Butch

Butch Ellis has bounced around since leaving the military. He’s a giant of a man, but he is so passive, it’s almost like he’s not there. His wife Annie, has stuck with him through problem after problem, job after job. He loves her, but he worries that he’ll never be good enough for her. Everybody thinks that Butch has a gambling problem, but really he has a system. It was given to him by his uncle Bernie who died penniless in the gutter, but that’s another story. He goes to the races to bet a single horse in a single race. Recently, he’s been doing pretty good, but Annie tells him on her way to her steady job that if he doesn’t win, he walks home. Butch wins. Then his horse is disqualified. He walks the long walk from Santa Anita to Echo Park. As night sets in, he almost gets run over by a man in a convertible. The man flips him off. Then three black SUVs pull up behind the convertible. The son of the local mobster, Jake, gets out of one of the cars and has a “conversation” with the man. He doesn’t seem to like his answers and shoots him dead. Butch witnesses the whole thing from the shadows. He tells the police when they arrive on site. The next day he gets a visit from the mob don. He explains that Butch should do what he feels is right. But if he testifies, he will lose his wife and three daughters. He will have them all killed before the trial. Butch snaps. He ushers the man out telling him that he has an important decision. Really, he just needs to get ready. The threat against his family has touched on a part of Butch that has been long idle. It has awoken a very skilled and prolific killer.