Race Read online

  SUSAN: Can’t we ask the client.

  JACK (Shakes his head): No. He’s off the charts.

  SUSAN: I don’t understand.

  HENRY: At this point, he is regressed to the savage. He doesn’t understand his state. He’s never been here before. And he doesn’t like it. No one has said “no” to him. For forty years. His answer now is to be abject For one moment. Those people before whom he feels he has abased himself in that moment, he will, later, turn on.

  SUSAN: That’s why he left Greenstein.

  JACK: We don’t know.

  SUSAN: But . . .

  JACK: Alright . . .

  SUSAN: He came here shopping . . .

  JACK: So?

  SUSAN: “So shouldn’t we bend over backwards?”

  JACK: “To?”

  SUSAN: To “please” him . . . ?

  HENRY: I think that’s what Greenstein did.

  (The phone rings. Jack answers.)

  JACK (To phone): Hello. Kelley? We may have a new client. (Pause) Red sequined dress. (Pause) That’s right. (Pause) No, he left Greenstein. (Pause) Dunno yet. I need: the arrest report. Notes of the first responding officer. The testimony of . . . whoever you can get to on the hotel staff. Well—when will you be back . . . (Pause) Can you blow them off? No, no I need you to do it . . . (Pause; nods) The chambermaid . . . The report, they file a report, the chambermaid. (Pause) Well, where are you . . . ? (Pause) Well, when does it land? Alright. Soon as you can. (Hangs up)

  SUSAN: So: do we take the case?

  JACK: Well, that’s the question.

  SUSAN: Why would we not?

  JACK: ’Cause Nicky Greenstein is not stupid. He is one smart Jew.

  HENRY: He could of bought the girl off, he did not.

  SUSAN: Greenstein would have advised him to buy the girl off?

  JACK: As he walked in the door.

  SUSAN: How do you know he could have bought her off?

  HENRY: Because his purse is basically unlimited.

  SUSAN: What if she wanted something else?

  HENRY: What would that be?

  SUSAN: . . . “contrition.”

  HENRY: How is that usually expressed? . . .

  JACK: He could not or would not have bought the girl off. And he wouldn’t plead. Which is why Greenstein fired him.

  SUSAN: The lawyer fired the client?

  JACK: You bet.

  SUSAN: How do you know?

  JACK: Because he had a loser.

  HENRY (On phone): Mister Greenstein please. Hank Brown . . . ?

  JACK: . . . alright: what do the blacks think?

  SUSAN: You think black people are stupid?

  JACK: I think all people are stupid. I don’t think blacks are exempt . . .

  HENRY (To phone): Thank you. (Shakes his head; hangs up)

  JACK: And I think, you get caught and you want a pass, confess to something else, embarrassing or criminal.

  HENRY: To wit?

  JACK: I dunno. He . . . the girl’s half his age, he . . . well, he’s fucking her . . .

  HENRY: He’s married?

  JACK: Well, yes.

  SUSAN: Why did Greenstein fire him?

  JACK: He’s married to another woman, he’s fucking the black girl...

  HENRY: Alright, that’s the American Way. We understand that, but “the white man ripped my dress off,” now it’s Simon Legree and Topsy.

  JACK: Well. Here’s two questions. One, what does it cost us if we lose? What is the second one?

  SUSAN: What does it cost us if we win?

  JACK: Good for you.

  (Pause.)

  SUSAN: What’s his “Racial History?”

  (Pause.)

  JACK: “Racial History?”

  SUSAN: Yes.

  JACK: What’s the guy’s racial history? To the extent we can we’re going to make it up ’cause otherwise in this office we, speaking for the group, do not give a fuck.

  SUSAN: We don’t?

  JACK: Here’s what it is is, I ran out of whatever it was I need to give a fuck. Other than as it may affect the interests of our client. Which is to say, of my pocketbook. ’Cause. That’s what we, I miss my guess, do for a living. I tried being poor. I didn’t like it. Did you like it? . . .

  HENRY: I didn’t like it either.

  JACK: I gotta talk to Greenstein.

  SUSAN: What do you think happened?

  JACK: What do I think happened?

  SUSAN: In the room.

  JACK: In the hotel room?

  SUSAN: Yeah.

  JACK: How would I know?

  HENRY: What do you think happened?

  JACK: I’ll tell you what I think. I think that women. Just like men. In the main, being self-interested, will exploit every advantage they may have. Chief among theirs, youth and beauty. Just as will men, who possess the advantages of being old and rich.

  SUSAN: And white.

  JACK: You bet. (Picks up newspaper, reads) “He ripped off my new sequined dress. He threw me down upon the bed. And raped me.” (Picks up another newspaper, reads) “Room all askew . . . ” This motherfucker—looks to me like instigating a race riot. H

  ENRY: But note: the order. Putting, to her mind, graver offenses first. “He ripped my dress.”

  SUSAN: She’s a poor girl. She loved the dress. It meant respectability.

  JACK: Is she a poor girl? . . .

  HENRY: If she’s not, she’ll look like one the D.A. puts her on the stand . . .

  SUSAN: “He ripped off my red dress.”

  HENRY: . . . he’ll put her up there in a fucking cotton sack.

  JACK: What did you make of him?

  SUSAN: I thought . . . HENRY: I’ll tell you what I thought.

  SUSAN: No, go ahead.

  JACK: No, you. I want to hear what you think.

  SUSAN: I thought. Here’s a fellow, “charismatic,” as they say . . .

  JACK: . . . charismatic . . .

  SUSAN: . . . part of his charisma is his reticence.

  HENRY: . . . oh my.

  SUSAN: Which we may interpret as reserve, or manners.

  HENRY: Or standoffishness.

  JACK: Which is to say “money.”

  SUSAN: Or, yes, or we might say “intelligence”? Or quote “natural grace,” because nobody’s going to come out and admit that they’re awed by his money.

  HENRY: Well, yeah. But that’s the problem with the jury.

  SUSAN: Which is?

  HENRY: Whatever he did, they’re going to hate him.

  SUSAN: Sure.

  HENRY: Sure why? Because he’s white?

  SUSAN: You bet.

  HENRY: Well—that’s the face of the case you can’t change.

  JACK: He flirt with you? He flirted with you, didn’t he?

  SUSAN: Did he flirt with me, I suppose he did.

  HENRY: What’d he do?

  SUSAN: He, I don’t know . . .

  HENRY: Oh, yes, the little ways “women ‘just know’ when a man is interested in her . . .”

  SUSAN: That’s right.

  HENRY: And was he interested in you?

  SUSAN: He flirted with me.

  HENRY: Yes, deniably.

  SUSAN: Well, that’s the essence of the act.

  (Pause.)

  JACK: And so your first impression was . . . ?

  SUSAN: I disliked him.

  HENRY: Why?

  SUSAN: He has a wedding ring.

  JACK: That make him guilty of rape?

  SUSAN: I think he is guilty.

  HENRY: You know that he raped the girl?

  SUSAN: He acts guilty.

  JACK: How does a guilty man act?

  HENRY (To Susan): Get Kelley’s office. Get his guy on the phone, you have the list.

  (Susan starts to exit.)

  JACK (To Henry): Hold on. (To Susan) How does a guilty man act? (To Henry) Hank, what’s he doing out there? He got his head in his hands or is he puffing up all righteous?

  HENRY: Well let’s go see
.

  (Henry exits.)

  JACK (To Susan): How does a guilty man act?

  SUSAN: In this instance?

  JACK: Yes.

  SUSAN: Accused of raping a black woman, he encounters a black woman, who knows of the accusation. Who is there to defend him, and he flirts with her. What is that?

  JACK: You tell me.

  SUSAN: A desire for punishment. He wants to be punished.

  JACK: Why?

  SUSAN: To be readmitted to the group.

  JACK: Why has he been expelled?

  SUSAN: Because he’s guilty.

  JACK: Of rape?

  SUSAN: Independent of rape.

  JACK: What’s he guilty of?

  SUSAN: In effect: the norm which he has violated is: he has been caught in the appearance of a Racial Impropriety. Which would force those who would judge him. Into an intolerable position.

  JACK: Tell me.

  SUSAN: Whites would think to find him innocent is racism. Blacks would think that to do so is treason.

  JACK: Do you think he raped her?

  SUSAN: Do you?

  JACK: I want to know what you think.

  SUSAN: Why? Because I’m black?

  JACK: Sure. And, “women,” alright, know things no man knows. You look at a man, across a room, you know. What his intentions are.

  SUSAN: That’s right.

  JACK: Ah, so I’m smarter than you thought.

  SUSAN: You sure?

  JACK: I’ll prove it to you. Blacks. Know things no white man knows.

  SUSAN: Tell me one thing.

  JACK: That the whites will screw you. Any chance we get. We cannot help ourselves.

  SUSAN: Now tell me why.

  JACK: Because we know you hate us.

  (Pause.)

  SUSAN: How do we get him out of it?

  JACK: Is that what we want?

  (Pause.)

  SUSAN: Yes.

  JACK: Are you sure?

  SUSAN: Yes.

  JACK: And if we lose?

  SUSAN: Are you used to losing?

  JACK: Very flattering.

  SUSAN: Everyone is entitled to a defense.

  JACK: Is that so?

  SUSAN: I believe it.

  JACK (To self): . . . fucking country . . . (To Susan) Alright. What are the Two Things. I told you. On Day One.

  SUSAN: You have to make them like your guy enough to let him off.

  JACK: Or?

  SUSAN: Make them like themselves enough, for making a quote difficult decision.

  JACK: What were the words I used?

  SUSAN: “Give them a hook upon which to hang their bad judgment.”

  JACK: Tell me one.

  (Pause.)

  SUSAN: She’s a homewrecker. She’s: Destroying the Sanctity of the American Home.

  JACK: And why do we “like” him.

  SUSAN: That’s why we like him. We get to discover he’s the victim. Everyone loves the victim.

  JACK: On a secure line?

  SUSAN: . . . yes?

  JACK: She’s black. We cannot put. Enough White people. On the jury. To find one who is not afraid. Of being thought prejudiced. By letting him off, on your theory.

  SUSAN: Because?

  JACK: She can’t be a homewrecker.

  SUSAN: Why not?

  JACK: Black people are allowed to commit adultery.

  SUSAN: Is that in the Constitution?

  JACK: No. It’s in the public mind.

  SUSAN: Well, that’s harsh . . .

  JACK: . . . you want the truth or a lie?

  SUSAN: Then are you saying that we shouldn’t take the case?

  JACK: Not under that theory.

  SUSAN: Under what theory then?

  JACK: Alright. (Pause) Let’s turn it upside down.

  SUSAN: Alright.

  JACK: Jury comes in. What do they want?

  SUSAN: What?

  JACK: To struggle bravely against prejudice, and, then, find our client guilty.

  SUSAN: Why?

  JACK: Because he’s sitting in the dock. Why would the state put him there if he was innocent? They are participants in what they conceive of as a “pageant.” They call it “The Pageant of Justice.” Here is its plot: We will serve the law by our rapt attention to the forms—and then, as a reward, find the fellow guilty. Our job, is to involve them in a different story.

  SUSAN: What is the different story?

  JACK: I don’t know. It’s . . . it’s . . . maybe it’s not a pageant . . .

  SUSAN: What is it?

  JACK: Maybe it’s a war story.

  SUSAN: How does it go?

  JACK: War story goes like this: you ain’t going to believe this, but this is the God’s Truth. End of the day, maybe they let your guy go.

  SUSAN: Because he’s innocent?

  JACK: No, because his entertainer—that would be me—put on a better show. (Pause) Didn’t they tell you that on the Law Review?

  SUSAN: I . . .

  JACK: The jury has a story. In their head. About what happened in that room. We have to drive that story out of their heads.

  SUSAN: How?

  JACK: Tell them a better story.

  SUSAN: For example?

  JACK: For example. What do you recall, about your trip to Venice?

  SUSAN: Why Venice?

  JACK: Why not? What do people recall? Of their trip to New York? The Statue of Liberty? They knew that before they came. They go to Paris, but they don’t recall the Eiffel Tower. They knew the Eiffel Tower. They recall the little Flower Lady, and her Funny Dog. When they get home, that’s what they talk about. The conversation they had with their cab driver. And in the jury box, that’s what they hold to. The Special Thing that they alone appreciated. OUR JOB is to create that experience. Which allows them the illusion of autonomy. Do that in courting, the woman expresses her appreciation, lifting up her dress; in law they do so, by letting your client go free.

  SUSAN: They express their gratitude.

  JACK: Yes.

  SUSAN: By “lifting their dress . . .”

  (Henry enters.)

  HENRY: We gonna take the case? . . .

  JACK: How’s the client?

  HENRY: Holding.

  JACK: I need to talk to Greenstein. And I need the information from Bob Kelley.

  SUSAN: Yes. Good.

  HENRY: His guy’s not picking up.

  JACK (To Susan): Call his various numbers, get his guy on the phone. Email him our list. I need it now.

  (She leaves. The phone rings.)

  HENRY (To phone): Yes. (Covers the phone; to Jack) Nicky Greenstein.

  JACK (To phone): Nicky. Yeah, blah blah the weather, and blah blah the market. I heard you lost a client. (Pause) Because he came over here. (Pause) Why did you think that?

  HENRY: Because you’ve got a Black Partner.

  (Pause.)

  JACK: “Because I’ve got a Black Partner.” Rosy red apple. (Pause) Thank you. But, I’m not sure yet. Well, we were hoping perhaps you could guide us. (Pause) I appreciate it. (Pause) I appreciate it very much. (Pause) Thank you, Nicky . . . (Pause) ’F’I could ask you why . . . (Covers phone) “Because of new information.” (To phone) Because of what new inf . . . (Pause; he gestures for a pad and paper. Henry hands it to him. He writes) What, they “just came forward?” Is that a reliable wit . . . the man and the woman. (Pause) No. Thank you, Nicky. (Pause) I don’t know. Thank you. I’m in your debt. (He hangs up) Our friend. It is now reported. Said. In the hotel: quote, which was just sworn to. By two witnesses, being the couple in the adjoining room, during the altercation: quote: “I’m going to fuck you now, you little nigger bitch.” (Pause) Quotation ends.

  HENRY: Who are the witnesses?

  JACK: Husband and wife. Thirty years married. (Pause) And the man’s a preacher.

  HENRY: Black or white?

  JACK: White.

  (Pause.)

  HENRY: And they’ve sworn to it?

  JACK: That’s right.<
br />
  (Pause.)

  HENRY: You know any really rich people, Jack?

  JACK: Maybe a couple.

  HENRY: You ever know one you could trust?

  JACK (To himself): Uh-huh.

  HENRY: I’m going to tell you what, Jack. He held out on Nicky, he’ll hold out on us. It’s a two-way loss. We lose, we lost, we get him off what does that make us?

  JACK: Because it’s a black-white case? . . .

  HENRY: Well, that’s correct. The case is a loser, Jacky, let some kid take it, some kid, doesn’t know better. He puts on a valiant defense. Everybody understands. It doesn’t hurt him. Case hurts us, Jacky. Either way. (Pause) I know you’re a “warhorse,” and all that, you got blood in your nose.

  JACK: Very large fee. HENRY: Amortize it over x years lost clients. (Pause) The case stinks.

  (Susan reenters with various papers.)

  SUSAN: Copies of: the indictment, the report of the first responding officer, room report, report of the chambermaid, report of the floor supervisor . . .

  HENRY: We . . .

  SUSAN: . . . chambermaid’s late, making up the room, the floor supervisor needs to file a report.

  (She hands them the reports.)

  HENRY: We’re going to pass on the case.

  (Pause.)

  SUSAN: We’re passing on the case.

  JACK: Call Mr. Strickland in, and . . .

  SUSAN: Why are we passing on the case?

  HENRY: Because. Given a choice, we are permitted to choose to pass on the case. (Pause)

  SUSAN: Then I should give him back his check.

  JACK: What check?

  SUSAN: He wrote us a check.

  JACK: “For?”

  SUSAN: You asked me, to have him fill out a “client application form,” and . . .

  HENRY: . . . we asked you to keep him “busy” . . . ?

  SUSAN: And, he asked, if we also required a retainer, and I said . . .

  HENRY: And is it in your limited experience that a potential client, a potential client, come in for a consultation, will voluntarily offer money?

  SUSAN: I . . .

  HENRY: Or is it in your limited experience that, conversely, the client will employ any means of stealth and delay to avoid the payment of bills.

  JACK: Leave her alone.

  HENRY: . . . which falls within the realm of your experience?

  JACK: Henry . . .