Life Page #3

CLAUDE:

Claude Banks.

RAY:

Claude Banks. How could I forget

that? You've got to remember me. Ray

Gibson. We went to high school

together.

CLAUDE:

You went to Monroe?

RAY:

(beaming)

That's right! Good old Monroe...

Ray throws his arms around Claude, deftly snatching his

wallet. Claude extracts himself from Ray's embrace.

CLAUDE:

Well, I went to Jefferson, so you

must have a different Claude Banks

in mind.

Claude straightens his jacket and heads for the door. Ray

stashes the stolen wallet in his jacket.

RAY:

Sorry, man. My mistake.

INT. SPANKY'S -- NIGHT

On the stage, the chanteuse has downshifted into a sultry

number about back-door lovers and broken dreams.

Ray steps out of the men's room and is instantly collared by

BULLETHEAD, a man who makes his living being large and

threatening.

RAY:

Watch the threads, Bullethead. If

this is about my tab, I've got it

covered.

Pressed up against the wall, Ray reaches into his jacket and

produces Claude's wallet. Bullethead snatches it, inspects

it and is not impressed.

BULLETHEAD:

This ain't about your tab, Ray. You've

got bigger problems than that.

He stuffs the wallet back into Ray's jacket and hustles Ray

out the back door past the bouncer who let him in.

BOUNCER:

Is that Ray Gibson? Who the hell let

him in here?

BACK AT CLAUDE'S TABLE

Claude returns to the table where Daisy is sipping champagne.

He takes the glass out of her hand.

CLAUDE:

Come on, honey, let's get out of

here.

DAISY:

But I'm having a good time...

WAITER:

Excuse me, sir, I believe you forgot

this.

The waiter presents Claude with the bill.

CLAUDE:

The bill. Of course, the bill. We

couldn't leave without paying the

bill. Especially such an incredibly

large bill.

INT. VAN -- NIGHT

Claude is shoved into the back of the van and the doors are

slammed behind him. He bangs and shouts, but it's no use.

RAY:

Save your energy, Claude. You're

gonna need it.

Ray is stretched out against the back wall. Claude is knocked

to the floor as the van lurches into motion.

RAY:

Here, this belongs to you.

(tossing Claude his

wallet)

It was empty when I found it.

CLAUDE:

Good old Monroe.

Ray swigs from his bottle and offers it to Claude, who isn't

interested.

RAY:

What I want to know is what happened

to your cush between the time that

you got up from the table and when I

caught up with you in the Johnny?

CLAUDE:

I don't see where that's any of your

business.

RAY:

Did those two muscle heads shake you

down? Swear I've seen them down at

the track with Sure-shot Riley. That's

it, ain't it? A gambling debt.

Busted, Claude snatches the bottle and carefully wipes off

the neck before tilting it high. Ray gets a good chuckle out

of this straight cat in the bow tie.

CLAUDE:

Where they taking us, anyway?

RAY:

Probably to Spanky's headquarters

down at the pier.

CLAUDE:

Good, I'm looking forward to meeting

this Spanky. Give me a chance to

straighten out this whole mess.

RAY:

I can't wait to see that. You slay

me, man.

EXT. PIER -- NIGHT

The van pulls into a the loading bay of a warehouse at the

end of a short pier on the Harlem River.

INT. WAREHOUSE -- NIGHT

Bullethead and a HENCHMAN pull Ray and Claude from the back

of the van. They find themselves in a dark warehouse filled

with crates of contraband.

CLAUDE:

(sotto)

What are they gonna do to us?

RAY:

You? Dine and ditch, right?

(Claude nods)

Over ten bucks?

(he nods again)

You're probably looking at a thumb.

CLAUDE:

A thumb? What do you mean, like cut

it off? For ten bucks?

(Ray nods)

That include the tip?

Claude shoves his hands under his armpits at the sound of

approaching FOOTSTEPS echoing across the vast space. Claude

and Ray peer into the darkness.

SPANKY:

(from the darkness)

You picked the wrong night to f***

with me, Ray. I just lost three men

and a truck full of Canadian whiskey.

You know what that kind of thing

does to my business? It makes me

want to lash out and hurt somebody.

Rate this script:5.0 / 1 vote