"MYM"

LT-13097
The Set Up
The muffled ambience of what most of us regard to as a good time.
The club music pumps on as a man strolls on the sidewalk smoking.
The street is empty save for a PASSING CAR and a WATCHMAN sleeping
on the job. A girl, Michelle, bursts out of a hallway some
distance away, phone in hand loudly ringing a girly favorite. She
picks the call as she hurriedly walks up the street. The mans
pace p icks up. S hes y ammer ing o n the phone whil e fis hing
something out of her bag and this stranger is obviously following
her. A CAR ALARM a few steps ahead beeps twice accompanied by
flashing lights. Two more men appear from who knows where and
before Michelle can even grasp the situa tion, her phone is
snatched, mouth covered -A man, Mali, hangs up after a few seconds and hangs his head.
Seated, he impatiently fiddles with his KABAMBE in the empty
waiting room. His phone beeps. Relief sweeps over Mali. He makes a
call, sincerely appreciating whomever is on the other side. A
young woman holding a child who can not be older than two walks
out of one of the doors prompting Mali to hang up and stand up.
She hands him a prescription WRITTEN IN DOCTORS HANDWRITING which
he pushes into his jacket pocket. He points her to the door and
they exit. The CLOCK on the wall reads almost 10PM
Its almost 10PM from the DIGITAL DISPLAY on the dashboard. The
same girly ring tone we heard before starts again. The stranger in
the drivers seat shuts the phone down and throws it on the empty
passenger seat. The other two, sandwiching Michelle in the back,
rummage through her belongings. Anything of value is tossed onto
the front passenger seat, the most significant being a LAPTOP and
a TABLET. Overpowered by the faceless goons, she helplessly SOBS.
One of the two now has her clutch purse. He tears through it
hastily pocketing any legal tender and finally comes across her
identity card. MICHELLE MUKHOBERO BARAZA he reads out. What
kind of name is MICHELLE? the driver asks.
Its night but there is still some activity in the slum. Mali and
the young woman with the baby hastily make their way home. In his
one room MABATI roofed house, the young woman puts down the
sleeping child as Mali plugs his phone into a charger. He will be
fine for the night. she tells him. I have been sent some money,
I will buy the medicine tomorrow. he retorts.
Loo ki ng i nt o th e re ar v ie w mir ro r, t he d ri ve r vo ic es a n
observation. He thinks the car behind is tailing them, its
catching up to them. It gets serious and silent. Short CAR CHASE.
With every sharp turn the driver makes, Michelle screams. The
gangsters are in a panic and absolutely sure they are being
followed. And they certainly are, in the other car, shadow men

2.

with assault rifles. Back in Michelles ride the decision is to

escape on foot once the driver stops. They actually run with that
plan and leave everything behind. Michelle, alone, curled into a
ball shuts her eyes tightly as booms and flashes of a shoot out
and yelled commands momentarily take over.
The gunshots echo loudly in the pub as Mali waters down half a
spirit hes just ordered. Standing at the counter, he guzzles the
clear drink, waits a bit for his balance from the bar tender whom
he seems to be on a friendly basis with and exits. As Mali walks
in the narrow pathways, three gents run past. One of them however
returns and violently grabs him. Mali notices the gun he is
wielding so he only inquires on why he is being nabbed -- because
these guys are obviously cops. I am just getting supper! Mali
implores only to be bombarded by insults and violent shoving. The
disappearance of <Insert First Name> Mali.
Michelle is in a comfy hospital bed in a private room with a
private bodyguard. Its a bit overkill for the events that have
just transpired. Why is she hooked up to the beeping machine? A
stout man bursts into the room, hurrying for the bed. They hug
each other tightly. The man, Mr. Baraza, Michelles father, is
glad that she is safe and at the end of the hug throws in an Itold-you-so throwing Michelle off. Two of the three gangsters
have been killed. She doesnt want to hear this right now. He
gets his smart phone from his coat pocket and after fingering the
screen for a second or two he shows her pictures of men sent
through A MESSAGING APP. Mali is one of the six. Pushing the phone
away, Michelle voices her unwillingness to identify the last
perpetrator at that moment. These men are in custody. Honey. she
is informed. She has to identify one of them. The phone is pushed
into her face again. She looks at the photos. Her eyes tear up.
They all look the same and the fact that they are all wearing a
variety of red tops isnt helping. She cant decide. Two of the
men however look familiar. She still cant decide. She makes her
choice. The stranger and Mali.

"MYM"
Next: The Response