BACKALLEY STRUT - EPISODE 3 By William Brian McCanless, II

William Brian McCanless, II Savannah, Georgia 404.514.7825 William@BitsyWords.com

FADE IN: INT. BOSSS BAR - DAY We see Orleans from a Worms Eye View looking down. He holds a gun by his side and stares motionless. He seems sad, but not regretful. Almost disappointed instead. CUT TO: POV behind Orleans head. Now we see what he was looking at -- Joe, dead on the floor, his back up against the jukebox lying in a pool of blood. All is silence. PAN TO: We see the Barmaid now. She looks horrified and is slowly, quietly backing up towards something. She feels around with her hand to find a phone hanging on the wall. Orleans stands in the corner still staring. The Barmaid struggles to keep an eye on Orleans while also glancing back to slowly push the buttons on the phone. CUT TO: CLOSE UP of Orleans. He looks towards the camera and narrows his eyes. He sees the Barmaid. CUT TO: INT. EDWARDS OFFICE - DAY EDWARD, the infamous "Boss Man" as so many of his employees refer to him throughout our whiskey-laden story, sits at his desk going over a spread sheet document. In his early thirties, Edward is a handsome, chiseled man. He is tall and skinny, but toned. His hair is long and his eyes rather narrow. Youd think he was the devil about to give you a good deal on some smack. His cell phone begins vibrating on the desk next to him. He picks it up. Before he can speak a word he hears screams. BARMAID (OS) No! No! Get away! The line goes dead. CUT TO:

2.

INT. ELEVATOR - DAY Mark and Petty are in an elevator. They stand solemnly in silence staring straight ahead. A corny pop song that weve heard a billion times begins playing over the radio. PETTY I hate this fucking song. MARK What? Really? I love it. PETTY ...You would. MARK Whats that supposed to mean? DING. The doors open Mark and Petty step out. INT. ELEVATOR HALLWAY - DAY The two hooligans walk down the long, narrow hallway. The dimly lit disaster seems as though its about to lead to a SAW dungeon where they have to "play a game", but really its just the highest point on a luxurious building, but was never renovated like the rest of the structure. Bare bulbs hang down from the ceiling, swaying slowly with every step. Shadows are cast on the walls -- illuminating the monsters inside. They reach the end. There is a door. Petty turns the knob. The door opens. Welcome to the lions den. INT. EDWARDS OFFICE - DAY Mark and Petty step into the office. They immediately take on an air of humility. Edward sits there at his gigantic mahogany wood desk. Hes not a lone. Alexia stands behind him in a beautiful, but simple dress, looming strongly and silently. Her gaze is overpowering, like a cat. EDWARD What the hell happened over at the bar? PETTY (Confused) You mean with Joe?

(CONTINUED)

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EDWARD I dont know, you tell me. I just got a call from the barmaid and she started screaming then the line went dead. When I tried to call back there was nothing. MARK We were just there nothing was going on. Joe told us about Orleans and said you wanted to see us. EDWARD I need you guys to go back down there and find out what happened right now. PETTY Well do that boss. EDWARD If any body is fucking with my establishment I want you to drop them on the spot. No meandering crack heads should be able to break into my spot and cause any trouble. We cant have anybody in the neighborhood thinking thats acceptable. PETTY Understood. EDWARD Get on it. Edward gets up without a word and walks into a door on the other half of the room. Alexia - a woman whos place in this story seems important although she, at the moment, resembles more of a whimsical fantasy siren than anything tangible nonchalantly takes a post-it-note off of Edwards desk. She quickly jots something down, the expensive black pen showing itself much wider than her slender fingers as she scribbles. Petty does not move. He watches, devoid of emotion. PETTY (In a low voice to Mark) Wait for me in the lobby. Ill be there in a minute. Mark doesnt question. He just does what hes told. He leaves, closing the door quietly behind him.

(CONTINUED)

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Alexia walks commandingly and with inherent royalty over to Petty. She presses herself against him, her mouth near his ear. An inaudible whisper. Their hands touch. And, just like a typical drug exchange on the street, Pettys hand now holds the paper that Alexia scribbled on. Without looking, Petty slips the paper into his pocket. His countenance remains consistent, but he nods to Alexia with the mutual secret that we as an audience do not yet grasp. A toilet is heard flushing from behind the door in which Edward previously entered. The doorknob begins to turn. Alexia casually returns to her place, standing in perpetual prowess as if a living marble statue from Romes glory days placed oddly in front of a bland brick-laden backdrop - Alexia with her piercing eyes. If only we could know more. Edward walks out of the door drying his hands with a small towel. He tosses it on the bathrooms rack behind him. The door is left open, but the light he switches off. EDWARD What are you still doing here? Get down to the goddamn bar, now! PETTY Sorry, I thought you had more to tell me. EDWARD I dont. Petty leaves. CUT TO: INT. LOBBY - DAY Petty gets out of the elevator. Hes back to his old self now. Mark is waiting near the front street entrance of the lobby. It seems theyre in some sort of condo styled office building. Perhaps even a resort hotel. Its tough to tell. MARK What happened? PETTY Lazarus done rose from the dead. Petty starts walking toward the exit. Mark quickly waddles after him like some sort of disproportional fat kid with facial hair and stubby legs. Petty takes out his gun whilst walking. He loads a clip in plain view. However, he does it so smoothly that no one seems the wiser. He tucks the gun back into his shoulder holster. He covers up with his blazer (CONTINUED)

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just in time to breeze through the turnstile and out into the afternoon sun and city hustle. Mark pathetically manages to keep pace with the taller, lankier Petty, but his rosy cheeks testify that it is no simple task. The doors close and from the inside of the lobby we see them turn down the sidewalk and disappear into the crowd of pedestrians who will never know what kind of tragic underground love story is unfurling beneath their busy feet and Starbucks infused souls.