12 and holding Page #13

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Leonard doesn’t answer her.

GRACE (CONT'D) (cont’d)

Leonard?

Silence.

GRACE (CONT'D) (cont’d)

Oh, Jesus!

Grace begins walking downstairs. Due to her size, she has

difficultly maneuvering through the tight space. Her

inability to see her feet isn’t helping matters.

Grace makes it downstairs, but Leonard is nowhere in sight.

GRACE (CONT'D) (cont’d)

Leonard?

Suddenly, Leonard bursts through the bathroom door with a

hammer in hand. He runs past Grace and up the stairs.

GRACE (CONT'D) (cont’d)

What the hell?

Half way up the stairs, Leonard stops and pries two of the

steps off the stair case with his hammer. This creates a

GAP, making it virtually impossible for Grace to ascend.

GRACE (CONT'D) (cont’d)

What are you doing? I can’t climb

up now!

Leonard runs upstairs and slams the door after him.

GRACE (CONT'D) (cont’d)

Leonard! Leonard!

EXT. GUS’ APARTMENT BUILDING - SAME TIME

Malee watches as Gus enters his car and drives off.

INT. APARTMENT BUILDING - HALLWAY - SECONDS LATER

Malee crosses to Gus’ door with a GROCERY BAG in hand. She

kicks the welcome mat aside, picks up the spare key and

enters.

80.

INT. GUS’ APARTMENT - KITCHEN - CONTINUOUS

Malee enters and removes a pair of rubber gloves, a bottle of

ammonia and trash bags. She starts cleaning.

INT. LEONARD’S HOME - BASEMENT - LATER THAT DAY

Leonard descends the staircase, holding a tray of food.

Grace instantly rises.

LEONARD:

I hope someone is hungry.

GRACE:

Get me out of here now!

LEONARD:

No joke, Ma. For the next two

weeks while Dad and the girls are

away, you will be kept down here.

I’ll provide you with nutritious

meals and plenty of water. You,

mother, will learn what it means to

be healthy.

GRACE:

That’s what this is about, food?

LEONARD:

I’m trying to save your life, mom.

Trying to give you a life. Cause I

love you.

GRACE:

My life is fine. I don’t need you

to “save me”.

Leonard looks at his mother, sympathetic.

LEONARD:

You don’t even realize how sick you

are. It’s a problem when an

otherwise healthy woman can’t drag

her ass up a flight of stairs

because she’s so obese. You’re

staying down here.

Leonard turns and crosses back to the staircase.

LEONARD (CONT'D) (cont’d)

Oh, and no cigarettes either.

81.

INT. GUS’ APARTMENT - KITCHEN - EVENING

The kitchen is now spotless. Malee removes TWO TV DINNERS

from the oven. She crosses over to the kitchen table and

places the food onto plates.

The table is set to the nines. A small candle burns in the

center. Once the table is set and the food served, Malee

takes a step back and smiles.

INT. GUS’ APARTMENT - BATHROOM - LATER

Malee strips off her clothes and puts on a long, silk robe.

EXT. GUS’ APARTMENT BUILDING - SAME TIME

Gus drives up, gets out of his car and enters the building.

INT. APARTMENT BUILDING - HALLWAY - MOMENTS LATER

Gus approaches his door. As he takes out his key, he notices

that the welcome mat has been pushed off to the side. Gus

lifts the mat up and sees that his spare key is gone.

INT. GUS’S APARTMENT - FRONT ENTRANCE/ KITCHEN - CONTINUOUS

Gus enters. He knows someone else is in there.

GUS:

Hello?

We follow him into the kitchen and FIND MALEE, standing

beside the table and dressed only in her robe.

GUS (CONT'D) (cont’d)

What the hell is this?

MALEE:

I made dinner, my love. And I have

a surprise.

GUS:

You’ve been in my apartment before,

haven’t you?

Malee drops her robe, revealing her naked body. Gus quickly

looks away.

GUS (CONT'D) (cont’d)

Malee, put your clothes on now!

(CONTINUED)

82.

CONTINUED:

MALEE:

Don’t you like my body?

Malee starts walking towards him.

GUS:

Malee, stop.

MALEE:

It’s okay because I love you.

Gus doesn’t answer. Malee is right behind him now. She puts

her head on his back.

MALEE (CONT'D) (cont’d)

Touch me.

Gus slowly turns around and looks at Malee for a long,

pregnant beat. It’s a tense moment, and we are unsure of

what he’s going to do. Then Gus moves past her and crosses

to the living room.

MALEE (cont’d)

Where are you going?

GUS:

To go call your mother.

Gus exits. Malee stands the fool.

MALEE:

But we’re soulmates.

Now embarrassed and crushed, she starts to cry.

EXT. GUS’S APARTMENT - LATER THAT NIGHT

Malee, now wrapped in a large overcoat, is led by Yacco out

of the building and over to her car.

INT. YACCO’S CAR - CONTINUOUS

Yacco and Malee sit in silence. After a beat.

YACCO:

I don’t know what to say to you.

INT. JACOB’S HOME - BEDROOM - AFTERNOON

Jacob shoves clothes into his backpack.

Keith enters with Rudy’s baseball glove on his hand.

(CONTINUED)

83.

CONTINUED:

KEITH:

Wanna play some catch?

Jacob notices the glove. He rushes over to Keith, yanks it

off his hand and pushes Keith to the ground.

JACOB:

Where the hell did you get this?

KEITH:

The closet. Ow, what’s wrong?

Keith struggles to get free, but Jacob is too strong.

KEITH (CONT'D) (cont’d)

You’re hurting me.

JACOB:

Did I say you could play with the

glove? Did I?

KEITH:

No, I just...

JACOB:

Everything, and I mean, EVERYTHING

in this room is mine. You are not

allowed to touch a thing,

especially the glove.

KEITH:

Okay, okay.

Jacob gets off of Keith and crosses to his closet. He pulls

out the lock box, unlocks it and removes the gun. He points

it at Keith.

JACOB:

If you tell my parents what I said,

I’ll kill you. I’ll shoot you in

the f***ing face, I swear it!

Keith nods, petrified. Jacob puts the gun back in the lock

box, throws it in the closet and storms out of the room.

INT. JACOB’S HOUSE - KITCHEN - MOMENTS LATER

Ashley sits at the kitchen table, looking at a picture of

Rudy and Jacob when they were infants. Her eyes are filled,

but she’s not crying.

(CONTINUED)

84.

CONTINUED:

Jacob enters and crosses to the fridge. He spots Ashley and

is taken aback by her state.

JACOB:

(cold)

What’s wrong now?

ASHLEY:

I was looking at a picture of you

and Rudy when you were born. God,

I miss him.

JACOB:

But you have Keith now

Ashley is struck by Jacob’s comment.

ASHLEY:

What the hell does that mean?

JACOB:

You have Keith. Two boys again.

Everything is fine.

ASHLEY:

We didn’t adopt Keith to replace

Rudy.

JACOB:

Didn’t you?

ASHLEY:

For your information, your father

and I discussed adopting for years.

JACOB:

(not buying it)

Right. Maybe if it was me who

died, you wouldn’t need another kid

to get over it.

ASHLEY:

How can you say that? I never

wanted either of my children to

die.

JACOB:

But one of us did. If you had to

choose which one, I bet you wish it

was me.

(CONTINUED)

85.

CONTINUED:
(2)

ASHLEY:

I know you think we favored Rudy...

JACOB:

You did! Admit it.

ASHLEY:

I admit he was easier to raise, but

we didn’t love him more. Jacob,

listen to me. You came with a

different set of challenges.

JACOB:

My birthmark.

ASHLEY:

It’s not easy being different...

JACOB:

(screams)

I’m not different!! You always

made me feel like something was

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