Doing Man's Work (4)
(Doug stands and grabs a pot and wooden spoon and starts banging on it for a moment, then puts out his hand, they shake) Awesome job, buddy! Awesome job! Look at this, will you Phil? (Show's other salesman) They signed the contract and everything! Good job! Write it on the board. PHIL Congratulations, Tom! THOMAS Thanks. DOUG Go ring the bell! You know where it is, go ring it! You're making money now, boy! INT. T & C HOUSE - DAY Thomas rings the doorbell and enters through the front door. Candy steps out of the kitchen with a dish towel in her hands and stops when she sees Thomas. CANDY Why did you ring the doorbell? THOMAS I'm ringing bells all over town. That's why. CANDY What? Hey! - Are you going to plant my tree tonight? THOMAS Sure. I made a sale today. What tree? CANDY You did? Really? That's great! How much was it? (They embrace) THOMAS Two thousand dollars. What tree? CANDY Oh, my God! (She hugs him again) Oh my God! That's incredible! So you made two-thousand dollars? Just like that? That's amazing! (Kisses him) THOMAS No, Can. I didn't make two-thousand dollars. I made a two-thousand dollar sale. CANDY Oh! Oh. (Suddenly understanding) So how much do you get? THOMAS Two-fifty. They walk into kitchen together and the rest of the scene is played with the refrigerator door open and Thomas eating stuff CANDY Two-fifty? Two hundred fifty dollars? That's it? THOMAS That's it. CANDY Two hundred fifty dollars. God. Couldn't they pay you at least ten percent? THOMAS Candy. That's twelve percent. CANDY Oh. Oh! (beat) So that's good! THOMAS Yeah. CUT TO: INT. T & C HOUSE-BEDROOM - EVENING Candy is in bed, sitting up, holding a book but not reading it, and watching TV. Thomas is at the dresser, and walking in and out of the scene, to and from the bathroom. CANDY (Reacting to TV, shocked) Oh my God! (beat) Oh my God! THOMAS What 'Oh my God?' Did somebody get killed or go to jail? CANDY How much insurance do you have? THOMAS (O.S.) You mean if I die? CANDY Yeah. THOMAS Zero. If I die, you get nothing. CANDY When do your benefits kick in at work? THOMAS I don't know...ninety days, why? (beat) Moves to sit on edge of bed THOMAS (CONT'D) What are you watching? CANDY Edge of Night. THOMAS Edge of Night? Is that still on the air? My mom used to watch that. With Dark Shadows. When I was five. That show is older than you are. CANDY Reruns. Oh my God! (beat) I would kill you if you ever did that. THOMAS Could you stop coming up with reasons to kill me? CANDY She just found out that her husband is sleeping with her sister. THOMAS You got a sister I don't know about? CANDY (Transfixed on TV, shaking her head) Oh, this is getting good, she's going to kill him. THOMAS Lovely. Stands and goes into bathroom CANDY Tommy, since you got paid today, you need to pay the rent tomorrow. THOMAS (O.S.) I didn't get paid today. CANDY You said you got $250 today. THOMAS (ducking his head in) I MADE two-hundred-fifty dollars, but they don't just pay you the same day. I get paid next week. CANDY Don't you get paid every week? THOMAS Yeah. But I don't get my first paycheck until next week. CANDY Next week? What about last week? THOMAS What about last week? CANDY Don't you get paid for last week? THOMAS Candy, I started there on Monday. I only got hired last Friday. Today is Thursday. I get paid next week. Okay? CANDY Oh. Okay. But what about the rent? THOMAS What about the rent? What about the rent money that we had in the account? CANDY I bought stuff. THOMAS WHAT STUFF? CANDY Baby stuff. And a tree. THOMAS Candy! Stop buying baby stuff! We got four months before we're going to use our first diaper and you already have 3 cases of 'em. Stop buying baby stuff! CANDY But they were on sale. THOMAS I don't care! Is the rent on sale? Ever? No. But I'm still going to pay it! And it's full price! CANDY How? THOMAS I don't know. Don't worry. I'll work it out! CANDY You're not going to… THOMAS I'll work it out. (Goes into bathroom, slams door) CANDY (beat) Are you going to plant my tree tomorrow? THOMAS (Opens door, looks out) What tree? CANDY I got a little tree at Wal-Mart. It's cute. I thought we could plant it for the baby so when it grows up we'll know how old it is without cutting it down. THOMAS A tree. Yeah. Fine. I'll plant it. Don't worry. FADE TO: INT. THOMAS' CAR - DAY Thomas is driving. He stops at a red light and looks at checking account balance. -16.78 He hears a very mellow song start playing, and a horn blows behind him because he is stopped at the green light. He proceeds, lost in the song. As the song builds he becomes more melancholy and sad. He looks at his checkbook again. We see the balance. At the next light he writes, RENT -$400 -$416.78 . He drives on and starts to cry. The song should play all the way to the end while we watch him place a call from a phone booth. We see the phone number in his little book and the name MIGUEL next to it. We do not hear the conversation, but can see from his face that Thomas is begging. The song ends as Thomas gets back into his car and drives away. FADE OUT. CUT TO: EXT. MIGUEL'S HOUSE, PORCH - DAY Thomas knocks on the front door and waits. A few moments later, MIGUEL opens the door and holds open the screen door for him to enter. CUT TO: INT MIGUEL'S HOUSE - DAY The men share a handshake and half-hug, then sit down. MIGUEL How have you been, man? THOMAS Good. How's it going? MIGUEL That was a nice party last week. Those are some classy people. THOMAS Got that right. MIGUEL Got out of the junkyard. Finally. Delivering hoses now. THOMAS Hoses? MIGUEL Yeah. For pressure washers. Industrial machinery. All kinds of shit. You wouldn't believe how many kinds of hoses are out there. And people are buying them every day. THOMAS So who are you working for? MIGUEL The Hose Place. THOMAS The hose place? MIGUEL Yeah. The Hose Place. That's what it's called. We do hoses and that's all that we do. So hose you. You want a beer? THOMAS No. No, thanks. MIGUEL So how's Candy? We didn't talk. THOMAS You know. Same shit. Pregnant. Five months. No job. Just a Lifetime movie looking for a place to happen. You know. MIGUEL Everything okay? THOMAS Need rent money, but yeah. No problem. Other than that, doing good. MIGUEL Hey, tell me again. How much older are you? Older than her? THOMAS Seventeen years. MIGUEL Wow! That's right. You were like twice her age a couple years ago weren't you? THOMAS Yup. MIGUEL You're a lucky man, dude. A lucky man. Still worth it? THOMAS What? MIGUEL You know. Being so much older. So many differences. I always marvel at you for that. Why did you marry a girl so young? THOMAS Love, man. MIGUEL Love wins every time. THOMAS How's Pam? MIGUEL Pam? Oh. Pam. You know we broke up. THOMAS What! No! I didn't know, man! MIGUEL Two weeks. THOMAS Oh, man. I'm sorry. MIGUEL What are you gonna do, right? THOMAS Sorry, man. Really. MIGUEL (Stands and goes toward kitchen) You sure you don't want a beer. THOMAS (Stands and heads toward kitchen also) Yeah. What the hell. MIGUEL (Reaches into refrigerator and hands Thomas a beer) So I thought about your predicament. (Opens a beer, sips it. Leans against counter.) You sure you want to do this? THOMAS I thought about it too. You know, it's just a little bit. I just want to get rid of the stuff and be done with it anyway. It's just a cash boost. A bank account. That's what I saved it for. A rainy day. Right now, it's looking cloudy. MIGUEL So how much is a little bit? THOMAS Half a kilo. MIGUEL Half a kilo! That's a sweet little bank account! THOMAS Tell me about it. MIGUEL Well, here's how it is. I'm out of it. THOMAS Oh, come on man! You said you'd help. MIGUEL Tom. Have I ever not helped you? THOMAS No. MIGUEL I'm going to help you but I'm not getting involved. Which means I don't want to see it. I don't want to be near it...it's not here is it? THOMAS No. MIGUEL Good. And once you move it, I don't even want a cut. Okay? I want nothing. I'm retired. I'm clean. I'm staying that way. Clear? THOMAS You're not going to move it? MIGUEL I know a guy. Don't worry. You can trust him. THOMAS A buyer? MIGUEL No. A friend of a friend. Don't forget, everybody connected to me went to jail. That's why I don't touch the shit anymore. THOMAS So who is it? MIGUEL His name's DeCarlo. THOMAS DeCarlo? MIGUEL Yeah. That's his last name. I forget if it's John or Jimmy. But his last name is DeCarlo. Oh, wait...it's Tony. Tony DeCarlo. Now, he knows people. He can move it in a couple hours. How much are you asking? THOMAS Below market value. MIGUEL Same shit we used to work with? Clean? Not all stepped on? THOMAS It's pure Christmas snow, man. MIGUEL You just tell him how much you want and make sure DeCarlo gets a decent cut, coke or cash, his choice, you won't have a problem. I never heard of him screwing anybody over. He's got a good rep. But he is known to be a little crazy. THOMAS You've met him right. MIGUEL Oh yeah. Friendly guy. Real friendly. Like I said. Good rep as a negotiator. Knows the right people. He'll move it for you, don't worry. Half a key is as good as blown already. THOMAS What do you mean, he's a little crazy. MIGUEL Oh nothing. I don't know why I said that. He just says off the wall shit sometimes, that's all. (beat) Half a key! You dog! Shit! That's some bank account. (They clink beer bottles with a toast) CUT TO: EXT THOMAS & CANDY'S HOUSE - DAY Thomas is carrying a shovel from the backyard out into the yard. Looks around. Starts digging. Candy comes to back door and calls out. CANDY Tommy! What are you doing? THOMAS (Startled) I'm planting your tree. CANDY Why are you planting it there? It will get too much sunlight there. THOMAS Sssh. CANDY (Looks around, confused) Do you have to plant it there? THOMAS Can you please just go in the house for a few minutes? I'll be done in a minute. CANDY But I wanted it planted over there. (points) Not there. THOMAS Okay. So I'll plant it over there. Just hold on. CANDY (beat) If you're going to plant it over there, why are you still digging? THOMAS (Angry, throws down shovel, rushes toward her) Just be quiet and let me work for a couple minutes all right? I'm busy. CANDY But you're digging in the wrong spo- THOMAS I don't care. Just leave me alone for a little while. Go watch TV or something. CANDY What are you doing? THOMAS Doing man's work! CANDY Doing man's work? What kind- Suddenly realizing he is digging up cocaine, starts hitting him. Open palm on chest. CANDY (CONT'D) What are you doing? You said you'd never do that again. THOMAS (Pushes her into house) Be quiet! Don't broadcast it to the whole world. Just shut up. CANDY When you said you buried it I thought you buried it at Miguel's house. THOMAS Right. Like that makes sense. CANDY I don't want drugs near my baby! THOMAS Shut up! CANDY How can you do this- THOMAS Jus- stop it- CANDY You just can't stop can you? You think it's all going to be better, don't you? THOMAS Stop it! Shut up! Just shut up! Go sit down and stay out of my way, all right? I have work to do and I can't be distracted right now! CANDY You just- THOMAS Shut up! I'm busy now! Understand? You want nice pretty things? You want to keep buying diapers at Wal-Mart. Go ahead! Go right the fuck ahead! How are you going to pay for 'em Candy? (Candy starts crying) How are you going to pay for them Candy? You're not! I am. Me. The man of the house! That's my job. I have to go out and support you every day and you just keep on spending money...pissing it away like it's free! You don't bring home a paycheck though do you? You just spend money so I have to end up doing shit like this! Got to pay rent! Any idea how we were going to pay the rent? NO! All you think about is baby shit! Candy is crying harder and buries her head in the chair, covering up with a pillow. THOMAS (CONT'D) This is how I'm going to pay the rent! Then it's over! Then it's done! And I don't want to hear any more shit about it! (beat...calmer) You just stay in here and let me plant your tree. Thomas exits the house and returns to the hole. Digs furiously. Digs up a jar with a paper bag inside. Carries it inside house. Goes to kitchen. Removes paper bag from jar and unwraps it to reveal cocaine in plastic bag. Rummages though cupboards. THOMAS (CONT'D) Where's the baggies at? Candy still cries. Does not answer. Thomas finds baggies and transfers all of cocaine from old baggie into new one, wraps it tight and puts it into his pocket. He heads for the door. THOMAS (CONT'D) Okay, I'm going now. I'll be back in a little while. Walks out door CANDY Did you plant my tree? Walks back in before screen door closes THOMAS Show me where you want it. CANDY (Gets up, wiping her eyes.) Okay I'll show you. Leads him toward back door. They stand together at the back door for a moment. Candy is pouting and sniffling. CANDY (CONT'D) Right over here. By that one. I think it would look nice over there. Don't you? THOMAS (Kisses her on the side of the head.) Yeah. I do. Picks up shovel and goes to plant tree. FADE TO: EXT 7-11 PARKING LOT - DAY Thomas pulls up in his car and walks to the pay phone. Stands next to the phone bank. DECARLO 30, Tattooed and Pierced, walks up and goes to the other phone and dials. The other phone rings. Thomas answers. THOMAS Hello? They are standing beside each other, one at each pay phone. Thomas realizes it immediately when he is startled by the voice on the phone and sees the man next to him speaking the words. He speaks calmly. DECARLO Hey man. Don't hang up. Don't say anything. Are you alone? (Thomas nods) You bring the dust? (Nods again) DeCarlo studies him intently, looking for any hint of danger. DECARLO (CONT'D) Stay on the phone after I hang up. Wait a minute. Then get in my car. (Thomas nods.) Okay, I'll see you later. Hangs up. Walks to his car and gets inside. Afterwards, Thomas also hangs up and sits in the passenger seat. CUT TO: INT DECARLO'S CAR - DAY DECARLO Ready? (Thomas nods.) Okay. Let's go. (They begin driving.) Tony D. (He extends his hand. They shake.) THOMAS Thomas. DECARLO Tommy. THOMAS No. Thomas. DECARLO Thomas. Okay, Thomas. So. Thomas...what d'ya got? THOMAS This. (Pulls out baggy) It's about a half. Pure vitamin C. You can move it? DECARLO In a heartbeat. What do you want for it? THOMAS What can you get? DECARLO Want to take a drive to Miami? THOMAS Not particularly. DECARLO Then I can get less than it's worth if we stay in this neighborhood. And I do mean hood. THOMAS Whatever you get for it right now, you get half. DECARLO
Copyright © 2002 Mike Rembis |