Love and Basketball Page #16

Monica sits on her bed, staring up at a photo of her and

Quincy, tacked up to her bulletin board, amid other photos of

her childhood. THEY ARE EIGHTEEN, PLAYFULLY WRESTLING OVER A

BASKETBALL.

Monica slowly rises, starts taking her posters down.

INT. REHAB CENTER - DAY

Quincy sits on a leg extension machine, with his left leg

tucked under the padded bar. A TRAINER stands behind him.

Sweat and pain coat Quincy's face and scarred knee as he

slowly lifts the light weight again, and again, and again.

INT. BANK - DAY

A long line of customers shift impatiently during the noon-

time rush.

Monica sits with a BANK MANAGER at the "New Accounts" desk,

learning the ropes. Her hair is done, she wears a simple

dress. Behind her, hanging on the wall, are three framed

photos of the bank presidents. ONE OF THEM IS HER FATHER,

NATHAN.

INT. WRIGHT HOUSE - MONICA'S ROOM - NIGHT

Monica stands in her room, staring out at Quincy's window.

She watches as Quincy and Kyra pack up some of Quincy's

stuff. Quincy tries to take his basketball globe light. She

laughs, "Hell no."

INT. WRIGHT HOUSE - MONICA'S ROOM - DAY

Camille enters, moves to Monica's garbage can, dumps the

contents into her larger bag. Suddenly, she stops. She

reaches into the garbage and pulls out a crumpled picture.

Camille smooths it. It is the photo of Monica and Quincy at

eighteen, wrestling over a basketball.

CAMILLE STARES AT IT, TAKEN IN BY THE PURE JOY IN HER

DAUGHTER'S FACE. She sits down on Monica's bed, still

staring.

INT. FORUM - DAY

In the empty gym, Quincy jogs up and down the court. He is

still tentative on his knee, but he keeps jogging.

And then, slowly, the determination melts from his face. His

jog turns into a walk, and then he just...stops.

INT. MCCALL HOUSE - QUINCY'S ROOM - NIGHT

Quincy stands in the middle of his room, taking in his life.

Old, worn basketball posters still line the walls. Trophies

and awards. USC memorabilia. His basketball globe light.

He walks to his window, looks out at Monica's window. Her

room is dark.

DISSOLVE TO:

INT. QUINCY'S APARTMENT - BATHROOM - MORNING

Quincy tilts his face up to the shower head and rinses the

soap from his face. He hears the bathroom door open. He

shuts off the water and opens the curtain.

Kyra sits on the toilet, taking a pee. Quincy slams the

curtain closed.

QUINCY:

Damn, girl.

KYRA:

What?

QUINCY:

I don't wanna see that.

KYRA:

Get used to it, babe.

She flushes. Quincy steps out, grabs a towel. A long scar

runs across his knee cap.

QUINCY:

Brother's gonna have to start locking

doors.

Kyra laughs as she buttons up her flight attendant's uniform.

They cross into:

INT. QUINCY'S APARTMENT - BEDROOM - CONTINUOUS

Kyra packs up a suitcase.

QUINCY:

So how long is this trip?

KYRA:

Four days.

Quincy nods.

KYRA (cont'd)

So are you going to be the kind of

husband who won't let his wife work?

QUINCY:

Nah.

KYRA:

(playfully)

Why not?

QUINCY:

You might be the only one with a job.

KYRA:

Baby, don't talk like that. Your rehab's

going well. You'll be back before you

know it.

QUINCY:

Sometimes I wonder if it's worth it.

Busting my ass, for what?

KYRA:

To do what you love.

QUINCY:

I don't know sometimes.

KYRA:

You're just scared. I know rehab is

hard, and you have to worry about whether

you'll be as good as you were but you

will be. I believe in you. You just

have to get back on the court. Like

you'd get back on a horse.

QUINCY:

(beat)

A horse?

KYRA:

Don't make fun of me when I'm being

wonderful and supportive.

(then)

You belong on the court. Just like I

belong in the stands, looking cute and

cheering you on.

She smiles, gives him a kiss, moves back to her packing. Off

Quincy:

INT. BANK - DAY

Monica sits at her desk in a blouse and skirt, punching

numbers into the computer. A man sits down in the chair

opposite her. Monica glances up. It's her father.

NATHAN:

Hey, munchkin.

MONICA:

Dad. What are you doing here?

NATHAN:

I was upstairs for a meeting. I've been

hearing good things about you.

MONICA:

That tends to happen when you're the

boss's daughter.

NATHAN:

So how's the job going?

Monica forces a smile.

MONICA:

You know.

Nathan looks at her, nods.

NATHAN:

I think I know what the problem is.

He pulls a GARBAGE CAN HOOP from a plastic shopping bag.

Monica smiles. He attaches it to her garbage can.

NATHAN (cont'd)

There.

He shoots an ugly, imaginary shot. She laughs.

MONICA:

You shoot like a girl.

NATHAN:

I'll take that as a compliment.

He gives her a smile, and exits. Monica looks at the hoop,

then crumples a piece of paper.

MONICA:

(whispering)

And she gets the steal. Monica goes one-

on-one against Jordan, she stops, pops...

Monica shoots. The paper drops through the net.

MONICA (cont'd)

(still whispering)

It's good! It's good!

She glances up, notices a few patrons watching her. Monica

quickly composes herself and goes back to her work.

EXT. WRIGHT AND MCCALL HOUSES - DUSK

Monica exits her car, after a long day at work. She wears

very low heels. But she still stumbles. She curses, then

hears a laugh.

She looks up - Quincy sits on the grassy hill above her

house.

QUINCY:

I remember when your mom had to beat you

into a dress.

Monica smiles.

MONICA:

You visiting?

QUINCY:

(nods)

Kyra's gone for a couple days. Figured

I'd keep Mom company.

MONICA:

Who's this guy I always see her around?

QUINCY:

Darryl. He's alright, kinda corny.

MONICA:

So...how's the knee?

QUINCY:

Getting there.

MONICA:

Strong enough to get you down the aisle?

QUINCY:

Yeah. Two weeks.

(then)

I didn't get to send you an invitation,

but if you...

MONICA:

That's okay. I'm probably, you know,

busy.

Quincy nods. Awkward beat.

QUINCY:

Can I ask you something?

Monica looks at him.

QUINCY (cont'd)

You never told me why ball isn't fun

anymore.

MONICA:

It just isn't.

QUINCY:

Because I'm kinda feeling that way, too.

MONICA:

You had a rough couple years, that's all.

QUINCY:

That a nice way of saying I rode the

bench?

MONICA:

And you tore up your knee. Rehab is

tough.

QUINCY:

Nah. I haven't dribbled a ball in four

and a half months. Maybe I miss some of

the attention, but besides that...

MONICA:

You're serious.

QUINCY:

Seems like I needed a ball when I was

trying to be like my pops...or trying to

be better than him. Now, I kinda think I

need to try something else.

MONICA:

Like what?

QUINCY:

Maybe go back to school.

MONICA:

Wow.

Monica stares at him, seeing a man in the boy she grew up

with. Quincy looks away, self-conscious.

QUINCY:

I mean, Kyra hasn't heard the school

thing yet.

(then)

She'll probably say it's the painkillers

talking.

MONICA:

It's a trip, you know? When you're a

kid, you see the life you want, and it

never crosses your mind that it's not

gonna turn out that way.

QUINCY:

So why'd you give up ball?

MONICA:

Why do you keep asking me that?

QUINCY:

Cause I don't get it.

MONICA:

Something was just missing.

QUINCY:

What?

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