Acrimony Page #2

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Oh, Mel,

look who came!

Hey.

I'm sorry about

your mom.

Thank you.

Oh, uh, Devon, come

with me for a second.

Melinda, we have

to thank the pastor.

- You know him, right? Okay.

- Yeah, yeah.

- I'll be right back, okay?

- Okay.

Robert!

- Hey.

- Hey.

Why are you

leaving so soon?

Well, you have

your family.

I just wanted to make

sure that you're okay.

Thank you.

Yeah.

Of course.

I'll see you later,

all right?

Wait, where are

you going?

To the train.

The train? I mean,

that's a long way.

Did you walk here?

You walked here?

Look, no, I can just...

- No, I'm fine. I'm fine.

- I can drive you.

No, no, look.

I'll get my keys.

I'll be right back,

I'll drive you.

Mel. Melin...

MELINDA:
Wow,

is that your house?

ROBERT:
No.

That's my house.

You live in there?

Yeah.

Can I come in?

Yeah.

Watch your step.

Thank you.

What kind

of music is this?

Are you kidding me?

What?

This is Nina Simone.

You've never

heard of her?

No. (CHUCKLES)

I need to play something

for you then. Hold on.

- I'll pass.

- No, no, no.

You have to

hear her voice.

Her singing is like

going to church.

Listen.

(SOUL MUSIC PLAYING

ON RECORD PLAYER)

It's kind of sad.

I'm so sorry.

No, no, no. It's fine.

You can leave it on.

So how long have

you lived here?

A while.

I know it's not much, but

my uncle left it to me,

and my aunt lets me stay here

in the driveway for free.

Where are your parents?

My father's in prison.

And my mother left me

with my grandmother,

who raised me until she died

when I was 14.

Then I moved

out here with my aunt,

and I've been living

out here ever since.

I'm sorry to hear

about your mother.

She sounded like

a good lady.

Yeah.

Yeah, she was amazing.

You know, she...

It's okay.

Come here.

I'm sorry.

MELINDA:

There was something about

the way he said he was sorry

that made me believe it.

And the way he held me.

I know this sounds so stupid,

but you have to know,

I was a kid.

He made me feel safe

and strong, and...

You're beautiful.

Beautiful.

My mother wasn't even

cold in the ground yet,

and there I was.

What kind of man takes advantage

of a girl's grief, huh?

I'll tell you.

A low-life maggot of a

motherf***er, that's who.

He had to know that grief

can leave you open

to not knowing yourself at all.

Add that to me being so young.

He had my mind,

my heart, my head

and, let's not forget,

my virginity.

(SOUL MUSIC CONTINUES PLAYING)

(MUSIC ENDS)

- (AUDIENCE APPLAUDING ON RECORD)

- (SOUL MUSIC PLAYING)

(SIGHS)

Oh. What are you

listening to in here?

You never heard

of Nina Simone?

Oh. That's

Mama's music.

Or it's that boy's.

You going out

with him again?

Yeah.

And I wish

you would stop saying "him."

His name is Robert,

and I really like him, okay?

And I want you

to like him, too.

Are you having

sex with him?

Well, it's

a fair question.

But what I wanna

know is,

who's paying when y'all going

out on all these dates?

What?

Look, Melinda.

Don't tell that boy

that Mama left you that

money and this house.

- I'm telling you.

- All right.

MELINDA:
Ugh. I hate to admit

it, but Brenda was right.

(BOTH LAUGHING)

I had made the mistake of

telling Robert about the house

and the $350,000

that my mom left me.

But that didn't

matter to him, right?

He wanted me.

Right?

So the name of the company is called

Prescott and Howard Industries.

Okay.

And the owner, David Prescott,

is a super cool guy.

Man, he's always looking

for the next big thing.

And he's a tree-hugger

billionaire

always talking about saving

the environment, you know?

So he finds people

who just have great ideas

and he changes

their lives.

You know, he's made millionaires

out of a lot of people

just by investing

in their project.

And it's a lottery.

He goes through

the mail and finds ideas.

But if he likes them, then he

contacts you for a meeting,

and you have to come

right when he says come,

which is pretty cool.

So I send a letter

to his office every week

talking about

my battery idea.

You know

what I call it?

The Gayle Wind.

You know,

my last name.

Okay, but, look.

So is the battery,

like, that powerful?

Yeah.

Yeah, well, I think you should

call it Gayle Force Wind.

- Oh, man!

- Yeah?

- I like that better.

- Yeah.

I love that.

I need to

write it down.

I'll be around

to remind you.

You promise?

What, you planned

on kickin' me out?

No.

Just a lot of

disappointments, that's all.

Mmm. I won't

disappoint you.

And I won't

disappoint you.

We're gonna be so rich.

Look, The Gayle

Force Wind

is gonna allow us to live

in that building right there,

on the top floor.

And we're gonna have

one of those.

MELINDA:
What? A tugboat?

ROBERT:
No, a yacht.

And I will name it

The Mrs. Gayle.

The Mrs. Gayle?

Yeah, I'm gonna name it after

you when we get married.

You're gonna be

my wife forever.

MELINDA:
"Forever."

That's what he said.

Those were his words.

"Forever."

And I believed him.

I trusted him.

I was so in love with him,

I didn't see

the con man for the con.

Man!

MELINDA:
We could have our first

kid before, like, the age of 28.

And then we can have one,

like, right after, so

keep this body

in shape.

(BOTH CHUCKLE)

A little baby,

I can't wait.

Look, we're gonna have

all the kids we want

because we have

all the money we want.

- So I sent another letter to Prescott, right?

- Mmm-hmm.

And I was thinking, what if he calls

and I have to wait for a bus?

I mean, I can just

drive you when he calls.

What if you're

not around?

MELINDA:

You see the game?

He had a way of not asking

but suggesting

to make me think

I wanted to do things for him.

And wouldn't you know it?

A few days after he got the car,

the only time I talked to him

was when I called him.

One day, I waited a whole day to see

if he would call me, and he didn't.

So I waited two days,

and he still didn't call me.

BRENDA:
Melinda.

We need to tell you that now

that we're all married,

we're gonna be

moving out.

- Okay.

- Thank you, babe.

So, you need to get a job so

you can keep up this place.

Yeah.

Okay.

I'll be right back.

ROBERT:
Hello?

Hey.

Oh. Hey, there! How are you?

MELINDA:
"Hey, there?"

"How are you?"

Wait. Wait. Why the hell

was he talking to me like that?

I don't know. You tell me.

Oh. Nothing, baby.

I've been working

on my battery.

(SCOFFS) Okay, well, you

haven't called me in two days.

Well, you didn't call me.

I thought you were busy.

Doing what?

I don't know.

But, baby, I need both my hands

for this soldering.

Can I call you back?

MELINDA:

You ever get that feeling

when a man is telling you something,

and you know it's bullshit,

but you just go with it?

Yeah. Yeah.

Well, I knew this was bullshit,

and I tried to go with it.

But as nice as I could be,

there was also another side

to me that he hadn't met yet.

If he was lying to me,

maybe it was time for me to

introduce him to my b*tch.

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