DOUBLE DUTCH BUS: a musical odyssey about losing your license (Track 3/6)

 

Double Dutch Bus: a musical odyssey about losing your license (Track3/6)

Track 3: The Auction

[SCENE START]

0:00 - 0:25

EXT. RAY'S HOUSE - MORNING

The "Triple Dutch" instrumental continues, but the mood has shifted. It's slower, more melancholic, a wistful reprise.

RAY leaves his house, lunchbox in hand. He stops on the front path, his eyes drifting to his tarp-covered ROAD RUNNER in the driveway. The tarp flutters in the wind, revealing a glimpse of the chrome bumper.

CHUCK and LENNY, his neighbors, are already in Chuck's driveway, polishing a ridiculously shiny sports car.

CHUCK

(Calling out)

Lookin’ good, Delgado! That bus-pass blue is your color.

LENNY

Yeah, matches your eyes when you’re about to cry!

Ray ignores them, but a pained memory flashes in his eyes.

DISSOLVE TO:

MEMORY - EXT. FAST FOOD PARKING LOT - NIGHT (FROM TRACK 1)

We see a quick flash of Ray pulling away from the drive-thru. He looks happy, in control. He glances back at the restaurant with a longing look—he really wanted that burger. That’s when all the trouble happened.

0:26 - 0:45

EXT. RAY'S HOUSE - MORNING - PRESENT DAY

Ray is back in the present, staring at his car. He looks down at the Road Runner with a tragic, dramatic resolve, mirroring Padmé's gaze in Attack of the Clones.

RAY

(Quietly, to himself)

I shouldn't've come back.

He turns and trudges toward the bus stop.

0:46 - 1:15

EXT. BUS STOP - DAY

Ray waits. A HOMELESS MAN is nearby, ranting at a lamppost.

HOMELESS MAN

Don't you look at me! This bus is only for them! The drug addicts! The gays and lesbians! The vegans and the sinners and the satanists! It's a rolling metal hell!

Ray stares straight ahead, trying to block it out. The iconic, funky bassline of "THE AUCTION" by Frankie Smith begins to kick in.

The DOUBLE DUTCH BUS arrives, bouncing aggressively on its hydraulics, its colorful paint job a stark contrast to the drab street. The doors hiss open.

1:16 - 1:40

INT. DOUBLE DUTCH BUS - DAY

Ray stumbles on. He fumbles with a handful of change, dropping coins on the floor. He tries to feed them into the fare box. It rejects them with an angry BZZT each time.

The BUS DRIVER, the same old Black woman from before, watches him struggle. She gives him a soft, knowing smile.

BUS DRIVER

Go ahead, child.

She hands him a transfer slip. Ray nods, humiliated but grateful, and moves down the aisle.

1:41 - 2:30

INT. DOUBLE DUTCH BUS - LATER

The bus is packed. The air is thick with the smell of body odor and faint, unpleasant feces. Ray is crammed against a window.

-   A MAN is staring at him unblinkingly, whispering nonsense to himself.

-   An easily offended FILIPINA WOMAN clutches her purse to her chest, eyeing Ray suspiciously.

-   People push and shove.

Suddenly, a FRANTIC WOMAN with a wild look in her eyes shoves a toddler into Ray's arms.

FRANTIC WOMAN

Hold him!

Before Ray can protest, she darts off the bus to retrieve another child she forgot outside. The bus doors close and the bus lurches into traffic.

RAY

(Panicked)

Hey! Wait!

He's now holding a confused toddler. The bus doesn't stop. The other passengers glare at him as if he's a kidnapper. The Filipina woman gasps, confirming her worst suspicions.

At the next stop, the Frantic Woman catches up, her nose bloodied from a fall. She bursts back onto the bus, snatching the toddler from Ray's hands.

FRANTIC WOMAN

(Screeching)

My baby! My baby! Get away from him!

Ray holds up his hands in surrender. As the woman storms off, Ray bumps into a group of GANGSTERS.

GANGSTER #1

Watch it, man.

RAY

(Tired, on edge)

You watch it.

They square up for a brief, tense moment before the bus lurches again, throwing them apart. Ray stumbles to the rear door and gets off at the next stop, desperate for escape.

2:31 - 3:00

INT. RAY'S LIVING ROOM - NIGHT

Ray sits in the dark, bathed in the flickering blue light of the television. On screen, a dramatic COURTROOM SHOW is playing.

TV JUDGE

So you're telling me, sir, that you neglected your responsibilities, leading to this entire calamity? The evidence is clear! You are GUILTY of gross negligence!

Ray clicks the TV off in disgust.

3:01 - 3:30

INT. GARAGE - NIGHT

Ray stands in the garage, sipping a mug of coffee, staring at his dormant Road Runner.

VANESSA enters, holding a stack of mail.

VANESSA

The checking account. The one you were supposed to manage for the car payments. It was closed, Ray. They never got the registration payment.

RAY

I thought you were handling it.

VANESSA

Don't you dare. I handle everything else. And while we're airing things out, who's Lisa? Your phone buzzed. "Thanks for the save the other night, from Lisa." An old flame, Ray? Really?

RAY

(Sighs)

It wasn't like that.

VANESSA

(Exhausted)

It never is. You can't start that car. Goodnight.

She leaves. The garage door closes, leaving Ray alone with his vehicle.

3:31 - 4:15

INT. GARAGE - NIGHT - CONTINUOUS

Ray gets into the driver's seat of the Road Runner. He places his coffee in the cupholder. The silence is heavy.

Then, the distinct, crowing ROOSTER CRY that opens "The Auction" is heard, slicing through the silence.

The song's intense, building intro begins. As the rhythm intensifies, Ray's fingers tighten on the steering wheel. With a sudden, defiant motion, he turns the key. The engine ROARS to life.

MUSICAL FANTASY SEQUENCE BEGINS:

4:16 - 5:45

EXT. CITY STREETS - NIGHT - FANTASY

The full force of "The Auction" erupts. Ray peels out of the garage, the Road Runner a blur of power and freedom. He weaves through traffic with impossible skill.

A POLICE CRUISER spots him. Sirens WAIL.

POLICE RADIO (V.O.)

(Via radio)

All units, be advised, suspended driver in a '72 Plymouth Road Runner. Do not let him get on the highway.

A high-speed chase ensues, worthy of Bullitt or Fast & Furious. Ray drifts around corners, ducks into alleys, and accelerates down wide boulevards, the lyrics of "The Auction" providing the funky, relentless soundtrack. He is a hero in his own mind, master of his domain, finally escaping the confines of his bus-riding reality.

5:46 - 6:00

INT. GARAGE - NIGHT - REALITY

The song ends with a final, funky beat.

Ray jolts awake. His head is against the steering wheel. The car is silent and cold. He never started it. The entire chase was a dream.

He lifts his head, the fantasy over. The hum of the refrigerator is the only sound. He picks up his cold coffee and gets out of the car, returning to his silent, grounded life.

[FADE TO BLACK]

AtilA