SYNOPSIS:

Type: Series-Comedy Plot: Four friends all work together at a local “Service Master” (Carpet Cleaner-Emergency Residence Restoration Company), and work in some of the worst possible jobs in America. Mold covered basements, fire-water damage homes, any emergency that a home may have, this crew has to come in and take care of as a daily job, along with being “on call” 24-7. The crew, two Mexican Americans, and two Caucasians work in the middle of America (Iowa) and have some of the worst, unqualified bosses to put up with, along with customers who do not care what the toll of the job takes on each crew members body, along with low pay, and long hours. (Mold, asbestos, chemicals, work etc.) The entire crew, is a motley crew of failures in their own lives, and have all somehow managed to come together, and work under the same roof, in an uncharacteristically family like atmosphere. The employees rip off customers, turn their bosses in for illegal dumping, and find themselves living a “new” lifestyle according to their new jobs, as “Service Men”. (This is based off my own experiences, working for “Service Master” with two of my closest friends, Juan and Ed Arreola. We all three, share the same birthday, just years apart. No joke. February 25th.)

"SERVICE MONKEY'S"

“Service Monkey’s” Pilot Episode Mick’s alarm buzzes at 7:30 am; half awake and still slightly drunk from the night before, he rushes to get ready for work. Grabbing his wallet, cell phone, keys, coffee, and most importantly the weed, he rushes out the door, leaving the coffee pot on. Rushing out of his grandmother’s basement, and into the garage, Mick doesn’t notice her signaling him from the kitchen doorway. In the driveway Mick jumps into his truck, and pulls out of the lonely farmhouse driveway, and speeds toward town. 7:30 am (Across town) Juan sleeps in a deep serenity three hours into his full night of sleep. Snoring like a chainsaw, his large size stretched in every direction, is too much for the single frame mattress. Scattered across the room are random bags of marijuana, empty cigarette boxes, ash trays littered with discarded cigarettes and random empty baggies. Every counter space littered with $5 and $10 amounts of marijuana that dust collects idly on. The window, covered with a blue blanket, the Iowa overcast morning already a dull grey, and his room almost pitch black, except for the blue hue covering everything in the room. Taking every back road, Mick loads a preemptive bowl, and watches for any random police cars parked waiting for speeders. Mick’s daily routine consists of calling Juan’s cell phone, before being forced to physically wake him. Knowing full well it does nothing to wake the sleeping beast, he calls anyway, every morning, thinking there’s always hope that TODAY will be the day Juan will be up and waiting for me. 7:56 am (Across town) Juan’s cell phone vibrates on the counter across the room, making a loud enough noise to wake Juan enough to turn off his alarm clock setting inches away from his face. Juan rolls over, grunting, his lips smack as he wets his mouth, before resuming his snoring. His phone vibrates, as Mick leaves a message. (Mick listening to Juan’s voicemail: “Hey, this is Juan, you know who you got, you know what to do….” (Beep!) Mick: “JO-HN! You’re a son-of-a-bitch, and I hate you.” (Click) Mick cuts across Fairfield’s main road, and continues towards Juan’s house, as his cell phone goes off. “Dave.” The boss man, or owner of “Service Men: Cleaning and Construction”. Mick: “Aw-www shit…” (Eyeing the phone as he spots a parked police cruiser 200 yards away.) “Dave Simpson”: A lifelong servant to the greater Fairfield area, and “Service Men: Cleaning and Construction”, Dave is a hardworking, devout-religious lunatic. Dave is known as “the crazy guy who waves, at everyone” across Fairfield. What the town doesn’t know is that the years of improper chemical storage and usage, have taken their toll on Dave’s brain, as his short-term memory is worse than that of his stoner employees. Dave has no clue that Mick, Juan, his own son John, and every other employee has a healthy drug habit. Clueless, just the same, Dave has managed to keep his company afloat for over 20 years. Mick: “Yeah Dave…” Dave: “Ah…Mick…. (Hah hah)….you know that dang-nabit Miller house….ahh…. (hah hah)…I want….let’s see…I want YOU…and Juan…to go and finish up there…if you can…ah…” Mick: “Dave, we JUST started that fire damaged house YESTERDAY! There were three floors of smoke damage, let alone moving all that guy’s stuff.” Mick cradles the bowl in between his legs, as he passes a parked police cruiser. Mick waves nervously smiling at the staring officers, trying to focus on Dave’s conversation. Dave: “Oh shoot! That’s right. Ah….ok…go ahead, do that, and give me a call around noon…let me know…well…why don’t you grab John, and have him head out with you?” Mick: (Looking nervously in the rear view for the police car) “Listen Dave, I still have to wake the human coma patent…if I have to get John, I won’t BE THERE till noon. I’ll get Juan, and get out to Miller’s. Do not, I repeat, DO NOT put John with us today.” Dave: (Nervously laughing) “(Hah-hah)….why don’t you want John there with you guys?” Mick: “Because I want to get the job done.” Mick hangs up before Dave can respond, as he pulls up to Juan’s trailer. Juan’s snooping neighbor, Jane, is out watering her flowers. Jane mutters, “Not this again.” Mick smiles at her, as he begins pounding on the outside wall of Juan’s trailer. Jane is heard complaining, as Mick turns his back on her, and calls Juan’s cell phone. Mick stops long enough to hear Juan’s cell phone vibrate on the other side of the thin trailer wall. Jane continues to complain, until Mick hushes Jane with a finger, who cannot “believe his nerve”. Mick continues to pound on the wall, looking directly at Jane, until she storms back in her trailer. Mick calls Juan’s phone again, timing the vibrations coming from inside, to coincide with his pounds from outside. Mick: (Yelling into cupped hands on Juan’s trailer) “Wake the FUCK-UP you fat bastard! We have a JOB to go do and IF YOU DON’T WAKE UP WE’LL HAVE TO WORK WITH JOHN…..ALL-DAY-LONG!” Mick pounds one more time, as Juan get ups reaching for the vibrating phone. Stumbling over to the phone, his eyes still closed, Juan answers the phone instinctively. Juan: (Breathing deep, in a deep-cigarette scarred voice) “Mmmmm…..hello?” Less than 2 feet away, Mick screams into his phone, “WAKE-UP! Miller’s house! John! Let’s GO!” Juan pulls back the blue towel, confused by hearing Mick on his phone and outside at the same time. Juan makes eye contact with Mick and asks into the phone, “Who is THIS?” Shooting Mick a half awake smile, Juan closes the curtain and heads to unlock the front door, still in only his boxers, he continues to talk to Mick on his cell phone on his way to the kitchen. (Mick has already hung up at this point.) Juan: “So what do we got today?” Mick enters the front door, and instantly blurts out, “Miller’s house, if we don’t hurry, we have to work with John today! Get dressed!” Juan: (With his back turned to Mick, still talking to Mick on his cell phone.) “How do you know what I’m wearing?” Juan turns around, again in confusion. Mick and Juan both realize how out of it Juan is, as Juan tries to hide his cell phone in his boxers. Mick (Eyeing Juan, almost laughing) “Uh-huh….Listen “pooh-bear” if you DO NOT get dressed and get out that door, we will be stuck with John….I’m not sure if you got the memo or not?” Juan: (As he begins to look for a lighter) “Yeah…I heard…” Mick: “Well, WHY aren’t you getting DRESSED?!” Juan (Lighting a cigarette) “Calm down LITTLE MAN.” (Exhaling his first inhale like it’s the greatest relief) “We got time…it’s only…8:20….you KNOW John won’t be awake for another 30 minutes.” Just as Juan calms Mick, by coincidence John calls Mick’s cell. Mick wide eyes the cell, then shows Juan with all the intensity he can muster to rush the half awake Mexican to get dressed and out the door. Juan rushes to his room, getting dressed Mick grabs all of Juan’s things he will need, as Juan tries to find his clean Service Men shirt. Mick grabs Juan’s cigarettes, a lighter, his cell phone, Juan’s wallet, Juan’s keys, and most importantly Juan’s “stash can”. (Coca-Cola can hollowed out to conceal drug paraphernalia) Juan is seen rushing his clothes on, grabbing his hat, and boots as Mick is already loading his truck with Juan’s things. Juan pats himself down, looking around confused, at all the things he’s missing, and then notices Mick waving him from outside his truck. Mick’s phone goes off again, John, again. Again Mick ignores, trying to rush Juan. Just as Juan reaches the door, he notices its trash day. Juan holds up the “one second” gesture, as Mick can’t believe what he’s witnessing. Juan disappears back into his trailer, as Mick’s phone rings again. This time it’s Dave, and Mick is forced to answer. Mick: (Trying not to sound impatient) “Yeah Dave.” Dave: “Ah….MICK….so…I couldn’t hear what you were saying about John, but I went ahead and got a hold of him for you… (Aha-hah)….” Mick reacts out of frustration, not knowing whether Dave got a hold of John deliberately or if the Alzheimer’s was kicking in again. Dave: “So…if you want…just go head and pick him up if you can….” To Mick’s chagrin he hears the words “…he can SUPERVISE…” and “…have you guys “knock it out” by noon….” Mick can only shake his head, knowing John being the laziest of the lazy crew; they have NO CHANCE of getting the job done, ESPECIALLY if John is “supervising”. Mick: “Well Dave, Juan and I JUST LEFT town….Craziest thing…Juan was ACTUALLY up, waiting for me this morning….yeah…couldn’t have happened on ANY other day…but yeah…” Just as Mick thinks he’s off the hook, he looks up to see John pulling up in his Pathfinder. Mick (Completely deflated) “I’ll call you back…” Mick hangs up on Dave, as Juan comes out of his trailer carrying five huge bags of garbage, not even noticing John pulling into his driveway. Juan turns and for a split second cannot hide the shock of seeing John parking his vehicle. Mick dead stares Juan, as Juan tries not to notice. John pulls up to Mick and Juan, rolling his window down, with a “stoner in desperate need of a fix smile” stretched across his face, he greets them as underlings. John: “What’s up boys? (Not waiting for a response, he continues.) “You’re working with ME today, and I EXPECT to get that shit done….today…ok? Dad is paying you guys out the ass to drive down there and back, and we NEED to make bank on this job.” Mick and Juan make eye contact; Mick has a look of “death-to-Juan” in his eyes. Juan (Trying to ignore Mick, talking to John) “So…you coming with us today? What are you going to be in charge of? There are no gas stations for you to run off to when the shit work comes.” Juan and Mick laugh, as John ignores, lighting a cigarette. John: “Tear out.” Mick and Juan stop laughing as they know “Tear out” means; John will be in charge of tearing out all the damaged areas of the home. Meaning John will be wielding a sledge hammer, most likely recklessly, and will no doubt, cause more damage to the owner’s home. Which also means: More work for Mick and Juan in the long run. John: “Mick, you’ll be cleaning bitch…because you’re well…you. And JUAN here, you’ll be my MULE. That’s right boys; us three will be a well oiled… (John makes a smoking of joint reference with his fingers.)...MACHINE! We’re going to bust this job out TODAY, and then tell Dad it’s going to take us tomorrow too, and you guys are going to smoke me up, TODAY AND TOMORROW!” Mick looks at Juan with an “I told you so” look. John: “Alright boys, just head on over to my place, takes what, 30 minutes to bust down there, we’ll rip a couple before, rip a couple more on the way, get down there by eleven….” Mick: “John, its 8:30 NOW! What YOU want to do, requires us to leave, RIGHT NOW, take NO LUNCH BREAK, and HOPE to get done by….8:00 pm, at the EARLIEST! I’m not working till eleven, having YOU leave us at four-thirty, so YOU can be home by five!” John senses the unified front, and tries to calm it. John: “Mick, I’ve been doing this A LONG TIME “kid-o”….I KNOW what I’m talking about…it will NOT take us that long….trust me.” John puts his expensive sun glasses on, and flicks his cigarette at Mick, before saying, “My place…” and tearing off thru Juan’s yard, along with Juan’s neighbor’s yards, before jumping back onto the road and disappearing around the corner. Mick just looks at Juan with complete disbelief as Juan pulls his now full trash containers to the curb. Looking down, Juan almost wants to laugh, but he knows Mick’s anger is through the roof at this point. Mick sets in his truck, looking straight ahead, as Juan gets in nervously chuckling, “So….working late tonight huh?” Mick just shakes his head, shifting into gear. INTRO MUSIC/INTRO MONTAGE: Nas “If I Ruled The World” (From 0:00 to 1:22) (Montage of Mick, Juan, Ed, Evan, Dave, and John working at different construction sites, and damaged homes/driving the Service Men vans (during the day/night/morning/late night), Mick, Juan and Ed, and Evan smoking cigarettes, and weed. Handling chemicals, cleaning up suicide matter, ripping out a wall exposing black mold. A shot of a random house on fire, followed by Service Men working on the same house, bringing out blackened chunks of wall and ceiling. Dave and John are seen laughing and standing with the homeowner as Mick, Evan, Ed, and Juan are seen doing all the work, getting covered in black soot. More shots of walls getting torn out, as Mick and Juan smoke on a pipe, Juan is seen placing drywall back up with Ed handing him a joint. Shot of Ed painting as Evan is hitting a bong in the background, followed by a shot of Dave arriving at the job site, Juan comes rushing out of a side room and distracting Dave from seeing Mick eating a lit pipe made out of an apple. (Mick reacts with wide eyes and choking up a lit cherry) (Fast forward montage shot of a house ruined, then gutted, then redone to look new.) Dave and John are seen laughing and shaking hands with the family of the ruined house, in background Ed and Juan come out of the house arguing as Juan is holding bong, they both notice Dave and company, as Juan tries to hide the bong on his way to the Service Men van. Mic and Evan come out of the house; Mick is seen wide eyed, stumbling and coughing up a steady stream of smoke, as Evan helps him to van. Dave and company don’t even notice, as Dave and John lead the family to their “brand new” home, the sun shines, and the sky is clear. Two Service Men vans are seen leaving the residence, the first brakes hard, and the following van runs into, as the last person entering the home is John, who notices, but slams the door so no one can see. (END INTRO) (POSSIBLE ALTERNATIVE INTRO MUSIC: Don Henley “Dirty laundry”) (From 0:00-1:38) Montage shot of Dave watching television for any fires, patrolling at night for any “emergencies” (catching one on TV), and his phone goes off, he rushes into action as “Service Men”. As fire is put out by fire department, Dave is seen comforting the home owner. Shot of Mick and Juan in a Service Men van, smoke is seen rolling out of Service Men van, Juan hands Mick a joint on their way to job. They are cut off by another Service Men van driven by Evan, and Ed sets in the passenger seat, Ed throws a cheeseburger out the window at Juan’s van, as they pass Juan. Both sets arrive, as John shakes his head in disappointment at both crews. Fast forward shot of Service Men rushing into home, tearing out damaged home material, (gutting walls, tearing out soaked ceiling with insulation and debris falling all over them, as Juan and Ed are seen ripping into the walls, getting covered in black mess. A dumpster is shown getting filled up with all the material coming out of house, Evan and Mic are repeatedly seen taking out more and more garbage. Fast forward of home getting stripped, then fixed piece by piece. Home owner is seen extremely happy, with Dave and John shaking hands and laughing with customer, as Mick, Juan, Ed, and Evan are completely covered in black mess. (END INTRO) 8:45 am John’s House: Entering through the back door, the kitchen smells of expensive coffee, the tiled floor of the kitchen turns into solid wood floors that creak no matter where you walk. The house is a two story colonial, over 70 years old, and one of the oldest on the block. Many families have lived here throughout the years, but none have returned the muster like what John Simpson has done over the last 6 months, since moving in with his girlfriend, and her two boys, all thanks to the free tools, chemicals, and paid man hours John convinced his father to pay him for restoring the house, he himself lives in. In the living room sets a glass 3 foot bong, alongside an empty tray used to hold broken up weed. John is known to be stingy with his marijuana, and owes money to both Mick and Juan for recent “fronts”. (Over $250 total, $110 to Juan, $140 to Mick.) (Mick added a “douche bag tax”) Today John breaks out one small nug, enough to show Mick and Juan that he has little left, and deep down he hopes they’ll front him some more, even though, he is not in “need”. As Mick and Juan arrive, Mick grabs the coke can, and takes most of the weed out, and seals it inside a bank deposit note, and hides it under the arm rest of his Dodge Dakota. Mick and Juan share a “let’s get in and GET OUT, so we can DO THIS job today and HOPEFULLY get tomorrow off while getting paid” look. From inside, John hides behind the curtain in the kitchen, watching Mick park, and hide the remaining weed under his arm rest, as Juan looks to the windows, but cannot see John watch. John shakes his head, but decides not to say anything, one way or the other; John decides Mick’s not ending up with that weed. Mick and Juan head to the porch, at the back door, John is waiting with a fresh pot of coffee and a shit eating grin. Fast forward through some bullshit conversation in the kitchen, the whole time, John keeps offering his expensive coffee as Juan and Mick refuse. Time ticks by, Mick keeps checking the time, letting John know he’s impatient to go to work. John ignores, and ushers them into the living room. The television, already geared up John’s XBOX. Mick can only roll his eyes, seeing the bong, and almost empty tray. Mick: “For the FIRST time in my life, I wish that a tray was empty. John, we can’t screw around all morning, if we want to get that job done, today, we have to get out there BEFORE 11.” Juan plops onto the sofa, grabbing one of the controllers, and lighting a cigarette, Mick suddenly looks outnumbered. Mick looks at Juan with confused anger. John: “Mick, don’t WORRY about it, I told dad to call me after he headed out there and discussed it with the… (In Spanish dialect)…prop-erty owner’s…mang! Now, load that bong….Juan has a SERIOUS ass kicking coming to him before then!” Juan and John begin playing Halo on XBOX, turning on the stereo John makes sure to showboat the surround system. No one can hear, but John tries to inform them of the Bose features none the less. Juan is engrossed in Halo, as Mick can only shake his head. 9:45 John’s House John and Juan are completely engrossed in Halo, both sets of their eyes are glazed over, and reality exists in a far off galaxy fighting aliens on a distant planet, to the theme of “War Pigs” by Black Sabbath. Mick’s cell phone breaks the silence in between tracks. John rolls his eyes even before Mick announces its Dave. Juan pauses the games as John silences the surround sound. Mick: “Yeah Dave…” Dave: (Laughing nervously) “HEY….Mick! How’s it coming out there?” Mick looks at John, shaking his head in anger. Juan looks to John, already knowing John lied about what his dad had told him about going to the job. Mick: “Well Dave, we went over to JOHN’s, and JOHN told us YOU told him YOU would call him, after you had met with the family…” Mick and Juan both eye John. John grabs his phone and acts completely surprised he has 5 missed calls from “Dad”. Dave: “Ah….I did? (Hah-ha)…I….don’t THINK I did…ah….ok…so are you guys at the job site?” Mick: “No. Were at John’s place, because he told us you wanted to call before we went out.” Dave: “Oh yeah! Shoot, I did! ....Ah…Let me call you back.” Mick just shakes his head in frustration, hanging up his phone. John and Juan look on in concern. Mick: “Dave said we need to roll out, we were supposed to be out there over an hour ago! Good move John-boy! We’re not getting done till ten tonight! Thanks!” John acts completely innocent, trying to lighten the mood, and get everyone to come back to finish playing the game, or at the least, smoke another bowl as Mick and Juan grab their things heading to the truck. John: “Guys, chill. It won’t take us THAT long, TRUST ME!” Mick and Juan are at the door, and the words “trust me” get them to look at each other, before they both head out the front door. John hears Juan yell, “See you out there” as he is left setting alone in the quiet living room, in the quiet silence, John’s cell phone rings. John reads “Dad” before hitting the ignore button, finding Juan’s paused character and killing him. 10:00 am Service Men shop (A 30 foot long-double wide garage in the middle of a residential neighborhood, down the block from Dave’s home.) Mick and Juan arrive; Mick drops Juan off at the front door, before heading to the side of the garage and parking his truck, locking the driver side door, but forgets to check the passenger side door. Juan unlocks the shop. Juan starts the remaining Service Men van “Nelly” (As the Service Men call the van), and pulls it out, so they can load tools and equipment in the back. Mick and Juan load up, locking the garage back up, and pulling out. As they leave the block, John pulls around and parks next to the garage, already on his phone with Dave, John rushes to grab all the equipment and chemicals Dave is rattling off before his short term memory fails him. John comes back out after filling his Pathfinder, and hanging up, he locks the truck, and notices Mick’s truck. Walking over to it innocently, he looks around before peaking in. John sees the white envelope, and looks around again, before quietly opening the passenger door. His eyes grow wide with anticipation of “free” weed; his face turns to disappointment realizing the envelope is completely empty. 10:20 am Fairfield (South edge of town, residential neighborhood on way to job site) Juan is driving the Service Men van, and is ever watchful for the police, as Mick sets shotgun, loading a bowl. As they pass a side street, Mick notices a “Service-Pro’s” van parked in a driveway. (“Service-Pro’s is the largest Service-Construction and Cleaning Service Corporation in United States, along with being “Service Men’s bitter rival. “Service Pro’s” recent arrival into “Service Men’s” area did not turn out well, with reports of theft, vandalism, and reports of reporting false emergencies between companies. Most of them are directed towards Service Men.) Mick pokes Juan with the bowl, as Juan looks to grab bowl, Mick is smiling and pointing to the unmanned van. Juan sighs, looking at his watch, then breaks out laughing, realizing this could be the best moment of his long day. Juan parks the van a block over, and both turn their “Service Men” jackets inside out, not wanting to be caught, as the repercussions would definitely call for their dismissal from one of the only jobs left in the area that does not drug test. Mick runs ahead of Juan, getting a good vantage point of the “Service-Pro’s” job site. Mick sees a worker smoking a cigarette, setting in the driver seat, both side and back doors set unprotected and wide open. Both the water and vacuum lines are strung tight and running into the home. Juan comes jogging up, out of breath, and gasping. Mick eyes Juan with distrust, seeing how out of shape he is. They both watch as the “Service-Pro’s” employee finishes his cigarette, and heads back inside the home. The van left completely alone, they make their move. Running across the street both can hardly hold their childish giggling, as Mick heads to the side door of the “Service Pro’s” van, Juan goes for the back. Juan grabs two “air-movers”, (High-powered fans) and rolls one dehumidifier, being careful with it as he unloads it out of the van. Mick watches as Juan gets a running head start carrying the two air movers, before he reverses the flow from suction, to blow on the vacuum line. Rushing out the door, he carts the dehumidifier on its back rolling wheels, and running as fast as he can down the street. Juan reaches the van and tosses the fans in the back of the “Service Men” van, and starts the engine, knowing Mick needs all the help he can get Juan high tails it towards Mick’s oncoming direction. Mick reaches the corner and turns it as fast as he can without spilling the dehumidifier on its side, he just makes it out of sight before both “Service Pro’s” employee’s coming rushing out in a panic to find out the cause of their new emergency. Juan comes to the end of the street, and sees Mick running hard, with wild childish laughter coming from his mouth. Juan puts the van in park, and rushes out to open the back door, as Mick comes running up. Juan takes over, and hauls the dehumidifier into the back of the van. Both rush back in the van laughing hysterically, as they pull away and head for their job. Both sweating and laughing profusely, they realize, they have to hide the now stolen equipment, as all three pieces have “Service Pro” stickers all over it. With their current job situation, they have no other option than to head to the job site, and HOPE Dave doesn’t check their van. 11:00 Keosauqua, Iowa Miller Job Site Early 1900’s two story farm house, that was built on the edge on town, now sets next to a thriving golf course for upper-middle class farmers, longing for weekend relief. Juan and Mick arrive shortly before 11:00, no vehicles in sight; they think they’re in the free to take a deep breath before jumping into one of the worst fire damaged homes that wasn’t a total loss for the home owner, they had ever seen. Job Description: Fire was started by old wiring in the downstairs “family room”, when electric heater overheated wiring. Fire travels upstairs, affecting upstairs bathroom, master bedroom, and spare bedroom. Smoke damage coats the entire second floor; most of the main floor is charred black, with a coating of grey. The flooring in the family room is completely destroyed, with a straight shot into the home owner’s basement. The basement completely soaked, from the fire department’s water hoses. Everything in the basement, family room, spare bedroom and bathroom needs disposed of. Basement, family room, bathroom, master bedroom, and spare bedroom need to have walls, ceiling, flooring ripped out, along with insulation, and new electrical wiring installed. Total estimated man hours: (Tear Out) 40 Total estimated man hours: (Reconstruction) 30 Total Estimated Bill: $25,000 Total Out of Pocket Cost to Homeowner: $5,000 Long Term Cost to Owner: 25% hike in insurance rates for next 10 years. (Range: $3,000-7,000 hike in costs per year in addition to yearly home taxes.) Mick attempts to load another bowl of marijuana, as Juan messes with the Service Men CB radio system. A movement ahead of the van freezes both of them, Mick with the bowl in lap, with an open bag of weed setting on the center console. The homeowner, Earl Miller walks from his home, heading straight for the Service Men van. Juan and Mick look at each other, as Juan jumps out of the driver side door, introducing himself, as Mick hurries to cover the paraphernalia. Juan: “You must be Mr. Miller! Hi, I’m Juan.” Earl: “You’re late! By two hours!” Juan: (Covering for Mick and himself) “Sorry, we had a suicide in Ottumwa; we had to go deal with at 5 this morning, just gone done with it an hour ago.” Mick hears and stops what he’s doing, hunched over in the passenger seat. Mick: “Nice.” Mr. Miller notices Mick hunched over, and has an uneasy feeling about Juan, as he walks towards the van. Earl: “Well, are you guys here to work? Or mess around in the van!?” Mick, still hunched over, notices the voice getting louder, grabs a couple pairs of sterilized gloves, as he unlatches the door. Instantly Earl is meeting Mick face to face, Mick looks at Earl with an angry confusion. Mick: “Just making sure WE don’t pass any blood borne pathogens into YOUR home.” Mick shows Mr. Miller the sterilized gloves, before tossing Juan a pair. Mick: “If you’ll excuse us….we have a house to destroy….” Mick closes the van door and walks past Mr. Miller, towards his house. Juan can attempt to hold a straight face, as Earl looks to Juan with panic, that his home is about to be destroyed. Fast-Forward Montage: (Pre-Work Prep) Juan pounds down half of a 1 liter bottle of Coca-Cola. Mick unrolls 10 industrial sized garbage bags, prepping each one and setting in different spots around the work area. Juan grabs all the tools needed for each room, placing each tool in the area needed. Mick ready’s the respirators with new filters. Juan unlatches the semi trailer sized dumpster, and swings it wide open. Mick heads to the back of the van, looking for Mr. Miller, not spotting him, he quickly hits the marijuana pipe before hiding it in the console and heading out the back of the van with a couple of tear-out tools. Juan re-laces up his boots, while smoking a cigarette, and prepping by taking off his jewelry. Mick gives Juan “the look” as he comes back in the house, and Juan heads out towards van. Juan gets in back of the van and comes to front, leaning over Service Vacuum; he hits the pipe, hiding it along with all the other paraphernalia in the pouch behind the driver’s seat. Mick puts his ear buds in his ears, puts on his leather work gloves, and begins putting all of the soaked possessions in the garbage bags. Juan takes two industrial garbage bags, placing the two stolen air moving fans in one, and the large dehumidifier in the other, Juan shoves both bags as far into the van as he can, before exiting, shutting, and locking the van up completely. Heading back inside Juan follows Mick’s lead, by carrying out the loaded bags to the dumpster. They continue this process in the bathroom, spare bedroom, and the worst area, the fire damaged family area. Family Room Area Includes: Destroyed Pool table, destroyed giant 1980’s super heavy big screen television, refrigerator, stove, bar area, washer, dryer, and lastly 1960’s record player/stereo system for the large items. (Family room is a sub-basement area, downstairs from main floor.) It also includes everything from a library of books, to endless ruined family pictures, and creepy little trinkets from the deceased wife. (The room is over 10 industrial sized bags of trash worth, by itself.) After getting all of the soaked and destroyed possessions out of the master bedroom, bathroom, and guest room, Mick and Juan head downstairs to tackle the toughest room of all: The downstairs family room. 1:00 pm Miller Job Site As Mick and Juan are 3 bags deep into the family room, John arrives at the job site, seeing how much they’ve thrown in the dumpster, he’s surprised. As John is about to head inside, his cell phone rings “Dad’s” special ring, letting John know whose calling. John: “Yeah dad.” Dave: “HEY! JOHN!.....Ah….(hah-hah) Have you guys been out to the job site ALL MORNING?” John: (Closing the door, and heading around to get away from “work”) “Yeah dad, why?” Dave: “Ah…I don’t know HOW to say this…so…Ah…Randy Luke…from “Service Pro’s” called me…ah…err…well..He’s not too happy with us…” John: “So what’s new there?” Dave: “Well, apparently, someone sabotaged one of his job sites, and took off with some of his equipment. Apparently, he thinks it was one of our crews.” As John hears this, he walks over to the Service Men van, cupping his hands up, he peers in the back. Immediately seeing the two large black bags, his stoner paranoia makes him turns his back on the van, scanning the horizon to make sure no one is coming or watching. Dave: “He said one of his guys saw one of our vans drive past, then it happened five minutes later.” John: “WHAT HAPPENED five minutes later?” Dave: “Ah…(hah ha)…Well..Someone reversed their vacuum line while they were cleaning up a sewage backup.” John tries not to laugh out loud, imaging their horror, and immediately John knows it’s the work of Juan and Mick. John: “No dad, it wasn’t us, hell, tell him to come on out and check our vehicles.” Dave: “Already ahead of you buddy, I told him where you were working, and I told that so and so just to do that. Come on out, check us out. WE have nothing to hide! That will teach him!” John never imagines the horror of what MIGHT happen if Dave DID do that, as he smile fades, he sees the all too distinctive blue and orange “Service Pro’s” van followed by a state trooper, coming down the road a mile away. John: “Don’t worry dad, I’ll tell him. I Gotta go!” His Army training from 10 years before kicks in and John hangs up the phone, and rushing to the Service Men van, unlocking the back he throws open the doors, and immediately grabs the dehumidifier bag, lifting it with a rush of adrenaline, John’s 6 and a half foot frame carries it with ease as he sprints with an intense speed towards Mr. Miller’s decrepit open barn. John throws the dehumidifier behind an unused tractor, and sprints back to the Service Men van. Not even looking at the progress of the oncoming emergency, John rushes back, grabbing the bag holding the large air movers, and awkwardly stumbles out of the van, rushing as fast as possible to the barn. (Both electric cords hang out, causing John to almost trip and fall in a dead sprint.) John out of breath tosses the bag behind the upright dehumidifier, and rushes back out of the barn. Seeing them less than a quarter mile away, John pants out of breath, stoned, and out of shape, he turns his back to the oncoming horror. Pretending to take a leak next to the barn, John begins seeing stars, and almost hyperventilating, as a cold sweat covers him. Hearing both the “Service Pro” van, and the police cruiser pull up and park, John turns around acting surprised to see them. For a second John acts embarrassed, but upon the sight of Randy, he becomes pissed storming straight towards him, pointing his finger, and dead eyeing Randy. Randy’s once cocky confidence is immediately smashed by seeing the lumbering giant storming his way. Randy holds up his hands, in a defenseless posture, as John gets close. Officer Oswalt steps in between, after snickering at catching John pissing; he now is almost out of his league here with any attempt at being able to stop John, if John wanted to attack Randy. John standing a foot taller than both Officer Oswalt and Randy, commands the situation. John: “What is this BULL-SHIT Randy that WE sabotage YOU, and then STEAL you’re worthless equipment?! Why DON’T you check our van?! Hell, check MY truck!” Randy: “Hold on John...Now, now hold on John!” Officer Oswalt: “Sir…I need you to calm down!” John: “I’ve been out here ALL DAY LONG, WORKING MY ASS OFF, then I get called away to deal with THIS BULL-SHIT!” Officer Oswalt: “Sir, you said you’ve been out here all day?” John: “Yeah!” Officer Oswalt: “Is there anyone who could confirm that, presently here? Is the homeowner here?” John looks around at the empty farmhouse, almost nervous. Inside: Juan loads up the fourth sack of garbage to take outside, unknowing the situation he’s about to walk into. Juan: “Want to come outside, have a smoke? We’ve been killing it.” Mick: “Yeah, give me a second; I’ll bring out bag 5.” With that Juan puts on his ear buds back in, and heads upstairs, with the garbage bag slung over his right shoulder; he doesn’t notice Mr. Miller, hiding behind his recliner, staring out the window, scared of the police officer on his property. Earl: “I wouldn’t go out there if I were you.” Juan does not hear and continues outside not paying attention, listening to his music. Earl: “Well, I’m not you.” Juan heads straight for the dumpster trailer and empties his load, coming back out he’s greeted by a state trooper, John, and Randy Luke. The enemy, and the OTHER enemy, and…John. Juan completely surprised, almost scared, as a rush of cold sweat covers his upper body. Juan: “Hey…John….What’s going on?” John coming up behind, has a sly smile on his face, that Juan picks up on. John shakes his head in “no” towards Juan. John: “Asshole…I mean Randy here CLAIMS that WE stole some of his equipment today!” Randy and Officer Oswalt stop and look back at John, then back at Juan, waiting for a response. Juan: (Reluctantly) “Yeah….all…day. Why what happened Mr. Luke? Did someone mess with you again and blaming the one company kicking your ass week in and week out going to get you a sympathy job with the police?” Randy: (Eyeing Juan and John with distrust) “Check their vehicles.” Officer Oswalt: “The van is wide open, there’s nothing in there.” Randy: “Check his truck! I didn’t come all the way out here NOT to check!” John hands Officer Oswalt his keys and stays by the dumpster. Randy stays with John and Juan, expecting a secret conversation. Juan almost too nervous waits for Randy to look away before catching eyes with John. John has a calm smile on his face, as he smokes a cigarette, blowing the smoke in Randy’s direction. Randy coughs, and waves his hands to try and circulate the air around him. 40 feet away the police officer freezes, looking in the back of the Pathfinder, rushing around to the back, and unlocking the back. Officer Oswalt: “We got something!!” Randy eyes John, thinking with supreme confidence he has caught John, Dave Simpson’s SON in a theft of HIS equipment! Randy runs to see for himself, what the state trooper has found. Juan almost in a panic looks to John, but John is calm, shaking his head “no”. John: “You mother-fuckers OWE me, big time.” Juan: (Shaking his head in disbelief) “Who? What? How??” John:”Next time you pull one of these pranks, call me. I can’t believe you would do a “reverse Angelina” WITHOUT me!” Juan looks at John in confusion. John: “That’s when you steal some of their equipment when they’re not looking, and leave a shit-ton of mess to clean up.” John turns his attention to Randy and the state trooper. John: (Yelling) “You guys want to go thru my trash at home too?!” Juan: “What do you have back there?” John: “My trash from home. There’s a dumpster (pointing back at the dumpster) right here, and dad is paying for it anyway. Seeing you take your trash out today, made me remember I missed trash day.” Randy and Officer Oswalt look embarrassed as they try to fix the holes in garbage bags they’ve torn open in a rush. John: “Get the fuck out of there! I’ll clean it my dam self! Randy, I want YOU off my job site! IF I see you on, or NEAR ANY of my crew’s sites, or van’s, I WILL come to your home, and Officer Oswalt here, won’t be able to get to you in time!” Randy: “Oh, is that a THREAT John Simpson?! Did you HEAR that officer? Can you REPEAT that?!” At the ensuing screaming match, Officer Oswalt restrains Randy, as Juan begins attempting to walk John back to the house. Mick finishes loading the 5th garbage bag, and taking his ear buds out, stumbles up the stairs with the heavy bag. Stopping at the landing and notices Earl, hiding behind the curtains. Mick: “Everything Ok Mr. Miller?” Not turning around, Earl shakes his head “no”. Mick comes around, and watches from the other side, instantly realizing the situation, and what might happen, he wipes away the fresh sweat covering his forehead. Earl doesn’t even notice. From inside the house, both two’s horrors are unfolding, as Mick doesn’t realize the same barn containing the stolen air movers and dehumidifier, also contains Mr. Miller’s hidden stash of this year’s crop of marijuana, is now being pointed at by Randy Luke with greater intensity. Randy: “Hey! We SAW him coming from THAT barn! I KNOW he’s behind this! Just check THAT BARN!” John: (In a fit of uncontrolled anger) “CHECK THAT BARN! WE DON’T OWN IT! YOU WANT TO CHECK THE PROPERTY OWNER’S BARN?! I DARE YOU! HE WOULD LOVE TO HEAR WHY YOU WERE SNOOPING THROUGH HIS THINGS!” At the same moment, a mind reader could hear Mick, Juan, Earl, and even John scream, “Oh shit!” Inside Earl rushes to his feet, grabbing the shotgun mounted above the door, and heads outside. Mick continues to watch from inside, amazed he never noticed the shotgun above the door. With the confusion, and Randy and John getting closer and closer to each other as the young state trooper can barely manage Randy, along with John’s size and rage controlling him, he pulls Juan towards Randy. Earl comes running out of the house, firing the gun at an angle away from the ongoing fracas. The loud explosion startles everyone watching, even Mick inside jumps at the sound. Everyone freezes. Officer Oswalt looks frightened as he doesn’t have enough time to draw his side arm. Juan’s eyes wide, as he lets go of John, and tries calming Mr. Miller. Earl: (From near the porch) “I don’t know what’s going on here, and I don’t care! YOU! (Pointing at Randy) Get the HELL OF MY PROPERTY! These boys have been working hard ALL DAY LONG! Officer Oswalt: “SIR, I NEED YOU TO PUT THE GUN DOWN!” Earl looks at the state trooper, rolling his eyes as he sets the shotgun down. Earl: (Looking frustrated) “Get this him off my property!” From inside Mick flushes the toilet after letting out a tinkle during the explosion. Rushing back to watch the action from the window, eyes wide, laughing nervously, he can only hear murmurs, but seeing Randy turn from aggression to completely apologetic makes him laugh either way. Outside, Officer Oswalt tells Randy to get in his truck, as he talks to Earl, calming him and explaining the situation. Earl crosses his arms, not wanting to hear anything, his posture is defensive. Officer Oswalt: “Now, Mr. Luke here claims that this crew possibly stole his equipment…” Earl: “Couldn’t have, these boys were at a suicide in Ottumwa all morning…” John looks to Juan, Juan nods towards Officer Oswalt ignoring John. Officer Oswalt: (Looking to Juan) “Suicide?” Juan: (Trying to look calm) “Yes sir.” Officer Oswalt: “What time did you get done with that?” Juan: “Ahh…about 9…drove back to Fairfield, then came back here, got here about 10.” With that Earl looks to John. John acts calm, but is nervous inside, feeling the story collapsing. Officer Oswalt: “And you’ve been here since then?” Juan: “Yes sir.” A couple of tense seconds as Officer Oswalt processes the information before looking back at Randy setting in his truck. Officer Oswalt: “Alright…I’m going to talk to Mr. Luke, you guys go about your business, and I’ll take care of him.” Relief hits Juan, John and Earl all at the same time, but they all act as though they have nothing to worry about. Officer Oswalt: “You guys have a good day. John, do NOT try and do ANYTHING I’m going to have to deal with later. That might just ruin my week.” John: (Acting calmer now) “Yes sir.” John shakes the officer’s hand, before Juan takes up the cue to shake it as well. (Juan feels uneasy shaking a cop’s hand, but tries to act normal.) Inside Mick busts out laughing, seeing Juan shake the cop’s hand. Reluctantly, Earl finally shakes the cop’s hand, before heading back into the house. Mick sees the crowd disperse, and waits for Mr. Miller to come back inside, before heading back outside with his full bag of garbage. Earl and Mick make eye contact, as Earl eyes Mick uneasy. Mick notices, but heads outside, looking calm as Randy is seen angry in his truck. Officer Oswalt is seen standing next to Randy’s truck, explaining the situation. Coming to the dumpster trailer John and Juan stand together trying to look calm, but watching Randy and Officer Oswalt, they both cigarette’s nervously. Mick and John make eye contact; John eyes Mick as he unloads his bag of debris. John: “Suicide in Ottumwa huh?” Mick and Juan make eye contact, sharing a “what are we going to owe him” look. Mick (Turning into “salesman”) “Yeah, real mess of a job…Guy took a shotgun, JUST like Mr. Miller’s there, and….” John just laughs, shaking his head as he takes a deep inhale. John: “I bet, I bet. Shotgun WOULD do that….let me tell you what YOU guys are going to do. Tonight, after WE FINISH this job, YOU GUYS are going to take apart those (John looks to the barn), and repaint them Service Men colors…AND you guys are going to forget that “debt” I owe you. BOTH of you.” Mick and Juan share a look of frustration. Mick tries to think of a counter offer. John: “Think of it THIS WAY: save you guys from having to take a pee test if dad would find out. Now let’s get this job done!” With that John flicks his cigarette into the dumpster, and heads inside. Waiving bye to Officer Oswalt, John makes sure to flip off Randy before heading inside. Mick and Juan watch from the dumpster, finishing their cigarettes, in silent defeat. Inside John is immediately met by Earl, Earl looking angry. Earl: “John, I don’t know what kind of operation you guys run here, but I don’t want police here, EVER. I don’t want TO KNOW the truth about THAT. (Gesturing outside) You, and you’re crew are to work INSIDE my home ONLY, I have expensive farm equipment out there, and I don’t want ANYONE snooping around my shop!” John: “Yes…yes sir. No one will go out to your barn, I promise.” Earl: “Oh really? How are you going to get that stolen equipment out of there?” John: (Stuttering) “What…what…are you talking about?” Earl: “Yeah, yeah, play dumb. Maybe I’ll just keep those bags I saw you run out there with.” Again, uncomfortable silence, before John decides the lie is pointless. John: “Ok. Truth is…” Earl: “I don’t care what the truth is, I don’t want to know. After they (pointing outside) leave, you and I are going to go to my barn, and get those two sacks out of my barn. And NO ONE is to go to my barn, ever again. You and your boys, are going to get the entire tear out done today as well, I can’t stand the smell in this place.” John: “You ARE staying at the hotel you’re insurance is paying for right?” Earl: (Looking proud) “Nope. Don’t need to.” John: “Earl, I can’t in all honesty, LET you sleep in here. That burnt smell is noxious, let alone hazardous to breathe in and out.” Earl: “Don’t have to. I’m sleeping in the small shed.” (Pointing outside to the small utility shed 20 feet from the barn.) Outside Mick and Juan hear Randy swear from his truck, as the Officer tries to calm him. Randy starts his truck, ramming it in reverse out of the farm house driveway. Sliding to a stop, Randy looks back at the house, seeing Mick and Juan smiling and waving to him, he slams his truck into drive, tearing off down the gravel road. Oswalt, walks to his car, not even bothered. Oswalt looks to Mick and Juan, both waves at him genuinely, before taking his cap off and lowering himself into the police cruiser. Mick and Juan watch nervously as the trooper reverses out of the driveway, and slowly drive away. Mick and Juan finish their cigarettes, and head towards the house. Just as they reach Earl’s porch, Earl and John come out, walking past Mick and Juan. John: (Talking to Mick and Juan, but looking straight ahead) “Get back to work! Get it done! NO QUESTIONS!” John and Earl continue walking, not even looking back, as Mick and Juan look at each other, in confusion before heading inside. Juan: “He’s mad he didn’t get invited.” Mick: “Ahh..” (With understanding nod) As the front door shuts, John and Earl look back to make sure Mick and Juan are gone, before heading towards the barn. Once inside, John grabs the large bag and carries it back to his Pathfinder. Earl walks behind him, arms crossed, not helping. John unloads the trash bags from his Pathfinder, as Earl watches on. John walks back to the barn, with Earl right behind. John awkwardly grabs the bag holding the two air movers, and begins lugging it towards his Pathfinder. Earl shuts and padlocks his barn closed as John reaches his vehicle. John un-bags both air movers and places them in the back passenger seat, covering them with the large black plastic garbage bag. John carries the trash bags to the dumpster, unloading them in the open space. Earl walks John back inside making sure John doesn’t become snoopy, John holds the door open, but heads inside to see how much work has been done. John walks around to each of the upstairs rooms, seeing how much still needs to be done, before tear out, shaking his head; he knows it will be a late night. The next 4 hours is a fast forward montage of John, Mick and Juan hauling out the pool table from the family room, along with all the heavy appliances. Mick disassembles the destroyed beds, as Juan and John take them out, along with dressers, and destroyed larger pieces. Working with no break, they begin tearing out the ceilings of the damaged upstairs rooms; Mick begins loading garbage bags, and hauling them out. Mick keeps up with Juan and John, as they move from room to room. Finishing with the ceilings, Juan begins removing doors from their hinges, as John begins disassembling the bathroom fixtures, having Mick and Juan haul them out, before all three struggle to take out the shower. Earl watches surprised as the clock ticks past 5 pm, with Mick, Juan and John showing no signs of stopping. John removes the insulation from above the ceiling, as Mick bags and carries out the debris; Juan begins tearing out the walls, bagging the trash for Mick after clearing 5 foot sections. Mick starts to get out of breath, running inside and outside carrying 30 lb bags of debris to the dumpster. Each time, his mind screams for a cigarette break, but his will remind him, even 10 minutes, could be 10 minutes home sooner. Each time reluctantly heading back inside, only to have the garbage bags double in amount. (Their sizes get heavier and heavier with each load.) 6:00pm comes and goes, before John, Juan, and Mick head downstairs to the worst room of all. Every inch of this room needs to be taken out, along with the charred framework. John and Juan begin tearing out the ceiling and insulation, as Mick begins sweeping and scooping up charred remains of furniture, and hauling them out. All three are seen bagging the debris, and hauling out their oversized garbage bags. Little conversation is passed, as Mick and Juan have nothing to say to John, but at the same time, they both realize, John, in his own blackmailing way, didn’t rat them out. And for that, they do owe him some sort of respect. At 6:30 John hands Mick a sledge hammer, smiling as if they were friends, John tells Mick and Juan to “have at it” (Meaning: tear out the family room walls.) Mick has a moment of almost wanting to stop and thank John for watching their backs, and not ratting them out, until he notices John standing at the steps. John: “Alright guys, my back is killing me. I’m going to go ahead and head on out. You guys got it from here right?” Mick and Juan both look at each other, and agree. John: “Ok, gonna need you to tear out these walls, insulation, tear out the steps here to the base, then also tear out the carpets, and the carpet padding upstairs in all those rooms, and yeah….you guys can head back to the shop, and “take care of that equipment”…and THEN you can call it a night.” Mick and Juan turn their backs to John before unloading their anger into the walls, smashing and tearing into them with unbridled anger. John: (Acts incensed at their rudeness) “Ok….YOU’RE WELCOME guys, sticking up for you and all.” John heads upstairs before Mick and Juan respond. Juan: “ENJOY YOUR DINNER…SWEETY!” Mick: “THANKS FOR BLACKMAILING YOUR FRIENDS…GUY!” John pretends not to hear, as he heads out the door. Earl sets widdling wood on his porch. Earl: “Leaving so SOON John? Doesn’t look like you boys are finished yet!” John: “Sorry Earl, dad just called, and I have a sewage backup to go take care of. I know these guys will get you taken care of tonight. They know what else they have left to do before they can go!” John continues walking, not letting Earl stop him. John pretends to answer his phone, waving bye to Earl, he heads to his truck. Fully committing to the lie, John holds the phone to his ear, as he gets in his car, and drives away. Earl watches closely the entire time, making sure John isn’t pulling anything on him. Mick and Juan wait five minutes after John leaves to take out a bounty of trash bags, followed by a well deserved cigarette break. On the first trip, both are surprised to see Earl, waiting for them. Earl eyes them, attempting to act coy. After four loads each, Mick and Juan stop next to the dumpster and attempt to have a cigarette, before Earl yells at them. Earl: “I AINT PAYIN YOU TO SMOKE!” Juan ashes his cigarette immediately, huffing he looks at Mick with anger. Mick eyes Earl evilly, taking in a couple of extra drags before tossing his cigarette in the dumpster. Both head back inside, bitter and wanting relief from this house, this day, and most importantly this job. The next 3 hours blur by as Mick and Juan finish tearing out the family room walls, carpets, and carpet padding. Juan begins tearing out the upstairs carpets, as Mick hauls out the bags of trash. Mick two steps behind Juan, bags and hauls out his loads, as Juan stays ahead of him, tearing up carpet and kicking up black dust as he goes. At this point in the day, they don’t care how much dust is kicked up and left behind; all they focus on is getting all their little tasks done, so they can go home. Each room’s completion feels like a thousand pound weight being lifted off of their collective shoulders. By the last couple of loads, Mick struggles as a day with his only sugar intake being a bottle of Coca Cola makes him weaker than even he expects. With each stairway step, Juan thinks it’s one less step till cigarette time. As Juan finally gets the last of the steps ripped out, Mick takes out the last bag of debris from upstairs. At this point, the dumpster is ¾ full, as Mick turns his back on Earl, lighting a cigarette in the early night darkness. Juan sacks up the last sack of stairway debris, and begins to head outside. Earl: “Didn’t you HEAR me before? I AINT paying you to smoke!” Mick: “Earl, you “aint” paying us at all! Our boss does!” Juan comes outside as both tempers flare, unknowing of what he just stepped into, AGAIN. Earl: “MAYBE that boss of yours needs to know what you did today.” Mick: “MAYBE that state trooper needs come back here with a warrant to check that barn of yours!” On a complete whim, Mick goes for the only thing he can at this point, and once said he sees the response of its impact, he knows he has the advantage. Mick: “MAYBE I lose my job, but you….you seemed scared shitless that that cop came within 15 feet of it. MAYBE you might lose more huh?” Juan stammers, looking at Mick in complete panic. The silence this time is in Mick’s favor. Earl has a moment of realization, continuing to stare Mick down. Mick: “MAYBE we have ourselves a cigarette, go home and start over fresh tomorrow like today never happened?” Earl slowly nods his head, as Juan tries to silently sneak by without being noticed. Mick and Earl continue to stare each other down, as Juan comes up to Mick, making eye contact for a second, Juan tries to have a mental conversation with Mick without words Juan screams, “WHAT THE FUCK!?” Mick just flashes a Cheshire cat smile for a second, before helping Juan with the dumpster. Earl disappears inside, as Mick and Juan lock up the dumpster. Juan: “DUDE!! (Looking over his shoulder) What the fuck just happened?” Mick: “I have NO idea. That old fuck was ducking behind his recliner when he saw the cop. I just…went with it.” They both laugh out of exhaustion, and relief knowing they’ve accomplished two days worth of work, and their current job site has a secret only they are privy to. Juan: (Lighting a cigarette) “So…what do you thinks in there?” Mick: “Have NO clue. Probably VERY illegal.” Juan: “Think he’ll call Dave?” Mick: “Then I’d have to actually call the police. Do you really think I have any leverage to do that?” They both laugh at their crazy day, and how it’s still not over. Juan heads back inside and grabs both of their things, as Mick starts the Service Men van. Earl is still looking around in complete amazement of how much different his house looks bare boned. Setting in the truck, its 10:23pm Mick checks his cell phone and sees five missed calls, three of which are from John. Mick ignores. One text message appears, from John. Mick can only roll his eyes, reading the words, “Make sure to sweep and vacuum up every room after your done.” Mick: (To himself) “Uh huh.” Juan comes out laughing, and looking around like he just won the lottery. Mick pulls the van around so Juan gets in the passenger seat. As Mick pulls out, Juan lights a cigarette laughing out loud. Juan: “You’ll never believe this shit. (Cough, cough)…ahem, old man Miller just gave us a twenty dollar tip and told us to “go have a beer downtown” on him.” Mick just eyes the barn on the way down the gravel road out, now really wanting to know what is locked inside of this mysterious barn. They drive back to Fairfield, stopping at a gas station and paying for 5 hour old pizza slices, and cheese burgers. Mick grabs one bottle of water, and one bottle of coke, as Juan is seen picking up two bags of chips, a liter of coca cola, a “rockstar” energy drink, a box of day old doughnuts, and lastly a pack of gum. Mick just looks at Juan, comparing stacks of food. Juan: “What?! I’m a big boy…I need big boy amounts of food. What do you expect?” The gas station clerk eyes Mick like “HE’S” the asshole. Mick: “I’m no expert here, and you can quote me, “I’m no expert” but guestimating , that’s like 10,000 calories….No “big boy”(In “Cartman” voice) needs 10,000 calories by the time we hit Fairfield!” Juan: “I WASN’T planning on eating the ENTIRE thing, until just right now! NOW I’m going to eat this whole-son-of-a-bitch by the time we get back, AND mark my words; I’m going out-work your skinny ass when we get back to the shop!” Mick: (Walking out) “Either that, or you’ll be in a sugar coma which wouldn’t be the FIRST time I will have to wake you today.” 11:00pm Service Men shop Mick and Juan arrives exhausted, Juan gets out, unlocking the garage door, it slides up. With the van’s headlights, there setting in the shining light in front of them, are the stolen air movers and dehumidifier. Mick turns off the van without pulling in, as both he and Juan grab the equipment, taking it back further into the shop. Hiding it behind the makeshift locker area, the stolen equipment sets out of sight. Juan heads to turn on the lights, as Mick heads for the van, Dave comes jogging around the corner, out of breath but with a huge smile on his face. Mick and Juan are completely startled, and react out fear of being seen moving the stolen equipment. Dave: “HEY GUYS!....How’s it going out there?!” Both Juan and Mick realize Dave didn’t see them hauling anything around inside. But the adrenaline, and being startled slows their response. Mick: “Ah…Dave...don’t EVER do that to us again! Please!” Dave: “Sorry guys, I just saw you guys drive past the window. I thought, shoot, I need to get over there and find out how things are going!” Dave’s never ending happy enthusiasm still wears on Mick, but Juan has recently become accustomed to, allowing Juan to become the primary liaison between Dave and the two workers. Juan: (Coming from the shadows, instead of turning on the lights) “Yeah, Dave, we busted out a couple of rooms, we’ll need to go back there tomorrow, and spend another half day….” Mick looks at Juan, wanting more. Juan: “….probably another whole day out there. THEN it will be ready for recon.” Dave: “Aw...Shoot! I was hoping you guys….would get it all squared away today….Is there any chance you guys could go back out tonight and get it all finished?” Dave’s question comes from a sincerity that has forgotten their long day so far. Mick can’t hold back a snide laugh as he gets into the van. Juan: “No, Dave, even with John there, we only got about 2 rooms completed for recon. We still need a bedroom, the spare bedroom, and that huge family room downstairs.” (Completely bull shiting Dave) “Yeah, he even had a couple of guys out there today at his place. I THINK electricians were checking that family room, making sure it was SAFE for us to tear out.” Hearing only what his workman’s compensation thought process tells him, Dave whole heartily agrees. Dave: “Oh! Ok! Yeah, definitely we WANT to be safe. Ok, well…plan on being here first thing…I’ve have you guys go back out there, and knock it out.” Juan and Mick don’t want to turn any lights on in the shop, the patiently wait for Dave to leave. Dave has no clue, as his age is catching up with him. His yawn is the moment Juan and Mick are waiting for. Juan: “So! Dave, why don’t you head on home, and we’ll lock up the shop here, and we’ll see you FIRST THING in the morning!” Dave: (Laughing) “Are you going to actually wake up in the morning, or is Mick going to have to save you again?” Juan plays along, laughing as well. Juan: “AFTER he wakes me, I out work him! It’s kind of a trade off thing we have.” Juan ushers Dave away from the door as Mick starts the van. Dave takes the clue, and begins his walk home. Mick parks the van, and comes outside, standing next to Juan in the darkness, they watch Dave walk home. Mick: “What are we going to do? He’s going to watch for us to leave! He’s fucking crazy like that!” Juan: “Ok, one of us, YOU, stays here; keep the lights low, I’ll lock up…” Mick: “Wait…I STAY here?!” Juan: “Yeah, like I said, YOU stay here….” Mick: “WHY do I stay here?! That’s MY truck you want to get away in!” Juan: “BECAUSE YOU pointed out the Service Pro’s van! YOU got US into this mess!” Mick acts like he was just hit with a whiff of shit flavored insults. Mick: “BECAUSE I??!! No, no mon-frair! YOU were the driver; YOU drove US to the Service Pro’s van! What kind of good stuff are YOU smoking behind my back?!” Juan: (Laughing at the ridiculousness of the situation.) “OK! ONE of us stays keeps the lights low, the other drives past Dave’s, making sure to honk to let him know, we’ve left. I….THAT PERSON, parks a couple blocks away, come back on foot, unlocks shop. We bust it out. Boom, we go home, longest day EVER, over!” Mick agrees, but edges himself closer to the door, still facing Juan. Mick: “I put the paint we need over on the far shelf.” Juan looks over and begins to head over to shelf. Mick: “What do you think, “rock, paper, scissors”?” Before Juan can answer, Mick grabs the garage door, pulling with all his might. Juan has no time to get over to the door before Mick slams it shut, locking it with a padlock. Mick laughs hysterically, as silence comes from inside. Mick walks back up to the door, and lightly knocks on the garage door. Mick: “Hey boo….you in there?” Juan: (From inside the shop) “I hate you. You KNOW when you come back; I’m going to hurt you.” Mick: (Walking to his truck) “WHEN I come back is right!” Mick starts his truck, and leaves Juan locked inside the shop. Driving past Dave’s house, Mick makes sure to honk his horn, looking inside he sees Dave’s silhouette against a darkened room lit up by only a television. Mick almost imagines seeing Dave wave back, as he turns off of Dave’s street and onto Seventh Street. Back at the shop, Juan sets down with the lights off, using the moonlight as a light source; Juan begins laying out the area to paint in, taking apart the equipment (to make sure no hidden identifiers may be located on the stolen equipment.) Juan takes black industrial garbage bags, hanging them in front of the shop windows, to cover any lights inside. Juan then lugs to unused rugs over to the garage door, placing them so no light can escape under the gap between the garage door and the ground. With his area set, Juan turns on the shop lights, and to be safe, heads out the back shop door, to check if any light seeps thru the windows. Like a prowler Juan checks the building and once he’s secure knowing no light is coming from the shop, he heads back in more confident that Mick will be back ANY moment. As Mick hits his first stop sign, he meets a cop car waiting for him to make his move. Mick realizes they both stopped at the same time, but the cop just sets in the darkness, waiting for Mick to go. Mick gives the cop a couple of seconds, only to be answered by the cop car not moving. Mick reluctantly heads straight, and begins traveling on a road taking him out of town. The cop turns right and follows Mick. Mick immediately notices, and drives the speed limit, cautious; he tries to act calm smoking a cigarette, he riffles thru his stuff to make sure the pipe and weed were left at the shop. Mick drives past residential neighborhoods and out of town, as the cop continues to follow closely. By the edge of Fairfield, Mick is understandably nervous, as no Fairfield police officer would follow THIS long without having probable cause. Mick drives past the last remaining homes on the south edge of Fairfield before taking a right and heading towards highway 34. The police cruiser follows suit, turning right and staying 2 car lengths away. Mick goes the speed limit, having the police cruiser follow extremely close this time, he finally reaches the highway cross road stop sign. Waiting for a clear shot, Mic crosses the highway, and heads towards his grandmother’s house. The police cruiser follows across the highway, speeding up behind Mick. At the first intersection, Mick takes a left and pulls over on the gravel road, the police cruiser follows and pulls over, shutting of his light, a dark figure emerges. Mick patiently waits for the cop to come up to his door. Mick: “Got a REASON you’ve been following me all across town, officer?” The cop ignores, and says, “License and registration.” Mick: “You didn’t pull me over there, chief.” The cop’s face lights up with sarcasm. “OH! I’m SORRY!” Walking back to his police cruiser, he reaches in thru the window turning on the flashers, and speaking into the loud speaker, “PULL OVER!” Mick laughs uncomfortably, as he’s unsure of what to do next, already being parked on the side of the road. The cop walks back over to Mick’s truck, repeating, “License and registration.” Mick unsure, hands over the documents, never breaking eye contact with this new cop, who seems bent on Mick’s imprisonment. As the cop breaks eye contact, Mick checks his last name. To Mick’s horror it reads, “Luke”. The next five minutes Mick sets in his truck, a cold blanket of sweat pours down his neck, as he has no clue what may happen next. Back at the shop, Juan has given up on Mick coming back right away, and begun painting the disassembled parts to the equipment. The closed doors and no ventilation cause the fumes to give Juan a massive paint high, to which he’s never seen before. Concentrating on “getting the job done”, Juan completely forgets to open a door or window, as his lack of sleep mixing with the chemicals drenching the air, drastically affects his ability to reason. Not even thinking about the noxious effects, Juan continues painting all the pieces, slowly being affected by the vapors coming from the aerosol cans. Across town, and on a desolate gravel road, Mick sets waiting for “Officer Luke” to come back to his truck, and possibly arrest him for any number of things. Mick thinks to himself, just how many illegal acts he commits in a week: Purchase and distribution of marijuana, possession of drug paraphernalia, transportation across state lines, along with smoking while driving, illegal dumping for Service Men, speeding in the company van, having Service Men pay for his personal truck’s gas on company card, stealing the endless products, using company materials along with company equipment at side jobs outside of Dave’s knowledge, the borderline “illegal” acts the Service Men crew consider “pranks” committed upon Service Pro’s, and not to mention possibly getting a ticket for currently not wearing a seatbelt. Mick notices the last one, and clicks the seatbelt into place, as Officer Luke gets out of his cruiser, walking directly towards Mick’s truck. Handing Mick his license and registration back, Officer Luke stares Mick down. Officer Luke: “Just so you and you’re BUDDY know… Juan is it? We KNOW about you two, what game you two are running around town. With that little stunt you two got away with today, don’t be surprised to see more of “us” around, WHERE-EVER you two are, we’ll make sure to have someone right there with you.” Mick: “Don’t you town-pigs have anything ELSE better to do than to do surveillance on a couple of workers? Why don’t you go after the meth-heads you always claim to be on the hunt for? Or why not focus on capturing Bin Laden; I’m sure he’s around here somewhere.” Officer Luke: “We BOTH know you guys AINT just a “couple of workers”. And don’t you worry, were ALL ABOUT cleaning THIS TOWN UP! SOONER than later…Mick…SOONER than later…” Officer Luke walks back to his car, over his shoulder he yells, “Tail light out!” before swinging his club, smashing Mick’s back tail light out. Officer Luke gets back in his car, drives past Mick, turns around, and heads away, leaving Mick in the silence. Mick: “Shit.” Back at the shop, Juan has finished all three pieces of equipment, and has managed to get them to set in areas to dry without leaving any evidence they were there at all. The fumes have taken a hold as Juan, realizes he needs to go outside for fresh air, and to smoke a cigarette. Juan has the cigarette but realizes, his lighter is in the van. In the time Juan has gotten inside the van, the paint fumes have made him completely forget he’s in the van to get a lighter for the cigarette hanging from his lips. Mick follows his normal route home, the whole way a vehicle follows from a distance. Mick takes note and becomes increasingly nervous. Going around the corners, and bends in the road out to his grandmother’s house, Mick watches the same headlights staying just out of sight in his rear view mirror. Picking up speed, Mick speeds around a curve in the road, to gain distance between him and the vehicle behind. Getting a safe distance, Mick turns hard on a side gravel road, killing his lights, he sets facing down a steep road, putting it in park, off to the side, he kills the engine, and all light. The vehicle behind follows slowly by the road, continuing on, Mick hears it slow down, then speed back up past the road. His worst fears coming true, he takes the same back country roads his grandfather taught him about using when he was a child, all the way back to his grandmother’s farm. The entire trip Mick goes 10 mph on dirt roads, without any lights. Pulling in the driveway, he sets in his truck, still trying to process the words coming from Officer Luke’s mouth, when he realizes “Juan’s STILL at the shop!” Mick gets out of his truck, analyzing the damage to his light; he knows he cannot use his truck, without getting pulled over. And in a town of 10,000, not many people travel at night. His truck would be a dead give-away, his tail light a beacon for the cops to freely pull him over and search his truck. Sneaking into his grandmother’s garage, Mick eyes his grandmother’s “Buick Regal”. He quietly pulls up the manual garage door, checking the visor above the driver seat, to which the keys land with a jingle on the floor board. Mick quickly finds them and puts the car in reverse, walking it out with his foot; he narrowly misses hitting the car door on the garage as he passes through. Once outside, Mick lets it roll a ways in the driveway, before getting out and pulling the garage door closed. Back in the car, Mick starts it up and drives cautiously out and away from the farm house. Finally on the road, another cold sweat covers him, as nerves give him the shakes, of now adding “grand theft auto” to the list of illegal acts of the day. Instinctively Mick puts a cigarette in his mouth to calm him, only to panic, throwing it away, knowing his grandmother would smell smoke, and KNOW. Angry at himself, Mick focuses on the task at hand, getting to Juan. In the shop, Juan’s head bobs and bounces, as he drifts in and out of sleep. The effects on him when awake give Juan an illusion of completely drunk. Juan begins yelling for “people to start treating me with god-dam RESPECT around here” and “somebody’s gotta give me a light!” (In front of him sets, three lighters on the console, except Juan doesn’t realize he’s still in Service Men van.) Hallucinating he believes he’s at a bar where everyone from work is getting hammered and ignoring him. Juan walks around the Service Men shop, wide eyed and laughing at jokes running in his head. Juan walks up to the only desk in the shop, setting down facing the desk Juan orders a drink from the bartender from his hallucination. Juan begins having a conversation with the rapper “DMX”, and tells him how much he loves his new album. As the “conversation” continues, Juan is unsure if it IS actually DMX he is talking to, or just a black guy he THINKS is DMX. Either way, Juan is sticking with it actually BEING DMX, and grabs the entire bottle of rum setting in front of him at the “bar”. (Reality: The bottle of “rum” is actually a solution bottle of cleaning liquid and water. Poisonous Level: 5, would induce vomiting, nausea, and flu-like symptoms.) Juan walks away arm around his new “buddy” DMX, and heads to show everyone WHO he just met. (Reality: Juan is rolling, and talking to a mop bucket with mop handle sticking out of bucket) Mick speeds across the back roads of Fairfield, seeing no cops, he parks a block down from the shop. Running in the darkness on foot, Mick makes his way back to the shop. Seeing no lights on, Mick heads around to the back door, finding it unlocked, he heads in cautious. The overwhelming smell of chemical all throughout the shop is so much that Mick leaves the back door open, and shuts off the lights. Juan notices immediately, and in his hallucination, believes it’s “bar closing time”. Mick rushes past Juan, who keeps repeating, “Its BAR CLOSING TIME guys! We gotta go, its BAR CLOSING TIME!” For a second Mick stops, and looks at Juan, then continues to the garage door. Pulling back the rugs, Mick runs around to the back door, and around to the front, unlocking the padlock, Mick opens the door as fast as he can without waking the neighborhood. The rush of fresh air hits Juan, and his head spins with all the fresh oxygen. Mick comes back to Juan, and pulls him outside as Juan tries to yell over his shoulder, “COME ON GUYS, THEY’RE THROWING ME OUT!” Mick almost laughs but has to hush Juan from screaming and making a scene. In the darkness Juan cannot tell who is pulling him out of the bar. Mick finally quiets Juan, and uses the moonlight for Juan to see. After 10 minutes Juan is coming to, still groggy, and carrying around the jug of cleaning solution. Mick grabs a bottle of water out of the service van, coming back into the shop’s side yard, Mick makes Juan drink some. Mick: “WHO were you talking to back there?” Juan: (Still groggy) ”Ah….everybody. Were at the bar right?” Mick just laughs. Mick: “And what’s that bottle in your hand?” Juan: “Stupid bartender didn’t even notice me swipe a full bottle of rum!” Mick: “Want to check that “bottle of rum” again?” Juan looks and is completely heartbroken seeing a bottle of cleaning solution that 3 minutes ago he would have been pounding down without a second thought. Mick: “I’ll clean up, you set out here. SET HERE, DO NOT GO ANYWHERE! REPEAT IT!” Nodding his head, Juan holds out the bottle of cleaning solution, before lying down in the grass. Juan: “Don’t leave me out here, like you DID before!” Mick ignores heading back inside, keeping the lights off, he peels the garbage bags away the windows, places the stolen equipment in areas that wouldn’t get noticed if Dave stopped by the shop in the morning. Cleaning up Juan’s painting mess, he discards all the used paints, and folds up the tarps used for protecting the floors from paint. Mick grabs all of their stuff they cannot leave in the shop, closes and locks the doors, and walks Juan to his grandmother’s car. Pulling away, Mick goes over a mental checklist of what did he put away, and what might have been left out. Feeling confident, he pulls out and takes Juan back to his trailer. Mick stops long enough to make sure Juan can make it to the door, before he peels off out of the trailer park. Taking the back way home Mick speeds up on the empty Iowa country roads. Outside of town, miles behind Mick sees flashing lights coming outside of Fairfield’s city limits. Mick takes no chances and floors it as fast as the Regal will allow, not letting the flashing lights get ANY closer to him. Speeding around curves Mick hits 85 mph, and breaks 110 on an open straight stretch right before his turn to his grandmother’s gravel road. Fearing his grandmother MAY have woken up, and stumbled upon the empty garage, he turns off the Regal’s lights, and heads down the last quarter mile at 10 mph. The sirens coming closer and closer, Mick sweats as he looks in the rear view, seeing the lights growing and growing in the distance. Mick pulls into the driveway as quietly as possible, with all the lights off, narrowly missing his own truck, when he looked back to see the two sets of cop cars coming in his direction on the main road. Mick shifts the card hard into neutral, without setting off any brake lights, getting out Mick runs over to the garage, pulling the door open, he rushes back to the still moving car, from neutral, he shifts into drive and pulls the car in as quietly as possible. Parking it, he shuts off the engine, puts the keys back, and heads to the garage door. Mick freezes seeing the flashing lights coming down his grandmother’s gravel road. It MUST have been his grandmother. Mick pulls the garage door down as silently as possible, but knowing the police sirens pulling in would drown out any noise, he rushes the last half, just to get the door shut. Hearing the cars pull up and park, Mick rushes across the windowless garage, rushing to his steps and out of sight, just as his grandmother comes out of the kitchen door into the garage, with no light on, she makes her way across the garage to the front door. Mick silently slips into his apartment, with the lights out; he waits just behind the door. Sweating profusely, he listens with cupped hands to the basement door. Opening the front door, Mick’s grandmother turns on the lights, and allows the police officers to walk into her garage. Trying to show the officers her empty garage, Mick’s grandmother is mortified to see her car setting, parked as if she had parked it. The cops immediately believe the “old lady is off her rocker”, as one heads outside, the other tries to console her confusion. From outside, Officer Luke sets in the passenger seat, deeply involved in a game of Sudoku, he lazily looks up to see Mick’s truck setting 10 feet in front of him. The broken taillight a dead give-away. Mick’s grandmother is heard complaining, “I don’t know! I came out five minutes ago, and it WASN’T HERE! You HAVE to believe me!” From next to the door, Mick listens in as guilt lays a blanket on his shoulders, until an all-too-familiar voice comes into the garage. Hearing Officer Luke’s voice rattling off questions to his grandmother, Mick launches into action. Striping down to his boxers, Mick emerges from the basement apartment, acting completely innocent and half asleep. Mick: “Grandma, what’s going on?” Mick’s Grandma: “Nothing, your old woman of a grandmother is going crazy again.” Officer Luke: “Now, Ma’am, you said you came out, and the car was missing?” Mick: “My grandmother is on some medications since grandpa passed, thank you for your understanding….” Mick makes sure to look over both of the officers name tags, for extra effect. Mick: “…Officer Watson, and…dispatcher Luke.” Officer Watson pays no attention, continuing to try and calm Mick’s grandmother. Officer Luke stops and looks directly at Mick. Officer Luke: “That’s OFFICER Luke, I’m sure you’ll learn that soon enough….C’Mon Brian, everything’s fine out here.” Mick makes sure to walk both the officers out the front garage door, Watson heads out first, followed by Luke. Luke stops at the door; turning to Mick he has one last barb to throw his way. Officer Luke: “Two thefts in ONE DAY Mick….mark my words….SOONER than later.” With that Mick closes the door in Officer Luke’s face, as he turns and heads back to his cruiser. Mick watches from the garage door, before shutting off the lights, and making sure his grandmother makes it back to bed safely before FINALLY heading downstairs, to his dark quiet burnt coffee smelling apartment. Completely drained from the day, Mick doesn’t even stop to get anything to eat, heading straight for his bed, Mick flops on his bed, not even caring to take off his boots or dirty work clothes. Before closing his eyes he looks one last time at the clock seeing 12:15 Mick closes his eyes, not wanting to ever open them again. (End) (Credits-Followed with “PS” scene) 12:16 Mick’s phone buzzes to life. “Dave” Mick: (Answering groggy, and completely on instinct) “Mmmyeah Dave…” Dave: “HEY MICK!... (Hah-ha) craziest thing, we just got a call. Going to go ahead and need you and Juan to show back up at the shop….Ah…We have a LONG DAY ahead of us, this guy….this guy I guess, got all crazy on drugs…and tore out all of his water and electrical lines in his house!... WHILE they were still hooked up!!...Complete Mess!...Can you believe that?!.....Oh SHOOT...I HOPE I didn’t wake you...Mick?...Mick?!”