🎬 STRAIGHT JACKET – EPISODE 7: “Checkmate”
Written and created By Antoinette Lavonne Johnson – Queenflix / RealityDundidItAgain / R.C. Queen
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INT. PRIVATE CIGAR LOUNGE – NIGHT

Warm lighting. Mahogany tables. The smell of smoke and money in the air. Maksha sits alone in a corner booth, sipping bourbon, eyes locked on the door.

It opens — in walks CASSIUS VANE. Mid-40s. Smooth, sharp suit, and sharper tongue. He’s not just a rival — he’s an old friend who once taught Maksha the game. And now, he’s been using her own tactics against her for months.

CASSIUS
(smiling like a king)
Maksha. The Queen herself.
I was wondering when you’d finally take my invitation.

MAKSHA
(leaning back, smirking)
I don’t take invitations, Cassius.
I take territory.

FLASH CUTS – RECENT WEEKS

Cassius undercutting her deals.

Planting whispers in the streets that Maksha’s “unstable.”

Quiet meetings with her enemies behind closed doors.

INT. LOUNGE – BACK TO PRESENT

CASSIUS lays out a chess board between them, smirking like this is all a game.

CASSIUS
Let’s see if the Queen still knows how to play.

Maksha takes the black pieces. Her first move? Bold. Aggressive. Cassius raises a brow.

MAKSHA
The problem with you, Cassius… is you think knowing my past moves means you can predict my next one.

THE GAME PLAYS OUT – QUICK CUTS

Cassius takes her knight.

Maksha traps his rook.

Cassius leans in, voice low, taunting.

CASSIUS
Everybody’s starting to think you’ve lost it.
Maybe the straight jacket does fit.

MAKSHA
(deadly calm)
Cassius… you haven’t seen crazy yet.

ACTION BEAT – THE REAL PLAN

As they play, we see flashbacks of Maksha’s crew working the room before she arrived — planting tiny mics, slipping files into pockets, disabling Cassius’s phone.

*Every move on the chessboard matches a real-world move happening around them:

Pawn forward → one of his bank accounts frozen.

Bishop strikes → one of his bodyguards lured outside.

Queen takes rook → one of his shipments seized by her crew.*

FINAL MOVES

Cassius goes for what he thinks is checkmate. Maksha blocks it with a sly smile.

MAKSHA
(softly)
You play chess to win pieces.
I play chess to take the board.

She moves her Queen. Checkmate.

EXT. LOUNGE – MOMENTS LATER

Cassius is dragged outside by her crew, hands zip-tied, a chrome straight jacket strapped tight around him.

MAKSHA
(to Cassius, whispering)
You taught me the game.
But I perfected it.
And when you try to bury me in rumors, I bury you in facts.

She leans in, lips by his ear.

MAKSHA (CONT’D)
Crazy is just what they call a woman who’s too smart to be controlled.

FINAL SHOT

Maksha walks into the night, rain hitting her leather coat, her crew following close. Cassius’s muffled shouts fade into the sound of the city.

VOICE-OVER – MAKSHA
They can call me crazy all they want…
But the moment they do, I’ve already won.

FADE OUT.