Finding King – Chapter 12

A tabloid writer for the Weekly World Daily and a Columbia grad student are on the hunt to discover if Elvis is still alive.

Chapter 12 – Money Honey

(Helen, Aaron & Elvis are huddled in the Graceland kitchen while the Vegas mob attempts to break in and collect their bounty. Elvis has snapped a mop in half and is holding the jagged handle..)

AARON: Elvis, I’m really sorry about all this. I just wanted to tell your story.

ELVIS: Yeah, well you’ll be telling my obituary in a few. Boy, I’ve been watching you since you started this investigation. You’re the closest anyone’s got.

AARON: Well, obviously. I’m sitting right next to you on your kitchen floor.

HELEN: (smacks her former journalism mentor’s arm) Aaron, don’t get smart with Elvis.

AARON: Sorry.

ELVIS: I saw how your lady left you and you poured all that obsession into finding me. Maybe if you spent half that energy finding yourself we wouldn’t all be in this mess.

AARON: Wow, Elvis. That’s really profound.

HELEN: I literally told you that exact same thing two days ago.

AARON: Yeah, but it’s Elvis.

HELEN: (sighs)

AARON: Look, I’ll go out there.

HELEN: What.

AARON: I’ll go out there, distract Petrino and give you two time to make a run for it.

ELVIS: I can’t let you do that, son.

AARON: Shh. Quiet, Elvis. (turns to Helen) You know, Helen. All this time I’ve been running from love. Running from Penelope. Running from heartbreak. When maybe love was right under my nose all along.

HELEN: Yeah, I’m not interested.

AARON: Ah. Well, time to die.

(Aaron turns back around just as Elvis bonks him and Helen over the head with a tea kettle, knocking them out cold..)

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(When the two awake on the marble kitchen floor, the morning sun is shining through shattered windows..)

AARON: Ugh, what the hell.

HELEN: Ow, my noggin.

AARON: Did Elvis knock us out?

HELEN: (staggering to her feet) Maybe it was all a dream.

(The two walk outside to find the backyard littered with shotgun shells..)

AARON: Yeah, not a dream.

HELEN: Do you think they killed him?

AARON: He was already living on borrowed time.

HELEN: He sacrificed himself for us.

AARON: I owe it to him to tell his story.

(The two exit Graceland to a sea of cameras and assembled media..)

HELEN: Well, here’s your chance.

AARON: (smiles at Heleen, gulps and approaches the bank of microphones) Good morning. My name is Aaron King, formerly a reporter for the Weekly World Daily. I’d like to speak to you today about a brave man I knew..

(Elvis is standing at the rear of the press scrum, smiling under a wide-brimmed hat. He wraps his trench-coat around himself and turns to leave. A passing NBC cameraman frowns..)

CAMERAMAN: Anybody ever tell you you look a lot like Elvis Presley?

(Elvis scrambles into a sprint down the sidewalk and skitters around the corner..)

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THE END

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