12 and holding Page #10

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Ashley looks at Jacob and smiles. He has just unwrapped an

IPOD.

(CONTINUED)

59.

CONTINUED:

ASHLEY:

You like it?

JACOB:

I love it. You guys went crazy

this year.

Ashley smiles at her son. It’s a bittersweet moment for her.

JIM:

I’m going to shower.

ASHLEY:

Jim, Jacob still has one more

present.

JIM:

I thought we were going to wait.

JACOB:

No, do it now! Now!

Ashley crosses to the couch and sits beside Jim. They hold

each others hands.

ASHLEY:

After serious debate, your father

and I have decided... to adopt A

BABY!

JACOB:

What?

JIM:

We’re gonna adopt a baby.

Hopefully a boy.

Off Jacob’s shock

INT. LEONARD’S HOME - DINING ROOM - DAY

Leonard’s extended family sits at the kitchen table, eating

Christmas dinner. His extended family is just as overweight

as his immediate. Leonard barely touches his own plate, too

disgusted to eat. He rises.

LEONARD:

May I be excused?

The entire family stops eating and turns to him.

(CONTINUED)

60.

CONTINUED:

GRACE:

No!

Leonard sits back down. His family quickly resumes eating.

INT. MALEE’S HOME - DEN - EVENING

Malee does her homework, Yacoo flips through a fashion

magazine.

MALEE:

Why do I have to do this? It’s

Christmas break.

YACCO:

You’ll be one step ahead in

January.

MALEE:

Just because you’re an atheist, I

don’t get to celebrate the

holidays.

Yacco shoots Malee the look of death.

MALEE (CONT'D) (cont’d)

Don’t you find it hard not

believing in anything?

YACCO:

Malee.

MALEE:

I’m going for a bike ride.

YACCO:

There’s a foot of snow outside.

MALEE:

The streets are ploughed. Besides,

I like looking at all the lights.

YACCO:

Be home in an hour. Be careful.

EXT. 7-11 PARKING LOT - LATER THAT NIGHT

Malee flips through a TELEPHONE BOOK. She comes to Gus’ name

and rips out the page.

61.

INT. GUS’ APARTMENT BUILDING - OUTSIDE HIS DOOR - LATER

Malee knocks on Gus’ door, but he doesn’t answer. Then Malee

spots a WELCOME MAT. She kicks it aside and discovers a

SPARE KEY underneath.

INT. GUS’S APARTMENT - CONTINUOUS

Malee cautiously enters, shutting the door behind her. A

beat. She allows the excitement to settle in. It’s your

typical bachelor pad. Stray beer bottles decorate every

shelf and end table. Dirty clothes drape across an old

couch. Malee continues on to the kitchen.

INT. GUS’ APARTMENT - KITCHEN - CONTINUOUS

Malee finds the kitchen more of a mess than the living room.

Pots, pans and stacks of TV dinners line the counter top.

INT. GUS’S APARTMENT - BEDROOM - MOMENTS LATER

Malee enters and stops cold at the sight of the bed. Its

unmade and the sheets and blankets are entangled in a ball.

Aroused, Malee sits on the bed and then lies back in ecstacy.

EXT. FRONT OF GUS’ APARTMENT BUILDING - SAME TIME

Gus drives up, parks along the sidewalk, and gets out.

INT. GUS’S APARTMENT - BEDROOM - SAME TIME

Malee goes through a photo album. We see pictures of Gus,

dressed in a firefighter’s uniform. He appears much younger

and clean cut.

As Malee returns the album to the night stand, she notices a

an open drawer and peeks inside.

INT. APARTMENT BUILDING - STAIRWELL - SAME TIME

Gus lazily makes his way upstairs.

INT. GUS’S APARTMENT - BEDROOM - SAME TIME

Malee holds Gus’ gun. Complete with sound effects, she

pretends to shoot a beer bottle off the dresser.

Malee laughs and then jumps across the bed like a Charlie’s

Angel.

62.

INT. APARTMENT BUILDING - GUS’S FRONT DOOR - SAME TIME

Gus fumbles for his keys.

INT. GUS’S APARTMENT - BEDROOM - SAME TIME

Malee stands in front of the mirror, posing.

MALEE:

Freeze! That’s right.

Malee laughs in spite of herself. In the process, she

unknowingly c*cks the trigger. Malee places the gun to her

forehead and pretends to shoot herself.

TIGHT ON TRIGGER, a hair away from firing SFX:

BAM!

INT. GUS’ APARTMENT - FRONT DOOR - SAME TIME

The loud bang we heard was the front door slamming shut. Gus

opens it and inspects the door frame.

INT. GUS’ APARTMENT - KITCHEN/BEDROOM - SECONDS LATER

Gus removes a beer from the fridge. We follow him into his

bedroom. He stops cold as if feeling the presence of some

one else there, but Malee is nowhere to be found.

Gus begins getting undressed. We follow his shirt to the

floor and SEE Malee, hiding underneath his bed.

SFX:
FOOTSTEPS, DOOR OPENING, SHOWER RUNNING

Malee looks out from underneath the bed. She watches as the

now naked Gus enters the shower stall in the bathroom.

As the water falls upon Gus, Malee rises from underneath the

bed and crosses over to him.

INT. GUS’ APARTMENT - BATHROOM - CONTINUOUS

From over Gus’s shoulder, we see Malee approaching. An inch

away from Gus, Malee reaches out her hand to touch him.

Suddenly, Gus breaks down and starts crying.

Unsettled, Malee slowly retreats out of the bathroom.

INT. JACOB’S HOME - BEDROOM - NEXT DAY

Malee, Leonard and Jacob sit, playing LIFE, the board game.

(CONTINUED)

63.

CONTINUED:

LEONARD:

Don’t worry, white male infants are

the hardest to come by. 60 minutes

did a whole story on it.

MALEE:

Since when do you watch 60 minutes?

LEONARD:

Since I was in the hospital. They

said, any adoption agency worth its

salt has at least a three year

waiting list. By the time your

parents get a kid, you’ll be in

college. You think they’ll want to

start over again with that baby

sh*t?

JACOB:

No, but it’s like they’re trying to

replace Rudy.

LEONARD:

It doesn’t matter cause it’s not

gonna happen.

Malee has been silent this entire time. Seeing a moment, she

speaks up.

MALEE:

I’m thirsty.

(to Leanard)

Can you get us some drinks?

LEONARD:

Why me?

MALEE:

Because it’s the gentlemanly thing

to do.

JACOB:

I’ll get the drinks.

MALEE:

I’ll go with you.

LEONARD:

Why are you all of a sudden going

to get the drinks?

(CONTINUED)

64.

CONTINUED:
(2)

MALEE:

(bitchy)

Because you’ve upset me, and I

don’t want to see you right now.

Leonard looks to Jacob.

LEONARD:

Fine, I’ll get the drinks.

Leonard exits. Malee turns to Jacob.

MALEE:

I need a favor. It’s big. I need

you to hide something for me.

JACOB:

Hide what?

Malee reaches into her back pack.

MALEE:

Promise, you won’t freak.

JACOB:

I won’t.

Malee removes Gus’ gun.

JACOB (cont’d)

Holy sh*t!

MALEE:

You said, you wouldn’t freak!

JACOB:

That’s a gun.

MALEE:

I know.

JACOB:

Where’d you get it?

MALEE:

I can’t tell you. I just need you

to hide it for a while. When all

is cool, I’ll come for it.

JACOB:

Why can’t you keep it?

(CONTINUED)

65.

CONTINUED:
(3)

MALEE:

My mother is a total snoop. She

goes through my stuff like all the

time.

(beat)

Please, Jacob. Somebody’s life

might depend on it.

Jacob crosses to his closet, removes his metal LOCK BOX and

opens it. Jacob takes the gun and places it inside.

JACOB:

Is it loaded?

MALEE:

No, but I do have some bullets.

Malee reaches into her backpack and removes the bullets.

Jacob takes them out and puts them in the lock box.

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