EXT. WESTBROOK'S APARTMENT BUILDING - DAY
Children jump double-Dutch. Freeman lethargically opens the front door and enters. The huge ornate door closes.
FADE
INT. WESTBROOK'S PAD - DAY
Order has been restored. Freeman's stuff is piled neatly in a chair, his bed is made.
Westbrook is putting the finishing touches to a thorough reordering of creeping chaos. The mirror is sparkling, reflecting sunlight. The ceramic dish of change is no longer where it was.
FREEMAN
Man, I was gonna get all the stuff together today. Just this morning, I said, man, you gotta...
He stops mid-sentence as Westbrook SLAPS the Downbeat magazines on the table and drops the barbells PLONK in the corner. He calmly pulls a chair and sits directly in front of a gaping Freeman.
WESTBROOK
Freeman, I gotta talk to you, man. This fucking shit of you helping yourself to my tips has got to stop. You dig, man, it has got to come to an end!
FREEMAN
It was just a loan, man, I'll pay you back, with interest too, man, I'll get a job, man, I'll get a job ... I'll ...
WESTBROOK
Don't give me no jive bullshit, Freeman! You can accommodate yourself here. I can give you a place to sleep, I can give you a meal ticket. But, man, I can't provide for you. This is New York. (with compassion) You've got to make it for yourself! (silence.) I gotta go, see you later.
REACTION - Freeman
Dejection, compounded by the day's events. He sinks into the armchair and barely nods as Westbrook says good-bye.
WE HEAR STRAIGHTEN UP AND FLY RIGHT.
EXT. ACME EMPLOYMENT AGENCY BUILDING - DAY
A woman with an ill-tempered child leaves the building under Freeman's uncertain gaze.
He turns to look at the child and enters the building almost backwards.
INT. ACME EMPLOYMENT AGENCY WAITING ROOM - DAY
In the company of TWO BLACK MALES, Freeman thumbs through Life magazine. The younger man scans the bulletin board, covered with descriptions of placements for menial labor.
WE HEAR A WHITE FEMALE THICK BROOKLYN ACCENT summon a "MR MCKNIGHT" to the counter.
The older of the two males rises to the counter.
INT. ACME EMPLOYMENT AGENCY, RECEPTIONIST'S STATION - DAY
RECEPTIONIST
(patronizing)
So, come back next week and I think I'll have something for you.
Mr. McKnight turns and departs.
RECEPTIONIST
(neck craned in direction waiting room)
YOU ARE READING
A Jazzman's Tale
RomanceA Jazzman's Tale is a screenplay memoir of bebop trumpeter and pianist Charles Freeman Lee, who is listed in Leonard Feather's Jazz Encyclopedia, as he tries to make it on trumpet in 1950s New York. He falls in love with another jazzman's wife and...
