Red Jacarandas (eBook)

Three Weird Tales of Los Angeles

Jeff Polman (Autor)

eBook Download: EPUB

2022 | 1. Auflage
474 Seiten
Bookbaby (Verlag)
978-1-6678-2390-4 (ISBN)

Infos

Two original screenplays wrapped around a short novel: Three chilling, thrilling, and undeniably weird tales of Los Angeles. In AFTERSHOCK, an L.A. psychiatrist/author is displaced by an earthquake and rents a guest house on the grounds of an abandoned Spanish villa deep in Santa Monica Canyon, only to discover that her new abode has a chilling, haunted history that threatens to envelop her. ONE EYE OPEN follows the journey of Leo, a homeless man living in L.A. whose life is a hazy string of wandering from encampments to food lines. Then in one pivotal moment while perched on the rail of a freeway overpass, a vision from beyond turns his world upside down and ultimately, his life. In LOVED ONES, when TV actress Gina Coogan is found murdered on her Sherman Oaks doorstep, two of her most obsessive male fans escape for a golf weekend in the desert-with unexpected, twisted results.

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Three chilling tales set in and around the City of Angels, a region with dark secrets baked into its past... AFTERSHOCK: Suzanna Bristol, well-known psychiatrist and self-help author, is emotionally rattled and displaced from her condo in the Valley by a sudden late-night earthquake. After an odd encounter in a Santa Monica Canyon bar with a mysterious young man watching her from a corner table, she responds to a flyer on the wall behind him for a nearby guest house rental. The rental is a charming but crumbling unit on the grounds of a boarded-up Spanish villa, and as the days pass, Suzanna hears weird sounds, sees weirder lights and visions, and when the young man from the tavern suddenly appears naked in her room one night and then disappears, she realizes the property is severely haunted. She also feels an overwhelming sadness from the ghost, and becomes obsessed with finding out why he can't rest. ONE EYE OPEN: Leo is in his late 30s and despite having occasional sixth sense abilities, has forgotten exactly who he is and where he came from. All he knows is that he's been homeless in L.A. for years, and has developed a survival routine that gets him through each day, sleeping in the ivy of a freeway cloverleaf, waiting on food lines, visiting shelters when necessary and groping through fast food dumpsters. One afternoon while contemplating suicide on a freeway overpass, he sees a young couple wearing black on a nearby hillside staring at him. Running soon after from a hostile group of "e;bum-beaters"e;, he spends the night in the backyard of an abandoned house on the edge of Beverly Hills, where he has a freaky psychic vision of a woman dying in a house fire. Through his friend Victor he learns the woman was Jo Ordway, the wife of a rich tech mogul/producer named Jason Ordway who was briefly suspected of foul play. As his dark "e;visitations"e; increase no matter where he wanders and a batch of photos he snapped at the property fall into different hands, Leo finds himself entangled in a reality TV event generated by a sleazy producer, his opportunistic assistant, and Ruby Mellon, Leo's supportive but naive job counselor. In a race to save his sanity, Leo must find out why Jo Ordway is haunting him, and ultimately, discover who he really is. LOVED ONES: John Griffin owns a truck and van dealership in the South Bay and along with his workmate and best friend Jimmy, they share a weekly passion for "e;Windy City"e;, a cable drama and especially its lovely star, Gina Coogan. When Gina is found murdered on the doorstep of her Valley house, John and Jimmy are traumatized, and on the advice of his wife Polly, John suggests driving out to Palm Springs for a golf weekend to help them recover. But while attending a memorial service in Hollywood for Gina on the way out of town, they pick up Tom, another Gina fan and drifter and give him a ride back to where he lives in the desert. During a fast food stop, Jimmy discovers a map of the Valley and what could be a murder weapon in Tom's backpack, and immediately suspects their guest. With an inner rage and resentment from a childhood incident involving his father, Jimmy will not take no for an answer and talks John into stalking Tom to his trailer at the desolate Salton Sea, then questioning him about the murder. What results is a thrilling climax and revealing commentary on the power and danger of celebrity worship.

Textauszug

EXT. LOS FELIZ - AFTERNOON

Looking north up Vermont Avenue: a congested, gentrified street lined with coffee shops, trendy eateries, thrift stores, and the usual sprinkled HOMELESS. In the distance we can barely make out the Hollywood sign on Mt. Lee through thick, late summer haze.

A ten-year-old Saab coupe is parked at a meter across the street from NIGHTLIGHT BOOKS, where a small group of PATRONS have gathered on the sidewalk out front to socialize before slipping inside.

Behind the Saab’s steering wheel, SUZANNA BRISTOL watches them with visible unease. Late-40s and wearing a black satin blouse, her auburn hair tied behind her pale, attractive face with a yellow scrunchie, there’s a fragile air about her, an embedded anxiety in her eyes.

SUZANNA

They’re invisible, Suzanna…

She glances around first, then opens the glove compartment, takes out a small silver flask and downs a few sips of whatever’s inside. Puts the flask back in the glove compartment, then pops an Altoid mint in her mouth and checks her face in the rear view mirror.

SUZANNA

Invisible…

Opens the car door.

INT. NIGHTLIGHT BOOKS - LATE AFTERNOON

Suzanna stands at a podium in front of a sign reading MEET DR. SUZANNA BRISTOL, AUTHOR OF “FINDING THE NEW YOU”.

PULL BACK on a modest CROWD of about three dozen attendees filling the aisles and a small seating area.

SUZANNA

(reading from her open book) …and yet there’s no need to shine up your hardwood floors, or continuing the metaphor, to over-wash your cloth napkins. The New You is the person who deserves honesty. Who deserves compassion. Who deserves respect. Who deserves happiness…When everything in life seems to conspire to beat you down, the New You is the courage you find to pull yourself up.

(smiles and closes the book)

POLITE APPLAUSE. She nods gratefully.

INT. NIGHTLIGHT BOOKS - FIFTEEN MINUTES LATER

Suzanna sits at a back table beside a stack of her books, pen in hand and sipping from a glass of ice water. She signs one of the books for a middle-aged EARTHY WOMAN wearing about a dozen bracelets.

WOMAN

I’ve only seen him once, but it was unforgettable. His eyes radiated.

SUZANNA

Really. What did you say his name was?

WOMAN

I didn’t. They call him The Beacon. It takes three days to reach his compound by llama but it’s worth it.

Suzanna smiles, a bit forced. Finishes signing and hands her the book.

SUZANNA

Thank you. I’ll keep that in mind.

A DISTINGUISHED GUY in his 50s wearing a tweed sport jacket gives her a book to sign.

GUY

I heard you on that radio show in San Luis Obispo. Very engaging.

SUZANNA

Thank you. Who should I, um…

GUY

Dale Moody. That’s with a Y.

She starts to sign the book. He studies her hands, then her face.

MOODY

I’m in behavioral metrics. Hit up most of the psych book events on the coast, and happened to be in town. Are you working on a follow-up?

The crowd squeezes closer to the table. Suzanna gulps down some of her water and spills a little on her blouse.

MOODY

Doctor?

SUZANNA

What? Oh—yes. I’ve been working on the outline, when I can get to it.

MOODY

Great. Same subject?

SUZANNA

Y’know…I really can’t discuss that.

MOODY

Of course. Understood.

He hands her a business card for something called CONTROL CONCEPTS.

MOODY

My center can always use a fresh mind. Stop by sometime.

He smiles at her, takes his signed book and walks away. Suzanna waits till he’s gone, then discreetly lowers the business card beneath the table and crumples it up.

EXT. VERMONT AVENUE - EVENING

Book publicist DENISE RAYNER escorts Suzanna back to her car. Denise is smartly-dressed, anorexic, an obvious go-getter.

DENISE

I counted 38 at one point. Seen better, seen worse.

SUZANNA

And a third of them needy or weird. Or needy and weird—

DENISE

Come on. They bought your book. Isn’t that why we do these?

SUZANNA

Honestly? I don’t know…

DENISE

How could you not know?

They reach the Saab. Suzanna unlocks her passenger door and leans against it.

SUZANNA

I’m probably not supposed to tell you this, Denise…But one of my wealthiest clients is also suicidal.

DENISE

You’re right. You probably shouldn’t—

SUZANNA

Because when she was seven her mother bound and gagged her and locked her in a storage closet for 16 hours. Now how can my book, or 50 minutes of my attention per week, ever erase that?

DENISE

It’s not your job to erase things, Suzanna. Just be there to listen, and to…I don’t know, give them some guidance and hope?

SUZANNA

Right. And if I’m lucky maybe they’ll hear me.

(Denise frowns at her)

I’m sorry. I’ve just been a little tired lately.

DENISE

Stressed is more like it. Maybe you should get more sleep. Or take me up on one of my unmarried male friends already.

Suzanna visibly tightens. Opens the car door.

SUZANNA

You mean another emotionally unavailable one?

DENISE

Oh, come on. Not all of them were. At least let me buy you a drink.

SUZANNA

Thanks, but no…I think I just need some alone time tonight.

She gives Denise a quick hug and gets in her car.

DENISE

(under her breath)

Says the alone time factory…

EXT. 101 FREEWAY - NIGHT

Suzanna’s Saab cruises by the HOLLYWOOD BOWL exit and over the Cahauenga Pass into the even hazier murk of the San Fernando Valley.

INT. MEDITERRANEAN DREAM - NIGHT

A Greek-style fast food place. Suzanna waits for her take-out order at a crowded counter, checking emails on her phone.

An OLDER MAN in an ill-fitting canvas jacket with wild grey hair sits at a nearby table with his food. Suzanna makes minimal eye contact with him, re-focuses on her screen.

The man’s right hand suddenly begins to twitch. A hunk of his gyro meat falls into his lap and he switches the fork to his other hand.

His right leg shakes. Then his entire arm. He’s having some kind of fit. Suzanna gazes at him, petrified. A BUSBOY, other PATRONS run over, try and grab him as he tumbles out of the booth. Lay him on the floor. Someone dials 9-1-1.

Suzanna’s order is placed on the counter in front of her. She pockets her phone, grabs the bag and hurries out of the place.

EXT. THREE PALMS VILLAGE - NIGHT

A high-end condo complex in Reseda, surrounded by tall, swaying palms and a gaudy fountain out front. Suzanna drives her Saab through an automatic gate and down into a dark, underground garage.

INT. SUZANNA’S CONDO - NIGHT

She enters with a small stack of mail. Slides out a Psychology Today, neatly places it on a living room coffee table with a dozen other magazines, each with only the title showing.

INT. CONDO - MINUTES LATER

Suzanna sits at a desktop computer with her large Greek salad and glass of white wine. Makes adjustments to a client spread sheet on the screen. There are at least fifteen names.

SUZANNA

Tuesdays suit you better, Robert…Trust me.

INT. BEDROOM - NIGHT

She exits the bathroom in a plain beige nightgown, buttoned to the neck. Walks to a small aquarium on her dresser and feeds a couple of GOLDFISH inside.

Climbs onto her four-poster bed, sets up an iPad on her lap and starts watching SEASON 3, EP. 6 of a foreign crime show called NORDIC MIDNIGHT.

CUT...

Produkt-Details

• Erscheint lt. Verlag: 11.1.2022
• Sprache: englisch
• Themenwelt: Literatur ► Romane / Erzählungen
• ISBN-10: 1-6678-2390-6 / 1667823906
• ISBN-13: 978-1-6678-2390-4 / 9781667823904