Hard Street (5)
Angel Obregon

go back for your purse. Borrow some
money from Lisl and I'll meet you at
the condo in an hour.

TROUTE
I can't.

DENVER
Just do it.

TROUTE
I'll try. I can't talk now.

She hangs up. Denver hangs up and starts chewing on a
thumb nail.

DENVER
I didn't think this through far
enough.

LAWYER
There's nothing to think about now
but, don't go over there, you'll only
make it worse.

DENVER
How could it be worse?

LAWYER
You could get dead too. You have a gun?

DENVER
I'm a cab driver, yeah and I shoot a
lot better than I drive.

LAWYER#2 gets up and shakes DENVER's hand vigorously.

LAWYER
Happy trails.

CONTINUED

75

CONTINUED

DENVER
I'm going to leave before I get rude.

CUT TO:

INT. CONDO (DAY)

A few more amenities have been added.
The sleeping bag has been replaced by a futon.
There's cantilevered floor lamp and a stack
of fluffy towels on the floor. Denver is sitting
on the futon and staring out the window.

CUT TO:

THE SAME (LATE AFTERNOON)

CUT TO:

THE SAME (NIGHT)

Denver puts on his guns and armor and leaves.
He looks around for a long moment before closing
the door.

CUT TO:

EXT. STREET (DEEP NIGHT)

DENVER is walking towards Hildebrandt's house but,
when he turns the corner, the narrow lane is full
of cop cars and EMS vehicles and the crime-scene
tape is up.

He walks over to a COP.

DENVER
What happened?

COP
A guy cut himself shaving. Now, keep moving.

DENVER
I'd appreciate some courtesy.

COP
That supposed to be the code meaning
you got a cop in the family? We dont
use that anymore.
CONTINUED
76

CONTINUED

DENVER
Well, it's my wife and I haven't seen
her in a while, a lieutenant in the
Transit Police.

The COP laughs.

DENVER (continuing)
So, what happened?

COP
Guy killed his wife and himself and
the body guard who was banging her
cause she gave him AIDS. That's what
the note said.

DENVER
Sad.

COP
Dumb.

DENVER
That too.

CUT TO:

INT. TAXI RALLY ROOM (BRIGHT)

ARUBA
Thought you were gone. Been getting
phone calls about you. I told them
you don't work here no more. You in
trouble again?, new trouble?, more
trouble?

DENVER
Yeah, give the one with the bullet
proof gas tank.

ARUBA
Still got your sense of humor.

Aruba hands him the meter and the keys.

CUT TO:

EXT. TAXI YARD (NIGHT)

CONTINUED
77

CONTINUED

Denver is trying to find his car in the maze
of parked vehicles. He meets ROY a black driver
who is also wandering around. 3 WHORES are
chasing a JOHN with razors.

DENVER
What, he won't give you a car?

ROY
Why, no, he said I could have
my pick, but I can't find one
with a partition.

The WHORES catch the JOHN. He gives a full
throated yell that turns into a high,
girlish squeal.

DENVER
It cuts down on visibility.
You're trading one kind of
risk for another. I'd rather
see what's going on.


ROY
I felt that way until some sucker put
a gun to my head,

DENVER
I don't worry about that. I don't pick
up young black men.

The 3 WHORES run back the other way still
waving their razors. ONE OF THEM bumps
into Denver

WHORE
Excuse me.

DENVER
Por nada.

ROY
This sucker was white.

DENVER
Your luck is bad.

CONTINUED

78

CONTINUED

ROY
That's how I got here.
Domingo got it last night.

DENVER
He's a day driver!

ROY
He was. He went out a couple of
hours early to get some of the bar
crowd going home. He picked up a
black lady at 5:30.

She thought he was just going home.
He told her he was just coming out
and all he had was $10.

She shot him 7 times with a .22.
He managed to stay alive long enough
to run over her with the cab.

Across the yard, the machine shop is open.
2 cop cars are being resprayed taxi-yellow,
the bubble-gum machine being replaced with
a taxi light.

DENVER
I'll think about that one later.

ROY
Dont think about it, get a partition.

DENVER
Next time.

Denver finds his car, plugs in and starts
the engine. Just then the 3 WHORES run
back and jump in the cab.

ONE OF THEM wipes her razor on a hundred
dollar bill and throws the bill in the
front seat with Denver.

1ST WHORE
Newark.

DENVER
You got it.

CONTINUED
79

CONTINUED

He pockets the wet bill and drives off. An El Dorado
starts to follow then backs off as a squad car takes
up the chase.

CUT TO:

EXT. STREET (NIGHT)

Demolition derby car chase through
the Lincoln tunnel.

CUT TO:

EXT. JERSEY SIDE OF THE TUNNEL (NIGHT)

The squad car catches them at the toll booth.
The WHORES jump out and scatter.

A NY COP leaps out, .357 in hand. He levels
it at the back of the running girls, but a
NJ COP comes out and shields their retreat.

He has an even bigger magnum.

NJ COP
Drop the gun or I blow your head off.

NY COP
Hey, I'm a cop.

NJ COP
What does that say? What does that
say? This is New Jersey. You can save
that psychotic cowboy bullshit for
that hell hole you came from.

The 2 COPS hold each other at gunpoint.

NY COP
The paramedics are looking under cars
trying to find his dork so they can
sew it back on. They think the whores
ran away with it.

NJ COP
Fascinating!

CONTINUED


80

CONTINUED

DENVER
(to the NY COP)
I wouldn't put up with that,
if I were you.
(to the NJ COP)
You gonna let him get away with this?

NJ COP
Clown!, out of here!

Denver jumps in the cab and wheel around through
the bypass and into the tunnel back to NY. His
cell phone rings and he answers.

LAWYER#2
(filtered)
As your lawyer, I advise you to run
for it.

DENVER
Now what?

LAWYER#2
(filtered)
They want to talk to you about it.

DENVER
Who's 'they' this time?

LAWYER#2
(filtered)
You know: THEM. They want a sit down
at Luna, 8 tomorrow night. You're
their new head of production.

DENVER
Good tell them I'll be sitting in the
window, sucking on a bread stick with
a bullseye pasted to my forehead.

LAWYER#2
(filtered)
Just passing along a message.

DENVER
I'll do the same for you.

CONTINUED


81

CONTINUED

LAWYER#2
(filtered)
You won't get the chance.

DENVER is about to hang up.
He has his finger on the button.

LAWYER#2 (continuing)
(filtered)
Also...

DENVER
Yeah?

LAWYER#2
(filtered)
Like 40 writers who want you to
be their agent.

DENVER
I haven't sunk that low just yet.

LAWYER#2
(filtered)
I'll talk to you tomorrow.

Denver gets gulped by the tunnel.

CUT TO:


EXT. NY SIDE OF THE LINCOLN TUNNEL (NIGHT)

Denver comes out on 42nd. The El Dorado is following him
again. Then it drops back as he picks up another fare.

Denver looks in the rear view mirror.
He's beginning to smell something.

CUT TO:

INT. CAB (NIGHT)

FARE
I woke up one morning and I realized
that I hated my wife. I hated her
friends. I hated my friends. I hated my
job. I hated my house. I hated my car.

CONTINUED
82

CONTINUED

FARE (continuing)
I liked my kids alright,
but they hated me.

So, I went down stairs into the
kitchen where my wife was and I
said: Take this hammer.

And she said: What's that supposed to mean?
And I said: It means, you keep everything,
but I am gone.
And she said: Fine.

DENVER
The bitch.

FARE
Damn right. She didn't get a cent.

DENVER
Right.

CUT TO:

EXT. STREET (NIGHT)

The cab stops, the FARE gets out, but
the El Dorado is stopped right behind them.

TWO MEN get out and run up to the cab. Denver is
too preoccupied with his troubles to notice until
too late.

TWO MEN in dark suits with narrow ties get into
the cab. There's nothing menacing about them
except that they're smiling like they have a
secret and they're smiling at Denver. There's
something else: they're both in their 30's and
grossly overweight, but they don't have the
guilty self-consciousness of fat men. They're
jubilantly sure of themselves.

Suddenly, Denver knows that he's in trouble.

1ST MAN
79th Street boat basin.

DENVER
This time of night?
CONTINUED
83

CONTINUED

2ND MAN
We live on a boat.

This is it. If he were sane, Denver would get
out and run, but he isn't and, besides, there's
the feeling that it wouldn't do any good.

1ST MAN
Dont you ever get scared on this job?

DENVER
Well, no, if you've had combat
training or played a contact sport
and are confident that you can
keep your presence of mind in that
situation, then you dont worry
about it that much.

1ST MAN
You're a brave man.

DENVER
Just relaxed.

CUT TO:

EXT. STREET (NIGHT)

He drives to the boat basin, running every light,
trying to attract a cop. TWO COPS see him, but
they're drinking coffee in their car and they
ignore him.

CUT TO:

THE SAME

The TWO MEN have their guns out. It's behind DENVER's
back, but he seems aware of it. He's smiling and even
more relaxed. The TWO MEN see it and cant believe it.

2ND MAN
You like this job?

DENVER
Well, one good thing about it is that
you get to hear how women talk to each
other when there are no men around and
it would freeze your blood.
CONTINUED
84

CONTINUED

DENVER (continuing)
Their men are playing she thinks that
I think that she thinks, but they're
playing solitaire. Their women dont
even know they're there.

I hate to be the one to tell you, but the
men in women's fantasies are all faceless.
They can tell you what he's wearing but
the face is a blank.

1ST MAN
Women you know.

DENVER
Well, like they say: what makes a fool
a fool is an inability to take even his
own good advice.

The 1ST MAN cant believe it, his mouth is hanging open.

CUT TO:

THE SAME

The cab arrives at the boat basin.

1ST MAN
In there.

He indicates the opening to an underground car park that
hasn't been used in 20 years. It looks like the Gate of
Hell. It is. It's on the edge of a cliff.

DENVER
No thanks.

The 1ST MAN pulls out a big black automatic and holds
it to DENVER's head.

1ST MAN
In there.

DENVER
Wait a minute. Let me show you a
picture of my daughter.

1ST MAN
Don't reach in your pocket.
CONTINUED

85

CONTINUED

DENVER
See?, it's just my wallet. Let me show
you a picture of my daughter. It'll
only take a second.

2ND MAN
Okay, let's see your daughter.

Denver turns and shoots them both through the head.

The wallet is a wallet holster for a double action
derringer.

He opens it, shucks out the spent bullets and reloads.
On 2nd thought, he puts it aside and takes out the .38
belly gun.

DENVER
Her name is Emma. Her mother's idea
so it would be the same in English
and in French.

He drives into the underground car park.

He takes a pair of work gloves off the floor
and unloads the bodies. Then he cleans up the
back seat with paper towels. There's blood
all over the rear window and he has to use
the Windex from the glove compartment.

He searches the bodies and takes their guns,
wallets, watches and jewelry, talking as he
works.

DENVER
She's 8 years old. She's growing up to
be a fine looking woman. Thank you but
she was awfully funny looking when she
was younger. I can tell you I was
worried.

And she like men too much. Yeah, at 8
years old. She doesn't know any better.
If she sees a good looking man, she
just stops stares at him.

There's going to be a problem there in
a few years.

CONTINUED
86

CONTINUED

Denver looks through their wallets. They have
pictures of their children and it troubles
him vaguely. He keeps searching and finds
their shields. They're Jersey cops.

DENVER (continuing)
Oh, shit.

He takes a flashlight from the cab and looks around.

There's a manhole with the cover jacked off to one
side. That's where they were going to put him.

He heaves the bodies in and the bloody paper towels
and residual debris. Just then the El Dorado drives
in holding Denver in the headlights.

The driver panics, backs up too fast and slips off
the road, over the cliff to splash into the boat
basin. Denver nods sympathetically.

DENVER (continuing)
I have days like that.

He replaces the manhole cover, gets into the cab and
drives away fast.

CUT TO:

INT. RALLY ROOM, TAXI YARD (NIGHT)

Joe is there and Vlad and Aruba and UNIDENTIFIED HEAVIES,
rejects from Alexander Nevesky. They all stare at him.
Denver slams the meter on the counter.

DENVER
I'm out of bright dialogue.

ARUBA
There was a contract out of you.

DENVER
No shit.

VLAD
When did this happen?

DENVER
Maybe, an hour ago.
CONTINUED
87

CONTINUED

VLAD
I'm making a phone call.

He disappears into the back room.

ARUBA
Vlad will fix it.

DENVER
Why will he do that?

ARUBA
You're a writer. Russians take that
very seriously. They think you're on
top of the barricades waving a flag.
So you're protected...as long as you
drive for us.

Vlad comes out.

VLAD
That was Hildebrandt. He hired the
cheapest or you'd be dead. And he's
taken care of so, it's fixed. Just
stay the hell out of Jersey.

ARUBA
Get out there and drive!

He shoves the meter back at Denver.

CUT TO:

EXT. STREET (NIGHT)

Denver is racing another cab to a fare. He fishtails
the cab, knocking the other cab into the parking lane
and running down the customer.

CUT TO:

INT. CAB (NIGHT)

A MAN is getting out of the cab.

DENVER
No tip, sir?

CONTINUED

88

CONTINUED

MAN
No.

DENVER
Anything wrong with the service?

MAN
No.

As the man gets out, Denver slams the car into reverse
and knocks him down with the open rear door. Denver puts
the car in 3rd and runs over him, slamming the rear door
shut against a parked car.

CUT TO:

EXT. STREET (NIGHT)

A car that cuts him off gets shouldered in front of a
semi that runs straight over it.

CUT TO:

EXT> 11TH AVENUE (NIGHT)

The cab is stopped. DENVER is staring into space.
A WHORE is leaning int he rear window talking to
someone in the back seat. A deal is struck.

The WHORE gets in the back of the cab. DENVER gets
out and walks across the sidewalk. He sits down on
a stoop and is just abpout to light a cigarette
when the WHORE gets of the cab, spits hugely on
the sidewalk and strides away. She's very long
legged. In her fuck-me shoes she's 7 feet tall.
DENVER throws the cigarette away, gets back in
the cab and drives away.

CUT TO:

EXT. STREET (NIGHT)

Denver is parked in front of a giant club on the
meat market square at 12th and 10th. He's out of
the cab and leaning against the fender.

Another DRIVER walks up. He makes a hand gesture
meaning: How's it going? Denver makes a hand
gesture that means: So-so.
CONTINUED
89

CONTINUED

DRIVER
I thought you were getting out.

DENVER
I was.

DRIVER
What kind of job was it? Night
watchman?

DENVER
Yeah, something like that.

DRIVER
Hey, you got a fare.

Denver gets in the cab. A BLOND BRITTLE WOMAN
who looks like Denise Richards on amphetamine
gets in the back seat.

BLOND
Save the robots!

DENVER
I'm glad someone cares.

BLOND
It's an afterhours club at 3rd street
and B.

DENVER
I know.

He drives uptown to 16th street.

BLOND
Why are we going this way?

DENVER
Cause 14th is one way the wrong way.
we have to go to 16th to turn around.

CUT TO:

THE SAME

BLOND
That was Avenue of the Americas wasn't
it?
CONTINUED
90

CONTINUED

DENVER
Yeah.

BLOND
Then we passed it. Avenue B is back
that way.

DENVER
No, it's this way. 3, 2, 1 then A
and B.

BLOND
We're going in circles!

DENVER
No, we're not.

BLOND
10th street runs the same way as 11th
street and all the others doesn't it?

DENVER
Well, no, the even numbered streets
run east, the odd numbered streets run
west.

BLOND
What's that?, the new math?

Denver smiles.

CUT TO:

EXT. HOUSTON STREET (NIGHT)

BLOND
We passed it.

DENVER
No, we didn't.

BLOND
Make a right here.

DENVER
It's to the left.

BLOND
Where are you taking me?!
CONTINUED
91

CONTINUED

DENVER
Robots.

BLOND
You're kidnapping me!

She leans out the window screaming.

BLOND (continuing)
Help! Police! Help!

A cop car goes by and A COP looks at her.
He looks at Denver. Denver looks at him.
They look at each other. The cop car
drives away. She climbs back inside the
cab.

BLOND (continuing)
Cops, Jesus.
(in a sudden little girl
voice)
Please don't hurt me.

DENVER
Heh Heh, as long as you do as
you're told, Heh Heh.

BLOND
Well, you're kidnapping me so,
I'll do anything you want, but
please don't hurt me.

DENVER
That's fair.

He makes a left onto Ave. B and stops in
front of Save The Robots.

BLOND
I can't believe it.
You got me here.

DENVER
Sure.

The fare is $4.25. She throws a 20 on the front seat.

BLOND
Keep it for the shit I gave you.
CONTINUED
92

CONTINUED

She gets out then stops and looks back at him in
surprise. She stands, fist on hip, glaring in the
window at him.

BLOND (continuing)
What are you waiting for? Come on!

Denver smiles as though listening to music heard
over a great distance. He gets out and throws
the keys to a 3RD WORLDER lurking by the door.
The 3RD WORLDER smiles at him.

Denver takes the BLOND's arm and they walk into Robots.

I'd like to end it with a parade, but that would double
the budget so I'll just end it.

But, it would be 40 whores, in costumes from the
George Michael super-model videos, carrying a huge
banner on poles. On the banner is a giant version
of the picture of DENVER's ex-wife and child.

AND

if you want it 20 minutes longer I'll throw in 2
car chases and the redeeming social significance.


END

Copyright © 1999 Angel Obregon
Published on the World Wide Web by "www.storymania.com"