Trailer For Sale Or Rent

Happy Friday, 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 4 of RIDGEWAY, Kayla returns to her Ozark mountain home after a hard day of work, then chats with Cate online, who tells her when she has to evacuate her LA apartment ... and that she's going to check out a mobile home to live in.


EXT. VICTORIAN HOUSE - NIGHT
A faded Victorian home
on a cracked mountain top road.

Cheerfully painted orange
with red and yellow trim.

A BLACK CAT stares
ominously out the window.
Watches a FOX trot by.
Then a faux vintage TROLLEY on wheels.

A BLUE BIRD lands in the bird bath.
This is your brain on rustic.

A CHUBBY RETARDED GIRL (20)
wearing thick glasses and a tiara
stands in the gravel driveway.

Slowly spins in a circle, arms outstretched,
smiling like some demented Eraserhead outtake.

Kayla trudges up the front walk.
Goes to the door.

Looks at Chubby Retarded.
Winces. Goes inside.

INT. CATE’S APARTMENT - DAY
Cate sits at an old workstation
working her laptop.

BOBBY, a black spaniel-retriever
mix sleeps at her feet.

ON THE SCREEN
We see a social media website.
A conversation scrolls down:

Kayla:
How was court?
Did you get the time you want?

Cate:
Yeah. Landlord gave me a month. Whoo-HOO.
(Found out they usually only give you a week.)
*Does crazy dance*

Kayla:
That’s great! How’s the trailer hunt going?

Cate:
Looking at one in Malibu at three. Wish me luck.
*sings* ‘Trailer for sale or rent -- ‘

Kayla:
You better get going.
‘Your date with destiny ... ‘

Cate:
Yeah. Just wanted to give you the good news.
Will report back later, skipper.

Kayla:
I’ll be here. Waiting for YOU.

CATE
Smiles. Starts typing.
The lights flicker, then GO OUT.

CATE
Aw, c’mon. Not again --

EXT. MALIBU BLUFF - DAY
A small TRAILER parked at the
top of a bluff in the dirt.

The view of the ocean is breathtaking.
The trailer, not.

A mobile home would be a mansion
in comparison. Whee-doggie.

A FOUR-WHEEL DRIVE PICKUP TRUCK
climbs up the hill and parks.

Cate and a SCARY, ACNE-SCARRED GUY
get out. Walk over to it.

CATE
This is -- really high up.

SCARY, ACNE-SCARRED GUY
Hauled it up from the other side.
No problem getting it down.
Acne-Scarred opens the door. They go in.

INT. SHITTY TRAILER - DAY
Beyond sad. A tiny, threadbare couch
in the ‘living room’ area with a
chipped table and a tiny, ancient TV.

The stained, ripped rug
completes the picture of domestic shame.

SCARY, ACNE-SCARRED GUY
TV goes with me.

Cate nods. Goes to the ‘kitchenette.’
Grimy would be a compliment.

Looks at the hose coming in
through the window.

SCARY, ACNE-SCARRED GUY (CONT’D)
Water’s not hooked up.
Run that from the house down the way.

CATE
Parking it in a friend’s driveway.
Guess I could do that.

INT. SHITTY TRAILER - BEDROOM - DAY
Just big enough for a small bed and night table.
Cate squats down below the low ceiling.
Examines the filthy carpet.

SCARY, ACNE-SCARRED GUY
You can have the table.

Cate nods. Goes back down to the kitchenette.
Opens a door on the other side, looks into --

INT. SHITTY TRAILER - BATHROOM - DAY
Beyond crappy. Pun intended.
A stack of junk is piled up
in the shower and on the tiny toilet.

A fly BUZZES around the
brackish water in the clogged sink.

SCARY, ACNE-SCARRED GUY
Gotta commode outside.
(off her look)
Don’t worry.
I’ll clean all that stuff out.

PUSH IN ON Cate’s face. In shock.