CASTING SIDE – NEIF
INT. CONDO – MAIN ROOM – NIGHT
Micky and Marley are mid-argument. Their words echo around Neif but don’t land.
MICKY
(firm, pushing)
“Houston’s a wildfire… but we can’t keep letting it delay the plan. You want that seat? We move forward — even if they’re still shooting down there.”
Their voices fade in Neif’s head. His focus is elsewhere — the weight of another decision pressing harder.
On his phone: a text flashes. “BB’s still in East Point. Talking reckless.”
Neif exhales, slow. His jaw works. Baby Boy’s face runs through his memory — their childhood block, their first hustles, the loyalty that’s long since cracked.
NEIF
(to himself, quiet)
“Damn, Baby… you couldn’t just let it be.”
EXT. EAST POINT – ABANDONED CAR WASH – LATER
It’s raining just enough to slick the pavement. Baby Boy stands under the awning, hoodie up, cigarette glowing in the dark.
The black SUV door shuts. Neif steps out. His steps are heavy, deliberate.
BABY BOY
(shrugs)
“You took your time.”
NEIF
(low, steady)
“You ain’t left me a choice.”
BABY BOY
(smirking)
“You still think Marley gonna save you? He’ll drop you like he dropped Tre. We all expendable, Neif. Even you.”
Neif steps closer, close enough to smell the cigarette smoke mixing with rain. His voice drops into something darker.
NEIF
“Twenty years, Baby. Twenty years I pulled you out the mud, put food in your stomach, kept heat on your back. And now you spit in my face for a couple dollars?”
BABY BOY
(grinning, defiant)
“It was more than a couple dollars. And you? You ain’t as clean as you think. Ask yourself who really pulling the strings. You just another pawn.”
A long silence. Rain hisses against the pavement.
NEIF
(soft, almost mournful)
“I gave you every chance to stand with me. But you chose the other side. You chose wrong.”
BABY BOY smirks, about to speak—
POP. POP.
Two clean shots. Baby Boy collapses instantly, cigarette still burning beside his hand.
Neif stands over the body, staring down — no victory in his eyes, only a hollow ache. He doesn’t look back as he walks to the SUV.
INT. MARLEY’S OFFICE – LATER THAT NIGHT
Rain drips from Neif’s jacket. He steps in, shoulders heavy, eyes darker than before.
Micky looks up from the desk — she reads him instantly.
MICKY
(quiet, careful)
“It’s done?”
Neif nods once.
Marley studies him, searching his face.
MARLEY
“You good?”
A beat. Neif doesn’t answer. He just sits down, eyes fixed on the floor, silence saying everything he can’t.