Naked to the Night

Sunrise at Joyville State prison. A lone inmate mops a cafeteria floor. A security guard walks in and yells " Hey Nicky, wrap it up, got good news... you're being released. You a free man bro." Another inmate had confessed to the murder on his deathbed. NICKY JOHNS, 51, had lived his life on the wrong side of the tracks, and it cost him everything. He owned an after hours club where a man was murdered and led to him doing time. Now, he needed to find a way to make up for fifteen lost years. Without a place to go, he goes to stay with his father, MARCELLUS JOHNS, 73, whom he despises. He tries to get a job but can't because of his record. His hope fades. Nicky takes a bus to another job interview. An old rival Jackie "TIN MAN" Sampson, 42, sees him through the window, and yells "Nicky. Nicky. " He gets off the bus. Tin Man tells him he now has an after hours club and invites Nicky. When he gets home, he tells Marcellus about Tin Man and what he was going to do. His father warns him to stay away from that life, it will only lead to trouble. Nicky goes to the club and Tin Man entices him to go into business with him. At a grocery store, he meets LYNETTA, 34, a cashier who is going to school to be a nurse and they become romantic. Very quickly, the club is the most popular spot in the city. Nicky is back at the top of the nightlife again. Nicky begins to see the nightlife has changed from when he left. He questions if he made the right decision. He is confronted by a patron, who pulls a gun on him he wrestles away. He ponders whether to shoot him or not. All his hopes and wishes had come down to this. His security takes the gun. Nicky goes home and confronts his father about their relationship saying, "Goddammit, for all I tried to do to make my life better, I still turned out to be the same piece of shit as you!" Nicky visits JOHNNY, 55, an old army buddy. Johnny doesn't tell Nicky he's a minister now. Instead of a club, he takes him to his church. Johnny tells Nicky not to give up. Nicky commits to make it the right way, whatever it takes. Nicky moves out of his father's house, leaves the club, and says goodbye to Tin Man. He waits tables at a Country Club and goes back to school. He's offered a position with people working for him. He's transformed, clean shaven, professional, and happy. Nicky sits alone at a desk writing, pictures of his past on the walls. He's writing his life story. Two children enter and leap onto his lap. Lynetta comes into the room and says, "let daddy finish". He kisses them and tells Lynetta that he loves her. Nicky's got a new life at last.