The Gravy Train

Hey there, crime kids. Happy 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 20 of EXIT, Oscar-winning screenwriter Casey Montana prods fugitive Danny Peel to tell her about what went down that night at the home invasion-gone wrong, but just as Danny confesses his sins, the cops arrive and start pounding on the door ...


INT. THE EXIT ROOM - EARLY MORNING
Mia makes coffee, eyes red-rimmed.
Bettie and Casey sit at the bar, in a daze.

Bettie pours a shot.
Downs it.

Pours another. Slams it.
Pours another.

CASEY
Still trying to leave Vegas?

BETTIE
Hell, no.
That fucking shit was PUNK ROCK.
I’m sorry Easy and Angel died and shit,
but that lit the fucking spark.
I haven’t felt this alive in YEARS.
Got all kinds of music in my head.

Danny and Sky walk in.
Take seats.

DANNY
The VIP room is starting
to look like a morgue.

SKY
‘Starting to?’

DANNY
(looks at Mia)
I could go for a cup of coffee.

SKY
Make mine Irish.

DANNY
You did good, kid.

SKY
I just got into character --
and did it.

DANNY
(to Casey)
How you holding up? You okay?

CASEY
Top of the world, Ma.

DANNY
No, seriously. You looked spooked.

CASEY
I am.
(faint smile)
But it’s a good kinda spooked.

BETTIE
I don’t know about you,
but all this shit gave me
the kick in the ass I fucking needed.

SKY
I know, right?
Now I don’t give a shit what anybody thinks.
I fucked up, so I’ll pay the price.
I’ll get clean, go to rehab.
Big fucking deal.
HIV is no longer a death sentence, right?
I’ll be fine.
Hollywood loves a big comeback.
(beat)
I can’t believe I was
acting like such a pussy.

DANNY
So the big, bad wolf ends up
helping everybody get their shit together.
(beat)
Sure could use some of that myself about now.

Casey takes Danny’s hand in hers.
Looks in his eyes.

CASEY
So what happened?
Why did you do it?

DANNY
We should get going.

CASEY
In a sec.
I think we all wannna know.
(looks at the group, off their nods)
What happened?

Pause.

DANNY
Rael and I used to be partners.
Started out squeaky clean.
Loved the job.
Both of our fathers were cops,
real heroes, you know?
(beat)
We walked the straight and narrow for a long time.
But cops don’t make very much money --
and every day you’re out there
busting these assholes who’ve got a shitload of cash.
You’re driving a Ford and they’ve got a Porsche.
You wear a Timex, they’ve got a Rolex.
You eat burgers, they have steak.
(beat)
So one day you swipe a little cash after a bust.
Who’s gonna notice, right?
Bust a guy who’s got a
couple-hundred grand, pocket ten.
Big fucking deal.
Who does it hurt?
(beat)
We started doing it more and more.
Thought of it as a bonus for doing a good job.
Take down some lowlife who had a million in coke
and a half-a-million in cash,
you deserve fifty-k for bringing him down.
(beat)
Problem is, you start getting
used to the finer things in life.
A cabin up in Big Bear.
New clothes for the wife.
Nice vacations.
You become addicted to spending it.
Almost like you want to get rid of it,
like you don’t really deserve it.

CASEY
I know what you mean.
I spent so much money after the movie hit,
my accountant almost had a heart attack.

DANNY
How did you stop?

CASEY
I didn’t.
Why do you think I need the next movie?

DANNY
(nods)
So, anyway -- I rip off a dealer
who turns out to be an informer,
get busted for being dirty
and get thrown off the force.
The wife’s not happy.
No more gravy train.

CASEY
Ohimogd. She slept with Rael.

DANNY
Are you fucking pyschic?
How did you know that?

CASEY
Read a lot of books,
watch a lot of movies.
I can predict a plot twist
at twenty paces.

DANNY
No shit.
(sips his coffee)
So -- I did what any broke,
jealous asshole would do.
Robbed the fucking creep
that fucked my wife.
(beat)
Only I didn’t think she’d
be in bed with him when I did it.

SKY
That’s some pretty intense shit.

BETTIE
No shit.

DANNY
I’m afraid I’m not the savior you think I am.
I’m just your garden variety criminal.

MIA
But you did it for love.
That means something.

DANNY
Love? I dunno.
Jealous rage is more like it.
After I got kicked off the force,
our marriage was never the same.
(beat)
I fucking lived for that job.

CASEY
Well, you got the money.

DANNY
And someone to tell my story.

CASEY
Gonna make a hell of a movie.

DANNY
Whattaya say we get the fuck outta here?

The buzzer RINGS.

URGENT MALE VOICE (O.C.)
OPEN UP, POLICE.