Chapter 45
SCENE I
(A random shithole—night. Gunshots outside. Sounds like a real party out there. It’s dark and quiet in this room, though. At least until a door opens and light floods in.)
SOME DUDE WITH A GOATEE:
Fuck.
(A YOUNGER KID in a hoodie enters too and stops dead. GOATEE DUDE skids over to you and pats you down.)
YOUNGER KID:
He’s not—shot, is he?
GOATEE DUDE:
I don’t see anything. But he’s not breathing right for some reason. (to you) Get up, asshole! It’s me, Nick. I didn’t go through all this shit so you could die on me. (to YOUNGER KID) Don’t just stand there! You insisted on coming. Now help.
(YOUNGER KID sinks down at your side. He pries open one of your eyes and sucks in a breath.)
YOUNGER KID:
I think he took something. His pupils are tiny.
NICK:
Seriously? The Aces are sick. Shit. Shit.
YOUNGER KID:
I—have a Narcan kit. In the truck.
NICK:
Why the fuck do you have—Never mind. Get it, if you want your brother to live.
(YOUNGER KID exits the room. The gunshots start dying down; sirens replace them. NICK shakes you again.)
NICK:
Wake up. Tell me to go to hell. Punch me in the face. Breathe. Holy shit, why aren’t you breathing?
(The scene begins fading to black as YOUNGER KID reenters the room, this time holding a grey bag.
NICK dumps the contents on the ground. The scene becomes so dark you can’t see what he’s doing, at least until he plunges a needle into your arm.
The scene brightens suddenly. Brighter than before.
A blond girl enters, pale and tight-lipped.)
BLOND CHICK:
Is he—
NICK:
No. Do we have an exit strategy?
BLOND CHICK:
Only through the cops. You know what’s gonna happen if they find him here. And we’re toast, too.
(There’s a long pause as they all digest that. Then, suddenly, BLOND CHICK moves back to the door.)
NICK:
What’re you doing?
BLOND CHICK:
I’m gonna distract them. Get him out.
NICK:
Zohra! Wait!
(But she’s gone. After a moment, NICK turns back to you. The scene begins fading again.)
NICK:
He’s going again. Do you have another dose?
(YOUNGER KID gives it to him. NICK fumbles with the packaging.)
NICK:
You know, your brother said he’d kill me if I ever came near you. Let’s hope he gets the chance.
YOUNGER KID:
You’re the one who put out a call for people to look for him.
NICK:
Well, I didn’t mean you. I never even wanted to know you existed. God, is fucking up in your genes or something? You should walk away from all this. Now I have to blacklist your name to everybody I know, so you never get a job with us. And hope he never asks me about you ever again.
(YOUNGER KID doesn’t reply. He just cradles your head in his arms. There are shouts from outside, the squealing of tires.)
YOUNGER KID:
Do—do you think that’s our people—
NICK:
Guess we’re about to find out. Let’s go.
(You don’t hear anything else.)