12 and holding Page #11

---

MALEE (CONT'D) (cont’d)

Sure your parents won’t find it?

JACOB:

Nobody has the combination, but me.

Besides, I could be building a bomb

in here, and they wouldn’t even

know.

Off Jacob, locking the box up.

FADE TO BLACK:

FADE IN:

EXT. STREET - MONTHS LATER - MORNING

ON TWO FEET, running. We REVEAL that it’s LEONARD. His once

skin tight sweat suit, hangs off of him. More than just

skinny, Leonard is in perfect shape. He runs fast, carefully

avoiding puddles of melting snow. (Spring is fast on the

horizon.)

INT. JUVY HALL - CONVERSATION BOOTH - NEXT DAY

Jacob and Kenny talk via one way phone. Their demeanor has

changed since last we saw them. No longer fraught with

contempt and acrimony, they speak like two old friends.

JACOB:

I sent in some comics for ya. The

X-men one is pretty sweet.

(CONTINUED)

66.

CONTINUED:

KENNY:

That last batch was awesome.

Jacob checks his watch.

JACOB:

I better get going, I don’t want to

miss my bus.

KENNY:

Before you go, I got some news.

Apparently, the parole board feels

I’ve been a model prisoner, so

they’re giving me early release.

JACOB:

What? How can they do that?

KENNY:

I don’t know. They just did.

You’re pissed, aren’t you? I knew

you would be.

(off Jacob’s silence)

It was an accident, Jacob.

JACOB:

So you’re getting out. Gonna head

back to school, or...

KENNY:

F*** school. I’m going to live

with my Dad in New Mexico. He’s

working on a ranch out there.

JACOB:

You can’t leave the state. That

violates your probation. You’ll

have to...

KENNY:

My dad won’t tell anyone. No one

will even care I’m out there.

JACOB:

Your mom will.

KENNY:

Jacob, in the entire time I’ve been

locked up, you were the only one

who came to see me. Trust me, she

won’t care.

67.

INT. MALEE’S HOME - KITCHEN - AFTERNOON

Malee fans out a fist full of twenty dollar bills.

MALEE:

200 dollars! Dad sent me 200

dollars!

Yacco, smiling, gets ready for work.

MALEE (CONT'D) (cont’d)

I have to call him.

YACCO:

No!

(covering)

Your father... went out. He’s not

home right now.

Malee eyes her mother, suspicious.

MALEE:

You’re acting weird. What’s going

on?

YACCO:

Nothing.

MALEE:

Well, do you want to come with me

to the mall and spend it?

YACCO:

I’d prefer it if you’d put that

money in the bank.

(off Malee’s look)

Fine, spend it. You’ll have to do

it alone though. I have a patient

this afternoon. Have a good day.

Yacco exits the kitchen. Malee looks at her cash and smiles.

INT. LEONARD’S HOME - KITCHEN - SAME TIME

Leonard, Patrick and Grace sit at the kitchen table.

PATRICK:

Here’s the deal. You know how my

company flies me to Florida every

April?

(CONTINUED)

68.

CONTINUED:

LEONARD:

You and I have been going since I

was eight. It’s the guy’s week

off.

PATRICK:

This year, I’m taking the girls.

Just the girls. You’re staying

home.

LEONARD:

Why can’t we all go?

GRACE:

I’m not staying here all alone.

Besides, you said it yourself,

you’ve been going for years. Give

your sisters a chance.

Leonard eyes his mother with hatred.

LEONARD:

Whatever.

(beat)

I need money.

PATRICK:

What for?

LEONARD:

Clothes. Nothing I have fits

anymore.

GRACE:

Your father and I aren’t rich. You

can’t get a new wardrobe anytime

you want.

LEONARD:

What am I supposed to do, go to

school naked?

GRACE:

Wear a belt.

PATRICK:

I’ll give him some cash, he can get

some clothes.

GRACE:

No. He’s gonna gain all his weight

back in a few months.

(MORE)

(CONTINUED)

69.

CONTINUED:
(2)

GRACE (cont'd)

Then what, we have to buy him new

clothes all over again?

Obviously hurt, Leonard storms out of the kitchen.

PATRICK:

Grace.

GRACE:

What? It’s true.

Grace exits the kitchen.

JACOB (O.S.)

I thought you hated going to

Florida?

EXT. JACOB’S FRONT LAWN - LATER

Leonard and Jacob play catch with a football.

LEONARD:

When I was fat. Now I don’t have

to wear a T-shirt when I go

swimming. Who knows, maybe I could

even get lucky.

JACOB:

You’re still ugly, though.

Leonard punches Jacob’s arm in fun.

LEONARD:

I don’t understand what my mother’s

problem is. It’s like the thinner

I get, the more she hates me.

JACOB:

She’s probably jealous. Maybe you

should put her on that diet.

LEONARD:

Anytime I mention it, my mother

goes crazy.

JACOB:

If you really want her to drop a

few tons, put her in jail. Kenny’s

lost about 30 pounds since he’s

been incarcerated, and he was

already thin.

(CONTINUED)

70.

CONTINUED:

LEONARD:

Really?

JACOB:

Yeah. Jail is the perfect weight

loss program. You take a fat tub,

throw them in a room and force them

to eat right and exercise. Don’t

let them out till they do.

Off Leonard, thinking-

INT. MALEE’S HOME - BEDROOM - NIGHT

Yacco enters Malee’s room.

YACCO:

Malee, dinner!

Yacco notices a number of department store bags strewn

everywhere.

YACCO (cont’d)

Malee?

(noticing something)

Oh my God!

REVEAL MALEE, standing across the room. She is no longer the

gawky, adolescent girl. Rather, she has been transformed

into a beautiful young woman. Her glasses have been replaced

by contacts, and her braided pig tails by a quaff of chin

length curls.

YACCO (CONT'D) (cont’d)

What did you do?

MALEE:

I got a new look. You know, for

Spring. What do you think?

Malee spins around, giving Yacco the full picture.

YACCO:

You look...

MALEE:

Beautiful?

YACCO:

Different. What happened to your

glasses?

(CONTINUED)

71.

CONTINUED:

MALEE:

Contacts. It took me like forty

five minutes to get them in, but

beauty is pain.

YACCO:

Honey, in the future, I’d like to

know if you’re going to radically

change your appearance. Clean your

stuff up and come down for dinner.

Yacco exits. Malee looks in the mirror, deflated.

EXT. CONSTRUCTION SITE - AFTERNOON

Gus watches a CEMENT TRUCK, dumping cement into a foundation.

Once the cement is poured, the truck pulls forward. Malee is

revealed, standing there and holding a picnic basket.

Gus sees the new and improved Malee for the first time. His

jaw drops.

GUS:

Malee? My God, you look...

MALEE:

Different?

GUS:

Beautiful. You look beautiful.

Off Malee’s smile

EXT. CONSTRUCTION SITE - ANOTHER AREA - LATER

Gus and Malee eat their lunch.

MALEE:

I felt like I needed a change, you

know?

GUS:

I bet you’re driving the boys at

school wild.

MALEE:

Boys my age are so immature. I’m

more attracted to older gentlemen.

Malee smiles at Gus. He knows where this is going, and he’s

suddenly nervous.

(CONTINUED)

72.

CONTINUED:

GUS:

You don’t want somebody that much

older than you. An age difference

can cause problems.

MALEE:

What kind of problems?

GUS:

A lot of times when a couple has an

age difference, they wind up

splitting up because they want

different things.

MALEE:

You mean sex.

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