Hey there, crime kids. Happy fucking MONDAY. 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 26 of DAZED, BEAUTIFUL & BRUISED, after a night of drowning her sorrows in her favorite dive bar, disgraced homicide detective Carrie Love gets an emergency call from her lover, porn star Laura Lang, calling from the set ...
EXT. BAR - NIGHT
The Gas Lite,
a crappy Santa Monica dive.
The sound of a sloppy bar band
spills out from within.
A ponytailed BIKER BOUNCER
stands out front, smokes.
Two pretty COLLEGE GIRLS
approach him, huddle in the cold.
BIKER BOUNCER
(toothy grin)
ID, please.
PRETTY COLLEGE GIRL
(takes out license)
Hi. Is there a band tonight?
BIKER BOUNCER
Yeah, The Chollos. Blues band.
The door FLIES OPEN,
and out stumbles Carrie. Obliterated.
CARRIE
(to the bouncer)
G’night, Eddie.
Eddie tips his cap,
checks out her legs.
Carrie swerves, looks at
the fresh-faced young flesh.
CARRIE (CONT’D)
Whoa. Hi. Let me guess -- UCLA?
PRETTY COLLEGE GIRL
(not shy)
Loyola Marymount.
PRETTY COLLEGE GIRL 2
We’re good girls.
CARRIE
(devouring with her eyes)
That’s a shame.
PRETTY COLLEGE GIRL
C’mon, Debbie -- I’m cold.
They giggle, rush inside.
Carrie stops, stares at the door.
EDDIE
You okay?
CARRIE
Yeah. Just thinking about
the combination of drugs
it’d take to get those two
in the sack.
INT. CAR - NIGHT
Carrie sits behind the wheel
of her monster ‘68 Olds.
Fumbles for a cigarette.
Her cell bleats.
She fishes it out, listens.
CARRIE
Laura? Slow down, slow down --
what’s the matter?
(listens, horrified)
Hold tight, I’ll be right there.
(listens)
It’s okay, it’s okay,
it’s gonna be okay.
I’ll be right there,
just hold on.
Click. The line goes dead.
CARRIE
Goddamn fucking Frankenstein.
EXT. WAREHOUSE - NIGHT
A small bunker in the shadows
of the wrong side of the 101.
Carrie pulls in, parks amidst
a handful of shitty cars.
And a big, black BMW SUV.
INT. CARRIE’S CAR - NIGHT
She downs the last of her
grande with triple espresso.
Shudders. Gets out of the car.
Throws the cup at the SUV.
INT. WAREHOUSE - SOUNDSTAGE GREEN ROOM- NIGHT
Laura is curled up in a ball
on a couch in a dark corner
wrapped like a wraith in a white sheet.
Pale. Small. Damaged.
Carrie rushes in, goes to her.
CARRIE
Baby, there you are --
are you okay? Are you okay?
She wraps her arms around
the wounded bird.
LAURA
I don’t feel so good, Care.
That -- bloody machine.
CARRIE
I’m so sorry, baby,
I’m so sorry. C’mon,
I’m taking you home.
With surprising strength,
Carrie picks her up, cradles her.
LAURA
You carry me --
across the threshold?
CARRIE
I’ll carry you
to the end of the earth.
EXT. CARRIE’S APARTMENT - BACK PATIO - NIGHT
Carrie and Laura soak in Carrie’s hot tub.
Steam rises off the water, their shoulders.
Behind them, a perfect full moon
lights the sky, the ocean, their faces.
LAURA
This is so good.
Every bone in my body
is bleedin’ thrashed.
CARRIE
(goes to her, holds her)
You’re okay now, no more
evil German directors
flipping the switch on my baby.
They kiss.
LAURA
Mmm. At least not until tomorrow.
CARRIE
It must be the full moon.
I thought I just heard you say
you’re going back there.
LAURA
I have to -- or else
I won’t get paid, love.
CARRIE
You gotta be kidding.
Don’t worry about the money --
(beat)
Move in with me for a while.
LAURA
Move in with you? Shack up?
CARRIE
Just for a little while.
We can try it out.
And you can maybe --
go back to being a stylist.
You always say how much
you loved it back in London.
Pause.
LAURA
That was up until my lover,
my business partner fucking O-D’d on me
and fuckin’ killed himself!
How fucking dodgy.
Of all the -- I thought you were --
I mean, you’ve slept with
half the girls I work with --
and you now live up to
the bloody cliche?
You’re just like all
the other civilians!
Laura gets out of the tub.
Naked in the moonlight.
Steam rises off her perfect body.
CARRIE
Wait -- DON’T GO!
LAURA
Thanks for the tub.
I feel really good all of a sudden.
Like a weight’s been
taken off my shoulders.
She darts over to the door, goes in.
Carrie sits. In shock.
CARRIE
Holy shit.
Carrie jumps out,
grabs a towel,
races to the door --
to discover it’s been locked.
CARRIE
The bitch. She wouldn’t.
EXT. HOUSE - CARRIE’S APARTMENT - FRONT DOOR - NIGHT
Carrie jiggles the doorknob.
POUNDS on the door.
CARRIE
Laura! Let me in!
MALE VOICE (O.S.)
Whoa. Let me guess.
Lesbian drama?
Carrie wheels around to face --
A uniformed PRIVATE SECURITY GUARD.
SECURITY GUARD
Know the feeling.
Wife left me couple years ago --
for her gyno.
(beat)
Nice towel.
"You okay?"
ReplyDelete"Yeah. Just thinking about the combination of drugs it’d take to get those two in the sack."
Whoa... great bit of dialogue there! Love that line! I've had that same thought... I remember this costume party at Crush I went to when Tina was in Germany... woo hoo!! Was that fun!! Only with me, it was booze... maybe some pot... never really got into anything else. I didn't do anything then... but, I sure.... oh well! :)
OMG!! What the hell just happened? What's with Laura.... the way she just turned on Carrie... oh... no...
She's been fucked so much... literally and figuratively... she can't tell when someone has real feeling for her? Or, she can and that's why... she runs away, scared? Oh....... god, that's awful!
Is this part of what happened with you and Laura? You can tell me to mind my own business...
Great piece here, hun... a nice little break from Sparkle... keep the audience form overloading on horror. I love how you show all of Carrie... not just the "tough as nails, hard-nosed cop"...
Nice to see you back! I totally understand though, any time when you can't post. I know you got all these things going... you just do what you have to... I'll be here to read your wonderful stories...
xoxoxo <3 <3 <3
Ronnie
Thanks, doll. That line belongs in my personal hall of fame. I actually thought that one night when leaving said dive bar ... and stole it.
ReplyDeleteLaura did do the electroshock thing -- that all really happened -- but we didn't have a fight in the hot tub. She just went back to work, and I never heard any more about it.
She said she had to go to the Cannes Film Festival -- they have a porn awards nearby at the same time -- and before she left, I proposed trying out living together. She moved in, and we had a glorious week together before she left.
The morning I drove her to the airport, I had a funny feeling -- that she'd never come back. She laughed at me, said I was silly. She left -- and we talked a couple of times on the phone --
And then she disappeared.
It's been 15 years. Never did find out what happened to her ...
xoxoxo
Oh, that is so sad, sweetie! And, then... not to know... even after all this time...I can really empathize with you.
ReplyDeleteHow do you find closure? We want... we need... for that person to tell us "why"... give us a reason... something to hang on to... so we can finally let go... now, there's an irony...
It's been seven years now for me... Tara... my first true love... porcelain skin... long flowing red hair... sigh...!
One morning... she was gone... nothing but a note and the lingering scent of her perfume...
We try to tell ourselves that, after all this time, we are "over"... but, deep down.. .we know better... our hearts still need to know...
Maybe one day...
XOXOXO <3 <3 <3
That's the whole thing. There was never any closure. Took YEARS to get over her ...
ReplyDeleteSo when I wrote LEGS, the story opened with her headless body floating in Carrie's hot tub. This story, which I wrote next, is a prequel.
And then, WILSHIRE BOULEVARD is part three, which takes place after LEGS ...
Life imitating art?
Or the other way around ...
xoxoxo
And, sometimes closure comes with a headless body in a hot tub... figuratively speaking of course...
ReplyDelete"Life imitating art.... or, the other way.....?" Ummm... you will change the hot tub filter before I come for a visit... right? :)
This would make a great read over a long, rainy weekend.... just curl up with the trilogy, and enjoy... :)