ATLANTA

"JENGA"

Written by Zain Hussain

EXT. STREET OF AL'S PLACE (DAY)

EARN is walking down a sidewalk, he is smoking a joint, there

is a line of bushes and shrubs that runs parallel to the road
on his right.

DARIUS casually emerges behind EARN from the bushes, staring

at a single Jenga block in his own hand.

EARN squints at DARIUS, marginally confused, then nods and

keeps moving without breaking pace. DARIUS catches up besides
him.

EARN
have you talked to Al today?

DARIUS
(staring at Jenga block)
Nah man, I just got here. I haven't
seen him since Sunday. Is he good?

EARN checks his phone, and passes the joint. DARIUS hits it.

EARN
(squinting)
I don't know. He hasn't hit me up in a
minute, and he missed the ice cream
signing. I hope he's just slacking.

DARIUS
He's probably just going off on
uncharted 4. You know, there is no
definite proof that this world is
cosmically preferable to that one.

EARN
(sighs)
yeah. hopefully.

EARN and DARIUS turn a corner, and then stop in their tracks.
There's a crowd of people gathered in front of Al's front
door. A mixed crowd of college kids, groupies, and two large,
serious men in black suits. DARIUS ashes the joint on the
back of his hand and then places it in his frocket.

DARIUS and EARN both look at each other, puzzled.

The homogeneous crowd of people are looking down at their

phones. One of the kids in the center sharply turns his head
up, then makes another quick twitch of his head towards EARN
and DARIUS.

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 2.

DARIUS stares back, heavily.

The kid doesn't break his gaze.

EARN lightly yanks on DARIUS'S shirt and pulls him back

around the corner.

EARN
(dismissive)
Nope, nah we're not doing that.

EXT. AL'S PLACE, BACKYARD/PATIO (DAY)

There's a wooden fence, about 8 feet tall, white.

BIRDS EYE VIEW OVER BOTH SIDES OF FENCE.

DARIUS is sizing up the fence, EARN is next to him, reading

from his phone.

EARN
(confused)
I can't find shit online, I've tried
his twitter, snapchat, insta, finsta,
pinterest, and he's not trending or
nothing

DARIUS
(chuckle)
Oh yeah, he's for sure got the hottest
pinterest in the rap game. I forgot
about that.

DARIUS hops up onto the fence, and pulls himself up.

EARN
You sure y'all weren't doing anything
last night? He didn't mention
anything? Like bringing a horde of
groupies to camp outside his place?

DARIUS
No sir. Last time I spoke to him we
were contemplating Jenga. I've really
been on that for the last couple days.

DARIUS reaches his hand down, and helps pull EARN up onto the
fence.

They both simultaneously drop down into Al's backyard/patio.

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 3.

EARN walks towards AL's sliding back door and pushes on it,
but it does not budge. As he's surveying the door, DARIUS is
observing the backyard patio space. There is some junk lying
around, several potted plants, and a bicycle. DARIUS
carefully inspects the items, then reaches in to a specific
plant and pulls out a key from it.

DARIUS
(proud)
Huzah!

EARN
(inquisitive)
How'd you know that was there?

DARIUS shifts past EARN and places the key in the lock.

DARIUS
Ah, but a simple character study.
Always know which flower to pick.

DARIUS enters into the house. EARN takes a second to look

down at the pots and flowers, and then heads in through the
door.

INT. AL'S PLACE (DAY)

DARIUS and EARN enter the house through the back. It is

silent. There is an open pizza box on the dining table, the
place is casually dirty, the curtains are pulled down and
there is not a lot of light shining through. However, all of
the lights are on within the house.

EARN
(yelling)
Yo, Alfred? Al? Anyone home?

DARIUS moves around the living room, inspecting the mess. He

picks up a giant Jenga block on top of a giant Jenga stack.
He pulls out his smaller Jenga block and compares the two.
EARN darts out of the living room and goes down the corridor.

EARN stands outside Al's bedroom door, and knocks on it.

EARN
(stressed)
Al! Are you up?

There is a groan and cough heard from within the room.

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 4.

EARN
(panicked)
Alright, I'm coming in.

EARN breaches the door and breaks through into Al's room.

There is an empty bed, with the sheet and cover draped half
off the side of the bed. The TV is on and the window is
closed.

EARN
(confused)
Huh.

Suddenly, from behind EARN, TRACY slips out of the closet and
puts his hand on EARN's shoulder.

TRACY
Oh, Wassup EARN?

EARN jumps back, scared, into a karate stance.

EARN
Ahhhh, fuck, Jesus, TRACY, what're you-
why're you in Alfred's closet.

TRACY is taking off a jacket, and putting it on a hanger.

TRACY
Al's got some dope shit.

EARN
(accusing)
Are you- Are you stealing his clothes?

TRACY
(defensive, yet comfortable)
Nah, Al gave me the A-Okay, he doesn't
even wear most of this shit no more.

TRACY puts on a fedora, and checks himself out in the mirror.

TRACY
(offering)
You wanna peep? Most the shit won't
fit you, but there's probably like
socks or some shit-

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 5.

EARN
Nah, nah, I'm good. Do you know where
Al is? Has he talked to you at all?

TRACY heads back into the living room, EARN follows.

TRACY
He hasn't come by here since Monday
night, so I don't know where he at
right now.

TRACY heads into the kitchen.

EARN
Did he say anything about where he'd
be, or who he'd be with?

TRACY pulls out some cereal from atop the fridge and pours it
in a bowl.

TRACY
Uhhhh... nah. He said he was gonna go
out, get some checkers or some shit,
then he just dipped. Haven't seen him
since.

EARN
(sighs)

EARN reaches down and gets on his phone.

TRACY
Oh, and he kept talking about Jenga-

DARIUS pops up from the couch, both sized Jenga pieces in

hands.

DARIUS
Okay, so I have a theory. Alfred is
doing that thing where you create like
a whole fabrication, and submerge
yourself in a long winded fable of
disbelief, disillusionment, and
mystery, so that when he returns from
the Bermuda triangle the hype on his
album is gonna be stronger than ever-
it's a marketing move. It's a game of
Jenga.

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 6.

EARN looks right at DARIUS as he says this. Then just turns

his head back down to his phone.

Silence.

TRACY
(blunt)
I think a ni*ga just dead.

I mean, he's been eating too well last

couple months. Don't be surprised if
they find the body in a lake or some
shit.

EARN
(annoyed)
Do you at least know why there's a
swarm of people outside?

TRACY
(Surprised, yet excited)
People? People People? Like people
with money?

TRACY puts down his bowl of cereal, walks to a window, and

then lifts up a curtain. A human face is plastered against
the glass, just staring in, smudged up against it, Jim Carrey
Tape Face. TRACY rolls the curtain back down.

TRACY
(Hyped)
Shiiiiit, I'm finna make some cash out
today.

TRACY heads back down the corridor into the room.

EARN
Yo, TRACY, we need to find Al, he
hasn't picked up any of my calls for
two days, and he's starting to miss
his appearances.

TRACY walks back into the room, with a stack of T-Shirts in

his hands.

TRACY
(sorting shirts)
Forreal, I have no idea where that man
is, but you should probably check his
girl Gina's place. That girl is loco,

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 7.

she cute tho. She's been on his ass

like sticky rice last couple weeks.

EARN
Alright, do you have her number or
something

TRACY
(joking)
Psssht, Legit? You think I'm robbin'
him and smashing his girl, damn EARN
you really don't think much of me-

DARIUS laughs.

EARN
(stern)
Nah, I mean can we contact her, you
know, ask her if she's seen Al
anywhere.

TRACY
She's on Parkway and Pine St., she's
got the red door and the ugly
Christmas lights. You'll know it.

TRACY moves to the door and holds the knob.

TRACY
Good luck y'all, ima hustle.

DARIUS
Peace.

TRACY opens the front door and steps outside, prepared to

work the crowd. There is loud chatter.

TRACY
(Yelling)
Yooooo- Cop yourself some Paperboi
merch, we got shirts, hoodies, this
shit is exclusive, we sell market
price baby

The door slams behind him.

EARN
DARIUS, you wanna hit GINA's place?

DARIUS
(stacking Jenga blocks)

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 8.

Yea, man, let's keep playing.

INT. DARIUS'S CAR (MIDDAY)

DARIUS and EARN are sitting in the car. DARIUS is driving.

There is soft Latvian folk music playing in the background.

EARN
DARIUS, I know you don't really
believe in stress-

DARIUS
(under his breath)
conceptually it doesn't make sense

EARN
(genuine)
Yeah, but honestly, do you think Al's
okay?

DARIUS
AL's chances at existence are about
just as probable as my own. We're self
preserving, and that's what I think
he's doing. He's just self preserving.

EARN looks out the window.

EARN
(disheartened)
Yeah. I don't know why he'd dip like
that though.

DARIUS
Maybe he felt too routine. Maybe's
he's testing himself. Not a lot of
people know about it, but Gandhi used
to sleep naked with 12 year old girls.
He said it was a test of self control.

EARN side-eyes DARIUS, he's not buying it. He looks back out
the window.

EARN
That's fucked up.

EARN, disheartened, reaches over and changes the radio

station. An R. Kelly song starts to play.

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 9.

DARIUS
Call it what it is, but you can't cook
an egg if you never played with fire-

EARN
So you think Alfred is out cooking
eggs right now?

DARIUS
Nah man, I just think, if Alfred is
out there, he knows what he's doing.

EARN
I guess.

EARN and DARIUS both turn their heads a little, looking.

DARIUS
He said on parkway and pine, so it
should be-

EXT. GINA'S PLACE (MIDDAY)

EARN and DARIUS get out of the car, and start to walk onto a
plot of land. The property is empty, grass growing, trash
lying around, a mostly vacant plot of land. In the front of
the plot of land, there is just a single bright red door,
with Christmas lights lazily draped down the side of the
door. It sits awkwardly in the middle of the land. Further
back, there is a small building, one story, and small. The
door is brown and the place looks mundane and grey.

EARN walks steadfast past the red door, DARIUS politely

knocks, then opens and walks through the door, making sure to
quietly close it as well.

DARIUS and EARN both approach the mundane building, loud

noises and shuffling can be heard inside. EARN reaches to
knock on the door-

The door swings open, EARN's fist stays up in the air, and
then he awkwardly retracts it.

GINA
(welcoming)
EARN! DARIUS! Hey you guys,

GINA hugs DARIUS and then EARN, both of them are passive and
not into it. DARIUS squirms a little.

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 10.

GINA
Well come on in, you guys look tired.

Neither of them move from the doorway.

EARN
Yea, GINA we're actually a little busy
right now, we're trying to find Al-

GINA
Alfred? Come right in, I'll go get him
from the bedroom. Y'all can wait here,
there's some water and Jenga on the
table.

DARIUS and EARN walk into the small home, and sit down on a
couch in the living room. There is a coffee table in front of
them, with a Jenga stack and three bottles of water. EARN
grabs a bottle and has a sip, and DARIUS starts observing the
Jenga stack carefully.

CLOSE UP

DARIUS slowly pulls out a single piece from the side of the
Jenga tower.

Simultaneously, there is a loud banging noise heard from the

bedroom.

EARN and DARIUS both turn around and look at the bedroom
door. No movement. Silence.

EARN
(concerned)
That's weird.

DARIUS
(hushed)
Didn't TRACY say something about her
being whacko?

EARN and DARIUS both stand up, and start slowly moving
towards the bedroom door. EARN puts up his karate stance.
They're both right outside the door-

The door swings open, and GINA steps outside, quickly

shutting the door behind her.

GINA
(Too Sweet)

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 11.

Oh hey y'all! Al's just getting

dressed, he'll be a second. Y'all want
some tang or coke or a sprite?

She moves to the kitchen, which is connected to the room.

EARN
Nah, GINA, what's going on with Al?

GINA
Psssht, he's good, he's just a bit
tired right now. Anyways, EARN how's
managing going? I've heard you've been
killing it promotional.

DARIUS perches himself against the wall outside the bedroom

door. EARN is on the other side of the kitchen counter.

EARN
(suspicious)
Yeah, we've been doing aight. We'd be
better if Al was actually here.

GINA
Haha. Yeah..

Beat.

GINA
(not making eye contact)
Have you considered branching out?

EARN
What?

GINA
(shuffling around in kitchen)
Like, moving forward, ya know. New
clients?

EARN
Nah, Alfred's family, and I don't
really no why I'd-

GINA looks up at EARN, sharp.

GINA
Tell you what, you listen to my man
for 10 minutes, and you decide for
yourself.

DARIUS shoots EARN a look of fear.

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 12.

EARN
Your man?- Wha- Gina, do you eve-

EARN walks towards the bedroom door, GINA runs past him, and
jumps in front of the door.

GINA
Okay wait, just hear me out.

EARN
(frustrated)
GINA, open the door

EARN reaches for the knob, GINA grabs it at the same time.

GINA
Stop- You're gonna- Just give me-

The door swings open, there's a man with a large white T-

Shirt, baggy jeans, and burger king crown on his head. He has
a stripper on each side of him, one of them is shaking their
ass, the other is on her phone.

EDUARDO
(signaling other stripper, under
his breath)
yo- he's here

She starts to twerk on him as well, still on her phone.

EDUARDO
(like he's presenting a power
point)
Yoooo, whatsup, my name's Ed-U-Cate,
my real names Eduardo.

EARN and DARIUS stand in the doorway, unsure.

EARN
GINA, what the fuck?

GINA
Okay but y'all ought to listen to him
though, he's fire-

EARN
(looking back to DARIUS)
Nah, we gotta get out of here-

EDUARDO
(scream)

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 13.

HEY!

EARN and DARIUS look at him confused and a little scared.

EDUARDO stares at them for a second. Then, EDUARDO begins to

sob, a single lonely tear rolls down his cheek, GINA runs to
him with an arm around his shoulder

GINA
(comforting)
hey, no it's alright

EDUARDO
(sobbing)
They don't even wanna hear me.

GINA
They do, I promise, they'll hear a
song or two, can y'all hear a song or
two?

EARN and DARIUS stare, they're posture is stiff, and

uncomfortable.

EARN
(trying to be nice)
Hey, I'm sorry- we just don't have a
lot of tim-

EDUARDO lets out a louder, even more aggressive sob.

EARN DARIUS
I mean, we could probably Yea, or something, it's cool
hear a song

EDUARDO lifts his head up slowly, and looks at them.

EDUARDO
(pitiful)
Really?

EARN
(dismissive)
Yea man, we just gotta get going soo-

EDUARDO
(excited, quick)
Oh, you are not gonna regret this,
lemme play a beat real fast.

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 14.

EDUARDO shuffles through his phone, and puts on a beat. GINA

takes a seat on her bed, looking up at EDUARDO, content with
herself.

DARIUS and EARN do not move from the door frame.

EDUARDO
(aggressive and confident)
yo Ed-u-cate, elab-or-ate, Im a real
OG like a paper plate, at a barbeque,
and I'm making food-

Cuts to black.

INT. DARIUS'S CAR (EVENING)

DARIUS and EARN are sitting in the car, DARIUS is driving.

There is no music playing, the mood is dead.

EARN
You still got that joint?

DARIUS
(content)
Oh yes sir.

DARIUS reaches into his frocket, and pulls out the Jenga
piece from earlier. He throws it into the back of his car. He
then pulls out the half of a joint left, and hands it to
EARN. EARN starts to light it.

DARIUS
Cuckolds are like sexual Buddhists.

EARN
(spit take, but with smoke.
coughing)
Hu- what?

DARIUS
Yeah, like guys who'd let their
friends fuck their wives.

EARN
Buddhists?

DARIUS
(sure of himself)
Yes sir.

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 15.

EARN
(pause)
Huh. I kinda see it.

There is a silence, EARN passes the joint to DARIUS.

EXT. STREET OF AL'S PLACE (EVENING)

EARN and DARIUS pull up to Al's place. The crowd of people

are gone, and the place looks normal. EARN and DARIUS walk to
the front door, and look at each other, puzzled once more.
DARIUS reaches for the door knob.

CLOSE UP OF DOOR KNOB TWISTING

INT. AL'S PLACE (EVENING)

A Jenga tower on the coffee table falls, right as DARIUS and

EARN enter into through the front door. ALFRED and TRACY are
on the couch, they're playing Jenga. There's some soft music
playing in the background.

ALFRED TRACY
Ohhhhhh, you're fucking done Shut up, this game's dumb
boy, get outta here man I don't even fuck with
this

DARIUS and EARN walk into the house. DARIUS looks pleased,
EARN is confused.

ALFRED
(Amused)
Oh wassup boys, you just seen me
destroy this grown ass man

TRACY
(under his breath)
Man, fuck you and your stupid
buildablocks bullshit

DARIUS hops onto the couch, high fives Al.

DARIUS
(hyped)
Oh you know I'm for sure hopping on
the next game.

EARN is still standing in the living room, looking at Al.

EARN
(a little pissed)

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 16.

Yo, Alfred where have you been?

ALFRED
(dismissive)
Oh shiiiit, my bad man, I totally
bailed on that ice cream signing shit
and I left my phone on the Metro.
Shoulda called or something. I was at
my friend, Jerome's place. He's got
that sick new VR Headset and shit, man
its tight, it's like the future of-

EARN
Okay- Yeah- Wait- who were those fans
outside your place today?

ALFRED
(unsure)
Fans? Out here? Man, I don't know.
Fans are fans. I don't control them.

EARN looks around, a little lost. ALFRED, DARIUS, and TRACY

start to stack up the Jenga tower again. EARN turns towards
the door.

ALFRED
(inviting)
EARN, you wanna hop on this game?

EARN looks at the Jenga tower.

EARN
Why? It's gonna fall apart.

DARIUS looks up at EARN.

DARIUS
Yeah, but that's the best part.

Cut to black.

fin.

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