A short script featured on the SIx-Page Scripts podcast.

1. JELLY
(Working Title)

2. OVER BLACK:
JELLY
Ready or not, here I come!
FADE IN:
EXT. BED-STUY STREET - SUMMER - DAY
A ten-year old girl (Black) in overalls runs excitedly down a
Bed-stuy block, her black cape swinging valiantly behind her.
Two afro puffs
This is ANGELIQUE JOHNSON, or JELLY to those who know her
well.
Laughter in the distance. She stops.
She listens closely for the giggles and investigates with the
intensity of a private eye.
Slowly she tip toes in that direction. The giggles being
stifled by another voice.
SAM
(whispers)
SHH! Quit it, Squeaky.
She spots them, Sam (boy, 8) and Squeaky (girl, 6) huddled
together leaning against the front door of the basement floor
apartment of a brownstone.
She walks slyly up the stoop to get a birds eye view of their
hiding. Squeaky, unable to contain herself, giggles once more
and the much-too-serious Sam covers her mouth.
SAM (CONT'D)
Cut it out!
JELLY
Got ya!
Sam and Squeaky look up and scream-laugh, completely
startled. An OLD LADY appears behind them and they scream-
laugh again as she opens her front door, making them fall
beneath her feet.
OLD LADY
Git yo behinds off my property! I
done told ya'll for the last time
now!
The kids gather themselves up and run off quickly.

3. 2.
OLD LADY (CONT'D)
Angelique Johnson don't make me
call your mama.
JELLY
Sorry, Ms. Delphine!
The kids find a bunch of rocks and throw them down the street
as exemplified by Jelly, their ring leader.
A posh man's voice begins to narrate this tale.
NARRATOR
The Johnson Kids were up to no
good, or so everyone said.
Squeaky's rock hits the tire of a parked car. A BEEFY MAN
steps out the driver seat, pissed.
They run off giggling.
NARRATOR (CONT'D)
Hair wooly from a wild night's
sleep, they ran down Decatur street
with an ease only youth could
bring, bound together by blood and
an inclination towards mischief.
They sprint down the block, bumping into passersby with no
apology. Squeaky lags behind, thumb in her mouth.
NARRATOR (CONT'D)
Cousins Jelly, Sam, and Squeaky
were tirelessly in search of
adventure.
They race past Miss Jackie's Hair Parlor. Jelly, winning the
race by a landslide, is stopped short of hitting a screeching
moving car.
WOMAN'S VOICE (O.S)
JELLYYYYYY!
It's NADINE JOHNSON (40s), mom to Jelly, auntie to Sam and
Squeaky. She runs over wearing a black salon cape over her
front, her hair curled in the air like Medusa.
The cousins make a run for it in the opposite direction,
avoiding the wrath of Nadine. Jelly is stuck with fear.

4. 3.
NADINE
(to Jelly)
What did I tell you about playing
in the street?? You tryna get
killed?
Nadine swings Jelly's cape over her chest and then drags her
towards the salon like a rag doll.
The sounds of the bustling street are replaced by blow
dryers, hair sheers, and grown women gossiping.
INT. BEAUTY SALON - LATER
Golden walls and afrocentric art, it's a busy day at the
salon.
Jelly, her hair now prim and pressed, watches Sam & Squeaky
play outside longingly as she sits in the waiting area.
NADINE
Uh-uh where you going?
Nadine catches Jelly heading towards the door. The cousins
planting their cherub faces against the window.
JELLY
(sweetly)
I was just going for a walk.
NADINE
Sit down, little girl.
Jelly sulks back to her seat, arms crossed. Sam teases
through the glass.
MISS JACKIE, a large woman with an even larger personality,
is finishing up Nadine's hair. She talks non-stop, holding a
comb like a magic wand, waving it whenever she makes a point.
MISS JACKIE
..Anyway I was telling my man - Not
Bobby, you know I got a new man,
chil' - I was telling him that the
autopsy showed drugs in her system.
Jelly's attention snaps towards the grown folks.
Nadine, not much of a gossip, is reluctant to engage.
NADINE
(re: her hair)
Not too curly.

5. 4.
MISS JACKIE
I'm just tryna give this flat hair
some bounce.
(re: story)
See, Ricky - that's my new man's
name - he thinks this girl did it
to herself but I think she had a
no-good boyfriend that made it look
like she did.
Jelly leans in.
NEARBY CLIENT
Guess we'll never know, they
stopped investigating.
MISS JACKIE
(fake whispering)
They found her body beneath...
NADINE
Jackie, give the Lifetime movies a
rest.
MISS JACKIE
It's real, Nadine! It's been all
over the news. You never noticed
that girl was troubled?
Nadine shrugs.
NADINE
I only ever spoke to her on the 1st
of the month. And half the time she
just slipped her rent check under
my door.
Nadine ponders a moment. She continues speaking, almost to
herself.
NADINE (CONT'D)
She had these beautiful white
orchids on her windowsill. You
could see them from the street. It
was probably the only sign of life
in that apartment. They just grew
larger and more beautiful by the
day. And then one day they started
wilting and...I just knew in my
gut...something was wrong.
Jelly is the most still she's ever been.

6. 5.
THUMP. Everyone startles at the sound. The cousins just
rammed themselves into the window, rough-housing.
NADINE (CONT'D)
Jelly bean.
JELLY
Yes, mommy?
Nadine holds up her keys.
NADINE
Take Sam & Squeaky back to the
house before they break something.
Jelly reluctantly gets up and grabs the keys before heading
out.
NADINE (CONT'D)
Go home and nowhere else, you hear
me?
The door swings shut.
NADINE (CONT'D)
Head in the clouds, that girl.
MISS JACKIE
You're doing such a great job,
Nadine. I know this past year
hasn't been easy.
Jackie places her hand tenderly on Nadine's shoulder, while
giving her a pitying smile through the mirror.
Nadine shies away from the sympathy.
NADINE
So Jack, tell me about this new
man.
Miss Jackie lights up at the change in conversation, gushing.
MISS JACKIE
GIRLLL. Where do I start?!
CUT TO:
EXT. BROOKLYN STREET - A LITTLE LATER - EVENING
The sun starts to set.

7. 6.
The Johnson kids are back on the sidewalk. Squeaky has her
thumb in her mouth, Sam bounces a yo-yo and Jelly, ahead of
them both, leaps from one sidewalk square to the next, making
sure to land on the cracks.
SQUEAKY
What are you doing?
JELLY
Tryna break my mama's back.
SAM
Didn't auntie tell you to stay
inside?
JELLY
I don't have to do what she says.
Her last leap is the most dramatic. She looks up to the
brownstone above her and sees wilting white orchids on the
second floor windowsill.
NARRATOR
The mysterious missing woman was
well occupied in Jelly's mind.
Whether it was the itch for
rebellion or her cat-like
curiosity, one of them had to be
scratched.
She turns to her minions.
JELLY
Ya'll heard about the ghost in
apartment 2B?
SQUEAKY
Ghost?!
SAM
There ain't no ghost.
JELLY
Yeah-huh. She was murdered in her
sleep by a jealous lover.
SQUEAKY
She's still in there?
Jelly nods gravely.
JELLY
Everyone knows your ghost stays
where you die. And you know what
else? See those flowers? Every
night, when everyone's asleep, they
bloom.

8. 7.
SQUEAKY
Bloom?
SAM
Means "grow", Squeak.
JELLY
Dead flowers bloom at night. Just
like her ghost.
SQUEAKY
Wowwwww!
SAM
You're such a liar.
JELLY
Am not! I heard my mom tell Miss
Jackie. And I can prove it.
SAM
No you can't.
Jelly dangles Nadine's keys in their faces.
JELLY
Wanna bet?
CUT TO:
INT. APARTMENT 2B - NIGHT - CONTINUED
A door creaks open. Jelly leads the cousins inside, flicking
the light on.
NARRATOR
The apartment proved to be an
odious affair. An unkempt museum of
personal possessions.
They walk around slowly, taking in every detail.
Unfinished Thai on the table, half-burned incense and a
coffee mug stained with dark red lipstick.
SAM
Yuck. Smells like boogers in here.
Sam grabs a used cigarette from an ashtray, pretending to
smoke out of it.
NARRATOR
They tiptoed around the dead
woman's living space with tact and
caution.

9. 8.
Squeaky clumsily strums a dusty cello. Jelly glares at her.
NARRATOR (CONT'D)
Or tried to, rather.
They move deeper inside the large pre-war apartment.
Jelly looks over to her left and spots the wilted white
orchids on the windowsill. She gravitates towards them.
As she ebbs closer, the flowers emit a subtle white glow.
She's momentarily startled, but keeps moving towards them.
She rubs a pruned petal between her fingers. The flowers
begin to re-bloom.
The cousins watch in horror. Jelly is mesmerized.
The flowers are glowing and in full bloom. The most beautiful
flowers you've ever seen.
SQUEAKY
(trembling)
Sam...?
SAM
Let's get out of here.
They run away.
She doesn't run after them. Jelly hovers over the bouquet,
transfixed.
She plucks off a flower from the stem and places it inside
her overalls. Just then the light goes out in the apartment.
JELLY
Who turned off the lights?
No response. She looks around. Nothing but the small glow
from the flowers illuminates the darkened space.
JELLY (CONT'D)
Sam? Squeak? Thi-this isn't funny.
She tries to walk out and runs into a couch. It's too dark.
She can't remember which way is which.
She waves her arm in search of a wall. She finds one and uses
it as a guide out.

10. 9.
On the opposite end of the wall is an ornate golden mirror. A
dark figure appears within it, apparently behind her. Jelly's
breath labors.
The dark figure grows larger, closer.
Jelly is so frightened she can't move.
A woman's hand lays softly on her shoulder.
She SCREAMS.
The light turns on and it's Nadine.
NADINE
What the hell are you doing in
here?!
Jelly, catching her breath, has her head down.
NADINE (CONT'D)
Answer me, young lady!
She raises her chin, tears streaming down her face.
NADINE (CONT'D)
Oh, Jelly bean.
Nadine pulls her in, allowing Jelly's tears to fall on her
chest.
INT. JELLY'S BEDROOM - LATER
Jelly in pink PJs sits up in her bed, Nadine next to her.
JELLY
But mommy, I saw it!
NADINE
Angelique. Stop being silly.
JELLY
They sparkled and then they grew
again, I swear! Ask Sam and
Squeaky.
NADINE
Baby, sometimes we see what we want
to believe. They're just flowers.
Nadine tucks her in and kisses her goodnight. On her way out
the door...

11. 10.
JELLY
Mommy?
NADINE
Yes, Jelly Bean?
JELLY
Do you think daddy's spirit still
lives here?
The question catches Nadine in her throat. She turns her
head, trying to stop the tears from falling. She composes
herself.
NADINE
Yes, baby. I do.
Nadine walks out. Jelly waits for the door to close.
Once alone, she looks underneath the pillow and pulls the
white orchid she took.
She carefully places the wilted flower on her own windowsill.
She watches it expectantly.
JELLY
(whispering)
Bloom, daddy, bloom.
NARRATOR
Jelly waited...and she waited.
Nothing happens. The flower is just a flower.
CUT TO BLACK.
NARRATOR (CONT'D)
And she waited.
THE END.