{"id":327,"date":"2023-10-15T19:02:45","date_gmt":"2023-10-16T02:02:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/seanmiller.us\/blog\/?p=327"},"modified":"2023-10-18T21:11:26","modified_gmt":"2023-10-19T04:11:26","slug":"confessions-of-a-hallway-hustler-outline-v1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/seanmiller.us\/blog\/confessions-of-a-hallway-hustler-outline-v1\/","title":{"rendered":"Confessions of a Hallway Hustler Outline V1"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Confessions of a Hallway Hustler<\/em> is a retelling of Brian De Palma\u2019s Scarface<\/em> (1983) in the style of Diary of a Wimpy Kid<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The protagonist Tony Montana is a 12-year-old lovable scoundrel who gets kicked out of his elite boarding school in the imaginary European country of Luxland for breaking one too many rules.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In order to teach Tony a lesson in humility, his divorced mother banishes him to America where he is to lead an ordinary middle-class life in the imaginary American suburban town of Jerburbia with his sadsack dad and naive half-sister.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The story is Tony\u2019s confession to the school administrators \u2014 with concerned parents listening in \u2014 about everything that has happened up to that moment, starting from when he arrived by commercial jet in Jerburbia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Characters<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Note: I’ll go back and change the character names at a later revision stage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tony \u2014 comic archetype: Lovable Scoundrel (think Bill Murray in Ghostbusters or Stripes), Fish-Out-Of-Water (he\u2019s never been to America, doesn\u2019t know how middle-class people live)
Manny \u2014 comic archetype: Lothario
Chi-Chi \u2014 comic archetype: Dummy
Angel \u2014 comic archetype: Kook
Lopez \u2014 eighth-grader, top dog at school \u2014 comic archetype: Showbiz type \u2014 has a crew of \u201csoldiers\u201d who sell illicit candy & soda for him at school
Elvira \u2014 comic archetype: Tacky Suburban Princess
Omar \u2014 Lopez\u2019s lieutenant \u2014 comic archetype: Toady
Sosa \u2014 tenth-grader, Snappysap supplier \u2014 his family owns a mini-mart \u2014 comic archetype: Kingpin
the Shadow \u2014 kid henchman to Sosa, comic archetype: Psycho
the Skull \u2014 kid henchman to Sosa, comic archetype: Animal
Sheffield \u2014 kid who\u2019s a wanna-be lawyer, comic archetype: Know-It-All\/Robot
Vice Principal Bernstein \u2014 comic archetype: Corrupt Cop
Gina \u2014 Tony\u2019s half-sister \u2014 comic archetype: Naif
Dad \u2014 comic archetype: Embarrassingly Understanding Parent
School Principal Reagan \u2014 comic archetype: Bumbling Authority
various teachers \u2014 all incompetent \u2014 comic archetypes: Gasbag, Pushover, Neurotic, Weirdo, Drunk, Bureaucrat
Siedelbaum \u2014 comic archetype: Snitch
Doc Matos \u2014 comic archetype: Goody-Good
Snappysap \u2014 Pop-Rocks-like candy
Jerburbia \u2014 typical American suburban town, where story takes place
Luxland \u2014 rich foreign country where Tony grew up<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Scene-by-scene outline<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Tony describes how awful the coach flight to Jerburbia was. He describes where he\u2019s from \u2014 the fictional foreign country of Luxland \u2014 and the luxurious lifestyle he was accustomed to. He admits that he got expelled from his elite boarding school, but insists it wasn\u2019t his fault. He explains that his mom banished him to America to live with his dad in \u201cabject squalor\u201d in order to teach him a lesson in humility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

His dad picks him up at the airport. He describes how shabby his Dad\u2019s car, clothes, job, and life seem (all solidly middle-class) to him. They drive directly to his new (public) school, Jerburbia Middle School, in the town of Jerburbia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Vice Principal Bernstein enrolls Tony into the sixth grade. Tony asks him a lot of clueless questions about the amenities at the school. The vice principal cross-examines him to see if he\u2019s a \u201ctrouble-maker.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At his dad\u2019s modest house, Tony takes in the living conditions, settles into his room, and meets his half-sister, Gina. Gina greets him warmly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The next day, on the bus ride to school, Tony befriends Manny, who\u2019s watching Cars on his phone \u2014 the scene where Lightning McQueen concedes the tie-breaker race to help The King finish.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The King: What are you doing, kid?
Lightning McQueen: I think The King should finish his last race. [begins to push the King along the track]
The King: You just gave up the Piston Cup, you know that?
Lightning McQueen: Aw, this grumpy old racecar I know once told me something. It’s just an empty cup.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Strutting down the middle of the bustling hall at school, Tony tells Manny that Lightning was a sucker for conceding the race. He declares that winning is everything and that he\u2019s going to take over the school so he can recreate the lifestyle he\u2019s accustomed to here in America.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chi-Chi meets them in the hall, offers to sell them each a candy bar. Tony wants to buy one but has no money. Nonetheless, the three get caught by Vice Principal Bernstein and ordered to report for after-school detention. Manny says they should ditch. But Tony wants to go \u2014 to meet all other miscreants at the school.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dad calls to ask how he\u2019s doing. Tony lies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At recess, Angel wonders how they can get out of detention. Tony has an idea. He sneaks out of the room and sets off the fire alarm. In the chaos, Tony goes to the Bernstein\u2019s office and steals his computer password.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The next day, in the hall, Manny tries to flirt with a cute older girl. The girl maturely and diplomatically rejects him. Tony makes his famous speech to Manny.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou have it all mixed up. In this country you first need to get money. A lot of it. Then you get status. When you get status, you get friends, especially girlfriends. Then the world is your oyster.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Manny mentions a job opportunity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Tyvek jumpers, Tony and Manny pick up trash around the mall cineplex. They admire the cool kids who hang out at the food court.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Outside in the parking lot, Omar rolls up on his fancy electric bike. He offers them a job \u2014 selling lollipops for Lopez. Tony scoffs, demands a bigger job. Omar tasks them with buying a case of candy bars from some high school kids.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tony and his crew bike to the high school. Angel is superstitious and worried.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tony and Angel enter under the playing field stands. The high school kids hang Angel by his jacket collar, threaten to give him a wedgie unless they hand over the cash. Tony refuses. They start ruthlessly tickling & noogying Angel. Tony pulls out his smartphone, starts recording a livestream video. The high school kids run off, forgetting their backpacks. In it are the candy bars.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tony returns the cash and the candy bars to Lopez at his cushy garage hangout. Lopez offers them a job on the spot as his \u201ccapos\u201d (a term he learned from a gangster movie).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then Lopez takes them all to Burger Palace. Lopez points out all the key \u201cplayers\u201d there. Lopez\u2019s girlfriend Elvira arrives. Tony is smitten. Lopez counsels Tony: Lesson number one — don’t underestimate the other guy’s greed. Elvira adds: Lesson number two, don’t eat your own supply. Elvira is intrigued by Tony. Lopez introduces Tony to Sheffield, the \u201cschool rules ace\u201d and to a \u201cbanker\u201d named Jerry. Elvira plays her favorite song on her top-of-the-line smartphone, asks Lopez to dance, who refuses. She asks Tony. Lopez encourages him. When they start dancing, Tony overhears Omar telling Lopez that Tony is trouble. While dancing, Elvira and Tony spar.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the bike ride home, Tony tells Manny that Elvira has a crush on him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tony invites Manny into his dad\u2019s house. Tony greets his sister. He has brought dinner for them all from Burger Palace. His dad is mildly disapproving \u2014 he\u2019s already made a tofu stir-fry for dinner. Manny crushes on Gina. They all eat the burgers. On the way out, Tony warns Manny not to ask Gina out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tony, impeccably dressed, gets frisked by Bernstein at the school entrance. Some unassuming fifth-graders with huge nerdy backpacks pass by.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the bathroom, Tony has the fifth-graders disgorge from their backpacks piles of candy bars.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tony plays mini-golf with Lopez and Jerry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At a fast-fashion store, Tony buys Gina an entire wardrobe of new outfits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tony swings by Lopez\u2019s garage in a vintage bicycle. She\u2019s not impressed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the bike shop, Tony buys a tricked-out electric bike with banana-seat for two.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the ride back to Lopez\u2019s garage, they stop in a park and eat candy bars and drink cola together. Tony tells Elvira he likes her. She\u2019s unmoved.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During school, Tony and Omar visit Sosa at his parents\u2019 minimart across town. Sosa offers to sell them a shipping palette full of Snappysap. Omar defers to Lopez. The Skull interrupts with a private message. Sosa offers Omar a ride back to school with Skull and Shadow in his golf cart. They leave. Tony and Sosa chat about Luxland. Gabriella, Sosa\u2019s girlfriend, arrives with her pony on a leash. Sosa tells Tony that Omar is a snitch. The Shadow and Skull drive Omar across the parking lot to his mom\u2019s car, who\u2019s been waiting there. His mom grounds him for not being at school. Tony declares he\u2019s no snitch. Sosa offers to do business with Tony, but warns him not to double-cross him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At Lopez\u2019s garage hangout, Lopez orders Tony to delay the deal with Sosa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Outside, Tony expresses to Manny his contempt for Lopez.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tony, with Manny, meet with Sheffield, pay him his exorbitant retainer for his services.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tony watches Lopez leave the garage. He enters, asks Elvira out, tells her Lopez won\u2019t last.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the Burger Palace, Tony and Manny roll up in flashy duds and kicks. Gina is there with a date, a ninth-grader. Tony orders Manny to watch her. Bernstein shows up. He confronts Tony about the fire alarm and the video of the high school kids. He demands a cut of the action. Tony sees Gina flirting with her date. Lopez and Elvira arrive. Tony flirts with Elvira. He clashes with Lopez. Manny intercedes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tony tells Manny Lopez sicced the VP on him. Manny suggests they lay low. Tony refuses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tony finds Gina with her date, about to kiss. He sprays a fire extinguisher into the bathroom. Tony threatens to tell on him, tells her to go home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Manny rides with her home on their bikes, comforts her. She asks him out. He\u2019s terrified.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the Burger Palace, Lopez has hired a magician to entertain them all. The magician does a trick where he makes Lopez disappear just as some high school kids bust in and let off a bunch of firecrackers. In the chaos, they egg Tony.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tony escapes outside and rides them down on his electric bike \u2014 then eggs them in the back.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At home, his dad helps him clean up. Tony texts Manny and Chi-Chi to meet him at Lopez\u2019s hangout.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They sneak in, scatter Snappysap everywhere, then leave the sink running.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tony fetches Elvira from her locker. He asks her out, takes her to his new clubhouse \u2014 an old storage shed on school grounds, which he\u2019s decked out like a kid\u2019s wildest dream of a recreation room. A box arrives \u2014 in it is a replica Piston Cup with the words \u201cI love being me!\u201d in neon wrapped around it. He places it on a pedestal in a place of honor in the clubhouse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tony brags about how much Snappysap they\u2019re selling, how much money they\u2019re making. They sell out the entire palette. In no time, two more palettes of Snappysap from Sosa arrive at the clubhouse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tony recounts with bemused indifference how kids at school are fighting over Snappysap, how they\u2019re stealing from each other, how they\u2019re breaking into lockers, mouthing off in class, not doing their homework, falling asleep, starting food fights in the cafeteria.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tony recounts how his crew\u2019s parents having started going through their phones, looking for incriminating evidence of their involvement in the illicit candy-selling operation. Tony describes a secret code he devised from them to communicate safely by text without getting caught.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Principal announces busts of some of Tony\u2019s low-ranking \u201csoldiers,\u201d the confiscation of contraband Snappysap.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the school carnival, Tony helps Gina setup and run a fancy makeover booth. It\u2019s a hit with girls and some boys too. Manny arrives at the booth in flashy clothes. He flirts with Gina when he thinks Tony doesn\u2019t notice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Late that night, Tony\u2019s Dad texts him, then calls him. He\u2019s wondering where they are and worried. Tony texts back a lame excuse why he hasn\u2019t come home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Elvira is popping Snappysap in her mouth by the handful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Detention fills up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tony gives Elvira a locket necklace, asks to \u201cgo steady\u201d with her.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Manny and Gina hold hands covertly at school.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At his clubhouse, Tony seethes as Jerry increases his fees for debit cards. Tony is mindlessly popping handfuls of Snappysap into his mouth. He obsessively watches all the security cameras he\u2019s set up around the clubhouse. Tony watches a streaming video by Matos about the candy problem at school. Tony rants about the corruption at school, the hypocrisy of adults. Manny suggests a meeting with a different banker. Tony takes over the meeting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tony goes to meet the new banker with a duffels full of quarters, nickels, and pennies. Seidelbaum points to the cameras, calls the Principal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sheffield gets Tony out of suspension, but believes he\u2019ll have to do 3 weeks of detention.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sosa meets with Tony at the minimart, introduces him to his Snappysap sales rep, the soda sales rep, the delivery driver, his clerks. Sosa asks Tony to help him \u201ctake care\u201d of Matos. The Shadow goes with him back to his school.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Matos uploads another damaging video. He announces that he\u2019s running for school president and that his first order of business will be to eliminate candy and soda sales from the school.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the Burger Palace, Tony and Elvira gobble Snappysap, don\u2019t eat the food piled up on the table. He complains about Elvira. She breaks up with him, throws the necklace at him, storms out. He yells at the gawkers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tony discusses with his crew and the Shadow all the ways they\u2019ve tried to compromise Matos, yet nothing has worked. Tony explains to Chi-Chi that everyone sees Matos as a good guy and that\u2019s why they have to make him look bad.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They try to tempt him \u2014 with candy, soda, toys, gadgets. They sneak a vape pen in his pocket and get him caught. He leaves his house. They follow him \u2014 to a retirement home. He\u2019s there to visit his dying grandmother. Tony backs out. The Shadow is infuriated. Tony gets the Shadow kicked out of the place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the clubhouse, his dad calls \u2014 he can\u2019t find Gina. He\u2019s tracked her phone to a house on Allegiant Street. Tony knows exactly where that is, rushes there. He finds Gina with Manny, slow dancing in her room. He sends a picture of Manny sitting on a pile of Snappysap to the Principal and his parents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the clubhouse, a bunch of kids with big backpacks ride up as Tony watches from his monitors. He\u2019s guzzling Snappysap. They pull out spray paint, toilet paper, paint guns, water balloons, talcum powder \u2014 basically every prank weapon a kid could think of. Tony armors himself and arms himself with a paint gun. The kids converge on the clubhouse. All hell breaks loose.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tony ends his confession by saying that none of this was his fault and that, still and always, I love being me!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Confessions of a Hallway Hustler is a retelling of Brian De Palma\u2019s Scarface (1983) in the style of Diary of a Wimpy Kid. The protagonist Tony Montana is a 12-year-old lovable scoundrel who gets kicked out of his elite boarding school in the imaginary European country of Luxland for breaking one too many rules. In … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[8,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-327","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-fiction","category-process","no-featured-image-padding"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/seanmiller.us\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/327","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/seanmiller.us\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/seanmiller.us\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seanmiller.us\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seanmiller.us\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=327"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/seanmiller.us\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/327\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":332,"href":"https:\/\/seanmiller.us\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/327\/revisions\/332"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/seanmiller.us\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=327"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seanmiller.us\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=327"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seanmiller.us\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=327"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}