Truth Or Dare

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 2 of AFTERHOURS, we meet Sky Masters, indie movie hunk and Easy Washington, pro ball player, both of whom reveal their deepest, darkest secrets ... over a bottle of really expensive scotch.


IN A NEARBY BOOTH
Sit a pair of GOOD-LOOKING GUYS
drinking glasses of top shelf
single malt scotch,
deep in conversation.

SKY MASTERS (30’s)
indie hipster movie hunk,
smallish, thin, carefully
ratty-looking takes a sip.
Eyes bleary.

SKY
Nah. I was a drama nerd.
Couldn’t play worth shit.

EASY WASHINGTON (30’s),
African-American pro baseball player,
big, even better-looking,
swirls his glass.

EASY
Lucky for you --
(takes a sip)
You get injured,
you can still act.
I get injured,
I get fucking traded.

SKY
There’s other ways you can
fuck up your career.

EASY
Please. You’re the golden boy.
Critics and audiences love you.

SKY
Yeah, well --
(sips)
They don’t know.

EASY
Know what?
(off his stare)
C’mon, man. Out with it.
What’s the big secret?

Sky stares at him.
Raises his glass.
Drains it in one gulp.

SKY
Found out I’m HIV-positive.

EASY
Damn.
(beat)
That doesn’t necessarily mean you’re --
I mean, look at Magic Johnson.

SKY
I didn’t get it from fucking.

EASY
You shooting SMACK?

SKY
You wanna say that a little louder?

EASY
Sorry.

SKY
And you wanna know the REAL clincher?
(pours more)
I’m getting married tomorrow.

EASY
Does she know?

SKY
No.

EASY
(raises his glass)
The truth will set you free.

He downs it.

SKY
Now you know what I’m
doing here at five in the morning
instead of being with my fiance.

EASY
Bet that’s a big load off your mind.
(off his look)
Sharing your deepest, darkest secret.

SKY
I guess.

Easy grabs the bottle.
Pours them another.

EASY
The media’s gonna break a
big story about me today.
Major scandal.

SKY
What. You cheated on your wife?
There’s no way it can be as bad as --

EASY
Wanna bet?
(off his look)
It wasn’t with another woman.

SKY
You’re sleeping with another dude?
Big fucking deal.
Welcome to Hollywood.

EASY
The dude’s another player --