The Long Night

[Lee]

The Facts Of Life:
The Long Night


Tuesday, January 20, 1981
11:30 PM

We are inside the cafeteria of Eastland Academy, a private school
for girls grades 6-12 near Peekskill, New York. Joanna Marie "Jo"
Polniaczek, age 14, is a tough, streetwise girl from the Bronx in
New York City who does not feel that she has to fit in with the
"rich and spoiled" element at Eastland. One girl from that society
however, has become a close and personal friend of Jo's-Blair Warner
of Dallas, Texas. Jo is also friends with Natalie Green, a Jewish
girl from nearby Hastings-On-Hudson, New York, and Dorothy
"Tootie" Ramsey born in Washington D.C. and raised in Falls
Church, Virginia, a D.C. suburb and one of the few African-
Americans among the girls of Eastland.

Jo comes in through the kitchen as Mrs. Edna Garrett,
Eastland's school dietitian is cleaning up in preparation for
the next day. Mrs. Garrett is a close friend to our four girls,
partly out of necessity-she is the girls guardian. A few months
before, Jo, Blair, Natalie and Tootie snuck into an adult bar on
the rough side of Peekskill and ended up in jail after pouring beer
on a police officer's head.

Although the girls escaped expulsion from Eastland, they were
forced to live with Mrs. Garrett in a special apartment above the
cafeteria as part of their probation and also work in the cafeteria
to pay off the 2,000 dollars worth of damage caused to a
school van during their "little escapade". At first, they were
reluctant to accept these terms, but soon learned to adjust
to their new situation and in the process they developed
a close friendship with each other and a close bond with Mrs. Garrett,
in fact they consider her to be their surrogate mother.

[JDS84]

When are you going to post it?

[Jo_Marie]

I can't wait to read it

[Rebel Queen 1980]

What's it gonna be about?

[JDS84]

I can't wait to read your story.

[Lee]

JO
Hey, Mrs. Garrett. I just got up from my nap, and I'm ready
to go on this ride-along thing or whatever it is.

EDNA
Well, good luck to you. Who is the officer?

JO
Gabriel Hernandez. You know, I still can't believe I said yes
to riding along with one of Peekskill's finest. Frankly, I still
hate cops. One of them was responsible for making me have
to live with you four. But I suppose I owe it to Ma to get to know
one of this city's police officers. I also kind of promised this to
his 12 year old daughter Maria. This is her first year here and
the kid is a good kid who really loves her father.

EDNA
But I am really proud you decided to do this. You know, I have
friends in the Peekskill Police Department-my old Korean War
friend James Davis is Captain of the North Precinct, where Gabriel
works. And Natalie's uncle, Nathan Green, is chief of police here.

JO
Yeah, but to me, they're all cops. And as far as I'm concerned,
all cops live to do nothing but harass people and cause trouble-
I know because that's how they were with me back in the Bronx.

EDNA
Well, did it ever occur to you that perhaps the reason those
officers "harassed" you was because you were running around
like a juvenille delinquent being truant and causing a menace?

JO
Hey, I may have had my problems in life, but I do know this:cops
cause more problems than they solve. They're more of a hinderance
than a help.

EDNA
Well, I think maybe you need to ride with Gabriel so that you can
see what our police department really means to this city.

JO
Well, maybe you're right and maybe you're wrong. Either way, I guess
I have to find out for myself.

EDNA
And I hope you will find that I'm right.

JO
I hope so, too.(They hug)

[JDS84]

I like it.

[Lee]

11:50 PM

A police patrol car is parked just outside the Eastland cafeteria
entrance. The patrol car is colored grey and black with the words
"Peekskill Police" spelled in capital letters across the front doors
and two red-colored globe lights on top of the car. Inside the
patrol car is Officer Gabriel Hernandez, a handsome Puerto Rican
man about 34 years old who is a former marine and father to
three children-Maria, age 12, Jorge, age 8 and Linda, age 2.

Gabriel has heard about this young woman from the Bronx named
Jo Polniaczek. About her hatred and distrust toward police
officers. This police officer feels some compassion toward Jo-
although he was born in Puerto Rico, Gabriel grew up in the Bronx,
poor and dropping out of high school before his senior year to join the
U.S. Marine Corps. at age 17. He felt that his life basically had no
purpose until he met Ina Kapellis, a young Lithuanian-American
woman from Youngstown, Ohio who was stationed with her family
in Hawaii while Gabriel was stationed in Vietnam. Almost from
the moment they met, the two were soul mates and will be
forever. But Gabriel is also wary of the young woman because
he is proud of his police department and strives to defend it
from those who are against it.

[MrsGarrettRocksMySocks]

This is SUPER! I can't wait for more!

[JDS84]

Keep up the good work.

[Lee]

Jo steps outside through the cafeteria enterance and makes her
way toward the patrol car and slowly climbs in and faces the
dark skinned and handsome policeman.

JO
Hello. Officer Gabriel Hernandez, right?

GABRIEL
Yes, that is my name. You are Jo Polniaczek, right?

JO
Yes. Are we ready to go now?

GABRIEL
I am if you are, Jo.

JO
You're calling me by my first name?.

GABRIEL
Well, I am trying to gain your trust, if you will let me.

JO
Well, what do I have to lose? I'll either be right or wrong.

Jo steps into the patrol car as the front seat passenger with
Hernandez as driver and the two drive off into the night. They
soon arrive in the city of Peekskill, New York. There is contrast
everywhere-there are prominent businesses and bars, nice-
looking residential homes and housing projects, clean streets
and dirty streets, all elements of society. Gabriel steers his patrol
car through the streets of the city like it is his old friend. In his
six years and three months with the Peekskill Police Department,
he has gotten to know Peekskill extremely well.

GABRIEL
This is Old Highway 40, one of the main streets of Peekskill-I drive
through it every night about this time. I chose the midnight-8 AM
shift because I feel that is when the city needs me most.

JO
Why did you move from the Bronx to Peekskill?

GABRIEL
I got tired of all the crime around me, and I felt I needed a town
where I could escape from that. Peekskill is actually a pretty safe
town except for some parts of it late at night. Then you have to
watch out for yourself. I have learned to hande it well.

JO
You're Puerto Rican, right?

GABRIEL
Yes. I was born in Puerto Rico and raised in the Bronx. My wife is
Ina, she is of Lithuanian descent and from Youngstown, Ohio.

JO
Well, I'm from the Bronx, too. I'm half polish and half sicillian,
my mother is named Rose and my father-well, my father is named
Charlie. I don't like to talk about him because he left mom and I
and he's now in prison upstate for armed robbery.

GABRIEL
Well, I am sorry to hear that, but you should not stop loving
your father just because of that.

JO
I wish I could believe you, but I don't know. He never let me know
whether or not he loved me, he just left when I was three years
old and left my mother to support me by working as a waitress in
a cocktail bar. As a result, I grew up mostly by myself and was
headed toward life as a juvenille delinquent. My mother was sorry
that she neglected me earlier, but for my own good, she sent me
to Eastland to get me away from those bad influences. In a way,
I should thank her, but I am still angry at her for neglecting me
all those years. On the other hand, I have turned my life around
and made four lasting friendships-Blair Warner, Tootie Ramsey,
Natalie Green and Mrs. Edna Garrett.

GABRIEL
Tootie Ramsey?

JO
Dorothy, we just call her Tootie. Listen, I was going to have some
food before I left, but I didn't have time to eat. How about some
doughnuts and coffee? That's what a cop eats, right?

GABRIEL
Well, not all police officers eat doughnuts and drink coffee, but I
happen to like both of them. I know a place just a mile down the
road-G.W.'s Doughnut House.

JO
G.W.?

GABRIEL
George Washington Reynolds-a former Nashville police officer who
came here about five years ago to start a doughnut shop. It is
one of the most sucessful private businesses in the city.

JO
How do you like your doughnuts and coffee?

GABRIEL
I like my coffee with extra sugar and cream and my favorite
doughnuts are chocolate with chocolate frosting.

JO
Same with the doughnuts, but I like my coffee black, no sugar.

GABRIEL
I cannot stand black coffee. But I respect all people's tastes.

Jo and Gabriel arrive at G.W.'s Doughnut House and go inside
to meet its owner, George Washington Reynolds, a tall african-
american man about 49 years old.

G.W.
Gabe! Who is the young lady with you tonight?

GABRIEL
G.W., meet Jo Polniaczek, a student at Eastland Academy. She is
riding along with me to experience first hand a night on patrol
with a Peekskill police officer. I would like four doughnuts, two
for each of us-both chocolate with chocolate frosting.

JO
Gabriel would like coffee with double sugar, double cream and
I would like mine black with no sugar.

GABRIEL
And we would like them to go. I have to keep patrolling.

G.W.
Alright, here they come! Hope you can keep warm-radio said it
was supposed to drop down to 8 degrees and come a heavy
snow. But hey, you're one of Peekskill's finest!

GABRIEL
Well, I have got a heavy jacket on and Jo does as well. We should
be okay if it gets really cold. Let us go, Jo.

Gabriel takes the coffee and Jo takes the doughnuts to the patrol
car and then they are again off as Gabriel Hernandez starts his
night of patrolling the city of Peekskill, protecting its citizens.

[MrsGarrettRocksMySocks]

this is pretty cool! To steal Sabrina's phrase...That's cool...like Mr. Cool.

[Lee]

Wednesday, January 21, 1981
12:30 AM

Inside the patrol car...

DISPATCHER
Unit 20, Unit 20, Domestic Disturbance at 2300 Morris Avenue,
shots have been fired. Use extreme caution-handle code 3.

GABRIEL
Unit 20 responding!(activates lights and siren) Jo, when I get to
this address, you are to stay in the car-understood? Neither of
us knows how dangerous this could be. If the man has already
killed his wife, or if the woman has already killed her husband,
he or she will not hesitate to kill a police officer. In any case, I do
not want you involved.

JO
No problem-I may be tough, but I'm no fool!


The patrol car speeds through the night with lights and siren on,
and soon arrives at the address-a beautiful mansion-like house
with a large swimming pool. A woman with a 9mm german luger
is firing shots at her husband, a man with slightly graying brown
hair. The woman is blonde-haired with blue eyes. Hernandez
is out of the patrol car with lightning-fast speed, .38 service
revolver already drawn and ready. He aims toward the woman.

GABRIEL
Police Officer! Drop Your Weapon!

KATHERINE
Well, if it isn't the man in blue! Well, it looks like you and me are both going to die!

GABRIEL
Do not do anything foolish! Put the gun down!

KATHERINE
Since you've got the badge and uniform on, you put yours down!

GABRIEL
No deals! Put the gun down or run the risk of death!

Suddenly, George Chandler steps in and punchs the woman in
the face, knocking her unconscious. Gabriel runs over and
removes the gun from Katherine Chandler's grasp and then rolls
the woman onto her stomach and snaps handcuffs on behind
her back and rolls the woman over to check her signs. She is
unconscious but not hurt. Gabriel goes to the patrol car and
radios the dispatcher.

GABRIEL
This is Unit 20, cancel the assist. Suspect is in custody, will
proceed to North Precinct Station, Unit 20 out.

DISPATCHER
Roger, Unit 20.

Gabriel turns to George Chandler and checks him over

GABRIEL
Are you alright, sir?

GEORGE
Yes, officer. My wife... she just... went crazy and pulled that gun
on me and then chased me around the house and was about to
kill me when you arrived. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.

GABRIEL
Just doing my job as a police officer.

GEORGE
You are to be commended for saving my life. Don't be surprised
if you are given an award by the Peekskill city council!

GABRIEL
Sir, I would not be deserving of it...

GEORGE
Hush, now I will not hear another word of it. You are a true hero.

GABRIEL
Actually, sir, it was you who knocked her out.

GEORGE
Well, if it wasn't for you, I wouldn't have been able to do that.

GABRIEL
Your support of your local police is all I really ask.

GEORGE
I say you deserve that metal and I won't leave you alone until
you take it! I'll have a dinner in your honor next week at city hall!

Gabriel sees this is going nowhere, so he takes Katherine
Chandler, who is now awake, to the patrol car and puts her
in the left back seat behind the car's metal protective barrier.

[Ryanmo97]

It's good.

[james_baby87]

This is pretty good.