Shanty Town (2023) s01e01 Episode Script

1
[energetic drumming]
[orchestral music builds]
[musical stab]
[music echoes and fades]
[soothing melodic music plays]
[rooster crows]
[birds chirping]
[in Pidgin] What are you supposed to do
when you wake up?
I'm talking to you.
[in Pidgin] I'm supposed to pray.
[in Pidgin] And you?
Are you eyeing me? I'd slap you.
[woman] Now pray to God
for blessings today.
[explosion]
Mummy.
[distant shouting]
[woman, in Pidgin] Kunle,
go and pack, quickly.
Please.
Please, sir, I don't have anything,
I'm a trader.
[man, in Pidgin] You have something
interesting to offer me.
Something I'll appreciate.
You'll take off your wrapper for me.
[distant gunshots]
I want to see that contraband.
[screams]
Inem, come, we can't stay here longer,
let's go now.
[Mama Inem] Okay.
[Mama Inem mumbles]
- [guns firing]
- [loud boom]
- [distant screaming]
- [guns firing]
- [explosion]
- [firing continues]
[man groaning]
[groaning]
[panting]
[gunshot]
[screaming]
[groaning]
[screaming continues]
[screaming and groaning continue]
- [firing continues]
- [sobbing]
[gunshot]
No.
[sobbing]
[man chuckling]
[in Yoruba] Good morning, Ma.
[chuckling]
- Scar.
- Comrade.
[Mama Inem and child sobbing]
[haunting melodic music plays]
[menacing music builds in and intensifies]
[double gunshots]
[ominous music plays]
[phone rings]
[phone continues ringing]
[woman moaning]
[phone buzzes and rings]
- [beep]
- [woman continues moaning]
Yes?
Okay.
[woman groaning and sucking]
[Scar groans]
[Scar] Ashanti.
Colorado.
[Colorado, in Pidgin]
Make way for the man.
[Scar, in Pidgin] The accountant is here.
[menacing music plays]
[Scar] Accountant.
[accountant, in Pidgin] I'm uneasy.
Everything is in order, I hope?
And the books?
[accountant] Interesting.
Sales seem to be on the rise,
as one expects.
[phone rings]
Hello, sir.
Everything is in order, sir.
Okay, sir.
Chief said
you should see him tonight,
at 8 p.m.
Not a second more.
Make way for the man.
Scar.
[in Pidgin] Let's celebrate.
[cheering]
[in Pidgin] Everything is set.
Everything.
[indistinct chatter]
[prison officer] I have known you
for some months now,
and this is still madness.
[woman] Please
- [prison officer] Amanda
- Call me Inem.
That's not even the way she speaks.
[scoffs]
Can you please give me the gum?
[Inem] Please.
Yes, sure.
Help yourself.
Officer.
[in Pidgin] A naked person
doesn't put his hand in his pocket.
Look at me,
I am a prostitute.
And I'm not ashamed.
What is it?
I'm not crazy.
This is not a joke for me.
You stopping me
is out of your jurisdiction.
I just need a few things
before I leave.
What do you need?
A pack of cigarettes and a phone call.
[upbeat music playing]
[indistinct chatter]
- [gunshots]
- [children clamoring]
[children cheering]
[sniffs]
[groans]
[sighs]
[Colorado, in Pidgin]
Make way for the man.
- [Scar] Colorado.
- General.
[in Pidgin] What's going on?
[in Pidgin] Jackie is here.
[Scar] Our Jackie?
Let her in.
[in Pidgin] All right.
All good, sir.
My Jackie.
[Scar, in Pidgin] Mummy T has broken
your covenant with us, right?
[Jackie] Yes, sir.
[Scar] Jackie.
[Scar] My Jackie.
[in Pidgin] You know you'll be
missed in Shanty Town.
I'll also miss you a lot.
Hey.
[in Igbo] Great ass.
[in Pidgin] Just look at this.
All these wigs you guys wear.
Jackie.
Freedom.
For all your services to Shanty Town.
Thank you.
- [Afrobeat music starts]
- [cheering]
[music intensifies]
- [music stops]
- [women shout]
[Ene, in Pidgin] Forget about the music.
Forget the alcohol.
The reason we are here is freedom.
[cheering]
Jackie's freedom.
[women cheering]
I know life isn't easy in Shanty Town.
- Yes.
- [Ene] It's not easy.
[women chatter indistinctly]
But when you go somewhere else,
you'll know you've learned something.
[women cheering]
[Ene] And so therefore,
by the power vested in me
by our pope, Scar,
I declare Jackie free.
[cheering]
[women chanting] Jackie! Jackie! Jackie!
- [Ene] So
- [phone rings]
Customer. Please hold on.
[women] Mama the mama!
Hello, yes how can I help you?
[Inem, in Ibibio] Eniewan.
Ene, it's Inemesit.
Yes, Alhaji hold on, please.
[in Pidgin] Shalewa, come please.
[Ene] Nothing, I've something
to take care of.
[Inem, in Pidgin] Ene,
what is wrong with you?
Do you think I'd leave prison
and then lie to you?
[in Ibibio] I heard you died.
[Inem in Pidgin]
It's their mother who is dead.
I did not die.
[in Pidgin] Were you released from prison?
[in Pidgin] Ene, I am free.
Good behavior.
Besides, I only dealt drugs,
I didn't kill anyone.
[in Ibibio] So, where are you?
[Inem, in Pidgin] Ene,
this is not a wow matter,
I have nowhere to go.
After ten years of prostitution,
I have nothing.
[in Ibibio] Wait for me,
I'll be on my way.
[in Pidgin] I'm just about
leaving the police station.
[Ene in Ibibio] Okay, wait for me.
- I'm coming.
- [Inem] Wait.
Ehm,
Enewan,
[in Pidgin] how about Scar?
[in Ibibio] We'll talk about that
when we see each other.
[line disconnects]
[sighs]
[Shalewa, in Pidgin]
I know I'll join you soon.
My money will soon be complete,
sometime next month.
I'll be out of here.
I'll have freedom.
They'll celebrate me like this.
[in Pidgin] Shalewa,
why are you still here?
[in Pidgin] It's not my fault.
I still have about five hundred thousand
to pay Scar.
[in Pidgin] Do you want to tell me
that you don't have any money?
[in Pidgin] Why are you talking like this?
Have you forgotten
what we go through here, eh?
By the time I pay security fees,
[in Pidgin] pay the man,
and then pay Scar 60%, what is left?
Where will I find the money to save?
Please.
[in Pidgin] My bad, don't let me stop you
from dying in this place.
[in Pidgin] Why are you
talking to me like this?
Just look around you, Shalewa.
The more you stay here,
the more you become like them.
[in Pidgin] Is this how you want
to end your life in Shanty Town?
Okay, where is the money you saved up
to open your own bar?
Can't you use it
to get your freedom first?
Can a dead person own a bar?
You have to be alive to be a mixologist.
But
the
[in Pidgin] What exactly are you saying?
Don't worry, I'll lend you the money.
It's better to owe me than to owe Scar.
At least, I won't take 60% from you.
Or tell you who to sleep with.
Now, is your time.
Thank you.
[in Pidgin] I had no idea
I'd be leaving here this early.
[upbeat music playing]
- [Inem in Ibibio] Ene, is this you?
- Inemsco!
[in Ibibio] You look surprised, it's me.
Oh my God, I've missed you so much.
[in Ibibio] What are you looking at?
It's me.
[in Ibibio] You got a tattoo? From prison?
[in Ibibio] Forget about it,
it's just one of the prison activities.
[in Ibibio] Scar told me you were dead.
[in Ibibio] He's the one that is dead.
His mother is dead.
His family is dead.
Scar.
I was in that hellhole for three years.
God will punish Scar.
Scar will die on the road like a chicken.
His death will be disgraceful.
It will not be well with him.
He put me in prison for three years.
He owes me.
- Relax.
- I swear.
- [in Pidgin] Scar owes me, sister.
- [in Ibibio] Calm down.
Here's 100,000.
For what?
You asked for help, take this and lay low.
Me?
[Inem laughs]
You want me to go away to do what?
Eh? For what reason?
Do you want me to go and become a farmer?
To go and do what?
I have no father or mother anywhere.
Enewan,
Shanty Town is my home,
and nobody can scare me off.
I choose to stay in Shanty Town
and that's what I'll do.
[in Ibibio] You see that Scar
[in Pidgin] Scar owes me.
[in Ibibio] Please, let's go.
Get into the car. Baba Ibeji.
Sit here.
[Colorado, in Pidgin]
Where are you going?
[in Pidgin] I'll hit you. Are you mad?
[in Pidgin] What is it?
[in Pidgin] It is Shalewa.
She is misbehaving.
[in Pidgin] Why?
[Colorado, in Pidgin] Behave.
- Focus, focus, focus.
- [Shalewa groaning]
[coughs]
I said, focus!
- [Shalewa gasps]
- [in Pidgin] All good, sir.
[in Pidgin] I want to pay for my freedom.
[in Pidgin] What?
[in Pidgin] I said I
[clears throat]
I want to pay for my freedom, sir.
- You want to pay for your freedom?
- [Shalewa] Yes, sir.
Is that so?
Ah, ah, ah
Shalewa.
[in Yoruba] We both know
you've never made this kind of money.
You've been cheating me.
[in Pidgin] And stealing from me.
No, sir.
[in Pidgin] Jackie lent me some money
to add to my savings.
We summed it up to 500,000
so I can settle my father's debt.
Just so I can get my freedom
and leave Shanty Town, sir.
- [Scar groans]
- [Jackie] Yes, sir.
[in Pidgin] Is that true?
Did you say your remaining debt
was only 500,000?
Yes.
[in Yoruba] What about you?
[in Pidgin] I don't know.
I don't understand, sir.
- [in Pidgin] You don't understand?
- Yes, sir.
You'll understand pretty soon.
Colorado.
Get me a calculator.
- [Colorado] Everything is fine.
- Uh huh.
[in Yoruba] Listen to me properly,
[in Pidgin] while I enlighten you.
[in Yoruba] Food.
[in Pidgin] How much food do you eat
in Shanty Town every day?
Let's say 3,000, right?
You'll multiply it by 365 days
and multiply it again,
by two and a half years.
Let's round it up to three years,
multiplied by three years.
Your rent in Shanty Town.
How about insurance?
Let's add all the treatments
Ene has been giving you.
[sniffs]
[in Pidgin and Yoruba] All the abortions.
You had five, right?
You had one gonorrhea
and syphilis treatment.
[in Pidgin] Did you think it was free?
What about security?
You wouldn't survive a minute.
Security.
The interest on your father's debt,
we'll add it.
[keyboard clicks]
Fine.
Mama T's protection.
Ah?
All the protection Mama
has been giving you.
[in Yoruba] Your safety back and forth
[in Pidgin] are not free.
You renew it every year.
Multiplied by three years.
All right.
Now you know how much you owe me.
Jesus!
Your debt is 15,000,000 naira.
[Shalewa] Jesus.
Scar,
how will I make
this amount from prostitution?
You are beginning to understand it now.
Scar
[Scar, in Pidgin]
Let me explain it to you.
I own you.
This is mine.
[in Yoruba] Do you understand?
The fact that you are breathing alone
[in Pidgin] is because of Scar.
[coughs]
So,
[in Yoruba] if I hear
that you suddenly feel like
you can settle your debt with Scar,
you are dead.
[in Pidgin] Do you understand?
[in Yoruba] Go and hustle for me.
Stupid motherfucker.
You want to settle Scar.
Colorado.
[Colorado, in Pidgin]
Make way for the man.
[in Pidgin] Is my water ready?
[Colorado] It is ready, boss.
Good.
Whoever tries me will be punished,
I'm angry.
Make nobody go across my circle ♪
If you cross am kpere
You must enter trouble ♪
[mellow Afrobeat music continues]
[music fades]
[in Yoruba] Everything you touch
becomes a success.
The hand goes to and from
the mouth without stress.
- You shall go in peace.
- Amen!
- And return in peace.
- Amen!
Onala, make this a success for me.
[music fades up]
[theme music plays]
[music fades]