ACT 4, SCENE 1 INT: GARAGE – AFTERNOON
AMED is standing outside of the car and near the garage railing. He is at the top floor overlooking the HEIGHTS and the streets below.
AMED looks below and contemplates. He starts to sway.
Behind him the car window rolls down and REV pokes his head out.
REV:
Don’t even think about it.
AMED pulls back from the edge.
REV:
Where are they?
AMED:
Here they come now.
Screeching and turning around a corner and coming to a stop in front of AMED is OMAR in the car.
OMAR steps out the car and so does REV.
REV:
What took you so long?
OMAR:
I’m juggling a lot right now. Did you know the Mayor was gonna kill himself live?
REV:
I told him to speak only truth, but say nothing about us, and then kill himself. The embellishments was all him.
OMAR:
Typical. He just had to go out with a flare. They want me at City Hall.
REV:
Forget them. We need to get out of the city.
OMAR:
Amed, you don’t look good.
REV:
He’s fine. Where’s Sister?
OMAR
That’s my other problem.
OMAR opens the door and SISTER is in the backseat holding LEIGH in her lap.
REV:
Urgh. Do something with her.
ACT 3, SCENE 2 INT: GARAGE – CONT’D
AMED and OMAR are carrying LEIGH across the garage. OMAR is struggling to hold her up.
SISTER:
The rope is too tight. Her fingers are turning white.
OMAR:
No they’re not.
SISTER:
Let me just loosen them.
AMED:
No. Rev said to keep her this way.
SISTER:
Careful.
OMAR:
I’m trying.
SISTER:
Careful! You’re gonna hurt her.
OMAR:
Maybe you should’ve thought of that first before you knocked her out.
SISTER is upset.
SISTER:
Just put her in there.
ROOM MARK UTILITY. OMAR tries the door, but it’s locked. His strength continues to fail him.
SISTER:
Hurry up. I don’t want the cameras to find us.
OMAR:
We’re fine. I just need to…I don’t know what’s wrong with me.
AMED steps up and tries the door knob. He easily breaks it.
OMAR:
Thanks. You’ve been a lot stronger than me lately, huh?
AMED moves to pick up LEIGH.
OMAR:
I asked you a question.
AMED:
Hurry up so we can get back to Rev.
OMAR:
I get it, but…we should talk about it this. What we’re gonna do next? The cops are after Rev not us.
AMED:
Not true. We’re killers, Omar. We cursed. We all deserve what we get.
OMAR is speechless.
SISTER:
Get her inside. I don’t want her like that.
LEIGH remains motionless on the ground hands tied behind her back. SISTER cringes.
HARD CUT TO POV of AMED as he closes the utility closet door with LEIGH lying against a wall.
ACT 4, SCENE 3 – PRESS CONFERENCE – LAST NIGHT
The press hall is in chaos. People are running about, crying or trying to cover up the MAYOR’S body.
MELISSA DAY is standing in the hall, stunned with blood droplet still across her face. A rescue worker runs up to talk to her.
WORKER:
Are you bleeding?
MELISSA just walks off.
WORKER:
Where you going? Hey!
MELISSA keeps walking away. INTERCUT with scenes of her leaving the hall as rescue workers and police storm in. She walks out onto the street where camera crews are everywhere. She ignores the flashes.
CUT TO ACT 4, SCENE 4 INT: CAR – CONT’D
MELISSA is in her car. She turns the rear view mirror to her face, and wipes the blood off.
CUT TO her starting the car calmly and driving off.
HARD CUT TO ACT 4, SCENE 5 INT: OFFICE – HALLWAY
MELISSA is walking back into her office.
JAMES OLSEN is there.
JAMES:
Melissa, God, I heard what happened. Are you okay?
MELISSA:
Leave me alone.
MELISSA goes into her office and locks the door. JAMES knocks on the door.
JAMES:
Melissa?
MELISSA sits at her desk. In her hand the entire time is the manilla envelope the MAYOR gave her. She looks at it briefly before ripping it open.
CLOSE UP: “I was forced to speak only the truth, but I couldn’t say what I wanted to. I’m not a monster. Tell the real story. Follow my car.”
MELISSA grabs her tape recorder and rewinds it a bit.
MAYOR (V.O.):
I…fired…I…Riding in the town car is a waste of tax payer money, right?
MELISSA (V.O.):
What?
MAYOR (V.O.):
It’s a waste. It was all a waste. So I just hire a driver on staff. (BEAT) See you tonight.
MELISSA logs onto the computer and searches the governor’s webpage.
MONTAGE:
She is speaking on the phone.
MELISSA:
This is such a tragedy. It was horrible. I was there. Seen it with my own eyes. How did he even get there with a gun? Like who drives him? Shouldn’t the driver check him?
MELISSA is writing down something.
MELISSA:
Uh huh…yea, sad. Chauffeurs you said?
Person in mid-sentence, she hangs up the phone. She picks it up again and dials a number.
MELISSA:
Deluxe chauffeurs? Hi, it looks like you guys are the city vendors for transportation services for high end clients. I’m looking for a particular town car.
ACT 4, SCENE 6 INT: DELUXE CHAUFEURS OFFICES – CONT’D
MELISSA is sitting across from the manager.
MELISSA:
I get it. You have kids to feed. You don’t want trouble.
MANAGER:
You have any kids?
MELISSA:
No, but I know what it’s like when something’s nagging at you and you just can’t ignore it.
MANAGER:
What you’re asking me to do is illegal. I can’t just give you that. You’re not even a government employee. Are you a cop?
MELISSA:
Listen, the mayor killed himself in front of me. I’m pretty sure a bit of his brains got in my hair. As far as I’m concerned, we went all the way.
MANAGER:
You need to leave.
MELISSA:
I just want to take a look, strictly off the record, before other people start asking questions. You tell me. What do you prefer: Detectives with a subpoena or me? Before you answer that, just know that I believe children shouldn’t have to see their father behind bars.
MANAGER:
…
MELISSA:
Just information on the town car the mayor used, please.
ACT 4, SCENE 7 INT: OFFICE – CONT’D
MELISSA hunched over a desk looking down at a sheet of numbers.
MELISSA:
So Omar Butler takes the town car?
MANAGER:
Yes. That’s he’s license. We checked. No matter how it leaves the lot, he always manages to fill the tank back up. A recent front-end damage, but nothing serious. See? Nothing illegal. He’s a government employee.
MELISSA:
So the Mayor’s executive assistant turns himself into one of your employees and takes the car whenever he wants?
MANAGER:
Yea.
MELISSA:
For days at a time?
MANAGER:
Yea? It’s not illegal. Right?
CUT TO ACT 4, SCENE 8 INT: OFFICE – CONT’D
MELISSA looks up news stories on her computer. As she scrolls through news articles about the shootout at the rally with pictures of the Rev Joe Mac, words stand out. “Witnesses saw a black car” In an article about Leigh’s attempted hit and run -“Black car”
CUT BACK TO ACT 4, SCENE 9 INT: CHAUFFEURS’ GARAGE – CONT’D
MELISSA walks up to the DEATH CAR – tinted windows. She investigates the inside of the town car.
MANAGER:
Mr. Butler dropped it off last night I think.
MELISSA:
Why does it smell like weed?
MANAGER:
Smoking isn’t allowed in the cars, but customers do it sometimes. We just charge the extra cleaning fee.
MELISSA:
But Omar’s a church boy. He doesn’t smoke.
CUT BACK TO ACT 4, SCENE 8 INT: OFFICE – CONT’D
MELISSA sits back at her desk and contemplates what she’s gathered.
FLASH BACK of the DEATH CAR as it chased down JOSHUA BIRDSONG, just like how it attempted to run over LEIGH.
FLASH BACK: MAYOR is behind the wheel of the DEATH CAR then. Now it was LOCO.
FLASH BACK to LOCO and the MAYOR talking over a camp over.
MAYOR:
Like always you get the car, money, whatever you need…
A hand giving LOCO the keys to the Death Car.
LOCO:
My best customer!
FLASH BACK to LOCO leaving the DEATH CAR near the HEIGHTS.
LOCO:
Yea I’m done. You can have it back.
Sometime later hands reaching into the driver’s seat pick up the car keys. PAN UP to reveal its OMAR.
CUT BACK TO ACT 4, SCENE 8 INT: OFFICE – CONT’D
MELISSA:
Son of bitch.
MELISSA picks up her cell phone.
ACT 4, SCENE 10 INT: GARAGE – CONT’D
REV:
As long as we’re here, we’re targets.
OMAR:
You said George couldn’t say anything about us.
REV:
It’s more complicated than that now. Something’s happened that’s changing everything.
OMAR:
Is this about you molesting parishioners?
REV:
THOSE ARE LIES!
OMAR:
That’s not really answering the question. The way I look at it hiding out in garages isn’t part of the Reckoning. All this hiding is about you. Back me up Amed.
AMED is silent.
REV:
This is exactly what George wanted. This is what people like him always want from an uprising. Division. Subterfuge. With the vilest of tools their little minds can muster.
OMAR
Nah I think it’s more complicated than that now.
REV:
Haven’t you noticed changes in our gifts? Don’t you feel all that we built slipping away? Even Sister can’t see into the future anymore.
OMAR:
Sister?
SISTER:
I’m not doing anything unless I know Leigh’s safe.
REV:
Sister, there can be no hesitancy. I need you.
SISTER:
Leigh needs to be safe first.
REV:
She’s the cause of all this!
SISTER:
Is she? She didn’t go about Shaunice. We did. She didn’t twist my feelings and went after her mother. We did. This reckoning is on US!
REV:
Sister, you know nothing of Reckoning!
OMAR:
Amed, what you think?
REV:
Say nothing.
AMED doesn’t speak.
OMAR:
C’mon, Amed! What’s wrong with you?
REV:
Your brother knows I’m right.
AMED can only blink.
REV:
We’re losing focus. We’re falling apart. We need to pray for that angel to get our strengths back.
SISTER:
Neb won’t come.
REV:
Blasphemy!
SISTER:
Our prayers won’t change a thing.
REV:
My prayers were the start of the Reckoning. I’ve changed everything for this city. We’ve eliminated the sin that has taken so much from us.
SISTER:
But we still aren’t free. We’re all sinners. The Reckoning was never going to change that.
As the arguments continue, OMAR’S phone rings and he ignores it.
ACT 3, SCENE 11 INT: UTILITY CLOSET – CONT’D
LEIGH is sleeping against the walls until her eyes flutter open. She’s awake and her eyes are a holy white.
End of ACT 4