The Fixer

THE FIXER Excerpt - written by Gordon Blitz

Tagline:  During the five-year imprisonment of Gwen, wife of Wallace and mother of Arden, the handyman, Rowan has become a fixture in the household and has been parenting Arden along with Wallace.

INT - DINNER TIME – COMBINED LIVING ROOM / DINING ROOM OF A MODEST HOUSE.     PART OF THE KITCHEN IS VISIBLE ON THE LEFT.

Stress balls, squeeze toys and spinning fidgets are sitting in the corner. ARDEN (age 10, a little stiff in demeanor indicating mild autism; Gwen and Wallace's son) sits on the couch wearing headphones humming softly while playing a handheld game. GWEN (early 40s, short hair, still in her dressy work clothes) picks up the mail that has fallen through the mail slot onto the floor. She picks up one of the letters, opens it an begins reading. She begins to shake. She keeps blinking hard as WALLACE (early 40s, thin but muscular, dressed in weekend clothes; Gwen's husband) enters from the hallway drying his hands.

WALLACE

You're late. Everything okay at the bank?

GWEN

(too quickly)

Long day. Just give me a minute.

She folds the letter and slips it into her purse as two sharp knocks are heard at the door. Wallace and Gwen look questioningly at each other.

WALLACE

Who the hell?

A second, louder pounding.

VOICE (O.S.)

Ms. Gwendolyn Fleishman? LAPD. We need you to open the door.

Gwen closes her eyes. Her face drains of color. WALLACE looks at her, confused, scared.

WALLACE

Gwen?

   (whispering)

What's going on?

GWEN

 (softly, almost inaudibly)

It's happening.

WALLACE

What's happening?

Gwen forces herself to step toward the door. Wallace grabs her arm.

WALLACE (CONT'D)

Gwen, stop! Talk to me.

GWEN

Later. Please, Wallace. Just take a breath.

She opens the door. Two OFFICERS, RAMIREZ (50's, stocky, take-charge attitude) and LEE (late 30's, athletic-looking; stylish fade haircut) are standing there. One holds a folder; the other, handcuffs.

OFFICER RAMIREZ

Gwendolyn Fleishman?

GWEN

Yes.

OFFICER RAMIREZ

Ma'am, you're under arrest for embezzlement from First Pacific Credit Union. We have a warrant for your arrest. We need you to come with us.

Wallace erupts.

WALLACE

What?! This is insane; some kind of error!

GWEN

(to Wallace, gently)

No, Wallace. There is no mistake.

Arden pulls off his headphones and looks up.

ARDEN

Mom? What's happening?

Gwen's face breaks for the first time. She goes and crouches down in front of Arden brushing a  hand through his hair.

GWEN

Sweetheart, Mommy has to go with these officers. I need you to be a big brave boy. Okay?

ARDEN

  (confused)

I don't understand.

Gwen's breath catches. She swallows hard.

GWEN

I made a mistake. And I'm going to fix it. You hear me? I'm going to fix it.

Arden covers his ears with his hands and starts twirling.

GWEN (CONT'D)

Wallace, take him to the bedroom. He shouldn't see this.

Wallace starts to accompany Arden into the bedroom bringing along one of Arden's fidget toys.

WALLACE

Arden, come with me to your bedroom. You can play with your fidget.

As Wallace takes Arden into his bedroom,, Officer Lee steps closer toward Gwen.

OFFICER LEE

Ma'am, if you could turn around, please.

Once Arden is in his bedroom, Wallace turns around and steps in front of Gwen.

WALLACE

No, wait, no! She's not a criminal! Don't you see, she's Arden's mother?

GWEN

Wallace, please; stop this.

She places both hands on Wallace's cheeks.

GWEN (CONT'D)

Take care of Arden. I mean it. Don't fuck this up.

Wallace grips her wrists, his voice breaking.

WALLACE

Talk to me. Just tell me what you did.

GWEN

I can't.

She turns. Officer Lee cuffs her.

OFFICER RAMIREZ

You have the right to remain silent.

GWEN

 (interrupting    softly)

It's okay. Let's just go.

Wallace follows them to the door, helpless, trembling. Officers Ramirez and Lee start to escort handcuffed Gwen out of the house.

WALLACE

I'll get a lawyer! I'll fix all of it!

GWEN

(shaking her head)

Just be with Arden.

As the officers lead her out, Gwen gives one last look at Wallace before she disappears into the hallway. The door closes. Silence. For a long moment, Wallace stands frozen. Then he slams his fist into the wall. Arden comes out of his bedroom.

ARDEN

(tiny, scared)

Dad?

Wallace forces himself to breathe. He kneels and hugs Arden tightly.

WALLACE

   (voice shaking)

It's okay, buddy. We're going to be okay.

INT: A WEEK LATER. DINNER TIME

GWEN

I just realized that this was going to be my last meal here. And it's a good thing that Arden is having a sleep-over tonight.

WALLACE

I'll never get why you didn't fight the charge. I'm so angry with you.

Wallace squeezes his fists together so that they turn white.

GWEN

Because I was guilty, Wallace. ­Why should I squander your money or use Arden's college fund? Even now, you're wasting money posting bail.

Gwen gets up from the table and tries to hug Wallace, but he pushes her away.

WALLACE

But Arden needs a mother here, not in jail. He needs a father and a mother.

GWEN

No. He needs a mother that he     can respect. A woman who takes

responsibility for her actions.

WALLACE

That's bullshit! ­And what about his being on the spectrum.

GWEN

But he's doing much better now. And I think it will be a good thing for him; getting closer to his dad.

WALLACE

I hope you're right. And, actually, I have a surprise for you.

Wallace gets up from the table, goes to the refrigerator opens the door and brings a cake to the table and sits down.

GWEN

Oh, you remembered how I love a good carrot cake!

WALLACE

How could I forget? That's what we had at our wedding.

They cut the cake and feed one another like a couple would do at a wedding reception.

WALLACE (CONT'D)

I keep asking myself; why didn't you come to me? Why wasn't I aware of what you'd been doing?

GWEN

You did nothing wrong. I've told you before. Think about it. You combine your teacher's salary and my job as a teller, and it never came close to our expenses.

WALLACE

We could have cut back.

GWEN

I was tired of scrimping. That's not what I signed up for.

WALLACE

Ah! But I never signed up for a wife going to jail! ­If you would have talked to me about this, I would have gotten a second job. This is fucking insane!

GWEN

I just had a funny thought. The theory that Jewish women never commit crimes. We can be just as fucked up as gentiles!

He gets up, suddenly angry, and walks toward the door of the kitchen.

WALLACE

I've had enough with you! Fuck!

GWEN

You and your temper. If you don't get things right, you go off on me.

WALLACE

But when you talked to your boss and explained everything, why didn't they drop the charges? You returned the money, didn't you?

GWEN

Yes, but I didn't return any of  the embezzled funds until after I got caught. And the law is so com-plicated.

WALLACE

This still makes no sense.

GWEN

When I realized that embezzlement was more serious than theft because it involved a breach of trust, I decided I had to plead guilty. I wanted to set an example for Arden.

WALLACE

What kind of example? You were a fucking thief!

GWEN

I'm tired of fighting.

WALLACE

But it's fucking five years! He'll just be finishing high school. You'll miss those terrible teenage years.

GWEN

You can handle this, My god, you're a teacher. You deal with kids every day. Maybe I'll get an early parole for good behavior.

WALLACE

This conversation is just making me angrier. ­What about us? We've never been separated more than a day in all the time we’ve been together.

GWEN

Can we just go to bed now? I want to make this a normal night, not a grand finale. Just me making love to the fantastic father of my child.

She grabs Wallace's hand and leads him to the bedroom.