AMERICAN HISTORY X

AMERICAN HISTORY X

screenplay by

David McKenna

February 6, 1997

INT. HOUSE - CLOSED EYES

A young man's blue eyes slowly open. A girl moans from the next room.

EXT. STREET CORNER - A LARGE TIRE

turns the corner and splashes through a puddle from an

earlier rain. TUPAC SHAKUR blares from inside.

INT. HOUSE - TIGHT ON THE EYES

They snap wide as the young woman in the next room MOANS

even louder.

EXT. VENICE BEACH HOUSE - A WET NIGHT

A slight buzz emanates from the power lines and street

lights above the humble VINYARD household. A black FORD

BRONCO rests in the driveway.

EXT. WET STREET - A GRAY TRANS AM

TUPAC'S rapping builds. The window-tinted drive-by

slowly heads down the residential street, cruises past

the Bronco in the driveway, and slows to a stop. The

music stops and TWO BLACK MEN spring from the car.

They move with purpose. The larger figure, crowbar in

hand, moves to the truck. The GUN wielding passenger

hurries to the front door and stands guard. Inside the

car, another man methodically waits.

INT. BEDROOM - DANNY VINYARD'S EYES

The sex happening in the next room makes it difficult for

Danny to sleep. Next to a digital clock that reads

3:07AM, the clean cut 14-year-old flips to his side.

A poster of Lee Ving of FEAR onstage, taped to the wall.

Pre-Calculus and Biology books on the floor. Cassettes

scattered on his tiny desk. A stereo in the corner.

The off-screen sound of breaking glass grabs Danny's

attention. He sits up and looks through the blinds.

EXT. HOUSE - SAME

Danny SEES a man reach through the broken window and

unlock the door. He quickly. pans to the idling Trans Am.

INT. DANNY'S BEDROOM - TIGHT ON DANNY

His fearful expression says it all.

DANNY

Holy shit.

Danny quickly bolts out of his room and into the adjacent

bedroom down the hall. He barges through the door.

INT. DEREK'S BEDROOM - A NAZI IRON EAGLE BATTLE FLAG

It hangs above a serious computer and next to a giant,

tome-filled bookshelf. The moans, meanwhile, approach

orgasm.

TIGHT ON DEREK VINYARD. The young man has a shaved head,

a thick goatee, and a well-crafted SWASTIKA on his left

tit. On top of Derek in the bed is his barely-of-age

girlfriend, STACEY. The covers are completely off and a

BLACK ROSE is tattooed across her right shoulder blade.

Danny watches her fuck, only for a second.

DANNY

(softly)

Der !

Danny walks over and shakes him. Startled, Derek

forcefully grabs his little brother's arm.

DEREK

(controlled)

What?

Stacey stops and looks over. Frustated, she rolls off

Derek and onto her side.

STACEY

Fucking pervert, Dan!

DANNY

There's a black guy outside Der...

breaking into your car.

Derek, muscled and tattooed, jumps out of the bed and

quickly puts on his skivvies. He reaches under his

mattress, pulls out a SIG .45 semi-automatic pistol, and

shoves in a clip.

DEREK

How long has he been out there?

DANNY

Not long.

STACEY

Who?

DEREK

Nobody. Relax.

Stacey sits up quickly from the bed as Derek pulls on his

black combat boots.

STACEY

Who's out there, Derek?

DEREK

Not right now, honey.

(to Danny)

How many?

DANNY

One...I think.

DEREK

Is he strapped?

DANNY

Hunh?

DEREK

Does he have a fucking gun, Dan?

DANNY

I'm not sure.

DEREK

Is there a driver?

Danny nods his head yes.

DEREK

Okay. Stay the luck here.

STACEY

Derek? Be careful.

He looks at his girlfriend and walks off.

INT. HALLWAY - SAME

TIGHT ON DEREK. He walks down the hall. The intensity

on his face is alarming. He stops at the front door and

grabs the doorknob. Before he turns the knob, he peeks

through the eye hole on the door.

EXT. HOUSE - DEREK'S EYE POV

THE BLACK GUARD carelessly turns toward the driveway to

see what's taking his partner so long with the wires.

INT. HOUSE - DEREK AT THE DOOR

The guard has his back to him. Derek goes.

EXT. HOUSE - THE DUEL

Derek throws open the door and the black man standing

guard wheels and fires a shot into the front door. Derek

buries two bullets in his chest.

DEREK

Fuck you!

The force propels the man six feet backwards.

INT./EXT. BRONCO - THE OTHER MAN

Stunned by the gunfire, he charges back to the getaway

Tranny. Derek buries a bullet into his shoulder. The

car splits and Derek fires a shot through the side

window. He then walks towards the car and fires shot

after shot at it until it disappears.

INT. VINYARD HOUSEHOLD - DARKNESS

Davina and Doris Vinyard yell in the background like they

were in Vietnam. They meet in the hallway, still not

able to place the direction of the gunfire.

DAVINA

MOM!!!!

DORIS

STAY DOWN, HONEY! DANNY?!

They stay down on the carpet together.

EXT. BEDROOM - DANNY'S POV

From the rain-soaked window he watches Derek face his

wounded prey - crawling on the ground. Sirens sound from

a distance.

STACEY (O.S.)

Get down, Danny! Jesus!

TIGHT ON DANNY. His gaze is locked on his brother from

his bedroom window. Derek cocks his piece, points it and

walks toward the man.

TIGHT ON DEREK'S FACE. Eyes blistering.

FADE TO BLACK:

THREE YEARS LATER

EXT. POLICE STATION - EARLY MORNING

A black man in a suit and tie, ROBERT SWEENEY, goes

through the automatic doors and into the station. He

approaches a DESK SERGEANT. A daily calendar on her desk

reads MONDAY. MARCH 3. 1997.

SWEENEY

Captain Rasmussen?

DESK SERGEANT

Briefing room. Down that hall...third

door on the left.

INT. BRIEFING ROOM - A MEETING

Cops and detectives sit attentively and a few sip coffee.

The clock on the wall above reads 7:38 AM. Middle-aged

with slicked-back hair, CAPTAIN JOHN RASMUSSEN finishes a

thought. He spots Sweeney as he enters and aimlessly

reaches for a file.

RASMUSSEN

All right. Moving on--

(acknowledging)

Good Morning, Doctor.

The group looks over and meets Sweeney's hard glare.

SWEENEY

Good morning.

RASMUSSEN

Gentlemen, this is Dr. Bob Sweeney.

He's Principal over at Venice High and

for some time now he's done a load of

outreach work with gangs...in and out

of the can.

Sweeney nods as Rasmussen cough. He sips water and

continues.

RASMUSSEN

Three years ago a local kid named

Derek Vinyard gets sent up for

murdering a couple of Crips who were

trying to jack his car. Bob taught

Vinyard back in high school and has

followed the case closely.

YOUNG COP

He was a skinhead, right?

SWEENEY

Derek was more like...the skinhead.

He and Cameron Alexander.

COP #2

Who?

Rasmussen opens a FILE in front of him. There rests

Derek's mug shot. He flips it over and reveals

CAMMERON'S MUG SHOT. Front and side view.

RASMUSSEN

Cammeron Alexander is probably the

biggest writer and distributor of

white power literature in LA County.

He promotes white power bands, writes

reviews, columns, all at the ripe age

of forty.

YOUNG COP

(smiling)

He's forty? Jesus.

RASMUSSEN

Pretty clean record...runs everything

out of his house down by the beach.

SWEENEY

There weren't any organized white

gangs around Venice before those two

hooked up. Very few, if any. It was

mostly just black and Mexican. But it

was tiny. They hit it off though...

and Alexander hit the jackpot with

Derek.

Rasmussen reaches over and pushes play on a VCR.

RASMUSSEN

We got some uncut footage here.

Courtesy of NBC.

ON THE TELEVISION--

REPORTER

Earlier this evening...LA County

Firefighter Dennis Vinyard was shot

and killed while putting out a fire in

a suspected Compton drug den.

RASMUSSEN

(to the group)

This being February of '90.

EXT. VINYARD HOUSEHOLD - A LIVE BROADCAST - VIDEOTAPE

A YOUNGER DEREK, short haired with no tattoos, stands

next to the reporter. Derek wears a Venice High

Basketball jersey drenched in sweat. Towel around neck,

he thinks to himself as the man speaks into the camera.

REPORTER

To my right I have Lieutenant

Vinyard's oldest son Derek.

(to Derek)

How do you feel about all this, son?

DEREK

How do I feel? How do you think I

feel? It's typical.

REPORTER

Typical how, Derek?

DEREK

Well...look at our country. It's a

haven for criminals. Black...brown...

yellow...whatever.

REPORTER

So you're saying the murder of your

father is "race" related?

DEREK

Every problem in this country is

"race" related. Every problem, not

just crime. These problems are rooted

in the black community, the Hispanic

community, the Asian...every non-

Protestant group in our society.

(then)

Look at the shit. Immigration...

welfare...AIDS...they're all the

problems of the non-white. Look at

the statistics.

REPORTER

Most of these issues you're referring

to though son are related to--

DEREK

(interrupting)

No no no! Don't say poverty right now

cause that's not it. They're not a

product of our fucking environment

either! Minorities don't give two

shits about this country! They're

here to exploit...not embrace.

RASMUSSEN (O.S)

(over reporter's question)

When Alexander got his hands on this

segment...he copied it, sent it out

and it became the Gettysberg Address

for hate groups across the country.

BACK TO THE TELEVISION.

DEREK

Millions of white Europeans came to

this country and flourished within a

generation! A generation! So what

the fuck is wrong with these people?!

REPORTER

What does any of this have to do with

your father?

DEREK

Because my father was doing his

fucking job! Saving a nigger

neighborhood he didn't give two shits

about! And he got killed by some drug

dealer who still collects a fucking

welfare check.

Derek looks at the man and walks over to HIS MOTHER

DORIS, who smokes a cigarette. The camera follows him as

he puts his arm around her and escorts her back inside

their Venice Beach residence. The camera pans back to

the reporter who just stands there, speechless.

INT. BRIEFING ROOM - SAME

Rasmussen ejects the tape, the screen turns to fuzz, and

he turns it off.

RASMUSSEN

Vinyard was quietly released from

Chino on Saturday after three and some

odd years. And I think it's something

we might want to keep an eye on for a

few days.

SWEENEY

I don't wanna be an alarmist. But

payback is out there. I know it is.

And in this particular case...if

Vinyard gets popped...more people will

get popped.

RASMUSSEN

It's not exactly LAPD policy but I

want 24-hour surveillance on Vinyard

for a few days.

COP #2

(smiling in disbelief)

Twenty-four hour surveillance, sir?

RASMUSSEN

Just for a few days.

ANOTHER COP

He doesn't sound like Mr. Lovely here,

Captain. You want us to bust him or

protect him?

Rasmussen offers Sweeney a look that it's his question.

SWEENEY

I don't think Vinyard's gonna be the

one to start anything. It's his

following.

RASMUSSEN

Either way...let's keep it low.

CUT TO:

EXT. VENICE BEACH BOARDWALK - MORNING

PEACEFUL DAY by PENNYWISE blasts from Danny's walkman

headphones. The day is cloudy and overcast but that

doesn't bother the local SURFERS. A twosome paddles

north to get a better break on the next set. Danny

watches as he skateboards down the strand.

His appearance is changed, now resembling a younger,

softer Derek.

Head shaved to a quarter of an inch, he wears a PLAIN

WHITE BACKPACK with punk/white power bands scribbled all

over it. Your standard Sex Pistols, DK, Germs, G.B.M.,

and Adolescents in black. Cro-Magnons and Skrewdriver

off to the left. In red is the largest name, DICK NIXON.

CUT TO:

EXT. VENICE HIGH SCHOOL - THE BIKE CORRAL

Kids from all walks of life park their cars, lock their

bikes and head off to class.

EXT. HALLWAY - TIGHT ON A THRASHED LOCKER

Danny throws his SKATEBOARD in, slams the door, and turns

to face LIZZY, a pretty, redheaded freshman.

LIZZY

Hi Danny.

DANNY

Hey Lizzy.