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BOOBY TRAP An original screenplay by Julius Welby
©J Welby 1993
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FADE IN: EXT. DRIVEWAY NIGHT A WOMAN wearing a red coat and black leather gloves gets into her car. She places a package on the passenger seat. It is a jiffy bag. On it is a typed label and a postage stamp. She starts the car and drives off. EXT. ROAD NIGHT She makes her way through quiet streets. She drives slowly and deliberately. The dashboard clock hits eight o’clock. She turns on the radio. RADIO REPORTER ...is expected to offer his resignation. Alex Bennett is no stranger to controversy. His recent statements on the issues of abortion and Northern Ireland were greeted with anger by many of his constituents. His latest attack on AIDS sufferers may well mark the end of an outspoken political career. The WOMAN pulls over to the side of the road. She stops the car and turns off the lights. EXT. STREET CORNER NIGHT The WOMAN picks up the package and gets out of the car. As she walks to a post-box the radio report continues. BENNETT These people are nothing but the victims of their own sexual perversions and drug abuse. The speech is drowned by the jeers of the House of Commons in full cry. The WOMAN posts the package. INT. BENNETT’S HALLWAY DAY A handful of letters is forced through the letter box. They land on a newspaper. On the front page is a picture of BENNETT, partly obscured by the jiffy bag. INT. BENNETT’S BATHROOM DAY BENNETT brushes his teeth with a perfectionist’s vigour. After a final rinse and spit he pulls a monogrammed robe around his belly and puts on a pair of leather slippers. He arranges his grey hair to camouflage his baldness. INT. BENNETT’S HALLWAY DAY BENNETT descends the stairs. Puffing with the effort, he stoops and picks up his mail and the paper. INT. BENNETT’S DINING ROOM DAY BENNETT enters carrying a tray. On it is a breakfast of boiled eggs, toast and tea. He arranges them next to the pile of letters on the table. The jiffy bag pokes out of the pile. He scans the paper and makes a start on the eggs. In the background we hear a quiet ticking. Finally, he looks at the letters. He picks up the jiffy bag. He opens it and reaches inside. Suddenly he yelps with pain. Pulling out his hand he sees a hypodermic syringe stuck deep into his right forefinger. BENNETT Jesus! He pulls out the needle. A bead of blood forms at the wound. He sucks his finger. The syringe still shows traces of its contents. A little blood remains in the barrel. The rest has been injected into BENNETT’S finger. He looks inside the jiffy bag. Carefully he retrieves a note. On it is written in large capitals ‘WELCOME TO THE AIDS CLUB’. Suddenly he understands. He tears his finger from his mouth and begins to spit violently. He looks at his finger as if it were a parasite. Whimpering, he bolts into the kitchen. INT. BENNETT’S KITCHEN DAY On the worktop is a thick wooden butcher’s block. BENNETT grabs a large knife from a draw. He lays his finger on the block and raises the knife. With a shriek of fear that turns into one of pain, he cuts off the finger with a single blow. BENNETT watches his blood spurt over the worktop. He grabs a kitchen roll and wraps his stump and then the rest of his hand in paper towel. BENNETT Bastards! In the living room the phone rings. INT. BENNETT’S LIVING ROOM DAY BENNETT stumbles into the room, still bleeding profusely. He staggers to the phone and grabs it with his left hand. BENNETT Help me! Get an ambulance. Quickly, I’m bleeding! CALLER Alex? What’s happened? What have you done? BENNETT falls to the floor unconscious. CALLER Alex! Alex! DISSOLVE TO: INT. HOSPITAL ROOM DAY BENNETT is lying very still. He is in bed in a clean, bright private room. Everything is peaceful. A MALE NURSE enters. MALE NURSE Mr Bennett... BENNETT wakes and remembers. He panics momentarily, but the sight of the NURSE and the room bring him back to the present. He falls back onto the pillows with blissful relief. BENNETT Thank God! MALE NURSE You’re OK now, Mr Bennett. How’s the hand feeling? BENNETT’S hand has been beautifully bandaged into a kind of mitt. The NURSE examines the dressing. MALE NURSE Mr Johnson did a wonderful job. You should end up with almost full use. It will take a while.... BENNETT Full use? MALE NURSE Full use of your finger. We managed to sew it back on. BENNETT'S face registers the shock. He inhales to scream. FADE OUT. |