Reindeer Games Page #8

She whips a Penney's card from her purse, grins wickedly:

ASHLEY:

You forget where I work?

RUDY:

(beat)

Beauty and fragrances.

ASHLEY:

Fifty percent off, motherf***er. Ho

ho ho.

She runs off with the jacket. Rudy turns to a dressing mirror,

left to stare at his reflection. An ex-con in rags, with a

half-dozen holiday shopping bags. To himself:

RUDY:

Just for the holidays, Nick. Then

we'll tell her. We'll let her...

have her holidays...

Rudy nods till he convinces himself. Can't help but smile.

INT. TOY STORE - DAY

Puzzles, Barbies and dinosaurs. KIDS scurrying, PARENTS

chasing. Rudy and Ashley with a scared TEEN CLERK:

TEEN CLERK:

You can't find... what?

ASHLEY:

Toys for adults. Where are your toys

for adults?

TEEN CLERK:

Toys for... adults?

ASHLEY:

C'mon. How old are you, sixteen?

C'mon.

TEEN CLERK:

We sell children's toys --

ASHLEY:

(slams money down)

I got fifty dollars to spend in your

store, Jesus of Nazareth. Can you

help me or not?

The clerk glances around, then, low:

TEEN CLERK:

Slinky's in aisle five, Twister's in

aisle one, Moon Mud's in aisle four.

ASHLEY:

Thank you.

INT. SUPERMARKET - DAY

CLOSE ON CONVEYOR

As bottles of wine, vodka and rum, cartons of egg nog and

orange juice, and countless prepackaged sandwiches come

scrolling past.

ASHLEY (O.S.)

You know what I was thinking, after

our holiday hideaway? Instead of

going back to Detroit, maybe we could

go gambling. Y'know? Drive up to

that Indian place you worked at.

Wouldn't that be fun? I haven't gone

gambling in forever!

EXT. SUPERMARKET PARKING LOT - DUSK

Light snow falls. Rudy, in his new black fringe eyesore, and

Ashley carry grocery bags across the icy asphalt:

RUDY:

Well, I don't know about that --

ASHLEY:

Blackjack, Nick, blackjack I am good

at. I mean, they'd give us some free

games or something, wouldn't they?

Since you worked there?

RUDY:

Security, Ash, I just worked security.

They wouldn't be rolling out the red

carpet --

ASHLEY:

And the slots, slots I'm good at

too. Wouldn't that be fun?

RUDY:

We'll have more fun in Detroit.

ASHLEY:

We could live it up and --

RUDY:

Ashley. We're not going anywhere I

used to work.

It comes out too harsh. Ashley stops, a little hurt.

ASHLEY:

I just... I thought you'd have friends

there...

Rudy softens, touches her arms:

RUDY:

Hey. I been in prison for two years,

Ash. Believe me. Those guys wouldn't

want to see me.

He kisses her. She nods, dismisses it, kisses back.

ASHLEY:

Well, they don't know what the hell

they're missing.

EXT. MOTEL - NIGHT

Ashley's Chevy Nova pulls back into the lot of the roadside

joint. There's an artificial (silver) Christmas tree tied to

the roof.

She and Rudy climb out; she heads for the office:

ASHLEY:

Baby, I'm gonna go tell 'em not to

disturb us for the rest of the year.

I get back in that room, you better

be wearing nothing but a candy cane.

RUDY:

I'll see what I can do.

ASHLEY:

No, lover. I'll see what you can do.

She smiles, sashays sexily away. Rudy watches her go, admiring

his good fortune. Then pops the trunk, collects some of their

shopping score. Gifts and goodies.

RUDY:

(sings, sotto)

I have no gifts to bring, parum-pum-

pum-pum. No treasures for the king,

pa-rum-pum-pum-pum...

Loaded down, he struggles to the motel room, balances bags

on his knee, gets the key in the door, and heads inside.

INT. MOTEL ROOM - NIGHT

Pitch dark. Rudy fumbles his way in:

RUDY:

...but I got a girl to be with, rum-

pum-pum-pum...

MERLIN (O.S.)

Hi, Nick.

Rudy drops the shopping bags, whirls around, as a stocky

black shadow, MERLIN, all 280 pounds of him, KICKS the door

shut --

RUDY:

What the f*** --

-- and SWINGS a baseball bat toward Rudy's chest. Rudy gets

an arm down to deflect the blow, but it still stings like a

mother. Rudy HOWLS. Merlin comes at him again --

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