Friday, May 1, 2009

a line of dialogue that will be cut

JANKINS
I know what it feels like to lie. I know what the heart does. I know what it’s like to hide in the dark when authorities are looking for you with flashlights. I know what fear is like on a dark street at one AM. I know what it’s like to watch a man fire a gun, all nine rounds, and the smile that can be on his face when he kills another man. I know what it’s like to see a man bleed to death on the sidewalk and to be too scared to help him or call for the paramedics. I know the splitting wail that comes from the patrol cars and the blinding red and blue lights, and when I see them, I know to hide. I’ll show you what fear can do to a man. I’ll show you what money can do to the mind of a man. I’ll show you what pride can do when blood is easily spilled. I’ll show you the darkness of the jail cell and the madness that overtakes the mind of a man, slowly, a little more every time he goes into the camp. It affects you. It gets to your head. You’re a worm who goes into a cocoon and comes out not as a butterfly but as a mosquito, and you’ll never lose the taste for blood.