Author: Patrick Sean Lee

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and looks in. Myron is on one knee, both huge hands holding Zippos' head. Myron's eyes are closed. His lips are moving. To Marsten's left in the corner inside, Jack begins to rise on wobbly legs. Marsten enters.

CUT TO

INT. CELL 57-CONTINUOUS

He moves first to Jack, grabbing hold of his elbow.

MARSTEN

You ok?

JACK

Hell no! My nuts are in my throat, that son of a...

Marsten leaves him and goes toward Myron. Rollo has instinctively clasped his hands together behind his neck.

MARSTEN

Get 'em out of here. Isolation.

The guards behind Marsten move clockwork-like. Zippo's gang files out, hands behind their necks. Rollo begins to follow. Laverne uncovers his ears and looks up.

MARSTEN

(seeing Rollo beginning to leave)

Stay, Heinz. Put your hands down.

Rollo stops. The prisoners are led out. Marsten looks at the walls and ceiling, Laverne gaping at him in shock, and then Marsten kneels in front of Zippo. He places his own hand on Myron's.

MARSTEN

What happened, Fleur?

Myron opens his eyes and looks at the warden. A small tear is hanging at the edge of Myron's eye.

MYRON

(lips quivering)

I hit him. I think I killed him. I'm so sorry, Warden. I didn't mean to kill him...I didn't mean to hit him so hard.

Marsten checks Zippo's pulse.

MARSTEN

Too bad. He's alive.

(turning. To the guard remaining)

Get a stretcher. Get this piece of crap out of here.

(to Myron)

Come on, get up. He'll probably live.

(he pauses)

You fellas did a first rate...no, better than first rate job. I'm impressed.

LAVERNE

Heeth not dead? Thit! He'll be back, then. He'll cauth more trouble...

MARSTEN

No he won't. Not here anyway.

Marsten and Myron rise. Laverne struggles to get down from the bunk without killing himself. Rollo rushes to his aid.

FADE OUT

EXT. EXERCISE YARD-MORNING

FADE IN

SUPER: "NEXT MORNING."

Marsten stands atop the concrete table facing the inmates from Cellbock 1. The rising sun to the east of the jail casts long shadows across the men. Rollo and Myron stand triumphantly in front of him on the asphalt. Laverne, his good leg and cast leg dangling, sits between them on the bench seat with a Cheshire Cat grin on his face.

MARSTEN

Men! This institution is your home for the duration of your sentences. As in any home there are differences in character, there are arguments, and there are bound to be petty squabbles. As many of you no doubt remember, the best members of the best families act as peacemakers, not as contributors to anarchy and war.

(he waves his hand in a half-circle)

This is your home. Like it or not, you have been placed here by powers greater than you or me. Standing beside you, in front and behind you are your brothers. The time has long since passed for brother to take up arms against brother. Mister Gonzalez and his gang, as most of you are aware, are on their way to a less desirable house of detention for a long, long time...

(cheers erupt)

It doesn't please me. Much as he...and all of you...deserve your sentences, the choice to live in hatred and violence is still yours to make. But, as in Mister Gonzalez' case, the wrong choice will not be tolerated.

The men stand quietly. Marsten pauses and then points down to Rollo, Myron, and Laverne.

Marsten

These three men came to me with a plan to help you; to give you a vision and sense of purpose. At great personal risk I agreed...and of course all of you have seen the first fruits of what they planned. Now the time has come for all of you to join with them. The material has been ordered. It is up to you, in consultation with the three of them, in particular Mister Pablito Picasso Budd...

(laughter and short cheers)

...to submit designs for your small bedrooms.

(great cheers)

I have ordered hundreds of books on the greatest art in history to be brought in and placed in the main aisle of Block 1. They are for your enjoyment, education, and blueprint designs. Use them well. Good fortune to all of you.

Greater cheering breaks out as Marsten steps down. Rollo and Myron stand, turn, and applaud the warden. Laverne tugs on Myron's pant leg.

LAVERNE

Help me up, Myron. Get me to the top!

Myron lifts Laverne off the bench and sets him on the table top. He steadies him. Laverne waves his arms wildly until the gathering notices him and quiets.

Laverne

(solemly)

Felluth! Lithen! Rollo Heinth ith the inthpirathion. If it weren't for him-the vithion he had-we would be living in dungeonth of gray...and eating pith soup for breakfuth, lunch, and dinner! Three cheerth!

The door leading from the kitchen opens with a loud creak. Philip Simple and a host of servers wheel cart after cart of fresh fruit, vegetables, and steaks out into the yard. The inmates clear the way and raise three mighty cheers. Collapsible tables follow. The inmates rush to help set them up as Philip salutes Rollo, Myron, and Laverne.

FADE OUT

ENDING CREDITS

SUPER: BETWEEN CREDITS:

EXT. EXERCISE YARD-MORNING

Rollo, Myron, and Laverne are sitting on the table, plates filled with Philip's delicasies.

ROLLO

...But my dream. Zippo's name was on the brass plate. I wonder...

MYRON

Perhaps we aren't yet finished. Maybe he'll return. Who can say? 'There are more things...'

LAVERNE

I wath juth thinking. You know that painting by Michael the Angelo...you know, in the Thithtine Thapel? I wonder...

FADE OUT

The credits continue to roll. Music fades.

FADE BACK IN SLOWLY:

INT. CELLBLOCK 1-MORNING

PAN IN:

A scaffold sitting dead center of the cellblock. A platform atop it. A diminutive figure lying on a raised bench with a cast leg dangling down onto the platform top. He holds a brush in his right hand and he is wearing a smock splatterd with paint. Two anxious-looking men stand at the far end. One holds a "hawk" loaded with wet plaster, and a trowel. The other balances a wooden tray laden with jars of paints in one hand, a bucket filled with water in the other.

CAMERA RISES TO CEILING:

Music: suddenly, loudly: Handel: The HALLELUJAH CHORUS.

A nearly-finished painting of THE CREATION OF ADAM. Adam's glistening black body and face are those of "Beautiful" Myron Fleur. The Creator's face is that of Rollo Heinz.

LAVERNE "BUDDY" BUDD

Quick! Freth plath-ter! Ith too dry.

Cut TO BLACK AND RETURN TO CREDITS

THE END