REINDEER GAMES

Everyone stares at Jumpy.

                        GABRIEL
           Christmas Two.

The Indian nods. Gabriel shakes his head.

                        GABRIEL
           Ever since you started night school,
           you been givin, me headaches, Jumpy.
           Headaches.
                 (to Merlin/Pug)
           Go see what's taking him.

INT. BATHROOM - SAME

Rudy crouches behind the door, a piece of iron pipe in his grip,
ready to strike. Listening... listening...

AS the door SLAMS open, swinging fast and BASHING him in the head.
Rudy tags the floor, drops the pipe, knocked out.

Merlin and Pug gaze down on him, shaking their heads. Pug spits
tobacco. Hits Merlin's boots again.

INT. TRUCK STOP - MOMENTS LATER

Rudy's back, with a new facial bruise. Ashley reaches for his
hand; he pulls it away. Gabriel unfolds a piece of paper --
it's a crude map.

                        GABRIEL
           Here ya go, convict. We cased the place
           in the fall, got the layout down. What
           you're gonna do is show us where each of
           these doors go, what the upstairs level
           looks like, where they got the alarms,
           all of it.

                        MERLIN
           And where the, hide the real money.

Merlin exhales some smoke in Pug's face. Pug hacks, shoves him.

                        GABRIEL
           And Nick? If you even think about
           setting us up, giving us some bad
           information? We go down ... you go
           down...
                 (lets it settle)
           Now. Christmas Eve. How many guards
           are there gonna be?

Rudy surveys the table. All five waiting for him. Sighs.

                        RUDY
           Hell. Ten?

                        GABRIEL
           And which of these doors here lead
           up to the security level?

Gabriel passes the map across the table. Rudy stares at it.

                        MERLIN
           Start talking, Nick.

Rudy's still staring.

                        PUG
           Start talkin

                        RUDY
           Who the hell made this map.

                        GABRIEL
           What?

                        RUDY
           I said, who the hell made the map?

                        GABRIEL
           I did.

                        RUDY
           This isn't the Tomahawk.

                        GABRIEL
           What the fuck are you talking about.

                        RUDY
           This is the front entrance, right?
           You get through the slots, you hit
           craps here, not blackjack. Blackjack's
           here to here - lined up. What's this,
           the cage? Cage is over there, hard to
           get to, you got it all mixed around--

                        PUG
           That's what it looks like!

                        RUDY
           Since when? What the hell is this
           room?

                        MERLIN
           Buffet. Whaddya think it is?

                        RUDY
           Buffet is by the goddamn bar! What
           the hell kind of map is this?!

Gabriel reaches across the booth, grabs Rudy's shirt, pulls his
face to table level:

                        GABRIEL
           We walked the place for a week.

                        RUDY
           And I worked there. For a year.

Neither man blinks.

                        PUG
           Map is kinda dirty, Monster...

                        RUDY
           They changed the layout.

                        GABRIEL
           What?

Rudy nods, pretending to be dawned upon.

                        RUDY
           They changed the layout -- whadda
           they call you? Mr. Monster? They remodeled
           the place. When I worked there --
           listen to me -- guy that managed the
           joint, guy who ran it--

                        ASHLEY
           Jack. Jack Bangs.

                        RUDY
           Right, Jack Bangs. Uh ... guy was always
           talking bout fixing the place up. Maybe
           get a better crowd. Musta gone and
           done it while I was in the Mountain.
                 (pushes map away)
           I don't know this map, man. How the hell
           am I supposed to tell you what door goes where?

                        GABRIEL
           They wouldn't have changed the
           security setup.

                        RUDY
           When I worked there, this was Bangs,
           office. Back here. He kept a little safe
           in the ... uh, the wall, money held
           take for himself, skim from the Indians.
           Called it the ... uh...
                 (stumbling)
           ... the Powwow Safe.

                        JUMPY
           The Powwow Safe?

                        RUDY
           His personal safe, he gave it a name.
           Now you're telling me they've taken
           his office, put the buffet there?
           Then who knows what else they changed.

Gabriel stares at him, suspicious.

                        GABRIEL
           So what the hell good are you...

                        RUDY
           You'd have to get me inside.
                 (carefully)
           Get inside, watch where the money's
           moving, see where the guards are
           going. Then I could work with your
           map.

                        GABRIEL
           Wrong, convict. You walk in there, they
           recognize you.

                        PUG
           So what?

                        GABRIEL
           They recognize him, they'll remember him
           after the job goes down.

                        RUDY
           They won't recognize me.

                        GABRIEL
           Why not.

                        RUDY
           Trust me. They won't recognize me.

                        GABRIEL
           We'll trust you when we're rich. Why
           not.

                        RUDY
           'Cause you're gonna get me a disguise.

Rudy locks eyes with Gabriel.

                        RUDY
           I give you the wrong information,
           you're gonna shoot me. Well, I don't
           know your damn map. So you can either
           find a way to get me in there ... or
           you can shoot me right now.

A WAITRESS comes over, drops their check on the table. It rests
near Rudy. Rudy locks eyes with Gabriel.

And pushes the check his way.

EXT. SNOWY HIGHWAY - NIGHT

The "Motor City Monster" RUMBLES along a two-lane blacktop. Across
barren Michigan tundra. A sign reads "You Are Now Entering
Powahachee Indian Lands. No Littering."

INT. GABRIEL'S RIG - CAB - NIGHT

Gabriel drives, with Ashley beside him. Rudy sits in the sleeper,
Jumpy sitting guard.

OUT THE WINDOW

they pass a brightly neon-lit building, with a parking lot full of
cars. The Tomahawk Casino, with a red neon axe pointing the way.
And a marquee which reads: "10X ODDS ON CRAPS. $5.95 PRIME RIB.
PERFORMING TONIGHT: DAKOTA!"

The truck motors on by. Gabriel nods to Rudy:

                        GABRIEL
           Bring back some memories, Nick?

                        RUDY
           More than you know.

EXT. KNIGHTS INN - NIGHT

A Midwestern castles-and-Camelot-themed chain hotel, amidst an
outcrop of roadside exit civilization: fast food and gas. The
Great Lakes Trucking rig parked in the hotel's lot.

INT. KNIGHTS INN - HALLWAY - NIGHT

Faux stonemasonry and torches. "Regal" purple carpets. Gabriel and
his crew escort Rudy into--

INT. HOTEL ROOM

--his quarters. Jumpy marches Rudy to the bed, snaps a handcuff
around his ankle--

                        RUDY
           What the hell is this? What happened to
           working together?

--and snaps the other cuff to the bedframe.

                        GABRIEL
           Rather be back in the Mountain?

                        RUDY
           Might as well be.

                        GABRIEL
           Don't have Weather Channel in the Mountain,
           Nick.

Gabriel tosses him a TV remote. Merlin rips the room's phone out
of the wall, takes it. They return to the hallway.

                        GABRIEL
           Sleep good, loverboy. Tomorrow you got
           singing for your supper to do.

The truckers leave. Rudy tugs at his ankle cuff, sighs, collapses
back on the bed. Ashley has remained.

Rudy sits up, sees her.

                        RUDY
           Get your own room.

She approaches instead. Sits beside. Gently:

                        ASHLEY
           He said he wanted to talk to you.
           When he found the letters ... he said
           "when your boyfriend gets out, I wanna
           talk to him." I thought he meant back
           in Detroit. I thought he
           meant--

                        RUDY
           But you knew why. Knew why, didn't ya.

Ashley stands her ground, guilty.

                        ASHLEY
           I thought we'd have a few more days.

                        RUDY
           For what? You to talk me into "helping"?
           What, he promise you a share of the
           winnings?

                        ASHLEY
           No!

                        RUDY
           Well, shit, Judas, you shoulda at least
           gotten that--

                        ASHLEY
           Nick! He wants to know how to rob it,
           and he'll leave you alone! That's all
           he wants!
                 (breaking down)
           I hate him, Nick ... you know how...

                        RUDY
           So get him outta your life. Get out
           of Michigan. They got perfume counters
           in Chicago, don't they?

                        ASHLEY
           Not without you.

She reaches to touch him. Rudy turns his back on her.

                        RUDY
           Since when do some trucker pals start
           thinking big, anyway?

                        ASHLEY
           They run routes mostly east, retail stuff,
           warehouses. But Gabriel knows some guys
           in New York, Miami, guys he helps get guns
           to Detroit. Hides 'em with his regular
           loads.

                        RUDY
           He working for them on this one?

                        ASHLEY
           No. He wants to be working for himself
           someday.

                        RUDY
           And I'm his ticket.
                 (considers)
           What's the last place they took down?

                        ASHLEY
           What?

                        RUDY
           Gabriel and his guys. What's the last
           place they robbed?

Ashley frowns.

                        ASHLEY
           I don't think they've ever robbed anything
           before. I think they've just driven guns.

Rudy looks at her with new interest.

                        RUDY
           They've never done a robbery?

                        ASHLEY
                 (shrugs)
           They're truck drivers.

For the first time in a long time ... Rudy smiles.

                        RUDY
           Then they do need me, don't they.
           They really need me...

                        ASHLEY
           We're gonna get out of here, Nick.
           We're gonna get out of this ...

                        RUDY
           We? What "we" ...

Rudy stares at her. The smile gone.

                        RUDY
           Get your own room, Ashley.

                        ASHLEY
           Nick...

                        RUDY
           Get your own room.

Ashley pulls away, walks to the door. Turns back, wanting to say
something, but Rudy's not even looking her way.

                        ASHLEY
           If I'd told you what he wanted, you'd
           have been gone. You'd have gotten on
           that bus and stayed on it. And if
           that's selfish, I am. If that's lying,
           I'm a liar. But I been dealing with
            fucked-up brother and his fucked-
           up friends for a long time, and I
           was stronger than him then and I'm
           stronger than him now. 'Cause he
           showed up for money. I showed up for
           love.
                 (hard)
           And if you're so ready to make me your
           enemy ... then what did you show up for,
           Nick. What did you really want...with
           me...

With a fiery look, she strides from the room.

Rudy stands, can't get far cuffed to the bed. Checks the end
table, finds a Bible and a deck of cards.

Out his second-floor window is a view of the rear parking lot.
Rudy watches as a Chevy Blazer parks and two drunk FISHERMEN get
out. The truck's bumper sticker reads "Ice Fishermen Do It All
Year Long."

Rudy watches the good ol' boys stumble toward the hotel. He turns
back, surveys his new prison cell

                        RUDY
           They've never done a robbery...
                 (nods)
           Christmas is looking up.

INT. RUDY'S ROOM - MORNING

The bed has been dragged to the door to the bathroom, the
comforter and pillow are on the floor, "Miracle on 34th St." is on
the TV, and Rudy lies asleep on the ground, ankle still cuffed.
Two SHADOWS fall across him.

INT. HALLWAY - MORNING

Rudy is brusquely dragged out by Jumpy and Merlin, passing Ashley,
who lies asleep in the hall, head on a pillow.

                        MERLIN
           Having romance problems, Romeo?

                        RUDY
           Not with you.

They march him onward. Rudy glances over his shoulder at Ashley.
Who spent the night at his door.

INT. GAME ROOM - MORNING

A wood-panelled room adjacent to a small indoor pool, with arcade
games and a dart board. Gabriel's with Pug, tossing darts, as
Jumpy and a chain-smoking Merlin haul Rudy in.

                        PUG
           Goddamn, Merlin. There any part of
           the day you don't smoke?

                        MERLIN
           There anytime you don't got a
           mouthful of shit?

                        PUG
           Cancer-sucker.

                        MERLIN
           Acid-chewer.

Gabriel THWAPS a dart into the board, to shut them up.

                        GABRIEL
           Take a look what Pug's bought for ya.

Pug empties a shopping bag on a pinball machine. Cowboy boots,
spurs, a black cowboy hat, a black rhinestone jacket and a
longhaired wig tumbles out.

                        RUDY
           A cowboy. You're going to send me
           into an Indian casino disguised as
           a cowboy. Have you thought this
           entirely through?

                        GABRIEL
           Put it on.

Merlin and Jumpy shove Rudy toward the merchandise. Gabriel slams
another dart into the board, then turns:

                        GABRIEL
           You're a country-western singer up from
           Nashville for the the holidays. visiting
           your Grandma on the lake, driving into
           the Tomahawk for some scotch and slots.
           You only play the slots, you got that?
           Don't want no dealer friend of yours
           recognizing you, you sidle up to shoot
           some craps.

                        RUDY
           What kind of half-ass cowboy plays the
           slots?

                        GABRIEL
           You do.

                        RUDY
           At least gimme video poker.

                        GABRIEL
           Shut the fuck up. You play what your
           girlfriend plays. Ashley's going in
           with you. You talk to her, otherwise
           you don't talk to nobody. You walk the
           room as many times as you want, but
           the second you come out, I want to
           know the run of the place.

Rudy examines his new hair and cowboy gear.

                        RUDY
           Do I get a country-western name?

                        GABRIEL
           You get recognized, convict, You get
           a country-western funeral.

EXT. TOMAHAWK CASINO - DAY

The Chevy Nova crunches into the parking lot in the shadow of the
gaudy neon axe.

INT. NOVA - DAY

Rudy's in "disguise": paste-on goatee, tinted shades and black
cowboy gear. Very Nashville Network.

He's wedged between Jumpy and Merlin, wearing handcuffs. Gabriel,
Ashley and Pug in the back.

                        RUDY
           Y'know what, guys? I woke up this
           morning, I got a really lucky feeling
           going on. I mean it, I'm feeling that
           good. I wouldn't be surprised if I
           walk in there, pull a handle and hit
           jackpot. Hell, we wouldn't even have
           to--

                        GABRIEL
           Get out.