True Story

"A big stick.

Sometimes a metal chain."

Where?

"On the back."

Is it bad?

Does he bleed?

"Sometimes."

And it's his master

who's doing this?

It's okay.

Tell him I'm from

The New York Times.

I want to help you.

But I can't help you

unless you help me.

I think he wants, you know...

I know what he wants.

You see this?

He can have this.

But only when we're done, okay?

Again.

Is it his master from

the cocoa plantation

that's doing the beatings?

"Yes."

All right.

And his parents are dead?

"No." He says

they live in the country.

Okay, so it's...

It's his parents who are dead.

Yes, I think so.

Wait, wait, wait.

Will you ask him

to take his shirt off,

so I can see his back?

Tell him we need to take

a picture for the paper.

It's okay.

This is me.

Mike Finkel from

The New York Times.

Excuse me.

Do you speak English?

A little.

I can't figure this out.

This takes coins, right?

I think so, yeah.

Ta-da.

You did it.

Why do they light candles?

So people get to heaven?

Um...

I'm not Catholic.

Are you German?

Yeah.

What brings you to Mexico?

Some winter sun.

Yeah.

You?

Um...

I'm a journalist.

Journalist? Cool.

Yeah. Whatever.

It's just a job.

What is your name then,

Mr. Journalist?

Me?

Mike Finkel,

with The New York Times.

Lena. Nice to meet you.

Nice to meet you.

Ten minutes, Mike. We gotta

put this thing to bed.

I'm on it.

Raise $250.

You serious?

You heard me. $250.

Motherf***er.

So how long

are you back for, Mike?

Just tonight.

I just came back to make sure

they didn't sub

the sh*t out of me again.

Where do they put me?

The f***ing Hilton.

Nice.

Yeah.

It's a circus out there.

Call.

Yeah.

You know, when I arrived,

at the same hotel as me,

a guy from Reuters,

two from Le Monde,

and that Kwiatowski from CNN.

- Turn. Ace of spades.

- Hello.

$500.

Bullshit.

Mike?

I'm on it.

It'll need proofing.

No, it won't.

I'm out.

The whole thing stinks.

People are starving on the coast

and 200 miles inland,

it's all Bon Jovi

and French fries.

But what do they care?

As far as they're concerned,

they're getting a cigar box

from Gaddafi at Christmas.

Know what I want for Christmas?

6,000 words.

Are we playing poker, or what?

King of spades.

Here, p*ssy, p*ssy, p*ssy.

$750.

He's got the f***ing Jack.

I'm out.

We all ready to drink this town?

Come on, Mike, show us.

You got those Jacks, or what?

He doesn't have to.

You folded.

Come on, a**hole, show us.

Me?

I don't have sh*t.

A pair of deuces.

My...

Really?

Can someone help me

scoop up all this money

I just won?

You're paying

for drinks tonight.

Mom.

This is 42nd Street,

with transfers to

the ACE and E train.

Stay clear of the closing doors.

So did you read it?

Read it?

What do you think?

I'm framing it now.

Seriously.

You don't have to do that.

What? I'm, like,

your biggest fan.

Mike, that's nine covers

in three years.

Ten, but who's counting?

Nine, ten, whatever.

You going to give yourself

a day off now?

No, I'm actually

going into the office.

Marcus and Karen want to see me.

Really? What about?

No idea, but I have a hunch

it rhymes with Smulitzer.

I wish I was there

to celebrate with you.

If you lived here, you would be.

You know I can't.

Come home soon.

I will. I love you.

I love you, too.

- What's up, man?

- My dude.

Hey.

Hey.

Hey.

Listen, I don't want to

bother you with this,

but Marcus got a call

from Save the Children about

that article of yours.

The cocoa plantation piece.

They say that's not

Youssouf Mal on the cover.

This is.

I can't remember.

I interviewed both of them.

They wrong?

They must be.

Hey, these things happen

all the time.

Let's go tell him.

Sure.

You better bring

your old notebooks.

They've also taken issue

with some of the content.

It's all checkable.

None of it should be a problem.

Fifteen minutes?

Sure.

Is this him or not?

Everything I wrote about Mal

happened to at least

one of the boys.

Is this or is this not

Youssouf Mal?

This boy with scars

like a mountain range.

Yes, it is.

You sure?

Yes, I'm sure.

Okay, great. So just show us

where his details are in here.

I can't do that.

Why not?

Because I didn't

take notes that day.

It might not be him?

This article was about

saving young people's lives.

I wanted to write about

all the kids I interviewed.

I came back with

a plan for that.

A more aggressive story about

the corruption within

these aid agencies.

But we felt it was too broad.

Don't imply

this has anything to do

with anyone

other than you, Mike.

You said write about one boy.

Suggest the issues

through one boy's story.

A personal portrait.

And you were right.

You were absolutely right.

I assumed you had the research.

I did, just not

all in one place.

Then that's not research.

Mike, you must understand

how damaging this could be

for the charities

who work with these children.

Not to mention the paper.

You said write it up.

I... I thought it could work

on a higher level.

I said write it up,

not make it up.

The higher level is the truth.

You didn't have the research,

that's the only fact

that matters here.

Do you think this stuff

writes itself?

You hire people like me to

get on the ground and hunt.

That's how this paper

has competitive advantage.

I did the best with what I had.

You lied.

I just can't understand why.

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