Clifton Powell: Andre Thompson

Quotes 

• Andre Thompson : I hear you. You're gonna do ten years, day to day, in somebody's arms, you little punk sissy. What you know about the penitentiary? You ever been in jail before? You know the dos and don'ts of makin' it in the penitentiary? I didn't think so. Let me tell you somethin'. You won't last ten days in here. What you gonna do, take your little gun with you when they put you in a cell with a grown man? A real killer, someone who's been in here about fifteen years and he's doing life and don't give a damn about nothin' or nobody. What you gonna do when he grabs you and you fight without that gun, you little punk? What you gonna do when you start screamin' for the guards and the guards don't come? You can't call for your mama in the penitentiary. And let me tell you somethin' else. After he finishes with you, he's gonna pass you around to all of his buddies. Then, what you gonna do, you little sissy punk? So you got a big kick outta the most sissified, cowardly way to take somebody out - a drive-by shooting - where all kinds of innocent people get shot. So, if you wanna be like me, you can't, 'cause the difference is, I'm a man, and you're just a little punk. Do you know what it's like bein' me? I spent the best years of my life in the penitentiary. I wasted my whole youth, just like you're about to do. Do you know how many times I've been shot? I got a hole in my lung right now and I walk with a cane. Do you know how it feels to wake up every morning not knowing whether one of your enemies or your friends is gonna put a bullet in the back of your head? You know how that feels? No, you don't really wanna be like me, 'cause you ain't got the heart. And since you ain't got the heart, I'm gonna help you out, boy. Now, this is what you're gonna have to do. First thing, I want you to ask the man to put you in protective custody, then I want you to pick up a Bible and some schoolbooks and get yourself a damn education while you're in here! Then, I want you to write the judge once a month and let him know how you're progressing in the right direction. You understand that? And, when you find it in your heart, I want you to write that boy's mother and you tell her that, if you have to spend the rest of your life begging her to forgive you, then that's what you're gonna do. That's your only chance of surviving in here for ten years. Now, get outta my face.