A Most Violent Year Page #10

ANDREW WALSH:

That’s not what I mean. Why did you

want it so badly in the first

place? It was a risk... always.

ABEL thinks this through.

ABEL:

I don’t know.

ANDREW WALSH:

You don’t know? Have you ever

thought about it?

ABEL:

I’ve thought about it every day for

the last five years. This place was

sitting over that fence mocking....

ANDREW WALSH:

I didn’t mean have you ever thought

about that place...

(MORE)

57

ANDREW WALSH (CONT'D)

I mean have you ever thought why

you want it so badly?

ABEL:

I don’t know what you mean.

ABEL looks to him in a sincere way wanting him to answer but

ANDREW just waits. Finally.

ABEL (CONT’D)

I know what you are asking and

no... I never ask myself why I do

this. It just feels right...

wanting to be bigger feels better.

It feels right.

ANDREW WALSH:

That’s very simple.

ABEL:

Yes...

With this he gives him a deadly serious look.

ABEL (CONT’D)

...It is.

ANDREW WALSH:

You take these risks...

ABEL:

Only when necessary.

ANDREW WALSH:

We have to get going, we need them

to show up.

INT. WHITE TABLECLOTH RESTAURANT - NIGHT

ANNA leads the boys to the table, and we see a whole new side

to her. She is going to get this done. As they approach the

table we see two BANKERS stand to greet them. The Bank

President, ARTHUR LEWIS, and Bank VP IAN THOMPSON.

ANNA:

Arthur.

ARTHUR LEWIS:

Anna, you look amazing as always.

ANNA:

Thank you.

ARTHUR LEWIS:

Gentlemen. Do you know Ian

Thompson? One of our new VP’s.

ANNA:

Ian.

They all shake hands and sit. The WAITER comes over.

WAITER:

So what can I get you to drink?

ABEL:

A lot.

Awkward laughter.

ABEL (CONT’D)

A wine list please.

WAITER:

I’ll be right back.

ARTHUR LEWIS:

So how are you?

ABEL:

We’ve been better... but we are

good.

ARTHUR LEWIS:

Yes I heard about that... if you

stay in business long enough it’s

bound to happen eventually.

ANNA:

Well that’s exactly right. And we

wanted to sit down with you tonight

to make sure we were being totally

up-front with everything that is

going on and make sure that you

understand the nature of the

complaints and are comfortable that

it is not going to affect our

business in an adverse way.

ANDREW WALSH:

Did you have a chance to look over

the outline that I sent over?

ARTHUR LEWIS:

Yes, we did.

59

ANNA:

Hopefully it made clear that even

in a worst case situation we will

pay off any and all fines and be

able to move forward with very

comfortable capital on hand.

ABEL jumps in taking some offense.

ABEL:

But you should know Arthur that

this man has been digging through

our industry for over two years

looking for anything he can find.

And as you know probably better

than anyone, having worked with

some of our competitors the thought

that he would have singled us out

is ridiculous. It reeks of

everything that is wrong with this

city right now. We run a fair and

clean business and follow every

standard industry practice and I

will fight ‘til my last day to

prove that...

This silences the table for a long beat.

ABEL (CONT’D)

But... but...

ABEL holds up his finger and points at ARTHUR across the

table to make his point.

ABEL (CONT’D)

...Don’t think for a moment that I

am going to allow this mess to

interfere with our plan to grow. We

need to know you are standing by

us.

BANK VP IAN THOMPSON

Yes, what is it with this piece of

property that you find so integral

or that can’t be put off ‘til after

this legal matter is dealt with?

ABEL is a little taken aback by this comment. It goes against

everything that comes naturally to him as a person. ANNA and

ANDREW know this and are concerned he might go off.

ABEL thinks it through.

60

ABEL:

That’s a very good question. This

property gives us many things...

firstly direct access to the river.

So I can bring in fuel directly

from any provider in the world

straight to my tanks, then it has

over 10 million gallons of storage

capacity, so I can buy in the

summers when my price is low and

sell to my customers and most

importantly some of my competitors

when the price is high. I won’t

just drive trucks anymore... I will

control my fate... but the real

answer to your question...

Now ABEL stares right at IAN THOMPSON.

ABEL (CONT’D)

... is that when it feels scary to

jump Ian... that is exactly when

you must jump... or you risk ending

up staying in the same place your

whole life... and that I can’t do.

IAN THOMPSON awkwardly laughs a bit as ABEL just stays deadly

serious staring right at him. Finally.

ARTHUR LEWIS:

We’ve always been there with you

and know that we will continue to

be.

INT. ABEL’S CAR - NIGHT

ABEL is driving, and ANNA sits in silence looking out the

passenger window. They are heading along the main backwoods

road to their house.

ANNA:

Well, that went about as well as

could be expected.

ABEL:

Yes. Arthur is a good man.

ANNA:

Do you think they will close?

ABEL:

Of course.

61

Just as he says this a deer comes running out in front of

them. ABEL tries to slam on the brakes but isn’t able to stop

in time. The car hits the deer and it careens over the

windshield and on to the road behind the car.

He continues to slam on the brakes and comes to a complete

stop.

They both catch their breath and look around to make sure

they are both okay. Then they look back at the deer. It is

laying on the road but is still breathing.

ABEL (CONT’D)

Are you okay?

ANNA:

Yes... you need to go put it out of

its misery.

ABEL:

Jesus.

ANNA:

I mean it. We can’t just leave it

here.

EXT. BACKWOODS ROAD - NIGHT

ABEL gets out of the car and looks at his smashed hood. He

then walks back and approaches the animal. It is laying on

the side of the road.

He comes right up to it and stares into its eyes. It stares

back at him. ABEL walks back to the car.

ANNA:

Is it dead?

ABEL:

No.

ANNA:

Well you need...

ABEL:

I know.

He reaches down to open the trunk.

ANNA:

What are you doing?

62

ABEL:

Getting the tire iron!

This whole situation has stressed them out and they are on

edge.

ABEL goes to the trunk and gets out the large wrench. He

walks back over to the deer. He bends down next to it and

stares into its eye again. ABEL is thinking back on

something, or many things.

He makes a small starting movement like he is going to hit it

over the head but he stops himself. He can’t quite do it.

Then he sits with the animal a beat longer.

We come in very close to ABEL and see his hand is struggling

to deliver the blow. Just as he grips the tire iron

waiting... BANG! BANG!

Two very loud GUNSHOTS go off from right over his shoulder.

He ducks for cover then slowly turns behind him. ANNA stands

there holding a small-yet-powerful Saturday Night Special-

style handgun. Smoke is still rising from the end of the

pistol. The deer is dead.

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