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Monster
Walter
Dean Myers
Harpercollins Juvenile Books
Young Adult
ISBN: 0060280778
Read
a Review.
Chapter One
The
best time to cry is at night, when the lights are out and
someone is being beaten up and screaming for help. That way
even if you sniffle a little they won't hear you. If anybody
knows that you are crying, they'll start talking about it
and soon it'll be your turn to get beat up when the lights
go out.
There
is a mirror over the steel sink in my cell. It's six inches
high, and scratched with the names of some guys who were here
before me. When I look into the small rectangle, I see a face
looking back at me but I don't recognize it.
It
doesn't look like me. I couldn't have changed that much in
a few months. I wonder if I will look like myself when the
trial is over.
This
morning at breakfast a guy got hit in the face with a tray.
Somebody said some little thing and somebody else got mad.
There was blood all over the place.
When
the guards came over, they made us line up against the wall.
The guy who was hit they made sit at the table while they
waited for another guard to bring them rubber gloves.
When
the gloves came, the guards put them on, handcuffed the guy,
and then took him to the dispensary. He was still bleeding
pretty bad.
They
say you get used to being in jail, but I don't see how. Every
morning
I
wake up and I am surprised to be here.
If
your life outside was real, then everything in here is just
the opposite. We sleep with strangers, wake up with strangers,
and go to the bathroom in front of strangers. They're strangers
but they still find reasons to hurt each other.
Sometimes
I feel like I have walked into the middle of a movie. It is
a strange movie with no plot and no beginning. The movie is
in black and white, and grainy. Sometimes the camera moves
in so close that you can't tell what is going on and you just
listen to the sounds and guess.
I
have seen movies of prisons but never one like this. This
is not a movie about bars and locked doors. It is about being
alone when you are not really alone and about being scared
all the time.
I
think to get used to this I will have to give up what I think
is real and take up something else.
I
wish I could make sense of it.
Maybe
I could make my own movie. I could write it out and play it
in my head. I could block out the scenes like we did in school.
The film will be the story of my life.
No,
not my life, but of this experience. I'll write it down in
the notebook they let me keep. I'll call it what the lady
who is the prosecutor called me.
Monday,
July 6th
MONSTER!
FADE
IN: INTERIOR: Early morning in CELL BLOCK D, MANHATTAN DETENTION
CENTER. Camera goes slowly down grim, gray corridor. There
are sounds of inmates yelling from cell to cell; much of it
is obscene. Most of the voices are clearly Black or Hispanic.
Camera stops and slowly turns toward a cell.
INTERIOR:
CELL. Sixteen-year-old STEVE HARMON is sitting on the edge
of a metal cot, head in hands. He is thin, brown skinned.
On the cot next to him are the suit and tie he is to wear
to court for the start of his trial.
CUT
TO: ERNIE, another prisoner, sitting on john, pants down.
CUT
TO: SUNSET, another prisoner, pulling on T-shirt.
CUT
TO: STEVE pulling blanket over his head as screen goes dark.
VOICE-OVER
(VO)
Ain't
no use putting the blanket over your head, man. You can't
cut this out; this is reality. This is the real deal. VO continues
with anonymous PRISONER explaining how the Detention Center
is the real thing. As he does, words appear on the screen,
just like the opening credits of the movie Star Wars, rolling
from the bottom of the screen and shrinking until they are
a blur on the top of the screen before rolling off into space.
MONSTER!
The
Story of My Miserable Life
Starring
Steve Harmon
Produced
by Steve Harmon
Directed
by Steve Harmon
(Credits
continue to roll.)
VO
Yo,
Harmon, you gonna eat something? Come on and get your breakfast,
man. I'll take your eggs if you don't want them. You want
them?
STEVE
(subdued)
I'm
not hungry.
SUNSET
His
trial starts today. He up for the big one. I know how that
feels.
CUT
TO: INTERIOR: CORRECTIONS DEPT. VAN. Through the bars at
the rear of the van, we see people going about the business
of their lives in downtown New York. There are men collecting
garbage, a female traffic officer motioning for a taxi to
make a turn, students on the way to school. Few people notice
the van as it makes its way from the DETENTION CENTER to
the COURTHOUSE.
CUT
TO: PRISONERS, handcuffed, coming from back of van. STEVE
is carrying a notebook. He is dressed in the suit and tie
we saw on the cot. He is seen only briefly as he is herded
through the heavy doors of the courthouse.
FADE
OUT as last prisoner from the van enters rear of courthouse.
FADE
IN: INTERIOR COURTHOUSE. We are in a small room used for
prisoner-lawyer interviews. A guard sits at a desk behind
STEVE.
KATHY
O'BRIEN, STEVE's lawyer, is petite, red-haired, and freckled.
She is all business as she talks to STEVE.
O'BRIEN
Let me make sure you understand what's going on. Both you
and this King character are on trial for felony murder.
Felony murder is as serious as it gets. Sandra Petrocelli
is the prosecutor, and she's good. They're pushing for the
death penalty, which is really bad. The jury might think
they're doing you a big favor by giving you life in prison.
So you'd better take this trial very, very seriously.When
you're in court, you sit there and you pay attention. You
let the jury know that you think the case is as serious
as they do. You don't turn and wave to any of your friends.
It's all right to acknowledge your mother.I have to go and
talk to the judge. The trial will begin in a few minutes.
Is there anything you want to ask me before it starts?
STEVE
You think we're going to win?
O'BRIEN
(seriously)
It probably depends on what you mean by "win."
CUT
TO: INTERIOR: HOLDING ROOM. We see STEVE sitting at one
end of bench. Against the opposite wall, dressed in a sloppy-looking
suit, is 23-year-old JAMES KING, the other man on trial.
KING looks older than 23. He looks over at STEVE with a
hard look and we see STEVE look away. Two GUARDS sit at
a table away from the prisoners, who are handcuffed. The
camera finds the GUARDS in a MEDIUM SHOT (MS). They have
their breakfast in aluminum take-out trays that contain
eggs, sausages, and potatoes. A Black female STENOGRAPHER
pours coffee for herself and the GUARDS.
STENOGRAPHER
I hope this case lasts two weeks. I can sure use the money.
GUARD
1
Six days'maybe seven. It's a motion case. They go through
the motions; then they lock them up.
(Turns and looks off camera toward STEVE.)
Ain't that right, bright eyes?
CUT
TO: STEVE, who is seated on a low bench. He is handcuffed
to a U-bolt put in the bench for that purpose. STEVE looks
away from the GUARD.
CUT
TO: DOOR. It opens, and COURT CLERK looks in.
COURT
CLERK
Two minutes!
CUT
TO: GUARDS, who hurriedly finish breakfast. STENOGRAPHER
takes machine into COURTROOM. They unshackle STEVE and take
him toward door.
CUT
TO: STEVE is made to sit down at one table. At another table
we see KING and two attorneys. STEVE sits alone. A guard
stands behind him. There are one or two spectators in the
court. Then four more enter.
CLOSE-UP
(CU) of STEVE HARMON. The fear is evident on his face.
MS: People are getting ready for the trial to begin. KATHY
O'BRIEN sits next to STEVE.
O'BRIEN
How are you doing?
STEVE
I'm scared.
O'BRIEN
Good; you should be. Anyway, just remember what we've been
talking about. The judge is going to rule on a motion that
King's lawyer made to suppress Cruz's testimony, and a few
other things. Steve, let me tell you what my job is here.
My job is to make sure the law works for you as well as
against you, and to make you a human being in the eyes of
the jury. Your job is to help me. Any questions you have,
write them down and I'll try to answer them. What are you
doing there?
STEVE
I'm writing this whole thing down as a movie.
O'BRIEN
Whatever. Make sure you pay attention. Close attention.
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