JIM BEAM

BLOSSOMS 2020
By Sirisha Sedimbi

A Team Professionals script

INT. TRAIN COMPARTMENT
Train compartment with an open door and two seats. Cold
weather. Sound of children running around. Footsteps.
DOUGLAS McArthur, enters from left, fedora hat and grey
overcoat. Newspaper in his right, a package in his left.
Calm, composed and determined.
LAWRENCE Armstrong, enters from right, worn clothes and
brown coat, Jim Beam in his left. Drunk, imbalanced and
irritated.
EDMUND Lennon, ticket master, enters with list. Huge
moustache, blue coat, white shirt, black bowtie and black
pants. Looks in the list, regardless of customers, just
doing his job.
EDMUND: May I have a look at your tickets there,
gentleman. Ahh lets see .. seat number 09 .. Douglas
McArthur .. Welcome to the Western Maryland. And what
about you sir .. seat number 10 .. Lawrence Armstrong ..
Welcome to the Western Maryland.
Douglas hands his ticket over and reads his newspaper.
Lawrence messily searches for his tickets and hands it
over to the ticket collector. Edmund notices a bottle of
whiskey in Lawrences hand.
EDMUND: Sir, is it not too early to get blitzed over that
bottle of whiskey?
LAWRENCE: Edmund, eh? Why don’t you just cut the gas and
do your job? No one tells me what to do with my bloody
bottle mister .. Ah well alas that is with me for sure.
EDMUND: Sir but its clearly specified in the ticket RIGHT
HERE that “No Alcohol allowed on the car”
LAWRENCE: Ah well that settles it doesn’t it! I cant have
my bloody Jimmy in a car that I PAID FOR because
bricky .. bricky .. bricky EDMUND here says so, ngeh!
HAHAHAHA Well I say NO to it Edmund, NO! Smite me.
EDMUND: But Sire, I..
DOUGLAS: You ought to forgive the man, he is having a
rough day perhaps.
EDMUND and DOUGLAS look at each other and consents
through their eyes. EDMUND leaves.
LAWRENCE: What makes you think you can talk on me behalf?
Armstrongs speak for themselves, and so they shall
indeed. Sure as heck wont let a blue blood break the
form.
DOUGLAS: I certainly don’t want that. The mans demeanour
was ticking me off as well... I was merely doing you a
favour, mister.
LAWRENCE: A favour you say, huh! Its been a while since
ive had someone do me a favour. Closest of me allies have
turned out to rest me on a land mine .. If that’s the
good news, then you’re my biggest ally. Ill drink to
that!
LAWRENCE takes a swig from his bottle of whiskey. He
keeps the bottle down and puts his hand forward.
LAWRENCE: Lawrence Armstrong, at your service. And who
may it be that sits with such grandeur in front of me?
DOUGLAS: McArthur. Douglas McArthur
They shake hands. Lawrence smiles and drinks again.
LAWRENCE: Douglas McArthur. I served under the command of
General Douglas McArthur in Philippines. A true patriot,
that man.
DOUGLAS: Well, yes. Its not a surprise that many boys
were tagged after his name.
LAWRENCE: Surely you must be related to him! You look
like a McArthur right off the bat!
INT. McARTHUR RESIDENCE
Centre Spot off. Podium spot on. Little boy runs to the
podium spot. Mother is dusting ceramics. Ceramics sit on
wooden table, draped with cream cloth.
YOUNG DOUGLAS: “Jack and Jill went up the hill, to fetch
a pail of water; Jack fell down and broke his crown, and
Jill came tumbling after”
MOTHER: If it isn’t the naughty Douglas! Give mum a kiss,
and go wash yourself. Go!
YOUNG DOUGLAS: Mum Mum Mum, Mrs.Mary asked us to tell the
story behind our names. Theodore said he was named after
president rushebelt! Annie said she was named after her
mother. Only I didn’t know what my name meant. Why am I
named Douglas McArthur ?
MOTHER: Son, we named you after brigadier general Douglas
McArthur. He is a man of courage and great will. He
inspired many during the war. We want you to follow his
footsteps and a live a life of great respect and honour.
I know you will not let us down.
YOUNG DOUGLAS: Woah! That is so fascinating. I’m a
general. I shall win the war and be a hero!. You may
call me General Douglas now!
MOTHER: Well why don’t my general go and wash
yourself first, then we’ll see about the Krauts.
INT. TRAIN COMPARTMENT
Podium spot off. Centre spot on. Lawrence passes the
bottle.
DOUGLAS: As flattering as that may be, I’m just another
boy named after ‘The Great General’.
LAWRENCE: It does seem like you have lived up to your
parent’s expectations. Cheers to you mate! Cheers!
DOUGLAS: I try..
LAWRENCE: So what gets you your square meals?
DOUGLAS: Well... lets just say the only thing that stayed
with me after the war was my profession.
LAWRENCE: Eh! Are you still a servant of Uncle Sam.
DOUGLAS: I’m a servant to many, my services still lethal.
I still hunt for Krauts, but these krauts are chosen by
my master.
I am what I am, Lawrence. But I am not what I used to be.
LAWRENCE: Ahhhhh nothing I don’t love more than jibber
jabber when Im out of my jeepers. Here.
Lawrence offers his bottle of whiskey to Douglas. Douglas
takes the bottle from his hands and takes a sip.
DOUGLAS: I must say Lawrence, your choice of poison is
splendid.
LAWRENCE: Of course it is. Jim Beam and moonshine makes
me forget all my sorrows.
DOUGLAS: What is life without sorrows, Lawrence?
LAWRENCE: Well certainly not mine! My life was aces till
a great sorrow fell upon me. A great sorrow that brought
 my life to shambles! I dread this sorrow that still
haunts me.
DOUGLAS: You look like a man with a lot to spill
Lawrence.
LAWRENCE: Oh but I do, McArthur. But you are not drunk
enough to listen to my dread.
DOUGLAS: Hmmm. Try me.
INT. ARMSTRONG RESIDENCE
Centre spot off. Lamp spot on. A table with a grey cloth,
A picture of their family, A vase of drying flowers, and
a pair of glasses.
LAWRENCE: Honey is dinner ready?
Lawrence gets no reply. He reaches the table to see a
pair of glasses and reaches out to get them. Veronica
comes up behind him frantically.
VERONICA: LAWRENCE!
LAWRENCE: I have mine… Who’s are these?
VERONICA: Uhmm… I… They… I thought this pair would suit
you well.
LAWRENCE: But honey, everything certainly seems very
blurred through it.
VERONICA: Ohhh… That shouldn’t be… I-
LAWRENCE: Veronica I’m going to ask you one more time…
Whos are these ?
Betty comes into the spot
BETTY: Daddy you are home! Did you bri-
LAWRENCE: Sweetheart I need you to go upstairs NOW
BETTY: Daddy you are shouting
VERONICA: Betty darling go back to bed. Mamma will be
right behind you.
Betty slowly moves out of the spot.
LAWRENCE: Veronica I ASKED YOU SOMETHING!
VERONICA: What do you want me to say! That there is
another man! That you weren’t enough for me. I tried
Lawrence… God knows I tried. I longed to see you every
single day
Lawrence takes a step back and looks shattered. Veronica
sheds a tear
VERONICA: While you were away serving the country, I sat
here… alone… pining for you. Seasons went by, but my love
for you was unwavering. You went to the war as Lawrence
Armstrong, the man I was married to… but you came back a
stranger, a broken man. With every passing moment, my
heart grew cold. And then I knew… I had to leave you
behind.
LAWRENCE: Every time I felt my body giving in, the
thought of seeing you, being with you, holding you in my
arms… It was all I ever needed. Since the day I met you,
you have bewitched me and I decided never to be parted
from you. Even though I felt like I won the war, I never
realised that I lost you in the bargain. Darling,
Veronica, look at me. I tried to-
Veronica pushes his arm aside with great force
VERONICA: ENOUGH LAWRENCE!!! The house with you in it, no
more seems like home to me. I am suffocating in this
marriage but, I no longer wish to waste my life away on
you and your drunken demeanour.
LAWRENCE: Part ways? Walk out on me? ME? (Holds her
roughly) You think you can dupe me and get away with it
Scott free? As long as I am alive, I will wake up every
morning with the intention of making you pay for this
sorrow you’ve brought on me. The mere death of me will
not change that either, I will ensure that you beg for
every ounce of bread and regret every moment spent with
that man.
Lawrence pushes her aside and Veronica falls in the lamp
spot.
INT. TRAIN COMPARTMENT
Lawrence walks out of lamp spot to sit in the train. He
takes a huge swig from his bottle and looks at the ground
LAWRENCE:She is off with that filthy excuse for a man and
she thinks she can outwit me, but not tonight, not
anymore. I shall end it ..once and for all. She will lose
everything overnight.
DOUGLAS: Why? What happens tonight?
 LAWRENCE: Tonight my sorrows end for GOOD at last.
Tonight I’ve sworn to kill her for good. HAHAHA .. YES Im
gonna kill her Douglas. I’m going to take her last breath
with my bare hands. But .. But I’m gonna kill her gently,
so that she doesn’t feel any pain.
DOUGLAS: Lawrence, sometimes sorrows .. sometimes sorrow
tend to stab you from behind. I’ve known you for ye while
and you seem like a good man. Why don’t you go back and
leave all this behind? You still love her from what ive
heard.
LAWRENCE: She is the only woman I ever loved so dearly
and then came our daughter. We had a small beautiful
world of our own but now, I am the only one, stuck in the
throes of hopeless love and affection. No McArthur!
Tonight I shall take her life.
DOUGLAS: Well Lawrence, if that’s the case what if I end
your Great Sorrow for you?
LAWRENCE: (voice quivering slightly) What are you
implying?
DOUGLAS: I am simply implying that I can be the angel of
death for your wife.
LAWRENCE: You’d do that for me?! We only just met! You
barely know me. Certainly not enough to kill someone for
me. Why would you kill her?
DOUGLAS: Alibis. Think straight, Lawrence. We will have
our own separate alibies and nobody can catch a
likeliness of our involvement with both cases.
LAWRENCE: We? Both Cases?
DOUGLAS: Yes, both cases. See this package? I want you to
deliver it for me in exchange for my “service”.
LAWRENCE: What is in the package? Who am I delivering it
to?
DOUGLAS: The address is spelt out on top. You ought to
arrive at the destination tonight on the stroke of
midnight. (hands the package) Don not meddle with what
is inside, you simply hand it over, leave and never
return.
LAWRENCE takes the package from DOUGLAS. Both men look at
each other for a moment. LAWRENCE, Confused and Nervous
and DOUGLAS, Stone cold and determined.
 EDMUND: Next Stop, Glenfeild
LAWRENCE: So that’s it? We part ways now?
DOUGLAS: Until next time Lawrence.

Both men look at each other, the train whistle blows and
they stand up, shake hands and walk out of the
compartment in opposite directions
BLACK OUT
INT. WAREHOUSE
Lawrence enters from left wing. The stage is dimly lit.
There is a door in the left spot. Center spot wooden
table with a dirty cloth draping it, A bar counter is
visible.
LAWRENCE: Excuse me…Is anybody here? I was told to
deliver this package here. Is anybody around?
I have plenty other places to be and it is rather
appalling how people in this country have lost their
manners. I should just place it on the counter and leave.
LAWRENCE approaches the table to place the package. The
table has nothing on it, except a hat.
LAWRENCE: Well ..Where have I seen this hat before? Looks
like a hat that someone with great grandeur might wear.
So my part is done. Now I hope Douglas has done his part.
That hat though! Looks oddly familiar
DOUGLAS comes from behind and stabs LAWRENCE
LAWRENCE: AAAAAAH! WHO…DARE…SHOW ME YOUR FACE!
Veronica…YOU FILTHY –
Lights slowly start to turn on and the door creaks once
again and Veronica walks in.
VERONICA: OH SHUT UP LAWRENCE! (pouring herself some
wine) Have you not always wanted your last words to be
pleasant, (playing with her wine glass) something on the
lines of-

LAWRENCE: YOUR LIFE…IS ONE WITH NO DIGNITY. You think you

can get yourself out of this nerve wrecking mess…the both
 of you? Is this the man you decided to leave me for
(smirks)…this pathetic (douglas thrust the knife harder)
AAAH!

VERONICA: Ugh…honey, it makes me sad to think that you

have such opinions about my choices…He is merely a hired
hand. Hired the day we had our tragic little disagreement
to remain a family. It was very bold of you to assume,
that you can get away with leaving me out of your
inheritance. One must not be that greedy and-
LAWRENCE: A DISGRACE SUCH AS YOURSELF NEVER DESREVED IT…a
woman who cannot keep a family together is no woman.
(struggling to get out of the grasp)

VERONICA: ENOUGH…EVEN WITH THAT KNIFE IN YOUR BACK ALL

YOU COULD POSSIBLY CARE ABOUT IS YOUR INFLATED EGO. I
couldn’t keep the family together? I tried with every
living fibre to live with man like you Lawrence, but how
can I live with a man who cannot live with himself? You
need to be intoxicated to be able to tolerate yourself,
and you expect me to love you, you sad sad excuse of a
man.
LAWRENCE: All I ever wanted was to be a good father to
betty and a good husband to you. But now .. NOW I know
what I want. I want to be your worst nightmare.
DOUGLAS: You got it wrong Lawrence. I am your worst
nightmare
DOUGLAS thrusts his knife one last time. Lawrence is
thrown to the ground.
VERONICA: Finally, that has been taken care off. Now I
can live in peace knowing that Lawrence is no more.
DOUGLAS: Pardon me for it is not my business to ask, but
will you REALLY find peace?
VERONICA: What do you know about peace? All you’ve ever
done is fight wars and take lives. You are far from
peace, so don’t you dare talk to me about it.
DOUGLAS: I may not be one to speak, but I know a good man
when I see him. Lawrence was a good man.
 VERONICA: He is not the man that you speak off! I don’t
have to prove anything to you mister. Take what I paid
you and go back to your low life, McArthur!
Oh .. By the way, your pay is in that very package that
you gave to Lawrence. Take it, leave and never return.
DOUGLAS moves to the table, gets the package and his hat.
VERONICA picks up the knife.
VERONICA: Forgetting something? I expect you to dispose
of it, at the least.
DOUGLAS takes the knife and walks out. He turns and looks
at the body
DOUGLAS: Sorrow tends to stab you from the back
sometimes..
BLACK OUT
INT. ARMSTRONG RESIDENCE
The stage is completely lit and there is a backdrop of a
book case, a table in front of it and a sofa seat to the
right of the table. There is a gramophone on the table
and it is playing soft opera. Veronica is reading to
Betty while she sits on her lap. This happens in the
center of the stage.
VERONICA: “…There is nothing so nice as supposing. It’s
almost like being a fairy. If you suppose anything hard
enough it seems as if it were real.” You hear that Betty?
Hope is all you need to live, and if you ever feel like
you’re falling short of it, Just read this book and think
of me.
Sweetie, is something bothering you?

BETTY: Mum, you also said that they will catch the man
who killed dad. Then why have they not caught him? Will
they never catch him?

VERONICA: No sweetie, the man who killed your father is a

bad bad man and where do bad bad men end up?

BETTY: In prison…
 VERONICA: Betty dear, I promise you…As long as I am
alive, you have nothing to fear. Your father will get
justice, my sweet child.
Door knocks.
BETTY: I WANT TO OPEN THE DOOR!

VERONICA: Yes sweetie, go slow-

BETTY runs to open the door and Veronica gets up from her
seat, music continues to play. VERONICA walks towards the
door and BETTY runs behind her mother as soon as he door
opens and she sees the cops

MALE COP 1: Good Evening Ma’am. (MALE COP 2 tips his hat)

VERONICA: Betty, why don’t you go to your room and play

with your dolls. Mum has to talk these gentlemen here. I
promise…we will have a tea party as soon as I finish.
Yes officer, to what do I owe this visit?

MALE COP 1: leads ma’am…in your husband’s murder case.

You would be pleased by the recent developments in the
case…

VERONICA: Thank God! I don’t remember Lawrence having any

enemies. Lord he was such a kind man, a good soul with a
lot to offer .So tell me sheriffs, are you a step closer
to arresting the man who ended my family?

MALE COP 2 walks towards the table and picks the book up
to examine it.

MALE COP 2: It is quite wonderful how you endure the loss

of your husband Mrs. Armstrong, but I would not rush into
any conclusions just yet.
VERONICA turns back and looks at MALE COP 2 with a
confused expression

VERONICA: What do you imply officer?

MALE COP 1: Mrs. Armstrong, We happened to find the

murder weapon used to kill your husband and along with it
we also unmasked the killer.
VERONICA: OH .. OHH .. OH MY! How did you find the
killer?
MALE COP 1: The Chaps from Pennsylvania helped us with
powder dusting the evidence. We found fingerprints,
Veronica
VERONICA: I need to see who- (MALE COP 2 comes from the
back and starts to handcuff VERONICA) WHAT ARE YOU DOING?
WHY ARE MY HANDS BEARING HANDCUFFS?! OFFICER?! LET…GO…
OF..ME (struggling)

MALE COP 2: Mrs. Veronica Armstrong, you are arrested in

the name of the law…charged with Matricide.
VERONICA: What sort of inane accusation is this! I killed
my husband?! The entire investigation is botched up.
MALE COP 2: Madam, we know exactly what happened. We
wouldn’t jump to conclusions if we didn’t find something
substantial.
VERONICA: I have nothing to hide. Someone is framing me
and you dimwits don’t even realize that. Call yourself
sheriffs of the town and yet you call something
fabricated substantial!
MALE COP 1: Its not fabricated madam. You killed your
husband and left him to rot in that warehouse. We have
witnesses who spotted you in Glenfeild on the day of
murder.
MALE COP 2: You have nowhere to go now Armstrong! The
weapon of murder is all that is needed to lock you away.
VERONICA: I have nothing to do with the knife that
stabbed Lawrence. NOTHING. (struggling)
The SHERIFFS look at each other, gently smirking.
MALE COP 1: But there was no mention of a knife Mrs.
Armstrong.
MALE COP 2: It could be a crowbar or a pitchfork for all
you know.
VERONICA: He was my husband officer, we have a daughter
together (tears swelling up). Seeing his lifeless body
lying there, cold and dead, it broke my heart into a
million pieces. I loved the man with everything I had and
you cannot put that in jeopardy merely because I guessed
the murder weapon to be correct. (STRUGGLING)
MALE COP 2: Shut your pie hole you snake .. After all
this, you still hold your act!
MALE COP 1: Only a woman as sly as you could still hold
the act. Our work here is done.
VERONICA: IMPOSSIBLE! I am innocent officer! (MALE COP 2
starts pushing her out the door) My husband’s killer is a
dangerous man and it is infuriating that he walk free.
MALE COP 2 leaves with VERONICA.
MALE COP 1: Little Girl! Why don’t you come downstairs
now?
BETTY: Where’s mum?
MALE COP 1: Mum was a bad woman, child. She may have
given birth to you, but she surely wasn’t a mother. She
may have married your father, but she surely wasn’t a
wife.
BETTY: Where’s mum? I want to see mum.
MALE COP 1: She will be in a better place tomorrow. For
now, stay put child. Ill send a deputy to come and fetch
you. Don’t worry you’re safe now.
MALE COP 1 leaves and BETTY is left alone. She moves to
the table and gets the book. BETTY moves to the monologue
spot
BETTY: (looking at the book) You spoke about hope mum,
you said that I could never fear anything or anyone as
long as you were by my side (quivering voice) ). Today, I
find myself on a path that is dark and hopeless, yet I
would rather walk alone, than hold your hand
INT. NEWSPAPER STAND
DOUGLAS moves to the centre spot. Gets a newspaper.
DOUGLAS: Well well well lets see .. Woodrow Wilson passes
away .. War among the Koreans .. Well the war never ends
does it .. Orphan of the Armstrong Residence; Sole heir
to their fortune.
Looks like Veronica got what she wanted. She was anyway
in over her head. A sharp knife is nothing without a
sharp eye said the old General. True then .. True now ..
True always.
That poor little girl, though ..
INT. ARMSTRONG RESIDENCE
BETTY: You deceived me in every manner mum, fabricated my
childhood for your ill intensions. You snatched my father
whose dolls I have to look after now. (weeping) My world
is an empty void and yet somehow I suffocate in it.
INT. NEWSPAPER STAND
DOUGLAS: She doesn’t deserve to suffocate in this world.
All she ever did wrong was being born to that god
forsaken household. She doesn’t deserve it, certainly
not.
She ought to be set free. This package is the price her
mother paid to kill her father, and yet what died was her
childhood. It could be the same package that sets her
free.
INT. ARMSTRONG RESIDENCE
BETTY: I don’t deserve this, certainly not. But what will
I do now? I have no father, but I have a mother who no
longer matters. These walls, they close in on me.
This .. this .. this sorrow that haunts me now. How will
I survive this? I wish someone .. someone could set me
free.
DOUGLAS & BETTY: But you know how it is, Sorrow tends to
stab you in the back sometimes