12 and holding Page #7

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LEONARD:

How do you know?

MALEE:

My mom tells that to all her

patients. I’ve eavesdropped on

some of her therapy sessions.

(CONTINUED)

40.

CONTINUED:
(2)

LEONARD:

That’s awesome. Can I listen in

sometime?

MALEE:

No. Anyway, she says, if a person

wants closure, they gotta deal with

their problems head on. Go see

these guys and let them know how

you feel.

JACOB:

I don’t think my parents would be

up for that.

MALEE:

Go alone. Juvy hall is only like

forty minutes from here. Take the

bus.

Off Jacob, thinking-

INT. JACOB’S PARENT’S BEDROOM - LATER THAT AFTERNOON

The bedroom door slowly opens. Jacob peeks his head inside

the darkened room and quietly enters. He tip toes over to

his parent’s bed. Ashley lies asleep, wrapped up in a bundle

of blankets.

Jacob crosses to her night stand and opens the top drawer.

He removes her purse, unzips it and steals some cash, which

totals around 60 dollars.

INT. CARGES LIVING ROOM - MOMENTS LATER

Jim sits in his chair, staring off into space. Jacob enters

and crosses to the front door.

JACOB:

Bye, Dad.

EXT. BUS STATION - MOMENTS LATER

With the help of the BUS DRIVER, Jacob loads his bike into

the luggage compartment underneath the bus. Then he hands

the driver a ticket and boards.

Jacob takes a seat up front. After a few moments, the driver

boards, starts the engine and drives off.

41.

INT. JUVINILE HALL - CONVERSATION BOOTH - LATER

Jacob and Kenny sit, staring at each other through a plate of

glass. Kenny picks up the ONE WAY PHONE. Jacob does also.

JACOB:

Where’s Jeff?

KENNY:

He’s sick. I think he...

JACOB:

(interrupting)

I hate you. You know that? You

bastard.

KENNY:

Rudy knew we were going to be

there. He never should have come.

You want the truth, all this

happened cause of you.

JACOB:

Me?

KENNY:

Yeah, you deformed retard! The

only reason we started picking on

you guys in the first place was

because of that thing on your face.

JACOB:

Every night, I lie in bed and plan

your murder.

KENNY:

I’m shaking.

JACOB:

First I’m going to take a kitchen

knife and chop off your fingers

then your nose then your tongue.

Then I’m gonna poke out your eyes

with the end of a broomstick.

Well, not really poke them out, but

I’m gonna push them back into your

brain. Then I’m gonna take

scissors and cut off your ears.

When they find you, it’s gonna be

like putting a jigsaw puzzle back

together.

(CONTINUED)

42.

CONTINUED:

KENNY:

If you kill me, you come here.

JACOB:

So? What do I have to look forward

to? You’ve already destroyed my

life.

KENNY:

What happened was an accident.

JACOB:

There are no accidents. You’re

gonna pay for what you did. And

it’s gonna hurt like hell.

INT. LEONARD’S BEDROOM - NIGHT

Leonard sits, reading through nutritional manuals.

We see that he is writing things down on a piece of paper.

The words written are: Sugar, corn syrup, salt, gum.

INT. LEONARD’S HOME - HALLWAY/KITCHEN - LATER

Grace walks through the hallway half asleep. She enters the

kitchen and finds Leonard, sitting on the floor, surrounded

by boxes of food. All of the kitchen cupboards are open and

packages line the counter tops.

GRACE:

What the hell is this?

LEONARD:

I’m reading the list of ingredients

in our foods.

GRACE:

Why?

LEONARD:

Research. Do you know the damage

these chemicals can do to the human

body?

GRACE:

Leonard, put everything back.

LEONARD:

This is serious. You can’t keep

buying this crap. Don’t you care

that you’re ingesting garbage?

(CONTINUED)

43.

CONTINUED:

GRACE:

Just put everything back and go to

sleep.

Off Leonard’s look

EXT. STREET - NEXT DAY - AFTERNOON

Malee is riding her bike on the sidewalk when she sees Gus,

exit his car and enter her mother’s office.

INT. STAIRWELL/HALLWAY - MOMENTS LATER

Malee runs up a flight of stairs. She gets off at the second

floor and enters an open, unoccupied office.

INT. UNOCCUPIED OFFICE - CONTINUOUS

Malee runs over to the heating grate and puts her ear to it.

YACCO (FROM BELOW)

How was your week?

GUS (FROM BELOW)

Same. Still can’t sleep. When I

do, nightmares.

INT. YACCO’S OFFICE - SAME TIME

Yacco and Gus sit across from each other.

YACCO:

Post traumatic stress is very

common in your line of work. Many

fire fighters go through this.

GUS:

Yeah. But why now? I haven’t

fought fires in ten years.

YACCO:

Sometimes we experience something

so horrific, our memory blocks it

out. That way we won’t have to

relive the pain. It’s called

repression. Our bodies are not so

forgiving, however. Inside, we

feel the effects of trauma even

when we don’t know why.

GUS:

What does that mean?

(CONTINUED)

44.

CONTINUED:

YACCO:

Something stirred your unconscious.

If we find out what that was, we

can begin the healing process.

Gus looks to her, confused.

YACCO (CONT'D) (cont’d)

You told me last week, the

nightmares started about the time

you moved here. Let’s look at

that. Why did you move here?

GUS:

A friend was making good money with

construction. He got an offer to

build that extension off Lindsay

Acres. He suggested I come into

town and work for a while.

INT. UPSTAIRS OFFICE -SAME TIME

Malee is on the edge of her seat, listening. We see that she

has written the following words in her notebook: GUS -

NIGHTMARES - FIRE.

YACCO (FROM BELOW)

Are there any other reoccurring

elements in your dreams. Perhaps,

a face or...

INT. YACCO’S OFFICE - SAME TIME

GUS:

“Light my Fire” is always playing.

YACCO:

What?

GUS:

Light my fire. The Doors song.

(singing)

“Da da something... wallow in the

mire... Da, da... we couldn’t get

much higher. Come on baby light my

fire.

Yacco stares at Gus. He is suddenly self conscious.

YACCO:

Interesting.

45.

INT. UPSTAIRS OFFICE - SAME TIME

Malee circles the words “Light My Fire” again and again and

again.

INT. JACOB’S HOME - UPSTAIRS HALLWAY - DAYS LATER - EVENING

SFX:
CLANGING POTS AND PANS, coming from downstairs.

Jacob exits his room and goes to inspect the noise.

INT. JACOB’S HOME - KITCHEN - MOMENTS LATER

Jim stands on a chair, cleaning out the kitchen cupboards.

Pots and pans line the counter tops, dishes cover the table

and non perishable foods are spread out across the floor.

Jacob enters and is taken aback by the sight of Jim standing

on a chair and wearing an APRON and RUBBER GLOVES.

JACOB:

Dad?

JIM:

Jacob.

JACOB:

You okay?

JIM:

Fantastic.

Jim rips the rubber gloves off with his teeth.

JIM (CONT'D) (cont’d)

You know, for the past few weeks, I

sat in this house. I couldn’t

move. Everything reminded me of

Rudy. Then from out of nowhere I

had a revelation. I am alive!

Your mother is alive! I became

overcome with joy because I

realized how lucky we are to still

have you.

JACOB:

Me?

JIM:

Jacob. I love you.

(CONTINUED)

46.

CONTINUED:

Jim grabs Jacob and hugs him tightly. Jacob pulls away,

unsettled and bit frightened.

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