The Last Swan (6)
He understands what's going on and speeds up. ANN (continuing) Stop the cab. Reluctantly he does. WAXNER Hey, if you need money that bad, I'll pay you. The meter says $5.75. She hands him $6. ANN Keep it! Ann gets out. POV follows her. She kicks off her shoes, then pulls off her dress and slip and shoves them into her backpack. She takes out a pair of stiletto pumps. Now, she's down to nylons, bra and girdle. It's a panty girdle with a detachable crotch. She unsnaps it and throws it away then, teetering on her 4 inch heels, she walks toward the line of whores on 47th between 11th and the river. WHORE 1 This aint your turf, Honey. ANN I'll pay him when he gets here. WHORE 1 You better. Among the bargain basement whores, she stands out like a gamecock in a barnyard. Jersey-ites in beat up cars try to pick her up. She ignores them. A PRETTY BLACK whore with clear green eyes like a cat walks over to her. GREEN EYES Watcha doing here, Honey? You writing a book? Not that I'd mind being in a book. ANN Something like that. She walks away. Green Eyes follows. GREEN EYES Or, your boyfriend gave you a present and expected something special in return and you said: You want me to be a whore, well, all right. ANN There's a story. It’s too good to be true but, it doesn't matter. Saying it makes it true, it's that kind of story. There was a Gypsy girl on line for the gas chamber and an SS man recognized her and knew that she was a dancer. And he asked her to dance for him and she did, beautifully, seductively, sensuously. She danced up next to him, pulled his Walther out of the holster and shot him eight times through the stomach. She was killed but, she was going to be killed anyway and, by that one act, she fulfilled herself as a dancer, as a woman and as a Gypsy. GREEN EYES I know one. What's the difference between kinky and perverted? ANN What? GREEN EYES Kinky is: you use a feather. Perverted is: you use the whole chicken. ANN And smiling the boy fell dead. GREEN EYES You a little crazy, Sugar? That's never no mind, it dont matter to anyone. THE SAME Finally, a huge glossy black Lamborghini pulls up and Ann smiles in satisfaction. She gets in without a word. INT. CAR (LUXURIOUS) There is A HUGE GLOSSY BLACK PUSHER inside. PUSHER This is your lucky night. ANN I can see that. running her fingertips up the inside of his thigh. PUSHER I just did the dirty deed and I'm gonna spend a lot of it on you. patting the shoulder bag beside him. Ann looks at him: Can he really be that stupid? He opens the bag and shows her that's full of stacks of $20 bills. He is that stupid. ANN Park by the river, Sugar, and make me earn it. EXT. HIGHWAY (NIGHT) He parks in the plaza in front of the Port Imperial ferry. He pushes a button and the front seat goes all the way back. He pulls down his pants, then his boxer shorts covered with hearts and dollar signs while Ann smiles benignly. She reaches into her backpack and pulls out a small black leather case. She opens it and takes out a loaded hypodermic. PUSHER What the fuck is that? ANN Papaverene. It will keep you hard for an hour. PUSHER I heard of that. ANN It's an extra $100, but it's worth it. PUSHER I don’t know. ANN You want it to last. You’re not some little faggot pumping for 90 seconds to prove he’s not queer. PUSHER Yeah, what the Hell. She stabs him in the groin with the hypo. He immediately goes into convulsions. She lights a cigarette and watches him die. ANN Take your time, Sugar, we've got all night. Ann smiles primly then shrugs into her dress. She checks his neck artery to make sure he's dead. She takes his wallet, his automatic, the leather sack of money and pushes his dead body out the driver's side door. She drives out to the highway and looks north. EXT. WEST SIDE HIGHWAY (NIGHT) She sees the flashing red lights of another cop roadblock at the entrance to the Henry Hudson and all the side street are blocked by cop cars. She does a U-turn and heads downtown. No one seems to notice. The road blocks begin to evaporate, cop cars drifting away as she heads south. By the time she gets downtown to Christopher St. the exits are clear. She parks a block from Meg’s apartment. She turns a corner and sees Meg’s Harley. She's home. Then she sees Snag leaning against the side of a car. SNAG Waxner called me on my cell phone. No flights out till morning and you had nowhere else to go. ANN I've lost track of which side he's on. I dont think he knows. SNAG You're running in circles. I saw a cat do that to a mouse. He drove it insane. It kept running in smaller circles until it fell over dead of a heart attack. ANN You didn't save the mouse? SNAG I didn't want to interfere. It was like watching a religious ceremony. ANN Good-bye, Duane. SNAG Why didn't you keep going? ANN I need a passport. Someone else's. SNAG How crazy are you? She jerks her head toward Meg's apartment ANN Are they up there? SNAG They didn't think you'd be back. They couldn't believe anyone could be that stupid. You caught them by surprise. ANN What do you want? SNAG To take you home to Minneapolis. . ANN Like nothing has happened. SNAG I did everything you asked me to. ANN You did everything everyone asked you to. Now, fuck off! SNAG Please. ANN Duane, you're a lovely boy and you’ll make some girl a wonderful wife some day. SNAG That's a little unfair. You seemed to enjoy me well enough. ANN Maybe, it is unfair. I'm too tired to think it through. I'll call you tomorrow. SNAG You'll call? ANN I'll call. A COUPLE walks past. Snag and Ann stop talking till they're gone. SNAG From a pay phone. You promise? She kisses him lightly on the lips. ANN I promise; I'll call. Now go home before you get yourself killed. Ann walks away fast and into Meg’s apartment house. She has a gun out, holding it down next to her thigh and goes up the stairs slowly. INT. HALLWAY OUTSIDE MEG’S APARTMENT The door to Meg’s apartment is ajar, Ann pushes it all the way open. POV follows her in. Meg is sitting on the floor, clothes torn and handcuffed to the radiator. MEG The key is on the table. ANN Why didn't you call for help? MEG Too embarrassed. ANN Were you raped? MEG They tried but they couldn’t get it up. ANN I hate all men. I need your passport. MEG It doesn't look like you. ANN Passports never do. Where is it? MEG Are you going to unchain me? ANN Maybe later. MEG On the bookshelf, behind the dictionary. Ann finds it. She smiles at Meg. ANN Are you uncomfortable? MEG Yes! ANN You should have said something. She walks to Meg, strokes her hair and unlocks the cuffs. INT. MEG’S BEDROOM (DAY) Ann is wearing a College-Girl-At-Home costume: panties and a man's button-down blue oxford. She's looking out the window when the front door opens. She reaches into her shoulder bag and grabs her gun, aiming it through the bottom of the bag. She sees it's Meg and puts the whole thing down, MEG I talked to him. He says that he'll wait for you forever. ANN He probably will. MEG I doubt it, I'm meeting him for coffee tomorrow. ANN Poor Duane, I shouldn't have got him involved. MEG Poor Duane? It's working out rather nicely for Duane. What do you want for breakfast? ANN Coffee and cigarettes. MEG Pancakes and eggs. And sausage. She walks out and into the kitchen, throwing off her coat on the way. She starts making breakfast. It's a practiced routine, almost a ballet. ANN Too much fat. MEG You could get killed walking out that door and your last thought would be: I had a last chance to have pancakes and eggs and I blew it. When are you leaving? ANN Tonight. MEG What are you going to do till then? ANN I'll find something. MEG Any regrets about last night? ANN It wasn’t unpleasant. MEG I think I'm going straight, it's women who are ruthless, it's men who are silly and sentimental. ANN Can all that wait until tomorrow? MEG Yes. EST. SHOT. (THE SUNLIGHT IS WHITE HOT) title over: HAIFA, ISRAEL INT. MEDICAL LAB AT THE TECHNION Rogo walks in on DR. AMRAM BAR TAR. He's red-haired and beefy with a broad snub nose. A face like a lion. BAR TAR You slimy little prick! I'm sure you've got some sly, weird, wonderful explanation of everything. I dont want to hear it!. Rogo holds out the vial. BAR TAR (continuing) What the fuck is that supposed to be? ROGO Try it on adenocarinoma. Bar Tar looks disgusted but, he takes a tissue sample with a microtome, makes a slide, moistens it with an eyedropper dipped in the vial and puts it under the microscope. He looks carefully. BAR TAR It's toxic, so what? ROGO Try it on healthy tissue. Bar Tar looks even more disgusted but, he does the same business again and looks through the microscope. He makes a noise like the mating call of the humpback whale. His assistants come running. One of them matter of factly carries an Uzi. BAR TAR (to his assts.) Coffee. And another ashtray. (to ROGO) Brandy? ROGO Not just yet. BAR TAR You dont mind if I do? ROGO It's all yours. I'm not staying. He walks out. They watch him go. EXT. STREET (NIGHT) Two cop cars are at 18lst/Ft. Washington watching the bus station and the approach to the GW bridge. Meg and Ann go by on the Harley. INT. COP CAR A cop ID's her as the Harley goes past and talks rapidly into his microphone. He puts the car in gear and takes off, lights and siren blazing. EXT. STREET (NIGHT) Meg does a couple of U-turns, goes wrong way up a 1-way street, runs 3 red lights and hits the approach to the bridge at 90 with 2 cop cars in pursuit. They play bumper cars for a while but, the Harley is too fast for them. It pulls away across the bridge and comes to a screeching cork-screw stop in the toll plaza on the other side. The cops jump out with SIG-Sauers in the classic water skiing pose. COP Out of the car! ANN You mean, dismount the motorcycle and doesn’t ‘please’ usually accompany a request like that? He closes his eyes in agony COP NEW YORK WOMEN!!! ANN Testosterone poisoning. Meg manages to leap the cycle over the cop car with Ann slung across her lap then roars off. More pursuit. Meg leaps the Harley over a 3 ft. concrete wall, falls 20 ft., lands the cycle upright and roars up the highway in the wrong direction into the oncoming traffic. EXT. HIGHWAY (NIGHT) Meg pulls the Harley onto the shoulder. Ann stands up, straightens her clothes and gets on the saddle behind Meg. She reaches around and flicks Meg’s nipple with her forefinger. ANN Giddyap. Meg doesn't move. MEG How can you be so cruel? ANN I'm a doctor. Trust me! Ann has her hands around Meg's breast. She's singing something in Meg's ear, but the wind rips it away. EXT. INTERNATIONAL TERMINAL AT NEWARK AIRPORT (NIGHT) They pull up and Ann gets off. She puts her hand to Meg’s cheek, tracing the line of her eye with her forefinger. Meg twists her face away. Ann doesn't move. Meg turns back and kisses her on the cheek. Ann grabs Meg and kisses her fiercely on the mouth then leaps away and runs into the terminal. POV FOLLOWS her POV pulls back to an OSS on 2 GOONS watching the ticket counters. One of them is talking on a cordless phone. He hangs up. GOON 5 That's it, she's dead. Fingerprints. Positive ID. GOON 6 There was a sighting in Ft. Washington. GOON 5 There are sightings of Elvis too. You wanna wait for him? Maybe, you can sign him to an exclusive contract. Just then, Ann walks by in the middle distance, headed for the El Al counter and noticing nothing. GOON 5 (continuing) Oh, Christ, I thought we were going home. Ann is walking fast to the El Al counter, not looking back. Then she sees them.. She sees them staring at her and understands the situation at once. She takes off running through the crowd. They take off after her. She makes it out the side door with a strong lead. EXT. HELIPAD (NIGHT) A copter is about to take off and there's the same attendant as at 61st street. ANN Oh, no! ATTENDANT I used to fly one of those things in the Gulf. ANN You're Death, aren't you? ATTENDANT (cheerfully) I get off work in an hour. Ann looks behind her. goons, cops and assorted Anglos with guns are closing in again. In front of her, the copter is 3 ft. off the ground. She runs toward it anyway. Obligingly, the copter touches down to let her on board and she climbs inside. The goons start banging away but the copter wheels away into the darkness with its lights off. INT. COPTER There are no passengers, just Ann and the pilot The control board lights give the darkness a cozy glow like a fireplace. ANN Why did you do that? PILOT I dont know, I felt like it. ANN There's a lot of it going around. They fly over a massive traffic jam on the NJ turnpike. It's a parking lot. Cars are backed up for 20 miles. In the sky-glow from New York you can see the fumes going straight up to the jet stream. She nods . PILOT I had a professor, He would look at something like that and say: Behold I'm this product of Rational Man. (PAUSE) I dont know what you did but, impressed as Hell. That good? That bad? ANN You dont want to know. PILOT Where do you want to go? ANN New York. PILOT They'll be waiting for you ANN Maybe. PILOT Do you have a gun? Take it out and point it at me. No, do not cock the hammer. Ease the hammer back down. That's it, just point it at me. Strange noises are coming out of his radio. He picks up the mike. PILOT (continuing) (to the radio) She's got a gun pointed at me. What do you want me to do? He turns the radio off. ANN Canada. PILOT I'll take you far as I can. They're flying north along the Hudson River. He checks the radar display. There are 2 blue dots flashing on and off and closing the distance. They're coming after you. See, that's the cop signal, clocking us too until we run out of gas. 2 cop copters, we come down, there'll be there. Can you get away? ANN Maybe. PILOT Try nap of the earth and get lost in ground clutter. For a while. That's poetry. I mean for guys who cant talk, who can barely spit, that's poetry. He brings the copter down to a few feet above the trees. He narrowly misses a high rise. ANN Bring it down, I'm out of here. PILOT You're still alive, what do you want? But, he brings the copter down to hover a few feet above the upper deck of the IRT El somewhere in the Bronx. ANN Dont go home, they all do that. She climbs out EXT. EL STATION (NIGHT) A few workmen are going to the graveyard shift. They stare at her for a moment then studiously mind their own business. A train comes. They get on, so does Ann. INT. SUBWAY CAR The train rolls. It stops at a station. The doors stay open a long time. Nothing happens. The doors close. The train moves again with many rattles and grunts. THE SAME Ann is riding morosely off into the night. She's alone in the car. The train stops at a station. The doors open. Nothing happens. The doors close. Then 4 black Latinos enter from another car. They see her and smile. They walk up surrounding her. LATINO 1 Hi, Sugar. ANN Dont you ever sleep? They try to figure that one out and cant. LATINO 2 Watcha doin running around in the night when there are only bad men about? LATINO 1 What you got in the bag, Sugar? ANN A cure for cancer. They're embarrassed. They think she's nuts. They're not sure but, if she is, that's like diplomatic immunity. LATINO 2 My grand mother had that. They cut her tit off, but it came back. LATINO 3 The tit? LATINO 2 The cancer! ANN This will cure it. There’s a silence. Latino 4 is thinking. LATINO 4 But, cancer is big business so, they tried to kill you and that's why you're riding the subway at 3 in the morning. ANN (astonished) That's right. LATINO 4 I got an idea. LATINO 3 (delighted with himself) That's an oxymoron. LATINO 4 Fuck the librarian jazz. We'll take you to a place where they can use it. ANN No, thanks. Your good intentions wouldn't last 20 minutes. LATINO 4 This will take 10. It's the next stop. The botanica at 155 and St. Nicholas. LATINOS 1, 2 and 3 Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. EXT. STREET (NIGHT) TRACKING SHOT: Ann and 4 Latinos coming out of the subway and walking to the botanica – A botanica is a black magic store. There statues of the Virgin and the saints all gut-bucket Technicolor and of the monster gods of Yoruba and VooDoo and Macumba and the cult of the saints. There are aerosol sprays attract love, to attract money, to repel bullets. There are charms to ward off the evil eye and to bring luck, 18 different kinds of luck. POV watches through the window. Ann is talking urgently to the proprietor. The 4 Latinos are standing around nodding. Then the proprietor starts nodding too. INT. BOTANICA PROPRIETOR How much? ANN Nothing. Free. The important thing is that you use it. She hands him the notebooks, the hard disk and the last remaining vial. He gives her all the money in the cash register. PROPRIETOR Yes, take it. It's important to me that you know I believe you. She takes it and turns to go. LATINO 1 We'll walk you out of the 'hood. They’re leering at her with appetite. The proprietor hoists a 12-gauge shotgun from down around his knees and lays it across the counter. PROPRIETOR No, you wont. LATINO 1 (laughing) No, we wont. RPOV TRACKING SHOT Ann walks out and off down the darkened street. All the street lamps have been shot out. RPOV does a high-speed back peddle like on Jeanne Moreau at the beginning of THE BAY OF ANGELS. And she disappears.
Copyright © 1999 Angel Obregon |