a burst of rage. The two blocks start yelling at each other and menacingly closing in, a savage brawl just seconds away when the shouts drop at once.
The crowd parts like the Red Sea before Moses as TARKAN CANKUT moves over his table with a gigantic chicken leg and a bowl of pepper. Everybody sits down like a class of pupils as the two Korean men just shake hands and move away, walking past KIDAL and a tray full of bread and cabbage.
MALE VOICE (O.S.): Hey, just look who's here...
Huang and his team grin at him from a nearby table.
HUANG: ...the present and future of table tennis, what a great honor to see you!
KIDAL: (a wide smile) Well, thanks! I can sit down with you if you like, it would be a great pl --
CHINESE ATHLETE: He's bullshitting you, you idiot!
HUANG: (shakes his head) If you only knew how much you disgust me, I was hungry as a whale and now I'd just want to vomit!
Kidal lowers his head as, unseen by the Chinese team, a TOURNAMENT JUDGE stops behind their table.
HUANG: You and your friends are a shame for our tournament. You're out of place, you're like a duck in a bullets factory, and the organizers should be ashamed for allowing this humiliation of our sport!
TOURNAMENT JUDGE: The organizers have nothing to be ashamed of, I can assure you that.
The whole Chinese team turns to the stern man behind them.
TOURNAMENT JUDGE: Those who organized this tournament are eager to prove their seriousness, Mr. Xiong, and to explain the principles of the selection of participants. And that's exactly what I'm going to do right after lunch, when you and your team will meet me in my office, dressed in your uniforms and accompanied by a representative of the Olympic delegation of your country.
Huang nods ashamed with his eyes on the table as the judge walks away. He shoots Kidal a killer look as he moves across the hall to catch up with Leon, sitting with Abebe, the scrawny Ethiopian runner, and a pensive Sudanese swimmer.
KERIEME: I don't know, physically I was okay. I mean, we got no swimming pools in Sudan, and yet I felt ready.
Abebe nods behind a triple portion of noodles flooded with mushrooms, sausage and peppers.
ABEBE: You can train all you like, my friend, the race is always another matter. Take the marathon, if it wasn't for all those refreshment stations I probably wouldn't last a mile!
He throws down a forkful the size of a melon as Edwin catches up.
EDWIN: Hey guys, seems like I didn't make it after all.
LEON: Yeah, and to think I was so sure you would have won.
EDWIN: (just shrugs) Well, maybe next time!
KIDAL: You know, it looks like you're almost happy!
EDWIN: Well, maybe just because I am!
LEON: You're happy 'cause you lost?!
EDWIN: No, man...
He sits down and smiles wide, lays his arms around his friends.
EDWIN: ...I'm happy 'cause we're going out with three beautiful ladies!
CHEERFUL MUSIC kicks in as we CUT TO:
EXT. LONDON – DAY
An endless, flowing river of people and cars pulses lively under a sunny sky, as from Westminster to Regent Street, from Wembley up to the shining shop windows of the West End, London seems like a huge, chaotic, perfectly synchronized living entity.
EXT. DOUBLE-DECKER BUS – DAY
Edwin, Leon and Kidal sit on the upper deck in the company of Talita and two oversize, hairy shot putters from Mexico, JOSEFA and ARCELIA.
TALITA: It's wonderful, this is the first time I'm in a big Western city!
EDWIN: You can say that, it's the first time I'm in a city of any kind!
He smiles at her and at the two ogre-ladies, who just look back at him in disgust.
EDWIN: (low to Kidal and Leon) I'm sorry, guys, when she talked about her beautiful friends I pictured something different.
KIDAL: Well, I think they're nice... aren't they?
JOSEFA: Leon, stop staring at my butt!
LEON: What?! I was reading the sign on your seat!
Music resumes as we CUT TO:
MONTAGE – STROLLING IN LONDON
-- Trafalgar Square, the Tower Bridge and Piccadilly Circus.
-- The bus slowly hangs a right.
LEON: Oh my, we're going to smash up! Why the hell must it run so fast?!
JOSEFA: Will you stop whining, we are stuck at a stoplight!
LEON: Well, I'm just --
JOSEFA: Don't make me angry, Leon, you don't know what I'm capable of when I'm angry!
She stares maliciously at a dead-scared Leon. Ever more scared as Kidal winks at him from behind her.
-- Multicolored landscapes of London roll past our guys as they stare puzzled at the unusual sight of Westminster guards, punk girls, hippies, mods, skinheads and emo troops looking like herds of vampires.
-- As the guys step off the bus the elderly LADY DRIVER shoots Kidal a look.
LADY DRIVER: Next time you buy a ticket, or I'll have to take my measures!
She winks at him as the bus rolls away.
-- Leon stands on the sidewalk stares frightened at the huge traffic as Kidal and Edwin shout at him from across the crosswalks.
LEON: Damn, I never thought there were this many cars in the world!
-- The smiling group approaches the umpteenth bus, everybody holding a ticket but Kidal. His smile drops as the bus door opens on a BRAWNY BEARDED DRIVER.
KIDAL: Guys, I think you'll have to lend me some money.
-- The huge wheel of the London Eye slowly turns over the Thames...
-- ...Edwin, Talita, Kidal and Arcelia admire the wonderful sight as Josefa heaves an annoyed sigh.
JOSEFA: I'm telling you the last time, stop being silly and sit here with me!
Leon keeps whimpering as he lies on the floor in fetal position.
LEON: Just get me off this damn thing!!
-- Talita takes a picture of Edwin in front of the of the luxurious SAVOY GRILL RESTAURANT, then walks over to him as they get two rolls from a KEBAB STAND beside the entrance.
-- The guys and girls look amazed at a parade of celebrity statues in Madame Tussauds wax museum. Kidal stares motionless at a perfect life-size figure of Prince as a little girl takes a picture of him, probably taking him for the real thing.
-- A mailman hops off a modern, top-box equipped scooter to deliver a letter under Edwin's admired stare.
-- Leon, Edwin and Kidal cross Abbey road just like the Beatles -- a horn makes Leon jump as a cab almost runs over him!
Frantic, joyful street life goes on from Merton to Richmond, from Sutton to Chelsea and up to Brixton, where our guys have by now merged with a colorful, multi-ethnic crowd as down the sidewalk we recognize the sign of the JAMAICAN SOUVENIR SHOP.
INT. JAMAICAN SOUVENIR SHOP – DAY
The shop is desert, gadgets and trinkets rest on their shelves as Edwin and Talita look fascinated at the walls full of pictures of beautiful landscapes from all around the world.
MALE VOICE (O.S.): Good evening, how can I help you?
We recognize the voice from the beginning as Edwin and Talita turn around to FRED, a chubby white man well into his 60s.
TALITA: Thanks, we're just taking a look.
EDWIN: Yeah, a look at some places I guess I'll never see in person!
FRED: Well, never say never, my friend. And anyway, if you can't go around the world just let the world come to you!
Talita and Edwin share a puzzled glance.
FRED: It's all in your head, you know? It's not where you walk, it's just the way you think. Believe me, I've seen more things and met more people in here than I did when I wandered over the world or lived abroad with my wife.
TALITA: In Jamaica?
FRED: (a warm smile) It was a long time ago. A cookie?
He offers Edwin and Talita two inviting brown sweets. Then takes a plastic plane from a shelf.
FRED: Freedom is not out there if you're not free inside your head. (Puts the plane in Edwin's
hand) Not everybody has the chance to go around and see the world, but we all have the chance to feel free, it just depends on you.
He smiles warmly, winks at Edwin before moving to another pair of customers.
TALITA: You know, I just wish he was right.
EDWIN: Well, in a certain way I think he is.
He smiles at her as he hands her the toy plane.
EDWIN: You keep it, just in case one day you should be sitting in your room and desire to come and see me.
Talita looks at him, surprised and moved. He starts for the door when she stops him with a kiss.
TALITA: (breaks away from a bewildered Edwin) Sorry, it's just that... I just wanted to do it.
Edwin stands there like a stuffed trout, on his face a mix of commotion and mystical rapture. Talita keeps smiling at him when she notices that Edwin's eyes have turned glassy.
TALITA: Are... are you alright?
Edwin cracks an awkward smile, then takes off running for the door...
EXT. SIDEWALK – CONTINUOUS
...flies past his friends as Talita catches up in concern.
KIDAL: Where is he going?!
TALITA: I don't know.
A beat, then Leon turns in terror to her:
LEON: He didn't drink alcohol, did he?
TALITA: No, I... he just ate a rum cookie.
Kidal shuts his eyes, The Bloodhound Gang's BAD TOUCH kicks in as we CUT TO:
MONTAGE – EDWIN'S DRUNKEN SPREE
-- A wide-eyed Edwin runs like a banshee down a crowded sidewalk, people on the benches looking puzzled as he leaps past them like a gazelle.
-- Edwin sits on a lawn, having tea with a group of old ladies and a yapping poodle.
-- Quick stills of Edwin smiling at all kinds of bizarre people, then of an Elton John look-alike grinning at a confused Edwin.
-- Edwin storms into a newsstand, Kidal and Leon jump in after him as people start running out the door.
-- A mug shot of Edwin, eyes wide open and lipstick on his lips.
-- Edwin nods his apologies to a pair of
The Games Plan Page 7