A Guilty Conscience. Dustin Bowcott

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1 A Guilty Conscience By Dustin Bowcott 2016

2 FADE IN: EXT. PARK - DAY (47), walks a small dog, paying no mind to the DOG WALKERS, JOGGERS and KIDS playing on the swings, slide, see saw and a roundabout. (48), approaches cautiously, stops a few feet away. Unaware of being observed, Maurice waits as his dog poops. Quite the shitter for its size. Maurice faces Jethro, a look of surprise followed by puzzlement, then recognition and finally anger. Six years are up. You ve got a nerve showing your face to me. Jethro nods in acceptance. I should tear you to shreds right now. That s why I m here. Maurice s anger drops a notch as puzzlement sets in. I want you to kill me. INT. S HOUSE - LIVING ROOM - DAY Jethro picks up a family picture from the mantlepiece, depicting Maurice, his WIFE and their 20-year-old son DYLAN, arms about each other, below the Eiffel Tower. You ain t got any business touching that. Jethro puts the picture back.

3 2. How is she? The dog pads into the kitchen and drinks from a water bowl. You ain t got any business asking that either. Jethro nods and meets Maurice s angry stare. After a while something gives and Maurice drops his gaze. She s not good. Stroke. Needs constant care. Maurice cuts off, fearing the emotion override. She s in a nursing home now. Might as well be dead... but it s worse... worse than that. (sighs) So sorry. Maurice s anger returns. Why? You destroyed her, broke her fucking heart. I know. (looks at picture) It was all I could think about while I was in there. Maurice shakes his head, unwilling to believe it. You killed our son. Jethro nods, painful guilt etched into his face. So now you want me to forgive you? I ve told you why I m here.

4 3. Bullshit. Bull-fucking-shit. Don t say you haven t thought about it. Maurice throws him a look that says just that. Jethro smiles sardonically. There s more. More what? More to the story, more to what happened that night. Shit you don t know. About Dylan. Don t mention his name, or, I swear, I ll kill you where you stand, you son of a bitch. None too bright to do it here. I picked a good place. Remember our old camping spot, out where we used to fish? Wouldn t be difficult for me to put a bullet in your brain. I think it would. It would take a lot. Which is why I have to say what I have to say. I need a drink. Maurice pours a whiskey. Offers the bottle to Jethro. No. I m good, thanks. Kinda got used to not having it. Maurice sneers in response to Jethro s smile, knocks the drink back quickly and pours another.

5 4. It was raining that night. EXT. RESIDENTIAL STREET - NIGHT Rain pours. (VO) I arrived home from work... a little early. A car pulls up and the lights go out. The engine quiets. Steam rises from the bonnet as raindrops hit hot metal. (VO) Your boy was forever coming around doing odd jobs, you remember that? Jethro, six years younger, climbs out of the car and hurries into the house. INT. S HOUSE - HALLWAY - NIGHT Jethro closes the front door in darkness. Honey? He looks up the stairs, hears laughter. Jethro creeps up the stairs, onto the landing, to a closed bedroom door and... Flings it open. INT. S HOUSE - BEDROOM - NIGHT DYLAN (21), hot and sweaty, stands precariously on a set of stepladders while drilling a picture onto the wall. (VO) I kept it to myself, but I always thought she was fucking somebody. Jethro looks from Dylan to his WIFE. Notices her blouse undone just enough to see the curve of her breast. (VO) The plumber, postman, pizza boy. She was fucking them all.

6 5. INT. S HOUSE - LIVING ROOM - DAY Maurice sways a little as the drink takes effect. Pours himself another. I was paranoid. So how does this relate? Perhaps, I will take that drink. Maurice nods and pours him a whiskey. EXT. RESIDENTIAL STREET - NIGHT Jethro gets into his car and waits for Dylan to climb into the passenger side. (VO) I d had a lot to drink. As you know from the police report. And the coke, right. What I didn t tell them was that I knew Dylan never wore a seat belt. INT. S HOUSE - LIVING ROOM - DAY Maurice frowns. What? What do you mean? You knew? What the fuck is that? Jethro puts down his whiskey. He never wore one. EXT. COUNTRY LANE - NIGHT Jethro s car races along, its wheels losing rubber around a hairpin bend.

7 6. INT. S CAR - NIGHT Fearful, Dylan looks from the road to Jethro s manic face. You fucked her, didn t you. What? DYLAN Stuck your dick in her. What? DYLAN Dylan yelps as Jethro turns the headlights off and they race into complete darkness. I trusted you. The car crashes, the air bag not enough to prevent Dylan flying through the windscreen. INT. S HOUSE - LIVING ROOM - DAY Maurice stares at Jethro, stunned. I knew what I was doing. That s -- Maurice covers the ground between them in two huge strides and punches Jethro in the face. Jethro falls, raises his arms to defend himself, then lowers them and allows Maurice to beat him down. After he is done and Jethro lies in a beaten heap, moaning on the floor, Maurice notices a gun that must have fallen out of Jethro s pocket during the scuffle. Maurice picks it up quickly. What s this? Jethro raises his head, eyes the gun. It s for you. To finish this. Maurice checks the gun, sees it is loaded.

8 7. It s untraceable. Maurice points the gun at Jethro. Get up. Jethro raises his hands and rises to his knees. In my right pocket. Car keys. You ain t going to talk me out of this. I ve just spent all this time convincing you to do it. Maurice points the gun more determinedly. If you do it here, it s going to leave a mess. Be noisy too. I imagine the neighbours ain t used to hearing gun fire. Maurice mulls it over. I got a pit dug, it s eight feet deep, four feet wide. Right where I said. Where we used to fish. EXT. FOREST - DAY A gull dives and scoops up a wayward fish from a shimmering lake. Jethro walks ahead. Maurice behind, gun held at hip height. Always loved it here. Just shut up. I told you, you ain t going to talk your way out.

9 8. The pit s just up ahead. They walk in silence until they arrive at a large pit, just like Jethro said. Gonna take you a while to fill it in. Jethro half turns, a smile that is quickly wiped from his face as Maurice pistol whips and kicks him into the pit. This is as easy as you re going to get it, you son of a cunt. Jethro scrambles into a corner of the pit and pauses before slowly turning to face Maurice and the gun aimed at his head. Maurice pauses. Wait... before you kill me... just tell me. Did you fuck her? Maurice hesitates and, ever-so-slowly, a smirk spreads across his face. Of course I did. For all I know, Dylan did too, but he didn t deserve to die for it. Thank you. Fuck you. Maurice fires three times. The pistol smoke clears and Maurice frowns. Jethro is still alive, no gunshot wounds. Just the same cuts and bruises from the beatdown.

10 9. Blanks ll do that. Unable to believe it, Maurice stares at the gun. Biggest mistake I made with your idiot son was getting caught. Jethro produces a gun of his own. Maurice fires again and again, moving closer to Jethro as he does so, till he is right above his head for the final shot. The pistol smoke clears and Jethro points his own gun at Maurice. All this? I had to know for certain. Your son, I can kinda understand... but you, you were my fucking friend. Jethro fires once, the bullet smashes through Maurice s forehead and he falls, face first, into the pit. FADE OUT.

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