NEMEROFF:
(BEHIND THE DOOR, CAGEY) I have something to show you.
SOBERIN:
Unless it’s a check for last month’s rent, I’m not interested.
NEMEROFF:
(BEHIND THE DOOR) Mr. Soberin, please!
SOBERIN:
(WEARY) All right, all right.
SOUND:
HE UNLOCKS HIS DOOR.
SOBERIN:
(AS HE UNLOCKS) Don’t be standing behind this door with a gun or anything, my faith in human nature is already at a pretty low ebb, I promise you.
SOUND:
HE OPENS THE DOOR.
SOBERIN:
OK, Nemeroff, so what’ve you got to show me?
SOUND:
NEMEROFF PRODUCES THE PICTURE.
NEMEROFF:
I drew this.
SOBERIN:
Is this supposed to be in lieu of cash? Cause if it is, you can stick it up your -
NEMEROFF:
(CUTTING HIM OFF) Look at it.
SOBERIN:
I’m not gonna buy it, I got nowhere to put it.
NEMEROFF:
(URGENT) I need you to look at it, Mr. Soberin.
SOBERIN:
So I’m looking.
SOUND:
HE TAKES THE PICTURE.
NEMEROFF:
Well?
SOBERIN:
It’s pretty good.
NEMEROFF:
Best thing I’ve ever drawn.
SOBERIN:
I’m happy we both think so, but you made a mistake.
NEMEROFF:
What?
SOBERIN:
Courtroom sketches like this, you hardly ever see them any more. You ever watch Court TV? No one needs these now.
NEMEROFF:
That’s not why I drew it.
SOBERIN:
So why did you draw it?
NEMEROFF:
I don’t know. I couldn’t stop myself... couldn’t help myself.
SOBERIN:
(Not enthused) That so.
NEMEROFF:
I need someone to look at it – to help me understand it.
SOBERIN:
So why are you asking me? Why not ask a friend?
NEMEROFF:
(RELUCTANTLY) I don’t really know many people.
You’re the closest thing I have to a friend, Mr. Soberin.
SOBERIN:
Boy, that’s depressing.
NEMEROFF:
So what about the drawing? What can you tell me about it?
SOBERIN:
(CONTEMPLATING) The drawing, the drawing... OK, like I said, it’s a courtroom... Uh... I guess the judge is pronouncing sentence.
NEMEROFF:
He just pronounced it.
SOBERIN:
How do you know?
NEMEROFF:
I just know.
SOBERIN:
Then what do you need me for?
NEMEROFF:
Please. What about the criminal?
SOBERIN:
I think he would be called “the defendant”.
NEMEROFF:
Please Mr. Soberin – I need to know what you see.
SOBERIN:
Well, he’s, uh... Well, he’s a big, fat guy. Really fat. A man gets that big, it puts a strain on the heart. You know why people end up like this? They don’t like to exercise. They don’t want to go outside, because they’re afraid of being mugged, or worse. It’s television, it makes people afraid to leave their homes.
NEMEROFF:
(IMPATIENT) Mr. Soberin!
SOBERIN:
Okay. So, he’s fat. He’s got big rolls of flesh under his chin. He’s clean-shaven – well, maybe not quite. Maybe a few days before, he was clean-shaven – and he’s almost bald, for which he has my sympathy. He’s standing in front of the judge, holding the rail with his left hand, looking straight in front of him.
NEMEROFF:
What about his expression? That’s not horror on his face, so what is it?
SOBERIN:
You drew it, don’t you know?
NEMEROFF:
Can you please just go on?
SOBERIN:
It looks to me like exhaustion – like absolute fatigue. Like there’s nothing strong enough in him to sustain that mountain of flesh.
NEMEROFF:
Anything else?
SOBERIN:
Yeah, it’s not finished.
NEMEROFF:
What do you mean it’s not finished, of course it’s finished!
SOBERIN:
No, it’s not. Look here.
SOUND:
SOBERIN TAPS THE PAPER.
SOBERIN:
See, he’s holding onto the rail with his left hand... but what’s going on with his right? He’s holding something. An instrument, or a weapon, maybe. It’s hard to tell. You know, if this were a real courtroom, they wouldn’t let him bring anything in.
NEMEROFF:
(STUNNED) There is something there! Why didn’t I notice that before?
SOBERIN:
Nemeroff -- I’d say get help, but help costs money, and you have more urgent bills to pay. Let me guess. You have no idea what you were planning to put in his hand?
NEMEROFF:
No idea at all.
SOBERIN:
Well then -- go finish it.
SOUND:
SOBERIN GIVES HIM BACK THE PAPER.
MUSIC:
FADES OUT AS WE...
SOUND:
...FADE THRU TO NEMEROFF, SLOWLY MOUNTING THE STAIRS.
NARRATOR:
“Go finish it”, Soberin says. Nemeroff doesn’t even know how he started it, or if he was capable of finishing it. He made the sketch and yet had no recollection of what he intended the man to hold in his right hand. Even now, as he makes his way back to his apartment, down the long hallway, the thought of picking up his pencil again turns his fingers to lead. Once again, he is conscious of the intense heat. It feels like the fires of Hell. He is sweating profusely. And he knows right then and there, that he wouldn’t finish the sketch anytime soon. He turns out to be right, but not for the reason he imagined.
SOUND:
NEMEROFF MAKING HIS WAY BACK TO HIS APPARTMENT.
NARRATOR:
In the hallway, Nemeroff stands in front of his apartment and attempts to open the door.
SOUND:
NEMEROFF TRIES THE DOOR OF HIS APARTMENT. IT’S LOCKED.
NEMEROFF:
What the hell?
SOUND:
HE TRIES TO DOOR, MORE FORCEFULLY THIS TIME.
NEMEROFF:
Oh, come on! I’m locked out!
SOUND:
FADE THRU TO NEMEROFF OUTSIDE SOBERIN’S APARTMENT. ESTABLISH SAME OLD VINYL RECORD, WHICH CAN BE HEARD ONLY FAINTLY. THEN NEMEROFF BANGS ON THE DOOR.
NEMEROFF:
Soberin! Open up!
SOBERIN:
(BEHIND THE DOOR) I don’t think that would be a good idea, Mr. Nemeroff!
NEMEROFF:
You changed the lock on my damn apartment door!
SOBERIN:
(BEHIND THE DOOR) I told you I would. Can’t say you weren’t warned. I know this kid, he’s a genius with locks. He’s been waiting all day for you to come out of your apartment.
NEMEROFF:
I thought we understood each another!
SOBERIN:
(BEHIND THE DOOR) Sadly, we do.
NEMEROFF:
I thought you were my friend!
SOBERIN:
(BEHIND THE DOOR) No, you thought I was the closest thing you had to a friend – there’s a difference.
And alas, how many times have friendships been destroyed over money?
NEMEROFF:
So what the hell am I supposed to do now?
SOUND:
SOBERIN OPENS THE DOOR SLIGHTLY WITH THE CHAIN STILL ON.
SOBERIN:
You want to be a starving artist? Go starve someplace else.
SOUND:
HE SHUTS THE DOOR AGAIN.
MUSIC:
FADE IN EPISODE SCORE.
THRU TO:
THEME.
FADE DOWN.
ANNOUNCER:
And now back to “A Heated Premonition” on... “FANGORIA’S DREADTIME STORIES.”
MUSIC:
THEME.
THRU TO:
NEMEROFF WALKS THE BUSY STREETS.
NARRATOR:
Inspiration – that’s what every artist needs. And Nemeroff needs a lot of it, and not just for his sketches. He is out of work, and he no longer has a place to lay his head. All he has are the pencils in his pocket... and a sketch he has no clear recollection of drawing. Good as it is, nobody would want it, he knows that. But the other side was blank... All he needs is the right subject, that’s all anybody
