Donnie Brasco
THE CLOCK reads “10:25”.
LEFTY (O.S.) Jilly — he’s a stand-up guy, Jilly?
PHONE (O.S.) Look, Left, I said I knew him. I didn’t say I fucked him.
Hogue hits FAST FORWARD… The tape SQUEALS…
MATCH SOUND
FLASH CUT TO:
EXT. THE PAST. CADILLAC
The SCREECH of rubber and THE CADILLAC LOGO as Donnie pulls away from the curb in a screaming-yellow Coupe de Ville. Lefty lights an English Oval.
LEFTY Nice car. (beat) Go to 46th and 1st, I gotta make a collection.
DONNIE What happened with that fugazy?
LEFTY Man oh man, I gotta school you, my friend. Di’n’t Jilly school you?
The smoke is thick now… Donnie powers down his window.
DONNIE School me in what?
LEFTY Donnie, put your window up, Donnie. I’ m gonna catch a draft.
Donnie powers his window back up.
LEFTY A non-wiseguy never asks a wiseguy a question. A non-wiseguy don’t even talk to a wiseguy unless the wiseguy talks to him first. Capeesh?
DONNIE Yeah. I got it.
LEFTY You don’t raise your hands to a wiseguy. You don’t mess with his women — wife or girlfriend or daughter. Just keep your mouth shut — don’t put business on the street.
DONNIE Follow the rules.
A CAB cuts them off. Lefty leans over. HONKS the horn.
LEFTY Cocksucker! Motherfucker cutting you off. (resuming) You gotta have rules. Otherwise, what are we? We’re like animals.
He leans over. VICIOUSLY honks the horn again. RESUMES with one eye on the cab…
LEFTY Wiseguy has a bag, you pick up the bag. Wiseguy runs a tab, you pick up the tab. Wiseguy is always right — even if he’s wrong he’s right. All the way up the line. Connected guy to wiseguy to skipper to boss.
DONNIE Like the Army.
LEFTY What?
DONNIE I said it’s like the Army. Chain of command.
LEFTY Ain’t nothing like the Army. The Army, it’s some guy you don’t know sends you to whack out some other guy you don’t know. The Army’s a jerkoff outfit.
DONNIE I mean the same principle.
LEFTY Ain’t the question, Donnie. You see, that’s why I gotta school you. Because otherwise you get everything upside down. (beat) You got a girl?
DONNIE Yeah. In California.
LEFTY Good. Let her enjoy herself in California.
The cab CUTS OFF Donnie again… And Lefty BLOWS…
LEFTY Donnie, catch up with that cocksucker.
DONNIE Which cocksucker?
LEFTY He cut you off again, (pointing) That fucking — The cab! That one! Donnie —
Donnie SPEEDS up, chases the cab… Lefty opens the GLOVE COMPARTMENT.
Hits a BUTTON and the TRUNK pops OPEN.
A RED LIGHT
The cab stops. Lefty JUMPS out of the Cadillac…
IN THE TRUNK
Lefty pulls out a JACK, hustles up to the cab.
THE CABBIE
A PAKISTANI, 30s, oblivious. Then he sees Lefty approach in his sideview mirror.
LEFTY What’s fucking wrong with you? Hah? There’s no fucking etiquette of the road with you?
The Cabbie flips a “FUCK YOU” signal with his middle finger… Rolls up his window.
LEFTY Fuck who? Fuck me?
DONNIE OUT
of the Cadillac, running toward Lefty… INSIDE the cab, a nervous PASSENGER gathers her shopping bags…
SMASH!
as the Cabbie’s window CAVES IN… Lefty with the JACK… SWINGS down hard on the windshield. From INSIDE, a spider’s web of shattered glass.
DONNIE APPROACHES
Worry on his face. The Passenger FLEES down the block.
THE CABBIE
hangs out the window, grabbing and punching at Lefty. Lefty YANKS him out of the car.
DONNIE Left, c’mon. Enough.
Donnie grabs Lefty, trying to pull him off. A DRIVER heckles from a passing car.
DRIVER Fuck you!
DONNIE Hey, fuck you!
The Cabbie hangs onto Lefty. Lefty SNAPS off the cab’s ANTENNA, starts to WHIP the Cabbie with it. The Cabbie BITES Lefty. Lefty YELPS, backs off.
ONTHE ACCELERATOR
as the Cabbie SLAMS his foot down. The light turns RED. The cab FISHTAILS through crossing traffic… The Cabbie trembles with fear, looks in his rear-view mirror as he speeds away.
WATCHING HIM
Donnie and Lefty, as DRIVERS in passing cars shoot looks of disapproval their way. Lefty lights a cigarette.
LEFTY These fucking guys. They come to this country, they flaunt the rules of the road. They give the ‘fuck you’ sign to a man in the street…
DONNIE What kind of bullshit is that?
LEFTY Fucking sand nigger. I will never fucking understand it. Why is it always the guy who drives a car for a living is the worst fucking driver there is?
CUT TO:
INT. DAY. RESTAURANT
Donnie sits at a bar with a drink. Lefty listens to the OWNER, toughlooking, 30s, as he WRIGGLES.
LEFTY I just want what’s owed.
OWNER You know, you’re not the only guy’s owed money.
DONNIE You didn’t wanna pay it you shouldn’t’ve borrowed it.
OWNER Who’s this cocksucker?
Like LIGHTNING, Donnie SLAPS the owner hard — forehand, backhand.
GRABS HIS COLLAR
BELTS HIM HARD an uppercut in the solar plexus. The Owner SAGS to his knees.
NAUSEA in waves. Donnie finds the Owner’s WALLET in his jacket pocket. Takes the money from the wallet. Peels off a five, STUFFS it in the Owner’s mouth.
DONNIE That’s for the drink.
CUT TO:
INT. LATER. CADILLAC
CASH as Lefty counts it out. Donnie drives through the Lower East Side WATERFRONT.
LEFTY (scolding) Donnie — why’d you pay for that drink? Wiseguy never pays for a drink.
DONNIE Okay. I didn’t know.
LEFTY Always on the arm. (chuckles) You scared that guy, though, managgia — that cracks me up. I got 26 fucking hits under my belt and you’re the one he’s scared of.
Lefty CATCHES himself — shouldn’t have said that about the hits.
BROODS a beat.
LEFTY Hey, Donnie, pull over.
CUT TO:
INT. LATER. CADILLAC
TOOLS out on the front seat. Lefty UNSCREWS the dashboard. Donnie leans in.
