“ESCAPE VELOCITY”
By Jesse Lee
Short Play - Drama
6M, 1F
CHARACTERS:
RUSSELL/JIM: Male lead
FRANK: Mob boss, older, the most senior member of the group
MARTY: A henchman, slightly sleazy, thinks he’s a little more important than he is
PATRICK: Second henchman, smaller, even a little on the timid side
RICO: Third henchman, has a more professional/capable presence than the first two
VINNIE: The fourth henchman, militant looking, second in command to Frank, quite muscular and silent, his presence alone is intimidating.
SARA: Russell’s wife
Frank, Marty, and Patrick all sit in a garage/warehouse playing poker. Marty looks at his watch.
FRANK: Marty.
MARTY: Yeah?
FRANK: Stop looking at the time.
MARTY: It’s almost twelve.
FRANK: I know what time it is. Stop looking at your watch or I’ll rip it off your fuckin’ arm.
MARTY: Maybe something happened. Maybe he ran into trouble.
PATRICK: He’ll be here. I know Russell, and he won’t-
Frank glares at Patrick, waiting to see how he will finish the sentence.
FRANK: Won’t what?
PATRICK: -he’ll be here.
FRANK: Get back to the game.
MARTY: Fine. Raise.
PATRICK: I call.
FRANK: Fold.
MARTY: That’s a pretty pot to leave sittin’ there.
FRANK: Are you questioning my decision?
MARTY: No. I’m just sayin’. It’s a lot of dough!
FRANK: It’s calculated risk. You know what that is?
Marty shrugs.
FRANK: The odds of an successful outcome weighed against the value of the payoff. And that pot—big as it is to you—isn’t worth the odds of the draw I need to get it. Sometimes you need to walk away from a risky pot in favor of the long term payoff. So like I said, I fold.
PATRICK: Calculated risk, huh?
FRANK: That’s why I’m the one who makes the decisions.
Sound of a door slamming. Russell walks in the door carrying a duffel bag. Rico walks in behind Russell. Rico is putting a pistol away, into his belt.
RUSSELL: It means don’t get so caught up with something that you lose sight of the big picture. Isn’t that right, Frank?
Russell drops the bag onto the card table, scattering the chips. No one minds. Marty and Patrick immediately look in the bag and admire the contents.
FRANK: Well done in both presentation and performance!
Turns his attention back to the duffel bag.
FRANK: Ha ha! I knew it!
Frank pulls a stack of bills out of the duffel bag and flips through it.
FRANK: I knew that son of a bitch stashed it on me! Well done, Russell.
Franks tosses the cash back into the bag, then turns to Russell.
FRANK: See? Didn’t I tell you? I knew you still had it in you. Never doubted it for a minute! Tell me—was it as sweet as before? Just like the old days?
Pause.
FRANK: Maybe it was even better! Yeah! Did you miss it, Russ?
RUSSELL: Where’s my wife?
FRANK: It’s all about motivation, isn’t it? I’m glad to see you’ve found yours. Answer me something, Russ. How does a security guard job satisfy the need for the rush?
RUSSELL: I’m off the rush. Where’s…my…wife?
Frank looks Russell over in silence.
FRANK: Patrick.
PATRICK: Yeah boss?
FRANK: Go get Vinnie. Tell him to bring the girl.
Patrick exits the room.
FRANK: You went far. It was hard to track you down.
RUSSELL: But that didn’t stop you.
FRANK: No. I really wanted to see you again. Is it nice to be back in town?
RUSSELL: Cut the small talk. I’m not here to reminisce with you, Frank. I’m here for my wife.
FRANK: I guess I was just feeling a little nostalgic.
Frank moves closer to Russell. They eye each other up, face to face.
FRANK: She knows. About you. About your past. I’m surprised you didn’t tell her. Shame on you. You should always be honest with your wife.
RUSSELL: Who are you to say? You don’t have a wife.
FRANK: That keeps that problem to a minimum. ( pause ) You really have changed.
RUSSELL: I told you that.
FRANK: You did. But standing here right now—I’d swear I wasn’t even talking to the same person.
RUSSELL: I’m not the same person. That person died a long time ago.
FRANK: Not the best choice of words.
Vinnie, Patrick, and Sara enter. Sara runs into Russell’s arms.
SARA: Oh, Jim! Oh, thank God!
RUSSELL: It’s gonna be alright, baby.
SARA: I don’t care! I don’t care whatever it was that you did! I don’t care. I don’t care.
RUSSELL: Shh, shh, shh…
SARA: I just want to go home. I don’t care. I love you so much, Jim.
FRANK: ( starts at a normal volume but elevates to a yell ) I already told you his name isn’t Jim! It’s Russell!
RICO: Easy, boss.
RUSSELL: What are you getting all worked up over, Frank? Things not turning out the way you had anticipated?
FRANK: They’re fine. They’re better than fine. They’re great!
RUSSELL: I bet you didn’t even expect me to make it back here, did you? Was this even a real job?
FRANK: Oh yes. It was a job that I needed done anyway. And I just couldn’t pass up the opportunity to kill two birds with one stone. But shit, look! It’s actually gonna turn out to be three birds.
SARA: What? Wait a minute! You got what you wanted!
RUSSELL: No, he didn’t.
FRANK: No. ( Pause ) I didn’t.
SARA: What do you mean?
RUSSELL: You didn’t need me for this job did you, Frank?
Frank doesn’t answer.
RUSSELL: No. You didn’t. We both know this is about David.
SARA: Who’s David?
RUSSELL: I see you didn’t tell her about that part. Why don’t you go ahead and fill her in, Frank? Let her know what this is really all about here.
FRANK: Fair enough. Won’t change the fact that she’s here because of you. ( turns to Sara ) Russ used to do this sorta thing in his sleep. Sorry, Jim. The kinda jobs no one else could do. One day I get a tip from this fence about a score. A big score. But it was a job that had to go down real low key. There was only room for two on the crew. So I send Russ and David.
RUSSELL: His nephew.
FRANK: My nephew David. It starts out fine. They’re in, they’re loading the van.
He pauses, remembering the story.
FRANK: Of all the streets in this town, on all the nights of the year…some old, homeless drunk that didn’t mean shit to anyone started running his mouth off to some punk from the wrong side of the tracks. Caught a bullet for it. The kid took off—ran away. But the shot drew the cops right to the extraction point in the middle of the job. Russ panicked—took off in the van. Left David there alone. Those cops shot him full of holes because they thought he was armed and dangerous.
RUSSELL: ( to Frank ) He was armed and dangerous. ( to Sara ) They thought it was David that had shot the old man. So when they tried to take him and he pulled out a gun…
SARA: That’s when they killed him?
FRANK: It was Russ that killed him.
RUSSELL: David was a friend, and I didn’t want to leave him. But he got too consumed by something shiny. We had most of that score loaded already before that shot was ever fired. We could have left right then but he wanted it all. David died because he made a decision without calculating the risk.
FRANK: David died because you ran off with the fucking van and left him there for the cops!
RUSSELL: I told him to get in the fucking van—that we had to go—but he went back inside! It was hard as fuck to make that decision to walk away, but if I hadn’t made that choice then both of us would have died. I’ve had to live with the gravity of that choice every day since then. And no matter how hard I try, no matter how far I go, no matter what I do…I just can’t escape it.
FRANK: Living with it is different for you than me. I have to look my brother in the eye. And you couldn’t understand that.
RUSSELL: That’s what this is all about. Revenge.
FRANK: Vinnie, go and bring the car around. We’re gonna need to take a little trip.
Sara starts sobbing audibly.
SARA: Jim!
FRANK: ( to Sara ) You cry, and it’s gonna be painful! You shut up and I promise it’ll be quick. ( to Russell ) You got her into this.
Russell and Sara hold each other. Patrick is staring at Frank.
FRANK: What?
PATRICK: ( timidly ) Just that it seems kinda wrong, don’t you think?
FRANK: You got a problem with it?
Patrick remains silent. Marty stares at Russell.
RUSSELL: You can stop looking. You’re not gonna find him in there. That man is gone.
RICO: What I want to know is—even if it was an accident—why’d you take off with the score?
RUSSELL: Boy, you are leaving out a lot of the story. Aren’t you, Frank? You want to know what happened to the money? Just. Ask. Him.
Rico turns to Frank, waiting for an answer.
MARTY: What happened to the money?
RUSSELL: Go on, Frank. Tell him.
FRANK: It wasn’t about the money. David was worth more than the money.
RICO: ( authoratively ) What happened to the money?
RUSSELL: It all went into the van. The van that I drove back to Frank’s warehouse that night before I left town.
RICO: And it stayed in the van?
RUSSELL: Every cent.
MARTY: You got the money?
RUSSELL: He got the money. And a letter. A letter that told him I was out. A letter that told him never to try and find me, or that I would take him down. And that was a promise. You remember that letter, don’t you?
Frank pulls a tattered envelope out of his jacket pocket and looks at it solemnly.
FRANK: I thought you might try something. I couldn’t take the chance.
RUSSELL: That’s why you involved Sara.
FRANK: I implemented some security measures. It’s nothing personal.
RUSSELL: It’s personal now.
PATRICK: ( still not as authoritative as the others ) You said Russell took off with the money.
FRANK: It wasn’t about the money! You left him there to die! And now you are going to pay for it!
RUSSELL: He sealed his own fate! I had to leave David. The same way Vinnie has to leave you.
FRANK: What?
Russell takes a cell phone out of his coat pocket and hands it to Rico.
RUSSELL: You’re done, Frank.
Rico throws the phone on the ground and stomps on it.
FRANK: ( to Rico) What?
RICO: I don’t know. It was on speakerphone…
RUSSELL: I told you I would take you down.
Pause. Frank seems a little confused at first but then he erupts into laughter.
FRANK: You’re bluffing!
RUSSELL: Am I?
Frank and Russell stare each other down. The smile fades from Frank’s face.
FRANK: You’re bluffing! We took your phone!
RUSSELL: I have two.
FRANK: No! You didn’t know I was coming for you! It was me that got the drop on you !
Faint sirens can be heard now.
PATRICK: I hear sirens!
FRANK: You didn’t have time. Rico was watching you!
RUSSELL: Are you sure? You going to gamble your future on that?
Sound of a car squealing away.
MARTY: What the hell!?
RUSSELL: There goes Vinnie.
RICO: Shit!
PATRICK: ( looking out the window ) I see lights! We got cops!
MARTY: Fuck!
FRANK: He’s bluffing! They’re not coming for us!
RICO: I don’t know, Frank. It sure sounds like it!
PATRICK: They’re turning down this street! They’re coming here!
FRANK: You didn’t! I told you what would happen if you called the police!
RUSSELL: What, something you would have done anyway!? I’m not stupid, Frank! I knew you weren’t gonna just let us walk on outta here after this job was finished! You put me in a spot, just like David did!
FRANK: You called them.
RUSSELL: I weighed the risk.
FRANK: You called them!
RUSSELL: I made my choice. Now it’s time for you to make yours.
FRANK: You son of a bitch! I’ll kill you!
Frank points the gun at Russell.
SARA: Jim!
RUSSELL: You wanna kill me? That’s your choice? You better ask yourself what its worth to you? Right now, you’re looking at ten years for larceny. You pull that trigger and it jumps to life for murder!
Frank cocks the gun.
RUSSELL: Calculated risk, Frankie. And the odds don’t look good. What’s it gonna be?
FRANK: You’ll go down for this, too.
RUSSELL: I know.
FRANK: You’re gonna leave your wife?
RUSSELL: I’ll get out. Maybe she’ll be here, maybe she won’t. That’s her choice that she has to make. Now what’s yours?
Bootsteps can be heard approaching, louder and louder.
PATRICK: Cops are here! What do we do?
SARA: Jim?
MARTY: Frank!
RUSSELL: You better hurry up, Frankie! ‘Cause they’re gonna be busting through that door in about five seconds! So make up your mind. Three…Two…One…
Stage goes dark.
THE END.