DOCKERTY MEN S DOUBLES By MATTHEW LUNDY WRIT 203 Maureen Bradley Second Draft Tuesday, March 20, 2007
EXT. SCHOOL BRICK WALL DUSK DOCKERTY, 16, is standing in front of a large, expansive red brick wall which spans three stories, located at the back of a local school. Tosh is blindfolded and stripped to his white underwear. He places a mouthguard in his mouth. A tennis ball machine begins firing balls at his body. Some hit his body and the rest smack the brick wall with a great thwok. A voice (O.S.) calls out the number of each ball which is fired towards Tosh, finally stopping at ten. EXT. TENNIS COURT CLOSE ON nozzle of tennis ball machine. Machine begins firing. PULL BACK to Tosh, hitting the balls into the far court. Tosh moves gracefully, with little effort, returning the balls with fluid forehands and backhands. The balls are hit deep into the far court, often skimming the baseline. No balls are hit into the net, hit long, or wide. (V.O.) There s a lot of rules. That s what I like about the game. You gotta keep it in the lines. It s a little more difficult than it sounds. Sometimes your opponent has you on the run. You can t do much against someone who s better. You just play until they ve beaten you. That s how I was taught. The scoring confuses people too. I m not that good with numbers either - but the only ones you need to know are forty, thirty, and fifteen. And when you ve got nothing, it s called love. Tosh spots someone to the side of the court, standing by the bench. He stops hitting and walks over to the bench. He opens his backpack, passes a ziploc bag to the person and accepts some money which he stuffs in his backpack. The tennis ball machine continues firing balls at the open court. The balls bounce and roll into the fence which forms the perimeter.
2. INT. LIVING ROOM CLOSE ON bong, sitting on coffee table. A hand places a packed bowl in the bong. A flame is brought to the bowl, igniting the marijuana. The bowl is removed and the sounds of water bubbling and quick inhalation are present. PULL BACK to DOCKERTY, 45, exhaling large clouds of smoke. Jimmy is wearing a Hawaiian shirt and red Budweiser swim trunks. He lies back down on the couch. The living room has an assortment of couches, chairs, and tables which do not match. The furniture looks collected, rather than purchased at one time. The blinds are drawn and rays of light pinch through cracks, piercing the dark living room with strands of yellow. Jimmy picks up the remote. He points it towards the television, clicking repeatedly with his thumb. Blue frames flash and flicker on his face. A door to the house is heard opening, then closing. Footsteps are heard. Tosh walks through the living room, past his father, and exits through another entranceway. Neither Tosh nor Jimmy look at each other. Tosh drops a gym bag beside the couch before exiting. INT. BEDROOM Tosh begins ironing a series of white polo tennis shirts. Tosh s bedroom features a bookcase, books lined up by size, left to right. His desk is small and clean, except for a stack of paper in the centre and four pens lined up to the right. His single bed is made, sheets tucked tightly like a motel bed. Tosh stands next to trophy case mounted on his wall. The trophies are all large, but the smallest is featured prominently in the centre. CLOSE ON trophy, which reads: BEST DRESSED CAMPER - DOCKERTY. INT. LIVING ROOM Jimmy attempts to grab the bong and knocks it over, spilling the dirty bong water. The water runs along the hardwood floor. Jesus, Jimmy! Jimmy looks around the room. He spots Tosh s open gym bag and grabs a t-shirt. He then lowers to his knees and mops up the spilled water.
3. EXT. DECK Tosh and Jimmy are seated at a small table on their deck. They are eating hamburgers and cola from separate two-litre jugs. I guess I ll ask about your day. I moved up to #1 singles. Meaning? I play the top-ranked players at other schools. What about Jake? I seem to remember a strong second-serve if I m not mistaken. He s had a rough year. What do you guys call him? Smitty? Right. Why Smitty? Last name s Smith. Seems about right. (Pause) Hell of a player that kid. How bout Dan? Doesn t play anymore. Which leaves you. Which leaves me.
4. I ve got something for you. Jimmy reaches into his pocket and produces a small container. He places it next to Tosh s plate. I need a clean sample to use for the meeting in a couple days. This is the last one? Last parole meeting. Right. INT. KITCHEN Tosh stands by the kitchen sink, washing dishes. Jimmy walks in holding a sheet of paper. Can you believe this? 600-dollar hydro bill. Seems a bit high. You ve got some money for me, right? Yeah. It s in my bag. Have you been leaving the heat on in your room? It s summer. And it does cost a lot to heat the hot tub. Thanks. You just reminded me about something.
5. EXT. BACKYARD Tosh is standing with his father, both looking down into the hot tub. Tosh is holding a garbage bag. Do I get gloves? The heat kills the germs. It looks pretty cold. Tosh roots around the surface of the water. That s a dirty condom. Still garbage. Is that ladies underwear? Looks soggy. Are you going to return them? You know the drill. Tosh pauses, then picks the underwear from the hot tub and throw them in the garbage bag. INT. BEDROOM NIGHT Tosh is lying down next to his bed doing sit-ups. Jimmy walks and Tosh sits up. You ve got that money, right? Tosh gets up off the floor, finds his backpack, opens the bag, then hands Jimmy a wad of money and a sack of marijuana. (holding sack and looking at it) (MORE)
6. (cont d) What s this? The marijuana you gave me at the beginning of the week. You haven t moved the package yet? The tournament s in two days. What am I supposed to do with this? Huh? Move it yourself? Move it myself? Great fuckin plan. You know I m not allowed to do that. This is on you. How much did you move? An ounce. An ounce. A fucking ounce! I can t believe it. Jimmy counts the wad of money. And you re twenty short! Jesus, you can t count? I m sorry. I thought I got it right this time. Get the balls. What? Get twenty balls!
7. Why so many? One ball for each dollar missing! You know this! You never go past ten. You ll break me. You broke yourself. EXT. TENNIS COURT CLOSE ON Tosh s face. He has a bruise under his right eye and his face is slightly swollen. PULL BACK to show full court. A tennis ball machine fires a ball at him. Tosh responds by ripping a forehand winner. INT. BEDROOM Tosh walks into his bedroom, closes the door behind him, and tosses his bag on the floor. Tosh looks up at his wall. The trophy case is empty. He begins looking around his room. He drops to his knees and looks under the bed. He scrambles to his closet, opens it, but no trophies. He looks around, searching for other possibilities. Tosh then walks quickly to leave the room. Before opening the door to leave, he spots a post-it note on the door. He picks it off the door. It reads: "Needed to pay the bills. Melted your trophies. I did send you to those camps after all. Jimmy." INT. LIVING ROOM Tosh quickly enters the living room, then stops immediately. He stares at the bong, standing tall on the coffee table. He considers it for a few moments. Tosh sits on the couch. He opens the tupperware container of marijuana that rests on the coffee table, takes a small amount, then packs the bowl. He lights the marijuana and takes a hit. He coughs violently as he exhales. His eyes begin to water. Once he regains his breath, he takes another hit. He begins coughing again.
8. INT. KITCHEN Jimmy enters the kitchen wearing an old, tattered, grey suit. He looks in his reflection of the microwave window, brushes his hair behind his ears with his hand, then fixes the knot of his tie. Jimmy walks over to the fridge, opens it, then pulls out a small, plastic container of urine. He shuts the fridge door and exits the house. EXT. BACKYARD Jimmy sits in the hot tub. He takes the last sip from his bottle of beer. He steps out of the hot tub and walks up the deck and opens the door to the kitchen. INT. KITCHEN Jimmy opens the fridge and grabs another bottle of beer. He spots a red blinking light on the answering machine. He presses play. INT. CAR DUSK Jimmy drives their car. Tosh sits in the passenger seat. COACH PATTERSON(V.O.) Mr. Dockerty. Tony Patterson here, Tosh s tennis coach. I regret to inform you that Tosh has been asked to leave our tennis team. He tested positive for marijuana. We ll have to forfeit his results from yesterday s tournament. Damn shame too, he s a hell of a player. But you know that. If you ve got any questions, you can reach me at the school after the weekend. EXT. SCHOOL BRICK WALL DUSK The tennis ball machine is set up in its usual position. Tosh and Jimmy stand in front of the brick wall. Why has the last moment gotta be like this?
9. There shouldn t have been a last moment. You took my time into your hands. You took my trophies. I worked for those trophies. I paid for those trophies. It could have been a lot better than this. You re right - but you gave me a dirty sample instead. I ll be getting the call soon. But not yet. CUT TO: Tosh stands in front of the brick wall, wearing only his underwear and a blind fold. He places the mouthguard in. Jimmy begins firing balls at Tosh s body, no longer counting numbers out loud. CUT TO: Tosh is lying on the ground, still in his underwear. A heap of clothing is beside him. He removes the blindfold from his eyes and looks around. He picks himself up off the ground and begins pulling clothes on his body. EXT. BACKYARD Tosh peers down into the grungy hot tub, staring intently, holding a garbage bag at his side. He picks a pair of swim trunks out of the water, which drip heavily. The swim trunks say Budweiser across the front and back. Tosh considers them and puts them in the garbage bag before walking away.
10. EXT. PARK CLOSE ON Tosh s face, on the opposite side of the fence, fingers clawed through the wire meshing. His face is obscured. He stares ahead for a few moments. (V.O.) When you ve got nothing, it s called love. He leaves the frame before several balls, one after another, hit the fencing (O.S.), causing it to ripple and shake.