The Screenplay

Eilla brushed a curl away from her face, irritated. She recrossed her arms and swayed back and forth in the chilly breeze in only her tank top and thin black cardigan. Theo was standing beside her, staring at the damage to his car. The girl in the other car had spent almost fourty five mintues bitching and screaming at Theo, as he tried to explain to her politely that he understood he would be paying for her step-mother's car to be fixed. Finally he got her to calm down and the police were called, and a tow truck was on its way to pick up the unusable car. Theo was on the phone calling everyone he could, trying to get a ride from a friend. So far, no luck. "Why can't I hit someone on the east side?" Theo muttered. "I don't have time to pick you up over there," he said mockingly. His face was pale and he looked at Eilla. "Sorry I don't have any friends on this side of town."

"I guess... eh, I suppose I could call Eazy." Eilla sighed. She reluctantly began to fish for her phone in her oversized brown canvas purse.

"We're kind of out of options," said Theo. "Just call him, all we need is a ride, its no big deal."

Eazy was Eilla's college boyfriend. He was the starting forward on the basketball team, breaking several records during his three years of playing. He was a gorgeous, tall, ripped, dark skinned god, with a blinding smile and great sense of humor. His nickname was Eazy, but he was anything but that. He was extremely competitive and a little cocky, but he was good to Eilla while they were together. Eilla even considered moving to live with him in Orlando when he was drafted by the Magic to the NBA. He was also the reason Eilla met Ben, who was covering the NBA draft that year. Even though Eazy said he put their relationship in the past and had moved on, Eilla still couldn't help but feeling guilty for breaking his heart after she broke up with him for a chance to be with Ben, and could never bring herself to be with Eazy alone.

"Hey," said Eazy's husky voice, taking Eilla by surprise.

"Oh, um, hey, Eazy, uh, how are you?" She stammered.

"I'm good. I haven't heard from you for a while, what's going on?" He said. Eilla tried to picture his face: was he concerned or excited?

"Actually, I hate to call you like this, but I need a favor," She sighed. "Theo and I kind of got in a little accident, we're fine, but his car looks like an accordian and we need a ride."

"Oh, shit, man. Sure I'll give you a ride, where you at?"

Eilla told him and said an awkward goodbye. "Good news," she smiled bleakly at Theo.

They stood on the cold pavement in silence for a moment. Theo's voice seemed to slice into Eilla's eardrum. "I guess we're not working today," he said with a smile.

They didn't speak again until Eazy's white Lincoln Navigator pulled into the parking lot where they were standing like freezing statues. Eilla opened the passenger door and was taken aback by how good Eazy looked. He was in a tan polo shirt and dark jeans, he always dressed nicer than Eilla he would tease, and had his big recognizable smile on his face. "Hey lady," He said.

"Thank you so much, Eazy," Eilla said, trying not to look too much at Eazy.

"Yeah, man, thanks," Theo said.

"It's nothing," Eazy said, smiling at Eilla. "You look tired," he joked. "Long night?" Theo let out a small chuckle, and under his breath muttered "Long morning." Eilla's head snapped back and gave him a quick warning stare, telling him to cool it.

"Yeah, its been a long day," Eilla said, still looking back at Theo who was trying to give her an innocent shrug, failing miserably.

"Really, you look good though." Eazy stared straight ahead, weaving through traffic, complimenting Eilla nonchalantly.

"Where am I going?" Eazy said, realizing he was simply driving without destination.

"Well, I better go home," Theo said. "I have some stuff to take care of. I'm off 118th."

"Okay. Eilla?" Eazy said, finally glancing over. "Home?"

"No, actually my car is still at the store, you can drop me off there. Its off 134th." She said, cringing inside that she would have to be alone with Eazy in the car, since they were by 114th. Eazy drove the few blocks to Theo's apartment building.

"Thanks man," Theo said, hopping out of the car. The moment the door slammed shut, Eazy turned to Eilla. "Hey, you want to get some lunch or something?" He almost shouted, as if he were nervous. That was a tone Eilla did not think he possessed, as the ever confident man he was.

"I really need to get some stuff done at the store. We wasted the whole morning," Eilla said, thinking that was the perfect excuse to ditch him.

"How about coffee later?" He said almost immediately, as if he expected her to deny his lunch invitation.

"I don't know, Eazy, I don't think its such a great idea."

"I assume that means you're still with Ben," Eazy said almost in a rude voice, which Eilla had learned over the years meant he was upset and hurt.

"Yeah, but, I mean, I just don't want you to get the wrong idea," She stammered, immediately regretting the sentence she had just uttered.

"The wrong idea? I just want to know what's going on with you. You call me out of the blue needing a ride and I picked you up right away. Just go get a coffee with me, in public, I won't even pay for it," Eazy looked back over to her, with her hair piled sloppily on top of her head, her black cardigan hanging slightly off her left shoulder, her eyes staring at her knees unable to decide what to do.

"You're right, you're right," Eilla said finally, shaking her head. "We should catch up. Lets just go to lunch."