Night falls and brings a dancing blizzard. I sit in my room and listen to the wind blow snow against the house. It’s warm under the blankets, and I pick up the yellow notepad that I keep by my bed. The monsters in my posters wait patiently while I get into a comfortable writing position. The muscle in my calf twists, and I suck air through my teeth, but it’s only a fleeting pain. Across the room, the crack in my closet door watches me too. And that’s fine. My parents’ footsteps beat softly on the ceiling above me.
After some deliberation, I write this down:
INT: DETECTIVE RAIMI’S HOUSE, DAY
RAIMI kicks open the door to his house, gun drawn and ready to go. He looks slightly delirious: a loose cannon. The handheld camera follows him from room to room as he searches frantically for his wife, SISSY.
RAIMI
Sissy! Where are you baby?
RAIMI runs upstairs and kicks through the door to his bedroom. Inside the room, TED is holding SISSY with a knife to her throat. He laughs and SISSY struggles to get free.
RAIMI
(Struggling to control his rage) Listen Ted, you don’t have to do this.
TED
You’re right, I didn’t have to do this. I gave you the chance. But you fucked it up. Now, you’re going to watch as I cut up your little wifey in front of your eyes! (He draws a sliver of blood from SISSY’S neck)
RAIMI
Wait! Look. (He raises his hands to show no gun) You’re right, you’ve always been right.
TED
(Stops cutting) What are you talking about?
RAIMI
Like you said: we’re not different, you and I.
TED’s smile wavers.
RAIMI (Cont’d)
I have been lying to myself: I’ve been thinking about nothing but myself, about my job, when all you needed was someone to care. To show affection. To be a brother.
TED
Well, it doesn’t mean anything now.
RAIMI
You mean you’re not interested in being me? (Beat) Because I could definitely use a break.
TED
From being you?
RAIMI
Exactly.
TED
Well, what do you suggest?
RAIMI
Why don’t we team up? I can be you and you can be me! You commit the crimes and I’ll hunt you. Or the other way around! We’ll BOTH be famous. Don’t you see? We’ll show how big of a joke this fucking police force is.
TED
I don’t know.
RAIMI
And it might even be fun. Think of it: WE ARE THE SAME. We’ll split it all 50/50. The fame. The notoriety. And you wouldn’t be doing it alone this time, you’ll have a partner.
TED thinks about it and lowers the blade from SISSY’S throat, who has been squealing the entire time. RAIMI has hit something deep inside TED, who is dealing with the conflict. We do this with a slow zoom in on TED’S face.
TED
Do you really mean that? Brother?
CUT TO: RAIMI, who has pulled his revolver out.
RAIMI
No. And don’t call me brother.
RAIMI fires a round and hits TED directly in the shoulder, sending him spinning. Blood sprays across the wall. SISSY flees from his grasp and into RAIMI’S arms.
TED
(Gasping) What are you doing? You’re top cop! You can’t lay a finger on me!
RAIMI cocks his gun.
TED (cont’d)
Wait, no, you can’t do this!
RAIMI
Yes I can. Consider this my retirement.
RAIMI fires the gun and blows TED’S brains all over the wall. SISSY says something and RAIMI says something else. They kiss. They wrap it up. Credits roll.
THE END
I place the pencil on the nightstand and read the last two words over again.
Next spring, if I’m all healed up, I’ll finish filming it. I look to the motionless camera sitting on my dresser and think, Yeah, definitely next spring.
The wind blows. No one walks around upstairs. By now everyone has gone to sleep. I place the notepad on the nightstand and reach out for the switch on my lamp. I stop. Something scratches on the window from outside. I roll out of bed and limp to the window.
Boot prints litter the snow. They come from the road, up to my window, and disappear out into the night. A cautious minivan inches past my house, but the headlights don’t reveal anything.
I go to bed and let the light from the street shine through the smiley face scratched into the frost of my window.