LIVE FOREVER
OR
DIE
STORY: ROD G. BOGART
SCREENPLAY: L. VAN WARREN
(c) 1995 Rod G. Bogart, L. Van Warren
All Rights Reserved
ACT ONE
FADE IN: QUIET
INT. HERB STORE BACK ROOM - SIX MONTHS AGO
We are in a back room. A bare incandescent light swings slowly hanging by
a cord from the ceiling. Three men are hunched over a wide galvanized metal
pan. One of them has released something from his hand like a man rolling
dice. There is a loud clatter.
EXT. APARTMENT COMPLEX - PRESENT KRAVITZ 1:20
We hear the song, "Are you gonna go my way", by Lenny Kravitz.
We see T.K., 17, dressed in cutoffs and a muscle T-Shirt is sitting on the
fire escape of an inner city apartment complex on a sunny afternoon. The
fire escape is the kind with the tilt down bottom section and wrought iron
grid steps you can see through. T.K. is holding a glass mug full of beer.
INT. HERB STORE - PRESENT QUIET
Li Chan, a middle aged Chinese man owns the herb store. The inside is lined
with shelves each covered with jars with different colored pickled things
inside. Bins line the wall, except for a waist high freezer area. The frost
on the glass lid obscures the labels on the frozen fish within. Opposite
that on the bottom shelves are cloth sacks of grain sewn at the top with
Japanese labels. There is a back room separated from the front with a flimsy
rice straw curtain hanging in the doorway.
A tourist customer in his mid-forties is pointing at a container of ginseng
root.
CUSTOMER
I'm needing some of that.
Li Chan bags a scoop of the root like he has done a thousand times before.
LI CHAN
(at the counter) This variety hard to find. Can help other problems too...
Li Chan raises his eyebrows and looks at the customer's belt, then averts
his eyes.
LI CHAN
My regulars like it. Even old people like.
Li Chan takes the man's ten dollar bill and follows him to the door. He
turns the OPEN sign around, locks the door, but leaves the keys hanging
in the lock. He places his hand on accordion iron bars that can be pulled
in front of the door then pauses. He strolls towards the back of the store.
EXT. APARTMENT COMPLEX - PRESENT KRAVITZ 2:20
CU: Beer Mug In T.K.'s between T.K.'s hands and knees and face. Tired foam
is clinging to the side where beer used to be. T.K. is pretending to drink
but is really staring over the top of the mug at some girls sunbathing on
the top of the next building with is lower than his by 30 feet. He is quietly
trying to avoid being noticed.
Suddenly there is a staccato clanging noise above him that disrupts the
scene. It is his confident friend Jaquo stomping down the stairs from the
apartment above. The sunbathing girls look at them and immediately sit up
holding their towels around them. They quickly put their tops back on in
disgust.
T.K.
Damn, man. I was watching that!
INT. T.K.'s APARTMENT- PRESENT
DARK INSIDE, LIGHT STREAMING IN, BUSY WALLS
The kitchen is lit with a half exposed incandescent bulb whose cover has
cracked and yellowed over time. It's light bounces off marbled linoleum
with aluminum edging that has peeled back over time to reveal rotting wood
underneath. The light illuminates the area up to the stove which is caked
with grease, as are the walls behind it. The stove is the boundary between
the living room and the kitchen. A half made sofa bed is stuffed back into
the opposite wall. The brown patterned sofa cushions smell and have cigarette
burns, one arm of the sofa is raveled with stuffing sticking out where a
drink would sit. A cheap coffee table covered with stains and papers stands
between the sofa and a TV. The TV has a coat hanger upside down sticking
out of the back. Behind the TV is a picture of a horse on black velvet.
The sunlight peers through the sliding door illuminating dirty and worn-out
thick piled carpet which has not seen a vacuum cleaner in a decade.
T.K. takes his mug and goes inside the apartment. Jaquo follows him inside
and, seeing the beer in T.K.'s hand heads straight for the fridge.
JAQUO
Say hey T.K.
(beat)
How's abouts I make you rich?
With his back to Jaquo, T.K. rolls his eyes as he grabs a beer from the
fridge. The light in the fridge doesn't work, so we see only the outline
of a case of beers in a torn cardboard wrapper.
T.K.
Sure. You can start by paying for the beer.
Jaquo takes a long drink. His Adam's apple bulges and gallops as he tilts
his head back. He smacks his lips:
JAQUO
...ahhh. (satisfied) I could do that. (beat)
With interest. Tomorrow afternoon. You and me are gonna take down the man!
Jaquo belches and flops down on the couch grinning a familiar grin.
T.K.
Oh no. I ain't spending no night in jail again. Boostin' that Lincoln was
enough already.
Jaquo sits up and ends doing a poof with his hands while saying:
JAQUO
This ain't like that. I got hooked up with this guy through Li Chan.
INT. HERB STORE - SIX MONTHS AGO
The clatter has subsided. Li Chan studies the objects in the galvanized
pan. He gradually rises from his hunched position and says to T.K. and Jaquo.
LI CHAN
(slowly) Watch for the dull coin among the metal.
INT. T.K.'s APARTMENT - PRESENT
T.K.
What guy?
JAQUO
Some suit walks into Chan's last night just as he is about to close.
INT. HERB STORE - LAST NIGHT
An older man enters Li Chan's herbal medicine store. Chan's hair is shorter
and he looks older than last time. Chan is securing one side of the accordion
iron bars gate that crosses in front of both windows and the door on the
inside of the store.
CHAN
Come back tomorrow.
The man tosses a hundred dollar bill on the counter.
INT. T.K.'s APARTMENT - PRESENT
JAQUO
Chan says have a seat. (laughs)
T.K.
You were there?
JAQUO
Not then. Chan filled me in later. The short version is
INT. HERB STORE - LAST NIGHT
Chan pulls the iron gate shut then pauses from securing the store. He hangs
a padlock in a tabbed flange to hold it shut to keep any other latecomers
out.
Marshall
I need something to prolong my life.
Chan
I have been doing that for a number of years.
Chan walks over to a high shelf and moves a step stool into position. Standing
on his toes he squints and looks down as he reaches high and removes two
yellow jars from their station on the dry wood shelf.
Chan
Yellow root hard to get. Cost me plenty. Make you sick, 'less you take the
berries.
Chan digs into the second yellow jar and removes one berry. He rolls it
between his thumb and forefinger slowly, then crushes it and pops it in
his mouth.
Chan
You still get sick, only not so bad. Get better quicker. Then your life
is ... getting much longer
Marshall
(cuts Chan off at "is..." ) No. I have the list.
Marshall hands a list to Chan and waves another hundred in Chan's face.
Chan swallows the bean with a gulp and glares at the list. There are four
items.
Marshall
I'll be back tomorrow at ten in the morning. You get one hundred dollars
for finding each item.
INT. T.K.'s APARTMENT
T.K.
A hundred? And Chan is cutting you in?
JAQUO
It's better than that. Chan showed me the list. (bursting) There were four
things. Three of them were rare plants that Chan could get from his connections.
The fourth one was, get this, an eighteen year old man...
INT. HERB STORE - LAST NIGHT
Chan is still staring at the list as the man unhooks the padlock and makes
his way carefully through the gate.
ECU ZOOM TO LIST
Some scrawling on the list terminates with an item labeled #4. An Eighteen
Year Old Man - alive. The writing trails off after the word alive, then
it comes back and says, "will pay $100,000".
INT. T.K.'s APARTMENT
JAQUO
(continuing) alive. The note said, "will pay $100,000.
Jaquo belches and assumes his familiar grin.
T.K. stares at Jaquo for a while, as if he just can't figure out what to
say. His mind is racing.
JAQUO
one Hundred THOUsand DOLLARS
Jaquo's grin continues to broaden.
T.K. shivers and whips his head like a prizefighter getting up for the count.
As a chill runs through him. He is thinking to himself, he starts counting
on his fingers.
T.K.
No man! You don't know what they'll do to you! For a hundred grand they
might ...
JAQUO
Off the floor, Theodore. Chan met the guy this morning and told him he had
everything on the list.
INT. WAREHOUSE - THREE MONTHS AGO
T.K. and Jaquo are sorting through a palette of stolen stereo equipment
in the presence of a tall thin man wearing a motorcycle jacket with tattoos
on both forearms. Jaquo opens a box of old parts.
Motorcycle Man
I have to get rid of this shit tonight. You can have the box of part's if
you take the rest of this stuff with you.
INT. T.K.'s APARTMENT - PRESENT
T.K.
No man! You don't know what they'll do to you! For a hundred grand they
might
INT. WAREHOUSE - THREE MONTHS AGO
The motorcycle man has left. T.K. and Jaquo are sorting through the box
of parts. T.K. lifts a dull disk out of the box.
Jaquo
Look man, it's an old watch. Now that's worth something!
T.K.
Prolly so.
T.K. stuffs the watch in this pocket. Later they are at:
INT. PAWNSHOP - SOME TIME IN THE RECENT PAST
The proprietor is counting out $500 in well-worn twenty dollar bills.
JAQUO.
T.K., remember when Chan rolled the bones. He said, "Watch for the
dull coin". That watch was the dull coin!
INT. T.K.'s APARTMENT - PRESENT
JAQUO
Tonight Chan and I will meet the guy at Chan's place. We want you there
hiding. Partly for backup, partly for a witness.
T.K.
He isn't gonna pay tonight, is he? (voice trailing)
T.K.'s WHAT-IF MIND SPACE
INT. HERB STORE - SOME POSSIBLE NIGHT IN THE FUTURE
Jaquo is getting a round cornered briefcase full of cash, then is electrocuted
by a burst of gunfire.
INT. T.K.'s APARTMENT - PRESENT
JAQUO
No way. He needs to make sure I understand the deal. The actual exchange
is tomorrow afternoon.
T.K.
So, what's the deal?
JAQUO
OK, here it is. Tomorrow this guy is going to have surgery. It will happen
at his estate. Estate, do you believe it? It'll be done by some doctor from
Germany. Something about perfect technique. The old fart gets his spleen
yanked. They put a new spleen in along with some meat tenderizer that ...
Chan gets on the black market.
T.K.
(cuts Jaquo off at "that ..." )Meat tenderizer?
JAQUO
Some weird shit the old fart told Chan to get. After that the guy stops
getting old.
T.K.
Come again?
JAQUO
His fingernails will even stop growing. Can you see that?
T.K.'s WHAT-IF MIND SPACE
INT. SOME ESTATE - SOME POSSIBLE NIGHT IN THE FUTURE
A dead man is lying on a make-do operating table is covered past the head
by a blue green surgical drape. A hand is sticking out.
ECU to dead man's nailbeds.
INT. T.K.'s APARTMENT - PRESENT
JAQUO
(continuing) No clippers for the rest of time. Too wild, man.
T.K.
Fingernails? You skipped over the spleen part pretty quick. Would the spleen
happen to be you?
JAQUO
That's right. For one hundred grand, this guy takes my spleen to soak in
Li Chan's soup.
T.K.
Can you live without a spleen?
T.K.'s WHAT-IF MIND SPACE
INT. T.K.'s APARTMENT - PAST
T.K. has a flashback - a fast montage of scenes from a hundred different
episodes of M*A*S*H. The walls change. All are operating room scenes. T.K.
is hanging on every word that Hawkeye says listening intently for the word,
SPLEEN.
REAL LIFE
INT. T.K.'s APARTMENT - PRESENT
JAQUO
Yeah, with your help.
T.K.
Say what?
JAQUO
They say I gotta be dead before they remove the thing. For a whole hour.
Then it will have decalculated. Then it's into the Taster's Choice.
Jaquo gets up to get another beer. T.K. is staring at him, amazed at how
casual he is. T.K. drifts off to another flashback of medical shows.
T.K.'s WHAT-IF MIND SPACE
INT. T.K.'s APARTMENT - PAST
The walls change more dramatically than before. All are those CPR resuscitation
scenes where some guy is rubbing some Vaseline-like gook between two paddles
and shocking patient after patient, each humping up off the table about
a foot. T.K. is hanging on attempt listening intently for the phrase, "how
long was I out". He can't find anything over 5 minutes except for an
emergency show where a kid is submerged in near freezing water. When T.K.
comes back Jaquo is sitting in front of him with half a beer.
REAL LIFE
INT. T.K.'s APARTMENT - PRESENT
JAQUO
So, you interested?
T.K.
(snapping) Are you crazy? NOBODY wakes up after being dead an hour!
(louder)
And how am I supposed to help? Hold your lifeless hand?
(shouting)
Forget it! This ain't happenin', man! (waving the beer bottle)
Chan and that old fart can nab somebody off the street!
(in Jaquo's face)
He ain't gonna leave my friend dead on some table!
Jaquo has looked scared for the loud part but turns apologetic.
JAQUO
Geez, T.K. I forget about your old man. Don't worry. I'm not going under
the knife. It's Jaquo, king of bait and switch! Jaquo no get cut, Jaquo
and T.K. get Munee. Jaquo and T.K. flee.
T.K.
Money ... flee?
JAQUO
Chan rolled the bones after we cooked it up. It's gonna work.
T.K. is still standing over Jaquo, still pumping adrenaline from shouting
at him. T.K. purses his lips and pulls his arm back like he is going to
hit him, then relents, surrendering with a slump down into his chair.
T.K.
(exhausted) What did the bones say?
JAQUO
Chan and I talked for a coupla hours. We worked out the cash switch without
getting cut. Then Chan he squints and rolls the bones.
INT. HERB STORE BACK ROOM - LAST NIGHT
In the back room of the herb store. A bare incandescent light still swings
slowly hanging by a cord from the ceiling. Two men are hunched over a wide
galvanized metal pan. One of them has released something from his hand like
a man rolling dice. There is a loud clatter.
INT. T.K.'s APARTMENT - PRESENT
JAQUO
After he rolls them, this is the reading: "One man believes he will
live forever, but he hasn't long to live. the other man believes he will
die tomorrow, but he has a long time on earth."
Jaquo gets up and goes to the window.
JAQUO
I don't know what's wrong with the old guy, but he ain't getting my guts
to extend his ticket.
(beat)
Chan's reading makes me think he'll die without the transplant. Not my problem.
(beat)
Jaquo and T.K. be long gone by then.
Jaquo sits down and starts filling T.K. in. T.K. drifts in and out listening
and imagining what it will be like.
JAQUO
(confidently) According to the guy, the money will be deposited into a bank
account. Chan and me will be at the old guy's estate. Then we'll call you
at the bank to withdraw the cash.
T.K.
So far so good.
JAQUO
(continuing) As soon as you call back they figure to put me under.
(beat)
It'll be a gas...
T.K.
(wide eyed) Yeah J., till they start sawing on your belly.
JAQUO
(continuing) , well, that's the Gimme. We don't let things get in an all
fire hurry. See T.K., you won't be at the bank, you'll be at the estate!
(sits back confidently)
T.K.
(sarcastic) Right J., in case they need more spleen.
JAQUO
You will take the call on your cellular, flipped over to quiet. Then YOU
get to call the bank and transfer the balance with the number they gave
ME.
(points at chest with thumb)
Then you have a few minutes before they expect you to call back. You break
in, toss some real knockout gas and get Chan and me outside. Get it?! We
put them under!
T.K.
(serious) Doesn't the estate have a security system?
JAQUO
Chan has already cased the place, says it's an easy. The hospital setup
is in a converted-over garage. It has windows so you'll be able to see me
dial the cell phone. Then you're in and we're outta there. We make a courtesy
stop at the bank on our way out of town.
ACT TWO
EXT. DRIVE TO MARSHALL's ESTATE
Jaquo, T.K. and Chan drive to Marshall's estate. T.K. is driving and is
daydreaming.
T.K.'s WHAT-IF MIND SPACE
INT. APARTMENT - PAST
We see T.K. practicing in front of his bathroom mirror. He is drawing his
9mm from its concealed position over and over and dry-clicking it.
REAL LIFE
EXT. DRIVE TO MARSHALL's ESTATE
They get out of the car and are escorted into the stately mansion by a fifty
year old man with completely white hair, not too many wrinkles. The man
looks pretty fit.
INT. ESTATE
They are led down some stairs and into a garage area. A doctor takes a blood
sample from Jaquo. Jaquo is holding a cotton swab with his left hand. His
right arm is folded at the elbow.
DOCTOR
(calmly) Just a routine virus check. We want to make sure you don't have
hepatitis-B, or HIV problems.
CHAN
Mr. Jaquo is feels lucky to have met you fine gentleman. He doesn't have
a family you know, except for his older sister.
(beat) Also Mr. Jaquo has recently fallen into a rather bad place. It seems
that a certain group of young hoodlums have been hunting him and he is tired
of running away. His sister is getting along in years and will live well
off the money you are providing.
The doctor and Marshall are quiet. They seem to be affected by the consequence
of Jaquo's situation. The doctor takes Jaquo's blood pressure and his temperature.
He looks in Jaquo's mouth with a tongue depressor and then throws it in
a short metal bin. Jaquo relates his view:
JAQUO
Yeah, this is pretty important to me. My sister raised me and she really
needs the money. This is my chance to help somebody - her for once and you
Mr. Marshall. Besides, those gang bangers will have to leave me alone if
I'm out of circulation. I can live without a spleen, right T.K.?
T.K.
(sickened by the deception) Yeah J., Hawkeye says you can make it without
a spleen.
T.K.'s WHAT-IF MIND SPACE
INT. APARTMENT - PAST
We see T.K. slowly counting a wad of bills with Jaquo from a previous crime.
REAL LIFE
INT. APARTMENT - PRESENT, THE MORNING AFTER THE MEETING
T.K.'s P.O.V. FAINT SOUND OF RUNNING WATER
Camera is looking directly through T.K.'s eyes. He pushes the covers off
revealing a well muscled abdomen. He puts his hand on his stomach and rubs
it slowly then presses the palm of his fist down, as if to clear something.
T.K.'s WHAT-IF MIND SPACE
INT. ESTATE - POSSIBLE FUTURE
We see Jaquo being strapped onto a surgical table. He is looking over at
a cellular phone a few feet away. A mask is forced over his face as he struggles
against his bonds.
REAL LIFE
INT. APARTMENT - PRESENT, THE MORNING AFTER THE MEETING
T.K.'s P.O.V. FAINT SOUND OF RUNNING WATER
Camera is looking directly through T.K.'s eyes again. T.K. is looking at
himself in the mirror, rubbing his face, realizing the importance of his
role.
T.K.'s WHAT-IF MIND SPACE
INT. ESTATE - POSSIBLE FUTURE
We see T.K. carrying some gas bombs in his left arm and a 9mm in his right
hand. Suddenly an alarm starts ringing. A man comes out of the darkness
with a machine gun and opens fire.
INT. HERB STORE BACK ROOM - ONE NIGHT AGO
We are in a back room. A bare incandescent light swings slowly hanging by
a cord from the ceiling. Three men are hunched over a wide galvanized metal
pan. One of them has released something from his hand like a man rolling
dice. There is a loud clatter. We see the face of Chan from the Pan's point
of view as he rises slowly. Jaquo and T.K.'s eyes meet his.
REAL LIFE
ACT THREE
INT. APARTMENT BATHROOM
OBSERVER'S P.O.V. FAINT SOUND OF RUNNING WATER
T.K. wipes water off his face with a towel saying to himself:
T.K.
(barely audible) The bones said Jaquo has a long time on earth.
EXT. DRIVE TO MARSHALL's ESTATE
T.K. drives his car to Marshall's estate an hour before Chan and Jaquo are
scheduled to arrive. His car is bashed up and scratched. He is serious and
is not daydreaming. He pulls into a highway diner by the estate. His car
looks like the other cars. He walks a short distance to a stone wall. The
mansion is 200 feet further. He leaves a small camouflage backpack at his
feet.
EXT. DRIVE TO MARSHALL's ESTATE
T.K. waits behind the stone wall until Chan drives up the driveway to the
main house with Jaquo. The money man comes out to greet them and walks them
over to the garage. After everyone goes inside, T.K. jumps the stone wall
and stalks to a place near the window. T.K. sees the doctor inside already
through the window in the garage.
T.K.'s P.O.V. FAINT SOUND OF RUNNING WATER
T.K. can make out three surgery tables and lots of diagnostic equipment.
T.K.'s WHAT-IF MIND SPACE
EXT. ESTATE GARAGE - POSSIBLE FUTURE
T.K.'s P.O.V. FAINT SOUND OF RUNNING WATER
We see Jaquo and Chan being strapped down to a table on either side of Marshall.
They are struggling against their bonds. The doctor squirts some liquid
out of a needle into the air.
REAL LIFE
EXT. ESTATE GARAGE - ACTUAL PRESENT
As T.K. strains to get a better look, The doctor's hand reaches under a
cloth on one of the tables. He lays back a sheet that had been covering
the table. The table is really a bench covered with medical instruments.
T.K. breathes a sigh and relaxes slightly. Chan hands over a basket of herbs
and the doctor directs Chan to start mixing. Meanwhile a man is picking
up his phone. T.K. gives Jaquo a quick look but Jaquo doesn't see him. T.K.
stays out of sight. The man with the phone finishes and hands the phone
and a slip of paper to Jaquo. T.K. pulls out the pocket cellular and tabs
it with his finger, making sure the ringer is off. A light on the phone
comes on:
T.K.
(whispering) Yeah?
Jaquo
(whispering) The account number is 216-549-373, the phone number is 501-682-1887.
Got it.
T.K.
(whispering) Got it.
EXT. ESTATE GARAGE
T.K. scrambles back to the wall and gets over it. Kneeling by his camouflaged
backpack makes a phone call to the bank and transfers the money.
T.K.
(after dialing)... into savings account #429-21-1740
T.K. pulls some canisters out of the backpack, putting one in each pocket
of his jacket. He then goes back to his position outside the garage window
being careful to avoid being noticed. To his horror no one is in the medical
area.
T.K.
(muttering) No, No, NO.
He runs to a back window and checks again. Still no one in the converted
garage. T.K. pulls his 9mm out of his jeans and runs to the main house looking
left and right over his shoulder. He goes through a gate and some open French
doors on the side of the house in a garden area. T.K. finds himself in a
library two stories tall. T.K. walks up a circular staircase and out the
library door which opens onto a hallway. He sees another straight staircase
in the distance at the end of the hall. Some voices are barely audible.
T.K. slowly stalks to the straight staircase in a crouched position. His
shoes are quiet as he steps. The carpeted floor does not give him away.
When he reaches the top of the staircase he can just see Jaquo's hightops
silhouetting an Oriental rug. T.K. proceeds slowly down the stairs hugging
the wall to avoid being seen. The voices are louder. A man is offering drinks.
A telephone can be seen at the center of the conversation and the men appear
to be waiting around it. T.K. props his gun between his knees and slowly
pulls the gas canister from his jacket pocket. In a mirror he sees the reflection
of Jaquo standing next to Chan in a high back chair across from the man
on a leather couch.
DOCTOR
(commanding) Drop everything.
T.K. P.O.V.
The doctor is standing at the top of the stairs with a 38 aiming at T.K.'s
head. T.K. sets the bombs and gun on the stairs. The men in the mirror do
not seem to respond.
INT. ESTATE
The doctor walks slowly towards down towards T.K. When he is two steps above
T.K. he yells:
DOCTOR
(yelling) Mr. Marshall, plan B!
The man who was offering drinks takes a pistol from his jacket at points
it at Jaquo and Chan. The doctor motions T.K. into the garage along with
the others.
INT. ESTATE GARAGE
OBSERVER'S P.O.V.
Jaquo's eyes go wide. He drops to his knees and starts begging for his life.
A look of incredulity and astonishment crosses T.K. watches his best friend
begging not to die.
T.K.'s P.O.V. FAINT RUNNING WATER
T.K. watches his best friend begging not to die.
T.K.'s WHAT-IF MIND SPACE SMEARED SOUNDS
T.K. plays back scenes of crimes they had done together, being chased by
cops one time, being in a knife fight together earlier. Jaquo strides confidently
into his apartment.
OBSERVER'S P.O.V.
Tears are streaming down T.K.'s face. Chan remains immobile, sitting in
the chair, watching the pistol. He has a poker faced Mona Lisa expression
on his face.
MARSHALL
(to Chan) Get Up!
Chan stands but Jaquo is still on the floor.
MARSHALL
(to Chan) Get up now! Don't make me hurt you.
OBSERVER'S P.O.V.
Jaquo gets up on shaky and unsteady legs.
T.K.'s P.O.V. BRUSHING CURTAINS
T.K. sees the gun at his own back held by the doctor.
OBSERVER'S P.O.V. METAL ON HARDWOOD
With a sense of accident we see one of the bombs roll down the stairs. It
bounces twice intact then suddenly breaks open when it hits the bottom stair.
From the exhaust of its contents, it spins vigorously spewing gases into
the room.
T.K.'s P.O.V. GUNSHOT
Camera is looking directly through T.K.'s eyes. We see T.K.'s hand reach
towards his face. T.K. goes down but we can't tell why. We watch everyone
else going down under the influence of the gas through T.K.'s eyes.
FADE TO BLACK
FADE IN:
T.K.'s P.O.V. ROAR OF RUNNING WATER
Camera is looking directly through T.K.'s eyes looking at the ceiling but
it is out of focus. T.K. is reaching up to his face, his hand is in and
out of focus. He sniffles his nose as he regains consciousness. He tries
to move.
T.K.'s WHAT-IF MIND SPACE ROAR OF RUNNING WATER
T.K. visualizes his head being nailed to the floor like a rubber mask that
stretches from his face to the ground. T.K. visualizes his head like a block
of lead that he can't lift.
CUT TO
OBSERVER'S P.O.V. QUIET STILLNESS
We see T.K. sitting against the wall blinking his eyes. Nobody else is moving.
T.K.'s P.O.V. LOUD RINGING IN THE EARS
Again we're looking directly through T.K.'s eyes at the other people. starting
to come into focus. T.K. slowly starts to crawl towards the people, still
in a daze.
CUT TO
OBSERVER'S P.O.V. SCUFFING OF KNEES ON CARPET
We see T.K. crawling around and gathering the 9mm and the doctor's 38. We
see Jaquo give a little jerk. T.K. pulls Jaquo away from the group. Jaquo
is starting to recover. T.K. starts to drag Li Chan but Chan is limp.
CLOSE UP
Li Chan's neck fills the frame. There is a neat little hole in it, with
a smudge of blood.
T.K.'s WHAT-IF MIND SPACE SLO-MO SURREAL GUN REPORT
T.K. sees a shot being squeezed off by the doctors gun.
T.K. sees the gun at his own back held by the doctor.
T.K. sees the shot again being squeezed off by the doctors gun. There is
a surreal report.
REAL LIFE
T.K.'s P.O.V. MEDIUM RINGING IN THE EARS
T.K. is sitting in the chair, patiently, waiting for everybody to get coherent.
T.K.'s looks at the 9mm in his right hand, then he looks at the doctor's
38 in his left.
T.K.'s WHAT-IF MIND SPACE
T.K. visualizes himself giving Jaquo the other gun. The moment the gun rotates
into Jaquo's hand, Jaquo becomes, bigger, darker, more sinister.
T.K. plays back the scene of Jaquo going to pieces in the face of death
earlier, down on his knees.
T.K. plays back scenes of some crimes they had done together, being chased
by cops one time, being in a knife fight together earlier.
T.K. again plays back the scene of Jaquo going to pieces down on his knees
and cringing when the gun is in the other guys hand.
REAL LIFE
Marshall sits up, looks at T.K. and the gun.
Marshall
Well, what are we going to do now?
Jaquo
We're taking you down man! We're running things now!
T.K.
(turning the gun on Jaquo) Shut up! I'm running things now J.
T.K.
(to Marshall) You gonna die without this transplant thing?
(beat)
(in control) I mean, like soon?
Jaquo
(eyes widening) What are you doing man?
T.K.
(to Jaquo) ease up, I'm not talking about you.
(beat)
Doc, what about Chan's spleen?
DOCTOR
(fidgeting)
I'm not certain. In one case, I did use an older donor. The metabolic reduction
was not optimum, so I haven't tried again. The body's need for lymphocytes
produced by the spleen changes as one ages...
(beat)
... but Mr. Chan strikes me as a healthy man.
T.K.
Well, he's been dead for twenty-five minutes, so you still have half an
hour to decide. I'm taking Jaquo with me. Good luck with the operation.
(beat)
Jaquo, let's go.
EXT. ESTATE
T.K. Walks outside with Jaquo trying to keep up behind him. T.K. is focused
straight ahead, not looking at Jaquo.
T.K.
I'm leaving man. These are the keys to Chan's car. I'll put them in the
mailbox at the end of the drive. Good-bye, J.
T.K. gets in the car. Jaquo reaches for the door handle, T.K. raises the
9mm:
T.K.
(angry) Back off. I don't want you around no more. I looked up to you man!
(voice cracking)
I don't need you around no more.
JAQUO
(beaten) TK, (knees shake) they were gonna kill me ... they were gonna kill
us both.
T.K.
That's right. They were gonna kill us both. Chan was right when he rolled
'dem bones. "You have a long time on earth"
T.K. hits the gas as he cranks the wheel to the right, the wheels screech
and leave skid marks and a rooster tail. The car pulls off into the sunset.
END