THE RUNNER/SCREENPLAY, BRIAN R. LUNDIN [best classic books to read .txt] 📗

Vito taking over our thing one at a time. What has made the Italian Outfit so strong is the fact that they are organized; with a tightly structured command system and a code of rules and regulations, that directs member’s efforts and activity. We can do the same thing. Years ago Lucky Luciano started the Commission and united all of the warring mobsters across the country. That Commission is still in existence today and the Mafia, Cosa Nostra, Outfit or whatever you want to call it is probably as powerful as the United States Government. We have been competing against each other for years, but unlike the mobsters in New York, we have never resorted to violence against each other. We all have made a lot of money, but if we don’t do something to protect ourselves, Vito and his goons will take over.

CLINT BLACK
You’re right Jerome, just last week two white guys were fuckin’ with my players trying to scare them off.

FLOYD JOHNSON
Our major problem as I see it is we don’t have muscle. Vito has paid killers on his payroll and the cops. How do we combat that and how do we deal with the police, Vito got on his payroll?

There was a hush around the room. Jerome considered the question carefully before answering. He had posed the same question many times in his own head.

JEROME
We’ll get muscle too and we’ve got police on our payrolls too. We need to establish a Board of Commissioners or a syndicate. We need to combine our resources so that Vito realizes that it would be too costly in terms of blood, money and public reaction for him to continue his struggle to take over our rackets. We must organize and develop a relationship with our black politicians who can influence white politicians. We must let them know that we control a lot of black votes and we must retain lawyers and hire police officers as bodyguards. What we lack is a centralized system of management that will enable us to cope with external threats, be it the police or the Outfit. We must become a Mafia-type structure if we want to survive. We need our own layoff system so that if any one of us has a large bet we can help each other as opposed to going to the white loan sharks. We employ thousands of worker, donate to the church and we are patrons of charities, in essence, we are respectable businessmen and we employ respectable people. We are the leaders of the black race in our communities. Vito will try to use his corrupt politicians, his police pals and his muscle to make his move on us and I think his first target will be our runners whom he will try to scare away, how, I don’t know, but we must be ready for anything that that asshole does. Finally, we need muscle, an enforcement arm, and a separate unit if there is trouble or a shooting war with Vito and his boys, a unit with its own structure and personnel we need the State Street Boys.

CLINT BLACK
Alderman Ralph Thomas is my cousin and a crook but for the right price he could be our bagman with city hall and our vote organizer, yeah he’s a real con artist, always wearing that black power armband and skull cap but I’ll give him credit, he has got a lot of our people city jobs plus he can get the ear of his colleagues and let them know that when election times come we can get all of our employee’s to vote whatever way they want.

CUBBIE COLE
What about all of independent or wildcat wheels out there?

JEROME
They face the same problems we do, Vito will come after them also, and we can invite them to join our syndicate. There are a lot of issues we will have to work out, but we don’t have to make any major decisions now, but think about it I’ve got a sit-down with Vinnie Acosta in a couple of days and I’ll let you guy know what’s happening.

KID RIVERA
I’m with you, Jerome, but who the fuck is the State Street Boys?

JEROME
I hear they are one of the largest and most dangerous black street gangs in Chicago with over five thousand members. The leader a young guy named Pops I hear is a pretty smart kid and I believe his mother is kinda sweet on Ringo one of my runners I’ll talk to Ringo and have him set something up.

The room was silent for a moment and then they all began to clap. Jerome looked around the room, he was proud of these men, these were black men willing to fight and die if necessary to prevent the white man from taking over their thing.

Ringo met Ted, Jerome, Madame Bourneis and Marque in Juanita Lounge.

INT. JUANITA LOUNGE-EVENING

Sitting with Ringo at the bar was a tall attractive woman who appeared to be a lot older than Ringo.

AT THE BAR

RINGO
Margo meet Mr. McLemore and Mr. Blanche.

JEROME
(gently shaking her hand)
Pleasure to meet you Margo.


MARGO
It is my pleasure, Mr. McLemore.

Margo stared at Jerome as if he was some kind of movie star.

RINGO
Excuse me baby, I’ll be right back got some business to discuss with my bosses.

Ringo kissing Margo on the checks and ordered another drink for her.

REAR BOOTH

Ted, Ringo and Jerome sit and Madame Bourneis and Marque stand behind Jerome.

JEROME
You getting a thing for older women? What happened to Rita?
RINGO
That young broad was wearing me out had to cut her loose, she was getting too serious, talking about getting married, and having babies and shit.

TED
Who is latest conquest?

RINGO
You would never guess that’s Pops mother and she was telling me that she overheard Pops and some of his boys talking about how they were going to set up their drug business with a guy named Vito, now that they have run all the whities out.

Ted and Jerome looked at Margo who was smiling as she waived at them, they waived
back.


JEROME
That’s why it has been so quiet, lately! Well, that’s a smart move on Vito’s part, he will probably be the supplier for the gang, they don’t know anywhere else to go to get drugs, plus now the gang got all the heat, smart move. Well, we better get ready for some more shit from Vito.

Later that evening, Jerome, Ted, Ringo, Marque and Madame Bourneis met Pops and three other young men at the field house in the Robert Taylor Homes, Pops was maybe eighteen years old, short but muscular and wore his hair in a big Afro.

RINGO
Pops, I would like for you to meet Jerome McLemore.

Pops extended his hand and shook Jerome’s hand warmly.

POPS
Nice meeting you Mr. McLemore. My mom’s talks about you all the time about how you are giving our people work and always helping everybody in the hood, she says you are a good man.

JEROME
Well thanks you, can I call you Pops.

POPS
Of course, what can I do for you Mr. McLemore?

JEROME
Jerome please, Mr. McLemore makes me sound too old.

POPS
Ok, Jerome.

JEROME
I’m having a problem with some Italians from the west side. They are bombing my businesses, killing innocent children and everything.

POPS
Were they the ones that killed that little baby?

JEROME
Yes they were and if something ain’t done, more of our people are going to get hurt.

POPS
What can we do?

JEROME
We know that a asshole named Vito Paligreno control all the drugs that are sold in the hood, he uses brothers as his drug dealers and eventually get them hooked and don’t pay them shit, they usually wind up owing him money because they shoot up all of their salary. We ain’t in the drug business, we’re gamblers, but the way I see it, if drugs going to be sold in our hood, our people should make the most money, not some Goddamn assholes who can’t speak good English.

Pops looked around at his men who were nodding their head in agreement.

POPS
Make sense to me.


REGGIE
The word on the street is that the State Street Boys street gang is trying to take over the drug market from the Italians and that’s what this war is all about, and the mayor wants it stopped. Contact your informants and see what they know. Let’s get to work.

Most of Pops dealers were young, some as young as fifteen. The older drug addicts often would try to bully the young dealers or scare them into giving up their drugs. A few had been beaten up pretty bad and robbed. Before the gang took over the drug market, the junkies knew that the Italians were behind the dealers and they knew if they tried to rob or beat up their dealers, there would be severe consequences; they did not have this fear of the State Street Boy.

OLLIE “BLACKJACK” COTTON was twenty-two years old and had been addicted to heroin since he was fifteen, but despite his heroin use, he was a big man, over six feet and weighted over 200 pounds. He grew up in the Henry Horner projects on the west side of Chicago and his father who had been a junkie for years introduced him to heroin. Blackjack was a bully and he often intimidated the other junkies into giving him their drugs or he took them. Blackjack was sick, he needed a shot, but had not been able to steal or hustle the $20.00 needed to buy the heroin. Blackjack was nausea, had stomach cramps and dangerous. To stop the withdrawal pains, he had to get the heroin and he did not care how. JEWETT CROSBY was one of the State Street Boys young drug dealers and fifteen years of age. Jewett was born in the backseat of an old abandon car hiked up on brick in the Robert Taylor Homes parking lot. One of his heroin addicted mother’s tricks cut the cord with a dirty knife, covered the newborn with a dirty blanket while the mother gave him a blow job in-between snorts of heroin. The trick put the baby in a trashcan behind Holy Angels Catholic Church located at Oakwood and Vincennes. The nuns at the church found Jewett and raised him in the church, but Jewett had problems, probably because of the drugs in his system. He acted up in school, and was constantly fighting with the other children. When he turned fourteen he seriously stabbed another student and ran away from the church and joined the State Street Boys. He often wondered about his mother and he didn’t know if his mother was dead or alive and he never knew his father. As he grew older he figured his mother had probably died by the prick of a dirty needle or a snort of impure powder. The gang often used juveniles as their drug dealers because if arrested they generally were quickly released, the juvenile courts heard over twenty cases a day and the juvenile detention center had over one hundred boys sleeping in two shifts. One shift of boys worked from eight in the morning until eight in the evening, they were the morning shift. The midnight shift worked from 8:00 pm