12 and holding Page #6

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The CONDUCTOR, MR. FARMER (40) overly energetic and dorky,

waves his baton, silencing the band.

MR FARMER:

(annoyed)

Did anyone practice over the

summer?

The band sits silent.

MR. FARMER

Great. Well, we still have a fall

recital coming up. If anyone would

like to perform a solo, sign up on

the sheet outside my office. Class

dismissed.

Off Malee, weighing the decision in her mind.

INT. SCHOOL HALLWAY - MOMENTS LATER

Malee stands outside Mr. Farmer’s office, staring at the SIGN

UP SHEET on his door. After a beat, she lifts her pen to

sign her name. Before she writes it, she stops, quickly

turns around and walks away.

After a beat, Malee returns to the sign up sheet and starts

writing her name. Halfway through, she stops, scratches out

her name and walks off.

We remain on the sign up sheet. After a few seconds, Malee’s

hand enters the shot and writes in her name.

INT. JACOB’S HOME - DEN - EVENING

Jacob enters to find Jim and Ashley fighting.

(CONTINUED)

34.

CONTINUED:

ASHLEY:

No, they’re wrong. Call them back.

JIM:

Ashley, I talked to the lawyer. He

wouldn’t lie.

JACOB:

What’s going on?

ASHLEY:

This is all your fault.

JIM:

Me?

ASHLEY:

If we had gone to the hearings like

I said, this wouldn’t be happening.

JIM:

We agreed it would be too painful.

ASHLEY:

You agreed.

JACOB:

Mom, what happened?

Ashley turns to Jacob as if realizing his presence for the

first time.

ASHLEY:

Tell him. Tell your son.

JIM:

The boys who killed Rudy cut a

deal. They got a year in juvinile

hall and five years probation.

ASHLEY:

A year. That's what your brother’s

life is worth. A damn year!

JIM:

Ashley, calm down!

ASHLEY:

How can you be so unaffected by

this! How? Our son was murdered!

(CONTINUED)

35.

CONTINUED:
(2)

JIM:

(measured)

It was an accident, and the boys

are juveniles.

ASHLEY:

So that makes it okay?

Ashley storms out of the room. Jacob looks to his father,

unnerved by the sight of his mother so upset.

Jim just turns and walks into the living room.

FADE TO BLACK:

SFX OVER BLACK:
ALARM CLOCK

FADE IN:

INT. LEONARD’S BEDROOM - EARLY MORNING

Leonard awakens and silences the alarm. He sits up in bed

for a moment and comes to his senses.

EXT. LEONARD’S HOME - MOMENTS LATER

Dressed in a sweat suit and sneakers, Leonard sprints down

the driveway and to the street. His sweat suit is so tight,

Leonard looks like a stuffed sausage.

With each step he takes, Leonard breathing becomes heavier

and heavier. Sweat forms on his forehead and drips down his

face.

Within seconds, Leonard’s pace tapers off. He struggles to

continue but is so out of shape, stopping is inevitable.

Leonard leans over, gasping for air. He looks back and

realizes that he only ran about one hundred yards. In fact,

his house is still in view.

Leonard turns around and starts walking back home. After a

few steps, he stops and throws up.

EXT. CONSTRUCTION SITE - DAYS LATER - AFTERNOON

Gus stands inside of a shallow ditch, digging out the roots

of an old tree.

MALEE (O.S.)

Don’t I know you?

(CONTINUED)

36.

CONTINUED:

Gus turns and sees Malee behind him, holding a PICNIC BASKET.

GUS:

Dr. Chung’s daughter.

MALEE:

You remembered. We were never

introduced. My name is Malee.

GUS:

Gus.

They shake hands.

GUS (CONT'D) (cont’d)

What are you doing here?

MALEE:

I was in the mood for a picnic. I

thought this would be a nice place

to have one.

Gus looks around, confused. This location is anything but

picnic friendly. Bulldozers plough through the scene,

blasting exhaust into the air. Men scream at each other.

WORKER (O.S.)

A**hole, move your f***ing truck!

MALEE:

Would you like to join me? There’s

plenty of food.

GUS:

I don’t go to lunch for another ten

minutes.

MALEE:

I’ll wait. Meet me by the cement

mixer when you’re ready.

Malee walks off. Gus watches as she makes her way through

the construction site.

EXT. CONSTRUCTION SITE - ANOTHER AREA - TEN MINUTES LATER

Gus and Malee sit on a checkered blanket, eating Chinese food

with chopsticks. A large CEMENT MIXER stands behind them.

(CONTINUED)

37.

CONTINUED:

GUS:

The last time I saw you, you had

just come from a funeral. How are

you doing?

MALEE:

Okay. Death is like so weird. I

mean, it’s sad, but I also feel

like I’ve been given this sign. A

sign which is telling me, life is

short, so you gotta do what makes

you happy. You gotta take chances.

You gotta get crazy.

GUS:

What are you doing to “get crazy”?

MALEE:

I play the flute.

GUS:

(laughs)

Yeah, that’s totally nuts.

MALEE:

No, not that. See, every year my

school has this recital. I’ve

always been too scared to play a

solo in front of people, but this

year I’ve decided to do it.

GUS:

Good for you. When is it?

MALEE:

Why do you care?

GUS:

Cause I’m gonna go.

MALEE:

What? You can’t go! Nobody goes

to these things. I don’t even

think my mom is going.

GUS:

You gotta have somebody rooting for

ya. Besides, I like music, and I

owe you for bringing me lunch.

(CONTINUED)

38.

CONTINUED:
(2)

MALEE:

(laughs, embarrassed)

Okay. Tuesday at 8:30 in the

junior high school auditorium.

GUS:

I’ll be there.

MALEE:

(vulnerable)

Don’t say it if you don’t mean it.

GUS:

I’ll be there. Front row.

Malee smiles. She’s got a major crush on Gus now.

CUT TO:

TIGHT ON TV:
VIDEO GAME - HALO. Two soldiers fire at each

other with supersonic weapons. One soldier is particularly

annihilated. GAME OVER appears.

INT. CARGES LIVING ROOM. DAY

REVEAL Jacob and Leonard in front of the TV. Malee off to the

side, reading a book.

LEONARD:

I can’t believe how much you suck

at this game.

Jacob throws his remote down.

LEONARD (CONT'D) (cont’d)

You wanna play again?

JACOB:

No.

The boys sit in silence for a beat.

LEONARD:

You wanna shoot some hoops?

JACOB:

No.

(beat)

The sentencing thing totally upset

my mom. She was up half the night,

crying.

(CONTINUED)

39.

CONTINUED:

Malee closes her book, looks over at Leanord.

LEONARD:

I can’t believe it either. A year

ain’t sh*t! Rudy is dead forever.

JACOB:

I want them dead. I want to kill

them. I could handle a year in

Juvy hall.

MALEE:

Whoa, what those guys did was an

accident. If you were to kill

them, it’s premedicated. You’d get

20 years to life at least.

JACOB:

So I’m just supposed to sit here

and take it? Be like you guys.

LEONARD:

What is that supposed to mean?

JACOB:

You seem to have gone on with life

pretty easily. Don’t you miss him?

Don’t you care?

MALEE:

It’s not that we don’t care. It’s

just...

JACOB:

Life goes on.

MALEE:

It does. You have to deal with it.

If you don’t, it could like eat you

alive forever. 90 percent of

people’s problems is due to their

inability to get over the past.

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