Embracing Peace

Logline: "A reluctant thief circumvents house arrest to woo his hesitant neighbor, and then has to risk re-arrest to save her."

My wife requested that I write a chick flick. Not being a particular fan of the genre but willing to stretch my horizons, I agreed to give it a shot. This is that shot.

The end of the script morphs into a comic pseudo-action set piece. Naturally, that part is my favorite of the entire script. The sheer comic absurdity of the visual action at the end makes me guffaw every time I reread it.

The villain of the piece always speaks in awkward attempts at rhyming couplets. He is a homage to that classic buffoon Dogberry, from Shakespeare's "Much Ado About Nothing."

Embracing Peace by Kyle Patrick Johnson An Original Screenplay The Writers Guild of America - West Registration #1321464 KyleJohnsonScripts@gmail.com Represented by: Contact: Phone: Fax: Email: Website: Canton Literary Management Eric Canton 866.429.3118 888.843.7193 Ecanton@prodigy.net www.CantonLiteraryManagement.com FADE IN: INT./EXT. PHOENIX/MIKE’S CAR - SUNSET MIKE DAMPER (20s) is bouncing along the street in a rusty Geo Metro with a $4000 stereo system cranking out a terrible din. Practically the whole back seat is taken up by the stereo speakers. Mike is wearing eyeglasses, blue jeans, a “look-at-me” Tshirt, and a Bluetooth. He is on top of his world, when a KID ON SKATEBOARD scoots out onto a crosswalk just ahead of him. As Mike barrels straight at him, the Kid suddenly slips and crashes to the ground, howling in pain as he holds his gashed knee. MIKE brakes sharply, frowning in sympathy. gets out to help the Kid, when A GIANT DRAGONFLY comes out of nowhere and smashes into his eyeglasses. MIKE stumbles back a pace or two, blinded by the bug guts left on his glasses. Forgetting about the Kid, he gets back in his car and wipes off his glasses with his shirt. Mike gets caught up in his music again, and begins singing loudly, unintentionally drowning out the Kid’s moans. Mike puts his smeared glasses back on, shifts his car into gear, and zooms around the Kid. Mike continues driving down the street, roaring along a little too fast and a little too loud. His brow is furrowed and his eyes distracted. His foot is pressed hard on the accelerator. A RED TRAFFIC LIGHT looms in front of him. MIKE slams on the brakes, his head flying forward, almost hitting the steering wheel. He breathes out, trying to calm himself. He opens the door and 2. Sitting at the red light, Mike notices, kitty-corner to his car, a LensCrafters store. He looks down at his smeared eyeglasses, almost crossing his eyes to see how dirty they are. As soon as the traffic light turns green, Mike roars his car across the lanes of traffic to squeal into the LensCrafters parking lot. EXT. EYE-TALIAN RESTUARANT - ESTABLISHING SHOT - NIGHT The restaurant is a run-of-the-mill mid-price chain. The parking lot is packed, and the line of waiting customers has spilled out the door. A large logo of a swarthy, winking Mediterranean chef looms above the entrance. INT. EYE-TALIAN - TRACKING SHOT - PEACE HOUGH - NIGHT The restaurant is a run-of-the-mill mid-price chain. The din of dinner service is almost unbearable: customers eating loudly, forks scraping, chairs sliding, the piped music blaring B-grade Italian crooners. Above the bar PEACE HOUGH (20s) (pronounced “How”), a waitress, walks through the Eye-Talian to the kitchen. A tray on her shoulder stacked high with dirty dishes, Peace hears snippets of random conversation rise out of the hubbub. LADY AT TABLE 43 But I don’t want my son to be a sniper. MAN AT TABLE 17 I went to that dentist today and he recommended... John Grisham. CHILD AT TABLE 12 But Mrs. Waters said that everyone’s a winner, Mommy. MAN AT TABLE 10 Technically speaking, I guess he’s not really the son of the devil. Peace enters the kitchen, which is even louder and busier than the floor. Waitresses, busboys, and chefs are flying everywhere. Peace puts down the dishes, and picks up another tray laden with silverware bundled in napkins. She exits. Coming back out on the floor, Peace almost beans two lackadaisical busboys who are trying to hide from the bustle. 3. Peace’s best friend, AMY (30s), calls to her. AMY Busy night. You got many tables? No. PEACE The tables got me. AMY What auctions you following this week? PEACE Gateleg tables. Oh, right. AMY Peace and Amy swirl by each other in the madness. Peace enters the lobby area, which is packed to capacity with people waiting for seats. IMPATIENT CUSTOMER Miss, Miss! Yes, sir? PEACE Peace shifts the heavy tray on her shoulder, setting the silverware on a bussed table as she listens. IMPATIENT CUSTOMER My fiancee and I have been waiting here for fifteen minutes. There’s gotta be a table by now. PEACE Sir, I’m sure the hostess has you in line. IMPATIENT CUSTOMER But don’t you know who I am? Pretending pretends not to hear, Peace puts the tray on a shelf behind the hostess and escapes back to the kitchen. INT./EXT. PHOENIX/MIKE’S CAR - NIGHT Mike gets back in his car. He pulls away from LensCrafters and turns his music way up. 4. He sings in time with the lyrics, but shakes his head and fists at the music. He gives the impression that the musicians are ignoramuses who don’t know their craft. Mike pulls in to Music World’s parking lot, driving around to the side of the store. He parks next to the only other car in the lot, a recent make and model, inconspicuous in color. Music World is closed and the parking lot lights are shut off. Mike turns off his car, but the music keeps playing until he pulls his key out of the ignition. The sudden silence is almost uncomfortable. EXT. MUSIC WORLD - PARKING LOT Mike gets out of his car. VIBE (20s) and SUMMER (18) lounge on the hood of the other car. VIBE You here, you the man. The can-do man. The man with the plan. No, wait, that’s me. You the man with the key. MIKE (reluctantly) Yeah, I’ve got the key. SUMMER First time’s the hardest. VIBE First time’s the bomb! You the bomb dot com. Let’s get it done. MIKE You promise I’ll get her back? VIBE Come on, man. Sure! They walk to the back door of Music World, where Mike produces a key and unlocks the door. All three don masks. VIBE Wait. Before we enter, let us center. Here’s mood music. Vibe hands Summer and Mike matching iPod’s and earbuds, which they dutifully put in. Vibe dons his own. Vibe gives a signal and all three press “Play”: U2’s “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For.” They enter the store. 5. INT. MUSIC WORLD The store is pitch black and empty. Vibe, Mike, and Summer push carts around the store. Unseen, a BURGLAR ALARM MONITOR flashes below the customer service desk. MIKE loudly sings the lyrics in his headphones, nerving himself. MIKE “I have climbed the highest mountain I have run through the fields Only to be with you Only to be with you I have run, I have crawled I have scaled these city walls Only to be with you Only to be with you But I still haven’t found What I’m looking for.” As Mike sings, all three begin piling iPods, CDs, portable DVD players, computer speakers, mixer consoles, and other music equipment into bags and carts. INT. EYE-TALIAN The piped music is now U2’s “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For.” In the midst of the roar, Peace is standing beside a table. The patrons there have finished their meal, and the dishes have been cleared away. PEACE Well, if that’s all... MAN AT TABLE 17 Yeah, we’re done. (to fellow diner) And then, get this, Margie stands up against the backstop, and yells out so everyone can hear her that she’s gonna take that bat over to the umpire, and show him the scuff. Coulda sworn it was a foul. 6. Man at Table 17 shows no sign of vacating the table. watches her prospects of refilling the table fade. PEACE Sir, there are people waiting... MAN AT TABLE 17 You know how long we waited for this table? We’ll leave when we’re done. Peace meanders off mournfully. INT. MUSIC WORLD Peace Vibe stops piling stuff into his cart and holds up a gaudy CD. He shouts to be heard over Mike’s headphones. VIBE Hey, Mike. This that one you fixed and mixed? The Turquoise Album from Velcro and Glue? MIKE Yeah. Some of my best stuff on there. I finally mastered the fade in. Vibe nods sagely, and examines the cover in the moonlight. VIBE Recorded at Phoenix and Abbey Road? You didn’t say you in London! I wasn’t. MIKE VIBE But it says you’re the only-MIKE I did most of the work. VIBE But someone else must’ve-MIKE I did the work. Vibe wags his head at Mike. I got the credit. 7. VIBE You know that’s pretty low, man. That’s like working here and stealing their gear! Haha. I wouldn’t... The front doors burst open: the cops have arrived, waving guns and flashlights, yelling indiscriminately, crouching. Freeze! VIBE AND SUMMER sprint for the back door, unnoticed by THE COPS who spill into the store, fanning out down the aisles. MIKE races for the exit but trips over an amp that Vibe dropped. Vibe! VIBE glances back without slowing down. out the way they came in. THE COPS pounce on Mike and grind him into the ground, slapping on handcuffs. Punk. INT. EYE-TALIAN Peace, almost unwound, paces frantically outside the kitchen door. Amy pauses nearby. AMY It’s just one of those nights. PEACE It’s one of those lives, Amy. Peace catches sight of some teenagers pocketing her bundled silverware and moving towards the exit. COP #1 Vibe and Summer vanish MIKE Hey, Vibe! COP #1 Down on the floor! 8. Stop! PEACE Hey! The teenagers look around and dash for the entrance, quickly losing themselves in the crush around the front door. Peace balls her fists in frustration. PEACE Ooo. I just hate that. What kind of person takes someone else’s stuff? Amy nods sympathetically. INT. COURTROOM - DAY Mike, truly repentent, is standing before a grandfatherly JUDGE who peers down at him over reading glasses. Otherwise, the courtroom is nearly empty except for a bored court reporter and two guards. JUDGE Son, you work at Music World, you’re found there after hours, in the dark, with a cart full of... hmm... expensive items. I don’t suppose you’d like to deny your attempted robbery charges. No, sir. MIKE JUDGE (ironic) As you can see, son, I’ve a full docket today, so I need to deal with you quickly. Promise not to do it again? Yes, sir. MIKE I-- JUDGE Cross your heart? Yes, sir. Good. MIKE JUDGE Pay the fine and be free. 9. Fine? MIKE JUDGE I’m setting your fine at twentyfive hundred. A hard-working boy like you can pay that off in no time. MIKE I can’t. I’d like to, I wish I could, but I can’t. JUDGE Are you broke, son? Basically. MIKE JUDGE Then pawn something. valuables? MIKE My music equipment. JUDGE What equipment? Own any MIKE My mixers, boards, amps, speakers, computer, software. Oh, um, and cell phone and Bluetooth, PS3, XBox, plasma TV, sound system, car stereo, iPods-JUDGE IPods? One ain’t enough? All your assets are tied up in chips! You need to focus less on that stuff and more on being human, son. My new ruling: thirty days house arrest and confiscation of all electronic equipment and subsequent resale thereof to cover costs of incarceration. Come to think, I also refuse you employment privileges for the foresaid thirty days. Doubt Music World wants you back, anyhow. Dismissed. Mike stands, frozen, his jaw on the floor. MATCH CUT TO: 10. INT./EXT. QUERTERMOUS’ CAR - DAY Mike is sitting in the front passenger seat, still in shock. It finally dawns on him that someone else is in the car, and that the car is moving. QUERTERMOUS (30s) is driving, chattering cheerfully in a highpitched voice with an unrecognizable accent which Mike can barely understand, a strange, exotic blend of South African and Eastern European. QUERTERMOUS ... you’re not the first. I have had many, had many buddies, and some have turned bad out, some turn good out, but always they look back at Quertermous and say, “Golly gosh, old buddy, how about that?” MIKE (mutters) How about that? QUERTERMOUS About what? What? Hm? Hm? MIKE QUERTERMOUS MIKE QUERTERMOUS Mike-o, Mike-o, I have diffricult knowing what you say. Speak clear. MIKE Who are you? QUERTERMOUS Hm. Good question. I never had a philosophize before. MIKE No, what’s your name, and why am I in your car? QUERTERMOUS I am your buddy, for now, for always. 11. QUERTERMOUS I look after, uh, look and break your head if trouble. My name is B (CONT'D) after you, you’re Quertermous. MIKE What’s the B for? QUERTERMOUS Before, I was an actor. What? MIKE QUERTERMOUS I was an actor, in the old country. I come here to go to Hollywood, to pass my charm. MIKE No, I meant, what’s the B mean, in your name. B Quertermous? QUERTERMOUS Do not bother with it. No one can pronounce it. Me either. What is up with you? Why steal? MIKE I don’t know. Mike reaches over to turn on the radio, but Quertermous slaps his hand away and shakes his finger gently. QUERTERMOUS (sing-song) Mike-o, Mike-o, no music for you. (normal) I learn that line from TV. MIKE Why can’t we listen to some music? QUERTERMOUS Mister Judge said that you lose privilodge to play with buttons. MIKE Oh, come on. It’s just us. QUERTERMOUS No, no, Mike-o. I’m your buddy. Gotta keep you on the faint and barrow. 12. MIKE It’s gonna be like that? You’re gonna reform me, help me back? You see? QUERTERMOUS That was easy! MIKE Look, B. I don’t know why I did what I did, and I’m sorry that I did, but I did what I did and what I did is done, that’s it. QUERTERMOUS You gotta choice, Mike-o. Play nice, play tidy, your life’ll be nice. You don’t gotta be stupid. I’ll help with your choices. Quertermous pulls into Mike’s apartment complex. He reaches over and slaps a pair of handcuffs on Mike’s wrists. Hey! MIKE Come on, now. QUERTERMOUS Don’t look at me. I’m not the criminal. Welcome home. EXT. URBAN FLOWER TOWERS The apartment complex is a tall, thin building. It looks lonely and isolated, with no other houses or stores in the vicinity. Quertermous, grabbing a small black bag from the back seat, gets out, and holds the door open for Mike. MIKE Where’s my car, B? No, no. QUERTERMOUS “Dude, where’s my car?” MIKE It’s right there, where’s mine? QUERTERMOUS “Dude, where’s my car?” Right. I learn that line from movie. Your car will be gotten on the day you go free. 13. Mike gets out, Quertermous closes the car door. inside the apartment building. A month! MIKE They head QUERTERMOUS Remember, you’re arrest. is yours? MIKE Eighth floor. 8E. Which one INT. URBAN FLOWER TOWERS - MIKE’S APARTMENT - DAY Quertermous opens the door, and gives the key to Mike as they enter. The apartment is spacious, airy, and bare, but there are definite marks on the walls and furniture where items had once been: TVs, stereos, speakers. MIKE They took all my stuff. my stuff. That was QUERTERMOUS What goes around comes back. who’s this? Oh, Prominently displayed in the living area is a massive glass cage, wider than it is high, holding an overly large bunny. Mike reaches in, picks it up, and hugs it tenderly. MIKE That’s my bunny, I’m back, I’m back. I missed you. (beat) Ooo, you stink. I gotta clean out your cage. QUERTERMOUS He is cute. Yes. MIKE She is. QUERTERMOUS What is her name? MIKE She’s my bunny. QUERTERMOUS We’re buddies! 14. MIKE No, you’re my parole officer. QUERTERMOUS But I give you gifts. Here, have a bracelet. MIKE I don’t want a bracelet. Quertermous looks at Mike thoughtfully, and grabs Mike’s face gently in both hands. Right. fine. What? QUERTERMOUS I think your cheekbones are MIKE QUERTERMOUS You’re OK, don’t need a face lift. Mike shakes his face free from Quertermous’ grip. MIKE A bracelet. I don’t need a bracelet. QUERTERMOUS Oh, sure you do. Quertermous opens his black bag. He bends down and straps an ankle monitor about the size and appearance of a wristwatch on Mike’s right ankle, then sets up a beacon device on a table in the center of Mike’s apartment. As Quertermous closes his black bag, he gives Mike instructions. QUERTERMOUS There. I’ve set the beacon for thirty meters. Um, one hundred feet. Your ankle will music if you go outside of it. You have ten seconds, ten, to get back to within one hundred feet. If you do not, it calls me. If you take off the face lift, it calls me. If you bop the beacon, it calls me. It’s got GPS, so no hiding for you. I’ll check in on you ever day, we be buddies. Happy Sunday. Ta ta. 15. Quertermous vanishes out the front door. Mike looks down at his ankle, then looks at the monitor. He sits on his couch. He absentmindedly reaches for his television remote control before realizing that the remotes have all been taken. He leans back and closes his eyes. Mike finds the absolute silence disturbing: he is not used to the complete lack of music or any kind of noise. He concentrates, looking for any sound. After a few moments, he begins to hear faint noises: a ticking wall clock in a neighbor’s apartment, steps on a stairwell. An overriding noise breaks in: a fly, buzzing hopelessly against the window screen, aching for release. He looks at the window and does not see the fly. He closes his eyes, and can hear the buzz, which crescendos to an ear-piercing pitch. He speaks, just to hear something at a natural decibel level. MIKE Hello. It’s me talking. hello, hello... Hello, Mike lets his voice trail off, pretending there’s an echo. Mike looks down despondently and groans, not looking forward to this month at all. He walks into his BEDROOM and throws himself down on the bed. MIKE No. No. It’s too loud. Stop the noise. I can’t handle it. He throws a pillow over his face sarcastically. After a moment, he pulls the pillow back off his face, but nothing has changed. The silence is still oppressive. MIKE I wish I liked to read. I wish I liked knitting. This is gonna suck. “Well, let’s see what Mike-o eats in the kitchen. Anything good, Mike-o?” Hey, B, I don’t know. But you’re my new best bud, so let’s go check it out together, shall we? Mike heaves himself off the bed. 16. APARTMENT As Mike approaches the kitchen, he is arrested by a tiny sound, so faint he never would have heard it before. VOICE (O.S.) Help, help. The two soft words appear to be coming from his feet. He looks down at the ankle bracelet, and shakes his head. VOICE (O.S.) Help, help. The words are almost in a sing-song, without any urgency to them. Mike fears for his own sanity, so he sits down and holds his ankle to his ear. VOICE (O.S.) Help, help. The voice is not coming from his ankle, but from the duct system. He puts his ear next to a floor vent. VOICE (O.S.) Help, help. MIKE You too, huh? Mike stands up and walks over to his bunny. MIKE Wanna eat, Steel? He picks up the bunny and wanders into the kitchen, stroking the rabbit behind the ears absentmindedly. *********************************************** A SECTION OF “EMBRACING PEACE” IS NOT AVAILABLE FOR PREVIEW. PLEASE REQUEST THE FULL SCRIPT. *********************************************** INT. MIKE’S APARTMENT - NIGHT Mike is standing inside his doorway, his hand on the doorknob, looking slightly bored. He is wearing a simple white T-shirt, shorts, ankle bracelet, socks, and sneakers. 17. Quertermous, in uniform, not taking the hint to leave, is acting out a two-person scene, ineptly. QUERTERMOUS (as gangster) If you do not pay me my due, I will twist your nose so hard you will sneeze into your eyeball. (as distraught woman) No, no, no, Mafioso! I pay, I pay! (as gangster) You are so beautiful when begging. (as distraught woman) I am beautiful anyway. My mother says so. (as gangster cum rapster) Yo mamma? Yo mamma so ugly she can make an onion cry! (normal, to Mike) What you think? Mike thinks for a moment, intending to rip Quertermous apart. But he relents. MIKE I think you’re too nice a guy to play a gangster, B. QUERTERMOUS (nods sorrowfully) My priest say so, too. The woman? MIKE I wouldn’t recommend it. QUERTERMOUS Have to make more charactakers. Hey, how about you? Quertermous, emotionally drained from his acting, sits down on the couch. MIKE I don’t act. QUERTERMOUS No, how about you? How you been? MIKE Oh, fine. Bored out of my mind. It gets so... quiet. Last night, I couldn’t even get to sleep again. I always go to sleep to the radio, but I don’t see a radio here. 18. Is good. No. QUERTERMOUS You need peace. MIKE I need my life back. QUERTERMOUS What you did was wrong. MIKE So you say. What’s right, and what’s wrong? I follow my conscience, and I think it’s OK. The store woulda gotten reimbursed. Nobody’s out. Mike opens the front door, indicating for Quertermous to go. Quertermous blithely ignores him. QUERTERMOUS Was that your first time? Yeah. MIKE QUERTERMOUS Then for you there is hope. You say conscience? You follow it? What if it was programmammed wrong? You put bad things in, you get bad things out. MIKE Come on, everyone knows that some things are right and some are wrong. I was in a gray area, and we agree to disagree. No. QUERTERMOUS It takes two to agree. MIKE Then can we agree on getting my laundry done? And getting food? QUERTERMOUS Ah, you cannot reach the laundry room? MIKE It’s in the basement. More than 100 feet away, don’t you think? 19. QUERTERMOUS Give me your laundry. I’ll get it done. And I’ll bring food, but you gotta eat what I bring. Mike gathers up an enormous pile of clothes and dumps them onto Quertermous, whose eyes grow large at the prospect of cleaning the whole pile. He gulps and departs, awkwardly patting Mike on the shoulder. Mike looks around his deserted apartment with disgust. He collapses on his couch, and lays back for a long beat. He looks around the apartment again, this time with sad eyes. INT. MIKE’S APARTMENT - NIGHT (THREE WEEKS LATER) SUPER: “Three weeks later.” Mike is exercising. He is hanging backwards over the back of his couch, legs wrapped over the top. He works his abdominal muscles, pulling his head up off the floor to meet his knees. Again, and again, and again. Mike wears shorts, socks, and sneakers. He is shirtless, showing how fit he has become in just three short weeks of doing exercise. He gazes at his rabbit, sitting quietly on the floor. MIKE Steel, up for more solitaire? Panting, Mike untangles himself from the couch. He gets a pack of cards and deals out a hand of solitaire on the floor. He sets the rabbit on the other side of the cards, facing himself. He plays for a short while. As he is again drifting towards ennui, he hears the tiny voice again. VOICE (O.S.) Help, help. Mike looks up slowly, gets to his feet, and crosses to the floor vent. He puts his ear to it. VOICE (O.S.) Help, help. Mike clenches his jaw and clutches the floor. 20. MIKE (whisper) I can’t help you. here myself. I’m trapped in VOICE (O.S.) Help, help. MIKE Go ask someone else. you. I can’t help VOICE (O.S.) Help, help. Mike looks at the floor, gaining resolution. picks up an empty water glass. MIKE Steel, it’s time to do the right thing. Mike crosses to the door and puts his hand on the knob. He looks down at his ankle bracelet and sucks in his breath. He lets go of the knob, fearful of trying to leave. He steps back from the door, looking at it as though it is electrified. He slowly comes closer and gingerly fingers the doorknob again. He thinks hard, the wheels spinning. He squares his shoulders. He opens the door. Don’t He stands and MIKE I’ll be right back, Steel. eat the couch. INT. URBAN FLOWER TOWERS - 8TH FLOOR HALLWAY Mike steps out of his apartment, 8E, shutting the door behind him. He tiptoes towards the stairwell, about fifty feet down the hallway. Mike continuously glances down at his ankle bracelet, wondering when it will spontaneously ignite. He reaches the door to the eighth floor stairwell, and pushes it open. INT. STAIRWELL - UP ANGLE - CLOSE ON ANKLE BRACELET He puts his right foot over the first step, and his ankle bracelet begins beeping loudly, three times a second. 21. Panicking, he yanks his foot back, and the ankle bracelet stops. ANGLE ON MIKE’S WATCH while he puts out his foot again. He times the beeps. MIKE Three times a second. Ten seconds. I get twenty-nine beeps. MOVING SHOT - MIKE draws a deep breath, and dashes down the stairs, counting the beeps the whole way. He crashes through the seventh floor door. INT. 7TH FLOOR HALLWAY As Mike stumbles a few steps into the hallway, the beeping stops. He breathes in and out, deeply. MIKE Twenty-six. Mike rolls up his socks over the ankle bracelet, barely concealing it. Mike walks down the hallway, listening at each door by putting the glass to the door and his ear to the glass. He comes to 7E, the apartment directly below his own. He puts his glass and ear to the door. At first he hears nothing, and is about to move on. Then, subtly, he hears the muted voice. VOICE (O.S.) Help, help. Mike’s eyes open wide. next to the door. He puts the cup on the floor, just He backs up across the hallway, and runs at the door to smash it down. He hits the door with a terrific collision and falls on the floor. Mike holds his shoulder and moans. Footsteps sound in the apartment. Who is it? VOICE (O.S.) 22. Mike chooses not to run away. Thinking quickly, he scrambles to the foot of the door, out of the peephole’s line of vision. He crouches like a football lineman. MIKE Pheonix Police Department. We have you surrounded. Open the door immediately, or we will break it down. Mike hears the deadbolt sliding back, and the door opens. Without hesitation, he barrels forward into the doorway and tackles the person’s midriff, pounding them both into the floor. INT. PEACE’S APARTMENT Mike looks around him, satisfying himself that the room is empty. He looks down, and realizes that he tackled a girl, whose head is smothered beneath his forearm. PEACE (muffled) Ouch. Get off me! Mike glares down at Peace. MIKE Who you got locked up in here? PEACE (muffled) You’re not the police! What? MIKE PEACE (muffled) You’re not the police! What? MIKE Peace throws Mike’s arm off her face, and speaks clearly. PEACE You’re not the police! Who are you? What...? 23. MIKE Don’t answer a question with a question. Who you got locked up in here? No one. mean. PEACE I don’t know what you Mike looks around for a rope or twine to bind Peace’s hands. Not finding anything handy, he lifts her to his feet, and grasps both her slender wrists in his hand. He walks through the apartment quickly, with Peace stumbling behind him. He finds no one else there, and turns to Peace. MIKE I heard, from this apartment, someone calling for help. Where are they? Peace dissolves into laughter. Mike, still on edge, is unsure of how to react. he lets go of her wrists. Unthinking, Peace, still laughing, walks over to her couch and flings herself into it. PEACE No one was asking for help. singing it. I was Peace points toward her music area: her keyboard is still on, and her computer features some music writing software. PEACE I’m writing a song, but I’m having a little trouble with the refrain. So I’ve been singing it over and over again. Yeah? MIKE How does the refrain go? PEACE (a cappella) HELP, HELP, YOU’RE A THIEF AND WE’RE WORLDS APART HELP, HELP, CAN I HELP THAT YOU’VE STOLEN MY HEART 24. PEACE (CONT'D) (normal) What’dya think? Honestly? Yeah. MIKE PEACE MIKE It’s kinda corny. you with it. How? But I could help PEACE Tackle me a few more times? MIKE Look, I’m sorry. I live upstairs, and I heard... well, sorry. *********************************************** A SECTION OF “EMBRACING PEACE” IS NOT AVAILABLE FOR PREVIEW. PLEASE REQUEST THE FULL SCRIPT. *********************************************** MIKE’S BATHROOM - MONTAGE Mike quickly jumps into the shower. Mike meticulously shaves, somehow finding stray hairs all over his face and neck. He contorts himself dramatically in order to shave the back of his neck. He ponders over aftershaves. He debates over colognes. He plucks one gray hair from his temple. He combs his eyebrows. He brushes his teeth vigorously in all four directions. He lets water from the faucet play over his eyeglasses, then dries them with a soft towel. 25. BEDROOM Mike dresses in a flowing shirt and loafers. He double-checks that the cover the ankle bracelet, even when He checks himself out one last time A knock at the door. APARTMENT Mike sprints to the door, expecting to see Peace again. He opens it as far as the chain will allow, and lets his tongue outpace his brain. MIKE But I was gonna be there in a second! Mike stops, astonished to see Quertermous’ face before him. QUERTERMOUS Going somewhere? You smell. Mike scrambles to let Quertermous in, trying to look nonchalant and innocent. MIKE Just, just across the way, the hall, there’s a little old lady, Mrs. Griffin, who, she, you know, stops up her toilet, all the time, she must be, whoa, but her plunger doesn’t really fit the hole, and she’s not very strong, so I help her do that. Quertermous walks in, beaming. QUERTERMOUS Good, Mike, good! My buddy! See, the quiet has helped you do the right thing. You find your peace already? MIKE I might have. Listen, B, you’ve checked in on me now, you can go if you wanna, I’m headed across anyway. I’ll come. than one. QUERTERMOUS Two plungers are better long pants, socks, and pants are long enough to in a sitting position. in a mirror. 26. MIKE Uh, Mrs. Griffin can be kinda shy. And she’s got this guard dog, nasty Rottweiler. He doesn’t know you. QUERTERMOUS Pets like Rottweilers in apartments? MIKE The landlord’s too scared of it to evict. QUERTERMOUS Oo. OK, Mike. You need more groceries? Yeah. OK. MIKE Almost out of pop tarts. QUERTERMOUS Be good. MIKE (actually meaning it) Hey. Thanks for coming over, B. Gratified, Quertermous smiles so deeply that his eyes disappear in joy. Quertermous leaves, still smiling. Mike waits another beat, then opens his apartment door, looks both ways, and exits, closing the door softly behind him. INT. STAIRWELL Mike pauses at the top of the stairs, listens for a moment to ensure privacy, breathes, and dashes down to the seventh floor. INT. PEACE’S APARTMENT Peace, in her music nook, hears a knock at her door. She saves her computer program, then stands. Straightening her hair as she goes, she crosses to the door and opens it. PEACE Come on in. Mike enters a bit awkwardly, hoping for a make-up hug. turns away and walks towards the music room. Peace 27. PEACE I’d show you around, but I think you already know more about this stuff than I do. Mike examines the computer, taps the keyboard, strums the guitars. MIKE You’ve got great taste. PEACE On a low budget. MIKE You’ve done great. you do a week? How many gigs PEACE None right now. I’m just trying to save up money working, while I come up with the Great American Tune. Oh, yeah? MIKE Where do you work? PEACE The Eye-Talian, over on West Camelback in Glendale. MIKE Sure, I know it. the customers? Do you sing to PEACE What, like “O Solo Mio”? MIKE Or “Irish Eyes Are Smiling”. Get ‘em going. Are you Irish, what kinda name is Hough? PEACE I’m Irish-ish. Bit of Scot. of Brit. Bit MIKE Bit of Brit. I like that. Are your songs that clever? *********************************************** A SECTION OF “EMBRACING PEACE” IS NOT AVAILABLE FOR PREVIEW. PLEASE REQUEST THE FULL SCRIPT. *********************************************** 28. EXT. LUMBER MANOR - ESTABLISHING SHOT - AFTERNOON Lumber Manor is a mammoth big box store, with a parking lot the size of Rhode Island. Customers are pushing their purchases out to their cars in oversized carts piled above their heads. One customer crashes his cart into a small car which is backing out of a parking spot. The car loses the battle. Its rear bumper falls off and the vehicle spins 180 degrees. After the car comes to a stop, both rear tires burst with a blast. INT. LUMBER MANOR Peace is wandering around the giant store, hopelessly confused. She looks wildly at the aisle signs swaying high above her head. A LUMBER MANOR MAN approaches her gallantly. LUMBER MANOR MAN May I help? Yeah. PEACE I’m totally lost. LUMBER MANOR MAN No one is lost in Lumber Manor-Land when the Lumber Manor Man is here! What do you need, young lady? PEACE I’m not sure. I can’t even read this. Dowelling rig? PVA glue? Piano hinges. And a whole bunch of different sizes of woods. LUMBER MANOR MAN What’re you building? PEACE A gateleg table. LUMBER MANOR MAN Ahhhh. Good for you. Then you’ll need stains, too. Come with me, we’ll get you all set. PEACE How much is this gonna cost? 29. LUMBER MANOR MAN All told, all supplies? No more than, oh, seven hundred. PEACE (gasping) Wow! LUMBER MANOR MAN Or... we could go with plywood. Lumber Manor Man knocks on a piece of plywood to emphasize its sturdiness. LUMBER MANOR MAN Cheaper, just as good. Just have to build up its self-esteem. Haha. PEACE No, no, it’s fine. It’s great! Peace and Lumber Manor Man traipse off down the aisles, the Lumber Manor Man jauntily grabbing items off random shelves and airily tossing them in her cart. INT. MIKE’S APARTMENT - AFTERNOON Mike is sitting on his couch, so bored that he is playing with a ziploc bag. He zips the bag. He unzips the bag. He zips the bag. He unzips the bag. A knock at the door. Mike stands up hurriedly. He checks that his ankle bracelet is not showing. He straightens his shirt and pants. Mike crosses to the door, and opens it, beaming with a smile. His face falls. Vibe and Summer stand in the hallway. VIBE Where you been? You didn’t show an hour ago. Were you layin’ low or did you sneak out? MIKE Yeah, Vibe. I sneaked out. With an ankle bracelet on. Sure. I was in the shower, probably. Some of us take a little concern over our hygiene. 30. SUMMER I like that in a man. Both Mike and Vibe give Summer a strange look. VIBE You weren’t in the shower. MIKE I must have been. VIBE You weren’t. MIKE How do you know? Vibe searches in a pocket and holds up a key. A key to Mike’s apartment. Mike grabs for it, but Vibe eludes him. MIKE How the hell do you have my key? You steal it? SUMMER Wouldn’t be the first time. Vibe smiles and gives Summer a kiss. VIBE Yeah, baby. MIKE Give it back, Vibe. Nope. go? VIBE Don’t think so. Where’d you Suddenly Vibe has turned menacing, a part of his character that Mike has not seen before. Mike instinctively retreats into his apartment. MIKE I was across the way, helping Mrs. Griffin unclog her toilet. Vibe does not buy it. VIBE I’ll ask her. 31. Vibe crosses the hallway and knocks on the door. While he is occupied, Summer leans towards Mike and whispers to him seductively. SUMMER You know, Mike, I’m only with Vibe because he’s going someplace. But he’s dumb as a box of rocks. If you decide to make something of yourself, I’ll be here in a heartbeat. We can rock it out. Mike simply looks at her, recoiling from her backstabbing methods. Vibe, receiving no answer from across the hall, returns. VIBE Hmm. We’ll check up on you, later, gator. Meanways, don’t scamper, Damper. SUMMER Love ya later. Vibe and Summer leave down the hallway. Mike closes the door and reels over to his couch. at the ceiling, looking defeated. MIKE He’s got a key. That’s how he did it. I’m so stupid. He looks *********************************************** A SECTION OF “EMBRACING PEACE” IS NOT AVAILABLE FOR PREVIEW. PLEASE REQUEST THE FULL SCRIPT. *********************************************** INT. PEACE’S APARTMENT - THE NEXT DAY (SUNDAY) Peace is cooing at the rabbit in the cage. Mike is sitting on the floor, surrounded by wood and tools. He wears a puzzled expression, and is trying to fit the wood together like a caveman. 32. PEACE You said we’d work on the table together. MIKE We will. I’ll build it, and you can stain it. PEACE I can help put it together. MIKE Listen, by the time I figure it out, it’ll be put together. Why don’t you try writing that song? PEACE Your rabbit is cuter than she was last night. MIKE So are you. Peace stops and looks at Mike. He looks back at her. takes his flirtation and accelerates. PEACE Never call a girl ugly. MIKE I’m not, I’m not. you cute. I was calling She PEACE You said I wasn’t cute last night. MIKE You read into it too much. PEACE We need to work on your compliments. Mike shakes his head, laughing. Peace crosses to the music nook as Mike pulls out an electric drill and starts putting legs and hinges together. PEACE This is great. I’ll take my inspiration from my surroundings. I’m inspired to write a song about a rabbit in the key of Drill. 33. MIKE Run with it. Peace strums her guitar idly while Mike uses a tape measure. *********************************************** A SECTION OF “EMBRACING PEACE” IS NOT AVAILABLE FOR PREVIEW. PLEASE REQUEST THE FULL SCRIPT. *********************************************** Mike takes his courage in his hands. MIKE Would you like to make a great couple? PEACE I would love to make a great couple. Mike leans in towards Peace, aiming for a kiss. Peace closes her eyes, waiting for his lips. Suddenly, she flashes her eyes open and leans back. PEACE No, Mike. I don’t want to kiss right now. Why? MIKE You just said-- PEACE It’d be a kiss without meaning. I want my kisses to mean something. I’ve been kissed before, and they meant all kinds of things, usually that some guy thought I was hot, and that’s it. That’s not what I want. MIKE What do you want? PEACE I want a commitment. MIKE Oh, come on. I’m not ready-No, no. PEACE Just for a week. 34. A week? MIKE PEACE Yeah. Mike, I commit to you, that for a week, I will be faithful to you, and that I will try to learn how to be your best friend, your most caring companion, your shield, and your shoulder to cry on. I commit to that. For a week. Wow. too. MIKE Peace. I can commit to that, PEACE Then say it, Mike. MIKE Um, I’ll be... I don’t remember it. PEACE Then make it up. MIKE I... commit to not leaving you, to being there when you need me. I commit to you for a week. Peace smiles angelically. Mike’s heart pounds out of control, almost beating through his shirt with excitement and satisfaction. They lean in towards each other. Mike takes Peace’s face in his hands, cupping and framing her face like a priceless piece of art. Slowly, inevitably, reverently, he closes the distance between them. He kisses her left eyelid. Their lips meet. Their lips intertwine. Their lips commit. *********************************************** A SECTION OF “EMBRACING PEACE” IS NOT AVAILABLE FOR PREVIEW. PLEASE REQUEST THE FULL SCRIPT. *********************************************** He kisses her right eyelid. 35. INT. HALLWAY Mike walks swiftly down the abandoned corridor towards the stairwell. Just as he approaches the stairwell door, it opens with a terrific bang and scares him nearly out of his shoes. Mike falls to the floor. Vibe and Summer hover above him, laughing at him. VIBE How’s the weather down there? Mike gasps for breath, his nervous system in overload. SUMMER You look like a fish. Vibe and Summer grab Mike under the armpits and drag him down the hallway and back into his apartment. While bent over Mike, Summer bends down and kisses him surreptitiously on the ear. SUMMER (whispers to Mike) Come on, Mike, let’s go, if you wanna. Mike, even as shocked as he is, is able to shoot her a dirty glance and shake his head violently at her. Summer’s face grows ugly. INT. MIKE’S APARTMENT Vibe and Summer dump Mike onto his couch. Summer walks into the kitchen, turns on the tap, fills a water glass. She returns to Mike, who is still gasping. reaches for the glass. She drinks the water. SUMMER (bitterly) Vibe’s going somewhere. VIBE I’m the man with the plan, the dream with the scheme. MIKE The zit with the sh-He 36. VIBE Ih, tit, tit, don’t say it. Here I am, offering you the crime of a lifetime, and you tear me with a swear. Lucky for you I’m thick. MIKE How ’bout that? VIBE Was you knowin’ where you was goin’? Where you runnin’? MIKE I was just taking my hundred feet of exercise. I do it every day. Doc says it’s for cardio. VIBE Hm. We’re getting back on the horse Friday. You get your collar off and your spurs on, bra. We got a warehouse to take down. No. MIKE SUMMER (under her breath) Oh boy. VIBE No? No? After all I’ve done for you, the doors I’ve opened. MIKE As I recall, you ran through an open door and left me. I don’t trust you, I don’t need you, and I’m not robbing anyone else. Oh yeah? VIBE Summer, tempt attempt. Summer sashays over to Mike and practically sits on his lap. She brings her face close to his, and speaks sensually, giving innuendoed meanings to ordinary words. SUMMER It’s like this, Mikey. You’ll like it. A warehouse on West Beltline, just in Maricopa County. They’ve got plasma televisions of every size. 37. SUMMER (CONT'D) Keep ‘em, sell ‘em, do whatever you want with ‘em. Luscious, luscious loot. VIBE Music World was a dump. Poor selection. Good security. SUMMER This warehouse is a midnight rub. MIKE You mean a midnight run? If you’re gonna talk gangster, know what it means. Summer stands up petulantly, giving Mike another dirty look. VIBE I’m giving you one chance to get in on the good stuff, Mike. Hop in with the sin. I’m warnin’ ya. Vibe squeezes his fist tight, pretending that Mike’s neck is in his palm. MIKE No, Vibe. And Steel’s safe now. You can’t kidnap her now. You can’t force me to do it again. I’m doing time because of you, I’ve got a rap sheet now because of you. Now it’s my turn to call the shots, and I’m going to be clean and stay clean. VIBE Aw. And that’s too bad. My “stealing” music was perfect. Vibe hands out magically appearing iPod’s to Summer and Mike, reserving one for himself. He indicates for Mike to put the earpieces in. Mike refuses. Vibe’s composure snaps and he leans over aggressively, shoving the earpieces into Mike’s ears. Mike winces in pain. Vibe gives Mike a dirty look. And. One. VIBE Two. Play. All three press play at the same time, and Aaron Copland’s “Fanfare for the Common Man” plays. Summer looks at Vibe incredulously. 38. SUMMER You’re kidding. VIBE Fanfare for the Common Man. Common Plan. Plan in Common. Man with the Plan. How perfect is this? SUMMER You gotta do better than that. I like it. MIKE Vibe, in a huff, takes back his iPods and jerks his head to the door, an indication for Summer to leave. VIBE (to Mike) You had your shot. Now we’ll play dirty. We can always get in your apartment, take something, and “accidentally” leave it at the warehouse when we leave. You shoulda played along: I’m strong, you’re wrong. Later, loser. Vibe leaves after Summer. Mike looks up at the ceiling and draws another deep breath. He hears the fly buzzing in the kitchen, and looks to it. MIKE I love you, fly. *********************************************** A SECTION OF “EMBRACING PEACE” IS NOT AVAILABLE FOR PREVIEW. PLEASE REQUEST THE FULL SCRIPT. *********************************************** SAME - HALF AN HOUR LATER Peace has changed her clothes into an old work outfit. Mike and Peace are liberally covered in brown streaks. Both Mike and Peace are staining the table contentedly, in peace and quiet. As they brush, they look at each other and smile serenely. 39. SAME - HALF AN HOUR LATER Mike and Peace stroke the last drops of stain onto the newly transformed gateleg table. They take a step back, admiring their handiwork. PEACE It’s beautiful, Mike. Beautiful. He She turns and kisses him full on his brown-stained lips. grabs her around the waist and hoists her in the air. MIKE I’m glad you like it. PEACE Did you ever build anything this wonderful with your dad? Mike’s face falls, and he gently puts Peace back on the ground. MIKE You’re not gonna let this go, are you? No. PEACE MIKE Fine. Give me your phone, give ‘em a call. I’ll set date. Not because I wanna Because I lov... because I make you happy. I’ll up your see ‘em. wanna PEACE Were you about to say something else, there? Mike contorts his face and tries to look at his own mouth. He is genuinely surprised. MIKE I... I think so. I think my mouth wanted to say that it loves you. PEACE Oh, well, if that’s it. Well, I love your mouth, too. But you, that’s totally different. They laugh. 40. MIKE We’d better get cleaned up. I’ll head downstairs. I’ll see you later. PEACE Thanks, Mike. They gaze at each other with ever-new eyes. Mike leaves, walking backwards, unwilling to break the spell. *********************************************** A SECTION OF “EMBRACING PEACE” IS NOT AVAILABLE FOR PREVIEW. PLEASE REQUEST THE FULL SCRIPT. *********************************************** INT. MIKE’S APARTMENT - MORNING - TWO DAYS LATER (WEDNESDAY) Sitting on his couch, Mike is looking closely at his fingernails, inspecting every nook and cranny of them. As the minutes drag on, he extends his fingers and moves his gaze to the cuticles, and then to each knuckle. Peace, carrying her plastic Lumber Manor bag, silently slides in the unlocked door and stares at him. She breaks the silence. PEACE Is this how you pass your time? MIKE Look, look. Mike points to the large knuckle on his left ring finger. MIKE The more wrinkles there are on the knuckle, the more it looks like a face. Look. I can make him talk. Peace closes the door. PEACE Oh, it’s a him. MIKE It’s my knuckle. 41. PEACE You have way too much time on your hands. MIKE No, just little men. Peace suppresses her desire to laugh at him. PEACE I can’t see it at all, I’m sorry. Here’s your deadbolt. MIKE Awesome, thanks. getting worn. The old one was Peace places the bag on Mike’s kitchen counter. PEACE (beat) I need to tell you something, Mike. Uh oh. Peace nods. MIKE Should I try to guess it? Peace shakes her head. PEACE It’s Steel. I thought I was taking care of her all right, food, water, but I guess I’m not... she’s... when I woke up this morning, she didn’t. MIKE Oh, no, no, no, no. Mike sobs audibly, and looks again at his hands. Peace moves over to him, inviting him to put his head on her shoulder. He does, not crying but choking. MIKE Steel was my best... before I met you she was the only one... for eleven years... she’s what got me through... MIKE It’s bad news, huh? 42. PEACE There, there, there. sorry. Mike begins to calm. I know. I’m He wipes his eyes and nose. MIKE Don’t be sorry, I’m sure it’s not your fault. She lived longer than most bunnies do, anyway. It’s just... she was important to me, you know. I know. PEACE MIKE I guess I’m not a kid anymore. PEACE I guess not. They hug for another moment. MIKE Thanks for telling me. PEACE Why wouldn’t I tell you? MIKE I don’t know, do something dumb like go out and buy another one and hope I wouldn’t notice. PEACE Oh, is it too late to do that? MIKE You’d probably come back with a ferret. Ugh. PEACE No, I wouldn’t. There is a noise at the door, as though someone is trying the handle from outside. Mike shoots a glance towards the door and flings his arm out protectively over Peace. Mike looks around vainly for a weapon. He picks up a couch cushion, being the nearest handy item, and crouches in a throwing position. The door opens. 43. Quertermous walks in, leaving the door open behind him. is, for the first time, not in uniform. He wears a ridiculously garish hawaiian shirt. Hi, buddy. QUERTERMOUS Oh, ah, hello! He Mike relaxes visibly, and replaces the cushion on the couch. MIKE B, you scared us to death. Peace gives Mike a strange look, confused by his seeming overreaction. She was not scared in the least. Oops. life? QUERTERMOUS Maybe I can give the kiss of MIKE I’m OK now. QUERTERMOUS No, no, to her. They laugh. MIKE Oh, man, you guys don’t know each other, do you? B, this is Peace Hough, she lives downstairs. Peace, B. Quertermous, my... a good friend. PEACE Hi, B. Quertermous. Hi. QUERTERMOUS Mike and I are buddies. MIKE Yes, we are. PEACE How do you two know each other? We-QUERTERMOUS MIKE We met about a month ago, through work. B is a great pal. 44. MIKE (CONT'D) He would take the shirt off his back for you. But not here. And, preferably not that shirt. They laugh. QUERTERMOUS This shirt holds hope for me. I want to be Actor. When I make millions, I will find Hawaii, and Hawaii will find Quertermous. An actor? now? Uh oh. PEACE Can you do something MIKE QUERTERMOUS Why, sure! My latest. My geriatric Superman. (as old man) Lois, I think I misplaced my teeth. (as old woman) But you’re Superman, use your gums. (as old man) I’m Superman, I don’t need any guns. (as old woman) You have the runs? Here, here, eat a banana, eat some fiber. (as old man) Fire? Fire? Quertermous blows vigorously, imitating a fire extinguisher. QUERTERMOUS (as old woman) God bless you. Mike and Peace both laugh at Quertermous’ pitiful attempt at acting. PEACE Well, if you want to be an actor, what do you do now? QUERTERMOUS I’m an officer. PEACE Like a loan officer? 45. QUERTERMOUS I guess Mike’s on loan, yes. MIKE Thanks for dropping by, B. (whispers to Quertermous) B, a little privacy in here, just for a while, you know. OK. QUERTERMOUS (whispers to Mike) You can ask, yah. I need to know what you are going to do with it. Before Mike can reply, Vibe and Summer walk in the open door. Mike is shocked, speechless, unable to handle the pressure of balancing his lies with this disparate company. VIBE Whoa, a party? Mike, don’t spite us, invite us. QUERTERMOUS More buddies! Hello. PEACE VIBE Introduce us, Mike. piece of love? Mike shakes himself to action. Who’s this MIKE This is Peace. Peace, this is Norgaard and Summer. Norgaard? SUMMER VIBE (bitter) Miiiike. You... (calms) The name’s Vibe. Vibration. Norgaard? PEACE I’m Vibe, as in MIKE His momma’s from Sweden. through work, too. We met Peace indicates Vibe and Quertermous. 46. PEACE Oh, then you two must know each other already. No. QUERTERMOUS Hi, Nurgurd. VIBE QUERTERMOUS VIBE It’s Vibe. Neurgourb. It’s Vibe. QUERTERMOUS Northgerge. Vibe turns away in disgust. VIBE It’s a crime to be Swedish? SUMMER (to Mike) So who’s this Peace? MIKE She lives here in the building. PEACE We’ve been going out... MIKE (hissing to Peace) No, no. PEACE ... for a while. Summer’s eyebrows go up and her eyes fill up her face in fury. Oh, yeah? SUMMER QUERTERMOUS (to Summer) Hey, you look like bush baby. SUMMER (to Peace) How well do you know... Mike? 47. Summer shoots Mike evil glances, and Peace is at a loss to understand why. PEACE We’re getting to know each other very well. Were you ever involved? MIKE Summer’s just our local Cupid Committee over here. She’s like a matchmaker, wants to know what’s going on. Mike tries to forcibly shove Summer and Vibe out into the hallway. He pushes Summer slightly off balance. Summer reaches out to break her fall and catches her hand on Mike’s right leg. As she rights herself, Mike’s pant leg rides up, exposing the ankle bracelet. SUMMER (to Peace) I’m sure you’ve seen this bad boy. Peace looks down at the bracelet. PEACE (to Mike) Why’re you wearing a watch on your foot? A watch. VIBE Oh man, oh man. Vibe bursts out guffawing. Quertermous looks confused, Summer triumphant, Mike deflated. PEACE What is this? I don’t get it, Mike. Mike is speechless. He tries to forms words to help Peace understand, but he is crushed under the weight of his lies. SUMMER Let me help you understand. Heap Great Lover here, you probably think he’s like the greatest thing since tomato paste. Like you’re living in a chick flick. He’s a con, dummy. He’s been under arrest for almost a month now. House arrest. Ever wonder why he never goes to work? 48. SUMMER (CONT'D) ‘Cause he robbed his own store, that’s why. He’s a thief. Mike grits his teeth, hearing the justice and injustice of the words at the same time. Peace’s emotions are on a roller coaster, trying to make sense of the situation. *********************************************** A SECTION OF “EMBRACING PEACE” IS NOT AVAILABLE FOR PREVIEW. PLEASE REQUEST THE FULL SCRIPT. *********************************************** INT. MIKE’S APARTMENT - THE NEXT DAY ... VIBE But I thought you’d just jump at the chance to hear my new “stealing” music. Mike shakes his head, frustrated at Vibe’s indifference to his predicament. VIBE (beat) Your girl Peace will be there. Mike looks up sharply. MIKE What’dya mean? VIBE I mean she’ll be there. MIKE You’re a liar. VIBE She’ll be all tangled up in her work, jerk. MIKE What’re you talking about? 49. VIBE Your Peace is mine. I have her. You help us, or... we’ll come up with something fun for her. Mike’s mouth falls open in horror. VIBE What? Oh, you’re like, “He took my bunny, now he took my honey.” Yeah. I’m that good. We’ll be at the All American Music Supply warehouse at 2. We’ll take out the guards. You be there at 2, or your girl... Vibe shrugs, self-consciously imitating television mafiosos. MIKE I can’t. Quertermous won’t be here till 3 to take off my bracelet. VIBE Think of something. Later, gator. They As Vibe and Summer leave, Vibe replaces his earpieces. close the door behind them with a slam. Mike puts his head in his hands, trying to decide what to do. He looks at the wall clock in the kitchen, which reads 12:30. He looks out the kitchen window, to the parking lot below. His parking spot, with “8E” stenciled on the pavement, is still empty. SAME - ONE HOUR LATER Mike still has his head in his hands. 1:30. The wall clock reads Mike sits up, tapping his hands together, actively thinking. He stands and walks to the kitchen window again, looking down at the parking lot. His old car is being put back in the parking spot by a tow truck. He glances at the clock, nods, and grabs his car keys. He strides purposefully out into the hallway. INT. 8TH FLOOR HALLWAY As Mike is headed to the stairwell, a door behind him opens. 50. MRS. GRIFFIN (70s), from 8F across the hall from his own apartment, toddles out into the hall. MRS. GRIFFIN Hey, there, Mike fella. Mike stops in his tracks, and does not turn around. MIKE Hi, Mrs. Griffin. MRS. GRIFFIN Um, Mike, would you be a dear and help me with a... little plumbing problem? MIKE Can it wait for about an hour? MRS. GRIFFIN Um, no, dear. I just wanted to use it again but, ooo, the stinkiness just took my breath right away. Mike turns to face her, desperate to get away. MIKE Look, Mrs. Griffin, I really, really need to leave right now. Hey, you can use my bathroom-MRS. GRIFFIN Oh, I don’t think so, dear. I’m very partial to the height of my bowl. You know, it’s just at my knees, right behind, and it’s so comfortable when I’m sitting down and getting back up again. That’s why nice old Mr. Hungerford next door installed a television set in the bathroom for me, because it’s just so comfortable, you know. Homey. If you’d be a dear. Mrs. Griffin motions for Mike to enter. Mike rolls his eyes with frustration and practically runs into her apartment. 51. INT. MRS. GRIFFIN’S BATHROOM Mike is frantically plunging Mrs. Griffin’s toilet, with violent short strokes. Mrs. Griffin provides a running commentary. MRS. GRIFFIN You youngsters are always in such a hurry, you know. Always got a cell phone to your ear, or hippityhopping down the street with your new, dare I say, music. When I was young, we danced at dances, not like this rubbing and jumping that you youngsters think are fun. I, I just don’t know what the world is coming to. Oh, be careful, dear, you’re splashing all over my nice floor. MIKE It’s tile, Mrs. Griffin. clean easy. It’ll MRS. GRIFFIN Oh, the tile, sure, dear. It’s the grout, you know. “Once you get those tiny germies and bacterias in the grout, you can never get them out,” that’s what my late husband always used to say. He’s right, you know. You can scrub and scrub and scrub with a toothbrush, but those little darlings hide in the cracks and wait until you walk in barefoot. Ah, then-Mike abruptly finishes his plunging and flushes the toilet. The noise of the flushing causes Mrs. Griffin to recoil. MRS. GRIFFIN Ooo, my hearing aid. You should have warned me, dear. I need to turn it down. MIKE All done, Mrs. Griffin. Have fun. MRS. GRIFFIN Oh, do be a dear and turn the television on to Channel 49 before you go. That’s my favorite bathroom channel. 52. Mike, embarrassed and anxious, flicks on the TV and races out of the apartment. MRS. GRIFFIN (calling out) Thank you, dear! (to herself) Always in a hurry. Mrs. Griffin shuts the bathroom door. INT. 8TH FLOOR HALLWAY Mike rockets down the hall to the stairwell. INT. STAIRWELL Without pausing, Mike races down the stairs, his ankle bracelet beeping the whole way. Floor after floor he plummets, all the way to the ground floor. He crashes through the exit door. *********************************************** A SECTION OF “EMBRACING PEACE” IS NOT AVAILABLE FOR PREVIEW. PLEASE REQUEST THE FULL SCRIPT. *********************************************** EXT. WAREHOUSE - REAR PARKING LOT Mike pulls his car up next to Vibe’s. Summer, head moving to her music, ignores him completely. Mike gets out of his car. Vibe shouts over the noise of the music in his head, being incongruously loud in the silent parking lot. Hey, Mike. VIBE Good call. Here. Vibe tosses Mike an iPod. Mike is startled and grateful that Vibe and Summer have not noticed the obnoxious beep from his ankle bracelet, because their earpieces are turned up so loud. Mike dons his earpieces and presses play. A strongly beated Ocean’s 11-type instrumental greets his ears. 53. MIKE (dramatically mouthing) Where’s Peace? Vibe motions for him to calm down, and gives him the “OK” sign with both hands, gesturing for Mike to follow him. Vibe walks into the warehouse through a rear door, and Mike follows him. INT. WAREHOUSE The warehouse is well lit and unoccupied. Stacks of crates and boxes lie in a semi-organized fashion all over the warehouse floor. Vibe throws out both hands in a conquering, possessive gesture. Mike scratches his head in disgust. Vibe points to a stack of Blu-ray players in massive shipping boxes. Between them, they manage to lift one and begin staggering towards the exit. INT. VIBE’S CAR - TRUNK Peace puts her arms together, and the rope coil practically falls off by itself because of the extra room that she caused in the loops. She wriggles her arms free. Peace does the same thing with her legs. tape off her mouth. She pulls the duct Peace looks up at the inside of the trunk door, and sees a small glow-in-the-dark lever. Boldly, she pulls on the lever, and the trunk opens easily. Smiling at her easy good fortune, Peace climbs out of the trunk. INT. WAREHOUSE The box is too heavy for Mike to continue to lift, and he signals Vibe to put it down. They set it on the ground with grunts. Mike yells over the sounds in their heads. MIKE How’re you gonna get these in your car? 54. What? VIBE MIKE It won’t fit in your car! Vibe is struck dumb. His perfect plan has been shattered. He looks around wildly for a solution, and his gaze alights on a large yellow fork lift truck. EXT. WAREHOUSE - REAR PARKING LOT Summer, listening to her music, has her back to the car and to Peace. Peace looks around for a weapon to use on Summer, and picks up the thick rope that Vibe had used to tie her up. Peace ties a large knot at the end of one of the ropes, and swings it over her head, gaining speed and momentum. She slowly approaches Summer, planning to bean Summer on the head. Peace goes into her final windup, but she lets too much rope slide through her hands and the rope ends up smashing out one of the car windows instead of knocking Summer unconscious. The noise of the smash is loud enough to cause Summer to turn around. Summer sees Peace and lets out an uncharacteristically Amazon war whoop. Summer leaps at Peace and brings her to the ground. EXT. WAREHOUSE - FRONT PARKING LOT Quertermous, in uniform and talking on a cell phone, drives up to the warehouse with his windows rolled down. He stops the car and shifts into park. QUERTERMOUS (into cell phone) Yah, OK, I am here, but I am the only car here... Maybe you need to zoom in more... No... parking lot. Yah, in big letters: All American Moosic Supply. I tell you, I do not see him... No, I’m not wearing sunglasses... Oh, there’s another lot? I tell you, I tell you, see, I knew it. Where?... To left? 55. Quertermous drives around the warehouse to the rear parking lot. EXT. WAREHOUSE - REAR PARKING LOT Quertermous pulls into the parking lot, and hears scrabbling, fighting, and caterwauls. He pokes his head out of the car, trying to determine the location of the noise. He gets out of the car. He does not have a gun, but he holds his heavy black Maglite flashlight in both hands like a sawedoff shotgun. He advances slowly towards Vibe’s car. PEACE AND SUMMER are wrestling on the other side of the car. QUERTERMOUS rounds the car and sees them. He stands still for a beat, shocked by the view but enjoying it at the same time. Quertermous stirs to action and advances on them, thrusting his flashlight at them threateningly. OK. OK. QUERTERMOUS Stop now. Peace looks up at his arrival. Summer, still being blasted by her music, does not hear him. Summer whacks Peace in the head with the rope in that split-second of inactivity. Peace drops to the ground, momentarily senseless. Quertermous, unsure of which combatant is in the right, turns his attention solely on Summer. QUERTERMOUS Drop the rope there. Summer understands his meaning and puts the rope on the ground. She decides to use her feminine wiles on Quertermous and sashays over to him. SUMMER Ooo, thank you, Officer. I don’t know what she was all upset about, but you came just in time. QUERTERMOUS Aiming to please. 56. What? SUMMER Summer takes her earpiece out and leans towards him. Quertermous, seeing her off balance, raises his flashlight and strikes her on the head. Summer, knocked unconscious, falls to the ground next to Peace. Quertermous rubs his chin in consternation. He searches Vibe’s car and trunk quickly to find any trace of Mike. While doing so, he flips open his cell phone and dials a number. QUERTERMOUS (to cell phone) Yah. Back me down. Something’s going up. Not finding anything in the car, Quertermous turns his attention on the warehouse. INT. WAREHOUSE Vibe and Mike have managed to balance a palette on the fork lift, and have stacked dozens of heavy boxes on it. Vibe signals to Mike to stop loading. VIBE I’ll see how much junk we can put in the trunk! Mike nods. VIBE’S POV Through the window in the door, Vibe sees the uniformed Quertermous approaching the building. BACK TO SCENE Vibe almost falls down in his haste to get back to the fork lift. MIKE What’s going on? Vibe points to the ceiling frantically. When Mike looks up, Vibe punches him hard in the stomach. Mike folds in two and crashes to the ground. The iPod falls out of his pocket, pulling his earpieces to the ground as well. Vibe walks to the rear door. 57. Vibe steps over Mike and climbs up into the fork lift. keys are still in the ignition. He fires up the front loader, and shifts it into gear. Vibe rolls toward the front of the warehouse. QUERTERMOUS The comes in the back door and sees Mike lying on the ground. rushes over to him. QUERTERMOUS Mike-o, Mike-o, bad buddy. Stealing again, you break my heart! Mike grunts himself into a sitting position. MIKE Not what it seems like, B. trying to stop these guys. why I called you. QUERTERMOUS You call me? Ohhhhhhhh. Quertermous looks down at Mike’s beeping bracelet and immediately understands Mike’s plan. QUERTERMOUS Then what now? MIKE I’ll take Vibe. I’m That’s He Mike points at the fork lift, merrily ripping its way through the thin aluminum warehouse wall. MIKE I need you to find Peace. Quertermous closes his eyes and puts his hands together. hums softly. All right. QUERTERMOUS He MIKE No, not that. Peace Hough, from 7E, remember? They kidnapped her. I don’t know where she is. 58. QUERTERMOUS Oh, her? She’s outside. I think I hit her. Maybe it was the other one. I forget. MIKE Wait, there’s two girls out there? Yah. QUERTERMOUS MIKE Describe them. Hurry. QUERTERMOUS One is very pretty. She wears hardly any clothes. MIKE That’s Summer. You need to arrest her. QUERTERMOUS The other one is prettier. unconscious. MIKE That’s probably Peace. she’s all right. Quertermous clasps Mike’s hands. OK, buddy. QUERTERMOUS But Make sure Quertermous rises, and runs towards the exit. Mike staggers to his feet and pursues the fork lift on foot. EXT. WAREHOUSE - FRONT PARKING LOT The fork lift is rumbling along at a top speed of 14 mph, and Mike is straining with every muscle to catch up with it. The front loader pulls out onto West Beltline Road. Vibe cuts a ridiculously comic figure, inching along the road with traffic backing up behind him. EXT. WEST BELTLINE ROAD Mike pulls within grabbing distance of the back end. swings himself onto the fork lift, exhausted. He 59. Vibe turns around and takes the advantage, swinging his fist at Mike’s midsection again. Mike dodges the blow, but falls off the fork lift. The car behind him slams on the brakes, narrowly avoiding running over Mike. Mike lands on all fours and sprints after Vibe again. EXT. WAREHOUSE - REAR PARKING LOT Quertermous returns to the unconscious girls. He looks closely at them, identifying them. He sees the thick rope lying on the ground, and picks it up. Behind him, Summer wakes and staggers to her feet. Quertermous, hefting the rope, swings it like a lasso to test its weight. The heavy knot on the end of the rope catches Summer under the chin like an uppercut punch. She loses consciousness again and flops back down. Quertermous, unaware of his knockout blow, turns around and binds Summer tightly. He goes to Peace and lightly pats her awake. It’s OK. QUERTERMOUS I’m your hero. Peace remains disoriented. EXT. WEST BELTLINE ROAD Mike jumps back aboard the fork lift. Vibe turns to him with a sigh of frustration, and gives him a devastating blow to the side of the head. Vibe’s fingers catch inside the frames of Mike’s eyeglasses, pulling them off Mike’s face. Vibe holds the glasses for a beat, then flicks them behind him carelessly. MIKE’S EYEGLASSES fly through the air and land on the road. The first car behind the fork lift crushes them into dust. VIBE laughs at Mike’s blinded expression. 60. VIBE You’re an idiot, schmidiot! Mike gropes around the fork lift, searching for his glasses while holding his head. Vibe jerks his thumb at the car behind them. VIBE Your specs are wrecks, man. Mike shakes his head sadly. MIKE I guess you win, Vibe. What? VIBE Mike motions to his ear, asking Vibe to remove his earpiece. Vibe does. MIKE I said I guess you win, Vibe. tell me where Peace is. Just VIBE If I win, I don’t have to tell you nothin’. Mike looks at Vibe sadly, focusing perfectly on Vibe’s face. Mike’s right arm blazes across Vibe’s face. forward over the steering wheel. Vibe falls Vibe tries to recover and hit Mike back, but Mike, with the advantage, easily parries his blow and hits Vibe with a karate chop across the side of the throat. Vibe drops like a ton of bricks. Mike drags Vibe out from behind the steering wheel and takes the drivers seat for himself. He awkwardly changes lanes and turns the fork lift around amid the congested traffic, heading back to the warehouse. The drivers in the cars behind him cheer. As they near the warehouse once again, Vibe groggily begins to look around. VIBE What the... you’re blind without the glasses, man. 61. Mike triumphantly points at his eyes. MIKE 1-800-Contacts. CLOSE ON SMASHED GLASSES ON ROAD There are no crushed crystals on the road, since there were no lenses in the glasses. EXT. WAREHOUSE - REAR PARKING LOT - FIFTEEN MINUTES LATER Peace, awake, is still on the ground behind Vibe’s car. Mike is by her side, holding her hands. In front of Vibe’s car, Quertermous stands guard over his trussed prisoners, Vibe and Summer. A couple of squad cars arrive. The policemen jump out and take Vibe and Summer from Quertermous, reading the prisoners their rights. PEACE (to Mike) I believe you’re committed to me, Mike. MIKE I believe you owe me one. They laugh. Peace touches a particularly painful bruise on her forehead and winces. MIKE There’s one thing my Mum always said that she got right. What? PEACE MIKE “I’ll kiss it and make it better.” Mike kisses her bruise, and works his way behind her, sitting on the ground. She leans back into him, and he softly massages her painful shoulders. Quertermous comes around the car, and points to Mike’s ankle. QUERTERMOUS You have any use for that? 62. MIKE I have no more use for that. Quertermous smiles, bends down, and removes the beeping ankle bracelet. He does something to the device, and the incessant noise stops. The quiet is palpable, and reassuring. PEACE (double beat) Blessed silence. MIKE B, you’ve been great. for everything. PEACE Yeah, B. Quertermous. Quertermous blushes. QUERTERMOUS When I am in Hollywood, I will remember you, buddy. MIKE I don’t think you should go to Hollywood. Quertermous’ face falls, stricken. MIKE You were born to be a parole officer. Buddy. Quertermous’ expression transforms into a look of beaming joy. He bends down, and hugs Mike and Peace. Thank you Yeah. *********************************************** A SECTION OF “EMBRACING PEACE” IS NOT AVAILABLE FOR PREVIEW. PLEASE REQUEST THE FULL SCRIPT. *********************************************** THE END