Affliction Page #10

WADE:

Sorry about the long lunch. My clutch

is going out again.

LARIVIERE:

You ever think of getting a new car,

Wade?

WADE:

On what you pay me?

LARIVIERE:

Elaine! Call Chub Meritt and have

him pick up Wade's car, fix the

clutch.

ELAINE (O.S.)

What!

LARIVIERE:

(to Wade)

Use the pickup. I'll bill it to the

town. You're the town police officer

and the town police officer should

have a decent car. You want a new

car or not?

WADE:

What do I have to do for it?

LARIVIERE:

Nothing, Wade, I've been thinking.

You don't get enough appreciation

around here and it's time we changed

things a little.

WADE:

I saw Mel Gordon in here this morning.

LARIVIERE:

So?

WADE:

He say anything about the summons I

tried to give him? Sonofabitch

wouldn't accept it.

LARIVIERE:

Wade, that wasn't smart. Going out

right after the man's father-in-law

shot himself. Let it go. Call it a

favor to me.

WADE:

You? Why?

LARIVIERE:

Mel's doing some business with me.

It's nice to do favors for people

you do business with. He was in a

hurry. No big deal.

WADE:

That was before Twombley was shot.

Before he knew.

LARIVIERE:

What's the difference? Take my truck,

take a rest -- stop worrying about

Mel Gordon. Have you decided what to

do with your old man's place -- he

going to stay there?

WADE:

(takes out cigarette)

Want to buy?

LARIVIERE:

Don't light that in here. I'm

allergic.

WADE:

I won't. You interested?

LARIVIERE:

Maybe.

WADE:

You and Mel Gordon?

LARIVIERE:

Could be.

WADE:

(voice rising)

Always count on old Wade for a good

screwing. Why should I always pay

more, sell cheap? Why should you

guys make all the money. You and Mel

and Jack. Right's right.

Wade pulls out Bic, lights cigarette.

LARIVIERE:

(waving arms)

Out! Out!

Wade smiles, exits.

CUT TO:

EXT. RT. 29 - NIGHT

Wade, driving Gordon's 4x4 with running lights and roll bar,

takes 29 toward Pop's farm.

A pickup passes him: Jack Hewitt's burgundy Ford. Wade stops.

Jack turns up Parker Mountain -- the road to the accident

scene. Something's up.

Wade turns and follows. Jack's fresh tracks lead the way.

Hewitt is driving fast. Wade keeps up.

Jack, far ahead, approaches the accident scene. Stops. Night

has fallen.

Wade comes over a low rise, spots Jack's pickup. He kills

the lights, parks to block Jack's exit.

Silence. Footsteps in the snow. Wade watches, listens. What's

he doing? Looking for evidence?

The burgundy pickup engine suddenly ROARS -- Jack's back and

at the wheel -- the tires squeal, spit snow as he spins past

Wade.

Wade starts his engine, gives pursuit. The pickups gun their

engines, bumper to bumper, down mountain roads, lumber roads,

rocky trails. Wild headlamps their only guide.

CUT TO:

EXT. POND - NIGHT

A trail turns sharply past a shallow beaver pond -- too

sharply for Jack. He crashes through a stand of skinny birches

straight out onto the pond. The pickup's momentum carries it

across the pond.

Wade drops into first gear, follows, his headlights reflecting

ice. He drives directly to Jack, bumper to bumper, headlight

to headlight. Jack sticks his head out:

JACK:

You crazy sonofabitch! You'll sink

us both! Get off the f***ing ice!

Get off!

Wade doesn't budge. Jack backs away; Wade inches forward.

Hewitt's trapped. Trees behind him. Neither truck has traction

on ice.

Jack steps out, swinging his fists wildly. Wade gets out.

Jacks grabs his rifle, points it:

JACK:

I'll shoot you, Wade, I swear it!

I'll f***ing shoot you dead if you

don't move away from that truck!

Wade backs off.

JACK:

Don't move! I'll shoot you dead if

you move!

Jack gets back in his pickup, maneuvers it slowly around the

Dodge, crosses the ice and is gone.

Wade stands in darkness. The only sound his idling truck,

the wind. Then a third sound -- the snap of ice. Ice cracks

ripple from the middle of the pond. Ice planes tip around

the truck.

LaRiviere's snazzy Dodge slips, descends, disappears.

Headlights glow under water, then go out. "Our Business Is

Going In The Hole."

Wade, alone in darkness, plops into the water, paddles to

shore. Freezing, he finds Jack's tire tracks in the snow. He

bangs his jaw.

CUT TO:

EXT. WICKHAM'S - NIGHT

A car drops Wade off. "Home Made Cooking."

CUT TO:

INT. WICKHAM'S - NIGHT

Wade enters the empty diner. His clothes frozen.

NICK:

Your father's in back, Wade. Marg

had to babysit him. She moved in

with you, huh?

(looking closer)

What happened?

Wade goes to the kitchen. Glen Whitehouse, washing dishes

with Margie, looks up:

POP:

Ah, the prodigal son.

NICK:

About f***ing time.

POP:

Look, got me a new job, second cook

and bottle washer!

MARGIE:

What happened?

WADE:

Jesus Christ, Pop, let's go home. I

got waylaid. Sorry.

POP:

The f*** you got waylaid. You follow

your prick around like it was your

nose.

NICK:

(enters)

Can it, Whitehouse.

(to Wade)

Get him out of here. It was funny at

first, but I'm tired.

MARGIE:

There's clothes in the back.

Wade's old man talks as he dresses:

POP:

Let's go home? What home is that?

Your home? My home? Let's have a

talk about that. You're f***ing sly,

Wade. Your mother's dead so she can't

make any excuses for you anymore!

You gotta deal with me! No more sugar

tit, a**hole.

Wade, redressed, enters:

WADE:

Pop, for Christ's sake!

POP:

You think you can take me now? Come

on, try.

Margie and Nick guide pere et fils to MARG'S CAR. Nick speaks

to her:

NICK:

Marg, get out of this. Fast.

MARGIE:

I can't.

Marg drives off.

CUT TO:

INT. MARGIE'S CAR - NIGHT

Wade leans close to his father, his breath on his:

WADE:

I wish you would die.

Pop spits directly into Wade's face, raises his arm. Wade

catches it, twists it. Margie shrieks:

MARGIE:

Stop it! Stop it! Just stop it!

They do, glaring as they approach the farmhouse.

CUT TO:

INT. BATHROOM - NIGHT

Wade looks in the bedroom, sees Margie sleeping, goes to the

bathroom.

He peers, stands before the sink, washes his hands slowly.

Drying his hands, he looks into the mirror, startled by the

image of his own face.

A phone conversation plays over:

WADE (O.S.)

No sh*t, Rolfe, I glanced up and

there he was, only it was me. But it

was like I had never seen myself

before. It was a stranger's face.

Hard to explain. You fly on automatic

pilot, like I was doing all night,

and you disappear.

CUT TO:

INT. LIVING ROOM - NIGHT

Wade sits alone in the darkened room, speaking on the phone.

His cigarette glows.

WADE:

Then you accidentally see your body,

or your face, or whatever, and you

don't know who the hell it belongs

to. Strange. It's the business with

the old man, I know, and how

incredibly pissed I was at him, and

also chasing Jack Hewitt like that,

and the Goddamned truck going through

the ice, not to mention Margie's

being so upset -- one thing on top

of another.

ROLFE (O.S.)

Wade, are you alright?

WADE:

But you gotta hear this. You won't

believe it. Mel Gordon had come by

to visit LaRiviere and so now I'm in

his office.

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