Doing Man's Work (6)
Do you? THOMAS NO!!! Can! Tell him I don't have any more dope! CANDY He sold you everything we had, so just...just go away now. DECARLO You people are a real trip, you know that? Look at you! All Betty Crocker and shit with a bun in the oven. What the fuck, man? You said you had 3 keys. Do you or don't you? THOMAS No. DECARLO Then why did you lie? You lied to me. THOMAS I didn't lie to you! I lied to those other guys. I just wanted to get the hell out of there. I just wanted to get it over with. That little bit...that was all I had. DECARLO (beat) You said had. Past tense. Meaning you HAVE SOME FUCKING DOPE AROUND HERE! Now find it! (Pulls out pistol and points it at Candy's head) Change of plans. You've got til One o'clock. THOMAS (Stepping between them, shielding Candy, with the gun touching his face) It's not here! I have to go get it. DECARLO Ah...progress. The memory is a marvel isn't it? You sit down. (Thomas starts to pull Candy by the wrist) Ah-ah. Just Thomas. DeCarlo holds her other wrist. Thomas sits. DeCarlo holsters gun in belt loop and puts an arm around Candy who is terrified. DECARLO (CONT'D) How far away is it? THOMAS Not far. DECARLO Good. Here's what we're going to do. You, Thomas, are going to retrieve the stash. Candy and me are going to go for a nice little ride around the block. THOMAS No! (Starts to stand) DECARLO Sit! Down! (beat) Good. Like I said, Candy-cane and me are going for a ride. Here's my cell phone. (Tosses phone to Thomas) Don't make any calls with it, and I mean, NO CALLS. I'll call you in a half hour and tell you where to go. Then we'll make a trade. CANDY TOMMY! She reaches for him. DeCarlo holds her by the shirt and draws his pistol, pointing it at her head DECARLO Ah - ah - ah! You know what's more important to me. Don't you Thomas? THOMAS Yeah. DECARLO Good. Don't forget. Is the phone on? THOMAS Yeah. DECARLO Good. Make sure you answer when it rings. Hate to see you miss a call. He starts dragging Candy out the door while pointing the gun at Thomas. CANDY TOMMY! TOMMY! CUT TO: EXT THOMAS & CANDY'S HOUSE - MOMENTS LATER Candy is dragged to the car as Thomas watches through the screen door. He looks up and down the street seeing that there are no neighbors outside. DeCarlo pushes her into the front seat, then goes to the drivers side, he looks up at Thomas. DECARLO See you in a half hour. I'll call and tell you where. (To Candy) Put on your seat belt. She is terrified and staring at Thomas as they drive away. Thomas runs out the door chasing after the car for about three houses. Then falls down to his knees and starts crying. In a few moments he composes himself and looks at the cell phone in his hand. He gets up and starts to run. CUT TO: NEIGHBORHOOD AND CITY STREETS - MOMENTS LATER Thomas running. Runs all the way to his car at 7-11. Gets in and peels out. City traffic. Thomas getting worried as he gets delayed at red lights and cut off periodically. Drives wrecklessly. CUT TO: INT. MIGUEL'S HOUSE - DAY Miguel is watching a sports game on TV, sitting in his underwear and eating chips with his feet up on the coffee table. We hear car tires screech outside and running up the steps. Thomas bursts in. MIGUEL Hey! THOMAS Get your ass up! MIGUEL What the fuck? THOMAS (Grabs the remote and shuts off the TV) Put some pants on. We have to go. MIGUEL I was watching that. THOMAS He took Candy! MIGUEL What? THOMAS That fucking psycho! He took Candy! He killed three guys! MIGUEL What? THOMAS Will you just put some goddam pants on! Please. We have to go. MIGUEL Tom. Hold up. Slow down. Who took Candy? THOMAS The psycho. DeCarlo. MIGUEL What? Where? THOMAS I don't know! MIGUEL Well, what do you want me to do? THOMAS Put some clothes on and help me. Get your ass UP! Kicks out coffee table from beneath Miguel's feet. An ashtray shatters on the floor. THOMAS (CONT'D) I need you to help me. I watched him shoot three guys today! He killed them right in front of me. He just shot 'em dead. Right in front of me, like it was target practice. MIGUEL DeCarlo? THOMAS Yeah! And now he took Candy because he thinks I have three more keys I'm holding out on him. MIGUEL Why does he think that? THOMAS I was lying to the guys we were cutting a deal with and he's so whacked out he believed me! I was just trying to get the deal done, and I don't know what happened. I think DeCarlo stole this guys car or something, but the guy...just...Dwayne, I think... MIGUEL Dwight? THOMAS Yeah, that's it. Black guy. Light skin. Friendly guy. He calls DeCarlo an asshole and DeCarlo shoots him in the neck! Right in front of me! Then he just shot the other two guys. Look! He got blood on me! (Points to blood splatter on his pants and shirt.) He chased one guy down the hall. (beat) He just... MIGUEL He shot Dwight? THOMAS Yes! MIGUEL You sure he's dead? THOMAS I THINK... MIGUEL And he took Candy? You mean at gunpoint? THOMAS Yes. MIGUEL (Stands and starts to pace) Mmmmmm. UMMMMMMMM. Oh God. Oh my God. What are you going to do? THOMAS Do you have a gun? MIGUEL No. Of course not. THOMAS He's going to call me on this cell phone in about fifteen minutes and tell me where to meet him. He's expecting me to have three kilos. You have any powder? Any cut we can fake? MIGUEL No, man. I'm not getting involved. Thomas grabs Miguel by the shirt and slams him into the chair, not letting go THOMAS Listen MotherFucker! You are involved! You are going to put your Goddam pants on and we're going to Winn Dixie and buy flour and corn starch and baggies if we have to. He is going to kill my wife! Do you understand? Miguel does not answer. Thomas shakes him furiously. THOMAS (CONT'D) DO YOU FUCKING UNDERSTAND?! MIGUEL Yeah. Okay. I understand. CUT TO: INT. THOMAS' CAR - MOMENTS LATER Thomas is driving. Miguel is looking scared and concerned in the passenger seat. Thomas drives purposefully, watching traffic, signaling. His serious demeanor is explosive. CUT TO: INT. DECARLO'S CAR - DAY DeCarlo and Candy are on a quiet street when he pulls up at a stop sign. She tries to bolt and starts opening the door. DeCarlo grabs her wrist and simultaneously slams the car into park. She bites his knuckle and he grabs her hair, pulling her neck back and stopping her. DECARLO YOU NASTY LITTLE BITCH! (Slaps her) Do you want to live? (No answer - just fear) DO YOU WANT TO LIVE? CANDY Yes! Yes! I want to live... (Starts crying) DECARLO You're sure. (Pulls hair harder) CANDY Yes! Yes! I want to live..I want to live..I want to live. Please don't kill me..Please don't kill me..Please don't! Please don't! DECARLO Then don't...fucking...move. CUT TO: INT. THOMAS' CAR - MOMENTS LATER Thomas is driving and there is a long moment of silence before Miguel speaks. MIGUEL I'm sorry about this Tommy. (more silence) I just don't get it. He was a decent guy. THOMAS A decent guy? MIGUEL I thought I could trust him. I just don't believe it. THOMAS Well, believe it. MIGUEL How does shit like this happen? What happens to people. I mean I know what happened to me. I was raised with the shit. I knew dealers in high school... As they are pulling into a grocery store parking lot, the cell phone rings. Thomas slams on the brakes and looks carefully at how to answer the phone. Puts up a finger to silence Miguel THOMAS Hello? CUT TO: EXT OUTDOORS - NATURAL AREA - DAY DeCarlo is on the phone standing next to his car. During this scene camera pulls out from tight shot of DeCarlo's face to his entire car and its empty interior. DECARLO You know where Muck Pond Road is? Yeah, out in the county. Just take the Turkey Creek exit and go North of the interstate. Make a right at the stop sign. Go down to the power lines. Just drive on the service road that goes up underneath them. You'll see a control station there. Go behind that. The service road will be on the left. Just get off the interstate and go left-right-left. Yeah. She's fine. (Looks down at the bite marks on his knuckles) You can talk to her when you get here. Disconnects phone and gets into empty car. Looks around. Chuckles. Drives off toward power lines. There is a storm in the distance ahead. CUT TO: INT. THOMAS' CAR - MOMENTS LATER Thomas is abruptly disconnected and just stares blankly at the phone. He shakes and almost cries. THOMAS No. Let me talk to her... (disconnect) ...now... MIGUEL Are you okay? What did he say? THOMAS I think he's going to kill her. Oh GOD! I THINK HE'S GOING TO KILL CANDY! MIGUEL Tom! THOMAS Oh, God! We gotta call the police! We gotta call the police! Oh God...oh...God. MIGUEL You want to call the police? Thomas looks at the cell phone in his hand in disgust and throws it into the windshield of the car AT POINT BLANK RANGE. The cell phone shatters and breaks into a few pieces, crashing into Miguel's lap. They look at each other. Thomas gets very serious very fast and starts the car. MIGUEL (CONT'D) Where are we going? THOMAS Muck Pond Road. Under the power lines. CUT TO: EXT. THOMAS' CAR - MONTAGE We see a serious expression on their faces. We see the car driving down the interstate and a flurry of signs including and terminating at Muck Pond Road. Music: TENSE FADE TO: THE POWERLINES We see an overhead view of the power station and DeCarlo's car. He is leaning against it. About a quarter mile away, Thomas' car is entering the dirt road from the pavement. It is impossible for them to see each other from this vantage point. The road curves around the transfer station. Thomas stops the car and turns off the engine. We see DeCarlo up close. He lights a cigarette and takes the gun out of his pocket. He opens the chamber to reveal five spent shells and one live round. He dumps them out into his hand. He drops the live round into the tall grass, cigarette dangling from his lips, he looks into his hand and sees the five spent ones. He looks around in the grass and finally finds it. He searches his pockets. DECARLO Shit. He carefully reloads the gun with his only bullet and tosses away the spent shells. He rolls the revolver into place so the round will be live. Meanwhile, Thomas and Miguel are sitting in the car by the road, staring ahead. Lightning crackles overhead. MIGUEL You sure this is it? THOMAS (beat) He said to go behind the control station. I don't see any other power lines. It must be up there. MIGUEL What's going to happen when you tell him you don't have any coke? THOMAS We're not going to tell him. MIGUEL Then what's going to happen? THOMAS I don't know. MIGUEL What do we do now? THOMAS I guess we go in. Drive down this road...I can't turn back. (beat) I can't turn away, Miguel. She's my wife. MIGUEL I know. Let's go. Thomas starts the car and it lurches forward. Thunder booms and lightning flashes and crackles. (P.O.V.) INTERIOR THOMAS' CAR. Coming around the corner they see DeCarlo leaning against the back of his car, calmly smoking. CUT TO: Close up of DeCarlo, stomping out his cigarette, looking like he is ready for battle. Lightning flashes again. They pull up about twenty feet from DeCarlo. THOMAS You stay here. MIGUEL What? THOMAS Stay here. Thomas exits the vehicle and stands behind the door, one foot on the ground. THOMAS (CONT'D) Where is she? DECARLO You bring the goodies? THOMAS Yeah. Where is she? DeCarlo steps off from his car and pops the trunk with the remote control. DECARLO Then I guess you get some Candy! We see Candy gagged with duct tape that goes all the way around her head, messing up her hair. She is brutally hog-tied with black rubber bungee cords. Her eyes read terror. She is crying and screaming through the tape. She has raised her head to see Thomas. THOMAS CANDY! He runs toward her a few long paces until DeCarlo draws his gun. DECARLO Wait! No dessert until we finish the main course. Bring it out. Thomas stops in his tracks THOMAS MIGUEL! (Turns toward Miguel) BRING IT OUT! POV: CAR INTERIOR MIGUEL (Whispers to himself) Bring what out? (Exits car) DECARLO Hey Miguel. MIGUEL D.C. DECARLO You straighten out your boy here? MIGUEL What's the deal Tony? (Sees Candy) Tony! What is she? Tied up? Miguel steps up to Thomas, starts toward Candy, but is cut off by DeCarlo, who steps between them, pointing the gun at Miguel's head MIGUEL (CONT'D) Tony! This is wrong man! Don't do this, man. DECARLO Your boy here is fucking with me, man. Give me the blow. MIGUEL There is no blow man! He was telling you the truth. CUT TO: CANDY SCARED CUT TO: MIGUEL (CONT'D) It was a little bag, right? That little bag. That was it. I told you it was a minor deal. He's not fucking with you. That little bit. That was it. There is no more. Lightning. Thunder. Pointing gun at Thomas. They are now about five feet apart. DECARLO (Screaming) Then why did you lie to me! THOMAS I didn't. I didn't. (Puts his hands up) I just...tried...I wanted...I was just trying to get out of there. It didn't have to go down like that! Lightning. Thunder. DECARLO I heard you said I was crazy man! (waving the gun from Thomas to Miguel and back again) You think I'm fucking crazy man? MIGUEL Tony. Put down the gun... DECARLO (Screaming) PUT DOWN THE GUN? You think you're in a fucking movie, man? You want me to put down my gun? THUNDER DECARLO (CONT'D) You are UN-BE-Fucking-Leiva- THOMAS No don't! DECARLO Don't what? (changing his aim from Miguel to Thomas' head) DECARLO (CONT'D) Don't waste him? You screw me out of a deal and make me waste those other squid-for-brains son's of bitches and you think I care about him? (beat) What about her? Turns to the trunk and puts the gun to Candy's head. She is hysterical and her jaw breaks free so we can hear her scream though the tape. DECARLO (CONT'D) Maybe this is where I should aim. Thomas starts moving and DeCarlo quickly swings his arm back and aims at Thomas again. DECARLO (CONT'D) STAY! He steadies his aim with his other hand. DECARLO (CONT'D) Now you produce right now. Give me that blow. Lightning. Thunder. DECARLO (CONT'D) You can all go home and forget about this and go back to lifestyles of Central Florida Trailer Trash. Just give me the blow. CANDY TOMMY! HELP ME! DECARLO Shut up bitch! Slams trunk shut. Rain starts dropping lightly. DECARLO (CONT'D) Shit. I just went through the car wash this morning. Ain't that some crap? Well - I guess we'll just have to- DeCarlo's foot is ensnared by a piece of creeper grass and as he is speaking and stepping toward Thomas, he loses his balance on the wet grass and falls forward. The gun flies out of his hand three feet in front of DeCarlo as he is face down in the dirt, stunned, now scared. Thomas is shocked. Miguel is shocked. There is a brief instant where they all freeze and stare at the gun. We see from above that they are all equidistant from it in a triangle. They all bolt for the gun. This is a serious fight. There is grunting. They are in the dirt. We see terror, hatred, and murder in their eyes. Six hands are fighting for the gun. We focus on the hands. They jumble together in a clump and there is a shot. Miguel: Afraid Thomas: Surprised DeCarlo: Gasping BANG! DeCarlo has been shot in the chest. Blood is on everyone's hands. DeCarlo falls back. Thomas is holding the chamber and DeCarlo's wrist, letting go. Miguel fired the shot. He looks at the gun and cringes. He looks at DeCarlo and scurries back on his ass, pushing with his feet and dropping the gun nervously. Lightning. Thunder. Miguel covers his head. Rain begins to pour. Thomas looks around, down at DeCarlo, over to Miguel, and then to the car. He kneels down and goes through DeCarlo's pockets finding his keys. He also finds the bag of coke. He throws the coke far away into the brush. He goes to open the trunk. (P.O.V.) CANDY-TRUNK INTERIOR, SOUND OF POURING RAIN. TRUNK OPENS. Thomas takes Candy and starts unwrapping the bungee cords, freeing her. He pulls the duct tape down around her neck. It is still stuck to the back of her hair. She hugs him and holds him tightly, not wanting to let go. THOMAS It's okay now, baby. I got you. I got you. Candy cries quietly and then sees DeCarlo and Miguel. She yelps. THOMAS (CONT'D) (Quietly) Ssssssshhhh. Come on. I got you. Come on. It's okay. He carries her to his car through the rain and puts her in the front seat. He goes to get Miguel, grabs him by the arm and helps him up. THOMAS (CONT'D) Go sit in the car. Go. Miguel starts toward the car, also pouting and scared. Thomas picks up the gun and unloads the empty shell, then puts it in his belt loop. He sees the paper bag full of money in the trunk of DeCarlo's car and looks at it. He just stares at it a moment. Then a HUGE crack of thunder and lightning strikes nearby and makes him jump. He slams the trunk shut leaving the money behind. CUT TO: EXT. THOMAS' CAR - MOMENTS LATER Driving through rain from dirt road onto paved road. No other traffic. CUT TO: INT. THOMAS' CAR - CONTINUOUS Trio in front seat, Thomas driving. They are all very shaken. Candy is clutching Thomas. Miguel is staring out into the rain. Except for the windshield wipers and rain, it is silent. After a long silence Thomas speaks, looking forward, watching the road. The others just listen staring blankly without looking at him. THOMAS This is all over now. We're going home and we're not going to talk about this. Ever. This didn't happen. Just try to forget that you woke up today. Okay? There's no more coke. There's no money. I left it there. (beat) I'm not talking about it, either. It's over. I just...couldn't take it. (beat) You don't have to say anything. I took the gun. (Candy winces and moans) There's no more bullets. They must have fell out of the gun. I'm going to throw it in the bay when we go over the causeway. And that's it. It's over. DISSOLVE TO: INT. OFFICE - MORNING Salesmen are filing into the office. There is light banter about weekend events, baseball, movies, children, etc. The chairs are arranged in a semicircle waiting for the Monday morning meeting to start. Coffee is being poured. Donut box is happily passed around. Thomas enters. His glare is vacant. He is unshaved, but wearing a sports coat and tie. He looks at other salesman as he walks past, some greet him. SALESMAN 1 There he is, the full boater! How you doing, money man? Have a good weekend or what? THOMAS Yeah, fine thanks. How about you? CHARLIE Did you come up with lots of ways to spend all the money you're going to make? THOMAS Well, I… DOUG Guys! Two minutes! Get your coffee and take your seats. We're going to hear all about Tommy's first deal. Full boat! They cheer. DOUG (CONT'D) How you doing buddy? Have a good weekend? THOMAS Doug? Can I talk to you for a minute? DOUG Sure, bud. They move away from the crowd DOUG (CONT'D) What's up? THOMAS I've got a problem. DOUG What's the matter? Somebody sick? THOMAS No. No, nothing like that. I need to pay my rent. I really need to pay my rent. I'm...I don't have any money...we're broke...and I...can't... (almost crying) I have to pay my rent...and... DOUG (Putting a hand on his shoulder) You need rent money today? Is that what you're trying to say? THOMAS Yeah. DOUG Don't worry about it. Look, come see me after the meeting. I can cut you a check. Advance. Okay? (Slaps Thomas' face like a friendly uncle) Cheer up, we take care of our own here. You're a good man, Thomas. Go get some coffee. (Leaves to start the meeting) OKAY! Who made five or more sales last week? Jimmy Lee? What did you sell? THE END
Copyright © 2002 Mike Rembis |