Smoke Page #6

He stands up, goes to the door, opens it. Shot of RASHID standing

precariously on the arm of a chair, his right hand groping behind the

books on the top shelf of the bookcase. Several books have already

fallen to the floor.

PAUL (cont'd)

Jesus Christ. Are you at it again?

RASHID turns at the sound of PAUL'S voice, momentarily losing his

balance. As he grabs hold of the bookcase again to steady himself, more

books fall off the shelf and come tumbling to the floor. An instant

later, he lands on the floor as well.

PAUL (cont'd)

What is it with you, anyway? You're like a

human wrecking ball.

RASHID:

(Climbing to his feet. Ashamed)

I'm sorry. I'm really sorry... I was trying to

reach for one of the books up there ...

(Points)

And then, I don't know, the sky fell on top of

me.

PAUL:

(With growing irritation)

It just won't do, will it? I go two and a half

years without being able to write a word, and

then, when I finally get started on something,

when it looks as though I might actually be

coming to life again, you show up and start

breaking everything in my house. It just won't

do, will it?

RASHID:

(Hurt, subdued)

I didn't ask to come here. You invited me,

remember?

(Pause)

If you want me to leave, all you have to do is

say so.

PAUL:

How long have you been here?

RASHID:

Three nights.

PAUL:

And how long did I tell you you could stay?

RASHID:

Two or three nights.

PAUL:

It sounds like our time is up, doesn't it?

RASHID:

(Looking down at floor)

I'm sorry I messed up. You've been very kind to

me ...

(Walks toward the bed, picks up the

backpack from the floor, and begins

stuffing his things into it)

But all good things have to come to an end,

right?

PAUL:

No hard feelings, okay? It's a small place,

and I can't get my work done with you around.

RASHID:

You don't have to apologize.

(Pause)

The coast is probably clear now anyway.

PAUL:

(Softening)

Are you going to be all right?

RASHID:

Absolutely. The world is my oyster.

(Pause)

Whatever that means.

(He looks up at the bookshelf, studying

the spot where the bag is hidden. He

makes a quick, resolute decision to

leave the bag where it is)

PAUL:

Do you need some money? Some extra clothes?

RASHID:

Not a penny, not a stitch. I'm cool, man.

(Hoists the backpack over his shoulder,

begins walking toward the door)

PAUL:

(a little stunned by

RASHID'S decisiveness)

Take good care of yourself, okay?

RASHID:

You too. And make sure the light is green

before you cross the street.

(Reaches for the doorknob, opens

the door, hesitates, turns around)

Oh, by the way, I liked your book. I think

you're a hell of a good writer.

(Without waiting for a response, he

opens the door again and leaves)

Shot of PAUL standing alone in the middle of the room. He walks to the

window and looks outside. Shot of the street below. After three or four

seconds, RASHID emerges from the building. Without glancing back, he

begins walking down the street.

Cut to PAUL standing at the window. He lights up a cigar. Cut back to

the street. RASHID has disappeared. An instant later, a blind man

comes walking around the corner, tapping his white cane on the

sidewalk.

21.INT:
NIGHT. AUGGIE'S APARTMENT

The windows are open and traffic noises can be heard from the street

below.

AUGGIE alone. Jazz is playing on his tape machine. He takes a TV dinner

out of the oven, then sits down at the kitchen table and begins to eat.

Fade out.

Fade in. The meal is over. AUGGIE pours himself a shot of bourbon. He

drinks it down in one swallow and smacks his lips, exhaling loudly.

Stares blankly ahead of him for a moment. Then he reaches for a

paperback copy of Crime and Punishment open on the table. As he finds

his place in the book, he lights a cigarette. After one or two puffs,

he begins to cough: a deep, rattling, prolonged smoker's cough. He

pounds his chest. It doesn't help. He stands up, banging the table as

the coughing fit continues. He begins to stagger around the kitchen,

cursing between breaths. In his rage, he sweeps everything off the

table:
glass, bottle, book, remnants of the TV dinner. The cough

subsides, then starts up again. He grabs hold of the kitchen sink and

spits into the basin.

22.INT:
DAY. PAUL'S APARTMENT

The main room. We hear the sound of PAUL typing. A loud, insistent

banging is heard at the front door. Cut to PAUL opening the door.

RASHID'S AUNT EM is standing in the hall. She is a black woman of about

forty, dressed in clothes that suggest she works in an office.

AUNT EM:

(Angrily)

Is your name Paul Benjamin?

PAUL:

(Taken aback)

What can I do for you?

AUNT EM:

(Barging into the apartment)

I just want to know what your game is, mister,

that's all.

PAUL:

(Horrified. Watching her as she

charges around the room)

How the hell did you get into the building?

AUNT EM:

What do you mean, how'd I get in? I pushed the

door and walked in. What do you think?

PAUL:

(Muttering to himself)

The damn lock's broken again.

(Pause, as he returns

AUNT EM'S glare. Louder)

And so you just barge in on strangers, is that

what you do? Is that your game?

AUNT EM:

I'm looking for my nephew, Thomas.

PAUL:

Thomas? Who's Thomas?

AUNT EM:

Don't give me any of that. I know he's been

here. You can't fool me, mister.

PAUL:

I'm telling you. I don't know anyone named

Thomas.

AUNT EM:

Thomas Cole. Thomas Jefferson Cole. My nephew.

PAUL:

You mean Rashid?

AUNT EM:

Rashid? Rashid! Is that what he told you his

name was?

PAUL:

Well, whatever his name is, he's not here

anymore. He left two days ago, and I haven't

heard from him since.

AUNT EM:

And what was he doing here in the first place?

That's what I want to know. What's a man like

you messing around with a black boy like

Thomas for? Are you some kind of pervert, or

what?

PAUL:

(Losing patience)

Look, lady, that's enough. If you don't calm

down. I'm going to throw you out. Do you hear

me? Right now!

AUNT EM:

(Getting a grip on herself)

I just want to know where he is.

PAUL:

As far as I know, he went back to his parents.

AUNT EM:

(Incredulous)

His parents? Is that what he told you? His

parents?

PAUL:

That's what he said. He told me he lived with

his mother and father on East Seventy-fourth

Street.

AUNT EM:

(Defeated, shaking her head)

I always knew that boy had an imagination, but

now he's gone and made up a whole new life for

himself.

(Pause)

Do you mind if I sit down?

(PAUL gestures to a

chair; she sits down)

He's been living with me and his uncle Henry

since he was a baby. And we don't live in

Manhattan. We live in Boerum Hill. In the

projects.

PAUL:

He doesn't go to the Trinity School?

AUNT EM:

He goes to John Jay High School in Brooklyn.

PAUL:

(Beginning to show concern)

And his parents?

AUNT EM:

His mother's dead, and he hasn't seen his

father in twelve years.

PAUL:

(Softly, almost to himself)

I shouldn't have let him go.

AUNT EM:

(Studying PAUL)

Which brings me back to my original question.

What was he doing here in the first place?

PAUL:

I was about to get run over by a car, and your

nephew pulled me back. He saved my life.

(Pause)

I sensed he was in trouble, so I offered to put

him up for a few days. Maybe I should have

pressed him a little more, I don't know. I

feel pretty stupid about it now.

AUNT EM:

He's in trouble, all right. But I don't have

any idea what it is.

PAUL:

(Sits down in a chair, lets out a sigh,

thinks for a moment. Turns to AUNT EM)

Do you want something to drink? A beer? A glass

of water?

AUNT EM:

(Primly)

No thank you.

PAUL:

(Lapses into thought again.

After a moment)

Has anything happened lately? Anything unusual

or unexpected?

AUNT EM:

(Thinks)

Well, one thing I suppose, but I don't think it

has anything to do with this.

(Pause)

A friend of mine called about two weeks ago and

said she'd spotted Thomas's father working at

some gas station outside of Peekskill.

PAUL:

And you told your nephew about it?

AUNT EM:

(Shrugs)

I figured he had a right to know.

PAUL:

And?

AUNT EM:

And nothing. Thomas looked at me straight in

the eye and said, "I don't have a father. As

far as I'm concerned, that son-of-a-b*tch is

dead."

PAUL:

Those are pretty hostile words.

The camera slowly closes in on her face as she speaks:

AUNT EM:

His father walked out on his mother a couple of

months after he was born. Louisa was Henry's

younger sister, and she and the baby moved in

with us. Four or five years go by, and then one

day Cyrus shows up out of the blue, tail

between his legs, wanting to patch things up

with Louisa. I thought Henry was going to tear

Cyrus apart when he saw him walk through the

door. They're both big men, those two, and if

they ever started to tangle, you'd see some

teeth jumping on the floor. I guarantee it ...

So Cyrus persuaded Louisa to go out with him to

talk things over in quiet. And the poor girl

never came back.

PAUL (OFF)

You mean she just ran off with him and left her

little boy behind?

AUNT EM:

Don't put words in my mouth. What I'm saying is

she drove off in Cyrus's car and went to the

Five-Spot Lounge with him for a drink. What I'm

saying is that he imbibed too much in the way

of alcohol and that when they finished their

little talk three hours later and got back in

the car, he was in no shape to drive. But he

drove the car anyway, and before he could get

her back to where she lived, the damn fool ran

a red light and went straight into a truck.

Louisa got thrown through the windshield and

was killed. Cyrus lived, but he came out of it

a cripple. His left arm was so mangled, the

doctors had to cut it off. Small punishment for

what he did, if you ask me.

PAUL (OFF)

(Aghast)

Jesus.

AUNT EM:

Jesus had nothing to do with it. If He'd been

involved. He would have seen to it that things

worked out the opposite from what they did.

PAUL (OFF)

It can't have been easy on him. Walking around

with that on his conscience all these years.

AUNT EM:

No, I don't suppose it has. He was broken up

like nobody's business in that hospital when he

found out Louisa was dead.

PAUL (OFF)

And he's never tried to get in touch with his

son?

AUNT EM:

Henry told Cyrus he'd kill him if he ever

showed his face around our house again. When

Henry makes a threat like that, people tend to

take him seriously.

PAUL and AUNT EM look at each other. Cut to shot of the kitchen sink.

Water is slowly dripping from the faucet. Hold for two or three beats.

23.EXT:
DAY. A COUNTRY ROAD OUTSIDE OF PEEKSKILL

Early morning. Trees, shrubs, twittering birds. We see RASHID trudging

down the road. Dissolve to:

The same road, a mile on. RASHID looks up. Cut to:

24. EXT:
DAY. COLE'S GARAGE

The garage is a ramshackle, two-story building. Over the main door is a

clumsily executed hand-painted sign that reads: COLE'S GARAGE. Two

Chevron gas pumps stand alone in the front: weeds sprout through the

macadam. To one side of the station is a grassy area with a

weather-beaten picnic table.

The double garage doors are open. We see a man in there working on the

engine of an old Chevrolet. The hood is up, which obscures the man's

face, but we can see that he is wearing mechanic's overalls and that

the color of his skin is black.

He is a large, burly man of about forty. Once he appears from behind

the hood, we see that his left hand is missing. A metal hook juts out

of his sleeve.

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