|
|
Post by mh on Oct 5, 2022 10:09:18 GMT -6
escape clause (title may change)
with special guest star richie 'the hammer' ginelli from the movie 'thinner'.
morton banks pulled hard at the door of the old house, and it opened. one piece of good luck. it was late afternoon and pouring rain. looking around he saw surprisingly comfortable furniture. the air was musty, like the outdoors had found it's way in. he dropped his satchel on a couch, and fell exhausted onto an old chair. he'd stashed his  in a barn some miles away. during a rare hunting trip nearly a decade ago he came upon this abandoned house. he'd only looked in the windows,
but it seemed unchanged. morton was in trouble. this morning he'd come home early from his law practice with a surprise for his wife. a diamond bracelet. but she was the one who gave him a surprise. he heard them upstairs. her and some young guy. who was he? morton had no clue. he went to his study. took a loaded gun from his desk, went upstairs & shot them both to death.
|
|
|
|
Post by mh on Oct 5, 2022 10:47:32 GMT -6
morton kept a burner phone -- because although fat, balding & middle-aged, he'd had a girlfriend some months back. ironic. he took it out, and realized although he had numerous acquaintances, he had no friends. no friend who could or would, help him here. during the long trek, taxing his body, he understood there was only one person he could call. one person who might aid him in this predicate. richie 'the hammer' ginelli. using all his wiles, and every dirty trick, and calling in favors, he'd saved the hammer from prison. why? he liked the guy. he was real. he had charisma to burn, and he was the scariest sonofabitch morton had ever met. he was without fear. when morton got him off, outside the courtroom ritchie grabbed him & kissed both his cheeks. "anything!" he said. "if you ever need anything! you saved me from rotting in prison. hell! i got got too many enemies -- i'd have been shived within a week! anything you ever need." and ritchie was staring right into morton's eyes. "anything!" and he meant it.
|
|
|
|
Post by mh on Oct 5, 2022 11:01:56 GMT -6
he dialed the number he kept in his wallet. a phone number that probably less than ten people have.
"hello?" says a voice.
"ritchie ... i's morty. morty banks." all though college & his practice, nobody else had called morton "morty". he took it as a badge of honor.
"i'm in trouble. i'm in real trouble." there was silence on the line -- and for a second morton was terrified. maybe just another false promise people make. morton felt tears start to well.
"morty ... tell me everything." richie the hammer's voice commanded. "leave nothing out."
morton gasps in relief and begins to tell his story.
|
|
|
|
Post by Babu Baboon on Oct 6, 2022 11:25:02 GMT -6
great start. Is this a solo thing or round robin?
|
|
|
|
Post by mh on Oct 6, 2022 21:46:52 GMT -6
great start. Is this a solo thing or round robin? |
|
|
|
Post by Doc Quantum on Oct 8, 2022 0:57:25 GMT -6
A door creaked.
A wolf howled in the distance.
The full moon shone as clouds passed across it in the sky.
Someone opened a closet and a body tumbled out of it, that of a man with a knife in his back.
|
|
|
|
Post by Babu Baboon on Oct 8, 2022 10:08:40 GMT -6
Meanwhile, back at Morton;s house, he is finishing his story to Ritchie.
"Okay, listen up, Morty," Ritchie said. "You got to keep a clear head right now. If you see anyone in the street, everything is just hunky dory. Believe it in your head so your face doesn't give you way.
"Ok, got it," Morton said nervously.
"Say it."
"Everything is just hunky dory," Morty said, sounding more convincing."
"Good. Now, I'm going to give you a number to call. He's a guy who handles this type of thing for my associates and I. I want you to do whatever he says no matter how crazy whatever he says to do might sound. You got me?"
"I got you. Who is he?"
"He's a problem solver."
|
|
|
|
Post by mh on Oct 8, 2022 22:56:46 GMT -6
"ritchie, i don't know this guy ... i'm scared," morton says.
"listen," says ritchie, i'm here -- i'll be on the line too. remember, hunky dory. within the next 24 hrs, this will be over. you'll be in the clear, or if not, you'll be on a sandy beach drinking a mexican beer in a country with no U.S. extradition. you got a problem solver. and more importantly, you go me! ritchie the hammer!"
"okay ritchie," says morton, tensely.
"dammit, "says ritchie, "i would've killed the bitch myself! you should have left, came home that night at your regular time, broke down, then told her how the whole thing was your fault. she's had eaten it up. then called me. i'd have made you a damn grieving widower! neighbors would have been dropping off casseroles and bunt cakes! hell, you probably would have banged a couple of them!"
|
|
|
|
Post by mh on Oct 8, 2022 23:16:22 GMT -6
"screwing some kid in your own bed -- that you paid for. hell, maybe that i paid for! legal fees."
morton managed a laugh.
"listen, let me tell you a story, "begins ritchie. "couple years ago, a guy i go way back with had a problem. with gypsies! they cursed him."
"what no ..." begins morton.
"yeah, sounds crazy, "says ritchie. "i showed up -- always worked alone. but i hired this dumb local kid to watch them. thru him a few bucks. watch their movements. my sixth sense kicked in and i called him to say they made him -- to get out quick. but he was too slow. they killed him. killed him horribly."
"omg," says morton.
"bad mistake. yeah. he was a mook. but he was my mook ..."
|
|
|
|
Post by mh on Oct 8, 2022 23:29:25 GMT -6
i went in and there they were in their damn gypsie camp. laughing it up! happy as hell. they'd made a curse. yeah. my friend made a curse too. i was that curse -- me, ritchie the hammer! now this dead mook had also made a curse." he tells morton the story of what happened.
"jezus christ,"said morton, shaking, after he finished.
"now ask yourself," said ritchie, "if i'd do that for some stupid damn mook i'd known three days, what would i do for someone i really cared about?"
|
|
|
|
Post by Babu Baboon on Oct 9, 2022 7:19:28 GMT -6
A white Honda Acura pulled up in front of Morton's house. The driver had fancier cars, but he didn't drive them while working.
A confident, well-dressed middle-aged man stepped out of the car and walked to the front door and rang the doorbell. "Morton Banks?" he asked as Morton answered the door.
"Um... yeah," Morton replied.
"I'm Winston Wolf. I solve problems and Ritchie says you have a big one."
"Uh.. yeah... YEAH" Morton said, stepping to the side to let him in.
"Ritchie says your friends call you Morty. You mind if I call you Morty?"
"S-sure," Morton said. "Something about the man's demeanor makes him feel reassured.
"Super. That coffee I smell? You mind if I have a cup?" Winston asked.
"Sure. How do you take it?" Morton asked.
"Lots of cream. Lots of sugar..."
A few minutes later, they were sipping coffee and staring at the murder scene, "Jeez. Jackson Pollock pay you a visit?" Winston said calmly as he took a sip.
"Can you help?" Morton asked.
"Sure, but it would have been a lot easier if this had happened in an enclosed area like a car. My boys are going to have to comb every nook and crany of this room with black lights looking for DNA."
"oh..." Morton said dubiously.
"Anyone besides you and your wife come in here regularly?" Winston asked.
"No, just us," Morton said. "And apparently this asshole," he said, gesturing with his cup to the nearly headless young man.
"Good. Then we won't need an exact match on the linens," Winston said.
"Um... that's good," Morty said.
"yep," Winston said. "Saves time. Any major appliances you've been thinking of replacing? Preferably with a lot of storage space... if you get my meaning."
"Uh... we had talked about upgrading the freezer in the garage to something bigger," Morton said.
"Perfect," Winston said, turning towards the hallway. "I'll make some calls and get my clean-up crew in here." He turns back. "Oh, one thing, Morty. Do you have a sample of your late wife's handwriting?"
"Sure. Why?"
"My guy has a 'Dear John' letter to write," Winston replied.
|
|
|
|
Post by mh on Oct 9, 2022 22:02:58 GMT -6
things had happened unbelievably fast. morton called 'wolf' as ritchie had instructed.
"mr. banks, winston wolf. i want you go back to the old barn where u stashed your car, and go home. make no stops. only for gas if necessary."
"but ..." begins morton, confused.
"morty, do what he says," says ritchie from the other line, "whatever he says ..."
"okay," says morton, sounding defeated.
"mr. banks, just act like it's any other day. wave to a neighbor if they see you -- scowl at them if they're a prick. life as usual. now hang up and i'll see you at home."
morton hangs up. now he's sitting with winston wolf in his blood-slattered bedroom sipping peruvian coffee. he'd found lot's of sample's his wife's handwriting. checks. her daily planner. her bad poetry. luckily she was a scribbler. computer illiterate to the point that she couldn't send an email. wolf seemed pleased.
|
|
|
|
Post by mh on Oct 9, 2022 22:21:44 GMT -6
"now if we just had some video ..." begins wolf, "wait a second ...!"
the kid had a smartphone in the back of haphazardly discarded levis. wolf snatched it out.
wolf began clicking thru it & said, "bingo! oh, this will do. this kid was a piece of work."
"what is it?" asks morton getting up.
wolf put up a hand. "morty -- you don't want to see it. i promise you. but this is actually quite fortuitous for us."
"wolf grabs his own phone, dials quickly & expertly, and talks lowly. then morton can hear 'ritchie the hammer' practically screaming on the other end.
"ritchie ... calm down. i know it's distasteful, but you wanted me to keep you posted."
"that punk! that little prick! in the man's own bed! that i probably paid for! i'll kill his whole damn family!!"
"hammer," cautions winston wolf, "don't hurt 'em."
|
|
|
|
Post by mh on Oct 9, 2022 22:39:08 GMT -6
after winston gets off the phone with ritchie, he looks at morton & shakes his head.
"classic working-class italian catholic upbringing. ritchie really should have been a priest." smirking, but in a kindly way.
"go into your study & sit tight. i need an hour or two. have a few drinks, take a nap. no calls. if the phone rings, ignore it. and under any circumstances, do not call out! okay?"
"yeah!" says morton. "i understand."
|
|
|
|
Post by mh on Oct 9, 2022 23:12:14 GMT -6
morton awakens from a dream with his dead wife coming at him with fingers outstretched like claws. he tries to scream, but then gasps & awakens at his desk. on impulse, he opens the top drawer and sees that his pistol has been replaced. but is it his pistol? the serial number is the same. but it's fully loaded. he smells it, and it apparently has never been fired.
woof comes in, beaming. "look at this," he says holding up his phone, "bank security camera footage."
"my wife!!! how ...?"
"no," says wolf, "but an incredibly close facsimile. her big glasses & fondness for head-scarfs gave us some leeway. her voice, and overuse of chanel -- as you told us -- made my associate practically her doppelganger! that's from not twenty minutes ago. she's doing her best to clean out every account you have."
"what?!" cries morton.
"her & the kid need money, "says winston looking into morton's eyes. "she needs it for tropical locales, and expensive hotel beds. to hang onto her young lover. who won't believe that?"
"but my money?!" says morton.
"would it help you in prison?" asks wolf, patting morton's shoulder kindly. "you'll still have some dough. we only took what she could have taken quickly. which was actually, a lot! you should have been less trusting. but morty, that coinage has to disappear. just like your tramp of a wife and her, i'm assuming, well-endowed boyfriend."
morton drank the rest of his scotch.
|
|
