Free Riot by Walter Dean Myers

Oh, won’t you people say something. Please, he’s not a bad sort. Really.
    CLAIRE puts her hand on MAEVE’s and bows her head.
MAEVE
    (continues praying)
Oh, God, please don’t let him go.
Everything he’s ever done wrong, he’s sorry for, and everything he’s done right, he meant to do well.
    We hear MAEVE still praying for LIAM.
    We see LIAM absolutely still.
    We see LIAM move slightly, make a very feeble sign of the cross, then lift one arm as if he is reaching for something high above him. We see the arm come down slowly. We see LIAM’s face blanch and then his head turn slowly to one side.
MAEVE
Liam? Oh, Liam.
    We hear the sound of music rising in pitch until it is indistinguishable from the high wailing of a scream.
    DISSOLVE
    EXT. WASHINGTON SQUARE—JULY 15, 1863—MORNING
    MEDIUM SHOT: A NEWSBOY is selling papers. Two GENTLEMEN take papers, and one tosses a coin toward the boy.
FIRST GENTLEMAN
Well, it’s over at last. None the worse for the city, if you ask me. Gives us an air of neutrality.
SECOND GENTLEMAN
I heard the federal government is going to pay for all the damages.
FIRST GENTLEMAN
I wasn’t damaged. And with the government handing out money, there won’t be too many hurting.
    EXT. A CATHOLIC CHURCH—SAME DAY
    A solemn procession of MOURNERS leaves the church. They carry two caskets. The first is full size, the second, in the arms of a beefy IRISHMAN, much smaller.
    EXT. A CEMETERY—SAME DAY
    Small GROUPS OF PEOPLE are gathered around several grave sites.
    CUT TO:
    The craggy face of a black UNDERTAKER wearing a top hat. He looks straight ahead as we hear the voice of a black MINISTER.
MINISTER
    (voice-over)
For I have laid me down on holy ground,and in the darkest hour I have lifted mine eyes unto the hills and there I have seen salvation….
    EXT. A BLACK BAPTIST CHURCH—SAME DAY
    A sad CONGREGATION files out of the church, carrying a casket.
    CUT TO:
    Two small BOYS, one white and one black, standing on a corner watching the funeral processions.
    EXT. A TENEMENT BUILDING—SAME DAY
    A group of roughly dressed YOUNG WHITE MEN is carrying a casket down a flight of wooden steps. A PRIEST walks in front and past a group of sad-faced WOMEN. One of them turns abruptly away.
    CUT TO:
    CLOSE-UP of her profile; we recognize MAEVE.
    FADE OUT
    FADE IN
    INT. THE PEACOCK INN—SAME DAY
    JOHN, ELLEN, and CLAIRE are gathered around a table. There is bowl of fruit on the table illuminated by the slanting rays of the afternoon sun. JOHN is cleaning the bottom of a copper pot. ELLEN and CLAIRE sit as if they are tired.
CLAIRE
At least things are calmer now.
JOHN
They still haven’t brought the children back from Blackwell’s Island.
CLAIRE
Where are they going to bring them with the orphanage burned down?
JOHN
They took some to Weeksville, in Brooklyn. Brooklyn’s a good city.
ELLEN
The police are rounding up the last of the hooligans. Did you hear—?
    (nervously as she wonders how all that has happened will affect her family)
Have you eaten anything?
JOHN
I’m not hungry.
ELLEN
    (a beat)
Did you hear they were going house to house on Worth Street looking for stolen goods? And once the police get the goods, they’ll just end up in a different house. I don’t trust the police any more than I did the toughs in the street. But they’ll not be rioting in the streets of New York for a while. Leastways those who know the difference between a duck and a spade.
JOHN
And life goes on.
CLAIRE
Priscilla was mixed about leaving today. She was sad going to Connecticut, even for the while, but relieved not to be afraid of walking down a street. It’s sad to think of how we were just dancing down these same streets on the Fourth of July.
Do you think that you can have another talkwith Mr. Valentine, now that things are quiet?
JOHN
He was clear when he spoke to me the first time, and clearer yesterday when I asked him if I could add more fish to the dinner menu. He looked me in the eye…. He looked me in the eye