Chapter 2: Get Straight
(Knox is standing outside an alley, attempting unsuccessfully, to bend a large piece of steel rebar.)
Matt: (walks up) I'll give you fifty bucks you can break that in two.
Knox: Hey Parkman, I'm sorry I haven't returned you calls, it's just that I've been busy...
Matt: That's what I hear...word is, you guys cleaned a house in Hancock Park the other night. That must have been right after we parted ways....man, you promised me you were gettin' out.
Knox: Well I lied.
Matt: Remember the first time I busted you? What were you like, 14? You nearly pissed your pants in my squad car you were so terrified.
Knox: So you gotta point here?
Matt: Yeah, my point is...you were this scared little kid trying to figure out who you were. Now all these years later, you still haven't got a clue. (grabs his arm) Come on, you can do this. Just pick yourself up, and walk out the door.
Knox: There is no door, you understand?
Matt: Yes there is. You come downtown and talk to a detective, and we send Bartel away where he belongs.
Knox: Right...then you get the promotion that you're always after, and I get two slugs to the back of the head.
Matt: Wait. Promotion?
Knox: I can't believe you've been trying to play me all this time so you can turn me into your C.I. (confidential informant)
Matt: This isn't about me, or my career. This is about me helping...(interrupted)
Knox: Matt I don't wanna hear it.
Matt: No no, no no no no...I'm not lettin' you go. Not this easy. There are times when you need to stand up for yourself Knox, and this is one of those times.
Knox: I talk to the police I'm a dead man. You know that. I know that.
Matt: So what are you going to do? Huh, you going to run with Bartel until you catch a bullet?
Knox: Look, the way I see it, I catch a bullet either way I turn.
Matt: So what am I suppose to do? Feel sorry for you? Am I suppose to continue to look the other way?
(scene shifts to Bartel's gang thugs watching the exchange from a nearby car)