Post by Simply Beautiful on Mar 25, 2007 13:24:33 GMT -5
“Mr. Beautiful! Mr. Beautiful! How do you respond to claims in the local newspapers and Independent magazines that you’re the next D!?”
“Well, brotha, I ain’t the first D!, understand? I’m the first SB. And you can quote me on that!”
Fade in. The SB mansion in Edmonton. Suzanna sits at the kitchen table. Her eyes are sad; her face, mellow. She has a pen in hand, furiously writing, as if trying to beat some imaginary clock.
Cut to SB, grabbing dinner in a small Italian restaurant somewhere in Toronto. A plate of spaghetti sits in front of him. He goes to dig in – a voice form behind him:
Voice: Got a minute?
SB puts down his utensils and turns around.
Brian Bruno stands behind him, covered in rain water and perspiration. A hood covers his face; he is, after all, a wanted man.
SB: What the hell are you doin’ here?!?
Bruno: Not happy to see me? I’m only here because I’m booked for Sole Survivor. As your manager, no less.
SB: Quick, sit down and cover the (BLEEP) up. If anyone sees me with you they cops’ll arrest me too.
Bruno sits down and grabs a piece of bread from the basket, scarfing it down before SB can even blink.
SB: You ate?
Bruno: I been on the run for weeks. I been sleepin’ in parks and abandoned cars. You think I’m eatin’ right, mother(BLEEP)er?
SB pushes his own dinner over to Bruno side of the table and Bruno already has a forkful in his mouth as he sloppily thanks his friend.
SB: Waitress? Can I get another order of spaghetti and meatballs? (looks at Bruno, gobbling down his food, then back at the waitress) And a couple slices of pizza? Thanks, sweetheart. (looks back at Bruno) I’ve been worried about you, bro. I gotta tell you, it didn’t look good for you when you ran off. People were talkin’ – some of the boys think you’re guilty, and they want Rex to fire you immediately. Did you even know you’re in the Sole Survivor Match?
Bruno: Fire me? HA! Let ‘em. Don’t have much of a job now anyway, do I? I don’t even have a god Damned residence anymore, IRS came and repossessed my house. Last thing on my mind is the Sole Survivor Match.
SB: I don’t think they call it the IRS here, Bri.
Bruno: You hear what I just said? I’m HOMELESS. They could call in the (BLEEP)in’ Periwinkle Club for all I care!
Bruno goes back to his plate as the waitress brings over the pizza and SB’s dinner.
SB: How’d that happen?
Bruno: Ain’t payed my taxes. I make small enough money as it is.
SB: Well, you know you can stay at my house when we get back – but we have to go to the police, you got me?
Bruno: … Aight, cool. Let me go on my own though, aight? I don’t want no damned entourage comin’ with me, it’s my business brotha.
SB: That’s fine, just don’t run off, ok. I’m trusting you to do the right thing. (Bruno nods) What are you gonna tell them?
Bruno: The truth. I didn’t do it.
SB: That’s all you got? Hi, I’m Brian Bruno and I didn’t do it! You need an alibi, some evidence, something concrete to back that up!
Bruno: It ain’t the court of law, man. It’s just the police station. Guilty till proven innocent, no?
SB: Not when there’s a warrant out for your arrest. That guy almost died, Brian. He’s lucky to be alive, and that girl will be traumatized for the rest of her life because of what WHOEVER it was did to them. If the cops think it’s you, do you really think they’ll take that innocence statement even at face value? They’ll have you in a cell before you can even blink, and they’d be right to do it, too.
Bruno: I don’t have any (BLEEP)in’ evidence, man! I got nothin’ but my word to prove I didn’t do it. That video don’t even show my face, and if it does it’s grainy and hard to see at best! How could anyone tell it was me?
SB: Wait…what?
Bruno: Huh?
SB: What you just said…say it again.
Bruno: Look, I ain’t got time for this shit.
SB: (gritting his teeth) Say it again.
Bruno: You heard me, let’s not play games.
SB: You did it, didn’t you? You’ve been responsible for all of them, haven’t you?
Bruno hangs his head and buries it into his palms.
SB: (nearly in tears) We gotta go get help, man. We have to.
Bruno: Leave me.
SB: NO! You’re a dangerous (BLEEP)in’ criminal to them, but I know that’s not the real you! We just need to get you to the police station, and to the doctor’s office, and then everything will be fine, ok?
Bruno: Listen to me. I’m walking out this door. And then I’m headed to the cops. I belong there with the rest of the criminals, understand? That’s where I belong, pal. I finally found someplace I fit in.
SB: (panicking) No, no, no! That isn’t what you are! You’re a family man! You’re a husband! A father! A GOOD MAN! NOT THIS!
Bruno: (breaking down into tears, he pulls his hood further down over his eyes) Keep your (BLEEP)in’ voice down man!
“FREEZE!”
Police swarm into the building and grab Bruno from out of his chair, while two more hold guns to SB and slam his head off the table. Bruno doesn’t even resist, he puts his hands on top of his head and smiles as he’s dragged away. People are running out of the restaurant, customers, waitresses, everyone but the owner, who’s passed out.
Bruno: Take me home.
Cop 1: (gun trained on SB) Don’t (BLEEP)in’ move!
SB: He’s not a criminal! He just needs help! He just needs help! Let him (BLEEP)in’ go, God dammit!
Cut to SB, in his car. He’s speeding back towards his hotel room. The cops let him go, all he did was have dinner after all. What’ll become of Bruno is entirely unknown.
Cut back to SB in his hotel room, sometime later.
SB: Bruce was right…Bruno is turning on me…this whole thing was just to get at me.
Flashback to a few days earlier.
Bruce Richards, backstage at the Sole Survivor Press conference.
Bruce: It’s weird doing one of those by myself.
Voice: Bruce. I need to talk, man.
It’s SB. He looks different – perhaps it’s his obsession with Rees? No…something else.
Bruce: Shoot.
SB: When Kyle turned on you…did you see it coming? Was he acting differently?
Bruce: Look, you’re my friend and all, SB. But I don’t like talking about that.
SB: It’s important man. Please anything that can help me…
Bruce: This is about Bruno?
SB: (sighs) Yeah.
Bruce: (rubs his hands through his hair) The way it looks to me, you can’t trust Brian. He’s lost it, and there’s nothing you can do to help him besides turn him over the cops. But…well, there’s something I’ve been meaning to tell you, actually.
SB: Huh?
Bruce: I think Bruno IS turning on you. I think he blames everything that’s happened to him, his losing streak in title matches, his lack of success, his family leaving him, all this shit, on you. This man HATES you, SB. For God’s sake, keep him at arm’s length.
Bruce’s cell phone goes off. He looks into SB’eyes.
Bruce: I need to answer this, and I'm gonna be away for while before Sole Survivor. (SB nods) Trust me on this, alright?
SB nods. Bruce walks off, but the camera focuses on SB, looking sick to his stomach.
Cut back to SB in his hotel room.
SB: (laughs) He was (BLEEP)in’ right. Thank God the cops got to him…before I did.
KNOCK KNOCK.
SB: Hello?
Voice: Mail for a Mr. Rossi?
SB gets up and walks over to the door. He opens it and a man in a suit hands it to him, and walks off. SB walks back over to his door, cracks open a beer, and begins reading it.
Cut back to Suzanna, writing at the desk.
Suzanna (V/O): Andrew: I’m writing this letter to tell you that I’m leaving you. I’ve been having an affair for the past three months, and I’m leaving with the man I’ve been seeing to get married. Don’t write back, or call. I won’t respond to either. Goodbye, and good luck.
Suzanna wipes away tears, and seals the envelope. She’s lying to him, of course. She’s leaving out of fear of Bruno. She gave him the affair story to keep them both safe from Bruno. Little does she know that SB has already figured him out…
Cut back to SB.
SB: Hate to admit I saw this coming, but I did. I guess it’s my own fault. I’m sorry, Su. I hope this guy treats you better…
He gets up and walks over to the balcony. He looks out at the beautiful view of Toronto, and breathes in some fresh air. Even with all that’s happened, there’s STILL just one name on his mind.
Lloyd Rees.
SB: I’m coming, Lloyd. I’m fighting through all the bullshit getting in my way, but I’m still. (BLEEP)ing. Comin’. And when I get to you? (smirks) May God save your soul.
He turns back around, more determined than ever before. Let Rees live in fear of SB. He should be afraid, because SB has come to deliver him from evil.
Fade out.
“Well, brotha, I ain’t the first D!, understand? I’m the first SB. And you can quote me on that!”
Fade in. The SB mansion in Edmonton. Suzanna sits at the kitchen table. Her eyes are sad; her face, mellow. She has a pen in hand, furiously writing, as if trying to beat some imaginary clock.
Cut to SB, grabbing dinner in a small Italian restaurant somewhere in Toronto. A plate of spaghetti sits in front of him. He goes to dig in – a voice form behind him:
Voice: Got a minute?
SB puts down his utensils and turns around.
Brian Bruno stands behind him, covered in rain water and perspiration. A hood covers his face; he is, after all, a wanted man.
SB: What the hell are you doin’ here?!?
Bruno: Not happy to see me? I’m only here because I’m booked for Sole Survivor. As your manager, no less.
SB: Quick, sit down and cover the (BLEEP) up. If anyone sees me with you they cops’ll arrest me too.
Bruno sits down and grabs a piece of bread from the basket, scarfing it down before SB can even blink.
SB: You ate?
Bruno: I been on the run for weeks. I been sleepin’ in parks and abandoned cars. You think I’m eatin’ right, mother(BLEEP)er?
SB pushes his own dinner over to Bruno side of the table and Bruno already has a forkful in his mouth as he sloppily thanks his friend.
SB: Waitress? Can I get another order of spaghetti and meatballs? (looks at Bruno, gobbling down his food, then back at the waitress) And a couple slices of pizza? Thanks, sweetheart. (looks back at Bruno) I’ve been worried about you, bro. I gotta tell you, it didn’t look good for you when you ran off. People were talkin’ – some of the boys think you’re guilty, and they want Rex to fire you immediately. Did you even know you’re in the Sole Survivor Match?
Bruno: Fire me? HA! Let ‘em. Don’t have much of a job now anyway, do I? I don’t even have a god Damned residence anymore, IRS came and repossessed my house. Last thing on my mind is the Sole Survivor Match.
SB: I don’t think they call it the IRS here, Bri.
Bruno: You hear what I just said? I’m HOMELESS. They could call in the (BLEEP)in’ Periwinkle Club for all I care!
Bruno goes back to his plate as the waitress brings over the pizza and SB’s dinner.
SB: How’d that happen?
Bruno: Ain’t payed my taxes. I make small enough money as it is.
SB: Well, you know you can stay at my house when we get back – but we have to go to the police, you got me?
Bruno: … Aight, cool. Let me go on my own though, aight? I don’t want no damned entourage comin’ with me, it’s my business brotha.
SB: That’s fine, just don’t run off, ok. I’m trusting you to do the right thing. (Bruno nods) What are you gonna tell them?
Bruno: The truth. I didn’t do it.
SB: That’s all you got? Hi, I’m Brian Bruno and I didn’t do it! You need an alibi, some evidence, something concrete to back that up!
Bruno: It ain’t the court of law, man. It’s just the police station. Guilty till proven innocent, no?
SB: Not when there’s a warrant out for your arrest. That guy almost died, Brian. He’s lucky to be alive, and that girl will be traumatized for the rest of her life because of what WHOEVER it was did to them. If the cops think it’s you, do you really think they’ll take that innocence statement even at face value? They’ll have you in a cell before you can even blink, and they’d be right to do it, too.
Bruno: I don’t have any (BLEEP)in’ evidence, man! I got nothin’ but my word to prove I didn’t do it. That video don’t even show my face, and if it does it’s grainy and hard to see at best! How could anyone tell it was me?
SB: Wait…what?
Bruno: Huh?
SB: What you just said…say it again.
Bruno: Look, I ain’t got time for this shit.
SB: (gritting his teeth) Say it again.
Bruno: You heard me, let’s not play games.
SB: You did it, didn’t you? You’ve been responsible for all of them, haven’t you?
Bruno hangs his head and buries it into his palms.
SB: (nearly in tears) We gotta go get help, man. We have to.
Bruno: Leave me.
SB: NO! You’re a dangerous (BLEEP)in’ criminal to them, but I know that’s not the real you! We just need to get you to the police station, and to the doctor’s office, and then everything will be fine, ok?
Bruno: Listen to me. I’m walking out this door. And then I’m headed to the cops. I belong there with the rest of the criminals, understand? That’s where I belong, pal. I finally found someplace I fit in.
SB: (panicking) No, no, no! That isn’t what you are! You’re a family man! You’re a husband! A father! A GOOD MAN! NOT THIS!
Bruno: (breaking down into tears, he pulls his hood further down over his eyes) Keep your (BLEEP)in’ voice down man!
“FREEZE!”
Police swarm into the building and grab Bruno from out of his chair, while two more hold guns to SB and slam his head off the table. Bruno doesn’t even resist, he puts his hands on top of his head and smiles as he’s dragged away. People are running out of the restaurant, customers, waitresses, everyone but the owner, who’s passed out.
Bruno: Take me home.
Cop 1: (gun trained on SB) Don’t (BLEEP)in’ move!
SB: He’s not a criminal! He just needs help! He just needs help! Let him (BLEEP)in’ go, God dammit!
Cut to SB, in his car. He’s speeding back towards his hotel room. The cops let him go, all he did was have dinner after all. What’ll become of Bruno is entirely unknown.
Cut back to SB in his hotel room, sometime later.
SB: Bruce was right…Bruno is turning on me…this whole thing was just to get at me.
Flashback to a few days earlier.
Bruce Richards, backstage at the Sole Survivor Press conference.
Bruce: It’s weird doing one of those by myself.
Voice: Bruce. I need to talk, man.
It’s SB. He looks different – perhaps it’s his obsession with Rees? No…something else.
Bruce: Shoot.
SB: When Kyle turned on you…did you see it coming? Was he acting differently?
Bruce: Look, you’re my friend and all, SB. But I don’t like talking about that.
SB: It’s important man. Please anything that can help me…
Bruce: This is about Bruno?
SB: (sighs) Yeah.
Bruce: (rubs his hands through his hair) The way it looks to me, you can’t trust Brian. He’s lost it, and there’s nothing you can do to help him besides turn him over the cops. But…well, there’s something I’ve been meaning to tell you, actually.
SB: Huh?
Bruce: I think Bruno IS turning on you. I think he blames everything that’s happened to him, his losing streak in title matches, his lack of success, his family leaving him, all this shit, on you. This man HATES you, SB. For God’s sake, keep him at arm’s length.
Bruce’s cell phone goes off. He looks into SB’eyes.
Bruce: I need to answer this, and I'm gonna be away for while before Sole Survivor. (SB nods) Trust me on this, alright?
SB nods. Bruce walks off, but the camera focuses on SB, looking sick to his stomach.
Cut back to SB in his hotel room.
SB: (laughs) He was (BLEEP)in’ right. Thank God the cops got to him…before I did.
KNOCK KNOCK.
SB: Hello?
Voice: Mail for a Mr. Rossi?
SB gets up and walks over to the door. He opens it and a man in a suit hands it to him, and walks off. SB walks back over to his door, cracks open a beer, and begins reading it.
Cut back to Suzanna, writing at the desk.
Suzanna (V/O): Andrew: I’m writing this letter to tell you that I’m leaving you. I’ve been having an affair for the past three months, and I’m leaving with the man I’ve been seeing to get married. Don’t write back, or call. I won’t respond to either. Goodbye, and good luck.
Suzanna wipes away tears, and seals the envelope. She’s lying to him, of course. She’s leaving out of fear of Bruno. She gave him the affair story to keep them both safe from Bruno. Little does she know that SB has already figured him out…
Cut back to SB.
SB: Hate to admit I saw this coming, but I did. I guess it’s my own fault. I’m sorry, Su. I hope this guy treats you better…
He gets up and walks over to the balcony. He looks out at the beautiful view of Toronto, and breathes in some fresh air. Even with all that’s happened, there’s STILL just one name on his mind.
Lloyd Rees.
SB: I’m coming, Lloyd. I’m fighting through all the bullshit getting in my way, but I’m still. (BLEEP)ing. Comin’. And when I get to you? (smirks) May God save your soul.
He turns back around, more determined than ever before. Let Rees live in fear of SB. He should be afraid, because SB has come to deliver him from evil.
Fade out.