THE ART OF PEER PRESSURE by Jack King

Based on GOOD KID, M.A.A.D CITY by Kendrick Lamar

INT. RUNDOWN HOUSE - DAY. We open on a close up of a pair of washed-out eyes. They pierce through the camera lens with a thousand-yard stare. Pull back to reveal a baby-faced African-American youth wearing a baggy black hoodie. Hes leant forward on his knees, his mouth gaped open. His lower lip is busted and horribly swollen. The room surrounding him is a blur. Sound is murky and barely audible. We pull further and further away... O/S VOICE #1 ...pass Dot the bottle, damn! You aint the one that got messed up... The voice is clouded, distorted, almost dream-like. O/S VOICE #1 (contd) ...always actin unsensitive n shit... As Dot starts to focus, the voice becomes clearer. O/S VOICE #2 Nigga, that aint no word! O/S VOICE #1 Nigga, shut up! Our sound and picture becomes crystal-clear as DOT snaps back to reality. An older, toned African-American youth DAVE [late teens] - leans towards him, offering him a forty-ounce bottle of liquor. DAVE Hey, K.Dot, you good man?

K.DOT looks up to the bottle, his eyes still washed over and hazy. Almost out of habit, he grabs the forty-ounce and gulps down a shot. As K.Dot leans back with the bottle, we pan around the dimly-lit room. The room is small, bare and simple, almost like a rugged college dorm. Posters of various hip-hop musicians - Tupac, Jeezy, MC Eiht et al - are pinned on the off-colour white walls.

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With K.Dot are three other AFRICAN AMERICAN YOUTHS, rough-looking gangsta types. They drink liquor, pass around a blunt. DAVE and JERMANE, brothers, are in the middle of a game using dominoes. LUCAS is kicked back on a worn-out looking couch. If K.Dot wasnt so roughed up, hed look terribly out of place. LUCAS (To K.Dot.) They niggas got some damn nerve, stompin on you like that... K.Dot still has a washed out, melancholy visage. Weakly, he leans up and nods. K.DOT Yeah man, its fucked up, but it happens... Dave leans over, looking concerned. DAVE Dont even trip. Just lay back and drink that. JERMANE We needa roll up get our nines and (Mimicking a Doof, doof doof! doof! on they niggas, be all like... pistol.) Doof doof doof

LUCAS Yeah man, I mean, how it they concern that Dot wanna fuck Sherane? The three of them laugh together. K.Dot still barely recognises anything. JERMANE Hey man, she prime pussy... Lucas makes an over the top cowgirl riding motion over his crotch. LUCAS They probably wanna fuck her theyselves, you know what I talkin about?

(CONTINUED)

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Lucas and Jermane have tears in their eyes. Dave chuckles but looks disgusted. DAVE Nigga come on, that they sister... Jermane, holding in his jolly, leans towards Dave with a wide grin. JERMANE Exactly. They look to each other. Suddenly, they all explode with gut-bursting laughter. DAVE Aw man, you disgusting, you know it? Dave looks over to K.Dot, wiping tears from his eyes. DAVE (contd) Hey Dot, you good? CLOSE UP: of K.Dots face, still painted with a grim visage. We move back towards his eyes, the gateway to his story so far... CUT TO BLACK. TEXT: THE ART OF PEER PRESSURE. 2 INT. WHITE TOYOTA - ROSECRANS AVE. - EARLIER THAT DAY. We open on a mid shot of K.Dot relaxed in the back seat of Jermanes Toyota, parked outside LOUIS BURGERS, a fast-food restaurant. K.Dot looks in significantly better shape. Hes with Jermane and Lucas, having just finished a freestyle. JERMANE ...I aint fuckin wit you here nigga, you gonna make it big. K.Dot grins and holds up his hands, humbled by Jermanes compliment. K.DOT Hey man, you overpraisin me right now... 2

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LUCAS There our nigga be wit his big words n shit! Lucas slaps his own knee and laughs. K.Dot grins at them reservedly. K.DOT Aw no, they aint much... JERMANE Seriously... (He leans in.) Nigga, you gonna go right to the top. You gonna get out o that nasty-ass apartment you live in wit your moms -K.DOT And dad. JERMANE Whatever fool, I tryin to be nice here -- anyway, what I tryin to say is, you goin places. K.Dot stares at Jermane, a reticent grin on his face. Hes shocked by the sudden flurry of compliments. JERMANE (contd) I want you to remember these words man... and you know, if I die before yo album drop, I hope -Suddenly, the passengers side door clicks open, cutting Jermane off. Dave sits down with a paper bag of fast food, slamming the door behind him loudly. DAVE (To Jermane.) Ay nigga, what you sayin to Dot? LUCAS Oh, they just bein gay lil homies... JERMANE (Frowning at him.) Nigga, shut yo dumb ass back down. DAVE Ay, ay, relax now! You know what, I dont even wanna know... (CONTINUED)

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Dave hands around some fast food - burgers, fries, etc. - as we CUT TO: 3 INT. WHITE TOYOTA - INTERSTATE 405 - DAY. 3

The white Toyota roars down I405. K.Dot, Dave and Lucas pass around a forty of liquor. Jermane drives, leaning back and paying less attention to the road than to his homies. LUCAS Ay, ay, I gon spark up a J, yall down? DAVE Ay nigga, you know I is -- K.Dot, you gon have a little kush? The pair of them grin at K.Dot as if theyre about to rip away the innocence of a young child. He looks back at them, the baby-face putting on a tough faade. K.DOT Nigga you know im always down for my homies. DAVE Aw, for real nigga! You gonna like this man... 4 INT. WHITE TOYOTA - WESTCHESTER - DAY. 4

Thick, hazy smoke fills the Toyota. K.Dot takes a large gulp of the joint and passes it to Dave, completely faded. He slumps down on the seat, barely held up by his seatbelt. Dave takes a quick drag and sucks it in. LUCAS Aw man, look at this, our lil homie faded! Dave coughs out the marijuana smoke as he shares a dirty chuckle. 5 EXT. GAS STATION - WESTCHESTER - DAY. 5

The Toyota is parked outside the gas station. K.Dot sits on the back seat, facing out the open passenger-side door. Hes slumped over his knees. Dave leans his back against the Toyota.

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DAVE ...shit man, I wouldnt worry bout it for nothin. That was jus a heavy J for such a lil nigga, that all. K.DOT Im good man, I just needd some air. Jermane and Lucas walk out of the 7/11 with a bag full of munchies. LUCAS Aw, hows our lil homie holdin up? Jermane walks up to K.Dot and rubs his head jokingly. K.Dot shakes his head and pushes his hand away, leading a hearty laugh from Jermane. K.DOT (Half irritatedly.) This lil homie fine! We gon move out or not? JERMANE Okay nigga, keep down! He only foolin wit you, that all. 6 INT. WHITE TOYOTA - WESTCHESTER - DAY. Open with a close up on the cars in-vehicle clock, which reads 2:00PM. The car rolls along quietly, the occupants slowly coming down from their high. Jermane, still driving, perks up as he notices some Crips GANG MEMBERS. JERMANE Ay, ay, we got some Crip fools out on that way. LUCAS We gon go bust some heads? DAVE Dont act too quick, just roll up on the fools. LUCAS Nigga, dont be so sensitive, run them motherfuckers over! 6

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DAVE Aw nigga, shut up! (With a commanding tone.) Go on J. Jermane locks eyes with one of the two GANG MEMBERS, a muscular twenty-something wearing a baggy blue tank-top. The other is scrawnier, shaven, with petite child-like facial features. The Toyota pulls up to the curb next to them. Jermane rolls the drivers side window down. JERMANE What you doin on Piru territory, punk-ass Crip niggas? Lucas leans forward to the open window, clowning around. LUCAS Yeah motherfuckas, what you doin on these streets, huh? The bigger gangsta, GANG MEMBER #1, walks up to the window. Hes bitingly polite, with a violent tone and a puffed out chest. GANG MEMBER #1 Nigga listen, I dont want no issues, we jus here to visit JERMANE You just call me a nigga? Jermane feigns anger. His face is painted with faked shock, fooling around, like a cat with its prey. LUCAS (Melodramatically.) You racist motherfucker... JERMANE You come up to my auto-mo-bile, you speak to me in that tone, and you call me a nigga? LUCAS Oh nigga you dont know what you done now. GANG MEMBER #2 You just called him a nigga, fool!

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Jermane looks at him angrily, pseudo-offended by his vocabulary. Lucas and Dave hold back laughter. K.Dot joins in with reserved laughter, unsure what to do. The trap is set. JERMANE I called him a nigga? Did I? I didnt hear no niggas. And now you callin me a fool? Gang Member #1 grabs a hold of the window frame, antagonised. GANG MEMBER #1 Look, nigga... Hes caught. Jermane slams the door open into his gut, making the hulking man keel over. JERMANE Asshole grabbed me, beat his punk ass! Lucas and Dave hop out of the car. Lucas runs up to Gang Member #1 and slams the sole of his shoe into his head, beating him down. Dave runs up to Gang Member #2 and smashes him in the face before he can even react. K.Dot stays in the car, shuffling around, unsure what to do. He tries not to show it to his homies, not wanting to be the buzz kill of the group. JERMANE (contd) (Leaning into K.Dots side of the car.) Homie you gonna help Dave or what? K.DOT Yeah yeah homie, I comin! K.Dot pulls himself out of the car and runs to help Dave with the beat down. K.DOT (contd) Yeah nigga, we off a pill and Remy Red! K.Dot kicks the Crip harder and harder. K.DOT (contd) Come through and bust ya head, nigga!

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K.Dot delivers a final kick to the Crips head. Dave looks over at him, a little shocked. A glimmer of a smile hangs from his lips. K.Dots child-like eyes glaze over with a fiery hunger for bloodshed. 7 INT. WHITE TOYOTA - CENTINELA AVE. - DAY. The Toyota is filled with laughter as they drive down CENTINELA AVE. K.Dots baby-face is tainted with spots of red. LUCAS ...and you see that scrawny lil mofucka? He be all like, "aw no, my niggas gon find yo ass!", and I be all like, "they aint gon find us if yo got a broken jaw, nigga!"... K.Dot slaps the back of Lucas seat enthusiastically. K.DOT You ice cold, homie! DAVE Ay Dot, I see what you did to that lil punk! He aint gon be sniffin no coke for a long time... K.Dot smiles... hes fully engrossed with his homies. 8 INT. WHITE TOYOTA - SUBURBAN NEIGHBOURHOOD - DAY. 8 7

We look in from the bonnet of the Toyota. Its parked outside an expensive-looking two-storey in a middle-class neighbourhood in Westchester. All four of the youths look at the house, dazzled, like children captivated on Christmas day. LUCAS This the house? JERMANE This the house. DAVE (Leaning over.) We been scoutin out this place for two month now... cant fuck it up. We in, we out. TVs, Nintendos, DVDs... (CONTINUED)

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Lucas waves off Dave. LUCAS Yeah, yeah nigga, we all robbed befo, we know. K.DOT We sure there nobody home? Dave nods. DAVE Curtains are all shut n no car on the driveway. Nigga at work. Jermane opens the glovebox, pulling out a GLOCK semi-automatic handgun. JERMANE Come on homies, les roll out, take his shit, and move. 9 INT. SUBURBAN HOUSE - DAY. 9

We cut to a close up of K.Dots face; specks of blood from the gang attack blend with beads of sweat. He wipes off his brow. His hands shake, nervous fear drowned in adrenaline. We pull out and see hes creeping quickly through a hallway, a half-filled bag in his hand. He walks into the lounge and grabs a hold of some assorted DVDs and video games, stashing them in the bag. We look over his shoulder and see a bare table-top, caked in dust, the outline of a Plasma Screen TV left like a print in the snow. He wipes the sweat from his brow, and stares down at his hands. Hes aged quickly in the last hour... DAVE O/S Nigga, theres somebody in this room! K.Dot jumps up, dropping a DVD box. He looks over to the doorway towards the sound. LUCAS O/S What you sayin? DAVE O/S Theres somebody in this room! Go! BANG! A gunshot rings out. K.Dot, panicked, stares at the doorway. Hes almost in a dreamlike state. Lucas runs up to him and grabs his shoulder, pushing him to the window. (CONTINUED)

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(2) LUCAS Nigga, we gotta move!

11.

K.Dot springs back to reality. Lucas climbs out of the window, followed by K.Dot. They run to the car and throw their bags in. Jermane is already waiting in the drivers seat. JERMANE Wheres my brother at, nigga? LUCAS He was right behind me, he comin! A beat. They watch the house silently. We close in towards K.Dots face. Beads of sweat roll down his forehead... Suddenly, the front door slams open, followed by Dave. He charges out the door, Glock in hand. Behind him, hes followed by a small seventy-something ELDERLY MAN... ...a small, seventy-something elderly man, armed with a shotgun. ELDERLY MAN Come back here you little hoodrat! Ima blow your fucking brains out! The elderly man pumps the shotgun. The guys inside the Toyota panic, dropping their heads below the windows. LUCAS Shit nigga, that motherfucker crazy! BANG! The shotgun blasts, narrowly missing Dave. It leaves a huge blast pattern on a tree. As Dave gets close to the car, Lucas slams open the passenger-side door. LUCAS (contd) Motherfucker get in, that bitch gonna blow yo brains out! DAVE You think I dont know that!? Dave dives into the Toyota. Jermane guns it and speeds away, just as the elderly man fires. The scattershot pebbles the tail-light in lead. Jermane looks pained as it hits, staring in the rear-view mirror. (CONTINUED)

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(3) JERMANE Motherfucker! (Leaning out the window.) You payin for that you stupid honkey, asshole!

12.

10

INT. WHITE TOYOTA - WESTCHESTER - CONT.

10

The Toyota speeds through Westchester, away from the suburban neighbourhood. The occupants are jumped up, looking nervously over their shoulders. They breathe heavily, having just dodged a bullet (or shell). JERMANE (To Dave.) Nigga you said the house was vacated! DAVE What the fuck ca I say homie? I was wrong nigga! JERMANE Did we even have the righ house? DAVE Course we did, nigga! I jus didnt know hed be strapped... Just as they begin to calm down, we hear sirens in the background, getting closer... and closer. Jermane looks in the wing mirror, as his face melts to dread. He slams his forehead into the steering wheel. JERMANE Give me a motherfuckin break! LUCAS Homie I too young to go to prison! I too pretty man! Ill be a bitch! JERMANE We aint goin down fo this, I got a way out! K.Dot looks over his shoulder, staring out the back window of the car. The O/S sirens get closer... RING! K.Dots phone vibrates, shrieking out a generic ringtone. He struggles through his pants to find it, and checks the screen. It reads: "Mom." He looks at the screen, and waves at the guys talking.

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K.DOT Its my moms, what I do? I needa answer nigga! LUCAS Then answer man! K.Dot gulps. He stares at the screen, intimidated by the green glow. He presses the recieve button and lifts it to his ear. K.DOTS MOM O/S Kendrick, where you at? K.Dots eyes shift around like a startled fox, unsure of what to say. All the while, the sirens get closer, hes probably about to catch his first offence... He clears his throat. K.DOT Kickin it. K.DOTS MOM O/S Oh... who you with? That hoodrat Sherane? K.DOT No mom... look I needa call you back, aight? Im safe.. K.DOTS MOM O/S You sure you aint wit that Sherane? She bad news, Kendrick, bad news! K.DOT Mom, I aint wit Sherane! She aint even that bad... K.DOTS MOM O/S Oh, whatever man... look, I dont know what you up to, but stay outta trouble now, okay? You know that aint how I raised you... K.DOT I know, mom. I gotta go. K.Dot presses the call end button and shoves the phone in his pocket. The vehicle is silent. A veil of intensity masks the fear, the dread that they all feel. Jermane weaves the car in and out of traffic... (CONTINUED)

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Suddenly, Jermane makes a turn under an overpass. He pulls away into the shadows. The sirens get closer. They all stick to their seats. Only their eyes shift. The sirens blast, theyre seconds away... Red and blue light speeds past like a blur. The sirens shriek, following the light. They all stare out, waiting... A beat. LUCAS Holy shit. 11 EXT. K.DOTS PARENTS APARTMENT - ROSECRANS AVE. - DAY. The Toyota is parked outside K.Dots house. K.Dot stands next to the rolled down drivers side window. The rest of the group are sat inside the vehicle. LUCAS K.Dot you faded, hood? K.Dot is clear minded, but the effects of the PCP blunt still havent worn off. DAVE Yea, we finally got tha nigga faded... LUCAS Ooh-ooh, tha nigga dead! JERMANE I think he hit the wrong blunt though... DAVE Ooh, which one? K.DOT Well, which one he talkin bout? LUCAS I was finna hit the one wit the shenanigans in it ooh, I pray he aint hit tha! DAVE Got the shenanigans? Give that nigga the shenanigans! 11

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JERMANE Nigga, I think we should push back to the city... DAVE Fo real though nigga, fo what? LUCAS Whas tha nigga, wha that Jeezy song say? LUCAS (contd) "Last time I checked," LUCAS & DAVE "I was the man on these streets!" LUCAS Yea, yea, tha the shit right there, I tryin be the man on these streets! DAVE There he go... man, you dont even know how the shit go. LUCAS Nigga, shut yo ass down... DAVE (Laughing.) Look, this how the shit go down; we gon use the kickback as a alibi, leave K.Dot here cause he gon fuck Sherane tonight, wait til the sun go down, roll out, complete tha mission... LUCAS (Bantering.) Yeah, that what he no gon do... DAVE Then we all gon meet back up at the block at round 10:30. JERMANE Thats straight but we should meet up round twelve, im tryna fuck on somethin too...

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DAVE (Laughing.) Nigga shut yo ass back down, you aint doin shit tonight - infact, we see you later K.Dot, we finna get active! 12 INT. K.DOTS PARENTS APARTMENT - ROSECRANS AVE. - SUNDOWN. 12 The apartment is well decorated, contrasting the dystopian exterior. A bible quote hangs framed next to the front door. Family photos adorn the walls. CLOSE UP: on K.Dots face in the mirror. He stares at himself, studying each crevice of his skin. The faucet flows with warm water, which he carresses in his cracked hands. K.Dot splashes the blood and dirt specs from his skin. He runs his hands through his hair, leaving a light, damp layer, which glistens in the