THE VERY WORST THING THAT COULD POSSIBLY HAPPEN, PART 7
INT. PLANE TO ISTANBUL, 1959 - CONTINUOUS
Trotsky, Sara and Claire settle into a long flight. The plane engines grind outside. Charlie comes by with the drink cart. Sara is sitting next to Trotsky.
CHARLIE
More champagne?
CLAIRE
Actually- a whiskey, please.
SARA
What’s your real name? I can’t keep calling you Trotsky.
TROTSKY
Ha. I don’t mind. He was a charismatic guy- until they killed him. But its Frederique.
SARA
And, can you please tell me how you are connected to this affair, Frederique?
TROTSKY
I could try, but its... Circuitous.
SARA
I’m not afraid of circles.
TROTSKY
You’re not afraid of anything. I think that’s why you’re here.
Theme Music. Titles:
ANNOUNCER
The Very Worst Thing That Could Possibly Happen, Part 7.
The scene continues:
SARA
What do you mean, I’m not afraid of anything?
TROTSKY
Well, if I understand correctly, in the past two weeks you went from being engaged to a very solid, admirable man, while being very successful at your career, AND a perfect daughter to... a drifter pushing the boundaries of acceptable of behavior, a pansexual adventurer, and a writer... of all things! And you’re just rolling with it.
SARA
Yes, it is something, huh? My friend Raul sent me something, its perfect... a Rilke quote, let me find it.
She digs in her bag.
TROTSKY
Rilke, huh? This is what I mean by circuitous.
As she reads, RAUL’S V.O. fades in behind her, saying the words in unison.
SARA
Here it is. He said: what should a man do who has so little grasp of life that he must just let it happen to him, and who learns that his own volition is always something less than some other great will, in whose current he sometimes gets caught up in, like an object on a receding tide?
RAUL VO
What should a man do who has so little grasp of life that he must just let it happen to him, and who learns that his own volition is always something less than some other great will, in whose current he sometimes gets caught up in, like an object on a receding tide?
TROTSKY
I think we’re objects on a receding cloud.
SARA
Same thing. Water.
TROTSKY
Hmm. True enough.
SARA
Where did Claire go?
TROTSKY
I think she’s making love to the Charlie in the bathroom.
SARA
Does she ever stop?
TROTSKY
No. Did she tell you story of Shamat and Inkidu?
SARA
I think she mentioned it at one point, but no, she didn’t tell me the story.
TROTSKY
Its from the Epic of Gilgamesh- you know it? Its the oldest known human story. So beautiful. And it starts off saying its about a king, a brilliant and majestic king, but he had lost his way... he was being mean to his subjects and taking his soldiers’ wives for himself. Interesting, right? That it drops in on the hero being terrible. Anyway, the gods decide to send him a friend, to balance him, to make him a better person. And that’s Inkidu. And Inkidu shows up in the woods, living with the animals, living LIKE an animal. And a shepherd sees him, this huge Tarzan guy living with the deer in the forest, and he goes to tell the King. And Gilgamesh sends his priestess, Shamat, to meet him. So Shamat goes out to the forest, and sees Inkidu, living wild, half man, half animal, right? And she takes off her clothes, and shows her body to him. And then they make love for seven days. Well, it says seven days, but you know how those stories exaggerate. Anyway, after that, Inkidu was a man, no longer a wild creature, and he went to the city and became best friends and lovers with Gilgamesh, and helped him on his adventures, until he died.
SARA
Oh. That’s quite sad.
TROTSKY
I suppose, but his death caused Gilgamesh so much grief he went on his final journey, to try to become immortal. It didn’t work though.
SARA
No?
TROTSKY
No. Close- he comes pretty close. But, no cigar. He does realize that he can live on through his legacy, what he leaves behind, and he becomes a much kinder king after that. And his people love him, and his name lives on forever.
SARA
And- forgive me if this sounds insane, but- Claire... She’s Shamat?
TROTSKY
No one lives forever.
SARA
Oh, right. We said that, didn’t we.
TROTSKY
We did.
SARA
But she’s A Shamat, is what I mean.
TROTSKY
Yeah, I think she is. She’s an agent, just like I’m an agent. But she’s an agent of beauty.
SARA
An agent of beauty.
TROTSKY
Yes.
SARA
So you’re an agent of the ugly?
TROTSKY
No! The opposite of beauty isn’t ugliness. Its rules. I’m an agent of the rules. Or I was.
Claire comes back.
CLAIRE
Whew. Do you guys want a drink? The Charlie gave me this whole bottle!
SARA
Sure, why not.
TROTSKY
We were just talking about Shamat and Inkidu.
CLAIRE
My favorite story!! So crazy right. And its all true, every word.
An INSANE JET PLANE ENGINE SOUND swells.
SARA
Oh my god what is that??
CLAIRE
They’re refueling!!
SARA
In the air?! Don’t you have to LAND the plane to do that??!
THE NOISE IS INCREDIBLY LOUD.
CLAIRE
No!! A big tanker jet comes and refuels the plane!!! And drops off the mail, too!!
SARA
Is that safe?!!
CLAIRE
Of course it is!
SARA
I’m scared!!
CLAIRE
Oh its fine! The captain’s an old friend, he’s very good! Come here! Come here, love. Its ok. You’re safe. I’ve got you.
The JET ENGINES transform into a STEAM TRAIN.
INT. TRAIN TO KAZAKHSTAN, 1997 - MORNING
The train pulls into Almaty, Kazakhstan, Central Station, which isn’t actually that central: its in the southern district, a polite distance form the regal thoroughfares and golden domes of the re-built city center.
CONDUCTOR (ON PA)
Ladies and Gentleman, we are arriving in Almaty Central Station. Please check for your belongings before exiting the train. Again this is Almaty Central. Thank you.
SNAKE
Finally.
VINCENT
Fuuuuck I’m so hungover.
SNAKE
Ugh my head!!
VINCENT
Raul- can you grab the bags? Those two? I’ll get Mr Wu.
SNAKE
What about me?
VINCENT
Oh, right.
RAUL
I got it. Jesus, Vinnie, you need a shower. You smell like shit.
VINCENT
That’s Ming, not me!!
RAUL
He doesn’t smell great either.
SNAKE
Can we just get to the hotel, please?
SFX: They exit the train to the platform, and its all bumbling, the worst travelers ever.
RAUL
Get a cart!
VINCENT
Where?
RAUL
Jesus Vinnie, over there?! Where the ALL the carts ARE?!
VINCENT
Ok, ok. Relax. Wait, I don’t have any Tenges.
RAUL
What?
VINCENT
Kazakh money! I don’t have any!
RAUL
There’s an exchange right over there!
VINCENT
Cool, I got it. Wait, I don’t have any money at all, actually.
SNAKE
For fuck’s sake, Vinnie. Check Mr Wu’s pockets, he’s always got cash.
VINCENT
Ok. Ok, got it. Five hundred enough?
SNAKE
Sure.
VINCENT
Ok, I’m on it.
They finally secure a cart and roll out to the curb. A CAB is waiting, of course.
CAB DRIVER
Hey! Over here!
RAUL
Oh, its you again.
CAB DRIVER
Me again.
RAUL
You look great. You look... younger?
CAB DRIVER
Ah, Mr Ming! I hope you had a successful journey.
SNAKE
You tell me.
CAB DRIVER
Seems that you’re right on time. Nineteen seventy eight.
SNAKE
Let me see.
RAUL VO
The cab driver held up a newspaper to the snake, and he did his little slithery tongue waggle, so I guess it was good news. We got in the cab, Mr Wu in the front seat, asleep, and Ming’s terrarium on the seat between me and Vinnie, and drove to the city center. Smooth streets and golden domes and hard, angular glass buildings. The cars all seemed old, though, gas guzzlers. The leftovers of years of Soviet rule. You could feel the eyes of the State looking down at us from the mountains to the northwest. We got to the Empire hotel, and a white gloved valet let greeted us in an impeccable western uniform. The lobby was a hurricane of marble and Persian tapestries, my eyes were overwhelmed by the reds and ochres and white cloudy veined columns. In the center of the lobby, under a domed skylight, a fountain babbled. We checked in, I had a shower, some room service, and a long, deep sleep. I was wondering where you are, Sara. And wondering if Ai was actually here, in room 615, like she said she would be in the message she left for me back in Manchuria.
SNAKE
Pull the car around, will you?
CAB DRIVER
Of course. You’ve got the luggage?
SNAKE
I think so. Vinnie’s on it.
CAB DRIVER
Hmm.
INT. PLANE TO ISTANBUL, 1959
The plane is coming in for a landing.
TROTSKY
Wake up. Wake up, Sara, we’re landing.
SARA
(sleepily)
Oh thank god. I need to stretch my legs.
She stretches and yawns. There’s a BUMP and a SCREECH as the tires touch down.
TROTSKY
You have your things?
SARA
I didn’t bring anything, remember?
CLAIRE
Oh man I need a shower. But we don’t have time, do we?
SARA
We don’t?
CLAIRE
No, we change planes here. The next one takes us to Almaty.
SARA
And that’s... where?
CLAIRE
Kazakhstan.
SARA
Oh.
TROTSKY
Almaty is exactly half way between Paris and Hong Kong.
SARA
And that’s where I’ll meet Raul?
TROTSKY
Come on.
CHARLIE
Thank you. Thanks for coming. Thanks for flying with us. Have a good trip. Thank you.
The Charlie spots Claire. Slips a piece of paper in her hand.
CHARLIE
(whispers)
That’s where I’m staying, Claire, in case you have any free time.
(regular voice)
Thanks for flying with us. Have a good journey. Thank you. Thanks for coming.
She fades out as they walk down the jetway and into the terminal.
SARA
Oh look. That person has a bag with wheels on it. How clever.
TROTSKY
We’re boarding at gate C16.
SARA
We’re at... gate A3.
CLAIRE
Oh shit, that’s really far! We only have three minutes!! Let’s go!
TROTSKY
I have to make a phone call.
CLAIRE
We don’t have time!
TROTSKY
You go, I’ll catch up!!
Jazz drums with a fast tempo and swinging floor tom beat.
PA ANNOUNCEMENT
Ladies and gentlemen, Aeroflot flight 73 to Almaty is now boarding at Gate C16.
The message repeats in Turkish and Russian.
TROTSKY
I hope they get the bags on the next plane!
CLAIRE
They will!! Come along, Sara! Quickly! We can’t miss our flight!
SARA VO
Raul, I only had two seconds to look out the huge window at the plane we just got off- they were unloading a row of coffins on a conveyor belt.
SARA
What the hell are those?
CLAIRE
Come on, Sara!! Move!!
SARA VO
We ran through the airport- I didn’t know Claire was so fast! She could really run! Trotsky caught up to us, he could run, too, but that wasn’t surprising- he was tall and athletic and ... ok stop thinking about that. We ran as fast as we could, coming around a corner into a crowd of German tourists, spilling their bags everywhere. After we cleared that minefield, we got into a long bridge connecting terminals. But there were four different men on floor polishing machines, like little cars with buffing pads underneath, and they were clearly trying to block our way. Plus, since they were laying down fresh wax, we were sliding everywhere. Trotsky managed to wrestle one of them of his machine...
TROTSKY
Grab hold!
SARA VO
...We grabbed onto the back of the polishing car, and he jammed it into overdrive, with us sliding on the freshly waxed floor behind!! Like we were on skis! That got us across the bridge and into the first part of the next terminal, but we hit a carpet, and came to a screeching halt.
The jazz drums stop with a clumsy fill, portraying the tumble our crew just took.
TROTSKY
Shit! You ok?
CLAIRE
I’m fine. Where are we?
SARA
Look: gate B12!
CLAIRE
Ok we’re close.
TROTSKY
Move. I’ve got the bag. MOVE!
The drums kick back in with a military snare roll. The SFX plays out the story:
SARA VO
And that’s when they appeared, like a glorious roman legion in phalanx formation: stewardesses. Hundreds of them. All dressed in perfect powder blue skirt suits and viridian green saris and burgundy hijabs. They moved like synchronized swimmers in smooth interwoven diagonals and twirls and goose steps, blocking us at every turn. Claire finally overcame her politeness and started pulling some very fancy football foot work on these ladies, and not gentle tap dancing- I’m talking full body checks, they were flying everywhere! We got through the first wave of stewardesses, and that’s when the wheel chair jockey’s came in for a second wave, like calling in the cavalry. A hundred men and women in blue uniforms with cheap wheelchairs attempt to block us by turning in a tight, intricate pattern of ninety degree turns. I locked eyes with one of the wheelchair men. Just as he made a turn I GRABBED the wheelchair and threw it as far as I could. It wasn’t very far, maybe 5 feet, but it caused a chain reaction, blocking another wheelchair woman, and that blocked more, and the whole phalanx got gridlocked and crashed into itself, like robots unable to adjust their programming, they tried to keep up the pattern and rammed into each other, winding up as a frozen, tangled mass of blue polyester and chrome.
The drums are joined by a full band now. We’re in the final sprint.
TROTSKY
There’s C16! Go go go!
Feet pound on linoleum.
SARA VO
Finally security gets involved. There’s only a few of them, but they start yelling and running after us. But we’re so close, a Charlie is standing at the velvet rope, waving her hand, encouraging us. Claire gets there first, fumbling in her purse for the tickets.
PA ANNOUNCEMENT
Last call for Aeroflot flight 73 to Almaty, now boarding at Gate C16. All passengers should be aboard at this time.
Again, the message repeats in Turkish and Russian.
TROTSKY
Come on!
CLAIRE
Come on- here’s the jetway. Let’s go.
SECURITY GUARD
(in distance)
Stop! Stop!!!!
CLAIRE
Trotsky- shut that door!
The door to the jetway closes with a loud CLANK, which cuts the music and SFX to a much more peaceful, calm wash. Sara and Claire breathe a sigh of relief.
CLAIRE
(breathing hard)
That was close!
SARA
Can we just get on the plane, please?
TROTSKY
You took out those stewardesses like a bowling ball!
CLAIRE
Me? Did you see Sara THROW that wheelchair! She was like King Kong!
SARA VO
As we walked down the jetway, I saw a gray haired man in a baggage workers uniform. Is he familiar? Do I know him? He was standing with his back to me, next the little make shift door that leads out on to the tarmac.
TROTSKY
It was like a sumo match! I swear I’ve never seen anything like it.
SARA
Oh come on! Something had to be done...
CLAIRE
And you did it!
Claire gives Sara a kiss.
SARA VO
As Claire kissed me, the gray haired man turned around. And at once the piercing ice blue eyes judged me- a runaway, a deviant, a disappointment. No job, kissing another woman, halfway across the world with no reason for any of it that I could possibly begin to explain. And then I heard that frozen voice:
HANS
Sara. Its time to go home. We’re done with this now.
INT. EMPIRE HOTEL LOBBY, ALMATY, 1978 - DAY
Ming, Vinnie and Raul enter the lobby of the Empire Hotel. Its overly ornate, marble and gold. There’s a babbling fountain.
VINCENT
This place is sweet! Nice work, Ming.
SNAKE
We have an arrangement with the manager here. Its the only place to stay in Almaty.
RAUL
How often are you in Almaty, Ming?
VINCENT
Its a good look, is all I’m saying. They have a pool?
KATE is at the front desk. She’s been crying.
KATE
(sniffles)
Mr Ming. There you are.
SNAKE
Its good to see you Kate--
RAUL
Kate?
KATE
Hi Raul.
SNAKE
I love the bell hop outfit.
KATE
Oh fuck off.
RAUL
Are you ok? Why are you crying?
KATE
I’m fine. I’m fine.
RAUL
Who was that woman you were talking to? Is there a problem--
KATE
Its fine. Really. I’m good. She works at the Opera House. She’s a set dresser.
SNAKE
Oh. Her.
KATE
Yeah.
RAUL
Is that bad?
KATE
No, no. She just told me a sad story, that’s all. You guys must be exhausted. Let’s get you checked in.
Clacking on an ancient keyboard.
VINCENT
Do you guys have a pool? Or a gym? Gotta get my reps in.
INT. BAGGAGE ROOM ISTANBUL AIRPORT, 1972 - DAY
A large conveyor belt moves heavy luggage, with the bags occasionally THUMPING as they fall into bins for sorting.
HANS
Sara, what on earth has gotten into you?
SARA
What’s gotten into me?! Are you insane? You locked Claire in a shipping container?!! You’re pointing a GUN at me! Your daughter!?
HANS
I’ll be asking the questions here.
SARA
(coldly)
Like hell you will, dad. You’ll be providing answers. Like: with what are you going to do with my friend? And why are you are dressed like a baggage handler for Turkish Airlines, and WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING HERE??!!
There’s a BANGING in a steel shipping container with thin walls. It echoes through the room.
CLAIRE
(from inside the container)
Sara we have to go! Don’t listen to him!
HANS
(In Chinese)
Shut up, Ai!!
(In English)
There is an order, Sara. A delicate, necessary order to things. Do you think time is an accident?! That one moment just happens to follow the next because it feels like it? NO. No not at all. Time exists because without it, men don’t make decisions, they don’t strive, they don’t need, they don’t ATTAIN. And I work for the group that sees to it that the clock doesn’t get FUCKED WITH by Ai or whoever she is and her cluster of drifters and hippies. Isn’t that right, Frederique.
SARA VO
Trotsky emerges from a shadow in the back of the room and slowly walks up, standing next to my father.
SARA
No, Frederique. Not you.
TROTSKY
I told you, I’m an Autonomist. I work for myself.
HANS
Shut up, Trotsky. Your ideologies are irrelevant now.
TROTSKY
I suppose. But one end of string is never completely irrelevant to the other end.
SARA
Listen to me, both of you! I’m going to meet a man, a man named Raul. He and I are... connected, like the two ends of a string, as you say. We’ve been exchanging letters, I don’t know how. But, he is my friend. My best friend. And I think he’s my freedom, too-- this is the way I escape this stupid life!
HANS
You’re life is not stupid Sara--
SARA
Its worse than stupid! Its boring. Being controlled in every action I take, every desire I have?! Its FUCKNG TIRESOME.
TROTSKY
It is a bit bourgois, I have to say--
SARA
Dad- you tell me you protect time so that man can strive? Well, that is exactly what I’m doing.
HANS
You’re not striving, you’re CHEATING. You can’t cut corners with timeMMMMMMMMPPPPPHHHHHHMMMMHHH.
There’s a brief STRUGGLE, then a body slumps on the floor.
SARA
Oh my god! Trotsky why did you do that?? Dad are you ok?!
TROTSKY
He’ll be fine, its just chloroform. But we have to move.
SARA
I thought you were on his side??
TROTSKY
You see that red bag? The one that just fell out of the shoot? That means... well it means things have changed. They know I’ve switched sides. We don’t have a lot of time.
SARA
I don’t trust you.
TROTSKY
That’s fine. Open up that container and let Claire out.
SARA
Oh my god, Claire!
Footsteps running. A STEEL DOOR opens on a container.
SARA
Claire!! Are you ok?
CLAIRE
I’m fine, I’m fine. But we missed our plane... Frederique, you FUCKING ASSHOLE I can’t believe you conned me!!
She starts smacking him.
TROTSKY
Hey, hey now, stop it.
CLAIRE
I’m so fucking PISSED. We’re going to be way too early!
TROTSKY
Alors, its 1972 here, Claire! The planes are much faster now, we can make it up. And Hans has a private jet. So stay calm, and help me put Hans on this luggage cart.
A body slumps onto a squeaky-wheeled cart.
CLAIRE
This better work. For Sara’s sake.
TROTSKY
It will.
EXT. TARMAC, INSTANBUL AIRPORT - CONTINUOUS
They walk out of the baggage handling area, out onto the tarmac
TROTSKY
That’s it, that plane is one of ours.
They walk a little further.
TROTSKY
Excuse me! Excusez-moi! Captain? We’ve had a bit of an incident with Monsieur Cloutier. We need to leave immediately.
CAPTAIN
And you are?
TROTSKY
Red Hand 5307.
CAPTAIN
“Time enters into us.”
TROTSKY
In order to transform itself... CAN WE PLEASE get a fucking move on, we’re on a very tight schedule here.
CAPTAIN
Of course, let me help. MISS!
CHARLIE
Yes Captain?
CAPTAIN
Prepare for immediate departure, and see to Mssr. Cloutier, will you. I have to let the tower know.
CHARLIE
Very good, sir.
SARA
Charlie? What are you doing here?
CHARLIE
Oh its you! I moonlight with these guys- working private is such a blast.
CLAIRE
Its lovely to see you again so soon, but we need to haul ass.
CHARLIE
Well let’s go then! Jump in, I’ll stow the luggage!
They enter the plane, seal the door, and fire up the engines.
CLAIRE
Your boss is a prick.
TROTSKY
Eh Hans is ok. He just likes things a certain way.
SARA
My dad hates your guts.
TROTSKY
Yeah, but I’m really good at what I do...
CLAIRE
(reluctantly)
Its true...
TROTSKY
Besides, Jean was, like, terrible, so I had to clean up his shit all the time. Job security is valuable.
SARA
Ugh. Jean.
CLAIRE
What a loser.
SARA
Right?
TROTSKY
Anyway, for the last few years, Hans and I had a couple of projects together.
CLAIRE
One of which is keeping Algeria under France.
TROTSKY
Well, yeah.
CHARLIE
That’s not cool!
TROTSKY
It was just a job, jeez.
CHARLIE
Well you need a different job.
TROTSKY
I think you’re right, Charlie.
CHARLIE
Damn straight, comrade. Sara, can I get you anything? Some champagne perhaps?
SARA
Just some water please.
CHARLIE
Sparkling or still?
CLAIRE
She’ll take sparkling, like your eyes.
SARA
Oh for fuck’s sake, Claire.
TROTSKY
Can I have a whiskey, please?
CHARLIE
(walking away)
Only vodka for you.
CLAIRE
And the other project, Trotsky? You want to tell Sara about that?
TROTSKY
The other project is to keep you and Raul from ever meeting each other.
SARA
What?! Why? Why would you want to do that?
TROTSKY
Because you are a mistake. He is a mistake. You’re connection is a mistake: its an anomaly, a mutation. And that, Sara, is something your father- and his organization- that’s something they cannot allow to exist.
INT. EMPIRE HOTEL IN ALMATY, KAZAKHSTAN, 1978 - MORNING
A bell and hammer phone rings, the one you’d find in a soviet-era hotel in a Kazakhstan hotel. Raul gets himself out of bed to answer.
RAUL VO
Dear Sara, when I got into my hotel room, they hadn’t cleaned it. That was strange, you know? I mean its a really nice hotel, way nicer than the places I stay on business. But the bed was crumpled, someone had slept on top of the blanket... And there was a table with all these dirty dishes- a room service table stacked with tin plate covers and tiny ketchup bottles and plastic wrap. And under one of the tin covers was an old portable typewriter. I knew it was yours. I felt you in that room. We are so close now, aren’t we? Its like perfume, maybe, or when you look at the sun and close your eyes: that ghost is us.
RAUL
Hello?
VINCENT
Hey Raul. You get some sleep?
RAUL
Yeah. How about you?
VINCENT
Well Ming and I hit the bar first. These Kazakh dudes can fucking drink, boyeeee.
RAUL
You got problems.
VINCENT
You only live once, Raul. But hey, the car’s downstairs, we need to go to the rug museum. Can you meet us down here?
RAUL
The what?
VINCENT
The National Carpet Museum.
RAUL
Huh. Sure. Give me ten.
VINCENT
Did they bring you some clothes? They were supposed to drop off a bag.
RAUL
(looking)
Uh... yeah. Yeah I see a suitcase in the closet.
VINCENT
Cool, cool. Ok see you in a few.
The phone clicks off, Raul puts the RECEIVER back in the cradle. He hoists the SUITCASE onto the bed and UNZIPS it, pulls out some clothes.
RAUL
You’ve got to be kidding me.
INT. EMPIRE HOTEL LOBBY, ALMATY, 1978 - MOMENTS LATER
An elevator dings and doors open. We hear very swishy cloth sounds along with background of a few guests in the huge marble lobby, along with babbling fountain.
KATE
(distant)
Good morning.
VINCENT
Yes!! Bro!!
SNAKE
Oh that is soooooo good.
KATE
Amazing.
RAUL
Did you guys do this on purpose?
SNAKE
No! No I swear! I just told them what size you are... I didn’t know they’d get you a zhargak shapa!!
RAUL
The fuck is that?
SNAKE
That’s what they call that kind of robe. Looks great though. Is that raccoon? They like to use raccoon fur for the trim.
RAUL
Ew.
KATE
Gross!
SNAKE
No hat? Usually there’s a hat that goes with that - what the fuck’s it called... oh an aiyr kalpak.
RAUL
Oh they had one, but I left it in the room.
SNAKE
The hat is key.
VINCENT
Didn’t want to mess up your hair?
KATE
You guys are such dicks.
RAUL
Right?
SNAKE
Well I think you look amazing. Its a timeless style, really. Very regal. Like a proud nomad warrior!
VINCENT
Which you kind of are, actually.
SNAKE
You know, Kazakhstan means “land of the wanderer.”
RAUL
That fits.
VINCENT
So does that robe, man. Is this part fox? That looks like fox fur.
KATE
I’m gonna barf.
SNAKE
(a bit more serious)
You feel uncomfortable, don’t you?
RAUL
Yes. Incredibly.
SNAKE
Perfect. Let’s go. The driver is waiting.
They exit the lobby and go out to the roundabout.
INT. JET PLANE TO KAZAKHSTAN - DAWN
The SFX of JET ENGINES relaxes into the moderate interior hum of the plane. Claire, Federico, AKA Trotsky, Sara, and the stewardess are hammered.
SARA
How did you convince her to open another bottle?
POP of a champagne bottle.
CLAIRE
It wasn’t hard! Charlie? Charlie! Could you get some more glasses?
CHARLIE
Of course!
CLAIRE
(whispering)
Sara, I still can’t believe you had sex with Trotsky here in the bathroom of a bistro! You’ve changed.
TROTSKY
Claire, don’t be mean, there was something in the air. You know how it is.
CHARLIE
(from distance)
Here you go.
CLAIRE
And one for you, beautiful lady!!
SARA
Its ever since I met you, Claire, which you know. And I’m pretty sure you did it on purpose. Its like perfume! You put out a wave of sex every time you walk into a room.
TROTSKY
Or a plane.
CHARLIE
Or a plane.
SARA
You guys!
CHARLIE
I can’t help it!!
(she whispers in Sara’s ear)
Its like you said, its just in the air.
SARA VO
As she whispered in my ear I caught a glimpse of Claire and Trotsky kissing and laughing. They were cute together, really. And even though I felt like Claire was mine, there wasn’t even a twinge of jealousy. How strange. How did that happen? The old me could NEVER have seen a lover kissing someone else and not been hurt and pouty and pissed off. But now, in this new revolution, I think I’ve given up on the notion of property... well, of people as property. I was free of that. So I turned back to the stewardess.
SARA
I’m free, I think.
CHARLIE
(quiet and sexy)
Yes, I think maybe you are.
SARA VO
I kissed her, her long brown hair falling in our faces, and she smiled, and tucked her hair behind her ear, and kissed me again. And that- the cute smile, the mad sparkle in her as she quickly bit her lower lip and leaned in to kiss me again- that was what woke up the hunger. I started frantically unbuttoning her uniform, the polyester shirt, the cheap zipper on her skirt nearly broke as I pulled at it. She hit a button on the huge leather chair, and it reclined all the way, fast, so I knocked over the bottle of champagne.
SARA
Oh no, I made a mess...
CHARLIE
Good.
SARA VO
She pushed my dress up, staring me in the eye, with that smile, and the lip biting, (oh god the lip biting on her was just... it killed me) and she pulled off my panties. I could hear Trotsky and Claire across the aisle, their breathing getting heavier as she straddled across his lap, him inside her, that beautiful feeling of him inside her, the warm slick softness, with their pants only opened up, not completely off, so there was sex getting everywhere and the warmth of skin next to the coolness of the air, and his belt lying open, and her dress pulled half way down. Charlie put me in her mouth, and I closed my eyes and started falling through time. I could hear Claire, ecstatic, moaning and laughing, and then Trotsky started breathing harder, excited by Claire’s orgasm. I grabbed Charlie, put my hands on her cheeks and kissed her hard, my own taste on her lips. I put my fingers in her mouth, then reached up her skirt. She was so wet for me. Which is all I needed to know- she wanted me, she wanted this, this moment, this fractured slice of time, she looked in my eyes and bit her lip and grabbed my pussy and I couldn’t get enough of her tongue and her breath.
CLAIRE
Oh god Sara, I’m coming!
SARA
Come for me!
CHARLIE
Faster! Here.
TROTSKY
Show me your tits, Sara!
CHARLIE
Fuck. Don’t stop.
CLAIRE
Like that? Like that?
TROTSKY
Oh god.
CHARLIE
Yes yes yes yes!!
They all come.
SARA VO
And we all came, as we flew faster than the speed of sound through a red dawn over the empty deserts of the silk road.
Beat. Music Fades down low.
SARA VO
Oh god. My sweet Raul. I wish I could give this to you, this absolution. We are fucked up, sure enough, but we are not wrong. We are a part of a system beyond design, beyond understanding. And everything I do wrong, or bad, it is part of it. As much as when I try to be good or right. Or when I try at all... We make mistakes, we learn, but that doesn’t mean we never make mistakes again, right? What kind of life would that be?
Beat. In the background Trotsky, Claire, Sara and Charlie are laughing.
SARA VO
After we came, I held the stewardess, my arms wrapped tightly around her warm body, and she kissed my neck and giggled! Can you imagine how perfect we are?
CHARLIE
You ok? You need anything?
SARA
I’m perfect. Thank you.
A GIGGLE and a KISS.
SARA VO
If I can, I will send this to you when I reach our destination, but hopefully you can hear me even now, even from this far away, because I feel the ache in your heart, Raul, like its my own, and I wish I could hold you and kiss your neck and giggle, and tell you not to worry. I think you’d worry anyway, but I would tell you not too. Which is enough, I think. Or almost.