THRASHIN' ABOUT

ACT 1

Darkness. A flame strikes up and lights the end of a blunt, then flicks off. An inhale makes the blunt end glow, highlighting the lower half of a nose pair and of red female lips. The lips blow a cloud of smoke that envelops everything. The smoke turns cartoonish, where an 80’s speed metal song starts to play, as a blue pickup with angel-like wings bursts through. It resembles a 1958 Chevy ½ Cameo Carrier and has two young men’s silhouettes inside of the smoke-filled cab. The truck flies from front view to third person view, through cities with known landmarks, signifying a road trip. The screen then quickly pans around to the front of the driver’s side of the windshield, the smokes clears to reveal the driver’s face. The song stops as a loud British voice speaks over the sound of a scratching record.

BRITISH VOICE : Oi! Here, fucking here!

The visuals quickly revert to real time. The driver, COLIN, 22, is the all-American neighborhood boy. White, clean cut dark hair, short height and very athletic build, he’s clothed in puck rocker garb. The young British man, ROBBIE, 22, is in the passenger seat next to Colin. He is tall and with spiky platinum blonde hair, in his early twenties and in punk garb. Colin has a look of surprise and fear as he snaps out of his trance. He reacts quickly to semi-swerve on to the turn off, the car behind them blares it horn.

COLIN : Fuck!

ROBBIE: Shit!

Robbie is holding onto the top of his open cab window, a smile of excitement and fear on his face. He’s flipping off the car behind the truck, he puts his hand down after the driver regains control of the truck. A map is in his lap and a blunt in his left hand.

COLIN : God damnit, Robbie!

ROBBIE : Fuck off, Colin! This is the last stretch man, chill out!

COLIN : Hey, you actually listened. I thought you wouldn’t get past her tits.

They laugh as Robbie takes a long drag of his blunt blows out the cracked window next to him, coughing a little.

ROBBIE : She would’ve gotten VIP status if we’d-!

COLIN : No, not this again!

ROBBIE : -rented that ‘Bago for picking up hitchhiking babes!

Robbie takes another hit of his blunt.

COLIN : Yeah, and maybe the Bandit comes across us one night, while he’s running from Smokey, and asks for our help to hide him.

ROBBIE : Oh, shut-!

Robbie coughs and hacks before he can finish his sentence.

COLIN : From there we get involved in a slew of crazy shit, ending with him officiating your wedding to one of the ‘hitchhiking babes’, who’s actually a black widow. Looking forward to the sequel!

Robbie struggles to catch his breath.

ROBBIE: No risk, no reward, fucking wanker!

COLIN : At least I won’t scream creep on wheels.

ROBBIE : Creep on wheels?! Remember Terry and Jenny? Lacey and Gracie? Vivian and Ethel? You can thank me for our fuck fests!

COLIN : The first two took off with a portion of your coke, the second swiped fifty bucks from your wallet, the final two-!

ROBBIE : Alright! Could’ve ended a lot worse, we replaced everything!

COLIN: We spent more on repairs than we ever needed to!

ROBBIE : This heap is falling apart anyway, but fucking fine!

COLIN : Thank you!

A tense calm comes over the cab of the truck. Colin sees the upcoming turn off sign for the BATTERY SPENCER viewpoint.

COLIN : Want to check it out?

Robbie sees the sign.

ROBBIE : Yeah, could use a stretch.

EXT. BATTERY SPENCER VIEWPOINT - MORNING

They drive to the parking lot and walk up to the viewing platform. They take a minute to view the end of the journey, the city of San Francisco before them, a thin veil of fog covers the city and the Golden Gate Bridge. Robbie emits a whistle and takes two small flasks out of his jacket, giving one to Colin and opens his.

COLIN : One before we dive in?

ROBBIE : Yeah, we’re going to need it.

Colin nods and continues to gaze, whilst opening his flask.

COLIN : Hard to believe what James played over the phone could come from here.

ROBBIE : Least we’re not going to have to deal with grown men wearing makeup and prancing around in ghastly leopard print outfits.

COLIN : Yeah, MTV isn’t doing us any favors lately.

ROBBIE : Ugh, yeah. I’ll include that in my set, I just can’t wait to stir up some shit with the stand-up scene.

COLIN : I’ll say a prayer for the first person who heckles you.

ROBBIE : Like that will do anything, you haven’t prayed in years!

They laugh until the moment of silence takes over; they continue to behold the sight before them. Robbie holds up his flask toward Colin.

ROBBIE : Summer 1982. Let the chaos begin.

Colin does the same to Robbie.

COLIN : Ready for a gay old time?

An 80’s punk song starts to play as Robbie playfully punches Colin in the shoulder, hard. They laugh, clinking their flasks together and take a celebratory chug. An old woman looks over to the two and gives them a disapproving look, where Robbie flips her off while still chugging his flask. She gasps in shock.

INT. BEDROOM - MORNING

A split screen takes over, showing two women in their early twenties sleeping, until their alarm clocks go off. MATILDA (23) promptly gets up, hitting the top of her clock. She has long auburn hair and she has a physically fit, voluptuous body. She is the embodiment of the independent working woman, ready to take the reins of the day. JOSIE (21) sluggishly slaps her clock off the night stand and rolls out of bed. She is petite, shorter in height and has dark hair. Though a working woman as well, she balances out with personal time instead of working overtime.

INT. SHOWER - MORNING

Both women react to cold water showering over them, JOSIE with composed shock and MATILDA yelling out. They fix their hair and leave their apartment. MATILDA dressed in a fashionable office outfit and has a feathered hairstyle. JOSIE is wearing a simple buttoned-up blouse with skirt outfit and a wavy bob hairstyle. They ride the same bus to work and bid good morning to their co-workers. They sit at their desks and start their work day; MATILDA is a receptionist and JOSIE an investment analyst. They work on their tasks, get up and head to the alleyway, light up and drag on a cigarette. Split screen combines and song ends at same time.

JOSIE : You got in early last night.

MATILDA : Ugh, don’t start.

JOSIE : No, really, how was it?

MATILDA : Everything started great, he wasn’t the most boring guy I’ve dated. He doesn’t talk politics on the first date, apparently.

JOSIE : That’s a bad thing?

MATILDA : Is that a serious question?!

JOSIE : Ok, geez.

MATILDA : We ran into one of his exes on the way, the bitch tried to flirt with him, while I was right there! He brushed her off though, the look on her face was fucking priceless.

JOSIE : Good to know he can handle his exes.

MATILDA : Then we get to the spot he suggested, it was good, but for some reason…

JOSIE : What?

MATILDA : The place had an odd vibe, like the people sitting near us seemed to be anything other than married, made me feel uneasy.

Josie holds her cigarette in her mouth as she takes out and looks at her pocket watch with both hands, puts it back in her pocket.

JOSIE: You know we only get five minutes.

Matilda rolls her eyes, while she takes a drag on her cigarette.

MATILDA : On we got back to his place, and made me cum a couple times, he wanted me to take over with a fucking strap on!

Josie takes another drag while trying raising her eyebrows in surprise and amusement, chuckling.

MATILDA : He wanted to see how I would react, because the night was going so well. I guess that couldn’t wait until the third date.

JOSIE : We doubting the cause now? I thought you would be into it.

MATILDA: Don’t! We got until the end of the month, we’re three states short of ratification! No more glass ceiling, shitty pay-!

JOSIE : Okay, take a chill pill! Save it for the protests, you’ve shoved it all down my throat already.

MATILDA : Fuck, fine! Anyway, he had trouble finishing once I said no, he suggested I try putting my finger up his butt. I did and he became a volcano after a few minutes.

JOSIE : You two part on good terms?

MATILDA : I mean, we talked afterward, sort of. He got a call from a coworker, so I took the time to clean up in his bathroom. When I entered, kinda wanted to take a shower, didn’t though.

JOSIE : So, he didn’t get everything he paid for.

MATILDA : Any dates you go on don’t get what they pay for.

JOSIE : Not all women tear they’re clothes off on the first date.

MATILDA : Most women go all the way on the third date! Your snatch has so much dust on it, not even a cleaning lady would go near it! It’s the start of summer, try to find a date, for my sake.

JOSIE : As long as you don’t become my pimp when you lose patience.

Matilda grins while taking a drag from her cigarette, Josie rolls her eyes while grinning.

JOSIE : You going to see him again?

MATILDA : I don’t know, maybe. I like taking over sometimes, but I don’t really want to-

A mischievous smile covers over Josie’s face.

JOSIE : -go down that rabbit hole?

MATILDA : Ha! Yeah.

Josie shrugs as she grins, the two finish their smokes and stomp them out.

MATILDA : Your turn to get dinner tonight, surprise me if you want.

JOSIE : Didn’t you mention you wanting to go out?

MATILDA : After last night, I need a weekend long break.

JOSIE : Ok, just don’t hog the whole bottle this time, wino.

MATILDA : Hey, it’ll be earned as soon as my boss signs Mr. Zhang today. Back to doing other people’s work and not getting the credit?

JOSIE : Ugh, not this again-

MATILDA : You are doing more than you need to and should be the lead number cruncher, not the dumb bitch using you!

JOSIE : Caroline isn’t using me-!

MATILDA : Uh, whatever, slave!

The pair both roll their eyes and part ways.

INT. APARTMENT - MORNING

JAMES (23), a tall black man wearing jeans and a black T-shirt, sits on a chair in a small studio apartment. With intense concentration, he tunes a couple strings on his acoustic guitar. He starts playing a tune when the phone rings. He excitedly sets the guitar down and answers, speaking with a Chicagoan accent with Cajun/Creole undertone. A voice on the other end speaks with a Scottish accent.

MYSTERIOUS MAN : Boudreaux.

James’ look of excitement changes to nervousness.

BOUDREAUX : Hey, Mr. Black, I’ll have your payment by tomorrow.

MR. BLACK : You better.

Mr. BLACK hangs up and JAMES hears the dial tone. He hangs up his receiver and goes back to his guitar, continuing to play the tune while…

END OF ACT 1