Five Television Plays (David Mamet) by David Mamet Page B

a.m., Roger Armandale and the traffic report. Thanks for stickin’ with me through the night. If you've been up all night, here is the song for you. For those of you who just got up, here's how the other half lives: the immortal Glenn Miller:
    ( Radio starts playing “Moonlight Serenade.” )
    ( Hand comes into the frame, picks up a clock, it reads 4:45. Sound of a knock on the door. )
    ( Angle: J ABLONSKI, the man in the lumberjack shirt, going to open the back door. H ILL and R ENKO enter. They are dressed in outdoorsy clothes. They come into the kitchen and make themselves comfortable at the kitchen table. )
    R ENKO: Oh yes, oh yes, oh yes.
    H ILL: Gimme some of that coffee . . .
    (J ABLONSKI starts pouring them coffee. )
    J ABLONSKI: How'd you sleep last night?
    H ILL: Not a wink, man, I was up at two, at three . . .
    R ENKO: I couldn't sleep . . . I was up cleaning my gear, packing . . .
    H ILL: . . . where's Henry?
    J ABLONSKI: . . . meeting him at the Stationhouse.
    R ENKO: . . . maan, I'm thinkin’. . . get me out of that car and get me out of that job a minute, get me somewhere where it matters . . .
    H ILL ( gets up, holding his coffeecup, checks his watch ): Come on, we'll take it in the car.
    (R ENKO gets up. J ABLONSKI puts on his coat. They all move toward the door. J ABLONSKI takes several hunting rifles from behind the door, passes them out to his friends. As R ENKO exits he declaims: )
    R ENKO: “My heart's in the highlands. My heart is not here. My heart's in the highlands a chasin’ the deer.”
    ( They exit the kitchen. We hear them faintly, outside, talking. )
    INTERIOR: SQUAD ROOM
    Roll call. L UCY B ATES in charge.
    B ATES: Lieutenant will be posting the duty roster for the next rotation . . . ( checks clipboard ) . . . those of you interested, your requests for overtime . . .
    ( Reaction: "Yeah. What about ‘em . . . ?")
    B ATES: They're in process. Several of them have been submitted for the Pulitzer Prize for Modern Fiction . . . ( Checks list. Holds up a composite drawing. ) White man, early thirties, shoulder-length blond hair, blue windbreaker . . . this is the third armed robbery, a currency exchange,last night. Eighteenth and Promontory. Look for him. White male, one hundred fifty pounds, medium height, shoulder-length blond hair, a blue windbreaker . . . ( She lowers the composite drawing, checks her list. ) Ther'll be a bunch of Boy Scouts in the House today. The Captain's talking to them at eleven hundred hours on “Law Enforcement as a Career.” Anyone who'd like to attend is . . .
    B UNTZ: Law Enforcement as a Hobby . . . ?
    B ATES: In your case I see how that's appropriate, but the Captain's subject will be Law Enforcement as a Career . . .
    (H ENRY G OLDBLUME comes up to the podium, dressed in hunting clothes. He hands a sheaf of papers to B ATES. )
    Thank you, Lieutenant.
    (G OLDBLUME nods, obviously in a hurry. )
    . . . the Captain's looking for you.
    G OLDBLUME: Where is he . . . ?
    B ATES: His office.
    (G OLDBLUME nods, hurries off B ATES checks her clipboard. )
    I would like you all to read and pay attention to the recommendations regarding the carrying of a second or back-up gun. The registration and permission must be in your file. The registration and permission must be in your file, and you must qualify with this gun as well as your service revolver at the range. We recommend the back-up gun and we recommend practice; the life you save may be your own. Any questions?
    B ELKER: Why is Lieutenant Goldblume going undercover?
    B ATES: The Lieutenant is not going undercover. For those of you who've kept pace with developments in your community, the Lieutenant and several of your colleagues are going out to kill Bambi. They are going hunting. They are going out to slaughter poor defenseless creatures . . .
    B UNTZ: . . . if you can eat it, you can kill it.
    B ATES: Officer Buntz can keep the details of his personal life to himself . . . ( checks clipboard ) . . . alright . . .