A Most Violent Year Page #8

ABEL is totally speechless.

ANNA (CONT’D)

It’s loaded... with the safety off.

This sits like a bomb in the room.

ANNA (CONT’D)

Those weren’t kids looking to rip

off our TV Abel, that was a f***ing

goon with a loaded gun looking in

our windows! What the hell is going

on here?

ABEL:

Let me see that. I’ll take care of

this.

ANNA:

Damn right we will. Who is this?

ABEL:

I don’t know, but I will take care

of it.

ANNA:

What does that mean you will take

care of it. This isn’t a brick

through our car window or some

other cute little warning that I’ve

put up with in the past. This is

your daughter playing with a loaded

gun!

He turns back quickly. And stares at her.

ABEL:

(yells)

I know what it is!

He slowly walks back across the room and picks up the gun.

His hand shows a shake ever so slightly as he touches it.

ABEL (CONT’D)

Let me deal with this.

ANNA:

You better. Because you won’t like

what’s going to happen once I start

getting involved.

This causes him to stop in his tracks. He turns very

seriously.

ABEL:

You are not to tell your father

about this.

She looks back at him with a tinge of a smile.

ABEL (CONT’D)

Do you hear me.

ANNA’S look changes and she understands.

ANNA:

...I won’t.

ANDREW comes to the door and knocks.

ANDREW WALSH:

Can I talk with you both?

ANNA:

I found a gun outside our front

door. Somebody left it there last

night.

ANDREW WALSH:

Who?

ABEL:

I don’t know.

ANNA looks over to ANDREW letting him know her disgust.

ANDREW WALSH:

Well...

He looks around then closes the door behind him and gets

their attention.

ANDREW WALSH (CONT’D)

It’s not good... It’s bad

He takes out a folder containing the formal indictment and

hands it to ABEL.

ANDREW WALSH (CONT’D)

It’s a fourteen count indictment.

Most of it is crap. Piggyback

issues. But...

As ANDREW keeps talking, trucks go rumbling by behind them.

ANDREW WALSH (CONT’D)

The first three counts are where we

start to have real issues. They

know what’s going on in this

industry. They say we are rigging

scales and under-reporting income.

We don’t know what they have or how

they got it. But no matter how they

got it, it’s a problem.

ABEL:

That truck just went out filthy.

ABEL looks out the window as a truck leaves the yard.

ANNA:

Abel!

ANDREW WALSH:

We are going to owe them some

money.

This brings him back.

ABEL:

How much?

ANDREW WALSH:

That depends on a bunch of factors.

But that’s an accounting question.

They both look to ANNA

ANDREW WALSH (CONT’D)

And there is one other thing. The

bank...

This hits ABEL.

ANDREW WALSH (CONT’D)

We need to sit down with them

immediately. I set a dinner. We

need you both there to lay

everything out and be totally up-

front. This shouldn’t be a problem.

Lord knows they’ve given money to

bigger crooks than us. But I don’t

want us hiding anything from them.

ABEL does not like this joke.

ABEL:

You need to get home and start

going through our set of books. How

far back are they going?

ANDREW WALSH:

Seems like all the way back to when

you bought out Anna’s father.

ANNA:

I’ll get into it.

He looks out the window and sees a Cadillac pull in..

ABEL:

What is O’Leary doing here?.

Abel looks to ANDREW.

ANDREW WALSH:

He’s been wanting to talk to you

for days.

ABEL:

(under his breath)

Jesus.

ABEL gets up to go out. As ANDREW shuffles to leave ANNA

stops him:

ANNA:

Andrew can I talk to you for a

minute.

ABEL leaves and they stay.

EXT. STANDARD HEATING OIL YARD - DAY

ABEL:

How are you Bill?

BILL O'LEARY

I’m ok. Can’t say I’m used to

making house calls like this

anymore though.

ABEL:

I would have come to see you.

BILL O'LEARY

That’s alright. You’ve got bigger

things to worry about. (Long pause)

So, I can’t have this situation

with your guys continuing.

ABEL:

My guys.

BILL O'LEARY

Your drivers.

47

ABEL:

Good. I would love you to help on

this. Because I can’t have it going

on any longer either.

BILL O'LEARY

So let them protect themselves,

that would stop all this very

quickly.

ABEL:

I respectfully disagree.

BILL O'LEARY

They are picking on your men

because they are just sitting

there... weak.

ABEL:

They are taking shots at me because

I am growing, expanding, getting

stronger not weaker.

This frustrates Bill because he knows ABEL is right. He tries

a new tack.

BILL O'LEARY

It’s quite simple for me: I can’t

have my drivers getting hit like

this. It looks like I can’t protect

them.

ABEL:

Well, it appears that you can’t.

This is a little too sharp for the head of the NYC teamster’s

taste.

BILL O'LEARY

I can. And will. Because of all my

job descriptions that is the one I

consider most sacred.

ABEL:

I agree. But these are truck

drivers, not soldiers, this will

lead to chaos.

BILL O'LEARY

It will stop immediately.

ABEL:

No, it won’t.

He resets, again.

BILL O'LEARY

You seem to be under pressure from

many sides right now... which I

understand. Trust me I understand.

So let me think this through. But

whatever decision I make on this,

it stands. Those men show up every

morning for you because I tell them

to. It’s important for you to

realize that these are very

dangerous times, and we need to

adapt. It’s not like when we were

driving.

ABEL:

Yes.

BILL O'LEARY

Sometimes the weak man is the

stronger man if he has the right

tools.

ABEL:

It may seem that way... but if you

are weak eventually it will show...

it always does. And if you want

this to all be behind us, help me

find out who is doing this. You

know a lot of people, and that

would be the most help to me.

BILL O'LEARY

It’s not always as simple as it

appears.

ABEL:

I’m sure that’s true.

BILL O'LEARY

It is... well, I got to get going.

ABEL:

Thank you for coming Bill.

EXT. GATE AT STANDARD HEATING OIL - DAY

O'LEARY walks over to ANDREW as he is getting in his car.

ANDREW WALSH:

How did that go?

BILL O'LEARY

Not well.

ANDREW WALSH:

He feels very strongly about this.

BILL O'LEARY

I can see that.

ANDREW WALSH:

I don’t think he fully understands

it.

BILL O'LEARY

What’s to understand?

ANDREW WALSH:

It’s illegal.

BILL O'LEARY

It’s not illegal if I say it isn’t.

My responsibility is to provide

safe and timely passage of goods

and products into and around this

city. And because of this situation

it is appearing to those whose

opinions I care about that I can’t

do my job. That can not and will

not continue.

ANDREW WALSH:

I understand.

BILL O'LEARY

So talk to him. You need to protect

yourself. This is very serious.

Just know that.

ANDREW thinks this through.

ANDREW WALSH:

How would this work?

BILL O'LEARY

What does that mean?

ANDREW WALSH:

I guess I’m not even sure exactly

what you are suggesting.

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