Working Girls: Series Document and Pilot Script by Grace Wynter

Working Girls By Grace Wynter

Logline: Working Girls is a one hour meta telenovela that follows young mother Maria and iron willed nanny Esther as they attempt to infiltrate an international crime syndicate, The Hive, ostensibly to protect their families, but in reality to seize the freedom and power that’s been denied them.

Working Girls is the story of what happens when a bratty young mother MARIA and an iron-willed nanny ESTHER go into battle against rich WASPS, bumbling organized criminals, ICE, and, inevitably, themselves. Maria desperately needs 50k to free her boyfriend DAVID from jail, the man who impregnated her when she was just 16, after he gets arrested for armed robbery. She discovers his double life as a lieutenant in a far flung crime ring, the extent of which will be explored throughout the series. Betrayed, and frightened, she deduces, that if she appears dispensable to David’s superiors this could lead to serious trouble for her family, composed of her young daughter, Luisa, as well as David’s slightly older daughter, Alejandra. Working Girls will operate at a rapid pace, needed both by parents and crime lords alike, while exploring the disastrous consequences of these two becoming one. This tone is set by the constant presence of telenovelas, particularly the show within the show, La Madre de Lo Peor. The events in Maria’s life are often paralleled, foreshadowed, or retroactively reinterpreted through the lens of La Madre’s convoluted plotlines and soon she learns to take direct behavioral cues. It’s solemn and melodramatic. It’s campy and violent. It’s Parenthood meets Pulp Fiction. Set largely in the wealthy, and not-so-wealthy1 suburbs of New York. Working Girls will delve into the myth of the meritocracy, the natural consequences of an immobile underclass, and the politics of criminalization and social ostracization, along lines of class, race, and of course gender. Our hero is Maria, a woman previously passive enough to take whatever this neighborhood, and this country, dished at her, is spurred to action, her mindset shifting along with the predominant mindset of the other folks in her neighborhood, discontent with the rise of destructive right-wing policies that threaten their existence. The whole neighborhood seems prime for explosion, and their employers and exploiters are in for a rude awakening.

The not-so wealthy are intimately aware of the wealthy’s role in keeping them there. There is a distinc class consciousness operating within this show.

Information is key in this world- David is only in contact with his immediate superior in the organization, nicknamed the Hive, and his immediate subordinates, Julio and Juan, who in turn only know him within the organization- which means that with David in jail, they are at a loss as to how to continue. J&J don’t know that Maria and Esther know next to nothing about their true operations, and Maria and Esther need to keep it that way. J&J think they can press Maria for information on David. David, knowing the dire consequences if his superiors catch wind of any information leak, tries to ply Maria with everything she needs to know from behind bars, but he metes this info out sparingly- he doesn’t even trust her to raise his kids without him, let alone take his position in his crime ring. Maria has to combat both David’s meek expectations as well as her own self-deprecation. The more she learns, and the deeper she descends into the criminal underworld, the more quickly she realizes, after spending her whole life being taken advantage of, that she has an aptitude for crime. More than that, as well as the inner hunger to finally take. Maria is our hero, the audience watching her mature rapidly over the course of the pilot, as she steps into the role of provider for the first time in her life, despite being a mother/pseudo-step mother for most of her “adult” life. Esther serves as an important foil for her throughout the season and series, being the only adult in her life that is not her boss or her boyfriend. By the end of the series, she will be the Queen of the Hive, though what she gains in power cannot compensate for what she sacrificed to get the throne. Meanwhile, Esther is undocumented, living in American under an assumed name, constantly looking over her shoulder for her wealthy, and abusive, husband. She faked her death in Jamaica in order to escape from him, leaving behind all she had ever known to seek refuge, underneath what looks like, to her chagrin, an all-white ruling class. Deeply religious, Esther brings a heavy energy to actions, fueled by an Old-Testament quest for what she sees as her birthright, wealth and safety. She encourages Maria to embrace her religiosity, and is a segway for the subtle religious themes within the show. Esther’s God is not one of paisley doilies and sunday morning lemonade, but of an unstoppable vengeance. And that’s what she aspires to bean unfeeling agent of self-serving chaos. But she’s soft, though she keeps this fact well hidden from Maria, the younger woman who looks to her for guidance. Throughout the series, we will

see the guileless Maria discover her inner steel, while Esther learns to utilize her natural wellspring of empathy. It is ultimately revealed at the end of the pilot that Bart, the secretly sleazy husband of Elizabeth is the heretofore obscure crime lord, with his hands in everything from party drugs to human trafficking. This unites the “legal” immoral behavior acceptable in white collar circles and the criminal underground that Maria and Esther plough into. This is a world of controlled chaos, where violence, both social and physical, appear to be random but in actuality are supremely calculated. This is a world where information is held tight and often means life and death. This world is teeming with cracks, as the folks whose labor they exploit to stay where they are, nannies like Esther, janitors, like Maria, and landscapers, like David, are pushed to violence, at first economic, but eventually physical. Working Girls will delve into the myth of the meritocracy, the natural consequences of an immobile underclass, and the politics of criminalization and social ostracization, along lines of class, race, and of course gender. Why is robbery immoral, but the financial industry A-Ok? Who is seen and who is silenced? Who gets to decide what’s legal? Who gets to decide where our borders lie? And if we cannot trust our laws to teach us morality, where do we turn? God? This is a world where the institutions2 upon which society depends, and which in turn depend on systematic injustice, are questioned and damaged.

From domestic division

episode of season 1.

of labor to capitalism itself, all key institutions are explored in each

The Characters Maria Flores, 25 She is first generation American, her parents are from Mexico. She is rather short, about 5’2”, and has jet black hair that is about shoulder length, and thin. She has very thick eyebrows, hinting at indigenous Mexican heritage, that she tries to pluck but often doesn’t have time to. Her arms are quite hairy as well. She has a wide forehead, and full cheeks, never quite shedding her “baby face,” which make her appear “cute” rather than “beautiful” and never “sexy.” She covers her mouth sometimes, when she is made aware of the hair on her upper lip, but this just draws more attention to her spots of insecurity. Her parents raised her in the suburbs of Los Angeles, and were able to send her to catholic school there. Maria loved California, she’s a real warm weather girl. She is bisexual, but is unaware of this, due to years of religious education and suppression. That’s where she met David. He was working construction on her block, so she got to see him twice a day as she walked to and from school. Soon she begins to shirk doing homework and other responsibilities to visit him. She craves the little attention he gives her every day, because she doesn’t get a lot of attention at home from her parents, and even less at school. Her closest friend was her older cousin, Bianca, but the older girl took pleasure in talking down to her often. She’s wasn’t a bad student, but school didn’t excite her as she couldn’t see the point of studying endlessly. She shows up every day to school for lack of something better to do. She doesn’t have a job, and she doesn’t have any close friends. When she meets David, ten years older, she immediately has feelings for him, but is unsure how to really approach the older man. She is normally very talkative, though she often fears that what she says is uninteresting, and so

she’s more quiet when she speaks to David. She thinks that he’s very very smart, and often wonders, gratefully, why he bothers with her. Their courtship is whirlwind. She skips school one day that he has off, they go back to his place, and she loses her virginity to him. She still thinks of it as the greatest day of her life, even though the sex wasn’t good. It was confirmation of another person wanting her, and as she inflated, needing her, if only for the time it took him to get off. She made herself available whenever David wanted her, which was often. Eventually, through a carelessness that she puts on herself, she becomes pregnant. David doesn’t blame her outright, but he doesn’t absolve her either. He also doesn’t pressure her to get an abortion, which she is relieved by. She wouldn’t want to get one, having been raised Catholic, but she would if David pressured her to. She is scared, so scared of motherhood. Her parents do not take her pregnancy well. They forbid her from getting an abortion, as that is a mortal sin, but also condemn her for having premarital sex, and kick her out of their home. She immediately moves in with David, without much of a choice. She has no job skills, and a baby on the way. She needs him to survive. David, to her surprise, already has a 2 year old daughter who lives with him. Maria didn’t know that she existed before her own pregnancy. David neglected to mention her to Maria, a warning sign that she ignores, partly out of her infatuation, partly out of fear that if she pressures him, he’ll abandon her. Eventually, the couple and their children move to the east coast because David stumbles upon what Maria believes to be a great business opportunity. She is very sad to leave California behind, where her daughter, Luisa, took her first steps, but after 2 years of cohabitation, the pair move to Mount Vernon, New York. Maria does not tell her parents that she has moved.

The four move into a shabby apartment, which David pays for in cash. Maria is disappointed that they live so sparsely. She tries to be a “trooper” but she’s only 18. She can’t help but watch the young girls going off to college and feel a real twinge of anger and regret. She is someone who whines. She gripes about her life, especially as time goes on, and she’s confident that David won’t leave her. She tries not to make anyone feel bad with her complaining, she just can’t help it. She never grows out of petulance. She didn’t end up graduating highschool- she was too busy raising her infant, and so she works as a maid in a hotel. The hotel is two towns over, so she has a long bus ride there every morning, made easier by the fact that she gets to talk to her friend and neighbor, Esther, freely during the ride. She doesn’t like her job, because she hates cleaning, still holding a teenage aversion to any domestic labor. She usually wears fairly cheap dresses from walmart that she styles to look more alluring. She wears sneakers normally, it makes working easier, though she tries to wear heels to feel more adult. Maria has learned to eat less, and slowly, so she can leave more food for David and the girls without them noticing. She tries to follow the catholic values instilled in her, and impart them on her child, but she often has serious doubts, especially because she sees her life as so unfair. She is very good at cooking, and that is essentially her only domestic skill. She tries not to bring maid work home with her, but David’s usually good about keeping their home clean. She’s a good mother, even though in general, she dislikes kids. This includes David’s older daughter, Alejandra, though she tries desperately to mask it for the sake of their tiny family. This is her secret.

Maria is embarrassed that her Spanish isn’t good, which is a tension between her and David. She often slips into “spanglish” but makes a lot of grammatical mistakes in both languages. She speaks quickly and with her hands to mask it. She is completely obsessed with the man who she’s been with for the past nine years. Sometimes she feels as if she is lesser than him. He’s ten years older than her, and so he’s always been a provider for her, and she is always trying to prove her own competence in their home. In some ways she depends on him, but now, halfway through her twenties, it’s clear to all but her that he’s done nothing but stifle her, even if those aren’t his conscious intentions. After David is arrested, all Maria wants is to be able to afford his bail, set at 50K for armed robbery. Maria needs to feel independent. She is too young to be burdened by family, but was saddled with the responsibility so early on, and she is not someone who gives in, even when she should. Esther Parnell, 29, Jamaican. Esther is 5’9” and keeps her hair natural and cut short. She dresses in business casual attire, slacks, polo, and flats, as if she’s still going to her uniformed private school in Jamaica. She has sunken in cheeks, which accentuate her high cheekbones and prominent brow bone. In another life she could have been a high-fashion model, not necessarily attractive in the everyday sense, but with that specific, gaunt look that dominates runways. This look is in specific contrast to Maria’s chubby face. Esther’s real name is Mary Parnell. Her family had to scrape to send her away to school, and she saw the squalor her neighbors were forced to live in. At the same time, she saw the way in which the rich American tourists, all tourists seemingly rich in comparison with the poverty of

Jamaica, lived, and she resented them. Away at school her scholarship money ran out, and eventually Esther was forced to sell her body on the backroads of rich neighborhoods in Jamaica. That’s where she meets Devon, who offers to bankroll her schooling, and then her life. She accepts, at first out of need. With the help of her husband, she got one of the few jobs in the very small tech sector of Jamaica. Though her husband controlled her income and finances, she slowly became accustomed to the life she always thought she deserved. At the same time, Devon increased his financial manipulation to emotional abuse to physical violence. Eventually, this became too much for her to bear. With the help of her older brother, she faked her death and fled to America. She burned her house down, waited to make sure that Devon saw, and made her escape, after arranging a new identity for herself in America. It hurt her to leave the country she loves. She took on a job as a nanny, because she’s undocumented. She cannot let Devon find out she is alive. Her brother still lives in Jamaica, with their ailing mother, and two other younger sisters. Esther had been the primary breadwinner in the family, and she still sends back most of her pay as remittances, while she is living simply in America. She currently lives alone in a tidy one-bedroom apartment, next to Maria. Despite Devon’s cruelty, Esther often reminisces about her old life, the luxury. She tells herself that she wants to provide for her family, but she really wants to help herself. She wants to be wealthy once more, and her job as a nanny in a wealthy neighborhood, stokes this lust. Besides the envy, she does love her job, if only because she loves children a great deal. She has trouble relating to the spoiled children, but she loves their innocence, and dreams of starting a family again, despite all the pain that’s befallen her. Her family was able to

send her to school, so Esther speaks very careful English when she needs to, as well as patois. She will often rub her head as she talks, as if feeling for the hair she buzzed off. Her hair is in many ways of symbol of her former life, as she shaved her luscious hair in order to better obscure her identity. She eats very slowly and carefully, growing up in poverty she savors the food she has. She usually just eats simple rice and bean dishes, not having much cooking imagination. She neglects learning to cook because she sees herself as above it, so she often relies on Maria to cook for her. Esther needs security. She is constantly looking over her shoulder, and will never feel at peace until she herself can ensure it. Esther is not opposed to violence. If she had the chance, she would kill her husband, though she prefers not to hurt those she deems innocent. Esther is not very religious, though her family believes her to be Anglican. She does not attend church in America, as it is time off from when she could be making money. She chooses the name Esther after the biblical queen. When she meets the Allen family, she believes that they’re a good family. The mother seems an overly nice pushover who Esther can manipulate, and the father worked in finance, the parent company of her old tech company. However, as time wears on, Bart Allen’s playful comments soon turn lecherous. The turning point for Esther is when Bart Allen steps up to physical groping, while also shorting her wages. It’s not clear which angers her more. When she confronts Elizabeth Allen and she reacts badly, Esther decides to take matters into her own hands.

Beside all this, she has a genuine affection for young Dylan Allen. She sometimes imagines he’s her own, and that the Allen house is hers to rule. Then, in moments when she is reminded of her subservient status, she becomes deeply melancholic. She meets Maria when she moves in next door, four months prior to the pilot. They’re neighbors, and work in the same wealthy town, and so they meet at the bus stop in the morning and talk. At first, Maria tries to talk Esther’s head off, and is at first rebuffed, but Esther soon develops a soft spot for the girl. Esther let’s Maria do the talking in their relationship, preferring to keep her business to herself. She is not trusting, generally, but sees Maria as largely harmless. She even begins to pity the girl, and she sees her as a girl, though she resents how sensitive Maria is in ways she doesn’t allow herself to be. She wants to be a mother, but not to another grown woman. Below the petulance, Esther sees the hunger in Maria’s soul, and identifies with it. She is bisexual, but is unaware of it, because of growing up in a homophobic caribbean nation. Esther sees no point in dwelling on the past for long. She wants to secure her future. David Soto, 35 year old man, Mexican. David is about 5’6,” and wears his dark hair buzzed short. He walks with a slight limp, due to an accident when he used to work in construction. That injury is what lead him to move out east. He has a stocky build, and has a serious Napoleon complex about his height. He usually wears thick work boots, rough jeans, and t-shirts. He needs glasses to see, and he uses his grandfather's tortoise-shell frames to save money. Maria thinks he’s handsome, as she enjoys his rogue-ish crooked smile, and his sharp nose. Others find these features off-putting, even sinister. He was born in Mexico, but through work visas and getting lucky, he won his citizenship via lottery at 22. He resents the fact that he “won” his citizenship, and does not respect

xenophobic US society. He is far left leaning, and does not respect institutions that he deems corrupt, which includes nations and banks. In Mexico he was a member of the far left party, and would have been a full time student had he not gotten US citizenship. He is afraid of government authority, and actively fights against it where he can. He speaks perfect English, as he studied English in school, but he resents using it. He loves his family, his two daughters and Maria, immensely. He loves them in part, though he denies it, because he sees them as his property, natural extensions of himself, and thus controllable. To Maria’s jealousy, he also still pine’s after Alejandra’s mother, Stephanie, who wants nothing to do with him, and has very limited interactions with her daughter. She’s the one that got away. The two met when Stephanie volunteered, teaching ESL to new immigrants. She didn’t like David at first, he’s shorter than her and, frankly, is a little ugly, but he won her over with his charm and his imagination. The two break up shortly after Stephanie had their baby, Alejandra, because she couldn’t handle the idea of motherhood. David, very studiously, sets about raising his infant daughter as best he can. She becomes a center of his world, though he can’t help but see Stephanie when he looks at Ale. David loves Stephanie, he harbors a great deal of anger towards her, for what he sees as an abandonment of him and his daughter. When he first meets Maria, he thinks she’s kind of cute, but writes her off because of her age. When they first meet, he is still trying to get Stephanie to move in with him and their young daughter. While Stephanie and her mother contribute with childcare during the day, she is generally uninterested in helping to raise their child. Underneath this fear of abandonment is a need for control that Stephanie undermines. Maria’s age, which initially repulsed him, becomes

her big selling point, as he is happy to have found someone who is so eager to please and malleable. These aren’t conscious wants, but they are nonetheless present in his pursuit of her. Shortly after she becomes pregnant, he is left at a crossroads. He doesn’t know if he can afford to support the four of them, but is afraid that if he forces Maria to get an abortion, and there isn’t a baby between them, she’ll leave him like Stephanie did. He can see Maria being a mother to Alejandra, and to their unborn baby. He is able to do this by seeing past the scared teenager. He often pictures Maria as older than she is, because it makes him feel less guilty about their relationship. About a year and a half after Luisa is born, David gets into an accident at work on construction. He is put on disability payments, but it isn’t nearly enough to support his family of four. When the family is on the brink of destitution, he gets a call from his old buddy from high school, Rico, that he stumbled onto a business opportunity out east. That business turned out to be a small, but tenaciously growing, organized crime ring. Once David decided to join, they fronted him the cash he needed to relocate, and he drove his family out east, buying a cheap apartment for them with the cash given to him. He gives Maria very little information, and she asks for little in return. He doesn’t trust her with his secrets. The front for his operation is a landscaping gig with his two friends/cronies, Julio and Juan. He kept his crimes a secret from Maria, not because he thought she would leave him, but because he was sworn to secrecy by his crew. They demanded no weak links, which included family. He has yet to see a big pay off from the organization, though he’s starting to rise in the ranks.

After he’s arrested, what David wants is to get out of jail to reunite with his family. Despite his work in a crime ring, he’s not cut out for prison, and is afraid of losing himself inside. He’s not a violent man, and resists it where he can. He believes violence, as well as theft, should only be used when it attacks existing power structures. He eats whatever Maria cooks for him, ravenously, though their relationship growing more codependent as they live on together, though the power balance is still distinctly in his favor before he’s arrested. When he’s among friends he speaks normally Spanish, though with Maria he’s forced to speak English, which annoys him, though he is perfectly fluent, though accented. He will often grind his teeth. What he needs is to feel powerful again, something he lost when he went to prison and lost credibility in his organization as a weak-link. His most prized possession is the safe he hid, which contains all of his money from the heists, plus secret information that he could use to bargain, in case things went sideways for him. He’s paranoid, and for good reason. The gang can never find out about this, or they’ll kill him and his family. Stephanie Lopez, 29. Straight, Puerto Rican Stephanie is born in Southern California. She is raised by a single mom, and is an only child. Her mother always encouraged her to be whoever she wanted to be. She is the type of woman to claim she was “born in the wrong generation” though what she means is she likes to draw peace signs, wear loose pants, and bump cocaine in the afternoon. She meets David shortly after she graduates from art school. She wants to be a painter, but takes a job at an old folks

home teaching arts and crafts. She doesn’t mind, because the hours are flexible, and the old people like her. She likes to be liked, but is afraid of being needed. She and David date on and off for years, her often breaking things off for someone else. She blames her “Sagittarian nature” on her commitment-phobia. David thinks it’s bullshit, but is too enamored to call her out in a serious way. After she becomes pregnant with Alejandra, she is worried on several counts. One, she doesn’t think she’ll make a good mother because of her flightiness and her drug habit. She is also worried about becoming grounded, and resents the child. On the other hand, she is anti-abortion, because she can’t help but see it as murder, though she is pro-choice. She decides to keep Alejandra, but rejects David’s marriage proposals. This is not the first time that David has proposed, but the first time she takes him seriously. Her rejection of his proposal shifts their relationship. Before, while David always held out hope that she would settle down with him, he now used their daughter as the last pinion between them. After Alejandra is born, Stephanie, hoping she would become more adept at motherhood as time went on, began to resent the child, and David even moreso. As soon as she weened the baby off of breast milk, she moved her in with David, without she herself moving in. Her mother spent the days with the baby while David was at work. Stephanie stopped by every now and then to see her. She loves her daughter in the abstract sense that one loves a piece of art. As an artist, her feelings are intense, but she’s unsure how to apply them in a practical way which will help her daughter, and so instead she chooses to be largely absent. To fund her art, and her coke habit, Stephanie turned to dealing herself. She started after David moved their family across the country, and she got deeper into debt with her dealers.

Though capricious, she is also wildly independent. She moved out of the house when she was 18, and though she depends on her mom to take care of her daughter, doesn’t use her for much else. The two are close, but this closeness is in part because her mother did not try to alter Stephanie’s character. She’s initially attracted to Daniel because of his sturdiness. Their union provides all the necessary evidence for the “opposites attract” theory. However, she resents his controlling nature. She returns to him continually, after relationship after “relationship” of hers falls apart, but she can’t commit to him. She doesn’t enjoy hurting him, but also can’t put anyone else’s happiness above her own. When David and her daughter move out east, she feels a deep regret. She keeps careful tabs on them, and at the beginning of the pilot we see that she’s just moved out East, partially to escape some big drug dealers she pissed off in California, partly because she feels a pull to be near her daughter. She’s not ready to take a leap and become a reliable figure in her life. Alejandra Soto, 11. Alejandra hates her mother. Her earliest memories are of David and Maria, Maria gently reading her to sleep, while David held her in his lap. She doesn’t call Maria her mother, only by her first name. It strikes her when she’s ten just how young her pseudo-step mother is. This complicates her feelings about her Dad, who has always been her superhero. She also has a lot of affection for her Grandmother, and is distraught when the family moves across the country. She never quite forgives her father for the move.

She thinks about Stephanie constantly. She doesn’t reach out to her, afraid of rejection, but fantasizes about a weird amalgamated family in which her mother, Grandmother and Maria can all coexist with her and her father. As she stretches up into adolescence, her maternal relationship becomes even more strange, as she starts to flex rudeness in the home. Maria’s an easy target- she’s a pushover, and won’t fight back. Her little sister, Luisa, is her best friend, though there is some competition between them for the attention of their father. What she needs is an unconditional love in her life, after her Dad is arrested there is a huge vacuum in her life. Also, after Maria becomes consumed with getting David back, it’s up to Alejandra to look after herself and her sister. She is 11, sixth grade, and is trying to discover what it means to be a woman, in the clumsy way that middle schoolers mimic adulthood. She starts to swear in the house, which only increases after David’s authority is sucked away. Her only models for female adult behavior are her semi-absent mother and the, quite immature, Maria. Elizabeth Allen, 36. Straight. WASP. Esther’s employer. She has one son, Daniel, whom she loves, and her love is spoiling him. Her parents were hands off, and she carries on this important tradition by pawning off her kids to Esther every morning. She does not have a job, but spends her day helping chair various charitable committees and getting day drunk. She isn’t an alcoholic, but she feels that potential in her. She is deeply unhappy, but covers it in a thin veneer of bubbliness and faux generosity. She has two degrees, one in art history, and uses it to advise museums how to spend her money. She is unhappy in her marriage, though her husband is not abusive, but she is accustomed to her life

the way it is, and would rather stay comfortable than change her situation. She’s bored, discontent, and terrified of abandonment. She knows that her husband, Bart, cheats on her regularly, but she is too afraid of him to confront him. She likes to think of Esther as a confidant, but she can’t see how there is an inherent distance between employee and employer, or rather, she wishes she could buy Esther’s friendship, and she can’t. When she discovers that Bart has groped Esther, she is at first horrified, and then enraged, feeling betrayed by someone she spends essentially all day with. She feels like an alien in her own home. Julio Castillo, 35 Argentinian One of David’s lackeys, he communicates almost exclusively in Spanish. He’s short, pale, and trigger happy. He’s a man of relatively few words, but when he speaks it’s usually to swear, or tell someone to fuck off. David’s kids don’t like him. He resents David for being his boss, and is jealous of Juan for being cool. He’s always trying to prove himself, but gets tripped up, because he lacks a killer instinct, and overcompensates by being gruff and violent in lesser ways. Deep down, he just wants to be liked. Juan Suarez, 27, Dominican Juan is David’s other goon. He’s suave, Afro-Latino, and likes to take life, even the high octane world of organized crime, slow. He really sits into his words, and will revive phrases from bygone eras. He’s “Tio Juan” in Maria’s house, great with kids. He’s relatively violence averse, but will shoot when he has to. Unlike Julio, he’s killed. Luisa Soto, 10 Luisa is unpopular at school. She’s jealous of her elder half sister, both for the attention she receives from her parents, but also for growing out of her awkward stage. She is upset that

Alejandra is now constantly consumed with other things and people, and does not have time for her. She feels as if nothing in her family is ever about her, and often feels like a burden, though she knows her mother loves her. Daniel Allen, 2 A surprisingly anxious toddler. Devon Smith, 45 Esther’s abusive husband. He is wealthy and connected, and a member of elite Jamaican society. He hides his inherent menace well, and uses this mask to draw Esther in. He’s a severe hypochondriac. Bart Allen, 37 Bart graduated from Yale at the top of his class, and fell straight into his Wall Street Career. He did crew in college, and his broad shoulders make his presence known in any room he walks into. He’s well liked in his circles, mostly because he’s tall, handsome, and will donate to whatever charity Marge is fundraising for this weekend at the yacht club. When he grew board of Wallstreet, he tried his hand at finance, and during the pilot we meet him amidst his reelection campaign for New York State Senate. He’s the type of man that when he speaks to you, you feel important. He’s mastered artificial charm, but he leaves those around him, especially those under him, with a deep sense of discomfort. When he first hired Esther, he was the perfect gentleman. The subtle comments came after a month, followed by the not-so subtle comments. At first Esther took them with ease, unused to being flirted with in the states, but soon grew more uncomfortable and scared. In the pilot, when he gropes her for the first time, she snaps.

Bart isn’t only a MeToo era villain, he’s also a higher-up in the Hive, the organization that David serves. He’s a middle man in the organization, and he’s in trouble after Maria leads David’s gang awry. He’ll do his best to keep them under his thumb.

PILOT OUTLINE Act 1 1

SCENE 1 A young MARIA FLORES is hunched over a toilet, crying over a positive pregnancy test. DAVID knocks on the door, when Maria fails to answer he barges in, and sees the test. Maria Â keeps crying, blubbering about her parents. David grabs her hands and tells her that he'll take care of her, she'll never have to worry.

SCENE 2 Maria is holding her android phone carefully to her face, watching a telenovela, La Madre de Lo Peor. She's supposed to be cleaning up the literal shit that someone's left in an absolutely ravaged hotel bathroom. Her shift manager, DYLAN, pokes his head in, makes a lude comment, and in her haste to hide that she was on her phone, she loses her balance.

SCENE 3 Cut to her stepping off the bus. We can see dried shit on the sleeve of her uniform. She's not happy. She walks into her apartment, and sees her daughter LUISA and David's older daughter ALEJANDRA conked out in front of the television. David is at the table with his friends JULIO and JUAN. He doesn't look up from the card game as Maria tries to balance cleaning herself up, the kids, and masking the anger that has no outlet.

SCENE 4 We meet ESTHER, awake, meditating in the apartment next door. Her apartment is scarily sparse, it looks more like she's squatting in it than living there. Her concentration is broken by Maria and David shouting next door. Esther barges in next door to chastise her neighbors. David yells at Maria for forgetting to lock the door, Maria bursts into tears, Esther yells at David for yelling at Maria, and Julio and Juan see themselves out. Esther flips them off on the way out- this is not the first time this has happened.

2 5

SCENE 5 Across town, STEPHANIE steps out of a U-Haul at night. She checks her phone, and has a missed call from David, but ignores it.

SCENE 6 Esther meets Maria at the bus stop, 6 am. She doesn't apologize, instead asks about Luisa and "David's Daughter." Maria starts to complain, her favorite activity. Cut to Maria still complaining as Esther exits the bus in front of the ALLEN house, with a weakly suppressed eyeroll.

SCENE 6 Montage of Esther performing menial tasks as a nanny, while Elizabeth Allen day drinks in the background, continually butting in with anecdotes and poorly landing jokes.

IN SCENE Elizabeth tries to bond with Esther while Esther is on her break, watching La Madre de Lo Peor on TV. Esther seems continually ambivalent and slightly annoyed, that is until Bart Allen comes home at the end of the day. Esther stiffens when she sees him, though he appears like the perfect family man. Bart Allen takes out his wallet to pay Esther, and as she counts the money, which she realizes is short, he grabs her ass as he shuffles her out the door. Cut off her distraught face as she wanders to the bus stop.

SCENE 7 Flashback to Esther's past. We see her lounging in a large beautiful house. She flinches as her husband, DEVON, returns home. She's working on some sort of coding project, her laptop spread out in front of her. We can hear him physically assault her before he returns to their bedroom. Cut off of Esther's battered, but determined, face.

SCENE 8 As Esther look, but though in drops off

gets on the Esther says the dark we a large bag

bus, David gets off, the two share a nothing. We follow David closely, can't tell where he's walking. He in what looks like an underground (CONTINUED)

CONTINUED:

cellar. He pulls out a burner phone, and says, "It's at point B," and then drops the phone in the cellar, before picking up another burner. He tries to start a conversation with man on the other end of the phone, but he gets cut off. Frustrated, he throws the bag into the cellar, before storming off. 11

SCENE 9 Esther stops by Maria's after work, to pick up a to go plate of food. Maria gestures to the food packed up for her on the counter, while she wrestles the kids to bed. The kids snap to attention when they see Esther, clear that they respect her more. Esther turns off the TV, just as the waifs maiden from La Madre de Lo Peor is running through her house, searching for her missing man. Esther reveals to Maria that she saw David skulking around, and alluded to him cheating on her. Maria won't hear of it, telling Esther that David hates "rich gringos" more than anyone, he would cheat on her with a nice girl from the hood, if anyone. Esther fires back, "Like Stephanie?" and Maria responds that Alejandra's mom has nothing to do with them anymore, embarrassed that Esther even mentioned her. She reveals that she found a pair of earrings in David's sock drawer, and she doesn't know whose they are. Â She doesn't realize that the girls had been listening.

SCENE 10 Stephanie meets her a shadowy man in a playground. "La Mariposa?" Money exchanges hands, and the man walks away with two grams of coke.

SCENE 11 David comes home and Maria confronts him about where he's been. Alejandra comes out and asks if he was with her mom. David evades all of their questions, stoking suspicion more.Â He senses their distrust and starts cracking jokes, making Maria feel foolish, effectively distracting her. David triple checks the locks on the door, and the locks on their and the girls' bedroom. When Maria brings up the earrings, he freezes, then tells

(CONTINUED)

CONTINUED:

her they're cufflinks, a gift from Juan. "You don't own a suit," "They're aspirational" Cut off Maria in bed, still with a troubled expression, but her forcing a placid look when David smiles at her. 14

SCENE 12 Flashback: Maria is very pregnant, watching a telenovela on TV. She balances a bowl of cornflakes on her belly. Alejandra, two, is napping on the couch beside her, thumb in mouth. David and Stephanie are whisper-fighting behind the two, David asks Stephanie to spend more time with their daughter, and Stephanie accuses him of already replacing her with his "child bride" instead of growing up. Maria pretends she can't hear them. She tells him that's why she left him, because she felt suffocated by his grip. She storms out. Â She leaves, without taking Alejandra. David collapses on the couch, exhausted, and Maria smoothly moves the cereal from her belly to the floor, cradling David's head. He kisses her stomach, and strokes Alejandra's hair.

SCENE 13 Maria is at work, mopping up the floor. Montage of her going door to door, shaking out sheets, laundry room, room service, back down, up, down up. No one really acknowledges her presence, the tips are scant, she quite literally gets Â The only person that appears to notice her throughout her day at all is Dylan, and that's even worse than being ignored.

SCENE 14 David at home, pulls the bee "cufflinks" out from his drawer, and, aha, they're USB ports, plugs them both into an ancient computer. Two addresses flash across the screen. David returns the cufflinks to his drawer, leaving the computer on.

SCENE 15 Maria takes her lunch break across the street at a McDonalds. Bart Allen enters, Maria recognizes him as the man making Esther miserable. She trips him with her foot, before panicking and trying to walk it back. As he starts to yell at her, three masked men burst into the restaurant, two

(CONTINUED)

CONTINUED:

carrying shot guns. Everyone hits the floor as the men burst in, and demand all the money behind the counter. It's a sleepy suburban fast food joint, there's only four people inside post lunch-rush. The old woman behind the counter presses the panic button. Sirens ring from afar outside, and the men escape with a couple of leaf bags full of cash. 18

SCENE 16 Sweeping shot over an idyllic, rich suburban neighborhood. A landscaping truck, complete with open back and two men, Juan and Julio flashes precariously around the corner, nearly swiping a kid on the sidewalk, but missing him by a hair. David is behind the wheel, mask up so he can see where he's driving. The leaf bags are full of cash, that threaten to spill out into the open air. David goes to answer his phone, Maria is calling about something, and in the moment he gets sloppy, and we can see the undercover cop car slip around the corner to cut off the van. David gets arrested- pees his pants “Mierda.” Act 2

SCENE 17 Esther is chastising Derek, Elizabeth's son, for peeing himself. Elizabeth comes in, and gently questions Esther if she's pushing Derek too far. Esther snaps back, and asks if Elizabeth would like to tell her kids how their Daddy treats Ms. Esther, or if the voting public wants to know how their junior congressman behaves behind closed doors. Elizabeth turns whiter than seems healthy, and Esther mentions that, before demanding a raise. Elizabeth is shocked, hurt, and then, angry.

SCENE 18 Maria comes home shaken, before the kids get home, and turns on the news. She grabs her phone, trying to call David and tell him what happened when she sees his mugshot on the news. She drops her phone and it shatters. She is distraught, and confused. All she knows is that she wants to get David back. She tries to use her phone, but it's nonfunctional after the drop. She runs and bangs on Esther's door, but of course she isn't there. She collapses against the door, when she sees her (CONTINUED)

CONTINUED:

elderly neighbor pull into the parking lot of their apartment complex. 21

SCENE 19 Julio and Juan tear around a corner, hopping through the lawns they're so familiar with. They've been running for over an hour, a plucky combination of strategy and dumb luck helping them evade the cops. In Spanish they discuss how they're totally screwed without David, no next job, and no protection. The two argue, and hardly notice the kid they almost ran over staring at them. Juan waves and Julio slaps his hand.

SCENE 20 Elizabeth meets a man in a parking lot who we learn is her PI. He hands her a file with Esther's name on it, and tells her that she was right to call him about her.

SCENE 21 Flashback to Esther's beautiful house in Jamaica, engulfed in flames. Esther is crouched in the background, and she makes sure her husband sees the house burn. She slinks away. fleeing the fire.

SCENE 22 Maria is driving the car she stole from her neighbor, pretty poorly, it's apparent she doesn't really know how to drive. She somehow makes it to the local police station in one piece. She demands to see David, and the lieutenant on staff blows her off. She breaks down after he leaves her in the front room alone. The secretary takes pity on her, and warns her that the bail is set at 50K. Maria balks, she can't even imagine having that much money.

SCENE 23 Esther and Derek come back from the park, and find Elizabeth looking worried, but determined. Esther sends Derek to play in the living room, and Elizabeth slaps the envelope on the table, and informs Esther that she knows the truth about her. She doesn't want to make a scene, but she has to let the police know about her, she doesn't want to be caught

(CONTINUED)

CONTINUED: harboring a fugitive. Â Esther storms out, effectively quitting. 26

SCENE 24 Meanwhile, David's getting processed in jail. He puts on a mean mug for the camera, but that facade quickly fades as he faces the cell. We can see him meditate on the consequences of his actions, for perhaps the first time. He's dwarfed physically by the guards, and he can't muster up the same thunder he does in his own home.

SCENE 25 Maria is at home, tearing through David's things, looking for anything, a hidden stash of cash maybe, since he's been a thief for so long. Maria is so busy upturning the house she doesn't notice Esther walking in- she forgot to lock the door again. Esther tries to tell Maria about the deportation but Maria won't listen, she's sees the bumble bee earrings? Cufflinks? She doesn't know, but thinks that they belong to some woman. Maria tells Esther that David robbed the McDonald's this morning- and they want him on 50K bail. Esther wants her last paycheck from the Allens, and implores Maria help her break in to get it back, just so she has enough to skip town. Maria is hesitant, she borrowed her neighbors car, but otherwise she's law abiding. Maria refuses, she just saw David go down, what about their family?

SCENE 26 David is freaking out, hallucinating. He sees men burst into his home, kidnapping Maria and the girls. Clearly a fantasy, because it swaps to pregnant Maria and baby Alejandra halfway through. He isn't sure what's real and what's false, but when he sees an old rival, ERNEST, he really panics and calls the guard more insistently. He's trotted out by an officer that torts over his small frame to the phones. He dials a number first, and then hangs up as he changes his mind. He calls another number, and says in Spanish, "Stephanie? It's me."

8 29

SCENE 27 We're inside an episode of La Madre de Lo Peor wherein the maiden finds a letter in a bottle from our trapped hero (narrated over by the suave narrator). My love, my treasure is buried...

SCENE 28 The show is interrupted when Stephanie calls-- she keeps it brief, David's in trouble and needs to get out before this guy Ernest gets him. She's on the phone, balancing the phone, the wheel, and a green smoothie.

SCENE 29 After Stephanie hangs up, Esther makes fun of the name Ernest, but then grabs Maria by the shoulders and tells her that people like the Allens make their money by stepping on people like them, and like David. She tells her it's time to take a stand. For her. For their family. "Let's drain those devils" ACT THREE

SCENE 30 In a kind of goofy scene, Maria is attempting to hype herself up for the heist, and is pumping Esther with questions about weapons and disguises and accents. Esther gently shuts her down and tells her she still has keys to the place.

SCENE 31 Stephanie pulls up to the girls school, to pick them up. Alejandra tells the crossing guard that she's a stranger, and the guard helps shuffle the girls onto the bus away from her. Enraged, Stephanie follows the bus with her car.

SCENE 32 In a semi-campy scene, Maria and Esther pull up to the house. Esther walks in the front door, and starts to distract Elizabeth by begging for her job back. Maria, wearing a mask despite Esther's insistence that only looks more suspicious mid-day, and skulks around the back. She tries the keys that Esther gave her, but drops them down the (CONTINUED)

CONTINUED:

grate. She swears, and then covers her mouth for having done so, and looks around panicked. She sees a garbage can, and decides to climb on and shimmy through an upstairs window. Cut to Esther distracting Elizabeth, as Maria bangs around in the backyard. Cut back to Maria, squirming her way into the bedroom window. Maria rolls under the bed just as Esther follows Elizabeth into the bedroom. As Esther dogs Elizabeth, trying to get her out of her own room, Maria tries to remember the pin on the safe Esther told her about under the bed. Things seem to be going fine until the Allen's dog runs into the bedroom and starts barking at the intruders. Fortunately, moments before it seems as if Maria will be caught, Elizabeth fully relents, she feels terrible for what Esther was going through, but didn't know how to help. She reveals that she was just jealous and angry and hurt. Esther doesn't know how to handle this information, and ends up trying to comfort Elizabeth, while Maria succeeds in opening the safe. There's no cash, but Maria's eyes widen when she finds more bumble bee paraphernalia. 35

SCENE 33 Maria and Esther return to the apartment, Maria trying to puzzle out the connection between the Allens and David. Julio and Juan are waiting in Mariaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s apartment. Juan demands, gun on table, that Maria help them find out what David was hiding from them. Esther: "He's in jail eediat." J&J one do, the

seem genuinely surprised to hear this news, and look at another stunned. They quickly discuss in Spanish what to saying they can't leave Maria and Esther as witnesses, "boss" wouldn't like it.

Maria, thinking quickly on her feet, shows the two men the bee paraphernalia (like a watch, something subtle and still masculine). They immediately have more questions: "You're in the hive?" "Yeah we're in the hive."

(CONTINUED)

CONTINUED:

David never mentioned-Need to know basis The pair seem unconvinced, and Esther balks at the idea of a Â stepped up crime, but Maria goes on, and says her job as a janitor makes her their "man" on the inside. The two men agree to let Maria and Esther help them finish the job. 36

SCENE 34 David eyes Ernest in the mess hall. He tries to approach him, and asks him casually what he's in for. "Keeping an eye out,"

SCENE 35 Corner office. Bart exits and walks across the floor, all but high fiving his subordinates. His office is all white, mostly male, and the slime is evident. He's in his prime, and he's beloved.

SCENE 36 Maria pulls Esther aside, and tells her that whatever is going on with this hive business, Allen's downfall is wrapped in it. Alejandra and Luisa come home, and J&J comically try to hide their guns behind their backs. Stephanie is right behind the girls, demanding to know what they're doing standing around while David is in prison. this is the first that the girls hear of David being in jail. Luisa starts crying and Alejandra starts yelling. Stephanie then rips into Maria for not picking the girls up and telling them, and also for leaving the front door unlocked. Maria, stone faced, tells Stephanie that she's watching the kids. Maria tells Esther they're leaving, over Stephanie and Alejandra's shouts of protest. J&J follow her lead and duck march out of the apartment. Stephanie sees their guns and starts to shout at them, but the door shuts on her face. There's a click- Maria's locked it.

(CONTINUED)

CONTINUED: Act 4 39

SCENE 37 Back to David in jail, he sees Maria at the bars. He gets up, goes to ask her how she is. It's the first sweet moment the audience sees between the two of them, but he's unable to open his mouth. Maria's face contorts and becomes Stephanie's. She reaches out, and begins to choke him. The walls start to close in on him. He wakes up in a panic, and cries out.

SCENE 38 Maria enters the backdoor of the hotel. She is trying to sneak in, but Dylan sees her, and asks what she's doing. Despite her disgust, Maria begins to flirt with him, to give Esther an in to the tape room behind the desk. Maria told Esther the room would be empty, but since the robbery across the week, there was a guard sitting in the back. Esther freezes, seeing the man in the chair, and on the tape spies another guard in the lobby. Before he sees her, Esther sneaks up from behind and begins to choke the guard in the seat, he panics, and Esther holds him until he passes out in the chair. She stares at the monitors, before cracking her knuckles. A flash to her on the couch with the codes, before she gets to work on the computer room.

SCENE 39 Stephanie's itching in withdrawal, as the three of them watch the next installment of La Madre of Lo Peor. "Aren't you guys too young for this?" "How would you know?" Luisa is continually chattering, unbothered. Stephanie makes a cutting comment about how she's just like her mother, but feels bad after Luisa starts to whimper. Stephanie has to escape, and does a bump in the bathroom, and stares at her reflection filled with guilt. Cut off her muttering some line about how she can't even babysit right.

12 42

SCENE 40 Julio and Juan enter the front door of the hotel, and pretend to check in as guests. When the clerk turns around, they've got their masks on, pulling guns out of their luggage.

SCENE 41 Meanwhile,Maria starts to make her way through the hotel, hitting up the rooms with the richest customers.

SCENE 42 Esther emerges from the back room: she secured the codes to the vault. Julio and Juan have secured the lobby, and Esther heads back to the vault to empty it. The young guard panics, and shoots Julio in the shoulder. Julio immediately drops his weapon, and Esther picks up his gun, using it as cover to get them out. Maria panics at the shots fired. She goes back to the vault, and starts to put the money in the bag, while As she makes it back to the final floor, Dylan catches her. Caught red handed, she points a gun at Dylan. It's clear that it's the first time she's actually held one, but uses it to indicate to Juan that they're in trouble. She takes all authority in this moment, but still tries to remain polite. “Put his butt in the trunk, please.” Comical moment after the serious beat in which she waggles her gun to make the boys obey. Cut off of co-worker’s face, terrified of who he sees. Act 5

SCENE 43 J&J, Maria, and Esther haul off of the scene, Esther driving their neighbors car again. Julio is bleeding on the seat, and Maria is trying to tend to him from the passenger seat. Meanwhile Dylan is groaning in the trunk, with each bump in the road. Juan is fingering his gun, looking out for cops that don't seem to be coming.

13 46

SCENE 44 The gang pulls up to what Maria thought was their landscaping garage, but turns out to be a little hideout for their operations. She tries to pry into whatever it was they were getting into, how long, etc, but J&J are more concerned with splitting up the money. They are arguing, dragging Dylan out into the garage. She realizes that they know just a little more than she does, and only she and Esther know the Bart Allen connection. If she wants more she's going to have to go to David. She also discovers, to Julio's anger, that David is 100% in charge of them. They need him just as badly as she does. Esther and Maria work through dividing the money while J&J look on passively. Maria is struggling to count it all, she's not great at math, but she slowly realizes that she did it, she got enough cash to save David. She pretends to answer a call from the phone she stole from Bart, and uses it as an excuse for her and Esther to take all the cash, just to get David out. "Then they'll get their cut." Julio wants to argue, but Juan talks him down. The two women escape with the cash, leaving J&J to argue about what to do with Dylan. Juan wants to shoot him, but Dylan talks his way out of harm's way, for now.

SCENE 45 They drop the car off, Esther vowing to do something about the blood before the old woman finds out.Next step, she's skipping town. In her apartment, Esther discovers a calling card for the Hive

SCENE 46 Maria walks into her apartment, the scene is quiet. Stephanie is sat up, late and worried. She confronts Maria about J&J and the cash in her hand. She warns her not to let (CONTINUED)

CONTINUED: David drag her down with his shit on the way out, and then tells her she better not try to pay for his bail with the stolen cash, they'll be looking for those serial numbers. Luisa and Alejandra come out of their room, where there way were pretending to sleep. Maria wraps them both in a big hug. Luisa closes her eyes, but Ale eyes the blood on her clothes. 49

SCENE 47 Tag: Bart Allen reclines in his chair, reviewing secondary footage from the robbery. He gets on the phone, and tells whoever on it that David's crew is out of line, and it was time to take them out of commission. He doesn't mention that his things were robbed-- it makes him look incompetent. "I want that motherfucker dead by morning."

Working Girls

“Pilot”

Written by Grace Wynter

INT. BATHROOM-- DAY Tight shot on hands, they're deep brown, and unwrinkled. One is balled into a fist, the other fingers something the audience can't quite make out. The hands belong to MARIA FLORES, 16, Mexican and the camera pans back to see that she is hunched on the toilet. She's crying, but one hand flies to cover her mouth to muffle the sound, the other clutching what the audience can now recognize as a positive pregnancy test. We can see a crucifix adorning the wall behind her, which is otherwise plain. The audio is focused on her stuttered breath, while a light knocking is heard in the periphery. The knocking grows louder and louder, until DAVID SOTO, 26, Mexican barges in. He sees the test. MARIA I-I- sorry, I'm-. In subtitled Spanish, indicated by italics: DAVID I've got you, Darling, Precious, I'll take care of you, don't worry, don't worry. Maria is having trouble breathing through her tears, but lets her hand up off her mouth, as relief tries to fight its Â way onto her tortured expression.

INT. RITZ CARLTON BATHROOM-- NIGHT Maria, now 25, is dressed in a shapeless maid's uniform. She still has the same chubby cheeks she had as a teenager, and her thick eyebrows are knit in concentration as she stares at her phone, watching an episode of La Madre de Lo Peor. She's supposed to be mopping up literal shit from the tiles of an absolutely ravaged hotel bathroom. Legend: Nine Years Later, Suburban, New York DYLAN, 30 something, white, pokes his head into the toosmall stall. He's wearing a Ritz Carlton vest. He startles her, and in her haste to hider her phone, she slips to her knees, using her shoulder as a brace on the floor.

(CONTINUED)

CONTINUED:

DYLAN Atta girl Maria, I'm sure you do your best work on your knees. He laughs at his own gross joke, and shuts the stall door. 3

EXT. SUBURBS --NIGHT Maria steps off the bus. She's pissed. We can see dried shit on the back and side of her uniform as she approaches her apartment complex.

INT. MARIA'S APARTMENT-- NIGHT David is seated at the with his idiot friends features are sharp and his cards, and doesn't

kitchen table, arguing in Spanish JULIO and JUAN. He's aged well- his rogue-ish. He's gesturing wildly with look up when Maria enters.

MARIA Can we put the girls to bed? Pan down to reveal their daughter, 8, LUISA, conked out on the couch next to her half sister ALEJANDRA, 11, who's still up watching La Madre de Lo Peor. On screen, the swashbuckling hero is meeting with his crew. ALEJANDRA Nuh uh, it's just getting good. On screen, their layer is penetrated, and the swashbuckling hero is shot in the gut. His waifish love interest falls to her knees, and drapes herself over his chest, weeping. MARIA It's past midnightAlejandra beats off Maria's hand as it reaches for the remote. Anger flashes across Maria's face, but she tightens her mouth. Maria strips off the top of her uniform into a T-Shirt, tossing it to the side of their already dirty living room, so she can physically pick up Luisa who sleeps like the dead. David snaps his head up at the gesture.

(CONTINUED)

CONTINUED:

DAVID Don't just toss your shit around MARIA You wanna talk about poop? MARIA DAVID You was doing nothin all- Calm down for a goddamn5

INT. ESTHER'S APARTMENT-- SIMULTANEOUSLY The shot floats through the apartment wall, to their next door neighbor's. We find ESTHER PARNELL, Jamaican, 27, awake, meditating on the floor. Her head is shaved, and her Her apartment has almost no furniture in it, like she's squatting there instead of having lived there for four months. Her left eye twitches open as the muffled sounds of Maria and David arguing bleed into her space.

INT. MARIA'S APARTMENT-- NIGHT MARIA You promised- you promised you were gonna help tonight DAVID Maria, baby, Esther bursts in the front door, and begins yelling. She speaks with a Jamaican accent. ESTHER Keep it down, ya here? Me tryna sleep. Maria seems cowed, but David flares up at Maria. When he stands we can see how short he really is, he's about half head taller than Maria's 5' frame. DAVID (To Maria) What did I tell you about leaving the door open

(CONTINUED)

CONTINUED: ESTHER Don't ya yell at herJulio and Juan rise in unison from the table. Juan is lanky Afrolatino. He has watercolor tattoos snaking up and down his arms, and he's wearing tiny sunglasses inside. Julio, on the other hand, is short, pale, and dressed in a shabby denim jacket with cargo shorts, even though it is a cool October evening in the suburbs of New York. JUAN Yo David, the energy in this here space is getting a little too hot. We gotta bounce. JULIO We'll see you tomorrow man. DAVID Until tomorrow. The two start to exit, Juan patting Alejandra's head as he passes, the couch. She looks up at him adoringly. ALEJANDRA Bye Tio Juan JUAN Catch you on the flip JULIO Goodnight girls Luisa, blinking awake, musters a wave, but Alejandra ignores him. Esther flips the two men off as they exit the apartment, before smiling at the girls. ESTHER Now you two get to sleep LUISA Yes Auntie Esther Esther leaves without another word. This is not the first time that this has happened.

5 7

EXT. APARTMENT COMPLEX ACROSS TOWN -- LATER THAT NIGHT STEPHANIE, 30s, a white Latina, beautiful, steps out of a UHaul at night. She checks her phone, and has a missed call from David, but ignores it.

INT. MARIA AND DAVID'S BEDROOM -- EVEN LATER THAT NIGHT David puts his phone down, then gets into bed. He stares up at the ceiling of their too-small apartment, and Maria is staring at David, wistful, Just as she starts to reach for him, little footsteps invade the bedroom, and Luisa crawls into bed between them. Annoyance flashes across Maria's face, but she ends up wrapping the girl in her arms, and David shifts to put his arms around Maria. Familial bliss, if only for the moment. Alejandra is in the doorway, but turns away instead of crawling in herself.

EXT. BUS STOP-- EARLY MORNING Esther sits at the bus stop. Her outfit is plain, an unassuming white button-down over a long skirt. Maria comes rushing up, clearly still exhausted. ESTHER David's daughter still give ya trouble? MARIA The little monster kept me up for like, two more hours-

INT. BUS-- DAY Esther is staring out of the window while Maria keeps talking. MARIA - and then I found out that David hadn't even done the laundry, and I'm like, why you been so distracted and he was like I don't know baby, like-

EXT. SUBURBS --DAY Esther is exiting the bus, and Maria is still talking, rushing to get it all out before Esther is out of earshot. (CONTINUED)

CONTINUED:

Esther weakly suppresses an eye-roll as she waves goodbye. Esther turns her eyes toward the ALLEN house. The camera sweeps up the perfectly manicured lawns and mac mansions to reach their house on the hill. Esther trudges up the hill. 12

INT. ALLEN HOME --DAY Montage of Esther performing menial tasks: - Vacuuming under the couch as ELIZABETH, WASP queen, drinks white wine while following Esther around, unwittingly spreading more dirt. - Following a streaking toddler, DANIEL, around the house as she tries to dress him to go outside - Chopping up vegetables for Elizabeth's lunch salad, camera focuses on how well Esther can handle a knife. Elizabeth joins her in the kitchen, unhelpfully chattering away. - Esther plays with Daniel, showing him the alphabet cards while he stares at her, utterly enraptured. Elizabeth looks on from the background. She's still drinking, though it seems she's switched to red for the afternoon. The two play with Daniel together, and he's overjoyed.

INT. ALLEN HOME -- DAY Esther's on break, eating curry goat from tupperware while watching La Madre de Lo Peor, with subtitles. Elizabeth sidles up next to her. ELIZABETH Oh, is that Ox-tail? Bart and I had some of that when we were vacationing in MontegoESTHER No. A beat. ESTHER (CONT.) Ma'am

7 14

INT. ALLEN HOME --NIGHT Esther lays Daniel to bed, and then quickly descends the stairs. Elizabeth is holding a martini glass, swirling the remnants around in her hand. ELIZABETH Ok Est-y, great work today, as always of course. I'll see you tomorrow, bright and early! ESTHER Yes ma'am. ELIZABETH Oh please call me Elizabeth, you know how I hate that formal language. ESTHER Yes ma'am. Elizabeth looks perturbed, but is cut off by the front door gently closing, which causes Esther jumps. What seems like fear crosses her face, though she tries to smooth it over. She suddenly leans into Elizabeth, suddenly willing to play along. BART pokes his head into the kitchen, all smiles. BART Here are my two favorite ladies. ELIZABETH Hi honey, I was just tellingBART That's nice, sweetheart. Now let me just settle up with Esther here. Elizabeth quietly slinks out of the room as Bart pulls out his wallet, and counts out cash as Esther looks on nervously. He's all smiles when he hands her the cash and Esther hesitantly inspects it. ESTHER Mr. Allen, I think there's been a likkle mistake, I worked every day this week.

(CONTINUED)

CONTINUED:

BART That's a real shame, you do such important work for our family, you know, you really are family. Bart grabs a handful of her ass, guiding her toward the door. BART How about we try and get this sorted out another time, hmm? He shuts the door behind her. We cut off of Elizabeth's face, who was peaking into the room. 15

EXT. ALLEN HOME-- NIGHT Cut off of Esther's distraught face.

INT. ESTHER'S HOME, JAMAICA-- NIGHT Sweeping shot of cool blue walls, ensconcing antique mahogany tables and chairs. The camera focuses in on Esther, lounging on a pristine white sofa. There's a computer in her lap, and we see codes scrolling down the screen. We almost don't recognize her, she has long hair, done in box braids, and a full face of makeup. There's a maid, YVETTE, scuttling around the background, and when she tries to sweep underneath Esther's feet, she barely moves. Legend: One Year Earlier, Red Hills, Jamaica Esther flinches, as her husband DEVON, tall, Black, 40s, returns home. Yvette makes herself scarce. Esther schools her expression, she doesn't know what kind of mood he'll be in. DEVON Is this what you've been doing all day? Wasting time? He scans his eyes across the spotless house, looking for something, anything to find fault with. ESTHER Yvette has dinner ready on the counter-

(CONTINUED)

CONTINUED:

He wheels around, eyes bright. DEVON So you just let on the counter, and em can just in me food, and

the food stew out so all them germs manifest themselves make me sick so-

ESTHER I just took it out of theDEVON You tryna poison me woman? The camera pans away, focusing on the cooling food, as the audience hears the sounds of Devon assaulting Esther. The camera pans back down to see him stalking into their shared bedroom. Cut off of Esther's battered, but determined, face. 17

EXT. SUBURBS --NIGHT Esther prepares to step on the bus, and exchanges looks with David, who is stepping off the bus. David schools his face- he knows there's no way that his activities will be secret from Maria for much longer, but he doesn't bother asking for Esther's discretion.

EXT. SOME SUBURBAN BACKYARD --MOMENTS LATER The camera follows David closely, such that it's difficult to tell where he's walking in the dark. He's carrying a large bag, which he flips over his shoulder into what looks like an unground cellar. He pulls out a flip phone, emblazoned with a honey bee. DAVID Drop at point B. He drops the phone in the cellar, before picking up another burner phone from the cellar. He picks that one up and whoever is on the other line answers on the first ring.

(CONTINUED)

CONTINUED:

DAVID (CONT.) Ernest, all the cash is here, now when do I get to meetA beat, as Ernest respondsDAVID (CONT.) No, no don't say soon, I don't care about fucking soon. I can't keep this runner shit up foreverDavid tosses the phone in frustration as the line goes dead. 19

INT. MARIA'S APARTMENT-- NIGHT Esther let's herself into Maria's apartment. Maria is wrestling the girls to bed, and without looking up gestures to a wrapped plate on the counter for Esther. Esther strides up and mutes the TV that the girls were watching, just as the waifish maiden, CariĂąa, from La Madre de Lo Peor is running through her house, searching for her missing man. ESTHER Don't give ya mummy no rough time now ALEJANDRA Yes Auntie Esther It's clear that the pair respect her more, and the pair shuttle off to the bathroom without any further comment, Alejandra dragging her sister after her. Esther sits at the counter and tucks into the food that Maria left her, while Maria starts to pick up after the girls before giving up and flopping onto the couch. ESTHER (Over her shoulder, in between bites) So, saw David up in the hills tonight. MARIA He said he was working late.

(CONTINUED)

CONTINUED:

ESTHER Maybe he's workin on one of dem lonely housewives MARIA Nah, David hates rich gringos even more than you. If he gonna cheat, its with a nice girl from the hood Maria's actions betray her, and she gets up to nervously pace, unconsciously gliding toward the door. ESTHER Like Stephanie? MARIA Alejandra's mom's too busy with that straw up her nose to stop and torture me. ESTHER Ok girlie, whatever you say A beat, while Maria picks up after the girls. MARIA I, I did find something in his drawer. ESTHER Oh? MARIA These, like, little bee earrings Maria reveals two bee earrings from her pocket. MARIA I thought he was gonna give them to me as a gift so I didn't say nothin but then my birthday passed and our anniversary passed. Esther shrugs, and gathers up her plate to leave.

(CONTINUED)

CONTINUED:

ESTHER Ya not married. He's probably cheating on you. 20

EXT. PARK -- NIGHT Stephanie walks up, wearing an all-white track suit, and meets a shifty-looking guy in his 30s waiting on the swings. GUY La Mariposa? Stephanie nods, and each take out envelopes, and swap them. We see the man walk away, and in his envelope, a couple grams of coke. Stephanie fans through money as she slips back into her car.

INT. MARIA'S APARTMENT --LATER THAT NIGHT David comes home, attempting to enter quietly. He smiles at Maria warmly, but is taken aback by her glare. MARIA Esther saw youDavid sighs, as if Maria is a child that needs placating. DAVID Sorry baby, I forgot something at one of my houses today MARIA And it couldn't have waited until tomorrow? ALEJANDRA (O.S.) Were you with Mom? Shot pans to Alejandra who snuck out of bed at the sound of the door. DAVID Ale, don't be silly. ALEJANDRA Where were you Daddy?

(CONTINUED)

CONTINUED:

DAVID You know your Daddy's a superhero, right? Alejandra nods uneasily. She's a little too old for this line, but she's sleepy and likes the attention. Maria crosses her arms in the background DAVID Well Daddy had to go get some bad guys, and bad guys are not very punctual about when they commit crimes, and so they kept me out lateMaria crosses her arms- she's unamused. She tries to interject, but her Spanish is not great, and she's forced to switch back and forth. MARIA Did those bad guys uh tell you how how hard it was to put Ale to bed? DAVID -And when I was bringing them to jail, they said, I hope your girlfriend is the forgiving type, and I said that's really considerate of you, she is, and she's really pretty tooDavid duck walks Alejandra back into the room she shares with her sister. He closes the door, before turning around to face Maria. DAVID (CONT.) -And they said, you better treat that pretty lady you got at home rightMARIA The pretty lady who these don't belong to? As she gestures with the earrings, David keeps cool.

(CONTINUED)

CONTINUED:

DAVID Oh these? Cufflinks, a gift from Juan, he likes that tacky shit. MARIA You don't own a suit. DAVID They're aspirational. Placated, and feeling slightly foolish, Maria hands the cufflinks over to David's waiting palm. He slips them in his pocket, and wraps his arms around a willing Maria, and he backs her up against the door. Over her shoulder he triple checks the lock on the door, before guiding Maria back to their bedroom. 22

INT. DAVID'S APARTMENT, DAY Maria is very pregnant, watching a telenovela on TV. She balances a bowl of cornflakes on her belly. Legend: 8 Years Ago, California Alejandra, two, is napping on the couch beside her, thumb in mouth. Behind the couch, David is pacing, while Stephanie stands stock still, arms folded. DAVID You said you would do weekends, you're three hours late STEPHANIE I don't get why you even need me here, your new child bride can watch Ale. Maria ignores them, in favor of staring at the Mexican standoff on TV. Two of the men cross the third, and gun him down. DAVID You shouldn't be watching that around the kids, shut it off

(CONTINUED)

CONTINUED:

STEPHANIE See? That's the possessive crap I'm talking aboutDAVID It's possessive to protect our daughter? STEPHANIE You're suffocating. Stephanie exits, and all the steam leaves David. He collapses on the couch, and Maria smoothly moves the cereal from her belly to the floor, cradling David's head. He kisses her stomach, and strokes Alejandra's hair. 23

INT. MARIA AND DAVID'S BEDROOM --PRESENT, NIGHT Post-sex, now it's Maria staring up at the ceiling, but she grins big at David when he grabs her to spoon.

INT. RITZ CARLTON- DAY Maria goes about her work. The guests don't look at her, even when she smiles first. No one pays her mind except for Dylan. His attention is even worse than being ignored, though the audience can't hear him as "Broke" by Modest Mouse is plays over the sequence. Montage- Maria's hard at work: -Sweeping the lobby -Vacuuming the executive offices -Hiding from Dylan in the women's room, on her phone. -Going room to room, shaking out sheets -Down to the laundry room -Hiding from Dylan among the sheets

INT. MARIA'S APARTMENT --DAY David goes into his sock drawer and pulls the bee "cufflinks" out from his drawer. He fiddles them for a beat,

(CONTINUED)

CONTINUED:

and, aha, they're USB ports. He plugs them in at the exact time into an ancient computer. The computer screen goes black, and then two addresses flash across the screen. PICK UP 800 Post Road, DROP OFF: 789 Mockingway. 26

EXT RITZ CARLTON DAY Maria leaves for lunch, still in uniform.

INT. MCDONALDS DAY Maria is biting into a Big Mac, when she sees Bart Allen walk in. Maria furrows her brow, and sticks her leg trip him. He falls hard to the floor, landing on his wrist. BART MARIA You little bi- I am so sorrJUST THEN: Three masked men burst into the restaurant. Two are toting shotguns, the third that's leading the charge, is unarmed. Maria hits the floor, instincts taking over, and she pulls Bart down with her, and he lands on his wrist again. The two gunmen circle through the restaurant, occasionally thrusting the barrels toward anyone looking directly at them. The leader strolls up to the counter, where a scared old woman waits behind the counter. LEADER If you would, I'd like to get back there now. The old woman lets the leader behind the door, followed by the shorter of the gunmen. He trains his gun on the old woman who, crying profusely, puts her hands on top of her head. CUT TO: the leader is finishing to pile the unsorted cash into his duffle, before getting a crack at the larger safe, the taller gunman, calls out. He's standing above Maria's prone form. (CONTINUED)

CONTINUED:

TALL GUNMAN Yo, is this not MSHORT GUNMAN Shut up The short gunman's lapse in concentration is quick, but long enough for the old woman behind the counter to reach down and press the panic button that's lodged underneath the counter. Strobing lights and sirens begin to play in the lobby. TALL GUNMAN I didn't know these joints had this shit. As their leader tears out of the customers lying on their the butt of his gun to knock taller gunman fall into step

the restaurant, hopping over bellies, the short gunman uses out the old woman. He and the as they escape the branch.

JUMP TO: 28

EXT. SUBURBAN STREETS --DAY The shorter gunman is struggling to keep pace with the languid movements of the taller one. By now, we can tell that these two are none other than JULIO and JUAN, and with our expert powers of deduction, we can surmise that their leader is DAVID. (To Julio) JUAN Man? Shit's not like in the moviesJULIO Shut up The two pile into the back of a landscaping truck, as David starts the engine. They quickly transfer the cash that David stole from duffel bags to leaf bags, before tossing the duffel into the front.

EXT. FLATBED OF LANDSCAPING TRUCK-- DAY JUAN (CONTINUED)

CONTINUED:

(While stuffing) You can't just hit someone in the head, 'specially old ladies. They're frail as shitJULIO Shut up The three rip their masks off as they turn the corner, so as to not arouse suspicion. JUAN I'm just saying, who knows what kinda mental damage you've dealt on that woman's sunset years. 30

EXT. SUBURBS --DAY Sweeping shot of the same idyllic lawns we saw earlier. All is quiet, until the offscreen sounds of exhaust and burning rubber penetrate the heavy silence. Their truck, emblazoned J&J Landscaping, tears through the scene, flashing precariously around the corner. They nearly swipe a kid on the sidewalk, but they miss him by a hair. Juan waves to him from the back of the truck, and the hand he uses is no longer securing one of the leaf bags. Cut off of the child's bewildered face, as bills of various denominations fly in the air, though the truck is long gone.

INT. LANDSCAPING TRUCK -- DAY David is hunched over the wheel in concentration. He looks in the rearview, and, seeing the utter absence of police, of anybody, he starts to relax. His mask is up so he can see where he's driving. His phone starts to ring, face up so we can see that Maria is calling him. Call it a moment of weakness, guilt, arrogance, or idiocy, David looks down and reaches for the phone. Before he can answer, he runs into a pothole. Two distinct cries let us know that Julio and Juan have fallen off the truck.

EXT. SUBURBS --DAY J&J are sprawled on the concrete, largely unhurt.

(CONTINUED)

CONTINUED:

JULIO Son of a bitch! 33

INT. LANDSCAPING TRUCK -- DAY No use stopping now- David keeps forward, that is, until a police van swerves in front of their truck. Two other cars suddenly appear, flanking the sides, before another heads up the back. They surround him. David doesn't waste time hopping out of the car and tearing off in one direction, but soon the lead cop shoves a gun in his face, he pees his pants. DAVID Fuck. END OF ACT I ACT II

INT. ALLEN HOME-- DAY Close cut on Daniel's wet pants. ESTHER (Under her breath) Fuck. (Full volume) Child, you hav to tell me when it's time, hear? Daniel begins to cry, and roused by the sound, Elizabeth slinks into the kitchen. She doesn't look good, as she's usually not this drunk until at least after three. Esther can see it immediately. ELIZABETH Esther, Dear, is everything alright? ESTHER The boy forgets his potty training. You need to keep it up when me not here.

(CONTINUED)

CONTINUED:

ELIZABETH Well I guess our little buddy just isn't readyDANIEL I- i'm sorry mommy ESTHER I'm not cleaning up any more diapers. The boy started to learn alreadyELIZABETH Well, um, I think little Danny would be more comfortableESTHER You're going to stunt his growthDANIEL I hate potty Est don't make me. ELIZABETH Lets not push him too farESTHER Oh, pushed too far? You think it's too far? ELIZABETH Don't youESTHER -Too far isn't not getting groped by your sick husband? ELIZABETH (Slurred speech) S-shut up. ESTHER (To Daniel) Do you think ya Daddy's constituents want to know how he act at home?

(CONTINUED)

CONTINUED:

ELIZABETH You can't. ESTHER (To Daniel) How much do you think mommy should pay Esther for her trouble? DANIEL A lot? ESTHER That sounds right. A whole lot. Cut off of Elizabeth's impossibly white face. 35

INT. MARIA'S APARTMENT --DAY Maria bursts through the door. She isn't crying, but looks like she's about to. She paces up and down, easily crossing the length of their small home in seconds. She settles onto the couch, and flicks on the TV. As she channel surfs, in a mindless mania, scrolling past the same telenovela we saw last night, she tries calling David again. On screen, the same swashbuckling hero is chained to a post in a dungeon. He cries out and Maria switches channels. She lands on a news report. MALE ANCHOR And our lead local story, the community is reeling after a robbery at the local McDonalds this morning. DYLAN (ON TV) Yeah, I saw the whole thing from across the street- everyone here is pretty rattled, especially the women. I'm just glad I was here to make everyone feel safeFEMALE ANCHOR This just in, it seems as if police have caught and identified one of the alleged burglars from this morning. 35 year old David Soto-

(CONTINUED)

CONTINUED:

David's mugshot flashes across the screen. Cut to Maria's shocked face. She drops her phone, and it shatters on the ground. The camera stays on Maria's face as shock and fear play on her face. The but and The

FEMALE ANCHOR (O.S.) criminals attempted to escape, the police were able to pursue capture their apparent leader. hunt is on for his accomplices.

Maria shakes herself out of her stupor, and tears out of the apartment, leaving the TV blaring in the background. MALE ANCHOR (O.S.) More on the chase, after the weather with Chase. Let's throw it over to you over on our Duo-Doppler map36

EXT. MARIA'S APARTMENT-- DAY Maria runs and bangs on Esther's door, but of course she isn't home. She collapses against the door, when she sees her elderly neighbor SYLVIA, pulling into a parking space in their apartment complex. Jump to:

EXT. SUBURBS-- DAY Julio and Juan tear around a corner on foot, deftly hopping through the lawns they're so familiar with. They've been running for a long time, by the looks of the sweat soaking through their shirts. A plucky combination of strategy and dumb luck has helped them evade the cops. Julio gets a cramp in his leg, forcing the two to stop. JULIO Fuck, stop stop JUAN Man, what the fuck are we gonna do? This block's too hot, we're in the hole for the cash, no David-

(CONTINUED)

CONTINUED:

JULIO We don't need David man, we just need to get his Hive accessJulio clams up, when he sees the same kid that they almost ran over staring at them. Juan waves, but Julio slaps his hand away, and he starts to limp off. Jump to: 38

INT. PARKING GARAGE-- DAY Elizabeth meets a tall man who we'll later surmise is her private investigator. PI You were right to call about her. He hands Elizabeth an envelope, and she fingers it hesitantly, fearing what she's going to set in motion.

EXT. ESTHER'S HOME JAMAICA-- NIGHT It's a quiet night in one of Jamaica's richest neighborhoods, the breeze drifting gently through dark palm trees, until the camera creeps up and we see a gorgeous white home engulfed in flames. Legend: Six Months Earlier, Red Hills, Jamaica. Cut to Esther, who is crouched in the bushes, watching the house burn. A car speeds past her. Devon jumps out and stares at the flames, before falling to his knees. Esther doesn't give him a chance to discover her. As soon as he exits his car, Esther quickly hustles down her hill, hoodie up. Her escape is lit by the light of the flames. She's surefooted as dodges roots and trees. At the base of one of the many hills, she slips into a car, and is driven away by a man who we later learn is her brother, JOHN. JOHN Where to? ESTHER New York. Â

24 40

INT. SYLVIA'S CAR-- DAY Maria is humming manically to herself, as she attempts to maneuver the car she clearly stole from her elderly neighbor. She's driving at a snails pace, despite her urgency, and frequently finds herself in the wrong lane. She never learned how to drive. She pulls sloppily into a space at the local police station.

INT. POLICE STATION-- DAY Maria runs inside. She is suddenly cowed when she sees all the police officers milling about the front room-- everyone is still buzzing about the two fugitives. Cops have never given Maria and folks like her anything but trouble, but Maria thrusts her chin up in an effort to simulate courage, and strides up to the desk, where THEO SULLIVAN, 54, Black, the on duty lieutenant, sits. Maria smooths over the front of her uniform-she hasn't had a chance to change since the robbery. MARIA I need to see David. THEO Who? MARIA David Soto? You guys took him this afternoon. I don't know what you guys, uh Mr. Officer, think you saw or whatever but David is a good man and, uh, he's innocent, and uh, we plead the fifthTHEO Ma'am, please refrain from loitering in the lobby. You may direct your complaint to our online comment card. MARIA Wait waitTheo grabs a few arbitrary files from his post and heads to the back office of the station, cutting Maria off.

(CONTINUED)

CONTINUED:

Maria tries to catch the attention of varying police officers, but most give her a wide berth. She's on the verge of tears, when she notices a secretary, a Black woman in her 70s, staring at her. Maria rushes her. MARIA Please, please, do you know how I can see David? The secretary motions for Maria to lean in. She doesn't bother checking the surroundings, she speaks looking downward, as if she's not talking to Maria. SECRETARY I heard they got your man on armed robbery, air tight. I also heard they're tryna connect him to a whole slew of crimes up and down the eastern seaboard. (Off Maria's shocked expression) I ain't saying he did it, I'm just sayin what they say he was up to. You better ditch this one girl, he ain't even that cute. The secretary looks up for a moment, and sees hot tears falling down Maria's face. MARIA I-I need him. SECRETARY (With a monumental sigh) The good news is, he's up on bail. The bad news, is it's set at 50 thousand, and I think the boys upstairs are fixin' to have him moved to federal any minute now. Cut off Maria's face, stunned. 42

INT. ALLEN HOME --DAY Esther is carrying Daniel on her hip into the front door,

(CONTINUED)

CONTINUED:

and he holds her carefully by the waste, completely trusting her. Elizabeth is stalking back and forth her living room, barefoot. When she sees Esther, she whirls on her, wide eyed. ELIZABETH Put him down. ESTHER (To Daniel) You go play now. What's this then miss? ELIZABETH (Gesturing with the envelope) You, you lied to me. How could you? Esther reels, but tries to save face- it's useless, they both know she's caught ESTHER Now, missELIZABETH I, I don't want to hurt anybody, but I can't be caught harboring an illegal alien, imagine what the club would do to me? ESTHER MissELIZABETH And of course I have to let the police know. The lies stop today.

(CONTINUED)

CONTINUED:

Esther turns and flees the house, as if ICE were already hot on her trail. 43

INT. SOME LOCAL PRISON, UPSTATE NEW YORK -- DAY Montage of David being processed in prison. We see the mugshot from television being taken, before he's quickly fingerprinted, and marched off to a cell. His face is mean for the camera, but we can see that facade quickly fade as soon as he is handcuffed again. He speaks in careful English to the white guard leading him. The guard towers over him. Â DAVID Any way I can get a can get a clean pair of pants? GUARD You'll have a nice orange pair soon enough. The guard shoves David into his cell. He looks at the only other inhabitant, one old drunk vagrant. David's imagination begins to run, and the audience can see David rapidly age before their eyes. He blinks and he's back to normal. He wheels around to face the bars.

INT. MARIA'S APARTMENT --DAY Maria is back home, tearing through David's belongings. The camera pans around to show their entire bedroom is ransacked. She empties every bag, she even bangs on the floorboards. She's looking for a hint of his past, a wad of cash, anything. She finds one ski mask, but tosses it aside instantly, angry at what it represents. She's so frenzied she doesn't notice Esther walk in- she forgot to lock the door again. ESTHER MariaMaria can't even hear her, she's so busy digging through the debris she created. Esther has to physically grab her to get her to stop moving.

(CONTINUED)

CONTINUED:

ESTHER What's happening. MARIA You were right, you were right David's a liar and a burglar and he got arrested andESTHER He what? MARIA -and they want fifty thousand dollars and have you ever even seen fifty thousand anything and you're here which means I forgot to lock the door and the girl, the girls are gonna be back from school and what am I gonna tell them. After Maria has exhausted her lung capacity, she practically falls into Esther, who reluctantly takes her weight. Maria fingers the bumble bee "cufflinks" with tears in her eyes. MARIA I don't even know who he is anymore. ESTHER Don't you go a cry. MARIA Shouldn't you be at work? ESTHER That drunk white bitch fired me. Esther drags Maria over to the couch. ESTHER We have follow ya thief man's lead. MARIA What?

(CONTINUED)

CONTINUED:

ESTHER Let's rob the Allens. MARIA No, no no wayESTHER Them assholes leave so much cash lying around, jus help me get my last paycheck. MARIA No. Maria is still playing with the bee cufflinks. She accidentally slides them open, and discovers that they're USBs. ESTHER What the fuck? 45

INT. SOME LOCAL PRISON, UPSTATE NEW YORK -- DAY David lies prone on his cot.

INT. MARIA'S APARTMENT --DAY Maria is cooking at the stove, and the girls are coloring on the floor. Suddenly, masked men burst in through the front door, grabbing Maria and the girls as they scream. The coloration of the scene shifts, and suddenly Maria is pregnant, and Alejandra is just a toddler.

INT. SOME LOCAL PRISON, UPSTATE NEW YORK -- DAY David jerks up, when a guard wakes him for lunch. He meanders down the hall, until he makes eye contact with ERNEST. David panics, and turns around. DAVID GUARD! The guard had walked maybe 25 feet away since he shoved him in.

(CONTINUED)

CONTINUED:

30 GUARD

What? DAVID Uh, phone call? The guard rolls his eyes, but marches him out of the cell. Cut to the phone bank. David starts to dial one number, and then changes his mind, hanging up. He dials another. DAVID Stephanie? It's me48

EXT. ISLAND -- DAY The waifish maiden glides upon the beach, resplendent in a white linen dress. We're inside an episode of La Madre de Lo Peor. CariĂąa finds a letter in a bottle from our trapped, swashbuckling hero. NARRATOR My love, my treasure is buriedA phone rings-

INT. MARIA'S APARTMENT --DAY Cut to Maria staring at the computer, after putting the cufflinks into it. The TV blares in the background when her attention is diverted to her ringing phone. She picks up-

INT. STEPHANIE'S CAR-- DAY Stephanie cradles the phone between her ear and shoulder, balancing it with the wheel, and a green smoothie. STEPHANIE David's in deep shit INTERCUT MARIA Yeah, jail-

(CONTINUED)

CONTINUED:

STEPHANIE Worse, Ernest is in there with him. MARIA Ernest? She mouths to Esther, "Ernest?" STEPHANIE He's bad fuckin news for our boy. MARIA But whatSTEPHANIE Work on getting him out. I'll get the girls. Stephanie hangs up. 51

INT. MARIA'S APARTMENT --DAY ESTHER The fuck kinda gang name is Ernest? MARIA What am I gonna do, I gotta get him out Esther Esther hauls Maria to her feet ESTHER It's time to take down the Allens Maria nods dumbly ESTHER (CONT.) These rich assholes get rich and stay rich by stepping on you, on me, on David, and in ten years, stepping on Ale and Luisa. MARIA We can't-

(CONTINUED)

CONTINUED:

ESTHER We can. Shit stops today. Maria sighs MARIA Shit stops today. Let's drain those devils. END OF ACT II ACT III

INT. LANDSCAPING GARAGE J&J tear through the garage, looking for any Hive gear that David could have left behind. JUAN The cat's too clean, we ain't gonna find any Hive shit here, he knows we would find it JULIO Neurotic asshole. JUAN He's gotta have a stash somewhere. I got a far out idea.

INT. MARIA'S APARTMENT --DAY Maria is bouncing on her heels, hyping herself up for the heist. MARIA What kind of disguises are we going to wear? In La Madre de Lo Peor, when CariÃ±a needs to track down the general's long lost step sister, she dressed like a peasantESTHER I-

(CONTINUED)

CONTINUED:

MARIA And should we do accents? I can do valley girl pretty good, but I need some practice. I could also do Mexican, pero like then I think they would be able to tell it was me, but also gringos can't tell any of us apart anywayESTHER MariaMARIA Should we get weapons? I never held a gun before, but maybe we could get like sticks, and CariĂąa carries a ruby dagger, she just like, hides it in her garterESTHER I still have the keys. 54

EXT. BRONXVILLE ELEMENTARY -- DAY We see Stephanie, pulls up to the school in a ratty old car, cutting off some minivan in the school's traffic circle. She's high as fuck, jittery from the bump of coke she took to prep for seeing her kids. She parks in the fire lane, and her long legs spill gracefully from the driver's side door. She could be on the cover of any fashion mag, if she were 10 years younger. She flips her long hair over her shoulder as she peers into the crowd of school children, who rapidly spill out into the playground and sidewalk in front of the school. The disgust is visible on her face, but her eyes light up when she spies Alejandra, trailed dutifully by Luisa, exiting the school. STEPHANIE Girls! Ale! Over here! Ale turns her head at the sound of her name, but quickly turns away when she sees who the voice belongs to. Stephanie abandons her car and starts power walking toward the girls. Without looking back, Ale drags Luisa over to the police officer stationed at the school. She tugs on his sleeve, before sidling up to him.

(CONTINUED)

CONTINUED:

ALEJANDRA Hey mister? That lady over there is following us and my Mommy said that whenever a stranger makes us uncomfy we should tell a occifer. SCHOOL GUARD Don't you worry, let's get you on the bus and I'll take care of the stranger. The officer motions for a crossing guard to lead the girls to the bus, before he wheels on Stephanie, who has just caught up onto the scene. STEPHANIE Ale! You come back here riSCHOOL GUARD That's enough ma'am. STEPHANIE That's my daughter! Stephanie watches as Alejandra and Luisa board the bus and the guard walks on. STEPHANIE You have to stop the bus! SCHOOL GUARD Sure we do. First, let's go have a chat with the principal. Cut off Alejandra, making eye contact with Stephanie as the bus starts to pull off, middle finger up. 55

EXT. ALLEN HOME-- DAY Esther and Maria pull up to the front of the Allen's home. MARIA Wait wait, shouldn't we go like, a block further in case they got fancy scanners or something?

(CONTINUED)

CONTINUED:

ESTHER This ain't the Pentagon. Just act natural. As Esther walks up to the front door, Maria surreptitiously pulls on the ski mask she found in David's things, and pulls it on. She looks back and forth to see if anyone saw her do that- the block is deserted. She ducks out of the car, playing spy. We can hear her humming the Mission Impossible theme to herself, covering up real fear. CUT TO: 56

INT. ALLEN LIVING ROOM-- DAY Esther let's herself into the front door, startling Elizabeth, who we see was at her usual favorite activity, day drinking and staring disdainfully at her son. Daniel screams with delight when he sees Esther, and runs into her arms. DANIEL Mommy mommy you said Esty was gone but here she is! Here she is Mommy mommy look! Esther scoops Daniel up with ease, and guards him to her chest, using him more as a human shield. ESTHER Miss, I need my job back ELIZABETH Esther, honeyCUT TO:

EXT. ALLEN BACK YARD-- DAY Maria is fiddling with the spare keys Esther gave her, struggling to see through the mask. When she thinks she finds the right one, she drops the keys down the drain.

(CONTINUED)

CONTINUED:

36 MARIA

Oh boyCUT TO: 58

INT. ALLEN HOME-- DAY ESTHER The boy, Daniel, he love me miss. Ya can't just separate us like that Elizabeth opens her mouth to respond, but is cut off by a loud racket in the backyard. When she turns in response to the noise, Esther rushes forward, speaking louder and louder. ESTHER I don't have kids of me own, but I love the likkle one here LIKE A SON. CUT TO:

EXT. ALLEN BACK YARD -- DAY Maria is perched on a big plastic trashcan, which she stacked on top of a big grill they had in the background. Her fore arms, just about reach the second floor bedroom window, which she's managed to open, but she needs to jump a little to make it. She breathes in, and makes a leap. CUT TO:

INT. ALLEN LIVING ROOM DAY Elizabeth hears a giant crash in the back, and she makes toward the back of the house, her face whipping back and forth between Esther and the noise to figure out who's the bigger threat. ESTHER Those racoonsCUT TO:

37 61

INT. ALLEN BEDROOM -- DAY Maria squirms her way through the window, tumbling gracelessly to the floor. At the sound of approaching footsteps, Maria rolls under the bed. ESTHER (O.S.) Miss, I won't ever tell a soul 'bout Mr. Allen. Maria scoots, like a beached mermaid, to the safe nestled underneath the bed. ELIZABETH (O.S.) This isn't about my husband, this is a matter of the law, of right and wrong. You're an illegal alien, and as much as it hurts me, it's my duty as a citizen to put you away. Shock plays across Maria's face, and, quietly as possible, starts to work at the safe, peaking at her hand, which, sweaty, has a combination on it. The numbers are runny, and 2 out of the 10 digit combo are incomprehensible. Cut to above the bed, to where Elizabeth has her hands on her head. She puts down Daniel, who runs off into the other room, and drops to her knees. ESTHER Elizabeth. We both know that's bullshit- you'd have to report half the maids and gardeners on ya block. Elizabeth looks up at the sound of her name, her expression soft, and perhaps for the first time, genuine. ESTHER I won't say a thing about Mr. Allen- what will the next woman say? Elizabeth sits on the bed, head in hands. She looks up at Esther, tears in her eyes.

(CONTINUED)

CONTINUED:

ELIZABETH Did you sleep with him? ESTHER No, never. I don't wanna be with nobody else husband. Esther's revulsion at the thought flashes across her face, helping seal her case with Elizabeth. ELIZABETH I-I know Bart steps out on me. I'll take it, in- in exchange for all this. In the other room, we can hear the delighted screams of Daniel, and the yapping of a disturbed dog. Cut back to Maria under the bed, who's closing in on opening the safe, when a furry menace darts under the bed, excited by the new smell. Maria quietly tries to fight the dog off as it starts to chew on her hair. Cut above the bedElizabeth starts to look under the bed, but Esther grabs her shoulders, in what Elizabeth interprets as solidarity. Tears start to well up in her eyes. ELIZABETH Listen, Esther-- it hurts to look at you. ESTHER ElizELIZABETH Let me finish. I, I let Bart treat you like that, right here in my home. I don't want to be that person. Am I a bad person? Cut to: Maria finally opens the safe, despite canine interference, and finds a three cellphones, all emblazoned with honey bees, five passports, and

(CONTINUED)

CONTINUED:

ESTHER (O.S.) No, no you're a- an OK person. And you're just getting betterCut back to above the bed: ELIZABETH Don't lie to me- I'm, i'm rotten. ESTHER Don't beat ya self up. ELIZABETH If, if you want your job back, after all this. It's yours. 62

INT. SYLVIA'S CAR-- DAY Esther pulls them into a parking space in front of their apartment complex. ESTHER So this bee shit is the same thing on the cufflinks? MARIA I think so, so whatever David's into, Bart Allen's tied up in it-

EXT. MARIA'S APARTMENT-- DAY ESTHER So, whatcha wanna do, follow this shit? MARIA If we can pin Bart down, he can probably get David outta jail. And we'd have leverage that he'd have to leave you alone-

INT. MARIA'S APARTMENT --DAY JUAN (O.S.) Welcome home ladiesThe camera spins around, and we see Julio and Juan, sitting calmly at the table, but instead of cards, they each hold (CONTINUED)

CONTINUED:

pistols. They aren't aimed at anybody, yet. JULIO Where's David hiding out? MARIA What are you talking about? JUAN Did our man skiddadle with the cash? ESTHER David's in jail, eediat. Julio and Juan exchange looks of shock. The two turn to each Â other, and start to whisper. JUAN What the fuck, fuck, David's up the hill? JULIO What do we do about the girls? They know too muchMARIA Hey, uh, we already know everything JULIO Bullshit ESTHER English, English pleaseMARIA We're gonna help you pull off the next heist. JUAN No offense little lady, but what do you bring to this soiree? Maria pulls out one of the bee-emblazoned phones. The two exchange looks again, while Esther is staring daggers at Maria. She forges ahead:

(CONTINUED)

CONTINUED:

JUAN You're in the Hive? Now it's Maria and Esther's turn to share looks MARIA Yeah, of course we're in, uh, the Hive. JULIO David never mentionedMARIA Need to know basisJUAN But what have you been doing? MARIA I'm uh, undercover. Deep undercover. JULIO Why? ESTHER Yeah, why Maria? MARIA Because, uh, we're hitting the hotel.

ESTHER

JULIO

JUAN

What?

Of course!

Cool.

INT. JAIL -- DAY David eyes Ernest in the yard. He walks up casually, after making sure the man was alone on the basketball court. DAVID So, what you in for? Ernest looks him up and down.

(CONTINUED)

CONTINUED:

ERNEST Keeping an eye out. 66

INT. CORNER OFFICE, MANHATTAN -DAY Bart is seated at a large desk, overlooking the city streets. He hops up, full of energy. He all but bounces through his office, large posters with Re-Elect Allen 2018 scattered throughout. He all but high fives his young, mostly male, all white campaign staff as he walks through the room. Folks beam up on him, he's in his element.

INT. MARIA'S APARTMENT --DAY Esther pulls Maria aside as J&J start planning the logistics of the gig. ESTHER I didn't ask for all thisMARIA - Whatever's going down with these Hive people, Bart's wrapped up in it. Just then, Alejandra and Luisa let themselves into the apartment. J&J quickly hide the guns behind their backs, and Juan lets out a lazy wave. Stephanie is hot on the girls heels, and bursts through the door. She pauses to pant, intermittently glaring at her daughter, who glares right back, and Maria, who just looks shocked at her appearance STEPHANIE What are you people doing? Just standing around while David rots in prison? LUISA Daddy's in jail? ALEJANDRA Why is Dad in jail- When is he coming homeStephanie tries to hold onto Alejandra as she starts to (CONTINUED)

CONTINUED:

hyperventilate but she smacks her arms away, tears in her eyes. STEPHANIE Have you just been sitting on your ass this whole time? MARIA (Scarily calm) Stephanie, you're watching the girls tonight. STEPHANIE ALEJANDRA Now wait- The fuck? Maria points to Julio and Juan, who've been watching the scene rapt. MARIA You two, are coming with me. Maria starts to stride toward the door, and J&J scurry and follow her. Esther follows her out, a perturbed look on her face. There's a click, Maria's locked the door. END ACT III ACT IV 68

INT. BRONXVILLE PRISON -- NIGHT David is lounging on the obdurate bench, alone. The vagrant is gone, and David looks really small behind bars. He turns his head, and sees Maria waiting by the bars. He rushes up to the bars. DAVID Maria, baby, I fucked up, I'm so sorry. MARIA How could you do this to me? To our girls?

(CONTINUED)

CONTINUED:

DAVID I just- I wanted a better life for us. For you. It's not right, those gringos get to live like kings while you scrub shit all dayDavid pauses, because Maria's face has changed. Stephanie grins maniacally back at him, and reaches through the bars. She starts to choke him, and before he can stop her, the walls of the cell start to bend to box him in. He wakes with a start. He cries outVAGRANT Goddamned cry baby. 69

INT. BACK OFFICES AT RITZ CARLTON -- NIGHT Esther still looks uneasy, as she follows Maria into the back entrance of the building. She waves to the guard in the back. He waves back, and doesn't blink as Esther follows Maria through the back offices, heading toward the locked office where they keep the cameras. All's going smoothly until: DYLAN Maria! Putting in those late hours? Esther hangs back, as Maria is forced to turn and smile at Dylan. MARIA Oh, you know me, uh, a real good employee. Dylan closes in, using faux concern to touch her lower back, guiding her toward the lobby. DYLAN Is it hard to be home? I heard you were caught up in all the excitement this morning. I don't mind that you left your shift early, you can just make up the time on the night shift all next week.

(CONTINUED)

CONTINUED:

INT. RITZ CARLTON COMPUTER ROOM -- NIGHT Esther lets herself into the office using Maria's key ring. INTERCUT MARIA Oh, well, it's easy to come back here, knowing you're here. It's good to have a strong man around. Esther freezes, when she sees a guard sitting in the seat, watching the tapes. A few guests are milling about in the lobby- and there's one guard stationed near the doors. DYLAN What can I say, I'm a real brave guyHis hand dips lowerEsther wraps her arms around the guard in the chair. She chokes him as he flails, and passes out. She looks down at him, stone faced. All her hesitation has vanished. MARIA Um, yeah, real brave, and uh, sexy tooEsther stares at the camera bank for a moment, before cracking her knuckles. QUICK CUT of Esther working on codes on her laptop in Jamaica. Esther cracks her knuckles, and gets to work in the computer room.

INT. RITZ CARLTON BACK OFFICES --NIGHT Maria checks her wrist as if she's wearing a watch, she isn't.

(CONTINUED)

CONTINUED:

MARIA Oh, well, I think it's time I start working on those night shifts Maria slides her hand up and down Dylan, trying not to grimace, and then scuttles away before Dylan can comment. 72

INT. RITZ CARLTON ELEVATOR -- NIGHT Maria punches the top floor, home of the penthouse suites, and uses Dylan's key card that she snatched to reach the top floor. She starts to duck into every suite, ransacking the rooms for cash.

INT. RITZ CARLTON COMPUTER ROOM -- NIGHT Esther hacks into the computer and after some difficulty, finds the bank vault codes. She checks her watch. ESTHER Shit, almost outta time She stares at the bank of camera monitors, and in one stroke, rips all of the wires out of the wall. All the cameras go blank. She pulls out her phone-

INT. RITZ CARLTON LOBBY -- NIGHT Julio checks his phone. and he and Juan dressed of the hotel. They walk woman types away at the

He gets a thumbs up emoji from "E", in business casual, enter the front up to the front desk, where a young desk.

JUAN Excuse me, miss? The woman keeps typingJUAN We were just hoping The woman holds up one finger-

(CONTINUED)

CONTINUED:

47 JULIO

Hey ladyShe finally looks upCLERK How can I help you today? J&J are now in masks, and pull shotguns out of their hand luggage. JUAN It'd be just great if you could put your hands where I could see 'em. 75

INT. PENTHOUSE SUITES -- NIGHT Maria is making short work of the rooms, popping in and out, stuffing her laundry basket with all the stray cash and other valuables she can find. She walks in on one couple having sex, but quickly closes the door.

INT. LOBBY-- NIGHT Esther, now masked, runs through the lobby. She slides behind the desk, and unlocks the vault in the back. She starts stuffing cash into the bags. A young guard, emerging from the back, newly stationed, tries to starts to pull his gun. Julio takes aim at him, but before he can shoot, Juan hits the guard with the butt of his gun. JULIO What happened to Mr.Head Injury? JUAN It's better than shooting the cat, Jesus man. We gotta get you help.

INT. BACK OFFICES AT RITZ CARLTON -- NIGHT Maria takes the back elevator with the cash to the drop point. All's going well, until she watches the guard that Esther choked out get up, and start to wander toward the lobby. (CONTINUED)

CONTINUED:

Esther's still manically stuffing cash into duffels while Julio circle the few guests on floor of the lobby, and Juan has his gun trained on the teller- they've learned a lot from last time- but not enough. The guard that Esther choked wanders out of the back room in a daze. He quickly assesses the scene, and pulls out his gun. Maria's followed him out, and sees the gun. MARIA Watch out! Julio looks up, just in time to avoid a dead on shot, and instead is clipped in the shoulder. He clutches his shoulder, dropping his gun. Juan shoots the guard in the knees, causing him to collapse. Dylan, who was in the fetal position in the lobby, looks up at the sound of Maria's voice. Esther starts to book it for the back, carrying Julio to safety. She's only carrying one duffel, the Maria runs for the back to grab the rest. Dylan gets up and chases her back. DYLAN Why are you helping them? MARIA I-I DYLAN Do you know them? After a moment of hesitation, Maria turns around, and pulls her gun out, pointing it at Dylan. Juan pauses his escape, he doesn't know if she's about to waste this guy. MARIA Put his butt in the trunk! A beat. Maria waggles her gun. MARIA Please. Cut off Dylan's terrified face, as Juan drags him off.

(CONTINUED)

CONTINUED:

49 END OF ACT Â 4

(CONTINUED)

CONTINUED:

50 ACT V

INT. MARIA'S APARTMENT-- NIGHT Stephanie and Alejandra sit in stiff silence. A telenovela plays on TV- CariÃ±a, the waifish maiden is pointing a gun at the evil colonel. The colonel begins reveals that he is in fact her half brother's step fatherSTEPHANIE Aren't you guys too young for this? ALEJANDRA I'm old enough to watch Luisa myself. LUISA Aunt Stephanie? When are Mommy and Daddy coming home? STEPHANIE Is that what David allows? Kids watching kids? ALEJANDRA You'd know if you were ever around STEPHANIE AleLUISA Is Daddy gonna be home in time for story time? How long does jail last? Stephanie's fingers start to twitch. STEPHANIE You ask a lotta questions kid LUISA Is that where Mommy is? To get Daddy from jail? STEPHANIE Who knows if David's fucking ever coming back, you're whinier than your Mom. (CONTINUED)

CONTINUED:

Luisa begins to cry, and Alejandra wraps her arms around her sister protectively. ALEJANDRA Great job. Stephanie gets up from the couch, and hits the bathroom. She does a quick line off her nail. STEPHANIE How did I get stuck on babysitting duty. 79

INT. SYLVIA'S CAR-- NIGHT Esther's at the wheel, with Juan next to her, on the look out for cops. It's almost midnight in the 'burbs, and it's too quiet. In the backseat, Julio is clutching his bloody shoulder, dripping blood onto the seats. Maria is trying to tend to Julio's wound, but she's pretty useless at anything but applying extra pressure. The car hits a bump, and Dylan whimpers audibly. JULIO Son of a bitch mother fucker bitch fuck motherfucking bitch whore mother bitchJUAN Turn left, pull up, right here.

EXT. LANDSCAPING GARAGE The crew piles out of the car. Everyone, except for Maria, is wearing a mask. The sign out front says Alfred and SonsMARIA Your secret layer is at the landscaping company? JUAN They don't bother us, we don't bother them. They start to walk around the back, Dylan dragging his feet until Esther kicks him into gear.

(CONTINUED)

CONTINUED:

MARIA So, when did uh, David recruit you for the Hive? JUAN You don't know? 81

INT. LANDSCAPING GARAGE Juan gestures with his gun for Dylan to go sit in the corner, which he's more than happy to do, if only to distance himself from the guns. MARIA We uh, usually work separately. JULIO Spread the cash on the table. Esther complies, and Maria's eyes go wide when she sees the haul. Cut to: The cash is being divided up into neat piles. Maria and Juan both count, opposite each other, while Esther wraps up Julio's arm. MARIA -So, your cell of, the Hive. JUAN Cell J47. Yours? MARIA (Too quickly) B52- just me and Esther. So for you, David isJUAN A lieutenant. And we his humble footmen. Maria finishes her pile of the four way split-all the bills are in neat stacks.

(CONTINUED)

CONTINUED:

ESTHER And, and so you guys just sit and wait for orders? MARIA She's newJUAN David waits for orders, and we wait for his. It's a big web and we're just blind flies all up in it. Maria grabs her stack looks at her stack. MARIA This is only 15K. JULIO And? MARIA And- and, I need 50K. Juan fingers his gun pointedly. JUAN Oh, is that so? Maria looks to Esther for help, but Esther's face is fixated on the gun. Angrily, Maria pulls out her bee phone, and pretends answer a call. MARIA Yeah, hey, it's me, these, uh, bozos, are trying to short us. Oh, you have backup? JUAN Now now, cool your jets, no need for all thatMARIA What's that? You wanna speak to him? Juan starts shaking his head no-

(CONTINUED)

CONTINUED:

MARIA Oh, I guess he's not here. I'll pass along the message. She hangs up the phone. MARIA Alright, so you give Esther and I all the cash. Once we get David out, the Hive will give you your cut. Juan and Julio nod vigorously, though Julio is probably more affected more by the bloodloss than idiocy. Esther gestures to Dylan. ESTHER Whatcha gon do with this one? DYLAN Please, please let me go Maria pulls out the gun again, and waggles it for effect. MARIA You won't say anything to the cops? DYLAN No, no never, I'll be a saint, mums the word. MARIA Let him go boys. ESTHER Ya, I think he'd be too annoying of a hostage. The women exit. JULIO He saw her faceJUAN And what do you suggest we do?

(CONTINUED)

CONTINUED: JULIO Cut out his tongue? JUAN We can't cut out his tongue! Dylan doesn't speak Spanish, but when he hears that he starts shaking his head rapidly. JULIO We can always just kill him JUAN But what would we do with the body? Have you ever done this before man? DYLAN I- I'm useful! Please don't kill me, I would bleed everywhere, and, ad I'll do whatever you guys need, and I'll never talk to the cops, and I can do anything. JULIO I've always wanted a servant. DYLAN Is that a deal? Juan's gun goes off, and Dylan stares at the hole he blew right by his head. JUAN That's a temporary deal. 82

INT. SYLVIA'S CAR-- NIGHT Esther is driving the two of them back, Maria has the cash in her lap with a dull expression. She doesn't even bother looking for cops. The two pile out of the car.

56 83

EXT. APARTMENT COMPLEX -- NIGHT ESTHER You gotta do somethin bout this blood before the ol' lady finds it MARIA Uh huh ESTHER Ya gon get your man back. And I'm skipping town soon as sunrise. Maria lunges forward, and clutches Esther. Esther, slowly, hugs bak. The cash is still gripped in their hands. The two women, hesitantly, separate. There are no goodbyes.

INT. ESTHERS APARTMENT -- NIGHT She doesn't have furniture, so the postcard on the table stands out. She warily approaches it, and sees a golden bee is embossed on the card. She flips it over, and her eyes go wide at the two sentences printed. They read: THE HIVE HAS NOTICED YOU. STAND BY.

INT. MARIA'S APARTMENT -- NIGHT Stephanie is sat on the couch, her eyes red, staring ahead at nothing. Maria enters quietly, and just plunks the cash on the table. She stares Stephanie down, making her an accomplice. STEPHANIE I don't wanna fucking know what you didMARIA I did what I had to-

(CONTINUED)

CONTINUED:

STEPHANIE You did what you wanted to. You should have been here, with the girlsMARIA Oh like you're the perfect mother STEPHANIE I'm not! I'm a fuck up! I'm not built right. Â MARIA And I am? STEPHANIE I need you- the girls need you. To be here and not in jail like their shitbag Dad and because I can't take care of Ale, I can't, I'm not the right type. You are. Stephanie gets up to leave. STEPHANIE Make sure you don't try to pay his bail with that cash. You gotta launder it first, idiot. She exits. Maria stares at her absence, before Luisa and Ale run out of their room. LUISA Where's Daddy? ALEJANDRA I told you she's a liar, she doesn't have him. Maria grabs both of them, and draws them into a forceful hug. MARIA Daddy will be home soon. I promise. I've got you. Luisa nuzzles in.

(CONTINUED)

CONTINUED:

Cut off Ale, eyeing the blood on Maria's clothes. 86

INT. BART ALLEN'S HOME OFFICE -- NIGHT Bart Allen reclines in his chair, reviewing secondary footage from the robbery. His left arm is in a cast. He pulls out a bee flip phoneBART David's crew is out of line. A beat BART I want that motherfucker dead by morning. ROLL CREDITS