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"BALL BREAKER" By Josh Becker Story By
A moment later three distant figures emerge from the bar. It becomes clear very quickly that two of the people, the BARTENDER and the WAITRESS, are trying to get the third drunken person, JOE, to go home. JOE BARTENDER JOE WAITRESS JOE At that moment Joe bends over and barfs. BARTENDER The Bartender and the Waitress drag Joe to the one car in the lot, put him in the driver's seat and slam the door shut. WAITRESS BARTENDER The Bartender and the Waitress go back inside the bar to finish closing. The one car sits in the parking lot all by itself. DISSOLVE: EXT. RATTY APARTMENT BUILDING - MORNING This is a run-down, five-story tenement apartment building in a bad part of town. Derelicts loiter on the sidewalk in front and several blacks and Latinos hang out on the front steps. In the alley beside the building two long-haired guys work on the engine of a car, revving it as high as it will go. INT. APARTMENT - MORNING Inside a crummy-looking apartment with cracked plaster and old, yellowed drapes. The furniture is old and mostly broken. Old newspapers litter the floor. Lying on an army cot against the wall is FRANK TAYLOR, a flat-faced, short muscular guy in his early thirties. His eyes are squished tightly shut and his hands hold the sides of his head. He's in pain. The sound of the engine revving in the alley is very loud, then goes silent. The tension in Frank's face eases slightly. The phone rings. Frank bolts to his feet and shaking his pounding head steps over to the phone. FRANK He hears the hurried, whispered voice of IVAN. IVAN
(O.S.) FRANK IVAN
(O.S.) FRANK IVAN
(O.S.) Frank digs around on the table through a mess of fast food wrappers and a plethora of aspirin, buprofen and acetaminophen bottles (Thrifty, CVS, Norwich, etc.) and finds a pencil stub and looks relieved. FRANK IVAN
(O.S.) FRANK IVAN
(O.S.) FRANK IVAN
(O.S.)
IVAN
(O.S.) FRANK Frank dumps out a handful of ibuprofen and washes them down with the remains of an old McDonald's Coke. He winces and shakes his head. IVAN
(O.S.) FRANK IVAN
(O.S.) IVAN
(O.S.) FRANK IVAN
(O.S.) FRANK IVAN
(O.S.) FRANK IVAN
(O.S.) FRANK IVAN
(O.S.) FRANK IVAN
(O.S.) FRANK IVAN
(O.S.) Ivan hangs up. Frank stands there holding the receiver and shakes his throbbing head. FRANK The engine revving starts again and gets progressively louder and louder. Frank rubs his temples, his face twisting into an ugly knot. FRANK Frank goes to the window and sticks his head out. EXT. ALLEY - MORNING The two LONG-HAIRED GUYS are just revving away and don't see Frank looming over them. FRANK The long-haired guys look up, unconcerned. LONG-HAIR
#1 Frank eyes go wide with insane fury. He disappears inside. Both long-hair guys shrug and are just about to return to their engine work when Frank reappears. He is holding an enormous old TV set. FRANK He drops the TV set on the roof of the car. The roof caves in and the TV implodes. Both long-haired guys are shocked and furious. LONG-HAIR
#2 LONG-HAIR
#1 Frank disappears again, then quickly returns holding a Winchester 30-30 rifle. He cocks it, sending a loaded bullet flying into the air. The big 30-30 bullet drops to the pavement at their feet. FRANK Both guys back off fast. They put their hands in the air. LONG-HAIR
#1 LONG-HAIR
#2 FRANK Frank goes back inside. Both long-haired guys looks at each other, then at the TV set embedded in the roof of the car, then they both take off running. DISSOLVE: EXT. THE TOWN OF LOMPOC - MORNING The first rays of sunlight illuminate the small main street of Lompoc, California, population 31,000. There are ten businesses located in downtown Lompoc. Most of the storefronts look like they're from the thirties. A few store-fronts have recently been remodeled and now look contemporary and out of place. A blue Ford Fiesta drives up the street. INT. FORD FIESTA - DAY Driving the car is TED WALBURN, a thin, tall man of twenty-eight wearing a dark suit and tie. Ted can't sit still. He turns on the radio and gets an ANNOUNCER. ANNOUNCER
(V.O.) Ted immediately changes stations. He picks up a country/western station and changes again. Now it's gospel. Ted disgustedly turns the radio off. TED In the passenger seat is MILLIE WALBURN, a blonde, pretty, very pregnant woman of twenty-six. She looks at Ted with a concerned expression. MILLIE TED MILLIE They drive for a moment in silence, then Ted starts to panic. TED MILLIE TED MILLIE TED EXT. LOMPOC POLICE STATION - DAY The Lompoc Police station is a small, square, dark brick building with a big front window. Ted's Feista pulls into the parking lot and stops in front of the building. Ted gets out of the car and goes around to Millie's side. He opens the door and helps her out of the car. They walk around to the driver's side. Millie turns to Ted with a serious expression.
TED Millie straightens Ted's tie. MILLIE Ted smiles back weakly. TED Millie leans over and gives Ted a long kiss. Two uniformed cops go past and see Ted and Millie kissing. Ted sees them and pulls away. TED
MILLIE TED
MILLIE
Ted looks around; no one seems to be watching. He rubs Millie's stomach. Millie smiles and blows him a kiss. MILLIE Millie gets in the car and drives away. Ted sighs and heads into the police station. INT. LOMPOC POLICE STATION - DAY Ted enters the police station and approaches the front desk. The female desk Sergeant's name is PAT. She has short-cropped red hair, deep blue eyes and is attractive in a butch sort of way. She looks up. PAT TED PAT TED PAT TED PAT
TED PAT TED Pat picks up the receiver on the switchboard beside her and pushes a button. PAT
Ted crosses his fingers. Pat smiles and buzzes him through to the inner main office. INT. MAIN OFFICE - DAY Ted passes ten desks with uniformed and plain-clothes police men and women at work. He arrives at a frosted glass door with "Captain Thomas Uto" stenciled on it. Ted straightens his tie and jacket. Two plain clothes COPS are watching Ted. They exchange a grin. Ted is about to knock on the Captain's door when a booming voice comes from within. CAPTAIN
(O.S.) Both cops shakes their heads and look away. Ted gulps and goes in. INT. CAPTAIN UTO'S OFFICE - DAY CAPTAIN THOMAS UTO is sixty years old, has short steely gray hair, wears a dark suit and an intense expression. He has a file open on his desk. CAPTAIN Ted looks over at the chair, but makes no move toward it. TED CAPTAIN Ted grows embarrassed and flushes red. He shifts his weight uncomfortably. TED CAPTAIN TED
Ted sits down. CAPTAIN TED CAPTAIN Captain Uto pushes a button on his telephone and speaks into the intercom. CAPTAIN
PAT
(O.S.)
PAT
(O.S.) CAPTAIN TED CAPTAIN TED
Ted starts to leave. CAPTAIN Ted freezes. He knew this was coming. TED CAPTAIN TED CAPTAIN TED CAPTAIN
TED
CAPTAIN Ted leaves the Captain's office. INT. MAIN OFFICE - DAY As Ted comes out of the Captain's office Captain Uto yells out. CAPTAIN Ted shuts the door. Cop #1 stands up from his desk. He is BADUSKI, a big guy with a square jaw and a bald spot. He and Ted shake hands. BADUSKI TED BADUSKI TED BADUSKI Baduski leads Ted through a door at the back of the main office. INT. LOCKER ROOM - DAY The locker room is also the weapons arsenal. Baduski goes up to a case of rifles and pistols. He unlocks it and waves his hands over the contents. BADUSKI Ted looks at the selection. There are: .25 caliber palm-size pistols, thin little .32's, several .38 police specials, and one rather large Colt .45. Ted picks up the .45. BADUSKI BADUSKI TED Baduski starts to laugh. BADUSKI BADUSKI TED BADUSKI TED BADUSKI TED BADUSKI TED BADUSKI Ted glances over at the wall and sees there is a discoloration where it was re-plastered. Baduski leads Ted back into the main office. INT. MAIN OFFICE - DAY Baduski goes back to his desk and sits down. BADUSKI TED
Ted starts to walk away. Baduski turns to Cop #2 at the desk beside him. BADUSKI COP
#2 Baduski nods and they both start to laugh. Ted glances back at the laughing cops. He steps up behind Pat at the front desk. TED Pat opens one of the drawers of her desk. She removes several different forms and hands them to Ted. She points back at the laughing cops. PAT TED PAT TED PAT TED PAT TED The intercom beside Pat buzzes. She pushes the button. PAT
CAPTAIN
(O.S.) PAT
CAPTAIN
(O.S.) The Captain disconnects. Pat keys the microphone of the big police radio beside her desk. She speaks into the mike. PAT CUT TO: EXT. THE LUCKY SPOT SALOON - DAY We're back at the Lucky Spot Saloon, which, in the daylight, is an even dingier little dive than it looked like at night. There are tire tracks in the gravel from where the lone car was parked last night to where it presently sits. We can now see that the car is a beat up black 1984 Ford LTD sitting with its rear wheels in the parking lot and its front wheels in the drainage ditch near the road. From inside the car Pat's voice can be heard coming through the radio. PAT
(O.S.) INT. JOE BRUBAKER'S CAR - DAY Under the dashboard the Motorola police radio continues to squawk with Pat's voice. On the front seat are many smashed empty beer cans. The ashtray is jammed with cigarette butts and is overflowing onto the floor. PAT
(O.S.) A hand comes over the seat from the back. The hand begins to grope around in the litter and empty beer cans on the seat. A wheezy cough comes from the back. PAT
(O.S.) The hand locates the microphone lying in all the debris. INT. LOMPOC POLICE STATION - DAY Pat is on the radio. Ted sits beside her filling out his forms and listening. In the background, Captain Uto's door opens. He steps out of his office and approaches Pat. PAT Joe Brubaker's scratchy hacking voice comes through the speaker. JOE
(O.S.) Captain Uto steps up behind Pat. CAPTAIN
PAT Ted hears this and grins. Captain Uto grabs the microphone. CAPTAIN JOE
(O.S.) The Captain hands the microphone back to Pat. CAPTAIN
The Captain turns and stomps back to his office. He goes in and slams the door. Pat and Ted exchange a look and grin. INT. JOE BRUBAKER'S CAR - DAY Joe's hand drops the microphone back in the debris. He sits up in the back seat. JOE BRUBAKER is a big man of fifty with unkempt hair that could use a trim. He is wearing a wrinkled dark sport coat and dark sunglasses. His head wobbles from a hangover. He opens the car door. EXT. LUCKY SPOT SALOON - DAY Joe climbs out of the car and stands up. He rubs his aching neck and hocks a big goober. He bends over and tries to touch his toes -- no luck, he doesn't even come close. He climbs into the driver's seat and starts the car. He backs out of the drainage ditch, puts it in drive and peels out of the gravel parking lot in a cloud of dust. INT. JOE'S CAR - DAY As Joe drives up the road he rubs his eyes and kneads the skin of his face. He pulls a pack of camels out of his pocket, sees that it's empty, crushes it and tosses it on the floor. He glances down at the overflowing ashtray. He picks out a long butt, straightens it, puts it in his mouth and lights it. This brings on a fit of coughing. He turns and spits out the window, only the window is not open and it hits the glass. He groans, rolls down the window and ignores the mess. Joe glances over at the litter on the front seat. He digs through it until he finds what he's looking for -- a full beer. He opens the can and guzzles down the warm brew. This is followed by a long belch. JOE He finishes the beer, crushes the can and tosses it on the floor.
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