Affliction Page #9

They finish clearing the snow. Wade gets in the truck, starts

the engine. Rolfe waits for Wade.

WADE:

I want to let the gas run out. I

don't want the bastard driving drunk,

and he's always drunk now. After,

we'll hide the keys.

ROLFE:

Anything new about the shooting?

Twombley?

WADE:

(reluctant)

I guess it was an accident, like

everybody thinks.

ROLFE:

Want to know what I think happened?

Wade opens the glove compartment, finds a bottle of Canadian

Club. He unscrews the cap.

WADE:

Find them everywhere.

(swigs)

ROLFE:

I think your first response to the

Twombley shooting was the correct

one.

WADE:

Which is?

ROLFE:

That it wasn't an accident.

WADE:

Then who shot him?

ROLFE:

Well, your friend, I think. Jack

Hewitt.

WADE:

Motive. You gotta have a motive.

ROLFE:

Money.

WADE:

Who'd pay him that kind of money?

Not the mob. They got their own guys.

Specialists.

ROLFE:

(agreeing)

They wouldn't deal with a guy like

Jack. Who else benefits if Twombley

is suddenly dead?

WADE:

(swigs)

I don't know. You tell me.

ROLFE:

Okay. It's likely there are people

in the union who don't want Twombley

to testify. They probably include

his son-in-law who's vice-president

and will probably be the next

president. I read that in the papers.

What's his name, Mel Gordon?

WADE:

Yeah, the guy with the BMW I told

you about. I did, didn't I?

ROLFE:

Here's my theory. Twombley, unaware

of illegal union loans or whatever,

starts nosing around cause of the

investigation and finds out. Finds

out his son-in-law is involved.

WADE:

So Mel Gordon wouldn't want a

professional hit. That'd make the

feds dig deeper. He wants an accident.

ROLFE:

A hunting accident is perfect.

WADE:

Sh*t, around here, you shoot somebody

in the woods, you say it was an

accident, you get fined fifty bucks

and your hunting license lifted.

Jack's probably saying the guy shot

himself cause he ain't got his deer

yet and don't want his license pulled.

The truck sputters, stops. Wade pulls the keys.

WADE:

It's too neat. Things ain't that

neat. It makes me mad. That somebody

can pay to kill somebody, his own

father-in-law, and not be punished

for it. Don't that piss you off?

ROLFE:

Not particularly.

WADE:

Right's right, goddamnit! Don't you

care what's right?

ROLFE:

I care about what happened. The truth.

I'm a student of history, remember?

The sun is down. Wade tucks the keys in a knotted board.

ROLFE:

I was thinking about that story you

told me, about Pop and chopping the

firewood out of the ice and after.

WADE:

Yeah.

ROLFE:

I hate to disappoint you, but I don't

think it happened.

WADE:

Of course it happened. Why would I

lie about it?

ROLFE:

It may have happened, but not the

way you said.

WADE:

You think I wouldn't remember a thing

like that?

ROLFE:

It wasn't me. I wasn't there, but I

heard about it. When I heard about

it, it was about Elbourne.

WADE:

We'd have to go digging in Vietnam

to ask him.

ROLFE:

And Elbourne and Mom took you to the

doctor and told him you fell from

the hay loft.

WADE:

(laughs)

Well, I never heard that one.

ROLFE:

I remember clearly cause when I heard

I became real careful around Pop. I

was a careful child and I became a

careful adult, but at least I wasn't

afflicted by that man's violence.

WADE:

(laughs again)

That's what you think.

Rolfe looks out:
the cobalt sky has turned black.

ROLFE:

I gotta head back. It's a long drive.

They walk toward the house.

CUT TO:

EXT. LARIVIERE CO. GARAGE - DAY

Wade walks in as Jack and Jimmy prepare to head out, their

drilling rig loaded with pipe. Gordon yells at Jack:

LARIVIERE:

Put out that f***ing cigarette!

Jack opens the truck ashtray.

LARIVIERE:

Not there, a**hole. Flush it!

Hewitt trudges to the john.

WADE:

Morning, Gordon.

LaRiviere smiles, goes to his office as Wade hangs his coat

in his locker. Jack cruises over.

JACK:

I'm f***ing out of here.

WADE:

Lawford?

JACK:

Out of this f***ing job. This job

sucks. Working outside in the winter

sucks.

Jack gets in the cab of the drilling truck. Wade follows.

JACK:

Open the door, will ya?

WADE:

Why don't you quit now, you want out

so bad?

JACK:

Open the door. We're late.

WADE:

I mean it -- you got enough money

now. Head out for California. Surf's

up, Jack, and you're digging wells

in the snow.

JACK:

What do you mean I got money? I'm as

broke as you.

Wade grins, goes to activate the door.

WADE:

Looney Tunes, Jack. F***ing Looney

Tunes!

The drilling truck pulls out the garage, onto the road. From

the opposite direction a black BMW slows, enters. Mel Gordon.

Wade, all eyes and ears, watches. Mel Gordon parks in front

of the office, gets out. Elaine calls:

ELAINE (O.S.)

Mr. Gordon!

MEL GORDON:

The boss in?

ELAINE (O.S.)

Yes indeedy!

Wade flips the door switch. Mel Gordon and LaRiviere talk.

Yeah.

CUT TO:

EXT. CONCORD - DAY

The South Main Street office of J. Battle Hand, lawyer.

Concord is a real town, with traffic, stores, people with

places to go.

CUT TO:

INT. LAWYER'S OFFICE - DAY

J. BATTLE HAND, 60, sits in a wheel chair behind his desk.

Wade, uncomfortable in work clothes, tries not to show it.

WADE:

I screwed up the divorce. I agreed

with everything she said. I wanted

her to like me. I just want to be a

good father.

HAND:

It would help if you were married,

if there was someone at home while

you work.

WADE:

I plan to. Soon.

HAND:

How soon?

WADE:

This spring.

HAND:

Good. It would help if there were

some drug or alcohol abuse on the

part of your ex-wife. Sexual problems

upsetting to the child.

WADE:

It looks pretty hopeless, don't it?

HAND:

No, not exactly. I'll look at the

divorce decree, see if we can get it

redrawn. Interview your daughter.

Jill, right?

WADE:

Yes.

HAND:

Fine. I'll need a $500 retainer. You

can mail it.

WADE:

Jesus. How much... how much will the

whole thing cost?

HAND:

Hard to say. If we go for custody,

depositions, psychiatric evaluations,

it could drag on. Ten or twelve

thousand dollars. She could win on

appeal. If we just want to get the

visitation rights redrawn, assuming

they're unduly restrictive, it

wouldn't be more than twenty-five

hundred.

WADE:

Oh.

HAND:

(sensing situation)

You might be better off legally as

well as financially to just go for

the --

WADE:

Yeah. I know. The custody suit thing

was just my getting back at her. I'm

not as dumb as I look. Whatever you

say. I love my daughter.

(Hand nods)

I'll send you the five hundred.

Wade stands; Hand motors to the door. Wade puts his fingers

in his mouth. His tooth throbs.

CUT TO:

EXT. LARIVIERE CO. - DAY

Fairlane squad car in its customary spot.

CUT TO:

INT. LARIVIERE'S OFFICE - DAY

Wade and Gordon speak. LaRiviere is relaxed, open: a "new

Gordon."

Rate this script:3.0 / 2 votes