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ESL Films<br />

1849 Calvert Street, NW<br />

Washington, DC 20009<br />

<strong>Babylon</strong> <strong>Central</strong><br />

<strong>Screenplay</strong><br />

by<br />

Eric Hilton & Philip Hawken<br />

Version 4.0<br />

Shooting Version<br />

August, 2007


FADE IN:<br />

INT. ESL - NIGHT<br />

(CREDIT SEQUENCE)<br />

A record spins on a player as a hand carefully sets the<br />

needle on the grooves of the vinyl. Analog pops and static<br />

are replaced by the sounds of a grooving dub beat. The hand<br />

belongs to SEBASTIAN JAMES (24), mod hair-cut dressed in<br />

jeans and a loose collared shirt as he stands behind the<br />

controls of the DJ booth.<br />

Seb stands at the decks with his DJ partner, INNOCENT (25),<br />

African-American with short curly locks on his trim frame. He<br />

wears a vintage coat with a wide-collar shirt.<br />

They groove to the music and see the bodies of the crowded<br />

nightclub dancing and bouncing to the music. The bar is<br />

packed with people getting drinks, the dance floor is filled<br />

with men and women of all cultural circles, the energy of the<br />

room is palpable.<br />

Innocent removes the headphones from his ears and turns<br />

toward Seb who hands him a record to consider for the next<br />

mix. He nods his approval. The pair work the controls with<br />

confidence and style as the crowd enjoys the set.<br />

EXT. WASHINGTON DC, RUSH HOUR - MORNING<br />

FADE TO:<br />

Washington DC as the sun rises over the Washington Monument<br />

and another day begins in modern-day <strong>Babylon</strong>. Images of the<br />

city coming to life and the morning commute in progress as a<br />

radio report says:<br />

RADIO ANNOUNCER (O.S.)<br />

WPOT traffic and weather together.<br />

Get ready for another scorcher with<br />

record highs for the DC area with<br />

temperatures reaching the high<br />

90's. There is a code red air<br />

quality alert in effect for this<br />

afternoon, so if you don’t have to<br />

go anywhere today folks, please<br />

don’t. WPOT traffic chopper 420<br />

reports a 3-mile back up on I-66<br />

approaching the District.


In international news, the<br />

President has asked for patience<br />

for his troop escalation in Iraq to<br />

take affect. The Vice President<br />

said yesterday that those calling<br />

for a troop withdrawal in Iraq are<br />

endangering the lives of our brave<br />

men and women in uniform. Earlier<br />

today, 6 American soldiers and 116<br />

Iraqis were killed in four separate<br />

incidents in Baghdad; making this<br />

one of the deadliest months since<br />

the war began. The Department of<br />

Homeland Security has issued a code<br />

Orange terror alert for the rest of<br />

the week. It's 10:00am and you're<br />

up to date on WPOT.<br />

Innocent staples a protest flyer to a bulletin board.<br />

Seb weaves through traffic around Dupont Circle on a vintage<br />

blue Vespa. He has a messenger bag slung over his shoulder<br />

and wears a short-sleeve shirt, jeans and mod black boots. He<br />

pulls the Vespa into the middle of the circle and brings it<br />

to a halt near a set of benches.<br />

EXT. WASHINGTON DC, DUPONT CIRCLE<br />

CUT TO:<br />

Three couriers - Seb, Innocent, and the much older<br />

Rastafarian, ITAL (45), sit on a bench in the park as the<br />

morning rush carries on around them.<br />

ITAL<br />

Look at these rats scurrying to<br />

their holes. Every morning de same<br />

ting mon. Slaving away all de time<br />

mon.<br />

SEB<br />

(continuing to read a<br />

newspaper)<br />

I guess we all have to slave some<br />

way. They stare into computer<br />

screens under fluorescent lights -<br />

we deliver useless packages. There<br />

isn’t a whole lot of difference.<br />

INNOCENT<br />

Man, these Homeland Security<br />

dollars got everybody jumping<br />

around.<br />

2.


ITAL<br />

(As if he didn't listen)<br />

<strong>Babylon</strong>'s little helpers. Pushing<br />

papers, passing legislation...<br />

turning into a police state.<br />

Lawyers, politrixsters... They’ve<br />

sold their souls for trinkets.<br />

(Takes a puff from a<br />

joint.)<br />

'Least I'm my own boss, I don't<br />

have to answer to no downpresser<br />

man.<br />

Ital hands the joint to Innocent.<br />

SEB<br />

(Laughs)<br />

Man we all know the only reason you<br />

do this shit is so you can smoke<br />

that shit 24-7. Let’s be realistic.<br />

INNOCENT<br />

(exhaling a puff)<br />

Whatever gets a brutha through the<br />

day. At least my man’s karma’s in<br />

check.<br />

ITAL<br />

True dat brutha. True dat.<br />

INNOCENT<br />

(Looking at the people<br />

walking in suits)<br />

These sheeple will do anything to<br />

please their masters.<br />

The radio on Ital's side beeps, and then a static voice:<br />

RAMON (O.S.)<br />

Ital! Pick up at The Justice<br />

Department! They’ve been waiting<br />

forty fucking minutes.<br />

ITAL<br />

(with a sarcastic sneer)<br />

Justice...<br />

He slowly takes the radio from his side-clip and connects.<br />

ITAL<br />

Ya Ramon, no problem, mon. Just<br />

cool out.<br />

3.


Seb smiles as he takes a puff of the joint and offers it back<br />

to Ital.<br />

SEB<br />

(with a hint of irony and<br />

amusement)<br />

Downpresser man got you going<br />

again, huh?<br />

ITAL<br />

No escape, mon.<br />

He gets up off the bench and collects his messenger bag. Fistpounds<br />

are exchanged.<br />

ITAL<br />

I see you boys on the streets.<br />

Yes.<br />

INNOCENT<br />

SEB<br />

All right, Ital. Be safe out there<br />

man.<br />

Innocent hits the joint and passes it to Seb as his cell<br />

phone chimes with a new text message. He looks at the phone.<br />

INNOCENT<br />

Yo man, just got a text message<br />

from the Lounge. They say we blew<br />

it up, we’ll be there next Friday.<br />

SEB<br />

Man it would be a great fucking<br />

thing to have that gig on the<br />

regular, huh?<br />

Innocent looks over to Seb, who’s still got the newspaper<br />

open in front of him.<br />

INNOCENT<br />

So, what’s fit to print?<br />

SEB<br />

(reading)<br />

It looks like they’ve killed Ken<br />

Lay.<br />

INNOCENT<br />

Dead men tell no tales.<br />

SEB<br />

That’s what they say.<br />

4.


Seb smiles, and looks to Innocent, who’s sitting next to a<br />

stack of his protest flyers.<br />

SEB<br />

So what’s the mission this time,<br />

man?<br />

INNOCENT<br />

Anti-war protest next month. You<br />

down?<br />

SEB<br />

(putting aside the<br />

newspaper)<br />

Man, you really think any of this<br />

will do any good? I mean how many<br />

thousands of people we put in the<br />

streets around here? Not a fucking<br />

thing has changed.<br />

INNOCENT<br />

You know Seb, your cynicism is<br />

really blowing my high.<br />

SEB<br />

Come on man, all these protests<br />

just seem like a waste of time.<br />

Innocent gives Seb a stern, judgemental look which makes Seb<br />

uncomfortable.<br />

INNOCENT<br />

Karma, Seb. Karma.<br />

Seb shakes his head and looks away.<br />

SEB<br />

I hear that, I hear that. Hey man,<br />

I gotta get going. Donna’s gonna<br />

have a fucking stroke if I don’t<br />

get there.<br />

INNOCENT<br />

I hear ya brutha; I gotta make some<br />

money this week or my landlord’s<br />

gonna change my locks again.<br />

The two exchange the fist pound as Seb turns to leave.<br />

SEB<br />

We don’t want that shit happening.<br />

INNOCENT<br />

Not at all.<br />

5.


SEB<br />

All right, Innocent, be safe.<br />

Seb gets on the Vespa and kicks it to life and revs the<br />

engine. He pulls out of Dupont Circle and onto the streets of<br />

Washington.<br />

EXT./INT. GOLD & THORTON - MORNING<br />

CUT TO:<br />

Seb pulls up on his Vespa and brings it to a stop near the<br />

large office building. He walks through the glass doors and<br />

moves casually through the lobby. He stops at the security<br />

desk and gives a familiar nod to HAILE, the security guard.<br />

SEB<br />

What’s up, Haile?<br />

HAILE<br />

Nice to see you, Mr. Seb.<br />

SEB<br />

You doing all right?<br />

HAILE<br />

All right. Yourself?<br />

SEB<br />

Ah, not too bad. Hey man, I’m gonna<br />

get to work, I’ll see you later.<br />

HAILE<br />

See you later, buddy.<br />

Seb continues walking and narrowly catches an elevator as the<br />

doors are ready to close. TWO BUSINESSMEN in suits give him<br />

looks of suspicion and distaste as the doors close.<br />

INT. GOLD & THORTON, RECEPTION AREA - MORNING<br />

CUT TO:<br />

TOMIKA GRANT, early 20's, African-American, talks on the<br />

phone behind the reception desk in the plush lobby. Her dark<br />

hair is pulled back showing her smooth complexion as she<br />

looks up and sees Seb as he approaches the desk.<br />

TOMIKA<br />

(into the phone)<br />

...we were having a good time.<br />

6.


I just don’t understand what<br />

happened. Oh, let me give you a<br />

call back.<br />

(hangs up - to Seb)<br />

Hey baby!<br />

SEB<br />

How you doing?<br />

TOM<br />

What’d you do this weekend?<br />

SEB<br />

Deejayed as usual. We finally got<br />

that gig at the Lounge, though.<br />

TOMIKA<br />

I gotta come down to that club<br />

sometime. You play hip-hop?<br />

SEB<br />

Not quite, but you might like my<br />

sounds anyway.<br />

TOMIKA<br />

(flirting)<br />

No Jay-Z? No Missy?<br />

SEB<br />

You might get some Tribe if you’re<br />

lucky, but that’s about it.<br />

TOMIKA<br />

Boy, you're still cute. You can<br />

play me anything you want.<br />

Seb smiles and changes the subject.<br />

SEB<br />

So is Doctor Doom in yet?<br />

TOMIKA<br />

Oh he's in alright, and in top<br />

form. He's down the hall with the<br />

Prince. Something's going on Seb;<br />

If I were you, I'd stay clear.<br />

SEB<br />

I was hoping to...<br />

He's cut off as a nervous looking executress, DONNA<br />

MACINTIRE, mid-30's, enters the room in a rush. She wears a<br />

conservative business suit and a frazzled look on her face.<br />

7.


DONNA<br />

Tomika... (seeing Seb) Oh good,<br />

Seb. I need you to take this up to<br />

the Observatory. Get the stamp, and<br />

get it ASAP.<br />

SEB<br />

No problem.<br />

She hands him a sealed envelope and sighs in relief. Seb<br />

throws of look wonder to Tomika.<br />

DONNA<br />

My God! Julian has been freaking<br />

out today...<br />

(leans in - whispers)<br />

He’s driving me insane!<br />

SEB<br />

(playfully)<br />

Donna, you look amazing.<br />

Tomika smirks at Seb and his ass-kissing.<br />

DONNA<br />

(not amused)<br />

Please, Seb. Just get these on the<br />

way so I can get some peace.<br />

Donna retreats back down the hallway as Seb turns to go and<br />

trades a smile with Tomika.<br />

DONNA<br />

(over her shoulder)<br />

Tomika, hold all of Julian’s calls.<br />

INT. GOLD & THORTON, JULIAN GOLD'S OFFICE - SAME<br />

CUT TO:<br />

A pen is flipped in the manicured hands of JULIAN GOLD, mid<br />

50’s, dressed in a tailored suit and perfectly knotted tie.<br />

He sits across from PRINCE WAHLEED, late 50's, a Saudi-<br />

Arabian Prince. The two are in the midst of a serious<br />

discussion.<br />

JULIAN<br />

Wahleed, this position you're<br />

taking is extremely bold and could<br />

easily backfire. Furthermore, I<br />

don't think it's necessary.<br />

8.


The Vice President himself told me<br />

he will never waiver in his support<br />

for you and your family. We go back<br />

too far to jeopardize our special<br />

relationship.<br />

(Beat)<br />

As your advisor, and your friend -<br />

I strongly urge you not to do this.<br />

Wahleed nods considerately and leans forward.<br />

WAHLEED<br />

Julian, my brother, what do you<br />

expect us to do? We’ve been<br />

obediently granting your county's<br />

wishes and we've been good little<br />

Arabs for a long time now. We've<br />

bought your jet fighters, your<br />

guns, your protection, and most of<br />

all, your government bonds. We sent<br />

our children to university here.<br />

We’ve literally underwritten your<br />

precious ‘American way of life’.<br />

JULIAN<br />

(sarcastically)<br />

Certainly mine anyway.<br />

WAHLEED<br />

We cannot continue to be paid in<br />

paper IOU's. When our usefulness is<br />

no more, we shall have nothing to<br />

show for our sacrifices. Inflated,<br />

worthless dollars is not a fair<br />

compensation for our greatest<br />

treasure.<br />

Julian nods and leans across his desk, eyeing Wahleed.<br />

JULIAN<br />

(shaking his head as he<br />

considers the challenge<br />

ahead)<br />

It's going to be a hard sell to the<br />

public. I know you appreciate how<br />

difficult it is to simply maintain<br />

a positive image for you and your<br />

family. Especially since 9-11.<br />

WAHLEED<br />

(confidently)<br />

Julian, you're the master. This is<br />

why we retained your services. You<br />

always find a way.<br />

9.


Julian continues to twirl the pen in his hand as he struggles<br />

with the task before him.<br />

JULIAN<br />

Well, I'll certainly do my best for<br />

you; you can always count on that.<br />

Good.<br />

WAHLEED<br />

JULIAN<br />

(Shaking his head)<br />

If this fails, the consequences<br />

could be severe... for both of us.<br />

WAHLEED<br />

You know I consider you family,<br />

Julian.<br />

(Beat)<br />

I trust your abilities. You will<br />

not fail.<br />

Julian considers the challenge and eyes Wahleed seriously as<br />

they conclude their meeting.<br />

EXT. NAVAL OBSERVATORY - DAY<br />

CUT TO:<br />

Seb eases the Vespa to a stop at the guard station and<br />

removes the envelope from his messenger bag. He holds it in<br />

front of him and studies the delivery slip.<br />

SEB<br />

(sarcastically)<br />

Package for the Vice President.<br />

The SECURITY GUARD shoots him a stern glare.<br />

Cute.<br />

GUARD<br />

Seb hands the package to the Guard, who stamps the delivery<br />

slip and tears it from the package. He coldly holds it for<br />

Seb without a word.<br />

Seb takes the receipt as his ring-tone sounds (Richest Man in<br />

<strong>Babylon</strong>). He answers.<br />

Yo.<br />

SEB<br />

10.


INNOCENT (O.S.)<br />

Gator’s got it.<br />

SEB<br />

Oh really?<br />

INNOCENT<br />

I know he said today’s the day,<br />

right?<br />

SEB<br />

Yeah, He better not be bullshitting<br />

again.<br />

INNOCENT (O.S.)<br />

He’s not. I saw a truck.<br />

SEB<br />

Yeah, yeah, I'm on the way. Peace.<br />

He snaps the phone shut as the Security Guard waves him on<br />

and he peals away on the Vespa.<br />

INT. GATOR RECORDS - DAY<br />

CUT TO:<br />

Fingers flip through a display of records in a vintage record<br />

store.<br />

A customer stands at the front of the store talking with an<br />

older African American man, THE GATOR, as a few customers<br />

browse the collection.<br />

As the customer turns to the shelves, Seb and Innocent enter<br />

the shop and move to the front of the counter. Gator eyes<br />

them both with a laugh.<br />

GATOR<br />

Ah shit. I knew you two<br />

motherfuckers would be comin’ up in<br />

here today.<br />

(Beat)<br />

Now I ain't sellin' these here<br />

records cheap. These are super-wax<br />

recordings and they bring topdollar.<br />

These records been sittin'<br />

up in Anacostia for damn near fortyfive<br />

years.<br />

Gator is distracted as he eyes an INDY-KID, mishandling a<br />

piece of vinyl with his fingers.<br />

11.


GATOR<br />

Hey! That's a record, not a pizzapie,<br />

motherfucker. What’s up?<br />

Indy-Kid quickly replaces the record as Gator points at him<br />

and then looks back to his customers.<br />

INNOCENT<br />

Yeah, yeah, Gator, it’s always the<br />

same shit with you. The 'prime'<br />

shit, and we always leave here<br />

broke. So you can spare us with the<br />

sales-pitch old-timer.<br />

GATOR<br />

Old-timer? This old-timer can still<br />

put a foot up your ass. Back in the<br />

day, when this place was new, this<br />

place would be crammed with young<br />

bucks like you... now I gotta live<br />

off all you sorry asses. Ain’t that<br />

nothin’.<br />

SEB<br />

Well I'd say it's been a pretty<br />

good fuckin' living. I think I<br />

spent, what, half my pay in here<br />

this year?<br />

GATOR<br />

Probably have, but It's only right.<br />

You making money with these oldtime<br />

originals you pullin’ out'a<br />

here every week. When you two make<br />

a record, I'm the first one to sell<br />

it. Man, I support local artists.<br />

INNOCENT<br />

You would sell more or our shit if<br />

you'd stop filing it under Disco.<br />

GATOR<br />

Sounds like Disco to me, man.<br />

SEB<br />

File it under dub, rock, soul;<br />

anything man, and how about puttin'<br />

one up on the wall.<br />

GATOR<br />

These walls are for collectables<br />

and your shit is not.<br />

12.


Anyway, it's my shop - I'll run it<br />

the way I wanna run it,<br />

motherfucker. Do you want to see<br />

this stuff or what?<br />

SEB<br />

That’s why we’re here.<br />

Gator smiles in anticipation at them and rubs his fingers<br />

together.<br />

GATOR<br />

Enjoy what you see, but just get<br />

your paper out. All right? Let’s<br />

go.<br />

Gator steps out from behind the counter and leads them toward<br />

the back room.<br />

INT. GATOR RECORDS, BACK ROOM - SAME<br />

CUT TO:<br />

Seb and Innocent enter a room stacked with cardboard boxes<br />

filled with old-time records. They pull up milk-crates for<br />

chairs and begin going about the process of evaluating the<br />

goods in each of the boxes.<br />

“RECORD SEARCH SEQUENCE”<br />

Seb and Innocent look through stacks of boxes, filled with<br />

records. As they flip through the records they move boxes<br />

around and start creating stacks to keep.<br />

INT. GATOR RECORDS - LATER<br />

FADE TO:<br />

Seb and Innocent look dirty and exhausted as the boxes are<br />

now scattered around the room and they each hold a pile of<br />

records. Seb's sitting on the floor looking through his loot<br />

while Innocent continues flipping through a box. Seb stops<br />

digging and looks at Innocent.<br />

SEB<br />

I am burnt. Let's call The Gardner.<br />

13.<br />

Innocent nods in agreement and pulls out his cell phone and<br />

begins dialing.<br />

CUT TO:


INT. THE GARDNER'S HOUSE - DAY<br />

ANTOINE, late 30's, African-American with long dreadlocks and<br />

a scruffy beard, holds the phone to his ear as he talks.<br />

ANTOINE<br />

Okay man, two salads with some<br />

juicy carrots. You want some fresh<br />

romaine too?. (waits) Cool. Come by<br />

in twenty minutes and use the back.<br />

(waits) And bring me some new<br />

sounds man, my customers been<br />

askin'. (waits) Cool, cool.<br />

He clicks off the phone and sets it aside on the couch,<br />

casting his eyes toward ANGELICA, early-20's attractive,<br />

earthy. She takes the phone from him and retreats as he hits<br />

a joint and blows smoke into the air as it lingers from his<br />

mouth.<br />

EXT. THE GARDNER'S HOUSE - TWENTY MINUTES LATER<br />

CUT TO:<br />

Angelica walks to the large Gothic-door and swings it open as<br />

Seb and Innocent enter. She leads them to a patio-area filled<br />

with plants and greenery of wide variety. Antoine holds a<br />

watering-can and tends to one of the plants.<br />

ANTOINE<br />

Welcome to the garden, gentlemen. I<br />

see you’ve met my new assistant,<br />

Angelica.<br />

Seb nods politely as Innocent flashes a flirtatious smile.<br />

INNOCENT<br />

Hey there.<br />

Antoine moves to his chair and offers Seb and Innocent a seat<br />

as Angelica waits by his side. He takes her hand and kisses<br />

it gently.<br />

ANTOINE<br />

Hey baby, could you leave us for a<br />

minute and go grab us some of that<br />

supersonic? Thank you.<br />

14.<br />

Angelica nods and turns back to the bar area away from the<br />

conversation. The all watch her go as Antoine breaks into a<br />

wide smile.


ANTOINE<br />

I heard you two dropped a motherfuckin’<br />

bomb at the Lounge last<br />

Friday night.<br />

INNOCENT<br />

Yeah man. We’re gonna be there<br />

tomorrow night. You better come<br />

check it.<br />

Antoine nods and leans forward getting down to business.<br />

ANTOINE<br />

So what'd you two bring me today?<br />

You know it's always gotta be a<br />

fair trade.<br />

SEB<br />

Of course, man. How did you like<br />

that Abassinian's record?<br />

ANTOINE<br />

Super cool dub experience, man.<br />

It's in heavy rotation.<br />

Seb reaches into his messenger bag and removes a CDR. He<br />

passes it to Antoine.<br />

SEB<br />

You got both Cymande albums on one<br />

disc. Very deep UK/Jamaican soul.<br />

Perfect for herbal meditation.<br />

Innocent nods and smiles as Angelica returns with the joints,<br />

handing them to him on a small silver platter.<br />

ANTOINE<br />

Thank you, baby.<br />

He kisses her hand again as she returns to her post.<br />

ANTOINE<br />

I don't think I'll be goin’ to the<br />

record store anytime soon - not<br />

with my own personal selectors.<br />

SEB<br />

Happy to be of service, man.<br />

ANTOINE<br />

What about your own stuff, man?<br />

That last disc was dope; spacey<br />

man. People be diggin' it.<br />

15.


Innocent reaches into his bag and removes a fresh piece of<br />

vinyl and hands it to Antoine.<br />

INNOCENT<br />

Here’s the new single.<br />

Antoine looks at the vinyl and laughs.<br />

ANTOINE<br />

I’m working with 21st Century<br />

technology - What the fuck am I<br />

gonna do with this, gentlemen?<br />

He hands it back to Innocent who smirks and takes the vinyl<br />

back and sticks it in his bag.<br />

INNOCENT<br />

All right, man. I’ll burn you a CD.<br />

Respect.<br />

ANTOINE<br />

They exchange fist-pounds before Antoine lights one of the<br />

joints and puffs up a cloud of smoke. Innocent turns to<br />

Angelica who returns his glance as she rolls a fresh bag of<br />

marijuana for them.<br />

EXT. ESL - NIGHT<br />

CUT TO:<br />

Seb walks up the street now dressed in sixties style blazer -<br />

dark jeans, John Smedley-style shirt, and a large record bag<br />

slung over his shoulder. He slows his pace as he approaches<br />

the club.<br />

SEB<br />

What’s up, Marcus. God-damn I swear<br />

you’re getting bigger.<br />

The extremely large bouncer, MARCUS, smiles and nods.<br />

MARCUS<br />

No motherfucker , you must be<br />

gettin’ smaller,<br />

SEB<br />

Yeah, probably.<br />

(Beat)<br />

All right, man I’ll see you later.<br />

MARCUS<br />

You know it.<br />

16.


Seb nods and pats Marcus on the shoulder as he slips by him.<br />

INT. ESL - SAME<br />

Innocent sits at the bar talking and having a drink with two<br />

friends; THOMAS MURPHY, late 20’s dressed in a Brooks<br />

Brothers shirt and tie, looking like the NSA employee he is,<br />

and STEVE GRIFFIN, mid 20's, a tattooed, bearded construction<br />

worker in a black t-shirt. Seb approaches them at the bar as<br />

Thomas gives a wave.<br />

INNOCENT<br />

Finally. There he is.<br />

THOMAS<br />

We were just talking about you.<br />

Seb and Thomas exchange a soul-shake then he does the same<br />

with Steve across the bar before finishing with Innocent as<br />

he slides in next to him.<br />

SEB<br />

I didn't know you still get out,<br />

old man. Finally taking a break<br />

from catching all those crooks?<br />

THOMAS<br />

There’s so many I had to come<br />

straight from work.<br />

INNOCENT<br />

The classic G-man if I ever saw<br />

one. Man, you used to be so cool in<br />

school, what happened to you?<br />

THOMAS<br />

I’m surprised you still let me hang<br />

out with you, Innocent.<br />

SEB<br />

(lighting a cigarette)<br />

Just please tell me you've called<br />

off the war on drugs.<br />

Thomas takes a sip of his drink and shakes his head at Seb.<br />

THOMAS<br />

Okay, that’s the DEA numb nuts, not<br />

the NSA. We just listen and gather<br />

intelligence. That’s it.<br />

17.


INNOCENT<br />

Intelligence, huh? Why don’t you<br />

gather some intelligence about the<br />

big shot that brings that shit into<br />

the hood; instead of messin’ with<br />

shorty on the corner, right. Try<br />

that.<br />

(Beat)<br />

Come on, what little racist scam<br />

you guys running?<br />

Everyone reels with hesitation at Innocent’s words.<br />

THOMAS<br />

Whoa, brother, I'm not running<br />

anything. Listen, I’ve been<br />

starting to wonder about this shit<br />

myself.<br />

Thomas raises his hands to him as Steve shakes his head.<br />

STEVE<br />

Thomas, I still have no clue what<br />

you guys do, and I don’t think I<br />

even wanna know.<br />

SEB<br />

No you certainly don’t - Otherwise<br />

he’d probably have to kill your<br />

ass.<br />

Thomas makes a gun out of his fingers and pulls the trigger<br />

at Steve’s head.<br />

STEVE<br />

(sarcastically)<br />

Not me, man, I’m just a simple<br />

carpenter.<br />

A group of girls passes the bar and Innocent and Seb both<br />

turn to take notice. Innocent then turns to Thomas, still<br />

wanting to dig.<br />

INNOCENT<br />

At least it's honest work.<br />

SEB<br />

Not when Stevie’s doing it.<br />

Thomas senses he missed something as Seb and Steve share a<br />

look.<br />

THOMAS<br />

What’s up?<br />

18.


STEVE<br />

Man, I'm really fucked. Innocent,<br />

you remember that big condo<br />

renovation I doin for that chick<br />

from the World Bank?<br />

INNOCENT<br />

Yeah, yeah. She rode out to what..<br />

like Sri Lanka or some shit?<br />

STEVE<br />

Yeah, wherever the fuck that is...<br />

Well, I lost the key.<br />

THOMAS<br />

So get another one.<br />

STEVE<br />

From who? The building's empty,<br />

man. Basically I got a late start<br />

on this place. She calls me today<br />

and I tell her I’m finishing up.<br />

She's back in ten days, man and I<br />

can't even get into the fucking<br />

place!<br />

Innocent peaks at the girls seated across the room and laughs<br />

at Steve.<br />

INNOCENT<br />

Damn you are fucked man.<br />

SEB<br />

Very un-professional, Stevie.<br />

STEVE<br />

(shaking his head)<br />

Dude, she is so fucking uptight too<br />

man. I don’t know, I might just<br />

have to break in.<br />

Thomas stops in mid-drink.<br />

THOMAS<br />

I did not hear that.<br />

Innocent continues looking past Thomas at a table across the<br />

room and the girls.<br />

INNOCENT<br />

Yeah, it’s lookin’ good in here,<br />

man. Especially that crew over<br />

there.<br />

19.


SEB<br />

Yeah, I saw them walking in.<br />

Innocent’s glance lingers a bit longer when an idea strikes<br />

him. He waves to the bartender.<br />

INNOCENT<br />

Four shots.<br />

STEVE<br />

Whoa, whoa, whoa. Babies, please.<br />

SEB<br />

All ready? Oh man, It’s gonna be a<br />

long night.<br />

Innocent ignores the protests.<br />

INNOCENT<br />

Okay, here’s the deal. If you<br />

flinch - just a little bit - you<br />

gotta go over and holla at the<br />

girls.<br />

STEVE<br />

(laughing)<br />

Start walking, son.<br />

They all take a glass from the bar and toast before<br />

swallowing the contents. They all look at each other as<br />

Innocent blatantly scrunches his face with the shot.<br />

STEVE<br />

I think I saw a bit of a flinch<br />

there... You wanted to anyway, so<br />

go.<br />

SEB<br />

I know that shit was planned. All<br />

right, brotha, good luck.<br />

Innocent nods and gets off his bar stool and moves across the<br />

bar to the girls.<br />

INT. ESL, GIRL'S TABLE - SAME<br />

20.<br />

MOVE TO:<br />

RANA, early 20's, dark hair, large eyes, beautiful; sits on<br />

the couch in the middle of her two friends, LEILA and WAFFA,<br />

also of arabic decent. They are all dressed for a night out<br />

and smoke cigarettes as Innocent approaches them.


INNOCENT<br />

Hello ladies. My name is Innocent<br />

and I’m your DJ for the evening,<br />

but right now I’m gonna be your<br />

server. Me and my homeboys want to<br />

buy you all some drinks. You<br />

drinking?<br />

RANA<br />

I’ll have a dirty martini, vodka.<br />

LEILA<br />

Vodka-tonic, please.<br />

WAFFA<br />

Champagne, please.<br />

Innocent smiles at Waffa and her order.<br />

INNOCENT<br />

I’ll be right back with your<br />

drinks.<br />

Innocent smiles at them and turns back toward the bar. The<br />

girls all share a smile as he leaves.<br />

LEILA<br />

He is cute. So is that one.<br />

She turns toward Seb and flashes a smile.<br />

RANA<br />

Are you sure they're your type?<br />

LEILA<br />

Well, a little Gucci... a little<br />

Dolce & Gabanna might make them<br />

more appealing; but, they’ll do...<br />

WAFFA<br />

Honestly Leila, you just like<br />

whoever likes you.<br />

Waffa shoots Rana a gotcha look and they all share a laugh.<br />

Leila turns to Rana and changes the subject.<br />

LEILA<br />

Oh please. Rana, how is your<br />

father? Is he unhappy that you’ve<br />

extended your studies?<br />

Rana rolls her eyes and lets out a sigh.<br />

21.


RANA<br />

He knows I’ll do whatever I can to<br />

postpone going back home. I plan on<br />

getting 10 Phd's if I can.<br />

WAFFA<br />

I know what you mean. I wasn't cut<br />

out for the veil and a lifetime<br />

hidden in the backroom. If things<br />

continue as they are, we may not<br />

have to move back at all. You know<br />

the Americans won't allow our<br />

family to control the very last<br />

drops of oil. It's only a matter of<br />

time before we join the list of the<br />

occupied.<br />

(beat)<br />

Maybe it's for the better.<br />

RANA<br />

(shaking her head)<br />

How can you say that? You think<br />

being bombed is for the better?<br />

WAFFA<br />

Yanni, I’m sure our fathers have<br />

prepared for the inevitable.<br />

Leila finally waves a hand and stops the conversation.<br />

LEILA<br />

Yalla! This is far too depressing<br />

for a Friday night.<br />

(looking toward Innocent)<br />

Here come our drinks.<br />

Innocent balances a tray with the three drinks and begins<br />

handing them out.<br />

Thanks.<br />

RANA<br />

INNOCENT<br />

Your champagne.<br />

WAFFA<br />

You’re very sweet.<br />

INNOCENT<br />

You ladies enjoy your night. I’ll<br />

see you again. Cheers.<br />

22.


Cheers.<br />

INT. ESL - LATER<br />

ALL<br />

CUT TO:<br />

Seb is behind the turntables at the DJ booth as revelers now<br />

fill the dance floor. Seb is lost in the music as Rana<br />

approaches the booth. She yells over the sound.<br />

RANA<br />

What do you call this music?<br />

SEB<br />

It’s not your thing?<br />

RANA<br />

On the contrary, it’s great.<br />

(Beat)<br />

Do you have the new Nickodemus<br />

record?<br />

SEB<br />

(he finally looks at her -<br />

very cute)<br />

Hold on one second, I’ll look.<br />

Seb turns quickly and begins digging through the shelf of<br />

records behind him in the booth. He spends some time<br />

searching but can’t find the record. He turns to continue his<br />

conversation with Rana - she's gone. He looks around the<br />

dance floor through the maze of dancing bodies but doesn’t<br />

see her. He slowly turns back to the tables.<br />

INT. ESL - LATER<br />

FADE TO:<br />

The Lounge is clearing out as people exit down the stairs and<br />

the floor is swept up of all the debris from the evening. A<br />

lingering crowd remains finishing their drinks.<br />

Innocent, Thomas, and Steve sit on a couch as Innocent tries<br />

to light a joint. Seb returns to the couch holding a wad of<br />

cash for Innocent.<br />

SEB<br />

Here’s your half of the door, man.<br />

Not a bad night.<br />

23.


Innocent takes the wad of bills and looks the other direction<br />

as the group of girls pass them.<br />

INNOCENT<br />

Hey, hey. There goes your girl.<br />

Seb turns toward the exit and sees Rana leaving with her<br />

friends.<br />

SEB<br />

Man, I slept on that one, huh?<br />

Thomas looks down to Seb.<br />

THOMAS<br />

“Opportunities multiply as they are<br />

seized.” - Sun Tzu<br />

SEB<br />

Fuckin’ Government lawyer by day,<br />

Zen Master by night.<br />

Innocent laughs and blazes the joint and then passes it to<br />

Steve as he talks.<br />

INNOCENT<br />

Yo, your set was nice tonight, man,<br />

but you might want to keep an out<br />

for the ladies. You had that girl<br />

in the palm of your hand.<br />

STEVE<br />

(making a crude gesture)<br />

That’s all right. Now he’ll have a<br />

little something else in the palm<br />

of his hand.<br />

SEB<br />

Man, fuck you, Stevie.<br />

STEVE<br />

Whatever, man.<br />

They all laugh at Seb’s expense as Steve passes the joint to<br />

Seb.<br />

INNOCENT<br />

I’m spent. Who’s down for the<br />

diner?<br />

SEB<br />

(takes a long hit)<br />

Count me in. Definitely count me<br />

in.<br />

24.


STEVE<br />

I can do that.<br />

They all rise from the couch and exit the club.<br />

INT. SEB'S APARTMENT - MORNING<br />

CUT TO:<br />

Music plays from an old-school boom-box which sits on a shelf<br />

in Seb’s apartment. The decor of the loft is sparse but neat<br />

and in its place. Musical instruments line one area of the<br />

room with turntables and stacks of records covering the<br />

surface of the shelving. A RADIO ANNOUNCER begins to speak.<br />

RADIO ANNOUNCER (O.S.)<br />

Radio Free DC, listener supported ,<br />

community radio in the nation's<br />

capital. That's <strong>Babylon</strong> <strong>Central</strong> to<br />

you and me. Give us a call; we<br />

want to hear your thoughts on a<br />

number of issues: Gas prices, the<br />

war, the housing situation. Man,<br />

just like those levies broke in the<br />

big easy, something's gonna give<br />

with this credit bubble. We can't<br />

go on like this brothers and<br />

sisters. In the word's of DC's<br />

finest Marvin Gaye , "We've got to<br />

find a way to make some changes<br />

here today."<br />

Seb carefully removes a baguettes from an oven and then pours<br />

a cup of coffee from a French-press. He moves to the couch<br />

and sets his breakfast on the table.<br />

He breaks off a piece of his baguette, and eyes the protest<br />

flyer Innocent gave him. He sips his coffee and then gets up<br />

from the couch and grabs his messenger bag. He steals a final<br />

look around the loft before moving out the door.<br />

EXT. SEB'S APARTMENT - SAME<br />

25.<br />

CUT TO:<br />

Seb exits his apartment, throws his bag over his shoulder and<br />

straps on his helmet as he approaches the Vespa. With a<br />

smooth motion, he throws his leg over the bike, fires up the<br />

engine and takes off down the street. The day begins.<br />

CUT TO:


EXT. WASHINGTON DC, DOWNTOWN - MORNING<br />

A black SUV leads a Mercedes luxury sedan through the streets<br />

of Washington. Wahleed’s Bodyguard drives the SUV with an earpiece<br />

connection to the car behind them.<br />

Rana, and her brother, ALI, late 20's, ride in the Mercedes<br />

500SL with their father, Prince Wahleed. Ali sits in the<br />

passenger seat opposite their driver as it moves through<br />

traffic. Wahleed checks his watch and says something in<br />

Arabic to the driver and then turns his attention to Rana<br />

next to him.<br />

WAHLEED<br />

Rana, where is your Hijab? Please<br />

put it on.<br />

RANA<br />

Really, father.<br />

Rana looks at him with frustration, then removes the scarf<br />

from her bag and tucks her hair into it.<br />

WAHLEED<br />

Why do you have to be so defiant?<br />

Remember, you're not to say<br />

anything when you see the Vice<br />

President. Just shake his hand if<br />

he extends it and show respect.<br />

Rana is still fixing her hair, dis-insterested in the entire<br />

process.<br />

RANA<br />

Trust me, father. I have nothing to<br />

say to your important friend.<br />

ALI<br />

(turning his head from the<br />

front seat)<br />

You could have dressed more<br />

conservatively.<br />

RANA<br />

I'm dressed for school. I didn’t<br />

know I was riding with the cultural<br />

police.<br />

Wahleed lets the moment pass as Ali turns to his father.<br />

ALI<br />

Father? Can I address the Vice<br />

President?<br />

26.


WAHLEED<br />

(with pride)<br />

Of course, Ali. You will one day<br />

continue our bond with his sons;<br />

these ties are essential. However,<br />

today, you must wait for my cues at<br />

all times. This is not just a<br />

cordial visit among friends.<br />

Ali nods in understanding, as Wahleed turns his attention out<br />

the window.<br />

INT. VICE PRESIDENT'S OFFICE, RECEPTION AREA - DAY<br />

CUT TO:<br />

Rana and Ali sit in the waiting area, trading glances at the<br />

closed door to the VP’s office in front of them. Ali looks at<br />

Rana a few times, before finally speaking.<br />

ALI<br />

I know you were out last night.<br />

Smoking, drinking... You're<br />

becoming a disgrace to the family.<br />

Father foolishly thinks you're out<br />

studying every night.<br />

RANA<br />

Can I not have a life? You have<br />

your secrets as well.<br />

ALI<br />

A man is permitted.<br />

RANA<br />

Yes, a man is permitted everything;<br />

so why do you concern yourself with<br />

me? I'm not persecuting you.<br />

ALI<br />

You are persecuting Islam; that is<br />

far worse.<br />

(Long pause)<br />

I should be in there with them. Not<br />

sitting out here with you.<br />

27.<br />

He looks at his watch and then to the door to the VPs office<br />

and wonders what he is missing.<br />

CUT TO:


INT. GOLD & THORTON, RECEPTION AREA - DAY<br />

Tomika types at her computer as the inner-office phone chirps<br />

with a message.<br />

DONNA (O.S.)<br />

Tomika. Hold all of Julian’s calls.<br />

He’ll be in a meeting for awhile.<br />

INT. GOLD & THORTON, CONFERENCE ROOM - DAY<br />

CUT TO:<br />

Julian stands at the head of the conference room with three<br />

of his employees seated around the table. He is clearly in<br />

charge of the meeting as the assembly casts all eyes to<br />

Julian Gold.<br />

JULIAN<br />

Prince Wahleed has informed me that<br />

Kingdom of Saudi Arabia will begin<br />

to substantially reduce its dollar<br />

holdings. They intend to conduct a<br />

significant portion of their oil<br />

trade in Euros. I'm hoping to<br />

persuade him that it’s not in his<br />

country’s interest; but he has made<br />

it rather clear to me that the<br />

Saudis are willing to take the<br />

risk.<br />

Eyebrows are raised around the room as the employees consider<br />

what such a move might mean. One of the men at the table<br />

twists in his chair at the news.<br />

HENCHMAN 1<br />

Julian, with all due respect, what<br />

are they thinking? I mean, they<br />

know the 'arrangement'. And the<br />

consequences.<br />

JULIAN<br />

It's a bold gamble, no doubt. But<br />

the dollar does look pretty anemic,<br />

and there's a lot of international<br />

liquidity out there.<br />

Henchman 2 stoically makes his point.<br />

HENCHMAN 2<br />

I don't think he can actually do<br />

it. I mean, it’s fucking economic<br />

blackmail.<br />

28.


JULIAN<br />

It’s only blackmail if they were<br />

bluffing.<br />

(sternly)<br />

Need I remind you, Prince Wahleed<br />

is our most valued client? And it’s<br />

our job to protect our clients’<br />

interests - whatever those<br />

interests may be. If The Prince has<br />

a sudden aversion to the dollar...<br />

well, we will assist him in his<br />

efforts, and gladly accept his<br />

dollars for payment.<br />

HENCHMAN 3, a younger suit with an eager look nods<br />

appropriately and waves a hand.<br />

HENCHMAN 3<br />

I have a contact at the State<br />

Department. He can create a press<br />

release for distraction about the<br />

Iranian-backed militants in Iraq.<br />

HENCHMAN 2<br />

A couple of bunker-busters on<br />

Tehran would take care of that<br />

problem.<br />

Julian smirks at the remark as Henchman 1 nods his head in<br />

agreement and tries to recover from his earlier mistake.<br />

HENCHMAN 1<br />

Julian, my guy at Treasury can help<br />

us out. We can spin the falling<br />

dollar as a stimulus for US<br />

exports.<br />

JULIAN<br />

(slight chuckle)<br />

Good one. Go for it.<br />

(turning serious)<br />

Listen, we all know this won't be<br />

an easy sell. You'll need to tap<br />

all reliable resources. The Prince<br />

is counting on this firm and our -<br />

'creativity'.<br />

(somewhat confidently)<br />

I trust each of you will rise to<br />

the occasion.<br />

29.<br />

Julian nods to the men and exits the room, leaving them with<br />

their tasks.<br />

CUT TO:


INT. GOLD & THORTON, BATHROOM - DAY<br />

Henchman 2 stares into the mirror of the bathroom as he<br />

finishes washing his hands. Henchman one stands next to him<br />

doing the same as they consider their previous conversation<br />

with Julian.<br />

HENCHMAN 2<br />

I don’t know about this one. I<br />

think Julian’s losing his touch.<br />

HENCHMAN 1<br />

Yeah. This one’s gonna take more<br />

than creativity.<br />

Henchman 1 turns away to the paper towel dispenser as<br />

Henchman 2 continues to stare in the mirror, serious.<br />

INT. GOLD & THORTON, RECEPTION AREA - DAY<br />

CUT TO:<br />

The Prince’s Bodyguard stands outside the conference room,<br />

leaning on the wall. Seb comes through the door and walks<br />

toward Tomika at the reception desk.<br />

TOMIKA<br />

There's my man! I have a present<br />

for you.<br />

She hands him a package and he puts it in his messenger bag.<br />

SEB<br />

Ah, Tomika. You shouldn’t have.<br />

TOMIKA<br />

Donna needs you to run up to the<br />

Observatory again.<br />

SEB<br />

Let me guess - The Prince?<br />

TOMIKA<br />

Don’t forget to get a stamp.<br />

Just as Seb is turning to leave, Prince Wahleed emerges into<br />

the reception area trailed by his TWO BODYGUARDS, Donna, Rana<br />

and Ali.<br />

As they approach the reception desk. Seb and Rana see each<br />

other and he smiles, intrigued at this development.<br />

30.


WAHLEED<br />

(turning to Rana)<br />

My dear, I know you'll be late for<br />

class, but I must get back to the<br />

embassy. I'll have one of Julian's<br />

cars take you.<br />

Donna, hovering behind them, leans in grimacing.<br />

DONNA<br />

I'm sorry, sir, but all the cars<br />

are out right now. I can probably<br />

have one here in ten minutes.<br />

Rana shoots a look of concern at her father. Seb overhears<br />

the exchange and steps forward.<br />

SEB<br />

I can take her.<br />

WAHLEED<br />

(gruffly)<br />

Who is this boy?<br />

DONNA<br />

(slightly more nervous)<br />

He's an employee of the firm, sir.<br />

Extremely professional.<br />

Wahleed gives Seb the full once-over look. Ali, at his<br />

father’s side, gives Seb an uncomfortable stare.<br />

WAHLEED<br />

***This line is not in there***<br />

DONNA<br />

Absolutely, sir.<br />

Rana nods and moves towards Seb, who escorts her out the door<br />

to the elevator.<br />

INT. GOLD & THORTON, ELEVATOR - CONTINUOUS<br />

The doors close leaving Seb and Rana alone in the elevator.<br />

RANA<br />

Small world. Thanks for offering<br />

the ride. I’m really e late for<br />

this class and I'm already trying<br />

to catch up.<br />

31.


SEB<br />

You may want to hold the thanks<br />

until you approve of my means of<br />

transport.<br />

RANA<br />

Just because my dad’s Mr. Big<br />

doesn't mean I'm spoiled.<br />

SEB<br />

Fair enough. I warned you.<br />

EXT. GOLD & THORTON - SAME<br />

CUT TO:<br />

Seb leads her out of the doors of the building and waves to<br />

the Vespa in front of them<br />

SEB<br />

Here you go.<br />

RANA<br />

A Vespa! I haven't seen one of<br />

these since Rome.<br />

SEB<br />

It's okay, then?<br />

RANA<br />

It's perfect. I'm late, remember.<br />

SEB<br />

All right, we can cut through Rock<br />

Creek.<br />

Seb hands her the helmet and gets on the bike.<br />

RANA<br />

My father would have a heart-attack<br />

if he sees me on one of these.<br />

He gives it a kick-start and slides up for Rana to get on<br />

board.<br />

SEB<br />

Okay, hang on.<br />

EXT. WASHINGTON DC, DOWNTOWN - SAME<br />

VESPA MONTAGE<br />

32.


Rana grabs hold around Seb's waist as he drives them through<br />

Rock Creek Park and then up some back-streets in Washington<br />

before he brings them to a stop at the gates of Georgetown<br />

University.<br />

EXT. GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY - SAME<br />

As the Vespa comes to a stop on campus, Rana hops off the<br />

back and hands Seb the helmet.<br />

RANA<br />

Thank you, Seb, you're a savior.<br />

SEB<br />

We’re filling in tonight at the<br />

Lounge. You wanna come by and see<br />

me? I got that Nickodemus record<br />

you were asking about.<br />

Rana smiles and starts backing away.<br />

RANA<br />

You gonna pay attention to me this<br />

time?<br />

SEB<br />

Sorry about that, I was working and<br />

I got distracted...<br />

RANA<br />

Well, I'm used to being the<br />

distraction.<br />

She gives him a final flirtatious smile and then turns and<br />

quickly moves up the sidewalk. Seb watches her go with a<br />

smile of his own - his cell phone rings.<br />

Yes.<br />

SEB<br />

INNOCENT (O.S.)<br />

Yo, man, I got a score. I’m down at<br />

Second Chance.<br />

Really...<br />

SEB<br />

INNOCENT (O.S.)<br />

Yeah. You got some dough.<br />

SEB<br />

Yeah, I’ll be there in like ten<br />

minutes. All right, man, peace.<br />

33.


He turns back to the steps and looks to Rana and then smiles<br />

to himself as he returns his phone to his pocket.<br />

INT. THRIFT SHOP - DAY<br />

CUT TO:<br />

Innocent is digging through a box of records, pulling each<br />

one out and admiring the find.<br />

Damn!<br />

EXT. THRIFT SHOP - SAME<br />

INNOCENT<br />

A street performer wails on the saxophone as Seb walks buy<br />

and drops a dollar in his case. A street sweeper sees the<br />

move and does the same thing.<br />

INT. THRIFT SHOP - SAME<br />

Seb walks through the cloudy glass door of a disheveled<br />

thrift shop. An older African-American woman is at the<br />

counter, THRIFT LADY.<br />

THRIFT LADY<br />

Hey, sweetie. Can I help you?<br />

SEB<br />

Have you seen a nappy headed guy?<br />

Got a crazed look in his eyes,<br />

probably going through your<br />

records?<br />

She smiles and nods in recognition, pointing to the back.<br />

THRIFT LADY<br />

Right over there. You'd think he<br />

found the Hope Diamond.<br />

SEB<br />

The things people get excited<br />

about, huh?<br />

Seb walks toward the back room and sees Innocent sitting on a<br />

pile of records, reaching for another box.<br />

INNOCENT<br />

Hey man, check this out - Ramsey<br />

Lewis Live at the Bohemian Caverns.<br />

Mint.<br />

34.


SEB<br />

Easy man. Play it cool or she'll<br />

jack up the prices.<br />

Seb begins to flip through the stack of Innocent's treasure.<br />

INNOCENT<br />

Where were you? I called you at<br />

least five times.<br />

Seb smiles and turns to him.<br />

SEB<br />

Actually I was with that girl from<br />

the Lounge.<br />

Damn!<br />

INNOCENT<br />

SEB<br />

Yeah. I ended up giving her a ride<br />

to school today.<br />

INNOCENT<br />

Damn. Nice, man.<br />

Seb nods to the boxes.<br />

SEB<br />

So, let’s see your big score.<br />

INNOCENT<br />

Check it out. Some dude's old lady<br />

had no idea the treasures he left<br />

her.<br />

Shhhh!<br />

SEB<br />

He looks to the front to make sure the Thrift Lady didn’t<br />

hear them, and then turns back to Innocent.<br />

INNOCENT<br />

Check out my box.<br />

SEB<br />

Let’s see what you got here.<br />

They start flipping through the records as Seb is indeed<br />

impressed with the score.<br />

SEB<br />

Oh man, Jimmy Smith! Nice.<br />

35.


INNOCENT<br />

Dollar a piece.<br />

SEB<br />

What! Talk about a score.<br />

Now Innocent motions him to keep it down.<br />

INT. BOUTIQUE - DAY<br />

CUT TO:<br />

Rana flips through a rack of clothes in a designer boutique.<br />

Waffa begrudgingly trails her through the store as Rana<br />

gathers a stack of clothes to try. A SALES-GIRL approaches<br />

and Rana hands her the stack.<br />

RANA<br />

Hi. Can I try these?<br />

The Sales Girl nods and leads her to the dressing room. Waffa<br />

rolls her eyes in frustration.<br />

Rana returns from the dressing room wearing a new pair of<br />

jeans. She twirls in front of Waffa, asking for her opinion.<br />

WAFFA<br />

Yalla, Rana. Those look excellent.<br />

Just buy them.<br />

RANA<br />

So impatient. I wait for you for<br />

hours on end without any annoying<br />

protests.<br />

(Beat)<br />

The light ones or the dark ones?<br />

Waffa reaches for Rana’s purse and hands it to her, hurrying<br />

the process along.<br />

WAFFA<br />

The dark ones.<br />

Rana frowns at her and turns back to the Sales Girl.<br />

RANA<br />

I’ll take them all.<br />

36.<br />

The Sales Girl scoops up the pile of clothes as Rana fishes<br />

her credit card from her purse and then hands it to her.


SALES-GIRL<br />

Wow. A black-card. I’ve never seen<br />

one of these.<br />

Waffa again rolls her eyes, unimpressed. She pulls out her<br />

cell phone.<br />

WAFFA<br />

I’ll call my driver.<br />

The Sales Girl returns with the clothes in bags as Rana and<br />

Waffa wait in chairs in the middle of the store, Waffa’s<br />

DRIVER stands off to the side.<br />

WAFFA<br />

(nodding to her driver)<br />

You can give those to him.<br />

The Sales Girl does, and the Driver leads them out of the<br />

store to their waiting Mercedes.<br />

EXT. BOUTIQUE - SAME<br />

The Driver opens the back door for Waffa and then walks<br />

around the car with Rana to open the opposite door. He then<br />

gets in the car and smoothly pulls away.<br />

INT. INNOCENT'S APARTMENT - DAY<br />

CUT TO:<br />

Innocent leads Seb into his apartment which is neat, but<br />

filled with a wall of books and another of records and turntables.<br />

His old-school chairs and couch sit around a glass<br />

coffee table in the middle of the room.<br />

INNOCENT<br />

Close my door, there’s a lotta<br />

white folks livin’ around here.<br />

SEB<br />

Yeah, you better watch out.<br />

They each carry a box of records into the room as Seb heads<br />

right for the turntables and Innocent takes a seat on the<br />

couch.<br />

INNOCENT<br />

Yo man, you got any skins?<br />

Seb hands him his messenger bag.<br />

37.


SEB<br />

Yeah. Check my bag. They’re<br />

somewhere in there.<br />

Innocent grabs Seb’s bag and find a package of rolling papers<br />

in the front pocket. He sees a larger envelope - the package -<br />

in the main pocket, and quickly looks at Seb before removing<br />

it and taking it to the coffee table. Seb is still engrossed<br />

in the records.<br />

SEB<br />

Man. I've been looking for this<br />

Johnny Lytle record for like five<br />

years.<br />

(Beat - Drops the needle)<br />

You heard this cut? Man, this guy<br />

never got his proper respect.<br />

Innocent spreads the pages of the document on the table and<br />

begins reading the contents as he rolls a joint.<br />

INNOCENT<br />

(without looking up)<br />

Huh? Oh... yeah. That's a killer<br />

tune.<br />

SEB<br />

Who's your top vibes player? Milt<br />

Jackson or Cal Tjader? Probably<br />

Milt, knowing you.<br />

INNOCENT<br />

Yeah... um, Milt.<br />

Seb looks up from the record and shoots a look at Innocent.<br />

SEB<br />

What’s wrong with you? It’s like<br />

you’re on another planet. Don't you<br />

want to check out the score?<br />

INNOCENT<br />

I'm checking out these papers here,<br />

man; this is some heavy shit.<br />

SEB<br />

What papers?<br />

INNOCENT<br />

Yours. I mean, your delivery, I<br />

guess.<br />

38.


Seb moves over toward Innocent and the papers. Innocent<br />

slides him one of the pages as he goes about rolling the<br />

joint on top of another page.<br />

SEB<br />

What do you mean mine?<br />

Seb quickly walks over to Innocent and realizes what’s<br />

happened.<br />

SEB<br />

Oh fuck!!! I was supposed to drop<br />

that this morning. I gotta deliver<br />

this now!<br />

INNOCENT<br />

You definitely might want to do<br />

that considering it’s addressed to<br />

the Vice President’s office.<br />

Innocent quickly moves the weed away and brushes the remains<br />

off the page before handing it to Seb.<br />

SEB<br />

Man, this is a mess!<br />

Innocent shakes his head and leans back to finish rolling the<br />

joint.<br />

INNOCENT<br />

It's past business hours. Besides,<br />

you can't deliver nothing to The<br />

Observatory at this hour. And I<br />

might wanna make some copies.<br />

Seb snaps his eyes to Innocent and gives him a serious glare.<br />

SEB<br />

Funny. Real funny. This is my job<br />

we're talking about.<br />

(Beat)<br />

I think they have a guard there 24-<br />

7, I gotta at least try.<br />

He stuffs the pages back into the envelope and slides it in<br />

his messenger bag.<br />

SEB<br />

Man, what is your fucking problem?<br />

39.


Innocent smirks as he licks the joint and sits back on the<br />

couch. Seb turns and hurriedly leaves while Innocent lights<br />

the joint and smiles at the situation.<br />

EXT. WASHINGTON DC, RUSH HOUR - EVENING<br />

CUT TO:<br />

Traffic plods slowly through the streets of Washington. Donna<br />

sits behind the wheel of her Honda Odyssey mini-van talking<br />

on her cell phone.<br />

DONNA<br />

I know honey, just put it in the<br />

microwave for two minutes, okay?<br />

Mommy’s gonna be home soon. Okay, I<br />

gotta go. Bye.<br />

Frustrated and stressed, she pulls the phone from her ear to<br />

see another call coming in.<br />

DONNA<br />

Yes, Mr. Gold.<br />

(beat)<br />

I don't know, I gave it to him<br />

before noon. I haven’t seen him the<br />

rest of the day.<br />

(beat)<br />

That is very odd, yes sir. I'll<br />

call him right way. Okay.<br />

INT. STEAKHOUSE - NIGHT<br />

CUT TO:<br />

A rare steak is being hacked with a knife on a plate. We see<br />

Julian is talking to two of his HENCHMEN who are seated at<br />

the table with him. The all have steaks, wine and scotch in<br />

front of them as they conduct a truly Washington style<br />

meeting.<br />

JULIAN<br />

You know, frankly, I think they’ve<br />

either gone mad, or the reports<br />

comning from Matt Simmons are true;<br />

they’re running out of oil.<br />

HENCHMAN 2<br />

It happens to everyone eventually.<br />

The US in ‘71, UK in ‘99, Norway<br />

just announced they’ve peaked.<br />

40.


I heard the Saudis are pumpin’<br />

water into the wells. Not good.<br />

JULIAN<br />

Well, there will be plenty of<br />

opportunity on the way down. Jack<br />

at Occidental is calling for a<br />

hundred dollars a barrel by next<br />

summer. And if this bullshit with<br />

Iran escalates... who knows? Maybe<br />

two hundred?<br />

The Henchmen both nod, knowing the situation all too well.<br />

HENCHMAN 3<br />

I heard Chavez is gonna stop all<br />

the Venezuelan shipments if we do<br />

Iran.<br />

JULIAN<br />

He’s so fucking crazy. I don’t know<br />

why they can’t just take him out.<br />

HENCHMAN 2<br />

(taking a bite of steak)<br />

Fuckin’ Castro wanna be.<br />

HENCHMAN 3<br />

Seriously, Julian. How are we going<br />

to sell this Saudi/Euro play to the<br />

masses?<br />

JULIAN<br />

Do you really think the average<br />

prick is even gonna get it?<br />

(Beat)<br />

Look, all Wahleed has to do is<br />

spread the sell-off over a<br />

reasonable period of time and we<br />

should be okay. Right now, his<br />

plan’s a little too aggressive, but<br />

I’ll work on him.<br />

Julian soaks in the appropriate laughter from his Henchmen,<br />

showing they know he’s capable of such mastery. He sips his<br />

scotch, satisfied.<br />

HENCHMAN 2<br />

I’m sure the FED will have<br />

something to say about all this.<br />

JULIAN<br />

Never forget, the house always<br />

wins.<br />

41.


They’ll fire up the printing<br />

presses; inflation will wreak<br />

havoc. What a fuckin’ racket.<br />

HENCHMAN 3<br />

Maybe it’s a good time to buy some<br />

Euros...<br />

JULIAN<br />

Euros, gold, Pounds - anything. I’m<br />

certainly not going to get caught<br />

holding the bag when the bottom<br />

drops out.<br />

The group laughs with enthusiasm and Julian sits back in his<br />

chair with a smile and another sip of scotch.<br />

INT. RANA’S APARTMENT - NIGHT<br />

CUT TO:<br />

Rana plays with her hair in front of the mirror in her<br />

bathroom, taking her time preparing for an evening out.<br />

Elevator doors open and Leila steps into the hallway of the<br />

spacious loft apartment. The decor is sparse but high-end and<br />

in perfect order. The entire place looks like it was ordered<br />

from a catalog. As she enters the main room of the loft she<br />

sees Waffa sipping wine on the couch.<br />

LEILA<br />

She’s not ready?<br />

Waffa shakes her head and points toward the kitchen counter.<br />

WAFFA<br />

There’s some wine over there.<br />

The two share a look of expected frustration before Leila<br />

turns to the counter and pours herself a glass of wine.<br />

Rana is trying on new earrings and still playing with her<br />

hair in the mirror.<br />

WAFFA (O.S.)<br />

Yalla, Rana! Come on.<br />

Leila takes the wine and returns to join Waffa on the couch.<br />

LEILA<br />

How long has she been in there?<br />

42.


WAFFA<br />

Seems like forever.<br />

Rana is still fixing her hair.<br />

LEILA<br />

Something’s going on.<br />

Finally Rana takes a last look in the mirror and leaves the<br />

bathroom to join the others on the couch.<br />

WAFFA<br />

Alright, Rana, you look great. Why<br />

are you taking this much time to go<br />

to that dive? I'm beginning to<br />

worry about you.<br />

RANA<br />

So if they don’t have a VIP room or<br />

bottle service, it's a dive?<br />

(Beat)<br />

I guess I like dives.<br />

LEILA<br />

No. You like that boy.<br />

Leila and Waffa share a gasp, but Rana smiles at the<br />

accusation and deflects.<br />

RANA<br />

I also like the fact that our<br />

brothers don't go there. It's nice<br />

to be anonymous for an evening.<br />

WAFFA<br />

I love those jeans. Where did you<br />

get them?<br />

RANA<br />

I’m not telling.<br />

Waffa laughs and shakes her head.<br />

LEILA<br />

Okay, you look fabulous.<br />

She waves them up from their seats and they move to leave.<br />

RANA<br />

Did you tell your driver to stay<br />

behind?<br />

LEILA<br />

Of course.<br />

43.


They all walk toward the door ready for the evening.<br />

INT. SEB’S APARTMENT - NIGHT<br />

CUT TO:<br />

Seb approaches his rack of clothing as music plays from his<br />

turntable in the background. He carefully selects a jacket<br />

from the rack and slips it on over a long-sleeve shirt and<br />

jeans. Funky artwork fills the walls and a table and chairs<br />

sit off to one side of the bed. He checks himself in the<br />

mirror and after a few tweaks is satisfied with what he sees.<br />

He steps toward the door, and then takes one final look in<br />

the mirror before leaving.<br />

INT. ESL - NIGHT<br />

CUT TO:<br />

Innocent and Steve are settled in at a couch as Seb enters<br />

and takes a seat with them. Soul-shakes are exchanged.<br />

INNOCENT<br />

Everything cool now?<br />

SEB<br />

I hope so. I mean we'll see.<br />

STEVE<br />

What's wrong now?<br />

INNOCENT<br />

Postal-Boy over here forgot to<br />

deliver some important papers to<br />

The Observatory.<br />

Seb swipes Innocent's drink and takes a long swig.<br />

SEB<br />

Man, it’s just the usual Gold and<br />

Thorton bullshit. No big deal.<br />

Innocent shakes his head and leans in, serious.<br />

INNOCENT<br />

Man, the shit he was carryin’,<br />

shoulda been stamped classified.<br />

STEVE<br />

Some real top-secret shit, huh?<br />

44.


INNOCENT<br />

The Saudis - they’re threatening to<br />

ditch the dollar and start sellin’<br />

their oil for the Euro.<br />

(Beat)<br />

You know, Saddam tried that shit<br />

and he got jacked. Pretty soon,<br />

we’re gonna hear about weapons of<br />

mass destruction in Mecca.<br />

Seb shakes his head and looks to Innocent.<br />

SEB<br />

C’mon, man. You don't know anything<br />

about that shit.<br />

INNOCENT<br />

I don’t? Seb, you think all those<br />

books at my crib are just<br />

decoration? I do more than listen<br />

to music exclusively 24-7 like you.<br />

I find times to educate myself.<br />

Seb holds up his hands in defense.<br />

SEB<br />

Alright man, relax. I've heard a<br />

little about this stuff, I just<br />

don't see what the hell it has to<br />

do with you or me.<br />

Innocent sits back as everyone relaxes.<br />

INNOCENT<br />

When when gasoline is $8 a gallon<br />

because dollar is weaker...<br />

STEVE<br />

Well I’ll tell you, man, the cost<br />

of construction materials have<br />

nearly doubled in the last year.<br />

These oil prices are definitely<br />

fuckin’ hurting me.<br />

INNOCENT<br />

You know they say money is the root<br />

of all evil - but those roots are<br />

fertilized with oil. Oil runs<br />

everything in <strong>Babylon</strong>. Without it,<br />

the beast is no more.<br />

STEVE<br />

The beast.<br />

45.


Seb smiles at Innocent, ending the rant.<br />

SEB<br />

Well, I guess it's a good thing<br />

that I got those papers where they<br />

needed to go before the beast comes<br />

looking for us.<br />

INNOCENT<br />

(shakes his head)<br />

Yes, good thing.<br />

Innocent nods and stirs his drink before standing.<br />

INNOCENT<br />

I’m gonna get to work.<br />

He turns toward the DJ booth and Steve and Seb remain on the<br />

couch. Steve takes a long drag of a cigarette.<br />

SEB<br />

You ready?<br />

STEVE<br />

Oh I’ve been ready, man.<br />

INT. CLUB SEVEN - NIGHT<br />

CUT TO:<br />

Ali snorts a line of coke off a glass table. His nostrils<br />

flare as he inhales the powder through a straw.<br />

A private VIP room is filled with four young Saudi men,<br />

including Ali, and a number of scantily clad hookers. A pile<br />

of coke sits on the table as they party with the girls:<br />

-- A hooker pours coke all over her breasts as the crowd<br />

snorts it off her body.<br />

-- Champagne is poured over one of the girls.<br />

-- Two of the hookers rub each other as the men watch.<br />

-- Ali shares a glass of champagne with a girl.<br />

-- Total debauchery as Ali and his friends enjoy.<br />

46.<br />

FADE TO:


EXT. CLUB SEVEN - LATER<br />

Ali and one of the other Saudi men, his COUSIN, stumble out<br />

of Club Seven, obviously coked-up and rambling. The Cousin<br />

looks down the street, and points as he stares. (He sees Rana<br />

and her friends walking into ESL)<br />

COUSIN<br />

Habibi, I think that's your sister.<br />

ALI<br />

C’mon? Are you sure?<br />

COUSIN<br />

No, really. That was Rana going<br />

into that club next door.<br />

Ali looks toward the club, but doesn’t see anything. He slaps<br />

his cousin on the back.<br />

ALI<br />

Not now, Habibi, I’m way too fucked<br />

up. Come on, please. Let’s go.<br />

The Cousin looks at Ali and then back to the door. With a<br />

lingering glance he helps Ali walk away from the club.<br />

INT. ESL - LATER<br />

CUT TO:<br />

Innocent is at the controls of the DJ booth as Seb stands<br />

behind him flipping through records. Rana approaches the<br />

front of the booth, and stops at the wall, waiting for Seb to<br />

turn. Innocent taps him on the shoulder.<br />

Seb approaches and smiles and Innocent gives him a nod. He<br />

steps out of the booth and leads Rana to a table.<br />

RANA<br />

Are you sure you can leave your<br />

post.<br />

SEB<br />

Oh, Innocent's got it under<br />

control. What about you? I don't<br />

want your friends feeling ignored.<br />

RANA<br />

Oh no, they left. This isn't their<br />

idea of fun.<br />

47.


SEB<br />

Why’s that?<br />

I think they like flashing lights<br />

and flashier people. They prefer<br />

the clubs in Dubai.<br />

SEB<br />

Yeah I’d assume they’re a little<br />

bit different here than they are<br />

there.<br />

Quite.<br />

RANA<br />

SEB<br />

So what do you do for fun?<br />

RANA<br />

I study a lot these days. I'm<br />

working on my PHD.<br />

SEB<br />

That sounds like a lot of work.<br />

RANA<br />

It's either that or go back to<br />

Saudi Arabia and become someone’s<br />

wife.<br />

The waitress returns with their drinks and sets them on the<br />

table. Seb takes a sip of his drink and nods to the waitress.<br />

RANA<br />

Frankly, I can’t really relate to<br />

life back in Saudi Arabia. I never<br />

really lived there. I went to<br />

school in Switzerland and London,<br />

and I've been here for three years<br />

studying. I guess I'm some sort of<br />

a cultural exile.<br />

SEB<br />

You don't really fit my idea of a<br />

Saudi girl.<br />

RANA<br />

Yeah? What’s that like?<br />

She smiles and leans closer.<br />

48.


SEB<br />

You know, covered from head to toe<br />

in dark clothing, following<br />

silently behind the man. You're not<br />

even allowed to drive back there,<br />

are you?<br />

RANA<br />

No. Perhaps you understand why I’m<br />

a perpetual student.<br />

Seb takes a sip of his drink and nods.<br />

SEB<br />

I guess I'd do the same thing if I<br />

were you.<br />

RANA<br />

Yeah, but you're a man. You could<br />

lead a dual life. Be all pious and<br />

observant when you’re in the<br />

country; do what ever you like when<br />

you’re not. Anything really goes.<br />

It's quite sad actually.<br />

SEB<br />

I guess I didn’t know it was like<br />

that.<br />

They both take a sip of their drink and gaze at each other<br />

across the table. Rana sets down her drink and flips her hair<br />

before leaning in closer.<br />

RANA<br />

What about you, no double life?<br />

SEB<br />

Pretty one track actually. I mean<br />

my whole life revolves around<br />

music. Deejaying, collecting,<br />

studio production - this Friday<br />

night gig at the Lounge. Oh of<br />

course, and a little messengering<br />

gig I’ve got during the day time,<br />

gives me a little reportable income<br />

and health insurance.<br />

RANA<br />

Gold and Thorton - my father’s<br />

second home.<br />

SEB<br />

It’s actually really not that bad.<br />

It’s a pretty cushy job.<br />

49.


RANA<br />

Sounds good. I'm actually quite<br />

jealous, Seb.<br />

SEB<br />

Why’s that?<br />

RANA<br />

Well, it seems like you’re doing<br />

what you like. You can follow your<br />

passions.<br />

SEB<br />

Honestly I really wouldn’t know<br />

what else to do.<br />

They smile at each other as Seb raises his glass to her.<br />

INT. ESL - LATER<br />

LOUNGE MONTAGE<br />

FADE TO:<br />

Innocent is at the controls of the DJ booth as the party goes<br />

on around the Lounge.<br />

-- Antoine is hanging with a couple girls at the bar.<br />

-- Dancing and revelry fills the room.<br />

-- Seb and Rana stand talking quietly in the corner. Seb<br />

leans in to tell her something as she smiles.<br />

-- People gather near the bar talking and getting drinks.<br />

Seb and Rana stand near the door as the night comes to an<br />

end. One of Seb’s friends taps him on the shoulder and<br />

whispers something. Seb nods and then turns to Rana.<br />

SEB<br />

Nightcap by the pool?<br />

Perfect.<br />

RANA<br />

They both smile as Seb leads her out the door.<br />

50.<br />

CUT TO:


EXT. DUMBARTON OAKS, SWIMMING POOL - LATE NIGHT<br />

Steve climbs over a wooden fence and leaps to the ground<br />

eight-feet below him. He lands a bit awkwardly, but gets up<br />

and unlocks the nearby gate.<br />

RANA<br />

VIP entrance, I presume.<br />

SEB<br />

More like the servants' entrance;<br />

Stevie’s brother here is the night<br />

watchman, tonight he's gonna be<br />

napping.<br />

Steve opens the gate and a stream of people enter the pool<br />

area. Seb carries a bottle of Jack Daniels as Steve ushers<br />

everyone in for the fun.<br />

Seb guides Rana to one end of the pool area as Innocent has<br />

found a lady to entertain as well. Steve and a bunch of the<br />

other revelers head for the pool and start getting undressed.<br />

RANA<br />

Very beautiful club you have here,<br />

Mr. James. Do they allow female<br />

members?<br />

SEB<br />

Certainly. Otherwise it’d be<br />

terribly boring.<br />

RANA<br />

Very progressive.<br />

They toast with plastic glasses of champagne and each take a<br />

drink. Some of the people are now in the pool flirting and<br />

splashing. Steve picks up one of the girls and throws her in.<br />

Seb smiles at the scene and then looks to Rana, nodding over<br />

his shoulder.<br />

SEB<br />

Let’s go sit down.<br />

He leads her to the far end of the pool as the revelry<br />

continues with the splashing party-goers.<br />

51.<br />

Seb and Rana are seated on the ground near one end of the<br />

pool. Seb pours champagne into paper cups and then leans back<br />

as Rana sips her drink. He looks up to the stars as Rana also<br />

looks upward.


SEB<br />

This has got to be one of my<br />

favorite places in the entire city.<br />

RANA<br />

Are you from Washington?<br />

SEB<br />

No. You wouldn’t be very impressed<br />

with my home town... Let’s just say<br />

that military recruiters, fast-food<br />

and chain stores do very well<br />

there. My dad loves it, but he<br />

really doesn’t know any better.<br />

Rana looks at him intently as they hold their glasses of<br />

champagne.<br />

SEB<br />

After high-school, I went to Europe<br />

with my friend Thomas - Started in<br />

Portugal and traveled all the way<br />

down to the Southern tip of Italy.<br />

It was an incredible trip. Two kids<br />

from middle-of-nowhere USA<br />

backpacking, hiking, traveling on<br />

trains. This little town called<br />

Parma - Something hit me. At 4:30<br />

PM on a Friday evening, the entire<br />

square was just full, thousands of<br />

people: Business people having<br />

beer, kids eating ice-cream, old<br />

people hanging out in their little<br />

cafes. You know, I saw more life<br />

that one day than I ever had<br />

before.<br />

(Beat)<br />

After that I came back here<br />

determined to live my life like<br />

that.<br />

RANA<br />

Well, it looks like you’re<br />

succeeding.<br />

Seb smiles and looks at the ground before changing the<br />

subject.<br />

SEB<br />

Thanks for coming back to see me<br />

tonight.<br />

RANA<br />

I really like the music.<br />

52.


SEB<br />

(smiling)<br />

That’s it?<br />

RANA<br />

Well, now you’re putting me on the<br />

spot.<br />

A pause lingers between them before they both move toward<br />

each other for a kiss. They continue to kiss as the revelry<br />

continues in the pool.<br />

EXT. WASHINGTON DC, MOSQUE - MORNING<br />

FADE TO:<br />

The City comes to life for another morning as Prince Wahleed,<br />

wearing a full Muslim head-dress conducts his morning<br />

prayers.<br />

INT. SEB’S APARTMENT - MORNING<br />

CUT TO:<br />

Seb is passed out asleep in his bed. The hangover on his face<br />

is evident as he manages to turn and look at the time on his<br />

cell phone. With a look of pain mixed with concern he flops<br />

his head back onto the pillow to steal a few more minutes.<br />

INT. GOLD & THORTON, RECEPTION AREA - MORNING<br />

CUT TO:<br />

The elevator doors open as Seb walks down the hall and into<br />

the reception area. Tomika is seated behind her desk and<br />

looks at him with concern.<br />

TOMIKA<br />

Donna wants to see you in her<br />

office immediately.<br />

Shit.<br />

SEB<br />

53.<br />

He trades a knowing glance with Tomika and then turns down<br />

the hallway toward Donna MacIntire’s office. He knocks gently<br />

on the door and pushes it open.


INT. GOLD & THORTON, DONNA’S OFFICE - SAME<br />

SEB<br />

You wanted to see me, Donna?<br />

Donna is seated behind her desk doing paperwork but nods for<br />

Seb to come in and take a chair. He sheepishly moves into the<br />

room and sets his messenger bag on the floor. She puts aside<br />

the papers and takes off her glasses, looking to him<br />

seriously.<br />

DONNA<br />

What’s going on, Seb?<br />

SEB<br />

What do you mean?<br />

DONNA<br />

I trusted you Seb. I've vouched for<br />

you many times and really stuck my<br />

neck out for you. How could you<br />

betray me like this?<br />

Seb is confused, but then it comes to him.<br />

SEB<br />

I got the papers there Donna. I<br />

just got a little held up. You know<br />

I gave Prince Wahleed's daughter a<br />

ride to school. I just got a little<br />

distracted, I’m sorry.<br />

DONNA<br />

That's not going to cut it Seb.<br />

SEB<br />

It was a mistake; sorry.<br />

Donna looks at him for a long second.<br />

DONNA<br />

Who paid you?<br />

SEB<br />

Paid me? What the hell are you<br />

talking about?<br />

DONNA<br />

Who paid you for the papers, Seb?<br />

Mr. Gold wants to know.<br />

SEB<br />

No one. Why would anyone pay me?<br />

54.


DONNA<br />

Don't play stupid Seb. There's<br />

really no point.<br />

Seb sits forward and shifts in the chair.<br />

SEB<br />

This is a joke right?<br />

DONNA<br />

Cut the charade Seb. The papers<br />

were tampered with. The seal was<br />

broken. They were a mess. You know<br />

it, I know it, Mr. Gold knows it<br />

and the Vice President of the<br />

United-fucking-States knows it. Why<br />

couldn't you just do your job and<br />

mind your business?<br />

SEB<br />

I did do my job. I mean I admit I<br />

was a little late, and the package<br />

was a bit mistreated.<br />

A bit?!?<br />

DONNA<br />

Seb takes a breath and tries another tack.<br />

SEB<br />

Look, Donna, I got distracted. But<br />

I did not betray you or anyone else<br />

for that matter. That's the truth.<br />

I'm just a messenger for Christ's<br />

sake.<br />

Donna sighs and looks at Seb for a lingering moment.<br />

DONNA<br />

For your own sake, I hope your lame<br />

excuse is true. You realize we will<br />

probably have to polygraph you.<br />

SEB<br />

That seems a little extreme, but<br />

all right. While you’re at it why<br />

don't you just put a microchip in<br />

my arm so you can track my every<br />

move?<br />

Donna returns his flippancy with new sense of resolve.<br />

55.


DONNA<br />

Look Seb, those papers are<br />

sensitive. Now there are<br />

suspicions. Many people would like<br />

to see the contents of those<br />

documents, but they are only for<br />

the eyes of a select few.<br />

(Beat)<br />

Why do you think you had to get a<br />

background check and security<br />

clearance to work here? Why do you<br />

think you get paid so well for one<br />

or two deliveries a day? Because<br />

those deliveries are important. If<br />

you screw it up, people will<br />

wonder. They wonder about me too, I<br />

hired you. So you've hurt more than<br />

yourself here, Seb. I have kids to<br />

feed and a mortgage to pay.<br />

SEB<br />

Donna, I didn't mean any harm and I<br />

have told you the truth.<br />

Donna looks at him and then turns back to her notepad.<br />

DONNA<br />

I hope so. You're lucky Julian is<br />

in California at his annual Grove<br />

retreat.<br />

SEB<br />

I’ll make it up to you, Donna. I’m<br />

sorry.<br />

DONNA<br />

Just be on call. There will<br />

probably be others who want to<br />

speak with you.<br />

She goes back to her notes - the meeting is over.<br />

DONNA<br />

Just be on call. There will<br />

probably be others who'll want to<br />

speak with you.<br />

INT. GOLD & THORTON, ELEVATOR - SAME<br />

CUT TO:<br />

Seb steps onto the elevator, visibly sweating as the doors<br />

close and he slumps against the back wall.<br />

56.


INT. GOLD & THORTON - SAME<br />

When the doors open, Seb quickly moves past the security<br />

desk, where Haile is at his post. Haile gives him a wave, but<br />

he’s already dialing his cell phone and doesn’t pay<br />

attention.<br />

EXT. WASHINGTON DC, DOWNTOWN - SAME<br />

CUT TO:<br />

Innocent is riding his bicycle through the streets of<br />

Washington. He hears his phone ring and picks up his phone<br />

for a look. Smiling, he pulls his bike to a stop, hops off<br />

and takes a seat on a stone wall.<br />

INNOCENT<br />

Greetings!<br />

EXT. GOLD & THORTON - SAME<br />

SEB<br />

What the fuck man! Why the fuck did<br />

you have to mess with those papers?<br />

EXT. WASHINGTON DC, DOWNTOWN - SAME<br />

INNOCENT<br />

Whoa. Whoa. Whoa. Slow down, Seb.<br />

What’s the matter?<br />

EXT. GOLD & THORTON - SAME<br />

SEB<br />

My Observatory drop. You were<br />

right. Apparently they are<br />

important, really fucking<br />

important! And you and I were not<br />

supposed to see them. I don't rifle<br />

through your shit, do I?<br />

EXT. WASHINGTON DC, DOWNTOWN - SAME<br />

INNOCENT<br />

C’mon, Seb you should know me by<br />

now. You know I’m gonna take a<br />

peek. (Beat)<br />

57.


Look man, I didn’t mean to cause<br />

any static.<br />

EXT. GOLD & THORTON - SAME<br />

SEB<br />

This is way past static. They're<br />

talking about polygraphs and shit.<br />

Man, Donna really freaked me out.<br />

EXT. WASHINGTON DC, DOWNTOWN - SAME<br />

INNOCENT<br />

Seb, meet me at the Gardner’s.<br />

He clicks the phone off and ends the call. He gets off the<br />

wall and heads back to his bike with the City of DC behind<br />

him.<br />

INT. NATIONAL SECURITY ADMINISTRATION OFFICES - SAME<br />

CUT TO:<br />

A sterile hallway of government office life. People move down<br />

the hallway passing papers through a maze of cubicles. We see<br />

an older man, COLONEL PERRY, early 60’s, white shirt, plain<br />

tie leave his office carrying a folder and walk steadily down<br />

the hall.<br />

He approaches an office near the end of the hall and steps<br />

through the door. Thomas is seated at his desk behind a<br />

computer. He is about to get up when The Colonel waves him<br />

down.<br />

COLONEL PERRY<br />

Hey Thomas. I’ve got another<br />

background check for you. I want<br />

you to run a search on a civilian -<br />

a Sebastian James. This comes<br />

directly from the Vice President’s<br />

office so I want you to give it<br />

your highest priority.<br />

The Colonel hands him a folder across the desk.<br />

THOMAS<br />

Of course, Sir. Right away.<br />

58.<br />

Colonel Perry turns and leaves the office as Thomas opens the<br />

folder. He begins looking at the pages and shakes his head.


THOMAS<br />

(under his breath)<br />

What did you do?<br />

EXT. THE GARDNER’S HOUSE - DAY<br />

CUT TO:<br />

Seb cruises up the alley on the Vespa and brings it to a<br />

screeching halt near The Gardner’s rear enterance.<br />

INT. THE GARDNER’S HOUSE - DAY<br />

Angelica carefully rolls joints on a silver platter as she<br />

watches a game of pool in progress. Innocent leans over the<br />

pool table ready to take a shot while Antoine stands behind<br />

him shaking his head.<br />

ANTOINE<br />

You can’t make that shot, man.<br />

There’s no way.<br />

Innocent turns to him.<br />

INNOCENT<br />

I don’t talk when you shoot.<br />

ANTOINE<br />

(laughing)<br />

‘cuz you’re playin’ in my ras-clot<br />

house.<br />

(beat)<br />

Look, you’re already runnin’ a<br />

large deficit...<br />

Angelica goes to the rear gate to open the door for Seb. He<br />

storms past her into the pool room and points an accusing<br />

finger at Innocent. Innocent still makes his shot on the<br />

table.<br />

SEB<br />

Yo, What the fuck is wrong with<br />

you, man?<br />

Antoine steps forward, defending the vibe in his house.<br />

ANTOINE<br />

Easy, Rude-boy! I heard you had<br />

some tribulations but you just<br />

entered a stress free zone. So cool<br />

out, man.<br />

59.


Seb makes his way to the opposite side of the pool table and<br />

leans forward to make his point.<br />

SEB<br />

'Had'? It’s more like ‘have.<br />

Present tense, man, I am fucked.<br />

INNOCENT<br />

Seb, look I'm sorry man. Those<br />

papers were top choice.<br />

(Beat - turning to<br />

Antoine)<br />

Antoine, you can't believe the shit<br />

this dude was carrying around.<br />

Antoine puffs on the joint and casually Innocent.<br />

ANTOINE<br />

Antoine's seen it all man. Nothing<br />

could surprise me.<br />

Seb shakes his head and goes back at Innocent.<br />

SEB<br />

Okay mister fucking Che Guevara,<br />

mister revolutionary wanna-be<br />

mother fucker, what was so god-damn<br />

important in these fucking papers<br />

anyway?<br />

Innocent smiles and prepares to line-up another shot on the<br />

table.<br />

INNOCENT<br />

How about the end of an empire?<br />

SEB<br />

Oh really?<br />

INNOCENT<br />

Like this one.<br />

SEB<br />

You got all that vast of<br />

information from one little set of<br />

documents.<br />

Innocent leans over his shot, but pauses and turns to Seb.<br />

INNOCENT<br />

Seb, if you’d listen, you might<br />

learn something.<br />

60.


He takes his shot, which goes in, and then moves to the other<br />

end of the table holding a joint.<br />

INNOCENT<br />

The House of Saud, which controls a<br />

little oil drilling operation we<br />

call Saudi Arabia is threatening to<br />

divest their dollars and start<br />

selling its oil for the Euro.<br />

SEB<br />

Yeah, no shit. I know that much<br />

from before, big deal.<br />

ANTOINE<br />

Yo homeboy, you obviously don’t<br />

know what that would do.<br />

Seb shakes his head at Antoine’s insertion in the discussion<br />

and snaps up to him.<br />

SEB<br />

Well why don’t you tell me,<br />

Antoine.<br />

ANTOINE<br />

If countries that turn to the Euro,<br />

the US will have to buy back all<br />

those T bills. That’s a big-bet<br />

against the dollar. And that’s some<br />

serious revolutionary business,<br />

man.<br />

Innocent slides next to Antoine and takes the joint back from<br />

him.<br />

INNOCENT<br />

I think the Saudis control<br />

something like 6% of the US assets.<br />

This could be like a death blow for<br />

this wicked ass system. You ask me?<br />

I hope it fucking happens.<br />

(Beat - he puffs the<br />

joint)<br />

Burn it down and start over.<br />

He puffs the joint and smiles and passes it to Antoine in<br />

toast. Seb shakes his head and points to Antoine.<br />

SEB<br />

(with an incredulous look)<br />

Hold up. Just how the fuck do you<br />

know so much about this shit?<br />

61.


Who me?<br />

Yeah.<br />

ANTOINE<br />

SEB<br />

ANTOINE<br />

I read. I like to educate myself.<br />

(Beat - hits the joint.)<br />

Working from home leaves a lot of<br />

time for self improvement, my<br />

brother.<br />

Seb shakes his head and turns his attention back to the<br />

original matter with Innocent.<br />

SEB<br />

Man, I can’t fucking believe this<br />

shit. (Beat - he thinks hard)<br />

You know I really, really didn’t<br />

want to get involved in this<br />

crap... now thanks to this nosey<br />

motherfucker right here I don’t<br />

even have a god-damn choice<br />

anymore.<br />

Seb glares at Innocent, who stands at attention across the<br />

table with Antoine. He points at Seb with the joint.<br />

INNOCENT<br />

You know, Seb, you’re gonna have to<br />

figure out where you’re gonna<br />

stand. I mean you can’t just keep<br />

sittin’ back while the everybody<br />

else does the heavy lifting. I<br />

mean, you say you hate war, but<br />

where were you when half a million<br />

of us were out there outside the<br />

White House?<br />

Antoine looks at Seb accusingly in disapproval.<br />

INNOCENT<br />

What if that crowd was a million?<br />

(hits the joint, passes it<br />

to Antoine)<br />

Two? I mean, what if those idiots<br />

who regret the war now were<br />

supporting us back then? What if<br />

all of us who marched could have<br />

got one of their lazy-ass friends<br />

to come and join us?<br />

62.


Seb holds up his hands.<br />

SEB<br />

Yo, we’ve been down that road<br />

before, man. I got it, all right.<br />

INNOCENT<br />

Look, Seb. I’m sorry I rattled your<br />

little existence, but I got a lot<br />

of other important shit to worry<br />

about than your comfort.<br />

(beat)<br />

I just think it’s up us to do<br />

something collectively while we<br />

still got what little freedom we<br />

have left.<br />

(lines up a pool shot)<br />

I mean I organize against the WTO,<br />

and corporate globalization and<br />

this damn war and can’t get the<br />

average Joe to join me. He’d rather<br />

work his fingers to the bone,<br />

chasing that little mythical<br />

American Dream.<br />

He lines up the shot and takes another one.<br />

ANTOINE<br />

Well, if this shit with the Saudis<br />

and the dollar goes down, that<br />

dream is gonna get severely<br />

downsized.<br />

INNOCENT<br />

Believe that.<br />

Antoine looks at Seb who now seems a little beaten from the<br />

entire exchange. He offers him the joint.<br />

ANTOINE<br />

You wanna hit that.<br />

Seb nods and takes it from him as Innocent stands for a last<br />

statement.<br />

INNOCENT<br />

Seb, now is the time for the peace<br />

and justice movement to kick into<br />

high gear. Right before the shit<br />

hits the fan. C’mon, man. You gotta<br />

get on board.<br />

Seb looks at him for a moment and then nods.<br />

63.


SEB<br />

Yeah, you’re right man.<br />

Seb begins taking a number of long puffs on the joint putting<br />

up a cloud of smoke in front of his face. Antoine leans in<br />

and pats him on the shoulder.<br />

ANTOINE<br />

Hey man. Relax... Go easy on that.<br />

Seb smiles and hands him back the joint.<br />

EXT. PRINCE WAHLEED’S RESIDENCE - EVENING<br />

CUT TO:<br />

Ali drives a Porsche through the streets of Washington as<br />

music blares from his stereo. He pulls the sleek car in front<br />

of his father’s local residence and gets out of the car to go<br />

inside.<br />

INT. PRINCE WAHLEED’S RESIDENCE, STUDY - SAME<br />

Prince Wahleed sits behind his desk reading some papers. As<br />

he reads, there is a knock at the door to the room. He looks<br />

up, and sees Ali peering around the door frame, waiting for<br />

an invitation to enter. Wahleed let’s out a sigh, and sets<br />

the papers down as he waves his son into the room.<br />

ALI<br />

I am sorry to bother you, father. I<br />

wanted to speak with you.<br />

WAHLEED<br />

It is fine. Come in, Ali.<br />

Ali carefully steps into the room and moves to a chair across<br />

the desk from his father.<br />

ALI<br />

It’s about Rana.<br />

(Beat)<br />

I do not think she is leading a<br />

pious life.<br />

Wahleed now finally gives him his full attention.<br />

ALI<br />

She claims to be studying when in<br />

fact I know that she is out with<br />

her cousins. It's not right father.<br />

64.


Those girls are not the least bit<br />

observant.<br />

WAHLEED<br />

And you are? You are also corrupted<br />

by the delights of the infidel's<br />

garden.<br />

ALI<br />

You know that it's very different<br />

father.<br />

Wahleed raises his voice to his son.<br />

WAHLEED<br />

Really, Ali. You have trouble<br />

focusing on what’s important.<br />

Shouldn't you be looking for this<br />

spy at Gold and Thorton that’s<br />

reading our communiqués?<br />

(beat - thinking)<br />

I’m sure he’s a Mossad.<br />

ALI<br />

Actually, father, we've found him.<br />

He's a messenger. We're gathering<br />

information on him right now.<br />

WAHLEED<br />

Good. You should share the<br />

information with the Vice<br />

President’s office.<br />

ALI<br />

Of course. But what about Rana?<br />

WAHLEED<br />

I'm afraid she is like your mother.<br />

She's spent too much time away from<br />

our homeland. Her ideas of Islam<br />

have been tarnished by this<br />

country. I’m sure she’ll change<br />

when she completes her education<br />

and returns home.<br />

ALI<br />

Education? At what cost? Father,<br />

it’s far more serious. I have heard<br />

that she is seeing someone, a young<br />

American man.<br />

65.


WAHLEED<br />

Really Ali, not now, not in the<br />

midst of this tempest. I'm sure you<br />

are mistaken.<br />

ALI<br />

I swear upon the Prophet Wahlahi.<br />

This comes from a reliable source.<br />

Wahleed looks to him, seriously.<br />

WAHLEED<br />

I'll need proof before any action<br />

is taken.<br />

ALI<br />

As you wish, father.<br />

Ali rises from his chair and leaves the study and the Prince<br />

alone with his thoughts.<br />

EXT. GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY - DAY<br />

CUT TO:<br />

Rana sits on the steps reading a book near the gates of the<br />

University. Finally, she sees Seb approach on the Vespa. She<br />

closes her book and grabs her bag before going to meet him on<br />

the curb.<br />

RANA<br />

What kind of knight in shining<br />

armor are you?<br />

She smiles and they exchange a quick kiss as Seb gets more<br />

serious.<br />

SEB<br />

I had a really rough day.<br />

RANA<br />

I’m so sorry. What happened?<br />

SEB<br />

You know I’m not that sure.<br />

RANA<br />

Let's just go down the street and<br />

get something to eat; I’m starving.<br />

SEB<br />

Good idea.<br />

66.


Seb nods and gestures for them to start down the sidewalk. He<br />

takes a final look at the Vespa as they go - it’s fine. They<br />

begin walking down the sidewalk through Georgetown as the sun<br />

sets behind them.<br />

SEB<br />

So what are you reading?<br />

RANA<br />

Right now this book on Sufism.<br />

SEB<br />

Sufism, huh? I actually don’t know<br />

much about that.<br />

RANA<br />

Sufism is the mystical, innerdimension<br />

of Islam. You try to<br />

eliminate the duality, or anything<br />

that creates separation between you<br />

and God. The only way you can find<br />

divine truth is to transcend the<br />

material world.<br />

Seb nods, hoping he understands.<br />

SEB<br />

Sounds like some pretty deep stuff.<br />

Is this what you’re studying?<br />

RANA<br />

Actually, my thesis is on the<br />

writings of Khalil Gibran.<br />

SEB<br />

Now that does sound familiar.<br />

RANA<br />

The Lebanese philosopher.<br />

(beat)<br />

If you haven’t read The Prophet,<br />

you should check it out; it's one<br />

of the most beautiful books ever<br />

written. Gibran has such a full<br />

sense of humanity; and a lot like<br />

the Sufis, he’s not bound by<br />

tradition or any rigid doctrine.<br />

SEB<br />

The Prophet. I’ll definitely check<br />

it out.<br />

Rana looks toward the sky and puts a hand to her heart.<br />

67.


RANA<br />

"I was born with an arrow in my<br />

heart, and it is painful to pull it<br />

and painful to leave it."<br />

SEB<br />

(smiles, relaxes)<br />

It really resonates with you.<br />

RANA<br />

I wish I had his strength - because<br />

he embraced life fully; its beauty<br />

and sorrows.<br />

SEB<br />

It definitely seems like you do.<br />

You’ve definitely got the resources<br />

to do it.<br />

RANA<br />

My father's resources.<br />

SEB<br />

That’s not what I was implying<br />

She shakes it off and lets her mind drift.<br />

RANA<br />

I am literally living on borrowed<br />

time. (Beat)<br />

Later, I'll have to make a choice -<br />

to live this comfortable false<br />

secure life, or find my<br />

independence.<br />

(Beat)<br />

'I have too much of my mother';<br />

that’s what they say.<br />

SEB<br />

I take it she's not down with the<br />

program?<br />

Rana looks to the ground, considering how much to say.<br />

RANA<br />

No. She never was. She's not Saudi;<br />

she's Iranian, from a wealthy<br />

Persian family. She couldn’t take<br />

life in Saudi Arabia so she and my<br />

father went their separate ways. It<br />

caused quite a scandal. My father’s<br />

never really forgiven her.<br />

(Beat)<br />

68.


You know, Seb, I'm really afraid of<br />

you.<br />

They stop walking and Seb turns her to him.<br />

SEB<br />

Of me? Why?<br />

RANA<br />

Because I’m really falling for you.<br />

He pulls her face to his and gives her a soft kiss.<br />

RANA<br />

I’m serious, I’m really worried.<br />

SEB<br />

You just gotta try to live in the<br />

moment - Tomorrow will always fix<br />

itself.<br />

Rana smiles and shakes her head.<br />

RANA<br />

We’re very different.<br />

SEB<br />

Come on. Now, I’m starving. Let’s<br />

go.<br />

He squeezes her again and leads her on down the sidewalk.<br />

INT. INNOCENT’S APARTMENT - NIGHT<br />

FADE TO:<br />

Innocent sits on his couch with no shirt on, his laptop open<br />

in front of him on the table. He intently reads something on<br />

the screen.<br />

EXT. INNOCENT’S APARTMENT - SAME<br />

Two sets of black dress shoes come through a gate and then<br />

shuffle down the alley. We see two guys in suits, looking the<br />

full part of the FBI AGENTS they are.<br />

INT. INNOCENT’S APARTMENT - SAME<br />

Innocent lights a fresh joint and takes a long drag as the<br />

tip glows hot with fire.<br />

69.


EXT. INNOCENT’S APARTMENT - SAME<br />

The pair of suits enters Innocent’s apartment building and<br />

climb the steps in the tight stairwell to his door. The one<br />

in front knocks loudly on the door.<br />

INT. INNOCENT’S APARTMENT - SAME<br />

Innocent looks up from the computer as the joint continues to<br />

burn in his hand.<br />

INNOCENT<br />

Who’s that?<br />

EXT. INNOCENT’S APARTMENT - SAME<br />

The older of the pair, AGENT HENDERSON, late 40’s, slick dark<br />

hair, a bit soft in the middle answers.<br />

AGENT HENDERSON<br />

Agent Henderson and Agent Thompson.<br />

INT. INNOCENT’S APARTMENT - SAME<br />

Innocent looks up from the computer and sags at the news.<br />

INNOCENT<br />

(under his breath)<br />

Shit.<br />

He closes the laptop, turns over his papers and gets up from<br />

the couch.<br />

INNOCENT<br />

Ah, one second.<br />

He takes a final hit off the joint and blows the smoke out<br />

the window before stubbing it out in the ashtray.<br />

EXT. INNOCENT’S APARTMENT - SAME<br />

Henderson looks at his watch as his partner, AGENT THOMPSON,<br />

mid-30’s, short blonde-hair atop a fit frame, chomps on his<br />

gum with impatience. Henderson knocks again.<br />

INT. INNOCENT’S APARTMENT - SAME<br />

70.<br />

Innocent grabs a t-shirt from a chair and quickly puts it on.


INNOCENT<br />

One second, man.<br />

He walks to the door and pauses when we arrives. He takes a<br />

deep breath and then finally turns the knob.<br />

INNOCENT<br />

Gentlemen.<br />

AGENT HENDERSON<br />

What’s up, Innocent, Tidying up a<br />

bit? May we?<br />

Asking to come inside, Innocent eyes them carefully.<br />

INNOCENT<br />

Do I have a choice.<br />

No.<br />

AGENT HENDERSON<br />

Innocent concedes and leads them into the apartment. He moves<br />

back to his spot on the couch as the Agents take a look<br />

around the room.<br />

AGENT HENDERSON<br />

Looks like you’ve done some<br />

redecorating.<br />

INNOCENT<br />

Make yourselves at home, gentlemen.<br />

Want a beer, glass of wine? Or are<br />

we doin’ it strictly by the books<br />

today?<br />

AGENT HENDERSON<br />

That’s up to you, Innocent.<br />

Henderson takes a seat in the chair opposite Innocent while<br />

Thompson remains standing. Thompson reaches for the small box<br />

on the coffee table and opens it, finding a bag of marijuana.<br />

With a smirk, he pockets the bag and puts that box back on<br />

the table.<br />

INNOCENT<br />

Help yourself, man. That’s some of<br />

my favorite shit.<br />

AGENT THOMPSON<br />

Innocent - I always thought that<br />

was a funny name. Ironic in your<br />

case.<br />

71.


INNOCENT<br />

I guess you’ve never heard of Pope<br />

Innocent the tenth.<br />

The two Agents trade a look and then Henderson takes control.<br />

AGENT HENDERSON<br />

So what can you tell me about your<br />

buddy Sebastian James and that<br />

little espionage ring he's been<br />

running out of Gold and Thornton?<br />

Innocent looks squarely at Henderson.<br />

INNOCENT<br />

No, no, man. You got the wrong<br />

person. I’m the one who looked at<br />

the papers. Seb had nothing to do<br />

with this.<br />

AGENT THOMPSON<br />

So, James is now working with you<br />

now.<br />

INNOCENT<br />

No, no - Don't be ridiculous; he's<br />

not even into politics like that.<br />

You should have seen how he reacted<br />

when I looked at the papers; he was<br />

really upset.<br />

(Beat)<br />

Look, this has always been about<br />

me. Seb has nothing to do with<br />

this. I'm the troublemaker;<br />

remember?<br />

Henderson smiles and stars in on him.<br />

AGENT HENDERSON<br />

Oh, I remember. That little stunt<br />

you pulled at the Inauguration;<br />

lighting the flag on fire at that<br />

WTO bullshit. You know we could<br />

take you in for simple possession<br />

any time. Tax evasion, just name a<br />

fucking reason.<br />

Innocent rolls his eyes, unimpressed.<br />

AGENT HENDERSON<br />

You could actually do some time for<br />

this.<br />

72.


INNOCENT<br />

How many times are you gonna come<br />

down here and harass me, man? I<br />

told you all everything I know.<br />

What, you gonna do to me what you<br />

did to my father?<br />

AGENT THOMPSON<br />

You don't need to go there.<br />

INNOCENT<br />

Don’t need to go there? Your<br />

officers kill my father because<br />

he’s trying to feed children<br />

breakfast in the inner city; and<br />

you say I can’t go there?<br />

AGENT THOMPSON<br />

You know what, your father's<br />

political activities are old news.<br />

INNOCENT<br />

Not for me, motherfucker!<br />

Agent Henderson glares at Innocent from his chair.<br />

AGENT HENDERSON<br />

Hey. Watch your mouth!<br />

INNOCENT<br />

Fuck you! What? You gonna tap my<br />

phones, take pictures of me at the<br />

rallies; you can even set up a<br />

camera in here you might get some<br />

good sex tapes. But I'm not going<br />

to let you drag my friend Seb into<br />

this. He has nothing to do with<br />

this.<br />

Henderson gets out of his chair and slowly walks to the<br />

couch, taking a seat next to Innocent.<br />

AGENT THOMPSON<br />

For his sake, I hope that's true.<br />

You might want to tell him not to<br />

stand too close to you.<br />

INNOCENT<br />

Yeah, I’ll do that. Are we done,<br />

motherfuckers?<br />

73.


Without a response, Innocent begins to get up from the couch.<br />

As he does, Agent Henderson throws a forearm across him,<br />

knocking him back to his seat - with the other hand he<br />

smoothly draws his gun and points it directly at Innocent’s<br />

forehead.<br />

AGENT HENDERSON<br />

Listen here you fucking little<br />

prick. I could snuff you out right<br />

here. We struggled, you got shot.<br />

Case closed.<br />

He locks eyes with Innocent as he slowly takes the gun away.<br />

As he moves back, he rubs a finger across Innocent’s cheek.<br />

AGENT HENDERSON<br />

So you might wanna be a little more<br />

cooperative, for your sake.<br />

Henderson nods to Thompson and they move to the door.<br />

AGENT HENDERSON<br />

Have a good night, yo.<br />

The two Agents walk out the door as Innocent stews on the<br />

couch. Once the door closes:<br />

Fuck you!<br />

INNOCENT<br />

He gets up from the couch as we see a picture of him with his<br />

father on the table.<br />

INT. SEB’S APARTMENT - MORNING<br />

CUT TO:<br />

Seb’s cell phone rings. It continues ringing until the<br />

bathroom door opens and Seb runs out to retrieve it, wrapped<br />

in a towel with a wet head.<br />

Yeah.<br />

SEB<br />

THOMAS (O.S.)<br />

Seb, meet me at Ben’s Chili Bowl in<br />

10 minutes.<br />

SEB<br />

Thomas? What’s up...<br />

74.


The phone is dead. Seb looks at the phone but the call has<br />

ended.<br />

INT. BEN’S CHILI BOWL - MORNING<br />

CUT TO:<br />

A basket of fries hits the hot oil of the fryer. A grill<br />

filled with eggs and sausages is tended by a COOK. The sign<br />

above the short-order kitchen says, “Tipping is permitted for<br />

good service.” A team of COOKS in white aprons stand ready to<br />

serve the customers seated at the counter and in the tables.<br />

EXT. BEN’S CHILI BOWL - SAME<br />

Seb walks down the sidewalk and passes by the main window of<br />

the restaurant as he goes to the door.<br />

INT. BEN’S CHILI BOWL - SAME<br />

Thomas sits alone at a table and takes a healthy bite of his<br />

pancakes. He looks expectantly at the door.<br />

Seb walks through the door and past the counter toward the<br />

table where Thomas is seated. Thomas never looks at him as he<br />

approaches, his head buried in a newspaper.<br />

SEB<br />

What’s goin’ on?<br />

THOMAS<br />

(without looking at him)<br />

Wait thirty seconds and then follow<br />

me to the bottom of Malcolm X Park.<br />

Thomas quickly gets up from the booth and slips by Seb as he<br />

moves to the door. Seb stands in place, puzzled, but<br />

understands the plan. He moves to the counter to wait.<br />

EXT. MALCOLM X PARK - DAY<br />

CUT TO:<br />

Thomas waits for Seb at the base of a set of stairs near the<br />

park entrance. Seb approaches and Thomas begins to walk.<br />

THOMAS<br />

Sorry, man. I just wanted to make<br />

sure no one was tailing you.<br />

75.


SEB<br />

You’re kidding me, right?<br />

They continue walking up the stairs and down the path into<br />

the park.<br />

THOMAS<br />

Seb, you’re in some pretty serious<br />

shit. What the fuck did you do,<br />

man?<br />

SEB<br />

What’d I do? I didn’t do anything!<br />

Innocent... Well, actually, I<br />

forgot to drop of a package at the<br />

VP’s office and he took the liberty<br />

of opening the god-damn thing,<br />

and... Apparently that was a bad<br />

idea.<br />

THOMAS<br />

Apparently.<br />

(Beat)<br />

So this has reached my division.<br />

SEB<br />

Anti-terrorism?! Why the hell would<br />

they care about me?<br />

THOMAS<br />

They don't. It's Wahleed. Like<br />

anyone on that level, they monitor<br />

his communications. They've placed<br />

him and his family on the terrorist<br />

watch list - of course what they<br />

really want to know is more about<br />

Saudi oil reserves and potential<br />

trading rivals.<br />

SEB<br />

Rivals? What do you mean, rivals?<br />

THOMAS<br />

The Eurozone. Russia, China... Seb,<br />

this is the new world order version<br />

2.0. The US is totally overextended.<br />

Iraq, the record trade<br />

deficits, the lack of<br />

manufacturing... The dollar is<br />

losing its luster and Wahleed and<br />

others are jumping like rats from a<br />

ship.<br />

76.


SEB<br />

I really don’t understand this,<br />

man.<br />

Thomas leads them up a new flight of stairs and continues to<br />

talk.<br />

ON SCREEN - Images of soldiers at war. Johnson and Nixon with<br />

world leaders. Paper dollars being created. Gold bars. Jets<br />

taking off. Carter with a member of the Saudi Royal family.<br />

Colin Powell with a Saudi contingent. George W. Bush smiling<br />

and waving with a Saudi leader.<br />

THOMAS<br />

Most people don’t.<br />

(beat)<br />

Look, back in the 60’s, the US had<br />

about thirty billion in gold that<br />

backed the US dollar. But then we<br />

spent more than five hundred<br />

billion on the Vietnam War. Johnson<br />

and Nixon tried to pay those debts<br />

with paper dollars.<br />

(beat)<br />

You with me? We were running out of<br />

gold. So in ‘71, Nixon suspended<br />

the US dollar conversion into gold.<br />

Ever since then, the dollar has<br />

"floated" on the international<br />

monetary market.<br />

(beat)<br />

To make matters worse, U.S. oil<br />

production peaked in 1970. Our oil<br />

production couldn’t keep up with<br />

growing consumption. It gets worse<br />

every year. Nixon, in order to<br />

protect the dollar and our super<br />

power status, cuts a deal with<br />

Saudi Arabia. They agreed to price<br />

their oil in dollars, and in<br />

return, we agreed to protect the<br />

House of Saud.<br />

From who?<br />

SEB<br />

THOMAS<br />

Their own people. Saudi Arabia is a<br />

powder keg - one day it’s just<br />

gonna blow. Anyway, the whole<br />

arrangement was fine with the<br />

Saudis when the dollar was king.<br />

But then came the Euro.<br />

(beat)<br />

77.


You know, everyone thought Saddam<br />

was crazy when he insisted on<br />

trading his oil in Euros, just to<br />

get back at the US, right. The<br />

Euro at that time was trading at 85<br />

cents to the dollar. But then the<br />

dollar fell, hard. Saddam made<br />

billions, everybody took note, now<br />

there’s blood in the water. Saudi<br />

Arabia is at a crossroads - pay<br />

for protection with oil priced in<br />

dollars, or put their chips on the<br />

Euro.<br />

As they reach the top of the steps, Seb shakes his head in<br />

amazement at the information. They make their way toward a<br />

bench that overlooks the park.<br />

SEB<br />

Why the fuck isn’t this front-page<br />

news?<br />

THOMAS<br />

C’mon, man. Corporate media? I’m<br />

surprised anyone believes what they<br />

say anymore. They want to keep you<br />

focused on gay marriage, WMDs and<br />

terror alerts.<br />

SEB<br />

That’s for sure.<br />

(Beat - as he thinks)<br />

So, you think they’ll actually make<br />

the switch?<br />

THOMAS<br />

I don’t know... There’s probably a<br />

lot of back channel negotiating<br />

going on. One day the game will be<br />

up and everyone will wonder what<br />

happened.<br />

(beat - he smiles)<br />

It’s gonna be a tough road for us,<br />

but believe me, nobody will even<br />

shed a tear for the United States.<br />

Seb nods, trying to grasp everything Thomas meant.<br />

SEB<br />

I can’t believe I got involved in<br />

all this shit, man.<br />

78.


THOMAS<br />

I should have told you more about<br />

Gold and Thorton when you took the<br />

job.<br />

SEB<br />

I thought Gold was a PR firm.<br />

THOMAS<br />

Okay, hard lesson number two. PR is<br />

just a nice word for propaganda.<br />

Julian Gold's the master. I mean,<br />

shit, he literally sold the last<br />

two Iraq wars.<br />

Seb shakes his head and looks to Thomas - not following.<br />

ON SCREEN - Images of stealth fighters. IV-tubes hooked up to<br />

kids in hospitals. Nurse Nayirah testifying before Congress.<br />

THOMAS<br />

Do you remember the Kuwaiti<br />

incubator story in 1991? That was<br />

Gold.<br />

(beat - explaining)<br />

He got the Emir of Kuwait's teenage<br />

daughter to go before Congress and<br />

claim she was a nurse in a hospital<br />

over there. She said she witnessed<br />

Iraqi soldiers throwing babies on<br />

the floor. It was a lie,<br />

manufactured on K Street.<br />

(beat)<br />

But the networks just repeated it<br />

and repeated it, and it was just<br />

the kind of simplistic bullshit the<br />

American people needed to get<br />

behind the war. The rest is<br />

history. BWho do you think cooked<br />

up all the bogus WMD stories and<br />

spoon-fed it to the media?<br />

SEB<br />

(nodding)<br />

Gold.<br />

THOMAS<br />

Gold has no allegiance to this<br />

country. He’s just after a buck.<br />

SEB<br />

Damn, I had no idea.<br />

79.


THOMAS<br />

I wouldn’t want to be on the wrong<br />

side of Julian Gold, that’s for<br />

sure. He's about as connected and<br />

dirty as they come.<br />

SEB<br />

Connected to who?<br />

THOMAS<br />

Some kind of global power network.<br />

Certainly all of the neo-cons.<br />

Extremely wealthy people who work<br />

behind the scenes.<br />

Seb tries to follow the logic, not sure he understands.<br />

SEB<br />

Great. So if Gold is that powerful,<br />

I’m pretty much fucked.<br />

THOMAS<br />

It’s not just Gold you have to be<br />

worried about. There are a lot of<br />

players involved now.<br />

(Beat)<br />

Look, just lay low. Break up your<br />

routine. Change your path to work.<br />

(Beat)<br />

I wouldn’t take any long walks in<br />

Rock Creek Park.<br />

SEB<br />

Are you serious?<br />

THOMAS<br />

Absolutely.<br />

(Beat)<br />

I’ll try and come see you at the<br />

Lounge on Friday. I’ve got some<br />

ideas, I need a few days.<br />

SEB<br />

All right. Thanks man.<br />

They have a soul shake as Thomas rises from the bench,<br />

slapping Seb on the knee as he goes.<br />

THOMAS<br />

Be safe, man.<br />

80.


Thomas walks away as Seb sits on the bench, shaken by the<br />

words.<br />

I/E. WASHINGTON DC - RICHEST MAN MONTAGE<br />

CUT TO:<br />

Innocent drops a record as music plays over the images:<br />

- Julian Gold in the back of a limo<br />

- The Washington Monument, a military helicopter<br />

- Julian riding by The Capitol and throughout Washington<br />

- The White House, Arlington Cemetery, gravestones, a<br />

homeless man outside the metro station, the Federal Reserve,<br />

closed-circuit cameras, Vietnam Memorial, The World Bank, The<br />

IMF, The Eternal Flame.<br />

EXT. PRINCE WAHLEED’S RESIDENCE - DAY<br />

CUT TO:<br />

Wahleed stands in his garden wearing a dress shirt as he<br />

paces with a cell phone to his ear.<br />

INT. GOLD & THORTON, JULIAN GOLD’S OFFICE - SAME<br />

Julian Gold sits in the luxurious chair behind his large<br />

desk. The phone on his desk beeps and he hits the intercom<br />

button.<br />

TOMIKA (O.S.)<br />

Mr. Gold, it's Prince Wahleed on<br />

the secure line.<br />

Julian picks up the phone and sits back in his chair.<br />

JULIAN<br />

Wahleed. How are you today my<br />

friend? Please tell me you've<br />

reconsidered.<br />

EXT. PRINCE WAHLEED’S RESIDENCE - SAME<br />

WAHLEED<br />

I have not. Our decision is final.<br />

81.


INT. GOLD & THORTON, JULIAN GOLD’S OFFICE - SAME<br />

JULIAN<br />

You realize you’ll need to make<br />

some significant campaign<br />

contributions - I’ll get back to<br />

you with the amounts. I have a man<br />

at the Treasury Department that is<br />

preparing to release some economic<br />

data. The news will make your<br />

decision seem all the more<br />

justified.<br />

EXT. PRINCE WAHLEED’S RESIDENCE - SAME<br />

WAHLEED<br />

How are you positioning this with<br />

the media?<br />

INT. GOLD & THORTON, JULIAN GOLD’S OFFICE - SAME<br />

Julian leans forward on his desk, thinking harder about the<br />

situation.<br />

JULIAN<br />

We're saying your dollar sell-off<br />

is merely a necessary step in<br />

protecting your assets. Perhaps we<br />

can steer the blame toward the Fed.<br />

After all, they're the deadbeats<br />

that got us into this.<br />

EXT. PRINCE WAHLEED’S RESIDENCE - SAME<br />

WAHLEED<br />

Whatever you feel is necessary.<br />

INT. GOLD & THORTON, JULIAN GOLD’S OFFICE - SAME<br />

JULIAN<br />

I’ll have my people scheduled to<br />

appear on all the major networks.<br />

EXT. PRINCE WAHLEED’S RESIDENCE - SAME<br />

WAHLEED<br />

One last thing - What are you doing<br />

about the messenger?<br />

82.


INT. GOLD & THORTON, JULIAN GOLD’S OFFICE - SAME<br />

JULIAN<br />

I’ve learned nothing new on that. I<br />

can tell you he passed all our<br />

security checks when he was hired.<br />

EXT. PRINCE WAHLEED’S RESIDENCE - SAME<br />

WAHLEED<br />

Well, I have some news. He’s been<br />

seen with my daughter, in, shall I<br />

say, social situations... Really,<br />

Julian, I expected you to have more<br />

control over your underlings. He’s<br />

obviously an agent for somebody.<br />

INT. GOLD & THORTON, JULIAN GOLD’S OFFICE - SAME<br />

Julian leans back in his chair, letting out a sigh.<br />

JULIAN<br />

Wahleed, I’m very embarrassed.<br />

There is no excuse for this.<br />

WAHLEED (V.O.)<br />

Well, he needs to be dealt with.<br />

JULIAN<br />

Certainly. He is of no importance<br />

to me or the firm. I know you must<br />

do whatever you feel is necessary.<br />

EXT. PRINCE WAHLEED’S RESIDENCE - SAME<br />

WAHLEED<br />

That is exactly what I wanted to<br />

hear.<br />

INT. GOLD & THORTON, JULIAN GOLD’S OFFICE - SAME<br />

JULIAN<br />

Fine. Until tomorrow?<br />

EXT. PRINCE WAHLEED’S RESIDENCE - SAME<br />

WAHLEED<br />

Be well my friend.<br />

83.


Wahleed clicks off the phone and walks back toward his house.<br />

INT. GOLD & THORTON, JULIAN GOLD’S OFFICE - SAME<br />

As Julian hangs up the phone, his face turns serious and he<br />

turns back to the window. He shakes his head with concern.<br />

INT. SEB’S APARTMENT - NIGHT<br />

CUT TO:<br />

Seb sits on his couch listening to music and smoking a<br />

cigarette, the weight of the world appearing on his face. A<br />

copy of ‘The Prophet’ - the book Rana had mentioned - sits on<br />

his table. His cell phone rings and he drags himself out of<br />

his funk.<br />

Yo.<br />

SEB<br />

INNOCENT (O.S.)<br />

Yo man, where you been? Did you<br />

hear?<br />

SEB<br />

Hear what, man? I hear a lot these<br />

days.<br />

INNOCENT (O.S.)<br />

The Friday night gig at the Lounge.<br />

It’s done. They’re bringin’ in some<br />

hot-shot DJ from outta town and<br />

we’re in the cold.<br />

SEB<br />

Well, there goes our dream gig.<br />

INNOCENT (O.S.)<br />

Come on, Seb, we gotta do<br />

somethin’. We’ll find another spot.<br />

I'm ready to send out an email and<br />

let everyone know where we moved<br />

the party. Where, is the question.<br />

You got any ideas? We gotta do<br />

somethin’.<br />

Seb sits up, realizing the gravity of the situation.<br />

SEB<br />

Yeah, even if it's only for this<br />

Friday; buy some time and keep it<br />

going.<br />

84.


INNOCENT (O.S.)<br />

Exactly. Think about it. All right,<br />

peace.<br />

Cool.<br />

SEB<br />

He clicks the phone shut and sets his cigarette in the<br />

ashtray. He sees the book sitting on the table and picks it<br />

up. With a new attitude, he begins to read.<br />

INT. CAFE BONAPARTE - NIGHT<br />

CUT TO:<br />

Ali and his Cousin sit in a cafe as they smoke cigarettes and<br />

sip Turkish coffee. Ali is obviously on edge as a result of<br />

anger and drug abuse.<br />

COUSIN<br />

You need to get a hold of yourself.<br />

ALI<br />

This is a matter of family honor.<br />

She’s a fucking disgrace!<br />

COUSIN<br />

That may be true, but your father<br />

specifically told you...<br />

ALI<br />

(cutting him off)<br />

Fuck him! He’s only interested in<br />

money. I am his son and I care more<br />

about our tradition and culture<br />

than he does. Our wealth is empty<br />

if we do not have any faith or<br />

respect for our cherished heritage.<br />

It’s because of him and his<br />

generation that we live like frauds<br />

in this Godless country.<br />

COUSIN<br />

Yes, I do find myself longing for<br />

home. But Ali, this is no time...<br />

ALI<br />

(diving back in)<br />

Look how they treat their women.<br />

Their music and television, it’s<br />

like pornography. Their women have<br />

no respect for themselves or their<br />

bodies.<br />

85.


Look how easy it is to fuck an<br />

American woman; all you need is a<br />

nice car or wallet full of money.<br />

COUSIN<br />

It appears that they too only value<br />

money.<br />

ALI<br />

Do they value anything? Tradition?<br />

Family? Their faith? Nothing. There<br />

is no God in this land, Habibi. And<br />

now Rana has become one of them. I<br />

refuse to be a spectator as she<br />

whores around with infidels.<br />

Ali slams the table and gets to his feet in a huff.<br />

EXT. INTERNET CAFE - NIGHT<br />

CUT TO:<br />

Thomas walks down a sidewalk near some low-end retail stores.<br />

He eyes a Business Center and walks to the door.<br />

INT. INTERNET CAFE - SAME<br />

Thomas is seated at a computer terminal focused on the screen<br />

in front of him. He types rapidly on the keyboard to input<br />

his messages. He looks around at the person sitting next to<br />

him to make sure he’s alone. Confident no one is watching, he<br />

continues about his task on the computer.<br />

INT. PRINCE WAHLEED’S RESIDENCE, STUDY - DAY<br />

CUT TO:<br />

The Prince is seated at his desk reading the Koran. He looks<br />

up as Rana enters the room.<br />

RANA<br />

Hello, father. Ali said you wanted<br />

to see me.<br />

Wahleed smiles at the sight of his daughter and sets his<br />

papers aside. He waves her into the room and points to a<br />

chair near his desk.<br />

86.


WAHLEED<br />

Yes my dear, please sit down. You<br />

look lovely as usual - even if you<br />

won’t wear your hijab.<br />

RANA<br />

Oh please, father.<br />

Rana moves to a chair opposite her father and sits.<br />

WAHLEED<br />

Are you enjoying your time in<br />

Washington?<br />

RANA<br />

Yes, very much. I especially enjoy<br />

my studies.<br />

WAHLEED<br />

The University is challenging?<br />

RANA<br />

Yes. Much more than I imagined.<br />

Wahleed nods at her words and then his face turns serious. He<br />

pulls a file from his desk and removes set of photos.<br />

WAHLEED<br />

Explain to me. How do have time for<br />

this?<br />

He throws the pictures onto the desk - of her embracing Seb<br />

as they walk together on the street.<br />

RANA<br />

He’s... He’s a friend, father.<br />

Wahleed firmly shakes his head.<br />

WAHLEED<br />

Do not insult me! You’re so<br />

foolish. How could you be taken by<br />

this boy? He’s an imposter!<br />

RANA<br />

I told you, he’s a...<br />

WAHLEED<br />

(cutting her off)<br />

Enough! You go back to your flat,<br />

pack only your essentials. You're<br />

leaving tonight.<br />

87.


But...<br />

RANA<br />

WAHLEED<br />

Hopefully you'll be cured of these<br />

delusions when you get back home.<br />

A rush of anger comes to Rana’s face as she holds back her<br />

tears and emotion.<br />

No.<br />

RANA<br />

WAHLEED<br />

Rana. You do not want to cross this<br />

line with me.<br />

Rana continues to shake her head - defiant. She considers her<br />

words and confidently delivers them.<br />

RANA<br />

Really, father, you leave me no<br />

choice. I'm not going back to your<br />

slave colony. I'm not going back to<br />

a place where love is a delusion.<br />

How do you expect me to live in a<br />

gilded cage?<br />

(beat)<br />

Really, father, I've tried very<br />

hard, but I can not continue to<br />

live as your possession.<br />

Rana gathers her bag and rises from the chair. Wahleed looks<br />

at his daughter, measuring his words. Finally -<br />

WAHLEED<br />

As you wish. I should have known<br />

your mother would corrupt you. If<br />

you leave, I never want to see you<br />

again.<br />

Rana holds her father’s glare and considers his words for a<br />

moment. Then she turns to the door.<br />

RANA<br />

Goodbye, father.<br />

88.<br />

Wahleed watches his daughter leave the room, helpless to stop<br />

her.<br />

CUT TO:


INT. NATIONAL SECURITY ADMINISTRATION OFFICES - DAY<br />

Thomas gets up from his desk holding a file in his hand as he<br />

walks down the sterile hallway. He approaches the office door<br />

and takes a deep breath before knocking twice then entering.<br />

THOMAS<br />

Colonel Perry, sir?<br />

The Colonel is seated at his desk with papers cluttering the<br />

surface. He looks up as Thomas enters and gives him his<br />

attention.<br />

COLONEL PERRY<br />

Good morning, Thomas. What do you<br />

have for me?<br />

Thomas steps into the office and approaches the Colonel’s<br />

desk. He hands the file across the desk to the Colonel.<br />

THOMAS<br />

I thought you might want to see<br />

this. These are from secure<br />

communications between Gold and<br />

Thorton and the Saudi Embassy. I<br />

was checking on your one Sebastian<br />

James, and it seems that the trail<br />

has led to some interesting places.<br />

(Beat)<br />

This is all quite extensive -<br />

Bribery, extortion, illegal bankwires.<br />

Our signet people monitoring<br />

Saudi communications have<br />

corroborated everything. Gold’s<br />

role in this is particularly<br />

interesting. Apparently, we're not<br />

the only ones following this.<br />

Col. Perry scans the pages, getting more serious as he reads.<br />

He gets to the end and looks up quickly at Thomas.<br />

COLONEL PERRY<br />

Okay, Thomas. I’ll have a look.<br />

THOMAS<br />

Thank you, sir.<br />

89.<br />

He spins on his heels and turns back out the door. As he<br />

steps into the hallway, a look of relief comes over him. He<br />

puts his hands in his pockets and strolls away, visibly<br />

relieved.<br />

CUT TO:


EXT. MALCOLM X PARK - EVENING<br />

Drummers with instruments of all kinds have gathered in the<br />

park. The beat of the music and the energy of the diverse<br />

group pulses through the afternoon. Old men with drums bang<br />

away to the beat. A young mother and daughter dance as the<br />

crowd enjoys the impromptu show.<br />

Seb sits amongst the crowd on a bench. He barely hears his<br />

cell phone ring, but picks it up in time.<br />

SEB<br />

Hello?<br />

(Beat)<br />

Hey. I didn’t recognize the number.<br />

EXT. EMBASSY PARK - EVENING<br />

Rana is at a pay-phone, smiling to herself with her bag of<br />

belongings slung over her shoulder. The sound of the drumcircle<br />

is heard through the phone.<br />

RANA<br />

Ah, no more cell phone. Where are<br />

you?<br />

EXT. MALCOLM X PARK - SAME<br />

SEB<br />

Malcolm X Park. It’s kinda loud out<br />

here, sorry.<br />

(Beat)<br />

You lost your phone?<br />

EXT. EMBASSY PARK - SAME<br />

RANA<br />

That and a few other luxuries.<br />

(Beat)<br />

Can you pick me up?<br />

EXT. MALCOLM X PARK - SAME<br />

SEB<br />

Sure. Where?<br />

90.


EXT. EMBASSY PARK - SAME<br />

RANA<br />

At the small park across from the<br />

Observatory.<br />

EXT. MALCOLM X PARK - SAME<br />

SEB<br />

See you there in ten minutes.<br />

He snaps his phone closed and smiles at the energy around<br />

him.<br />

EXT. EMBASSY PARK - SAME<br />

Rana hangs up the phone, relieved. She begins walking as the<br />

last rays of sun from the evening hit her and warm her face.<br />

The look of a decision made and freedom are apparent as she<br />

walks with a light step.<br />

EXT. MALCOLM X PARK - SAME<br />

Seb pulls away from the park on the Vespa and drives through<br />

the streets of Washington to meet Rana.<br />

EXT. EMBASSY PARK - SAME<br />

CUT TO:<br />

Rana sees Seb parking the Vespa, but waits for him near the<br />

fountain. She smiles as he brings the bike to a stop and<br />

walks around the fountain toward her. As he approaches, she<br />

stands from the bench and meets him. She holds her arms open<br />

and gives him an affectionate hug.<br />

I’m free.<br />

RANA<br />

Seb moves to look at her.<br />

SEB<br />

I’m glad one of us is. What exactly<br />

happened?<br />

RANA<br />

Look. Have you seen this place? Do<br />

you notice where we are?<br />

91.


She motions to the inscriptions on the large tiles. They're<br />

all from Khalil Gibran. The park is a monument to the poet.<br />

Seb looks at some of the quotes and then back to her.<br />

SEB<br />

This is amazing. You know, I’ve<br />

driven past this place a thousand<br />

times. I had no idea this was here.<br />

RANA<br />

Yeah, it’s a good place to come and<br />

think.<br />

SEB<br />

Yeah, I bet.<br />

Seb puts his arm around her and they walk further around the<br />

fountain. Seb looks down at her and her beaming face. He<br />

stops and takes her hands in his.<br />

SEB<br />

So, what's going on with you? I<br />

know it can’t just be this place.<br />

RANA<br />

There's no turning back. I've left<br />

my family.<br />

Seb remains confident and holds onto her hands.<br />

SEB<br />

Wow. Are you sure about this?<br />

RANA<br />

Absolutely.<br />

She leans in and he kisses her on the forehead. They hug and<br />

Seb talks quietly in her ear.<br />

SEB<br />

I guess it’s true then, you<br />

certainly do take after your<br />

mother.<br />

92.<br />

Rana looks at Seb and they begin walking again. He puts his<br />

arm around her shoulder and kisses her as they continue to<br />

enjoy the moment.<br />

CUT TO:


EXT. VACANT LOFT - DAY<br />

Steve and Innocent walk around the corner of a utility shed<br />

on the roof of the vacant building. Innocent is visibly<br />

nervous as Steve carries a crowbar in one hand. Steve is<br />

pointing out the view from the roof.<br />

STEVE<br />

Check it out, you got your<br />

monument, you got your Capitol<br />

right there...<br />

INNOCENT<br />

(cutting him off)<br />

Monument!? We’re not tourists, man,<br />

we live here.<br />

STEVE<br />

Ah, Jesus Christ. When’s the last<br />

time you fuckin’ saw it though.<br />

Innocent shakes his head as they continue to walk.<br />

INNOCENT<br />

When’s the last time you paid<br />

attention to the news, or the<br />

newspapers. They kill bruthas for<br />

tryin’ to catch cabs in DC.<br />

Steve looks to the sky in disbelief.<br />

STEVE<br />

Ah, Jesus man.<br />

INNOCENT<br />

What’re they gonna do when they<br />

find me here?<br />

STEVE<br />

Relax man, relax, relax.<br />

INNOCENT<br />

Yeah, let’s just get this... Whoa,<br />

whoa, whoa.<br />

Innocent puts out an arm to stop Steve and points at a<br />

building across from them.<br />

INNOCENT<br />

Is that someone in the bathroom?<br />

STEVE<br />

Jeez. You fuckin’ kidding me?<br />

93.


Steve turns to the door and back to the task at hand.<br />

INNOCENT<br />

Yo man, I swear. I weed counselor<br />

hears about this and I’m in<br />

trouble.<br />

Steve has the crowbar wedged in the lock but stops.<br />

STEVE<br />

Your weed counselor?<br />

INNOCENT<br />

Yeah, my weed counselor.<br />

STEVE<br />

Your weed counselor?<br />

INNOCENT<br />

Yes. Wait, you still don’t have a<br />

key...<br />

Steve lines up the crowbar and takes a breath before giving<br />

it a strong pull. Thwack! The lock breaks open and Steve<br />

stands aside with a smile.<br />

INNOCENT<br />

Oh, no, no, no.<br />

STEVE<br />

One time, baby. That’s how a<br />

professional does it.<br />

Innocent looks at him and then at the broken lock.<br />

INNOCENT<br />

No, that’s how a criminal does it.<br />

Steve holds the door open for Innocent and shoots him a look<br />

over the comment. He waves into the loft.<br />

STEVE<br />

After you.<br />

INNOCENT<br />

After me? No, no, no.<br />

He holds his ground and waves for Steve to lead as the wind<br />

blows the door closed in front of him. Steve grabs the door<br />

again, undeterred.<br />

After me.<br />

STEVE<br />

94.


Steve enters and Innocent has no choice but to follow. He<br />

carefully pulls the door shut behind him as they enter.<br />

INT. VACANT LOFT - SAME<br />

Steve leads Innocent down a set of wooden steps into a<br />

spacious, unfinished loft space. Concrete floors and walls<br />

with exposed beams and covering over the would-be kitchen<br />

appliances.<br />

INNOCENT<br />

I swear, Stevie, you better be<br />

right about this.<br />

STEVE<br />

Oh, come on.<br />

They get to the bottom of the stairs, Stevie twirls the<br />

crowbar in delight.<br />

STEVE<br />

Feast your eyes, my man.<br />

Innocent looks at the open space and the potential.<br />

Woooo!<br />

INNOCENT<br />

STEVE<br />

I know, right?<br />

INNOCENT<br />

I don’t know, man. You sure we’re<br />

gonna be able to do this in here?<br />

STEVE<br />

The building’s empty, dude. We got<br />

the whole fucking spot.<br />

INNOCENT<br />

You’ve gone above and beyond,<br />

brother.<br />

Innocent spins around in the open space and starts seeing the<br />

place come together.<br />

INNOCENT<br />

Cool, brother. So I guess the only<br />

thing you gotta do now, is build a<br />

club by Friday.<br />

Steve eyes the room with excitement, still twirling the<br />

crowbar.<br />

95.


STEVE<br />

Fear not, man. You got Stevie on<br />

the job. Do it old-school warehouse<br />

style, bro.<br />

The two exchange a soul-shake and then Innocent walks to one<br />

corner of the room and sees the open beams and materials<br />

scattered about.<br />

INNOCENT<br />

Stevie, man. You really are behind<br />

on this job, brother. That lady’s<br />

gonna be pissed.<br />

EXT. WASHINGTON DC, DOWNTOWN - DAY<br />

CUT TO:<br />

Agent Thompson puffs on a joint as he sits in the FBI car<br />

with Agent Henderson. They listen to the radio as they sit in<br />

their parked car along the street.<br />

RADIO ANNOUNCER (O.S.)<br />

WPOT news time, three pm.<br />

Representatives of the Gold and<br />

Thorton consulting firm stated<br />

there is no truth to the Internet<br />

rumor that the Saudi Government is<br />

planning a dollar sell-off. Julian<br />

Gold could not be reached for<br />

comment, but the Saudi...<br />

Agent Thompson leans in to turn down the volume as Henderson<br />

hits the joint and puffs a cloud of smoke into the car.<br />

AGENT HENDERSON<br />

Wow. This kid’s always got good<br />

shit, man.<br />

Agent Thompson nods from the passenger seat.<br />

AGENT THOMPSON<br />

Good weed.<br />

96.<br />

Agent Henderson hits it again and then drops the roach on the<br />

street as he pulls the car away from the curb.<br />

CUT TO:


INT. GOLD & THORTON, JULIAN GOLD’S OFFICE - NIGHT<br />

The door to a safe opens and Julian is seated in his desk<br />

chair, ready to empty the contents. He shifts in his chair to<br />

reach a stack of cash wrapped in neat stacks. He then pulls a<br />

stack of gold bars from the safe and sets them on the desk.<br />

He looks out his office door but sees nothing. He finishes<br />

the last of the scotch that was in the glass on his desk and<br />

then turns to close the safe.<br />

INT. SEB’S APARTMENT - MORNING<br />

CUT TO:<br />

The sun comes through the window as Seb lies in bed with Rana<br />

beside him. He begins to stir and slowly manages to grab his<br />

cell phone and look at the time. He’s late again.<br />

He brings himself to a seated position on the bed and turns<br />

to look at Rana who is still sleeping. He runs a hand through<br />

her hair and then finally slips out of bed. Rana turns over<br />

as he leaves.<br />

Seb is dressed brushing his teeth in front of the mirror<br />

getting ready for the day. Rana reaches for him in bed, but<br />

realizes he’s not there and goes back to sleep.<br />

Seb gives himself a final once over and then turns back<br />

toward the bed. He moves to Rana and gives her a kiss before<br />

grabbing his messenger bag and leaving through the door.<br />

EXT. SEB’S APARTMENT - SAME<br />

Seb staps on his helmet as he walks out to the door and moves<br />

toward the Vespa. He kicks it to life and pulls it away from<br />

the curb.<br />

Ali sits in the driver seat of a BLACK PORSCHE with<br />

diplomatic plates. The car idles along the brick wall near<br />

Seb’s back entrance. As he sees the Vespa pull out in front<br />

of him, he slips on his sunglasses and eases the Porsche out<br />

after him.<br />

EXT. WASHINGTON DC, DOWNTOWN - SAME<br />

97.<br />

Seb's weaving through traffic down the street and the Porsche<br />

is having trouble keeping up as Seb slips between parked cars<br />

and buses.<br />

Ali is blocked by traffic and uses the time to pull out his<br />

glock.


He holds it low in his lap as he cocks it and keeps it at the<br />

ready. As traffic opens up, he pulls right behind the Vespa<br />

and gets a little closer to Seb.<br />

Seb turns over his shoulder and sees Ali and the Porsche.<br />

Knowing this is trouble, Seb slams the throttle on the Vespa<br />

and takes off down the street. The Porsche right behind him.<br />

Seb tries to use obstacles to block the Porsche, but Ali<br />

works through the gears and stays right on him. They race<br />

across the Ellington Bridge with the Porsche right on him,<br />

but Seb is able to make a sharp turn and gets a gap of space.<br />

The gap is quickly closed by the much faster Porsche, but Seb<br />

is able to use a car as a blocker and manages to pull into an<br />

alley ahead of the Porsche and Ali is forced to back up to<br />

follow him.<br />

Seb races down the alley and is almost cut off by a truck<br />

backing up into the middle of the road. He skillfully turns<br />

the Vespa just in time, but the pursuing Ali is stifiled by<br />

the truck. He slams the brakes on the Porsche and waves his<br />

gun over the windshield at the TRUCK DRIVER.<br />

ALI<br />

Move your fucking truck!<br />

The truck driver is getting out of his truck as Ali opens the<br />

door to the Porsche and shoves his gun at him.<br />

TRUCK DRIVER<br />

What’s your problem, man!<br />

ALI<br />

Get the fuck back! What’d I tell<br />

you, motherfucker!<br />

The truck driver raises his arms and backs against the wall<br />

as Ali passes him by and chases after Seb.<br />

Ali runs down the alley and sees the Vespa parked along the<br />

wall near the end. Seb gets off the bike and throws his<br />

helmet aside before he begins to run.<br />

Seb races through a parking garage and around a corner,<br />

slowing as he reaches the entrance to the Gold and Thorton<br />

building. Ali chases after him.<br />

INT. GOLD & THORTON - SAME<br />

98.<br />

Seb flies through the glass doors and into the lobby. Haile<br />

sees him coming as he runs toward the security desk.


SEB<br />

Haile! Call the cops! Someone’s<br />

chasing me.<br />

Haile immediately dials as Seb continues past him toward the<br />

elevators.<br />

HAILE<br />

There’s an emergency at The Victor<br />

Building, please hurry.<br />

Haile hangs up the phone and quickly walks toward the door.<br />

As he does, Ali comes flying toward the building and runs<br />

smack into Haile’s nightstick. Ali hits the ground with a<br />

thud as Haile jumps on top of him and Ali’s gun goes flying.<br />

A family standing nearby grabs their children and holds them<br />

away from the violence. Haile stays on top of Ali, holding<br />

him on the ground as a Police car comes to a quick halt in<br />

front of the building. TWO OFFICERS get out of the car and go<br />

to assist Haile.<br />

Ali is squirming on the ground as the Officers arrive.<br />

ALI<br />

Get off me! Get the fuck off me!<br />

The officers take over and begin putting handcuffs on Ali.<br />

ALI<br />

You don’t even know who I am. I’ve<br />

got diplomatic immunity! Get your<br />

hands off of me!<br />

The officers drag him to his feet and quickly guide him in<br />

front of the building back to their car.<br />

ALI<br />

My father will take care of all you<br />

all motherfuckers! Don’t even touch<br />

me, man.<br />

The officers are unimpressed and continue dragging him to the<br />

police car.<br />

INT. GOLD & THORTON, RECEPTION AREA - SAME<br />

CUT TO:<br />

Seb walks into the reception area of the office and sees<br />

several FBI AGENTS in the room as Tomika stands behind the<br />

desk. She sees the look in his eye and tries to stop him.<br />

99.


TOMIKA<br />

Seb! No, wait!<br />

Seb looks back to her, but steps quickly down the hallway<br />

toward Donna’s office. As he turns ahead, he runs smack into<br />

an AGENT, who is flanked by ANOTHER AGENT blocking the<br />

hallway. They’re all dressed in conservative suits, the look<br />

on their face confirming they take their job seriously.<br />

AGENT 1<br />

Whoa, whoa! Where are you heading?<br />

Seb recoils at the Agent’s grip and glares at him.<br />

SEB<br />

I’m need to see Donna MacIntire,<br />

right now.<br />

AGENT 1<br />

Sorry. No one goes back there.<br />

Seb looks past the wall of suits and sees Donna standing in<br />

the hallway outside her office.<br />

Donna!<br />

SEB<br />

DONNA (O.S.)<br />

You can let him through, he works<br />

for me.<br />

Donna moves to meet Seb and they wonder into the empty former<br />

office of Julian Gold. The FBI Agents gather outside and<br />

continue their discussion.<br />

SEB<br />

What the hell happened?<br />

DONNA<br />

Julian’s gone.<br />

SEB<br />

With the furniture?<br />

Donna stares blankly at the empty office and slumps against<br />

the wall.<br />

DONNA<br />

He took everything; moved the<br />

entire company last night. They say<br />

he fled to a country with no US<br />

extradition treaty.<br />

100.


SEB<br />

I mean. I've heard stories, but I<br />

thought he was kinda untouchable.<br />

Seb drops his messenger bag and slides down to the floor<br />

along the opposite wall from Donna.<br />

DONNA<br />

So did I. I guess he went a little<br />

too far this time. The FBI say he’s<br />

under indictment for bribing public<br />

officials and passing secrets to a<br />

foreign government.<br />

Seb shakes his head at the news, then turns to her.<br />

SEB<br />

What about you? Are you alright?<br />

DONNA<br />

I think so. He never really told me<br />

anything.<br />

(Beat)<br />

Maybe that’s a good thing.<br />

Seb is hesitant to ask, but can’t help it.<br />

And me?<br />

SEB<br />

DONNA<br />

You’re the least of anyone’s<br />

concern right now.<br />

(Beat)<br />

Seb, I’m sorry you got involved in<br />

all this. I should have trusted<br />

you. I guess my instincts were a<br />

little off.<br />

SEB<br />

Don’t worry about it, Donna, I mean<br />

I understand. You got a lot of<br />

responsibility around this place.<br />

DONNA<br />

Not any more.<br />

(Beat)<br />

It’s so unfair. I work hard, I have<br />

the degree, I play by rules... This<br />

isn’t supposed to happen.<br />

SEB<br />

Hey, none of this is your fault.<br />

You’re gonna be fine.<br />

101.


DONNA<br />

I hope so.<br />

Seb looks around the empty room, visibly relieved, but can<br />

see the pained look on Donna’s face.<br />

SEB<br />

Unbelievable.<br />

DONNA<br />

That’s one way to put it.<br />

EXT. GOLD & THORTON - DAY<br />

CUT TO:<br />

The police officers pick up the scene outside the building,<br />

carefully putting Ali’s gun into an evidence bag. Haile<br />

stands over the scene, proud of his work. As Seb exits the<br />

building, he walks to Haile and pats him on the shoulder.<br />

SEB<br />

Good job, Haile. Thanks, man.<br />

HAILE<br />

All right, sir.<br />

Seb steps away and pulls out his cell phone, dialing.<br />

SEB<br />

Man, what in the hell did you do?<br />

EXT. NATIONAL SECURITY ADMINISTRATION OFFICES - SAME<br />

Thomas stands outside, smiling as he picks up the phone.<br />

THOMAS<br />

“Opportunities multiply as they are<br />

seized.”<br />

EXT. GOLD & THORTON - SAME<br />

SEB<br />

Sun Tzu, huh?<br />

EXT. NATIONAL SECURITY ADMINISTRATION OFFICES - SAME<br />

THOMAS<br />

Precisely.<br />

102.


SEB (O.S.)<br />

Well, I have to say man, I'm pretty<br />

damn impressed. How'd you do it?<br />

THOMAS<br />

Seb, we’re on a cell phone. I don’t<br />

know what you’re talking about.<br />

Anyway, listen, I'll see you<br />

Friday.<br />

EXT. GOLD & THORTON - SAME<br />

SEB<br />

So you heard about the new spot?<br />

EXT. NATIONAL SECURITY ADMINISTRATION OFFICES - SAME<br />

THOMAS<br />

I have to see this place.<br />

SEB (O.S.)<br />

We’re gonna have a good time, man.<br />

We can talk then.<br />

THOMAS<br />

All right. Peace<br />

He smiles and clicks off his phone.<br />

EXT. NATIONAL AIRPORT - AFTERNOON<br />

CUT TO:<br />

Plane traffic goes on around the airport as Julian Gold sits<br />

in the back of a limo on his way to his plane. The radio is<br />

on in the background:<br />

RADIO ANNOUNCER (O.S.)<br />

WPOT news time, eleven am. The<br />

Federal Reserve announced a rate<br />

decrease today to jump-start a<br />

slowing US economy. The dollar fell<br />

to a new low against all major<br />

currencies amid speculation that<br />

yet another OPEC nation considers a<br />

dollar sell-off. The Saudi Foreign<br />

Minister has flatly denied that any<br />

of this is true.<br />

103.


The LIMO DRIVER eyes Julian in the rearview mirror as he<br />

turns down the radio. Julian picks up a cell phone and makes<br />

a call.<br />

JULIAN<br />

Yeah, hey, it’s me. Look, I’m not<br />

gonna be in contact for a couple of<br />

days. Once I get established, I’ll<br />

be back in touch. Okay, see ya.<br />

He snaps the phone shut and pensively looks out the window at<br />

the approaching airport. The Limo Driver again looks at him<br />

in the mirror and reaches into the glove compartment for<br />

something.<br />

EXT. NATIONAL AIRPORT - SAME<br />

As a plane flies overhead, we see the car Julian had been in<br />

stopped in a parking lot. We hear TWO GUN SHOTS. The Limo<br />

Driver gets out of the car and quickly opens the back door.<br />

He grabs a briefcase from inside and then quickly moves away.<br />

Another car has pulled in and is waiting for him. He gets<br />

into the passenger seat with the case and the car pulls away.<br />

The back door of Julian’s car is open. He sits motionless in<br />

the backseat as blood trickles down his hand. His eyes are<br />

open, but death has come.<br />

INT. VACANT LOFT - NIGHT<br />

CUT TO:<br />

A DJ booth is created with plywood and a graffiti artist goes<br />

to work creating a design.<br />

A record spins on a turntable and we see the room filled with<br />

party-going dancers enjoying the make-shift venue for their<br />

fun.<br />

Seb, Innocent, Steve, Thomas and Antoine all stand together<br />

with shot glasses as the party rages around them. They toast.<br />

INNOCENT<br />

Okay, fellas. Here’s to Stevie.<br />

Cheers!<br />

Let’s go.<br />

SEB<br />

104.<br />

They all click plastic glasses in the middle and knock back<br />

the shots. Stevie turns and walks back into the crowd.


SEB<br />

That a boy, Stevie!<br />

The party continues to rage as people dance and enjoy the<br />

music. Seb is standing along a wall talking to Tomika as<br />

Innocent approaches, wide-eyed.<br />

INNOCENT<br />

Yo, Seb. You didn’t tell me you<br />

knew any sisters.<br />

SEB<br />

There’s a lot you don’t know, my<br />

friend; got a lot to learn,<br />

apparently.<br />

INNOCENT<br />

Yeah, right.<br />

SEB<br />

(relenting)<br />

Tomika, this is Innocent, a good<br />

friend of mine.<br />

Innocent takes her hand and locks eyes with her.<br />

INNOCENT<br />

Hello Tomika, I’m Innocent. Welcome<br />

to my party.<br />

Seb rolls his eyes and pats Innocent on the shoulder.<br />

SEB<br />

You know what, I think I’m gonna<br />

get to work on this party. Tomika,<br />

you’re in good hands.<br />

Seb slips away as Innocent continues to focus on Tomika.<br />

INNOCENT<br />

(as Seb leaves)<br />

I’m good. Do you dance?<br />

The party continues to rage as Innocent takes Tomika to the<br />

dance floor for a spin. They dance close together and<br />

Innocent’s hands drift a little. Tomika looks at him.<br />

INNOCENT<br />

I can’t help it.<br />

She laughs and they continue dancing with the party.<br />

105.<br />

FADE TO:


INT. VACANT LOFT, HALLWAY - LATER<br />

As the party rages inside, Thomas and Seb stand in the<br />

hallway leaning on the wall sipping cocktails. They’re both<br />

relaxed, enjoying the evening.<br />

SEB<br />

So how did you pull this off, man?<br />

THOMAS<br />

I just set the game in motion.<br />

What’s the one thing people in<br />

power fear the most? Leaks.<br />

(Beat)<br />

Once the information about Gold and<br />

the Saudis appeared on the top<br />

Internet blogs, mainstream media<br />

was going to have to pick it up -<br />

You know they have these<br />

credibility issues.<br />

Thomas looks thoughtfully and leans back on the wall.<br />

THOMAS<br />

I still can’t believe they killed<br />

him, though...<br />

SEB<br />

Killed him? Killed who?<br />

Thomas smirks and looks to Seb.<br />

Gold.<br />

THOMAS<br />

SEB<br />

What?! Julian Gold is dead?<br />

THOMAS<br />

Dead-men tell no tales.<br />

(Beat)<br />

He crossed his superiors without<br />

even knowing it.<br />

SEB<br />

But I thought he was the man.<br />

Thomas pauses and looks around to make sure they’re alone.<br />

THOMAS<br />

The Chairman of the Fed is the man,<br />

Seb. Julian Gold was just a tool.<br />

(Beat)<br />

106.


He challenged the one institution<br />

more powerful than the US<br />

government - the Federal Reserve.<br />

SEB<br />

I thought the Fed was part of the<br />

US Government.<br />

THOMAS<br />

A common misconception.<br />

(Beat)<br />

Anyway, no one messes with the US<br />

dollar without getting beat down.<br />

Not Iraq, not Saudi Arabia, not<br />

even Julian Gold.<br />

SEB<br />

All right, but what about the<br />

incubators and the WMDs? Wasn’t<br />

Gold was the master manipulator.<br />

THOMAS<br />

As long as war and debt were his<br />

top priority.<br />

(Beat)<br />

But by siding with the Saudis, he<br />

betrayed his ultimate master.<br />

SEB<br />

Damn. (Beat - taking it in)<br />

But what about you, man? I mean,<br />

won’t this all come back to you?<br />

Thomas smiles and looks hard at Seb.<br />

THOMAS<br />

I covered my tracks pretty good.<br />

SEB<br />

Man, I can't believe you did all<br />

this.<br />

THOMAS<br />

Once all this calms down, I'm<br />

leaving the NSA.<br />

SEB<br />

(smiling)<br />

Nice.<br />

107.


THOMAS<br />

I figure it’s probably a good time<br />

to get out while I’m just a lowlevel<br />

leaker.<br />

Seb smiles and clicks glasses with him.<br />

SEB<br />

You never cease to impress, my<br />

friend.<br />

THOMAS<br />

Cheers buddy. Hey listen, what are<br />

we doing here? Let’s go to the<br />

party.<br />

SEB<br />

If Stevie doesn’t get arrested<br />

tonight, we might even make some<br />

money. Which is a damn good thing<br />

seeing as I’m currently unemployed.<br />

THOMAS<br />

Which is also a good thing.<br />

SEB<br />

Very true. Let’s get the hell out<br />

of here.<br />

INT. VACANT LOFT - LATER<br />

CUT TO:<br />

The party continues to rage inside as people enjoy the<br />

evening. Seb and Rana dance together amongst the madness as<br />

if they were the only two people in the world.<br />

Thomas sits with Antoine and Ital as they smoke a joint. The<br />

Rastas eye the former NSA suit and offer him the joint. He<br />

shrugs and takes a long hit as the others nod in approval.<br />

Rana and Seb continue to dance as the room celebrates the<br />

evening around them.<br />

EXT. WASHINGTON DC, DUPONT CIRCLE - MORNING<br />

108.<br />

FADE TO:<br />

Ital puffs a joint and the smoke billows from his mouth. Seb,<br />

Innocent and Ital, sit on a bench - Seb is reading a<br />

newspaper as they are watching the morning rush go on around<br />

them. The scene is familiar.


ITAL<br />

Look at these rats. Another day,<br />

another piece of stale cheese.<br />

Mind you don’t get caught in da<br />

trap little rats.<br />

Seb smirks as he reads the newspaper.<br />

SEB<br />

It says here that Julian Gold died<br />

of a heart-attack in his bathtub...<br />

Innocent cocks an eye in his direction, questioning.<br />

INNOCENT<br />

In the bath-tub?<br />

SEB<br />

That’s what it says, man.<br />

Damn.<br />

INNOCENT<br />

Seb smiles to himself and sets the newspaper on the bench.<br />

SEB<br />

We better check on Stevie and that<br />

loft construction. We got a lot to<br />

do before Friday.<br />

INNOCENT<br />

(he laughs)<br />

Yo man, I still can’t believe that<br />

lady ain’t comin’ back until next<br />

year, now. You think Stevie’s got<br />

enough time to finish now?<br />

He looks to Seb and they laugh.<br />

SEB<br />

I just hope she doesn’t mind a bar<br />

and DJ booth as part of the new<br />

decor, you know.<br />

Seb laughs with Innocent and leans back on the bench,<br />

relaxed.<br />

INNOCENT<br />

You gonna help me pass out these<br />

flyers for Saturday? They’re<br />

talkin’ about a half million people<br />

bein’ out there.<br />

109.


SEB<br />

Of course. If we all bring a friend<br />

we’ll have a million, right?<br />

Innocent breaks into a wide smile and shares a look with Seb.<br />

INNOCENT<br />

There you go.<br />

Ital nods as he listens in on their exchange.<br />

ITAL<br />

There will always suff-iration in<br />

<strong>Babylon</strong>, but the righteous never<br />

surrender.<br />

He nods and puffs a joint as his phone cracks with Ramon’s<br />

voice:<br />

RAMON (O.S.)<br />

Ital! You lazy motherfucker! Where<br />

are you?<br />

SEB<br />

<strong>Babylon</strong> calling again, huh man?<br />

ITAL<br />

No escape, mon.<br />

Ital sighs and hands the joint to Seb as he rises from the<br />

bench.<br />

ITAL<br />

Peace be with you, my brothers.<br />

He gives them each a fist pound and turns away to work. Seb<br />

and Innocent watch him go but are in no hurry themselves.<br />

Innocent hits the joint and passes it to Seb.<br />

ROLL CREDITS - THE END<br />

###<br />

110.

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