THE RUNNER/SCREENPLAY by BRIAN R. LUNDIN (best free ebook reader for android .txt) 📖

/> POPS
Thank you, Mr. McLemore; I will be waiting to hear from you.

Madame Bourneis who had listened to the conversation told Jerome, that maybe she knew someone who could help Pops. Madame Bourneis told Jerome that during her travels, she had helped a modest village in Chalna, a modest village in Bangladesh, located a short distance from the Ganges River. The Ganges was a holy site for the Hindus and they believed that by bathing in the river it would wash away their sins. The villagers were mainly fishermen and farmers but in the high mountains a Bangladesh syndicate grew, cultivated and processed the poppy plants into heroin.

JEROME
How did you help them?

MADAME BOURNEIS
The owner of a larger farm was pressuring and intimidating the smaller villagers into moving off their land where they had lived for centuries. The owner wanted the land so that he could grow the poppy plants. When the villagers refused, the larger farmer hired outlaws, to force them off their land. They beat up the men, raped the women and burned their crops.

How Madame Bourneis helped the village she did not say, but she said the villagers kept their land and the farm owner never bothered them again. The village prospered and began to grow the poppy plants themselves, which they sold to the heroin syndicate in the mountains. Madame Bourneis not wanting to leave Jerome suggested that Marque take Pops to meet the village headman. Jerome told Pops about the village and the next day he left with Cinque and Marque to the little village in Bangladesh.

When Pops, Cinque and Marque arrived at the Bangladesh International Airport in Chelna, Bangladesh, it was midday and storm clouds lingered. An old, very short and rotund dark-skinned man with mongoloid features, wearing thick glasses with black plastic frames and wearing a lungi, a tight shirt-like garment, and no shoes, met them. He was sitting atop an open cart, which was attached to a tired looking mule. When he saw Marque he spranged from the cart and began bowing, Marque returned the bow and the old man placed their luggage in the cart. Pops and Cinque sat in the rear of the cart with their legs hanging over the rear and Marque sat beside the driver. The old man expertly maneuvered the equally old mule through the airport traffic and shortly they were in the city of Chelna. As they slowly made their way from the city and into the countryside, they passed naked children playing in the rain. The storm passed quickly, and suddenly the sun was blazing again. They passed old men sitting on slated porches of rundown houses built of tin or cardboard. They passed a free clinic packed with young mothers, an unkempt church built by Baptist missionary’s years ago and houses built of sticks and scrapes of wood. Barefooted boys dribbled soccer balls along the hot dusty road as young schoolgirls in blue uniforms walked along the side of the road. Pops couldn’t help but notice the puffs of dust that rose from the ground of goats. Goats were grazing at corners and in yards; some were tied to their owners’ home. Cart vendors on the crowded street sold bowls of food that looked to Pops like rice and fish heads but Marque told them it was curried goat, a spicy and fragrant dish. Vendors selling souvenirs and attractive prostitutes stood in front of wooden shacks. It was quite an adventure for Pops, who had never even seen a real mule or ridden in a mule drawn cart. As the tired looking animal, without any instruction from the driver weaved his way down the twisted dirt road, Pops noticed the only women on the streets were prostitutes.

POPS
Where are the women?

MARQUE
Most all of the people are Hindus and in accords with their religion women are not allowed to socialize with men, outside their family.

When they reached the rural area the road became dustier and the houses grew further apart. A sudden heavy rain poured down, but the mule and its driver seemed unconcerned. Puddles of dirty water splashed beneath the feet of the old mule with every step. Just as suddenly, the rained stopped as they passed old men sitting on logs or on the wet ground talking. Veiled women were working in the fields wearing long black dresses that covered their entire body. It was a long ride and the sun had just started to set when they arrived at the village that lay on a broad estuary that fed into the Ganges. A series of bamboo huts and colorful bamboo canoes with curved bows and sterns with a wooden brace section amid ship where a mast could be stepped, hugged the beach. The canoes were stored bottom up on the white sand. A rubble of brown algae waved in with the gentle current at the water’s edge replacing the sand. Pops looked in wonderment at the diminutive sea creatures; fiddler crabs crawled out their holes in the sand and tiny lobsters popped in and out of the algae. Hungry dogs searched the beach for any dead fish or sea bird that might have been brought in by the morning tide. An open fire pit was simmering in the center of the village and just beyond was a lush green jungle. Pops and Cinque jumped off the rear of the cart and the old man sprightly jumped off the cart and helped Marque down. Young men began unloading their luggage off the cart and the villagers begin to gather around Marque, bowing and kissing his hands. An old woman leaning heavily on a stout tree limb used as a cane slowly made her way to the cart. She wore a floppy straw hat and when she arrived at the cart, she grabbed and repeatedly kissed Marque’s hands. Marque hugged the old woman warmly and when he released her, her cane fell slowly to the ground and she ambled away unassisted. Pops and Cinque looked at each other in amazement. The old mule cart driver took Pops, Cinque and Marque into a straw hut. MONTOYO ORMADDE, the village elder and chief.

INT. STRAW HUT-AFTERNOON

An old man who looked to be in his eighties and was reclining on a blanket on the floor, two veiled women lay next to him. The hut was one large room, shaped like a box, the roof was made of bamboo and the sides were made of straw. In one corner of the hut was a wooden table surrounded by huge bamboo tree trunks used as chairs. In another corner was a deep hole with wood and branches and a fire was simmering.

When they entered, the old man tried to stand, but Marque quickly walked over to him and motioned for him, to remain seated. They old man breathing was shallow and he coughed heavily. One of the women gave him a spoon containing a brown liquid that he quickly swallowed.

CINQUE
Where is the bathroom?

MARQUE
There is no indoor plumbing or electricity; I’ll have someone take you to where you can go.

Marque stepped outside the hut and returned with the old driver who took Cinque outside. Marque sat beside the Chief on the blanket and they spoke in the chief’s native language. Marque interpreted to Pops that there was going to be a festival tonight to celebrate their arrival and tomorrow they would be taken on a tour of the village. After the tour, they would go into the mountains and meet someone who could help them. The villagers gave Cinque and Pops a dhoti, a piece of cloth they wrapped around the waist and between the legs.

EXT. VILLAGE-EVENING

The festival started at sundown, sheep and wild birds that looked like large turkeys were roasting over an open pit and there were stemming, large pots of rice. The song of crickets and shrilling free frogs and croaking toads filled the night air. All of this was new to Pops who grew up in a concrete jungle where even the stars were covered by the smog of the big city. A veiled woman approached Pops and Cinque followed by a young child carrying a lantern, which lighted the ground and his, little legs. The woman bowed and gave Pops and Cinque a large bowl of the spicy rice that was covered with fish heads and a slice of the bird or the sheep was heaped on the side. She poured them a pleasant but strong drink in a gourd made of seashells. Pops looked around for Marque who had disappeared, suddenly, there was a loud roar from the jungle and all the villagers bowed down and started chanting. Pops looked into the jungle where the roar came from and saw a big, elegant, powerful looking Black Panther standing in the distance looking at them. The beast eyes were as black as the night and he pranced back and forth staring at the kneeling crowd. Pops was terrified and dropped his drink as he punched Cinque and pointed in the direction of the animal, Cinque dropped his plate of food and stared at the creature also, but none of the villagers seemed afraid of the large fearful looking beast. All of the villagers were on their knees chanting and bowing at the creature that slowly turned and disappeared into the dense jungle and emitted a deep growl. In a few minutes the festival continued, a veiled woman brought Cinque another plate of food and refilled Pops gourd with the sweet but potent liquid. Pops was tired and the strong liquid had started to take effect. Through drowsy eyes he saw Marque coming out of the jungle and standing in the exact spot where the panther had stood, his dark eyes never blinking. Pops lay down on the straw mat that he was sitting on and went to sleep. The sky was slowly brightening when Pops awakened. The stars still shone and a wash of light could be seen in the east. The ground was moist under his body but warm. Pops eyes opened and he looked first into the dark jungle and wondered if he had been dreaming of the beautiful Black Panther. He turned and looked at Cinque who lay beside him. Cinque eyes were open also. During all the years they had been together Pops could never remember seeing Cinque asleep. Someone had placed a straw mat over him and Cinque and removed their shoes. Slowly Pops got up and put on his shoes. The dawn came quickly and then the sun exploded into a fireball. Cinque joined Pops as they walked through the mist into the dense jungle to relieve themselves. When they returned to the village an old woman was at the fire pit uncovering a simmering coal and gently blowing it to life as a little boy broke little pieces of brush onto it and it soon burst into flames. A fat dog sauntered up to them, sniffed and walked away. Moths and other flying insects attracted by the flames flew to their deaths. A rooster crowed in the distance and pigs were rooting into the ground in their endless search for food. Pops watched a group of birds dive down from the trees to attack tiny insects that had came out in the night. The village became alive. Women gathered at the fire pit gently placing large round corncakes on the grills over the fire filling the air with its rich smell. The people gathered around the fire pit and breakfast was served. A young girl brought Pops and Cinque a plate of the steaming corncakes and a brown liquid in a clay jar. Pops and Cinque sat atop straw mats that had been placed in front of the