Gun (1997): Season 1, Episode 6 - Father John - full transcript
(rock music)
(rock music continues)
(rock music continues)
John: There's only one thing
that could bring me back
from Sacramento to LA.
I grew up here.
Left as soon as I could
and never looked back
except to visit Uncle John.
This would be my last visit.
It would leave me to
the search of a lifetime
and I would end up writing
the story of a lifetime.
Father Santos: Hello, John.
Father Felix Santos.
John: Oh, please to meet you,
Father,
although under
the circumstances,
I'd rather we were
still strangers.
Father Santos: Your Uncle
John left some things for you.
They're all at the rectory.
You're more than welcome
to follow me back
and would love to have you
stay for dinner if you'd like.
John: I'll just
grab them and go.
Father Santos: I
read your column.
John: Down here?
Father Santos: Yes (chuckles).
Father John would rush down
the newsstand every week
and pick it up.
John: It was sudden?
Father Santos: Peaceful.
He was very fortunate.
Gloria walked in, he was-
John: Gloria?
Father Santos: Our housekeeper.
She's taking it very hard.
Of course, we all have.
He's a wonderful man.
We're going to miss him.
John: Yeah, he was the
most generous man I know.
(serene music)
(serene music)
(John as a little boy laughing)
GABRIELLA
(metal box clanks)
(lively rock music)
(rock music continues)
GUN
HOUSE OF CARDS CASINO
FATHER JOHN
Father Santos: John, we
have some tea for you.
(teacups clang)
(foreign language)
Gloria: (foreign language)
Father Santos:
(foreign language)
Have a little tea.
John: What's wrong with her?
Father Santos: She was startled
with Father John's coat.
She thought she
was seeing a ghost.
Yeah, I'm sorry.
I just remembered him
wearing it when I was a boy.
Father Santos: Don't apologize
everything in here is yours.
You sure you're doing okay?
John: He was just the...
...one man in my life,
I could really believe in.
Father Santos: This
shouldn't change that John.
John: No, it shouldn't.
Maybe it was my
business, maybe it wasn't
that the man who shaped
my life might be involved
in something sleazy.
At right or wrong, I made it
my business to find out what.
I had a gun, $50,000, AA coins
and three names on
a casino envelope.
Not a lot to go on but enough
to start opening doors.
Valet guy: Here you go, sir.
John: I'd like to
see the manager.
Assistant: And you are?
John: John Farragut,
I'm a columnist
with the Sacramento
Times Journal.
Assistant: Oh, are
you here with an article?
Innez: We love the press.
Mr. Farragut, welcome.
Please come in.
The more press, the more
visitors, please come on.
As you can see, we have
a first class operation here
and we would love to
have the word out.
After all, we are the best
kept secret in California,
gambling in Los Angeles.
John: Mr. Innez, I'm here
to find out about someone
and I'd like to run
three names by you.
Now, they're just first names
but any information you
have would be helpful.
Innez: Sure, first names,
please take a shot.
John: Does the name Gabriella
mean anything to you?
Innez: Gabriella...
No.
John: Tick?
Innez: Tick?
That's a name?
John: (chuckles)
Well, I guess so.
Innez: No, and?
John: And Marti?
Innez: Marti.
Now, wait a second,
what kind of crap
are you pulling here?
John: I'm just
trying to find out-
Innez: There's no connection,
no connection whatever
between that whore and
the House of Cards.
As soon as I learned
what she had going,
she was out.
Faster than you
can bat an eyelash
and the police investigation
bears that out.
In fact, we have a great
relationship with law enforcers,
so if you're trying to make
some story out of old business,
please don't.
John: I'm just
trying to find her.
Innez: Walker?
Walker: Yeah, boss?
Innez: What happened
to that whore
that we threw out of here?
Walker: I don't know.
Oh wait, one of
the girls told me,
she opened an oriental
massage parlor
on Imperial near LAX.
Innez: There you go.
John: She's oriental?
Innez: No, she's not oriental
and she's no masseuse
either, please.
Now, for a reporter
you haven't been
around the block too many times.
Look, if you find her,
do not bring House
of Cards into this.
We are a clean operation.
Any sniff of this crap tends
to stick to places like ours.
John: Don't worry.
Innez: I have been very
nice to you Mr. Farragut.
I don't want this thing to
turn around and bite me, please.
(people talking in
foreign language)
Marti: Yup?
John: I'm looking for Marti.
Marti: Ha, who is it?
John: A friend.
Marti: What's your name, friend?
John: John Farragut.
Marti: (chuckles) Really?
That's some name.
It's Farragut like the admiral.
Marti: The admirable
admiral, hmm?
What can I do for you, sailor?
John: I take that you're Marti.
Marti: You take it correct.
John: I found your name
on a piece of paper
that belonged to my uncle.
I'm trying to piece
together what happened.
Marti: Why?
John: He's dead.
Marti: Hey, we're not mixed
up with anything like that.
I mean, I don't even
know any dead people.
John: I know how he died.
I'm trying to figure
out how he lived.
Any priest ever come here?
Marti: Priests,
cops, politicians.
There are no surprises
in this business.
Everyone needs therapy
once in a while.
John: Would you look
at a photo for me?
Marti: Oh, god, the dead guy?
John: No, alive.
Marti: Are you a cop?
John: A nephew.
Marti: Hmm, but listen honey,
I don't care who he is.
God made us what we
are, so where's the sin?
John: Know him?
Marti: No.
No, I don't know.
He just, for a second there,
he looked like someone
that I knew.
Listen, I gotta go.
I have a house full
of clients, okay?
John: Who's Tick?
Marti: No one.
(sighs)
I don't know.
John: What is it?
No one or I don't know?
Marti: I don't have
to answer you, okay?
I think it's better if you go
for your own sake, all right?
John: Who's Gabriella?
Tick: (foreign language)
What's the problem here?
Marti: (foreign language)
He's just on his
way, aren't you?
Tick: (foreign language)
(foreign language)
Go get the money!
Marti: Hey!
Hey, you owe me some money!
John: What?
Marti: Just get your wallet
out and give us some money.
Just whatever, just do
it and listen to me.
(breathes heavily)
Your uncle's dead and
Gabby's dead, okay?
She worked for me but
then she became his girl.
That's all you need to know.
It's history.
Let the sleeping dogs lie.
John: If the life
of my role model,
my father figure, my savior
is reduced to nothing more
than a sleeping dog,
one that packs a gun,
where does that leave me?
(knocking on door)
Joyce: John.
John: Sorry, it's so late.
Joyce: About five years late.
John: And I need to talk.
Joyce: You drove
six hours to talk?
John: Uncle John died.
Joyce: I know.
I saw the obit.
John: Well, I didn't
see you at the funeral.
Joyce: Well, he's not
my uncle anymore, is he?
John: You could have
paid your respects.
He loved you.
Joyce: Did you come
here to criticize me?
John: No, I'm just saying-
Joyce: Well, just stop.
I wanted to come but I
knew that you'd be there
and that it would be
difficult for you.
John: I know.
Oh. (cries)
I'm going to miss him.
Joyce: I'm sorry.
John: $50,000.
He took a vow of poverty.
Joyce: Not to mention chastity.
John: Yeah, I mean he's
a little wild before
but...
he became a priest.
Joyce: Yeah, I gotta admit, it
doesn't paint a pretty picture.
John: And the AA?
Joyce: Hey, you should be
proud of him for getting sober.
John: No,
I didn't know he's a drunk.
Joyce: Well, maybe that's
because you couldn't see
the forest for the trees.
John: I've been sober two years.
Joyce: Sorry.
John: Things don't
change much, do they?
Joyce: I said, I'm sorry.
John: Two years, I've been back
at the paper for two years.
I've got it all
straightened out, Joyce!
Believe me!
Joyce: I believe you.
I'm sorry.
John: Oh, I gotta
get out of here.
Joyce: Things really
don't change, do they?
I mean the minute you start
to connect with someone
then you're gone.
You still can't stand
a confrontation.
John: What are
you talking about?
That's all I do, is confront!
John Farragut, me,
shock columnist!
Joyce: Sitting in a dark
office, lobbing potshots
at important people
is not confronting.
In fact, it's pure
disengagement.
John: (laughs) Disengagement
now, don't patronize me
with your psychobabble.
Joyce: John, my life
was tranquil
until about an hour ago.
I was going to bed.
I have a plane to
catch in the morning.
John: You call
this tranquil, mm?
I call it anesthetized.
Joyce: Why did you
come here anyway?
John: I don't know.
You're the psychologist,
tell me.
(calm rock music)
(calm rock music)
Bartender: What'll it be?
Look just signal
when you're ready,
I'm kinda busy.
(things breaking)
John: I'm ready.
Tonic.
Bartender: With?
John: With...
a little ice.
(calm rock music)
(calm rock music)
(uneasy music)
(uneasy music)
(grunts)
(gun clicks)
Tick: Where's the bitch, John?
John: What bitch?
Tick: You know,
the Gabriella bitch?
John: She's dead.
Tick: Yeah, says who?
John: That's what I heard.
Tick: What have we got here?
This money looks familiar.
Oh, dead, huh?
(grunts)
John: Who the hell are you?
Are you Tick?
(groans)
Tick: (chuckles)
John: "Let sleeping
dogs lie," she said.
She might have added,
"Lie down with dogs,
"get up with fleas."
It was easy
to make the assumption
that this flea is Tick
who wanted me dead
might be dead.
No, he wanted answers.
But that makes two of us.
Gloria: (foreign language)
John: Where's Father Santos?
Gloria: (foreign language)
John: Yeah, yeah, well, I'll
wait in Father John's room.
Tick: Right.
Gloria: (gasps in shock)
(fast-paced music)
(fast-paced music)
Man: Hey!
Father Santos: Holy Mary, Mother
of God, pray for us sinners
sinners now and at the
hour of our death, amen.
Good morning.
John: I don't know what
the hell is going on.
Father Santos: The
traditional dialogue is,
"Bless me father
for I have sinned."
John: I'm not here for
my confession, father.
I found a loaded 45
semi-automatic and $50,000
in Father John's room yesterday
and there's a
whole lot of people
who don't seem to
know what's going on.
Father Santos: What people?
John: Excuse me.
Father Santos: For god's sake,
who have you been asking?
John?
John!
John!
(lively rock music)
John: Hey, Gloria!
She's the white rabbit.
Gloria, for god's sake, wait!
Hey, what are you
so panicked about, huh?
What do you know
about Father John?
Gloria: (grunts)
John: What do you
know about this?
Father Santos: What is
the matter with you?
John: I want some answers here.
Father Santos: Put that away
before somebody gets hurt.
Gloria: (screams)
Father Santos: Run!
(gunshots)
Father Santos: (grunts)
Gloria: No!
Padre, no!
Padre!
Padre, no!
Father Santos: Go!
No!
(screams)
John: Father Santos
had been shot!
Call 911!
Call the police!
(fast-paced music)
(fast-paced music)
Gloria: Go, go please!
(fast-paced music)
John: Stop the bus!
Stop the bus!
Hold it!
Gloria: (foreign language)
(screams)
John: It's okay, okay.
John: I'm calling the police.
Gloria: (foreign language)
John: Are you kidding?
They're trying to kill us.
Gloria: (foreign language)
John: Father Santos
has been shot.
Gloria: (foreign language)
(bell tolls)
John: Thank you Joyce.
Joyce: My pleasure, John.
John: This is Gloria.
Uncle John's housekeeper.
She doesn't speak English.
Joyce: I got a plane to catch.
What is going on, John?
John: People are shooting at me.
That's what's going on.
Joyce: Oh my god, did
you call the police?
Gloria: (foreign language)
John: It's her mantra.
It's that Tick guy, he
mugged me last night too.
Joyce: You were mugged.
John: He was looking
for Gabriella.
Joyce: The Gabriella you
told me who was dead?
John: She's Gabriella.
You're Gabriela.
Gloria: No.
John: Yes.
He wasn't shooting at me.
He was shooting at you!
Gloria: (foreign language)
John: Boo!
You're Gabriella!
Gloria: (foreign language)
John: She's Uncle
John's girlfriend.
You're his private little whore!
Gloria: (grunts)
Joyce: So much for no English.
John: We better
go to your house.
John: 11829 Beverly Terrace.
Yeah, we'll be there.
And keep your sirens off.
So long.
Joyce: Are you sure you
don't need me to stay?
John: Yeah, it's over now.
Joyce: You haven't had
a drink in two years.
John: You better get going.
You're going to miss that plane.
Joyce: You need to
keep a clear head.
Good luck.
Lock the door behind me.
(door closing)
John: Good luck.
Yeah, I think I'm
due for some of that.
In the last 24 hours,
I buried my uncle,
my savior and father figure,
been mugged, robbed, shot at,
visited my ex-wife twice.
I sit in her house
with my uncle's whore
sleeping on the couch.
I said I was sober.
Well, I'm not dead.
(sighs)
You got my drink.
Por favor.
Give me, Gabriella.
That is your name, isn't it?
Gloria: Don't.
He was my savior too.
I'm obligated to return
the favor if I can.
John: Well, you
better return it quick
because the police are
coming here any minute.
No, you're not running
again, you hear?
What is it with you
and Father John?
Gabriella, what?!
Gloria: He saved me, damn you!
From Innez,
from the police, from drugs.
I was saved until
you came along.
Now, they're going to find me
and they're going to kill me.
John: (whispers) Come on.
Cop 1: Check the front.
Cop 2: I'm going back.
John: Why would cops hurt you?
Gloria: Innez will find out.
John: Who the hell is Innez?
Gloria: He owns
the House of Cards
where I was
a chicken, a whore,
a child whore.
John: Surely, the cops
would protect you.
Gloria: Innez is
friends with cops.
They would come there
and they would have me.
I was a child.
(menacing music)
(door closing)
(door opening)
Cop 1: I got something.
Cop 2: What is it?
Cop 1: It's an opened
bottle of vodka.
Cop 2: Someone was here.
Cop 1: Yeah.
John: How old are you?
Gloria: 23.
I was 15 when...
John: This Tick, does
he work for Innez?
Gloria: Yes.
Tick and Marti.
John: Why do they
want to kill you?
Why?
Gloria: I just can't tell you.
Is it enough to say
that I confessed?
And Father John knew.
He forgave me.
Can you have faith in Him?
John: We better get out of here.
(fast-paced music)
(menacing music)
John: She asked me to have
faith and forgiveness,
cornerstones of the Church.
Here's the take of
this lapse Catholic.
One man risks everything
trying to save a life,
a second revering the first,
destroys everything
that first worked for.
One is a savior,
the other a destroyer.
One worked from hope,
the other from cynicism.
One affirms, the other denies.
The greater is dead
while the lesser survives.
What was my uncle
doing with a gun?
Gloria: It was mine.
I stole it from Innez
when I ran away.
John: And the money?
Gloria: It was with the gun.
I earned it.
I needed it to run away.
But I went to
Father John instead.
I got saved.
This is not a sin.
God made us this way.
So, where's the sin?
What's wrong?
John: That's what she said.
Gloria: Who?
John: Marti.
Gloria: (scoffs) Marti.
John: She said
you were his girl.
Gloria: He's not like that.
He never touched me!
John: Marti recognized
Father John's picture
and she said you were dead.
Now, why would she say that
unless she's protecting you?
Gloria: Where are you going?
John: I gotta go
get some answers.
Don't leave until I get back.
(doors closing)
Let's talk.
Marti: I'm here
to see a customer.
John: You're looking at him.
Marti: I told you to
leave things alone.
Now, look what's happening.
John: What is it, huh?
Marti: No.
John: No, all I know
is I'm dodging bullets
from your friend, Tick.
Marti: Listen, I can't
talk to you now.
John: Hey, listen!
You care, you never
would have warned me.
I saw it.
Marti: (scoffs)
You saw fear, sailor.
You have no idea
what you're into.
John: Tell me.
Marti: Tell you what?
John: Everything you
can Innez, anything,
enough so I can protect her.
It won't come back
to you, I swear.
Marti: Oh, are you kidding?
It will come back to me
even if I don't send for it.
John: Help her.
Marti: What's in it for me?
John: Your soul.
Marti: (scoffs)
My soul?
I sold that a long
time ago, sailor
along with everything else.
John: No, you haven't.
You would have given
up Gabriella by now.
Your soul clings to
the fleeting hope
that maybe you
helped one get away.
You changed your hair.
Gloria!
Gloria!
(menacing music)
(rock music)
If they've taken the girl,
they'd be after me next.
There's only one way not
to be taken by surprise.
I know one way to
get Gabriella back.
(lively rock music)
Where's the girl?
Innez: Hello, John.
John: Gloria, Gabriella,
whatever her name is.
Innez: Very good question.
John: It's possible you don't
know but your friend, Tick.
That is a name.
Does know.
I know all about you
and Tick
and Marti.
And every other hooker
and pimp and chicken
you run out of here.
You've got your money.
Innez: You talk too much.
John: No, I don't.
In fact, you're going to be
thankful that I'm talking.
Because when I'm not
talking, I'm writing.
That could be very
unhealthy for you.
Don't.
Innez: Where the hell
did you get that?
John: Get away from the desk.
Innez: You'll never
get out of here.
John: (scoffs) Well, that
could also be very unhealthy
because the entire
story of your operation,
including the ties of
yourself to the board of mafia
has been written up
from a syndicated cop.
John Farragut, shock columnist.
It has been sealed and sent
to my attorneys and editors
with instructions to open
and publish at my request
or in the event of my
demise, disappearance
or even accidental death.
That goes for Gabriella too.
So, you better get on the phone,
quick.
Innez: You expect
people to believe that?
John: Well, I may not
have enough to send you
to the gas chamber Mr. Innez
I do have enough to crucify you.
Innez: Who's going to keep
you from printing it anyway?
John: Well, then you
wouldn't have any incentive
to watch out for us.
(chuckles)
I kinda like the idea of you
praying for us day and night.
Where is she?
You find her.
You find her alive.
You have 24 hours.
Innez: She killed my nephew.
Killed him in his own bed
with that gun.
His gun.
She stole our money.
And she should live?
John: Did he ever touch her?
Did he ever put a hand on her?
Innez: She's a whore
for god's sake.
Mexican whore.
John: She was a woman.
She was a child.
She better be alive.
I figured if I made
it out the front door
I'd make it all the way.
I didn't hold that much
hope for Gabriela though.
(rock music and distant laughs)
(louder rock music)
(serene music)
(serene music continues)
Forgive me father
for my lack of faith
in you,
in John
and the Church.
Father Santos: The faith
of every person has to
be tested, John.
Characters reveal
them the test results.
(laughs)
John: Then I have failed.
Father Santos: No, you haven't.
You were searching.
Searching for the truth and
that could never be bad.
John: That's what
I used to think.
Truth is beauty, beauty, truth.
He is the free man whom
the truth makes free.
Now, I have known other people
who have committed the
darkest crimes one can commit
and I can't reveal it.
How do I live with that?
Father Santos: Now, you
really stepped in the shoes
of Father John.
A priest learns terrible
secrets in confession.
It's one of the most austere
responsibilities we have
because we may reveal nothing
not matter how heinous
or dangerous.
I cannot condone a lay person
not reporting information
to the police,
nor can I be a hypocrite.
Maybe you can take
comfort in figuring
that there's a priest
out there somewhere
who's heard the same
information that you have
and too has obligations
and people to protect.
John, there's one more favor
that you have to
do for Father John.
John: (chuckles) I don't
think I can handle that.
He has much broader shoulders.
Father Santos: He's not a saint.
He was a sinner.
John: (chuckles) I did know
him before he became a priest,
how's that?
Father Santos: He needs
forgiveness, John.
John: Something he
confessed to you?
Father Santos: Mm-hmm.
John: Why, he's
forgiven then, right?
Isn't that the deal?
Father Santos:
In the eyes of the Lord.
John: What else matters?
He didn't say why but he told
me to check out some records.
Some birth records.
(serene music)
We are cautioned not
to deal in stereotypes.
Stereotypes derive from an
observation of the people
over a period of time.
I don't deny their
validity as an observation
but the danger in the
stereotyping is applying it
to any individual.
I was raised to believe priests
and cops were infallible.
Not true.
But these days, people
now think the opposite
and that certainly
isn't true either.
I momentarily bought it
with that myth as well.
Father John was not infallible.
He's a good priest.
And a good man.
And he was a father.
He was the father I'd
always wish I've had
and the irony is, I had.
Consider this the most important
article I will ever write.
Triggered by a gun, sex,
death, corruption, religion,
truth, deception,
faith, honor and love.
All the ingredients for
a big story, my biggest,
lives depend on it.
It will never be printed.
I call it,
an article of faith.
(lively rock music)
(rock music continues)
(rock music continues)
John: There's only one thing
that could bring me back
from Sacramento to LA.
I grew up here.
Left as soon as I could
and never looked back
except to visit Uncle John.
This would be my last visit.
It would leave me to
the search of a lifetime
and I would end up writing
the story of a lifetime.
Father Santos: Hello, John.
Father Felix Santos.
John: Oh, please to meet you,
Father,
although under
the circumstances,
I'd rather we were
still strangers.
Father Santos: Your Uncle
John left some things for you.
They're all at the rectory.
You're more than welcome
to follow me back
and would love to have you
stay for dinner if you'd like.
John: I'll just
grab them and go.
Father Santos: I
read your column.
John: Down here?
Father Santos: Yes (chuckles).
Father John would rush down
the newsstand every week
and pick it up.
John: It was sudden?
Father Santos: Peaceful.
He was very fortunate.
Gloria walked in, he was-
John: Gloria?
Father Santos: Our housekeeper.
She's taking it very hard.
Of course, we all have.
He's a wonderful man.
We're going to miss him.
John: Yeah, he was the
most generous man I know.
(serene music)
(serene music)
(John as a little boy laughing)
GABRIELLA
(metal box clanks)
(lively rock music)
(rock music continues)
GUN
HOUSE OF CARDS CASINO
FATHER JOHN
Father Santos: John, we
have some tea for you.
(teacups clang)
(foreign language)
Gloria: (foreign language)
Father Santos:
(foreign language)
Have a little tea.
John: What's wrong with her?
Father Santos: She was startled
with Father John's coat.
She thought she
was seeing a ghost.
Yeah, I'm sorry.
I just remembered him
wearing it when I was a boy.
Father Santos: Don't apologize
everything in here is yours.
You sure you're doing okay?
John: He was just the...
...one man in my life,
I could really believe in.
Father Santos: This
shouldn't change that John.
John: No, it shouldn't.
Maybe it was my
business, maybe it wasn't
that the man who shaped
my life might be involved
in something sleazy.
At right or wrong, I made it
my business to find out what.
I had a gun, $50,000, AA coins
and three names on
a casino envelope.
Not a lot to go on but enough
to start opening doors.
Valet guy: Here you go, sir.
John: I'd like to
see the manager.
Assistant: And you are?
John: John Farragut,
I'm a columnist
with the Sacramento
Times Journal.
Assistant: Oh, are
you here with an article?
Innez: We love the press.
Mr. Farragut, welcome.
Please come in.
The more press, the more
visitors, please come on.
As you can see, we have
a first class operation here
and we would love to
have the word out.
After all, we are the best
kept secret in California,
gambling in Los Angeles.
John: Mr. Innez, I'm here
to find out about someone
and I'd like to run
three names by you.
Now, they're just first names
but any information you
have would be helpful.
Innez: Sure, first names,
please take a shot.
John: Does the name Gabriella
mean anything to you?
Innez: Gabriella...
No.
John: Tick?
Innez: Tick?
That's a name?
John: (chuckles)
Well, I guess so.
Innez: No, and?
John: And Marti?
Innez: Marti.
Now, wait a second,
what kind of crap
are you pulling here?
John: I'm just
trying to find out-
Innez: There's no connection,
no connection whatever
between that whore and
the House of Cards.
As soon as I learned
what she had going,
she was out.
Faster than you
can bat an eyelash
and the police investigation
bears that out.
In fact, we have a great
relationship with law enforcers,
so if you're trying to make
some story out of old business,
please don't.
John: I'm just
trying to find her.
Innez: Walker?
Walker: Yeah, boss?
Innez: What happened
to that whore
that we threw out of here?
Walker: I don't know.
Oh wait, one of
the girls told me,
she opened an oriental
massage parlor
on Imperial near LAX.
Innez: There you go.
John: She's oriental?
Innez: No, she's not oriental
and she's no masseuse
either, please.
Now, for a reporter
you haven't been
around the block too many times.
Look, if you find her,
do not bring House
of Cards into this.
We are a clean operation.
Any sniff of this crap tends
to stick to places like ours.
John: Don't worry.
Innez: I have been very
nice to you Mr. Farragut.
I don't want this thing to
turn around and bite me, please.
(people talking in
foreign language)
Marti: Yup?
John: I'm looking for Marti.
Marti: Ha, who is it?
John: A friend.
Marti: What's your name, friend?
John: John Farragut.
Marti: (chuckles) Really?
That's some name.
It's Farragut like the admiral.
Marti: The admirable
admiral, hmm?
What can I do for you, sailor?
John: I take that you're Marti.
Marti: You take it correct.
John: I found your name
on a piece of paper
that belonged to my uncle.
I'm trying to piece
together what happened.
Marti: Why?
John: He's dead.
Marti: Hey, we're not mixed
up with anything like that.
I mean, I don't even
know any dead people.
John: I know how he died.
I'm trying to figure
out how he lived.
Any priest ever come here?
Marti: Priests,
cops, politicians.
There are no surprises
in this business.
Everyone needs therapy
once in a while.
John: Would you look
at a photo for me?
Marti: Oh, god, the dead guy?
John: No, alive.
Marti: Are you a cop?
John: A nephew.
Marti: Hmm, but listen honey,
I don't care who he is.
God made us what we
are, so where's the sin?
John: Know him?
Marti: No.
No, I don't know.
He just, for a second there,
he looked like someone
that I knew.
Listen, I gotta go.
I have a house full
of clients, okay?
John: Who's Tick?
Marti: No one.
(sighs)
I don't know.
John: What is it?
No one or I don't know?
Marti: I don't have
to answer you, okay?
I think it's better if you go
for your own sake, all right?
John: Who's Gabriella?
Tick: (foreign language)
What's the problem here?
Marti: (foreign language)
He's just on his
way, aren't you?
Tick: (foreign language)
(foreign language)
Go get the money!
Marti: Hey!
Hey, you owe me some money!
John: What?
Marti: Just get your wallet
out and give us some money.
Just whatever, just do
it and listen to me.
(breathes heavily)
Your uncle's dead and
Gabby's dead, okay?
She worked for me but
then she became his girl.
That's all you need to know.
It's history.
Let the sleeping dogs lie.
John: If the life
of my role model,
my father figure, my savior
is reduced to nothing more
than a sleeping dog,
one that packs a gun,
where does that leave me?
(knocking on door)
Joyce: John.
John: Sorry, it's so late.
Joyce: About five years late.
John: And I need to talk.
Joyce: You drove
six hours to talk?
John: Uncle John died.
Joyce: I know.
I saw the obit.
John: Well, I didn't
see you at the funeral.
Joyce: Well, he's not
my uncle anymore, is he?
John: You could have
paid your respects.
He loved you.
Joyce: Did you come
here to criticize me?
John: No, I'm just saying-
Joyce: Well, just stop.
I wanted to come but I
knew that you'd be there
and that it would be
difficult for you.
John: I know.
Oh. (cries)
I'm going to miss him.
Joyce: I'm sorry.
John: $50,000.
He took a vow of poverty.
Joyce: Not to mention chastity.
John: Yeah, I mean he's
a little wild before
but...
he became a priest.
Joyce: Yeah, I gotta admit, it
doesn't paint a pretty picture.
John: And the AA?
Joyce: Hey, you should be
proud of him for getting sober.
John: No,
I didn't know he's a drunk.
Joyce: Well, maybe that's
because you couldn't see
the forest for the trees.
John: I've been sober two years.
Joyce: Sorry.
John: Things don't
change much, do they?
Joyce: I said, I'm sorry.
John: Two years, I've been back
at the paper for two years.
I've got it all
straightened out, Joyce!
Believe me!
Joyce: I believe you.
I'm sorry.
John: Oh, I gotta
get out of here.
Joyce: Things really
don't change, do they?
I mean the minute you start
to connect with someone
then you're gone.
You still can't stand
a confrontation.
John: What are
you talking about?
That's all I do, is confront!
John Farragut, me,
shock columnist!
Joyce: Sitting in a dark
office, lobbing potshots
at important people
is not confronting.
In fact, it's pure
disengagement.
John: (laughs) Disengagement
now, don't patronize me
with your psychobabble.
Joyce: John, my life
was tranquil
until about an hour ago.
I was going to bed.
I have a plane to
catch in the morning.
John: You call
this tranquil, mm?
I call it anesthetized.
Joyce: Why did you
come here anyway?
John: I don't know.
You're the psychologist,
tell me.
(calm rock music)
(calm rock music)
Bartender: What'll it be?
Look just signal
when you're ready,
I'm kinda busy.
(things breaking)
John: I'm ready.
Tonic.
Bartender: With?
John: With...
a little ice.
(calm rock music)
(calm rock music)
(uneasy music)
(uneasy music)
(grunts)
(gun clicks)
Tick: Where's the bitch, John?
John: What bitch?
Tick: You know,
the Gabriella bitch?
John: She's dead.
Tick: Yeah, says who?
John: That's what I heard.
Tick: What have we got here?
This money looks familiar.
Oh, dead, huh?
(grunts)
John: Who the hell are you?
Are you Tick?
(groans)
Tick: (chuckles)
John: "Let sleeping
dogs lie," she said.
She might have added,
"Lie down with dogs,
"get up with fleas."
It was easy
to make the assumption
that this flea is Tick
who wanted me dead
might be dead.
No, he wanted answers.
But that makes two of us.
Gloria: (foreign language)
John: Where's Father Santos?
Gloria: (foreign language)
John: Yeah, yeah, well, I'll
wait in Father John's room.
Tick: Right.
Gloria: (gasps in shock)
(fast-paced music)
(fast-paced music)
Man: Hey!
Father Santos: Holy Mary, Mother
of God, pray for us sinners
sinners now and at the
hour of our death, amen.
Good morning.
John: I don't know what
the hell is going on.
Father Santos: The
traditional dialogue is,
"Bless me father
for I have sinned."
John: I'm not here for
my confession, father.
I found a loaded 45
semi-automatic and $50,000
in Father John's room yesterday
and there's a
whole lot of people
who don't seem to
know what's going on.
Father Santos: What people?
John: Excuse me.
Father Santos: For god's sake,
who have you been asking?
John?
John!
John!
(lively rock music)
John: Hey, Gloria!
She's the white rabbit.
Gloria, for god's sake, wait!
Hey, what are you
so panicked about, huh?
What do you know
about Father John?
Gloria: (grunts)
John: What do you
know about this?
Father Santos: What is
the matter with you?
John: I want some answers here.
Father Santos: Put that away
before somebody gets hurt.
Gloria: (screams)
Father Santos: Run!
(gunshots)
Father Santos: (grunts)
Gloria: No!
Padre, no!
Padre!
Padre, no!
Father Santos: Go!
No!
(screams)
John: Father Santos
had been shot!
Call 911!
Call the police!
(fast-paced music)
(fast-paced music)
Gloria: Go, go please!
(fast-paced music)
John: Stop the bus!
Stop the bus!
Hold it!
Gloria: (foreign language)
(screams)
John: It's okay, okay.
John: I'm calling the police.
Gloria: (foreign language)
John: Are you kidding?
They're trying to kill us.
Gloria: (foreign language)
John: Father Santos
has been shot.
Gloria: (foreign language)
(bell tolls)
John: Thank you Joyce.
Joyce: My pleasure, John.
John: This is Gloria.
Uncle John's housekeeper.
She doesn't speak English.
Joyce: I got a plane to catch.
What is going on, John?
John: People are shooting at me.
That's what's going on.
Joyce: Oh my god, did
you call the police?
Gloria: (foreign language)
John: It's her mantra.
It's that Tick guy, he
mugged me last night too.
Joyce: You were mugged.
John: He was looking
for Gabriella.
Joyce: The Gabriella you
told me who was dead?
John: She's Gabriella.
You're Gabriela.
Gloria: No.
John: Yes.
He wasn't shooting at me.
He was shooting at you!
Gloria: (foreign language)
John: Boo!
You're Gabriella!
Gloria: (foreign language)
John: She's Uncle
John's girlfriend.
You're his private little whore!
Gloria: (grunts)
Joyce: So much for no English.
John: We better
go to your house.
John: 11829 Beverly Terrace.
Yeah, we'll be there.
And keep your sirens off.
So long.
Joyce: Are you sure you
don't need me to stay?
John: Yeah, it's over now.
Joyce: You haven't had
a drink in two years.
John: You better get going.
You're going to miss that plane.
Joyce: You need to
keep a clear head.
Good luck.
Lock the door behind me.
(door closing)
John: Good luck.
Yeah, I think I'm
due for some of that.
In the last 24 hours,
I buried my uncle,
my savior and father figure,
been mugged, robbed, shot at,
visited my ex-wife twice.
I sit in her house
with my uncle's whore
sleeping on the couch.
I said I was sober.
Well, I'm not dead.
(sighs)
You got my drink.
Por favor.
Give me, Gabriella.
That is your name, isn't it?
Gloria: Don't.
He was my savior too.
I'm obligated to return
the favor if I can.
John: Well, you
better return it quick
because the police are
coming here any minute.
No, you're not running
again, you hear?
What is it with you
and Father John?
Gabriella, what?!
Gloria: He saved me, damn you!
From Innez,
from the police, from drugs.
I was saved until
you came along.
Now, they're going to find me
and they're going to kill me.
John: (whispers) Come on.
Cop 1: Check the front.
Cop 2: I'm going back.
John: Why would cops hurt you?
Gloria: Innez will find out.
John: Who the hell is Innez?
Gloria: He owns
the House of Cards
where I was
a chicken, a whore,
a child whore.
John: Surely, the cops
would protect you.
Gloria: Innez is
friends with cops.
They would come there
and they would have me.
I was a child.
(menacing music)
(door closing)
(door opening)
Cop 1: I got something.
Cop 2: What is it?
Cop 1: It's an opened
bottle of vodka.
Cop 2: Someone was here.
Cop 1: Yeah.
John: How old are you?
Gloria: 23.
I was 15 when...
John: This Tick, does
he work for Innez?
Gloria: Yes.
Tick and Marti.
John: Why do they
want to kill you?
Why?
Gloria: I just can't tell you.
Is it enough to say
that I confessed?
And Father John knew.
He forgave me.
Can you have faith in Him?
John: We better get out of here.
(fast-paced music)
(menacing music)
John: She asked me to have
faith and forgiveness,
cornerstones of the Church.
Here's the take of
this lapse Catholic.
One man risks everything
trying to save a life,
a second revering the first,
destroys everything
that first worked for.
One is a savior,
the other a destroyer.
One worked from hope,
the other from cynicism.
One affirms, the other denies.
The greater is dead
while the lesser survives.
What was my uncle
doing with a gun?
Gloria: It was mine.
I stole it from Innez
when I ran away.
John: And the money?
Gloria: It was with the gun.
I earned it.
I needed it to run away.
But I went to
Father John instead.
I got saved.
This is not a sin.
God made us this way.
So, where's the sin?
What's wrong?
John: That's what she said.
Gloria: Who?
John: Marti.
Gloria: (scoffs) Marti.
John: She said
you were his girl.
Gloria: He's not like that.
He never touched me!
John: Marti recognized
Father John's picture
and she said you were dead.
Now, why would she say that
unless she's protecting you?
Gloria: Where are you going?
John: I gotta go
get some answers.
Don't leave until I get back.
(doors closing)
Let's talk.
Marti: I'm here
to see a customer.
John: You're looking at him.
Marti: I told you to
leave things alone.
Now, look what's happening.
John: What is it, huh?
Marti: No.
John: No, all I know
is I'm dodging bullets
from your friend, Tick.
Marti: Listen, I can't
talk to you now.
John: Hey, listen!
You care, you never
would have warned me.
I saw it.
Marti: (scoffs)
You saw fear, sailor.
You have no idea
what you're into.
John: Tell me.
Marti: Tell you what?
John: Everything you
can Innez, anything,
enough so I can protect her.
It won't come back
to you, I swear.
Marti: Oh, are you kidding?
It will come back to me
even if I don't send for it.
John: Help her.
Marti: What's in it for me?
John: Your soul.
Marti: (scoffs)
My soul?
I sold that a long
time ago, sailor
along with everything else.
John: No, you haven't.
You would have given
up Gabriella by now.
Your soul clings to
the fleeting hope
that maybe you
helped one get away.
You changed your hair.
Gloria!
Gloria!
(menacing music)
(rock music)
If they've taken the girl,
they'd be after me next.
There's only one way not
to be taken by surprise.
I know one way to
get Gabriella back.
(lively rock music)
Where's the girl?
Innez: Hello, John.
John: Gloria, Gabriella,
whatever her name is.
Innez: Very good question.
John: It's possible you don't
know but your friend, Tick.
That is a name.
Does know.
I know all about you
and Tick
and Marti.
And every other hooker
and pimp and chicken
you run out of here.
You've got your money.
Innez: You talk too much.
John: No, I don't.
In fact, you're going to be
thankful that I'm talking.
Because when I'm not
talking, I'm writing.
That could be very
unhealthy for you.
Don't.
Innez: Where the hell
did you get that?
John: Get away from the desk.
Innez: You'll never
get out of here.
John: (scoffs) Well, that
could also be very unhealthy
because the entire
story of your operation,
including the ties of
yourself to the board of mafia
has been written up
from a syndicated cop.
John Farragut, shock columnist.
It has been sealed and sent
to my attorneys and editors
with instructions to open
and publish at my request
or in the event of my
demise, disappearance
or even accidental death.
That goes for Gabriella too.
So, you better get on the phone,
quick.
Innez: You expect
people to believe that?
John: Well, I may not
have enough to send you
to the gas chamber Mr. Innez
I do have enough to crucify you.
Innez: Who's going to keep
you from printing it anyway?
John: Well, then you
wouldn't have any incentive
to watch out for us.
(chuckles)
I kinda like the idea of you
praying for us day and night.
Where is she?
You find her.
You find her alive.
You have 24 hours.
Innez: She killed my nephew.
Killed him in his own bed
with that gun.
His gun.
She stole our money.
And she should live?
John: Did he ever touch her?
Did he ever put a hand on her?
Innez: She's a whore
for god's sake.
Mexican whore.
John: She was a woman.
She was a child.
She better be alive.
I figured if I made
it out the front door
I'd make it all the way.
I didn't hold that much
hope for Gabriela though.
(rock music and distant laughs)
(louder rock music)
(serene music)
(serene music continues)
Forgive me father
for my lack of faith
in you,
in John
and the Church.
Father Santos: The faith
of every person has to
be tested, John.
Characters reveal
them the test results.
(laughs)
John: Then I have failed.
Father Santos: No, you haven't.
You were searching.
Searching for the truth and
that could never be bad.
John: That's what
I used to think.
Truth is beauty, beauty, truth.
He is the free man whom
the truth makes free.
Now, I have known other people
who have committed the
darkest crimes one can commit
and I can't reveal it.
How do I live with that?
Father Santos: Now, you
really stepped in the shoes
of Father John.
A priest learns terrible
secrets in confession.
It's one of the most austere
responsibilities we have
because we may reveal nothing
not matter how heinous
or dangerous.
I cannot condone a lay person
not reporting information
to the police,
nor can I be a hypocrite.
Maybe you can take
comfort in figuring
that there's a priest
out there somewhere
who's heard the same
information that you have
and too has obligations
and people to protect.
John, there's one more favor
that you have to
do for Father John.
John: (chuckles) I don't
think I can handle that.
He has much broader shoulders.
Father Santos: He's not a saint.
He was a sinner.
John: (chuckles) I did know
him before he became a priest,
how's that?
Father Santos: He needs
forgiveness, John.
John: Something he
confessed to you?
Father Santos: Mm-hmm.
John: Why, he's
forgiven then, right?
Isn't that the deal?
Father Santos:
In the eyes of the Lord.
John: What else matters?
He didn't say why but he told
me to check out some records.
Some birth records.
(serene music)
We are cautioned not
to deal in stereotypes.
Stereotypes derive from an
observation of the people
over a period of time.
I don't deny their
validity as an observation
but the danger in the
stereotyping is applying it
to any individual.
I was raised to believe priests
and cops were infallible.
Not true.
But these days, people
now think the opposite
and that certainly
isn't true either.
I momentarily bought it
with that myth as well.
Father John was not infallible.
He's a good priest.
And a good man.
And he was a father.
He was the father I'd
always wish I've had
and the irony is, I had.
Consider this the most important
article I will ever write.
Triggered by a gun, sex,
death, corruption, religion,
truth, deception,
faith, honor and love.
All the ingredients for
a big story, my biggest,
lives depend on it.
It will never be printed.
I call it,
an article of faith.
(lively rock music)