There There

INT. PUB- NIGHT Setting is a well lit, vintage decor pub. The bar counter aligns the left tables are scattered about on the right, at the back are the toilets and an old school jukebox playing mellow, modish tunes. GREG, in his 40¶s stands behind the bar. A young waitress, SARAH, in her early twenties, leans against the bar on the customer¶s side. A quiet night, there are only three men at the bar. At a table not too far from the entrance sits JACK, a greying old man in his late 50¶s. Seated next to him is FREDDY, late 30¶s, muscular and stocky. They are both seated facing the entrance, where a large BODYGUARD sits. A jazzy, pop song is playing. FREDDY So maybe you could talk to those guys, ya you know. They¶d help you with your game? JACK Why, do you think I need couching or something? FREDDY No,no. I mean. Yeah. You don¶t wanna embarrass yourself out there. JACK Embarrass myself? Maybe you should re-evaluate that statement of yours. FREDDY I¶m sorry Jack. No offense. But, you wanna look good. Now I know for a fact that these guys that I want you to call...these guys you often knock around with...what¶s

his name...He¶s won a few big tournaments...Chris Williams. These guys play with Chris Williams. JACK Who the hell is Chris Williams? FREDDY Well fuck I know. I hear his name being thrown around, that he¶s some professional golfer. They¶d help you with your stroke, putting, whatever the fuck it is you need to know. JACK Look Freddy, like myself these guys I play with aren¶t professionals. So why should I bother with couching. I admit I¶m no fucking Chris Williams, but I know how to play. FREDDY I¶m just saying. These are business associates. You wanna look professional. You wanna look like you¶re good at the game . Don¶t ya?. I mean I don¶t wanna sound like patronising. Do I sound patronising? JACK No. It¶s okay. FREDDY Good. So you wanna look good, like, Brad Pitt in the movies. Like that character he portrays in Ocean¶s Eleven. He knows everything in that movie, things that he needn¶t know. He knows whats going on, straight down to

the technical, gadgety part of the heist. He knows that stuff coz he¶s cool like that. He¶s knowledgeable. He knows everything. He wants to show off. And that¶s what¶s it all about . appearance. Appearing as if you¶re good at whatever you do. Even if it¶s some sport that no one cares about. You get me Jack? JACK (Smiles) I get you Freddy. You make a good point... FREDDY (Smiles) Just doing my job. The doors to the entrance opens. In step three men. One of them, HENCHMAN, is just as large as the bodyguard sitting by the entrance. The other two are young, both in their early 20¶s. One of the young men is RICHARD, intense looking, looking kind of paranoid and perturbed. Standing to the left of Richard is GAEL. He looks a bit tense, but is more composed and well adjusted than his friend. The Bodyguard does a body search of the two men . He finds a small handgun in Richard¶s pocket. BODYGUARD What¶s this? RICHARD You know what it is. JACK (Catching site of the two of them) Richard! Gael! My boy¶s. (re: bodyguard) It¶s okay. Let them through.

The bodyguard takes the gun and puts it in his jacket pocket. Richard and Gael walk over to Jack and Freddy. The henchman sits down by the entrance. GAEL (Under his breath) What in the hell are you doing with that? Richard ignores him. Jack and Freddy get up to greet the two men. Gael and Richard walk around the table. JACK (re: Gael) (hugs and kisses Gael) How are you my boy? It¶s been a long time. GAEL I¶m fine Uncle Jack. JACK (re: Richard) And how are you my dear boy. How was Nice? RICHARD (Wipes the kiss off his cheek) It was...uh...it was...great . FREDDY (re: Richard) You¶re not gonna spaz out on us? RICHARD What? JACK He¶s kidding. Have a seat. Gael and Richard sit opposite the other two. JACK

I must apologize for a drawn out absence. I¶ve been moving alot, hell, I¶ll be leaving the country for a few months next week . Things have gotten a bit chaotic. Uh, I¶ve had a bit of a scare, Dom has become quite... dangerous to us. These low life fucks. They¶ve gone for my family. Richard, I must apologize. I must apologize for all that has happened. A terrible thing has happened to you. Absolutely horrid. I hope you can forgive me. I should¶ve gotten you outta there a long time before they had enough sense to let you go. FREDDY Don¶t you worry Richard. We¶re gonna find that fuck Dom. We¶re gonna find all his men hiding up in Belville. We¶re gonna drag them through dirt. We gonna make them fucking suffer like they¶ve never suffered before. We¶re gonna make them beg us to put an end to their fucked junkie lives. GAEL I don¶t think Richard wants to hear any of this... RICHARD It¶s... It¶s okay. JACK Yes. I¶m sorry, we shouldn¶t talk of such things. RICHARD No, no. I wanna know why? I wanna know why this happened to me. I¶m not even, I¶m not related to you.

So why, why¶d he lock me up for, for six, six months. Why did this Dom do it. FREDDY We¶re not sure why Dom did what he did. It don¶t make a lot of sense to us. JACK He thought you were a valuable asset. He didn¶t know much, knew you were close to me. (Composes himself)You¶re wondering why I just didn¶t give them what they wanted. RICHARD I¶ve heard the explanation. JACK But you wanna hear it from me? RICHARD Well, I wouldn¶t mind. JACK He asked for something I didn¶t have in my possession to give. Sometimes money isn¶t enough . You know how these things are? FREDDY Dom is an arms dealer, a local thug who¶s occasionally contracted. Dom is also a junkie. His head is all gobbledygook. He¶s erratic. He¶s extremely dangerous. He¶s a piece of shit. (re: Jack) What we should have done is gotten rid of him a long time ago, that¶s what we should have done.

JACK When we find him, and it¶ll be very soon, we¶ll make sure that by the end of it, he¶ll be begging our torturer to put an end to his life. The Sarah comes by with two glasses of whiskey. JACK Thank you my dear. This is Sarah. Greg¶s daughter. (re: Gael) you two used to frequent each other¶s houses when you were this high. (hand is at level with his shoulder) GAEL (Gets up) Nice to meet you (smiles) SARAH Pleasure to meet an old friend? GAEL I¶m afraid I can¶t recall ever...(looks at Sarah dreamily) I have a bad memory. SARAH I do recall a young boy with whom I used to play with. Yes, dark hair, really hyperactive. GAEL (Dreamily looks at her) Yeah. JACK It¶s a shame you two didn¶t keep in contact after your family left. Now that you¶re back, you can reacquaint yourselves

SARAH (Shyly) Definitely. GAEL Sure JACK And this is Richard. A close friend of Gael and an adopted nephew of mine. His father, your father and I were good friends. SARAH Please to meet you. Richard smiles, betraying scorn. JACK Richard¶s just come back from Nice, spent three months up there SARAH Wow. How was it? RICHARD (reluctant) Great. JACK So, what are you doing with yourself, besides helping out your father in this here pub? SARAH I¶m still studying. Final year of B.Com. Hopefully I¶ll graduate this year. JACK Wonderful. Marvellous. Isn¶t that marvellous Fred? FREDDY Absolutely brilliant little lady.

SARAH Thank you. So, could I get you boys a drink? RICHARD Gael and I will have a whiskey. SARAH Two whiskeys coming up. JACK Before you scamper, could you ask your father to prepare me one of his famous steaks. SARAH (Smiles) Sure. Rare? JACK (Smiles) Of course. Sarah walks off to the bar. An awkward silence follows. No one had anything to say. FREDDY You know, Martha went real hysterical after you were taken...I mean...she couldn¶t handle it. JACK Hmm. She was the worst affected. And your mother. FREDDY A lot of people were mortified. Dreadful. A damn shame what happened. Gael, in an attempt to comfort Richard, puts his hand on his shoulder.

GAEL (Smiles) Richard FREDDY Ya know, if it makes you feel better, Jack and I had our fair share of near death experiences. You know, it¶s all part of the business, our business. Real, real adrenaline rush. I can kinda relate to what you¶re going through. RICHARD You have no idea what I¶m going through. FREDDY Whoa. Cool it brother. JACK It¶s okay. I understand. I understand your, hostility. FREDDY If you wanna talk, you can talk to us. We care about the both of ya. Maybe you think its all bullshit. But we really do care. RICHARD Want me to talk, like cathar sis. Like a, like a shrink sought of thing, yeah? (beat) On the morning of my release, after living in a fucking basement, they decide to take me out to get shot. They tell me the night before, they say that come tomorrow there¶d be a bullet in my head. Six a.m. they wake me up and tell me that its time, you can¶t fucking imagine how I felt.

That was the worst fuckin g experience. I was going to be shot some place two hours from here...those two hours in the car felt like a life time, I savoured up every moment... I prayed that they¶d call, I kept hoping they¶d have a change of heart, they¶d let me go. So we finally arrive...some farmland. So there I was, old Greg, you remember, a couple of meters back, with his gun pointed at me. He says, how¶s it feel? Coz a feeling like that never goes away. (beat). He lowers his gun, jumps right back into the car and leaves me there. And that¶s it... that¶s how what happened. That¶s my fucking story. GAEL Why didn¶t you tell us this before. RICHARD What¶s the point?... What¶s the point? His audience stare in disbelief, unsettled by what they had just heard. CUT TO BLACK CUT TO INT. PUB- SOME TIME LATER Richard is fiddling with the jukebox, going through the selection of songs. He scratches his head, twitches, closes and tenses his eye lids. Something¶s wrong with him. Freddy stands beside him. There is a silence between them. FREDDY

Matthew, Matthew¶s in real estate. RICHARD Realty, yes. FREDDY And you and Gael are? RICHARD Analysts. FREDDY Ah. Jack¶s really set you up with real good connections. Richard has a contemptuous expression on his face. FREDDY Yeah. (Beat) Jack¶s smart. He¶s got men in finance; traders, financiers, stockbrokers, investment bankers. A bit of the iron fisted and monetary persuasion and we¶ve got them. And the best thing is, most of it is legitimate, legally speaking. Like the Yakuza. And we contribute to society. More good than bad. RICHARD Jack still has that escort agency? FREDDY Medusa? Yeah. We got that. We got a couple of restaurants, shops, hell this place. Old Mr. Collins pub had to be closed down, SAPS sticking their cunt fingers in there, and Mr. Collin¶s too nice of a man... You¶re not supposed to know about all of it. But

hell, even I don¶t know what¶s what, with this finance and economic bullshit, you gotta know commerce, get a degree... So, what¶s with the escort agency. Have you been there? RICHARD (smiles) I dropped by. FREDDY (Chuckles) That¶s funny. RICHARD (Annoyed) What the fuck¶s so funny? FREDDY Take it easy kid. Don¶t go spaz out now. RICHARD What the fuck are you talking about? FREDDY Nothing...nothing. Richard returns to the jukebox , doing God knows what. RICHARD (To himself) Elton John FREDDY Elton John. Yeah. What¶s that song now? Don¶t go breaking my heart. That¶s it. That¶s my favourite Elton John song. Do they have it there? RICHARD No.

FREDDY What song do they have of his? RICHARD I¶m still standing. FREDDY Yeah. I know that one too. You a fan? RICHARD (Reluctantly) No. I like goodbye yellow brick road though. FREDDY Ah yellow brick road. Beautiful song, a really beautiful song... Any Kwaito there? RICHARD No. FREDDY Good. I can¶t stand it. I can¶t stand that and Boer music. It¶s a damn shame we don¶t have any African Elton John¶s, or Carpenters, or Rod Stewart¶s. CUT TO Sarah leans over the counter, looking forward. POV reveals that she is looking at Gael, who is still sitting at the table with Jack. CUT TO Gael and Jack at their table GAEL I don¶t know about him. He¶s become unpredictable. He¶s become

psychotic. At work a few days back, he punches a co-worker, for no apparent reason. He¶s going at him, in front of everyone. JACK Yes, I know about the incident. GAEL Then you should know about the others. JACK Yes. He¶s become, an embarrassment. It¶s serious, isn¶t it? GAEL Maybe, post traumatic stress, psychological disorder. I don¶t know. Maybe it would be a good idea if you get him a psychiatrist. JACK You¶re right. We should¶ve had this done long ago. I¶ll call Dr Muir, he¶ll know someone. (broods for a while) I don¶t know. Men, I¶ve seen men suffer. And they can suffer, my god. (beat) Let me ask you, what has he been saying about me? GAEL What do you mean? Jack turns his head. POV of Richard. JACK Forget it. I know he blames me, he¶s angry. (Sighs) I¶ve tried to keep you two away from this business. This is their game,

those hooligans on the streets, petty street thugs. Running blind, without any fucking direction. They¶re like animals, so people treat them like animals. They fail to understand that like anything, etiquette is everything. You have to have some kind of, of organization. You can¶t run around like a headless turkey. CU of Gael JACK V.O (CONT¶D). It¶s a travesty that Richard got caught in the cross fire. These guy¶s heads are too big for their shoulders, they have no idea. (Looks sincere) I feel responsible. Maybe I could have done more. GAEL He¶s, he¶s just a bit messed up. JACK And what¶s he doing with a gun. GAEL I don¶t know. Maybe.... I don¶t know. Sarah comes by with the steak. SARAH Here we go. JACK Thank you. SARAH (re: Gael)

And would you like another glass of whiskey? GAEL Yes thank you. Sarah takes his empty glass. She smiles at him as she leaves . Gael smile back at her. Sarah walks back to the bar. JACK This looks really good. (Takes his cutlery and digs in) Did I give you that gift for your parents? GAEL (Absently) What gift? (Pauses) Yes, yes you did. I don¶t know when I¶m gonna see them again. I think I might have to leave it with Debra. JACK That¶s fine. Would you mind calling Freddy back? GAEL Sure. Gael gets up and makes his way to the other end of the pub. CUT TO Gael comes up from behind Freddy and Richard. Richard¶s still staring at the Jukebox. GAEL (re: Freddy) Jack wants you. FREDDY For what? GAEL

I dunno.

Freddy smiles at Richard and walks on over to Jack. Richard¶s POV of Freddy. Gael puts his hand on Richard¶s shoulder and gently pats it. GAEL You okay? Richard doesn¶t respond. He contemptuously stares at both Jack and Freddy. GAEL Hey, we were thinking of getting a doctor for you. (beat) A psychiatrist. RICHARD I don¶t need one. GAEL One session. (chuckles, feigning light heartedness) you¶re aware of the way you¶ve been behaving. RICHARD I don¶t need a fucking psychiatrist. GAEL I don¶t have to tell you this, but there¶s something wrong with you. You¶re in Nice fucking three months. And you¶re no better than you were before. I¶m sorry. You fucking need help. RICHARD I don¶t want your help. I don¶t need Jack¶s. He isn¶t family. I¶m gonna, I¶m gonna leave the company. I¶ll find a new job, a new place. (titters, obviously

not making any sense) you don¶t know, you know. You think you know. but... and you¶re no better. GAEL Okay Richard. Richard looks at him, then turns away, staring straight ahead. A morbid, intense silence between the two haunts the frame . CUT TO BLACK CUT TO INT. PUB- SOME TIME LATER Richard sits there at the table amongst a boisterous group that is Freddy, Jack and Gael. They ¶re all drunk. Richard stares into oblivion with contained contempt , intensity in his expression. Jack and Richard are laughing. FREDDY V.O. This woman, Jacqueline. How old is she, forty, forty five. She looks thirty. Ten years, that shit they did to her face and tits gave her ten years back. I can tell you, she looks good. JACK V.O No doubt Freddy tried his luck on her. FREDDY He¶s fucking with me. RICHARD Now I recall a certain someone speaking to this Jacqueline at Mike and Lindsey¶s anniversary. FREDDY

She asked me if I knew Michelle. I said yeah she¶s in Australia, then, as things goes, we chatted for a bit. GAEL You were touching thighs and face, constantly. FREDDY I don¶t remember that. JACK You wanted to fuck her, don¶t be ashamed. But face it, you are a ugly fuck. FREDDY Fuck you. Everyone¶s laughing, except for Richard . FREDDY I need to take a piss JACK Now watch your fucking language. We¶re dining here, show some manners. (Mockingly repeats) I need to take piss. (Orders) May I be excused? Freddy May I be excused, you cock sucking mother fucking cunt ? JACK Yes you may my dear. Gael, Freddy and Jack laugh. RICHARD I need to use the bathroom too.

As Freddy and Richard leave. JACK Now you two don¶t go jerk each other off. The two of them make there way to the toilet near the jukebox. Gael makes his way back to the table. He sits down, picks up his glass of whiskey and gulps down what remains. INT. MEN¶S TOILET- MOMENTS LATER Richard and Freddy are standing at their urinals with two urinals between them. Freddy seems relax ed and calm, Richard is agitated and perturbed. Richard glances at Freddy and looks down. Richard slowly reaches in behind his belt to reveal a thin wire that has been wrapped about his body. He slowly removes it and grabs a hold of the two ends. He zips up and motions toward the door. As he passes Freddy he rapidly raps the wire around Freddy¶s neck and strangles the life out of him. Freddy violently gasps as he struggles to free himself of the wire. Freddy pushes back, slamming Richard against the board between the doors of the toilet stalls. INT. PUB- MOMENTS LATER JACK Ever used a gun before? GAEL No. JACK Good. INT. MENS TOILET- MOMENTS LATER Richard and Freddy, Richard pulling the wire around F reddy¶s neck from behind, motion across passed the stalls .

Freddy backs up, again thrusting Richard against the board between the stall doors. Freddy slams Richard with his back a number of times. Richard is finally able to get Freddy down to his knees. Richard¶s face is red, flushed, tense. Freddy¶s face is red, bloated, his eyes bursting out of his sockets. Freddy finally surrenders his bo dy to the consequences Richard has bestowed, his body slumps, hanging from the clasp of Richard¶s wire. Richard lets go, Freddy body slumps to the floor, dead. Richard holds his bend for a while, his head is lowered and he sways in discomposure. He slowly rises and stares at the corpse. We see Richard¶s hand turn the body over and reach for Freddy¶s left Jacket pocket. He retrieves a hand gun. He checks its, turns it to the left then right. Richard gets up. We follow from behind as he checks himself in the mirror. He¶s flustered. He washes his face and combs his hair back. He turns to the door and heads out. INT. PUB- MOMENTS LATER Richard¶s out the bathroom, he¶s staring straight at Jack. He passes the bar with Sarah and Greg behind it. Gael, from th e table raises his head and glances at Richard. Richard walks straight up to Jack and stands beside him. He grabs his head and slams it against the table. As the bodyguard and the Henchman arise, Richard pulls out his gun and fire a shot into the chest of the bodyguard and shot into the head of the henchman. All the while Gael has lowered his head, placing his hands over it. Sarah, who is behind the counter screams with horror. Her father and her run into the kitchen. Gael abruptly gets up out of his seat and moves out toward his left. We hear the scamper of footsteps from outside the entrance. Richard, with his gun aimed at the door, is ready to

fire. The door opens revealing another one of Jack¶s men, the DRIVER. As he reveals himself Richard fires a shot ... EXT. STREET- MOMENTS LATER The Driver falls back from the entrance onto the pavement, dead from a head shot. INT. PUB- MOMENTS LATER Richard slams Jacks head against the table once again, and as he holds him down he breaks a glass bottle over his head. Jack¶s head is held down. Gael is looking on, one or two meters from the table, in absolute horror. Richard places the gun nozzle on the back of Jacks head. Blows his brains out. blood splatters across the table. Richard glances up at Gael, aims his gun at him and shoots him in the right shoulder. Blood sprays across his jacket and face as swirls around in agony, screaming in pain. As Gael comes to, still standing, he is shot again in the left leg. He falls to the ground screaming. Blood encircles him has he moves about the floor, grimacing and screaming obscenities. Richard sits down on a chair, staring dreamily into space. He is in a state of delirium. He holds his head, shuts his eyes. All the while Gael¶s on the floor, realising that his screams are useless, he lies there, surrounded by a pool of blood, moving around in agony. He starts to laugh. Richard stands and approaches Ric hard. He clicks his jaw and mumbles to himself. R ichard crouches down beside Gael, he lifts him to his knees. Gael is kneeling before a standing Richard. Richard places the gun barrel against his forehead. GAEL What are you doing? Please Richard. What have I done to you? What have I done? God Richard, are you gonna shoot me. I¶m sorry Richard. I¶m sorry, I couldn¶t fucking help you. We¶ve known each other for as long as I

remember. You¶re my fucking friend. Why are you doing this? RICHARD I¶m gonna count to ten. And on ten, I¶m gonna pull this trigger. GAEL Jesus Christ. What the fuck are you talking about? RICHARD Are you ready Gael? GAEL God, Richard! RICHARD (All the while Richard is pleading with him) One...two...three...four... The intervals between the numbers grow longer and longer. RICHARD Five...six... Gael becomes silent. RICHARD Seven...eight...nine... BEAT Gael, eyes shut, breathing heavy. RICHARD Ten. The gun merely clicks, Gael grimaces. The cartridge is empty. As Richard pulls the gun away Gael falls to the ground. He is still breathing heavily. Richard steps back and looks around the room.

Richard laughs, a kind a nervous, skittish laugh. His laughs dies out with titters, his face turns expressionless. He holds his head and grimaces, as if he has a headache. He recovers, glances at Gael, and makes his way to the door. He turns around and glances back at Ga el. He heads out. Gael manages to crawl to the table, his back rests against its leg. Richard¶s disconcerted, in a state of delirium. He stares straight ahead, at nothing in particular. INT. PUB- NIGHT Gael¶s fantasy, quick shot of Gael, moments befor e kneeling before Richard getting shot in the head. Blood spatters everywhere. Gael falls to the ground. INT. PUB- NIGHT We¶re back to Richard sitting on the floor with an oblivious expression. We capture him for a moment, sitting there motionless. CUT TO BLACK THE END