Black Coffee
A short film script
By Karlos Wayne
INT LUNA´S ROOM MORNING
Luna sleeps. The morning light enters the room through the window. On the wall there are a couple of romantic movie posters. She still looks like a teenager, but she is her early twenties. On the bed side table there are a pair of scissors and a bunch of printed pictures of Luna with Scott, all of them with the boy’s head cut out. On the floor, next to the bed, a pair of blue jeans and a red T-shirt with a bull, rouged away. Luna opens her eyes and when she picks up the phone to check the time, the alarm goes off. She gets up, takes the clothes off the floor, smells them and she notices the ring she is wearing. She throws the dirty clothes in a basket and goes to the shower.
EXT LUNA´S DOOR MORNING
Luna leaves her home, she wears a nice summer dress, it’s a beautiful day, she looks happy. On the street there is a homeless person, packing up his stuff into a shopping trolley. He looks at her and she smiles at him, she gives him some coins and continues walking. The man looks at the coins with disgust and throws them angrily. The coins roll down the street until they fall into a sewer.
INT LUNA´S CAR DAY
Luna is driving and tapping the wheel with her fingertips, following the rhythm of the music from the car’s radio.
EXT PUB´S DOOR DAY
Luna keeps driving and she passes a nightclub that it is now closed.
FADE INTO
EXT PUB´S DOOR NIGHT
The door´s club is now open and lots of people waits patiently to be let inside, there is a very long queue. Inside the club the DJ plays the same song Luna heard in the car but the disco version.
INT BAR NIGHT
Luna is at the bar, with a cigarette in her hand and a drink in front of her. She is wearing the blue jeans and the red t-shirt with the bull on it. She looks very sad. She puts down the cigarette inside the drink.
DANNY
That’s a mistake and you know it.
LUNA
Excuse me?
DANNY
What you´re thinking. It’s a mistake and you know it.
LUNA
The fuck you know what I’m thinking?
Leave me alone…
DANNY
I assumed that the cigarette was you …
Luna looks at the cigarette drowned in the glass.
LUNA
Yeah, well… Piss off…
A waitress, Elaine, stands in front of Danny, smiles at him.
ELEINE
What are you having?
Danny looks at her with a shy smile and Elaine feels a bit awkward …
ELEINE
Do I… know you from somewhere?
DANNY
From another life? Maybe?
ELEINE
Sure …
Elaine walks away, awkwardly. Danny turns back to Luna, but she is gone. Danny looks at the cigarette drowned in Luna´s drink.
EXT BUS STOP NIGHT
Luna is sitting at a bus stop. Over her red t-shirt with a bull, she wears a leather jacket. She has been crying. Carefully with the side of her finger tries to fix her mascara in her eyes and she notices the ring in her finger. At that moment a homeless person passes by pushing a supermarket trolley full of stuff, clearing his throat to grab her attention. Luna sees him, looks back at her ringl and walks over to him. She gives him the ring and walks away. The homeless sees her leaving and smiles, he takes a leather pouch from his old and dirty coat and opens it. Inside the little pouch there are dozens of different rings. He is about to put the new ring inside when Danny appears behind him pushes him and the man fells over. Danny takes the ring, spits in his face and runs away.
EXT PALACE PIER NIGHT
Luna is leaning on the railing, looking down at the raging sea in fear.
DANNY
Hi, remember me?
Luna jumps. She didn’t even hear him come over. She has to hold on hard to the rail, afraid to fall down.
LUNA
Fuck! Fuck! Are you insane? I
told you to leave me alone.
You’re not getting this, are you?
I’m not looking for company.
DANNY
I guess not, but maybe you want someone to talk to …
LUNA
To talk to? Talk about what?
DANNY
I don’t know. You to tell me. Life? The cigarette in your drink
LUNA
Ok, listen… I don’t know who you are, Ok? I don’t like you
Do you understand that? And I want to be alone. So?
DANNY
My name is Danny, the last thing I want
here is to make you like me and you´re going
to keep feeling alone whether I’m here or not…
LUNA
Are you drunk?
DANNY
Nooo, I can’t drink …
LUNA
Right … Ok, let’s talk.
DANNY
Why did you put out the cigarette in your drink?
LUNA
Tobacco seriously damages your health, did you know that?
DANNY
Your health you mean…
LUNA
My health, yes. And if something hurts me, I stop it. Period.
DANNY
And if what hurts you is … everything?
LUNA
Ok, we talked.
Luna starts to walks away, but Danny grabs her gently by her arm. They both face each other. Luna tries to hold back her tears.
DANNY
Talk to me! You have nothing to lose…
Luna cries.
LUNA
I know I have nothing to lose because
I have nothing! Happy? I’ve got nothing…
EXT SEAFRONT NIGHT
Luna and Danny are sitting on the floor, by the seafront. She is calmer now and he is the one looking worried.
LUNA
So, you are one of those people who
believes that we are all energy,
the reincarnation and all this shit?
DANNY
Yes, but don’t worry, this is not
what I came to talk to you about …
LUNA
Stop that! What do you mean you came?
To talk to me? You don’t know me! Oh, of course.
Fuck! Listen, you can tell Scott to go fuck himself…
I’m such an idiot!
Luna is about to get up and leave, but Danny stops her.
DANNY
I don’t know any Scott!
I don’t know you either,
You are right about that,
but you’re about to lose something
that you will never get back
and I need to warn you…
LUNA
Warn me about what?
I’m not comfortable with this
conversation. I told you that
I want to be alone …
DANNY
Listen to me please.
I don’t have much time …
Disappointments, suffering, misfortunes,
all this is part of this game.
Look at it as your training.
And in the future, you will look
back and you’ll be thankful.
LUNA
Sure. And I’ll be thankful to who? To Scott?
DANNY
To God.
LUNA
Right-o, and here I go.
Luna gets up this time and walks away, laughing.
DANNY
Please wait! Listen to what I have to say and then you can leave and do what you want, but first listen to me, please! I’m begging you …
LUNA
You’ve got two minutes.
DANNY
Thank you.
Suddenly Danny feels a strong pain in his stomach and he falls to his knees.
LUNA
Are you ok?
DANNY
Yes, I have to go, I …
Danny collapses and Luna looks around for help, but there is no one to be seen. She gets down to him, tries to wake him up, but he is unconscious. Luna grabs him by his armpits and pulls him back to where they were sitting minutes ago. She leans his back against a wall and sits with him, lighting a cigarette. Danny wakes up dazed.
LUNA
Feeling better? Are you sure you haven’t drink anything?
Danny is shaking. Luna takes off her jacket and she covers him with it.
DANNY
Am I still here? I have to go, no … no, I need to talk to you
LUNA
You don’t have to talk to me. You don’t have to tell me anything because you don’t know me, you have no idea of what I’m going through. And even if I explained that to you, you wouldn’t understand.
DANNY
No, you don’t understand. Whatever he does, this Scott of yours, his name is Scott, right? He will continue to live his life… Leaving all this behind is not going to help you, not now let alone in your next life.
LUNA
Will you stop talking about my next life? Can’t you see how crazy you sound? Besides, I don’t believe in that and even if I do, it won’t change a thing. My life is horrendous pile of shit.
DANNY
Well, guess what? You have chosen it! You have put your friends where they are, your enemies .. You have put Scott in your life to make this happen to you. Your parents … Everything!
LUNA
My parents? So, did I choose my parents?
DANNY
That’s right.
LUNA
Well, surprise, surprise… I screwed it there, too …
DANNY
Ok, try to see it this way, all this is nothing but a test. Before you were born, you prepared everything to take this test, this test that you have assigned to yourself and you also decided everything that will help you to get through it.
LUNA
So, before birth, you know everything that is going to happen to you.
DANNY
Not exactly. You know what the test is about, you know what the outcome needs to be. Then you put obstacles along the way to learn from them and use the new knowledge to get the test right.
LUNA
Well, that’s bullshit.
DANNY
It’s not bullshit, because if you don’t pass the test, you repeat the same life again and again.
LUNA
Well, I hope you don’t mind if I don’t believe you …
DANNY
You don’t have to, that’s not important. The important thing is that you need to be aware that life is nothing more than a game! And whether you win or lose, the prize is the same.
LUNA
And the prize is …
DANNY
That depends on your beliefs. For you it would be to die and that’s it. But you are going to come back, again and again. And if you keep doing the same mistakes, if don’t learn from them and keep going, the game will start a vicious circle for all the Eternity.
Danny starts throwing stones at a bottle on the ground without actually hitting it.
LUNA
Well, I don’t like that game …
DANNY
You have no choice, you decided to play.
LUNA
No, I didn’t. If my parents hadn’t kicked me out … Oh, wait, I chose them, right?
DANNY
When you die it is because you have passed the test successfully and you go to the next one or because you can no longer do anything to pass it and you need to repeat the same life all over again.
LUNA
Ok, what if you decide not to play?
DANNY
You have no choice, you´re already playing!
LUNA
You can … kill yourself.
At that moment Danny hits the bottle with a stone and breaks it into a thousand pieces. Awkward silence. Danny gets up.
DANNY
I have to go.
LUNA
You’re leaving now?
DANNY
Yes, I live quite far away and I don’t feel very well …
Danny loses consciousness again.
INT LUNA´S CAR NIGHT
Danny wakes up, confused. He is sitting in Luna´s car.
DANNY
Am I still here?
LUNA
Yes, are you sure you haven’t drink anything?
DANNY
I have to go, I can’t be out when the sun rises …
LUNA
Who are you, Lestat, the vampire?
DANNY
Seriously, I have to go…
Danny tries to get out of the car but he feels too dizzy. He seems really scared.
LUNA
Where do you live? I’ll give you a lift.
DANNY
Far away from here…
LUNA
It’s ok, I’ll take you…
EXT DANNY FRONT DOOR HOUSE NIGHT
Luna and Danny arrive at the street where he lives. Danny is feeling very poorly, his face is pale, he seems very weak and he finds very hard to get out of the car by himself. Luna gets out of the car and helps him. They both walk to a house, Danny opens the door without a key, he looks at her with love and tries to smile.
LUNA
Who are you?
DANNY
My name is Danny and I really have to go …
LUNA
My name is Luna.
DANNY
Look, life is like coffee, it’s dark and it’s bitter. But just by putting a little sugar and a little bit of milk, it becomes sweet and clear.
LUNA
You are so weird …
DANNY
Please remember, this it is just a game.
Danny takes her hands, kisses her on the cheek and walks inside his home with difficulty. Luna looks at her hands and realizes that Danny has put in her finger the ring she gave to the homeless man earlier in the night. Luna walks to the car and feels a light breeze, then she notices that she is not wearing her jacket. She looks back at Danny’s house and see a light inside switch off. Luna smiles, returns to the car, starts it and looks again at the ring in her finger as she grabs the wheel. She then drives away.
EXT DANNY FRONT DOOR HOUSE DAY
Luna stops the car in front of Danny´s house, she gets out and walks to the door of Danny’s house. She uses the palm of her hands to smooth her dress, nervously. She knocks and seconds later a lady in her sixties opens the door, smiling.
MOTHER
Hello, Can I help you?
LUNA
(Nervously, in Spanish)
Good morning, last night I was with your son and since he was not feeling well he borrowed my jacket and I came to pick it up. Is he feeling any better?
MOTHER
I’m sorry darling, but I don’t understand a word …
LUNA
No … Do you speak Spanish?
MOTHER
No, I’m afraid not. But if you keep speaking in English …
LUNA
Oh, I’m sorry, I… I’m Danny’s friend.
MOTHER
Oh dear! Hello! I thought you were selling something … Please, please come on in!
Danny’s mother walks into the house and Luna has no choice but to follow her.
INT DANNY´S LIVING ROOM DAY
Danny´s mother arrives at the living room followed by Luna, she points at a small armchair.
MOTHER
Sit down, please, I just made
some coffee. Will you join me?
Luna sits in an armchair. She looks around and see a huge amount of framed photos on a dresser. He gets up and goes closer to see them. All of them are from Danny, at all different ages. She grabs one where Danny and Elaine are in a bar with some friends behind.
MOTHER
Here we are! Sorry, what was your name, again? I’m terrible with names.
LUNA
Luna, my name is Luna. That means Moon.
Eh … where? Where is …
MOTHER
Is very strange, he never told me about any
Spanish friend, you are Spanish, right?
LUNA
I am, yes. But I wouldn’t say we are really close friends, you know? So, is he feeling better?
MOTHER
Who? Me?
LUNA
No, I mean, Danny, Is he…
MOTHER
My Daniel? Oh God! You didn’t know?
Oh darling! I thought you were here for the anniversary…
LUNA
I … I don’t understand … Where is Danny?
What … What anniversary? Danny is not here?
Danny’s mother gets up, takes one of the photos from the dresser where she and Danny are smiling in front of the Brighton Pier and sits in front of Luna.
MOTHER
I have to admit that I never believed
in love, well, at least not like in the movies.
Maybe because I have never been in love,
I don’t know… The thing is that my Daniel did.
And he fell like that, just like in the movies. But not her.
Anyway, is not fair to put all this on her.
They were so young, what would they know?
EXT SEAFRONT DAY
While we hear the mother, we see Danny with a bottle in his hand walking in a zig zag and crying along the seafront. The homeless man is sitting on the pavement. Danny approaches him, takes a last drink from the bottle and hands it to the man. He takes off the ring he has on his finger, gives it to him, and walks away. The homeless man empties the bottle on the floor and puts it between his things. From the inside of his old and rusty coat he takes out a small leather pouch, opens it and we see that it is full of rings. He puts Danny’s inside and puts the pouch back smiling, satisfied.
EXT BEACH DAY
Danny walks into the sea. Gradually we lose sight of him. Moments later Danny’s shirt washes ashore.
INT DANNY´S LIVING ROOM DAY
Danny’s mother puts the photo back in its place and start crying. Luna, crying too, hold her hands.
LUNA
Where is he?
EXT CEMETERY DAY
Luna is walking and looking around from side to side, she is very upset. Suddenly something in front of her makes her to stop abruptly. She starts to cry and her ring falls down from her hand. In front of her, among other gravestones, is Danny’s, with the jacket she lent him on top of it.
