A Most Violent Year Page #14

INT. TENNIS COURT OF SUBURBAN MANSION - DAY

ABEL is led by a MAID into an indoor tennis court. The house

is massive and designed like an English Country Estate.

As ABEL walks up we see PETER FORENTE on the court playing

against an automatic tennis ball machine. He is in full

tennis whites as he hammers the balls back at the machine.

ABEL approaches the court and watches for a beat.

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PETER FORENTE:

It’s a pretty cool machine, isn’t

it?

ABEL nods.

PETER FORENTE (CONT’D)

I was paying a guy five bucks an

hour to do this with me last year.

ABEL:

Peter.

This causes PETER to look up and see the serious look on

ABEL’s face. He hits one last shot and walks a little closer

to ABEL. The machine is still hitting balls behind PETER.

PETER FORENTE:

Yes.

ABEL:

I need to speak with you.

PETER FORENTE:

I see that.

PETER walks over to the machine and unplugs it. He points

over towards the chairs courtside. He and ABEL sit down.

ABEL:

This has gotten out of control...

There was a guy with a gun at my

house.

ABEL lets this sit for a minute, and he is intently reading

PETER’s face. He hopes not, but he is judging to see if PETER

had anything to do with all these attacks. PETER just looks

back at him with a very strong poker face.

ABEL (CONT’D)

My wife and children were home at

the time.

PETER FORENTE:

Is everyone okay?

ABEL:

Yes. I managed to chase him off.

PETER FORENTE:

Well, I’m sorry, that must have

been scary... what can I do.

ABEL:

I need to know who is doing this.

PETER FORENTE:

Abel...

ABEL:

It’s one thing to come after my

trucks and drivers... and to steal

from me... but this... it’s

different.

PETER FORENTE:

Yes.

ABEL:

Have you ever dealt with anything

like this?

PETER FORENTE:

Have you met my father?

They both smile. His father is an old-school gangster.

PETER FORENTE (CONT’D)

A bunch of thugs invaded our home

when I was a baby... My mother was

there with us... My brother

remembers it. Nothing happened.

They were trying to scare my

father. They ended up just leaving

and we never found out who it was.

But after that we moved to a

fortress just like this. And those

guys who let you in. They are here

to shoot anyone who isn’t invited.

ABEL:

I refuse to live my life that way.

I won’t do it... I am going to ask

for a meeting.

They both look out and think it through a bit.

PETER FORENTE:

Who?

ABEL:

Anyone with more than 20k of

storage. Can I count on you being

there?

PETER looks away for a long beat.

PETER FORENTE:

Yes... When are you closing on the

terminal?

ABEL:

Monday.

PETER FORENTE:

Congratulations.

ABEL:

Hold that... it’s not done yet...

you may be hearing from me.

(Trailed by an awkward laugh.)

PETER FORENTE:

Well, good luck.

ABEL stands up ready to go.

ABEL:

Thank you for seeing me. I want

more than this...

PETER FORENTE:

I know you do. My father is in

jail... as you know. And I have

always wanted to conduct myself

differently than he did.

ABEL:

And you have.

PETER FORENTE:

Almost exclusively, yes. But I know

why he did what he did. Because at

the time it’s easier.

ABEL:

But it’s not.

PETER FORENTE:

Yes it is. You are a good man. I

will see what I can find out. This

isn’t good for any of us.

ABEL:

Thank you.

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EXT. PETER FORENTE’S DRIVEWAY - DAY

ABEL is walking across the beautifully-manicured driveway,

and as he gets nearer to his car he starts to hear the mayhem

that is coming from the CB radio in the front seat. As he

gets closer he gets more and more details.

RADIO DISPATCHER V.O.

Where is the truck now?

RESPONDING DRIVER V.O.

It’s still on the bridge.

RADIO DISPATCHER V.O.

Is it still leaking oil?

RESPONDING DRIVER V.O.

No. They have stopped the leak.

RADIO DISPATCHER V.O.

Did it reach the river?

RESPONDING DRIVER V.O.

Some did.

RADIO DISPATCHER V.O.

How many shots were fired?

ABEL now slams open the door and gets into the driver side

and picks up the microphone.

ABEL:

Joanne it’s me. What are you

talking about... what shots?

The camera now comes around to the outside of the car looking

back at ABEL through the windshield. The mansion is looming

in the background. We see ABEL’S face react as he hears the

news of the incident on the bridge. The camera pulls back as

ABEL’S face goes totally cold.

INT. COURT ROOM - DAY

ABEL walks into an almost empty courtroom. LAWRENCE is

packing up his things at the front of the room. They catch

each others eye. ABEL makes his way forward as everyone else

leaves. They look at each other for a beat.

A.D.A. LAWRENCE

I heard.

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ABEL:

I need to make sure you know that

we had nothing to do with this.

It’s not the way I do business. In

fact I have been warning my men

against doing this sort of thing.

It is terrible for me.

A.D.A. LAWRENCE

It’s not good... for either of us.

ABEL:

Yes.

A.D.A. LAWRENCE

In my job we use whatever leverage

we can gain, as I’m sure you do in

your business. It’s an ongoing

investigation, and it will be just

one piece of many. So while I

appreciate you coming here... I

have nothing I can tell you.

LAWRENCE looks around the room thinking while ABEL says

nothing, just waiting.

A.D.A. LAWRENCE (CONT’D)

What a f***ing mess this place

is... Do you know where he is?

ABEL:

No... but I’ll find him.

A.D.A. LAWRENCE

You should. And when you do, bring

him to us. A situation like this,

happening in such a dangerous and

public way, within an industry I’m

charged with cleaning up. It’s very

bad for me... professionally

speaking.

They look at each other one last time. ABEL gets the message.

EXT. SMALL QUIET SIDE STREET, QUEENS - DAY

SALES STUDENT ALEX is walking down the street looking

terrible. His clothes are ruined by garbage, and he is

scared. As he approaches his car his face drops.

The car has a two-by-four slammed through the shattered

windshield.

He stops dead in his tracks and then carefully looks around

and scans the street looking for anything. It is eerily

empty.

EXT. OUTER GATE, STANDARD HEATING OIL YARD - DAY

ABEL pulls up in his car and the gate starts to open. As it

does we see ARTHUR LEWIS standing waiting next to his car.

ABEL pulls in next to him and gets out. There is an

overriding, almost unsettling calm to this conversation.

ARTHUR LEWIS:

Abel.

ABEL:

Arthur.

ARTHUR LEWIS:

I wanted to come and talk to you in

person... We aren’t going to be

able to show up for you on Monday.

We can’t do the loan.

ABEL:

I...

ARTHUR LEWIS:

I wanted to let you know as soon as

possible so that you could try to

put something else together.

ABEL:

Thank you for coming... This is not

right.

ARTHUR LEWIS:

I know.

ABEL:

What can I do?

ARTHUR LEWIS:

Nothing... The loan review

committee met this afternoon and

won’t meet again for two weeks.

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