Poetic Justice Page #7

JUSTICE:
No. No, girl, I just wanted to talk.

40A INT. IESHAS APARTMENT BEDROOM--NIGHT BACK TO IESHA

CHICAGO (whispers): Get off tha phone. Get off tha phone. (louder) She busy!

IESHA:
I'm talking to my friend, you mind?! (rolls her eyes and reaches into a

bag of Fritos) Listen, J, I'm kinda busy. Could you call

me back later?

JUSTICE (O.S.):
Yeah.

Iesha hangs up the phone.

CHICAGO:
Finally.

IESHA (getting up): What you mean? You wasn't doing nuthin anyway!

41 INT. JUSTICE'SLIVING ROOM--NIGHT Where she sits. Her eyes wander around the

room and then rest on her cat across the

way. The cat looks back at her, then turns around and walks away into the

hallway. Justice shakes her head. Then her eyes settle on

something else.

THE COFFEE TABLE Where we move up on her notebook.

JUSTICE As she wipes a few more tears away and reaches for her notebook.

42 INT. LUCKY'S HOUSE--NIGHT A NOTEBOOK As we see it being opened. Its pages are

ratty. We notice its pages are colored

with children's drawings: a family, a dog, a house.

THE LIVING ROOM Where we see Lucky lying on the couch like a potato watching

television. In the foreground Keisha lies on the

floor drawing in her notebook.

ON TELEVISION Is one of those Tom Foo Infomercials. He's that Chinese guy who

sits on a boat with a lot of pretty women (ah

white) and says, "You can be rich too. " We can't tell if Lucky is looking at

this or is lost in his own thoughts. He mumbles a rhyme

about Black business versus Korean exploitation.

KEISHA As she looks at the screen. We hear a helicopter go overhead as its

spotlight flows into the room. Keisha reacts to it with

indifference and continues to draw. Lucky calmly cuts his eyes in that

direction. The Light gets his attention and prompts him to get up

and make a phone call.

LUCKY:
Operator? Yeah, give me Oakland, please. Area code 415.

42B INT. COUSIN KALIL'S SOUND LAB: OAKWVD-NIGHT Where we travel past a ringing

phone and some sound equipment to

reveal a picture of a young man. Our attention settles on his eyes. This is

Lucky's cousin, Kalil.

SUDDENLY WE HEAR THE SOUND OF GUNSHOTS.

43A INT LUCKY'SLIVING ROOM--NIGHT BACK TO LUCKY He takes his ear away from the

phone and looks in the direction the

shots were coming from. There is some question as to which end of the telephone

the shots came from.

CLOSE On Lucky's face. He looks up in the direction of the gunshots and down on

the floor.

THE FLOOR:
LUCKY'S P.O. V: Where Keisha is rolled up in a ball.

LUCKY (hanging up phone): Go to bed.

Keisha gets up and goes toward the bedroom. Lucky looks at her exit, then goes

toward the window and looks outside the blinds. On

the TV in the background is the Life Alert commercial, 'i've fallen and I can't

get up." We see Lucky through the blinds in the

foreground and the TV in the background.

THE DOORWAY Where a woman enters. She is a short, medium-size woman, with a

pretty but hardened face. The light in her eyes

says she still has some humor left. This is Annie, Lucky's mother. She has a bag

of groceries in hand.

LUCKY:
Hi, Momma! Need some help?

ANNIE:
Just like you to offer help when I only got one bag. ... So are you going

up north to see Kalil this weekend?

LUCKY:
Yeah, look like we finally gonna get this music thing going. Tryin to

hook somebody up to listen to these tapes--so I won't

haveta be doing this post office sh*t no more.

ANNIE:
Don't be cursing around me. Who you think I am, one'a your friends? Be

glad you got an honest job. And don't be wearing out

your welcome, going to Oakland every other weekend. You know how your Aunt

Audrey can get!

LUCKY:
It's not even like that, Momma. (sighs in frustration)

THE KITCHEN Where Annie enters and begins to load the refrigerator up with

goods. Lucky comes into the background.

LUCKY:
Keisha's here.

Annie begins to glow with the mention of her grandchild.

ANNIE:
Really? How's my grandbaby doing?

LUCKY:
She fine. I want her to stay here, for good.

Annie reacts to this.

LUCKY:
Angel been f***ing up bad. Basing.

A pause. Silence. Neither of them says anything. Lucky begins to walk back

toward the living room.

ANNIE:
Are you gonna take care of her?

Lucky turns around. He thinks.

44 INT KEISHA'S ROOM--NIGHT

CLOSE:

On Keisha in bed under covers.

CUT TO:

LUCKY:
Yeah.

He walks away.

44A INT LUCKY'S LIVING ROOM--NIGHT BACK TO THE LIVING ROOM Where Lucky gets

closer to the television and turns on

the Sega Genesis Joe Montana Football Game. He begins playing.

ANNIE (O.S.):
Well, you just remember, that's your baby. I'm done raising kids!

You need to quit playing them video games and figure

out what you gonna do with your life. Time ain't forever!

LUCKY'S FACE:
As we MOVE into his face as he plays. We hear bass beats get

louder and louder, then boom! We smash cut to...

45 INT. JUSTICE'S HOME--MORNING MONTAGE Of Justice preparing to go on the trip

to Oakland. The music we hear comes

from her living room stereo.

46 INT JUSTICE'S BEDROOM--DAY

Where she throws her Louis Vuitton luggage bag. Several articles of clothing

follow into the bag.

47 INT. JUSTICE'SLIVING ROOM--DAY THE TABLE Where Justice arranges her

cosmetology tools by order of preference and

priority. We hear her mumble "I need this, and this, and this. "

48 INT. JUSTICE'SHAT ROOM--DAY Whene we see Justice look around in a room full

of hats. She picks up a baseball cap with her

name JUSTICE On the front.

48A INT JUSTICE'SLIVING ROOM--DAY ANOTHER SETUP: THE LIVING ROOM She runs

frantically into frame. We quickly

MOVE into her as she turns around and thinks for a moment.

49 EXT JUSTICE'SHOME--DAY THE FRONT PORCH Where Justice fills a large dog bowl

full of Meow Mix cat food. Her cat

comes into frame at her feet and begins surveying this feast. When Justice goes

back inside, her cat is joined by no less than eight

other neighborhood cats.

49A INT. JUSTICES HOME-DAY Justice turns off the stereo and grabs her keys.

50 EXT. JUSTICES HOME--THE FRONT WALKWAY--MORNING Where Justice walks in a quick

hustle toward her car. She turns

off the alarm with a key-chain button. The car shouts out in an electronic

voice, "Disarmed"

ANOTHER ANGLE As Justice tries to start up her car. It won't start. She hits the

dashboard in frustration and thinks for a moment.

51 INT JUSTICE'S HOME--DAY THE KITCHEN Where we see Justice on the telephone. We

hear the phone ringing on the other end.

52 INT. JESSIE'S APARTMENT-DAY JESSE'S ANSWERING MACHINE Which clicks on. We

hear some smooth R&B music, then

Jessie's voice. Over this we see the following images.

JESSIE (V.O.) (sexy voice): Hi. This is me. If you don't know who me is, then

you have no business calling me.

THE LIVING ROOM Where we see Jessie's meticulous but uniquely furnished

apartment. Her place is just like her: polished, and all

about the look.

JESSIE (V.O.) If you do know who me is, then you can do me a favor.

JESISIE'S BEDROOM Where we see her large ornate bed. What tales it could tell if

it could speak.

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