Doctor's Orders

Happy Tuesday, crime slicksters. It's time once again to take a trip to the dark side, where the girls are hot, the drinks are cold, and the hardboiled-pulp-noir action is non-stop, right here, at the coolest crime joint in cyberspace ... at That Killing Feeling.

In Chapter 12 of FULL BODY, receptionist Reynolds Tan gives Summer, Lindsey, Ayanna and Catalina their next massage assignments, which include a Navy Seal, a black ops spook and the Turkish Ambassador, but when Ayanna starts her session with the Surgeon General, she's delighted to discover he's brought some 'samples' with him ...


INT. THE INTERNATIONAL - RECEPTION AREA - NIGHT
Reynolds gazes levelly at Summer,
Lindsey, Ayanna and Catalina.

Picks up a clipboard.
Taps it with her pen.

REYNOLDS
Alright, listen up. Ayanna.
You have Dr. Almond,
from the Surgeon General’s office.
In the Red Suite.

AYANNA
Guess it’s time for my physical.

REYNOLDS
Lindsey, you get
Lieutenant Gus Harden,
United States Navy.
He’s a SEAL.

LINDSEY
Trained?

REYNOLDS
Funny.
He’s in the Blue Suite.
(beat)
Catalina, your next client
is Omar Turgenoff,
the Turkish Ambassador.
In the Black.

CATALINA
I hope he’s a -- young Turk.

REYNOLDS
All of you with the jokes.
(scans the sheet)
Ah.
And Summer --
you get Dwight Blank.
In the Gold Suite.

SUMMER
At least he sounds normal.
What’s he do?

REYNOLDS
Classified.
He’s a spook.
Black OPS.
On a ‘need to rub’
basis only.

SUMMER
Great.
More national security.

REYNOLDS
Consider it an initiation.
Kind of like
a sorority hazing.

LINDSEY
Then what are we
doing standing around?
We’ve got work to do.
Men to please.
Towels to soil.

PUSH IN ON Summer’s face.
Hiding her fear.

INT. RED MASSAGE SUITE - AT THAT MOMENT
Ayanna lounges in the spa.
Drinks champagne.

In steps DR. CHICK ALMOND (70’s).
A tall, gaunt, wizened
shadow of a man.

Large eyes, like a Keane child.
He eases grey, hairless,
ruined limbs carefully
into the water.

AYANNA
So have you found
the cure for AIDS yet,
Dr. Almond?

CHICK
Chick.
Call me Chick.

AYANNA
What, are you gay?

CHICK
It’s a name from
another era, I’m afraid.
Sort of like
‘Edna’ or ‘Slim.’
Can I get a bit
of that bubbly?
Water’s hot.
(winks)
And so are you.

AYANNA
Honey, if my skin
wasn’t so dark,
you’d see me blush.

CHICK
Honey, the last time
you blushed George Bush
was knee-deep in
Bolivian booger sugar.
(beat)
Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha --
just fucking with you.
Get what you pay for, eh?

AYANNA
(pours drink, haughty)
Sometimes what you think
you’re buying turns out
to be a rental.
And the price is too high.

CHICK
Touche.
I see you’re not a strumpet.
Speaking of ‘high’ --

AYANNA
What the fuck’s a 'strumpet?'

CHICK
Ah, vocabulary.
A -- lady of the evening.

AYANNA
Hell, no.
I went to the Sorbonne.
Speak four languages.
AND am descended
from Ghanaian ROYALTY.
Don’t make me laugh.
(beat)
You said ‘speaking of high.’
You have something naughty
in your little black bag?

CHICK
I thought you’d never ask.

AYANNA
I would imagine the
Surgeon General’s office
has only the best.

CHICK
Sweetie.
You have no idea --