* This is a fictionalized account of some shit that actually happened. All the names, locations, etc. have been changed to protect the innocent as well as the guilty. – JG *
INTERIOR – NEEDLE TRAX – DAY
Griffin and Hoover do the record store hunch, flipping through the racks at Needle Trax, looking for treasures. “Jim” sits up front at the register reading a copy of Goldmine magazine.
HOOVER
Find anything?
Griffin holds up James Brown’s Live at the Apollo, Vol. 1.
HOOVER
Nice! How much?
GRIFFIN
10 bucks. It’s worth it.
HOOVER
No doubt.
GRIFFIN
You?
Hoover holds up Love’s best of, “Love Revisited”.
GRIFFIN
Wait, isn’t that mostly “Forever Changes”?
HOOVER
I don’t own “Forever Changes”!
GRIFFIN
Well, then, holy shit, get that!
HOOVER
I will!
They each go back to their individual flipping.
HOOVER
(without looking up)
So, what do you think is going on,
Griffin?
GRIFFIN
(also without looking up)
I don’t know, man.
HOOVER
Are you scared?
GRIFFIN
(pauses)
I don’t know. Should I be? (looks up)
Are you scared, Hoover?
HOOVER
(looks up)
Yeah, kind of. I’m not sure either. It’s too
easy to just say that we’re being irrational
and it’s just a coincidence that all this is
happening at once. I’ll tell you, man, it sure
doesn’t feel like a coincidence.
GRIFFIN
(shivers)
I know. It definitely feels weird, like...
something’s wrong.
HOOVER
Yeah. Yeah.
GRIFFIN
Like there’s no way that I could, like, prove
that the suicides were connected...
Jim’s ears perk up at the mention of suicide.
GRIFFIN
...and it’s not typical depressed teenager shit.
HOOVER
Right, but then why didn’t any of them leave
a note?
GRIFFIN
I know! And there’s no reason why someone
would want Hannah dead. And there’s no reason
for Jeremy Janks to kill his whole family.
HOOVER
(sighs)
It just doesn’t make sense.
GRIFFIN
Hey, I never got to ask you: did you think there
was something really, like, genuinely weird in
Snakeland that day or did we just freak ourselves
out?
Jim almost says something at “Snakeland” but stops himself.
HOOVER
Well, you and D-Man certainly freaked yourselves
out.
GRIFFIN
(winces)
Yeah, I know, but didn’t you think it was weird?
HOOVER
Yeah. All kidding aside, it was really freaky.
The cat fighting the rat was totally weird,
especially after that dream.
GRIFFIN
Especially after that dream.
Neither says anything for a few moments. Jim keeps looking at them.
HOOVER
Well, you wanna check out?
GRIFFIN
Yeah, let’s go.
Jim pretends to be busy reading as Hoover and Griffin place their stacks on the counter.
JIM
All set?
HOOVER and GRIFFIN
Yeah.
Jim looks both stacks over.
JIM
Tell you what, guys: gimme 10 bucks each
and we’re square.
Griffin and Hoover look at each other, shrug and laugh.
HOOVER and GRIFFIN
Okay! Sure!
Jim checks them both out, puts the stacks in two separate bags and hands them over.
JIM
Here you go, guys.
HOOVER
Thanks!
GRIFFIN
Yeah, thanks a lot!
They dash out. Jim sits alone in the empty record store.
JIM
(to himself)
It’s happening again.
CUT TO:
