{"id":1976,"date":"2016-01-22T17:03:07","date_gmt":"2016-01-22T22:03:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/lifeinspice.com\/?page_id=1976"},"modified":"2016-06-02T17:25:18","modified_gmt":"2016-06-02T21:25:18","slug":"1976-2","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/lifeinspice.com\/?page_id=1976","title":{"rendered":"Scene 1 — Shining Tower"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n
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\"01guns03\"Sound of a machine gun fades. Pause. Two Black men sitting before a ragged wall,Malcolm,\u00a0 25, smoking, and Henry, mid-50s. The muzzles of two multi-barreled anti-aircraft guns intrude slightly into the scene, crumpled Coke cans and cigarette packs strewn around their feet. They take earplugs out of their ears.<\/em><\/p>\n

Malcolm<\/h4>\n

(excited, even exhilarated)<\/em>\u00a0 It\u2019s that L&M moment!<\/p>\n

Henry<\/h4>\n

Huh?<\/p>\n

Malcolm<\/h4>\n

We stopped them cold.\u00a0 They never even got close!<\/p>\n

Henry<\/h4>\n

(slow, bored)<\/em>\u00a0 They never get close, kid.\u00a0 No big deal.<\/p>\n

Malcolm<\/h4>\n

Man, you\u2019re such a downer.\u00a0 You know, you\u2019re lucky I don\u2019t report you.\u00a0 If I didn\u2019t pity your being such a burnt-out old man.<\/p>\n

Henry<\/h4>\n

Something you\u2019ll never be.<\/p>\n

Malcolm<\/h4>\n

And whyizzat?<\/p>\n

Henry<\/h4>\n

Cuz you\u2019ll never grow old.<\/p>\n

Malcolm<\/h4>\n

Fuck you, gramps.\u00a0 You know, as a Black man, I find your lack of political consciousness a total embarrassment.\u00a0 Didn\u2019t they teach you anything back when?<\/p>\n

Henry<\/h4>\n

PC 101, PC 201, PC ten-01, sure.\u00a0 I know all that shit.\u00a0 Did a stint as an instructor for you whippersnappers \u2014 back when.\u00a0 Led \u2019em in the Gunner\u2019s Oath.\u00a0 (pompously, standing with one finger raised)<\/em>\u00a0 This wall is our sacred mission, our holy spirit, our mother and father, the very blood flowing through our veins.\u00a0 This wall keeps our community righteous.\u00a0 Without it the white man would reduce us to devil-worshiping infidels.\u00a0 This wall keeps our community clean.\u00a0 Without it the white man would ravage our women.\u00a0 This wall keeps our community alive.\u00a0 Without it the white man would drown us in a sea of blood.\u00a0 \u2014\u00a0 (whispers)<\/em>\u00a0 But not you and me, of course.\u00a0 (normal voice)<\/em>\u00a0 By striking down the unclean elements among us who would rupture, fracture, expose and endanger our community, we preserve our community, our heritage, our womankind, our, uh, oh yeah, our culture, our destiny, our culture, wait, I just said that, our unity \u2026 all that shit.\u00a0 (sits back down, leans back in his chair.)<\/em><\/p>\n

Even believed it once.\u00a0 (tear in his eye)<\/em><\/p>\n

Malcolm<\/h4>\n

Till your brain rotted out.\u00a0 (pause)<\/em>\u00a0 Old fool.<\/p>\n

Henry<\/h4>\n

I suppose I am, mud wrestling with punks like you. \u00a0But I figure, what with you being fresh out of the academy, I owe you a chance.\u00a0 One chance.<\/p>\n

Malcolm<\/h4>\n

You owe \u2026<\/p>\n

Henry<\/h4>\n

Whyn\u2019t you just shut the fuck up and listen for a change.\u00a0 Humor an old fool, if you want to put it that way \u2026<\/p>\n

Malcolm<\/h4>\n

Why should \u2026<\/p>\n

Henry<\/h4>\n

(suddenly on his feet, his hand gripping Malcolm\u2019s jaw and pushing it back, his voice very slow and deadly)<\/em>\u00a0 Humor. \u00a0An.\u00a0 Old.\u00a0 Fool.\u00a0 For.\u00a0 Just.\u00a0 A.\u00a0 Moment.<\/p>\n

(Malcolm manages a nod, Henry nods back, sits back down, his voice once again laid back.)<\/em><\/p>\n

First, tell me how you got here.<\/p>\n

Malcolm<\/h4>\n

I wanted to serve \u2026<\/p>\n

Henry<\/h4>\n

No, no, no!\u00a0 I mean how did you get here \u2014 at this exact spot, at this exact time?<\/p>\n

Malcolm<\/h4>\n

I don\u2019t understand \u2026<\/p>\n

Henry<\/h4>\n

Cuz your looking for some fancy conceptual bullshit and I\u2019m talking mechanics.\u00a0 I mean, let me make it simple enough even you can understand.\u00a0 What happened to the man you\u2019re replacing?<\/p>\n

Malcolm<\/h4>\n

They told me he retired.<\/p>\n

Henry<\/h4>\n

I suppose that\u2019s one way to put it.\u00a0 At age 22.\u00a0 To be just a bit more specific, last night while I was in the can, he looped a cord around the trigger of that there gun, stood in front of two of the barrels, and gave it a yank.\u00a0 Fucking mess.\u00a0 Then the gunners on either side of us heard it, opened fire, the ones next to them panicked, started blasting, and for a few minutes we had a major battle, or so they said on the 10 o\u2019clock news.\u00a0 They had one hell of a time getting everyone to stop. \u00a0Things\u2019d quiet down for half a minute, then one jittery asshole would think he saw something, and the whole line would start up all over again.\u00a0 For you, though, instant job.\u00a0 Doesn\u2019t it fret you that your name tag just says Temp 24?<\/p>\n

Malcolm<\/h4>\n

Hmmm.\u00a0 But so?<\/p>\n

Henry<\/h4>\n

Then there was the guy before him, he just hung himself, and the guy before him, he \u2026 well, I\u2019d hate to worry your dreams, but every partner I\u2019ve had for the last 20 years has done himself in, one way or another.<\/p>\n

Malcolm<\/h4>\n

Aaaah, you\u2019re just raggin\u2019 on me!\u00a0 Old man.<\/p>\n

Henry<\/h4>\n

Be polite.\u00a0 Pretend you\u2019re gathering evidence for your report.<\/p>\n

Malcolm<\/p>\n

Damn right, I\u2019m gathering evidence. I\u2019ll \u2026<\/p>\n

Henry<\/h4>\n

My favorite was this guy, about four years ago.\u00a0 Look at that building a little to our right, the real big one.\u00a0 Kind of standing alone in the rubble, about a hundred yards off.\u00a0 The one they used to call the Empire State Building.\u00a0 Before the world went dark, it was a favorite place for people to end their earthly travails, they\u2019d jump right off the observation deck.\u00a0 Sometimes they\u2019d land on people on the street, kill them too, company in hell, I guess.\u00a0 So they put up this wire mesh to catch the bodies.\u00a0 But you can\u2019t see that anymore, they took the mesh down for scrap.\u00a0 Anyway, this guy, actually, his name was Malcolm, too, see, I remember the names, not just the numbers, this guy Malcolm, he disappears one day, and he\u2019s replaced, of course, can\u2019t be short-handed in a hot sector like this, you know, but this guy disappears, and a half day later, I\u2019m real lucky, cuz I just happened to be looking up at the time, I\u2019m looking up and I see this guy, a little speck up on top, and he takes a big leap and does this perfect swan dive, all the way down, kersplat.\u00a0 Damnedest thing I ever saw.\u00a0 Turns out it was the greatest inspiration of my entire life.<\/p>\n

Malcolm<\/h4>\n

Oh yeah?<\/p>\n

Henry<\/h4>\n

Yeah.\u00a0 I suppose I\u2019m not being as clear as I might.\u00a0 Too kleptic.\u00a0 No, cryptic.\u00a0 That\u2019s it, cryptic.\u00a0 Let me start over.\u00a0 That bunch of crazy niggers we just shot down, them ugly, crazy, traitorous, starving niggers swarming out of the ruins, and a\u2019lusting for our women, what did you see?<\/p>\n

Malcolm<\/h4>\n

A mortal threat to everything we stand for.<\/p>\n

Henry<\/h4>\n

See see see see see!\u00a0 Like with your goddamn eyes!<\/p>\n

Malcolm<\/h4>\n

Apostates!<\/p>\n

Henry<\/h4>\n

You could see treason rising from their auras?\u00a0 See see see see see!<\/p>\n

Malcolm<\/h4>\n

People \u2026<\/p>\n

Henry<\/h4>\n

(rises to his feet)<\/em>\u00a0 And that\u2019s why you\u2019re so royally fucked!<\/p>\n

Malcolm<\/h4>\n

So what do you see?<\/p>\n

Henry<\/h4>\n

I see nothing.\u00a0 Nothing at all!<\/p>\n

Malcolm<\/h4>\n

How \u2026<\/p>\n

Henry<\/h4>\n

Seeing is a funny thing.\u00a0I used to see people out there, just like you.\u00a0 When things get real bad, them charging niggers sometimes get kind of close.\u00a0 Then you watch their heads blow up when the explosive shells hit, and their bodies catch fire as the incendiaries light, and the armor-piercing ones that drop a whole pile with one bullet, so you start to see that, and frankly most of us can\u2019t take it very long.\u00a0 Whatever you call them.\u00a0 The Gunner\u2019s Oath just isn\u2019t enough.<\/p>\n

Malcolm<\/h4>\n

So how do you take it, if you\u2019re so damn clever?<\/p>\n

Henry<\/h4>\n

Simple.\u00a0 I don\u2019t see it.<\/p>\n

Malcolm<\/h4>\n

But you just said \u2026<\/p>\n

Henry<\/h4>\n

Like I said, seeing is a funny thing.\u00a0 I finally learned to aim and pull the trigger, and see nothing.\u00a0 I sort of see the smoke, I guess, I hear nothing through my earplugs, the vibration of the guns becomes the rhythm of my heart.\u00a0 The stench of cordite is sharper than the smell of ripped-open bodies.\u00a0 I see a paycheck and I see the end of another day.\u00a0 And I\u2019d wake up screaming in the middle of the night and have to pop a few more tranqs.\u00a0 But then I got inspired, see, and I got me this hobby \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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table of contents next scene Sound of a machine gun fades. Pause. Two Black men sitting before a ragged wall,Malcolm,\u00a0 25, smoking, and Henry, mid-50s. The muzzles of two multi-barreled anti-aircraft guns intrude slightly into the scene, crumpled Coke cans … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-1976","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/P77v4L-vS","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lifeinspice.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1976","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lifeinspice.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lifeinspice.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lifeinspice.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lifeinspice.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1976"}],"version-history":[{"count":23,"href":"https:\/\/lifeinspice.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1976\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2570,"href":"https:\/\/lifeinspice.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1976\/revisions\/2570"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lifeinspice.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1976"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}