Read Blood Sports Online

Authors: Eden Robinson

Blood Sports (10 page)

Ms. Mazenkowski opens the front door. The camera follows her, panning the living room. Screaming can be heard. The camera points down at the floral area rug. Something shatters and heavy thuds can be heard.

J. RIEGER
: Someone’s being killed in your basement.

P. MAZENKOWSKI
: Relax. That’s just Mom and Dad.

J. RIEGER
: They’re fighting?

P. MAZENKOWSKI
: Ignore them.

J. RIEGER
: Should we hide the knives and guns?

[00:01:14]

Ms. Mazenkowski sits at her vanity table applying her makeup. The camera focuses on the bed’s white wooden canopy covered with gauzy curtains, plastic butterflies, and roses.

J. RIEGER
: Wow.

P. MAZENKOWSKI
: I know. Mom was supposed to give birth to a doll and got me instead.

Someone pounds on the door. Ms. Mazenkowski continues applying her mascara.

P. MAZENKOWSKI
: I’m busy, Daddy. Go away.

MR. MAZENKOWSKI
: Who’s in there with you?

P. MAZENKOWSKI
: No one.

MR. MAZENKOWSKI
: Then whose car is in our driveway? Don’t lie to me! What are you doing?

P. MAZENKOWSKI
: I’m fucking the football team, Daddy.

MR. MAZENKOWSKI
: You fucking slut! Whoring around like –

J. RIEGER
: Do you want me to take care of him?

P. MAZENKOWSKI
: Don’t bother. He’ll pass out in a few minutes.

[00:02:29]

Ms. Mazenkowski sits nude on a chair at a desk in a hotel room. She practises scales on her flute.

J. RIEGER
: I’m dating a band geek.

P. MAZENKOWSKI
: Don’t knock it. My parole officer eats this shit up.

J. RIEGER
: Is that all he eats?

P. MAZENKOWSKI
: Turn that fucking thing off.

[00:03:19]

Ms. Mazenkowski stands naked with her hands on her hips.

P. MAZENKOWSKI
: Did you turn the camera on?

J. RIEGER
: Relax, babe, I grabbed a condom.

P. MAZENKOWSKI
: Jeremy.
[pause]
You know what? Never mind. I’m outta here.

Ms. Mazenkowski begins to dress.

J. RIEGER
: Come on, Paulina –

P. MAZENKOWSKI
: I said I’d leave if you turned the camera on and what do you do? You fucking turn it on.

J. RIEGER
: I’d really like you to stay.

Mr. Rieger moves toward Ms. Mazenkowski who kicks Mr. Rieger in the shins.

J. RIEGER
: Paulie! Come on!

P. MAZENKOWSKI
: Bye, Jer.

[00:04:02]

Mr. Rieger is outside, crouching down behind a tree. He holds a semi-automatic paintball gun and wears a protective mask. He lifts his finger.

J. RIEGER
: Be vewy quiet. We’re hunting wabbit.

[00:04:14]

A blurry figure is visible through dense brush.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE
: Guys!
[pause]
Not funny, guys! Jer? Snickering and laughing can be heard.

[00:04:34]

Rusty Letourneau, a Caucasian male in his late teens/early twenties with a heavy build and shoulder-length dark hair, holds the leashes of two large, barking German shepherds. He holds a piece of paint-stained clothing in front of their noses and then releases them. He laughs as they disappear into the bushes.

[00:04:48]

The remaining 00:00:03 of a previously recorded scene that has been taped over. Although the camera is moving fast and the images are blurred, screaming can be heard, and the sound of dogs growling and clothes ripping. This is followed by 00:05:29 of static.

[00:10:20]

A male of average height and weight struggles as two men in black balaclavas and clothes hold his arms, which are cuffed in front of him. The victim is of undetermined race as he is splattered in green paint. The men drag him along a trail.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE
: Did you think that was funny? Fucking laugh it up now, you useless cunts. You better –

They reach a coffin with silver handles beside a grave-sized hole. The unidentified victim begins to scream.

[00:11:22]

The victim struggles to exit the coffin. He is held in place by Mr. Rieger, who has removed his mask.

J. RIEGER
: Any last words, rat?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE
: I didn’t say anything! I will never say anything –

J. RIEGER
: No, you won’t. Close it up.

The victim screams as the coffin lid is shut and locked. Mr. Rieger shushes the other people who have begun to laugh.

The men lift the coffin up, shake it, and drop it beside the hole. They shovel dirt over the coffin. The victim screams louder and pounds the coffin lid. The males struggle not to laugh out loud, covering their mouths and moving away from the coffin. One of the men ties a thick white rope to the handles.

[00:13:38]

Rusty Letourneau rides like a surfer on top of the coffin, which is attached to a pickup truck. They drive down a gravel logging road.

J. RIEGER
: Go, Rusty, go!

People laugh near the camera when Mr. Letourneau falls off the coffin and lands in the ditch.

[00:14:44]

Mr. Rieger is in a clearing. Five men wearing black balaclavas have formed a circle with the sixth man holding the camera. Mr. Rieger steps into the centre of the circle. He removes his pants. The other men begin to hoot. Rusty Letourneau steps forward and removes his balaclava. He smiles at the camera and aims his air rifle at Mr. Rieger.

J. RIEGER
: Lower.

R. LETOURNEAU
: Take it like a man, Rieger.

J. RIEGER
: Maybe you like it in the ass, but –

Mr. Letourneau shoots Mr. Rieger in the lower legs. Mr. Rieger drops to the ground and screams.

J. RIEGER
: Jesus fucking Christ!
[screams]
Fuck! Fuck that hurts!

The other men laugh. One by one they step into the centre of the circle and Mr. Letourneau shoots them and then, after initial screaming and swearing, they move back to their places. Mr. Rieger stands at the end of the sequence and shoots Mr. Letourneau in the lower legs. Mr. Letourneau hops on one foot, then the other, but doesn’t scream or swear.

R. LETOURNEAU
: That’s how it’s done.

J. RIEGER
: Okay, John Wayne, you –

[00:31:49]

Paulina Mazenkowski screams. She jumps up and down and claps her hands. She poses on the hood of the Jaguar.

P. MAZENKOWSKI
: What kind of engine does she have, Jer?

J. RIEGER
: The manual’s in the glove compartment.

P. MAZENKOWSKI
: Manual? Let me peek under the hood. I’m a hands-on kind of girl.

J. RIEGER
: Baby, anything you want.

P. MAZENKOWSKI
: I want to drive this hot bitch.

J. RIEGER
: Anything but that.

P. MAZENKOWSKI
: Come on, Jer. Let me show you what I can do.

[00:33:53]

The camera is waist-high, pointed up. Paulina Mazenkowski leans over and stares into the camera.

P. MAZENKOWSKI
: Are you sure it’s working?

J. RIEGER
: It’s working. The hole is on this side of the duffle. Point and shoot.

Ms. Mazenkowski crosses the street and enters Chuck Wagon Burgers. Tom Bauer stands at one of the four tills. He wears an orange uniform with brown piping.

T. BAUER
: Welcome to Chuckie Burgers. Can I –

P. MAZENKOWSKI
: Hi, Tom.

T. BAUER
: Oh. Hi, uh. Paulina.

P. MAZENKOWSKI
: Missed you at practice this morning.

T. BAUER
: You did? Hey. Um. A bunch of us thought. Um. You should have got the solo.

P. MAZENKOWSKI
: Thanks.

T. BAUER
: I mean it. I’m not just saying that cause you’re, uh, you know, but you nail the runs. And Eileen fudges them. If she didn’t suck like a Hoover, you’d have it.

P. MAZENKOWSKI
: God, I know. “You’re fifty-two? Really? I didn’t think you were a day over thirty!”

Mr. Bauer laughs.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE
: Can I get some service around here?

Mr. Bauer sighs.

P. MAZENKOWSKI
: A small Diet Coke, Tom.

Mr. Bauer pours Ms. Mazenkowski’s drink.

T. BAUER
: I got it.

P. MAZENKOWSKI
: Thanks. See you tomorrow, Tom.

T. BAUER
: Later.
[pause]
Welcome to Chuckie Burgers.

Ms. Mazenkowski exits Chuck Wagon Burgers and returns to Mr. Rieger, who is waiting in a blue Ford pickup truck.

J. RIEGER
: And?

P. MAZENKOWSKI
: I dunno, Jer. This is creepy. Why –

[00:41:08]

Tom Bauer dismounts his black and yellow ten-speed at 2177 Granville Street, a salmon-coloured, two-storey stucco house with terra cotta roof tiles. He sneaks around the side of the house. He knocks on a basement window. The light in the basement goes on. Mr. Bauer proceeds to the back of the house.

[00:42:03]

2177 Granville Street viewed from the alley. Mr. Bauer exits the detached garage with Mike McConnell, a mid-teens, Caucasian male with a small build, and shoulder-length red hair. They shush each other, staggering to the basement.

[00:45:25]

Patricia McConnell wears a navy sheath dress. She looks behind her toward the open back door.

PATRICIA MCCONNELL
: Anytime this century, Michael!

MIKE MCCONNELL
: Don’t get your thong in a knot, Patricia!

P. MCCONNELL
: You will not use that tone with me, Michael!

M. MCCONNELL
: Stop fucking yelling at me!

P. MCCONNELL
: Get in the Jeep. Now.

M. MCCONNELL
: I’ll take the bus.

P. MCCONNELL
: If you skip classes again, you are grounded! Do you hear me?

M. MCCONNELL
: Fucking deaf people in Tokyo can hear you!

Ms. McConnell enters the garage. A green Jeep exits at a high speed. Mr. McConnell waits and then opens the back door. He punches in the security code. Mr. Bauer appears. They go to the garage and exit on their bikes.

[00:46:19]

Looking down at the Food Court in the atrium in the Granville Mall: Mr. Bauer, in a blue baseball cap, pushes through the lunchtime crowd. He bumps into a tall man who wears jeans and a Blue Jays jacket. They speak. Bauer continues to walk and, within a few feet, hands off a tan wallet to Mr. McConnell, who walks in the opposite direction.

J. RIEGER
: Score one for the geezer.

[00:47:36]

Tom Bauer stares at the floor in front of the bathroom mirror.

J. RIEGER
: See how the cut of the jacket gives you the illusion of shoulders?

Mr. Bauer sighs. He glances at his reflection in the mirror and then back at the floor.

T. BAUER
: You put food in the fridge and you paid the bills. You’ve done enough, Jer. I can’t accept these clothes. It’s too much.

J. RIEGER
: Nice try.

T. BAUER
: Give my clothes back, you jerk! I paid good money for those clothes!

Mr. Rieger laughs.

T. BAUER
: Jer, I’m not you. If I wear this crap to school, I’m going to get a shit-kicking.

J. RIEGER
: You look great.

T. BAUER
: Can I please, please, please have my real clothes back? Please. Please, Jer.

J. RIEGER
: Dumpster divers have more sartorial sophistication than you. It’s embarrassing.

T. BAUER
: So? Why do you care? Why can’t –

J. RIEGER
: This discussion is over.

[00:48:57]

Mr. Rieger crushes four white tablets and sprinkles them into a can of Pepsi. The television plays music videos loudly in the background. Richard Patolmic is briefly visible as he strides past the kitchen. Mr. Rieger pauses and turns his head.

J. RIEGER
: Tom?

Mr. Rieger gives the can of Pepsi a shake. A loud thump can be heard coming from another room, quickly followed by the sound of Richard Patolmic’s raised voice. Mr. Rieger runs into the hallway.

T. BAUER
: I don’t know!

R. PATOLMIC
: You’re lying! Where is she!

Mr. Bauer shouts. Continuous thumps and shouts.

R. PATOLMIC
: You smug, smart-mouthed little puke! You don’t want to piss me off!

Mr. Rieger runs back into the kitchen. He carries a baseball bat. He pauses to shut off the camera.

[00:56:08]

Richard Patolmic lies on the floor of the storage room in apartment 304 of The Woodcourt Apartments. Mr. Patolmic is unconscious and has extensive bruising to his face and his leg rests at an angle that suggests it has been broken.

The camera swings quickly to show the hallway. Tom Bauer’s face is slack. His mouth and nose are bleeding. His neck shows extensive bruising. He walks aimlessly through apartment 304. He appears to be sleepwalking. Loud knocking can be heard.

J. RIEGER
: Door’s open!

Mr. Bauer continues to move through the living room. Guy Francis enters the room and studies Mr. Bauer.

J. RIEGER
: Spooky, huh? He used to do this when we were kids.

G. FRANCIS
: What the hell’s wrong with him?

J. RIEGER
: Some kind of seizure.
[pause]
I’ve got a surprise in the storage closet.

G. FRANCIS
: Are you fucking out of your mind?

VHS 3
 
Title:
RABBIT SEASON
Date:
15-04-1993
Duration:
01:56:19

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