American History X

INT. HOUSE - CLOSED EYES

A young man's blue eyes slowly open. A girl moans from the next room.

EXT. STREET CORNER - A LARGE TIRE

turns the corner and splashes through a puddle from an

earlier rain. TUPAC SHAKUR blares from inside.

INT. HOUSE - TIGHT ON THE EYES

They snap wide as the young woman in the next room MOANS

even louder.

EXT. VENICE BEACH HOUSE - A WET NIGHT

A slight buzz emanates from the power lines and street

lights above the humble VINYARD household. A black FORD

BRONCO rests in the driveway.

EXT. WET STREET - A GRAY TRANS AM

TUPAC'S rapping builds. The window-tinted drive-by

slowly heads down the residential street, cruises past

the Bronco in the driveway, and slows to a stop. The

music stops and TWO BLACK MEN spring from the car.

They move with purpose. The larger figure, crowbar in

hand, moves to the truck. The GUN wielding passenger

hurries to the front door and stands guard. Inside the

car, another man methodically waits.

INT. BEDROOM - DANNY VINYARD'S EYES

The sex happening in the next room makes it difficult for

Danny to sleep. Next to a digital clock that reads

3:
07AM, the clean cut 14-year-old flips to his side.

A poster of Lee Ving of FEAR onstage, taped to the wall.

Pre-Calculus and Biology books on the floor. Cassettes

scattered on his tiny desk. A stereo in the corner.

The off-screen sound of breaking glass grabs Danny's

attention. He sits up and looks through the blinds.

EXT. HOUSE - SAME

Danny SEES a man reach through the broken window and

unlock the door. He quickly. pans to the idling Trans Am.

INT. DANNY'S BEDROOM - TIGHT ON DANNY

His fearful expression says it all.

DANNY:

Holy sh*t.

Danny quickly bolts out of his room and into the adjacent

bedroom down the hall. He barges through the door.

INT. DEREK'S BEDROOM - A NAZI IRON EAGLE BATTLE FLAG

It hangs above a serious computer and next to a giant,

tome-filled bookshelf. The moans, meanwhile, approach

orgasm.

TIGHT ON DEREK VINYARD. The young man has a shaved head,

a thick goatee, and a well-crafted SWASTIKA on his left

tit. On top of Derek in the bed is his barely-of-age

girlfriend, STACEY. The covers are completely off and a

BLACK ROSE is tattooed across her right shoulder blade.

Danny watches her f***, only for a second.

DANNY:

(softly)

Der !

Danny walks over and shakes him. Startled, Derek

forcefully grabs his little brother's arm.

DEREK:

(controlled)

What?

Stacey stops and looks over. Frustated, she rolls off

Derek and onto her side.

STACEY:

F***ing pervert, Dan!

DANNY:

There's a black guy outside Der...

breaking into your car.

Derek, muscled and tattooed, jumps out of the bed and

quickly puts on his skivvies. He reaches under his

mattress, pulls out a SIG .45 semi-automatic pistol, and

shoves in a clip.

DEREK:

How long has he been out there?

DANNY:

Not long.

STACEY:

Who?

DEREK:

Nobody. Relax.

Stacey sits up quickly from the bed as Derek pulls on his

black combat boots.

STACEY:

Who's out there, Derek?

DEREK:

Not right now, honey.

(to Danny)

How many?

DANNY:

One...I think.

DEREK:

Is he strapped?

DANNY:

Hunh?

DEREK:

Does he have a f***ing gun, Dan?

DANNY:

I'm not sure.

DEREK:

Is there a driver?

Danny nods his head yes.

DEREK:

Okay. Stay the luck here.

STACEY:

Derek? Be careful.

He looks at his girlfriend and walks off.

INT. HALLWAY - SAME

TIGHT ON DEREK. He walks down the hall. The intensity

on his face is alarming. He stops at the front door and

grabs the doorknob. Before he turns the knob, he peeks

through the eye hole on the door.

EXT. HOUSE - DEREK'S EYE POV

THE BLACK GUARD carelessly turns toward the driveway to

see what's taking his partner so long with the wires.

INT. HOUSE - DEREK AT THE DOOR

The guard has his back to him. Derek goes.

EXT. HOUSE - THE DUEL

Derek throws open the door and the black man standing

guard wheels and fires a shot into the front door. Derek

buries two bullets in his chest.

DEREK:

F*** you!

The force propels the man six feet backwards.

INT./EXT. BRONCO - THE OTHER MAN

Stunned by the gunfire, he charges back to the getaway

Tranny. Derek buries a bullet into his shoulder. The

car splits and Derek fires a shot through the side

window. He then walks towards the car and fires shot

after shot at it until it disappears.

INT. VINYARD HOUSEHOLD - DARKNESS

Davina and Doris Vinyard yell in the background like they

were in Vietnam. They meet in the hallway, still not

able to place the direction of the gunfire.

DAVINA:

MOM!!!!

DORIS:

STAY DOWN, HONEY! DANNY?!

They stay down on the carpet together.

EXT. BEDROOM - DANNY'S POV

From the rain-soaked window he watches Derek face his

wounded prey - crawling on the ground. Sirens sound from

a distance.

STACEY (O.S.)

Get down, Danny! Jesus!

TIGHT ON DANNY. His gaze is locked on his brother from

his bedroom window. Derek c*cks his piece, points it and

walks toward the man.

TIGHT ON DEREK'S FACE. Eyes blistering.

FADE TO BLACK:

THREE YEARS LATER

EXT. POLICE STATION - EARLY MORNING

A black man in a suit and tie, ROBERT SWEENEY, goes

through the automatic doors and into the station. He

approaches a DESK SERGEANT. A daily calendar on her desk

reads MONDAY. MARCH 3. 1997.

SWEENEY:

Captain Rasmussen?

DESK SERGEANT:

Briefing room. Down that hall...third

door on the left.

INT. BRIEFING ROOM - A MEETING

Cops and detectives sit attentively and a few sip coffee.

The clock on the wall above reads 7:38 AM. Middle-aged

with slicked-back hair, CAPTAIN JOHN RASMUSSEN finishes a

thought. He spots Sweeney as he enters and aimlessly

reaches for a file.

RASMUSSEN:

All right. Moving on--

(acknowledging)

Good Morning, Doctor.

The group looks over and meets Sweeney's hard glare.

SWEENEY:

Good morning.

RASMUSSEN:

Gentlemen, this is Dr. Bob Sweeney.

He's Principal over at Venice High and

for some time now he's done a load of

outreach work with gangs...in and out

of the can.

Sweeney nods as Rasmussen cough. He sips water and

continues.

RASMUSSEN:

Three years ago a local kid named

Derek Vinyard gets sent up for

murdering a couple of Crips who were

trying to jack his car. Bob taught

Vinyard back in high school and has

followed the case closely.

YOUNG COP:

He was a skinhead, right?

SWEENEY:

Derek was more like...the skinhead.

He and Cameron Alexander.

COP #2

Who?

Rasmussen opens a FILE in front of him. There rests

Derek's mug shot. He flips it over and reveals

CAMMERON'S MUG SHOT. Front and side view.

RASMUSSEN:

Cammeron Alexander is probably the

biggest writer and distributor of

white power literature in LA County.

He promotes white power bands, writes

reviews, columns, all at the ripe age

of forty.

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