Solitary Russian Roulette

Scene 1 “Fired”
Jack Taylor is a columnist for a weekly newspaper. He waits for the bus outside of his house and rides it to work. He has a wife but no children and is bored with his life. The bus arrives and he boards it. He sits near the back and stares out the window. The bus passes Max’s Drug Store and Jack looks inside at the person at the counter. There are 4 people in line but the person behind the counter is on her cell phone.

Jack Taylor
Stupid kid, do your job like the rest of the world.

The bus stops at Jack’s stop and he gets off. He’s wearing a suit and is carrying a briefcase. He walks inside and sits down at his computer. He leans back and puts his feet on the table.

Jack Taylor
Damn job, wish I could quit but I don’t know how I’d live without the money. He continues to relax when his boss comes over.

Boss
To Jack. Jack, what are you doing? Startled, Jack falls out of his chair. What are you doing? Get back to work! You’re already behind by three columns!

Jack Taylor
Monotonic. Yes sir, sorry sir, won’t happen again sir. He gets back up and starts typing on his computer.

Boss
Starts to walk away but a few seconds later he turns around. Oh yeah, and Jack… Jack is back with his legs on the table and leaning back.


Jack Taylor
Sorry boss, I’ll get to work right away. He leans forward and begins typing on the computer.

Boss
You know what, Jack? Don’t bother, you’re fired. You can finish out the day and collect your paycheck at the end. He turns around and walks away.

Jack Taylor
Thanks boss; you’ll have the column by this aft… He whips around. Wait what? Fired? He jumps up and runs after his boss. But sir I need this job, I can’t live without it. My wife doesn’t work and I have to support her and I can’t do that without this job. Sir, please.

Boss
Turning around. Well you know what, Jack? That’s not my problem. You should’ve thought about that before you didn’t do your job. I’m sorry to have to do this Jack, you were a good worker but lately you’ve been slacking off. Goodbye Jack. He turns around and goes into his office.

Jack
He goes back to his computer and puts his head down for the rest of the day. What the hell am I going to do?

Scene 2 “Mugged”

It’s 8:00 PM. The day is over and Jack walks out the front door of the place where he works. He doesn’t want to wait for the bus and decides to walk home. He walks past Max’s Drug Store, stops, and looks inside with a sad look. The people inside are closing the store. Jack continues walking and soon realizes that there are people, 3 of them, following him. He looks over his shoulder and they smile at him. They walk faster and manage to make Jack go into an alley to the left.

Guy #1
Hey, man. Got any money we could have? This guy here - points to another guy - needs an operation.
Guy #2
Yeah, I’m really sick. He coughs a couple times and they all start to laugh.

Jack Taylor
No… sorry I don’t have any money… Starts to walk away

Guy #1
Hey, hey man, get back here. We’re serious.

Jack Taylor
Continues walking but stops dead in his tracks when he hears the sound of a gun being cocked. He puts his hands up and turns around to a gun in his face. Okay, guys here. He reaches into his pocket and pulls out his check. This is all I have.

As he hands the guy his check with the other hand he draws back and hits him in the face. The guy drops the gun and falls to the ground but the one of the other guys hits Jack in the face with brass knuckles and he falls to the ground on his hands and knees and drops his briefcase. The other guy kicks Jack in the ribs. They continue to beat him for another few minutes and then leave, taking Jack’s briefcase. Jack lies on the ground, a bloody pulp, for 20 minutes and then gets up and continues home.

Scene 3 “Nothing Left”

Jack manages to stumble up his front steps. He reaches into his pocket and pulls the key to his front door out. A close-up of Jack’s hand as he hesitates before putting the key in the door.

Jack Taylor
About his wife. What am I going to tell her? ‘Hey, honey I just lost my job and was beaten up for the last paycheck I had’. He laughs to himself about the idea.

Jack puts the key in the lock and enters his house. His wife comes to meet him at the door.

Wife
Welcome hom… Oh my God! Jack, what happened to you!? Come here, sit down. She ushers him into the kitchen and pulls a chair out.

Jack sits down and prepares to break the news to her. She sits down at the table with him, eagerly awaiting his story.

Jack Taylor
Well… I was mugged on the way home for work. His wife is shocked at this revelation. Yeah, they took my check and then beat me to a bloody pulp. His wife looks puzzled. What is it?

Wife
Well, why did you get your check today?

Jack Taylor
I… I was fired today. It was my last paycheck and they took it. His wife has a disgusted look on her face. Please don’t look at me like that.

Wife
How the hell could you get fired!? We need that money to live! I knew I should have listened to my mother. She warned me you were a piece of trash, but I didn’t listen. Jack, I’m leaving.

She packs up her things and leaves. She slams the door on her way out, leaving Jack alone wondering how he’s going to keep on living with nothing left.

Scene 4 “Suicide”

A shot of the outside of Jack’s house, all the lights are out except the living room light. Cut to the living room and Jack sitting on the couch, a cigarette, a lighter, a glass of whisky, a .32 revolver, and a bullet.

Jack
Well, this is it. This is how my life ends.

Jack reaches for the cigarette and the lighter. He lights the cigarette in a cupped hand and smokes it until there’s nothing left to smoke. He tosses the butt to the floor.

Jack
What the hell? Right?

He then picks up the glass of whisky and swallows it all in one gulp. He sets the glass neatly on the table, laughing at it since he just threw the cigarette butt on the ground. His hands, now shaking, reach for the gun and the single bullet. He opens up the revolver and puts the round inside. He shuts it and holds it with both hands. Slowly he raises the gun to his mouth and places it inside. His hands are shaking terribly.

Jack
Thinking. It’ll all be over in a second. The gun’ll fire and that’ll be it.

Jack takes a deep breath, closes his eyes, and puts his hand on the trigger. Zoom in on the trigger. Jack slowly depresses the trigger and pulls it all the way. The gun clicks but that’s it.

Jack
Whispering. No… no, - Progressively getting louder – No, No, No, No, NO, NO, NO! He throws the gun against the wall, putting a hole in it. WHAT THE HELL IS THE CHANCE OF THAT!? THE BULLET I PICK IS A GODDAMMED DUD!!?

Jack slumps forward and puts his hands on the sides of his head. A smile rises to his lips.

Jack
Laughing. It’s a miracle. It can’t be a coincidence, it’s a miracle. Why? Why not just let me die? I don’t deserve a miracle, there’s plenty other people in the world that deserve a miracle more than I do, why me? He stands up. I need to go for a walk.

Jack walks out the front door of his house and walks down the street, unknowingly the way he went ever day to his work. A few minutes later he arrives at Max’s Drug Store. He looks up at the sign, dumbfounded at how he ended up here. He looks inside but no one’s inside. The person at the counter is reading a magazine.

Jack
I pass this store every day and have never been inside. Well, what other time but the present?

Scene 5 “Idea and Preparation”

Jack pushes the door to the drug store open and is startled by the bell on the door. He looks back and then turns back forward.

Person At Counter
In a monotone voice without looking up from his magazine. Welcome to Max’s Drug Store, sir.

Jack
Distractedly. Yeah… you too…

He wanders the aisles just looking, trying to take his mind off what has happened during the last day. A voice echoes in his head and it takes 3 tries before he hears it.

Person At Counter
Sir. If you’re not going to buy something then I need you to leave. We’re closing in 5 minutes.

Jack
Yeah… sorry, right away. He walks up to the counter and picks up a candy bar. I’ll take this. The person takes the candy bar and rings it up.

Person At Counter
That’ll be $1.50, sir.

Jack reaches into his pocket and takes out two dollar bills. The person at the counter opens up the cash register revealing the money inside. Jack notices the hundreds of dollars inside and begins thinking of how nice it would be to have all that money. He gets lost in his own mind until…

Person At Counter
Dreamily. Sir – Beginning to get more normal. Sir, here’s your change. Sir.

Jack
Snapping out of it. Yeah, yeah. Thanks. He takes his change and, turns around, and begins walking out of the store.

Person At Counter
Please come again sir.

The camera focuses on Jack’s face as he walks out of the store. A smile comes across his face as he starts to plan a way to get that money.

Jack
Don’t worry, I will.

Jack takes a left out of the store and returns to his house. He finds his .32 and a box of bullets and places them on the table in the living room. He then goes to his bedroom and gets a sweater with a hood and places it with the gun. Jack, the thoughts about tomorrow rushing through his head, walks to his bedroom and falls on the bed. He raises his hands to behind his head and a smile slowly rises on his face.

Jack
Tomorrow’s gonna be a busy day.

Scene 6 “Follow Through”

Jack wakes up at noon in anticipation of later in the day. He stalls himself in order to let more people through the store so that there will be more money in the cash register. At 6:00 PM he walks into the living room and picks up the revolver. He takes 6 rounds out of the ammo box and places them in the chamber of the weapon. He shuts and spins the chamber of the gun, laughing, as he places the remaining rounds, still in the box, in his pocket. He then picks up the sweater and puts it on. He puts the gun in the pocket of the sweater and walks through the front door towards the drug store.

Jack
No turning back now.

He arrives at the store and outside puts the hood over his head. He walks into the store and heads towards the back. He picks something out, doesn’t really matter, and goes up to the counter. He places the candy bar on the counter and when the cashier opens up the register he pulls the gun out.

Jack
Pointing the gun at the cashier’s head. Don’t move or push the alarm or I’ll put a hole right between your eyes. He smiles and reaches for the money. He stuffs his pockets and then starts filling a grocery bag with money he couldn’t fit in his pockets. You got a safe?

Person At Counter
Ye- yeah, please man don’t hurt me I got a wife and 2 ki-

Jack
If you follow my instructions you won’t get hurt. How much money is in the safe?

Person At Counter
Thr- Three-hundred dollars.

Jack
Good, open it and take the money out. The man turns around and uncovers a safe. He opens it and takes out the money. He turns around and hands it to Jack. Good, now…

Sirens echo in the distance and a look of horror flashes on Jack’s face. He turns to the person at the counter with a look of sadness on his face. The cashier’s face turns into a nervous sneer.

Person At Counter
I- I’m sorry man, I pushed the alarm when you walked into…

Jack
I TOLD YOU NOT TO TOUCH THE ALARM, DAMN YOU!

Jack raises the revolver, his hands shaking, and fires. The cashier’s face freezes into a look of surprise and his lifeless body slumps back onto the wall behind him. Blood runs down his face and drips to the floor. Jack comes out of his rage and looks at the corpse of the cashier leaning on the wall behind the cash register. His face is of shock and sadness.

Jack
I… killed him. I’m a murderer. He stumbles backward and falls on the floor. He drags himself to the far wall and tries to go further but he can’t. He gags a couple of times and then vomits onto the floor next to him, not able to stand looking at the dead cashier. He- he didn’t do anything, he just did what he was trained to do. He had a wife and two kids for God’s sake. He drops the gun in front of him and grabs his head with his hands. He shakes his head back and forth slowly and his eye catches the shine of the gun. He picks it up and looks at it. This is the answer, I can’t keep on living now, there’s no way. The first time was a fluke, that’s it. No miracle, there’s no way God would save me just so I could kill this innocent kid. The camera focuses on the dead cashier. I don’t deserve to go to Heaven, so it doesn’t matter if I kill myself or not.

Jack slowly moves his hands over the gun, seeming to admire it. He then turns the gun around and places it into his mouth. His hands are not shaking this time, he is no longer afraid to die. There is no hesitation this time, he quickly pulls the trigger. The screen cuts to black and then the gunshot is heard and rings out for a few seconds.