137
Continued from previous page…
Kathy gets up from
the chair behind the
desk and walks
towards the far wall.
She has her back
towards Charlotte.
CHARLOTTE
Are you alright?
KATHY
No.. I’m not.
CHARLOTTE
Kathy, it’s not your fault…
You didn’t know… You
didn’t know what I
was gonna do.
KATHY
It doesn’t matter…
My actions eventually
led to his death…
Now I’m gonna have to
live with it.
CHARLOTTE
(pauses)
I’m sorry.
Kathy is staring at
the wall in deep
thought. Then she
speaks.
KATHY
Charlotte.. let me
ask you something…
CHARLOTTE
Yeah?
KATHY
Did your other
personality make
you do this?
CHARLOTTE
No, not entirely…
The interrogation part was
all me…
But when I saw the dead
body just lying there…
The other side of me came out.
Kathy turns
around to
address Charlotte.
KATHY
And then what?
CHARLOTTE
That’s when we picked him
up and put him into the
trunk of the limo.
KATHY
And?
CHARLOTTE
And we brought him
to the mansion.
KATHY
(thinking long)
And that’s when you
decided to frame Belinda?
CHARLOTTE
Not exactly…
At first… I was gonna have
Rocco wait until nightfall…
And then bury him in the
backyard by himself.
KATHY
And why didn’t
you do that?
CHARLOTTE
Because Rocco said he
didn’t want to put that much
blame on himself… He said
he didn’t want to put that
much culpability on himself
alone… He said he wanted to
spread the blame around to
all of us.. knowing that we
were a family.. knowing that
we wouldn’t rat on each other.
Otherwise, he wouldn’t do
anything… He would turn the
matter over to the police.
KATHY
That’s ridiculous.
Doesn’t he just do
whatever you say?
CHARLOTTE
Not in this case…
This was a line he wouldn’t
cross… You have to remember,
Rocco is a decent man… He
has a family… He’s not a
ruthless hit-man…
He probably wouldn’t even
have mangled that guy’s
fingers.
Kathy is at a
loss for words.
KATHY
I don’t believe this…
Why didn’t you explain to him
how unbelievably unfair this
would be to Belinda?
Why didn’t you just dump the
body in a lake or something?
Why did you have to choose
our backyard?
CHARLOTTE
He wouldn’t do it!
He said that dumping the
body in some place public
would be too risky… that…
once they find the body,
it’s all over with…
And I have to admit.. he’s
probably right… I think we
did the right thing…
I’m tellin’ ya, Kath, he really
had me over a barrel on
this one.
Kathy doesn’t know
what to think. She
starts to pace back
and forth.
KATHY
So… this is when you two
came up with your little
scheme to throw him into
Belinda’s bed and put the
coke on her nightstand…
and make it seem like he
died from an overdose?
CHARLOTTE
Basically, yes.
KATHY
Well, that’s just great, Charlotte…
That’s just fucking great!!
CHARLOTTE
What other option
did I have?
KATHY
You had other options, Charlotte.
Don’t hand me that shit.
CHARLOTTE
Kathy, don’t do
this to me.
Kathy spins
around and
fires at
Charlotte.
KATHY
Godammit, Charlotte!!!
You drugged Belinda!!!
You coulda’ killed her!!
I can’t forgive you for that!!
I don’t care if it was your
other personality!
I can’t forgive you for that!
CHARLOTTE
Kathy, please.
Kathy turns her
back to Charlotte
again.
KATHY
I don’t know what to
say to you anymore.
Kathy’s sudden
proclamation triggers
Charlotte’s evil
personality. She
lowers her head and
stares up at Kathy in
a sinister way.
CHARLOTTE
Why did you come
here tonight?
KATHY
(talking over her shoulder)
What?
Charlotte gets up
out of her chair.
CHARLOTTE
You heard me…
Why did you come to
my office tonight?
KATHY
I don’t know what
you mean.
Charlotte slowly
starts inching
closer to Kathy.
CHARLOTTE
Now you’re the one
handing me shit…
Kathy doesn’t
like the tone of
Charlotte’s voice.
She turns around
to look at her.
CHARLOTTE
When you walked into this
office a half-hour ago, you
were acting all slinky and
sexy-like… Like you were the
bitch from Hell…
You said you wanted to talk
about business.
KATHY
I did want to talk
about business.
CHARLOTTE
I know you did…
You made that quite clear…
Taking over my chair…
Saying it was one-fifth yours…
Talking about Marco Scandella…
Scaring me to death with
accusations of off-shore accounts
and narcotics trafficking.
Kathy is suspicious
of Charlotte’s sudden
personality change.
CHARLOTTE
And now you say you don’t
want to talk to me anymore.
Charlotte has crept
right up to Kathy’s
face.
KATHY
(swallows nervously)
I didn’t say that…
I just said… that I wasn’t sure
about doing business with you,
that’s all.
CHARLOTTE
(evil-like)
No, no, that’s not what you said…
You said— I don’t know what to
say to you anymore.
KATHY
Same thing.
CHARLOTTE
But it’s not the same
thing now, is it?
Charlotte starts
stroking Kathy’s
hair.
CHARLOTTE
I want you to do business with
me, Kath… I want you to be my
partner… I want to teach you
everything I know… I want you
to be right by my side every step
of the way.
Kathy eyeballs
Charlotte’s hand.
CHARLOTTE
I know you’d like that…
I know you like me…
We’re going to have so
much fun together.
Charlotte almost
looks like she is
moving in for a kiss.
CHARLOTTE
Will you be my partner?
KATHY
(unwittingly)
Sure, Char.. whatever
you say.
CHARLOTTE
(smiling)
That’s my girl.
Kathy is
trembling.
CHARLOTTE
Oh, and by the way…
There’s one other thing
I want you to do for me…
Copyright 2024
by Clark Wright