This is only to page 20, even though it feels like the end of Act 1. I updated the previous postings to reflect changes made in the story, so far, including the addition of a new opening.
-----
INT. CANTINA MADRIZA - NIGHT
Zeke shoves crates of beer up through a trap door behind the bar. Rhonda peeks over.
RHONDA
I can do that.
ZEKE
Thanks, Rho. Almost done. See you, Thursday.
RHONDA
-- Same bat time, same bat channel.
She leaves. He fills the cooler with beer.
SIMULTANEOUSLY
Dax, JJ and Rat still in their booth. Dax is on his cell phone.
DAX
I’m tellin’ ya, I don’t know why he wasn’t there. ... Yeah -- no, no, I got plenty. Same place, tomorrow. ... You remember JJ? ... I’ll be there, with him. ... You want the shit or not? ... Fuckin’ right. Shit.
JJ and Rat count stacks of bills.
Dax ends the call.
DAX (CONT’D)
Fuckin’ Grady even missed a meet-up with our college connection.
RAT
I begin to fear for our Grady’s well-being, not to mention his health...
DAX
You sound like a fuckin’ dictionary.
RAT
I believe Thesaurus would be a better reference.
Dax glares at him. JJ smiles.
The DOOR OPENS. Anson strolls in.
ANSON
Too late for a drink?
Zeke pours Anson a whiskey. He downs it. Pulls up a chair at Dax’s booth. Takes one stack of bills.
ANSON (CONT’D)
You boys’re workin’ late.
DAX
You ain’t seen Grady, have ya?
ANSON
I did. Couple days back. Headed into Bellamere’s.
JJ
And he left, with a blond.
ANSON
Male or female?
The bills go in his pocket. The other stacks are put in baggies.
RAT
I seriously doubt Grady would appreciate the joviality of your observation.
INTERCUT WITH
INT. ISOLATED HOUSE - NIGHT
Carli lies on her bed. Listens on her cell phone.
DAX (O.S.)
Fucker missed two meet-ups, didn’t do his collections, and we can’t find the little shits he handles. What the fuck’s goin’ on?
FLASHBACK TO CARLI
Taping a tiny mike under the pool table when she picks up her chalk.
ANSON (O.S.)
Nobody seen him since Bellamere’s? Anybody know who this blond is?
IN BED
Carli smirks.
DAX (O.S.)
If I did, I’d of asked her what the fuck she did with him.
INTERCUT WITH THE BAR
JJ takes the baggies of cash to Zeke.
ANSON
JJ, you share digs with him, right?
JJ
Sometimes. He’s got a bunch of places he drops at.
DAX
Paranoid fuck.
ZEKE
It’s PTSD, Dax. Cut him some slack.
Zeke opens a trap door behind the bar and climbs down.
A CELLAR
Small and tight, like a cave. A couple of coolers run off extension cords plugged in upstairs. He pulls a duffel bag from one cooler. Dumps the baggies in with more stacks of bills just like them. Sets it back in. Piles bottles of beer over it.
ANSON (O.S.)
You hear ‘bout the body we found?
RAT (O.S.)
My source declared it to be some hopeful dreamer who died in the crossing.
ANSON (O.S.)
Your source is for crap.
DAX (O.S.)
You understood what he said?
ANSON (O.S.)
I still remember some English from school.
JJ (O.S.)
Anson....you...you don’t think that body’s -- ?
ANSON (O.S.)
You remember Anastasia Greene?
Zeke freezes. Listens.
IN THE BAR
Dax pours the last of the beer.
DAX
Fuck, wish I could forget the crazy little bitch.
JJ
But she is a blond.
RAT
Albeit, of the peroxide variety.
ANSON
Not no more. I need some DNA. Think Grady brushed his teeth, once or twice, in that rat-trap of yours?
DAX
Shit -- you do think it’s his body.
ANSON
Dunno, yet. But it’s pretty damn coincidental a dead woman’s car winds up next to a man who was about Grady’s size, and who was staked to the ground and chewed up by ants and vultures and coyotes. Alive.
JJ
That -- that’s what Comanches did to prisoners.
ANSON
Once upon a time.
JJ gives him a key. Anson exits. Rat goes online on his phone.
Zeke climbs back upstairs with another case of beer.
RAT
Here.
He shows Dax and JJ a news story headlined -- LA WOMAN KILLS MARRIED BOYFRIEND; JUMPS TO DEATH.
JJ
Shit. She was crazy.
RAT
I believe the sheriff means us to know that she was murdered, and not by herself.
Dax rises and pulls his things together.
DAX
Rat, you handle tomorrow’s meetin’. Get Spit to back you up. I’ll cool it with Chase. JJ, you do Grady’s collections, over by the college. Zeke, you know Madrigo and Luna, right?
ZEKE
-- Yeah.
DAX
I’ll need your help in the mornin’.
Zeke nods his OK.
JJ
What do you think’s goin’ on, Dax?
DAX
I think somebody’s tryin’ to fuck with us. I just need to figure out who.
Dax, JJ and Rat exit. Zeke pops a long-neck and closes down.
EXT. CANTINA MADRIZA - NIGHT
Zeke goes to the shack behind the cantina, beer in hand. Loki gives him a happy WOOF.
ZEKE
Loki, puppy. Here you go.
He unchains Loki, who runs around. Zeke sits, removes his bionic leg, drinks the beer.
Zeke checks the number written on his chest. Takes a photo of it with his cell phone. Reads it. Remembers --
IN THE CANTINA
Carli shows Zeke her California Driver’s License. Her finger obscures most of the last name...but he can read “VINCEN...”
ON THE SHACK’S PORCH
Loki lies beside Zeke. Gets scratched behind the ears. But Zeke’s mind is a million miles away.
-----
INT. CANTINA MADRIZA - NIGHT
Zeke shoves crates of beer up through a trap door behind the bar. Rhonda peeks over.
RHONDA
I can do that.
ZEKE
Thanks, Rho. Almost done. See you, Thursday.
RHONDA
-- Same bat time, same bat channel.
She leaves. He fills the cooler with beer.
SIMULTANEOUSLY
Dax, JJ and Rat still in their booth. Dax is on his cell phone.
DAX
I’m tellin’ ya, I don’t know why he wasn’t there. ... Yeah -- no, no, I got plenty. Same place, tomorrow. ... You remember JJ? ... I’ll be there, with him. ... You want the shit or not? ... Fuckin’ right. Shit.
JJ and Rat count stacks of bills.
Dax ends the call.
DAX (CONT’D)
Fuckin’ Grady even missed a meet-up with our college connection.
RAT
I begin to fear for our Grady’s well-being, not to mention his health...
DAX
You sound like a fuckin’ dictionary.
RAT
I believe Thesaurus would be a better reference.
Dax glares at him. JJ smiles.
The DOOR OPENS. Anson strolls in.
ANSON
Too late for a drink?
Zeke pours Anson a whiskey. He downs it. Pulls up a chair at Dax’s booth. Takes one stack of bills.
ANSON (CONT’D)
You boys’re workin’ late.
DAX
You ain’t seen Grady, have ya?
ANSON
I did. Couple days back. Headed into Bellamere’s.
JJ
And he left, with a blond.
ANSON
Male or female?
The bills go in his pocket. The other stacks are put in baggies.
RAT
I seriously doubt Grady would appreciate the joviality of your observation.
INTERCUT WITH
INT. ISOLATED HOUSE - NIGHT
Carli lies on her bed. Listens on her cell phone.
DAX (O.S.)
Fucker missed two meet-ups, didn’t do his collections, and we can’t find the little shits he handles. What the fuck’s goin’ on?
FLASHBACK TO CARLI
Taping a tiny mike under the pool table when she picks up her chalk.
ANSON (O.S.)
Nobody seen him since Bellamere’s? Anybody know who this blond is?
IN BED
Carli smirks.
DAX (O.S.)
If I did, I’d of asked her what the fuck she did with him.
INTERCUT WITH THE BAR
JJ takes the baggies of cash to Zeke.
ANSON
JJ, you share digs with him, right?
JJ
Sometimes. He’s got a bunch of places he drops at.
DAX
Paranoid fuck.
ZEKE
It’s PTSD, Dax. Cut him some slack.
Zeke opens a trap door behind the bar and climbs down.
A CELLAR
Small and tight, like a cave. A couple of coolers run off extension cords plugged in upstairs. He pulls a duffel bag from one cooler. Dumps the baggies in with more stacks of bills just like them. Sets it back in. Piles bottles of beer over it.
ANSON (O.S.)
You hear ‘bout the body we found?
RAT (O.S.)
My source declared it to be some hopeful dreamer who died in the crossing.
ANSON (O.S.)
Your source is for crap.
DAX (O.S.)
You understood what he said?
ANSON (O.S.)
I still remember some English from school.
JJ (O.S.)
Anson....you...you don’t think that body’s -- ?
ANSON (O.S.)
You remember Anastasia Greene?
Zeke freezes. Listens.
IN THE BAR
Dax pours the last of the beer.
DAX
Fuck, wish I could forget the crazy little bitch.
JJ
But she is a blond.
RAT
Albeit, of the peroxide variety.
ANSON
Not no more. I need some DNA. Think Grady brushed his teeth, once or twice, in that rat-trap of yours?
DAX
Shit -- you do think it’s his body.
ANSON
Dunno, yet. But it’s pretty damn coincidental a dead woman’s car winds up next to a man who was about Grady’s size, and who was staked to the ground and chewed up by ants and vultures and coyotes. Alive.
JJ
That -- that’s what Comanches did to prisoners.
ANSON
Once upon a time.
JJ gives him a key. Anson exits. Rat goes online on his phone.
Zeke climbs back upstairs with another case of beer.
RAT
Here.
He shows Dax and JJ a news story headlined -- LA WOMAN KILLS MARRIED BOYFRIEND; JUMPS TO DEATH.
JJ
Shit. She was crazy.
RAT
I believe the sheriff means us to know that she was murdered, and not by herself.
Dax rises and pulls his things together.
DAX
Rat, you handle tomorrow’s meetin’. Get Spit to back you up. I’ll cool it with Chase. JJ, you do Grady’s collections, over by the college. Zeke, you know Madrigo and Luna, right?
ZEKE
-- Yeah.
DAX
I’ll need your help in the mornin’.
Zeke nods his OK.
JJ
What do you think’s goin’ on, Dax?
DAX
I think somebody’s tryin’ to fuck with us. I just need to figure out who.
Dax, JJ and Rat exit. Zeke pops a long-neck and closes down.
EXT. CANTINA MADRIZA - NIGHT
Zeke goes to the shack behind the cantina, beer in hand. Loki gives him a happy WOOF.
ZEKE
Loki, puppy. Here you go.
He unchains Loki, who runs around. Zeke sits, removes his bionic leg, drinks the beer.
Zeke checks the number written on his chest. Takes a photo of it with his cell phone. Reads it. Remembers --
IN THE CANTINA
Carli shows Zeke her California Driver’s License. Her finger obscures most of the last name...but he can read “VINCEN...”
ON THE SHACK’S PORCH
Loki lies beside Zeke. Gets scratched behind the ears. But Zeke’s mind is a million miles away.
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