Blood Simple Page #18

ABBY:

I... I mean what're you talking about,

Ray? I haven't done anything funny.

RAY:

...What was that?

Abby, startled, can't contain her agitation anymore.

ABBY:

(rapidly)

Ray, I mean you ain't even acting

like yourself. First you call me at

five in the A.M. saying all kinds of

nice things over the telephone and

then you come charging in here scaring

me half to death without even telling

me what it is I'm supposed to be

scared of. I gotta tell you it's

extremely rattling.

RAY:

We track toward him, isolating him against the window. He is

perfectly still. For a long time he can't speak.

RAY:

(quietly)

...Don't lie to me, Abby--

BACK TO ABBY:

Still worked up.

ABBY:

How can I be lying if I don't even

know--

The ring of the telephone cuts her off. She looks at the

phone, pauses for a moment, then continues, struggling.

ABBY:

...I mean if you and him had a fight

or something, I don't care, as long

as you...

Her voice trails off.

The telephone won't stop ringing. Abby and Ray are staring

at each other, seemingly oblivious to it. Finally:

RAY:

...Pick it up.

CLOSE SHOT TELEPHONE

Still ringing. Abby's hand enters frame and picks it up.

ABBY:

What.

Through the phone we hear only the rhythmic whir of a ceiling

fan. Abby shifts the phone to her other ear, listening hard.

It is the same sound we heard earlier when she picked up the

phone at Ray's house.

As before, the line clicks dead.

ABBY:

(looking at Ray)

...Welp, that was him.

There is a long moment of silence. Then Ray's voice comes

from across the room:

RAY:

...Who?

ABBY:

Marty.

There is silence again.

LONG SHOT THE APARTMENT

Ray shifts in front of the window. He laughs humorlessly.

The laugh stops abruptly.

ABBY:

...What's going on with you two?

RAY:

(quietly)

All right...

He starts across the room.

RAY:

...You can call him back, whoever it

was...

He is heading for the door.

RAY:

...I'll get out of your way.

He pauses at the foyer and pulls Abby's gun out of his pocket.

He sets it on a shelf by the door.

ABBY:

Watching. We hear the door open.

RAY (O.S.)

You left your weapon behind.

We hear the door slam shut.

CLOSE SHOT CEILING FAN

We hear the rhythmic whir of the fan. We tilt down from the

ceiling to reveal that we are in the living room of Ray's

bungalow.

In the foreground Visser sits in a chair with the cradled

telephone in his lap, facing the front door, which stands

open in the background. The contents of Abby's tote bag lie

strewn on the bureau next to Visser. Her purse is not there.

After a moment Visser rouses himself and starts to sweep the

articles back into the tote bag.

INT. MEURICE'S APARTMENT DAY

LOW WIDE SHOT LIVING ROOM

It is dark, lit only by the morning light leaking in around

the drawn blinds. It is a small modern apartment such as one

sees in large apartment complexes--shag carpeting, built-in

bar. In the extreme foreground the small red "Power" light

of a telephone answering machine glows in the darkness.

The front door opens in the background, spilling bright

sunlight. Meurice stoops down, picks up two newspapers,

enters, and shuts the door. He walks toward the camera and

his hand enters frame in extreme foreground to punch the

rewind button on the machine. His hand leaves frame. A few

pieces of mail are flipped down onto the machine table, piece

by piece, as the machine rewinds. He reaches down again and

hits playback. After a beep:

WOMAN'S VOICE

Hi Meurice, this is Helene, Helene

Trend, and I'm calling 'cause I wanna

know just what the hell that remark

you made about Sylvia's supposed to

mean...

Mail continues to flip down onto the table, piece by piece.

WOMAN'S VOICE

...She says you're full of sh*t and

frankly I believe her. And hey, I

love you too. Sure. Anyway, you better

call me soon because I'm going to

South America tonight--you know,

Uruguay?

Dial tone. Beep.

MARTY'S VOICE

(barking)

Listen a**hole, you know who this

is. I just got back from Corpus and

there's a lot of money missing from

the safe...

The mail stops dropping; Marty has Meurice's attention.

MARTY'S VOICE

...I'm not saying you took it but

the place was your responsibility

and I told you to keep an eye on

your a**hole friend. Don't--uh, don't

come to the bar tonight, I've got a

meeting. But tomorrow I want to have

a word with you, and with Ray--if

you can find him.

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