We Are Family

Hey there, crime kids. Happy Friday. It's time once again to take a trip to the dark side, where your most violent fantasies become sins of the flesh, right here, where the hardboiled action is non-stop, at the coolest crime joint in cyberspace ... at That Killing Feeling.

In Chapter 10 of SPIRAL, Andy, Dex and porn superstar Savannah hang out all night in the master bathroom of Savannah's Hollywood Hill mansion, bonding over cocktails and lines of cocaine ...


INT. MASTER BATHROOM - NIGHT
Shannon, Andy and Dex sit on bar stools
facing the mirror in flickering candlelight.

The counter is littered with
drug paraphernalia, party debris.

It's 3AM. The trio loosened with liquor
and wired to the gills.

Shannon's hair is ponytailed.
Andy wears her sequined biker cap,
Dex her pink feather boa.

Loud rap music plays
in the background on the stereo.
Dex lights a cigarette.

DEX
Tell him about the shoes!
The Channel sneakers!

SHANNON
Oh, God! That was so funny!

Shannon does a line of coke,
then hands the bill to Andy.

ANDY
What happened?

Andy does a line.
He hands the bill to Dex.

SHANNON
Well, Dex and I were on Rodeo drive,
and I saw these fucking incredible
high-heeled sneakers at Channel,
but they only had them
in size five and size ten,
and I'm a seven,
so I tried the 10's,
but they were way too big!
Shit! It was ridiculous!

Dex does a line.

DEX
So she tried on the fives...

SHANNON
...I tried on the fives, and my heels
wouldn't fucking go all the way in!

DEX
And she looked like she had hooves!

SHANNON
Fucking hooves! So I tried walking in them...

DEX
...and we both couldn't stop laughing!

Shannon and Dex BURST into laughter.

ANDY
That's hysterical!

SHANNON
So I bought them! Channel rules!

Shannon drains her glass. The music stops.

Silence.

ANDY
You rule, Shannon.

Shannon gets emotional. She gives Andy a hug.

SHANNON
That's the nicest thing anybody's ever said to me.
You're like the brother I never had.
(pause)
You guys are my brothers.

ANDY
I guess that means we're a family.

Shannon holds up her glass.
Andy and Dex raise their glasses.

SHANNON
To our family.

ANDY
Our family.

The three clink glasses.

DEX
Family.

INT. KITCHEN - DAWN
6 AM. Andy sits on the gourmet island
in the kitchen sipping a beer.

ANDY (V.O.)
I was on top of the world.
For the first time in my life I felt
like I had friends who understood me.
The real me. With Shannon and Dex
I could just be myself.
I never felt so close to anyone in my life.
I felt like I was reborn.
Into a family. My family.

He picks up the phone and dials it.
Listens a moment.

ANDY
Hi Mom.

PEGGY (O.S.)
Hi, Andy.

ANDY
I saw Shannon again last night.
We had the best...

PEGGY (O.S.)
...I'm sorry, honey. I gotta go.
I'm late for work, but I want
to hear all about it.
Call me later, okay? I love you.

ANDY
Love you too, Mom. Bye --