| SCRIPTS |
| INT. GROCERY STORE—DAY The screen flashes from black to blinding white. We hear elevator music, the insect-like buzz of electrical lights, and the din of tired shoppers. The camera slowly reveals that the blinding white is a set of perfectly bleached teeth surrounded by lips coated thick with burgundy-pink. Sitting mockingly on the right-side of the lower lip is a small lump, layered with several coats of burgundy-pink. It is a cold-sore. A carefully manicured hand comes into frame and gently pokes the spot. The camera moves out and it is reveled that we have been looking into a compact mirror, held by the owner of the previous hand. A face held youthful with BOTOX is squinting and fussing in the mirror. She is young no more, but not yet old; her beautifully caked on makeup presents a woman still trying to earn her keep as a model, but the fear in her color-contacts mirrors her desperation to cling to the past. Pamela Anderson locks fall down past her surgically-enhanced chest, which display the words “Jack Daniels” stretched across her tied-up tight top. We hear a VOICE. MAN Hey, what’ve you got for me? GIRL Oh. Hi. Yeah. Um…you can get a bottle of Jack and we have shirts and hats. It’s $5.00 off. MAN Jack? I don’t drink that shit. But I want a shirt. GIRL Um…we’re trying to give the shirts to people who drink Jack. MAN I don’t drink. 15 years sober. But I still want a shirt. GIRL Um…Oh! Ask her! We see a younger girl in the same shirt - but not nearly the same chest – walk up and plop her purse under the display table, and ASK: GIRL #2 Ask me what? MAN How can I get a shirt? Girl #2 sighs and rolls her eyes; she’s been though this before. GIRL #2 (as a practiced routine) We’re doing a special today: Jack is $5 off; only $16.99. It’s mellowed in 10 feet of maple sugar, a great treat for yourself or friends. We have shirts and hats and you can visit the Jack bus outside for free. Would you like me to put the bottle in your cart today so you can save $5 now? MAN No. I just want a shirt. GIRL #2 (mustering sweetness through frustration) OK. Here you go. Thank you for supporting Jack Daniels. As he leaves, GIRL #2 with arms akimbo turns to Girl #1 GIRL #2 (cont.) June, why did you have him “ask me?” You know we can’t turn him down if he asks for one – I hate always having to be the bad guy. JUNE Cause I wanted you to tell him “no” or send him to the bus. June again flips open the compact and proceeds to poke at the sore. JUNE (cont.) My Dentist says he won’t bleach my teeth again. But I just can’t get them white enough. Did you know that you’re born with a certain color to your teeth – like yellow, or grey or blue? He says if I bleach them again they’ll turn grey. GIRL #2 No, they’ll be see-through. Stop poking at your lip, you’re only making it worse. |