THE RUNNER/SCREENPLAY, BRIAN R. LUNDIN [best classic books to read .txt] 📗

the room.

TOMMY
What happened to the light?

LOUIE
(trembling voice)
Don’t know it just went out.

They heard the growl again.

LOUIE
What the fuck was that?

Louie jumped off Edwinna and pulled his gun.

TOMMY
Probably some asshole kids fucking around.

Tommy stopped as he approached the bed. There was something in the room with them.

TOMMY
Whose here?
Tommy pulled out his gun. Tommy saw a shadow by the window and the door close.

TOMMY
Whose here?

Tommy began waving his gun around the room. Edwinna felt the presence also, but for some unexplained reason she was not afraid. She slowly slid off the bed to the floor, covering herself with a dirty blanket. Tommy shot three times at the swiftly moving shadow. Suddenly, a pain exploded in his brain. Blinded by the pain, he shot two more times into the ceiling before falling to the floor clutching his stomach as his intestines poured out. There was another growl and Louie saw a swift movement. Louie’s mind was blurred, almost useless, his thoughts shattered.

LOUIE
Who are you…, but his breath was caught short as throat was ripped out.

The room became quiet as two puff of wind blew out the window. Edwinna put on her clothes. As she opened the door to the room, she saw the headless bodies of Tommy and Louie. She staggered into the kitchen, the pot of spaghetti and meatballs was still on the stove and a bottle of red wine and a loaf of Italian bread sat on a table. Suddenly, the front door flew open and Cinque, Pops, Ted and Jerome burst in with guns drawn. Seeing Jerome, Edwinna collapsed in his arms. Cinque, Pops and Ted went into the room. From the hall lights, they saw the bodies.

CINQUE
Shit!

JEROME
Let’s go!

Vito got the word from Willie Capani a member of his crew.

WILLIE
(shaking)
When got to the spot to relieve Tommy and Louie, the front door was open and there was this terrible smell. We called out for Tommy and Louie and when we went in; there they were on the floor in the room where the black bitch was. Louie pants were down over his ankles and there was blood everywhere. Their heads were gone and it looked like something had bitten them off the young soldier said shaking.

Vito hands shook as he listens to Willie. He tried to light a cigar but his hands were shaking to bad. Jimmy was reclining on his favorite couch, listening. In a moment, Vito waived Willie out his office and tried again to light his cigar. Jimmy got off the couch strolled over to his boss and held a lighter under Vito’s cigar. Vito inhaled deeply and blew out a blue haze of smoke. Jimmy poured Vito a glass of Chianti and sat down opposite his desk. Jimmy gave Vito a minute to collect himself and nodding for Willie to leave.

JIMMY
What the fuck is going on boss?

VITO
Fuck if I know! Them Nigras got some kind of black magic shit, some kinda of African bullshit. Maybe we should let those Nigras be.

Vito was quiet. He sipped his wine and took another deep pull off his cigar. There was a knock on the door. Willie went to the door and returned with a gift-wrapped black box in his hands.


WILLIE
The delivery guy just delivered this for you boss.

Bignose gave the box to Jimmy. Jimmy placed the box on Vito’s desk as Vito walked around the desk and studied the box from different angles.

VITO
Call Willie.

Willie came into the office.

VITO
Open the box.

Willie noticed that Vito and Jimmy had moved far away from the desk.

WILLIE
What you think is in there?

JIMMY
How the fuck am I suppose to know, open the muthafucker.

Willie glared in the direction of the box. His eyes were fearful and there was a fleck of saliva at the corner of his mouth. Bignose carefully removed the red ribbon and tape and slowly pulled back the flaps. When he looked inside the box, Bignose jumped back and covered his mouth. Satisfied that the box was not a bomb, Jimmy and Vito looked inside the box and saw Louie and Tommie’s head. Their bloodshot eyes were open and their face twisted in fear.


JIMMY
What the fuck, what the fuck!

Vito stared at the heads and for once did not rebuff Jimmy for repeating himself.


INT. JEROME’S OFFICE

Edwinna was sipping tea Ted was sitting next to her and Madame Bourneis and Marque were standing in a far corner. Jerome sitting behind his desk asked Edwinna what happened.

EDWINNA
I was on my way home from the grocery when this car pulled up and two men grabbed me, hit me in the head knocking me out, and threw me into the car and drove off. They blindfolded me and tied my hands behind my back and when we got to this building, they threw me into this dark smelly room. I heard other men in the apartment talking and laughing and I smelled something cooking. Shortly, an Italian man came into the room, removed the blindfold and untied my hands. A few minutes later, they threw this young kid in the room. The kid told me his name was Bobby Randall and he was a drug dealer for the State Street Boys. His face was bloody and he had a black eye. After a while, Bobby began wheezing and seemed like he couldn’t catch his breath. He told me was having an asthma attack and he needed his inhaler, but the men who grabbed him threw it away. I called out for help and this guy; I heard one of them call him Vito, told two other men to take the kid to the hospital. The next day, two young men came into the room, they tore my clothes off me and this one young man was going to rape me. A strange wind blew into the room from a window that was partly open. I heard what sounded like a growl, the light went out and I heard screams, terrible screams. The next thing I knew you was coming into the room. Have you anything about the young boy Bobby?

JEROME
They didn’t take him to the hospital, Edwinna. They found his body in the river.

A terrible sorrow etched across Edwinna face before she broke out in tears.

Vito had the heads taken to the one of the steel mills where he controlled the union and had them incinerated.

VITO
I’m through fuckin’ around with that Nigra, no more kidnapping, no more bombs, I want that nigger dead, you understand Jimmy, dead!

JIMMY
Ok boss, ok boss.

Jimmy had seen Vito like this before and he knew there was nothing he could say to make him change his mind. Vito was hardheaded, stubborn and impulsive when he made up his mind about something. Jimmy knew that Jerome had really pissed Vito off. Everything that Vito had done to get Jerome to buckle under had failed. Vito was used to having his way and surprisingly had his own brand of principles and for better or worse legal or illegal, immoral or moral he held to them with uncommon tenacity. Vito had finally met someone who did not jump when he called and Jimmy believed; beneath all of Vito’s bravado, he respected this self –assured Policy King. Jimmy gave the murder contract to two of the most experienced enforcers for Vito’s crew. DOMINICK BONANO and JIMMY ACERTININI reputedly had killed over a dozen men on Vito’s orders. They were methodical and ruthless. What Vito and the two hit men did not know was that Pops had developed an informant in Vito’s crew. The informant was a low level member of the crew and had branched out on his own selling drugs he got from Pops. The informant told Pops about the contract on Jerome and Pops told Jerome. For two weeks Bonano and Acertinini followed Jerome and noticed most of the time, the only people with him were his driver, a beautiful young woman and a young man. It was a cool fall night. A light rain had started to fall and the streets were beginning to get slippery. Ted noticed the old Buick following him when they left Glady’s Restaurant. The car followed as Ted pulled into the alley behind Jerome’s house and raised the electric garage door. Jerome, Madame Bournies and Marque sat in the rear seat of the Lincoln while Ted got out the car to face whoever was tailing him. Dominick Bonano smiled as he snuffed out his cigarette and watched the man slowly walk toward their car.

JIMMY
It’s time!

Acertinini opened the door and Dominick jacked a round into the shotgun and Jimmy eased out his .45. Those would be Jimmy’s last words. As the two hit men lifted their weapons, a hail of bullets from Ted’s two guns and the police officers William “Bill” Baxter had hired, greeted them the minute their feet hit the ground. As Jimmy, slipped on the icy ground, he fired one shot from his weapon into the air. As Jimmy, felled he heard the sickening crack of bone and saw Dominick Bonano skull pop open as the bullets from Ted’s guns hit him in his temple. Blood and brains tissue gushed from the wound as Dominick fell to the ground. Jerome slowly got out the car and looked at Jimmy who was face down in the dirty alley. Jimmy was shaking and vomiting on the ground.

JIMMY
Please don’t kill me.

Jimmy was pleading for his life and was afraid to look Jerome in his eyes.

JEROME This is for Bobby!
Jerome put two slugs, one in each eye. The police officers dumped the two bodies in Washington Park.

Commander Hollis and Sergeant Lundgrin were in the Commander’s Office reading the 24 Hour report.

HOLLIS
Been a busy week; two headless bodies found in an apartment in the Patch, a young man dead on the river and two men found in Washington Park, one with both his eyes shot out.

REGGIE
Yep, sure has, did you read the autopsy report on the two headless guys?

HOLLIS
Sure did, sounds similar to what happened in that warehouse in Gary. Heads severed from the body by what appeared to be sharp animal teeth.

HOLLIS
What kind of fucking animals do we have in Chicago with sharp teeth?

REGGIE
Word on the street is that Edwinna Johnson, one of Jerome McLemore’s people was kidnapped and one of Pops guys was also kidnapped, but no reports were filed. Something is going on boss, I don’t know what, but I’ll wager a queen in our chess game that Vito is involved.

HOLLIS
I agree, check around see what you can find out, and keep me informed.

Vinnie Acosta was reading the newspaper account of the headless bodies found in a dumpy apartment on west 26th Street and the two men found in Washington Park.

VINNIE
Get Vito in here, immediately!

Vinnie said over his office intercom to one of his bodyguards. Jimmy and Vito arrived at Vinnie’s office an hour later.

VINNIE
(screaming)
You’ve made the front pages, congratulations. You still fuckin’ with Jerome McLemore, aren’t you? Let’s count how many of our people has been killed; three in Gary, two at Ted’s house, two