The Wolf of Los Angeles

[Chapter 2: The Body Donation Agreement]

The Dodge pickup truck cruised down the highway, heading towards downtown Provo.

"Man, your piece of junk is running low on gas. Remember to fill it up on the way back," David said as he drove. "Last night, you got hammered, and then you made me drive you home. Now you're up early wanting me to pick you up again..."

Hawke replied, "Thanks."

"Sounds good in theory, but actions speak louder than words," David said, clearly pushing an idea. "The Sundance Film Festival in Park City is about to start. It's not that far, and we should check it out together. You can cover the expenses."

He was an ambitious actor. "If luck's on our side, we might run into a big director who could help us hit it big."

Hawke turned to look at him. This guy had blonde hair, blue eyes, and a handsome face. He immediately shot back, "You'd better clean your ass up."

Anyone who paid a little attention to the entertainment industry would understand how the movie business worked, and David knew too: "What if I bump into a hot female director?"

Hawke spoke candidly, "You'd just end up meeting some gnarly director."

David looked puzzled. "What do you mean?"

Hawke simply explained, "Besides directing, she'd also be skilled at rectal surgery."

David fell silent, realizing he had nothing to say. He continued driving into Provo, straight towards the city center.

This small town, under a hundred thousand in population and less than a hundred miles from Salt Lake City, consisted mostly of low-rise buildings, with a few high-rises dotted in the central area.

The filming location for The Singing Detective in Provo was a modest eight-story building, which the crew had rented in its entirety.

David pulled into the parking lot, got out, and ruffled his smooth blonde hair, then smeared some mud from beneath the car door on his face.

Hawke asked curiously, "What are you doing?"

"Did you drink yourself stupid?" David shook his head repeatedly, "You forgot? The lead actor, Robert Downey Jr., is a total druggie who, once he's high, won't allow anyone in the crew to look better than him."

Hawke slapped his forehead, "I was hungover and out of it."

David tossed the car keys to Hawke, pointing at Hawke's scruffy face. "You're lucky; you've been playing it safe all along, unlike me, who's just asking for jealousy."

Hawke couldn't be bothered to reply, so he started walking towards the crew's base.

David hurried after him.

The crew's base was parked with several trailers, and the two found the stunt department's trailer and started waiting patiently.

Hawke seemed nonchalant chatting with others, quickly learning the work situation.

The film was planned, financed, and produced by Buddy Ackerman's Ackerman Films, a California billionaire.

Initially, the crew had recruited three stunt performers in Los Angeles, but after moving the shooting to Provo, director Keith Gordon and producer Matthew Broderick added several more action scenes.

Eventually, one stunt performer twisted an ankle, and another guy from the stunt performer's union dropped out for not meeting union standards, leaving only one stunt performer.

To cut costs, the crew decided to temporarily hire Hawke and David in Provo.

Stunt coordinator Freddy returned from the director's area, carefully sizing up the two. "Change into black jackets and keep the black masks on."

An assistant immediately brought over two different jackets. Hawke let David take the first jacket before grabbing another to change into.

Hawke zipped up the pocket of the jacket he took off, where his revolver and car keys lay nestled.

Freddy tossed a mask over to them. "Put these on, and follow me to the set. Don't let the crew wait for you two idiots."

Hawke and David donned the masks that only revealed their eyes and nostrils, following Freddy towards the front of the building.

The crew hired them on a temporary basis not just for cost savings but also because the whereabouts of their robber roles wouldn't be shown on screen.

They even skipped makeup altogether.

Arriving at the side of the building's front entrance, the set was buzzing with activity. Another stunt performer, McKinn, rushed over but wouldn't be involved in this scene.

Hawke and David warmed up as the director's team continued to get in place; the male assistant director entered the set while making dramatic gestures.

The roles of the robbers had been added last minute without any script or lines, relying entirely on pre-scene improvisation.

Though Hawke didn't understand much about filming, he figured that these hastily added roles would likely get cut in post-production.

"Your characters are having a feud here and start fighting at close quarters," the assistant director said, standing on the yellowing grass while demonstrating the moves. He pointed to Hawke with his pinky. "You bring him down quickly, then run towards the building. Got it?"

Hawke nodded. "Got it."

The assistant director wiggled his hips as he exited the set.

With a clap of the clapperboard, the two black-masked thieves wrestled each other.

David swung his right fist towards Hawke's face.

Hawke instinctively blocked with his left hand and kicked at David's groin without thinking, but thankfully he was quick enough on his feet so the kick skewed slightly and landed with a smack on David's thigh.

David's eyes bulged, and he let out a yelp of agony, unable to react in time before Hawke's chokehold reached him.

Hawke's right hand gripped David's neck, and as he applied pressure, he pushed him outward while also tripping him.

David fell backward to the ground like a log.

Hawke turned and ran towards the building.

A voice was heard from the director's area: "Cut!"

Most people in the film industry were emotional types, and the director loudly praised, "Great job!"

On the periphery, stunt performer McKinn from Hollywood, hands shoved into the pockets of his black coat, couldn't help but say to stunt coordinator Freddy, "That guy's got some skill."

Freddy nodded, "A good prospect for stunts."

Inside the set, Hawke pulled David up from the floor.

David couldn't help but complain, "Dude, you didn't follow the script. We didn't agree on this yesterday."

Hawke honestly replied, "I improvised. I couldn't control it."

At that moment, the assistant director wiggled back into the set and pointed at Hawke. "Follow me."

He approached the front of the building and pointed at the second floor, "In the next scene, you need to climb up and go through the second-floor window."

Hawke took a careful look. The raised second floor was over four meters high. There were several lampposts out front that stood about eight meters tall but were three meters away from the building, making it difficult to get a boost and turn onto the second floor.

The walls of the building were clad in matte granite slabs, with protruding decorative sections forming ninety-degree angles at intervals along the wall.

Hawke went to the nearest corner section, backed himself against it, leaped up, and used his hands and feet to push off the walls, scaling upwards like a spider.

After climbing less than two meters, he slipped back down and asked the assistant director, "Is that good?"

The assistant director waved him off, going to find the director.

The crew shifted equipment back to the set and shooting resumed.

Though Hawke's body was somewhat bulkier, he still had a solid base, and within a few breaths, he climbed to the second-floor window sill and slipped through the open window.

They nailed it in one take.

Afterward, Robert Downey Jr. arrived on set, and the stunt team wrapped for a break.

In the afternoon, they had another scene involving wire work on the rooftop, and David called out to Hawke to head to the temporary entertainment room on the second floor to play video games to kill time.

During lunch, the two had placed their masks in the break room.

After the catering truck left, David sent Hawke to the break room for his mask: "Dude, my leg is messed up from your kick. You owe me one."

Hawke gave him the finger as he entered the building, heading towards the elevator, when stunt coordinator Freddy hurriedly walked past from the other side.

Once in the elevator, Hawke greeted him casually, asking, "What's with the rush?"

Freddy replied, "The producer's looking for me."

The elevator reached the second floor, and they exited, going in opposite directions.

The crew's entertainment room and the producer's office were located in two opposite corridors on the second floor.

Hawke pushed the door into the entertainment room and discovered someone was bent over the glass table, snorting.

Robert Downey Jr. heard the noise, raised his head sharply, his gaze like arrows aimed at the door, quickly wiping his nose and pointing at Hawke, barking, "Get out! Now!"

Hawke had no interest in getting into a tangle with a junkie. Finding his mask hanging on a news rack, he grabbed it while picking up a newspaper and remarked casually, "You carry on."

He had interrupted the junkie, who was clearly displeased as his expression grew dark.

Exiting the entertainment room with his mask on like a hat, Hawke rolled up the newspaper and snagged David's mask, brandishing it like a black flag.

Up ahead, a group of people emerged from the elevator and turned into the opposite corridor.

Two men in white suits and one in black paused, stationed inside the corridor.

The other three entered the producer's office, where two men flanked the door on either side.

These five men were clearly security.

Hawke swiftly scanned the three men in the hallway, and from his previous life's experience, he guessed they each had shoulder holsters under their suits.

"Five bodyguards. Big shot?" He veered into the elevator and went down to where the filming set was located behind the building.

The crew was busy setting up the scene, with several cranes for wire work stationed on the rooftop.

Hawke found David, tossed him his mask, and plopped himself down on a nearby folding chair. "When do we start shooting?"

"Not sure," David shook his head. "We're waiting. Freddy hasn't shown up yet."

Hawke opened the newspaper to find the front page plastered with news about The Singing Detective.

"The charity-minded Singing Detective crew!"

"The crew's representatives, also the leading roles Robert Downey Jr. and Katie Holmes, were recently interviewed and revealed they signed a body donation agreement to promote social charity and called for more people to join the effort..."

Hawke understood that charity and donation were mostly just publicity stunts for Hollywood productions.

In Hollywood, they might not openly admit to the prevalence of junkies and addicts, but it wouldn't be far from the truth.

*****

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