The Games Plan
By Andrea Lombardi
Copyright 2014 Andrea Lombardi
Cover design by Andrea Lombardi
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Table of Contents
The Games Plan
Also by Andrea Lombardi
The Games Plan
By Andrea Lombardi
FADE IN:
...to the rhythm of cheerful REGGAE MUSIC and a limpid, sunny sky, stretching over a colorful crowd filling the streets and sidewalks of a residential district with wide smiles and a multitude of Jamaican flags.
SUPER: BRIXTON, SOUTH LONDON, ENGLAND
The celebrations for the Jamaican Independence Day are in full swing, black-yellow-and-green caps and shirts about anywhere as young and old, men and women keep talking, dancing and smiling all across the neighborhood, through which everything seems to pulse to the reggae rhythm as kids jump rope and old rasta fellas play dice under the sign of a SOUVENIR SHOP.
INT. JAMAICAN SOUVENIR SHOP – DAY
An old stereo keeps pumping music as tourists and customers move along rows of packed shelves and displays...
MALE VOICE (V.O.): You know, the world can really be a strange place sometimes...
...walking past Island-shaped alarm clocks and Bob Marley plushes, dreadlocked dolls and Cool Runnings posters...
MALE VOICE (V.O.): ...one minute you're sipping coffee as you count the money from your register, the next one you're talking with people you didn't even think could exist, hearing stories you wouldn't believe if only you didn't see them with your own eyes.
...a heap of liquor bottles and cigar boxes, and a counter filled with rum-flavoured cakes.
MALE VOICE (V.O.): Some stories from the corner of your backyard, other ones from very far...
Behind the counter the wall is covered by photos and posters of beautiful landscapes from all around the world: a tumbledown castle in the boundless Scottish Highlands. The boreal dawn over the Arctic Pole. The snowy peak of the Fujiyama. The Eiffel Tower and the Coliseum. And a wonderful sunset over a Jamaican beach standing out right at the center of the wall.
MALE VOICE (V.O.): ...and then there are stories from just the other side of the world.
The reggae fades to AFRICAN TRIBAL MUSIC as we CUT TO:
EXT. REMOTE SUN-DRENCHED VILLAGE – DAY
A desolate landscape of brown dust and pebbles, the sun hitting hard on a stretch of low shacks with thatched roofs.
SUPER: SILOBELA VILLAGE, ZIMBABWE, MARCH OF 2012
Followed by a cloud of dust a panting young man, EDWIN, runs like a madman down the street with three big jute sacs, a Ferrari cap, and a pair of old shoes which won't last another mile.
EDWIN: It's late, I'm too damn late!
He flies around a hovel, jumps into what looks like a cross-breed between a '70s Ford Taunus and a chicken coop. As he fires the engine it almost explodes. He jumps out in a cloud of smoke.
EDWIN: I knew it, it couldn't have broken on any other day!
He runs to a rusty bicycle as he shouts to an open window.
EDWIN: Uncle Bika, I need the bike!
UNCLE BIKA (O.S.): Forget it! You almost destroyed it last time, just leave it where it is!
EDWIN: Alright, I'll be walking...
He jumps on the bike, loses both fenders along the way as he rolls over a bump.
EDWIN: I just hope those two will get there before me!
INT. KIDAL'S BEDROOM – DAY
A long line of scraggly plush pets and a black and white Michael Jackson poster in what seems the extra-poor version of a teenager bedroom. A deep, low snore fills the air as KIDAL, a grown man well into his 30s and with a neatly groomed mustache, blissfully sleeps with a hairnet on. The snore stops to a distant cockcrow as he slowly opens his eyes. Heaves a yawn and sees the sun outside the window. A beat and:
KIDAL: Moooooooom!!
Kidal's MOTHER arrives running with his breakfast on a tray.
KIDAL'S MOM: Are you already awake, dear?
KIDAL: Mom, I had to wake up an hour ago, I told you!
KIDAL'S MOM: Well, you looked so relaxed, and you never work on Friday so... why did you have to get up early, anyway?
KIDAL: Well, Edwin didn't tell me, but --
KIDAL'S MOM: I made you a ginger cake.
KIDAL: Mom, I have to... bring it in the kitchen, okay? And a mirror with my comb, too!
He removes the hairnet to reveal slicked, perfectly straight hair, then takes a wooden doll out of his nightstand drawer.
KIDAL: Seems like it's going to be a great day, Babu, I guess I'll need your help more than ever!
KIDAL'S MOM (O.S.): You said you would've stopped with that doll!
KIDAL: Mom, the comb!
EXT. LEON'S RESTAURANT – DAY
A chubby, silent man in his 30s stands outside a deserted stone and straw tavern. A washed out sign reads LEON'S FLAVOR GARDEN as a bunch of kids stand around him.
FAT KID: Leon, can I have a breadstick?
LEON: No.
SNOTTY KID: Can I have an egg, Leon?
LEON: No.
LITTLE GIRL: Leon, will you take me to the well?
LEON: No! I must look after the restaurant, will you leave me alone?
FAT KID: The restaurant is empty, what do you have to look after?
LEON: Well, I have to --
SNOTTY KID: Can I have a breadstick, Leon? I'm so hungry!
LEON: No! Why don't you... (he heaves a sigh, eyes to the sky) Just one, okay?
The kids smile, run across him and dive into the restaurant.
EXT. ZIMBABWE VILLAGE – DAY
A long line of rusty billboards repeats the imposing image of a black, stern face staring down the dirt roads as Edwin pedals like a locomotive across the village, old men and women smiling and greeting him as he passes by.
OLD MAN: Good luck for today, Edwin!
EDWIN: Thank you, I won't miss my chance!
He turns around to greet a group of kids when he spots a young, beautiful girl smiling at him. He straightens up on the pedals and smiles back shyly, just as a three-wheeler full of twigs crosses the street ahead of him.
THREE-WHEELER DRIVER: Hey, watch out!
Edwin avoids it by a whisker, storms across a flock of hens.
EDWIN: Holy peanut!
He jumps over a woodpile, the headlight flies away as an old black Mercedes screeches right before the bike. Edwin brakes hard, stops a few inches from the driver's window and the military uniform which appears behind it.
EDWIN: Colonel Saheed, a very good day to you, Sir!
COLONEL SAHEED, 50s, grim face and a big pair of shades, stares at Edwin as if he were the enemy behind a trench.
SAHEED: What the hell are you doing? Is this the way you deliver the mail?!
EDWIN: Actually I'm on vacation, Sir.
SAHEED: Vacation?!
EDWIN: Yes, I was going to the gym to --
SAHEED: I don't give a damn, you can't go running like a --
WOMAN VOICE (O.S.): Will you stop it, Saheed? I don't have all day, nor does my hairdresser!
Saheed clears his throat, tries hard to maintain his di
gnity as his wife keeps chugging from the backseat.
SAHEED: Just watch where you're going, or we'll have to square things up...
The Mercedes rolls away, Edwin stands back up on the pedals when a policeman WHISTLES from across the road, beckons him to stop as an old lady crosses the street at the speed of an ant.
EDWIN: I'm late, holy monkey how I'm late!
He finally resumes his run, holding on to his three sacs and what remains of his bike as he turns the corner to Leon's restaurant. Jumps on the saddle at the sight of his friend.
EDWIN: What the hell are you still doing here?!
LEON: I'm waiting for Kidal, and the restaurant is still open!
EDWIN: The restaurant is empty, as always, and Kidal has never been on time in all his life! (Resumes pedaling) I swear, if you make me miss this chance I won't talk to you for the next thirty years!
Leon looks up to the sky, heaves a sigh and:
LEON: Everybody out of my restaurant!
The kids run out the doorway, hands and mouths filled with breadsticks and sweets.
LEON: You little pests!
As he disappears around a corner we hear the sound of a car door and a BANG just like the one from Edwin's car. A beat and Leon reappears on an old bicycle, the little girl sitting on his shoulders.
LITTLE GIRL: Slow down, Leon, I'm scared!
EXT. VILLAGE'S GYM – DAY
Edwin e Leon meet before what would seem an old, crumbling barn, if it wasn't for the GYM sign hand painted above the entrance. As they get off their bikes Kidal arrives on a bus. The fat lady at the wheel smiles at him as he gets off.
KIDAL: Thank you, miss, I really owe you a big one.
LADY DRIVER: Oh, you can bet that you do! Next time you buy a ticket, though, or I'll have to take my steps...
She throws him a malicious wink as the bus restarts under Edwin and Leon's disturbed stare.
KIDAL: Hey guys, here we are! (A curious look around) So, on with the big surprise, what are we doing here?
EDWIN: We're running, 'cause you're late! We are all late!
INT.