Eye of The Tiger

Written by
Quan Le Huynh

Quan Le Huynh
#T03632 Bldg 23-14-2
California State Prison at Solano
PO Box 4000
Vacaville, Ca 95696

INT. BEDROOM – AFTERNOON 

SUPERIMPOSE OVER ACTION …”JULY 22, 1982”

The bedroom looks more like a playground. There are toys strewn across the floor. A Tonka truck is overturned in one corner with some GI Joe Action figures around it. On the other corner are two bikes, a blue one laid on its side and a black one with flames on it standing upright with the training wheels still on it. There is a long trail of Matchbox cars weaving across the floor between white Styrofoam spacers – the kind that keep a brand new television from banging around in a cardboard box. There is also a pile of pillows, blankets, and sheets rolled into a pile that partially covers a neon green Nerf football on the ground.

In the middle of the bedroom sits a large unmade bed. There are two children hopping up and down on it and humming the song, “Eye of the Tiger” from the Rocky soundtrack. They are brothers. The elder is eight year old Jackie, nicknamed Toothpicks, wearing a bright yellow t-shirt that says Miss Mott’s Hot Shots on it in plastic lettering and dark blue shorts that barely go past his upper thigh. He is all knees and elbows. The younger is seven year old Tommy, slightly shorter but a lot heftier than his older brother, known as Fatso around the house. Fatso has on a faded blue superman shirt with matching red shorts that also reveal his upper thighs. They are both wearing identical knee high socks that have two horizontal red stripes on it.

Toothpicks and Fatso are reenacting the fight scenes from Rocky, and are arguing about who gets to be Rocky this time. Both brothers have a wedge of an orange in their mouths as mouthpieces so it is hard to understand what they are saying. For gloves, they each have balled up some socks, and secured them to their fists with another sock and are punching at each other’s face and body. Toothpicks is landing more punches, but they do not seem to faze his younger brother. Fatso only gets angrier.

Fatso sticks his face out for Toothpicks to punch again, and Toothpicks swings a right hook that knocks Fatso over to the edge of the bed and onto his knees. Fatso’s wedge has flown out of his mouth and landed onto one of the matchbox cars, and Toothpicks starts hooting with laughter, all the while making artificial crowd noises of cheering.

Toothpicks takes out his orange wedge mouthpiece and begins to taunt his younger brother.

JACKIE TOOTHPICKS 
(In the voice of an announcer)
And Fatso is down for the count, ladies and gentleman!
 
TOMMY FATSO
I’m not down for the count, I tripped over my leg!
 
JACKIE TOOTHPICKS
Yeah right! If we didn’t have the gloves and the mouthpieces I would have been able to count to a hundred and you would still be down, Fatso!
 
TOMMY FATSO
Well the bell should have already rang. We’re going to fight Round Two. Let me go cut some new oranges to put in our mouths.
 
JACKIE TOOTHPICKS
Okay, hurry before Mom comes back.
 

CUT IN to Round Two of the fight between the two brothers. They are jumping back and forth while humming the Rocky theme song again, and swinging at each other in wild arcs that do not connect for the most part. Toothpicks lands a couple face jabs and then steps right into an overhand haymaker that Fatso lands in the middle of Toothpicks’ face. Toothpicks’ knees buckle, and he topples over backwards, landing face first into the pedal of the blue bike. Toothpicks spits out bits of his orange wedge, one of his front teeth, and a glob of blood.

Fatso flexes his muscles and poses, making artificial crowd noises. Toothpicks is too dazed to move or cry out in pain. Fatso continues to hop back and forth and begins to shadowbox and yell for his brother to get back up.

TOMMY FATSO
Looks like we have a knockout ladies and gentlemen!

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