Objects in Mirror

by

Danny Katz

DanKatz920@gmail.com
917.499.0051
INT. ANDY'S BEDROOM - DAY

ANDY COEN, 27, privileged entitled burnout, wakes up in bed,

stares at ceiling.

ANDY (V.O.)
People seem to have a tough time with
unemployment. For me, it's important
to have a routine.

He rolls off the bed, lands on the floor in push-up position.

ANDY (V.O.)
That's why I start every morning with
50 push-ups.

He does pushups, reps slow after 10.

ANDY (V.O.)
OK 30...Fine, 25.

He collapses to the floor after maybe 18 push-ups.

Back up on his feet, into his desk drawer, out with a joint
and lighter.

Tucks the doobie behind his ear, pulls up the curtains on his
window - reveals the beautiful NYC setting.

ANDY (V.O.)
I'm 15 stories up, and I won't be here
forever. My parents could kick me out
at a moments notice. So I've gotta
embrace this view while I have it.

He opens the window, hangs his torso out, lights the joint.

INT. BATHROOM 1, ANDY'S BEDROOM - MOMENTS LATER

Andy pees.

ANDY (V.O.)
Lotta advantages to living in a
doorman building.

He washes his hands, opens the mirrored cabinet over his

bathroom sink.

ANDY (V.O.)
My favorite part?
 2.

When he closes the cabinet, he has a pair of fake glasses on,

with a fake nose and fake eye brows.

ANDY (V.O.)
People feel safe, so they don't always
lock their doors.

INT. 15TH FLOOR HALLWAY, ANDY'S BUILDING - DAY

Andy meanders down the hallway with the cheap disguise on,
twists the knobs of his neighbor's front doors until he finds
one that's unlocked.

ANDY (V.O.)
And Bingo was his name-o.

INT. BATHROOM 2, NEIGHBOR'S APARTMENT - MOMENTS LATER

Andy pulls open the medicine cabinet above the bathroom sink.
He looks through the various prescription bottles.

ANDY (V.O.)
It's not enough to read the labels.

He takes a pill out, reads the symbol on it, looks it up in

his phone.

ANDY (V.O.)
A simple Google search will confirm
whether or not I'm about to get high.

INT. BATHROOM 3, NEIGHBOR'S APARTMENT - DAY

Andy pulls open yet another medicine cabinet, rifles through

the contents.

ANDY (V.O.)
One time, a few months back, I snagged
what I thought was a handful of
Vicodin from a downstairs neighbor.

Andy finds a pill that he deems satisfactory, pops it into

his mouth, chases with sink water, continues to rummage.

ANDY (V.O.)
Long story short, they were actually
estrogen tablets. My nipples were sore
for weeks.
 3.

INT. 15TH FLOOR HALLWAY, ANDY'S BUILDING - MOMENTS LATER

Andy slips out of his neighbor's apartment, continues on.

ANDY (V.O.)
Most of the neighbors on my floor are
onto me.

The other apartment's front doors are locked.

Andy ducks into the stairwell, goes down one floor.

INT. 14TH FLOOR HALLWAY, ANDY'S BUILDING - MOMENTS LATER

Andy emerges on the 14th floor, tries all of the doors.

ANDY (V.O.)
That...or I've gotten quite a few
house keepers fired for petty theft.

The first two apartments are locked, but the third...

INT. BATHROOM 4, NEIGHBOR'S APARTMENT - MOMENTS LATER

He opens the cabinet over the bathroom sink.

ANDY (V.O.)
Every now and then...

This cabinet is stocked with various prescription pill

bottles.

ANDY (V.O.)
I'll hit the freakin' jackpot.

Andy pours pills out into his palm, eats some, stuffs more
into his pockets.

ANDY (V.O.)
Can't be an idiot though.

He picks up a Tylenol bottle, pours some out into his hand.

ANDY (V.O.)
It's all about appearances.

Andy fills the prescription pill bottles with Tylenol.

ANDY (V.O.)
This isn't exactly risk free...that's
why I wear the fake glasses.
 4.

Andy closes the bathroom cabinet - he's pleased with himself.

ANDY (V.O.)
Got pinched on a nanny cam some months
back. Wound up pleading it out,
getting shipped off to rehab.

Just as he's about to exit the bathroom - the front door

opens and closes. The apartment's RESIDENTS are home.

ANDY (V.O.)
Oh shit.

He gets spastic for a moment, unsure how to proceed...calms

himself, leaps into the bathtub, lays down flat.

He listens.

FEMALE NEIGHBOR (O.S.)

If it was your mother, you wouldn't
hesitate to move her in with us.

MALE NEIGHBOR (O.S.)

My mother isn't a conniving, lying,
sociopath.

FEMALE NEIGHBOR (O.S.)

Don't be ridiculous.

MALE NEIGHBOR (O.S.)

Like we need another person living in
this tiny apartment? One more
braindead bimbo to leave all the
lights on?

The lights are on in the bathroom.

ANDY (V.O.)
Crap.

Just then - the male resident sticks his hand into the
bathroom, flicks the light off. The bathroom goes dark.

ANDY (V.O.)
As long as no one needs to take a
shower--

The female neighbor enters the bathroom, sits on toilet,

pees. Andy holds his breath the whole while. The female
neighbor gets up, holds back cries, sniffles, exits the
bathroom.
 5.

ANDY (V.O.)
Well...least I'm high.

Andy fishes his hand into his pocket, takes out one of the
stolen pills, pops it into his mouth.

He sits up, quietly as he can, turns the bathtub faucet on

ever so gently. A little drizzle comes out - enough to fill
his palm with water so he can drink down the pill.

ANDY (V.O.)
I ask myself constantly...why am I
like this? Why am I the way that I am?

He turns the faucet back off, lays down in the tub.

CUT TO BLACK.

INT. PUBLIC SCHOOL CLASSROOM - DAY

8 YEAR OLD ANDY, innocent, oblivious sits in a circle with

his CLASSMATES, two of whom wear birthday crowns.

The whole class plays a musical hand game, when Andy looks up
- someones PARENTS are here to pick them up.

The TEACHER ushers Andy's YOUNG CLASSMATE over toward her

parents, they leave.

ANOTHER SET OF PARENTS ARRIVE, take another one of Andy's

classmates away. Confusion around the room, whispers.

ANDY (V.O.)
Am I a product of my generation? Was
there one moment from my youth, that
changed everything?

ANDY'S MOM is the next to show up, Andy is ushered out.

INT. LIVING ROOM, ANDY'S GRANDFATHER'S APARTMENT - DAY

8 year old Andy plays with an action figure on the floor. His
DAD stands with his GRANDFATHER and mom, watches the TV as a
newscast of the 9/11 terrorist attack plays.

Young Andy looks up from his action figure, confused by the

horrid images he sees on the television.

ANDY (V.O.)
Eh, it's more than likely I'm not even
remembering that correctly.
 6.

INT. CAR - NIGHT

13 YEAR OLD ANDY rides in the backseat of an SUV.

Dad drives, Mom rides shotgun.

Andy is confused, angry, as his parents bicker back and

fourth - his dad unknowingly blows a red light, their car
gets T-BONED in the intersection.

The SUV tumbles, lands upside down. A horrified young Andy

dangles from his seatbelt, confused, afraid.

ANDY (V.O.)
Nah, that didn't happen either. Just
made it up. Look, I'm not a liar...I'm
just making a point.

INT. BATHROOM 4, NEIGHBOR'S APARTMENT - NIGHT

Andy wakes up, still in the tub. The screaming match is over.

ANDY (V.O.)
Let's pretend this is the first time
I've accidentally napped in a
stranger's bathtub.

He wipes the drool off his mouth, stands up, steps out of the
tub, peaks his head out the bathroom door.

INT. 14TH FLOOR HALLWAY, ANDY'S BUILDING - MOMENTS LATER

Andy sneaks out of the apartment.

ANDY (V.O.)
That was a close one.

He heads for the stairwell door.

ANDY (V.O.)
It's important to know when to call it
a day.

Andy, body halfway in the stairwell halfway in the hallway,

hesitates.

ANDY (V.O.)
Ah, shit.

He backtracks into the hall, continues to try all the knobs

on the front doors.
 7.

INT. LIVING ROOM, DREW'S APARTMENT - DAY

DREW, mid-20s, handsome, well-dressed, sits on the couch in

his nice apartment. Andy rolls up a joint.

ANDY
This is a dope crib, man.

DREW
Thanks, it was my Grandma's.

ANDY
She go down to Florida?

DREW
She died.

ANDY
Shit. I'm sorry.

DREW
It was a while ago. Both my uncles put
up a big stink about me moving in.
They're trying to sell the place.

ANDY
They making you pay rent?

DREW
Yeah, like a G a month. Which is a
great deal, don't get me wrong.

ANDY
But the place would just be sitting
here empty, otherwise?

DREW
Exactly. And it's not like either of
them need the money. One of them is a
VP at JP Morgan, and the other one's
wife has a really rich family. Like
old American money.

ANDY
Interesting.

Andy lights the joint.

ANDY (V.O.)
Except that it's not. All this guy
talks about is other people's money.
 8.

ANDY
How's work going?

DREW
It's good, you know Ray Liotta?

ANDY
From Goodfellas.

DREW
Yeah, I met him last week. Nice guy.

He passes Drew the joint.

ANDY (V.O.)
Drew manages props on film sets. Gets
to work with some pretty cool people.
All he cares about is name dropping,
though. Guy couldn't name three movies
Ray Liotta's in.

DREW
Had to fire our armory expert again.
We're onto our third now, it's low key
a mess.

ANDY
What'd he do?

DREW
He was just incompetent. Live
ammunition - which shouldn't be
anywhere near set - turned up somehow.

ANDY
Oh damn.

DREW
Yeah, plus a gun went missing. I mean,
if we were filming down in Georgia, or
like, New Mexico? That'd be one thing.
But this is New York.

ANDY
Yeah, that shit doesn't fly here.

DREW
You still living at home?

ANDY
I am.
 9.

ANDY (V.O.)
Look at that - he asked me a question
about myself.

DREW
That's nice, probably saving a lot of
money. Still doin blues?

ANDY
From time to time.

DREW
You wanna indulge?

Andy rummages through his pockets, pulls out a blue pill.

ANDY
Only got one left. We can split it, I
guess.

DREW
Hell yeah. You wanna smoke it?

ANDY
Like, freebase?

DREW
You never--

ANDY
Nahh, is it dope?

DREW
Andy, it's the dopest.

ANDY
Shit, man. Show me how.

Drew gets up, walks to the kitchen, grabs some supplies,

heads to his bedroom for more supplies, comes back to the
living room, retakes his spot on the couch.

DREW
Check it.

He puts a pair of scissors down on the coffee table, along

with a pen, some tin foil and a zippo-lighter.

Drew cuts the pen on both ends, removes the tip and the back.
He clears out the inside of the pen, spills ink everywhere.
 10.

DREW
See what I'm doing?

ANDY
Making a cylinder?

DREW
Exactly.

All that's left of the pen is the cylinder-shaped, hollowed

outer tube.

Next, Drew crushes the small blue opiate, places half of it

on a piece of tin foil.

DREW
Alright, hold this.

Andy takes the tin foil, tries hard to hold it steady and not
spill the drugs.

Drew holds the hollowed tube between his lips, uses the zippo
to heat the bottom of the tin foil.

The crushed pill evaporates, Drew inhales the vapor through

the tube.

He exhales and leans back.

DREW
And that's how you do it.

ANDY
Simple as that?

They restart the process, this time ending with Andy

freebasing the drugs.

He exhales the opiate vapor, leans back into the couch.

ANDY
Woh.

The room takes on a soft pink glow as the couch envelops him,
his worries and anxieties disappear, and his brain is bathed
in a hot spring of dopamine and serotonin.

CUT TO BLACK.
 11.

EXT. CENTRAL PARK TRANSVERSE - NIGHT

Andy walks along the sidewalk of the transverse, where cars

drive through Central Park from east-to-west, and vice versa.

ANDY (V.O.)
I'm always better off just getting
high by myself. When I'm with other
people, I tend to push my limits.

Andy's eyes are redder than the devil. He scratches his arms,
neck and back as he walks.

ANDY (V.O.)
I've had a lotta good times in this
park. Used to smoke joints here in the
morning on my way to school.

Andy sees a sketchy figure up ahead in the distance. He cuts

across the traffic to the opposite sidewalk, continues on
through the transverse.

ANDY (V.O.)
Simpler times. God, I love this city.

About to emerge from the park, he checks his watch.

ANDY (V.O.)
Too soon to head home. My parents
could still be awake. If they don't
notice my eyes, they'll definitely
smell the kush in my pocket.

Andy takes out an Altoids container, pops it open, removes a

joint.

EXT. SIDEWALKS, 5TH AVENUE - NIGHT

He's out of the park now, back on the Upper East Side. He
smokes the joint as he strolls over toward Madison Avenue.

ANDY (V.O.)
I could text some friends from the
neighborhood, no point though. People
never answer when you need them to.

He pulls a half-pint of rye whiskey from his back pocket.

ANDY (V.O.)
Hopefully Drew won't miss this...or
notice it's gone for that matter.
 12.

He unscrews the cap, takes a long swig of whiskey, chases it

with a hit from the joint, repeats the process.

ANDY (V.O.)
The opiate comedown is unmatched. The
whiskey burn brings me back to life.

The street behind Andy glows with blue light.

Then red.

Then blue again.

ANDY (V.O.)
Shit, cops!

Andy tosses the half-pint, flicks the joint to the gutter,

takes off full-sprint.

He never turns his head back to look at his pursuers, but the
flashing blue and red lights follow him for several blocks,
sirens wailing all the while.

He dashes across Park Avenue, against the light, hauls ass

until he hits Lexington.

At Lex he hangs a right, darts downtown against traffic for

two blocks, makes another right.

Andy runs halfway back toward Park Avenue, jumps over a

railing, hides at a basement-level platform amongst a
building's trash bins.

He curls up in a ball, waits.

CUT TO BLACK.

EXT. BASEMENT-LEVEL PLATFORM, BETWEEN PARK & LEX - DAY

Andy wakes up on concrete in the fetal position. A rat

scurries by - he jumps to his feet.

ANDY (V.O.)
Fucking rats. This fucking city. It's
all filth and squalor. Piles of trash,
disease-carrying rodents.

Andy checks his pockets, his phone, walks up the stairs.

 13.

EXT. SIDEWALK, BETWEEN PARK & LEX - MOMENTS LATER

He takes the last joint from his Altoids container.

He's about to spark it up when--

BETH
Andy?

BETH, blonde, late 20s, big blue eyes you could swim in,
stands ten feet away.

ANDY
Uhh, hey.

BETH
You look like shit.

ANDY
Slept with a rat last night.

BETH
I'm not sure if I hope that's a
metaphor or not.

ANDY (V.O.)
My ex.

BETH
Do you...want to come upstairs and
smoke that?

ANDY
Uhh...

ANDY (V.O.)
I shouldn't.

ANDY
Are your parents home?

BETH
They're in the Hamptons.

ANDY (V.O.)
But I will.

They walk side-by-side toward Park Avenue.

 14.

INT. LIVING ROOM, BETH'S LAVISH APARTMENT - DAY

Beth and Andy pass a joint back and fourth.

BETH
You wound up graduating on time?

ANDY
I did. Surprised?

BETH
Eh...

ANDY
Took classes every summer, otherwise I
would'a been cooked. What about you?

BETH
Yeah, graduated on time.

She wipes invisible lint off the couch, plays with the hem of
her pants.

ANDY (V.O.)
I happen to know she missed too many
credits to land that coveted business
major - wound up in general studies.
I'll keep that to myself, though.

BETH
We never talked about Jesse.

ANDY
Do we need to?

BETH
I guess not, I just--

ANDY
You know he apologized to me?

BETH
He did?

ANDY
Told me it was part of the 12 step
program...make amends and what not.

BETH
How'd it go?
 15.

ANDY
Told him he didn't owe me an apology.

BETH
Interesting.

ANDY
He told me that he felt like he did.

BETH
Do you think I owe you one?

ANDY
Would I? If I started dating one of
your friends after we broke up?

Beth looks like she's about to respond, doesn't.

ANDY
No, you don't. But could you tell me
one thing?

BETH
What?

ANDY
Why'd we break up, in the first place?

BETH
Andy, you were always high.

ANDY
So were you.

BETH
Yeah, well smoking weed all day is one
thing. But then you started in with
the pills...just like my brother.

ANDY
Yeah.

BETH
You got so irritable all the time, my
friends started hating you. And pretty
soon they started hating me too.

ANDY (V.O.)
Sounds about right. I'm the destroyer
of all things good.
 16.

BETH
And ya know, the worst part? You just
couldn't take responsibility - for
anything.

ANDY
It's a disease, Beth.

BETH
You're not wrong. But I'dno...

ANDY
What?

BETH
It was like, you'd fuck up or make me
sad, and then you wouldn't even feel
guilty. I'd be the one who felt
guilty. It was--

She takes a puff of the joint, searches for the word.

ANDY (V.O.)
Toxic.

Andy's phone rings on the coffee table, he reaches out to

press the reject-call button.

INT. LOBBY OF ANDY'S BUILDING - NIGHT

Andy presses the call button for the elevator.

It arrives, he enters.

Just then, MRS. ADDELSBURRY walks in the lobby, three bags of

groceries in each hand.

MRS. ADDELSBURRY
Hold it please, hold the elevator.

Andy turns - his eyes light up like a fiend.

ANDY
Mrs. Addelsburry, please. Let me help
you with those.

Andy holds the elevator open, takes the grocery bags from her
as she enters.
 17.

INT. SEVENTH FLOOR HALLWAY - MOMENTS LATER

Andy follows Mrs. Addelsburry off the elevator, groceries in

hand.

MRS. ADDELSBURRY
And who says chivalry is dead?

ANDY (V.O.)
I think when you reach a certain age,
your mind is reduced to speaking in
cliches.

Mrs. Addelsburry unlocks her front door, Andy follows her in.

INT. MRS. ADDELSBURRY'S APARTMENT - MOMENTS LATER

Andy places the grocery bags down on a table.

MRS. ADDELSBURRY
Thank you, dear. You know, I remember
when you were just a little trouble
maker. You've become a polite young
man, your parents must be proud.

ANDY
Oh I don't know about that. Would you
mind if I just used your bathroom
quickly before I leave?

MRS. ADDELSBURRY
Of course not, right through that door
there.

INT. MRS. ADDELSBURRY'S BATHROOM - MOMENTS LATER

Andy rifles through her medicine cabinet - she's got an

assortment of prescription pill bottles.

ANDY (V.O.)
Never been in Mrs. Addelsburry's crib
before. Had a feeling she'd be well
stocked, old folks usually are.

Andy pockets a handful of pills.

EXT. SEVENTH FLOOR HALLWAY - NIGHT

Andy exits Mrs. Addelsburry's apartment. He meanders down the

hall, checks to see if any of the other front doors are
unlocked.
 18.

ANDY (V.O.)
Seventh floor. Haven't been down here
since before rehab.

Andy finds an open apartment.

ANDY (V.O.)
Feels like ages ago.

He peaks his head in the front door, looks around, enters.

INT. BATHROOM 5, NEIGHBOR'S APARTMENT - MOMENTS LATER

He goes through the neighbor's medicine cabinet.

ANDY (V.O.)
What I'd do to have a cool ass job,
like Drews. I was somehow born to the
only parents on the Upper East Side
with zero connections in life.

Andy exits the bathroom.

INT. BATHROOM 6, NEIGHBOR'S APARTMENT - MOMENTS LATER

He enters the next bathroom, opens the medicine cabinet.

ANDY (V.O.)
Jeez, these guys really got nothing.
Talk about some Plain Janes.

INT. SEVENTH FLOOR HALLWAY - MOMENTS LATER

Andy continues trying to open all of the front doors.

ANDY (V.O.)
Used to work for a publicist. Found
the job listing on Craigs List...I
know, I know - red flag.

Andy finds an unlocked apartment, slips in.

INT. NEIGHBOR'S APARTMENT - MOMENTS LATER

Andy sneaks around a dark apartment, looks for the bathroom.

ANDY (V.O.)
Guy was a monster. Old, racist,
elitist buffoon. Used to send me for
coffee with his credit card. He'd say,
how bout you get us a couple coffees.
 19.

He opens a door - it leads to a coat closet.

ANDY (V.O.)
Then one day while going over his bank
records online, he said to me - you
know when I send you for coffee, you
should be paying for your own, right?

He finds the bathroom, enters.

INT. BATHROOM 7, NEIGHBOR'S APARTMENT - MOMENTS LATER

Andy opens the medicine cabinet, finds three prescription

pill bottles lined up neatly.

ANDY (V.O.)
I blocked his phone number when I got
out of rehab. It's important to filter
out negative people from your life.

He reads the label on each one.

ANDY (V.O.)
Couple perc-tens, couple Xanax, couple
Vicodin. Not exactly a jackpot, but
it'll do.

Andy pops a pill, pockets the rest, sneaks out.

INT. SEVENTH FLOOR HALLWAY - MOMENTS LATER

Andy exits the apartment.

ANDY (V.O.)
I should head home, hide the
loot...maybe just one more apartment.

Andy tries another doorknob - locked. He moves down one

apartment - also locked. He slides down to the last apartment
in the hallway - this one's open. He enters.

INT. APARTMENT 'M', SEVENTH FLOOR - MOMENTS LATER

Andy slips in through the open front door. The lights are
off. He walks around, checks each door for the bathroom.

ANDY (V.O.)
I should come down to the seventh
floor more often. These people know
where the party's at--
 20.

Andy pops his head into a door he hopes leads to the

bathroom. What he finds instead is a dark bedroom...

And a chain running along the floor...

And the slender, delicate foot of a woman, on the other end

of said chain.

ANDY (V.O.)
Holy mother-fucking shit!

FAINT SOBS can be heard.

ANDY (V.O.)
Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit. Jesus
fucking Christ.

Andy backs out of the room, practically leaps to the front

door of the apartment.

INT. DINNER TABLE, ANDY'S HOME - NIGHT

Mom mixes herself a cocktail, Dad inhales his food. Jeopardy

plays on the television, but Andy hears nothing, lost in his
thoughts, consumed by his inner-monologue.

ANDY (V.O.)
What in the fuck did I just see?

He pushes chicken and pasta around his plate.

ANDY (V.O.)
That couldn't have been what it looked
like--could it?

He spins his fork with his fingertips.

ANDY (V.O.)
An optical illusion. It must've been
an optical illusion. Just, funny
shadows--

DAD
What is medulla oblongata?

The TV confirms Dad's answer, cuts to commercial break.

MOM
Your brother's off tomorrow, he's
coming to see us. Maybe he can help
you try and look for a job.
 21.

ANDY
Maybe.

MOM
There's plenty of jobs you don't have
to be that smart to do.

ANDY
Thanks, mom.

MOM
Even your sister started driving an
ambulance.

DAD
Hah - he barely passed his driver's
test. Took him three tries. How's he
gonna drive an ambulance?

MOM
He doesn't have to drive an ambulance,
but he has to do something.

Andy stares down at his plate of food.

MOM
I'm not going to keep making you
dinner, if you're not going to eat it.

Andy forces down a bite of chicken.

DAD
You mean reheating.

MOM
What was that?

DAD
You mean, you're not going to keep
reheating food from Citarella, if he's
not going to eat it.

MOM
Oh, you're both too good for
Citarella's chicken parm now?

DAD
Not at all, but accuracy is important.

Mom powers through the rest of her cocktail, gets up, leaves.
 22.

ANDY (V.O.)
Maybe she was just laying there. And
you didn't really see what you thought
you saw.

Jeopardy comes back on.

ANDY (V.O.)
No, that was a fucking chain. She had
a chain around her foot. Fuck. What do
I do? Should I tell someone? I should
tell someone.

ANDY
Dad, I--

DAD
Hush, fuck. I couldn't hear the
fucking answer, Andy. Damnit.

Andy slumps into his chair.

ANDY (V.O.)
My older brother's visiting tomorrow.
He'll know what to do.

INT. ANDY'S BEDROOM - DAY

Andy enters his bedroom.

JAY, early 30s, sits at the computer.

ANDY
Hey brotha man.

JAY
Andy! What's good?

ANDY
Not a whole lot.

They dap into a bro-hug.

JAY
Staying out of trouble?

ANDY
More or less. You just get here?

JAY
Few minutes ago.
 23.

ANDY
So, what's up? You just have a break
from med school or something?

JAY
Yeah, between rotations.

ANDY
What's next?

JAY
Family medicine.

ANDY
Sounds boring.

JAY
Yeah, probably will be. Especially
compared to the last one. I got to
scrub-in on a few brain surgeries.

ANDY
Holy shit. They actually let you near
someone's brain?

JAY
Yeah, it's pretty wild.

ANDY
That's insane.

JAY
'Tis. Anywhoo, I brought us back a
little gift from the supply closet.

ANDY
You did not.

JAY
Check it.

Jay pulls a small vile out of his backpack, tosses it to

Andy. The label reads: MORPHINE.

ANDY
No fucking way.

JAY
Am I the best big brother that ever
existed?
 24.

ANDY
Ever, ever, ever, ever, ever...

JAY
You wanna roll a blunt and we'll go up
to the roof?

EXT. ROOF OF ANDY'S BUILDING - AFTERNOON

Andy and Jay are perched on a ledge.

Jay unscrews the vile of morphine, shoots some into his mouth
with a dropper, hands it off to Andy who does the same.

ANDY
Cheers.

Andy sparks the blunt.

JAY
Cheers. Ya know, I don't really get
fucked up much anymore. This is nice.

ANDY
How come? Too busy?

JAY
Yeah, just trying to absorb so much
information. Really need all my
faculties. Last week, when I was
scrubbed-in on this brain surgery. I
was like, holding this sort of, hose
thing. They use it to suck up blood
during procedures.

ANDY
Damn.

JAY
And we've got this guys skull cut
open, the surgeon is operating on his
brain. And I'm standing next to him,
just sucking up the blood whenever he
tells me to. And I started moving the
hose just a little bit too far - the
surgeon freaked out like, "Woh, woh,
woh, woh, hold it!"

ANDY
No way.
 25.

JAY
Yeah. He stopped me before I did any
damage and was like, "In the brain,
you never put instruments where you
can't see." It was pretty intense.

ANDY
That is so intense.

Andy passes the blunt to Jay.

ANDY (V.O.)
I'm not gonna tell him about the girl
I found. If it even was a girl. I
can't explain it right. And even if I
could, I'm not sure I feel like it.

JAY
Might catch up with some of my high
school pals later. You wanna come?

ANDY
Nah, think I'm gonna go see my weed
man.

Their movements slow dramatically as the morphine kicks in.

The sky becomes more colorful, birds chirp with more rhythm.

ANDY
Shit, morphine is tight.

JAY
It's probably my favorite. You been in
control of your habits, lately?

Jay passes the blunt back.

ANDY
Yeah, I have.

ANDY (V.O.)
I'm a lying piece of shit sometimes.

INT. SEVENTH FLOOR STAIRWELL - NIGHT

Andy stands in the stairwell, stares at the 7th floor sign.

ANDY (V.O.)
I don't even remember walking down
here. I chilled with Jay, I showered,
I blinked - now I'm here.
 26.

He pulls open the door, enters the seventh floor hallway.

INT. SEVENTH FLOOR HALLWAY - MOMENTS LATER

Andy meanders down the hall, heads toward apartment 'M'.

ANDY (V.O.)
I guess I just...have to know.

Andy tries to twist the doorknob - it's locked.

ANDY (V.O.)
Shit. Didn't see this coming.

He looks at the door, disappointed.

He turns, enters the stairwell, stops as he hears the door to

apartment 'M' open. He hides in the stairwell, waits until he
hears the sound of the elevator arrive, then depart.

ANDY (V.O.)
Now's my chance.

He darts back to the front door of apartment 'M', tries the

knob again - it's open now. He enters.

INT. APARTMENT 'M' - MOMENTS LATER

Andy quietly makes his way through the apartment.

ANDY (V.O.)
Strange feeling. Usually when I do
this sort of thing, I'm looking for
pills, not people.

He enters the bedroom.

INT. BEDROOM, APARTMENT 'M' - MOMENTS LATER

Sure enough, a young woman sits on the floor, ankle chained

to the radiator.

LILY, mid 30s, curled up in a ball, leans back against her

bed frame. She looks more bored than scared.

Andy stands in the doorway, doesn't make a peep. Lily plays

with her toes, picks out the toe cheese.

ANDY (V.O.)
Should I...Is it too late to turn
back? She hasn't noticed me y--
 27.

LILY
Woh - who the fuck are you?

ANDY (V.O.)
Fuck.

ANDY
Uh--Andy, I'm Andy.

LILY
OK?

ANDY
Do you...

LILY
Wanna know what the fuck you're doing
in my apartment?

ANDY
This-this is your apartment?

LILY
Well it definitely isn't yours.

ANDY
And that guy I saw leave?

LILY
Steve?

ANDY
Steve.

ANDY (V.O.)
I'm not sure how I thought this would
go. Not like this.

LILY
You didn't answer my question.

ANDY
Uhh...

ANDY (V.O.)
Shit, what was her question again?

LILY
What are you doing here?
 28.

ANDY (V.O.)
Right.

ANDY
I thought maybe--do you need help?

LILY
Do you?

ANDY
Uh-I-I-guess, probably. But...I'm not
the one chained to a radiator.

LILY
But, you are the one breaking and
entering.

ANDY
True. Do you want me to--

LILY
You can sit down, if you'd like.

Andy looks over the bedroom, confused.

He sits down on the floor, a few feet from Lily.

ANDY
I'm Andy. I live upstairs.

LILY
Lily.

ANDY
Can I ask--

LILY
I'm really not in the mood to answer
questions right now.

ANDY
Fair enough.

LILY
You can tell me about yourself, if you
want.

ANDY
Wh-what do you wanna know?
 29.

LILY
For starters - have you been here
before?

ANDY
It's possible.

LILY
You stole some pills out of our
medicine cabinet?

ANDY (V.O.)
Shit, maybe I've been to the seventh
floor more recently than I remember.

Andy nods.

LILY
Makes sense.

ANDY
Does it?

LILY
Steve thought I took them all. They
were left over from his knee surgery a
while back.

ANDY
Is that why you're--

LILY
Didn't I say I wasn't in the mood to
answer questions?

ANDY
You did, you did, you did. I'm sorry.

LILY
So, are you like a junkie? Or what?

ANDY
Uh-I...Wow, I'dno that word seems--

LILY
Harsh?

ANDY
Just, when I think about junkies, I
think about like vagrants with track
marks running down their arms.
 30.

LILY
And what, you don't use needles?

ANDY
No. No needles. Although...

LILY
What?

ANDY
I mean, I did freebase a Roxie the
other night. That's pretty junky-like.

LILY
Probably is, cause I don't even know
what that means.

ANDY
It's not important.

LILY
You steal from all our neighbors?

ANDY
Yeah, but just pills. Not like jewelry
or anything.

LILY
You don't need to get defensive, I'm
just curious.

ANDY
I guess I like, get this feeling.

LILY
What sort of feeling?

ANDY
It's like, anxiety? But it pushes me
to do things that I wouldn't,
otherwise.

LILY
Interesting. I went through a brief
pothead phase in high school, but--

ANDY
You wanna smoke?

LILY
You have weed?
 31.

Andy takes a joint out from his Altoids container.

ANDY
Shall we?

LILY
Why not.

ANDY
Cool if we just spark up right here?
Steve won't mind?

LILY
What's he going to do? Chain me to the
radiator?

Andy lets out a chuckle.

ANDY (V.O.)
Shit, maybe I shouldn't have laughed.

The grin on his face evaporates into discomfort.

LILY
It's OK. I also laugh when I'm
uncomfortable.

Andy lights the joint up, they pass it back and fourth, ash
into the Altoids container.

ANDY
How long have you lived in the
building?

LILY
Like, two and a half years now.

ANDY
Oh wow, don't think I've--Uhh.

He cuts himself off.

LILY
I haven't been trapped in this room
the whole time, if that's what you're
thinking.

ANDY
This is probably the strangest
conversation I've ever had.
 32.

LILY
Glad I could play my part.

ANDY
How old are you?

LILY
Don't you know you're never supposed
to ask a Lady her age?

ANDY
Oh-uh, I'm sorry. I--

LILY
Relax, I'm yanking your chain.

She tugs on the chain.

LILY
How old are you?

ANDY
I'm 26.

LILY
Really? You look older.

ANDY
Well I feel like a child.

LILY
You live with your parents?

ANDY
I do. They aren't around much, though.

LILY
Well, that's good.

ANDY
You think so?

LILY
I guess it depends.

Andy ashes the joint.

A brief silence ensues.

ANDY
Steve gonna get back soon?
 33.

LILY
Probably. And you definitely shouldn't
be here when he does.

Andy puts the joint out in the Altoids container.

He drops it inside, pockets the container, stands up to

leave, looks down at Lilly, tries to find the right words to
say...

It's useless.

LILY
This was nice.

Andy tries to smile at her, a look of pity is all he can

muster.

He turns, catches a glimpse of a framed photo of Lily and her

fiancé as he walks out.

INT. LIVING ROOM, DREW'S APARTMENT - DAY

Andy crushes pills against Drew's coffee table.

DREW
What do you mean, chained to the
radiator?

ANDY
Like, full on, imprisoned in her own
home, chained to a radiator.

DREW
How high were you? Maybe your eyes
were playing tricks.

Andy carves the crushed pills into neat lines.

ANDY
That's what I thought - you gotta
bill? So I went back to find out.

Drew takes a hundred dollar bill from his wallet, rolls it up

into a cylinder, hands it off to Andy.

Andy uses it to snort up a line of the crushed opiate.

DREW
And?
 34.

ANDY
And there she was, sitting on the
floor, picking her toes, not at all
bothered about the fact that she was
chained to a mother-fucking radiator.

DREW
What'd she say?

ANDY
She invited me to sit down.

Andy hands the bill back to Drew, who snorts a line.

ANDY
We had a pretty lovely chat, actually.

DREW
Bro, that's so fucked up. Are you
gonna call the police?

ANDY
I don't think so. I mean, I asked if
she needed help.

DREW
What'd she say?

ANDY
Well, she sort of seemed insulted. And
then she asked if I needed help.

DREW
Andy, maybe you should stay outta
other people's apartments, man.

ANDY
Yeah well, we'll see if you change
your tune once my stash of blues dry
up.

DREW
I'll make some calls, try and find us
a connect. How hard could it be to
find opiates in New York City?

Andy snorts another line.

DREW
You're gonna go back there?
 35.

ANDY
Most likely.

DREW
Dude, what? Why?

ANDY
I can't explain it. I just need to
talk to her again.

DREW
Honestly, who knows? Maybe this is the
beginning of a beautiful, demented
love story.

INT. 7TH FLOOR HALLWAY, ANDY'S BUILDING - DAY

Andy stands outside Apartment M. The lightbulb at the end of

the hallway flickers.

He stares down at the doorknob, reaches out, stops himself.

ANDY (V.O.)
Shit.

The hallway light flickers off.

ANDY (V.O.)
What am I doing?

The light flickers back on.

ANDY (V.O.)
Oh, crap!

STEVE, mid-30s, lanky build, hipster beard - the man from the
framed photo in Lily's bedroom - comes walking up the hall,
eyes buried in his phone, oblivious to Andy's presence
outside his front door.

Andy dances around, unsure where to go, what to do.

Steve swipes away at his smartphone, still oblivious to

Andy's presence.

Andy twists the door knob, slips into Lily's apartment RIGHT
BEFORE STEVE LOOKS UP.

Steve turns his head on an angle, arches an eyebrow...shrugs.

 36.

INT. ENTRANCE, APARTMENT 'M' - MOMENTS LATER

Andy closes the front door gently, stutter-steps--where to

go? WHERE TO GO?

The knob of the front door twists, he's out of time!

A second before Steve enters the apartment, Andy slips into

the coat closet.

INT. COAT CLOSET, APARTMENT 'M' - MOMENTS LATER

Andy watches through the slats of the closet door as Steve

enters.

He holds his breath as Steve takes his coat off.

ANDY (V.O.)
Please don't hang that up, please
don't hang that up, please be a lazy
piece of shit...

INT. ENTRANCE, APARTMENT 'M' - SAME TIME

Steve takes his coat off, tosses it onto a chair in the

corner.

It slides off the chair to the floor.

ANDY (V.O.) (O.S.)

Oh, thank God he's a lazy piece of
shit.

Steve walks into the bedroom.

INT. COAT CLOSET, APARTMENT 'M' - SAME TIME

Andy hears the CHAIN RATTLE, then a CLICK...Lily's been

freed, temporarily at least.

Andy watches through the slats of the coat closet door as she
exits her bedroom, Steve hot on her trail.

STEVE
Just give it some more time, you'll
see.

LILY
You're not even trying to have a real
conversation. You're so stubborn.
 37.

INT. KITCHEN, APARTMENT 'M' - SAME TIME

They enter the kitchen, Lily pulls open the fridge, finds
nothing she wants. She turns--Steve's right behind her.

He touches both hands to Lily's belly.

She swats his hands away.

STEVE
I'm the stubborn one? We've got this
gift, this beautiful--

LILY
Not we. I've got this...thing. And it
doesn't feel like a gift.

STEVE
You just need to give it more time.

LILY
I know what you're doing.

STEVE
What am I doing?

Lily cries.

STEVE
Seriously? What am I doing, Lily? I'm
not doing anything. Am I loving you
too much?

He grabs her by the arm, steers her into the bedroom.

The CHAIN RATTLES...a SNAP and a CLICK.

He reappears a moment later, alone.

STEVE
You'll see, Lily. This is for your own
good. You just have to trust me.
You'll see.

He puts on his coat, grabs his keys.

STEVE
You know I'm only doing this because I
love you.

He leaves the apartment.

 38.

INT. COAT CLOSET, APARTMENT 'M' - SAME TIME

Andy watches Steve pick his coat up off the floor, put it on.

ANDY (V.O.)
He's leaving.

Steve exits the apartment.

INT. 14TH FLOOR HALLWAY, ANDY'S BUILDING - MOMENTS LATER

Andy pops his head out the door of apartment M.

Steve's turned the corner, waits for the elevator.

Andy bolts for the staircase.

INT. STAIRWELL, ANDY'S BUILDING - MOMENTS LATER

Andy sprints down the stairs like a rabid dog is chasing

after him.

ANDY (V.O.)
Run Andy, run. Don't lose him!

EXT. SIDEWALK - MOMENTS LATER

Andy follows Steve from one hundred feet back.

ANDY (V.O.)
Shit, what am I doing? Am I following
him?

Steve stops, puts his foot up on a streetlamp, ties his shoe.

Andy halts in place, turns around, tries to act natural -

fails.

Steve continues on.

ANDY (V.O.)
Fuck, I'm following him.

Andy strolls down the block, watches as Steve hands a few

dollars to a HOMELESS MAN on the corner.

ANDY (V.O.)
Always wondered what type of person
actually gives money to the homeless.

Steve heads down the steps of the subway.

 39.

INT. SUBWAY - MOMENTS LATER

Andy walks down the stairs, heads toward the platform.

ANDY (V.O.)
Abuse your fiancé, tie her to the
radiator. Then cleanse your soul with
a small donation to your local
vagrant.

Steve waits on the platform.

Andy swipes his metro card, hides behind a beam a few feet
away.

ANDY (V.O.)
The hypocrisy...I oughtta shove this
guy onto the tracks.

Light and sound from an oncoming train...

ANDY (V.O.)
Shit, maybe that's it. I shove him
down onto the tracks. Free Lily.

The train gets closer.

Andy looks around, studies the platform.

ANDY (V.O.)
No one'll even notice. Goodbye Steve.
I'd be a hero.

Andy loops around the platform, approaches Steve from behind.

The train is almost at the station.

ANDY (V.O.)
Just do it, Andy. Just shove him. Two
hands. Shove him and run, be a hero.
Do it for Lily--

The train arrives at the platform.

ANDY (V.O.)
Shit.

Steve walks on.

Andy hesitates.
 40.

INT. DOWNTOWN 5 TRAIN - MOMENTS LATER

Steve claims an open seat.

Just before the doors close, Andy jumps aboard.

ANDY (V.O.)
Like always, you missed your
opportunity.

Andy walks to the opposite end of the train-car, studies

Steve from the distance.

ANDY (V.O.)
Not like I was going to kill him,
anyway. I don't have it in me. There's
gotta be something else I can do. For
Lily. To save her. She needs me.

The train comes to a halt, the doors open, Steve walks off.

EXT. SIDEWALK, CHINATOWN - NIGHT

Andy follows Steve into Chinatown.

A vibrant neighborhood, densely packed. Narrow sidewalks

lined with souvenir shops, bubble tea stores, markets,
tourists, foodies.

ANDY (V.O.)
Maybe this is a waste of time. Maybe
this asshole is just here for some
dumplings. Maybe I should mind my own
fucking business.

Steve turns right onto Pell Street between Bowery & Mott.

ANDY (V.O.)
Maybe he'll bring some takeout home
for Lily. Feed her dumplings while
she's chained to the radiator. Wait...

Steve approaches a HOODED MAN, 50s, green rain coat, smokes a

cigarette, leans up against the restaurant Shanghai 21.

ANDY (V.O.)
Fuck, I'm too close to stop now. Just
keep going.

Andy walks right passed Steve and the Hooded Man.

 41.

Ten feet away, he stops, bends down, pretends to tie his

shoe, studies Steve and the Hooded Man.

HOODED MAN
Finally.

STEVE
I'm sorry for the delay.

HOODED MAN
This is not professional. Not how I do
things. I have important clients.

STEVE
Look--

HOODED MAN
Wait.

They both look over at Andy, who feels their stares without
acknowledging them.

He finishes pretending to tie his shoe, stands up, walks off.

ANDY (V.O.)
Fuck - I blew it.

INT. UPTOWN 5 TRAIN - NIGHT

Andy's seated.

His eyes betray his racing mind.

ANDY (V.O.)
Fuck, fuck, fuck. I blew it.

INT. ANDY'S BEDROOM - NIGHT

Andy bursts into his room.

ANDY (V.O.)
He said something about, important
clients.

Andy walks into his bathroom, emerges moments later,

disguised in his fake glasses.

ANDY (V.O.)
Who was that hooded man in the green
rain coat?
 42.

INT. 15TH FLOOR HALLWAY, ANDY'S BUILDING - MOMENTS LATER

Andy heads for the stairs.

ANDY (V.O.)
What type of clients? And what's that
got to do with Lily?

INT. BATHROOM 8, NEIGHBOR'S APARTMENT - NIGHT

Andy goes through a neighbor's medicine cabinet.

ANDY (V.O.)
God damnit.

He doesn't find what he's looking for.

INT. BATHROOM 9, NEIGHBOR'S APARTMENT - NIGHT

Andy flies into another neighbor's bathroom, tears through

the medicine cabinet, comes up empty.

ANDY (V.O.)
Jesus Christ, is indigestion all
anyone suffers from anymore?

INT. BATHROOM 10, NEIGHBOR'S APARTMENT - NIGHT

Andy reads the labels of several pill bottles.

ANDY (V.O.)
I'm supposed to believe, there's not
one anxiety disorder on the whole
fucking twelfth floor?

Andy puts the pill bottles back into the medicine cabinet.

ANDY (V.O.)
Not one left over pain pill from a
wisdom tooth procedure?

He stares at himself in the mirror.

ANDY (V.O.)
Goofy fucking glasses. Grow up,
asshole. Grow up, grow up, grow up.

Andy punches the mirrored medicine cabinet - weak punch, it

doesn't break. He grimaces, in pain.
 43.

INT. STAIRWELL, ANDY'S BUILDING - NIGHT

Slumped shoulders, Andy walks up the stairs.

ANDY (V.O.)
Fuck, fuck, fuck.

He stops, turns.

ANDY (V.O.)
I know a place that might have some
pills for me.

He heads down stairs.

ANDY (V.O.)
Or a person, rather.

INT. SEVENTH FLOOR HALLWAY - MOMENTS LATER

Andy emerges on the 7th floor, heads for apartment M.

ANDY (V.O.)
There's no way Steve's home yet.

He reaches for the doorknob, twists...

ANDY (V.O.)
Is there?

INT. BEDROOM, APARTMENT 'M' - MOMENTS LATER

Andy stands in the doorway.

Lily, chained to the radiator, sits on the floor, writes in

her journal.

ANDY
Ya know, he could at least give you
enough slack to sit on the bed.

If she's startled by his presence, she doesn't let on.

She doesn't look up at him, just keeps writing.

LILY
There's enough slack if I hang my foot
off the bed.

ANDY
So why sit on the floor, than?
 44.

LILY
Sitting on the bed with a chain around
my ankle makes me feel like a Disney
Princess.

ANDY
Some fairytale...

LILY
Don't get any ideas. I don't need a
Prince Charming to save me.

ANDY
Could've fooled me.

LILY
Trust me. At the end of this story,
I'm going to walk right out the of
this room, right out of this
apartment, never look back.

ANDY
Don't get me wrong...

She finally looks up at him, her glare could pierce steel.

ANDY (CONTINUED)
Endings are great and all. But it's
all the stuff in the middle that makes
the story what it is.

LILY
Ah, I see.

ANDY
What?

LILY
You're one of those - it's about the
journey, not the destination types.

ANDY
That's right, you got me. I'm a
walking cliche.

LILY
What are you doing here, Andy?

ANDY
Uh--what do you mean?
 45.

LILY
I mean, you know Steve could be back
any minute. What do you want from me?

ANDY (V.O.)
Don't ask her for pills. It's not the
right time.

ANDY
I thought you and I were building
rapport.

She rolls her eyes, tosses her journal on the bed.

LILY
You're funny, I'll give you that.

ANDY
I followed Steve.

LILY
What? To where?

ANDY
Chinatown.

LILY
No, I mean - why?

ANDY
He's got you chained to the radiator,
Lily--

LILY
You don't know anything about what's
going on here.

ANDY
Enlighten me. Please.

Cold stares.

And silence...

ANDY
He met some guy. It looked...sketchy.
They talked about a clientele.

LILY
Like what every business that has ever
existed needs in order to operate?
 46.

ANDY
Does your fiancé run a business?

LILY
No--

ANDY
See!

LILY
See what, Andy?

ANDY
Connect the dots.

LILY
Ruling out random tidbits of
information isn't fact-finding. Are
you high?

ANDY
No.

LILY
I don't believe you. Either way,
you're a shitty amateur detective.

ANDY
Hey.

LILY
What?

ANDY
I'm trying to help you.

LILY
I'm pretty sure I made it totally
fucking clear already - but I do not
want, or need, your help.

Andy opens his mouth to respond - he's got nothing.

Eventually...

ANDY
Sorry I bothered you.

He turns and leaves - it's her mouth that opens but says
nothing this time.
 47.

INT. DOWNTOWN 5 TRAIN - NIGHT

Andy's back on the subway.

In a trance.

Man on a mission.

ANDY (V.O.)
I'll show her. She'll be grateful.

EXT. SIDEWALK, CHINATOWN - NIGHT

Andy follows the same path from earlier, navigates the

crowded sidewalks, the souvenir stores, the bubble tea shops,
the markets, the tourists.

Hangs a right on Pell Street, between Bowery and Mott.

ANDY (V.O.)
She'll thank me.

EXT. SHANGHAI 21 RESTAURANT - NIGHT

Andy looks up at the restaurant.

ANDY (V.O.)
Where are you?

He scans the nearby area for the Hooded Man, looks through
the restaurant's large front window, can't find him.

His eyes light up - the Hooded Man struts up the sidewalk,

approaches the restaurant.

ANDY (V.O.)
I got you motherfucker.

The Hooded Man enters Shanghai 21, Andy follows him in.

INT. SHANGHAI 21 RESTAURANT - MOMENTS LATER

The Hooded Man maneuvers through a line of FOODIES waiting

impatiently to be seated.

Andy stops, watches. The Hooded Man walks to the back of the
restaurant, heads down a dark staircase. Andy makes his move,
instantly stopped by the HOSTESS.

HOSTESS
You make reservation?
 48.

ANDY
I already put my name down, I'm just
going to use the bathroom.

The Hostess checks her list, like she's validating his claim
- it's too late, he's already on the move.

Andy fakes for the bathroom, peeks over his shoulder--the

Hostess is distracted, he dances down the dark staircase.

INT. BASEMENT, SHANGAHI 21 RESTAURANT - MOMENTS LATER

Dark, damp basement. A single ceiling lamp hangs down, barely

illuminates the faces of MEN sitting at a large round table.

It's a poker game, 2-card Texas Hold'em.

Diverse group, the dealer's Chinese, as are a couple of

players, a few older white guys, a few younger black guys.

Everyone looks up at Andy when he gets to the base of the

staircase. Their stares linger for what feels like an
eternity...

They all return their attentions to the game.

A WAITRESS approaches Andy, offers him a cocktail from a tray

she holds.

WAITRESS
Table is full. Have to wait for an
opening.

ANDY
Okay, that's fine.

He takes a fancy-looking cocktail from the drink tray, sips

it. The waitress brings the rest of the drinks to the players
of the card game.

Andy meanders further into the basement, finds a bar at the

edge of the room, takes a seat on a stool, watches the game.

ANDY (V.O.)
Where's the Hooded Man?

Smoke hits Andy in the eyes. It burns, he tries to tough it

out, blink it off.

He turns to find the source of the smoke, sees the Hooded Man
standing behind the bar, puffing a cigarette, sizing Andy up.
 49.

HOODED MAN
You look familiar.

ANDY (V.O.)
Say something clever.

ANDY
I would hope so.

The Hooded Man digs around behind the bar, comes up with a
bottle of Everclear and two shot glasses. He pours two shots,
hands one to Andy.

Andy tries to cheers with the man, but he tosses back the
shot too quickly. Andy follows suit.

ANDY (V.O.)
Jesus Christ that burns.

ANDY
Bathroom's back this way?

The hooded man nods.

Andy meanders down a dark hallway, at the end of which he

finds two open doors.

To his right, the shabbiest of shabby bathrooms. Cockroaches

can be heard crawling along the piss-soaked tile.

To his left, a room completely devoid of light.

He goes left.

INT. DARK ROOM, BASEMENT OF SHANGHAI 21 - MOMENTS LATER

Just boxes and tables and darkness.

Then a tiny beam of illumination as Andy activates the

flashlight on his smartphone.

He shines light on the boxes, rummages through them.

Watches for days. Handbags. Sunglasses. Nike sneakers.

ANDY (V.O.)
Counterfeit goods. How does this
connect back to Steve?

ANDY IS GRABBED FROM BEHIND--

 50.

INT. BASEMENT, SHANGAHI 21 RESTAURANT - MOMENTS LATER

The card room has been cleared out. Andy is thrown atop the
poker table.

The hooded man stands before him, hands on hips.

TWO MEN dressed as WAITERS pin Andy to the poker table by his
arms, a THIRD fishes the wallet out of Andy's back pocket,
hands it to the hooded man.

They speak Chinese.

Andy's chest rises and falls with panic.

The hooded man takes Andy's driver's license out, studies it.

More Chinese, then--

HOODED MAN
Who sent you?

ANDY
What? No one, I--

One of the Waiters slaps Andy across the face.

HOODED MAN
You're police?

ANDY
No!

Another slap.

ANDY
I'm not police, I swear I'm not!

HOODED MAN
Then who? Federal?

Light shines down the basement stairs, as someone up in the

restaurant opens the door and yells down in an indiscernible
dialect, captures the hooded man's attention--

Andy reaches out for salvation, for anything...his right hand

finds a beer bottle. He swings it across his chest, breaks it
against the face of one of the waiters pinning him down.

He rolls off the table, kicks a chair toward the hooded man,
sprints up the stairs toward the restaurant's main level.
 51.

EXT. CHINATOWN - NIGHT

Andy bursts out the front door of the restaurant, sprints up

the block, knocks over some tourists, b-lines across the
street, puts several blocks between himself and Shanghai 21.

ANDY (V.O.)
Jesus Christ, Jesus Christ, Jesus
Christ. What did I stumble onto? This
is bigger than I ever imagined.

BUZZING...his cell.

He digs it out of his pocket. DREW'S CALLING. He answers.

ANDY (ON PHONE)

Hello?

DREW (O.S.)
Yo Andy, that connect I was telling
you about came through. I got blues.

ANDY (V.O.)
Perfect timing.

ANDY (ON PHONE)

I'm on my way.

He hangs up.

INT. LIVING ROOM, DREW'S APARTMENT - NIGHT

Drew sits in his living room, rolls a joint.

A KNOCK AT THE DOOR.

DREW
It's open.

Andy enters.

ANDY
Hey player.

DREW
Great timing. You got a lighter?

Andy takes a pack of matches out of his wallet, hands them to

Drew who fires up the joint.
 52.

ANDY
These them?

Andy lifts a doggy bag of pills off the table.

DREW
Yeah, they don't look like the ones
you usually get, so figured I'd wait
for you to check 'em out.

Andy unties the bag, pours the pills out onto the table.

ANDY
Shit.

DREW
What?

Andy sorts through them, studies each pill.

ANDY
Fuck.

DREW
What?

Andy lifts one up, studies it in the light. Shows it to Drew.

DREW
Dude...

ANDY
Pressed.

DREW
Pressed?

ANDY
As in, not pharma-grade. Like, some
dealer got a shipment of powder,
probably from China or Mexico, and
pressed these into pills himself.

DREW
What's that mean? Not as high quality?

ANDY
Maybe. Could mean a lot of things.

DREW
So, what are you thinking?
 53.

ANDY
I'm thinking, we won't know 'til we
find out...

Andy lifts Drew's weed grinder, slams it down onto one of the
pressed pills, crushes it to powder.

DREW
You look terrible, dude. Why's your
face so red?

Drew hands Andy a credit card, rolls a hundred dollar bill

into a cylinder.

ANDY
You will not believe what I got into
tonight. Do the honors?

Andy carves the crushed pill into four neat lines. Drew hands
Andy the joint, snorts a line of the crushed opiate.

DREW
Ahh, that burns something fierce.

Drew leans back, takes a deep breath.

ANDY
So...what do you think?

DREW
Idon'tknow, hardtotell.

Andy puffs the joint like he may never see it again, hands it
over to Drew, takes the rolled up c-note, snorts one of the
little lines of crushed opiate...

ANDY (V.O.)
Ah, that nasally burn I like. How my
gentile friends must feel on Christmas
morning - oh shit, what is that?

The room takes on a pink glow.

Andy takes the joint back from Drew, puffs away.

ANDY (V.O.)
A hint of...something unfamiliar.

Andy exhales smoke as the room turns upside down. He leans

back into the couch, which has taken on the consistency of
water.
 54.

Or is it outer-space he now floats through?

ANDY (V.O.)
Oh shit, I need to...try and stand.

Andy digs deep, plants his feet, pushes up through a

waterfall of wet concrete, stands straight up--

INT. PODIUM, JEOPARDY COUNTER - MOMENTS LATER

Andy is on the set of the hit game show JEOPARDY.

ANDY
What in the fuck is going on?

ALEX TREBEK informs Andy his question-answer is incorrect.

TREBEK
No, I'm sorry. The answer we were
looking for is 'medulla oblongata.'
Back to you, Andy.

ANDY
Uhhh--I'll take, Regrets and
Insecurities for 400, Alex.

Alex Trebek turns to the monitor...

INT. TV MONITOR, JEOPARDY - SAME TIME

Andy stands in a nice suit and tie, with a crappy wig on.

ANDY
Despite years of self-medicating, this
is the feeling you wake up with every
morning.

INT. PODIUM, JEOPARDY COUNTER - MOMENTS LATER

Andy rings the buzzer.

ANDY
What is - worthlessness and self
loathing?

TREBEK
That answer is correct!

The Jeopardy set begins to spin.

 55.

ANDY (V.O.)
Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit.

EXT. FIELD, FARMLAND - MOMENTS LATER

Andy stands in the middle of upside down farmland.

He's dressed like a COWBOY - hat, boots, vest over his cotton
shirt, wool pants, gun holstered at his hip.

The farm spins slowly, until it completes a half rotation,

lands right side up.

Andy gets his bearings.

SOMEONE WHISTLES AT HIM.

He turns - Steve's the whistler, stands twenty feet back,

dressed in all black cowboy gear.

Steve hocks a loogie, moves his hand down toward his

holstered gun.

Andy mimics Steve's movements - they're moments from drawing

on each other.

The farm spins.

INT. LIVING ROOM, DREW'S APARTMENT - MOMENTS LATER

Back on the couch - the living room's upside down.

Just as Andy begins to fall, the spinning room completes its

rotation, lands right-side-up.

ANDY
Jesus Christ, Drew. I think these
pills are tainted.

Andy's nose bleeds.

ANDY
Drew?

He looks over at Drew, who sits perfectly still, blood and

mucus runs from his nose and mouth.

ANDY
Fuck, Drew!

Andy leans over, touches Drew's face.

 56.

ANDY (V.O.)
Definitely tainted. Oh, shit.

ANDY
Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit.

Andy stands, places two fingers on Drew's neck.

ANDY (V.O.)
What am I fucking doing? I don't know
how to find a pulse.

He kneels down, puts his ear to Drew's chest...

ANDY
Oh fuck.

He jumps back.

ANDY (V.O.)
He's dead, he's definitely dead. Jesus
Christ, holy shit. What do I do?

Andy fishes his cell out of his pocket, opens the phone app.
He looks at the numbers, dials 9--

ANDY (V.O.)
Fuck, wait. No. Be smart. Be smart, be
smart, be smart. This'll look really
bad for you.

Andy backs away from Drew, backs up further, further - his

back touches the door...he touches the knob...turns it, about
to leave--

ANDY (V.O.)
Wait. Hold on. Slow down. Slow your
roll.

He takes two steps forward, looks around, heads for the

bathroom.

INT. BATHROOM, DREW'S APARTMENT - MOMENTS LATER

Andy pulls open Drew's medicine cabinet, goes through the

contents, finds a prescription pill bottle labeled VALIUM
with three pills left. He pockets them.

He finds another pill bottle, this one labeled XANAX, stuffs

it in his pocket.
 57.

INT. LIVING ROOM, DREW'S APARTMENT - MOMENTS LATER

He emerges from the bathroom, looks at Drew's corpse.

He studies the apartment, heads for the bedroom.

INT. BEDROOM, DREW'S APARTMENT - MOMENTS LATER

Andy rummages through Drew's closet, finds nothing that

interests him.

Into the bedside table - petty cash, a bag of weed, small

baggy of cocaine. He pockets it all.

Over to the nightstand.

He pulls open the top drawer, just socks and underwear. He

pulls open the second drawer - freezes when he sees it.

Stunned.

He moves his hand into the drawer slowly, like he's scared of
it, like it might snap and bite him.

He grips it. Lifts it slowly from the drawer...a HANDGUN.

ANDY (V.O.)
Woh.

He holds it in his right hand, runs his left hand through his
hair. He puts the gun back, closes the drawer, turns to
leave.

Freezes.

It calls to him.

He turns back, opens the drawer, takes the gun out, slides it
into his back waistband.

INT. LIVING ROOM, DREW'S APARTMENT - MOMENTS LATER

He picks Drew's wallet up off the living room table, pockets

the cash, drops the wallet on the couch, approaches the front
door. He turns the knob, stops.

ANDY (V.O.)
Wait.

He enters the kitchenette, emerges holding a hand towel,

begins to wipe down all of the surfaces he may have touched.
 58.

INT. BATHROOM, DREW'S APARTMENT - MOMENTS LATER

He wipes down the medicine cabinet, both sides of the

bathroom doorknob.

INT. BEDROOM, DREW'S APARTMENT - MOMENTS LATER

He wipes down the knob of the closet's door, the bedside

table, the nightstand.

He tip-toes out of the bedroom like he's scared of his own

footprints.

INT. LIVING ROOM, DREW'S APARTMENT - MOMENTS LATER

He uses the hand towel to twist open the knob of the

apartment's front door.

He exits.

INT. HALLWAY, OUTSIDE DREW'S APARTMENT - MOMENTS LATER

Andy pulls the door closed with the hand towel, heads for the
elevator.

At the last second, just before he presses the elevator

button, he veers right, cuts for the stairs, uses the hand
towel to open the stairwell door, enters.

EXT. SIDEWALK, OUTSIDE DREW'S BUILDING - MOMENTS LATER

Andy exits Drew's building.

ANDY (V.O.)
Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit. What did I
just do?

He tosses the hand towel into the corner trash can, makes
haste down the block.

ANDY (V.O.)
Nothing...You did nothing. It's a
miracle you're not dead too. You've
done nothing wrong, you're just
covering your own ass.

He puts a hand to his chest, his breathing intensifies, he

heads down into the subway.
 59.

INT. Q TRAIN - NIGHT

Andy rides the subway, leans back against his seat, feels the
gun press up against his spine.

ANDY (V.O.)
The gun, the gun, the fucking gun. Why
did you take the gun?

INT. ANDY'S BEDROOM - NIGHT

Andy bursts into his room, takes the gun out from his
waistband, stuffs it into a drawer.

ANDY (V.O.)
What the fuck did you take the gun
for, Andy?

He pulls Drew's Valium prescription from his pocket, eats all

three pills, collapses onto his bed.

CUT TO BLACK.

EXT. FIELD, FARMLAND - DAY (DREAM SEQUENCE)

Andy, dressed like a cowboy again, looks out on the farmland

- it's glorious.

SOMEONE WHISTLES AT HIM.

He turns slowly - Steve's the whistler, twenty feet back in

his all black cowboy gear. He hocks a loogie.

They stare at one another, both slowly lowering their hands

toward the weapons holstered at their hips--

INT. ANDY'S BEDROOM - DAY

Andy wakes, stares up at the ceiling.

ANDY (V.O.)
You know why you took the gun.

He's up...over at the window.

ANDY (V.O.)
You took the gun because your sick of
sitting on the sidelines. You took the
gun because your sick of watching
shitty humans act shitty and win.
 60.

He pulls the window open, hangs his upper body outside,

smokes a joint.

ANDY (V.O.)
You took the gun because you're gonna
use it.

INT. 7TH FLOOR HALLWAY, OUTSIDE APARTMENT 'M' - DAY

Andy stares at the letter M on Lily's front door.

ANDY (V.O.)
I took the gun, because today I'm
going to kill Lily's fiancé.

Andy reaches for the doorknob, grabs it, twists...

ANDY (V.O.)
And then what?

He stops.

ANDY (V.O.)
Shit. And then what are you gonna do?

He lets go of the knob, takes a step back.

The knob twists! The door starts to open from the inside--

ANDY (V.O.)
Oh fuck, oh fuck, oh fuck.

Andy spins around, frantic.

ANDY (V.O.)
Shit, shit, shit.

He tries the door of one of Lily's neighbors - it's unlocked.

He slips inside just as Steve exits apartment M, eyes buried

in his phone.

Steve walks down to the end of the hall, clicks the

elevator's call button. Andy pokes his head out the door,
watches at Steve enters the elevator.

ANDY (V.O.)
Jesus, that was close.

He enters apartment M.
 61.

INT. BEDROOM, APARTMENT 'M' - DAY

Lily's on the floor, tears stream down her cheeks.

Andy stands in the doorway.

ANDY (V.O.)
Damn. She looks angelic. It's
something about women when they cry.
Every time they do something pretty,
you fall half in love with them--

LILY
You just going to stand there?

ANDY
I'm sorry, is this a bad time?

LILY
Is that what you usually ask after
breaking and entering?

ANDY
I guess we should trade numbers, so I
can text you ahead of time.

Andy takes a seat on the edge of the bed.

LILY
Steve checks my phone, we can't.

ANDY
Why do you put up with him?

LILY
What'd I say about you asking
questions--

ANDY
No, no, no. We're done with that.
Don't be ridiculous. He's got you
locked up in your own home, he doesn't
give you any privacy? We need to--

LILY
What? What do we need to do, Andy?
Runaway? He'll find me. Or worse -
he'll go to my parents house.

ANDY
Your parents? I don't understand--
 62.

LILY
Besides, he froze all my assets.
Canceled my credit cards, emptied are
joint bank account...I can't run.

ANDY
I'm not talking about running away.

Andy removes the gun from his back waistband.

Lily's eyes light up...then she...laughs?

LILY
What the fuck is that?

ANDY
It's a gun.

LILY
I know what it is, I mean why do you
have it? Where did you get it?

ANDY
Where's not important. What's
important is the what.

LILY
What's the what, than?

ANDY
I'm going to kill Steve for you.

LILY
For me?

ANDY
For you.

LILY
I didn't ask you to do this, Andy. I
never asked you to get involved.

ANDY
You're just going to sit in this room
the rest of your life, withering away?

LILY
Not the rest of my life.

ANDY
Then how long?
 63.

LILY
If Steve has his way - nine months.
Well, eight and a half.

ANDY
Wait, what? I don't get it. What
happens in--

Lily puts a hand to her belly.

ANDY
Oh - woh. You're...

LILY
Yes.

ANDY
And you don't want to--

LILY
No.

ANDY
But Steve does.

LILY
See, you're not such an idiot-burnout
after all. It's more complicated than
you thought, isn't it?

ANDY
Not really.

LILY
No?

ANDY
No. This is a blue state. You've got
the right to choose. Steve's out of
line - and he's probably psychotic.

LILY
Says the pill-popping petty thief who
just brought a gun into my apartment.

ANDY
I'm trying to save you, Lily.

LILY
Why you? Why's it got to be you?
 64.

ANDY
Because I'm here. Because of all the
apartments I could've broken into
looking for pills, I hit this one--

LILY
You've hit a lot of them if I'm to
understand correctly.

ANDY
Sure. But I hit this one. And I
could've jus raided your medicine
cabinet and left, but I stumbled in
here and I found you. Don't you see?
It's--

LILY
Don't say fate, Andy. That's childish.

ANDY
What's childish is sitting here doing
nothing, allowing a man to lock you
away like you're fucking Rapunzel.

LILY
Don't be an asshole.

ANDY
I'm trying to save you.

LILY
I don't need to be saved.

ANDY
That's not how it looks from my
perspective--

LILY
Well your perspective is warped. You
only see things one way. You've
got...main character syndrome.

ANDY
What the fuck does that mean?

LILY
It means this isn't your story, but
you can't help but see things as
though you're the protagonist.
 65.

ANDY
This isn't a literary class. You're
chained to a Goddamn radiator!

LILY
And you're not welcome here anymore.
Please leave.

ANDY
Lily--

LILY
Leave, Andy. You came into my
apartment illegally, please go.

ANDY
What are you gonna do, call the cops?

LILY
Maybe I will. And maybe I'll tell them
that it was you who put this chain
around my ankle.

His jaw drops...he stares at her...

INT. BATHROOM 1, ANDY'S BEDROOM - DAY

...his eyes fill with rage as he stares at his own reflection

in the mirrored medicine cabinet above the sink.

ANDY (V.O.)
How could she be so...ahhh fuck it.

He opens the medicine cabinet - when he closes it, he's

donned the fake glasses disguise.

ANDY (V.O.)
She'll thank me when it's over.

He pulls Drew's baggy of cocaine from his pocket, uses a key

to snort it all up his nose.

INT. ANDY'S BEDROOM - DAY

He rifles through his closet.

ANDY (V.O.)
Steve saw me out on the street, so
I'll have to improve my disguise.

He puts a fedora on his head.

 66.

Pulls a trench coat on to complete the look. He takes the gun

out from his back waistband, aims it at himself in the full-
length mirror. He slides it into the pocket of his trench
coat, squares up with the mirror, lets his hand hover over
the handle of the gun - then draws.

ANDY (V.O.)
Gotcha! Too fucking slow, Steve.

He slides the gun back into his pocket.

ANDY (V.O.)
I'm gonna save you, Lily. I'm gonna
save you. I'm gonna save you and I'm
gonna kill Steve. He's a dead man.
He's a dead man, he's a--

He draws...then lowers the gun.

ANDY (V.O.)
Shit, you don't know where he is.

INT. STAIRWELL, ANDY'S BUILDING - DAY

Andy walks down the steps in his disguise.

ANDY (V.O.)
So you go back to their apartment, and
you wait him out. And if Lily gives
you grief--no, no, you enter quiet,
sneakily.

INT. 7TH FLOOR HALLWAY, OUTSIDE APARTMENT 'M' - DAY

Andy stares at the front door of Lily's apartment.

ANDY (V.O.)
And you lie in wait.

He turns the knob...

INT. APARTMENT 'M' - MOMENTS LATER

The hinges on the front door creak as he lets himself in.

LILY (O.S.)
Hello?

ANDY (V.O.)
Shit. So much for quiet.
 67.

LILY (O.S.)
Is that you? I'm sorry for what I
said.

ANDY (V.O.)
She's sorry? I figured she'd come to
her senses, not this quick though.

INT. BEDROOM, APARTMENT 'M' - MOMENTS LATER

Lily's on the floor, chained to the radiator.

Andy's seated a few feet away.

LILY
Thank you.

ANDY
For what?

LILY
For wanting to help me. I shouldn't
have snapped at you like that.

ANDY
I probably didn't go about springing
that on you in the best way possible.

LILY
True...I mean, we're talking about
murder.

ANDY
Are we? You didn't exactly seem up for
it an hour ago.

LILY
You caught me off guard is all. Truth
of the matter is, I've been thinking
about doing it myself for some time.

ANDY
Is that what this is about?

Andy removes the gun from his trench coat pocket, puts it on
the floor, slides it over to her.

ANDY (CONTINUED)
You wanna be the one to pull the
trigger?
 68.

She slides it back.

LILY
I'm sort of a true crime connoisseur.
My Netflix que would make you think
I'm a serial killer.

ANDY (V.O.)
Where is she going with this?

LILY
So I understand, at least in theory,
that we have zero chance of shooting
someone and getting away with it. Not
in this city, anyway.

ANDY
So, what are you suggesting?

LILY
That if we're really going to do this,
we're going to do it smart.

ANDY
You can lure him out onto the balcony,
push him off. Fake a suicide note.

LILY
You're moving in the right direction,
but there are too many variables
there. People might see us from the
street--

ANDY
Yeah and what if he overpowers you?

LILY
Sure.

ANDY
We could poison him.

LILY
If they find drain-o or bleach in his
system during the autopsy, I'll be the
first person they point a finger at.

ANDY
Well, what if we don't use a household
product?
 69.

LILY
What'd you have in mind?

ANDY
This.

Andy fishes the bag of pressed pills from his pocket, tosses
them to Lily.

LILY
Opiates?

ANDY
Yeah, but they're impure. Cut with
something.

LILY
How do you know it'll kill him?

ANDY
Can't be sure. Based on my own
observations, seems like it's 50/50.

LILY
Well, what the hell does that mean?

ANDY
It means I'm lucky to be alive. It
also means if you feed him two, and
maybe slip him some of these, it
should be lights out. Permanently.

Andy takes Drew's bottle of Xanax from his pocket, hands it

to her.

CREAKS from the front door opening...

LILY
(whispers)
Oh shit, he's home! You have to hide.

Lily stuffs the bag of pressed pills into her braw, pockets
the bottle of Xanax, points Andy toward the bathroom.

He grabs the gun, slides it into his coat pocket, jumps into
the bathroom.

Lily takes a seat by the radiator.

 70.

INT. LILY'S BATHROOM, APARTMENT M - MOMENTS LATER

Andy hides, peaks out through the cracked-open door.

STEVE (O.S.)
Who were you just talking to?

LILY (O.S.)
I wasn't talking to anyone.

STEVE (O.S.)
I heard you.

LILY (O.S.)
I was watching TV, Steve.

Andy turns, observes the confines of his hiding space.

STEVE (O.S.)
The television isn't warm.

LILY (O.S.)
What the fuck does that mean?

STEVE (O.S.)
It means you weren't watching TV, who
were you talking to?

LILY (O.S.)
What the hell is wrong with you? I
wasn't talking to anybody.

Andy opens the medicine cabinet, goes through the contents.

STEVE (O.S.)
Give me your phone, let me see it.

LILY (O.S.)
What? No, quit acting paranoid.

Andy picks up a prescription pill bottle.

ANDY (V.O.)
Vicodin, fifteen milligrams. Nice.

He opens the cap.

ANDY (V.O.)
Only three left...

He empties the bottle into his palm.

 71.

ANDY (V.O.)
Better save some for later.

He drops two pills back into the bottle, pops one into his
mouth, puts the bottle back in the medicine cabinet. He
washes down the Vicodin with sink water.

STEVE (O.S.)
If I'm paranoid, it's because you're
making me this way!

ANDY (V.O.)
Jesus, this guy's out of control.

Andy takes the gun out, goes back to the door, peeps through
the crack.

ANDY (V.O.)
I could end this right now. Tell the
cops the gun was his, that I wrestled
it away from him.

LILY (O.S.)
How could I possibly want to bring a
child into this house? You shouldn't
be anywhere near children!

ANDY (V.O.)
But if they connect the gun back to
Drew, I'll be tied to two crime
scenes.

STEVE (O.S.)
How could you say that, Lily? You
don't mean that.

ANDY (V.O.)
So I'll point it at him. Force him to
eat the pressed pills at gun point.
Yeah, that's what I'll do--

He gets too excited, accidentally leans against the bathroom

door - the hinges CREAK.

STEVE (O.S.)
What the fuck--who's here? Is someone
in the bathroom?

ANDY (V.O.)
Oh fuck, oh fuck, oh fuck.
 72.

Steve pulls the bathroom door open all the way--

INT. BEDROOM, APARTMENT 'M' - SAME TIME

Steve backpedals away from the bathroom.

Andy directs him, barrel of the gun pressed up against

Steve's chest.

ANDY
I've had enough of this cloak and
dagger shit.

ANDY (V.O.)
What the fuck does that mean? Say
something intimidating.

ANDY
You ever had a gun in your face,
Steve?

ANDY (V.O.)
Jesus - that's the best you can do?

STEVE
What the--who the fuck are you?

ANDY
I'm the guy who was hiding in your
bathroom--

ANDY (V.O.)
HE KNOWS THAT YOU FUCKING IDIOT!

ANDY
I mean--I'm the guy who knows what you
did. I'm the guy who's gonna put a
stop to it.

ANDY (V.O.)
Alright, better. Now tell him to take
a seat.

ANDY
Sit down.

STEVE
What?

ANDY
Sit on the fucking bed, Steve. Do it.
 73.

Steve complies.

ANDY (V.O.)
Now what? The pills, right. Make him
eat the pressed pills.

ANDY
Hand him the pills, Lilly.

LILY
Andy--

STEVE
How the hell do you know this kid?

ANDY
Shut up!

LILY
Steve...

ANDY
Lily?

LILY
Andy, I--

STEVE
You fucking cunt.

ANDY
Don't you dare talk to her like that!

STEVE
I'll talk to her however I damn--

Andy aims the gun at Steve's head, pulls the trigger.

BANG! A cloud of smoke shoots out the barrel, then...nothing.

ANDY (V.O.)
What the fuck?

Steve pats himself down, checks for damage.

ANDY (V.O.)
It misfired, do it again!

Andy pulls the trigger - BANG! Another cloud of smoke...

Steve flinches - but he's fine.

 74.

ANDY (V.O.)
Oh shit--

ANDY
Oh shit.

Andy looks at Steve, then at Lily.

Lily looks at Andy, then at Steve.

ANDY (V.O.)
It's a prop gun--

Steve charges Andy, tackles him into the wall.

They hit the deck, Steve pins Andy to the floor, punches and
pummels him.

ANDY (V.O.)
You've never been in a fight before,
fucking do something.

Andy swerves his head away, Steve punches the floor.

STEVE
Ahh, fuck!

Andy smacks Steve in the head with the gun, shoves him off,
tries to crawl away through the bedroom door.

Steve collects himself, touches the bloody gash on his

forehead.

STEVE
You son of a bitch.

He lunges at Andy, grabs his foot, drags him back into the
bedroom--

ANDY
Fuck you!

Andy rolls over onto his back, kicks Steve in the crotch.

Steve doubles over.

ANDY (V.O.)
Now's your chance - run!

Andy trips, stumbles, manages to climb to his feet, bolts out

the bedroom door.
 75.

Lily, balled up in the corner by the radiator, astonished

that he's fleeing...

LILY
Andy, what the fuck!?

ANDY (V.O.) (O.S.)

Shit, shit, shit.

Steve finally catches his breath, stands up straight--Andy

runs full sprint back into the bedroom, TACKLES STEVE.

They land on the bed, bounce off of it - Andy hits the floor,
Steve falls on top of him.

ANDY
God Damn.

Steve sits on Andy's chest, wraps both hands around his

throat, squeezes like he's wrangling a fucking cobra.

Andy looks up at his opponent, bested.

ANDY (V.O.)
Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit.

His eyes flutter.

The room starts to go dark.

ANDY (V.O.)
This isn't how it was supposed to go.

As the life slowly drains from his body, the last thing Andy
sees is a chain being wrapped around Steve's neck from
behind--

CUT TO BLACK.

INT. LIVING ROOM, APARTMENT 'M' - DAY [FLASHBACK]

On the couch, Lily eats a salad, watches 'New Girl' on TV.

She laughs at the sitcom, shovels lettuce into her mouth,

chases it with LaCroix.

A poorly timed joke hits her in the gut, just as she takes a
mouthful of greens - she vomits into her salad bowl.

LILY
Oh, fuck.
 76.

INT. KITCHEN, APARTMENT 'M' - MOMENTS LATER [FLASHBACK]

She tosses the vomit/salad bowl into the trash.

She washes her hands, wipes her face with some paper towel.

She breathes into her palm, checks her breath. It's gross.

INT. LILY'S BATHROOM, APARTMENT M - MOMENTS LATER [FLASHBACK]

Lily rinses her mouth out with sink water, brushes her teeth.

As she brushes, she notices the box of tampons in the corner

of her eye.

She slows her brushing.

She lifts up the tampon box.

LILY
Oh, fuck.

Toothpaste splatters the mirror.

INT. CVS - DAY [FLASHBACK]

Lily walks up and down the aisles of CVS.

She finally finds the Feminine Needs section, scans the shelf
methodically.

Her eyes lock-in on it: pregnancy test.

INT. LILY'S BATHROOM, APARTMENT M - DAY [FLASHBACK]

Lily sits on the toilet, pees onto a pregnancy test.

She accidentally gets pee all over her hand.

LILY
Oh, fuck.

She stands, shakes her hand over the toilet, puts the test
down on top of the toilet tank.

She washes her hands in the sink, stares at herself in the

mirrored medicine cabinet, checks her watch.

She takes a deep breath.

She turns back to the toilet, flushes it.

 77.

Her eyes light up as she catches a glimpse of the test...

She lifts it off the toilet tank, holds it close to her face,
like her eyes don't work well.

LILY
Oh, fuck.

She drops the test to the floor, closes her eyes, reaches out
for the wall as the world shakes and quakes around her.

INT. LIVING ROOM, APARTMENT 'M' - NIGHT [FLASHBACK]

Lily sits on the couch, shoulders slumped, knees touching.

The pregnancy test lay on the coffee table.

Steve enters, senses something's wrong.

He kneels beside her, touches her face - she pulls away.

He sees it, on the table.

Initial confusion makes way for excitement.

STEVE
I'm gonna be a dad!

He wraps his arms around her, he's blinded by happiness, he

can't see that she doesn't feel it.

Her head rests on his shoulder, he smiles and cries. She

could cry too, but their tears would fall in conflict, in
contradiction.

She closes her eyes, tight.

INT. BEDROOM, APARTMENT 'M' - NIGHT [FLASHBACK]

When she opens them, she's on her bed, reading about

abortions on her laptop.

Steve gets home from work.

As he undresses, he leans over the bed, kisses her cheek--

STEVE
What the...

That's when he sees it.

 78.

It can be unseen.

That's probably what she wanted, putting it in words was too

heavy a burden.

He's shocked...saddened...betrayed.

She's fearful...apologetic...filled with self-hatred.

It can't be unseen.

She reaches out for him, he waves her away, leaves in

silence.

She cries.

She rolls over, buries her head in their pillows, goes to

sleep.

CUT TO BLACK.

INT. BEDROOM, APARTMENT 'M' - DAY [FLASHBACK]

When she wakes up, she rolls over, hears the front door slam.

LILY
Steve?

No response.

She moves to get up off the bed, to chase him out into the
hallway, to stop him from going to work, to talk--

There's a tug at her ankle. She clears away the blankets.

What she sees astonishes her.

It can't be unseen.

LILY
Steve? Steve!

A chain is wrapped around her ankle, the other end connected

to the radiator.

LILY
Steve! Steve! Steve!

She cries, she's dejected, she's broken. She sleeps.

CUT TO BLACK.
 79.

INT. BEDROOM, APARTMENT 'M' - NIGHT [FLASHBACK]

She wakes up. She's angry, she's determined, she's dangerous.

Steve enters, home from work.

He pulls his tie off, drops it to the floor, approaches her,

filled with regret and confusion and fear.

He unlocks the chain from her ankle.

He cries.

He embraces her on the bed, buries his head in her chest.

She stares up at the ceiling, pats his back, her eyes seeth
with pent up fury. She shuts them tight.

INT. BEDROOM, APARTMENT 'M' - DAY [FLASHBACK]

When she opens them, she's staring at her laptop screen.

The chain is back, secured around her ankle.

She looks at various lock-picking kits on Amazon.com.

She makes a purchase.

INT. KITCHEN, APARTMENT 'M' - NIGHT [FLASHBACK]

She's at the stove, cooking dinner.

Steve sits at the table, reads the Wall Street Journal.

She eyes the stack of mail on the counter.

Steve gets up, hits the bathroom to take a leak.

She makes her move - rifles through the mail, finds her
yellow Amazon envelope, stuffs it into her waistband.

Steve emerges from the bathroom, Lily continues to cook.

INT. BEDROOM, APARTMENT 'M' - DAY [FLASHBACK]

Steve gets dressed for work. Lily pretends to sleep.

He ties his tie, walks to the radiator, lifts the chain off
the floor, fastens it around Lily's ankle.

He kisses her on the cheek. He leaves.

 80.

When the front door slams shut, Lily pops up out of bed.

She takes a seat on the floor beside the radiator.

She pulls up Youtube on her laptop, searches "lock picking

tutorials."

She takes out her brand new lock picking kit, goes to town.
She struggles.

And struggles. And struggles.

The video looks simple, easy. It's not.

She starts to sweat. The room darkens as the sun moves across
the sky, less and less light shines through the window.

She squeezers her eyes shut.

INT. BEDROOM, APARTMENT 'M' - NIGHT [FLASHBACK]

When she opens them, it's night time.

SOUNDS OF DOORS OPENING AND CLOSING AROUND THE APARTMENT.

Panic.

A tear runs down her cheek as she gathers her lock picking
kit, hides it under the bed, closes YouTube, then closes her
laptop.

She feels a presence.

She looks up at the bedroom doorway - no one's there.

LILY
Hello...Steve?

Nothing.

She gets up, crawls into bed, melts into her sheets.

CUT TO BLACK.

INT. BEDROOM, APARTMENT 'M' - DAY [FLASHBACK]

Steve shakes her awake. He's dressed for work.

She refuses to look at him.

 81.

STEVE
I left last night's dinner on the
nightstand. I know you don't like to
eat lunch, but you can't be skipping
meals anymore. It's not good for you,
it's not good for the baby.

He kisses her on the back of the shoulder, leaves.

She pops up out of bed, takes her spot on the floor, grabs
her lock picking kit, gets back to work.

She struggles.

LILY
C'mon, fuck.

She opens her laptop, loads a new YouTube tutorial.

She continues to struggle. She takes a deep breath.

She picks the lock. She fucking did it. It pops right open.

LILY
Oh, fuck!

Success.

She dances over to the closet, pulls out a duffle bag.

Dances over to the dresser, packs her clothes in the duffle.

INT. KITCHEN, APARTMENT 'M' - MOMENTS LATER [FLASHBACK]

Lily sits at the kitchen table on her laptop.

She's got Delta.com pulled up on the browser.

She talks on the phone.

LILY (ON THE PHONE)

How could my Amex and my Visa card
both get declined, I'm in good
standing with my--wait. Sorry, I have
to call you back.

Mouth agape, she drops her phone.

She types Chase.com into her web browser.

Types in her username and password...

 82.

LILY
No, no--mother-fuck. Fuck.

She knocks her laptop to the floor in disgust, rage.

LILY
You motherfucker. You fucking son of a
bitch.

She leans over the table, out of breath.

INT. BEDROOM, APARTMENT 'M' - NIGHT [FLASHBACK]

Hunched over, defeated, she unpacks her duffle.

LILY
I should fucking kill you.

SOUNDS OF THE APARTMENT'S FRONT DOOR OPENING AND CLOSING.

Lily spastically hides the duffle bag under her bed, jumps
back to her spot on the floor, re-fastens the chain around
her ankle, tries to act natural...this manifests in her
picking the toe-cheese from between her toes.

She feels a presence in the bedroom doorway - she looks up.

Andy stands there...

LILY
Woh - who the fuck are you?

INT. BEDROOM, APARTMENT M - DAY

Lily watches from behind as Steve climbs atop Andy, wraps his
hands around Andy's throat.

She gathers slack on the chain, approaches their tussle.

Andy gasps for air, his face goes purple, his eyes flutter.

Lily loops the chain around Steve's neck.

She leaps onto the bed - her foot pulls the slack on the
chain, her momentum pulls Steve off of Andy.

Andy lay unconscious.

Lily lay on the bed. Steve, suspended between the bed and the
radiator, barely balances on one knee as Lily's chain crushes
his throat.
 83.

He gasps for air...barks at her...can barely muster the

words--

STEVE
You bitch.

LILY
Fucker!

Lily jerks her foot forward, pulls the chain, SNAPS Steve's
windpipe.

She lays their on the bed, huffing and puffing.

She finally catches her breath.

Uncontrollable laughter sets in.

It a joke. It's all a joke. One big fucking joke.

Until suddenly it isn't so funny anymore, she cries.

Sobs.

Sobs and laughs and sobs and purges all of the emotions from
her system.

And then eventually, she sleeps...

CUT TO BLACK.

INT. BEDROOM, APARTMENT 'M' - DAY

She wakes, sits up, scans the room. Did that really happen?

Sure did.

There's Steve - dead - still suspended on one knee, caught

between Lily's foot and the radiator.

And oh shit, her foot doesn't look so hot. All purple and
puffy and lacking in circulation.

She inches over to Steve, digs into both his pants pockets,
finds the key to the chain around her ankle.

She frees herself - Steve's body slumps over. She shakes her
leg out, tries to get blood flow to her foot.

She spots Andy, limps over to her dresser, pulls out a small
makeup mirror, holds it under his nose.
 84.

The little mirror fogs up - Andy's alive, still breathing.

Lily pulls her duffle bag out from under the bed, packs it up
with her clothes and valuables.

She looks around the room.

Her eyes scan the floor - she sees it, the gun.

LILY
Oh, fuck.

She leaves the room - comes back in moments later with yellow
rubber gloves on.

She scoops the gun, wipes it clean on her blanket, puts it in

Steve's hand. She wraps his palm around the handle, curls his
finger over the trigger - then let's go.

The gun falls to the floor, next to Steve's body.

Lily looks at the chain, studies Andy's unconscious body.

EXT. FIELD, FARMLAND - DAY (DREAM SEQUENCE)

Andy looks out on the farmland, it's glorious.

He's dressed like a cowboy again - hat, boots, vest over his
cotton shirt, wool pants, gun holstered at his hip.

SOMEONE WHISTLES AT HIM.

He turns slowly - Steve's the whistler, stands twenty feet

back, dressed in his all black cowboy gear.

Steve hocks a loogie.

STEVE
You ready to finish this?

Andy takes a dramatic deep breath.

ANDY
I reckon we oughtta.

STEVE
What would you like your grave stone
to say? I was thinking - died like he
lived, a hero he ain't.
 85.

ANDY
Smug talk for a cowardice woman-
beater.

STEVE
I ain't never beat a lady, and I ain't
never lost a gun fight.

Steve moves his hand down toward the gun on his hip.

Andy mirrors Steve's movements.

ANDY
Who's gonna call it?

STEVE
Why not her?

Steve nods to the right.

Lily, dressed in offensive Halloween-style indigenous attire,

a feather coming up out of her headband, is tied up and
gagged in front of a tree.

ANDY
I'm gonna save you, Lily. I'm gonna
save you, and I'm gonna kill Steve.

Lily tries to scream through her gag - the words jumble.

ANDY
What?

LILY
MmmmmmbbbbbAndymmmmmmmbbbb!

ANDY
What?

INT. BEDROOM, APARTMENT 'M' - DAY

Andy's bruised eyes flutter. Lily stands over him.

LILY
Andy, wake up!

His voice is horse.

ANDY
What?
 86.

LILY
You're alive - are you okay?

ANDY
What? Uh--ahhh,
everything...everything hurts.

He touches his bruised windpipe, winces.

ANDY
Fuck.

He pulls his shirt up, more bruises.

LILY
Looks like you might've cracked a rib.
Hang on, let me get you some ice.

ANDY
No...no ice, I'll be okay. Let me just
get some Vicodin. You've got two left
in your medicine cabinet.

LILY
You sure?

ANDY
Positive. Positive. Positive.

He barely manages a thumbs up.

Lily leaves.

Andy pushes off the floor, sits up against the wall, takes
stock of the room.

ANDY
Woh.

He spies Steve's body.

ANDY
Hey...you okay? Steve...hey, Steve?

Andy reaches his leg out, pokes Steve with his foot. No
reaction.

ANDY (V.O.)
Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit.

Lily reenters the bedroom, glass of water in one hand.

 87.

LILY
He's dead, Andy.

ANDY
I...

LILY
What?

ANDY
I...don't know.

LILY
I mean, what did you think would
happen? When we killed him?

ANDY (V.O.)
She's right.

He stares at Steve's corpse.

ANDY
You're right. But, now that it's done.
I don't know. I saw someone dead once.
Recently, even. But he did it to
himself--

LILY
So did Steve. He did this to himself.
To both of us. You wanted this, Andy.

ANDY (V.O.)
She's not wrong.

ANDY
Yeah well, maybe I should've stayed
out of it. I mean, did you really have
to kill him?

LILY
He had you beat. It was him or you.

She approaches Andy, sticks her left hand out, opens it.

Two pills rest in her palm.

LILY
Open up.

Andy opens his mouth, allows her to drop the two pills in.
 88.

LILY
I want you to remember that, Andy.

She hands him the glass of water.

LILY
I want you to remember, that it was
him or you.

He washes down the medicine. She tilts the bottom of the

water glass up, urges him to finish it all.

ANDY (V.O.)
Why is she talking like this--

LILY
That I could've done nothing. I
could've let you die. I want you to
remember that.

ANDY (V.O.)
When?

ANDY
When?

LILY
When you wake up. If you wake up.

ANDY
I don't understand--

He looks at the empty water class - powder residue on the

rim.

ANDY (V.O.)
Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit.

The room starts to spin upside down.

ANDY
Lily, what did you--what did you do?

LILY
I'm sorry, Andy. I really, genuinely
am. But this isn't your story. It's
mine.

ANDY (V.O.)
Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit--
 89.

LILY
I'm the one who gets to walk out of
this room and never look back.

Andy falls over onto his side.

The empty water glass rolls away.

The room continues to spin.

EXT. FIELD, FARMLAND - DAY (DREAM SEQUENCE)

Cowboy Andy stares at Lily, bound and gagged under the tree
in her Disney's Pocahontas-looking costume.

As quickly as he blinks - she's gone. Disappeared. Vanished.

THE LOUD BLAST OF A GUN SHOT.

Andy turns his head, looks forward - Cowboy Steve, in all

black, stands twenty feet ahead, aims his smoking gun.

Andy looks down - there's a bullet wound in his belly.

He bleeds.

ANDY
Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit.

He reaches toward his hip, pulls the gun from his holster,
aims, fires--

POP. POP, POP, POP, POP.

ANDY
No.

It's a toy gun, made of cheap, bright colored plastic.

Andy studies it in his hand, dismayed.

ANDY
No, no, no--

ANOTHER GUNSHOT. Andy topples over, defeated.

Steve approaches, fondles a length of rope.

He stands over Andy, looks down at him, face half-covered by

his cowboy hat.
 90.

STEVE
Should'a minded your own business,
partner.

Steve ties his rope around Andy's foot, walks off, drags Andy
behind him across the field.

ANDY
No, no, no!

Andy reaches out, tries to grab hold of the ground, but Steve
just drags him along...

INT. EMPTY SHED - MOMENTS LATER

Steve kicks open the door of a small, dark shed, drags Andy
inside.

ANDY
You motherfucker!

Steve ties off the other end of the rope to the ceiling.

ANDY
You mother--

Suddenly, it's not Steve. The cowboy's face has changed -

it's Lily.

LILY
Ain't your story, Andy. It's mine.

Andy watches her leave as the shed begins to spin--

INT. PODIUM, JEOPARDY COUNTER - MOMENTS LATER

THE JEOPARDY THEME SONG PLAYS.

No one's at the podium. Just an empty Jeopardy set.

INT. BEDROOM, APARTMENT 'M' - DAY

When the bedroom finally stops spinning, Andy is chained to

the radiator next to Steve's dead body.

Lily is nowhere to be seen.

Faint POLICE SIRENS can be heard in the distance.

THE END.