss O'Brien about herself. She said she was born in Queens, New York. She went to Bishop McDonnell High School, and then St. Joseph's College in Brooklyn. After that she worked her way through New York University Law School.

“And here I am,” she said.

It sounded like a good life even though she said it like it was nothing special.

In the holding pen, across from where we enter the courtroom, the guards were talking about their lives. One wanted to talk about how much money his kid's teeth were costing to have them fixed. The other guard didn't have any kids and he wanted to talk about how the Yankees were doing.

We didn't start on time because one of the jurors was late.

“The little blonde,” the guard who wasn't married said. “Her old man probably had something for her to do before she left the house.”

They laughed. It must have been funny.

While we were waiting, they brought King in and handcuffed him near me. I thought of the movie, of what kind of camera angle I would use.

I could smell the different scents of him. He had on aftershave lotion and some kind of grease on his hair. I could separate the smells. Please don't speak to me, I prayed.

“They ain't got nothing yet,” he said. “Osvaldo don't mean nothing 'cause they let him walk. Anybody can see that.”

I didn't answer.

“You thinking about cutting a deal?” he asked.

King curled his lip and narrowed his eyes. What was he going to do, scare me? All of a sudden he looked funny. All the times I had looked at him and wanted to be tough like him, and now I saw him sitting in handcuffs and trying to scare me. How could he scare me? I go to bed every night terrified out of my mind. I have nightmares whenever I close my eyes. I am afraid to speak to these people in the jail with me. In the courtroom I am afraid of the judge. The guards terrify me.
I started laughing because it was funny. They do things to you in jail. You can't scare somebody with a look in here.

A court officer came in and got us. When I went into the courtroom, I saw a group of kids sitting in front. It looked like a junior high school class.

“Once the trial actually begins there will be no talking,” the teacher with them said. “This is part of the American judicial system, and we have to respect every part of it.”

When I looked at the kids in the class, they turned away from me quickly.

I sat down and looked straight ahead. It was easy to imagine myself sitting where they were sitting, looking at the back of the prisoner.

 

FADE IN: INTERIOR: COURTROOM. MS of JURORS. CU of a PRETTY BLACK JUROR. She is smiling.

 

CUT TO: CU of STEVE. He smiles.

 

CUT TO: CU of PRETTY BLACK JUROR. She stops smiling and looks quickly away.

 

MS of COURTROOM. STEVE has put his head down on the table. O'BRIEN pulls him up.

 

O'BRIEN

 

If you give up, they'll give up on you.
(Then angrily)
Get your head up!

 

STEVE lifts his head. There are tears on his face. As he wipes away the tears, we hear a VO of PETROCELLI as she continues with OSVALDO's testimony.

 

PETROCELLI

 

So what did Richard Evans, the man we are referring to as Bobo, suggest to you?

 

OSVALDO

 

He said he had a place all lined up. He said all I had to do was to slow anybody down who came out after them. I was going to push a garbage can in front of them.

 

CUT TO: PETROCELLI, who appears very confident. Then MS of front of COURTROOM.

 

PETROCELLI

 

When Bobo mentioned the other participants, did he specify what part they were to play in this robbery?

 

OSVALDO (getting tougher as he speaks)

 

He said that him and James King were going to go into the store and do the thing. Steve was going to be the lookout.

 

PETROCELLI

 

And how were the proceeds of this robbery going to be divided?

 

OSVALDO

 

Everybody was going to get a taste. I don't know how much exactly. But everybody was going to get a taste.

 

PETROCELLI

 

And is that taste, or share of the take, the reason you participated in this robbery?

 

OSVALDO

 

No, I was in because I was scared of Bobo.

 

PETROCELLI

 

Mr. Cruz, you're testifying against people you know. Are you testifying because you're getting a deal from the government?

 

OSVALDO

 

Yeah.

 

PETROCELLI

 

Nothing further.

 

MS of BRIGGS as he walks slowly to the podium. OSVALDO is obviously an important witness, and BRIGGS treats him like one.

 

BRIGGS

 

Mr. Cruz, when you were apprehended, did you make a statement to the police about your part in this crime?

 

OSVALDO

 

Yeah.

 

BRIGGS

 

You admitted to the police that you were a participant in this crime, isn't that true?

 

OSVALDO

 

A what?

 

BRIGGS

 

You were one of the people involved with the crime?

 

OSVALDO

 

Yeah, that's right.

 

BRIGGS

 

So for all practical purposes you were up to your neck in a crime in which a man was murdered. Is that right? Is that how you saw it?

 

OSVALDO

 

I guess so.

 

BRIGGS

 

And now that you're in trouble, you'd do pretty much anything to get out of trouble, wouldn't you? And when I say anything, I mean tell lies, get other people in trouble, anything?

 

OSVALDO

 

No.

 

BRIGGS

 

And when the Assistant District Attorney offered you a deal that would keep you out of jail, you jumped at it, didn't you?

 

OSVALDO

 

I wouldn't lie in court. I'm telling the truth.

 

BRIGGS

 

Well, I'm certainly glad you're telling the truth, Mr. Cruz. But let me ask you, Mr. Cruz, hasn't the prosecutor given you a choice? You go to jail or you put somebody else in jail? Isn't that your choice?

 

OSVALDO

 

I don't go around lying to people. Especially when I swear.

 

BRIGGS

 

And you did swear today, isn't that correct? And it wouldn't be right to lie under oath?

 

OSVALDO

 

Right.

 

BRIGGS

 

It wouldn't be right to lie under oath, but it would be just fine to go into a
drugstore and stick it up? That's cool, isn't it?

 

OSVALDO

 

That was a mistake.

 

CU of BRIGGS's face showing absolute disgust.

 

BRIGGS

 

Nothing more.

 

O'BRIEN stands and takes her place at the podium.

 

O'BRIEN

 

Osvaldo, do you know how you were apprehended?

 

OSVALDO

 

I had a fight with my girlfriend and she called the police.

 

O'BRIEN

 

A fight? You mean an argument? A disagreement?

 

OSVALDO (quietly)

 

She found out I got another girl pregnant.

 

O'BRIEN

 

Are you a member of a gang?

 

OSVALDO

 

No.

 

O'BRIEN

 

So the information I have about you belonging to a gang called the Diablos is wrong?

 

A beat.

 

OSVALDO

 

No, that's right. I belong to the Diablos.

 

O'BRIEN

 

So your first answer was a lie?

 

OSVALDO (Looks toward Petrocelli.)

 

It was a mistake.

 

O'BRIEN

 

You also said that the robbery was a mistake. Perhaps you can tell us the
difference between a mistake and a lie?

 

OSVALDO (ruffled)

 

Hey, I'm just trying to turn my life around.
(Looks toward jury.)
I made a mistake and now I figure it's about time I did the right thing.

 

O'BRIEN

 

How do you get into this gang, Mr. Cruz? Is there something you have to do to become a member?

 

OSVALDO (getting even tougher)

 

You have to fight a guy who's already in the club to show you got the heart.

 

O'BRIEN

 

And don't you have to do something else? Something involving a knife?

 

OSVALDO

 

You got to leave your mark on somebody.

 

O'BRIEN

 

Can you tell the jury exactly what it means to “leave your mark” on somebody?

 

OSVALDO

 

You have to cut them where it shows.

 

O'BRIEN

 

So to be a member of this gang, the Diablos, you have to fight a gang member and then cut someone. Usually that's done to a stranger, and the cut is made in the face, is that right?

 

OSVALDO

 

They don't do that anymore.

 

O'BRIEN

 

But Mr. Cruz, that's what you had to do, isn't it?

 

OSVALDO

 

Yeah.

 

O'BRIEN

 

But now you want us to believe that you
participated in this robbery because you were afraid of Bobo, and not because this is what you do?