Traffic Page #3

Ruiz runs out the back of the storage company. He cuts

between parked cars, heading for The Fun Zone, a kiddie

restaurant.

INT. THE FUN ZONE - DAY

Castro enters The Fun Zone. There's a cardboard cutout of

SPASTIC JACK, a beloved comedy figure who looks like a rabbit

version of Jar Jar Binks, promoting the "Special Edition"

glass:
"Collect All Four." There's an enclosure filled with

colored plastic balls.

The restaurant is empty except for a CLOWN filling out a

time card. The clown stands.

CLOWN:

Hey dudes, we're not open yet.

Castro makes a motion for him to be quiet and keeps moving

toward the room of colored balls.

Gordon enters the restaurant and follows him. An ANIMATRONIC

BAND starts to play a SONG.

Gordon sees a half-hidden foot buried underneath the plastic

balls at the far end of the room.

He takes careful aim and FIRES.

Ruiz SCREAMS and sits up. Castro pounces on him, disarming

him, and roughing him up.

EXT. THE FUN ZONE - DAY

Castro and Gordon shove Ruiz into the sunlight. They wait

while their eyes adjust.

RUIZ:

Take me to the hospital. I'm bleeding

to death.

Castro shoves him forward.

ACROSS THE PARKING LOT

DEA has opened the back of the van where a quarter-ton of

cocaine is spilling out onto the pavement.

CUT TO:

INT. GUEST HOUSE - AFTERNOON

A bong hit is expelled into the air. In the living room of

a comfortable, preppy guest house, private school TEENAGERS

party and hang-out: cigarettes in ashtrays, beer and bong on

the coffee table, loud MUSIC.

SUPERTITLE:
CINCINNATI, OHIO

The TV is on with the sound off. The curtains are closed.

The four boys wear school blazers with their ties pulled

askew, the three girls' clothing are also identical. Some

sit on couches, some on the floor. They are stoned.

One intense-looking boy, SETH ABRAHAMS, 17, wild curly hair

and the attitude of a young Coleridge, and a girl, CAROLINE

WAKEFIELD, 16, really sixteen which means she looks about

12, pretty and flirtatiously irreverent, sit at a desk in

front of a Powerbook G-3 playing an on-line trivia game.

Seth speaks rapidly and precisely.

SETH:

Father of Greek tragedy? Anyone?

Okay, Aeschylus it is.

(hits keys)

His trilogy? The Oresteia. I mean

this is beautiful, can anyone stop

the Seth Machine?

(hits keys)

Score. Thank you. Madmax from Omaha

we own you. And Tragedy is closed

out.

Seth leans over and snorts a line of coke from a mirror. He

hands it to Caroline who effortlessly does one.

CAROLINE:

Entertainment. The Susan Lucci

section or Banal Love Songs of the

Nineties?

Seth looks at her. He has a crush.

SETH:

Banal Love Songs it is.

(hits keys)

Hey, you wanna try something?

She nods. They both take a swig of beer. He takes her hand

pulling her past the stoned people on the couch --

IN THE KITCHEN:

Seth takes out a box of baking soda. He tears off a square

of aluminum foil. He takes out a spoon. Caroline watches

as he dumps a small amount of cocaine into the spoon. He

adds a pinch of baking soda. He puts in a few drops of water.

Stirs it around with the heel of a lighter. Then holds the

flame under the spoon.

CAROLINE:

What are you doing?

SETH:

(concentrating)

Just watch.

He watches the substance in the spoon as it swirls and

bubbles, then separates... He pours the most viscous part

onto the aluminum foil, making four separate little puddles.

He quickly dismantles a ballpoint pen, making a straw. He

hands it to Caroline.

SETH:

Inhale the smoke and hold it.

CAROLINE:

What is this, like freebase?

SETH:

Not like. It is.

He lights the flame under the aluminum foil. The puddle

crackles and pops, then starts to smoke --

SETH:

Go... Go!

There's a rush of thick grey smoke. Caroline catches most

of it.

SETH:

Hold it.

She pulls it in deeper and holds... Suddenly her expression

changes... Her eyes lose their focus, her face slackens, an

almost sexual response. Seth is watching her intensely.

SETH:

See... Now, you see.

Caroline slumps back against the counter. Seth moves against

her, kissing her, running his hands over her breasts and

body. She stares over his shoulder, holding it as long as

she can.

Finally she exhales --

CAROLINE:

More.

The cloud of grey smoke from her lungs fills the room.

CUT TO:

INT. WHITE HOUSE OFFICE - DAY

The White House CHIEF OF STAFF meets with Robert Wakefield.

The Chief of Staff has the floor; he always has the floor.

This is a man you do not want to disappoint.

CHIEF OF STAFF:

Until you officially take over the

office of National Drug Control

Policy, under no circumstances should

you speak to the press unprotected,

without going through this office or

having someone in the room. There

are a lot of interests in this town

and, right now, they're all scared

of you. The reason they're scared

of you...technically, you have veto

power over their budgets. So think

about that:
FBI, CIA, DEA, CUSTOMS,

TREASURY, ATF, DEFENSE, IRS, Radio

Shack and the DMV, they're all gonna

want to speak to you. And that's

the good news... You'll also be

meeting Senators and Congressman,

each with a specially prepared

question. Their question is designed

for one thing:
to make them look

smart. If you lecture them, they

won't think you respect them. If

you respond with utter humility,

they will. Remember, this is about

your respect for them, and the

President's respect for them.

Speaking of which, as soon as he

gets back from Russia and China,

we'll get you in there for some face-

time, let the two of you catch up.

(beat)

It'd probably be a good idea for you

to meet your predecessor. I'll have

Jeff Sheridan take you over.

Also, four weeks from today you will

give your first official press

conference. In it you will outline

the President's strategy for winning

the war on drugs.

(beat)

Okay, anything else?

ROBERT:

I'll be sure to let you know.

INT. EXECUTIVE BUILDING, WASHINGTON, D.C. - DAY

Robert makes his way through a warren of hallways in the

endless corridors of the Old Executive Building alongside

JEFF SHERIDAN, 35, an enthusiastic government employee who

has found his place.

SHERIDAN:

I just want to be clear about one

thing. I used to work for him, but

now I work for you. I'm not a

partisan person, I'm an issue person.

In the next few weeks, if you allow

me, we'll get you well-versed on an

incredible array of issues. The

most important of which, in my

opinion, being Mexico. I know

everybody that you're gonna meet.

It's important that they like you.

It's not important that they like

me. That's why I can help protect

you.

ROBERT:

Like you protected Landry?

SHERIDAN:

I see where you're going with that,

but if I could just say something,

which is basically that a guy like

Landry is so autocratic he doesn't

know how to let himself be helped;

it's a point of pride to take every

bullet, no matter who fired it, or

whether it was even aimed at him,

which personally I think it very

self-defeating. Now, don't get me

wrong, he's a man of enormous

integrity, but there's a political

component to this job that the General

just didn't have any patience for.

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