Beloved Page #24

A DRAWING OF A YOUNG BLACK WOMAN beneath a HEADLINE; MURDER!

RUNAWAY SLAVE KILLS CHILD....

PAUL:

Who is it?

STAMP PAID:

That there's a picture of Sethe.

PAUL:

Sethe?

(studies it)

Nah, that ain't her mouth. I can see

where you might think it around the eyes

but that there ain't her mouth. Besides,

why would some black woman's picture be

in the paper?

STAMP PAID:

You don't read son, do you?

(Paul shakes head NO)

You want me to read to you?

Paul senses something terribly wrong...and doesn't know

whether to say yes or no.

EXT. 124 BLUESTONE RD. - EARLY EVENING.

Sethe is sweeping the porch.

Paul appears on the road. When he sees Sethe on the porch in

the distance, he stops.

Sethe sees him and smiles - but something about his slow

approach to the house sends off an alarm within her.

Paul makes his way to the porch. He stops before her.

SETHE:

Already fed the girls. You eat?

(he shakes NO)

Want something?

Paul doesn't answer. Instead, he steps up to her as he

removes the clipping from his pocket and hands it to her.

Sethe's heart stops beating for a moment - not having seen

this image for many years. But she's survived worse than the

telling so she faces him.

SETHE:

Best you come inside.

She rises and enters the house. Paul follows.

INT. KITCHEN - EARLY EVENING.

Paul sits at the table. Sethe begins her story seated before

him.

SETHE:

I don't have to tell you about Sweet

Home. What it was. But maybe you don't

know what it was like for me to get away

from there.

She looks for a response but expects none.

SETHE:

I did it. I got us all out. Without Halle

too. Up til then it was the only thing I

ever did on my own. Decided. And it came

off right like it was supposed to..

She rises and begins to move about the room, circling Paul

as she tries to find a way to explain it all;

SETHE:

We was here. Each and every one of my

babies and me too. I birthed them and I

got 'em out and it wasn't no accident. I

did that! I had help, of course, lots of

that, but still it was me doing it; me

saying, "Go on" and "Now!". Me having to

look out. Me using my own head. But it

was more than that. It was a kind of

...'thinking-about-myself' I never knew

nothing about before. It felt good. Good

and right. I was big, Paul, and deep and

wide and when I stretched out my arms all

my children could get in between. I was

that wide. Look like I loved them more

after I got them here. Or maybe I

couldn't love'em proper in Sweet Home

'cause they wasn't mine to love. But when

I got here, when I jumped off that wagon -

there wasn't nobody in the world I

couldn't love if I wanted to....

DISSOLVE TO:

MEMORY... as SETHE NARRATES:

SETHE (VO)

I had 28 days...28 good days of free

life.....

INT. SETHE'S ROOM AT 124 - A DAWN REMEMBERED.

Sethe, out of habit, is awake before the sun has risen. She

is fully dressed.

SETHE (VO)

...of getting up like I always did,

getting dressed before the sun came out,

and then realizing I had to decide myself

what to do with the day...

She sits on the bed, watching the sun rise.

INT. THE CHILDREN'S ROOM - CONTINUOUS.

Sethe watches her children sleeping, safely.

SETHE (VO)

...Days of watching my children sleep

away the morning...And taking care of my

baby like it was the most important thing

I had to do...

Denver is asleep in a bassinet. Sethe reaches in and picks

her up. She sits by a window and breast feeds her as she hums

A MELODY. (This is the same melody we heard Sethe humming in

the beginning of the film).

Sethe's melody carries itself over the following images;

EXT. 124 BLUESTONE ; WATER PUMP - DAY.

Sethe is carrying a bucket of water to the house. She sees:

Bulgar and Howard running and playing. Howard tackles his

brother and starts tickling him. The two boys laugh hard.

Sethe watches, a moment of fear across her face;

SETHE (VO)

I'd hear my boys laughing a laugh I ain't

never heard. And for a second I'd get

scared - scared someone might hear them

and get mad...

Sethe realizes, placing down the bucket:

SETHE (VO)

Then I remembered...and if they laughed

that hard til it hurt, that would be the

only hurt they had all day....

Sethe sobs, uncontrollably.

INT. 124 BLUESTONE RD. - DAY.

Ella teaches Sethe a new stitch as she chatters on.

SETHE (VO)

We had us days of company...

EXT. FIELD - DAY.

Another woman teaches Sethe the alphabet, as Sethe cradles

Denver and the Little Girl (Beloved) crawls around her feet.

INT. KITCHEN - DAY.

Baby Suggs and Sethe cook with a kitchen full of men and

women who have come for a visit.

SETHE (VO)

...of ease and real talk. Talks about the

Fugitive Bill, Dred Scott or book

learning...Talks as quiet or as stormy as

we wanted...

Two men get into an argument to the amusement of the women.

EXT. CLEARING IN THE WOODS - DAY.

As folks gather to hear Baby Suggs preach, she introduces a

smiling, shy Sethe to each one.

SETHE (VO)

...And when everyone would gather to hear

Baby Suggs, I saw something I ain't never

seen before in my whole life...

Alone for a moment, Sethe looks around at the crowd of faces;

Sethe's Melody stops as Baby Suggs stands on her rock and

calls to the crowd:

BABY SUGGS:

Let the children come!

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