INITIATION (14 page suspense short) by P.H. Cook

A young black man, ready to celebrate his promotion and proposal to his girlfriend, runs into a young white girl with sinister intentions.

Though the COVID crisis continues to dominate today’s headlines, there’s one unfortunate news story that came to mind as I was reading Pia Cook’s hard-hitting, racially-charged, white-knuckler, “Initiation”.

Recently in New York City, in an area of Central Park popular amongst birdwatchers called, “The Brambles”, a white woman named Amy Cooper called in a false report to police, claiming she was being assaulted by Christian Cooper (no relation), an avid birdwatcher and member of the board of directors for the New York City chapter of the Audubon Society – he also happens to be African American.

In this area of Central Park, it’s mandatory that dogs must be leashed to preserve the safety of the bird population. This was a rule that Ms. Cooper was neglecting with her own dog despite signs being posted. As I’ve mentioned, Christian is an avid birdwatcher who was merely reminding her of this rule. She, however, decided to escalate matters, threatening to call the police on the “African American man”, as she made it a point to repeat several times. Luckily, Christian, calm as can be, was able to record the whole altercation as Ms. Cooper called the police and, while sounding as distressed as possible, falsely accused this “African American man” of assaulting her and her dog (which she proceeded to choke while on the phone).

Again, luckily, Christian recorded the whole incident and no arrests were made – many would argue that the young woman SHOULD have been arrested for calling in a false report. And luckily, Christian was also a well-known and well-respected pillar of the community. But what would have happened if he hadn’t recorded everything? What if he wasn’t a known figure? Far too often throughout history we’ve seen these false, racially-charged accusations result in innocent black men senselessly being thrown behind bars. And, unfortunately, many times these false accusations have escalated into incidents that have ended in tragedy.

In “Initiation”, Cook’s protagonist, a successful young African American man named Nico is unfortunately faced with the reality that many young black men, such as Christian Cooper, face everyday.

What starts off as a day of celebration, Nico has just been named the new national marketing director of his company. Financially stable enough to afford that wedding ring for his girlfriend and soon-to-be-wife, he plans on finally proposing to her later that night. Getting ready for a night of romance, he stops by the store to pick up some flowers, wine and other necessities that might come in handy on a night like this.

But, as he leaves the store and gets into his car, he’s surprised by a 14-year old white girl named Amara, who invites herself into his vehicle, sitting in the passenger’s seat. What does she want, exactly?

“Just drive,” she tells him. Baffled, Nico does what any ordinary person would do and tells her to get the hell out. Unfortunately for him, he’s a 34-year old black man in a car with a 14-year old white girl. And she uses this as leverage.

            AMARA
You throw me out of your car, I’m
gonna point at you and yell rape.
As loud as I can.

            AMARA
Who do you think they will believe?
Me or you?

Trapped in what seems to be a lose-lose scenario, Nico has no choice but to do as she says. But what exactly does she want? And why is she doing this?

The tension throughout this story is very difficult to bear at times. Part of the reason is because it’s sadly, all too real, reflecting issues that are unfortunately still relevant in society today. And though we, as a society, have come a long way in regards to racial equality, this story accurately shows that we still have a very long way to go.

BUDGET: Low. Two main actors and mainly a car (with a few other easily accessible locations).

ABOUT THE WRITER: Born and raised in Sweden, P.H. Cook started writing in 2006. She now has written over 100 shorts scripts and 15 features. Many of those have been produced. She also directs some of her own shorts and hopes to be able to direct a feature some day. She can be reached at gatortales – “AT” – gmail.

Read: INITIATION

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About the Reviewer: Michael J. Kospiah is the award-winning screenwriter of critically acclaimed indie-thriller, The Suicide Theory (79% Rotten Tomatoes – available on Amazon Prime, Itunes, Google Play, etc) and 2020’s upcoming Aussie thriller, Rage. His horror feature, They Never Left is currently in development.