Bound Page #9

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MICKEY:

Hey, Johnnie, ease up, okay.

Johnnie hits Shelly once more.

JOHNNIE:

Prick.

Johnnie checks his hair in the mirror, carefully. Then he

begins putting on the rings he had removed for the beating.

Mickey kneels down next to Shelly's ear and motions to Lou,

who lifts Shelly's bound arms.

MICKEY:

Shelly, I'm going to ask you ten

times. You understand? Ten times.

Mickey grabs Shelly's pinky finger, putting it between the

metal blades.

MICKEY:

One. Where is our money?

Shelly whimpers, red-faced and sobbing. There is a sick

crunch and Shelly howls into his gag as his pinky finger

bounces to the floor amid the expensive leather footwear.

CAESAR:

Aw ... Christ.

We hear Caesar retrieve a tissue and his hand enters the

frame, scooping up the pinky.

He plunks the severed finger into the toilet and it sinks to

the bottom.

Caesar drops the toilet seat down and flushes.

INT. BATHROOM - EMPTY APARTMENT - DAY

Corky can't stand it anymore. She throws her tools down,

leaves the bathroom and finds --

Violet waiting in the main room. Both women stand apart in

silence.

Violet seems on the verge of saying something but doesn't

know how to start. Her lip begins to quiver; her eyes search

the room, returning to Corky each time.

The violence in the next room can still be heard.

CORKY:

Violet? Are you all right?

Almost unnoticeably, Violet shakes her bead. Corky puts her

arm around her.

CORKY:

Come on. Let's go.

INT. BAR - DAY

It is the kind of bar businessmen drink at in the afternoon.

Dark wood and padded leather.

The bartender, joking with a cluster of men, does not notice

Corky as she moves up to the bar.

CORKY:

Excuse me.

The bartender glances over.

CORKY:

Draft beer and a TNT.

Corky eyes the men, who stare into their drinks.

The bartender says nothing as he puts the drinks in front of

her.

Corky heads for her table, ignoring the whispers and snickers.

Corky and Violet, the only women in the room, sit close

together at a far corner table.

Violet's voice is hushed.

VIOLET:

Shelly was skimming from the business.

He came to see me yesterday because

he was afraid Caesar figured it out.

He wanted to run but he wanted me to

come with him.

CORKY:

Even though he knew about you?

VIOLET:

Yes.

CORKY:

He was in love with you, right?

VIOLET:

That's what he told himself. But it

wasn't even about me, it was about

Caesar. He wanted what Caesar had.

That's how they are. I understand

them.

She glances around the room; a man at the bar smiles at her.

VIOLET:

For Shelly, taking the money was a

way to take from Caesar. He could

have run at any time, but he didn't

because he didn't want out.

CORKY:

Sounds like he wanted to get caught.

VIOLET:

Maybe he did. He would brag to me

all the time. He was never afraid

of Caesar because he didn't know

him. Not like I do.

Two men sit down near them, laughing.

VIOLET:

Caesar lives for these moments. He

tells me it's just the business, but

I know it's more than that. He likes

it. The violence. I'll catch him

in the bathroom mirror touching his

scars. He says they remind him who

he his. They're all like that.

Except maybe Mickey.

CORKY:

Mickey?

VIOLET:

He's the part of the business that

the rest of them pretend to be.

|But Mickey doesn't like it like

they do. I suppose that's why he's

good at it.

Violet stares at her glass, at the melting ice.

VIOLET:

I used to be able to block it out.

I would tell myself that I wasn't

really there so nothing really

mattered. But I can't do it anymore.

She downs the last of her drink.

VIOLET:

I've been making the same mistake

Shelly made. But now I know what |I

want.

She turns to Corky.

VIOLET:

I want out. I want a new life. I

see what I've been waiting for, but

I need you, Corky.

CORKY:

For what?

VIOLET:

You made a choice once. Do you think

you would make that same choice again?

CORKY:

What choice?

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