-
Mr. Dufresne, describe
the
confrontation you had with your wife the night she
was murdered.
It was very bitter.
She said she was glad I knew, that she
hated all the sneaking around.
And she
said that she wanted a divorce in Reno.
-What was your response?
-I told her I would not grant one.
Those were your words,
according to your neighbors.
If they
say so.
I really don't remember. I was
upset.
What happened after you argued
with your wife?
She packed a bag.
She packed a bag to go and stay with
Mr. Quentin.
Glenn Quentin, golf pro at
the Snowden Hills Country Club
whom you
had discovered was your wife's lover.
Did you follow her?
I went
to a few bars first.
Later, I drove to
his house to confront them. They weren't home.
I parked in the turnout
and
waited.
With what intention?
I'm not sure.
I was confused
drunk.
I think
mostly I wanted to scare them.
When they arrived, you went up to the
house and murdered them.
No, I was
sobering up.
I got back in the car and
I drove home to sleep it off.
Along the
way, I threw my gun into the Royal
River.
I've been very clear
on this point.
I get hazy where the
cleaning woman shows up the following
morning
and finds your wife
in bed with her lover
riddled
with.38-caliber bullets.
Does that
strike you as a fantastic coincidence, or is it
just me?
Y
es, it
does.
Y
et you still maintain
you threw your gun into the river
before the murders took place.
That's very convenient.
It's
the truth.
The police dragged that
river for three days, and nary a gun was found
so no comparison could be made
between your gun and the
bullets
taken from the
bloodstained corpses of the victims.
And that also
is very
convenient. Isn't it, Mr. Dufresne?
Since I am innocent of this crime
I find it decidedly inconvenient that
the gun was never found.
Ladies and
gentlemen, you've heard all the evidence.
We have the accused at the scene of the
crime. We have footprints.
Bullets on
the ground bearing his fingerprints.
A
broken bourbon bottle,
likewise with fingerprints.
And most of
all
we have a beautiful young woman and
her lover
lying dead in each other's
arms.
They had sinned.
But
was their crime so great
as to merit a
death sentence?
While you think about
that
think about this:
A
revolver holds six
bullets, not eight.
I submit that this
was not a hot-blooded crime of passion.
That at least could be understood, if
not condoned.
No.
This was
revenge
of a much more brutal, cold-
blooded nature. Consider this:
Four
bullets per victim.
Not six shots
fired, but eight.
That means that he
fired the gun empty
and then stopped to
reload
so that he could shoot each of
them again. An extra bullet per lover
right in the head.
Y
ou strike me as a
particularly icy and remorseless man, Mr.
Dufresne.
It chills my blood just to
look at you.
By the power vested in me
by the state of Maine
I hereby order
you to serve two life sentences back-to-back
one for each of your victims. So be it!
Sit.
We see you've served 20
years of a life sentence?
-Y
es, sir.
-Y
ou feel you've been
rehabilitated?
Y
es, sir.
Absolutely, sir.
I mean, I learned my
lesson.
I can honestly say that I'm a
changed man.
I'm no longer a danger to
society.
That's God's honest truth.
Hey, Red.
How'd it go?
Same old shit, different day.
Y
eah, I know how you feel.
I'm up for rejection next week.
Y
eah, I got rejected last
week.
It happens.
Hey, Red,
bump me a deck.
Get out of my face,
man! Y
ou're into me for five packs
already.
-Four!
-Five!
There must be a con
like me in every prison in America.
I'm
the guy who can get it for you.
Cigarettes, a bag of reefer, if that's
your thing
bottle of brandy to
celebrate your kid's high school graduation.
Damn near anything within reason.
Y
es, sir! I'm a regular
Sears and Roebuck.
So when Andy
Dufresne came to me in 1949
and asked
me to smuggle Rita Hayworth into the prison for
him
I told him,
to the main
gate
to the main gate
Andy
came to Shawshank Prison
in early 1947
for murdering his wife and the fella she was
banging.
On the outside, he'd been vice
president of a large Portland bank.
Good work for a man so young.
Here Red
Y
ou
speak English, butt-steak?
Y
ou follow this officer.
I never seen such a sorry-Iooking heap
of maggot shit in all my life.
Hey,
fish! Come over here!
Taking bets
today, Red?
Smokes or coin? Bettor's
choice.
Smokes. Put me down for two.
All right, who's your horse?
That little sack of shit.
-Eighth. He'll be first.
-Bullshit! I'll take that action.
Y
ou're out some smokes, son.
If you're so smart, you call it.
I'll take that chubby fat-ass there.
The fifth one. Put me down for a
quarter deck.
Fresh fish today!
We're reeling them in!
I
admit I didn't think much of Andy first time I
laid eyes on him.
Looked like a stiff
breeze would blow him over.
That was my
first impression of the man.
What do
you say?
That tall drink of water with
the silver spoon up his ass.
That guy?
Never happen.
-10 cigarettes.
-That's a rich bet.
Who's going to prove me wrong?
Heywood? Jigger?
Skeets?
Floyd!
Four brave souls.
Return to your cellblocks for evening
count.
All prisoners, return to your
cellblocks.
Turn to the right!
Eyes front.
This is Mr.
Hadley. He's captain of the guards.
I'm
Mr. Norton, the warden.
Y
ou
are convicted felons.
That's why
they've sent you to me.
Rule number
one:
No blasphemy.
I'll not
have the Lord's name taken in vain in my prison.
The other rules
you'll
figure out as you go along. Any questions?
When do we eat?
Y
ou eat when we say you eat.
Y
ou shit when we say you
shit, and piss when we say you piss.
Y
ou got that, you maggot-
dick motherfucker?
On your feet.
I believe in two things:
Discipline and the Bible.
Here, you'll receive both.
Put your trust in the Lord.
Y
our ass belongs to me.
Welcome to Shawshank.
Unhook
them.
Turn around.
That's
enough.
Move to the end of the cage.
Turn around. Delouse him.
Turn around.
Move out of the
cage. Pick up your clothes and Bible.
Next man up!
To the right.
Right. Right.
Left.
The first night's the toughest. No
doubt about it.
They march you in naked
as the day you were born
skin burning
and half-blind from that delousing shit.
And when they put you in that cell
and those bars slam home
that's when you know it's for real.
Old life blown away in the blink of an
eye.
Nothing left but all the time in
the world to think about it.
Most new
fish come close to madness the first night.
Somebody always breaks down crying.
Happens every time.
The only
question is
who's it going to be?
It's as good a thing to bet on as any,
I guess.
I had my money on Andy
Dufresne.
Lights out!
I
remember my first night.
Seems like a
long time ago.
Hey, fish.
Fish, fish.
What are you,
scared of the dark?
Bet you wish your
daddy never dicked your mama!
Piggy!
Pork! I want me a pork chop.
The boys
always go fishing with first-timers.
And they don't quit till they reel
someone in.
Hey, Fat Ass.
Fat Ass!
Talk to me,
boy
.
I know you're there. I
can hear you breathing.
Don't you
listen to these nitwits, you hear me?
This place ain't so bad.
Tell you what
I'll introduce
you around, make you feel right at home.
I know a couple of big old bull queers
that'd just
Iove to make your
acquaintance.
Especially that big,
white, mushy butt of yours.
God!
I don't belong here!
-We
have a winner!
-I want to
go home!
And it's Fat Ass by a nose!
Fresh fish!
I don't belong
here
I want to go home!
I
want my mother!
I had your mother! She
wasn't that great!
What the Christ is
this horseshit?
He blasphemed. I'll
tell the warden.
Y
ou'll tell
him with my baton up your ass!
Let me
out!
What is your malfunction, you fat
barrel of monkey spunk?
Please! I ain't
supposed to be here.
Not me!
I won't count to three. Not even to
one.
Y
ou shut up, or I'll
sing you a lullaby!
Shut up, man. Shut
up!
Y
ou don't understand.
I'm not supposed to be
here.
Open that cell.
Me
neither! They run this place like a fucking
prison!
Son of a bitch!
Captain, take it easy!
If I
hear so much as a mouse fart in here tonight
I swear by God and Jesus, you will all
visit the infirmary.
Every last
motherfucker in here.
Call the
trustees. Take that tub of shit down to the
infirmary.
His first night in the
joint, Dufresne cost me two packs of cigarettes.
He never made a sound.
Tier
3 north, clear count!
Tier 2 north,
clear count.
Tier 3 south, clear.
Tier 1 south, clear.
Tier 4
south, clear.
Prepare to roll out.
Roll out!
Are you going to
eat that?
I hadn't planned on it.
Do you mind?
That's nice and
ripe.
Jake says thank you.
Fell out of his nest over by the plate
shop.
I'm going to look after him until
he's big enough to fly.
Oh, no! Here he
comes.
Morning, fellas.
Fine
morning, isn't it?
Y
ou know
why it's a fine morning, don't you?
Send them down. I want them lined up
just like a pretty little chorus
line.
Look at that.
-I can't stand this guy.
-Oh, Lord!
Y
es!
Richmond, V
irginia.
Smell my ass!
After he
smells mine.
That's a shame
about your horse coming in last and all.
But I sure do love that winning horse
of mine, though.
I owe that boy a big
kiss when I see him.
Why don't you give
him some of your cigarettes instead? Lucky fuck!
Hey, Tyrell.
Y
ou
pull infirmary duty this week?
How's my
horse doing anyway?
Dead.
Hadley busted his head up pretty good.
Doc had gone home for the night.
Poor bastard lay there till this
morning.
By then, there wasn't nothing
we could do.
What was his name?
What'd you say?
I was just
wondering if anyone knew his name.
What
the fuck do you care, new fish?
Doesn't
fucking matter what his name was. He's dead.
Anybody come at you yet?
Anybody get to you yet?
Hey,
we all need friends in here.
I could be
a friend to you.
Hard to get.
I like that.
Andy kept
pretty much to himself at first.
I
guess he had a lot on his mind
trying
to adapt to life on the inside.
Wasn't
until a month went by before he opened his mouth
to say more than two words to somebody.
As it turned out
that
somebody was me.
I'm Andy Dufresne.
Wife-killing banker.
Why'd
you do it?
I didn't, since you ask.
Y
ou're going to fit right
in.
Everybody in here's innocent.
Didn't you know that?
-What you in here
for?
-Didn't do it. Lawyer
fucked me.
Rumor has it you're a real
cold fish.
Y
ou think your
shit smells sweeter than most. Is that right?
What do you think?
To tell
you the truth, I haven't made up my mind.
I understand you're a man that knows
how to get things.
I'm known to locate
certain things from time to time.
I
wonder if you might get me a rock hammer.
What?
A
rock
hammer.
-What is it and why?
-What do you care?
For a toothbrush, I wouldn't ask. I'd
quote a price.
But a toothbrush is a
non-lethal object, isn't it?
Fair
enough.
A
rock hammer is
about six or seven inches long.
-Looks
like a miniature pickax.
-Pickax?
For rocks.
Quartz?
Quartz
And some mica, shale
limestone.
So?
So
I'm a rock hound.
At least I was in my
old life. I'd like to be again.
Or
maybe you'd like to sink your toy into somebody's
skull.
No, I have no enemies
here.
No? Wait a while.
Word
gets around.
The Sisters have taken
quite a liking to you.
Especially Bogs.
Don't suppose it would help if I told
them I'm not homosexual.
Neither are
they.
Y
ou have to be human
first. They don't qualify.
Bull queers take by force. That's all
they want or understand.
If I were you,
I'd grow eyes in the back of my head.
-Thanks for the advice.
-Well, that's free.
Y
ou understand my concern.
If there's trouble, I won't use the
rock hammer.
Then I'd guess you want to
escape. Tunnel under the wall, maybe.
What did I miss?
What's so funny?
Y
ou'll understand when you
see the rock hammer.
What's an item
like this usually go for?
Seven dollars
in any rock-and-gem shop.
My normal
markup's 20 percent.
But this is a
specialty item.
Risk goes
up, price goes up. Let's make it an even 10 bucks.
Ten it is.
Waste of money,
if you ask me.
Why's that?
Folks around this joint love surprise
inspections.
They find it, you're going
to lose it.
If they catch you, you
don't know me.
Mention my name, we
never do business again.
Not for
shoelaces or a stick of gum. Now you got that?
I understand.
Thank you, Mr
Red.
Name's Red.
Red
Why do they call you
that?
Maybe it's because I'm Irish.
I could see why some of the boys took
him for snobby
.
He had a
quiet way about him
a walk and a talk
that just wasn't normal around here.
He
strolled
like a man in the park without
a care or a worry in the world.
Like he
had on an invisible coat that would shield him
from this place.
yes
I think
it'd be fair to say
I liked Andy from
the start.
Let's go! Some of us got a
schedule to keep.
Move it! Come on,
move it!
How you doing? How's the wife
treating you?
keep moving
just go
Red
Andy
was right.
I finally got the joke.
It would take a man about 600 years
to tunnel under the wall with one of
these.
-Book?
-Not today.
-Book? -No.
Brook
Delivery for Dufresne.
Book?
Book?
Dufresne
Here's your book.
Thanks.
We're running low on
hexite. Get on back and fetch us up some.
This will blind you.
Honey, hush.
That's it.
Y
ou fight!
Better that way.
I wish I could tell you Andy fought the
good fight
and the Sisters let him be.
I wish I could tell you that
but prison is no fairy-tale world.
He never said who did it.
But we all knew.
Things went
on like that for a while.
Prison life consists of routine
and then more routine.
Every
so often, Andy would show up with fresh bruises.
The Sisters kept at him.
Sometimes he was able to fight them
off.
Sometimes not.
And
that's how it went for Andy.
That was
his routine.
I do believe those first
two years were the worst for him.
And I
also believe that if things had gone on that way
this place would have got the best of
him.
But then, in the spring of 1949
the powers that be decided:
The roof of the license-plate factory
needs resurfacing.
I need a dozen
volunteers for a week's work.
As you
know
special detail carries with it
special privileges.
It was outdoor
detail
and May is one damned fine month
to be working outdoors.
Stay in line
there.
More than a hundred men
volunteered for the job.
Wallace E.
Unger.
Ellis Redding.
Wouldn't you know it?
Me and
some fellows I know were among the names
called.
Andrew Dufresne.
It only cost us a pack of smokes per
man.
I made my usual 20 percent, of
course.
So this big-shot lawyer calls
me long-distance from Texas.
I
say
,
eah?
He says,
-I'm sorry to hear that.
-I'm not. He was an asshole.
Ran off years ago. Figured him for
dead.
So this lawyer fellow says to me:
A
million bucks?
-Incredible how lucky some assholes
get.
-Y
ou going
to see any of that?
Thirty-five
thousand. That's what he left me.
-Dollars? -Y
ep
That's great! That's like winning the
sweepstakes.
Isn't it?
Dumb
shit, what do you think the government will do to
me?
Take a big wet bite out of my ass
is what.
Poor Byron.
Terrible fucking luck, huh? Crying
shame.
Some people really got it awful.
Andy, are you nuts?
I Keep
your eyes on your mop, man!
Y
ou'll pay some tax, but
you'll still end up
Y
eah,
maybe enough to buy a new car, and then what?
I got to pay tax on the car. Repair
maintenance, kids pestering you to take
them for a ride all the time.
Then if
you figure your tax wrong, you pay out of your own
pocket.
I tell you! Uncle Sam!
He puts his hand in your shirt and
squeezes your tit till it's purple.
Andy
-Getting himself
killed. -I Keep tarring.
Some brother.
Shit!
Mr. Hadley
do you
trust your wife?
Oh, that's funny.
Y
ou'll look funnier sucking
my dick with no teeth.
What I mean is,
do you think she'd go behind your back?
Step aside, Mort. This fucker's having
himself an accident.
He'll push him
off!
If you trust her, you can keep
that 35,000.
-What did you
say?
-Thirty-five thousand.
All of it.
-Every penny.
-Y
ou better
start making sense.
If you want to keep
it,
give it to your wife.
The IRS allows a one-time-only gift to
your spouse for up to $$ 60,000.
-Bullshit. Tax-free?
-Tax-free.
IRS can't touch
one cent.
Y
ou're that smart
banker that killed his wife.
Why should
I believe you? So I can end up in here with you?
It's legal. Ask the IRS. They'll say
the same thing.
I feel stupid telling
you this. I'm sure you would have investigated.
I don't need you to tell me where the
bear shit in the buckwheat.
Of course
not. But you do need someone to set it up for you.
That'll cost you. A
lawyer.
A
bunch of ball-washing
bastards!
I suppose I could set it up
for you. That would save you some
money
.
Y
ou get
the forms, I'll prepare them
nearly
free of charge.
I'd only ask three
beers apiece for each of my coworkers.
A
man working
outdoors feels more like a man
if he
can have a bottle of suds. That's only my opinion
sir.
What are you jimmies
staring at?
Let's go! Work!
And that's how it came to pass
that on the second-to-last day of the
job
the convict crew that tarred the
factory roof in the spring of '49
wound
up sitting in a row at 10:00 in the morning
drinking icy-cold beer, courtesy of the
hardest screw
that ever walked a turn
at Shawshank State Prison.
Drink up
while it's cold, ladies.
The colossal
prick even managed to sound magnanimous.
We sat and drank with the sun on our
shoulders and felt like free men.
We
could have been tarring the roof of one of our own
houses.
We were the lords of all
creation.
As for Andy
he
spent that break hunkered in the shade
a strange little smile on his face
watching us drink his beer.
Want a cold one?
No, thanks.
I gave up drinking.
Y
ou
could argue he done it to curry favor with the
guards.
Or maybe make a few friends
among us cons.
Me?
I think
he did it just to feel normal again
if
only for a short while.
I King me.
-Chess. Now there's a game of kings.
-What?
Civilized. Strategic.
And a total fucking mystery. I hate it.
Let me teach you someday.
Sure.
We could get a board
together.
Y
ou're talking to
the right man. I can get things, right?
We might do business on a board, and
I'll carve the pieces myself.
One side
in alabaster, one in soapstone. What do you think?
I think it'll take years.
Y
ears I got. What I don't
have are the rocks.
Pickings are pretty
slim in the yard.
Pebbles, mostly.
We're getting to be kind of friends,
aren't we?
Y
eah, I guess.
Can I ask you something?
Why'd you do it?
I'm
innocent, Red.
Just like everybody else
here.
What are you in for?
Murder. Same as you.
Innocent?
Only guilty man in
Shawshank.
A
Where's the
canary?
How did you know?
-How did I know what?
-So you don't know.
Come.
This is where the canary is.
Quite a surprise to hear a woman
singing in my house, eh?
That's quite a
surprise.
Red
Wait, wait.
Here she comes.
I like this part when she does that
shit with her hair.
I know. I've seen
it three times this month.
Gilda, are
you decent?
Me?
God, I love
it.
I understand you're a man that
knows how to get things.
I'm known to
locate certain things from time to time. What do
you want?
-Rita Hayworth. -What?
Can you get her?
So this is
Johnny Farrell. I've heard a lot about you.
-Take a few weeks. -Weeks?
I
don't have her stuffed down the front of my pants
right now, sorry to say.
But I'll get
her.
Relax.
Thanks.
-Get out!
-I got
to change reels!
I said fuck off!
Ain't you going to scream?
Let's get this over with.
He
broke my fucking nose!
Now
I'm going to open my fly
and
you'll swallow what I give you to swallow.
Then you'll swallow Rooster's.
Y
ou broke his
nose.
He ought to have something to
show for it.
Y
ou put it in
my mouth, you lose it.
No, you don't
understand.
Do that and I'll put all
eight inches of this in your ear.
All
right, but you should know that sudden, serious
brain injury
causes the victim to bite
down hard.
In fact, I hear the bite
reflex is so strong
they have to pry
the victim's jaws open
with a crowbar.
Where do you get this shit?
I read it.
Y
ou
know how to read, you ignorant fuck?
Honey!
Y
ou
shouldn't!
Bogs didn't put anything in
Andy's mouth.
And neither did his
friends.
What they did do is beat him
within an inch of his life.
Andy spent
a month in the infirmary.
Bogs spent a
week in the hole.
Time's up, Bogs.
It's your world, boss.
Return to your cellblocks for evening
count.
All prisoners report for lock
down.
What?
-Where's he
going?
-Grab his ankles.
No help!
Two things never
happened again after that.
The Sisters
never laid a finger on Andy again.
And
Bogs would never walk again.
They transferred him to a minimum-
security hospital upstate.
To my
knowledge, he lived out the rest of his days
drinking his food through a straw.
Andy could use a nice welcome back when
he gets out of the infirmary.
Sounds
good to us.
I figure we owe him that
much for the beer.
The man likes to
play chess.
Let's get him some rocks.
Guys!
I got one.
I got one. Look!
Heywood,
that isn't soapstone! And it ain't alabaster
either.
What are you, a
fucking geologist?
He's right. It
ain't.
-What the hell is it then? -It's
a horse apple.
-Bullshit!
-No, horseshit.
Petrified.
God
Damn!
Despite
a few hitches, the boys came through in fine
style.
And by the weekend he was due
back
we had enough rocks saved up to
keep him busy till rapture.
Also got a
big shipment in that week.
Cigarettes
chewing gum
sipping whisky
playing cards with naked ladies on
them. Y
ou name it.
And of
course, the most important item:
Rita
Hayworth herself.
Wake up
Heads up. They're tossing cells.
Heads up. They're tossing cells!
119.
123.
Bible
On your feet.
Face the wall.
Turn around and face the warden.
Pleased to see you reading this.
Any favorite passages?
when the master of the house
cometh.
Mark 13:35.
I've
always liked that one.
But I prefer
Y
e that followeth
me shall have the light of life.
John,
chapter 8, verse 12.
I hear you're good
with numbers.
How nice.
Man
should have a skill.
Explain this.
It's called a rock blanket. It's for
shaping and polishing rocks.
A
little hobby of mine.
It's pretty clean.
Some
contraband here, but nothing to get in a twist
over.
I can't say I approve of this.
But I suppose
exceptions can
be made.
Lock them up!
I
almost forgot.
I'd hate to deprive you
of this.
Salvation lies
within.
Y
es, sir.
Tossing cells was just an excuse.
Truth is
Norton wanted to
size Andy up.
My wife made that in
church group.
V
ery nice,
sir.
Y
ou enjoy working the
laundry?
No, sir. Not especially.
Perhaps we can find something more
befitting a man of your education.
Hey, Jake. Where's Brooks?
I
thought I heard you out here.
I've been
reassigned to you.
I know, they told
me.
Ain't that a kick in the head?
Well, I'll give you the dime tour.
Come on.
Well, here she is.
The Shawshank Prison Library.
National Geographics
Reader's Digest condensed books
and Louis L'Amour.
Look magazine.
Erle Stanley
Gardners.
Every evening I load up the
cart and make my rounds.
I enter the
names on this clipboard here.
Easy,
peasy, Japanese-y
.
-Any
questions?
-How long have
you been librarian?
I come here in '05,
and they made me librarian in 1912.
And
have you ever had an assistant?
No. Not
much to it, really.
Why me?
Why now?
I don't know.
But
it'd be nice to have some company down here.
Dufresne
That's him. That's
the one.
I'm Dekins.
I was
thinking
about setting up some kind of
trust fund for my kids' educations.
I
see.
Why don't we have a seat and talk
it over.
Do you have a piece of paper
and a pencil?
Thanks.
So
Mister Dekins
And
then Andy says,
do you want your sons
to go to Harvard or Y
ale?
He
didn't say that!
As God as my witness!
Dekins blinked for a second
then he laughed and actually shook
Andy's hand.
-My ass!
-Shook his hand.
I tell you,
I near soiled myself!
All he needed was
a suit and tie and a jiggly hula gal on his desk
he'd have been
Making a few
friends?
I wouldn't say
I'm
a convicted murderer who provides sound financial
planning.
It's a wonderful pet to have.
Got you out of the laundry, though.
It might do more than that.
How about expanding the library. Get
some new books.
If you ask for
something, ask for a pool table.
yes
How do you expect to do that? I mean
get new books in here,
I'll
ask the warden for funds.
Six wardens
have been through here in my tenure, and I've
learned
one immutable,
universal truth:
Not one born whose
asshole
wouldn't pucker up tighter than
a snare drum when you ask for funds.
-The budget's stretched thin as it is.
-I see.
Maybe I
could write the state senate and request funds
from them.
They have only three ways to
spend the taxpayers' money for prisons:
More walls, more bars, more guards.
I'd like to try, with permission.
A
letter a week.
-They can't
ignore me forever.
-Sure
can.
But you write your letters if it
makes you happy
.
I'll even
mail them for you. How's that?
So Andy
started writing a letter a week
just
like he said.
And like Norton said
Andy got no answers.
The
following April, he did tax returns for half the
guards at Shawshank.
Y
ear
after that, he did them all
including
the warden's.
Y
ear after
that, they rescheduled the intramural season
to coincide with tax season.
The guards on the opposing teams all
remembered to bring their W-2s.
So
Moresby Prison
issued you a gun, but
you paid for it.
Right. The holster
too.
That's tax-deductible.
Y
ou can write that off.
Y
es, sir! Andy was a regular
cottage industry.
In fact, it got so
busy at tax time, he was allowed a staff.
Could you hand me a stack of 1040s?
Got me out of the wood shop a month out
of the year, and that was fine by me.
And still, he kept sending those
letters.
It's Brooks.
Watch
the door.
Please, Brooks.
-Calm the fuck down.
-Stay back!
-Stay back,
goddamn it!
-What's going
on?
One second he's fine, then out come
the knives.
We can talk about this,
right?
There's nothing to talk about.
I'll cut his fucking throat.
What's he
done to you?
It's what they done!
I got no choice.
Y
ou won't hurt Heywood. We
all know that.
-Right, Heywood?
-Sure.
He's a
friend of yours, and Brooks is a reasonable man.
-Right, guys? -Y
es.
So put the knife down. Look at me.
Put the knife down.
Look at
his neck, for God's sake.
Look at his
neck. He's bleeding.
It's
the only way
they'd let me
stay
.
This is crazy.
Y
ou don't want
to do this.
Put it, put it down.
Take it easy.
Y
ou'll be all
right.
Him? What about me?
Crazy old fool damn near cut my throat!
Y
ou've had worse from
shaving.
What did you do to set him
off?
Nothing. I come in here to say
farewell.
Ain't you heard?
His parole's come through.
I just don't
understand what happened in there.
Old
man's crazy as a rat in a tin shithouse.
That's enough out of you.
-Heard he had you shitting your pants.
-Fuck you.
IKnock
it off.
Brooks ain't no bug.
he is just
institutionalized.
The man's been in here 50
years, Heywood, 50 years!
This is all
he knows.
In here, he's an important
man
an educated man.
Outside, he's nothing.
Just
a used-up con with arthritis in both hands.
Probably couldn't get a library card if
he tried.
Y
ou know what I'm
trying to say?
I do believe you're
talking out of your ass.
Y
ou
believe whatever you want.
But I tell
you these walls are funny.
First you
hate them.
Then you get used to them.
Enough time passes
you get
so you depend on them.
That's
Shit.
-I could never get
like that. -Oh, yeah?
Wait till you've
been here as long as Brooks.
Goddamn
right.
They send you here for life
that's exactly what they take.
Part that counts, anyway.
I
can't take care of you no more, Jake.
Y
ou go on now.
Y
ou're free.
Y
ou're free.
Good
luck, Brooksie.
Dear fellas:
I can't believe how fast things move on
the outside.
Watch it, old-timer! Want
to get killed?
I saw an automobile once
when I was a kid
but now they're
everywhere.
The world went and got
itself in a big damn hurry.
The parole
board got me into this halfway house
called
and a job
bagging groceries at the Food-Way.
It's hard work and I try to keep up
..but my hands hurt most of the time.
Make sure your man double-bags.
Last time, the bottom near came out.
Make sure you double-bag like the lady
says. understand?
Y
es, sir.
Surely will.
I don't think
the store manager likes me very much.
Sometimes after work, I go to the park
and feed the birds.
I keep thinking
Jake might just show up and say hello.
But he never does.
I hope,
wherever he is, he's doing okay and making new
friends.
I have trouble sleeping at
night.
I have bad dreams like I'm
falling.
I wake up scared.
Sometimes it takes me a while to
remember where I am.
Maybe I should get
a gun and rob the Food-Way so they'd send me home.
I could shoot the manager while I was
at it. Sort of like a bonus.
I guess
I'm too old for that sort of nonsense anymore.
I don't like it here.
I'm
tired of being afraid all the time. I've decided
not to stay.